stone" executive editor eric bates, the man who gets up way too early every morning of the year for the most part, the host of msnbc's "way too early" the incredible willie geist. patricia murphy, contributor to "the daily beast" and msnbc political analyst, richard wolffe. it is day three of build it-gate. mitt romney's campaign continues to criticize president obama over a comment plucked out of context. one that suggests the president doesn't believe small businessowners built their own businesses. romney's campaign now has sentactically questionable t-shirts quoting their candidate saying, the idea to say that steve jobs didn't build apple, that henry ford didn't build ford motor, that ray croc didn't build mcdonald's, it is insulting. the phrase, the idea to say, is perhaps because the president never actually said this.

their campaign is also out with a new web video harping on the same misrepresentation of the president's words. >> president obama, you're killing us out here. through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. why are you demonizing us for it? we are the solution, not the problem. >> as the romney campaign distorts the president's comments, it still hasn't found an answer for why team romney continues to shield the governor's tax returns or his involvement in outsourcing practices at bain. willie geist who made the comment, i don't know if the audience heard it, that's the longest phraseology upon a t-shirt ever. >> i'm not talking about the substance. it's the worst t-shirt ever. like the catchphrase, where's the beef, or whatever the kids are doing nowadays. >> it's probably because the president said nothing in this vain at all. i will pledge to play the actual sound bite of what the president said every day this continues to be a line of attack.

let's go to the videotape and hear what president obama actually said. >> if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. there was a great teacher somewhere in your life. somebody helped to create this unbelievable american system that we have that allowed you to thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you have a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> okay. and there it is. the context, willie, there is we are a community. we all help each other. we all make things. some people make different things, but together we can have a thriving economy. >> you're such a socialist. >> i am a socialist. clearly a revolutionary. the question is, my friend, do you think this can change the narrative? they want to get away from bain, cayman islands and the issue of tax returns. >> no, he's trying to run out the clock. that's going to be the story. they are able to use this, the

romney campaign, only inofar as they can make it look as a distinction, their view of the way the country works, their view of the way country should be, it comes from the people, it comes from individuals running business. maybe it's out of context, but if they can use that to drive that message that's what they're doing. >> that's what they're doing, richard and patricia. the question is, overall, is anything we're seeing right now going to change what happens in november? there's a bunch of new polling out. things remain largely the same. in terms of handling of the economy, 39% approve of the president's handling of the economy which is down 5% since april. 55% disapprove of the president's handling of the economy, that's up 7% since april. romney's experience at bain, 14% say his bain experience makes them more likely to vote for him. 23% say less likely to vote for him. 60% say no effect. similarish numbers. personal wealth, 5% say romney's

wealth makes it more likely to vote for him, 20% say his wealth makes them less likely to vote for him. and 73% says it has no effect. is this a matter of timing? is this a nonstarter with the american voter? >> so the president won election first time around with a seven-point margin. let's assume it's going to be less than that. anything under six points is the margin of error. every piece of polling in this election is within the margin of error. and so you're seeing things in a close race, two or three-point race, which is actually what president bush won re-election with. you're going to get polls that put one candidate up or another down and that's what happened to john kerry in 2004. there were polls that put him up. interesting thing, does the whole debate change anything? yeah, i think it does change something. it drives people away from voting and away from politics. this campaign, this whole election, is getting smaller and smaller every day, every week, so, you know, obviously the economy, swrjobs are the most

important thing. we ended up talking about tax returns forever. now we're talking about the meaning of that, the word "that" and gaffes and words taken out of context. both sides are driving this to a smaller and smaller point and i think the net result is people just won't show up. >> i mean, i guess when i look at that polling, i'm always -- i always question sort of how much we are reliant on polling. but i do think, and i think the best analogy here is team obama is building a wall around mitt romney and i think right now they're in the process of laying down the concrete, the mortar, the bricks, whatever else goes into building a wall. this is a narrative they've been working on a long time, given the romney's team intransigence of releasing documentation. they're going to keep hitting this in august, september, october. patricia, could we see actual change in those numbers later on? is it just too soon? >> i think if you look at the trend lines, this is a pretty

