senate runs. as for theresa hines, romney isn't the wealthy spouse of a candidate but the candidate himself. in 2008, john mccain released two years of returns but he had been filling out financial disclosure forms for decades. every year as a senator. so we're talking about, you know, the national review, a conservative magazine, just piercingly tearing through the romney campaign point by point defense of them not releasing more tax returns. they also said in all likelihood he won't be able to maintain a position that looks secretive and is a departure from campaign conventions. the only question is whether he releases more returns now or later. chris, will it be now, later or never? >> i think they're right. it just seems to me this is setting up romney for a death by a thousand political cuts which is every day, we talk about tax returns. why hasn't he released them, what's in them, what's keeping him from releasing them. i just think i agree with the national review here. i just think that the current position he has is untenable

politically. legally, he's fine. we know mitt romney didn't break any laws. we know all those things. but what we don't know is how much tax he did pay and until he releases more. now, depends on how you define more. i don't think he's going to release 20 years' worth but something that provides a fuller picture of his financial background. the obama team at least is not going to let this go away and i would say the most republicans i talked to, here's what they say. look, this is an election still about the economy. we need to get back to talking about the economy and what they believe to be barack obama's poor performance in making the economy better. the longer we spend talking about how much tax mitt romney paid, when he paid it, how wealthy he is, the cayman islands, swiss bank accounts, all this stuff gets them away from talking about what they want to talk about which is why i think he needs to lance the boil politically sooner than later. >> we do know one thing. thanks to nbc's jammie gangel, chris christie will be the keynoter. what does that tell you about

the romney campaign other than that chris christie will not be the running mate? >> the first thing it tells us is that chris christie isn't going to be the running mate. look, i think what it tells us is they understand that chris christie is a powerful force within this party. he is someone who kind of has the charisma, the zeal that mitt romney to be frank lacks. i think they want to elevate chris christie. one other thing about chris christie i think gets lost in this, he is the speak truth to power guy, the i'm going to tell it how it is. he is also a governor elected in 2009 in a blue state. let's not lose sight of that, either, the messaging it sends that republicans can and do win in states that tend to go to democrats on the presidential level. assuming that jamie's reporting is right, i have no reason to believe it isn't -- >> jamie's reporting is always dead on. take it from me. >> i believe that christie is an intriguing and probably a great pick. i think he's going to draw a huge amount of attention and he will use this, christie will use

this i think to launch himself even higher in kind of the national stratosphere politically. >> in 2016. we know what happened to past keynoters. remember that little known senator from illinois who was the keynoter in 2004. >> guy named barack obama. that's right. >> one quick footnote. ann romney told robin roberts in a pretape for "gma" that mitt romney as of this morning at least had not yet decided who will be the running mate. thanks so much, chris. see you later. is it july or october? for more on the presidential race and all the mudslinging, i'm joined by former new mexico governor bill richardson, the surrogate for the obama campaign. governor, great to see you. you've seen a lot of campaigns but this one does have the feel of a campaign that has gotten dirty really fast. let me show you a little bit of a new ad from the obama camp which of all things goes after dressage. ann romney's horse that's competing in the olympics. let's play a little of that.

doesn't it seem that this is a little below the belt? >> this is the dirtiest campaign i have ever seen. i've seen a lot of them. i think what we're talking about is that ad focused on the tax returns. that ad focuses on the controversies relating to bain capital. so i think it's appropriate. >> but they took a sideswipe at the wife, the wife who first started learning horseback as a therapy for her multiple sclerosis. dancing horses is not exactly field hockey, not something most americans are used to so it seems a little elitist, perhaps. >> i heard criticism of the president yesterday that he was un-american. i think mrs. romney is a very dignified person and families in campaigns like this probably you keep it out and so at the same time, though, this is a campaign

where i think governor romney is just creating a lot of his own problems. just release your tax returns. tell us about the issue of the s.e.c., when you left bain capital. i think there's no felony there but obviously, there's somebody made a mistake. at least admit a mistake and stop saying the reason you're not going to release your tax returns is because you're going to get picked apart. well, this is a presidential campaign. there's going to be criticism. there are going to be negative ads. the american people want to know where he made his money. they want to know where this wealth was created and so that's a legitimate issue. >> i talked to tim pawlenty, who is on the short list according to everybody's reporting, ours included, on the short list for the vice presidency and asked him about the tax returns yesterday. this is what he had to say. >> do you think that two years is enough, so far only one year, but to promise to provide two years is enough? it's not what governor romney's father laid out when he did a dozen years, and he was running

