he wrote the cover story on the obama campaign strategy, that's what we were going to talk about but we have to talk about this. bring us back for this. those covering him in 2004 in those small rooms in iowa and in new hampshire, he was a force to be reckoned with. it was emotional, populism like never heard before, and now here he is facing 30 years he was facing today and he is still free. >> let's not forget if bob had gotten his way in 2000, it would have been gore verses edwards. he was one of the short listers in 2000. >> that ticket might have won. >> it might have. he really made his stamp, put his stamp on his early career for democrats. that sort of is where he became a dc rising star winning that senate seat. so this was a guy on the fast track in the minute he essentially that gore didn't win and he didn't get picked, i think it was two months into president bush's first term that john edwards made his first visit to iowa. he was on the fast tract, and maybe just a week away from momentum in 2004, he could have one the 2004 iowa caucuses. >> go ahead, john heilmann he wa

, 34% president obama. this is three and a half years later. i mean, is it wise, politically, or just they are so locked into their dogma to even surround yourself with advisors who the overwhelming majority of american people feel they're policies cause us to have a weak economy. >> it's interesting because you hear the arguments, and things aren't better and they're blaming him for it. and i think what we're seeing here is this is the difference between being the president and running for president. you have to have policies to push forward. mitt romney can put together any type of platform because what he says doesn't matter. it doesn't influence the american quality. and that's where leadership comes in. it's not about conforming yourself to a doing ma and sticking to it. it's about understanding the environmental context and making decisions based on that and the policies that bush shows he has no context as to where we are right now. >> before people say that i'm embellishing this connection, let me p

i think the tough call now is for the obama administration. for everything that pete said plus these two facts, one, this case was really well tried by the federal prosecutors. robert higdon pr from d.c., dav harbaugh as well. the key issue here was always john edwards to be the first person prosecuted for this so he couldn't have had criminal intent. the federal election commission was not on board with this prosecution, they couldn't find a violation, so the prosecution could have had a better reason for a conviction, they didn't get it. >> all you have to do is show one purpose of giving this money would be to help his campaign, right? >> that's right. and the statute said anything of value given for the purpose of influencing an election will be considered a contribution. she didn't require that finding of this jury. she said it could be for one of many purposes. there was every opportunity for a conviction here. john edwards, the politician, ended his career on the beach. >> you know what's interesting, pete, i don't know whether i can pu

will they run ads and say, barack obama is covering up for a former democratic senator, a former democratic vp nominee and not prosecute him for something he did, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. that's a double-edged sword, and i'm not sure if it plays better for the republicans or the democrats. >> do they each get to keep their secret billion for 2012? they're ready to go, baby. absolutely. we'll take a break. we're back with the panel after this. d gives you a 50% annual bonus. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!" phhht! 50% more cash is good ri... what's that. ♪ you can spell. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? ha ha. ♪ ha ha. ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, a

and then the obama justice department, you know, kept this going because they thought they would pay a political price for developing the charges. so this has been political through and through, and i personally have a problem with political prosecutions, even if it's a type of guy who is cheating on her wife when she had cancer. >> indeed. jonathan, ron christie, thank you so much fofr joining r join. we'll be right back. this olympian's mom has been doing it for years. she's got bounty. in this lab demo, one sheet of new bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. bounty has trap and lock technology to soak up big spills and lock them in. let the spills begin. p&g. proud sponsor of the olympic games. perfect golden color. rich in fiber. my dad taught me, and i taught my son out there. morning, pa. wait... who's driving the...? ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm, 99 bushels of wheat ♪ [ male announcer ] yep, there's 8 filling layers of whole grain fiber in those fun little biscuits... so they stick with you, all morning long. kellogg's® mini

