suskind's?e house convinced tim geithner to stay. they don't want upheaval in their economic team. they need him in place. they've been the guys that have been selling tim geithner on staying at the white house. so anything that's going to undermine his position there is something that they are going to push back against. >> there seems to be also a protection they're trying to do of sort of the larger point of this book, errol, which paints a picture of a president and economic team that was either, at best, had no idea how bad it was or, at worst, in over their head. >> it seems as if the president is in over his head. they can't allow that to take hold with the electorate. the real target is not suskind itself but the republicans. they want it to be known they're tough and they'll respond. this a message from me to a message from the republicans running for president. >> shameless plug time. errol, we'll start with you. this is grading, a newspaper column anthology really fast. >> it's never

suskind. what's your reaction?, i don't agree with ron that any time you pull back the curtain everybody says this is untrue. i mean, i pulled back the curtain on my book. number a people didn't like it. larry summers hated the book and wouldn't talk to me for a year and a half. christina romer did not like the book at all and there were others. but there wasn't one person who came forward to say either publicly or privately to me that i'd gotten things wrong. >> or indeed nobody suggested it was fiction or a distortion. >> right. that's true of other authors as well. i'm not the only one. so this notion that it somehow proves that it's a good book if people are saying parts of it are not true i don't think holds water. >> he implied in the interview he had literally spoken to everyone in the administration economics team. is that true? >> no, actually it's not. in the last few days i have heard from, you know, several people i talked to on the economic team, one of them i think i can mention, austan goolsbee, coop

and also a new book from ron suskind, he paints the obama white house at not only dysfunctional, but demeaning to women? >> yeah, what's interesting about that. you had the women, a couple of the women who were quoted coming out and saying, no, i never said that. it's not that way at all. it's actually really great. so he had to, suskind had to turn around and let a reporter listen to one of the recordings, of the phone call which turned out was verbatim how he quoted the person in the the book. >> and he had that quote. >> it's incredible to be trashing someone as a liar he when you actually said exactly that quote. it wasn't even, now-- >> and let's put it on the screen, what was said. we have it here. she said but looking back and alita dunn, asked about it two years later this place to be in court for a whose pill workplace because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women. that's the quote she denied and turned out he had it in place. >> at the beginning of the quote she said were it not for the president and then the rest o

"confidence men" is the name of the book, ron suskind.rs and applause) >> jon: that's our show. join us tomorrow night at 11:00. here it is, your moment of szep. >> he was driving in one of the cars involved in those collision that bought down one of those power poles. >> i was mind mig own business and bam! it was like a big rainbow. boom, boom! i me. it troubles people who are sitting there saying wait a second, is that being disrespectful to the president? eventually you see the president's confidence sort of bruised and, frankly, that's why confid

it is written by ron suskind. thank you for coming on and sharing your insights. we appreciate it. >> thank you. tavis: that is our show. good night, from los angeles. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a consersation with thomas friedman on his latest book. that is next time. we will see you there. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. wal-mart stands together with better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, help tavis improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television]

"confidence men" is the name of the book, ron suskind.

suskind is coming here to respond.ing up on "hardball," ron suskind, only on msnbc. >>> just a couple weeks ago when the republican candidate won that special election in new york to replace anthony weiner, there was a lot of talk about president obama losing support among the jewish community. well, that's all changing now. first, president obama picked up an enthusiastic endorsement from former new york mayor ed koch, who had been very critical of the president's policies in the past. he obviously picked him up with the u.n. speech. a new poll by "the jerusalem post," an english language paper, shows a shift of opinion. the poll shows pro-israeli, 54% and let's see if those numbers help with the president with jewish voters here at him. democrats tend to do well in that community. we'll be right back. >>> we're back. ron suskind's new book called "confidence men" paints a president overwhelmed. suskind writes during so many days of crisis in his first two years, president obama often felt that performance pressure, h

