s. right now on "andrea mitchell reports" mitt romney says today he might be looking for a vice president with quote, different perspectives and skills. so who might that be and just how close is romney to naming a running mate? as speculation builds, we'll talk to one of the top contenders, the former minnesota governor tim pawlenty. this hour, both candidates continue their attacks. romney in pennsylvania, the president in texas. can the president turn out the base? the national urban league takes a look at the mood of african-american voters this year. plus, speaking of vice presidents, dick cheney returning to capitol hill today to help republicans who are opposed to defense cuts. and pucker up. the president gets a do-over on the kiss cam and then schools kobe bryant on the dream team debate.

>> you know, this is a generational thing. i was around in '92, i was a bulls fan, so i've got to go with the original dream team, and i suspect that michael and sir charles and others would point out they were probably never down at any point in any of their games. but this is a great team, unbelievable talent, and kobe's a competitor so you expect him to do a little trash talking whenever the opportunity arises. good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. no trash talking here. in our daily fix, mitt romney has started to prepare for the all-important rollout of a running mate. he's hired two experienced republican staff members to take care of the vice presidential campaign to come. this hour, romney will be holding a town hall in a pittsburgh suburb as president obama arrives in texas to raise campaign cash. chris cillizza is an msnbc contributor and managing editor of post politics.com.

chris, this is quite a matchup. you have the candidates in two all-important states, mitt romney also broadcasting into the ohio broadcast area right there in western p.a., and a lot of talk about staffing the vice president, two experienced staff members. what do we know about the timing, we think the window is this week or the week after he comes back from his foreign trip. >> well, you know, here's the most basic thing we know about the timing. there are 41 days between today and the opening of the republican national convention in tampa, florida, on august 27th. so sometime between now and then, we'll know. my guess is for all the speculation about this week, i still think it is unlikely, they are clearly putting the pieces into place. my guess is he does have a short or shorter list. reuters this morning had three folks, jindal, pawlenty and portman. i think that is all possible. i would say if he does not do it this week and i don't think he

will, i don't think he does it next week and then you get into his foreign trip, the olympics. i just don't think you want to do it, i'm not just saying this because we're on msnbc and nbc. i don't think you want to do it during the olympics. it could drown out the bump you want to get from it. i still think the most likely outcome, he's clearly making moves to prepare for announcing a vp, i still think the most likely outcome is what we traditionally see, in the week or two weeks before the convention. so mid-august. >> one of the most intriguing things that we've seen recently is something that he shared that mitt romney shared today in an interview with the national review. he said when asked about what he might look for in a vice president, what makes a good vice president, he said that the people i've worked with over my career have been people who have had the capacity to lead, who share my philosophy and in some cases, in some cases he said people who provide perspectives

and skills that i may not share. that's an interesting take away. >> yeah. you know what's so hard, and i spend so much of my time trying to read these tea leaves, is you're really -- we're really trying to say what does that mean, what does "different perspectives" mean. does that mean he picks bobby jindal, who is indian-american, who is from the south, but they are both governors. or does he pick rob portman, who is a senator -- i mean, or does he pick marco rubio or a woman, perhaps, kelly ayotte from new hampshire. those are unlikely. it's just so difficult because the level of interest in the vice presidential sweepstakes is exactly inversely relational to how much information that is totally accurate and right on that we as reporters can get about it. it's just so hard, such a small group of people. mitt romney, ann romney, beth myers, who is leading the search. probably matt rhodes, campaign manager. that's for people, none of whom have a vested interest in

telling me or you who it's going to be. i always tell people, be skeptical because it's so hard to get at when and who. >> if you're talking women, i would also add one longer shot is condoleezza rice, someone who both mitt and ann romney clearly took a liking to, especially after her park city speech. thanks so much, chris cillizza. talk to you later. from romney rival to loyal surrogate and potential running mate, joining me now, former minnesota governor, tim pawlenty. governor r or governor, thanks for being with us. i'm sure you love hearing this speculation. you have been here, done that before. we spent time four years ago when you were on the short short list and then john mccain surprised everybody with sarah palin. how does it feel to be going through this again? >> well, there's a little bit of deja vu to all the speculation, but as chris mentioned, there's an inverse correlation but i would add the inverse correlation is probably the

