>> reporter: good morning, thomas. the commerce department says commerce secretary bryson is back in d.c. this morning. they are saying this was caused by a seizier. they say he has been treated for that seizure. he's resting in d.c. he has no public events scheduled. a couple of points i want to highlight, thomas. authorities out in l.a. stress the fact that there were no major injuries in the wake of these accidents. they also stressed that drugs and alcohol did not play a role, this was purely a medical incident. the commerce secretary was take ton the hospital in the wake of these accidents. and authorities out in l.a. say that he was incredibly cooperative with them. he was cited with a felony hit-and-run. he wasn't charged because he was taken to the hospital. this all unfolded on saturday and he wound up spending the night there. the commerce department also says that the commerce secretary was on his own time driving his own car. so he didn't have security detail at the time. i want to give you a little bit of background on who this commerce secretary is.

he's the 37th commerce secretary of the united states. he's the former chairman and ceo of edison international and also the former president of the california public utilities commission. president obama when he first appointed him last year talked about the fact that he could help to bring -- to strengthen ties with the business community, the environmental community. both communities really cheered his appointment at the time. and he was brought in in part to strengthen this administration's ties with the business community. so that's who this commerce secretary is. he is resting right now in d.c. this investigation is still continuing. however, authorities out in l.a. and here in d.c. stressing that this was all caused by a seizure. thomas? >> kristen welker at the white house for us. kristen, thank you. on now to publics and the two presidential campaigns trading fire over president barack obama's remarks that the private sector is doing fine in contrast to the public sector.

the romney campaign turning the president's words against him in this new political ad. >> the private sector is doing fine. where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. the private sector is doing fine. >> that was the romney campaign ad. the obama campaign, though, using that same strategy in its return volley, once again attacking romney's massachusetts record. >> he says he need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. did he not get the message of wisconsin? the american did. it's time for us to cut back on government and help the american people. >> during governor romney's tenure, local government was gct dramatically. >> let's bring in our panel.

gang, great to see all of you this morning. i'm sure you saw this. but david axelrod defended the president over the weekend. take a look at how he was hitting back at mitt romney. >> how big a mistake did the president make and sit going to stick? >> look, george, i think the american people are smarter than that. governor romney chose to jump on the word. but what was most interesting is how he reacted to the spirit of the thing because his statement was, we don't need any more teachers, we don't need any more firefighters or police. the president's out of touch? out of touch? we've lost 250,000 teachers in the last couple of years. >> wendy, i want to start with you. clearly both sides think they have found a winning strategy. we remind everybody this is a marathon and not a sprint. but which party's message is

going to stick through november? >> i think the obama campaign has to be awfully careful about defending government spending as their response to the economic crisis. i think that's not a wrote they want to go down. but this gaffe was uncharacteristic of obama. this president doesn't make those kinds of mistakes. on the other hand, the president has to turn defense into offense. he's got to really associate romney with the republican party's policies on the economy and the do-nothing congress. the house of representatives is blocking everything. so the way that obama has to turn this into a winning advantage for him is say, listen, i'm trying to right this ship and i'm getting no help from the republican party. he can't do this one-on-one against romney. he really has to associate romney with what the republicans are doing for the economy right now. and i think they're doing nothing. >> bob, wendy observes this is uncharacteristic for the president. he does walk a fine line as being the president, also campaigning for reelection. but does this show that the obama campaign and the president himself is struggling to stay on message about our economy?

>> no. look, in the gaffe derby here, mitt romney is way ahead. and he's the one who seems profoundly out of touch with people. that's why they're trying to make a big issue out of this and that's why they're running this ad which they go on the air so fast, they don't have any idea from their polling whether it's going to work. but it's a very tough sell for them because embedded in all the polling data that i've seen is a belief on the part of the american people that obama cares about them and that obama fights for the middle class. so it's a kind of uphill climb. and i think it's going to be very tough. i'd a lot rather be the obama campaign moving on bain, moving on romney's massachusetts failures, moving on positions that are enimical to hispanics. this is a disciplined operation

