jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you are no jack kennedy. >> ruddy juliany.ntioned a noun a verb, and there is something else. >> i would do away with the education -- the -- >> commerce. >> the commerce and let's see -- oops. >> yes how has the national debt personally affected each of your lives? >> there you go again. >> i have had a record of informing judges in the state of texas that's what the governor gets to do. >> cenk: how want can a debate be if the most important guy that we remember was a guy checking his watch. the rick perry oops moment that one was good. and the famous sigh. that's why he lost the debate right? wrong. he won 48 to 41 in that first debate. and the sigh debate was the first up with where the american people believed that al gore won. but the media said, no he lost. he lost. he lost, because he sighed. shockingly enough george bush won a debate. the third up with he lost again. so gore won two out of the three debates, and the entire media painted it as if because of expectations, in fact george bush had won. not true. when you

. >> i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> then there were moments to seemed to say more, like president h.w. bush looking at his watch when making his remarks. and obama's comment to then rival hillary clinton in 2008. >> you're likeable enough, hillary. >> one thing analysts agree on, the debates may be romney's big chance. >> he's got two very tough competing goals, to be likeable and laying out the attacks. it's hard to go likeable when you're the attack dog. >> we've seen obama as a president for four years. there's not much room on his canvas to paint. mitt romney? he's still got a little space left on his canvas. he can show us where he would lead us. >> just how much debate prep will president obama and romney do over the next few days? >> this is really crunch time, right? the president is already headed to las vegas. he has a rally there tonight and will spend the next several days doing debate prep out there in nevada which is, of course, a key battleground state. he'll be with jo

i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine.ck kennedy. >> big moments in debates past. let's talk about debates future. maggie haberman of politico, let me begin with you, how much the debates really matter. you see the moments that come out of them. how much difference? >> they can make a huge difference. especially for mitt romney. the risk for romney not doing well wednesday night will not tune in for later debates. i think there's not a loft enthusiasm on either side, frankly. if romney doesn't do something to seem serious and a hope for obama mistake there's very diminishing returns. >> governor romney has to shake things up on wednesday? >> romney has to get this debate focused on policies. and his alternatives and why they would do better. virtually no talk about that in this campaign. if this campaign turned to that, that's hugely to romney's advantage and that's what he needs to focus on. >> does he have to give out more details? >> interesting to me to hear you guys talk about details. i didn't any of that in 2008. ka

. >> i served with jack kennedy, i knew jack kennedy, jack kennedy was a friend of mine, senator, you're not jack kennedy. >> reporter: then there were the moments that seemed to say momplt and george h.w. bush looking at his wash. governor rick perry's oops remark. romney's high dollar wager. >> a $10 bet? >> and obama's comment about hillary clinton. one thing analyst's agree on. >> he's got two very tough competing goals, be likable and may out a contrast. >> we have gotten to know barack obama pretty well, we have seen anymore as president for four years. mitt romney, he has still got a little white space on his canvass, he can still show us who he is and where he would lead us. >> reporter: the president spends the first part of the week in the battleground state of nevada where he'll be practicing with john kerry, and president obama will be practicing with rob port man who is playing president balm. >>> president obama and milt romney face to face as american voters weigh the choices. the first presidential debate starting wednesday night october 3. watch it live right here at 7:0

. >> jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> osgood: coming up, the great debates. >> there you go again. is portion of sunday morning is sponsored by... announcing fluzone intradermal vaccine, a 90% smaller needle, wow that's...short. to learn more talk to your health care provider. [ female announcer ] fluzone intradermal vaccine is fda approved for 18-64 year olds. it shouldn't be given to anyone with a severe allergic reaction to any vaccine component including eggs, egg products or a prior dose of influenza vaccine. tell your doctor if you've ever had guillian-barrÉ syndrome. redness, firmness, swelling and itching at the injection site occur more frequently than with fluzone vaccine. other common side effects include pain, head ache, fatigue and muscle aches. if you have other symptoms or problems following vaccination call your doctor immediately. vaccination may not protect everyone. 90% shorter please. i have a callback on monday. [ female announcer ] visit fluzone.com or these locati

they concentrate on what happened to jack kennedy. not one went into detail in what i considered an adequate way, substantial detail about what was happening to lyndon johnson. what was happening from his point of view. the assassination had never been told from johnson's point of view. it came to me when i was doing this book that we have to do that. how do you do that? first you interview people who are still alive. john connolly himself is very helpful to me. he had this great ranch in south texas with a stable reporter horses. used to come to the guest house where i would say very early in the morning, 5:30 or 6:00 and sit on the top railing of the fence watching them exercise and he would tell me -- he answered almost every question i asked about johnson's career, took me through the assassination in great detail. one of the things he said was everybody thought when they heard the shot that was a motorcycle backfire or it was a balloon going off for a firecracker. but he said i was a hunter. i knew the instant i heard it that it

