>> barnicle doesn't know that. >> gentle dol. >> i learned that mike barnicle's tie was so green that it was used as a green screen. >> i wear this as a safety measure at night when i walk the dog. >> by the way, you look -- >> it reflects off of car headlights. >> mike looks thrilled to be on the program this morning. >> a man who is happy in his work. >> there he is. see you back here tomorrow. stick around for chuck. mid-town main event. both candidates crisscrossing manhattan and major speeches and interviews all over the air waves. mitt romney goes first and gets ready to take the stage this hour at bill clinton's global giving conference. what will the former president have to say about the

presidential hopeful? we will hear from both of them in minutes. meanwhile, blocks away, president obama gets ready to address united nations over an hour from now. he is getting the low-key no news drop-by that his team was hoping for? he is getting heat making time for "the view" but not fellow leaders. a big time in missouri. if todd aiken exits the senate race he has to do it by 5:00 p.m. today. if not, it's on to november but the yemt battled congressman shows no sign of dropping out. good morning from new york. it's tuesday, september 25th, 2012. i'm chuck todd live outside of the new york public library, nbc's occasieducation nation su behind me. coming up, i will show you live

pictures and monitoring and waiting for bill clinton to introduce mitt romney at his global giving conference and when that happens, we will take it to you live and give you a little bit of mitt romney's remarks. he is presenting an intriguing plan of a public private partnership when it comes to foreign aid. one that my guess is won't get taken out of a partisan lens but ought to win time -- when the time comes for it. first, to my first reads of the morning on the trail monday. a null aggressive mitt romney and he sailed the president's leadership abroad and his characterization. president obama will address the u.n. jen assembly. the president's fourth speech to the body. 18 month civil war in syria and a series of confrontational statements by none other than iran's president who declared monday that israel has no roots in the middle east.

today's speech comes in the aftermath of the u.s. consulate in ben ghazi which killed four americans. this is the president on libya, by the way, just one year ago. >> 42 years of tyranny was ended in six months, from tripoli to misrata and ben ghazi, today, libya is free. yesterday, the leaders of a new libya took their rightful place besides and this week, the united states is reopening our embassy in tripoli. >> that was one year ago today. in his speech today, here is what we do know the president will say today, quote. we must aferm that our future will be determined by people like chris stevens. he recommit the united states to the values of the arab spring and aspirations of, quote, people everywhere who long for

the freedom to determine their destiny and we will see if he uses exactly that phrase. and also warn iran that although still time for diplomacy, time is not limited. make no mistakes a nuclear armed iran is not a challenge that can be contained and why a coalition of countries is holding the iran government accountable and why the united states will do what we must to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. he uses the word -- the word containment. that's a big declaration there for what it's worth. the remarks are directed not just at an international audience but a domestic one. mitt romney who was accusing the president of damaging ties with israel and not being tough enough on iran, yesterday attacked the president's answer to a "60 minutes" question about whether the recent middle east uprising gave him any doubts about support of governments that emerged from the arab spring. here is what the president said. >> i think it was absolutely the right thing for us to do to align ourselves with democracy.

universal rights and a notion people have to be able to participate in their own governance. but i was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain that there are going to be bumps in the road. >> romney seized on that phrase "bumps in the road." first in a series of network interviews. a media blitz f you will. >> we have just had an ambassador assassinated. egypt elected a muslim brotherhood or person as president. iran is on the cusp offing a nuclear capability. we in syria and paeckkistan, i don't consider these bumps in the road. >> romney in colorado at a rally and paul ryan on a bus tour of ohio attacked the president on foreign policy. >> turn on the tv and it's not -- it reminds you of 1979

