joining me now is melissa harris-perry. host of the "melissa harris-perry" show here on msnbc.jim greer admits to what we suspected all along. what should the democratic party do? >> not only the democratic party. this is someone who was the former head of the republican party. this matters to every voter. democrat, republican, independent, unaffiliated, haven't voted in the past ten years. what we must do is first of all call the lie what it is. this is not about voter fraud, this is about voter suppression. secondly we have to pay attention to the fact that the folks making these decisions are often officials in our states we may not know. your secretary of state, toesh general. these are important officials who make these critical decisions. we've got to pay attention to these elections. and finally we have got to absolutely get in there and change these policies. this has got to be the election issue in local elections. are you going to suppress my vote or not? >> now, i think also, and the reason i raised about what the democrats should do because certain civil rights grou

joining me now is melissa harris-perry host of the "melissa harris-perry" show on msnbc. and crystal ball cohost of "the cycle" also on msnbc. thanks for joining me tonight. >> thanks for having us. >> now, romney says america's a company. how does that set democrats up for the counterattack? >> i think we have to be careful about going after slips. but i think the corporation and company piece but also the way that romney talks about what america is or what his role as president would be tells us that that was a slip, but it was a freudian one. it was one that revealed his understanding about what the role of a president is. he's not really running for president. he's running for ceo and as we heard president obama say there, the fundamental difference is you're not trying to maximize profits as a president. you are doing the work of ensuring the american people earn circumstances of equality and opportunity. >> and crystal, it is a slip. and we all slip. but i think it also crystallizes the difference between the two campaigns. that's why i wanted to play it back. becau

joining me now is melissa harris perry. host of "the melissa harris perry show" msnbc. ezra, msnbc policy analyst. thank you both for joining me. >> thank you. >> absolute. >> i melissa, let me start with you. it is a big night. >> yeah. >> but it is a big night for welfare-to-work debate. >> yeah. welfare-to-work debate that's bizarre and manufactured because there's no debate to be had here. look, the -- the attacks are simply fictitious in the sense they say the president obama fundamentally changed the current welfare requirements. faerm administration has not done so. in fact, if anything, what the bae obama administration did, what the gop claims it wants which is more localized control and more control at the level of states, away from the federal government saying this is exactly how it has to happen. >> two republican governors including sandoval speaking tonight requested the waivers. i just quoted one. >> exactly. as we know, states are having a tough time financially. a lot of reason they are having a tough time financially is because this do nothing congres

he's also an msnbc analyst and also wrote "game change," and melissa harris-perry is host of msnbc's end show, "melissa harris-perry." good title. i think the question i want to ask you about is this "game change" question, is it? >> i think it is, in this sense. it's not a hail mary pass to the way that palin was, but to the point that chuck made on the show. there were two different frames for this election. the frame for the romney campaign is, there's a pure referendum on obama, all about his economic stewardship, jobs, growth, wages, all that stuff. that's what they wanted to run on. the obama campaign said, no, this is a choice election. it's going to be about two contrasting sets of values and visions. what the romney campaign is admitting here tacitly is their strategy isn't working. if their strategy was working, they would see rob portman or tim pawlenty. they have tacitly accepted it's a choice election, and they have doubled down, okay, let's do a big contrast here to one view of the world, another view of the world, one view of the world government, another view about the

joining me now is melissa harris-perry host of "the melissa harris-perry" show here on msnbc.to both of you for being here this evening. >> good to be with you. >> melissa, let me start with you. ryan's going to try and defend his plan in florss of all places. how do you think that will work out? >> going to a particular retirement community. one that has a strong republican contingent. he's going to the nicest place he could find in florida. i suspect they're going to be pleasant and respectful to mr. ryan as he presents his plan. but there's a reason as a matter of politics -- there's a reason why politicians and elected officials don't kuch medicare. that's because this voting block, senior citizens who have a clear understanding of how medicare impacts the quality of their lives, they don't play. they're not going to be supportive of a candidate who is willing to say their benefits in their lifetime will be reduced. >> now, e.j., i noticed he's bringing his mom with him. this is not the first time that republican candidates have used their mothers when talking about protec

