the fall election against obama. it was titled a better america begins tonight. he called the president a disappointment and said the presidency has failed. here's more. >> for every single mom who feels heart broken when she has to explain to her kids that she needs to take a second job and won't be home as often, for grandparents who can't afford the gas to visit their grand children anymore, for the mom and dad who never thought they'd be on food stamps, for the small business owner, desperately cutting back just to keep the doors open one more month. to all of the thousands of good and decent americans i have met who want nothing more than a better chance, a fighting chance, to all of you i have a simple message. hold on a little longer. a better america begins tonight. four years ago, barack obama dazzled us in front of greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. but after we came down to earth, after all the celebration and the parades, what do we have to show for 3 1/2 years of president obama? is it easier to make ends meet? >> no! >> is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? >> no! >> have you saved what you need for retirement? >> no! >> are you making more at your job? >> no! >> do you have a better chance to get a better job? >> no! >> are you paying less at the pump? >> no! >> you know if the answer were yes to those questions, president obama would be running for re-election based on his record and rightly so. because he has failed he will run a campaign of diversions and distractions and distortions. that kind of campaign may have worked in another place and in a different time. but not here. and not now. it's still about the economy and we are not stupid. >> well, newt gingrich meanwhile campaigned hard in delaware hoped for a victory there. despite not winning delaware or any of the night's five primaries, gingrich insisted he's staying in the race. let's bring in panelists, ari fleischer, paul begala and gloria borger. he hammered president obama pretty hard. >> i thought it was a well crafted speech. well staged speech. he's had problems in the past with his staging. it was a well delivered speech. i think it did hit the work he needed to do. strategically he made a big mistake. six times at least in the speech he used some variation of the word fair. fair and unfair. that's very much traditionally a democrat's turf, and if he moves this election to that terrain, then i think governor romney had some problems. i think people will look at the business record and he paid himself millions and laid off people and he raised taxes for the poorest americans ask if that's fair. i would say, mitt, don't go to the fairness thing. >> ari, do you think that's a problem for him? >> i guess this is one of the issues that you want to hear what you want to hear. i heard him talking about the economy and the problems we have had in the last 3 1/2 years. i think he's in fertile territory when he talks about president obama's record. because the record for the last 3 1/2 years have been weak on the economy, on jobs and on growth and gas prices. a lot of the pocketbook issues that american people care about. so i do think they're openings on every one of the categories. >> gloria, we definitely heard romney kind of reviving the ronald reagan idea of are you better than you were four years ago and in an effective way with the crowd response. >> of course they said we're not better off in four years ago and i think ate a refrain you'll hear over and over again. something else was interesting to me, he seemed to use the word character a couple of times. talking about the character of america. saying that character matters. and he seems to be turning the support of what he calls big government, or washington, which he would say president obama supports into a character issue. so pitting washington against what he says is his vision for america. which is freedom. i found that to be kind of interesting. another thing that was important to me is that i think he started telling the personal narrative which we haven't heard a lot of. talking about his father growing up poor, becoming the governor of a state in which he used to sell paint out of the trunk of his car. admitting that he's a wealthy guy who made his money and sort of taking that head on saying you might have heard that i have been successful in business with a little bit of a sense of humor that we haven't heard so much in the past. so i thought a very good speech for him. >> paul, i want to play another clip of something romney said earlier about president obama. >> government is at the center of his vision. it dispenses the benefits, borrows what it can't take, consumes the greater and greater share of the economy. you know, with obamacare fully installed, government would have control of almost half of the economy. and we would have effectively ceased to be a free enterprise society. >> that was the only time, paul, that he mentioned the president's health care plan. obviously given his own record in massachusetts some people might say it's an issue difficult for him. do you expect what he calls obamacare to be less of a headline and more of a footnote? >> it's going to have to be an issue because i think the supreme court is going to make it one. but it is interesting, governor romney he sort -- he danced up to it. but he's singari singularly una drive that issue the way that santorum would have. he lost, fair is fair, but it's kind of remarkable. actually, my old cross fire buddy tucker carlson said in the entire country, 315 million people there's only two who ever signed a law imposing the individual mandate on health care and that's barack obama and mitt romney. tough for romney to attack obamacare when it's based on romney care. >> is it tough for him? >> no, if it was tough he would have lost that primary. i think the group that it was toughest with was conservative americans. he's crossed that threshold, this is that etch-a-sketch you could say. now he's on to the general and the reasons he's making it a working issue for him is because the statement is i will repeal obamacare. that to a republican audience and independents who don't like obamacare are the words they want to hear. that's the gateway to