all right time all right. time for a couple quick e-mails back in new york. what do you got? >> leaving my husband, packing my bag, leaving to see willie tomorrow at the blackfinn. >> and cat says she's hoping to see mike barnicle in a bar fight. >> i am, too. i'm hoping to initiate that bar fight. let's go get him. "morning joe" starts right now.

>> i think everybody understands we were this close to a great depression because of the leadership of this depression. we staved that off. >> the problem with what governor romney said is for three days they never offered anybody a plausible alternative. >> can you honestly say people are better off today than they were four yooears ago? >> no, but that's not the question. >> folks, america is better off today than they left us when they left. you want to know whether we're better off? i got a little bumper sticker for you. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive! osama bill laden is dead and general motors is alive!

>> all righty then. good morning. it is tuesday, september 4 th. it's the first day of school in a lot of place bus here in charlotte it is the democrats' turn. >> so what was that? what did you say? zit t >> it's the democrats' turn. >> osama bin laden is dead -- >> it's a bumper sticker. i'll get you one for your car. i'll put it on your massive suv. >> that's great. >> today the democratic national convention -- >> general motors by the way. >> kicks off here in charlotte, north carolina. we're live at blackfinn salon, another bar, steps away from the time warner cable arena where this week president obama will officially be renominated as the democratic candidate for president of the united states. we have a pretty feisty audience. >> we have so many paul ryan fans.

paul ryan, paul ryan, paul ryan! yes! yes, can you feel the love. i bet we have a lot of crimson tide fans, too. roll tide! >> it's all right. we have with us contribute mike barnicle and senior political analyst mark halperin and msnbc political analyst john heilemann, whose cover story for this week's "new york" magazine is on joe biden's role in the campaign. >> what a great cover. >> as we said, later today democrats will kick off their national convention here in north carolina, a state with 15 electoral votes up for grabs this november. president obama won north carolina by a microscopic number of votes in 2008. but a new poll shows the

president will have his work cut out for him if he hopes to win here again. mitt romney currently leads the president 47% to 43%. one of the first orders of business will be to adopt the party platform. it echos president obama's call for higher taxes on wealthier americans while backing same-sex marriage and abortion rights. it says the economy is growing again and that al qaeda is at its weakest since 9/11. >> mike barnicle, you've been here doing the type of reporting you've been doing for decades, going to bars and talking to drunks. >> that's right up. >> said i'm a bit skeptical about the president's chances of winning north carolina. we saw the numbers, the president is trailing right now by 4 points and then you look at the platform right now. it does seem like it's an uphill

battle in north carolina for this president. >> i would think so. after conferring with mr. halpern, i have concluded at least and from speaking to a couple of people -- more than a couple of people about north carolina that if it's a cold, rainy day, the president's ground operation is so sophisticated and so skilled at what they do that they could perhaps eke out another narrow victory. but other than that it's all uphill, i think. >> i think it's going to be tough. mark halpern, how organized is the president and his party, how organized are they coming into this convention? are they ready to go? >> at the convention itself, behind the scenes in politics generally there's more chaos than they left on. even for an incumbent campaign there's still stuff getting done in terms of the schedule and speech decks but so far this is the more chaotic party generally, this is more like a street festival than anything we saw in tampa and that's the way the democratic party is. so far they are on track.

they've done a pretty decent job of controlling the message and framing this convention going into the big speech tonight. >> how do democrats feel coming out of tampa? >> i think democrats feel pretty good coming out of tampa. you have a last night in tampa that was widely mocked by a lot of people in the national media, even some in the republican party. some people think the republican party managed to screw up their last controllable moment because of the clint eastwood thing. i think they saw the wall street journal criticizing romney for not having put forward a more detailed set of proposals and policies on what is supposed to be his trump card, the economy. they see that as a huge opening for the president because the president can define romney and ryan's economic program in the terms he wants to define it in because they didn't do a good job doing it themselves in tampa and he can lay out the contrast

what they want to do, take us back to reagan/bush trickle down economics, that's his argument and lay out the alternatives without the republicans having done that work. for the president's team, they think that's what the whole race is going to turn on and they now have a clear open field to do that evover the course of next three days. >> the wall street journal, very conservative editorial page, that actually criticized mitt romney for not defining what he stood for. we looked at the democratic party platform. i'm a southern guy. you lived in tennessee for four years. you look at the democratic platform, if we can put that up. this is going to play very well with the baise. higher taxes on the wealthy, supporting same-sex marriage and also supporting abortion rights. culturally when you gets to

states like north carolina, virginia, ohio, a lot of swing states, that doesn't play quite as well in middle america, does it? >> especially in the south. north carolina, especially the gay marriage provision there, the state has spoken on that one. i'm also glad mike barnicle was able to join us in north carolina. he wasn't able to make it to tampa. >> greyhound didn't go down to tampa? >> no, no, i've been here since last tuesday. >> took a wrong turn. >> he just didn't want to be around that many republicans, gives him hives. like mika. he just starts scratching. >> the big question is are you better off than you were four year ago? the answer objectively the obama campaign tried to put out yes, we are. at the same time you don't want

to be gloating. >> they don't want to say what the mayor from maryland said, are you better off? no but that's not the question. that's always the question. you can look at a lot of data and say, yes, we are better off today than we were four years ago. but with so many people hurting in america right now -- >> it's a tough sell and we're better than we could have been but that's a tough sell. look at the speakers tonight. as for the speakers, the keynote address will be given by san antonio mayor jewulian castro a will wrap up with a speech by first lady michelle obama. tomorrow will include speeches by massachusetts senate candidate elizabeth warren and former president bill clinton followed by the delegate roll call to nominate president obama for a second term. >> did you see the article in politico about how elizabeth warren is a star here but is having trouble gaining traction in massachusetts.

mike, you said it a long time ago, she is a national star for the democratic party but in her own state she's trailing by 5 points and there a lot of democrats that always vote democrat that like brown. they say he's one of us, he's what we would say in the south a good ol' boy. he's not exactly good ol' boy but he talks like those guys who call into boston radio stations bitching about the red sox. that's his persona. i don't know if that's really him but he's got it now. >> again, these two guys can tell you, maybe buttress this point of view, massachusetts is more than cambridge and beacon hill. it's a very moderate state once you get past 128, the outer beltway around boston. it leans very moderate leaning towards conservative when you get out in western massachusetts and she has not run a very good massachusetts campaign. she's run a terrific national campaign, but she hasn't made

her campaign in massachusetts the kind of campaign that you'd have to make it in order to win. in order to win in massachusetts, she has to veer away from ideology. she has been going up and down the state, back and forth across the state, hitting financial services, mortgages, you're underwater, the middle class. to most people, a lot of people, banks now are the atm machines. and unlike government, the atm machines works. what she hasn't done is make it a choice election. you've got a choice between me and scott brown and your choice has to do with public schools, your choice has to do if your child gets sick, your choice has to do if your child needs special needs education. >> i hope she defines that tonight. >> she may be struggling in massachusetts. she is going to be a superstar here. there are so many democrats in washington that talk about the 1% versus the 99% but they're

bought and paid for by banks just like republicans. >> she's an incredible campaigner. >> she's an island unto herself because she has fought wall street, she stayed pure and i'll tell you what, activists across the nation absolutely love her and for good reason. >> that race is as exciting as any other one out there. on thursday the final night of the convention, joe biden will speak. that will be great. followed by president obama's acceptance speech. according to the ap, the obama campaign will use speeches by workers from bain capital-controlled companies. >> you have a cover story on joe biden. what can you tell us about the vice president that you have don't know? >> you guys know the vice president pretty well. he is fired up and ready to go for sure. i was saying to willie on "way

too early," a lot of ways the spirit of 2012, which is a much more smash mouth kind of politics we saw in 2008, in some way joe biden is better suited to this than either mitt romney or barack obama. he can deliver a punch to the gut and kind of prop you back up and smile at you and make you feel okay after he does it. he's very tough. of all four of the guys on the ticket, romney, ryan, biden, he's the only one in a speaks the language of populism. he always has. he has the working class, scranton pennsylvania, he talks to voters better than anyone else. >> isn't it something when vice presidential candidates -- he comes from a working class area in wisconsin, a swing area.

>> it's true. there are questions about what his speech is going to look like thursday night. people say he's been demoted because he's not getting a night of his own. bill clinton's speech will not be covered by one of the big networks because they're showing the football game. joe biden is happy to be there thursday night with probably a bigger audience than he would have gotten on wednesday. he's been a good attack dog for their side so far. he's not going to do that on thursday night. his job is going to be to make the case for what they've accomplished over the last four years. president obama is going to draw the choice and talk about the future and the contrast. biden's going to there been mainly to brag about the president and say things in a language about the president the president isn't comfortable saying about himself. it's going to be why i love barack obama, why barack obama's been good for you. he's going to vouch for the president in a very powerful way. i think he's going to do it pretty well. >> here's more on the biden

factor. "joe bidenen unchained, the truth about biden is more subtle and complex, that his greatest asset, what obama strategist david axelrod calls him bluntness and ebullience is equally his gravest liability, his old school m.o. makes him uniquely unsuited to this most modern political media moment that in a culture that pines for authenticity and then punishes it cruelly, his utter incapacity for phoniness and, yes, his grievous inability to control his yap, endows him with enorm out charm and guile him as a human ied. >> the things he said in his career could have ruined him. his comment he made a few weeks ago about putting people back in

chains was big for a week and he seeps to have slid past that. >> what about barack obama and the campaign? >> what? >> which led al sharpton to say at the time "i'm clean, i take baths." biden not only survived that, he became vice president. that's why we love him so much. >> he's genuine. >> let me ask both of you guys, how long is joe biden in the dog house over the same-sex marriage issue? because they'll say they -- inside the white house everybody says the president was angry, his staff people were kept out of meetings for a while. how long did that last and are there still bruised feelings over that? mark? >> no oval office likes to let the vice president drive the agenda. i think joe biden did him a favor. i think the timing worked out nicely for them. >> are there still bruised feelings there?

