g 2 ] what do i look like? a rabbit? yeah, maybe, but i don't want to eat like one. [ male announcer ] most dry foods add plant protein, like gluten but iams never adds gluten. iams adds 50% more animal protein, [ dog 4 ] yum! [ male announcer ] a naturally complete protein source. [ dog 5 ] iams keeps this body strong as an ox. i mean dog. [ male announcer ] iams. not just food. nutrition for life. [ dog 6 ] i am an iams dog. not a rabbit. woof. hem low, it is high noon in the east, 9 a.m. in the west. welcome to weekends with alex witt. liter first five stories trending this hour. the jobs fight in the presidential election exploding this weekend. still more heat and danger, geek squad layoff, will there be history in britain? bowing flying while a big prediction. details on those stories the next hour. but first --

heat is loosening its grip on parts of the u.s. but only slightly. all told it is to blame for 61 deaths across this country n st. louis, temperatures saturday record of 107 degrees yesterday. police around the country -- people around the country say the heat is unbearable. >> i would rather much have it 20 below zero than 102 degrees, 'cause 102 just drains you. >> you sweat. you're constantly drinking gatorade or water and you can't cool it unless you have a cooler because there's no refrigerator. >> listen to this daurk's reagan national airport, look at that, that plane sunk into an overheated taxi way this picture posted on a photo sharing website. officials say the heat created a soft spot in the paving. another round of severe weather expected in d.c. today. weather channel meteorologist

alex wallace is here with more. hello to you, alex. >> good sunday to you, alex, we head through the second half of the weekend. heat still a story, may not be as widespread but something we are tracking. let's show what you is going on. the heat advisories, they are still in place for portions of the southern mid-atlantic into the carolinas, the ohio valley as well as dealing with this we will be talking about areas here dealing with heat index val eyes up to 110 what it is going to feel like at times. extreme heat, temperatures throughout the carolinas, in and around raleigh 103 tight record high for the day not just the areas in the east, seeing the heat shifting into parts of the northwest as well. boys say very hot day for you, 103 would tie the record high there. let's head back east because we need some of this relief, it has been a long time coming and going to come because we have a cooled front knocking on the door that, as it drops its way south, bring cooler air for monday, d.c. get ready for upper 80s. that is going to feel fantastic this there is a price to pay

coming in the form of storms that same front going to cool us down bring us the risk for some storms for the day and some could be strong to severe whether with spotty, damaging winds as well as hail. president obama's adviser defending the handling of the economy on the latest jobs report by targeting mitt romney. >> we know what tax breaks and tax cuts for the wealthy and financial regulations off of wall street mean. they mean economic calamity. they mean what we are dealing with. now versus a vision we have jobs and build out of the middle class, people take responsibility they work hard, but they get ahead and that is what we need. >> not so fast says the chairman of the republican national committee. here's reince priebus. >> if they kept their promises, there would be 8.5 million more

people employed today than there would be four years ago. the fact of the matter is this president can't fulfill a promise. they are living in fantasy land. you know what we are going to put this dream to an end of theirs in nop november, save america, fire barack obama and hire mitt romney. >> the get out the vote campaign's in full swing this weekend across the country. mitt romney supporters ramped up their effort what is they are calling super saturday, making phone calls and knocking on doors in key swing states. in response, president obama supporters in florida organized their own phone banking effort. potential vice presidential pick rob portman says he has no plans to meet with mitt romney, even though both men are in new hampshire this weekend. the ohio senator is in the state to look at colleges with his daughter. he attended a gop fundraiser concord. joining me now for more, political editor for the pbs news hour christine belatoni.

the jobs snub what everyone could be expected, lower the expectation on the numbers? is that part of the administration's strategy? >> i think they tried to get out of the news cycle every time a jobs report comes there are been 200 jobs a month but the romney campaign can point out, as you heard rinse prebum bust pointing out, whatever they do not what they projected when the stimulus was presented in january. they are forced to talk about the weakest part of the re-election campaign i hear them spinning so they can get to an issue that sells this better for them. >> christina, dave is absolutely right. no surprise rinse reince priebus goes after the president.

president obama is leading 47-45 despite the tough job numbers. what does that tell us? should the romney camp be concerned? >> these guys are going to trade leads probably many times before november 6th this is a very close election and is going to come down a dozen or fewer battleground states. the opinions about the economy matter in how people feel about it but actual jobless rate, it is not necessarily going to make the difference here and there, it is about how people feel, the real people's lives that both campaigns say they are going to effect and make better why the messages you heard from robert gibbs and rieince priebus will e saying. barack obama is going to be out there saying mitt romney just wants to give tax breaks to rich people the argume people. the arguments haven't shifted. how do you both feel, i will let you answer first, christina, status quo, remains as it is the

jobs the next four moments, modest growth at best, expectations staying low, how might this all play out in term he was voters' minds, christina, approaching november? >> it plays into it why you see both campaigns have different strategies. the obama campaign knows they need to get their people out to vote. that is why they are putting emphasis on the ground game to energize people that democratic base f they show up, they feel pretty confident, particularly because he won with such a large margin in 2008. the romney campaign needs to influence the end pen dents and swing voters where the job message works. voters tell pollsters they think mitt romney might do a better job on the economy. the seam time, voters tell pollsters that they think barack obama inherited a bad economy from president bush t is going to be very, very close either way. >> you want to add to that, dave? >> i would point people to the robert draper's profile, priorities usa.

democrats in general expect to raise less money than republicans, they want to use it to remind people about bain capital and just make everyone aware that bain capital made some money, decisions that slimd people off. reminds me it didn't work -- actually work quite well for george h. w. bush, attacking michael dukakis' jobs record in massachusetts saying he claimed there was a massachusetts miracle, it wasn't living up to -- to -- to the numbers. same things with bain capital here. if he is running as somebody who create jobs, we found real humans who lost their jobs because of decisions he made. make it so people don't trust him to build the economy and then they are given a choice for president they are toll rating and somebody who can't be trusted to reverse the trend. >> so okay, i want to pick up with something it is kind of an x factor that few people are talking about. you, dave, have in a recent post how the third party can have a

major impact even with just a few votes. you cite the elections with both al gore and john mccain. talk about that and how third party candidates can swing the electoral college. >> well, if we are looking at an election where the incumbent is trying to disqualify the challenger, part of that -- people are just going to be dissatisfied with both candidates. in 2008 they liked those candidates n 2004, al gore would have run the election had ralph nader voters gone for him in new hampshire, forgetting florida. didn't matter nader only got 2.7 nationwide. his voters got more than enough votes to make up that margin between bush and gore. florida, i don't need go back over. in 2008, it is more forgot. in north carolina that obama victory margin smaller than the number of people that voted for bob barr. you have gary johnson running as libertarian, hard to class, if i was a republican governor, very

well known in new mexico, polling 7 there. if his numbers hold up tough that, tough for mitt romney to compete in the state. the voters didn't like either candidate, going for the libertarian might have made it easier for obama to win these place. >> who do you think gary johnson pulls from? >> you notice, the conservative blogosphere, more stories about johnson's liberal position. johnson said this week that noncitizens, guest workers should have social security cards. they bumped up that. he wants to balance the budget next year with enormous cuts. the issues voters care about at the moment, he is extremely conservative. liberal on social issues. there are some voters disappointed on obama's record on war, civil liberties but the obama campaign is going to be successful in scaring them about

