and you'll get offers on things you love. this totally changes the way i think about membership. saving money on the things you want. to me, that's the membership effect. nice boots! good morning. i'm chris jansing. the campaigns have crafted a strategy for these last 13 days. now, it's all about the execution. and yet another new poll shows the race is a virtual tie. the candidates have calculated stops independence swing says the today. they'll be hitting iowa, nevada, colorado. president obama continues to attack mitt romney for his changing positions with his new favorite word, romnesia. designed to fire up his base. >> we can fix you up. there's a cure. there's a cure. there's a cure, but you got to vote to make sure that the

medicine is there forumnesia. >> but it's mitt romney who claims to have the momentum. >> and these debates have supercharged our campaign. there's no question about it. we're seeing more and more enthusiasm, more and more support. we haven't heard an agenda from the president. that's why his campaign is taking on water and our campaign is full speed ahead. >> let me bringing in ron fournier, editor-in-chief of the national journal and nia malik cag henderson political reporter at "the washington post." you know, mitt romney's big criticism that will president obama doesn't have a plan, so to answer that, the president released that glossy pamphlet we've been reading about it, he's using it on the campaign trail. >> i've laid out a plan for jobs and middle class security. unlike mitt romney, i'm proud to talk about what's in my plan. because first of all, the math

actually adds up. >> one gop aide called it a glossy panic button. nia-malika, does this take away the argument that the president doesn't have a plan? what's behind this glossy booklet that he's put out here? >> right, well, i think it certainly helps with his argument. you've seen this argument from both sides, democrats saying that mitt romney didn't have plain, that he wasn't specific enough and then republicans -- and even some democrats charging that the president needed to lay out a clearer vision what he wanted to do on the second term. you've seen from romney a tactic all along which is this sort of i know you are, but what am i. if someone says he doesn't have plain or challenges his credentials he throws that back in their face. you've seen that with obama. it is effective. obama has this plan out now. he shipped off via e-mail to a lot of his supporters. he can flash it out there on the stump. and i think in some of these

campaign ads he'll lay it out as well simply in the way that you've seen mitt romney do. the question is, does any of this make a difference at this point? you know, people have made up their minds. there are a handful of swing voters still trying to figure out what they want to do in this campaign. i think largely the plans that both men laid out are still pretty general. they haven't really gotten into the weeds in terms of what they want to do. >> are we back perhaps to where we were before the debates, or ron, willet me read from you a piece in politico today from pollster peter brown being quoted. the obama organization did the single best job of destroying a candy have seen in my career from may to september. but all that went out the window when romney showed people that the caricature of him as a clown was false. what is the strategy here on the obama side? >> what is, exactly how he said it. the idea is to try to disqualify mitt romney because the

president's running with a bad economy and record that not everybody is behind. i want to go back to the first question because i think the key question here is, let's skip ahead to when they're governing. neither candidate has a serious plan. neither candidate has talked about the big choices that have to be made, the big decisions that have to be made, the big sacrifices all of us have to make as citizens to right our economy, to balance our budget. so therefore, no matter who wins, they're not going to have a mandate, not going to have the political pathing. >> is part of the problem they don't think that in these last 13 days that it really helps you or would seem legitimate to come up with some big bold new thing? i mean, for example, the president has a bunch of interviews scheduled over the next couple of days, including a couple days he's spending with brian williams. we have heard that mitt romney's spokesman has basically said we have nothing scheduled, maybe because they are saying let's do no harm here. but i mean, what would we expect to see in these closing 13 days

really? >> i might be ni i've, but i think you run because you want to get something done. if you've run on nothing and neither candidate has put forward a real serious plan, they're not going to have a mandate to change things. so i don't understand -- i don't think it's smart politically. the country is looking for a candidate who will tell them what hard choices have to be made and tell them specifically what they're going to do, even if it's not smart politics, why run if you're not going to have the mandate you need for change. whoever wins is going to come into office, not having the political capital to get anything done and come into a city that's completely divided and gridlocked. i really wonder about not just a political value of what they're doing but just the real world value. >> what about the political value of what they're doing? obviously, those are the calculations that are being made right now. >> i think they're making a mistaking? >> i think so far so good. they've been able to get away with it so far throughout these

