bett better strategy than bain? >> no. i think it's all part of the same strategy. when you're the incumbent, the thing you really want to do is discredit your opponent as an alternative so that the swing voters who may not be fully happy with you nums onetheless decide they can't get to that other guy. i think the bain attack was effective particularly with the kind of blue collar voters in states like pennsylvania and ohio where a blue collar guy looks at romney and says, gee, he's not going to look out for me. n now, for a lot of other voters in swing states, they want them to say, he said he was going to create jobs in the country. let's look at massachusetts. this is a broad effort to discredit romney much as george w. bush launched such an effort success employ with john kerry in 2004. >> as part of that effort david axelrod was on the "today" show

this morning. let me play a hick of that. >> governor romney has been running around the country discrediting the president. we do have a responsibility to straighten that out. he offers himself as an economic guru and savior off of the experience in business and when he was governor of the state, the state was 47th in job creation. >> is that the statement we're going to hear over and over and over again, jackie? 47th in job creation? >> you heard that a lot from rick perry because of the comparison between texas and massachusetts. now, there rocky mountains isn't a comparison. it's really off, but, yes, this is something we're going to hear over and over again and we've been hearing, so you would think the romney campaign would have a response to this pretty down pat at this point. >> let me read for you the romney statement, quote, mitt romney created more jobs in the state of massachusetts than president obama has for the

entire nation. spokeswoman andrea saul says he has a net negative record on job creation. you asked for a response. there it is. do they have a point or do numbers really matter? i mean you can spichb them how you want to spin them but in the end it's how people feel about a situation, or do those numbers count? >> if you take the way romney created jobs in massachusetts, then it's flatly false. there's double accounts going on here. romney wants credit for whatever good happened in massachusetts and shave off the bad years but he wants obama to take responsibility for the job losses at the beginning of his term before his policies even took over. i mean you can't argue that there's a limit to what either a governor or a president can do to create jobs, but that's not the argument either side wants to make hour. but i think romney is going to

be on very thin ice here, because he's going to have to contradict his math by the math obama wants to use for massachusetts. >> they're going to have a lot more money do it but obviously in every presidential campaign, you're going go after what you perceive to be every other guy's weaknesses. the romney campaign released this new ad. it's about ann romney and her multiple sclerosis. take a look. >> i was frightened. mitt was frighterned. but i needed him desperately. >> as long as it's nothing fatal, i'm just fine. i'm happy in life as long as i've got my soulmate with me. >> is this going to help mitt romney with him? >> it helps humanize him and also when ann is in front of the camera, romney is better liked. ann romney has very high positives. yeah, thing this helps humanize romney and some of the things his life was.

necessarily, you know, all bain money. it wasn't just that. they've had some struggles. >> is there a downside to an ad like that, e.j.? can it look like they're trying to take advantage of something that is a difficult situation? they're playing very blatantly to people's emotions? >> they are, but i think people are accustomed to that in cam pans. i have to say i heard africn ra speak for the first time. i thought she was the best asset this candidate has, so i think she is quite impressive in the way she talks about how he stood by her. i think what this is designed do is to shore up romney's numbers among wichl who are not necessarily upset with romney's stand on a whole series of issues. it will probably make some of them move his way. in the end it's mitt romney's race to win, not ann's, but

she's a real asset. >> i want to bring in our guest. good morning. is that an accurate number? 300 million bucks? >> that's our goal. >> the ad was from the ann romney campaign. your ads have focused on attacking obama. is that the strategy throughout the campaign? >> well, yeah. there's a deep reservoir of concern in this country about the direction that president obama and his policies are taking the country. we're trying to point out a lot of the downfalls that have been made, the promises that have not come into frue-frue fruition. they've heard a lot about hope and challenge in 2008. they're not seeing a lot of it materialize in the last four years and now the president is doing sharply negative attacks

and it doesn't match the brand. we're trying to point out all those things to folks in the middle. >> the argument is you've got to give as good as you get. he's getting a lot of attacks not just from the super pac but others. today we saw david axelrod on the "today" show. they're going talk about what they see as the weakness of the mitt romney record. are you going to respond to that? >> it's difficult to run positive ads just because of the way the campaign laws are written. there are a lot of rules against coordination. you don't want to get into that. the best positive ads are from the candidate talking to the camera. >> so you're saying that the express purpose of super pacs is to run negative ads. >> i'm not saying that. i'm saying what we're advocating for are free government. the way do it is do positive glowing ads because the best ads, positive ones are from the candidate and we can't coordinate with candidates do

