our nation's economic future to ohio one of the most important states for both campaigns this november and for the very first time this election year the presidential candidates are stumping in the same state on the same day just 250 miles apart. the president and governor romney expected to present these messages about our economy how they think they can fix it. the romney camp is using a previous statement from the president to paint a negative fiscal future. >> the private sector is doing fine. >> so mitt romney is going to be in cincinnati today. president obama in cleveland. again, 250 miles apart and both cities are seeing unemployment drop well below the national average. jobless rates in cincinnati and cleveland have fallen more than a full percentage point this year alone. we want to bring in our political power panel for this

morning. the deputy communications director for the obama administration, richard wolffe and jp fayre. i want to start with you. the national messaging from the romney campaign as president obama is going to be plagued by his "doing fine" comment about the private sector most likely until there is a gaff from mitt romney. can he make a statement during today's economic speech that can wipe friday's message off the political board? >> you mean can the president? >> yeah. >> well, yeah. the president can because he is great at giving these kinds of speeches and framing the story line. the gaff is part of the critique against him. that doesn't rely on the gaff but on unemployment remaining stubbornly high and a global economy that is still struggling. the question is, if you're the opposition you can harass the other side. you can land your punches but what have you got to offer? because you need to be hired as well as try and firing the other guy and that is something romney

hasn't explained any more than let's do what we did before. the problem is most voters still blame the old guys, the bush administration, wall street for getting us in this mess. >> the onus is really on the incumbent right here because it is about time to reframe for the re-election and recapture the hope and change type of message and the urge that everybody had to go vote back in '08. jp republicans trying to make the state of the economy all about president obama but a new gallup poll and i want to show everybody has americans not seeing it that way still putting much more of the blame on economic problems on the bush administration. these numbers are consistent over the last nine months as we look back. how big of a problem is that for the gop that this is still an inherited problem? >> i think then you have to look at how the base actually feels about the president and the base doesn't feel too positive. then you have the independents that also aren't feeling too positive about the president. >> how does the base not feel positive about the president? explain that. >> i am referring to the base of the republican party. i think it's pretty clear why

they would not really like the president. what is important here is that you have the gop seizing on an opportunity where more people are able to express their view of how this presidency has been going, on how the economy is actually doing. so you don't just have to talk about the gop and the party committees. you have to talk about how everybody is now able to speak and bring up their own points again. at that point the president gets a bit vulnerable because he is taking fire from all sides. >> we have this campaign official e-mailing msnbc news about the speech talking about the fact that this is a first in a series of speeches that will focus on the choice voters will face which is ultimately of which two very clear, very different approaches of how we take to growth economy. also in first read, msnbc's first read this morning the cleveland speech coming up discussing the administration's effort to change what some are seeing as this negative narrative right now. so i want to pose this to you if you continually look at this in a way that the president is giving a speech today when your back is against the wall, does

the president have a watershed moment for his campaign to frame the narrative, cast that vision, for what an economic future for america looks like? >> yes. absolutely. i think today is an opportunity for the president to talk about his vision for future of the country and what he would want to do differently than mitt romney. that's ultimately what this is -- this election is going to be about. a choice between the visions they each have. mitt romney is still focusing on a couple -- a phrase said friday. what the american people want to hear more from him on is what would he do for the middle class? what is he presenting to move the country and economy forward? >> j.p., go ahead? >> well, i think that this is a really interesting dynamic. usually you have the pundits talking about how the re-elect is about a referendum on the president's record. instead you now have two candidates who are considered at parity where they have competing visions for the future. we have one guy who has been

president for four years who hasn't done a good job and another candidate making that point. at this point we shouldn't be talking about whether these are competing visions for the future. it's has the president done a good enough job to warrant having a re-election or should we put in a new guy? >> let's talk about that then. as we showed earlier, those ohio numbers, things look good. the battleground states of virginia, it is looking well too, the economy being stronger than the national numbers. what is the romney message to voters in states like that where they are seeing things get better? >> they're not seeing things get better as quickly as they would in a situation -- >> but you can't discount -- better is either better or it's not. >> fine. look, i can put leaves on a wound and say that the leaves actually help the healing process and try to give credit to that but the main point is obama has done so little to actually help along the process of the economy recovering that, you know, it is obvious to anybody who looks that they're not going to buy his story. >> i want to mention the forbes