in chicago. they think it works. >> when talking about the gaffe police and they're on high alert looking to mince words from all sides. wendy brings up the fact that the president doesn't want to come across as looking like he's into big government spending right now. while some say this is a gaffe, are some people on the right saying this is the president tipping his hand, not having much concerned for the private sector? >> no, he's saying we've created over 4 million jobs in the private sector, unlike the bush recovery in 2002, 2003. there were a huge number of jobs added at state and local government. this time, we've lost a huge number of jobs at state and local government. but notice what he's doing in that ad. the obama campaign is not crusading on behalf of government itself. they're taungt talking about police, firefighters, teachers. having more police, more firefighters, more teachers is not unpopular in this country. >> robert, listen to this because mitt romney's surrogates quickly pounced on this and the

president's statement, the gaffe itself. take a listen. >> delighted to see all of you out there in the private sector are doing just fine. >> it is an outrage to have the president of the united states stand up and say to hard-working governors, republicans and democrats around this country that state and local government hiring is moving in the wrong direction and we're to blame. >> robert, is this a good demonstration, though, of when the right gets the opportunity to circle its wagons, so to speak, that they're going to do so and this is just a great rehearsal for what's to come as we get closer to the fall? a lot of people have been reluctant to rally behind mitt romney and now they're coming out in full force if the president steps off message. >> absolutely. this is a gift that keeps on giving in terms of the president misstating, if you will, the economy. the unfortunate truth, thomas -- and you alluded to it a few moments ago. a lot of republicans thought that mitt romney simply could not win a couple of weeks ago.

but when you take a look at the headwinds, if you will, that the president's reelection campaign is facing right now, also with the message discipline that governor romney appears to be able to exercise, a lot of republicans out there, both on the elected level and also as well as the private level are saying, we think this person can win. let's rally behind him. but let's also be honest here. the private sector economy is not doing that well. when you look at the private industry that's outsourcing and looking at the airline industry and the hotel and tourism sector out there, there are a lot of individuals out there that work for the private sector that are very concerned about their jobs. i think that's the main reason why the romney campaign bounced on this because they have a lot of folks out there that suggest quite the other. >> the interesting thing is that president obama took a very similar attack to john mccain back in '08 hitting him with ads saying the fums of the economy are strong. here we have it now in 2012 where the romney camp is able to furn it around on the president

using his own strategies to make him look out of touch with the realities of today's economy. is that something the obama camp is going to have to tone up for, not being caught flatfooted. if the president is going to make decisions to have a friday briefing, it sets up the odds that something is going to be put out there like that, the private sector is doing fine, and they can pounce on this. >> thomas, you make a really great point. the president has to transition from president to candidate. and that transition happens every day. that's the big problem here. as a candidate, he could pounce on mccain. but as president, he has to explain things. it takes too long for the american people to listen to that explanation. you can talk about firefighters and teachers being great servants, which they are, but it takes explanations. as president, you have to explain. as candidate, you have to sell.

that's a difficult balance for every incumbent president running. it's really a different barack obama that's running for president again in 2012 than in 2008. >> that's the one gaffe -- to make a mountain out of this one gaffe sand come up with conclusions is absurd. >> it's not absurd. >> the reason mccain got in trouble in 2008 was because people already thought he was distance disconnected, out of touch, didn't care about them and didn't care about the economy. all of the polling data suggests that barack obama doesn't have that problem. sure, it was an unfortunate turn of phrase. is it going to stick? >> no. >> bob, wendy, robert, thank you all. new comments from former florida governor jeb bush this morning could create more headaches for the romney campaign. governor bush said both ronald reagan and his father would have a tough time winning the gop

nomination today. that their preponderance bipartisan efforts would be, quote, criticized. and he was asked whether he'd want to be picked to run on a ticket with governor romney. >> governor romney has great choices to pick from. i'm not one of them. >> you're not? you are one of the choices. >> no. >> you're not? how do you know? >> i've sent enough signals on your show alone to make it clear. >> we never listen to those. >> governor bush's son, george p. bush, said the former governor could serve if called upon. more coming up later in the hour. also, the opening arguments begin in jerry sandusky's sexual abuse trial. today, he's facing 52 counts from ten alleged victims. he's going to come face to face with nearly all of them. plus, fire and rain, over a foot of rain literally dumped on

