the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows when it is who more likable and easy going and who better looks out for the middle class, mitt romney loses to the president by tremendous margins. but when it comes to the economy, it's a much different story. a majority of voters disapprove of the president's handling of the economy and more voters is believe romney has better ideas to fix it. let's start first before we get to the economy with the likability thing. ben smith, a "washington post" peace talks about a political activist at an nrc conference who says we've got to tight that etch a sketch down. if we can do that, then there's hope for us. >> i mean, this is obama's great strength that in fact, people like bill clinton didn't have a lot of people disliked clinton, thought he was a terrible person but a decent president. a lot of people have questions weatherspoon obama isç a good president think i think romney is going to pass a threshold of ooze a decent human being.

and i think it becomes -- >> he may or may not have red blood in his heart. >> it's not ultimate lit a popularity contest. >> it is like the barest of acceptance that this is guy is the nominee. now, that said, as we pointed out, the economy numbers and in terms of the idea that he can handle the nation's economic woes, romney obviously runs strong there. but the question is, how long does he run strong there? i think to a certain degree, steve we talked about this last night, people don't really know what mitt romney's economic plan is. >> as it unfolds, he will see if he can make it up on the likability side, i think it's easier for obama to make up on the economic side to tell people, convince them my policies are good, unemployment's improving or whatever, it is the message of the day, of the week, it is hard to fake likability. one of the big advantages obama has on that is that he's just

cool. meaning he's into modern culture, he's hip, he can talk about what's on his ipad. he's a sports nut. look at what -- >> he can doing push-ups with michele. >> and what is mrs. romney's sport? dressage. >> exactly. when you talk about accessibility and empathy, he has the middle class at heart, a lot has been made about the comments of the silver spoon and the fact that the president said i wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. at the end of the day, i don't know that that was an indictment of mitt romney as much as president obama talking about his incredible personal story. >> sure he doesn't have a silver spoon but he has a golden throat. >> you prepared that one. >> not at all. >> i am a baptist preacher, improve have iization is the trade and tool. president obama is speaking not just for himself but for millions of other american who's weren't born with a silver spoon

in their mouth and doesn't have daddy's weight of wealth to back them up. that's nos disgruntlement with wealth because obama is a pretty wealthy guy too but he's in comparison to romney but he identifies with them and he feels he gets it. he's written a couple books talking about his struggles, he talks about what it means for the american populace to understand. he feels your pain but he portrays it in his policies in a way that is untested with romney. >> why then is the american public still sort of going for mitt romney on questions of the economy? i want to play this piece of sound from romney yesterday in ohio at a shuttered factory. >> this factory is empty. it's owned by national gypsum. it was closed in 2008 at the beginning of the economic downturn. had the president's economic plans worked, president obama's planned worked, it would be open by now. but it's still empty, and it

underscores the failure of this president's policies with regards to getting this economy going again. >> steve, as i said, as iç mentioned, as i name checked our appearance on the last word" last night, you made a really great point which is you know, president obama needs to tie this message of income inequality and fighting for the middle class and a fair shot to america's economic health. right now maybe voters see those twos things as disis pa rat things. >> people feel a lot of economic anxiety right now and inclined to blame the guy in charge and rationalize their way to that. at a certain point, maybe you can't overcome that if things are bad enough. but if you're going to have a fighting cannes, that's critical for obama. people think obama understands the middle class more and going to fight for middle class values more than romney. but i think people see that more right now as a moral question.

it's sort of like, well, we should be looking out for the less fortunate among us, we should look out for the middle class but need to focus on the economy. that's where romney gets the benefit benefit of the doubt. if you can make the argument what they used to say was if you want to live like the republicans, vote for the democrats. expain how you fortify these middle class institutions and the social safety net and that that leads to more millionaires, more money all around. >> it's not just right but good. >> as lynn said, you can't fake empathy or connection. you're not going to be able to fake a good economy. romney's strength on the economy come trt fact that people think it's a terrible economy, that the obama administration's projections fell well short of the kine0of projections they were hoping for economy and now economists will worry there's going to be another downturn in the summer. >> when you have all this focus on the buffett rule that the white house and campaign working hand in hand had, maybe they didn't quite get it because for an individual who might agree

