. >> joining me in studio is msnbc contributor and daily beast columnist meghan mccain and son of the former president reagan. meghan, politico columnist wrote a satire call piece about romney and ryan and spoke to my colleague jansing. >> paul ryan is treated like a surrogate. he doesn't get to choose his own staff. he has a staff loyal to mitt romney around him every minute. he is told what to say and told what to do. that's fine as long as romney is winning. but romney is not winning. he's losing. and that unleashes the presidential candidate to act in his or her own way to unleash sarah palin to start attacking barack obama more. >> so meghan, as we all know. your dad certainly dealt with tensions within the ticket of himself, sarah palin, for any of these candidates, though, behind the scenes there is ego, ambition, and the perception of what the voters see. do you think there is a behind the scenes strain that's going on because, as we also mentioned, the fact that congressman ryan is still running for his same seat. he has a good safety net if things don't go well as role for v

joining me now, meghan mccain, msnbc contributor, also a columnist for the daily beast and of course arizona's republican senator and former presidential candidate, john mccain. fresh back from tampa. meagan, good to see you here. >> thank you. >> last night we have this intelligent, articulate and passionate argument to re-elect president obama delivered by former president bill clinton. basically taking on the gop plank and talking about basic arithmetic. how do you think the president did in trying to reassure america you reap what you sew in the investment you made four years ago with president obama, you need to re-elect him? >> listen, i think no one could ever say bill clinton is not a fantastic orator, and amazing at making a speech. he was absolutely fantastic. one of the few people that can keep my attention for almost an hour during a speech. i think he was preaching to the choir. if you're already a fan of president obama, he's reasserting that. if you're not, it didn't have much impact other than entertaining you. >> when we look at the plan romney/ryan has put out, they

from msnbc, meghan mccain.

meghan mccain -- >> thomas, congratulations on your wedding before we go, by the way. >> i know. >> i had no idea you were getting married on saturday. >> i know. congratulations. >> thank you. >> he's off the market, ladies. gentme so sad. >> ls gemho is watching. meghan, thanks so much. >> i've been married 32 years, tom. it's not so bad. >> no, no, we've already been together 12. i feel like we're on the right path. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemeand gentlemen. we ll see you meghan mcca on surda >> wlkut de frhe 47% comments a very personal look at just who makes up that section of america. we just saw how the president's campaign is putting a face on those remarks in that new ad that is now showing in certain parts of the country. joining me is author laun w e powerful op-ed entitled "i was a welfare mother" accounting for her own time on assistance and romney's comments about 47%. it's great to have you here. you talk about you family's time assistance a w y realed that you and your son needed this help to get by and to build a better life. the safety net that you needed to spr

deficit 16% people will listen to this. >> meghan mccain, great to see you. >>> exciting.cation kicks off on msnbc. on sunday, hosting an extraordinary special talking to hundreds of students on what's working, what's broken in our american education system. >>> also sunday, alex wagner leading a discussion about the role of parents and teachers from the red carpet premiere of the new drama "won't back down." next week, both president obama and mitt romney give interviews that are going to air on tuesday morning, including romney's live sit-down interview with nbc's brian williams live right here in this hour. so you don't want to nays. back after this. 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! [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. oh, hey alex. just picking up s

within your own party you are having dialogue including senator mccain's daughter meghan mccain and hereou have herbert hoover's great granddaughter speaking of this and i think the republican party will be forced to put this somewhere in their platform as these younger people are getting older and they become the party leaders. i think this is a generational thing. i see it with my sons. what was not accepted 50 years ago, to them, they look at this and go why wouldn't you be able to marry? this makes no sense. i don't bat at and an eye if my friend is gay. i think the republican party will be forced to change and i agree with the young leaders. >> we have to talk again after credits. that is it for this edition of to the contrary. follow me on twitter@bonnie erbe and to the contrary and check out our website web web where the discussion continues and whether you are agree or think to the contrary, please join us next time.

from msnbc, meghan mccain.

from msnbc, meghan mccain. the music of onerepublic.

