here to discuss who is really eric bates, executive editor of "rollingstone" magazine. thanks for joining us. >> thank for having me. >> eliot: mitt romney did in fact -- the morph that destroyed him from moderate sensible creatable intellect to far-right stooge, how did he done that. >> we decided he would go to the far right, pose as a severe conservative, and then somehow magically shake the etch-a-sketch and come back to center. >> eliot: if he had been smarter and more nimble he would have said you know i'm going to etch-a-sketch, but he stuck to the far right and showed himself at the end of the day to approximate completely spineless. >> all along people have been saying who is the real mitt romney? how will we know what he really stands for? and i think the moment that was cemented into place was when he picked paul ryan. there was a lot of argument for him to pick centerist like pall leapty. and then gofer nor quest said this choice outlines the future for the next four to eight years. >> eliot: tim's article goes through area of policy to area of policy, when

the article is titled "who is driving mitt," eric bates, executive editor of "rollingstone" magazine, thank you for time you tonight. >> thank you. >> eliot: and we'll show you every clumsy thing mitt romney ever did. it's in the viewfinder coming up next. when you use lysol at home, you'll know you're a part of something bigger. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. >> eliot: >> eliot: still to come signs of life in the union movement lessons from the chicago teacher's strike. but you heard me say it once or twice, mitt romney is the most awkward politician ever. >> ladies and gentlemen, time for a new segment, this is called mitt romney, that's kind of a joke. watch this. ♪ >> my dad used to tell us that one year they ate nothing but potatoes, that was when they lived in idaho. even later in life my dad couldn't look a potato in the eye. kind of a joke. >> people are saying i just don't know about this fellow romney. [ booing ] >> yeah, i agree with you. >> we talked about the boss that might fire you. he is also like your date's dad that you are constantly me

bringing it all back. >> full circle. >> to chairman steele, sam stein heather mcghee and eric bates. noon eastern, 9:00 pacific when joined by ed rendell, the "washington post" jonathan capehart and steve core knacken. fund us at facebook.com/now with alex. "andrea mitchell reports" and in new york city. good evening, ain dre ya. great to have you here. >> thanks so much. we are here for our education nation summit. and joining us today education secretary arne duncan, new york city schools chancellor dennis wolcott, also my conversation with former secretary of state condoleezza rice that kicked off the summit today. and chelsea clinton with a reading revolution in one city. all that next on "andrea mitchell reports." >>> i'm meteorologist bill karins with your business travel forecast. after a chilly start what a beautiful afternoon it's going to be in so many areas of the country today. from the great lakes to the ohio valley, all through the eastern seaboard. little hotter from areas of texas back out into arizona. we're still pretty warm in many areas of the intermountain west.

joining me today, rolling stone executive editor eric bates, msnbc contributor and queen bee of thegrio.comlitical analyst, our favorite import from the united kingdom, richard wolffe. mitt romney has again found himself out of sync with the gop. after launching a political attack on the president hours after the killing of four americans in libya and attacks on the u.s. embassy in cairo, seasoned foreign policy advisers and party elders have been slow to come to romney's aide. senator mccain didn't endorse romney's on slap but didn't support it either. >> in heat of the battle you get all kinds of advice and all kinds of second-guessing. i'm not prepared to do

michael steele, sam stein, heather mcghee and eric bates join us for a discussion on the ticking campaignbipartisan agreement to skip town. luke russert breaks down the peace out on capitol hill. we'll have all of that when "now" starts in a mere 180 seconds. most of the pain i experience is in my knees. when i think of aspirin, i really think of it as that bottle in the back of my parents' medicine cabinet. finding bayer advanced was huge. i was really surprised by how well it worked. and i'd definitely use it again. put bayer advanced aspirin to the test for yourself at fastreliefchallenge.com. mom's smartphone... dad's tablet... or lauren's smartphone... at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. introducing at&t mobile share. one plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. add a tablet for only $10 per month. the more data you share, the more you save. at&t. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ j

. >> eric bates from "rolling stone" magazine, thank you for joining us this morning.eciate it. >> good to be here. >> cnn's primetime coverage of the democratic national convention continues, 7:00 p.m. eastern with wolf blitzer and anderson cooper. >>> we've heard a lot this week about the president being cool under pressure. but a new book revealed mr. obama lost his cool during a showdown with republicans over the federal debt ceiling. much are you, hon? ♪ nope. [ female announcer ] charmin ultra soft is so soft you'll have to remind your family they can use less. charmin ultra soft is made with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. plus you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. don't worry, there's plenty left for you dad. we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft? so why exactly should that be of any interest to you? well, in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. like the transatlantic cable that conne