. >> jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> osgood: coming up, the great debates. >> there you go again. is portion of sunday morning is sponsored by... announcing fluzone intradermal vaccine, a 90% smaller needle, wow that's...short. to learn more talk to your health care provider. [ female announcer ] fluzone intradermal vaccine is fda approved for 18-64 year olds. it shouldn't be given to anyone with a severe allergic reaction to any vaccine component including eggs, egg products or a prior dose of influenza vaccine. tell your doctor if you've ever had guillian-barrÉ syndrome. redness, firmness, swelling and itching at the injection site occur more frequently than with fluzone vaccine. other common side effects include pain, head ache, fatigue and muscle aches. if you have other symptoms or problems following vaccination call your doctor immediately. vaccination may not protect everyone. 90% shorter please. i have a callback on monday. [ female announcer ] visit fluzone.com or these locati

he goes on to west virginia and the polls, which have been up for jack kennedy before wisconsin, i guess before the folks there realized that he was a catholic, they take a downturn. kennedy then really perfects -- perfects his style going for the people. and i think that the poverty of the people in west virginia, kind of changes them because it is just terrible and awful they are. and i think it opens his eyes to some things, which he had been shielded from, even as a senator from massachusetts. >> we wanted to give you a taste of what david writes about, and now it is your turn if you have questions for them. we will begin with joel in davidson, north carolina. >> caller: nice to hear from mr. david pietrusza. my question is, what are the obstacles to unifying the major leagues by resolving the designated hitter rule? >> guest: to unify the major leagues? i think not. i would not put past but sealy. but sealy really has -- he had no respect for the traditions of the game. what separates the game. the whole interleague play thing. he gave police their character. which enabled a basebal

looked at him and said i knew jack kennedy and served with jk kennedy, jack kennedy was a friend of mine jack kennedy. quail's career in american politics was over. dukakis lost the debates to bush, in that sense it didn't have significance. >> mark, as someone who's watched all these debates and you've seen winners and losers, as we go into these next couple days and the preparations you see all the low balling, memo that came out, in the romney team and you saw john kerry's response today, who is the better candidate going? >> first of all let me say i cannot stand the setting of expectations. i find it ridiculous and i don't ever read those memos. it's insane. these are two pretty good debaters. governor romney has not done a high pressured one on one debate. and i think for all the talk of the fact that he may have done more presidential debates of anyone in american history not having high pressure one on one makes a difference. he's practicing and rob portman is a stand-in but my guess is if i was going to give the edge the president because between his debates with then senator cl

i share jack kennedy's mission. i share his concerns. have the same goals.at home are cringing, why am i giving him ney, why am i voting for a guy who has the same goals as another guy. cya, wprly remember the nixon/kennedy debates, but you don't say the other guy is a good, compassionate guy and he cares about people. i do, too! that's what he's saying. i'm just like him. if you belve hs asat ao! sngma. >> you say that if you don't have anything else to say, chris. another thing the bloomberg poll shows is that voters -- more s a ncre plafor lpt barack obama the middle class than believe that mitt romney has such a plan. that's another problem mitt romney has. he hadxpected th theno would win the election for him. all he would have too is go to people and say, i'm not barack obama. i can do a better job. in fact, he needed to do a lot more. obama has laid out specific proposals. he's had a job for mths now, but mitt romney has been very vague about his proposals for heine lelass. >> you know what, this strikes me, just thinking now, listening to cynthia, he

. >> jack kennedy was a friend of mine.nator, you're no jack kennedy. >> big debate moment, but, you know, of course, some republicans are trying to paint mitt romney as ronald reagan. i'll talk with a wrilter who says romney is no regan and the president is no jimmy carter. tomorrow is the deadline for todd akin to drop out of the senate race, but he seems to stick to his word. he's not going anywhere, and now he's ramping up his campaign. we'll tell you how he's doing that. it's one of the things we thought you should know. >>> time four your business entrepreneur of the week. andrew rosenwach makes handmade wooden water tanks on new york roofto rooftops. they're shaped by hand. he says you don't throw out what worked, you just build upon it. for more watch "your business" this sunday morning on msnbc. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to sup