tehran, but they are burning our flags in capitals all around the world. they are storming our embassies. we have lost four of our diplomats and saying we are going to gut our national security, our military. that projects weakness. >> white house has condemned that romney's -- the president was referring to the death of ambassador chris stevens when he used the phrase "bumps in the road." here is press secretary jay carney in response. >> there is a certain rather desperate attempt to grasp words and phrases here to find political advantage and, in this case, that is profoundly offensive. >> joining me now on behalf of the romney campaign, former new york city mayor, rudy giuliani. you are here because the bill clinton event is running late and i'm shocked, shocked. >> having to wait for president clinton to go out and used to tie up traffic for about 45

minutes every move. >> you have figured it out. >> a good friend. >> i'm always impressed between you and mayor bloomberg. the city runs when many of us invii invade it in than ways p.m. containment isn't a policy, that has to make you feel better, does it not? >> it does, if i believe it. >> how do you not believe it. >> i didn't hear him say the magic words he would use military strike. >> do you think you have on-to-say the phrase military strike? >> sure. what else does that mean it? it could mean dramatic sanctions and big sanctions. big sanctions he has right now -- >> not a policy, then what -- imply that military is an option? >> no, it doesn't not insist you say that word but implies it but could mean more signature sanctions. we have exempted china and 19 other countries and we think we have significant sanctions on them only because they were pretty weak before. 20 countries have been exempted

from sanctions on iran so iran can function pretty darn well with their biggest or second biggest trading partner since china. since president obama has exempted china from those sanctions. >> this china situation, always interesting to me it's always easy to talk tough on china in a campaign year. my point is it always seems to be once a president gets into office, whether republican or democrat, there is always a trepidation how much you push china. >> he has exempted russia and 18 other countries. the sanctions aren't what they seem to be. the sanctions have tremendous number of loopholes in them. you could make the sanctions much more significant and what he could be talking about and a reason he doesn't use the word military strike. ronald reagan wouldn't avoid military strike. i think jimmy carter the regime is not taken seriously. i believe when the iranians look at ronald reagan they saw

something differently and released the hostages. >> seems like a dispute in the line in the sand. you're not taking the president at his word but a lot of people will. >> i'm not taking -- i have taken his word. the word containment means military power. sanctions are here. they could go to here. much more significant sanctions could mean what he is talking about unless he clarifies. >> you believe -- >> you're interpreting containment to mean military power. i'm saying he hasn't said that. he didn't clarify that. >> how far down -- i mean, when do you stop diplomacy? you're saying sanctions aren't working as well as they should because of -- should you keep going? >> i'm not sure he should announce that publicly but i think he should have an agreement with president netanyahu on what the bright line test is and no confusion between those two men because we don't israel to take action if it didn't have to take action. his failure to meet with

president netanyahu is astou astounding. >> they talk on the phone -- no two world leaders -- dsh i don't think the president more time on the phone with president netanyahu than any world leader. >> one more. >> why is this so much more significant? >> so did churchill and roosevelt and necessary to travel but they found four times a year to sit down and look into each other's eyes. president netanyahu has to make a very important decision i don't want to have to make it. does he attack or doesn't he? a lot of has to do with his trust in president obama sitting down face-to-face a basic essential of foreign policy. this is what bob woodward criticized the president for. he doesn't like to meet with people. he's a remote guy. i think it affects the way in which he conducts foreign policy and i think it affects the way he conducts domestic policy and i'm not saying this. i think bob woodward's whole book is about this. >> do they by president netanyahu is speaking for the entire israel people? >> do president obama speak for

the entire american people but who is in charge? >> an assumption it seems the united states or at least the implication is the defense between the israel defense and department of defense everything our understanding is as tight as every. there just seems to be a personality conflict between netanyahu and obama so what? >> it just happens to be a personality conflict with the man who has to make the decision whether to do the bombing or not. you overcome the personality conflict and you deal with it. you don't go hide in a shell and be afraid to talk to him. >> would you be meeting with morsi today? >> if i met with netanyahu -- >> would you be meeting with both of them? >> i'd meet with both of them. he is not doing the job of being candidate. president p.m. has decided he regards as a bump in the road he can take the time not to be president the next six weeks and let it play itself out. >> how do you know this isn't about a bump in the road? >> i don't know. all of those people being killed in syria doesn't seem like a bump in the road. >> dancing or march of 2005,

