right now on "andrea mitchell reports" -- the political odd couple. governor chris christie hosting president obama at the jersey shore. to get a firsthand look at the pace of recovery from superstorm sandy. we'll hear the president's reactions live this hour from asbury park. you can see they're ready for him there. and speaking of political odd couples -- how did hillary clinton and andrew cuomo, potential 2016 rivals end up in lock-step on memorial day? that's quite a parade. secret mission, senator john mccain slips into syria to meet with rebel leaders. how will that complicate secretary of state john kerry's globe-trotting to try to find a diplomatic solution to the expanding civil war? doling it out -- former senate majority leader and republican presidential candidate. bob dole offers some harsh advice for his own party. >> they ought to put a sign on the national committee door,

closed for repair. and here we go again -- the woman hired to fix rutgers after they fired an abusive coach now faces similar allegations of her own. she says she will not resign and the school is standing by her. we've got mike mad dog russo here to sound off. good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. greetings from asbury park. seven months after the meeting that grabbed national headlines just days before the 2012 election. president obama and new jersey governor, chris christie touring the knewly reopened boardwalk at asbury park in the neighborhood still desperate for aid. joining me for our daily fix, chr chr chris. and peter. the president going to be back in asbury park, back at the jersey shore, how much will he see what is off the boardwalk,

behind the boardwalk, if you will. where there are homes shattered and aid that's not arrived? >> that's a good question, andrea. we know that he just got here to asbury park a short time from now. because it's raining in the words of the mayor, at johnson. he said we survived sandy. we can handle a little rain. it's only a nuisance. he might start a little bit early with the remarks. we'll keep you up to date on that as well this is a wale-choreographed trip where both chris christie and the president will walk together down the boardwalk as they just wrapped up. a 20-minute drive away in point pleasant. already the moment that people are talking about is this continued in the words of some bromance, whatever you call it, seven months later, they've still, they've still got it. they were throwing what they call one of these touchdown fever games where you try to toss a football in the tire. governor christie. one for one. he said one and done. the president 0 for 5, clearly basketball is his sport. the president left with a

chicago bear stuffed animal. he didn't leave empty handed. that obviously optically is what a lot of people are going to be talking about so much today as they two men, side by side in this really provides both of them the opportunity to focus on what they want to focus on. governor christie doesn't have to talk about rutgers university and its scandal. the president doesn't talk about the conversation still royaling washington with irs and the a.p. and benghazi. they focus on bipartisanship, the economy and what they view as government at its best. >> few foreign policy challenges. i seem to remember an easter egg roll day where basketball free throwing was not the president's game, either. that's not my game to be sure. let's talk about syria and john mccain. elizabeth mueller is here who has covered all the foreign policy beats and is now the deputy bureau chief for "the new york times" and chris celizza as

well. >> elizabeth, the president now facing john mccain, sliding across the border, slipping across the border with the rebel groups into syria. a dangerous mission, no doubt. even though he was on the ground only a fewer hours as richard eng engel pointed out. on the very day that the e.u. lifts its arms embargo, we knew that was going to happen. it reinforces the sense that the administration is behind the curve. john kerry meeting in paris with the russians to try to talk them into another round of negotiations. yet the russians are still arming the syrian regime. >> well, the word, i mean what we know from the white house and from the great white house correspondents and the bureau is that the president is really adamantly opposed to any kind of intervention. he's leading this policy. and mccain has been out there for a year at least, pressuring the white house to do something about syria.

but they're talking about a little more aid to the rebels, but right now, it just does not seem like the white house is going to step up its game in any big way into syria. the president feels like he got out of iraq, he's getting out of afghanistan. he wants to focus on asia. he does not want to focus on what he calls these little wars in the middle east. >> a little war, i mean elizabeth -- >> i'm not arguing. >> i know you're not arguing. >> i'm reflecting the point of view here. >> i know you're reflecting that. but chris silizza. right now as richard engel has reported, hezbollah has gone all in on the side of the assad regime. lebanon is now compromised. iraq is literally inflamed in violence in baghdad over the weekend. so how long can the president award, avoid what may be inevitable here? and what john mccain and others in his own party, in the democratic party are trying to press on the administration more

