good sunday, everyone. high noon in the east, 9:00 in the west. welcome to "week ends with alex witt." i'm craig melvin. big five trends of the hour. the running mate's running mate. embassy standoff, chasing a dream, follow medals at risk, and forced to bail. we start with front-page politics. fresh reaction to president obama and republican paul ryan's medicare face-off. different places on the campaign trail. two governors squaring off on the issue on today's "meet the press." >> governor romney's plan is for a country of less. we cap what we do to protect the security of seniors.

we give them a voucher and tell them good luck, you're on your own to cover the difference. >> the medicare trust fund going broke in 12 years and president obama not only for the status quo, wants more spending without reform. that's irresponsible and reckless. every governor in the country is reforming pensions, and the numbers just don't work. >> that debate between governors bob mcdonnell and martin o'malley, a followup to the war of words on the campaign trail. president obama in new hampshire yesterday. >> here is the bottom line. my plan saves money in medicare by cracking down on fraud, waste, insurance company subsidies. and their plan makes seniors pay more so they can give another tax cut to millionaires and billionaires. >> the president back in the white house, but will travel to ohio, nevada and ohio.

congressman paul ryan, accusing the president to raid medicare for $716 billion. he took his mom along, a medicare recipient. to an event at the world's largest retirement community. >> like a lot of americans, when i think about medicare, it's not just a program, not just the numbers. it's what my mom relies on. it's what my grandma had. >> tomorrow,ry ryan teams back up with mitt romney for a town hall meeting in new hampshire before they go their separate ways before the convention in tampa susan paige from "usa today" and political reporter for "the washington post." good morning to both of you. >> good afternoon. >> susan, let's get to the debate we've been hearing between the two campaigns over medicare. with regard to medicare, did paul ryan move the needle at all

yesterday for republicans as he campaigned with his mom in florida? >> that was kind of a sweet event i thought, and talking about his grandmother and how she moved in with them when she had alzheimer's and relied on medicare, a very human moment. does it defuse the issue of medicare? no way. this is an issue that democrats will talk about from now until election day. the big risk that was involved in picking paul ryan to be the running mate. the policy outlined in the ryan budget plan is one that is really vulnerable to scaring seniors by democrats into being against the romney/ryan ticket. >> democrats generally tend to poll far better than republic i had koounter parse. why start this discussion right now? what's your take? >> they are going on the offense. the given op. romney ryan because they saw

campaigns and special elections where democrats were really able to get out front and in that way, win some of the elections. in 2010, they sort of decided if they go on the offense and able to pair the cuts that obama makes to medicare, savings or cuts, depends on phrasing you want to use, to actually fund obama care, it has been an effective strategy. and now democrats defensive, a very unusual place for democrats to be. matter in a state like florida. 22%, 23% of voters will be seniors. in 2003, mccain won seniors by three points. 51-48%, and mitt romney has to fight this thing to a draw if he wants to win the white house. he's got to win seniors and got to win florida in many ways if he has any chance of winning this election in november. >> susan, a piece you wrote a few days ago that caught my attention, the piece that you wrote on the initial reaction to

paul ryan, to mitt romney's running mate. the bounce candidates usually get from their vp choice, we didn't see that this time. tell me about that. >> this is so interesting. we have been polling with gallup about the first reaction to vice presidential picks back to dan quai quayle. he had a disastrous reception. ryan had the worst reception of any vice presidential candidate since then, since quayle. and a more tepid reception than even sarah palin, herself a controversial choice four years ago and the bounce of a couple of points that the ticket usually gets after a vp is chosen, we didn't see it. maybe a 1% bounce, compared to the 4% bounce we are used to seeing. maybe because this election, people are so polarized, set in their ways, it's very hard to budge people from where they are at all.

that's one of the things we've seen, despite all of the ads that have been run in swing states and everything that campaigns have done, we haven't seen much movement in the polls. >> nia-malika, i want to put numbers up on the screen. a "the new york times" poll, which shows over the past few cycles the points that generally -- these are the bounce here that candidates ushlg see. nine points for lieberman, seven points for edwards. one point for biden. four points for palin. and susan mentioned polarization. is that all this is about. or something else going on? >> i think it does speak to the polarization and that most people have made up their minds. a sense of maybe 3% to 5% of voters who haven't made up their mind yet. people are very partisan, their minds made up about these tickets. it's hard in this sort of environment for the vice presidential pick to make much of a difference. it has made a difference in

terms of the energy you see on the ground, on the republican side. crowds have swelled to thousands and thousands of folks going out to see the ticket. and i think what ryan brings, it humanizes romney. on the stop, much more relaxed and sort of awe, shucks charisma, that has been missing from the ticket. he is going to go out there in many ways, be a better spokesman about who romney is as a person, leader, governor, than romney has been so far. >> susan, we've talked a lot about medicare, not a lot about jobs in the economy. has the romney ryan campaign, has their decision to roll the dice in medicare caused them to lose focus on larger issues than the economy is and jobs. >> medicare is a better issue for than the current state of the economy. one of the things at the republican convention will be an

effort to get back to talking about core issues. one thing to keep in mind. vice presidents don't make much difference. who had the biggest bounce in the chart we just showed you. joe liberman did not become vice president. >> i'll start with you. after the first week of paul ryan campaign, the republican convention a week away. what is your initial assessment of the gop ticket at this point point? >> they were able to combine both wings of the party. mitt romney, the old guard conservative and the tea paerlt anyone that paul ryan is going to be. you saw some elation from the part of liberals. there is concern about this ed care issue getting away from them. but initially, i think this was a surprise, and although he had a couple of stumbles out of the gate. paul ryan allayed some of the fears. >> susan, it will be interesting to see whether this medicare

debate. prolonged medicare debate, whether it has an effect on house races and the kind of effect it has on senate races as well. >> i see that already in some close house races and senate races where here mostly the republicans are on the defensive against democrat attacks. seniors are the most reliable voters in america. democrats have a huge advantage of voters under 30, they don't turn out to vote this could help democrats with seniors. one of the concerns. romney campaign thinks this is an issue this can use to their advantage, educate some voters, not sure there are house republican candidates that feel the same way. >> thank you, both. appreciate your time. new today, wikileaks' founder julian assange appeared publicly for the first time in

