mellon 100 years of age tough to testify at that age, and fred barron who is no longer with us.hose two donors of the information that at least we know that mellon might provide and help or hinder edwards' case? >> well, it is all about those donors, because the government has to prove they were in fact campaign contributions, and in order to prove that, they have to prove that the correct shuns were made, and that their personal expenses of course of rielle hunter, and they have to prove those contributions werer meant to keep the campaign alive and not just meant to keep it at secret from elizabeth edwards who we know was stricken with cancer at that time, and who has died since. so those are fact issues. if bunny mellon can get on the stand and say, well, no, john edwards didn't know anything about it, and that is the second element that joe johns said, they have to prove these were campaign contributions and were being paid, they have to have bunny mellon get on the stand and say, these were in fact contributions so that the campaign, the 2008 presidential campaign could be

now 100-year-old heiress rachel bunny mellon, and fred baron. the money was used to hide edwards' mistress, rielle hunter, and later their child, while he ran for president. the six count indictment said it payment contributed to unlawful campaign contributions, and convicted edwfrdz of trying to solicit them and cover them up. as proof the money was intended to help the campaign, prosecutors cite a note by mellon, written after an uproar over edwards' 400 daler hair cut. she wrote, the next time, anything that can help our friend, sent the receipts to me. >> no wwaas s charged either civilly or criminally, with what edward has been. >> edwards joked with the number of lawyers present. five for him and seven for the government. >> rielle hunter and her daughter now live in charlotte, two hours from the edwards estate. what he told his young children about today? >> that i love him. >> reporter: he walked away without another word. sources clo s close to the case nbc that they were close to a last minute plea deal but negotiate eions broke down w

news learned just b before federal prosecutors were set to indict john edwards he was asking bunny mellon for millions of dollars. it's unclear why he would ask for money or whether such a request would be illegal since he's not running for office but mellon's campaign contributions to edwards in 2008 are the crux of the criminal case against him. he's accused of using those funds to cover up his affair with rielle hunter. >>> to protect the tiny town of hamburg, iowa, take a look at this eight-foot earthen barrier. it is keeping several feet of water from flooding the town but the heaviest surge is yet to come. officials say they're not sure how well the levee will hold if water levels remain high for months. >>> crews battling the largest wildfire in arizona's history are now facing a 50-mile-an-hour wind that is going to happen today. the governor is setting up for an aerial tour will happen today. a smaller one scorched nearly 10,000 acres. it is now about 30% contained. they've really been fighting that there. >> made a little bit of progress. >>> now for this morning's weather from

the president talking jobs and the economy at carnegie-mellon university.ila bear at the national press club this afternoon, one of her final public events before stepping down. the headline from "the washington post" -- "gop declares an impasse." the story is by lori montgomery and we will be checking in with her in just a moment. our question, what is next? host: this morning from "the washington times, the photo of congressman erick kanter, who said he will not participate, because taxes remain on the table for democrats. this reaction yesterday from the speaker of the house, john boehner. >> i talked to the majority leader about these talks for the last several months. i know the frustration that he feels when democrat members continue to want to bring tax hikes into this conversation and insist that we have to raise taxes on the american people. i think mr. cantor has made it clear these conversations can continue if they take the tax hikes out. secondly, what i said a few weeks ago after we were all down to the white house. i said that if we're going

the president launched his initiative at carnegie mellon university today, bringing together private companies, the government and top universities to keep america competitive. dow chemical relieved the partnership. >> this is about making sure our workers and businesses have schools to -- skills to compete better, faster and smarter than anyone else. that is what we're about. we're america well. don't just keep up with changing times, we set the pace for changing times. >> the president's latest initiative as the number of people applying for unemployment increase bid the most, ever, last month.. >> and naacp says u.s. airways acted in a racist manner after an incident involving saggy pants. leaders profitesting what they call the mistreatment of her sochblt he was arrested on trespassing charges avenue did not immediately pull up sagging pants when asked to do so. >> in no uncertain terms contends this young man was profiled and has been a victim of racial injustice. and that u.s. air owes to him and his mother an apology. >> and they point to an incident this month when the airlin

