right now on "andrea mitchell reports" it's on. president obama officially hits the campaign trail next week, but first he unleashes hi ace tack dog on mitt romney. >> i said before, thanks to president obama, bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. you have to ask yourself, if governor romney had been president, could we have used the same slogan in reverse? now it the i'm to heed the

timeless advice from teddy roosevelt. big softly and carry a big stick, end of quote. i promise you, the president has a big stick. in a race where the economy is a top issue, how important will -- plus sxloisive testimony. andrew young airs john edwards' dirty laundry on the stand as defense lawyers put the top a s aide's credibility under attack. foul ball, a little boy reduced to tears after missing the lucky catch. did the greedy couple next to him really need to pose for the pictures? answer -- no. good day. i'm chris cillizza live in washington, in today, in our daily fix, team obama has made it official, the general election is on. the president and first lady will formally kick off the campaign at two rallies on may 5th, knolls coincidentally in key battleground states of ohio

and virginia. mark hall paren is an msnbc senior political analyst. mark, there are no coincidences in politics. i have leadership that over my time. virginia and ohio, what message is the obama team trying to send? >> with andrea away, can i be sarcastic? nice to see the president out there finally campaigning. >> i don't know what you mean, mark. >> they're designating these official campaign trips, and they'll do some of that. the president uses officials traffic to get in some campaign events. look, this race will come down to a handful of states. just how much time barack obama and mitt romney and major surrogates and tv ad spending goes flooding into the 7 to 12 states that are going to determine who the next president is. >> you know, i always say it's a

national election in name only. it's really a series of state elections, as you point out. the latest map updated this morning, you said a relative small number of states, ohio and virginia are on there. colorado, nevada, north carolina and pennsylvania are the other ones that nbc ranks as full toss-ups. a conference call was made yesterday, in that we have a lot most paths to the electoral votes. is that spin or right? >> it's totally true. what those seven states have in common is the president won all of them last time and won most of them by a pretty hefty margin. mitt romney has very few paths until and unless he breaks through in some of those seven. and there's no state on there where he's got anything that amounts to a safe lead or solid lead or really any lead at all. basically they cluster, the two

western states, the two southern states, initial for a democrat, virginia and north carolina, and the big three. florida, ohio and pennsylvania. romney's going to have to build up a lead. that's why the next few months are so critical. the president is going into those states a lot. the vice president will, the first lady, a lot of surrogates. the question again right now through the conventions is can mitt romney develop a lead in any of those states so he has a few more options? right now his number of plausible paths to 270 far fewer than the president. >> mark, one other one. jim messina and david axelrod, the obama campaign has harped on this quite a bit. they say arizona is in play, that they can win arizona. do you buy that? that's obviously -- he won 365 electoral votes, but he didn't

win arizona. is arizona legitimately in play? or is this a faint -- >> the nbc art department has a lot of colors will. >> we don't mess around. >> got to make sure we get all the colors. arizona is in play for sure. until governor romney proves some strength with the hispanic vote, it's in play. what's significant to me, though, and this is where governor romney on the electoral college map does have that is the only state, and the drop-off after arizona probably to georgia is huge. if you go to the next cluster the states where the president might be able to compete, if he starts competing in those states, it's a landslide. he needs to play offense. >> mark halperin, always playing off, thanks for joining us. thanks.

running on a nonexistent foreign policy. joins me national security divorce to the reelection campaign and tim roemer, also a former ambassador to india and visiting fellow at the heart valid institute of politics. now that imyour curriculum vitae out of the way, i have to let you go. let me ask you about this. this is the latest in a series of speeches by joe biden to try to frame the election. i want to play something for you that joe biden had to say, talking about mitt romney. let's play that and we'll come back and talk about it. >> we can't go back to the future. back to a foreign policy that would have america go it alone, shout to the world you're either with us or against us. lash out first and ask the hard questions later if they get asked at all. he starts with a profound, a