melissa harris perry will found off on that. we will say hi to meghan and have more after this. plin inst catar ntlr gh rg [ nn ]errequ [ nn ]errsfu owgrl. like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. >>> whenever we see our mom up there and walking around and look at her health and how well she is doing, we feel an enormous sense of pride for her in overcoming ms. she has to struggle with it every day. to see her with my dad. >> that was josh romney along with the rest of the romney boys. speaking fondly about their mom with "today" show's matt lauer. she will talk about her candidate husband in human terms. meghan mccain will join us to talk about that. she lived through this as her father was the republican nominee for the president. now, we're going to shift gears and talk about what is going on with hurricane isaac and bring you up to date on the storm as many co

melissa harris-perry. thanks for being our first ever "the cycle" table guest.talk from chris christie. did he say anything? we make a simple thing. a thing that helps you buy other things. but plenty of companies do that. so we make something else. we help make life a little easier, more convenient, more rewarding, more entertaining. year after year. it's the reason why we don't have customers. we have members. american express. welcome in. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ but last year my daughter was checking up on me. i wasn't eating well. she's a dietitian and she suggested i try boost complete nutritional drink to help get the nutrition i was missing. now i drink it every day, and i love the great

i have john here and melissa harris perry.you about is this a game change question, is it? >> yeah. well, i think it is in this sense. it's not a hail mary pass in the way that the hail was, but to the point that chuck made earlier on the show, there were two different frames for this election. the frame for the romney campaign was it is a pure referendum on obama about his economic management stewardship, jobs, growth, wages, all that stuff. that was what they wanted to run on. the obama campaign said, this is a choice election that will be about two contrasting sets of values and divisions. what the romney campaign is admitting here is their strategy is not working. if their strategy was working you would ha seen rob portman or tim pawlenty. this strategy they have accepted it is a choice election and doubled down on let's do a big contrast here between one view of the world and another view of the world. one view of the world government and another view of the world government. and the no longer about the economy, it is abo

melissa perry harris joins us in just a moment. restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. for strong, healthy hair with life, [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk. >>> president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check, and welfare to work goes back to being plain old welfare. >> that is not true. as factual policy matter, that is not true, but it is out there, and strategically it seems to be part of the romney campaign's new bid to try to change the subject away from what everybody else has been talking about for weeks now, which is their own candidate

melissa harris perry, thank you.day and sunday on msnbc. >>> gaming the speech, newt and callista gingrich share the poed podium tonight. senator marco rubio, one of the republican rising stars introduces mitt romney, but who is this mystery speaker for tonight? melissa, guesses? >> no. >> okay. >> leave that alone. >> plus, are new democratic voters in florida a dying breed? how the new voter i.d. laws are impacting registration. we're back after this. so what i'm saying is, people like options. when you take geico, you can call them anytime you feel like saving money. it don't matter, day or night. use your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, whatever. the point is, you have options. oh, how convenient. hey. crab cakes, what are you looking at? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. arntlr gh rg [ nn ]errequ gh sf owgrl. rg 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

joining me now is melissa harris perry, and host of melissa harris perry, seen saturdays and sudd sundays here on msnbc. jo it is great to have you both, the first read puts out today team romney needs to have four objectives. one, better himself to the american people. two, he needs to convince the public that while he looks the part, he is the man americans are comfortable seeing on their tvs for next four years. and three, he has to try to close the empathy gap, with the recent polls showing that president obama holds a 22 point advantage on who people care about more. melissa, let's starts off with you, is this a good assessment? >> yes, i think that is right. i this i it is a tough line for governor romney to walk. he has to seem to have empathy, a man of the people. that is why they built the stage out into the delegates to make him look like he is not re moved, far away. a nice piece of stage craft. the other things, he has to do that maintaining his story line. his story line is i'm a fixer, i'm mr. competent. i came in, i fixed the olympics, right? this is what i do. that persona

