correspondent kristen welker is traveling with the president. she joins us live this afternoon from pittsburgh. we didn't hear the president talk about the jobs report until about ten minutes in this morning, kristen. it will be very interesting to see how long he waits to talk about those numbers in pittsburgh. >> reporter: yeah, it's a good point, craig. and we expect him to continue to try to put a positive spin on what is really a disappointing jobs report, when he takes the podium here in pittsburgh at carnegie mellon university. we expect him to tout what he sees as his accomplishments in the economy, including the auto bailout. that's something that really resonates with voters in nortrn ohio, which is where he was earlier today and yesterday. and of course, here in western pennsylvania. he'll also probably reiterate that statistic, that 4.4 million jobs were added in the private sector over the past 28 months. but, craig, it is really a tough sell, because in addition to the numbers that you talked about, if you look at the breakdown, and i think we have a graphic of some of these numbers and how it breaks down by group, it's

really a tough picture. african unemployment rate, 14.4%. that's an increase of 0.8%. hispanics, 11%. whites, 7.4%. women, 7.4%, and then tasians, t gets a little bit lower. so really a tough sell for the president, as you pointed out, craig. mitt romney didn't hesitate to pounce on these figures. from mitt romney's perspective, it really allows him to change the story line. he has had a tough week. members of his own party criticizing him, saying that he has mismanaged his campaign. they say he has flip-flopped on the issue of that individual mandate and whether it's a tax or a penalty. so this allows mitt romney to really switch the conversation back to the economy. this is thing that he is quite comfortable talking about. he believes this is a winning issue for himself. but for president obama's part, his goal is much larger. he is here in ohio and pennsylvania trying to win back these two key swing states, which he did carry back in 2008.

so we expect him to take the podium shortly, craig. >> kristen welker traveling with the president there in pittsburgh. we should know, when president obama takes the podium, we will of course carry it live for you right here. kristen, thank you. reaction to the report, swift on dow street. the dow dropped 150 points this morning. the dow's dropped even more now, down about 172 points, s&p down almost 18. nasdaq down 52. and house speaker john boehner releasing a statement saying, "today's report shows the private sector clearly is not doing fine. the president needs to stop betting on his failed policies and start working with republicans to remove government obstacles to job creation." joining us to help break down all of this economic news, "newsweek" columnist, zachary

carabell, and also down in washington, john harwood. gentleman, good afternoon to both of you. let me start with you, john, because you gave us the numbers first this morning on cnbc, and as we've been talking about the reaction from washington has been swift. and it has been predictable as well. but it is very difficult for the white house to paint this in any sort of positive light. >> there's no question. that's why the president waited eight or ten minutes into his remarks before mentioning it and putting it in the context of the long arc of recovery from the great recession. these are very disappointing numbers. the weakest quarter in two years, when you look at april, may, and june. and it's not enough to bring the unemployment rate down, as we saw from that 8.2 remaining stable. kristen noted the -- unemployment among different groups. the only good news for the president there is that the highest unemployment, that is among african-americans, is a constituency that's likely to

stick with him. more problematic is that 11% within hispanics. he's hoping on that group to turn out heavily for him. this is one of the reasons why romney can hope maybe they won't turn out in such robust numbers for the president. >> and we always use these numbers, the 8.2% and the 80,000, but the fact of the matter is, when you really start looking at some of these numbers, john, the actual real unemployment rate is probably much higher in many parts of this country for many groups than we report. zach, i want to come to you now. this is something we were talking about before the broadcast started. the reality here, politically, is one thing. but forolks who are looking for jobs in this country, for people who have been out of work, either in the short-term or the long-term, what does this report mean? >> well, first of all, you have to understand that except for pretty strong growth in january and february, we have a completely static job market. it's not getting appreciatively worse nor is it getting significantly better. which is a problem for politics and media who need the motion of

