here's what's happening. what's right is wrong. >> not god bless america, goddamn america. >> i've repudiated that effort. been disappointed in that today which is focused on character assassination. >> mitt walks the high road but at his own peril. >> i think romney's made a mistake. if this was him, they would go after him with a vengeance. >> don't fret, mr. hannity. >> i don't know which is worse, listening to reverend wright or -- >> i'm not sure precisely what i said but i stand by whatever i said, whatever it was. we begin with mitt romney laying out the dreams of his presidency as he attempts to define himself before the democrats or the super pacs do it for him. and governor romney has just

wrapped up an event in one of many of his home states in new hampshire where he declared he'll end partisan politics and restore compassion to the white house. >> we're going have a president who cares about the american people and puts them and their interests above anything else. when i'm the president of the united states i'll stop this dividing of american against american. >> oerk what a relief. thank goodness for that. and to further the foot good moment, the romney campaign is going positive with its very first ad of the general election attempting to achbs the question that baffles many. what would a romney presidency look like? >> what would a romney presidency be like? day one. president romney immediately approves the keystone pipeline, creating thousands of jobs that obama blocked. president romney approves tax cuts and jobs to reward people not punish them.

president romney begins order to replace health care with common sense health care reform. >> right. he'll lay that pipe if he has to do it himself. he eat cut tacks for his 1% peers and replace the president's health care plan with a big fat question mark. of course, that milk toast mitt is quite different from some in the conservative base would like to see dominating this campaign. the attack dog that crushed his primary rivals, in their dreams, it's romney versus the reverend jeremiah wright portrayed as the crafty svengali. the defeat of barack hussein obama. and while mitt romney made like the road runner scrambling from the ad scream like it was why lee e. coyote, he was crushed.

>> it is fair if someone wants to highlight the reverend jeremiah right and his relationship with president obama because, quite frankly, it wasn't highlighted enough in 2008 when he was running the first time. >> mccain was crazy not to bring it up. not a matter of exploiting it. it was a legitimate issue. >> this is the truth about the mindset that he developed. you know what? i think for governor romney to take it off the table, he doesn't have to talk about it, be tow repudiation people that do? >> repudiation people that do? poor hannity. that's personal for him because he's only mentioned the reverend wright in 291 segments of his show since the president's inauguration. we've got a fantastic panel here with us on friday. in philadelphia, professor james peterson, director of africana

studies at lehigh university and a blogger for "washington post" and in washington, julian epstein. good afternoon with all of you. dr. peterson, if i might start with you, the president. he's left an invariable trails of tears from the likes of herman cain and sean hannity, right? >> right. to think they haven't covered it enough is absolutely absurd. as you mentioned hannity has had it on his show consistently for years now. i'm not sure what mr. romney is talking about. this is a huge issue in the previous presidential election. >> dr. peterson, you can't expect mr. herman cain to pay attention to anything. >> you're right. here's what's interesting. when you look at mr. ricketts and that super pac and all the politics around chicago and the cubs and mayor rahm emanuel, he had to move away from that.

romney still needs donations and support from the ricketts super pac so it's a very complex political situation. and what i hope here is folks move away from the jeremiah wright piece and get back to the brass tacks politics and get back to thejulian, why do they ? i mean he's an attack ad, i guess, running every week for three years. >> he sure is, and he represents the willie horton wing of the republican party. i mean, look. we know more about -- the only reason we know about this is it was leaked to the norm times. justice bran said the best disinfect tanlt is sunlight. the question to romney is if he

doesn't, in fact, disavow this kind of tactic, if whether or not he's for the disclosure on these super pac ads. this is something the democrats should not take lightly. at the end of the day, this is something they will use. >> just remember, julian, mitt romney can't remember what he said but he stands by what he said. >> very quickly, that's kind of a bad mash-up between rick p perry's forgetfulness and don rumsfeld's -- >> he said it's possible the president won't be on the ballot in that state as he's still not convinced that the president was born in the u.s. >> yeah. if barack obama has a problem with it, that's the least of his worries. his kind of campaign immediately

looked to d new york times story and they recognized the danger of being associated with anything like this. can't do it. john mccain recognized the same thing four years ago, but what you're seeing in the clips you're showing and what you're seeing consistently with a guy like hannity, they actually believe john mccain lost in 2008 not because of the economy, because of bush, because of anything leak that is correct but because he did not go after barack obama on the jeremiah wright here. romney has broken their hearts here. he's not disappointed because they want him to do it. he'sdy he's disappointed because he has to do it. >> mitt romney says he'll end division in this country that he claims is led by the president. can you help me with that?