two months. he stepped out of can you wafor's embassy in london. ecuador offered him extradition, but britain won't let him leave because he is wantedor assault claims. this is what he had to say. >> to the people of the united states, united kingdom, sweden, and australia, who have supported me in strength, even when their governments have not, and to those wiser heads in government who are still fighting for justice, your day will come. >> nbc's duncan is live with more. what else did more. what else did assange have to say? >> good afternoon. he called on the united states to release bradley manning. accused of leaking massive private information. if manning really did as he's

accused, then he is a hero this this is the first time we've seen assange in two months after he asked for refuge in the ek dorian embassy. he came out on the balcony, cheered by supporters. he went on to make an appeal to president obama. have a look. >> i asked president obama to do the right thing. the united states must renounce its one of hunt against wick ileaks. the united states must resolve its fbi investigation. the united states must not prosecute our supporters. the united states must pledge before the world it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of

the powerful. >> one thing the australian did not talk about are the allegations of rape and assault that have been made by two women in sweden. previously, he has denied them. back to you. >> duncan in our london bureau, thank you. growing concern for the biggest outbreak of west nile in eight years. officials in dallas hope to resume yearial spraying for mosquitos carrying the west nile virus, another round of spraying will take place monday and tuesday. dallas has been hit the hardest, with more than 700 people in 43 people died from the virus. >> so many cases in early and so widespread doesn't bode well for the future summer. >> the mild winter and wet spring created an ideal environment for mosquitos to breed and spread the virus. west coast headlines are

next. the question, which came first, the seagull or the egg? also, the last week before two political conventions. if the candidates aren't fighting for delegates, what is the point of the grand spectacles? we'll talk about that. whoa. right? get. out. exactly! really?! [ mom ] what? shut the front door. right? woop-woop! franklin delano! [ male announcer ] there's oreo creme under that fudge! oreo fudge cremes. now in two new flavors. [ male announcer ] there's oreo creme under that fudge! by what's getting done. measure commitment 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 -

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headlines making news on the west coast. in phoenix, the arizona republic has a front page story titled in an era of dwindling budgets, college sports subsidies remain

an integral part of the game. schools usually lose money in almost all of their sports, except football and men's basketball. and in port angeles, washington. which comes first, gull or the egg? about a federal seagull management program, being hailed as a success. wild life workers put corn oil on recently laid eggs, preventing them from hatching. and then monterey, california, "the herald," not quite lemony fresh. a classic car show for lemons. among them, a pink volkswa gncv. a pinto, all models from the '70s. campaigns accelerate toward elections days, lawsuits decide who can vote. pennsylvania's voter i.d. law will head to the state supreme court now.

this week, a judge blocked the voter i.d. law, and a chair of the pennsylvania democratic party. good afternoon. >> good afternoon, craig. >> what's your involvement in the case. how is your party trying to help the situation. >> we've supported the plaintiffs, those who are ad advocating the position at the port level. in our opinion, this was decided the wrong way. we'll monitor this as it goes to the state supreme court and offer any resources we can along the way. we think there are very valid arguments and encouraged as the case moves forward. we're working to make sure anyone in pennsylvania who wants to vote has the proper identification to do so. >> i want to play something for you. why the law is valid. take a listen. >> the reason we want to have photo id, you need to have a photo today to open a bank account, to get married.

you need it for every day life and society. i think that everybody has a photo i.d., and you know what? penndot has only had 3,600 requests since this started state wide. i think this is much ato about nothing. the state is going overboard to make sure everybody will have the ability to have photo i.d. >> what's your response to that? >> i think chairman gleason when he says that, that "only 3,600 have filed, " he proves our point. not only are 758 new pennsylvanians affected by this new law, most folks who, a --" most folks aren't aware of it, and, b, most don't aware it's improper idea. they assume what they have, when, in fact, they don't. evidence is only 3,600, so the chair supports what we do here to make sure the right people

have what they need. those who may be affected for them to vote. >> i have heard and read all kinds of numbers with the number of voters that could be potentially affected in your state. how many are we talking about? >> the legislature was told while vetting this bill, perhaps 1% maybe. less than 100,000. however, she has since come forward and has admitted it's more like 758,000. that's a number not disputed. actually 750,000 pennsylvanias. >> i >> i'm sure are you familiar with this poll. more than 74% of poll respondies think that you should show a government issued photo i.d. >> this is a poll we've seen

before most people think it's something you need. having said that, we have questioned the timing of this. we can go back and forth why we think this is unconstitutional legislation. this is the law of the land, it is what we it. we don't agree, but we have continues for the last two months, to reach out, make sure pennsylvanians have the proper photo identification in order to do that. at this point, the law is on the books, we don't like how it got there. but we want to make sure pennsylvanians get out in the next 80 days, have what they need, get them to the polls to exercise their constitutional right to do so. >> chair of the democratic party, thank you. >> thank you. are there skeletons in congressman paul ryan's capitol hill closet? some video of the congressman from 2002 that may make supporters cringe. sweetie, you have to scrub it first.

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voice for several days. meanwhile, minaj still at the top of the list on the open spot on "american idol." time for a rundown of today's list of number ones with a worldly spin. bloomberg ranking the healthiest countries in the world. don't bother looking for the knust the top ten, top 20 or even top 30. u.s. number 33. singapore, number one. italy, australia, switzerland, japan. something in the water in singapore, a new citibank report says singapore will be the richest country on the planet about i 2050. they have a free market economy largely dependent on exports. hong kong second in health wealth, followed by taiwan, south korea, and there we are number five. united states. a couple of fantastic feats. the first one a feat of eats. folks near tampa, florida,

assembling the world's largest cuban sandwich. measuring 36 feet. and you can see there, after they were done making, cut it up so folks could chow down. >> five, four, three, two, one. >> another world record there. the largest group somersault, 835 folks in st. louis taking part in an event for fun and fund-raising. donations went toward the nurses for newborns foundation. get in! >> my shoe is bigger than this car. >> arnold schwarzenegger's return to the big screen biggest buck at the box office. "expendables 2" should win the weekend with a $30 million haul.