with tax equity, who doesn't want tax equity, whatever it might mean to you, people are also going to say that won't change figure for me, today, tomorrow, november. >> it's also not effectively a jobs issue. i don't think there's this broad sense that these arguments about the buffett rule are what will people get jobs. >> i would argue -- >> that's the core of this argument. >> the issue is short-term versus long-term. so much of getting a fair shot does make america's economy stronger in the long run. getting access to education makes a stronger economy in the long-term. does ta solve an unemployment rate of. >> at the same time what's ironic here is that mitt romney was a popular republican governor in a democratic state. so all of his ideas didn't obviously veer that dramatically and radically from direct ideas about what makes a good economy work. the irony is mitt romney is going to be a substitute for obama light or handing out

certain kinds of benefits and privileges to the masses that the democrats favored. so i don't think what he has in his advantage is he ran the olympics, ran a company and so on and oh forth, he got a few millions and now he's a corporate titan. the reality is when it comes to testing your ideas in public policy, that's a different story, but right now as steve said, the negativehon obama is he's the guy in charge, the economy is the pretty bad. and as a result of that, people are looking to somebody else to maybe hook them up. >> you mean change? that's the theme? >>, of course, the president is going to be shouldering all this blame. and i'm not saying it's fair but by virtue of being president, that's what happens. that said, i think the white house will draw romney out or try to on specs. jonathan chat notice new york magazine has a great piece. he makes a point federal taxes charge the rich more so shifting to the states means shifting more of the burden to the poor.

state budgets are more likely to enact austerity measures and states compete with each other and create an environment that will appeals to business owners and rich people and repels the poor and the sick. that is a sort of -- free market utopia. >> i think there is more of an openness to that argument to making that point and having voters be receptive to it under these circumstances because obama's in his first term. .notice you played that clip from romney yesterday. he didn't mention yes, this factory closed in 2008. he didn't mention who was president then. there are still a significant number of people who understand at a bake level this something obama inherited. the last president thrown out for a bad economy george bush senior came at the end of 12 years of republican rule. there was no way anybody could look at the downturn and not pin it on the republicans. >> maybe obama should go toç factories closed under george w.

bush and remind everybody of that. >> good optics. >> after the break, a judge sets bond for the alleged trayvon martin shooter, george zimmerman. we'll have a live report with the details coming up next on "now." [ male announcer ] how do you trade? with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. all at 150 calories or less, there's definitely a temptations for you. unless you're one of those people who doesn't like delicious stuff. temptations. it's the first jell-o that's just for adults.

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for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was. i thought he was a little bit younger than i am, and i did not know if he was armed or not. >> that was george zimmerman this morning apologizing in court for the first time to the parents of trayvon martin, the florida teen he's accused of fatally shooting in february. the judge in the case set bond at $150,000.

kerry sand ares is outside the courthouse in sanford is, florida. give us an update in terms of the terms, the specifics? >> well, he will not be walking out of the jail today because they have to work out some specifics about the ankle monitor which will have a gps locating device on him. so that way, the sheriff's department and the florida department of law enforcement and ultimately the special prosecutor in this case will know his whereabouts. now, he may ultimately leave the state. that needs to be worked out with the equipment. the judge did not restrict him to the state of florida but left that door open. there are curfews in place and there are also no consumption of alcohol. he cannot have a firearm. and so he will be out and free but with restrictions. his lawyer argued the reason that he wanted him leave to begin with is because he felt he needed him outç of jail which could be more than a year before there's a trial to work on the defense. meantime, trayvon martin's family exited court and said they were disappointed by the fact that he was granted this

bond, this is ability to get out, and they said that of that actual apology, they said why now? why more than 50 days later? clearly, they're not happy. and this case is now going to move forward slowly, but forward. alex? >> kerry, thank you for the update. i want to hope this up to the panel. we were watching this. this is a bond hearing but the fact george zimmerman spoke, his parents caused in from the court asked do you believe your son is a violent person. his father said absolutely not. you expound on that? i've never known him to be. certainly a court drama and the trial has not yet begun. michael, what do you make of the fact that bond was set for zimmerman who seemed to be a flight risk. >> what is a black young man in america who's unarmed except with skittles and iced tea who

