american. he would rather you be his slave. >> sharp words there, heather mcghee. on some level, are we surprised that there is still a lot of argument and discontent regarding the affordable care act, but as we look towards 2012, setting aside the presidential race, how much of an issue is this for republicans and democrats seeking re-election or even election to office? >> i think the polls are showing that the american people actually want the partisan bikerring over health care to go away, that this was a fight for an entire year while the country was reeling and they're really sick of it. i think as people started to get over a billion dollars in rebates from hmos and insurance companies that have been overcharging them, they will start to see benefits. we have over six million young people able to be on their parents' insurance, a lot of times when they're out of work because of obamacare. i think people will start to see the benefits, they will get subsidies. small businesses are already seeing the benefits and it's just going to sort of move from

the really intense political atmosphere into people's every day lives and they will see it's actually a benefit. >> i am inclined to agree with that assessment given the fact i think once americans have concrete real world experience with the aca, it sort of is a game changer. robert, i want to read this quote from american crossroads, not surprisingly thinking this is going to be an arrow in their quiver for november. the ceo says while we would have preferred to see obamacare struck down, this decision will drive republican voter intensity sky-high. the last time obamacare was litigated in a general election, republicans picked up an historic number of seats in the u.s. house and made bigains in the u.s. senate. the cook political report says he believes a majority of the 87 gop freshmen elected in the 2010 shellacking are in good shape but he predicts no more than an eight seat gain for democrats. >> i believe what the american crossroads said is partially true. is it going to be sky-high, probably not. but there will be some mobilization on the republican

side for or against, if you will, obamacare. let's be honest. the majority of the people that were for obamacare are voting for president obama and the folks against it clearly will vote for governor romney. the real question is, hopefully we'll ha this conversation, is whether or not health care is going to be a major issue for down ballot individuals that are running on state-wide offices come november. probably not. it most likely still will be the economy. we saw a recent poll that came out today that said 44% of americans still frankly do not understand what obamacare is and that's still not the number one issue for them. it still is the economy. at the end of the day if you're running for u.s. congress, running for governor, running for senate, i don't think it makes a difference. if you're running for attorney general, perhaps it may make a difference because clearly you will be the one implementing the state regulations on this. >> lizz,e talk about this a lot in terms of message management. the gop is fairly adept at managing the message and getting everybody to march in lockstep. democrats are not as good. on something like the affordable care act, it always -- this is a highly beneficial piece of

legislation and yet, you have so much, 2010 was obviously a major walk-back in terms of democrats not wrapping their arms around it. we already know that 15 republican governors are saying they are not going to enact the medicaid provisions. you wonder where is the response from the left, from the democratic party, saying wait a second, expanding medicare rules to cover 17 million americans is a good thing or at least something we can try and run on. >> what i think is so interesting is as this unfolds, we are actually finally learning about what is in this bill. regular folks, my job is to be an observer of the likes of you guys and what you say and the information we get, then -- >> and to make fun of you. >> as i am reading this and hearing things, i am learning along with the american people that you do not qualify for medicaid in florida if you are single mom that makes more than $3300 a year. i don't think people know that. when they hear that information, when you talk about states like

texas and talk about florida and you hear these governors saying we're not going to take any of this, and you think oh, my god, if people are screaming that we don't want to pay for people to go to the emergency oms and we want to send this money, you know, that's a windfall for your state and you do not want to help people who make $3200 a year -- >> talking about families of four who make $29,000 a year and ey would get -- the federal government would pick up the tab basically through 2022. >> you're still talking about sm small story, though. compelling but small. the problem for health care vis a vis the democrats is the story is complex and also an abstraction. it doesn't exist yet. the benefits are not ones people know about, that they're receiving, so i think what it really does for the republicans, it fits very nicely into an economic message which is like this is going to be part of the jobs-killing program of the obama administration, this massive tax, this huge bureau a

bureaucracy. you look at the aggregate and have an easy story to tell why it's to fear. >> i don't know. i think expanding coverage to the poor, the jobless and disenfranchised is a strong narrative. i guess the thinking is you get bogged down in policy details so if you're -- >> not just policy details but also something that doesn't yet exist. >> well, some parts of it don't. >> it's really hard to argue on behalf of that. it's really easier to argue for something people are used to receiving, something they know the value of, because people don't trust a lot of these things. they just don't. >> but that said, i'm speaking from -- >> from the heart. >> look, you look at the polling among tea partyiers two years ago, they want government out of their backyards but don't touch social security and medicaid. they like the entitlement programs. >> it goes back to my original point. it's not about health care. it's about the economy. what the democrats should do if