who mitt romney would appoint if he was president, who he would put in charge of these decision. that case, voters just dissatisfied, look at these republican voters will don't trust mitt romney because of the mandate he implements in massachusetts. those are the people that might protest a vote from gary johnson. >> who do you think he might pull more, mitt romney or president obama? >> i think dave is right in his theory but i would add a lot of the ron paul supporters are looking for a police to go paul is in this race, even though not in this race, planning a big, giant rally for the night before the republican national convention in tampa. and so those supporters are looking for something, particularly young people. gary johnson can go out there and push his message it might resonate with a lot of people, his argument in the primaries was if he was included in more debates he would have been as successful as paul was in these states. to be determinedby think it probably in the end pulls more from mitt romney than it does from barack obama. >> christina, dave, good to see you both. thanks so much. >> thank you. there are new details today about a series of anti-terror

arrests in great britain. one of seven people arrested in the case is now free. six others are still being questioned. all this just weeks before the 2012 olympics in london. nbc's annabelle roberts is joining us live there with more a good day to you, annabelle. what is the latest on all of this? >> reporter: yes, alex, good afternoon. as you say, six people still being questioned, that's five men and one woman but one woman who was arrested last week has been released without charge. we need no reminding that the security operation mounted around the london olympics will be the biggests of the kind ever in britain. yesterday, we marked the seventh anniversary of the terror attack that killed 52 people in a series of bombs detonated by suicide bombers on three subways and a bus so the fact that there are home-grown terrorists in this country is well known. and the past week there have been these arrests that we refer to, also another series of arrests relating to a car that

was impounded by police once they discovered it wasn't insured properly. they found a number of weapons hidden away in this vehicle. but it has long been expected that the british secret services would up the ante in the weeks directly before the games, the number of arrests would go up and equally, the amount of what's called chatter, information picked up by the security services would also increase. securing a city the size of london is a major challenge but the authorities here are going all out to show that they are in control control and any suspicious activity is being watch and dangerous individuals in particular are under surveillance w just three weeks to go we can only expect more arrest and anti-terrorism activity in the city as we approach the final count down. alex? >> okay. nbc's annabel roberts in london. thank you. from london to the west coast headlines, coming up next with a great white shark attack. also, mitt romney will speak at the naacp's annual convention this week?

we will talk with one of the leaders of that historic organization, next on weekends with alex witt. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wetjet, cleaning better, doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm going to... drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] mops can be a hassle, but swiffer wetjet's spray cleaner and absorbent pads can clean better in half the time so you don't miss a thing. swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. and for dry messes big and small try swiffer sweeper vac. and for dry messes big and small mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover.

some headlines making news on the west coast. splashed on the front page of the santa cruz sentinel, a story about a shark attack in the water in california. a man was thrown from his kayak by a great white character that bumped into his boat and bit through the thick shell. 392-year-old man was rescued by a nearby boater who witnessed saturday's incident. the news in klamath falls, oregon,ing has a story on pregnant teens. more teenagers are having more

babies than anywhere else in the station or anywhere else in the nation. poverty and generational influence are the factors. california, kilts rule. the article is about a highland dancing competition at the monterey county fair grounds a 19-year-old dancer confessed to the reporter she has bagpipe music in her ipod. actually covered that one. anyway. the naacp's 103rd annual national convention is under way right now in houston. later this weekend, mitt romney and vice president joe biden-address the nation's oldest civil rights group. joining me from house isn't director of the national board of the naacp, rosalyn brock. thanks for joining me. >> thank you, alex, for having me. >> let's talk about what mitt romney needs to do needs to say there on wednesday to garner support from the naacp or from the african-american in general. >> well, first, we are excited and pleased that governor romney soirpd invitation to address

thousands of naacpers from across the country at our 103rd annual con ven eggs. we are interested to hear what he would do to ensure afordable health care focommunities of color.fordable health care for communities of color. >> does mitt romney enter the convention hall facing skeptics? >> absolutely not. i believe that governor romney will experience a very welcoming crowd at the naacp. we are a nonpartisan organization. we have republicans. we have democrats. we have independents in our

organization. and so what he will experience is a community of individuals who are eagerly waiting to hear his vision for america's future and particularly those in communities of color. >> okay. let talk then about vice presidented by. . he will be speaking there on behalf of the president. first of all, isn't the last time the president there was at this convention, wasn't that three years ago and if that's true, is that a concern for you? and secondly, what do you want to hear from vice president biden? >> it's not a concern for us. the president of the united states addressed our centennial con vvention in new york in 200. and last year, we'd video presentation from him. so we have heard from the president. of course, every organization in our nation would be pleased to have the president address their annual convention. but vice president biden is a friend to the naacp. and we also look forward to welcoming him bang to the naacp

to share his values and vision for the nation. >> what about the president's track record in terms of what it has been for all americans and what it has been to the african-american community specifically? how do you read that? how do you rate that? >> well, the naacp, our focus this year is on getting out the vote. we have a massive voter campaign called this is my vote, where we are prepared to register around turn out 1 million voters in november that is the focus of the annual convention. our see them this is my power this is my decision this is my vote. of course, we are concerned about the issues of unemployment in the african-american community with the unemployment rate for those -- for people of color being roughly at 14.4% for african-americans and 11% for latinos but the tide is turning and we are hopeful that the future will bode well for this

administration. >> what do you think is driving this massive div sflitd unemployment rate in the african-american community is almost double that what it is in the white community. what do you think can be done to reduce this gap? >> we have to spend more time developing programs at the pre-k level so that we will spend more time with our young people in the play pen so we don't have to see them in the state pen. >> rosalyn brock, chairman of the board of directors of the naacp, i hope you have a great convention this week. thank you for taking time for us. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. i appreciate it. the heat wave by the numbers, how it rewrote the record books thousands of times over. but first, number four on our first five web stories, andy murray trying to become the first brit to win the men's singles since 1936 at wimbledon.

he is playing against roger federer, going for his seventh win. the two have split the first two sets. so, there's an update.

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goodness gracious, that's kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national. the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog. there was an historic marriage in massachusetts yesterday e congressman barney frank married his long time partner jim ready upon saturday evening. representative frank is the first member of congress to marry a partner of the same-sex. the wedding was attended by more than 300 people with massachusetts governor deval patrick officiating. congressman frank, the ceremony was short and directly to the point, reportedly lasting less than five minutes. now a quick look at today's number ones. first thankfully, the price of gasoline averages about $3.38 a gallon but that is still much more than the states with the cheapest gasoline. topping the list from gas buddy.com, south carolina where you will pay just $2.99 a gallon.

mississippi, 3.01, alabama in third cheap eats 3.06 a gallon. the priciest and usually so is hawaii. gas averages 4.18. alaska prices in at 4.01 now. california right hind at 3.91. now to the summer spoiler, the atlantic.com calls washington, d.c. the absolute worst city in the country in the summer, citing sprawling plazas and endless city blocks offering little shelter from intense heat. new york city is called the summer's smelliest thanks to overflowing trash containers which grow even smellier as the heat soars. and finland, where theity math trim mony y'all bond is a burden, the annual wife carrying championship games, the key to wing, a small wife. the fourth straight year the winning couple was from finland. ♪ kelly clarkson's "stronger" become the top-selling single by

any "american idol" with sales surpassing 3.5 million companies. adele's "21" keeps rolling. the best-selling album last year is the top-selling album so far. those are your number ones on weekends with alex witt. okay, volume up, christian. ♪ [ male announcer ] if you have to take care of legal matters. legalzoom has an easy and affordable option. you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support,