back in 1968, and it's become such a big issue. even haley barbour, george will, bill kristol, leading republicans say just do it, already, put the taxes out there, take this issue off the table. >> well, mitt romney has released as you noted two years' worth of tax returns and that's basically been the standard for republican nominees for president. >> that's a very low end. >> there's no allegation or insinuation of wrongdoing or any time that he's been in trouble or accused of wrongdoing. why would mitt romney be held to a different standard than almost every other republican nominee for president? >> well, my answer is that i think senator mccain released substantially more than two years. >> he did two years when he was running but he had done the annual disclosures to the senate. >> which i don't think governor romney has done. so he's creating his own problem. that's the issue. so what the american people, you know, they hear about funds in switzerland and the cayman

islands that he only paid 15% capital gains when others in his income bracket are paying 35% and 40%. so i think there's a legitimate issue about disclosure, transparency. he's just creating his own problems and those other republicans are right saying just national review just release them. >> jeb bush, one of his surrogates, the former governor of florida, was in ohio today making their points against the president on the economy. let's watch. >> he said in virginia, if you've got a business you didn't build that, somebody else made it happen. now, that was kind of like saying that the private sector's doing pretty good, it's the economy that's doing bad. these are insights into the thinking of a man who has had no practical experience in creating jobs, who has a belief that government owns the resources really of the country. >> governor, was the president off message on friday when he made those comments about business, because the republicans are making as you

know, quite a lot out of this. >> no. he wasn't off message. he was on message. what the president was saying is that the private sector is the engine of growth and the government in some cases, for instance, in the funding, the government research of the internet, highways, infrastructure, technology, a strong educational system, clean energy is what a strong economy needs, that the government plays a role as a catalyst. that's what he was saying. he wasn't saying that government creates jobs. he was saying that government should be a partner in creating jobs. now they're so desperate to take the discussion away from bain capital and the tax returns that they're resorting to i think a nonissue totally. >> governor bill richardson, good to see you. thank you very much. as the drum beat grows louder, will romney change his mind and release more tax returns? up next, romney press secretary

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the calls for mitt romney to release more of his tax returns are coming increasingly from what should be friendlier territory such as the editors of the national review and fellow republicans. joining me now, andrea saul, romney campaign press secretary. good to see you. thanks so much for being with us. want to ask you about the national review which basically said release the returns, that he's a politician running for the highest office in the land. his current posture is probably unsustainable, in all likelihood he won't be able to maintain a position that looks secretive and is a departure from campaign conventions. the only question is whether he releases more returns now or

later. >> governor romney has gone above and beyond what's required of him. he's voluntarily released over 500 pages of tax return information and will release his 2011 returns as soon as they're ready. the real question here is why are we talking about this. we are because the obama campaign would rather talk about anything besides president obama's economic record. >> with all due respect, it's republicans now, barbour, will, kristol, the national review. it's republicans who are raising this point, rick perry most recently. let me play a little bit of that. >> 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 and other aspects of your life. >> as the national review pointed out, what governor romney has done so far is not the standard. the standard is minimum of two and in john mccain's case, he

had been doing yearly disclosures to the center, financial disclosures, and george romney in 1968 said that anything less than a dozen years could be a fluke. so why not get this issue off the table? >> like you said, senator mccain released two years of tax returns and governor romney has released public financial disclosure forms as well when he was -- five years when he was governor of massachusetts and also when he's been running for president. so there's more information out there beyond the over 500 pages of tax return information he's already released, and the more that he's going to release when his 2011 taxes are done. at the end of the day, american voters are asking where are the jobs. that's the question on voters' minds. as we saw with what president obama said on friday, he thinks that government's responsible for creating businesses which is just insulting to all the entrepreneurs in this country. so it's no wonder that he doesn't care to raise taxes on these job creators considering he thinks government's responsible for everything.