>> there's a wariness, as will always has been, that joe biden can -- i've been taken by how separate the operations have been. the president does run his own shop. there's wariness but i don't think hard feelings. >> you get a sense though, john, that the staff has a deep distrust, the president's staff has a deep distrust for joe biden. >> the staff was more upset than the president was. the president wasn't bhap as was reported, the vice president went to obama and apologized in a very full throated, genuine way. i think for barack obama that was kind of -- it was over and done with at that point. >> i think he was hung out to dry on that. they're putting him out in front of millions of people to campaign. they can't be that worried about

him. >> joe biden is not someone who sits well with control freakishness. he is sort of an unguided missile. there are always going to be people who are wary or nervous about him. in the end if you net out the positives and negatives, most people think joe biden is a net positive, not net negative. >> democrats were saying america may have been better off but not better off than they were four years ago. the president spoke out about this last night. >> he addressed that in colorado. president obama was asked for his thoughts on how he handled the economy. >> reporter: your party says you've inherited a bad situation. you've had three and a half years to fix it. what grade would you give yourself so far for doing this? >> i would say incomplete. i would say the steps we've taken in saving the auto industry, making sure college is more affordable, investing in

clean energy, science and research. >> the president had the same angs to that question last year and abc news and cbs in 2010. >> i think the president is being intellectually hon whes he says "incomplete." we really don't know hough things are going to wind up. but four years in that's a hard answer to take to the american people. how are you doing on the economy? incomplete. >> a two-teared answer there. technically the country is better off than we were four years ago over a broad range of factors but no one i know who lives in a house and pays a mortgage feels that way. so they have to thread that needle. and back tonight vice president of the united states. if you talk to him, he will tell you the difference between four years ago and today is like a

patient who had cardiac surgery. four years ago the patient is undergoing bypass surgery. now the patient is in the recovery room. one of the things about biden in relation to this issue and other issues in the white house staff is unlike the people in the white house staff, biden manages to live for a for a time eve every -- he goes to home depot. when he goes there, he realizes there's still enormous difficulty in this country. plumbers aren't there in the numbers they used to be, builders aren't at home depot the way they were five or six years ago and he gets a sense of this evenings far better than the white house staff or certainly the president who are in that double. >> so the patience, on the table? >> i would think you would want to go back to the policies we had eight years before that,

which is what you'd get. >> unless you had another ticket that was so healthy that they could run a mayor ton in under three minutes. get off the table and run a marathon in under three minutes. >> that's actually the first non-truth that paul ryan told that makes he really worried about him. all this other stuff is gamesmanship during conventions. they all play with the truth and we have to -- you know what, you don't lie about a marathon. first of all, it's recorded. second of all, runners take that really seriously. they don't lie about their times. hello! >> willie and i understand that. >> who lies about their time? >> willie and i would not lie about when we were in the marathon last year. >> oh, my gosh, grueling. >> two hour, 15 minutes. we're smoking cigarettes the entire way. it's unbecoming zip ran the new jersey fun run in 1984 which is one mile, 12 minutes. you can look it up.

>> heart beat like a rabbit. >> it's a problem. it's a problem. coming up live from charlotte, we're going to bring in former secretary of state madeleine albright, form are senator chuck schumerer governor daniel malloy and academy award winner jeff bridges. but first let's go to new york to bill karins for a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, mika. for those of you that don't know, mika's a pretty serious runner. we're watching some showers moving through the carolinas. that's good at least for this morning. we will dodge some of those large thunderstorms later. if you're anywhere up there around areas of new jersey, pennsylvania, some heavy rain this morning, especially coastal areas of jersey pushing across long island into new england. it's a very humid air mass. all of that moisture as moved to the eastern sea board. that's why we're seeing all the

wet weather out there. we'll continue with chances of showers and thunderstorms. looks like a little breyer for thursday and friday. we're watching temperatures in the mid 80s. talk about heat. we continue to roast in the middle of the country. drought and areas to get worse this morning. it still feels like the middle of summer out there on this tuesday. back to work and much of the. >> we'll be back live from charlotte coming up. ♪ yes, i'm gone to carolina in my mind ♪

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[ cheers and applause ] >> a nice crowd. awfully nice. >> politico's jonathan martin known as j-mart. it's crazy down there. let's talk about one of most fascinating dynamics between president obama and present. president clinton will speak on wednesday night going up against the football game by the way. what is their relationship like

as it stands this morning? >> if you surveyed 100 journalists, 99 would tell you that's the story. it's fascinating, we can't get enough of it. my colleagues have a story up today, apparently there's been a thaw, it's improving. the obama campaign has seemingly gotten bill clinton to include a robust defense of the welfare reform act. that's of course under fire by the romney -- >> hold on, j-mart. you're barely in the lead. the president's closest, most trusted adviser, doug band, it is reported, is voting for mitt romney. that's rolling a political hand grenade under the table. what does that mean on the street? boy, that really does, as my grand mom would say, take the rag off the churn.

>> bill clinton's closest adviser, has become one of his best friends and go-to guys, doug band has told two people he's going to be voting for mitt romney. and when they asked him, he declined to comment. not even a denial. it was an eye browse raising remark, which i'm sure was very much noticed in the building in chicago. >> what is behind that? that doesn't just happen. you don't get that kind of information leaked by accident, especially a couple days ahead of president clinton's speech introducing the president of the united states. >> i think that reflects the fact that there is on the staff level bad blood still between the obama folks and the clinton folks. the principals are getting along just fine but often times the staff stop and the elbows are very, very sharp. >> president clinton privately told people for years how disappointed he was in barack

obama. now of course barack obama is reaching out to him but doug band, for people at home who don't understand, is inseparable from bill clinton, travels everywhere. you want access, you go through doug band. he's inseparable from bill clinton. if he's saying this, it's not a mistake. so what's going on here? >> well, his role with the president has changed a little bit and he's got with present. look, there's a still a group of clinton people who are disappointed in certain aspects of what president obama has done and who are thinking more about hillary clinton 16 probably than they are about this election. >> there you go. >> president clinton is here, he's already been featured in an ad. whatever is going on on the perimeter or between the two presidents, the obama campaign is happy about bill clinton's speech and performance in that ad and the fact that he'll be out on the trail all fall on behalf of the ticket. he is still the best surrogate not just for barack obama but for the democratic party. >> so bill clinton's going up

against the football game? >> wednesday night, yeah. >> you have cowboys-giants at 8:30. >> i think at halftime there will be an interview maybe more widely seen during the game than the speech itself. >> boy, he's going to set this place on fire. >> as much buildup and anticipation is there is for bill clinton's performance, i'll bet it's better than we're all thinking. >> he's going to tear it up. it's going to be amazing. >> people will be thinking about doug band after that, let's put it that way. >> how much management can there be of bill clinton if you're the obama campaign? >> there's only so much. >> about as much as clint eastwood, which ain't much. >> i think he's getting a draft at some point. it hasn't happened yet. it's now tuesday morning. >> that's not good. >> we'll get that to you.

>> it was the same thing four years ago when he spoke. >> it's very exciting, willie. i understand he's going to start walking from greenville, south carolina and they're going to push the camera up on him. it's going to be a very long walk. >> slow motion with a wind machine. >> just like an l.a. crowd. >> j-mart, good to see you. senator chuck schumer will be here along with congressman chris van holland. and senator in virginia, tim kaine. football season kicks off in less than 38 hours. who is the odds-on favorite to win it all? and tiger maxkes a run on the final day. and rory mcilr. we'll be back at the blackfinn salon. ♪ ♪

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blackfinn saloon in charlotte.

freefall baseball. are we going to talk about the red sox? >> i'm starting to feel what it was like being a red sox fan one year ago, as a yankees fan. the yankees trying to hold on to their slim lead, tied at 3 in the eighth. jimenez hits a grounder out of the reach of robinson cano. the rays beat the yankees. the orioles also won. so the yankees now up one game on baltimore in the a.l. east. rays are just two and a half bag. >> willie, obviously the big story in new york, where we're from it's new york, but my gore, buck showalter? >> incredible. >> what about the text? forget about manager of the year, what about manager of the decade. how do you turn a team as bad as the orioles around? >> baltimore and washington will be in the postseason. >> to joe's point, buck

showalter manager of the year, dan duquette general manager out of baseball for ten years, tiff -- executive of the year. >> can we talk about the red sox? things have got i don't knten s. >> you and i could start. we could go to seattle, you'd be on the mound, i'd catch you. we'd win. >> how bad can it get up there? >> worse. >> wow. >> you're a little younger than most people who will be in the lineup for the yankees tonight. that's how bad they are. let's do a little golf. incredible leader board at the deutsche bank golf championship, louis oosthuizen. this is not good. it goes way off into the woods. it's like barnicle off the tee. he left rory mcilroy in the hunt with the share of the lead.

he hits a beauty on the par four six. he taps in for birdie, gives him the outright lead. this kid's incredible. but tiger woods in the hunt four strokes back, trying to make a move. chip shot for birdie on the par four 15th. spins off the lip. tiger played well. became the first player in the process to top $100 million in pga tour earnings. oosthuizen. long putt. wouldn't sink, caddy shack style. he had to tip it in. mcilroy shot a 67 in t 7 in the round. they're calling him the next tiger woods. he's good. he's pretty great. >> you know who else is great? you know i've loved this team forever. >> you hung in there even in the dark times. >> even in the darkest times. back in the 40s and 50s.

i've been a panthers fan long time. >> now we're all catching up to joe here. the carolina panthers, the hometown team here, they get started this weekend in tampa. they actually left town a little early. they're going to leave today to avoid the democratic national convention and all that comes with it. panthers stadium will be the venue for president obama's speech on thursday night. as of a couple weeks ago workers installing johnson rateorgenerad wiring. >> greek columns, i knew it was coming. >> how much do you have think you've spent on panthers memorabilia over the years? >> it's hard to say. thousands and thousands of dollars. remember when they beat the bears, one of the most incredible victories back in '33. little known fact. >> i remember you booing george blando. >> he's 47 years old, what's he

doing playing for the panthers? >> running the wrong way? right here. it's not even funny. >> led by cam newton, the best young player in the nfl. las vegas has the panthers, in case you're interested in such things at 40-1 to win the super bowl. the patriots top the list. you really shouldn't gamble on sports, unless you like excitement and money. >> hey, willie, i've got a lockdown bet for you. >> what you got? >> we talked about it before but i'm dead serious. any time at the beginning of the season or during the bowl games that the s.e.c. plays the big 10 and i'm dead serious about this, this has been the rule for years, always bet against the big 10. they're going to lose and they're going to lose big. >> that alabama/michigan game was an embarrassment. those are two teams playing completely different games.