carnegie mellon is a great example of what it means to move forward.t its founding, no one would have imagined that a trade school or the sons and daughters of field workers would one day become the region's largest employer and a global research university. yet, and of nations led by your professors and your students have created more than 300 companies and 9000 jobs over the past 15 years. companies like carnegie robotics. more important than the ideas are what those ideas have become. they have become products made right here in america. in many cases, sold all over the world. that is in our blood. that is to we are. we are veterans, we are makers, and we are doers. yet we want hate robust and growing economy, we need a robust growing manufacturing sector. that is why we told the auto industry two years ago that they were willing to adapt, we would stand by them. today they are profitable. they are creating jobs and replacing taxpayer is ahead of schedule. that is why -- [applause] that is why we have lost the partnership to retrain workers with new

. >>> president obama will visit carnegie mellon university as part of his initiative to increase u.s. competitiveness. >>> churchill downs racetrack, famous for hosting the kentucky derby, is set to reopen tonight after a tornado damaged barns and stables on wednesday. >>> all day long you can stay top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. chris christie talks about landmark pension reform and whether he's changed his mind about running for president. >>> and grammy winner bruno mars rocks the plaza in the "today" summer concert series. >>> now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

promising him a job as a director of the foundation that was to be set up with funding from heiress bunny mellon>> we can count on her. >> reporter: when the job never materialized, the relationship soured. and it was young's book that finally forced john edwards to admit he was, in fact, the father of rielle hunter's daughter, quinn, now 3 years old. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: the indictment is just the next blow in a crushing year for the edwards family. elizabeth edwards died just six months ago. these days, john edwards continues to live in north carolina and reportedly sees his children often, including daughter quinn. the politician who came to prominence as a hot-shot trial lawyer facing, perhaps, the most important case of his life. >> and bob woodruff joins us now from winston-salem. bob, what an extraordinary day in american political history. what was the emotion like there? >> reporter: well, in terms of the emotion, certainly, when john edwards came out with cate, his daughter, she's 28 now. she knows all about these details, all about the law, but they came out there and

then, earned a master's degree from carnegie-mellon in pittsburgh pennsylvaniamy work . i spent time as an executive director for nonprofit on the hill. i was assistant to a wonderful person named julie middleton. the park that worked at was formally known as the hunters point community foundation. we did several programming for kids in the neighborhood. i also have a background in politics on both sides of the day here in san francisco and oakland. i have done fund-raising for different candidates. i have work experience with the federal reserve bank of san francisco. i am most proud of the work i have done for myself. i started a business called power forward, a social media and public policy consulting firm. >> why did you choose to return and live in san francisco? what motivated you to run? >> what motivated me was my love of san francisco. i see the changes that are happening. i see people picking cans out of the garbage. i see that there is no neighborhood grocery store. i see that small businesses are coming and going. they have not been able to sustain themselve

carnegie-mellon, georgia tech, berkeley, stanford. but a lot of companies do not invest in early ideas because it will not pay off right away. that is where government can step in. that is how we ended up with some of the world changing innovations that fuel our growth and prosperity and created countless jobs, the mobile phone, the internet, gps, more than 150 drugs and vaccines over the last four years, all because we were able to in strategic ways, bring people together and makes critical investments. i will take one example. the national science foundation helped fund standards digital library project in the 1990's. the idea was to develop a universal digital library that anybody can access. two is surprising students got excited about the research that was being done at stanford. these students moved from campus to a friend's garage and they launched this company called google. when the private sector runs with the ball, it then it leads to jobs, building, and so on that is successful all over the world. this new partnership that

then, earned a master's degree from carnegie-mellon in pittsburgh pennsylvaniamy work . i spent time as an executive director for nonprofit on the hill. i was assistant to a wonderful person named julie middleton. the park that worked at was formally known as the hunters point community foundati