simple election, as go jobs, so goes obama. obama was doing really well the first part of this year. obama has done worse and worse and worse as the jobs numbers have gotten worse and worse and worse. everything else seems to be a lot of noise and a lot of sort of rattle and strom. these campaigns are trying to make it about the other guy. and so if obama can make this about mitt romney, that's what all of this is about. if he can make this about mitt romney, say, i know i'm not having the most luck with this economy, but he is the last person you should trust with this. meanwhile, romney wants to make this about the job that obama is doing. that's why they keep bringing up these things, whether obama said them or not. they want to convince the american people that the government is not there for them, that they are being stopped by what the government is doing. this polling, and, again, you know, polls come and go. national polls not nearly as important as state polls. but there was a piece in "the new york times" poll where independents said, 30-some independents said they believe obama could turn the economy

around if given more time. nearly 50% said, it doesn't matter how much time obama has, he'll never turn it around. those are the numbers outside the margin of error, a 15-point spread. this is devastating for the obama team. if they can't turn those numbers around, he's not going to win. >> if you're looking at the jobs number and the economic picture you're looking at, eric, where else is team obama going to go? first of all, mitt romney has not put on a substantive economic plan for them to latch on to. the best they've been able to do is sort of pick apart the paul ryan budget. they have to create this narrative and they're going to have to use it. i mean, past november, assuming he gets re-elected. >> i don't think it's a distracting narrative, either. their opponent actually has an economic record. you know, so they can point to his economic record just as he can point to their economic record. he's running on his economic record, he's running on the idea he knows business. this is entirely appropriate for them to be doing. it's interesting that it really is about wealth on both sides.

it's about romney's personal wealth and the country's lack of wealth. and so whatever you're debating, you're debating wealth in this case and debating who's in position to fix it. i think what's interesting, too, obama's team has really proven itself a master at a very old-school approach of winning the day. day after day after day they've owned the campaign for the last few weeks. romney is on the defensive. he's playing defense all the time. he has out of that. and even if the job situation remains bleak, unless he's able to take control of the narrative and position himself as a leader, he's going to have a hard time winning in november. >> it's interesting, even when they're playing defense -- those t-shirts are still totally -- you know, willie, what's intere interesting, when we talk about team obama, we lump everybody together. the president is going to be in jacksonville, west palm beach today, raising money but highlighting a highlighting what romney's medicare plan would do to seniors. big, big talk in florida. he's stayed above the fray and

had his soldiers doing the work and muck and mire which to say the stephanie cutters or the robert gibbs. at what point does he begin to get implicated in these attacks? do you think right now people see him separate? >> no, i think they lump them all together. they're speaking on behalf of the president. i think people are smart enough to see that. i think when you look inside that poll, you looked at the numbers, the bain attacks having no effect, 6-10. romney's personal wealth, 73% say that has no effect. that would say to you, why is the obama campaign doing this? they're no dummies. they're not going into this blindly. they see something probably in state polling that says this is way to keep pushing it. they're going to continue to push it. the real story, though, one of the questions in the polls, a total of 66% of americans said that they are concerned that them or somebody inside their house will lose their job in the next 12 months. that's two in three americans is worried about the job of someone close to them. that's the story of the election. >> that's what we're talking about, right, the economy. >> yeah. >> that's a real practical --

that's the on the ground reality. two out of three americans think they are going to lose their jobs which is a climate of fear that no t-shirt can really speak to. >> that's right. >> especially not that one. coming up, michele bachmann links a state department aide to the muslim brotherhood. a litany of stereotypes on a facebook page. and a state rep says she, quote, fears the president. are we in a new age of mccarthyism? that's next on "now." [ female announcer ] research suggests the health of our cells plays a key role throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day women's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. ♪

it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day women's 50+ healthy advantage.

