john, what do we got? >> dana writes, i'm in main, cannot sleep, i love your program, so not a complete loss. >> get well soon. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ ♪ there you go, you're looking at willie geist's home away from home, the olympic stadium in london, england, where willie has been on a boondoggle for at least a week with, another week to go. good morning, friday, august 3rd, with us on set, chairman of deutsch incorporated, our old pan, donny, watch what i say, deutsche. brian sullivan is here from cnbc. former chairman of the

republican national committee, harold dean. let's get to you from the latest from london. there are a lot of great stories over there, a lot of really great stories. >> we'll start with gymnastics, 16-year-old the women's all-around competition. host family, to train with the best coach in the united states. and it paid off last night as she took gold, russia took silver and bronze. an american, aly raisman was tied for third, but by a bumped fourth so the united states gets gold with gabby douglas. in the pool everybody talking before the games about the rivalry between phelps and lochte. we saw them head to head twice. lochte won the first one.

last night, michael fephelps winning the 200 im. phelps' first individual gold medal of these games. lochte said i wanted five gold but i can't be too disappointed. tyler cleary for the united states. on the women's side, rebecca soni, a name you haven't heard much about. not getting the attention for team usa. she is now set two world records in as many days. she won the 200 meter breaststroke yesterday. the first woman in olympic history to win two 200 meter gold medal. she is on fire. remember that name. rebecca soni. if you like hoops and lop sided hoops, i was there witnessing this. and as i said earlier, it was a crime against humanity. the dream team beat nigeria, 156-73. that's an 83-point spread counting at home. the u.s. men shot 71% from the floor.

they made 29 three pointers. 29 three pointers. the total, 156. the most ever scored by a team in the olympics. margin of victory, 83. >> that's awful. that's awful. can any member of the nigerian team remember the words, no mas. just stop it. >> you know what? in '92 when the dream team played angola and felt bad for them, nigeria, nine of the 12 players are american. a couple of them play in the nba. so yes. it was lop sided an you felt a little bad and didn't look helpless as the score indicated. on the front row. i had to leave after the third quarter. i felt like i was watching a crime or something. >> should be like little league where they stop it. >> mercy rule. mercy rule. what happened to stephen colbert's favorite sport? the bouncing horses. dressage. >> might be talking about

rafalca. 13th out of 25. not over for rafalcament part of team usa with three horses. the other two perform today. if together they finish in the top seven, they move on to the final on tuesday. there's also some calculation by which rafalca could compete in the individual competition. ann romney said she was consistent and elegant talking about rafalca. a member of the press shouted out whether it dents the husband's credentials as man of the people. she said, i'm not doing any of those questions today. >> all right, ann. >> at the end of the competition on thursday, united states pulled ahead of china, 37 total medals, tied with china in the gold medal count. host great britain in sixth place. medical count of 15 including 5 gold medals today. prime time coverage features a busy night in the pool.

gold medal favorite franklin in the pool and michael phelps goes for career olympic medal 21 in the 100 meter butterfly. he says his last individual race of his olympic career. first today, the women's soccer team takes the field in the quarterfinals against new zealand. this is the knockout round. win or go home. they play new zealand over on the nbc sports network. that's where i will be all day and a guy by the name of seth e mame i meyers will stop over. >> take care of him for me. >> i will. >> there's so many great stories. there's kayla harrison i believe of middletown, ohio, who won a medal in yjudo. what can you tell us about her? >> she won the gold medal, in fact. the first gold medal for an

american man or woman in judo. she's been training her whole life and sexually abused by her coach as a young girl. she came out publicly. she was very brave to do it. continued through and saw the emotion yesterday. she got on the medals stand after looking very tough beating the living crap if i may say out of the opponent of great britain. she heard that anthem and fell apart but kayla harrison as you said, middletown, ohio, a gold medal and great story. >> speaking of looking tough, that olympic gear you you have to have pay for that? >> i'll bring you home a bag of gear. >> thank you, sir. thank you. >> before you go, can you give me a quick update? i'm obsessed with women's individual archery. how's it going for the united states? >> you're really testing me this morning. here's what's scary. i know the answer. i know the answer. south korea -- ready for this?

south korea won individual gold in archery yesterday defeating opponent of mexico. >> damn! >> it was a shootoff. if you watch archery. the ratings through the roof. it's a one-arrow shoot-off. your life gown to one arrow and got closer than opponent. south korea. gold medalist. >> very impressive report of willie geist over in london. >> tell you by far the breakout star gabby douglas. she just pops. she is -- obviously, she's fantastic. adorable. i think she's the first breakout african-american olympic athlete through sugar ray leonard in the olympics. >> in the olympics. >> will be through the roof and won't be a close second. >> for you that's really interesting. >> once a year. once a year. they come up. i dig very deep. she is great.

>> a breakout story for everyone here at the table and living on the east coast, i think. that's what happened or almost happened at national airport a couple of days ago. we have new details this morning in a story we first told you about yesterday. in the morning papers and it will be a particular interest in anyone who takes the d.c. to new york shuttle. three u.s. airways passenger planes passed within 1,000 feet of each other at reagan national this week because of a miscommunication in the tower. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams explains what happened. >> reporter: it happened around 2:00 tuesday afternoon when much of the traffic here is smaller commuter jets. regional air traffic controllers noticed a violent weather system south of the airport and decided to switch the normal flow and to have planes land from the north to avoid it. the decision meant changing the direction of takeoffs, too, but federal officials say that word was never properly relayed to the local controllers who handle takeoffs. as a regional jet headed to the

airport from the north two other commuter planes were cleared to take off to the north. the first airplane was improperly allowed to take off toward the plane headed in and came within one mile. federal officials said the plane passed 800 feet above the incoming flight. federal rules require keeping planes further apart. when they noticed how close they came, they told that inbound plane to turn away from the airport and circle to avoid the second plane taking off. the inbound pilot was clearly exasperated. >> we were cleared the river back there. what happened? >> stand by. we're trying to figure this out, too. stand by. >> okay. we really don't have fuel for this. we got to get on the ground here pretty quick. >> the plane was told to turn right but it also passed too close for federal minimums coming within 2.5 miles and 800 feet of vertical separation. federal officials insist the planes were never directly

headed toward each other. >> it was not a near miss and wasn't a near miss because the planes really were not on a collision course and we had a controller who did exactly what she was trained to do. >> reporter: but a former commercial airline pilot says even so it was a huge mistake. >> on a scale of 0 to 10, i would say that it's approaching 8, somewhere in that range. it's a very serious error. >> that was pete williams reporting. house transportation committee, the ntsb and the faa are now all investigating the incident. you know, brian, the irony is here on this day on 1981 president ronald reagan fired the air traffic controllers. how weird is that? >> it's a tough nonsector for a very scary -- we are very scary. 800 feet, about the height of the empire state building.

maybe a little less. listen. i'm sure you fly. we all fly probably more than the average folk and, you know, you hear the stories and you get nervous. remember a few years ago a controller in new jersey apparently speaking on the phone to the girlfriend about the cat. and that resulted in the scligs of a small plane and a helicopter above the hudson river which killed nine people. >> well, you get these stories, like the sleeping controller story, and you realize you scratch the surface of the system and you have a lot of people talking about their girlfriend's cat because there's, you know, hours and hours of sheer boredom. but the moment you need them, they're still talking about the cat. and that's the scary part about the congressmaner system and we don't have enough of them. and also, secretary la hood says, well, they weren't headed directly towards each other. well, that's not the only standard. >> i'll say this. i'm an infrastructure geek, right? >> by the way, don't tell too

many people that. >> and i'm in huge favor of spending on massive infrastructure projects to increase productivity. when you look at our air traffic radar, it's world war ii based. they have next generation. cost $30 million to $40 million to upgrade the airports. maybe we don't have the money. you can put planes a lot closer and more securely together than you can now because now you're a blip on a screen. >> howard dean, can you legislate or spend against human error? i don't care a surgeon or still human beings and it can never, ever be bullet-proof. >> you can make the consequences of human error less. that's exactly right about the system. this thing's been in front of congress for years. they haven't done a damn thing about it. a casualty of gridlock. there's a couple of problems. first of all, they need a brand new system that may cost $40 billion but i hope it doesn't

happen and the usual way is lose 200 people in a plane crash and kronk finally gets the butt in gear and does what they're supposed to be doing because the stuff is around for a while, the technology. >> does anybody else have it? >> no, no. these are standards that are set globally. might be some error systems i don't know about but let's be clear about one thing. what the governor's talking about, loss of human life is one thing, think about the productivity losses? how many of you sat out on laguardia on hours on end. productive people to go to a sales meeting, a job interview. wasting time. >> that problem is an fcc -- i mean, an faa problem. this is going on for years and i remember flying through o'hare all the time. o'hare about ten years ago, the faa told american airlines and united which together have 75% of the traffic in chicago at o'hare, you will cut the flights down by 5%. they did and transformed in to a reasonable place to fly rough. a lot of this is volume.

the airlines put enormous pressure on and too damn much volume for an airport like -- >> the volume only going to go up. >> it went down for a while. i fly -- i'm away 220 days a year on the road. >> what are you running from? >> that's a good -- i don't know. >> the fugitive here. >> the irs. right? i don't have romney's accountants so i have to, you know -- but the problem is, you know, we don't do a good job regulating the volume. we need bigger planes and fewer flights and the airlines don't want to do it. it impugns the flexibility and the faa won't do it an enthey need to. that's something to happen. >> quickly -- >> when the recession happened, things got better with fewer flights. >> i'll tell you why your viewers can be angry at new york. 40% to 60% of flight delays across america, kansas city to l.a. caused by delays in new york air space. houston, new york is the problem. >> they ought to be more angry

at the united states congress because these bind l stiffs went on another vacation. flying home right now for recess with a pile of unfinished business and laundry on the list. >> if they have a close call, they'll do something about this. >> including a bill to aid farmers. republicans tried to pass a short-term bill and senate democrats wanted a five-year plan. routine spending bills, a cyber security bill and a pressure to protect women of domestic violence unpassed or defeated. according to "new york times," the bills have died because of partisan fighting and in some cases in-fighting. what are we going to say we haven't said? >> i don't know. but senator clair ma caskill needed. when they go home and the

conservative constituents reward them for gridlock. that congress doing nothing is fine with them. this is the attitude out there which is, we don't -- you know, a moderate in texas loses because he's compromised to get something passed. >> do you think that's the attitude? >> yeah. >> i don't. >> they don't want congress to -- you know, a bad congress, washington doing nothing is better than this bad group of people doing something. >> guys, can we ever remember a governor in the history of politics a congress that is less appealing, that has dented more the overall brand of congress than this? >> there was actually a study. i forgot what paper, "the times" or something? >> a couple of weeks ago. >> compared the congress of truman, the do nothing congress, takes the cake. far worse than 1948. the only problem is this congress has done a lot of harm because they have shaken american's faith in their

government. people don't think government works anymore. not just the tea party that think government doesn't work anymore. most people, americans look at the guys going, why are we paying these people? they're pontificatpontificating. ever seen c-span? they're representing americans? this is crazy. >> hey, speaking of c-span and congress, can we get the harry reid story up on the prompter? senate majority leader harry reid. >> you don't need the prompter. tell the story. >> harry reid, he supposedly upping the pressure on mitt romney to release more of the tax records. senator harry reid, the senate majority leader, he said in an interview in "the huffington post" investor in bain capital told him romney has not paid taxes for a decade. according to the las vegas review journal, reid said that the comments were not just some figment of my imagination. according to "the huffington post" reid made the claims from