it's democracy. there was a lot of chaos going on in iraq 2005. we ven said when we're there, democracy is messy. >> how long ago was that? >> 2005. >> it turned out to be wrong, didn't it? >> former mayor of new york city, nice to see you. >> thank you. >> take a quick break and come back. mitt romney and bill clinton coming together. we are expecting it any minute now. we will be right back. we've all had those moments.

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is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. we're going to take you right now to bill clinton introducing mitt romney at the clinton global initiative. we will hear mitt romney outline his vision of what foreign assistance will look like. president obama addresses the meeting later this afternoon. >> i was out of the white house. i said, governor, i love city year and what america is all about. i hope you'll help me save it and he urged the republican congress to continue to support city year and he urged the white house to do it, and they did. i just visited a city year program in south africa in jo

ha johan newsburg. 80% there have a job that they leave city year. so it turns out to be good economics, as well as good for the society. all of you should know that and i wanted you to know it and, governor, i thank you for being here. the podium is yours. >> thank you, mr. president. >> thank you. >> very nice. thank you. thank you, mr. president. it's an honor to be here this morning and i appreciate your kind words and that introduction is very touching. if there is one thing we have learned in this election season, by the way, it is that a few words from bill clinton can do a man a lot of good. all i got to do now is wait a

couple of days for that bounce to happen. as you know, since serving as president, president clinton has devoted himself to lifting people around the world and one of the best things that could happen to any cause, to any people, is to have bill clinton add its advocate and that is really true for a whole series of causes, but particularly for the needy and neglected causes. if he gets behind them, it makes a real difference and it's that kind of work that brings us here together today and i appreciate your willingness to spend time and to listen to those that are coming with their messages. a number of things that impressed me with the global initiative and one of them as i've seen it from afar i've been impressed by the power you have of harn necessarying people of different backgrounds and institutions of different backgrounds and persuasions. you've been able to fashion partnerships if you will across the traditional boundaries.

on a smaller scale, by the way, i've seen the power of partnerships like this work before. in massachusetts, bill clinton just spoke about -- about city year and i have right owner over here michael brown one of the founders. this was an effort two social i pioneers brought volumes to form this impit and it was the model as the president said for americore. i happened to be there the first time he visited city year. he was there investigating the life changing successes which were being reported by -- in the lives of these young people who had come together for a year of service and as they were linked with corporate teams that worked with them. now i also saw the power of these kind of partnerships in 2002 when i was asked to be the head of the olympic winter games in salt lake city. i saw what could happen when very different elements of a community were willing to join together in extraordinary unity

and we were able to overcome challenges that many thought would be impossible for an organization like ours to overcome. now, the clinton global initiative has also demonstrated the effectiveness of interpru neurosh entrepreneurship. you also change lives. to change lives through freedom and through free enterprise and through entrepreneurship and the dignity that is associated with work. free enterprise has known to bless humanity than any other economic system. not only it's the only system that creates a prosperous middle class but also because it's the only system where the individual apologize the freedom to guide and build his or her life. free enterprise can not only make us better off financially, it can make us better people.

ours is a very compassionate nation, as you know. we look around the world and we see withering suffering. our hearts break. though, we make up only 4.5% of the world's population, we donate nearly a quarter of all global aid more than twice as many other nation on earth and americans give more money. pastors like rick warren lead mission trips that send thousands of americans around the world bringing aid to the poorest places on the planet. american troops are the first on the scene of a natural disaster. an earthquake strikes, in haiti and care packages come from all over the world but first from america and not far behind, of course, are presidents clinton and bush. but too often our passion for charity as a people is tempered by our sense that our aid is not always effective. we see stories of cases where american aid has been diverted to corrupt governments.