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long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. welcome back to weekend ws-- weekends with alex witt. here are dnc chairwoman -- rather debbie wasserman schultz, reince priebus and robert gibbs. take a listen to them all. >> what we certainly don't need to do and i think folks at home are listening to mitt romney saying we should go back there go back to the failed policies of the past, repeat the same

playbook that gut got us into this economic mess in the first place. >> the fact of the matter is this president can't fulfill a promise. they are living in fantasy land. you know what we are going to put this dream to an end of theirs in november. save america, fire barack obama and hire mitt romney. that's the best stimulus plan for this country right now. >> we are coming out of the hardest economic time in our country's history. you come out of a recession the depths we were in caused by a financial crisis, which is what happened, it takes while to dig out of that home. >> time now for strategy talk. joining me is karen finney, former dnc communications director and msnbc political analyst and rich galen, republican strategist and publisher of mullings.com. hey to both of you. glad you're here. >> morning. >> we heard there from robert gibbs, we have a long way to gore the economy. you are a communications expert.

what is president obama's sales pitch? >> the spill. a couple of things and i think what you have been hearing him talk about. number one, here are the things that i can do and that i'm doing, like talking about the auto bailout, like talking about when he talks about the we can't wait, talking about the jobs legislation sitting on congress' desk and talking about the part we need congress to help get things done with, because people do recognize that this president inherited a huge problem, that he has been moving in the right direction, not as fast as we would like but also that there is only so much within the purview of control that the president can do but congress also has a role to play i think outlining that and again continuing to talk about the things that he wants to dork the things that he would invest in and what -- the kind of few. chaur that he sees in terms of job growth, that is really the sales pitch. >> okay. rich, shouldn't the republicans be worried that four months out, despite this weak economy, president obama still leads mitt romney in the polls?

look at the battleground states? he is up by 8%. >> in pennsylvania. >> right. >> okay. >> ohio as well. there is ohio as well. stfrnlts a big country, alex, a lot of states involved. here's the issue that i think -- i think and i suspect, karen, as a political professional might agree with me is that the issue i think for the obama campaign is that if you look at the real clear politics summary of national polls, i know it is not a national election, you look at that as just a reference point, the the president is ahead, as of this morning, 2.7% damage points, inside the margin of error that is a problem, i think, for the obama campaign, one of the reasons the campaign split decided to roll out the bain capital outsourcing stuff this early, write think if you and i were running that campaign and we had our druthers, we might have said let's hank onto that a week before the republican convention and get them off their feet but they can't separate themselves from

romney that is the issue. who knows who is going to win this nobody want it is to be this close. >> if i could just respond to this the whole strategy on bain has been very well thought through. and if you notice, we started with, you know, so mitt romney wants to make his career in bills as, you know, that's why he should be president. okay, let's look at that record, let's look at what he did at bain, that shut other part of the argument here on the economy, who do you trust? we know that mitt romney has focused on not job creation but wealth creation. then the next piece, which you will see, don't worry, rich, we are not nearly done with the fodder here, okay, let's see how did he apply those values and principles from bain to his time as governor? when he was governor at massachusetts, the unemployment rate went down y? self-deportation out of the state. 47th in job creation. also know they participated in contracts that outsourced jobs from the state. again, rich, you know this campaigns it is a multiphase

strategy and a narrative and an argument unveil and don't worry, plenty more parts. >> don't want to use up all the arrows in your give they are early. at a macrolevel, karen, think at a macrolevel, i'm not the first one to say this everybody is saying this what the romney campaign wants is for this to be a referendum on obama's first term and what obama wants is for this to be a comparison between romney and obama. whoever wins that argument will likely went race. >> what about this "new york times" op ed this weekend, karen, republicans in congress are the ones to blame for the economy and they have been obstructing president obama's efforts while mitt romney got us more into recession in the first place. do you think a president can successfully run on that pattern, just blaming congress? >> i think it is part of what he is talking about. the other piece, part of you why also have, you know, campaign surrogates and outside voices also making that argument. i think the president has gotten

it. i think this is part of romney's problem. you can't just attack the other guy. you have got to also put forward a positive vision. i do think when it comes to congress, to some degree, we don't know whether or not president obama's policies and ideas would work because so much of it has been obstructed by republicans in congress. now, what we do know, let's say -- let's look at foreign policies in areas like, i don't know, getting obama administration, where the president has been able to do exactly what he wanted to do he has been very successful. >> so rich, what do you think about the prospect of pushing the obstructionist congress mentality? is that effective? >> yeah, it worked for harry truman, might work again. i don't think so because republicans, democrats had chrome of everything, including 60 votes for the senate. >> only a couple of months,ry. >> i didn't get finished with that i know senator kennedy passed away, i got that part. but you still have olympia snowe. you could have got the 60 votes on a lot of things, but the -- and this is getting too far

down, the answer to your question, alex is yes, he can try that, i don't think it will work because in the minds of most americans, i believe, the president has his hands on the tiller of the ship at sea and depends how they think that ship is sailing depends on the president. >> here's something interesting, rich, i want to ask you about, a comment that came out of speaker john boehner -- i'm going to drink more coffee, what he sbad mitt romney. the quote is the american people probably aren't going to fall in love with mitt romney. i will tell you this 95% of the people that show up to vote in november are going to show up in that voting booth and vote or against barack obama. if the speaker of the house can't fall in love with mitt romney, who will? >> this isn't "dancing with the stars." >> likability quotient. >> if republicans are correct and this is an election about

competence, that doesn't matter. republicans are wrong and who people want to have a beer with in the rose garden, then obama will win, but i think republicans bet pretty heavily it is a matter of competence and if -- if carson wrong and people really do think that that mitt romney has a better handle on how to fix the economy, then that won't matter. >> karen, could you fall in love with mitt romney? >> gee, i don't know. you know what they say, alex, sometimes you just got to love the one you're with. >> that's good. >> part the argument republicans are make, don't got to love the guy to vote for him. i do think at the end of the day remember, voting is not just an intellectual exercise it san emotional exercise and it is not just about do you want to have a beer, it is who do you trust who do you believe is honest and trustworthy in the problem romney continues to have, not telling us about his investment and not sharing much about his taxes and not being following tell us how he spends much of

his time that all plays into this idea he is hiding something, maybe he is not trustworthy, maybe changes his position. >> don't want to get into who is hiding what. >> the second part of that quote i read from john boehner, something strategists have been saying a long time, this election essentially a yea or nay vote for president obama. does that make people in chicago nervous? >> any time you are running against the incouple bennett, the incumbent is trying to make it about a choice and the challenger trying to make it a refer rehn dumb on the incumbent. folks in the white house and folks in chicago recognize that that was going to be, you know, what the conversation in this election was going to be about and that's part of why they continue to highlight the choice. it is hard to get voters to sort of switch horses midstream because you have got believe that romney has some kind of secret sauce that hasn't already been tried and the problem is so much of what he has talked about is more trickle down economic, more, you know this is a guy who, let's not forget, these offshore accounts.