report on sheldon adelson being ready to, quote, donate limitless money to a pro romney super pac. if these are the promises we're hearing from someone like adelson now who was the big money thrower behind newt gingrich's campaign, keeping him in the primary as long as he did, what kind of money to really be on the table when we get closer to what is expected to be such a close election? >> you're looking at a situation where romney and his allies will have more than a billion dollars. these are unprecedented sums. normally campaign finance makes people's eyes glaze over. here you've got rich individuals, super wealthy individuals who put a face on that and they have an agenda of their own and at some point people are going to start really finding this very uncomfortable. who is this campaign about? is it about the candidates driving their own organizations or a bunch of wealthy sort of oligarch figures who think they can control democracy using the power of their checkbook? i think this will become an issue particularly because we know who they are and their

agendas are not in line with the main stream of america. >> everybody has to think about this. while it is fun for these guys to throw $10 million checks into all of this what is then the expectation of if a president romney gets into office? what is the hook? how are democrats going to try and combat this? the president is fund raising in manhattan tonight with sarah jessica parker at an event but can celebrities really help him keep pace with the huge donations and the donations from people like adelson that seem to be bottomless? >> well, i think the president's campaign as it was in 2008 and as it will be in 2012, is very much run by, funded by small dollar donors. people giving $50, people giving $3, $10. the campaign has made that a huge priority even with these events that are bigger draws whether it's george clooney or sarah jessica parker because they believe that funding the campaign through grass roots donations is the right way to go about it. now, you know, the president has

been clear on his opposition to what's been happening out there with the republican side and the super pacs and how much funding has gotten into it. all i can say is that the campaign, the obama campaign is focused on organizing door to door and making sure they're getting their message out and they know they are going to have a disadvantage when it comes to the super pack funding. they have to do everything else to get across the finish line. >> all right. we'll be watching again both men are going to be in ohio today delivering their economic messages. we'll see how it goes for both of them later this afternoon. thanks to all three of you. >> thank you,court justices are most likely sitting on one of the most anticipated rulings on the president's health care plan. and they are going to extreme lengths to keep this a secret. plus the prosecution is getting ready to wrap its case against jerry sandusky with three more alleged victims lined up to testify. a full update from the courts after this. [ male announcer ] when a major hospital

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nearly 200 mayors from around the country are in orlando, florida for day two of the annual u.s. conference of mayors. they'll be talking about budgets, infrastructure, and job creation during this four-day event and on friday vice president joe biden will visit orlando to deliver a keynote address at that conference. i'm joined now by mesa, arizona mayor scott smith. mr. mayor, great to have you with us. as we know from last week president obama argued that it's the public sector that has the attention of his administration right now not so much the private sector when he is comparing and contrasting the two and fixing that is going to help bring america back to the prosperity. that means that you and the collective leaders that you're meeting with right now, the pressure is on to figure out how your municipalities can do better. is that the top of the agenda of

what this four-day conference represents? >> not really. we always concentrate on how we can do better providing base services. one thing the mayors have learned to do is live with the resources that we have. at the city level you found innovation, creativity, mayors that have stepped up and dealt with what we call our new reality, which is we live in a world which doesn't have the same level of resources we did a few years ago. and cities i think have done a great job of adapting to that and of creating levels of service even with fewer resources. that's what we concentrate on. >> you're talking about innovation, the new reality facing you and your counterparts in contrast to the president's focus on the public sector, the gop, mitt romney saying it is the private sector that is the job creation sector of the american economy. which of those messages do you think makes you your fellow leaders more confident? what is resonating most with constituents of mesa? >> i think one thing we've found

is cities where the economic growth, economic engine of the country is the cities. 85% plus of the gdp comes out of cities. 90% of the job growth will happen in cities. what we realize that long term it is the private sector that pulls us out of the economy, this economic mess. long-term investment, long-term economic growth is going to happen in the private sector. we in government can do the best we can to set the stage, to create the regulatory structure, tax structure that encourages that type of private investment to work as partners with the private sector in encouraging that type of long-term investment that i think most americans have learned long-term economic strength and growth comes primarily from the private sector. >> sir, mitt romney has been criticized for suggesting that in certain municipalities it's okay to layoff more cops, firefighters, and teachers. is that a philosophy through the new reality and the types of ways that you need to be innovative that need to be embraced in mesa? >> you know, i didn't hear the

