hello, everyone. high noon in the east, 9:00 in the west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." isle richard lui. alex is off today. a warning of life-threatening storms, a secret service scandal, election tax fight looms, brad pitt and angelina jolie and healing the housing market. but first, developing news, forecasters are warning that much of the nation's midsection is at a risk for potentially life-threatening tornadoes. this video comes from lawton, oklahoma. three tornadoes have been spotted outside oklahoma city. bill karins has the details.

>> we've included all of kansas, especially central kansas in the risk of -- high risk of tornadoes. this isn't your typical garden variety tornado outbreak. strong tornadoes that will be on the ground for miles as we go throughout the afternoon and evening. hopefully they'll hit rural areas. but some big cities could potentially be in the away including oklahoma city, omaha, lincoln. these are the areas of concern going throughout the late afternoon, early evening. if you live in those areas, have your safety plan in place with your family in case one of those tornadoes heads your way. if you have friends or family that live there, make sure they know about the threat towards tonight. right now, it's the calm before the storm. they will develop throughout the afternoon hours. tomorrow, the storms will weaken heading toward little rock and dallas and in the houston areas, a few tornadoes are possible into sunday.

it's saturday afternoon today that we get the life-threatening tornadoes. we get about two or three of these outbreaks during the spring every year. this is one of them. >> bill will be watching that story for you all this afternoon. also developing out of colombia day, what we're hearing where president obama's attending the summit of the americas, 12 secret service personnel have been sent home amid allegations of misconduct. joining me is kristen welker. what's the late snes. >> reporter: the latest is 12 secret service members sent home amid allegations of misconduct. there are reports that it involves at least one of those official, potentially soliciting a prostitute. not all 12, however. but they were part of the same unit. so they were all sent home. secret service put out a statement last night saying that they are taking this instance

incredibly seriously. that is why they sent those officials home. they replaced them with other secret service personnel. and they've essentially launched an internal investigation. but the secret service is also making the point that the president's security was never compromised in this instance. richard? >> kristen welker with the latest for us. i appreciate that. for more, let's bring in david kno nakimor. >> we got a tip. it was passed on to us and we confirmed it last night through various channels, including an association that represents the secret service agents that had heard about this. they confirmed for us the allegation of prostitution was involved. it is legal there. but the secret service certainly frowns upon it and it's a bad stain at a time the president is

going down there to talk about trade and the economy, which is a huge issue for him. keep it focused on that. this is overshadowing pretty much the entire trip so far. >> david, these allegations of this individual, one or two individuals, we don't know exactly at the moment, is it in one of those zones you were alluding to? >> we don't know for sure about that. but we assume that this was maybe an after-hours kind of thing, off-duty kind of thing. we're hearing this was possibly brought to the attention of u.s. officials down there, maybe with the embassy or state department. that's what we're trying to find out. that alerted the secret service. they ended up bringing the entire unit back. >> i was reading through your article, this is not necessarily the first embarrassing situation for a recent president and their secret detail. >> absolutely. you saw a bad incident involving not a secret service agent but

another federal agent who was out in hawaii advancing the president's trip to the apec summit last november. he ended up in an altercation late at night, shot a man and was charged with second-degree murder. last year, the president was on a bus tour in the midwest. one of the agents in iowa was arrested for drunk driving. then you go back to the salahis who were able to get into a secret party. but this one ranks up there. >> i want to ask you this, this particular division of the secret service, who are they and what is it that they wore? we say they're uniformed? >> we're trying to find that out. what i understand is that we don't know exactly who these guys are and where they're from. what we do know is that the secret service provides a huge advance staff. we're told on every trip, not just this one, they'll make sure

that visas are obtained for several other agents in case they have to make changes. there are often changes for illnesses and things that happen. but something like this with 12 agents is fairly unprecedented. >> and as kristen welker noted for us, there was not a threat necessarily to the president's security in this entire incident. david, thank you. >> thank you. to front page politics and the new battle over taxes. one of president obama's senior advisers is calling on mitt romney to release all of his tax returns. >> i think there's a tradition. it's transparency and trust. if he's got nothing to hide, there's nothing to lose. >> the romney camp says the candidate has asked for an extension on filing his 2011 taxes and will release them before november's election. meanwhile, ahead of his trip to colombia, president obama made a stop in tampa, florida, touring the port there and spoke to workers. he also sat down and reacted to north korea's failed rocket launch attempt this week. take a listen. >> it's important to know

they've been trying to launch missiles like this for over a decade now. they don't seem to be real good at it. but obviously this is an area of deep concern. it's a clear violation of u.n. security council resolutions. >> let's bring back in "the washington post's" david nakamur and jackie kucinich. jackie, the romney camp said they filed -- that he's going to file an extension for his 2011 taxes. he mentioned that yesterday through a spokeswoman. on a friday, that's normally when, if you will, you put out the trash. it's the stories you don't necessarily want to be picked up by the media. are they trying to bury this issue or is it just a coincidence? >> i don't think it was a coincidence that they would release something like that around 5:30 on a friday. however, i also don't think this issue is going to go away. and i think they know that.

the drumbeat keeps on getting louder from the obama administration. he's been pressured to do this before. he didn't even want to release the ones that he released when he did. but kind of bode wed to pressur from his opponents. >> you mentioned that drumbeat. david, through this extension, he doesn't have to file his return all the way up through october. do you want a beat like this so close to the election? >> you definitely don't. it will keep getting louder because the obama team will make sure that it does. there's a lot of time between now and then. the romney camp has pledged to release this 2011 return once it's filed. i assume they could file that anytime between now and then. one would expect they'll pick a good window that they think is the best timing for them. but this goes to the obama's camp plan to try to paint romney as out of touch, as a rich guy who's not really taking into

consideration the middle class america. and that's what the president's trying to show that he is doing. >> jackie, he could, of course, release this at any point that he wants to before october. so he might look for another opportune friday to do so, right, if it makes sense for him? but there are the other returns, 2009, for instance and what else might be out there. and according to that extension, it looks like, at least from that filing, that what he is paying and what he paid is pretty similar to 2010 and 2011. are we going to see more of the same? should we even expect anything different if we look at previous returns? >> because of the parts of romney's wealth and how they're divided, it's a lot of very complicated stuff. we're talking about some of the accounts aren't in this country. it does typically take longer for a lot of people in those situations file extensions. that's a a matter of fact. but it also gives more fodder,

gives them more ways to paint him as this guy who has accounts in other countries. >> biden said, who here has a swiss bank account? they did. and the romneys closed that. but it provides more fodder for this part of the obama campaign's message. >> and i was thumbing through 2010 and that's hundreds of pages. and, david, to you right now, the president's tax return is no simpler, necessarily, when compared to the everyday american. in fact, in looking at the details from what we have from his 2011 federal incomes tax return, his rate was about 20%. reportedly a 2% lower rate than what his secretary paid. anything else remarkable here about the president's tax return, given his rate is -- he's self-declared he would like to pay more.