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for the first time today we're getting a glimpse of the legal strategies for both defense lawyers and the prosecution in the sexual abuse trial of jerry sandusky. opening arguments are now under way in that case. the former penn state assistant football coach accused of molesting ten boys over a period of 15 years. many of the alleged victims are now expected to take the stand. nbc's john yang is live outside the courthouse for us in bellfont. what is the mood as things got under way today? >> reporter: so far we've heard from the prosecution. they delivered their opening

statement. for 52 minutes, the prosecutor walked through the case against jerry sandusky. the 52 counts of sexual abuse, of sexual misconduct against ten young boys. and to personalize them, he said that so far these alleged victims have been known add victim number 1, victim number 2, victim number 3. he showed photographs of eight of the victims, the eight known victims, the eight alleged victims who are expected to testify against sandusky and referred to them by their first names, told their stories. and he showed photographs of them as children, at the time the alleged abuse took place. this is an attempt to personalize them as young people, not the young adults the jury is going to see when they take the stand and testify in court. they will be named in court. however, it is nbc news policy not to name the alleged victims

of sexual crimes. so we will not be naming them unless they give their permission to nbc news. there was a break. court resumed just a little bit ago. the defense is expected to give their opening statement and then perhaps this afternoon we will get the first testimony, the first testimony of victims, the alleged victims of jerry sandusky. thomas? >> nbc's john yang outside the courthouse there for us. john, thank you. joining pe now is b.j. bernstein, an attorney and former prosecutor and assistant d.a. who is an experienced litigator in child sexual abuse invests. it's nice to see you. seems as if this has been a long time coming but quickly they got this jury seated. as we get the preview there from john about how prosecutors opened up with 52 minutes, setting the scene of trying to introduce who these young victims were when the alleged abuse happened, we do know that the defense has already previewed plans to claim these

alleged victims had motivations to lie. there is all this media coverage that has already happened so far leading up to this. do you think that the defense attorney, if he comes out swinging against these alleged victims, he could run the risk of offending the jurors? >> absolutely. that's just one of a number of risks. we heard in this 52 minutes -- it's ironic, 52 minutes to talk about 52 counts in this particular case. and the prosecution already warned in their opening argument, listen, we are going to use sandusky's own statements to nbc news' bob costas, that interview that had us all riveted and shocked his attorney would allow him to talk. and it's been said, we're going to use it against him. and the prosecutor using the pictures and reminding the jury, these were boys when these alleged incidents happened.

probably was a very powerful, powerful 52 minutes. >> through your legal career, you've had a lot of experience working with young people and adults who have recounted sexual abuse. in youre estimation, the bigges challenge for the defense, sit going to be more about proving a pattern of conduct from years ago, potential grooming behaviors that are alleged in the part of aundz? >> absolutely. thomas, anybody who's gone through this or knows about this knows the grooming with boys in particular is an essential step that happens, so to speak, by a predator trying to make that child comfortable with them. and, again, the prosecutor's reports are that he talks about that, that that's what sandusky did. and there's going to be evidence in this case where sandusky goes over to the schools, in particular, victim number 1, who

is expected to be the first victim to testify, talks at length in the interviews and in the pretrial hearings, there was testimony about this child saying how sandusky came to the school during the middle of the day to see him. and he was pulled out of class to see sandusky. all those things are going to be part of the evidence. and yet at the same time, it can be brutally difficult on these victims. there's a lot of pressure on them on cross-examination because they were a boy, they're not going to remember dates. and sometimes there's a helplessness when you can't answer every question asked. so hopefully these young people are getting counseling before, during and after this trial to cope with whatever result occurs. >> b.j., quickly before we go, the potential for a plea deal as the trial continues. is that off the table now or still a potential? >> that's always a potential, depending on -- i have seen it with trials. i've had in it trials myself where it takes a defendant hearing how bad and seeing how

bad it is to all of a sudden shift and enter a plea. but we'll watch and see. >> b.j., nice to see you. thank you. >> thanks, thomas. hiring now, you've seen the reports of hot jobs listing specific careers that are booming across the country. but it turns out there might be a better and easier way for you to find a job. we'll have that for you. plus, the show must go on. take a look at this. even after lady gaga gets whacked in the head with a pole by one of her dancers. we'll talk more about that. 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.

