♪ hi, everybody. good morning. topping the agenda, the final offensive. president obama launching a full-scale all-out campaign push after debating mitt romney. starting tomorrow, the president begins a two-day six-state barn storm. he tried to build on the debate again, criticizing governor romney for moves to the middle. >> we've come up with a name for this condition. it's called romnesia. we had a severe outbreak last night. it was at least stage three

romnesia. >> but the strategy last night, stay strong, sharp and relentless. the commander in chief brought a bayonet to a foreign policy knife fight. >> your strategy previously has been one that's been all over the map. i know you haven't been in a position to actually execute foreign policy. you mentioned the navy for example and we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. governor, we have fewer horses and bayonets. the question is not a game of battleship where we're counting ships. it is what are our capables? >> those were cheap shots that he took at mitt romney last night. i think you should treat your opponent with some respect, especially if you're the president of the united states and he didn't. >> governor romney's strategy shows the softer side, appearing cool, careful and measured and tended to attack center left. >> we can't kill our way out of this mess. we don't want another iraq. we don't want another afghanistan. that's not the right course for

us. attacking me is not an agenda. attacking me is not talking about how we'll deal with the challenges in the middle east. >> willing to say anything about anything at any time to close the deal. it is running for president of the united states. >> so you don't believe he wants the troops out in 2014? >> i believe he wants to say whatever it takes to get him elected. >> snap polls and pundits given the final debate victory to president obama but tactically is it too little, too late? >> can president obama impose a price on mitt romney for that? can he hold his feet to the fire and win that argument so possible the audacity of etch will work? >> well, i think that the problem for the obama campaign is the first debate. >> even if they can just knock that back a little bit in terms of the gains romney made i think they feel there's some real advantage in that. >> we knew this was a close race, right? i don't think we expected it. i think it's -- i think it is

now impossible to call. >> joining me now is maryland democratic congressman chris van hollen. sir, it is good to have you with me. some said that the president was a bit too aggressive last night. i want to everybody a moment in that debate and then reaction of congressman paul ryan this morning. take a look. >> i congratulate him on taking out osama bin laden and going after the leadership of al qaeda but we can't kill our way out of this mess. >> i'm glad you recognize that al qaeda is a threat because when you were asked what's the biggest geo political threat facing america you said russia. not al qaeda. you said russia. in the 1980s, calling to ask for their foreign policy back. >> you know what we saw with this debate? mitt romney's ready to be a great president. we saw a man with a command of the facts, the kind of temperament and demeanor that makes for a great president. >> command of the facts and demean know. did mitt romney look more

presidential? >> thomas, are you talking to me now? >> yes. >> oh, no. listen. i thought last night we understood clearly why the american people credit president obama with strong and strong leadership and why mitt romney is not ready for strong and steady leadership. look. he essentially endorsed barack obama's foreign policy but in doing so he totally flip flopped on his own positions and that's bad enough when you're dealing with domestic policy issues. it's dangerous when you do it in the foreign policy arena. steadiness is important. mitt romney as the president said is all over the map on important foreign policy issues. that sends risky mixed signals to the allies and foes and i thought mitt romney essentially by playing the etch-a-sketch and romnesia on foreign policy showed he doesn't have the steadiness. the president was very clear on this. >> congressman, a lot of people

scratching their heads today as they review the debate wondering how do you nail jell-o to the wall? mitt romney endorsing certain policies of the president as displayed by last night but with only two weeks left to go, was a aggressive display of knowledge and presidential leadership too late for certain voters in this country who may have already decided that mitt romney might be the person they want to go for? >> i don't think it's too late at all. i think last night all the polls clearly showed the president won. there were still undecided voters watching last night. they went overwhelmingly for the president because, again, people are getting a real sense that mitt romney is a finger of the wind candidate. we know what positions he took in the republican primary. he has had a foreign policy that is just bluster. which is very dangerous. when you're not going to back it up. when it comes to domestic policy, the president reminded people that mitt romney was for

allowing american manufacturing, auto industry to go bankrupt. mitt romney's trying to play catch up on and saying that the president took his idea. it is incredible. i don't think the american people are going to let mitt romney get away with this. they know where he is, where he was in the republican primary. he's wedded to the republican tea parties members of the house of the representatives. that's become the base of his campaign operation. and i don't think anybody's going to be fooled. and again, last night underscored why mitt romney's not ready to be commander in chief because you need steadiness. you cannot be a flip flopper. you cannot be the person who makes up your positions on the fly. that, again, sends very dangerous signals abroad. >> one thing that the obama campaign is out today with a new ad calling a multiplit form organization and shows the agenda of the president for the four years.

