leader of al qaeda. >> i think most americans will see it as a sign of a desperate campaign. >> even jimmy carter would have given that order. >> another day, another tryout. today it's new hampshire snorkelly ayotte on is taken with mitt romney. and the great escape. a blind chinese resume human rights activist eludes captors to find a dliptic haven with the u.s. and beijing. no short and of targets at the white house correspondents dinner. president obama mocks them all. >> in the vast magnificent hilton ballroom or what mitt romney would call a little fixer upper. four years ago, i was locked in a brutal primary bat with hillary clinton. four years later, she won't stop drunk texting me from cartagena. >> good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. four years ago, they fought like

cats and dogs. >> he's very likable. i agree with that. i don't think i'm that bad. >> you're likable enough, hillary. >> give me a break. this whole thing is the biggest fairy tale i've ever seen. >> but they've worked so hard to patch it up in the years since and last night, bill clinton headlined the first of three campaign fund-raisers for the president. and helped raise more than $2 million for the re-election campaign. the party was even hosted by hillary clinton's former campaign chairman, bills bff terry mccough live who tweeted this picture. the former president is featured in a campaign video praising the bin laden raid. >> he had to decide. and that's what you hire a president to do. you hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it. >> chris cillizza is an msnbc

managing editor. in a twist on the old bill clinton reference to his wife in 1992, last night president obama said you guys get two presidents for the price of one. which is a pretty good deal. sounds like he's channeling bill. so they're obviously not close friends. but bill clinton is going out there and validating president obama if he needs validation. and raising money more to the point. >> yeah, you know, andrea, i did a little checking on this last night just on people who know both men and kind of their relationship. those clips you played in 2008, politicians don't forget those sorts of things. let's point there. i don't think they are close friends. i will say and the people i talk to on both sides what they said is the principles, that is president obama and former president clinton are the actually now the as opposite one another as some of their former staff and as some of the people who raise money for them. so some of the of tension that we hear about from time to time is probably moral about people

below them on the food chain than actually obama and clinton. and i would say look, politics is about self-interest. always has been, always will be. barack obama knows bill clinton can not only raise him money from clinton folks who supported his wife back in 2008 and might not be on board and he can be a surrogate in places like pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, ohio, places where in the rural parts of those states, president obama has struggled somewhat. >> and let's talk about the politics of the whole question of whether osama bin laden, the hit on bin laden, whether that raid is an appropriate or not campaign claim. this is becoming one of the big arguments of the last couple of days. >> you know, andrea, this may be a cynical and not widely held view but it is in my belief in politics, almost anything is far game. this is part of the president's record. we so this election will be

largely a referendum how president obama did in office. it is impossible to talk about how he did in office without talking about of osama bin laden and his death. now, the president doesn't deserve sole credit. he wasn't one of the people who raided the compound but he was ultimately the guy that if things had gone wrong, blame would have fallen on him. and that thing went right, he gets the credit for it. i just tend to believe in politics, you are what your record says you are. on the economy, his record is quite mixed. on this particular piece of foreign policy, however, i don't see a problem with them it outing it. >> chris cillizza, and the president's re-election team is indeed it outing it, not holding back when it comes to driving home the point that president obama ordered that raid on osama bin laden. here's a new video they just put up today. >> he persevered here at home and as commander in chief.

>> tonight, i can report to the american people and to the world that the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda. >> go, go, go. >> and a terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children. >> the romney campaign is calling it shameful exploitation. >> 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 managed to turn it into a divisive partisan political attac attack. >> stephanie cutter is the deputy campaign manager for the president's re-election team and joins me from chicago. you've got the video up today. the anniversary is tomorrow. you've been, they say, exploiting it. john mccain just hammered away. he put out a statement saying on president obama that will shame on barack obama for diminishing

