during the primary season. romney says it is a non issue, but ron paul and george will are all calling on romney to release his taxes. does it look like romney has something to hide by being so obstantant? >> he released over the last two years of income tax documents. there is nothing more to look at. >> we are still waiting to 2011. he released one full year. >> he released more than 500 documents. >> he has one big tax return, alice. >> the question is, are people sitting around the breakfast table and talking about this? people are concerned with the president who promised that coming in. case in point, the rnc has reported that he has given $5

million to his cronies. where is the conflict of interest question? where is the paper trail that leads to that money for a company that went belly up? those are taxpayer dollars. people are concerned about that. >> do you feel the big fear is taxpayer dollars have gone to mitt romney over the years and for many years he did not pay taxes? he doesn't want america to see? >> he released the appropriate amount of income tax forms. what people want to know is they want to know why the president is not being transparent. we have a lack of transparency in the nation. payouts of political cronies. he promised transparency. he is not delivering. >> the fix about romney a boil that will continue to grow every day until romney does something to lance it. the editors at the national review were a report saying release the returns. the argument they make is this,

it is president obama's position to draw out the argument over the returns, romney is playing into the president's hands. he should release them and respond to attacks. if we take a look at the last four presidents and how many returns released. barack obama, six years and bill clinton, 11 years and george w. bush nine years. is he playing into the hands? >> yes, he is. on a different reason of transparency. mitt romney is different. he is saying to the american people, vote for me because i'm a successful businessman and i can turn around an economy economy. all we are saying is look at your personal economics. you are talking about what you want to do to the american economy and yet, we're seeing evidence that you moved money overseas. we are seeing evidence that you

had shell corporations in the caymans and bahamas. that is very material to mitt romney's own argument as to why he should be president. that is why it is more than are you being transparent. is mitt romney willing to show is us the money? let's see why he is so qualified based on his declaration that he is a very good businessman. let's see it, mitt. >> let's see what carl had to say on "morning joe" about this. >> to quote a book title, i think romney's taxes are a game changer. it is extraordinary to have someone running for president that won't show his tax returns. he will have to show them. >> washington post abc poll asked about the handling of the campaign and how they are dealing with it. 20% of the republicans have an unfavorable view. independents said unfavorable more than favorable.

could this be what sinks his presidential ambitions? >> i think it is extraordinary that this is a controversy mitt romney's doing. republicans will only go so far about his economic success because it is fundamental to their believes. he has waited until the summer when the news cycle is slower. he has people like us who have nothing more to do than to talk about the campaign other than mitt romney and who he is. we know who barack obama is. he made this issue front and center. it is the only thing he is running on. he is saying as my colleague said, vote for me because of bain. i won't own anything about bain. i wasn't really the ceo. he is shooting at himself. >> alice, the president knows that the path to the white house goes through ohio. mitt romney is there today. with perception being reality,

to ohio voters, blue collar ohio voters that mitt romney needs to relate to with ads out there, how does he not look like the boss to fire you and go to the country club and laugh at you? >> having spent a few months in iowa, i can assure you people are talking about who will turn the economy around. who will create jobs? we are seeing poll after poll that more people trust mitt romney, given his business experience, is the person that can do that. all we see with the tax returns and the obama administration focuses on this, he is trying to distract from his record. this election will be a referendum on the president's record in office. it is not a good one. his policies failed to make it better for the american people. >> we can talk about the president more, but let's talk about mitt romney. if this is a job application we're talking about records. what records do we have about mitt romney?

he doesn't want to own up to whether or not he was ceo at bain until 2002. he said he retired in 1999. he won't put forth his tax documents. the law he passed through was health care, but the law that was passed by president obama is similar. what is he running on? unemployment rate was 4.5%. let's compare that to 8.1% for over 41 months. as we said with bain, he left in 1999. he was not in charge of the day-to-day operations. he has several businesses. let's take staples for example. several businesses that have been successful as a result at bain. he has a record of creating jobs. barack obama has a record of not creating an environment in which business owners can create jobs.

