>> we got mary writes love the show, happy to see luke hosting the program. but where is willie? >> we have to let you in on a secret. willie is front row section a of the justin bieber concert later0 rock. you see him right there. he's the one with the hat. he's been waiting with his mom over the last four nights. it's really amazing that he was able to get this time off to do this, but you know what, when the bieber calls you've got to go with the geist, biggest justin bieber fan we know. "morning joe" starts right now. go to the m.j. they didn't just haul jamie dimon in to tell him how nice and good he is and huge he is. they also brought him in there to talk about how terrible they, the senate, are. >> we can hardly sit in judgment of your losing $2 billion, we

lose twice that every day here in washington. >> does senator demint think that spending money is the same as losing money some? i had $10 million here yesterday but now all i see is this [ bleep ] highway. i don't understand. i don't understand. where's my money? we're going to have to dig this up and find my money. >> good morning. it is friday, june 15th. with us, on set, we've got former foreign policy adviser to the bush administration, dan seemour, president of the council on foreign relations, richard haass and also the great mike barnicle, who is just all aflutter. >> yes. >> he's all aflutter, bieber fever. >> yes. >> has swept boston. come down. >> you cannot go. >> and also, i don't know who's more excited whether it's mike

barnicle about justin bieber or whether it's richard haass about the -- the once and again future president of the state of egypt, hosni mubarak. >> right. that's something to get excited about. >> he may be on his back but he is back. >> that's a good line. >> i stole that line from you before, but talk about the craziness that is happening in egypt right now, which, of course, we wiill have huge ramifications throughout the middle east, the arab spring. >> that's exactly right. people need to remember egypt is between a quarter and third of the arab world. cairo is the great city of the arab world. what happens in egypt doesn't stay in egypt and what we had was a political coup. the stream council of the armed forces, somewhat behind the scenes trying to manipulate things, went out, dissolved parliament and tried to throw all of its weight behind ahmed shah feek, the former prime

minister. >> looked like the muslim brother load whood was on the ca huge victory, going to change egypt. this is a battle between secular elites and liberals, muslims and democracy right advocates. it's been going on for a long time. >> they're in a distant third. a struggle between the political military elite that ran egypt three decades and muslim brotherhood, the most powerful political force. this won't last, every time the military acts they back down when there's popular protest. it's only a matter of time before people come out in the street. >> you think so? >> yes, sir. >> we shall see. mika, let's go to politics in america. >> we're going to get back to egypt -- >> back and forth, gibber and jaber and back and forth in ohio. >> lot of gibber jabering. >> always. >> let's get to politics. >> notice mike barnicle is wearing my shirt, i don't know

why he's wearing my shirt. >> we didn't get the e-mail this morning. >> that's really -- >> that's kind of scarscary. >> matching jackets. >> mine is a little more polyester. you can fold this thing up -- >> he's wearing walking shoes. >> is he really? >> you're wearing your nike running shoes. he said no, they're walking shoes. >> oh, god. oh, god. oh. >> not running shoes. they're walking shoes. >> i don't want to see the liver spots. >> let me ask you quickly, what's facebook at now? what are we looking at? >> 27th. >> 27th, 28th. okay. >> went up yesterday, went up a couple percent. >> when it gets to 26. >> i told everybody when it was 38, dan senior, this stock should be settled around 26, big daddy will tell people to buy and it's going to go. >> scarborough bump. >> the bump. >> the surge. >> there's more than one bump, bump on the head. >> a buying opportunity in there

somewhere. >> it's -- they still need to lose a couple more billion dollars. what do you got in news? >> i'm just waiting here. >> yeah. >> go ahead. >> really? >> we're going to get to greece as well. we would like to talk about that. it would be nice. but we'll start with politics. today mitt romney kicks off his battleground bus tour and president obama returns home to chicago after both candidates drew millions of dollars from fund-raisers last night. in new york city the president took in about $4.5 million, one fund-raiser at the home of sarah jessica parker and another featuring performances by alicia keys and mariah carey. meanwhile, romney raised money in obama's hometown of chicago, raking in more than $3 million at a hotel event for himself and fellow republicans, but the day began with both candidates in the battleground state of ohio delivering dueling speeches on the economy. >> people want to know how his economic policies have worked

and how they performed, why they can talk to their neighbor and ask if things are better. talk to people you know that run a retail store or small manufacturer and say, did president obama's policies help put people back to work? or did they make it less likely for you to hire people? and i hear day in and day out, they feel this administration sees them as their enemy. >> governor romney and the republicans who run congress, believe that if you simply take away regulations and cut taxes by trillions of dollars, the market will solve all of our problems on its own. if you agree with that, you should vote for them. and i promise you, they will take us in that direction. i believe we need a plan for better education and training and for energy independence and for new research and innovation, for rebuilding our infrastructure. and if you agree with me, if you believe this economy grows best

when everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules, then i ask you to stand with me for a second term as president. >> meanwhile, the president's argument that he inherited economic problems from president bush could be losing steam with voters. a new gallup poll finds that 68% think president george w. bush deserves a great deal or moderate amount of blame for the state of the economy today, although that number is down 12% from 2009. 52% blame president obama for the shape of the economy and that is up 20% from three years ago. >> again, i think those numbers at the end of the day, they're irrelevant when people walk into the voting booth, they're voting to either rehire the guy or fire the guy. you know -- >> that's it. >> romney's people, i don't know if it was romney's people, i don't know if it was, you know, you got the campaign manager here, dan senor. >> yeah. >> i don't know if romney came

up with it or not, but you hear all of this nonsense in the campaign trail when they try to frame things a certain way. romney had a great line there, it said, if you want to know whether the economy is doing better or not, ask your neighbor. you want to know if the economy is doing better or not, ask the guy that owns the small business down the street. it's a variation of ronald reagan's are you better off today than you were four years ago. and i think romney should -- i think politically, he should stick with that theme instead of getting too far down in the weeds. is the economy better now than it was -- have barack obama's policies worked? ask your neighbor. >> well, look, this is uniquely a higher/fire election. there are few issues other than that, and it's going to come down to the more people you talk to, it's going to come down not are you better off than you were four years ago, the question is going to be, are you going to be

okay two years from now or one year from now? it's who has a plan and it's who can best answer the question, where are we going? where are you going to take us. thus far, i think a lot of people think that neither candidate, the president or governor romney, has really articulated that kind of a plan, where are you taking us? >> again, i would be saying this if the republican were president and i did say four years ago that the decision was on whether you kept bush's party in power or not, you talked to independent voters that voted for barack obama four years ago, they're not sitting there going, gee, what's going to happen two years from now. you go into these focus groups and what do they say? >> anecdotal and real evidence, when you talk to people who do focus groups, peter hart is very good at this, he just did an extensive focus group out in

denver, colorado, and the level of disappointment among independents who voted for barack obama four years ago is palpable. and it's going to be very difficult, according to the focus group information that peter hart has extracted, for the president to win back those independents. they like the president. no one dislikes him. no one is walking around saying what a terrible guy. they like him. the level of disappointment among independents is palpable. >> i guess the question really is, whether mitt romney can stay out of his own way? >> right. >> i think if, as mike is saying, if the challenge to both candidates is to talk about a future plan, i think in the case of president obama, he has got to have an explanation for what happened over the last three and a half years for voters to put their guard down and listen to where he wants to go, they have to at least believe he's acknowledging there's been, you know, human misery. >> yeah. >> that has been -- that has

been flowing from this economy over the last three and a half years and he hasn't been prepared to do it. if you say it's a hire/rehire election, it's like getting your job performance review and your supervisor saying you've had a really rough spot over the last three and a half years, the record is bad, job is not going well and you say i want to talk about the future, my promotion, i want to talk about the future and the employer is saying, we can talk about your future but explain what on earth happened on your watch under the past three and a half years. >> the ask your neighbor thing that you just referenced. in terms of the president's re-election campaign and the president himself spent an inordinate amount of time, a lot of people would say over the last three years, saying i inherited the worst economic conditions since the depression. under president bush here's what's happened. it's as if you buy a house, you invest your money in a house, and you get in the house and you find out there's a couple things wrong with it and you call a plumber because you want everything fixed. the plumber comes in and says, let me tell you what's wrong with your boiler and what other

guy did to the boiler and didn't do. you're not interested in that. fix it. that's why you hire the plumber. that's why we hire a president. fix it. >> and the president does have a record of fixing and saving certain things. we can have that argument or not. >> he has. >> but one more question for you about messaging. would it be fair and truthful messaging or just effective gamesmanship to get people to believe that this economy rests solely on this sitting president? >> what? i don't understand? >> when you look at these poll numbers changing, is that effective messaging, that people believe that it's all on obama and that it's less -- much less on the previous administration and would that be true? >> well, i. >> it's just not true. >> those numbers are changing all the time. my personal belief is that there are presidents who could have done an awful lot more over the last three years, have done a much better job of reviving the

economy by just not scaring the hell out of business people who are trying to figure out whether to invest or not. i'm not talking about wall street, business owners, i'm talking about rob at bagel heads in pensacola who every time i go in and buy a bagel he asks, look, joe, look behind. i get 12 people back here. do i hire four more or if i hire four more, what regulations am i strapped with. and then every time -- and then the next time rob says, i hear they're going to be taxing me on this. i hear i'm going to be getting this regulation. this, my friends, is rob maki at bagel heads in pensacola, florida. this is not jamie dimon. >> so -- >> this is multiplied. let me make this point, because this is critically important. you always don't need a 14-point plan to save the economy. sometimes you need to have leadership that understands that within reason, it is just -- you

do the least amount of harm when you get out of the way, when you stop promising a thousand new regulations, when you stop promising to raise taxes on small business owners and on many others. >> and so when you have to look at the economy voters are going to really have to look at specifics here because where would detroit be if romney had been in office? where would it be? i want to know. >> if you're a voter in michigan you're probably going to vote -- >> i was wondering where detroit would be? >> can i answer the question? >> yeah. >> if you're a voter in michigan you're probably going to vote for barack obama. you know why? because your brother works at the parts company that's still open because barack obama and steve rattner and a lot of other people made some choices. if you're in indiana, in illinois, probably the same thing. i mean barack obama is going to do very well in the industrial midwest but those are three or four states. >> that's not my question. >> but the answer is not the

same for every state. >> the answer -- >> but the question is where would detroit be if mitt romney had not -- not where is it now because of obama. we know he saved it. >> mika -- >> i just -- that's irrelevant. i just answered the question, mika. he's going to win the detroit vote. but guess what? that's not going to help him with small businesses in new mexico. that's not going to help him with small business owners in nevada. that's not going to help him across the rest of america. but yes, on that issue, that's a goodie. mark that one as pro obama. >> can i submit an additional element to your question, your initial question. >> uh-huh. >> it is this, anybody who woke up this morning and is breathing, knows that president obama, you know, inherited a mess. everyone knows that. but they also know that the presidency is not an appointed position. you run for it. you run for it because you want it. the reason you want it is to do

