it is extraordinary unpresidential. one of the things the president has to do is be the mourner in chief. pull the country together when we were under attack, as we were last night in libya and cairo. so, for him to behave this way, and on top of that, to say things in a statement that are just factually untrue, is really, i think, a decisive moment in this campaign. >> dana, what's your reaction to the fact that mr. romney issues that statement before even the next of kin of those who have been killed have been informed? i mean, is this what we've come to? do we have absolutely no regard for the dead? >> martin, we've reached various points in this campaign where we've said, how can things get any worse than this? i even remember we were talking about it when the whole birther thing came back again. now we've reached a whole other order of magnitude here. one shudders to think -- you know, we have more than 50 days left, what else could happen here? this started out bad enough at night looking like it had just been a m

people he needs to have vote for him see a man without principle and with no core and that is unpresidential. this opportunity in libya, it was an opportunity for him to sit in the big chair and look presidential and do and say things that presidents do or should say. he couldn't do it. he had to once again cater to this delusional, far right, which has a completely twisted, nonsense view, not just of foreign policy but of the universe we live in. >> thank you, ron reagan. i think you nailed it. cindy tucker, thanks for coming on with your passion and journalistic understanding. >> the video that den grated mohammed spread to a dozen countries. crashes broke out in europe and india and police said at least three protesters were killed and dozens more were wounded, all this despite pleas for calm by worldly leaders, including the islamic president of egypt. here at home, a moving ceremony at andrews air force base as the flag-draped coffins of the four americans killed in libya were brought home and were met bisect of state, hillary clinton, and president obama. both of them spoke this sombre

see a man with no core, and see a man ho is decidingly, appallingly unpresidential. the business in libya just recently, this is an opportunity. he had no real responsibility, of course, but it was an opportunity for him to sit in the big chair. to look presidential. to do things and say things that presidents do or should say. and he couldn't do it. he had to, once again, cater to this duelusional far right, whih has a completely nonsense view of the universe we live in. >> thank you, ron, i think you nailed it. cynthia tucker, thank you for coming on. the violent protests sparked by the video spread to more than a dozen countries today, clashes broke out from europe to india, and some of the worst violence occurred in tunisia. police there said at least three protesters were killed and dozens more wounded, all this despite pleas for calm by world leaders. meanwhile here at home there was a moving ceremony at andrews air force base at the flag draped coffins of the four americans killed in libya were brought home. they were met by secretary of state hillary clinton

. >> reporter: they called romney's statement, unwise and inaccurate and unpresidential. >> the president's policies in the middle east should be the big story. how are the president's policies affecting what is happening over there. instead it's mitt romney's problem. >> reporter: just before romney faced the press to take questions reporters could be heard conferring with each other. >> i would say regret to your question, i mean your statement not even the tone. >> media watchers including john stossel conversations like that one are note necessarily rare. >> they have a limited time with the president or candidate and they want to get an answer to that question so they do a little coordination. >> reporter: in the end rather than being pressed for details. he elected not to cancel a fund-raiser in las vegas, the president in a sit down interview was given a chance to criticize romney. >> it couldn't play better for the president. he is the president. he is the one whose policies that are under question right now. much of the heat is being taken off of him. >> some of the questions that

romney is unpresidential. romney is unqualified. that's the objective.hat is something that happens every day in the media. every day. they don't have to collaborate although they now say that they do. they all think alike. >> limbaugh saying he does not believe the reporters whaerd are the only ones who collaborate. patted at this ann. >> they are blaming a movement for the up rising. john bolton says not so fast. >> we should not be operating under the belief that the film is the real problem. the problem is religious fanaticism and hatred of the united states that motivates the leaders of the muslim brotherhood in egypt and al qaeda and other terrorists. that's what we have to deal with. >> let's bring in blogger author and stop thezation of america. >> we don't consider egypt an ally or an enemy. under must be reck it wmubarak considered an ally. how much has it changed with the new government. >> they were key allies for 30 years the first muslim country to sign a peace accord with israel. it is shocking when you go back to june 2009 when obama made

craft and tone deaf in the light of this-- >> and the columnist called it unwise, inaccurate and unpresidential. >> and the story, how hard the president's policies are affecting what's happening over there. instead, it's become mitt romney's problem. >> just before romney faced the press to make a statement about the tragedy in libya, and take questions, reporters could be heard conferring with each other. >> i would think regret your question. i mean, your statement, not even the tone, but then go-- >> media watchers, including john stossel says that conversations like that aren't necessarily rare. >> they have a limited time with the president, the candidate, and they want to make sure they get an answer to the question so they'll do a little coordination. >> in the end rather than being pressed for details, regarding who was or was not guarding the consulate or cancel a fundraiser in las vegas, the president in a sit-down interview was asked about and given the chance to criticize romney. >> it couldn't play better for the president because it takes a lot of heat off from him. he's the pres