>> i think the timing could not be worse for the obama campaign. despite the tightening of the polls, when you get to the internals, they show that mitt romney is still largely ill defined for many voters. so at a time when the campaign has been trying to craft the narrative first of romney at the helm of bain, and now more recently as the governor of massachusetts, to have the governor of massachusetts say what he said about bain, it creates such an opportunity for the rnc which they're already taking to respond in kind. so i think it is a significant issue. >> what is the problem here? are the surrogates at least in these two cases not believing that the bain attack are worthy? cory booker all but said that. that it was nauseating here. what is the problem? >> i think the problem is that if you watch the campaign reel thus far of out of work employees, of pension funds that appear to have been looted and so forth, the image that it could not injures up is of a very predatory form of capitalism. it was headed by mitt romney and here's deval patric

president obama's criticism of the bush record? remember this. >> i will oppose any effort to return to the same policies that brought on this economic crisis. you hear somebody say we should cut more taxes especially for the wealthiest americans, well, we did that, 2000, 2001, 2003. we tried a lot of these ideas for nearly a decade. it did not work. >> new york city mayor michael bloomberg comes to explain his proposed ban on super sized sugar drinks. we won't offer him a giant soda. beantown showdown, team obama heads to boston to target mitt romney's massachusetts record as a new poll shows the campaigns are deadlocked in three key states. where will romney show up today? i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. more evidence today that the presidential election is a barn burner deadlocked. our new poll out today shows that the race is tied in three of the most important battleground states, nevada, colorado and iowa. chris is a contributor. iowa shows 44-44. this is a tie. only 10% undecided. >> you know, what's amazing is that

bush knows that what obama is doing is campaigning. and obama i think recognizes he's in the white house because of president bush. he's in the white house because he could run against a president bush two-term economic policy and foreign policy. so i think these guys are both statesmen, above this kind of stuff and they are going to kick back and have a nice time. >> patty, you are a campaign strategist extraordinare. i want to talk about the president in addition to the talking about the failed policies of president bush, a new peg shall we say in this presidential re-election bid, mitt romney's record as governor of massachusetts. david axelrod or the team obama put up a five-page memo describing in detail how bad mitt romney's record was as he served as governor of massachusetts and a few moments ago david axelrod was standing on the steps of the state capitol in massachusetts. let's listen to what he was saying about that time. >> the message massachusetts seems to be sending as they listen to romney reprice his familiar pitch is

bush, and president obama walk into a room. this is not the beginning of a joke, but something that is happening right at this very moment. our 43rd president is at the white house for the unveiling of his oil portrait, and a luncheon hosted by our 44th president. our 41st president presumably tries to mediate the awkwardness of this moment with his best dan quayle jokes? it's thursday, may 31st, and this is "now." >>> joining me today is david corn of mother jones, new york daily news columnist s.e. cupp, mort zuckerman, and the publisher of the new york daily news and se cupp's boss, and former senior adviser to the obama/biden 2008 campaign, patty doyle. when you are bad mouthing someone for months what do you

obama himself. i want do again, about wanting to have another drawing for a dinner with the president. topping the list is gifford's detail after the president came out in support of same-sex marriage. i'm just so happy. let's ring you up. mary? what are you doing here? it's megan. i'm getting new insurance. marjorie, you've had a policy with us for three years. it's been five years. five years. well, progressive gives megan discounts that you guys didn't. paperless, safe driver, and i get great service. meredith, what's shakin', bacon? they'll figure it out. getting you the discounts you deserve. now, that's progressive. call or click today. and on small business saturday bothey remind a nations of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement... and main street found its might again. and main street found its fight again. and we, the locals, found delight again. that's the power of all of us. that's the power of all of us. that's the membership effect of amer

obama's wars basically. a follow-up to his book on bush. >> good stuff. >> i want to hail the great work my colleagues are doing on rick scott in florida punching all those voters from the voter rolls. they're doing great work. >> i'm going to take a look at that story. >> a great piece in this morning's "washington post" about romney's record on judges in massachusetts, really good insight into his instincts, which were to sort of depo lit size the process. >> don't forget the judicial process is a little more politicized. >> and the reality, which was not politicized. >> very interesting. thank you all. that's it for this edition of the daily rundown. >>> tomorrow we'll have the break down of the jobs on the may report. coming up next on msnbc, chris jansing. we'll see you again. don't forget, andrea mitchell. she's got afternoon interview with mr. super size it himself, michael bloomberg against those large cokes. we'll be right back. >>> time to look at your business traveler's forecast. i'm meteorologis

