economy. >> yeah, you know, andrea, i was struck by that. so in this poll, do you approve of president obama's hand lg of the economy or disapprove? 39% approve, 55% disapprove. april, 44% approved, 48% disapproved. much closer. i'd say there was another question i was struck by. do you believe the president can do a lot, any president can do a lot about the strength or weakness of the economy? a majority, now, it was 51%, but still a majority, 51% said a president can do a lot. that's up ten points from september of last year. add those two sets of numbers together and you see people are not happy with how president obama's handling the economy and they believe that a president does have a real impact on what the economy does or does not do. those two numbers together are not great for president obama. >> plus, it's very early in the game, and the president's been spending a lot of money, a much faster burn rate of his funds. mitt romney is sitting on all this cash. they're going to just unload a

tsunami of campaign advertisements in the closing weeks of this campaign. >> well, you know what, andrea, is interesting, it feels -- and i just wrote about this, it feels like we're almost in a -- it's like a tale of two campaigns. on the one hand, the daily drum beat over the last month has not been great for mitt romney. you've had questions spurred by murdoch and others, whether his staff is up to the job. when did he leave bain, was he honest about it on s.e.c. documents? we have the tax return debate. those are three terrible stories for him and not allowing him to focus on the economy. at the same time, you go and look at these polls we cited and nothing really has changed. it's kind of a dead heat race. so barack obama is, as you point out, spent a ton of money trying to define mitt romney as out of touch, a wealthy businessman who doesn't understand average people. the question is is will that pay dividends? is it just too early right now to have kind of seeped into the american electorate's consciousness?

will it pay dividends in a month or two months? or has it been money wasted and as you rightly note, when mitt romney in all his fund-raising is brought to bear on tv ads, will he kind of pick up? that's i think probably later this summer, early fall we'll start to find out some answers to that. >> of course there will be other things in play then as well, the debates, the convention. >> the economy. >> the debates and the economy. >> yeah. >> thanks so much, chris. see you later. we'll talk about the president's appearance today and be hearing from mitt romney as well. and on israeli television today, prime minister benjamin netanyahu bluntly accused iran and hezbollah of the deadly bombing of young jewish tourists in bulgaria. >> this attack was part of a global campaign of terror carried out by iran and hezbollah. this campaign has reached a dozen countries on five continents. the world's leading powers should make it clear that iran

is the country that stands behind this terror campaign. iran must be exposed by the international community as the premiere terrorist supporting state that it is. >> michael oren is israel's ambassador to the united states and joins us now from 30 rock. thank you very much, mr. am bass kor. first of all, yesterday the prime minister said there was a pattern of evidence. now today he was much more blunt. is there hard evidence, do you have a smoking gun? >> well, our sources confirm, andrea, that hezbollah was behind this. hezbollah takes its marching orders directly from tehran. it's a direct threat leaking the bulgarian massacre, the innocent -- the massacre of innocent israeli young people and bulgarian civilians, linking that to terrorist plots in india, in kenya, in cyprus, in washington, d.c.

all of those lines lead directly to iran. that's the same iran that has supplied 70,000 missiles to terrorist organizations along israel's border. and it's the same iranian regime that is striving assiduously to develop nuclear weaponry. >> so you're saying that this is linked to, for instance, the alleged attack or threatened assassination attempt against the saudi ambassador in washington, d.c.? you're linking this to the revolutionary guard? >> we've seen this pattern across the world. it's a global attempt, every several weeks iranian or iranian-backed agents have tried to strike at israeli civilians, israeli diplomats and even american diplomats. plotting to blow up a restaurant in downtown washington, that's pretty brazen. iran is terror incorporated. it is the world's largest supporter of state-backed terror. >> let me drill down a little bit more on the individual who is the suspected suicide bomber.

