he makes a classically clumsy comment and plays to the notion that he was a heartless corporate job cutter. >> i like being able to fire people. i like being able to fire people. i like being able to fire people. >> but were those words wrenched out of context as we just did there? plus, we'll look at cbs's launch of a newsy morning show with charlie rose and gale king, and her interview with michelle obama and a controversial book about the first couple. >> you would think michelle obama is angry, she's unhappy, she feels burdened, she feels frustrated. do you feel frustrated as first lady of the united states? >> the question for cbs, do network viewers want that much politics for breakfast? i'm hourt kurtz, and this is "reliable sources." it was almost comical as i flipped around the cable chat shows before the polls closed in new hampshire to watch the pundits try to set the bar for mitt romney. he needed 35% of the vote. no, it had to be bovl 37%. when the former governor cruised victory with more than 39% in the granite state, some commentators were unimpressed. on fox news, for example. >> well, i think it's a good night for mitt romney. it not a great night for mitt romney. >> everyone is watching. he wins iowa. he wins new hampshire. bounces on to south carolina. that's not a great night? >> it really doesn't feel to me like a great night for him because the expectation was, you know, the polls had been saying he is getting regularly between 36% and 40% of the vote. >> ah, the expectations. well, despite romney's victory, he found himself fending off republican attacks that he destroyed many thousands of jobs while running a takeover firm bain capital, and romney didn't help himself with his line about liking to fire people, even though he was talking about dumping health care companies that didn't provide good service. >> this yesterday i like to fire people, i guess the only thing worse you could say is in a time like this when people are out of work is that the herbert hoover is my hero. >> here's romney perhaps putting gasoline into the fire speaking today about being able to fire people, like insurance companies it's a bad tone for him to be striking right now. >> joining us now to examine the presidential campaign coverage in columbia, south carolina, nia malika henderson from "the washington post" and nancy hagerman, senior political reporter for politico and glen is mcnichol of "the wire." we are in temporary quarters. our regular studio is being renovated. the political unit has its newsroom here, which is usually buzzing during the week. niamalika, is that line resounding through the media echo chamber, was it really taken out of context? >> well, it was taken out of context. immediately after he said it, the twitter universe lit up, and the dnc was ready with an ad, a web ad, and some talking points that they mailed out immediately to everybody. again, if you look at the entire context of it, he is talking about insurance companies. he is talking about companies that provide bad service, and i think most people agree that if you get bad service that you want to have that right to fire people. i think, though, it did underscore a narrative out there that romney isn't very good in these emprompt your, spontaneous settings, and there he is obviously speaking off the cuff, and that fed into that, and then this other narrative that he is this capitalistic titan, this corporate titan that can't identify with the little people. i think in tone it probably wasn't the right thing for him to say and people criticized him for that. >> gin -- >> given the entire context of it, it was pretty fair. >> given that that's the media narrative about romney, maggie haberman, candidates are supposed to avoid serving up damaging sound bites. those were his words, whatever he meant. was the media at fault here, or was it a romney misstep? >> i think it was a romney misstep. we do van obligation to present the context, which i think i saw a bunch of people doing and we did as well, but i do think that was a really ill turn of phrase for a couple of reasons. it would be generally certainly as nia said place to a narrative about mitt romney. i would argue that it was less than romney was off the cuff and more that he was very comfortable. he was heading into a large win in new hampshire. he had just come from a very, albeit, narrow win for him in iowa, and he was speak about br a chamber of commerce. he is generally comfortable in a business setting. i think it was a misstep on his part, and i think his campaign is in a position now where it's very hard for them to complain when something is taken out of context because his initial campaign ad quoted president obama out of context, and i think this is where it's problematic for them going forward. >> dow seem to remember that. on new hampshire, primary night, as on iowa caucus night, msnbc went not with straight reporters in the hosting role, but with five liberal commentators from its prime timelineup. that led to a situation like this, i'm going to play for you, when john, the former white house chief of staff, and the first bush administration was being interviewed. chris matthew hz a question for him. it had to do with this theme about romney's business background. let's take a look. >> this is a country in which somebody can start and have that kind of great success, and begrudge him now for having been successful, i think, is kind of anti-american, don't you? >> i just wonder why a fellow who has been to boarding school and is going to elite universities and never had a sweat in his life, never had to worry in his life about putting a meal on the table, should go out there and offer himself as some sort of -- is that fair? >> so by having chris matthews and rachel maddow and al sharpton on the gang on primary nights, does that change the tone and tenor of interviews like that and of the entire coverage? >> of course. of course. msnbc has redirect its style for the entire lean forward campaign as leaning to the left with sort of a political slant, and they've had some success with that. i think they're really trying to exploit that to its most profitable end, and having chris matthews there, you know, knocking mitt romney for his upbringing is a little ironic considering chris matthews, inevitably, compares everyone to j.f.k., so this is, i think, what