full context of the governor's statements so i don't know exactly what he was meaning. i think all of us are committed to a high level of public safety and public safety is our number one concern. in most cities 70 plus percent of our budgets are public safety. on the other hand we have had to deal with the newality. we've had to get creative. we've had no sacred cows. we've looked at all of our departments including our police and fire to look for innovative new ways. i think there has been a frustration at many levels with the citizenry not with the police officers and the firefighters but with union leaders that just seem to be detached from this reality. we're fortunate in mesa that we've -- we have union leaders that have worked with us. we've come together to create new and innovative ways to maintain a high level of service to secure long-term job security and to best serve our citizens in mesa. that is where i think most people are coming from. >> when you talk about that and 70% of your budget being to pay for those jobs, firefighters,

teachers, police services, whose message do you think resonates where the president is saying it's the middle class that is going to grow our economy from the middle up and where as on the right they want to say it is the top earners in this country that create the jobs? basically the top 1%. >> you know, i think the average person just wants a job. they want a good job. i don't know that they quibble too much about where that happens or where that comes from. they want sound policies. they want governments that are efficient, that provide high levels of service and they need private business to thrive and government to be effective and efficient. that is how most people look at our long-term economic strength. i think that most of the kwibls as to whether that comes from the 1% or wherever is something that politicians use and that pundits use but most people just want to have a good job and want to live in a safe neighborhood and great schools. that's daily life. >> mesa, arizona's mayor scott smith. sir, nice to have you on this

morning. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. >> absolutely. three days of very heart wrenching, emotional, and at times very disturbing testimony in the jerry sandusky child sexual abuse trial. the prosecution almost done presenting its case. how is the defense gearing up to respond? plus, more doping allegations against lance armstrong this time around it could cost him all seven of his tour de france titles. but first, going for the gold. we're talking about london, is 2008 gold medal double trap shooter glen eller, a member of the u.s. army and has made every olympic game since 2000, his performance at the olympic trials last month hitting 609 out of the 650 targets makes him a favorite to win in london. eller will compete along with three other americans to bring home medals in the shooting events this summer. do you see it ?

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the defense is on deck as prosecutors wrap up their witness list in the sexual abuse trial of jerry sandusky. the former penn state assistant football coach is accused of sexually abusing ten boys over a 15-year period. those alleged victims are now speaking in court about what they suffered allegedly in that gut wrenching graphic testimony could end by tomorrow. among the latest to testify victim number ten who was in foster care when he claimed sandusky molested him in a basement then threatened him if he didn't keep quiet about it. nbc's john yang is live in bell font with the latest and has been covering the trial for us. we understand the prosecution, the witness testimony could end as early as tomorrow so as the defense is on deck, who is expected to be called to testify first? >> reporter: i tell you, the defense will be coming up probably next week. it's not clear exactly what the

order is going to be. the defeats has said that they promised the jury they will put jerry sandusky on the stand. a lot of legal observers and analysts wonder whether that will really happen. what kind of witness he will be on the stand would also open him up to a lot of cross examination. similarly questions about whether his wife dottie will be called as a witness to testify in his defense. it will open her up to cross examination about at least one incident that one of the victims testified she interrupted and they're likely also to hear from character witnesses to talk about his good works in charities like the second mile charity and other works around penn state football. but given the sheer volume of testimony that the prosecution has presented we've now heard from six of the eight alleged

victims who are prepared to testify all telling slightly different stories but having very consistent themes running through them about sandusky's behavior and how it escalated and about the gifts he would offer and his anger and threats with at least a couple instances, threats when the boys tried to end the relationship or distance themselves from him. it's hard to see. it is a big challenge for the defense to chip away at that. in cross examination they've tried to chip away at the idea that some of these victims have changed their stories over the years, that they didn't acknowledge everything. they've also said in direct testimony and redirect testimony that they were embarrassed. they were ashamed. they didn't want to tell the whole story at the beginning