the memory of september 11th and the killing of osama bin laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad. no one disputes that the president deserves credit for ordering the raid but to politicize it this way is the height of hypocrisy. your response? >> uh-huh. well, i think most americans would disagree. it was an incredibly momentous night almost a year ago, a year ago tomorrow when the president reported to the country that we got bin laden, that he had been killed. after a decade after searching for him, we got it done. the president got it done. with the help of our incredible military, our incredible intelligence officers, everybody came together to get it done. so it absolutely will be talked about through the course of this year because it's this president who made the tough decision, which you know, even chris cillizza said it could have turned out badly and been a real political hit if it didn't turn out well. he paid the tough decision

because he thought it was -- he was willing to take that 50-50 shot and we ultimately got him. i think most americans would agree it was a significant moment in this country and a significant accomplishment of this president. i also think it's worthwhile to make sure that as we're heading into this general election just a little over six months to go, the american people know where mitt romney did stand on it. it's not exploitation, it's fact. mitt romney said it. he said he won't have gone into pakistan to pursue bin laden with actionable intelligence if the pakistanis wouldn't get him. he also said he wouldn't move heaven and earth to get bin laden. well the president did move heaven and earth. it wasn't just one order. he moved heaven and earth to get him and that's a distinct difference. >> stephanie, one of the things that mitt romney said when asked about this on a rope line in new hampshire, he said even jimmy carter would have gone after bin laden and ordered the hit that

night. that's sort of a double hit against president obama and also a reflection against jimmy carter. >> your response to that? >> that's an incredibly gracious thing for him to say. he should just say, this president deserves congratulations for making that order and i hope i would do the same thing just as president clinton said, it's the gracious thing to say at a moment like this. unfortunately, mitt romney didn't take that opportunity. >> the other criticism we're hearing from republicans i want to give you a chance to rebut is the eric fern strom and others at "the washington post" forum on president slow jamming the news. let's watch. >> the governor likes to have a laugh just like anybody else. i do think there was something a little bit off key about the president slow jamming and appearing to make light of the fact that of students are struggling. late night is a place where you can reach people who usually aren't tuned into the political process. we'll probably do it again but

you won't see the governor slow jam. >> so we're not going to see mitt romney slow jamming the news with jimmy fallon. >> well, that would be an interesting thing to see. you know, i think you know, i could only hear bits and pieces of what eric was saying. i do know a couple things he did say at "the washington post" conference this weekend. he said that mitt romney was glad that barack obama followed his advice on the auto bailout by you know, pushing the autos into bankruptcy and restructuring. you know that's not true. every american knows that's not true. mitt romney said we should let detroit go bankrupt and not give them a lifeline, that ultimately ended up saving the companies. and you know, reigniting the most competitive auto industry in the world. thankful saves a million jobs and has created hundreds of thousands more new jobs. he also saided that mitt romney wasn't going to put out any new policy details on his economic

plans. i think that's going to be a big problem for them in this general election. i think the american people want to know exactly what he plans to do for this country. is he going to do for america what he did for massachusetts? if so they should have an understanding what that means, more debt, fewer jobs, manufacturing jobs leaving the state. government jobs created, taxes being raised. all of those things. so you know, we hope that mitt romney will put more details out what he plans to do for this economy, how he plans on paying for those $5 trillion worth of tax cuts. or is he going to go back to the same policies that were pursued over the previous decade under the previous administration that drove this country into debt, turned surpluses into deficits and ultimately, destroyed the middle class. so you know, a couple of interesting things to note about his performance at "the washington post" this weekend. >> we're going to have to leave it there. thank you very much, stephanie cutter. and mitt romney is in new hampshire today, perhaps

auditioning another possible running mate. this is kelly ayotte. >> to every small business owner in this country who struggles every day 0 to earn success and fights for the american dream, help is on the way. be. >> vin webber is a republican strategist and mitt romney supporter and joins me now. a lot to tackle there. >> a lot. >> first of all, what about kelly ayotte? what about this list we're told governor sue knew knew former governor said today there could be as many as 20 on the list. we're told by our folks garrett haake covering the campaign it's closer to 10 to 15. who should be at the top of the list? >> there's only two people that really know, that's governor romney himself and beth myers his most trusted aide who he has put in charge of this and who can be trusted to be completely confidential. everybody else is kind of guessing. had there's probably a dozen or