these allegations about

houma al madine and the report from which they're drawn are nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated american, and a loyal public servant. >> representative michele bachmann is facing republican blowback from an accusation she lobbed at hillary clinton's aide. the congresswoman helped pen a letter warning of the influence of the muslim brotherhood in the president's administration. and notes abidine having three brothers connected to muslim brotherhood operatives and/or organizations. ed rollins slams her judgment writing, her unsubstantiated charge against abedin is extreme and dishonest. having worked for bachmann's campaign for president, i'm fully aware she sometimes has difficulty with her facts but this is downright vicious and reaches the late senator joe mccarthy level.

patricia? michele bachmann was on glenn beck earlier and said, we did not infer she's a member of the muslim brotherhood or working on behalf of the husbamuslim brothd which is a great walkback. isn't it? i don't know what it is. it's some kind of walkback. i think it's, oh, people are paying attention to what i was saying? let me rephrase that. it's offensive. i have to say, it's a very good sign for the republican party that these two men that john mccain and her former campaign manager came out immediately and knocked this down. and there was a time, i would say, in this country when people wouldn't have come out quite so quickly and knocked that down. i think that it shows, even -- i mean, what else can you say? it's just so offensive. somebody like huma abedin who has worked for secretary clinton for 15 years and is very well trusted. mccain is very close to both she and to secretary clinton, and i do think it's refreshing that at

least somebody's coming out and saying this is total, complete bunk and nonsense and nothing sort of conspiracy theory. it's most disturbing that other people sign on to this letter in addition to michele bachmann. >> well, right. it's worth noting speaker of the house john boehner today said i think accusations like this being thrown around are dangerous. it's a moment we've been waiting for for a long time, eric, in terms of someone in the republican party or republican leadership planting a flag in the ground saying this is wrong, this is not acceptable. it's worth noting at an event in ohio yesterday, a questioner called the president a monster. mitt romney sort of pushed back on that. let's take a listen to it. >> because of this awful economy that obama's created, now he's had to lay off people, and he may have to close some stores and it's all because of what this monster has done to this country. we have to have you as president. >> that's not a term i would use. >> that was romney saying that's not a term i would use.

he went on to answer the question. are we maybe beginning to see a turning point in terms of the vitreal that has been thrown at this president? which i think is disproportionate to any other administration, incidentally. >> well, any step in that direction, given the vitreal there has been, is obviously hardening. i think the republican party all along has realized that it kind of opened this pandora's box with the tea party. and it drove them for a while and kept them alive at a time when they thought they were finished. but they also realized that it had the potential to blow up in their face and to go so far that they wouldn't be able to contain it. so i think there is an effort to rein that in and say we like being nasty and like being partisan but this is where we draw the line. they're clearly doing that here. in senator mccain's case, at least, he's also doing it out of honest conviction. i mean, this is a guy who believes in that kind of sense of personal honor, whether you think he applies it uniformly or not is another question. but i do think that springs from

his own belief system and it is heartening. we've gone through lots of periods in this country when people didn't stand up immediately and shoot down this kind of viciousness and lies and to see people from her own party doing it so instantaneously is a great thing. >> remember, it was mccain in 2008 at that rally who stood up to the woman who called president obama a muslim. forgive me if that's not the right term. he said no, ma'am, he's a good man, i just happen to disagree with him. so to see somebody of his stature taking a lead on this is a great thing to see. >> which is not to say the vitreal is all gone. it's worth noting vermont committee chair and republican chair in vermont rob towel on his facebook posted today i received my 2012 social security stimulus package. it included two tomato seeds, cornbread mix, a prayer rug, a machine to blow smoke up my butt, two discount coupons to kfc, obama hope and change bumper sticker and blame it on bush poster for the front yard.

