clearer. and it could not be bigger. the stakes could not be bigger. >> you can do it! >> i know. >> and make no mistake, the president is not the only one with ohio and pennsylvania squarely in his sights. for mitt romney, the rust belt states are even more crucial for him with his hopes pinned to a demographic edge with white, working class voters. the latest nbc news "wall street journal" poll showing romney with a 24% lead and the struggling working class was clearly on the president's mind today as we cast his experience as president against mitt romney at bain capital. >> governor romney's experience has been in owning companies that were called pioneers of outsourcing. my experience has been in saving the american auto industry. and as long as i'm president, that's what i'm going to be doing. waking up every single day thinking about how we can create

more jobs for your families. and more security for your communities. >> cheers from a fired up crowd and if they sounded very much behind the president today, he's going to need all the the support he can get on this tour as the most important event of the week comes tomorrow morning. the release of the monthly jobs numbers for june and while ohio and pennsylvania had unemployment rates below the national average in may, mitt romney knows full well that anything but a precipitous drop in jobless claims provides him with his best opening against the president as he told cbs news. >> the reason i'm running for president is that i believe i have theç experience and know w an vision to help americans. to help the middle class of america. the the president's going on a bus tour. he's got no new answers. as long as i continue to speak about the economy, i'm going to win. >> there you have it.

romney's simplistic calculation. all he has to do is talk about the economy and he'll win. except it turns out even romney's conservative cohorts, people like bill crystal, beg to differ. quote, what are voters to think when they hear the gop nominee say as long as i continue to speak about the economy, i'm going to win. that they're dopes who don't know the economy's bad but as long as the romney campaign keeping instructing them that it's bad, they'll react correctly and vote the incumbent out of office? if you think he went to positive spin after that, he concluded quote, calling it a narrow path to defeat. let's get right to our panel in philadelphia, professor james peterson, a blogger for the h f "huffington post." in washington, karen finney, now

a columnist for the hill and kathleen crier. if people like bill crystal start saying you've got a problem with the way you're laying out your strategy, you've got a problem. >> you do. because we have listenedç to romney now for the months and months and have yet to hear his prescription. some regurgitation at this point, derag, low taxes, free up the private sector and that's the end all and be all. but he doesn't tell you how he's going to accomplish this, bring jobs back to this country and boost our domestic economy. and when "the wall street journal" and bill crystal and those in the very conservative columns are saying give us a plan. because you cannot expect the voters will reject one and go for another if they don't have any idea you're trying to lead them. >> karen, what has this man been

doing for eight rear years? i understand he has great ambitions and it's right to want to seek great things, but where's the content? >> that's a great question. somehow, i guess he thought he wouldn't need content and they've been focused on playing a shell game with his taxes and with his money, so that we don't really know what's going on. he's got, you know, that seems more of how they've spent their time. i wanted to add something to what catherine was just saying. part of what's so important about this bus trip, so romney doesn't have answers and if you're sitting in ohio and you see attack ads on the president, but you see president obama there in your county or city talking about what he's done, what he would do, defining the choice and then you just hear romney attacking that, i mean, that's very powerful and that is a very important way for this campaign and this president to break through on a negative ads and to make the lack of answers fromç romney an increasing

weakness for romney. >> do you agree? >> i think karen is right on point here. a couple of things i might add is that this gap for president obama really is centered around white working class males. and part of what the obama campaign has got to address are the ways in which he's been issues of race and things play into these things. president obama's got to convince these folks they've got to vote in their own self-interest. only thing romney is pointing out is making it better for the 1%. >> catherine, the obama campaign has a new man on the street ad out, calling attention to a new story in "vanity fair" about how mitt romney has placed so many of his assets in tech shelters around the world. >> he needs to come clean about

