correspondent. >> and willie is looking so handsome in london. how are you, willie? >> i'm doing great. you know what i've been watching in my hotel room? katty kay on the bbc. >> willie consideration you understand me better now? you've had about two weeks in london. >> i do speak the language. there are some turns of phrase i'm going to bring home, see if i can make them stick. >> we'll practice them together. >> call they was wringing her hands because the british are so aloof and this cool detachment but they've turned into americans, doing everything but chatting "usa, usa." the british are winning and they don't like it because they're becoming more american. like they're really -- >> that is not what i said. >> you don't like it. i said we have to develop a whole new persona.

we're going to have to go through national therapy together, be confident of our winningness. >> willie, a big day yesterday, huh? >> it was, it was. the clip you showed at the top ofshot of the show is the talk of the olympics. the united states in canada with the winner going on to play the gold. full of controversy. the canadians are not happy. christine sinclair, one of the best players in the history of the game, her third goal there gives her a hat trick. here's where the controversy starts. canadian goalie aaron mcleod penalized for holding the ball more than six seconds. even hope solo, the american goalie, said she was surprised. that leads to an indirect free kick for the united states and they call a hand ball on canada. the canadian player took a shot off her elbow, which should be inadvertent. it should be called a hand ball. that lead to a penalty kick for

abby wambach. she's not going to miss this one. she sneaks it inside the left post. that ities the game at 3 in the 80th minute of the game. canada is furious about both of those calls. jump ahead now, 30 seconds to go in overtime. this is in extra play. and april election morgan, the star, head it is in on the cross from heather o'reilly. that gives the united states a win and sends them into the gold medal game, which will be a rematch with japan from the world cup that the united states lost last summer. but canada is not happy. "sinclair, the great player, say we'd feel cheated, a game as important that, ref decided the game before it started." "the official will have to sleep in her bed today, she has a lot to live with."

>> that's one of the dumbest quotes i've ever heard, she'll have to sleep in her bed. >> and another said "i hope you can sleep tonight and put on your american jersey because that is who you played for today. the can adians not taking this well. >> those are two awful calls. as a soccer fan and as american, usa, usa, those are two awful calls. where is the ref from? >> i have to look that up. i'm not sure exactly. not american, though. >> thank god. >> no, no. i think they're smart enough to take her out. but now we got the game everybody wanted, the united states will play japan on thursday at wembleystadium. japan beat in extra time, in overtime, beat the united states at the world cup last year. canada is not going to let this one go. have i a story i think you're

going to like, maybe sam stein especially, not saying anything about his personal life. unfortunately news to report, an american judo fighter, nicholas delpopolo, has been thrown out of the games. why? he tested positive for weed. he said he accidentally ate a pot brownie before he came to the games. that tested positive for marijuana. here's how the 23-year-old explained it on his web site. "after making frantic phone calls to friends and family following the failed results, a family member confessed that the brownies she had baked and that i had eaten a few weeks prior did contain marijuana. he went on to say i slept the entire four-hour drive home the day i ate the brownie but thought i was just extremely tired from training and from travel. he didn't win a medal so nothing is taken away but he is kicked

out of the games for pot brownies. >> let's go to our pot brownie correspondent sam stein. it happens, pretty? >> it happens to the greatest of athletes. it's something you have to deal with at the olympics. >> what family member is making pot brownies and not telling anyone? >> pot grandma. >> and the apple pie sometimes, too. >> i had it lying around. >> pot is not a -- >> it's not an enhancer. it slows you do from what you tell me. >> from what i tell you. this guy is at a disadvantage. they should give him a medal for competing while high. >> willie, really quickly, before we turn to politics, the medal count. >> medal count, china still on top but it's close with the united states. just barely on top. they've got 31 gold. the united states has 29. they lead the overall. great britain is having a fantastic games. 18 gold medals. they didn't expect that and 40

total medals. they're not done yet. yes, they're actually experiencing joy here, katty kay. >> when i mention go g.b., go g.b., it doesn't work. >> can you get me one of those fleeces you're wearing there? that's really cool. >> there may or may not be one on the way to you already. >> oh really? very good. well, thank you. >> this is like chariots of fire. >> i think katty could just wear the british flag. >> i was going to bring my own gold medal because now they're giving one out to every citizen. >> for the third straight month the obama campaign has struggled to match mitt romney and the republicans in fund-raising. the romney campaign along with their rnc yesterday reported a july fund-raising haul of more than $101 million. that's compared with the $75

million brought in by the obama campaign. the dnc raising concerns morning democrats that the president will be badly outspent down the stretch to november. yesterday the obama campaign e-mailed a plea to supporters reading in part if we don't step it up, we're in trouble. last night president obama hosted a star-studded fund-raiser of movie mogul harvey weinstein. >> that's not enormous. >> it's enormous. >> for you that's a guest house, a cottage in northeast harbor. >> 60 people were in attend as at $35,800. they hoped to raise $2.4 million from the evening. and in stanford president obama launched a new line of attack on romney's tax plan.

>> he asked the middle class to pay more in taxes so he could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. it's like robinhood in reverse. it's romneyhood. if this sounds like an ideas that's difficult to explain or sell the american people, you'd be right. so there are all kinds of different gymnastics being performed by the romney campaign last week. they have tried to sell us this trickle down tax cut fairy dust before. and guess what, it does not work. >> all right. despite being outfund-raised, president obama clings to a lead in the polls. >> while romney is outraising the president, the president is burning through -- their words -- burning through money right now. how much of an impact is this

going to have in the fall? you wonder how many 30-second commercials somebody can run. >> if you're in columbus, ohio, bring all the women, children, cats inside. >> unplug the tv. >> the obama campaign decided to spend very early, very hard and a great deal. two assumptions: number one, they could set up an apparatus and infrastructure and define romney. what they did think is at some point those fat cats in september would say we do have a problem and will deliver more money. i'm not sure the third assumption is true. >> why is that? >> there's a lot of resistance among democratic fat cats to give big money. they don't like super pacs, obama hasn't courted them the way clinton did. some of them don't believe the sky is falling. >> on your second point that, is an understatement. seriously, to say he has not

courted them the way president clinton did. president clinton of course is all consuming. he would be all over it. and this president from what i've ahead heard, mika's heard it, at times he's gone out of his way to thumb his nose at contributors. >> he finds it hard to court anyone. he doesn't court members of congress, not fellow politici s politicians. it's not his style. >> he's still ahead in most of the polls. can you define a candidate? you're our historian here. historically give as you good example of a candidate that was so defined before the fall campaign that it was hard to catch up. >> well, i think the one that comes to my mind in 1992 the reelection of president bush, the non-reelection when the democrats successfully convinced

the country that was actually in recovery that it was still in recession and he seemed out of touch and out of time and remember when al just said putting the idea that the democrats are waiting for september for this. when you think back on that campaign, it was always going to be, well, we're going to get to the acceptance speech and then they'll see. and then jim baker is coming back and then it's going to change and suddenly it's christmas. so i think whenever you're in that position of looking for some turning point that you're in trouble because you're playing defense. and just to katty very quickly, great britain has lost an empire but it has lost a few gold medals. >> there you go, yes. >> that's a good trade. >> so you see there he is trying to make me feel bad, right? because i don't get too up tie, don't get too confident. thanks, john. >> exactly. katty responded to john's

comments and i would expect you to be harshly critical of them now. >> rubbish. >> there you go. >> we remember 1992. i can tell you as a republican we kept thinking, all republicans kept thinking, the world war ii hero is not going to be beaten -- >> by this upstart. >> by this draft dodging et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. and there was this confidence, it was a false confidence. but i sense, though, al has it nailed, too, on number three, his third point, which is democrats don't believe -- they just don't believe that barack obama could lose to a guy like mitt romney. just like we republicans in '92 did not believe that george h.w. bush would ever lose to a guy like bill clinton. >> right. but i think they are aware, perhaps unlike '92, that the economy is so critical an issue for barack obama and is not improving and every month we have the unemployment rate

ticking up slightly. i can't believe those donors aren't aware at least that this is a very tight race. they might not think mitt romney is a guy that can unseat barack obama but they can see this is very tight. >> my democratic friends, i don't have one that says i really think mitt romney is going to win. most of them say it going to be close but in the end we're going to squeak it out. they can't make that leap that mitt, stiff, awkward, fill in the blank mitt romney is going to beat the candidate from hope and change. >> what the white house is going to have to do in september, october if the polls start showing in some of the swing states it's going the other way and romney is starting to edge up in those swing states, they're going to have to go at those donors much harder. maybe four years of not courting donors isn't going to open purse strings for them. they're going to have to bank on the idea that this is close,

here are the numbers, we are actually worried as opposed to just saying we're worried and open your purse strings. >> they're on track to raise $750 million. romney is just going gang busters with that fund-raising. i agree with the sentiment that there's some complacency among democrats who think that this guy mitt romney who can't go overseas without gaffing, how could he go and defeat the president who killed bin laden or got bin laden killed. they've been jarred out of complacency by these fund-raising numbers pitch romney and they're starting to get it. i talked to a person who was prominent in the 2008 campaign for obama. in 2008 they had three months to structure general election apparatus. they've been doing this for about 13 months almost now. they think the ground game, which has sobd aked up a lot ofe

