be a reframing of his current message. and this democracy memo warns team obama could be facing, quote, an impossible headwind in november. and recommends they move to a new narrative, one that focuses on the middle class. so we'll see if that's exactly what they do on thursday in cleveland. let me bring in "usa today" suesage page and washington post columnist ej deion. good morning to both of you. >> good to be with you. >> this memo written by greenburg, james carville, recommends the president talk about the future, the middle class. susan, it's interesting that this is what we heard from bill daley and rahm emanuel, both of them this morning on the "today" -- on ""morning joe" joe." let's listen. >> i think the american people will seriously look at this election is about the future, it is not about the past. >> middle class families and their standard of living has come under immense economic pressure. president obama will stand by the middle class. >> is that kind of wishful

thinking, susan, that people are looking to the future, something that the campaign really doesn't have any alternative to, but can they frame it that way to convince people? >> well, election is always about the future, no question. but the problem, or the -- you know, the reality for an incumbent running for a second term in the white house is that he has to also talk about what's happened in the last four years. and that's a tough message. president obama inherited a very difficult economic situation. it's not getting better fast enough for most americans. we saw these federal reserve statistics out yesterday that showed the loss of wealth for middle class americans really quite catastrophic. that explains while economists say we are in a recovery, most americans say we're still in a recession. so, yes, you want to talk about the future, and of course you want to focus on the middle class. but you can't escape talking about your record. >> yeah, and if you see all the newspapers, that's the big headline today, ej, the loss of we get wealth by the middle

class, wiped out whatever gains they this. and conversely, a story in the "wall street journal" that says hey, all you people who thought you might be getting a nice inheritance from your parents, forget about it, their wealth is down too. all of this is coming out. what does the obama administration do with that kind of stuff? >> first, i think they're going to try to show that this collapse really started happening before obama became president. but that's only going to take them so far. and i think those performances by rahm emanuel and bill daley suggest a lot of people read memos. and i think that what he is arguing is not that most americans are going to vote on the future. what obama needs are about 2, 3, 4% of the electorate to say something like, yes, i'm not really happy with the way things are now. but looking forward, i still prefer what obama wants to do to

what romney wants to do. this election is very likely to be decided at the margins. you probably have maximally 10% of americans who are really undecided. and so the obama, because he can't say the economy is roaring back. it obviously is not. he can say, look, we are moving in a better direction. you don't want to throw me out, because those guys are going to take you backward. and if that moves only a couple points on the scale, that may be enough. but it's the strategy of someone running in hard times. >> let me bring in obama campaign national press secretary ben lebeau. and ben, let me ask you about what that memo says, about what you just heard from ej. if, indeed, this is going to be an election that's 2, 3, 4%, and the president has to convince them that things are going to get better in a second term, and here are the differences, what's the main difference? what are we going to hear? give us a preview of what we'll hear from the president on

thursday. how do you take numbers like that 40% loss of wealth and still convince the american people, i'm the guy to lead us going forward? >> well, i think there are two contrasting economic records and two contrasting economic visions. the president took office in the midst of a historic economic crisis. we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. businesses -- >> that only gets you so far. i think there was a time when you looked at the polls when people said, yes, a lot of this is inherited, but after three years and by the president's own statement, after three years, people are going to make an assessment, are we in better shape? >> and you also talked about what the question is about moving forward. the fact is, mitt romney has been running for president on a false premise. he's told people that he was a job creator. but the pace of job creation slipped during his tenure in massachusetts. when he entered office, it was 36 out of 50 states. when he exited office, it was 47th out of 50. and now he wants to return to the same policies that caused the economic crisis in the first place.