the senate floor and yesterday he doubled down in the same chamber. >> the word's out he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. let him prove that he has paid taxes because he hasn't. we already know from one partial tax return he gave us he has money hidden in bermuda, the cayman islands and a swiss bank account. not making that up. that's in the partial year he gave us. mitt romney makes more money in a single day than the average middle class family makes in two years. or more. >> well, it's time for harry to put up or shut up. harry's going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because, of course, that's totally and completely wrong. it's untrue. dishonest and inaccurate. it's wrong. so i'm looking forward to have harry reveal his sources and we'll probably find out it's the white house. >> okay. governor dean, help me out here. why am i so annoyed that harry

reid, the senate majority leader, basically says, you know, pierre down stairs at the security desk told me that mitt romney paid no taxes todd rogers ten years? very little is said about it, and yet, you know, when that marginally sane person from minnesota says something about a person that works for secretary clinton and claims that she is linked to the muslim brotherhood, we rightfully, we rightfully go after her and nobody says anything -- he's the senate majority leader. >> so here. look. this isn't fair. i'm not making the case for this but there's a big difference. mitt romney is not a civilian. houma is a civilian. she is -- >> she's hillary clinton's principal aide. >> i think she stepped down because they just had a baby. i don't think she is right now. but anyway, the point -- i'm not defending the attacks. this is the stuff the press does all the time. i had michael isakoff do this it

to me all the time. i produced the tax returns. it is not fair. it is not right. but people who are running for president have to expect this kind of stuff. his problem is that whether you like what harry reid did or didn't, this is not a -- this story with mitt romney every day between now and the election unless he -- >> guess what? >> no way to get out of it. it is the rules. >> do you believe him? i believe harry reid. i actually believe exactly what he's saying and that's the big problem. >> you know, in trying to shift the burden over to mitt romney and then mitt romney by the way comes right back and shifts the burden to harry reid to prove it before romney -- romney has not been by this put on the spot, right this minute, to release his tax returns. the story has become about harry reid using the unnamed source to say he didn't pay any taxes. to my mind, if he probably did pay taxes some of those years.

so harry cries wolf and not true but he's going to smoke him out. somebody's going to smoke out mitt romney and make it so -- so much of a problem not to release those taxes and keep them secret that he will release those taxes. >> the amazing thing to me is that governor romney is clearly a guy who plans a lot of things and he's been planning a run for the presidency for at least, at least ten years. and why they didn't dump all of the taxes like christmas eve last year. >> they should have. >> this is a terrible mistake on their part. i'm shocked. as a former candidate, i've been under this pressure. you have to release the stuff. releasing the stuff is almost never as bad as what people think. >> he can't. he can't. >> yes, he can. >> i tell you what -- >> i'll tell you why he can. >> somebody running the campaign. the average american does not understand or certainly will not endorse or be anything but repulsed by the way a very

sophisticated capitalist wall street banker moves around the edges. whether it's offshore accounts, whatever it is, the average american says he's that guy. i'm getting screwed and doesn't matter he's playing within the lines. still smells bad. >> more likely to forgive him that. >> i don't agree with this. >> people don't resent rich people in this country. >> they resent wall street rich people. >> they resent people that don't play by the rules. >> i agree to a point although if romney were smart he would say this is why we need tax reform. take it and say, these kinds of things are -- it's just nonsense and we should end it. let's also remember that he has released tax returns up until 2010. forbes has 18 million in charitable giving in those returns. right? so if you're romney, you say, listen, yeah, i did some of these things and the american public's not going to find it ap

tid tizing. highlight the 18 million in charitable giving he's done. that will lower your tax rate by donating to charity. >> oh man. well, i'm still waiting for the editorial in "the times" and "the washington post" on harry reid. still ahead, senator chuck schumer will join us right here. also, "the new york times" elizabeth bumiller on new details of the u.s. drone program. plus, outgoing congressman steve latourette why he is comparing congress to an alcoholic heading for rock bottom. but first, here we go. bill karins with, well, it could happen and then it could not happen. >> very good, mike. yeah. that's a lot of questions right now. ernesto, the next tropical system that could affect the u.s. or maybe pass to the south of us down around cancun and belize. the latest on storm, very weak system that became a tropical

storm last night. winds at 45 miles per hour. the forecast path from the national hurricane center does take this storm south of the islands of puerto rico, haiti, cue be and jamaica. five days from now, through wednesday morning, should be near cancun in mexico there or the western tip of cuba. two days from there project up in to the gulf of mexico. we have still concerns florida to texas. haven't eliminated anyone and could be dealing with the first hurricane heading towards the u.s. since irene of last year. now, as far as the forecast goes today, another hot baking day from oklahoma city to dallas. the weekend forecast is going to continue to watch a strong cold front. the northern plains. this is the one we have been waiting for in kansas city. 89 in minneapolis today with thunderstorms. then saturday, a very stormy day from the great lakes through areas of the central plains and then by sunday, the cold front and the storms on the eastern seaboard. as far as the forecast goes, we

watch those storms out there. this is a new position. not -- we have to work on our, like, eli manning. oh man. morning sunrise over new york city. you are watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. shannon tyler is having friends over for a "back to school" clothing party. what they don't know is they're on hidden camera, and all the clothes are actually from walmart. let's see what happens. they feel really soft. i like it. i feel like i could wear this with almost anything. we love the material. so far all the material is phenomenal. these clothes are all from walmart. what? wow! i've never bought kids' clothes at walmart. [ earl ] would you now? yes! walmart has great brands that make great looks. you'll love them, or your money back, guaranteed. see for yourself. ♪

gives you a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more [ russian accent ] rubles. eh, eheh, eh, eh. [ brooklyn accent ] 50% more simoleons. [ western accent ] 50% more sawbucks. ♪ [ maine accent ] 50% more clams. it's a lobster, either way. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. with a 50% annual cash bonus, it's the card for people who like more cash. [ italian accent ] 50% more dough! what's in your wallet?

very good song. we'll attempt to look at the morning papers even though donny can barely read. >> we have a heads up. my eyes are a little off. i didn't bring the right glasses. if i look like this, listen to the word. >> "new york times," lost more than $800 million on food and drinker er iservice over the l decade. leave the employees alone, would you? it's oversight. railroad's food and beverage

service never broken even, not even since congress required it to 30 years ago. what was you going to say? >> cancel the railroads. breakfast service is just stop and get something in the union station. >> we like the microwave hot dog, governor? at least 20% meat. it's fantastic. >> "the boston globe" may have duped the irs out of as much as 5 billion refund checks last year. they say even though it's 940,000 fraudulent returns last year, possibly as many as 1.5 million undetected. investigators found a single address in lansing, michigan, used the file, get this, 2,137 tax returns. the irs issued $3 million in the returns to the same address. >> one hus, 2,137 fraudulent tax returns and the irs paid $21 billion. a third of what they say the buffett rule brings in every

year. just saying. >> more than junk mail. "atlanta journal-constitution" chick-fil-a set a single day sales record on the so-called appreciation day backed by mike huckabee, thousands of diners poured in to the chain's locations nationwide. the event in support of company president dan cathy's comments of same-sex marriage. >> i wonder if the ceo of mcdonald's comes out to drive sales. "seattle times." a website yelp manipulates how reviews appear online for $300 to $800 monthly fee of advertising. they claim they were told bad reviews go away if they bought advertising. san francisco-based company says it doesn't do business that way. >> you know who doesn't do business that way either? mike allen. >> no, he does not. >> he's here with us now this morning and it's your favorite day, mike. tell us.

tell us what you're looking at. >> because you know when you're starting "morning joe" it's always happy friday. >> there you go. >> what do you got going on today in politico? >> couple of things, mike. we are looking at the two souths. there's really two souths now in american politics. you have florida, virginia, north carolina, pivotal in the presidential race. neither one of the candidates can win if they lose all of those and then everything else that's more polarized. the democratic party becoming more intensively black, the republican party more almost completely white. as you know, beginning of this election season, the obama campaign had hopes of breaking that up a little bit by making a play for georgia. there were a lot of new voters, unregistered voters, voters that might be obama friendly. of course, they have given up on that. jonathan martin who writes about this today calls it the lingering mason-dixon line in politics. the hopes of rekconciliation ovr

the presidency not achieved. >> i have a cosmetics question for you. where are you appearing from today? is that an old edsil automobile -- >> this is a brand new hd set here on politico world headquarters. few people maybe missing because they're on lunch break at politico. we've already done a day's work. so we let a few people go out and get some friday ice cream. >> what time do they report for work, seriously? >> we have about 30 people who have products out by 6:00 a.m. and we just put out today the graphics folks are away because today we have a fat glossy magazine out previewing both conventions. one way, the democratic convention. flip it over, the republican convention. >> we got it.

>> weekend reading there. >> it is a media juggernaut politico. >> we have it right here. look at that. look at that. mike allen. look at that. who's better than mike allen? nobody. >> he's a good guy. he's a good guy. all right. mike, thanks very much. up next, jonathan capehart standing by. that can mean only one thing. it's time for jonathan and sports. always a huge event here. "morning joe." there he is right there taking the notes. baseball scores. "morning joe" back in a minute. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced haldex all-wheel drive. [ engine revving ] it's bringing the future forward.

why severy room deserves ll us what outo look great.or is? and every footstep should tell us we made the right decision. so when we can feel our way through the newest, softest, and most colorful options... ...across every possible price range... ...our budgets won't be picking the style. we will. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. make room for savings with $37 basic installation on martha stewart living and platinum plus carpet. yeah, you -- you know, everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ] i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three words, dad -- e-trade financial consultants. so i can just go talk to 'em? just walk right in and talk to 'em. dude, those guys are pros. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. they'll -- wa-- wa-- wait a minute. bobby? bobby! what are you doing, man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade. [ male announcer ] get investing advice

it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team.

okay. you might want to set your dvds at home. this is the highlight for us. all day. all day highlight. this is it. right now. here with us to take us in to the sports world, editorial writer for "the new york post," founder of the double windsor knot himself, jonathan capehart. >> doing sports, should be johnny capehart. >> like my uncle? >> no. jonathan is pulitzer prize. now for sports, johnny capehart. >> rangers at home with the angels. top of the first. welcomes dempster with a solo home run. that put it is angels up by 1. third inning. rangers up by 3. lines one to the left side and

andrew is there for the sensational catch. take another look. the shortstop lays out in shallow left field to spear the line drive and rob him of a base hit. seventh inning. game tied at 8 until mitch moreland drives home the go-ahead run. rangers win this one by a final of 15-9. they lead the a.l. west, mike, by 4.5 games. >> you think he's the best player in maybe a quarter of a century? >> better than bryce harper, for sure. >> whoa! >> oh! >> how are you doing, mike? take that. >> just on your -- >> don't be mocking me. >> excellent. >> lock at that. >> wow. >> wow. >> don't play me. the royals had gone to the indians. top of the fifth. carlos santana ties the game with a two-run shot over the left field wall. royals cough up the lead after being up by six runs.