both women have since denied saying these things to suskind.old phrase in british politics, they would, wouldn't they, deny it. so if they're loyal and they may have said it in all kinds of they may not have said it. how do you put this together? you've done a good job of covering this white house. >> i haven't read the book. and i don't want to trash -- >> what about the charges? >> what would worry me as an author, as a writer is actually the small stuff more than these quotes. people deny quote, they may misremember them. obviously they're pushing back very hard on that. but the factual stuff would keep me up at night in a cold sweat. if you say dan pfeiffer was deputy press secretary, that's a little bit troubling. and in terms of my own writing, that would put me in a cold sweat. >> but everybody on the progressive side loved ron suskind's book when he wrote about the bush white house. >> of course they did. it gels with what i wrote in "revival". >> dysfunctional? >> extremely dysfunctiiysfunctd. that's the old economic team. it rings tru

suskind is coming here to respond. coming up on "hardball," ron suskind, only on msnbc. >>> hello.rested a 26-year-old massachusetts man accused of plotting attacks on the pentagon and the u.s. capitol with large remote-controlled planes packed with explosives. he's a u.s. citizen and a graduate of boston's northwestern university. he started planning a jihad against americans in 2010. >>> the just department has filed an appeal with the u.s. supreme court challenging a judge's ruling that strikes down key parts of president obama's health care reform. >>> there's a his tieria outbreak attributed to tainted cantaloupe. he said dr. mural write told himsh that michael jackson had a bad reaction. but never called 911. i'm veronica de la cruz. now back to "hardball." you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, bus

suskind is coming here to respond. coming up on "hardball," ron s suskind, only on msnbc.ng of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. [ male announcer ] get five dollars in money-saving coupons at v8juice.com. iuntil i tried this.ons nothing helped me beat arthritis pain. it's salonpas. pain relief that works at the site of pain... up to 12 hours. salonpas. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and it's available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better trade commission free for 60 days when you open an account. >>> just a couple weeks ago when the republican candidate won that special election in new york to replace anthony weiner, there was a lot of talk about president obama losing support among the jewish community. well, that's all changing now. fi

ron suskind, thank you very much for coming in.ppreciate it. >>> coming up in the second part of "reliable sources," clashing careers. pulitzer prize-winning author connie shultz. >>> and a blogger who makes political predictions based on nothing but statistics. nate silver of "the new york times" on his 538 blog and why he says media coverage often misses the boat. confidence. available in color. depend for women is now peach. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth! thank you! ♪ ♪ ♪ when your chain of supply ♪ goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there ♪ ♪ track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that ♪ hurry up no time flat that's

suskind. so many of your former colleagues have said it is simply not true. here's a question here put to ron suskind as to whether larry summers, the president's top economic adviser at the white house at the beginning of the administration, thought the president of the united states was in over his head. >> seems he did. it seems from the comments of orszag and others, certainly the start of the first year in 2009 into early 2010, these sorts of things were part of the prevailing conversation in the white house. when i asked larry summers he was one of the source force the book about that quote, i said look, what did you mean when he said that? he offers a comment which is more seasoned and less political than that and says we were overwhelmed. we had five times as many problems and didn't have five times as many people. >> incredibly damning mr. goolsbee, especially when you know the economy is such major challenge facing the administration. i want to read one more example from the book. larry summers to omb director peter orszag is described in the book -

please welcome back to the show ron suskind. (applause) nice to see you.idence men: wall street, washington" and, of course, the education of a president. i've always found the education of a president to be something that you would like to happen previous to their presidenting. this represents a very credible case that he was a freshman and received what may be perceived as an economic team wedgie. (laughter) your thoughts. >> whatever you said, i think that sounds right. he arrives here as an untested leader in a lot of ways. i call him an amateur president. he is brilliant, he is someone people paint yearnings on, he rises at a moment of crisis and he surrounds himself when he has a kind of cold sweat moment with old seasoned hands-- many of them from bill clinton-- and what you've got is, well, what we've got right now. it was very difficult for him. people will feel some sympathy for him, actually maybe a lot of sympathy for what barack obama faced at this moment based on what he brought to the table, understandably. and it's quite a battle through th

