for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. don't adjust your dial. we're back. mitt romney tells you what he really thinks about the any any of tone of this campaign. just as a wave of new polls show that team obama tactics to tackle him appear to be working. three's company, all signs point to the great lakes as the region where we could find romney's most likely running mate. we'll break down the pros and cons of the big three in the hour. plus it's not good-bye yet, but we're kicking off a special feature of candid conversations

i had over the last few weeks with retiring senators. with just five months left on their jobs, find out what's on their minds and what they would like to do to fix the senate. good morning from washington, yes, we're bulk. don't worry, olympics will start in about an hour. so you can stick around with us. i'm chuck todd. let's get to my first reads of the morning. two weeks ago when the olympics kicked off we had a close presidential race or the feel of one, but if there was any doubt how bad the summer has gone for romney. three new polls have an exclamation point on it. 52-45 in this new cnn poll. fox news puts it at nine. 49-40. and romney is struggling personally. that's what we had been finding in our own polling. last month his favorable rating has eroded.

they now have him in negative territory. in the fox poll, the negative rating is down a whopping 11 points. what do these numbers mean for romn romney? as he sets off on a four-day bus tour starting tomorrow, they raised the stakes for the vp pick and convention. we said it's important for romney to make a move in august. that's even truer now that it's august 10th. it's been a bare-knuckle campaign. while condemning the negativity and the dire warnings of shower of attack ads, here's the president yesterday in colorado. >> we've got less than three months left in this election. less than three months. you will see more negative ads, more money spent than you've ever seen in your life. >> the campaigns and especially the super-pacs are hammering a week this weeks one stepped over

the line that complies a woman's death from cancer could have been prevented in bain capital had not shut down the steel plant where her husband worked. >> that's when they found the cancer. by then it was stage 4. there was nothing they could do for her. and she passed away in 22 days. i do not think mitt romney realize what he has done to anyone. furthermore i do not think that mitt romney is concerned. >> when news outlets pointed out the woman had died five years after the plant closed down and had her own employer-sponsored health insurance after her husband lost his job, the campaign denied knowing the man as story. >> i don't know the facts of when his wife got sick or when she died. >> this is an ad by an entity that's not controlled by the campaign. i certainly don't know the specifics of this man's case. >> but yesterday on air force

one, the obama campaign's traveling press secretary jennifer saki corrected the record. >> no one is denies he was in one of our campaign ads. he was on a conference call telling his story. >> there you have it. the priorities ad, by the way not yet aired on an actual television station other than oh, news outlets that have played the ad. a the romney campaign has been throwing attacks against the wall this week in an effort to see what sticks, hitting the president on welfare, israel, even contraception. the obama campaign is out with a response to the welfare tv ad. >> seeing this, mitt romney claiming the president would end welfare's work requirements. if the "new york times" calls it blatantly false. president clinton's reaction to the ad -- it's just not true. >> rule of thumb on responses to tv ads, you responds to ones

that haven't aired yet. you respond to ones that are airing and that are effective via your own tv ads. yesterday i sat down with mitt romney for an exclusive interview, part of a special hour we're airing later this month on msnbc right before the republican convention, and asked him about this feeling like this is a campaign that has turned into a race to the bottom. >> i assure you our campaign would be helped immensely if we had an agreement between both campaigns that we were only going to talk about issues and that attacks based upon business or family or taxes or things of that nature, that this is just -- this is a diversion. i would love that. >> will you throw out a pledge or something? >> i would love to have it, that we only talk about differences. >> are you going to formally offer something? >> our ads haven't gone after

the president personally. our ads going after his record and failure of policies. but we haven't dredged up stuff, we haven't gone after the personal things. >> what kind of pledge -- i'm curious were you thinking? >> i don't have a pledge that i can present to you, but i think it would be extraordinarily helpful if both campaigns focused on issues. >> figured out a way to come up with an agreement. >> well, that's never happened in politics. >> what's interested earlier in the day he did a radio interview when he talked about potentially -- the campaigns potentially pledge to pull any ads that are -- we were talking more about his biography. it's clearing wears on him. he knows it's had an effect. he brought it up in multiple interviews yesterday.