i has part -- he support companies that helped to take some of our jobs, you know, out of this country. is that the guy you trust? that's part of why the administration and the campaign are working so hard to make this, begin, about -- >> really quick, rich. >> i think there's an issue about enthusiasm and if you look at just at one data point, the fund raising, recent fundraising shows the enthusiasm for the president maybe lagging some what somebody smarter than me said four years ago, the president, senator obama was running a crusade. this time, it is just a campaign. >> think be maybe $3 million will be raised for mitt romney weekend in long island in the hamptons. we will see about that enthusiasm. guess, thanks so much. karen, rich, appreciate it. >> you bet. much of the country will get a slight break in temperatures today thankfully, but the historic nature of this heat wave has shattered thousands of records. nbc michelle franzen's here with the studio to look at the heat by the numbers. thankfully you are not in central park. >> i'm inside, that's right,

relentless heat wave, passed the peak in many places, temperatures fell today but only into the 90s. still hot and the start of what many hope will be the end to the stretch of this brutal weather but this two-week heat wave rewrote the record books. just the past month, more than 5100 daily records were broken along with 852 monthly record highs and 279 all-time record highs, the heat an issue for most of the country. 33 states experiencing trim digit temperatures in just the last ten days. st. louis, the major hotspot, temperatures stloorg to 107 degrees, breaking the daily record there yesterday was the tenth triple digit day in a row for st. louis. people all around the country had an opinion how hot it was. >> right now, it too hot.

this heat, people on the streets. >> i got my ice water. it was ice water but it is thawed out. but i packed up ice water on my back. >> how does the heat compare to home? >> well, in jamaica, it is hot, but it is not so hot. >> and we are not expecting a bunch of records to be broken but raleigh and north carolina could break a record today. other cities in the carolinas and virginia will come close. i will tell you, as you were talking, we just got an update there have been two more deaths in marion county, indian nah, brings the total number of deaths the last couple of weeks, now 63. talk about heat wave. thank you, michelle franzen. now to number three of our first five web stories, geek squad layoffs, best buy is cutting 2400 jobs starting right now. about 600 of those will be week squad tech support jobs. the jobs cuts come as best buy struggles to compete with amazon.com and wal-mart. whoa! don't want you spilling that hot latte

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just $1,598. now to the london olympics, the opening ceremonies begin in 19 dates. our next guest, kayla harrison, wants to become the first american ever to win the gold in judo. in 2012, she became the first american woman in decades to went world championships. and kayla was recently on the cover of "sports illustrated" kids magazine as part of a team usa takes over london spread, you see her in the blue peeking out from the behind the door here. here is kayla harrison in studio joining me now. how are you? thank you for being here. >> i'm great. thanks for having me. >> so excited about t one of the things i think about, all the other kids out there, myself included when i was a kid, you dream about being an olympic athlete. what does it take to get there? >> its years and years of hard work. i mean, i train twice a day in judo. i lift five days week.

i run three days a week. so, i train two to three times day, six days week. but not only that it's been, you know, support. i have what he a huge support system behind me the whole way. >> why judo? how did you get involved in that? >> my mother took judo in college. when office little girl swhaerngts node learn self-defense and about a year later, i went to my first competition and i just femme in love with fighting people. >> i want to play something that your grandfather said about you when you were wrestling with the boys. when you were wrestling with e >> those poor guys, i feel sorry for them, two go out on the mats, look what i found here? she would send them off the mat, crying, how do you explain my girl beating? >> just in middle school when you were doing that what was that like? make you popular, smeared wow, don't mess with kayla? >> pretty much all throughout middle school and high school, i

was known as judo or jude doze chop, but it was fun. ed boys treated me -- i'm sometime one of the guys on the team, my nickname is doug. >> there is something about your particular story that is inspirational, each of us deals with adversity different ways in our life, you having gone through a difficult time earlier, you channelled that and look what you've done with that talk about that, how you overcome troubling times. >> um, you know, it's just dish think that no matter where you are in life, you know, there's always gonna be something, there's always going to be a roadblock and how you deal with it and what you do to overcome it is going to define who you are as a person and one of the things that i've learned from my coaches and my family is that, you know, i'm going to approach this with a positive attitude and i'm not going to let anything get me down and there's not going to be anything that stops me always reaching my

goals. >> yeah. what's that like when you envision heading to london and walking into opening ceremonies and getting there and preparing for your competition? it's a dream, sflifrnlt exactly. its a he is a dream. i think about it every night before guy to sleep. my coach is really big on positive thinking and visualization. every night before guy to sleep, i run through what it's going to be like at the olympics 25 days from now when i fight. and i get goosebumps thinking about it. >> you could be the world champion coming up from the olympics. you are already a world champion. so look at that. who is your biggest competition? >> probably the french girl. >> yep. the french girl. just leave it at that. thank you and best of luck. be rooting for you big time. >> thank you. >> a reminder, nbc is your exclusive home of the london olympic games, opening ceremonies begin in just 19 days, watch the events all the networks of nbc, including right here. now number five on our first five web stories, bog and sales battle with rival, air bus.

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in washington, d.c. tomorrow, conversion to voter i.d. law is being challenged in court around the 1965 voting rights act. the department of justice says the voter i.d. law in texas would disenfranchise 600,000 minority voters who don't have the approved foam form of identification. also pending this month is a law get south against the pennsylvania voter i.d. law which could stop more people from voting in november. joining me is leila mcdowell of the advancement project involved in both lawsuits. welcome, leila, thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> your grointer veined in the texas case which goes to trial tomorrow. what do you think's gonna happen? >> well, we hope that the court will uphold democracy, because

that's what that case is ultimately b 600,000 already registered swroeshts disenfranchised by this law potentially. >> what does this law ask for and how do we know that number, 600,000, would be affected? >> so, what this law asks for, like the other state photo i.d. laws it is very restrictive in that it asks you to provide certain information, certain documents in order to get a state photo i.d. and you already have to provide documents and identification for -- when you register to vote but this is very restrictive, unlike the federal law. so it is so restrictive that, for example, college students, college i.d.s are not send, gun licenses are. college i.d. is no the 600,000

are people that don't have that state photo i.d. and will not be able to go to the polls and vote unless they get t and getting those underlying documents can be extraordinarily difficult and experience. >> what about the suit that your group has also filed against the pennsylvania voter i.d. law? that is a key swing state. this one goes trial later this month on the 25th. that really could affect the outcome of the november election? >> it could. we are seeing this democracy is being used as pawn in partisan politics. the house republican majority leader said romney can win pennsylvania with this photo i.d. law because it disenfranchises close to 760,000 registered voters. what was the margin of victory between obama and mccain? it was 632,000. we know it is a close race. i think a recent poll that was done showed the 9% difference between obama and romney. so, it's very clear that if you

disenfranchise voters, like mrs. applewhite, 93 years old, she marched with king for the right to vote. and now because she can't get a birth certificate, she is going to be unable to vote this year. >> is there anything that people can do to try to turn this around for themselves in if they can't get a driver's license or something with this photo i.d., is there anything that can allow them to vote in november? >> we are going to be working with people but -- to try to do that to try to get the underlying documents but 85% of colleges, for example, don't give the kind of i.d. that is required by this very restrictive law t is one of the most restrictive in the country and people are going to be confused, they have only got four months until the election and part of why we are hoping that we will win in court and at least get an injunction to stop this law from going into place in the fall. we are seeing these laws all over the country, in battleground states. the thing that i think is so troubling about it alex, is the day -- election day is the one day in america where we are all equal, whether black, white, young, old, rich or poor, when

you pull the lever for the candidate of your choice you have an equal voice in our democracy and democracy -- the right to vote is as old and sacred as the declaration of independence. that is what is being threatened today by these voters. >> something that should be cherished. absolutely. leila mcdowell. thank you, good to see you again. the economy and unemploym t unemployment. is this the new normal? icrthrit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections,

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good day to all of you, welcomes to "weekends with alex witt." get to what is happening out there. the two-week heat wave will go from oppressive to just plain old hot. temperatures falling slightly today but remain near the 90s in many places. the record-breaking heat is blamed now for 63 deaths across the country. near indianapolis, a baby died because her father left her inside an overheated car. a child was hospitalized in a similar situation. people tell us they are having trouble finding relief.