she told "the washington post" she told suskind it was not a hostile equipment. >> anita was clearlyhen have not really told the full story which is this, that she was talking to a colleague and making joking comments about the impact of being a woman in the white house. >> reporter: suskind's publisher has stood completely by him. suskind allowed a "the washington post" reporter to review an excerpt of his original interview with anita dunn. we asked for a copy of that tape. his team declined. in that interview she said "if it weren't for the president this place would be in the court for a hostile place." i spoke with deborah katz. what is the definition of a hostile work environment for women? >> a hostile work environment is a legal term of art and it is a term that the supreme court defined carefully to be an environment infused with intimidation, ridicule and abuse based on the person's gender that so alters the environment that it creates a sexually hostile work environment. the behavior has to be severe or pervasive. >> reporter: no word from anita dunn on that. the book also

suskind spen more than 700 hours with individuals writing the book.t book will be on wolf blitzer's show tomorrow "the situation room." >> can't wait to see that. >>> meanwhile, coming up, don't ask, don't tell is done. openly gay people can now serve in the u.s. military. up next, the former congressman who led the fight to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" he wrote the legislation. >>> and a fighter pilot who faced the threat of discharge from the air force for being gay. we'll have their reaction to this landmark day, next. it's 37 minutes after the hour. it's what they do. accept it. you can't change the way banking works. just accept it, man. free ? doesn't close at five ? try nature. you give them all your money, and they put you on hold. just accept it. what are you going to do, bury your money in the backyard ? accept it. just stay with the herd, son. accept it. it's only money. it's a bank. what do you want, a hug ? just accept it, friend. hidden fees, fine print, or they'll stick it to you some other way. smile and accept it. it's been this way

it is called account confident men" from ron suskind.uote kwoeks anita dunn saying this place would be in court for a hostile work place because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile work place for women. dunn says the quotes were taken out of context. an audiotape shared with the "washington post" shows that dunn actually qualified her comments by saying, if it were not for the president, et cetera, et cetera. she says she told the author, point blank, that the white house was not a hostile environment. the next guest served as deputy press secretary in the white house. bill burton, senior strategist with usa action and priorities usa. bill, you worked with anita dunn. was it or is it a hostile work environment for women? >> good morning. i did work with anita. i will say having served in the white house, i was there, ron suskind wasn't. i know the president brought on some of the most talented people of the generation to work in his white house and a lot of them happened to be women. when it came

dunn says she told suskind point blank that the white house was not a hostile environment.nd romer on feeling like a piece of meat said, i can't imagine that i ever said that, i felt respected, included and useful to the team. but earlier in the administration, as the president played golf and basketball with only men, many did see that as a sign of the white house was a boys club. >> i've got to say, i think this is bunk. >> reporter: when asked if the white house is or ever was a hostile work environment, a woman staffer told abc news, quote, it is not my experience. if it had been, i wouldn't have been here as long as i have been. even journalist jonathan alter who first wrote about many of these same stories and events believes that suskind's account is "exaggerated." >> david, what is the white house plan to refute this book? >> reporter: well, you know, the media blitz really starts tomorrow on the release of the book which actually comes out in stores on tuesday, and you're already seeing it, dan. these women have come out front, the ones who worked in the white hous

the white house has questioned several anecdotes, including one in which suskind quotes larry summers as telling peter orszag, you know, peter, we're alone. there's no adult in charge. clinton would never have made these mistakes. analysts say there's a larger reason why the white house is working this hard to discredit this narrative. >> once there tends to be a cartoon of a president, especially a president where the nation's got awfully big problems and it's an election year, that tends to take hold and is very hard to get rid of. >> reporter: the white house has drawn blood even for sus does kind on the "today" show to admit larry summers, in the quote we had in our peace, that summers had denied it, but then said he still meant the meaning of the quote that he used. >> for them right now, it's all about timing. chuck todd covering the traveling president, traveling white house here in new york. >>> another flurry of activity here in new york, afghanistan's president made an early and tearful departure from the u.n. meeting. left here to go back home to afghanistan after word came

