lilly ledbetter and joy reid will join me next.rite, while letting only a tiny sliver of the voting public who cannot make up their mind about which candidate to vote for is actually very, very unfair to african-american voters. >>> i don't know if you were listening last night, but, see, we don't have to order up some binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women to learn and teach and thrive and start businesses. >> in the spotlight tonight, words that bind according to tivo. the segment of the debate that was rewound and watched more than once more than any other segment of the debate was this. >> we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. i went to a number of women's groups and said could you help us find folks and they brought us whole binders full of women. >> earlier today paul ryan tried to explain what his running meant by binders full of women. >> all he simply meant was he went out of his way to try and recruit qualified wom

they didn't support lilly ledbetter.sn't taken a position on the pending legislate for paycheck fairness. i think that the american people, women across the country, and i think that women at the debate understands it was a real difference in terms of the two candidates, the real choice in this election between who is committed to closing that gap and who is not. so i -- we're pleased with the results. i am sorry that she feels that way. i hope we can make it up. >> stephanie cutter. it's the first time you've played with bruce. pretty cool. >> yes. >> stephanie cutter and the e street band. thanks for joining us from ohio. >>> what do women want? hear from the romney campaign, their proposals. >>> time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. former model and analyst created a fashion marketplace that helps local boutiques that don't have their own e-commerce sites sell on line. she knows content sells and launched a companion online magazine as an ultimate source for what's in. watch "your business" sunday mor

lilly ledbetter and joy reid will join me next.e rewrite, while letting only a tiny sliver of the voting public who cannot make up their mind about which candidate to vote for is actually very, very unfair to african-american voters. customer erin swenson bought from us online today. so, i'm happy. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. (together) happy. i love logistics. [ male announcer ] start with nothing, build a ground-breaking car. good. now build a time machine. go here, find someone who can build a futuristic dash board display. bring future guy back. watch him build a tft display like nothing you've ever seen. get him to explain exactly what that is. the thin film transistor display... [ male announcer ] mmm, maybe not. just show it. customize the dash, give i

lilly ledbetter, an honor to have you on the show. >> i thank you. >> and joan walsh, of course. coming up, the big dog and the boss hit the campaign trail together. i think that might be fun in ohio. while the president is courting women, bill clinton and bruce springsteen were in ohio going after what you might call white blue collar people like where i came from. >>> also, prospects for the democrats holding the senate are brightening. we have some real brand new poll numbers that suggest the democrats may just hold onto this senate after all. one state where they face an uphill battle is nebraska where bob kerrey, great old bob kerrey, is hoping for a comeback. he's coming here in a minute. >>> coming up, the big dog on the campaign trail for president obama. in ohio together today, working springsteen's white blue collar base. >>> also, brand new poll numbers that suggest the democrats may just hold on to the senate after all. one state where they face an up hill challenge is nebraska where b bob is homing for a comeback. >>> both presidential candidates will be at the al sm

lilly ledbetter, an honor to have you on the show. >> i thank you. >> and joan walsh, of course. coming up, the big dog and the boss hit the campaign trail together. while the president is courting women, bill clinton and bruce springsteen were in ohio going after what you might call white blue collar people like where i came from. >>> also, prospects for the democrats holding the senate are brightening. we have some real brand new poll numbers that suggest the democrats may just hold onto this senate after all. one state where they face an uphill battle is nebraska where bob kerrey, great old bob kerrey, is hoping for a comeback. he's coming here in a minute. >> impressive crowd, the haves and the have mores. some people call you the elite. i call you my base. >> that's going to be a lot of fun tonight. this is "hardball"hardball," the place for politics. >>> with less than three weeks to go to election day, you can learn a lot about the election by simply looking at where the campaigns are spending the most money on tv ads. and this week four of the top five cities are in wisco

that is really what the lilly ledbetter act ultimately meant. there are current laws on equal pay that have real force and meaning. i do agree that there is not enough understanding of how central and important it was to pass that law. and the second thing i will save is that there is misinformation that clouds the understanding and makes the job of informing people all the more important. >> the woman said to me that her husband pointed out a little detail in the lilly ledbetter act. do we have any other questions from the floor? >> what about the difficulty that college students are having in voting? especially if there are away from home and in school? >> there are things that can affect the ability of college students to vote. one is how easy it is for them to register, especially if you are in a different state or a different part -- your location is not home anymore and you'll be voted at school rather than at home. you have to register based on where you are living. now there had been a trend to make registration easier to do and to allow

