actually until i told him it meant "laugh out loud." >> just because we are still laughing, take two of that weather report from scotland. >> there will be snow for the higher ground of the highlands. the potential for a few flurries over balmoral. who the hell wrote this script? >> and good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. in our daily fix, mitt romney is set to speak moments from now in charlotte, north carolina, where he'll do his best to shift the focus back to the economy. he'll do it in the state which this week became the 30th to approve a constitutional ban on same-sex unions. it's also where the democratic convention is. the politics of gay marriage have overshadows president obama's campaign kick-off this week. prompting a mea culpa from the vice president's office. mark, great to see you.

what happened behind the scenes here? >> well, i think what happened was, quite clearly, joe biden got a little bit ahead of the white house planning for the president to come out in favor of gay marriage. joe biden did it on "meet the press" the other day that set off a couple of days of uncomfortable back tracking and forward tracking and planning from the white house and re-election campaign. it forced the president's timing where he said he supported gay marriage to robin roberts a couple of days ago. vice president biden did apologize to the president during a private meeting held two days ago. it certainly created a lot of internal discussion within the white house. >> discussion, to say the least. the president supposedly said that the president has been the leader on this issue from day one and the president never intended to distract from that. just how upset are the staff

around the president with the vice president for having honestly -- his great sin was he answered honestly to a question from david gregory, a question he clearly did not anticipate. judge, exactly. this is not a new problem for joe biden. candor can be seen as a big sin in washington. clearly, a lot of the president's top advisors are quite upset about this. it's unclear whether the president himself is that upset about it. i think when you have two principals who meet face to face every week and have a fairly privileged relationship, plus being in a chair asked their personal views, you have a level of sympathy. from what i can tell the level of anger doesn't go on that deep. this is a privileged set of discussions none of us really know what goes on there. >> meanwhile, talk about damage control. mitt romney had a serial explanation for "the washington

post" or in response to "the washington post" story about cranbrooke, the prep school time of mitt romney what do we make of this? one bottom line it tells everybody as they are beginning to define mitt romney that he was a prep school guy, which is hardly the economic message you want to send. at the same time, the response didn't -- did the response seem insensitive or ham-handed? >> my take away, clearly both campaigns would rather be talking about something else. i think obviously gay marriage is the issue of the day. now some kind of gay bullying is sort of now a part of that. this is not something they want to be talking about. this "the washington post" story that came out today, it was released online yesterday was quite a blockbuster. the question of whether high school behavior is really relevant in a presidential campaign.

when you have mitt romney who is pretty hazily defined in the mind of voters, this can fill a gap in. i think people are sensitive. the romney campaign is very sensitive of appearing to be somewhat predatory, some what bullying on a hypersensitive social issue. again, it's not an issue that the romney campaign wants to be talking about this week, just as gay marriage is not an issue that the obama re-election campaign wants to be talking about this week. but here we are. >> here we are indeed. thank you, mark leibovich. great reporting. thanks for being with us. last night's hot ticket in hollywood was the fund-raiser at george clooney's house where he hosted the president and a-list of stars. the event raised a record $15 million. chad griffin is incoming

president of the advocacy group for gay rights. you brought together ted olson and david boies to challenge prop 8. we know that is the big case that everybody has been watching. what is your take away? this has been a stunning week in gay rights and also in politics. >> andrea, it is, i think, a turning point in american politics. what president the obama did this week in making clear his support for marriage equality was so historic, but it wasn't just what he said but how he said it. he talked about it in such personal terms. he spoke from the heart. he talks about how he spoke with his family, his wife, sasha and malia, members of the military, his friends, co-workers, those who work for him on staff. that's how this entire country has moved and has evolved on this issue. democrats and republicans, quite frankly. he joined a majority of the american public in a growing number of leading democrats and

republicans who are now openly supporting the freedom to marry. it sent a tremendous message across this country, particularly to the young, lgbt person suffering the consequences of discrimination. the fact his or her president stood up and spoke for hem has tremendous impact on their lives already. we still have a lot of work to do in order to achieve full equality in this country, but what the president did this week puts us a long ways towards that goal. >> i've been an active fund-raiser in the past for the president. i saw within an hour of that announcement i saw an e-mail, fund-raising e-mail that went out on behalf of the obama campaign to top contributors trying to get them to contribute more money based on this move. is this going to be a big factor? was that also part of the white house thinking that eventually they would have to make this move because there was distress

