in light of recent terror attacks aim to go keep millions of americans safe as we celebrate our nation's independence, a central park scare already. a tourist has part of his leg amputated after stepping on a hidden explosive. what police are saying about the incident. plus. >> i've been answering questions now for over a year. i've released more than 55,000 pages of my e-mails for the

public. >> political fireworks in an interview. hillary clinton speaks to our chuck todd after clinton spent more than three hours with the fbi, answering questions over her e-mails as secretary of state. meanwhile, donald trump responding just a short time ago of being criticized for his tweet, showing a picture of hillary clinton and the star of david. the tweet was deleted and the image replaced. so why is trump defending the original post? we have new details. and an update on the deadly gait tore attack. the father says it wasn't just one, but two gators involved. we'll have the details on that. hi, everybody, good to have you with me. i'm thomas roberts, happy 4th of july. right now we start with security fears here in the u.s. on a holiday that follows a wave of international terrorist attacks. new yorkers and tourists at central park went into pappic mode over the weekend when a blast was heard inside the park. it turned out to be the results

of a dangerous home made fireworks mishap, police say. but it highlights the concerns across the country. and certainly the reaction for first responders. nbc's rehema ellis live in new york central park with more. heightened security everywhere. it's noticeable. first, exactly what happened as eye-witnesses say this blast sounded off? >> reporter: yeah, it was a terrifying moment for people out here just enjoying the park. a young man from fairfax, virginia, came here to new york city with a couple friends, and he was out and is about in the park. he jumped off of a rock, according to police, and landed on to some explosive material. police refuse to call it an explosive device but instead say it was some sort of a firework material that then exploded. this young man suffered a severe injury. his grandfather said his leg had to be am but date below the knee. so some time to go in order to recover from this. authorities say this is something they think that during this time of year people often

play with fireworks. they think it was unintended in terms of his accident. the material left there, left behind a day or so before. and then when this young man jumped on top of it, unbeknownst to him that it was even there, it went off. thomas? >> so tragic, especially for folks out trying to enjoy this holiday weekend. as always, it's noticeable, the presence of authorities. no credible evidence any imminent attack. what are you hearing about the stepped up major measures in new york and other places celebrating the holiday. >> reporter: they are. you saw going behind me a police officer, a truck, police truck. and there are several layers of security here in new york city, including a critical response team. the city of new york says this is the first time they're having something like a25 hundred-plus officers, and they're prepared to prevent terror. this also specially trained

explosive k-9s, trained to sniff out bombs if they come in the area of them. so, again, several layers of security here, and they're hoping that it will keep everyone, the millions of people, safe who are going to be out here watching the fireworks tonight. thomas? >> nbc's rehema ellis live in central park, thank you. we move on to politics and reports on both major parties and the presumptive nomineeses over this holiday weekend. i want to go to kasie hunt, following the clinton campaign. and kasie, a big weekend for hillary clinton, because she met with fbi investigators for more than three hours on saturday. and that comes before clinton's first campaign appearance with president obama coming up tomorrow in charlotte, north carolina. back to the investigation. is this casting a shadow over the campaign trip, or is the campaign trip meant to turn the page? >> i think at this point, thomas, the clinton campaign is working to try to turn the page from the course of really the last week or so.

the news that came out about the new -- the benghazi findings, the actually report we got finally from republicans. then, of course, you had bill clinton meeting on the tarmac of the phoenix airport with attorney general loretta lynch, a move both sides say didn't look good in the context of this e-mail investigation. and then, of course, you had hillary clinton herself sitting for this interview with the fbi for three hours-plus on saturday morning. clinton's team is optimistic that this means that the fbi is reaching a conclusion in this inquiry and there is the potential she could be cleared of wrongdoing, maybe even in time for the democratic national convention. they weren't sure if that -- was going to be something that might come down the pike. they're still, of course, not sure about it. but that meeting between clinton and lynch raising some questions in some voters' minds about whether or not the findings of the investigation are going to be acceptable to them, and like