where that money is and why it's there. >> i don't have a problem with people making tons of money, but there are questions raised about why you're keeping your money offshore. >> sorry to repeat the comments of the people on the street, but it does raise questions. the cayman islands, then in "vanity fair," we discover there's this count for 15 years invidsable, in bermuda. >> this is the 1%. that the white working class, particularly the males, are not registeringç the kasm between mitt romney and their life situation. and yet we're not expecting this man to explain how all the bain capital experience is going to translate to brick and mortar successes in the united states. that's not how the company made

its money, nor how he has distributed his funds. there iso correlation. >> professor peterson, catherine makes an important point. how is it that romney appears to be loved by so many working class white voters in these two states, ohio and pennsylvania. given the fact that he has this vast amount of money that's stashed offshore that to ordinary people would be offensive. >> again, people need to understand the effectiveness of the ways in which the right, especially the extreme right and tea party have, over this president. so people will vote against their self-interests because they feel somehow they're more connected to romney. it's not just romney's personal wealth that's an issue. it's the fact he represents people who have waelt at this level. he represents the concentration of american wealth in the top 12%. the people funding his campaign and those who -- if he becomes president of this country. >> i just want, this has been a classic problem for democrats for a very long time. it's not just about other than

president obama. democrats have got to be able to talk to people about how these things impact them very directly. so when i'm outsouing or hiding my money offshore, which means i'm not paying taxes on that money, that means less money being invested rightç he in your town creating jobs. too often, democrats say well, if i just explain why it's against your self-interest, it will make sense. that's been a classic mistake my party has made for far too long. >> indeed. all of you do stay with us. we are awaiting the president. he's due to speak in sandusky, ohio. there's a live shot there before he carries on his tour with an event later tonight in palmer, ohio. kristen welker is there ahead of the president and she joins us now. kristen, the president has remarked on how hot it is out there, but his rhetoric has been pretty fiery as well.

>> reporter: it has been. the entire theme of this trip is is betting on america. a lot of fiery rhetoric as the president sort of touts his key accomplishments, including the auto bailout, including the fact he got health care passed. but what's interesting, some of that fire and rhetoric being ususe ed against him. mitt romney is waging a wit of a shadow campaign. he's dispatched tim pawlenty and bob bobby jindal, who are here speaking in some of the same places, saying we're not going to double down on president obama because he essentially hasn't done enough to fix the economy. so a war of words going on here in this battleground state of ohio. we should also say as is typical of some of these trips, the president is also engaging in retail politics. he's getting up close and personal a lot of these voters. in the past hour, he has made twoç unscheduled stops along t way to sandusky.

he stoppeded at a restaurant, spoke to voters there and also at a farmer's market, trying to court some of these white, working class voters who have been waivering a bit in their support of him. >> thank you. we're watching live pictures of the president's bus. it has just arrived. we will bring you his speech as it happens in a few moments. stay with us. people have doubts about taking aspirinor pain. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer.

the president has just taken the microphone, speaking now in sandusky, ohio. >> are you a pretty good griller? yes? some of you know that yesterday was also malia's birthday. she is now 14 years old.

going into high school. you know, it used to be that i could tell her that all the fireworks were for her. she doesn't believe me anymore, but she is doing great and her and michelle and sasha, bo says hi. they join us on these bus trips, but since it's malia's birthday, she's got a whole sleepover thing. she loves me still, but she'd rather be hanging out with her friends. i am thrilled to be here. wonderful to be in sandusky, in ohio. it's wonderful to be back out and about. washington's a beautiful place and they give me a very nice rental housing there, but when you get a chance, to get out and

talk to folks, it reminds me of my first campaign. you know, i'm now on my last campaign. but i still, i still remember when i was first running for the state senate. in illinois. and a lot of people thought why do you want to do something like that? and i tried to explain to people my motivation and by the way, in illinois when you're in state legislature, you don't get paid a lot of money and have to drive down to springfield, which is three and a half hours away. but the reason i told folks i did it was because i thought back to my own life. to the fact that my grandparents -- participated in world war ii. my grandfather fought in p