we wonder why year after year after year of aid and relief, seem to never extinguish the hardship and persists decade after decade. perhaps some is failure to recognize how much the developing world has changed. a lot of the foreign aid efforts that we put in place some years ago were designed at a time when government development assistance accounted for about 70% of the resources flowing to developing nations. today, 82% of the resources that flow to developing nations come from the private sector, not the governmental sector. if somehow foreign aid can really leverage that massive investment by the private sector, it may be able to spands the ability to not only those that are comparing for suffering and also change their lives on a permanent basis. now private enterprise is having

a greater and greater impact actually on its own in the developing world. an example that john deere embarked on a pilot program where it had farm tools attached to a very small tractor. the company worked to spanned the availability of capital to the farmers there so they could maintain and develop their own businesses. the result has been a good investment for john deere and a greater opportunity for african farmers able to grow more crops and provide for more plentiful lives of their own. for american foreign aid to become more effective, it's got to embrace the principles that you see in these global initiatives. the power of partnerships access to the transformative nature of free enterprise and the leverage of the abundant resources that can come from the private sector. now i believe that there are three quite legitimate objects of our foreign aid in this country. first, of course, is to address

humanitarian needs such as the case with -- which has given medical treatment to millions suffering from hiv and aids. second is to foster a substantially united states strategic interest, perhaps military or diplomatic. third, another purpose and one i think has to receive much more attention and a much higher priority in a romney administration and that is aid that elevates people and brings about lasting change in communities and nations. as example, a lot of americans, including myself, are troubled by developments in the middle east. syria has witnessed the killing of tens of thousands of people. the president of egypt is a member of the muslim brotherhood. our ambassador to libya was assassinated in a terrorist attack. iran is moving toward nuclear

weapons capability. we feel we are at the mercy of events, rather than shaping events. i'm often asked why. what can we do about it to lead the middle east to stability and ease the suffering and the anger and the hate there and the violence? obviously, runningus streamism is certainly part of the problem but that is not the whole story. the population of the middle east is very young in comparison with the population of the developed nations. and typically, these young people, as the president indicated a moment ago, don't have a lot of job prospects. the levels of youth unemployment across the region are excessive and chronic. nations sha have undergone a change in leadership recently, young people have greater access to information. in the past, that was being carefully guarded by tyrants and dictators but now it's available. they see the good, as well as the bad in surrounding societies.

they can now organize across vast regions mobilizing populations. idle, humiliated by poverty, and crushed by government corruption, their frustration and their anger grows. in such a setting for america to actually change lives, to change communities and nations in the middle east, foreign aid must also play a role and the shape that role should play was brought into focus by the life and death of muhammad of tunisia, that street vendor who self emulated and who sparked there by the arab spring. you probably know his background but it touched me. he was just 26 years old. he had provided for his family since he was a very young boy. he worked a small fruit stand, selling to passers-by. the regular harassment by

corrupt bureaucrated was elevated one day when they kim came in and took cases of his fruit and his only real capital equipment away from him, the scales. on the day of his final protest, witnesses say an officer slapped him and he cried out with these words "why are you doing this to me? i'm a simple person. i just want to work. i just want to work." work, that has been at the heart of our effort to help people build economies, that can create jobs, young and old alike. work builds self-esteem. it transforms minds from fantasy to reality and grounding. work does not long tolerate corruption, nor will it quietly endure the brazened theft by government of the product of

hard working men and women. to foster work and enterprise in the middle east and other developing countries, i'll initiate something i'll call prosperity pacts, working with the private sector, the program will identify that barriers to investment and trade and entrepreneurship in developing nations. and in exchange for removing those barriers and opening their markets to u.s. investment and trade, developing nations will receive u.s. assistance packages focused on developing the institutions of liberty, the rule of law, and property rights. will focus their efforts on small and medium sized businesses. micro finance has been an effective tool at promoting enterprise and prosperity but we have to spanned the medium and small businesses that are too large for micro finance and too small for traditional bankering. the share must be the promotion of work and the fostering of