change, there's not a lot of change in these numbers. we have a structural unemployment problem in this country, and if you're on the losing end of this historical tectonic shift away there people who make stuff and do stuff physically, mostly men, mostly not college educated men, to a more knowledge service-based economy, there's no end in sight for these struggles. because i don't think it's about government policy. i think it's about a real, structural shift in our economy. >> the prognosis is grim for those who are in power? >> it is grim for those who it is grim. there may be people whose skill set is not at all matched to where jobs are being created and that means they get largely badly paying jobs. waitresses and orderlies in hospitals. work that is real, but not enough to meet your needs. i don't think we're having an honest discussion about any of this. >> john, go ahead. >> on zach's point, if you break it down among education, you see the unemployment rate among

college graduates is half the national rate, over 12% for people without a high school diploma. this raises the stakes for the argument that the president is trying to make, to trying to adapt to that for changes in education and investment in different industries. republicans say those aren't going to work, but that's the contours of the choice that americans have to look at in november. >> zach, this is something else we were talking about just a few minutes ago, in terms of political feasibility, and perhaps even political willpower, what can be done? what can be -- whether it's barack obama, whether it's mitt romney, what can a president do to lower the unemployment rate to get folks back to work? zpr first of all, there's the could've, should've, would've. what obama is suffering most from now is the promise made at the time of the bailout in february of 2009, promising that money spent by government would lead to a substantial reduction in the unemployment rate. now, it may have led to the unemployment rate not going even higher than it went, but that

promise clearly was not fulfilled. the first thing this government should not overpromise and underdeliver. and romney is hugely in danger of that as well. he's saying, elect me and that rate will go down, we'll cut taxes and help the job creators create jobs. that's not going to change this mismatch we've been talking about. it's not going to make tens of thousands of high school educated males suddenly adept and able to compete with japanese and south koreans and chinese. i think it would be better if our government said, there's a shift here that's real, that will take many years to work out. how do we make sure that the pain of that dislocation is less and the next generations are much better equipped to compete in this world. >> john, zach, thank you so much. the monthly jobs report does put something into focus. with regard to all the subplots we have in this country, it's

all about the economy come november. >> no question about it. >> thank you, gentleman, have a fantastic weekend. do appreciate your time up next, our "news nation" political panel will weigh in on today's jobs report. also, president obama accing mitt romney of caving to pressure from rush limbaugh and the likes after his reversal on calling the insurance mandate a tax. >> the fact that a whole bunch of republicans in washington suddenly said this is a tax, for six years he said it wasn't. >> hey, and don't forget, you can join our conversation. we are on twitter. there we are. it's @newsnation, one word. it's not case sensitive, either. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled,

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mitt romney's campaign continues damage control over its mixed messaging on health

care. governor romney was asked about it again this morning during a news conference about the june jobs number. a reporter asked romney to answer the president's accusation that he's changing his tune for political reasons. >> i've spoken about health care from the day we passed it in massachusetts and people said, is this something that you'd apply at the federal level, and i said no. >> meanwhile, president obama took another hit at rney this morning while on the bus tour in ohio. >> the guy i'm running against tried this in massachusetts and it's working just fine, even though now he denies it. >> let's go ahead and bring in today's "news nation" political panel, msnbc contributor and democratic strategist, jamie williams. also danny vargas, nbc latino contributor and gop strategist. gentleman, good afternoon to you. danny, let's get to health care in just a moment. first, i want to start with what everyone's talking about, these june jobs numbers. the president saying this morning that things are not going to change overnight, but we're steady. how do you answer the

president's argument? >> well, i think the president is being a little bit disingenuous, frankly. i think the jobs report that came out today, we're frankly abysmal. it's very disappointing to see that we've had 41 months of straight unemployment levels above 8%. we've got a situation right now where folks are looking for jobs and aren't able to find them. we've got an economy that is at best moving like molasses in the middle time when it's in the middle of summer. we've got to find out a way to get private successor companies to be able to hire again. hispanic unemployment is at 11%, frame unemployment is at 14.4%. we know we're at a situation right now where we absolutely need to do everything we can to create an environment of more certainty, so that private sector companies can actually begin hiring again, and that's not happening. >> jimmy, i want to play thing mi romney said about the jobs report and get your reaction on the other side. take a listen. >> the president's policies have not gotten america working again. and the president's going to have to stand up and take responsibility for it.