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really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with special perks on united. get it and you're in. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." i'm contributory negligence melvime craig melvin. one week to go before the rnc and dnc conventions. joining me with a preview, nbc deputy political editor. yesterday, i asked the rnc convention press secretary why we still need these conventions. a lot of balloons. i want to play his response and talk to you on the other side. take a listen. >> conventions serve a couple of purposes. the one, which is consistent, going back to when conventions started, it serves as a rallying

point for the party. everyone comes together across the country, enthusiasm grows and we launch give nor romney and paul ryan into the general. >> okay, that's his answer there. the money spent on these grand spectac spectacles, can they not use that to build enthusiasm more effectively and cheaper? >> i think this is a tradition that's gone back a long time. they have to go about the official business of nominating two candidates with president obama being renominated and remember, governor romney still the presumptive nominee. he'll officially be nominated at the convention, and it is a way for them to drum up a lot of enthusiasm. there certainly is a lot of money spent. >> rnc and then dnc. a list of the more prominent speakers. who is up? >> chris christie will be one

that keynotes the address, governor bobby jindal, connie mac from florida, jeb bush, you have some others who are prominent within the party. people who are going to drum up some enthusiasm while they are there. >> do we expect any surprises? anything out of ordinary? >> one side line issue to watch is ron paul, how much the folks of his very ardent following, they have gone to a lot of these nominee convention fights. >> they get rowdy. >> they can. and i'm sure it's something a lot of people will be watching. the rnc have been working closely with the ron paul people and know what could be coming with them because of the enthusiasm they have for him. it might wind up being a sideline issue, certainly they will fight, thread through that platform that they have and see if there is any influence. >> to the dnc convention, that one held in charlotte.

i was in north carolina recently. the obama campaign's field operation, fairly extensive. 40 field offices, they have 20, and they have been pushing hard for the hispanic vote. do boots on the ground still outweigh new social media outreaches? >> i don't think the obama people or oromney people are ignoring social media they think it's necessary to get people out to the polls, but nothing quite like knocking on doors to get people out to vote. the issue for the obama campaign, for democrats, they need to do more of this than the republicans do. if you look at our polling, key constituent groups like hispanics. their intensity is down this year, opposed to conservative constituen constituencies, right through the roof. >> speaking of north carolina, the july state unemployment rates came out, and

battlegrounds, florida, nevada, iowa, new hampshire, all saw significant jumps from the prior month. why have we not heard mitt romney and paul ryan talking more about the jobs numbers over the past few days? >> i think it's certainly a red flag for the obama campaign. this is something locally will matter how it affects your pockets. and there has been the story line, a lot of swing states have fared better than the national average and some of the unemployment rates tick up in some of the key states, the obama campaign will have to be very concerned and certainly will hear the romney campaign make that case as we move past the conventions. >> deputy political editor domenico montenegro. we want to join you to watch our 20 hours of daily cover rage, kicking off with "way too early." andrea mitchel and chuck todd live with continuing coverage

and rachel maddow and chris matthews leads prime time coverage a little more than a week from now. time for today's strategy talk and that week to go until the rnc convention. romney/ryan ticket crisscrossing the country. appear together at a town hall meeting in new hampshire tomorrow before separating for campaign stops in eight states next week. joining me is leslie dono had you, consultant for mitt romney's 2008 campaign and senior adviser to michele bachmann's 2012 campaign. and also a vice president of skc knicker bocker. >> good afternoon. >> i want to play this video that the good folks at chris hayes dug up. from paul ryan early 2002. take a listen. >> what we're trying to accomplish today with the passage of this third stimulus package is to create jobs and help the unemployed. now, i've just recently read in

our local capitol hill newspaper that members from the majority party in the other body wants stimulus. they are breaking with their party leadership and asking for stimulus legislation to pass, because in their home states, they have a lot of people losing their jobs. >> now, paul ryan, a major opponent of president obama's stimulus plan, despite as we've learned over the past couple of days, requesting funds from it. why is it different when it's under president bush, west? >> just because they are both called a stimulus doesn't mean they are the same thing. when i got the $300, i bought a boat shoes and took my wife out to dinner. incredibly different when the government is giving money back to the taxpayers a taxpayers, a plan which was just a giant

government spending spree. >> paul ryan is a complete hypocrite. the stimulus passed was $250 billion, $300 billion in tax cuts that went to the middle class. the idea that it wasuge government spending is not backed up by the law. the other thing, paul ryan wrote multiple letters supporting projects in his district as part of the obama stimulus, so this is just, look, the reality is that paul ryan has a long history as a hypocrite. he voted for t.a.r.p., multiple stimuluses under bush. he has no credibility. >> did doug get a $300 check from the federal government under obama? come on, man. there's no comparison. >> he raises an interesting point. and a point that others have raised the past few days. one of the claims that a lot of

folks who support the romney/ryan ticket whether they point to paul ryan, here is a guy that wants to shrink government and believes the lowest amount of taxes possible. you start to hear things like this, and it kin of makes you wonder if he's walking the walk. >> he isn't. the fact is that he voted for two wars that were unpaid for. voted for massive tax cuss for the rich. the fact is, this guy, this idea that he is this fiscal hawk, he's a fiscal chicken hawk, and the reality is that those policies under george bush really let us into the economic crisis, trying to get out of right now. i'm not sure we should return to those policies. >> i won't deny there were definitely bush fiscal issues that got us into trouble. but paul ryan is the hawk we need. look at the way the debate has changed in america since he was -- become the vice

presidential nominee. no longer talking about tax cuts or biden's stupid gaffes. we're talking about real issues like medicare and stimulus. >> i'm glad you said that, because up until the medicare conversation that started just a few days ago, the election has really not been about a lot of substance according to a lot of folks. the war in afghanistan, we haven't heard candidates suggest that. we haven't heard a great deal of talk about foreign policy. with regards to the tenor of the am campaign so far, how would you characterize it. >> i would characterize it as ridiculous. not just this country, but globally, and talking about stupid things like tax returns. i'm so excited we're talking about real issues right now that affect real americans, that happened the moment paul ryan was named the vice presidential nominee, no denying that. >> it's applausing to listen to

the medicare argument from the other side. they are saying we need to preserve and strengthen government-run health care and that is -- the effort by the other side to distract from what they really are going to do with medicare. which is a long history of cutting medicare. newt gingrich said they wanted it to wither on the vine, and ryan plan as we know it, interesting they are running this full force defense of it it's crazy. >> guys, we have to leave it there. i'm sure we'll pick it back up. thank you. an joy your bow tie, i like that. >> okay. >> good to see you, craig. office politics. alex talks to andy cohen about his frustration on president obama about the issue of gay marriage. they have names like idle time books and smash records and on small business saturday they remind a nation of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement...