>> this is a little bit of an embarrassment. if you look back at the past years, they put all 12 of his past returns on line. he's made over $1 million five different years. for those years, he paid over 30% which goes to his point that he's in support of this buffett law. but this is the lowest rate he's paid in the three years he's been in office and it's the least amount of money he's made by a long shot. i think the president is making a point, even though i'm paying a lower rate, i'm willing to pay more. >> jackie, do you think the republicans may use that 20% tax rate against the president? >> i think they're already doing it. i know i got some e-mails after that came out from the various organizations. >> long term, though? >> i'm sorry? >> long term, though? >> long term, i think they're going to do anything to try to mitigate any damage that would come from -- and try to

neutralize the argument that the obama administration is making against -- i'm sorry, the obama campaign is making against the romney campaign. >> jackie kucinich and david nakamura, thank you so much. prosecutors charge george zimmerman with second-degree depraved murder. but do they have the facts to back that up? for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ [ facilitator ] what do you smell? takes me outdoors. sort of a crisp, fresh feeling. [ facilitator ] go ahead and take your blindfold off. [ laughs ]

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now to what's next in the trayvon martin murder case against george zimmerman. he's sitting in a florida jail cell. he will find out friday if he gets out on bond. meanwhile, we're finding out how prosecutors are backing up what some thought was a surprising second-degree murder charge against him. joining me is peter par vi and b.j. bernstein. peter, i want to start with you.

we've looked the affidavit supporting the second-degree murder charge from the florida prosecutor. some of their accusations include zimmerman telling a police distachdispatcher, quote, blanks, always get away. >> second-degree murder is charged in florida and many other states because you can't charge first-degree murder. first-degree murder generally means a premeditated idea. you've made up your mind well in advance of the killing that you intend to killing. second-degree means just this, you have an indifference to human life, you used a gun or a wife, something you knew would cause serious bodily injury and would kill. and you had an evil motive, evil intent, some malice. >> when they use those quotes, are they saying there's some

evil behind this malice -- >> i think they can prove it against george zimmerman. i think the prosecution believes that zimmerman acted not out of pure heart but really out of ang ser, which is enough to prove evil intent. >> i have more from the affidavit i'd like to show you. prosecutors use strong verbs saying martin was for instance profiled by zimmerman and that zimmerman disregarded the police dispatcher. are these strong enough for this second-degree charge that we just started talking about, peter and myself? >> potentially they are. and peter started going in that direction where the concept that he had this notion in advance without ever knowing or having any objective form of thinking that this person was a problem, that this person was up to no good. and to disregard the police when he said he was suspicious

because we later find out the child was just going to get skittles and iced tea. so the state really believes or they wouldn't have charged it, number one. and number two, remember, these affidavits are bare bones. if they are being good prosecutor, keep your mouth shut -- >> are they holding back? and what might they be holding back based on a simple two-page affidavit that we have so far? >> well, i'm assuming that they're holding back all this work they've done in the last three weeks. there could be forensics, there could be a new witness we don't know about. there could be videotapes, audio tapes, anything that's there available when they had this three-week period to go back and investigate. and truthfully, they're going to be smart to hang on to that information and let the criminal process take over now. public opinion was important to force this examination but for a fair and impartial trial which

sybrina fulton says she wants to have. we have to watch what comes out in court. >> we have up until that trial begins to see if they add more to this. let me talk about this issue. this is the question of what defines second-degree murder as well as lower charges. i'm going to show you what we understand it to be at the moment. second-degree murder versus manslaughter. 25 years to life for second-degree murder. and maximum 15 years for manslaughter. break it down a little bit more for us and what those two options might be. this is lesser included, right? >> right. second-degree murder is what the prosecution believes it can prove, beyond a reasonable doubt. but the jury will be charged as juries often are charged. if you find that the facts don't satisfy second-degree murder, then you may find that they satisfy voluntary manslaughter. if you find that they don't satisfy voluntary manslaughter, they may satisfy involuntary manslaughter or aggravated assault.

so the jury will be given a menu. the jury will determine what facts satisfy what elements of what charges. and they'll make a decision. >> so it's not all or nothing. b.j., could zimmerman, as we discuss this case, have to testify to disprove this second-degree charge or rather to prove -- getting to the stand or trying to prove the "stand your ground" defense here? >> well, interestingly, it may actually become more relevant before trial that he takes the stand because there is going to be this pretrial hearing probably for "stand your ground." remember, everyone, it's immunity here that's at issue, not a defense at trial. and because of that, you've got zimmerman possibly having to testify because the defense bears the burden of proof. we may hear from him sooner than usual in an ordinary case. >> thank you very much. we could see this go to 2014 because of that immunity of the "stand your ground" law.

we'll see how that goes. the 1% versus the 99%, is america's tax code unfair to you? that's coming up. plus, the next chapter for harry potter author j.k. rowling. will her new adult novel meet the hype? number five on our first five web stories, the housing market in the u.s. is healing, according to reports from two major banks. more americans are taking out mortgages and paying them on time. and more people are taking advantage of low interest rates to refinance their old mortgages. good news. you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen.

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overall, most americans admit that television is their most used technology. in today's "then and now" what celebrities earned before they were famous. back in 1984, oprah winfrey was host of "a.m. chicago." and she made $200,000. now she makes $290 million a year. actor jon hamm made about $14,000 in the 1990s as a waiter. he makes $2.3 million on "mad men." and sarah palin back in 1996 made $64,000 as mayor of wasilla, alaska. now she makes $1 million a year as a tv analyst. big news from one of the richest women in the world. j.k. rowling has a new book coming out. the author of the incredibly popular harry potter is making a surprise switch,ok for adults. michelle kosinksi has the story from london for us.

>> reporter: there's magical harry potter books flew off shelves around the world. nearly half a billion copies, from america to afghanistan. >> harry potter. >> reporter: the movies, the phenomenon made single mom j.k. rowling who was once on welfare the first billionaire author. >> i read them all, i loved them. >> reporter: sorry, kids and wizard wannabes, this next one is not for you. in september, j.k. will publish her debut novel for adults called "the casual vacancy." the novel is set in a fictional little english town where everything looks real pretty but all is not as it seems. a town at war, her publisher describes, rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parent, wives at war with their husband, calling it

blackly comic and surprising. no, no wizards or dragons, just regular people. so what is it about little english town that is -- >> they're all at war. little parrish councils, they're completely at war. >> reporter: are there things lurking behind corners and seething between cracks? >> yeah. >> j.k. rowling is the biggest property in publishing, a new book from her, especially her first adult novel, is big, big news. >> reporter: now critics will scrutinize every word in her mysterious new novel, wondering if readers will embrace j.k. without harry, causing many in the book world to call her one word -- brave. michelle kosinksi, nbc news, london. >> probably going to be another super best-seller. number four on our first

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critical talks are under way today about iran's disputed nuclear program. the u.s. and other world powers are in turkey for meetings today with iran. the negotiations are aimed at resolving the controversy that threatens to start a war in the middle east. nbc's ali aruzi is in istanbul, tur ri. we've heard some of the conversations, that the atmosphere has been positive. given the past, watchers may say, don't keep your hopes up. what are you seeing? >> reporter: that's right. everybody here thinks it's been a very constructive atmosphere.