we're talking about a false michigan driver's license. now there is information from bulgarian media and also in israeli media that we're talking about somebody that had been in guantanamo and was released to stockholm. we know from the database that someone with with the same name was in guantanamo, was released to swedish authorities, was apparently not charged. are we talking about the same individual? do you think you have an i.d. on the person who perpetrated this? >> i can't confirm it at this time, andrea. what we do know is hezbollah was behind this egregious attack, hezbollah does take its orders directly from iran. it's the same hezbollah operating in syria, supporting the vicious assad regime and massacring syrian civilians. and hezbollah has been behind other terrorist attacks around the world on the direct destructions of the ayatollahs in tehran. >> if that is your conclusion

and we heard from the prime minister there will be action, we heard from the defense minister that accounts will be settled. what is israel going to do? >> of course, i'm not going to get into operational details here, andrea, but israel has not only the right but the duty to defend itself against these attacks, to defend itself against iranian-backed terror and its declared goal of destroying the jewish state. an opportunity to pledge their commitment to destroying us, to wiping us off the map as they say. israel will defend itself. >> let me correct a slight misspeak. you just said that israeli officials never miss an opportunity. >> sorry, iranian officials, of course. >> okay. okay. it was clear to all of our viewers what you meant. let me get to the broader point here, because the president called prime minister netanyahu yesterday. he said we will give you forensic help. we will give you intelligence. they're obviously offering everybody from the fbi to the cia to help track down these

killers. was this an implicit or explicit request not to take direct action? not to widen this or escalate this? and to let the u.s. and israeli and there are none better than israelis, according to its reputation, go after these terrorists themselves in a targeted way? >> no, not at all, andrea. president obama immediately condemned this attack. he described it as barbaric. secretary of state clinton also denounced it in unequivocal terms. president obama called prime minister netanyahu last night to convey both his outrage and his condolence to the families of the victim. the united states and israel are partners in the struggle against this type of terrorism, and that partnership is very, very close and it will continue. >> mr. ambassador, nothing happens in a vacuum. iran has, of course, denied this today, and said that it had nothing to do with it. we are a week away from the

start of the olympics, with everybody sort of on edge, certainly, in terms of the security implications. we're in the middle of a presidential election campaign. there are politics involved. is israel simply going to follow its own direction here? or will you take into consideration the fact that things could escalate very quickly here? >> israel will take whatever steps are necessary, andrea, to defend its citizens. that's our duty, itself right as a sovereign state. yes, we're aware of global situations, but at the end of the day the iranians, again, have never missed on opportunity to reiterate their dream of destroying us and now you see they're acting on these dreams by trying to kill israeli civilians and diplomats around the world, now most recently in bulgaria. and we have to take whatever means are possible to defend ourselves. >> when you say defend yourself, are we talking about a

proportional response or are you talking about what could be considered a pretext to go after other iranian assets including its nuclear program? >> again, we can't go into operational or tactical details here, andrea, but israel has a proven record of defending ourselves. that's how we've been able to survive in a very tough neighborhood for 64 years and to have achieved a thriving society and economy and democracy. and we do that by being vigilant and knowing how to stand up for ourselves. >> ambassador michael oren, thank you so much. and our condolences for all of the losses in bulgaria. and still ahead, the russian recess. what's gone wrong? we'll talk to ambassador susan rice. president obama is in jacksonville, florida. you see a live picture. senior citizens with a democratic attack on proposed medicare attacks. stay with us for live coverage. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin.

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president obama and mitt romney are at dueling events this hour, also dueling in the polls with at least three new surveys showing the race is a virtual tie. bob shrum, democratic strategist, ben weber is an adviser to the romney campaign. welcome both. thanks so much. >> glad to be here. >> first to you, bob. let's talk about vice presidents and vice presidential picks. what would your advice be if you were a republican strategist, your advice be -- >> i'm waiting for this. >> -- to romney camp as to who and when? >> i think ben's probably right. they're not going to take my advice. picking a vice president right now sort of hurriedly tomorrow, is a mistake.

he has to pick someone competent. marco rubio, he has huge problems with the hispanic community. you always have to be careful with these things and have to vet. one of the ironies, by the way, about the vetting process which i've been through several times is you're always fixing it to correct the last mistake. this time, for example, if you picked a governor you wouldn't assume what the mccain people assumed about sarah palin, if you were governor of a state, you knew there was a north korea and south korea and take the governor through basic foreign policy question. i guess the conventional wisdom is right that it's portman or jindal or tim pawlenty. this pick ought to come later, after the olympic, going into the convention. ben, will they take my advice? >> what about rob portman? there's a lot of talk about rob portman and pawlenty who you worked close with in minnesota. >> both good guys.

