a chi niz activist escapes house arrest and may now be under u.s. protection. this happens between days before hillary clinton arrives for a visit. republicans accuse president obama of using the death of osama bin laden to his political advantage. does this ad cross the line. plus teaming up, former president bill clinton works with president obama to win cash and win your vote. great to have you with us. a lot on the agenda for you morning. a leading u.s. diplomat is in china amid the reports that the two countries are negotiating the fate of a prominent scchine disside disside dissident. he's under the protection of the american embassy after escaping house arrest. members of american based china aid confirm he's in u.s. hands.

>> he's very safe and in good spirit. physically a little tired given the years of house arrest. >> protesters walked the streets following word that the two sides could reach agreement in the next 48 hours. joining me now is ian williams. so plain explain the backer to. this highlights the sophisticated underground. >> surprisingly so. and there are few facts but plenty of intrigue. dissident sources have said to us he's in what they call the safe place. and they say there is only one safe place in beijing for him, the u.s. embassy. or at least some sort of did diplomatic safe house. but that said, officials,

chinese and american, are refusing to confirm that. the secrecy surrounding whatever's going on is intense. in fact the state department wouldn't even confirm that their point man on asia, kurt campbell, had arrived in beijing, although he was spotted by journalists to whom he refused on comment. now, the train if you'd like, the dissident network that managed to get him to freedom does seem to have been a long more effective than we thought. one friend of chen described the escape as the chinese version of the "shawshank redemption," you'll recall that film and the meticulous way in which that particular character escaped. well, it seems that he tried to tunnel his way out of that villager. that didn't work. and then he faked illness for several weeks. didn't leave the house. trying to alllull his guardses to a false sense of security which seemed to work.

he then reportedly scaled the wall before stumbling around for perhaps two hours before being met by his dissident friends. and don't forget this courageous man was blind, blind since childhood. so it is a remarkable escape. but of course a tremendoustreme dilemma for china and the united states before hillary clinton arrives. unless they do find an agreement, there will be nothing routine about her visit here. >> ramps up an eye on the secretary of state's visit. thousa thousand back to home and politics. romney campaign accusing obama of playing politics with the kill of osama bin laden. this new ad featuring bill clinton. take a look. >> suppose navy s.e.a.l.s had gone in there and it hasn't been

bin laden . the down side would have been horrible. but he reasoned. he took the harder and more honorable path. and the one that produced in my win i don't know the best result. >> that ad then goes on to suggest mitt romney might not have gotten bin laden. p the romney campaign says it goes too far. >> this is one of the reasons president obama has become one of the most divisive presidents in american history. he took something that was a unifying event for all americans and he's managed to turn it into a divisive partisan political attack. >> let's talk more about this with our political power panel. debbie dingle, morris especially seen and perry bacon. great to see all of you. republicans accuse the president of really spiking the football

on this will. is that far? no pictures of the president with a accomplish accomplished banner waving behind him and isn't that the main reason why we have a phrase of great risk, great reward? >> absolutely. i don't think it's a fair criticism at all. we're just talking the facts. and the fact of the matter is that president obama took a very difficult decision when governor romney had said doing such they think would be foolish. i think the krichl criticism is unfair. >> john mccain wrote president obama is shamelessly turning the one decision he got right on into a pathetic political act of self congratulation. here's what robert gibbs had to say over the weekend on "meet the press". >> osama bin laden no longer walks on this planet today

because of that brave decision and the brave actions by the men and women in our military and quite frankly, mitt romney said it was a foolish thing to do a pew ye few years ago. >> is the right up in arms because the democrat being president got it right and it's just a case of sour grapes? >> absolutely not. one con grgratulated president obama on killing osama bin laden. everyone including mitt romney said that was the right thing to do. the problem isn't saying i did the right thing. the problem is saying mitt romney wouldn't have. mitt romney never said it would be foolish to kill osama bin laden. what he did say is that he wouldn't con send sdrat centrat much as someone else would have. now what's coming out is president obama saying i'm this great president on everything from the economy to foreign policy to killing osama bin laden. mitt romney wouldn't have done it. and we all know that's not the case. president obama is having such a bad month. you look at the supreme court discussions on the health care to immigration. look at the bad news on the

economy. he needs some good news. that's why the dogged concentration on the killing of osama bin laden. >> so let's talk about the economy. perry, about the point of who saved detroit. the two campaigns arguing now over who saved the auto industry. over the weekend, one of the romney campaign top advisers saying the only economic success president obama has had is because he followed mitt romney's advice. referring to the structured bankruptcies that gm and chrysler had to go through early in president obama's term. structured bankruptcies that mitt romney advocated months before the president took office, but really not consistent with what the candidate said and he even wrote in the public poll chosturing. how do you change the narrative on this? >> these are decision that obama made that worked.

