president obama joined our colleague michael smerconish yesterday on his radio show today. to talk about the economy, and efforts to restrict voting rights. michael smerconish joins us later. >>> finally, let me finish tonight with a night millions say they'll never forget. >>> we start with another victory for president obama on the war on terrorism. edward collins is a terrorist analyst. and richard wolffe is an msnbc analyst. how did we get him? >> we got him because of the fact after months of tracking this individual, after months of firing missiles at him fruitlessly, we got the right opportunity. there was a meeting that was taking place, it was not near a major populated zone, there wasn't the threat of civilian casualties, and it worked out. it was the right time and the right place. but there was a lot of work and there were a lot of failed efforts that led into this. >> how safer are we today, because we got him? >> well, here's the problem. anwar al awlaki didn't have a official title. he wasn't the leader, he wasn't the deputy leader. he was an adviser. so he a

we have nationally syndicated talk show host and msnbc contributor michael smerconish. also democratic strategist richard goodstein as well. gentlemen, good afternoon to both of you. >> hi, craig. >> you just heard there, michael, jamie saying her sources expecting christie to announce he is not running. we are assuming this is true, that he's not going to get into this thing. is this a rise choice for him right now? >> i think it probably preserves the isstatus quo for mitt romne. romney doesn't need to win the primary process. a lot are dubious of his credentials. he needs to survive. he's surviving a the a time when i think governor perry is all of a sudden on a slide. good news for romney is my take away. >> richard goodstein, who benefits most from christie not getting in this thing? >> well, look, the fact of the matter is he was going to take up a lot of political space early. donors, staff and now those people have to decide, all these people that have been beseeching him have to decide are we serious about getting in or still going to hold out? if so, for whom?

. >>> we'll go to michael smerconish. michael, what do you think about the conversation there?up on a sunday morning and the vast majority of the country is not represented by people who were in that room and the take away, the headline is how a leader of the organization in and interview equates mormonism with a cult, i think it's a net negative and a loser for the gop field. that's what i think. because this is the headline. this is the story. in the same way, alex, when there was a debate recently and the boo'ing of a gay soldier was the headline, in the same way that when rick perry at a prior debate was asked about the number of executions in texas and there was applause before he responded. in the same way that there was the hypothetical put by wolf blitzer to ron paul about do you let somebody die in an e.r. somebody shouted out in the crowd, let them die. there's an opinion forming. this is maybe unfairly but it's being associated with what the gop field is coming to represent. it's a lost opportunity because we're not talking about 14 trillion in debt. and we're not ta

michael smerconish is either an eagles or a steelers fan. >> eagles!. $10,000 for calling his wife. the nfl had a lot of pr disasters. september 11 where they would only allow players to wear licensed paraphernalia marking the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. is this a bad pr move? >> it might be a bad pr move, but i think it's the right move. i think they made the right call. $10,000 sounds heavy, but i thought like you that this was insensitive because it was a concussion. they had a lot of problems with concussions. his wife probably wanted to know how he was doing. the more i read the more i came to understand the nfl side of this. they have a protocol that is usually followed by the teams so that family members can be alerted that they are okay. this really i think is about keeping technology off the sideline so there is not a competitive advantage for a team. you remember with the patriots, i think that's what this is about. they don't want to set a precedent where somebody gets a slapped wrist. >> the steelers coach said it came as a surprise. h

because, remember that question, michael smerconish said, well, what happens if bin laden's in pakistan, and john mccain said, no, no, we can't tangle with that, and barack obama said, we will bring him to justice, period. and we did that. we brought number two of al qaeda to justice. he has continually made america safer. and the news, just yesterday, with gadhafi. and let's be very clear. bringing gadhafi to justice is an important step to keep our world safer. and i will tell you, chris, and you know why this is important, because we have people that, unfortunately, american service members who were murdered by gadhafi, we have people that, unfortunately, were killed, americans -- there's a young girl who was 21 years old, miss johnson. she's from greensburg, pennsylvania. a semester abroad in scotland. she was on that flight coming home when she came to her death because of gadhafi. finally, he was brought to justice. this guy was a madman. do the republicans give the commander in chief, barack obama, credit for any of these things? absolutely not. they continually politicize this t