long summer smonts, both men have been campaigning. this is a billion dollar campaign on both sides. they've been able to get away with these vagaries even as you hear people say they want more details. they will go to the polls, cast ballots for any of these -- for either of these men. i do think ron fournier is right. there was a point in this campaign, you remember not so long ago when paul ryan said this is going to be a campaign fought along big idealogicals. you'll see him today in ohio giving a speech about poverty but a lot of these speeches and brochures that obama has laid out today about his plan are really just repackaged vagaries that we already know about. but i think there is a sort of faux expense now that they're releasing these details but again, i think they're very sparse and certainly we don't have a sense of how a mitt romney would govern with a divided congress that will probably happen in terms of the division of congress.no one knows. so far, i think they've been

able to get away with giving these sort of vague pie in the sky ideas about increasing bipartisanship and things like that. >> i want to bringing in karen bass, congresswoman. democrat from california. congresswoman, good morning. >> good morning. >> i think you've heard the conversation. there's criticism from both sides that there has not been enough specificity. let me read what orrin hatch had to say in particular about this new brochure the president put out yesterday. with romney surging in the polls and two weeks before the election, the president's campaign responded by releasing a glossy 20-page brochure and called it an agenda. sure it's got nice pictures but it isn't a plan. it's nothing but a rehash of the same failed ideas of the past four years. you say to orrin hatch? >> i absolutely disagree with that. i think it is a plan. there are ideas in there that i believe will address the number one issue that we're facing in our country right now, and that

is jobs. talking about hiring teachers, talking about starting a manufacturing institute, tax breaks, closing tax loopholes so that companies do not locate overseas. i do believe that there's a lot of specifics in there. and if we just simply pass the american jobs act that the president proposed last year, our economy would be in much better shape. so i do think that there are specific ideas there. >> why then hasn't -- have the polls not closed even more? why hasn't the president been able to get over 47, 48%? what does he have to do in the closing 13 days to do that? >> first of all, we always knew it was going to be a close election. i do know that the polls in many of the battleground states do still show the president ahead. but i think that the hour now is to get people out to vote in states where there's early voting, get people to the polls right away. but the i think that the end game is all about turnout.

and that has to be our focus right now. >> that is about enthusiasm and momentum. let me play something that romney said yesterday. >> you see the president's status quo campaign you know going forward with the same ideas as we've seen over the last four years is why he's slipping. and it's why our campaign is gaining. >> does mitt romney have momentum on his side, do you think? >> you know, i do think that romney had some momentum after the first debate but i do think that has gone away. i don't think he has the momentum now. one of the things that's so amazing to me is how he seems to change his position by the hour. i mean, when i was watching the debate the other night, i was waiting to see if he was going to endorse the president. everything he said he agreed with the president. so he is changing his positions by the moment hoping that he can say anything to get himself some votes. >> so in the end, what do you think it's going to many could down to? you said it's geotv, get out the

vote. what's going to get out the vote? >> i do believe there is tremendous enthusiasm in many communities across the country. the president going around the country today and having rallies talking to people. the fact that a lot of the voter suppression stuff has been stopped i think is critical. but at the end of the day, it is always about the ground game and i believe that the president and the campaign has the stronger ground operation throughout the country. and especially in the battleground states where the president has been building grassroots support for the many, many months now. and i think that romney was late to the ground game. >> congresswoman karen bass, it's good to see you. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> nia-malika, ever since that first debate we have been talking about romney getting momentum. he says his campaign is supercharged. here's what a piece in new york magazine suggests "this is a bluff. romney is carefully attempting to project an atmosphere of