they were in -- i was about to say if they're smart, but they are smart, is connect the dots this is an economic issue. they have not done that yet. i think the reason why is because they must have some internal polling data that says every time they talk about it, people switch the channel, they tune out and say no, no, you don't understand, i need a job. the reason why i want a job, i can get my own health insurance. i don't want the federal government involved in any way, shape or form. now, god forbid if i lose my health insurance, i want there to be a safety net but i want to make that decision. >> i like that you have a notion that democrats en masse have some sort of internal polling that gives confidence to people who don't think they're not organized. coming up, power outages, wildfires, severe heat, deadly storms. is that proof enough that climate change is real? for most of washington, the answer is no. we will discuss it next.

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get set for another day of sweltering temperatures across the country, with triple digits expected in the midwest and mid 90s in washington, d.c. nearly two million people are still without power in our nation's capital and several midatlantic states after storms ripped through the area over the weekend, killing nearly two dozen and leaving a path of destruction. meanwhile, crews in colorado are finally gaining control of the most destructive wildfires the state has ever seen. the a.p. reports that climate change appears to be at the root of this wild weather, but newt gingrich says the d.c. power outages may just be a preview of an electromagnetic pulse.

he tweeted this yesterday. friend and co-author bill fortune notes washington/baltimore blackout, mild taste of what an emp attack would do. is this just further proof that washington is completely in the dark on the severity of global warming? joining us now from london is environmentalist and author, david de rothschild. david, always great to see you, always every time i see you, i feel like some horrible environmental catastrophe has befallen us and we once again return to the question of why our political class, our rulers, the ruling elite, do not -- are not more focused on environmental concerns. you would think that this happening in washington, d.c. would spur some sort of action or at least thinking on the subject. >> you would think that would be the case. it's obvious, when i first heard this story i thought hang on, april 1st, that's past. it can't be an april fool's story. i think what's happened is obviously sort of the common sense circuit board, if there is a common sense circuit board

that goes into politicians' heads has been knocked out by the electrical storms. they are in the dark. it's just like what is going on, why are we seeing such a disconnect between our politicians and this issue of climate change. as you just stated, there is no norm anymore. we are seeing extreme weather patterns, this is not going to disappear. i want to know what are we going to do to start adjusting to the floods, to the droughts that we're seeing. everything is connected. let's not forget that we are on spaceship earth and when you start to think about the planet heating up, you know, we have to start looking at what's happening right now. we've got all the corn and soy which gets exported from the u.s., massive industry, reeling under threat from the heat. that will affect developing countries with the price of meat and commodities going up. all of these are massive issues that are connected. newt needs to get his circuit board back in line, try to plug in, suck up common sense if that's possible and start to rally serious action on this. >> newt may have been actually the victim of an electromagnetic

pulse. david, you bring in a really important point, actually, which is the economic side of this. too often i think environmental concernsre put in a box, sort of like do-gooders box. oh, we should worry about the environment but really, what you're talking about is a domino effect that environmental catastrophe has on business and globalized business. how come that connection isn't made more often by the folks on the eco and environmental side of things? >> a very good point. our economy is seen as a super structure that ultimately nature is a substrait that holds it all together. we have created this false dichotomy. we do disconnect. everything we touch, taste, wear, everything we rely on, products and services, come from nature. as we start to see resources dwindle, that will have an effect. let's just take the price of oil, if you look back at end of 2007-2008, we saw this big price spike in oil. we see the economic collapse. we are starting to see oil going

back up again. food commodities going back up again. it's not going to be a surprise when we see the markets responding with a dip again. it's so intrinsically linked. what we have to do is take our economy and make it a subset of nature in a smart way and say if we d't use these resources in a much more resourceful way, start finding some leadership, we really will see ourselves seeing these price spikes up and down. we're on the cusp of the third industrial revolution which is new forms of energy, clean green energy and we've got this pervasive nature of communication that's taking us horizontal with interaction with mobile devices, so why not start creating smart grids and start relying on other sources of energy. it shows you how reliant we are on one source of energy. if this is any indicator of the weather systems we're going to see we're really in trouble because it will only become more erratic. we need to start putting more eggs out of one basket as it were and start getting on solar, wind and alternative energy. >> heather, what's really interesting to me, "washington