>> i know you're giggling about lilly ledbetter as well, but a lot of women no who she is and what it stands for and equal pay is a huge issue. >> we have seen on this panel -- i mean, excuse me, semi hysteria over this issue. the feminists are running after this. mitt intended nothing wrong. he has a terrific record up there, he was given a binder. they said, well, they gave him the binder. the feminists are chasing this thing like some rabbit and you're losing losing -- >> no. retro, pat. >> he did populate husetts governor with women. okay. getting personal. >> any investments i have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust, and i understand they do include investments outside of the united states, including in chinese companies. mr. president, have you looked at your pension? have you looked at your pension? >> you know, i don't look at my pension. it's not as big as yours, so it doesn't take as long. >> let me give you some advice. look at your pensiohave investm chinese companies, you also have investments outside of the united states. >> question. why can pr

lily ledbetter, an honor to have you on the show. >> i thank you. >> and joan walsh, of course.oming up, the big dog and the boss hit the campaign trail together. i think that might be fun in ohio. while the president is courting women, bill clinton and bruce springsteen were in ohio going after what you might call white blue collar people like where i came from. >>> also, prospects for the democrats holding the senate are brightening. we have some real brand new poll numbers that suggest the democrats may just hold onto this senate after all. one state where they face an uphill battle is nebraska where bob kerrey, great old bob kerrey, is hoping for a comeback. he's coming here in a minute. >>> both presidential candidates will be at the al smith dinner in new york. i'll be there. it's a big election year ritual here in this country. >> impressive crowd, the haves and the have mores. some people call you the elite. i call you my base. >> that's going to be a lot of fun tonight even when your speech is obviously written by somebody smarter than you and certainly somebody funnier

not that he has binders but that he passed the lilly ledbetter act, he worked for health care reform and worked on the economic side of women's issues. in this case, president obama did it. he got the job done. and romney was just flailing the whole night when it came to women. >> the good news for big shots like mitt romney is that most people don't have careers, they have jobs. >> wage earners. >> they work for wages. the idea of wage inequality is maddening to people. the fact they go and put 50 hours of work in a week and work hard and they think and sweat and have the worries of the job and find out they're getting screwed, basically, i think that's more important than anything in the world. i don't know why the president doesn't ram it home. vicky as i call you now, and nia-malika henderson. thank you. >>> much more up on mitt romney and his binders of women. that line has taken off on the internet for a variety of reasons. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? yo

obviously, the lily ledbetter fair pay act was the first bill.e is -- he has a record of standing up for women. i think mitt romney is lost back in, you know, decades. >> cecile richards, great to have you with us on "the ed show." thanks for joining us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >>> there's a lot more coming in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> she committed an act of journalistic terror or malpractice last night. >> you can't be the ref when you're the moderator. you absolutely cannot. >> the right wing, wambulance rides again. up next, karen finney on what all the whining about crowley really means. >>> first, it was pots and pans. now it's the cleveland browns. i'll tell you about paul ryan's latest failed attempt to pander to ohio voters. >>> and president obama gets tough on mitt romney about getting tough on china. >> governor, you're the last person who's going to get tough on china. >> james hoffa of the teamsters is ahead. >>> out of all of the issues in last night's debate, the candidates kept circling back and talking

the lilly ledbetter act, asked the campaign where they stood.. >> does governor romney support the lilly ledbetter act? >> sam, we'll get back to you on that. >> we'll get back to you on that. then, ed gillespie on the same lilly ledbetter act, the governor would not repeal the lilly lilly led led better act. he was opposed to it at the time. he would not repeal it. and then he said, i was wrong when i said last night governor romney opposed the lilly ledbetter act. and then on and on. the contradictions when you're dealing with inequality of pay with women, whether he was with lilly ledbetter or not, we're going into other areas. i mean, he has a problem with women's issues. >> he absolutely does, reverend. i would say beyond the gaffe, the bigger issue is the fact that he cannot take a stand on really any issue and last night we saw that this pertained to women. he can't take a stand when it comes to women that are an important part of the voting population. he was making strides. we saw in the latest usa today poll that he was doing pretty we