take a lock. >> auto industry back. our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet. but we have made real progress. and the last thing we should do is turn back now. >> as we know from the president's schedule, the campaign schedule over three days, the president's going to barnstorm key battleground states. we know that vice president joe biden based in ohio for the next three days going to different events there. do you think, though, that with, again, just these 14 days to go and the sliver of people that they're looking for, the undecided in this country that that's enough time for the president's message to resonate? >> i think it's enough time and the other factor, thomas, the turnout effort and the president's campaign is very well organized in the battleground states. they've been working very hard to turn out the vote. the vote is now energized. i think you will see democrats going to the polls. and for those few remaining undecided voters out there, i thought last night's debate was

important, reminding people why they credit this president with being a strong commander in chief. and again, the theme the president struck on foreign policy was the same that he's struck on domestic policy. it would be a big mistake to go back to the economic policies that mitt romney's proposing that got us in to this mess to begin with and it would be a mistake to go back to the bush foreign policies that got us in to the messes we did overseas. and the reality is that a big part of mitt romney's team are hangovers from the bush administration, the bush/cheney team. so i know that mitt romney wanted to go to great lengths last night assure the american people that he wasn't going to turn back the clock to the bush foreign policy we the people surrounded himself with are exactly that team and so nobody should be fooled whether it's his flip flop on domestic policy issues or flip flops on foreign policy.

>> just so people know, it's 17 out of 24 of romney's foreign advisers are from president bush's years. congressman chris van hollen, thank you for being here. i appreciate it. >> thank you. want to pli in the political power panel for this tuesday. former senior adviser to hillary clinton's presidential campaign. joel reuben, current director of policy in government affairs for the plow shares fund and jackie curbman. it's great to have you here. jackie's senator john kerry on "the daily rundown" this morning on msnbc and had this to say about governor romney. take a listen. >> listening to mitt romney is like listening to a candidate who's running on cliff notes or who had rosette stone foreign policy. >> not holding back there, jackie. your dad in the primary is harsh on mitt romney, as well. calling him as a man who wants to run for president of the

united states who cannot be honest with the american people. why level about anything if he's president? how do we know american voters out there at this point which mitt romney we'd get as president after seeing the display we saw last night and seeing a pivot back to the middle? >> well, i think, thomas, first of all, thank you for having me on. welcome back from your honeymoon. >> thank you. >> i hope you had a great time and what you've seen in the last three debates is mitt romney and the first debate, a fabulous job. we agree that president obama was basically asleep. second debate, pretty muched him but the foreign policy debate is very different because what he had to do is go against somebody who's commander in chief and obama has a different stature in the debate and has to look like he can be commander in chief and he had a command of the facts, he knew exactly not just cliff notes but i would say in-depth what was happening and where he agreed with president obama, he agreed and he also very clearly

laid out to the american people where he would and would not go depending on what was needed and that was very important for mitt romney to do that and i think he did a fantastic job. >> all right. so as jackie's talking about there mitt romney showing specifics and a depth of knowledge, certainly, the president showed a depth of knowledge and aggressive posture about what it takes to be a leader in the position of commander in chief and being that person that other world leaders are locking to. however, as we saw last night, there is reaction from women and a focus group of nbc had specifically. i want to play a part of that for you. >> i rally liked the issues when they were talking about the small businesses. you know? and especially the economy. they kept harping on the economy and instead of obama really talking about what he was going to do to really build the economy, i felt romney had much better, you know, vision on where he was going and what he was going to do and his plan. >> isn't it interesting, ann, most people walking away from a