now, finally over the years, we've come to expect a stock answer from presidential nominees about running mates, someone who is fit to be president. mitt romney has been given a lot of stock answers. when i asked him idea about his vp pick, he responded a little differently. take a look. what do you want your rung mate to say about what kind of president you're going to be? >> i don't think i have anything for you on the vp running mate other than i expect a person with strength of character i. vision for the country, adds something to the political discourse. i happen to believe this is a defining election for america, that we're going to be voting for what kind of america we're going to have. >> you think thinks bright lines, big differences. the president says the same thing, it's where you guys agree. >> we agree. the question is what will happen to the middle class in america. if people think the last 3 1/2

years are what they want, they should vote for baquerizo mcmillan. if they think we can do a lot better, they should vote for me. my whole campaign based on my fundamental idea that america got it right and places like europe got it wrong. that nearly echoed the language in the editorial. the case for mr. ryan is that he best exemplifies the nature and stakes of this election. last night in wisconsin, ryan himself repeated that language. >> we have enormously high stakes election, a new health care law that if we don't win this election it will get put in place. i think it will do great damage to medicare and blow a hole in our deficit. we have a debt crisis coming, and a president who has-pointed and not led on this issue. >> any comment on vp? >> no. as reported, the vice

presidential pick has come down to ryan, pawlenty and portman. his beattribute may be his loyalty to team romney. asked about the selection process this week, he's mentioned nearly every name under the sun besides his own. >> bobby jindal, mark i don't rubio, nikki haley, chris christy, rob portman, paul ryan. >> then there's portman, the insider, who could help govern starting day 1, but he sounds a little weary. are you ready for this decision to be made? are you tired of the questions? >> i'm ready for it to be made, yeah, i am. >> interesting way for portman to respond there. we'll see, for what it's worth, i know we will be teased every

single day for the next week, but it feels like it's coming. the justice department is abandoning its criminal investigation of goldman sachs, saying there's no evidence to suggest that the wall street giant committed wrongdoing during the crisis. we're about 20 minutes from the opening bell. cnbc's andrew ross sorkin is here. andrew, i have to say here we are four years removed from the financial crisis. is anybody ever going to be held criminally accountable for what happened to the world economy? >> i suspect the answer is probably going to be no, and interestingly, in the statement you just read from, there's another piece of it that a lot of people -- when the doj said they weren't going to bring charges, they had they determined based on the law and evidence as they exist at the time -- and it's that line that has people interested -- suggesting that maybe the department of justice is suggesting that the laws

themselves be changed, not necessarily so retroactively for the future, but this will be an issue debatable for a long time. the folks at goldman sachs consider this a victory, but for those looking for people to be walking -- or for a perp walk, it's not clear they'll get that so soon. wall street is watching j.c. penney's, which missed its earnings report, and issued guidance that they may not make their previous guidance. ron johnson from apple took over, and they are in a transition, and it's not been going so well just yet. of course, you have to hope maybe on the other side, it all works out. >> andrew, thank you, sir. up next, is it the vp final three, the outsider, the insider and crusader. chris cillizza a j.-mart joins

us. chris christie may not be on the short list, but he's about to be part of a long-awaited announcements from romney. at least his folks expect that. the president's schedule, will host an iftar dinner, something that president bush started and president obama has continued. then he makes his way to the mid-atlantic to start his bus tour tomorrow. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] 6 years old. then 7. going on 11. in the blink of an eye, they're all grown up. marie callender's homemade tastes are another great reason to sit down and savor every last moment. ♪ because time flies... right before your eyes.

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mitt romney has no planned public events on his schedule today, but the vice presidential guessing game of course is in

full swing. the political world is watching every move, parson every sentence. he'll embark on a bus tour tomorrow through virginia, florida, north carolina and ohio. joining me this morning, you know this is always fun, jonathan martin, senior political report for politico, and "the washington post" reporter chris cillizza. how often do i have to say author of the new book -- >> where's the picture? >> where's the jacket? >> oh, right on time! >> great producing. >> we are now in the paranoid stage for a lot of records when it comes to -- >> my blackberry is on. >> a, we're paranoid it will come any moment and b, what is if that short list is wrong. >> i think romney is influenced by the sarah palin pick, but we're influenced by the sarah