free enterprise. nothing we can do as a nation will change lives and nations more effectively and permanently than sharing the insight that lies at the foundation of america's own economy. and that is that free people pursuing happiness in their own ways build a strong and prosperous nation. when i was in business, i traveled to a number of other countries. i was often struck by the vast difference in wealth among nations that were sometimes neighbors. some of that was, of course, due to geography. rich countries often had natural resources like mineral deposits or access to waterways for transportation. but in some cases, all that seemed to separate a rich country from a more poor one was a faint line in the map. countries that were physically right next door to each other and were, in some cases, economically worlds apart. you think of north korea and south korea. i became convinced that the

critical difference between these countries wasn't geography. i noticed that the most successful countries shared something in common. they were the freest. they protected the rights of individuals. they enforced the rule of law. they encouraged trade and enterprise. they understood that economic freedom is the only force in history that is consistently lifted people out of poverty and kept people out of poverty. look. a temporary aid package can give an economy a boost. it can fund projects, it can pay some bills and employ some people for a time but can't sustain an economy, not for the long term and can't pull the whole cart, if you will, because at some point, the money runs out. an assistance program that helps unleash free enterprise can create enduring prosperity. free enterprise is based on mutual exchange or rather millions of exchanges and millions of people buying, trading, selling, building,

investing. yeah, it has its ups and downs. it isn't perfect. it's more reliable, however, and more durable and ultimately history has shown it's more successful. by the way, perhaps the best example of the good that free enterprise can do is by looking at the example of the developed world itself. my friend arthur brooks at the american enterprise institute, he has pointed out that before the year 1800, living standards in the west were appalling. a person born in the 18th century lived essentially his great, great grandfather had. life was overwhelmed with disease and danger and early death. but starting in 1800, the west began two centuries of free enterprise and trade, living standards rose and literacy spread and health improved in our own country between 1820 and

1898 real per capita gdp increased 22-fold. as the most prosperous nation in history, it's our duty to keep the engine of prosperity running to open markets across the globe and spread prosperity to all of the corners of the earth and we should do it because it's the right moral course to help our brothers and sisters, but it's also economically the smart thing for us to do in our export industries pay more than what other industries make and more than one third of manufacturing jobs in this country are tied to exports. sadly, we have lost over 500,000 manufacturing jobs the last four years. as president i intend to reverse that trend by ensuring we have trade that works for america. i want to negotiate new trade agreements and ask congress to promote trade authority and spanned the transpacific

partnership and create what i call the reagan economic zone where any nation willing to play by the rules of free and fair trade can participate in a new community committed to free and fair trade. i've laid out a new approach for a new era. we're going to couple aid with trade and private investment and partnerships to empower individuals and encourage innovators and reward entrepreneurs. we face challenges in complexities. we cannot and should not forget that not far from here a voice of unspeakable evil and hatred has spoken out, threatening israel and the entire civilized world. but we come together knowing that bitterness of hate is no match for the strength of love. in the weeks ahead, i will continue to speak to these challenges and the opportunities that this moment presents us. i'll go beyond foreign

assistance and describe also what i believe america's strategy should be to secure our interests and ideals during this uncertain time. a year from now, i hope to return to this meeting as president. having made substantial progress towards achieving the reforms i've outlined. but i also hope to remind the world of the goodness and the bigness of the american heart. i never apologize for america. i believe america has been one of the greatest forces for good the world has ever known and we can hold that knowledge in our hearts with humility and wavering conviction. got bless you in this great work and god bless my country and yours. thank you so much. it's an honor to be with you. >> you just heard mitt romney outlining what he called his way of trying to create a public/private partnership, if you will in foreign aid. he defends foreign aid but makes the case for a more private sector contribution to it, creating economic, free