profound misunderstanding of the responsibilities of a president and commander in chief. >> back to the future, profound misunderstanding is that campaign receipt ricks or borne on you in fair game, congressman? >> good to see you. one of the things you didn't mention is in my very generous over the top introduction from you was serving on the 9/11 commission. just miles from here, over a decade ago, bin laden carried out a vicious attack killing almost 3,000 people. the president of the united states as a strong commander in chief was determined to go after bin laden, made honorable, tough decisions to get him. a big difference between him and the consultant in chief, mitt romney who would say he would defer things to his generals all the time. i think this president has a

superb, strong, very, very visionary accomplished record in foreign policy. he promised the american people to get out of the iraq war. he's brought over 142,000 troops home. he is committed to degrade and decimate al qaeda. he has followed through on that pledge and made us safer at home and -- i know when i served in india, the president came to see me over there and said how are we making sure we get more jobs in home in places like the midwest by exporting made in the usa products overseas. i think he's doing a great job, and i think governor romney, with all due respect, when you give a major speech at the citadel on foreign policy, and you fail to mention bin laden or al qaeda in the 21st century? you are looking back. >> congressman, i want to play very quickly joe biden talking about iraq and afghanistan. this administration's response to it. i want to come back and quickly

get your thought on this. let's listen. >> president obama began to act immediately. he sat in war a policy to end the war in iraq. he set an end day for the war in afghanistan which has been going on for close to a decade. >> congressman, i was struck by the language. set in motion a policy, a clear end date. is this what the definition of winning looks like? is that what the obama administration is trying to say? >> i think tough leadership, strategic decision-making, counseling with the generals, but making the decision, whether it's in iraq, to responsibly bring all 142,000 troops home, or set a timetable, work in the international community with partnerships strengthen that country, so it can continue on

its own for it is sovereignty and its independence, that's the policy the president has laid out. mitt romney, on the other hand has been fairly feckless and clueless and reckless on this policy. he's changed his opinion on it. he changed his opinion, as i mentioned on whether or not it was worth moving resources to go get bin laden, and he's changed his mind even when the president was successful in putting together an international collision to go after gadhafi in libya and was successful. i think governor romney that is flip flopped on that issue as well. congressman tim roemer, a man of many accomplishments, one of which is is joining us on the show, thank you. >> good to see you. thank you. senator, thank you for your time. i was struck by congressman

roemer, called mitt romney the consultant in chief. is this traditional campaign rhetoric, senator? is this in your mind outside the bounds? >> in the end people run on their records. even foreign policy, joe biden's comment, killing obama does not make a foreign policy. we all applaud that. we aplay the men and women who worked on that, but in the end what mitt romney stands for, what he represents is a time honored tradition, except for barack obama and jimmy carter. that's peace through strength. that was john kennedy's mantra, ronald reagan's mantra, and same questioning, are you better off today than four years ago? you can ask the same questions in foreign policy. is iran further from getting an

atomic weapon, or has it moved perilously closer by this president's continued focus without precondition. this president negotiated a treat and we get a rocket -- so if you look at the record, one of a lack of strength, and time honored tradition, peace through strength. let me -- i was struck by the biden speech, so i want to play more of it. this is him criticizing the romney's foreign policy. i want to ask you about when it when we come back. >> we know governor romney reflexively criticizes the president's policy, without offering any specific alternative. we know when he agrees with the president of the united states, as he has done, he then goes on

to mischaracterize our record to create what is a nonexistent contrast. and most importantly we know that the extent that governor romney -- to the extent he's shown any foreign policy vision, it's through the glass of a rear-view mirror. >> now, senator, you talked about what you believe is barack obama's break with a foreign policy tradition, but what about the flip side of that? mitt romney has spend four year as a govern oor of massachusetts. as someone without a significant foreign policy error, he has relatively vague when it comes to offering specifics. are you concerned that mitt romney simply cannot stand on that same either debate stage or international stage with barack obama, given what is a relative thing record on foreign policy? >> i'm kind of chuckling a bit. barack obama had no record on foreign policy, and his lack of

leadership, lack of an ability to lead has had serious consequence of this nation. mitt romney has been a leader, a successful leader, therefore clearly has -- what it takes to make america stronger. so he's -- this president's policy to russia is we give and they take. he undermined two of our allies, a czech republic, withdraws missile defense, then in a size conversation, talks about, well, have more flexibility, and the reality is mitt romney brings leadership to the table, and we haven't seen the kind of strength in leadership that this nation needs. mitt romney has talked about what he'll do about rebuilding on military, which this president has slashed the budget. he's talked about more naval resources. he's talked about standing with our allies. talk to the folks in israel, check barack obama's popularity in israel, if you think the israelis think he's standing