level of interest is directly correlated to how close you are to washington, d.c. the rest of the country's in the middle of the summer and probably thinking about other things. but what they are thinking about is this troubled economy and the fact that we got so many of our neighbors and people across our states and across the country are unemployed or underemployed or given up work, and looking for work, and president obama's presidency is up for renewal. i think the country should look at that and say he didn't get the job done, didn't live up to his word, didn't keep his promise and look for a new and better direction under president romney. >> what governor romney said today to the national review was that in some cases he looks at people who provide perspectives and skills that i may not share. what perspective and skills do you -- could you provide that he might not share? >> well, we at the romney campaign have a policy of not talking about the vp process in particular, but look, any team, whether president, vice president, you want to have different ingredients, different dynamics and one of those dynamics is making sure you have

a skill set that complements each other in some ways. there's other considerations, too, obviously geography and philosophy and abilities and skills and background. so there's a lot that goes into it. one ingredient might be, as governor romney alluded to this morning, having somebody who might bring something to the table that supplements one of his either strengths or weaknesses. >> some people describe you as a sam's club republican, that you've got working class roots, that you weren't born to wealth. is that one aspect that he clearly is lacking just from biography? >> well, you could go down the list of the speculated people on the vp list and make an argument they've got attributes or experiences that complement governor romney's in some way. as chris cillizza just mentioned it's mostly speculation and an interesting discussion but it really doesn't get you anywhere. for me, i'm committed to governor romney not because i think i was looking to be vice president. i said many times i think i can best serve him in other ways but anybody would be honored to be

asked. but the real issue here isn't necessarily the particulars of a vp candidate. the issue is does barack obama deserve re-election. we have 23 million americans unemployed, underemployed, given up looking for work. he made all his big promises. he didn't fulfill it. he hasn't done a good job as president. he doesn't deserve re-election. i think mitt romney's time is now. >> one of the big debates right now is over the taxes. how many years of taxes did you provide to john mccain four years ago? >> well, i don't remember the specific number of years. i know i provided some tax returns going back a number of years but i don't know if it was three or five. i don't think it was probably more than that. >> do you think that two years is enough, so far only one year, but to promise to provide two years is enough? it's not what governor romney's father laid out when he did a dozen years, and he was running back in 1968. it's become such a big issue,

even haley barbour, george will, bill kristol, leading republicans say just do it, already, put the taxes out there, take this issue off the table. >> well, mitt romney has released as you noted two years' worth of tax returns and that's basically been the standard for republican nominees for president. >> that's a very low end. >> there's no allegation or insinuation of wrongdoing or any time he's been in trouble or accused of wrongdoing. why would mitt romney be held to a different standard than almost any other republican nominee for president? i think going back a couple years is reasonable. >> there's been a lot of nastiness in this campaign and combativeness on both sides, not just the negative advertisements back and forth, but again, on a conference call today, there has been criticism of the democrats for a couple of days ago what happened on a conference call. now today, former governor sununu from new hampshire whom you know very well suggested that, he said that president obama, the president needs to learn what it's like to be an

american, and then he said i wish that the president, i think it was, i wish the president would learn how to be an american. now, later, when it was pointed out to him apparently, he said well, if i said something that suggested something i didn't mean, then i apologize. he said he was trying to explain that the president in his view doesn't know how the american economy works, how american jobs get created. but is that the kind of rhetoric that you want to hear in this campaign from either side? >> well, it's a good question. i think you've summarized the series of events and the sequence of events very well. governor sununu made those comments earlier today. he then clarified and walked back those statements by saying he meant that president obama really doesn't have a familiarity with what it means to be in the american entrepreneurial and private enterprise system early stage capital formation deployment and comments to that effect. so i think he clarified it, and obviously, the governor has a knack for colorful language and

