exactly, the reason why she's ahead here, because she starting in august went very strong after chris murphy, the democratic candidate and great opposition and research and they found that he had been late on paying his mortgage, had other financial problems, and for the last six weeks hitting him hard on that, and just put him totally on the defensive. >> paul: all right,let's run back-to-back ads, we have from the two candidates and get a flavor of what matt is talking about. >> my grandfather and great grandfather worked in connecticut factories, my family's rooted in the middle class. so my jobs plan starts with the buy america initiative to create connecticut jobs and my tax plan cuts taxes for the middle class, but linda mcmahon's tax plan gives mer a 7 billion dollar tax cut a programs for the middle class and seniors, and linda mcmahon never fought for the middle class. >> chris murphy attacks linda and social security and medicare, but murphy doesn't tell us when he was sued in court for not paying his rent, or paying his mortgage on committee hearings. do you think that murphy is t

caller: linda mcmahon it said that chris murphy was not there in congress 90% of the time to make votes on issues. is that a fair accusation? is that just sort of how congress works that -- works now? guest: beat -- host: before we let you go, what is it like there in connecticut now? guest: last time she really bombarded you. it is a pretty bad race, a lot of mudslinging. host: ken rudin? guest: this is a state that they have no business being competitive in.

chris murphy has a voted to reduce benefits. he would cut benefits by millions of dollars to pay for the affordable health care act. that is not something i would do. we need to protect our seniors. we have made promises to them in social security and medicare. i will do nothing to reduce those benefits. >> congressman murphy. >> they have saved money for retirement and an entire life. nick and barbara want to know what they're representatives will do if they get elected. will they ask seniors to bear the burden of save and social security? linda mcmahon is right. she has refused to tell people what she will do when she's out on the campaign trail. she has told people what she is in favor of doing when she did nothing cameras were on. she was speaking before a tea party groups and said, "i believe in some provisions when we have this kind of legislation." i disagree with that. we cannot play games with social security checks. we need to fix the problem and not per hour senior social security risk -- not put our social security a

i've been walking the linda mcmahon chris murphy race. they debate this had weekend. it got really ugly. murphy accused linda mcmahon of essentially plague plagurizing plan. to that she had this to say. >> you thought this was a core nation, but now you're in a serious race with a serious woman and you have rezoerted to these kinds of policies. >> we're going to move on to the next question. >> desperate. >> it's like professional wrestling. >> or something. >> i wonder why? >> or something. rcp average has murphy up only 3 points in a state that does not elect republicans to the senate. quinnpiak has linda up one point. sean sullivan in "the washington post" explains some theories. one is she completely he reoriented her campaign towards women and it's worked. chris murphy is not richard bloomen that you will and he's not as well liked and he had a slew of bad headlines about foreclosures and not paying rent. we'll see. i'm sangwin for ling da mcmahon, but i don't think connecticut we vote red this year. >> we see all the polls that say opposite things. the polls hav

chris murphy is a congressman. he beat nancy johnson six years ago. nancy johnson was a popular. it was in the bag. linda mcmahon ran against blumenthal. she lost. she's the wife of vince mcmahon, the founder of wwe. she was a candidate despised by a lot of people in connecticut. the fact she became the nominee made the democrats think this is's cakewalk. it is never a cakewalk. that's why scott brown is in this. >> cenk: mcmahon has been delivering elbows in the sky. came out with it to be fair. >> you owe her a great deal of gratitude. >> cenk: i hear you on that, brother. they're running this hilarious ad where they're saying if you like obama, you should like linda mcmahon. they're republican. watch this. >> doesn't matter if you're democrat or republican. >> you don't have to it's gree on everything. but the most important things. >> i'm supporting president obama and linda mcmahon. >> i will be voting for barack obama and linda mcmahon. >> i'm voting for president obama and linda mcmahon on the independent line. >> i'm voting for president obama and i'm voting for linda mcm

senate debate with linda mcmahon and chris murphy. there is one enormous hot-button issue that has divided lawmakers in washington and impacts everybody. that is the issue of universal health care. chris keating will ask the next question. >> the u.s. supreme court has upheld the key part of the universal health care plan including the much debated individual mandate. which specific elements should be left alone and which specific elements should be changed that ? >> it cost the family $3,000 every tiny have to take the medication. the insurance plan has a frigid every time he had to take the medication. -- it costs the family $3,000 every time they have to take medication. the interest plan affects this. there are thousands of families out there who are at risk of losing everything. there are individuals who lose their jobs simply because they get sick. i have been proud to stand up for the concept that health care should be a human rights, and not something you get if you are rich enough to afford it. i am proud to have played a role