. >> they called romney's statement unwise, inaccurate and unpresidential. >> the president policiesthe middle east should be the big story now. how are the president's policies affecting what is happening over there. instead it's become mitt romney problem. >> just before romney faced the press to make statement about the tragedy in libya and take question, reporters could be heard conferring with each other. >> i'd say do you regret your statement? then he can go off on -- >> if he does a -- >> media watchers including fox john stossel point out conversations like that one aren't necessarily rare. >> they have a limited time with the president, with the candidate. they want to make sure they get answer to the question and do coordination. >> in the end rather than being pressed for details about who was and wasn't guarding the consulate in benghazi or why he elected not to cancel a fundraiser wednesday night in las vegas, the president in sit-down interview was asked about and given a chance to criticize romney. >> it couldn't play better for the president. it takes heat off of him

but what he said in that one clip was unpresidential and how he can think he win over enough people toesident of the united states is beyond me. >> i want to play another yet unplayed on this show, and i think unheard by most people, clip of the secret romney tape. and it's about this basic notion of being your brother's keeper. and it would be easy to make too much of this particular section of the tape, if it didn't come in the full context of everything else mitt romney had to say. let's listen to this part. you know if we all work and we all save, we could afford to send one of us to college. and they sent my wife's dad. every day taking a couple of jobs, so that your brother, i would never do that for my brother. he actually starts to laugh can you imagine working a couple of jobs and saving your money he starts to laugh at the idea of working so that your brother could go to college instead of you and he says i would never do that for my brother. in another context you could take that as a joke and you could look at the guy and go i know, you would. my mother did this for her sis

what he did is deeply unpresidential, irresponsible, it was really rude and insensitive to the familiesle. this should not have been politicized and he should have followed the lead of other americans who praised secretary clinton, praised president obama for their handling of the situation and leave it at that. >> well, bob, alicia mentioned poll numbers. when the question was raised about handling foreign policy issues, president obama, 54, governor romney, 39. even on economy and jobs, which was romney's strong suit, fox news has them tied. cnn has obama up 1. washington post has them up 2 on jobs and the economy where he was trailing before. >> yeah, i think that's a trend that's going to continue. i think it came out of the democratic convention. it's also probably coming out of the real world. look, romney today, another act of opportunism, he's rooting for a recession. alicia is right. he doesn't have the judgment to be president. what do we elect these guys for? we elect them because of their programs, because they stand for certain things but ultimately we elect these guys or s

see a man without principle, see a man with no core, and see a man that's decidedly appallingly unpresidential. this business in libya recently, this was an opportunity. he had no real responsibility, of course, but it was an opportunity for him to sit in the big chair, to look presidential, to do things that -- say things that presidents do or should say, and he couldn't do it. he had to once again cater to this delusional far right, which has a completely twisted nonsense view, not just a foreign policy, but of the universe we live in. >> unfortunately the parallel universe you describe has moved into ours. the latest on the birther front, here it is in kansas. the state objections board is discussing removing the president of the united states from the november ballot, following complaint from a can san claiming he is is not a u.s. citizen. whose on there? three republicans. they told them i don't think it is a frivolous objection. i do think the factual record could be supplemented. the president's mother was from kansas, cynthia. there they go again. mitt romney bragged he hadn't been ask

part of the thing is that he's looking impetuous here and looking unpresidential.ere were the first time, then it would be excusable, but it's really not, right? we talked about what happened in london, and we said, is it going to last a week or a month? i famously remember somebody said it won't last a week, but it now seems to be that crumb that got dropped in the first act of the movie, and now we're in the fourth act of the movie. like, oh, wow. here we are again. >> right. so i understand your point, that if it weren't the first time, but after the first time you cemented the narrative, this guy isn't ready. i remember the flap over london when he came back. i said, look, maybe he wasn't television and pr savvy. he said it from a position of being an expert on the subject. he comes back, and it was the thing that made him unready to be president. some people have already sealed that narrative down regardless, and this, which i admitted yesterday, was not the best way for mitt romney to handle it. i mean, i think only the developments of this story over the nex

a man without principle, see a man with no core and see a man who is decidingly, appallingly, unpresidential. this business in libya, this was an opportunity, he had no real responsibility, of course. but it was an opportunity for him to sit in the big chair, to look presidential, to say things that presidents do or should say. and he couldn't do it. he had to, once again, cater to this delusional far right, which has a completely twisted nonsense view, not just of foreign policy, but of the universe we live in. >> but unfortunately the parallel universe has moved into ours, and there's the birther front. in kansas, the state objections board is discussing removing the president of the united states from the november ballot following a complaint claiming that obama is not a natural born citizen. chris cobak said i don't think it's a privilege lus objection. i do think the factual record could be supplemented here. don't forget the president's mother was from kansas. mitt romney bragged he hadn't been asked about his birth certificate. let's catch this slur in action one more time. >> i love

