veterans are twice as high in some areas. john fugelsang thanks as always for your time. that's "viewpoint" for tonight. have a great weekend.

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♪ >> jennifer: you are back inside "the war room." i'm jennifer grandholm. a batch of new polls suggest that president obama is well on his way to winning a second term. let's take a look at a few of them. today's national journal survey likely voters have president obama ahead. president obama is also doing well in a few crucial swing

states. out today, the president leads romney 48 to 44%. and in virginia romney lags 3 points behind the president. 43 to 46. but people remember do not! i repeat -- do not put the cart before the horse. joining us from berkeley is former labor secretary robert reich. thanks for sticks around because you wrote a great opinion piece in huntington post. tell us what your reaction is when you hear the pundits saying it isover. >> it's not over. don't be complaisant out there. we have two more jobs reports coming. those reports, if they are as

bad as the august reports -- and they may be given what is happening in europe, china is slowing down a lot -- japan -- all around the world we have economic problems. given that, that may be that these job reports are not so good. they may give credence for romney to say they are not what they should be. >> jennifer: before you give me other reasons though, stop on that for one second. do you with your knowledge because obviously you are an economy guy. with your knowledge of what is going on, do you expect those next two reports will be challenging for the president? >> i don't think they are going to show any robust economy. i think it's likely we'll see a repeat of august. maybe 96,000, 100,000, maybe

110,000 new jobs per month, but you need 125,000 new jobs a month to keep up with population growth. so this is not a robust economy. this is not the kind of economy that if you are president obama you want to be running on. >> jennifer: so you have the jobs reports as potential problem. you also mentioned the debates. >> the expectations are very high for president obama. people forget during the democratic primaries in 2008 he stumbled, he was not terribly good at those debates, whereas romney has just come off of debating in a republican primary -- he is quite experienced at these debate stuff, and he has done quite well. he is the kind of autotom, who

will have all of his lines down. >> jennifer: right, well then you can be programmed to be self deprecating. [overlapping speakers] >> jennifer: yeah, i think so too. all right. the third reason why you said that we should you know just chill out a bit in terms of early celebrating or popping any campaign corks is that super pac spending could change the equation. >> yes, you have a lot of super pacs alive with romney or against obama. you have are putting up their own ad against obama, and then you also have on top of that the secret slush funds -- they are called social welfare organizations, but they

are treated as charitable organizations, but they have a lot of money hundreds of millions of dollars against obama. this is not pro obama. these are all corporations that don't have to tell who they are, because they can hide behind these organizations. so there is a boat load of money, and that will be spent on radio, television over the next several weeks, and get out to vote drives, voter indication networks. vans that go to people's houses to deliver them to the polls -- there's a lot of money. anybody who is an obama supporter, don't take this for granted at all. >> jennifer: and that leads to the last point that you said do not is the voter id laws which is something we talk about here. >> i'm glad you do.

there are several states that have voter id laws pushed through by republicans on the pretense of voter fraud. there is no evidence of voter fraud, and they are there to discourage democrats minorities from voting other states and other republican parties in other states are organizing sort of vigilante groups, that's what i call them, they are monitoring the polling places to make sure that they are -- again, to intimidate voting minorities. >> jennifer: it's a great summary of issues that we have got to be aware of. i don't want our side or the progressives to feel like they stay home on election day. thank you so much -- >> do not be complaisant.

>> jennifer: do not be complaisant! former labor secretary, robert reich, thank you so much. and then the republicans are taking ideas from (vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

jennifer speaks truth to power. >>the bottom line is we need an amendment. >>now it's your turn. connect with "the war room" jennifer granholm. >>it's a call to arms. make your voice heard.

>> jennifer: as we saw before the break, mitt romney and the republicans are in trouble. they seem to be in dire straights, actually written off by the polls the pundits the people, and their response has been to take president obama's words out of context. to edit him and hope nobody notices. actually the obama campaign has taken notice. and here is their response to romney's out of context shenanigans. >> the american dream is not owning your own home. too many shops too many jobs, too many people putting money in the bank. it took me one to be head of a consulting firm to get in trouble. why can don't you like obamacare?

what is wrong with it? tell us what kind of health care insurance we can have. say no to frac-ing and no to drilling offshore, no to drilling in alaska. you need to have some taxes to spread the wealth around. for the student in school that works hard on the honor, that's not them that's their teacher that did that. obamacare is constitutional. this president has done an extrordanaire thing. he is your guy. if you are looking for more opportunity, good jobs a bright future for your kids you better vote for the other guy. >> jennifer: so love that. context is everything. the republicans are going back for more against the president. they have a full-force attack against another remark. here is what president obama said yesterday on univision.