patton's army and my grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line and when they got, when my grandfather got back from the war, my mother had just been born, he was able to get a college education on the gi bill. and they were in their first house with a help of the fha. and then i was raised by a single mother and the help of my grandparents, but despite e fact that we never had a lot of money, they were ableç to sende to a great school and i was able to get a wonderful education and i met this beautiful woman who -- who just because i was persistent, finally gave up and gave in and decided to marry me. but the reason that she was able to get a great education, and michelle's dad, he workeded as

what was called the stationary engineer. a blue collar, worked at a pumping station and her mom stayed at home looking after her and her brother and then worked as a secretary, but somehow, her and her brother were able to get a great education, so our family story was all about this basic idea in america that if you work hard, you can make it if you try. here in this country. that it doesn't matter what you look like. it doesn't matter where you come from. you don't have to be born into wealth. you don't have to be born into fame. if you're willing to put your shoulder to the wheel and work hard, then the basic bargain in this country is you can find a job that pays a decent wage. and you should be able to buy a

home. and you should be able to retire with dignity and respect and not go bankrupt because you get sick and maybe take a vacation once in aç while. nothing fancy, but be able to spend time with your family and most of all, you should believe that your kids are going to be able to do even better than you do. and that idea, that basic bargain, is what brought me to politics. because what i realized was that all the opportunities that i had been getting, there were too many young people out there who weren't getting those same opportunities. folks who are working just as hard as my grandparents or parents did, they were finding themselves making less money working harder. the cost of health care or college or the cost of groceries

were going up. and so my belief was that i had to participate and fight on behalf of the middle class that had given me so much so that the next generation would be able to have those same opportunities. that's what motivated me in my first campaign and as i traveled all across illinois, a lot of towns like sandusky. i'd meet people everywhere and it didn't matter, you know, where they came from, what their backgrounds were. they had the same kind of story to tell. about how theirç family had succeeded in getting that piece of the american dream. and it's what knit us together, regardless of race, regardless

of status, regardless of religion. that idea, that's what pulled us together. that's what got me in my first campaign and it's that same idea that i believe in my last campaign. it's the reason i'm here today. it's the reason i ran for president. it's the reason that i'm running again for president. because i want to keep on fighting for families all across america so they have the same opportunities that i did! >> four more years! four more years! >> now -- let me say in 2008, when i started running, we could already see that this american dream, this basic bargain was slipping away for too many people. what we didn't realize at the time was we were going to get

hit by the worst economic crisis in most of our lifetimes and we've had to spend three and a half years recovering and pushing back. so when folks said let's go ahead and let the auto industry go bankrupt, we said, no, let's bet on american workers, let's bet on american industries and now, gm is back on top and chrysler's moving andç ford is going strong! stting to come back in here to ohio and all across the country. some of the biggest manufacturing job growth since the 1990s. a lot of folks lost their jobs and a lot of folks have retrained and now, they're going back and getting jobs in newable energy and industries of the future, but for all the progress we've made, we've still got a long way to go.

there's still too many folks probably here in sandusky who are out of u work. lot of people's homes are still under water in a housing bubble burst. it's not enough to recover and get back to where we were before the crisis. we've still got to address this basic challenge of how do we build a strong middle class and make sure that the next generation has the same opportunities that we do and that's a long-term project. it's not going to happen overnight, but we've got to start working on that right now. we've got to move on it right now. that's the challenge we face. it's the central question of this election and we've got two fundamentally different visions in this election. mr. romney and his republican allies in congress, some of those special interests that support him. you know, their basic vision

says if we just cut taxes by about $5 trillion, especially for the2wealthiest americans, and we eliminate all these regulations, that we put in place for example to prevent another taxpayer funded bailout, that somehow, wealthy investors will benefit and it will trickle down and everybody here will do better. that's their basic theory. that's their economic plan. i'm not exaggerating. 's on their website. and by the way, that $5 trillion tax cut they want to provide on top of the bush tax cuts, they pay for it by cutting education and transportation funding, cutting job training programs, turning medicare into a voucher program. slashing medicaid. that's their economic theory.