the whole thing came off looking like a stunt and deeply unpresidential one at that and it was devastating for his campaign. of the two candidates, it was obama, the relative political newcomer who seemed to master these issues quickly and seemed calm under fire who ended up looking more presidential. the question now is whether mitt romney's comments about the attacks in libya and the mobs in egypt were just kind of a campaign gaffe, an intemperate comment, or whether they were a lehman like moment for him, a moment under serious pressure he displayed a lack of judgment that voters should really care about. james in "the atlantic" wrote of mitt romney's, quote, 3:00 a.m. phone call moment. he said, "often the most important immediate decision is not to react immediately." and that's a test, it was argued, that romney failed in this particular case. president obama followed with a similar line when speaking to "60 minutes" yesterday. >> there's a broader lesson to be learned here, you know, governor romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first, name later. and as president, one of the th

see a man without principle, see a man with no core, and see a man that's decidedly appallingly unpresidential. this business in libya recently, this was an opportunity. he had no real responsibility, of course, but it was an opportunity for him to sit in the big chair, to look presidential, to do things that -- say things that presidents do or should say, and he couldn't do it. he had to once again cater to this delusional far right, which has a completely twisted nonsense view, not just a foreign policy, but of the universe we live in. >> unfortunately the parallel universe you describe has moved into ours. the latest on the birther front, here it is in kansas. the state objections board is discussing removing the president of the united states from the november ballot, following complaint from a can san claiming he is is not a u.s. citizen. whose on there? three republicans. they told them i don't think it is a frivolous objection. i do think the factual record could be supplemented. the president's mother was from kansas, cynthia. there they go again. mitt romney bragged he hadn't been ask

i can't tell you how many pollsters tell me tha was -- it made him look unpresidential.zi the more it looks like a gross security failure. mething the romney campaign told me, this is the biggest mistake we made on liby if you give media a chance to talk about politics or policy, they'll talk politic everything time. all anybody talked about was politics of it but policy looks mo and more like aross u snyarnings coming in. so many warnings that were ignored. now the administration, the lead of the "the new york times" saying that it may have been an al qaeda hit. "times" said they are offering no evidence on th. mi romney again that's -- it's a picblunder. and they've made too many of them. >> we had secretary of state hillary clinton saying we believe there's an al qaeda link to the attack on the consulate in libya. >> within minutes we were told by a state department official that she did not mean to say that. at wasn't when she w saying she st a cre orant she was not linking it to benghazi. it's not established and proved. in fairness to them, "the new york times" wri

so he's unpresidential, romney is unqualified. he's this, he's that. that's the objective.ng that happens every day in the media. every day. they don't have to collaborate. although we now know they do. they don't have to. they all think alike. >> gretchen: back with the panel now. monica, let me start with you. does rush have a point? >> he absolute israeli has a point. i think the only people who don't get there is a liberal bias is the liberal media. i had the same thing happen to me about ten days ago. i was on a political show. and screamed at on air for saying that small businesses take risks. and the media actually were sympathetic to the host saying you put her in her place for saying small businesses take risks. i don't know what's going on. there is very much a mentality of building up straw men to tear them down, to deliver a certain kind of information that is just not right and it's not ethical. >> gretchen: joe? >> look, i think that it's true, but it's also true on both sides. >> gretchen: really? so the white house press corp. gets together and colludes and

happen, to shake up what seemed to be a bad trajectory in the polls and i think it looked very unpresidential-- the reason i think he hurt himself as a lot of republican analysts also said yesterday, his strong point has been if you're worried about the economy and you're anxious, he looks like a plausible alternative. he's a credible man. when you see somebody trying too hard to inject themselves at a moment when american diplomats and people are dead, it just feels off. i think it's jarring and it's diminishing. >> matt, was that the first time you ever said he was a plausible candidate in terms of fixing the economy, to be able to say -- >> no, no. >> are you sure? >> no, not at all. he's a very credible individual. there's no question. >> you're going to regret that. we're going to keep that on a sound bite. >> just being honest. >> juliana, if you take a look at what's played out, there was the question of when, what was said and what happened. if you were advising, how would you have written the playbook on this? >> first off, there is some discomfort talking about this now. if you're a

interests are still under attack and americans were dying comes off as amateurish and unpresidentiale for romney in the long run. it is times like these when an unguarded comment can leave a lasting impression. compare romney's response to how the 1980 republican candidates for president reacted to the iran hostage crisis under president carter. as the atlantic points out, when news broke that an effort to rescue the american hostages in tehran had failed, ronald reagan said "this is the time for us as a nation and a people to stand united." and george h.w. bush went even further saying he "unequivocally supported carter and that it was not a time to try to one-up politically." mitt romney's been around long enough, he ought to know better. the question is this, did mitt romney kill his chances of becoming president with his reaction to the violence in egypt and libya? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. you can post a comment on my blog or go to our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. >> jack, thanks very much. the movie that sparked the deadly protest across the middle ea