>> jimmy, we know that no president has been elected with an unemployment ratebove 7.4% since world war ii. right now, 8.2%, cbo. a lot of economists saying that it probably won't go that much lower before november. how is the president going to sell, especially in some of these states like pennsylvania and ohio, how is he going to sell all of this to independent voters, especially, and undecided votered? >> that's a very good point. and i think danny is right on the fact that the jobs number is abysmal. i don't like those numbers at all, even though we did create 84,000 jobs last month. here's the difference. we knofor a fact that we can quantify that we lost 8.8 million jobs at the end of the bush administration, going into the obama administration, and now we have 4.4 million of them back. that is a success story. is it a great success story, that you got half the jobs back that were lost at the last administration? no, it's not good enough, but

better than we had when he came into office. >> but what you just said, is that argument going to suffice? is that going to be the argument that the president is going to be able to be able to make successfully between now and november? >> i would hope so. and it's up to people who believe in the obama foreign policies and economic policies. i'm one of those people that agree with the president about 90% of the time and i like the path he's put us on. why? because it's a distraction difference between what he inherited and the bush administration. i was on the senate floor in 2001 and 2003 when we did those tax cuts, and guess what, everybody, everybody, republicans, democrats alike, we were all told, this is going to create jobs. really? what were those jobs? what happened? beuse i just don't seem to know what happened to them. >> the reality is, though, i would love to say that this democratic president's policies are working. that the economy is thriving, that jobs are being created,

that we're safer around the world, but the reality is, we're not. his policies have not worked. he's failed. he's has 3 1/2 years in office to be able to get these policies in place and get us to a point where we're creating jobs. we've lost on net 473,000 jobs since he came into office. >> danny, i appreciate that number, but that's absolutely untrue and you know that's not true. the president of the united states, and the private sector, have created 4.4 million jobs. that's a fact. >> let's hold it right there for just a second, danny and jimmy. i'll get you to stand by for just a few moment here is, if you will. the president, the gentleman you guys were just talking about, tang the podium at carnegie mellon in pittsburgh. let's listen in. >> a couple of people i want to acknowledge, first of all, one of my favorite people, one of our finest united states senators, give it up for bob casey! i think we've got in the house

as well, your mayor, luke ravensaw, congressman mike dole is in the house! allegheny county executive, rich fitzgerald is here. the pennsylvania state party chair jim bern is here. and we want to thank sheryl and monte reid for the free program. great job. great job. now, i'm -- first of all, pfr we do anything else, before we do anything else -- >> we love you! >> i love you back. but let's also be clear that a very important situation has

arisen. the white sox and the pirates are in first place. so we may be in the world series together. >> go pirates! >> we love each other and we can root for each other, until we get to the world series. then it's every man for himself. i know it's hot, i know you guys have been waiting a while. so i just, i want to first of all just say thank you for everybody for taking the time to be here. >> thank you! >> i hope everybody had a great fourth of july. we had some folks over for a barbecue, in my backyard. had some fireworks. it was also malia's birthday on the fourth.

she is now 14 years old. it goes by too quick. i used to be able to convince her that all these fireworks were for her. but she no longer believes me. but she sends her love and michelle and sasha and bo all say hi. now, some of you may know that we've been on the bus tour for the last couple of days. i've been traveling through ohio. we just came from beaver, pennsylvania. and everywhere i go, people have said, mr. president,ou're getting too skinny, you need to eat. and so we've been eating a lot. and i've had a chance to talk to folks everywhere i go and, you know, people are aware of the fact that we're now in full

campaign swing. and i know that sometimes modern campaigns aren't pretty to watch, because basically, so much of it involves millions of dollars on television, most of the ads are negative, and at a certain point, people get discouraged and start feeling like nobody in washington's listening to what's going on to ordinary folks, all across the country. but i've got to tell you, despite the cynicism, despite the cynicism and the negativism, you know what i think about is my first race and what i think about is my first race and, you know, this is when i was first running for state senate, i