momentum in the hopes of winning positive media coverage and thus, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. jonathan chait writes karl rove used that same strategy in 2000 and, of course, he won because he was the guy who looked like a winner. so to that point, ron, is playing the underdog as an incumbent a good move, a bad move? what do you think about the dynamics of the president who seems to sort of like the idea of playing the underdog and mitt rommy who wants to say i'm the guy with momentum? >> actually, i was going to say i think the president obama is also bluffing in that sense. both campaigns are trying very hard to spin the numbers in a way that shows they're ahead because at this stage in the game, you do want to look like a winner. there is a certain small but important segment of voter who's tend to go towards the guy or gal who looks like they're going to win. you want to have that sense of momentum, even thoelts i think it's hard to measure who has got momentum. >> is it hard to measure, anyia

mallika? as close as the polls are? >> i think it is. it is hard to measure who has momentum right now. i do think mitt romney for a time was closing the gap with specific groups, women particularly in raising his favoritabilities. did he have some momentum. whether or not it's leveled off and things are tied up, that seems to be the case if you look at the recent "washington post" poll, i think it's 48, 49, flip-flopping back and forth between who is on top. i think if you look at the map, if you look at that the math of the electoral race to 270, barack obama's chances i think have always been pretty much the same whether or not you looked in august or now, he has an easier path to 270. he can still get to 270 even if he doesn't win ohio or florida. he has got a sort of midwestern fire wall there. whether or not that holds we'll have to see. again, you'll see romney, ryan stumping in ohio trying to turn

the tide there as well as in ohio on at some point probably in wisconsin, as well. >> we'll talk about the rust belt and how it seems to be favoring is the president right now. nia-malika henderson, ron fournier, thanks to both of you. >> another political controversy over republican comments on rape and abortion. here's indiana senate candidate richard mourdock during a debate last night. >> i struggled with it myself for a long time but came to realize life is that gift from god that i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rain, thof rape, ts something god intended to happen. >> he attempted to clarify. >> god is the only one that can create life. are you trying to suggest that somehow i think god preordained rape? no, i don't believe that. that's a sick and twisted -- >> the remarks come just one day

after governor romney endorsed mourdock and cut a new tv ad for him. a campaign spokesperson says mourdock's comments do not reflect the governor's views. 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.

you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby,

ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

just look at the schedule of obama/biden and romney/ryan and you'll know where the race will be won. for the next 13 days, the time and energy of those four men are the campaign's most important resource. today alone, the presidential tickets will hit at least four battleground states including iowa and ohio. both camps will be honing in on those key rust belt swing states with at least 14 events plan there had just through friday. let me bringing in roll call's political reporter. you've been on this road tour of the rust belt just ahead of the election. so it's good that you could take a break and be with us. good morning. >> thanks for having me.

>> so this focus on the rust belt states by the obama campaign is certainly not what the political analysts expected when this campaign season began because the president was expected to have a more difficult time with the older blue collar white voters in places like wisconsin, ohio, iowa, and they have generally the polls have shown resisted him. so why this shift? >> right, i think this is for two reasons. first of all, simple economics. if you look at the a lot of the rust belt states, the unemployment rate in ohio is lower than the national average. compare that to some of the sun belt states, for example, nevada or florida which really hit took the housing market crash very seriously. the economics generally are better in ohio than they are in florida. that's good for the president. secondly, think the president's strategy to the focus on mitt romney's wealth indirectly or directly talking about his tax returns or even the president's own proposal on taxing higher people who earn a higher income,

that plays well in the rust belt particularly. >> that has been a key narrative nationally, but it does make sense it's kind of playing well in the rust belt that mitt romney is this rich guy out for rich guys. you're on the ground talking to voters. what are they telling you they're hearing through this cacophony of advertisements? >> well, you are right when you call can a cacophony of tightments. voters in ohio are frustrated every time they turn on the television set. you ask them about the two candidates. they are disappointed with the president because he couldn't do more in four years. they don't see the economy as fully turning around yet but you ask about romney and they -- this is mostly undecided voters. these people either don't know a lot about mitt romney or know his time at bain or that he's wealthy, not much in favor of the gop nominee. >> we know one president has been elected since 1944 is it without winning ohio.