foreign policy debate would pick up -- their ears perk up talking about the economy and aligning mitt romney, the perception he would be better handling our economy. >> there were a number of focus groups and polls last night and as you may know, most of the polls that, every poll i have seen of uncommitted voters scored president obama as the winner. my own favorite focus group is of walmart moms. i'm very big on the walmart moms. they have some of the hardest jobs in the world and they thought clearly that president obama was the winner. look, last night president obama showed why he -- is and should be commander in chief. he was clear, forceful. he showed that he is willing to use and has used the instruments of national power to keep us safe and secure and at the same time and just as important, strengthening alliances to meet whatever challenge comes forward. >> joel, israel seemed to get a lot more mentions than any other country last night. i just want to remind everybody.

take a look. >> everything we're doing we're doing in consultation with our partners in the region including israel. israel is a true friend. >> when i'm president of the united states we'll stand with israel. daylight between ourselves and israel. >> so the president was the first one to bring up israel last night throughout the debates. mitt romney throughout this season has said specifically that the president has thrown israel under the bus, brought up last night the fact that the president not visited israel over the time he's been president. obviously, a lot of pander to florida's jewish voters there. what struck you the most and most notably absent? >> thank you, thomas, for having me. that israel example is a perfect symbol of what happened last night. many in the foreign policy community befuddled for mitt romney to argue for positions now he was against during the campaign in the past year and in particular on iran, on afghanistan, on syria. he has essentially endorsed the

president's policy. on israel, the president explained how he had a shared vision with israel for the defense and security and really e butted the political attacks leveled at him about israel. as well as political attacks on libya. it was odd. romney really did not seem to stand by his attacks and his critiques of the past year and instead the president seemed to come out with a new endorsee of the foreign policy. >> we'll know soon enough who the third time was a charm for in two weeks. great to see all of you. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. the foreign policy debate lands domestic. the issues and answers that could decide the election. now that the debates are officially over, are you still undecided? if so, why? tweet me or find me on facebook. we're back after this. joe comes in a paper cup at the drive-thru.

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welcome back, everybody. let's look at the battleground headlines with election day 14 days away. in florida, why president obama won the debate and why it might not matter much. "the miami herald" said the president didn't get the knockout punch he needed. in ohio, bold biden pours it on for obama in ohio. the paper noted that biden praised obama and fiercely attacks the republican ticket. in virginia, will final debate break voters' stalemate in "usa today" questioned who won that debate and will it sway undecided voters in america? two leaders of the u.s. conference of mayor. gentlemen, it's great to have you here. mayor reid, i want to start with you about this and the opinion

piece written by karl rove out this morning and writes it looks like while governor romney may have lost the debate he looked like a commander many chief and presented himself in a presidential way with the president's tone being much too aggressive and down right nasty. so, mayor reid, governor romney is ahead on the issue of the economy and certainly came up and presented itself last night in the foreign policy debate, the domestic issues. but after last night, is he not considered a credible alternative on foreign policy? >> absolutely not. i mean, i think what people should walk away with -- not surprising that karl rove write a fantasy football piece this morning. that's what he does for a living for republicans but it is not surprising. the president is in a strong position. he's won two out of three debates and folks need to remember what was extremely clear last night was that if mitt romney had been president then osama bin laden would likely not have been killed. because he would have asked pakistan for permission to take the shot and i think that that

matters to americans because 3,000 americans lost their lives and the man willing to take the shot, the man that didn't ask pakistan for permission was barack obama. and he's going to be re-elected president of the united states. >> mayor smith, people are saying there's not a lot of daylight between the two candidates with handling and beliefs of foreign policy. i want to play what an undecided voter had to say from last night. take a listen. >> i felt like tonight what happened is romney agreed with the president a lot and surprising there's not more distinction between them. i'm glad he did and some of the things before was kind of speaking in language that would isolate us more than bring us towards the rest of the world. >> certainly governor has been critical of the president's foreign policy out on the stump yet the perception seems face to face he agrees with the