post"/stanford university poll asked americans is global warming the single biggest environmental problem. in march 2006, 16% of the country thought it was the biggest environmental problem. in april 2007, 33%. back down to 25% in july of 2008. june of 2012, 18% of the public thinks it's a serious problem. yet, asked subsequently if nothing is done to reduce global warming in the future, how serious of a problem do you think it will be for the u.s. 78% of the country thinks it's a serious problem. only 20% thinks it's not serious. there's a huge discrepancy between our desire to take actionable steps on this and our realization, the acceptance that it's a serious problem. >> i think the extreme weather is actually really providing a tipping point for people where they're finally seeing how it comes home. there's a poll that showed that upwards of very much the majority, over 75% or 80% of the people were linking the extreme weather to climate change but it really is this question you

raise is a very good one about the economic effects. demos has been doing reports to bring it home to different states and say what are going to be the economic effects of climate change in your state, because right now, the only economic consideration that unfortunately our policy makers are making is the one at the oil companies are really selling, this is going to cost oil jobs as opposed to it's going to cost tourism jobs when the beaches erode in florida, it will cost housing and development jobs in places where you won't beble to drive as far. so we just have this sort of narrow really unfortunately because of money and politics, sort of narrow constraint of what kind of economic considerations that we should be taking into consideration. >> it doesn't help that the koch brother, big players in oil and gas, will spend $400 million on this election trying to make sure their guy's elected. robert, we talk about republicans and climate change and there was a time when republicans like newt gingrich sat on couches with democrats like nancy pelosi and talked about the fact that this was a bipartisan issue where action needed tbe taken.

i want to play a piece of sound from romney in june of 2011 talking about climate change and global warming. let's take a listen. >> i believe the world's getting warmer. i can't prove that but i believe based on what i read that the world is getting warmer, and number two, i believe humans contribute to that. i think it's important for us to reduce our pollutants and greenhouse gases that may well be significant contributors. >> there is mitt romney saying we need to reduce our carbon emissions, our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. >> are y surprised? it's a tag line but does anyone do anything? that's the tag line we hear. >> also, david, months later at a fund-raiser in october, mitt romney said my view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet and the idea of spending trillions and trilons of dollars to try to reduce co2 emissions is not the right course for us. what happened, robert? >> well, i guess the republican primary happened. look, there's no question about

it that mitt romney has shifted his positions based on the political winds and based on frankly the republican primary. but to go back to your original question, look, republicans from christine todd-whitman to george h.w. bush to newt gingrich to others said we have a major problem here. we can acknowledge we have a problem. the question is how do we solve it. a more progressive angle is maybe throw more money at the problem, perhaps x, y or z. the conservative angle is maybe we should do a, b and c. the question becomes who is that leader, a la al gore or someone like that, that can force a national conversation for republicans and for democrats to literally sit down on the couch and to be able to have a thoughtful conversation about how we move the country forward in a thoughtful way. >> is that person david de rothschild? david, are you ready to lead the revolution? >> no pressure as i hold up the world here. listen, i think exactly the sentiments that are being said here, how do we act upon it. i think we have to basically just say look, cnserve our

resources, invest in green jobs. that's the real thing. there's a whole innovation race that could unfold that would create real jobs that would boost the economy, they wouldn't be these invisible stimulus checks that disappear into the ether, you know. this is a real problem and so i think we have to sometimes maybe move away from the politicians, look to business leaders, look to citizens on the planet to take control of the situation and vote in people who will use common sense when it comes to this issue. because without nature and without -- we haven't got anything. >> david de rothschild, thank you as always. it is my great hope the next time you are on this show we will have made some kind of incremental progress toward tackling these problems. after the break, breaking news. actor andy griffith has died. we will have more on that coming up. sorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken th or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption.