what governor romney is going to do is make sure that entrepreneurs and job creators have the government on their side and not just trying to tax them more, burden them more and take credit for what they're doing. >> i wanted to ask you about former governor john sununu. this was an interview he did on fox yesterday. i think even before that conference call where he questioned whether or not the president understands what it is to be an american. this was sununu, who took this particular shot at president obama. >> he has no idea how the american system functions and we shouldn't be surprised about that, because he spent his early years in hawaii smoking something, spent the next set of years in indonesia, another set of years in indonesia. >> do you agree that that was an appropriate comment? >> well, i think governor sununu is his own man but as far as the

campaign's concerned, with president obama's comments on friday, it's true that president obama doesn't understand the free enterprise system in this country. >> governor sununu was a surrogate speaking for the campaign so in this instance, yesterday he was not his own man. >> he clarified that he was talking about how president obama is not a supporter of the free enterprise system in this country. and that's what he said. he said that you didn't build this business. somebody else did. he thinks someone else is responsible, bill gates is not responsible for microsoft. steve jobs is not responsible for apple. the local restaurant owner here in town is not responsible, the government's responsible? that's just insulting and preposterous. >> does the campaign think that nothing is off limits, including what president obama has acknowledged was his youthful use of marijuana, he wrote about it in his book so he never kept it a secret. >> we stay focused on jobs and the economy. you've watched this campaign. we're always talking about jobs

and the economy and what governor romney will do to help the middle class. so we think that's the most important issue to voters. voters certainly think it's the most important issue. that's what we're going to stay focused on because this country's in real trouble. we're at a financial crisis. we need someone who has actually hired people, made a payroll, understands why jobs come and go and that person's mitt romney. >> one other thing. jamie gangel has confirmed for us today at nbc news that chris christie will be the keynoter in tampa. is there anything wrong about that? >> we haven't announced any speakers yet. you have to stay tuned. >> what would chris christie bring to the podium as the keynoter? >> when we announce our speakers, you will see we have a great lineup and you know, everyone's excited about the convention in tampa. i think it will be a great week. >> mrs. romney told "gma" in a pretape that the governor has not yet decided on the vice president. is that the state of play? he has not yet decided at this

hour? >> i'm not going to get into vp but i will let what mrs. romney said stand and once a decision's made, i'm sure everyone will know about it. >> thanks so much. good to see you. up next, syria spinning out of control. is this the beginning of the end for assad's regime?

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battles and massive explosions have led to major losses for the assad regime in damascus. top officials including the brother-in-law of president al assad and three defense officials are among the dead. leon panetta discussed the situation this morning with his british counterpart. >> this is a situation that is rapidly spinning out of control. for that reason, it's extremely important that the international community working with other countries that have concerns in that area have to bring maximum pressure on assad.

>> amon, this is such a major change not only in damascus but the national security building in damascus, three defense officials including the brother-in-law. what is your impression from talking to people in syria? >> reporter: well, there's no doubt it is being described as a defining moment in the conflict with president bashar al assad psychologically and tactically. tactically you killed the minister of defense and his deputy, disrupted the command and control structure of the military which has really been the spear of the operations against protesters and countermeasures throughout the country and already as an effect of that, we saw the high number or a spike in the number of defections today alone. psychologically, what it's created is a sense of anxiety and fear within the regime that even if the minister of defense and inner security circle isn't safe, how could the president and others close to him be safe. that creates a sense of mistrust

among others. many people are calling it not necessarily the end but at least the beginning of the end for the regime of president al assad. he himself has not been heard from or seen in a couple weeks. that's only raising speculation as to what is going to happen in coming days. >> at this stage, do the rebels and those whom you're communicating with feel they have a new military advantage? do we have any idea who is taking responsibility for this attack? >> reporter: we do. the free syrian army confirmed to nbc news that they were responsible for the attack. they did not give out details as to how they carried out this attack. there was some speculation early on that it may have been a suicide but then there was some evidence to suggest that perhaps it was a bomb that was planted in the room where this meeting was taking place and remotely detonated. there is no doubt that it has had an immediate impact on the ground. shortly after the explosion, the army and other rebels went into