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our nation you're actually searching. enrico moretti joins us. these lists don't always provide the solutions. let's talk about it from the geography argument. when we think about that, certain cities, certain areas of the country when they start to see a population boom, innovation there breeds the hiring and opens up other sectors, correct? >> that's right. we think of the american labor market as one market. but the reality is there are 300 markets, one for each metropolitan area. and some metropolitan areas are struggling. but there are a number of these metropolitan areas that are doing well. what they have in common is clof college graduates and a lot of innovation. >> when we think about how much of a factor is the cyclical nature of job opportunity, being smart, though, about not picking up too much debt to start that

new career. as you talk about college students who are coming out and may have already amassed $40,000 to $100,000 in debt, it may seem very daunting to move across the country and take a risk, a gamble on a new job. >> that's right. but it's also true that the return to geographical mobility has never been higher. the difference in job creation and salaries across u.s. metro areas have never been larger. on one hand, you have cities like boston, austin, or even san francisco, where i am, where there are a lot of jobs and salaries are growing. the other extreme, you have cities where jobs are falling and salary are shrinking. to pick the right labor market, it's never been larger. >> for a lot of kids -- when i say kids, i mean people in their early 20s just getting out of college and starting out in

their careers, may not have roots settled down or families started and can be more upwardly mobile in terms of moving around the country, what's your advice to young families or entrenched americans that have lived maybe for a couple of decades in one market that have settled down roots but are finding the prospects of job opportunity have dried up and that the reality of moving for the next level of job is a reality? >> well, one of the key predictors of the economic success of a community is the number of college graduates in that community. my suggestion is, if you are willing to move and you're willing to consider relocating your family to a different community, pick communities where there is a lot of college graduate there is. those are communities that create a lot of good jobs for workers with a college education. but also a lot of good jobs for workers with much less education, those who have just an high school education or even less. >> professor moretti, thanks for

joining us as we talk about the possibilities for people out there around the country. thank you. president obama leads mitt romney among hispanic voters in the country. however, the romney campaign is not going to be giving up on that crucial voting bloc. what they're doing to try to narrow that gap. plus, a big oops from british prime minister david cameron. he accidentally left his 8-year-old daughter at a pub after a family meal. the details ahead in the sidebar. well... no. sometimes, yeah. yes. well, if you know anybody else who also rides, send them here -- we got great coverage. it's not like bikers love their bikes more than life itself. i doubt anyone will even notice. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. aarrggh! ♪

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at the half hour, more decision 2012 coverage now. the president and his supporters are trying to keep large leads with a growing group of hispanic voters that could be the key to four more years in the white house. this new spanish language ad is part of a $4 million ad campaign that kicked off today. it's a combined effort from a pro-obama super pac and the seiu to target hispanic voters in three key swing states. the ad comes on the heels of last week's ad by the romney

campaign highlighting hispanic unemployment. christian science monitor reporter patrick johnson joins me now. some of mitt romney's tough talk during the primary debates came on the topic of immigration but he's making truly a big play for registered voters within the latino community. can the economic message make up for this wide gap he has with this pivotal group? president obama seems to have such a secure lead. >> it can. i don't think hispanic voters have made up their minds yet. and i think the romney camp understands that and realizes it. both camps have a lot of challenges. i think some of the younger hispanic voters may still be pretty apathetic towards the obama message at this point. and romney, like you said, has issues with republicans, both himself and also at the state level, frankly ly deemizinmonid