carnegie mellon is a great example what it means to move forward. at its founding no one would have imagined that a trade school for the sons and daughters of steelworkerses would won day become the region's largest, one of the region's largest employers and a global research university. and yet innovations led by your professors and your students have created more than 300 companies and 9,000 jobs over the past 15 years. companies like carnegie robotics. but more important than the ideas that they have incubated are what those whyeds have become. they have become products made right here in america and in many cases sold all over the world. and that's in our blood. that's who we are. we are inventers and we are makers and we are doers. if we want a robust, growing economy and we need a robust, growing manufacturing sector. that's why we told the auto industry two years ago, that if they were willing to adapt, we would stand by them. today, they're profitable, they're creating jobs and they're repaying taxpayers ahead of schedule. that's why -- [app

i was doing anymore once i realized what it was he'd been working for a newspaper magnate richard mellon scaife who paid the american spectator magazine two million dollars to dig up dirt on the clintons the information didn't need to be true just damaging the conservative movement also had a hidden media agenda well they claim that the complaint is one of liberal bias i think and i've looked pretty carefully at the sun i've looked at many of the studies that claim this at the end of the day the real goal is to disable journalism from being able to do its job independently and neutrally jane a cree and her husband steve wilson were an award winning investigative reporting teams working at w.t.v. t.v. news in tampa bay florida first then we uncovered a story about hormones being secretly don't just get into our milk supply t.v. team granted this promotion for the investigation just to cancer nobody else in the country covered this and then they get fired for trying to tell the story when d.t.h. manufacturer monsanto threatened to sue fox news w t v t pulled the report then tried to get th

past present and future in washington across the jendayi frazer she's a professor at the carnegie mellon university. and in oxford we have produced mangi he's editor in chief of the penguins who canoes all right this is lady and gentlemen that means you can jump in anytime you want and i know we have difference of opinion so i want my viewers to see it here as if i go to you first in oxford i do like to go to the term africa in the new great game the scramble for influence because a lot of people are saying this right now as africa is stepping up its development some countries are getting ahead while some are not but nonetheless there's enormous foreign interest and i'm thinking of the united states and china do you like the term great game well i thought well i think there's been an enormous interest in africa since about the 1980's with the introduction of the neo liberal policies of the international monetary fund and world bank ever since then i think the situation in africa has become one in which which essentially we have not a neo colonialism we don't have a new colonialism what w

wealthy supporters: dallas attorney fred baron, who died in 2008, and reclusive heiress rachel "bunny" mellon. prosecutors say that money should have been considered a campaign contribution, and that by spending it on his mistress, edwards broke the law. edwards claims the cash contributions were gifts from friends to help him, not the campaign. >> i do not break the law, and i never, ever thought i was breaking the law. >> reporter: now, edwards' lawyers say these charges are unprecedented and wrong and they will mount an aggressive defense. harry? >> smith: jan crawford in washington tonight. thanks. jack kevorkian devoted his life to a debate over whether or not a person can choose to die. critics called him "dr. death," but supporters of physician- assisted suicide think of him as a champion. kevorkian died today at a hospital in michigan at the age of 83 from a blood clot. news of his death started the conversation all over again. he was a retired pathologist from michigan who specialized in challenging authority. dr. jack kevorkian ignited a national debate in the 1990s over physician-a

founded by joseph corps who became very wealthy on this and he along with the koch brothers and richard mellon scaife were the initial funders of things like berridge foundation and major republican foundations. alternately brought to power people like scott walker and the republicans in the state it was. no irony in words so well. let's be clear these folks never believed in capitalism they never believed in free enterprise what they believed in is monopolistic situation and make sure that they always win and the way they do that is by buying power and scott walker is really at the forefront of their national project he is somebody who with his legislative allies that fitzgerald brothers who run on the assembly and state senate in wisconsin is entirely willing to craft a budget designed to reward wall of their aid to play campaign contributors and in this craft brewing issue is really just one easy to understand example of how it works but there are literally dozens throughout the budget it's incredible now if we could just shift to the primaries here are the elections that are coming up. som

past present and future in washington we cross to jendayi frazer she's a professor at the carnegie mellon university and in oxford we have photos manji he's editor in chief of the pound those who can news all right this is cross talk lady and gentlemen and that means you can jump in anytime you want and i know they have difference of opinion so i want my viewers to see it if i go to you first.