the toughest profile you can find that "the new york times" did of barack obama and michelle obama. it's not a close call. one other thing that mika always brings up, just it all comes down to numbers. look at the numbers that the major media outlets sent of reporters to alaska versus chicago. for the guy at the top of the ticket, who was in rod blagojevich's kitchen cabinet in 2002. compare those numbers. >> sarah palin was just -- come on. >> this has been going on forever. >> the media is bias, just like fox yesterday ran a four-minute anti-obama video. yes, the media is biassed on both sides. >> you have one cable outlet against "the new york times," "the washington post," and -- >> which reaches more people than either of those papers. >> come on. come on. in terms of influence, nobody compares to "the new york times." >> just for the record, and mike may know, alex, we could look, maybe i can, i think "the new york times" has had a number of really positive mitt romney front page stories in the past two weeks. one about his religion. and his moral compass. i'm just saying, we

president obama and mitt romney in a tie in colorado, iowa and nevada. the economy remains most important issue with 70% saying it will decide their vote for president. when asked which candidate would do a better job at handling the economy, iowans give mitt romney a slight edge. in colorado and nevada, it's a tie. despite the country's financial struggles, there are encouraging numbers for the president. the majority of voters believe the worst of the tough economy is behind us according to the nbc poll. while roughly four in ten think there are bigger problems ahead. more than half of the voters polled say inherited conditions are to blame rather than the president's own policies. >>> meanwhile, mitt romney is out in california today, continuing his west coast fundraising push. in an interview yesterday, the republican nominee said just because he's rich, doesn't mean he cannot connect with americans. >> there will be people, and you know this already, who will look at you as just a successful rich guy. >> like fdr and john f. kennedy. there have been

he's running neck and neck in at least three battleground states, won in 2008 by barack obama. the question is can romney steal enough of those many, many swing states from the president to win the election? and rajon rondo goes nuts in the game two of the eastern conference finals. hanging 44 points on the heat.

obama was, in fact, born in the united states. whether he is, in fact, qualified to be president of the united states. before last night's event in las vegas, the romney campaign promised their candidate would speak up if donald trump raised the birtherism issue at that event right in front of mitt romney where he could see him do it. instead, it was mitt romney who brought up the issue of constitutional requirements for being president in the form of a business resume, suggesting that president obama isn't qualified with or ought to be constitutionally precluded from holding the office. donald trump, in fact, saved the the birther part, not for the fund-raiser, but for his interview on fox later that night. >> what would it take to convince you otherwise? i know that you're -- are you convinced he wasn't born here or are you suspicious? >> well, i think that it's more likely that he wasn't born here, but i would also say that if you look at his college records, they may have some good information on his college record that would

obama for america and the dnc, but the main man they want to see is president obama. they want him on that line, because he talked about being on that line with them back in 2007. and now it's all on the line for people who had done it for him and delivered that state back when he needed it. this is about winning. maybe i'm just too much of a jock strap. maybe i like the fight too much. i'm not the perfect political calculator here, but i do listen to the people. and the job of a leader is to motivate, motivate, motivate. it's like business. when you're a manager, what's your job? your job is to get people to do somethings they might not want to do. there might be a few folks out there in wisconsin who aren't sure seeing all of this money being spent on tv, but if president obama shows up and if president obama says, i need you to do this, because this is just the tip of the iceberg, with i'm there for the middle class, i'm there for you, i think it will have a huge impact. and if walker wins, it's just a greater signal about how much we have to do in november. it's a

there would be no barack obama. and we must never forget that. >> one of the heros he mentioned is my next guest. john lewis, he authored a great new book, "across that bridge" welcome, congressman. i want to quote something from your book about the voting rights act. you argue that is why it is very important to remain engaged especially when it is ag gaiting the vote is the most powerful thing we have for change. one vote will not make all of the change that is necessary. it needs persistent action. speak now to the young people and the older peer welcome why is this an issue of voting rights and what you achieved back in '65 important today. >> thank you for having me. i really truly believe in my heart and my gut that the vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society. and we must use it or lose it. it doesn't mat for you're low income, middle income, or a billionaire, we all have one vote. and every single vote must be counted. so it's important that people go out and register, and vo

to protect obama. and there you just saw newt gingrich's tortured rhetorical device, to protect the southern strategy. to protect the vile race based antics of the national embarrassment called donald trump. to protect mitt romney from charges of prowling around with an incoherent racial racketeer. of course, no one need ask where a member of congress was born because it doesn't matter. we've had many members of congress foreign born, not natural born citizens, because there are only two elective positions in the country that requires the office holder to be, quote, a natural born citizen. president and vice president. and historian newt gingrich knows that. he knows that his reference to african-american congressmen is still institutionally irrelevant to the racist messaging about the president's birth certificate that the republicans and mitt romney have outsourced to a bloviating ignoramus. they have decided that to win this election they need someone to cell the hatred that donald trump sells, but