couldn't afford the television commercials and michelle and i, we used to go door to door and pass out flyers that we had printed out in kinkos. and we had our friends and our family members and we'd march in fourth of july parades. and it was hard work. and i didn't have air force one back then. but when i think about my first race, i think about why i got into politics. and the reason i got into politics was because this country has blessed me so much. and i thought about my own family, how my grandfather fought in world war ii while my grandmother was back home working on a bomber assembly line. and when my grandfather came back, he was able to go to college on the gi bill.

and they were able to buy a home through the fha. then i thought about my single mom, because my dad left when i was very young, and how despite all the struggles, she was able to get a great education, because that's the kind of country this was. and she was able to pass on a great education to me and my sister. and then i think about michelle's mom and the fact that michelle's mom and dad, they didn't come from a wealthy family. you know, michelle's d, he worked a blue-collar job at the sanitary plant in chicago -- >> president obama there at car carnegie mellon university in pittsburgh. if you heard his speech earlier today in poland, ohio, no, this is not the same speech, it's very close, though. some of the same jokes, some of

the same story of the president highlighting his family backstory, also highlighting his military roots, his blue-collar roots as well. jimmy williams, we said with it for about six minutes, gentleman. we did not hear the president ta about today's dismal jobs report. he hasn't addressed him just yet. earlier today in hohio, it took him about ten minutes. we expect it will take him as long to get to it in pittsburgh as well. is that a fair assessment? >> the president can't run from the jobs numbers. i think frankly he ought to tout the fact that we are creating jobs as opposed to losing jobs, unlike his predecessor. and he should knowledge that it is tepid growth at the best, and he should talk about what he's going to do. the president has a different vision for the country than mitt romney does. and mitt romney thinks the same about barack obama. what i would like to see both candidates do is to lay out

exactly and specifically their vision as to what they're going to do to get people back to work, middle class jobs. when of those 8.8 million jobs that were lost during the last recession, 96% of those jobs were middle class jobs. that's a huge, huge problem, a burden, an economic burden for the country. what are they going to do to get him back? barack obama sent a bill up to congress last fall, they passedpassed one sliver of it and have done nothing else. mitt romney said this morning, i have a plan on my website. that's not good enough. i would like to know more, what specifically he's going to do. and if you don't believe me as a democrat, ask bill kristol from the "weekly standard," he's asking for the same thing. >> and we mentioned a few moments ago, we talked about reporters hitting romney with questions about health care during his news conference taking on the june jobs number. romney pivoted right back and said obama care is costing jobs in this country. you just heard danny mention

"the weekly standard." "the weekly standard" said this about romney, "his campaign's monomaniacal belief that it's about the economy and only the economy and that they need to keep telling us stupid voters that it's only about the economy has gone from being an annoying tick to a dangerous self-delusion." does romney need to widen his focus beyond his economic message? >> i think he does, and i think he will. i think right now, though, folks are most concerned about the state of the economy and jobs, so we need to make sure that we communicate that. look, president obama, he's a good man. he's a wonderful orator. he's got a great story to tell. unfortunately, he's got to open his eyes and look at what everyone else is seeing, is that we've got a phenomenally abysmal jobs situation in this country. we've got to be -- when you look at the 8.2% unemployment, the reality is with the underemployment and part-time employment, real unemployment is at 15%. people want to see concrete examples of how we're going to turn this around. and the best way to do that is

provide the private sector some certainty as to whethre the economy's going, where the tax situation is going. you talked about health care and the reality is that obama care is a job killer, why? because the 2,700-page monstrosity of a bill that was passed by congress is the first step. there are still thousands and thousands of pages of regulations that will be done by bureaucrats. that's what's killing jobs. the minute we provide the private sector of some level of security with regard to regulation and taxes, that's when job creators will be able to actually start hiring again. i'm a small business owner. and companies right now are not hiring. they're hiring part-time workers, if at all, pause they're not sure as to what the situation is going to be next year and the year after in terms of regulations and taxes. >> jimmy, danny, thank you for your time. appreciate you sticking around. have a great weekend. >> thanks. >> you too. coming up, shifting strategy. mitt romney is reportedly planning a big foreign policy push this summer, including a major speech in great minute.

