host the summer olympics in an interview with nbc's brian williams. that drew some sharp responses from the prime minister and mayor of london. take a listen. >> we're holding olympic games in one of the busiest most active bustling cities anywhere in the world and of course it's easier if you hold the olympic games in the middle of nowhere. >> a guy called mitt romney who wants to know whether we're ready. he wants to know whether we're ready. are we ready? are we ready? yes, we are! the venues are ready. >> romney added fuel to the diplomatic firestorm by forgetting the name of britain's opposition party and against protocol acknowledged he had a meeting with the against agency. peter alexander joins us live in london. he's been following the story for us. peter, pretty safe to say mitt romney has not been generating the guide of headlines his campaign had envisioned.

>> reporter: richard that's exactly right. let's be really clear. this campaign trip for romney, his first trip overseas during the course of the campaign was designed to again rapist positive publicity for the candidate to show him as a statesman, in addition to his experience in working on the stage in salt lake city in 2002. >> developments here in the uk and across europe and across the world. >> okay. nbc's peter alexander there live in london, following mitt romney as he's on his multicountry tour, i believe we have him back. peter alexander, are you here? >> reporter: yeah, we're having some technical difficulties maybe from all the celebrations going on in the background. check out this headline from the daily mail it reads who invited party pooper romney. mitt the twit. he's dialing this all back. again he was on the "today" show

with nbc's matt lauer. take a listen to how mitt romney tried to characterize his new outlook on the games. >> i'm absolutely convinced that the people here are ready for the games and in just a few moments all the things politicians said will be swept away because the athletes finally take the stage, the games are about the athletes, virtually anywhere they have been they've been highly successful. >> reporter: that's the message mitt romney hopes the message comes across. he's on the defensive as he and his wife prepare to head to the opening ceremony. ann will stay behind. her horse is competing in the dressage event. romney leaves with us on the back of the plane heading to israel tomorrow and then on monday, richard, to warsaw, poland. >> nbc's peter alexander with governor mitt romney. thank you. let's bring in matt welch and sharon topliz. good morning to you both.

matt, you were chuckling along the way as you were listening to some of the set up for this segment. i guess no matter which way you look at this you have to chuckle in what's happened with mitt romney so far. this was thought to be a slam dunk for the governor and so some folks are asking is he ready for the world stage? >> it's definitely a bunch of unforced errors. i think that in the long haul no one will be talk about this. if romney loses by one percentage point in november nobody will bring up the olympics. series of unforced errors to be sure. it will be forgotten as obama's trip to copenhagen in 2009, he went to get the olympics for chicago and ended up looking foolish. we'll come back to what this election is about which is the economy. >> we're at halftime. 100 days to go. first quarter. >> it's more than just the olympics when we are talking about these gaffes. i want to play another clip that got romney in a bit of trouble.

take a listen. >> i appreciated the insights and perspectives of the leaders of the government here and opposition here as well as the head of mi-6. >> in the backdrop here just tuesday, a day before he left he criticized the leaking of national security information related to the current administration but as you saw there here he is discussing britain's international arm of secret service which was not even officially acknowledged until 1994. some 82 years after they began. so, does this take away his ability ethipoian criticize obama on foreign policy? >> i don't think it will take away his ability. he's still going to criticize the president or his advisors will criticize the president about these leaks that have come from the administration. but i think the problem here for romney is he took this trip to reenforce his foreign policy and a gaffe like that does not do that. it counters that effort

completely. >> matt, to you. he was also speaking with what might be called the equivalent of speaker john boehner and he couldn't remember his name. his opposition leader in parliament. that was another issue when he couldn't remember ed millebrand's name. >> it won't hurt him that much. doesn't make him look good. let's remember 2008 which was much closer to september 11th than we were now wasn't fought on foreign policy it became economics. romney is trying to go to basically our strongest allies and make a hint that obama has bungled some of those relationships. there is a critique to be had there. he's lost all ability to talk about that critique. however, i just don't think that's where the election will be fought right now. southly it's fun to talk about for a couple of days but we'll forget about it. >> we're watching that point. ipt relevant as we get closer to

the debates and when he does make that key speech at the convention. many will say as you're saying that that's not the key issue it's the economy. to that point that he's making, when we look at the latest nbc/wall street journal poll the question was asked who is best to handle foreign policy there's a 15-point gap. can governor mitt romney make up some of that space there if he can turn it around after he leaves london? >> probably not. i think his trip to israel is in part to help his image with the jewish community especially back here in america, obviously, poland is one of our allies as well. that's a large gap that probably he will not overcome until he was perhaps if he would be elected president. i think that gap is fairly sizable. remember this was one of the knocks on president obama when he was running for his first term in 2008 that he did not have the foreign policy credentials and he would not have that experience. part of the reason why he picked joe biden who is known for his