something for the country. it's his job now. it's his job. and it's his -- you hire people to fix things. >> and by the way, he knew what he was getting into. he was there on september 15th. he knew what he was getting into. he was the guy after that who said, if we haven't turned things around in three years, vote us out. so all of this talk about hey, i had no idea it was going to be this bad, that's kind of like telling evel knievel before he's going over snake river and you found out that it doesn't have what it takes to get over, hey, let me do that and then get halfway over, man, i didn't know it was that tough of a job. >> if you're going to cherrypick things like the auto bailout look at the totality of the record. he got big things done. no question that barack obama got big things done. the stimulus, $826 billion passed february 2009. health care reform they talked about as an economic recovery plan, passed in march of 2010. democratic congress, had a mandate from the 2008 election, he had momentum and he got big things done. >> these are boulders he had to

push uphill. >> congress on his side, had a mandate, he got most of his agenda passed. and this is where we are. >> you are -- what's going on with you today? >> i look like that girl. you know -- >> the one on youtube? >> he is just one man. >> can we get that youtube? sometimes mika and, you know, people often hear -- >> i think you guys are skewing the truth. >> the totality of his program was passed -- >> you would not answer my question. >> what's your question? >> he's just one man. no. my -- >> did you see that youtube video. >> we're going to show it. we'll bump out with it. >> sometimes mika just feels compelled -- she has to support the president regardless of the facts. >> totality of the programs got passed. >> we heard that. >> i'm saying -- >> holding up her coffee, joe. >> like really intense and then have like mental vomit, but if i can just say, if you look at where we would be if mitt romney --

>> right here. >> yeah, right. >> had made the same -- had the same choices this president had, where would we be? that's the choice for voters. detroit would have gone down. what? >> it's got to be broader than the question of government intervention, detroit or stimulus versus austerity. a third to this called growth. the real question is what could this administration have done, what could the president and the second term under mitt romney, if you were to win, do to stimulate growth and that's where you get into setting the table. the real role of government is less to do -- accurate to help this industry or help this company than to create a context in which the american economy thrives which the companies of america sitting on $2 trillion, start investing it at home. how do we change the tax policies so it makes sense for apple or someone else to build the next factory at home. how do we pass a trade deal so american exporters can thrive. >> fair enough. >> let's go on -- >> i have to get to greece. >> a couple shocking headlines, we scour, we scour the internet for shocking headlines.

couple shocking headlines. first of all, this one coming from politico, fluke endorses obama. >> what the heck? >> who cares. >> i never saw that one coming. fluke endorses obama. >> did she hold a press conference? >> probably did. >> top of the "washington post," how barack obama became black. okay. well, i think the father had something to do with that. but if "the washington post" wants to put that into the headlines, all the power. let's go from that to greece now. >> we talked about the significance of the egyptian presidential runoff happening this weekend. the other critical overseas election with major implications for the united states happens in greece. europe braces for greek's second parliamentary elections in just over a month and the possibility that its outcome could mark the end of the eurozone as we know it. financial institutions around the world are preparing for the results working on a coordinated effort to protect europe's

banks. in germany, one of europe's strongest economies, chancellor angela merkel is stressing her nation's limited ability to provide financial support to the rest of the eurozone. we thought we were in dire straits. >> how bad is it? >> it's bad but not quite the way it was set up. by this, let me explain why. >> okay. >> even if the radical left wins in greece, if they win it's going to be a nightmare for the markets. the greek markets yesterday went up 10% and don't think the radical left party is going to win. they think the centrist new democracy. even if the so-called quote/unquote good guys win you have the fact that greece doesn't have a real economy. they don't make anything there. so it doesn't in any way solve the problem. it maybe buys you a couple days. then we go to mexico. why? because that's where the g-20 meets. what's going to happen is the entire world will gang up on the chancellor of germany and say you've got to do more, you've got to essentially allow europe to take many more steps.

the germans aren't going to do it. they aren't going to give unconditional support to europe. we're going to be talking about this a month from now, two months from now, three months from now. this is a condition that's more than a crisis that comes and goes. this is now the new normal for the foreseeable future regardless of who wins in greece, regardless of what happens monday and tuesday in mexico, this is the backdrop to global economic and political realities for the foreseeable future. >> speaking to someone the other day in brussels, even if the responsible party gets elected in greece in the upcoming elections, they implement some kind of fidellity plan to the imf/eu bailout plan, if they implement austerity there will be a wave of anti-austerity riots that will sweep greece. the government could fall. we could be back to elections in greece in two or three months. >> talking about just a terrible crisis in greece. >> that's -- keeps going. >> keeps going. causes major ocollapses in

greece, spain, possibly italy. only one thing to do, when things are going -- >> call "ghost busters"? >> no. you go out and buy an article of clothing from runway to win collection, a line of obama-themed clothes and accessories -- >> are they fabulous? >> of course they're fabulous. anna wintour is there. designers like jason wu, mark jacobs. >> tori burch. >> tracy reeves. yes. >> last night. >> runway -- >> last night. >> anna wintour, possible u.n. ambassador to the uk in a possible second obama term. >> coming up exclusive first look at the politico playbook. >> that will help. >> that was a natural -- seamless, seamless -- just -- >> seriously was. >> i had no idea. >> did you guys practice that to

pivot off greece to run way to win. >> the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory, "financial times" gillen tett and andy serwer with fortune magazine's list of the best places to retire. >> i need one of those right now. don't miss willie's week in review. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> all right. everyone can't wait for the weekend. it's slowly, slowly arriving. this morning, the worst travel out there this morning, dallas/ft. worth, showers and thunderstorms rolling through, wet on the roads for at least the next hour and then will begin to move out. the dallas/ft. worth, anywhere in the greater metroplex area you'll be dealing with those storms. also, in oklahoma, tulsa, heading out to interstate 40 outside of oklahoma city, you're dealing with some thunderstorms this morning. that's about it. this is a really nice forecast into the weekend. today we're looking perfect from boston to d.c. all of new england is looking great. the mid-atlantic looks fine. just your typical afternoon thunderstorms in florida along the gulf. any really bad weather to be had, most likely in iowa.

let me take you through your weekend forecast. areas of green best chance of rain. we will see some strong storms possible in nebraska and kansas. by sunday the storm will head into the great lakes. watch out around detroit with your barbecue with dad, where you could have thunderstorms, also possibly indianapolis to chicago. it's going to get very warm, lot of areas are going to see a hot weekend, including st. louis, which could be in the mid 90s. looks like summer is going to show up this week and also looks like great day for dad in so many sos. not bad new york city, enjoy the humidity, you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. sorry. sore knee.

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♪ what are you saying?

are you saying the economy is obama's fault? are you saying the unemployment rate is obama's fault? are you saying that the ridiculous amount of people on food stamps is obama's fault? he's just the president. he is a one-man -- he cannot -- >> she is great. >> she holds the cup up. it's great. it has lipstick on it. >> i can say this, mika and i wrote this weekend about our fathers in "parade" magazine. lessons from day. a picture of your dad and you i would guess in probably 1977. >> 35 years ago. >> 1978. >> a great shot. >> yeah. >> he took us everywhere. i don't know why. we were terrible. >> yeah. well -- >> time for a look -- >> you survived. >> time for a look at the morning papers. "the washington post" has inside details on timothy geithner's effort to leave his job as

treasury secretary in the spring of last year. according to the article geithner tried to convince the white house that defense secretary hillary clinton's role -- could fill the role. sources say the administration agreed and were considering the idea until president obama convinced geithner to stay. >> hillary clinton as treasury secretary? >> that's very -- >> have you heard that? >> i have never heard that. not obvious given her back ground. >> she can do anything. >> one of the biggest ponzi schemes in the united states history will spend the rest of his life in prison. stanford. gave us one of the best video clips we've had since "morning joe" began a few years ago. won't be giving us many more because he was sentenced to 110 years for billinging investors, many retired teachers, veterans and blue collar workers, out of at least $7 billion. as abc news reporter brian ross learned, be careful. calling stanford a con man to

his face. >> the only thing i would ever say about something like that in terms of my allegation is f you say it to my face again i will punch you in the mouth. >> you're going to punch me in the mouth. >> i'm not going to punch you in the mouth. that is absolutely a ludicrous thing to say. >> i'm going to punch me in the mouth. >> you're going to punch me in the face. >> someone is going to walk up and call him a con man. >> wow. >> might be a rough ride. might be a rough ride. >> we have the guy with the kitty cats, patrick gavin joining us with this morning's politico playbook. good morning. >> good morning, everybody. >> start with jeb bush who caused a little anxiety within the republican party this week when he suggested that his father perhaps even ronald reagan, remember this, would feel uncomfortable in the party's current climate. what's going on? >> yeah. i'm curious to get joe's take, greg shirley has an op-ed in politico today in which he takes

jeb bush to task, which few republicans do, for those comments saying craig is not a fan of his what if scenarios, what would reagan do type accident nare os and number two what he's saying is number one, what the republican party criticizes about itself are politicians who don't stand on principle, ronald reagan did that, was a great communicator, mitt romney is not, so perhaps ronald reagan would do very well and greg shirry's critique attacks like this from jeb bush are what we're seeing from the democratic party right now, which is too much in party fighting which is not what the republicans need. we're seeing this from various corners from the republican party and greg is saying enough with this reagan talk and whether reagan would win now. thinks a good case ronald reagan would win in today's republican party. >> that argument was made on the air. i don't buy it. what do you think is going on? the party? everyone denies it.

very key people are saying it. >> i was very close, not necessarily personally with jeb, but certainly when jeb was governor of florida and we were in constant communication. i was a huge supporter of his. jeb was one of the most conservative rulers i've seen, governors i've ever seen. he fought on vouchers. it was a war, i mean tallahassee was shut down, he won florida, a battle on affirmative action, he fought republicans on spending, he was the conservative's conservative. he remains the conservative's conservative. the only point jeb bush was making if you're going to govern, and you don't have a monopoly, you're going to have to make compromises, the type of compromises like his father made in 1990. don't think jeb would have made that particular compromise, the type of compromise ronald reagan made in 1983 to save social

security, the type we're going to have to make moving forward, whoever is elect the president if we're going to save social security, save medicare, save medicaid, if we're going to scale back our defense spending and if we're going to prevent the united states from turning into another greece. you've got to make compromises when you're in power. that was jeb's point. these people calling jeb a liberal or moderate, don't have any idea of what they're talking about. >> wishful thinking. >> wishful thinking by the left. >> yeah. greg shirley is a great guy and i think we disagree a bit on this one. but reagan made a lot of tough compromises and it was the right that was pounding reagan. you remember, richard, the right pounded reagan. >> absolutely. >> time and time again, said he appeased the soviets by striking grain deals with them, that he appeased the soviets doing peace treaties with them. i mean, reagan was constantly

being hammered but he dealt with the soviets, dealt with democrats, and he still figured out how to win. >> fantastic. >> jeb bush also, you know, clear views on immigration reform. >> yep. >> patrick gavin, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> have a great weekend. >> you too. >> coming up, would the miami heat suffer another fourth quarter meltdown. sports with luke russert. next on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] this is corporate caterers, miami, florida.