credibility, even though both paul and tucker are right, he did sign a mandate in massachusetts. >> i still think he's got skeptical republicans though on that issue. that's one of the issues that rick santorum's advisers tells me he wants to talk about. even if you repeal obamacare they want a promise that there will not be any mandates period allowed. they want to hear that from mitt romney. >> paul, it's been reported that former president clinton has been urging the obama campaign to spend less time calling mitt romney a flip-flopper and more time as painting him as severely conservative. do you agree? do you agree with that strategy? >> well, i think in short, yes. not conservative. i don't think this election is going to turn on a left/right axis. i think there's peril for the democrats in focusing too much on the flip-flop because i think some of the independent moderate votesers that ari fleischer said might take some comfort in that. he said he'd outright ban contraception, and he'll flip-flop on that. i think the democrats ought to follow mitt romney's true north. from birth to today he's had a true north. he's a product of wealth and power and privilege who's amassed a ton of it and he's amassed a ton of it at the expense of the middle class. it's not left-right, but up and down. i would frame the whole election on who can better build an economy for the middle class? you know, thurston howell iii over there or a guy who was raised by a single mom and worked hand and get to school on merit and scholarship. >> do you think that's going to play among the voters? governor romney said i'm not going to be ashamed of success. >> well, the problem with paul's analogy is president obama is taking america on a three-hour tour. i don't think that quite works. you know, what i liked in mitt romney's speech that paul addresses he said that the president shouldn't criticize people for achievement, we should congratulate people for achievement in this country. that's right. that's what makes america great and strong. with need to send a signal to low income people you should achieve and become middle income people and to middle income, you should become upper middle and rich. that's the american success story and it should be celebrated at every step along the economic ladder. that's where i think mitt romney has a chance -- i think that's where mitt romney has a chance to drive home if he is unapologetic about who he is and if he gets more comfortable with who he is. >> but i don't think voters -- >> not at the same time. paul, then gloria. >> he needs to apologize for how he gets rich. he is not bill gates or warren buffett of steve jobs who created a new company and provided goods and services. >> but he is saying he created multiple companies. >> he's certainly not telling the whole truth. a vast amount of the wealth was taking over companies, loading them up with debt and paying himself and partners millions of dollars out of the debt and crashing the company into bankruptcy and cancelling the people's health care. he rigged -- some of his investments were good, good for him. he rigged the game to benefit himself in a way that even republicans in the primaries thought was really problematic. >> gloria? >> paul, i don't think voters want to hear the class arguments at this point. i think they want somebody that they believe can fix the economy. and some people are going to say, okay, president obama is on the right course, you just have to give some more time and others are saying, you know what, we gave him enough time it should have been done by now. but i don't think the class arguments really have a lot of resonance when people are suffering. >> ari, very briefly. >> well, i was going to say the reason that people come to private equity companies is because they're on the verge of bankruptcy in first place. they're usually the hard to work cases that can't get capital anywhere in the regular marketplace. so they go to firms like a mitt romney firm and either they make it or they break it. that's the nature of these companies that typically can only get capital at those type of firms. >> all right, interesting stuff. let us know what you think. we're on facebook, google plus. remember, john edwards, clean cut john edwards? then came the affair and the child and now the trial. and testimony that will surprise you. what he allegedly said about his mistress, a woman who bore a child for him and what he said about the chances that the child was actually his which in fact she was. [ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. [ director ] cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. that could adapt to changing road conditions. one that continually monitors and corrects for wheel slip. we imagined a vehicle that can increase emergency braking power when you need it most. and we imagined it looking like nothing else on the road today. then...we built it. the 2012 glk. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. in crime and punishment, day two of john edwards' criminal trial. what a day it was. accusation after accusation from former edwards aide. now the prosecution star witness, andrew young. mr. young started testifying about a phone call in 2007 from edwards' mistress at the time, rielle hunter. quote, she was crying, she was distraught and needed to speak with mr. edwards immediately. i said somebody better be pregnant or dying. she said nobody's dying. young then described edwards' response after learning that hunter was pregnant. quoting him as saying quote, she's a crazy slut and there's a one in three chance it was his child. now, around the same time, the public saw obviously a different john edwards supporting his wife elizabeth as she announced her diagnosis of incurable breast cancer. elizabeth edwards knew of her husband's cheating when they gave this news conference. then hunter gave birth to a baby girl, but that july edwards was still denying the affair and the alleged coverup. >> has you or anyone affiliated with your presidential campaign provided any financial help to rielle hunter or andrew young? >> i have no idea what you're asking about. i've responded to consistently to these tabloid allegations by saying i don't respond to these lies. you