this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts now. >> i was hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening because he'll laugh at anything. >> it's been four years since i was last at the al smith dinner. i have to admit some things have changed since then. first, some people say, barack, you're not as young as you're used to be. where's that golden smile, that pep in your step? i say settle down, joe, i'm trying to are a cabinet meeting. >> president obama and mitt romney play nice in new york last night pivoting from a scrappy debate on tuesday to poke fun at one another and at joe biden during an annual charity dinner. the question is can we assume that's the last time these two candidates will be sharing any laughs? one of the suspected ring leaders on the attack on the u.s. consulate is found to be living freely in benghazi where he is openly mocking president obama's threats to bring killers of four americans to justice. the question is, what are we going to do about i

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts now. >> i was hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening because he'll laugh at anything. >> it's been four years since i was last at the al smith dinner. i have to admit some things have changed since then. first, some people say, barack, you're not as young as you're used to be. where's that golden smile, that pep in your step? i say settle down, joe, i'm trying to are a cabinet meeting. >> president obama and mitt romney play nice in new york last night pivoting from a scrappy debate on tuesday to poke fun at one another and at joe biden during an annual charity dinner. the question is can we assume that's the last time these two candidates will be sharing any laughs? one of the suspected ring leaders

you are watching "first look" on msnbc. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again. >>> here is what people are talking about. tonight was the first presidential debate between barack obama and romney. it was the obama's 20th wedding anniversary. weird during the debate when obama promised to balance the budget, cut taxes and be home by 10:00 for cuddling time. romney made a stop at chipotle. to

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" is next. >>> a 21-year-old man pulls up to the federal reserve bank in new york with a van packed with what he thinks is a 1,000-pound bomb. only to find out as he pressed the dummy detonator he's been set up by the fbi. the question is, who is this guy? >>> a day after their second debate president obama and mitt romney out on the trail with the obama campaign getting an awful lot of mileage out of those binders full of women with election day less than three weeks away, the question is, what will turn this race in florida, virginia and ohio? >>> the yankees were rained out in the alcs but there are not a-rod headlines to fill the papers front to back. the question is, is he on his way out of town? it's "way too early" for this. good morning. i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show ben benched before last night's game. i'm glad you're up with us watching or listening on sirius xm radio. e-mail at waytooearly @msnbc.com or text the word awake followed by

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" is next. >>> a 21-year-old man pulls up to the federal reserve bank in new york with a van packed with what he thinks is a 1,000-pound bomb. only to find out as he pressed the dummy detonator he's been set up by the fbi. the question is, who is this guy? >>> a day after their second debate president obama and mitt romney out on the trail with the obama campaign getting an awful lot of mileage out of those binders full of women with election day less than three weeks away, the question is, what will turn this race in florida, virginia and ohio? >>> the yankees were rained out in the alcs but there are not a-rod headlines to fill the papers front to back. the question is, is he on his way out of town? it's "way too early" for this.

here on our msnbc headquarters in new york. i'm joined by ed schultz, reverend al sharpton, chris hayes, steve schmidt. lawrence o'donnell is our man in the spin room tonight. the one and only chris matthews is at centre college in danville, kentucky, the site of tonight's debate. chris, is this unusually high stakes for a vice presidential debate? >> well, it's great being with you, again, rachel, and everyone else tonight at msnbc. look, it's great. it's great in its importance because of what happened last week. the frustration from the democratic base, i expressed it a acceleratisimilar version of the frustration of the failure of the president to bring out all this issues that his paid advertising, speeches have made all year but for some reason he didn't bring up. the most powerful issues. i'm going to one through four or five. by one word. you know the one word. vouchers. the way paul ryan wants to deal with health care which won't work for medicare. personhood. the way he wants to basically in effect criminalize, turn i

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you're watching "first look" on msnbc. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events, more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with the citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] [ male announcer ] w do you turn an entrepreneur's dream... ♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ how do you help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup was