both very good guys. there are other good guys, too. bob's advice was pretty good actually. i think one of the things you have to think about with governor romney is governor romney has been a very successful builder of organizations. he built a very successful business which we're now debating, no doubt it was successful. he successfully led the liolym c olympics. he knows how to put together a team. he has to be thinking about who is going to be a good member of the team when me becomes president of the united states. that's a strong argument i would say for many of these people, but particularly for rob portman. i think it's also a good argument for my friend tim pawlenty who was governor of minnesota for eight years, knows how to deal with the legislature dominated by the opposite party. so there's a lot of considerations, but this consideration on timing, i tend to think bob is right. let's get past the olympics and do it as we have often in the lead-up to the convention to accentuate the convention's messaging which actually is a

hugely important part of the campaign. >> bob, i don't want to put you too much on the spot, but you raise the issue of the vet. what do you now know looking back? what kind of questions would you add to the questionnaire? having been through the process a couple of times and, of course, you went through it with john edwards. >> you know, well, look, the problems john edwards subsequently had would never have been uncovered by the vet because the truth was as far as i know none of that was going on at that time in 2004. look, you can get misled by some data in this process. for example, in 2004, we took a poll in missouri. we took a poll in ohio. edwards came out better even in missouri in terms of helping the ticket than dick gephardt did. we should have stepped back from the poll and said, wait a minute, this poll doesn't matter, just like the polls we're talking about today don't matter much. there's a huge number in "the

new york times" that's totally wrong, that's the president's favorable, unfavorable, because it's out of line with contemporaneous polls taken by other organizations. we should have stepped back and said, look, dick gephardt has institutional advantages and we probably should shave picked hi. that was john kerry's instinct. his instinct got overcome by the process and demand inside the democratic party to pick someone exciting like john edwards. so i think you have to be very careful. the other thing i would add is, you're always going to fix the vet then some new problem's going to come up. whoever thought somebody could be the governor of a state and not know basic fundamental facts -- >> sly guy. you slid that in right at the end. >> i'm not attacking her. it's -- i mean, look, republicans have said it. >> ben, would you pick sarah palin again for vice president? >> no, i would not. >> he would have picked tim pawlenty the first time. >> i would have picked tim

pawlenty. >> with the talk about how negative and horrible the campaign has been, and i have a lot of problems with not only what happened with governor sununu but about the stuff about how president obama is, quote, foreign and doesn't understand capitalism, i think those are dog whistle words. let's take a quick look a what happened yesterday in bowlinggreen, ohio, when mitt romney was confronted with a woman who called president obama a monster. let's watch what romney did. >> he's had to lay off people and he may have to close some stores and it's all because of what this monster has done to this country. we have to have you as president. >> that's not a term i would use, but -- >> i can. i'm an angry mom. >> you're an angry mom. you have every right to be angry. >> now, you know, at least he pushed back a little bit because, i mean, this woman is angry because apparently her son has had to lay off people and --

>> oh. >> and had been in a terrible position of putting people out of work. so -- >> shouldn't call the president of the united states a monster, though. >> romney at least stood up and said, as john mccain did, you know, four years ago. >> that's the wrong kind of word to use to describe the president regardless of who the president is, i think. governor romney pushed back. it's a little hard when you're surrounded by supporters, one of your supporter, somebody who's for you wants wrote s you to wi pushed back. that's the kind of language we don't want in the campaign. i want to add something to the vp discussion we had a minute ago. you have to tell the choice what his or her job is going to be in the campaign. i think of this, because back in 1996, bob dole was very frustra frustrated. by the end of the campaign with my dear friend the late jack kemp. they wanted him to be the attack dog against bill clinton. they asked me to go to jack to get him to attack. >> he's too good a guy. >> if that's the job you want, make sure you make it clear to the potential running mate what

his or her job is going to be in the campaign so you aren't frustrated if they don't want to do it or can't do it well. >> good points. bob shrum, jim webber, both been there, done that. stay tuned. meanwhile, we're watching president obama's event in jacksonville, florida. stay with us for live coverage next right here on "andrea mitchell reports." time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. ohio based interior designer, pamela, was doing well serving big corporate customers and passing on smaller clients. when the work stopped coming, she had to rethink her business plan, diversifying by thinking both big and small, she made sure every customer knew they were valuable to her. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, if your car is totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. liberty mutual auto insurance.