is he moving away from his message of solely attacking the president on the economy. plus, the syria files. wikileaks releasing 2 million e-mails described as, quote, embarrassing from syrian government officials. we'll find out what they contain, next. hair breaks. ♪ oh oh oh oh you see it in the brush. ♪ oh oh oh oh ooh oh and then there's the pillow. ♪ i dare you to dare me so they dared me to try this pantene. [ female announcer ] pantene anti-breakage the keratin protection system makes hair stronger reducing breakage up to 97%. ♪ think only salon brands can do that? i dare to compare... will you? [ female announcer ] anti-breakage from pantene. hair so healthy it shines.

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♪ and we're here to drop a rhyme about free-credit-score ♪ ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ dot-com narrator: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com. time now for our political postscript. we've heard from both sides of the aisle on today's disappointing jobs report, but the statements from president obama and mitt romney are just the latest in a political war that both men are waging for a country that will decide which economic vision can keep america growing. nbc news's deputy political editor, domenico montenara joining me live this afternoon. the romney campaign has always said this thing is going to be about the economy. today's number confirming that, going to be a big talker, no doubt, on the sunday shows. how does team obama create a constructive argument that stays fresh? >> well, you know, you only have about four months, four jobs

reports to go until election day and the thing that the president has tried to do is say that things are moving in the right direction. you heard him say that today. it's a tough argument to make when you've got sluggish growth, when it's 69,000 last month, 88,000 this month, unemployment flat for about six months, around 8.2%. you know, but he's also trying to blame washington and say, look, there's a stalemate here. i'd like to do more, but because of congress, we're unable to. >> you know, one of the things i enjoyed this morning in first read, the numbers breakdown. you know, explain this for folks who are watching at home. because politically we hear these numbers and think one thing and folks watching and listening might think another thing. break it down for us, politically, what might 82,000 mean versus 150,000? >> well, look, the thing is here, when you watch kind of how

the coverage, what happens with the coverage after these jobs reports come out, for a couple years you watch this, and what everybody says is essentially about 150,000 jobs a month is what's needed to bring the unemployment rate down by a percentage point or so. so what we've kind of looked at and said, if it's under 100,000 jobs, that's going to be bad for the president and good for mitt romney. if it's between 1 and 150, you're looking at something that's probably politically a push, and something above 150,000 jobs a month, that's going to be good for the president, because it's going to bring that unemployment rate down. and that's what you've seen. when you've seen unemployment over 150,000, all of a sudden the president has better ratings, you see optimism go up in polls, you see much better media coverage. so i think that's an important number to watch, that barrier. between 1 and 150 is going to be something where all this other

stuff is going to matter. >> let's pivot to health care. here's a quick health care play by play from this week. take a listen. >> the governor believes that what we 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 has spoken. there's no way around that. you can try to say you'd wish they had decided a different way, but they didn't. they concluded it was a tax. that's what it is. >> the fact that a whole bunch of republicans in washington suddenly say, this is a tax. for six years he says it wasn't and now he's suddenly reversed himself. >> a lot of action during this holiday week, my friend. how does the debate play out going forward? does it quiet down with all this economic news? >> what we heard yesterday, romney's had a tough couple of weeks and this jobs report was going to give him the opportunity to change the subject, get back on the message of the economy, or it was going to give us another, you know,

marker to say president obama is doing pretty well. i think health care's going to move to the back burner, because mitt romney, barack obama really don't want to have to talk about the this very much. mitt romney tries to draw a line and say, well, it's okay at the state level, it's not okay at a federal level. i think it's a very difficult argument to make. the president now saddled with this word "tax." he's going to make the argument to his base that what he did with health care is important. they're going to tout some of the positive things in that bill, but really neither one wants to talk much about health care. >> nbc news deputy political editor, domenico montenarra. have a great week. romney across the pond? politico vorting that mitt romney's campaign is major foreign policy offensive at the end of the month. the offensive would take romney across europe and beyond to four countries. he would be doing the most presidential of acts, meeting with foreign dignitaries while he was over there.