the directions were in spanish. watch for yours soon. there's so much racism and hatred in that facebook post, richard wolffe. towle said the post was to be satirical and said, i realize now that there were those that were deeply offended. >> i find it hard, i'm going to take a different tone i'm afraid. i find it hard to be heartened by these minimal efforts at this late stage to try and put a lid on racist anti-muslim, anti-arab american sentiment that has been whipped up since 9/11. there's a whole industry of it. republicans are by no means the only people, but they are the leading force in this in terms of our politics. when people on the left say president obama failed to close guantanamo bay, let's face it, though, democrats and republicans who fell down and

this industry of fear and said, these people are terrifying, we can't have them in the mainland even if they're in a high security, maximum security facility that nobody's ever escaped from. that's part in parcel of the weakness of the politics we've had and frankly the exploitation of fear. it didn't end with even the killing of bin laden. this kind of stuff, yes, i'm glad people are going out there saying it, but we have got so far to go. it's -- nobody can say, oh, great, we've got john mccain out there, yet thank goodness he did it. it's wonderful, but it's nowhere near enough. fact people still feel confident enough to write letters and publish them and circulate them is actually much more depressing. >> indeed it is. it's worth noting state representative sheryl grossman introducing potential vp bobby jindal said, i can't recall any time in my memory that i feared a president as much as i fear our current president. disagreed with maybe the policy in the past, but this is fear.

so don't be too hard. not that anybody was really heartened. it's very much in the ether. we have to go to break. after the commercials, cash money billionaires. super pacs carpet bomb the airways, democrats search for their own version of the koch brothers. kind of. that's next. do you see it ? there it is ! there it is ! where ? where ? it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans.

so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accep medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral to see a specialist. so don't wait. call now and request this free decision guide to help you better understand medicare...

and which aarp medicare supplement plan might be best for you. there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments

and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ the superpacs supporting president obama got a seven figure influx of cash. actor morgan freeman cut a check for $1 million to priorities usa. politico's intrepid maggie haberman writes about the big democratic donors shunning superpacs. the suspected reasons for holding back include disagreement with citizens united, superpac's mention for negative advertising and administration's record with specific interest groups or

simply disillusionment with the president, himself. an article in "the new york times" this weekend argues superpacs may not have a big impact on the presidential race. he writes, where a lot of house seats in control of the senate hang in the balance a sharp gust of advertising can often blow the results in one direction or another. but a presidential campaign is different. there's probably a limit to how many 30-second spots all of these groups can cram on to cable stations during late night showings of "turner & hooch." what about late night showings of adventure in baby sitting? would that be a bigger bang for the buck? i'm of course kidding. >> i don't know if it's nice for morgan freeman to help out. i don't know if that's the answer. $1 million from hollywood guys. richard will tell you from talking to the obama campaign people, they're paying themselves as financial underdogs. david axelrod will show you the charts when third party groups and romney campaign raised $1.2 billion. they're saying we're the guys without the money in this.

you're going to be hitting the airwaves for the next couple months, we're the underdogs. >> patricia, matt makes an interesting point which is not one that's been discussed a lot although to some degree the re-election campaign has talked about the down-ballot effect, vis-a-vis super pacs. if races are going to be swayed in this election, it's likely the ones who have smaller dollar amounts at play, where cross roads can really make a -- >> oh, yeah. look at just the florida senate race, for example. bill nelson down there has doubled the amount of money that connie mack has raised. connie mack who's the republican has gotten a huge multimillion dollar infusion from an outside group. now he has more money than bill nelson who has been raising this in $2,000 increments. the superpac money can absolutely sway these races and republicans are just as interested in getting republican senate as they are in getting a republican white house. absolutely crucial. i don't think i agree that superpac money won't have an effect on the presidential ration, though. i think you get into state by state race, state by state

ballots, they can absolutely have an effect and i think they will and i think they'll help republicans. >> turner & hooch be damned. one persistent fear you hear from liberals is citizens united altered the balance between the parties in a permanent way, corporate money will give republicans a structural advantage that will never be overcome. more likely, the boom in outside money will prove to be cyclical with the momentum swinging toward whoever feels shut out and persecuted at the moment. what do you make of that? >> i think both of his points are wrong. i think, in fact, the superpac money can make a big difference. as you just said. a state by state basis in the race. we're talking about the biggest sums of money ever coming from individual forces in million-dollar checks. with the least transparency that we've ever had about who's giving it and how it's being spent. so that's alarming just in and of itself. i think in terms of the balance of power, there's no question that wall street tends to favor