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. >>> less than 36 hours after wednesday night's debate, we'll get the september jobs numbers in a few hours now. this has president obama hits the campaign trail correcting the record mitt romney presented on the stage in denver. with the combination of that first debate and the jobs number, will mitt romney be boosted? >>> a full 23 days now after the attack on the american consulate in libya that killed four americans, including the u.s. ambassador. the fbi finally arrives on site to investigate. the question is, three weeks later, is there anything left to investigate? >>> and bobby valentine is out in boston after just one

thank you for watching it here with us at msnbc. i'm rachel maddow, at msnbc headquarters along with al schultz and al sharpton and chris hayes. we'll be joined by our friend, lawrence mcdonnell, who's reporting from the very overcrowded spin room at hofstra. both campaigns putting literally dozens of surrogates out tonight to spin each candidate's performance. we'll be joined by chuck todd for poll analysis tonight. we'll be joined by ezra klein for policy analysis. and from hempstead, long island, at the site of the debate, it is right now the one and only chris matthews. chris, has another incumbent president had stakes this high in a second debate? >> rachel, no. and the reason is so deep into the soul of president obama himself. what's missing in the obama campaign right now is not a couple of points on the scoreboard or the polling or even a couple of states that are getting tricky right now, it's a spiritual loss. this campaign, the obama camp needs a spiritual revival, and only one man can bring it. it needs to see the leade

this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> heading into tonight's third and final presidential debate, our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows election night could be a cliff-hanger with the candidates now dead even. chuck todd breaks down the numbers. >> reporter: the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows the candidates in a 47-47 tie among likely voters. in mid september, the president led 50-45. the numbers show an evenly divided country overall. the president's job approval holding steady at 49%. economic approval down at 46%. foreign policy approval at 49%. the poll also shows a clear enthusiasm gap. the president has a 49-44 lead among all registered voters, but that 47-47 tie among likelies, it means republicans are more enthusiastic and more likely to vote. the biggest red flag for obama, 62% say they want major changes if he's re-elected. romney's biggest red flag, by 44-43, he is still personally viewed more negatively than positively. >> that was nbc's chuck todd reporting there. after a violen

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. >>> less than 36 hours after wednesday night's debate, we'll get the september jobs numbers in a few hours now. this has president obama hits the campaign trail correcting the record mitt romney presented on the stage in denver. with the combination of that first debate and the jobs number, will mitt romney be boosted? >>> a full 23 days now after the attack on the american consulate in libya that killed four americans, including the u.s. ambassador. the fbi finally arrives on site to investigate. the question is, three weeks later, is there anything left to investigate? >>> and bobby valentine is out in boston after just one miserable season. the question is, is the manager really the problem

is msnbc, the place for politics. we are just one month until election day, november 6th, and just five days until the vice presidential debate. coming up, we'll take a look at what the number twos are doing to prepare for that. and will the new lower unemployment number usher the president into a second term? we'll talk to the obama campaign's vice chair, jan schakowsky. >>> topping our political headlines, mitt romney is out with a new podcast this afternoon, in which he attacks president obama over his debate performance. >> president obama could not defend his record. he offered no new ideas for how to fix the economy. i welcome the chance to share my vision for renewed prosperity and opportunity and i think it compared quite favorably to president obama's policy for big, trickle-down government. >> this past hour, mitt romney's son, josh, met with reporters in the swing state of virginia. it's part of a day-long effort the campaign is calling super saturday, with volunteers going door to door in battleground stat

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist is next. >>> tonight's the night, president obama, mitt romney will stand together on the same stage for the first time in this long campaign as they debate in denver. the question is, can either candidate move the meter with a big piece of the country tuning in or are we asking too much of a single debate? we'll find out tonight. >>> a battle of dualing videos from the vault. president obama in 2007 telling an audience of african-american ministers that the federal government didn't care as much about katrina victims than it does other disasters. and paul ryan declaring that 70% of the americans want the american dream. the others want the welfare state. the question is do either of these impact the way voters view these two men? >>> and some

this is msnbc. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy you're not just looking for a by house. eyes you're looking for a place for your life to happen. i'm done! [ chuckles ] sweet [ female announcer ] swiffer's wet mopping cloths can clean better than mops in half the time swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. >>> just yesterday, a u.s. appeals judge has ordered that early voting can continue in ohio. that is a key key victory for democrats in the battleground state where republican lawmakers had moved to limit the number of voters eligible to cast their ballots ahead of the november election. the ruling follows a number of other