not heavy demands have been made from iran here. so there's still a lot to play for her. i think the iranians are saying it's a much different atmosphere, there's a much softer tone going into these talks. but just to show how difficult these things can be, that it's no walk in the park, we heard earlier that there was going to be bilateral talks between the iranians and the americans, which would have been a huge deal in itself because as you know, the iranians and americans don't talk to each other. this id iranian officials said it's out of the question. they'll talk on a multilevel platform but not alone with the states. there's still a lot to play for here. also, the expectations if these talks were very, very low. so the smallest development here could be seen as a breakthrough. from what i understand and the diplomats that we spoke to here, they said they're not implemented all of these things that they wanted iran to do in these talks. they're going to carry these

over, if these talks yield some small results, if the iranians look like they want to do some business with the west, the talks will probably go to baghdad next month where a lot more pressure will be piled on the iranians to come up with the results, to tackle the enrichment issue, to open up their sites to nuclear inspectors. i don't think any of this has been broached in these talks. this was just to sort of feel each other's senses to see what each side is thinking and then put pressure on next month. but nonetheless, just the fact that they're talking to each other here seems to be a good sign. richard? >> measured expectations. ali live in istanbul, turkey, thank you. in north korea, we take you right now, there were celebrations honoring the 100th birthday of the country's founder. more than 50,000 soldiers filled the stadium and applauded the north korean leaders, including kim jong un.

we're following developing news out of oklahoma ]. [ where tornado sirens have sounded in advance of potentially life-threatening storms. the video you see right here comes from lawton, oklahoma. the national weather service saying several homes have been destroyed. the most dangerous weather is expected to develop later today. officials are warning that a large area from minnesota to texas could be at risk here. of course, we'll be watching the situation closely right here on msnbc. time now for strategy talk, as the buffett rule heads to a vote in the senate. on monday, the debate centered on economic fairness, an issue that president obama focused on in his weekly address this morning. take a listen. >> warren buffett is one of the world's wealthiest men. but he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. that's just the way the system is set up. in fact, one in four millionaires pays a lower tax

rate than millions of hard-working middle class households. warren points out that it's not fair and it doesn't make sense. >> but in a debate between the 99% and the 1%, do the real issues and the voters get left behind? joining me right now is former pennsylvania governor ed rendell and chip salzman. good afternoon to both of you. chip, i'd like you to take a listen first to a speech that president george w. bush made earlier this week. >> i wish they weren't called the bush tax cuts. probably less likely to be raised if they're somebody else's tax cuts. if you raise tax on the so-called rich, you're really raising taxes on the job creators. >> so, chip, there's been a p.r. campaign of sorts, as you know, to rebrand the rich as job

creators. first of all, when you look at this, how successful has that campaign been? and second, folks are asking, what are the jobs? >> i think first president bush got it right. i think if these were the rendell tax cuts, they'd be codified and permanent by now. i think that president bush is exactly right. if governor rendell and i started a company and we were producing bipartisan widgets, we would go to people to ask them to invest in our company and get it off the ground. these people have been job creators forever. the people with money are the ones that invest in companies, in ideas and their communities, which grow jobs and the economy. >> governor, first of all, would you like those tax cuts to be named after you as chip is saying here? and second of all, are they creating jobs. >> well, look, the answer is that raising taxes on the rich does not hurt job creation. bill clinton raised taxes on the top 2% of americans and we created 23.5 million jobs, a

record pace in the 6 1/2 years that followed f. you look at the five best years of job creation in the last 60, the highest marginal tax rate was 70%, not the 37% it is today. 70%. in fact, the lowest five years of job creation in the last 60 were when the highest marginal tax rate was in the mid-30s. if chip is worried about that small business who files as a sub-chapter "s," we can make an exemption in raising taxes for any small businesses with a gross income of less than $1.5 million. that will keep the small businesses where they are. and yet raise taxes on the people who can afford to pay. there's no correlation between job creation. if there was, we wouldn't have created 23.5 million jobs after president clinton raised taxes. >> a lot of watchers on this issue will say amongst this debate that both sides have basically been out of touch. on one side, we have mitt romney

who put his net worth at $150 million to $200 million. on the other, we have president obama who made nearly $800,000 last year and travels by motorcade and 747. they ask, are they really the people to be having this debate right now? >> sure. but franklin d. roosevelt did more for people in this country than any president. and he was very wealthy. it's not a great idea to raise taxes on the vast majority of americans at this time. the real way we can get rid of the deficit is by cutting spending. and i agree with chip, cutting entitlements. but we also have to eventually let the bush tax cuts expire on everyone. but that's not a good idea for the middle class right now. you would get $4.6 trillion over the next ten years cut from the deficit if we let the bush tax cuts expire for everyone. what i suggest is let's let them expire for the top 2% as president clinton did. it didn't hurt job creation. for everyone else, let's have a

phase-in over a number of years and get the benefit of reducing the deficit dramatically. it's the way to do it. >> chip, $4.6 trillion sounds pretty good. >> well, i think the numbers here are this simple. raising taxes is never a good idea. we are not in a country -- we're not living in a country that we're undertaxed. we're overspent. i think the greater problem is the government is spending too much money. we took in about $2 trillion this year. this year alone. we're spending $3.7 trillion. that's a $1.7 trillion deficit this year, not over ten years. we have an immediate need to cut the spending. and taxing -- you cannot tax the rich enough -- you can't tax the middle class enough, you can't tax even governor rendell enough to make this problem go away. >> and i agree with that. we need to cut spending. we need to look at entitlements. but we also -- there's not anybody out there who's sane who doesn't think we need to increase our revenue. >> back to you, chip, when we take a look at that chart, when

you look at the buffett rule and if that does come to pass, that's a significant amount there. we're looking at a quarter of a trillion dollars over ten years. that's something. >> over ten years. i love it when president obama talks about the buffett rule yet he's going to pay a lower tax rate than his secretary. and there was nothing to prevent him from throwing in another $50,000 or $60,000 on his taxes to he wouldn't. but he didn't. he played less than his secretary. yes, sir he's talking about the buffett rule. i think he has problems talking out of both sides of his mouth on that one. >> governor, you think it's at least a start? >> it's a start. and the american people, including republicans, support the buffett rule. >> at the moment, six out of ten adults do support that right now. so why not here, chip, listen to what adults -- at least in this poll, six in ten, saying they favor the buffett rule? >> i think a lot of it has to do with classic social and economic warfare. it's the haves versus the have

nots. of course tax the rich guy down the street that has the big house and the fast car and not me. these are the folks that are investing in this country, they're investing in jobs and their community. there's a lot of uncertainty to this economy right now. >> back to that poll, we look at independents, independents in that poll as well supporting this, six in ten. the overflow or the effect of, again, republicans not supporting the buffett rule, will that end up in the voting booth come november paying some of the bad dividends, if you will, of not supporting this right now? >> i think we have to explain why it's bad. i think it's really easy -- i'm surprised the poll is not nine out of ten because if you ask the question, do you think people that make a whole lot more money than you should pay more, they're always going to say yes. that's a pretty simple poll question to answer yes to. but when you start getting into