23 million americans out of work. the unemployment rate is over 8% for 41 months. we have housing foreclosures up. we have the average family income is down. this is not a good economy. we're going to continue to spotlight this throughout the summer leading up into november. people will look at what is barack obama to make things better and what kind of record does mitt romney have in you will see people trust mitt romney to turn the economy around. >> david, as we talk about the strategy, the president said on friday to depict him as the right would like him. listen to what the president said in virginia and romney's answer to the president while in pennsylvania. >> if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. there was a great teacher somewhere in your life. somebody helped to create this unbelievable american system that we have that allowed you to

thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you have a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> to say that steve jobs didn't build apple, that henry ford didn't build ford motor, that papa john didn't build papa john pizza, that ray crock did not build mcdonald's, that bill gates did not build microsoft. that joe did not build this enterprise. to say that is not just foolishness, but just wrong to every innovator in america. >> i heard hillary clinton saying it takes a village. the president was trying to take the same ideology here saying we don't get anywhere without each other. it will take other people to propel us forward. who made the better argument

here? now it seems like they are pouncing on the president for trying to talk about it takes all of us in america to move forward. >> look, if i were a speech writer for the president, would i want to phrase that differently? yes, i would have. i think his message has been echoed through the business community for a while. let me give you an example. when i worked in the white house, it was the u.s. pharmaceutical industry that lobbied heavily for research. they did not want to spend that and feel they could not do that as well as government-sponsored research. when wal-mart starts calling for an increase in the minimum wage. are they doing that because they want to pay higher wages? no. the more money the customers have, the more they will spend. the president's point is we all owe a lot to our educators and infrastructure around us. that is not to take away from the achievements of individual even tremendontrepreneur entrepreneurs, but if we invest

wisely in the nation and things we share and infrastructure we share, including education and roads and bridges and telecommunications, everything does better. that is something if you talk to business leaders like greg schmidt or warren buffet, they would agree. >> if you look at the vision these men are trying to cast for the next four years in terms of leadership, i know they are both out battling the words. who is casting the bigger leadership vision right now? >> it is interesting. mitt romney's message is if you love facebook, it is the ceo of facebook you should be opposed to. not facebook itself. americans don't think of business that way. i think a simpler argument for the president is rather than

revering the job creators, the real creators are customers. if you don't have customers, you don't have wal-mart. if nobody is using facebook, facebook won't succeed. the consumer is the job creator. we need a healthy respect for them. i think romney has the tougher argument. as you said, he is the guy representing the boss that fired you. >> joy-ann, alice, thank you. deadly violence in syria striking down bashar al-assad's brother-in-law, the defense minister and a top minister there. and stop bain from taking our jobs. that is what one illinois town is telling mitt romney. stop the outsourcing. you can weigh in on this story or others throughout the

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welcome back. i want to get you up to speed on the breaking developments in syria. bashar al-assad's brother-in-law and a top general. all of the dead were part of an elite group of officials said to put down the bloody uprising. here is defense minister leon panetta on the situation. >> this is a situation that is rapidly spinning out of control. it is important that the

international community working with other countries that have concerns in that area, have to bring maximum pressure on assad. >> joining me now medal of honor recipient is jack jacobs. the elite circle killing is alarming. what is going forward and what is taking place within the boundaries of the country? >> this is really scary, not for us, but clearly for syrians. i think a lot of people who perceived it would eventually be the military establishment in syria would erode by defects and so on are now going to watch a bigger defection. it is bringing fear to the loyal assad. having said that, because a large majority of people who are loyal to him are part of his

sect and christians like dawoud who was killed today. there is big fighting in damascus. it will get uglier before it gets better. >> 17 months of fighting of t. what is it like for the humanitarian efforts? >> i don't think we will have an issue on that. and working with people in the region, panetta was talking about russia who was opposed to the revolution over there and does not want anybody to give any assistance to it. the fact of the matter is, nothing is going to change. i don't think there can be any influence. we have to look at this, at least partially with the muslims on the other. >> thank you. i want to take you back now to politics and the ad campaign taking aim at mitt romney's time

at bain capital. here is a new ad released by the obama campaign today. >> if you are a person in charge of the business, then you should take full responsibility for your actions. >> the obama campaign ads feature real workers outsourced by bain. now the city is getting in on the objection. freeport, illinois is trying to stop a company that was bought by bain to move jobs overseas. we have one of the many employees now backing that resolution. tom, it's great to have you with me. the city council introduced this resolution on monday. the romney spokesperson said the

then governor left bain in 1999. he said he had no knowledge what is going on in freeport. what is your response to that and this issue that is affecting you personally and what it means for you moving forward? >> the way we look at it is mitt romney founded the company, he put in position the board of directors on the company and officers of that company and they are doing what he taught them. for him to then come forward and say, well, we don't have responsibility for it anymore, it's just another example of trying to take credit for what he wants to take credit for and avoid the responsibility for things that don't look good for him. >> you make a valid point. on friday, he gave interviews he doesn't mind talking about companies and he needs to take