not that he has binders but that he passed the lily ledbetter act, he worked for health care

apparently a can didn't get the message he was asked a town hall meeting why he voted against the lilly ledbetter fair pay act which makes it easier for women to challenge on equal pay a control the crowd quote i believe in free enterprise i don't think the government should be telling people what you pay and what you don't pay and quote other words congressman akin is indorsing the legalisation of discrimination in the workplace

yesterday i spoke with lilly ledbetter. the lilly ledbetter pay act was the first act signed by mr.the question better. >> absolutely president obama talked about having the ledbetter bill being the first bill that he signed into the law when he first went into the white house and he's exactly right and he talked about that he wanted equal pay because his grandmother who worked all those many hours in the bank was by passed and he wanted to be sure that his daughters swrould a fair chance to be given the equal opportunity to work and be treated like anyone's son. and when he is so committed to the women's causes. like he said, it's not just families. when you're talking about a woman, you're talking about a family issue. >> let me ask you about another comment that governor romney made related to women. listen to this. >> we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become member of our cabinet. i went to a number of women's groups and said can you help us find folks and they brought us whole binders full of women. >> of course,

secondly, they believe ledbetter act -- lily ledbetter act should be more of a consensus. we had to pass that over the objections of republicans in the senate, but we got it passed in 2009. there are a lot of ways to begin to remedy those basic injustices. at the same time, we should take steps to grow the economy. we should continue to create jobs for the american people, men and women. of thenent's support orion budget and some other radical proposals, instead of moving us forward on jobs, it would take us down a sharp right turn back into the ditch. i think we can prepare it -- repair those injustices. >> i do not want to get bogged down in numbers, but when you talk about uranium enrichment, things can provoke anxiety in terms of what iran either is or is not doing. you need to enrich uranium between 3%-5% for the purposes of nuclear power. they have a knowledge -- acknowledged to the u.n. uranium enrichment upwards of 20% and they now claim it is for medical research. the standard for web and eyes that uranium is enriched up to 85% -- for enriched uranium is up to 85%

the lily ledbetter fair pay act was the first bill i signed into law as president. the first bill. >> now, an update on that riff, actually. what the president just said there about mitt romney's top adviser, admitting last night that mitt romney was actually against the fair pay act for women. that is true. ed gillespie said that on mitt romney's behalf last night. but then, update, today the campaign changed its mind and said, never mind, no, no, no, mitt romney is not against fair pay for women. of course, paul ryan voted against it in congress. the romney campaign used to say it did not know mr. romney's position on the subject. last night mr. romney himself refused to give a position, then the campaign said last night that he was against it, then today they say he's not against it, but he wouldn't repeal it, so maybe that means he's fine with it. everybody clear on that? the president went on today to talk about mr. romney's ideas on contraception, another area where mr. romney's campaign is an impenetrable mess. he got a big round of applause last night -- sor

you brought up ledbetter, and it will focus around the economy. i will play this sound clip from two years. let me finish, please. >> there's nothing important than what you make an hour. >> i agree. two years ago velma hart was as a cnbc town hall. she's a female african-american supporter of president obama. she'll be on the show later. let me play what she said to president obama, and if he gets a similar question this time around, how does he answer it this time in play velma hart, please. >> i'm one of your middle class americans, and quite frankly i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted defending you and your administration and defending the mantle of change i voted for and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. >> how does the president answer that tonight if it's posed to him? >> you have to deal with objective facts. if that's that person's condition, that's what it is. she has to live with the facts. the facts are our economy is better than it was. the facts are the stock market has doubled. we've come back from a direction the republican

governor romney says he's for equal bay but not the lily ledbetter aact. does that make sense to you? what are the risks to say you would support something -- you're married and you care about your wife getting a fair shake at work. what is the problem with governor romney just coming out and saying that this act is beneficial for the important part of our population, half of our population? >> what you deal with in a poll-driven candidate. this is a focus group-driven candidate. he has been both times he ran for president. when you talk about mitt romney, you have to look at history, tamron. in 1994 he ran for the u.s. senate to the left of ted kenne kennedy. in 2002 he ran for governor make the trains run on time. i'm not pro-life or pro-choice, i don't expect either label. in 2008 he brought a bunch of leather recliners and tried to smooz them on the cover of national review to put the reagan coalition back toke. in 2012 he runs as the next republican establishment heir apparent. he's run for office four times and run as a different candidate each time