it about taxing the job creators, the people putting money into their businesses, into their companies, into their small businesses or having them start with just a good idea, most people would say, that's not a good idea. >> governor, it is just one issue. so many other issues -- >> there are multiple issues. >> is it that relevant? >> look, it has some importance, as you said, a quarter of a trillion dollars is -- it has relevance. but we have to stop and tell the american people the truth. raising taxes on the top 2% of this country does not kill job creation. example, bill clinton, 25.3 million jobs in six years after he did just that. we've got to be honest with the american people. and i agree with chip. if we want to protect the small business, the guy who has four or five employees and maybe would like to hire two or three more, we can carve them out of the buffett rule. we can carve businesses out. but there's no reason to carve out individuals who make $1 million or more from the buffett

rule. >> governor and chip, thank you so much. it probably won't pass. but it was a good discussion on the major issues that surround it at the moment. appreciate both of your time. tomorrow on "meet the press," david gregory will talking about to treasury secretary tim geithner. they'll talking about the economic recovery and what needs to be done to speed up hiring across america. new york governor andrew cuomo, he tops "the washington post's" list of the nation's most popular governors. in a poll this week, his approval rating was an astounding 73%. his new jersey neighbor governor, chris christie comes in number two and mitch daniels comes in third. and congrats to matt lauer. he's announced the most powerful face in news. and he's on the magazine's list of 35 most powerful names in media. kim kardashian gives tabloids plenty of fodder. that's why she leads this week's

"usa today" celebrity heat index. ♪ jennifer lopez's "dance again" is the week's most popular video on youtube. since it was uploaded april 5th, it has more than 18 million views. and thanks in part to 390,000 paid downloads "we are young" topped billboard's top 100 for a six straight week. and those are your number ones on "weekends with alex witt." that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold. and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls. not a single pocket to hold the stress of the day, or the to-do list of tomorrow. only 14 clubs pick up the right one and drive it right down the middle of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org.

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moviegoers this weekend. take a look. >> are you trying to get us thrown out of here? >> amy palmer, entertainment reporter and contributor for peerwow.com is here to tell us what we must see and must avoid at the box office. looks kind of funny. how does it look? >> i'm going to say this is a must see if you have kids. i went to see this yesterday. and the theater was packed, parents and kids. kids off from school. they were hysterically laughing. if you have kids and you like this sort of thing, go see it. if you aren't interested, stipit. >> sit like the old series? >> a little bit. it's updated. has a great cast. jennifer hudson is in it, sophia

vorgara. >> the american pie franchise, we grew up watching this series, is this pretty much the same or -- >> in my opinion, this is over. it's done. >> it's cocoon. >> almost to that point we're going to see them in the senior center. this is a very popular franchise. it's done so well. half a billion dollars at the box office which is why they keep making these movies. but the story line, 13-year high school reunion, it just isn't funny. enough is enough. >> let's talk about small screen, "hbo girls" getting a lot of buzz right now. >> it's warranted, i think. it's about four 20-somethings in new york navigating the city. the reason why this is so buzzed about is it's authentic dialogue. you and i were just talking about this. people want to see this. we don't know how much more buzz this has to generate for other networks to get a clue.

this is what women want to see, real dialogue, real-life situations. >> smart. >> smart, smart writing. i think this is going to be huge for hbo, the new "sex and the city". >> is it depressing? >> it's authentic. but when "sex and the city" came out in the '90s, it was a different economy. this speaks to what women are going through now. >> depressing, funny, got a lot of things going for it. amy, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> lots to see and lots not to see. europe's highest active volcano erupting this week. look at this. it flung ash and smoke 9,000 feet into the air. this was the third eruption in the past month. but so far, town authorities haven't issued any warnings of danger to people who live nearby. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper.

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if you are headed out for sushi today, don't go anywhere just yet. a california fish processor has voluntarily recalled 58,000 pounds of frozen raw yellowfin tuna product because its link to a multistate salmonella outbreak. more than 120 people in 20 states and the district of columbia have gotten sick. if you have old cds, don't throw them out just yet, amazon wants them. they added cds to the list of items it allows shoppers to trade. sellers get a free shipping label to mail in items. some retail experts say they can fetch for as much as $2 to $3 apiece. and if your grocery bill has gone up, it's not your imagination. meats, cheeses and other foods cost almost 7% more than a year ago.

some products, though, have gotten cheaper, including whole milk, white bread and boneless chicken breasts. a few story that is caught our eye here on "weekends with alex witt," a panda at a zoo in eastern china celebrated her tenth birthday friday with bamboo and cake, what a mix. the birthday bear was treated to a bath and a medical check-up before children sang to her and fed her slices of apple. later, she snacked on bamboo and birthday cake. new york city mayor michael bloomberg has named the muppets the family ambassadors of new york city. he hopes they will help reach his goal of attracting 55 million visitors a year to new york. this incredible photo now out of northern california, look at this, shows all four towers of the bay bridge being hit by lightning at the very same time. it's part of a record-breaking series of thunderstorms that swept across the region,

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui in for alex on this saturday. big developing news right now. forecasters are warning that much of the nation's midsection from minnesota to texas is add risk for potentially life-threatening tornadoes. got this video for you here that shows homes destroyed by tornadoes in norman, oklahoma. at least three tornadoes have been spotted just outside of oklahoma city. meteorologist carl parker joins me from the weather channel's headquarters in atlanta. how's it looking? >> right now, storms are beginning to break out in parts of kansas. we expect there will be strong to violent tornadoes in kansas and oklahoma and nebraska today. let's take a look at what's driving all this. warm and humid air is now funeraling up into the middle of the country. we call that the low level jet.

and you have strong upper level winds that are going to come on top of that producing a lot of shear. i'll explain that in a moment. there are two tornado watch areas extending west of oklahoma city, west of 35, across the 70 corridor and then up and across 80 in nebraska. those going until the evening. and already there are a number of severe thunderstorm warnings. these cells moving very rapidly now to the northeast or north, northeast. large hail certainly a threat with this cell. there's going to be a damaging wind threat. we expect to see more rotation in these cells as more of the shear comes into play. here's how it works. you have the low-level flow coming out of the south and a very strong upper level flow. that creates a horizontal rolling motion called horizontal vorticity. when you get a thunderstorm that begins to take on that vorticity, you get a tornadic

storm. that's certainly what we're expecting across this region today. you see this white area, we use this about half a dozen times a year. looking for a potentially significant tornado outbreak, parts of nebraska and kansas and then down into oklahoma. so please stay very aware of what's going on with the weather in these areas and we'll watch that area of storms move up into the western lakes and get down into parts of texas tomorrow. richard, back to you. >> thanks to you, carl. we'll be watching it right here on msnbc. if you'd like to follow up with this, be sure to visit weather.com for more details on these pending storms. president obama is attending the summit of the americas. 12 secret service personnel have been sent home amid a scandal. joining me right now from cartagena is kristen welker. you've got some new details for us right now. >> reporter: i do, richard. that's accurate. i want to give you two pictures. first, the official line, what

