merchants, to the largest, most dynamic economy in the world. from a ragtag army of militias and regulars, to you, the finest military that the world has ever known. from a population of some 3 million free and slave, to more than 300 million americans of every color and every creed. with this ceremony today, and ceremonies like it across our country, we affirm another truth. our american journey, our success, would simply not be possible without the generations of imgrants who have come to our shores from every corner of the global. we say it so often, we sometimes forget what it means. we are a nation of immigrants. unless you are one of the first

americans, a native-american, we are all descended from folks who came from some place else. whether they arrived on the mayflower or a slave ship, whether they came to ellis island or roos tacross the rio . immigrants helped lay the railroads and build our cities, calloused hand by calloused hand. immigrants took up arms to preserve our union. to defeat fascism, and to win a cold war. immigrants and their descendants helps pioneer new industries and fuel our information age from google to the iphone. so the story of immigrants in america isn't a story of them, it's a story of us. it's who we are. and now all of you get to write

the next chapter. each of you have traveled your own path to this moment, from cameroon in the philippines, russia and palau and places in between. some of you came here as children, brought by parents who dreamed of giving you the opportunities that they had never had. others of you came as adults. finding your way through a new country, and a new kalt touculta new long. language. all of you did something profound. up chose to serve. you put on the uniform of a country that was not fully your own in a time of war. some of you deployed in harm's way. you displayed the values that we celebrate every fourth of july. duty. responsibility. patriotism.

we salute a husband and father originally from mexico now a united states marine, joined today by his wife silvia and daughter juliet. becoming a citizen, he says, is another step in the right direction for my family. so today we congratulate francisco barristeros, where is francisco? [ applause ] >> we salute a young woman from el salvador who came here when she was just 6, grew up in america. who said she always had a desire to serve and who dreams of becoming an army medic. so we congratulate louisa childers. [ applause ] we salute a young man from nigeria who came here as a

child. i left nigeria, he says, with the dream that we all have, a destiny in life, and we are all born with the resources to make a difference. we are confident he will make a difference. we congratulate aliottoson aquadora. [ applause ] >> we salute a young man from bolivia who came to america, enlisted in the military and volunteered to help care for our veterans. he's become a citizen to be a part of the freedom that everybody is looking for. we congratulate javier beltran. [ applause ] >> it's taken these men and women, these americans, years even decades to realize their dream. and this, too, reminds us of a

lesson of the fourth. our founders declared their independence, but they only declared it with the constitution and a bill of rights. nearly 90 years, and a great civil war to abolish slavery. nearly 150 years for women to win the right to vote. nearly 190 years to enshrine voting rights. and even now, we're still perfecting our union. still extending the promise of america. that includes making sure the american dream endures for saul those, like these men and women, who are willing to work hard, play by the rules and meet their responsibilities. for just as we remain a nation of laws, we have to remain a nation of immigrants. that's why, as another step forward, we're lifting the shadow of deportation from

serving -- from deserving young people who were brought to this country as children. that's why we still need a dream act, to keep talented young people who want to contribute to our society and serve our country. it's why we need -- why america's success demands comprehensive immigration reform. because the lesson of these 236 years is clear. immigration makes america stronger. immigration makes us more proce prosperous. and immigration positions us to lead in the 21st century. and these young men and women are testaments to that. no organization in the world welcomes so many new arrivals. no other nation constantly renews itself, refreshes itself with the hopes, the drive, the optimism, the dynamism of each of the new immigrants. you're one of the reasons that

america is exceptional. you're one of the reasons why, even after two centuries, america is always young. always looking to the future. always confident that our greatest days are still to come. so to all of you, i want to wish you the happiest fourth of july. god bless you all. god bless our men and women in uniform and your families. and god bless the united states of america. [ applause ] >> president obama just finishing remarks at a naturalization ceremony of 25 servicemembers, kristen welker at the white house watching this along with us. kristen, he's done this in years past. in fact, he's speaking -- >> america's newest citizens

born in guatemala, he enlisted in the marine corps, i know he's especially proud because in a few days his father walter who is also enlisted will welcome a natural citizen as well. where's walter. there he is over there. good to see you, walter. please welcome lance corporal byron acevedo to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. >> i'm nervous. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [ applause ] >> thank you, everybody.