topping the headlines right now on "andrea mitchell reports" anthony scalia says there's no bad blood between he and chief roberts over robert's decisions to vote with liberal justices and uphold the president's health care law last month. scalia told cnn's piers morgan that reports of a falling out are overblown. >> i haven't had a falling out with justice roberts. >> no words exchanged, slamming of doors? >> no, no. >> nothing like that? >> nothing like that. >> best buddies? >> why best buddy, boehner,

ginsburg has ever been. >> they may disafree on the law. what draws he and ginsburg together, they love of opera. strikes around the london olympics could cause major disruptions for people trying to make it to the games. the british union warned they risk a public backlash if the strikes take place. philadelphia are questioning a so-called person of interest in this disturbing kidnapping attempt captured on surveillance video in broad daylight on tuesday. see the man trying to grab a 10-year-old girl just blocks from her home. she fought him. she fell down. he tried to grab her a second time. then he was scared away by the screams of the girl's 2-year-old brother. police say the little girl has identified the suspect in custody. amazing. and up next, veto. russia and china once again block u.n. attempts to crack down on assad. is the u.n. now irrelevant? reaction ahead from u.n. ambassador susan rice.

send me your thoughts on facebook and twitter @mitchellreports. this is "andrea mitchell reports." [ groans ] [ marge ] psst. constipated? phillips' caplets use magnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives,

for effective relief of constipation without cramps. thanks. good morning, students. today we're gonna continue...

and developing now, you're looking at live pictures from jacksonville, florida, where a speech aimed at older voters, president obama is about to accuse mitt romney of proposals that would gut medicare. nbc's kristin welker is live in jacksonville with a preview. this is a familiar campaign speech for democrats. year in, year out. when it comes to trying to win florida, kristin. >> reporter: it certainly is, andrea. president obama will be using it once again today when he takes the stage here in jacksonville. which we expect to happen shortly. as you know, florida is one of the most coveted battleground states for its 29 electoral votes. so president obama today unveiling that line of attack against mitt romney. he's going to argue mitt romney

supports the ryan budget which would ultimately turn medicare into a voucher program. he's also going to say if romney gets elected he's going to try to overturn his health care law which will ultimately drive up costs for 3.3 million seniors who live in this state and who rely on medicare. so it's certainly on issue that resonates for them. for his part, mitt romney on the sidelines today. when it started out, he didn't have public events scheduled. he added one, though in ro rockbury. we expect romney to continue with his line of attack against the president that he essentially has mishandled the economy. just yesterday romney pointed out that the president hasn't met with his jobs council in six months saying the president cares more about saving his own job than saving the jobs of americans. andr andrea, this is an incredibly tight race here in florida. these candidates are in a dead heat. president obama won this state back in 2008, but the

unemployment rate now is at 8.6%. far above the national coverage. so this is certainly going to be a tough battle right down to the andrea? >> housing, another big economic issue down there in florida as well. thank you so much, kristen. mitt romney's noofive sons trying to reshape the image of their button down dad. nbc's peter alexander sat down with mitt romney's five sons for tonight's edition of "rock center" with brian williams. >> reporter: for a candidate who at times has struggled to connect, the campaign hopes the sons can help explain their father's idiosyncratic moments. >> this feels good being back in michigan. you know, the trees are the right height. the streets are just right. >> he's just dad. he's a little goofy and that's just, you know, that's part of his charm i think. >> we were with him recently. he said, i was gafying when i

looked at this old picture. when you hear him say one of these things, he was with you guys recently where he said, i love them like they're my own sons. they are my own sons. >> i love them like they're my own. they are. craig? >> it's the same corny jokes we grew up with. we're used to it. it's part of his personality. he's always trying to entertain. sometimes it's successful, sometimes it's not. >> nbc's peter alexander covered the romney campaign. this is the first interview with all five together, first time they sat down for television. you really had a rapport. it's clear they were trying to explain how their dad is. >> they joke on the campaign trail that i look like the sixth son. suffice to say they're between ages of 31 and 42 and haven't sat down all five of them together this campaign cycle, not more than five years they've done something like this. they were on conan o'brien recently.