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86. we are live with the details. >> good morning, alex. we have been hearing about this for hours but the confirmation just came in, this from the dare county sheriff. griffith had lived for years on a 68-acre ranch off the north carolina coast. the announcement that andy griffith did pass away at approximately 7:00 a.m. at his home. the family will release further information shortly. there's no further information available at this time. griffith the iconic figure from the unforgettable television show in the 1960s that ran for eight years. he played sheriff andy taylor. his deputy sheriff of course was don knotts. his son of course was opie, that was ron howard. he made ron howard possible. the show ran for eight years in the '60s and never really left the top ten until the end of its run. griffith was forever associated with that figure, iconic figure

of home-spun values at a time when there was a clear distinction between good and evil and good always won out through common sense and the right values. funny, in 1996, he gave an interview to matt lauer on the "today" show in which he said even when we were doing the show, it was about an earlier time, maybe the '30s. so an even more remote time where those simple views of a simple life and simple fictional mayberry, north carolina, everything seemed to work out in all those episodes. griffith said we tried to keep all of our characters pure. judging by the way the american television audience reacted to the show, he clearly did that. andy griffith, dead at the age of 86. alex? >> indeed, there is no way you can say the words mayberry or think of opie without smiling. a television legend. >> or hear that whistling tune. sure. >> indeed. we were whistling it ourselves. i can't whistle but i was sort of singing it. mike, thank you.

coming up, governor mitt romney plans his summer vacation. will a trip to israel help prove his foreign policy skills are up to snuff? we'll discuss that next. i read an article... well, i read the majority of an article online about how older people are becoming more and more antisocial, so i was really aggressive with my parents about joining facebook. my parents are up to 19 friends now? so sad. ♪ i have 687 friends. this is living. what!? that is not a real puppy. that's too small to be a real puppy. [ male announcer ] venza. from toyota.

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testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. as a new round of sanctions against iran takes effect, the u.s. continues to strengthen its military presence in the strait of hormuz, the passageway for a fifth of the world's oil. this comes as governor romney plans to travel to israel later this summer, where he is expected to meet with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the itinerary includes meetings with the president, obama's american ambassador, with the labor party, and also the head of the prime minister of the palestinian authority which is interesting. it's worth noting that president obama has not traveled to israel since he was elected.

>> yeah. i think that's obviously the message they will making loud and clear. i think that romney has his message on foreign policy, pretty similar to his message on the economy. it sort of lacks details but is basically i'll do it better, tougher, stronger, then you try to drill down to what are you actually talking about and there's not a lot there. >> funny you bring that up, because romney's foreign policy advisor was on "morning joe" which i was on as well, and was asked by the bbc, what are the tangible measurable differences between you and the president on foreign policy. this is what dan had to say. >> at the time president bush was in power he was to the right of the bush administration on the importance of putting in sweeping sanctions so while the sanctions now are having some effect, he raises questions about whether or not it's too late, that the president did drag his feet for the first couple years of his administration. >> so robert, to hugo's point, it's a combination, the foreign policy seems to be a combination of chastising the president for what he's done and saying

better, harder, stronger, faster. >> also, there's another clear distinction i'm surprised dan didn't mention. the 1967 border issue is a big, big deal and that's where the president clearly i guess figuratively if you want to say it drew his line in the sand and that's when the netanyahu administration said wait a minute, with all due respect, don't meddle into our internal affairs and you don't know what you're talking about. mitt romney said not only will i do it better but i will be more of an ally as well. there's a bit of an image dialogue here we haven't spoken about and that is that a lot of folks, conservative jews are saying you know what, we don't necessarily think that the president is giving us our due respect. we don't feel like benjamin netten net netten netanyahu is treated like a world leader. i'm just saying that's the optics out there. romney is playing to that by going over to israel. we should also mention that senator obama went over in 2008. >> he certainly did. to the netanyahu question, it is a complicated one to answer. first, a lot of americans would

say the president wasn't treated very well when help had to sit the oval office and get lectured in his own home. the 1967 border question, if ask you the white house, will say that was taken out of context, that's not what we meant to suggest. the third thing of course is mitt romney an benjamin netanyahu have a history together. i think there have been reports, probably overexaggerating the closeness, but that they both worked at boston consulting group together, they have some history there. certainly this goes a long way to sort of further the notion that they are very close. but heather, what do you make of it in terms of the broader foreign policy issue and romney's stance and how far he can go with this kind of -- these vague these criticisms? >> he's got to be tougher on foreign policy. that's tough to do from a president who kept his promise on ending the war and bringing the troops home, who obviously was able to deploy the forces