is engaged in some kind of fisticuffs in defense of his life against a man who has racially profiled him, your life is worth about 15 grand. that's what it took for him to get out of jail today. it's very discouraging and it's very dispiriting to see that there's no penalty imposed upon the loss of life without the facts being established, except for the fact that he's killed this young boy, it sesú) to me that the meaning and significance of today's events suggest it's going to be a long way to go for the killer of trayvon martin to be convicted. >> well, as i said, it's riveting courtroom drama today and that was just the bond hearing certainly as the days and weeks -- >> when african-american people are judging other african-american people alao.j. simpson, they are racially biased incapable of rendering objective judgment. never brought up when it's

majority nonafrican people interacing with each other. i'm suggesting to weigh things out, it would be interesting to see that will argument evoked. >> well, and a broader discussion about race in america i think. we hope that this has engendered that and certainly the fact it continues to go on, hopefully the dialogue continues. coming up, faith and policy as the catholic church engages in a war of words with the republican party over the party's budget plan. we'll discuss it with the author who whoet "god's memoir," dave be javerbaum when he joins the panel next on now. n can be. with certified advice to help us expand our palette... ...and prices that give us more spring per dollar... ...we can mix the right soil with the right ideas. ...and bring even more color to any garden. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot.

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we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. this election season, religion has been sharply injected into so many debates that in many respects, it has emerged as its own candidate. joining the panel to you to discuss the intersection of faith and politics is david jarvebaum, former producer of the daily show" and describe of

the last testament, a memoir by god. >> thank you for having me. >> we've been enjoying your writings in the "new york times" the op-ed you wrote a few weeks ago. i thought you would be a great person to talk to. there's obviously some news this week. but i wantç to get your broad thoughts. santorum when he was still a candidate or before the suspension saying he taught the separation of church and state wanted to make him throw up. the war on women, the war over contraception and the involvement of the u.s. conference of catholic bishops and the health care law, what do you make of all this? >> i'm in a position where i get to the talk to god himself about this a lot. and his position -- >> which is why you're on the show. >> what does she say. >> >> his position is he told michele bachmann and rick perry and rick santorum to run and they all lost and he really thought it was very funny. >> i will quote from your book. >> that's a setup.

>> the last testament, a memoir by god for which you were the holy ghost writer. by now the absurdity of this endeavor surely becomes apparent to even my most stead fast offenders. i must tell you in the spirit of candor the evidence for evolution is now indeed so overwhelming that it can no longer be denied, how impressive it is i planted it all. because i did, i planted it all, every last bit of it. distinct. and yet, david. >> looking back, it's pretty funny. >> it is. but i have to point out that in tennessee, they enacted a law last week that prohibits the punishment of teachers who discuss the weaknesses of evolution. what do we make of that, gentlemen? >> steve. >> tennessee was 100 yearsç ag they had the scopes trial down there. >> indeed. >> and you know, it's so funny to me because it just seems like

you know, you get away from the national debate and look at the state level and you've got some states where they're so progressive that the idea of any kind of creationism anything like that totally off-limits but there are other states, tennessee or kansas where the school boards have been taken over by fundamentalist christians and texas school books. when you talk about the schools and how they handle these things of the two americas, the vast cultural and religious divide. >> scopes was on trial for steeching evolution and now they're kind of fighting a battle protecting the christian teachers. its a little different. >> i lived in tennessee for several years. i want to tell you there's empirical proof there's been no evolution in that state. >> you're going to get in trouble for saying that. let's talk about, there are very real aspects to sort of fate guiding public life and certainly the republican party has made a case for that in recent weeks/months/years. i talked about this yesterday on my postscript but i think what

is happening in terms of the u.s. conference on catholic bishops they have written four or possibly five, i think maybe six letters to the house republican leadership saying the budget that you are passing is -- fails the moral criteria by which the church is governed. >> that's because they're not serious about faith in public square. they're talking about a narrow conception of religion. religion comes from the word logare to find together. s the to find together. inspiration of a religious ideal. in this case with the catholic bishops about social justice. so if paul ryanet al are concerned about what the church thinks about these public policies they would at least take a listen to them. i'm tired of people trying to pick up on martin luther king. martin luther king happened to be a baptist preacher who believed he could use his faith to reconcile the ideals of america with the ideas and concern for the vulnerable. i see nothing in ryan's