the gop over time. you'll have a clinton, you'll have an obama who will arrive at times and the balance will shift to some degree because they bet both sides of the aisle. they know they want to be behind whoever the winner is going to be and they're going to make sure that happens. it doesn't mean long term that unions and grassroots organizations and environmental groups are at a severe disadvantage in this climate. >> yeah, the wall street point i think is an apt one. when you talk about democratic deep pockets and maggie's story, she talks about a few of the donors who are sitting on the sidelines. george soros, peter lewis. these guys are good at managing money, setting aside the ideological barrier to giving money to superpacs. soros is giving to groups building progressive infrastructure, think tanks, media monitoring, research organizations which is playing the long game here. right? >> right. >> i keep bringing up turner & hooch. there is some notion -- why not keep bringing up turner & hooch?

there is some notion this is all sort of short-game politics versus long game. if you're not making an investment in the american political system, why not look toward 4, 8, 12 years out and build the infrastructure? >> the troubling thing is some of them are putting their money into things that duplicate what the campaign is doing, like get out the vote efforts. and some of these can become vonvon vanity project. the advantage of the pacs, on the republican side they can do all the negative advertising and the romney campaign can stay on a positive track. you really don't want to smear yourself when you go out and smear someone else. so having that distance is important for obama in 2008. because of a spending advantage, he could run positive and negative together and balance that with what they were ftryin to do with mccain. in the end, obama has morgan freeman. as far as i can remember, nelson mandela, god, and the president -- so he's got

problems. >> you're impugning morgan freeman's reputation? wow. >> going there. >> just saying. >> you know, to the hollywood question, willie, there's been a lot of chatter in certain circles that the president has not been clintonian enough in terms of donor management. that's one of the things maggie brings up in her article, you know, clinton was a master for inviting people over for dinner, for a night in the lincoln bedroom. obama has a distaste for that part of the political game and has such sort of maybe lost some of the big fish that otherwise would be, you know, opening up their wallet to morgan freeman, notwithstanding. >> yeah, i think that's probably, too. i would ask all of you, though, why the big -- why the george soros aren't out there, why isn't there a shelley adelson on the democratic side? the rules of citizens united apply to everybody. people complain about the new york yankees having all the money. you could have all the money, too, you just need a better team and more fans. why don't the democrats have

those big money guys or if they have them, why aren't they energized to do what the other side is doing? >> maggie made the great point that the obama camp made the decision early on to be deeply offended by citizens united and morally against the concept of multimillion dollar donors. so their multimillion dollar donors are like, ehe, okay. >> the big money in the democratic party was sewn up with the clinton campaign early on. they couldn't raise a lot of money through them. they raised a lot through grassroots. a lot of them have become ambassadors. there are limits in what you can do when the bigger money people are sitting it out because of different loyalties. they were never part of it to begin with. then there's the wall street side of it. those people are offended by tame efforts to bring wall street back into line. so, you know, there are a number of factors there, but there's something personal, that's part of the industry. and, yeah, there's this disgust.

it's also, though, pac, super pacs, we don't want anything to do with them. >> we didn't get our money honey bill burton on for this segment. he's busy collecting checks for morgan freeman. it is a weird kind of, you know, sel position obama supporting super pacs have to take, we love our existence but you should give us money anyway. we have to leave it there. i'm going to give you a thank you to willie geist for staying up so late into the noon hour. there's a door in the floor that opens up. >> the viewers have spoken. >> you're heading off to london. >> i am. >> you're going to be holding it down for us on the parallel bars. on the horse. >> where it's not 5:30 a.m., it's 10:30 a.m. >> way too late. >> that is awesome. enjoy games, my friends. we'll be watching you from over here. catch willie every weekday morning at 5:30 eastern time for of course "way too early." coming up, deadly bombings

and a vetoed u.n. resolution. has syria reached a tipping point? we'll ask former assistant secretary of state when he joins the panel. that's next on "now." stay in the moment sanya. focus lolo, focus. let's do this. i am from baltimore. south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love. this is for everyone back home. it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water.

what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen.

♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try

♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream the blame for this unacceptable situation does not lie with u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon, joint special envoy annan or the u.n. monitors. rather the fault lies squarely with the heinous assad regime and those member states that refuse to join the international community and their fellow council members in taking firm action against the regime. >> that was u.s. u.n. ambassador susan rice last hour criticizing russia and china for blocking a u.n. security council resolution

against syria. yesterday president obama worked the phones as the turmoil intensified, spoke with vladimir putin after violence escalated in syria. the attack penetrated a heavily secured government building and signaled perhaps assad's grip on power might be crumbling. president obama then called israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu after a terrorist bombing took the lives of several israeli tourists in bulgaria. the israeli government is blaming iran for the attack. joining the panel now, james rubin, former assistant secretary of state and spokesman for the state debarment during the clinton administration. jamie, great to see you as always. >> nice to see you. >> a lot of question marks hanging over syria. i'll call to your attention the "wall street journal's" analysis of russia and china blocking the u.n. security council resolution. they said the last failure at diplomacy once again highlighted the growing realization that s syria's fate will be decided by bloody clashes in the streets of the capital and not the halls of the united nations. >> i think that's right.

the widea that even with this resolution, even with the support of russia for the american position that somehow that was a magic solution to this problem i think was always wrong. russia may be supporting assad, but they don't have an enormous amount of influence over them. what they're doing here is more playing a geopolitical game with the united states and the europeans, not so much protecting assad. they do not want to see america or europe take the type of leadership role they took in libya and so the russians are playing that game because they don't really have enormous influence with assad. they have a military to military relationship of some kind. but even if putin said tomorrow it's time for you to go, we're going to put sanctions on you, assad doesn't have anywhere to go. there's no place for him to go. he's not going to leave. he's in a fight for his life. >> now, we were talking during the break about the sort of,

perhaps, premature death knells that were ringing for the assad regime. you seemed to think a lot of the analysis said the bombings yesterday severely weakened his regime and this is the beginning of the end. but you suggested -- >> i think that's fair enough, but to the idea that this is imminent now, that we're in a matter of weeks before regime crumbling i think is vastly premature. they still have a massive military force. they have massive security forces. they have the support of a desperate minority, who have been ruling the country. and, again, they have nowhere to go. we're in the middle of a civil war. the civil war is real. i think what we are seeing is that a lot of people who thought that the rebels, the military capability of these rebels was rather pathetic and they were a rag tag bunch who couldn't really do very much, i think they've been proved wrong. those analysis. because i think this does show that there is a strain of

anti-assad revolution within the military sphere going all the way into the inner circles of the regime. and that's what's striking about this is that it's splitting. >> we're talking, "the new york times" had an analysis on the efficacy of the rebel's bombing efforts and the ieds have been remarkably effective and it really is a sort of chapter two in the civil war. richard, i want to ask you, in terms of the white house position on this, because the president has gotten some criticism, i mean, overall i think not enough attention has been paid to what's happening in syria. the president has gotten some criticism for not being more aggressive with the syrian, certainly from the right. we know mitt romney is going to be in the region. it is a very difficult dance he has to do on syria. >> the question is not what does he say about it or what u.n. resolutions can you pass, because they're taking tough actions on any front they can. the question is, what else can you do? what else is actually realistic

in terms of intervention? and we saw the syrians shoot down a turkish jet fighter just a couple weeks ago. that's a nato ally. that's using american equipment. and they are sophisticated, militarily very secure. they're, you know, as they've looked at all this, there aren't many options beyond all-out war. is this country ready to go out for all-out war in what is clearly a civil war situation? at the same time as trying to gather a coalition and keep things tight in terms of pressure on iran? and so, yes, there's some connection there, but there's a practical question. i don't know if jamie has any smart ideas, but the practical element beyond the covert operations we think are going on is just very, very difficult. >> well, the other piece is the chemical weapons piece which people have drawn a lot of attention to because assad has a stockpile. the "washington post" saying even if mr. assad is not incl e inclined to use chemical weapons in this civil war, there is a danger they'll with up for grabs as regime's power crumbles.