still tied in the bottom of the 11th. a grounder through the left side and the winning run comes around to score for kansas city. finally some good news for the last place royals. they walk off with the 7-6 win. now are you ready for this? >> yeah. >> guys, listen. your want to hear this story. brian. yankees fans undoubtedly a shock yesterday with a post on the team's official facebook page reading, quote, we regret to inform our fans that derek jeter will miss the rest of the season with sexual reassignment surgery. he promises to come back stronger than ever in 2013 as minnie mantlez. the post was a hoax aez the yankees one of several major league baseball teams to have their twitter or facebook pages hacked yesterday. the identity of the hacker is still unknown. >> i think the owner of the red sox. >> what do you think, bobby

valentine? they toss him out of boston? i would like the expert answer. >> very good. >> you know what he went to you? like this. boom. that's what that was. >> good job. >> mike, tease. >> all right. still ahead, we're going to ask van jones about the president's re-election bid and whether the white house has done enough to please progressives. up next, the must-read opinion pages. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. down here, folks measure commitment by what's getting done.

the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. [ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. at unitedhealthcare insurance company,

we understand that commitment. and always have. so does aarp, an organization serving the needs of americans 50 and over for generations. so it's no surprise millions have chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help cover some of the expenses medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to find out more, request your free decision guide. call or go online today. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long.

i'm barack obama and i approve this message. >> you work hard. stretch every penny but chances are you pay a higher tax rate than him. mitt romney made $20 million in 2010. but paid only 14% in taxes. probably less than you. now he has a plan that would give millionaires another tax

break and raises taxes on middle class families by up to $2,000 a year. mitt romney's middle class tax increase. he pays less. you'll pay more. >> four years ago barack obama was concerned about florida's economy. >> when wages are flat, prices are rising, more and more americans are mired in debt, our economy as a whole suffers. >> but under president obama, 8.6% unemployment. record foreclosures. 600,000 more floridians in poverty. he focused on obama care instead of jobs. barack obama, what a disappointment. >> two new ads just out in the last 24 hours. americans have been sitting on the edges of their seats waiting for new ads. let's have a quick review of the ads you just -- quick review. >> both effective because they're both true. >> true although most people pay less than 14% net effect of income tax rate. >> not including payroll taxes

they don't, though. i agree with donny. most effective ads. most negative campaign probably in presidential history is my guess. >> wait. most negative? both good. and in fact, the middle class pay is -- pays more than 14%. it's people like me that end up paying the 35%. >> the middle class does not pay more than 14%. >> sure they do. >> that's completely wrong. >> if you include the payroll taxes? >> no, no. >> how do you possibly get that? >> nonprofit organization, tax policy, around since 1937, the individual effective federal income tax rate for the middle -- >> i'm not talking -- >> what are you talking about? >> plus medicare and -- >> according to to them, 14.3% for the middle income. >> can't possibly be true. >> talk to -- i'm getting the data from the tax policy center. >> here's the contrast of the ads. in the last 40 years we have elected the most likable campaign and what the obama team is doing between bain and taxes

is saying you don't like that guy. he's not you. and i think that trumps the 8.6% unemployment. >> you have to hope obama doesn't become unlikable repeating that again and again. >> they got to hope more people don't edge up to the point saying i'm not voting. i'm tired of both these guys and the ads. >> people will vote. that is polarized electorate. they'll vote. my guess is that obama wins. not because of what donny said although what he said is true. romney doesn't seem presidential. >> hasn't given people a place to did. >> this is an important discussion to have, right? i don't want to hog the conversation but there's a lot of miscon essentials of taxes. both of my parents are accountants. my mom on the personal side. my father on the corporate side. >> you must have a whacky family. >> i brought some stats in. i don't know if we have them in the graphic form about what people pay and "usa today" had

an interesting story of 500,000 households making $100,000 a year who pay nothing. the median tax rate for the middle class, the actual middle of the middle class family, their tax burden on a federal level, right, federal income tax level, there's fica and state taxes and sales taxes has gone down by half since 1980. gone down by half. so i think -- i talked to a guy about this weekend. what do you pay? what's your federal effective income tax rate? 4%. six figures. there's misconceptions of taxes is my point. >> interesting. >> okay, okay. so thank you. so there it is. that's not according to me. this is the nonpartisan tax policy center. right? the blue is 1977. the red is 2007 which is the latest data that they have calculated up and that's the effective, meaning after deductions, total. you can see the middle third

quinn tile. 10.6% for the 20% to 40% income bracket. do the individual. do we have that? that includes fica. middle class is now 6.2%. >> that's absolute. still in same tax policy center according to romney's plan, the rich guys drop by 4%. >> i'm not debating that. >> it's all comparative. >> that's an important discussion to have about who's really paying what. >> not like a pop-up chart. i expect charts with steven ratner is here. >> i'm the business guy. i like charts and graphs, numbers. i'm not political. i just like the numbers. >> 30% is going out the door. however it goes it's gone in the middle class. >> so my point is if this is so then why don't we go back to the clinton tax rates? this is a crazy debate we're having. >> no, it's not.

>> not between you and i. >> i was like, you can call me crazy. you can call me maybe. but it's not a crazy debate. >> the national debate is a crazy debate because people are -- if this is so, basically everybody ought to pay taxes. >> can you explain to me, still history, the great conservative ronald reagan highest taxes in my adult life. >> and largest. >> stunning. >> no, no. yeah, you're younger than i am. lyndon johnson, a 91% tax rate. >> you know what a lot of politicians don't get about taxes? not that people are walking around complaining. i'm being overtaxed. not doing that every day. i think what they're doing on most days is wondering, why am i not getting the best bang for my tax dollar? why are the roads filled with potholes? why are the bridges crumbling? why do the airports suck? >> airports do suck. >> yeah. >> by the way. have you been to hong kong and singapore? we think third world.

>> why is my child gets a "a" in math and can wa't add 3 and 3. >> i don't like paying taxes. margaret and i used to work together. mike bloomberg, you may know him. my former boss. >> wonderful, brilliant guy. writes my checks, yes. >> wrote an op-ed, forgive me for the date. i think "the new york times." he basically said the only reason i bring this up is i want any politician of any scribe, creed, whatever to bring up, right? which is this. at current spending levels everybody's going to have to pay more. period. the numbers, even with the taxes on the rich, the buffett rules. funds the government for six days. >> romney's plan. >> where's the rest of the money coming from? >> under romney's plan -- why should anybody pay less under your -- >> i agree with you. i agree with you. i have written in support of the gop passing the buffett rule because then we can move on to

real debates. won't help the economy much. that's what i'm trying to steer the debate to. when's a politician -- governor, you know this. the numbers don't add up even with the buffett rule. >> that's true. >> where's the gap? >> right before the break, we ought to go over the fiscal cliff and the reason to go over the fiscal cliff, a terrible alternative, better than the rest of them. we go through two quarters of recession according to cbo and come out and eliminate the deficit. cut defense. you restore the clinton tax rates which we have to do because we have to pay more. >> tea party member? >> no. i think we ought to go over the fiscal cliff. not a great alternative but the congress is incapable of anything else. we ought to do it. >> ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow at noontime in manchester, vermont, howard dean is leading the local tea party. let's go over the cliff festival. >> there are no tea party people in vermont. there are a few, a few.

>> driving tractors over police cars. >> moving to new hampshire. still ahead, the july jobs report due out in less than two hours. >> am i glad that went -- >> we'll bring you "fortune" magazines lei k3wh gallaghgh ga break down the numbers. "morning joe" back in a minute. era laundry detergent is a black belt stain fighter.

it once stomped a stain with such force, the results could be felt around the world. [ explosion ] [ alarm buzzing ] [ rumbling ] [ people screaming ] it was such epic stain fighting, even chuck norris could respect it. twice the stain fighting power as the next leading liquid value brand. era, the only detergent that's chuck norris approved. era, the only detergent hey america, even though slisa rinna is wearing the new depend silhouette briefs for charity to prove how great the fit is even under a fantastic dress. the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear. we invite you to get a free sample and try one on too.

so great to see those little russian girls crying. >> what? >> just -- oh my god. i was just laughing so hard. it was just like, look at -- they're just bawling. and it was just so great. >> no! that's -- >> what are you talking about? >> they're only 15! >> no one forced them to join the team. you know, for decades, the russians were so good and now they're nothing. they've got nothing. they've got nothing. yeah. you know what y? because we're usa. right? usa! number one country in the world! usa! usa! usa! usa!

usa! usa! usa! usa! russia sucks! >> undernyou shouldn't say russ sucks. you shouldn't say that. >> great will ferrell. >> the reason americans love the olympics, how often do we get to get around as a country and say we're great? >> i want to know if will ferrell will be mitt romney's foreign policy adviser. >> exactly. up next, "the washington post's" eugene robinson. i'm freaking out man.

why? i thought jill was your soul mate. no, no it's her dad. the general's your soul mate? dude what? no, no, no. he's, he's on my back about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry. e-trade's got a killer investing dashboard. everything is on one page, your investments, quotes, research... it's like the buffet last night. whatever helps you understand man. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the e-trade 360 investing dashboard.

♪ i feel bad for the president. i really do. and here's why. you see, when you listen to the president talk about these things, he's missed the core issue that has made his presidency fail. and the reason why it's so clear to me today is because i'm on the stage with these people. the core reason that his presidency has failed is he doesn't know how to lead. see, leading isn't reading a poll and following it. leading isn't going to the press and trying to figure out what they want to hear. leading is looking at problems an trying to figure out how to

solve them for the people who gave you the job in the first place. >> well, let's -- that's governor chris christy in colorado with a mystified looking rick perry sitting right there in the first row. >> gazing. >> wondering what's going on. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us from washington, pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor, that means management, of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst gene robinson. gene, what was your take on seeing the governor christy, what he said right then? >> i, too, was transfixed by rick perry asking what am i doing here? well, it's nice words. i mean, yeah. sure. leadership is a great thing, it's great to know how to lead. i think after you've been president for nearly four years, voters will be able to make that

decision as to whether president obama is leading. that was a rather more subdued actually chris christy than we're used to. he wasn't hooting and hollering so maybe it's -- maybe it's really chilled out there. >> gene -- i'm sorry. i ask you a folloyes. i watched christie and severely overweight and he talks about that. does the american population look at a man who's running ostensibly some day for the highest office in the land and say, wow, this is somebody who maybe doesn't have discipline? in the end of the day does the weight problem in our society -- i'm not commenting right or wrong, affect his credibility as a candidate? we have never seen a politician really that size. how does that play? >> i think it plays both ways to tell you the truth. i mean, as you know, i wrote a column back when he was thinking of running for president about

his weight. which he has talked about and which he has said is injurious to his health. i never got such an outpouring of passionate e-mails and phone calls and comments from people on all sides looking at it from all angles and a lot of people passionately saying, you know, how dare you write about even such a thing? and that it was insensitive and people on the other side saying what you just said. you know, well, does this betoken a lack of discipline or whatever? now, you know, obviously, obesity is a complicated thing. it is not just a lack of discipline. sometimes there are always other factors but sometimes there are genetic factors, as well, so i think it would be a very

interesting political science experiment to find out and maybe we'll get a chance. >> you know, one of the things that struck me about that clip we just showed and you alluded to it, gene, is governor christie's tone. he was fairly quiet for him. he's banging the drum and everything like that. but it struck me the tone that he used is the same tone i've heard from several people and this is all anecdotal. regular people. regular americans who are walking around with a sense of disappointment in barack obama's presidency. they like him. they voted for him. four years ago. and now, they're waivering whether to vote for him again or vote at all. i haven't heard any of them say, you know, i'm going to vote for romney but they're disappointed in this presidency. and that seems to be out there. >> you know, i think it's hard to maintain any level of joy in

any politician these days. it is amazing that any president could get re-elected the way we look at them and, you know, i think obama gets a slight pass for even though we're not supposed to talk about the, you know, the bush recession, i think he gets a slight pass for coming in and having to deal with what he did but not enough given what it was. >> i don't think it's a pass anymore. >> not enough to get re-elected. i think the disappointment is keen because it was -- it was so lofty and it was such a good feeling and it was a good feeling for those that didn't vote for him that americans elected an african-american president. that can't be sustained. >> very complicated. first of all, a tax on people's leadership don't work. they see him as a leader. that kind of talk and if you had -- now, i'm not saying the romney attacks don't work because he's specific about the economy and this is happening to you and that happened. that's a specific attack that does work.