republican year, there's no way he wilsill win this time she is now in a competitive race with chris murphy. he will have the advantage of the presidential race, but it's still competitive. >> ifill: shira, you have written about the north dakota of senate race, another one of these tight races, heidi heitkamp, jrs rick berg, the republican, and energy is a big issue in that race. >> reporter: absolutely. north dakota has lowest unemployment rate of any state in the country, and that's because the oil industry is absolute booming out there, especially in the western part of the state. nowthisla into both candacies. obviously, rick berg, a freshman congressman, but he was a longtime state lawmaker in the state. he was dealing with a lot of these issues. and hide, former state attorney general let public office temporarily, obviously she's running again now, in 2000 and went to work at an energy company. energy is huge in the state and huge if the race. >> ifill: thanks for correcting me on the candidate's name. i called him something else but it's rick berg. gled let's veo azona, a that's al

. >> yesterday and can and can't, linda mcmahon faced off against democratic congressman, chris murphy to fill the seat of retiring senator joe lieberman. this hour-long debate was hosted by the connecticut broadcasters association. >> moderator: welcome to the bottom of the hilton hotel in downtown hartford for this final debate of the u.s. senate campaign in connecticut between democratic congressman chris murphy and republican, linda mcmahon. this debate is sponsored by the connecticut broadcasters association. the reporters include al terzi, dennis tallis, keisha grant, nbc connecticut and mark davis or news eight. the rules for this debate are as follows. each report of ask a question of our candidates. each candidate will have two minutes to respond. there will then be an opportunity for a one minute rebuttal for both candidates. our reporters less questions and sequins. i want to see this necessary for clarification or to remind about time limits in a less questions if needed to pound out the hour. at that point, the format may be offered to allow each candidate equal but reduce

>>> and in connecticut, linda mcmahon debated democrat chris murphy who complained about audience interruptions. >> quiet, please. quiet in the theater. quiet. quite a crowd of supporters you have here, mrs. mcmahon. [ cheers and applause ] >> quiet, please, we're almost out of time, everybody. hold on one second. >> and the former world wrestling executives followers cheered so loudly her closing remarks had to be cut short during the live tv debate. >>> and that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. and now here's your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,424 after rising 95 points yesterday. the s&p was up 11. the nasdaq gained 20. overseas this morning, the nikkei jumped 123 points while in hong kong, the hang seng added 58. >>> news that americans shopped and spent more last month sent retail stocks on a tear monday. revised august figures and a 1.1% rise in september marked the largest gains in two years which adds up to good news for our consumer driven economy. citigroup drove bank stocks higher. the aclu is suing morgan stanley claiming it t

senate debate with candidate linda mcmahon and chris murphy.ere is a hot-button issue that has divided lawmakers in washington. that is the issue of universal health care. chris keating will ask the next question. he will post this to mr. murphy. >> the u.s. supreme court has upheld the key parts of the universal health care including the individual mandate. which elements of obamacare should be left alone, and which should be changed? >> i have devoted my life to the issue of making sure everyone has access to affordable quality health care. i have done that because of little boys, like kyle from connecticut's . he is a hemophiliac. he takes medication. it cost his family $3,000 every time he has to take the medication. his insurance plan has a lifetime limit. without the health care bill, it would bring to work his family. they will lose everything. we should -- it would bankrupt his family. they will lose everything. we should make sure this bill goes into effect. there are thousands of family who are at risk of losing everything because of

she is taking chris murphy as someone who is out of touch. still think that he has a slight lead, but the polls show them as dead even. democrats should definitely worry. this is the one where joe lieberman is retiring. host: new york, trevor, republican. caller: good morning. i was thinking, is and congress almost powerless? what is the point of voting for these people? obama has these executive orders to disregard the will of the congress, so what is to be done? could guest: as far as whether anything gets accomplished -- that is a good point. if u.s. the republicans, they say that president obama will not work with them. what does it matter? theoretically, you do not need a majority anymore. it used to be that 51 seats controls the senate. no one does that anymore, you need 60 seats. we also saw in 2009, when they had 60 seats, they could still not get their act together on health care and things like that. before they turned around, scott brown won the massachusetts seat. to i expect anything to get done in the next cycle? no matter who i