$5 trillion tax cuts for the wealthiest. >> you guys came out with a new ad today going after mitt romney and his record. let me play a clip of it, ben. >> first in debt. 47th in job creation. that's romney economics. >> and what the romney campaign says is, another day, another distortion. your response to that. >> well, these are the facts. you know, mitt romney made the same series of promises when he was running for office in 2002, that he's making today. one of them was that he would get debt and deficits under control. but he didn't. debt increased 16% during his tenure. he loaded up more than $2 billion worth of debt. he left the state with $1 billion deficit in the highest per person debt of any state in the nation. if you want the site for that deficit, it's not some liberal economists, it's the cato institute. those are the facts. and now his policies would continue to explode the deficit. $5 trillion tax cuts for the wealthiest. those tax cuts were one of the

major drivers of the deficit when the president entered office. the president inherited a $1 trillion deficit and he signed $2 trillion worth of deficit reduction into law. >> mitt romney was out again on television, and i'm going to ask the control room to get that sound ready. and he was asked, i'm sure you're not surprised, about the president's comments that the economy is the private sector is doing fine. and, you know, it is really interesting to me that there was a very effective line against mitt romney that was used not just since he's locked up the nomination, but even during the primary campaign that said basically he's out of touch. he's this rich guy, who doesn't get it. they're trying to turn that around now on the president. let me play for you a little bit of what mitt romney said this morning. >> the president is really out of touch with what's happening across america. >> that was quicker than i even thought. the president -- but it is

interesting, isn't it, how they have turned that criticism on its ear. and what do you say to that? when -- i think they're using what the president said out of context or not, to point to the problems that are out there. >> we welcome the debate with mitt romney about who is out of touch. this is a candidate who joked about being unemployed and said he liked to fire people. the entire context of the president's remarks were about additional steps we could take right now to create jobs. and to promote economic recovery. the president has got a plan to create 1 million jobs right now. mitt romney has got a 59-point plan. not one of those points would create jobs. and he has had years to present a job creation plan. last week, he presented it. unfortunately, it was a job elimination plan instead of a job creation plan. he actually thinks the solution to our economic challenges is fewer teachers and firefighters and police officers. parts of the jobs plan that the president has on the table to provide assistance to states and cities to ensure we can keep teachers in our classrooms and cops on our streets.

so if anybody is out of touch, or has the wrong plan for what we need to do right now to create jobs, it's mitt romney. >> well, part of the narrative is about how much fund-raising the president is doing. he's out six fund raisers today. by one count, i think he's been nine out of the last 27-weekdays, some kind of fund-raiser. and i'm wondering if the campaign that the president is feeling even more pressure, because of the disparity in the amount of money that super pacs are bringing in. the republicans far outraising the democrat super pacs. >> well, you know, the citizens united decision really changed the political and fund-raising landscape. and the fact is, special interests can now contribute unlimited amounts without disclosing their -- the source of their contributions. and in an attempt to defeat the president, to promote their interests instead of the national interests. >> so does that put more pressure on him to fund raise? >> it absolutely does. and the fact is, we've got special interests contributing tens of millions of dollars in an attempt to feed him and

protect things like subsidies for oil and gas companies that are making record profits. so our focus is on growing our donor base, getting as many people involved as possible. we've had more than 2.2 million individual donors to this campaign. but we're asking people to contribute now to invest in our efforts to build the largest grass roots campaign in history on the ground. that's how we're going to counter this. >> ben labolt, thank you very much. good to see you on the program again. >> thanks for having me. >> let me bring you back in. do you think those kinds of attacks resonate with the american people. do they care the president is at six fund raisers today? does that work for republicans? >> i don't think that people pay that much attention to how many fund-raisers candidates do. i do think the point you made in that last question is important, that barack obama vastly outspent john mccain in 2008, was able to compete in states he probably wouldn't have been able to compete in, because of that fund raising advantage. this time, he is almost certainly going to be outspent when you put all of the

republican money together. again, i don't think presidential races are all that affected by money, as long as it's reasonably close. but i do think it may open up the map a little bit for romney. put states like north carolina that obama carried narrowly the last time perhaps out of reach. and i just think it's going to be a very different landscape. the real impact, by the way, is going to be in house and senate races. that's where this money could have a real effect on the republican side. >> yeah. and you have this it situation, obviously, where there are a lot more republican billionaires, it seems, susan, who are willing to write checks than democratic billionaires are. does that say anything about where wealth is concentrated in this country, how rich democrats feel about the president? what's the message there? >> well, i think it does say something. it's not a big surprise, i think, that top business leaders tend to -- tilt republican. just one thing about what you heard from ben labolt, this