. >> i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine.nedy. >> jamaal. >> lloyd benson in the vice presidential debate and you remembered it was lloyd benson. good job. >> nerdland for a reason. >> what state, jamaal? >> he was from texas. >> does anybody remember what dan quayle said in response? >> he said that's uncalled for. >> that's exactly it. >> crawl under the podium. >> after the laughing subsided in the crowd. >> that was a pretty good one. >> i think that's my best. >> he's being polite. he's not hitting his bell until she is through. >> here's the next parker video. >> george bush taking credit for the berlin wall coming down is like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise. >> that's a lot of attitude. >> that could only be governor ann richards of texas. >> you would think, right? it's a very -- she said it like that. >> but it wasn't? >> it wasn't. >> she's channeling ann. it was not in a debate with george bush is your hint here. it was in a debate during the same time but -- >> al gore. >> yes. >> that's right. applause

he goes on to west virginia and the polls, which have been up for jack kennedy before wisconsin, i guessbefore the folks there realized that he was a catholic, they take a downturn. kennedy then really perfects -- perfects his style going for the people. and i think that the poverty of the people in west virginia, kind of changes them because it is just terrible and awful they are. and i think it opens his eyes to some things, which he had been shielded from, even as a senator from massachusetts. >> we wanted to give you a taste of what david writes about, and now it is your turn if you have questions for them. we will begin with joel in davidson, north carolina. >> caller: nice to hear from mr. david pietrusza. my question is, what are the obstacles to unifying the major leagues by resolving the designated hitter rule? >> guest: to unify the major leagues? i think not. i would not put past but sealy. but sealy really has -- he had no respect for the traditions of the game. what separates the game. the whole interleague play thing. he gave police their character. which enabled a baseball

bill clinton and ron aldreagan could have brought us back just the way jack kennedy. go 60s after to first two years of kennedy and then boom, huge expansion. it is just that obama is a fine man but doing bad policy they are not work will not work and i am worried about the country if he remains president. >> and art went on to say if president obama is reelected we'll all feel the pinch in our wallets . >> my guess is if obama is reelected we'll have a huge tax increase on january 2013 and tax magedon . we'll see the bush era tax cuts go away and see all . obama care taxes coming in to place . you will see a bad economy for four years. simply, uma, if you tax people who work. and you pay people who don't work, don't be surprised if you find a lot of the people not working. that's exactly what we have seen for the last four years and if obama is reelected, that's what we will see in the next four years. i wish romney and ryan would push the growth agend a. they would give us good growth agenda. >> thank you, art for giving his insights and comments in what is a very,

they're known to be sort of like jack kennedy introduced his new concept in the acceptance speech.he acceptance speech of romney has been like chinese food, it's worn off quickly. i can't remember the words from it except the nice words which you cite about his father george leaving a rose at the bedside table of his wife every morning for her to see when she gets up. what a -- it didn't tell you much about mitt, but it told you wonderful things about his dad. except for that apparently they didn't have a coherent message in putting that speech together among the speech writers in your article. >> right. and it was sort of slapped together at the last second. they had to scrap early versions because stuart stevens and the candidate didn't like what they saw. what they ended up with was a speech that at the time everyone thought was a pretty good speech but in retrospect i think it's been picked apart in two areas. one, it really lacked in the type of specificity, the war of ideas stuff, that conservatives are really hungry for, and then for whatever reason it never mentioned the tr

. >> jack kennedy once said about dick nixon, i feel sorry for the guy because he doesn't know which dick nixon to be on any particular day. he wants the support of the tea party crowd. he needs them, john and mark, but he would never be a tea party person. he wouldn't show up at a yahoo kindf politics we don't like government. he's not been a life long foreign policy hawk, b he nts e suort heeoco community out there. he wants people who are hawkish. he's not a member ofhe religious right. he doesn't run around liberty university or hang around with jerry falwell, but he wants their support. he's not really a ryan republican ideologue conction politici, buhe p himn thck isn't that the fundamental problem with the guy? he wants to date these people through the election. he wants their support, but he doesn't want to be one of them. he doesn't want to marry them. is that true? >> yes. look, chris, thi he'a person who is fundamentally ill suited to being the republican nominee given what the republican party currently is. and you could say that on a bunch of different levels. it's an ev

. >> my son's position is the same as jack kennedy's position. >> even romney's father, george, entered think it's absolutely wrong to keep hammering on the religious issue. >> mr. romney -- >> then in october, a critical debate. >> senator kennedy and his family have a multiple real estate empire across this country -- >> romney accused the kennedy family of financially benefiting from real estate deals. >> senator, 15 seconds. >> mr. romney, the kennedys are not in public service to make money. we have paid too high a price in our commitment to the public service -- >> ted kennedy began pulling away and mitt romney lost. >> he was back at work the next day. the election was tuesday night. wednesday morning, he was back at his desk. >> we kind of expected it. it was -- it's interesting. ann was more upset by it than i. but losing put me back into business and i was more successful than i had been before. >> but not long after, something that would make political defeat seem trivial. >> i think my diagnosis was probably the roughest thing we had to go through as a couple. great shot. ho