foreign policy expertise in the senate as his running mate. >> stand by, i want to bring in another one of our guests because this sunday it marks a major milestone in this presidential campaign, 100 days until election day. obama campaign plans more than 4200 voter registration and recruitment events including barbecues and olympic watching parties. the campaign is releasing a new ad set to run during the opening ceremony of tonight's games. >> i believe in fighting for the middle class because if they are prospering all of us will prosper. that's the idea of america. and that's why america is the greatest nation on earth. >> i'm joined now by democratic pollster stan greenberg and co-author of the new book "it's the middle class stupid accounts. we're talking about that 100 day mark, that milestone, that line in the sand, if you will. some analysis has been done on

the last ten gallop polls at 100 day mark in terms of the seven day average. nine of the the end of the last elections were won by the leader in the polls at that mark. what's your thought? >> i think that's a pretty serious mark and i think the president does have a real lead. very close race but the president does have a real lead. and yesterday's events don't help mr. romney, you know, who has been rising negatives. an important mark and i think they started to make a turn here. >> stan, if you watched "the cycle"s in the past in recent history if you will, how are these next 100 days, how might they be different than other previous 100 day marks? >> well, i think the debate and the convention are going to play a gigantic part in part because there's so much advertising, the super p.a.c.s have come in with massive advertising at any time in ohio and even virginia. >> election themselves too. >> right.

so slumped by advertising. which means i think the convention is a critical moment the debates are a critical moment. i think that's when people will be looking at them. >> you know what's interesting we were looking through that seven day, 100 day out number. this morning and yesterday it changed. it's now a tie. it is 46-46. now sunday's actual 100 day mark. if it stays there, we think we got it right, this will be the first time in 70 years that it's been tied at that 100 day mark. what does that tell you about this year's election? >> look, the economy, stupid, which was the title, not quite the title of our book, it's the middle class, economy is obviously the main driver. we have some contraction on the economy in this quarter that's made the race tighter. though i don't think that's where the race is. i do think mr. romney has strong negatives. i think obama does have a small lead. that's where i think where we

are at the hundred day point. >> both of the candidate would like to try to reset parts of their messaging. you were sort of nodding to that just a second ago. the president probably trying to get away from the issues of the economy, we're looking at the gdp numbers coming out today, we got four more reports when we talk about unemployment reports, you can see that on the screen right now perhaps. romney has got to get people to know him, right? that's one of the first read. we were make that point today people need to get to know him better. what would you say are the terms of the major objectives for both of these candidates are? >> for the president, i think he's focusing the election on the middle class. and the middle class future. not so much getting away from the economy, if you talk to the voters what they want to know is what are you going to do save the country which means what will you do to rescue the middle class and allow them to prosper. if the future is fought on the middle class that's the president's turf. mr. romney has to get this to a much more credible place and him

as a plausible leader and he's not done that. the gap in the standing between the personal standing between the president and romney is very strong and i think on leadership as we've seen over the last couple of days that now is also at risk. >> okay. watching the polls. stan greenberg, thank you. matt, what do you think about this 100 day sprint and we're looking at the data so far? >> it reflects that we'll have a race to the wire for sure. we're living in a more polarized time. republicans will vote republicans, democrats will vote democratic. it will be fought and won by independents. we don't know where they are going to go this year. >> what don't we know? >> what we really don't know is what's the third-party candidate going to affect on this. gary johnson is polling at 5%. that means he'll end up lower, but he's going to peel off support from romney in place

like arizona but from obama potentially in places like new mexico which is his home state he's pulling the double digits and colorado which has a vote to legalize marijuana. >> that's out there. great thought. what's your thought, hundred days to go. >> i think this has been one the yearliest campaigns we've seen on record and that's because the republican primary started pretty early, it started over a year ago, with the iowa straw poll and the general election started fairly early because the republican primary lasted longer and obama could go on offensive way back in may. 100 has become extremely important and much more so than the traditional campaign calendar which usually kicked off after labor day. that was supposed to be intense campaign season. it's important that we have these 100 days because more voters are voting earlier than ever before. it's important to note this has bean volatile cycle. polls are going every where and it could not -- we don't know what it's going to look like on election day. hire your recount lawyers.