can be very informative and entertaining. this one, he admitted perhaps he wasn't as clear as he should have been and issued a clarificatioe circumstances. >> what vice presidents do you admire when you look at running mates and teams, is it al gore and clinton, is it cheney and george w. bush? who in the past, is it george herbert walker bush and ronald reagan? what's your role model for what a good vice president should be. is it joe biden? >> i haven't really given that a lot of thought or studied the dynamic or synergies between the vice president and the president in years gone past. i would want to give that some thought and give you a more thoughtful answer but just off the cuff, i would say if you look at the relationship that ronald reagan had with george bush, h.w. bush, that seemed to be a healthy, dynamic and constructive relationship. i'm sure there are others. but just off the cuff, that would be one that would be worth further review and study. seems they had a good

relationship and good partnership. >> people are talking about senator portman, one of your colleagues, because of ohio and the importance of ohio. clearly minnesota is not considered a swing state here. the last time it actually voted for a republican -- >> 1972 is the answer. it's the longest unbroken streak of voting for democrat of any state in the nation, including vermont, massachusetts, hawaii and california. i love my state, it's filled with great people, but it unfortunately has the longest unbroken streak of voting for democrat for president of any state in the nation. >> you have never -- you were re-elected and won twice but you didn't break 50% so nobody's arguing that you're going to bring minnesota's electoral votes to the table, necessarily, if you're on the ticket. what role should geography, should electoral, the electoral map play in this, do you think, in the romney calculus? >> well, first, let me say rob

portman and jane portman are wonderful people. i have the utmost respect for them and obviously, both them and other people that are being speculated about have a lot of talent and skill. governor romney's going to have a great list of people to pick from. there's a lot of deep bench strength in the conservative movement in the republican party and other names that you mentioned early in the show and others as well. as to minnesota, republicans can win here under certain circumstances, as my elections demonstrated. i didn't break 50% as you noted but i also was running in a race with three and four candidates so getting in the mid and high 40s isn't such a bad result under those circumstances. but minnesota can tilt republican in certain years. then beyond that, geography is one of many factors that a candidate might look at but again, we don't get into the details, the timing and the particulars of the vp process. >> i would be remiss if i let you go without asking, have you gotten the call? >> which call is that? >> well, the call from boston or

new hampshire or from governor romney. >> well, i am in contact with governor romney from time to time but this week i'm focused on some yard work and some business things but look, the process will unfold in due course. i'm sure governor romney and his team will let you all know when the announcement's coming but that's not something that i can comment on. >> understood. thank you very much. always good to see you. thank you. >> good to see you. up next, a new bipartisan campaign to avoid the fiscal cliff. former senator sam nunn is here to explain. plus, what role could african-american voters play in 2012? the national urban league ahead on "andrea mitchell reports." me. focus lolo, focus. let's do this. i am from baltimore. south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love. this is for everyone back home.

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a new round of political brinksmanship over taxes and spending on capitol hill could threaten to send the economy

over the so-called fiscal cliff if there is no budget deal by year's end. during senate testimony today, fed chairman ben bernanke painted a grim picture of a worst case scenario. >> the congressional budget office has estimated that if the full range of tax increases and spending cuts were allowed to take effect, a scenario widely referred to as the fiscal cliff, a shallow recession could occur early next year and about one and a quarter million fewer jobs would be created in 2013. >> with me now is former georgia senator, democratic senator sam nunn, who is part of a committee for responsible federal budget which is launching a new effort to find a long-term budget agreement. welcome. it is so good to see you. thanks so much for being here. are you talking about the simpson-bowles or rivlin-domenici approach to this? why do you want to get the conversation started now? everyone is talking about nothing being done until after the election. >> number one, we have a very fragile global economy. number two, we have a fragile