we're being told from the secret service is that numerous secret service personnel were sent home amid allegations of misconduct. they were replaced, the secret service emphasizes the president's security was never compromised. i just spoke with ron kessler, who is really an expert in this matter. he wrote is book called "in the president's secret service." according to mr. kessler, those secret service personnel were essentially soliciting prostitutes. they then brought those prostitutes back to a hotel with them. it is worth noting that secret service agents typically stay in the hotel where the president is also staying. and then he says that this really came to the fore when a prostitute went to the police and complained about not being paid. police alerted the state department. the state department alerted the secret service who in turn alerted the white house. this is how this all sort of became public and then those secret service officials were sent home. and that happened on thursday. there's also a little bit of

confusion about the identity of these secret service officials. were they actually agents or were they a part of the uniform division? that's still being worked out. and as you know, richard, this is a developing story. so sometimes things change and evolve. but this is the latest information that we are hearing, that these 12 secret service agents were sent home amid allegations that some of them may have solicited prostitutes and, in fact, brought those prostitutes back to a hotel with them. the secret service is again stressing the president's security was never compromised. this is, of course, really an embarrassment for the secret service which really prides itself on protecting the president. and, of course, unwelcome news for this president who is here for the summit of americas to talk about things like trade and immigration. richard? >> on that, kristen, we wanted to talk about this. we have explosions that happened. fill this all in amongst what the president, as you just mentioned, is there to do.

>> reporter: that's right. i talked about the fact that he is here to talk about trade, the united states recently signed free trade agreement with colombia as well as a number of other free trade agreements. so they're here to talk about that, the fact that it is expected to create jobs here in colombia as well as in the united states. they're also talking about the drug war and how to really cut off demand from the north, from places like the united states and europe to sort of stop some of the violence that is unraveling here in latin america. but the president's also here to address some criticism he's gotten recently that he hasn't paid enough attention to latin america. some leaders feel as though he's neglected it because he's been too focused on drawing down the troops in iraq and afghanistan and advancing the u.s.'s relations in the asia-pacific region. and, of course, the hispanic community back on the homefront, paying close attention to the

president's visit as we are in an election year. >> kristen welker with the president in cartagena, a lot of news today from that trip, appreciate it. meanwhile, as kristen just mentioned, president obama a short time ago was in a panel discussion in colombia moderated by msnbc host chris matthews. the presidents of brazil and colombia also took part. let's take a listen to that. >> the challenge you just heard from the president of brazil was the notion that latin america is not interested in being a complementary economy anymore, the agricultural and the industrial end. they do the provision of raw materials and we do the finest, highest level, high-tech work. how do you respond to brazil's demand, really, to be partners and rivals? they want to use our educational resources, they want to come north to learn how to compete with us. right, madam president? you want to be equals.

you want to learn everything we know and then take it back and shove it at us, right? that's a response. i'd ask you for your response. >> this is what happens when you get some of our u.s. political xhen day tors m commentators moderating a panel. they stir up things that may not be there. and chris is one of the best at it. look, this is already happening. this has already happened. brazil has changed. colombia's changed and we welcome the change. the notion somehow that we see this as a problem is just not the case because if we've got a strong, growing, prosperous middle class in latin america, those are new customers for our businesses. we want --

[ applause ] brazil is growing and that opportunity is broad based. then absolutely they're interested in buying ipads and they're interested in buying boeing airplanes and -- [ speaking foreign language ]. >> i was just trying to see how she'd respond to that. but the point is that that's a market for us. so we in the united states should welcome not just growth but broad-based growth, the sort that president russef described. i was just in tampa. all the containers coming in,

they have in some cases commodities coming from latin america. but they also have finished products that are coming in from latin america. we have commodities that are going in to latin america that we're sending back on those containers, as well as finished products. so this is a two-way street. when i came into office, one of my first decisions was to say that the g-20 was not a temporary thing to respond to the world economic crisis. this should be the permanent forum for determining and coordinating direction in the world economy. and frankly, there were some folks who were members of the g-8 who were upset with me about that determination. but realistically, you can't coordinate world economic issues if you don't have china and brazil and india and south africa at the table. and mexico. that's not possible.

so the world has changed. i think the united states and you guys' businesses stand to benefit from those changes. but it does mean that we have to adapt to that competitive environment. >> that excerpt from a little bit earlier. the president will participate through tomorrow in the summit of the americas. we'll be following that for you right here on msnbc. take you now to front-page politics, president obama is pushing the buffett rule in his weekly address. >> if you make more than $1 million every year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. on the other hand, if you make less than $250,000 a year, like 98% of american families do, your taxes shouldn't go up. >> joining me now is "washington post" columnist nia-malika

henders henderson. the obama camp stepping up calls on mitt romney to release his tax returns as well. when we look at this debate, what does this buy the president with the average voter? >> it buys them another bullet point, another plank in their argument that mitt romney is out of touch and mitt romney is somebody who think that is he doesn't have to play by the rules. as we know, presidential candidates for years, for decades have released their tax returns. mitt romney's own father, george romney, in the 1960s, released a dozen years of his tax returns. and president obama has released tax returns going back to 2000. i think we're going to hear a lot about this. mitt romney has filed for an extension. he has released his 2010 tax returns. but this is going to be something that i think the president and his team are going to hammer all summer, going into the fall, until he releases these tax returns.

again, i think it just is another plank in their argument that he's out of touch. and it also suggests that maybe he has something to hide. you heard david plouffe talk about that over the last couple of days. their argument is, well, mitt romney, if you have been playing by the rules and you don't have anything to idea, go ahead and release those tax returns. we'll see if mitt romney is forced into a corner and releases those tax returns. >> it could be a summer where all of us get to pore through more tax returns for the coming years. the senate is expected to take up the buffett rule on monday. not expected to pass. how do you see this issue playing out for the president as well as republicans? >> i think this amplifies the "us versus them" argument that president obama is trying to make. when we're talking about tax returns and the amount of money that mitt romney makes, they're trying to make it clear that romney is a "them." the problem is if the buffett rule did pass, which it won't because of the makeup of the house and senate, if the buffett rule were passed, it would only

raise about $47 billion over the next ten years. that's a drop in the bucket compared to the budget holes that we've got to fill. and you're starting to see some democrats running for lower office saying that we need to do more, even some editorials in usually friendly newspaper that is say president obama needs to take a larger look at tax reform. tim kaine from virginia said the buffett rule doesn't go far enough, we need a larger tax reform. it's a good hit on republicans when talking about this "us versus them" argument. but it's not perfect because it doesn't get to the larger leadership issue of tackling tax reform which is going to be a much bigger deal. >> we've had a good week in terms of news. when it comes to politics, we heard that rick santorum is dropping out this past week. we've had about a week to let it bake in. let's talk potential vp picks. who do you think? >> i think there's a short list of about four candidates here. i think ohio senator rob