effort by the obama team to tear down the credentials of romney. we know that romney is more trusted in handling the economy in most american voters than is president obama. one of the things we're hearing from them day in, day out, and i bet we hear it thursday in the speech in cleveland, is you can't trust mitt romney's record as a businessman or as governor of massachusetts, to give him the credentials he would need to lead the national economy. i think that's a fundamental thing that they're trying to do this month. and that's part of the look ahead, right, susan, here going forward who can help get us even more out of this mess. >> that's right. who do you -- times are hard, we admit that. who do you trust? >> susan is absolutely right about that. i think that is what they're trying to do. but i think the other challenge is, i don't think they can just run a tactical campaign like that. i think there is going to be pressure on the president to give a clearer sense than he has about what the next term would look like. if they want to run a future-oriented campaign, they're going to have to put --

if i may mix a metaphor, some meat on the bones of that future. >> it's interesting, ej, because if you look at this, the white house is essentially saying, what's going to be in this speech on thursday? is nothing ground breaking, nothing new? they still believe what they've offered to congress in terms of, for example, the jobs bill, is the best, quickest way to help the economy. >> right. and i think they're right to -- not only are they right to push on the jobs bill, but i think they were lulled into backing off by the early jobs numbers this year. they should have been on this for the entire period since the first of the year. so i think that's right. but i think over the long run, they're going to have to do a little more, if they actually want to make this a campaign about the future. >> susan page and ej deion, always great to have both of you on the program. >> good to see you. >> thanks, chris. the battle between department of justice and republican congressman darrell issa is simmering. take a look now, live, keeping an eye on a senate judiciary committee hearing.

attorney general eric holder is expected to testify any minute now. but yesterday on the house side, congressman issa said he would be moving forward with plans to hold the attorney general in contempt of congress in connection to the fast and furious investigation. the doj fired back, saying issa was playing, quote, political games at the expense of all americans. now, if there are developments in today's hearings, of course we'll bring them right to you. we'll be back. sorry. sore knee. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists. that's chilly. [ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. yoo-hoo. hello. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. what if i can't lose the weight? what if weight watchers can't help me? what if i'm not ready for change? what if i fall back into old habits?

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this year's presidential showdown will be decided in 10 to 15 battleground states. and there is a new analysis out that's fascinating. it says it's going to come down to two key groups in these states. first, unregistered supporters, and registered voters who are undecided. let's take a look inside campaign war rooms. larry satisfy dough is director of the university virginia center for politics.

larry, all of us at "jansing & company" have been interested in looking at this analysis. first, tell us about each of these two groups and why they're so important, starting with unregistered supporters. >> yes. unregistered voters lean disproportionately, substantially disproportionately to president obama. he would be better off, and i think he's doing this to focus on registering those unregistered voters, rather than trying to persuade swing voters. >> are we talking about a substantial number of people, here, larry? >> oh, god. you're talking about millions of people. especially, for example, hispanic voters, latino voters throughout the country, who are disproportionately unregistered. and we're talking about those who are citizens and eligible to be registered. the president is still leading by about the same margin that he won hispanics by in 2008, meaning the two-thirds level. >> so that would be number one. number two would be unregistered

voters. independents. i'm sorry, registered voters who are independent. who haven't made up their minds yet. >> yeah. registered voters who are independent. they seem to be leaning more republican this year, primarily because of the economic situation. so in romney's case, he would be better off focusing on the already registered, and particularly those swing voters, who are anti incumbent, anti obama, because of the economy. >> so you have these maps that kind of give us a window into what these campaigns are thinking. let me put the first one up, which is unemployment. and the two campaigns look at this map very differently. how? >> you know, it's fascinating, chris, to think about how people think about the economy. how do they form their view of the economy? there are so many measures. gdp, household income, inflation. but the one that gets the most attention, the most publicity, is the jobs number.