so names. i would guess you boil it down quickly to a few high lie qualified people. i think senator portman is on the list, senator rubio, i suspect governor pawlenty is probably on the list and probably several others but only mitt romney and beth myers know. they're the only ones that are going to know till this summer. >> does he have to get more exciting than rob portman? i'm told rob portman should be at the top of the list because of ohio, because of budget experience, governing experience, cabinet experience, congressional experience, all of the above. but some would say. >> you're doing well making the case. >> some would say it's too much plain vanilla. >> first of all, carrying ohio by a big margin as he did when he ran for senator is exciting to me. but you know, i've heard that argument we need to pizazz up the ticket. i look at the history of presidential races. i don't think that has very

often worked very well. we have a lot of qualified people. and i think we're going to pick one of those qualified people. one of the things about governor romney is his whole history. he has a history of knowing how to identify talent in business in his gubernatorial administration, his work on the olympics. he really identifies top talent and puts it to work for him. whoever we pick is going to be an extraordinary choice. >> what about the fact that four years ago, he said to the associated press, mitt romney said it's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person, meaning bin laden. today he says even jimmy carter would have made that order. isn't it true that what the president did he by all accounts, nonpartisan accounts was a very tough call? >> i think it was a tough call. i think the president deserves credit for it. i don't understand why the president is debasing his own accomplishment by turning it into the first political ad of his campaign. a president deserves credit for foreign policy successes.

but he usually gets it by not talking about it as politically as this president has. ed gillespie is right, he's taken a legitimate accomplishment and turned it into a campaign ad. i think that was a dumb mistake for the campaign in chicago. i'm surprised they made it. >> is it dumb or is it shameful? >> it's not shameful. >> mccain said it's shameful. >> senator mccain is entitled to view it that way. ez certainly has all my respect. i just think it was a dumb move, a bungled attempt to take advantage of what everybody knew was going to be one of his great accomplishments. and yet, he turned it into a campaign spot. right at the very beginning of his campaign. i just think he's debased it and turned it into a legitimate political argument. the very fact that we're talking about it, that ed gillespie is talking about it, problems to me that they've taken an accomplishment that should be way up here and they've turned it into a base political discourse. >> win webber, thank you very

much. up next, the bin laden anniversary. are we safer? plus the daring escape of a blind human rights activist in china puts the u.s. on the spot. this is "andrea mitchell reports." introducing gold choice. the freedom you can only get from hertz to keep the car you reserved or simply choose another. and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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osama bin laden's death is a reminder of the long and frustrating manhunt and the mission that ended it. an nbc news exclusive goes inside the situation room on the night he was killed. it airs on rock centering this wednesday. here's a clip from brian williams' exclusive interviews. >> there you are. >> here i am sitting right here. >> that's an intense look on your face and everyone is int t intently watching this screen. >> if i'm not mistaken, thks

picture was taken right as the helicopter was having some problems but you may not remember. that's what he it feels like because i remember hillary putting her hand over her mouth at that point. there's silence at this point inside the room. >> when you look at it -- yeah. >> what does it conjure up inside you? >> we, that's the way i usually look when my husband drags me to an action movie. you know what it conjures up is all of the emotions that were running through my and every other person in that small group. it was just an extraordinaire experience and a great privilege to be part of. >> william cohen served as defense secretary under president clinton and currently carom and ceo of the cohen group. bill, just the picture alone, every time i see it, and that's what prompted brian's request to go in and interview all of the principals as to what they were thinking in the room where they were watching in realtime.

i'm told that will hillary clinton has said to us and i think to brian that she put her hand up to her face as you saw the president suggesting when the helicopter went down. and than recalls the whole disaster, of course, of the attempt to rescue the iran hostages back under the carter years. >> absolutely. i think this was really a tough call by the president and i think he had to know and should have known that had this failed with the loss of our people that he would have been looking probably to a one-term presidency at best. this would have been a disaster for him and for the country and so to make that call and then to see what can happen but then to be told by our navy seals it's okay, we planned for these kinds of contingencies and we can still carry out the mission. but he gets credit and i think he should. i know that republicans are very critical of him right now. let's remember this. preserve 41 got great credit for the conduct of desert storm.