palin pick, because she was so out of left field. >> but that was a decision by somebody who was a noted risk-taker, and mitt romney is that much of a risk-taker. >> so in the always attempt to find some piece of nugget let me play again what romney said to me. >> what do you want your running mate to say about you? what do you want your selection to say about what kind of president you're going to be? >> i don't think i have anything on the vp running mate, other than i expect strength of character, vision for the country, that adds something to the political discourse about the direction of the country. i happened to believe this is a defining election for america. we'll be voting for what kind of america we'll have. >> jonathan? >> a phrase and word he didn't say, governing, ready to be

president. that's what was interesting to me. >> that's what they've been saying that for month. now he's talking about somebody with a vision. >> and adds to the debate. >> wow, that's all they heard and went, wow, tails are wagging. >> even if you're not -- like go through the top fivish people, that certainly sounds like paul ryan. you know, it doesn't mean we have a tendency to over-parse. >> and to the credit what they deserve. >> that he's been super-strategic with every word he chooses. >> if it's not these three, where would he -- we know he isn't going to do something totally unplanned. where would be a comfortable unplanned risk? >> beyond these three? >> yes. >> a plausible scenario is bobby jindal. >> that's what i would say. >> he's been mentioned some, but not that close to romney, but a

hell of a resume, very smart, has some washington experience, but now a two-term governor. >> i think he's the closest thing you can get. if you said a hybrid, rock star in the party and serious guy, that's ryan. if you want a guy who's not a washington guy, hasn't spent a decade in washington -- >> he has, but not -- >> he has, but not currently there. he's a less of a rock star than ryan, but maybe the hybrid you go to. >> i have to put up this poll number. >> remarkable. >> amazing. >> no offense to cnn, a poll question that we would never put on, because it was -- you know, nobody knows these people. marco rubio is the top vp choice, then christie. what surprised me, i guess is that ryan is in double digits. >> that surprised me, too. >> a house guy with that kind of name recognition.

>> and some very close friends in the conservative media that have helped that cause. >> absolutely. >> by the way, that's who is cleavely responsible for this ryan -- which is a story in itself. marco rubio is the one thy they like. every straw poll, it's rubio. >> if you didn't go rubio, as someone said to me, he better pick something who the base will be happy with. >> go back and look, the last 20 or 30 years of the vp pick, it's almost always an ideological matching. if you're perceived as conservative, you pick the moderate. if that's true, then it's not pawlenty and it's not portman, it's probably a ryan or a jindal, something like that. >> i think the other development this week is that jonathan, a reminder that mitt romney is

never cut slack by conservatives. i saw jennifer on her "the washington post" conservative blog unload on the romney explain for the transition adviser. you have andrea's comment, which is pretty clear she wasn't ad-libbing, wasn't going off on her own about the massachusetts health care plan. >> you always hear from democrats become a fractious party, but it's remarkable how republicans have been imitating democrats. this deep into the general election, the fact that a spesperson can catch that kind of flack -- >> the candidate -- >> look basically this is the right telling romney, you cannot lean on the centerpiece of your four-year governor term -- >> that's right, get away. >> something that's a pretty good sell for swing voters.

>> it's a great message for independents in a way. >> they're saying don't you dare bring it up. >> does this help ryan. >> i don't think there's any question it does, unless he's already made up his mind and we're talking about this stuff -- paul ryan -- >> what we don't know is how mitt romney responds to pressure. is he going to respond -- in 2007-2008 mitt romney style, which is you sort of cave to the right or a tougher, firm are mitt rom no, no offense weekly standard or paul -- >> he's -- >> they've all been hard on romney the last year. >> and where are the voters going to go? it is a bifurcated choice. if you are not for romney, who will you be home? stay home? in an election like this when the distails for obama in the republican base --

>> you need more than that, though. >> but they're not going to show up, though? >> hard to say, thank you both. up next, the growing insider threat against the united states and troops in afghanistan. gun one of these blue on green attacks. we'll go to kabul where a search is on i a man in an afghan army uniform who killed three u.s. soldiers today. how many votes separated the winner and the loser in the closest election in u.s. senate history. tweet me the answer. i don't even think the fix can pull this one off without googling. coming up. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires.

