as john heilemann said on the show many times, and other shows, too, every day that mitt romney isn't talking about the economy is a wasted day. and you know, the economy's at the core of what this -- what this argument is. yet, it muddies it, too. i think there's a clearer message to make about the economy and job creation and about boosting incomes of middle class americans and more basic positive stuff than being like that guy's communist, he's a seek government lover, we have the tape. it's seems like an indirect and not strong way to go about it. >> hugo has john heilemann for authority. lynn has moses. we're going it see how this plays out after the break. we're going to look at red state blues. there are some new poll up ins that show support is shrinking for governor romney, and key republicans at the same time think his time is running out. >> he's been a mystery for a lot of us. we keep waiting for what we hope is a revealing moment, that

with us today, john heilemann, katty kay, helene cooper and joe klein. first up, mitt romney may not have been the love of their life, now he is out in the arena has the republican's champion, a political gladiator who has now thrown down his gauntlet. >> this president can ask us to be patient. this president can tell us it was someone else's fault. this president can tell us that the next four years he'll get it right. but this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he took office. chris: john, that is it, that's the gauntlet, can the president and what will he do to answer that charge that he has not made things better? >> is a perennial questions in elections and the case of romney against obama. explicitly and implicitly, the president has to answer that charge. they have tried in chicago for the last year to say this isn't just a referendum on us. it's a choice. you're going to hear that framing throughout this convention in charlotte. i will say, i think they're going to do more to try to go back and litigate his record th

common parlance, msnbc political analyst and national affairs editor for "new york" magazine, john heilemann. and from washington, cnbc's eamon javers. john, i want to go to you first. you were in charlotte, i was there yesterday. there was a lot of expectation of course on the president's shoulders as far as what he could and would deliver. the word i think that has been most touted in the hours since he's delivered his speech is workmanlike in terms of the characterization of his speech. i thought it was very effective insofar as he seemed like he was speaking to that middle, those independent voters who haven't been following this campaign very closely and he really needed to have an elegant argument made as to why they should re-elect him. what was your assessment? >> i guess, alex, i'm sort of in the workman wilike category. one of the kind of cliches in the immediate aftermath, some of the reporters and cynics in our business have been harsher on the speech than i would be, but the notion that it sounded at least in the first two thirds of it kind of like a state of the union, and kind

just wanted to shout out for mark halperin and john heilemann. >> the hbo mini series based on halperin and heilemann's best seller nabs five awards including julie ann more for her turn as sarah palin. >> wow. i -- i feel so validated because sarah palin gave me a big thumb's down. >>> good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in new york overlooking the new york public library, site of our education nation summit. all of the top newsmaks and policymakers in the field with us today. first our daily fix, politics, the campaign re-set for mitt romney is under way. romney and paul ryan are intensifying their focus on swing states, romney starting today in colorado before joining paul ryan in ohio where a new poll today has president obama breaking past 50%. joining me now, chris cizilla msnbc contributor and managing editor of host politics.com. this is the biggest edge that the president has had in ohio so far. and what does it mean that the romney/ryan campaign are focusing on ohio as well, the president will be going to toledo all roads leading to ohio later this week? >> that's right. look,

congratulations, john heilemann. welcome back. >> i just want to say, doc ellis has got nothing on me because he was only on lsd. >> you mixed it up. hey, willie, let's go to the race for the president. obviously, a lot going on. the polls not looking good. mitt romney saying he's not paying attention to the polls. you're having a lot of his supporters saying, well, you don't pay any attention to the polls. i heard walter mondale say that the night before the election. a lot of desperation going on on the far right, but what's happening in the race? >> laser focus on the swing states. the candidates in virginia today, one of 30 states where early voting is already under way. it's a state president obama won in 2008 by more than six points. and where a polling average from real clear politics shows him right now at this moment up about 4.5 points. yesterday both candidates holding rallies in ohio, crisscrossing the state, sometimes almost running into each other they were so close campaigning. mitt romney tried to bru