are they talking as well, these undecided voters about romney's opposition to the auto bailout? is that having an impact you can tell on the ground? >> it matters a lot in the ohio which is a key state. auto industry is big will. another word for the rust belt is the auto belt. in michigan too, i was in michigan in early august and late july. that obviously was a big issue there too. >> i don't know if you saw nate silver's write-up. he says ohio has a 50/50 chance of deciding the election. that's a huge number. more than 7.9 million residents registered to vote. i think 800,000 have already voted. do you have a really good sense of what ohio might come down to now? >> i hate to mention the "r" word but it could come down to a recount. let's all be aware it's really close. you talk to voters and many of them are still undecided. a lot of people voted early just given the pace of early voting and just how much of an impact these debates have had on the

election, more than i think a lot of pundits anticipated, it really could come down to the wire. it's going to be extremely close. i agree with nate on that assessment. >> shira topplitz. today there is no violence to tell you about. the israeli military says 72 rockets and mortars landed in that country earlier today. it retaliated by striking gaza four times by air, four militants were killed. the militant group hamas says it was involved in some of the strikes from gaza. the violence began yesterday after a visit from the leader of qatar, the first foreign head of state to visit gaza since hamas took power there in 2007. [ horn honks ]

[ male announcer ] you start your day... love you, too. ...thinking about what's important to you -- your family... ...the mortgage... the kids' college tuition. [ cellphone ringing ] but life insurance? [ horn honking ] life is unpredictable. that's why at fidelity life we want you to think about term life insurance -- taking care of your family's future expenses if something happens to you. it's easy. we get to know you and your needs, then give you our best quote and our competitors'. you choose and save up to 70%. that could mean $250,000 of coverage for just $15 a month. we offer plans with no medical exam, and we've been in business for over 100 years. call fidelity life. ♪ or visit fidelitylife.com for your free quote.

[ horn honks ] hey, honey. do we have life insurance? ♪ [ male announcer ] or visit fidelitylife.com to secure your family's future today.

to politics now where a new tv movie about seal team six has been recut to give president obama more air time. it's the movie that chronicles

the operation to get osama bin laden, produced by democratic supporter harvey weinstein. he told "the new york times" the changes to the film including adding more footage of the president not politically motivated. it will debut november 4th on the national geographic channel. >> tagg romney says he is sorry according to an obama campaign official. romney's son apologized to the president after the debate for telling a radio station he wanted to take a swing at him. the president accepted the apology. special delivery from vice president joe biden. there he is bringing a couple of pizzas to an obama for america campaign office in ohio. the volunteers ate is up. one of the women swooning over biden saying she drinks a cup of joe every morning. he told a story about how his mom once offered him a quarter to punch a bully in the nose, that is joe biden being biden. check this out. a silver calendar paperweight just sold at auction for $95,500.

it was giventom defense secretary robert mcnamara after the cuban missile crisis by jfk and marks the date, october 1962. now, if you read only one thing this morning, regular viewers of this program have probably figured out by now i'm slightly obsessed with food. today, my must read is about peanut butter and what the new pairing is to replace jelly. it's not peanut butter and jelly anymore. the article's a lot more interesting than i might make it sound up on our facebook page at facebook/jansing co. is a compln designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card!

why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. but, dad, you've got... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. with accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands?

bp has paid overthe people of bp twenty-threeitment to the gulf. billion dollars [ voice of dennis ] indeed. to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. the final campaign ad spending see from is on, if you follow the money, it's all about ohio. a new analysis by our crack political unit shows ohio has passed florida for most money spent. $177 million so far by both campaigns and their allies. this week alone, $75 million in ad buys. that is the most so far.