president for most of it. is governor romney trying to have it both ways when it comes to his foreign policy platform or is he just being strategic in how he was handling last night's debate? >> well, i don't think there's any doubt that you go in to a debate with a strategy and in a debate on foreign policy, there's no doubt that the incumbent, the commander in chief has the upper hand. i think governor romney worked that strategy last night. i think his purpose which he achieved was to make people believe that he was a credible alternative as a commander in chief. i think he wanted to look presidential and he did. i think he wanted to present facts which he did and he wanted to give voters especially undecided voter just like that gentleman we just heard the comfort that he would be a commander in chief that they could have confidence in and i think he accomplished that. >> they want to reach the undecided and according to the insta-polls the score 2-1 in president obama's favor but the

consensus seems to be that governor romney won the debate season because he came out so strong with the first debate. you couple that with the headlines seeing now. mayor reid, is two weeks enough time for the president to make up the lost ground after the first debate? >> first of all, i want to push back on this consensus that mitt romney won the debate season. i don't know where you're getting that from. the electoral college stands right now strongly in place of president obama. mitt romney at 201 to 205. the president between 240 and 250 electoral votes. so i don't know where this consensus developed when a person wins 2 out of 3 debates and when a man running for president said that he wouldn't go to the ends of the world to kill someone who killed 3,000 americans so i don't know where the consensus is coming from. the polling data said barack obama won 2 out of the 3 debates. mitt romney had one good debate. that's the only good event he's had this season. we knew all along the race was

going to be extremely close. we expect that to happen but the president continues to be up in ohio and we believe that last night he won virginia. >> so mayor smith, when we hear that from mayor reid there saying that there really isn't this perception should be obvious that president obama won the debate season, there is a perception out there about mitt romney and what is the real mitt romney. which one would be in office if elected president. do you feel confident that the american public knows who mitt romney is, his score if elected? >> i think that's the one thing the governor was able to accomplish in the debates which is why the debates aren't like a baseball series. this isn't the best of seven or whatever. this is what is the message to put across? i think people have seen a caricature of governor romney and the obama campaign very good at advancing and what they saw in the debate was the real mitt romney. i think the one thing we need to

note is if you have a lot of undecideds this close to the election and an incumbent and four years to get these people convinced to stay with you, they aren't undecided whether they support you. they're decided they're not supporting you and deciding whether to participate. am i going to show up? i think what governor romney accomplished in the series of debates is confidence that he could be a president. he looked presidential. he acted presidential. and so it was one of three or two of three, whatever, he accomplished what he needed to giving the undecided a presidential look and confidence that he could be a president they could have confidence in. >> gentlemen, thank you for your time this morning. i appreciate it. >> thank you, thams. >> thank you for having me. >> absolutely. big bird, binders and bayonets. some of the biggest debate moments according to twitter. plus, less than two hours of apple's big announcement in time

for the holidays, right? a little thing, the ipad mini. bringing you detalls next.

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say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. debate season is over but the tweets still flying and tallying them for you. at more than 10 million, the first presidential showdown was the most tweeted about. the hot topic, the exchange of big bird setting off 135,000 tweets a minute. now in the second debate romney's biners full of women remark capped off tweets at 7.2 million and then last night the least tweeted of all leading the charge at more than 105,000 per minute, horses and bayonets. and speaking of horses, here's a tweet. this is also known ann romney's olympic horse. i say if they settle disputes we

would have more diplomacy. you can see in this fake romney-ryan ad. and another spoof of big bird, holding a bayonet and asking mitt romney a pointed question. we think that's not going to be something you see on "sesame street." there's big bird for you. may be the biggest move of apple. they're set to announce the ipad mini and google and amazon may be sweating a bit. here's jon fortt of san jose. this is a test of staying competitive post steve jobs. what are you hearing? >> reporter: absolutely. we expect it to be 8 inches, bigger than the smaller competitors like the google nexus 7, the amazon kindle fire and the barnes & noble nook to take on apple and the tablet category at 200 bucks.