romney arguing they're not correct or he's politicizing. unlike the stimulus or health care and that's why the obama campaign wants to talk to them and romney wants for say this ss is off the table or you're misleading in the xwchgm case. >> two dueling ads. romney attacks the president obama's handling of the economy and jobs and president obama claims credit for reviving the economy and creating these new jobs. is the economy the safest bet for mitt romney to go after for his campaign? he should stick to what he knows? >> he should absolutely stick to the economy. the economy is the main issue for the selection. unless god forbid something bad happen this is in the national security front, it will be the economy. and with unemployment above 8% for three years now, the gdp numbers being awful for this last report coming out last week, mitt romney has to keep going out and they're saying

i've been successful in the public and private section tore, this president has not been successful as president 38 back to the auto industry. it's 180,000 jobs later than in 2008. overwhelming majority of those jobs lost were nonunion workers. if you look at the basis of what actually happened with auto bailout, it was really just a deal that he had between the president and uaw. >> but it's thriving. you have to admit that it is thrive williing and this is wha knows bring back what is truly an institution. >> but certain plants that were closed that were nonunionized plants have not's procehibited going to other plant which is seems wrong. why can't they get a job at a different plant? because they weren't part of the union. we're not part of the inner circle around president obama. >> union busting is a completely different topic that we should

talk about another time. but debbie, another veep tryout to talk about. kelly ayotte. what do you think is happening here is this just another test balloon and how many do you think are wiwill go snup. >> i have to go back to the auto stray where this president saved 1 hpt 4 billion jobs in the supplier industry when he accepted up and mitt romney said let it go bankrupt. when you talk about what he said, it was as late as february, i was sitting in the audience when mitt romney said the auto industry would be better off if president obama hasn't intervened and president obama insisted on leadership change inside that auto industry. everybody came to the table and made concessions. it was a difficult time and you had one man who was prepared to bring everybody to the table and make tough decisions. and at another time a man who came out of capital industrial, knew that there was no private funding available to try to help these industry, and brought the government to it. so i have to say that i have to

sit here as one of those people who is from the midwest and knows what would have happened if the auto industry had collapsed. started under president bush. thankfully we had a republican and a democrat who knew what the consequenceses would have been if they hadn't intervened and the economy would not be headed in the correction thdirection t headed and we got where we were because of republican policies that almost destroyed this industry. brought back on where we were in the post depression and we're strongly and steadily, steadily is the word trying to rebuild what we lost. >> my better question would have been just give me your reaction instead of asking about senator ayotte. i do want to get your take on whether or not this is just another test balloon to see if she would make a good ticket for mitt romney. >> i think we'll see lots of test balloons. they want to be careful and thoughtful, not have a repeat of

what happened in the last nomination process when diverted everybody. and i think you'll see they'll try to get the creatireaction t number of vice presidential dand c candidates. >> perry, michelle obama will be appearing out there. this is obviously attention putting on arizona. a state that normally doesn't go the democrats way. is it a pipe dream for democrats to think this is realistic? >> i think it's a long shot, but i think the campaign does want to try to look at some states like arizona. we assume that indiana or obama won in '08, he won't win this time, but they are looking at states line arizona where the dem graphics, latino voters particularly are very big there, big population of them, romney has not done well on the immigration issue. so i think they're looking to expand the map in new places. >> ten seconds. >> 80% of the country says

economy is the number one issue. so states like arizona where the economy has been very troubled are a safe place for mitt romney. barack obama shouldn't waste his i'm. >> we shall see how it all plays out. thanks to all of you. i appreciate. later this hour, president clinton teaming up with president obama for the first of three fund-raisers for the re-election campaign. we'll bring you the details straight ahead. but first george zimmerman's lawyer launches a social media campaign for his client after shutting down zimmerman's website last week. why he's doing it, plus major milestone came, one world trade center will surpass the empire state building as new york's tallest sky skriper. we'll get a report from you. this is $100,000.