and that's paying for a lot of dueling super pac ads like these. >> obama's second term would be a rerun of the first and our country just couldn't survive that. we need someone who can turn it around fast and that man is mitt romney. there's not much time left and the future of our country is at stake. >> this was a booming place and mitt romney and bain capital turned it into a junkyard. >> he promised us the same things he's promising the united states. he'll give you the same thing he gave us. nothing. >> let's bring in msnbc of contributor robert traynham and democratic strategist steve elmendorf. good to see you back. good morning. >> steve, clint eastwood is back. so is bain capital and those new super pac ads. how do they fit into the overall campaign in these closing days? >> my guess is in the closing days you're going to hear both candidates in their own voices in their ads talking about a positive significance for the future and you're going to hear

the super pacs on both sides giving a negative view of the opposition candidate. >> good cop, bad cop? >> yep. >> robert, willet me show you examples of some other super pac spending. american principles obviously conservative has 43 anti-obama billboards up in florida, including this one showing president obama bowing to the saudi king, blaming him for high gas prices. another one says friends don't let friends get nuked. there you see a nuclear missile from iran heading to israel. there's also a mailing going out. it's an anti obama dvd and it claims among other things that the president is the love child of an affair between his mother and a communist party loyalist. are these extreme tactics going to get people to vote or turn them off? >> well, first of all, to answer the first part of your question, this are extreme tactics. at the end of the day, mitt romney was right. there is a certain segment of the population that's going to vote for obama and a certain

segment going to vote for mitt romney. the question becomes can you really reach that ten people that's going to decide who the next president will be, those independents out there. independents get turned off by that, according to the statistics. they really, really don't get swayed by the negative campaigning. what they get swayed by is the closing argument, if you will, that steve mentioned a few moments ago, is who is going to best provide for my family, who is best going to provide for health care and education and so forth. at the end of the day, they don't make up their minds typically till the last minute. these ads out there, for the most part, they're going to stoke up the base on both sides but not going to sway independent voters. >> is that not insignificant, steve, given the fact that turnout is going to be so critical in these battleground states? >> yeah, look, there's a lot of moving parts in the final days of the campaign and there's going to be ads that move voters. i think what's going to be more important is the turnout operations of each campaign. you'll increasingly hear both campaigns talking to the people

committed to them and figuring out how to get them to vote. that's why i feel good where obama is today. if you look at polls in states like ohio, he's doing very well in the early voting. they have benefited greatly from being the incumbent and not having a primary and being able to put together the operation so in the final days they can get people out to vote while romney was competing in a primary. >> i agree with everything he just said. when you look at the enthusiasm gap between republicans and democrats, the enthusiasm gap on the republican side is through the roof. if it's going to be a base election, the trend is on romney's side here. >> let's talk about what some of the super pacs are doing besides what we've seen. they're going into places we were not expecting there to be ads. super pacs have new ads out in maine, michigan, pennsylvania, obviously these are traditionally blue states. and i'm wondering, steve, is this just great news for local tv stations? what's going on here? anything? is there so much money they'll

spend it anywhere they can? >> this whole campaign has been good for broadcasters and television. but i think spending money on ads in pennsylvania and michigan is a waste of money. if they want to waste their money there, more power to them. barack obama is going to win those two states. i think at the end of these campaigns now, there's a law of diminishing returns. each side has so much money, i don't think money is going to be the deciding factor. you have two candidates with very different values and visions for the future. and people will figure that out and i think some of the spending is going to be a waste of money. >> you know, chris, when you look at those blue states you just mentioned pennsylvania, maine, it's not at the presidential level. it's about the senatorial level. who would have thought bob casey in pennsylvania would be running neck in neck with a republican opponent? >> these are presidential ads they're buying. >> but those coat tails obviously have an effect at the state level in terms of voter turnout. although it's not a waste of