we can expect for this whole political election season is what we have seen cable news channels setting themselves up with for the past two years, and how they've been successful with their punditry, and then bleeding over to what is technically news coverage. >> you'll have to make a distinction that fox news and cnn did not do that on primary night, although we can debate on what they do the rest of the time. let me come back, nia, to this question of what i think kind of rereferred to as the media narrative on mitt romney. when we get to bain capital, he knows what it's like to worry about a pink slip. that raised a lot of eyebrows. is the press now seizing on every comment and a very perceived bit of awkwardness around these parts to further this narrative in a way that might not be true of a different kind of candidate, with a different background? >> well, i think in some ways they are, and obviously, the democrats are doing that too in the media. we are involved in that too. seizing on some of these comments. i think in part it's that there's this contest where there does seem to be this inevitability surrounding mitt yom hi, right? you know, there is i think a need and a desire to inject some interest, some talking points into the coverage of it, so i do think in some ways he is going to see that. if he is the nominee, which it looks like he will be, this is the kind of reporting that we'll see. i think in talking about this narrative of him being, you know, this sort of corporate elite guy, i think the reason why it's catching on and the reason why the press is also focussing on it because he is setting up this narrative of obama as this guy who is all about entitlements, all about, you know, this welfare president. that's more like what newt gingrich is doing, but i think because he is doing that, it's setting himself up to be this guy that himself has been a very entitled, privileged figure. he is some somebody who as chris matthews gtsd,did go to boarding school and has led a very charmed life. i think this whole narrative we're going to be exploring it, and as he tries to change it and tries to thb guy that -- yesterday he gave somebody, like, $50 or something like that who was struggling. i think he is feeding into it too because he is trying to -- >> i have never seen a candidate -- i have never seen a candidate give money to somebody in the crowd. >> i have never seen a candidate do that either. >> there's a good story on the front page of the "new york times" this morning which notes that romney has been praising a for profit -- it happens that the guy that runs this is a major donor to the romney campaign and the tuition at this full scale university, $80,000, low graduation late, and we are learning more about his affiliation and background. let me circle back to some of the sound i played at the top about mitt romney, you know, winning by double digits in new hampshire and, yet, some of the commentators saying, well, it wasn't a big deal, and is he from the neighboring state and all of that. i am wondering whether some in the press just trying to keep this race alive as we head into south carolina. >> i think there is no question that the press would like to see more of a race than is taking place than, you know, as we've seen. it has been fairly boring, fairly predictable. you know, if we're being honest about it, i think people would always rather see a race. i also think the democrats would like to see this go forward, and i think they're doing everything they can to amp this up, whether that ends up feeding off one another is a different issue. i think that regarding what you said at the top about mitt romney and the expectations on new hampshire, a win is a win, period, and he won pretty sdis he havely. he won very handily over his closest competitor was ron paul. >> right. a win is a win, and, yet, i turn on the tv, and i hear all these smart people saying, well, you know, he didn't really exceed expectations, and the margin, and it seems like a win is only a win if the geniuses of the press say so. >> i think that's right. although i think that generally speaking, even those that are arguing perhaps if the press says so, this isn't still quite a win, i think reality is setting in. if he wins south carolina, it is going to be very hard for anybody to argue that he is not seen as the leeblg if not presumptive nominee, presumptive might be a bitterly, but he will have run the table on the three early states. it is hard to argue that is not a positive. i am not one that thinks that the new hampshire win was something that should be minimized. i think it was a pretty decisive win. >> all of you will have your expense accounts curtailed if he wins south carolina next saturday. you spent some time in new hampshire during the primary, and you wrote something very interesting that caught me eye. you say the media is not telling you the whole story. you say the excitement in new hampshire is "barely palpable." you said the primary felt very routine to you, but that wasn't reflected in the excited coverage pouring out of the networks, and i would say pript too. tell me about your observations and the gap you saw in the way it was portrayed? >> i think if you were paying attention to political coverage for the last few weeks, you think you're watching the super bowl or the lead-up to the super bowl. ok the ground, the energy level was much lower. not just with voertsz, but with the press that was there. it just seemed a little routine in this sort of awareness that this might be over next weekend, that romney has had some decisive wins, that there's not really a competition, but the cable channel advisory all poured a ton of money into make this a huge competition, so when you tune in on primary election night and hear people saying, well, he didn't really win because he didn't hit 40%, et cetera, et cetera, that's not really reflecting any reality on the ground from voters or the press i spoke to who are covering this. there is a real sort of resignation that this will not be the competitive election season that we saw in 2008. >> if you are a reporter covering that election season, even a good one, you go to a lot of repetitive speeches before the candidates are hitting their marks, offering it is same sound bites, and you kind of seize on a little moment of drama here and