now here's the problem. we tried that. we tried it before i came into office. not only did it not work, it led to the worst financial crisis that we've had in our lifetime. why would we want to go back to something that didn't work? so we don't want to go backwards and we've got a different vision. it's a vision that says government can't solve every problem. of the things i learned from my mom was you can't replace a motherç who loves you and instills you with the sense of purpose, and occasionally, gets on you when you're not doing your homework.

so, government can't replace parents, but when i first got my job as an organizer for the catholic churches in chicago, working with parishes in low income eighborhoods, they taught me that no government program can replace good neighbors and people who care deeply about their communities who are fighting on their behalf. so i don't believe that government can solve every problem and i don't think it should even try. i think you can't help folks if they don't want to help themselves. america wasn't built on handouts. it was built on responsibility and we have to challenge everybody to take individual responsibility in their own lives. everybody here as an experience in their lives that underscores this. we also understand there's some things that we do together to makes all of us stronger, that

makes all of us richer. if we invest in good schools and our kids are getting great education, that's not just good for those kids. that's good for all of us. if we put construction workers to work rebuilding roads and bridges, high speed rail, broad band lines, that'sç not just gd for those workers. that creates a platform for everybody to benefit, everybody to succeed. when we invest in basic research, it helps invent the internet or gps, that gives businesses an opportunity then to come in and take that new knowledge and create new businesses and jobs for everybody. that's good for all of us. so, my vision says you know what? there's some things we have to do together. and i'm running for second term as president because we have

more to do. i'm running because i want to make sure that every child gets a high quality education and that means i want to hire new teachers in our classrooms, especially in math and science. and i want to give 2 million more people the opportunity to get trained in a community college for jobs that exist right now and get the skills they need. and i want to make college more affordable for every young person who has the initiative and drive to go. and make sure they're not burdened by thousands of dollars worth of debt. that's why i'm running for president. i'm running for president to make sure that america builds again. that we make stuff. you know, i told you manufacturing starting to come back, but we can do so much more right now. we've got tax laws that give tax breaks to companiesç shipping

jobs overseas. i want to give money to companies investing here in sandusky, here in ohio, right here in the united states of america. i'm running because i do want to rebuild our roads and bridges. we've got hundreds of thousands of construction workers all across the country who are out of work and all the manufacturing that goes into construction. we could rebuild our roads, our bridges, our schools. renovate our buildings so they're more energy efficient. put a lot of people back to work and that's good for the entire economy. that means more folks are eating at restaurants, out shopping because they've got money in their pockets and that benefits all of us. i'm running because i want to make sure now that we've ended the war in iraq, and we're winding down the war in

afghanistan, that we are providing opportunities for every veteran because they shouldn't have to fight for a job when they come home. and i want to take half of that money to help reduce our debt and take the other half to rebuild america. we need to do some nation building right here at home. that's why i'm running. i'm running because the health care law that we passed was the right thing to do. because if you already have health insurance, insurance companies can't drop you now because you had a, because you're sick or because you suddenly reached some lifetime limit and young people now, young people now are able to stay on their health insurance, your health insurance until

they're 26 years old. and senior citizens are getting more discount on their prescription drugs. and people who have preexisting conditions are going to be able to get health insurance for the first time. and you know what? we, we fought so hard to make that happen and now, the supreme court has ruled it is time for us to move forward. we don't need to reargue the last two years. i'm willing to work with anybody who wants to make it work, improve health care in this country and lower costs for individual families, but i don't want to just keep on having political arguments based on politics and not on facts. i'm running because i want to implement the wall street reform law. i don't want us to have to bailout wall street banks again. they've got to act responsibly.