know that. you have covered me. i stand by that. >> it's fascinating to watch him now, realize he knew he wasn't telling the truth. about a month later in an interview with abc news's bob woodruff, he admitted he cheated on his wife of 30 years, but he still flatout denied this. listen. >> i need to ask about probably the most controversial allegation which a report has been published that the baby of miss hunter is your baby. true? >> not true. it's a supermarket tabloid. that is absolutely not true. >> have you taken a paternity test? >> i have not. i would welcome to participate in paternity test. i would be happy to participate in one. i know this is not possible this child could be mine because of the timing of events. so i know it's not possible. >> well, it was possible. until 2010 he admitted he was the baby's father. but in an interview with oprah winfrey, hunter said that edwards knew all along. >> you were pregnant carrying this man's child. you knew it was his child because you weren't seeing anyone else? >> wasn't seeing anyone else. >> you knew it was his child -- >> we both knew it was his child. >> he knew it was his child? >> yes, he did. >> having an affair is not illegal. that's not why edwards can face up to 30 years in prison. prosecutors say he broke federal law by accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars during his second presidential run, money he used to cover up his affair with hunter. today in court, andrew young described how the payments worked. one of the wealthy benefactors the heir es rachel bunny mellon, wrote checks to her interior designer who signed the checks over to young's wife who deposited them into her account in a maiden name. young testified that money was doled out to hunter from that account. it's complicated. the jury is going to have to decide if it was illegal. edwards said he knew nothing about any payments made to hunter. i spoke earlier in joe johns who was in the courtroom and analyst jeffrey toobin. i mean, startling testimony today. you have andrew young saying edwards calling hunter a crazy slut and also lying to his wife about the affair. the fact -- i mean, he comes off incredibly unsympathetically to say the least. that's not what he's charged with. he's not charged with being a jerk. >> you see, that's what makes this trial so perplexing. which is so much of it is about what a lousy guy john edwards is. and so much of it is about how lousy a guy andrew young is. the star witness. but how much that relates to the charges against him is not clear. whether the jury can sort out being a bad guy and being a criminal is an open question. maybe all this bad stuff will convince the jury, we just don't like this guy and we're going to convict him. >> a lot of it boils down to what was in john edwards' head. was he intending for these wealthy donors to be giving him campaign money he was then funneling to hunter. or was he getting the campaign donors to just cover rielle hunter's expents? >> and were they doing that because he was a friend of theirs in trouble with his wife or were they doing it because he was the presidential candidate? >> joe, you were in the courtroom as young testified about edwards' alleged behavior during this affair with hunter. the elaborate process of funneling money from bunny mellon to her. what was edwards' reaction to young's testimony listening to the things he was saying? >> i got to tell you. the time i spent in that courtroom, i sat right behind him. i really haven't seen much reaction from john edwards at all. he is a trained trial lawyer and he acts like one sitting there even though he's the client. he doesn't show any emotion unless he does it for effect. so he's been pretty stone cold silent except for an occasional smile at an appropriate time. and that's just what you'd expect from a guy who spent so much time at the defense table. >> joe, i mean, young testified that edwards basically went shopping for a wealthy donor to support rielle hunter and asked bunny melon because she was the one who offered to pay for the $400 hair cuts. >> right. that's the way it started. the $400 hair cuts became a big dustup in the news media. and bunny melon essentially reached out and said i'll pay for the $400 hair cuts. you don't need to worry about that anymore. andrew young and john edwards looked at this and thought well, maybe she's the person we ought to go to. and interestingly enough in the courtroom, the testimony was that bunny melon essentially was not told the purpose for which this was going to be used. she was told, andrew young said, it would be a non-campaign function, but nonetheless he suggested it was a campaign function in order to keep john edwards as a viable candidate. >> if i could add one bizarre thing from the testimony today. edwards is at once this savvy player and you think delusional. at one point he says to young according to young's testimony, well, you know, i can't know about this because i still think i'm going to be sworn in as attorney general. he still thinks he's going to be attorney general during all this stuff swirling around? >> that is in the book "game change" as well about how he thought he might still have a role and might be able to be up for the attorney general spot. young is also testifying that repeatedly a number of times he was concerned about the legality of this and actually asked edwards about it and edwards assured him that he'd looked into it and this was legal. >> which it's not clear how that cuts. because it's not clear whether edwards will acknowledge that he ever did look into it. at one point and certainly in public statements edwards said it never even occurred to me that this might be illegal. but at the same time edwards is quoted by young saying i've looked into it and it's legal. it's just one of the many contradictions between edwards' versions of the stories and young's. and we'll start to see which one the jury will believe. >> jeff toobin, joe johns, thanks. let me know what you think on twitter. if you think john edwards is guilty of these federal violations. a lot more happening tonight. the u.n. admitting it's being played in syria. the killing stops when u.n. observers goes in and starts up again when they live. i'll speak to