well, there are two jobs numbers. there's the national jobs number that we hear so much about. but there are also 51 individual job numbers for the 50 states, plus the district of columbia. i think people are as influenced by their local numbers, their state numbers, as they are by the national number. so you look at that map that you just put up, romney would have to focus, for example, on florida, which florida and nevada, having higher than average unemployment. use that as the main leverage. president obama would focus on a couple of swing states, say, ohio and virginia. they both have well under the national average. virginia is at 5.6. if an incumbent president can't use a 5.6 unemployment rate to get to those 13 electoral votes, he's going to have a hard time winning at all. >> and let's look quickly at your electoral map and tell me if you're an obama supporter or romney supporter inside those campaigns. what do you see here?

>> this is kind of a fun electoral map. we squeeze the 48 lower states -- lower continental states into the map of the united states, but we changed their proportions to reflect their population. and therefore, more or less they're weight in the electoral college. if you're -- if you're romney, you see here the advantage that president obama has in the electoral college. the five biggest states president obama automatically has three. california, new york, illinois. and florida could go either way. there's only one strongly republican state in the population states, and that's texas. for romney to win, he has to put all of those smaller pieces together. a lot of the smaller pieces, together. he's got to win florida. there's no way for him to be elected without florida. he probably has to carry both ohio and virginia, and some of the smaller states that are swing states like iowa. >> professor larry sabato. always great to have you on the

program. thanks. >> thank you, country. the white house says congress secretary john brison is taking a medical leave of absence. the 68-year-old was involved in two minor car accidents in the l.a. area over the weekend. a spokesperson later said he had had a seizure, something brison had never experienced before. the commerce secretary was cited for felony hit and run, although never booked. ♪ the one and only, cheerios still have doubts about taking aspirin for tough pain? listen to what mvp justin verlander thinks about it. i would say the source of most of my muscle pain would be in my shoulder. my trainer kevin rand recommended it to me. i was kind of skeptical at first, but i tested it out,

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could've had a v8. new v8 v-fusion plus energy. ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? to politics now, where president obama told the wisconsin tv station he was just too busy to campaign in the recall election there. >> the truth of the matter is, as president of the united states, i've got a lot of responsibilities. i was supportive of tom and had been sponsored supportive of tom. obviously, i would have loved to have seen a different result.

>> if you're too busy to say write a check, now you can make campaign contributions via text message. the federal elections competition voted to okay text donations to candidates last night. each phone, though, will be capped at 50 bucks per billing cycle. president obama's team unveiling its first radio ad and targets african-american voters. >> we have to show the president, we have his back. ♪ we've got your back >> we can't afford to spend the next four years going backwards. >> and voters go to the polls to decide a special election in arizona to replace congresswoman gabby giffords today. she has been campaigning for her former aide, ron barber, who is facing off against businessman and veteran jesse kelly. barber is well ahead in the latest polls. besides arizona, there are primaries in virginia, maine, nevada, south carolina and north dakota. north dakota is also voting on a measure that would eliminate property taxes completely. something other states like north carolina and texas are

talking about too. that got the attention of folks here. no, it's not happening in new york or new jersey. and if you read only one thing this morning, it's the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest capers of all-time. the escape from alcatraz by three inmates. the only ones ever to do it successfully. or at least not get caught. we look at the central question of this mystery. did they make it or die trying? it's up on our facebook page at facebook/jans&co. ♪ [music plays]