joining me in charlotte, national affairs editor for new york magazine and john heilemann, the author of the book "game change" and wrote this week's cover story about vice president joe biden. john heilemann, good to see you and all of these people that got up early to welcome you. >> let's talk about the scene shifting from tampa to charlotte. what is the question that president obama has to answer for the american people this week? we heard, are you better off now than you were four years ago, kind of a lukewarm response to that question from the campaign. what do they have to do here? >> the first thing they have to do is rebut those charges and they have to answer that question. for a lot of people and it's tricky as you point out, they had some difficulty, i think foolishly they had difficulty answering the question, because the truth is the country as a whole is better off now than it was four years ago. in every numerical or empirical way. the problem is what they know from their focus groups and voters they talk to. a lot of people don't feel that. for a lot of voters, and a

mark halperin and john heilemann are still with us.hington, pulitzer prize-winning associate editor of "the washington post," bob woodward. his new book, "the price of politics," we'll be looking at that book shortly in just a moment. also with us, associate editor and columnist for "the washington post," david ignatius. gentlemen, thanks for being with us this morning. >> morning. >> we'll start with the headlines. we are looking at violent protests breaking out in afghanistan where protesters have set fire to police vehicles. they also attacked western compounds including those of private security companies. it is the latest in a wave of protests that have swept the muslim world after portions of an anti-islam film which was produced in the u.s. were posted online. elsewhere in afghanistan, taliban insurgents killed two u.s. marines and damaged more than $200 million worth of equipment in a brazen attack on a fortified compound. investigators are now trying to determine if militants who were wearing afghan army uniforms to penetrate

through the president's speech and talk about what will happen between now and election day with john heilemann in just a minute. we'll also show you the moment that threatened to steal the show from the president when former arizona congresswoman, gabby giffords, 20 months after she was shot in the head, led the audience in the pledge of allegiance. that clip in its entirety later. but we begin with president obama and closing argument. 20,000 supporters packing into the convention hall. the president accepted his party's nomination for a second term. after a warm krupp from vice president biden, he offered a defense to his policies, saying he now needs more time to build on the progress he's made. >> if you reject the notion that this nation's promise is reserved for the few, your voice must be heard in this election. if you reject the notion that our government is forever beholden to the highest bidder, you need to stand up in this election. if you believe in a country where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules, then i need you to

but as john heilemann pointed out earlier in this show, there's a big difference.ain to what then-candidate obama said to supporters in 2008. >> you go into some of these small towns in pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years, and nothing's replaced it, and they fell through the clinton administration and the bush administration and each success i have administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not. so it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them. >> but it was what obama says next that's often let out of the tap tapes. he encourages the supporters to reach out and win them over. let's listen. >> i think what you'll find is that people of every background, there are going to be a mix of people, you can go into the toughest neighborhood, working class lunch pail folks, you'll find obama enthusiasts, and you go into places where you think i'd be very strong and people will just

john heilemann is new york magazine national affairs editor and an msnbc contributor. ohn. i was outherwithou, u maalrin e bo thicupour, count them, four emmys this weekend, this sunday night. we all watched. it must be amazing to be part of a show that included that fit hour or so of that show and then it got intellectual when you got up there. i thout it was pretty nglations.. it's all part of television. susan page, thank you. i'm sure you'll get your emmy some day for front page reporting with "usa today." let me ask you about a game-changing situation. i know you don't want to give away your next book. it seems bl cltosp in charlotte not only changed the political sort of feel but people began to feel coming out of that according to some polling i have seen feeling better about the economy objectively. >> yes. >> tell me about that. the way you look at that. >> i think hugely important that speech, chris, i think in a way even conservatives have acknowledged the speech was kind of a game-changing mt in the election. he did twoiffentng e ceh ed ly d ou clarity. he l