urgently? >> well you know, andrea, i think what you're seeing in part . >> doesn't help that, at some point i don't know what it is, i defer to you and elizabeth who know this better than me. at some point there has to be a crisis point. a swing moment. a line that can't be crossed. you know, the longer you sort of keep moving the goal posts, the more you open yourself up to the criticisms of john mccain and others of why aren't actions being taken in the situation. and the situation continues to worsen. it's an unenviable position that the president finds himself in and it's why being the president

of the you state is very difficult in the global international world in which we live where you face these questions in and out every day. >> and of course, the president has a challenge in terms of the republican opposition. and the what he has had to deal with on the hill. bob dole certainly brought that home in his interview with chris wallace on fox news sunday. let's take another look at bob dole and what chris asked him about the current state of the republican party. >> you described the gop of your generation as eisenhower republicans, moderate republicans. could people like bob dole, even ronald reagan, could you make it in today's republican party? >> i doubt it. and reagan couldn't have made it. certainly nixon couldn't have made it. because he had ideas. >> that's pretty damning. reagan had ideas. and even said that nixon could not have made it. >> certainly no, no.

>> given what the president now has to face with the republicans, i'm not talking about the john mccain republicans, i'm talking about the ted cruz republicans that the president has to face on immigration and on the house side. that's the obama defense of why he can't get anything accomplished. >> it's amazing to look back and think that reagan is a nod rat. that was not the view back in the 1980s. >> look at immigration. what the president is facing. it's the bill will probably go through the senate. there's still some question about whether or not it will get through the house. this is a big that the republicans need politically. there's a tough group there who are i opposed to immigration overall as has been set forth. so interesting to see what happens. >> elizabeth bluemiller and chris cillizza. peter will be back as soon as

the president shows up. we understand, thanks for the guidance that he may be coming early. we want to make sure we talk about the civil war in syria. which is spreading across the region with the senate foreign relations chairman, bob menendez, live from jerusalem where he's been meeting with israeli leaders who are concerned about what's happening in the region. >> senator there is some satellite delay. tell me your perspective now that john mccain has gone into sir yarks very dramsyria, very dramatically to meet with general idris. >> senator mccain has been very vocal about his views on syria. and going into syria, is not unlike when he went into libya at the time. so you know, i think senator mccain, who i was with in jordan before coming to israel, has made it very clear. he believes that we have to change the dynamics in syria in order to both stop the bloodshed

and see if we can achieve a result that you know we would want to see. >> now you were part of, you sponsored legislation last week in committee, hasn't reached the floor yet. but where do you stand on what the administration is not doing, regarding the rebels? your legislation would purr mitt some arms to go to the rebels. >> our legislation that passed in a strong bipartisan vote of 15-3 in the senate foreign reemgss committee is basically empowering the president, should he make the decision to armed, vetted elements of the syrian opposition, the type of opposition we believe share our values. the type of opposition that we believe would be if they came to power, inclusive of all syrian society. and in an effort to try to change the circumstances in syria. we have enormous bloodshed.

80,000 lives lost. 1.5 million syrian refugees spread all over the region. an incredible number that i visited in the syrian refugee camp in jordan. nearly half a million syrian refugees in jordan as a whole. tremendous challenge to jordan. spillover into iraq, spillover into lebanon. the bottom line is if assad can continue to have a monopoly on air power and artillery, then he doesn't think that he's going to lose this war and he thinks he can win a war of attrition. we have to do something to change the dynamics so assad has recalculation. so that his patrons have a recalculation. so our legislation would give the president the wherewithall, should he decide to use it, to arm vetted elements of the

syrian opposition and also to increase the humanitarian assistance to the region. and to look at how we might very well sanction entities that are providing arms and/or petroleum to the assad regime. >> there is a perception and john mccain and others have voiced this. a perception by members of the rebel groups, that what the secretary of state is doing, admirable as it may to be find a diplomatic solution, is slow-walking it. giving the president some diplomatic cover for not doing anything and for taking more time just as the regime gets more and more propped up by hezbollah and gets rearmed by the russians and is -- really making sure that assad is not going to be ousted. >> i think that the administration has been very clear that assad must go. i give credit to the secretary kerry for trying to see if there can be a negotiated solution if

there can be a breakthrough. i have a problem, as i see the russian counterparts in that effort sending advanced missiles into syria. it seems to me they're doubling down on assad. that's why i think that a parallel track has to be led. so that the president can have the wherewithall to have other options should the negotiated efforts that the secretary is trying to pursue not ultimately give itself the success that he hopes for. i believe that our effort is an effort that has a strong bipartisan vote. i think has good sentiment inside of the congress. and hopefully you know, we won't need it, but i think we need to have the parallel track at the same time in order to send a clear message to assad and his patrons and empower the president should he decide to use that option. >> i know you're far from home doing your job as chairman of the foreign relations committee.