among, according to "the washington post," 1-6 bundlers are gay. there is a lot of money that was on the table here. >> i think there is no question. we've seen all the analysis there, potential upsides and potential down sides. what is clear is that the president did not do what he did this week for any political gain. he spoke from the heart and he said what he believed. i certainly think that within certain segments of our party, this will further energize an already-excited base. especially young people. if you look across this country, the vast majority of young people, regardless of their party affiliation, democrat, republican, be independents, young people, forget the fact they support gay marriage, they can't fathom we are having this discussion should all our citizens have the same rights? so i do suspect it will really energize an already-excited

base. i think he spoke to young people who are ready for their leaders to catch up with them on this issue. >> chad, you met with the vice president last month, as well, you were a guest at the state dinner. if i could get personal for a moment, what does it mean for you? you were a guest at the state dinner with your partner. arriving at the white house for one of the most celebrated dinner, the dinner for prime minister cameron. when i first met you it was the campaign in little rock and a member of the team in bill clinton's white house. this evolution is personal for you. >> it really is, andrea. as a young kid growing up in a small town in arkansas, i'm not sure i ever thought i would see this day, that the country would move so quickly and that my president would stand up and speak to me in this way and speak to millions of young people across this country.

when our government discriminates, when we choose a segment of our population and choose them because of the way they were born, and directly and intentionally discriminate against them in our laws, it gives license to others to bully. that's why we see the tremendous, really sad consequences around this country. it gives license to so many of those bullies to do what they do. the president really stood up to those bullies this week, and dramatically improved, i think, the lives of those young people. we have a lot of work to do to achieve full equality. now, we've really turned a corner in this country. i think not only is president obama the first american president to support gay marriage, i predict we will never again in this country have a president who doesn't support marriage equality. democrat or republican. >> that is a very strong prediction, chad griffin. thank you very much. thanks for being with us. >> we'll see. thank you, andrea.

thank you for having me. my pleasure. >> any time. and the judge in the john edwards trial denied the defense's request to dismiss charges against the former presidential candidate, saying that she is satisfied the government has provided enough evidence to proceed with the case. this comes after three weeks of evidence presented by the prosecutor. in the last week of testimony for the prosecution, former edwards' aide jennifer palmiery spoke emotionally about her good friend elizabeth edwards. there's been some dramatic testimony. you expressed that it is a big stretch to prove there was a campaign finance law violation here, admittedly he was a cad, he was a terrible person and dishonest to his wife, to his family, politically dishonest.

are you surprised that the judge is letting this proceed or is that sort of an automatic step at this point? >> andrea, it would have been extraordinary if the judge moved to dismiss a case of this notoriety when the jury has been hearing evidence for three weeks. just about everyone thought she would go ahead and let the jury decide this case. there was some thinking she might toss out a count or two. she did not. in fact, she appears to have pretty much made up her mind before she came into court today. she heard the arguments and then paused about three or four minutes and ruled that in her view the prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence and that we were going to let the case go to the jury. >> can you tell from sitting in the courtroom, the testimony as you've been reporting it is so shocking, so overwhelming and many of us know a lot of these players who worked for the edwards campaign, now in the case of jennifer palmieri, a top

official in the white house and knew elizabeth edwards and grieve for the loss of her. it's hard to take. how has the jury been responding? >> this is wrenching testimony. there is testimony about what a horrible person john edwards has been. the staff knew about rielle hunter and that she was trouble, but still he lied to them and deceived them. the point is to try to get the jurors to put aside their opinions about john edwards' admittedly terrible behavior and focus on the law. the law requires for a conviction in this case that the government has to prove that john edwards knew he was committing a violation of campaign finance laws when all this was going on. one of the things that the defense will present or experts on campaign finance law would say at that time and even now there is no predicate, there is no case law out there for him to

believe that payments by a third party to hide a mistress constitute campaign contributions. >> it's so interesting, lisa. thanks so much for all your reporting from down there. to have it brought home. we knew it at the time, that he was bargaining with the clinton and obama campaigns to say he could be attorney general. to see that he still thought he could be in anyone's cabinet even after the expose is mind-boggling. thank you, my dear. >> delusional. >> and jpmorgan. how could it happen? chris matthews talking about the interview, the debate between tony perkins and barney frank. [ male announcer ] research suggests the health of our cells plays a key role throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin,