we said, both sides have said that meeting was potentially about ideas. so next week an attempt to turn the page and to move forward and to offer up a series of storylines that the clinton campaign wants to focus on. first you're going to have her with president obama in charlotte, north carolina. donald trump, of course, going to rally just hours away that night in raleigh in the same state. then it's on to atlantic city for hillary clinton, where she wants to focus on donald trump's record with casinos, for example, his business record. she, of course, is trying to work to undermine the credibility that he does have with voters. our polls show on the economy. and then on friday, she's going to head to scranton to campaign with vice president joe biden in his hometown. all of these events designed to drive the message that she wants to focus on and turn the spotlight away from these issues that she's been dealing with the last week or so. >> we shall see how it plays out.

kasie hunt, happy 4th to you. thank you. >> happy 4th. donald trump on defense today, all because of a tweet he sent on saturday. it came from his handle, and he was criticized right away, because this was observed as being anti semitic. the tweet since deleted, shows an image of clinton and what appears to be a jewish star of david over $100 bills. trump tweeting, quote, dishonest media trying their best to depict a star as a star of david rather than a sheriff star or plain star. i want to go to nbc's kelly o'donnell. donald trump is out with that defense. but let's talk about where this tweet originated. and since it was deleted, is the campaign saying why trump now is defending the original message? >> well, a senior campaign adviser does tell us they corrected the original tweet and that should be enough of an explanation. that the campaign recognizes this was inappropriate. but the adviser would not go so far as to explain the

discrepancies between the way this new tweet under the donald trump name on twitter is handling it versus the official campaign statement. now, with donald trump, he has acknowledged publicly at times he is the one doing the tweeting and sometimes staffers have control of his twitter account. we don't know exactly who is responsible for what. but the image that you originally pointed to, thomas, that has some roots flying around the internet from some sites that have been known to express some hateful language and imagery and that's part of the concern, that this -- the source of this original material should have been an alert to anyone handling a sort of media for donald trump. that even if he's trying to explain it away, the source should have been a red flag. >> okay. so donald trump is dealing with that. but he's also spending some time tweeting today about those that are in contention to potentially be rounding out his ticket. the veep stake. so we had trump tweeting earlier

today about meeting with senator joannie ernst of iowa and also about having some time with governor pence of indiana. are they still in the hunt on this, or is this just basically a bigger casting call for all of us to pay attention to? >> reporter: well, i think what's interesting about the tweet related to senator joannie ernst, who is one of the rising stars in the republican party, she represents iowa, a state that is in play. she is very popular among conservatives. she is a former colonel after a very long career in the military. she -- she retired from the military when she became senator. but she's got experience, combat experience. so she represents a lot of things the republican party likes. and so for donald trump to spend time with her is significant. i think it's also significant he chose to sort of preview that he was meeting with her, right at the time he's got all of this attention about the star of david or the depiction that people find offensive. so it strikes me that trump is doing a little bit of deflecting

here by giving the media something new and interesting to follow, to perhaps quiet some of the other criticism. she is in the hunt, i am told, as is governor mike pence, who spent friday night and saturday night. he, his wife and their daughter at the trump national golf resort, enjoying some meeting time as well as some social time. so donald trump is certainly putting out the welcome mat for potential running mates. >> i don't know through your years of experience covering politics if you can help best joannie ernst's campaign commercial in iowa as being one of the more epic ones we have witnessed. >> yes, in the agriculture community, there is a time when certain medical procedures have to be performed on livestock. >> yes. >> and people will know what we're talking about. and she embraced that task. >> youtube that commercial, folks. kelly o'donnell, good to see you. adam good win, a republican

strategist. chief of staff to west virginia senator joe manchin. adam, moments ago we have trump aide, ed brookover telling nbc news this statement about that tweet. he said we took it down, we corrected it, and that correction, i think, says enough from the campaign. but that's two different messages we're getting. from the campaign on whether the tweet was wrong because donald trump is trying to say this is the media taking it too far. but it is an image that originated with the neo nazi group. that they co opted and then tweeted. so why would they do that? how can they explain that away? >> well, i think that the use of this image was certainly by the campaign was inadvertent. i think we're making a lot of fuss about something that was clearly a meme that they had forwarded. >> but is this enough bigoted misstep?