>> half of hispanic voters are actually registered. how big of a concern is that for democrats come this fall and what can be done not just from a left/right perspective but from the perspective of triggering the voting habits for people to get involved? >> well, i think ultimately we're going to be looking at self-interest election, unemployment among hispanics, especially, is three points higher than the national average at about 11%. so hispanic families are struggling. i think they'll be looking at their own issues and their own household, whether it's employment or financial situation. hispanic voters have swung dramatically in the past if you looked at 2004, 57% of florida voters who were hispanics voted for bush. four years later, the same percentage voted for obama. so they can swing and they may. >> so there's a big opportunity, patrick, as you mentioned in your reporting for a speech

coming later this month by mitt romney at the national association of latino elected and appointed officials. does he need to have some new policy ideas, something really big in hand that's going to make waves, going to get the attention of hispanic voters to take a second look or potentially even a first look? >> well, i think his advisers are definitely pushing to have some kind of prescriptive, positive message to push rather than just bash the opponents over on a topic like the economy. i think he does need to talk about immigration reform. he's come out against the dream act in the primaries. has been pretty tough on illegal immigration. i think he has to come back to the middle a little bit. i think he will possibly by proposing some kind of program, perhaps using visas instead of path to citizenship. we'll see. but i'd be surprised if he doesn't come up with some kind of policy prescription. >> patrick johnson with the

christian science monitor, nice to see you. thank you, sir. developing right now, we're going to take you to the weather channel's -- excuse me. raging wildfire that is we need to talk about right now, burning out of control. take a look at these pictures. it's happening in colorado, spreading faster by the minute for hundreds of residents. the only option, as you look at this, is to flee their homes. the biggest blazes now burning 15 miles west of ft. collins. it's 37,000 acres in size. that's 58 square miles of flames. much of it's fueled by the dry brush and the high wind. right now, more than 250 firefighters are on the ground and in the air. they're also trying to douse out that. but without much luck so far. the fire has destroyed 18 buildings and forced nearly 2,000 people to evacuate. developing now, record-setting rains swamping the state of florida. the panhandle in specific, causing washouts of historic proportions in parts of inland alabama as well. torrential downpours doused the region over the weekend dumping

13 inches of rain. all the wet weather damage estimated to be in the millions. the worst part, it's not over. the weather channel's mike seidel is there for us. you're standing in it. but the local forecast suggests there's not an end in sight. where is all this water supposed to go? >> reporter: well, the worst of it was saturday. we're going to get some scattered showers and storms today. but the intensity will be nothing like saturday. they're not going to get the kind of -- have the kind of issues they had back on saturday. we had a little bit of flooding around bay minette, a town off to the east of mobile. here at the forest creek apartments, this is about the worst flooding in the city. this is about all that's left. the back end of the complex still has some standing water. but all these cars were basically under water late saturday and early sunday morning. this car in the foreground being driven by a daughter with her grandson. she had to high-tail it out of

the car to higher ground. they had to come in and get them out and pull them to safety and wade through the water. 100 residents in this apartment complex went out by boat. the sun is out, the water recedes. the rainfall amounts were just eye-popping. some spots had nearly 20 or 22 inches of rain on saturday and sunday. and you rarely see that much rain with a slow-moving, dying tropical depression or tropical storm. the good news about this moisture, it's heading into the southeast. atlanta has the worst drought of any state in the lower 48. from atlanta south, they're more than happy to see whatever falls out of the sky. and it won't be like it was here. 2 to 4-inch totals. >> mike, thank you. syrian government forces have intensified efforts to regain control of opposition strongholds today. government forces continues to attack the city of homs today.

it's one of the biggest bomb bombardance in a while. what have we heard, richard? >> reporter: the opposition in homs has managed to put out that live video feed. they've done it in the past but not for sustained period of time like they've been doing today, putting out direct pictures showing the shelling of homs. we've seen plumes of smoke rising from the city. according to opposition sources, at least 50 people have been killed nationwide, many of them in homs. and the u.n. is concerned. it wants observers to go to homs. i spoke not long ago with a very senior western diplomatic source. and this is someone who's very close to the situation and developments going on in syria.

