reagan, the son of the former president and a former radio talk show host and contributor and megan mccainughter of john mccain and a contributor of msnbc. i want to start with the grades of the candidates. last week, megan, you gave president obama a b and mitt romney a b-minus. did romney meet the commander in chief test? >> i gave them both c-pluses. i thought romney did a great job looking presidential and keeping the momentum. i was disappointed he didn't hit the president harder on benghazi. but overall, i don't think this was a game changing debate for either candidate. >> all right. so pretty much a draw from you. ron, last week president obama a b-plus. governor romney a d-minus. president reagan, how about this week? >> originally i was going to give them basically the same grades but upgraded obama. i don't know if you have that on your graphic. >> we do. >> good. >> you submitted the work on time, sir. >> good. and i thought that he actually improved over the second debate and romney, i'm being charitable here. romney had really nothing to say on foreign policy. you know? beyon

and we have columnist megan mccain, daughter of former presidential candidate john mccain. ant to start with you, was this debate a reprieve for mitt romney? steve says they are basically a reset moving forward in watching the numbers tighten with momentum, the wind at his back. >> let me tell you something, thomas, this morning is a good morning to be a romney supporter. yes, i definitely think that mitt romney came back swinging and completely reset the election and gained new momentum and enthusiasm and did an incredible job last night and i have never been more proud of him. >> ron, ed schultz told me liberals are emotional and disappointed that the president was not more aggressive. and others say this is equivalent of the rnc convention, a big lackluster. >> he was a bit off his game. it's a bit like watching the team going into the fourth quarter and they start playing defense. they don't try to win anymore. if you don't try to win in politics, you're losing. president obama strangely enough led tior let time after time pa, i don't have a tax plan that costs $5 trilli

and megan mccain went on twitter saying are we still going to go with climate change not being real? muller, professor of physics at the university of california berkeley one of the leading experts in climate change that believed manmade global warming exists. let me read this for people who don't read. polar bears aren't dying from the ice. himalayan glaciers aren't going to melt and it's possible we won't warm more than we were in the ice period. it's been offset by the cooling elsewhere in world. linked to global warming. my point being read, read, read! >> bob: read 98% of the other side that don't agree with this guy. >> greg: that has been debunked. >> kimberly: is that a fill buster in the lightning round? >> bob: i knew you would be upset. >> dana: but greg is right. quick thing that my friend sent to me, this is an ad in virginia and d.c. thomas, an immigrant who came to america from hungary and not connected to the campaign and not to the super pac. he loves america and democracy. he ran this ad. >> i grew up in a socialist country. i have seen what it doze to people. no fr

joining me now is msnbc contributor and author megan mccain and msnbc political analyst richard wolf.author of revival, the struggle for survival inside the obama white house. thanks to both of you for being here tonight. >> thanks, reverend. >> richard, it's got to be bad if fox news isn't buying your line. >> you know, chris wallace was asking really reasonable questions. it's flot just about specifics. it's to try and explain the real costs, the facts behind the tax policy. so even if you set aside the proposition about whether you are winning or losing, because all of these things can be temporary at the beginning of the campaign, but getting to the details in a factual way is important. if you cannot boil down your message as candidate, never mind about a bumper sticker but a sound bite, how you express it to voters that's exactly the problem that they are in. the details are difficult but difficult not to explain but difficult for middle class voters. >> i had the same difficulty in junior high school trying to make 5 plus 3 equal 9. the math isn't there. that's part of the prob

ron reagan and megan mccain join me with their takes on that. much more coming up after this. oba ma, and i approve i'm barack this message. oba these appliances could have been made here in america. but a company called global tech maximized profits by paying its workers next to nothing... under sweatshop conditions in china. when mitt romney led bain, they saw global tech as a good investment... even knowing that the firm promoted its practice of exploiting... low-wage labor to its investors. mitt romney - tough on china? since when? >>> good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. the president looks unprepared and his team tries to regroup while romney and fair-weather republicans bask in the after glow. mitt romney trying to keep the momentum alive. president obama trying to recover from headlines like this. the wall street journal, "romney

tomorrow, journalist carole simpson who moderated a town hall style debate in 1992, first one, megan mccain us and "washington post" glen kessler fact checking with tonight's debatep. "now" with alex wagner is next. alex, no malarkey, right? >> all malarkey. on this hour. richard, it is halftime in america at the debates as president obama hopes for an act two rebound, governor romney hopes to build on the big mo. will the delayed 47% strategy work and what can we expect from mitt unplugged? we will ask the governor's former massachusetts opponent about the town hall skills. and the sting, we will talk with planned parenthood cecil richards about the undercover operation targeting women's groups, all that when "now" starts in a mere 180 seconds. ♪ keys, keys, keys, keys, keys. ♪ well, he's not very handsome ♪ to look at [ sighs ] ♪ oh, he's shaggy ♪ and he eats like a hog [ male announcer ] the volkswagen jetta. available with advanced keyless technology. control everything from your pocket, purse, or wherever. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ that dirty, old egg-suckin' dog ♪ to c

megan mccain is the daughter of senator john mccain. also an msnbc contributor. good morning to both of you. ron, your father defeated jimmy carter in 1980 offering a message of hope. he went on to repeatedly call america a shining city upon a hill as many of us remember. now, while they were both very tactical last night, did they take advantage of the moment to inspire with big ideas as your father was able to do? >> i don't know if you would say that about them. i'm not sure that's what they were really trying to do inspire with big ideas. but i tell you this. the president obama who showed up last night, had he shown up in the first debate, this election would probably be over right now. he dismantled mitt romney on energy. mitt romney was unable to explain his tax plan satisfactorily. he was condescending and unconvincing on womens issues and committed perhaps the only huge gaffe, if you will, of the debate series here when he claimed that barack obama as you observed recently did not call the libyan attack an act of terror when in fact the transcripts prove