do you think the federal government has done enough and the insurance companies as well, to make it clear to residents of new jersey what they need to do to rebuild. because many of them are in a holding pattern. >> well, i certainly have a problem with some of the insurance companies, trying to avoid their responsibility to homeowners who have paid their premiums. i think they've done a lot on behalf of the federal government's efforts with the state of new jersey. but there are still people who are outside of their homes there are still people who are waiting to see the final hope to have a vote on and republicans unfortunately stopped us. is the potentially skyrocketing premiums for flood insurance. which would just create a manmade disaster for so many of these homeowners who already

faced sandy, then they faced the efforts of recovery. then they're facing new building codes. and now to get skyrocketing premiums, on flood insurance, which they critically need for their mortgages and the resale value of their property is just a triple whammy. and it's something that we need to deal with. >> senator bob menendez, thank you very much from jerusalem. safe travels. thanks for joining us. and in this almost all-jersey show, more controversy for rutgers, for the rutgers university athletic program. two months after the men's basketball coach was fired over charges of verbally abusing players, the "newark star-ledger" reports that the julie herman who was hired to clean up the mess was herself accused of verbally abusing volleyball players at the university of tennessee in 1996. the reporter was asked how he

managed to uncover this? >> rutgers did not make the phone calls that i did. when i say that i'm not trying to suggest that what i did was an act of genius by any stretch. i picked up the phone and in doing sort of basic reporting, one-on-one, i called former players and -- that's how i discovered it. >> joining me now is chris mad dog russo, host of the mad dog sports show on sirius xm radio. so basically this "star-ledger" reporter hit the google machine to find out all about julie herman. >> it described rutgers, very sloppy. who trusts that president, i certainly don't. i know governor christie is wrapped up with the president today, i want to hear from him. you cannot have her in this situation, be the a.d. of the university when they just fired mike rice and you got 11 players from '96 saying i was verbally abused when i was a member of the tennessee women's volleyball

team. not only the fact that she got upset at the women's assistant coach who got pregnant. she said those things about her honeymoon, don't get pregnant and they university of tennessee lost $150,000 on that lawsuit. so julie herman has not been clean about this. has not said, my fault, this occurred. when approached she said i wasn't aware this is going on. rutgers is very sloppy. they were sloppy with eddie jordan, the men's basketball coach who didn't have his degree, which is all right, i can buy it. but this is a very sloppy situation. herman should quit. christie should say something. and the president has got to go i mean the idea that this president, who was a disaster with mike rice, didn't even see the video until the whole thing exploded. now he hires herman without understanding that she's got a past with her own verbal abuse. i mean gee whiz. the state university? what's going on? it's a state university. she's got to get out. what a job by wolf mitt wolf,

the a.d. at rutgers. she's got to go. have a press statement saying i'm going to leave because i did the same thing when i was a coach. she should have been clean when she was interviewed for the job. the whole thing is is a mess. >> the well clearly it is a mess. now just to put it in context. the incident with her former assistant coach and whether or not she said demeaning things, things that might be actionable about her getting pregnant, that was a lawsuit that rutgers says they did look into. there was a $150,000 payment. but they claim that they didn't know anything about what happened in tennessee. because that all happened in louisville. according to the school, since the announcement, this is their statement, since the announcement of her selection, some media reports have focused on complaints of aspects of her career. looking at julie's entire record of accomplishment, we remain confident that we have an individual who will work in the

best interests of all our students. she has issued a statement she is not going to quit and the school has issued a statement they're standing by her. is it up to the governor to get into this? >> he got into the tim panetti thing. he got him out of there, the a.d. he was all upset about the mike rice thing. i love christie, let's hear from him. where is his statement? this has gone on for two or three days. wolf track it is down. nobody respects barchie. this is my neck of the woods, rutgers is 30 miles from new york city. and nobody respects this president, everybody wants him out. the student body wants him out. this guy did not bother to do his due diligence on mike rice. how do you not look into her past as a coach, when you hire her as the a.d.? i mean gee whiz, especially when you're replacing rice, who got all of this bad publicity rightfully so. based on the verbal abuse and you hire the new a.d. who has got her own issues with verbal abuse? i mean, come on. you must do a better job of