by the trump campaign? >> thomas -- >> this isn't the first time we have had to spend and waste time trying to debate whether donald trump knows what's bigoted and what's not. >> i think this was unfortunate. i really do. i think that everyone that's involved in the campaign regrets this happened. but i think what we're seeing in this entire campaign. like it or not, thomas, is removing from an age of political posturing and correctness to candor. and on candor, the pofls have been consistently joking trump holds an edge over secretary clinton and you just came out of this story about the e-mails. secretary clinton has been alternately dismissive, defiant and deceptive in handling an issue she could have handled with the american public day one. and said if there are any problems as i like to suggest there are, i'll deal with that, but she has not done that. and i think this is a campaign season, and bernie sanders and donald trump both have been exhibits 1 and 1a of telling it

like it is. we want to be square with, we want to be resistanted enough to be told the truth. and i think that's what this issue is coming down to. and maybe this campaign. >> so chris, let me talk to you about this. we had chuck todd interviewing hillary clinton exclusively on saturday, after that three-and-a-half hour interview with the fbi. and he asked her about the trust factor, specifically. take a listen. >> how does it feel to have voters believe donald trump is more honest and straight forward than you are by nearly a 2 to 1 margin? >> well, chuck, look. i have said that i'm going to continue to put forth my record, what i have stood for. do everything i can to earn the trust of the voters of our country. >> so, chris, with repairing that trust and full well she has some work to do there, what are the steps? what is the strategy to do that?

>> well, i -- i think you've got to be very straight forward and very clear about what positions you had and where you're going to lead the country. and in terms of this whole trust issue and in the polls, if you really dig deep into the polls, what you see are basically mostly republicans are the ones that do not trust her, which is not surprising. the other reality is, it's a simple fact, you've been in politics for 20, 30 years and taken as many punches and slings and arrows as secretary clinton has. you're going to have certain challenges. that doesn't minimize the fact that every candidate in particular when you're the democratic nominee, you've got to go out there and i think establish a very clear direction, and a very clear vision for the country and trust is an element that gives that vision -- >> but in the primary, though when it came to the trust question, bernie sanders led her. so on the left, there were democratic voters that felt he was more trustworthy and honest than clinton was. so it wasn't just a perception about republicans.

>> but the reality is, when -- again, you're talking about someone who has been in politics a very long time. and that creates its own kind of aura around you. and let's be honest, thomas. we have seen republicans have tried to do with secretary clinton every step of the way, whether it is -- whether it's the e-mails, whether it's white water, every single day tried to figure out another line of attack. and that's fine. that's politics. but what voters are going to have to decide is what candidate do they want to lead the country forward. and that is where i think you focus. you never are going to win over republicans or those voters -- >> did they not set up a private server in their basement? that was all her doing. >> that is true. but my -- but she's answered those questions, and the fbi is going to rule one way or the other on that. and i imagine when the fbi comes out and clears her, the republicans, including donald trump, will come out and say they were wrong. they were wrong about all of the things they suggested otherwise.