u.s. economy. number three, neither party in my view has a governing strategy. they have a political strategy. that's apparent every day. but a governing strategy in fiscal terms is something different. number four, neither party can basically impose its will on the country and on the other party so it's going to take cooperation. as i see this coalition, committee for responsible budget, we have csis involved, we have the concord coalition very much involved, i see us as trying to lay a foundation of understanding in the american public about the seriousness of the problem, the framework of the simpson-bowles approach which is the best framework out there. same thing with the domenici-rivlin, very close. they have done a terrific job. and trying to build a coalition around america to support the people on capitol hill that are willing to work together across party lines, that are willing to put the country in front of the

party. that group, there are a number of them but they don't have any support. they get hit over the head every day from both sides. so the way i see the american political situation in terms of fiscal matters is we've got the two wings, left and right, that are really flapping and the fuselage is missing. the american middle has to be heard from. >> at the same time, what you've got are two candidates who have yet to be specific about exactly what they would do on budget cuts. do the candidates themselves before election day need to lay out what they would do the avoid these kinds of problems? >> i think if one of the candidates were to have the courage to endorse the simpson-bowles approach, the framework with all cards on the table, including the entitlements which are growing out of control, and including revenue along the lines of the simpson-bowles, concentrating on putting that kind of package together, i think they would begin to capture the middle of america. they would make a lot of people

mad because there are a lot of groups out there that really want their way or the highway, but nevertheless, i think it would be a very bold move but i think it would be a move that would be successful politically and i would like to see it done. >> are you disappointed that the president didn't take that opportunity when they reported to him? there they were in the rose garden and he sort of gave them a pat on the back but did not fully embrace their proposals. >> i think it would be a different race now if he had. i'm sure he had his own reasons but in my view, he should have embraced it, he should have run with it. it wouldn't have passed immediately but i think the president has to educate and has to lead, and in that respect, i think he's done a lot of good things in other areas but in that respect, i do not give good marks to the president. but i have to say on the other side that the romney campaign, what are they saying? they are going to increase the defense budgets, how do you do that. no new revenue, how do you do that. it doesn't add up. this is not physics, not calculus, not even algebra. right now the arithmetic is missing not only from the two

candidates but from the leadership on capitol hill, republican and democrat. >> one final thing. i know you need to go to get to your news conference. do you think that the concern that many conservatives, especially republicans on the hill have about the defense cuts that would be automatic, one thing that dick cheney is doing back on the hill today is trying to bolster support to fight those defense cuts, could that break the logjam on revenue, on the revenue side? >> well, i think everything has -- everybody has to participate. everybody has to walk away a little bit unhappy. i'm sure simpson and bowles would tell you and pete and alice would tell you they don't like everything in the proposal but everybody, including defense, has to play a role. we are facing this cliff. the economy is fragile. the market's going to be disrupted long before january 1st, in my view. why not substitute in the lame duck session the simpson-bowles framework, legislative framework, for the cliff, buying

three, six months' time and let that be the default position so that if congress can't make an agreement, we have simpson-bowles rather than disaster with huge tax increases and huge defense cuts as well as domestic programs that are hit really, really hard and really doing nothing in serious terms about the runaway entitlement programs, particularly the medical side. so why not substitute simpson-bowles for the default position in december rather than the cliff that we're going over now, if we don't act. >> sam nunn, wish you were back in washington, sir. come on back to the senate. >> i would have to go to atlanta to cool off. it's ten degrees cooler there today. >> how did that ever happen. thank you so much. good to see you. >> good to be with you. we'll be right back.

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people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. developing right now, mitt romney has taken the stage at a campaign rally outside of pittsburgh, pennsylvania. >> -- or can only get part-time jobs. i think he has heard that about half of this year's college graduates can't find work or find work that's consistent with their college degree. i think he's heard the message that the median income in america has dropped by 10% in the last four years. i think he's seen the record number of foreclosures and so he has to recognize his policies have failed to get america working again. my guess is he wonders why that is, and i have the answer for him. liberal policies don't make good jobs.