is political analyst and the grio contributor and nationally syndicated radio talk show host michael smerconish. thank you very much for joining us. i want to start with you. i'm curious of what people are saying who listen to your radio show about this explosive report from politico and as i pointed out, they confirmed at least one woman did receive a settlement. >> they are believing this is all part of a high tech lynching. the lawyer in me has one question. was he is the head of the national restaurant association at the time the cases were settled? my experience in similar matters told me that the lead of the organization would know that such a settlement had been made. my point is that it might be his response. it might be his handling of this that is ultimately his undoing. if he was in charge of the restaurant association at a time when money changed hands, he surely would have known that. >> let's talk about the strategy here. you have ann coulter saying this is a high tech lynching referring to the moment with clarence thomas for people who don't remember it. let's play what was said

we will talk more about it and bring in radio talk show host michael smerconish.nç msnbc contributor. many are seeing the images oust oakland tuesday night. what are they saying? >> people are distressed at what they are seeing and more than one said we learned our lesson. you shouldn't prejudge these alterications until all the facts are known. i think that makes a lot of sense. >> you have the mayor being quoted as saying i can't change what happened, but we have an open dialogue and we change what happens in the future. many people are saying listen, these were peaceful protesters and we saw a potential clash in new york, but the mayor negotiated with the people who were occupying wall street downtown in manhattan and allowed them to stay and never had to get to the point where we were wondering what started to happen. this could have been negotiated in a more responsible way. the mayor saying he could change it in the future. these were peaceful protesters in most cases. >> to the extent that they were peaceful protesters and the police overstepped their boun

i'm michael smerconish in for chris matthews. leading off tonight, uprising. those anti-wall street protesters are getting a big shot in the arm from big labor. powerful unions are joining the demonstrations lending credibility to the cause. we may be watching the start of a populist movement on the left, but what is it? and what does middle america think about it, and will this anti-wall street fer ver help or hurt president obama as he runs for re-election? that's our top story tonight. plus, 5 million, that's the number of voters in this country that may be disenfranchised by all the new voting laws across the country, laws largely championed and passed by republicans. we'll have the latest on the effort to make it harder for some to vote. then, is it fair to draw conclusions between chris christie's weight and his discipline in the governor says he doesn't mind the jokes, but he says being overweight doesn't mean that he lacks discipline, as some pundits have suggested. and american amanda knox is back home in seattle after successfully appealing her murde

joining me now, the national syndicated talk show host michael smerconish, i would say we can bring that graph back up. it is jarring just to see. if the words don't affect you from people in the occupy movement, or you may be out of the loop. what else do you process? other than there's something wrong here. >> up asking a moment ago whether the occupy movement had legs. and i think that to the extent it becomes known for this issue, and we've talked about it. income disparity. to the extent that it really become known for this, as opposed to some of the other interests that are being expressed, then i think it will have a long lasting impact. that new york times survey that came out this morning said that two-thirds of americans are very upset with the data you're putting in front of them right now. this disparity and how the richest 1% are bringing home all the bacon. >> and you talk about that money and wealth distribution fairly in america. 66% say no. but you have some herman cain, for example, who say these are people who are jealous that there are wealthy folks out there and you

. >>> joining me now, talk show host and msnbc contributor, michael smerconish.hat is your take away? >> i think he looks strong. there have been no gaffes, no stumbles of any significance by mitt romney in any of the debates we've had thus far. a long process, slow and steady wins this race. i've often said that he doesn't need to win the debates. he just needs to survive this whole primary process and so far he is doing that. >> he is doing that. something else getting a lot of buzz is herman cain getting attacked for his 999 plan to fix the economy. he defended it on the daily run-down. take a look at this and we'll talk on the other side. >> the fact that i got attacked so much, my plan got attacked so much, that's a good thing. it gives me an opportunity to correct my misperceptions. >> for most people, they'll have a net-net tax decrease because we've expanded the base. >> so he thinks it's a good thing. it is an interesting thing to watch. that 19 other candidates really care about the surge he's taken in the polls and they find him to be a contender. do y