portman, florida senator marco rubio bob mcdonald and paul ryan are getting all the buzz. there are three real factor that is any presidential campaign thinks about when they're thinking about who to pick as a vice presidential nominee. they think about, who does this candidate excite? what part of the base that romney doesn't excite or what part of independent voters that romney doesn't attract, can a vice presidential candidate get them? all four of these candidates are from states that romney would really like to win. and then sort of the number one rule, just like a doctor takes in their hippocratic oath, above all, do no harm, they have to make sure these candidates aren't going to overshadow romney, respect going to embarrass the campaign. right now, the campaign's taking deep dives into all these candidates' backgrounds to check and make sure there's no embarrassing skeletons in their

closets. >> it's going to be tough to find. some of the issues that governor romney has to balance out here is the very conservative, the evangelical and the tea party credential space, which he's had trouble with. are we going to get a game changer call where he's not going to be any of the four brought up by reid here? >> i think that's about -- reid's list, i think, is comprehensive. this is certainly an issue and question that keeps coming up on the stump. i was covering mitt romney in delaware and providence, rhode island, recently. and these are the very questions that voters want to know. who's going to be the vp? and he said that everybody is on his list. richard and reid, maybe you're both on the list. if you look at who mitt romney has been as a candidate and as a politician, he is someone who likes to play it safe. i think the rule of 2008 was very much that this was a pick, sarah palin, that wasn't necessarily a safe choice. it was a game changer. it was a risk. and in some ways, people think

it cost john mccain the presidency. so i think the number one rule that mitt romney is really going to consider here is he wants to have somebody as a number two who will be ready to assume the presidency on day one, should anything happen. so i think that's going to be something they consider very much in looking at who could be number two. >> i would be a journalist -- you would be a better candidate. so would you as well, reid. thank you both so much. straight ahead, legal question that is may be crucial in the trayvon martin case, including should george zimmerman take the stand? you're watching "weekends with alex witt." i went to a small high school. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful.

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we're getting a look inside george zimmerman's life in lock-up. right now, he's in a cell at the

seminole county jail under administrative confinement. officials released a list of his purchases, including playing cards, word searches and crosswords, plus jolly ranchers, tortilla chips and root beer. the complete order totals $79.84. so many people want to know the dales of this case. the latest in the murder case against zimmerman, he will find out friday if he gets out on bond. meanwhile, we're hearing new reaction from trayvon's brother who says he was not a violent person. take a listen. >> everything i heard was from zimmerman's perspective and it didn't sound like my brother at all. my brother attacked him and did all this --t all. he wasn't confrontational. >> joining me now is criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor jay fahey and christopher metzler. good afternoon to you both.

jay, i want to start with you. we just heard the brother saying his brother, trayvon, was not a violent person. how does this fit in at all? >> if it gets to trial, if the defense tries to suggest that trayvon was violent, the prosecution will be able to bring defense witnesses in to prove that he was prone to nonviolence. it could become an issue with the trial. >> who was the likely aggressor from what you see? that's the question also being posed at the moment. could it be trayvon and not george zimmerman? >> it appears to me -- i think most people would view it as zimmerman because he is doing the neighborhood watch. he calls the police. the police tell him to back off and wait for another police officer to come. and there's a bit of stalking and following of trayvon. so i think one has to believe that he's the initial aggressor. if on the other hand trayvon then turned on him, then everything else is going to be a little bit different. but initially, i think everybody would agree that zimmerman is the aggressor. >> christopher, the reason why i brought that up is the

prosecution might go down that road. >> sure. absolutely. and i think the prosecution probably has no choice but to go down that road f. you look at the criminal information that they have filed short but only their version of the facts at this particular point in time, i think they are going to have to go down the road as to who the initial aggressor was. and i think that's an important aspect of this case. that will come out later on and play out as we have more facts. keep in mind, all -- >> go ahead. >> all we have is the prosecution's side of this case at this point. i've heard a lot of people say, well, we've got the facts. we don't have any facts. we have the prosecution's side of the case. >> on that point, christopher, we've got the affidavit, right? and they did not mention zimmerman uttering a racial slur on the night of the shooting. >> correct. >> so the question might be, what will george zimmerman's words mean in the case? we've been looking at some of it in this two-page affidavit so far.

>> yeah. and i think the issue of race is going to be brought up. keep in mind, they're talking about second-degree murder here, which is kind of a depraved mind. and the information that the prosecution has put forward really seems to suggest that there was stalking, there was all of those kinds of things. there's going to have to be a reason for that stalking. what was the basis of that stalking? did he stalk him because he thought he was black? whatever. did he profile him? all of those kinds of things. so the issue of race is going to come up and that's probably going to come up from witnesses or from other information that they have. but, again, keep in mind, this is an incomplete picture at this point. and i'm sure that the prosecution will have much more to come. >> it is incomplete. but it's not as incomplete as chris is suggesting. we have the 911 tapes. we have the tapes of the mobile phone, hearing screams for help. the 911 tape alone shows there's

stauk stalking. there are other facts that haven't developed. but even with the facts that we have appears there was a stalker >> you don't think they're going to broach the subject? >> no. >> why? >> because it doesn't help anyone and because it's hispanic against black potentially. with juries in florida, first of all, that could be an issue. number two, race is not in this case, given the way the prosecutor views the transcript. there was a thought there was a racial slur that was used. in fact, the prosecutor is saying in the affidavit -- >> i'm saying the defense lawyer, o'mara, is not going to bring it up? >> no. i don't think the prosecutor will either. >> go ahead, christopher. >> jay, don't you think that some of the witnesses who they have on the stand are going to bring this up? i'm not suggesting that the prosecution is going to put this forth as part of its case in chief. but don't you think that at some point some of the witnesses would have mentioned it and the jury would have heard it or not? >> the witnesses are just going to say they saw a hispanic male or a black male or what appears

to be. there were no racial slurs. if racial slurs come out of the case, race is not in the case. >> and you're saying the defense will not bring it up at all? >> the defense will not bring it up. there's one other big fact here. this negates the federal investigation. if there was no racial slur, the civil rights case by the department of justice ends. they haven't made that determination yet. but if there's no racial slur, the department of justice's case is basically over. >> absolutely. >> if you're a prosecutor, would you take this case, jay? >> i don't know. if i didn't prosecute, i would publish a report as to what happened. the problem with this case is, we have a 17-year-old boy dead, shot by someone who the police told to back off and we have no facts. i think the big mistake that the police did was either charge him or at least let all the facts come out. >> you wouldn't take it? >> if the facts -- the answer is, probably not. but if i know the facts as they are now. >> christopher, some are asking,

could zimmerman be released on bond, and if so, would he be safe in this case? >> yes. it's not -- it's uncommon but not unusual for him to be released in this particular case. a couple of things, i think jay would agree. jay's prosecuted cases as i have. i think probably the defense and the prosecution, if they have not done so already, would negotiate some terms of release relative to bond, whether it be electronic monitoring, those kinds of things. the problem, of course, for zimmerman is going to be a significant amount of bail, whether it is cash, whether it's property, et cetera. to the question of safety, that is a major concern. when you have organizations like the new black panther party essentially calling for a bounty on his head, that's a concern. frankly, i think if i were the state, i would rather have him released than the nightmare of having to protect him in custody. so i would not be surprised if he were released on bond.