money, they think the ground race is going to be completely different and they might be able to buffer. >> that might be true, though they probably, and rated. every democrat i talked to says the exact same thing. they don't say it because they think obama is stronger than he was three months ago when some were quite worried. it's all a product of mitt romney. it all a product of a sense that mitt romney was the worst candidate in modern times, which is good news for democrats except if romney can somehow get his act to the, and boy is that a big if, that their optimism may be a little -- >> he may be able to get his act together at the convention. that speech could be a turning point. >> if the economy continues to drip, if it stills -- >> i don't buy that. >> i don't buy the fact it's solely a referendum on the incumbent. i was old enough when you weren't around in 1980, three

weeks out ronald reagan was still struggling to prove that he was up to the job. and he did it brilliantly. but by even early october and conditions were much worse than they were today, people were saying fine, we're going to throw carter out and you've got to prove you can take over. >> let's say it's designed in the last two, three weeks and you have this big unemployment number that comes out six days before the election, the october unemployment number comes out and that shows an uptick in unemployment, it could be a concerned referendum on the economy. >> i'm living proof. in congressional races in off-year elections, you can beat something with nothing. that's why i got elected. no, it's the truth. in presidential years, though, al's right. i mean, you can't beat something

with nothing. americans put a higher standard on electing governors than they do senators and they put an extraordinarily high standard on electing president of the united states. and john meacham, it was that debate. in 1980, it was just -- you talked about a defining moment, a remarkably defining moment where americans collectively said, okay, reagan's not crazy. i thought he was crazy and going to start world war iii. ford was saying governor reagan won't start world war iii but president reagan could. there was that moment. do you see mitt romney -- i don't see mitt romney having that moment. >> with due respect and love for al, to use another analogy, we all knew ronald reagan and ronald reagan was our president and mitt romney is no ronald

reagan. and i just don't see that analogy of this being -- this may be a late breaking campaign but it doesn't feel as though this race has that kind of freight and level of gravity. joe, you've talked about this a lot, in terms of '80 versus where we are now. however profound the choices are we're facing, it just does not seem romney is an historical actor on that scale. the other thing you all are saying is exactly right. when you talk to republicans in private, they will say we're not sure we can make this. you talk to democrats in private they'll say we'll just get over the line. insofar as there's candor behind the scenes, that's an interesting refrain. >> having said that, we are facing profound choices and the hope is that this becomes the campaign about something rather than nothing and that is does get exciting. thi i think it could. >> lots of luck with that.

i think it going to get smaller and smaller. as the 30-second ads start. >> i don't know. i think the time is going to come for them to step up. it was a terrible primary process with the republicans. it was such a bunch of idiots that was it was the stupidest waste of time. >> you're ruining a good song. >> talking about ponzi schemes and 999. >> remember that tv series "northern exposure"? it was great. >> "hardball"'s chris matthews is coming up. eugene robinson, charlie cook and chuck todd. and a look at who the vp look may be. but first bill karins. >> in d.c., we're having a beautiful start to the morning.

the line is pretty much drawn somewhere near philadelphia. all the humid air is pushed down to the south around d.c. look at new england. we're in the 50s this morning. this is the first hint that fall is not all that far away. still a warm afternoon with temperatures in the 80s, low 90s philadelphia southward. the heat returns to chicago for one more day. i'll show you why in a second. still very hot, though. you'll probably have to wait at least a month. we'll get a tropical storm with a lot of rain to head your way sometime in september. let me end with showing you chicago's forecast. you've had about three months in a row. you've got the coolest weather by far this summer heading your way thursday, friday, saturday with highs only in the low 70s. so for the great lakes a little taste for fall is definitely heading your way with some of that wet weather. a lot of people were asking me what's going on with ernesto.

not heading for texas. looks like mexico will deal with that later on tonight. i'll give you the path a little later. you're watching "morning joe" on a beautiful morning in new york city brewed by starbucks. ♪ she said there is no reason and the truth is plain to see ♪ weak, damaged hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. active naturals wheat formulas restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen.

this is the plan that revolves around you. introducing share everything. unlimited talk.

unlimited text. and a single pool of sharable data that powers up to 10 devices. the first plan of it's kind. share everything. only from verizon. add a smartphone for just $40 monthly access. at 26 past the hour, let's take a look at the morning papers. we'll start with the wall street journal. apple is dumping the youtube app from the iphone and ipad in a sign of its growing feud with google. >> the nashville tennessean. the guitar maker gibson will pay

penalties for importing wood from madagascar. they have nothing better to do than seize illegal wood from gibson? that drew condemnation of house speaker john boehner. seriously? >> got to do something. >> mitt romney took a break from the cam pan trail to run ordinary errands in wolfboro, new hampshire. i'm sure he just does this all the time. and, oops, there is a camera there. >> you're so cynical. >> yes, he does. >> do you go shopping when you

go to nice? you have your help do it. >> will you please stop saying i'm in the south of france. everyone says "how was the south of france?" i know what he picked up. he got some traps to catch some varmins. then it was on the grocery store where the shopping list included caffeine-free diet coke. that's not good for you. greek yogurt, that's good for you. two ears of corn, on sale for two or a dollar. >> you haven't commented on my jack cafferty law. >> hello, jack cafferty. >> i'm mad and i'm going to comment on it. >> are you grumpy? >> yes, i'm grumpy.

>> a look at the list of speakers for the republican national convention may help narrow down the vp list. >> al, that's right, right? that narrows it down, right? >> if you get a speaker slot, you're not going to be the pick. >> absolutely. >> though some old rules were thrown out 12 years ago. it used to be if you were in charge of the selection committee you were not going to be -- we threw that one out. i think it's clear none of those -- >> this is the consolation prize. >> romney is set to embark on a three-state bus tour this weekend. senator rob portman will reportedly be on hand in ohio where the tournds. senator marco rubio and governor bob mcdonnell will take place in

events, bobby jind al and tim pawlenty are also said to be on the short list. >> let's keep this up for a minute. john meacham, look who is not on that list. i'm wondering if we're not being played here. i'm wondering if it's chris christie and we're being played. nobody's talked about chris christie in a couple of weeks. they're ending a bus tour in ohio. it makes you think that's going to be portman, a state, by the way, that romney can win actually without portman. new jersey is a state that he cannot win without let's say chris christie, who, by the way, has one of the highest approval ratings in the nation. >> he's in the news today. >> which is unbelievable. and his rating -- his approval rating is at 55%. only 35% of people in new jersey disapprove of him. i just wonder if we're being set

up here. >> well, we always are. and like lucy and the football we always run down and we miss it. one sure way to make sure someone's not going to be picked as vice president is for us to talk about them beforehand. you can -- palin, as we all know, was so topic a four years ago and the cheney surprise and the gore surprise and the quayle surprise. so there's about a quarter century of our getting this wrong basically. and biden wasn't really -- my memory is not that he was not top of mind. so history would suggest, yeah, there will be a surprise. the interesting thing to my mind about governor christie, as he said to you all, is does the down side outweigh the up side here? he is someone who has an authenticity, will go off script and governor romney, does he

have the stomach for that going forward? >> al, is that what he needs? again, nobody's talked about chris christie but you look at the approval ratings, he's plus 20 in new jersey. >> i think he's the single most interesting figure in the republican party. >> remarkable. >> i must say, joe, is that what romney needs? romney needs romney. i don't think running mates are going to matter, even someone as large as life of chris christie. i don't think portman will carry ohio for him. i just don't think running mates do that. only one that's done that in the last 50 years has been lyndon. i think that romney is such a cautious conservative sort of a fellow that he's much likely to be traditional. i'm not sure who that will be but i would guess like most conventional wisdom it will be tim pawlenty or rob portman.

you can sit back there and say if we pick chris christie we have energized the nation for three months, i don't think it works that way. >> katty? >> with chris christie you'd make a bigger splash for a few days than you would with john portman or john thune, who is also not on that list. >> really exciting now. >> i was just thinking people who were not be being played. >> isn't meacham right, though, we do these picks and we almost always get it wrong. there was the floating of evan bayh in 2008. >> i think in the last week we pretty much knew it was joe biden. to not know this close seems unusual. >> my question is why hasn't -- if we're going to bring christie again as this energizing figure

and i understand he has issues back home but marco rubio would present this new republican front -- >> marco's new. i mean, marco just got to the senate. and i know chris christie just got to new jersey -- come on, man. >> he's played in the big leagues for a long time where you don't have that sense about rubio. >> do you know how many people in america, how many candidates in america could go to new jersey and do what chris christie did since 2009? let me tell you, one, chris christie. it has been an extraordinary high wire act. the fact that this guy has taken on -- jersey. listen, new jersey? i mean, new jersey is one of the toughest states. and that guy -- i mean, he's passed this new teacher tenure law. >> this is a case for chris christie as a good presidential candidate, not a vice presidential candidate. >> this is a case for a republican party that has been

disillusioned for 12 years -- i'm talking about myself now -- disillusions by people who talk the talk but never walk the walk. and you have a guy in chris christie who did the opposite of what bush did on spending, did the opposite of what the congress did on spending, what they did on medicare part d. he has made one tough choice after another, al, and he's won time and time again. teacher tenure in new jersey, done. chris christie did that. he took on the public unions. whether you love public unions or hate public unions, the fact that this guy has been able to do it with energize the republican party. >> you hated him ten months ago. >> and you need him on the top of the ticket. >> if you don't think i wasn't calling him ten months ago. again, i guess we are all and i'm sure john meacham's the same way, we're all too framed in