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i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. hoping to seize momentum, mitt romney kicks off his five-day bus bonanza friday. the every town counts bus tour will hit six battleground states, including pennsylvania, ohio, wisconsin, iowa and michigan. it launches from the new hampshire farm where romney announced his presidential bid one year ago. let me bring in former chief of staff, west virginia democrat, senator joe manchin. and presidential candidate mike

huckabee. good morning, guys. >> good morning. >> chris, i think this will be romney's most intensive campaign swing since april. his campaign says he's meeting with families and business owners in small towns, all rural areas. i know you both worked on bus tours. why these states, why small towns, chris? >> i mean, these states, because he's are clearly the battle grounds. you're getting kind of a first glimpse of what the romney campaign thinks is in play. and in rural states, partly because you can control them better and in smaller towns. and i think they would not have as a welcoming crowd if you got into the more urban parts of the states. so i think that's just the reality of what romney faces. he's got bigger -- i think he's got more strength in the rural parts. much weaker strength -- or i should say much weaker support in the cities. >> so you've got six states that president obama all won back in 2008. if you're in that room or if you're on that bus and you're talking about what are we going to accomplish here with this bus tour, are you talking about getting him to be a little more

likeable? to seem more accessible? are you talking about, okay, let's talk to some of these people, maybe we'll get some indications for patterns of what we should be messaging? what does a bus tour accomplish for a campaign? >> a couple things. yes, those are some of the questions you'll be asking. i've always thought of a bus tour as an opportunity for your candidate to really be himself or herself. they can be a lot of fun. you see these candidates draw energy. you go back to bill clinton's bus tour in '92 after his convention, took off across america. he was energized by it. even obama's bus tour, he was energized by it. i know my case, governor huckabee, you get to talk to real people in the communities that really are excited to see you as opposed to mean old press people that ask you tough questions. these are the people that really are talking about what's important. so it's a great opportunity for governor romney. >> i'm guessing that over a weekend we'll see him flipping pancakes somewhere.

just a guess. but having said that, he has come across a couple times recently as not being just a regular guy. and i want to show you example of that. take a look. >> would you see that one of those chocolate -- goodies find this way into your lives? i'm going to do some testing on that one right there. >> people joked that he didn't seem to know what a doughnut was. that chocolatey thing, that chocolate treat, that -- doughnut. it's a doughnut. >> it's a rare thing. it's a specialty kind of doughnut. but, yeah, this -- and i will say this. bus tours are great opportunity for food. you get some of the best food out there. and i hope the bus tours take advantage of all of the local dives. >> it's funny, but on a serious point, i'm sure mitt romney actually does know what a doughnut is. >> sure, of course he does. >> but is there also risk in it? if you're a guy, who frankly, is

not necessarily somebody who, you know, does the kinds of things that the folks he's going to be visiting do. >> well, it gives him an opportunity to roll up his sleeves and get out there, and we're going to filed out. look, i think governor romney, we know a lot of things about him, we know he's got a great family, hard-working guy. this is going to give him an opportunity to connect with some folks in smaller towns and states that are going to matter to him. this is a great opportunity for him to show us he is a regular guy that can get out there. >> the other place he's going to be going, one of the places he's going is michigan, which is very interesting, i think, chris. obviously. it's where he was born, his dad was governor there. talk to me a little bit about what you think we'll hear in places like that. candidates on these bus tours, always trying to find connections. my aunt gladys three times removed through my cousin barney actually lives here kind of thing. >> right. well, i think what you're going to see him is try to connect on a bigger level. when you go to michigan, what you're not going to hear him talk about, obviously, is the

auto bailouts, which he opposed. and what our going to -- >> he says he should get some credit for the auto bailouts. >> yeah. maybe in an alternative universe. we can give him credit. but the reality is, he's not going to talk about that. the risk, i think, for romney in these kind of bus tours, and you saw it, i think, with that clip with that amazing concoction called the doughnut, is you come across out of touch. you come across as not really understanding what average people are going through. and it's more than just talking points. because these are really unscripted moments. and those things can hurt you a lot more than those talking point events that you can do, you know, probably anywhere in the country. so that's kind of the risk, i think, that romney faces in going around these key states. >> potentially big risk, potentially big reward. thank you gentlemen. >> thank you. >> thank you. we want to go back to the hearing that's going on. is eric holder the attorney general now on the stand? he's taking questions. this is about, obviously, the fast and furious case, when it