the suburbs in damascus. live pictures broadcast from these areas showed the free syrian army carrying out attacks. they were celebrating and it was a clear sign for them the tide had begun to shift at least in some of the suburbs. >> nicholas burns, professor of the practice of diplomacy and international politics at harvard and former ambassador to nato, of course, joins me now. good to see you. let's talk about this. is this a tipping point? >> the fact that we had this extraordinary attack today on the defense minister and the closest associates of assad, the defections last week of senior officials, the fact that the russians appear to be backing away from full support as they have ended new arms sales to syria and the rebel army has gone on the offensive, it does seem president assad has lost all initiative. he's much weaker, more isolated. he's certainly on the ropes. >> at the same time, we've got a stalemate. the u.n. security council has

postponed a scheduled meeting until tomorrow at the earliest. kofi annan doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. vladimir putin met with turkey today, and indicated no change in the russian position. >> you are're right to point to president putin as a key figure here. russia now has the capacity, if you will, to be one of the countries that leads the international community out of this crisis. if russia would agree to put maximum political pressure on the assad regime for a cease-fire, for a political -- that is one possible route out that annan has been trying to work on. russia has now twice used its veto power with china to stop the u.n. security council. there's a very important vote expected tomorrow or friday at the u.n. it will be interesting to see if russia shifts gears and shifts strategy and i think u.s. diplomacy obviously will be focused on trying to push the

russians to a better and more productive position. >> up until now, that hasn't worked. lindsey graham is among the critics in the senate. he issued another statement today saying that it is imperative in light of the most recent wave of violence in syria that the united states begin to lead the international community to resolve the conflict. we need to form a coalition to help arm the rebels as well as create no-fly and no-drive zones to stop the slaughter by the assad regime. the obama administration, graham says, and the world at large is fiddling while syria burns. i hope we don't end up regretting our inaction. is that fair? would a no-fly zone help? should we be arming the rebels? >> i think the obama administration has two basic options now. the preferred option is what they're doing and they're right to do this, trying to convince the russians to shift their own strategy and to support a united security council stance because if that happens, russia and

china will no longer be his unstinting supporters, then there's a path out of power for assad and maybe the end of this conflict. it becomes clear, andrea, russia and china are not willing to move forward, then i think obviously the administration will have to consider some of the ideas that senator graham and others have put forward. >> switching topics for a moment to someone you know very well from your days at the nsc and the state department, condoleezza rice. what do you think of even the suggestion that condi rice to make a good vice president and do you think that she's under consideration? >> well, all i can tell you is that i have enormous admiration for condoleezza rice. i have worked with her very closely and she's a friend. she is a very gifted, talented, smart and dynamic person. but i just have no indication whatsoever about what is going to happen with that story, obviously.

>> nick burns, stay tuned. thank you very much. thanks for joining us today. coming up next, agriculture secretary tom vilsack on the drought, the disaster that is reaching far beyond the corn fields. time indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but we had each other and he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. always there for you.

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the most widespread drought in 50 years has now scorched midwest farms, destroying millions of ache res of corn, paving the way for billions of dollars in economic disaster. triple digit temperatures out west, right here as well, and no significant rain in the forecast. in the past six weeks, drought conditions have spread to more than 60% of the country. as the drought spreads and crops die, economists say the american public will ultimately pay a price. kevin tibbles is in chicago. any relief in sight for farmers? >> well, there is some sporadic rain today throughout parts of the midwest. there has been rain here in illinois and also in iowa, which is where i spent yesterday, but you know, they need a lot of rain and they need a lot of rain right now, and it just doesn't seem to be coming, and nothing

seems to be abating the heat that has enveloped not only the midwest and bread basket of this country, but the majority of this country. >> in your story last night on "nightly news" i was watching that the illinois officials said it was the greatest planting in decades, they planted more corn than before and now they are facing a real disaster in terms of it being burned in the ground. let's talk about corn and soy beans and the impact as it feeds through the economy as a whole, because corn products are in almost everything. >> corn is in everything and you know the american farmer, i had someone say to me yesterday in iowa the american farmer likes to think of him or herself as feeding the world, and this year they're going to come up short. that really weighs heavily on them. farmers are interesting people. they are different than a lot of us. they get there every spring and they plant their crops and they are filled with optimism, they think they are going to be bringing in this year, they