and we've got to make sure that the rules are in place so that they don't act recklessly. i want to reduce our deficit. deal with our debt, but in a balanced, responsible way.ç you know, it makes no sense for us to provide -- i don't need it. and then to cut teachers from our public schools or to cut our aid to education or student loans and make them more expensive for our young people. i have had opportunities. i want to now give something back and i think a lot of successful people out there want to give something back. so we'll cut programs that don't work and we'll keep eliminating waste that doesn't make, that doesn't improve prospects for the middle class and i'm not going to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. or the disabled.

or the vulnerable. or ask middle class families to pay higher taxes to pay for a tax cut for me or mr. romney. that's not how we're going to balance our budget, deal with our deficit. so, all these things, whether it's health care, bringing manufacturing jobs back, whether it's making sure our kids get a great education, or making sure that we're rebuilding america and tapping into american energy so we're less dependent on foreign oil, taking care of our veterans, all these things, they tie together. they go back to that first campaign i ran. because they have to do with making sure that what made this country great are big, diverse,

hopeful, optimistic, hard working, patriotic middle class that we continue to grow that middle class for the future. that we continue to make folks who work hard a little more secure and we provide that basic american promise to the next generation, that's the essential project that got me into politics, that's why i ran for president and that's what built this country. and -- and i know over that during the course of the next four months, you're going to see a whole bunch of negative ads. the other side is spending more money than any time in history and every ad is basically the same. it basically says the economy's no good and it's obama's fault. they basically have just one line. and you know, after a while, even if you don't buy that

baloney, it can get discouraging and you start thinking politics is just a dirty, nasty business and it's not worth getting involved and people get discouraged and cynical. you know what? that's what the other side's counting on. because, because when we get cynical and we don't participate, then the folks who are in power, the folks who have the special interest lobbies, the folks who are spending all this money, they're doing just fine.ç and so, the thing that i want everybody here to understand, each of you, personally, is that back in 2008, everybody said we couldn't do it because we were outspent potentially, you know, we weren't favored. when a guy named barack obama run for president, that, he's not the odds on favorite.

that first race that i ran as a state senator, michelle and i, we're going around, knocking on doors, passing out leaflets. everybody said nobody can pronounce your name, how are you going to win? you don't come from a famous family. we couldn't afford to advertise on tv and yet what we learned was that when ordinary people come together, when you believe in something so deeply that you're willing to talk to your friends and your neighbors and your co-workers and knock on doors and make phone calls, when the american people decide what's right, then all that money doesn't matter. all the tv advertising doesn't matter. and that stalemate that we have in washington where the other side is trying to block every single thing we do and say no to everything, the only people that can break that ultimately is going to be you.

so i hope during the next three, four months,ç i hope you rememr your family's story. i hope you remember your parents an how hard they worked or your grandparents or your great parents. maybe some of those immigrants coming to this country not knowing what to expect, but understanding if they worked hard, this was a place your dreams could happen. and i hope you know what we have to do to make sure that is passeded on to the next generation and i want you to know that when i ran in 2008, i said i wouldn't going to be a perfect man and certainly wasn't going to be a perfect president, but i'd always tell you what i thought. i'd always tell you where i stood and most of all, i would wake up every single day thinking about you.

thinking about how to make your lives a little bit better because in you, i see my own life and everything that my parents and grandparents struggled for and i have kept that promise. and i intend to keep that promise as long as i have the privilege of being your president so if you're willing to stand with me and work with me and knock on some doors with me and make some phone calls with me, i promise you, we will finish what we started in 2008 and we will remind the world just why it is that the united states of america is the greatest nation on earth! thank you,everybody! god bless you and god bless america! >> the president there speaking in washington park in sandusky, ohio, saying that he doesn't want to relitigate health care,

