and mr. sunday morning himself hugo lindgren of the "new york times" magazine. after five plus years of running for president, mitt romney is still 571 del disease short of clinching the nomination. 141 days before the president delivers his convention speech in charlotte, mitt romney is there today giving his prebuttle. earlier this week he told the president to start packing 279 days before of inauguration day. maggie haberman, a prebuttle, i get it, right? you want to be seen as being on the same stage as the president. but a prebuttle four months before a convention speech. talk to me about the logic there. >> i think the logic is we were going to be in north carolina for other events anyway so we'll go give a speech that gets us free media and frames the race as a two-man race which they want to make sure we have delineated the primary is done and now this is a fight. you're going to see a lot of this gimmickry on both sides.

yog i don't think you're seeing either sides take the high ground. the twitter fight of the moment was about president obama eating dog when he was age 7 or something living in indonesia. this is the kinds of thing -- >> is there a fight over that on twitter, a fight over him eating dog food? >> you are not on twitter? >> i really try to avoid the things about the president eating dog food. >> not dog food. >> dog snoop dogg debate. >> they're deciding who treated their dog worse, romney putting him on top of the car or obama eating dog. >> both sides have said they want to get to in the general. >> of course, everybody is complaining outside of the media that we should not be focused on dog meat but we will, no doubt. we have brought it up already in the very first minutes of this show the. >> i just want to get to your point about why we're doing a prebuttle four and a half months early. the romney campaign is very good about creating sort of moments and noise and this kind of stuff. i think that's what we're doing right now. i think they haven't figured out

what their general election messaging is going to be and i think that the obama campaign is also sort of struggling on that front appealing to women and hispanics but beyond that -- >> alice, you're fresh off the campaign trail. you know, romney is going to be driving a bus around. the romney campaign drove around a bus last week to be around big media availabilities. i'm not going to call it stalking the president, but do you think that the downside of the strategy is it sort of looks like romney is nipping at the president's heels? >> no, the bracketing will be a large part of their strategy. they used it in the primary. it was effective. they used at the santorum events and it was effective. we're going to see a lot more of that. media should be thankful. in some ways it saves you gas is, you go across the street and there he is. >> gas prices are high. >> the point is that the

romney's campaign is their way of setting is the record straight when the president goes out there and misrepresents his record, the romney campaign is right there to set the record straight. it's an effective campaign strategy, and we're going to see it certainly a lot more of it. >> i don't see this as much of a strategy but as a bunch of tactics. and actually, ripped from the pages of newt gingrich's hand manual what to do. >> where is the challenge in the lincoln douglas debates? >> that's coming next week, a different state. >> exactly. but i think that what mitt romney really needs to do is develop a message to maggie's points. there is no message. he is undefined in a lot of independence voters' minds. who he is, the hard-core conservative or is he the flip-flopper? is he a true moderator. >> i don't think they'll go with the flip-flopper message. >> he needs to define himself so the white house doesn't do the defining for him. i think that the sooner he gets started on that, the better. but i see this instead of making

an effort to define himself, he's trying to keep the message all about obama. that's not a terrible strategy because obama has some weaknesses but you can't just say he's bad, here's why you need to vote for me. >> that's the problem. to pair pra trays someone who i will not name, do you, mitt romney? there is a sense it's very much, it's all response. >> it's a good transitional mess nl an, right, is to keep it obama focused for now, sort of heal the wounds of the social conservatives still not that excited about a romney candidacy and then to use a word i don't like, pivot into the broader message which is a fight for the middle, a very economics focused message. i think the world is really going to cooperate a lot with the romney campaign over the next several months. you're going to seep a pretty chaotic environment on a series of fronts, easy for him to make the president look responsible for those things even though in most cases he won't be. and i think that's going to be something where he's going to have a huge advantage.