closer to $300 or closer to $200 to compete with them? this's the question. >> real quickly, jon, anymore bells and whistles added to it? what else does it offer? >> reporter: that's the key announcements we could see about. you never know. it's a longer event than probably just to announce one thing. >> all right. think like to keep everybody waiting for attention. jon fortt reporting live from san jose, thank you so much. appreciate it. we are keeping our eyes on wall street for you right now. arrows red across the board after weak reports that have come in. take the shot full and show you what we are watching right now. the dow down by 244 points, dropped after the opening bell. up next, waging war for the women's vote. and then where the race goes from here. plus, grading the debate?

ron regan and megan mccain next to score the candidates and which one of them is celebrating a birthday today? we celebrate that news after this. [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands? and you learned something along the way. this is the age of knowing what you're made of. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing.

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see if america's most prescribed ed treatment anncr: every president inherits few have faced so many. four years later... our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home. assembly lines are humming again. there are still challenges to meet. children to educate. a middle class to rebuild.

but the last thing we should do is turn back now. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. we have got any math teachers out there? you can go ahead and look in this plan. and you'll see that the numbers work. i won't be running the okey-doek on you. >> that's president obama earlier and do we have this right now? we've got the live pictures coming in to us of vice president biden in ohio. that was president obama appearing in delray beach, florida, earlier this morning, starting now on the six-state post-debate swing. vice president biden, though, will be in ohio over the next three days. certainly we know ohio one of the most critical battleground states. more now on whether last night's debate changed the direction of the presidential race.

joining me now, ron reagan, the son of the former president and a former radio talk show host and contributor and megan mccain, daughter of john mccain and a contributor of msnbc. i want to start with the grades of the candidates. last week, megan, you gave president obama a b and mitt romney a b-minus. did romney meet the commander in chief test? >> i gave them both c-pluses. i thought romney did a great job looking presidential and keeping the momentum. i was disappointed he didn't hit the president harder on benghazi. but overall, i don't think this was a game changing debate for either candidate. >> all right. so pretty much a draw from you. ron, last week president obama a b-plus. governor romney a d-minus. president reagan, how about this week? >> originally i was going to give them basically the same grades but upgraded obama. i don't know if you have that on

your graphic. >> we do. >> good. >> you submitted the work on time, sir. >> good. and i thought that he actually improved over the second debate and romney, i'm being charitable here. romney had really nothing to say on foreign policy. you know? beyond the benal and he could have run for miss america instead so a "d" is being generous for romney. >> my gosh, that's awful. that's way below. >> it's true, though. happy birthday, by the way. >> thank you so much. thank you, both of you. >> that's the breaking news i was going to reveal. >> i'm sorry. i didn't mean to step on that, thomas. >> that's okay. the most important thing, though, in your estimation that governor romney was able to do last night is what? >> i think he just had to keep his momentum and not lose. i don't think these are issues for whatever reason that the american public will go to the voting booth and vote on.

i think the economy and any time president obama or mitt romney talked about the economy things spiked. i tweeted last night i thought it was a debate on foreign policy so i don't think it was a game changing debate. >> one thing, ron, that the headlines and interpretations of pundits today i'm struck with is the fact that many people feel it's hard to nail jell-o to the wall. hard to get mitt romney on the record about what he believes or thinks or where the core is because -- >> yes. >> -- it conflates and conflicts with things that have been said through the primary and now out through the general. is that something that people that aren't watching the race this closely can actually figure out? >> well, i think so. i think president obama was very effective in hitting him on those sort of flip flops where he'd say one thing a couple of months ago or weeks ago and now tonight during the debate it's a different mitt romney and going on throughout the election. i think megan is correct.

people aren't in to the deep weeds of foreign policy. most people don't know where mbenbenghazi is after all but looking for who gives the impression of being the commander in chief. who's in command of the facts? who seems to know the world and know their place in the world? and in that realm obama was clearly, clearly ahead here. mitt romney -- >> i actually -- >> what he was going to be was barack obama and do what barack obama's doing but somehow because he was doing it it would work better. >> megan, you want to jump in? >> yeah. i thought president obama looked petty especially talking about the '80s called an they want their foreign policy back and i'm glad you care about al qaeda. i thought he seemed very petty and unpresidential in those statements and if you were just watching the debate simply on form and style, i think that mitt romney definitely came across looking more presidential. >> ron?