1960 and lyndon johnson. that world doesn't exist anymore. >> a single example since that where the vice president has made an outcome. >> well, lloyd benson -- oops, you're right. >> and palin with alaska. >> exactly. >> you talk about the comparison between marco rubio and chris christie. remember when he was on our set and he was completely swarmed unexpectedly on the issue of gay marriage and jonathan came runs in the room and sat down, flash cam, everyone was attacking him and he was loaded, just completely ready, enjoyed it, handled it, had his own opinion. >> i remember when chris christie was sitting at 35%. you noe how he acted at 35%? the same exact way he acts now that he's plus 20. heap says i don't care. i'm going to do what i'm going to do. >> it doesn't seem like someone

romney would pick, though, does it? >> it is opposite. he says he has no comment happy face happy face. who says that to someone? what are you, my teenage daughter? >> he would probably diminish mitt romney. >> you saw that in the primaries, when you saw them in iowa and new hampshire tonight, chris christie would come on the stage and the crowd would go wild. is that really what mitt romney wants? i'm not sure. i think it a tricky balance for him. >> i sent him back one that winks. >> you know, you don't have to send us every text u send to chris christie. >> whatever. >> coming up, the regime of the syrian president is cracking. what an unbelievable story, about not only the prime minister defecting but a lot of powerful sunni families slipping out the back door. >> more "morning joe" in a

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. rom any -- romney lost to mccain four years ago. >> there are new reports the state department and pentagon are crafting plans for a post-asaw -- post-assad syria. the plans include urging opposition leaders to refrain from retaliation. offering civilians economic aid in the form of food and medical supplies. >> so does this mean we're not going to send paul brimmer over there? >> no paul brimmer. >> to fire everybody? >> and on a broader -- >> be nice to dan. >> we learned yesterday the assad's prime minister had fled to jordan and plans to join rebel forces. the assad government is crumbling from within. the battle rages on in syria's largest city, aleppo where

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live shot of the white house. it's time now for the must-read opinion pages at 47 past the hour. i didn't pick it this time. >> no, you didn't. >> did you pick this one? >> i don't know who picked this. we'll blame it on -- >> blame it on me. >> we'll blame it on sam, who is eating a lot of pot brownies. >> oh, did someone give you a pot brownie by mistake? are you okay? >> it was an accident. >> pie >> he's going to sleep for a while. >> now everything's funny. "washington post" reads "latest broadside." "the tack after reid's tax

broadside was that it was another of his famous verbal gaffes, the latest symptom of another kind of political tour et's syndrome that caused him to call george w. bush a loser and a liar, alan greenspan a hack, clarence thomas an embarrassment, the warin iraq lost, capitol tourists smelly and his aides fat. he accused hiss presidential nominee too busy on the campaign trail to do his day job. he decided to go after romney without consulting the obama campaign, though the indications i get from chicago is that the campaign is pleased with reid's attack. >> john meacham, we're a long way even from the senate of bob dole or george mitchell, aren't we? >> yeah. it's the coarsening -- you can

notice how coarse this is without being overly sentimental about the past. senator dole is a good example of how quite a falling off there. >> and, al, bob dole used to aggravate republicans like us in the house when we were younger and more hot headed but you realize now how critically important it is that you have a senate that can work together, that sort of cools the coffee down and we just don't have that anymore. >> with bob dole it was howard baker, george mitchell, all of whom had their partisan side but all of whom cared most about the institution and about the country. and were not constantly looking for partisan advantage.

on harry reid, -- this is something you can't win. mitt romney ought to release those tax returns and get it over with. >> it's not like some of the attacks on the president about his birth certificate, which were ridiculous. we're asking for something -- >> we're talking about a senate majority leader here. >> i think he should release his tax returns. i don't think harry reid should talk to someone who said -- he didn't. >> that's fair. >> i conducted an interview with my colleague -- reid really doesn't like romney. if mitt romney were to end up president and reid were to still control the senate, it would be incredibly acrimonious. >> i understand that but george mitchell didn't like a lot of republicans he dealt with and bob dole didn't like a lot of

democrats that he dealt with but you still dealt with them. >> and we're not going to be back into those days of congeni congeniality. >> it's one thing to have a contentious house. they're elected every two years, they dart back and forth, left and right. it's sort of distressing when this happens, on both sides. we all know, on both sides. >> many coucoming up in a few m chris matthews joins us. ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced haldex all-wheel drive. [ engine revving ] it's bringing the future

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al hunt, thanks for being on the show. what are you working on today? >> you know what, i want to give you guys a gift. >> that's great. >> i love presents! >> bloomberg started a new politics page with a blog done by one of great florida reporters of all time mark silva. and it is political capital and, joe, it will knock your socks off, if you wear any. >> i'm not wearing any because i'm from florida. that's your gift? i thought since you were from bloomberg you were going to give us cash. >> if you read this, the cash will follow. >> i love it! >> that's exciting. >> this is grow your wealth. >> you know mark silva. he's one of the great political writers of all time. >> i have this morning eugene

robinson and chuck todd. next chris matthews joins the conversation. oh, lordy. keep it right here. >> we still have john meacham in new york. stick around. >> chris! >> hello. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. [ sneezes ] and this is what inspires us to create new technology. ♪ technology that connects us to everything the world has to offer and vice versa. ♪ technology that makes lightweight

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we can start building hotels on them. >> welcome back to "morning joe." sam stein and katty kay are still with us, along with john meacham in new york. joining us here in washington, the host of "hardball" chris matthews. and author of "jack kennedy." >> chris, you came on set and said you like what harry reid did. >> how could you like that? >> i liked it because i think obama has needed confederates in the field for most of his life in politics. he's always been a soloist. i think that doesn't show strength. people aren't interested in just guy who is gives good speeches. you need a team. you can't be a leader without followers. and harry reid went in and got into the fight. he's forcing this issue again. here we are talking about mitt

romney's taxes. what a weird thing to be talking about. were we going to do this for weeks? if a new guy jumps in the field next week and fights him on the other side, same issue again and again? maybe the jobs picture is getting better. >> you said before about the president's cabinet, you said there's not a political person in there except ray la hood. >> i grew up in politics where you had a cabinet fighting for you, a whole bunch of party chairs. they're you're party. where are they? >> hillary clinton, the attorney general is not going to get politics. geithner is a politician. forget about it. >> biden. >> who? >> biden. >> he's one guy. what kind of team is that? it's a bromance, it's not a

team. >> it's a bromance. >> i always said that o'biden put the apostrophe in obama. he's taunting mitt romney on the issue he least wants to talk about. none of us here have any idea what it is he doesn't want to show. his father showed 12 years. he only wants to show the carefully selected years he's apparently nurtured to look pretty good. >> i kaep hearing 12 years. is that the new standard? >> no, no. i'd go with ed rollins, five or six years. who is going to complain? >> i think mccain was two years, right. >> mccain was two years. there's no standard, you can do whatever you want. the standard unfortunately for romney was set by his dad. of all the unfortunate things, his dad -- >> my dad's done a lot of things i didn't live by.

everybody keeps talking about mitt romney's dad as if that is like set in cement because -- >> one of the unfortunate aspects of mitt romney's run. one is that his wife as a dressage horse and the other is that his dad was a very transparent person. >> the moment you start saying i'm not going to release them or only release two years, everyone starts asking what's wrong with the other three or four years. it's very hard to win. >> they called on jack kennedy to release his tax returns so they could know more about the man. >> i get the feeling he can tell you right now his last 12 years of taxes each year what he paid. he's that kind of guy. so tell us. >> he told abc news and would look back and tell them if he paidnd 13.9%. >> he says i want to reduce the corporate tax rate and keep at

least the bush tax cuts for the rich. he's always talked about that's the way to stimulate the economy. if you're going to constantly focus on taxes and tax policy, how you have been doing on taxes? >> so, john meacham, let's go by the romney standard. remember doris wrote "team of rivals," everyone is talking about the president needed to pick a team of rivals for his cabinet. it's fascinating, isn't it? >> it is. and it's schlesinger and others that chris has just written about and had this sense with fdr and with kennedy that the president is the vital center of action. in this case it's the president period basically with the exception as mika points out with the vice president.

having two books about jfk, who loved politics so much, what is your take on obama's seeming lack of fondness for the fray that kennedy so thrived on? >> i think that's changing, john. this guy's getting into it. we have a story coming out, the new book by thrush -- john, that's your book. what are we talking about? >> you're wisely quoting it. >> about the idea that he really has come to dislike romney, which isn't unusual in politics. joe's been in politics. you may start off as chums to some extent and maybe after the fight is over the fight you get to the friends again. i remember jack kennedy really liked him. he said that won't matter once we get hating each other. i think obama is into this, he's blooded, he ready to fight. romney does this to people.