if you look at the number of hot spots around the world right now, the news with the afghanistan photo situation, "the los angeles times," those are things that reflect right back on the administration force fairly or unfairly. >> hugo makes a good point. obama is not going to be responsive about his record. this election will be a referendum on his record. we've got terrible unemployment, a tremendous debt, rising gas prices. and what the romney campaign is going to do is continue to focus on the obama record. that's what the bracketing is all about, and that's what he'll continue to do because what the democrats are trying to do is make it about cas warfare, about the buffett rule, who is paying income taxes. it's not about that. people want someone who has solutions to creating jobs and turning the economy around. >> alice, i think a lot of americans care about income inequality and a fairer tax code. setting that aside, let's talk about the president's strategy. we note that obama, team obama is shifting from the trying to

paint romney as a flip-flopper to maybe someone who is, in fact, severely conservative. >> kind of hard to do both. >> it is hard to do both. >> and i kind of wonder how successful they will be. i don't think anybody really believes that mitt romney is severely conservative. and that the idea of him not having core values is in fact, i think for the ample american more of a convincing argument. >> because the obama campaign has made pretty clear and to be fair, the obama campaign is also just doing tactics. we're not looking at a huge message. today they're doing a huge push on women, a huge push on hispanic voters. this is their whole play. because they're targeting these slices of the electorate and going very focused about it, this is why, you know, you're kind of having this sort of small ball experience and why they are trying to do extreme because that plays better with specific groups of voters. the problem is again, as you said, it's really hard to have no core and also you know, be severely conservative.

>> and to have a hard-core. >> there was a focus group in florida that msnbc first wrote about this morning that showed a lot of people don't that much about romney. even with those high nevadas is he remains somewhat undefined. he has an opportunity to define himself and the obama cane campaign is trying hard to define him but it's not really clear what the outlines are going to be yet. >> the presidency was focused -- we're going to focus on their focus on hispanic voters in a minute. in terms of women, a chn poll showed who's most in touch with women's issues, romney is at 27%, a pew poll studying women by age group, among 18 to 29-year-olds, ouch, obama is at 0%, romney at 25%. no gop nominee has won women since bush 41 in 1988. >> you don't have to win the women's vote, right? you just have to do well enough

not to lose the entire election all because of women. i think that this is going to tighten up a little bit as people get to know mitt romney better, as mitt romney is able to try and define the president's record, i think women are so worried about the economy, there's a big opportunity for mitt romney to the highlight these numbers, the numbers for the obama administration are devastating. now, is it his fault all these things happened? not really. but is it his fault he hasn't solved the problem, that's the message that they will have to take to women voters. i don't think the obama administration can just sit back and enjoy themselves because all these state legislators are going out of session and they're not going to have the luxury of all these social issues to lay back on. they have to be real with women and not just have slogans and finger pointing, look what happened in idaho. they have to dig inning. >> this isn't a referendum on mitt romney. throughout history, women have traditionally trended more toward the democrats. it didn't help john kerry very much.

outpoled by women 7% and still lost his election. what will really matters at the end of the day is who's got the best solution for the economy. regardless of what men or women vote, women are going to see mitt romney has better answers and solutions for the economy. every poll you've seen when it comes to who do you have more confidence in in helping the economy and creating jobs, poll after poll, mitt romney. >> certainly it is in terms of the economy, it's an uphill climb. alice, i would be remiss if i didn't ask you about these strum mailers that hit iowa that say truly from the senator santorum. it truly frightens me to think what will happen if mitt romney is the nominee. when were these mailed out? >> this was done prior to him suspending is the campaign. these mailers if you've seen them take a long time. eventual to write them, get the photos. >> they have to go through the postal service too. >> evers these were done long time ago and they were dropped prior to him suspending the campaign and some folks are just now getting them.

so that's what happened there. certainly you know, the sentiments there are from heated primary but now we're with rick out of the campaign, he's going to do whatever he can to help galvanize the conservatives and stand behind governor romney. >> and perhaps wait till all the mailers are out for the endorsement maybe. >> like he said, the entire time, he's going to do whatever he can, whatever the governor needs. they haven't had the conversation specifically what will governor romney needs him to do but they will in the days and weeks to do. he will do whatever ectocoalesce conservatives because job number one is to defeat obama. >> including any mailers that may not have been sent out. i'm just kidding. i blame the post office. we'll go to extremes as a growing number of moderates prepare to exit capitol hill, how will an increasingly divided congress get anything accomplished? we'll discuss that next on "now." guys. come here, come here. [ telephone ringing ] i'm calling my old dealership.