>> it is very hot inside. the holloways are e-- the hallways are extremely hot. me, i sit in the bathtub all day i von a fan. >> with this heat, people are out of options. how hot is it? >> 1 million degrees. >> yikes. thankfully, respite is coming. weather channel's julie martin is here with the slightly cooler and stormy national forecast. hi, julie. >> hi there, alex. we will be seeing a cool down today in the mid-atlantic and the midwest but with that comes the threat of some severe storms. let's take a look at exactly where we are talking about all wait from our nation's capital into the ohio valley. the potential for some pretty strong winds, hail, lightning associated with this cold front that's really moving in and bringing some of that much-needed heat relief to the region. by monday, that cold front switches a little further south. now, the tennessee valley, from memphis in through nashville, up through richmond, virginia, you're in the zone for, again,

potentially damaging winds and hail, lightning and locally heavy rain, but the real story will be the shrinking of those excessive heat watches and warnings. today, we still have some stretching all wait from missouri into west virginia, portions of the mid-atlantic as well, where we could still see those heat index values well up to 110 degrees or so take a look at some of these potential highs today. our nation's capital finally getting around 96 degrees today. that will be the first day they haven't seen triple digits in a while. charleston, we are looking the a high of 96. raleigh, 103. so, we will eventually start to see those 100s start to dissipate by the beginning of the week. in the west though, we have a big heatup in store. in fact, we are going to be seeing triple digit temperatures in yakima, pendleton, spokane, 96 degrees, the heat shifts to the west a big change in the pattern, however, this ridge of high pressure that has been causing so many of these hot temperatures will be lessening

and we will see a trough start to move into the east. this is going to bring those much cooler, more pleasant conditions as we begin our workweek. new york looking at 81 degrees, pittsburgh in the 80s. even chicago finally cooling off in the windy city back into the high 80s. so, certainly going to be a much cooler week ahead but a couple of days of rough storms for the mid-atlantic. alex? >> okay, julie martin, thank you for that. the drought hitting much of the country will soon hit your pocketbook. the persistent hot, dry weather shrunk corn and soybean production and dried up feeding ground. officials say food prices will rise as much as 3.5% starting later this year around extend to 2013. experts and the farmers tell us how bad it could get. >> the ideal temperature for this critical time would be 72 degrees, but from about 80 to 95, the yield potential keeps dropping every degree it goes up and once we get over 95, it is

probably pretty much toast. mother nature hasn't been very good to us this summer and we have had a lot of dry weather and a lot of heat. >> the u.s. drought monitor says more than half the country is in drought with no sign of letting up. let's go to front page politics now and post july 4th fireworks over the economy today. >> the economy is moving in a better direction than it was but it need -- acceleration needs to happen and that requires both footer work together. i don't think most americans want to go back to the days of george w. bush, record spending increases, record deficits, record unemployment, record job losses. i mean, the fact of the matter is while we would all like the recovery to be happening faster, unemployment is lower now than it's been in three years. >> goff no he has talked about president bush several times, that election was eight years ago this is a choice between president obama, his failed policies and governor romney

this past week, david axelrod tried to run against president nixon this is not about the past but the future. second, governor o'malley a angry at congress, he needs to be angry at the american people. >> president obama is heading to more battleground states this week. on tuesday he will be in iowa. later in the week, he travels to virginia. one of the billionaire koch brothers is reportedly hosting a fund-raising dinner for mitt romney out in the hamptons. the invitation says governor romney will attend, the cost $50,000 a person so you get a break at $75,000 per couple. joining me now for more front page politics, political reporter for the "washington post," nia-malika henderson and steve dough ma from mcclatchy newspapers. thank you for being here. >> i will begin with you first, governor o'malley slamming president bush's policies. is this strategy of blaming the previous administration work? >> you look at the most recent

polls, gallup had a poll out showed 68% of voters still blame bush for part, 49% of republicans still lay blame on bush in terms of the state of the economy. i think one of the things they are obviously trying to do is really make this argument that democrats do it better. that is essentially their argument. you will hear president obama talk about bill clinton, for instance, the 20 million jobs created under that they will try to tie mitt romney to bush and just generic republicans because they do have a sense people do still blame bush and polls show that and also congress, especially the republican-controlled house, isn't really held in high regard. i think they are going to continue to do this feel like it's working but i think you will see some push back from republicans. you saw mitt romney have an ad out recently, he was splicing in all of the instances where president obama was blaming some outside force, be it bush, be it a hurricane, be it a tsunami,

for the economy. you are going to hear from romney, obama is out of excuses answered should be out of time. bhoufrnlt this steve, republicans, not surprisingly, going after the president, the latest jobs numbers, even with that june report, latest gallup poll shows the president and governor romney neck in neck. what does that say and should the romney camp be concerned? do you get inklings they are concern about the numbers? >> what it says is this is not a referendum on the president f it were the president would be trailing governor romney by ten points or more. it is a choice, starting to turn into a choice the voters are looking now at mitt romney as the alternative. he hasn't made the sale yet. it sells us that barack obama could win this election. should the romney campaign in boston be concerned? absolutely. two month nas row of bad job numbers, particularly in the swing states, not only is mitt romney not scoring, he is trailing in those states.

they realize they can't run out the clock and run on the economy, they will have to after alternative, flush it out more. looking at the convention as the time to do it. they are raising lot of money now in the hamptons shall as you point out and other places for tv ads that will come later. right now showing discipline, patience, for those in the base want them to engage quirk, more aggressively now. so far, they think they can make that case later. >> you know, nia-malika, picking up on the jobs numbers, they weren't stellar but weren't exactly a surprise. so, if they pretty much immediate expectations a bosnia he get closer to november, does the president not take as much of a hit? >> could be the case. i talked to democrats earlier today and they are still holding their breath. they are still very much, you know, wait and see mode. they feel lick there could be an uptick in the economy after labor day and that could change the stakes of this leeks.