i've never quite figured out what it was. people like mg cane almost committed suicide. he could have put romney on the ticket. he hated him. >> can you imagine if he had? >> we heard all the stories. i mean, from the republican primary in '08, the republican primary in '12. now the president. i'm not so sure. >> you're not sure why they hate him. >> i'm not so sure why they hate him. a lot of it has to do with the fact that he writes check. every time his back was against the wall, newt was overtaking him in iowa. he destroyed newt with a week of campaign ads. newt wins south carolina. he destroys newt with a week of vicious campaign ads. i know, it's the game. >> he doesn't do mono-mono, does he? >> whether there's a famous

bathroom scene in 2008 where all the republicans said they were huddled together and mitt was off by himself and they were just saying they didn't even talk to him like behind closed doors. >> that's not enough to make me hate him. there is something about the fact that the longer people seem to do business with him, the less they seem to like him. >> so let's make an exception here. you talk to politicians and political types that have been around romney their entire life. you don't like him. even liberals like steve rattner. heeps relates to business people. heap gets into politics, chris, and he's a stranger. >> the olympic comment is so true to that. a business guy or political consultants never said anything good about their opponents because it's always competition. so you ask the master of the

olympics in salt lake, how do you like the olympics? that's a business point of view. but politically, he's horrible! in 2002 he goes over there and rooks at that and he's he's like the verious guy. >> can't we make him secretary of congress, the job he's doing now? >> we have a lot of news to get to. >> you would have another cabinet member who is political. >> i like it. >> john meacham, let's talk about how fascinating it is, what chris has brought up and you brought up, name another president who has been so alone in the white house, who has been alone in his political operations, who has been alone when he's president of the

united states than barack obama. compare it to jack kennedy, compare it to lbj, compare it to fdr and even reagan who had baker ands meese and all these figures. >> the analogy is president carter. who, again, i think chris was around then and can speak to it firsthand but that was an operation where had you a president, a nuclear engineer who thought he was smarter about everybody and who had a fundamental kind of -- i don't want to say disdain but i guess that's probably about right for politicians, despite being driven by ambition to dominate the political world. chris, do you agree? >> as a speech writer i really respected his value and his purpose. he'd sit up in the front of old

air force one all by himself, flight after flight, leg after leg. but he. joe, he would there memorizing one of these picture books. you don't me, do you? i gave you $5,000 back in '8. you don't remember me, do you? he was sitting up there all alone, memorizing the faces of the mayors he had to pretend he knew. hey, joe, good to be here. i hear you like apple pie. >> how's the local -- it's torture. is this a job anyone would want? >> and pretend you like. >> i even said even about congress. i said if you don't like it, i

said, it is as bad as being a preacher that doesn't like people. if you're going to preach every sunday morning, you better -- there better be a calling. and, john, you're the theologian here. and my but it took me being elected to congress to start understanding what preachers and pastors and rechters went through every week. now i loved it. i loved people coming up to him, i loved knocking on their doors but i always thought what a miserable profession it would be for someone who didn't. >> absolutely. an old bishop friend who has now gone to his reward who knew that every contact he had with someone was going to loom larger

for that person than it necessarily would for him. and that he had a commitment, therefore, the covenant to whom much is given much is expected, to always be present in that moment for them. they were going to remember it forever and he had 17 other people to confirm. if you're going to accept the call, take the glory, wear the costumes, in my faith, you have to realize to whom much is given, much is expected. >> it's fascinate ug say that. i remember chris one time meeting an extraordinarily boring congressman when i was like 12 years old. do you know it was such a huge moment in my life and looking back on it, when i got elected i said remember this. because once you're there, it doesn't seem like it's a big deal, i'm 1 of 435, i'm a nothing. but i always remembered that, how much that meant to me, every time i shook somebody's hands,

i'd sit there and i understand. you just don't get that sense not with just this president but with mitt romney. with a lot of people. >> they're both sisters of saint joseph. she's been teaching what we used to call retarded children, special education, since 1944. she came in arguing for social services, she's sitting in the corner and tip comes walking in, this big guy. he sees her in the corner and says "dear, hour you doing?" how long you have been out of the habit"? it's one of the things the nuns remember. and he immediately connected with her and she likes up and is completely comfortable and she starts lobbying her case. bill clinton is like that. heap looks you in the eyes -- >> oh, please.

>> i know what what you think. >> no, no. >> that's not a bad clinton impression. >> let's take money. >> for the third straight month the obama campaign has struggled to match mitt romney and the republicans in fund-raising. the romney campaign, along with the rnc yesterday reported a july fund-raising haul of more than $101 million. that's compared with the $75 million brought in in the obama campaign and the dnc, raising concerns among democrats that the president will be badly outspent down the stretch to november. yesterday the obama campaign e-mailed a plea to supporters, reading in part "in we don't step it up, we're in trouble." >> so, chris, last hour al hunt had suggested one of the reasons they may be in trouble is complacency. they just don't believe this guy romney is going to win at the

end. and also this president unlike bill donors -- is it a big deal or not. >> i notice all the baskets are brought on post. johnson whether it's complacency. baul knows he's in a tough race. you look at axelrod's face. >> do you know -- >> not to give it a way, maybe it's the irish fear of the worst case always. yeah, i think this could turn on the economy. the 169 number is the first time the economists have been wrong. finally they underestimated. they've been saying in the 160s. the jobs thing is everything. it's the back drop of the national debate in which the economy is getting better or

getting worse and stuck. that back drop will be on every minute. >> these people who won't pay attention until the baseball playoffs start in the fall, when the phillies shock the world and come back. >> they're out of last. >> they're out of last. >> that report if it ticks up -- >> and maybe because we are at a period where there is so much television advertising, that we're reaching the saturation point. the independence are getting torn up. say they're torn between the two, they don't like the direction is country is going in but they haven't made rahm emanuel either. if it tiks up, you could see a big of those swinging toward barack obama. if it goes down, you could see

them saying i just don't feel confident things are going to get better in the future. i'm going to go with this guy mitt romney just for a change, i don't like him very much butch we have to have somebody who comes in with some new ideas. and i think that's as important as anything is that last week. and i don't agree a that democrats are complacent. certainly not those who are around the president. maybe the big donors out in l.a. are all thinking, you know, we dislike mitt military so much we cannot conceive he would be elected president. >> i do think there's a general thinking that there's no way mitt romney can beat this president who was so graceful in 2008. i think that's definitely prevailing thinking among democrats. but i think al right create --? >> 2008 this thing was tied

before the market crashed. and that's when obama pulled away. the reverse could happen, we could have a good jobs report and people could finally come to obama. there's so much left to know. we've been fighting over tax return disclosure and things like that that when we get down to those debates and last job numbers, that's going to be the more impactful aspect. >> the debates could be huge. that could be the time people deep side whether or not they trust mitt romney. >> in one respect the idea mitt romney isn't releasing tax returns is important. there's a sekcy element he needs to get over. he has to fill in the holes. i think that's part of the sell he has to make to the team. you are promising a very good pile of debates, the debates are

always game changers, though the last debates were the most boring i've ever seen in my life. those guys usually handle debates okay. they're going to ask me 90 seconds about tax policy, 90 seconds about the deficit and they're going to ask me 90 second about foreign policy. and it seems to me that in that very measured, very controlled environment romney is probably going to do pretty well. >> yeah, a great example is kennedy beating fnixon. nixon was much more prepared, pitch the time he was 30 years old he had done everything. he was vice president at 39. amazing. if the president thinks he can outsmart the guy on the stage, you have to go in prepared. you have to prepare lines, you have to be organized. romney will go in with four or five lines. i'll bet one of the lines will

be "mr. president, you're a good man, you're a good family man, you've really done everything you could and here we are, here we are." it's a killer. then you say, pause, "and unless you have something else up your sleeve, why don't you give another fellow a chance." >>es that the most effective ad and they're running it in virginia, it's very soft spoken, it appealing directly to the people who voted for obama last time, who like him and saying it's okay to change. and it's -- never call him mr. obama. no cheap stuff. it's his job. let him know it. >> there's something about anybody who has been in politics, when you go into debates you know you've got to have your punch line. it is formulaic.

it's one of the reasons i think president obama did so poorly against hillary clinton in the 14 or 15 debates. kind of thought he was -- he's always thought that he was just a little above it all. a little smarter than everybody else and able to play on his own terms. in debates you don't dough that. >> nothing drives the mart alec better than to come out with a brilliant line he doesn't deserve to have. >> katty kay, great to see you. >> you go kay! u. u.k.! >> coming up, "the washington post," eugene robinson. >> bill? >> mika never gave me a kiss like that.

earnesto, th ernesto, this was a storm we thought could go up over texas, not going to happen. this could be our first hurricane. the forecast does take it over land tonight. tomorrow back over the extreme southern portions of the gull. as you can see, this will not head anywhere towards the united states and it's not going to be as devastating a form beautiful weather in new england. the southeast is going to be stormy. we're going to continue to watch all the hot air that was in the middle of country heading to the west. and the actual pattern toward the end of this week is something we haven't seen this summer. cooler, wet weather. heading for the great lakes and hai o'valley, the droughts horrible in illinois, indiana, ohio. that's where we can use some cool wet weather. that looks like there's some coming for you thursday into friday. you're watching "morning joe"

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♪ ♪ welcome back to "morning joe." 27 past the hour. a live look at washington, d.c. here with us now, associate editor of "the washington post" and political analyst eugene robinson. chris matthews still with us, sam stein and john meacham as well. >> can i do this spain story? >> you can't stay away from this bain story. >> i think this is interesting. >> anything that says bain. >> a new report from bloomberg reports there may be a good reason romney didn't do an italy

stop on his recent trip abroad. while romney was ceo of the company, bain bought a company from the government which it resold for 25 times as much two years later. they funneled profits through luxembourg to avoid paying taxes on the deal. >> what do you find most fascinating about that? >> i just ask the questions. i'm a journalist. >> when in rome do as the romans do. they don't pay taxes in italy either. that's always been the problem in italy, they don't pay taxes. >> so what was the crime? >> no crime actually. >> just makes him look bad, huh? >> maybe it doesn't make him look bad. maybe it makes him look like a

really good businessman. >> your column today talks about romney playing his trump card. >> you're staying on his taxes. do you think independence care -- maybe they do. do you think voters care about the -- i think they do want to know the guy they might for for president. they want to know a bit more about him than they know about mitt romney. >> let me just tell you the democrats make and the leb rals make is they think they're running against the 1% party. if the republican party was the 1% party, they'd lose every election. they're obviously the 50% party and 50% near it in other cases. those 59% who are not in the 1%, are they going to like this? are they so rich and beyond us, it's too complicated for you

people. this is grown-up stuff. you don't want to see my tax returns. the people want to see. the democratic party has its own problem on the left. but the republican problem has been in bed with the corporation. that was the part my dad didn't like, being in bed with ge and price fixing in the old days and all that stuff. if romney is one of them, he's not a reagan republican. bush, jr. certainly didn't run that way. they don't run as rich guys. they try to run as regular guys. >> you say your dad talked about that but he voted reb republican -- >> even though he worked for the city of philadelphia, he didn't like big government. classic modern republican. thought there was too much taxes, the whole thing.