because they just didn't feel comfortable talking about it. they wanted to put it behind them. also today we've heard from the young man known as victim six. he said he didn't say anything because he didn't want to get jerry sandusky in trouble. he said this was jerry sandusky. i mean, he was, you know, a very respected figure in the community. he also said, i didn't want to get him into trouble. i still wanted to hang out with him and go to games. thomas? >> for a lot of these kids they probably thought as well no one would believe them because of his standing within the community and the charitable works he was doing. we'll continue to watch this again if the testimony from the prosecution witnesses could wrap up by the end of this week. john yang live in belafonte. thanks so much. president obama and his republican challenger mitt romney both in the battleground state of ohio today outlining their plans, visions for the future. maryland governor martin o'malley will weigh in on some of the economic potholes for the president and joins me next.

plus they say loose lips sink ships. well the supreme court will have none of that. what the justices are doing to make sure nobody leaks their decision on the president's health care plan. 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.

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to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage. i happen to believe if you look at his record over the last three and a half years you will conclude as i have it is the most antiinvestment, antibusiness, antijobs series of policies in modern american history. he is not responsible for whatever improvement we might be seeing. instead he is responsible for the fact that it has taken so long to see this recovery and the recovery is so tepid. >> mitt romney is still riding his messaging wave from a weak may jobs report making the argument to voters that slow growth just doesn't cut it. in just a few hours president obama will lay out his vision in cleveland for this country's fiscal future knowing that the next four jobs reports could be the deciding factor in this

election. maryland governor martin o'malley is chairman of the democratic governor's association and joins me now. sir, it is great to see you this morning. as we talked about the last jobs report certainly well below expectations and sending the obama administration into somewhat of a panic knowing that this came through and sent up the unemployment rate by 0.1%. just this morning we saw weekly jobs claims rising above the level where we'd see economic growth. in your estimation, how does the president combat this cloudy economic picture? again, with jufrt four months of these pictures to be played out, they're ever so important. >> well, i think what we need to -- what the president is going to do today is to lay out the fact that, look. we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. we are still experiencing the repercussions from the bush recession, the bush job losses, the bush deficits and you don't dig out of those things in just a few months. having said that, we have seen

27 months, achieved 27 months in a row of private sector job growth. unfortunately, we're dealing with an obstructionist republican tea party congress that for their own reasons wants to see this rhecovery slowed an stalled. that is the reality. what the president needs to lay out is the fact that there is really only one direction and that is forward. if we want more opportunity, if we want to create more jobs, we have to be willing to do what our parents and grandparents did. that is to educate, innovate, rebuild our country. >> sir, a lot of people are looking at what is taking place domestically about the economy and there is also the international issues at play. i want to play a comment though. my colleague andrea mitchell had a discussion with tim geithner yesterday. take a listen to this. >> do you ultimately see the eurozone staying together or do you think one or more countries will drop out? >> my view is they've considered this very carefully and decided it is in their interests to hold it together.

what they say to us privately is they will do whatever is necessary to hold it together. >> does the obama administration need to be more hands on with what's happening in europe? because a collapse in the eurozone could have major economic effects here at home. >> well, it sure could. ultimately that is a decision european nations have to make for themselves. i'm sure there are very few things the administration is as focused on as the effect that the downturn in europe has on the boom rang effect it can have here in the united states. so hopefully those countries will come together and do what, perhaps, they should have done at the beginning which is to have some central monetary control when they move to a single currency. but the bigger problem is what we need to do here at home and the fact of the matter is the romney, so-called economic plan, is a plan that actually kills jobs, eliminates jobs, and would make this recovery even more sluggish. what we need to do is pull together and get our country to

a point where we're creating both jobs in the private sector while not shedding jobs in the public sector. >> the president is going to be delivering that speech this afternoon in ohio. do you think this could be a water shed moment for his campaign to reframe the economic narrative for what it means for re-election for him? >> i don't know that i would call it a water shed moment but i do think that what we have going on right now are two very stark and different visions for what it takes to move our country forward. we have the president's vision of a country that still believes enough in herself to work today, to invest today, educate more of our children, expand our economy. and then you have former governor romney's vision. when he was governor he had one of the worst job creation records of any governor in america and he would actually make this recovery far more sluggish and quite possibly put us back into recessionary posture with huge cuts to the public sector. recently there was a report that came out that showed that in states controlled by this new