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news of jpmorgan's losses from a failed hedging strategy. >> ceo jamie dimon apologized on a conference call with analysts. we didn't market properly. that's what the financial crisis was all about. >> he did not reveal to the analysts even in a backgrounder this loss occurred. i think this had to come out. it's really embarrassing. >> $2 billion in losses over a six-week period, a major blunder for jpmorgan chase on derivative bets from their london office gone bad. ceo jamie dimon voiced his frustration with the losses during a thursday afternoon conference call. >> in hindsight, the new strategy was falled, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored. the portfolio has proven to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge

than we thought. >> brian sullivan joins me now. i know from having some experience on this, that jamie dimon had no heads-up that this was coming. he was in washington yesterday and raced back to handle this. so there was no advance warning. i'm not sure how it all went down, but there was no cover-up that he was part of because it all unravelled at the worst possible time for him. >> i think he knew trades were going on in a sense, andrea, because some people brought it up on a conference call a while ago. he said kind of pooh poohed it and said it's a tempest in a tea pot, that this one trader in london who they dubbed the london whale was building up this massively outsized and potentially dangerous position. the question is, dimon likely knew about the trades, but was probably unaware of the risk or firm details of what exactly

this guy was doing that we now know led to a $2 billion and possibly poor. dimon said another billion in losses could come from this one single position. >> the first question is how can this happen? jamie dimon and jpmorgan chase had come through the down turn better than any of the other banks and were known for their risk management. he has been the industry leader in arguing against reregulation, against the volcker rule and other aspects of dodd-frank. >> there is nothing wrong or illegal or unethical, if you will, about what jpmorgan chase did. right now -- >> it's stupid though, right? >> yeah. da jamie dimon said that, because we were stupid doesn't mean other banks were with. for the volcker rule to be enacted, remember, it is out there and is being written but is not enacted yet. if 2 the volcker rule were in

place today, according to senator carl levin and others that talked to cnbc today, this type of trading position would not be allowed to occur. was it dumb? yeah. was it poorly executed? yeah. right now there was nothing wrong with it. the only thing wrong is that it's $2 billion. jpmorgan chase can afford it. bad pr for a bank. the four biggest banks in america as a percentage of u.s. economy by assets are bigger now than they were prefinancial meltdown. >> for the uninformed, whose money are we talking about? who is at risk here? obviously shareholders are losing money because the stock is down. but who is really losing money? >> only jpmorgan chase and the shareholders right now. that's the crux of this story. you're hitting on an important point. this is not anybody else's money but jpmorgan chase. for years, banks watched their

customers make big money, hedge funds, et cetera, so they started to get into these types of trading positions on their own. it's what they call propriety trading. it's jpmorgan chase's money, the shareholder's money. we'll establish positions with our own cash. this position lost in a big way. it goes so big that all the other bank traders saw it being built up and literally attacked it like ants on an animal. a couple of ants can't take down a bigger animal, but a thousand can. a couple of traders went after this one guy's position, brought it down. that's why jpmorgan chase has to reveal the loss. many banks made a lot of money doing this, too. the losses get more attention than the gains. they made money, lost money, but this was a huge loss. it goes to the optics. with all the dialogue, with all the bailouts and discussion around banks, you have a public looking at jpmorgan chase and

wall street saying, again, guys, really? >> it's going to affect legislation. they are doing the rule making right now. it's going to affect volcker and dodd frank. that's why the industry has so much at stake here. brian sullivan, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> mitt romney going for the jerry falwell vote. ou are my su, my only sunshine ♪ ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ]

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when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. it is commencement time, the time of year when graduates are going to get advice, encouragement and in this election year, of course, political campaigning, too. first lady michelle obama is at virginia tech today. president obama will speak at barnard college monday. tomorrow mitt romney heads to liberty university in virginia. conservative christian school founded by the late jerry falwell. liberty university is the place to go when you're looking to go after the movement

conservatives, social conservatives. that's the tactic. what do we know about romney's upcoming commencement address? >> i was struck by the focus that the romney folks want to put on his lack of overpandering to christian conservatives. these excerpts could be delivered at any university. romney is extolling the virtue of family and placing family as your top priority over work. i think they are going to walk a fine line this weekend at liberty to try to appeal to christian conservatives, but not go too far down the road when it comes to certain issues. what is going to be fascinating is what mention he makes of the gay marriage issue. it's tough to see how he can avoid it entirely given the events of this week. they don't want to focus on that during this campaign. that's going to be the most notable part, how does he massage that? >>es neigh charlotte, north