enterprise zones, if you will. he called them reagan zones. some of that stuff might seem familiar. he changed a little bit. he had gotten criticized for his cultural distinctions on what separates economies that grow faster than others around the world and said actually it isn't a cultural thing, it's about freedom and democracy. if you read the speech it seems to be a well thought out speech and connects his message domestically and international without causing too much friction perhaps with his base since he does make a pretty big defense of foreign aid. a slew of economic reports are coming out this morning, including the s&p schillor index. becky quick is here. i was going to talk about bacon? >> bacon? >> the cost of pigs and bacon is going to get more expensive. in all seriousness this housing news is big news and i assume

the markets will respond in kind? >> the markets are expecting to hear better news when it comes to housing because the expectation housing has turned the corner and a lot of have been waiting for even warren buffett telling us when housing turns the rest of the economy is going to turn. the other side of that, though, is that we have been hearing from a lot of these transport companies and talked already about how fedex and how the railroads warned over the last week and last night heard from caterpillar talking when it looks to 2015 the numbers are not as good as they had expected and commodity is lowering. the overall market is looking at the better side of this. the housing numbers looks like the dow is up by about 28 points. >> all right. becky quick, thank you very much. we will be back in 30 pends sekeds.

as part of the nbc news universal commitment to education we are taking a week-long look at finding solutions to some of our most pressing problems with education nation. school choices is part of the debate. romney's campaign is no different. take a listen. >> if a student wants to go to a charter school or parochial or private school, the student can go and the federal money goes with the student. so that we -- we allow more choice for parents.

i like every parent to have a choice and every child to have a chance. >> as for the teachers, savannah guthrie sat down with president obama and asked him about the strike in his hometown of chicago which pitted his former chief of staff against unions who support politically he does depend on. >> mitt romney said that president obama has chosen his side in this fight that you sided with the unions and last spring he said he can't talk up reform while indulging in groups that block it. >> well, you know, i think governor romney and a number of folks try to politicize the issue and do a lot of teacher bashing. when i meet teachers all across the country, they are so devoted and so dedicated to their kids. what we have tried to do is actually break through this left/right conservative liberal gridlock. >> joining me now is los angeles

mayor antonio villaraigosa and thank you both for being here. madam secretary, start with you and the school choice issue. you seem to be wavering on where you are in school choice. is it the answer when it comes to accountability in the local school systems or maybe are we rushing too much? >> no, i'm a big supporter of school choice so long as we have information that empowers the consumer so they can use it effectively. all of the things that go hand in hand. when parents are powered with information and the resources as governor romney said to follow with the children to schools of their choice i think it's a perfect combination. >> what is your hesitancy? right now it's no better, right? >> i don't think we're seeing that. in d.c., we have seen really effective school choice programs

work around other parts of the country. here is the difference. you know, kids can vote with their feet. parents can vote with their feet whether they are in charter schools or with school vouchers as we have in d.c. >> you would have in los angeles, i know you don't fully run the school system per se but the challenge then is if you have some students leaving failing schools, what do you do with that failing school? right? that is the rub here, right? >> first of all, i also support choice. i don't support vouchers but i do believe we need more charter schools that allow us -- >> federal dollars follow the student? >> federal dollars that follow the student, yes. >> okay. ian and our charter schools are public in los angeles. we have doubled the number of charters in l.a. 800 and above. >> what do you do with a failed charter? how quickly do you decide when a charter is a failure? >> after a period of time, three years. we should close that charter

like a public school that's not working. look. we can't continue to have a drop out roued 50% in our urban schools and kids scoring at the bottom 20 percentile and not ask the tough questions. i also agree we have to tie money to results, to accountableability. we have to have multiple measures of teachers and invest more in teacher development and recruit the best teachers. you've seen teachers teach for america, they are recruiting some of the top people from colleges to our schools. so we need to do all of that and give parent choices and we need to have the highest standard for our kids. >> savannah put a question to the president. is it the teachers union more than anybody else that is slowing down this movement on reform? >> i'd say that the teachers union are defending things that are broken. let me give you an example. we had a peta file in los angeles. furl -- >> you say this is a former

