bringing them down in a steady sensible way. and, by the way, that's what we proposed last year. that's what's proposed in my budget. what i've said is, let's make long-term spending cuts, let's initiate long-term reforms, let's reduce our health care spending, let's make sure that we've got a pathway, a glide path, to fiscal responsibility, but at the same time let's not underinvest in the things that we need to do right now to grow. and that recipe of short-term investments in growth and jobs with a long-term path of fiscal responsibility is the right approach to take for, i think, not only the united states but also for europe.

okay? >> what about the republicans saying that you're blaming the europeans for the failures of your own policies? >> the truth of the matter is that, as i said, we've created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone. the private sector's doing fine. we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. oftentimes cuts initiated by, you know, governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government, and who don't have the same kind of flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in. and so you know, if republicans

want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments and how do we help the construction industry because the recipes that they're promoting are basically the kinds of policies that would add weakness to the economy, would result in further lay-offs, would not provide relief in the housing market, and would result, i think, most economists estimate, in lower growth and fewer jobs, not more. all right? david jackson. >> thank you, sir. a couple of books out with interesting details about national security issues that are reports of terrorists kill lists that you supervises and reports of cyberattacks on the iranian nuclear programs that you've ordered. two things. first, your reaction to

information getting out in public and, secondly, what is your reaction to lawmakers who accuse your team to leaking details in order to promote your re-election bid? >> first of all, i'm not going to comment on the details of what are supposed to be classified items. second, as commander in chief, the issues that you've mentioned touch on our national security, touch on critical issues of war and peace, and they're classified for a reason because they're sensitive and because the people involved may, in some

cases, be in danger, if they're carrying out some of these missions. and when this information or reports whether true or false surface on the front page of newspapers, that makes the job of folks on the front lines tougher, and it makes my job tougher, which is why since i've been in office my attitude has been zero tolerance for these kinds of leaks and speculation now we have mechanisms in place where if we can root out folks who have leaked, they will suffer consequences. in some cases, it's criminal, these are criminal acts when

they release information like this. and we will conduct thorough investigations as we have in the past. the notion that my white house would purposely release classified national security information is offensive. it's wrong. and you know people i think need to have the better sense of how i approach this office and how the people around me here approach this office. we're dealing with issues that can touch on the safety and security of the american people, our families, or our military personnel or our allies. and so we don't play with that.

and it is a source of consistent frustration, not just from my administration, but for previous administrations, when this stuff happens. and we will continue to let everybody know in government, or after they leave government, that they have certain obligations that they should carry out. but as i think has been indicated from these articles, whether or not the information they've received is true, the writers of these articles have all stated unequivocally that they didn't come from this white house and that's not how we operate. >> are investigations going on now, is that what you're saying, of these stories. >> we consistently, whenever there is classified information, that is put out into the public,

we try to find out where that came from. all right? okay. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. >> can we ask about wisconsin? >> president barack obama making extensive comments on the eurozone crisis saying in light of what's happening in europe congress needs to take action. and he talked about the jobs bill out there and specifically construction jobs and public sector jobs, hiring teachers, hiring firefighters, state, local workers who have been laid off during the recession. back with plea chris matthews host of "hardball" on msnbc, mike viqueira at the white house for us, and andrea mitchell nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent. chris matthews, he tried to make the point that these are proposals that independent economists have said will help the u.s. economy. did he make his case? >> reporter: well, i tell you he was very diagnostic on the european front where you had

problems of debt and also real estate problems over there he went through great detail about what he's been briefed on so he's showed his knowledge of the european situation. he did a diagnosis of the american economy and said it isn't the american sector flagging it's the big cut backs in teachers, firefighters, et cetera. that needs to be addressed. it's a dr. obama saying what's wrong, here's how to fix it targeted to the teachers and of course the firefighters and other government employees at the state and county level that have been laid off. that is one of the ironies of the recovery, it's a battle between growth in the private sector, offset by cutbacks in the municipal and county and state employees which doesn't sound right because nobody talks about. about oi think he stole the headline with the iranian story, the need to maintain secrecy and whatever we're doing to on strukts the iranian nuclear program. he said it involves peace and