this. what we'll be doing is focusing on the president's record and making sure every american knows about the promises they made and how they failed to come to fruition over four years. >> i know you can't, as you said, coordinate, but there is this big headline in politico today about the people who are funding groups like yours, and it says why is everyone picking on us, referring to the mega donors that support the super pacs. we've been seeing a lot of them. one they name is frank van der sloot who's an idaho businessman who gave $100 million. are you worried the money is going to stop coming in as some of these mega donors see that all of a sudden it's becoming very, very public? >> there's certainly an effort underfoot by the obama campaign and those on the left to embarrass conservative donors. this is a donor to the romney

campaign. they had someone looking into his divorce records. >> to be share, the conservative center for american freedom has also been going after some liberal donors. they've gone at katzenberg and corzine. it works both ways. >> i know there's definitely an effort to try to intimidate dough no, sir. that's why a donor has to make the decision whether or not they want to be cast into the limelight. many of them don't. in 120u our biggest donor had a front-page profile of him on the front page of "the new york times" and there are a lot doef nors not interested in that kind of skpoexposure. they want to work for change. that's why they get into groups. >> jonathan collegio, thanks for coming on the program. we appreciate it. jackie, how much is going to be driven by the campaign ads and the cam pans itself? >> i think at the end of the day

everybody's going to be slinging mud. there's going to be plenty of ads on both sides. the swing states are already getting them. >> when we look back on this, e.j., a year or so from now, will it change the equation? obviously record amounts of money, but also you have so much of the message that is coming out that is from super pacs, not from the campaigns themselves. how different do you think this is going to be, or is it just going to be the old-fashioned way, in the end people are going to go with their gut? how much do these ads make a different? >> i think they make a huge difference. in my book i talk about the citizen's united decision not only for what it does but also as a green light for some of this green money to come in. way back in the progressive era we revolted against big money and big politics. i think that's what the obama is going to have do. they're genuinely worried about

being outspent in this campaign. they have reason to worry. i think they're going have to raise the question of what it means for a rather limited number of very rich people to try to buy an election, and i think that's how they're going to try to cast it and i think that's how they're going have to cast it. >> i think, jackie, there are fascinating parts of this. you have so much money. in places like iowa, they have six electoral votes. they're putting tons of money in there. it's great if you own a national television station, but iowa is a tiny piece crucial to the giant jigsaw puzzle for either romney or obama and so suddenly do some of these smaller states seem to have even more outsized importance? >> one of the interesting things in your poll, you know, it was 41/41 in a. there are still undecided minds.

they're both vying for. yeah, i think every vote is going to count. this is going to be an extremely close election and we're seeing the beginnings of it right now. >> i can remember 10, 12 years ago being out on the campaign trail and in the end in a close race, you couldn't really put that many resources into a state that small. there's only so much money. >> it's also finite, how many tv hours you can buy. sorry. >> you run out of time. i think it may have been chuck todd who made the point that no voters in america have seen more of mitt romney and barack obama, and that's the state that seems to have the most undecided voters in it. again, still, i go back to what chuck was saying earlier. there were more paths to choose for obama than for romney that's barring economic collapse, but there are a few states -- iowa's one, ohio's another, virginia's another where you're going to

see clads of money. the employment may be down but all this money coming into the campaign. >> we should say not just the congressional ad but they're getting into the congressional race as well. thank you both of you. have you heard about this one? new york city mayor michael bloomberg has touched off a nationwide controversy for his proposal to bans super-size drinks. anything over 16 ounces could not be sold at movie theaters, restaurants, or concession stands. this does not include diet soda, beer, or soda sold in grocery stores. the health department has an unhealthy obsession with soft drinks and the plan is over the top.

