we have cnbc contributor and former auto czar steve ratner and steve ovlin. former chairman of office depot and autozone. bipartisan reform, on the budget deficit, and i guess the fiscal cliff, the top of "the new york times" website today is playing this as, ceos want deficit reduction by raising taxes. do you think that's the best way to go about this, steve? >> well, i think what we're trying to get in the business community and the community for economic development is attention from both sides of this critical issue. we're running over trillion-dollar deficits every single year. we now from over $16 trillion in debt and it isn't easing up. we have to have reform here. we simply have to have a package that cuts spending and deals with tax reform. >> but that's not what they want. >> it's not just about raising rates. >> it's tax reform. >> it's tax reform.

>> it's not easy being green. >> steve ratner and steve ratner's charts. >> speaking of nerds!loser look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. >>> top of the hour. a moving live shot of new york city as the sun comes up over the big apple. >> t.j. has the steady cam. >> he's not here. >> we can still blame him. >> welcome back to "morning joe." steve schmidt and steve ratner are still with us. and joining the table, joe says he's going to be nice today. >> i'm always nice. >> best-selling author and award-winning journalist, carl bernstein. you shall be nice. >> i'm always nice. >> in washington, krkcontributi editor for "the national review," jim garrity. good to have you back. >> look time no see. always happy to be here. >> yes, we've missed you. you know, you sent

and i really do think david's right, steve ratner did a great job but it was barack obama.itt romney was wrong. and this, they're still on the defensive about this, at recently as thursday night in defines, ohio, rob portman, senator from ohio and the surrogate debate substitute for president obama introduced mitt romney saying let's get this straight. mitt romney was the first guy-- barack obama took gm and chrysler through bankruptcy. mitt romney was for guaranteeing loans, and they're still trying to explain it. and he's very much on the defensive. so obama is running better with whites and white males in ohio than he is elsewhere, in large part because of the auto bailout and they've got a great ground game in ohio too. >> we should emphasize it's not a slam-dunk for obama. if you look at the polls it's been a very steady two point advantage. >> uh-huh. >> in the state for obama. and one of the oddities of the race so far is that the national numbers probably a slight romney favorite right now, the state numbers like ohio, and obama favored. and i don't know too many ex

industry experts have been consulted instead of think of the experts and hedge fund guys like steve ratner by the union guy, you can see where this was directed. we would be in a lot better shape if they had done this based on what was best for the industry, not based on protecting the uaw. david: we have to go, but we will be following the story closely. thank you, sandra. sandra: david, banker and kick off friday before the bell and there is still time to jum jumpg ahead of the results. but what is the right move? a top analyst to tell us what to expect next. and toyota has the largest worldwide recall ever affecting millions of vehicles. we will tell you the details ahead. nearly 1 billion people around the world don't have enough food to survive. we can't let this happen. there is something we can do about it. please join christina aguilera and yum! brands in the movement to fight world hunger by supporting the united nations world food programme. for more information, go to fromhungertohope.com. your contribution will feed children and save lives. together, we can stop the dyin and st

that's the guy that turned the olympics around. >> i don't want to put words in steve ratner's mouth because someone like steve might not think he was telling the truth as well in terms of the content. >> and you can't minimize that, and that's what the president's counting on. >> it's ridiculous what you're saying. >> particularly obama on the news cycle, maybe his people are saying we've got to really hold him back. let's let the imagery with the debate stay with people as opposed to putting a machinist out -- no, the separate issue as opposed to putting him back in the stages literally and figuratively where he doesn't perform well. let's leave it there. i think it was no accident he wasn't out -- oh, wait. >> i think it was a brilliant strategy. i wouldn't put him out shaking people's hands and kissing babies after that night. that one breathe through the weekend. but mika, i know it's shocking. i think you may have missed my bigger point. >> i'm so sorry. please educate me. >> the bigger point was, not what he said the other night but when i talk about steve ratner and people th

quote, according to steve ratner said it would take years and tens of billions of dollars for g.m.delphi parts. so that's why delphi had them over a barrel, and the vulture capitalists knew it. that's what they do to third world countries and it time they're doing it to us. quote fadelify laid siege to g.m.'s parties supply the bailout would fail and g.m. would have to be liquidated or sold off as would another delphi dependent chrysler. get a load of what they said. they said, because if you don't--give us that taxpayer money--we'll shut you down. the final piece of ironry, after they made all this money off of us, they turned around and spent $734 million supporters of mitt romney doing ads and $1,650 to democrats. running ads saying, hey you know what, it was obama who took your pensions away. look at this ad where they used delphi workers--look how unbelievably misleading it is. watch. >> he said the protection of pensions in the bankruptcy process was a high priority for him. >> that certainly was not the case with the delphi salaries salaried employees. >> october of 2009 our