>> how does this break out with the classic working class democrats, the reagan republicans and let's say in pennsylvania, for instance. >> i think about that all the time now and i'm trying to figure out what a reagan democrat is. i can give you a good example. you grew up with a catholic culture completely. that's all we cared about. bing crosby and all of that. my aunt and uncle met each other as members of the notre dame club in philadelphia. neither went to notre dame. they were the subway officer alumni. you guys laugh. >> we were in michigan, okay? >> they looked up the name and there was all working class irish-italian -- >> so where are they now? >> there was another name for the alumni-club democrats and

ray rag brilliant. >> where do they go? >> i think they're split. >> that's the question, isn't it? >> last year we talked about this and the same group last time around and president obama and they were against him until they were finally with him. they all broke the other way. i don't think they're ever going to have a deep allegiance to president obama. the question is -- the question to me is whether they form any sort of connection with mitt romney. and i think part of the obama strategy has been to deny him that connection, to make him ineligible for that connection by being this sort of selfish, snobbish, rich guy with a dancing horse. >> exactly. you are a columnist. you know, mik mika, republicans

nominate the guys who can relate to the subway notre dame club. reagan could do that in '84, and even george w. bush it drove progressives krady in twoub. they just related to him better -- they just did. >> someone who could fill that void for mitt romney is chris christie. >> yes. yes, he could. >> they love him up there. the philly people and south jersey. it the same city. south jersey, it's all one metropolitan area. it's all the same accent. water. >> when you come back home, you start talking that way again. they do like kristy because he's

mouthy and -- >> he's real. >> chris, can you believe this guy is plus 20 in new jersey? >> just signed a teach esh -- >> i think they like him. they're tired of frauds. the fact he's overweight, he has the same problem everyone has. >> hello. has anyone seen america? it's a real issue. >> and someone said elite and swabbish. >> look at him. >> they blow it from the pro shop. i was just thinking we were talking about reagan democrats. it's the same amount of time in the lapse between 1980 and today as between fdr winning in '32 and the '64 race. >> wow. >> when you think about that, it seems to me if you look at them on parallel tracks, by the time you had 32 years of laps, you

had a vigorous critique, a dismantling critique with goldwater and reagan giving that speech in '64. then you had two starker choices between 42 and 54 is at least demically of arguing for raising the drinking age, you have no had that emerge in a real political party. one of the two parties has a movement in the way movement conservatism developed in the three decades after roosevelt. and i wonder, you know, if christie's not the front part of that movement in the sense of everybody's got to tell the truth and do on the numbers. >> chris, i think he is because

we're as a country are split. i remember reading a george will column back in the 80s says we're all children of fdr now. but wes a nation, and i'm overgeneralizing of course, but we think like reagan and we spend like fdr. we are distrustful of big government. of course unless we fall off the cliff and then we need but you figure -- he was a good example. he represented middle-middle people. he would say the democrats can't come home from their constituents and say here's what the hole can do for you.

you have poor people with programs, education programs, but the middle-class person what is does the government decide to do and%. and you didn't have to pay to fen, the crit. >> what were the traits? >> well. >> gene, the great irony is that it's too this the entitlement programs that over the next 30, 35 years pose the greatest risk. >> so you ought to be able to make a thing of that and say let's preserve them. let's find a way. >> let's kick go out of medicare. >> high% of bowls say don't

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when we come back, as if meacham isn't enough, we're

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♪ ♪ here with us now in washington, historian evan thomas who wrote the foreward in "obama's last stand." you say both campaigns are pathetic or both candidates? >> campaigns. it's a harsh word. >> why are they pathetic? >> because they're not saying anything about issues that really matter. they're dodging around the future of our children. >> it's so small. it's such a small campaign. john meacham, let's get another

historian in here. >> oh, boy. >> just dull it up. >> seriously. everybody's asleep. >> give us your quote about small differences, john. >> here we go, narcissism. >> christopher lash, the narcissism of small differences. this is an establishment party with two wings. i think evans's right. i think it is pathetic. there's something to be claimed for a new kind of movement conservatism whereas movement conservatism in the postwar era was organized around hawkishness on the cold war and limited government, on fiscal responsibility. i think the elements are in place for that to be pulled together but no one's doing that. >> it's the first time that meacham's quoted anybody other than triling. so it's gotten small ball?

>> yes, obama at least he's talked about hope and change. people had a reason to be optimistic and hopeful. i don't think too many voters are watching these ads and feeling optimistic and hopeful. >> people are going to vote to keep the other guy out to tell you the truth. that's what they're going to do. >> chris, how fascinating is it that we were all talking about the obama ad. that stops up in your track. now, mitt romney has a soft add saying it's okay to vote against him. >> but he panders, every one of the republican constituencies he's pandered to but obama is

doing the same thing with the hispanics and women's groups, this selective backing of my people over their people. over and over again. who is getting lost in the middle? the reagan democrats, the middle-class catholics, they may be the most prolific category. it's 47, 47 over and over again, 6% sits out in these polls. some of them are not going to vote, they don't watch television or watch the debates. but this is not a very exciting campaign because nobody's grading the other side. no sister sola here. >> none of us group up saying,

boy, dwight eisenhower, he great. you start reading about ike and i'm dead serious, i'm going to get a bust of dwight eisenhower next to my bobby bust because here's a guy who stood up not only to his base but to great britain and to france and to our allies -- >> and to his own pentagon. >> our own pentagon, the suez campaign, the farewell speech. and after korea, do you know how many u.s. soldiers were killed after korea? >> he claims zero. i think there were one or two but he claims zero. >> if you could just stay narrative. but the thing is, ike confounded his critics. this guy was not afraid to stand up. >> he had this ability to carry responsibility. and boy, you do not feel that these days. you know, there's a disconnect

here, because the consultants and the people who advise politicians say, boy, you cannot offend this group and you cannot offend that group. and if you recommend taking away their tax breaks, we can't raise money. if you want to do something about entitlements, we're going to lose the old people. i don't accept that. i think that if a politician came and said, actually, we are. everybody's in the game together, everybody's going to have to give up political -- but, you know, eisenhower and kennedy used the word "sacrifice" in 1960, a word you never hear from politicians. >> we need to hear this word today. >> and i don't mean to keep going back to the same guy, and i'm sure it's aggravating the democratic party. >> are you going back to the well? >> the democratic party in new jersey, and i understand the anger. but i remember in 2009, 2010, us having chris christie on the set, when his approval ratings were in the 30s, jon meacham. i said, you're killing yourself. and he said, i don't care. i don't care.

and to evan's point, he's plus 20 in one of the bluest states in america right now. >> well, if authenticity travels, then he'll travel. and the question is whether we really want what we all say we need. and you know, jonathan raush had a wonderful phrase about 20 years ago called demosclerosis. the reason that the system was frozen is because we all had some stake in some program. but that's what leadership is. you heard evan say, the greater good is worth your giving up "x" because we need to get to "y." >> demosclerosis. >> i love that. >> you know how jimmy carter beat ted kennedy. he went out to iowa and came up for a grain embargo. he asked the farmers of the midwest to sacrifice and blew kennedy away. he did the opposite of the pander. the one time he had the upper

hand, because he didn't follow the usually sacrifice bunt, the usual crap that politics do. he said, let's go big, and it worked. >> i'm not holding my breath this year. >> the public is ready. >> the public is ready. i always tell this story from my first re-election campaign when we were getting killed on the medi-scare campaign. i talked about nothing about medicare and why we had to cut mary. and at the end of the campaign, glenn bolger, a republican guy who did over 100 races, and he called me up and said, what are you saying to seniors? and i said, why? and he said, because you've got the highest ratings we've seen in years. it broke through, right? >> but people don't want to hear that. >> if you had the same amount of money as romney this year, could you have beaten him? in this campaign, could you have

beaten him. >> mitt romney? >> same amount of money, table stakes. >> i don't like talking about myself. >> we'll look forward to your forward in the book on the upcoming election, "obama's last stand." looking ahead to tomorrow's show, we'll talk to senior adviser for the obama campaign, robert gibbs. >> oh, good! >> you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com.

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>> september 25th. >> september 25th, you're going to be back, right? >> yes, sir. >> we can't wait. and gene, we're going to be reading your column in today's "washington post" on mitt romney's tax returns. >> yeah, harry reid. dirty harry. >> and i know where i'll be at 7:00 tonight. >> 7:00 tonight, the olympics. >> i'm going to go hide in the corner and read that book. >> coming up next, the gop cash machine. president obama issues a dire warning to supporters, as republican fund-raising levels reach new heights. and later, mitt romney breaks out the blue jeans for an

ordinary, average trip to the hardware store. >> are they mom jeans? >> to buy hardware stuff. >> he's not disclosing his hardware purchase. tate. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com.

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>> this big, huge parachute that we've got, it will only slow us down to about 200 miles an hour, and then we've got to cut it off and come down in rockets. >> they're never going to make it. what happens next? >> as the rover touches down and is now on the ground, the descent state, it's a collision course with the rover. we must cut it immediately and fly to a safe distance away. >> the rover is now ready to collect rocks. good morning. it's 8:00 a.m. on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. as you take a live look at washington, d.c., back with us on set, sam stein, katty kay, she is proud to be. and also, jon meacham in new york.