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>> you too.

all right. so luke is here. >> that's huge. >> hello, luke. >> good morning. >> i watched you doing "way too early." >> thank you for waking up to see it. >> yeah. >> do you have bieber fever, mika? >> no, but apparently you do. >> i do. >> it's running through my veins at such a high level. >> he's a bieber fan. >> he is. >> he likes the bieb. >> love the bieber and love sports. >> let's talk about sports because i don't give a dam about bieber. >> i hope you give a dam about the nba finals last night. the heat built a double-digit lead on the thunder in game one only to see it evaporate in the second half. miami would try to avoid a similar fate in game two last night. third quarter, lebron james drives and puts it high off the glass, give the heat a 12-point lead. lebron had 32 points, most ever

for him in a finals game. after a quiet first half, kevin durant ignites the oklahoma city crowd with a monster dunk over shane battier to bring his team within eight points. fourth quarter, d wade has the ball stripped and the thunder go on the break. durant can't get the lay-up, west brooke is there to clean it up. heat led by as much as 17 this game. a one-possession game with 90 seconds left. lebron james comes through with a big-time shot in the clutch to extend the lead to five. lebron made one field goal in the fourth quarter but it was a huge one. 12 seconds left, thunder with a chance to tie, but kevin durant misses the contested jumper, some question like me, as to whether a foul should have been called on the play. >> blow the whistle. >> lebron does make some contact, punches him in the stomach. >> assaulted. >> the refs do not blow the whistle there or on lebron as he battled with russell westbrook, a no call to end the game. heat hang on to win, 100-96.

the front page of the miami herald says it all. >> we won! >> series is even, finals headed back to miami for game three, sunday night at 8:00 p.m. we got golfers here on to the golf. michael thompson took the lead into the clubhouse after round one of the u.s. open but tiger woods, pared with phil mickelson and bubba watson stole the show at the olympic club. tiger's second shot on the par 4 is a beauty. lands within inches of cup. couldn't get the birdie putt to go, tap in for par and stay even for the tournlts. >> he missed that putt? >> he missed that putt. no problem on the 5th hole. would finish at 1 under on the day. tiger sits one off the lead heading into round two. ground with phil mickelson and watson again. mickelson is six over par, sits in 93rd pla place. bubba, tied for 125th place at 8

over. that's some golf, my friend. russert/barnicle golf. >> the yankees in first place. >> against the washington nationals this weekend. three-game home stand. >> unbelievable. >> all three games, i'll be there. >> like in the dug joushgts right? >> i love it. right behind the visiting team's dugout. yelling at derek jeter. >> going to wear a nationals jersey. >> my gonzalez jersey on the train today. see me on the 1:00 train look for me. >> cy young. >> god willing. >> when we come back, is your retirement on your horizon? we'll go inside "fortune's" list of the best places to retire. >> needs to be. >> managing editor andy serwer joins us next on "morning joe."

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welcome back to "morning joe." a beautiful shot of new york city coming in, of course -- >> it is pretty. >> from schenectady. >> got a plane taking off, taking off anywhere but new york city. they want to retire. that's why we brought in with us managing editor of "fortune" magazine, andy serwer. >> that's a cheesy transition. >> i majored in cheesy transition at university of alabama. here with the magazine's issue featuring "fortune's" 2012 list of the best places. i'm a florida guy. everybody retires in florida. "fortune's" like you guys dissed my home state. let's talk about if i want to go some place it's kind of sunny. >> yeah. >> where do i go? >> first of all, the reason we're not doing the florida/arizona thing, retirees are looking for things rather than just sitting there in their

condo looking at the beach, people are more active, they want culture and things. not that florida doesn't have any. this -- see where this is going. >> we're not -- >> okay. >> santa fe. >> 325 days of sunshine every year. >> that's pretty good. >> that's pretty good. great lifestyle, great food. mountains, hiking, lot of cool stuff, culture. >> golf. >> interesting stuff. golf. i think we see a theme here with richard. golf. >> if it's not just -- i want to live in a smaller town. you have picked out for the smaller town to retire, i think one of my favorite cities in america, i think one of -- i think one of most -- most of america's favorite places to be, there is only one, charleston, south carolina. >> the low country. >> it is unbelievable. >> and richard is talking about golf, for me there's a theme of food, you know, so sante fe, good food, charleston awesome food and the college of

charleston you can audit classes for basically nothing and the charm of the city really cool place. >> the history, everything about charleston. you got a couple cities here to retire to. two very different towns. >> right. >> one a mountain town and then big city. let's start with the mountain town first. >> bend, oregon. and it's near the cascades. there's two things. richard is going to like eight golf courses and for me, ten micro breweries. >> oh, my. >> in that town. when you're older you can drink beer still or drink more beer. >> drink beer while you golf. >> that's been known to have been -- >> what's the climate like in bend, oregon? >> the climate there is like oregon. >> pacific northwest. a lot of overcast days. >> bring your umbrella. >> or bring your golf umbrella. >> yeah. >> what's that? >> no skin cancer. >> no skin cancer. very good. >> backing me up. >> big cities, this, you know, i remember back in 19 i think it

was 1991 -- >> new york city? >> i love that. >> new york city. >> 1991, a survey of one of the "travel and leisure" magazines, the worst cities to visit in the world. number one was sarajevo, number two new york city. new york has turned it around. >> right. >> retiring in new york, it's an awfully expensive place. >> but on the other hand you can walk everywhere, take cabs everywhere. you don't have to drive. >> you have to. >> you can get any kind of food. >> culture. >> delivered. walk over to lincoln center and see the best stuff in the world. >> this week i met two couples in their 60s or 70s who retired in new york. just moved here for this reason. they went to florida first. they got bored. came back here because everything was so accessible. >> new york will have over a million people over the age of 65 very soon. >> how many of us know people that moved while they had children to new jersey, to connecticut, move out of the city, and the second the kids left for college, they feel like

kids again, they're in an apartment and like you said, everything's there. you want to go to a play, you can go to a play, you want -- if you don't want to leave your house, if you're not feeling well, everything comes to you. >> health care. >> yeah. >> so -- >> good stuff. >> great health care. overseas now, this is a fascinating choice. educate me. >> more and more people looking overseas and cost is a big issue, joe. ecuador is becoming a hot spot for retirees. you can buy a house for $75,000. a beautiful house for $75,000. and again, you know, health care there is actually pretty interesting, pretty good. interesting health care is probably not a maybe compelling -- >> do they have cable? >> actually, that's something they have to work on. they got satellite. >> bueno. >> andy -- >> what consti nent is that on? switzerland. >> south of florida. >> but there are lot of places like ecuador --

>> panama city. >> costa rica. >> as long as you have security and you've got beaches and everything else, your dollar can go a mile in some places. >> andy, stay with us. right back with willie's week in review. with the spark cash card from capital one, sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice.

♪ oh, man, you know something, it's friday. if it's friday what time is it? >> wait. it's time to get out of here, i hope. >> before that. >> yeah. >> it's time for willie's week in review. >> fantastic. >> i don't know much about the bieber. never seen him. i don't know what he does. >> at number three, bush and the bieber. ♪ i got money in my hand >> george h. wrj bush typically celebrates his birthday by jumping out of an airplane. for his 88th this week, '41 stayed on the ground to star in an hbo documentary about his life. >> remember i used to stand around, no, no, you, next to you. >> reporter: and to chat with granddaughter jenna about his deep connection to another guy who makes the ladies scream, justin bieber.

>> when comparing your socks to that of justin bieber. >> bieb? is he a sock man? >> at number two, american exceptionalism. >> burger king is introducing a new dessert later this week, the bacon sundae. >> it heaps 510 calories. now that is a whopper. >> burger king this week achieved the fast food equivalent of putting a man on the moon when it added to its menu a hot fudge sundae with bacon. >> that's one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind. >> what better way to cool off this summer than with vanilla soft serve, fudge, caramel, and hot pork. the arrival of the bk bacon sundae comes two weeks after taco bell's engineer came out of the lab with a concept of their own, to stuff an entire plate of nachos into the burrito.

>> the nachos you love in a burrito. >> the story of the week. >> somebody goes to the restaurant, orders a big steak dinner, martini all that stuff, and then just as you're sitting down, they leave. >> president obama accused republicans this week of dining and dashing on the country. >> and accuse you of running up the tab! >> mitt romney was slightly less met forcle in his rebuttal. >> the most anti-investment, anti-business, anti-jobs series of policies in modern american history. >> on thursday, romney and the president had a little this state ain't big enough for the two of us speech duel in ohio. >> he's going to say give me four more years, even though i didn't get it done in the first three and a half. >> the economic vision of mr. romney and his allies in congress was tested a few years ago. why would we think they would work better this time? >> vice president joe biden meanwhile was back in washington holding down the fort, fighting off young children with a full

might. the united states arsenal of super soakers. a good hose down may also be the only way for a distinguished former president to cool off from a red hot case of bieber fever. >> i don't know much about the bieber. never see him. i don't know what he does. >> doesn't watch the bieber. >> i couldn't name a song. >> baby baby baby baby. that's all he does. baby. >> is that it? >> baby baby. >> [ inaudible ]. >> amazing. >> really? >> pulitzer prize in literature. >> yeah. >> kind of like van morrison. >> no. he's absolutely nothing like morrison. >> thank you for pointing that out. >> i'm glad you hit that ball. >> strike those words from the record! still ahead, david gregory -- >> have you heard one direction? >> coming up next, chris hayes joins the table. we're back in a minute on morning bieber. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ over the next five months, this election will take many twists and many turns. >> [ inaudible ]. >> polls will go up and polls will go down. there will be no shortage of gaffes and controversies that keep both campaigns busy and

give the press something to write about. heard i made my own unique contribution to that process. it wasn't the first time, it won't be the last. >> it is the top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." look at that shot of new york city. pretty cool. >> lot of beautiful shots. you know what that means? >> what? >> t.j. is on vacation. no one he pulled three shots like that. >> it's friday. he doesn't work fridays, does he? >> i think he -- >> i don't think he works fridays, mondays or tuesdays anymore. dan senor an andy serwer with us. joining the table, the most of msnbc's "up with chris hayes" and editor at large at the "nation" magazine, chris hayes, out with a book "twilight of the elites america after ameri tockcracy." >> great to be here. good morning. >> a lot to get to. >> to the news and then let's get to the book. >> all right. we'll start with politics this

hour. today mitt romney kicks off his battleground bus tour and president obama returns home to chicago after both candidates drew millions of dollars from fund-raisers last night. in new york city, the president took in about $4.5 million, one fund-raiser was at the home of sarah jessica parker -- >> look at this. keep that picture up. >> pretty people. >> we show these graphics before and senor, this is a sister of our life. >> what? >> as republicans. so this is how -- >> unbelievable. >> how a democratic fund-raiser lo looks. >> yeah. >> you're beautiful. >> there was alicia keys. >> surrounded by beautiful, talented people. keep going. >> meanwhile, romney raised money in obama's hometown of chicago. >> stop right there. >> where are they? you're always by yourself, the dork in the blue brooks brothers suit. >> stars aren't there. >> i was at dinner the other night with friends who said why don't you guys have celebrities. >> celebrities don't want to be republicans. >> we have one. >> who? >> chuck norris. >> that's what i'm saying.

