. >> joining me today, "time" magazine deputy washington bureau chief, michael crowley and patricia murphy, contributor to the daily beast. certainly a day of reflection. we are all still processing a lot as it comes to the details of this tragedy. michael, i want to talk about the president's comments, saying this isn't a day for politics, calling for us to -- it's a reminder of the fragility of life and calling for unity. what did you make of his comments? >> it's always a fine line because there are a lot of people who don't want to be hearing about politics, they don't want -- people want to be very careful about not exploiting a terrible tragedy like this. there is a pretty credible counterargument that says you don't turn it into a political fight where you're trying to get an advantage over your enemies and exploit it but i do think it's reasonable to have a national conversation about the context, about why these things happen, whether there are things we can do to prevent tragedies like this. if a plane crashes because you think the aircraft control system wasn't working, you woul

msnbc analyst karen finney and michael crowley of "time" magazine. are you in new york, michael?> no, i love new york. i wish i was. i'm in washington. >> i'm sorry. i thought so. thank you. karen, i'm getting visions of romney's boston headquarters looking like something out of a scooby doo episode. scrambling on friday the 13th to get away from the ghost of bain by suddenly scheduling five network interviews. is that about right? >> how about that. you don't actually do five network interviews unless you know you're in real trouble. no doubt they have some internal numbers and some suspicion that is looking at the public polling that this -- these attacks and this line of questioning, frankly, is working and is really eroding both the confidence that people have in this campaign, not only in the trust in the candidate but in the campaign's ability to respond and deal with these kinds of questions, particularly given these are things that have been out there a long time. >> karen, you know that experience of responding. >> yes. >> michael, michael. he's doing these interviews, b

michael crowley, that's the problem. you can't sell 80,000 when it feels like sliding backwards. >> yeah, no, it's wheels stuck in the mud and look, i think it could have been worse. it's been a rough year so far. europe has been a huge drag on the economy and i think that the silver lining for obama here if there is one is that it looks like europe is not going to collapse. they're not out of the woods yet. unfortunately, the bad news yet to come is the fact that we have this fiscal cliff we're confronting and that creates a lot of uncertainty. i think that is going to replace europe as the big drag in the next few months. there's not a lot of light at the end of this tunnel. >> some people aren't as optimistic about europe. talking to mort zucrerman, he said europe is like a man falling out of a 60 story building and passing the sixth floor says nothing happened yet. >> neither mitt romney or president obama said anything different in the last few months so i'm not sure this particular jobs report means all that much.

nbcnaly ken finney and michael crowley of "time" magazine. are you in new york,michael? >> no, i love new york. i wish i was. m in washington. >> i soy. thout so. thk u. kare i'm getng vions o mney bton hdquaers lookg li somhingut o a scoo doo isod rambng ofriday the 13th to get away from the ghost of bain by suddenly scheduling five network interviews. is that about right? >> how about th. yodon'actuly dfive netwk iervis unss you knowou'r ineal trble. dou ty ha som intnal nuers d seuspion tt is looking at the public polling that this -- these attacks and this line of questioning, frankly, is working and is rely erong bhhe nfidce tteopl he i isampan, n onlin t trt inhe candateutn e mpai's alityo reondnd dlith these kinds of questions, particularly given these are things that have been o there a long time. >> karen, you knohat perice osponng. yes >>miael, miael. he'soinghese inrvie, but mi romy casayhatere lis. it hisax retnshe pple wanto se but is it possible that the reason for why romney was still listed as the 100% own and sharoldeof bai forhree arsrom 19, i tha beuse

i want to go straight to "time" magazine's deputy washington bureau chief, michael crowley. ou. so i'm glad we're talking today, it's so timely given the president's comments and also mitt romney's comments of the last 24 hours. so the president, as they point out at the top of this article, had been silent on gun control really since that massacre until he spoke in new orleans last night not national urban league. let's listen. >> i, like most americans, believe that the second amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms. but i also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that ak-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals. >> mike, what do you make of those words last night? do you think it's more of a stronger stance than post-tucson, but will it still lead to nothing? >> the rhetoric is maybe a little bit stronger. you know, and it's noteworthy, it's much stronger than anything he's said, you know, in the immediate wake of the shooting. but i don't know how much farther he's going to go. look, one point that joe klein makes in his

michael crowley is the deputy washington bureau chief for "time" magazine joins us this morning.tax? obviously there's a look from my perspective to see who is flip-flopping on the issue. and both seem to be changing their tune a little bit. but in the big picture for people at home, why does it matter? >> well, look, for people at home, i think they can choose to call it whatever they want. first of all, i think, virtually no people at home watching right now are going to deal with this one way or another. the estimates of the number of americans paying anything as a result of this law is quite low. you have to be able to afford health insurance and choose not to get it and then you pay a pretty small penalty and it can be as low as $695, i think it tops out at 2.5% of your income. the question of campaign message and tactics. and i think what you had here was the romney campaign came out in a way that left a lot of other republican candidates high and dry. there was failure to coordinate the message. and i think conservatives were upset at the romney campaign. this is a typical

michael crowley from "time" magazine joins us. see you, michael. >> nice to see you. >> greta: is this vote as important as i suggest? >> it's really important. particularly the key is in the swing states. the latino population in america is growing, growing, more important than it was in the last election. when you zero in on those battleground states, some of the really important ones like colorado, florida, nevada, possibly arizona, may or may not be in play, large numbers there could really tilt the outcome, especially in a close race. so it's really important. >> greta: we've got some numbers. "wall street journal" nbc poll shows nationally that president obama is up at 66% and governor romney at 26%. that is a giant margin. >> it's a huge margin. it's actually grown in president obama's favor. you'll remember president obama announcing an executive order recently that allowed for certain children of illegal immigrants to stay in the country under some circumstances. the numbers also in swing states specifically, i believe, it

joining me today is "time" magazine deputy washington bureau chief, michael crowley.rin mcpike, patricia murphy joining us of citizen jane politics and contributor to the daily beast and of course, buzz feed editor in chief, ben smith, also known as theeart and soul of the internet. the presidential election is exactly four months away and today, there are some new responses from president obama and governor romney about these disappointing june jobs report. basically, the president said that these 80,000 jobs that were created last month is a step in the right direction, but not go enough. >> we can't be satisfied because our goal was never to just keep on working to get back to where we were back in 2007. want to get back to a time when middle class families and those working to get into the middle class had some basic security. that's our goal. >> meanwhile, governor romney called a press conference after the numbers were released from his vacation in new hampshire and said the report is another kick in the gut and it reflects the president's failed policies. >> th

john mccain told candy crowley he wants to see evidence gun control laws can lead to rea duks in gun violence and says tightening the laws is not the answer. michaelomberg is calming on the president to take action. here's what he said. >> somebody has to do something about this and this requires and particularly in a presidential year the candidates for president of the united states to stand up and once and for all say, yes, they feel terrible, yes it's a tragedy, yes we have great sympathy for the families, but it's time for this country to do something. >> we had a ban on assault weapons that expired some years ago and it didn't change the situation at all in my view. to somehow leap to the conclusion that this was somehow caused by the fact that we don't have more gun control legislation, i don't think has been proved. >> senator mccain also raised the constitutional right to bear arms to make his case against tougher gun control laws. >>> the owner of a gun range said he had a strange feeling about the alleged gunman, a month before the massacre in the theater. james holmes applied for membership at the shooting range but something about him