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of "watch what happens live" and creator of the "real housewives" series. he has gone from a cubicle at cbs to the top of 30 rock. we asked about president obama coming out in support of gay marriage. >> were you surprised when the president came out in support of gay marriage. and has he lived up to the hopes, the examinations of so many within the gay community, based on what he ran on? >> i think ultimately if you look at the four years, he finally did. it took a really long time to repeal don't ask, don't tell, and i was personally really frustrated. thinking why don't you just -- it seemed like something he could just do and he finally did, and so at this point, i think he did live up to the proms. and came out in support of

marriage equality, which is a big deal, even though legislatively there is nothing ki really do right now, the fact that you i know my president supports equal rights for me, call me crazy, but it is important to me. i'm issue oriented. i am a voter that looks at maybe three issues and goes. somebody like bloomberg, a moderate socially, is someone who i always have supported. then there are other people -- other people i have supported all over the map. there was a documentary we made when i was at trio called "gay republicans." and "gay republicans" are a brand of people i have been fascinated by. tinkly typically republicans are anti gay and run on it as their

platform. i have been fascinated by gay people who identify themselves as republicans. they vote on economics and not on social issues. for me, that's interesting, how do you reconcile going with the candidate who doesn't necessarily support what you do and how you live? >> what do you think about this career you have? >> i think it's fun. and that's what i've thought about every job i've ever had. it's what has guided me and led me to this place right now. if you are happy in your career, you are going to do well, and it will lead to you greater success. if you are so -- you know, i always thought the office i had was the best office. i had a cubicle at the morning show at cbs and it was in the corner, wow, i have a cubicle in the corner. this is amazing. it was so fun and i had a bulletin board like that one.

and i love my little bulletin board and my extension and i love it that i'm in the corner and i have all this school stufstuf cool stuff. i am trying to embrace the happiness. and when i sit in this office, i think this is pretty cool. i like this. >> which speaks a lot about your countenance and how you look at life. as a mom, i would suggest i look at your parents, and i think they have been pretty phenomenal. reading your book, a lot of stories about parents who are not supportive of their kids when they come out, reyes. >> and your mom was a rock. >> amazing. she's somewhere, yeah, she's there. >> and your dad too. >> my dad is amazing. they are both great. they have supported me, and they are my -- they are my -- sometimes toughest critics, but always biggest supporters. >> most people will assume you have this glamorous life, because you hobnob, out there.

do you go home after work sometimes just wiped out and just crash and -- >> i go home from work wiped out every night, but i just don't get home until like 1:00 in the morning. that's the issue. and, you know, glamor is in the eye of the beholder. >> next weekend's office politics, alex interviews arianna huffington. number four, reaction to michael phelps' leaked photos. phelps will not lose photos over the incident. provocative photos were put on the internet during the london games. the international olympic committee has a rule prohibiting nonofficial sponsors around the type of competition. questions?

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you cannot discount the impact of digital media during the presidential campaign, but when it comes to being web savvy, the incumbent has a clear advantage. a new study how each side uses social media shows president obama with a big lead over mitt romney, but there are questions about how that online clout translates to the real world we have chief creative director of brpr group. how are you? >> doing well, thank you. >> facebook the exception, president obama's team is posting nearly four times as much content as the romney camp? how much of a game changer could social media be in this race compared to previous presidential races? >> you would be hard pressed to find anyone that would disagree, the game changer happened in

2008 when president elect obama ushered in the era of social media. to the surprise, unbeknownst to the republican party, he had a lot of clout in the space. it's redundant to say if the game change is happening, it's just being underutilized. >> you think neither candidate is fully utilizing social media they are attempting to use it as a traditional broadcast tool. >> yeah, if you look back to fdr, when he used to have fireside chats, radio fireside chats, the same utilization and misuse of the platform. they are broadcasting their message without any substantive reaction with the voter. >> he give me an example. >> if someone posed a poe quest to you, two integral components

to a conversation, to listen and respond. both campaigns respond less than 3% of time on facebook and twitter and posing statements about the economy, when any post that is about health care or women's rights, they overindex by four times the amount that the economy does. a00 opportunity in terms of the listing strategy and responding. that's why they are missing out. >> is this purely the political risk. if someone tweets me, i have 140 characters to respond and things can be taken out of context. is that it? the political risk? >> i think they are gaffe prone, but there is an opportunity if you look at vice president biden, he's gaffe prone and mitt

romney has been gaffe prone. a wonderful opportunity to answer these questions. let's take, for instance, if you were to answer some questions that a voter had possessed to romney, and romney doesn't respond, that's a great opportunity for obama to then come in with a youtube response, specifically to that voter, to say this is how i would handle health care, this is how i would handle the economy, address it. that's a viral opportunity. u. it's simply not happening. >> is this the nextitieration in terms of social media. four years from now, is that where this goes? >> i think the voters will demand it, yes. >> a fascinating conversation. i appreciate it. i'll tell you something else that continues to mist phi me to a certain extend. you think four years later, the gop would have gotten on board more with some of the social media stuff. >> they are in the process of

mastering it, but mitt romney with the app and announcing the vice president, a much broader opportunity for him to announce the candidate via twitter. >> number three on our first five web web stories, swimming to cuba. 62-year-old american endurance swimmer left cuba saturday, trying to swim to the florida keys. diana nyad's fourth community. jellyfish stings and asthma attacks ended her prior attempts. she thinks it will take 60 hours to finish that swim. at purina one, we believe small things can make a big difference. like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks.

