a white house search for leaks. a megachurch televangelist arrested. a costly buffett lunch. the lohan wreck and the triple crown shocker. but first -- new today, a big push to stop a string of national security leaks. the attorney general just named two federal prosecutors to investigate the source of those leaks. mike viqueira is live at the white house for us. with a good day, mike, what's the official word on these investigations. >> reporter: the allegation here. >> reporter: the accusation from many republicans in congress is that the administration intentionally leaked classified information in an effort to make the president look tough on terrorists in an election year. one about a so-called kill list approved by the president to take out targets in the middle east and afghanistan, yemen and other places through drone strikes. another about the so-called cyber war versus iran.

a controversy has erupted since those articles were published. senator john mccain saying these were clearly intentional. others saying it had to come from a senior official. yesterday, the president sharply rebuked any accusation saying that this would be offensive and wrong, this notion the administration intentionally leaked that. later that day, the attorney general, eric holder, announced that two u.s. attorneys, one from maryland, one from here in the district of columbia, would commence a criminal investigation into the leaks. >> thank you very much, mike viqueira. we appreciate it. new this hour, two brand-new dueling ads from the republican national committee and the obama camp seizing upon comments both candidates made in just the past 24 hours. first up, here's the new ad from the obama campaign. >> he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. did he not get the message of wisconsin?

the american people did. it's time for us to cut back on government and help the american people. >> well, that ad was in direct response to a new rnc spot. here's part of that one. >> the private sector is doing fine. the private sector is doing fine. >> joining me now for more, msnbc contributor and political editor perry bacon, jr., and shirra tuplets. dukes up here, right? who wins that exchange? and which ad do you think is more effective? >> i think the rnc ad is a little more effective because

anytime you can use a candidate's own words against him,'s it's a pretty strong argument. and obama himself knew probably as soon as the words left his mouth that those were not the best choice of words because he called reporters into his office and clarified them a few hours later. >> and that was interesting because they had the president say twice that phrase, just to repeat it to hit it home there. perry, your thoughts on this? which ad do you think is more effective? >> i think both ads are effective, the voters will tell us which ones are more effective later on. but there's a core disagreement between the candidates on the issue. obama said, we need to hire more teachers, firefighter s and government workers. and mitt romney says, no, we don't. there's a big contrast there. >> in the obama camp ad, you heard the comment that is mitt romney made on friday. let's take a listen.

>> his answer for economic vitality, by the way, was, of course, pushing aside the private sector which he said is doing fine. instead he wants to add more to government. he wants another stimulus. he wants to hire more government workers. he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. did he not get the message of wisconsin? the american people did. it's time for us to cut back on government and help the american people. >> okay, perry, is this a case of, there he goes again? romney misspeaking saying something that could hurt him with middle class voters or do you think he meant it? >> i think he does mean he wants the government sector, those kinds of jobs to be smaller, a smaller number of those jobs in america. that said, i think both the president and romney would like to have those comments back. i don't think it's ever smart to say, we want fewer teachers. most americans are for more teachers. teaching is a very popular profession.

the private sector being fine is something he wanted to have back, too. neither one of them made the right statement yesterday in terms of the words themselves. >> this all started during the white house news conference on friday when the president said, quote, the private sector is doing fine. later in the day, he said this -- >> listen, it is absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine. there are too many people out of work. the housing market is still weak and too many homes under water. and that's precisely why i asked congress to start taking some steps that can make a difference. >> how is the white house framing what the president said yesterday and how unintended were his comments about the private sector? >> i would say it probably reaches gaffe level. he probably didn't mean to say the private equity sector is doing just fine. he probably meant to say the economy is not doing fine but

there are parts of the economy doing better than others. i think it's a problem for the white house. as we saw, the rnc pounced pretty quickly on those comments. and they want to paint the president as out of touch and not really understanding the true troubles of americans in a tough economy right now. those words used against him would be effective in a fall campaign ad to implement that. >> i want to ask you about your latest article. it's pretty interesting. it's about a focus group with female voters sponsored by warm. what did you learn? >> oh, i learned a lot of interesting things. it was a unique opportunity. even on the campaign trail, we don't get to talk to voters at length. this time, we really got to hear their thoughts for 90 minutes. it was clear how undefined mitt romney is to most of these voters. they knew very little about mitt romney. they knew he was a bidman, a family man and maybe about his religion and perhaps a little bit about some of the work he did with companies to build them

up or tear them down. >> perry, just last night, attorney general eric holder pointed two u.s. attorneys general to lead the investigation. what's the latest you're hearing about this? >> i think this is a big step. it really tells you -- you saw how angry the president appeared yesterday when it was suggested to him that he's leaking information basically to help win the election. he's very flustered by it yesterday and a few hours later, holder announcing an investigation into it. this is a big step for them. tells you they're taking this very seriously. democrats and republicans were campaigning about the leaks. it's an issue we're going to continue to hear about here in washington. >> thank you so much to you both. a little more than five minutes from now, a live interview with gary johnson, a surprising new ad he's got and what he hopes to gain from staying in the race. jockey, fan, gambler shs etch the horses are warming up for this afternoon's running of

the belmont stake. and it will continue without the running of i'll have another. but jay gray is live for us there at belmont park in queens, new york. looks like a lovely day out there. what is that it we're hearing about i'll have another is not going to appear now in a post-parade? what do you know about that? >> they've had a change. they're still going to honor i'll have another and the horse will be in the winner ee's circ today. doug o'neil, the trainer of the horse will take the saddle from the horse, retiring as a champion. it was the first time it had ever been a favorite in any of the races it had ever run. now we'll have to wait for another to win the crown. he was a 150-to-1 kentucky derby

dark horse coming from behind in astonishing fashion. at the preakness, still a 3--to-1 underdog, he mounded another gutsy comeback for the ages. >> here comes i'll have another. >> but now his improbable story ended like so many others, short of a triple crown. >> this is officially to tell you that i'll have another's retir retired. >> scratched due to a swollen tendon after a friday workout, i'll have another is the 12th horse to miss winning the triple crown since 1978. silver charm lost in 1997 by just a half length. the next year, real quiet edged by a nose. >> and smarty jones enters the stretch. >> reporter: smarty jones lost down the stretch and big brown finished dead last four years ago. >> the modern race horse no

longer runs three races in the span of five weeks, which is what they're asked to do in the triple crown. >> reporter: and so it means that the sport of kings will have to wait at least one more year to crown a triple crown champion. a lot of people frustrated here. but it hasn't slowed the pace of patrons showing up at belmont park. a lot of people here early and ready to enjoy the day. >> i'm glad. and i'd like to be there if for no other reason than just to see i'll have another. what a beautiful horse. >> reporter: absolutely. >> thank you very much, jay gray. live coverage of the race begins at 4:30 p.m. eastern today on nbc. gary johnson, libertarian presidential candidate, joins me next to talk about his push to get into the debates. plus his ideas for turning around the economy. it's worth listening to in about three minutes here on "weekends with alex witt." [ male announcer ] it starts small.