money. it's strategic. these are very smard individuals. they're not going to throw good money after bad. what they're trying to do is ginn up the base so hopefully it may not help at the presidential level but will help at the senatorial level. >> speaking of ginning up the base, the unions are out in force for president obama, steve. there was some question early on how much they would be out there. sciu has launched spannish language ads encouraging minorities to vote. but they also have been very active. many of the unions in get out the vote efforts. how important is that, and what do you think the potential impact is? >> well, again, i think the get out the vote efforts are important. organized labor and working families when they talk to each other, one of the things we've seen in the surveil research is that voters respond better to peers talking to them instead of friends and neighbors talking to them than they do to ads. that's one thing organized labor and a lot of grassroots groups

are good at, getting your neighbor and co-worker and peer to tell you why they are voting for barack obama. >> one of the enduring i thinks i have when i've been on the campaign trail is early saturday mornings where there's an icy rain and yet, you see people knocking on doors of their neighbors. is steve right when you say that in the end, if we are looking at things that could be by the margin and we were talking to shira toeplitz and she used the really bad word recount, when you even have people talking about things like that, how critical are the things that the neighbor says to the neighbor and getting people to talk to their neighbors about getting out and voting? absolutely critical. are you more interested in hearing what your neighbor has to say or your friend has to say supposed to a, quote unquote, politician in washington, d.c. you trust that person more than you trust the person in washington, d.c. so when your pastor, your teacher, your peer, your friend,

relative says i'm thinking about voting for barack obama or i'm not too sure about romney, that means something because there's a trust level there. there's a relationship. that peer to peer voting, if you will, is extremely important. that's something, quite frankly that, george w. bush did a very good job when i worked on bush campaign. that's the may be reason we won southwestern ohio. george w. bush would not be president if in fact we did not win southwestern ohio by 100,000 votes. it was the social issues but it was also that peer to peer picking up the phone, your friend telling your friend or your neighbor telling your neighbor to vote for the president for re-election. >> robert traynham, steve elmendorf, thanks, guys. >> thank you. also making news this morning, tropical storm watch in effect for parts of florida's east coast as well as the upper keys. tropical storm sandy is heading toward jamaica now expected to drench the island with as much as ten inches of rain. forecasters say it isn't expected to directly hit florida

but they could see high binds and rip currents through saturday. investigators at the massachusetts pharmacy linked to the meningitis outbreak say they found visible fungus, standing water and other unsanitary conditions at the facility. the state plans to vee roek the license of the center and ordered surprise inspections on other pharmacies. it's sickened more than 300. in new jersey, a horrible story. two teenage brothers have been charged with murdering a 12-year-old autumn pasqualely. her strangled body was found stuffed in a recycling bin on monday 48 hours from the time she disappeared. police say it was a tip from the boys' mother that led them to the home where they found her bike, backpack and other belongings. the killers have i ma about hoping to steal her bike for parts. beaches near the vandenburg air force bases in california are closed this morning after a shark attack killed a surfer yesterday. officials say the 39-year-old

man died from a single bite to his upper torso. this is the third fatal shark attack in california in the last four years. need for speed? well, the fastest highway in the country opened today in texas. you can go 85 per hour on the last 40 miles of state highway 130 in texas. it's a toll road between austin and san antonio. stocks trying to rebound today after their worst day since june. mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. how we doing so far this morning and why was it so bad yesterday? >> we're doing okay, some modest gains this morning. a lot better than yesterday, right? as for why people were worried yesterday? there was a combo of worries. and let me quickly list them for you. we had negative european headlines. we had big u.s. manufacturers and multinationals disappointed the market with either lower guidance chris or worse than expected earnings or revenue. that kind of confirms slowing global growth. we also had reports that ben

bernanke, fed chief, may not stand for a third term which some think could can mean changes essentially or the end to the everlasting money printing that the market has kind of become hooked on. those were the things that were weighing on the mark yesterday. today, we've got a number of big companies like boeing coming out with stronger profits. that's good calming the market down and we got economic data in the form of new home sales which were the best since april of last year. >> the tech sector was abuzz yesterday because the new ipad mini was unveiled but the stock took a hit. >> right. absolutely. this is why. firstly price. they're pricing the new smaller ipad well above the competition starting at $329. some had been expecting apple to price the ipad min inny at maybe $250 to $300 to counter those less expensive tablets like amazon's kindle 5 that starts at $159, there's the nook from barnes & noble and google has