and a year later it made absolutely no difference in his re-election. so i think he gets credit for it. i don't think it's going to make a difference in terms of whether or not this is going to be the singular focus of the attention of the american people. it's going to be about the economy. give him credit. it's due. tough call and we're grateful for that tough call, but foreign policy under this circumstances will not be the dispositive factor. >> and in fact, one never knows with foreign policy whether it's going to be iran, north korea, something we have not even dreamed such as what exploded all over the airwaves and the newspapers this weekend. this incredibly brave chinese human rights activist, blind, makes his way 400 miles. he gets over the fence. he's under house arrest. fools his captors into lulls them into thinking he is ill and then makes his escape. i am told he is under u.s. protection. i don't know if he is within the

compound of the embassy or in a safehouse. but we have him. now, what do we do with him? >> the fact that the administration has not indicated one way or the other whether we have him is pretty good evidence we have him. if we didn't, i think we would say so. in any event, it's going to present a lose-lose proposition for president obama to the extent that he is under pressure to have this dissident flown back to the united states or given asylum and protection i think is going to put us at very serious odds with the chinese. if the chinese were to come prohe mize, they're going to look weak at a time going through their own transition. >> they're already weakened by this corruption scandal involving bo xky lai and the family that is now been -- the wife is arrested under suspicion of being involved in the murder of a british businessman colleague, former colleague. and the husband was a rising star and is now been stripped of

all power. >> this is raising a very big issue for the chinese because corruption is pervasive. and now that the lid is off and the international focus is on boxilai it is creating a challenge for them in terms of the legitimacy of the government. they're going to demand more and more accountability and this sort of scandal will be hard to contain and the chinese people are going to demand more from their leaders. so tough issue for them. >> and it complicates any decision they make as we've said on the human rights active yim. >> in the wake of bo xilai for them to show any weakness that this brave dissident should be transferred to u.s. jurisdiction, very tough for them to make that decision. i think it's lose-lose. we'll have to see how the administration is able to hand this in a way that resibs the standard of human rights as far as the united states is concerned and most of the

international community. >> bill cohen, thank you so much. >> great to be with you. don't miss that special edition of "rock center with brian williams" inside the situation room. the one-year anniversary of osama bin laden's death with president obama and his national security team airing this wednesday at 9:00 eastern/8:00 central on nbc. up next, the political briefing. sore losers, where are those endorsements for the republican nominee? this it is andrea mitchell reports. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

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now, i know at this point, many of you are expecting me to go after my likely opponent. newt gingrich. newt, there's still time, man. >> in today's politico briefing when newt gingrich drops out of presidential race on wednesday, 355 days and eight zoo visits after he entered it, he'll become the latest romney rival

to join him in many an awkward embrace. politico's senior ploil reporter jonathan martin joins us now. what is taking these guys so long? rick santorum was hardly generous in his quasi endorsement. they're going to get together supposed by may 4th, the end of the week. why are they so reluctant to pull the plug and join the bandwagon? >> it's a great question and speaks to the current political media environment where every incentive for a gingrich or a santorum is to keep in the public eye. keep getting tv appearances. and sort of draw this out to maximize their own post campaign leverage for you know, a tv gig of their own, a book deal. whatever the sort of next step is. the next role that these guys have. so i think they're looking to that. more practically, they also have campaign debt. so they also want to use some leverage to address that. and that could mean getting a

hand from romney. a hand from the national party, as well. and so i think that's what they're thinking about. but you're right. i mean, the days of these guys dropping out and having a press conference or putting out a statement to endorse the nominee wholeheartedly appear to be gone. >> and even rudy giuliani, you know, who wasn't running this time but four years ago was taking shots at romney. listen to what he had to say on fox. this was his way of endorsing. >> well, you know, this reminds me of going to a surgeon, right? if i've got eight terrible cancer or something to be operated on, i had to be operated on for prostate cancer, i didn't go to the nicest doctor. i went to the best doctor. i guy could have a great personality and put the knife in the wrong way. >> i don't know what to make of that. >> i think it speaks to the fact that mitt romney is someone who is very accomplished and a serious person but who does not inspire a lot of passion and