you look at them one by one, everybody knows that our health care system has all sorts of problems and things that need to be corrected, most important of which or one of the most important is it's very expensive. health insurance is extraordinarily expensive. there are a lot of things that need to be done to improve health care but obama care is not the answer. we got to replace it and get rid of it. he has other policies that haven't helped create jobs. obama care, by the way, i hope you know the numbers on that and the impact it's had on job creation. the chamber of commerce went out to their members and surveyed them and said what's been the impact of obama care and three quarters, three quarters said they are less likely to hire people because of obama care. you see, his policies did not help create jobs. they depressed job creation and

that's why we're still struggling with so many people out of work. and by the way, let me just note, this number, 8.2% unemployment, we have gone 41 months with unemployment above 8%. why's that number, why do we keep on talking about 8%? because that's the bogey the president himself set. he said if we let them borrow $787 billion in his first year which congress let him do, he would hold unemployment below 8% and it has not been below 8% since. that's a number but it represents real people, people facing some real tough times, people out of work and stopped looking for work, as i said, but also people who are actually working in jobs. a lot of them facing tough times. a lot of people employed wonder whether they're going to be able to afford retirement. there are a number of folks who i don't know whether you read the story over the weekend, there was a story in the "new york times" which described a couple of women that are working

in a day care center, one of whom is a single mom. she has three kids. one full-time job, three kids does not make a real comfortable life. she's had tougher and tougher times. being middle class in america is getting tougher and tougher and a lot of people in the middle class have fallen into poverty. this president's economy is not working for the american people even for those that are employed. so i mentioned obama care as something that kills jobs. there's another one. when you increase the number of regulations at a rate three times that of his predecessor, with a bill like dodd-frank that makes it harder for small banks to grow and thrive and make loans, you don't add jobs. when you have energy policies that say no to fracing and drilling offshore and drilling in alaska, no to taking

advantage of or resources here, when you say no to coal, when you put in place regulations that don't allow coal to be able to be mined or used, these things kill jobs and that's got to stop. there's something else that's got to stop. and i believe you know about this, but you know the history of our country is a country where individuals with their dreams go out and begin an enterprise like this one here that joe and his colleagues built, and they go out and talk to friends and family and say would you loan us the money to start the business, and people scrape together the cash and buy a building like they bought this one here, and get started in business, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. that's sort of how we've done it in this country. that's very different than the way they've done it in some other countries, where the government comes in and based on

who you know in government, who is a friend in government, you get money from them. you get taxpayer dollars. that's happening in this country today. i'm ashamed to say that we're seeing our president hand out money to the businesses of campaign contributors when he gave money, $500 million in loans to a company called fisker that makes high end electric cars and they make the cars now in finland, that is wrong and it's got to stop. that kind of crony capitalism does not create jobs and it does not create jobs here. i believe in free people and free markets and i want government to get out of investing in individual businesses. so the president's looking around for someone to blame, and recently, i became the reason for all the problems. i was as surprised, my family

and me, but he's always looking for someone out there. atm machines, tsunamis, china, europe. it's always something, congress. we won't forget, by the way, that congress was in his party for two years with the majority. he takes responsibility for what happened while he was president and he had his congress, but so he's looking around, he can't find someone to blame effectively. he's out of ideas. he's got no new ideas for getting the economy going. he's got no one new to blame. >> mitt romney speaking outside of pittsburgh. joining me now is politico's jonathan martin. thanks so much. he is on the attack against president obama and on the whole issue of the economy. >> yeah. this is the campaign here that the romney folks want to run. it's a pure referendum on this president's handling of the economy and laying the country's economic difficulties at the doorstep of the white house. the problem is that for the last week, ten days now, that's not been the conversation.