with them. >> senator norm coleman, thank you for your time. >> my pleasure, chris. thanks. john edwards' defense team is trying to discredit andrew young's story today. the criminal trial over alleged financial campaign violations has turned back and forth into tawdry allegations. nbc senior investigative correspond lisa miers is live in what looks like a rainy greensboro, north carolina, and has just come out of the courtroom to talk to us. thank you for making the time. what's the latest? >> reporter: rainy and blustery. the latest basically is a beeny lowell, john edwards' defense attorney has been molestically trying to punch holes in the account of a sequence of events that led to two wealthy donors providing almost a million to high edwards' mistress rielle

hunter. abby lowell, through phone calls and other records has challenged young's account on when he had conversations with edwards, what he actually -- how much money bunny mellon had committed this project. he testified in court earlier this week that bunny mellon had committed $1.2 million. turns out he told the fbi a while back that she had committed $900,000, and then testified to the grand jury that he -- she had committed $925,000. young also had testified that, you know, the money from bunny just kept coming, but abby lowell introduced phone records, which showed that the day before -- or the day of every check that came from bunny mellon, there were calls, at least one and sometimes multiple calls from andrew young, so that's basically what abby

lowell's focus has been this morning. >> lisa, amazing, i feel like if you look up the word "sordid" you'll find this trial. thanks for staying on top of it. >> reporter: you bet. coming up, the supreme showdown, how will the court's ruling on one of the controversial immigration law impact the 2012 election? plus she fought toxins in california, now she's taking on the global water crisis. environmental activist erin brockovich is ahead on "andrea mitchell reports." minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home.

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might be a policy loss for democrats, but it could also

give the president a political boost ahead of voting this fall. reed wilson is editor in chief of the "national journal's" hot line, and he joins me now. earlier in the show i asked mark halper halperin, and immigration law in arizona, jan brewer won overwhelmingly. what do we think in upholding of the law, what's the impact down ballot, and by that i mean that senate race between richard carmona and jeff lake, what do we think it does? >> think if the sprek upholds any part of the case, if they do uphold that's correct i think it galvanizes hispanic voters, giving democrats another way to say, look, republicans are

against you, republicans are not on your side. republicans have taken a very sort of step-by-step slow effort to try to win over -- to try to convince them to come home to -- but that gets undermined when hispanic voters fundamentally think the party is against them. it only takes a few very outspoken -- antiillegal immigration measures to sort of spoil the water for the rest of the party. there are a lot of republicans that you talk to, that i talk to, who are really concerned that based on the changing democrat grabs of the country, the republican party is essentially writing off the fasters growing demographic in the nation. >> and to your point, i still remember pete wilson, pete wilson in some ways has gotten republicans into a bad place they are in. let me ask you about arizona at

the presidential level, reith. this is one of the very few swingish states that president obama did not win this 2008. obviously some was back john mccain was the republican nominee. do you buy -- and this is clearly what the obama team is selling, including on a conference call last night with their top brass, do you buy arizona as a swing state in 2012? >> if you look at the population of arizona and by the way, i'll throw texas if there, both states should be purple swing states. there are enough hispanic voters to actually swing these elections towards democrats. however, the population is not the same thing as the electorate. it was a real interesting study by the william c. velazquez institute that only 51% of eligible husband espionage americans over 18, american citizens eligible to vote, only 51% are actually registered.

democrats need to register these voters and get them to the 308s. democrats at the moment are leaving millions of votes across the country on the table, simply because they newer populations haven't acclimated to a political culture just yet. >> right, getting the hispanic population and voters registration to match. thank you, reid wilson. >> thanks, chris. up next the political briefing. could 2016 by a hillary clinton/andrew quoto all-new york showdown? more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food.