this. i know christie is wrapped up jersey shore, president is there today, but it's about time we hear from him. you know he was heard from now. with the whole thing with rice. called it pathetic, what a disgrace, blah blah blah, and pa netti is his best friend. he got him out, a.d., didn't back up panetta at all. and barchie is his buddy. he hired him. but where's the governor today? the whole thing is a mess, andrea, you can't have this. this is rutgers, a state university. you can't have this woman be your a.d. it's a joke. something has to be done. >> chris mad dog russo, well named. he's mad today, thank you very much. we're watching the jersey shore live where president obama is going to speak any minute now from asbury park. stay with us for live coverage on "andrea mitchell reports."

you see chris christie is at the podium. we're waiting for the president. >> you can see gorp christie on the stage as he just said to the crowd that's gathered here. he wish it is were a sunny day along the boardwalk here. he has made it clear he thinks it's going to be a good summer for the folks in this community, andrea. >> it's a chance to showcase the progress they've made here. >> our businesses need to get up and running. so many. so many of our citizens who just want their lives to go back to normal. and so i'm thrilled at the progress we've made the last seven months. we got a chance to show the president some of that earlier today up in point pleasant, i

also made sure he understood there's a lot more work to do for the people of our state and i am not going to let anything or anyone get in between me and the completion of the mission to restore and recover our great state. >> so now on behalf of the people of the state of new jersey, it's my privilege to introduce the president of the united states of america. ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ]

hello, new jersey. it's good to be back in jersey. i love you back. >> let me first of all say thank you to governor christie for that introduce and the great work he's done here. your mayor, ed johnson is here as well. and has been working tirelessly on your behalf. we've got three great representatives in congress from new jersey. rush holt, frank pallone. donald payne junior. last week my voyeurs asked me. they said mr. president, do you want to spend next tuesday in washington or would you rather

spend it at the jersey shore? >> and i've got to say, i've got to make some tough decisions as president, but this wasn't one of them. >> governor christie and i just spent some dime on the point pleasant boardwalk. i got a chance to see the world's tallest sand castle being built. we played some touchdown fever. i got to say christie got it in the tire the first try. >> i played a little frog bog. and, and governor christie's kids taught me the right technique for in the hammer to get those frogs in the buckets the way i was supposed to. and of course, i met with folks who were still rebuilding after sandy.

now, we all understand there's still a lot of work to be done. there are homes to rebuild, there are businesses to reopen. there are landmarks and beaches and boardwalks that aren't all the way back yet. but thanks to the hard work of an awful lot of people, we've got wonderful shops and restaurants, and arcades that are opening their doors and i saw what thousands of americans saw over memorial day weekend. you are stronger than the storm. after all you've dealt with, after all you've been through, the jersey shore is back, they are open for business and they want all americans to know that they're ready to welcome you here. >> and i've got to say, if they ever let me have any fun, i'd

have some fun here. i was telling my staff on the ride over -- i can see being a little younger. and having some fun on the jersey shore. maybe after i leave office. i think a friend of mine from here once put it pretty well. down the shore everything is all right. he's the only guy a president still has to call the boss. other than the first lady. but for generations that's what this place has been about. life isn't always easy, we're people who have to work hard, do what it takes to provide for our families. but when you come here,

everything is all right. and whether you spend a lifetime here or a weekend or a summer, the shore holds a special place in your heart. and a special place in america's mythology. america's memory. >> when i was here seven months a ago, hurricane sandy had just hammered the coast and lives and businesses were destroyed and folks were hurting. i remember something chris said back then. he said we cannot permit that to replace the resilience that i know all new jerseyens have. and it didn't. it didn't, you didn't let it, you kept going. these towns have a special character, not just in the sumpl, but all year-round. from the moment the hurricane hit, first responders worked around the clock to save lives and property, and neighbors opened their homes and hearts to one another and you came together as citizens to rebuild.