budgeting that takes heed to that kind of admonition from the catholic bishops. >> i think when the catholic church calls something a massive moral failure, you should listen. they know. >> let's listen to paul ryan said yesterday regarding the letter from the u.s. conference on catholic bishops. >> these are not all the catholic bishops. we disagree. we think quadrupling spending in this area has not succeeded to get people out of poverty. one in six people are in poverty. the highest in a generation. >> what's amazing about that is the u.s. conference of catholic bishops said we are actually -- we are all the catholic bishops. >> when the pope speaks, are they offer all the catholics speaking at one time? of course. it's like saying the trinity spoke, not the holy ghost and god. the position of the church has to be taken seriously. the u.s. catholic bishops 0 who have a long tradition of

speaking about concerns for the poor has to be taken into consideration. >> you have to consider though, there's here. you had the contraception debate a few months ago, yes, the bishops had a position there too but much louder in expressing that position. if you went to church on sunday, you heard about it. >> they coordinated politically with the house republican leadership. partly because it affected their employees as the their institutions in a very direct way. but at the same time, yeah, this is something they're very effective when acting as a conservative interest group. they don't seem like they're particular little effective writing will letters. >> the republicans are going to listen to them on issues not jermaine to their own ideological perspective. paul ryan doesn't want to hear much about what they have to say about social justice. >> it must be hard for paul ryan. he's catholic. feeling a lot of guilt. i'm jewish.

if my rabbi said my budget was terrible, i would feel terrible. it would be worse because we're good with money. >> wow. but no. >> that's from god. >> paul ryan and john boehner are both catholics and have talked about the role of catholicism and the role it plays in their decision making and policy formulation. we talk about there wasn't as much coordination and certainly i think that's true. there's not a willingness to listen to what there's saying when it's not politically expedient. >> there's a real split in the catholic church. there's the old tradition of social justice and still nuns in the developing world and there are still priests out there really preaching that idea, that sort of liberal tradition of social justice. but you look atç the project o the republican party for the last decade or so has been to make church going catholics a part of that permanent republican majority. one of the things was to have an aappliance with the catholic bishops and bring them together with the conservatives in the

south on cultural issues. the leading national catholic bishops have been very vocal on the cultural issues. there's a sort of pro forma feeling what they're doing with the paul ryan budget. our tradition is social justice. it doesn't seem as loud to me. >> we talk about catholics and they are not a monolithic voting bloc. there are a lot of catholics who think the church has been far tore vocal on issues that don't matter and not nearly enough on those that do. the fact that there are multiple letters being sent is probably a step in the right direction for those catholics. >> you will see issues where they'll be forcefully on the left. immigration. that is something where they go to the mat and coordinate. >> the tremendous tradition of dorothy day and the social justice movement has been obscures of late as a result of the compact forged between the evangelical piety in concert

with the kind of catholicism that will pays attention to big institutions. because one of the things you finds sympathy with is a big institution like the catholic church which is unwieldy and the u.s. senate. those voices that puncture still out there for social justice like the catholic bishops represented their best is at least a vanguard of what can come. ãirñ you're in touch with god, david. give him this memo which is to say we would encourage not only catholic priests but buddhist monks, rabbis, everybody can join together in saying some of the paul ryan deserves to be thrown in the trash can >> he doesn't like buddhists. >> i will tell my buddhist mother that. come up, two years ago today, the deep waewater horizon rig explosion created the worst offshore oil spill in american history. there is disturbing new evidence of the long-term damage caused by the disaster. we'll take a closer look when former florida governor charlie crist joins us. that's next on "now."

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anniversary of the explosion of the deepwater horizon which set off the catastrophic bm oil spill. the disaster killed 11 people and sent 210 million gallons of oil gushing into the gulf of mexico for three months, creating one of the worst environmental disasters this nation has ever seen. as the gulf coast continues to recover, there are many worrisome signs that the full impact of the spill won't be known for years. joining us now is former florida governor charlie crist. thanks for joining the program. >> good to be with you, alex. >> governor, so you know, let's look back in terms of what is happening and the response to the oil spill. we have to some degree i think there's a sense we won't really know the impact for several years to come but do know studies have shown that fish are durning up with gashes and ulcers, certainly the wildlife has been impacted in seen and