this general sort of moaning and groaning about leadership is silly. people know barack obama. he's been the president for four years as you said they'll make their own judgment about whether he's a good leader and nothing that anybody says makes any difference. sure, there's disappointment. the unemployment rate is high. most people don't blame obama for that. obama's problem has been is was the first three years. the health care bill was a disaster. obama care is a fairly decent bill in the private sector. the problem was they brought -- he campaigned on change you can believe in. they bring in the health insurance industry. the hospitals, they get theirs. the lawyers get theirs. the drug companies get theirs. mary landrieu gets theirs and why is this different than washington has been like in they didn't understand what to do. we all, democrats voted for him because we wanted health insurance. the republicans and independents of which there were a great many that voted for him wanted to clean up washington. and they didn't see that. and that's a problem.

now, i think he'll get re-ele re-elected. i think they like him. killing osama bin laden and gets credit for whether the republicans like it or not. it's a huge plus. because here's a guy that took decisive action in the foreign policy sphere and looks like a leader. it's been a rough road. >> margaret, i respect your views and writings very much and want to ask you seriously of whoever's elected. people think you must be in the gop show. whatever. i have a view that the president's not going to matter no matter who it is in the next few terms for the structural problems of the country. the lack of opportunity for young people coming -- i'm not trying to be a downer on a friday morning, i'm sorry, but my point is serious. does it matter that much who's in the white house given the bigger issues as a nation? >> you are talking to debbie downer so it's fine. >> good. i seem half full by comparison.

half full of something. >> filled with despair most of the time. if we have a republican president, a republican house and republican senate, think about that. and then it does matter because there will be no hold on, you know -- >> anything they can do is my point. i don't see what they can do either. >> as i said at the beginning of the show, there's a kind of gridlock that some people seem to prefecture because if they're not doing anything, they're not doing anything bad. conservative republicans and republicans don't want. it does matter. talking about leadership, there is a level of leadership that comes in. you know, the one thing about obama is we haven't had any scandals. there's nothing about obama as a man that is troublesome. >> that's true. >> you trust him. >> that's true. even the conservatives will leave will with saying he's a great family man. >> an obvious winner. to come from what he's done. he's -- >> that's right. >> brian, i agree with you.

i don't want to be donald downer but i mentioned this a few weeks ago and gene, i would love your point of view. i think it's easy to blame the leaders. i don't think there's a discernible difference. my big concern with this country is our overall sense of entitlement and inability for shared sacrifice. i hear wit the rich guys. god forbid they pay another 1% and the other end, god forbid any of the entitlements are taken away and the leaders reflect that. it's easy, gene, to blame the leaders and i see us as a bloated society where nobody, nobody wants to give skin in the game. >> i think there's a certain element of human nature there. if it's there and nobody tells you you got to give it up, then you're going to keep it. you want more. and i think that's the sense people have. plus, look at -- you know, look at people's individual situations. the baby boom generation is

retiring. they want some retirement benefits. they have planned on having these retirement benefits. whether they've structured their lives and finances right all along is kind of beside the point. here they are. they say i need the social security. i need my medicare. and yeah, costs a lot of money and we'll figure that out later. you know, but the fundamentally, you know, i think it does matter who the president is and i think we're going to have to talk straight to people about what -- >> who's we? who's we? >> you don't get shared sacrifice unless you ask for it. nobody's really asked for it. >> gene, that gets to, you know, a pet peeve of mine for sometime now. whatever we've been talking about here this morning for three or four minutes, you can -- i think you can boil it down to one word. courage.

in politicians. or the lack thereof in too many politicians. we have too many people in public life today, the house, the senate, sometimes the presidency even, where they don't have the courage to say to themselves, you know what? i've got two things that i'm going to risk my re-election on. i don't care what happens. i don't care if i win or lose. i'm going to try and do health care the right way. or i'm going to try to end a war or i'm going to do "b," "c" and "d." >> who's the last politician? give me a name. local, national. >> i don't know. >> lyndon johnson. i hated him but -- because of the war. >> a long time ago. >> he was an amazing president in terms of what he produced for the country. you know? i actually think obama gets some -- ought to have some kudos for some courage. pulling us out of iraq was a clear thing to do no matter what. i think we'll be out of afghanistan.

he knows that's a quagmire. i think that's pretty good. you know, i -- >> yeah. >> he does have some courage. >> gene, back to the point you made which is i thought excellent which is about the honest dialogue. right? and to me it's very simple. this is not a republican-democrat thing. this is a we're going to be a nation to give people a lot of stuff from the government and if we are, everybody will have to pay more, pay for it, or a nation to rely on the individual and the states rather than federal government and maybe on a federal level we'll pay less. right? we get a lot of stuff and pay a lot or don't get much and don't pay much. right? >> well, that's one way of looking at it. i mean, i think the option of, gee, we have a tiny little itty bitty government is not there. you know? i mean, you know, that's fine to think of, you know, 18th century

agrarian country. but we have a full government full stop and getting back just for one quick second to the courage department, you know, health care, president obama decided hell or high water he was going to do health care reform. >> that's true. >> you can argue with the way he did it but everybody was telling him it's bad politics, don't want you to -- but he made the decision that this was something that he felt was good for the country. and so he did it. so you have to give him points for courage. whatever you think of his political smarts going ahead with it. >> he does get points for courage on that score. no doubt about that. but there's also and it's not just the president. it's the candidates on both sides of the aisle. we live in a country now where no one told us or reminded us of who we are. you know the phony flap of you built your business, no, everybody else helped you build your business? >> ridiculous. >> check out the 1930s. no. check out 1933.

you know, how did we get to where we are today from where we were in 1933? of course, you know, the war helped. world war ii helped rebuild the country and everything else like that but it was a country that knew the meaning of -- >> okay, greatest generation, barnicle. >> it knew the meaning of shared sacrifice. >> yes, indeed. i'll be fair to any politician. this is the structural issue. we have a big demographic problem in this country, as well. right? back in the '50s 2.3 people retiring paying for 1 retire rheretiree. right? we have aged as a nation. we have -- >> i get that. >> so we have the demographic problems that make it tough to pay. >> but brian laid out a question that the american people answers out of both sides of its mouth, which is, yes, we don't want to pay but, no, we want the programs. and republicans and democrats answer that question the same

way. >> yeah. but let me give you a more recent example of courage. tip o'neill and ronald reagan. >> that's 30 years ago. >> it is to us. >> two guys who both gave up quote/unquote principle to get something done for the country. social security reforms. brian is right with the demographic upside down. it's fixable. the first down payment is i don't get full social security until i'm almost 67. >> you know why it's easier for courage? there was no internet. everything you do today, 24/7 is picked and smacked and slapped. >> somebody's got to stand up and do the right thing, though. you get points for that. i thought it was terrible that ronald reagan fired the patco people. reassured the re-election. not because people are anti-union but a guy to stand up and do what -- >> imagine that move which was a courageous move today. make that move today and the scrutiny and the pulling apart and the ripping of it.

>> look what they tweeted -- look what they tweeted -- >> a lot easier. >> it is true. >> to get that done when you are not, you know, when the locusts do not descend upon any -- >> you know, i unfortunately, i'm on twitter. i could literally sit here and look at the camera saying two plus two equals four and have 50 people tweet me i'm a gop shill. gene, do you think president obama will be one of the most courageous presidents in the history? i think he will. sheer force of will. he's done it. >> you can make that argument. >> make a bracelet. >> wait for history and 50 years. >> listen. all i know is bob kerry running for the senate in nebraska and i asked him once, how long do you think it would take to really revamp the social security system, make it solvent, eliminate most of the problems, he said, well, if you address

the whole thing? i said, yeah. he said, 20 minutes. that's how long it takes. 20 minutes. >> that's true. >> i'm 41 and i don't expect to receive social security. >> social security is easily fixable. >> we can fix social security. >> always a pleasure, gene. thank you very much. >> good to be here. >> look for your column on the emerging drone culture in today's "the washington post." up next, senator chuck sthumer and former white house adviser van jones join the conversation. here's bill karins with the check on the forecast. >> good morning. everyone get used to the name ernesto. this is a storm to track for probably seven to ten days before making landfall somewhere. that's the big question, where. the storm just crossed over st. lucia. the problem when we get the tropical systems in the caribbean is caribbean is surrounded by land. someone gets hit by the storm. the question is will it intensify? the best thinking of the national hurricane center is remains weak over the weekend and by monday to tuesday,

intensifies near jamaica. possibly a strong hurricane, as category 1 or 2 goes by cancun and by wednesday of next week. after that, the hurricane center, you know, our models go anywhere possibly to the north up nearby florida or to mexico so it looks like we could still be on edge from florida to texas. we'll be able to pinpoint that forecast for you better next week. monday or tuesday. forecast for the weekend, today, thunderstorms in the northern plains. they sweep across the country. watch out from the great lakes, ohio valley on saturday afternoon. strong storms and then by the time sunday arrives, strong thunderstorms are likely from new england through the mid-atlantic. the god news is that that cold front with the thunderstorms is going to cool many of us off. kansas city's going to have probably the coolest day in nearly two months on sunday. everyone's enjoying and looking forward to that. we are leaving you with a beautiful shot. over london. that's the olympic stadium. showing the low clouds and

looking like showers over london. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks.

i don't think you all get it. the tea party is every person in america who really is fed up with washington and recognizes the way we got there was abandoning the core principles of the -- of our country, but also, abandoning the constitution. and i don't know one tea party leader anywhere that wants to eliminate veterans' benefits. i'm appalled. that's not a plank anywhere. it's about how do you deliver the benefits and keep the word to the people that defending this country? there's a big difference of viewpoint in terms of what a tea party means. >> that was yesterday and republican senator of oklahoma tom coburn quacking us around defending the tea party in the conversation about texas senate candidate and tea party ted

cruz. the comments caught the attention of the democratic senator of new york, senator chuck schumer. he joins us today. >> good morning. >> with van jones. >> good morning. >> always a pleasure to see you. >> glad to be here ivan's the author of "rebuild the dream." but tom coburn, what do you think? >> i like tom coburn but, you know, if the tea party gains strength it means two things. number one, the republican party will be the minority party for a long period of time. if they dominate the republican party, you know, each base says, pay athe engs to us. democratic far left. republican far right. elections are always won in the middle. you know what percentage of texans voted for cruz yesterday? 5.8%. a radicalized far right 5%. so they will be the minority party but second, guess who's the most unhappy man in washington this week? mitch mcconnell. he has another articulate, smart person whose job it will be if he follows tea party line to obstruct the senate. the six or seven there now spent

their time obstructing. articles in the newspaper today why we haven't got things done is because of them so this will be very, very bad for the senate. like the house of representatives and mcconnell will have as many headaches as john boehner does. this is not good for the country and certainly not good for the republican party but also not where american elect rat orate . 5.8 voted for cruz. >> how much is that responsible, the 5% or 6% or whatever, or the few senators or what boehner has to deal with in the house, how much of that is responsible for the stuff on the table when you leave for a month? >> most of it. for instance, they talked about the post office. we have to do something. in the senate because the tea party is still a distinct minority even a minority in the republican party, we passed a broad bipartisan bill this allows the post office to save a lot of money and keep going.