>> absolute disagreement. mitt romney had nothing to say about most issues. he didn't go after the president on benghazi or libya because the cia report came out backing up the president and the administration's account of what happened and their appreciation of what happened in benghazi so you had nowhere to go on the big gotcha issue there and then on afghanistan, syria, et cetera, pakistan, he seemed to simply ate the president's position on everything and say i'd do it a little better maybe. >> third time's the charm but for who? thanks. happy birthday to you, megan mccain, ron regan. >> thank you both. joining me now, the focus of the debate shifting from foreign policy but it didn't stop the candidates trying to reach out to women voters. >> number two, better education. number three, gender equality. number four, the rule of law. we have to help these nations create civil societies. >> whether it's supporting women's rights, whether it's

supporting religious minorities. they can say that the president of the united states and the united states of america has stood on the right side of history. >> from los angeles to talk more about this, women's health advocate and president obama's supporter, sandra flope. good to have you here. good to see how the debates and the campaign pivoted in to women's issues last night supposed to be the theme of foreign policy. both mitt romney and the president were talking about a lot of things directed at women and mitt romney specifically bringing up gender equality. through the arab spring. is that something that struck you? >> it did. and i think both president obama and mr. romney see foreign policy as something that women care about. and see how we treat women in other countries and our work to encourage their education and development as being an important part of the foreign policy. obama has an extensive record on this both standing with young

girls like malala who are fighting for their right to education and also empowering women in a development strategy for developing countries. >> so as we break things down to look at them from gender, the latest nbc/"wall street" poll shows while they're tied, mitt romney has a ten-point lead, the president with an eight-point lead with women, what message was the president need to get to the undecided women voters with two weeks left? >> well, i think that he continues the talk about what he's been talking about throughout the race, issues of fair pay and women's access to health care as well as the foreign policy and gender equality globally that we were just discussing and really pointing out that the president has a proven track record on addressing the issues and plans for going forward, as well, and that mr. romney wants to leave women at the mercy of the employers on so many of these questions. >> sandra flip from los angeles, nice to see you this morning.

thank you for your time. >> thanks for having me. >> absolutely. coming up, fact or fiction? >> nothing governor romney just said is true. starting with this notion of me apologizing. >> you're wrong, mr. president. >> i am not wrong. >> people can look. >> people will look. >> glen kessler tells us who was right and wrong. are you still decided? if so, why? tweet me your thoughts. you can always find me on facebook. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future.

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on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪ i said if i got bin laden in our sights i would take that shot. you said we shouldn't move heaven and earth to get one man. you said we should ask pakistan for permission. and if we had asked pakistan for permission we would not have gotten him and it was worth

moving heaven and earth to get him. >> president obama throwing down the big trump card in the last night's final head to head sit down with mitt romney. the third and final debate as by no means as compelling and no fact checks of bob schaefer trying to keep them on a leash and on track. joining me now is glen kessler of "the washington post" fact check. good to have you here. the biggest bite of the night and trender on twitter is horses and bayonets exchange. take a listen. >> our navy is smaller now than any time since 1917. >> i think governor romney maybe hasn't spent enough time looking at how the military works. you mentioned the navy for example and we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military's changed. we have the things alled aircraft carriers where planes land on them. we have the ships that go under water, nuclear submarines.

>> you say that the zinger scores truthfully and the claims we know that horses and bayonets long been retired from military service, at least within the ways we define them in history. >> well, actually, i mean, think eve used horses in afghanistan and they have bayonets, actually, with the marines. but the broader point that romney had made concerning the smallest navy since 1917 is almost as if the president was quoting one of the fact checks of this from a few weeks ago because, actually, you can't compare torpedo boats to nuclear aircraft carriers or nuclear-powered submarines an point of fact just counting ships, smallest point since 1917 during the bush administration it's been going up since then in part because of a ship-building program that president bush put in to place. >> obviously, talking about what the military heavily relies on