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some headlines making news on the west coast. the oregonian has a front page story about a judge ordering the google owners of an alleged rape victim to be turned over to her accused attacker. on their first date, they met for a drink and headed to the man's condo where the attack allegedly happened. a story about manny pacquiao's training as his defeated his crown. and in montana, the bozeman daily chronicle has a front-page

article about yellowstone national park preparing for an influx of tourists. libertarian presidential candidate gary johnson has a new campaign ad that paints a grim picture of the state of the union. >> today, there's a handful of people in washington ruining america for 330 million of us. they've kept our nation in a state of perpetual war and increasing unsustainable debt. they've presided over the elimination of our bill of rights and the systematic dismantling of the freedoms guaranteed us under our constitution. >> the former new mexico governor and libertarian presidential candidate gary johnson joins me right now from washington. gary, good morning. >> alex, thanks for running that ad. >> that's a pretty orwelient ad.

>> we can fix it though. but we've got to fix it. we can't wait any longer. i'm offering a difference between obama and romney. i'm the only candidate that doesn't want to bomb iran. i'm the only candidate that wants to balance the federal budget. i believe in marriage equality. i want to get the troops home now. >> what's your goal? how are you playing this? >> just exactly as you point out. libertarians fiscally responsible, socially tolerant, which i think the majority of americans fall in that category. so coming at obama from the left, coming at romney from the right.

look, let's balance the federal budget. let's repeal the patriot act. let's not bomb iran. let's get out of afghanistan. let's bring the troops home. marriage equality, believing that it is a constitutionally guaranteed right, similar to civil rights in the '60s. >> so you said the focus right now also is to get into the debates. to do that, you need to get 15% in national polls. at this point, you're not listed in the polls. what's the likelihood of seeing you up on that stage with president obama and mitt romney? >> well, in the polls that i am -- where my name is in, i'm anywhere between 7% and 9%. that probably has more to do with the fact that i'm just the third name on the ballot and that people are so discontented with what's going on. but i think when people recognize that there are only going to be three candidates on the ballot in all 50 states that

there will be a third party, the libertarian party on the ballot in all 50 states. that there will be a bit of focus that will get shifted this way. i have to be in the polls to determine whether or not i poll at 15%. so that becomes a function of people wanting that to happen. and then upron paul's candidacy coming to an end. he dropped out. i'm a ron paul fan. i think what i'm saying is the same thing as ron paul. there's that support that i don't think voting for gary johnson is a handicap or a lesser vote, if you will, and somebody needs to be talking about a freedom and liberty agenda for this country. somebody needs to be talking about the fact that the ramifications of what we're doing is going to be hyperinflation because we're borrowing and printing money to the tune of 43 cents out of every dollar.

and i don't think americans want to pay $100 for a can of coca-cola. that's where this is headed. >> were you able to get into those debate, among the things you might talk about would be iran. and you have said that's not going to happen. can you honestly say that? that that would never happen? what if it looked as if iran were on the brink of acquiring a nuclear weapon and the u.s. had to get involved for national security's sake? >> you're absolutely right, alex. and i would never say "never." i think one of the primary responsibilities of the president of the united states is to determine threats against the united states. but, look, it should be about defense, it shouldn't be about offense. it shouldn't be about nation building. and we have been in a state of perpetual war virtually my entire lifetime. and that's being perpetrated by both political parties. why don't we try something different? why don't we try peace for a

change? how about a president that's going to declare peace when they're elected president of the united states? >> all right. well, something to consider there. also following the may jobs report, you said, quote, washington refuses to take the only steps government can take that will actually let america get back to work. talk about the policies you would use to get americans back to work? >> i'm proposing a balanced budget. secondly, i'm proposing to throw out the income tax, corporate tax, i'm proposing to abolish the irs and replace our current tax system with a one federal tax, consumption tax, in this case, the fair tax. i think the fair tax really reboots the american economy for the next 100 years. it makes american goods and services 23% more competitive for export. it's really the answer when it comes to china. and then when it comes to jobs, if in a zero corporate tax rate

environment, the private sector doesn't create tens of millions of job, i don't know what it's going to take to create tens of millions of jobs. at its core, the fair tax is a much better, more fair tax system than what we have now. imagine not having to have an irs. imagine no more withholdings from your payroll check. social security, medicare, unemployment will come out of the proceeds of the fair tax. and when you look at immigrat n immigration, the issue of immigrants, legal, illegal, paying taxes. that becomes a non-issue if you have one federal consumption tax that no one is going to be able to avoid. >> you mention tens of millions. it brings to mind how the financing and raising the kind of money for a third-party candidate, how do you plan to get the tens of millions you need to compete? >> it's a catch-22. the notion of being in the

polls, the fact that when i'm in the polls, right now, 7%, 9%, the pie in the sky scenario of being on the national debate stage with romney and obama which, by the way, i am a former two-term governor of new mexico. i really think i have a wonderful resume. i think i have a resume to suggest that i'm going to doggedly pursue this agenda that i'm talking about. and this agenda i'm talking about comes at obama hard from the left, comes at romney hard from the right. >> but, look, a lot of what you propose, though, is pretty idealistic. >> well, and let me point out, i got to serve eight years as governor of new mexico, talking about these same kinds of issues. and in a state that was 2-to-1 democrat. they did a poll. i was the only -- i'm the only presidential candidate that's viewed favorably in his or her own state.

so talking ideologically, yes. how does that really affect citizens? well, citizens in new mexico put that to the test and i ended up getting reelected by a bigger margin the second time than the first time in a state that's 2-to-1 democrat, making a name for myself, really being a good steward of tax dollars. >> well, there is no doubt you are very, very popular governor there. thank you for joining us. >> alex, great to be on with you, thank you. >> good to see you. thanks, gary. number four on our first five web stories trending, more trouble for lindsay lohan. 24 time, it's a car accident. her black porsche, that crashed into the back of a dump truck near los angeles. but police are not sure who was driving. lohan herself escaped injury but the medics took her to the hospital as a precaution. he was traveling to the set of her new movie where she is playing elizabeth taylor.