. >> radio host and msnbc contributor michael smerconish joins me now.did you hear from the president that gave you some sort of confidence that he knows what he's got to do for his re-election? >> i liked his balanced approach. one of the questions that i put to him, chuck, was asking whether he thought in order to address the debt it needed to be a situation where we had all spending cuts, whether we had all tax increases or some sort of balance therein. i also asked him if it were going to be a balance between the two what would the proportion be. he never answered in percentage terms but he continued to speak in balanced and measured tones. relative to 2012, which is your question, i think that's where he needs to be. i think he's got to appeal as you and i discussed in the past to the moderates, independents who, in the end, are going to call the shot in this election. >> you're channelling david pluff. he believes the president, beg the reasonable guy in the room at the end of the day will win the argument with independents. but he's got this other

because, remember that question, michael smerconish said, well, what happens if bin laden's in pakistan, and john mccain said, no, no, we can't tangle with that, and barack obama said, we will bring him to justice, period. and we did that. we brought number two of al qaeda to justice. he is continually made america safer. and the news, just yesterday, with gadhafi. and let's be very clear. bringing gadhafi to justice is an important step to keep our world safer. and i will tell you, chris, and you know why this is important, because we have people that, unfortunately, american service members who were murdered by gadhafi, we have people that, unfortunately, were killed, americans -- there's a young girl who was 21 years old, miss johnson. she's from greensburg, pennsylvania. a semester abroad in scotland. she was on that flight coming home when she came to her death because of gadhafi. finally, he was brought to justice. this guy was a madman. do the republicans give the commander in chief, barack obama, credit for any of these things? absolutely not. they continually politicize this th

michael smerconish will join me to talk about the numbers. i'm not a number.et. and i'm definitely not a pushover. but i am a voter. so washington... before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits... here's a number you should remember. 50 million. we are 50 million seniors who earned our benefits... and you will be hearing from us... today and on election day. ♪ [ daniel ] my name is daniel northcutt. [ jennifer ] and i'm jennifer northcutt. opening a restaurant is utterly terrifying. we lost well over half of our funding when everything took a big dip. i don't think anyone would open up a restaurant if they knew what that moment is like. ♪ day 1, everything happened at once. ♪ i don't know how long that day was. we went home and let it sink in what we had just done. [ laughs ] ♪ word of mouth is everything, and word of mouth today is online. it all goes back to the mom and pop business founded within a family. ♪ when i found out i was pregnant, daniel was working on our second location. everyone will find out soon enough i think

. >> the eisenhower institute's jennifer donohue, michael smerconish, thank you both for your time. >>> while gop candidates prep this afternoon for their debate, senate republicans are expected to block the president's $447 billion job-creating legislation from passing the upper chamber. senate democratic leaders say they don't have a partner on the hill to get this done. take a listen. >> you're going to see the overwhelming majority of democrats vote for a jobs bill. you're going to see just about every republican vote against a job bill. they march in lockstep and they're adamant against even a proposal that has many elements that they've supported. >> florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz serves as chair of the democratic national committee and joins me this morning. congresswoman, great to see you. >> you, too, thomas. thank you. >> the president's going to be in your state later today fund-raising, talking about his jobs bill and the senate vote that is expected to get little to no support from republicans. in your estimation, how much would a decision not to support t

. >> president obama in an interview with michael smer k smerconish saying the justice department wille it into the changes in state law that make it harder for americans to vote this we'year. this is not a one-off matter of what's happening in florida, ohio, maine, kansas, colorado orin' tennessee. this map shows the states that tried to pass new requirements that you show i.d. you never had to show before in order to vote. these are the states that tried. republican states. enough of them succeeded in making it harder to vote. the new laws cld affect who are young and/or poor, and/or minority. this is important, not coincidental, but more to the point to note there are enough states now that have passed new laws to make voting harder to swing the electoral college. to decide who gets to be president in the 2012 election. the laws thin out and preclude likely democratic voters in more than half of the states you need to win the presidency. is that who republicans are trying to protect the purity of the ballot box from, the democrats? that is going to be the effect. if you think occasi