what he should be worried about is michael smerconish, and sam stein. a economic boomlet is at the top of the lust, i think we all agree on that, michael. >> it's totally predicated on the economy. i can't see him thus far or now through november getting traction on any other issue. there's a turn about going on thus far in the cycle where foreign policy, normally the strong suit, is a distinct advantage for the ds, mitt romney needs to fear an economy that's getting better. >> same question to you, sam, a boom of any kind in the third quart sere the worst news for him. >> right, and you're starting to see something like that happen. as we said before, the economy is recovering slowly despite what the president did, it's like an insurance policy to make the argument that even obama and the stimulus package didn't have an effect on the economy. but michael is right if the jobs numbers improve from where they are right now, the economy gets better, i think mitt romney is out of a premise for candidacy and that's the worst thing that can happen for him. >>

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joining me now, the nationally syndicated talk show host and msnbc contributor, michael smerconish. also, mary ann ahern from chicago. keith boykin, democratic strategist. and b.e.t. columnist as well as conservative radio talk show host, armstrong williams. thank you all. i wanted to assemble a wide range of people to discuss this hot topic of the day. michael, let me start with you. we've talked a lot about over the couple of years. what is your reaction to the times report? >> great news for the obama campaign. the obama campaign should be so fortunate that this path would be pursued. anybody who cares about jeremiah wright is not up for grabs in the 2012 cycle. nobody that matters would be influenced by this. there is nothing new in the story and we've already litigated it. and i think there would be tremendous blowback against romney, even if he had nothing to do with it if this type of a campaign were to be initiated. >> armstrong, let me bring you in. you're the conservative on the panel. i know you can't speak for all conservatives. here's the report. i have it in my hand. i

joining me, the huffington post chief financial writer mark gunnloft who kroet the article and michael smerconish who talks to people all day long who i imagine some of them not expert that is saw this coming and let me start off with you on this. you have according to the report maybe 21 other banks including morgan stanley who may have disseminated information but not widely to shareholders. that would be illegal. >> it is potentially he will legal and even if it is not illegal this is not the first rodeo. this he have done this before and claimed they did it on the up and up. even if it is all legal, it is a pr disaster for wall street at the worst possible time because it just confirms what individual investors have up issed all along is that the game is rigged, the casino is rigged for the insiders and the banks and not for them. >> that's what so many people say about wall street, it is a glamourized casino and no different than the grandma who goes to atlantic city and puts a dime in the slot, and that's unfortunate that it is seen this way because we know it affects our entire economy. >>

." >> i'm michael smerconish sitting in for chris matthews. and birtherism won't

. >> let me bring in nationally syndicated talk show host michael smerconish. also with us, p.j. crowley, thank you gentlemen, for joining me. i want to talk about the politics of this. let me play with william cohen, a former defense secretary, said to andrea mitchell. >> once he left the u.s. embassy, then power shifted immediately to the chinese government. and frankly, the united states is in no position to dictate what the terms of release will be for a chinese citizen, dissident or otherwise. >> do you agree with that, p.j.? >> well, secretary cohen is my former boss. i would phrase it a little bit differently. it is not about leverage. the united states negotiated in good faith with china based on the wishes that mr. chen expressed at the time. he was trying to do something very unique which is rather than be an activist who is forced into exile, he wanted to be an activist that continued to do his work inside china. much more powerful. and so the united states negotiated that basis. it thought it had a deal is that that deal is unraveling. as a result, mr. chen is changin

the radio talk show host michael smerconish. jimmy williams and form he media adviser, thank you both for your time. let me play what david axelrod said less than an hour ago to andrea mitchell. >> i love cory booker. he is a great mayor. if my house was on fire, i would hope he is my next door neighbor. in this particular instance, he was just wrong. >> let me start with you. i know you were red hot on this one. >> look, i think the climate is nauseating. i think cory booker is correct in saying so. but he is also right in that if mitt romney will run on his record as creating a jobs in the private sector by virtue of bain capital, it is relevant to talk about what their business model is. this would be the equivalent of saying you can't talk about barack obama as an illinois leger, as a member of the senate or as a president in re-election. frankly, what else can you talk about? >> was he backtracking from his stance on "meet the press"? chuck todd pointed out his body language, everything, when he used the words nauseating. y

. >> joining me now, nationally syndicated radio talk show host michael smerconish. we have us ann kornbluth, and with us again, zachary karabel. is this a fair ad? what's your take? >> i think it is a fair ad. it is in the high of the beholder. while wondering is how will it play with independents? and i don't think we look at commercials in a vacuum. the big story today, not only this ad but the $2 billion loss by jpmorgan. i wonder if you put the two together, might people come away and say there's too much volatility. because we have so much power concentrated in the hands of a very few number who control the markets and perhaps we need more regulations of this sort of thing. >> an interesting point that michael is regarding independents. i want to read what our first read team put out. it says it was four months ago when the pro gingrich super pac began airing its tv ads. the ads worked. romney found himself on the defensive and ended up losing in south carolina. in fact, the ads worked so well that the gop back lash was, don't run them. they're hurting romney.