the 100 tea party guys in the house said, no way. boehner said, no way. we passed an agriculture bill, broad, farm bill, cuts $23 billion, gets rid of a lot of unnecessary subsidies and helps with the disaster relief. broad bipartisan. pat roberts, debbie stabenow. on the other one, joe lieberman, susan collins. still managed to get things done and the tea party blocks them in the house. there's seven or eight tea party guys constantly saying stop, stop, stop. trying to use the senate procedure to just prevent us from doing things. >> the other senate, mike, you were talking in the break about harry reid. your good friend, harry reid. off the reservation. misusing a podium? >> no. please every day mitt romney has to talk about tax returns is a bad day for him and a good day for the democrats. you know, they're trying to focus this on harry reid. there's an 800-pound elephant in

the room. it's called unreleased taxes. guess what? few things we know about mitt romney's taxes, cayman islands, swiss bank accounts, raised more questions than they answer. he should rip off the band-aid now. he should have done it two years ago. no one could understand why. >> what if we see for seven years this guy has not paid taxes? >> the reality, they focus grouped this already. they know for sure that when they release these returns, that this is a disaster for him. they have said, listen. what if you have a guy for not paying taxes and the focus group was, boom. i don't care who the guy is, he should not be president. they have made a bet no matter the damage for not giving the returns, they're better off than telling the truth. >> that's better? >> i agree. >> you think it's better? >> otherwise they would have done it. hey, listen. the best line this thing is james carville saying the only

person seeing 23 years of tax returns for mitt romney -- >> mitt romney. >> and john mccain and john mccain picked sarah palin. that's how bad this is. but they have made a bet and it's -- the tea party's a problem but you know what? the entire republican party for the past four years has been doing something i think is despicable. they have what i call the bodies on the beach strategy. they think if the more bodies that are on the beach the more likely americans to fire the lifeguard. they want obama fired so they don't care how many americans in economic pain, the more americans in fact in economic pain they see for themselves political gain and why you've seen not just the tea party but the entire republican party refuse to step up to the plate on stuff like tax cuts for small businesses, tax help for veterans. down the line. stuff that republicans stood for, they stand against and won't pass in this congress because they want to hurt the american people economically to gain politically.

that's not just a tea party. >> yeah, but there's a fight within the republican party. there are some republican senators who want to work with us. they really did. >> like who, senator? we need some optimism on a friday morning. we have talked about debt and taxes. >> lamar alexander. saxby chambliss. they want to work with us. lamar alexander and i have worked together with a bunch of issues successfully and they showed some courage because they buck the hard right, the tea party group. the trouble is the tea party group is gaining -- bad for them. but worse for the country. >> so what is it? how does it work within the senate? i guess it would extend to politics in general. you have an orrin hatch who in the past worked with democrats. >> great example. >> very close with ted kennedy. >> right. >> is it the perceived threat of a primary or the real threat of a primary --

>> yes. >> -- that causes guys to go off on the right-hand side. >> one of the worse things to prevent a resolution of the fiscal cliff in december was the loss of dick luger. he was respected, liked and the guy he lost to said -- he's a tea party side. i believe there's too much compromise in washington. the only compromise i want is when democrats surrender to republicans. how -- that is not how the founding fathers set up our system. the good news is america corrects itself. it may correct itself in this election. one of the reasons that we're doing much better in the senate than anyone thought is because the hard right, the pea partea s knocking off candidates and last time that led to the election of democrats in places. >> it's a good point. but senator, i'm glad you're here because we had a discussion before you and van came on and tax rates and my belief that i have argued for passing the

buffett rule. i have said because it's not going to be that much money anyway. we need to get to the real issue. >> right. >> how do we pay our debts? the buffett rule won't do it. austerity doesn't lead to job creation. i think that's proven. but neither does high debt levels long term. >> everyone agrees that the debt level is too high and a problem. here's what i tell my colleagues. we're a blindfolded man walking towards a cliff and the only debate is not whether we fall off that cliff but whether the cliff is 50 yards away or 500 yards away. there's a simple solution. like bob kerry said about social security. even on the debt, two biggest culprits are the bush tax cuts and entitlement growth. >> all the tax cuts or just for the wealthy? >> well -- >> the numbers just on the wealthy don't add up. >> oh, if you do -- >> 60 billion a year, senator? >> $600 billion a year. >> $600 billion over ten years.

>> we had to raise revenues of 1.2 trillion. that's half of it. that's a lot. and then close loopholes, close a lot of other loopholes and get it. you need revenues and you need to curb entitlements. i believe a majority -- >> specifically? >> medicare and medicaid are the two biggest problems. >> go at it. >> if we change the way deliver it, medicare gives great health care inefficiently. if you change the way we giver medicaid, keep the basic system. not undo which is what ryan wants to do. keep the basic structure and make it efficient. one sentence. pay all doctors a salary. the most efficient health care providers, providing the best health care at almost half the cost are mayo clinic, puget sound. we have one in upstate new york called basset. they deliver top 10% health care, bottom 10% cost because

the doctors paid a salary don't increase the number of tests, don't increase the days in the hospital. it's -- defense, if it's a cost plus system through the roof. you can't have a cost plus system. and democrats would go for that. in fact, some of our -- you have democrats like sheldon whitehouse who have led the charge on it. >> well, i think that's good. one thing to make sure we do touch on before we close, we are talking about the economy and things to make a big difference. some bad news this week. fannie and freddie wants to reduce the principal for underwater homeowners. ed demarco said, no way. if homeowners pay what their houses are worth, they'd spend more money and get the local economies going again. that was a big blow. not just the republicans. democrats are making bad mistakes. republican appointee and works for obama. obama should get rid of him and put someone there to let americans pay fairly for the houses.

>> they're trying to get rid of him. they would like to. >> fire the guy. put a squirrel in there. anybody would do a better joba. >> we have to go. next time you come on, senator, can we talk about the bad state of airports? i'm tired of sitting at laguardia. >> bring back the airports. a year and a half it sat there because of the tea party guys. they don't want the america most americans want. ted cruz's victory is a disaster for mitch mcconnell, the republicans and america. >> i want to talk about the airport. >> next time the new york giants. coming up, facebook's $50 billion slide. what the tech company needs to do to stop the bleeding on wall street. that's next on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] now you can swipe... scroll... tap... pinch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue.

♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. this is new york state. we built the first railway, 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. there are projects. and there are game-changers. those ideas that start with us rolling up our sleeves... ...and end with a new favorite room in the house.

and when we can save even more on those kinds of projects... ...with advice to make them even better... ...that's a game-changer in itself. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get this all in one vanity, faucet, and hardware for just $249.

heads up for investors. facebook's run on wall street has gone from bad to worse. shares of the social media site hate all-time low yesterday closing down 4% at $20.04 as compared to their ipo price of $38. that's initial public offering. it marks five straight days of losses for facebook which is lost almost $50 billion since its initial public offering. the market's been reacting to it in part to the underwhelming

first earnings report. facebook has also recently lost senior executives with the chief technology officer, director of platform marketing and head of platform partnerships all announcing they're leaving to pursue other opportunities. perhaps most revealing is loss in growth and management revealed the number of ads delivered in the u.s. fell 2% last quarter. despite its daily user count jumping 10%. the stock fall implications for the entire state of california as the state says the tax revenue is at risk with the silicon valley company's market struggles. brian, hah hah hah facebook. >> why are you doing that to me? i'm not even on facebook. >> good. why is this happening? >> a couple reasons. mobile. if you go on facebook. there's ads. >> no one clicked on a facebook ad. >> there's a lot of studies that even the ones clicked on may be accidental. the drunk click or whatever.

the loose mouse or whatever you went to call it. the problem is this. problem is this, right? donny, everybody's accessing the stuff on mobile. no room for ads on this little tiny screen. plus you have a billion new facebook shares which are released to the public by the end of the year so there's -- when there's more of something, that's worth less. >> social media counter intuitive of people locking at ads. basic core, the cool thing, by nature goes away. there will be a new facebook. it will keep going down. >> worth tuning in today just for the drunk click. the drunk click. up next, we'll be talking to retiring congressman steve latourette who says congress needs to go to rehab. >> like an alcoholic, i think the lace has to hit bottom before they realize they got a problem and begin to fix it. [ female announcer ] great taste is always in style

with lean cuisine steam bags. get our crispiest carrots and our snappiest peas all freshly steamed in just minutes. steam bags from lean cuisine. be culinary chic.

♪ for a long time now, words like compromise have been considered to be dirty words and there are people on the right and the left who think that if you compromise you're a coward. you're facilitator. you're an appeaser. you're a rhino. i don't know what the democratic term is. i suppose it's a dino. of art of being a legislator the find common ground and pass legislation to solve the country's problems. >> earlier this week, republican congressman from ohio steve latourette announced he's not seeking a tenth term in congress blaming extreme politics for his decision an he joins us now from capitol hill. congressman, thank you for joining us. was there a tipping point? i mean, after all this time and this contentiousness and pola

polarizati polarization, was there things that cropped up that said i'm out of here? >> it was a disappointment of 38 votes on the simpson-bowles budget alternative. there are a lot of things we fought about in my 18 years, nothing new. it's a partisan place. but when things like the highway bill, i mean, talking about building a road, gets bogged down, the farm bill that sort of blew up as we were leaving town yesterday and the student loan interest rate reduction, i mean, and, you know, the speaker's a friend of mine and he took to the floor and said do we have to fight about everything, that accelerated the thinking that, yeah, we do, i guess. >> congressman, it's jonathan capehart. in the clip we showed earlier, you were likening congress to an alcoholic and saying maybe the institution has to hit rock bottom before it realizes it has a problem. >> yeah. >> my question to you is it congress or the american people

who have to hit rock bottom? because they're the ones that keep sending the folks to congress who don't get anything done. >> well, that's a great chicken and egg question. and, you know, the fact of the matter is that the reason you have this gridlock is because people are representatives and they allegedly represent the area they're from and if they don't do that anymore then they're not returning. you could put it to the people but look at the pattern of redistricting, the red districts get redder, the blue districts get bluer. if you're a republican, the challenge isn't in november against the democrat unless it's a swing district but someone running the right and the same is true for my democratic friends. look at pennsylvania. great guy of tim holden. didn't lose to a republican. he lost because he wasn't a good enough democrat and the same thing's happening on my side. >> so, my question is, what's it going to take for congress to hit rock bottom? 9% approval rating in the polls. what has to happen? as a politician, losing an

election's about the only thing i can think of is rock bottom and i don't see that happening any time soon. >> i take good news on the 9%. used to be 7%. apparently we have rebounded just a little bit. but i think rock bottom, i mean, you know, remember back when the super committee failed and fa failed to come up with 1.3 trillion over 10 years. it's 130 billion. i didn't get one phone call or e-mail. there should have been outrage. people should have been in the streets with pitch forks saying what's the matter with your chuckleheads? didn't happen. i think rock bottom is that anybody that doesn't understand this fiscal cliff, republican, independent or democrat, that we're about to face and anybody that doesn't understand that if a split government you have to find a common ground way out of it. not your way or the highway. is nuts. when people begin to continue to lose their jobs, lose their homes, the cost of money goes up dramatically, and we become greece, ireland, italy, maybe

