bonds and reaffirm that spirit that makes the united states of america the greatest nation on earth. thank you, wisconsin. >> while full fury abounds about two politicians helping millions. >> is it possible obama called christie and said you want some money? you better let me come. >> i cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern. >> barack obama stole mitt's date to the disaster prom. ♪ the boys are back in town ♪ the boys are back in town ♪ the boys are back in town ♪ the boys are back in town >> we begin with our hearts and minds still very much with those reeling and recovering from sandy's devastation. at least 74 people are dead in the region, dozens more lost in the caribbean. some 5 million are still without power. but life is starting to move forward, and after a day as comforter in chief consoling those who lost everything in new jersey, the president is back on the trail with just five days to the election. we're expecting air force one to touch down in las vegas in just a few moments, and earlier today in wisconsin the president regathered his campaign fight making his closing argument in this election and urging voters to say no to the purveyors of cynicism. >> they spent millions to stop us from reforming health care and wall street and student loans, and their strategy from the start was to engineer pure gridlock in congress. their bet is on cynicism. but wisconsin, my bet is on you. >> of course, wisconsin is a key part of the president's so-called midwest firewall, including iowa and ohio. states leaning in his favor that would hand him the election. even with romney sweeping the rest. our newest poll shows the president's lead holding but narrowing. in wisconsin romney has cut his opponent's lead from six points to three. in iowa the president maintains a six-point lead down to eight points two weeks ago. these final days every minute, every move, every vote counts, as mitt romney is well aware. doing three events in virginia today where he staked his race on the business savvy that has made him a millionaire many times over. >> we don't need the secretary of business to understand business. we need a president who understands business and i do and that's why i'll be able to -- >> i'm not sure that mr. romney realizes that this week everyone's been reminded that americans need much in a president than the ability to make money. moments ago, another man noted for his business expertise, now leader of the nation's largest city, independent mayor mike bloomberg, has just endorsed president obama for four more years. let's get right to our panel. with us from washington, msnbc political analyst david corn, author of "47 percent." and joy reid managing editor of thegrio.com. of who always brings 100%. >> borrowing the words of calvin coolidge who said the business of america is business. the most respected businessman turned politician mike bloomberg has just endorsed the president. what do you make of that move? >> what was interesting was one of the reasons mayor bloomberg cited, which was climate change. looking at the devastating impact of the storm sandy -- >> due mean that nonsensical, mumbo jumbo, nonsense that isn't believable. >> we will remember when mitt romney joked, actually joked, about rising ocean levels and the president's desire to do something about it during his speech in tampa. and so i think mike bloomberg is taking that quite seriously, and even though this isn't been an issue unfortunately in this campaign and even though i think the president cares about this, wants to do something about it, he's been sort of beat back by obstructionistic congress on this front, mike bloomberg sees it as a serious matter. it's a reminder in these closing days when we get focused on firewalls and gaffes and nongaffes, what comes on tuesday has a lot to do with the future of this nation and the future of the world, quite frankly, because the nights is such unit such an impact. i think bloomberg is bridging us back to why we're in this. >> i want to get your rae action on reaction on bloomberg and read you what the economist has said. they said mr. romney has an economic plan that works only if you don't believe most of what he says. this is not a convincing pitch for a chief executive. i mean, what's happened to all these businessmen? i thought romney's calling card was his business expertise. >> yeah. it's interesting, martin, that you mentioned old cal coolidge. a lot of what mitt romney and his running mate paul ryan are talking about in economic policy, if you believe what they're saying at any given moment, would take us back to that era when business and wall street had a free hand and workers had no rights, their bosses were bound to respect. it was the preunion era when you had robber barronsons running ram hant over the rest of the country. mitt romney would return the country to an era when the balance of power was held by very large businesses in wall street and not by their employees. that said, if the economist and michael bloomberg have one thing in common, it's like they know how to do math. mitt romney's promises don't add up because his real business it turns out is marketing. he's microtargeting a message to whatever audience is in front of him at that very moment and then telling the next audience sometimes the opposite. it does depend on whether you believe, look, if he was still the 2003 or the 1990s era romney, bloomberg said he might have joted for him but this guy has change sod many times because he's constantly in the business of target marketing. >> it's really hard to keep track pivoting off joy's point here now. he's the guy in favor of business but yet the heads of the -- the ceos of chrysler and gm had to come out and say you're lie being us and you're going to hurt our sales with your lies. he's not really keeping up with business there, but i have to tell you also, earlier this week he got subsumed by the sandy coverage as it should have, but i put out a story with another videotape in which mitt romney talking to a fund-raiser earlier this year says, you know, there's a better business environment in china than the united states. well, why is that? it's because they have no worker protections, no environmental -- >> they have no human rights, david. >> and low wages. so is he saying he wants to bring us back to that point? like to the days of cal coolidge as joy suggests? >> david, yes. >> there's a lot going on that doesn't compute and when it does compute it's rather scary. >> there's something called the moonlight magnolia