have a great fourth of july! congratulations to our newest citizens! yea! >> kristen welker still with us. kristen, if you've been to any one of these ceremonies before, share so emotional. they are an absolute event to be at and to experience. it is an american moment. and as you watch that there, close to the white house, close to that room right now, as i was saying earlier, this is something that the president has done on previous july 4ths. >> absolutely, certainly a patriotic way to start the fourth, richard. this is the third naturalization ceremony at the white house. what's interesting about this event, it highlights the built-in benefits of being president in an election year. you get to have some of these moments that are filled with so many symbolism, patriotism, and that really speaks to key voters at the same time. as we mentioned, this ceremony

coming just a few weeks after the president announced that his administration would block the deportation of some immigrants who were brought here illegally as children. that is something that played very well with the number of latino voters. and this ceremony also gave him the chance to sort of answer some of this critics who said he hasn't done enough about immigration reform. you heard him say, immigration reform makes america stronger. so that was one of the key messages he was getting out today. so this event certainly filled with ceremony, but certainly strong political undertones as well. as you know, hispanic voters will be key in bags ground states like in nevada, like arizona, like colorado. those are voters watching ceremonies like this and responding to it. again, one of the built-in benefits of being president when running for re-election. of course, mitt romney also taking advantage of the symbolism of this day. he right now, at a parade in new

hampshire, another battleground state that will be hard-fought in 2012. richard. >> kristen, we will get to new hampshire where mitt romney is at. where we watched president obama shake the hand of 25 newest citizens, also 25 voters that could participate come november. president obama on this july 4th. an american moment, this as we see him leave the room and very emotional. especially for byron acevedo who had to give the pledge of allegiance. he did quite well. we got a panel, susan del percio, and orel reyes, and karen finney. ♪ technology that connects us to everything the world has to offer and vice versa. ♪ technology that makes lightweight stronger, safer,

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with this ceremony today and ceremonies like it across our country, we affirm another truth. our american journey, our success, would simply not be possible without the generations of immigrants who have come to

our shores from every corner of the globe. we say it so often, we sometimes forget what it means. we are a nation of immigrants. >> all right. that was president obama moments ago, at today's naturalization ceremony of u.s. servicemembers. it comes one week after the supreme court's ruling on arizona's immigration law. and those remarks come weeks after his fiery words on immigration legislation at a latino political convention as well in florida. i want to go straight there. this is what he said earlier. >> we should have passed the dream act a long time ago. it was written by members of both parties, when it came up for a vote a year and a half ago, republicans in congress blocked it. >> let's get back to a moment we just saw moments ago. our panel is watching, karen finney, msnbc analyst for the chill, raul reyes all watching

that moment there and karen finney. this was an american moment. this was a moment when you have 25 u.s. servicemembers who have served the country, representing 17 countries, on their day, when they became u.s. citizens. this say moment -- >> and had the president of the united states right there saying we welcome you and thank you. and that is really an american moment. and you know, you don't want to see it become political. you just want to enjoy that moment for those people who have fought so hard for our country. frankly, they think they're getting a gift, but we should be thank youing them. >> and raul reyes, you have been at several of these ceremonies, i've been at one as well. when you look at some of the pictures, we have to go back to tape there, it's really hard to get the sense of the emotion. >> that's right. it doesn't do it justice watching it. i've done it in new york just

from the courtroom. but to be taking that oath in the white house with the president, it's almost unbelievable because those ceremonies are so joyous. you look around, and people bring their families, and there's so much emotion. and then there's so much pride. and when i was there, i myself was surprised at how emotional i became because it reminded me, yeah, look at people want to become americans. they want to be part of our great country. it's very moving. very profound to actually be in one of those -- you know, be an observer in one of those. >> karen, as we look at some of the video from moments ago, although we can only see the backs of the heads in this picture of servicemembers, those who have put their lives on the line, many of them. these sort of events that the president has done, he's done in previous years as well as kristen welker was telling us? >> yeah, absolutely. it's a wonderful way to welcome them into the country and to celebrate what america is about. the president did a wonderful