the thought the president was an example of how it was to come together, rescind it and elect an african-american to the highest seat in the lachbltd mitt romney says, no, no, no. it has nothing to do with that. >> you try to take your possibilities strength and turn it into some kind of weakness. clearly he's going to have do a lot to disassociate himself. so we're look at a really, really complex calculus for the romney campaign and i still believe they're throwing stuff up against the wall to see what's going to stick, so they hope something like that is going to stick and really what they hope is this sort of red meat radical right will still come alive without the jeremiah wright stuff and hinge on the otherness and paint him as an other to use that to galvanize the red meat base of the republican party. >> julian, i want to get something from mr. romney. in an interview thursday, romney

says of the president, and i'm quoting, america's economy runs on freedom and he's been attacking economic freedom from the first day he came into office. again, can you help me? what is he talking about. >> not imperative. these are bumper stickers, dog whistles to promote an incoherent point. the fact is it's lower than it ever has been, taxes are 15% of gdp which is a historical low and the romney campaign as i said before in the show continues to be unable to articulate a plan. part of that has already been approved. the obama care, plan would increase preem annuals. taxes are down 15% of gdp, which is as low as they've been. just to return to steve's point for a second here. i don't think the romney campaign was shocked when that i

heard about the rev wrend write campaign. i think they're trying to wear the white hat while the super pacs wear the dark hat, no pun intended, and the reason for that, and they believe, andite very cynical, that uneducated white voters on the fence can be turned off by that and they're looking to have an effect of 1 to 2% of the voting population. if they do that, i think democrats -- and i'm not been a big fan of the obama takedown. if they do that, i think the super pacs on the democratic side ought to say we're the guys who took down bin laden, not george bush and we have to politicize that as much as we need to if they're going to play that kind of politic. >> he said it runs on that kind of freedom. i thought america runs on dunkin' donuts. >> dunkin' donuts did get down so there's a break from the

romney narrative that we know. it's funny. i'm looking at that ad and it's about what would mitt romney would do in 2013. i think a better question is what would president romney have done in 2009 when he came into office because look at what president obama was confronting in terms of the economy in free fall. look at the decision he made. the romney case is he made every decision that's wrong. well, what would president romney have done differently. >> i can late out the answer i can't remember what i did but it is whatever i said. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> next, paul krugkrugman, the economy who can make economists look cool. >> are you paul krugman? >> my dad loves your show. >> thank you. [ female announcer ] e-trade was founded on the simple belief

that bringing you better technology helps make you a better investor. with our revolutionary new e-trade 360 dashboard you see exactly where your money is and what it's doing live. our e-trade pro platform offers powerful functionality that's still so usable you'll actually use it. and our mobile apps are the ultimate in wherever whenever investing. no matter what kind of investor you are, you'll find the technology to help you become a better one

at e-trade. throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day women's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day women's 50+ healthy advantage.

the president and fellow heads of state have their work cut out for them as they meet in camp david in search of solutions in the ongoing challenges of afghanistan. it won't be easy. it's a lot more than you can say with those back in washington. our next guest is a new york times columnist who speaks out frequently against the austerity absolutionists. we're delighted to join paul krugman. his new book is called "end this depression now," and it's in stores now.

thank you for joining us. >> okay. thank you. interesting second string to my career there. >> indeed, absolutely. now mitt romney and speaker boehner and paul ryan all say that all we need to do to get the economy growing again is to cut taxes and slash regulations. but in your book, you say that now is the time for government to spend. so i have to ask you, sir, are these politicians completely deluded or are you very badly wrong? >> well, gee, let me think about which of those i wish to believe. no, they are deluded. we've had a mavis human experiment where we thought cutting spending was going to be good for the economy when the economy is deeply depressed. we put it into effect in large parts of europe and to a significant extent in the u.s.