is leaning on that. >> the governor would not repeal the lilly ledbetter act. he was opposed to it at time. the next day, he said i was wrong when i said last night governor opposed the lilly ledbetter act. he never weighed in on it. as president he would not seek to repeal it. the more things change, the more they stay the change. talking 20/20, not the race but vision. is president obama laying out a convincing blueprint for a second term? what he needs to present for the future just ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] finally, mom's oven-baked tastes straight from the microwave. like oven-roasted chicken in a creamy alfredo sauce. marie callender's new comfort bakes. it's time to savor. marie callender's new comfort bakes. you're not just looking for a by house. eyes you're looking for a place for your life to happen. constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. springsteen are campai

i don't think mitt romney is ever going to bring himself to commit, yes, the ledbetter bill will stay on the books, yes, it's a good bill, we need it. i don't think he will. and i know paul ryan is not, because he never supported it. and this is such a terrible injustice to the working women and their families across this nation, it's not right. >> don't miss "hardball" with chris matthews weekdays at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. >>> here's your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. dow closed at 13,584 after losing 8 points yesterday. the s&p was down 3, the nasdaq fell 31. >>> taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 19 points while in hong kong, the hang seng was up 3. >>> in brussels, europe's leader agreed to install a new supervisor over the eurozone next year. meanwhile, smoke-filled street in athens as riot police clash with protesters. >>> back here at home, a weak earnings report from google came out midday instead of after the bell. google plunged, trades were halted for hours and markets nev

joining me on the phone is lilly ledbetter, the lilly ledbetter fair pay act was the first piece of legislationlly, good morning. welcome. thanks for joining us. >> good morning, randi, thank you for having me. >> the candidates were asked about women's pay during the debate. i want you to listen to what they said and i want to ask you about it. >> okay. >> what we can do to help young women and women of all ages is to have a strong economy, so strong that employers are looking to find good employees and bringing them into their work force and adapting to a flexible work schedule that gives women the opportunities that they would otherwise not be able to afford. >> when we talk about childcare and the credits that we're providing, that makes a difference in terms of whether they can go out there and earn a living for their family. these are not just women's issues. these are family issues. these are economic issues. and one of the things that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates, and women are getting the same fair deal as men are. >> so the act with your name on it, lilly

>> i had a chance to meet lilly ledbetter.great woman who was really cheated out of a fair wage. and she fought and fought and ultimately the supreme court said she couldn't litigate her case, but it took congress to pass a law to make sure that he would get justice and people like her. and i thought romney had no answer for when the president said what about equal pay for equal work? that's a almost american principal, and i think that was one of the parts of the debate that sure showed the difference between the candidates. >> jennifer: i do too, especially since he didn't answer the question, and can't seem to answer the question. one of the points that i liked the most was when the president said that the buck stops here on that libya situation. you are an executive, and as you know as governor, you have stuff happening in your departments all the time, that you are not aware of. you may have a department somebody engaged in something that has wrongdoing but it's important for the chief executive to take full responsibilit

. >> when governor romney's campaign was asked about the lily ledbetter bill, whether he supported ithe saidings i'll get back to you. that's not the kind of advocacy women need in any economy. now, there's some other issues that have a bearing on how women succeed in the workplace. for example, better health care. now, a major difference in this campaign is that governor romney feels comfortable having politicians in washington decide the health care choices women are making. i think that's a mistake. in my health care bill, i said, insurance companies need to provide contraceptive coverage. to everybody who's insured. this is not just a health issue, it's an economic issue for women. >> let me ask you this -- by the way, that president we saw last night is the president i've seen in several off the record briefings you get before state of the unions and stuff like that, where he's in control, pacing in his way, very logical in his span of knowledge. let me ask you this about the women's thing last night. i couldn't believe the president was lucky enough -- almost like he had a ringe