job trying to remind us of what this day is about with our origins and ongoing struggle to be a more perfect union. and the people who wanted to come and willing to work hard to be part of this country. what an honor for us to get to see that. and what an incredible experience, as susan was saying, for them, to be able to say, yeah, i became a citizen on july 4th in the white house. had i worked, i have to tell you, every day it was a sense of honor and magic. i can't imagine having such a momentous moment in one's life happening with the president. >> there are many messages that came from out from the president with the ceremony. susan, i want to play a bit of sound from comments made by the president. >> even now, we're still perfecting our union. still extending the promise of america. that includes making sure the american dream endures for all those, like these men and women, who are willing to work hard, play by the rules, and meet

their responsibilities. for just as we remain a nation of laws, we have to remain a nation of immigrants. that's why as another step forward, we're lifting the shadow of deportation from serving -- from deserving young people who were brought to this country as children. that's why we still need a dream act, to keep talented young people who want to contribute to our society and serve our country. it's why we need -- why america's success demands comprehensive immigration reform. >> so, susan, the president there make something notes. hit something of the moments he's had recently, giving a nod to the work authorization that he had approved early on as well. >> it's almost the same, frankly, he gave a great speech, he didn't need those couple of lines that really added the political tone to it. he is already had the power of being there as an incumbent. it works in politics, too, besides being a great thing. to go that way, it's a little

bit of a shame that he decided to do it that way. >> go ahead, karen. >> i don't know that he was necessarily being political. i think the conversation about immigration and reform has been so politicized i think this was an important moment where people are hopefully watching and feeling pride for the country just to give people a different glimpse, to put aside the issue of politics and say, let's not demonize immigrants coming into this country, let's be proud of people come sboolgt country. let's be proud of what the country is about. i look at it being less political as trying to give people a different viewpoint into the dynamics of this issue. >> raul, any way you slice it, it does underline the issue of whoever is going to come elected come november, as well as the importance of the latino vote? >> yes, his new deportation

policy has definitely generated excitement among latino voters, around certainly the people directly affected by this vote. i have to agree with you, i feel that the symbolism of this ceremony was so powerful on its own, even though i certainly support comprehensive immigration reform, i almost wish he had left that out of it because i feel the event speaks for itself. these are people, they have already served in the military. one thing that i think a lot of people don't realize is that the department of defense acknowledges that 3% of our active military are noncitizens. at any given time, we have roughly 37,000 people in uniform serving who are either undocumented, legal residents or on the path of naturalization. that's important because it shows that the military say microcosm of the rest of the country. >> in 2009, there were some 115,000 who served in the military, if you look at the list. it is not only south america,

mexico looking at nigeria, russia, bolivia, el salvador. cameroon. the philippines, all of these on the list. it underlines the point of view that all three of you are making. susan, raul, karen finney, thank you all three. >> thanks. be sure to check out the new website, nbc latino.com that was just introduced where we have more on the coverage of immigration. coming up, governor mitt romney is spending his day in new hampshire at a parade. much of who he is spending the holiday with. and for much of the country, the holiday is all about the heat. the latest on the power outages across east. and how much longer the sweltering temperatures will last. it was like a red rash. like somebody had set a bag of hot charcoal on my neck. i had no idea it came from chickenpox.

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now, while the president is welcoming this country's latest citizens, mitt romney is with his family at heir lake house in new hampshire. they are marching in the annual fourth of july parade in wolf borough, new hampshire. and even brought with them a possible v.p. pick and her family. and mitt romney also releasing this note on this july 4th. he said, quote, today we celebrate 236 years of the world's greatest design for liberty and self-government. as we gather to enjoy food and fireworks, let us also take a moment to pay tribute to the patriots who signed the declaration of independence, and the brave men and women who have fought to protect our freedoms

through every generation that has followed. romney going on to say, with so many around the world still consigned to tierney, the fourth of july is a time to appreciate the liberty and be thankful we are americans. enquote. there in new hampshire, garrett haake, our nbc imbed is following it. garrett, i know it's loud there. you're watching the parade. have you seen mitt romney yet? >> hey, richard. yes, we absolutery have. we are right in the middle of downtown right now. and romney along with all five of his sons, with his wife and with new hampshire senator kelly ayotte making their way down main street as we speak. >> and how big are the crowds at the moment? mitt romney, of course, with his family there for vacation. >> you know, it's a pretty -- a pretty good size parade we've got going here. as we get closer to downtown, as i said, four or five people deep