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nokia lumia 900. only from at&t. rethink possible. tch various reports say apple is getting rid of google maps on iphones and ipads and will replace it with a new application. google is upgrading its maps to include three-dimensional views. and facebook has unveiled its app center. right now, it has only 600 apps for use on mobile and desktop. facebook will also recommend app that is your friends are using. now here's what's making today's list of number ones. while new york city often takes the top spot as the nation's most expensive city, there's a new list of the cheapest cities in the u.s.

that owner belongs to harlingen, texas. in second, memphis, tennessee, where housing is 31% below the national average. mcallen texas ranks third. charlottesville, virginia, tops a new list of the brainiest cities in america. it's based on how well people play a video game that's supposed to sharpen your mind. lafayette, indiana, anchorage, arkansas, third. ♪ they're going to the outer limits and making history since its release about a month ago. the new "angry birds space" games has 50 million downloads. i was with you, mr. hatfield! >> you ain't coming, billy. >> that was pretty good, wasn't it? that's a fabled family feud.

"hatfields & mccoys" was the most watched non-sports event on basic cable ever. the series averaged roughly 13.7 million viewers. the leader of billboard's digital songs chart. it's "call me maybe." those are your number ones on "weekends with alex witt." my kids are going to love this. let's play it up. ♪ [ female announcer ] hey, head & shoulders users... how long since you worried about flakes? since before jeans were this skinny. not since us three got a haircut. not since my first twenty-ninth birthday. [ female announcer ] head & shoulders. scalp and hair beyond compare. [ female announcer ] head & shoulders. let's get our creativity running. then get some blades spinning, paper sanding, and bits turning.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." at the half hour, developing now, the i meeting to discuss a bailout for spain. finance ministers held a conference call to discuss a potential rescue of the country's troubled banking

sector. just yesterday, president obama urged european leaders to quickly solve the crisis. nbc's reporter is in london for us. duncan, hello to you. what do you know about this conference call? >> reporter: hello, alex. as far as we know, finance ministers from across the eurozone started a conference more than two hours ago. we haven't yet heard the outcome. but these are the decisions we know needed to be made. one, is spain going to ask for help to sort out its banks? if so, how much are european lenders willing to give them? and with what rules? on that first question, the spanish government has been saying it is waiting for crucial orders to determine how much capital their banks need. critics say they've been too slow to respond to the crisis, causing panic on the money market this is week. what spain doesn't want to do is rush into a bailout similar to portugal, ireland and greece.

those countries have tough oversight and austerity measures that are difficult to make ordinary people to accept. on that second question, how much will they need, estimates are varying wildly. but today the international monetary fund estimates spain needs at least $50 billion. others think it could be double that. >> i'm looking at the numbers here. spain's credit rating has been downgraded to bbb. that's two notches from junk status. is the bailout the only answer for spain? >> reporter: it does look like that way. there's no other fund that they can get this money from. europe has the money. the question is, what rules will come alongside it? some people think the spanish government is trying to hold out to get the best pobl possible deal. what they don't want is a national bailout similar to greece, ireland and portugal because that would be seen as a humiliation. what they're trying to get is an

injection of cash directly to their banks. there is a time pressure here, though, alex. it's that greece goes to the polls for a new election next weekend. and that could determine whether greece leaves the euro. and then we're into a whole new scenario. so there's a real time pressure here. >> duncan, thank you. new today, the political war of words escalating after these comments by both president obama and mitt romney -- >> the private sector is doing fine. >> he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. did he not get the message of wisconsin? the american people did. >> but does the obsession with gaffes and blunders leave the real issues and the voters behind? it is time for "strategy talk." joining me now, democratic strategist keith boykin and republican strategist wesley donohue. keith, we'll begin with you.

we heard the short version from president obama. here's a little more. >> 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. where we're seeing weakne nesnen our economy have to do with state and local government. >> should the president have stood by that statement, keith, or walk it back as he did later in the day? >> i think he was trying to explain when he said that the private sector economy is doing everything it can to create jobs. but congress needs to help. congress needs to pass the jobs bill or pass elements of the jobs bill in order to get the economy growing again. the unemployment rate that came out last week, there's an interesting statistic, it's 3.9% unemployment for people with college degrees but 13% for people who don't have high school diplomats.

it tells you that we really want to investigate in education. we want to get the economy going again. that's the opposite of what mitt romney is opposing. >> wesley, i want to listen to the longer version of mitt romney's comment. here that is. >> his answer for economic vitality, by the way, was, of course, pushing aside the private sector, which he said is doing fine. instead, he wants to add more to government. he wants another stimulus. he wants to hire more government woeshgs. he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. did he not get the message of wisconsin? the american people did. it's time for us to cut back on government and help the american people. >> just that one phrase could be tough for voters to hear. don't we all want more firefighters and teachers and police? sounds like a bad thing for a candidate to say. do you think he really meant that? >> what i think he meant and what we all know he meant and what most americans agree with, especially the americans in swing states, are that we need less spending and less

government. sure, it was a misstep. he should have articulate that had in a better way. but at least most americans understand what he was trying to say. compare that to what the president said this week, there's no way at all to interpret that other than completely out of touch. >> wesley, all this runs deeper. in fact, "the new york times" wrote an editorial this week which said, house republicans spend most of their time blocking bills like transportation. to be fair, they say democrats are guilty in the senate as well, but not to this degree. wesley, have the republicans basically chosen their own interests over that of the country? >> first of all, let me say the republican interest is what's best for our country. less debt, less spending, smaller government. but, surprise, surprise, politicians put their interest over what's best for the constituents?

this is a problem with washington, not a problem with the republican party. both sides, republicans and democrat, have problems. i would argue that we need some leadership, maybe from the white house to prevent some of these gaffes. that's the biggest problem here in washington. republicans and democrats are fighting and nobody's stepping in as the adult in the room like the president of the united states should and help bridge the gap here. >> take what wesley is seeing here, keith. talk about president obama placing the blame of the economy on congress. is this a liability for the president. >> no, it's not. harry truman ran against a do-nothing congress. we have a do-nothing congress right now. i think that's been their objective. mitch mcconnell said a few years ago his number one -- primary goal is to make sure that barack obama is a one-term president. how can you get any compromise done when the other side is determined to make sure the economy fails, make sure the compromise doesn't happen?