was revealed that some u.s.-made arms, weapons, got into the hands of mexican drug cartels. let's take a listen. >> kenneth malson described raegd those same wiretap affidavits in march of last year. he said he was alarmed that the information in the affidavit contradicted the public denials to congress. he immediately sent an e-mail, warning others, quote, back off. the letter to senator grassley, in light of the information in the affidavits, end of quote. yet, the department didn't withdraw the letter to me until december, 2011. in july, 2011, we asked for that e-mail from acting director malson. we need to see it to core ran rate his testimony. yet the department is withholding that e-mail, along with every other document after february 4th, 2011. on what legal ground are you withholding that e-mail? the president can't claim

executive privilege to withhold that e-mail. is that correct? >> let me say this. we have reached out to chairman issa, members of the leadership on the house side to try to work our way through these issues. we've had, i think, sporadic contacts, and we are prepared to make -- i am prepared to make compromises with regard to the documents that can be made available. there is a basis for the withholding of these documents if they deal with deliberative -- >> but not on executive privilege, right? >> the tradition has always been by members of the justice department, whether they're led by republicans or democrats to withhold. but in spite of that, i want to make it very clear that i am offering to sit down -- i myself am offering to sit down with the speaker, the chairman, with you, whoever, to try to work our way

through this in an attempt to avoid a constitutional crisis. and come up with ways, creative ways, perhaps, in which we can make this material available. >> there are republicans who would like to go after eric holder for contempt, and they want these documents from 2011. the justice department has said some of thome are involved in ongoing secret investigations. so they cannot be released. we're going to continue to listen in and let you know what's going on there at that hearing. mean time, there's a nationwide push under way this week to support a constitutional amendment that would overturn the supreme court decision opening the floodgates to unlimited super pac money. msnbc's richard lui is following the money that has, frankly, changed everything this year. >> yes, chris. super pacs reaching every corner. even kids. for instance, republican team you saw there, and two friends started young americans for rational politics. a nonpartisan super pac where they have raised about $1,000. it's a small but symbolic amount in light of the over $118

million spent to date as you see there. the red, blue bar showing how democrats have been outspent 8 to 1, according to the center for responsive politics. the gop primary season fueling most of that. now, as feared by critics, this year's outsider and noncampaign spending exploded. 2,000, barely a blip, as you see on this chart here. in terms of spending up to april of the election year. 2004, doubling. 2008 getting up there. 2012, we're getting close to $120 million so far. of that $120 million, almost $100 million came from super pacs. tradition traditional partly cloudies, a tenth of that and individuals hovering in the range of an egg, zero. one area growing, online ads spent funded by super pacs. over $8 million, says clicks politics. of aamount, 90% was spent by groups from the gop primary, or opposing the president. now, the states and regions getting behind all these outlays are the lions share, and they

come from a handful of the states. only two are nbc toss-up states. that's nevada and florida. now, though those monies, as you know, can be spent nationally. as for who is giving it to these super pacs, analysis we found from open secrets.org shows 7 out of 10 dollars come from undisclosed donors. super pacs won't have to disclose names until a month before the first convention on august 27th. including, perhaps, young alex inosio's fledgling super pac which by that time could be weeks away, chris, from be run out of his dorm room. >> richard lui, thank you so much. let me bring in congressman keith ellison, democrat from minnesota, co chair of the congressional progressive caucus, supporting efforts to overturn citizens united. good to see you, congressman. good morning. >> good to be on here, chris. thank you. >> supporters of your efforts are calling this resolutions week. what's going on in towns all across the country? >> well, in towns all across the country, cities, municipal