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist is next. >>> tonight's the night, president obama, mitt romney will stand together on the same stage for the first time in this long campaign as they debate in denver. the question is, can either candidate move the meter with a big piece of the country tuning in or are we asking too much of a single debate? we'll find out tonight. >>> a battle of dualing videos from the vault. president obama in 2007 telling an audience of african-american ministers that the federal government didn't care as much about katrina victims than it does other disasters. and paul ryan declaring that 70% of the americans want the american dream. the others want the welfare state. the question is do either of these impact the way voter

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tune. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. >>> tonight is the night. president obama, mitt romney, on stage together again for their second debate. the question is, what's the president's strategy this go-round? and will a night on long island have the impact a night a couple weeks ago in denver did? we'll talk live in a minute to mark halperin. >>> four years after fighting barack obama in a presidential campaign, hillary clinton sent out in a round of interviews to take responsibility for the events last month at the consulate in benghazi, libya. does the white house think this will slow the barrage of

this is msnbc, the place for politics. hi, i'm phil mickelson. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persist

this is msnbc. >>> the attack in libya that killed ambassador stevens and three other americans is quickly moving to the forefront. the obama administration under fire for contradictions in the aftermath and questions about who knew what and when. the topic dominated much of thursday night's vice-presidential debate and it's continuing today. romney camp continuing push hard on it. >> when the prp vice president the united states directly contradicts the testimony, sworn testimony of state department officials, american citizens have a right to know just what's going on. and we're going to find out. >> that was governor romney yesterday in richmond, virginia. how much of an impact will this issue have on the president's standing with regard to foreign policy. he's a surrogate for the obama cam paper. do appreciate you spending part of your afternoon with us, sir. >> great being back on here, buddy. >> a lot of con nutrition, a lot of second-guessing about what happened in benghazi. here's what repub

this is msnbc. then don't miss sleep train's wbest rest event.st ever? you'll find sleep train's very best mattresses at the guaranteed lowest price. plus, pay no interest for 3 years on beautyrest black, stearns & foster, serta icomfort, even tempur-pedic. and rest even better with sleep train's risk-free 100-day money back guarantee. get your best rest ever from sleep train. superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>> the attack in libya that killed ambassador stevens and three other americans is quickly moving to the forefront. the obama administration under fire for contradictions in the aftermath and questions about who knew what and when. the topic dominated much of thursday night's vice-presidential debate and it's continuing today. romney camp continuing push hard on it. >> when the prp vice president the united states directly contradicts the testimony, sworn testimony of state department officials, american c

to work for called msnbc. his name is thomas roberts. and he was on last september 23rd to comment on the previous night's gop debate. and when i think about msnbc, i actually think of how many people work on each of their shows, and i think there are more staffers working for the shows than there are people watching the shows. and nevertheless, mr. roberts takes it away. >> i get out of all these things that many of these candidates would rather take legislation to build a time machine and go back in time to where we had, you know, no women voting, slavery was cool. i mean, it's just kind of -- >> well -- >> in other words, republicans aring to la diets, liberals are so perpetually better informed. tom roberts. our third and final nominee for the 2012 dishonors knuckle dragger awards is and, well, how can it not be -- [laughter] yeah. i don't know about you, but when i'm watching chris matthews, i feel like i have to reach for the baby wipes. laugh after -- [laughter] i happen to have a child who's till in di

eastern right here on msnbc. we'll be right back. port, illin reporting at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. we'll be right back. port, illin reporting at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. we'll be right back. ort, illino reporting at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. we'll be right back. port, illin reporting at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. we'll be right back. uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedheal

msnbc. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. (blowing sound) ask your doctor about spiriva. >>> some of the stories making news this morning, from new york staten island, officers made a dramatic rooftop rescue. members of the scuba unit were annual to lower a basket to the roof and they rescued five adults and one child. the chopper helicopter 23 was named after the 23 new york city police officer ons killed on 9/11 just an amazing job right there. here is important medical research when the nyu medical center in new york was evacuated during hurricane sandy because of a power failure. thousands of research mice also perished. >>> a man whose twitter handle is @comfortably smug is apologizing for tweets during sandy including one saying the new york stock exchange was underwater. he has resigned from the campaign of a house candidate in new york. >>> south dakota executed donald moeller for the 1990 rape of a 9-year-old little girl. it was the second execution in a state that executed only two other people since 1913. >>> polic

i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> joe biden and paul ryan went head-to-head in their only face-off. they clashed on almost two issues. who won? two polls gave two different views. one showed ryan 48% to 44% ahead. cbs news' flash poll gave biden the win with 50% compared to 31% for ryan and 19% called the debate a tie. for a look at some of the highlights, we go to steve handelsman at the debate sight in danville, kentucky. good morning. >> reporter: good morning from danville, kentucky where they differ sharply on practically all the big issues. these are smart, well informed politicians. paul rye yand and joe biden had reason to feel good last night. a long time democratic insider versus a republican young gun whose ticket has new momentum. mitt romney was watching, barack obama, too. the moderator from abc. they tangled on iran. >> they are closer to a nuclear weapon. >> we will not allow the iranians to get a nuclear weapon. you gonna go to war? is that what you want to do now? >> we want to prevent war. >> what about 47% of americans feeling entitled to benefits.

you're watching fir"first look" msnbc. look, if you have copd like me, you know it can be hard to breathe, and how that feels. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open for 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. (blowing sound) ask your doctor about spiriva. till you finish your vege

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tune. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. >>> tonight is the night. president obama, mitt romney, on stage together again for their second debate. the question is, what's the president's strategy this go-round? and will a night on long island have the impact a night a couple weeks ago in denver did? we'll talk live in a minute to mark halperin. >>> four years after fighting barack obama in a presidential campaign, hillary clinton sent out in a round of interviews to take responsibility for the events last month at the consulate in benghazi, libya. does the white house think this will slow the barrage of questions about what happened before, during and after of the

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of the elites" and krystal ball, co-host of "the cycle" also on msnbc. thank you both for being here. >> thanks, reverend. >> chris, let me start with you. does vice president biden need to point to the values of fairness in the ryan plan and now the romney/ryan plan? >> yeah. i think one of the things that was so remarkable and frustrating about the performance in the presidential debate was that romney seemed to essentially disown anything that he had previously advocated that was now unpopular. he pulled this remarkable u-turn. paul ryan -- it's going to be much harder for him to do that. he wrote the ryan plan. >> right. >> he can't run away from the plan that bears his name, the plan that bears his name that would voucherize medicare. so i think the key is for joe biden to take the modern republican party, particularly the modern republican house caucus and hang it around the neck of paul ryan. >> well, ryan wrote the budget, as you said, and ryan is named after -- and he is the one that made some of these votes. kind of hard to run away from it. kr

this is msnbc's coverage of the third and final debate. please stay with us. >>> you said in the rose garden, it was an a act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration. wanted to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before we called attack an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did, in fact. let me call it an act of terror. >> can you say that a little louder, candy? >> after the first debate as going to the challenger and a second debate as going to the president, the close neness of race and the importance of this last debate tonight is something that can be appreciated in blunt terms. for a look at who is making it so close, what margins the candidates are getting with different groups and different states, we go to our master of miracle nuance, chuck todd. chuck? >> you know, rachel, the unbelievable thing, and it's what you were referring to before the break, is how both the president and mitt romney are hitting their target number, if you will, with two specific voting groups that