that killed bin laden, when eight years and two wars were not able to do. also, he's been able to say i'm really going to go bigger on the defense budget than the obama administration which wants to keep it flat which makes sense, given we are trying to end two wars. romney wants to increase it by 50%. if you think about the trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy, including himself, that mitt romney wants to do, the nearly increasing by 50% the defense budget, how is he going to balance the budget? >> that's the gigantic question mark. >> common sense. common sense solutions. >> lizz winstead with the win. >> common sense solutions. >> lizz, when we're talking about this kind of idea that oh, my god, obama's been so soft on foreign policy and so on and so forth, one of the things that the white house has not gotten a lot of pressure from anybody on is specific planks in our foreign policy and specifically

our counterterrorism program that carries over a lot of the bush administration policies and it's amazing to me that there's now this line of argument that somehow president obama has been soft on terror, that he's been an appeaser, he's bent over backwards for foreign powers. >> it's nothing, there was an article yesterday that said the obama administration is getting huge pressure to be able to open up the drone doors and be able to sell drones door-to-door to anybody who wants them. it's like is that the path we're heading? >> the answer is yes. >> i know. me, too, sadly. >> we will be selling some drones. >> i think it is astounding how there never is any credit. i have to say it's shocking and disappointing for people like me from the left who look at those carry-overs and say why. >> should more scrutiny -- >> when he takes credit, a lot of folks are saying wait a minute, we didn't want you to do that in the first place. if he takes credit on keeping guantanamo bay open, a lot of folks will say we want you to close it.

>> i don't think that's fair. >> i think it is a failure of story telling on the part of the administration to keep -- i mean, the killing of osama bin laden is something that is often forgotten in a lot of discussions -- >> do you really think that's a failure of story telling? a lot of people said he's oversold it. he's gotten a lot of criticism, whether talking to hollywood about the story or overselling it, talking about it on the campaign context. >> you have to be careful about that. you have to be careful about trumpeting killing someone else, especially when the problem is, my understanding is that when you trumpet something like that, you actually pour gas on the fire. when it comes to the middle east. you have to be really careful. i'm measuring my remarks because how do you trumpet the killing of someone although clearly, he was the mastermind for 9/11. >> the biggest thing is we can't carry big shampoo yet on planes. that's what most people -- >> people like me -- >> lizz winstead with the win. no coincidence, the first three

letters of her last name are w-i-n. after the break, the cain train hits the air waves. can his network change television as we know it? we will have a preview next. let's take a paint project from "that looks hard" to "that didn't take long". let's break out behr ultra... ...the number one selling paint and primer in one, now with stain blocker. each coat works three times harder, priming, covering, and blocking stains. let's go where no paint has gone before, and end up some place beautiful. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now at the home depot, buy four gallons of paint and get the fourth one free.

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at these fires with cold water and checks to help the grown-ups start the rebuilding... they also brought thousands of these teddy bears for kids. people come first. everything else is second. [ female announcer ] allstate customers affected by the recent wildfires call 1-800-547-8676. visit a mobile claims office, your agent or allstate.com never one to disappoint, herman cain is launching his own web tv network tomorrow called cain tv. it will feature critical commentary on issues of the day -- >> on behalf of the women who will benefit from the affordable

care act. >> if they make me pay for my birth control pills. >> it will feature street smarts with lou brown. >> i'm lou from hollywood. my mouth don't write no checks my [ bleep ] can't cash. hillary clinton can't do nothing. she couldn't handle her own husband. >> it will feature funny stuff, featuring comedian kivi. >> you can laugh at me, then you can laugh at yourself. i'm going to make fun of you. kivi. >> and of course, it will feature pearls of wisdom from herman himself. >> every day is a well-armed lamb contesting the boat. let's give a lamb a gun. >> let's give a lb a gun? yes, america, that just happened. >> okay. it looks like he went into night court and just grabbed all the drunks and said any of you want a show because i got a network and i got to fill it full of people.

>> i just programmed my tivo because i will be watching this tomorrow with bagels and orange juice. >> it's a web tv channel. >> will you be getting a show on this network starting tomorrow? >> only if i'm very, very, very lucky. but you know, heather, we wondered what herman's next act was going to be. >> i love how you gave that to me. >> i don't know -- >> i'll remind you during the presidential primary, it was his campaign manager that was smoking a cigarette, looking into the camera, i mean, remember it was a 999 thing. you have to give it to him. it seems he makes fun of himself and doesn't take himself too seriously. he's the godfather, right? >> he's saying liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote? >> yes. let's give a lamb a gun. >> what he's actually talking

about is pretty scary, which is actually part of the big right wing thing, now it's apparently armed people or lambs going and trying to contest the vote and police, citizen police -- >> this is not about politics. this is about lambs and this is about guns. this has nothing to do with politics. >> he does give voice to one splinter faction of the conservative base that wants -- that believes that it's about bearing arms and going to the ballot box and making quote, unquote, your voice heard. >> the institution is who this gives a voice to. there is no one this gives a voice to. literally people who have had lobotomies. >> we watched this, i'm not sure herman cain is not a conceptual art project dreamed up by the far left. it could be that this belongs in a gallery in chelsea. >> he's the new warhol.