organizer? >> yes, a former -- we had a peta file in los angeles who we couldn't fire and pay them $40,000 to fire him even though he is going to jail. we did a bill saying we should be able to expedite the dismissal. the bill didn't pass. we need to start working together. look. the teaching profession is a pu tough profession. we have to invest more in them than we do now but the unions can't defend what is broken. we have taken on send seniority and tenure. what other profession is determined how long you've been here? imagine if i said vote here because i've been here the longest? it doesn't work in our schools or anywhere else either. >> teacher unions might be slowing down reform?

>> teacher unions are doing what they are paid to do and represent adults in the system. their conditions and benes. they don't represent children and not what they are paid to do. i largely agree with the mayor. when teachers decide where they want to work, we end up having our least experienced most inin effect teachers sent to the most challenging places and surprised when they can't get result with kids. we need to find time and ways that work for students, not adults. >> what did you learn by going into the federal -- there has always been this sort of what should the federal government's role be in education. what did you think going in and what do you now think coming out that is different? >> actually, george bush, as you know, was kind of a different kind of republican who was one of the pioneers in saying let's not abolish the education. we need to have a discrete but muscular role that says if we are going to invest billions of

taxpayer dollars if he federal level, we ought to have something in return. >> so you like a race to the top idea program? >> no child left behind, accountability, oriented type investment but we ought to not, you know, race to the top funding doesn't work, we ought to take it away and say we are going to do smarter things. one quick thing i have to say about that, chuck, the federal commitment has always been around our needest kids and that is what it ought to be about. discrete, but muscular. >> is there a model? i asked them of ray. is there a model school system in the country that seems to have gotten it right? she really cone come up with an answer. saying massachusetts is the closest. >> everybody is trying to get it right. they have a collaboration between their union and the school district and focusing on accountability. i don't buy the idea we shouldn't fund our schools. you hear some people say it's just reform, it's just standards.

you got to also tie results to reform and money. you got to make investments in our kids and in california, we are 47th in peer people spending. i remember when we had the best public schools in the nation and in the top five. you have to invest in our schools and invest in our teachers but we also have to work collaboratively together to change what is broken in our schools today. >> mr. mayor of los angeles and former secretary of education, margaret spelling, thank you for coming on. it's a busy day. next up, i will get in a little politics in here. a bunch of senate races that matter. it's deadline day for todd akin and the massachusetts senate race gets uglier and nastier. our public panel will be next. we expect president obama to walk through that door at the united nations shortly. he is expected to speak shortly at the assembly at the united nations. minestrone chicken sausage but that is okay.

that's why the italians invented minestrone to use leftovers. programming note for you. both president obama and mitt romney will lay out their views on education today at nbc's occasion nation summit. you can see mitt romney live at 11:00 a.m. he is interviewed by none other than brian williams and president obama's interview airs at 2:00 p.m. we will be right back. just pick, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. [ male announcer ] fedex office. if we want to improve our schools... ...what should we invest in?

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♪ something to me ♪ that nobody else could do i promised i would sneak politics in today. a lot going on in the senate landscape, if you will. the battle for control of the senate gets a little tougher today. it's deadline day for controversial congressman todd akin to pull his name off the missouri ballot and in massachusetts, scott brown, elizabeth warren race is getting more personal and uglier. look at this latest exchange.