. >> all right, meghan mccain and tadd da vine, thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you. >>> stills new right wing attack is comparing president obama to the nazis. you only see this kind of stuff when republicans get desperate. >>> but first, the nfl controversy that's exposing some gop hypocrisy. turns out scott walker and the rest love unions, or at least they love union referees. that's next. hungry for the best? it's eb. want to give your family the very best in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again. oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor

we will talk, as i said, with sandra fluke, also meghan mccain, mark morial and bill adair.il then, follow me on twitter. don't go anywhere. "now" with alex wagner is next. whoa. right? get. out. exactly! really?! [ mom ] what? shut the front door. right? woop-woop! franklin delano! [ male announcer ] there's oreo creme under that fudge! oreo fudge cremes. now in two new flavors. mom's smartphone... dad's tablet... or lauren's smartphone... at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. introducing at&t mobile share. one plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. add a tablet for only $10 per month. the more data you share, the more you save. at&t. powerful trading tools for all. like our all-in-one trade ticket. we put strategies, chains and positions all on one screen. start trading today with optionsxpress by charles schwab. y o wi t os,u'lesi us n llyoon yo >>> it may not have been painted red. it may not have been made of wood, and the livestock was nowhere to be seen, but last night, the democratic convention kicked off with

tomorrow night, matthew perry will be here and meghan mccain.verybody! bye, bye. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ >> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, please welcome former president bill clinton. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: thank you. thank you, fellow democrats. fellow americans. we're here tonight to nominate a president, and i've got one in mind. of course, i'm talking about me, bill clinton. j/k. [ laughter ] although, let's face it, if i do want to run again, who would stop me? i'm back, baby. here comes honey boo boo? no, here comes honey bubba. [ cheers ] but enough about me. tonight, i want to nominate a man whose life has known its fair share of adversity and uncertainty. a man who is cool on the outside, but who burns for america on the inside. and after last night, a man who had the good sense to marry michelle obama. a beautiful, intelligent, sexy, sexy woman. [ laughter ] by the way, in case you're wondering, my wife hillary is currently in east timor, all the way in asia. [ laughter ] they don't even have tvs there. also, the time

i want to thank my guests -- matthew perry, meghan mccain and onerepublic.my! have a great weekend! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >>> and now, performing at the democratic national convention - james taylor. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ just yesterday evening i turned the dnc on i had to dvr "honey boo boo" watched both conventions ♪ ♪ and i wrote down this song this november we'll vote for one of you oh, i've seen romney ♪ ♪ i've seen bain i've seen clinton speeches i thought would never end i've seen crazy guys ♪ ♪ talking to invisible men so i'll probably vote obama again ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ won't you look down upon ♪ ♪ me eastwood i'm sitting right here in this chair no one can see me ♪ ♪ but that's okay my body's invisible it's like no one is there but you keep talking to me ♪ ♪ anyway oh, i've seen romney i've seen bain seen clinton speeches ♪ ♪ i thought would never end i've seen crazy guys talking to invisible men so i'll probably vote ♪ ♪ obama again [ cheers and applause ] ♪ but barack ain't got such an easy time with f

and meghan mccain. i tell you, you should have made the trip up.sh you were here. >> next time. >> jonathan, i'll begin with you here. the question, are we better off? answer it in the way that the poll tugss are looking at it with these two polls. you have this new cbs news/"new york times" poll that shows 38% of americans think the country is headed in the right direction. 57% say, nope, it's the wrong one. a look at this other poll when it comes to who can handle the economy better, the president slightly ahead of mitt romney. certainly most people are not blaming the president. i'm looking at the numbers here for the direction the country is headed in. or is that too much of a leap? >> it's a little bit of a loop. that's what the presidential election will be determined by is the direction we're going. are we basically headed in the right direction? and the miscalculation by the republicans who are asking the question are you better off than you were four years ago is they think americans have no memory. and, actually, americans are smarter tha