he was for huckabee. we need to get chuck norris back in. >> who's the country singer. >> chuck norris, that's the best you can do. >> joe, mitt romney had a country singer, remember? >> no. >> it was somebody very popular. >> really? >> so popular -- >> clearly massively popular. >> in an embarrassing kind of way. >> romney picture we just saw that image, chuck norris -- >> and pat boone. >> sheldon adelson. >> doesn't have the same vibe. >> he ain't pretty but he rich. >> he brought in $3 million. the day began, though, after all that, with both candidates in the battleground state of ohio delivering dueling speeches on the economy. >> people want to know how his economic policies have worked and how they performed. they can talk to their neighbor and ask whether things are better. talk to people you know that run a retail store or a small manufacturer and say, did president obama's policies help put people back to work or did

they make it less likely for you to hire people? and i hear day in and day out, they feel this administration sees them as their enemy. >> governor romney and the republicans who run congress believe if you simply take away regulations and cut taxes by trillions of dollars, the market will solve all of our problems on its own. if you agree with that, you should vote for them. and i promise you they will take us in that direction. i believe we need a plan for better education and training and for energy independence and for new research and innovation, for rebuilding our infrastructure. and if you agree with me, if you believe this economy grows best when everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody does their fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules, then i ask you to stand with me for a second term as president. >> all right. so chris, we had these dueling

arguments yesterday and we had a discussion last hour about what people think when they go into the voting booths. mika talking about detroit. i think if you're in the midwest you're probably going to go romney probably would have let gm go bankrupt, obama's the guy. but what's the decision the rest of america makes as they go into that voting booth? because you can make the logical argument, but for obama, your atm machines would have stopped working, gm would have gone bankrupt, but for obama, you can go down the list. but -- >> hard case to make. >> but when people go into the voting booth aren't they asking themselves am i better off now than four years ago? >> when you talk to the folks on the obama campaign, they are really focused on making this a choice not a referendum. the romney -- if mitt romney could, he wouldn't even do campaign events. he would just walk around with a sign with the unemployment rate. he wouldn't say anything. he barely talks about his

time -- he was the governor of a state, barely talks about it. doesn't want to talk that much about mitt romney. he wants to talk about unemployment is high, the economy in bad shape an that guy's fault. >> his goal is strange, but it's probably just stay out of the way. not even tear down obama. >> stay out of the way and point at obama. >> exactly. and what the president wants to do and that campaign wants to say, this isn't a thumb's up or thumb's down referendum. if you vote against me you're going to get some other vision and it actually could be much, much worse. i happen to agree with that, right. it could be worse and i think it would be worse under mitt romney, but that is the challenge is framing the election as a choice for referendum -- >> can you think of another election in recent memory, i can't, where the -- it could have been worse argument worked for an incumbent president? >> it is a hard political argument to make. i think the thing that the president has going in his favor

politically, obviously he continues to have high personal approval and that counts for something, it's also a very polarized country. let's remember most of the votes aren't on the table right now. right. most of the people in the country are going to vote -- >> they've decided. >> the small amount of people that are making up their mind, in some ways those are the people most subject to think about it as a ref ren dum which bodes ill for the president but on the other side of the ledger, this, the obama organization has been working in the states at the groos grassroots level for his presidency. what they were able to do in 2008 to alter the electorate, make the electorate younger and more racially diverse was important in providing the margin of victory and that's going to be more important this time around and that's happening underneath the surface, not the ad war, fund-raising dollars. >> i agree with chris. these guys are good, number one. number two if i am mitt romney's people my concern is the candidate himself. can he fire up people and show -- so far, you know, i

think the jury is definitely out because remember, there's always three choices, not two. democrat, republican and stay home. >> right. >> people could be dissatisfied with barack obama a little bit. if they're not fired up by mitt romney, maybe they just sit on their hands and that's something i think they've got to be concerned about. >> you know, though, dan, let's strip this down. i mean, if you're mitt romney, yes, you're going to attack barack obama. you're going to remind people of all the terrible things that have happened over the past four years in your eyes. but in the end, people already -- they've got their opinion on barack obama. if you're in barack obama's campaign i'm not saying it's right, i'm not saying it's immoral, i'm saying it's the way it is, if you want to win you're got to destroy mitt romney. and chris you're agreeing too. you got to tear him apart limb from limb. and make it like you said, chris, a choice. >> a choice. >> not a referendum. >> similar to the 2004 race in that way. >> exactly.

>> the challenge for president obama is he still has not -- this is not just people from the right saying this, people from the left say this, he still does not have an explanation for what went wrong in the first term. you, obviously, don't believe everything went wrong. you think some things went right or could have been worse. big things went wrong. he had big plans, he got them passed, he said if we get these big plans passed things will get better and they haven't. he doesn't have an explanation. >> [ inaudible ]. >> jonathan alter on msnbc was amazing. he's been an enthusiast for barack obama wrote a book called "the promise" which is sympathetic to barack obama, he watched that speech that president obama gave yesterday and he said on the air, it's one of the worst speeches the president has ever given. >> i know you probably realize i don't agree with president obama's philosophy, governing domestic, governing philosophy of the most part, but just as a political guy, it drives me crazy, if i were barack obama, every day i went out there, i

would say you want to talk about competing visions, okay, let's talk about competing visions. if it weren't for me, your atm machine would not have worked. if mitt romney had his way, banks would have shut down. if it were not for my tough decisions, detroit would be closed down. if mitt romney had his way, the american car industry would be dead on its back. if it were not -- and choice after choice. but i always find this with democrats for some reason, i always find it very few, other than let's say bobbie kennedy or mario cuomo, very few will roll up their sleeves and say, dam right. instead, they'll go, i voted for the war before i voted against it. it seems to me that there are a lot of people going up to barack obama going you know what, that bank bill thing, it doesn't poll well and auto thing -- >> joe wants him to roll up his

sleeves and get in your face. >> i think is is a fascinating it -- >> i say the economy is what he needs to say, even though i disagree. that's his argument. >> he's not that kind of guy. >> it's a contrary one politically. if you look at three elements of the rescue, there are things the federal reserve did but you look at the three elements of the rescue, the auto bailout, there was t.a.r.p. which they were, you know, passed under george w. bush, but remember -- >> supported by romney. governor romney supported the and executed by bush. >> and then the recovery act. >> you're already sounding like him. that's the problem. it's too externally pensive. just roll up your sleeves and say it. >> externally pensive. >> here's another great thing too. >> i'm thinking out loud -- >> the three points, right? >> make them. >> what does a republican say? he's a socialist. wait a second, i actually worked with george w. bush on the first. george w. bush came out and said

he would have supported me on the second and on the third he was there too. i mean, this is -- >> well, i think the other thing that that's important to note, when you said it hasn't gotten better, right, that's just not true. it has gotten better. i mean any single metric you look at, the economy has gotten better from what he inherited. let's remember, it was contracting at a 6% quarterly rate, gdp. that is going over the cliff territory. that is we are headed toward the second great depression. you just can't say it's as facts the matter that things have not gotten better. >> 3 million americans out of work have given up. you ask those people we were talking about, have things gotten better. i got to tell you they're not going to say -- >> that's true. >> and who will you thank for that? >> so glad you brought up 2004. 2004, george w. bush was not a popular man. karl rove and george w. bush and that entire team said, we're going to beat the hell out of john kerry and act like we never made a mistake in our life. i remember george w. bush being

asked, like you regret everything? >> and debate, there was a question, name one mistake. >> he couldn't name one mistake! i can name 12 mistakes i made in the last five minutes. we all can. >> i can name 12 for you. >> republicans can do that, but democrats do seem a bit pensive in handling. >> one difference. in 2004, when bush and the bush affiliates went after kerry about this time, kerry did not punch back. >> right. >> he did not say, i'm going to pound back and win every new cycle and put bush back on the defensive. the obama said we're going to do to romney what they did to kerry. defining him on his bain and massachusetts record now. the romney campaign has been throwing back and throwing the obama campaign off kilter. >> what are they talking about bain and massachusetts instead of saying we saved your atm machines, your cars, we saved your economy, are things going great, no, they're not going

great but hell of a lot better than they were. are you better off than four years ago, let me give you numbers. you do the math. it's the attitude. they need to be aggressive about it. >> you talked about mario cuomo and bobbie kennedy. barack obama is neither of those two men. that's a problem. and i think the argument that, you know, actually things are better and it could have been a lot worse is a really, really tough argument. it doesn't play well. he's in a box that way. a relative argument is not great for people who are unemployed. >> the strongest argument on the merits is one of the hardest political arguments to make. that's the conundrum. >> it surprises me you've written this book -- "the twilight of the elites." i'm going to actually be calling jon meacham and every wasp that i know -- >> meacham. >> and let him know our time is coming back -- >> the sun is setting. >> no. you're saying -- >> that we're going to go back to the d. >> it's going to be a bunch of

wasps from princeton. epes ka pel yans will rule the land again. explain this argument. i don't mean politically radical argument, but it's certainly a culturally socially, it's a pretty radical argument you make here. >> yeah. i think what we've seen over the last 30 or 40 years, in which we've adopted this model, which was a huge improvement on the, you know, the rule of the -- >> speak for the -- >> the wasps police. >> speak for yourself. >> it's a model in which we say look people from all backgrounds and creeds and races and genders and sexual orientations we're not going to bar them from participation in the american elite, let them compete and sort through and find the smartest and hardest working and put them in positions of tremendous power and authority and the product of that is barack obama. he's the crowning achievement of that system. only under that system could barack obama be president. at the same time we've had that model, rising inequality unlike anything in 100 years, this should worry republicans the most, we've seen declining

social mobility. in those 30 years, we talk about the inequality side, but we're actually seeing data that shows it is harder now than it was 20, 30, 40 years ago to start at the bottom and work your way to the top. >> underline that point and i say it here all the time, my dad started as a working class guy, always republican because he knew he could work his butt off, work around the clock, and there was a better life for his kids. and that's going away for a lot of people. >> how are those connected though? if it's more -- more of ameritocracy why less mobility? >> because it's become a club? >> these two are related. mary tockcracy breaks down. we're going to have this even playing field. what is the even playing field look like in college admissions and reality. the even playing field looks like people hiring test prep tutors for their kids and legacy admissions, getting a wing at a major university so your kid can get in. i've seen it at my high school,

