david gregory, a man for all seasons and all marathons >>> exactly ten years ago, president bush senthe united states into battle into afghanistan to hunt down al qaeda and their taliban hosts. in retaliation for 9/11. >> on my orders, the united states military has begun strikes against al qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the taliban regime in afghanistan. >> a decade later, we have now lost 1686 american troops. 14,342 more have been wounded. we have spent $338.8 billion at a rate of $7.8 billion a month. nbc's atia abawi is live in kabul. at irk a, what are the lessons now and what is the mood among the troops you've spoken to? >> reporter: it depends on where you go and who you talk to. the majority of troops here in afghanistan know that they have a mission to fight. just a couple of weeks ago, a few weeks ago before the september 11th anniversary we spoke to u.s. airmen here in kabul. many of them say that they've been on various deployments, they're tired and exhausted, but they still believe in the mission. they say they've made achievements in afgh

. >>> david gregory, moderator ofi "meet the press."d morning. >> hey, jenna. >> the president gives this speech at the human rights campaign dinner and targets republic republicans for booing that soldier. how much can this go forward? >> he is going to challenge republicans on national security with all of that behind him and say this is how you stand up for soldiers, it's potentially a very effective line and goes to something else. the president's overall goal is to replenish his base, to rally the base around economic issues and other hot button issues within the ranks of the rank and file of the democratic party. he needs liberals to be active and enthusiastic about getting out to vote. it will be very difficult to equal what he in 2008, and he knows conservatives will be rallied and ready to go for the election. >> we saw in mike's piece anitta perry and ann romney on the campaign trail speaking for her husbands. how much of an impact do candidate's spougses have? >> they are part of the picture. they can be scrutinized, part of

let's talk first about numbers because herman cain with david gregory on meet the press, he admitted people would pay higher taxes which is against the republican holy grail or at least the grover norquist holy grail, but he add hard time when david pressed him on how state and federal taxes, state and federal sales taxes would add up. let's watch. >> that doesn't make sense to me. if i'm paying state taxes and i have a new cain administration national sales tax, i have more state taxes. >> in you don't. >> how so? you're not saying they are going way. >> david, your stat taxes are the same. your federal taxes in most cases will go down. >> wall street journal says you have one on top of the other. there is a combined levy. >> that is not correct, david. >> okay. so monday morning quarterbacking, chris, have at it? >> well, i thought david gregory, i know this is working for the home team because we are on msnbc and david is for nbc, but i thought he had the right of it here andrea. i see no way in which the federal income tax would not be added on to the state tax. herman cain didn't

his vice president told david gregory the other day, absolutely the republican party is strong enough to beat us, meaning president obama and myself, vice president biden, but the question is, will the republicans be able to win the independent voters? that's been the question all along and certainly a lot of turmoil starting off. something mitt romney as you pointed out has had to address in the past. suspicion on the part of evangelicals that help make up the basis of the republican party. apparently he's going to have to explain it again. >> yeah. >> how about the president's jobs plan, mike? where does that stand now? >> reporter: well, in limbo, of course. the senate is taking it up this week. house leaders, led by republicans, have said they don't like the all or nothing approach. unlikely to see the light of day. the spread hitting hard on that. he's asked an interesting question in that press conference he on thursday. whether or not he was campaigning or negotiating with republicans. the president said, look, i'll run like 1948 and harry truman against a do nothing congress,

but david gregory, whatever his reasons were, and he is a smart guy.'m not attributing any ill motives to him, but whatever his reasons were, you know how it sounds? it sounds like here is another liberal journalist saying don't blame barack obama, it's not his fault, you know, the economy isn't his fault. well, that's how subtle bias works. that's how it will work in the future. and i will give you one other example. let's say the republic candidate has some crazy pastor in his background who either said bigoted things or just plain nutty things, the media rightly. rightly will find that minister and expose him. no problem. but they didn't do that with barack obama and his crazy minister, did they? they didn't jump on that story until they had to, until fox and other stations started running the videotape with reverend wright's most outrageous statements. so that's how the bias is going to work this time around. it won't be blatant. it will be subtle. a lot of times the audience won't even catch it but it will be out there. >> bill: all right. because