the romney folks trying to get back on course and the best way to do that is to have the candidate out there in these swing states on the stump, saying it. the romney folks have obviously not had him out there as much recently. i think you will see a change. >> let me take your temperature on what you think the timing might be on the vice presidential rollout, because we see the staffing up this week now that they've announced the team to run the vice presidential campaign. do you think we will get this in the coming days before he leaves for his foreign trip? >> i tend to believe that he will not make the decision or at least the announcement until august. i think they're going to want to have a group of surrogates who are going to be out there, all potential running mates drawing attention, drawing money to fund-raisers for a few more weeks, and then going into the convention in tampa next month, have that big rollout, have that news so they have a real head of steam at the outset of their

convention next month in tampa. >> jonathan martin from politico, thanks so much. going into this campaign, the height of the campaign season, the african-american voters. they turned out overwhelmingly to vote for barack obama in 2008. are they going to be as enthusiastic this time around? there's a new report today from the national urban league pointing out that a number of factors could cause people to stay home. african-americans have been disproportionately hurt by crippling unemployment in the past four years, plus the voter i.d. laws in some states, 29 states in fact, could lead to the suppression of the minority vote. mark muriale is president and ceo of the national urban league and joins me from new york. great to see you. >> great to see you. >> so what are your concerns and what is your analysis right now as to the level of enthusiasm of the african-american vote, because it could be a swing vote in some really important states like virginia and north carolina. >> that's the point.

in virginia and north carolina, in indiana, in ohio, how strong the african-american voter turnout is on election day could, in fact, determine the outcome of the election in those states. that's why african-american voters should be looked at as one of a number of voters who fall into this swing category. elections are all about who can get their supporters to the polls, what's the level of enthusiasm. it's troubling to me that since 2008, when you had voting equality, if you will, and that meant participation levels in white and black america at the very same rate for the first time in american history, that you've had 41 states resort to restrictions on people's right to vote. voter i.d. laws, cutbacks on early voting, a whole host of efforts have been undertaken in 41 states. thankfully, we have been able in

a number of states through the hard work of many civil rights organizations and advocates and others, to stop these laws. the justice department has intervened and the court case is still at play. we don't know what the ultimate end game will be with respect to which states will have their restrictive laws survive, but african-american voters we think, particularly in those states, are really going to hold an important key to the outcome in november. >> another key will also be the hispanic voters, other minority voters, who may not be as enthusiastic because as the republicans have been pointing out, they are disproportionately hurt by this miserable economy. >> i think latino voters, african-american voters, a number of independent voters, all fall into the category but one thing i would point out, the question is really, is the electorate at large as enthusiastic today as they were in 2008. i would encourage people, you

really can't take the barometer, the pressure, of the nation i think until sometime in september after the conventions have taken place. no doubt the economy, the way people feel about their own lives, may affect turnout but what i really believe is that people understand the fundamental importance and the choice that they'll have, so i think in the end you're going to have a very strong level of participation. but we point out in our report the importance of turnout and the importance of turnout in a number of key states in determining who, in fact, may win the electoral college. >> thank you very much. >> thanks, andrea. the obama and romney campaigns are bombarding the air waves with negative attacks and counter attacks. are these ads working? michael feldman is a democratic strategist and john fury is a

former aide on capitol hill to the former speaker. let me talk about the vice presidency for a moment. 20 years ago today, there was a rollout of al gore and bill clinton on a bus trip out of madison square garden and we went sort of down the new jersey turnpike, some of us trying to catch up with the bus. it was pre-cell phones. >> i was there. i'm afraid to admit. >> i was there, too. it was quite a dramatic moment. bus trips seem normal now but it wasn't back then because previously everything had been tarmac to tarmac. what do you see mitt romney doing looking at it from the outside? >> it's an important period of time for governor romney because it's an impact moment, a chance when people are going to look at him, making an important decision. they're going to judge him by that decision. then the window which has been closed on him for awhile now, i think -- >> to reintroduce himself?