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16 past the hour. we have breaking news coming out of boston. an appeals rule regarding same-ssam same-sex married couples is unconstitutional. the defense of marriage act which defines marriage between a mand and a woman discriminates against gay couple. we'll have more on this coming up. mitt romney is gaining on president obama, winning over republican women who had been skeptical during the bruising primary. a new washington poll shows favorite among voters overall. obama's is down by four points. it's the women that create the divi divide. richard lui joins us. welcome back. >> it's at a rate faster than all voters combined. in a washington polls, abc news

polls, all females favored obama 58% and mitt romney, 27%. he's bumped his favorite up by half to 40% while the president's favoritability rating. 59% last month for romney, now it's 80% favorability for the governor. on the flip side, unfavorability. the two are closer. 52% to 36ch last month. now the president's rating increased by eight and romney's fell by eight in these calculations, the numbers could be concerning to the president if they stay the same certainly. he want as 2008 repeat here, chris, as you know, when he won 56% of the female vote and with romney leading men in another recent poll, every vote will count. >> all right, richard. thank you very much.

joining me to talk more about this is congress wam of illinois. good morning, congresswoman. good to see you. >> thank you. >> why is mitt romney gaining with women voters? >> well, actually i think it's very simple. republican women are consolidating around the known nominee now and it's something that we expected, that the republicans, known republicans, declared republicans would rally around him. and it still doesn't reflect anything about the independent women and, of course, among democrats the strong favorability for the president is 60%, whereas only about 35% of republicans are strongly favorable for mitt romney. so this enthusiasm gap is the one that i think is even more important because this election is going to be about turnout. >> well, let me ask you about that because obviously -- and this is nothing new to this campaign. certainly we've seen it time and

time and time again that those swing voter, suburban women, independent women, often identified as independent are often swing votes in this election. how does president obama win them over? >> well, i think that the continuing attacks on women's health care, on women's economic rights is absolutely going to be decisive in this election. it's been characterized as a war on women. and i'll tell you the people i have knocking on doors right now in illinois, behind those doors, those indeath penalty women are saying, no way can i vote republican this time. it wouldn't even be a consideration because of this lack of access to contraception, to full health care, to the attack on planned parenthood, not voting for lilly ledbetter, all those things. women are aware and i don't think they're going be fooled. >> have at it. call it a war on women because in the end that focus will hurt

you. there's a new ad that's out from republican women in north carolina. let me read to you what the basic message is, congresswoman. quote, if obama and his liberal attack dogs really want to help women they'd fix the economy, get men and women back to work and cease the nanny state creating welfare for all. what's your response? >> i think it's patronizing ad toward women because women are well aware that even when it comes to the violence against women act, that that bill is discriminatory for immigrant women and gays and lesbians. they know that the republicans are not for paycheck fairness, which is essential for economic equity in our society, so i think that this is kind of a desperate attempt to somehow make women feel ashamed of supporting barack obama. i think it's a employ that's not going to work because the facts are the facts. >> congresswoman jan schakowsky,

it's good to see you. thanks for coming on. >> thank you. >> she didn't make it to the semifinals, and she's 12 years away from being able to vote but a 6-year-old stole the show at the scripps national spelling bee. here she is, lori ann madison, the youngest contestant in the history of the spelling bee. she made it to round three but she couldn't spell the word ingluvies. she got her own press conference this morning. >> i wasn't nervous at all. i mean it was exciting until the point when i spelled that word. i was stressed out, and after i got eliminated, i mean all the other kids were stressed out, too, and they were tired after the long wait, and so was i. that's the same thing. the long wait was so boring and then i got stressed out and i misspelled. >> she said she actually knew the word but she was tired and bored. in case you're wondering,

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now on this breaking news out of boston, that an appeals court has said it's unconstitutional to deny married gay couples certain federal rights. let's go to nbc's justice correspondent pete williams. pete, how significant is this? >> well, it's the highest court yet to rule on this question, chris. and you recall some of the history here. as you said, this is not about whether states must grant the right to marry to same-sex couples. this is about in those states where they've already made that decision to do, that is it legal for the federal government to deny them the same benefits that opposite-sex couples would have. it's the defensive marriage act signed by president clinton and this federal 'peels court, a three-judge panel has unanimously ruled it's unconstitutional for those states that have already granted

the same-sex right to marry. there's not enough justification for the law under the constitution, that the law doesn't in any way increase benefits to opposite-sex couples. it said basing the law on moral disapproval of same-sex couples is not enough. so the court also, i should say, put a stay on its own decision saying, you know, we realize this is probably not the last word. now, remember what happened here, chris. this is part of what makes this case interesting. it's a lawsuit filed by a number of individuals and the state of massachusetts against the federal government oran. originally the justice department was defending the law but then recalled that the obama administration attorney general holder said the federal government would no longer defend them. that's when the house of representatives stepped in and hired their own lawyer to defend the law and now it's going to be up to the house to decide whether to appeal this and it's