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at the same time, the two of you came to an agreement in your mind that was acceptable. >> until he lost his courage. he needed more revenue. needed more revenue. he lost his courage. the president checked out last labor day. all he's done is campaign full time for the last six months. there have been no effort at trying to work with democrats and republicans to address this issue at all. and it's shameful. >> harsh words from speaker john boehner this morning, foisting blame squarely on the president for failure to reach a grand bargain while also explaining why nothing will get done in washington this year. patricia, are you a capitol hill deny i zen. we know that there's not a lot of expectation that any kind of legislation reform is going to happen in congress but there are very big ticket items on the

docket that need to be dealt with before the ends of the year. super committee triggers going into effect, bush eras tax cuts expiring, payroll tax cuts expiring. what's amazing to me is we call that the time in which those things will be tackled the lame duck session of congress. i don't know what this is if that's the lame duck session. >> this is the angry duck session. >> this is the 112th cook res. you do absolutely nothing. i agree with john boehner but it's not just the democrats who have been shameful, it is the republicans as well. . it takes both sidesed to really screw things up this bad. if you look at the list, there's so much more than that list, unemployment insurance is going to expire, the amt, the dock fix. this is a congress you know for years and years, it's been getting worse and worse that is compulsively unable to solve problems or even try to solve problems. listen, everybody in washington knows nothing's getting done until the lame duck. get out your pens and paper for november 7th because that's when

the real work starts. think about it constitutionally, this is a whole group of people, some of whom have been defeated and decided to retire. it's not even very democratic to save all of your work for the very last minute and then to just dump it on the president's desk and say good luck with that. it's scary to think about the cliff that the country is about to go off. i'm not really exaggerating. >> keep in mind who is going to be notice next congress. we're looking at effectively a mass exodus of moderates from both the house and senate. we have news the blue democratists, conservatives 24 of them in total, five of them are retiring and six face uphill battles. we talk about the tenor of dialogue in this country. part of the problem with congress is we keep electing or we of late have been electing very strident members to capitol hill making compromise really a four-letter word. it strikes me this is now

something to say, i went to capitol hill, i got legislation passed. we met in the middle is something that nobody can run on anymore. >> the good thing with boehner now in control, we've had a lot more discussions on the front end supposed to at the back end. with obama care, basically we had this monolithic health care proposal rammed down the throat and it was too late to make changes. but what i believe, what we'll see between now and november, everyone's at a little low. we are all are in a lull. as it gets closer to the election, tea party groups become more vocal, groups push their agenda. and that will have an influence on what happens in congress. right now, they're not getting a lot of pushback from the public. people aren't e-mailing and calling to get their voices heard. as issues come up, we're going to see a lot more from tea party groups. >> will that make it better or worse? that doesn't sound like much of an improvement. >> when you talk about someone

like dick lugar in congress for 35 years and now facing a serious uphill re-election battle largely because of the nra and tea party groups. >> also because he has given a tremendous opening to his challenger. you don't live in your home state. you charge for hotel rooms to stay where you're supposed to live. i mean, give me a break. i think everybody wants to cry over dick lugar. >> orrin hatch is another example. >> i don't know that i was crying over dick lie gar. >> this paragon of a moderate decent guy. come on, you've still got to do your job. >> olympia snow, kay bailey hutchison. >> those are the people who do the deals. >> you were crying over dick, i know you were. >> i'm not touching that. it's not only the candidates, it's not only the outside groups, it's spending, right? crossroads is going to drop 17 million on these congressional races. that is certainly going to have an effect on the landscape, the positions people feel they can take.

i look forward and it is a bleak picture in terms of how congress is going to function, especially given the fact that everybody's constantly running for constant re-election. >> hugo makes a fair point. there's a lot of generallization especially in congress counsel races of the specifics of what happens. there are also a lot of local factors at play in every single one of these races. that's worth something worth keeping in mind. there's general trends. interesting to see whether what happened in 2010 remains an upward swing that way for the tea party. you have a lot of people, orrin hatch is another race, obviously not the same kind of thing. somebody who's been in the senate for 36 years. at a certain point, there are sort of local forces at play and why people cross. >> there's a through line when you see the life that moderates have to live on capitol hill. it's somewhere between witness protection program you know and having just a bull's eye on your

face at all times. you are ostracized from your party for giving deals with the other side. that becomes very tiresome for people. it's just human nature after awhile, if everybody hates you, you're just going to leave. >> like me defending dick lugar on this panel, it's like i have a target on my back. >> we'll be dealing with that. >> i will leave you guys with this comment. mitt romney, if he is elected president is going to have an interesting time dealing with house republicans. louis gohmert says if you're not sure about supporting mitt romney, ought to be excited because he's been on your side at one time or another. just so i'm not misunderstood, i'm not as excited as i am desperate to the defeat the president. >> that guy's good. >> louis gohmert, after the break, the secret service is now investigating is ted nugent's incendia incendiaryra, about president obama. we'll dissect the motor city madman's comments next on "now." [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze...