to protect obama. he was, of course, a democrat is is pushing the civil rights act and voting rights act is what inspired the rath of southern voters against the democratic party. and there you just saw newt gingrich's tortured rhetorical device, to protect the southern strategy. to protect the vile race based antics of the national embarrassment called donald trump. to protect mitt romney from charges of prowling around with an incoherent racial racketeer. of course, no one need ask where a member of congress was born because it doesn't matter. we've had many members of kwong foreign born, not natural born citizens, because there are only two elective positions in the country that requires the office ho holder to be, quote, a natural born citizen. president and vice president. and historian newt gingrich knows that. he knows that his reference to african-american congressmen is still institutionally irrelevant to the racist messaging about the president's birth sft that the republicans and mitt romney

there would be no barack obama. and we must never forget that. >> one of the heros he mentioned is my next guest. john lewis, he authored a great new book, "across that bridge" welcome, congressman. i want to quote something from your book about the voting rights act. you argue that is why it is very important to remain engaged especially when it is ag vot is thing we have for change. one vote will not make all of the change that is necessary. it needs per ses tent action. speak now to the young people and the older peer welcome why is this an issue of voting rights and what you achieved back in '65 important today. >> thank you for having me. i really truly believe in my heart and my gut that the vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society. and we must use it or lose it. it doesn't mat for you're low income, middle income, or a billionaire, we all have one vote. and every single vote must be counted. so it's important that people go out and register, and vote like they never voted befo

he says that obama is not really a true american, he's not one of us. so he plays footsy with the notion that he is not truly american. i can't think of a better contrast. yesterday, the president of the united states who is he hanging out with? john glenn, pat summit, and what was mitt romney doing? hanging out with trump. i think joan was right with that visual of the big trump airplane, you expect him to put trump on the white house if he wins. >> you're so right, another parole of wisdom, the fact that trump is the godfather of birtherism now, but he has now romney as an accolade saying that president obama is an anchor baby. but really he isn't one of us. here is chuck todd asking mitt romney's campaign spokesperson andrea shaw about trump overshadowing romney yesterday. >> any regrets by the campaign of spending the day you clinch the nomination with donald trump? >> look, donald trump is a supporter. you know, governor romney midit clear they disagree on some issues. governor romney says he believes the president was born in the united states. he

she worked with president obama's campaign to talk about that experience. thanks for being here tonight. >> thank you so much for having me. >> cindy, tell us what happened when bain announced they were closing the miami plants. >> well, initially when we heard they were closing the miami plant we were shocked. we were told that the dade east plant was the most profitable in the company. when we closed puerto rico and moved them to miami, we gave them, not guarantees, but assurances that the miami plant was safe. we asked specifically when they were considering coming over, any considerations or discussions of this plant in miami closing and we were were told absolutely not. it was incomprehensible to me that 60 days or so after the people moved from puerto rico, it was announced they were closing the miami plant as well. >> you were totally taken by surprise then. so you said having to fire people at said behring was one of the worst times you ever felt that you had to do something and it was unethical, tell me more about that. well, i have been involved i

there would be no barack obama. and we must never forget that. >> one of the heros that attorney general is my nech guest, an icon of the civil rights movement. author of a bright new book "across that bridge. life lessons and and the for change." that is why it is very important to remain engaged especially when it is aggravating the vote is the post powerful nonviolent tool we have to make change in a democratic society but one vote will not make the all of the change that is necessary. change requires patient persistent action. what about the voting rights in '65 important today? >> chris, thank you so much for having me. i truly believe, i really do, in my heart, in my gut, that the vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society. and we must use it. we must use it or we will lose it. it doesn't matter whether you are low income, middle income or billionaire, we all have one vote. and every single vote must be counted. so it is important that people go out, register, and vote like you n