you take a simple test to get in, all the kids from the five bureaus and a test prep industry has grown up around that. $90,000 cram schools to get into the test. you're at the level playing field we imagined the foundational part of this dream is being skewered. >> a guy from northwest florida that i've been working up here almost a decade now, it's stunning how this community is, that the media community, the political community, everybody really does know everybody, not to bring up a name that will make some liberals go crazy, but bernie goldberg in bias, he wrote about -- i didn't understand it when he wrote it, he said nobody's trying to be biased, it's just not that they live in the same city, they live in the same neighborhood, the kids all go to the same prep schools, they all eat at the same restaurants at night, and that's not just about media bias, this way or that way, it's also college admissions and it's also the people that run wall

street and the people that run the world. >> that is absolutely true. i mean what you see is that the network of people and this is across ideology, right, across partisan lines, the banker and hedge funds and folks in media, right, that -- >> big institutions like big unions and the big think tanks and universities. is it a revolt against big institutions and the cronyism between big institutions or is it specifically against elites within the institution. >> i'm glad you wrote that. i think the feeling people have, i think this is something that connects people on the left and right, is a sense of betrayal, a sense of frustration, a sense the game is rigged, and distrust over pill particular institutions. >> the game is rigged. >> they don't trust the government, private sector, they don't trust unions. my analysis of why that's the case, is the fact that we have produced this kind of elite through this americantockcracy. it's sliding into oligarchy. isn't delivering on the promise we want from it, this dream of ascension and social mobility.

>> how do we fix that? >> doesn't this sound like a tea party argument? i hate to associate you with that. it is this populist revolt. >> this is whether you call it the tea party or call it the united we stand people, what you're saying is the same thing that they're saying and it is the truth and it's not really ideological that the rules are rigged and the rich do get richer and the people who know other people do get ahead. how do we break that down? how do we make admissions to the top schools in america more fair? how do we make admissions to success on wall street -- >> reality that's been around for a long time. >> and elites rig the games for themselves in any era. >> yeah. >> in terms of the solution, my solution, right, coming from the left liberal tradition is i'm an owe galley tare yan. we need to make the society more equal. inequality, the rising inequality at the very top, right, is creating a lot of these skewed problems all the way down. there is a review by a writer in the atlantic in the book who said i like the book, analysis,

totally disagree with his prescriptions, here are my prescriptions coming from the center right. that's the conversation i want to have. i want people to have a conversation about whether the social model that we've all agreed on, don't even debate, this vision, whether it's actually delivering what we want and if it isn't delivering what we want i want to initiate a debate about how to make it liberal. >> who is the writer? >> coners fryers of the atlantic. >> i can't pronounce the last name. we need to get him on the show and have you discuss it. phil griffin has said for ten years, he said everybody talks about diversity, i love diversity. what kind of diversity i want in my newsroom, i want -- it's brilliant -- he goes i want people who graduated from community colleges. i want cops that have worked the streets at night, i want -- he goes through the lists of the type of people that don't get into news rooms, that don't get into wall street brokerages, that don't, you know, and it goes exactly to what you're talking about here.

this, while you may have prescriptions that are ideological, again, this is a very, very important book to read and let's continue the discussion. >> the book "twilight -- >> he was about to tell me i was an idiot. go ahead. >> no. i agree. what you mentioned, i use the term social distance in the book. the founders were worried about social distance, right. they were rebelling against a king literally an ocean away. what they wanted was a representative to be close to people and we feel a pro found social distance from the people at the top of social pyramids. >> charles murray another guy who agrees with what he's saying. >> liberal version of a murray book. >> we're having charles murray on to talk about this. >> that's a book that people are talking about continuously. >> yeah. >> chris, we'll see you this weekend on your show, saturdays and sundays. 8:00 eastern time right here on msnbc. >> andy, we don't thank you. >> no. >> enough, enough. >> thank you. >> we don't thank you enough. by the way, retire to charleston, retire to santa fe, retire to new york, retire to

ecuador. >> yes. >> what. >> that's what we're going. >> we're going to jfk. >> a preview of "meet the press" with david gregory, also gillian tett of the "financial times" and chuck todd. plus, this weekend marks 40 years since the watergate scandal erupted. ultimately leading to president nixon's resignation. we'll look back at one of the biggest players involved. >> he was framed. >> don't quote your parents. >> my dad said he was framed. >> former legendary editor of the "washington post" ben bradley. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. [ thunk ] sweet!

[ male announcer ] the solid thunk of the door on the jetta. thanks, mister! [ meow ] [ male announcer ] another example of volkswagen quality. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 jetta for $159 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us.

[ flo speaking japanese ] [ shouting in japanese ] we work wherever you work. now, that's progressive. call or click today. they didn't just haul jamie dimon in to tell him how nice and good he is and huge he is. they also brought him in there to talk about how terrible they, the senate, are.

>> we can hardly sit in judgment of your losing $2 billion. we lose twice that every day here in washington. >> does senator demint think that spending money is the same as losing money? you know, i had $10 million here yesterday but now all i see is this [ bleep ] highway. i don't understand. i don't understand. where's my money? we're going to have to dig this up and find my money. >> 27 past the hour. look at that beautiful shot of washington, d.c. on this friday morning. the sun over the white house. here with us on set, moderator of "meet the press," david gregory and the u.s. managing editor for the "financial times" gillian tett and from the white house, nbc news wheef white house correspondent and political director and host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd. could not be a more gorgeous day there. >> most dangerous place to be in

american politics, mika. >> yeah. >> on "meet the press." >> well, that is -- >> david keeps getting people in trouble. >> what's going on there? >> just trying to keep it going. >> looking for honesty in all the right places. >> really? >> i don't even know what that means. >> neither do i. thought it was a good response. >> dueling speeches yesterday -- >> i thought it was a big day. i mean i think from the president's point of view it was kind of a firewall speech. he had been on his heels the last couple weeks, particularly on the economy. mitt romney is running the campaign he wants to run and this was a big speech. i think you can scrutinize it in various ways, but we know what the campaign was about, yesterday on the campaign trail, that's what it's about. you got two visions for how you create jobs, how you get the economy to recover, and you know that was it. >> chuck todd, what's your sense of -- about ohio? they're both on the ground in ohio yesterday. poll last month showed barack

obama with a six-point lead or so. how close is this thing going to be? >> well, it's surprising, i'll tell you a year ago, the folks in obama's political shop always wanted to make sure they had other ways to get to 270 without ohio. they were very concerned that ohio was moving away from them. and yet, it's actually turning into one of their better opportunities. >> what's happening? >> it's better than florida. it's a couple things. one is at bailout, two is john kasich's unpopularity in the state. three, mitt romney just struggles to connect. look, this bus tour for him this weekend is important for him. he is struggling in places where president obama was struggling. where he could have been vulnerable in the industrial midwest, i'm talking about ohio, maybe a michigan, i don't believe it's really in play, but it's mitt romney uniquely sort of doesn't fit sort of persona wise, isn't connecting in those same blue collar areas, that maybe the president was struggling with, but romney is

not taking advantage of it. i think all of those things. then it becomes a policy argument and on that front, these blue collar folks, at the end of the day, they're going to pick the side that provides a little more of a safety net. >> yeah. >> in their mind. that's what's hurting romney. >> we know kasich, we know john ca kasich, good friend of mine, always loved the guy. he's got an unemployment rate that's lower in ohio than the rest of the country. >> sure. >> but that guy is not connecting with people in ohio and i'm hearing it more and more, causing a drag on president obama. why? >> you mean a drag on mritt romney. >> on mitt romney. >> i had one person who says the same thing you do, very -- likes him, very close to him and says you know what, he has a pickly side and now more folks in ohio have seen it. that he's got an edge to him and that edge, while it can be a lot

of fun in the back rooms in the back halls of congress, and it's fine for palling around, as a chief executive there in ohio, it's rubbed some folks the wrong way. he's picked the wrong fights is essentially what i've had people tell me and these are republicans and these are people supportive of kasich. >> mitt romney is running a campaign he wants to run, wants to make it a referendum argument, wants to make it straight up about whether the economy is better or not and obama has done the job or not. the problem is in and his campaign knows it, a lot of the voters he needs to get, the middle class, working class voters, see mitt romney as the boss and not as the alternative. he has to get over that hump. he's got to do more than just make this a straight referendum in a state like ohio. >> so, gillian tett, bring you into the conversation, looking at polls earlier who's to blame for the economy and there is a growing number of people who now don't blame bush as much. let's just put those numbers up if we can, alex.

it's a gallup poll. a great deal to a moderate amount blaming bush, 68% blame bush, a good number, but down from 80% in 2009. blaming president obama for the economy, 52%. and that is up 32% from 2009. so we're seeing this shift. that does seem natural to an extent because obama is in office and ultimately i think the line is effective, it's on the president. >> absolutely. i mean, and there's going to be more and more pressure on the candidates to come out with some kind of clear, positive vision for the future, given the terrible economic news we're now grappling with around the world, be that in china or the eurozone. but one of the really interesting things to think about at the moment is, to what degree will president obama actually be able to shift blame for what's going on away interest from america on to the rest of the world. he's walking a very fine line. on the one hand, he doesn't want to make everyone feel terrified

because animal spirits are needed right now to try to boost the economy, but at the same time, the more that he can basically point to the eurozone and say actually it's not our fault that the economy is not taking off, it's those guys in greece, the better. >> fill in that part of the equation if you could and david take over. because there is the part where the previous administration has some responsibility and i think that's an effective, maybe a bit convoluted argument, but an argument people will look at, as it pertains to the rest of the world, i think that's going to be harder for americans to understand and to bring into the equation, but what is that part of the equation? >> well, right now the biggest single -- never mind about the october surprise, the biggest single potential problem over the summer is we are looking at a eurozone that is absolutely on the brink right now and, of course, american companies and banks have been trying to protect themselves in recent months. if we see a very nasty meltdown, that is certainly going to impact not just the economy and

the banking system, but confidence and it's worth remembering for the last three years, we have started the year with a feeling that things were getting better, people have started to relax in america think yes, we're finally going for a recovery and time again we get to the summer and bang, we get to nasty news and everyone starts to feel depressed again. that's not going to be good for the. >> the talking to somebody on wall street yesterday that deals with the european securities and big u.s. institutional investors are saying no thanks we're going to sit this one out, not going take any risk right now, and on top of that, so you have this weak demand in the world in the eurozone and in america, businesses are feeling it, plus, what they worry about in the administration, as we get closer to this fiscal cliff at the end of the summer, closer to election day, there's even more of a pull down. all of that goes to the potential for more stagnation in the economy and jobless number politically it's very difficult for the president. >> and the issue isn't so much whether european -- whether investors are saying we don't want to buy european security right now, because they'll keep

buying treasuries and that's creating breathing space for the american government, the issue that the president really needs to worry about right now is, what if american companies say we're so scared, we're not going to invest, we're not going to create jobs, we're going to sit on our hands again. that psychological issue about freezing up is the real challenge for the president. >> before we go, david, who do you have on "meet the press" this sunday? >> david plouffe, john mccain will break down this week. >> oh, great. going to get them in trouble. that's great. so what time do we expect the hostage video from david plouffe? >> yeah. >> 3:00 sunday. >> come out -- >> can i make another pitch? i'm very proud, my dad's got a new show on broadway he's producing. >> really? >> harvey, with jim parsons. >> no. >> "big bang theory" wit you a great show. >> i love jim parsons. >> can we get your dad on with him to come on the show? >> i don't think he'd say no. >> we'll go see that. >> a lot of fun. >> booked. all right.