for the main route of this. it was thinner to start. there's a big obama/biden group ahead of us but the romney entourage here, about 70 volunteers with signs and the trolley car carrying some of the younger grandkids and all the family and kids are out here taking part in the parade. >> now, we just finished reading a statement from mitt romney on this july 4th. as he tries to celebrate with his family, he's also doing a little work. we have a picture earlier that came out from the a.p. that showed he was still working, at least for an hour or two. what's his plan for the rest of july 4th and the rest of the week? >> that picture you described is interesting. this is romney meeting with senior campaign aides in the back porch of his house yesterday afternoon. the rest of the week is mostly more downtime. he's going to friday night and

saturday he goes to new hampshire. and then we get a little remark which is the sum total of his public appearances for the week. >> all right. garrett haake giving us the latest with, again, mitt romney and the campaign. garrett thank you for all morning for giving us the latest to the leadup on today's parade. have a good fourth, my friend. >> thank you, you, too. here's a look at other stories that are topping the news. the most destructive fire in colorado history has now become one of the costliest. the waldo canyon wild fire has dried 110,000 homes right now. the deployment comes after four people are killed in a tanker crash in south dakota on sunday. now, the judge in the george zimmerman murder trial is set to rule on whether to release or keep the 28-year-old in jail tomorrow. george zimmerman is on trial for the february 26th murder of tray yon martin. zimmerman was previously out on $150,000 bail but it was revoked

after the court found that he and his wife lied about their finances. the jetblue pilot who left the cockpit during a flight and screamed about religion and terrorists has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. a federal judge in texas ordered that the pilot clayton osbond be send to a facility. on a flight from las vegas to new york. for the first time ever, americans can now test their hiv status completely in the privacy of their own homes. after decades of controversy, the food and drug administration approve the test on tuesday. the at-home test gives mouth swabs and gives results in 20 to 30 minutes. consumers had to send the test off to a lab to get results. it might not be much of a celebration today for millions of people because of sefo

indicating record-breaking heat. triple-digit temperatures and severe thunderstorms are predicted for a big part of the east, south and upper midwest. hundreds of thousands still have no power because of last weekend's storms. nbc's tom costello has the update. hey, tom. >> richard, good day to you. the latest estimates we have, 850,000 people in a seven-state area plus d.c. are still without power and still dealing were eye this kind of a mess. a massive tree down. the tree crushed, and cable lines, power lines still down. and this has been the way it is now for five days, as the regions try to recover. meanwhile, last night in d.c., we had more lightning, and more severe weather. >> severe weather is approaching the capitol. you are destructed to leave the area. >> reporter: late tuesday night, another blow from mother nature. at the u.s. capitol, a strong thunderstorm forced the evacuation of a dress rehearsal for tonight's capitol 4th concert. >> we do have a garage that you

guys will be safe on the other side. yeah. >> reporter: one more gut punch for the nation's capitol region still back on its heels. still buried under downed trees and precarious power lines without air conditioning. >> left this three children at home to come down here. >> reporter: canadian crews brought in to help restore power are getting a heroes welcome in virginia and maryland. in silver spring, maryland, they have treated to the basement with the grandkids. >> it's much cooler down here. >> reporter: they drove to pennsylvania to buy a portable generator that powers the fan and keeps the fridge cool. but with reports of generators being stolen they've got theirs locked up. down the street, sandra brown has also moved to the basement. the thermostat upstairs still reads 89 degrees and she's afraid to open the fridge. >> i have not opened it, because i was under the theory if you kept it closed for three to four days, the food would be saved. would be salvaged.