theory of economics. the south practices it right now. when you strip away unions and you can lower wages, businesses are more profitable. that's why wall street -- you see the stock market tick up when companies lay people off because it's considered more efficient. >> romney's closing campaign appears to be focused on frightening people. in ohio he puts out an ad that frightens people as david has said into believing they will lose their job in the auto industry but in virginia he frightens them into believing they will lose their health care. listen to this. >> perhaps needing the care of a specialist, if he or she makes a call to the doctor and if obama care is installed and the president is re-elected, why when making that call you're most likely going to have the receptionist come back and say, sorry, we're not taking any more medicare patients. >> again, joy, a total lie, and yet frightening to people who may believe what he says. >> yeah. i think the thing is that, again, this is a marketing -- it's something unlike martin that i have ever seen. i have been following politics for a very long time and he literally has not really paid a price for this kind of behavior. so what the lesson that mitt romney has learned from this election is that he can get away with a lot of what we used to call flip-flopping but what a lot of democrats just call flat out lying, and he's doing what he has to do. i mean, this is a guy who a lot of people have said his only true ideology is that he believes in the ambition of mitt romney, and he will do and say whatever it takes. >> the most important line of this whole campaign, public line, not talking about the 47% video, was when mitt romney -- >> but the second reference to your own journalism in this broadcast. >> thank you for pointing that out. >> when mitt romney's pollster said we will not be dictated to by fact checkers, it's been the mantra of his campaign, fashths don't matter, reality doesn't matter, i will say anything at any given point in time. it's not just flip-flopping, not making reckless charges and accusations that don't hold water and when you're called out, what do you do? you say it again and again and again. as joy pointed out, if he wins, he will be rewarded for this behavior. i know from having two kids, when you let them get away with stuff, they don't start behaving better. >> david, as the race gets closer and election day bears down upon us, we have the legendary mike huckabee suggesting if we vote for the president we may yet have to pay for it in eternity. listen to this. >> your vote will affect the future and be recorded in eternity. will you vote the values that will stand the test of fire? this is mike huckabee asking you to join me november the 6th and vote based on values that will stand the test of fire. >> david, your vote will be recorded in eternity and it must stand the test of fire. is it now his view that the unforgivable sin is voting for this president? >> well, apparently not santa, but god is keeping a list of whether you're naughty or nice and if you're naughty, you're voting for barack obama and you're going to hell. i saw this the other day, too. it's just one of the many outrages that are just kind of cascading past us in these final weeks. i'm glad you picked up on it, but, you know, apparently there's no such thing anymore as a liberal christian, and the only type of christian that will get through the pearly gates are those who accept mitt romney's lies and vote for him. you know, it's really -- i wish there was more of a national discourse in which something like this could be called out and mike huckabee could be shamed. but, you know, he's doing it to a particular audience. that audience hears it and the rest of us either don't pay attention or aren't offended. >> incredible, joy and david, thank you both so much. next, as the president and governor christie come together to help the stricken state of new jersey, conspiracy theories abound. stay with us. >> he was clearly there for the canned goods. >> we're going to box these things up in just a minute and put them on some trucks and thaen we're going to send them into i think it's new jersey. >> boy. boy, that really warms my -- i think it's my heart. [ female announcer ] today, jason is here to volunteer to help those in need. when a twinge of back pain surprises him. morning starts in high spirits, but there's a growing pain in his lower back. as lines grow longer, his pain continues to linger. but after a long day of helping others, he gets some helpful advice. just two aleve have the strength to keep back pain away all day. today, jason chose aleve. just two pills for all day pain relief. try aleve d for strong, all day long sinus and headache relief. we are watching a live picture of air force one which has just touched down in las vegas in the battleground state of nevada. the president is expected to come down those stairs at any moment. the campaign -- a day after witnessing the devastation of hurricane sandy and just five days before the election, nevada will be the second of three stops today for the president, which began in wisconsin and will ultimately end in colorado. and here with a preview of the last days of campaigning is nbc's kristin welker who is awaiting the president in las vegas. kristin, we've been hearing some conservatives complain about the president's excellent working relationship with republican new jersey governor chris christie in the aftermath of the storm. how is the white house handling those complaints? >> well, martin, good afternoon. the white house publicly is saying they're not going to comment on the complaints or the president's visit really, what it could mean politically, because they say this is not a time for politics. i can tell you privately though that both democrats and republicans were a little bit surprised by governor christie's tone yesterday. they said he could have thanked the president, but he was really effusive about it. i want to make the important point i spoke to one of my republican sources who lived in the areas that was battered by sandy and he said, look, it is possible that governor christie is just very thankful for the president being there because there are so many people who are suffering. having said that, we are less than a week out from election day, so, of course, the visit will be viewed through a political lens. of course, governor christie presides over a blue state. he's up for re-election next year and, of course, there are rumblings he could potentially want to run in 