that's what this is. >> lizz winstead again with the big win. after the break, would you pass a citizenship test? we quizzed a few americans about their country in honor of the fourth and we will play you their answers, next. with the spark cash card from capital one, sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice.

what does it mean to be an american? for the nearly 17 million naturalized citizens, the first step to citizenship involved taking a test on u.s. history, politics and geography. with the fourth of july tomorrow, we decided to give an impromptu street citizenship test to some americans in times square. we pulled questions from the actual citizenship test and added a couple of questions of our own at the very end. >> who is in charge of the executive branch? >> no idea. >> that's our president.

>> president of the united states. >> i'm not sure. >> the president. >> the president. >> i don't know. >> what territory did the u.s. buy from france in 1803? >> that's the louisiana purchase. >> boom! >> it's a square one. >> louisiana purchase. >> it's kind of rectangular. >> louisiana purchase. >> was it wyoming? >> louisiana purchase. >> yes, you are right. what are two right s in the declaration of independence? >> the freedom to bear arms and freedom of speech. >> bear arms. freedom to bear arms. we can move on. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. >> we should move on. >> right to life and the pursuit of happiness. >> can you name one thing that benjamin franklin is famous for?

>> something about electricity, flying his kite and spectacles. >> flying his kite and electricity are good ones. >> bald head. >> electricity. >> electricity. >> best thing that he did, he made the u.s. post office. everybody was like we shouldn't have a post office, we don't need to communicate. he's like you people are dumb, i'm going to make one. then he gave it to everybody for free. he was awesome. >> he's not such a great man. >> not such a great man? real talk. >> can't really judge people. it's easy to be quarterback like on a monday. >> he's from philadelphia. >> are all people from philadelphia famous? >> no. they're not. >> give us something else. >> he has a liberty bell. >> has a liberty bell? >> rang a liberty bell? >> he rang the liberty bell? >> being on the $100 bill. >> yeah, he is. can you name these four people? >> pelosi, sheen, rihanna and romney. >> nancy pelosi, charlie sheen,

mitt romney, rihanna. >> i'm not even voting for him but i can't tell you his name. >> she looks like a politician. >> that guy is also a bad man. i do not remember his name. but i know that he was on -- oh, charlie sheen. >> rihanna. that's charlie sheen. i don't know those two. >> rick perry. >> how about this guy? >> he's winning. i forget his name, though. >> what is mitt short for? your choices, your choices, a, mittens, b, mitonski, c, grommet or d, none of the above. >> was three grommet? is that what you said? definitely not grommet. >> it's not mittens. >> mitchell. >> matilda. >> mittens? >> is it mitonski? >> i will say none of the above. >> none of the above? correct.

all right. so how many of you thought that mitt romney's first name was mitonski? anybody? i will tell you, we were out on a sweltering day in times square and a lot of people did know what the emancipation proclamation was. a lot of folks knew about the louisiana purchase. benjamin franklin was actually the most i think hotly contested subject. when asked about franklin, really mixed reviews. >> no kite references? >> lot of kite references, some keys, some electricity. >> library? nothing? >> is he the sarah palin of today? >> i guess so. i think sarah palin -- >> you got a better score than jay leno. new york is smarter than l.a. >> we are, as everybody notes, we are in a different area right now and we have been joined by my celebrity doppelganger, the

sage of capitol hill, the man who wears boat shoes all year long -- >> i can't believe we actually got this idea off the ground. it shows the dedication of your staff. >> i'm going to explain to the audience what is happening. the 2012 olympics are still weeks away, of course, but a "washington post" article had the inside scoop on the annual romney olympics held at his lake house, happening right now. we have set up one of the events governor romney recently added himself which is hammering nails into a board. to repeat, this is an actual event in the romney olympics. >> very stressful. >> do we have official romney rules for this? >> we don't. what we know is presumably there's protective eyewear. >> for pounding a nail into a board? >> these are the osha rules. >> i didn't tell you it made sense. we are going to give luke -- luke is probably a ringer on this. >> oh, yes. i grew up playing this. >> the idea, gentlemen, is we