but i'm not sure. >> reporter: health experts say, don't chance it, throw it away. five days after the storm, the electric grid is still so damaged it could take until the weekend before everyone gets power. can you wait until friday at 11:00 p.m. for power? >> no. but you have to. >> reporter: even before the storm, the biggest power company in washington, pepco, was under intense scrutiny for a pattern of outages. this week, the region's mayors and governors have asked for a change. >> nobody will have their boot up pepco's back side more than i will. >> reporter: but they insist it was an act of god. >> we do take responsibility. we know there are things that have to be changed and we're making that effort. >> reporter: the heat extends well beyond the d.c. region. triple digits from the plains to the atlantic to the gulf coast to the great lakes. and it caused asphalt to buckle sending the suv flying. extreme temps on july 4th and the massive cleanup still well

under way. believe it or not, those two people in the suv were uninjured, although they did have neck and back pain. health officials are urging residents to check on residents who may be elderly or sick. if they don't have electricity, it can be miserable. richard, it's going to be a hot and sticky day here in d.c. and through much of the country. back to you. >> tom, those pictures so amazing. dozens of cities and towns have canceled their fireworks displays because of the hot, dry conditions. let's get to maria la rosa at the weather channel. what are we looking at it, a possibility of breaking more records in the midwest? >> there's a long lift that could be breaking records. millions under that's pressive heat. just looking at this map, current advisories, they stretch from minneapolis, d.c., on to philadelphia and even into new york. what we're talking about here,

that combination of heat and humidity, along with the temperature, you've got the heat index pushing 105 to 117 in some areas. some of the story we're not really telling, the low temperatures, the low in minneapolis this morning, 81 degrees. we didn't have that much of a cooloff. that would be the warmest low temperature in 76 years. that's part of the danger as well. you can see today, thursday, into friday, places like chicago, kansas city, memphis, also looking at close to record-breaking or breaking records, and special oppressive heat. any relief, the best chance would be on the north fringe of that high pressure. the reason for that heat. and places like d.c., you're looking straight into the weekend, high temperatures into the 90s. it's not until monday we have any chance of breaking that heat. highs in the 80s. chicago, we'll break out of the 90s and back into the 80s. places like new york, the wave is coming your way, may not be quite as intense or last as long. but you're going so see that

heat peak with a temperature of 98 degrees, saturday down to mid-80s. you have the threat of thunderstorms and we do have the risk for severe weather today. meaning gusty winds, the hail, unfortunately for a lot of us from new haven, to new york to boston and concord, that potential does exist around fireworks time. also in the midwest seeing the heat, have to worry about the strong thunderstorms in minneapolis, duluth, fargo, even into madison where once again, richard, we are talking about that record heat potential, on top of everything else going on on this fourth of july. >> the west also waking up 8:38 local time there. how do they look? >> well, the west is the place to be, especially the west coast. places like los angeles, san francisco. portland and seattle. beautiful weather, beautiful temperatures. once against, it's the intermountain west dealing with the heat and dry. the monsoon say concern where

places in colorado could produce flash flooding over those current areas so that's a new concern out there. >> along with the wind. thank you so much, maria la rosa. have a great fourth. meet mia love. a rising star in the republican party. she's hoping to become the first black republican woman in congress. ♪

here's a republican star rising in utah, in a state where

the african-american population is about 1%. mia love stands out. she is a young fiscally conservative mormon who happens to be black and run for congress, too. love caught the attention of republicans after blowing out the competition in utah. in november, she will face a tough fight against six-term democrat jim mathisson in what has become one of the closely watched races in the country. quite a story here. >> yeah, she is quite the woman, regardless of what your politics might be. it's tough to dispute that. you may not know her name just yet, but mia love is creating quite the stir in the republican party, with buzz and excitement. and the gop long criticized for its lack of diverse 2i and inconclusiveness. a trail-running native new yorker who has adopted utah as her home and converted to

mormonism. as mayor of a small town, love is set to hit the big time as she makes an historic run for congress, perhaps becoming the first republican congresswoman and the face of the gop. >> this is quite the hill. >> it gets worst. >> reporter: mia love is the running, gun o.j. gunning -- >> how's is going? >> good. >> reporter: mayor of saratoga springs outside of utah. the 36-year-old became the republican nominee for congress in utah's 4th district. now, love is running the race of her life. a win in november means she will make history. the first black republican woman ever elected to congress. but that's not what she wants to talk about. >> we're focused on color and race, when we should be focused on preserving the future,