you know, that the questioning of her integrity, questioning of her ethics. i have no doubt that they will do that. >> so adam, if she is cleared, does that take away that narrative and that talking point for republicans? >> thomas, the key to communicating in crisis communications is you communicate out constantly and forthrightly. she doesn't want to do that. she doesn't like press conferences, she doesn't like being engaged. she wants to be the perfect candidate in a perfect world. i have news for the secretary. this is not a perfect world. we face challenges all of the time that are lousy. that we had to try to deal with. and we want someone who gives it to us straight. >> but in an interview with chuck todd after this fbi sitdown. so she was willing to address what took place behind closed doors. right away with chuck. >> thomas, she's trying to change the narrative right now as she moves into the convention. but what took her months and months to get to this point. i mean, just tell us like it is. this is what we want, i think,

today. we are tired of the politics that says things that are happening that aren't happening. and being told things that are untrue. give it to us direct. >> all right, guys. chris, i've got to leave it there. we have to wait for the fireworks over the river for later. >> okay. >> adam goodman, chris kofinis, good to see you both. still ahead, following breaking news, the number of people killed in an iraq bombing this weekend reaches a staggering number overnight. we'll be live with new developments in that. and house speaker paul ryan promising a vote on gun legislation this week. but will anything be done? i'm going to talk to the director of george at that kay's new group after the tragedy in orlando.

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overnight severe weather forced u.s. senator jim inhofe to land in an airplane he was flying. the 81-year-old oklahoma republican who is an avid pilot landed at a small airport in oklahoma, about 70 miles northeast of tulsa. the faa would not confirm that inhofe was at the controls but says the plane veered to avoid a deer on the runway. the senator walked away and is now at home with family. over the weekend, two people were killed and 30 others wounded in shootings across chicago. and in the wake of the orlando nightclub shootings last month, gun control advocates have once again stepped up their pressure on congress to enact new legislation. you'll recall the 26-hour democratic sit in over a week. tomorrow lawmakers return to capitol hill and democrats vowing to keep guns on top of the congressional agenda. joining me now is lad everett, director of the new gun violence prevention group called "one

pulse for america." good to have you with me. as we just looked back over recent events, last year, what happened in san bernardino after that california adopted sweeping new gun control measures, which included the expansion of background checks, also a bill that limits the magazine capacity to ten bullets. the legislation did come in the aftermath of what happened there. so why do you think it's been so difficult to do the same thing on a national level as opposed to a state level? >> well, i think it has to do with modern-day politics and the fact that so many republicans in congress are in gerrymander districts, and the challenge they're primarily face something from their right flank in the primaries that they have to go through. so i think that's been a real hurdle for us, trying to convince them that this is an issue of urgency for them. however, i think there's a lot to be very positive about right now. i have no doubt that speaker ryan and his caucus did not want to vote on guns in the wake of this orlando tragedy.

there's no doubt that the pressure from the sit-in which you discussed and also from just average activists and constituents in their districts have forced them to this point. the bad news is that the bill they're going to be voting on is not a good bill. it's a bill that would actually make it nearly impossible to block gun sales to suspected terrorists. so while it's a good sign that we're seeing some political movement on this and that a vote is being taken, there is still more heat that needs to be applied to get votes on good legislation in the house. >> and so we know speaker paul ryan, promising a vote this week on the gop proposal that is aimed at preventing suspected terrorists of buying guns. it's been called a no fly, no buy, similar to the nra-backed corden measure that democrats opposed. wouldn't any legislation be a step forward at this point? >> well, i think so. you know, i think politically, it is a step forward, right? because like i said, they don't want to vote on a gun bill right now. and, you know, let's remember too after newtown, it took four months to get any votes on gun

legislation, and that was just on the senate side. so we're definitely seeing progress. speaker ryan's voicemail has been so full that our supporters are telling us that they haven't been able to leave messages with him for days. so there's no doubt that people are flooding calls to these representatives. they're hearing from their constituents. they're going to be two additional rallies tomorrow and wednesday calling for votes on good legislation in the house. the pressure is building. our coalition is growing for gun violence prevention. my new group with george takei, one pulse for america, is proof of that. we're going to reach a point, i think, where this pressure builds to the point where we're going to get good legislation and it will be passed. >> all right. we shall see, and we're all going to be following that tomorrow, as everyone returns to the hill after their recess for the holiday. ladd everett, great to have you on. terrifying new details about a gator attack that killed a

young boy in florida. another gator attacked the dad while he was trying to rescue his son from the other. we've got the new developments. does your makeup remover take it all off? every kiss-proof, cry-proof, stay-proof look? neutrogena® makeup remover does. it erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. need any more proof than that? neutrogena.