there's a proposal that was introduced at one of the debates last year, would you go for a plan that offered $10 in spending cuts for $1 in revenue increase? and every single republican on the stage opposed that. they're opposed to any kind of compromise. how can you work with these people when they don't want to negotiate? >> go ahead, wesley. >> that's absurd. listen, it's rhetoric. >> did it not happen? >> yes, it happened, but it's happening on both sides. that's my point. it's only the republican politician that is act this way? both sides act this way. to try to say it's the republican party is completely absurd. the democratic party does it, too, as does the president of the united states. >> wesley, those sides play politics. politicians engage in politics, i understand that. but independent analysts have looked at this and determined that the side that currently is most obstructionist is the republican party. you've got the tea party faction

to deal with. they don't want to negotiate on anything or have any tax increases. all these republican presidential candidates signed the grover norquist pledge. they've signed a pledge they will not do what the other side wants to do. that's an impossible position to negotiate from. and you guys have put yourself in a hole and it hurts the american people. >> it looks to me right now like the american people are putting the blame where they need to put it and that's on the president of the united states whenever he's saying things like the private sector is doing fine. you quote on analyst, i'm sure i can find one or two to say the opposi opposite. i don't know where you're getting these analysts. >> i want to talk about the national security leaks, the republicans saying the obama administration put this stuff out there paix because it makes him looks like a president in command of a very important situation here and good politics being played here.

do you think this is a political football that's going to be kicked around for some time now? unfortunately, i'm told we just lost wesley on the phone. keith, do you want to answer that question? >> i hope this is not a political issue on either side. the president spoke very forcefully about this when he was asked at the white house yesterday. i don't think he wants anybody in his administration to be leaking details about national security issues. he was very firm about that. he said he was offended by that notion. and i honestly think that now that the attorney general eric holder's launched an investigation into this, i think we're going to get to the bottom of this. leaks happen in every administration. but it's terrible when they happen about issues of national security. that's the one issue where i think americans in both parties should agree. >> we'll have bipartisan peace right here, even though we've lost wesley. but we thank you both for joining us. now to number two on our

first five web stories, the arrest of creflo dollar, dollar was taken into custody early friday after authorities say he hurt his 15-year-old daughter in a fight near his atlanta home. the pastorened a his daughter were arguing over whether she could go to a party. reports say that witnesses saw him grab his daughter by the throat and hurt her leaving a scratch. if you are one of the millions of men

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♪ in today's "then and now," triple crown dreams at belmont were dashed yesterday for i'll have another after an injury. a retirement ceremony for the winner will be held in the winner's circle in belmont today.

but on this day 34 years ago, the thoroughbred racing world hoped for another triple crown winner, on the eve of the belmont. here's the favorite back then. >> reporter: these are tough hoof steps to follow in. they belonged to last year's triple crown champion, seattle slew. horse racing has never produced back-to-back triple crown winners. but this year, this is a logical successor to seattle slew. his name is affirmed. and tomorrow, he will have a chance to prove he is one of the great thoroughbreds. if he wins tomorrow, he will be the 11th horse in the history of thoroughbred racing to have won the triple crown. >> affirmed and alodar and at the finish, affirm won by a head. the trainer had the horse skip the preakness to be better prepared for today's belmont.

live coverage of the race begins at 4:30 p.m. eastern today on nbc. let's go now to "must see, must avoid" ridley scott returns to the genre he helped define more than 30 years ago in his new sci-fi epic "prometheua." check this out ts. ♪ >> you have to stop it. >> we're not shopping anything. we're going home. >> if you don't stop it, there won't be a home to go back to. >> amy palmer joins me to tell me what we must see and must avoid at the box office. my son so wants to see this. >> you were talking about this before. is this a movie just for men? i would say yes. the line at the theater was 29 through 45. i didn't really love this movie. but it's going to do huge numbers at the box office.

charlize theron is in the movie. i didn't love her performance. but i have to say, big, big numbers. >> on the third install. of the "madagascar" series, what's the brief on this one? >> take your kids to see it. get it on dvd. ben stiller, chris rock, jada pinkett smith, david schwimmer. it's so much fun to watch. even that clip right there. >> what about "lolo versus"? >> if you are anti-the "sex and the city" genre, don't go see it. i liked it, so i'm going to say,

must see. but if you're not into this, i say must avoid. >> greta gerwig, is it? >> she's in the film. she plays a 29-year-old woman who's been dumped by her fiance right before she starts planning for her big wedding and then the story is what happens to her up until the year of her 30th birthday ch it's very realistic. it touches on the relationship dynamics of that young women are facing today with facebook and twitter and cell phones and text messages. i think a lot of people can relate to it. but if you don't like this type of thing, i say skip it. but i think it's going to do quite well. >> amy palmer, we always agree with you. thank you. >> thank you. a look at the possible outcomes as we await the supreme court's verdict on the health care reform law. one huge decision could come monday. it is here next. not once in my life did i ever think i would have heart disease. she just didn't fit the profile of a heart event victim. she's healthy, she eats properly.

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new today, florida halts its controversial efforts to purge

voter lists for the november presidential election. county election officials say the county wanted to drop ineligible voters. it's been stop because the system is inaccurate and outdata dated. and yesterday, the aclu filed a lawsuit. the governor's office directed us to a page on state website fl.gov to answers to most commonly asked questions. joining me now, lila mcdowell. where are we now in this situation? is this over? >> no, unfortunately it's not over. governor scott has said that he is going to continue to try to undermine our democracy by disenfranchising american voters. when we look at the purges, it's clear who they are reported. you're least likely to be on the

list if your white and republican. 61% of the people on the list were hispanic. # 7% people of color. and the rest, the majority were registered democrats like a 91-year-old world war ii veteran who fought for our country, has been voting for about 50 years and it was being told that he is not going to be able to vote unless he finds some citizenship papers, goes to the supervisor of elections and proves that he's a citizen. that's what these purges were doing. >> here's some interesting numbers involved. i want to look at as well. florida officials identified 180,000 voters who might not be citizens. they sent 2,700 names to be investigated but only 40 were identified as noncitizens. was this kind of a pointless exercise? >> well, it's not only pointless but it's part of a national effort to try to rig elections by disenfranchising voter, by undermining the fundamental pillar of our democracy.

florida did it before in 2004 where they used lists of people who were allegedly convicted of felonies. they ended up disenfranchising sncht ] thousands of legitimate voter, mostly african-american, that time. if you look at the margin of victory between bush and gore in 2000, it was 537 votes. when you can slice off a significant portion of the other side's electorate, you can rig an election, you can win an election. but you're winning it unfairly. and it's antithetical to our basic -- we're seeing it happen all across the country. >> the state of florida pursued this voter purge. these counties are legally required to give voters 90 days to prove their citizenship before they can remove them from the rolls. are florida officials violating that law? >> they're violating a law that says you can't do purges of voter rolls within 90 days of an

election. it creates chaos, it creates intimidation and a lot of mistakes are inevitably made. so why the rush to start the purges right before the elections? if you want to clean up the list, which we want lists to have integrity and to be accurate. but that should happen long before 90 days before an election. and that's the federal law under the national voting rights act that is being violated. and governor scott says he's going to continue to violate the law no matter what. we gave them notice on may 24th that we were going to file a lawsuit that was right after we contacted the department of justice. they have 20 days to respond to that demand letter before we will also file a lawsuit and join aclu in challenging the governor and ask him to stop undermining democracy and allow american citizens their basic right to vote. >> we'll keep a track on what happens there. thanks for coming on.