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cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. welcome to my announcement to run for president of malta. >> that was secretary of state hillary clinton in northern tuesday at "time" magazine's mo influential list. she made light of speculation

about her political future, and that, of course, brings us to today's political and hillary clinton for 2016. politico's lois romana joins us. >> hi, chris. >> i am a sucker. i told you hillary clinton has shut the door on names, but there was -- the newest poll shows that 65% is the highest we have ever measured her, going back all the way to 1992. >> >> absolutely. the clintons never go away. bill just keeps coming back. if we're talking about favorable ratings, you know, as a former at the present time, he's always been off the charts. you can't believe we're talking about 2016 anyway. >> c'mon, that's my bread and butter.

anyway, that being said, hillary is burned out right now, but she's got plenty of time to regroup, she'll have four years. i absolutely think she's going to look at it extremely seriously. i'm not sure governor cuomo will return if her numbers stay the way they are -- i'm not sure he would run and challenge her anyway. among andrew cuomo's assets are the affect that he has great political antenna. >> and i think right now today, who knows what happens in four years, what happens, it's her time. >> buyers' remorse is a powerful thing. i agree. we had not heard the last of it.

thank you, lois. >> you're welcome. coming up, can mitt romney rock the youth vote? this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. imaging . we have customers all over the united states. we rely on the postal service for everything that we do. the eastern maine processing facility is vital to our operation and our success. if we lose this processing facility we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. we would have to consider layoffs as a result of that. closure of this plant will affect all of us. ♪

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[ loud r&b on car radio ] i'm going on break! the more you bundle, the more you save. now, that's progressive. after sweeping to the house majority in 2010, republicans are now worried they may lose control of the house in 2012. here's speaker john boehner just this week. >> >> i want our members and supporters around the country to understand the facts. 89 freshmen members running for their first reelection, over 40 members running in districts that were won by barack obama. we've got a fight on our hands and our members need to be prepare. >> was speaker boehner trying to manage expectations or a rallying cry? joining me to answer those questions is chairman of the

democratic campaign committee, congressman, what do you want to say, john boehner says there's a 1 in 3 chance that they take back the house? >> i heat to agree with john boehner on anything, but i tell you what, i agree with him that retch control of the house is in trouble. it was a stunning admission of possibly defeat that speaker boehner announced just days ago. he's looking at the same maps and numbers we are. he says there are 50 republican districts in play. i actually think it's about 60, but i'll meet him in the middle. we only need 25 to take the majority, and not to harp on buyer's remorse you just spoke of, he's detecting the same, where they elected a tea party republican in 2010, thought they were getting somebody to solve problems, instead gout somebody who was extreme, and spent more

time figuring out how to shut down planned parenthood that is start a small business. >> now, congressman, you mentioned the number and i remined people too to gob to the numbers. you need 25 seats. or who hold districts won by president obama in 2008. now, that obviously is more than enough seats for you. the question i have, we have seen three straight wave eselections, 2006, 2008, 2010, by wave i mean where national issues tended to matter more than local issues, and we talk big swings. is 2012 going to be another wave election? and do you need it to be to take back the house? >> i think 2012 could have the potential of a wave reaction to republican overreaction. a reaction to a house republican majority that consistently chooses to give more tax cuts,

but then says -- the more they do that, the more enraged independents become. that's what happens, chris. we lost 9 million independents in 2010 that voted for house democrats in 20 on 08 and 2006. we're oning back independents, we're winning back seniors, we're winning back women, because of this excessive ideology, these wrong priorities that house republicans persist in on every single vote of every day. the more they do that, the more there's buyer's remorse. and the more it looks like this could be a wave election again. >> i want to mention president obama, who obviously is on the ticket, american cross roads, kind of the leading conservative outside organization out there released a web video today, playing on the kind of, for lack of a better word, cool factor of

the president. let me play a bit of that and come back and talk about it. so, congressman, you're an astute political analyst, i know this from our many conversations not on television. it seems as though republicans are trying to embrace the idea, sure barack obama is cool, issue he slow jams the news with jimmy fallon, but the record doesn't back it up, and maybe in the words of mitt romney, we need one tough nerd. whether it's at the presidential level or how it drips down at the house races? i want i'll be honest, one of the things that does concern me, one of the things that does keep me up at night is the super pacs, who will do ads like that,