senate debate with linda mcmahon and chris murphy. there is one enormous hot- button issue that has divided lawmakers in washington and impacts everybody. that is the issue of universal health care. chris keating will ask the next question. >> the u.s. supreme court has upheld the key part of the universal health care plan including the much debated individual mandate. which specific elements should be left alone and which specific elements should be changed? >> it cost the family $3,000 every tiny have to take the medication. -- every time he has to take it. the insurance plan has a frigid every time he had to take the medication. it would bankrupt the family. they would lose everything. the interest plan affects this. there are thousands of families out there who are at risk of losing everything. there are individuals who lose their jobs simply because they get sick. i have been proud to stand up for the concept that health care should be a human rights, and not something you get if you are rich enough to afford it. i am proud to hav

chris murphy and linda mcmahon. >> good to see you. >> a coin toss determined that mrs. mcmahon will begin. >> good morning and thanks to channel three and our audience. i am often asked why are you running for the united states senate? it is so that my six grand general and -- grand children and future generations will have the promise for prosperity. that promise is rapidly slipping away because our economy is on the wrong track. 170,000 people woke up been arrested this morning without a job. if we can get our economy back on track, we can get our people back to work. i have a way to do that. i have been there. i have been bankrupt. i have lost everything. and i have been able to come back. that is what we need to do. my opponent has no plans and the policies in washington have only made things worse. you can have a path to create millions of jobs or you can have the path where someone is when to push our economy off a fiscal cliff. >> i really looking forward to this morning. i am a product of connecticut. i was raised to believe that i needed to live my life in a wa

chris murphy, three-term congressman 47%. vacated seat.es with the democrats. next, virginia. george allen, former governor and senator, 45%. tim kaine, 47%. vacated jim webb democrat seat. last one, missouri, todd akman from missouri. 43% against claire mccaskil mccaskill. this is why it matters. currently, dems hold 53 seats and republicans 47. if you flip four of them, four flips look what you end up with. 51-49 majority in the senate. the senate is in play. >> bob: north dakota seat is going to republicans right now. we know that for sure. in connecticut, obama will live connecticut by a large margin. mcmahon doesn't have a chance to win the seat. acheman, who you said get out of race is within striking distance of winning that. that says a lot about republicans of missouri. i just don't understand that. the other race -- >> eric: george allen and kaine. >> bob: that is as close as the presidential race. i think probably kaine can pull out a victory. >> dana: mine is about catholic voters. battleground poll on monday. 47 to 45% romney

chris murphy has a voted to reduce benefits.t benefits by millions of dollars to pay for the affordable health care act. that is not something i would do. we need to protect our seniors. we have made promises to them in social security and medicare. i will do nothing to reduce those benefits. >> congressman murphy. >> nick and barbara are a senior couple in connecticut. they saved money for retirement, but not enough, so their social security check didn't make a difference for them. nick and barbara want to know what their candidates will do if they get elected. will they ask seniors to bear the burden of saving social security? or ask those who have done very well in this economy? linda mcmahon is right. she has refused to tell people what she will do when she's out on the campaign trail. she has told people what she is in favor of doing when she did not think the cameras were on. she was speaking before a tea party group and said, "i believe in some provisions when we have this kind of legislation." you can take a look at it 1

connecticut, where linda mcmahon and chris murphy are locked in an increasingly nasty battle. of course there's massachusetts, where republican scott brown and elizabeth warren are locked into win of the tightest, highest profile races in the country. then there's the wild cards like arizona, maine wrrks they could elect the state's first independent senator ever and of course there's missouri, featuring todd akin the senate candidate no one seemed to want until it became too late to get anyone else. all of these races with time and tempers seem to be running out. >> when senator brown talks here in massachusetts got how very bipartisan he is and how very independent he is, he's sure not saying the same thing wen he goes around raising money. >> i'm not a student in your classroom. please let me respond. >> she doesn't have a record to run on so all she can do is try to get the people of the state of wisconsin not the like me. >> you call that a conservative? the words have lost their meaning. >> the republicans gain control of the senate if they can get four seats, if romney

she's trailing democratic congressman chris murphy in the polls right now.for us this week is our senior congressional correspondent dana bash. our guide to all these key, you know, senate races, and dana, i know today, you want to focus on the two senate races cause something surprising problems for both parties and that they have to defend turf they didn't expect to have to defend. talk to me about indiana first. >> that's right. that's a great example for republicans. it was a republican senate seat, has been held by richard lugar for decades. he is a moderate. and a tea party backed republican candidate, as he's mentioned, richard murdoch, won the republican primary and democrats have been pounding him as too conservative for the state, which is used to having senators from both parties who tend to work across party lines. he's running against a moderate democratic congressman who was really playing up his centrist credentials. and so this is a red state, but democrats really think they have an in because of their candidate. i want you to look at the two