carolina, today, in virginia tomorrow. talking about two swing states the president is campaigning actively in. romney as we see today is in charlotte where the democratic convention is going to be held. he's touching all those bases. we'll see more campaigning in those two states. >> we are. what is so striking is for years, as you know, republicans in those states portrayed them as culturally liberal. democrats struggled on a presidential level for a long time because of culture issues. now it's the opposite. now it's the republicans who want to focus on the fiscal issues. it's the democrats in states like virginia who want to focus on matters like women rights, abortion rights, because the states are changing so much and demographically it's republicans who face the prospect of being on the wrong side of the

cultural wars. >> he wants to pivot on the republican voters. rupert murdoch's former executive talking about her close ties to the prime minister. i just want to give her everything. [ whistles ] three words dad, e-trade financial consultants. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. wa-- wa-- wait a minute; bobby? bobby! what are you doing man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade. of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

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it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. moments ago first lady michelle obama gave a powerful speech to the graduating class at virginia tech. >> like so many people across this country and around the world, i have been following the journey of this school. i want to talk about the lessons that all of us in this country can learn from this university. i want to talk about what we can learn from the community you've built. whether you're celebrating your triumphs or coming together in times of tragedy, what is clear is that you all didn't just choose to attend a school. you chose to be part of a community. norris hall is now the home of

the center for peace studies and violence prevention. west ambler johnston hall will be soon opened as a residential college. you started attending class again, choosing to honor their lives by moving forward with your own. that is why when you all are out there in the world and you meet someone and you tell them you're from virginia tech and they say, huh, isn't that the school where -- i want you to interrupt them right there and say, yes. it is the school where we have some of the best academic programs and professors in the country. that's what you tell them. >> first lady michelle obama speaking in front of 5,000 soon to be graduates and thousands more friends and families. mentioning the 2007 campus tragedy that claemed 32 lives. she'll follow that up with

another commencement speech to graduates from northern a&t this weekend. > today murdoch's former top executive rebecca brooks was in the cross hairs testifying she and cameron explained e-mails and messages once or twice a week. the prime minister commiserated with her over her resignation and signed his text message "lol" which he thought meant "lots of love." brooks is awaiting trial on charges of phone hacking, bribery and conspiracy. martin bashir is a host right here on msnbc. it's breathtaking. e-mails reveal the prime minister and brooks were texting back and forth. aside that he didn't know the language of way was texting, the fact he was so cozy with her

even after she was in legal and political trouble. >> i think the truth is, the prime minister tonight at number 10 downing street is probably breathing a huge sigh of relief. she didn't disclose much detail about her relationship with him, but did disclose the fact in 2010 when he was fighting for the prime ministership and general election in may, she was texting him at least twice a week. imagine if you or i had the privilege and access to the president of something like that twice a week during a presidential campaign. >> i thought you did. >> i'm afraid i don't. also interestingly in december 2010, the prime minister went to her home 23rd of december at a critical moment when news corps bid for b sky b being bid by the government, the barrister kept pressing her, what was said.

she said, i can't really remember. i've not had access to my notes. the implication is they must have discussed something like this. this speaks to the broader parameters of this inquiry which are british politicians and british media have basically been in cahoots for decades. when tony blair won the general election in 1997, his personal press officer alistair campbell wrote his diaries and said rupert murdoch got access to 10 downing street through the back entrance. then he said when david cameron was elected prime minister i was ushered into number 10 via the back entrance. that relative coziness has been revealed. david cameron has been under some pressure over the last year, not just in relation to

his relationship with journalists in the levinson inquiry but the economy double-dipped onto a recession. all his approaches to dealing with the recession have been a disaster. >> martin bashir, it's all fascinating stuff. aren't you glad you live here? >> i am it. wish i could text the president. >> you still maybe. watch martin bashir's show every day 3:00 eastern here on msnbc. mitt romney taking off message from his prep school past. what romney would like us to think of as a teenage prank is front page news, but the candidate is doing everything he can to move past the story. >> i don't recall the incident myself. i've seen the reports. not going to argue with that. there is no question but i did some stupid things when what is in high school. >> stupid things indeed.