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well, the u.s. military command says a man wearing an afghan army uniform shot and killed three american service members this morning in southern afghanistan form this is the third deadly attack this week on coalition soldiers by afghans. they are training to take over security in the country. nbc's atiyat. do you have the latest for us and what's the reaction from the government? >> reporter: hi there, chuck. what we do know from the afghan officials, the incident occurred last night when a suspected afghan, the service members apparently contained special operations forces that were part of a village stability miss. when they were leaving that location after dinner was over, apparently the suspected commander fired at them, killing three americans. as you mentioned, this is the

third incident this week alone, and this gunman has always gotten away with the crime. they're still looking for him. as far as the afghan government, they say they oppose this, and in fact they're hoping then an infiltrator, not someone that is actually part of the afghan forces. i should mention, chuck, this is about the 20th attack we have seen this year. these are called green on blue incidents, about 30 coalition lives have been taken this your, up from last year where we saw 20 lives lost, but definitely up. when we only saw about a grand total of four green on blue incidents through outthe country. >> atia abawi, thank you. there are more senate races coming up. plus senators speak their minds. my interviews with senators who

are stepping down after this year, and now perhaps free to tell us what they really think. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. ♪ these are the days [ male announcer ] 6 years old. then 7. going on 11. in the blink of an eye, they're all grown up. marie callender's homemade tastes are another great reason to sit down and savor every last moment. ♪ because time flies... right before your eyes. marie callender's. it's time to savor. [ children laughing ] ♪ ...is the smell of salt in the air. ♪ it's the sound a seashell makes.

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on our radar this morning, in wisconsin the four republicans in that state's contentity primary, they face off for a final debate tonight before tuesday's election. it's turned into a 3 1/2 wei race. it has turned into a three-way race, but fitzgerald has been picking up more votes. if tommy thompson can make 30% a winning number, watch out. hawaii holds its primary, and of course they always do it on a different day of the week.

it's saturday, for the seat being vacated by democratic senator daniel akaka. some have indicated that he's made it closer with horono. my guess is she wins big. "new jersey star ledger" is reporting an announcement about chris christie's role in the convention could come ago early as this weekend. boy, does this smell like this is something the romney campaign is going to use this weekend to tease us? we're going to be twitter head fakes, big announcement with christie coming up, and it turns out to be this? i'm just sayin'. the department of agriculture slashed the corn production estimates by about 17%. the new forecast would put production at its lowest level since 2006. so what happened to that farm

bill? did the congress really leave without doing any drought relief? which actually brings us to the deep dive. the senate will have a much different look. 33 seats are up nationally. while we may not know which party will be the one technically in power, we know at least ten of the faces we've become used to over the decades. here's a quick breakdown. ten senators, six democrats, three republicans, one independent, chose not to seek reelection. we know dib lugar chose to, but also will not be coming back. when you add it up, that's just over 200 years of legislative experience level capitol hill, and that doesn't count dib lugar. we wanted to dip into that wealth. so far i've sat down with six of those senators and wee go in depth with all of them on their lives, political and personal during their time in washington. here's a sneak peek of what each

senator, touching on crucial issue foss their party, country, and the institution itself. when you hear the criticism the senate is broken, what do you say? >> i would say the senate is different. it's still there. it's still working. there comes a point where we should be compromising on these differences, and that has not come about as often as it did before. and we were able to work it out. >> i knew the senate was a place designed to slow things down. a lot of the frustrations here, and there have been frustrations really are demonstrative of of frustrations their in the country right now. we just have to accept that. >> i see the senate as not that different in terms of the way it approaches things than it's ever been. i think what's happened is the country is so calcified right

now, and it's reflected in the lack of a lot of things that are not getting done here. >> moderate has been used as an attack word. is that healthy? >> compromise and moderate have become words used against someone. you know, i am a conservative, i say i'm conservative, i vote conservative, but if you actually compromise, i worked to get the faa bill passed. do you really not want the airports to be able to build run weis and keep commerce moving? really? >> i believe you use government as the last resort, not the first resort. the government srcht the answer to every problem. i believe in individual responsibility. perhaps it's the nature of how i grew up, but i also understand that government is also there to help you when you can't help