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. >> if barack obama becomes the president in november, again, i will either be dead or in jail by this time next year. our president and attorney general, our vice president, hillary clinton, they're criminals. >> we need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in november. any questions? >> those were some of the inflammatory words from rocker ted nugent an endorser of mitt romney who once welcomed his support. romney's campaign released a statement yesterday not using nugent in name but saying "divisive language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from. mitt romney believes everyone needs to be civil." alice, walking back statements or walking back endorsements or your support for someone else's support, do you think that's an adequate statement from the

romney camp vis-a-vis the heated rhetoric of nugent? >> it was not a smart thing to say. it was certainly something that he knew was going to cause controversy. when you hear his explanation, he was talking about taking our country back, taking it away from the federal monsters. >> come on. >> but the romney campaign can't you know, speak for every single thing that a supporter says every single time. andrea was right, we can't have divisive language. there's no place in it for politics. >> let me just say one thing here then. we talked about hilary rosen during the break. the president came out and vociferously distanced himself from rosen and said these comments have no place. i would argue what ted nugent is saying, the language is much stronger. he has a history of saying this. at one point he told the president to suck on his machine gun among other things. i think that's kind of many on the right attacked hilary rosen

and the president for being guilty by association. this would seem to be not -- if it's okay if the left does it, it's not okay if the left does it, but it's okay if the right does it. >> it's not okay for either one to say something like that. divisive language on either side is inappropriate. what in this does is once again we're not talking about the issue taz people care about. we're talking about something inappropriate that someone said when we really need to get back to what people are talking about and that's jobs and the com he. >> i don't understand why this is a tough call. i don't understand what benefit it is to mitt romney, which legions of this guy's fans are going to lose by saying that this is something wrong and vial and disgusting. if the secret service is worried, why can't mitt rom nit worry. >> i agree that mitt doesn't have to be worried per se. he just needs to -- >> he's worried about the language. >> but i mean you know, ted nugent is a well-known lunatic and says things like this all the time. he doesn't have a role in the

romney campaign. he doesn't need to answer it per se. >> why can't you just say it's wrong. >> i agree with that. >> look, the president got set with two things. he got set in terms of ann romney because we're talking about a spouse but the romney folks pushed out comments bill maher made about ann romney which were pretty unpleasant on friday night. and their argument is he's a donor to the super pac to the tune of $1 million. that's a lot of money. ted nugent is also an endorser whom romney sought. both sides might be regretting the sort of war on war on wars to make this person take ownership. >> i think ted nugent needs to write some new songs. only the one song we can think of. >> that's the nature of the controversy. >> i will say i think it is mitt romney has shown a certain amount of cowardice in terms of standing up to the more radical elements of the party. >> he needs to take opportunities to show his core.

>> it could have been a moment of some kind. >> i'm sure they'll be asked about it again and again. at some point they make a more aggressive position on this issue. what they said today. >> it's not device sib language. it's just -- it's way beyond that. device sieve language is here all the time. >> i would characterize his language as hot garbage. coming up, camp romney and camp obama both ramp up efforts to court hispanic efforts. jose dies an balart joins us live next on "now." ♪

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[ speaking foreign language [ speaking foreign language ] >> that was a new spanish language ad from the obama campaign. today the president's re-election team unveiled an aggressive plan to court hispanic voters.