>> we were heavily loaded upfront during the gop primaries with all those debates. a lot to watch so far this year. thank you so much. appreciate your time. $100 million spent in several swing states and super p.a.c.s have not managed to swing voters. the negative ads have had little impact on voters. president obama and governor mitt romney in a statistical tie where the president is holding a slight advantage. congressman peter welsh on the congressional fight for power. that's next. sending taxes through the roof and hindering economic recovery. the consequences? millions of americans will see their taxes on dividend income spike, slowing investment in u.s. companies and jeopardizing development in energy projects that create american jobs. ask congress to stop a dividend tax hike -- for all of us.

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so here's something you don't hear every day from the halls of congress, bipartisan agreement. where do you ask? have the leaders here of the house and senate been able to find some common ground two months before election?

they seem to be ready to prevent a government shutdown. congressman welsh is the whip in the house. thank you for joining us. harry reid said there's a high level talks been going on so far, been very productive while house speaker john boehner said there's no decision how long this stop gap measure might be. folks are asking why are we waiting until the last minute. >> they are right to ask that question. what you are seeing is a reflection of the paralysis in congress which is very damaging to the american people and to the american economy. and the good news on the on the other hand is that there's at least a willingness to try to do what's called a continuing resolution so that we don't have one of those showdowns and shut the lights off. >> how real do you think? >> i think both sides know it's really damaging to their political prospects if we have a government shutdown and i think that's why you're seeing cooperation, cooperation borne of perception of political advantage or avoiding a catastrophe. but, you know, there's a lot more congress needs to be done.

this is low ball expectations. continuing resolution is a substitute for a real budget and there's no possibility that there's going to be a budget. that's a congressional failure. >> how will it be any different after the election. will we see a return to the same sort of polarization? >> you know, i think the hope here is that all of us on both sides are going to learn our lesson and understand that making some progress is what the american people want. what there isn't in congress right now an ideological battle where people somehow seem to think if they adhere to their argument, the more rigidly the better, that that's somehow will be good for the american people. obviously that gridlock isn't good. we need a new energy policy. we need a farm bill. we have not pass ad farm bill. we need postal reform. >> the details are six months. what might get in the way of this happening? >> if there was a revolt on the part of the republican side where they are, many in the republican tea part wing of the

house want to have the occasion of this leverage about shutting down government as an opportunity to squeeze down the budget number from what was already agreed to. i think cooler heads will prevail. you've seen that with mr. mcconnell and mr. boehner. bottom line this is not something to brag about. if we avoid a shutdown that's the bare minimum what congress should be doing. >> congressman, do i want to play some sound from you from house majority lead eric cantor and he was on cbs this morning. so take a listen to this. >> it's really going to come down to this election. the lines have been drawn. mitt romney will come to the table, we're very pro growth economic plan for this country to help small business that's job creators. there's a lot of discussion in what the election means and its impact. >> so the leader saying it's the election that will make the difference. there's also the criticism that's been made that president obama has done many times in that congress needs to take up

part of the leadership here. >> well congress should be taking up part of the leadership but, you know, you just heard from stan greenberg it's a jumpball in the election, a jumpball in who will control power and basically what mr. cantor is doubling down on is the austerity program that they believe will lead to prosperity. they want to really savagely cut the budget and there are long term things we can do to bring the budget under control, control health care costs. but the austerity approach which of course is the european model that's not working to bring us out of recession. so, there is a strong debate here about whether we have a middle class orientation which includes maintaining tax cuts for middle income and low-income folks or we double down on tax cuts at the high end and there's a real philosophical divide here. >> the balance of power right now in the house, republicans 241, democrats 191.

there are three vacancies. and in terms of the seats that are actually in play according to the "new york times" those that are basically a toss up state, 25. so it is possible for democrats to regain the balance of power in the house. if that should change what would that mean about this polarization that you're just describing? >> what it would mean on the democratic side and in the congress is we put forward a plan that would reduce taxes for middle class folks. hopefully we'll do something on the line of a grand bargain where there's a goal of $4 trillion reduction of debt. the democrats are very explicit that revenues have to be part of the panel. mr. cantor and the republicans are explicit revenues are off table. they want more tax cuts. if you had a democratic congress the agenda would be oriented

towards the middle class in real small business not small businesses making $3 or $4 million and being called small business for political convenience. >> thank you so much. house democratic whip peter welsh from vermont. what an impact. michelle obama takes london by storm. that's next. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve.