wave of republican tea party governors and legislators they've actually been eliminating jobs in the public sector five times as many jobs as are being shed in the public sector in democratic governed states. we need a balanced approach that includes investments and also more education so that we can expand our economy. >> maryland's governor martin o'malley. thanks for your time. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> here is a look at other stories topping the news. new amateur video out of syria showing what u.s. officials say is evidence of russian military aid of that country's government. an attack helicopter was filmed firing on the city of rastan. secretary of state hillary clinton says russia is sending the helicopters directly into that region. this morning members of syria's exiled national council called the allegations, quote, nothing new and dismissed clinton's remarks as, quote, politically motivated. more violence is reported out of damascus where a car bomb exploded this morning wounding

14 people. legendary cyclist and cancer survivor lance armstrong faces new doping allegations today and it comes just a few months after federal investigators closed a two-year investigation without bringing criminal charges. the new allegations from the u.s. anti-doping agency could end up stripping the seven-time tour de france winner of his titles. now armstrong says, quote, i have never doped. i have passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one. cleanup is under way in dallas. wait until you see this. this is all after a hail storm pounded the area on wednesday. hail as big as baseballs pummeled dallas count during rush hour. take a look at that. the hail shattering windows leaving hundreds of vehicles damaged. luckily though while this was going on nobody got hurt. you can see all the rear windows that have been broken out there. the chamber of secrets. get this. there is a new report in "new york" magazine outlining the top-secret dealings of the supreme court and its efforts to keep a lid on everything related to td pending decision on president obama's health care

law. from a rumored new policy on exclusive happy hours to clerks having lunches in private the high court is reportedly taking every precaution necessary to make sure no information is leaked ahead of the scheduled ruling at the end of the month though the justices may have already made up their minds as far back as mar their initial ny the contributing editor for "new york" magazine. i read this. i thought it was fascinating. a really great read and writeup by you. you say a court spokes person won't confirm or deny the new policies that restrict these happy hours. again, these happen on thursday nights. in the past they've been one of the hottest tickets in town where clerks get to invite one guest. correct? >> yes, exactly. >> and usually that guest is -- go ahead. >> usually that guest is a spouse or someone very close to them but i've heard since the oral arguments in the health care case they've been forbidden from inviting anybody.

>> the court wouldn't confirm or deny that. so loose lips sink ships but this has been a hot ticket in the past. when did you get wind of the fact that they had decided, you know what? we need to limit whether or not guests are allowed? >> about a month or so after the oral arguments. just sort of started hearing discussion of that and no one would actually go on the record to say it. people just get so paranoid about talking about any of this stuff because there's just a culture of secrecy around the country and for good reason. >> when courts go back in session in the article you say clerks are once again reminded about the oath, the code of conduct they must perform. but explain to everybody the inner workings you were able to find. i know you are the son of a former clerk who worked in the '70s but explain to all of us the secrecy that's involved in just the day-to-day operations. they eat alone. they kind of operate in their own vacuum. >> yeah. as clerks they're privy to all of the information that goes on

in the building, all of the decisions. they know what the rulings are before they're announced because they are discussing them with their justices helping them write briefs. it is impressed upon them from their first day that that information has to remain secret. there are certain precautions that they -- that the court takes, you know, having a separate dining room for the clerks, any kind of drafts they're using to help write the briefs are burned rather than just thrown in the trash or shredded. even beyond these sort of precautions there is just a culture which impresses they are not supposed to talk about this. i think even without these kind of elaborate precautions they wouldn't talk about it. it is understood if you are a clerk it is part of your job to maintain your silence on these things. >> your dad worked in the 1970s as a clerk and you approached him on this. if i remember correctly you asking him questions gave him heart palpitations. he didn't want to talk about it.