joining us now it telemundo's jose diaz-balart. it's great to see you. >> thank you so much. it's a pleasure to be with you, amia. >> jose, we talk a lot about the hispanic vote. it is, of course, not monolithic. we know team obama is creating an aggressive strategy to reach out to hispanic voters and specifically is trying to turn arizona blue, a traditionally republican state. i want to know what your thoughts are on that specifically first. >> that's a fascinating -- let's target specifically arizona which he lost by eight points in 2008. i mean it's fascinating because it's seen such an increase in the number of hispanic voters over the last four years. and you know that arizona was ground zero for sb-1070 which the supreme court will take up shortly. and so he's really banking on that will a lot of the feelings of bitterness and of frustration that some latino voters, many

voters in arizona feel as a consequence of sb 1070 introduced by the republican legislature, the senate and signed by the republican governor of arizona, the president is banking on that that state there can be enough hispanic voters that are going to turn out for the first time to override the kind of increase in the republican voters in the state which traditionally have gone you know, republican for the presidency. so he's making a very interesting gamble there, and i think it may, it may be able to pan out for him there. because there is a lot of resentment in arizona for what latina voters see as the state republican party's attempts to curb down on illegal immigration by targeting many latinos that do have their documents. >> jose, the fantastic reporter michael scherer in "time" magazine has a story about immigration and specifically looks at arizona and mentions a

story of democratic city council candidate daniel valenzuela who basically launched a grassroots campaign operation and latino turnout in his district increased 480% which i thought was staggering. i do think it's interesting and perhaps telling that mitt romney is going to be in arizona later this week. we know that the immigration bill -- or the sb 1070 coming in front of the supreme court next week. it seems like republicans are doubling down on some of what a lot of folks would characterize as unfair immigration loss specifically targeting the hispanic community. >> yeah, and i think that's how many latinos in the united states see what is going on in arizona. there is the other side of the coin that many latinos see sb-1070 and the other state laws that have sprung up, speervegcally targeting illegal immigration as created because of the lack of federal immigration reform. and when you start kind of tracing the dots on the lack of federal immigration reform, some

of those dots can go right back to the white house. as you know, in 2008 when president obama then candidate obama was looking for the presidency, he promised the latino community that if he won the presidency, he would have immigration reform done within his first year. he has since obviously spoken a lot to latinos about what he confronted that first year economically speaking but you know what? the 1070s of the united states are created because they exist because of the political oxygen that was created by the lack of immigration reform in the federal government. >> you know, jose, i want to hope it up to the panel a little bit here for a second. we talk a lot about republican policies on immigration. there's also the flipside in terms of as jose mentioned what some may see as broken props as far as immigration reform and also deportations. "the washington post" reports that 1 million immigrants have been illegal immigrants deported

in four years, about 400,000 which is a record number. there is certainly a number to confront the immigrant community. the question is whether republicans seize it. alice, mitt romney said sunday night we have the to get hispanic voters to vote for our party and recent polls spell doom for us. >> what we're going to see more from the romney campaign speaking with some of them. we're still early in this process. and we're going to see more of his policies and specifically on this issue. one of the things we'll hear more about is romney's plans for modernizing legal immigration, something he wants to roll out. he's also going to encourage policies that will help to attract people to come to this country in order to help contribute to the growing economy. and also, it's important to point out that catholic latinos are very concerned about the current economic situation in this country and don't like government overreach which is what we have currently in the white house. we're going to see segments of the latino population look more

towards the republicans because they're going to see they have solutions that will certainly help. >> jose, back to you really quickly before we go, we see these pew polls and the numbers out among hispanic voters. the president seems to be running away with it. do you expect the gap will shrink as we get closer to november? >> i don't see much of that gap shrinking. and you know, all of these details trying to attract the republicans trying to attract the hispanic vote in the future is irrelevant if you or someone you know in your family has been deported or if you or someone you know has been arrested by sheriff arpaio in arizona who supports the republican candidate. all of these issues matter. and i think it's going to be very difficult for the romney campaign to pivot now and all of a sudden say we do want to attract the latino vote when for the last year, that's been pretty much a moot issue in the romney case. as well as all of the other republicans. maybe with the exception of newt gingrich. >> jose dies an balart, thank

you, sir. >> always a pleasure. >> we'll be talking about this issue far into the future. after the break, what do adele, ron paul, and xi jinping all have in common? we are going to tell you next on "now." c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better.