what happened when that woman said that barack obama should be put on trial for treason? nothing again. and his whole career, was there a point when he said up and did something difficult, distanced hill self from an ally, took a stand that might not be possible -- >> maybe his motive is not to be courageous. maybe he doesn't want to be like john mccain was last time around when the issue of ethnicity came up and playing the reverend wright number. maybe he want to be a seen as a guy who does go down with the right as far as he can go. maybe he want us to be doing what we are doing, saying he is so far right he is hanging out with birthers. maybe that's makes him beloved by the birthers. >> he knows that name of the game for the next five months is convincing the independentes wh he ailated by making love to conservatives o or trying to during primary answers bring him

even president obama called to cannot grat late the man. texas primaries pushing him over the magic number, 1,444 delegates for mitt romney. he will officially accept the party's nomination this summer in tampa. i'm sure it'll be exciting. a look back at his campaign thus far. from our about g buddy and friend, kenny rogers. ♪ through the years ♪ ♪ you never let me down ♪ you turned my life around ♪ the sweetest days i've found, i've found with you ♪ ♪ through the years >> i'm mitt romney. i believe in america, and i'm running for president of the united states. >> i should also tell my story. i'm also unemployed. >> corporations of people, my friend. >> i love to be able to fire people who provide a service to me. >> for mitt romney, turns out he didn't win the iowa caucuses thanks to miscount. >> i drive a mustang and chevy pickup truck. ann drivees a couple of cadillacs. >> feels good being in michigan. the trees are the right height. >> oh, beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain ♪ >> ♪ through the years

the difrs between him and obama on energy policy is not very strong. obama has authorized record number of rigs and he has noing to say on education. these three e's are about as empty as the pledge to disagree with the birther movement. nothing there. >> julian, professor dyson, s.e., stay with us. next, why is the sunshine state in the midst of a purge that even joseph stalin would admire? stay with us. >> we recognize the department of highway safety had information about non-citizens that we could use to compare to our roles and if we verify that we had non-citizens on our roles, to remove them. >> voted for the last almost 15 years, really don't understand it. to me it is like an insult. i was teaching a martial arts class and having a heart attack. my brother doesn't look like a heart attack patient. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter and now i don't have that fear. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have

why doesn't barack obama talk about education? why doesn't you talk about the things he has done with race to the top, et cetera, et cetera, and remind mothers, soccer moms, and soccer dads exactly what he has done and what he will continue to do and then by november, let me jump back. by september when we get to the debates he can go one-on-one with mitt romney and talk about his record and mitt romney's record. >> let me clearly understand you, then. do you believe just from the timeline of months you gave there that these so-called attacks are coming too early? >> i am not sure they're coming too early. i just don't think they're not being paired with a positive message. all we're talking about now is whether or not obama has gone negative. i want to talk about what the obama positive message is. you can walk and can chew gum at the same time. a campaign can issue ads that say this guy is bad, i am good, and here is why i am good and all right now everyone is talking about is donald trump and mitt romney and whether barack obam

why doesn't barack obama talk about education? why doesn't you talk about the things he has done with race to the top, et cetera, et cetera, and remind mothers, soccer moms, and soccer dads exactly what he has done and what he will

he was endorsed by president obama. nancy pelosi favorite who placed him in that will intelligence chair over the more qualified jane harman on the intelligence committee and much more senior jane harman at the time. and also bill clinton campaigned for him but he lost. >> yeah, and you know, andrea i think the most important thing to do, this is a year after redistricting. these districts in texas and everywhere else are not the districts these people have run in in the past. including mr. reyes. some of what you're getting is a new district. total 43,000 people voted. whef you have a tiny turnout like that, strange things or surprising things can and do happen. very quickly about ted cruz versus david dewhurst. the runoff isn't till july. look for this as a chance for the tea party to score against the establishment like they did in indiana against dick lugar. >> wasn't sarah palin on ted cruz's side in that campaign? >> she was indeed and jim demint and the club for growth. >> another victory for sarah palin in this

davies. >>> in 2008, president obama ran on hope and change. now it appears that his message is morphing into one perhaps of fear. in his new york magazine cover story this week called "hope the equal," john heilemann writes that obama will soon emerge as a "brass knuckled pipe hitting red in tooth and claw brawler, will do what he can to keep mitt romney from winning this fall." a great piece of writing. >> the important appendage to that comment was dash a politician in other words. which is to say just like both sides, no more or less so than anybody else who ran for president, very serious about winning. >> different from the last time he ran for president. >> true. look, there's a bunch of things going on in the story, but one of them is, and this is not something that the president's people -- i spent a month talking to every senior person at the campaign, every senior person at the white house. no one is disputing the premise of the story. they were very open about it. when i read these interviews, the sheer weight of the amount of time