and we're not done yet. and i want to make sure everybody understands that. because for somebody who hasn't is seen their home rebuilt yet or is still trying to get their business up and running again. after all of those losses, we don't want them to think that somehow we've checked a box and we've moved on. that's part of the reason i came back. to let people know we're going to keep on going until we finish. but if anybody wondered whether the shore could be all right again. you've got your answer this weekend. >> from seabright to bayhead, from belmar seaside heights. shows were sold out at the stone pony. kids were eating ice cream, going on rides. going do eat some more ice cream. guys were trying to win those big stuffed animals to impress

the special girl. so like i said, the jersey shore is back in business. the work is not over, though. seven months ago, i promised you that your country would have your back, i told you we would not quit until the job was done. and i meant it. >> craig fugate. fema was here before sandy made landfall. they're still here today, they're working with the governor's team and with the task force i set up to support families and communities who still need help. since the storm hit. we've provided billions of dollars to families and state and local governments across the region and more is on the way. even as my team is helping people recover from the last hurricane season. they're helping people prepare

for the next hurricane season. when a storm hits, we've got to be ready. education, preparation, that's what makes the difference. that's what saves lives. and anyone who wants to make sure they're ready for a hurricane or any other disaster. want them to visit something a website called ready.gov, make a plan, it's never too early. we've got to remember the rebuilding efforts like these aren't measured in weeks, months, but they're measured in years. that's why just this past thursday, we announced billions of new relief aid for new york and new jersey transit agencies, that's why the army corps of engineers is working to restore beaches and strengthen the shore's natural defenses. that's why i joined governor christie and your representatives, trying to get a relief package through congress. we're going to keep doing what it takes to rebuild all the way and make it better than it was before. make it stronger than it was before. make it more resilient than it

was before. so jersey, you've got, you still got a long road ahead. when you look out on this beach, this beautiful beach here, even in the rain it looks good. you look out over the horizon, you, you can count on the fact that you won't be alone. your fellow citizens will there be for you. just like we'll be there for folks in breezy point and staten island. and obviously we're going to be there for the folks in monroe, oklahoma after the devastation of the last week. part of the reason i wanted to come back here was not just to send a message to people in knowledge knowledge but to folks in oklahoma. when we make a commitment we've got your back, we mean it and we're not going to finish until the work is done. because that's who we are. we help each other as americans

through the bad times. and we sure make the most of the good times. so let's have some good times on the new jersey shore this summer. and next summer and the summer after that. and all year long. america, bring your family and friends, spend a little money on the jersey shore. you'll find some of the friendliest folks on earth. some of the best beaches on earth. and you'll see that even after a tough couple of months, this space is as special as ever. and down the shore, everything is still all right. thank you, everybody, god bless you. god bless america. ♪ ♪ the president wrapping up in asbury park. abbreviated speech. we think because of the weather. you can see the rain and the wind. and the flags behind him earlier. and you can call them a political odd couple. chris christie. and barack obama, first saw them of course seven months ago. right before the election and that was criticized by some in

camp romney. over what impact it might have had. joining me now is david axelrod, msnbc senior political adviser. david joining us from chicago. as you look at these images of the president and chris christie. there's no question that it's in both of their benefits to show bipartisanship in a blue state that barack obama handily won, chris christie can only benefit if he's looking toward 2016 by being seen with barack obama. there's no doubt about. >> the president won the state by a land slide. and it is to the governor's political, it is in his political interest to be with him to be seen with him. i think where the problem may come in is if after that election he decides he wants to run for president and you know his party is such that these images may not work to his benefit. but i think first things first.

he wants to win re-election. let's give a little bit of acknowledgement to just public decorum. the fact is that the president, the governor worked closely together. this is a milestone for both of them. and a triumph for government at a time when there's great cynicism. from that standpoint it makes sense for both of them as well. >> this is a welcome change of subject and venue for the president. this has not been an easy time for the white house. the recent controversies over journalism and investigations into leaks and the iris most notably. how does he get back on top of these questions. >> well first of all, there's no doubt about the fact that washington has been consumed by these story. there are other stories going on right now. about housing prices. higher than at any time in seven