6 at this point, romney and obama are need terms of how people feel who could handle the economy better and you see them prosecuting a very strong case in these swing states and i think they feel like they are paying some some dividends because they are ahead in the swing states. >> we talked about the president heading to a few more swing states this week, how has his message played out in those stays in the. >> had he is doing well in those states. we see some polling in ohio and pennsylvania and some of the swing states and he is ahead by several points in those states. not even neck in neck right now. it is remarkable. some of those are industrial midwest states like ohio, mich and pennsylvania, where the auto bailout from '09 that the president pushed is really paying political dividends now. those people are very grateful to have their jobs. so that's factor in those states. >> okay. steve, nia-malika, sit tight for a second. i want to go to the white house, and bring in nbc's mike

viqueira, the latest from the camp taine trail. mike, how are you? >> reporter: hi, alex. the president is back at the white house, up at camp david with his family, a little r & r. mitt romney, as you have reported, breaking his week-long -- in new hampshire. even though the candidates weren't out or giving stump speeches, the ground games are out in full force, even as mitt romney considers his options for the number two spot on the ticket. in florida saturday, they were pounding the pavement, looking for support in person. [ knocking ] and over the phone. it is the same in virginia. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: and new hampshire. both campaigns looking for votes in swing states were every vote count. >> would you be interested in volunteering? >> i believe i would. >> reporter: while mitt romney has spent much of the last weekend vacationing in new hampshire, his surrogates have

been busy. ralph portman, said to be on romney's short list for a running mate was also in new hampshire saturday and staying mum on his chances. >> [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: romney acres long with a handful of close advisers, is considering his options for the number two slot. >> it is being done in a very methodical, internal way. you don't hear about rushes to judgment. >> reporter: kelly ayotte was at romney's sides on the force. but there are a number of possible choices, including louisiana governor bobby jindal. >> he has a long resume for somebody so young. >> reporter: former minnesota governor tim pawlenty, who weighed in on the veep stakes himself. >> most important quality in selecting a vice presidential candidate is somebody who is ready to be president on day one. >> how are you. >> reporter: florida senator marco rubio. >> the candidate that most excites the republican base. >> reporter: wisconsin congressman, paul ryan, architect of the gop budget plan. >> republican faithful say the

ultimate decision could be crucial. >> he needs to find someone that obviously he agrees with he can work with, but also that is going to light the conservative base on fire in the fall. >> reporter: okay, alex, steve and nia-malika going to stay with you for the panel? i have something to put out there. >> bring them all on, if you can. >> reporter: obama campaign is going to spend $25 million continuing their attack on mitt romney's record at bain, offshore swiss accounts so forth, so on. crossroads gps, rove affiliated super pac, another 25 million hitting the president on the jobs report that is just in the course of this month, never mind all the other money being spent by the parties, other super pacs and the campaigns themselves. talk about a handful of voters, i calculated 3 million voters undecided in a relative handful of states in those battleground states. let's do the math. how much are they spending, the campaigns and super pacs, per persuadable sfloert battleground states that are going to term:therm? i came up with a figure, back of

the envelope, $7, $800. staggering once you think about t. >> any of you guys have a calculator with you? >> the reason we are in journalism is we are bad at math. >> i know you both listened to the report there in terms of the veep stakes, he makes good point there is not a lot of detail coming out there, played very close to the vest but also heard tim pawlenty say definitively what the most important characteristic is the person who would be able to step right into the shoes of the presidency. >> am i clear? >> no mike, you stay there keeping you on, we just heard you. nia-malika, your thoughts on that and then to you, steve, who do you see being the most likely candidate and is it foolish to continue talking about marco rubio? i had mark halperin tell me that on "time" magazine, it will be never be marco rubio at the end. >> that is probably true. i think marco rubio, you saw that report early on, he wasn't being red is the, oh, no he is being red is the. i guess it depends what the definition of vetted is.

i think tim paul len city right. sarah palin hangs heavy over this choice. no one wants to make that same mistake, which is what many people consider it had last time, which is to dominate someone most people thought was not quite up to the job of being president on day one. surprised in that report there is no mention of chris christie, who i think some people really want to see him because they feel like he has got some fire in his belly. he certainly seems to be very publicly saying, oh, if i'm on the list, i would certainly consider t another surprise about this whole process is how public the audition process s you see these guys out there on the sunday shows, on the stump with mitt romney, very much a departure from the past. >> steve, your thoughts? >> two things. very interesting developments in the last couple of days. one is ann romney saying publicly that a woman could get the slot. she is very close to the governor, obviously. that raises the prospect of condoleezza rice, a big hit at this conference romney had with

contribute percent and republican policy people in utah a week ago. she continues to say she is not interested. but we need to put her name on the list for spec at that time lastive purposes. the other is tim pawlenty. i talk to conservatives, very excited how much better tim pawlenty has gotten tv and the stump than he was a year ago when he was a candidate answered wasn't very good. >> interesting. >> they noticed that. probably whispering in governor romney's ear. >> mike, i wanted to keep you around to see how they reacted to your report there my thanks tour white house correspondent and impromptu co-anchor. see you. high ump unemployment the new norm and where are those jobs? answers next here on "weekends with alex witt." whoooa i'm in a river. what are some good kayaking words? like...rapids? look, i'm going through the rapids. ok. i'll take it. new offers in new places

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a new survey says american

business leaders don't have a lot of confidence in the economy. in the first quarter of 2012, 67% saw the economy on a positive level. only 17% see it that way now. in terms of improvement, the same holds true, 59% expected economic growth in six months, now only 20% expect that. that raises confidence about the latest employment numbers and how job growth is pressured. rick is the author of rebirds on, how winners pivot from setback to success. so, a good day to you. that whole mentality of at least it's something moving in the right direction. what is your reaction. >> the people who run companies have lost confidence and i don't think they have lost confidence in the economy as much as there

are two big problems that ceos are paying attention to, one is the debt problem in europe, which just doesn't seem toned. you know, it looks like maybe it got a little bit better recently but this is going to go on for a long time and a long time before we are out of the woods on that. that could affect our economy some what not directly, but still has an effect. the other is the fiscal cliff we keep hearing about big decisions made in washington. that explains why businesses are not hiring and why consumers are not spending much money. everybody is a little freaked out what is coming. >> okay. i'm trying to get some kind of a positive spin on this. we did see 80,000 jobs in the private sector. doesn't that also indicate that as much as it can turn downward quickly, it can turn back the upside quickly? >> it can, but i don't think it is likely to happen until business leaders in particular start to feel better about the future, just no reason to think that is likely to happen until

the leeks is over and we know what is going to happen in washington. this becomes a big and bicker factor the closer we get to the end of the year. >> you are telling me that congress' vole pretty significant in this. >> getting bigger. kind of the worst case scenario, the last thing you want the economy to be dependent on is what needs to happen in congress and business leaders know this. they know what happened last year when we hit the borough -- the federal borough limit, it was a complete man made disaster. that scenario is going to come up againer any 2013 and there's every reason to think it could be just as contentious last time, know more after the election in november but very easy to understand why business leaders are very conservative and skeptical about what's happening in washington. >> you don't think maybe just a natural spike upwards, say september, october, postsummer doldrums, everything gets back to reality? >> i think europe would have to get a lot better in order for that to happen. one other interesting statistic we are seeing here is that layoff russ actual late very low levels this means companies

aren't laying people off but not hiring either. >> kind of riding it out? >> they don't need to hire because demand is not going up because people are not spending money. i mean it is possible, i suppose, we could see a little bump upward after the summer, i just don't think there is anything that will generate that the real positive scenario might be in 2013, if we actually do get these problems solved, then i think could you see a nice relief rally in the stock market, thought we escaped disaster, didn't have armageddon, get through that debt limit increase that is going to have to happen. if that all happens without too much collateral damage, i think then, yeah, companies might say, we got that behind us, we can move forward. >> quickly be a politician or political analyst for me then s this the kind of thing president obama needs keep going into the leeks? what he has to say keep riding it out, we are on an upward trend? >> i think obama could pull some leifer around increase hiring by 50,000, we all know woe do it. the funny thing here is i think

the president is almost powerless at this point to do anything about the economy. the economy is doing its own thing right now. no more stimulus out of washington. more from the federal reserve out of kwaupt at this timetive easing. that is baked energy as the economists say if that happens, i don't think that will make quite a lot of difference. i think we are waiting in wait and see mode until at least november and possibly till the end of the year. >> so buckle up, in order. >> i think so rick newman, good to way. coming up on office politics, chris pena, the new nbc latino.com, the folks of marco rubio and mitt romney's running mate. will that necessarily help romney win the latino vote? you are watching "weekends with alex witt."