>> you know, my dad didn't have heart palpitations. he just didn't want to talk about it. other clerks did thouhad heart palpitations. one clerk had been a clerk more than a decade ago, had no knowledge of the health care ruling, basically just said that to me and revealed a few minor things but this clerk, yeah. at some point said just talking to you right now my pulse is racing. even ten years removed from the court with no knowledge of what is going on now they get nervous talking to a reporter. >> long lasting effects of the seriousness that goes into the jobs they all have. jason, thanks so much for your time today, a contributing editor for "new york" magazine. a great read. i appreciate it. >> thanks. >> a conservative author comes out of the closet but only for a year. what he says he learned from that social experiment. plus house democrats say they plan to spend nearly $50 million in campaign ads to try to regain the majority. what are their chances? i'll ask the democrat in charge. congressman steve israel joins me here at 30 rock.

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allies in the fight for lbgt equality come from unexpected places. my next guest is a young man whose staunch religious upbringing left him homophobic until he says a female friend changed everything. >> she broke down one night outside of care yoke and told me in tears she had just come out to her family and been brutally disowned. she had been ex-communicated from her entire life and two words changed it all. two simple words. i'm gay. >> you know, after that he questioned his own faith and his dogma saying he needed to learn empathy so decided to pose as a gay man for one year. he then went on to write about the experience for an untitled book out this fall. author timothy purek joins me now. good to have you here.

you say this is all done not in an effort to bash christians but your religious upbringing taught you to convert liberals, jews, muslims, atheists. the lbgt community represented the worst of all sin and you say you treated them as a bigot. when you made the decision to try this social experiment how did your friends and family react when you fictitiously came out? >> my family was very supportive initially. they treated me with the love and respect i expected. i don't think they quite knew how to react to having a gay family member but, you know, that was the religious barrier there that we were all, you know, kind of captive to. >> timothy, if you say your foundation was pickled in religious ideology that taught you homosexuality was the biggest sin wasn't that your biggest fear and your biggest

curiosity to see what would happen to you with your own immediate family for how you would be treated? >> absolutely. i didn't know what was going to happen. i think that is the part of it, why i actually told them that i was gay. that's one of the reasons why they weren't in on any of it. because i had to know what it was like to face that potential kind of ex-communication. like i said, they treated me with love and i was very lucky. i know many who aren't so lucky and, you know, but i understand their situation when they're telling their families. it's the most fearful thing i've ever done. >> when you say you posed as a gay man for a year, how did you commit socially to this? what did you do to change your life? >> well, i think it's a matter of where i spent my time. i spent a lot less time in my religious circles and church. spent a lot more time in the small gay district in nashville which we call gayborhood and so

i spent a lot more time out at the bars, the clubs, the book stores, the cafes. and just tried to be around these people as much as i possibly could, you know, to see if there was any justification in the fear that i had. socially i was pretty immersed in that experience. >> coming out it's not a cavalier conversation. it's an arduous process. >> yes. >> because of our society for many it takes years to be a watershed moment in someone's life. how do you validate this to those who wrestle with this for years where their sexual identity is and might be offended by what you've done by simply coming out to your family then going to some bars and clubs in a book store that you actually know what the heck it is like to be a gay man living in modern day times? >> yeah. i will be the first one to say that my experience is severely limited. there is no way i could possibly

understand what it's like to actually be gay. and the book itself is not at all about what it is like to be gay but only about how the label of gay impacted my external life and how those things kind of altered my faith and challenged my beliefs. it is a very paramount moment in the life of an lbgt individual to come out and it's a very, like you said, long and arduous process. i was doing everything i could to understand and going as far as i could but being i'm straight was obviously very limited in what i was able to do. >> is this book to help those that have faith-based ideologies that would have them discriminate against the community? is it supposed to inspire them with empathy and toll earns? >> i hope so. i hope people read the book and read the experiences and they have, you know, the same emotional and mental reaction

that i did as i was going through those experiences and i also hope to the lbgt folks that read it that they'll accept my apology. you know, i know people are sick of hearing straight apology after straight apology but this is really me saying, hey, i'm sorry for who i was. i'm on your side. you know, i don't understand every detail of your life and your journey but i would like to walk beside you in it from now on. >> it is going to be a fascinating read, a book coming out this fall yet untitled. great to have you on. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> absolutely. all right. so mr. aflac goes to washington. time for the poly side bar. calling attention to a dire situation around the world. early childhood deaths. aflac and secretary clinton spoke at the call to action for child survival at georgetown university in washington, d.c. just a couple of hours ago. this very serious discussion started off on a rather lighter

note. >> i hope you guys don't notice the teleprompters but the secretary and i are slightly different heights. >> all right. so moving on, apologizing now for a head-turning scene on a hit show game of thrones. they are saying they're sorry because it feechd urd former president george w. bush's severed head on a spike. one of the writers made the admission but insisted no one is playing politics here. he said they just didn't have the budget and had to use whatever props they had lying around. hbo said we were deeply dismayed to thz and find it unacceptable, disrespectf disrespectful, and in very bad taste. we told you obama girl would not endorse the president this time around. however, not to worry. she has been replaced by obama boy. ♪