that's rock bottom. >> this is donny deutsche. the first time i'm hearing from you and seen hundreds of politicians on the show and you have a matter of factness, an engaging quality. almost feels nonpartisan as you're talking and refreshing in your tone and manner. >> thanks. >> having said that, if you sit down and talk to the new, young turks and the tea party i tried to rebrand yesterday as power conservatives an the tone and manner completely opposite, if you put your arm around them, what would you say to them? >> that it's great to advocate something that you believe in your heart and your soul and you think you're doing the right thing but at the end of the day you have to recognize where you are. and where you are is the american public again and again and again -- i mean, i came in with president clinton. split government. and again and again and again you have to say to yourself, okay. republicans are in control in the house and democrats in the senate and president obama and you're not going to get

everything you want and so a deal isn't a horrible thing if you get 55, 60, 75% 0 of what you're looking for and find your way forward because the -- to do nothing, this sequestration thing, there are people here thinking, wow, you know what? if we do nothing, sequestration takes care care of part of the problem and the bush tax cuts and i can say i didn't vote to cut taxes or defense and they'll be right but morally bankrupt. >> it's brian sullivan. there's a new plan i think you're part of it about debt reduction when they come back. >> yep. >> and governor dean and i spoke about this earlier, too, which is, the fiscal cliff. >> yep. >> do you believe we will go over it? lay odds on whether or not the chances of us going over the fiscal cliff? >> i'm an optimist. i put it at 50-50. i put it at 50-50 because i know

the speaker a little bit because he's from my state and so i know a little bit of the discussions between he and the president last august. i thought "the new york times" did a great piece, that long piece on the tit for tat that went on and nibble my f tit-for-tat that went on. i think president obama would have been a willing dance partner if he didn't have the same forces on the left pulling on him that the speaker had pulling on him on the right. >> it was mr. latourette coming to washington for president clinton. long time ago. what happened? >> i was real excited until i found i had to serve with borroscarb

scarborough. >> that would happen to anyone. >> yes. both sides are now saying that the other side drove me out. the democrats want to say it was the tea party, whack jobs that drove me out and republicans want to say it was the democrats. that's really what happened. when i got here, you had a lot of the old bulls. i had a big class, 73. joe and i came in, in the class of '94. people were breathing fire and everything else. the big difference is that we didn't sweat the small stuff. we could go fight and the budget and all sorts of things when it came time to do that, but things that needed to be done to move the country forward, like student loans, the farm bill, the highway bill, they got 350, 400 votes. and there was no such thing as a republican bridge or democratic road. that's what's different today. >> boy, oh, boy. that's a sad story you're telling, congressman. i'm going to miss people like you. appreciate you coming on with us this morning. congressman steve latourette, thank you so much. waging war from thousands of

miles away. fascinating piece. how the u.s. drone program is revolutionizing america's military and what it means for the people pulling the trigger. you're watching "morning joe," brew bid starbucks. with the spark cash card from capital one, sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. 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.

the world is gripped with olympic favor. and i have got it bad. my doctor actually said i might have ringworm. and, folks, i've caught it from a horse. the romney's olympic steed. yesterday was his first day of competition and she crushed it. power prancing to a score of 70.243. that is unheard of. in that i have never heard of a dressage score. is that good? >> he's great. so great. willie joins us from london with a recap of olympic action. plus, three passenger planes pass within 1,000 feet of another at regular ann national airport. what happened and what it tells us about our nation's aging airports.

sometimes, i feel like it's me against my hair. [ female announcer ] weak, damaged hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. active naturals wheat formulas restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen.

last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great.

so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. good morning. it's 8:00 am on be the east coast, 5:00 am out on the west coast. take a live look at new york city. back with us on set, donny deutsch, brian sullivan, howard dean, margaret sullivan and willie geist in london.

willie, let's get right to you for the latest from london. boy, there are a lot of great stories over there. lot of great stories. >> really good. really good, barnicle. 16-year-old gabby douglas of virginia beach, virginia, is the all-around gymnast. 14 years old, she made the difficult decision to move to iowa to live with a host family to train with the best coach in the united states. and it paid off last night as she took gold. russia took silver and bronze. american aly raisman, was tied by third. by some tie break she was bumped down to fourth. united states gets gold with gabby douglas. in the pool, everybody was talking before these games about the rivalry between michael phelps and ryan lochte. we saw them head-to-head twice. lochte won the first one. last night michael phelps winning the 200 im. he took gold. lochte took the silver. phelps' first individual gold

medal of these olympic games. lochte said i wanted five golds but i can't be too disappointed. on the women's side, rebecca soni, a name you haven't heard much about, not getting as much attention as some of the other swimmers for team u.s.a. she has now set two world records in as many days. she won the 200 meter breaststroke yesterday, the first woman in olympic history to win two 200 meter breaststroke gold medals. she is on fire right now. remember that name, rebecca s i soni. if you like hoops and lopside hoops, i was there witnessing this. as i said earlier, it was a crime against humanity. the dream team beat nigeria 156-73. that's an 83-point spread if you're counting at home. u.s. men shot 71% from the floor. they made 29 three-pointers, 29 three-pointers. the total 156, the most ever scored by a team in the olympics.

the margin of victory, 83, the biggest in the history of the games. >> that's awful, willie. can any member of the nigerian team remember the immortal words, no mas? >> no mas. the dream team felt swb like angola, you felt bad for them. but a couple of players on the nigerian team are from the u.s. or on the nba. >> should be like little league where they stop it after -- >> mercy rule. >> yes. >> what happened to steven colbert's favorite sport there, the bouncing horses, dressage? >> you may be talking about rafalca, the horse part owned by ann romney, wife of governor mitt romney. it's not over for rafalca. this is a team event, part of team u.s.a. which has three horses. the other two perform today.

if together they finish in the top seven, they move on to the final on tuesday. there's also some calculation by which rafalca could compete later in the individual competition. ann romney said she was consistent and elegant, talking about rafalca. she did not disappoint. she thrill immediate to death. of course, a member of the press here shouted out at her whether or not involvement in a rarefied sport might dent her husband's credentials and romney said, quote, i'm not doing any of those questions today. >> all right, ann. >> united states pulled ahead of china, 37 total medals, tied with china in the gold count of 18. japan, 19, and the host count country -- missy franklin competes in the backstroke, arguably her best event.

and michael phelps goes for gold medal 21, the last individual race of his olympic career, he says. the women's soccer team takes the field in the quarterfinals against new zealand. this is when it really counts, the knock out round. win or go home. they play new zealand on the nbc sports network. that's where i will be today. and i'm told a guy named seth meyers will drop by and join me. >> take care of him, will you? >> i will. >> so many great stories out of the olympics, as usual. i was listening the other dachlt a young woman named kayla harris from middletown, ohio, who won a medal in judo. >> yep. >> what can you tell us about her? >> that's a great story. she won the gold medal, matter of fact, first gold medal for men or women in judo. she has trained her wholeife but sexually abused by her coach

as a young girl. she came out publicly, very difficult to do it. came through. you saw that emotion pour out yesterday, after looking tough -- beating the living crap, if i may say, out of her opponent from great britain. she got up on the stand and heard the anthem and fell apart. kayla harrison, gold medal and great story here. >> it's donnie. that olympic gear you're wearing, do you have to pay for that? >> yes, sir. >> do you keep that? how does that work from there? >> i can bring you home some gear. i think i know where you're going with this. i will bring you home a bag of gear. >> thank you, sir. >> can you give me a quick update? you know i'm obsessed with women's individual archery. how is it going for the united states? >> you are really testing me this morning. here's what's scary. i know the answer. i know the answer. south korea -- are you ready for this? south korea won individual gold in archery yesterday, defeating her opponent from mexico. it was a shoot-off. if you watch archery -- by the

way, ratings have been through the roof for archery. it was a one-arrow shoot-off. they were tied. one arrow for the gold medal. your whole life and career comes down to one medal and she got a little closer to the bulls eye than her opponent. >> very impressive. >> nice job, willie. >> very impressive report from willie geist over in london. the breakout story for everyone here on this table and on the west coast. new details on a story that we first told you about yesterday in the morning papers. it will be of particular interest to anyone who takes the d.c. to new york shuttle. three us airways passenger planes passed within 1,000 feet of another at reagan national this week because of miscommunication in the tower. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams explains what happened. >> it happened around 2:00 tuesday afternoon, when much of the traffic here is smaller commuter jets.

regional air traffic controllers noticed a violent weather system south of the airport. so they decided to switch the normal flow and to have planes land from the north to avoid it. the decision meant changing the direction of take-offs, too, but federal officials say that word was never properly relayed to the local controllers who handle take-offs. as a u.s. regional airways jet headed to the airport from the north, two other commuter planes were cleared to take off to the north. the first plane was improperly allowed to take off toward the plane heading in and came within one mile of it. officials say the plane taking off climbed rapidly, passing 800 feet above the incoming flight. federal rerules require keeping planes even further apart. air traffic controllers noticed how close the planes came, they turned that inbound flight to turn away and circle, to avoid the second plane taking off. inbound pilot was clearly exacerbated. >> we were cleared at the river

back there. what happened? >> standby. we're trying to figure this out, too. >> we've got to get on the ground here pretty quick. we don't have the fuel for this. >> it also passed too close for federal minimums, come iing wit two and a half miles and 800 feet of vertical separation. federal officials insist the planes were never directly headed toward each other. >> it wasn't a near miss because the planes really were not on a collision course and we had a controller who did exactly what she was trained to do. >> a former commercial airline pilot says even so it was a huge mistake. >> on a scale of zero to ten, i would say that it's approaching eight, somewhere in that range. it's a very serious error for this to happen. >> that was nbc's pete williams reporting. house transportation committee, ntsb and the faa are now all investigating the incident. you know, brian, the irony here

is that on this day in 1981, president ronald reagan fired the air traffic controllers. i mean, how weird is that? >> it's a tough nonsequi techlt r for a very -- we're very lucky. the height of the empire state building, maybe a little less. that's how close it was. listen, i'm sure you fly -- we all fly probably more than the average folk. and, you know, you hear these stories and get nervous. a few years ago, there was an air traffic controller in new jersey apparently speaking on the phone to his girlfriend about his cat and that resulted in the collision of a small plane and helicopter over the hudson river, which killed nine people. when you look at our air traffic radar, it's world war ii based. >> yeah. >> world war ii based. what they've got is called next gen ii. next generation, costs $34 billion to upgrade the nation's airports. maybe we don't have the money. you can put planes a lot closer

and more securely together than you can now. now you're just a blip on a screen. >> can you ever legislate or can you ever spend against human error? i don't care if it's a surgeon or -- these are still human beings. it can never, ever be -- >> you can make consequences of human error less. that's exactly right about the system. this thing has been in front of congress for years and they haven't done a damn thing about it. this is another casualty of gridlock. >> they're flying home right now for recess with a pile of unfinished business and laundry left on their desk. >> if one of them has a close ca call, then they'll do something about this. >> probably, yeah. bill to aid farmers who have been impacted by the worst drought since the dust bowl. senate democrats wanted a five-year plan, routine spending bills, cyber security bill and a measure to protect women from domestic violence were also left unpassed or defeated. according to the "new york times," the bills have died because of partisan fighting and, in some cases, infighting.