responsibility for companies where they are losing our outsourcing positions like yours. >> that is right. it is not like this is a situation where they are not making money. they are just doing this to make more money. the chinese government had given them a subsidy to build a new a facili facility. they are limiting our jobs just to make another dollar for their bank accounts. >> two republican lawmakers in illinois wrote tom roe asking him to keep the jobs there. this was the response. i assure you we strive to balance our duty with the corporate citizens. closing the facility is the right thing to add value to the shareholders and customers. what is your reaction to that statement? >> well, again, it just comes back to they are just trying to

make another dollar. and whatever it takes to do, that's what they want to do. if it means taking 170 jobs and shipping them over to china -- you know, we want people to understand that we're not sitting there snapping together parts. these are high-tech jobs that are very well paying jobs. you know, they move them over there and they go, well, you know, it's just business. well, it's not just business. it's our livelihoods and our american dream is going up in smoke so that these guys can make another dollar. that's our main problem with this is we understand that businesses need to make money. we have no problem with businesses making money. but the businesses also have to have responsibility to the people in the communities in which they are in.

these are hard working people and what you get for in exchange for years and years and years of service to these companies is, oh, by the way, not only are we moving your jobs to china, but oh, we changed the severance package so now you are getting less than originally would have gotten. for us, for many people in our community, it is a serious problem because you are not only eliminating the income that these people would bring in to the community, but they are not paying taxes on that money anymore. we will use tax dollars for things like unemployment compensation and other things that the social safety net will help provide for us. >> tom gallraupp, thank you so much. we will continue to watch this and the resolution and going forward. thank you, sir. no gays allowed.

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it's our most innovative altima ever. ♪ so it's a big day for mitt romney's potential running mates. new jersey governor chris christie will talk to three crowds today with former governor tim pawlenty. bobby jindal and jeb bush campaigning in ohio. yesterday, romney said no decisions have been made yet. >> i cannot give you the names or the timing of the decision. that will be when the decision is made. it has not been made yet. >> meanwhile, we are looking at the young guns. kelly ayotte and then bobby jindal and senator marco rubio. we have michael with me from

"the new york times." you wrote a piece about the vetting process. >> they are layered in secrecy. we have been able to get inside the process. it begins with a phone call from mitt romney. an introductory call of we're considering you and then from the top aide beth meyers. then a lawyer gets involved. quite intrusive questions like have you ever been unfaithful to your spouse? lawyers have been to face-to-face meetings. back at the romney headquarters, they are poring over documents, but every available tv clip to see things as narrow as how do you handle a heckler? is your voice grading or enticing? >> there is a lot in the media age that behooves them to be

honest. then tim pawlenty was asked yesterday if he heard about the romney rumors. take a listen. >> have you gotten the call? >> which call is that, andrea? >> well, the call from boston or from new hampshire or from governor romney? >> well, i'm in contact with governor romney from time to time. this week, i'm focused on yard work and business things. the process will unfold in due course. >> he is playing his cards close to the vest here like most people do when asked that question. beth meyers you brought up. how much about vetting that they want to invest in doing this and we'll be ready to reveal prior to the convention? >> that is a question that only they can answer. those that we talked to seem to think there is a real upside to get this out early. one man can cover a swing state

a day. you have two, you can do two. the big thing they hold this close to the convention, they are waiting for financing. that is not a constraint. there is a time to do this ahead of the convention. >> you are right. two is better than one. michael barbero, thank you. former governor john sununu apologizing for taking the campaign off message. joining me now is ron reagan. ron, it is great to have you here. sununu created this buzz yesterday when he made the comment about the president. i want to remind you what he had to say. he clarified later on. take a listen. >> the president clearly demonstrated that he has absolutely no idea how the american economy functions. the men and women all over america who have worked hard to build these businesses, their

businesses from the ground up, is how our economy became the envy of the world. it is the american way and i wish this president would learn how to be an american. >> i probably was a little bit too harsh there. that's not the best choice of words. you know, sometimes you say something and you wish you could pull it back. the message is clear. this president doesn't understand the american free enterprise system. >> playing clean up there. rush limbaugh took credit for the statements after he said earlier in the week that the president hates america. should americans condemn this language that continues to question the president's americanness? basically the dog whistle to birthers? >> it is the dog whistle to birthers. sununu's comments were based on a lie that the president things the small businesses owners are