unseen ways and fishermen are not catching what they used to and people involved in the clean-up and spill or those who live near the areas have developed is health problems,ç including respiratory damage, skin irritation and the like. how would you grade the response to the oil spill looking back two years later? >> well, i think the initial response was very good and i really would want to give credit to the obama administration. during those early days, it was a ca tatreau fee of epic proportion. the largest environmental disaster in the history of our country and you know, the president, the vice president, secretary napolitano, daily briefings with valerie jarrett, with the gulf coast governors, that was part of what was happening at the time. and so the initial reaction i think was ves positive to a very difficult event. now, there's been some significant studies since the hole was plugged, if you will, that has been really led by university of south florida in

large measure. great local coverage and in the tampa bay times, story recently talked about the fact that of the fish that you're showing on the screen that some of these fish seem to continue to have impact, that there is petroleum still in the water but that's not hard to imagine. i mean, when you realize that over 200 million gallons gushed into the gulf of mexico for such an extended period of time, almost i guess it was 87 days or so, it's hard to imagine all that would be gone by now and there would be some after effects that we see today. >> the "new york times," an op-ed today by abraham lust garden, he says what's missing is the accountability that comes from real consequences. a criminal prosecution that holds responsible the individuals who gambled with the livesç of bp's contractors and the ecosystem of the gulf of mexico. only such an outcome can rebuild the trust in the oil industry that asks for the public's faith so that it can drill more. perhaps only such an outcome can

keep an accident like the deepwater horizon disaster from happening again. we know there's been $7.8 billion settlement. that bp has spent about $14 billion in responding to the spill. what do you make of that in terms of criminal charges being lobbied against someone who is responsible for the spill? >> when you realize that 11 people lost their lives with the initial explosion, and many others were injured as a result of it, he's probably not too far off the mark. and you know, i know there's been a $20 billion you know, account, if you will, set aside for those people who were damaged in the incident, businesses, restaurants, fisheries hotels. and the impact was so widespread. it's hard to xrent. i mean, i can give you the best perspective from florida. and what happened here is, fortunately, we didn't have very much oil actually come up onto the beach and the panhandle and pensacola beach, but what we did

have was a problem around the world of people thinking that whenever they saw that pelican you just put on the screen, that could have been in miami beach or west palm beach or st. pete beach as well as pensacola. that imagery was a powerful deterrent to tourism in the sunshine state and the other gulf states, as well. and so fortunately, when the administration set upç the $20 billion fund administered by ken feinberg, who has done an extraordinary job. he is no longer in charge of that fund. it's been turned over to the federal judge in new orleans, but mr. feinberg diagnose an extraordinary job in being very fair to the state of florida. we received in fact, the most compensation as a result of the fund that was established. but it's very important to have that accountability. >> and actually, ken feinberg will be joining us on monday. i want to hope this up to the panel a little bit. i was at the white house with -- with the indutiable lynn sweet

when the spill began. i remember when we were talking about putting the segment together, that camera on the gusher forever, and literally the national sort of shame and horror that this was going on. .what is shocking to me two years late ser there is now hue and cry from republicans about the permitting process for offshore drilling not being fast enough. there is no talk about reforming our dependence on fossil fuels. there is very little actual sort of reform that's happened within the industry. the president set up an oil commission to look at cause of the disaster. congress will not enact any of its recommendations. >> two years ago, it was very revealing when obama said can't we just plug the hole. we didn't know how the to do it. >> plug the damn holy believe was the phrase. >> and so he was frustrated. the thing that is amazing out of all this is that this environmental disaster did not spark a bipartisan answer which shows a few things, including c1

the way to the oil companies. bp is making record profits even with the payouts which may suggest that the payouts, why are we even having the haggling over the payouts if they're making record profits. >> $26 billion last year. >> can i ask the governor if the barrier islands that tamp down on some of the ferocity of hurricanes that come through that alley there in the gulf coast have been affected by the oil spill as well? >> sure, absolutely. and you're good to point out the fact that we have this challenge almost every year with hurricanes in florida although the past five years we've been spared. but the magnitude of that kind of impact is very similar to what you would have impacted from the oil spill as least in perdido key which is in pensacola. >> we have more with governor crist after break when we will discuss more on the oil spill as well as bipartisanship or lack thereof. will we hear more or less of it