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if there is hell, now would be the time to bring it on. ♪ ♪ what are you gonna do? [ cross ] i'm gonna finish what he started. [ male announcer ] "the bourne legacy." rated pg-13. to politics now. we begin with an olympic theme. first lady michelle obama is in london. she's there to back team usa. after breakfast with olympics and paraolympic athletes. todd hallen stars in nbc's new

reality show. celebrities compete alongside military members. it will blow you away. don't call mitt romney stiff and out of touch happen his wife ansaid they are both big fans of the wildly popular downtown abby. from the mean streets of newark, new jersey a challenger to chris christie may be emerging. cory booker telling the "huffington post" he may take on the republican governor next year or run for u.s. senate in 2014. note to the white house web masters, you spell check. the facebook page for 1600 pennsylvania avenue miss spelled the word americans. they add an e. the mistake has been corrected it was ironically on a page promoting the president's executive order on education. governor mitt romney tries to avoid more awkward moments at the olympics he has a small ban of surrogates fanning out across the u.s. to do his bidding.

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. welcome back. while gernor mitt romney is abroad he said he will not criticize the current administration in his place romney surrogates in his place. joining me now is republican strategist and msnbc be contributor susan delpersio and jamal givens. given the gaffes we talked about this morning has it slowed them down. >> not really. it's july so these were unfortunate things that we hope hit a home run out of this. but, again, we're going to see a reset button next week when the jobless numbers come out. that's unemployment numbers. four more of those come out. that's going to reset the campaign virtually every time which is a great thing for romney because it will emphasize on what he's running on. >> 100 days we were talking about earlier.

jamal, what should the surrogates do right now? they got their candidate abroad. what should they say? >> i'm sure they are going to do everything they can to put the focus back on the president while mitt romney is overseas. this is supposed to be a very big week for mitt romney. this is a time he shows everybody he's got the judgment and the standard to be the american president and the chief executive. and he has not been showing that. the problem for him over the course of this entire campaign is not just the problems on his record, the fact he won't release tax returns all those things, the problem is how he's responded to these challenges when they come up. >> can surrogates turn that around? >> no. i don't think they can. this is about mitt romney. at the end of the day people are looking at mitt romney and barack obama and they have to make a choice. >> susan, can is surrogate strategy go sour. the daily telegraph a romney advisor making the rounds and

said we're part of an anglo sac that the special relationship is special. >> the source was unnamed and it was a questionable quote to begin with and how it was taken. >> is that the risk? >> an unnamed source isn't -- i don't put that on the table because anyone can say anything on either side. the surrogates we're talking about going out this week and going around the country, it's a matter if you have good surrogates or not. sometimes we saw with cory booker when the bain stuff came out worked against. if they are properly vetted and we know what they are doing, it works. >> folks that are out there as we look at that roster, these are potential v.p. picks. these are the upper echelon of mitt romney's surrogates. >> what's great about having

this many well informed surrogates is that going forward we're going to go into those swing states. you can't be a candidate, you can't be every where. you can have really good surrogates. >> jamal at the end of the day as we finish out the discussion about what has been said by mitt romney when he's been abroad will it matter to voters in the united states? will they be watching these criticism, the crowds cheering against mitt romney in london? >> yeah. the london event for mitt romney is supposed to be where he stands on the global stage and says i can be a leader of the country and maybe of the free world. i think he's not doing so well so far. he's got a few more days left to figure it out. when it comes time for these surrogate, your vp choice can shore up things that are positive or highlight things that are negative. this is about the candidate's judgment and that's what people are looking to figure out. >> jamal, vice president joe biden has been out there, firing

up the base for instance not too long ago he was speaking at the naacp convention. he helps in some other category, historically nondemocratic voting blocs like the white working class. how is biden uniquely qualified to address both of these groups, do you think? >> you know, my mother met joe biden, he grabbed her by the shoulders and stared her in the eye and talked to her for four minutes. he has this very intense way of connecting with people. that matters when you're out on the stump. people like joe biden. who doesn't like joe biden. that is very helpful for the president because the president is not the most, you know, emotionally engaging person when you see him on television while joe biden gives everything he has to the camera. >> susan, what can the vice president bring from the middle, the undecideds. >> you mean as far as romney's choice? >> no in terms of what vice president joe biden can do. >> jamal hit it exactly right. he really has a way of connecting with people. he's rather plain spoken. he says what he means, he means