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this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. >>> what we need do with respect to the middle east is strong, steady leadership. not wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map. unfortunately that's the kind of opinions that you offered throughout this campaign. and it is not a recipe for american strength. >> i look around the world. i don't see our influence growing around the world. i see our influence receding. in part because of the failure of the president to deal with our economic challenges at home. in part because of our withdrawal from our commitment to our military and the way i think it ought to be. in part because of the -- the turmoil with israel. >> president obama and

this is msnbc's coverage of the third and final debate. please stay with us. [ female announcer ] with swiffer dusters, a great clean doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna read one of these. i'm gonna read one of these! [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 duster's extender gets into hard-to-reach places without the hassle. so you can get unbelievable dust pickup in less time without missing a thing. i love that book. can you believe the twin did it? ♪ swiffer. great clean in less time. or your money back. >>> you said in the rose garden, it was an a act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration. wanted to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before we called attack an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did, in fact. let me call it an act of terror. >> can you say that a little louder, candy? >> after the first debate as going to the challenger and a second debate as going to the president, the close neness of race and the importance of this last d

you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. >>> pitching matchup features two former cy young award winners. justin verlander for detroit and barry zito for the giants. >> a lot of the circumstances swirling around, you know, this should not be a factor. sometimes they are. but it's my job to focus on what's important. >> just being able to take it in a little more, having experience under my belt and having been in some situations like this allows me not to be so wide eyed and be able to be a little bit calmer and just kind of take things in. >> game one starts tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern time. >>> the miami marlins have a hot new stadium, a franchise record $93 million payroll and a new job opening for a new manager. yesterday they fired ozzie guillen after

you know, we did a fascinating thing the msnbc/"wall street journal" poll. we asked anybody who told us they were either undecided or only leaning obama and romney, we asked them this question -- what is your hesitation? what is your big hesitation about mitt romney becoming president or about president obama getting a second term? almost unanimously, the responses on hesitations on romney, even from people who were leaning romney, were, he seems to be too rich, he seems not to understand middle class america, he seems to not understand me. this is the fundamental problem. and remember, this has been a six-month campaign by the obama folks to define him as a rich out of touch guy and then a 47% hit. >> thanks, chuck, i appreciate that. i want to get chris matthews in on this. in terms of that being the weight that mitt romney is dragging into this, i mean, you're a student of presidential history. you know that it's always rich guys who become president. it's not like it's been a real working class office in most of american american political history. how d

this is "first look" on msnbc. 29 days and counting. there is less than a month to go in the race for the white house, and right now, both candidates are on the road. while the president campaigns in california, mitt romney spent sunday in florida before his major foreign policy speech in virginia today. nbc's tracie pots has more in washington. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, veronica, good morning. even with those jobs numbers that came out friday helping president obama, we are still seeing mitt romney with a boost after the debate, and today he will argue that under the president, america is weaker against enemies abroad. mitt romney gives a big foreign policy speech in virginia today, but over the weekend in florida, he focused on taxes and president obama. >> they will ultimately have to raise taxes on middle income families by $4 million a year. >> reporter: since last week's debate, which romney is widely regarded as having won, both sides argued the other was dishonest. >> he was a little taken aback at the brazen

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. >>> what we need do with respect to the middle east is strong, steady leadership. not wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map. unfortunately that's the kind of opinions that you offered throughout this campaign. and it is not a recipe for american strength. >> i look around the world. i don't see our influence growing around the world. i see our influence receding. in part because of the failure of the president to deal with our economic challenges at home. in part because of our withdrawal from our commitment to our military and the way i think it ought to be. in part because of the -- the turmoil with israel.

this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> we begin this morning with debate prep. president obama and his republican rival mitt romney are both getting ready for their first face to face presidential debate in denver wednesday night. romney is holding a rally in the mile-high city today, while the president gears up in nevada. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. we get an interesting perspective on this from john mccain, he's debated both the president and mitt romney. he says we will see two very strong well-prepared debaters and he predicts few surprises. the president's behind closed doors in nevada for the next two days preparing to face mitt romney in denver wednesday. >> he's a good debater. i'm just okay. but what i'm most concerned about is having a serious discussion about what we need to do to keep the country growing. >> reporter: both sides are downplaying expectations. a senior aide to the president says romney will be prepared, disciplined and aggressive. romney's debate partner calls the p