there in order to make it sound more interesting. anybody else want to challenge the notion that the media made new hampshire sound more exciting than it actually was? >> i think -- >> there's silence. >> i think -- >> you nailed it. >> i think that's exactly right. we were trying to make it much more exciting than it was. i was at a newt gingrich speech at some point, and there was a guy in the audience. i said are you excited? he said no, i'm a little interested, but i'm not 2002ed excited. there was another guy, and i said, oh, this is a really interesting race where we got to see who is going to one wynn, and he said, well well, kind of know who is going to been brsh the real race is for second. i do think that we knew sort of where it was going to hit. >> okay. well well, do have a possibility now. up next, just when the campaign was in danger of getting serious, stephen colbert is thinking about jumping in. he had this super pac that he has now relinquished. here's an ad it just cut about mitt romney. >> if mitt romney really believes -- >> corporatings are people, my friends. >> corporations are people, my friend. >> then mitt romney is a serial killer. [ laughing smchl ] >> mitt the repper. like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love your cereal there-- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way. lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. steven kol better is trying to make a serious point about campaign finance, i think. he formed a super pac. he toptd prove he could run for office and still transfer the super pac and still got a few laughs in the process. >> colbert super pac transfer activate. >> ah! >> ah! [ applause ] >> i am proud to announce that i am forming an exploratory committee to lay the ground work for my possible candidacy for the president of the united states of south carolina. i am doing it! drop them, jimmy! whoa! whoa! >> nice balloon drop. is this pure political theater, or is there a form of almost journalism here in illustrating some of the absurdities involving these super pacs? >> i don't think it's pure political theater, but, unfortunately, i think the thee at ricks are going to be what people remember from this. is he trying to make a serious point about how porous the current campaign finance laws are, about coordination between super pacs and the campaign that is they support bshgs how anybody with a certain level of celebrity can run for president. you know well, saw the donald trump finish no, ma'am in an early last year. i think to some extent this plays on this, and this primary has been marked by that. i don't really think this is going to be seen that seriously. he is also on the air with an ad. you showed a pours of it before, about mitt romney. it's a small buy, what we would normally call a fake buy in south carolina aimed at getting headlines. i don't know that people are going to see the parody element of this and just be entertained by the thee at ricks, and that's the risk whereby. >> it's a fake buy. we make it a bigger guy, and that's called free media. colbert was on abc's "this week" this morning. i wasn't running a clock, but it seemed to me he got more time than rick perry. he came on after perry. george asked him an interview about john stewart and you'll let me play for you part of that and we'll see his response to that at the end. >> roger, the chairman of fox news said about him. you said that stewart hates conservative views, he hates conservative thoughts, he hates conservative verbage, he hates conservatives. he is crazy. it wasn't polarized, he couldn't make a living. he makes a living by attacks conservativetives and stirring up a liberal base against him. it's not going help you all that much in south carolina to have someone who according to him, hates conservatives support you. >> roger is a friend. we hit the steam room together a lot. i usually do his back. i agree with roger. i mean, that's why i am disavowing anything that john stewart does that is not accurate. i believe that john stewart is a loose canon. >> throwing jon stewart under the bus. so here he is appearing on a serious sunday morning show. is the yeetd world taking the colbert phenomenon seriously because we're tired of digging into intrick assies of what did bain capital buy and how we jumped through -- >> right. on the one hand stephen kol better is giving a great civics lesson, and that made this theatrical and entertaining, and then they're a lot more to remember. he is playing a persona which gives him so much more wiggle room to have fun and say something possibly more truthful without having to sort of involve his true self in it. i think we saw john stewart give some of those interviews on fox where you could see he was getting frustrated and angry, and because colbert is playing a satirical person, committee have so much more fun with it, while making really, really hard points about our election system and what's wrong with it. >> but nia, this isn't just a stunt. i mean, obviously, it is a stunt, but at the same time this p pac that colbert formed, has 30,000 donors and can remain anonymous under the campaign finance rules, and could all of the attention that we in the media collectively give him, could it have some impact on south carolina, which is colbert's own state? >> absolutely not. no, i think this is just funny. i mean, i can't help but laugh when i see him. i don't see him really impacting the race down here. it looks like mitt romney and the most recent polls has a pretty strong lead here. obviously you've got santorum and gingrich, but, i mean, voters will go to the polls, and they're thinking about thinking of a president. they're not thinking of picking a comedian. granted, obviously, steven kol better is a funny guy. he is a charleston, south carolina, native. he has something of a home court advantage here, but i think it's only fun and games. does -- is there an underlying message about super pacs and the seriousness with which a lot of journalists have taken fake candidacies, whether it's donald trump or herman cain. that is the message. ultimately people will look at this and laugh. yeah, thanks. >> you know, it will have one real impact, i predict, and that is on the ratings. colbert and maybe some of us ourz when we have him on various shows. when we come back, ron paul and the press. th