because we've had large cutbacks at the state and local level and the results have been what i said they would be. it's been a very depressing effect on the economy. where is the evidence that the other view is all right? where is that coming from? i thought we had a pretty good test and think my view has been confirmed. >> i think europe has certain will i been the example. one of the central arguments of republicans is that they say they don't want to place increasing amounts of debt on future generations. and when they say it like that, it sounds like a responsible argument. but why does this not make sense when a nation is trying to come out of a recession? >> the think you have to bear in mind is it is true. if you slash spending while the economy is deeply depressed. while interest rates are near zero and there's nothing to do to offset it with monetary policy. you make the economy more depressed. that means right away, even at

the very beginning, whatever you do is paid for with a weaker economy which also means weaker revenues. so you don't get very much improvement in the budget deficit right up front and then if you play into an economy like we have now where we have almost 4 million people who have been out of work for more than a year and who the longer they're unemployed, the less likely it is that they'll ever get back to work, when you have an economy where college graduates can't find jobs or make use of any of their skills and end up being derailed from their entire future careers, you're hurting the future growth of the economy, the tax base as well. even if you don't care ought all about the people, which you should obviously, if all you care about is the budget, cutting spending right now is a way to make the budget worse too. i say it's like medieval doctors who thought if you were sick, they should bleed you. they say, hecht's bleed you even

more. now is not the time to be cutting spending. >> greece, very much in the news tore. i guess it won't be long before we start hearing things like this again. listen to this. >> we will end up with a greece like situation on our hands. maybe even something worse than this. >> there's paul ryan recommend as what's coming to america. i thought the president's action, though not as stimulative as you and others might have wished actually prevented the united states from following greece. is that all right? >> let's put it this way. we're not greece. we have our own currency. we have a history of financial stability, which is good. you know, greece has been in arrears for half its modern history. so we have much, much more leeway where advanced countries in our position have much more leeway. also, greece's error was running large budget deficits when times were good, which is a very bad thing which, of course, is not what obama did.

he's running deficits aet the time of a zee pressed economy, which is necessary. running deficits when times are good is what his pred sez or did, that's president bush. about paul ryan, you should look at his budget and look at what it really proposes. his promise would increase the budget deaf sichlt he wants to slash tax ordinance the rich, cut benefits to the poor. >> i've been saying this all year and the same goes for mitt romney. >>y, right. >> what are you thoughts on speaker boehner announcing he wants another fight of the debt ceiling. is this guy working to further undermine america's standing given that the last time this happen happened america was downgraded. >> there is this question a little bit. sometimes you wonder if they're moles, candidates for i don't know who, their real job to bring down america because they're really doing the best they can. look, this is the extremism of

the current republican party. they've determined to become a party that has its own way. they never worry about the constitution passing legislation. what they will do is threat on the destroy the economy unless they get what they want. thing on this round. president obama finally has to say no. saying if you have do blackmail, we're going going to call your bluff. these guys will be hurt even worse than the rest of us if the economy tanks because the u.s. government goes into defauchlt let's yank their chain. this is economics by hostage taking. >> you say the president should stand up to these individuals but there's not much he can do until after november. >> number he can possibly force

finally the housing agenties to do more debt refies. economic policy takes time to effect and he can't get legislation through in the face of people like boehner, so for the moment he has to make his case. he's not going to be able to change the kmuch manufacture before november. >> indeed. his new book is entitled end this depression. sir, thank you so much for joining us today. >> thank you. >> stay with us. much more ahead. >> what is darts. >> yes. >> what is darwin. >> good. >> what is a dark horse. >> correct. >> who is hirohito? >> yes. it's been defined as a run that covers more than 1,000 miles. chuck? >> what is a convoy? >> no. >> clarence? it's a long haul.