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front passeng front page politics. last week before two big political conventions with the sunday talk shows buzzing over medicare. advisers clashed over the hot topic. >> that's ays central question the fable for this election. how will be strengthen medicare. if we strengthen it or push costs to seniors. >> if i could just respond to that, look, let's look at the contrast of the two campaigns. congressman ryan was down in florida yesterday, talking about medicare which say very important issue. an important cost of living issue for millions of seniors. the same time this week, vice president biden in virginia talking about people being put back in chains. >> tomorrow, mitt romney and paul ryan reunite on the campaign trail with a town hall meeting in new hampshire, and that controversial chains comment is spotlighting new concerns about negative

messaging on the campaign trail. this morning, mitt romney's top adviser suggests that biden's remark, a deliberate attempt to steer both sides of the national conversation down an ugly road. when you lock at his rhetoric, the stream of attacks from joe biden, versus the serious proposal put forward by mitt romney and paul ryan, there is a very informative contrast there between the two tickets and two approaches. >> nbc's kristen welker live at the white house with the latest. good afternoon to you. >> good afternoon to you, craig. >> and ed gillespie called this talk "smear and fear" on behalf of president obama's campaign. how are the comments being addressed today. or are they? >> they absolutely are. there has been a lot of mud slinging on both sides all week long when it comes to the chains comments, the obama campaign pushing back hard against the notion that vice president was

trying to invoke race into the discussion. he simply used the wrong words, he was trying to quote from language that republicans had misused, he misspoke. this has been a big distraction from the larger issue. pushing back hard against the notion nah the vice president had any other intentioned except to talk about wall street reform. here is what obama campaign adviser robert gibbs had to say. take a listen. >> no other comment when speaker boehner talks about unshackling wall street. mitt romney thinks it's okay to repeal wall street reform, and t big banks on wall street go back to writing their own rules. we know what happens. that's what got us into this mess. >> reporters covering the

campaign have been trying to figure out if president obama spoke with vice president biden about those comments. the white house not giving us an answer about that the obama campaign hopes that this issue won't continue. they hope this won't be a repeat occurrence on the campaign trail. >> any indication we'll be seeing or hearing less from the vice president over the next few months on the campaign trail? >> obama officials and the white house defended the vice president saying the president has complete confidence in him as his running mate. there were some rumblings that perhaps the obama campaign should swap out, vice president secretary of state hillary clinton saying that won't happen. at the end of the day, vice president biden a good retail politician, good the pressing the flesh. good at rallying the middle class. important in some of the key battleground states. they think he is more of an

asset than he is a liability. if you look at the vice president's schedule, his upcoming week, he'll be quite busy with a number of camp paper events in michigan, minnesota, and it doesn't look like the vice president will slow down on the campaign trail any time soon. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> for more, let's bring in jackie kucinich from "usa today" and analyst jonathan alter. welcome to both of you. >> thanks. >> let's pick up where kristen left off. let's use the chains comments and other comments that the vice president has made, is he bo more of an asset or what of a liability at this point as well? >> i think he's neither. i mean, he's been making gaffes since 1972. this is knotted a new thing. the difference between chained and shackled, such a dopey

debate when we have such big issues. medicare on the table to be discussed, and horribly distorted by one side. i believe by one side. we don't always want to have phony balance where we say even steven. we have a situation where paul ryan was in florida, saying that the big, bad obama administration took 716 billion from your medicare. first of all, the exact same $7 is 16 billion, same amount of money, is in the ryan budget. accusing them of raiding the piggy bank, then he did the same thing. this is just one small example of the level of misinformation that's going on back and forth on this issue. where it is truly legitimate, obama making seem as if romney wants to voucherize medicare today.

in fact, it's only for people my age, 55 and below, who would face a privatized medicare system, should mitt romney be elected president. >> jackie, let me bring you in here. a fairly complex debate we've seen unfold over the past week or so with regard to medicare. is it more heat than light at this point? >> i'm not sure what you mean, but a lot for photo voters to consider. we have super pacs running ads, outside entities running ads. it's extremely negative right now. but at this point, you have to buckle up. no incentive to get any nicer at this point from either side. or more civil. >> jonathan, jackie raises an interesting point. it sounds like she's talking about the sheer amount of information, especially if you live in one of the eight or nine states inside the election, you look at ads, listen to the radio, get on the internet.

so much, you think voters will be able to discern fact from fiction with regard to medicare? >> seniors traditionally have been very sophisticated in the way they sort through what's in their interest. more time than the rest of us to figure out what's right. at the end of the day, when they get into the debates, it will be a basic question which candidate do you trust more to protect your retirement? that includes social security and meg cade. i would give the president the advantage, the republican party as recently as 2005, on record championing the privatizing the social security, having social security go into the stock market, if president bush and his leader on capitol hill, a guy name paul ryan, had gotten their way in 2005, and we had had a privatizeded social security system, imagine how much of their retirement savings, seniors would have lost

in the stock market when it crashed in 2008, so these basic questions, about who do you trust? that's where it will come, despite distortions on both sides. >> we have to leave it right the there. a pleasure, thaw, both. >> stay up to date on all of the latest political developments go to first read @nbc does news.com. a rising death toll in afghanistan. ied attack. growing concern in washington on how to stop the rise of insider attacks. afghan forces attacking american troops trying to train them. hamid karzcakarzai is being cal to better vet police recruits. and new video from syrian

state tv. assad attended prayer in a damascus mosque, marking the start of a muslim holiday. his first appearance in over a month. eamon mohyeldin, what is the latest? >> president assad appeared at morning prayers. he was flanked by members of his regime. one person absent and triggered a lot of speculation as to where he could be is the voice president. this individual is to some extent respected by many. he has not been heard from or seen of in the last several weeks. the fsa has claimed he has defected. we have not heard any claims from him personally or from others that suggest he has left the country. the syrian government insists he