"office politics," los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa. we talk about what it means to hold an election in north carolina after the state's banning of same-sex marriage. [ male announcer ] whoa, megan landry alert. and she's looking directly at your new lumia, thank you at&t. first, why don't you show her the curved edge... now move on to the slick navigation tiles -- bam, right into the people hub. see megan, colin has lots of friends. hey, colin, what kind of phone is that? whaaa -- oh megan -- when did you get here? [ clears throat ] ohh yea no, let's... [ male announcer ] introducing the beautifully different nokia lumia 900. only from at&t. rethink possible.

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it's wrong, and people, i think, need to have a better sense of how i approach this office. >> nbc's mike viqueira live at the white house for us. with a good afternoon to you right now, the official word on the investigations is what, mike? >> reporter: well, it's more than a notion. it's an accusation that president obama was responding to. it comes principally from republicans in congress. it's simply this -- that the administration intentionally leaked classified information in an effort to make the president look tough on terrorism in an election year. it is really a scandalous accusation. that's why it elicited that very strong response from president obama at that surprise press conference yesterday that was intended to talk about the economy. principally springing from two articles, both in "the new york

times," one outlining a so-called kill list the president personally approves of for drone strikes in the middle east against terrorist suspects. the other outlining a cyber war against iran. after the president came out and gave that very forceful denial, really rebutting the charges, the chairman of the house select committee on intelligence, mike rogers, a republican from michigan, here's what he had to say on nbc. >> it's very clear that someone very senior in any of the executive branch, not just the white house, who had access to compartmentalized information has been communicating to the press. >> reporter: the upside is that the attorney general last night about 6:30 here in washington, the justice department putting out a press release, eric holder is appointing two u.s. attorneys' criminal investigation into those leaks. >> mike viqueira at the white house, thank you so much. to brand-new dueling ads

from the obama camp and the republican national committee. after a fierce back and forth between president obama and mitt romney, i might add, take a look -- >> he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. did he not get the message of wisconsin? the american people did. it's time for us to cut back on government and help the american people. >> the private sector is doing fine. the private sector is doing fine. >> a new report on politico says major gop donor sheldon adelson could give as much as $10 million to the super pac restore our future. a new report says the romney camp is ramping up its efforts with latino voters, including the potential for more tv spots

in spanish. and joining me now for more front page politics, white house reporter for politico, joe williams, and white house reporter for "washington post," david knanakamura. david, you write it in our latest piece, who does the white house think leaked the informati information? do they have some sense who's behind it? >> they haven't come out and said that. they're not pointing fingers. but you played the clip of the president yesterday with his forceful denial. this is a big issue because in an election year, it could make the president look like the ultimate partisan here in terms of trying to get the best sort of coverage for being strong on national security. it's a big issue that the president's sort of running on. he's talked a lot about killing osama bin laden and being tough when it comes to this issue that republicans have traditionally done better on. that's a big concern. it's coming at a bad time. and the president did say, this

is not how i operate. it's true that his white house has prosecuted more case against leakers than all offous predecessors combined. he's saying, it's not us. he says the authors of the articles have come out and said, it's not one person, it's over a course of reporting. that's his position. but obviously the justice department feels strong enough that they're going to go forward with this. >> david, are they convinced it's not anyone inside the white house? >> the president did not completely go that far. he said, if people are saying that i authorized this, i had some knowledge of it, that's outrageous, that's wrong. whether it's anybody inside the white house, he said, we have mechanisms in place to go after people like this. they're going to be rooted out and we'll punish them if found. now they have a chance. >> joe, how is this going to play out, if they find out it's going to be a member of congress, is it going to be quietly dealt with or not? >> that remains to be seen.

the ship leaks from the top. you have administration after administration that threatens to crack down on leakers yet and still this information manages to find its way out into the press. we're often shocked by what's legal as opposed to what's illegal and we're more concerned with where the leaks came from with what the leaks actually reveal. if it's a member of congress, that's a whole other kettle of fish. but the president says they'll follow the investigation whether it leads. if it turns up with a member of congress, it probably won't necessarily be quietly dealt with. as a matter of fact, i would highly anticipate that if it is a member of congress, that information would probably be leaked to exonerate the white house in some way or another or to at least indicate that they've got ton the bottom of this. >> switching gears, guys, i'll ging begin with you, joe, a lot of reaction to president obama

saying, quote, the private sector is doing fine. but he later said this -- >> listen, it is absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine. there are too many people out of work. the housing market is still weak and too many homes under water. and that's precisely why i asked congress to start taking some steps that can make a difference. >> so, joe, did the president misspeak originally? >> i think what the president was trying to say was technically true in that if you look across the board, private sector hiring is up, not by a lot. and in some areas, it's flat. but it is in positive territory compared with public sector spending, which combined with republican austerity programs and capitol hill denial of aids to states has gone through the roof. so private sector unemployment is doing better, and private businesses also have billions of dollars in capital that's sitting on the sidelines. and that's for two reasons.

number one, like all of us in these tough times, they've managed to find ways to do more with less, hiring fewer people, getting fewer people to do the same amount of work. at the same time, public sector employees have had a rough go of it and we saw in wisconsin where collective bargaining was eliminated. basically he was technically right. but his unforced error gave the republicans another talking point, forced him to dial it back. that was not good news for him. >> david, i'm wondering, the white house, when something like this happens, do they get caught by surprise that this stirred so much talk or do you think as the president was saying it and the moment they heard it, they went, this is going to be something that's a part of an ad -- and also the president feeling the need to walk this back and say something more object that. how unusual is that? >> this is really a fumble because what happened here was the president called a press conference because he wanted to get out front after a rough week to begin with. he wanted to get out front with something to say.

and the problem was he came out and he didn't have anything new to say. he talked about the problems in europe, talked about his jobs bill. but when he said this sound bite clip that could be taken a little bit out of context, that was really the problem here. i think that they were surprised, actually, that they completely lost the news cycle. and you saw -- the president doesn't always take a question when he mete meets with a head of state. but he did. >> one of the realistic expectations by the white house is how much we can get done between now and november to get the president's plan through? >> it's going to be difficult because republicans have dug in their heels. keep an eye on the student loan issue. those interest rates are going to double by the end of the month. that's the first test. i think you'll see something get done along those lines because

everybody wants to see the college students be able to afford college. >> david, some cherry-picking as to what can go on -- joe, i'm sorry, to you. >> there is going to be some cherry-picking. a lot of analysts believe a big project, a big agenda is what needs to happen for the unemployment rate to tick down. that's pretty much a nonstart in a congress that's pinching pennies everywhere you look. >> guys, good to see you both. thank you. coming up in about 30 minutes, today's big three with a look at walmart moms and the impact they could have on the outcome in november. developing now, a syrian army shelling attack today killed 17 civils and most of them women and children. also today, russia says it does not want new sanctions on syria. calling for an international meeting on the crisis. united nations observers arrived in a town where almost 80 men, women and children were massacred on wednesday.