joining me now is melissa harris-perry. host here on msnbc. and dana milbank, columnist for the washington post. thank you both for being here tonight. >> absolutely. >> happy birther day. >> thank you. i would say the same to you, but i don't celebrate it, dana. >> okay. >> melissa, it's not so subtle or is it subtle? what do you make of what romney said today and what he's been saying all along. >> couple of things. the first is we should just take that fact, no one's asked to see my birth certificate and pause on that. i think he's telling the truth. no one has ever asked to see his birth certificate. this is a man who has been running for about eight years. the vakt no one asked to see his should make us pause and say why then the constant unabated calls to see president obama's even after he's -- >> if you really want to go back there. >> exactly. and i think that's precisely where -- first we want to pause and say romney has told us an awful lot about the birther movement itself simply by making that statement. i think the other thing we

melissa harris-perry right here on msnbc. paul ryan weighed in on the president's comments. say about this, i think you're going to hear more of these things as we go on because they have a terrible record that they can't run on. they are going to kind of sink these campaigns to these low levels to try to cause fear and envy. are we going to watch that? they don't have a record to run on and when somebody jumps on the words like the jumped on vice president biden in the chains remarks and starts a tit for tat back and forth and mitt romney coming back and saying that the president is angry and it's a hate-filled campaign. >> of course, the record that they have run on, they have been president and vice president for four years. one can assess whether it's a good record or bad record but there's obviously a record here. i think beyond that part of what we're seeing and the tit for tat on one piece of language rather than the ideas behind this language, i think when that happens, it's exactly the sort of thing that turns off ordinary voters. a lot of folks are kind of just tun

joining us now is melissa harris-perry, host of the great show with the same name, melissa, good to see you. thank you for being here. >> happy to do it. >> is this newt gingrich's food stamps president redux. is this president reagan's welfare queen redux. is this anything new, or is this part of a pattern? >> don't miss it, there's another part of the pattern. that is president bill clinton's welfare reform redux. in other words, i want to be clear about how african-american single mothers who are in circumstances of poverty and trying to raise their children in difficult circumstances, that's what we're talking ability when we use this welfare queen boogieman, and certainly, ron ronalled reagan and his republican predsaecessors -- excuse me, the people who came after him are the people who gave us the language, stoked the fire in local elections like jesse helms that you pointed out earlier around affirmative action, but also george bush's campaign and willy horton and all of that. but it is also the tactic that was used by bill clinton to move the democratic party nationally far eno

thanks to melissa harris-perry which you can see tomorrow here at 9:00 a.m.. health care adviser to mitt romney, avik roy and rachel ma dough host on msnbc. thanks for getting up with us. ne the olympics. mitt romney will have the full choice of paul ryan as his vp choice 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. eastern time here on msnbc. we'll be back next week at our regular time next week. i'm very excited for that. until you can find us on the website. thanks for getting up. >>> hi, welcome to msnbc olympics headquarters in new york, i'm kelly tilghman. on this ultimate day of competition on msnbc, seven olympic medals are on the line and a broad array of events ranging from men's field hockey to women's basketball. we start with perhaps the most he can electric competition. modern pentathlon. the founder of the modern of the olympic games, to combine five physical skills traditionally required of a soldier. riding, running, swimming, fencing, shooting. for these london games, modern pentathlon has been remodernized into a one day four stage event with laser guns replacin

thanks to melissa harris-perry which you can see tomorrow here at 9:00 a.m.y. health care adviser to mitt romney, avik roy and rachel ma dough host on msnbc. thanks for getting up with us. next the olympics

coming up next is melissa harris-perry. oks at paul ryan's workout routine and examines where he and his new boss are fit for office. >>> plus a trip home to new orleans to tour the new harris-perry home. we'll see you tomorrow at 8:00. thank you for getting up. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged.