time for "your business" entrepreneur of the week. they sign and once a month get a surprise package of baby products shchl did her own market research, focus groups testing surveys to fine tune her products and packaging. for more watch sunday mornings on msnbc. hey dad. see how the carrots i grow make that new stouffer's steam meal so tasty. actually, the milk from my farm makes it so creamy, right dad. dad can see... boys! don't you think stouffer's steam perfect bag should get some credit? my carrots. my milk. [ female announcer ] new from stouffer's. farmers' harvest steam meals taste so good we'll bet the farm on it. free-credit-score-dot-com'sur boargonna direct you ♪ts ♪] new from stouffer's. farmers' harvest steam meals ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ on msnbc. cr edut ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪

offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic

or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. it helps to have people around you... they say, you're much bigger than this. and you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

what infamously began in a harvard dorm explode today. there's mark zuckerberg in his trademark hoodie wringing in the nasdaq trading day surrounded by a crowd that included many instant millionaires and throughout the day the initial price of $38 climbed only slightly and it's pretty much back where it started. and while the lives are forever altered by facebook, the same could be said about our culture at large. the only question is at what cost and for how long. now, don't get us wrong. we're no killjoys, just curious and perhaps it's something about a facebook founder who wants to revoke his residency and reclaim

residency in singapore. perhaps he knows that the real world, facebook is not too big to fail but too intangible not to. of course, until the we will continue to update our facebook page regularly where we ask that you like us without any delay. stay with us. the week's top lines are coming up. for three hours a week, i'm a coach. but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... 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. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

the day starts with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. from bazooka joe to president on "the view" to president's prairie fire. here's today's top headlines. >> my mother and father dreamed. >> it's mama this, mama that. >> they don't get us. they don't guess who we are. >> i pushed the idea of managed bankruptcy so i'll take a lot of

credit. >> whoa. >> this is where i take old prom photos and replace all of their faces with mitt romney's face. here's one right here. and another one right here. >> i love her. >> don't compare me to the almighty. compare me to the alternative. >> governor, do you think revere reverend wright is off limits? >> i'm not sure what i said but i stand by what it was. >> we must be a less -- >> i don't know what he said but i stand by the fact he said it and it's full of nothing. >> come on, man. >> i want to make it very clear. i repudiation that effort. >> we've kicked the can down the road so many times it's going to make people throw up over it. >> do you feel like you want to throw up. >> okay? ah. >> i appreciate your support. thank you very much. >> actually anybody under 65 i find very -- >> given how robotic romney is, how about if he did some body

popping or body dancing. >> what kind of gang would romney be? >> we are the argyles. >> my daughter sent me a text saying you are the bomb. >> the issue here is we're in debt. $16 trillion. >> it's like looking across the prairie and seeing a fire in the distance. >> fire? fire. >> every day we act, that fire gets closer to the homes and the children we love. >> fire? >> so who's going to win? >> well, i'm going to win. >> let's get right to our panel this afternoon. ken vogel is chief investigative reporter for politico and goldie tailor. good afternoon to both of you. ken, if i may, the president says he's going to win. meanwhile romney is finally taking questions from the press and saying, and i quote him, i stand by what i said, whatever it was. is there an etch a sketch to erase that gaffe, ken? >> well, it definitely sounds

bad and particularly since -- >> i think that's a generous view, ken. >> right. it's particularly bad because it was a quote that was given in reference to the controversial of t of the day, something he said in a rather forceful statement repudiationing the ad that reverend wright is at issue saying it's a wrong direction. that's a pretty simple statement. whether he came up with it as a strategist and himself, he should be able to remember it and repeat it. fact that he was unable to do it again and looks bad, really, i think it's more a reflection of the riggers of the campaign, a very tiring campaign as opposed to some kind of tendency toward equivocation, which may also be at issue for him, but i don't think that's -- >> ken vogel being very generous in his nachls but gold y, he wa talking an statement he made in

february about wright on hannity's radio show. it regards his opinion of the president. take a listen to this. >> i'm not sure which is worse, him listening to reverend wright or him saying that we must be a less christian nation. >> goldy, republicans are walking away from the rev reynolds wright ones. to be fair, they were following obama. >> i think until r.i.m. repudiations himself on this issue he's going go in the same boat with fred davis and the others who were creating the ill thought strategy. at the end of the day, i think a person's faith should not be on the table. a person's family should not be on the tachbble. barack obama has the record overliving in the white house and doing that work. that should provide enough in the way of issues for the romney