>> all right. to politics now. for the third straight month, the obama campaign has struggled to match mitt romney and the republicans in fund-raising. the romney campaign, along with their rnc yesterday reported a july fund-raising haul of more than $101 million. that's compared with the $75 brought in by the obama campaign and the dnc, raising concerns among democrats that the president will be badly outspent down the stretch to november. yesterday, the obama campaign e-mailed a plea to supporters, reading in part, if we don't step it up, we're in trouble. last night, president obama hosted a star-studded fund-raiser at the enormous connecticut home of movie mogul, harvey winestein. look at it, it's enormous. >> for you, that's a starter house. >> no, that's a -- >> that's a guest house. a cottage in northeast harbor. >> 60 people were scheduled to attend the dinner, which was

$35,800 a head, to be exact. president obama's campaign reportedly hoped to raise $2.4 million from the evening and in stanford, connecticut, president obama launched a new line of attack on romney's tax plan. >> he'd ask the middle class to pay more in taxes to he could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. it's like robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. if this sounds like an idea that's difficult to explain or sell to the american people, you'd be right! so there are all kinds of different gymnastics being performed by the romney campaign last week. they have tried to sell us this trickle-down tax cut fairy dust before. and guess what, it does not work. >> all right.

despite being out-fund raised, the president still clings to a lead in most polls. >> so politico reports that while mitt romney is out-fund-raising mom, they say the president's burning through money. >> if you're in columbus, ohio, bring all the women, children, and cats inside. >> unplug the tv set. >> i think the obama campaign made a calculated decision. they decided to spend very early, very hard, and a great deal, two assumptions. number one, they could set up an apparatus and infrastructure and define romney. and what they really think is at some point those fat cats in september will say, we really do have a problem and they'll start delivering more money. i don't think the third assumption is true. >> and why's that? >> i think there's a lot of

resistance among democratic fat cats to give big money. they don't like super pacs, particularly. obama hasn't courted them the way clinton did. and some of them don't believe the sky is falling. >> by the way, on your second point, that is an understatement. i mean, seriously, to say that he has not courted them the way that president clinton did. president clinton, of course, was is all-consuming. he would be all over. and this president, from what i'm sure i've certainly heard it, mika's heard it, at times he's gone out of his way, sort of thumb his nose at -- >> he doesn't court anyone. he doesn't court members of congress or fellow politicians. it's just not his style. >> it's not his style, but he's still ahead in most of the polls. so can you define a candidate -- you're our historian here. historically, give us a good example of a candidate who was so defined before the fall

campaign that it was hard to -- hard to catch up? >> well, i think the one that comes to my mind is in 1992, the re-election of president bush. the non-re-election when the democrats successfully convinced a country that was actually in recovery that it was still in recession. and he seemed out of touch and out of time. and remember, when al just said putting the idea that the democrats are waiting for september for this, i just remember, when you think back on that campaign. it was always going to be, we're going to get to the acceptance speech and then they're going to see. then jim baker's coming back and then it's going to change. and then and then and then, and suddenly it's christmas. so i think whenever you're in that position of looking for some turning point, that you're in trouble, because you're playing defense. and just to katty, very quickly, great britain has lost an empire, but it has won a few

gold medals, so -- >> there you go! >> that's a good trade. >> so you see, there he is trying to make me feel bad, right? don't get too uppity, don't get too confident. don't feel -- thanks, jon! >> exactly. well, katty, respond to jon's comments, and i would expect you to be harshly critical of them now. >> rubbish. >> there you go. >> but we remember 1992. and i can tell you as a republican, we kept thinking, all republicans kept thinking the world war ii hero is not going to be beaten. >> by this upstart. >> by this draft-dodging et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. and there was this confidence, it was a false confidence, but i sense, though, al has it nailed too on number three, his third point, which is, democrats don't believe, they just don't believe that barack obama could lose to a guy like mitt romney. just like we republicans in '92

did not believe that george h.w. bush would ever lose to a guy like bill clinton. >> right. but they think they are aware, perhaps unlike '92, that the economy is so critical an issue for barack obama and is not improving. and every month we have the unemployment rate ticking up slightly. i can't believe that those donors aren't aware, at least, that this is a very tight race. now, they might not think that mitt romney is somebody that could unseat their guy, barack obama, but they can see that this is a race that has to be very tight. >> so let's talk about your democratic friends. because i'll tell you my democratic friends. i don't have one that really says, i think mitt romney's going to win. most of them say, it's going to be close, but in the end, we're going to squeak it out. they can't make that leap that mitt, stiff, awkward, fill-in-the-blank mitt romney is going to beat the candidate from hope and change. >> what the white house is going to have to do in september and october, if the polls start showing in some of the swing states that it's going the other

way and romney's starting to edge up in certain states, they'll have to go to those donors much harder. maybe four years of not courting donors will not open pursestrings for them with a few phone calls. but maybe that's what they'll have to bank on it. this is what's happening, we are actually worried as opposed to just saying we're worried, and open your pursestrings. >> they're on track to raise $750 million. that's not a small amount of money that the obama campaign is running. romney just going gangbusters with this fund-raising. i agree with the sentiment that there's some complacency about this guy who can't go overseas without gaffing, how can he possibly beat the president who got bin laden killed. but people are a little bit nervous and they've been jarred out of complacency by these fund-raising numbers by romney and are starting to get it. i talked to a person who was very prominent in the 2008

campaign for obama, who made a valid point. in 2008, they had three months to structure general election apparatus. they think this the ground game is going to be completely different than it was in 2012 and they have a real advantage there. and that might be able to buffer against all that -- >> well, i think that may be true, although they probably exaggerated. but, you know, joe, going to your point, every democrat i talked to says the exact same thing. but it's interesting, they don't say it because they think obama's stronger than he was three months ago, when some were quite worried. it's all a product of mitt romney. it's all a product -- a sense that mitt romney is the worst candidate in modern times. which is good news for democrats, except it mean ifs romney can somehow get his act together, and boy, is that a big if, that their optimism may be a little bit -- >> and he may be able to get his act together at the convention. that speech could be a turning point. >> in some respects, he doesn't

need to get his economy together. if the economy continues to drip, if it stalls -- >> i don't buy the fact it's solely a referendum on the incumbent. i'm old enough -- you weren't around, sam, in 1980, people forget, three weeks out, ronald reagan was still struggling to prove he was up to the job. and then did it brilliantly. but even in early october, people were saying, fine we want to throw carter out, but you've got to prove you can take over. >> let's say it is decided in the last two or three weeks, as it was then, and you have this big unemployment number that comes out six days before the election, the october unemployment number comes out, and that shows an uptick in unemployment. i think it could become a referendum not necessarily on the incumbent, but on the economy and whether people think the economy is improving. and if it's not improving -- >> it underlines al's point.

and i'm living proof, mika, that in congressional races, in off year elections, you can beat something with nothing. that's the way i got elected. >> well, now -- >> no, it's the truth. in presidential years, though, al's right. you can't beat something with nothing. americans put a higher standard on electing governors than they do senators and they put an extraordinarily high standard on electing president of the united states. and jon meacham, it was that debate. in 1980, it was just -- you talk about a defining moment, a remarkably defining moment, where americans collectively said, okay, reagan's not crazy. i thought he was crazy and he was going to start world war iii. because, remember, jerold ford in 1976 was saying, governor reagan won't start world war

iii, but president reagan could. there was that moment. do you see mitt romney, i don't see mitt romney having that moment. >> well, with due respect and love for al, to use another analogy, you know, we all knew ronald reagan and ronald reagan was our president and mitt romney is no ronald reagan. i just don't see that analogy of this being -- this may be a late-breaking campaign, but it doesn't feel as though this race has that kind of freight and level of gravity. joe, you've talked about this a lot, in terms of 80 versus where we are now. however profound the choices are we're facing, it just does not seem that romney is an historical act on that scale. and i think the other thing you're saying is exactly right. when you talk to republicans in private, they will say, we're not sure we can make this. you talk to democrats in private, they say, we'll just get over the line.

insofar as there's candor behind the scenes, that's an interesting refrain. coming up, our next guest says it's unlike that romney's vp pick will be a game changer. but it could shift the narrative away from tax returns. charlie cook, the editor of the cook political report joins us next. also, nbc's political director chuck todd comes to the table. but first, here's bill karins. he's got a check on the forecast. a beautiful day, huh? >> so many spots if the great lakes and the northeast enjoying beautiful conditions. one spot you probably don't want to be today is down in belize or the yucatan areas. just got the latest updates from the national weather service. it looks like this will become a hurricane later on today and make landfall later tonight, be the first hurricane of the season. but looks like northern belize, southern portions of the yucatan, that will be a landfall to find probably around midnight. yesterday, it was 105 again in oklahoma. it hasn't rained at all so far this august, and much of texas and much of oklahoma, only a little drip there in amarillo,

0.04 of an inch. so it's very dry, the sun's baking down, and the temperature really soars. there's nothing to stop it, no moisture in the air. 105 again in oklahoma as the drought conditions continue to spread and get worse. a lot of wildfires and brush fires in oklahoma too. today in chicago, 92. that will be your warmest day for a while. forecast for the rest of the country, as joe mentioned, beautiful from new york to boston. and the west coast, you've been having some summertime weather as of late and the heat continues in many areas of the intermountain west. of course, remember, coming up on msnbc, we'll be watching the olympics once again. what a great day it was yesterday, especially that women's soccer match. there's a shot of the stadium. track and field well underway today. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] it's a golden opportunity...