you've got to be excited about the fact that this president is as vulnerable as he is. >> but david gregoryd. we'll cycle him in. chuck, david says rick perry's only one strong debate performance being back into this race. isn't that kind of like saying vanderbilt's only one round of alabama away from being back in the race for s.e.c. championship? >> well, i wish this weren't -- >> it's funny because it's true. >> i wish this wasn't alabama/vanderbilt week. because i would make the analogy this way. charlie cook's got a great line when he says -- this is actually rick perry's race to win. and what he's saying is you'd rather be rick perry's biography and ideology in this republican primary than mitt romney's biography and ideology in primary calendar in this primary. mitt romney can't afford many turnovers. rick perry can't afford a lot of turnovers. so it is a little bit like alabama/vanderbilt where romney's vanderbilt, though i think he's stronger than vanderbilt, no offense, willie. in that romney, he can't afford one or two missteps. how he handles health care or another issue sensiti

david gregory is moderator of "meet the press."od to see up. >> good morning. >> the occupy wall street seems to be embracing one political message, calling for the wealthy to pay for more taxes. should we look for the obama campaign to embrace that message? >> it will dovetail nicely to a big message that president is selling. the wealthy should pay more, and picked up that banner going after wall street and the banks, talking about unfairness of a lot of protesters that are complaining about. unfairness in the economy and the tax code, and the ways of wall street with bank fees. so, yeah, i think the president is in a mode where he would like to get in front parade, harness some energy. >> for republicans who want to unseat him, it's all about money, before it gets down to votes. mitt romney raised 14.2 million from july to september. and spent more than $12 million. facing a tough challenge from the perry campaign, but also h r herman cain is this a sign romney might be in trouble? >> well, he will have to continue raising a lot

david gregory is moderator of nbc's "meet the press." good morning. >> thank you, good morning. >> this occupy wall street movement seems to be embracing at least one political message and that's the protesters are calling for the wealthy to pay more tacks. should we look for the bottom campaign to embrace that message as it takes a stretch in november? >> certainly it's going to dovetail fewsly into a big message that the president is saelg saying is that the wealthy should pay more. he has picked up that banner of going out for wall street and the banks. talking about the unfairness that a lot of protesters are complaining about, unfairness in the economy and the tax code and the ways of wall street with bank fees. i think the president is in a mode right now where he would like to get out in front of this parade and harness some of this energy. >> meantime, for the republicans who want to unseat him, it's all about money right now before it gets down to all about votes. mitt romney raised $14.2 million in the third quarter from july t

. >>> david gregory will go one-on-one with white house senior adviser david plouffe. >>> search and rescue operations under way at the site of a grain elevator explosion. three people dead, three missing. the thunderering explosion shook the ground for miles around and sent a fireball so high in the sky, it was visible in neighboring missouri. >>> a look ahead today. a couple of things we're watching. nbc's first prime time magazine, "rock center with brian williams" will debut monday. >>> world's population hits a major milestone of 7 billion people tomorrow. the u.n. says the newest resident will likely be born in india. that's the news. back over to lester, jena, and janice. >> 7 billion. probably only get a t-shirt. >> janice back with another check of the weather. >> good morning to you both. no one wanted to believe us when we were talking about the big storm coming. i didn't want to believe it when i was looking at the computer forecast models. a major winter storm across the northeast. it's moving out except for parts of northern maine. rest of the country pretty quiet. suns

david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." >> good morning. >> how will this affect his legacy, now that the war barely registers in the list of issues among american voters? >> when you have the economy is in the shape that the economy is now in, i don't think anything can crowd that out for attention it has an immediate focus here and this is a big week for the president president's foreign policy. indeed, a big year. a lot of important questions about iraq in the future. does it get bloody all of a sudden. will there be civil war? i don't think is top of mind for american voters as we think about the election. this is a leadership moment for the president. at time when government cannot do much about the economy, there is certainly a time when he aaccomplishing a lot in foreign policy. at a momentous time for the rest of the world when you look at what's happening in the middle east. >> democrats traditionally have been vulnerable to charges of being soft on defense. bin laden was killed at the order of the president. gadhafi, a war in which the u.s. participated is now gone.