campaign and every pac involved to focus on this fall's election. that's what the americans deserve. >> you say his family and his faith shouldn't be on the table. they've been on the table for three years. look at the secretary of state in arizona. he's even questioning whether the president was born here. >> they absolutely. they absolutely have been on the table, and that's the unfortunate thing about what's happening with this opposition parties is that they've been so caught up with their vitriol, with their anger toward the president, if i were to look at mormonism, i would say, goldy, you at one point in that church did not have a place in heaven. am i going to hold mitt romney for that? no, i'm not. that's not on tachblt what is on the table is his record as governor of massachusetts, what's on table is how he ran toe olympics, his time as skr eo of bane and how he treated

companies that his organization acquire and invested in an brunted and took the money in. i think those issues are really on the table. when it comes down to somebody's faith, when it comes down to somebody's family, it ought to be off the table and mitt romney ought go repudiation it even if those words came out of his own mouth. >> indeed. it really nails home why mitt's campaign likes it and romney's speaking or when he's got, i guess, a teleprompter there. >> yeah. it's a little bit ironic that there's been such a focus by the right on president obama speaking off the teleprompter when, in fact, president obama is rather good off the cuff and sort of improvisational and it's mitt romney who's shown a clumsiness when he's forced to be in a spon tan yugs situation giving answers to voters

questions. one thing about goldy's comments about religion being off the table, there's an honus on them to sort of highlight their own family lives and to sort of run as people, run, you know, to show themselves as likeable individuals. >> but, ken, that's up to them. that's up to them. >> but those families are not on trial, though. those families are not on trial. i don't really care what -- >> frankly, both of these candidates have, you know, are e religious backgrounds that were very important to them in shaping who they are. and so to an extent i don't think that the religious backgrounds or the churches to which they belong should be off the tachblt they're trying to have it both ways as do many kaeptds. they like to highlight their personal backgrounds but put other things off limits and it becomes tricky. i'm not in any way condoning such an atact, but nonetheless,

you can see why it becomes a tricky balance for opponents who want to be able to take on the track records of these candidates while also respecting this line. >> goldy, ken's right, isn't he? because there hasn't been an event during the primary season that i haven't seen all five of mr. romney's boys and his wife. his wife has been ubiquitous and fantastic in terms of him. ken's right. they want to put the family out there because they regard them as an asset, but as soon as they start scrutinizing the family, they won't do it. >> i'm not willing to put the family on the ballot. i'm not voting for the family. i'm not voting for ann romney and her very expensive blouses or for tag romney. i'm voting for mitt romney and president obama. whether people want to attack family, faith, other things, that's up to them. as a voter i've got to decide

these things as an issue add that's what's right for me and what's right for the country. >> goldy taylor and ken vogel, have great weekend, both of you. >> thank you. next, thboehner says congre can get the week off then he says they need to work. nice if you can get it. stay with us. ♪ [ male announcer ] they were born to climb... born to leap, born to stalk, and born to pounce. to understand why, we journeyed to africa, where their wild ancestor was born. there we discovered that cats,

no matter where they are... are born to be cats. and shouldn't your cat be who he was born to be? discover your cat's true nature. purina one. of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

are so amazingly good, [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions.

you'll get lost in an all-beef hot dog world. what was i supposed to wish for? why am i wearing a bow-tie? where did i leave my bicycle? after all, when you're enjoying the beefiest, juciest bite of pure kosher beef, nothing else matters. goodness gracious, that's kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national. the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog. we've kicked this can down the road so many times, it's likely to make people throw up. >> kick the old can down the road. >> kicking the can down the road. >> kick the can down the road. >> let's kick the can down the road. >> kick the can down the road. >> kick the can down the road. >> continue to kick the can down the road. >> you don't suppose republicans