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♪ anthony kennedy, ron paul, and chelsea handler, not a group of people you would see at the same cocktail party probably but they are three of the 100 most influential people in the world according to "time" magazine. for more on who did and didn't make the list, arana joins the panel. apparently we're going to ask you who didn't make the list. >> there was one person from msnbc on the list. >> and well deserved. we champion -- i expect i'll be a shoo-in next year.

rana, talk about who made it. anthony kennedy, ted olsen describing him as perhaps the most influential person in american life today. >> you know, influence for starters let's talk about what influence is because it runs across a variety of fields. we have politicians, economists, people in the arts. it is a big party. and the key thing about influence no matter who it is, we try and look for people that are not ephemeral. in the age of social media, twitter, et cetera, influence is easier than ever to get but harder to keep. >> definition of ephemeral. >> to some of those of us who believe in linsanity and remain faithful that lin will be back on court next season. >> he hits the education button too. >> he hits a lot of buttons. >> let's talk more about -- okay the president is, of course, on the list. marco rubio who is jeb bush describes him as the real deal, alice. marco rubio, one of the most 100

most influential people in the country. >> certainly being discussed as a possible vp candidate. he can ener jis the base. he's very well worthy of this and speak of politicians i'm thrilled to see michele bachmann on list. >> she is indeed. >> we have a lot from both sides of the political spectrum. i think we were very fair and even. >> ron paul, i would argue. >> ralph nader riding on ron paul. is that the greatest pairing or what? >> the beginning of a great joke or something that happened in real life. it is. il actually say setting aside political differences that one may or may not have with ron paul, i do think he will be influential in crafting the nextet ration of the republican party. >> you love ron paul. >> here's a little softball for you, kristin wiig and chelsea handler are on the list. >> i love kristin wiig. in the a chelsea handler fan. >> it's influence. not a popularity contest. we have a rogue's gallery of

autocrats. >> my favorite trio is blake lively, hillary clinton, and muqtada al sadr. >> muqtada al sadr. >> just to round it out. >> i don't know if you're going to call him a world leader but i as a half burmese person i thought your choice of the prime minister of burma who has been controversial givinging and sang sushi greater country,ing the country for the first time interesting choice. >> there were more overseas folks on the list this year and more women than ever before. these were two things that were big stories, foreign news and the rise of female and economic political power. big news. >> it was good to see prince william and kate middleton on there. >> you've got to sell magazines, come on. >> the most photographed. hugo can't find ted nugent's picture. >> it's a very nice picture of blake lively. >> that is not blake lively.

>> oh, my god. >> that's sarah blakely. >> who is also fabulous. >> first female billionaire and the founder of spanx. >> and katie couric said the irony being she does not even need to wear the spanx. >> a moratorium on the term junk in the trunk. >> if you wear spanx, there will be none of that. >> men are wearing them too just for back support. >> cecile richards is on here. sandra fluke writing about her. those shaping the domestic dialogue. perhaps internationally the rest of the world is looking to the debate that the country is having over women, women's roles whether it's contraception or whether they should be stay at home moms. richards was a great addition. >> i think that was a fabulous addition. il lack forward to the presence of women on here is no longer a story. for women, they are the majority of bread winners, majority of

students, college, med school, law school. why is it so special and fun to see women on the list. >> it's a risk point. >> no criticism of this. >> we recently did another cover the richer sex talking about how women will soon be the majority of the world's bread winners. i think the day is not far away. >> the photography is fantastic. >> it's a magazine. >> there are so many great pictures, almost every single one is a picture. >> hugo likes is the pictures, rana. is it a contention process the nominating process. >> sure. >> like you can't possibly nominate tim tebow. >> there's a lot of outrage. there's a lot of, i won't say there's a lot of drinking. there's a lot of late nights. there's a lot of fighting. >> is it a democratic process or does ring swoop in and say -- >> it's a benign autocracy. it starts democratic and eventually our editor. >> do they hear the list is coming and say i want in? >> sure.

we get nominations from everywhere. winner of the poll was anonymous. a group of internet activists who didn't get on the list. >> do you ever have to pull someone off the list. >> like ted nugent? >> we have a ted nugent sort ofesque thing. >> stephen colbert. >> rightfully taking his place alongside several l. jaynes, author of "50 shades of gray." >> a lot of moms around the country reading that book. >> moms understand. those twos may be a couple of people in the nbc building. time's rana foroohar, great to seept you. coming up, the shareholderses of a major wall street bank vote to deny a multimillion dollar pay package for the firm's chief executives. details on that next on what now you? ! [ male announcer ] if you think tylenol