syrian tank forces caused extensive damage but it took until yesterday for the u.n. to be allowed in. syrian artillery units have been shelling the city of homs. a bailout could be coming for the failing banks in spain. finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro held a conference call earlier to discuss a potential rescue. some reports say if a request is made, the aid could amount to as much as 100 billion euros. president obama says the euro crisis is having an impact on the u.s. economy. fiscal cliffhanger, gone phishing and fast-food makeover. morgan joins us to make sense of all this. let's get to the federal reverse chair, ben bernanke. the economy is facing a fiscal cliff? take a listen. >> the potential expiration of the so-called bush tax cuts, the

2001 and 2003 tax cuts is the single biggest item in the fiscal cliff. as always, the federal reverse remains prepared to take action as needed to protect the u.s. financial system and economy in the event the financial stresses escalate. >> are we facing a looming fiscal crisis at the end of the year? >> we are. i wouldn't get too concerned about it just yet. but we are as the jobs report last week is any indication. we are starting to see the u.s. government slow down again. this could make things a whole lot worse. the fiscal cliff he's discussing is the expiration of tax cuts we're supposed to see at the end of this year coupled with automatic spending cuts expected to begin at the beginning of next year. it could be as much as a $720 billion hit to the economy. it could push us down into a recession for 2013. the reason i'm not too concerned just yet is because even though this is the current law as it stands, there is still time for congress to sit down and to map out a fiscal plan.

now they just need to do it. >> why is it that those folks who use linkedin are being asked to change their passwords? >> about 4% of all of the 160 million users of linkedin, about 6.5 million people, had their passwords stolen this week. it looks like this was a phishing scam that went on. most of those users have already had their passwords reset by linkedin. two takeaways here. if you get a phishy e-mail from linkedin, think twice before opening it after this hacking. the second is, it's so important to make sure you have different passwords from linkedin to all your other social networking sites. if you are somebody who experiencing a hacking, whether it was this week or in the future, god forbid, that you're not vulnerable on your other sites as well. >> thank you so much, morgan. quickly, fast food with taco bell, they're going upscale?

what's that about? >> they're going upscale. looking to target that casual lunch crowd that chipotlchipotln dominating much like we've seen with burger king and wendy's. >> thank you very much. the scream court's decision on health care reform could be coming monday. the options facing the justices and the potential fallout. i'm here with carol, flo, and karen for a girls night out talking about activia. i tried it and my body felt so right, for a change. and then there's you... why should i try it? my system gets out of sorts but that comes with age, right? wouldn't you like to feel great? just because we're in that over 50... what does that mean? are we done?

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potentially as soon as monday, we could hear the supreme court's verdict on the health care reform law.

the key issue, the individual mandate, which would require nearly all americans to have health insurance beginning in 2014. sarah cliff has been covering this for "the washington post." it's been nearly three months since the court heard the case. let's go through what's at stakes and what are the possible outcomes. how do you see it? >> there's a lot at stake here. we're looking at president obama's largest legislative accomplishment, the health care reform law he passed. there's a lot at stake for the american people. the law is expected to expand health insurance to about 32 million americans. we think it's probably one of three options, that the law could upheld in its entirety and it stands and goes forward. we could see a situation where the supreme court just gets the individual mandate that you mentioned. or in a third scenario, they could throw out the law completely and just get rid of it and we're back at square one. >> could the mandate be struck down as early as monday? >> it's difficult to tell with

the supreme court. they don't tell us in advance when they're going to rule. what we do know is that by the end of june, they are expected to make a decision. so we're looking at some date in the next two or three weeks. it could be as early as this coming monday. it could be as late as the last thursday in june. we're looking at the next few weeks. it's crucial when we're going to learn what the decision is. >> as you look at the entire bill overall, the challenges of separating that part of it -- the individual mandate, they have to be huge. >> there are. the mandate, a lot of folks thinks it's really critical to making the law work. it's what requires all the sick people who have very -- excuse, requires the healthy people who don't have high insurance costs to purchase health care. that's what makes insurance markets work, if you have both the sick people and the not sick people in them. if you get rid of it, insurance companies are very, very worried that they're still going to be required to accept anyone looking for health insurance but then no one will be required to

buy it. so only the sick people will buy it and premiums will go up. for insurance companies, it's really the worst situation in the world for just the mandate to be struck down but to have the rest of the law left standing. >> that's the worst scenario. what about if the entire law is struck down? will that be chaos for the states and the health care industry? >> i think it will. a different kind of chaos. states have put a lot of effort into setting up the health reform law. over $1 billion have gone out to states to build these health exchanges, new marketplaces that are supposed to be up by 2014. if you just strike that down, you know there's all this preparation that's been done and it's difficult to game out at this point what exactly state dos with that and how they roll back a lot of the work they've done already. >> sarah, i'm sure you saw this new "new york times" article just out today which claims the obama administration made deals with the health care industry as they were writing the reform bill. is this a surprising revelation, considering the president

campaigned against -- back in 2008, against working with lobbyists or is this just the way politics is run, politics as usual? >> i think it's a little bit of both. as you mentioned, he did run against these kind of deals although we did know during the health reform law, showing the back and forth between the obama administration and the pharmaceutical industries. now we're seeing what was happening behind the scenes and what was really necessary to get all the big players on board to support the health reform law he passed. >> sarah, thank you so much. >> thank you. that annual auction for lunch with billionaire investor warren buffett has produced a record sum. the winning bid, almost $3.5 million. with about 30 seconds left in the online auction last night, the top bid was about $1.25