suskind had the cooperation of the white house and interviewed president obama. sit in a different category? >> sure. he's also in a different category. ron suskind has a reputation as a reliable reporter. former wall street journal reporter. even there, there is the implication that he's blown up some of the stories into feuds and has taken the extreme version of events. they are different. obama white house is a serious subject. sarah palin is not a serious subject in anything like the same way. >> from what you can tell in some cases it looks like, yes, there were casual conversations. perhaps he got them from a third party and repeated the quotes. it makes it look like there was some brug irritation and people would riot. >> suskind quoted people directly, interviewed a lot of white house officials. i called barack obama and he said he can't comment yet because he's going on "today." >> donna is denying she gave the quote. that is a direct quote. so at a certain point i think one or both parties has to say, okay, is it okay to put this on the record. >> who s

ru ron suskind is here. >>> the investigation into fast and furious. the u.s. of illegal guns on the streets of mexico, one lawmaker accuses the justice department of stonewalling. we want to welcome viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer at the united nations. you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. >> let's begin with breaking news. hope is giving way to grim resignation in jackson, georgia, where a man thousands of people believe to be innocent is scheduled to be executed in less than one hour. troy davis arrested in 1989 for the shooting death of an off-duty police officer in 1991, he was convicted based on eyewitness testimony. but by 2003, 7 of 9 witnesses had recanted, some saying police pressured them to implicate davis. execution has been postponed three times, but tonight it appears that may be no reprieve. cnn's david mattingly just outside the prison where davis is facing lethal injection in one hour. what's happening right now? >> reporter: wolf, troy davis' last-minute appeal has failed completely

summers, dunn and romer say they were misquoted and claimed that suskind exaggerated incidents. others who were there say the book doesn't ring true. >> you put a bunch of economists in a room, we're going to argue and we're going to squabble. substantively, and we did a lot of that. but at the end of the day, we typically came up with a unified recommendation for the chief. >> and rick klein, our senior washington editor, joins us now from washington. and rick, this obviously comes at a very challenging time for the president. got the economy, jobs already. but as you point out, there is already real push-back from this white house. >> reporter: that's right. and it is critical push-back from the white house. we are entering perhaps the most important phase of this presidency in terms of getting the public on board for his ideas. he's trying to set this up, here are my ideas versus the republican ideas. in that context, he can't afford a public perception that the president can't control his own economic team, much less the economy as a whole. >> all right, rick klein pouring t

there is, however, a new book out, written by our suskind, ca men." it is about exactly the failure to reform the financial system we were just discussing with martin bashir. perhaps because of his direct assertions on barack obama and his team's failure to address these issues, they are now trying to assassinate his character. in it, suskind said the washington world, even inside the white house, simply don't think barack obama is the boss. we all have our own opinions on that, but let's find out what the author is arguing. you say, and you were saying to me as you were listening to me talking to martin bashir about the markets today, you wrote 500 pages on what i was talking to martin bashir about. what do you mean? >> the fact of the matter is, dylan, who's the boss? barack obama had a chance to be the boss in march of 2009 and he blinked. that's the core of the book. he came to office on a wave, i'm going to reform -- he was ahead on wall street. >> i remember! >> he got there, larry and tim were his right and left hands, rahm was managing the mid

. >> we're going to talk to author ron suskind. i'm putting on my ask -- >> i don't get this book. >> did you hear what the white house said about suskind? >> yes. they let him in to talk to the president. they let him talk to everybody so it had to be positive. >> too bad he lifted everything from wikipedia. >> you're talking about a pulitzer prize winner. >> just providing a little balance. i'm quoting someone else. >> a little balance. >> not my opinion. >> once it's out of the gate you can't call it back. >> eugene robinson will be on the show. we have a huge show, a lot of great guests. up next politico's top stories of the morning. but first, bill karins is out today. you know who is cuter than bill? >> nobody. >> taylor bay. >> taylor bay. >> his new baby girl, taylor bay karins arrived on sunday afternoon weighing exactly 7 pounds. she's perfect. look at her. >> you know who's here today? >> she's perfect. >> you know who's here today? >> who? >> my brother. >> oh, my gosh. >> george. >> george. hello, george. >> george is