this is an orchestrated effort. the campaign is doing what it can to help make their dad look less, as you say perfectly, buttoned up. they accomplished that, i think, tremendously. they tell a lot of stories about their dad at home as a prankster, josh who's the middle son tells a story about one time their dad was going into the basement and he was hiding there. josh was. when their dad reached out to grab the string to pull the light, josh grabbed him and they were wrestling downstairs. sounds like a black and white 1950s or '60s sitcom. everybody gets along like a beaver cleaver family. that's the intent they have, show folks their dad is a real guy, a nice guy, raised a good family and can have some fun. >> and what did you learn as well about the pressures of the campaign on the family, their mom, who's had her challenges with illness, and how they're coping as a family. >> i think about their mom's challenge. one of the questions i asked them was the simple fact that a family that has as much money as they do and is as privileged as

they are, a lot of people believe it's impossible for them to be in touch. i said, are you out of touch with the american people's needs? and they say that while financially, obviously, they're in very unique positions, they say they have challenges, too. they talk a lot about ann romney's multiple sclerosis and impact that's had on them and how tight it's made them as a family. one of the stories i thought was interesting came from tag's daughter, ali. we see her on the campaign trail. any of the grandkids, there are 18 grandkids, mind you, do any of them consider politics down the line? they said, certainly not ali. as proud as she is about her grandfather, this is something she decided she wants nothing to do with, the scrutiny and the glare of spotlight can be a lot for younger folks. these guys are out there pretty consistently, as you can see in some of these pictures and obviously doing whatever they can to help their father win the white house. >> great stuff. thank you very much. of course, don't miss peter's full interview with mitt romney's sons tonight on "rock center with buy wrap wirian wil

10:00. once again, veto a resolution that would have imposed new sanctions on syria's regime. today's stalemate at the u.n. comes as government forces are launching a counterattack against the opposition. this following the devastating rebel attack yesterday against assad's national security headquarters and top defense officials. and amisc mimidst conflicting r of assad's whereabouts. i gather he's now turned up. what do we know about assad and about the regime and how it is striking back? >> reporter: what we know from syrian state television, they broadcast images of the president swearing in his new minister of defense, though they did not give an exact location or time as to when that actually took place. there were some reports over the past 24 hours after that deadly attack at the national security building that the president may

have actually left damascus, may have gone to the coastal city of latakia where he was at least at that point conducting or carrying out the next phase of his regime's response to the deadly attacks. up until this point, there is no resize confirmation as to whether or not the president is in the capital or whether somewhere else in the country. >> do you get the sense that there could be a tipping point here? that the fact that they were able to not only get into damascus, but hit a national security headquarters, take out three top officials including the defense minister and one of the others was, of course, the brother-in-law. and at the same time, obviously had inside help. does this sort of shatter confidence in assad? either for him or for those around him? >> reporter: absolutely. you know, it's done two very important things. and when you talk about could this be a possible tipping point, just look at what's happened in the past 24 hours.

today there are confirmed reports that the free syrian army, the group of rebels fighting the regime have taken over at least one major border crossing between turkey and s e syr syria. that in itself is strategically important. it means it could now become a gateway for weapons and fighters to join the fight against the regime. we've also seen images and accounts by rebels that the syrian military has begun to withdraw from important cities like ilepo and other parts of the country. the fact the senior security leadership of the country cannot meet and not be worried about who's in their midst is going to derail and create a sense of anxiety for that leadership. >> thanks very much, amin. up next we'll talk to susan rice. the consequences? millions of americans will see their taxes

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...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org. welcome back. joining me now to discuss the latest developments in syria and today's veto of the u.n. resolution by russia and china, susan rice, ambassador to the united nations, joining us from

new york. thank you very much, madam ambassador. first of all, your reaction to this third triple veto, for the third time, by russia and china. >> well, it's outrageous, and what it does is consign the people of syria to continued and intensified conflict and risks this conflict spilling further over into the region. the russians and chinese decided yet again that they would rather protect assad to the bitter end, even though the bitter end is coming and this is manifestly not in their long-term interests. rather than support the united nations' mission, support what joint special envoy annan and secretary general of the united nations ban urged the council to do which was to make it clear there will be consequences on the government for its failure to implement its commitments. and instead they vetoed yet again. >> and does this mean the end of the road for the u.n.'s role here and the annan mission? >> well, andrea, that's not