now for a look at what's coming up on meet the press, here's david gregory. david?ngie. coming up, the big questions in the race for the white house as the president tries to ral base and push for a a jobs well. will chris christie get into the race? can perry overcome his stumbles. while the campaign rages on is the white house and washington capable of getting anything done on the economy? a debate this morning. plus, insights from our phreult cal round table coming up meet the press. be sure stay tuned after the program for my special press pass conversation with former new mexico governor bill richardson. we talk immigration and politics only here on nbc 4. >>> two great shows on tap. >> stay tuned. >> this is part of my favorite story of the show. >> okay. >> if you're at home in the kitchen, you're not paying attention, you have us on in the background, come back to the tv. you want to see it. usually the owner teaches the dog how to play fetch. >> in this case it's a dog teaching a very young pupil the art of catching and throwing a ball. take a look. >> that

herman cain has admitted to nbc's david gregory that, yes, in fact the 9-9-9 plan would raise taxes on some individuals. my guest is his rivals will emphasize that tonight. the more you find out, no one is a perfect candidate. you have to choose between flawed. we are all flawed people. everybody is a flawed candidate. herman cain is being shown to be silent slightly less than the perfect person. >> still the front-runner going into the debate. last night he addressed the question that he's not a serious candidate, he's more doing a book tour because he was in tennessee, he had not hit any of the states, the early primary states. this is what he said last night in phoenix. >> one myth is that i'm not in this race to win it. that i'm just trying to get my profile up so i can get a tv show or a radio show. if you know herman cain, you know that's -- nothing is further from the truth. if you don't believe me, i invite you to get a copy of my new book "this is herman cain" if you can find one. they're selling like hotcakes. >> they're selling like hotcakes, partly because he he and his cam

live look at capitol hill and joining us now from washington, the moderator of "meet the press", david gregoryuper committee get a deal done and will that deal have gives on both sides that are significant? >> i don't know that there are going to be gives like we might being expecting or go back to the debt ceiling debate that will be tax increases and spending cuts over here. in just don't think republicans will go there. that's what we've learned from the debt ceiling debate. i think it's what we've learned since 2010 if not before. there are no republicans in the house at least who are going to vote for an increase in marginal tax rates. the action has to be around tax reform. that's one of the reasons why there's so much talk about it in the presidential race right now, that there's some agreement even within the white house, and among democrats on capitol hill to bring down corporate tax rates in exchange foreclosing loopholes. i may think that's the big thing that they think they can get done. >> john meacham. >> david, spell out the next two months heading into iowa for the president an

david gregory and harold ford jr., as well.ut first, here's bill karins with a check on the forecast. >>> before we get to the good news for everyone on the east coast, let me show you what happened in arizona yesterday. because that's where all the stormy weather is out west. this is a dust storm that caused havoc on interstate 10. two major accidents different times during the day. and visibility got so low as the dust was blowing through. you can see what they were dealing with on the roads. let's get to the eastern half of the country. low humidity, cool mornings, we're going to see beautiful days. today in the 70s from d.c. to pittsburgh, all the way to new york. new england in the 60s. and look at the middle of the country. minneapolis today near 86 degrees. dallas is warm, but everyone has low humidity. it's just beautiful. and that's going to continue. and look at boston this weekend. mid to upper 70s. make your plans now. probably one of the best fall weekends we're going to have. you're watching "morning joe" brewed b

there will be much more on herman cain and his economic plan this sunday when he sits down as david gregory'sst sunday on "meet the press." >>> we knew president george h.w. bush 41 was a clint eastwood fan. he's as well remembered for that "read my lips" quote as eastwood himself, but what we didn't know until today was the bush team, at least briefly, considered clint eastwood for v.p., before choosing dan quayle instead. this info has been found in an oral history recording of james baker. in it baker says eastwood's name was thrown out at a meeting when bush was 18 points down. eastwood was a republican mayor of carmel, california. baker says the idea as he put it was "shot down pretty quick." >>> tough economic times for city and state governments are ushering in budget cuts in places no one would have expected just a few years back. beyond laying off teachers, firefighters and other city workers, some communities really are going to extremes. our report tonight from nbc's kerry sanders. [ bell ringing ] >> reporter: it's a sign of the times, doing more with less and in some cases doing

. >> secretary of state hillary clinton will be david gregory's guest on sunday's "meet the press." >>> it was just 24 hours ago we were focused on libya on this broadcast and the death of moammar gadhafi. tonight, celebrations and questions about what happens now. adrienne mong is in misrata again tonight. adrienne? [ singing ] >> reporter: good evening, kate. as you can see and most definitely hear behind me, people here on freedom square in misrata celebrating day one of a post gadhafi libya. it was another day of remarkable scenes here with the libyan people viewing the body of the former dictator. hundreds of libyans, mostly men rushed to a former shopping mall to view the corpse of the man they had feared for decades. why did you come here? >> to see this man. very bad man. >> reporter: rebel forces laid his badly wounded body on the floor of a commercial freezer. as we saw firsthand they kept the crowd moving. questions remain about exactly how he died shortly after he was captured, wounded but alive. today the interim government's prime minister came to misrata to see the body