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enthusiastically have exercised the fundment aal right of people, if you are going to have a democracy and that is a fair election. >> martin fletcher in cairo with the latest from there martin a good evening your time. the vote survive both violence and protests, what's the mood in the country today and how is this vote going to be viewed years from now? >> i think a great success, dramatic day for libyans today. the first winners were the libyan people the head of the election called it and a united nations representative said it was an unqualified success. today has been a quiet day of counting the votes, the preliminary votes in some of the key areas the capital, tripoli you and shows that the muslim brotherhood has not done as well as expected. the coalition of about 40 so called liberal parties seems to be ahead at the moment, although isser early days what people

want when they overthrough gadhafi after 42 years of dictatorship. when they fought the revolutions beginning last february. this is what they wanted, democratic elections, they got it but it hasn't been without trouble there were two people killed on friday, one on saturday. and elections, election officers in a few places were burned. 101 places, in fact, could not actually vote. so, those -- those polling stations where voting was not possible because of the violence yesterday, they were voting today so the libyans expect a final result early is probably tuesday and holding their breath. the main point of the libyan election so far, they have been very peaceful and i think that in the future, in the ten years that you asked about, alex, they are going to look back and say at least the elections was peaceful, isn't clear what the future holds yet for libya there are problems still in the east of the country, alex. >> i was going to say good

points you make there. nbc's martin fletcher from cairo. thank you. next, iran stays could attack u.s. bases within minutes if it was attacked. is that a real threat? you are watching "weekends with alex witt." this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve,

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and start earning double. [ all ] double miles! [ brays ] what's in your wallet? can you play games on that? not on the runway. no. 32 past the hour. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." new today, iran stays could strike u.s. bases within minute it is attacked. itted ed this amidst it would close the straight of hormuz, one quarter of the oil supply flows off the coast of iran and the threats were made in retaliation for the oil embargo it faces over its disputed nuclear program. joining me general barry mccaffrey. good to see you, sir. >> hi, alex. >> the u.s. military much more powerful than iran's. couldn't they cause big problem it is they tried close the strait of hormuz? >> i think we are seeing desperation on the part of the iran yans, economic sanctions

are reducing oil exports enormously.l european unions, surprisingly, to me, signed up for t secretary of state hillary clinton and the state department has provided some 20 exemptions but nonetheless, their experts are going down dramatically, biting in. so, they are squawking now and trying to maintain a credible threat to close the persian gulf to oil transit if the sanctions actually affect them. >> because of that squawking perhaps, sir that has motivated the u.s. to move navy ships close to the straits, deal with any potential problems. where does this lead? >> hopefully not to war. if they struck at u.s. and bases, they would end up with a what are would devastate their economy and nuclear production facilities. little doubt the u.s. and navy

air force would open the gulf in fairly rapid order but it would involve a tremendous military campaign against the iran yans. this is to be avoided at all coasts. >> what do you think about that headline i talked about, u.s. bases could be struck within minutes, some 30 or in the region there, within striking distance. dour thi do you think that is true? >> i think so they have several hundred long range missiles that go out 1200 miles and could strike israel or u.s. base. having said that, alex, no question, the u.s. nave and i have air force have substantially reinforced our military presence. we could clear the mine threat, destroy the iranian revolutionary guard forces inside the gulf but it would be a big wanted consequences would be significant. >> general barry mckpaf fry,

thank you for weighing in on a very troubling situation. appreciate it. good to be with you, alex. time for your fast five headlines. southern russia, the death toll from severe flooding reached at least 150. the raging floodwaters come from the 24-hour torrential rain that dumped a foot of water in some spots. tokyo, u.s. and 70 other country and organizations pledged $16 billion in aid for afghanistan. the donations spread out over the next four years when most foreign troops will be leaving. forces in syria today have begun military exercises while secretary of state hillary clinton today said the syrian state could collapse. clinton said the regime of bashar al assad must acknowledge its days are numbered. in pamplona, spain, day two of the running of the bums, estimated 4,000 people running for their lives. the bulls trampled several runners no one was gored nor seriously hurt. china, a panda sanctuary showing off new slide for their cute, cuddly bears, they were bowled over. video of their rollicking was released to highlight china's first panda awareness week so

cute, tough check it out. those are your fast five headlines. very proud of our new venture, nbc latino.com just launched this past week and office politics, i talked with the man at the top, chris pena. we discussed the effects of a potential marco rubio veep pick but i began by asking him how mitt romney's stand on immigration is playing out in the latino population. >> hasn't gone over well, if you look at the numbers. really when latinos are asked about just on a straight party basis to vote forth republican candidate would you prefer the democratic candidate for president, they are leaning by almost 40 points toward president obama. >> can mitt romney pivot and gain the latino vote? has the die been cast there?

>> mitt romney has the ability to reach certain groups within the latino community. and perhaps it's the puerto rican electorate in central florida, perhaps more conservative mexican-americans in nevada, mexico and certainly arizona a flash point with immigration. in targeted ways, mitt romney can have success with latinos as long as is it is not target the latino vote, it is more about the issues. >> what about his time in mexico and his family's affiliation with mexico? do you think that's lost on the sfloefrnlts i believe he mentioned it once recently, within the last month. but that's been -- that is a fascinating story about how his father, mitt romney's father was born in mexico and how there is a thriving community of romneys just across the border.

that would make him more relatable with latinos. but perhaps put him in a situation where he may get push back and some people would say why are you more sympathetic or why are your positions more sympathetic toward immigrants and latinos overall? >> were that to change if he would were to pick marco rubio as his vice president? >> the $800 million question. i go back and say most of the latino voters not cubans. and this will solve all of the problems. marco rubio does have recognition issues within the latino community. there aren't many latinos who don't know who marco rubio is and have to double check this but one poll that only showed 40% of latinos heard of marco rubio. he has only been a senator for

two years. prior to that he was speaker of the house in florida, representing -- representing a district in miami. >> with regard to the percentages, i know you are not a pollster, but they say that mitt romney needs to gain at least 35% of the latino vote to have a chance of this election. >> maybe little too late and i think that number came from george w. bush gaining 35% of the latino vote, the last time he was elected. and so that seems to be kind of a magic threshold and you can't win the general election with less than 35% of the latino vote. looking like he can't get to that -- to that number, especially with what's happened on the immigration front are especially with the president running an end-around on congress and really seizing an issue that hispanics care about so much. so it's definitely an uphill battle for romney to get to 35% of the latino vote.