and this source told me that he sees the syrian government as wobbling. that was something i was not expecting. he sees the syrian government as much weaker than it has been, even in the last few weeks with some defections going on, with the syrian government not fully in control of these road militias. not fully in control of all of its units. this western official saw that there are -- this western diplomatic source saw that there were numerous gunfights taking place regularly in demas kus, a couple of miles away from the presidential compound, all indicators that while the bashar regime continues strong, it continues to kurn out shellings like the one we saw in homs. the government's hold of power appears to be sliding. >> when you talk about the fact that it appears to be weaker and talking about defections, is there one thing that can be

pinpointed as to why? the fact that there's more u.n. observers trying to get in? the fact that images like this are being uploaded around the world via social media sites? >> reporter: it seems to be that it is becoming a sectarian war. and all of the indications are that this is no longer just an opposition movement against the syrian regime. it is a fight of sunni muslims who are the core of the opposition, against the alowite-backed sectarian groups. and it's bringing out a whole different nuance of this conflict, making it much more difficult to control, that syria is starting to look like the days of the lebanese civil war or the days in iraq in 2006-2007 when you had different ethnic groups fighting among themselves and no one was in charge. so it is not a good sign when you have this rising

sectarianism and the government losing control. yes, the government could be collapsing or could be losing control. but in its place, you're seeing is sectarian fighting. >> richard engel in cairo for us, richard, thank you. here's a look at other stories topping the news now. the manhunt under way in alabama for that man wanted in a shooting that killed three people, wounded three others near auburn university on sunday. investigators say that desmonte leonard opened fire at a pool party after getting into a fight over a woman. two of these killed were former awe bern football players. minor relief at the gas station. the average cost of a gallon of gas is down 16 cents in the past three weeks. the nationwide average is now $3.62. jackson, mississippi, has the lowest price at $3.18. the highest? seattle is the tops at $4.22 a gallon. a little knock on the noggin isn't enough to get lady gaga down.

the pop starboarded a flight out of new zealand this morning on her own two feet despite suffering a minor concussion during a concert on sunday night. it happened when one of the back-up dancers accidentally hit her over the head with a pole. she came back and sang 16 more songs. jeb bush has sid over and over and over again that he's not interested in the number two slot. but his son, george p. bush, is saying sthels? or will another florida lawmaker take that spot? and apple ceo tim cook a couple of hours away from making a big announcement about new apple products. what do they have in store? maybe a sneak peek straight ahead. nicholas brand of seattle wanted to start a window washing business. to stand out, he wore a scottish kilt and went door to door offering his services. that attention-grabbing idea has

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politico's alex burns joins me now. good to see you. the exact quote from governor bush's son, george p. bush, saying, if called upon, he will serve. so in a race that's shaping up to be so close, are we getting to the point where a big name like governor bush is a must for the romney campaign? jeb bush saying again on cnn that he is not in the running for this. >> jeb bush is someone you have to take at his word. but it kind of goes for all these vice presidential prospects. if mitt romney were to actually call them up and say, my success or failure in this election depends on you, i think you would start to hear some of these folks playing it coy start to change their tune. the romney campaign has indicate that had they may pick their vice president in advance of the republican national convention as a way of sort of amplifying their message, jazzing up the ticket a little bit. i do think you may start to hear some names circulating around of people who would add a little excitement to the middle of a

slow summer. >> when we talk about the slow summer, does that mean that there's potential that the announcement of this pick could come a lot sooner than traditionally -- the 72-hour window prior to the convention? would that help drum up a little bit of excitement, especially if it's a safe pick, does it mean they'll get a 2 for 1 shot at fund-raising? >> i think that's exactly, that 2 for 1 idea is exactly the calculus. some republican, romney advisers are talking about that. i don't think anybody has set a date certain for when they want to have the vice presidential candidate out. as you just pointed out, both barack obama and john mccain waited until three days before their own convention before choosing someone in 2008. but those were two candidates who didn't have some of the enthusiasm and message problems that romney has had during this raise. >> when we talk about the fact that governor bush on cnbc this morning said he's not in the running, not being considered, he was asked about marco rubio as he's routinely asked about himself.