romney's embed, garrett haig joining me now on the phone. what's the word there, sir? >> reporter: later this summer, we're expect to get another whole change of subjects when romney embarks on this big foreign trip. he could be going to as many as four different countries. take a look at the map i think you guys have here. the first stop the one the campaign is probably most excited about, he'll be going to london, where he'll be there for the opening ceremonies of the everyone games. it was only a decade ago when romney was the ceo of the olympic games in salt lakes. so they're very excited about that. from there, the other stop is going to be to go to israel. now, israel is probably the single most important part of israel's foreign policy speeches. he brings it up every time on the campaign trail. as a country that the united states has to stand solidly behind, this giving him a chance to show off those credentials and highlight the fact that the president has not been there since he was campaigning.

romney also has apparently relationship with benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister, going back to when they worked for a consulting firm many years ago. and the other two stops on this foreign trip have not yet been confirmed, but both very interesting. the rumored stops include one in germany and one in poland. and both allow romney to do a little bit of different things. the stop in germany is important for the economic argument. you've got the country that's the economic heart of europe. if there's going to be an economic recovery under romney, it's going to hinge on germany. and poland is another american ally, doesn't get talked about a lot, but factors big on the issue of russia. this is another major foreign policy issue for romney, one he loves to talk about, the idea of a resurgent russia. that message will resonate in poland as well. >> garrett hake on the road with the romney family as they vacation there in new hampshire. garrett, thank you, sir. appreciate that. new documents are being released that promise to show the inner workings of the syrian regime. the group wikileaks is posting

online what they call the syria files. more than the 2 million e-mails from members of the syrian ruling party and from western corporations that do business with syria. wikileaks says that the material will shed light on the inner workings of that regime, which has been conducting a violent crackdown on opposition forces for more than a year today. and today, news that a close friend and ally of syrian president bashar al assad has defected to france. what do we know about the member of assad's inner circle who has reportedly left syria for france? >> what we're hearing is that the french prime minister is confirming that a brigadier general close to the syrian president has defected and is on his way to paris. this is a hard blow for the regime and a clear sign that assad's days are numbered. they attended military college

together and he's fled to turkey. assad's inner circle are starting to realize that things aren't looking good for them and that the regime is looking unstable. and the group that is meeting in paris have called for broader and tougher sanctions against syria and kofi annan has also warned that they'll face a dangerous civil war if they don't end up a the disagreements that are going on. >> with regard to these e-mails that i just mentioned, what can we expect to see from these? >> yesterday they rolled out the first of more than 2.4 million e-mails. and these are sent to and from the syrian government. these e-mails, wikileaks says, will shed light on the assad regime, but also on western governments. it's a huge cache of leaked files. they'll be posted the documents over a two-month period and 25

e-mails were released yesterday. this first batch showed that a subsidiary of a major italian defense company was selling syria's police about $50 million worth of high-tech equipment as late a as last year when the crackdown was happening and also after the european union had issued an embargo and such equipment being sent to sir california. so information of that kind will be coming out. wikileaks says they will release these documents with the help of newspapers, and say it will show how the west and western companies say one thing and do another and it will ultimately embarrass both the syrian government as well as western governments too. craig? >> tazeen, thank you so much for all of that. up next, george zimmerman supporters have already donated tens of thousands of dollars to his legal defense fund. after a judge set zimmerman's bond at $1 million. we'll get the latest. first, there's a whole lot going on out there and here are a few of the things we thought you should know on this friday. a bold move from former utah