>> it's just a different world. >> i'm convinced, and i'm not even kidding, if vanderbilt played in the big 10 or a big conference, they'd be third or fourth. >> the big 10 is so bad. >> when we come back, andrea mitchell will join us. we're live from the blackfinn saloon in charlotte, north carolina. ♪ there's no need for argument, there's no argument at all ♪ capella university understands rough economic times

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it's 45 past the hour. there's where it's all going to happen. we're at the blackfinn saloon where different things are happening. it is very different here. just a lot of alcohol. here with us host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell. and of connecticut, governor dennel malloy. >> i have for you a football hat. undefeated. >> fantastic! >> we did well in basketball. we were well represented on the olympic team, so here's a uconn hat. >> thank you. how do the democrats feel following tampa? >> they feel really, really

good, if not just confident. maybe a little overconfident. i think they do have real issues to face. look at north carolina. 14,000 votes last time. romney has pulled ahead in the elon university points by 4 points. they need women, they need the young people to be enthusiastic. you know the college campuses is where they're trying to organize. but north carolina is critical for romney. there are different paths to -- >> romney has to win north carolina. right? >> romney has to win north carolina and barack obama done have to win north carolina. but north carolina would be one of the battleground states that would be a great plus. they still think they have a shot, the obama people here. i think it's going to be really tough. >> all right, governor malloy, you're going to speak tomorrow. >> i am. >> very excited about that.

>> you've given people a sneak peek about what you're going to say. >> i've been talking about this for a while. you talk about the republican convention. that was the tea party convention that they invited a few republicans to. let's be honest. i think a few more sessions like that and it will be easier for us. >> the sneak peek i've got is you saying "it's a short speech and it's not going to be about me. i'm not like other governors, i'm not showing up to give a speech about myself. that was rampant at the republican convention. >> who could he be talking about? >> it tcontinues! >> it started here and it continues here. >> it was the me, me, me convention and i think it's going to be different here. this is our chance to make it very clear why our candidate is very different than mitt romney, why we have a better vision, why, quite frankly, the united states is in a far better place today than it was four years ago. we're ready. >> how is that battle with you

and chris christie going? >> you're baiting me here. >> you're the one that went after mitt romney by -- i mean went after chris christie by talking about the speech. >> me and everybody else. every one of these speeches was about whoever was giving the speech. we have a great candidate. we have a great story to tell. he's done some remarkable things. we were bleeding 700,000 jobs a month. we've created over 4 million jobs since he's become president and we've grown manufacturing jobs for the first time since the early 1990s. things are hatppening and beginning to happen well. >> when asked if things are better today than they were four years ago, he said no. what's your answer? >> hell yeah! >> it's obvious to me why that caaign had trouble with the question. it's true, a lot of what you just said but for a lot of swing

and undecided voters, they don't feel that in their daily lives and they're sensitive to that. so do you thread that needle? how do you say hell yes it's better but you don't feel it yet and how we're going to help you out later. >> let go back to the tea party convention. they spent three days lowering taxes on the very wealthy people in this country would make the country better. it not true. they spent three days trying to hide the fact they want to do away with medicare, turn it into a voucher program, put most senior citizens in this country basically on welfare. >> i missed those speeches. yeah, yeah, there were no signs on the back of the stage. >> put your citizens on welfare, go gop. i missed that. >> they're going to turn welfare into a voucher program. >> you really want to fight on medicare when the president is going to hear throughout the rest of the campaign he cut $716

billion from medicare? again, an attack that i think is demagogic but an attack that works. do you really want to talk about medicare? >> absolutely because that is the program that keeps seniors, you know, being able to live. >> so why did the president cut $700 billion? >> because he didn't. >> he cut $700 billion to who have it over to his health care plan. >> without any loss of benefits to seniors. the middle men again squeezed. people won't get rich on medicare by $700 billion but every senior citizen will have the same coverage they currently have. >> does it just take $700 billion from middlemen? i thought there was a lot of seniors that like the medicare advantage. >> the program stays pretty much in tact. that's the reality. what happens is people who have been making a lot of money, just like on the pell grants and college loans, they took it out

on the people who are making a ton of money and now they want to take that money and put it back into people so that they can make money off students. >> i think medicare is a tougher argument to make than pell grant, education, r & d, infrastructure. >> if you look at the polling, seniors get it. they actually understand what the ryan plan would do, what mitt romney's plan would do. >> republicans were ahead of democrats, mitt romney was last week, on medicare. >> not the numbers i'm seeing. >> let me ask you quickly about connecticut. are the jobs coming back? what can we do to grow the economy? not only the northeast or manufacturing jobs, what can we do to bring the jobs back? >> in 2011 connecticut's economy grew faster than 41 other states and created since i became governor 23,500 private sector jobs. but if you don't have one of those jobs and you're still without a job, quite frankly it

doesn't make a difference in the world. things are slow. >> can you handicap the senate race in connecticut for us? >> it's going to be close, come right down to the wire. chris murphy is running a good campaign, came through strong. linda mcmahon has already sent $70 million in the state in the last two -- >> how are those 30-second ads coming? >> it's going to be pretty interesting. >> has anybody created like what do they call those chips you used to put in tv, v-chips? >> anybody doing a v-chip to block her ads? >> you can't do that. i think she's going to be reminded of some of the entertainment provided our children. >> she's like grandma at the table. >> maybe she is. there a lot of republicans quietly saying at the end of the cycle you can look at linda mcmahon and say she cost the republicans two seats in the

united states senate. we have people like rob simmons, a good, mainstream connecticut republican, chris shays, a good mainstream connecticut republican being beaten by a blizzard, an avalanche of 30-second ads. >> look at what happened last time with the tea party candidates in delaware and ot r others that cost candidates in the senate. >> coming up, senator chuck schumer of new york will be here. >> is he not great? >> he's great. he's adorable. >> she wants you to be a co-host. >> i will. i love seeing you guys. >> that would be good. you're quick on your feet. >> also ahead, after spending a week in tampa at the rnc, actor jeff bridges is here in charlotte at the dnc.

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>> your party says you inherited a bad situation. you've had three and a half years to fix it. what grade would you give yourself so far for doing that? >> i would say income plel -- incomplete. i would say investing in clean energy and science and research. [ applause ] >> it is the top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." we're live at the blackfinn saloon for a couple of drinks and the democratic national convention in charlotte, north

carolina. andrea mitchell is still with us. joining us former democratic congressman harold ford, jr. we're also have democratic senator from new york, senator chuck schumer. and democratic representative from maryland and ranking member of the house budget committee, congressman chris van hollen, who wants a bloody mary. >> he wants a bloody mary. >> wait until the convention's over. >> let's serve one up for him. last week george pataki. this week the good congressman. it's a question that has a thousand answers, are we better off that we have four years ago. we heard no from martin o'malley yesterday, we heard hell yes from dennel malloy. the president is giving himself anne complete grade. it's a tough question for democrats to answer. >> a tough question but senator schumer, perhaps what democrats could point sought we could go back to the policies that

preceded us for eight years that got us into the situation and also perhaps ask why george w. bush wasn't at the convention since they're pushing his policies. >> romney says he wants to be a severe conservative. bush was a compassionate conservative. our key industry, our auto industry, was on the verge of extinction. incomes were going down. all of that's turned around. we have 4.5 million new jobs, more manufacturing jobs than in the 90s. general motors and chrysler are beating the foreign companies. we're coming back. now, do we have a ways to go? obviously. everyone knows that. but there is not a single doubt in my mind or i think in the mind of the electorate that you'd rather be where we are today than we were the last day of george bush's administration and nobody wants to go back. [ cheers and applause ]