got together and decided that kick the can down the road might be a good talking point, do you? probably just coincidence or maybe just a way to distract voters that it's friday and republicans have done nothing to help the economy and nothing to address student loan rates that will double in less than two weeks. congressman peter welch is a democrat from vermont and a deputy whip. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. >> what do do you when you have a speaker who does nothing to address the pressing issues of the day but instead is looking forward to another fight over the debt ceiling? and without wishing to be disrespectful to you, sir, does your thinning head of hair indicate that you've pulled most of it out? >> well, you know, i listened to that rhetoric this morning, martin. it was a beautiful day in washington. i was down at the lincoln memorial and i read the second inaugural by lincoln, with malice toward none, charity toward auchlt it just mystifies

me that the folks now responding to that rhetoric are the decedents -- they're in the party of abraham lincoln. this -- it doesn't make any sense and it's certainly not an eloquent statement of what we need to do to make progress in this country. the bottom line here is that this threaten using the debt ceiling as a tactic is threatening to use a tactic that if it's successful will result in a financial meltdown. it will be here in the united states. >> well done, speaker barren. well done, speaker boehner. speaker boehner said we must deal with the debt ceiling immediately. listen to this, sir. >> let's start solving the problem and making it today. e can make the bold reforms and cut the deficit to make this worknd i believe we must. the markets aren't going wait forever. eventually they're going to

start reacting. we know now to ignore these warnings, we will do so at our own peril. >> the markets won't way. does mr. boehner not recall the united states credit rating being downgraded after he led the last ceiling debacle. >> that's exactly right. the design of the republican program is essentially a tea party design. we've got three elements if we're going to deal with the debt, and we should. one is the pentagon. that's a contribution. what is revenues? we have to include revenues. they've taken it off the table and lowered them for high income folk and the third is discretionary spending. these tough for democrats but we indicated a willingness. that's part of it as well. so the design mr. boehner has put on the table guarantees failure. that is the failure of leadership. >> right. mitt romney has hitched his wagon to the paul ryan.

what k you tell me what's marvelous about slashing chargeses? what's marvelous for cutting child protective silvers for $2 million children. what's marvelous of slashing meals on wheels for 2 million folk, many who can't leave their homes? can you tell me what's marvelous about that? >> what's marvelous to mitt romney is if that's what it takes make rich people richer and basically viscerate government, then that's marvelous. because this is an approach that's totally grounded in an ideological view that lowering taxes for the rich people is somehow going to create this marriage america. and, in fact, what we know in america is it's been policies to promote the middle class, the broad expansion of opportunity that has made america the strong economic and democratic country that it is. >> indeed. congressman peter welch of

vermont, thank you for joining us on this sunny friday afternoon. >> thank you. >> next the president meets with world leaders amid a very shaky backdrop but first jackie deangelis has a wrap up of the day's market. not what mark zuckerberg was look for. >> hovering around 38%, where the ipo pressed last night. we saw it open on the nasdaq today at $42.05. it is our understanding that as it came down and hit around that $38 mark, it is the underwriters right now that are keeping it above that mark because it's really important for the stock sentiment that it doesn't close lower today. that's why we're hovering there at that point. martin, we're looking at the nasdaq down at 1.3% to 2777. obviously a huge day for facebook and the offering.

back over to you. >> thanks so much. we'll be light back. great! tyler here will show you everything. check out our new mobile app. now you can use your phone to scan your car's vin or take a picture of your license. it's an easy way to start a quote. watch this -- flo, can i see your license? no. well, all right. thanks. okay, here we go. whoa! no one said "cheese." progressive mobile -- insurance has never been easier. get a free quote today. he doesn't look like a heart attack patient. i was teaching a martial arts class and it hit me. we get to the emergency room... and then...and then they just wheeled him away. i had to come to that realization that "wow, i am having a heart attack." i can't punch this away. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone.

so be sure to talk to you doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter and nowadays i don't have that fear. [ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team.