>> christopher and jay, thank you so much. coming up, why is made in america making a big-time comeback? we'll show you. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." ness pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro.

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we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? believe it or not, the u.s. has suddenly become a leading producer of energy. but why, then, are fuel prices still so high? we'll take a look. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." but will it last. [ male announcer ] new lashblast 24hr with anti smudge power will last through all your drama. who knew lashes this big could last this long. [ male announcer ] new lashblast 24hr from covergirl. we asked total strangers to watch it for us.

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the credit is being given to new technologies. joining me from washington is energy expert rhonda fami hudone. the big question is, will the u.s. actually be energy independent by 2020 as was written in it? >> well, richard, it's a very interesting article. i think very optimistically projecting we will be a producer by 2020 and perhaps independent. but -- and the "but" is, if the regulatory environment continues to increase such that we are able to drop some of the restriction that is occur right now with respect to the regulation and that's what washington has to be careful of, is not to overregulate the energy market so that we're restricting our domestic supplies. we have a lot of oil and gas in this country. and we should be exploring it. >> that's one contingency to this 2020 estimation. another contingency that's also involved in this is when we look

at the outside energy sources we go to, canada, nigeria, venezuela, mexico and saudi arabia, that's also part of this estimation, in terms of us continuously being able to get the amount of oil that they are. >> right. the top two suppliers to the united states are canada and mexico, non-opec producers, the other three are opec producers. in some of those countries, the supply certainly to the united states is quite uncertain. that makes people here in the united states quite nervous. >> there's also china and india, which could increase their demand. and that will upset the applecart as well. >> absolutely. but with respect to canada and mexico, they have increased their production, particularly in the gulf of mexico and with canada in their tar sands. they are really leading the way for us here in the united states to help us increase our production both with technology and other means. >> talk more about that. on the flip side, the positive that fuels this idea of being energy independent in the united states by 2020 are things like

this -- we have deepwater drilling being increased, oil and gas from shale, as well as oil sands. those have boosted u.s. energy production. is that going to be a major input to this dynamic that we're discussing? >> it absolutely is. but one thing we have to be careful of, of course, is the political battle by the environmentalists. we've got the technology to be able to safely explore our resources here in the united states, take hydraulic fracture, for instance, which has become much more technologically both efficient and safe over the past few years. and the environmentalists continue to t ba l it as if it were ten, 20 years ago. the situation is such that it has become safer and better for the environment. the environmentalists need to sit back and balance what their concerns are with the idea of the united states becoming more energy independent. >> thank you so much, i appreciate it, rhonda, for your perspectives on this today. >> thanks, richard. another new report suggests that made in america is making a

comeback. a new report shows manufacturing jobs are on the rise with companies adding nearly 500,000 manufacturing jobs since the beginning of 2010. that's the first period of significant growth since the late 1990s. i'm joined by consumer expert regina lewis. regina, that report shows economic conditions here in the u.s. are making it more attractive for manufacturing in the states, a big part of this has to do with transport costs. >> yeah, richard. here's the trifecta. number one, the dollar is worth less. any of these things in isolation don't sound so good. we don't have the buying potential we used to. real wages in the u.s. also down when adjusted for inflation. that hurts short term but might be an appropriate correction. and number three, this may be the biggy, when you look at international employees, particularly a country like

china, suddenly they're not totally down with the idea of working around the clock for next to nothing. so as they make demands on their manufacturers, you start to get parity. >> when we see that increase in domestic manufacturing as well as the issues that you just brought up, what impact does this increase in manufacturing mean to the average american and their spending power? >> well, i think it's a big deal because it's a structural change, not a cyclical change. so historically f you look at it, take the late 1800s by way of example, suddenly you're on the tail of a big depression and then you add the railroads, it makes the world smaller. the internet is the most analogous recent example. it takes a lot fewer employees to run a facebook, an amazon, a google than it does to staff stores or produce cars. so we're not able as a macroeconomy to adjust on the fly. it takes time.

but as we start to adjust, come 2015, i'm not sure that our buying potential will be higher but our job scenario could be much better because what will happen or what is projected to happen is suddenly i'm just as well off employing and opening a plant in the u.s. as i am elsewhere. that's game changing. >> that's the big change we are seeing, perhaps indications of. thank you so much, regina. >> sure. now to office politics this week, we're looking back at the best of alex's interviews including tina brown from "newsweek" to dan rather. we begin with the challenges president obama faces in the november election. >> they know they're going to have the money. they think they've got the best of the retail candidates. they shouldn't be overconfident or get too cocky right now. >> he's made a lot of progress. >> i put a bullet in osama bin laden's head. number two, i saved the auto industry. number three, we are creating more jobs. >> i think he has to focus on

the economy and jobs. that is the only thing that's mattering to people. >> he's got to really worry about the unknown in terms of international affairs. >> there are a lot of things hovering out there. iran is one thing that's hovering out there. there's the issue of gas prices that's hovering out there. there's the possibility the economy will stall out. those could all be problematic for the president. >> he could boast tremendous success with national security. >> first priority should have been jobs. second priority should have been jobs and his third priority should have been jobs. this will be a very tough reelection campaign for president obama. he is by no means assured that he is going to win. >> the president is a narrow favorite to win reelection. >> if they make this a racially tinged campaign, they will mobilize the african-american vote. >> i'm obviously hopeful that on both sides that civility will be passionate and engaged but also will be civil and sane.

>> i think it's a toxic scene right now. i think it has much more grinding roots than they could ever imagine. this poisoning in the sense of american politics. >> i guarantee in 2016, neither party is going to have this many debates this early in the campaign. >> classic republican platform is a very shaky one right now. >> it's totally gone off the rails. you see that by the real decline in the approval rating in the gop and in congress. >> when they started their debates, they were in if not remarkable, very good shape. >> for mitt romney, he's been so battered by this that by the time he finally gets the nomination, he's going to have to do so much repair work to get his act cleaned up. >> you see independents and swing voters at least coming back to the point of saying, well, i don't know. and then you have them saying, look, i can't get down what

these republican candidates are saying. >> the reason negative advertising works is because it's fact-based. if i do an ad, it goes through less scrutiny than if i was doing an ad for a candy bar. >> it's become so toxic that massive amounts of money can be spent in the super pacs. >> the most frightening supreme court decision ever, a rich guy's vote counts a lot more. >> this is a really bad thing. there's no transparency. these super pacs don't have to disclose who's really contributing to them in real time. >> a billionaire with a hobby horse in a sense can tremendously influence what is done, said and acted upon. >> that's scary stuff. >> african-americans are d disproportionately impacted by a bad economy. >> at the end of the day, can i get a job, can i put a roof over

my head? >> most people in the end vote their pocketbooks. >> most people just want to be left alone and maybe have a beer at the end of the day. >> it's almost like if you're trapped in a dark tunnel and you finally see a light, you just hope it's not the train coming. you hope that it's sunshine. but it's a light. so it gives you hope. >> now, tomorrow, the best of office politics gets a rare look at the personal side of many of these famous faces. that's at 1:30 eastern on sunday. up next, the big three, mad men and the don draperizing of mitt romney. this business, there are no straight lines. only the twists and turns of an unpredictable industry. so the eighty-thousand employees at delta... must anticipate the unexpected. and never let the rules overrule common sense. this is how we tame the unwieldiness of air travel, until it's not just lines you see... it's the world.