. >> john heilemann. right. okay. we've got a lot going on. >> we do have a lot to talk about we can talk about what everyone's atwitter about, or we can wait. >> why don't we start with news. >> okay. i want to say the last time this happened to a candidate you liked it a lot. >> why don't we start with news overseas. >> that's true. >> then we'll get to the news we'll be talking about politically for some time. because there are people dying, they continue to die. and it's just unbelievable. what's wrong? >> just a little underdressed. seriously. >> you know what? by the way -- >> it's still summer. >> by the way, it was like september 3rd or 4th, and clayton who is new, i'm wearing that blue crew sweater, right? >> yeah. >> and clayton goes because he's new to the show i like that sweater. and i said you're going to see it every day for the next six months so get used to it. >> did you hear what t.j. just asked me? where's my leather? >> the united states military says most joint operations with the americans and a

she actually pulled back the veil a little on her initial reluctance, john heilemann. her focus when they were grappling with these issues because we knew she didn't jump into it. she didn't want to play in the 2010 midterms as well. this speech last night i thought really melded the personal side and the policy side. the politics and the re-election argument. >> she did a bunch of things ann romney, for all of that speech was a fine speech, but she did a bunch of things ann romney didn't do. one of those things was to show and not just tell, not just assert things about barack obama, assert things about herself, but tell stories. the story of her father, m.s. stricken, struggling to get up in the morning, struggling up and down the stairs, incredibly vivid anecdote that was very moving to people. she also made policy arguments that ann romney never made on behalf of her husband so she spoke directly to women on the question of women having the right to control their own health decisions. those are things that expanded the speech beyond merely being a supportive wife a

thank you, john heilemann. >> a lot of peanuts from you in the late '70s, chris. >> i'll think about at one. you're too fast for me. thank you, alex wagner, thank you, john. have a nice weekend. when you get to it, friday night. >>> coming up, are mitt romney's troubles contagious. remember how the gop once thought winning the senate was a begin? as we have been saying, a rash of new polls shows democrats could hold on. and is one of the best guys running for re-election will be here. >>> and also, block the vote. in just one sentence, the republican sponsor of that restrictive pennsylvania i.d. law managed to defend the indefensible and offend half the voters. darryl metcalfe said 47% of people are living off their neighbor's hard work and many are too lazy to go out and get the new i.d. card and it's too bad if they don't vote. do you believe it? he's saying to romney you were right when you were in the back room. that 47% is exactly true and they're too lazy to work and get their i.d. cards. this guy is mitt romney's worst friend. anyway, the dirty, angry money is out. it turns out

we do, as i pointed out to mark, we're a little worried about john heilemann. is he right now? >> right, where is he right now? >> if you know anything about john heilemann, you, too, would be concerned where he is. chateau marmont, i would assume, holed up. >> or in a ditch. >> don't even say that. i'm trying to figure out how they get on the plane with all that hardware. >> that's a good point. >> bring it on home. >> oh, my -- look at this -- one, two, three, four, five. that's nice. that's a good night. >> well deserved. >> well deserved. what else did well? >> well, you want to talk about what else did well? >> i do. >> "homeland," president obama's favorite show he said in an interview recently. "homeland" had a huge night. >> you're surprised i want to know, aren't you? >> yes, i am. supposed to be a great show. i haven't seen it. i don't have showtime. >> it's great. >> i've got to get the package. >> why don't you upgrade? >> have you ever heard of a company known as comcast? >> oh, comcast. >> yes. >> i have the most basic cable. i have, like, 12 chan

john heilemann, i turn to you first on this. i think a lot of us were sort of taken aback at the back and forth between the romney campaign and i guess the white house, more specifically as far as the romney campaign and how they've handled this, it seems to be moves that are nakedly political and i think to some degree sort of shocking given the gravity of the situation on -- on the international stage. >> well, yeah. the first thing to start with before we move to politics is just to -- i think everybody today throughout the day needs to take a pause and recognize like what a really serious day this is, remind s everybody in the cheap back and forth of politics people's lives are at stake. you go and do these jobs and people think ambassadorships are dangerous, you can use your life doing it, he lost his life with three other people and it's important to keep that in mind. on the political front the obama campaign has long been worried mostly about exon nis events things they were confident about winning this election unless t