what are we going to say that we haven't said? >> i don't know. but senator claire mccaskill need this had bill and gave it her all and couldn't get it through. when these senators and congressmen go home on their planes that aren't as safe as they could be if there were gridlock, constituents reward them for gridlock, that congress doing nothing is fine with them. this is the attitude out there, which is we don't -- you know, a moderate in texas loses because he's compromised to get something passed. >> do you really feel that's the feeling out there? >> yeah. >> i don't. >> they don't want congress to -- a bad congress, washington doing nothing is better than this bad group of people doing something. >> guys, can we ever remember governing in the history of politics a congress that is less appealing, that has dented more of the overall brand of congress

than this? >> there was a study by -- i forget what paper it was, was it the times? >> a couple of weeks ago. >> the congress truman ran against, the do-nothing congress, this is the real do-nothing congress. >> senate majority leader harry reid supposedly is upping the pressure on mitt romney to release more of his tax records. senator harry reid. remember, he's the senate mantle leader. he said in an interview in the huffington post, romney has not paid taxes for a decade. according to the las vegas review journal, reid said the comments were not, quote, just some figment of my imagination. he originally made the claims from the senate floor. yesterday, he doubled down in the same chamber. >> the word's out that he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn't.

we already know from one partial tax return that he gave us, he has money hidden in bermuda, cayman islands and the swiss bank account. not making that up. that's in the partial year that he gave us. mitt romney makes more money in a single day than the average middle class family makes in two years or more. >> well, it's time for harry to put up or shut up. harry's going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because, of course, that's totally and completely wrong. it's untrue, dishonest and inaccurate. it's wrong. so, i'm looking forward to have harry reveal his sources, and we'll probably find out it's the white house. >> okay. governor dean, help me out here. why am i so annoyed that harry reid, the senate majority leader, basically says, you know, pierre downstairs at the security desk told me that mitt romney has paid no taxes for ten years? very little is said about it. and yet, you know, when that

marginally sane person from minnesota, michele bachmann, says something about the woman who works for hillary clinton, says she's linked to -- we rightfully go after her. what happened here? >> there's a big difference. mitt romney is not a civilian. huma is not involved in government. >> she is involved in government. she works for hillary clinton. >> she stepped down, i believe. she just had a baby. i'm not defending ad hominin attacks. insider trader unless i produced ten years of tax returns, proving i wasn't. i produced the tax returns in the middle of a presidential campaign, right? it's not fair. it's not right. but people who are running for

president have to expect this kind of stuff. his problem is that whether you like what harry reid did or didn't, this story is going to be with mitt romney every day between now and the election unless he releases -- there's no way he can get out of it. it's just the rules. >> margaret, do you believe him? >> i believe harry reid. forget right or wrong, i actually believe what he's saying. that's the big problem. >> in trying to shift the burden over to mitt romney and mitt romney, by the way, comes right back and shifts the burden to harry reid, to prove it before romney -- romney has not been, by this, put on the spot right this minute to release his tax returns. the story has become about harry reid using this unnamed source to say he didn't pay any taxes. to my mind, if he probably did pay taxes some of those years. so, harry reid cries wolf and it's not true. but he's going to smoke him out. somebody is going to smoke out mitt romney and make it so -- so much of a problem not to release those taxes and keep them secret

that he will release those taxes. >> the amazing thing to me is that governor romney is cloerly a guy who plans a lot of things. and he has been planning a run for the presidency for at least -- at least ten years. and why they didn't dump all the tacks like christmas eve last year -- >> they should have. this is a terrible mistake on their part. i'm shocked. as a former candidate, i've been under this pressure. you basically just have to release the stuff. releasing the stuff is almost never as bad as what people think. >> he can't. >> he has to. >> he can't. >> yes, he can. >> let me tell you why he can't as somebody who would be running his campaign. the average american does notnd notn understand or certainly will not endorse or be anything but repulsed by a way a very sophisticated capitalist wall street banker moves around the edges, whether it's offshore accounts, whatever it is. the average american says, he's

that guy. i'm getting screwed. it doesn't matter that he's playing within the lines. it still smells bad. >> i think they're more likely to forgive him that. people don't resent rich people in this country. >> they resent wall street rich people. >> they resent people who don't play by the rules. >> to their perspective. >> if romney were smart, he did that, say this is exactly why we need tax reform. take it and say these kinds of things are just nonsense and we should end it. up next, 21st century warfare. "the new york times" joins us to discuss the u.s. military's rapidly expanding drone program and why remote control kill missions may turn fighter jets into a thing of the past. plus, we're moments away from the july jobs report. brian sullivan will help us through the numbers, straight ahead. but first, bill karins with a check on maybe, maybe not. here's the forecast. bill? >> that's the big question with

ea ernesto. very weak storm just past st. lucia down there. now into the caribbean sea. it's a very weak system. the question is, how much will it intensify once they storms get into the caribbean, pretty much surrounded by land and very warm water. if this system does remain over the warm water of the western caribbean and head for the gulf of mexico, we could expect a much stronger storm than it is right now. notice the northern fringe of the cone of uncertainty. it could be all the way up here on wednesday or all the way down there. that middle point is where the hurricane center sort of puts it -- their estimation for five days in advance. if it heads for the u.s., it will be some time on friday or maybe saturday that we'll have to worry about it, anywhere from texas to florida, not ruling anybody out yet. forecast for the weekend, we are watching today a cold front finally coming to the northern plains, sparking strong thunderstorms all weekend long. today in the dakotas and minnesota. saturday, strong thunderstorms will move down through the great lakes and towards kansas city. but i tell you what, finally a

break in the heat for areas from kansas to st. louis to chicago. look what happens by the time we go to sunday. only in the 80s in kansas city. that hasn't happened in forever. east coast, you're the ones that will see that cold front and thunderstorm threat there on sunday. a lot more on monday by ernesto. monday morning i should be able to pinpoint for you where it's heading, if possibly the u.s. a shot at the olympic venue there. we're looking at the swimming center, i believe. [ male announcer ] count the number of buttons in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward.

[ "human" by the human league playing ] humans. we mean well, but we're imperfect creatures living in a beautifully imperfect world. sometimes the little things get us and other times the not-so-little. it's amazing we've made it this far.

maybe it's because when one of us messes up, someone else comes along to help out. no, no, no! [ loud crack ] ♪ i'm only human at liberty mutual insurance, we get that it's tough out there, and our job is to make it less tough. that's the thing about humans. when things are at their worst, we're at our best. see how at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? sleep traiends sunday! interest-free for 3 event it's your last chance to get 3 years interest-free financing on beautyrest black, stearns & foster, serta icomfort, even tempur-pedic. plus, get free delivery and sleep train's 100-day low price guarantee. but hurry, sleep train's interest-free for 3 event ends sunday! superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed! ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

joining us now from

washington, waiting for a kill shot a world away. that was earlier this week that elizabeth wrote that about the u.s. droens program and she wrote in part, droens are not only revolutionizing american warfare but also changing in profound ways the lives of the people who fly them. routinely thought of as robots that turn wars into san advertised video games the drones have powerful cameras that bring war straight into a pilot's face. all the operators dismiss the notion that they are playing a video game. i don't have any video games that ask me to sit in one seat for six hours and look at the same target, said josha, a sensor operator. one of the things we try to beat into our crews is that this is a real aircraft with a real human component and whatever decisions you make, good or bad, there's going to be actual consequences. elisabeth, that was a terrific piece of reporting. >> thank you. >> it was tuesday morning. >> thank you. >> the thing that struck me about it -- you're in the news business and you know that these things have been going on for

several years. but the colonel, who is featured in the lead up in syracuse, new york, at an air base right outside of syracuse. >> right. >> the idea that most americans have no sense of the fact that an air force colonel can be sitting there, running a drone over afghanistan, half a world away and five or six hours later, taking his children to arby's for a roast beef sandwich or something. the isolation of that job has got to be kind of unnerving, a bit. was it? >> yes. he talked about that. they all talk about that. the sense you're in these dark rooms with a lot of video screens. you see things up close. and sometimes there's a call to go after a target. you squeeze a trigger and a missile is released and you've killed an insurgent or blown up a white toyota pickup truck, which is what a lot of the militants use and then you walk out of the door into the

sunlight back home and, as he said to me, nobody is aware of what occurred. when he was flying f-16s, he deployed for close to three decades. and all over the world, including iraq and afghanistan. when you landed your plane, your f-16 on the tarmac, everyone could see that you dropped all your weapons and they were aware of what you've sort of been involved with. but here it's a very secret thing and there are enormous stresses to the job. they say there are a lot of positive aspects to the job, which we can talk about if you want. it's really striking. it's right there in the middle of american suburbia there. and more and more guard bases are being turned over to drones as the air force is moving in that direction. the guard base in syracuse had been a base of f-16s since the second world war. i mean, it had been an air base with manned aircraft since the second world war, not with f-16s. >> governor dean has a question. >> my question is, is this

effective? clearly it's effective because we're killing insurgents. >> right. >> how much backlash are we causing when we make a mistake and kill a wedding party? >> a lot of backlash, obviously. those cases are well documented. the air force, the military argues that this is better than carpet bombing, that it's more precise and that, overall, there have been studies to show that there are less civilian casualties than this there might be otherwise. the other side argues that this should not be going on. this is some sort of mechanical warfare and there are mistakes made. and the drones are certainly a -- i was not reporting on the drone program in pakistan, which is under the auspices of the cia. it was not discussed publicly. this was just the drone program in afghanistan where we have a declared war and also a few other parts of the world. >> elisabeth, it's jonathan capehart. >> sure. >> i was struck by the photo

that we've been showing, that accompanied the story of a guy at the control panel there and just wondering, for such a secret, secret program, why does the pentagon seem so eager to have this story told? >> well, they're actually not as much as you would think. it took me about a year to -- even to do this. i did not go to the main base, outside las vegas. that's sort of the central huge base where this is done. i went up to -- after badgering them for a year, i went up to syracuse because it's a smaller operation, air national guard base. and they were willing to let me talk to one guy on the record. the others, as you noticed, only used their first names. and in this case, the photograph is of -- it's not of an actual mission occurring in real time. all that is classified. you can't get into those rooms. i think they decided after a year, they've shut -- it's been

very -- no one else has gotten in, as far as i can tell recently to it, to an actual drone operation center in the press. i told them, look, i want to write about the pilots' lives. they were receptive to that. so, that's how it happened. i mean, on one hand i can say they want to get it out, that there's real people behind these planes, not just machines doing the killing, that there's a real human component, as the pilot said. so that -- but they don't talk about it very much, frankly. >> and also, elisabeth, you raise this had point in the piece, in terms of good news. there's really no good news out of wars. >> right. >> the drone program does give someone sitting in syracuse or wherever a good feeling, knowing that a drone can hover above a platoon of marines. >> right. >> out in the afghan countryside and protect them. so you get a good feeling from that. but there's another issue that occurred to me in reading the piece. and it is this. air wars, obviously, are very

different from a ground war. always have been. always will be. but the element of ptsd, is there any concern about that occurring with the drone operators even though they're sitting in syracuse? there is blow-back on what you're doing. >> sure. air force was very concerned about this years ago. there was a major study they did, interviewing large numbers of drone pilots and the study came out late last year. they found that there was ptsd but not more than you would find -- actually less than you would find in ground troops. and they -- so they -- you know, they're concerned about it. they've moved medics and chaplains closer to these centers to have the pilots deal with it. but it's not -- they were concerned that it would be a huge amount of ptsd but it hasn't been so far. and the pilots all want to talk about the good things they do. they want to talk about the thanks they get on the guys from the ground. thanks for keeping us safe.