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.

the president is hosting leaders from seven of the world's great leaders this weekend to discuss, among other topics, whether europe can overcome the economic challenges of debt, austerity and the collapse of the greek government. we turn to nbc's mike vicara who has been released from the white house, which is incredible. these g8s are usually troublesome, but this one may be different, especially where europe is concerned. >> this is going to be a g8

meeting of a lot of consequence, no doubt about it. this is one of the finest days you'll erv find around the eastern united states, but there is a figurative cloud hanging over this meeting and that is greece, the situation there, as well as italy and spain. greece doesn't even have a government there yet, and in france a lot of questions being raised about the direction of the european economy, the european union, and that, of course, is going to be front and center francois the newly elected president in france. he's here in washington. he met with president obama in the oval office today. the old word used to be austerity, the new word used to be growth. now they talk of stimulus. they want more stimulus in europe and less talk on austerity. what newt government is going to

do about greek debt. that's hanging over these meetings. a whole new host of issues, but that's certainly front and center. >> in his keynote address, the president got in a word about austerity. he said the u.s. would continue to provide food assistance to poor countries despite tough economic times. but he was also making a political point, wasn't he, in the presence of these european leaders who have opted for austerity and whose nations, frankly, are back in recession. >> and you're absolutely right, and it is a great deal of concern. you know, on the one hand, u.s. officials have said leading up to these meetings, not only this meeting here but the meeting following on tomorrow night in chicago beginning tomorrow night for the nato meeting where many more countries are going to be gathered, they said all along that the european model, the approach that they've taken is too heavily weighted towards austerity, towards cutbacks. led by germany, and the president of france, nicolas sarkozy, they want to see more emphasis on growth. they're trying to encourage the

perception there is going to be a new emphasis with the emergence of francois olan, the new president of france. the question s the germans aren't necessarily going to go along with that, so they'll talk about that here as well as chicago in the nato, martin. >> thanks for bringing us all those international leaders. thanks so much, mark. we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] we believe small things can make a big difference. like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. purina one discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. with this kind of thinking going into our food, imagine all the goodness that can come out of it. just one way we're making the world a better place...

one pet at a time. vibrant maturity. from purina one smartblend. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ so, where to next? what happens when classroom teachers get the training... ...and support they need? schools flourish and students blossom. that's why programs like... ...the mickelson exxonmobil teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students.

let's solve this. ♪ you're doing it again, sweetheart. hmm? the thumb thing. ♪ -mine. -mine. -mine. ♪ mine! [ female announcer ] glidden brilliance collection paint and primer in one. available only at walmart. got a day? get some color. ♪ glidden paint makes it easy to add color to your life. glidden gets you going.

glidden paint makes it easy to add color to your life. you do a lot of kayakingno. whoooa i'm in a river. what are some good kayaking words? like...rapids? look, i'm going through the rapids. ok. i'll take it. new offers in new places so you can try new things. sync your american express card with facebook, foursquare, and twitter to find savings. that's the membership effect of american express. time now to clear the air, and we couldn't end this week without paying homage to mitt romney's spectacular performance in front of a microphone yesterday. i'm not talking about the one he

delivered in florida, because after that speech, romney decided he would respond to the story about a super pac who was attacking the president using jeremiah wright. so arming courage, he made a statement before answering two questions. first, he said the suggestive companies like bain made businesses, dumped millions of dollars in debt on them and walked away was a fiction but then acknowledged some people may do it. so on the one hand, it's all made up, on the other hand, there are some people who know exactly how to do just that. if that wasn't confusing enough, he then offered the most p preposterous and bizarre statement. he said on a radio show he recently linked jeremiah wright to the president. here's what he had to say about that. >> i'm not familiar precisely

with exactly what i said, but i stand by what i said, whatever it was. >> mr. romney confirms he is an empty suit. a vacuous and ambitious man who can't even recall what he said, but he's stand big it, anyway. frankly, i'm completely speechless, so i'll leave the final word to my cat mia. >> meow. >> thank you. hi, dylan. how are you? >> i don't know if it was the nature of your behavioral observations, your behavioral critique of the man who is mitt romney, the integration of some of the other mammals with the feline characterization, but as i was listening to you, i was thinking that in addition to your extraordinary work here in broadcast journalism, you could have a future as, like, a narrator on nature programs. i could listen to your voice. i could watch like the planet earth stuff. we could get you one of those gigs. i wonder if they would let you do that.