governor jack markell is here joining us live at 6:30 a.m.> and then at 7:00 eastern on "starting point" the republicans respond. the governor of virginia bob mcdonnell is joining soledad o'brien plus a special treat next hour. andrew mccarthy has written a new book about his travels around the world to find himself. he is going to join us live. and he says traveling solo is akin to infidelity. i can't wait to have a conversation about that. >> he's an award-writtening travel writer. >> he is. but first, the richest people ever assembled in one room. major power players and big players gracing the cover of "forbes." ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. now covering 3000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible. to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! ♪ mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cak

governor jack markell. thanks for coming in today. talked a lot about joe biden. joe, delaware is blessed with two great united states senators today and tom cochran and chris koonce. >> as well as john carney. >> we have what i believe to be the best congressional delegation in the country. not only are they really good at what they do in washington. they're very effective advocates for jobs in delaware. as governor, it is important for me to have those kinds of partners. they're doing a great job. >> bill: we do have a lot of people who want to talk to the question of are we better off today than we were four years ago. the other question coming out of the convention, the message is between the two candidates, moving forward that barack obama has the better plan for america and for middle class families. that certainly is a message you've been carrying across the country. >> it is the most important message here at the convention. that's what's going to define what happens in november and to the extent that we can make sure that's w

we want to talk to jack markell who has been sitting on our panel this morning.ead of the national governors association. you why did it take so long for the democrats to answer with any kind of articulate message, anybody should tell you the answer should be yes, to are you better off than four years ago, from a pr standpoint, the answer is say yes and something else after that. they really struggled over the past 24 hours. why is that? >> i'm here not in my capacity as chair of the national governors association but here as a democratic governor. i didn't follow all that closely the last 24 hours, but to me it is clear that we are better off. especially going back to what i said a little while ago, we were in unbelievably desire straits, the financial markets were frozen and economy was in free fall, hundreds and thousands of jobs being lost every month now 29 straight months of job growth. is it enough? do we want more? absolutely and i think president obama is the first one to say we need to keep doing better. of course the most important thing in terms of th

we'll ask democratic governor jack markel. he is a scheduled speaker. starting your day with us. >> great to see you. >> brian: you can't be pleased with looked at the stats. >> you have to look at the progress we made. we have had 29 straight months of job growth. the president is the first to say we have to make more progress. >> brian: look at this together. then and now. so whesident took office and where we are at right now. you said you are not happy. unemployment is up and median income is down and gasoline has doubled and the national debt is through the roof at 16 trillion. >> what your slide is missing back in january, february and april of march 09, we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month. it is brutal. we have been creating jobs. >> this doesn't reflect population growth, the job creation. >> did the 800 reflect population >> brian: that is a good point. go back 52 month was economic growth that president bush produced. >> there is no question we have a lot to do, but the president, and what i am excited about for the convention

[applause] [cheers and applause] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome governor jack markell. >>ernor of delaware. [applause] home to america's vice president and our room favorite son, joe .iden perr [applause] joe has never forgotten his middle-class roots. were the lessons he has learned. you know what? mitt romney has not forgotten his roots or the lessons he has learned, either. that is what worries me about mitt romney. mitt romney says he should be president because he was a business executive. i have got nothing against business executives running for office. after all, i am one. before i entered public life, i earned my mba at night while working during the day. i helped lead the wireless revolution. i am a proud, card-carrying capitalist. [applause] make no mistake, i believe in private equity. as someone who has been a businessman and a governor, let me level with you. just because mitt romney was a successful private equity executive, that does not mean he deserves to be president. [applause] because when you move from business to government, what matters are the less

this is governor jack markel from delaware. basically what it says.lty of child abuse in the third degree when the person recklessly here is the controversial part or intentionally causes physical injury to a child through an act of neglect abuse or neglect of a child. this is ambiguous language that could include spanking. >> spanking ban in delaware. billing supporter of this by the way is attorney general bo biden. of course the son of the vice president you can see a gray area in which you get in trouble. spanking should a parent be allowed to spank their child? yes. you do want want some protection for that child if some parents takes things just too far. do you need some protection within the law but, big gray area. >> that's the argument. >> general's child abuse. the fact this is so ambiguous. bo biden's office could not say definitively that no parent would be prosecuted. >> no one can definitively say where the line is drawn. yes. >> that the thing. so there is some protection for a parent to say well, i was spanking them and it got too far