quite likely that this will be appealed to the u.s. supreme court. >> pete williams, thank you so much for that. >> if you read only one thing check out this piece from "time magazine." clint eastwood's daughter is dating an artist. he took a chain officer to a purse worth $100,000 and then set it on fiefrmt what do you think? we've getting quite a bit of comments. tell us what you think. but what about your wrinkles. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to visibly reduce wrinkles in just one week. "why wait if you don't have to." rapid wrinkle repair. neutrogena®. recommended most by dermatologists. a little bird told me about a band...

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amachb >> bring us up to date. >> good morning, christine. one of the challenges is who to deal with in the opposition. today we're seeing a little bit of that because the free syrian army they've put out some conflicting statements. he's calling on kofi annan to declare a peace. the spokesperson or the leader of the army inside syria says they have given the assad regime 48 hours or a rather deadline on friday to implement the u.n. cease-fire plan, so therefore saying if it's not implemented by friday, they have a right to defend themselves. it gives you a little bit of the complexities in dealing with the opposition. but nonetheless the overall consensus is that the u.n. peace

plan is not working, they're continuing their assault and civilians are paying the ultimate price. syrian government, on the other hand, is citing this as precisely the problem. that is what is fueling the violence. >> ayman, thank you very much for that. >> i'm also joined by tony fratto, former white house press secretary for george w. bush and now managing partner. good morning to both of you. >> good to be with you. >> they put it this way. the deepening crisis is impossible to ignore but too complex for them to articulate an easy solution. is that a fair assessment, do you think. >> well, look. i think the challenge in the region and really the problem with syria is that we have a direct challenge with russia and china, and, you know, we've had

the united states push for action in the u.n. it was blocked by chi in and russia months ago. >> tony, is it overly simplistic when mitt romney says the president needs to put more pressure on russia? >> i don't think it's sim pal to give that guidance to the president that more pressure needs to go on russia. it's a very complicated situation, pressure on russia and china and other actors in the region. you know, the real challenge for, thing, actually both the president and mitt romney as a challenger as explained to the american people why this is critical and important to american voters, and, of course, you know, american voters tend to not pay a whole lot of attention to these kinds of foreign policy issues until they

get very bad, and if the situation gets much worse, we think it is, you know, horrifying to see the massacre last week, that it could raise to that level. the president has a challenge in terms of the consistency of his policy. he, of course, went into libya to great success, and it was a move i supported. i know others did as well. it's confusing to the american people why libya is not syria, and, of course, it isn't, but it's hard to explain. >> while, mitt romney, among the things he's been critical of the president is that he is for arming the opposition, meaning mitt romney is and the president has been opposed to that. u.n. ambassador susan rice talked to andrea mitchell. she warned that it could turn the situation even more chaotic. let me play that for you. >> it is not a unified opposition. it's fragmented. they don't have common command in control. there are some extremist elements mixed in there. and we know much less about the leadership and the intentions of the syrian opposition than we

did even of the libyan opposition at the time, and i want to remind you that we did not arm the libyan opposition. >> the obama campaign says that romney is doing nothing but tough talk, tony. is he really offering an alternative? >> look. arming an opposition in syria is an alternative and it's an alternative that a lot of syrian andi i analysts are determining as well as an ult mall option. that said, this is clearly a difficult situation for the administration. where they find themselves is, you know, if they're not able to do anything, even if they're not able to do anything for very reasonable reasons, they're still, as president of the united states, you're still stuck with the consequences of that inactivity, and that's just the reality of the job. >> is that the reality of the

job, neera? i wonder if there are some who feel this will take attention away of more difficult parts of the president's election campaign including economy and in that sense a diversion of attention might not be a bad thing. >> you know, i think what's unfortunate about this is that this is a very complicated situation and mitt romney is really trying to exploit it to make political points against the president and think that's unfortunate. tony served in the white house when, you know, president bush complained that others were trying to exploit very complicated and difficult situations for political gain. and i think there's a reasonable -- you know, that's a -- that's an important point, you know. the challenge here is we obviously want -- everyone wants to see the assad regime leave. everyone wants to see that. we've wanted that for a long time. but the challenge is that russia and china are blocking action and simply yelling about it and saying we should arm the rebels when there isn't a real game