yourself. i always say to the republicans it's not enough to say you're on your own, you know? there is a role for government to play. >> so i'm cureual, we have this fiscal cliff coming up, you may have a lot more work to do than maybe you guys planned on in that last six-week stretch. for it to be productive, what's the result that's probably necessary. >> if we give american businesses that are sitting now between $2 and $3 trillion of liquid assets the confidence that they know what the tax system will be like for years forward, that we finally have come together and dealt with the debt, i think there had be an explosion of investment that will create new jobs. you have to have bipartisan agreement to get something done. here's my only source of hope, which is that both parties will decide, you know, it will be better to take a big bite out of this difficult apple, the dead,

before we start a new session. let's get it done. >> look. at some point, and i guess one of my frustrations about the place is, at some point the country has gotten to come first. and we're there. in terms of the long-term challenges to america, this is a time both sides need to put aside the more intense partisan feelings and get a result for this country. you know what? it's time for people to step up and lead, and if that means they lose their seats, so be it. there's something more important than serving in office. that's getting a result for this country. that's just a small sampling of some of the interesting discussions you'll see all next week only here. a political panel will be

here next, and programming note for you. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty, is he the pick? he'll be david gregory's guest this sunday on "meet the press." see, we don't know, the next 48 hours, but you know you better dvr it right now. but first the white house soup of the day, roasted vegetable. you can always follow the show on facebook, poke us, like us, please. we'll be right back.

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since then she's been a reliable member of the court's more liberal, now minority. on the and i have waves just has us wondering how nasty these spots will get. "national review" reviewer, and karen fin i didn't know, and "usa today" washington bureau chief susan page. susan, i'm going to start with you. you and i have probably done it longer than our friends here. >> hey did! >> as far as observers and watchers. is it as bad -- do we always say this? >> it's worse. my ninth campaign. it's more ads, tougher ads earlier. over the olympics, there used to be a kind of theory it was too jarring to have attack ads. that clearly is yesterday's

news. the toughest attacks we have seen have come during the olympics, so one can only -- >> and the toughe ads are the ones that didn't even run. karen, it's interesting, the rep party has really jumped on this, and i think the obama campaign really mishandled how they denied knowing this story, and it just -- it was already an uncomfortable ad, and then they had some we're distancing. it seems the republicans think there is risk here, in that this doesn't represent the brand he represented to the american people. i think part of what priors the usa and the campaign may be learning in this experience, you can say super pacs, that's them and this is us, and there's a line, but i do want to point out that governor romney campaign has put out some dirty, nasty, essentially tale what the president said about you didn't

build it, and completely -- not to mention the welfare ad, which bill clinton himself was wrong. i'm just saying the standards seem to have shifted, don't even tell the truth anymore. >> i hey, they did this, so we're going to -- how is that a rationalization. >> i'm not saying, but the bar has changed. >> why go lower? >> i think they all should be held to a higher bar, frankly. >> i've heard this explanation, and the white house will say when responding on the david plouffe thing, colin powell did it, but you promised you were going to do things differently. he invited the higher level of scrutiny. >> but at we saw during the clinton years, which i remember clearly, was another time when it seems it was as bad as it's ever gotten, the horrible things, that hillary clinton murdered vince foster, and all this craziness, unfortunately

these lines keep getting pushed back, and if we as the media and people don't push back and say it's not appropriate, it's going to continue to happen. >> but it wasn't the other candidate making those attacks. >> but it shifted the line. >> let's go to the sort of what the result has been? mitt romney is losing. >> that's right. >> so we can debate all of this. >> it's being rewarded. this kind of attack -- the fact is that romney is losing. republicans are acting as those it's important to win a moral victory, but if you win a moral victory and lose the election, how much have you gained? >> have you ever met a campaign that complains about the attack ads that is winning? >> it's the classic sign of a los loser. i would say they're having an effect. >> the dynamics change because of the internet. it used to be you put a tv ad out or don't or the direct mail was ugly.