thank you very much, david and be chuck. >> what? >> chuck, what do you have going on? >> what's important that you have in your life? >> hey -- >> chuck has a little theater, little musical review in d.c., doesn't he? >> i do. i'll be -- it's a one-man show. it's every morning at 9:00. i'll pop that out. it's crazy stuff. >> all right. chuck, have a good weekend. still ahead, author of "friday night lights" will be on set and apparently cnbc's brian sullivan has been let in the building and i might leave. i'm not comfortable. i'm calling hr. >> we shall return. the medicare debate continues in washington... ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family?

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♪ coming up, watergate 40 years later, a new book looks at the lessons learned and uncovers new details about legendary "washington post" editor ben bradley. keep it right here on "morning joe."

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morning off the newsroom floor, put a dime which it cost in those days for a cup of coffee in the machine, and i felt this chill go down my back and i said to woodward, oh, my god, this president is going to be impaechds and he looked at me, and said, oh, my god you're right and we can never use that word in this newsroom because people will think we have an agenda and we have no agenda except report this story. >> it needs to be said we worked for an ad editor ben bradley and other ad editors at the post who didn't have an agenda themselves but their agenda was get the f'ing story, get into it. >> journalist carl bernstein and bob woodward recalling details of their investigation into the watergate scandal for "the washington post" and this weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the break-in to the watergate hotel that ultimately led to the resignation of president nixon. ben bradley was editor of "the

washington post" at the time, overseeing woodward and bernstein's reporting and he gave author jeff immelman unprecedented access to all of his personal files. almost four years later himleman finished his biography "yours in truth," a personal portrait of ben bradlee. he joined us and we asked him what inspired him to take on this project? >> ben is such a unique figure in journalism and then when i pitched him on said, you can have complete access, that was a unique opportunity to do a biography with a bern that was still alive but someone who gave you complete access. i could bring things in to him in his office and say do you remember this memo or that and respond that guy was a jerk or this guy was great and i could interrogate the record while i was uncovering the record myself. >> his life in washington goes back before "the washington post," including a very close relationship with john f. kennedy. how did they become friends and what did that mean to him down the road?

>> i talked to that some in the book. ben bought a house on n street in georgetown before jfk did. they were neighbors. out one day walking with their new babies, they ran into each other on the street. ended up in the back garden of kennedy's house having a drink. that night they had dinner at the same formal dinner, seated as dinner partners, and the friendship took off. the wives were close and that made the friendship at the start. but ben took a lot of heat and i talk about it in the book for being too close to kennedy at the time and i think he has said that they protected their friends at times and i think maybe he would take that back, but by and large it was a different era. the news magazines, he was working for "newsweek" at that time, burts ro chief of "newsweek," it was a different enterprise. they were all kind of dining out on their access to the president. so ben was no different, but he certainly used itp. >> what were some of the topics that surprised you that he gave you access to that you were able to research and put in the book? >> well, i mean, the things that have gotten the most attention in washington, i think, it's been a little bit of a tempest

in the tea party, but the watergate revelations in the book, those were the most surprising aspects. i think the main thing i found that surprised me was there was a memo in ben's files from carl bernstein from december of 1972 in which it was -- it became very clear after reading the first page that it was a transcript of a memo of an interview with a watergate grand juror and woodward and bernstein said for a long time that they tried to interview grand jurorers but never had actually succeeded and this memo was a transcript of a successful interview and that had never been disclosed before. na was in the book that's got an lot of attention. >> why would they say what would -- why would they deny talking to a grand juror if they, in fact, talked to a grand juror. >> they did so at the time to protect their source, i think. and had she been exposed in 1970 -- the judge in the watergate case, when he wrote his memoir in 1979, he said, if they had gotten information from

grand jurorers i would have thrown them in jail and she might have faced prosecution as well, likely would have, so they protected her. in the intervening years, as those sort of passed, they maintained they never penetrated the grand jury when they did and from all the president's men, she was a very important source for them. >> there's also, of course, and it's created a lot of controversy, ben bradlee's own concerns about the reporting. >> right. >> about whether they were making things up or not. >> yes. but to clarify, he wasn't saying that they made anything up that went into "the washington post" or anything else. it's not about the watergate reporting that went into the "post." what ben was saying this watergate story, so formative for the paper, has become this hollywood myth. first to all the president's men, the movie, what he was saying in 1990, facing the end of his career as the executive editor of the post, you can't hold me to the hollywood version of the events. what went into the newspaper went into the newspaper. i had responsibility for that.

the hollywood version of deep throat in the garage, i can't speak necessarily to that in the same way. deep throat was a source for them. >> he kuz skeptical. >> he's not saying it didn't happen. you can't hold me accountable for it. >> there's this back and forth where bradlee had concerns about some of the details of the story. >> right. >> and then you fast forward and then bradlee says later that he believes 100% everything about the hollywood version of this story, and then after that, he recants again when he's talking to you. >> recently, there's -- >> it's a bit of a back and forth. >> there are two things that happened. ben is a loyal person and ben is very, very supportive of the reporters. i talk about this throughout the book and talk about how some ways i experienced it when he told me to follow my nose. >> he told you not to protect him. >> not to protect him directly on numerous occasions. but he really backed his

reporters but he also was never going to choke off skepticism. he backed bob woodward but was never going to tell me not to dig. those are true of him at the same time and that's what you're seeing more than anything. >> what was his biggest regret, not biggest regret as editor of the newspaper? >> so watergate is the great moment in ben's career, the janet cook scandal was the moment. and so janet cook was a 26-year-old reporter who came to the paper. she was trying to make a name for herself and she fabricated herself about an 8-year-old heroin addict. in april of the following year, she won the -- and in the process of checking her bio, the associated press where she worked before discovered some

d discrepancies. that was really ben's low moment and i think what he did in response tells you a lot about ben. it became something he is proud of. in the wake of the scandal, he and don graham, the only publisher at the typer that time. and so the paper at the time spent four days, interviewed everybody, complete access. basically, no fact in that report had been successfully challenged. it is the definitive account. that actually saved the post and truly saved -- and what he will say to you is that he could learn a lesson of watergate and yes, the mistake was a mistake and he will always admit it was a mistake, but in the wake of it, it's the cover up. he threw his arms open and i think it saved him.

i go into that episode a great deal in the book because it tells you as much about ben. >> you said you were fascinated about him. why you wanted to write the book and because you could. what about your sense of who he was? figure in history, a man changed or surprised you or did you learn in the course of writing this book? >> what anybody who has met ben or been around ben, when he walks into a room, he has a real charis charisma, a real personal power. it continues to affect me. i think what was surprising to me, he flew open his whole archive, his whoep lle life to . i saw letters, things from 1952, 1976, i saw everything. i think the thing that surprised me the most was that how consistent it was.

this guy, for better or worse, is who he say he is. i'm thinking we'll find something about this guy, we'll find out he really wasn't who he said. he was ben bradley until after world war ii to the present day. >> book is yours in truth, a personal portrait of ben bradley. thank you so much. nice to meet you. much more "morning joe" in just a moment. with the spark cash card from capital one,

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good morning. it's 8:00 on the east coast, welcome to "morning joe" as you take a live look at new york city. back with us onset we have dan and mike barnacle and richard haas. >> mike who's all a flutter. bieber fever. >> you cannot go to the bieber concert. >> also, i don't know who's more excited this morning, whether it's mike barnacle about justin bieber or richard haas about the once and again future president of the state. of egypt. hosni mubarak. he may be on his back, but he is back. i stole that line from you before, but talk about the cr y

crazyness happening in egypt now which will have huge ramifications throughout the middle east, ar arab spring. >> egypt's somewhere between a quarter and third of the arab world. what has been egypt doesn't stay in egypt and what we had yesterday was a political coup. went out, dissolved parliament and tried to throw all its weight behind the former prime minister. >> looked like the muslim brotherhood was on the cusp of a huge victory. it was going to change egypt. this is an ongoing battle between secular elites and liberals, muslims and democracy. >> it's been going on for a long time. >> distant, distant, distant third. it's really a struggle between the political military elite and

the muslim brotherhood. my hunch is this won't last. every time the military ask, we then back down when there's popular protests. i think it's only a matter of time before people come out in the street. >> you think so? >> yes, sir. >> okay, to politics in america. >> we're going to get back to egypt. >> sort of jgibber and jabber i ohio. >> always. >> let's get to politics. >> mike barnacle's wearing my shirt. i don't know why. >> we didn't get the e-mail this morning. >> that's kind of scary. >> matching jackets. >> mine's a little more polyester. >> he's wearing walking shoes. >> i said, oh, you're wearing your nike running shoes. he said, no, they're walking shoes. >> oh, god. oh -- >> they're walking shoes. i don't want to see the liver spots. >> let me ask you really quickly

though, what's facebook at now? what are we looking at? >> 27, 28. >> 27, 28? okay. >> went up a couple. >> when it gets to 26 -- >> you buying? >> i told everybody when it was 38, this stock really should be settled around 26. when it gets there, big daddy's going to tell people to buy. >> scarborough bump. >> bump. >> the surge. >> more than one bump. >> there's a buying opportunity in this somewhere. >> they still need to lose a couple more billion doll hars, but when they do. what do you got new? >> i'm just waiting here. >> go ahead. >> we'll start with politics. today, mitt romney kicks off his battleground bus tour and president obama returns home to chicago after both candidates drew millions of dollars from fund-raisers last night. in new york city, the president took in about $4.5 million.