preserving this country. >> you don't talk about race a lot, do you? >> i don't, because it doesn't define who i am. >> and in a town that's more than 90% white, her constituents don't mind either. >> i think that's wonderful that she brings some culture and diversity to the plate. >> her race is not an issue to me. >> reporter: the mother of three would rather be known for her brand of conservatism, rooted, she claims, in her mormon faith. >> i support marriage between a man and a woman. >> reporter: and her haitian parents' immigrant upbringing. >> i just watched two people achieve the american dream. work hard. i'm a product of that. >> reporter: love says she'd vote to shrink programs overall taxes and medicare and social security. >> i think my opponent represents views that are way out there. >> reporter: for 12 years, congressman jim mathison has represented a republican district held by a democrat.

he's the son of a former governor and admits love's story is compelling, but not her politics. >> i don't think utah families counting on social security to be there wants it to be there, says we should phase out social security. i don't think people who value education should stop federal loans. >> reporter: but experts aren't sure how much things like this with utahans wanting to send a message. >> there's a sense by some of the mormon republican voters that electing a black republican woman would demonstrate whatever people say about mormons and race maybe is not so true. >> reporter: love says she's used to slugging uphill and knows this will be a long, hard race. >> i believe we're going to win and we're going to win decisively. >> the gop already has big plans for mia love but outside money rolling into the campaign, she'll be head lining the national convention in tampa,

florida. despite a rookie status, love could become the darling of the republican party. experts in the brain trust are giving her a 50/slft shot. >> craig, when you talk about the republican convention, one could not help but think of for barack obama -- >> 2004. >> exactly. the pivotal moment. is that the sort of context they're talking about mia love? >> i asked her that, you know, spoken like a very good politics, she said, no, no, no, i'm focusing on one race at a time. but, she does have some things, obviously, in common with the current president. if nothing else, she's good on television. >> right. and. >> she's a great speaker. >> she's an excellent speaker. you were saying 50/50. when mathison looks at the numbers, is he scared? on the flip side, she comes from a small town. >> yes, he is scared and here's why. that district has been redrawn in the most recent census there. in the redrawing of that

district in utah, the most conservative state in the country already, they've managed to draw even more republicans into the district. so you couple that wrist fact that mitt romney is going to be on top of the ticket in utah, they are expecting record turnout. and all of that, and you add the fact that you're going to have a lot of third-party money, money that they're already seeing dumped into the race. republicans see chum in the water. paul ryan has been out there. ann romney endorsed her over the weekend. so this is one of the races that they say we can win this thing. >> it's going to be a squeaker. and you'll be watching that for us. great stuff. >> appreciate that. >> craig melvin, thank you so much. tv icon andy griffith was laid to rest on tuesday. the beloved star the andy griffith show and matlock was buried in north carolina after passing away. jerry seinfeld tweets this. the reason every seinfeld character was greeted with "hey jerry" or "hey hey george" was a

secret tribute to the andy griffith show where they were greeted with "hey barn" or "hey andy." >> mitt romney is spending the fourth of july in mentioning earlier. there he is. for more, let's get back t our campaign inbed, who is live in new hampshire. the parade has now finished. mitt romney, done glad-handing, perhaps back to his relaxation and his july fourth. >> reporter: hey, richard, we are poulling up toward the end f this thing as we speak. we will get remarks at the very end of this route here in a park overlooking the bay. it should be gorgeous. after that, yeah, we expect him to go back to the compound, relax a little more family time. for now, he and senator ayotte working their way through the crowds, greeting folks who come out to this parade. >> you were watching that

chemistry, kelly ayotte along with mitt romney. any indications to the question at least many will be asking, is she a possible vp pick? >> reporter: well, there's a number of factors working in her favor. she was a very early aide to romney, they campaigned together a couple times. he's comfortable with her and her family. hardly an event goes by in new hampshire where she is not by his side. still considered something of a dark horse from the conventional wisdom, but really, at the end of the day, there's only two people who know who's really on that list and that's mitt romney and beth myers. other than having to publicly confirm that they were vetting senator marco rubio a few weeks ago, the rest of us can only speculate as to what names are on that short list. >> all right, garret, thanks again. let's look ahead to what to expect this week in the race for the white house. tomorrow, the president takes his economic message on a bus tour through swing states of