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transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. ask for transitions xtractive lenses. extra protection from light... outdoors, indoors and in the car. disturbing new information about that gator attack at walt disney world that left a 2-year-old dead. and the family devastated. public records say the father of victim lane graves told authorities that not one, but two alligators were involved in the attack. gabe gutierrez is in florida with the details. >> reporter: a report by the "orlando sentinel" shedding new light on the attack here in disney world, a father desperately trying to save his son. and the revelation that a second alligator may have been involved in the attack. this morning, chilling new details about that horrific attack at disney world. according to public records obtained by "the orlando sent

necessarily," the father of lane graves told authorities he was attacked by a second alligator while trying to save his son. in an e-mail to supervisors, captain tom we willens of the fire department said matt graves had lacerations from the gator's teeth. father refused to leave the area. but was finally persuaded to seek medical attention. on the way to the hospital, the father described the experience, telling how another gator attacked him as his son was being pulled into the water. >> what's your location and emergency? >> someone is drowning in the lagoon. >> reporter: during the 16-hour search for the boy and these five alligators found and killed, the toddler's body discovered intact, just 15 yards from the shore. the medical examiner says the 2-year-old died from drowning and traumatic injuries. according to the report, captain wellens also told supervisors about the parents' heartbreak

and love for their child. writing, quote, this incredibly sweet couple insisted on showing us pictures of their happy son, adding the mother kept referring to him as her happy boy. the family which held a funeral last month isn't commenting. the nebraska natives had been visiting disney world june 14th, staying at grand florian resort and spa. their child wading in water when the attack occurred. disney world put fencing, posting signs that warn of alligators and snakes throughout their resorts. disney world officials did not respond to a request for comment over the holiday weekend. but in their most recent public statement, they said disney was reinforcing training with its employees, and expanding its communication to guests. thomas? >> nbc's gabe gutierrez reporting from florida. breaking news overseas where another bloody day happened in the middle east.

an explosion near the u.s. consulate in saudi arabia. apparently from a suicide bomber. we've got the details. and then to iraq. the number of dead from this weekend's car bombing. now topping 200. we're live with the late-breaking details. straight ahead. thank you is what we say. but we mean so much more. we mean how can we help? we mean what can we do? we mean it's our turn. to do our part. to serve you, for all you've done to serve us. ♪

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it's new and improved with guaranteed tidylock protection that locks away odors. so you don't have to face one more stank face. tidy cats. every home, every cat. there's a tidy cats for that. today in the saudi arabian city of jedda, a suicide bomber killed and two security guards wounded in an attack near the u.s. consulate. and in neighboring kuwait, officials arrested some in an alleged ties to isis. in baghdad alone, the death toll now up to 200 in the attack on a shopping district this weekend. nbc's bill neely joins us live from london with the latest. bill, are international authorities looking at all of the attacks as being related, or specifically isolated attacks? >> yes, thomas. i think they are related. two months ago, isis called on

its followers to attack foreigners, to attack anyone that it sees as an enemy during the holy month of ram da, just coming to an end. so although those groups in iraq and turkey and bangladesh aren't talking to each other or directly to any kind of central command in syria, they are responding to that isis call. and to bring you up to date on the latest, the incident near the u.s. consulate in saudi arabia's second city, jedda, a suicide bomber parked his car, then challenged by a couple security men. he detonated his bomb. they were injured, but no one in the consulate hurt. it does seem that the u.s. mission was the target. it's being targeted before, and this time the bomber got to within about 30 feet of the walls of the consulate. the first bombing there in years, aimed at americans. iraq, of course, all too familiar with suicide attacks. and isis has claimed the worst bombing there in, well, perhaps