>> you know, by the way, that's a compelling argument. if you have all of these paul ryan fans applauding for chuck schumer, it must be a compelling argument. >> the argument doesn't make sense when they're running neck and neck in the polls. >> only a third of the americans believe we're going in the right direction. >> isn't it clear there's work to be done here. >> there's no doubt there's work that needs to be done here. we heard from mitt romney he would have been right there to help rescue the banks but he would have been a -- awol when it came to rescuing the auto manufacturers. if we'd listened to mitt romney and paul ryan and privatized social security, people wouldn't even have the foundation that they had during that period of

time. so the president took some tough decisions, they were not popular at the time at all, rescuing the auto industry, but we have brought ourselves out of the ditch and now we've got to make the decision as to the best way forward. as chuck said, the last thing people want to do is adopt the policies that got us in this. >> if you look at poll after poll, the president is not tied with mitt romney because people agree with his economic policies. the president is upside down in a big way on how he's handling the economy. he's still ahead in the polls because he's much more likable to the electorate than mitt romney. what is the disconnect between the president's policies on the economy and voters if you believe what the senator and congressman said, why don't americans buy it? >> i agree with everything that chuck and chris had said. there's no doubt there are vast differences between these two candidates in the direction the country would have gone had

republicans won. but to answer your question, it's jobs and depth. the reality is the president in the next several days will have to lay out on a very clear, concise and compelling way where we go -- >> while you're talking for kids getting their kids ready for school not looking for tv. 32% of americans say we're on the right track, 61% say the wrong track. nip oth any other election year that would be death for an incumbent. it's not this year. >> it makes the point, the direction we were headed had mccain one, the numbers would be even worse -- >> lower than 32%? >> the fundamental question has to be asked to mitt romney and paul ryan who preach an incredible game about what they want to do to reduce our spending. when given an opportunity before all the republican opponents in the primary just tefrl several months ago, when asked if we

could reduce spending and raise taxes by a 10-1 margin, meaning reduce spending by ten times and raise taxes by one, all of them said no. chris served on a the simpson-bowles commission where the question was put forth, how could you take mitt romney and paul ryan -- >> you're talking about romney and ryan. the question is the president -- but the president -- let me go to andrea. the president has been president for four years. i'm not speaking as a republican, i'm not speaking as a conservative, i'm speaking as an analyst here. and we'll talk to jeff greenfield when he comes on. he'll say the same thing. when you have a president upside down on handling of the economy, if only 32% of americans say you're going in the right direction, americans do not have confidence in these economic policies. >> he's riegd the crest of his

popularity comparatively against mitt romney's the wall street journal pointed out mitt romney and ryan did not lay out what the specifics were. i would ask you and chuck schumer what does he have to say to americans about what he's going to do in the future. what are the specific economic policies? michelle obama is going to be a super home run, whatever it is, a grand slam. but they do have to give a speech that goes beyond rhetoric and the president has to tell people where are we going forward. that's the gap. >> you be and the president will focus on the middle class like a laser. he will talk about investments. not just cut everything. there are some things that have to be cut. we have to reform medicare. we can argue about how to do it. but he's going to talk about education and how that's your kids' future. they want to cut student loan, the bill i had that gave a

$2,500 tax credit to parents for helping their kids go to college, they oppose. he's going to talk about infrastructure. every american know when is you get your infrastructure going and you build your roads and highways and sewers -- >> but it's about spending. the american people want something that makes sense. >> he's going to talk about investment but he's also going to do it in the context of balancing the budget. mitt romney is so narrow that he thinks if you do well for him and the people like him, who tend to be his contributors, the whole country will do well. we want people like mitt romney to do well but we don't think the whole answer -- >> your contributors do pretty well, too, senator schumer. >> they do but at least my -- come on. >> you call the senator from wall street -- >> i'm not doing the 1% this

evening because the vast majority of people, even wealthy people, realize that just helping the 1% and not helping the 99% is not the way to build an economy that buys their products and that gets things going. >> let me finish. there's a very narrow group of people who are fund being the super pacs who romney and ryan have cultivated who believe help me and that's the whole answer. that is a narrow, self-defeating answer that will lose them the election. >> all right. i'm going to go to chris now. >> good. >> because you -- you ran out your time. so, chris, the question is how does the president -- we're talking about the middle class here, how does the president convince small business owners? how does he convince large business owners? harold's heard this, i've heard it, i'm sure you guys have heard it when the doors are closed, that the president gets it, he

understands the plight of the small business owners, he understands what they need to do to create jobs. we all get that the president understands small business. how does he sell that? >> i think what he does is say look at my record and also look forward to what i'm proposing. if you look at the president's record, he provided lots of incentives and relief to small businesses right out of the -- >> not to interrupt. soap if he did help small businesses at the beginning there were a lot of tax breaks in the stimulus, why don't small business owners understand that? why don't big business owners understand it? >> actually, there are lots of small business owners who do. i've been to lots of gatherings where you've had small businesses talking about how what the president did helped them and how what he plans to do will help them. >> and they're counting their

money and not hiring people. >> there's no doubt we have to reduce our long-term deficit. the issue is how we do it. what the president has put forward is a balance point. he said we have to make tough cuts but we are going to ask people at the top, people like mitt romney, to chip in on this. if you don't, you whack everybody else match harder. it's kind of simple math. what the president says is we're all in this together, let's take a balanced approach. cuts, yes, but also asking for help from the top. >> say the business community is represented by the david kochs and sheldon adelsons and the people who simply believe -- it's pretty close. what you're saying is what the business community really wants is simply tax cuts on the wealthiest people.

business people i talk to say we must make our education program better. >> senator, senator, did i say that here? >> no. i'm saying that's what our republican friends say. they seem to think a small, narrow group of business owners represent all of business. when we go around our states, we find just the opposite. i talked to a ceo yesterday of one of the most major companies headquartered in new york. she said the number one problem in america is rebuilding our education. >> i don't understand business leaders say they can't get welders, they can't get engineers. >> i wanted to make a point i was going to make to the senator earlier but they're so excited to be here -- >> we are. >> here wlafs don't understand about the republicans on the tax cuts. i never voted for the tax increases. i called you the senator from wall street, which a lot of people called you that but i was going to ask him, i will tell you from the red neck riviera, conservatives, a lot of small

business in four terms had a rich person ask me for tax cuts. i never once did. they always knew they would get the accountants and lawyers to take care of that. it was always about regulatory relief. i'm just curious why it is that the republicans on a national level are so laser focused on saying absolutely no to taxes because that's -- i don't know about the koch brothers, i don't know them, but all the rich guys i know and rich women i know, they're not talking about tax cuts. they're saying we'll pay more taxes, just get the federal government off our back. >> there's a narrowness to what mitt romney is talking about. we hear from business people and leaders in the business community who believe strongly if you lift some of this regulatory burden, the broadband industry, health care industry, which are growing if you find a way to get thom some sort of

idea of what they can look forward to, what the governmental regulatory scheme will look like, to issue a new era of growth. >> it makes a great difference if you make 250 to 300. we should never have moved this -- he's made this point over and over again. it should be one that is embraced by the party as a whole. >> since 1984 and walter monday day at the democratic convention and the results of that campaign when he said we'll both major the bomb bottom line is the republicans have viewed this tax ticket as the ticket to success. dealing with it and coming up

with ways to deal with the deductions and simpson-bowles, that's the way to go. i think most business leaders would tell you. >> there's been a big change. in the past republicans succeeded on the tax issue, i agree. that's because they linked the middle class and the rich. what i think we have been able to do over the last few years, whether the number is 250 or a million, is say middle- >> the president just asked the congress to pass extended tax relief for 98% of the american people, to chuck's point. 97% of all businesses that are organized will get tax relief. among the other 3% that's important for people to

understand, when mitt romney talks about small businesses, he defines bain capital as a small business. he would say some fortune 100 companies are small businesses base they're organized as pastoral. they'd all get immediate relief under the president's plan and so would 98% of the people. >> what i don't understand is the you and i know people making $250,000 manhattan as opposed to someone making the same money in pensacola, where you are rich. >> because housing costs are so much less. >> everything costs more in new york than say pensacola, florida. one thing why the president didn't go along with it i will

argue until i'm blue in the face you get to a million dollars. that debate is pure live about ideology and mott just economics. >> that's where the deficit reduction -- >> if he cares about deficit reduction and he made that decision but that's minor to me compared to the point of separating the middle class from the wealthy and whether it's 3% or 1%, i think we have succeeding in doing that and i think that's going to have major effect on the election. again, going back to the narrowness of this administration, they -- i'm sorry, of the romney campaign, they simply -- they're so surrounded -- i know these people as you say. and the ones who are hard right and most of all not hard right, butt ones who are hard right

feel unleash me, i can make the country is better place, forget infrastructure. i talked to people and businesses and their number one concern, they can't get engineers, they can't get welders, they can't get the skilled labor they need to grow. where is that in the romney platform? >> all right. senator chuck schumer and congressman chris van hollen. it's been fun. >> it's great seeing people excited about their party. >> yes, it is. these two guys are very excited about their party. >> and they have reason to be. it's going to be a fun week. >> and, joe, your day will come. you'll be excited about the democratic party one day. >> i don't know about that. >> they're psyched about him, which is disturbing. willie guys, what do you have coming up? >> the former secretary of state madeleine albright will join us

on set. actor jeff bridges attending both. coming up next, knew the man running for senate in a crucial state not just for him but for the president, tim kaine joins us. ♪ i know you're hurting because your heart is breaking ♪ welcome aboard! [ chuckles ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert.