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a controversial new fwtwistn the case of george zimmerman. zimmerman's attorney is launching a social media campaign on behalf of his client. two new websites have been created, one to circulate details about the trial while disputing this this information gone live, but that will collect donations to pay for zimmerman's legal expenses. o'mara has also created a facebook page and twitter feed for zimmerman, as well. we're joined by jim fahey to talk more about this. as we talk about the trial of the century, modern day, what it means to have a social media campaign working on your side, let's talk about the statement on the active site that reads we understand it's unusual for a legal defense to maintain a social media presence on behalf of a defendant, but we also acknowledge that this a very

unusual case. is there precedent for anything like this? i know we've had trials of the century and labeled them before, but never in in the type of news cycle, never in the type of connectivity through social media that we have today. >> never anything like this that i can imagine. i've known political cases where a politician might have a website if they're under indictment, but nothing like this where it's a violent crime. >> something interesting about the defense fund being created by the lawyer himself to help pay for his client's legal fees. which is very interesting to think about that. but the defense fund not active just yet because o'mara is waiting for the consumer affairs officials to approve this. will comes after a judge declined to raise zimmerman's bond after learning that he secured more than $200,000 from a website that he created himself. do you think this is overstepping bounds to create this fund? >> i really don't. i do a lot of cases involving politicians and involving police officers.

and it's pretty common when a law enforcement officer is charged with anoff fence for a fund to be set up, so again what make this is unusual is in a this is a very notorious crime and a crime that involves violence and it's not someone that was famous or had a position of authority before the crime occurred. so that's what makes will this unusual and i think we'll see a lot more of this in the future. >> perception is reality in so many of these cases when we watch he's unfold, but what is it going to be like now to have such a public investment utilized and encouraged through websites, through internet social media activities like we're about to see where this? >> i think if it this was the nra i suspect and a lot of their supporters want to get money to george zimmerman. so i think that's another aspect that we have to keep in mind here.only types of cases where i think you're really going to see funds like this being contributed is if there's some social issue that it's part of the criminal case. and that's what i think makes this case a little bit unusual.

from the lawyer's perspective, one website is to keep scheduling information on there, to correct errors that the public may have. i think the lawyer did that out of self presentation because if he didn't, he would have to be paying one or two people and he said that he has had two interns working full-time on just responding to media questions. will eliminates the need to keep picking up the phone every 5 or ten minutes to answer the questions. >> it has brought us so many unique firsts. just watch to go sing to see if zimmerman would even be charged. great to see you. thank you. coming up, the hunt not next osama bin laden. a year after the death of the terrorist leader, forces are set on his successor. plus the search for answers after an suv plunges off an overpass killing seven family members. a horrible story. we'll bring you the latest. [ male announcer ] considering all your mouth goes through,

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now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. this weeks marks one year since the navy s.e.a.l.s shot and killed osama bin laden. the terrorist met work hobbled but not defeated by the death of their mastermind. new men on the list of those a clear and present danger daniel, u.s. officials say osama bin laden's old team is all but dismantled, but al qaeda does remain. so how has the terrorist network change and how does it reinvents itself since his death? >> it's changed tremendously. for one thing, at least half of its top leadership has been decimated largely by the drone campaign in pakistan.

but will is still some leaders that go way back with osama bin laden and there is some in-from a structure, although one of the most important events over the last few years is that the infrastructure has also been terribly degraded by the u.s. which makes it extremely difficult for code to organize, to train, to plot, to raise money, to do all the things that you need to do if you want to pull off really large scale terrorist attacks. so what that means is they are not able to pull off those kinds of attacks and they have to increasingly rely on their affiliates in other parts of the world to try to pull off terrorist attacks. >> small are operatives. let's talk about al-zawahiri. he's the former egyptian sclar cleric. you say he's not nearly as

charismatic as bin laden.sclar cleric. you say he's not nearly as charismatic as bin laden. cleri. you say he's not nearly as charismatic as bin laden. in your estimation from your reporting, by putting him out as the new front man or the sus pish shops, is he a red herring to allow someone else to thrive to the top? >> that's an interesting point. it's hard to say whether he's more dangerous than osama bin laden. to sustain an organization like al qaeda, it really is important to have a charismatic leader and someone who people can really rally around. he's more the brains behind the operation, but he is a dougher. doer. he has been involved in masterminding attacks. no one underestimates his intelligence. the question is his sleeleaders ability. the dilemma is that he doesn't