war, meaning the stakes couldn't be higher in terms of avoiding a war by destroying their system, if that's what we're doing. he was talking about plugging leaks and punishing people who leak. that was very serious. i think you could read the president's thinking there in a rare way, very transparent and being very angry about people who would say he would leak information about the program as it exists or possibly exists, some kind of bragging right for the zraadministration. he doesn't want it to be thought he was bragging about our success whatever extent it is, in stopping iran from getting a nuclear weapon. >> something these leaks have been criticized on both sides of the aisles. chris matthews, thank you for staying with us throughout this hour and ten minutes. i want to let people know that coming up at 12:30 eastern time, so that's coming up in 1:250, john boehner and eric cantor are

speaking so they'll have the republican response to what the president had to say. that's going to do it for me. i'm chris jansing. we'll see you monday. thomas roberts up next to continue our coverage. makg my . i'm consolidating my assets. i'm not paying hidden fees or high commissions. i'm making the most of my money. and seven-dollar trades are just the start. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. and i'm loving every minute of it. [ rodger riney ] at scottrade, we give you commission-free etfs, no-fee iras and more. come see why more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade. right? get. out. exactly! really?! [ mom ] what? shut the front door. right? woop-woop! franklin delano! [ male announcer ] hey! there's oreo creme under that fudge! oreo fudge cremes. indescribably good.

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good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. we begin with breaking news, president obama wrapping up his remarkin the white house briefing room, putting an em emphasis on the economy and role of lawmakers on capitol hill. >> steps we can take right now to put more people back to work. if congress decides despite all of that that they aren't going to do anything about this simply because it's an election year, then they should explain to the american people why. there's going to be plenty of time to debate respective plans for the future. that's a debate i'm eager to have. >> we will get analysis from our

power political panel we have assembled. first, mike viqueira standing by live for us at the white house. mike, let's start off with where the president came out, talking about greece and europe and laying out a detailed plan&i believe said the most detailed he's give tonight this. >> reporter: it really was and it really is an indication of the level of concern from the president on down about the state of the european economy and how it can affect this economy and nobody needs to be reminded about the fact november's coming up in five months here. those who tuned in who have a taste for red meat were going to be disappointed. they got a dose of broccoli, getting into detail about europe, for months the administration from the president on down have declined to get into specific prescriptions that they want and advice to give to europeans. i think what we saw the president today is to come out and do that, and that is an indication of how concerns and preoccupied they are here among policymakers in washington, not

only in the administration but on capitol hill and next door at the treasury department about the emerging situation in europe. very tenuous, very fail, no one need to be remained about flap the president talking about the argument, left over from the g-8 air couple of weeks ago at camp david the growth versus austerity question. president, administration, trying to encourage europe to stimulate growth. european central bank days ago declined to put more money into the system, ease monetary policy and the president coming forward and urging the european nations to come together for cooperation and do that. so it's a little esoteric, it's not red meat, it doesn't directly relate -- i don't think anyone would advise the president to talk about europe to fire up the base but it's a level of concern about how it can affect the american economy. >> we want to bring in our political power panel. editor why in chief at journal, general saki, hogan gidley,

national communications director for rick santorum's presidential campaign. thanks for rolling with punches as we were going with the president's briefing there. react to what we heard from the president. let's start with jen. >> sure. i think the president sent a strong message that he's going to fight for proposals he's been talking about from the white house and on the campaign trail. that means you know, a package to put construction workers back to work, tax incentives to encourage companies to hire. and he's not going to accept republicans in congress sit on the sidelines and rooting for failure. i think we saw him fired up and ready to get congress moving today. >> so hogan, what about you, from right? >> yeah, i mean, just a lot more of the same. i think it's three years too late. he hadn't been talking about the economy for the first three years of the presidency and now trying to cram it in before the

election is disingenuous. he's going to have problems. this is going to be a problem for him. for him to talk about this at this point seems bogus, seems fake, and he knows he has some problems. it's obvious, he needs to show some passion. he really didn't show much of -- he showed some passion, i would say but it's not time tourette rick. it's time for resolve and resolutions and a direction for the future, and it doesn't look like he has that. it's more blame on europe. it's more blame on previous administrations. so more of the same from the president it looks like today. >> one thing, to rebut that, ron, you were listening to this as well, but the fact the president was directly asked about does he feel the criticism of blaming europe is father for his administration and he fell back against that, talking about the 4.3 million jobs created, the private sector growth that we've seen over the last 27 months. do you think that the president did come out and sell enough about what his administration has done? >> well he certainly -- whether it's his fault or not, i'll let