>> when you are not toiling away at 30 rock you are a proud dad of two kids, son 19, a daughter, 11, going on what? >> the joy of my life. my parents wanted a better life for me, way and the the best life possible for kmirn. my son wants to be a certified registered nurse a necessary threatist. >> awesome. >> awesome. and my daughter wants to be on stage some house, singing, dancing, which is why she is at arts camp this summer. but they keep me busy. they make me incredibly proud. my son finished his freshman year of college and he played high school football. >> seeing him get beat up on the field? >> that was really tough. now, my girl wants to play football. up next weekend, my colleague melissa harris-perry. there is a presidential candidate who has no chance of

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it's 100% money back guaranteed. try it for your next backyard barbeque. it's time for the big three, today's topics, framing jobs the third man and must reads. erin mcpike in studio here with me, morris reed and 2008 consultant to mitt romney and the senior adviser to michele bachmann in 2012, wesley donahue. good to have all three of you here. wesley, i will reach out to you first go first to framing jobs. the new op ed in the "new york times" asks why the recovery under president obama has not been stronger, here is what it sways a quote. part of the reason is the result of obstructionist republican politics, including the fiasco in 2007 over raising the debt ceiling which dented confidence in congress' ability to steer the economy. so as an analyst, wily, doesn't

this provide the president with a pretty powerful argument? >> i think the entire editorial was nothing more than garbage, starting with the premise that americans ever trusted congress to steer the economy. they ne the president is going to turn us into another greece if republicans don't obstruct some of these insanely liberal ideas he has. >> so, who does have the power to dreck the economy, steer it, wesly? is it the president? a lot of analysts who say he does not have the power to do it. >> no listen, all that congress and the president need to do is just simply get out of the way. it is going to be small business people like right here in main street, south carolina, going to do it not congress, not the president of the united states. >> erin, take a listen to what the president had to say thursday about all this while he was campaigning in ohio. here that is. >> what is holding us back from meeting our challenges, it is not a lack of ideas, it is not a

lack of commission solutions. what's holding us back, we have got a stalemate in washington between these two visions of where the country needs to go. and this election is all about breaking that stalemate. i know ohio is your home state. as you check in with family and friend there do you get a sense his message is resonating with voters in >> some. what is interesting the bus tour president obama took on thursday and friday, the northern part of ohio, like policies, like the auto bailout, has helped him, hasn't gone to southern ohio, where i'm from they don't feel the same way because the auto companies aren't based in the southern part of ohio. >> interesting perspective there. hey, morris, if you are the president's adviser, would you recommend that he continue with this line or do you think there's something else that you would recommend that would work better? >> again, i don't think the blame game is going to completely work there is a fact that there are things the

president can do, what he did with the hispanic issue. i'm from northern ohio, the fact he is speaking out in northern ohio makes sense. he really needs to go to places there have been pockets of suck settes and drill down on those. midwest is critical. going to ohio, indiana and michigan, really talking about the fact did he save the auto industry is resonating. he is going to have to find a message for those other places where the auto industry happens. ohio is interesting because it has been growing, about 94,000 jobs added there. it is the other key states were he has got to find a message and really hone in on those issues this are going to resonate u >> we are going to go to the third man now, begin with you, erin, talk about libertarian candidate gary johnson, and the slate article that says he could pull votes and really make a difference in a very closely contested eelection. who do you think woe pull more from, the president or mitt romney? >> more from mitt romney. it looks like it about two ghoirsd to mitt romney, a third to president obama, at least

that's what gary johnson's campaign thinks. i interviewed his campaign manager or consultant, roger stone, a couple of months ago, they think in places like arizona and colorado and nevada, the president looks pretty strong but pull a lot from mitt romney and help maybe even send arizona to president obama's column by pulling so much from mitt romney. interesting, you know, we move to you, morris, a lot of times, the third party candidates are called spoilers, you look at the 2000 election, al gore lost to george w. bush in new hampshire and new mexico, we have got ralph -- rather new hampshire, ralph nader just 22,000 votes there. john mccain lost to president obama in north carolina. bob barr got more than 25,000 votes there. do you think gary johnson could be siphoning off votes from the president in key swing states in 2012 like other third party candidates have done? >> no this is nonsense. this is not a race about gary johnson this is a race about the economy.

gary johnson doesn't have a credible leg to stand on when it comes down to that issue. this is a two-man race between mitt romney and president obama and this is unlike the other elections were you have ross perot and some of the other people who had extra money and had some credibility to stand the economy and what the president or mitt romney c do to lead this country in the right direction. you think that this is going to ultimately if hi to predict who would hurt, lit hurt mitt romney. i believe this is nonsense. it will come down to two men really getting their message out and focussing on that issue. >> okay. before we completely close the door on this conversation, thanks to what more sis saying, i want to look at the p t polls from the slate which shows from new hampshire and new mexico. gary johnson is at least 7% in those states. do you think that he can win over some republicans? especially if new hampshire who supported rick santorum. i mean, might he be a mitt romney spoiler? >> i think he will get some of the pot head vote. he has to have one hell of a get out the vote machine and get

those guys off their couches and bags of door eat those how do you respond to that? >> i will tell you that there are lots of voters in all of these states unhappy with both candidates. ron paul. gary johnson's campaign is going right after those voters and they are trying to say look, ron paul wants to speak to the republican convention. we are the real libertarian, come to us, and going after the donors. >> that's -- nonstarter. >> ron paul is he the one who maybe we should talk about? >> if ron paul had a room issue in the credible message he would be one of the contenders. this is not an issue with the third parties. the reason they are looking for other people is because they are not satisfied exactly get with the two candidates. this will change people's minds as we get closer though the post-labor day and people start to focus on the campaign. i think that you will see that it will be the president and mitt romney and other third parties will just be a distraction. >> well, i got so shot down by morris reid with this, an way.

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we are back with the big three. we have your must-reads for this sunday. my panel today, once again, erin and lesley donahue. what's your first read? >> great story in the new york times today about new challenges to the health care law important states that don't -- do not want to adopt the law and they don't want to set up exchanges whether or not the federal government will still pay subsidies for people who don't have insurance. in essence, challenges to the health care law despite the supreme court's decision are going to continue. >> interest sounds like one of the articles you have to read twice. >> yes, indeed. >> exactly. so complicated. morris, to you, what's your must read? >> a great piece in "the washington post" on the president called zmen now. it talked about the president

and some of the rhetoric and messaging he had in the first election. and now he's really much more -- i don't know if i want to say he was more idyllic then but is -- four years of experience in dealing with congress and what it is like to be president. so he has a very different, more sobering message on the campaign trail. it is a fascinating story to see where the president was then and where he is now. running for re-election. >> in part because you compare such high, highs four years ago and what all that brought. so good point there. lesley, we finish with you. what's your must read? >> a very long but great piece in "the new york times," democrats trying to raise money through super pacs. democrats almost -- in the country attacking conservatives who are raising and spending money in this way. now the different ones are trying to play the same game. this piece actually -- more of a fluff piece for liberals. it reads more like "50 shades of gray" than a real expose.

>> a democrat reading the "new york times"? i-didn't know it was a must read for republicans? my gosh. >> bit of a bump. makes a point. you guy, thank you so much. good to see you all. that's a wrap of this sunday edition of "weekends with alex witt." for years. aspirin wouldn't really help my headache, i don't think. aspirin is just old school. people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. what's different? it has micro-particles. enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of pain. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer.

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