clear. what it certainly means is that the small observer mission which has been on the ground and over the last six weeks confined to its hotel rooms because of the declining security situation, will wind down. it may take a few more weeks for it to wind down and the council may yet agree to a brief extension for a matter of a few weeks or days to enable it to redeploy safely. but that part of it is definitely done. whether kofi annan can continue his political efforts, we hope so. because we continue to believe that the best outcome, even in it's not the most probable outcome, is for there to be a peaceful political transition. assad steps aside and there is a new government put in place that can lead to a democratic dispensation for the people of sere wyria syria. >> if there's no give from russia's position, and it's clear china will follow russia's lead on this, but if russia is

not going to change, and vladimir putin was on the phone with the president yesterday and we were told there were strong disagreements. so even that conversation did not patch things up. so if russia's not going to change its position, do we now have to find other allies and other recourses if we have no option in the u.n. security council to help the people of syr syria? >> well, certainly andrea, today's action by the russians and the chinese puts a punctuation mark on their refusal to allow the security council to play an effective role in trying to stop the violence there. as i said when i spoke before the security council today, for the united states part, we will continue to work toward a peaceful political transition. we'll continue to support the peaceful opposition in syria and to provide nonlethal support to the military opposition. we'll continue to provide robust humanitarian support and we will work with other countries outside of the security council increasingly to put further pressure on assad.

>> what about a no-fly zone or some other steps that have been demanded by john mccain, by lindsey graham, by others, by critics in the senate in both parties? >> well, a no-fly zone implemented quite clearly it would have to be outside of the scope of the security council is one of many options that some have talked about. i think they've oversimplified what they entail. we have not ruled out any options. our strong view is the best resolution of this is the situation be resolved through peaceful political means. a no-fly zone, andrea, is no small matter in this instance. it would require putting boots on the ground in significant international forces. and i think that one should not underestimate the complexity of that, the danger of that and if there is a possibility, and we think there still is, however remote that this can be resolved through a process that doesn't entail additional militarization, that is

certainly preferable for our national security interests and for those of the people of syria. >> madam ambassador, how do you read what happened yesterday with the attack on the national security headquarters? the killing of three top defense officials including the defense minister, and assad's brother-in-law? is this the tipping point? >> it was a dramatic attack, andrea, and it underscores how rapidly the security situation is deteriorating. this conflict, as some of my colleagues have said, is clearly spinning out of control. the longer the international community, as evidenced today by the security council, is unable to act, the more likely it is that this will get more and more dangerous for the people of syria and for the region. whether this proves to be a tipping point or not, somebody with a better crystal ball than i may be able to answer that, but it was certainly a major jolt to regime and it underscores the opposition, the militarized portion of the opposition is becoming more sophisticated and that this

conflict has every potential to worsen and deepen which is why it's quite ironic and incredibly unfortunate that russia and china who along with others have a stake in the opposite, in security and stability in syria, would block the only viable political process, the only viable political means in the international community to try to mitigate this situation. >> how concerned are you about syria's stockpile, the regime stockpiles of techemical weapon? >> we're well aware they have a large stockpile of chemical weapons and that it's the government's responsibility come what may to secure those stockpiles and not transfer them and in any case obviously not use them against its own people. i raised this concern in the security council today. noting that as the situation deteriorates, there is concern, reason for concern, that the syrian authorities might consider such use. and if they do, they ought to be very clear that they will be

held accountable by the united states and others in international community. and so one certainly would underscore that that should not occur. >> and what about concerns that some have expressed that there are al qaeda elements trying to take advantage and work with some members of the opposition? >> well, i think it's been clear for a long time that there are elements of al qaeda, al qaeda in syria. this is not new. their relationship to the opposition is a subject of some question, but definitely there has been and there is still an al qaeda presence that's been in syria, it's been in iraq, some portion from iraq may have moved back into syria and it is in part responsible for some of the violence that we've seen. >> and short of brief, let's say a brief extension for the monitors who are on the ground so they can get safely out, what is the next step now for the

diplomatic community? >> russia and china have put a road block in front of the security council to support the continuation of the monitoring mission and to provide full diplomatic support to what kofi annan is trying to achieve. let's be clear, andrea, about what the resolution was that they vetoed today. it simply would have made the annan six-point plan and the geneva outcome document which all five permanent members of the security council have multiple times endorsed, more binding on the parties under chapter seven of the united nations charter. and it would have said that if the government fails to stop the use of heavy weapons and others massive violence against its own people within ten days, then the council would be prepared to implement sanctions against the syrian government. it was a threat of sanctions, andrea, nothing more. it was just codifying and reinforcing what the council