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from betting on america to running on freedom, here are today' top lines. hot dog. >> he is the greatest major league eater of all time. >> are you hot? >> i love this country. >> happy fourth of july, everybody. >> the president's going on a bus tour. he's got no new answers. as long as i continue to speak about the economy, i'm going to win. >> i'm betting you're not going to lose heart. i'm betting on you. >> gambling is illegal, sir and i never slice. >> the the coolest town of

america. >> 30 of us running around the house, we said, gosh, our love really started something. >> where's michelle? look, i know i'm second fiddle. >> we heard what their strategy was. it was kill romney. not when i'm next to him r r you better not. >> what do you mean? >> misrepresentation of who he really is. >> it will come with time! governor believes that what we've put in place in massachusetts was a penalty and he disagrees with the court's ruling that the mandate was a tax. >> the supreme court is the final word. >> iç said that i -- it's in t minority. >> there's no question that it is a huge liability for this campaign. >> who do you like? >> me, but i've taken my name off the table. >> someone else, or joy with the same personality type. >> you've heard the phrase of

johnny come lately. this is barack come lately. >> senator kelly ayotte. >> confident, capable, willing to serve this country. >> his sixth -- >> let's get right to our panel. johnson phillips a, professor michael eric dyson, professor of sociology a sociology at georgetown. i suppose anyone eating 68 hot dogs is going to need health insurance at some point, but when romney was governor, the penalty for not purchasing health insurance was a penalty or a mandate. now, when he's running for president, he calls it a tax. now, the tea party of course des pizs taxes, but how do you feel about penalties and mandates? >> sort of like eating 68 hot dogs. you can't believe you ate the whole thing. but look, it is a tax. i mean, doesn't matter how you slice it, dice it or eat it.

it's a tax and a bad idea. it's a bad idea in the middle of a depression. it's a bad idea during any other time so you know, we don't like it and you know, mitt romney says day one he's going to work to repeal obamacare. let's hope that happens. >> professor, "the wall street journal"ç today, regarding his latest flip-flop on the health care mandate. quote, he stated himself that the penalty now is a tax after all. but he offered no e lab ration, so the campaign looks confused in addition to politically dumb and bill crystal, conservative columnist, he slammed romney for not having any content. is this mitt minus anything? >> he needs to take advantage of the obamacare he is wanting to oppose because he's bloody by

his own party because they understand the nflicts here. when you're in power in massachusetts, it was a mandate. it was a penalty. now, it was all of a sudden a tax. you can't decide from monday to wednesday. maybe he had had a heatstroke, a stroke of genius. so he's following obama even in the paradigm of leadership here. it's clear to "the wall street journa journal", to a lot of conservatives, this guy hasn't found his soul and seems to be chasing the best character nearest to him and refuses to stand on principle. we don't know what he believes, but we're sure he'll say what he doesn't believe. >> johnson, you told "the new york times" the romney campaign is being running by idiot and it's not too late to replace him. are you serious? do you think the republican party should replace mitt romney before the convention?ç

>> you know, it's one of those sayings, we can all have hope. i hope i can win the power ball -- >> answer the question. do you think this man should be replaced now before the convention? >> hey, i wold lould love to se romney replaced by a real conservative. it's probably not going to happen. in fact, i pretty much put money on it not happening, but you know, it would be nice if it did, but guess what? if not, we're just going to have to belly up to the buzz saw, vote for romney, no matter how bad that is and get a good conservative citizen there -- >> stabbed him with phrase and contempt. thank you. i'm sorry there isn't enough time because the president was speaking earlier. much more ahead. just stay with us. ok! who gets occasional constipation,

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the presumptive republican nominee maybe having trouble getting his message straight on health care, but there's no confusing how his wife feels about this election. ann romney has launched a vigorous defense of her husband. we're joined by karen finney. she's too good just to keep in one segment. karen, right now, mitt romney's taking some flak from his side of the aisle, "the wall street journa journal", rupert murdoch, but he's still got the full support of at least one person. >> early on, we heard their strategy. it was kill romney. that was their memo that came out from their campaign and it's like, not when i'm next to him you better not. >> çkaren, is there anyone on e campaign, the campaign is relying on more than this candidate's wife? >> she is a very portant asset to mitt romney.