have that iconic status within al qaeda, he has to prove himself. only way for him to really prove himself is to be able to carry out successful attacks. to carry out successful attacks he has to be out there more. and if he's out there more, he's more vulnerable to american drones and to other ways of getting him. >> you you bring me to my next point because he's not out there so much. he wi american intelligence community doesn't have a good solid lead on where he's been since 2006. why is this such a cold trail? >> the interesting thing is remember there was also a cold trail for osama bin laden unlg not that listening ago. these terrorist leaders do practice a pretty good op sec or operational security. they are very careful. there are some indications that

he has been in pakistani cities. if you go back to the months after 9/11, most of the big leaders have been captured in cities. so there is some speculation and some intelligence that suggest zawahiri has been in a teaming city inpakistan. others thinks he's on the border of afghanistan and pakistan. you but the u.s. has had some luck or has been able to crack the kroed. and so there is some optimism that ultimately they'll be able to get him. >> a lot of suspicions about whether osama bin laden was 450id hiding out and people claimed a lot of lacky thi kwha. so we shall see. thank you, sir. appreciate it. programming note. wednesday night, an exclusive

for you. inside the situation room. brian williams interviews president obama and his national security and military teams about one of the country's greatest military missions, the raid targeting osama bin laden. that's wednesday on rock center with brian williams at 9:00, 8:00 central. still ahead for you, what a difference four years can make. president clinton joins president obama on the campaign trail. details on that super presidential team. and a hike are survive four days alone with no food. how did she make it? ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] virtual wallet can help you be that person who's good with money. see what's free to spend. move money with a slide. save with a shake. feel good about your decisions.

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he is the latest high powered weapon being used by the obama campaign. president bill clinton. we told you about the former president appearing in a new ad touting president obama. last night the former president also appeared at the first of three pund raisfund-raisers for

obama campaign. it was held he home of terry mccull laukuauliffe. simon, great to have you here. and this relationship between the two hasn't always been chummy. especially when you think about to that bitter 2008 battle between president obama and hillary clinton for the democratic nomination. how has the four years made for a lot of water under the bridge? >> i think what you're seeing now is there's really two dimensions to what's going on here. the political dimension and message dimension. and the political dimension is having bill clinton on the the team is a sign of unity. it will allow them to rise more money. and as you mentioned in your intro, it brings a very powerful surrogate on to the campaign trail for the obama team. the second thing, though, is the messaging. and you heard that last night from tspeeches that bill clinto can say when i left office, everything was headed in the right correction and then republican economic policies made everything worse.

we can't afford to go back to that set of strategies the way romney wants to do it. so i think that will be an enormous validation for the direction the obama team is going. so this is a powerful partnership for the democrats. >> so when we look about both sides having a strong incentive to be a part of all of this, both sides tooep ieaming up, fo president obama bringing out president clinton is wind at your back. but what is the incentive other than staying out there because clinton likes the spotlight and certainly staying relevant in the national conversation, but is there a more, i don't know, less talked about incentive in all of this? >> knowing president clinton as i do, i also know that he likes the fight. he views that there will be a a big debate in this election and he wants to get in the game. he's very proud of the accomplishments of his administration. he really believes deeply that what the republicans are presenting now will take the

country in the wrong direction and i think he wants to get in. if anyone knows bill clinton, this guy likes the fight. and this is going to be i think a very intense election. amazing there's another six months. and let's be honest. it's helping if secretary clinton decides she wants to run for president in 2016 -- i knew you were going there -- that if she decides to run, certainly will be advantageous that they're keeping their political chops and network together, their earning chips by campaigning. it's politics. i don't think anybody knows what second clinton will do in 2016. she'll have to make cha choide , but it's leaving the door open. >> it's marathon, not a sprint. hangs so much, sir. appears to be the latest

plan to put mitt romney and republican on the defensive with women voters. senate democratic leaders are prepare to go bring back the paycheck fairness act which was blocked by republicans. republican congresswoman kathy rogers said it this about democrats fabricating a gop war on women. >> the war on women is really a myth. that it has been created by the democrats in an earth to distract americans once again from the real issues. democrats know that the republicans won the women's vote in 2010. it was the first time since reagan that the republicans won the victim's vote. could be argue that had it was the american women that really voted out fired the first woman speaker of the house because they didn't like the direction the country was taking. >> joining me now political he had i had toreeditor.