now and the changing face of the military moving forward in modern times. one thing, though, as it's supposed to be about foreign policy, glenn, the debate seemed to be brought back on domestic issues specifically about auto bailout. take a listen. >> if we had taken your advice, governor romney, about the auto industry we would be buying cars from china instead of selling cars to china. >> i said they need -- the companies need a managed bankruptcy and in that process, government help and guarantees but they need to go through bankruptcy to get rid of excess cost and the debt burden they built up and fortunately -- governor romney, that's not what you said. >> who's telling the truth coming to their versions of the specifics of the auto bailout? >> this is very complicated. governor romney written an opinion piece for "the new york times" which had the headline saying let detroit go bankrupt but he's correct. he was talking about a managed bankruptcy. and ultimately, that's where the

automakers did go through. however, here's the caveat. the point of governor romney made that idea of a managed bankruptcy, the credit markets were so frozen that you couldn't have gone through that kind of process at that time and he needed a government assistance and that's what every, you know, fact finding commission after the fact determined that the managed bankruptcy process was not going to work in the depths of the great recession in late 2008. >> meaning that the auto companies would seem to find funding through private markets opposed to through the government to climb back out of the hole they were in. all right. so one other tense moment came when governor romney accused the president of going on a foreign apology tour. take a look. >> and then the president began what i called an apology tour going to various nations in the at least and criticizing america. >> nothing governor romney just said is true. starting with this notion of me

apologizing. this has been probably the biggest whopper that's been told in the course of this campaign and every fact checker and every reporter's looked at it. >> all right. so as the president referred to it? >> well, you know, i have given this claim of an apology tour four pinocchios under my definition simply says deep into every single speech that the republicans have said constituted an apology. i didn't see it there. you know, romney responded and gave -- tried to give specific examples of specific quotes which he said were from speeches the president gave in the middle east. actually, those were from speeches the president gave in europe and latin america and again, if you look at it, there were matched sets of points that he was making about how the americans perceive europe and how the europeans perceive americans and, you know, i just don't see it as an apology and

neither has every other fact checker. >> great to have you on today. thanks so much. want to pass along this programming note, this week brine williams joins president obama for a series of interviews on the campaign trail. see those on "rock center" with debuts on "nightly news" and the "today" show. >> baby boomers are stressed out. planning for retirement, taking care of aging parents and other issues create intense patience on boomers. get exercise, walking can improve your mental and physical well being, get plenty of vitamin c, try medication and quiet relaxation and laugh a lot. it helps to offset anxiety and depression. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks.

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as the president pointed out these debates, the four now that we've had, have exposed that governor romney and congressman ryan have a foreign policy to paraphrase the president last night, a foreign policy out of the '80s, a social policy out of the '50s and an economic policy out of the '20s.

>> vice president biden just moments ago taking one of the president's lines from last night's debate adding to it and fired up as the campaigns today in the all-important battleground state of ohio right now. the vice president is going to be there throughout the week. >> here is a look at other stories topping the news right now for you. tragic ending for autumn pa pasquale the missing girl in new jersey. the body was found in a recycling container. an autopsy will be conducted today. congressman jesse jackson junior headed back to the mayo clinic. two of his colleagues went to visit him yesterday and say he's experience something extreme difficulties. >> lance armstrong is a dad and cancer survivor who likes to swim, bike, run and golf, at least what his plow file is saying after the form eer seven-time tour de france winner removed those titles. that's going to wrap things up for me. we'll see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 eastern. "now" with alex wagner is coming

up for the next hour. what do you have coming up? >> thomas, great debates may be over but the paradox of mittens continues. we will examine governor romney's yeah, ha he said strategy with governor ed rendell, howard wolfson, frank bruni, joy reid and david wood. the president rules out a 20-page blueprint for his second term. we'll ask ben labolt about the obama doctrine. and the candidates take a bow in"inside the actor's studio" james lipton joins us for one last curtain call. we'll get his thoughts on the final act in a mere 180 seconds. 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. right now get $37 basic installation on all

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the third and final debate now over at last. we have clarity on mitt romney's campaign strategy. the enemy of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. confused? so are we. it's tuesday, october 23rd, and this is "now."