no question. we've seen that time and again and he said she's the one who helps him understand women, but in all seriousness, look, the spouse is someone who gives us an insight into the person that we might not otherwise get and of course the man that she sees is different than the person the rest of us see. the problem with her comment underscores the fundamental problem he's having on the campaign trial, being able to relate to people. part of the reason you hear president obama talking about his american story, they can relate to that. they can't necessarily relate and i mean this in all seriousness, to having offshore account and being in the 1%. it's great she thinks he's a great guy, but that doesn't necessarily mean that romney's off the hook for being able to make his own case. >> right. what do you make of her defense of her husband as a compassionate person?

she says that mitt has always served others and as edence, she points out that he gave up his salary for the olympics. $250,000. does that prove your compassionate? >> no, of course not. what would prove as compassion would be able to talk about the companies that bain took over when they endureded losses when he and his investors were able to walk away with plenty of cash in their pockets and the workers lost everything. what compassion did she show for them? did he do to help those people get new jobs or make sure they're going to be okay? to me, that's the kind of compassion i'm looking for. one other thing i want to mention, i want to correct mrs. romney. remember that when this story first came out, that memo, kill romney, david axelrod made it clear nobody within the campaign

used that kind of language and if they had, they would be fired. if we're going to play the tit for tat of what people in the campaign say, they were going to use reverend wright. >> thanks so much. stay with us. much more ahead. ♪ i'm making my money do more. ♪ i'm consolidating my assets. i'm not paying hidden fees or high commissions. i'm making the most of my money. and seven-dollar trades are just the start. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. and i'm loving every minute of it. [ rodger riney ] at scottrade, we give you commission-free etfs, no-fee iras and more. come see why more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you.

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i'm stoked. you stoked ? totally. ... and he says, "under the mattress." souse le matelas. ( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon. the mystery of mitt's millions continues to fire up mr. romney's opponents. two new articles have highlighted just how little we know. with us is william cohen. first of all, we had offshore money on grand cayman. then we learned about swiss bank accounts. now, we know about an account in bermuda. what is the collective impact on an individual's character if he's running for president and we keep having another shoe drop

about another load of money that's been stashed off somewhere other than the great united states of america? >> i don't understand how a guy who's been running for president for eight year, a governor of massachusetts for four years, yes, he was in private equity, made a lot of money. i'm not saying there's anything illegal. >> nobody has been. >> but we've talked about this ç before. he is remarkably tone deaf when it comes to things like this. i mean, why do people have all these offshore accounts. swiss bank accounts in bermuda, all these tax facilities. >> in order to avoid tax and hide their assets. >> and if they're doing that and it's legal, fine. but if you're running for the esident of the united states and you're paying 15% or 17% rate on your income taxes and everybody else is paying 35 and 40 and 50%, the american people

just don't like the smell of this. it doesn't feel right and i don't know why he's doing this or if he should just come absolutely clean. why does he have $102 million in his ira when you're allowed to put 15, $17,000 a year. please explain it. >> i can't. our final question to you, is this going to affect his campaign? >> look, i think it has to. it has to because the american people just don't like the feel of this, but this is who the republicans are about to nominate, so we'll see. >> thanks so much. thanks so much and thanks for watching us. "hardball" picks things up right now. will mitt romney's flip flop? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm michael smerconish. leading off, the individual mandate is a tax.

that's the wordç according to mitt romney who reversed course and contradicted his own campaign. his shift puts it in line with his party, which hasn't been happy with hi response and if the mandate is a tax, does that mean romney raised taxes with his plan in massachusetts? according to romney, not exactly. we'll get to his verbal gymnastics at the top of the program. meanwhile, president obama is on a bus tour through ohio and pennsylvania. can he make enroads among those working class voters? and speaking of those voters, how will they respd to new reports of romney's extensive offshore bank account sns does romney have an image problem? and a florida life guard loses his job for trying to help save a swimmer's life. and finally, what went wrong at this fourth of july celebration in san diego? all of the fireworks exploded at