will we continue seeing strategies like this bringing the attention to where women's issues are in this country? >> certainly helpful for the white house to keep will issue on the table. and with a democratic majority leader, this is one tactic that the obama -- i won't say the campaign, but the democratic machinery can try to employ. and at the same time, help democrats try to push legislation that might not get a filibuster so the violence against women's act finally got a vote. because it wasn't filibustered because republicans didn't want to have to keep talking about this. of course, though, the other thing this will do is get reporters to ask mitt romney again whether or not he supports wi this. so this is something you'll probably expect over the next coming months. >> and through the whole primary season, mitt romney played into this stereo i'm type of republi ares going way to far to the right on issues of birth control and immigration. but will he have to keep moving

back to the center, changes his stand on these wedge issues and especially as you bring up as he'll be asked by reporters? >> i think he'll keep pushing the issue of the economy and keep pointing the finger back at the white house and saying that no matter what they want to try on distract on or come up with gimmicks on, that women have been hurt by the president's policies on the economy. that's probably going to be the talking point that you hear over and over again. >> great to see you this morning. thanks. colorful testimony this morning in the criminal trial of john edwards. sherry young, the wife of former edwards aide andrew young is taking the stand. she says edwards became irritated when she questioned whether taking money from down nors to hide his mistress was legal. edwards is accused of using 1le million in campaign donations to hide the affair during his 2008 white house run. if convicted, he faces up to 30 year misprison.

jay gray joins me now from greensboro, north carolina. he's covering the trial for us. so tell us more about sherry young's testimony, how pivotal she is to being backing up her husband. >> reporter: she is key just due to the fact that he so often cast her as the one in charge of the financeses for the family and a lot of this money was run through the family bank account according to him and sherry for that matter. she was very forceful on the stand this morning saying that, yeah, he wanted money brought in and he wanted it it brought in as quickly as possible. and made it clear that he wanted the money to make sure it would cover up his affair with ielle . and she went along with the plan because she thought the entire campaign would go down if i did not do it this this. she said she was shaking in her boots as she depositeded some of

those checks. she's lending the human touch talking about ray he will hunte part of the family, her husband's dedication to john edwards saying that at times he even did yard work, he went christmas shop to go buy presen presents for edwards' family, all the day to day tasks and that it really put a vein on their family because he was not there to do those things or to there been with their family. but she's pivotal to tie together the money trail and to bring things back around after what was a rough go for her husband on cross-examination. >> minute else expectanyone els that time stand today? >> i think she's all we'll see today and we may see her again tomorrow. she saw the money go through

their bank account and ultimately to ray he wirielle h. authorities trying to determine what caused a weekend accident. seven people including three children died when their suv plunged off a highway overpass into a ravine mere the bronx zoo. the crash happened less than five miles from the family's home. all seven were wearing seatbelts. a utah woman is expected to make a full recovery after a rugged ordeal in the desert, 59-year-old victoria grover broke her leg during a six mile hike and survived four days in freezing temperatures, no food, grover says shetry and praying. rescuers discovered her saturday. amazing story. u.s. special forces are aiding in the search for joseph kony. a 100 man unit has been deployed to aid a group of ugandan

soldiers. kony's group has weakened and on the run. kony is notorious for taking children as prisoners to become his soldiers. they face war crime charges once they are found. xwa pogay politicians are o portion. we'll tell you about the new goal. and the commander in chief while he turns comedian at the white house correspondents dinner. you'll hear and see some of those highlights. and the new skyscraper being built at ground zero mark as major milestone. [ degeneres ] what's more beautiful than a covergirl? two covergirls. get two miracles in one product. new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation. covers spots, lines... and wrinkles. and helps improve skin tone over time. new tone rehab from easy... breezy... beautiful... covergirl! covergirl! we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations,

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it's all about absorption. welcome back. 2012 may mark a milestone for the gay and lesbian community. more out lgbt candidates may be running for political candidates this year than ever before. the nonpartisan group has already banked more than 100 candidates for local, state and federal office and it expects to double that number head willed into november.