suskind is a pulitzer prize winning author.written three books during the bush administration, this one new during the obama administration. in the past republicans came out and said, oh, no he wasn't accurate about this stuff. now you have the obama white house saying about no, no he wasn't accurate about this other stuff. brad, put it this perspective for us in terms of the allegations he is making about the white house. in particular he talks about larry summers who was the director of of the white house economic national council until last year saying we are home alone, quote, there is no adult in charge. clinton would never have made these mistakes, something summers now comes out and says he was misquoted on. >> you're get ago lot of corroborating allegations by the most senior levels of the obama staff saying, and advisers saying that there is no adult supervision at the white house. clearly the failures we've seen in the economy, in social policy, look, it's all corroborated by the statements in this book. unfortunately

suskind quotes anita dunn.uld be in court for a hostile workplace because it fits all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace for women. dunn said she did not say the white house was not a hostile environment. former head of the council advisor felt like a piece of meat that was boxed out by senior advisors. roamer said she can't imagine saying she felt like a piece of meat. the white house said it is infused with drama and salacious details based on anonymous sources. and a source, the obama administration is getting support from a unlikely republican force. >> i am certain how much is true and accurate. my personal experience is that he tend toz exagerate. he said suskind wrote about him in an inaccurate and unreelistic way. >> it is damage control that is beginning. thank you very much. >> and while there is a large pool of candidates vying for the gop presidential nomination. some see it to be a two horse race between mitt romney and rick perry. joining us is the former president

a conversation with best-selling author ron suskind. that is next time.ou then. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we allit's not just a street or boulevard but a place where wal-mart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, help tavis improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> be more. >> be more. pbs.dwí well, luckily for me, they brought this to me because it's furniture-- at least, it's small furniture. it's bigger than treen, or it doesn't quite fit into that, and it's carved wood in the most wonderful style-- - a mystery object so far. - yes. i want to look at the stand in more detail. so tell me what you think it is, anyway. - it just got a bit of black glass in there-- - i have no idea. i've as

ron suskind saying white house officials told him that the the west wing, rather, was quot, hostile toomen. the white house is fighting back on that charge. bill: speaking of fighting, rick perry taking fire from all the candidates on the policy regarding immigration. why the texas d.r.e.a.m. act is taking center stage in florida. >> there is not anybody on this stage has to had to deal with the issue of border security than i have with 1200 miles of texas and mexico and our federal government has been an abject failure at securing our border. the postal service is critical to our economy-- delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. ♪ [ male annou

ron suskind. thank you so much. president obama says he has a plan to turn the economy around.s the president's plan about leading or campaigning? ♪ soon the sun ♪ is going to shine ♪ [ male announcer ] toyota presents the prius family. ♪ walk if i want, talk if i want ♪ [ male announcer ] there's the original one... the bigger one... the smaller one... and the one that plugs in. they're all a little different, just like us. they're all a little different, naomi pryce: i am. i'm in the name your own price division. i find empty hotel rooms and help people save - >> - up to 60% off. i am familiar. your name? > naomi pryce. >> what other "negotiating" skills do you have? > i'm a fifth-degree black belt. >> as am i. > i'm fluent in 37 languages. >> (indistinct clicking) > and i'm a master of disguise >> as am i. > as am i. >> as am i. > as am i. >> well played naomi pryce. [ whistle blows ] oh! [ baby crying ] ben harper: ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned into a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does th

. >> that's how author russ suskind.n, wall street, washington and the education of a president. in the book, according to the "the washington post." us iskind reports former white house communications director anita dunn as saying the white house would fit all of the, quote, classic legal requirements for a hostile work place for women. gund -- dunn told the post yesterday she did not say that it quotes christina romer that she felt like quote a piece of meat boxed out by mayle male senior advisors at meetings. roamer tells the post she can't imagine saying she felt like a piece of meat. white house has responded by saying books like these tend to be infused with salacious details and pointed to dunn and romer attributed to them in the book. rick? >> rick: is it true there is a republican strategist who is defending the white house on this? >> yes. karl rove, former top advisor to president george w. bush is critical of su skind as a writer. here is more. >> i'm not sure how much of this book is true and accurate. my pe