"morning joe" analyst and economist, steve ratner.e have the great mika brzezinski walking in from the night shift where she did "way too early." 11 days left, and we're getting new poll numbers, national poll numbers, state poll numbers. in colorado, in nevada. now, these two swing states were states that the president won in 2008 and he's fighting to hang on to now. according to the new nbc poll, in colorado, this race is dead even. 48%-48% among likely voters. the president's five-point lead from a month ago gone. in nevada, the president's holding on to a three-point advantage, 50%-47% in nevada like we said yesterday stubbornly staying in the president's column. that's actually a slight uptick for mr. obama from last month, mika. we should note this polling was conducted after the third and final debate. >> and if there was any doubt about romney's momentum, look at what happened in virginia. a new fox news poll shows romney now leading by two points. last month the same poll had obama up seven. and in the abc/"washington post" d

. >> and steve ratner was on "hardball" earlier tonight and he said it was so bad at that time that theydidn't have money to pay for their supplies, they would close their doors and liquidate. that's how bad it was when the president intervened. ted strickland and robert reich, thank you for joining me. >> thank you. >> thank you. >>> coming up, nbc news is now officially narrowing the battle ground states to seven. we'll take a look at those states next. and in the rewrite, we will unmask the comedy writer who come up with the horses and bayonets line, the line of the night in last night's debate. and later d.l. hughley will tell us exactly what romney was thinking when the president was lecturing him about horses and bayonets. i don't spend money on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high pr

. >> and steve ratner was on "hardball" earlier tonight and he said it was so bad at that time that theyidn't have money to pay for their supplies, they would close their does doors and liquidate. that's how bad it was when the president intervened. ted strickland and robert reich, thank you for joining me. >> thank you. >> thank you. >>> coming up, nbc news is now officially narrowing the battle ground states to seven. we'll take a look at those states next. and in the rewrite, we will unmask the comedy writer who come up with the horses and bayonets line, the line of the night in last night's debate. and later d.l. hughley will tell us exactly what romney was thinking when the president was lecturing him about horses and bayonets. of any small business credit card. your boa! [ garth ] thor's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! ahh, the new fabrics, put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? the spiked heels are working. wait! [ garth ] great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose

steve ratner was formerly the obama adviser, sometimes called the car czar.k is detroit bureau chief for "the new york times" and author of "once upon a car: the fall and resurrection of america's big three automakers -- gm, ford and chrysler." i saw the commercial, see how it could deliver a message that obama brought down the big three, chrysler and jeep, and he's moving jobs out of detroit now to the united states. i think both those claims are false. what is your view, and in fact, objective reporting on that? >> well, it's very unusual for general motors and chrysler, first off, to respond to a political ad. both companies were bailed out, and have turned their fortunes around, since their bankruptcies. and i think they both took a vow of silence during this political campaign, to try and stay as far away as the partisan politics at possible. but as one gm executive told me. this ad crossed a line. it was, as i said, too outrageous and misleading for them, not to respond to. the fact is, general motors has been building vehicles in china for many years.

bring in carly fiorina, former hewlett-packard ceo and cnbc contributor and steve ratner, former u.s.nd a cnbc contributor. good evening to you both. want to talk fiscal cliff but scott's point about the word liar being loadsed tonight is that wise for biden? to what degree are you allowed to be aggressive when you are still the 15th longest serving senator in history? >> i think that is -- there's a level of aggressiveness that's appropriate. to call out congressman ryan on the facts is appropriate. i don't think you need to be calling each other liars in a debate. we hopefully well will have a much more thoughtful and content rich debate than that. >> al thee steven, i've been shocked by how much this $5 trillion tax cut has been debated back and forth. each side is convinced they're right and trying to push out this story. do we get an answer on that from either side? >> i don't think it's complicated. ryan and romney have proposed a $5 trillion -- >> not with the loopholes being closed. >> to be paid for by closing a bunch of loopholes which they have refused to specify. so those

mark halperin and steve ratner.ght, mitt romney talks about how there weren't enough women so he sought them out. >> right. >> and then binders of women were brought to, which is a whole funny thing -- but you know, that's not true. >> i think we should have a spirited debate in the campaign about which of these candidates would do more for all americans, including women, and look at their policy proposals and their records. but i just don't think parsing individual statements said live during a debate -- >> well, that was a prepared story. he was prepared to be asked about women and told that story, and -- >> your point is that he just told a lie and there's no reason not to call him out for telling a lie. >> i believe that's actually our job. >> that he didn't actively in fact seek out women. >> that absolutely should be pointed out. >> by the way, look. if you want to just go deeper into it, it takes you all the way until you're running for governor to realize that there's not enough women in the workforce? nobod