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[ junior ] ...and they've helped build my business. this is about whose side you stand on. and you know, you just kind of look at where the two parties are. scott brown got an award from forbes magazine for being one of wall street's favorite senators. >> the only reason that we're getting things done is because i'm there. and we're working hard across the aisle finding people of good will to solve problems. i'm a problem solve are. we need problem solvers, not rock throwers. >> actually reaching hard across the aisle. an endangered phenomenon these days. that was republican senator scott brown and his challenger elizabeth warren had morning. governor, thank you for hanging with us. we've been talking a lot about the moderate voices andç we're looking at an exodus of moderates from the house. specifically the republican party, is it a place where

moderates can still exist setting aside scott brown? >> i'd have to say it's increasingly difficult for that to be the case. just this year look at some of the races on going with orrin hatch and richard lugar in indiana. i mine, we'll know the results of those in a few days and a few weeks respectively. but i think that what has happened to moderation at least in the republican party is it's practically nonexistent. at least when you're talking about people getting elected to office. if you don't sort of toe the line and talk income tea party terminology, you know, we just saw a presidential primary process that was sort of a competition for who could be the most conservative and who could speak to that voice and that segment of the republican party in order to be successful in a primary. and so i think it's very, very difficult for moderation to be heard. but i think for the betterment of the country, you've got to have a people willing to work together for the overall good of the country in order to take america forward and to solve the

significant problems that we face as a nation. >> governor ben smith has a question for you. >> i'm wondering what you think mitt romney ought to do in that context. should he be following your lead and moving toward the center? >> well, it seems to me that's probably what he's going to do. i think we've already started to see some evidence of that. if you're not going to continue to have a problem with women voters or hispanics, or other minorities you've got to i think put forward a voice and a message that says thatb+áu want to governor for all the people, not just for the radical right of the republican party. and so i think he will probably do that. i mean, he's a smart guy. but i think we've already got a president from what we've seen over the past three and a half now almost four years who is trying to do that. i think that president obama has given great effort and really tried to poof in a more sent tryst mode continually trying to reach out during the first couple years to the republicans for help.

until finally he really came to realize that just wasn't going to be and he needed to try to do things on his own with his democratic colleagues. >> was that an endorsement, governor? >> scenario, it's not. it's some admiration, obviously. but i think that's kinds of just what it is right now. you know, we have a probable republican nominee that's just come out of a very contentious process. you've got a president you know, who is obviously of the democratic party that hasn't had a primary and has had an opportunity to be more broadly focused, if you will, on problems of the country. >> governor, you're giving no endorsements with admiration but mitt romney's getting -- yes, you're giving no endorsements with addiration and mitt romney is getting endorsements without admiration. >> governor, i want to do the flipside of ben's question. if mitt romney moves to the center, that would be the etch a sketch move that was derided by the democrats a few weeks ago.

>> and has been derided by some in his own paerth. >> how he does he keep the conservative baseç who was war of him anyway energized? >> well, that's always a conundrum. i think a real difficulty because you know, some say that we'll have to do if that occurs and he makes sort of a moderation more toward the center, then maybe he can make a statement with his vice presidential pick that has yet to be determined, obviously, but we saw some of that four years ago. and you saw how it turned out. >> you have some names for us who might help accomplish that? >> charlie crist. >> no, i don't have any names for you. i'm just looking forward to these twos candidates having a. >> we're already in veepstakes. let's open it up to the panel a little bit more. what's interesting here and david as someone who sees things from a higher perch, moderation and compromise have become such four-letter words and they're not even four-letter words that congress effectively punts on

everything till the very last minute and or they've been kicked out theoretically and technically, they've been kicked out of their positions which is to say we have a very big to do list. the supercommittee triggers go into effect in january, the payroll tax cut is expiring, unemployment tax benefits expiring, and nobody, the general wisdom is nobody is going to do anything about it until the lame duck session of congress which is supposed to be a lame duck session where nothing actually happens. >> yeah, we're doomed. >> we're done then >> he that's it, we're done. >> the segment is over. former governor charlie crist, thank you, sir, for joining us. we look forward to more independent and moderate voices in this politicalç football season. we hope you join us again sometime very soon. >> my pleasure, alex. thank you. >> thanks to david javerbaum for telling us what god thinks it among other things. coming up, it was the week romney and obama began their head to head battle for the

white house but what about newt gingrich? we'll take a look at newt and more when we ask what just happened? that's next. carfirmation. only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