the first debate in ohio relatively tame compared to the one in connecticut where congressman chris murphymed to have as much trouble with the crowd he's did with his opponent, linda mcmahon. >> we need it quiet in the theater. come on, guys. >> you guys will make the wwe raw jokes. i won't. this is one of the most contentious races in the country and showed last night both candidates launched personal attacks, one woman interrupted, murphy's telling him to shut up. oy. back to the presidential ray the latest quinnipiac poll in pennsylvania shows president obama leading mitt romney but only by four points, 50-46 that poll had the president up 12 last month. new jersey, the president leads 51-43, similar to september's numbers. one thing i have noticed here, by the way, you are seeing some shifts in places the president isoing to carry these states more than likely, barring something catastrophic for his camp campaign but if you noticed consolidation among republican leaders to romney, does explain some of the bigger bumps we have seen in national polls, smaller bumps in the battlegrounds.

we see a lot of linda mcmahon ads in new york and almost no chris murphy ads at all.lan radigan shows, 84% of candidates that outspend their opponents win the election. when you self-finance, the number of winners drops to 11%. they don't tend to win even though they throw tons of money. why do you think that is? >> when you're self-financing, that means you don't have to go through the process of reaching out to people and building the coalition. i'm the first we need to get the money out of politics, et cetera, but there's something to be said by asking for vote and asking for money. you go through the process of getting peppered with questions and getting polished in that way in terms of responding to people and getting a sense of what they want. it's hard when you don't have to go through that process to be an effective candidate. >> i want to ask a question here. one follow-up on that i can't help but think about. the other factor is it in high profile races with the self-funding, when it becomes an issue, it fehr mmts a bash lash. the classic example is new jers

in connecticut, a poll shows democrat chris murphy leading republican linda mcmahon by six.n and baldwin are locked in a race. baldwin the democrat trailing by one. in montana, a new ppp poll there shows senator jon tester hanging on to a two-point lead over denny rayberg. with the libertarian candidate at 7. we'll be right back. >>> some advocates for senator obama are less retrain in their enthusiasm, even in the media. usually as in table 228, for example, as my old friend and greenroom pal, chris matthews, he used to like me but he found somebody new. somebody who opened his eyes so somebody who gave him a thrill up his leg. and we've talked about it. i told him, maverick, i can do but messiah is above my pay grade. >> that was, of course, john mccain at the 2008 dinner, new york archdiocese's annual charity gala which i'll attend again tonight. it's a ritual for presidential candidates, one of the bases you are to touch on your way to the oval office. we're going to see how president obama and governor romney do in a lighthearted setting tonight, a far cry from this tue

. >> we've endorsed chris murphy in connecticut. >> there's the president voting tonight.here he is. i like the way we do this in this country, the guys vote, the women vote at the top and michelle voted by absentee a while ago, but it's democracy. we can all do this. we all should do this, vote. he's probably voting -- where is he voting? >> in chicago. early voting. right. the early voting numbers have been very good for the president. >> i just got my application in. let's talk about this issue. you think -- see, i believe as a male, and i have studied this, women have a lot of issues they care about, not just reproductive rights, but health generally. you people outlive men, you people, any senior retirement home, one or two guys. very funny and everybody likes them, but there's only one or two. a lot of women. guys say with any luck i won't need social security. your luck probably will run out. women live longer than men. they need medicare and social security. you will be worried about your parents because women tend to be more attentive to the parent situation. >> t

in connecticut, chris murphy pulling ahead. are going to win in massachusetts with a great candidate, elizabeth warren. and we're going surprise people across the board in red states that no one thought we had a chance, in north dakota with heidi hide camp. with bob kerrey pulling up in the state of nebraska. and i think this is because, as voters get to the point where they're going to have to vote, they are saying, what is the reasonable party here and who is going to take my values as a middle class american and fight for them once we are all in congress after this election. and they see our democratic candidates ask those candidates. >> thank you so muff, senator patty murray. 12 days to go until the election day. meet the waitress mom. strategy session next on "andrea mitchell reports." [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficul

it shows democratic congressman chris murphy with a two--point lead over republican challenger of lindahe's edging away from her own party urging people in connecticut to vote for her and president obama. take a look. >> i'm supporting president obama and linda mcmahon. >> i'll vote for barack obama and linda mcmahon this year. >> i'm voting for president obama and i'm voting for linda mcmahon. >> mcmahon opposes the president's health care legislation. she criticized him for the weak economic recovery, and you saw there a number of african-americans featured in that ad as well. what does your gut tell you? smart strategy or desperate move? going to facebook.com/newsnation to cast your view. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. "the cycle" is up next. of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most reward