its tablet. and it also contradicts what steve jobs himself said publicly about smaller sized tablet computers. he did not think that seven-inch screens would cut it saying they would be too big to compete with the smartphone and too small to compete with an ipad. we'll have to wait and see what consumers think. >> thank you. now maybe you've heard about this. donald trump says he has a big announcement that could affect the presidential race and he's going to reveal it today at noon. online betting service has some interesting odds on what it's going to be. at 2 to 5, obama is not an american. 8-1, trump will endorse obama. 50-1, trump will invite obama to be a guest on celebrity apprentice. 25010-1, obama is an alien and 500-1 obama wears a wig. th mons. i think they're gonna love this, leapfrog leappad2 with games and apps. i say we flip a coin. you mean with your double-headed coin?

you know you could put both those things on layaway and pay a little at a time. awesome!! awesome!! high-five? [ mom ] mmm, you and your trick coin... shop now. get the hottest toys on your list today, like leapfrog leappad2 and hot wheels wall tracks... then put it on layaway so you have more time to pay. walmart.

we're keeping our eye on breaking news in atlanta.

police tell nbc news a man went into the world changers church in college park, sorry, georgia, college park, georgia and opened fire. police say the gunman shot another man just before 10:00 this morning in the chapel. the victim is in critical condition, but the shooter is at large. we'll keep our eye on this developing situation in georgia. back to politics, and this is the single busiest day of barack obama's re-election bid so far. is he scheduled to cover of 5300 miles today. he'll make a pit stop for the "tonight show" with jay leno, his third appearance on the show since becoming president, fifth overall. it's not "meet the press," but these pop culture interviews have produced some memorable moments. >> you look sharp. >> you haven't seen me naked. >> we're going to keep it that way. >> what are you going to do the rest of your life? >> well, you know, first things first here. we do have -- an election ahead

and i've got -- there are all kinds of things i want to do in a second term. >> i have two pictures. there's one picture. i don't know it can you can get that. and then there's the other picture. >> the reason it's so important to keep down costs is so we keep college affordable. >> and the president knows his stuff, y'all. that's why they call him the o potus which means person on top. what is it? >> jimmy, potus stands for president of the united states. >> he's the potus with the mostest. >> i'm joined now by variety magazine politics editor ted johnson. good morning. always good to see you. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> president obama's sixth appearance on a late night or talk show since august tonight. the first lady has also appeared on at least nonnews programs since august. only a few days left. we're in a dead even race.

what do they get out of spending this time doing these kinds of events? >> well, first of all, you're hopefully reaching people who may not be paying that much attention to politics. "the tonight show" gets about 3 million viewers. there's some expectation that maybe you're reaching a male audience that isn't really politically attuned. maybe even more so than going on the daily show with jon stewart, which is much more politically oriented. so the idea is in a more relaxed atmosphere, have some likability. obama is really good at some comic timing, really good at comic timing. that certainly plays into it, and what is unusual about tonight's appearance is that i'm sure obama will be, so to speak, trying to close the deal. so i think that there's some opportunity for obama to actually capture some viewers that may have not even tuned into the debates. >> we know that a lot of these

undecided voters have not been paying close attention. mitt romney has not appeared on a late night show since winning the nomination. he was on kelly and meekal with his wife online. he talked about not wanting to go on "saturday night live" in the secretly recorded remarks where he said the 47%. why do you think he has such a different strategy? >> well, first of all, i don't think romney is as good as obama on comic timing. the other thing is, you know, there's been a lot of gaffes from the romney campaign when he goes out there and kind of talks ad hoc. right now, there's probably more of a strategy of don't put him in situations where it may be more of a risk. the last time mitt romney was on the "tonight show," jay leno actually gave him this word association game. and he came off it pretty well but i don't think the campaign