me colleagues debate that, he's about to face re-election with a really lousy economy so he's got to look for economiy enemies, h picks out congress, part of his strategy, and he blamed europe. i mean it's right, he talked in detail about the ins and out 0s of the european economy. there are solutions to the european crisis and solutions have to be had, if not, we're facing a big economic crisis here. basically he's telling the american people i'm trying to do what i can to jawbone europe. if the economy goes down the toilet it's not my fault. it's congress' fault and europe's fault. >> the president did come out talking about greece specifically and saying how much of a mistake it would be for them to leave the eurozone and what it would do do them now, basically greece is under water, not pulling in money they need to pay for themselves now. when we look at the fact that the president was very vocal

about having america's support, that ties us, and our economy, directly to what's going on in the europe rezone. do you think that's a smart position for the president to take now, especially with greece and the eurozone looking like it's in trouble now. >> it doesn't take the president -- sorry. sorry. not sure if you asked me. it doesn't take the president making that statement to tie us the european economy. the a global economy. we learned that in 2008. what's interesting is that the u.s. economy has fares better than many countries because of the president and his team to make investments, put stimulus in the economy and the severity of the austerity program has not worked and we've seen that. he's not placing blame. he's talking about the reality of the factors that can impact our economy and why it's important for us act here in the united states. >> do you think that the president, hogan, i'll ask this to you, should the president have come out talking about u.s. jobs, where we stand on that front, and remind america about what's being done by the

administration, the problems that happened, the gridlock with congress on capitol hill, before getting into our position on what's going on with greece, eurozone? >> look, she's absolutely right. we are linked to the european economy, whether we like it or not. the problem is, as you just phrased in the question, thomas, the american people don't know that and they don't care. focuses on our own economy, own jobs and know that we're hurting. and the president has to outline a vision for how to fix that. the problem mere, it's blame, it's whining, regardless of what he's inherited it's time for him to step up, look, here what happens i have planned, here's how to move forward. plenty of blame to go around. >> what phrase sound whiney to you about the president talking about the job creation, realistic problems about the global economy and taking seriously the fact that they refuse to say that their

administration would purposely leak sensitive materials about our national security? >> look, look, he continues to blame congress and we all know that congress has -- there's plenty of blame to go around. it's a smart move blixpolitical everybody hates congress but love their congressman. at end of the day i cut my political teeth in the mike huckabee school, at the end of the day you have to govern something, move the ball forward. you can run against congress. the problem is if you get elected it's tough to govern once you get elected because you spent time slashing and burning that congress. and he had control of both houses when he first took office. none of these things were accomplished. this is nuisance stuff, in-depth political junkie type fodder now. but the bottom line is for the american people, we're hurting. we have you know a huge unemployment late and there were promises that the president made when he was running for office that he hasn't come through on.

that's going to be an issue for him. i think he could overcome a lot of that. i'm saying that will be an issue in the fall. >> thanks to the political power panel this friday. president obama said that he will not tolerate national security leaks in his white house. congress wants to do something about it as well. senator mark warner on the intelligen intelligence committee next. hi, i'm phil mickelson. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like.

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classified national security information is offensive. it's wrong. and you know people, i think, need to have a better sense of how i approach this office and how the people around me here approach this office. >> virginia senator mark warner a member of the select committee on intelligence and joins us this morning. i'm know you had an opportunity to watch the president's briefing there. the president made the remark in reference to this saying, we don't play with that because it deals with lives of our family, of our security members, of our allies. with the president coming out so strongly on this, what do you think will happen to shore up where these leaks came from? >> well, we all are outraged by the leaks. democrats, republicans, any american should be outraged that people would be leaking

classified information. it puts members of our intelligence community at risk. it means that those allies who work with us may no longer be willing to work with us if they feel that we are -- the american partners can't be trusted to keep information secret and these leaks have to be put to an end. and both sets of the intelligence committee, house and senate, are looking at new proceed do proceed doors to put in place. we've got to recognize the looking at how broadly this information is shared. one of the things we saw, prior to 9/11, information silos naenmeant sometimes folks who should know about potential threats didn't know. we broadened that information sharing and now we've seen some of these uptick in leaks. we've got to find a way to balance sharing of information but not share it so broadly that you have these kind of leaks. if there is a leak, be able to prosecutor it.