planted more corn than they have in the last 75 years, and now many of them are looking to the heavens wondering where the rain is, and as we were hearing some yields are going to be down as much as 70%, 80%. in illinois, they are even talking about some people not even being able to bring in a crop. the follow-on, the domino effect of that, as you just mentioned, is that corn is in everything. we had a trader say to us that corn, next to water, corn is perhaps the most vital thing that we have in our lives. corn is in everything from the soda pop that we drink to the beer that we sometimes drink to tires, to crayons to makeup. corn is in everything. if the price of corn spikes and it has, corn prices are at their highest level in over a year, as a result of this, you just go down the food chain, so to speak, and the price of everything else is going to spike, too. we're even having people talking

to us about perhaps starting to ration corn, ration feed corn to the cattle. that means that cattlemen are going to have to sell off their herds. the price of everything could very well be affected by this, if they don't get rain and don't get rain fast. >> have to pray to the weather gods. thank you so much. devastation in the midwest and in large parts of the country now we know, 36 counties have been declared disaster zones. we will be talking to the agriculture secretary, tom vilsack, in a moment. thanks so much for joining us. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more?

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it is 39 now, i see, and that is just adding to the devastation. tell us what is the latest information you and the president had a crisis meeting today. >> thanks very much for giving us this opportunity. first and foremost, our hearts obviously go out to all those producers who are suffering through a very difficult circumstance. this is the worst drought that we've seen probably in the last 25 years. 61% of the land mass of the united states has been impacted and affected by this drought and it obviously is having a significant impact on crop production as well as on the livestock producers in this country. we will step up and do everything we possibly can to help these folks. we have already taken some measures, reduced interest rates on the emergency loan, provided emergency grazing opportunities on the conservation reserve program land, but there obviously is a lot of concern and we are watching this very closely. >> is there anything that can be done if the weather doesn't change, short of rain? is there any way to save these crops? >> well, first of all, it's

unfortunate that most of the producers, particularly the corn and soy bean producers, are involved in the crop insurance program so they will have covered some of the risk and some of the losses that they may incur. secondly, drought's kind of a funny thing, it's spotty. there are some producers that probably will have pretty good yields and some who will have very, very poor yields. at this point in time we're estimating on average about 145 bushels per acre for corn, a little over 43 bushel per acre for soy beans. the reality is those numbers can change day to day, week to week, depending on if, when and how much it rains. what we're obviously concerned about is making sure that we can provide help and assistance in the long term for these producers. that's going to require some work with congress to either revive the disaster programs that expired last year, give us greater flexibility at usda with the commodity credit corporation to provide help and assistance, or the passage of what i like to refer to as the food, farm and jobs bill which currently has

passed through the house ag committee and is pending action on the house floor. >> at the same time, there are budget implications. nothing is easy in congress right now. i don't have to tell you that. just to get agreement on something is going to be tough. there are also budget implications. there are some in the house, particularly the republican side, who are going to say how we going to pay for this. >> well, that's obviously a concern. but at the same time, there are literally thousands of farm families who will need this help and assistance particularly our livestock producers. these are folks who really don't have a crop insurance program or something equivalent to that. in the last several years, they've had the advantage of a disaster assistance program between livestock and crop producers, we helped over 400,000 producers with nearly $4 billion of assistance. so hopefully, we can work together. hopefully we can understand this is a dire situation for many producers across the country in many states, as you indicated, and that congress will see to it that this is something where we can reach bipartisan agreement on. >> what is the economic impact?

you and the folks at the white house must be modeling this in terms of if the crop is as bad as it is projected now to be, if prices go up and if the income of farmers drops off, you're going to see a lot of economic impact and you're dealing with an economy that is already not in good shape. >> we really won't know the economic impact until the harvest takes place, because it's conceivable that with a little bit of rain, we can provide fairly decent crop for many, many producers. right now, as i indicated, the crop if it came in at 145 bushels per acre would be the third largest corn crop in history. some folks are suggesting those numbers are a bit high given the last week or so of weather, that may very well be the case. in terms of the impact on food prices, interestingly enough, as livestock producers weigh their options, they may consider reducing their herds at this point in time. if they do that, it's possible consumers may see a slight dip