virtual tie with congressman chris murphy. 48-47. mcmann of course is a former ceo of the wwe world wrestling entertainment and she is far out spend murg if i blanketing the airways with ads. poll found a majority of voters have seen her ads and consider them effective. in libya, the fbi finally has arrived on the scene more than three weeks after the deadly attack on the benghazi consulate. escorted by special operations forces fbi agents spent a number of hours collecting evidence that reporters haven't gotten and sifting through the debris before returning to triple m. a little snarky but it does seem amazing how many things where you reporters are able to walk in there, get stuff before investigators have. finally, federal investigators tell nbc news they are looking into whether the fatal shooting of a u.s. border patrol agent was a case of friendly fire. agent nicholas ivy was killed tuesday morning while on patrol near the mexican border. the homeland security secretary general janet napolitano will be in arizona today to expr

quinnipiac found that senate candidates chris murphy and linda mcmahon are locked in a dead heat as theyfor retiring senator joe lieberman's seat. right now the republican linda mcmahon holds a one-point lead, 48% to 47%. along with being one of the hardest fought and most expensive senate races in the country, it's also one of the nastiest. according to the yale "daily news," the two campaigns combined have sponsored more than 3,700 negative ads. >>> and now time once again for some trail mix. and in this case, steve martin lending his wild and crazy humor in support of a political pal. he endorsing nebraska's democratic state senator bob kerry for re-election under the guise of showing viewers how to make a crumpleded up wad of paper. and his instructions were a little naushl. >> you're going to need a blank piece of paper, some paper clips, a few brads, a stapler, a stick of gum, some scissors, and a hammer. >> bristol palin giving a boost to mama grizzly sarah while smacking down actress julianne moore. the former "dancing with the stars" contestant says that moore who recently won a

joe biden was in connecticut supporting congressman chris murphy.ahon's money influenced the race. >> that can buy you a second chance. she lost in 2010 to richard bloom menthol. this time it has brought her into a tight race in connecticut. democrats are very happy that they're in the game in arizona. >> in montana, democratic senator john tester and denny rayberg jousted last night where he tried to tie tester to the pre president's policy. they were talking about the influence of alcohol. >> this all comes down to president obama as we've seen the rayberg campaign try to tie that to tester. he's trying to go to his likability. he's more likeable than his opponent. this is a toss up race that tilts republican. all three races that we talked about are going to be close and must wins. >> mark, always good to have you on the program. thank you. >> that wraps up this hour of "jansing & co." i'm chris jansing. richard lui is in next. >> could it be the presidential rematch debate of the century? we know the president loves his b ball so we'll use some

democratic congressman chris murphy called out republican linda mcmahon andhe's been tough in this casevague on her positions. let's watch. >> i've not talked about specifics when i have been on the campaign trail because they get demagogued. >> she says that she's going to get demagogued. that maybe is a different way of saying she's going to lose votes. you might lose votes if you take a position, but that's our responsibility as candidates, to tell folks what we do. >> linda mcmahon just parroted absolutely echoed what romney has been saying and what's his name, paul ryan is saying. i can't tell you what deductions i'm going to get rid of, i can't tell you how my tax plan is going to work because you will use it against me. >> you don't expect a world wrestling federation owner to duck and weave so much but she was obviously doing it there. this points out what's a problem for a lot of politicians right now which is you're either talking about raising taxes or cutting spending and taking away government services. there are no good options for the future. >> or spending money. >> or r

connecticut a quinnipiac poll shows republican linda mcmahon with a one-point lead over democrat chris murphyn that senate race for the seat held by joe lieberman. mcmahon, 48%, murphy, 47%. i think she just went ahead. in missouri senator claire mccaskill six points over republican todd akin. explained by the fact that libertarian candidate has got nine. that's valuable information there. look at this, in arizona a new ppp poll there shows democrat richard carmona, the former surgeon general of the united states, leading congressman jeff flake by two in the race to replace senator jon kyl. it's carmona, 45%, flake, 43%. i guess flake is not a good name for a candidate. we'll be right back. >>> we're back. if politics is theater, and it is certainly, a presidential >>> we're back. if politics is theater, and it is certainly, a presidential debate is one of its highest forms. who better to analyze last night's drama than james lipton, host of inside the actor's studio on bravo. he joins me now. last night's opening statements set the tone for the debate and mitt romney came right out of the ga