>> to talk about what he's going to do for the country. it's an important moment not just on the choice but leading up to the convention and again, a chance to talk about his biography which he hasn't had a chance to do. i'm afraid right now, the obama campaign is doing a better job of defining mitt romney than mitt romney or his campaign are doing. it's a really important moment for him. >> mike, you make that point, but what about, john, the whole question of his biography, is he not introducing himself because there's so much in his background that seems privileged, that seems out of the ordinary to americans coming out of a recession? >> i think michael's right. he's got to do a better job of spending some of his moment defining himself -- everyone knows the problems of president obama. they know the economy's lousy. the latino voters and african-american voters are really hurting. mitt romney just said that. he's got to define himself and why his biography, why he has the solutions to solve all these

problems. i don't think he's done a particularly good job of that. his vice presidential choice will be very safe because he doesn't necessarily want to have what happened with sarah palin where she became the issue. he wants someone to fill in the gaps, pawlenty or portman, but can also help round him out but also help define what his strengths are, which he hasn't really done. >> what are his strengths? >> his strengths are he's a fixer, someone who has turned around companies, turned around businesses, he's someone, there's one simple message. he can create jobs. i think the bumper sticker's easy. want a job, vote romney. i think mitt romney's whole thing is creating economic growth. i think -- >> does that then get him into the bain trap, where the obama campaign has taken his positives, as you describe them, he's a fixer, he can create jobs, and they take a look at bain and say wait a second, those are the jobs that are going overseas. >> look, it should be, his management, his business

experience, should be his greatest asset. what the obama campaign has been able to do is make it his greatest vulnerability. what do people know? they know mitt romney is on all sides of every issue. they know he's with them, not with you. as the tag line said the other day in that devastating obama ad, he's proposing to be a solution, he's actually part of the problem. that's what most people know about him right now. i have to say if the campaign keeps moving in this direction, he will have an opportunity to define himself but elections are about choices and the obama campaign is making it crystal clear it's one thing to say there's a problem and he's out every day, mitt romney, talking about the problem. people get it. people get it. they're struggling. they get that the economy is slow. but they have to put somebody in charge of that. they look at the president and they see somebody who is fighting for working families, fighting for middle class tax cut, and they look at this other guy and think boy, he's not for you, he's for your boss. >> would you, john, if you were in charge, put out the tax returns and get it over with in the doldrums of summer? >> might as well. couple years, get it over with and start talking about your

solutions, talk about -- and you're right, michael, about the bain has become the bane of the romney campaign when it should be a tremendous asset. a very well run, good company and they did create jobs. if you can get some ads out there about the good stories that are out there, they haven't really done that. >> put the good stories out. we have to leave it there. great to see you guys. frequent flyer hillary clinton has now visited 102 countries as secretary of state. passing the previous record for america's top diplomat, albright touched down in '98 different countries. secretary clinton has logged 351 days on the road, i can attest to some of that, and flown more than 843,000 miles. she hasn't clocked more miles than some of her predecessors because they were involved in nonstop middle east shuttle diplomacy. the rest of the clinton family is also on the road. right now in south africa, former president bill clinton and chelsea visiting nelson

mandela's home today on the eve of mandela's 94th birthday tomorrow. tomorrow also marks nelson mandela international day. congratulations to all. home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance, where the costs to both repair your home and replace your possessions are covered. and we don't just cut a check for the depreciated value --

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autobahn for all event. we good? we're good. [ male announcer ] at 0% apr for 60 months, no one needs to know how easy it was to get your new volkswagen. that's the power of german engineering. we don't know if it's this week, the week after or not, but susan page is here with me now, bureau chief of "usa today" . let's talk about tim pawlenty. we just talked to him and he's been through this before. i asked him about being on the short list yet again. >> there's a little bit of deja vu i suppose to all the speculation. i'm committed to governor romney, not because i think i was looking to be vice president. i've said many times i think i can best serve him in other ways but anybody would be honored to be asked. but the real issue here isn't necessarily the particulars of a vp candidate. the issue is does barack obama deserve re-election. >> he was quickly pivoting to

that message. the virtue to tim pawlenty is partly that he got out of the race after the ames, iowa straw poll so he wasn't in all those subsequent debates, taking shots. there isn't a whole lot of video out of him attacking mitt romney. >> the one critical thing he did say, he backed off, he declined to make the charge of what he called obama -- i'm not sure i can say it. >> obamney care. >> he declined to pick up on that. i'm sure mitt romney remembers that. he got out early on, like his r anywhere, and governor romney has repaid the favor in a way by doing a lot of fund-raising -- >> $400,000 debt paid off. >> the word is these two men have developed a good personal relationship and as you're looking for potential veeps, i'm sure that's one of the things you try to get. >> which is why a lot of people are looking at tim pawlenty or at rob portman.