in food costs for poultry, pork, beef, potentially dairy, but in the long term, they are liable to see some additional increases. having said that, it's important to note that farmers only get 14 cents of every food dollar that goes to a grocery store. even if commodity prices increase significantly, even if livestock prices increase significantly, it doesn't necessarily translate into a large increase at the grocery store. we're estimating that food inflation will be somewhere between 2.5% to 3.5%. that may very well be adjusted. but still not as large as some might think. >> agriculture secretary tom vilsack, thank you very much for the briefing on what is a disastrous situation for many of our nation's farmers. thank you. there was a striking scene on the senate floor today. senator john mccain came to the defense of secretary hillary clinton's senior aide, a muslim american who is being accused of all sorts of crazy things, influencing u.s. foreign policy at the state department, in favor of the muslim brotherhood

and other islamist causes. >> on june 13th, five members of congress wrote to the deputy inspector general of the department of state demanding that he begin an investigation into the possibility that huma and other officials are using their influence to promote the cause of muslim brotherhood within the u.s. government. these allegations and the report from which they are drawn are nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated american and a loyal public servant. >> joining me now for our politico briefing, this was pretty amazing. first of all, the attack on someone like that who has worked in the white house, in the senate, at hillary clinton's side, obviously trying to take a shot at her. she is married to anthony

weiner. >> right. we should point out for the segment that who he is talking about are five republican members of the house of representatives led by michelle bachmann that had been demanding this investigation, not just of huma but other folks inside the white house they say are way too closely tied to the muslim brotherhood. if you peel back the onion on that story, a lot of their accusations seem very, very, very, very tenuous. they use all these different if this happened, that happened, that contact happened here, potentially there was some kind of coordination. so the backlash is not surprising. the surprising part is that it comes from john mccain on the senate floor against fellow republicans in defense of hillary clinton. >> well, we don't often jump out of our roles here but i have known this woman for years and years and years and there is no more loyal american and harder worker in the state department and at hillary clinton's side in all parts of the world. >> it's just a heck of an accusation to make. you don't know why these five

members decided to do it and i think it comes in this week where there is all kinds of nuttiness happening in town from everyone, the presidential candidates, the president himself, all these candidates are trading these crazy sort of barbs back and forth that have almost nothing to do with the economy, almost nothing to do with all the different things that government has to grapple with now and in the next four years. >> how do you say joe mccarthy. let's talk about the vice presidential race. we at least know that is going to happen at some point in the next little over a month, maybe sooner, maybe later. what is your reporting indicating? we know that chris christie, thanks to jamie gangel's reporting, will be the keynoter. he's not in the mix. we didn't think he would be in the mix for vice president. that did not make sense. tim pawlenty was on our show yesterday. here's a little bit of that. >> have you gotten the call? >> which call is that, andrea? >> well, the call from boston or

new hampshire or from governor romney. >> well, i am in contact with governor romney from time to time but this week i'm focused on some yard work and some business things, but look, the process will unfold in due course. >> who do you think is on the short list from your reporting? >> i think the short list is the same one we have been talking about for the last month and a half and it very much includes tim pawlenty, rob portman, maybe bobby jindal, i don't think so. maybe it includes paul ryan. i don't think it extends much beyond that. now, there's always surprises in these processes but there's a few things you know about mitt romney. he rarely takes a risk. he loves people that he's comfortable with. he knows that all he can do is harm by having a bad pick, sarah palin type pick like mccain had last time around, so that really limits the field of people who fit that category. pawlenty undoubtedly fits that. portman undoubtedly fits that. so this idea that condi rice or

somebody who might have more appeal, might add new dimensions to the republican party, might get the pick, i'm really skeptical of that. because it just doesn't fit with the romney approach and also what we've heard from his advisors on what he wants to accomplish with the vice presidential pick. >> jim vandehei, thank you very much. a friendly encounter with a friendly lion but the parents visiting one boston zoo were glad their kids couldn't get too close. these children made the lion's den one of their last stops and the king of the jungle was more than happy to say hello. the lion excited to see the visitors, wanted to play along with his new friends but fortunately the glass kept things from getting a little too scary. [ male announcer ] what if you had thermal night-vision goggles,