not responsible for their own success. the point he was making was being misquoted. none of us are in this alone. we rely on other people to build roads and create infrastructure to allow small and large businesses to grow. sununu's comments is part of the under lying theme for the republicans, which is part of the republican brand now, which is to ascribe to every opponent, particularly barack obama. it is once again saying this guy isn't a real american. the problem with that for the republicans is that it really turns off the 6% or some of undecided voters who are somewhere in the middle to see who they will go to. they don't like that talk. it's ugly and stupid. >> ron, i want to get your take and i'm sure you heard about this. former president george w. bush saying yesterday in a

full-throated endorsement that he supports mitt romney. he was doing so while he was promoting his new book. take a listen. >> pretty unattractive metaphor. i said i crawled out of the swamp and i'm not crawling back in. you know, i'm interested in politics. i'm a supporter of mitt romney. i hope he does well. but he can do well would you tell me. >> so when he compares crawling out of the swamp. it is not a pretty metaphor. does he need bush's endorsement or you don't need friends like this? >> george w. bush continues to be a problem for the republican party because he reminds people every time he shows up that it was that bad in the white house. we had a couple of ill advised unfunded wars, we wrecked the

economy. awesome. we really want to go as george w. bush said. awesome. we really want to go back to that? i don't think mitt romney wants to remind people that is the policy he is promoting. >> ron, nice to see you. thanks for your time. >> thomas, good to be here. straight ahead, if you loved your iced coffee on a hot summer day, you should drink it up. it is very good for you. it can help you prevent cancer. plus, girl power. why women seem to be donating this year -- or dominating this year at the london olympics. what do you think about the team usa's chances this year? let's talk about the athletes. tweet me @thomasaroberts. ile a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain

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effect this month. they call for cafeterias to serve more fruits and vegetables. why not start now? some of the snacks have health benefits. we want to bring in briarlee wright. i know a lot of people in the summertime are more body conscious because we are on the beaches or running with the kids. let's talk about the super healthy summer foods and start with iced coffee. people are excited about this. >> iced coffee is a way to start your day. it is how i started mine this morning. the good news about iced coffee is it can help your skin against skin cancer. drinking a single cup a day can help against melanoma. drinking more up to about six cups per day, was shown to be effective. >> not too much caffeine? >> no. the thing is the caffeine was part of the profession.

decaf did not offer the same benefits. >> let's talk about corn and watermelon. >> corn is a great summer staple. it can help protect your eyes. two anti-oxidants in there. it helps shield your eyes from the uv rays. they can lower your risk of macular degeneration. it is the leading cause of blindness in people over 60. >> let's talk about watermelon. picnics and barbecues. it is good for you. >> it is 92% water. the thing about it is it is a great way to essentially eat your water opposed to having to drink so much if you want to stay hiydratehydrated. >> you are five and a half weeks away from delivering? >> yes. >> take her advice. she is drinking iced coffee in

the morning. >> i'm eating corn and drinking iced coffee. >> thank for coming in. you can check out "eating well" magazine for the tips. the boy scouts ban on open by gay members and leaders is going to stand. this is a disappointing blow to the lgbt for equality. the declaration comes among the stepped up campaign for people to have the ban abolished after the ouster of ohio den mom jennifer tyrell. she is a mom of four and an out lesbian. we have zack wells. he is the author of "my two moms." he was working to have the ban thrown out. i want to get straight to the release from the scouts and statement about the decision that the vast majority of

parents of youth that we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex issues within their family is the right setting. we fuel i appreciate the full policy will cover the diverse views of membership and policy. what's your reaction? >> it is an interesting statement by the group. if they claim to have a majority support among members, they certainly would not have chosen to go through an 11-member secret committee that nobody knew about while it was actually meeting. the idea or suggestion that somehow this is the best way for a group of more than 3 million members to reach such an important conclusion is silly in a word. the fact is this left us with no transparency and no accountability and no responsibility. we don't know who these people are. it really is not a good way to run an organization.

>> zach, is this a dead issue now? how was this helpful to what you are trying to accomplish? what does it mean to the larger cause? >> it doesn't. i launched a petition. they came to the conclusion and encouraging them to let the executive committee vote. the reason this announcement seems to be cropping up the way it is because on monday, the ceo of at&t, the vice president of the boy scouts of america board announced the policy. this was forwarded because mr. stevenson will be the president of the board in 2014. you will have three of the most powerful men of the organization opposing the legislation on the record. this is not something many people saw coming. i don't think it is the end of the road at all.