john heilemann?> well, chris, there's a question about whether he's actually turning tail on those things or not. you know, there was a conference call the campaign did this afternoon in which they said, no, in fact, he still wants to dismantle obama care, wants to repeal it, totally against it, he was just trying to be funny last night. that he was making a joke. that was his sense of humor on display. we've heard that from the campaign on some other occasions in the past like when he made a birther joke about president obama's birth certificate not that long ago. that was also said to have been an example of his sense of humor. i think he probably would do well if those are examples of him being funny, he should probably keep comedy out of his routine. it's kind of confusing. i think a lot of people assumed he would try to pivot to the middle. he's obviously proud of the massachusetts health care laud he passed. a lot of people thought this would be the mitt romney we'd see this fall. it's not clea

john heilemann, your colleague in "new york" magazine said mitt romney has revealed himself to be the smearing pluto crat everyone thought he would be. has he and can he reverse that impression in the course of the next few weeks? >> i don't know if everybody thought he would be. certainly there's a negative stereotype of governor romney. it's been an open question. is he a sneering police toe crat, is he not, who is mitt romney? he's done a lot of things to create the stereotype david brooks called him -- i like to pair that with gordon gekko and make gordon gekko the hall the third. so many problems with this statement. certainly furthering that impression for a lot of people is one of the most powerful, he -- made this comment last night in the press conference when wasn't apologizing saying he spoke inartfully. i think the biggest problem with the video he speaks very elegantly. he speaks more eloquently and articulately in the video than on stage. i think that impression the fact he's speaking with passion and conviction and not haltingly and stumblely leads people to say this is

back with us on set mark halperin and john heilemann. >> if we move on, do we not look at polls to seeernanke, comes out trying to do whatever he can do to force a job recovery. it's certainly not happening out of washington, d.c. so the feds moving very quickly and the middle east turmoil spreads. i think one hopeful development, one of the things i was surprised by we were talking about how mitt romney made the terrible mistake, in our opinion, at least my opinion, i won't speak for anybody else. i was really stunned when the president -- of course republicans are saying go harder, go harder, set the entire region on fire. i actually went the other way. i was taken aback when the president said that the egyptians were not our allies. wait. these are our most important arab partners. yes, we've had a chaotic week and bad things are happening. this is a time you do what the president did i guess yesterday and call the guy up and say, hey, buddy, right here. you do not want to go this direction. and he did. i think that was a great call by the president. i think he made a terrible mista

men who wrote the book that resulted in a sweep of four emmys this week, "game change" authors john heilemann of "new york magazine" and mark halperin of "time." gentlemen, thank you for joining us. righnow ver mi ro'slio e t been more on display than yesterday. it involved health care reform, the issue he can't decide whether to run from ormbrace, so he did both in the same day. in an interview with nbc's ron allen, romney said his health care plan up in massachutts, deled after, shows his compassion. let's listen. >> throughout is campaign as well we've talked about my record in massachusetts. don't forget, i got everybody in my state insured, 100%f the kids in our state have health insurance. i t k e'yt that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record. >> well, shortly after that, very shortly, a matter of two hours or so, romney spoke before a toledo, ohio, crowd to denounce obama's affordable care act which is based on his massachusetts plan. let's listen. i wl real obama care and ac wreeaca reform. obama re is really exhibit number one of the pr

it used to be i had to wait for your book or john heilemann to find out who really hates each other behind the scenes. what do you make of it coming out in real time? >> each campaign there have always been stories like that and resignations. i mean during one of the reagan candidacies he fired his campaign manager, john sears, and put in bill casey. >> i remember that. >> in 1980. 32 years ago. at the time it was covered like this is the end of the reagan candidacy,'ll never be president. there was all of this -- i mean it -- >> i guess it turned out to be wrong. >> it turned out to be wrong. i went into the last two week os testify campaign and carter was ahead and then it turned out he lost by seven or eight points. so there was a 15-point shift. so covering the food fight and covering the polls, i think it is misguided or overemphasizing. we really want to know what the performance is of these people. >> right. and on that point with journalists now as you know constantly tweeting and blogging and facebooking and instagram, all this realtime 24/7 stuff, how has that affected campaign c