let's talk also about surrogates because john sununu was on that call earlier today and what he said that was so controversial was i wish the president would learn how to be an american. then he later, i guess it was called to his attention that he had said that, a reporter asked the question, he kind of retreated, later he said if i said something that would suggest otherwise, i apologize, i was talking about learn to create jobs, what we need in the american economy. but when you have really tough attack dog surrogates, that's the risk, isn't it? >> this is july. you'd think this was october. >> the temperature is hotter than usual. >> how much tougher can it get in the next hundred days before we actually get to the election? the thing that they like about governor sununu is that he will come on shows like yours or calls like that and be as aggressive as you could possibly be, but it's also the risk because surely there's some point where you cross a line and end up as he ended up doing

having to apologize for it. >> at this point, what is your own take on the timing of a vice presidential rollout? >> i have to say people are talking don't know and the people who know are not talking and the people who are talking don't know. so with that said, it doesn't look to me like it's this week. the dangerous thing to say as this week ticks on. it seems much more likely he follows the traditional path which would be a week or two before the convention in august. >> thanks so much. good to see you. journalism has lost one of its pioneers. path-breaking "washington post" columnist and pulitzer prize winner has died today at the age of 76 of prostate cancer. he wrote an opinion column for nearly 40 years until his retirement in 2005. he was known for bold, often provocative views, shown there with the late great meg greenfield. he was an independent voice on the nation's most difficult issues, including race, poverty, education and crime. after retiring from the post he devoted much of his time to an educational foundation called

baby steps that he organized in his mississippi hometown. he was 76 years old. our condolences. [ groans ] [ marge ] psst. constipated? phillips' caplets use magnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon

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and you're looking at live pictures in san antonio, president obama just taking the podium. president obama versus mitt romney, msnbc contributor and managing editor, chris cillizza. here's mitt romney responding to something the president said last friday. >> he said this, if you've got a business, you didn't build that, somebody else made that happen. >> boo! >> that somebody else is government in his view. to say that steve jobs didn't

build apple, that henry ford didn't built ford motor, that papa john, didn't build papa john pizza. that ray kroc didn't build mcdon that wou mcdonald's. >> he was completely on message in this speech, from what we have seen of it. this is the message that he should be delivering, not getting caught up in bain and when he left bain and the tax issue. >> absolutely, andrea, look, look at the last three months, just on job reports, the unemployment rate and news about the economy. this has been a terrible three months for president obama, this should be a pretty good month for romney. he's been diverting, talking about bain, when he left, why

did he retro actively retire. he's going to be talking about tax returns. i think this is a great core message. barack obama is actually channeling elizabeth warren, the massachusetts senate candidate, when he's talking about no one builds a business on their own. that's an elizabeth warren comment. it went viral and became a huge hit among liberal activists. borrowing from a former administration official. >> and now getting hit on top of the head by it. good catch, chris cillizza, see you tomorrow. that does it for "andrea mitchell reports." >> picking up a lot from where you left off, mitt romney is mentioned in pennsylvania, at the same time president obama releases a new ad in that state, again, pummeling mitt romney to release hiss taxes and calling

on mitt romney to lift the veil. plus when sports and politics collide, we'll dig deeper into the arizona cardinals donation to jan brewer's superpac, an nfl team getting into the game of politics in a way we have never seen, we'll have much more on behind the scenes there. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. 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.

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and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. hi, everyone, i'm tamron hall, the news nation is calling on another republican is calling for mitt romney to release his tax returns this time it's ron paul. he said, quote, in the scheme of things politically, it looks like releasing tax returns is what the people want. in addition to increasing pressure within his own party, there's also a new obama campaign ad airing in