a decade. one security official now telling nbc news the death toll may have risen to at least 200. it was in a busy shopping area, you can see the aftermath there. it was packed with people. a man drove a truck packed with explosives into a building. dozens of children among the dead, whole families died together. this bombing, of course, came just a week after iraqi forces retook fallujah from isis. fallujah just an hour's drive from baghdad. so it looks like this is the terror group lashing back. but the isis reach, you know, is wide. bangladesh now the latest country to suffer an isis massacre, among the 20 dead at a restaurant where three teenagers studying in america. so isis with a point to prove and ramadan will end later this week. and it's safe to say security forces across the muslim world are braced for any possible more attacks. thomas? >> we can report on the fact isis is losing land and

retreating, that ideology continues to spread, and this is the result. nbc's bill neely live in london for us. bill, nice to see you. thank you. so back to politics now and speaking about both hillary clinton and donald trump, they're going to be taking a trip to north carolina tomorrow. the state, of course, one of the battle grounds that could decide the outcome of the november election. joining me with a snapshot of what recent polling is telling us about a certain state in specific, north carolina, and more, peter brown, assistant director at quinnipiac university's institute, joining us from orlando. good to have you with us. let's specifically start in florida, always about florida, the 29 electoral votes. your most recent polling would demonstrate hillary clinton as a wide advantage there. 47% to 39%. is there time to squeeze that up to get closer, more competitive for trump between now and then? >> oh, i think that certainly possible. here's the thing about florida. it is traditionally the biggest swing state, and the last couple

elections, it's been very, very close. president obama carried it narrowly both times. mrs. clinton's lead is larger when compared to some other swing states that has basically been in step with over the years. specifically ohio and pennsylvania. >> and we know how important the i-4 corridor is. >> right. but here's the thing about florida. it has a very large hispanic population compared to some other key states. 14% of the electorate in florida in quinnipiac's last poll identified as hispanic. in ohio, where the two candidates are in a flat-footed tie, 2% of the electorate is hispanic. and in pennsylvania, where there is a statistical tie, 4% are hispanic. so florida is a little bit tougher for mr. trump than it might otherwise be, because of his rhetoric about hispanics and the conflict he's gotten over it. >> so peter, explain about north

carolina and both candidates going there tomorrow. is there any recent polling that is demonstrating how voters feel, and also if we have history of what obama has done in north carolina, as well as hillary clinton? >> north carolina is -- has become a swing state over the last few elections. in the last election, mr. romney carried it. mr. obama carried it in 2004 -- excuse me, in 2008. so it's gone back and forth. and it used to be a red state. these days, very purple. there is some data that shows the race currently is within the margin of error. >> all right. so then when we get to specifics about characteristics of candidates, many voters still have concerns about clinton's honesty and trustworthiness. let's look at specific states, because it remains true for ohio and pennsylvania. your poll has trump and clinton basically in a statistical tie. so what are voters there saying about what is really going to

get their vote come november? what are they waiting to see from one of these candidates? >> well, what we found in general is the economy really does rank as the top issue. and that's certainly the case in this election, too. there are obviously other elections, and, again, florida is a little different because of the large hispanic population. in some other states we're seeing data, iowa, which is a medium-sized swing state. i saw a poll there with a 2-point edge for mrs. clinton. essentially, what we're seeing is virtually every swing state with the exception of florida, we're seeing results from the polling that is showing it's within the margin of error. >> peter brown with quinnipiac, great to see you. thanks for your time. >> my pleasure. still ahead, the talk over veep states ramping up with donald trump appearing to give another tantalizing hint about who he is vetting. and it was one of the state's peter was just talking about,

where she comes from. so has a woman just risen to the top of donald trump's short list? and then that trump tweet firestorm this morning. a new tweet just in with trump taking aim at hillary clinton and president obama on terrorism. trump tweeting, with hillary and obama, the terrorist attacks will only get worse. politically correct fools won't call it what it is, radical islam. we'll be right back. i'm billy, and i quit smoking with chantix. i decided to take chantix to shut everybody else up about me quitting smoking. i was going to give it a try, but i didn't really think it was going to really happen. after one week of chantix, i knew i could quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix definitely helped reduce my urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse or of seizures. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic

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unlike -- newty going to do it? the question was, should i -- should i be vice president? it's a hell of a job. that big pay raise. it's all work. >> so vice president joe biden saturday speaking to newt gingrich, who was off camera there at the aspen ideas festival in colorado. gingrich humored to be one of the top candidates on trump's

list of possible vps. taken to twitter to complement a number of republicans in the mix. senator tom cot ten of arkansas, mike pence of indiana and joannie efforts ernst in new jersey. trump also saying, quote, the only people not interested in being the vp pick are people who have not been asked. susan, good to have you with us. i want to just expand on the point of biden talking to newt off-camera at the aspen ideas festival. the "aspen daily news" reports that newt gingrich called donald trump a great populist leader and said he's one part andrew jackson, one part theodore roosevelt and one part pt barnum which resonates well with the working class but not the elite. of so for donald trump, who would you say is in the top tier in the hunt to round out his ticket? >> well, certainly gingrich.

he's somebody who has been a big fan of trump's all along. almost from the very beginning. mike pence of indiana, who he's met with and had a very good meeting with. and he's a governor, and a former leader in the house in congress. and then there's joannie ernst, who he talked about on twitter today. she is a senator from iowa, a tea party favorite. she's a woman, which is a big plus for trump. because he needs to win more support amongst female voters. and i think that's really your top pick right now. we're talking other names like bob corker of tennessee, and jeff sessions of alabama. both are senators. and both have, you know, at least not been highly critical of trump. i mean, sessions has been a big supporter, and corker, too, has also been from the beginning, someone who has not been as critical of trump as others in the u.s. senate. and so, yeah, i think all of them are possibilities. he needs to look for someone i think with political experience. he's talked about that. it certainly wouldn't hurt if he

had a female running mate. one area where he's not doing as well as he should be. so and someone with a lot of experience, because he lacks that. and all of these are good possibilities. but, you know, doesn't look like he's made a decision yet. still in the meeting face. >> susan, this is really interesting. folks have to respond, ones who have gotten shoutouts thought to be in the hunt. mike pence was asked by nbc news just a short time ago about the twitter controversy over donald trump, and that star of david. and we asked, are you prepared as vice president to handle controversies of this nature. take a listen to his response. >> i think the campaign has addressed that. and i would just say that my focus is indiana. i'm here today running for re-election as governor of the state of indiana. >> all right. so he was able to kind of tap-dance around it, say the campaign has handled it. but does this put those folks in uncomfortable territory? especially if they are running for re-election in certain categories to have to answer to donald trump, and his campaign

rhetoric? >> sure. and particularly, mike pence. because he needs to decide whether he wants to run for re-election, coming up soon. he needs to be careful about the way he positions himself, and in relation to trump, who is kind of a person who is a little bit controversial within the republican party. some really like him, some don't. we know that. that's part of his story right now. and so i think it's really tough when some of these controversial tweets come out or statements trump makes. i mean, we talked to people on capitol hill about this all of the time. say, well, you support trump. do you support what he said about this, about muslims, about hispanics, about whatever. you know, whatever the controversy is. and it's always difficult for people who say they're going so to vote for the nominee or say they support trump, to defend those things or to try to sound neutral, which is what i think you just heard from mike pence. saying i'm just focused on indiana, his way of getting out of having to talk about the tweet. >> susan, great to have you on. thank you. still ahead, we have casino workers now on a day four of a

strike at the trump taj mahal in atlantic city. all the while, donald trump no longer owning that casino. and someone who used to work for him claim the town still bears scars over what he's been called as the $1 billion taj disaster. guess what i just did? built a sandcastle? ha, no, i switched to geico and got more. more? 24/7 access online, on the phone or with the geico app. that is more. go get some mud... all that "more" has to be why they're the second-largest auto insurer. everybody likes more. mhm, i think so. geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. around hgets the waffle.rd but for all the other birds who could use a few more minutes of sleep, we've got you covered. enjoy free breakfast on the run and free wi-fi. get up to 20 percent off

