erick erickson from red state.com. also cnn contributor jamal simmons, a democratic strategist. jamal, i want to start with you. this deal or no deal, five years, busting it down, and saying we'll give you a break on the other five years. what is this chess game about? why five years? what's five years to the obama camp that ten years is not? why cave? >> well what it looks like is the obama campaign is saying to them, listen, you don't want to give ten, then give us five, give us four, give us six. pick a number more than two and tell us. but you can't run around, running around for president, trying to decide what the american people need to know. the truth is, candidat n't decidewhat's important tovoters. rently this is importt because start to chip away romney'sseemed like romney wout want to get it out, out of the way and get moving. meanwhile, you've got ann romney saying we don't want to tell you because then you'll attack us for that. well, that's kind of how it works. if you've got something in there worth being attacked for, then you should be prepared to get attacked

>> erick erickson tweeted this -- "omg.t just be the moment mitt romney lost the election." >> rish limbaugh, ann coulter, and erick erickson all go crazy. >> if andrea saul isn't gone and off the campaign tomorrow -- >> i like being able to fire people. >> i saw there was going to be a pron. >> democrats are fun unified. >> america has a serious choice to make. >> are you calling mitt romney a liear? >> yes. >> he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. >> if we don't run chris christie, romney will be the nominee and we'll lose. [ cheers and applause ] >>> i'm chris hayes in for lawrence o'donnell tonight. two new national polls show president obama widening his lead on mitt romney as the

erick erickson said this may have been when romney lost the election. moments later, romney talked about it in iowa. >> i know how to make a better setting than the one we have. those with pre-existing conditions need to get insurance. >> as president, romney vowed to repeal the president's health care law maintaining that while it worked in massachusetts, the federal government should not force other states to do the same. fighting is becoming more desperate for rebels clinging to positions in aleppo. they have been fired on with tanks and some 20,000 troops. rebels say they're outgunned, running low on ammunition. annan brokers a cease fire in march that turned into a civil war. news corp posted a $1.6 billion loss and let's look at the markets. geoff, what happened and is this loss strictly on paper? >> yes, it's a brutal number, isn't it? the key is understanding the restructuring that the business is going through internally. a lot of that was about the $2.85 billion restructuring charge imposed as a result of the way this company is trying to spli

but erick erickson, what did you think of the options of this?know, i thought it was actually not too bad. i thought the optics weren't terrible -- it frees me up to be able to do that this morning and i can go with paul ryan now and be more casual. i'm struck by two things. first of all, i think the romney campaign has been largely listless this summer. they weren't put on a good message. there were a lot of barack obama mistakes in june that they weren't able to capitalize on and now you have paul ryan. they send him a talking point we're not going to embrace paul ryan's plan. well, yeah, you are. and that you're trying to pedal this with a straight face, i think that encapsulates what's wrong this summer. thing is fight we need and to his credit he did a better job selling mitt romney than mitt romney did selling himself in the last three months. there's one other point worth mentioning. we are now really at a historic changing point. this is first time in a very long time we have two parties neither of whom has anybody from the south, neither

and i think as erick erickson pointed out in the documentary, he said if you have a bunch of conservativesin a room, you know, they would not trust him to repeal obama care, for example, as he calls it. so i think it does go to this question of what does mitt romney believe? >> david gergen is here. what can he do if anything in the speech that he will deliver here, the acceptance speech thursday night to deal with this problem? >> i think the most important thing he's done so far is to pick ryan as his vice presidential candidate. he really doubled down. i think that was the most important signal he can send to conservatives. he has to decide in the speech, does he play to the base, in which case that reinforces their belief, their conviction, or does he broaden his message, and does he try to reach for some of these independents who is still out there? some people are still wavering. >> because the president's most vulnerable on the economy, john king, and any day that they're not talking about the economy is a wasted day as far as the romney campaign is concerned. >> it is. however, who

>> well, erick erickson does not like mitt romney. he can't stand him. he has not been able to stand him for a long time. and the fact of the matter is he's been after mitt romney since the beginning of the campaign. and i'll say this about andrea saul. i think she's a good spokesperson. i think she's a good person. and i like her a lot. and i think at the end of the day this is a small blip in a long campaign. >> laura ingraham by the way joined ann coulter in bark andrea saul today on her radio show. let's listen to laura. >> there is no room for these types of errors. no room at all. the other side will get a pass right up until election day for falsehoods and for screw-ups. that's what the obama people have always gotten. they always get a free pass. but guess what? the rules are different for republican candidates. you're not going to get a pass. and andrea saul just gave the obama campaign a big, fat, wet kiss. >> here's what washington examiner columnist phillip kline wrote today. countering what ann coulter said, that romney needs to fire andrea

in terms of how this plays out, erick erickson had lots to say on this. he tweeted, "conservatives have put aside their distrust of romney on the issue in the name of beating barack obama. they thought he and his campaign team had gotten the message and the hints. consider the scab picked, the wound opened, and the distrust trickling out again." a great visual picture there. >> let's be very clear what this is about. these guys are angry because andrea saul committed the cardinal sin in that she forgot not to tell the truth. that's what this is all about. because the truth is, as sam said, governor romney, romney care, passed health care in massachusetts. that's the truth. unfortunately, in the romney campaign, you're not supposed to tell the truth. similarly with eric fernstrom's etch-a-sket -a-sketc etch-a-sketch, right? that's the truth. you're not supposed to tell the truth. so that's her sin. let's be very clear. and you know, particularly when you see it's validated even more so by red state suggesting that, you know, it's pick the scab. that means,