leaders are passing resolutions saying that the voice of the people should prevail over corporations. that corporations are not people, money is not speech. and that for citizens united, that decision the supreme court decided that the corporate -- that congress cannot regulate corporate speech and corporate money is wrong. we need to overturn that. and so that's what we're doing. basically, what we're seeing is a grass roots effort to reclaim the individual voice, the national person, not the corporate person. >> we saw those numbers from richard lui and conservative super pacs are outspending liberal super pacs nearly 8 to 1. nobody thinks that gap is going to be closed by election day. if you listen to the republicans, they say the reason democrats are yelling so loud about this is because they're losing. what do you say to that? >> i say that this is a matter of good government and democracy. this is not a matter of whose ox is gored. this is a matter of level

playing field. let ideas prevail. not money. we're going to be debating a lot of things coming up. in a few days, debating whether student loan rates are going to double. we're going to be debating social security, medicare, medicaid, war, peace, all these things. let us debate taxes and what the proper distribution should be. not -- let's not have undisclosed money dump into the airwaves and really confuse and confound people, and not let people make rational decisions based on good information. so we're trying to get the debate on ideas, not just on the power of money, just pouncing on everybody. >> you know, the president, obviously, first was against this unlimited -- these unlimited donations, and then he changed, because he said we have to level the playing field here. i can't just sit back and let them, you know, spend $1 billion. so having said that, this week the sciu and a pro obama super pac priorities usa are among democratic groups getting together. they have decided, look, we're going to be at a financial disadvantage anyway. how do we maximize the money?

one example is those two groups are going to spend $4 million on a joint effort to target spanish language voters. is that a smart way to to go about it, or are you just overall disappointed that it's even happened right now? >> you know what? i'm a practical man and i understand that they have to do what they have to do to keep up and compete. but i believe that the overwhelming numbers of the people who really want natural citizens to debate the issues, and to have corporate money regulated, i believe that the overwhelming numbers of the people will overwhelm those dollars, even though those dollars are enormous. i think we need to have more people, people in conversations. this is a time for grass roots campaign, and like never before. we have got to get out on the streets. because all this money is basically to buy ads. which is expensive. and obviously, that money is going to be blaring through the airwaves. but that cannot compete with the conversation at the door. so we need to get people -- this is why we're having resolutions

week. because, you know, the closest government to the people is the city council. so city councils all over this country, great public service -- many of them serve for free. looking at resolutions to say congress overturned citizens united. so this -- we ought to go to the people on this one. >> congressman el sson, great t have you on. >> thank you. the young man identified as victim number one is on the stand at jerry sandusky's child sex abuse trial. this morning, he tearfully described how the former penn state assistant football coach kissed him, fondled him and engaged in sex acts. his mother's report started the investigation four years ago. he is the second to testify. yesterday, victim number four said sandusky wrote him, quote, creepy love letters. and nbc has learned there could be more prosecutions of penn state officials. newlyin covered memos indicate they ignored warnings about sandusky, because, quote, it would be humane to sandusky not

to notify social service agencies. also right now, a florida task force holding its first public meeting to review the sta state's stand your ground law. the review follows the shooting of trayvon martin by neighborhood watch leader george zimmerman. that law, of course, allows the use of force in self defense when there is a reasonable belief of a threat. martin's parents are expected to present a petition with more than 300,000 signatures on it asking for the repeal of the law. s up everybody get your boards and your wetsuits ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com's gonna direct you ♪ ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™.

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the nation's toughest te texting while driving bill may be in new jersey. if you get caught, first offense, 200 bucks. second, 400, third, 600. and you could get your driver's license suspected for 90 days. with me is new jersey state senator richard cody, primary sponsor of this bill. why do you think it's needed? >> it's needed because right now, chris, i passed the first texting bill years ago. $100 fine. and people in new jersey reacted as they say, slap on your wrist. >> just a nuisance, really. >> right. so we need to slap them in the face. and i think this bill does this. it gets the message across. because you are much, much more dangerous on the road than somebody who is drunk. think of the campaign for the last 20 years, mothers against drunk driving. got to get them off the road. all the writing we did, these new laws. people who text while they're driving, looking at texts, are much, much more dangerous than