. >> bill: steve ratner, in charge of the auto industry at the time, the federal response said if we approach, right and depended only on private financing, the g.m. and chrysler would have died. they would have been gone. they would have had to liquidate. there would have been no coming back at all. so it was a difference between saving them and destroying them. mitt romney was for destroying them. what about the claim judd, that chrysler now we brought it back and now they're moving all of their jeep operations to china. and building the jeeps in china? >> this is something that he's been saying on the campaign trail as well. and it is just not true. what's happening is because of the demand for the jeep in china, they're considering opening it up to build jeeps for chinese customers. but there's no plans to limit or to move any production from the united states to china. so it's very disingenuous. it is slightly less dishonest than what he has been saying on the trail. which is that they're moving the production. but it is still very dishonest. i think -- >> bill: the implication

steve ratner a head of the autotask force that was essentially at the point of the bailout told me overe two days ago that with us a difficult call to make on where to draw the line he said he wasn't comfortable playing god with the auto industry but they needed a viable, happy uaw working to keep gm from relapsing into more financial trouble, so they made the deal there. megyn. megyn: steve brown, thank you. well new political controversy involving facebook, again, and free speech. this time a facebook staffer censoring a page from a political action committee that challenges president obama on the way he handled the situation in libya. judge napolitano weighs in on facebook's latest move. we are seeing one of the most disturbing ads of the campaign season and one of the most frightening messages so far, both attacking governor romney. we'll debate what and who is behind these messages, right after this break. >> i have four generations of family on this earth and my life has been very blessed, and if the republicans steal this election i'm going to track down mitt romney and give him

. >> bill: interesting, steve ratner said flat out if mitt romney had done it his way the auto companiesiled. >> yeah, you need -- when you are -- anybody who has been in business, whether you have succeeded or failed knows you need operating capital. there was no money for these companies. they couldn't pay suppliers, couldn't pay their wages and taxes. the point is they would have literally put a chain around the front gate and locked the door, and it would have then lead us into a 1929-type depression for romney to say i wanted a structure bankruptcy. that requires cash on hand to run the company. >> bill: right. eliot spitzer is our best. of course he is the host of "viewpoint" on current tv every night at 8:00 pm eastern. a couple of foreign policy questions i wanted to ask you about is libya. bob schieffer started with libya. i was surprised that romney was not more aggressive -- didn't really score on that. >> i'm with you. i was sitting there -- we had -- vice president gore and governor granholm and john fugelsang, we were in new york and cenk uygur was in los angeles. but the b

and let's start with steve ratner. n an op-ed in "the new york times," and the title is "the radical is romney, not ryan." "president obama should use tuesday night's debate to press mr. romney to defend -- or even just explain -- these proposed cuts, which would be far more draconian than those advanced by his running mate, paul ryan. mr. ryan is widely viewed as the real fiscal hawk, but in key areas, his views on spending levels are actually closer to mr. obama's than to mr. romney's. with respect to nearly half the budget, mr. romney and mr. ryan widely diverge from each other. mr. romney is calling for a huge increase in defense spending, roughly $2 trillion more over the next decade than ryan wants to spend which is only $400 billion above mr. obama's budget. even though the military is not asking for such an increase. such an increase would force giant reductions, about 40%, in everything that's left. and katty kay, with libya on the front pages and sort of this growing scandal over security there, with syria in

steve ratner served as the auto industry adviser. joins us from 30 rock. have you back. >> thank for having me. >> it's been watch romney evolve as he continues to have to defend this now famous op-ed in the "wall street journal," let gm go bankrupt. last night, he brings in 7-eleven, and macys and continental airlines that went through the kind of bankruptcy he envisioned for gm. what's wrong with that argument? >> first of all, i'm not sure i would describe romney's position as evolving or flip flappin and wandering around. but the fundamental problem with the examples that he gave last night and the idea that you could have put these companies in a bankruptcy, macy's or 7-eleven or whatever, was private capital available during the bankruptcy so the company could operate and literally function as it reorganized itself. in the spring of 2009, there was no such capital available. there was no banks prepared to prove this internl interim financing. and so if the government had not provided it, gm and chrysler would have literally had to shut their doors an

ratner says the uaw had to be in factories if the g.m. bail-out would work and they drew the line at topping off the delphi uaw pension. bret? >> bret: steve are the second fastest growing race group. they will be even bigger and a bigger factor in every election to come. here is chief national correspondent jim angle. >> vice president biden told a radio interviewer from univision that only he and the president recognize the importance of latino voters. >> we have a lot of people who don't pay attention the lay te know vote; particularly, in the other party, realizing that is a political force. >> the president told the des moines register if he wins a second term, it will be because, "the republican nominee and the republican party have sold alienated the fastest growing demographic group in country: the latino community." judging from the ads in spanish, though, the romney campaign doesn't seem to be taking anything for granted. [ speaking spanish ] >> from the association of latino lawmakers says the latino vote is steadily increasing. >> latino vote is growing with every election cycle. in 2008, 9.7 million latinos voted. we project i