years. consumer confidence high than it's been in quite some dime. the stock market reacting positively to that and the truth of the matter is around america, those kinds of factors are much more central to what people are talking aboutwater coolers around thewater coolers in washington. i know the subjects are different and those you have to grind through. and do the right things. you know i think the president has done a series of things to try to get that behind him. it's going to take some dime. it will take some time to figure out how to deal with this issue of leaks and a free press. it will take some time get to the bottom of the irs story. i have to live through that and i think appearances like this do focus people on larger questions that are of great interest to the american people. don't you think that the irs is of great interest to the

american people? everyone is affected by this. what the president said was inexcusable behavior on the part of the irs. "the new york times" did report this weekend that some of these groups that were targeted should have been investigated because they were blatantly political and needed to be vetted. the question is whether liberal or progressive groups were also vetted with this kind of profiling. if you will and apparently on the face of it, they weren't. >> that's not true. actually i think there was a reflection on that story and other stories that some progressive groups were also held up. remember what these groups were asking for was a tax exemption, the tax exemption required that the primary purpose of your organization was not political. so then the irs has an obligation to look at it it was unbelievably stupid to take key words and look at applications on that basis. the preponderance of applications at the time any

were looking came it those kinds of organizations, just as a matter -- i've said from the beginning. if anybody political was involved this wouldn't have happened because anybody with a mode modicum of political sense. >> their day-to-day well-being in this economy and how they make a living from paycheck to paycheck is probably primary in their minds. >> john mccain going into syria, david, that really personifies in a very personal way, united states senator goes into syria. into no man's land, still pretty dangerous, given suicide attacks and everything else that's taken place. and it crystallizes the criticism that the administration is just reluctant that this is personal with the president, as elizabeth bluimueller was reporting.

it's personal with the president, he does not want to become engaged. the war spreading, iraq is now engaged. in sunni/shia fighting. lebanon is now targeted. he may not be able to contain this and stay out of it. >> i don't know whether the, it's a matter of not wanting to be engaged. the u.s. is engaged from a number of different ways. i think there's been great concern and you know this, andrea, because you've reported on it on just who the rebels are. and if we were to arm them. who are we arming? what is the long-term play here? and who is likely to be in charge of this. at the end of the day. these are big concerns that the president as the commander-in-chief has to work through. i'm not privy to everything that he's looking at, and so i don't, i can't speak specifically to the decisions that he's making. but i know it's been a concern of his from the beginning. that we not end up in a sense

exacerbating the situation by arming the wrong people perhaps arm i arming the rebels and ending up in a situation that's horrendous in its own way. it's complicated and this is why the president has such a difficult job because there are no easy answers to some of these questions. >> no good choices indeed. thanks very much for the context. david axelrod, always good to see you. >> thanks for joining us. >> good to see you. in the eye of the storm using a specialized tank-like vehicle, storm chasers in kansas captured this amazing footage from inside a tornado on monday. according to one chaser -- wind speeds hit up to 150 miles per hour. before blowing open a hatch and tearing off instruments on their more than 14,000-pound vehicle. the national weather service reported 16 possible tornadoes in the midwest. today or rather on monday. and severe weather today stretches from texas to michigan. including possibly oklahoma city and, yes, moore. where there is a slight risk of

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androgel 1.62%. oh! >> let's go back to nbc's peter alexander. back in asbury park. so the, the governor as i get it was one and done and the president, not so much. >> yeah, that's exactly right. i think the image of the high five andrea, they may very well be the most lasting image of this day with the president visiting the jersey shore for the first time in seven months. obviously optically, politically there's so much to be read into everything we've witnessed there. chris christie has gubernatorial election before 2016. the thing that struck me, hearing the president's remarks

which were abbreviated because of the not so desirable weather here was the fact that he sounded more like a candidate, candidate obama than we have heard pretty much at any other time since the election took place. if only in his cadence, more than the content. he really did sort of send out a postcard to america. the chamber of commerce has got to be thrilled. the president said remind people that we are back open for business, we need their business to succeed. so ultimately this isn't just our issue, it's america's issue. and that's i think in many ways what i think people are here are satisfied that the happened in the course of these remarks. >> and that arcade game just for the record was touchdown fever. with -- >> the president 0 for 5 and chris christie, 1 for 1. and we'll be right back. st. peter alexander, i hope you can get inside and dry off and get warmed up and thank you and we'll be watching for your