>> the eagle scout author zach w wahls. >> thank you, thomas. radio talk show host rush limbaugh suggests that "the dark knight rises" and the villain bain is the reference to mitt romney. >> do you think that it is accidental that the name of the vicious fire breathing four-eyed villain in the movie is named bain? >> for the record, the bain character was not created for the movie. he was created in 1993 before mitt romney was governor. and if you wonder where bain capital got its name from, it was founded by two other partners. the "tonight show" features

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now we have the confirmation. christie, you will recall, endorsed mitt romney back in october. speaking of what we are days away from now, just nine days to go until the opening ceremonies at the olympics and thousands of athletes are now landing in london for the 2012 games. that includes many members of team usa. a record number of which are women. that's a historic first for america. the fields in which these women excel are expected to be among the most watched. not to imply that girls rule, boys drool, but the ladies outnumber the guys 269-261? >> first time that ever happened that women outnumbered men on a u.s. olympic team. the main reason it happened is because the u.s. men's soccer team did not qualify for the olympics. the women did. that sort of swung the numbers. the fact of the matter is this is a huge story and frankly, it really is a validation of what happened in this country since title nine was passed in the 1970s. you have seen female

participation increasing in sports for decades now and i think this is really another seminal moment for women's sports in america. >> the williams sisters going to be playing tennis. who are other females to watch? >> there are a lot. if you look at swimming and missy franklin, she's the first woman ever to qualify for seven different events at the olympics. she won't be michael phelps. she probably won't win all seven but she will certainly take home multiple golds. then we expect a very strong performance from both the women's soccer team and the women's basketball team. >> okay. when we talk about the women's basketball team, explain who we should be watching there and the president has a certain interest in them. >> he does. the president actually met them recently at their exhibition against brazil in which they won easily. you talk about the dream team on the men's side. the women have been more of a dream team over the last few years. they have won every single gold medal since 1992. they have been dominant and they expect to be dominant again this year. they have a roster stacked with alums of the university of

connecticut, university of tennessee, dominant college programs. mvp and rookie of the year of the wnba both will be on that team. not expecting them to have much of a tough matchup in the olympics. >> any guestimations about how many golds we will come home with? >> we will be in the top two, no question about that. china, the u.s. and great britain as the host country, all expected to do very well. i think you will see the u.s. right there at the top of the medal standings as we usually are. >> thanks, sir. good to see you. log on to nbcolympics.com for more as well as all the best live olympic games coverage right here on msnbc and the networks of nbc universal. that's going to do it for me this hour. see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. don't go anywhere. "now" with alex wagner is coming up next. she's our gold medalist of noon politics. >> i love that. girls rule, boys drool. >> it's an age-old adage. >> an old chestnut. we'll see if we canisshelter, a

romney deems the continued calls for his tax returns a nonissue. a growing list from his own party says just the opposite, with friends like these. plus, a caped conspiracy connecting romney to the latest "batman" film. and george w. bush's axis of awesome. the former president reminisces in a new interview former vice president dick cheney needs old iends on the hill. that's all coming up when "now" starts in 180 seconds. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, then there was a moment. when i decided to find way to keep going. go for olympic gol tand go to llege too.nt. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education

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this is "now." joining me today, msnbc political analyst and georgetown university professor, michael eric dyson. rona throohar of "time" magazine and "new york times" magazine editor, mr. sunday morning himself, hugo lindgren. what do these people have in common? congressman ron paul, former mississippi governor haley barbour, senator olympia snow, bill kristol and george will, the editorial board of the national review and governor rick perry? aside from all being republicans, this is one thing. >> i'm a big believer that no matter who you are or what

office you're running for, you should be as transparent as you can be with your tax returns. >> but not all republicans believe governor romney should release his tax returns, especially vp possibilities like tim pawlenty and rob portman. senator john mccain, a romney surrogate, also doesn't think the public needs to see the tax returns, saying i can personally vouch for the fact that there was nothing in his tax returns that would in any way be disqualifying for him to be a candidate. bells and whistles, david, that's what this show is about. but really, we are starting to see some rank breaking, if you will, among conservatives calling for romney to release his tax returns. how long can this go on? >> until election day. because the metaphor i've been using, imperfect, i'll grant you, is romney has a choice between a slow bleeding wound and opening up his chest cavity. if those are your two