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workers at the trump damage ma hall in atlantic city now on day four of a strike about the casino health and pension benefits. they continued after 1,000 cooks, housekeepers, they walked off the job on friday. and this comes during the busiest weekend of the year for the casino. and ahead of hillary clinton's planned visit to ac on wednesday. now trump opened the casino in 1990, but it now belongs to billionaire carl icon, joining us now is the union president of unite here local 54.

good to have you with us, we're going to start with where are you in talks with management? and how long are you prepared to strike? >> our latest conversation on thursday was when he rejected their golfer and we're prepared to stay out as long as it was to win a fair contract. >> when you talk about a fair contract, and the demands that you have specifically what are they? s. >> we need a health care plan that works for the workers. right now half of the employees at taj mahal are on a government assistance. medicaid, medicare, or on the affordable care act or subsidies. we don't believe in the subsidies should be given to a person or a company that runs a casino that makes millions and millions of dollars a month. >> let's talk about the company,

carl now owns the trump taj mahal. the union is quote, hell bent on trying to close this property. he also points out that he has spent $86 million keeping it open through bankruptcy. what's your reaction to that that there has been $86 million investment to make sure it stays open and those jobs remain active? >> well, he spent 86 million, but saifrzed about almost 20 million in the last 20 months skating it off the backs of the workers who work there with no benefits and not a half hour paid meal rate. if you're going to invest in a property, you need to invest in the workers as well and providing decent health care and bringing back the things that were taken away by a federal bankruptcy judge is a good start in telling your workers that you respect them and you want them as partners. >> one thing we need to point out, newjersey.com did a

statement about how trump's wind fall left people broke. went on to say he excels at ripping people off. from your experience as a union leader, who did a better job with the responsibility of trump taj mahal? better under trump or carl? >> you mean better job of ripping people off or running the property? >> running the property. >> okay. well look the history of the taj mahal is a history of four different bankruptcies beginning with donald trump and currently carl was involved in the last bankruptcy. so both of them have done everything they can to suck the money out of the property and not reinvested in the way that it needs to be. and that's why the brot is the in such distress right now. >> bob, we'll continue to follow what's going on with the union workers and see what happens when hillary clinton shows up there this week. >> thank you.

>> one of the obama daughters celebrating, first the fun facts by the numbers, at least 214 million people will celebrate today and we are pretty hard core about our july 4th parties, 285 million pounds of fireworks and $7 million on food and eat about $150 million in hot dogs. many just by joey jaws chestnut himself who will be on coney island today, the 100th anniversary of their hot dog eating contest. if they do, they do.

all right. if you celebrate the nation's birthday, today the obama family has an extra special reason to celebrate. first daughter malia turning 18, hard to believe, right? she was just ten when her dad was elected president. this past year, alone, malia met the pope, attended her first state dinner at the white house, graduating hoot high school as well and attend harvard nld

2017. this is after taking a gap year off. so happy birthday to her. and thank you very much for watching this hour of msnbc live, i'll see you back here at 2:00 p.m. eastern time, stay tuned, my colleague kate snow picks things up right now. good day, happy fourth of july, i'm live at msnbc world headquarters in new york on this independence day. donald trump not taking a holiday from twitter. yet taking heat over yet another round of online posts. some of his critics taking aim, calling the presumptive gop nominee anti-semitic. big names, big help, the president and the veep joining hillary clinton on the campaign trail later this week. could the long-awaited appearances strengthen her fight and widen her lead against trump? tackling terror. officials across the nation beefing up their presence on this holiday after several terror attacks across the globe carried out just hours apart. and another round for