2016. so aligning himself with this president isn't necessarily a bad thing. the flip side of that, of course, is president obama is up for re-election on tuesday. so to have this show of bipartisanship certainly isn't a bad thing. the president has been criticized for overseeing a sharply divided washington, d.c. so this could certainly catch the eye of some of his supporters and also independent voters. >> i should say, kristin, that the door of air force one is open, a greeting party is gathered at the bottom of the steps, and we expect the president to emerge at any moment. the other development today, and i'm not sure if you know about this, kristin, is the endorsement of new york city mayor michael bloomberg. >> reporter: yes. >> i wondered if the white house or the president's press secretary had any response and did they know that this was coming today? >> reporter: well, we are awaiting a response. let's put it that way. i'm trying to find out if the president is actually going to mention it. you might remember when colin powell endorsed the president, he spoke about it at the next campaign event. i wouldn't be surprised if we heard president obama reference the endorsement. we're still awaiting reaction. there were a lot of smiles here though in the press office as they were waiting to get sort of the official reaction from their campaign. it certainly helps president obama with independents and potentially undecided voters. martin. >> sure. kristin, i can assure you even as you listen to the national anthem that the president has come down the stairs and he'll be with you shortly. kristin welker, thank you so much. >> reporter: thank you. >> if you really want to see what's driving the far right to distraction at this moment in the election campaign, then take a look at this. >> i cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern and compassion for our state and for the people of our state. >> i just want to thank him for his extraordinary leadership and partnership. >> yes, you saw it with your own eyes there. a republican and a democrat coming together during a national disaster. absolutely disgraceful says the far right. but as always they have an unskewed explanation for what they cannot comprehend. >> governor christie said bring money, just show up and bring money. i need money. my state is in terrible shape. come and bring money, i will be glad to stand with you. i don't care about the election. he said that. this election is not important right now. >> joining us here in new york is jonathan alter, a bloomberg view columnist and an msnbc political analyst. jonathan, i don't understand the problem. five days to go until the election. mitt romney has been attacking the president for not working in a bipartisan manner. here is an excellent example of the president, governor chris christ christie, keynote speaker at the republican national convention, working together and they're up in arms. they're apoplectic with rage. >> rush limbaugh doesn't want bipartisanship. >> he doesn't want functions government? >> he doesn't live in new jersey or new york. >> he doesn't care that people have lost their lives? >> he doesn't care, no. >> really? >> it's of no consequence to him. i'm not saying that the loss of life is of no consequence to him, but the needs of new jersey and new york at this point are of no consequence to him, otherwise he would say, well, you know, it's nice to see them working together. but he's so determined to, you know, help romney win this election that he actually engaged in -- maybe he was joking -- but a little bit of gay baiting if you listen to the full broadcast today where, you know, he said this was man loving man and going heavily with the love metaphors between the two politicians. but, you know, the larger impression here is one of bipartisanship which is extraordinarily important because a lot of voters, they are concerned that the president has not been more successful with republicans. and the addition of mike bloomberg and then earlier in the week colin powell, a moderate republican, that's a trifecta, bloomberg, christie, powell. more moderate republicans who are for all intents and purposes connected to this president in this last week. >> john, doesn't it also define who is responsible for the failure of bipartisanship because the president has repeatedly extended his hand, and if someone grasps it, he will work with them. the problem is they have refused to do so. mitch mcconnell has repeatedly refused to do so. boehner tried to. eric cantor, no thanks. that's the reality, isn't it? >> well, this is what -- yes, it is the reality, and what's unfortunate about some of these articles that are coming out that are essentially endorsing romney like david brooks' column saying, well, romney will be able to get along better with congress, but the message that this would send is that obstructionism and just complete refusal to compromise pays off. so one of the important things to do in this election is to vote for compromise. vote for this kind of bipartisanship. vote for working across the aisle. don't validate mitch mcconnell and eric cantor and john boehner's strategy. their whole strategy was to obstruct, obstruct, obstruct and get a new president with the purpose of making it seem that the president was unsuccessful. >> well, make it seem that this president was responsible. >> even on something that hadn't gotten any attention at all and should in the last few days. let's just take three quick issues. so embassy security. they blocked obama on sending a $300 million for embassy security. infrastructure. the president had a jobs bill that provided infrastructure. we all now understand how important infrastructure is. they blocked him on that. climate change. that bill passed the house and was blocked by mitch mcconnell in the senate to begin to do something about this. remember, at the convention mitt romney made fun of barack obama for saying that the tides were rising. well, now we find out they are. >> yes, indeed. jonathan, thanks so much. coming up, team romney sinks to a new low, even for them. >> it's just marvelous to have folks in the entertainment community out there singing and per fortunatelying to make sure people are coming and listening to our message. final for the yours business entrepreneur of the week. seth carney works boston area renaissance fairs, haunted houses, he tells bones, skulls, and other ma could be items. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. 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