the election is obama's to lose. the reason they are tied is because many americans are dissatisfied with the president's handling of the economy and jobs. while we may point out the weaknesses of mitt romney he does not have it to lose. it is president obama. we go into a presidential election. >> as the incumbent. our power panel for today. thank you to all three of you. now that mitt romney has clinched the delegates needed to seal the nomination what is on the checklist. peter alexander joins me to talk about the calendar. it is official. what is next? >> a good question. a lot of the conversation today is about what happened in vegas last night with donald trump. the campaign would tell you there are priorities right now. we will put some on the screen. one of the priorities right now is what beth myers is doing which is vetting price presidential possibilities. most significantly perhaps is fundraising. that is why the romney campaign has made it clear though they didn't want trump to get out of hand in the way

the real message here from trump is that barack obama is not like you and me. he is not a real american. he has a strange look to himself. he has a strange name, etc. so he can't really be a real mar american. that is the real name to the birth certificate ploy. donald trump doesn't care. his tv ratings go up the more exposure he has. he doesn't help mitt romney. a lot of people are questioning his judgment as people questioned john mccain's judgment when sarah palin chose not to be running back. >> headlining is time for romney to fire trump. make your case. >> i just think i hope clarence is right that it's not going to do much for him. i agree with him that trump doesn't care. all trump cares about is getting attention. i call him an attention0 phile. he is tapping into the worse of a republican base that is not as enthusiastic about mitt romney. donald trump makes it look like he walks down the park avenue and people are screaming at him like go donald. he is appealing to the sliver of the republican base and it probably goes beyond the republican base that

to taunt the obama campaign. he twitted, barack obama is practically begging mitt romney to disavow the birth certificate crowd. mccain lost the election, don't let it happen again. the obama campaign gleefully fired off a statement, quote, if mitt romney lacks the backbone to stand up to a charlatan like donald trump because he's so concerned about lining his campaign's pockets, what does that say about the kind of president he would be? this trump fiasco was entirely preventable, you could have seen it happening from miles away and in the end it was newt gingrich of all people that ended up having to clean up the romney campaign's mess. >> governor romney's not distracted. the republican party's not distracted. we believe that this is an american-born, job-killing president. other people may believe that he's born somewhere else and still kills jobs. but that's an argument over background. >> we'll be talking with both the romney and obama campaigns in a few minutes. >>> and finally the ad wars. this week team

the two presidents that saved capitalism were roosevelt and obama. that's really what you're saying. >> well, you know what would actually help him even more if if he linked himself to george w. bush and said, i didn't like him politically. but i worked with him. and i worked with him because, you know what, saving america's economy was bigger than partisan differences. and i know that the president's base would hate that. but independents, swing voters, would stop and they would look at that just like they looked at 41 and bill clinton working together on tsunami relief and go, oh, we have some grownups out there in washington. they still make grownups out there in washington, d.c. it would bring swing voters over, and you embrace the bank bailout, and you dare mitt romney, you dare mitt romney -- all these people on wall street that are supporting mitt romney right now, you dare mitt romney to say that he would have let the banks fail. i know like near liberty ea-- libertarians would celebrate that. >> go ahead, richard. >> two things. that would f

and looks to the general election against president obama on november the 6th. we asked you at the top of the show what you could possibly be doing up at this hour. our producer, john tower has answers. what have you got? >> twitter response, he writes simply, way too purple with willie geist. >> there's a lot of critique on twitter, folks, i can't hold you hand and walk you through the

in las vegas last night he slammed president obama. >> he's been a big disappointment, hasn't he? sometimes i don't think he understand what is it takes to help people. >> reporter: analysts say romney is testing his message to undecided voters. >> independent voters aren't making up their minds right now. we've seen in past campaigns, they make up their minds very late. >> reporter: in las vegas, romney teamed up with donald trump who told supporters that the u.s. is borrowing too much money from china. they looked at us, they laughed at us, they think we're stupid. >> reporter: romney is taking heat for associating with trump, who is questioning whether president obama was born in the u.s. the obama campaign called trump a charletan and said romney shows a lack of moral leadership by not telling trump to knock it off. >> far be it from me to suggest to the donald what he should do. >> reporter: romney has released his own michigan birth certificate to "reuters," after birthers suggested he was born in mexico. it turns out his dad was born in mexico. but romney's birth certificat