somebody needs -- if we can identify who leaked this information they need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. >> these are classified items, dealing with our national security. some of the most important intelligence this country has access to that we want to share with certain allies. but what's the timetable that you think something can get done, something can hit the senate floor? you don't want to tip anybody's hand but what's the timetable? >> we met on this issue yesterday. i think there's broad bipartisan consensu consensus, i think you're seeing something come quickly. i'll leave that to chairman feinstein and ranking member chambliss on terms of laying out the time line. but i can tell you this much, there was a virtual unanimity amongst all member there's yesterday. we were outraged by the leaks. we're looking at legislative solutions and do this in in a bipartisan way and make sure that we're going to pursue

whoever was basically putting our security at risk, puttinging live at risk and if we can identify that individual, prosecute them? we'll watch this dangerous and developing situation in syria for you. this violence escalating between military. u.n. observers getting this firsthand look at the most recent massacre site. plus, ranking all of the living ex-presidents and ranking them by popularity. who's at the top and bottom?

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in new orleans and columnist. she's here to talk with me about this. you had an opportunity to watch the briefing. the president started out speaking if detail about the european debt crisis. i know people are -- as chris matthews described it -- being very diagnostic about what it means for our relationship with the eurozone and greece. how does the president turn this into something that's kind of campaign sexy. >> yeah. >> for most of america, they're not -- they're more worried about what's going on domestically than what's happening over in europe. >> it's a risk for the president because it's an accurate assessment. he was in his sort of professorle mode, he was measured, very careful, talking about all of the complexities of a global economic system been and the risk there is mostly people will tune out, that they won't be able to understand the complexity but the relevance, for me the leadership that it shows, is that this is reality

that we face so if we pretend we exist on an island we can make jobs on our own without thinking how we're connected to the larger world, then we do a disservice to the american people. >> europe is our largest trading partner. obviously there's a major business link between our country and the eurozone and everyone wanting to financially succeed in the partnership back and forth. as you point out, it will be nice for people to think we live an on an island where we create our own jobs. listen to how the president talked about home, state and local levels. >> the beg challenge we have in our economy now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction. and the other sector that's weak is the construction industry. those two areas, we've directly addressed with our jobs plan. the problem that is it requires congress to take action. >> those are two sectors that

the president talked about, the fact they are of concern for the administration, private sector doing okay, the president pointing out about job growth in the country and the private sector has been gaining over the last 27 months. but when we think about those local and state governments, those municipalities that have had to cut so many jobs around the country, they're not seeing funding they need to rebound, how seriously can the president take that message to congress, not look as if he's trying to blame congress but look like he's getting stuff done and working together? >> look, this is the economy that distinguishes us from europe. one hand we're connected in the globe system but the key that distinguishes us the solutions to the american economic crisis are absolutely within the control of our government, right? so europe is focusing on, as he pointed out, two dozen different nations, all of these complex economic problems. our private industry has record profits, has reasonable hiring, what we have done is to shed public sector jobs and shed

public sector spending at exactly moment that we need the stimulus. our solutions are right here at our fingertips and just about making decision as a federal government to support the states and localities so they can do the hiring where americans live. and i think that, to me, an optimistic narrative that we could solve this almost overnight. >> so the economy being issue number one in the presidential campaign, we've got the unemployment numbers out for last month, not doing anything to help the president's message about the economy turning around. we also just recently got the numbers of the campaign finance funds from both sides with mitt romney raking in $77 million, the president at $60 million. both sides complain about finance money. and this side's making too much and this side's get too much and it needs to be grassroots and all of this other stuff. we've got all of the money poured into campaign ads trying to convince people to vote one way or the other. >> only to convince about a very small proportion of people.