plan, that's not actually serving america's national interest and i think it's unfortunate that mitt romney has taken this stance. >> neera tanden and tony fratta. thank you. it was good seeing both of you. the two who were kidnapped have been released. those kidnaps were seeking the relief of a fellow tribesman who's in jail on fellow drug trafficking charging. not clear if he's been released to secure the two americans' freedom. police say a man shot and killed four people after a coffee shop. one other person wounded remains in critical condition. later man shot and killed a woman and drove off in her car, he killed himself when the police surrounded him. police say he had mental problems. a typical afternoon turning terrifying at a local bar in minnesota.

look that surveillance video. a pickup truck crashes through a bar. six people including driver were taken to the hospital, two seriously hur. the bartender escaped injury. he talked about it on the "today" show. >> i had moved to that side of the bar because i couldn't hear the customer talking to me and as i was walk i caught a telephone pole flying through the parking lot and i heard a boom and the truck was there and it was total chaos. >> the son of the bar owner used a bobcat to move the pickup truck and lease the victims. a medical condition caused the woman driver to lose control. it's the world's first commercial supply ship to go to the iss. did facebook founder mark zuckerberg make a tipping faux pas while honeymooning in italy? the details in about 15 minutes.

>> breaking up with your bank. not only is it a pain in your neck but i can cost you. cnbc's mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. give us the details. >> you know, chris, it really is not as easy as you might thing to pull your money out and move to another financial institution for whatever reason. that's at least according to consumers' union. and guess what? it's actually become harder. firstly, there may be a fee to close the account. hsbc, pnc, and u.s. bank, they charge a customer $25 to close an account that's been open for fewer than 180 days while bb&t and citi charge you if you close within 90 days. there are those aknow knowing things like switching direct deposit and automatic bill pay. the bank has no incentive whatsoever do all this and it can take you several weeks to make that transition. some people say, forget about

it. in fact, they went on a website of the top ten banks and there aren't clear instructions on how you're supposed to close your account. >> a lot of new numbers on the economy. i saw foreclosure numbers, house numbers. how's the market reacting? >> you know it's not been great. we are seeing the market react in different ways. the stocks are down. the benchmark ten-year yield is setting fresh lows. the pace is slow in may. we're seeing a big reaction in oil prices for example. in fact, oil now, chris, is on a course for the lowest percentage job in two years. we got jobless claims which rose for the fourth straight week. we're hoping for a good number, at least a better number than april on that front. the obama campaign wants do you read its e-mail blast.

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environment, reusele grocery bags may be bad for your health. in a recent case, almost two dozen people were string within the stomach flu and the cause was traced back to reusable grocery bags. they can be perfect places for germs and disease to feather and advise washing them often. day nine of deliberations in the john edwards corruption triechl we're waiting for the verdict now. there's actually been a little excitement in the courtroom. four alternate jurors were sent home yesterday, the same jurors who attracted attention for wearing color-coordinated outits and one reportedly for flirting with the defendant. john edwards is facing six felony charges and up to 30 years in jail. with me now a florida circuit court judge and host of "judge alex." you know a little bit about this. >> probably more like 200 or 300. >> if they're sending home the alternate, does that mean

they're close to a verdict or being hung? >> no. >> no. kept read anything into that? >> i wish i could throw you that bone. absolutely not. i think what it means is he knows there's a lot of public attention to what they're doing. there's ee's an allegation tha of them is flirting with edwards. as the judge, you want to reduce the pressure. you don't want them saying something stupid. >>if something strarj happens, they can still bring in one of the alternate jurors. >> most of the time i would tell them you're still under oath, still subject to the rules, don't talk to anybody, you can go home. if i needed them, i would call them in. i wouldn't keep them everyday. i had some indications where deliberations ran long. >> what's going on in that jury room? campaign finance laws can b-complex, there's no doubt about that, in my experience and i'm sure yours too, i'm sure the