especially for somebody like giuliani. at that level of a politician, let's be honest, thinks that could be me. i should be that guyen an he's not. and he ran against romney once and i think it's sort of tough for a giuliani to accept the fact that he's not the nominee and somebody he personally doesn't like very much and doesn't think is a very good politician is the guy. there's some egos here at work too. >> you think there's some egos involved. >> imagine that. >> thank you so much, great to see you. thanks for joining us. coming up next, delicate diplomat sit with china. the unprecedented showdown over the fate of a blinds chinese human rights activist. plus, defending human rights one step at a time. kerry kennedy and actress gloria reuben joining us next on and a "andrea mitchell reports." i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options.

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not government funding. and now, to support our athletes, you can donate a stitch in america's flag for the 2012 olympic games in london. help raise our flag, add your stitch at teamusa.org. free-credit-score-dot-com'sur boargonna direct you ♪ts ♪ for the 2012 olympic games in london. ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. secretary of state hillary clinton leaves tonight for china. and she's going to face a growing crisis and a diplomatic test for the u.s.

at the center of it is the blind activist chen gaung choeng boldly escaped a week ago and now thought to be under u.s. diplomatic protection in beijing. bosh foo is president of the group china aid which has been advocating for cheng. what do we know? do we have any more information as to where he is and what has happened to all of the activists who helped him escape including what has happened to his family, his wife and child? >> thank you for having me. as far as i know, mr. chen is under u.s. diplomatic protection in beijing and the u.s. government and the chinese governments are trying to find a solution, and to help plep chen. and those who helped him and some of them were detained. some of them were taken more interrogation. and some were sort of under kind of house arrest.

>> what will do we know about his wife and child? because he clearly escaped over the wall. it's just a remarkable story. but what happened to them? because they remained behind. >> yeah, it is unfortunate. and, of course, his wife has been helping and encouraging mr. chen for their adventure because he wants his -- he wants their voice to be heard. and il learned that his wife and their 6-year-old daughter and his mom are still under the control in their village. >> one of the distinctions, bob, is that he served his time for what they charged him with. and so, he is not technically violating the law right now. so under what pretext would they be able to agree to let him leave or put him under some -- under constraints? mean, what is the chinese option right now?

>> you're right. i mean, he was -- he already served four years and three months in his imprisonment and in the past 16 months or so, he had been basically under extra legal detention or house arrest. and the chinese foreign ministry even declared he has been a free man. and the option for chinese government i think right now is to work hard for diplomatic solution to allow mr. chen and his family members to peacefully exit from the u.s. -- i mean from china to come to the u.s., maybe for medical treatment. sneex now, one final question because he had said or indicated through you and other friends and activists that he did not want to leave china. he was not asking for political asylum. has it reached the point there now where he really has to leave, where there's no viable way for him to stay in china?

>> there's understand the current political situation, and given what had happened in china last year, the worst human rights year in two decades, there's no viable solution for him to continue to stay in china without risking further for his life. i think he was cut off from any communication with brutal persecution in the past seven years. he was not aware really what has been really happening in the outside world. i think given the choice for him top continue to stay in china without any guarantee of safety and freedom for him and his family, and for him to be exiled peacefully into the u.s., i think at the end of the day, he will choose the latter one. >> thank you so much for joining us by skype. with more on this challenge, for

secretary clinton as she heads tonight to china, christopher johnson is the freeman chair in china 12ids at the center for sfreenlic and international studiesen a former china analyst for the cia. thanks so much. do you agree with that, that there's no viable way for him to remain in china? >> yes, i think that's definitely true. this is a very challenging situation for the u.s. diplomatic folks working this case. it will be very difficult for the administration under the circumstances to try to negotiate a deal with the chinese government on this given the intense political environment we currently have in china to have an assessment that they would be able to trust any deal they might cut with the chinese on this issue. >> they don't want to be the guarantors of his safety or his conditions or how he lives going forward. >> absolutely correct. more over, the chinese tend to be very sensitive about these types of issues and to have the united states trying to broker the conditions that the chinese would observe in a person they considered to be a criminal