vice president joe biden talked a little 2012 himself in an interview with david gregory of "meet the press" acknowledging the economic challenges the administration faces in its bid for re-election. >> we would need a strong republican party. we need a republican party that's united. >> is it strong enough of a republican party for its nominee to beat this president. >> oh, absolutely, absolutely it's strong enough to beat both of us. the american people right now are many of them are in real trouble and a larger percentage have stagnant wages and a sigma majority of the american people believe that the country's not moving in the right direction. that is never a good place to be going in a re-election whether it's your fault or not your fault it's almost sometimes irrelevant. >> meanwhile, the solyndra sc scandal continues to hang over the head. the official in charge of the loan program that offered money to solyndra has resigned. the president pushed back though on some of the criticism of that initiative. >> i heard there was a republican member of congress whose engaging an over

"meet the press" virginia governor bob mcdonnell and massachusetts governor deval patrick join david gregory to talk decision 2012 and a whole lot more. >>> what began with a small disorganized protest on wall street in lower manhattan here in new york has grown today to demonstrations nationwide against corporate greed. from new york to l.a., even up in maine, people took to the streets to express their anger and make sure their message is heard. but what exactly is their message? we sent nbc's michelle franzen to find out. >> we are the 99%! >> reporter: two weeks and counting. several hundred faithful protestors continue to camp out at a park near wall street. their numbers grow each day, fuelled by the power of social media. a few scuffles with nypd and the common threat of discontent over high unemployment and distrust of government and corporations. >> there's something unjust going on right now in this economy, in this society. >> reporter: john drove from connecticut to speak out. >> because we can't pay for big expensive lobbyists to work for what we want. >> reporter: the sit-in ha

mixed reviews with "the washington post" offering this critique -- herman cain will sit down with david gregory on "meet the press" and he will join us later on "morning joe." many conservatives not pleased with the 999 plan which imposes a form of a vat tax. >>> president obama ramping up the pressure against iran saying officials at the highest levels of the iranian government must be held accountable for the alleged plot to kill saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states here on american soil. in his first public statement on the matter the president promised the toughest possible sanctions on iran noting officials in tehran had direct links, he says, to the operation. >> this is part of a pattern of dangerous and reckless behavior by the iranian government. we don't take any options off the table in terms of how we operate with iran. but what you can expect is that we will continue to apply the sorts of pressure that will have a direct impact on the iranian government until it makes a better choice in terms of how it's going to interact with the rest of the international community. >> t

more news in just a few minutes but here is david gregory with a look at what is up next. >> a new poll in iowa shows herman cain and mitt romney on top of the gop field. the president fighting for his own reelection campaigning for jobs and launching a series of economic initiatives bypassing the need for congressional approval. will his strategy worked? inside the white house playbook pour brfor reelection. why is it washtington can't find a leader like steve jobs? all coming up "see your 11 insta-weather + forecast. >> chilly day on the back of the rare october nor'easter. it is still snowing in bangor and trouble continues on 95. the sunshine will be backed out this morning, but it will take a while before the snow melts. as we look at how much we got, pretty impressive for the month of october. 7.3 at smith crossroads. there was between 4-12 inches of snow west. not a trace from college park to essex. snow flakes were falling, but no accumulation here in the baltimore. overnight, the problem was that we had snow on the roads and temperatures dropped below freezing allowing for conc

now, for a look at what's coming up on meet the press, here's david gregory. david?d morning, john and angie. coming up, herman cain vaulted to the top of the wall street journal poll. what is fueling his popularity and can it last? this morning our meet the candidate series continues as i go one on one with her main kaine. and two top supporters for romney and perry. for romney, minnesota governor tim pawlenty. for perry, louisiana governor bob jindall. and inside president obama's reelection strategy. it's all coming up this morning on "meet the press." be sure to stay tuned for a special press pass conversation with anchor of pbs news hour jim lehrer to discuss why presidential debates matter and the strategies behind winning only here on nbc 4. >> this building has been jumping with all the people here. >> i know. >> two great shows coming up today. i can't wait. >> it is west virginia's biggest festival. >> and it can also be one of the world's most extreme. more than 400 people took a leap of faith from the new river gorge bridge yesterday for the annual bridge