>> i haver learned some over the last four years, and i learned you cannot change washington from the outside, you can only change it from the notice. >> jennifer: we all know what he means by that but house spoker john boehner spun those words. >> well, you actually can change washington from the inside, it takes courage, determination, and sincerity, and it's called leadership. >> jennifer: there's that leadership thing they keep talking about. so the president responded to john boehner quickly. take a listen. >> obama: what kind of inside job is he talking about? the job of rubber stamping the top down, you are on your own agenda of this republican congress? because if it is we don't want it. >> joy: later boehner actually

proved the president right. he admitted that the going to stop at nothing to make it impossible for president obama to pass anything to help the country. when asked if a reelection victory for the president would going to have to raise taxes in some way to compromise boehner said -- >> raising taxes according to ernst & young would threaten our economy with the loss of 700,000 jobs. why would i ever be for something like that? i'm not. >> jennifer: why would we ever be for something like compromise? he is never going to work with the president. he is going to rely about private companies for tax-policy advice. isn't that exactly what the president was saying in that remark that he was being criticized for. inside this beltway bubble they have all taken pledges to never

compromise! boehner says just have sworn to never compromise! they are trying to take his words and spin them out of context to hide their own obstruction. for a party that loves to toss around the word leadership, they sure don't know what it means. today paul ryan tried their most reliable strategy against the president, which is deception, and even that doesn't seem to work. he gave his four pinocchio version of the president's plan. at the aarp and god bless those seniors they saw right through him and booed. >> the first step to a stronger medicare is to repeal obamacare. [ booing ] >> because it represents the worst of both worlds. i had a feeling there would be

mixed reactions, so let me get into it. >> jennifer: this is what the president meant he had to go to the people to put pressure on washington, and the people are starting to catch on. they can't sell their policies honestly because nobody likes them. so they distort and obstruct, and americans still don't seem to be buying it. let me ask romney ryan and bane ear couple of questions. can you keep distorting truths that matter about medicare taxes, and our future and expect to get away with it? >> hell know you can't! >> jennifer: truer words were never spoken. up next, i have to tell you, i have been waiting all day for this one.

his job is as simple as it is awesome. just travel around the world with the president and a video camera, and see what happens. >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025, we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪ ♪

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♪ >> jennifer: so this past week was all about mitt romney's unscripted moment caught on video. but what about president obama? it's very rare we see president obama in an unscripted moment. it may be why he has a reputation of being a little bit

aloof. but check out these clips. >> it takes two obamas to make me look good. >> if you want you cancamera. >> high five him. [ applause ] >> who do you want to call? >> my mom. >> leave a message. >> don't trip, whatever you do. >> joy: i just love that. the man who captured these and many other scenes is arun chaudhary. he is the very first white house videographer. he is a new york university film instructor, and he began with then senator obama in 2007. and he is out with a new book chronicling his years with obama it's called "first cameraman: documenting the presidency in

real time." and arun is coming to us tonight from washington, d.c. thanks for joining us inside "the war room." >> great to be here. you are just one of many thousands of people i have filmed and never gotten to speak to. so it is treat for me. >> joy: it is treat for me too. because the clips are awesome. it is very apparent the first family has to have been very comfortable with you around even with a video camera. >> president obama is someone who is very much the same on and off camera. so very even on even in the campaign we were shooting all kinds of interesting backstage stuff, but the real hurdle is how do you release it, and i think his advisors really knew this was a candidate who was himself all the time, and so there was very low risk

involved. >> jennifer: you are probably also extremely charming so that probably help a lot. i want to show you a clip you both like. >> you have a good you might be able to switch [ inaudible ]. oh look at you. look at that hair do. that is some nice hair, brother. you are getting kind of big. huh oh. >> i like them tall. [ laughter ] >> jennifer: why do you and the president like that clip so much? >> you know, i -- i think the president likes it so much because it is one of the first times he directly was like why don't you come along and film something. this is going to be cool.

but it is a great transition moment. this is the iowa caucuses when the first votes in 2008 were cast, so it's the potential of an obama candidacy. and i think it translates on to film. this is the raw not very edited video, but the energy of the room and this horse candidate who has made tens of thousands of speeches is just hoping somebody votes for him. >> jennifer: it's so great. we all forget what it was like back then, which is why it is so important that you kp kp -- captured all of this. what was his reaction when you said you were going to write a book. >> it is likal of his reactions. he is like oh, that sounds

interesting. i would like to read that. so often i talk about when i film people they get nervous, they forget his name their name, they start singing all kinds of stuff. but this time it was me. and i wasn't sure where we were going, and it was fun to feel the anxiety that people feel when they meet the president for the first time. >> jennifer: that is so great. how can people access the videos. is the book mostly pictures? >> if you have the e-edition, it links up. but there is a website firstcameraman.com where you can see tons of stuff. >> jennifer: all right.