would be highly unlikely. >> well, then, the next step is what kind of exit strategy is there and how can there be an exit strategy when china is already the leadership is already under such pressure because of the bo scandal? does this make it even more difficult for them to let him leave. >> it does. there's a charged environment in china because of the bo xilai scandal. what you tend to see is them acting snarlier toward the outs world. this type of issue will make them very suspicious that perhaps the united states is trying to mess in their success process coming unlater this year. >> is there any way hillary clinton can get this resolved, that kurt campbell can get this resolved before she leads. >> i'm sure what they're hoping for. obviously, if they don't come up with a solution before secretary clinton an i be roos, there's the potential for this to completely overhad doe and overwhelm these very important talks you alluded to a few

minutes ago. there are very pressing issues to discuss, north korea, iran and syria. of course, the whole narrative would be be completely dominated about this case as the meetia tries to get a sense of his sort of standing. my sense is that it will be very dangerous for them to come to a solution quickly if they don't do it now. and a third of american school children between the ages of 1 and 18 report being bullied in school. the problem has become so severe that, mover teenagers are even committing suicide to escape the painful encounters. now there is some help for schools trying to address the problem. the robert f. kennedy have for justice and human rights developed an online course on bullying. joining me is kerry kennedy, daughter of the late robert f. kennedy and acres and advocate gloria reuben. thank you both so very much. first to you, kerry. what are you trying to accomplish? because this is a new venture for the kennedy center.

>> right. well, this is part of our larger speak truth to power human rights education and training course. and it's really a preventive measure. we try to get the students and the teachers and everybody at the school to work together as a community to address bullying. and to put an end to it. >> and you're trying to do it in now 40 states. gloria reuben, i met you over the weekend. it's so good to see you. >> great to see you. >> what is your interest? what drives you to be engaged with the center? >> i've been engaged now for a number of years. initially as part of the gala that's held every year and i participated in excerpts from the play speak truth to power. and since then, i've traveled with kerry a number of different places around the globe to perform this play and to help kind of you know, raise awareness and raise support for this extraordinary organization

that ballots human rights abuses around the globe. when you first start getting involved and you start learning more and more what is actually happening on the grounds, you can't help but want to support and do what you can. kerry's great fun to travel with. >> and the two of you are a powerful combo. the fact is the robert f. kennedy human rights center has done so much over the years, over the decades for human rights activism. we just were talking about the powerful case of chen guangcheng. but here you're talking about bullying. and you're seeing this is a human right for young people. >> absolutely. in any case of massive human rights violations, we see four different types of people. we see the perpetrator, we see the victim, we see the bystanders and we see the human rights defenders. those who are willing to stand up. so in the case in china, you see mr. chen who is not a bystander. he's a human rights defender.

and he's against just a bigger bully. but really, what we're trying to show students is that bullying is a very serious violation of human rights and it's a place where it starts. >>. >> and in support of that too, to obviously run this organization globally, and to have the message and do what's on the ground you know, as that saying goes it, starts at home. and so clearly, that's one of the extraordinary things that kerry does. >> it's such an important message. we should draw attention to the fact that you have the online auction. we hope everyone participates and go online because this is a really important money-raising component for what you're doing with speak truth to power, the book, the play. and now the online auction, as well. thank you so much. >> absolutely, thank you. >> good to see you both. up next, confronting new voter i.d. laws. is it preventing fraud or is it really voter suppression? ot be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food.