make up whatever they want, with undisclosed money, beam into congressional districts, say whatever they want against the president, they'll probably spend $60 million on silly ads like that, and i hope that there will be a robust response, you know, we have allies who really didn't have much of a robust response in 2010, who i hope will have a more robust response now. those are the unknowns, everything in our control at the committee we have done or exceeded. we have out-raised the republicans by 10 million. we've got 60 to 75 seats in play. what does concern me is these undisclosed stealth secret super pacs, and we'll have to be vigilant against them. >> huge story, thank you, congressman israel. >> thanks, chris. as we just saw, republicans are mocking president obama's youth outreach, but what can the gop do to appeal to this critical group of voters? joining mess now, is romney

surrogate congressman from illinois, aaron shock. congressman, we know if you look at the 2008 election, barack obama won young voters 18 to 20 years old by 18 points, a vast margin since bill clinton. the message out there seems to be that mitt romney isn't exciting anyone, much less young people. i want to play something on jason sell dab is. let's play it and i want to talk about it with you. >> he's not a wild man. we wouldn't want or president to be a wild man, but he he is as bland as bland can be. he's like a butter sandwich with unsalted butter and the crust cut off. >> he was on "meet the press's" press pass. an unsalted butter sandwich. congressman, what do you do with that image? how do you make mitt romney exciting to young people and everybody else? >> well, chris, you know, they

can play as many funny jokes as they want about governor romney, but one thing that's not funny is the fact that half of the college graduates last year are still unemployed. half of the college graduates last year still live with their parents, and as these young people meet the obama economy reality and realize that the man they voted for last time, the man they were so excited for last time, the great hope for our country, the uniter of our country, the man who is going to govern from the center and bring people together has a left-wing ideologue whose policies have harmed our economy and the job market for the very young people who helped sweep him into office. as a result, i'm not sure republicans have to have anything too slick and glossy, other than the fact that the current economic policies are not working, and i think ultimately it will be a referendum on the president, and judge people based on the recent polling just this week where 75% of young people had a favorable pin of president obama four years ago, that number is in the

40% tile now. it's clearly why the president is making all these campaign stops around college campuses to try to reconnect. >> congressman, i want to ask, how much of the youth vote is about narrowing the margin by which barack obama wins it, and how much is a reasonable expectation that mitt romney could win it? again we're talking about a 30 muss point margin in 2008 is your goal to narrow that gap or is there -- do you believe there is a compelling enough message that mitt romney can put forward, and i would love to hear it if you think there is, that he can actually win? >> i think he can win. anytime you enter a campaign for anyone's vote, you enter to win it so i think the -- he ways

received very well there. i think his message will not be slick and glossy, but one of look, i've created jobs, i've been in the sector, in the real world, in the economy, and where president obama talks a good game, the reality is that his rhetoric doesn't match the reality that he's trying to paint. the reality is he is a businessman, nobody is questions his qualifications, but whether he knows how to manage a state like some massachusetts or managing the olympics or a private business, he clearly knows how to create jobs. at the end of the day, that's what college students want more than anything, is a job. >> congressman aaron schock,

thank for joining us. >> good to see you, chris. she's still fighting. erin brockovich is next on "andrea mitchell reports." of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system,

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for you are these flowers, like soap is for showers. everyone grows with miracle-gro. coming up in 15 minutes on "news nation" there's another big scandal, the secret service acknowledging it's investigating whether employees hired strippers and prostitutes days before president obama's visit to el salvador last year. and it's a shocking practice that's going on in hospitals around the country -- debt collectors trawling emergency rooms and demanding that patients pay overdue bills before they get treated. i'll talk with minnesota's attorney general who is investigating whether these debt collectors are breaking the law. it's water, the most precious resource, and we're

consuming it, wasting it and polluting it at an alarming rate. next friday, a documentary will bring attention to the global water crisis. here's a short excerpt. >> farms all over the central valley have been allowed to dry up. it's not a question of if, it's a question of when. >> we take for granted what happens in other parts of the world and we just always think that never can be me. >> environmental and consumer activist erin brockovich is featured in the film, probably best known as for julia roberts' portrayal in the fight about chemical waste. andrea mitchell sat done with brockovich. >> "last call at the oasis" is a