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absolutely violates both our regulations and more importantly, our core values. this is not who we are. and it's certainly not who we represent when it comes to the great majority of men and women in uniform who are serving there. i expect that the matter will be fully investigated. that investigation has already begun. this is a matter that goes back i believe to 2010. but it needs to be fully investigated. and that investigation, as i understand, is already under way. and wherever those facts lead, we will take the appropriate action. >> that was secretary of defense leon panetta speaking just moments ago regarding photos circulating of u.s. soldiers posing with the bodies of dead suicide bombers. maggie, this is part of a longer string of controversies that have arisen around u.s. soldiers

posing or desecrating the bodies of militants that we're fight overseas. i guess when is we think about this, what is the collective effect of this on our president's overseas? >> i think it's obviously not a positive thing. i think in terms of certainly the domestic sentiment about the wars it increases weariness among the electorate with wars that have already become unpopular. they're obviously be pretty awful photos. i think this makes it much harder for the u.s. overseas and it makes it much harder and complicates things in terms of the mission. >> i think that the bad thing is, the pictures are despicable and it shouldn't happen. the bad thing is we're talking about this. we're seeing this when there's tens of thousands of men and women fighting every day for our country doing a hero's job, and we need to be paying tribute to them. unfortunately we're talking about this. this, no doubt, represents a very, very small portion of it

but the time to think about the stress and unbearable conditions that our troops are in overseas and pay tribute to those that are doing fantastic work, but this is something that certainly needs to be investigated and doesn't feed to happen because it paints a bad picture of our country on the world is taken. >> we talked about this during break, hugo, the stress placed on soldier and to a certain degree who knows what was happening in wars previous. technology provides rapid dissemination in a way that didn't exist ten years ago. >> look at the stress on leon panetta's face as he was talking about. i would hate to be on thor end of the phone call about publishing those pictures. there's a lot of personal anguish on the part of the administration for good reason, obviously. but it is difficult as alice was talking about it to balance having to support the full military effort and then having to go after the soldiers responsible for this. >> it just makes the job of the soldiers still in afghanistan so much harder. they are with -- they are with

the afghan population face to face every day, and this is just another thing that erodes that trust if there even is any trust still left. >> there's trust. we've done a bunch of stories on marines in afghanistan. it's surprising how the conduct of most of the soldiers is exemplary. and there is a lot of trust in communities where the marines are operating, not everywhere. >> something like this has to hurt the situation. you want -- every day you have to convince them that's who we are, what we do. but there are these repeated release of photos. these photos are old. this didn't happen yesterday. >> coordinated attacks in afghanistan, the taliban taking credit, the haqqani network taking credit. >> but the marines also in afghanistan are keeping other afghans safe also. it's an important thing to remember they're not just going out there doing their own random acts of violence. they truly are protectinging afghan communities. that is part of their mission and a lot of the soldiers do a very good job of it. and the people on the ground understand that, and are

obviously grateful for the daily support. so it's not like every afghan is going to suddenly change the way they -- >> but it can't make it better. >> it can't make it better. >> and certainly in terms of withdrawal from afghanistan, it makes the situation much more difficulty. i will see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern/9:00 a.m. pacific when i'm joined by lawrence o'donnell. ari melber, casey hunt and alice stewart is back for more. find us at facebook.com/now with alex. andrea mitchell is next. hello to you. >> coming up, more about defense secretary leon panetta who just reacted to those photos showing u.s. forces posing with dismembered bodies of afghanistan suicide bombers. he apologized on behalf of the american people. senator chuck grassley joins me. looking into the latest details his briefing on the secret

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right now on andr"andrea mitchell reports", failure of command. the pentagon vows swift action after newly published photos show u.s. forces posing two years ago with the dismembered bodies of afghan suicide bombers. >> this is not who we are. and it's certainly not who we represent when it comes to th great majority of men and women in uniform. >> will the pictures provoke more retaliation against u.s. forces? secret service is play dates was national security compromised? plus, violence against women. the white house targets republicans for opposing reauthorization of the 1994 law. coming up