governor and presidential candidate jon huntsman. the republican says he will not be attending this summer's rnc convention or any other for that matter until the party focuses on what he calls a, quote, bigger, bolder, more confident future for the united states. huntsman says he welcomes a return to a party that has always put country before politics. and some interesting comments from oscar-winning actor morgan freeman. in an interview with npr, freeman raised quite a few eyebrows with explaining his frustration with the treatment president obama explaining fro his political opponents. >> they just conveniently forget that barack had a mama, and she was white, very white, american, kansas, middle of america, america's first black president hasn't arisen yet. he's not america's first black president. he's america's first mixed race

president. >> morgan freeman on npr there. meanwhile, a milestone for new jersey governor chris christie. he hit 5 million views on youtube today. to celebrate, christie's office compiled a videoeaturing some of his most memorable youtube moments. . and while his most recent "are you stupid" zinger did not make the cut, there were plenty of other materials showcasing the governor's, shall we say, hot temper. >> the one thing you won't be able to say at the end of this four years is that you didn't know me. well, listen, let's start with this. i sat here, stood here and very respectfully listened to you. if you you want to do is put on a show and giggle every time i talk, i have no interest in answering your question. i got sent here to do a job. i didn't get sent here to be elected prom king. tends to stay. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult.

prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives,

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police are planning to raise the 34-foot-long yacht from long island sound today as they continue to search for answers. an uncle of one of the victims was actually driving the boat. this morning, he gave his version of what happened. >> it was dark. i didn't see it. just happened. >> reporte one of the two men driving the yacht filled with fourth of july fireworks watchers tells news 12 long island that first he saw bolts, then a wave. >> it was two lightning bolts, and i told my nephew, who was in front, rocco, did you see that? he said, yeah, uncle sal, and the next thing you know, we were turning, and we just kept turning. and everybody was in the water and chaos.

>> reporter: sal's nephew was one of more than two dozen family members or friends tossed into long island sound. rescue divers could not get 12-year-old david, 8-year-old victoria gaines, or 11-year-old harley trainer. all were trapped inside the submerged boat's cabin. police have ruled out alcohol as a factor, but tell nbc news, they are looking closely at how many people were on the 34-foot boat. >> we're looking at several avenues. one of which would be overcrowding on the boat. there was 27 people on this boat, that was a combination of adults and children. >> richard werner owns a private boating safety firm. >> this boat is a few feet larger than the silverton boat that sunk and 27 people on this boat would be extremely, extremely tight. >> police investigators are also considering several other possible causes, including weather. >> when we first got the call, just before that, there was this

violent rainstorm that came in. and it was just as quick as it came in, as request quick as it left. >> reporter: radar from about 10:30 wednesday night shows a severe thunderstorm with 40-mile-per-hour winds in the area. officials are trying to figure out if the storm caused the silverton motor yacht to flip over about three miles from the shore. they're also looking at whether another boat in the water could have created a wake massive enough to topple the boat. another concern, were there enough life jackets? it is a requirement that on a boat, if you have five people on the boat, you need five jackets. so if you have 27 people, there is a requirement that you have 27 life jackets. >> at this point, it appears that there were not enough life jackets on board. we reached out to the man driving the boat that night to ask him specifically about the number of life jackets and overcrowding, but we have not heard back from him. an appeal from the man convicted of murdering his wife and unborn child tops our looks

at stories around the "news nation" today. scott peterson filed an automatic appeal to the california supreme court. a judge sentenced peterson to death for the 2003 killing of his wife, lacy, and their own born child. the attorney says the massive publicity robbed peterson of a fair trial. george zimmerman's lawyer say donors have given nearly $20,000 to his defense fund in less than 24 hours. his lawyers also set up a safe house near the florida jail where zimmerman will stay until they can find a more secure location while he is out on a $1 million bond. coming up, new comments from the lifeguard who was fired and then offered his job back after he helped save a drowning man who was not in his designated zone. also, do you think the beach should stop working with the company that fined the lifeguard? that's going to be our "news nation" gut check. of single mile credit cards. battle speech right? may i? [ horse neighs ] for too long, people have settled for single miles. with the capital one venture card,

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time now for the friday edition of our "news nation" gut check.