>> elizabeth warren is trying to put questions about her heritage behind her. >> identifying herself as native american to employers. >> elizabeth warren is a real fighter. i don't know about scott brown. he is siding with the big money guys. tax cuts for millionaires won't help people around here. >> times rana is with us and erin lewis and jonathan alter who is a columnist for bloomberg view. jonathan, let's talk about massachusetts. sort of the closest thing to a presidential-esque race. my joke is runs for president and you get a talk show. judging by the attacks back and forth i can't tell who is really ahead. >> some recent polls have shown elizabeth warren taking a little lead but way too close to call.

scott brown's problem is that he has been the good guy ever since he won in 2010. he's had this good guy reputation. >> just a little bit of a risk? >> it's a bigger risk because the more negative he goes and he was very harsh in that first debate. if he has more debates where he is really taking the gloves off, some of his numbers are going to go down. the other thing that she has going for her, she is starting to make a very interesting and unusual and difficult case, but possible in massachusetts, which is if you vote for scott brown, you're voting for a republican leadership in the senate that is denying the existence of change. >> but for obama supporters is all she needs, more obama supporters in massachusetts. >> she has got another thing that she seems to be worried about and that is this issue of perceived sexism in the massachusetts electorate. listen to richard trumpka. the head of the afl-cio took

this head on. here is what he said yesterday. we have a problem because some voters and let me be perfectly honest i'm talking about voters who look just like me. is a big burly guy and big to one good reason the not to, because he's black. it's crazy not to vote for her because she's a woman. fact of the matter is, there is a little bit of a history here where it seems for governor and senate, women have had a tough time. >> it's true. but i'm interested that she's pulling ahead. and in addition to what john happen said, i think it's about the economy. both at the senate level and national level, people are interested in jobsnd she and sh making a good case. and that's what things will

hinge on. >> there's something about politics in massachusetts. it's personal. >> they want lots of debates and the democrats in particular do not have a history of electing women statewide. >> you see scott brown trying to drive a wedge into that. and it goes in to jonathan's point. there's a line if he looks too mean. >> that's right. and not only that. there's a line if he looks too mean and plays into the narrative that a vote for scott brown is a vote for the ugly republicans who you don't like. in a state where president obama is leading by 28 points, there are a lot of people who have made up their mind. scott brown is really a fly in the ointment. >> and claire mccaskill attack ad every republican known to man that criticizes todd aiken. anyway, we're just minutes away from the president's speech. we'll be right back with a

preview of that from our panel. [ male announcer ] this is rudy. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches.

we're just minutes away from president obama's speech at the u.n. jen general assembly. his only scheduled event at this year's meeting. let's bring back in our panel. we it do know some of what the president will say about rairan he'll use the word containment, that that is not an option. rudy giuliani said he didn't say military strike. >> i don't think it's implied. the president has to be really careful. i think he's done a good job so far with the events of the last few week. we need to stay engaged, we need to be talking to people in the middle east, but we need to not be implying that there will be some kind of military action. for starters, there's no

appetite for it in this country. oil prices. nobody wants them to go up. >> jonathan, this republican criticism of the president's schedule, does it matter to mr. and mrs. iowa or mr. and mrs. iowa or mr. and mrs. wisconsin. >> >> i don't think it does. mitt romney will need something else to get traction. obama's objective in pure political terms is make no news. >> that's clear. and very clear, they are going to see the president give a speech in front of the u.n. general assembly. >> so the president is working. >> they don't know about the by will the ra bilateral -- >> exactly right. the eagle academy does great work with sixth and seventh graders. opening a new cew academy in ne.

>> capitalist column talking about columbus, ohio and why it's a lesson to the nation. >> my sister started a blog in california called l.a. school report which is all about education reform. >> and mine is for ed, we need you back, save the packers. we'll see you back here in washington, d.c. tomorrow. coming up next, chris jansing. she'll bring you the president's speech live. this is your business travel forecast. worst weather in the country is taking place in areas of the ohio valley coming out of missouri, showers and thunderstorms pretty widespread. the rest of the nation's actually looking fairly dry. nice weather today in the eastern seaboard. still a little hot in arizona to texas and everyone on the west coast is enjoying is dry day and cooler temperatures. the capital one cash rewards card

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