they're going to use all of that money to run ads in nine states. it's not as -- >> don't need it for the choir. >> right. they're not going to blanket the nation in a national conversation about which candidate you should choose. nary going to write off some states as safely in the republican or democratic column and they're going to go to florida, to nevada, to virginia convince those marginal voters. there are real questions if that strategy what does mean to be an american making a choice for the presidency where you may not see much cam pine advertising in a billion dollar campaign. >> how do we get the hypocrisy out of both candidates when it comes to what they're doing financially, how much they need to make, the fact they say we need to get money out of politic but was feel each has to raise more than the other to do it. >> this is the basic, to me, the genius of our founders, they understood that leaders were not going to be angels, hopefully not devils, but also not angels. it has to do with structures that you create.

we've created a'of structures, particularly in a post-citizens united decision role, though not just that, where we do put the very best candidates from either party in a circumstance of being beholden to big money interest in this way. i think it's time to change the structure so people can behave differently. >> always a treat to have you with us. watch melissa harris perry weekends on msnbc saturday and sunday mornings saturday, 10:00 a.m. thanks again. >> some of the newest video, early morning shelling in the hard-hit city of homs, five to ten shells a meant. this shot by syrian activists and not independently verified by nbc news. today, word that the united nations monitors have finally been able to get to an area where a massacre was reported this week. they were shot at yesterday. the international envoy kofi annan says syria could be on the

brink of all-out civil war. the peace plan has been ignored by the regime of president assad. watching it all for us from cairo, egypt. bring us to speed when we talk about what's happens with the latest massacre. >> reporter: good afternoon. let's start with the u.n. observer mission. they were able to get to the village we understand, from a british report that actually is accompanying that special trip to the village. some of the accounts that are coming out actually have been somewhat disturbing, confirming some of the accounts we've been hearing from over the past several days some of the amateur footage online, accounts from eyewitnesses people went house to house, street to street, killing people at close range, that seems to be so far confirmed by the accounts from the initial reports. but in terms of the investigation, still the syrian government says it was not responsible for what happened. they are vowing to carry out

investigations similar to what they did with the houla incident a few weeks agoing that incident, as well, they say the result of terrorists acting inside the country. but the international conde condemnation seems to be pointing at the syrian government and pro-government militias. >> thank you. we're going to be right back. do you see it ? there it is ! there it is ! where ? where ? it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is.

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injury keeping him out of the race. there is a 1:0 p.m. news conference planned at belmont stakes. breaking us in that nbc news confirmed that i'll have another will not be competing tomorrow in the belmont stakes. gone a horse that was widely speculated to potentially be a triple crown winner. more from jay gray. in 1973 secretariat, 1977 seattle slew. we haven't seen one since 1978 when affirmed won the triple crown. a lot of people hopeful wield see one tomorrow because of a foot injury the horse will not be racing. attitudes changing among african-americans towards american equality sins president obama's announcement. 59% support marriage equality an increase from 41% last summer. that's not the trend of one minnesota church. reverend white says to-thirds of

his members stopped coming since he voiced support for marriage equality and he could lose the very building that houses his church at the end of the month. joining me live the reverend oliver white. great to have you here. people would say you're a man ahead of your time on the beeis because in 2005 you voted in favor of marriage equality. fast forward to today you, may lose your church. if you had to do it all over again, would you make that statement decision back in 2005 and support it up until this day? >> i would definitely do the same thing all over again. this is something i believe in strongly, marriage equality, and i cannot imagine making a different decision, even though i know now something i didn't know back then how bad it would hurt. but i would still make the same decision. it's a matter of principle. >> again, the recent poll

showing that 59% of african-americans do support marriage equality and that's a large jump from 41% of last summer. now that we have president obama that has said he's fully evolved and endorses marriage equal, colin powell, naacp, supporting marriage equality, why do you think attendance hasn't improves at your church at all? >> well, there's -- there are a couple of reasons that probably don't have much to do with the issue of marriage equality, it's where the church is located. it's because we lost so many members which means that we don't have money to provide for a musician or many of the kinds of things that people expect when they come to church. my church is a very humble but very happy congregation, at least those who are left. we don't have a lot of the amenities that one would anticipate when they would come to a church. however, the issue of same-sex