here's david gregory. david? >> thanks, chris. good morning, john and angie.z doughs america's economic troubles this week. in libya, gadhafi is dead. what now for the united states in the region? joining me, secretary of state hillary clinton. then our meet the candidate series continues with texas congressman ron paul. this week he unveiled his plan for the economy. can he energize voters and break into the top tier of candidates? plus, our political roundtable. it's all this morning on meet the press. and be sure to stay tuned after the program for my special press pass conversation with award-winning filmmaker ken byrnes only here on nbc 4. >>> i've been reading some of the tweets, secretary of state hillary clinton had interesting comments. i'm looking forward to that. >> yeah. it's going to be a good show. >> good stuff. >> john, you had your stab at it yesterday. we're talking about pumpkin carving. i was happy to host a class with executive chef eddie at wildfire at tyson's corner. jude and owen and mom lynn cut that pumpkin up in three different ways.

now for a look at what's coming up on meet the press, here's david gregory. david?ain and romney. the president fights for his own reelection. will this strategy work? we'll go inside the reelection playbook with david plouff. and a taking on this question, why is it washington can't find a leader like steve jobs? walter isaacson, the author of the jobs biography is on the roundtable. stay tuned after the program for my special press pass conversation with committee on oversight and government reform congressman cummings, democrat from maryland. it's only here on nbc 4. >>> and a quick programming note. rock center with brian williams debuts tomorrow night at 10:00 in the evening right here on nbc 4. >>> a man from turkey can now dry off and take a deep breath as he is a world record holder. he stayed under water for a little more than eight days. he had supporters cheering him on while he swam his way to the record. when he finally got out of the water, the crowd cheered him on. too bad he couldn't hear it. he said both of his ears were blocked. i'm not surprised a

. >> coming up, we're going to bring in moderator of "meet the press," david gregory, eugene robinsoncarl bernstein, and reverend al sharpton. first, here is a man who has had that experience -- >> oh, no! >> bill, is that how you got poison ivy? >> oh, stop. i'm about 170, standing above all you. so be careful. >> oh, my. >>> temperatures this morning are a little chilly, we are watching a very beautiful weekend forecast coming your way. tonight starts the day in many areas of the country. dallas looks good, orlando, and through your weekend forecast, really no changes. if you're sunny today, there's a good chance you'll see a gorgeous weekend out there. enjoy one of the best fall weekends we're going to see. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. the employee of the month isss... the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my

>> david gregory. it's going to be exciting. with herman cain. on "meet the press."by jindal. >> oh, my goodness. we'll be watching sunday morning. david, thank you so much. >> thanks, guys. >> we'll be right back with much more "morning joe." looking good! you lost some weight. you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories. ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. o0 c1 yesterday doesn't win. big doesn't win. titles corner offices don't win. what wins? original wins. fresh wins. smart wins. the world's most dynamic companies know what wins in business today. maybe that's why so many choose to work with us. we're grant thornton. audit. tax. advisory. [ gnome ] aw

first, david gregory with a look at what's coming up on "meet the press." >> herman cain. what is fueling his popularity. can it last? this moroneng i go one-on-one with herman cain. then a g.o.p. debate for -- between two supporters of perry and -- system with chuck todd. at progressive, you can bundle your home and auto policies and save. don't worry, tiny people. flo is a gentle giant. bundle home and auto at progressive.com. at different companies... is a pain. but with allstate, bundling policies is easy and can save you money. you should try this instead. thank you...yeah... now she should be an allstate agent. shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent. [ female announcer ] introducing the allstate auto + life discount. now when you protect your family with allstate life insurance you can save even more on allstate car insurance. shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent. ♪ >> good moroneng. we're starting you off with a live look athe inner harbor. 56 at the airport. 56 at thck9 at the maryland sci center at the inner harbor. winds out of