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this update from the white house, jay carney has confirmed that president obama did talk to vladimir putin about syria today and he does brief the call was initiated by the white house. putin and russia blocking any

action on syria. pri political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? chris cillizza is back with us. we can talk about where they're going because romney is going to be in ohio. tomorrow the president starts a two-day tour in florida. george w. bush talking about the politics, the mudslinging and how he feels now. this was at the hoover institution at stanford. >> pretty unattractive metaphor. i said i crawled out of the swamp and i'm not crawling back in. and you know, i'm interested in politics. i'm, you know, i'm a supporter of mitt romney. i hope he does well. but you know, he can do well without me. >> and he also made the point as he has before that he believes that you should not get in the way of the current kin habtant of the oval office. >> he's kept to that, andrea, i would say. he really has kept an incredibly low profile since leaving

office. one think i say about george bush, we think of the eight years he was president, six years as governor before that. this is somebody involved in politics basically his whole life. his father obviously our president of the united states, he was deeply involved in the 1988 presidential campaign. so he's been doing it for a long time. you can kind of understand why he's interested in it from a passers-by perspective but doesn't want to wade back deeply in because he spent basically his entire life deeply in politics. i can actually understand it a little bit more than some other former presidents who after eight years they're done but not really done like bill clinton. >> exactly. the other former president bush was really you could say the gold standard for this not interfering even though he had lost a very bitter campaign to bill clinton but then eventually the two of them became road buddies. >> you know what i think actually, i don't think george w. bush cares all that butch this, but i think it has helped

his post presidential image that he has stayed behind the scenes. he's not been critical in any way, shape, or form of barack obama and not tried to draw attention to himself. this is someone who spent eight very controversial years in office, left office quite unpopular. the way he has handled himself since leaving office, he has done himself some political good. i don't think that's why he did it or that he cares all that much. >> then the question is what role will he play, if any in, tampa and what role his father might play. chris, thank you so much. we'll you see you tomorrow from washington. follow the show online and on twitter @mitchell reports. my friend tamron hall has a look what's next. >> following a lot of big news. hour. rush limbaugh claims the romney campaign is following his strategy and points to the comments made by governor john sununu saying he needs to learn how to be an american. we're waiting to hear what governor romney has to say as he

holds a town hall in ohio. breaking news out of syria. jay carney an confirming president obama has spoken with vladimir putin about the crisis in syria. also the u.n. postpones an amendment to a new syrian resolution. what is next? we have more after a quick break. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options.

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it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. hey there, time tamron hall. the "news nation" is following several new developments in the race for the white house. live pictures from a mitt romney town hall in ohio where at any moment, governor romney is expected to keep up his sharp attacks against the president's economic policy. the campaign says he will say that the only job the president is interested in keeping is his own. there's also big news concerning the republican national convention. nbc news reports new jersey governor chris christie will deliver the keynote address,

news tt romney is bringing out one of the big guns of the party to deliver it speech comes as the campaign ramps up its anti obama rhetoric. on the trail in pennsylvania yesterday, governor romney basically called the president's economic policy un-american. >> in the past, people of both parties understood that are encouraging achievement, encouraging success, encouraging people to lift themselves as high as they can, encouraging entrepreneurs, celebrating success instead of attacking it and denigrating it makes america strong. that's the right course for this country. his course is foreign. >> extraordinarily foreign was the last part of that comment. rush limbaugh is jumping into the fray. rush is taking credit for the campaign's sharpened personal attacks. let me play again governor romney's surrogates and former new hampshire governor john sununu what he said on fox news yesterday and then listen to limbaugh. >> he has no idea how the

american system functions and we shouldn't be surprised about that because he spent his early years in hawaii smoking something, spent the next set of years in indonesia, and another set of years in indonesia, and frankly, when he came to the u.s., he worked as a community organizer which is a socialized structure and then got into politics in chicago. >> i think sununu has been appointed with the task of going out and performing the duties that i am suggesting need to happen. because that's smoking something in hawaii, he's doing it. never had a paycheck, chicago politics. the only thing he left out was that obama's been mentored, educated by a bunch of communists. >> let me bring in our "news nation" political panel. strategist margie amero, politics reporter abby philip and