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in 1996, president clinton and a bipartisan congress helped end welfare as we know it. by requiring work for welfare. but on july 12th, president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. and welfare to work goes back to being plain old welfare. mitt romney will restore the work requirement, because it works. >> i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> all right. that was a coordinated ad by the romney campaign and the rnc out this morning, attacking president obama over welfare reform. joining us now here in washington news, chief white

house correspondent and political director and host of the daily rundown, chuck today, along with the editor and publisher of the cook political report, charlie cook. good to have you both. along with us, sam stein. >> sam stein, who is giving trivia questions about keynote speakers. >> trivia questions read from an unknown, tiny little publication, "the new york times". >> what are you trying to say? >> so we know who's going to be speaking at the conventions. that takes a couple of -- >> names off the list. >> i guess condi's speaking and -- >> susanna martinez. >> jeb bush now. follow the various dream scenarios that some had. >> so is romney trying to tell us something about his bus tour ending in ohio? >> no, i don't think so. i think -- look, they won't say anything yet about whether this

week is off the table, but they certainly look like it is, right? because everything about this bus tour -- why would you be having different events with different people that are vaguely on the short list, vaguely not. so it's clear that this is not the week. i think it's getting clear that this is not t week they're unveiling. but, look, i think the short list is three. i think it's pawlenty, portman, and ryan. and i think they're all in sort of equal running. >> so ryan's still in play? >> i think ryan's still in play. >> so charlie, you write, "how romney can change the subject. romney has a chance to hit the reset button with his vice presidential pick. it's not like his choice itself is likely to make that much difference, unless it's a bad one, but it is likely to begin a new and different narrative, shifting the focus away his finances and his critical review of the united kingdom's handling of preparations for the london olympics, and that's probably a

good thing. it's highly unlikely that he will announce a game-changing pick. my odds are there's a 40% chance each of former minnesota governor tim pawlenty and senator rob portman of ohio getting the nod and only a 20% chance of it being someone different. but it will change the subject, at least for a time." then doesn't he have a chance to define himself? >> he could, but by traditional calendars, getting request ting out, trying to bond and connect with the voters in the convention makes sense. so the question is, how much has the calendar changed? to me, paul ryan, that would be game changing. i think everybody agrees. >> certainly would. >> now, republicans think it would be game changing for the positive. i was talking to a major democratic pollster yesterday who would be doing cartwheels around his office if they picked paul ryan. because, you know, that opens up

the whole budget. and let's face it. if anthony weiner hadn't decided to become a photographer, we would still be talking about the ryan social security plan for medicare. >> how fascinating that paul ryan is a choice that energizes both sides. >> that's one of the argument, and that's, romney needs definition. make this big. make it a big election, a big contrast in ideas. >> we have ryan, rubio, jindal, pawlenty. what happened to chris christie? the guy's plus 20 in new jersey. >> i just don't think that there was an idea -- think about mitt romney's entire business career and political career. chris christie just -- how do you put it? it just doesn't fit. >> does he overwhelm? >> it's just not romney style. i don't know how to put it. >> think of two things. number one, i generally roll my eyes when someone says,

so-and-so would overwhelm the nominee. because i think that's normally bull. chris christie is a pretty big personality, and he's a big guy. i think it kind of would. and he's had some positions that were a little problematic with the nra, which i'm not sure with the convention this late that's a fight romney wants to pick. >> but you've got to think of the debates as well. >> who cares about the vice presidential debate, i have to say it. this is about the three presidential debates. >> of the square of guys we put up, which one defines mitt romney? any of them besides paul ryan? >> does he want to be defined? >> i was going to say, i think portman is the most like -- there's a personal connection that the romneys have with the pawlenties. i think it's a personal loyalty -- >> i'm sorry, i just fell asleep. i'm sorry. >> i like him too, but i fell asleep. >> portman sends the same message, we want to be the

governing pick. announcing portman is about trying to win over any constituency groups, satisfy the base. but you're bringing in somebody who knows washington and knows how to do it. the downside is, he's of washington. >> but the bush stuff -- >> i actually think the fact is, portman, of the three, portman's the only one that can bring a state. i think he can bring ohio. i know it's not obvious now, and they're desperate. they've got to break this ohio/virginia lock right now that it looks like the president is leading in both and they've never been able to take a lead. >> charlie, this is the debate of the morning. al hunt doesn't believe that vps can carry state. i'm on chuck's side, i think rob portman could. >> i think as a general rule they don't, but if ohio is that close, 0.10 of a point, 0.20 of a point, it could. generally, i don't think they could move a whole lot of

points, but it's not going to hurt in ohio and he can use all the help he can get. >> let's talk about ta friend o a show. politico this morning called claire mccaskill the most endangered democrat in the senate. do you agree with that? >> the question would be, would it be mccaskill or jon tester. >> oh, i don't even think it's close. i think claire's underwater, she's never got that plane stuff behind her. like, i think that became defining for her, fair/unfair, the whole private plane business. that really tied her down. and missouri's a state that's trending away. montana is -- >> the difference is, she's accident prone and tester's doing everything right. and with tester, you say, if he loses, the guy would have done everything humanly possible and it just wasn't enough. with mccaskill, she's made a lot of her own problems over time. >> there's been more money

thrown at her, and there's going to be more money, because missouri could be a swingish state. but she has 15 million plus already thrown at her campaign. >> i don't think you're going to see a dime spent by other -- >> does it matter who wins the missouri primary on the republican side. you've got a guy that's loved by the evangelicals, you've got a multi-millionaire. >> if aiken, the congressman wins, atkin, i think he would have a really hard time beating mccaskill. i think the other too, i think brunei and steelman are pretty -- >> so let's move to another state. and a guy who i think could do everything right, and i think he's done just about everything right, and still loses, scott brown. because he's in massachusetts with barack obama at the top of the ticket. what do you think? >> i think that's one of those races where we're going to wake up on election day and she's going to have won by eight or nine points and we're all going to say, oh, that's right.

>> because -- >> yes. at the end of the day i think that, a, she is not martha coakley. >> her message is so strong and credible to her. >> b, it's a democratic state. >> the thing is, scott brown can do everything perfectly, everything -- >> and he has, just about. >> right. but he needs 300,000 barack obama voters to vote for -- >> say that number again. >> 300,000. >> does he really? >> yeah. so the thing is, perfection may or may not be good enough. >> what did bill weld get? remember, it wasn't that close between kerry and weld. we were talking about kerry/weld in this exact same way. what was the other thing they had in common, it was a presidential year. >> he needs to screw up like kurt schilling's name. >> when was the last time a republican won in a presidential

race? '72. >> and it was a election year. the nature of a state and the demographics take over. i know it's going to be close. the debates are going to be epic. i think it's all of those things. and i think we'll wake up on election day and be like, she won by seven or eight, really? >> and it reminds me of you saying tester doing everything right. scott brown, i was up in massachusetts for a week, and you had listened to elizabeth warren's commercials, and she has that oklahoma accent, which sounds great here, but doesn't play well up here. it's kind of jarring. scott brown comes on and you hear that voice and you're like, okay, that's the guy -- >> who's jerry remmy voting? >> i don't know. but scott brown is so likable. and he is of massachusetts. >> oh, she is too. >> no, she's not. he could run a perfect campaign.

and like you said, we could wake up -- >> to me, who wins in worcester? >> one more thing to do before we go to break. yesterday morning, this is very important, in wolfeboro, new hampshire, with the press pool following closely behind him. i don't know how that happened. just this kind of strange, random thing, mitt romney did some errands. he went to a local hardware store. >> governor, what'd you buy? >> uh, hardware stuff. >> what are you building? >> going to the grocery store now. >> all right. he got his "hardware stuff," now on to the grocery store, where the shopping list included wild cherry diet pepsi -- very bad for you. caffeine free coke. also horrible. greek yogurt and two ears of corn. >> greek yogurt is the hottest thing going. >> so what's wrong with american yogurt, chuck todd?

>> it's not made in the usa. >> yesterday was the first day, we have something the president gets. it's called a protective pool, where there is constantly a member, a wire service, a print, a member of television always with every movement of the president. well, at some point, the nominees of a party gets that too. yesterday was day one. i think this was mitt romney's -- >> you never know when a can of peas will fall off a shelf and hit him -- >> so i'm going to show you, i'm going to the hardware store. i think that was the first day of, first of all, you're feeling completely trapped as a candidate and i think this was his way of saying, i'm going to do this. >> the press pool asked him what he was preparing for and here's his answer. >> i've got some folks coming over today. >> who are they? rob portman or tim pawlenty? are you going to cook today? >> i'll make my own dinner, yeah. that's not exactly cooking.