why the need for videographer for the first time? >> i think he thought it was part of the mandate which was to record the office of the presidency for all times. a video is sort of what really hand, so now that we have technology to be not so intrusive, i think people thought it was an exciting opportunity to expand the individual know. >> jennifer: especially in this new-age world we're in with media rapidly evolving. tell us there was a time during the bp oil spill that you were asked to turn off the camera. >> that's right. people ask me how often were you told not to shoot? and the answer is twice. and both time were the same thing. the president was there to have a conversation with local

elected officials about how the oil spill was going. and in conclusion, i just want to say something -- and to me that's get the camera up and robert gibbs was kind of like -- ah. and the reason he didn't want me to shoot was because the president had unpleasant things did, and the archives are full of that stuff, but to make sure that these other officials felt free to respond to the president. and i think that's a real trick making sure you are not interfering with him. he is fine. but other people who are trying to conduct their business. >> jennifer: i got it. well arun it is such an interesting concept. i'm sure you will get a lot of people getting that ebook. that's arun chaudhary. and up next mitt romney doesn't

want to make us laugh. comedian will durst on the other

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jennifer speaks truth to power. >>the bottom line is we need an amendment. >>now it's your turn. connect with "the war room" jennifer granholm. >>it's a call to arms. make your voice heard. >> jennifer: it has been a crazy week, so we learned that romney has written often 47% of the country. we learned that he did pay 14% of his 2011 income taxes, but is still only polling at 44%. enough with the numbers, let's have some fun at romney's expense. joining me now is political

satirist, will durst. will's latest ebook "elect to laugh." it just hit the digital shelves. will welcome back inside "the war room." >> it's good to be back. >> jennifer: lots of material for a book like that huh? >> oh, what a week. >> jennifer: mitt romney releases his tax returns today. is that going to end the story. so cliche, the 5:00 pm friday document bump. >> jennifer: it was classic. however, the whole week should have been buried. >> and it was a joke i had been using. things have been going to bad in the romney campaign, i expect he'll release his taxes to help. >> jennifer: that's right. even one of his strongest

supporters, tim pawlenty decides he is going to jump ship and take another job. >> when tim pawlenty the whitest human on the face of the planet, he is beyond caucasian, he is translucent, when he leaves the campaign it is a dark day. >> jennifer: so it's not just us, though. it is the ional at probation against the republican party. the tea party's hold on the republican party is actually being noticed across the word. there was a very interesting sound bite i thought was funny from the australian deputy prime minister. he had this to say. take a listen. >> let's be blunt and acknowledge the biggest threat to the world's biggest economy are the crazies that have taken

over a part of the republican party. >> jennifer: i love it. the australians are saying that the cranks and crazies have taken over part of the republican party, they are talking about the tea party. >> yeah and these are the australians. the drunken spinoff of the and paul ryan got booed today at aarp -- >> aarp. >> it was one of those aaa, and they have all of these numbers come at us. and the problem is when he says

47% -- 58% of us worry that we're part of the 47% that he has written off. [ laughter ] >> jennifer: who knows. these guys have been very aggressive about getting into the entertainment realm. they have doing all of these talk shows. let's a little bit of a sound bite of a few of them. >> how much do you weigh? >> you know, about 180. >> 180 looks good on you. >> thank just about where i am and i don't look so good at 180. >> you look sharp. >> you haven't seen me naked. >> we're going to keep that it way. >> he is good. >> jennifer: he is good. is that sense of humor going to appear in the debates which is coming up? or is it going to be all

serious? >> i think it distinguishes him from romney. romney you see him walk out in the rallies and shaking hands, and you can almost him go icky icky, icky you know he has a 55 gallon drum of hand cleaner on the bus. >> jennifer: i think these debates, in all seriousness, i think the potential could be a game changer. >> he can change the conversation, but i don't think he is any minds. didn't bush lose all three debates to john kerry and people didn't care. >> jennifer: all right. well, we are going to keep coming back it to -- our resident expert and political comedian, will durst. thank you so much for joining us in "the war room," and up next brett ehrlich tuned into fox

news yesterday and immediate immediately blacked out for 20 minutes. he is up next. (vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! [ male announcer ] the inventors of twix had a falling out, so the production of twix was divided between two separate factories. left twix factory cascades caramel and chocolate onto cookie, while right twix factory flows caramel and chocolate onto cookie. today they share nothing but a wrapper and a driveway. try both and pick a side.

>> jennifer: for our mitt moment today we actually wonder what the music word has against this

stiff robotic man and his bumbling campaign? rage against the machine, and twisted sister dee snyder both called out his vp paul ryan. artists like nicki minaj, and lil' wayne have asked them not to use their music. and now pearl jam front man, eddie vedder said a government-paid program his dreams to make music. all right. there have been so many juicy delectable incriminating viral

accounts this week that some have fallen through the cracks. brett has picked them up for your viewing pleasure. shhhh, brett's talking now >> i am so disappointed on you, you have been completely focused on this 47% mitt romney video that you have completely ignored the other videos of conservatives embarrassing themselves. a lot of people find it difficult to multi-task. this week he found way to stand up for the arab protesters while at the same time offending them. easy for you to say geraldo and security of that ridiculous glasses and mustache

disguise. and later. listen to this. >> hello miss -- miss usa it's an honor. >> miss merck -- >> miss universe in my book. >> are you being serious about this interview or not? >> yeah. >> okay. >> that's the most embarrassing beauty queen interview ever. well maybe not ever. >> i believe our education such as in south africa and iraq everywhere like -- such as -- >> i'm done talking now. >> jennifer: someone is always in our "war room," check us out online at current.com/thewarroom. you can check out our exclusive extras. next tuesday is voter registration day, and progressive groups all across the country are going all out to get as many people as registered

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