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has been because of the teachers and the education that i had. they're just part of who i am. she convinced me that there was no limit to what we could learn. i don't think i'd be here today had i not had a wonderful science teacher. a teacher can make a huge difference in a child's life. he would never give up on any of us. thank you dr. newfield. you had a big impact on me. let'all we need is a couple end. of gallons of our hardest-working paint... ...from the get-it-done place that gives us more top-rated brands than anywhere else... ...at prices that won't shake up our budget. let's make a one-wall statement... ...or tackle a total room takeover ...with paint that'll get the job done in fewer trips up and down the ladder. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. the number one brand of paint just got better. starting at $23.98.

live radar, weather tracking right now, those red boxes, we don't like to see those. meteorologist carl parker is watching all this for us at the weather channel headquarters in atlanta. what are we seeing? >> there is a significant tornado threat today. looking at the potential for strong and violent tornadoes throughout the afternoon into the evening. let's look at the watch areas, long-track tornadoes,

softball-sized hail. 80-mile-an-hour wind. both watches going until 6:00 tonight. severe thunderstorm warnings extending across parts of western kansas. the movement on these cells is to the north and northeast at about 50 miles an hour. storms producing large hail in eastern parts of nebraska. we have a greatest risk area today, tornado outbreak likely in nebraska, kansas and down into oklahoma. very strong storms also reaching up into iowa and into missouri. tomorrow, that will come up into the western lakes and extend down into parts of texas. richard, back to you. >> a lot to watch today, carl parker, thank you. time for could's big three. today's topics, dity dozen, nothing to hide and mad man mitt. we bring in jackie kucinich, morris reid and susan del percio. good day to all of you. jackie, we'll start with you.

secret service personnel being reliev relieved of their duties. how often does this happen? >> you know, there have been some incidents with the secret service. there was one earlier this year where an agent in august was charged with drunk driving. but i think the magnitude of this, the number of secret service that we're looking at, i think that's unusual. >> to you, morris, when these guys go oversea, what are their responsibilities and how will they find this time of personal time? >> i almost feel like it's agents gone wild. typically, this is atypical. usually these guys into do a great job of protecting the president. they do have down time. so maybe they have too much down time. but typically, these guys do a great job. we should be very proud of what they do to protect the president's life. >> let's talk taxes, to you, susan, president obama releasing his taxes showing he and his wife paid an incomes tax rate of 20%.

on the other side, romney's camp saying they will release romney's taxes before the november election. why not just release them now? he's filed that extension, basically. >> it's a little bit curious only because of the problems he had during the primary. i would think he would want to get it out of the way. then again, with the extension until october means he could file it anytime. so perhaps he'll do it on a friday before memorial day weekend or something like that. >> waiting for better timing on that. >> exactly. >> morris, when we talk about the issue of taxes, the obama camp pressuring him to release all of them, not only we're talking about 2011 with susan right now but the ones before. what's the strategy here? >> well, it's a winning issue for the president with this whole buffett tax and the fact that the president is being very transparent and that mitt romney's team has stumbled dealing with this. the white house are going to continue to press it because they think they're on the winning side. >> jackie, to you, the average voter looks at this, a lot of back and forth. is this something that's going

to become a bigger issue? >> i think it depends on whether the romney campaign is successful in neutralizing this and how big of a deal this is. we'll see when they release those returns. >> jackie, susan, as well as morris, stand by, more with you and the big three. why democrats are comparing mitt romney to mad men's don draper. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." sometimes, i feel like it's me against my hair. [ female announcer ] end the struggle with weak, damaged hair with new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. it nurtures hair back to strong, healthy life. our exclusive active naturals wheat protein formula works with your hair, targeting damage, restoring strength and resilience for up to 90% less breakage in just three washes. find peace with your hair. [ female announcer ] and discover strong, healthy hair with life. new nourish+ strengthen, from the nourish+ hair care collection. only from aveeno.

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perpetuating lie. how do you sleep at night? >> on a bed made of money. >> i made a lot of money. i've been very successful. i'm not going to apologize for that. i like being able to provide people that fire services to me. >> listen, pete, i need you to go get a cardboard box, put your things in it.

>> that was from political.com. it's a take on the comparison. here is what president obama's chief strategist david axelrod is saying about this. >> i think he must watch "mad men" and think it's the evening news. he's in a time warp. >> let's bring back our panel. susan, he's trying to frame this as mitt romney being of a retro era. he doesn't understand reality. is that going to work? >> no. if that's all they've got, they are going to be in big trouble come november. when we look at things at this point in time, it's a pop culture reference. it's good for april, but it's not going to fly in october and november. >> when you look at this attack, the draperization of mitt romney, you look at the other side, the romney camp is coming back saying, if you look back at that time, unemployment was lower and the economy was expanding. >> listen, the economy is expanding now.

unemployment is going to the right direction given when we took over. the fact is, those are mitt romney's words. he's been careless with what he said. they need to get their act together. by the time november comes around, mitt romney will do a better job. it's not fair to demonize the fact he's been successful. we live in an aspirational society. we should all want to be successful. i think the president needs to focus on what he's doing. >> does this help mitt romney in some way glamorrizing him or comparing him to something that is a popular series right now? a popular character? >> i don't know this matters at all, frankly. i don't think this is going to resonate with voters. at the end of the day, it's about policies. >> you think this is a nonissue. it's not going to be a good message. we are done with it? >> i'm not ruling on the message. i don't think it's going to resonate in the way -- i don't think it's going to stick. >> very important.

it's time for the week's best and worst. who had the best week and who had the worst? >> ann romney had the best week. it was the way she stepped up and handled the situation. it was her introduction really to many people who don't know her from the primaries. she did a great job. p worst week? hilary rosen. not just because of her words but the way she was thrown under the busby the obama campaign. >> was she connected or wasn't connected, right? >> exactly. >> jackie? >> my best is the romney response team. they showed they really could step up and take this to the next level and make it into something that lot of people were talking about. worst week, those 12 secret service agents. that's not going to be a run ride home. >> was this good for women because of the issue of wage and equality has been brought up? the difficulty moms in the work force may face.

>> i don't understand the question. >> is one of the winners for the week mothers? the issue of wage and equality for mothers versus men or mothers versus single women has been debated within the last two or three days and there is a big gap between those two? >> aren't moms always winners? >> they are. very good. >> morris? >> i think moms and romney did a good job this week. white house did the right thing rallying around her. i was proud the first lady stepped up and defended her. i'm happy to see the president stepped up, as well. my mom is a winner for sure and she raised two kids. she raised me, so she did a heck of a job. >> thank you so much. always great to see all of you. >> thank you. >> that wraps up "weekends with alex witt." have yourself a great day. [ degeneres ] what's more beautiful than a covergirl? two covergirls.

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