yesterday we told you how a company that fired a florida lifeguard responded to the national outrage. the company said the lifeguard could return to work, but the lifeguard said no. nbc's mark potter tells us what drove the lifeguard's decision. >> reporter: 21-year-old tomas lopez says he got an apology and had a cordial talk with the lifeguard company that the fired him earlier this week. but when he was offered his job pack, he decided not to take it. >> i prefer not to work with the company. there's no malice or any -- i'm not upset or anything like that against the company. it's my own personal preference to not work there. >> reporter: lopez was fired for leaving his assigned lifeguard area here after a beach gore told him a man was struggling in the water in an unguarded swim at your own risk area hundreds of feet away. lopez ran to help the man, and said when he got there, other swimmers were pulling the victim out of the water. >> we met about half way in the water, i grabbed from under him,

the other guy grabbed him by the feet and we lifted him out of the water. >> reporter: when lopez was fired, two other lifeguards were also fired after telling managers they would have done the same as lopez. in protest, four more lifeguards, including the supervisor, and lopez's brother, quit. now the company is offering all of them their jobs back, but so far there are no takers. >> i wouldn't want to work for a company that prevents lifeguards to do their real job, which is saving lives. >> reporter: jeff ellis management is the lifeguard company contracted by the city of hallandale beach and the president says after an investigation, he overturned the decision to fire lopez. >> i think he showed a lot of courage in what he did originally and definitely, we would like to have him back to work. i hope he would reconsider again. >> reporter: officials at the city of hallandale beach agree that lopez did exactly what he was supposed to do. >> it has always been the city's policy that if there's an emergency, whether it's in the protected area or outside, that

the lifeguard there would respond to it. >> reporter: and no surprise here, lopez's mother says she is very proud of her son for doing the right thing. >> that was nbc's mark potter reporting there. what does your gut tell you? do you think the city of hallandale beach should stop working with the company that fired those lifeguards? go to facebook.com/newsnation to vote. before we let you get out of here on this friday, we want to update you on a story we've been following on this friday. george zimmerman has posted bond, 10% of that $1 million bond. we'll have the very latest for you coming up on msnbc. that does it for this edition of "news nation." "the cycle" is up next. measure commitment by what's getting done. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons.

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this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. o an intense burning sensation i woke up with this horrible rash on my right side. like somebody had set it on fire. and the doctor said, cindie, you have shingles. he said, you had chickenpox when you were a little girl... i said, yes, i did. i don't think anybody ever thinks they're going to get shingles. but it happened to me. for more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo.com i'm steve kornacki at 3:00 in massachusetts, 1:00 in ohio, and high noon in oregon. here's what's going on on "the cycle" today. the job market, it's stuck in

neutral. what's need to be done to get americans back to work. >> i'm krystal ball, what the numbers mean. >> and i'm toure. how much does it really hurt not to have a job? a new hbo film gives us a personal perspective. >> and i'm s.e. cupp. what a snitch. some police departments are turning snitching into a full-time profession. so what's it cost our country when crime really does pay. >> a body language expert weighs in on how "the cycle" team is interacting at the end of our second week. the show for friday, july 6th, starts right now. all right. well, the gang's all here for it's a jobs report friday, guys. >> you know what else is it? >> what is it? >> tragically overshadowed by the jobs number today, it's national fried chicken day. >> obviously. that goes without saying.

>> we all knew that. >> we've been celebrating all day. >> people say we have s.e. for her conservative perspective, but it's her detailed knowledge of the poultry calendar. >> you have no idea. >> no, i don't. >> all i can say, silly white people. >> well, we'll pick up the chicken talk later, but we're going to start now with those june jobs numbers, and any way sliced, those numbers are not good. in june, only a net gain of 80,000 jobs. for april, may, and june, the numbers hit a two-year low. there are two aspects to this, the economic and the political, and it's hard to separate the two if you subscribe to the notion that the worse the job numbers are, the better off the republicans are and the worse the democrats are. but the spin cycle today went like this. >> that's a step in the right directio