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my mom, god love her, who lived till 93, we lost her a couple years ago, she was at the last convention with me. i can't picture -- my mom was a smart woman, but my mom, i can't picture handing her a voucher at age 80 and saying you go out in the insurance market and you

figure out what's best for you. ladies and gentlemen, it's just that simple. we are for medicare. they are for voucher care. it's basic. >> welcome back. it's 25 past the hour. here with us now former democratic governor and former chairman of the democratic national convention tim kaine, who is now running for a u.s. senate seat in virginia. speaking tonight? >> i am indeed. zeks sig >> excited? >> i am very excited. >> mark halpern is with us. you have new information on what the first lady might be saying. >> a little preview from her speech. the big theme they want to drive is the middle class. michelle obama by her own upbringing is going to talk about the importance of the middle class and her husband fighting for the middle class. she's going to testify to his strength and the way he's dealt with adversity in a way only she

can. and she's going to talk about an issue she's worked on a lot, military families. those are three things are things she can uniquely do and she's got t confidence of having done this once before, unlike ann romney, who did a good job in her maiden appearance, michelle obama will be able to come back and do a good job. >> tim kaine, the middle class are hurting and frustrated. the poll shows the president has his work cut out for him. >> i think the president and his team can do it. what i'm talking about tonight is results. we're not where we want to be at as a nation but -- >> but that's a tough sell, isn't it? >> i look at this maybe like a virginians, we're at the n the middle of two wars, and the last

credible intelligent for bin laden is eight years old. virginia is the most military state in the country between active guard reserve, military veterans. one in nine virginians is a vet. this is a state that appreciates a tough commander in chief. >> it comes down to the economy, it comes down to people's wallets. >> virginia has seen some significant benefit from some of the president's policies. are we still in need of more acceleration in the economy? absolutely. we got to grow the economy, fix the budget. we have to find common ground. but if you just look at the economic stats and your guest in the segments stock market plummeting to the 7s and 6s, losing jobs in the hundreds of thousands, gdp shrinking, now

it's growing back. >> i think pride morning right after the big speeches, we'll be getting a new jobs report. >> it will put a shed on the entire convention. one way or another. i'm wondering why you're here, why you're speaking lon. you're running a really tough race, one of the closest in virginia. and yet not only are you come hearing and embracing the president, embrace being the national party, you're speaking tonight. >> yup. i'm here because first i am who i am and i'm not changing it. i'm a supporter of this president and i want him to get re-elected. i've got a great virginia delegation here i'm going to be spending time with. i was the dnc chair that picked charleston to host this election. we can't ignore the south. when there was a choice about a

convention city i thought charlotte's got a lot to offer, we'll come and -- >> he knows how to play a crowd, doesn't he? >> i've been in a lot of bars. >> so, mike, it is difficult for some democrats like claire mccaskell to come here because there's a disconnect between let's say swing voters in missouri and the national democratic party. virginia is going to be such a tough place for democrats this year but if -- don't you start to feel like in mitt romney can't win north carolina and virginia, he's not going to win this election? >> instinct tells me he's got a better shot in north carolina than he does in virginia but that's a stunning number that you just recited. one in nine in your state members of the military, former members of the military. we're here in the state with

camp lejeune and do you have an explanation or a theory as to why there is almost an unconscionable absence of speaking about the war in afghanistan from both candidates? >> you're going to hear about it from the president. he was down in talking not only the anniversary of the year in iraq and people make commitments all the time butch each said we'd get out of iraq and we did. he said we in virginia looking at it through our eyes, the president won virginia in 2008 when he was a neophyte running against a bona fide american war hero. this a battle tested president who made very difficult

decisions. he's made tough decisions here and virginians respect him. >> are you confronted at all by voters as you make your rounds in the state with the feeling that some people express, a lot of people express, the weight of this war, being carried by almost when you're in the middle of two wars your guardsmen and women are getting redeployed repeatedly. i wasn't to the deployments, i went to the funerals, i went to afghanistan to see our guards men and women there. the military families with the relief that these repeated deployments is coming to an end. i know time between deployments

is decreasing. at quantico they're not being given to start tomorrow. they're being told your active. >> first of all, i love the way you talk about the staff. sequestration, the cuts that are likely to come at the end of the year if we don't have a deal, virginia would be one of the top three states affected by this. >> sure would. >> how are you addressing this in virginia and how can democrats learn from you around the country? >> i don't know if i have anything to teach but i'm addressing it by reminding people how we got here. we got here because we started a whole series of policies that ran up the deficit. we put the wars on the credit card, we put the walks there's two working stat jis on how to balance the budget. one is pledge allegiance to

grover norquist. that's one strategy. that's the other guy's, my opponents and the romney/ryan strategy. the second one is, snop, i we have if you can let the bush tax cuts expire at the top end, you have revenue that will then soften the need for any of these -- >> we've got to go to break. but will t he believes he needed to do that. >> what do you think though? >> i think the big game going forward is we have to make sure

the porous afghan/pakistan border is -- >> did you agree with the president? >> i did not have any objection to that. >> does that mean you agree he tripled the number of troops in afghanistan. >> i'm not a military man. >> is that a yes? you're good. i need a yes. >> i thought it was important to do. >> you can't put that in a 30-second ad, can you? >> but the draw down was very important. >> for the life of me i can't figure why he tripled the number of troops in afghanistan. if you're a general, your job is to get as many troops for your theater as possible and to accomplish your mission . i have great respect for the general to ask for those troops but if you're commander in chief, you have more of a

responsibility than to the general. >> within a few weeks of the president coming into office, the taliban were 50 miles away from the nuclear materials in pakistan. part of the reason was to make the border less porous so we not ris ak power grab of the nuclear weapons. that was part of why he needed to do it. now we need to draw down and we are. >> still ahead, former secretary of state madeleine albright joins us right here on the set. she's right here on "morning joe." ♪ ♪

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welcome back to "morning joe." meteorologist bill karins. quick weather update and we'll return back to charlotte for our continuing coverage of the democratic national convention. as far as the forecast goes for charlotte, charlotte, it's going to be very tropical. we will have downpours each and every afternoon here. by about the third day, slightly dryer, a little bit warmer. by charlotte standards, this is even going to be very humid and

wet. in new york city rain this morning into long island and into connecticut. with that high humidity level, we'll see numerous showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. airport delays are possible at all the big cities here. one other spot across michigan, pretty heavy amounts of rain from grand rapids to kalamazoo and saginaw. everyone in the eastern half of the nation, a very humid start to our week here. look at the drought in dallas. from kansas all the way through texas, near 90 to 100 degrees. coming up next on "morning joe," mika and joe will be talking to former secretary of state mad albright. stay tuned.

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♪ ♪ [ applause ] it is 44 past the hour. welcome back. we're live at blackfinn saloon. have you been drinking willie? barnicle? not yet. get one. former secretary of state madeleine albright, the author of "prague, a personal story of remembrance." it is so good to you have bag on the show with us here in charlotte this morning. we're going to be doing an event with madam secretary today with the national democratic institute. tell us what we're doing. >> first of all, what we do, i haven't realized how many foreign visitors come to our convention. starting in 1984 the national

democratic institute started putting on seminars that paralleled the convention so we could explain what is going on and so we can explain what our system is about. you are coming to do a panel to talk about the role of the media in covering politics, the importance of the free press. so delighted that you're going to be doing at that. >> how has the president done on foreign policy over the past four years? it seems to be a topic neither the republican ticket or democratic ticket are talking about on the campaign trail. how'sy he doing? >> i think he's doing really, really well, he's regained america's reputation abroad, made clear where we stand in that we need partners in taking care of the issue. he's been a decisive commander in chief and osama bin laden is dead. that's an important step forward. >> you say you've watched the

show a lot. you've heard our concerns over afghanistan over the past four years. do you have concerns about what's happened over the past four years, the tripling of the number of troops, this policy drift from an anti-terror campaign to an anti-insurgent campaign? >> i have been concerned about afghanistan for a very long time. i supported president bush in terms of retaliation for 9/11 but very, very upset about the fact that he took his eye off the ball in afghanistan and moved us into iraq for no visible reason as far as i could see. and i do think afghanistan continues to be a problem. i do agree the president did the right thing on the search. i think it was something that was called for at the time and i was just listening to senator kaine -- governor kaine.

in the lottery of dangerous places in the world, afghanistan is right up there. >> i agree with you on that. >> what do we do with the fact we have these afghan soldiers that we are training are turning on our troops. if we can't train them up, how do we withdraw or do we just withdraw as scheduled and write it off and afghanistan returns to whatever century it wants to return to? >> i do think it's a concern but as i understand it, it is not all the troops that we are trailing and it's various parts of the system. they are a pause in it. i think they understand the ultimate issue is how to train up their local police and their security forces. but i do not believe -- the president has made clear the combat aspect of our relationship with afghanistan is ending but the world is not giving up on afghanistan. there are going to be civilian activities trying to figure out and ultimately reliance on the

afghan people themselves. but there's no question it's a concern. >> madam secretary, there does seem to be some gray area about what exactly happens in 2014. the president said in colorado on sunday all troops would be withdrawn. jay carney the next day came utility and said that's not exactly what he meant to say, there is some nuance there. as you understand it, what happens in 2014? and will american troops still be in harm's way every day? >> i think what will happen is there lab certain group of civilians, trainers and a variety of civilian activities and conceivably some -- i don't know the details but some forces that will remain but they will not be in a combat role and that the issue here is how to ease out, how to make sure -- and andrea raises the important problem of how to train up the locals. but that is what they're going to be focusing on and also weeding out those that, in fact, are a problem. but the combat aspect will end,

as the president said. >> madam secretary, by virtue of the fact that young americans in afghanistan wear the american uniform, that places them in a combat role, whether they are engaged in combat or not, they are actually targets within that country. so my question to you is and i kind of apologize for the question because candidate this question -- what would you say to the parents of a 21 or 22-year-old young man or young woman about to be redeployed or deployed to afghanistan when they ask you, the candidate, or you as former secretary of state, why? >> i think it is one of the toughest questions. things that i never thought i'd do in my life as u.n. ambassador and secretary of state was respond top questions like that from parents, and trying to explain what the role of the united states is and how we have to defend our freedom, which in many ways is dependent upon how other people join our lives.