he's like obama. >> he's like obama. mitt romney, according to sheldon adelson is like obama and he doesn't mean it in a good way. he says he has another $75 million he would like to donate, but he's been lukewarm on mitt romney today. today was a big deal for mitt romney. his one-on-one meeting with sheldon adelson. if he could be charming, it would result in large mitt romney payday. that very important meeting, that very important prospect was overshadowed by other mitt romney news. the other rich guy that romney met with in las vegas today. picture is worth a thousands words, right? the second major las vegas event that mitt romney is doing today, on the day he clinches the republican nomination is this fund-raiser with a man named donald trump. donald trump who mitt romney has made a centerpiece of his campaign. less than a year ago donald trump was considering a run for president. he was campaigning for the job largely by alleging the president of the united states was not really the president of the united states.

you've not seen president obama appearing with bill maher. i love the way the right tries to do the on the right hand, on the one hand. mitt romney is putting his brand on the line to stand next to donald trump. donald trump hosts a reality show. there's nothing about him that is serious that a politician should want to stand anywhere. >> president obama appeared with sean penn and lady gaga. >> last time i checked sean penn was doing charity in haiti. >> he's questioned president bush's involvement. >> sorry. michael, that's a completely false equivalency. >> jim, let me get you in here. does this turn off the page independent voters? >> the thing i have a problem with is not only will mitt romney not stand up to donald trump, but he wouldn't stand up to rush limbaugh when he made those disgraceful comments about sandra fluke which was a insult to every woman. >> this is pattern? >> he's got to stand up and lead. i think that includes rejecting this kind of stuff whether it's the birther stuff or the anti-women stuff. the ad that was going t

a publisher came out last week and had a statement about obama given to them by obama when he was doing a book as a young man a number of years ago in the 90s, born in kenya, and raised in indonesia. i mean, this was -- this is from obama. now amazingly the publisher oh, we made a mistake. i don't think life works that way now. is it the most important thing? in a way it is, because you're not allowed to be president if you're not born in the country. but let's see what happens. i'm not painting flames. this is something that came out last week. a lot of people are questioning his birth certificate. they are questioning the authenticity of his birth certificate. i have been known as being a very smart guy for a long time. i don't consider myself birther or not birther but there are major questions here and the press doesn't want it cover it. >> just to correct, mr. trump on his fact, the literary insisting he spoke about who wrote that copy pch he said it was a mistake but that barack obama never gave the publisher any material or background that would imply he was from kenya. so so muc

michelle obama was there today. let's take a look at michelle obama on "the view" today. >> in an interview just recently you said, and i quote, that you are sometimes unsure if you are a classic first lady and if the things you do are okay. why do you feel this way and who is your idea of a classic first lady? >> i have never seen a first lady hula hoop on the south lawn, jump double dutch. >> you mean mrs. kennedy never did that? >> you said yourself maybe i've gone too far. >> it's not doubts, it's just really wondering, not too many people have done what i've done. >> i think we know what michelle obama is up to and what politics is up to in general and people like the first lady go on those kind of shows, they want to appeal to the voter who's not going to pay that much attention to this kind of political tv, but is checking in with your tv, with barbara's tv there with "the view" that kind of television, that's where to find that voter now who's not going to concentrate until you get down to october, right? >>

he's like obama. >> he's like obama. mitt romney, according to sheldon adelson is like obama and he doesn't mean it in a good way. he says he has another $75 million he would like to donate, but he's been lukewarm on mitt romney today. today was a big deal for mitt romney. his one-on-one meeting with sheldon adelson. if he could be charming, it would result in large mitt romney payday. that very important meeting, that very important prospect was overshadowed by other mitt romney news. the other rich guy that romney met with in las vegas today. picture is worth a thousands words, right? the second major las vegas event that mitt romney is doing today, on the day he clinches the republican nomination is this fund-raiser with a man named donald trump. donald trump who mitt romney has ma c campaign. less than a year ago donald trump was considering a run for president. he was campaigning for the job largely by alleging the president of the united states was not really the president of the united states. he intimated that pr