jack kennedy, president kennedy, took a segregationist party and turned it into a civil rights partyzwrin. >> it wasn't hard to do. wasp easy to do, as you know. but you are right. i think the reason why my uncles and my father, they were all incredible individuals but the reason why we are still talking about president kennedy and robert f. kennedy and why we are still going to be talking about barack obama, years from now, is because what they stood for. not just who they were. >> let me ask you about being a son of ted kennedy which to most of us unimaginable. i'm one of the unimaginable because i can't imagine what it is like to have -- my father who was great but to be an historic figure like ted kennedy and had so much impact on people personally and collectively. what do you feel when you hear him talk about in the past tense by people that never knew him personally? >> well, you know, i have -- i love my father so much. i have -- he was my hero. tremendous amount of respect. even every passing day. understanding and learning more and more about theissues that h with. he was a

the other day, my age, you always remember jack kennedy was shot. >> greta: my father would talk aboutrl harbor. i thought, why are you talking about that old news? as a child. now, every 9/11 who, can forget the sight of those planes in the world trade center and everything that happened here in washington? >> it was the worst of times and the best of times because the best of times was what people did. those who went into the buildings, those that carried out and risked their lives to save that of others. so, those people, those first responders, who are the best of america. i am very pleased to note that we continue to honor them. >> greta: these are very turbulent times and have continued to be so, most notably in the middle east. prime minister netanyahu was hoping to get a red line to try to delineate when the action will be taken against iran and what. secretary of state clinton says there won't be red lines. today, netanyahu is reported to have says, said, those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before iran don't have a moral right to police a red light

we don't seem to be willing to set a red line for iran when that's exactly what jack kennedy did in thecrisis. you do that any time you are dealing with a provocative enemy that needs to know how far can you go so we have no confusion? the president refuses to do it. prime minister netanyahu is absolutely correct in pushing him to do it. >> there are plenty of people who would argue that the president as commander in chief had a better week, but i want to move you on to some things that are possibly troubling inside the romney campaign. this is the latest look at some battleground states from the nbc news maris poll. ohio, it has president obama up seven points, and in florida and virginia the same poll has president obama up five points. what is wrong there? >> nothing is wrong. it's called an election. >> well, that's -- some of these -- those are pretty good leads compared to what we have seen before. >> i don't know. those are the kinds of leads john kerry had on election day, and george bush became the president. you know? so those are -- those are margins that are well within stri

. >> senator, you are no jack kennedy. >> body language plays a part in the presidential debate.in 1992, george h.w. bush deliberately looks at his watch and he pays for it when the audience and voters see it as disrespectful. body language makes a difference in the debate between al gore and george w. bush as well. gore sighs over and over again and bush, the underdog, surprises by winning the debate and of course, the election. both president obama and governor romney are seasoned debaters, and experts say neither are prone to making major gaffes. but if there is one thing that history has taught us, when it comes to presidential debates, expect the unexpected. joining us now to talk about the moments and debate magic yet to come, republican consultant romney 2008 campaign advisor, alex castellanos and donna brazile. a lot of folks are saying these debates are do or die for romney. donna, do you agree? >> absolutely. first impression is very, very important. mitt romney had several opportunities to change the trajectory of the campaign, his selection of a running mate, paul rya

. >> senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> here's later in debate, al gore walked up to bush. >> al goreo come over and be the bully and get in his face. bush doesn't say anything. just looks at him, smiles, gives him the head wink, and goes on. >> i >> that was it. it just -- you know, it just absolutely devastated gore. >> you watch him go. >> yeah. we all revert to our junior high mentality, you know, when our team scored. yeah, you know! >> most people don't know is that bush had been prepared. >> jud gregg, who had played the role of al gore in the debate prep, had seen him pull this trick. he said to bush, be prepared, he's going to come and get in your face. we all dismissed at the time, but sure enough it happened. >> which raises the question how do candidates prepared? these two debate coaches showed me. they prepped president bush for debate. o'donnell later coached mitt romney and michele bachmann. they spent hours trying to replicate debate moments. >> you have the candidate stand in front of a podium like this as realistic as possible? >> yeah. you want a strong bearing, er

. >> as jack kennedy said, sometimes party loyalty asks too much.omehow i don't think that's a bromance between mitt romney and that guy. they're not going to be touting that much. chris christie is slated to hit the campaign trail for steve king. >>> more from the realm of crazy. joe walsh, another birther, a tea partier with a another town hall. the subject, the recent law school graduate to spoke up about birth control. here is the rebuttal from mr. walsh. >> so at the democratic convention wednesday night first prime time speech was sandra fluke, whatever her name is. 30, 31, 32-year-old law student who gets up there in front of the national audience and tells the american people, i want america to pay for my contraception. they're kidding me. go get a job. go get a job, sandra. >> why does he have to be irish? graduating from a prestigious law school in your early 30s makes you a student for life. walsh might be out of a job himself when voters hit the polls this over. >>> up next, you think mitt romney would be ready for the question about wha