ruth marcus and todd pertham, author of a monthly article in "vanity fair." some people are saying why is what happens in high school relevant? the case for this deeply reported story, which is now page one on "the washington post" which went up online yesterday morning. >> well, we would all like to hope what happens in high school stays in high school. the fact of the matter is when you're running for president it doesn't stay in high school. we all did things in high school and perhaps college and maybe later that we regret now. what does it say about his character? more important for my point of view, what does his failure to remember this incident which really seared not just the victim but some of the other perpetrators? he was the ring leader of this attack on a man who was gay, who was in tears, petrify ied, cuttg

off his hair. he doesn't remember that? if i had done something like that, i would feel, i would remember it, i'd like to think and i would feel shame. >> what some people suggest instead of referring to it as a prank as the romney team did or something stupid in high school, should he have said i don't recall it, but this does raise the important question of bullying, and in the current context i learned a lot as a father, a grandfather, and i hope this is a teachable moment. was there some other way to frame this? >> i do think it is incredible he doesn't believe it. there is too much testimony for other people who have vivid memories of it. >> he didn't contest the facts. >> he could say yes, our culture changed greatly in the past 50 years. what was seen as rough stuff -- >> high jinks. >> would not be acceptable

today. there is evidence if it happened today the person would be expelled, there would be a huge hazing investigation, harassment panel. boarding schools have these things now. there are many state laws that apply in these situations. of course it comes on the heels of president obama's statement of gay marriage. mitt romney has undermined his image as a straight arrow mormon missionary good guy by having maybe done something straight out of "lords of discipline" or "separate peace." >> i was thinking about "separate peace." those years to humanize and warm up the image of her husband, talking about his wild and crazy behaviors. they try to frame it as pranks. >> that's the interesting thing. the campaign had been

affirmatively using the high jinks pranks line to humanize the candidate without "the washington post" able to find it doing some due diligence to figure out what those pranks we all look at were. i would fault the campaign for not having taken this seriously enough before the story came out. what we saw at least reported in the story was the campaign saying, well this seems exaggerated, he doesn't recall it. let's move on. everybody knows he is a sensitive guy. the campaign could have seized on it affirmatively even before this story was done to have the candidate say i don't recall this, but this is horrible, terrible, no one should treat another human being that way, whatever their sexual orientation, whatever the reason, this is not the way i raised my kids. something. this was not well handled. >> it fills in the biography. it reemphasizes this is a prep

school guy. >> it makes you think differently about the dog. makes you think differently about the milk of human kindness in this vern's veins. the story is so thoroughly reported. >> it all comes back to gail collins and the dog. >> we'll never get rid of the dog. he will never leave us. i am not faulting the governor for the dog. i am faulting him for this. >> we are talking about very different equities here. ruth marcus, thank you very much. todd, thank you. look forward to this column, monthly column in "vanity fair." tony perkins on why his children can't be gay. barney frank's reaction. chris matthews on a classic "hardball" moment. ♪[music plays]

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talk about mortgage relief for so many who are still struggling to stay in their homes. romney's surrogates are slamming the visit even before the president lands. michele bachmann once the queen of the tea party taking heat from bloggers on the right. they are steaming mad. we'll tell you why. same-sex marriage debate intensified on msnbc's "hardb l "hardball" between tony perkins and barney frank, moderated by the quiet voice of chris matthews. >> there is a number of people who have become gay or believe they are gay from a very early age. you believe it wouldn't happen with you because of what you what? what do you do to make sure that you would doubt your kid would be gay? that is an enormous power you have that i didn't know people had. >> actually, parents have tremendous power in the direction that their children go and teaching them right from wrong, teaching them what is appropriate, what's not

appropriate. i teach my children from the scripture. i teach them biblical standards are morality. that's how we raise our children. >> are you saying if you were barney's father, he wouldn't be gay? >> i didn't say that. >> well, that's what you did just say. >> chris matthews is host of "hardball" on msnbc and joins me now. his reaction was, i'm not saying that because i'm too young to be barney's father. >> barney was great. he said dick and lynn cheney are responsible for the orientation of their daughter who is gay? i thought that was great. only barney can do this ability to jump from one topic to another and point out the inconsistencies of someone's argument. tony perkins was on the show too many times for some people. he argued basically, it's all nurture. we don't know what it is that makes people what they are. the idea that it's all nurture is certainly a strong argument on his part. >> i wanted to play another clip because you kept really drilling