jurors take the oath very, very seriously. >> we hope they do. >> still it seems to be a very long deliberation. >> i'm sure you have some people firmly entrenched or they're trying to change their minds or people are trying to sway them over to their side. whether they're successful or not -- when they get to the point where they're deadlocked, they'll get the dynamite charge. the judge will call them in. if they can't break the log jam at that point, there will be a mistrial. but these secret meetings, i don't think it has anything to do with the jurors disagreeing. it could be more like they're sick. >> we know they put in notes like i have a high school graduation. >> those are things the public doesn't need to be concerned about but if it was something about the deliberations themselves, i see no reason why the judge would foreclose the media or public from knowing that because that just a fact of the case. >> is there any doubt in your mind they have probably gone

through all these charges days ago or many days ago and they're basically battling it out? >> i think they're in the trenches battling it out. wh whether they do remains to be seen. >> what is your prediction? is it coming to the point where they're going have to come to a verdict or he's going to have to present the dynamite? it's the jury who comes and says we're hopelessly deadlocked. >> or we have reached a verdict on these x number of charges. we can't reach it on it. and the judge has to think do i want to proceed with those and discharge the others or call for a miss montreal on those. the decision is ultimately the judge's. >> it sure seems -- i wasn't in the courtroom, but from what i read, there weren't a lot of likeable people in this trial, but john edwards certainly

didn't come off smelling lie a rose. in the end, what do you think this trial is going to turn on? >> i think you're right. he's not very likeable. frankly, think that they've made a case, i think, by a thin margin. i thinkite's very close. >> a lot of people thought this was a tough case to make. i think they did a great job. >> it is a tough case to make. i think they've made it but they mat n may not be able to -- it just takes one to say i'm not convicting. >> judge alex, always great to have you here. >> god to be here. >> jury still out. covering the john edwards trial stirngss literally. there's a link to josh's article about life, waiting for the verdict, and why it stings. ♪

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good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. it could be a true gram-changer. a breaking of supreme court dona

ruling. we're going get the very latest for you on that. then they're called battleground states for a reason. the latest. the presidential race has never been tighter. we have the pollster behind those numbers. and a sa lewd tore yum from indiana who may miss her high school graduation because she's stuck in mexico trying to get a visa. it's an amazing story. she's been in this country since age 4. will she make it back? >>. crazy bieber fans, zuckerberg faux pas. let's go down to the wire. justin bieber announced a surprise free gig on twitter. tens of thousands of fans descended. the biebs tweets zbend asking for calm. please listen to the police. i don't want anyone getting hurt. i want everything go to plan but your safety must come first. the show did come on. mark zuckerberg is catching flack for not leaving a tip in

italy while on his honeymoon. now to be fair tipping in italy is not expect bud they were surprised because not only of his wealth but americans do leave generous tips. >> a waiter in houston got a $5,000 tip on a $27 lunch bill. it came from a couple of regulars at the restaurant who heard the waiter's car was significantly damaged during a storm and now he's going to buy a car. here's your cute animal of the day. mazzulla, the first puma to be born at the zoo in 22 years. wow. sweet. right? that wraps up this hour of "jansing & co." i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. from disc to digital. no way. if hulk smash disc... it's no big deal. now you'll never break them, scratch them or lose them. we can use that. you'll never break them. so what do you guys think? we love it.

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great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. i'm eating what i know is better nutrition. mmmm. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. topping the agenda, a complete deadlock in the race for the whout. all the states the president won back in 2008.

blue or red, obama or romney, this time it could be a photo finish. in nevada, it's 48 obama and 46 romney. in iowa, 44 to 4. the number one issue for voters in all three states, economy, economy, economy. every day that the president gets involved in an economic fierkts he's on exactly the turf romney wants to campaign on. >> he offers himself as an economic guru and savior, offers his experience in business but when he was governor of the state, it with u 47th in job creation. >> let's bring in this morning's political power panel. leading off, julianne reed and jon ralston and the host of "face to face." let's get into this. lee, i want to start with you

and the numbers as we break these down. the numbers truly have to be uncomfortable for obama to look at but there seems to be a bit of a dichotomy here because the majority in all three states say the worst of the economy is behind the country right now and the president, he inherited it, didn't create it. why isn't the president fairing better if that's the attitude? >> i think that's the mixed message here. clearly if you rook at any of the numbers in this poll, it's 40 something to 40 something. the president, he's in the mid-40s. if it's are a referendum on him, then he's got some work to do. romney's favorability, in the 40s. he needs some convince dochlg but clearly they're sending mixed messages here. they're upset about the economy, they think that it is -- the worst is behind us, but think