marriage hurt us more than anything, i think had it not been for the people who left, we would probably be in a much better position because we would have all of the things that people anticipate and as a matter of fact, my church is not about putting on an event. we're more inclined to want to serve the community where the church is located which is a rather poor community with many single mothers at-risk children, crime is rampant, sales of drugs are frequent, prostitution is apparent. so there are many things that are going on in the community itself that would not incline many people to want to attend church there. >> sir, with the looming bill coming and potentially the loss of the building that houses your church, do you feel confident you'll be able to overcome that to meet the financial demands to keep carrying on? >> i feel confident and i also

would like to say, we must win this campaign. to lose it would be to yield to those who are vehemently opposed to the issue of equality for the lgbt community. we cannot afford to lose this. i can't imagine at the end of the campaign having to walk way from our building. that would give a victory to those who would simply say, well, if he had only followed the word of god if he had only read his bible more carefully he wouldn't be in this position. we warned him. that would be a victory for them that we cannot afford. >> reverend oliver white, thanks for your time. wish you the best of luck, okay? >> thank you very much. >> absolutely. what's in your? ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy.

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so who would you guess to be the most popular past president? a new poll looks at the four

living former u.s. presidents and what americans think about their ex-commanders in chief. least popular, george bush. an unfavorable view of the president. joining me today, dougly brinkley, historian, professor at rice university and author of the book "cronkite." a great book, by the way. great to have you here. a lot of blame placed on george w. bush on the campaign trail by barack obama. is that a winning strategy? why dom more than 50% of americans have this unfavorable view of him now? >> now everybody giving an unfavorable view of george w. bush, anybody who votes democratic. he became the boogeyman for eight years of liberals and democrats in general and then, of course, the problems that president bush had on -- his mismanagement of katrina. the long iraq war that many people thought was unnecessary and finally the economy bombing out in october of 2008.

so he has a hard road upwards. the cnn poll didn't surprise me a bit. >> president bush 39 has a better favorability. most popular, president bill clinton, a big campaign asset for the obama re-election campaign. other people on the right would say he's become a like the depending on the language used. in the 60s. 66%. why that so high? >> equal almost to his wife hillary clinton, secretary of state, whose ratings are high. the clintons are in right now. he's become a global rock star, really. his global initiative, considered one of the most remarkable things an ex-president's ever done. i recently moderated a session of all the nobel laureate it's in chicago.

dalai lama there, gorbachev, on and on, but the superstar was bill clinton. he took everybody by storm when he ent empd the room. former bush, herbert walker bush, people like him. a world war ii veteran. he's the one along with reagan who oversaw the breakup of the soviet union it happened on his watch. >> quickly, not a part of this poll, we look at how people are feeling about our current president. president obama currently at 56% in his favorability ratings, higher than mitt romney especially among the younger voters, younger americans. is he popular enough, though? is that going to work to push him into a second term? >> well, we don't know, but it's a very good sign that the american public has not turned on the president. that's what barack obama's greatest asset is himself. he's got other policy initiative, particularly the killing of osama bin laden and waging i think, a very effective foreign policy, but that may not be enough, as everybody knows.

not saying anything novel, it's about the economy. what's unemployment going to look like in october of 2012? if it drops down into the 7.9, people will see improvement, unemployment goes up to 8.5, hard to get re-elected. economy in about seven states. >> douglas brinkley. great to see you today. thank you. >> thank you. that's going to wrap things up for me. now alex wagner is coming your wear the next hour. alex, i'm sure got a lot coming up especially whey the president just told us in the last hour. >> a big news friday, thomas. president obama dond his professor's robe to school the public on the euro crisis and its effect here at home. we'll discuss the lesson plan. and national security leaks. the white house pushes boong assertions it released sensitive information tarnishing its image. and the latest on afghanistan and soldier suicide, which

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after much speculation and endless spawn tiff kags, the president may have a new running mate. the continent of europe. after his press conference this morning, it's clear that the eurozone will be at his side behind his back and on the stump until november. it's friday, june 8th, and this is "now." joining me today, josh green is the senior national correspondent for bloomberg business week. journalist katherine cryer, author of "patriot games" and joining us, editor-in-chief. the always buzzing vince. and president obama is tackling the crisis in europe