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hi there. i'm tamron hall. coming up in just 15 minutes on "news nation," is it fair game in ariane fla huffington joins those critical of the president's re-election campaign to use the take-down of bin laden in a campaign ad. >> to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do. >> but robert gibbs says mitt romney and others would have attacked the president if the mission had. gone poorly. plus, at the top of the next hour from the ashes to becoming the tallest skyscraper in new york city, one year after osama bin laden's death, one world trade center marks a major milestone. we'll take you there live. 123450ur 2 states have now passed voter i.d. laws posing new challenges to voter registration efforts. advocates of the laws say they're needed to prevent voting fraud. civil rights groups say it's part of a republican effort to suppress voting registration.

joining us is is augusta tas thomas and bill fletcher. welcome both. i have to say, miss thomas, are you extraordinary. let me share with our viewers, if we can get a shot of miss thomas on here. you are 90 years old. you went to the same school that will. >> in september. >> that martin luther king jr. did. >> he was in elementary school and i was in junior high. it was the david t. howard elementary and junior high school. >> you've been fighting for civil rights laws for years. >> for years. >> what are your objections to these voter i.d. laws? how do you see this as an attempt to stop people from registering? >> i see it being an attack on the poor, the elderly, the veterans, the seniors, the students. all of these folks cannot get voter i.d., these special i.d. registration cards they want them to get. we're going to have 5 million people not being able to vote.

i remember the day beat had to count beans and whether you counted them right or wrong, you still couldn't vote. >> that was an extra test. >> yes, it was like a poll tax. >> poll tax. >> i remember they would pull a straw out of a broom and tell you -- ask you how many straws did you have. whether it was right or wrong, they still said you couldn't vote. i remember they used to tell us read a portion of the constitution. if you read it perfectly, they would say, you mispronounced a word. therefore, you can't vote. so we're not going back to this. i mean, we're not going back to jim crow. we're not going back what we have already had in the last 100 years. >> bill fletcher, how do you respond to those who say that this really is al attempt to stop voter fraud? i'm just asking you to play devil's advocate. >> no, no, it's a good question. the fundamental problem is that there's not evidence of any kind

of significant voter fraud. and so what's happening here is that a problem is being manufactured, but let's just say that there was this voterfraud. how does that account for shortening the number days for early voting? how does that account for changing voter registration rules? how does that account for ending sunday voting? it doesn't. you see, all this is being hidden behind this charade of people allegedly being able to vote improperly. so it's a facade. >> how difficult would it be for the elderly, and this is also directed at students, to have driver's licenses in the states in which they're voting when they don't have cars and when often they can't, they have no need to have a driver's license. which is hard to get. i can attest to that. just here in the district of

columbia. >> right. students, it is just like veterans. they have cards that they go to the hospital with and got their name, with their picture on it. but it doesn't have their address so they can't use that card. the students can't use their student i.d. cards. a lot of them don't even drive. how are they going to get? the birth certificates. i understand in maryland there was a case where an 87-year-old man went to get special i.d. they turned in their driver's license. they said, well, your birth certificate doesn't match your driver's license. there's no way your birth certificate matches your driver's license. so they just really trying to keep us from voting. >> i don't think is going to keep you from voting. >> when is your birthday? >> september 17th, 1922. >> i'm going to send you a card. thank you very much. thank you for being with us today. you are really an inspiration.

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours in chris cillizza is back. >> take a look tomorrow in new york city, mitt romney and one time rival but now endorser, former new york city mayor rudolph giuliani doing a fund-raiser together. i'm sure this was preplanned but i would say in the midst of all of the debate back and forth about osama bin laden, about the anniversary and about september 11, 2001, about all of the ripples it from impact politics. this is one that will not go unnoticed. clearly, rudolph giuliani is so closely associated to those attacks and new york's response to them. >> thank you so much. that does it for us for this

edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tamron hall has a look at what's next. >> a lot of news stories in a few minutes. president obama will hold a news conference with japan's prime minister. we're waiting to hear if the president will say anything about the chinese activist. and arianna huffington joins the decision to use the takedown of bin laden in a new campaign ad. it is today's "news nation" gut check. and rising from the ashes, one world trade center will become the tallest skyscraper in new york city one year after bin laden's death. we will take you there live. with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior

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