will use 45 seconds on the clock to see how many nails we can hammer in. you do not need to hammer the nail all the way in, as long as the nail is upright on its own accord, that's -- >> just tap it in? >> yes. someone is definitely going to get hurt. i'm hoping it's not me. robert traynham, you're the timekeeper here. >> i'll give mouth-to-mouth just in case. >> that's okay. >> stick to your own boards, people. do not look to see how others are doing. that is a recipe for disaster. >> i want to say the romney family is doing this as a summer game activity. i don't know that that's fun. >> on your mark, get set, go! >> we have one in. oh, my gosh. >> luke russert has three. alex has three. >> the romneys don't drink and this is a game? >> alex has lost one. she got one in. luke is really in the lead. this is interesting.

>> how's our time? >> 22 seconds. >> they have to continue to be up. >> 25 seconds. >> i created a serious problem for myself. this is why i sit at the desk. >> no one's gotten hurt yet. >> 35 seconds. 37 seconds. 40 seconds. four, three, two, one. stop! stop! it looks like it may be a tie. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. >> nine for luke. i think 12, people. 12. >> congratulations! >> you get a platinum hammer. congratulations. big win. >> real quick, did you ever find out what the winning number is in the romney olympics? do we know that answer? >> our campaign imbed, that is his assignment. he's got to find it out.

>> we need to know if hugo topped the romneys. >> then you get to be president. >> or at least qualify. >> take me to the dressage. >> dressage is my event. >> who needs a rope swing or ice cream. >> that was exhilarating. i'm not going to lie. >> why talk when you can hammer nails into a board. thank you again to everybody that participated in this, robert, heather, lizz, hugo and luke. incredible sendoff into our independence day holiday. that's all for now. enjoy your independence day tomorrow. ari melber -- >> hire these people for habitat for humanity. >> ari melber will be in for m on thursday at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. pacific. i will not be there. he will be joined by patricia murphy, richard wolffe and kurt anderson. until then, find us on facebook. "andrea mitchell reports" is next live again from the aspen

ideas festival, where presumably there are no nails being hammered. good afternoon to you, andrea. >> no nails, no wood. happy independence day to all of you. we will be live from the aspen ideas festival right here in a few moments with a big cast. we've got jane harmon from the woodrow wilson center, plus i will talk to ron howard about andy griffith. all that and more on "andrea mitchell reports," next. i stepped on the machine, and it showed me the pressure points on my feet and exactly where i needed more support. i had tired, achy feet. until i got my number. my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotics number. now i'm a believer. you'll be a believer, too. learn where to find your number at drscholls.com.

we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," a nation divided. americans are sharply split on the supreme court's health care ruling. what does that mean for the campaign's drive for undecided voters? call me maybe. chris christie not ruling out saying yes to being on the ticket. >> the fact is if governor romney picks up the phone and calls, then you have to answer

the call and listen at least. pilgrimage to israel. mitt romney announces he will be meeting with bebe netanyahu in israel this summer. millions in misery here at home. how much longer will people have to endure triple digit heat without electricity? and mayberry loses its sheriff. andy griffith has died at his home in north carolina. we will be talking with his former co-star, ron howard, just ahead. good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in aspen, colorado. in our daily fix today, the public is sharply divided over last week's supreme court ruling on health care. according to three new polls, although support for the president's health care law has now ticked up slightly since the court's decision last thursday, that advantage comes largely from democrats. the percentage of democrats who now say they have very favorable

views of the law is up 16 points since may, up 19 points among self-described liberals. mark murray is nbc's senior political editor and joins me now from washington. mark, let's go through the numbers. you're the expert on polls more than anyone. you have been going through these all day. what are you seeing in this and the new abc news poll about health care and this election campaign? >> the first thing, it is a little bit early in this process. the decision just came out on thursday so these are the first polls that we're really seeing on instant reaction to the health care ruling. as you mention, it shows the public is pretty much split over whether they favor or oppose the supreme court's 5-4 decision on the health care law. in a way that shouldn't be all that surprising given how polarized this country is politically. democrats are supporting it, republicans aren't, overall independents are slightly against it but the situation, if you are an advocate for the health care law and its constitutionality, things do seem to be a little bit of an