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just hours now from the running of the belmont stakes and yet another new twist. it is beyond the race continuing without the favored winner i'll have another. jay gray is live at belmont park in queens, new york, for us. what is the new twist now, jay? >> reporter: well, alex, initially i'll have another was still going to be a part of the post-parade here before the race, leading that parade. now, though, there will be a much more meaningful ceremony for the horse. will actually be led into the winner's circle an hour before the race and doug o'neil, the trainer, will take away the saddle from the horse, that's the ceremonial retirement of

i'll have another as the champion but not the winner of the triple crown. a lot of people are showing up here at belmont park. they initially bought their tickets hoping to see the triple crown won here today. but still planning to make the best of it. overcast today, a bit of spitting rain. but the temperature is down. a bit of a breeze. and everyone you talk to out here says, we'd like to see i'll have another run this race. it's not going to happen. this is still a premier jewel of the triple crown. it's an important race and we're happy to be here. looks like it's going to be a great afternoon. i know you're wrapping up your day. we have an extra seat, come across, we could watch the horses run. >> that would be nice. the crowds expected to be 100,000. is it going to make that many or not so much? >> reporter: i don't think so. i'll have another not running is going to hurt the crowd. but the clouds and the weather have a lot of people worried as well. we could see 60,000 out here.

still a good crowd and a great race. >> they don't dress like they do for the derby, do they, there in queens, new york? >> reporter: no. >> not so nice. >> reporter: it is nice. it's comfortable, right? you could just come out and enjoy yourself. >> that's what you call it. thank you very much. soupdz like it's a good thing to watch on television. jay, thank you. if you're going to watch it on tv, live coverage of the race begins at 4:30 p.m. eastern today on nbc. she was a sizzling cyber sensation and now four years later, is obama girl standing by her man? you're watching "weekends with alex witt." joe comes in a paper cup at the drive-thru. johan comes in a porcelain vessel, crafted with care by a talented blonde from sweden. ♪ smooth, rich, never bitter, gevalia. starts with arthritis pain and a choice.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." shocking statistics on military suicides. the pentagon is reporting a surge in suicides among u.s. troops, 154 active duty service

members killed themselves in the first 155 days after this year. that's just about one per day. joining me here is general barry mccaffrey. i can't stand these statistics. these military personnel committing suicide. are these personnel exclusively from the iraq war or afghanistan vets or who are they? >> well, alex, it's a very troubling situation. both the army and the marines in the past several years have put a huge surge on to try and understand and better cope with this problem. and it's troubling. it's gone up around 18% this last year, which is what's got people concerned. to put it in context, however, as a general statement, when we talk suicide rates, we're talking out of the 2.4 men and women in the department of defense. the casualties in afghanistan, 210 were 6,000 killed and wounded out of 100,000 troops deployed. so in no way does suicide even

even vaguely relate to the danger of serving in an infantry unit or military unit in afghanistan. but the tragedies devastate families and we're trying to understand and deal with it. >> how about proportionately? are we seeing more suicides now than we have in the past? and if we are, sir, what is it about these most recent wars that makes them different or more challenging for these soldiers to deal with? >> certainly one factor, alex, has been a statistical correlation between multiple combat tours and suicide. so there is a correlation there. some of these troops after a decade at war have been on six or seven combat tours, have been banged up by ieds a dozen times. but the majority of those suicides now in today's armed forces have never deployed into combat and a significant number

are national guard and reserve. so it's a troubling concern but not necessarily related to combat stress. they're young, they're white males. they have marital or money difficulties. alcohol is frequently a problem. and they have unfortunately in many cases ready access to firearms. >> last month, defense secretary leon panetta called this issue one of the most complex and urgent problems. what can be done about it and do you think the military is doing enough? >> well, as i said, general pete carelli put together, i thought, a very impressive and comprehensive way to try and understand the phenomena, sensitize the chain of command, build the psychiatric mental health counseling capacity needed and educate the general force to say, look, if your

buddy's signaling signs of trouble, reach out, tell somebody and intervene. there's one study indicating that it might be four times higher were it not for this pretty aggressive intervention. but it's still a tragedy in every case to the soldier's buddies, families. it's devastating. >> i know it absolutely is. general mccaffrey, we're glad for your insights. appreciate that. >> good to be with you, alex. in this week's "office politics," los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa tells me about his longstanding friendship with the clintons and how his 11-year-old son schooled former vice president al gore. >> it's the launch of a campaign and an opportunity for us to frame the message and i'm very honored that i was asked to do it. >> north carolina is a state that, as you're well aware, recently passed a state

constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. that is a topic that you have been supportive of. and there were even those in the democratic party who said, maybe we should switch the location of the convention because of that. >> i think it was important that the president declare his support for marriage equality because it reflects the values of who we are. we're a party that believes that we should be judged on the content of our character, a party that doesn't discriminate. and you can't say that the government should be in the business of denying a fundamental liberty like the right to marty, to anyone based on their status. will it hurt with some voters? yes, that's why you think he had the courage of hi convictions. will it help with others? yes. we're going to work hard to win the hearts and minds of the people of north carolina. that's why we're going to have our convention there. but people all across the

country -- i think when in doubt, be authentic to who you are. i think that's what the president did when he declared his support for marriage equality. >> the president carried north carolina in 2008. do you have any worries because that is very much, by all accounts, nths in tin the toss- right now? >> being chair of the democratic party convention, i'm a worry wart. i've been saying for really 15 years now, the country's fiairl evenly divided. the country virtually every election has this razor thin margin one way or the other because there are parts of the country that disagree with other parts. i think we have a message and a plan for the future that's more

inclusive and that will set us on a more sustainable path going into the future. >> so as we look at some of these things, you mentioned your grandfather. i love that picture -- >> grandpa pete. his name was pedro. but his name was pete and we called him grandpa pete, even though he was the only grandpa we know. that's grandpa pete. that's my daughter, natalia. that's when i was elected speaker for the second time. and my daughter was upset because her brother was in the first picture on a.p. so she wanted to be in the second picture and she's sitting there -- she's -- >> she's clinging to daddy right there. >> and she's 19 and she still knows how to play that number. >> there's a picture of my son and vice president gore. he said, the events in kosovo,

ever since the break-up of yugoslavia, the conflict in the ba balkans has just unraveled. my son was probably 11 years old. and he said, well, mr. vice president, of course you know that the conflict in the balkans began with the break-up of yugoslavia. he said, there's been conflict in the balkans of thousands of years. in fact, world war i was started with the -- >> he's schooling the vice president. >> who did you say you were again? >> i see you there bestowing a cheek kiss there on hillary clinton. what's behind that photo? >> i endorsed her. >> she should have been kissing you. >> i was an early endorser. believe me, she was kissing me. she was excited. and i endorsed her early and of

course after the campaign immediately endorsed president obama, big supporter of his as well. but i'd known the clinton family, as you see there are a number of clinton pictures. >> there are. >> i've known the clinton family since the early '90s. they were supporters when i was speaker of the assembly, majority leader, longtime friends. >> our conversation with the mayor continues at this time tomorrow when he talks about why the bipartisan mayors are able to accomplish things congress can't. and he shares who he thinks will win the latino vote come november. remember obama girl? well, she's talking about her former crush. this was obama girl's hit video in 2008. ♪ i've got a crush on obama >> but this time around, don't look for ood vote. amber is not expressing her support for president obama. she also says she's not as