anita dunn is the woman ron suskind said called it a hostile workplace.ck, this place would be in court for a hostile workplace because it actually fits all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace for women. that's anita dunn. also dr. christina roamer, the top economic adviser or the number two, talking about her boss essentially the number one guy larry summers. i felt like a piece of meat. why is it always the women? why are we the only ones with the -- you can read that on your screen if you want -- around here? in covering this white house and in knowing everyone who works here but especially women, do they describe such a horrible environment? >> well, i'll tell you, john, first of all, both women have either flatly refuted or said they have no memory of saying those things. that said, it's no secret that democratic women around town have for some time talked about the fact that this white house, especially in the early days, was a challenging place for women to work. that is no secret. they've said from women who have wo

the book is by ron suskind and will be released tomorrow.cuses the obama administration of being, quote, rudderless, and quotes one female official saying she felt like, quote, a piece of meat. however that woman and others told the washington post the quotes were not true. and the journalist is calling the book's can'ts, quote, exaggerated. >> alan: tonight it's bye-bye borders. they closed their doors for the last time. last-minute customers got great deals on used chairs and coffee machines with signs of no reasonable offer refused. borders did not adopt to internet discounters and other competition. the chain will live noncertain stores around the country, although under different neighbors. boreds declared bankruptcy in february and began liquidating stores in july. >> a roving san francisco fair was in chinatown this weekend. pedestrians enjoyed live music, art, and a little hula hoop action out there. there was always walking streets on grant avenue for pedestrian track. sunday streets is celebrating the 40th anniversary of ping-pong

summers, dunn and romer all say they were misquoted and claim suskind exaggerated incidents. others who were there say the book doesn't ring true. >> you put a bunch of economists in a room, we're going to argue and we're going to squabble substantively and we did a lot of that. but at the end of the day we typically came up with a unified recommendation for the chief. >> reporter: the coming days of pushback will be critical for the white house. the president can't afford a perception he couldn't control his own economic team, much less the economy as a whole. rick klein, abc news, washington. >> the white house already on the call this book a combination of half truths and old news all dramatized for effect. >> a critical time. >> of course, and especially dealing with the economy. >> and his poll numbers not looking so good these days. maybe he doesn't need this right now. >> exactly. not the right time. >>> coming up, the winners and surprises at last night's emmy awards. >> from the memorable staging of the best actress category to all the must-see fashions for better or

. >> finally ron suskind's book is to be released. it apparently gives a scathing look at the obama presidency. the economic crisis began with the hiring of larry summers and timothy geithner. he said the actions of both men, and i quote, have contributed to the very financial disaster they were hired to solve. what is the white house reaction to ha? >> let me tell you what my reaction is. i've been here since day one. i want to say unequivocally the premise of ron suskind's book is dead wrong. dead wrong. what i saw firsthand was this president facing the worst financial and economic crisis since fdr had to deal with the great depression. and i saw him at times where in the most difficult issues, whether we should do stress tests for our banks, whether we should save chrysler, deal with these issues where his economic advisers were often split, providing different choices to him. and i saw the president sit in the roosevelt room for hours asking penetrating questions. then he made the difficult call. and on things like the financial

plan comes an unflattering portrayal of his leadership a book called "confidence men" written by ron suskinddent's advisors and staff. anita dunn quoted as saying -- dunn says she was quoted out of context. this morning on "today" the author defended the book saying he has tapes of his conversations with dunn. >> what's on tape is the fact that she said, if it weren't for the president, this place would be in court for a hostile work place. that's not the same as saying it's a hostile work environment. did you take liberties with this quote? >> absolutely not. the fact of the matter is everything in this book is solid as a brick. >> msnbc contributor crystal bowl is a democratic strategist and former virginia congressional candidate as well, msnbc policeanalyst, joe watkins and aide to george hw bush. thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> crystal, first of all, let me get your take on the book and suskind's defense of the so-called inaccuracies? >> this is not the only push back against this book. there have been a range of people coming out and questioning exactly how accurate i