>> erick erickson tweeted this -- "omg. this might just be the moment mitt romney lost the election." >> rish limbaugh, ann coulter, and erick erickson all go crazy. >> if andrea saul isn't gone and off the campaign tomorrow -- >> i like being able to fire people. >> i saw there was going to be a pron. >> democrats are fun unified. >> america has a serious choice to make. >> are you calling mitt romney a liear? >> yes. >> he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. >> if we don't run chris christie, romney will be the nominee and we'll lose. [ cheers and applause ] >>> i'm chris hayes in for lawrence o'donnell tonight. two new national polls show president obama widening his lead on mitt romney as the romney campaign uses a new television ad to try to make nice with republicans. but first, we have new details i suppose about the famous unnamed source that allegedly told senator harry reid that mitt romney paid no federal income taxes for ten years. here is reid's deputy communications director

erick erickson as well. he says he's not a quitter. he's got until 6:00 p.m. eastern time.g to drop out. are you still that confident? you sounded confident yesterday >> a lot of his consultants were saying yesterday he was going to drop out. the nrcc was sending signals, the congressional side and the senate side sent those signals. a lot of people were very surprised by the evening where it he was walking it back. when you have a congressman from missouri on the radio with sean hannity, and sean hannity is suggesting congressman, you need to drop out, you've gotten of gotten to the point where you're not getting any traction from conservatives or republicans. the problem is, i mean, as dana can point out, his campaign is very insular around him. there's no guarantee that the consultant advice is penetrating the campaign. >> dana, is that a problem? some people would say, no, that's a strength. he's got money, a team of people around him. many family members who work with him. he doesn't need that stamp of approval from the gop. or does he? >> well, that is a strength when

maria cardona in washington, erick erickson in washington. nfl player chad johnson is out of jail. he is now also out of a job. "showbiz" correspondent is gathering the latest details. questions? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. 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 difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plu

they don't like the job he's doing. >> erick erickson and ana navarro. thank you so much.about cnn politics and what it's like to experience a republican national convention from inside behind the scenes, join wolf bl blitzer and our political team, you can send in questions live. this is a virtual chat. don't miss the roundtable at noon eastern time. log on to cnn.com/roundtable. >>> thank you john. up next, testing -- a storm coming down the same pike. is southern louisiana ready in soledad o'brien joins us live from new orleans next. if you are leaving the house, you can watch us on your desktop or mobile phone. go to cnn.com/tv. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. it's this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. so when the conversation turns to your financial goals... turn to us. if you need anything else, let me know. wells fargo. together we'll go far. they're whole grain good... and yummy good. real fruit pieces. 12 grams of whole grains and a creamy yogurt f

. >> in response to saul's remarks, erick erickson, the conservative editor in chief of redstate.com"omg. this might just be the moment mitt romney lost the election. wow." erickson later deemed saul's comments the "read my lips moment of betrayal." a conservative writer for the washington kparm tweeted, "not sure if the romney camp realizes what a huge opening they've just created for democrats on obama care." and here is rush limbaugh's reaction. >> if people had been in massachusetts, under governor romney's health care plan, they would have had health care. >> well, uh -- uh -- there's --

rush limbaugh, karl rove, erick erickson, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, paul ryan, and mittomney, and refused to drop out of the missouri senate race. here's congressman akin on sean hannity's radio show today. >> if this becomes a big enough distraction that you lose this race and it hurts mitt romney and paul ryan in missouri, how are you going to feel the day after election day? >> well, obviously, terrible. and if i thought that were going to happen, then i would get out of the race. >> congressman akin then touted a new robo poll conducted after his, quote, legitimate rape remark, showing that among likely voters in missouri, todd akin polls now one point ahead of democratic senator claire mccaskill, 44-43, within that poll's margin of error. the poll asked if todd akin's remarks on, quote, legitimate rape were appropriate. 75% said inappropriate. 9% said appropriate. today, todd akin suggested to sean hannity that mitt romney was using akin's remarks to close his deficit among female voters. >> if you were in romney's position, don't you think that he may have bid this