joining me how is dennis dyson. great to have you here. i think a lot of people would wonder does this reflect a change not only in american attitudes but a step forward electing those who truly represent an underserved part of society? >> it really does. and it also gives us results as you've seen in maryland and washington where they have sisks and eight openly lgbt members of the state legislatures. >> congressman barney frank who kicked open a lot of doors is set to retire this year. he was closeted for miss first seven years in the house. did he truly pave the way for politicians who didn't have to hide their trueiss first seven years in the house. did he truly pave the way for

politicians who didn't have to hide their truehiiss first seven years in the house. did he truly pave the way for politicians who didn't have to hide their truesiss first seven years in the house. did he truly pave the way for politicians who didn't have to hide their truess first seven years in the house. did he truly pave the way for politicians who didn't have to hide their true first seven years in the house. did he truly pave the way for seven years in the house. did he truly pave the way for politicians who didn't have to hide their true -- >> he did. also tammy baldwin who is in the house and running for the united states senate, she's another hero of the communities really. >> so when we talk about the enroads that have been made for lgbt, the community itself, there are politicians that do remain in the closet so to speak and they do get locatelected. we only have two republican candidates running. no currently serving. paul babeau recently outed. wasn't running as an out man until some information came forward that put him on the scene and he's embraced it. why does there remain this staunch opposition within the republican part iity? >> there used to be openly gay

republicans in congress up until 2006. there haven't been in a little while thousand. and we think it's important that there are authentic lgbt voices on either side of the aisle. and in those cloak roomses and in the back rooms where the decisions about policy issues are really made. so it's important to us that somebody like richard tiset is added to congress. >> the daily baeily beast makes observation that no state has enacted partnership rights for same sex couples without first electing openly gay legislators. so is it an important step forward in achieving marriage y'allity? to reach 1100% of the country, s

that important there so that they kinds wi this is not a threat to head i don't text amet i don't sexual marriages? >> they out legislators leading the efforts really. they tell us that their colleagues say i couldn't vote against you or your partner who i know and your kids who i know. that makes all the difference in the world. >> dennis, thank you, sir. we appreciate your time. >> it time for the political side bar. this week the secret service will hold an ethics in law enforcement seminar for more than 100 personnel in the wake of the prostitution scandal in colombia colombia. several more whether be held throughout this year. secret service also tightening rules for acting banning alcohol within ten hours of working a entertaining foreigners in hotel

room. and president obama joked about the agents being on a much shorter leash. >> i had a lot more material prepared, but i have to get the secret service home in time for their new curfew. >> the but i have to get the secret service home in time for their new curfew. >> he took a jab at mitt romney. >> it's great to be here in the vast, magnificent hilton ballroom or what are mitt romney would call a little fixer upper. >> and the official comedian of the night, jimmy kimmel got some big laughs when he went right for the president. >> do you remember when the country rallied around you in hopes of a better tomorrow? that was hilarious. sh rewards c, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!!

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a major milestone today for one world trade center, also known as freedom tower. that's the massive building being constructed to replace the twin towers destroyed in the september 11th terror attacks. today workers will erect steel columns that will make the unfinished building more than

12550 feet just enough to you eclipse the empire state building as the tallest rpt building in new york city. catherine craig has more for us pap. >> good morning. in just a few hours he'll be in the middle of it all excourted into that area on the other side of the fence for a big ceremony. the world trade center, it's not just a structure for some people but much more than that. it symbolizes the rise from tragedy, the growth of this area and the promise of what the future holds in that ceremony this afternoon, construction workers, local elected leaders, builders will mark one world trade becoming the tallest building in new york city. workers will add steel columns making the tower just over 1250 feet. it will be higher than it the empire state building's observation building.

once all is said and done, one world trade will stand at 1776 feet with its antenna and it refers to when the declaration of independence was ratified. again, a bill ceremony later today with so many people who have been watching this go up for many, many years now. back to you. >> nbc's catherine craig reporting for us. that's going to wrap things up for me this hour. i'm going to see you back here tomorrow 181:00 a.m. eastern time. until then follow me on. "now with alex wagner" is coming up next. >> hello, happy monday to you, thomas. lots of new things this week. new strategies coming from the campaigns. will the tweaks help in november or just muddle the message? and case you've been asleep for the last 48 hours, president obama told some jokes over the weekend. we will discusses the best lines from our comic in chief and discuss mitt romney, merry

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team romney is comparing team obama to a gyrating lawn sprinkler. spewing out attacks in seemingly random directions. this morning, the president announced his campaign direction of choice as well as a theme for his 2012 re-election. forward. hey, we like it. it's monday, april 30th, and this is "now." joining me today, msnbc contributor robert traynham, contributor ari melber of the nation, "time" magazine's rana foroohar and anlis david corn of mother jones, author of