coming up next is melissa harris-perry. for respect is going there, paul ryan is speaking about it in florida at the world's largest retirement community. melissa will have the speech live including at whether the election is rigged. that's melissa harris-perry coming up next. see you tomorrow morning at 8:00. thank you for getting up. juicy brats grilled up on a thursday. the perfect use of the 7th inning stretch. get that great taste anytime with kingsford match light charcoal. introducing share everything, only from verizon. a shareable pool of data to power up to 10 different devices. add multiple smartphones to your plan, so everyone in your family can enjoy unlimited talk and text. the first plan of its kind. share everything. get your student a samsung galaxy nexus for $99.99. [ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. at unitedhealthcare insurance company, we understand that commitment. and always have. so does aar

i'm melissa harris-perry and i am in the middle what could become a fistfight. why?ntributor robert treanor, and over on the other side i have former presidential candidate buddy romer and cornell belcher. we are talking money and politics. it has been heated. i hate that we were in a commercial. right before we went to commercial, make your point again about president obama, because i think it's one -- >> coming with a blow torch here, but i think we need to remember that barack obama started this. and i'm not saying it's a good thing or bad thing. >> you confide to me how barack obama started. >> make your point, robert. be true. >> tim russert asked him, would you take matching funds? he said under those circumstances would i take matching funds. i won't take matching funds. >> he did say that fast forward to after the primaries, he said, you know what? i'm not going to take matching funds, i need to raise "an unlimited amount of money to define myself and go after the republicans" that's what he did. >> was it under the law not capped how much an individual could

was, and an incredible must read new essay about race in the obama area, and coming up next, melissa harris-perry ideas into focus, how did the dominant story of the week become mitt romney's taxes again. that's melissa harris-perry up next. we'll see you next week on "up." at purina one, we believe small things can make a big difference. like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. it's just one way purina one is making the world a better place... one pet at a time. discover vibrant maturity and more at purinaone.com. ♪ [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] introducing zzzquil sleep-aid. [ snoring ] [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] because sleep is a beautiful thing. [ birds chirping ] introducing zzzquil, the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil. ♪

our guests, david sorotos, about one-newspaper towns and melissa harris-perry up next. ident for six years? and republican while black. may not happen o, but it does happen. and the shadow party? melissa harris-perry, up next. i'll see you tuesday night start age ing at 7:00 eastern for republican national convention coverage. see you next week, here on "up." but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including adva

i'm melissa harris-perry. and the biggest story of the week is about a partnership that is finally official. we all new it was eminent, but we had to wait for the official question and the decisive yes. media has been there from the moment the two decided to become one. no, not the engagement of jennifer aniston and justin therow. i'm talking about the republican rollout of romney/ryan 2012, or as i like to call it, argh! paul ryan is scheduled to speak at the villages near orlando. yes, the guy whose budget plan would change medicare as we know it into a coupon program speaking in florida to a group of seniors? we'll take you there live once we see him stepping up to the mike. and you are not going to want to miss that because i'm kind of hoping i'm hear the grammys go, arr! today this caps off an introductory week that began in front of the u.s.s. wisconsin last saturday. since then the romney/ryan campaign says they have raised $10 million. not a bad week. but as much as their bank balance went up, gallup's

melissa harris-perry joins me in studio. you have been with me this whole time as we have been listening to this, the one thing that perked my ears up is that new york city is not immune to the national problem of gun violence. this really puts it to the forefront here in the city. >> it feels a little like the good, the bad, the ugly in this case. when we saw the tragedies in colorado, there was a lot of conversation about gun violence and gun laws, but of course, new york has very, very restrictive gun possession laws. yet as the mayor said, that doesn't mean that gun violence can't happen and even happen in these incredibly frightening, seemingly random ways. but i think the other thing we heard if we listen carefully was that the police officers were able to intervene so quickly because they were on their normal antiterrorism foot patrols, they were right there in the neighborhood, and so a construction worker was able to walk over to them and say officer, i have just seen something so we know that part of why this seems

i'm melissa harris-perry. we wrap the biggest story of the last two weeks and dive right into the biggest story, really the only story of the last two days. yesterday mitt romney stepped from the deck of an aircraft carrier in norfolk, virginia, and made his decision known. >> it is an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan! >> wisconsin congressman bounded out of his holding area and he showed more energy and charisma than we have seen from mitt romney all year. now, if the man was unrecognizable to you before yesterday, by now you are surely well versed in all things paul ryan. seventh term congressman elected in wisconsin, first district, when he was only 28 years old. catholic, married, father of three. chairman of the house budget committee. darling of the conservative media. and the thing for which ryan is perhaps best known architect of the gop's road map for america. and it is a plan he laid out in the path to prosperity for american renewal. more