is still present in syria, still in his role, but the fact that he was absent from such an important ceremony has a lot of people wondering whether or not the government's line is true. >> just gone off the grid. >> by some extent, absolutely. we have not seen him, heard from him. as vice president, he is an individual, if he, in fact, defected, would be a serious blow to the regime's ability to function. >> another development. the new u.n. envoy to syria, what's going to be his role? >> well, that's a great question. the united nations and arab league have appointed the former algerian diplomat as the new envoy, he's coming in as the previously one has completely failed, that of secretary-general kofi an an, the 90-day please plan failed to

end the violence. already he has angered the opposition by comments that he suggested that president assad does not necessarily need to step down just yet. already the opposition is saying he needs to apologize for those comments. >> the very latest what is happening in syria. thank you, appreciate you. up next, hiding sadam. ten years after the iraqi strong man's capture from that spider hole hideout, a man who helped hide hussein tells his story. why now? why did he do it in the first place? we'll speak with the reporter who got the explow si. you're watching "weekend he end alex witt." hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios

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the man who hid up with of the world's most want the dictators speaking out. he built the spider hole that saddam hussein hid in. in an exclusive "washington post" article, that man reveals the intriguing details nearly ten years after hussein's capture. the reporter, ken sullivan," joins us on this sunday afternoon. good afternoon to you. how did he keep saddam hidden and keep it a secret? >> well, he was very, very careful. fascinating how he did it. kept him on a small farm where he lives, which is down a small dirt road behind a locked gate, surrounded by trees. you could stand on this farm and not see another human being for

weeks i suppose. very careful about telephones. sadd saddam never used a phone. he never had visitors, but his sons did manage to get there once or twice to visit him. and during the time saddam was away released several video recordings trying to exhort troops to fight against the americans and mfrpalik took the little tape recorder and recorded urban sounds to confuse the americans. >> how did the americans close in? >> the americans were very clever, and they knew saddam would most likely go back to the place he was from. they knew people were fiercely loyal to him, so they figured they would probably go there.

they just closed the noose, kept very close tabs. and there were stories at the time, that said the day before the raid where they got him, they captured someone who sort of gave them a very good idea of where he probably was. >> an interesting quote from the colonel in the iraqi national police. i want to put up excerpt. we consider it a heroic act. this act doesn't concern this family only, but it represents all the citizens of dawr. this city embraced saddam. did nawiq face legal trouble? is he praised by local? >> he is something of a local hero saddam is from here, this guy was very good to this area during the time he was president. these people got a lot of benefits and people are very loyal. he's a member of the family, when i talk to people, yes, we're very proud of what he did. that quote represents how people felt about sadam, and namiq was

never pushed in any way by the iraqi legal system. he was by the americans. >> what is life like for him now? >> i think it's pretty good. this summer he opened a little restaurant, kind of a glorified term for what he has. a little concrete shack where they grill chicken and that's where i met him. and everybody there knows him and everybody is delighted to see him, and i think he's -- he's sort of a local hero now. >> kevin sullivan, a fascinating article. thank you for sharing it with us. >> my pleasure. in ra moment, an atheist group tries to silence a school's choice of music. first, a commanding and demanding presence. wikileaks founder julian assange out of hiding with words for the united states government. you're watching "weekends with alex witt."

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america's star owe limbi olympians in iowa. gabby douglas and lolo jones among those honored on the campus of drake university in des moines. an especially emotional home coming for jones, who, of course, fails to medal in the 100 meter hurdles, and gold medalist missy franklin, one of six olympians honored in denver. franklin, 17-year-old who won four golds and a bronze in london. a new controversy over what qualifies as music or prayer is fueling an unusual battle in upstate new york. it started at the shenandoah central school district when a parent complained a music teacher was teaching students songs that contained references to god. an atheist organization threaten aid lawsuit. the district is reportedly

refusing to acknowledge. joining me, lisa green. thank you for coming in on a sunday. first of all, disputes over music with religious content. seem to arise very often. why is that? >> a lot of first amendment fights over religion, seem to be set to music, and i think part of the reason why, music is such a powerful disseminator of religious messages, any messages. this usually comes up around holiday time. here we are in the summer talking about the latest version of the dispute. >> let's give viewers an idea of the content of one of the songs that was taught. the words up on the screen here. "thank you for the world so sweet, thank you for the food we eat, thank you for the birds that sing, thank you, god, for everything." the freedom from religion says the teacher taught the kids to sing this song at thanksgiving. is this unconstitutional? >> the answer?

it depends. like so many legal discussions. the word god has the@yet group complaining and generally here is the test. schools have to walk a delicate balance, freedom of religion, freedom from relinlon. what a school can do is teach e religious music, but they can't teach religious beliefs. >> how do you discern? how? >> it's really hard to imagine being well educated without knowing something about bach or spirituals. schools are allowed to teach those, but when a school chooses music to encourage religious beliefs among it's students, that's where you get into trouble under the constitution. >> if this were to go to court, how would a court rule on it?

>> the wocourt would have to lo at factors and decide. the local paper has editorialized, we have bigger problems in the school district, why not just find a different song. >> lisa green, thank you helping us break some of that down. very complex and it seems to be something that comes up once or twice a year. >> sure does. romney reveals, how deep will budget cuts be if if the republican's choice becomes president? he spells it out. we'll talk to one of those reporters on the other side of this break. "weekends with alex witt." [ male announcer ] when this hotel added aflac to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha!