down, as did barney, and it was really extraordinary to watch. here's another exchange. >> let me come to dick cheney's defense here, chris. according to mr. perkins, it's dick and lynn cheney's fault their daughter is a lesbian. first of all, i don't think there is anything the matter with it. secondly, the notion that dick and lynn cheney parented in an inferior way to mr. perkins is just one more absurdity. >> i never blamed anyone or accused anyone -- >> back up what he said. he said he taught his children how to interact properly. he said it was improper. he backs away from what he said. >> the whole notion that someone would say, i teach my children the difference between right and wrong, therefore, i cannot have gay children. there is so much loaded in that phrase. >> one thing about having children which is the wonder of having children, you meet them. they get a couple of years old and they develop their personals

and each kid is different from the other. wow, i'm meeting someone here who happens to be our child. god gave us this child. we didn't design him or her. soon as the kid learns irony i can talk to them. that's my joy. i think it's a great conversation. here it is, parents who when they have children are always in wonder of child's personality and their orientation, i suppose now. this argument that somehow proper christian or religious education will form a kid's orientation is probably pretty demonstratively wrong. when people actually said, i think i'll do this. it's more about self-discovery than anything else. >> and suggesting one thing is good and the other is bad. >> you can make that argument, that is a religious belief.

this whole thing between now and election day will be fraught with a the love religious and cultural debate. it's going to be a factor in a lot of churches. >> speaking of raising children, one of the glories of this time of year is commencement. i love it. >> you're good at it. >> you'll be honored at howard university. >> tomorrow, the great historic african-american university here in washington which has so many great alumni. to go over there and receive an award. i haven't heard the citation what they are using to say about me that's given me this honor. >> it is to be treasured. honor. >> i know one person on the howard board who spoke at the portrait gallery recently. vernon jordan. the day after graduated from howard university law school, he went back home down south and was then escorting charlene hunter across those steps as a young civil rights attorney. >> he put his degree to good use. >> immediately.

>> what a favorite he was. >> we spoke of it briefly. we were interviewing robert carow. he did not know it. we talked about nick catsenback and 90 years old, really shaped our lives. >> june 1963. he pushed with the help of the national guards leader down there in birmingham, pushed the governor out of the way. and integrated vivian malone, the sister of sharon malone who is now the wife of the attorney general. who says we aren't making progress? >> and six degrees of separation and also of course, jack kennedy. elusive hero. what a great father's day present or mother's day present. >> and his birthday is coming up. he would be 95 this month. jack kennedy. >> and be sure to watch chris, of course. chris matthews on "hardball" right here at 7:00 on msnbc. what political stories will be headlines? thy way

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try it. tell us what you think about it on facebook. easy label, right? but that label can lead to prejudice and discrimination, and we don't want to go there. so let's try to see people for who they really are. you can help create a more united states. the more you know.

which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? jonathan capehart with the "washington post," what a week. and the week ahead will include these commencement speeches. arnie duncan will give the speech at howard and it was arnie duncan on morning joe here on monday who answered the question honestly, when mark halpern asked him about gay marriage and that set the rest of the ball rolling. we have a lot of speeches coming up. >> as you mentioned, arnie duncan speaking at howard university tomorrow. mitt romney is speaking at liberty university in virginia. michelle obama, the first lady, is speaking in greensboro. condi rice is speaking at southern methodist university and of course, president obama will be giving the commencement address at barnard college alongside the person for freedom to marry.

>> and they had a different speaker but it was after the whole gender issue arose that the white house asked him if he could come and speak on women's issues at that women's college. that is a very politically timed and important -- and at the university of pennsylvania where our speaker is jeffrey, we're giving an honorary director to cia director david petraeus and to congressman john lewis among many others. a lot of excitement coming up. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." my colleague tamron hall has a look at what's next. happy mother's day to everyone. i almost forgot. >> have a great weekend. coming up, the president lands in nevada about 20 minutes from now. before the wheels on air force one can even touchdown in that swing state, romney's surrogates are pointing to what they call the continued misery in that state. we'll have the president's response. mitt romney's haunting high school memory.

the family of the man romney is accused of bullying. they're calling the report political agenda as some republicans take it a step further saying it is a hatchet job. they are circling mitt romney. it is our news nation gut check. plus, michele bachmann in hot water. we'll tell you why. on. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu.

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that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. hi, everyone. the "news nation" is following a friday face-off with the two presidential campaigns taking swings at each other in swing states today. president obama scheduled to land in nevada within this hour. mitt romney just wrapped up a campaign event in north carolina. now, romney this afternoon attempted to take the focus off social issues and that bullying gate, if you want to call it that and shift it back to the economy by taking this swipe at the president's visit to nevada.