marco rubio came up this morning. certainly senator rubio -- do you think he could deliver the votes needed to deliver the political punch on that ticket? >> any popular florida politician would be helpful for mitt romney. but it's interesting that jeb bush and marco rubio have this game going where jeb says, i'm flattered by the idea but marco rubio would be a great pick. and you ask rubio and he said, the guy you should be talking about is jeb bush. >> it's completely taboo for anybody to come out and say, yeah, i want to be the guy? >> it happens rarely. bob mcdonald did say, i would be excited about that opportunity. >> alex, thank you. it's almost 11:50 a.m., do you know where your kids are? it's time now for the "poli-sidebar."

british prime minister david cameron's office confirms he accidentally left his daughter in a pub. it happened a couple of months ago but it's making headlines today. nancy cameron went to the lou, as they call it in london, and the rest of the family followed in two separate cars. cameron was in one car with the bodyguards. his wife was in the other car with their other two children. both thought nancy was with the other one. they realized what happened and went to pick her up. gabi giffords is back out on the campaign trail. the former congresswoman spend t spent the day campaigning for her aide. her husband mark kelly says she plans to return to public service at some point. not necessarily congress. secretary of state hillary clinton reportedly hosting an engagement party for senator susan collins. the expected guests include the

women of the senate and former supreme court justice sandra day o'connor. ♪ i've got a crush on obama ♪ maybe the best candidate >> you probably remember obama's biggest fan from the 2008 presidential election. obama-girl apparently is over that crush. she told "the daily caller" she's not as excited as she was the last time around and she is not saying who she's voting for now. urting faster... [ female announcer ] neosporin® plus pain relief starts relieving pain faster and kills more types of infectious bacteria. neosporin® plus pain relief. for a two dollar coupon, visit neosporin.com. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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going for the gold in london is olympic trials archery champ brady ellison. he's only lost two of his last 37 international matches, ranking number one in the world. a gold medal in the olympics would not only mean a win for him but end a 12-year losing streak for the u.s. which has not medaled in the olympic games since 2000. it is one of apple's biggest events of the year, its

worldwide development conference. the rumor mill is in overdrive with talk of new offerings from the tech giant, including both hardware and software. cnbc's john ford is in san francisco with more on what could be a big week from apple. >> reporter: i'm here outside the site of apple's worldwide developer conference, one of the biggest events apple has every year, and this year, it's going to be especially big for a couple reasons. one, we very rarely have seen mac hardware, computer hardware, at this particular event. it looks like we will see a number of macs today. the apple store has been down this morning. usually that happens when they're about to put new products out there. but perhaps more important, new software for apple's devices like the iphone and ipad. those are hugely outselling the mac and this is where we figure out what the next versions of those are actually going to look like beyond the screen, what the mapping is going to look like, for instance. there have been lots of rumors about apple coming out with 3d

maps here. they certainly bought three mapping companies, place base and c-3 technologies among them which allow people to look at map using 3d technology that was developed for missile targeting. apple picked that up. we expect to see them replace google maps for that. a very important event. apple's ceo will take the stage. developers will figure out what tools they have to build the next great apps. back to you. >> john, thank you. thank you. that will wrap things up for me. see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. until then, follow me on twitter,@@thomasa roberts. now with alex wagner is coming up and the brilliant and looking very regal alex wagner. >> i will take that, thank you. i will wear this dress every day if you call me regal looking. good morning to you. good monday morning. good monday afternoon, thomas. we will be talking about minding the gaffes. do the candidates' latest off the cuff marks speak to their

core beliefs? game changers are on today's panel to discuss. and the white house is trying to plug leaks as the political flood gates swing open. republicans are accusing the administration's top justice official of being in contempt. we will tackle it all when "now" starts. recently, students from 31 countries took part in a science test. the top academic performers surprised some people. so did the country that came in 17th place. let's raise the bar and elevate our academic standards. let's do what's best for our students-by investing in our teachers. let's solve this. had kraft mac & cheese without me. so this time, i took precautionary measures. looking for these? [ rattling ]

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when is an argument about teachers, firefighters and policemen not really just an argument about teachers, firefighters and policemen? just ask president obama or governor romney. it's monday, june 11th and this is "now." joining me today, the man who forever changed the vice presidential nominating process, msnbc political analyst and national affairs editor for "new rk