i've been in afghanistan myself where you can -- like if you're, you know, on patrol and you hear a drone buzzing overhead, just surveillance drone and it's a comfort, frankly. you know, it's -- the troops like it, because you can hear the buzz and you know there's somebody up there. >> elizabeth elisabeth, we appreciate you coming hon on and the fact that you just came back with leon panetta, of which we have no time to talk about. >> okay. thank you. we'll talk about the economy and the election. keep it on "morning joe."

there are projects. and there are game-changers. those ideas that start with us rolling up our sleeves... ...and end with a new favorite room in the house. and when we can save even more on those kinds of projects... ...with advice to make them even better... ...that's a game-changer in itself. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get this all in one vanity, faucet, and hardware for just $249.

you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. sleep traiends sunday! interest-free for 3 event it's your last chance to get 3 years interest-free financing on beautyrest black, stearns & foster, serta icomfort, even tempur-pedic. plus, get free delivery and sleep train's 100-day low price guarantee. but hurry, sleep train's interest-free for 3 event

ends sunday! superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed! ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

go ahead, handsome. >> there we go. breaking news. july jobs report being released moments ago. 163,000. the expectation was for 100,000. highest estimate on wall street, 165,000. 163, very strong. here, guys, is perhaps the best news. manufacturing jumped 25,000. utilities, the only group this to decline, down by 8k. still have to break down public/private, governor.

barnicle's sarcastic comments. 8.3%, unemployment rate. you want the unemployment rate to go up a bit before it goes down because it means people are reentering the workforce, looking for a job. this is not a great number. you need more to create long-term jobs but a good number. better than expected. i'm sure the white house is breathing a sigh of relief this morning. >> with us now, assistant managing editor of fortune magazine, leigh gallagher. do you have any idea what he was talking about? >> of course i do. it's a good number. as brian said, it's better than expectations, a lot better than last month, which was 80 something. >> 86. >> 77 in may. >> yeah. the big picture, it seems preposterous now that in january, february and march the number was 200,000. we are long past that day, those months. i think everybody knows that. this is a slight upside surprise. slight. i think that -- people are looking for any positive news here. this has been a pretty bad couple of weeks if you look at profits are starting to slow, which was the one bright spot in

the economy. you know, gdp here in addition to china and europe is slowing. negative indicators out there, more so than even one month ago. this is a good sign. >> what number should we have, to have the economy to really show recovery in the economy? >> you need -- i mean i think 250, three even. in normal, good times it's 250, three. at this point, 150 to two would be very good. >> just remember this. you need about 100 to 125,000 a month to keep up with demographics. population growth people into the workforce, immigration into this country. really factor in 100,000 to 125,000 as things remain the same mark. anything above a buck 25 will be a net job pad. >> here is the question i always raise. this is my trademark question. public sector employment is going down because the states and cities are in a lot of trouble and not getting bailed out by the feds. so this job -- i would argue

that this number is probably higher for private sector job. i'm interested in private sector jobs. that's what makes the economy grow. >> manufacturing was a bright spot, which is pretty significant. >> before we chop this number up too much. i actually think that private sector job creation is higher than 163,000 and you might get to a pretty good number. eventually the public sector jobs will come back but not for a while because of the fiscal position of the states and -- >> i'm sorry to look down. i'm looking through some of the numbers. a big jump in this, toork was automobile. i passed by the lordstown assembly plant in ohio. the parking lot was full, right? to make the chevy cruz there. you like to see that. automobile sales average over $14 million this year. that's a good number for automobile makers but also good number for automobile dealers and the sales men and women that work in the dealership. >> and parts. >> and part. >> the automobile story is that it's quite -- >> 17 million cars sold in 2006,

as everybody extracted equity down to, what, 11 million? 14, even 15 would be fantastic for the auto industry. >> brian, they just showed on the screen on our chyron that the unemployment rate rose slightly. >> you called it. this man called it. >> you said that would be good news because that would seem that people are branching out and look for work. >> it seems counter intuitive, jonathan, but it's a good point to bring up. you can't just focus on the unemployment rate. it only measures people looking for a job. so, if you completely give up -- i'm out. it's been three years. i can't find a job. i'm done. i'm moving back in with mom or whatever it is, you're not counted. so, unemployment rates can drop as people drop out. they call it the labor force participation rate. but i don't want to bore the heck out of the viewers any more than i v you want the unemployment rate to go up a little bit actually before it can then come down meaningfully. people are thinking things are getting better. i'm going to go back out and look for a job. >> that's very important.

there's a whole psyche with unemployment in this scale. people really give up hope after a certain amount of time and there's data that shows once -- the longer you stay out, the longer you're out, the longer you stay out. then it has ramifications on your children. it has a lot of -- >> i hope my parents aren't watching. if they are, i'm sorry, dad. i love you. my dad was unemployed for 14 months when i was in eighth grade and destroyed our family financially. after about seven or eight months, you know, it's -- you sort of -- you start -- it's tough to keep going. it's tough to keep fighting. >> it is. that's an important sign. >> the more you talk, brian, the more i give up hope. >> can i ask you a real question? great question, brian. >> howard dean told me you never had help. >> wait. let me ask you about the manufacturing number. let me ask you about the manufacturing number. >> i thought you were on my side. the irishmen have to stick together. >> you don't have your cnbc crutches with you today, i understand that. what kind of manufacturing jobs are coming back? any breakout in detail?

>> a little bit. not much. fabr fabricated metal products, up 5,000. that's a positive because what it's saying is maybe not just cars, right? i think boeing, which i want to bring up for a second anyway related to the previous interview, boeing has a seven-year backlog for airplanes. home building, i think, is the key to everything here. as we've pointed out. >> that's problematic. >> for every home sold according to estimates 50,000 or 60 grand goes into the economy for moving services, purchasing, throw away your old couch, buy a new one, whatever. my quick point about the other one was this. the drone thing, we'll have a pilot shortage in 20 years of people that have actually been in the cockpit of a plane. boeing says we need 500,000 pilots in the next 20 years. where are they coming from, if not the military? >> that was in elisabeth's piece. >> it's important to be strategic and seek out future needs like that. very strategic ways to parse out

where to go if you're a 20-year-old, college grad. >> there are 3.5 million open jobs in this country, too. >> look at the tech industry. sorry. >> we're running out of time. to bring it back real fast, you said slight uptick. put ta in perspective. >> 50,000. >> a good thing but if unemployment goes up by .3 or .5% from month to month that's not a good thing? >> that's a good point. if the jobs number grows, right -- let's say we had 200,000 jobs but the unemployment rate goes to 8.5%, that would be a good thing because that means people are interested. if the unemployment rate goes up .3, but the jobs number goes down, that's not a good sign. >> do you agree with that? >> i would agree with that, yes. the big picture is that there's not an obvious spark for the economy. we're not going to see a ton much movement one way or another right now. all things considered, this was a pretty good number. >> can you stay with us for another segment? >> sure. >> can you stand this? >> i love this. this is great. >> there's going to be one job

opening up on monday morning with him talking. >> i'm not even being paid to be here! it's like kramer from seinfeld. remember, they fired him from vandalay industries and he's like, i don't even work here. >> up next, amtrak is losing 80 million a year in food sales. we'll take a look at the big headlines from the west coast papers. keep it here on "morning joe." with the fidelity stock screener, you can try strategies from independent experts and see what criteria they use. such as a 5% yield on dividend-paying stocks. then you can customize the strategies and narrow down to exactly those stocks you want to follow. i'm mark allen of fidelity investments. the expert strategies feature is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account.

and this is what inspires us to create new technology. ♪ technology that connects us to everything the world has to offer and vice versa. ♪ technology that makes lightweight stronger, safer, and faster than ever before. ♪ technology that makes electric electrifying and efficiency exhilarating. ♪ technology that doesn't just drive us, but drives progress. ♪ and driving progress is what we do every day. ♪ ♪

♪ this is new york state. we built the first railway, 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.

california governor schwarzenegger. already donated 20 million.

>> small business owners are saying the restaurant review website yelp, how reviews appear online to coerce those businesses to pay 300 to 800 monthly fee for advertising with the site. the businesses claim they were told bad reviews could go away if they buy advertising. the san francisco based company says they don't -- >> amtrak has lost more than 800 million in food and drink, most of the lost is due to employee theft. stop right here. who would steal amtrak food? what kind of pathetic -- >> taking the cash, barnicle, from the cash register. >> i was thinking that. >> you thought the same thing? >> let me have a two-week-old hot dog in my shirt. >> lunchables aren't that

stealable. mandate on the hot dog. it's disgusting. >> oh, man. we need -- the new york to washington express is great. >> it's great. >> it's a wonderful ride. >> the quiet car. >> boston globe, identity thieves may have duped the irs out of as much as $5 billion in fraud atlanta tax filings alone. there were possibly as many as $1.5 million more that went undetected and investigators found a single address in lansing, michigan, that was used to file tax returns. the irs issued more than $3 million in returns to that address. >> i still can't get out of the idea that someone is stealing an amtrak veal dish.

i can't get that out of my mind. this weekend's parade magazine, forget chuck todd's nbc news/wall street journal poll. first-ever boy band poll. we'll leave it right there. pick up your paper. look at sunday's parade. >> the boy band. up next, the funniest man in america, will ferrell, does some olympic trash talking for the russians. best of late night next.

the world is gripped with olympic favor, and i have got it bad. my doctor actually said i might have ringworm. and, folks, i caught it from a horse, the romney's olympic dressage steed, rafalca! yesterday -- oh, people love rafalca. yesterday was rafalca's first day of competition, and she crushed it. power prancing to a score of 70.243. that is unheard of, in that i have never heard a dressage score. is that good? is that good? i'm being told -- i am being

told that no one knows. anyway, the second round is tonight. check your local listings on the nbc dressage channel, which i'm guessing is bravo. >> so great to see those little russian girls crying. >> what? >> just -- oh, my god. i was just laughing so hard. it's just, look it. they're just balling. it was just so great. >> no, that's -- what are you talking about? they're only 15! >> no one forced them to join the team. do you know what i mean? and, you know, for decades, the russians were so good. and now they're nothing. they've got nothing. they've got nothing! yeah. you know why? because we're u.s.a., right? u.s.a. number one country in the world. u.s.a. u.s.a. u.s.a. u.s.a.

u.s.a. u.s.a. u.s.a. u.s.a. >> russia sucks! >> you shouldn't say russia sucks. you shouldn't say that. sometimes, i feel like it's me against my hair. [ female announcer ] weak, damaged hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. active naturals wheat formulas restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. with lean cuisine steam bags. get our crispiest carrots and our snappiest peas all freshly steamed in just minutes. steam bags from lean cuisine. be culinary chic.

why severy room deserves ll us what outo look great.or is? steam bags from lean cuisine. and every footstep should tell us we made the right decision. so when we can feel our way through the newest, softest, and most colorful options... ...across every possible price range... ...our budgets won't be picking the style. we will. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. make room for savings with $37 basic installation on martha stewart living and platinum plus carpet.

time to talk about what we learned today. >> i need to brush up on my boy bands and not steal the food on amtrak. >> i learn identity need to start working because my show "street signs" is on 2:00 pm and i learned that people are already talking about 2016. kill me now. >> oh, yeah. >> i have learned that will ferrell will not be the next ambassador to russia. >> still the funny northwest man in america. >> i learn friday steven colbert a new phrase. power prancing. and that's not describing how i walk. >> oh, man. you look great, though. you look great. prancing, walking. doesn't matter. i didn't learn much at all today. >> thanks a lot. >> i learned that, you know, it's time to wrap it up and for me to take some time off. i love all of you, but i've had it with this. up next, ladies and gentlemen, get ready. bounce, boun