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you do a lot of kayakingno. 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 so you can try new things. sync your american express card with facebook, foursquare, and twitter to find savings. that's the membership effect of american express. times square on a sunny sunday afternoon here in new york city. august 19. it is about 1:30. i'm craig melvin in for alex

witt. new today, wikileaks founder julian assange emerged from the equadoran embassy in london. we are live in london with more on this story. >> good afternoon, cra. julian assange called on the united states to release private bradley manning, accused of leaking massive amounts of private information which wikileaks published. assange says if man diagnose what he says he did, he's a hero. he came out onto the balcony, cheered by supporters. here is a little bit more of what he had to say. >> as wikileaks stands under threat, so it is the freedom of expression and the help of all

our societies, we must use this moment to articulate the choice that is before the government of the united states of america. will it return to and reaffirmed the values, the revolutionary values it was founded on? or will it lurch off the -- off the precipice, dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark. >> but you know the one thing the australian did not talk about are the allegations of rape and assault that have been made by two women in sweden. that's the reason is he stuck in the embassy. the swedish authorities want to question him, but he and his supporters say it's part of a washington plot to extradite him to the united states.

the white house says this is the matter for the governments of britain, sweden, and can you wafor to resolve. the standoff continues in london. in addition, an angry diplomatic row after the british government seems to suggest it could take british support away. >> a quick question. why now in terms of the timing? we haven't heard or seen from julian assange in two months. why the statement today? >> i guess it comes today because on thursday, he was formally offered asylum by ecuador, that offer can't be taken up, i guess that's why he's talking out, a couple of days after that offer. >> thank you, duncan. appreciate it. here are the fast five headlines on this sunday. two high school students were

arrested on suspicions they were planning an attack on their school. they were making opline threats and had a specific date in mind. the school will hold a safety meeting with students after classes start next week. meanwhile, philadelphia police think robbery may be the motive in the murder of one of their own. the offduty officer walking home from work yesterday when he was shot to death just blocked from his station, the 19-year-old veteran planned to retire next year. and in idaho, authorities are evacuating 350 houses because of thick smoke coming from a wildfire that burned 130 square miles. and word from the dallas area that aerial spraying against the deadly west nile virus will resume today. the mosquito-killing mission scrubbed last night because of bad weather. and a restaurant in los angeles is offering guests a 5% discount if they check in cell

phones at the door. the chef wants customers to dine without distraction, and so far, half the dibers have accepted the offer. those are your fast five headlines. "fortune" magazine out with a new interview with mitt romney. the republican candidate breaks down which federal programs he will cut if he wins in november, as well as his prediction for what the country would look like under four years of his presidency. joini david witford joins me now. he laid out his five-point economic plan in the interview. what did it look like? >> one quick correction to begin. he talked about some of the places where he wants to cut in order to balance the budget. the cuts don't add up to a balanced budget yet. talks about cutting amtrak, about federal subsidies for amtrak, for pbs, you know, he runs through -- tucks about looking for savings in the

military, not enough to cut the overall military budget. one of the big questions that remains about mitt romney's economic plan, the cuts don't add up. >> one of the knocks on mitt romney's plan and his plans in general, one of the knocks, they aren't very specific. more specific in your interview than with other members of the media? >> he stressed a couple of things that maybe he hasn't stressed before. basically, the romney campaign plan and i don't think this has changed since he announced paul ryan would be his running mate. the less said the better. often when mitt romney opens his mouth, when you get specific about cuts, you alienate people. and his best strategy for campaigning as it was throughout

this spring and continues is the election, i'm not president obama, i'm somebody else. i represent change. >> you mentioned tax policy in your report as well. do the thinktanks and cbo agree with conclusions that governor romney comes to? >> no, in sum, they don't. romney talking about cutting marnl natur tax rates, but do so revenue neutral. the numbers just don't add up. if you are going to cut marginal tax rates in such a way that you remove deductions and, you know, popular deductions like, i don't know, the morning interest or charitable deduction as a way of getting to revenue neutral, the bottom line is higher taxes for poor people, middle class people, low taxes for wealthy people. i don't dispute that, numbers

just don't add up. another article in an accompa accompanying piece, talking about the economic policy steering group. who is in that group? tell me about the secret meeting last month. >> very interesting group. this had never been reported before. some of the names on the 19-member economic policy steering group, known to be romney advisers, people like greg manque, some surprises too. outliers like john thain, former ceo of meryl lynch. deep republican establishment. no less than five previous chairs of the council of economic advisers, all the way back to reagan. former president of the world bank. >> the secret meeting, before i let you go? >> i'm sorry?

>> there was a secret meeting of sorts? >> they gathered two days after the 4th of july. romney up in lake winnepesaukee. most of the national press up taking pictures of him in his swim trunks and this secret meeting taking place. look at the composition of the group, largely republican establishment, and the only way to think about these groups, holding pens for senior officials in waiting. if you look at this group, it's a better way to think about what a romney administration might look like other than a strictly political choice than like the choice of paul ryan. >> david whitford, thank you for the insight. eight people recovering afteran extreme lightning strike. a family having a gathering on a lake superior beach when lightning struck the area. a 9-year-old boy in very serious condition from injuries.

three adults also suffered some serious injuries as well. we'll continue to keep an eye on that. politico calls paul rye's mother the new face of medicare. what does that really mean? is it true? the big three weighs in next. first, let's get right to today's ups and downs. more americans walking for exercise. a new report says 62% of americans walk at least ten minutes straight at least once a week back in 2010. compares to a55% in 2005. even the downside, daily deal site group ob, stock reaches new lows. stock down to $4.75 per share, way off the offering price of $20. you've been busy for a dead man, after you jumped ship in bangkok, i thought i lost you. >> surfing is my life now. >> william shatner's return to

price line commercials. 94% of priceline measurcustomer wanted him back. fewer tv shows shot in l.a. 23 new dramas scheduled by major broadcast networks, only 2 shot by t means loss of job ♪ this is crazy here's my number, call me maybe ♪ >> you're welcome. that will be in your head until you go back to work tomorrow. surpassing more than 200 million views on youtube. more teenagers go to youtube for music than the radio. video has killed the radio star. those are your ups and downs. ♪ there are projects. and there are game-changers.