the people who join our military are true patriots and understand their duties, and parents -- being a parent, i understand how difficult that is -- but the bottom line is our military are the most admired patriots and they know what they have signed up for. i hope very much there will be no war in america and no more deaths. and stranging to me governor romney didn't even mention the war in his speech, and iran and syria. >> obviously americans don't want the united states to go war with yet another country. but what do we do to expedite regime change there? almost 20,000 syrians have been slaughtered by the saudi regime? >> i think that we are doing an awful lot. that is not visible in many ways. so there is humanitarian

assistance, legal assistance, aspects of command and control, logistics, trying to figure out how to be helpful to the refugee, but i think it is a very difficult issue. people feel we did something in libya, why can't we do something in sear dia tyrisyria? the bottom line, it's a very different place. what the administration is doing in terms of gathering international support sat crucial part in isolating syria. >> we've got to get a break but andrea has a question. we're not jot allowed to say no toll andrea. if andrea has a question. >> do you agree with mitt romney that russia is the most dangerous threat to the united states? >> if you live in the 20th century you might believe that, but the bottom line is, we're living in the 21st century, which is is wrong. >> thank andrea. thank you very much. >> we'll see you. thank you very much, for recruiting us. >> thank you so much.

and thank you for all the -- >> good ones. check p for pope. stop by the "morning joe" lounge located here in the experience area in the convention at center, and we'll be live here at the blackfinn in charlotte. special coverage of the democrat campaign. okay. 210 eat trade street, come by if you're in the area. stay with us. more "morning joe" in just a moment. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier,

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from the blackfinn saloon, you were not with us in tampa. the bank wasn't open for the holiday. the hurricane, the whole thing. but you're here. >> i'm here. >> no one cared about anything but the chuck todd button. >> they didn't allow buttons. >> that was the coolest thing. so now here in charlotte, this will be the button. the democratic national convention. let's push in on that, if we can. this is the chuck todd commemorative. premiering it. debuting it right here. >> if you don't get it, you'll

have to get it in cooperstown. because it is going to the hall of fame. >> just be careful. they're hot. >> if you get one you're a lucky man. chuck todd joins us in agents bit. also mark warner, virginia governor pat quinn and actor jeff bridges. that and all more in just a minute.

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do you think romney's wall street background disqualified him from caring about the middle class or knowing what to do about the middle class? >> look, the way i look at this is, i just look at facts, and that is, what is the plan that they're putting forward? when romney says his plan is to cut taxes for the ridge ach and increase for the middle class, i got a problem with that. america's middle class can't stand than anymore. america's middle class has been hammered, squeezed and chipped at for a generation now. it's got to stop. >> exactly. top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." at the blackfinn salon in charlotte, north carolina. let's have a drink. >> it's like the 27 yankees all lined up. >> chuck you need a drink? >> mika, no, but i will probably go to -- >> yes -- >> for everybody i speak, you

didn't take the vodka shots and i never know how to answer that. i'm just saying, that's what everybody keeps coming up to me. really? taking the vodka shots? i'll never tell. >> mika brzezinski? >> it's the same question. [ in accent ] >> that's what we do. >> bottom's up mika. >> the answer is always yes. >> hell, yes, absolutely. >> absolutely. >> absolut. >> they called me absolut -- >> chuck todd, elizabeth won, she's going to be a superstar at this convention, she's having a little harder trouble with blue collar democrats in her home state. >> she really is. it is this whole -- obviously scott brown, i did an interview with him on the flort. two-minute interview, he said the phrase professor warren i think 70 times. i mean, he clearly is trying to drive home, she is a harvard

elitist, ivy league, this sort of resentment factor that you get in massachusetts politics. right? while it's a working class, you're sort of frequent of voters, intellectual democrats and independents and republicans, that's where clearly scott brown tries to speak to all the i'm, and she hasn't figured out how to talk to them yet. i haven't seen it. >> mark hall brynperihalperin? do you agree? >> he's runs a very smart campaign. the debates in that race softens the case in massachusetts. high-profile races will be a big deal, and the brown people believe they can force her into making errors. >> weld was in better shape than brown is. the debates happen and weld demolished. >> doesn't he have to pick up -- >> 300,000.

>> does anybody believe? scott brown has run a great campaign, jeff, and he really is. he sounds like a red sox fan. he is a blue collar massachusetts guy, but really going to believe he's going to kick up 300,000 obama voters? >> and a classic, two popular guys. late 1996. i think senator -- now linking, i don't remember his margin in massachusetts but pretty hefty. i think that was the difference. >> we've seen this core. i remember during the romney/kennedy campaign in '94. kennedy may lose and then -- boom. democrats came out and re-elected teddy. same thing in '96 at the end. are we looking at a rebate here? >> well, the obama tide is certainly going to help her. she's -- a strategic mistake, did a long time.

trying to call brown an extremist, right wing extremist. >> compare him to sharon engle? seriously? >> it just doesn't work. i think she's recognized that doesn't work and is trying to veer towards a different strategy. a that was a misgotten idea from the beginning. he doesn't fit that mold very well. >> john kerry's going to have him -- speaking at the convention. elizabeth warren. i don't think the obama campaign is really worried about massachusetts. my sense is it will sweep over the finish line in 2011. you might think that -- they've brought people from, oh, more of florida, iowa? >> i think elizabeth -- they wanted her to talk about wall street reform. when she's on that topic, that's where she's strongest. >> a great case. >> and that's what they want her to do. more than anything. >> more of a national figure. >> irony, listen, i --

>> okay. >> do you know how -- >> we're not intellectuals. we're not the harvard -- oh, sorry, professor. >> i look forward to her speech. i think it's going to be good. i really do. >> i think she's just going to completely blow the roof off of the place, because, again, unlike like a lot of democrats that preach the populist game and preach the 1%, while they're taking tons of cash from goldman sachs and jpmorgan chase and bank of america and merrill, she's walked the walk and she's talked the talk. >> she really has. >> she believes it, and -- >> and she's built her political career on trying to do this any way she can. she's doing this, because she moved out of her role, after building the consumer protection bureau. >> do massachusetts voters historically -- you heard this before from copley a couple years ago, do tmassachusetts voters have a hard time voting

for women? >> they shouldn't this time. >> there is. in a lot of high-profile races, passed over female voters and the campaign is very aware of that. the debate -- no other state in the union. >> is that why he peeks talking about his pickup truck? >> a good part of it. no other state, the news coverage will be high and she's not proven herself on that stage. brown is more confident, and, again, women candidates just have had trouble in massachusetts. >> what's sad -- i think it's the only -- >> i don't think historically there's ever been a female candidate ever elected to office in massachusetts. >> you mean governor general? great state. it's sad that massachusetts might be the only state. that really get into their debates like that. it's true. every other state it's -- >> the other thing in that race, they made a deal i don't think

any other one did. no superpac money in there. the debates will be funded -- >> can't wait. as we've been discussing republican, famous speeches by ronald reagan made in 1980, are you better off now than you were four years ago? the question on sunday, keeping the obama campaign and supporters somewhat off balance. >> the leadership of this president, we staved that off. we're beginninging to rover. we have a lot more work to do. >> are we where we need to be no. but the problem, what governor romney said, they never offered a plausible alternative. >> can you honestly say people are better off today than four years ago? >> that's not the question. >> obviously it is. you play democratic operative.

i play bob schieffer. so are americans better off today than four years ago? >> absolutely, and let me tell you why. >> that's not hard. come on now. >> all right. >> do this -- some weird, if not -- it's some weird -- right? with their -- >> what are you -- >> i don't know. but that's what they do. >> i know. >> be careful with that thing. >> i've gotten into finger trouble before on the show t. is a morning show. >> a morning show. >> it's something filthy. all right. let's hear joe biden, sent up to clarify things. >> we're number one. >> he's had trouble. >> folks let me make something clear and say it to the press. america is better off today than they left us when they left. you want to know whether we're better off? i got a little bumper sticker for you. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive!

osama bin laden is dead, and general motors is alive! osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive! >> did he really have to say it three times? >> yes, actually. >> is his audience deaf? >> for you, exactly. maybe two more would have helped. >> em if a tis. >> emphasis? >> sure. did you want to hear it again? >> no. just jeff, i mean, they knew this campaign was coming. it's kind of mitt romney. >> that's the part i can't figure out. >> it's like mitt romney. he knew the campaign was coming and he's building underground bunkers in la jollas for his cars. the obama camp knew this was coming. i could answer the question. >> you know, before i took the veil of purity i was at the political front and worked on the degree of difficulty scale, like in the oldies. this is at zero. the question they've been asking

american politics for more than 30 years explicitly, the one question everyone has to answer first. they can't start the answer with a yes, because of where we were. not out of the woods yet but we're climbing. >> how hard is it? four years ago it was possible that not only detroit was going to be shut down bus michigan, ohio, the midwest. we saved general motors, and we saved the industry and the midwest. four years ago? questionable whether you can go to the atm and get cash out of the machine. the economy was in free fall. et cetera, et cetera. you know what? we shored it up. we made tough choices, and because of it -- four years ago. you know -- pre-existing conditions, et cetera, etiquette ra. it's not that hard. >> you're the mystery speaker. >> there you go. >> please, don't bring a chair with you. >> can i bring a chair? i want to practice. >> oh, god. no. it's just wrong. sit down, please. >> mr. romney -- ah -- anyway -- i think it would

be good. just saying. >> i think it would be. you would make a very effective argument because there were very effective arguments to be made i. disagree with -- >> do you want to go back to the bush poellicies, you'll get tha >> the worst at -- doing this -- the president. the president is the worst at saying, this is where we were four years ago, and this is what -- like biden. the vice president. that's a great bumper sticker. that's a good message. give him about three or four more of those and the people are in defeat. the president doesn't do that well. >> and giving himself an incomplete. was that the best political -- >> a terrible mistake. not amp four years. >> what's the answer, incomplete? >> i'm not going to answer that simplistic question. do a jerry brown. challenge the premise of the question. it this is a foolish and trivial way to analyze politics to get grades and numbers. where's we are and where -- let