we would hear thing about phone calls. >> it's all been pretty ugly for a long time. it's all easier to see. we all said the super pac phenomenon -- actually every time a conservative super-pac has done something. we saw that with the td ameritrade gentleman, and then now obama, this is actually -- >> the idea that there's not coordination -- >> but my point is it goes to what karen is saying, everything sort of, if you're on one side -- >> but come on. >> it hurts his brand. it's not the baquerizo mcmillan that one was such an inspirational figure four years ago, but the change in the topic, to a debate welfare or romney's record -- >> the brand is already hurt. john tweeted yesterday, and he said, hey, i thought any day

that romney wasn't talking about the economy was a bad day for the romney campaign. wlfs the last time they talked about it. >> they're talking about welfare, adssh -- >> it's not the obama brand of 2008, i agree, but again he has just tactically speaking, i'm not saying i agree with it, but he had more room, and he knows he can't run on the public satisfaction with the country. >> i don't agree with that. >> he has to make romney unacceptable, because he knows romney will not fall on his face. you've got to drive him as bad as you can. >> speaking of bounces, will he get a vp bounce? we'll talk about that after the break. how many votes separated the winner and loser in the closest election in u.s. senate history. the answer that probably something only karla would have gotten right. it was 1974.

louis wyman faced off again john durkin. wyman was declared the winner bus the margin of two votes. the senate deadlocked, durkin and wyman agreed to a new election and durkin won by a landslide. the political trivia question you think should be on the show, e-mail us. we'll be right back. ♪ these are the days [ male announcer ] 6 years old. then 7. going on 11. in the blink of an eye, they're all grown up. marie callender's homemade tastes are another great reason to sit down and savor every last moment. ♪ because time flies... right before your eyes. marie callender's. it's time to savor. right before your eyes. this is new york state.

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let's bring back the panel. we delayed three minutes talking about the vp pick, right? we forced ourselves to talk about the other stuff. it looks like the romney campaign is enjoying the tease,

by campaigning with the local favorite is helpful, is it not? >> no reason to do the pick too early. they give you a big opportunity to change what we're talking about, right? i don't think it's going to come this weekend, i don't know, but my gut says it doesn't come this weekend. >> and local press matters, sometimes more than the national press, so a very smart strategy to bring them along, get the local press, more likely to get the curiosity factor, you know, why not direct that out as long as you can? >> ramesh, you're one of the intellectual elitist conservative rags there, weekly standard, "wall street journal" editorial page, they have all coalesced around ryan. what are you going to do if he doesn't pick out ryan? >> we're going to sit out the election.

>> it's sort of the conservative -- >> i think the conservative intelligencia, if you will, sees him as a kin dried spirit. >> you know, we ought to remind people, paul ryan's career began in powamerica. doesn't this have the feel like the reincarnation of the kemp wing of the rep party back in the '70s and '80s. when dole was looking for a veep, i was at the cnn greenroom with jack kemp, and he pointed at the comenni, and said dole will pick him before me, and two weeks later, he picked him. >> kemp had, i think, more street cred. >> he had a nonpolitical career. >> two things on ryan. republicans lost a house seat in

upstate new york that they should have won, so if he picks ryan, we get to go. >> ramesh will argue they didn't know how to adjudicate it. when we come back, we're going to talk a bit about sonar primaries. not tossing to the olympics just yet. some shameless plugs, and some olympics previews. we will be right back. don't change yet. 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 decorative vanity and mirror set at a special buy of just $199.

let's bring back the panel. very quickly, some senate primaries, boy, todd aiken, missouri, that happened last week. that put it much more in play, no? >> i think democrats wanted it to be like nevada in 2010, but mccaskill is still very as a rule initial. >> that was the worst outcome

they thought in wisconsin. tommy thompson trying to make a comeback. >> i don't think it's his year. he has a big field, that should help him, but this is a year where people with energy, those are the republican candidates. >> can you imagine tommy thompson at the top of the ticket, and something almost 30 years his junior as the running mate. i have to go to shakeless plugs. >> national review online, he takes apart fa reed zacarias. >> very shameless, i'll be filling in for martin next week at the 4:00 p.m. hour. >> congratulations. we're talking about veeps book, joshua glasser was a senior, wrote his senior thesis on tom eagleton whose disou