one drop of sarin can kill an adult. 13 people were killed and the agent was released on tokyo subway cars in '95. one could imagine the uncertainty that would follow the disappearance of sarin shells or warheads from ssyria. >> in the effort to isolate iran and prevent iran from playing a big role in the region, we should remember that the defeat of assad would be a great blow to them. they, syria's the only way that iran has access to lebanon, to hezbollah, to the ability to put pressure on israel. i think the israelis would feel much less urgency about iran's nuclear program if the assad regime fell. and i think that's one of the reasons why there are strategic rationales for the united states to be playing, what is appropriate and what it can do. on the chemical weapons as well. look, the jordanians, israelis,

the united states i suspect are doing contingency planning on what you could or couldn't do in terms of securing the sites in the event of a final deterioration and a real chaos in syria. but i think it's going to be very, very trick tricky. i think we're in for a multi-month chaos inside syria, full-fledged civil war is on. >> there is certainly a lot of chess being played at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. note, of course, president was on the phone with netanyahu as he tries to figure out his next moves. we'll be following the issue and invite you back as often as you'll come here. jamie rubin, thank you as always. after the break, activism via mouse and keyboard. one of "time's" 100 most influential people will be here to discuss the digital revolution 2.0. that's next. people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed

that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer.

...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org.

more than 320,000 people have signed a petition to protest the boy scout's ban on gay members. nearly 40,000 petitioned to remove jpmorgan chase ceo jamie dimon from the new york federal reserve. and almost 15,000 have called on the knicks to keep jeremy lin in new york. make that 15,001 after the break. sometimes the petitions work. other times they can't convince a basketball team to match a $25 million contract as much as one anchor on this network would like to try and convince them to. the latest tool for activists is the internet and it's allowing them to organize and spread their message like never before. joining the panel now is the man who is making those things possible, all of them, ben radtray, founder of change.org, one of "time" magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. it's like i can feel the influential vibes. >> my mom would love that one. >> we'll put it on the dvd and send it to you. ben, tell us a little bit

about -- e we talk about activist movements in the living human world and the digital space. >> machines. >> machines. i wonder from your perspective, getting folks to sign a petition online is one thing. translating that into real action with real consequences is another. tell us how you make that jump. i mean, you guys have been behind a few of some really successful movements including the boy scouts thing which didn't end up changing the boy scouts policy -- >> we'll see what ultimate impact that might have. >> the bank of america canceling plans for there are 5 debit fee, apple vowing to protect workers to chinese factories and usda offering schools choice on pink slime ground beef. >> yes. the reason this is having massive impact where they didn't ten years ago, people who signed a petition aren't just names static on a page but movement of people who take further action after joining. the suspicion, the criticism of slacktivisim. the reason, the misnomer, the

sense is signing a petition is the end. for example it's the beginning. bank of america they tried to levy on customers, a part-time nanny starts the petition. people join but many of them pull their money out of bank of america. the combination of what's happening online and driving offline action. >> does change.org sort of help facilitate the sort of next steps? let's say you're the 22-year-old that comes and says, look, i feel really strongly about this, i want to do more. i go to change.org, set something up and you guys help her take the next steps? >> we offer two things. one is a technology platform to start campaigns. the second is we have a large team of social organizers who reach out to people with amazing campaigns, help support them, tell their story. there's a campaign actually recently around "17" magazine. a 14-year-old girl starts a petition asking "seventeen" to stop photo shopping girls in a magazine. we have an office here. we help her organize and find the best way to pressure