. >> melissa harris perry is a professor of race, gender and politics at tulane and an msnbc host. >>give kid it is tools for how to push back against racial bias, because it's not a natural thing to do. >> harris-perry and the nbc news websites the grio and nbc latino will help as we turn our cameras to discrimination. first, stereotyping and african-american kids. >> racial stereotypes are complicated. an african-american boy might be stereo typed as being athletically talented and stereotyped as being potentially criminal or not being a very good student. >> 16-year-old elijah says that last stereotype, not being good in school, is something he often feels. >> when i do well in school, i do get strange reactions like, wow, i didn't expect him to get that. this girl came up to me. we were having a conversation about different colleges. she's like, you're black, you can get into any school you wa to get into. it makes me feel like i don't belong. >> reporter: that's elijah's story in real life. we hired him to help in our first demonstration about stereotypes. he'll pretend to be a c

joining me is governor jim doyle and melissa harris perry, host of her show on msnbc.ernor doyle, thanks for joining us. you're the hometown democrat here on this program tonight. you know this guy. how was he able to win in russ feingold's district for all those years? >> well that district's been changed around quite a bit. it was once les aspen's district, a great congressman from wisconsin. but it got moved around over the years to become more and more of a republican district and a few years ago has made, you know, they call it a swing district but it's been a relatively safe incumbent protection republican seat. so, it isn't like he's been winning in a heavily democratic area. he's been winning in a district that's gotten changed and to become much more favorable for him. >> and the question -- >> there's no doubt -- >> go ahead. go ahead. >> i was going to say, that said, there's no doubt he's a good campaigner. he works hard at it and, you know, he's gone out and run his campaigns and won those elections. >> melissa, they talk about in defending him, in the run

something completely different, we'll go to the best of office politics from bravo's andy cohen to melissa harris-perry talk about calling the election. >> i cannot call this election for either person yet. like i have to say it feels like an absolute tossup to me. >> it's going to be a very close race. extremely close. it will be probably like 2000 level close. >> like 4:00 in the morning for all of us election night. >> definitely. i think. i could be wrong. barring some huge change that could knock it in either direction. >> if we get to september and that number of nations in recession goes up, then i think that may well affect the american economy. and when that starts to happen, the electorate simply blames the president. >> i was at cbs news for ten years. it was great. i learned so much and i think it informed everything i'm doing now, weirdly in edit rooms and telling stories. >> here's something you're really good at on your show, and that is speaking your mind even if it stirs up controversy. why do you do that? what propels you to do that? >> well, i feel like it was the mission statement i

i'm melissa harris-perry in new york. i always enjoy watching how the characters are cast.ent, no-nonsense businessman, mitt romney. the sidekick, his running mate, paul ryan. the tough but sweetheart, the moral conscious, wife, ann romney. the imprudent but always entertaining tag-alang, chris christie, but the cast needs one more player to step out the story and he'll step to the mike to introduce the star on monday. you know, the role of the one diverse person in the crew, florida senator marco rubio. no matter what he talks about in the speech, the presence of rubio is an appeal to the increasingly powerful block of latino voters, those not happy with mr. romney at the moment. according to this week's nbc news wall street journal telemundo poll, romney controls 28% of the latino vote trailing president obama by 35 points. on wednesday a national co-chair for romney's extended leadership team told "the hill" newspaper that the campaign is to get 38% of the hispanic vote and is worth noting that the campaign is not even trying to reach the level of latino support that the