. >> reporter: a defiant white house press secretary launched a separate offensive against suskind. >seems to be lifted almost tiernly from wikiped wikipedia. >> reporter: when the white house was followed up with, officials indicated jay darny was referring to a passage about the federal mortgage firm fannie mae as first reported by politico. quote, in 1968, it officially became a publicly held corporation to remove its debt and related activities from the federal balance sheet. the wikipedia passage says, in 1968 it converted to a publicly held corporation to remove its dist and debt from the federal budget. we contacted the publisher for response. a spokeswoman there says suskind spent more than 700 hours with more than 200 individuals in writing the book. the spokeswoman calls it exhaustively resources and harpercollins is proud to be publishing it. >> by the way, the white house cooperated with the author as he was writing this book, giving them access to both the president and his inner circle. and with the slumping economy here, james carville says president obama needs to fina

you have ron suskind's confidence men.k from the administration about how he depicts what is going on inside of the oval office. you and i would cover the white house when this was going on. one of the things that we heard sometime ago was this idea that it was an all boy's club, an old boy's club. when this first came out and it was a while ago, a year or so ago, i had asked two leading women in the white house, melody barnes and jarrett, if there was a problem and both side not really. melody was the first woman to be invited to play golf with the president after that. but what do you make of the fact this has come up again? >> the charge it is an old boys' club. it is compared to what proposition? was w, clinton administration t reagan administration? all previous administrations have been an old boys club to some extent. >> wouldn't you argue that all of them have been. kind of, yeah. they don't change that much. >> it is compared to what proposition. if we are going to be fair we have to put it in context. this is the

reporter: top administration officials today assailed the new book "confidence men" by author ron suskind, a book they cooperated with. the book paints a picture of a white house economic team facing the biggest economic crisis in decade plagued by in-fighting against each other and doubts about the president. >> i lived the original, and the reality i lived, we all lived together, bears no relation to the sad little stories i heard reported from that book. >> reporter: indeed, some facts in the book are wrong, but other anecdotes are according to sources accurate assailing the president for lack of leadership, former top economic adviser larry summers told another top aide "we're home alone. there's no adult in charge." in a memo, senior adviser pete rouse criticized how the economic team pushed back on policies even after the president made a decision forcing "reconsideration of the details until the very last moments" and even then implementation by treasury secretary tim geithner was "slow and uneven." >> well, i do disagree with that characterization. >> reporter: and as abc news cov

you need to know this ron suskind book competence man hit shelves yesterday and the nation is catching wind of just how many of president obama's progressive policies are actually sabotaged by his closest economic advisers one of those policies was a financial transaction tax credit so sky is book president obama wanted to push for a new financial transfer transaction tax basically a small tax on every stock or derivative traded or whenever anything. any kind of financial planner about history not only would a financial transaction tax or f.c.t. or sometimes are called step taxes this is securities transaction excise tax whenever it would not only would this occur of excessive speculation the markets and discouraged robots are making millions of trades a day as they do now it would also raise some much needed revenue for the government which was dealing with a deficit problem so that one of the president's top economic advisers lawrence summers nixed the idea entirely in fact warren summers his name repeatedly comes up and so stuns book as a person who is not only disrespectful to the

also here ron suskind.failing." that story is next. see how they have him very far away. the angle, very far away. across a lengthy table. we'll be right back. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices? sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. so they can focus on serving their customers. sun life financialrating should be famous.d bad, we're working on it. so you're seriously proposing we change our name to sun life valley. do we still get to go skiing? sooner or late

your base you people might have been different if he had surround himself with different people ron suskind right now has a book out and you know he's talking about the fact that he ditched the robert reich's the stieglitz is that we're with him on the campaign trail and went for the wall street guys and went for timothy geithner and larry summers absolutely i mean people need to know that the person is on their side not on the side of the bankers and they go look you supported the bailout the bankers are doing great their profits are as good as ever you know the bonuses of these guys on wall street are size over and president obama's trying to say i'm on your side a lot of people aren't buying that because they still see we've got nine percent unemployment rate no one's wages are going up so people are still losing their home an interesting person people he surrounded himself with that were i mean obviously that reflects his views as well i mean i can't believe that obviously not a stupid man so he surrounded people he thought comfortable with and obviously felt more comfortable with these