probably wants to put him in a situation where he's going to say something that's a little bit off kilter and that gets picked up. you know, the stakes get higher and higher as we get closer to the election. we're now in that period where they're trying to close the deal. where things are supposed to be a little more serious. there's probably also, you know, don't forget, he was on live with kelly and michael" and the interview you know had some pretty far out questions for a presidential candidate. he ended up you know people said maybe he gave away too much informing in that interview as much as was trying to boost his likability. >> let me ask you about this scheduled half hour q & a the president has with mtv on friday. governor romney was offered the same opportunity. i don't know if they haven't made the decision or are planning to turn it down. how effective do you think that president obama has been using pop culture? in particular, you were talking about male voters. but in a case like mtv to reach

young voters so strongly for him four years ago but where he seems to have a little more trouble this time around. >> well, the philosophy the obama campaign and the obama administration has been that it's much harder to reach audiences particular little young audiences that may not be tuning in to tv the way that they used to. so far you're seeing them really engaged on multiple platforms, and that's a reason that they've been so willing to go out on mtv. in the last election, they were actually advertising on video game platforms. i wouldn't be surprised if they do that again. the whole dale is, i'm going to saturate the marketplace because it's not that easy to reach these younger viewers. mtv is one way of doing it. there's probably going to be other ways, certainly social media they're going to attempt to do as we get closer and closer to the campaign. it's a big challenge for the

obama campaign to turn out those younger voters. the polls show they certainly favor him by a pretty significant margin but obviously the challenge is to actually get them out and vote. >> variety magazine politics editor ted johnson. good to see you. thank you. today's tweet of the day comes from someone clearly fed up with the election. the actress who plays donna on nbc's park and recreation tweets i cannot wait for this election to be over so i can be annoyed by regular commercials. #if i see one more vote yes no on prop whatever. two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

next hour, president obama makes a campaign stop in davenport, iowa, while romney will attend a rally in cedar rapids tonight. this is a battleground state that only has six electoral votes but they're spending a lot of time and money there. >> both campaigns are screaming in iowa. in five months, they visited 50 times. president obama.15 is, romney

12. the catholic v.p. candidates trekked there 20 times, a nod to the catholic's swing vote. cash flowing freely here. add ad spending is the second highest in the country, $22 per person. florida and ohio with up to five times more electoral votes have half that per person. the tighter the race has gotten the more they invested. they were virtually tied last month. now the president is trending flat or declining while romney is on a rise. early voting offers a hint. as of monday, it equals almost 20% of expected turnout and favors democrats 2-1. but some say it's election day voters that make the difference. it's swing voters that hold the keys. sprinkled across the state, iowa has 20% of all swing counties nationwide. the state has long been pivotal. nixon traveled there as vice president when running for the white house and won that state as did reagan.

iowa is close to the gipper there. his first job after college broadcasting for iowa football in the 1930s. bill clinton was the last democrat. in the 90s he could be found sharing common rural roots on campaign stops. iowa has picked seven of the last ten presidents of the united states. >> fascinating stuff. thank you, richard liu. i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. >> good morning to you. good morning, everybody. the agenda next hour, 13 days, two candidates, seven battleground states. it is all about the final stretch and the math versus momentum. president obama delivers live remarks in iowa next hour with while romney's super pac relations a new eastwood ad. plus, early voing crosses the 5 million mark. we're going to talk about how the. your to get souls to the polls could decide the outcome in ohio with state senator nina turner next. the romney campaign tries to make gains with women voters. jacquie spear joins me live at 30 rock coming up.

[ metal rattling ] ♪ hello? boo! i am the ghost of meals past. when you don't use new pam, this is what you get. residue? i prefer food-based phantasm, food-tasm. poultry-geist works too if you used chicken. [ laughs ] resi-doodle-doo. [ female announcer ] bargain brand cooking spray can leave annoying residue. but new pam leaves up to 99% less residue. new pam helps you keep it off.