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as the news cycle transitioned to the general election this week, one candidate was relegated to the shadows. we decided to turn the spotlight back on this man's campaign. it's time to look back and ask, what just happened? >> the dog loved it. >> but the dog got sick, right? >> he ate the turkey on the counter. he had the runs. >> politics got down right nasty this week. >> we are braveheart. we need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in november. >> it really was not threatening at all. >> the likely nominee pulled no punches. >> you're not going to see president obama standing alongside greek columns. he's not going to want to the remind anybody of greece. we're not dumb. >> nor did his adversary. >> i wasn't born with a silver

soon in my mouth. michele wasn't. >> even the peanut gallery got into the mix. >> he think he has been an unmitigated disaster for the country. >> when we look at despots from foreign countries putting their money in swiss bank accounts. >> you're comparing mitt romney to a despot. >> i'm talking about the habits. >> if we're honest, the best thing this week had nothing to do with november or the presidency or the race actually. >> i got bit by a penguin. it was great fun. >> lane, newt gingrich. >> want to be clear. i'm the underdog. >> according to the former speaker, he's still in this thing. >> but i'mç focused on the nomination. >> even though his friends may believe otherwise. >> with all due respect, let's get on with this, okay? he doesn't have a shot. >> even though his close advisers may believe otherwise. >> i've known newt for a long time. he doesn't have the this driving ambition to be president. >> but hey, what's realty when you have a message to deliver? a message about neuroscience. >> each individual brain has about as many neurons as there are stars in the universe.

>> doesn't america want more neuroscience? america, it seems, still needs more newt gingrich, even if the campaign trail does not. >> how will historians view this presidential campaign? >> view this campaign? as chaos. >> and thankfully for america, newt gingrich isn't following anybody's marching orders but his own. >> oh, okay. get to the important announcement, we have instructions all the time. i am the last conservative standing and i am still standing and i am running hard. >> still standing and running hard. worth noting, ben smith, that ron paul now has a video game crafted in his likeness. ralph nader in the pages of "time" magazine calling him one of the 100 most influential people in the world, in the americas. i ask you, who's in this race for the long haul, ron paul or newt gingriching. >> ron paul will still be running late next year. i don't think he ever dropped out in 2008. i think he's still running that

campaign. >> steve kornacki? >> here's the deal. we all thought when this would end, newt gingrich would have a home at fox news. he said he didn't get treated fairly and roger ailes said he's not coming backç when it is ov. >> your cannes to get him cheap. >> newt, lynn. >> ron paul, just today his campaign announced he raised $2 million in march as long as he could keep up that kind of fund-raising pace, he'll never officially stop. >> there's a video game presumably that keeps him relevant in the manual nations of all of his followers. michael eric dyson. >> that will last statement, was that tupac's hologram? he got bit by a penguin, he would be a great person for the next batman campaign. why doesn't he combine his campaign, ron gingrich. >> terrifying. thanks again to michael, lynn, steve and ben. that's all for now. i will see you back here monday at noon eastern/9:00 a.m. pacific.

until then find us at facebook.com/alex. hello and happy friday to you, andrea. >> a happy earth day weekend to you, alex. our new poll shows president obama ahead of mitt romney but not on one very important issue. chuck todd is going to break it down for us in our daily fix today. there are tough issues ahead for congress over billions of dollars for afghanistan after u.s. troops leave. armed services chairman senator carl levin joins us in a few minutes. and the lead scientist for the nature conservancy on putting people at the center of the environment on this earth day weekend. day weekend. we'll see new 15 minutes. delicious gourmet gravy. and she agrees. with fancy feast gravy lovers, your cat can enjoy the delicious, satisfying taste of gourmet gravy every day. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love.

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>> i wanted to say i am sorry for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was. i thought he was a little bit younger than i am. and i did not know if he was armed or not. >> but don't expect zimmerman to be out today.ç the judge sets conditions that still need to be worked out with his lawyers and with the police. also this hour, it's the economy. president obama leads mitt romney in our newest poll except the one issue that matters most. and the secret service scandal. we now know the identities of two of the agents as pictures emerge of the woman now at the center of the scandal. and life imitating art. the real life hangover. >> i can't believe -- >> how a night down under ended with a stolen pengu