what he says. i mean he's prone to gaffes too but even his gaffes are kind of like heart warming in a way because they are really not done with any malice. >> i was going to ask jamal if he swore to his mother. i'm joking. susan thank you for your time. jamal as well. >> mourners are remembering and honoring the colorado shooting victims today. three victims will be remembered during funerals and visitations. this as 12 survivors remain in the hospital. miguel has more. >> reporter: good afternoon. assad day for the community of you a errora and the state of colorado as you mentioned. there will be memorials and visitations for several of the victims among them is a.j. boyd, matt mcclinton and a father of two that took his two young daughters to see batman. some of these victims are going to be remembered not just here today in this state of colorado

but many of them lived outside of the state. this coming weekend there will be several funerals for other victims who lived here in colorado but have family and grew up in other states and this comes all one week to the day after the shooting so a tough day here in colorado, richard. >> thank you. for the first time a man has stepped forward claiming he was the boy in the shower with jerry sandusky that touch off the penn state sex abuse scandal. his attorney says he plans to sue the university over the abuse he suffered but they did not name their client. meanwhile jerry sandusky's wife dottie tells a local newspaper she still loves her husband and that quote he's not who they say who he is. she decline further comment. red cross is pulling some of its foreign staff from the syrian capital of damascus due to the ongoing violence in the country. a core team of 50 will stay behind. the syrian arab red crescent is moving some of its operations in a northern city due to heavy

fighting. 16,000 homes and businesses are still without power this morning after a possible tornado hit the city of almira, new york. it brought down power lines and tree branches but no one was hurt. meanwhile, it's heating up again today in the northeast with the chance for more storms this afternoon. and attorney for kathryn jackson said he's met face to face with his client and said she's doing well in spite of the family feud that's been boiling. earlier this week a judge suspended kathryn's guardianship or michael jackson's children. >> fans also hurled bottles and debris on the stage. france's national front said they are suing the singer. >> the olympic torch is make its

final journey for the opening ceremony. we'll go to london for the latest in five minutes. the hillis out with its list of the most beautiful politicos. of the statesmen and tea party michele bachmann. jim himes and kellie ayotte and representative bobby scott. not a cock inman but a former model the house administration committee's matt england. ok! who gets occasional constipation,

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acknowledge congressman howard bernman and senator barbara boxer who had done outstanding work in shepherding through this bipartisan piece of legislation that underscores our unshakeable commitment to israel. as many of you know, i have made it a top priority for my administration to keepen cooperation with israel across the whole spectrum of security issues, intelligence, military, technology and in many ways what this legislation does is bring together all the outstanding cooperation that we have seen really at an unprecedented level between our two countries to underscore our unshakeable commitment to israel's security. i'm also very pleased that this week we are going to be able to announce $70 million in additional spending, $70

billion, excuse me in additional spending for iron dome. this is a program that has been critical in terms of providing security and safety for israeli families. it is a program that has been tested, and has prevented missile strikes inside of israel. and it is testimony to the leadership of the folks sitting here that we're going to able to lock in that funding to assure that that program continues and that we are standing by our friends in israel when it comes to these kinds of attacks. let me just close by saying that the tragic events we saw in bulgaria emphasize the degree to which this continues to be a challenge not just for israel but for the entire world, preventing terrorist attacks and making sure that the people of israel are not targeted.

and i hope that as i sign this bill once again everybody understands how committed all of us are, republicans and democrats as americans to our friends in making sure that israel is safe and secure and leon panetta our secretary of defense will be traveling to israel to further consult and find additional ways that we can assure such cooperation at a time when frankly the region is experiencing heighten ed tensions. >> president obama there signing the united states/israel enhanced security cooperation act. we just got that tape into msnbc. this trying to get ahead of governor mitt romney as he heads to israel tomorrow.

so, we'll of course be following more of what's happening in that part of the race when the governor does get to israel. now advertisers going for the social media gold. mandy, olympic advertisers spending millions here to try to connect through social media. >> that's absolutely right. let me run you through a couple of examples of what big companies are doing. coca-cola is launching a create my beat promo beginning with the sounds of six athletes set to a music track. then you go and add your own sounds to track and share it. the coke beat maker or my beat maker i think is called is an app for smart phones and let teens creat a motion through their phones. by the time the games end they expect to reach 1.5 billion people worldwide. another example is visa. they are asking you to create and send global cheers via