"seventeen" magazine and a few weeks ago was successful in getting them to make a public commitment. >> eric bates at "rolling stone," when we talk about activism in the digital age, we talk a lot about occupy wall street and their able to change the national dialogue. the follow-up produced mixed results or the analysis is it produced mixed results. is it your thinking you have to have a dovetailing of the digital space and practical human nonmachine space? >> that was actually going to be my question. for all the internet can do in this realm, there's also the aspects of what it can't do or what would have happened in an earlier era to get those people together to sign those petitions, would have, itself, built an interconnection of social networks that could have fueled an actual on the ground movement offline and what we're seeing is that those kinds of groups now don't have the ability to form and the staying power that they once had because there's a very individualistic response to issues.

so i guess that's the question, is can we see or foresee a way that a union movement or an environmental movement or a civil rights movement that is ongoing and that has real influence in the ability to impact change, could grow out of this kind of model? >> yeah, i think what's exciting is this is sparking the kinds of movements you're talking about. for example, right now, there's a woman who's a mom who ended up having the boy scouts, the troop leaders, 7-year-old kid. because she was kicked out of the boy scouts because she's gay, starts a petition, getting 300,000 people to join and massive media exposure. the result of that is a group called scouts for equality started in response. now we have thousands of eagle scouts and boy scouts around world that are joining in this broader movement. what it does, it's the facilita facilitator, the spark to generate longer-term movements. >> how these kind of movements factor into the current sort of political race that we're in and

how, you know, i know you're working with american bridge which is a democratic organization, or they're working with change.org. calling on rocmney to release tx returns. the consumer driven movements and political movements operate in parallel tracks my favorite of the things that i saw on change.org that combined politics and activism was the petition calling on romney to admit his real name is mittens, ben. how's it doing? >> my mom signed that petition. >> she's 1 of 19 people. thank you, sir, we'll be monitoring your movements and changing of the world. we'll have more after the break. the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination...

and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance, where the costs to both repair your home and replace your possessions are covered. and we don't just cut a check for the depreciated value -- we can actually replace your stuff with an exact or near match. plus, if your home is unfit to live in after an incident, we pay for you to stay somewhere else while it's being repaired. home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance. because you never know what lies around the corner. to get a free quote, call... visit a local office, or go to libertymutual.com today.

liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

that's all for "now." thanks to eric, patricia and richard. we'll have a special edition of "what now" in our now and later on the web. check that out on

nowwithalex.msnbc.com. see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. pacific. "andrea mitchell reports" is next. good afternoon, andandrea. coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports" president obama is in florida today hitting mitt romney on medicare. mitt romney is in massachusetts hitting the president on jobs. we're here with both events live coming up next. israel now blames iran if for the terror attack in bulgaria that killed israeli tourists. are we at a breaking point? we'll ask israel's ambassador michael oren. russia and china today blocked another attempt to crack down on syria at the u.n., today as assad makes his first appearance since the rebel attack on his inner circle. u.n. ambassador susan rice will be joining us next. what was i supposed to wish for? why am i wearing a bow-tie? where did i leave my bicycle? after all, when you're enjoying the beefiest, juciest bite of pure kosher beef, nothing else matters.

goodness gracious, that's kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national. the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog. use the points we earn with our citi thankyou card for a relaxing vacation. ♪ sometimes, we go for a ride in the park. maybe do a little sightseeing. or, get some fresh air. but this summer, we used our thank youpoints to just hang out with a few friends in london. [ male announcer ] the citi thankyou visa card. redeem the points you've earned to travel with no restrictions. rewarding you, every step of the way.

i bought the car because of its efficiency. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station. it's pretty great. i get a bunch of kids waving at me...

giving me the thumbs up. it's always a gratifying experience. it makes me feel good about my car. i absolutely love my chevy volt. ♪ okes, organic i ablettuce, organic kale...olt. does your cauliflower have a big carbon footprint? not at all. that's great. melons!!! oh yeah!! well that was uncalled for. uhh...mr. gallagher. incoming!!! it's wasteful. you know jimmy. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy, ronny? happier than gallagher at a farmers' market. get happy. get geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. mitchell dueling attacks. new polls show the race is a dead heat. leading ladies,