one fund-raiser at the home of sarah jessica parker and another featuring performances by alicia keys and maria carey. romney raised money in chicago, raking in more than $3 million at a hotel event for himself and fellow republicans, but the day began with both candidates in the battleground state of ohio delivering duelling speeches on the economy. >> people want to know how his economic policies have worked and how they performed, well, they can talk to their neighbor and ask whether things are better. talk to people you know what run a retail store and say did president obama's policies help put people back to work? or did they make it less likely for you to hire people and i hear day in and day out, they feel this mrks sees them as their enemy. >> governor romney and the republicans who run congress believe if you take away regulations and cut taxes by

trillions of dollars, the market will solve our problems on its own. if you agree with that, you should vote for them and i promise you, they will take us in that direction. i believe we need a plan for better education and training and for energy independence and new research and innovation, for rebuilding our infrastructure and if you agree with me, if you believe this economy grows best when everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules, then i ask you to stand with me for a second term as president. >> meanwhile, the president's argument that he inherited economic problems from president bush could be losing steam with voters. a new gallup poll think president bush deserves a moderate about of blame for the state of the economy today, although that number is down 12%

from 2009. 52% blame president obama for the shape of the economy and that is up 20% from three years ago. >> yeah, i think those numbers are irrelevant. when people walk into the voting booth, they're voting to rehire or fire the guy. you know romney's people, i don't know if it was romney's people, if it it was -- campaign manager, i don't know if if romney came up with it or not, but you hear all these this nonsense in the campaign, romney had a great line there. he said if you want to know whether the economy's doing better or not, ask your neighbor. if you want to know if the economy's doing better, ask the guy that owns the small business down the street. it's a variation of ronald

reagan. politically, he should stick with that theme. is economy better now than it was -- have barack obama's policies worked? ask your neighbor. >> this is uniquely a hire or fire collection. there are few issues other than that. it's going to come down to the more people you talk to, to not are you better off than you were four years ago. the question is going to be are you going to be okay two years from now or one year from now. it's who has a plan and who can best answer the question where are we going. where are you going to take us? thus far, i think a lot of people think neither candidate, the president nor governor romney, has really articulated that kind of a plan. where are we going? >> wouldn't be saying this if the republican were president and i did say four years ago the decision was on whether you kept

bush's party in power or not. you talk to independent voters that voted for barack obama four years ago, they're not sitting there going hey, gee, that's who i think what's going to happen two years from now. you go into these focus groups and what do they say? the an ek doe tall and real evidence when you talk to people who do focus groups, peter hart is very good at this. he just did an extensive focus group out in denver, colorado and the level of disappointment is palpable and it's going to be very difficult according to the focus group information that peter hart has extracted, for the president to win back those independents. they like the president. no one dislikes him. they like him. but the level of disappointment among independents is palpable. >> so, i guess the question is

whether mitt romney can stay out of his own way. >> i think as mike is saying, if the challenge is to talk about a future plan, i thinks in case of president obama, he has got to have an explanation over what has happened over the last three and a half years. for voters to put their guard down, they have to at least believe he's acknowledging there's been human misery that has been flowing from this economy over the last three and a half years and he hasn't been prepared to do it. if you say it's a higher rate election, it's like getting a job performance review and you're supervisor is saying you've had a really rough spot over the last three and a half years. the record's bad, jobs not going well and you say i just want to talk about the future. the employer's saying, you've got to explain what on earth happened under your watch for the past three and a half years. >> the ask your neighbor thing you just referenced. in terms of the president's

re-election campaign and the president himself spent an inorder nant amount of time saying i inherited the worst economy since the depression. it's as if you buy a house and you get in the house and you find out therest a couple of things wrong with it and you call a plumber because you want everything fixed. the plumber comes in and says let me tell you what's wrong with your boiler and what the other guy did or didn't do. no, you're not interested in that. fix it. fix it. >> and the president does have a record of fixing and saving certain things, we can have that argument or not, but -- >> he has. >> one more question for you about messaging. would it be fair and truthful messaging or just effective gamesmanship to get people to believe this economy rests solely on this sitting

president? >> i maybe -- what -- i don't understand. >> when you look at these poll numbers changes, is that effective messaging that people believe it's all on obama and much less on the previous administration and would that be true? >> i think those numbers are changing all the time. my personal belief is there are presidents who could have done an awful lot more over the last three years and done a much better job of reviving the economy by just not scaring the hell out of business people who are trying to figure out whether to invest or not. i'm not talking about wall street business owners. i'm talking about rob at bagel heads in pensacola who every time i go in, look, joe, i get 12 people back here. do i hire four more? or if i hire four more, what regulations am i strap ped with? and then every time -- then the next time rob says, i hear they're going to be taxing me on

this. i hear item going to be getting this regulation. this, my friends, is rob mackey at bagel heads in florida. this is not jamie dimon. this is multiplied. this is critically important. you always don't need a 14 point plan to save the economy. sometimes, you need to have leadership that understands that within reason, it is just, you do the least amount of harm when you get out of the way. when you stop promising 1,000 new regulations, when you stop promising the raise taxes on small business owners and many others. >> and so when you have to look at the economy, voter rs are really going to have to look at specifics here because where would detroit be if romney had been in office? >> if you're a voter in michigan -- >> just wonder ring where detroit would be. >> can i answer the question?

>> yeah. >> okay, if you're a voter in michigan, you're probably going to vote for barack obama. you know why? because your brother works at the parts economy. if you're in indiana, in illinois, probably the same thing. i mean, barack obama's going to do very well in the industrial midwest, but those are three or four states. >> that's not my question. >> the answer is not the same for every state. >> i -- the question is where would detroit be, not where is it now because of obama, we know he saved it. >> i just answered the question, mika. he's going to win the detroit vote, but that's not going to help him with small businesses in new mexico, in nevada. that's not going to help him across the rest of america, but yes, on that issue, that's a

goodie. mark that one as obama. >> can i submit an additional element to your initial question? and it is this. anybody who woke up this morning and is grieving knows that president obama you know, inherited a mess. everyone knows that. but they also know that the presidency is not an appointive position. you run for it. because you want it. the reason you want it is to do something for the country. it's his job now. it's his job and it's his -- you hire people to fix things. coming up on this friday before father's day, the author of friday night lights is here. he has a touching new memoir out on his touching experience as a father. also, brian sullivan onset. >> going to be here. >> why did -- >> plus, willie's week in review. >> first, here's bill karins.

he's got a check of the weekend forecast. what's it look like? >> it's looking great, joe. so many of us are going to enjoy a beautiful father's day weekend. the only travel concern really anywhere was in the dallas ft. worth area. some thunderstorms rolled on through, but it's puching off towards the east. dallas will dry out. the airport should be just fine today. the hot temperatures are starting to spread. chicago up to 91 today. seeing 80s on the eastern sea board. low humidity. really nice out there. as we go into your saturday, thunderstorms in the northern plains, few of those on the strong side and as we head towards father's day, that storm system's going to track into the great lakes. up towards cleveland and detroit, could be dodging an afternoon shower. down in the gulf, maybe some isolated storls. for most of the country, this looks like a fabulous father's day and happy father's day to

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and pam, she just gets to punt. >> maybe it's not about pam. as much it is about your son. who happens to need you.

nobody said being a dad's going to be easy. we're both fathers. we both know that. maybe you should look at it as an opportunity. i'm just saying. >> that was a scene from the hit tv show based on buzz bissinger's book by the same name. on this friday before father's day, buzz joins us for his new book. father's day, the a journey into the mind and heart of my extraordinary son. also on board for this, we have brian sullivan at the table. alex? >> yes. >> why is he here? >> are you kidding? i'm a back up singer to bieber. i just got off set.

that's exactly right. plus, i wanted to bring a little irish aggressiveness to the set. >> oh, really. >> you're on edge, maybe medicated, what do you think? >> no medication, many people wishing that i was, but if you've been covering the stock market for the better part of 14 years and having to talk about greek elections and bailouts and too big to fail, you might get a little on edge as well. >> that's fair enough. let's move on. i'll see you you do with buzz. barnicle. >> let me tell you about father's day. it is a poignant, painful,

extraordinarily well written odyssey of a father and a son, who was cheated, genetically at birth and it's a car trip that buzz chooses to take with his son with some trepidation among family members. >> including my son. >> but it is for every parent out there who has a son or a daughter who has issues, either major, in buzz's son's case, or minor. it is an incredible journey. >> so give us the back story about your son's condition. i want to know what your son's journey us. >> i should point out, i'm a writer, so i'm heavily medicated as well. i had twin sons who were born in 1983. gjere ary was the first one out by three minutes. he weighed one pound and 14 ounces. zack weighed one pound and 11

ounces and tragically had traits of brain damage. at that point in time, twins, that side, that small, did not live. it was a miracle they lived, but zack did you know, it was a testament to his sheer will to survival, but it was not the kid i ever imagined. the book was very honest and i say this. he's not the kid that i wanted, at least at the time. we knew from the beginning he was going to have very serious problems. >> coming to terms with what you just said there, how did you do that? >> you know, took a long time. i always loved zack and i also had his best interests at heart, but you love kids like zack. he's disabled. he's verbal, he works, but there are moments you feel frustration, rage, pain, you feel cheated. you feel that he's being cheated because you feel stuck and it was exacerbated by having a twin

son who had no side effect. he's on the trajectory up and there is zack in a sense almost flat lined, although he is making a lot of progress. every day, i'm reminded, i thought i was going to have mirrors of twins. i had one who was unblechished and the ever tragically. >> so, this book was a road trip. tell us where you went and what were the challenges and experiences you confronted that made this incredible story? >> well, i had zack for two weeks and i wanted to do something special like i've done with my other kids, so i wanted to take a road trip across the country. the only problem at the beginning was that zack articulated that he wanted to fly. he had no interest being in a car, but i envoeked father prerogative because of the way his brain works, he's a savant. we went back to places he had lived because he lives in the concrete. we ended up taking the worst

cross-country route in history. we went from milwaukee, chicago, then to odessa, texas. the trip was bumpy at first. i was stressed out. we weren't talking that much. there were moments of frustration because of the way he thinks. i've never had a real conversation with him, but the deeper we got in, the more beautiful. >> it seems the turning point was a theme park ride. >> it was. we went to six flags outside of st. louis. he loves roller coasters, the rush, the feel. the problem is, i got to go on them. i don't know why i did this. there was something called dragon's wing. you're hoisted through a crane 153 feet high and then bungee jump. i said do you want to do it and he said, yeah. i tried to talk him out of it.

we did it. i was scared to death, but we were clushing each other arm to arm and it got tighter and tighter and tighter. it was the most beautiful, physical moment i've ever had with my son because when he was a baby, i could never hold him. he was in the hospital for seven and a half months. there was also a tube coming out. always something come out of his body and so this was my moment of clutching my baby and it was physically and spiritually beautiful. >> and that is a thread woven throughout that. if you think of the family as a platoon or squad with the emphasis on nobody's going to be left behind and if you're the parent of zack or any child, your ultimate fear is when i'm gone, what happens to zack. and that is the umbrella of a child -- >> i think you said, buzz, his economic reality is going to be limited to paper or plastic. >> i hated to say that, but it's

true. >> that's tough. >> it's basically the range of 70. mental comprehension is about 10. the trip was taken when he was in his 20s and he's going to bag groceries for the rest of his life. >> but he's happy. >> he is happy, but he's missing out on a lot in life. i don't think he's going to marry. i don't think he's going to live alone. he's not going to have kids and that's the stuff of life, even if it doesn't work out. that's part of living. now, i have to say he's happy. he showed me things on this trip that i never, ever knew. he continues to make great progress and he's a stunning, stunning kid. >> are you happy? >> me? >> oh, god, no. >> you see this guy on twitter? >> well, sort of. my son is happy. he knows no sense of

competition. he has no shoddenfreud. he's happy for others. i'm the complete opposite. you guys are all too successful. i'm not liking this. he's buoyant, but he is self-aware of his condition and one of the things he did on the trip, he is self-aware of who he is and he's got a real self-worth and identity. he's got tremendous empathy. i was blowing up all during the trip. get frustrated easily. get lost. he never lost his calm and he had the intuition to feel this is my dad and i want to calm my dad down. i want to help him, saying everything will be r all right, dad, or just rubbing me on the back. >> the book is "father's day" i have a feeling this is going to be one of the most incredible books you'll ever read. thanks for being on the show and sharing. >> happy father's day, guys. >> coming up, why brian sullivan says the greek vote this sunday may be the most important election around the world and what's wrong with him?