. >>> this morning at 10:00 on "meet the press" david gregory will go one-on-one with david plouffe, white house advisor. >>> search and rescue operations are underway at the site of a grain elevator explosion in northeast kansas. officials say three people are dead and three are missing. the thundering explosion saturday shook the ground for miles around and set a fireball so high in the sky it was visible in neighboring missouri. >>> now we'll look ahead today. here are a couple of things that we're watching for this week. nbc's first primetime magazine in nearly 20 years, rock center with brian williams" will debut monday at 10:00 p.m. eastern. and the world's population hits a major milestone at 7 billion people tomorrow. the u.s. san. says the newest resident will likely be born in india. back to you. >> probably won't get a t-shirt. >> if that. janice is back with another check of the weather. >> good morning to you both. >> no one wanted to believe us when we were talking about this big storm coming. even i didn't want to believe it when i was looking at the computer forecast

david gregory asked him why he thought stupid people were ruining america. then in his defense of the 9-9-9 plan proves he is one of the stupid people. how is it possible that you can have a plan that calls for a 9% national sales tax and then say that most people's taxes would go down and when pushed on it said that the 9% national sales tax only applies to new goods? if you go to the grocery store and buy a loaf of bread and gallon of milk and get your medicine, you will be hit with this 9% tax, but if you buy a new flat panel television, you are fine. it's ridiculous! >> he seems to believe that responding to criticism is to say wrong, no. he said that's almost perfectly reasonable. every economy explained that they will leave the middle class worse off. why doesn't he revise the plan? >> is that for me or michael? >> that's for you. >>-i'm not on this campaign. i don't know who is. this rich lowry guy who is an accountant, why doesn't he do revisions of it? i don't know. >> do you think mr. cane is talking nonsense? come on. >> i don't think he is talkin

. >>> this weekend, we invite you to tune into press pass with david gregory. elijah cummings will be on the show. it airs sunday morning after "meet the press" at 11:30 here on nbc 4. >>> an illegal immigrant is arrested for murder. how investigators were able to connect him the a crime seven months after it happened. >>> defense presents the strongest evidence yet in terms of whether michael jackson is to blame for his own death. >>> this year, earthquake, hurricane, monsoon, now an october snow. did we do something wrong? i'm pat collins. the story coming up, news 4. >>> hakeem, what's coming up in sports? >> reporter: how do i top that? that was wonderful. world series game six, epic. the caps perfect record is no more. how a veteran goaltender stifled ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] combine a pnc cashbuilder visa credit card with a pnc performance select checking account and get up to 1.75% cash back for just about every purchase. learn more and apply today at pnc.com/cashbuilder. pnc bank. for the achiever in you. >>> on monday, prosecutors will start cross examin

we'll be on press pass with david gregory at 11:30 right after "meet the press." >> hakeem has high schooltball. >> reporter: i'm here for the high school football game. a suitland player has a huge day. we'll tell you about that, plus we'll tell you about that, plus how the boys from mo town took [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪ ...and roasted the same as our other premium coffees. ♪ it only makes sense it would taste the same. so, try it for yourself. buy a pack of 100% natural starbucks via® ready brew. we promise you'll love it or we'll send you a bag of starbucks coffee. it's the starbucks via® taste promise. look for it at starbucks stores and where you buy groceries. >>> hakeem at the high school for some game of the week stuff out there. hakeem? >> yep. >> what a nice night to be outside. >> reporter: a beautiful night, you are right. the spectators have gone home. duvall hosting suitland. they had a huge day. first, we start with the major league playoffs. tonight, winner of the season is over. win or you go home. in philadelp

david gregory, moderate of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning. i don't think anybody's trying to sugar coat how vulnerable the president is because of this economy. it is what it is. the historical headwinds for this president and vice president as they position themselves for re-election, they say we have a better approach in a difficult economy, a better approach than the republicans who as the vice president noted would still be strong enough to defeat the president under the circumstances. >> the vice president used underdog. is it possible this is part of an administration strategy to mobilize its base? >> i think it is. there's no question they're trying to communicate as chuck just mentioned the urgency of getting out and mobilizing the vote. they know that they need young people, minority voters, they need the key elements of their base to come out strong and latino voters, they have to rely on the elements of the base when they know there's a lot of middle of the road voters who are not going to vote for this president perhaps just becau

. >>> david gregory is the moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> hey, ann. >> why is the president making this populist effort out west, on leno and reaching out to college graduates and will it give him the momentum he needs? >> we'll see about that. there's a new ohio poll showing he leads any republican in the field for president, that's a good sign for the re-election campaign. the conversation in washington has stopped. his jobs bill is not going anywhere. he tried to break it down. it's still not going anywhere. now the president is trying to do things he can do by himself, whether it's on housing or student aid, this is microtargeting, trying to target some individual voter groups where he can make a difference on the economy and trying to go to states and use forums like the leno show where he can directly reach people and get outside of the din of washington. >> is there anything in governor rick perry's flat tax plan that might give him some traction? >> well, look, these flat tax ideas have become all the rage here in th