people who are drunk. so we have got to get that -- >> more dangerous. >> oh, believe me. much, much more dangerous. think about this. the average text message is 4.6 seconds. so if you're driving at 55 miles per hour, and you're reading that message, okay, you are driving blindfolded over 100 yards. >> and teenagers are probably the biggest offenders, what the cdc study said, half of teens text while they drive. >> yes.. and there was a re cent case in new jersey where a teenage male was driving, all of a sudden hits a motorcycle, man and wife on it, for no reason at all. and they both lose a leg. and we find out he was reading text messages from his girlfriend. now, what's interesting is, the couple suing the driver also tried to bring in his girlfriend. the judge said you can't. i think we also have to send a message to people who knowingly will send a text message to someone when they say they know

they're driving. because they're duplicitous. it's like the bartender who knows a person is drunk, and he keeps piling them with liquor. he has a liability right now under state law. >> it is amazing how attitudes change. it took many years, but attitudes change about drunk driving. do we need tougher penalties, as well? for people who get into accidents while they're texting while driving? >> no question. as you said, it's the younger generation who is causing these accidents. and not only killing themselves, but other people. so they are the demons on the road, and not so much the drunks, unfortunately. they have replaced the drunks. sad, but true. and we've got to get that message across. and federal government is saying, hey, we've got to do this, and we've got to do it now. >> stunning statistics. senator richard cody, thank you so much for coming in. >> thank you.

morning, i'm thomas roberts. the agenda next hour, are both presidential contenders out of touch with the real u.s. economy? the campaigns are pointing

fingers, while both the president and mitt romney target swing states for campaign cash. our power panel weighs in. can attorney general eric holder avoid a contempt of congress vote for his testimony about the fast and furious gun smuggling investigation. or is it continued pressure from the right that's considered a political loser? flooding the white house leak, roy blunt wants a special prosecutor to find out who is spilling secrets. the senator is my guest. the president, of course, has a lot of important meetings, but yesterday he took a couple minutes out of his day to chat with, yes, betty white. this photo just released by the white house. and he asked the 90-year-old to see her birth certificate, showing a sense of humor. she was in town to give a speech at the smithsonian. and a very, very sad story to end our program on. after more than 100 years together, a pair of giant turtles are no longer happy together. the first clue for the austrian zoo staff, when bee-bee attacked

poldy by biting off part of his shell. zoo officials said after 100 years, they can't stand to be in the same room together. who has ever felt that before? are you relating there, don? no. he loves his wife. that wraps up this hour of jansing & company. i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts up next. eels nic. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists. that's chilly. [ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. [ female announcer ] gross -- i'll tell you what's really gross: used dishcloths. they can have a history that they drag around with them. for a cleaner way to clean try bounty extra soft. in this lab demo, one sheet of bounty extra soft leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth. it's super durable too.

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morning, everybody, i'm thomas roberts. topping the agenda, president obama and mitt romney step it up a notch to clinch the battleground states, as mitt romney prepares to launch a bus tour on friday through those battleground states. president obama stumps for campaign cash today in maryland and the key swing state of pennsylvania where a new quinnipiac poll gives him a six-point advantage. his dash for cash in the key stone state comes less than 24 hours after he took his message down to the ground in states like colorado, nevada and florida. he sat down for interviews with local tv reporters, most in

critical states that could make or break his bid for re-election. republican rival mitt romney is going local, as well about to embark on that bus tour that's going to take him through some of those all-important states. before boarding the bus friday, he's getting hit with a new obama ad. once again, targeting his massachusetts record. when mitt romney was governor, massachusetts was number one. number one in state debt. $18 billion in debt. more debt per person than any other state in the country. at the same time, massachusetts fell to 47th in job creation. >> so that's the new ad. let's say good morning and bring in our political power panel for today. jonathan cape hart, msnbc contributor and opinion writer for "the washington post." alison sword. richard goodstein, a democratic strategist. great to see you. allison, want to start with you. this is the obama campaign second ad targeting the massachusetts