Nightly News   |  October 07, 2012

Obama ‘taken aback’ by Romney in debate

Days after the first presidential debate, Obama supporters say the president was surprised and that he will likely review the debate tape to prep for the next two. They also called Romney’s comments during the debate, “dishonest.” Meanwhile, PBS’s Big Bird stopped by Saturday Night Live to discuss his newfound fame, courtesy of the Republican nominee. NBC’s Kristen Welker reports.

Share This:

This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> i'm kristin welker traveling with the president after celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary with the first lady last night. the president is in california to raise millions and reassure hollywood supporters after a sub-par debate performance.

>> four years ago, i said that i'm not a perfect man and i wouldn't be a perfect president. that's probably a promise that governor romney thinks i've kept.

>> reporter: and after a week that recharged republicans and reenergized the race. they conceded that romney had a strong debate but called it dishonest.

>> mitt romney had a theatrical performance just this last week, but the underpinnings of that performance were fundamentally dishonest.

>> reporter: and explained what went wrong with the president's own debate performance.

>> he was a bit taken aback with the brazenness of which governor romney walked away from so many of the positions on which he's run.

>> reporter: promising there will be changes.

>> i assume he has reviewed the tape and it will inform how he handles these subsequent debates.

>> reporter: the campaign launching a new attack ad .

>> this was dishonest.

>> i'm not in favor of a $5 billion tax cut.

>> reporter: and after romney took aim at sesame street --

>> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs, i'm going to stop other things -- i like pbs. i like big bird .

>> reporter: big bird stayed way up past his bedtime to appear on "saturday night live."

>> do you have any political statement you would like to make?

>> no, i don't want to ruffle any feathers.

>> reporter: first up here in los angeles , president obama will attend a small fundraiser with former president bill clinton and then he will attend a production at the theater tonight. vice president joe biden is getting