great documentary, and it's a wake-up call i hope about the deplegs of our water supply, and the misuse of it. so the title really is what what it is. i think there's a pivotal moment where we're facing the last call where we need to take action. otherwise i think the consequences on the other side could be somewhat dire for most of us. >> how are we continuing to pollute, to spoil our water supply, this precious resource. >> my gosh, that is a big question. >> do we have enough time? what do you think are the most critical? >> i think place is the most critical. i've been out hoar doing this for 20 years, since 1991. i can tell you in every corner of the united states across america, we have a community suffering from some form of groundwater pollution. and we're not there. agencies are absent, we're not cleaning it up. we're not looking at the effects

of what's happening to these communities, health and our children as they've been exposed. i think that's one of the most important things, and we don't look at 30-plus million americans, who are still on well water who are absolutely off the grid, and i think that we have got to get back to the basics of looking at these communities and cleaning up the groundwater issues we have. we have over 15,000, you have to 30,000 superfund sites that have not been cleaned. >> now, the whole notion of the superfund, these superfund sites, which you were such an activist on in the beginning, is that it does get cleaned up. how is this possible? >> it's not getting cleaned up. you know what? something has gone very wrong. i think for the communities that i deal with, you know, they're waiting for the epa. they think they're saved once they come. i hate tore the bearer of bad news and tell these that

superman is not coming, but superman is not coming. >> are these mostly rural communities? >> wouldn't think that. it is a deep concern why we have such an absence of this agency and people have to start facing the fact that we'll be looking at other solutions and options as to how we'll deal with this mess. but it is a deep concern and one that communities are desperate. they don't know who to turn to anymore. this is part of how i've gotten involved in a project with google about mapping what people are reporting in and around these super fund sites and the excess amount of illness and disease and autoimmune and cancers that we're seeing, especially with our youth in these locations. >> that's how you first got involved was the health crisis in the community in california. >> yes. >> all these years later, you're still seeing that there hasn't been clean-up in many places around the country and there are

still hot spots which are health areas. >> absolutely, more than hot spots. thousands of them. it was disheartening to me to read the usa today report about 400 lead sites that have fallen off epa's radar and now we're dealing with 400 hot spots in the u.s. of children exposed to lead who are sick. and this is very concerning. i'm like a foot soldier if you will, out there with all the other people. and somebody up here on the hill, and i mean this with no disrespect, is not listening to the people. when i'm out in communities like in missouri and it is 2012 and i'm in the united states of america, and children are playing in open lead piles. and when they ride by us on their bicycles and wave, their hands are gray from lead and they're sick. and i look around. hello! where is everybody? and what are we doing? and it is an issue that is

bigger and more troublesome today than it was when i began my work in that small desert town in hinckley, california, in 1991. >> erin brockovich, the challenge continues. >> it does. >> and the fight goes on and you are leading the way. you are more than a foot soldier. you are a commanding general. thank you so very much. the book is out and the film last call, too. >> it's a great documentary and i hope a lot of people see it. it is a wake-up call. and i think that we can change the course that we're on but we're going to have to look at it first. >> thank you so much. >> i want to talk about some serious issues such as -- >> okay. here it comes. nuclear proliferation. nuclear proliferation.

nuclear pfe ♪

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but that label can lead to prejudice and discrimination, and we don't want to go there. so let's try to see people for who they really are. you can help create a more united states. the more you know. g msnbc contributor jonathan

capehart with the "washington post" joins me with the next 24. what should we pay attention to in. >> good lord. newt gingrich is going to the north carolina zoo in ashburn, north carolina. he has some other events scheduled in the state which has an upcoming primary. but he is out of the race but not until tuesday, may 1st and as long as he is in the race, he will have the secret service protection so that's $44,000 out of the taxpayers pockets a day. >> feeding pandas. thank you. >> thanks. >> that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." it's hard to believe but there is another big scandal surrounding the secret service today. the secret service acknowledged it is investigating whether employees hired strippers and prostitutes days before president obama made a visit to el salvador. this happening last year.

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