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beautiful shot of new york city on this friday morning and thank god it's friday.

the the only problem is that no one told me that brian sullivan was going to be here, but it is time with business before the bell with cnbc's brian sullivan and i think it's okay you're here. >> i wasn't even invited, but my nbc badge just got me in the building. good to see you in person by the way, too. >> are you okay with me? i can be a little edgey, kind of blunt. >> i dig that. i dig that. >> oh, god. >> that's the way to go. bring it on. >> i am reading brian right now. >> his column? he says it will bore you to tears. >> it's friday, good morning, everybody. wrote a piece on cnbc.com. we've got an election here apparently in november, something like that. sunday is a huge day in greece. it's a tiny little country with an economy about the size of delaware, however, this election could determine the fate of europe. the fate of the euro zone and some say the fate of the banks. basically, there's this.

you've got sort of the republican type parties. they're on one side. you've got the far left on the other. the far left has been on the ascendensy and if they do not get a ruling coalition that can negotiation with germany, france, other members, there's a good chance that greece will run out of money by the end of this month. it's not that complicated. greece is running out of cash and could be broke within a couple of weeks. >> we as americans who care about the future of this nation and the fis tall path in time, what are we rooting for in greece? it takes 151 seats to form a coalition, if you win, you get 50 bonus seats? >> the best -- okay, i'm just a dumb market guy. i'm going to come at it from a market's perspective. you want to have the new democracy party, you want them to have 151 or more seats.

bottom line. new democracy. 151. so tonight at your cocktail party, who are you rooting for, new democracy. some reasons on the rise. they're the far left. they want to basically tell germany where to go. >> what happens if they drop the euro? >> see how nice i said it? >> that's the big question. if they drop the euro, there's going to be immense pain in the short-term. some say it's better longer term. they need to go back on the drama. toil, olive oil, the stuff greece sells to the world. that causes inflation. they want to stay in the euro zone, but they don't want germany telling them what to do. that's the bottom line. it's like you have kids. your kids want stuff. but they don't want to do stuff to get the stuff.

greece needs to do stuff to get it. >> that's the way americans have been living for maybe the past 30 years. >> we can argue that. >> i think they are. >> i try to say those with noncrazy eyes. >> luke russert. >> continuing the conversation. >> is it really that interesting? >> in all honesty, do you believe will have, a lot of folks think of the fate of the u.s. election is directly tied here. that's one of the things -- >> yes because as an avid "morning joe" watcher, here's the bottom line. if we don't get a ruling coalition or if it's the far left with the golden dawn, the guy that punched that woman or whatever, that could happen. that's bad for europe, which means europe could spin into a recession, so that could hurt us. yes, you're right it's going to

impact the election, especially president obama's re-election campaign, right? >> fascinated stuff. he needs things to get better. >> he needs new democracy to win. >> all right. i know. he's -- >> one of the biggest hands. >> when we come back, what's happening at minor league baseball parks across the country this sunday that could be crucial for the health of all men. brian, i'm going to test your versatility. will you plaz stay for this next segment? you're invited. dr. emily and ed randall join us next on "morning joe." not in this economy.

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welcome back to "morning joe." this sunday, the organization fans for the cure is turning minor league baseball parks across the country into ground zero for the fight against prostate cancer and joining us to explain is the founder, ed randall, and medical correspondent for pbs's need to know. good to have you both. and let's start with you. fans for the cure. where can people go? what can they find this weekend? >> we'll be doing the prostate cancer awareness events. we'll have tables in prominent locals on the stadium on courses in 15 minor league ballparks from coast to coast handing out what we believe to be life saving material to tell men they are loved, needed and that there is a 96 to 97% cure rate of prostate cancer if detected early. >> this is the fifth year?

>> we started in 2003. >> this is incredible and so needed, emily, because men are difficult. >> men are difficult, it's true. prostate cancer screening is very controversial, but i think events like this could be very helpful to get men to think about their health in general. something they just don't do. in fact, do you know what week this is, brian? >> national prostate cancer awareness week? >> it's not your anniversary either. >> flag day -- >> it's men's health week. >> every week should be men's health week. >> what month is breast cancer awareness? >> february. >> the point is that we know that it's october. but men don't take care of themselves in general. they don't organize around issues, that's why what ed's doing is important. there's a lot of controversy in

prostate cancer screening and a will the of uncertainty. >> some questions as well. what's the guidance there? >> i think the controversy has been brewing for a while now. ed and i were talking about this earlier, a task force that looks at population based data said the benefit of the test, in other words, the number of lives that get saved from this test is very, very small and the risk of getting the test is actually great in terms of side effects from treatment or even just from biopsies. men who have prostate cancer often credit the test for saving their lives and people who treat it really feel the test has benefits. >> brian, when's the last time you were at the doctor? >> you know, i'm trying to think when the last time i went to the regular doctor was. eight, nine years ago.

>> who was president? yeah. talk to brian for me. >> i feel good. >> you have an 8-year-old daughter. >> i do. >> love her desperately. she wants you. she needs you. you have a responsibility. >> i turn 40, my best friend died of brain cancer three years ago on sunday. 37 years old. no health insurance, no life insurance. he's the closest thing i had to a brother. i hear you. i turned 40 last year. i will go. >> there's no logic for why you wouldn't want to go. none. >> my work schedule. >> again, i repeat, there is no logical reason for not wanting to know that euro kay. >> so ed, when you talk to guys, how do you get them because he knows -- he does know. now i'm serious. glad to have you on. you're a perfect example. you know exactly what the potentials are out there.

and yet guys just don't get to the doctor. >> guys are the superior speeches. i say this all the time. because you go to the doctors like you like it or something. but you go. >> right. >> what is the logic for not wanting to find out what the condition of your health is on the day in which i was diagnosed with prostate cancer and i had a lot of it, i felt like i feel talking to you right now. i was fine. prostate cancer is asymptommatic. it has no symptoms. >> fear of finding out is the reason. >> it's more than just feeling fine and going to the doctor for a check-up. men will ignore symptoms. it really goes a step further. men will ignore chest pain for example. they're wait until it goes away rather than seeking care. there's good reasons to go to the doctor, when you don't feel

fine, they don't go to the doctor. women have to push them. >> we do. but there's only so far until we smap on them, so i expect you to go next week. >> i will tell you all about my prostate test. >> i'll take you to my dock r tor. making the offer right now. we'll go together. i'll wait if your waiting room. >> brian, you want my respect? >> go to the doctor. >> all right. i'll get a check-up. i'll go, i'll go. >> thank you. happy father's day and thank you for everything that you're doing. we appreciate it. >> i don't take any credit, but thank you. it's always a joy to be with you. >> willie's week in review is next. now you can apply sunblock to your kids' wet skin. neutrogena® wet skin kids. ordinary sunblock drips and whitens.

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here, right. zpl look at that. look at the way she's looking at me. >> did you ever have any, you know what i'm saying? any -- you and betty ever get it on? >> i think you're very, very jealous. it could have been dave, the

hair stylist. he's supposed to be gay. no one knows if he's gay or not gay. >> people say the same about you. >> can you come a little closer so i can see you. >> i have -- >> and this chair. >> it's like i'm interviewing the winner of the belmont stakes. >> i love regis. letterman's kind of cute, too. so this is a morning show. i'm going to do what's called a toss like they do in a morning show and they're done with something. and now, here's luke. >> touchdown. thank you, mika. it's friday, a time for willie's

week in review. i don't know much about the bieber. >> at number three, bush and the bieber. ♪ he typically celebrates his birthday by jumping out of an airplane. for his 88th this week, he stayed on the ground to star in a new hbo documentary about his life. >> very proud father. it was enormous. and source of great pride. >> and to chat with granddaughter, jenna, about his deep sartorial connection to another guy who makes the ladies scream. >> they've been comparing your socks to that of justin bieber. >> is he a sock man? >> he is just like you. >> i don't know much about the bieber. never see him. don't know what he does. >> number two, american

exceptionali srk exceptionalism. >> burger king is introducing the bacon sunday. >> burger king this week achieved the fast food equivalent of putting a man on the moon when it added to its menu, a hot fudge sundae with bacon. >> one small step for man -- >> what better way to cool off this summer than with vanilla soft serve. fudge, caramel and hot pork. the arrival of the bk bacon sundae comes just two weeks after taco bell's engineers came out of the lab with a concept of their own. to stuff a plate of na chos into a single burrito. and the number one story of the week. >> it's like somebody goes to a restaurant, orders a big steak dinner, martini, all that stuff and just as you're sitting town,

they leave. >> the president accused are republicans of dining and darking on the country. >> and accuse you of running up the tab. >> mitt romney was slightly less metaphor cal. >> the the most antiinvestment, antijobs series of policies in modern american history. >> on thursday, romney and the president has a had a little this state ain't big enough for the two of us. >> he's going to say give me four more years. >> the economic vision of mr. romney and his allies in congress was tested just a few years ago. why would we think they would work better this time? >> joe biden was back in washington holding down the fort, fighting off young children with a full the full mite of the united states arsenal of super soakers. a good hose down may be a only way for the distinguished president to cool off. >> i don't know much about the the bieber.

never see him, don't know what he does. >> i wonder if we can bring up a live shot of where bieber is right now. >> piercing scream of all those teenage girls. zbr it's too much. up next, what have we learned today. for three hours a week, i'm a coach.

but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is

to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure.

men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. time now to talk about what we learned today. what did we learn today, brian? i'm scared to ask. >> i learned a couple o