wingers across the internet also freaked out about e romney camp's statement, conservative blogger erick erickson wrote, oh, my god, this might just be the moment mitt romney lost the election. wow. this is why the story of someone like joe is so very powerful. the conditions leading to his wife's death were brought on by a system that did not account for the most vulnerable among us in the society who lose their jobs and don't recycle back into the economy at the same level. barack obama himself has told this story before from a very personal level. >> when my mom got cancer, she wasn't a wealthy woman, and it pretty much drained all her resources. >> she developed ovarian cancer, never really had good, consistent insurance. >> as of 2014, all americans will have access to affordable health care in this country. mitt romney, he wants to get rid of that. joe's story is not about character assassination. it's a real life story. joe and his family, they're not alone. there's a lot of soptics out there across america and that's what republicans are in denial about. this election will decide whether

conservative blogger erick erickson, he does red state. he says, "oh, my god, "omg. this might just be the moment mitt romney lost the election on this very comment today by his spokesperson." he says, "wow." and rush had this to say on his radio show. let's listen to rushbo. >> i don't know the people at the romney campaign. but i'm telling you, your candidate is accused of killing a woman. because -- this isn't about health insurance. they're out there saying that your guy killed this woman. and your answer is? well, she'd have had health insurance if she lived in massachusetts? >> and there you go, bobby. it's unbelievable. there he is saying if she lived in massachusetts, not in indiana -- he's basically reminding us all, she is his spokesperson, that the whole country should have health care like they did in massachusetts. exactly what obama did. there's no issue in the debate now. if you listened to andrea saul today, they've got nothing to debate in the fall. >> here's what they're going to say. john, check me on this. they're going to say well this isn't a fe

. >> in response to saul's remarks, erick erickson, the conservative editor in chief of redstate.com tweeted, "omg. this might just be the moment mitt romney lost the election. wow." erickson later deemed saul's comments the "read my lips moment of betrayal." a conservative writer for the washington kparm tweeted, "not sure if the romney camp realizes what a huge opening they've just created for democrats on obama care." and here is rush limbaugh's reaction. >> if people had been in massachusetts, under governor romney's health care plan, they would have had health care. >> well, uh -- uh -- there's -- that's the potential gold mine for the obamaites, because they can say, well, yeah, and romney care's was the foundation for our plan. obama care, which they are already out there saying. >> conservative editor for redstate.com tweets today, "what conservatives are doing regarding andrea saul's comments is the same as how you housebreak your dog. romney needs to know not to go there." here is the dog urinating on the carpet today in iowa. >> we've got to do some reforms in health care.

and also erick erickson. so, about those taxes.e've got the e-mail trail, if you will, the latest talk between the campaigns over this. i'm going to start out now with president obama's campaign manager writing to the romney team. he says if the governor will release five years of returns, i commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign. pretty good deal, you would think. and then matt roads response, mitt romney's campaign manager. he says it's clear that president obama wants nothing more than to talk about governor romney's tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters like putting america back to work, fixing the economy, reigning in spending. governor romney will continue to lay out plans for a stronger middle class to save medicare and so on. maria, now, what's the point of all this? surely they didn't really think that romney was going to release more returns based on this e-mail exchange. >> no. of c

the very same thing happened to erick erickson, one of our cnn contributors.> terrible, terrible situation. >> aj, thanks so much. aj will be back with us next hour for an update on that new orleans bar incident with cuba gooding jr. >>> a store clerk was stretching, bored at work, when a car crashed through the wall and smashed into him. he was almost killed. what led up to the crash. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation

and i think -- as erick erickson pointed out in the documentary, if you've got a bunch of conservativesnow, they would not trust him to repeal obama care for example, as he called it. so i think it does go to this question of what does mitt romney believe. >> david gergen is here. david what can he do, if anything, in the speech he will deliver here, the acceptance speech thursday night, to deal with this problem? >> i think the most important thing he's done so far, wolf, is to pick ryan as the vice presidential candidate. he really doubled down. i think that was the most important signal he can send to conservatives. he has to decide in the speech, does he play to the base, in which case that reinforces their belief, their conviction, or does he broaden his message, and does he try to reach for some of these independents who is still out there? some people are still wavering. >> because the president's most vulnerable on the economy, john king, and any day that they're not talking about the economy is a wasted day as far as the romney campaign is concerned. >> it is. however, who you

joining us democratic strategist donna brazile and erick erickson. anks very much for coming in. they're making announcements who's going to speak primetime at the republican convention. erick, we just heard today for example rick santorum will speak, florida governor jeb bush, kentucky senator. i know the romney folks are very sensitive about some of the other big names speaking who might alienate moderates or undecided independents and they recall the pat buchanan speech at the republican convention back in 1992. i remember that convention. but listen to what pat buchanan said then. >> it is about what we believe and what we stand for as americans. there is a religious war going on in this country. it is a cultural war as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the cold war itself for this war is for the soul of america. >> the incumbent president george h.w. bush some of his supporters believed that speech hurt him badly. clinton was elected the following november. so, erick, should sarah palin for example or michele bachmann or hermann cain