me tell you about where we were and where we are. if the president beat ut mitt romney, it wouldn't hurt. >> if you like the american auto industry, you're probably going to give me an a. if you're in detroit, in michigan if you're in ohio if you're in indiana, and getting your kids to college depends on keeping those plants open, i'm probably going to get an a, but i -- but i also understand if you're 53 years old and you lost your job three years ago and you still don't get it, i'm probably going to get an f. but here's the difference between mitt romney and me. i'm going to work my tail off to turn that f to an a, because i believe in on the job training. i believe in education. i believe in investing in our country. i believe in -- these are not difficult questions to answer. i don't understand -- >> start in the four years? >> no, no. say this about mitt romney. they were still bobbling the

health care question. this isn't that hard. i don't understand -- >> what letter grade would you give his incomplete answer? >> a 3.6. mark, still -- you guys are plugged into this campaign as almost nobody else obviously the obama people have been expecting this question. what's the reason they can't say gentlemen is there a deep, subtle message i'm not getting? >> pretty simple. >> i think there are two different acts in that narrow slice of the electorate that is undecided. the reason they're undecided is because they don't think things have been better. joe did a well considered stanza. how do you answer that? a in a variety of ways. but faced with an are you better off than not? they don't want to say yes. to the ears of voters up for grabs, that sounds like -- that's my experience. not if we're better off, not better off, losing job, not losing jobs but i'm still unemployed and things still suck

in my neighborhood. they don't want to say something to those neighborhoods, but that's the thing. to explain. >> it's too much time in front of a focus group. that's the thing. i mean, that's what they larry in t -- hear in the focus group. both spend too much time listening to their focus group. i swear. you see, the ads are made -- i've seen the focus groups, i get what they're doing, bufrt it but it's like, that's why we feel we have a segmented joyless campaign at times. >> don't you think a resounding yes and the litany you put out there, you would the next morning be saying, look at unemployment. look at middle class. look how many people are hurting? how can he say that? >> that's the thing. it doesn't have to be a resounding yes or no. it doesn't have to be an incomplete. i always like the mario cuomo. i'm not going to answer the question. why? it's a stupid question. what's a smart question? i'll tell what you a smarter question is. ask me that question. >> that's a clown question.

>> right, baby. the clown question, bro. >> i'd like to hear one of these. if i heard, well, mitt romney or obama turn to one of them saying, that's a clown question, bro, now, that's -- >> you can't say that, are you better off now than you were four years ago. that's a reasonable -- >> i'm trying to be honest. hard to come by, apparently, in some of these campaigns. >> i mean, well, he can answer the question in a more nuanced way. incomplete is not a good answer to that question. it's just not. that's my opinion, jeff, for what it's worth. >> i think sometimes, what you said is really on the ploioint. my friend joe kline said, they are so terrified by voters. >> i wonder why. >> that the idea of going up and even arguing, saying, on this one i disagree with you. it just doesn't seem to be in their nature at the moment.

>> chuck's nodding. pointing to the fact that it's -- if they spend so much time with focus groups it's almost like they worked the stage time. you didn't think it was possible to spend 37 hours a day listening to focus group, but they can. >> they do this and -- it is -- the metrics of them. that's why they can measure everything and know all this information where the campaign is, but it is -- it is, i think, twisted the principles into knots. >> we need more bulwark. >> just a little bull. somebody needs a bull. >> do you believe the place, where i work,s when i worked with my mentor, the great consultant to the '70s, we never tested a slogan. we sat around in his office smoking cigars. >> the best cigars -- >> and just in -- we did. >> cigars. >> except cigars, but go ahead. >> that's another story. >> cigar -- >> that's how we got the slogan, wow, look at the colors.

now that i think about it. it just was an -- instinct, this ought to work, and for better or worse, that's where we're going. i understand it's a different era, but, my gosh. >> you know, i had -- in my first campaign i had an opponent that -- i didn't raise a lot of money but my opponent fortunately had washington consultants and spent thousands and thousands of dollars on polls and focus groups. i knocked on doors. you get to about the 10th and 11th door, you know what all of northwest fla is talking about, if you hear the same thing in seven out of 10 or 11 doors. it's not that hard. but they do. they squeeze it down, mark, and they turn it into a joyless campaign. >> i'm less interested in slogans this time than either of them talking about the future. a lot is the president's record, is it any good over the last four years? i really think the president will do some of that, but that's what's missing from this campaign more than anything else. what is the president going to do in the next four years?

what's would mitt romney do? we'd all pay pretty closely attention to this. >> stay with us. chuck looks like he needs a shot. louis, will you get behind the bar and -- just get him one. a big one. >> still ahead after jeff bridges, he'll join us on set and ask why he's attending both party's conventions. is he taking sides? and bring in senator mark warner of virginia, thinking of someone who needs a shot, but first, let's send it to new york. bill karins for a check of the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, mika. returning to charlotte shortly. as far as the rain goes this morning, many need our umbrellas heading out the door and head to work this morning especially in areas of michigan. a line of rain moving from grand ram ids through lansing, saginaw and flint, eventually works its way through detroit. rain this morning in areas all through long island and up into connecticut. even heavy rain and downpours moving into providence and areas

of cape cod throughout the morning. for the rest of new england, the big cities from d.c., baltimore, philly, new york, the best chance of rain later this evening. whatever areas get rain it will be heavy. as far as the rest of the forecast goes, the middle of the country is very hot today. look at dallas. 101 and very dry as the drought continues to get worse and no wet weather ought all in the west. for those that in interests in charlotte, the democratic national convention, you have a chance of heavy rain and downpours tuesday and wednesday. slightly better on thursday. it looks like a pretty on and off period of wet weather down there in the queen city. you're watching "morning joe," live from charlotte. we'll return in a minute. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's 25 past the hour. we're here at the blackfinn saloon -- just come over here. thank you. i'll serve it. they might need it. chuck -- here you go. thank you, lewis. here we go. >> and jeff -- >> oh -- >> whoa, whoa -- that's for you.

>> no ideaed what you're talking about. >> this is call eed ka median brzezinski style. >> drink up, chuck. drink up, mark. don't let me down. >> we'll give you that. >> this is what we need now. did you hear that? he beat bulwark. >> i knew it would be 5:00 someplace. >> you're going -- >> the "new york times" cbs poll, tim kaine is holding on to a very small lead. a lead all the same. 48% to 46%. also in virginia, president obama is leading mitt romney 49% to 45%. 49%, 45%. everything's up for grabs right now in virginia. what's going to make the difference? >> it's been a long leg, the last ten year, nowhere in presidential elections now. now we're at ground zero. i think the presidential going to win. it's going to be tight.

i think one of the areas that hurt governor mccain earlier, i agre we can pick up a lot of votes from the 2008, veterans, and military families. this president is devoted to these folks. virginia the first. >> governor, is the u.s. economy better that you have than it was four years ago? >> if you're a chrysler worker in belvidere, illinois, 200 four years ago and now 4,000, the president's done a great job. mark just said about hiring veterans. the president and first lady led the charge of americans making sure we hired those who served their country in afghanistan and iraq. it's our duty on the homefront to make sure we take care of those who have borne the battle and president obama i think has ban great commander in chief and done the job for veterans coming home for jobs. >> you know i don't disagree but you have become fixated on the car industry.

places like ohio, manufacturers, yes, a positive impact. obvious lly michigan but there' lots of areas in country where people are really hurting and do not feel they are doing better four years later. >> it's important to build america. that's what the president proposed and the republicans in the congress said no to fixing our highway, building new schools. improving our water systems and rail systems. that's what the second term is all about. rebuilding our infrastructure and putting more people to work. >> mark, if you can't lead, then you can't rebuild? >> when he leads, the last segment. absolutely absolutely we're in a better spot. look at the stock market, from 7,000 to 13,000. 4 million new private sector jobs. i think we've got more room to go, but clearly we are better off and frankly, look at this whole thing glass half empty. heard that last week. look at this, we're actually glass half full. we've come out of the worst recession in the last 75, 100 years. sitting on the sidelines, we need a budget deal in place.

the australian foreign minister said we're one budget deal away, for decades to come. we're going to get that to happen. i know it's a lot of politicking going on back and forth, most folks now want to turn off the tv. i believe in churchill, count on americans to do the right thing after they've tried everything else. we've tried everything else. >> and illinois, current fiscal situation. the "wall street journal" was very critical of you. illinois just got downgraded, second worst credit rating this side of california. what's happening there? >> well, i inherited a lot of problems. both of my predecessor, republican and democratic governors before me are in jail, so when you have a $10 million deficit -- >> that's a pretty good answer. well, you know, i got a couple of guys in jail. >> i said to you that in illinois when they talk about term limits, it means something completely different. >> my job, straighten things out. when you're a repairman is takes

a little time. we've put our economy back together. definitely strong, no nonsense ethics law and got to make sure we put people to work. our most important mission in illinois. our foreign plan now has three shifts. chrysler, as i mentioned, is booming. caterpillar, best year ever. john deer in molina, illinois, an excellent year. that's how you get things back, because all the suppliers of those companies also have jobs when the economy's doing better. >> let me ask you. talking about the situation in illinois. curious. i want to ask you guys about crossguards. you go to ohio. things are better. casey loves that. mitt romney doesn't. virginia, thing, better. bob mcdonnell loves that, obviously romney doesn't. florida, unemployment down 2%. governor of florida loves that. mitt romney doesn't. how do these cross things work? >> ohio and virginia in particular, where romney's message has had a hard time.