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we remember the compassion that he showed by leading the global fight against hiv aids and malaria. helping to save millions of lives and reminding people in some of the poorest corners of the globe that america cares and that we're here to help. >> that was president obama at last month's dedication of the george w. bush presidential library. a signature achievement, of course, of the bush presidency is the ten years ago when president bush established the president's emergency plan for aids relief. a game changer in the global fight against aids. barbara lee played a key role in getting the legislation passed. this was a real bipartisan effort and it is certainly something we've looked at with the bush years. bono and elton john and others

have all paid tribute to president george bush 43 for what this has accomplished. >> this was a major, major effort, andrea, and thank you very much for this tenth anniversary, really focusing on this. because one, the american people through their generosity. we've saved over 5.5 million lives. secondly, this is an example of bipartisanship. this actually came as a result of conversations and ideas with my predecessor, with the congressional black caucus, then chaired by eddie bernice johnson. and also the form chairman of the committee, the late henry hyde, the late tom lantos and congressman jim leach who was head of the banking committee. we put together this plan and we worked with the white house to develop it and believe you me, i can't think of any one more bipartisan effort that has been so successful in really saving

so many lives and turning a death sentence into really now what is an ability for people to live a healthy life. >> let's talk about some of the accomplishments. what do you consider the most important sort of signature points about what has been accomplished in terms of combatting hiv infections in the continent? >> we've been able to save over 5.5 million lives. people now are on treatment. you see young people, children where 90% of children with the virus live in sub saharan africa. you see children being born without the virus because of our mother to child transmission efforts. what you see now are people moving forward and really becoming healthy and developing healthier communities as a result of the type of funding that requires coordination with building infrastructure and health care systems. which is extremely important.

also, andrea, i've been to sub saharan africa many times. and over and over again, i witnessed so many funerals. the coffin business was a major business in sub saharan africa. you don't see that anymore. you see so many people living healthy lives and on treatment. we have a long way to go. and so we can't stop now. this is an aids-free generation is within our reach. so we have to have it now within our grasp. so we have to move forward and we have to continue because if we stop now, over 8 million people will not receive the type of treatment they need. >> thinking back, i know that jimmy carter was so instrumental after he left the presidency in curing river blindness as a scourge in subsaharan africa. now we see sort of someday light here on hiv infections. and perhaps other diseases as well. because the infrastructure is

being created. >> we're moving toward an aids-free generation. i can't emphasize this enough because oftentimes, the american people don't really know what their foreign aid money and tax dollars accomplish. well, our foreign tax dollars are less than 1% of our gdp. when you look at less than 1% of gdp going to one of the most successful foreign aid programs, pepfar, we're saving millions and millions of lives and we can see in our lifetime an aids-free generation. we have to move forward. and we've got to tweak and fix some of the provisions of the law that have not been quite, well, have undermined our efforts but i think we're on the right track. >> we know you're on the right track. thank you so much, congresswoman barbara lee for everything you're doing on this and bringing it to our attention today. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." a busy day.

thomas roberts has a look at what's next on "news nation." >> thanks so much. coming up, prosecutors win several pretrial battles in the murder case against george zimmerman. one of the biggest decisions, a defense motion to delay the trial has been denied. we've got more on what the judge says can and cannot be brought up. plus, you saw the president just wrapping up his speech in new jersey after touring areas recovering from hurricane sandy of we'll get the first read on why this trip could be a win/win for the president and governor christie. (annoucer) new beneful medley's, in tuscan, romana, and mediterranean style varieties. ♪ just mix it in, and take play to new places. three cans in every pack. new beneful medley's.

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was not in that courtroom today. the judge considered dozens of motions by both the florida prosecutor's office and zimmerman's legal team. among them, judge deborah nelson ruling the defense will not be able to make mention of a number of details about trayvon martin's past. in their opening statements. those details which the defense claims shed light on martin's character including his possible prior marijuana use, his suspension from school and text messages. >> the state is seeking to prohibit the defense from making any reference to the fact that trayvon martin had at any time been suspended from school. >> it will not be mentioned at all without a prior ruling of the court. >> any communications or evidence that trayvon martin had used marijuana in the past, we're asking the court to exclude that. >> previously used marijuana, the state's motion will be granted. that will not come in. >> despite today's ruling, the judge left the door open for those pieces of evidence to be used later in the trial on a