social media to 60 athletes and promise to include snipets of the best cheers it gets in tv commercials. lots of great ways you can get interactively involved through social media. >> they are trying to make some money out there certainly. since we're talk about social immediate area new survey that's out there about the politicians that tweet the most. who is on that list. >> guess who is number one? president obama of the united states with 17.8 million followers. and by the way his tweet of same sex couples should be able to get married was retweeted 62,000 times. now, of course, you're going to say it's not him tweeting. yes, okay his campaign staff does the tweeting for him. there's the occasional tweet by the president himself and you know they are by him because they are signed b. o. who is number two? hugo chavez of venezuela with 3.2 million followers and if you tweet him, one survey called the

diplomacy survey puts his reply rate at 38%. so he is supposedly very engaged. >> how about that. hugo chavez number two. cnbc's mandy drewry. have a great friday. anticipation is building around london as the city get ready to host to 2012 olympic games. this morning the flame bordered a royal barge last used for the queen as diamond jubilee. who will carry the flame for tonight for the last steps of its 8,000 mile journey? nbc's phil rogers is live in london with the latest. how are you? >> richard, good morning. you know, this is what your 45 pence would have got you. bring it on. also you need to know that headline has a sub-headline. forget the 9.2 billion, the

security shambles, the ticket fiasco, the greatest show on earth starts in britain and i want will be truly amazing. you can safely say that some brits are being dragged kicking and screaming to the party but today they got in the mood as big ben got them up bright and early at 8:12 ringing for a solid three minutes. the last time this kind of thing happened here in london was in 1952. it was a coordinated effort with bells ringing all over london. now, the torch as you mentioned made an appearance on the river thames this morning aboard a royal barge last used during the diamondup leer. it's completing an 8,000 mile journey. carried about 8,000 torch bearers. she saw it go by a couple of days ago. but now the big question here in

london who is going to take the torch for the last time and dip it into the caldron. there is immense speculation about that. i mean the longest shot odds are the queen herself. i don't think you'll see that. they quit taking bets today on roger banister the track star who broke the impossible four minute mile back in 1952. people forget in his day roger bannister was the michael phelps of the entire world and always bean great hero here in england. people wonder if he'll get the wonder. i was over at a shopping mall here next to the olympic park yesterday. the roger bannister stop watch which was used to time the four minute mile is on display. that's quite a relic here in london. >> got the opening ceremony today, phil. tell us about that. what can we expect? >> you know, richard, it's been a well guarded secret about some of the thing that are going to

happen. they gave us this little peek of people bouncing on beds. danny boyle is producing it and he promises what he calls a live film. it's going to culminate and not a very well kept secret right now with the performance at the very end by sir mccartney. we heard him here rehearsing last night. we heard golden slumbers, 19 5e and "hey jude" and everyone will be on their feet singing right along. >> we're showing some of that video that was released of the practice sessions. should be good. phil rogers great report. thank you so much. you worked in old nessie for us on this friday. >> you're not going to see that anywhere else. >> no one will be able to top you on that one. reminder you can watch all 5,355 hours of coverage online at nbcolympics.com. they are streaming every single event for the first time in

olympic history. today's tweet of the day comes from swimmer michael phelps who tweet this photo of olympic banner from the 2000 sidney olympics with the caption talk about a blast from the past. first olympics from way back when. the start of my last one tomorrow. good luck. down here, folks measure commitment by what's getting done. 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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prince plays soccer, pin trading in a olympic oops. london is electric leading up to tonight's ceremony. prince william got into the game. he demonstrated his foot skills or lack thereof. avid fan william joked about his abilities. number one spectator sport not soccer, gymnasts or swimming it's pin trading. fans are going crazy to these souvenirs. they date back to 1896.

small cardboard disks were used to identify athletes, judges and be officials. olympic oops from sports and culture minister after ringing a bell for three minutes the bell had enough. it broke off and tore towards a group of people as the minister gave an interview. where do you find the world's biggest mcdonald's? in london. the fast food joint is 32,000 square feet and has seating for 1500 people. i want closes after the games. a reminder for you bob costas hosts the opening ceremony with matt lauer and meredith vieira. thomas roberts is up next. >> the agenda next hour, mitt romney risk averse this trip overseas goes off course after a series of london gaffes and missteps. can romney reset before moving on to poland and israel. then victim number, two the one

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starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. all the things politicians say will get swept away because the athletes finally take the stage, the games are about the athletes. >> good morning, everybody. i'm thomas robs topping the agenda today nearly 100 days until the election but no gold for mitt romney as he tries to smooth over what could be called an olympic fail during his visit to london. romney went out of his way to praise thrown while meeting with some of britain's biggest leaders yesterday after telling brian williams the day before he was disconcerted over some of the security problems leading up to the games. as you know the british don't mince words and today's headlines let romney have