talk show most msnbc contributor michael smerconish.with us, the political science profess ompl a lot of people are listening to you there in indiana. >> i just had an hour-long conversation with listeners at wxnt and i made the argument that this will be the loss of another, it is hard to call him a moderate. i think of him as a conservative. someone who is toward the middle in the gop. and tamron, callers melted down the lines to disabuse me of the notion that this is about ideology. and instead, wanted to say as you've pointed out, a combination of his age, also a combination of this residency and him spending more time in mclean, virginia, than in indiana. >> all right. thank you. i know you have to get back to your phones. so let me bring you in on this. is this all about skensy or an example of what we talked about, the tea party having influence in state elections but not on national stage as we've seen them kind of muted when we're talking about the presidential race here. >> i think residency was a convenient issue for them to

let me bring in chuck todd is standing by, michael smerconish as well. chuck, i want to start with you. i was watching your show this morning. this issue of rudolph giuliani and mitt romney. set aside the differences with the president here. these two men at one point in time said different things when asked about the possibility of going into pakistan and taking out osama bin laden if given the opportunity. let me play what they both said in 2007. >> i do not concur in the words of barack obama, in a plan to enter an ally of ours and their country in a manner complete with bombing and so forth. i don't think those kinds of comments help him in this effort to draw more friends to our effort. i think his comments were ill-timed and ill-considered. >> i would take that option if i thought there was no other way to crush al qaeda, no other way to crush the taliban, and no other way to be able to cap you are bin laden. i think pakistan has unfortunately not been making the efforts that they should be making. >> here we have it now. mitt romney saying he took

let me bring back michael smerconish. i want to play what tony perkins with the family research council said about it. with mitt romney possibly benefiting from the president's historic announcement. let me play it. >> i think mitt romney today was handed the key to not only solidifying support among social conservatives, but beyond that, to conservative socially oriented voters across party lines. >> is that wishful thinking, michael? >> it might not be. but that's not too holds the key to the election. it is not those who are the most ardent conservatives. as you and i have discussed repeatedly. 70% of this country seems like it is already steadfast on one side or the other. does it benefit mitt romney with the 30%? no. i don't think that it does. if anything it helps the president among the independent thinkers who look at this issue. >> quickly though, the politico.com. they've put a list of seven states they believe the president could experience so-called gay marriage grief. north carolina, which we know obviously w

. >> joining me now michael smerconish. you heard congressman cli bourn there. first read says boehner is vowing for a sequel, call it kill bill and everything else and they are referring to the fact everyone was hurt last summer and approval dipped to a number beyond our approval, 11%, i believe it is, after americans watched the debt ceiling debate go on and eventually hurt the credit rating of this country. >> i agree with congressman clyburn it is all about politics. i think politically speaking it is a net loser for all because the republican, particularly the house members are going to be perceived again as being object sti nant and wanting to put roadblocks in the way of the president on any issue and this time it happens to be the debt ceiling. i think it is bad news however for the white house because it is a reminder the debt continues to grow and, yes, we're in a recession and there are a lot of reasons for that but it happened on the president's watch and i think that ultimately there is a perception that they just can't get anything done and that th

a syndicated radio talk show host michael smerconish is with us. and managing editor, thank you both. we greatly appreciate you joining us. is it fair? is deval patrick another cory booker in this sense? >> i think the timing could not be worse for the obama campaign. despite the tightening of the polls, when you get to the internals, they show that mitt romney is still largely ill defined for many voters. so at a time when the campaign has been trying to craft the narrative first of romney at the helm of bain, and now more recently as the governor of massachusetts, to have the governor of massachusetts say what he said about bain, it creates such an opportunity for the rnc which they're already taking to respond in kind. so i think it is a significant issue. >> what is the problem here? are the surrogates at least in these two cases not believing that the bain attack are worthy? cory booker all but said that. that it was nauseating here. what is the problem? >> i think the problem is that if you watch the campaign reel thus far of out of work empl

news nation" political panel, peter alexander, national syndicated radio talk show most, michael smerconi smerconish. we understand romney's campaign has released a statement to you, just moments ago, now being more specific about donald trump and the language that he's using from this morning. >> reporter: a lot of people asking questions about what mitt romney said on the campaign plane latst night was sufficien and saying what donald trump said he disagreed. here what happens we are hearing specifically from the campaign in the last hour. governor romney has said repeatedly that he believes president obama was born in the united states, the democrats can talk about donald trump all they want. mitt romney is going to talk about jobs. and how he can get our economy moving again. those are the words from andrea saul, spokeswoman for the campaign. the goal, that's been on message recently, focus on jobs, trying to hit the president on the creating a hostile environment began the holiday week they were distracted by this from donald trump. as you know, there's a multimillion dollar private fund-raiser

i'm michael smir -- smerconish and filling in for chris matthews. it again claiming falsely that president obama admitted to a book publisheat