>> leave the poor guy alone. >> leave him alone. you feel sorry for him now. >> well, except for the soda pop that's making everyone unhealthy. >> they're all diet. how's -- >> that's even worse! >> do not engage. do not engage. >> so how are republicans feeling down-ticket about mitt romney? >> i think there's a little nervousness that -- the thing is, if you look at the national polls, you say it's close, close, close. look at the 11 swing states, and romney's ahead in north carolina. and obama's head in the other ten. so it depends if you're an optimistic person and look at the national polls, you're a republican. and if you're pessimistic, you look at the other ten. and wondering what's going on here. and i'm the guy that wrote the column, ignore the electoral college, they look like the rest of the country, but not anymore. because the pounding of advertising and, you know, the

fact is, the obama campaign has defined mitt romney before they define themselves and it's a big problem. >> the question is, karl rove's going up with ads now in swing states. are we going to see swingback? >> i think there'll be a catch-up, if you will. i think the vp role, if they do it right, i think there's a little pressure on their convention. i envision that the week before the convention, they'll roll out the vp and try to own two weeks. do their best to try to own two weeks. but i can't underscore -- you know, we have cried wolf in the media about money and politics for 30 years. and so people are numb. there is $50 million on the television airwaves this week. that's what geico -- in the battleground states. that's what geico and mcdonald's spent. >> in august. >> and there is more money being spent in the charlotte media market in july than there was -- 12, than there was in october of

'08. >> was some people turn out. >> you can't soak a towel anymore, right? you dump one bucket of water, it's wet. >> well. >> you dump a second or a third bucket, it's still wet. >> and we always talk about in connecticut, the connecticut, linda mcmahon. i remember 2010, paeople runnin out of their houses with their hair on fire, saying, stop it! stop it! when does this happen here? i think it's got to happen in these swing states. >> that's the thing, the rest of the country looking through a window at a presidential race. >> well, the battleground states are the zoo. and the rest of us -- >> you dvr your shows and fast forward through the commercials. >> chuck todd, stay with us, if you can. charlie cook, thank you so much. >> there is no dvr'ing. >> dv-what? >> up next, mending fences. dick cheney offered something of an olive branch to sarah palin after calling her vice presidential nomination a mistake. that's next on "morning joe." down here, folks measure commitment

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all right. joining us now, politico's patrick gavin with this morning's playbook. as we take a live look at the white house, former vice president dick cheney, patrick, walking back those comments. don't know why he needs to do that. but apparently -- >> don't editorialize.

>> but apparently he doesn't think it's a mistake to choose sarah palin. here's the walkback, first. >> i like, um, governor palin. i've met her, i know her. she's an attractive candidate. but based on her background, she'd only been governor for, what, two years. i don't think she passed that test. >> of being ready? >> of being ready to take over. and i think that was a, a mistake. >> all right. that was the actual comments. so he is walking it back? >> yeah. on fox news last night he said, in fact, that what he was criticizing was more the process and not sarah palin specifically. who knows exactly why he's doing that. i think what you're seeing in that case, and now we're finding out, as rnc chairman reince priebus actually said on fox again last night, he hopes sarah palin does speak at the convention. but it is a tricky question. john mccain, the presidential guy on the ticket, obviously, in 2008 will be speaking, but the question is, what do you do with her? because on the one hand, we all know about her negatives, and obviously, we all know about her

positives as well. but at the same time, if you don't invite her, you run the risk of sarah palin, as she says, going rogue, and perhaps launching her own little pr offensive against the convention. that's not what you want. she said she would make an announcement about her plans at the rnc, she actually said she would do it a while ago and she hasn't done that yet. so what's the plan on sarah palin going to be? we know about george w. bush, but we don't know about her. >> chuck. >> i thought priebus made real news. him saying, you bring her into the tent. you don't risk it. >> you look -- >> put her at the cable-only part of the hour, pre-broadcast. >> if sarah palin goes up and speaks, guess who's going to get the loudest ovation of any speaker all week. it will be sarah palin. she will burn the place down. criticize sarah palin all you

want. we were there, when she gave her speech in 2008 -- >> it was amazing. >> we sat there going, oh, my god, she's the natural. why wouldn't you have this woman, who is, by the way, helping one candidate after another candidate after another candidate, after another candidate win senate races. why wouldn't you let her speak at the convention, in prime-time? >> if the romney people could have a decent say over what she says, make sure the script is right, there's really limited downside there. the only downside would be if she went off-script and said something radically offensive. >> she's not going to go off-script. >> but there are some that are fearing the buchanan '92 scenario, right? the infamous buchanan speech in '92 -- >> well, that's just made up by historians like jon meacham. >> that defined '92. but i think that, you know, rick santorums, the sarah palins of the world also know that history. they don't want to be marginalized. >> jon meacham, if you're going to let rick santorum speak at

the convention, why don't you let sarah palin, who, by the way, again, in this environment, tested. she's got so much to prove to all of the critics that have been pounding her for years. i think it would be the moment a lot of people would be talking about. it would be extraordinary, i think. >> this raises a really interesting question, which is a criticism we often make of the president, which one could make, perhaps, of governor romney, which is, how good is he at managing people? in his own party and beyond. i know some people -- you know some people who have reached out to him, who have not gotten callbacks, who have -- people who have suggested that he should be talking to them. and palin, it seems to me governor palin is somebody that you just shouldn't let her out of your sight. because she'll run a bigger convention on her facebook page than you'll have if she decides

to have her own. >> and again, it's one thing for us to crises, like, a facebook comment that sarah palin made here, or something else there. the bottom line is, chuck, she wins -- she helps -- >> by the way -- >> she helps launch republican candidates -- >> there used to be the same conversation -- >> she has real impact. >> there used to be the same conversation among democrats and hand wringing when it was, what do you do with jesse jackson? the democratic party used to go through the same issue, what to do with jesse. because they thought, well, he does excite. he's the best speaker. he was the best speaker in the '88 convention, the best speaker in the '84 convention, but did he turn off swing voters? i think it's interesting to me, palin, we're having the same debate. >> at some point, doesn't the republican party just need to do better? >> than what? >> never mind. >> i was going to command you on

showing great discipline by just sitting there and biting your tongue, and there you go blowing it at the end. she's great at it -- you know, she sure didn't turn off swing voters four years ago. >> she doesn't say anything -- >> that's not true. she just doesn't say anything you like. >> i'm not going to call you out. i'm going to go to break. up next, business before the bell with cnbc's patrick sullivan.

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the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. welcome back to "morning joe." we interrupt our petition drive to get sarah palin a speaking spot in prime-time in the republican national convention to go to business before the bell with cnbc's brian sullivan. brian, a british bank's accused of laundering billions of dollars to iran through its new york office. more banking scandals.

you talk about it an awful lot. my gosh, what's happening here? >> standard charter, maybe not a household name here in the united states, one of the biggest banks in the world london-based bank, accused in a scathing report yesterday about doing business with iran and wire stripping. yeah, basically actively taking out the transactional names -- >> you're kidding me? >> no, i wish i was. in fact, according to the new york regulator, 60,000 transactions that earned the banks hundreds of millions of dollars in fees are suspect. apparently one guy in new york tried to warn the home office in london, and he received a reply back that read something like, "you blanking americans, who are you to tell us the, the rest of the world, that we can't do business with iran." standard charter hitting back this morng, vehemently denying most of the claiming, saying there might have been a couple of transactions. they may lose their banking license in the state of new york if not the united states, guys.

>> my gosh. >> it's a biggy. >> and they're the sponsors of liverpool. >> and by the way, since you're hot on the republicans today, i want to shout out a happy 100th anniversary to the bull moose party. today, teddy roosevelt 100 years ago nominated for the bull moose. they supported suffrage for women, equal rights, and greater help for the needy. bring back the bull moose party, baby. i'm in it. >> there you go. brian has spoken. so, brian, sarah palin, do you let her speak at the convention or not. >> no! >> at comic-con? what convention? >> come on, man, the republican convention. >> comic-con, a pretty good one-liner. he was just like that. >> he's amazing. >> it's disturbing. >> he's taking the fifth! let her speak! we'll be right back. this is the plan for back to school. introducing share everything, only from verizon. a shareable pool of data to power up to 10 different devices. add multiple smartphones to your plan,

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to talk about what we learned today. or whatever i just said. let's go to jon meacham. what have you learned, joe? >> i learned that the "morning joe" website is the place to vote for sarah palin in prime-time. >> what did you learn, chuck? >> that mika will eat processed sugary foods. frosted flakes! >> all morning. >> all morning long! frosted flakes. >> unbelievable. >> meanwhile, joe, special k.. >> i'm sorry, i'm a health nut. do you think i get this figure from nothing? sam, what did you learn today?

>> if you want to eat an olympic judo champ, don't eat poppy seeds four months in advance, even if they're fed to you. >> i should write that down. mika, what did you learn? i learned that sarah palin absolutely should speak at the republican -- absolutely! sarah, have at it, reince and joe. i think it would be great for your party. continue on the track. it's great. you guys are so -- it's like you know who you are. >> it's way too early, but stick around right now because we're going to go olympic coverage. >> is it rafalca? >> it's rafalca time. and sarah palin time too. or volleyball, i don't know. or something. >> good luck! have a great day, everyone.

good morning, everyone. welcome to our nbc olympic headquarters in new york. i'm kelly tilghman. the talk of the town this morning is the stirring and controversial overtime victory by the u.s. women's soccer team over canada last night in manchester. we'll take a special look back at that drama later on, but the theme of this day 11 is volley ball as the 12-team women's turn muppet has reached the knockout round. looking at the brackets for the eight taking on the winner of the united states versus the dominican republic. you can watch the undefeated women at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. 5-0 russia meets brazil. we'll have that match for you live here on msnbc in approximately one hour from now. at the moment japan and china

are already on the court in london. let's take you there live with paul sunderland and kevin barnett calling the action. welcome to the most pressure-packed round in any team sport competition, the quarterfinals. you fought your way through the preliminaries. it's now win and play for a medal, or lose and go home. china and japan, two very hot rivals out of the asian zone. japan won the opening set, china came back and won the second set. again, best three out of five sets. first four sets to 25 points. kevin, no surprise at all between these two teams that both sets were deuce games. >> both of these teams are defensive-minded. they do know each other well. they will stretch rallies again and again. the swing that finally does