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president obama's latest gallup poll numbers in. with less than three months to go to the election, mixed grades. best number on handling of terrorism. nearly 60% approval rating. education and foreign affairs receive good marks. job creation and the economy rated as weak points. only 30% of those askeded approved of his handling of the deficit. time for the big three. playing the mom card, where's the bounce and this week's must-reads. let's bring in robert trainem, nia-malek harrison, and we have the former chief of staff of senator joe meachum. >> robert, let's start with you. a new campaign video out featuring paul ryan and his mom

at yesterday's event in florida. take a look, take a listen. >> my mom has been on medicare over ten years. she planned her retirement around this promise that the government made her. that's a promise we have to keep. medicare should not be used as a piggy bank for obama care, medicare should be the promise that it made to current seniors, period, end of story. >> robert, has mrs. ryan become the running mate's running mate? >> his mom, living in the villages, by default, she is the human face behind the plan, he is saying seniors, if you are 55 years or older, union you're fine. you have i had promise made for you by the government. we'll keep the promise. this is not about you, this is about your grandchildren and their children. what they are trying to do, craig, trying to create this

narrative that paul ryan would not even touch his mother's medicare, so he wouldn't even, of course, touch your neighbors and so forth. we'll see if it works or not. >> nia-malika, is that a strong enough argument, that romney and ryan will end medicare as we know it? >> a pretty strong visual and argument. as robert said, she's 78 years old, they are rolling out the ads. we haven't seen much of a pushback from democrats. they released an ad last thursday, going on the defensive, but have you seen mitt romney release three ads. a podcast they released on saturday. and a web ad they released today. they have been really aggressive on this. what you do notice, republicans aren't necessarily talking about their plan. they are not talking about their plan to vouch eervoucherize, th just going on the attack.

at this point, i think democrats have been a little caught offguard in terms of the aggressiveness of this argument, and they have work to do in terms of catching up. >> you have to wonder, we talked about the new gallup poll numbers, you ask folks, about jobs and the economy. we haven't talked about it a great deal over the past week or some of all about medicare. who does that discussion benefit more, chris? >> well, i mean, it's an interesting political strategy to say the least for the romney campaign, the economy is a bit of a struggle. the president has a strong argument to make in terms of where the economy was, and in terms of where it was today, we look at this in terms of brutal political angles, you would keep the focus on the economy. here is the fundamental problem with the ryan pick, and even the focus on medicare. i will agree, they have been aggressive. the problem, they've been so aggressive, and their argument is so bad.

they shifted with ryan from making this election what they would argue is a referendum to a choice. a choice between two visions and the problem is when you ask voters, who is the president, who is the candidate that will stand up for the middle class that will fight for you? they play right into the hands of democrats. in almost every poll, you see democrats and president obama have that advantage, not a good place for obama and ryan to be going into the fall. >> i want to put a graphic up, we've been talking about the bounce, and traditionally, the vp pick provides a bit of the bounce atop of the particular. sarah palin, four years ago, four-point bounce. joe lieberman, nine-point bounce. a one-point bounce for paul ryan there. the median since 1984, four points. any regret in boston this week,

robert traynem? >> absolutely not. sarah palin, four-point loss, they lost. joe liberman, two or three points, they also lost as well. >> nine points for liberman. >> right. but take a look at the folks that won, biden last time around, a one-point bounce. at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. most people don't choose their next president based on the running mate. they choose based on different visions, republican and democratic vision. at the end of the day, ryan or vice president biden, whomever it may berk they should do no harm, they shouldn't be a drag on the ticket. i don't think paul ryan will be a drag. at the end of the day, medicare will be an issue for republicans. democrats do have a trust factor here that's much bigger than republicans. have a policy debate, and that's what ryan pick does.

it forces vice president biden to talk about medicare in a substantive way and a good thing for republicans. >> bounce vp or more redirect the conversation vp? >> for now, he's a redirect the conversation sort of vp. you hear with democrats, and tr hampshire, they feel it's mitt romney now who doesn't want to talk about the economy, his economic approach to the middle class because it would damage the middle class. they're saying they're the ones that want to change the topic. again, they have been aggressive on this medicare issue. they've benefitted greatly, i think, from ryan's energy, his youth, he's humanized mitt romney on the campaign trail. he's much looser, much more energetic on the stump. so they certainly have gotten some benefit from there as well as millions and millions of dollars in donations to this ticket. so i think in that way it has definitely been a bounce and an asset to this ticket. but listen, we've got 2 1/2 more

months to go, debates to go, this national glare that paul ryan's going to be in. >> we're going to take a quick break, when we bring you guys back, the long awaited must reads our favorite segment here on sundays. [ male announcer ] this is the land of giants. ♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants. ♪ guts. glory. ram. my brother doesn't look like a heart attack patient. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter

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are. back now with the big three and your must reads. we have robert and nia-malika and chris, form every chief of staff. let's start with your must read. what is it, and why? >> helene cooper, "the new york times," she talks about both campaigns basically being the defender of medicare, and i think what's fascinating, we talked in the earlier segment, how all of a sudden we shift ahead way from the economy, and about an issue that plays into the democrats' spring.

i understand we will have a debatementme programs and medicare. medicare will end in terms of how we see it as today, even if it is for people 55 and young every, a fundamental change, when you talk about romney and ryan and their vision for the country. we talk abouternie and bert from sesame street, we're not sure what they are doing and why. this is the prom americblem ame people have with these guys. when you scratch past the surface, why are they doing it? >> we will stop you there before you take it where we don't want to go. what is your must read and why? stay away from the "sesame street" analogy. >> a very interesting piece in politico, about paul ryan and the late night friday night data dump of tax returns.

the romney campaign, very much on the defense about the governor's taxes. something tells me this is not the last time we'll talk about governor romney's taxes, unfortunately. >> someone made an argument on the sunday morning shows, and tax return stuff, more of an obsession, an obsession of folks like us, not so much john q. six pack. i saved you for the last. your must read is my favorite. what is it, why? >> a fantastic piece on the front page of "the washington," the frankous nature of these parties. they are widely divergent internally, it looks at the ways political parties in some ways are herding cats. all of these divergent groups among individual parties, based on a survey of 3,000 voters, democrats, republicans, a fascinating read. >> it doesn't paint a pretty picture. thank you so much.

and always a pleasure. enjoy what's left of your sunday. >> thank you. >> you too. >> happy sunday. >> folks, that wraps up this sunday edition of "weekends with alex witt." i'm craig melvin. up next, "meet the press." alex will be back next week. have a fantastic week, folks. you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen. to me, that's the membership effect.

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