members have already committed themselves to. that the russians and the chinese would veto something that incremental, that basic and not provide those monitors who are on the ground with the most minimal political support they need to have a fighting chance to do their job is really the death knell for the monitors over time and makes what kofi annan is trying to do all but impossible. he has asked the council to make it clear that there could be consequences for noncompliance by the government and, indeed, by the opposition, and the russians and the chinese ensured that that would not be possible today. >> susan rice, u.n. ambassador. thank you very much. >> thank you, andrea. and now for something completely different. history could be made at this year's primetime emmy awards. it was an early start on the west coast this morning. jimmy kimmel still in his pjs for the emmy announcement. the big news was all about "mad men." the drama could set the record for most victories by a show in the best drama category. the series has competition in

the form of "downton abbey" and "breaking bad." a big day for hbo, allison williams, daughter of brian williams, made the cut for best comedy series. joining the "big bang theory," "curb your enthusiasm," "veep" and "30 rock." "time's," the best selling novel grabbed 12 nominations including outstanding mine series. nods to the 2008 gop duo of sarah palin and john mccain. we'll be right back. [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ]

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? you're looking at live pictures on one side, jacksonville, florida, the president about to walk in. the other, roxbury, mass.

both having dooueling events. that's likely to be the sources of the next 24. >> yeah, tomorrow barack obama is spending another day in florida, andrea, which i think suggests how important the state is. and mitt romney, massachusetts, obviously not a swing state. his home state, not a swing state, but will be in new hampshire very much a swing state tomorrow. so, yep, they're not going anywhere i don't think that isn't a swing state these days. >> and with kelly ayotte, as a matter of fact, in new hampshire tomorrow. thank you very plumuch, chris cillizza. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." my colleague has a look at what's next on "news nation. our next hour, president obama in florida beginning a two-day visit there in the sunshine state. we'll hear from president in our hour. we'll also have our panel weigh in on that visit. and the sunshine state's voter purge takes a wrong turn after a woman is knocked off the voting rolls not once but twice there. the state says she's dead but

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so get allstate. you could save money and be better protected from mayhem like me. [ dennis ] mayhem is everywhere. so get an allstate agent. are you in good hands? i'm craig melvin in for tamron hall. president obama and mitt romy are about to deliver dueling speeches. president obama is in jacksonville, florida, mitt romney at a small business in roxbury, massachusetts. the president is beginning a two-day swing in the crucial battleground state of florida which polls show is very much up for grabs in november. president obama will visit west palm beach later this afternoon and ft. myers and orlando tomorrow. all of this comes with three new polls today showing the president and romney in a tight race. romney leading by a point in a "new york times"/cbs poll. president leads by two points in

an npr poll and four points in a fox news follow. meanwhile a new romney web video today attacking president obama's "you didn't build that line." the president's remark suggesting businessowners owe their success partly to government investments. >> if you've got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> my father's hands didn't build this company? my hands didn't build this company? my son's hands not building this company? >> joining me now, "news nation" political panel today, democratic strategist, television host and cnbc contributor keith boykin. former communications director for rick santorum's campaign. and rachel, white house editor for politico. good afternoon to all of you. again, i want to let all of you know and viewers at home know as well president starts and mitt romney starts we will, of course, cut you off mid-sentence and we'll pick you back up on the other side. let's star with the president in

florida. crucial state for both candidates right now. florida's unemployment rate higher than the national average. 8.6% versus 8.2%. foreclosures are rising again there in florida. keith, what does that mean for president obama's florida strategy? >> this is going to be a close race, you know, if you look back in 2000, george w. bush narrowly won this race by 537 votes in that state and gave him the election. in 2008, barack obama won florida and that was a pivotal race for him. i think in this election, florida could be a deciding point. you know, florida, ohio, and virginia, the three states everybody's focusing on. so if they can win florida, get the senior vote, get the latino vote, get the other constituencies, they can make a win in the election in the electoral college. >> hogan, let's talk about the senior vote for a second. the president will be trying to convince seniors in florida that mitt romney's plans will end medicare as we know it. mitt romney has said he supports phasing out the current medicare system,