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let's get now to today's big three and our topics, walmart moms, he said what and he said what part 2. erin mcpike, mo elafy and susan del percio join us. thank you for being here. susan, i'll begin with you. a new roll call article talks about a group of undecided female voters sponsored by walmart. here are a few takeaways. the power of the first famililess image, more women discussed president obama's daughters than some of his most pronounced policy issues.

and many voters were risk averse and said three years wasn't enough to turn things around and romney remains largely undefined. what is your takeaway, susan? it doesn't sound like a lot of positives for the romney camp. >> and yet you can say that because he's still largely undefined, it means that people really aren't paying attention yet and for all the negativity coming out of the obama campaign, it's not sticking either. right now, those women say, yes, i know he's a businessman, a family man, but they don't know much more about him. that's actually to his advantage. if he can keep it or the election becomes just a referendum on president obama, that's going to be more difficult for team obama to overcome. >> erin, what do you make of the results of this focus group? does this sound like an accurate representation of undecided female voters? >> i think that's true and that that first family's image does matter a lot.

we've been seeing michelle obama go on lots and lots of television programs, late night tv, all kinds of things because they want her out there because the first family does have a very strong image. one of the comments in the story about that focus group was simply that they'd like him and his daughters because he's surrounded by women and he understands what women want. it was sort of the gist. i think that's very important to undecided women right now. >> mo, what do you make of more women in this focus group talking more about sasha and pal ya th malia than their father's policies? >> elections are very much oftentimes choices between two individuals and who do you trust? who do the american people trust to actually get them and understand the concerns that they've got? the fact that they are so focused on the first family, i think, means that there's some sort of an emotional connection there with the president and the first family. they believe that the president

understands their concerns more than the other side. i think the fact that mitt romney is still undefined a year and a half after he announced his candidacy, after all the intense media scrutiny he's gotten and all the primaries he had to battle through and people still don't have a good sense about him. but they feel good about the president. >> susan, mo makes a point. after declaring a year and a half ago and five months left to go to the election, how does mitt romney turn that around? >> a lot of people just believe at this point -- i should say a lot of consultants believe this doesn't matter until september. that's when people start waking up. the good news for romney that came out of this, again, though, is that the negativity that the obama camp has tried to throw around him has not stuck to him at all. so that is very good. it's not to say that romney doesn't have his own challenges. as we said, he needs to become more well-defined.

but just to go back to a previous point, they like president obama. they love the family, but right now, all the polls say that's not enough. they're not trusting him to lead the country. so trust is important. and they're not trusting him to lead the country. >> let's move on to our next topic, he said what? we'll take a listen to what mitt romney said on friday about president obama. here that is. >> his answer for economic vitality, by the way, was, of course, pushing aside the private sector which he said is doing fine. instead, he wants to add more to government. he wants another stimulus. he wants to hire more government workers. he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. did he not get the message of wisconsin? the american people did. it's time for us to cut back on government and help the american people. >> susan, don't we all want more firemen and policemen and teachers? couldn't he have phrased this better? >> he should have phrased it a lot better. there are things he could have said, for example, we don't

think that former police chiefs should be making over $500,000 a year. that would have been relatable. or they could have said, we don't want gsa employees, the folks who created the million-dollar trip to vegas, we don't want them getting raises. there were other points to make. but he did miss it completely on this one. >> erin s that statement from mitt romney directly tied to wisconsin? now they think they can attack public unions. and if it is, are they overinterpreting the wisconsin votes? >> that's exactly what mitt romney was trying to do with that point. but with teachers specifically, don't we all want more teachers? we're already seeing the democrats chide mitt romney for that today and yesterday because state budgets have been slashed. and so many states have lost thousands of teachers and those states would argue they need more teachers. that is a problem for mitt romney. the romney camp will probably have to clarify that over the next few days.

>> mr. romney's comments are now part of a new obama camp attack ad. but are democrats unfairly seizing upon this? >> oh, no, not at all. i think this goes to the heart of the difference between the two candidates in a lot of ways. mitt romney's approach is let's invest in the top earners, let's invest in large corporations that are already seeing record profits and let's hope they take care of everybody else. whereas the president i think is saying, you know what? let's invest in our communities. let's invest in things that will create jobs and help our communities in the long run whether it's more teachers, whether it's firefighters and police officers. those will put people to work now and help our communities. >> but mo, was there a lesson to be taken away from wisconsin? a lot of issues are around things having a former police chief making over $500,000 a year. >> the biggest lesson out of wisconsin, you don't want to be outspent 7-1 which happened with

the democrat candidate. >> if that's the only lesson they learned they missed the point completely. it wasn't judge just about money. >> it wasn't about going after firefighters and teachers. >> agreed. they were exempt in governor walker's legislation on that. i agree with you. >> a lot of republicans didn't pick up on that lessons. a lot of republicans around the country are trying to take it that far as well as republican presidential candidate. we'll go to see it what part two. [ female announcer ] to get a professional cleansing system

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we are back with the big three. our next topic, he said what? part two. >> we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months. over 800,000 just this year alone. the private sector is doing fine. where we are seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. >> well, the president later in

the day said it's clear the u.s. economy is not doing fine. we'll bring back my big three panel. mo, he clarified his statement, but is this what the president meant to say about the private sector and he clarified because it didn't play well? >> i think what the president was saying, the first time he said it in the news conference may have been inartful. in context, it's absolutely true we have had 27 straight months of private sector job growth. we have created more jobs in the last three years in the private sector than we did in the previous eight years in the private sector under president bush. mitt romney's economic policies aren't that much different than the economic policies of george bush. we know they didn't work. we are on the right path. we are on the right path. is it moving fast enough? not for anybody. we are on the right path creating private sector jobs. our economy cannot sustain,

however, the hemorrhaging of public sector jobs as we were talking about in the last segment, as well. >> susan, your reaction? >> he didn't have a surrogate to blame it on this time. really, the president stepped in it much like mitt romney did in the segment we talked about earlier. he shouldn't have said it. it's not true. when you see an uptick in numbers with the unemployment rate going up, that's a problem. you see the stock market take a huge tumble as a result, that is a problem. no one feels like the private sector is doing fine because most people believe jobs come from the private sector. high unemployment, people don't see it that way. >> erin, your best and worst? >> scott walker, best week. worst would be president obama. >> really? this hit him hard then this week. >> i think it did. >> that was quick. thank you for that.

thank you very much. we appreciate it, guys. that is a wrap of "weekends with alex witt." i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon. have yourself as great saturday. hi, i'm phil mickelson.

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