ohio and pennsylvania. it will be his first bus tour of his re-election campaign. then friday, another huge day. the june jobs report comes out and what it says will surely help shape the campaign narrative going forward. let's bring in our political panel. republican strategist and msnbc contributor, susan delpersio and victoria soto, msnbc contributor and fellow at the university of texas. susan, those jobs numbers are out there and so important. the president's going to be in pittsburgh, he will be close to cameras, we'll have to respond to what many expect to be a low, below 150,000. what does the president need to say given those possibilities? >> they may even say it's going to be as low as 70,000 or 80,000 which is huge. he's taking a very big gamble going out on the campaign trail as these numbers come out. frankly, there's going to be very little he can say if that number ticks up or stays even. that will really, really hurt him. >> victoria, what's your

thought? >> well, they definitely aren't rosy numbers. however, another important economic indicator is one that's very tangible. when we're filling up our gas tanks. for the first time in ages, my eyes popped when i saw gas go below $4 in texas. while at the aggregate we do see that bad news, on the one-on-one level we are seeing hopeful indicators for the president in terms of that pocketbook economic indicator. >> but we have to be careful on gas prices because they were going down, they're just starting to tick up again, and this is in fact out of the president's control, whether it's a democrat or republican. there's a lot of outside factors. it's an international community that really creates these issues. we have to be careful when we look at gas prices because what goes up, comes down and sometimes goes up again for an election cycle. >> on the flipside -- victoria, just to add, please do respond to this, cnn coming out with a poll that shows some 73%, i believe, who responded to this believing that the economy was

poor and this is a tick up from the last polling. so that's also a little bit of an uphill battle. the president perhaps trying to change the narrative on this very subject. >> absolutely. the economic picture is not a good one. but we can't discard the smaller indicators that do matter, and again, the larger picture of the campaign has not kicked into full gear. so the president is not just going to be running on the economy. that's a big one. but he's also going to be bringing things in such as hey, if i'm re-elected, i will make sure the student loans are in place so that you can go to college, come out with less debt and get a good job. so we haven't seen quite the global picture of the campaign yet kick into effect. >> talking with chuck todd over the weekend, susan, he was saying we've probably got about a week to ten days before this affordable care act issue sort of disappears into the ether but it might be today when the president hits the road on thursday, he's going to be hitting hard on romney, the

economy, his links to again, bain as well as his offshore accounts. >> he's going after romney on the one issue he thinks he could really define him going forward, because again, none of that will matter depending on those numbers on friday, because if you see a tick up to 8.3 or even stay the same, it won't matter because this will be a referendum election on the economy, on president obama. >> victoria, he's concentrating, the president is, on two swing states, ohio and pennsylvania as was mentioned just a moment ago. but do these swing states matter? the reason why i throw this out to you, charlie cook, who wrote a recent posting on the cook report was saying hey, forget the swing states, look at the national poll numbers and when you look back at all the elections in the history of the united states, 95% of the time, the national vote, the popular vote, decided the outcome. >> correct. but as a fan of statistics, i

still hold out for that 5%. swing states matter. together, pennsylvania and ohio are 38 electoral votes. ohio right now is in a statistical tie for romney and obama. obviously, the flirtation with portman could help put ohio staunchly in the category of romney, but you know, that being said, earlier we were talking about what romneyas up to for the fourth of july. he's hanging out at his lake house in new hampshire. that doesn't bode well, that doesn't connect with those voters in ohio and pennsylvania, those working class folks who have lost their jobs. so we have to also keep an eye on the narrative that romney has and he can't get away from it. >> one of the narratives, victoria, is the issue of reaching out and getting the latino or immigrant vote and we were just moments ago at the top of the hour watching as president obama at the white house was addressing 25 new citizens. what might that mean in terms of messaging? >> well, first of all, it was a message to all americans, not

just latinos, saying we are a country of immigrants and unless you were one of the first americans, you or your forefathers were immigrants. he's reminding us that we need to understand -- >> victoria -- >> happy fourth of july. >> to you as well. don't forget to check out the newly launched website. thank you for being with us here on msnbc. have a great fourth of july. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy?

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