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welcome back, everybody. house democrats say they plan to make their stay in the minority a short one. here a just a handful of headlines after ron barber's win in arizona. politico writing barbara gives dems a win. ap, dems gop claim national meaning in election. from pbs, democrats, barber's win in arizona puts gop on notice. joining me in studio, u.s. congressman steve israel, chairman of the democratic congressional campaign committee. sir, great to have you here. i want to start with victory for barber in arizona. a win is a win. barber definitely had a lot of help. gabby giffords was on the campaign trail with him. obviously she's one of the more popular democrats in the nation

now and does have a national profile. most of your candidates aren't going to have that type of advantage. when you look at what happened there, is this more about that single district? or is this more about something you can learn about how to go and take different places from red to blue? >> look, our candidates throughout the country have a different kind of advantage. the advantage they have, they're standing up to protect medicare. republicans want to end medicare. they're standing up to protect the middle class. republicans want to protect millionaires. and any time that plays out, as it played out in arizona's special election this week, when those priorities are contrasted, democrats win. this was a ref ren derendum. >> one thing that can't be ignored, the money. superpacs have an impact on the race. the house majority pac, came under scrutiny, kelly, comments he made in 2010 on gabby giffords. how much tougher is your job with the outside groups can

coordinate using a national strategy that then could backfire? >> it's the one thing that keeps me up at night. we out-raised the republicans, out-recruited them, out-messaged them, out-organized them. there's no question the superpacs are a major factor. just this morning there was news, one guy, sheldon adelson, in las vegas, nevada, is dutmpig eight figures into the american political discourse. maybe he's trying to bid on the branding rights for the us of a, instead of the united states of america, make it united states of adelson. you have a small group of people trying to buy elections. we have to be able to compete. we're not going to win the majority by letting a small group of people fund superpacs so without having a response. and we will respond. >> when you talk about that, though, and we use a figure like adelson here to talk about the fact that he is making it clear he's a bottomless pit of money, that he will throw, whether that's to intimidate the other side or what, he has ponied up with a lot of money, whether it was for newt gingrich or

throwing it to mitt romney. there's no free lunch. people have to wonder what are the expectations when big donors like that are coming to the table? what do they hope to get on the other side? >> what froothey're trying to d make sure they elect a congress that will protect them, millionaires at the expense of the middle class who will continue to say we can't afford health care but continue to give tax cuts to adelson. they're buying a better life for themselves and undermine the middle class. elect house democrats, we'll pass the disclose act, clean up and reform the political process and have transparency in elections. >> congressman steve israel, nice to see you in person, sir. that's going to wrap things up for me. thank you for your time. don't go anywhere. "now" with alex wagner is coming up next. alex is standing by for a preview. the official presidential debates are months away. we may have our first face-off today in ohio. president obama and governor romney will be giving speeches just minutes apart and miles away. we'll preview what the candidates should be saying. and diamonds are forever,

but is jamie dimon's relationship with washington as long lasting? andrew ross sorkin joins the panel to discuss. and our strained and strange relationship with pakistan. we'll take you inside the chaos and corruption of karachi when "now" starts in a mere 180 seconds. let's get our creativity running. then get some blades spinning, paper sanding, and bits turning. let's motor to the only place that carries our favorite tools... for our favorite people... armed with a budget and a mission... and see what happens when we put those tools to work for us. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot.

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because being able to play all day is pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. the hamilton/byrd dual of july 1804 will see a 21st century re-enactment in less than two hours when president obama and mitt romney split television screens and offer the country dueling speeches, sharp words and distinctly different paths for the future. it's thursday, june 14th, flag day and this is "now."