both ohio and virginia beeshgs low the national average. florida is still above the national average. the housing issue in nevada. i'm looking at the battleground states. you can sort of slice them on unemployment and above and below. north carolina, nevada, above. so romney/ryan pushing, hey, this isn't working. virginia, you know, what in virginia? and that's -- you know, the secret to virginia for the president is that, romney and ryan are basically alienating federal workers in virginia. saying we're going to cut the size of government. that's going over well there. plus the demographic divide in the state that i think president obama is uniquely able to exploit. and i think that that's why he's leading. >> so has mitt romney's message, how does it stay -- >> i was in ohio a few weeks ago, and you really see what we're talking ak.

there was a joint meeting between kasich and romney and romney was saying to the audience, how terrible, it's awful. practically out of a movie in the '30s and casey would say, you young people, this economy son its way back. i was told, the romney people weren't entirely thrilled about that message, and it's a trick. i mean, it's a -- >> republicans have been trying to argue, hey, look at republican governor, and things are improving whether it's republican governors -- they're trying to figure ow how to you server that a little bit. >> better today than four years ago n. ohio? >> if you live in virginia or ohio they can say yes, yes. >> exactly. they are. >> what about the next four years? you saw the filmfest in the tampa. a program of our country. we have to have a president who's sound on foreign policy, who understands that if afghanistan does something we got to deal with. romney didn't talk about it. we can't forget the men and

women in uniform there now and need -- >> i agree. >> the other thing is, you also got to look forward. i was a business guy. we hear a lot from the other side about business credentials. i looked at their business plan. if you're a business thinking about the future, investing plant equipment, employees, a plan for competition. look at the romney/ryan business plan for our country, they cut work force and education. infrastructure, development by two-thirds. take it less than 5% of the total federal budget. tell me what country in the 21st country can spend 5% investing in the workforce, infrastructure and r & d? that is not a good business plan for the country. >> should i give him glass half full or half empty. senator warner, as we go to break, thank you very much. >> oh, come on! >> look at that.

stand big at the msnbc experience area -- what do we got? >> mika, this place is cool. anybody can come here. at the epicenter downstairs from where you are up at the bar. the best 35r9 part i think is the jim jong-il mirror personalities we have here. i did notice some absences, mike. ed -- >> no offense. >> where's me? >> you're never get wung. there's also a cool viewing area over here. a lot of people are now going to watch themselves watching "morning joe." this is the "morning joe" viewing area. so if you're in charlotte, come up and sit with us in the blackfinn or come down to the msnbc experience. buttons made. have a good time. maybe you'll meet mike barnicle if you're lucky. be right back. [ male announcer ] did you know, all those screens are sucking moisture

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hour, and 30 minutes, preluded by this man. the great jeff bridges. i know you never get sick of your career is having "big lebowski" quoted back to you. and having been served black russians. >> never gets old. properly. i see you have some things. i might show you how to broperly do this. >> get it done. dude himself. going to help us out from the bluefinn salon. help us through this. >> you have three glasses here. i'm going to show you one. maybe you, mike, can, you know -- >> scoop. >> yes. >> don't want to contaminate the ice with the hands. -- however, when you're making the white russian properly, you do not do that -- that's not your first move. >> okay. >> your first move is simply,

you go to the glass with just a skosh of kahlua. a skosh of kahlua preferably on the outside of the glass shaking it so a small bit of the cream and milk mix together, and then just barely -- >> that's just your opinion, man. >> now -- now the ice. someone standing nearby happen to have a pocket, always a little for your pocket. >> don't rush him. >> now -- >> down below. >> my favorite russian is a brand called toto's from texas. >> do not carry it. >> we're not going to hold that against you. prime sort of -- and that goes in like this.

>> wow. >> whew! >> very important. >> we're going see you when we come back. this country was built by working people.

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welcome back to the blackfinn. it's "morning joe." joined by actor jeff bridges working with the organization share our strength and together with its founder and ceo, bill shore, bringing an end to hunger in both party conventions. with the food network to raise awareness about the 16 million children who go hungry in the united states. let's take a look. >> i'm 38 years old, and been married for 16 years now. to dana walker.

i have four children. >> there hasn't been a lot of food coming into the house. i've gone about three days without eating. i've been able to do that, sometimes. >> money is short in our house. we have eaten ramen noodles three time as day, 24/7 up to 3 1/2 months. >> thank you for being here. before we get to this, jeff, i have to point out in the your making of the white russian. notable in its absence is white. it's just a glassful of vodka. >> that's not something i drink. >> just a slight residue. that's all you're looking for is the residue. >> and you call that devirtualizing? >> right. like a powdered milk. kind of like a margarita. >> sure. very particular in your interests when it comes to the white russian. now, let's talk about, why you're really here, jeff. you've been at both conventions. a bipartisan issue for you. how big is the problem of

childhood hunger? >> as you mentioned, 16 million kids, one in five, of our children struggling with hunger. it's obscene and embarrassing for such a wealthy country and we've got the greatest opportunities, and our kids are in this condition. >> how does that happen? how does that happen? ri richer economy than ever. how does that happen? one in, how many -- >> one in five. >> one in five children in american. how does that happen? >> 45 million on food stamps, first time in history. we had dinner with secretary vilsack. one of two kids in the united states will be in food assistance at some point in the their childhood. that's remarkable. >> if you're on food stamps, do you not get enough from the government so you don't have to have three peoples's ramen noodles for two months like we heard -- >> food stamps don't go far.

through two, two and a half weeks of the month. but no farther. >> one of the things about the campaign, the organization, share our strength started, it's really about creating public/private partnerships. going to each state and getting the governors and the mayors involved, and getting powerful people in each state to make it a priority. >> some of the people who stepped up on the private side for you guys? who's helping? >> oh, gosh. arby's, for instance. what was the mail i sent you? >> raising $2 million through something call the dine out for no kid hungry. walmart, and many others. jeff mentioned a lot of bipartisan support. governor mcdonnell from virginia and as well as the governor associations both united on this. >> how much of it -- >> yeah. >> as opposed -- >> not at all.

>> it's access. >> and what they do. >> and the delivery systems are sort of the place. we know how to -- thousand end it. it's a matter of getting the kids who are at risk access to the programs, and each state has a, kind of a unique challenge, you know, for them, and so we're looking for leadership. having she's governors say let's get all our guys together and figure out why these kids are not getting the food that's there's for them to -- >> is embarrassment a factor in it at all? parents not willing to say my child is going hungry? >> certainly, stigma is an issue. 21 million arranged country who get a free meal for lunch. only 9 million get it, even though it's bought and paid for. why is that? one reason, show up early at school. most can barely get our kids on school on time. the stigma issue you're talking about. things we've to change that. move breakfast to the first ten

minutes. every kid's in every seat on time in california. >> what state does it best, i was going to ask. what state does the it worst? >> states that do it best, maryland, governor o'malley, incredible champion on this. arkansas, colorado. virginia's been excellent. >> yeah. >> states that do it worse and have the worst problem some of the southern states you would associate with this kind of poverty. mississippi, alabama. those types of -- texas has real problems. >> montana. a place up in montana, very crowded. governor's wife was part of that. trying to get jerry brown, get california onboard. l.a. the city, a no hungry kid city, but -- >> such a solvable problem. makes no sense to have these kids who haven't eaten. we have the resources. we got to get it to them. >> prepare deliveries. >> what do you ask for when you're sitting across the desk from a politician? when you come to a convention,

what do you need out in government to fix this? >> we need leaders to call upon, you know, the powerful members of their state. when i say powerful, we're all poub powerful. and buckmaster four, he would say, an interesting thing about -- you guys are aware of that term i don't know. but big oil tankers. so huge and they, the engineers found that, i mean, rudders that turn these big ships takes too much energy. so they came up with a simple plan of creating a trim tab, it turns the rudder, the rudder turns the ship. that's what individuals like in society, we all are attached to powerful people. so as billy's organization's name tells us, you know, share our strength. we each have a strength that we can share. i'm in the entertainment business, do media, here with you guys.

this is what i can do, but you've got the restaurants like arby's, chefs, teachers. whatever you happen to do in your life, think about how i might contribute in ending hunger in my state by using my strength. >> can be seen at foodnetwork.com and here's in the film festival at 2:00 tomorrow. gentlemen, thanks again. >> thanks, guys. >> thanks for your work. on tomorrow's show, white house senior adviser valerie jarrett joins us. >> she's going to be so excited to see me. >> she. she says that you're okay. >> well -- >> you do just fine. >> i'm doing the best i can. >> more "morning joe" in just a moment.

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joe." you know, you can sense the excitement here. all building up, of course. willie giest, thursday night, the president of the united states goes to bank of america stadium at the address that all of america will be watching. >> bank of america stadium. perhaps america's favorite bank. the bank of america. >> exactly.

ful you're in the convention at any stadium, it's going to be responsible bird a bank. it would be bank of america. >> no question. >> right? >> and panther stadium or the high school football field outside of town. no such thing. >> the point has been made. >> what have you learned? >> in the jeff bridges white russian. no white. just russian. yes. >> the dude abesides. >> the dude abesidides my man. >> and mika, i can no longer wear -- it's embarrassing. embarrassing for everybody. >> oh, stop it. >> a drink. >> shots, i love it. >> this show son the road. this crowd has the potential to be the best. >> yes, yes! >> one, two, three -- l paul

ryan, paul ryan. everybody. all right, if it's way too early what time is it? >> "morning joe." be back here tomorrow at the blackfinn. stick around for chuck todd he's next with "daily rundown." d, we. you guys said tacos. [ female announcer ] it doesn't always work out that way. you know what? we're spending too much money on eating out anyway. honey, come look at this. [ female announcer ] my money map from wells fargo is a free online tool that helps you track your spending. so instead of having to deal with a tight budget, you could have a tighter family. ♪ wells fargo. together we'll go far.

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