past present and future in washington we cross to jendayi frazer she's a professor at the carnegie mellon university and in oxford we have photos manji he's editor in chief of the pangas who can news all right this is cross talk lady and gentlemen and that means you can jump in anytime you want and i know they have difference of opinion so i want my viewers to see it if i go to you first in oxford i do like to go the term africa in the new great game the scramble for influence because a lot of people are saying this right now as africa is stepping up its development some countries are getting ahead while some are not.

carnegie-mellon is a great example of what it means to move forward.its founding, nobody would have managed that a trade school for the sons and daughters of steelworkers would one day become one of the region's largest employers, and a global research university. yet, innovation, led by your professors and your students, have created more than 300 companies, and 9000 jobs, over the past 15 years. companies like carnegie robotics. more important than the ideas you have incubated, are what those ideas have become. they have become products, made right here, in america, and, in many cases, sold all over the world. that is in our blood. that is who we are. we are inventors. we are makers. we are doers. if we want a robust, growing economy, we need a robust, a growing manufacturing sector. that is why we told the auto industry two years ago that if they were willing to adapt, we would stand by them. today, they are profitable. they are we paying job -- creating jobs, and retain taxpayers ahead of schedule. that is why -- [applause] >> that is why we have l

a hundred billion in the united states this is you know andrew mellons advice to hooters that's right it is that kind of a liquid everything and you know you know the markets priced in already eighty five percent chance that they're going to default so everyone knows it is not going to work in and a half a minute here to the what if they were to abandon the you and drop through the euro go back to the drachmas that is that where it's going to end up i think it very well might end up like that. and certainly it can't you know what the europeans are trying to do with the i.m.f. is trying to do to greece isn't going to work so there is one possibility here and mark thanks so much for being here tonight thank you thanks for sharing your expertise and thoughts with us always appreciate it what's happening in greece couldn't happen here think again with america on the edge of defaulting on its debt like greece what are our lawmakers in congress doing they're working on austerity measures like to to trillion dollars in spending cuts on the backs of the middle class that frankly are going to

reporter: prosecutors say the money came from fred baron, edwards' campaign finance chairman, and bunny mellonwealthy heiress. they say baron spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this ruse, including one envelope stuffed with a $1,000 in cash, and a note warning, "old chinese saying -- use cash, not credit cards." now, today, edwards' lawyer said very strongly that he is certainly not guilty. he says that money was not intended for the campaign, it was personal money coming from personal friends and therefore certainly not illegal. george? >> okay, bob, thank you. we're joined by our abc news legal analyst dan abrams. and bob gets to the central question at the heart of this case. was that money a campaign contribution or a gift? >> right. fundamental question. meaning, because if it was clearly intended to further john edwards' presidential campaign, he could be in big trouble. on the other hand, if it was a gift or even, let's say, an effort to prevent elizabeth edwards from finding out about it, that might make him a bad person, but not a crime. >> that's where he's going to fight. i k

they are alleging that bunny mellon and -- gave him over $700,000 to hide this affair from the world could continue. of course, the defense is arguing that's not true. this was a personal gift and these were personal gifts and only given to rielle hunter so that they could hide the affair from elizabeth edwards because she was dying from cancer. they're saying these were not campaign contributions. of course i will say, this is sort of unprecedented, federal campaign laws. it's never been done before. the government is sort of hinging its argument on a 2000 advisory opinion given to the fdc issues, and it's not the easiest case to prove, but in front of a jury, given the types of allegations and given this sordid past, especially that he had this affair, had the child, his wife was dying of cancer, factually t.j., a really good case for the prosecution. >> anybody else to wrap up, anybody else possibly could face charges to this? >> well, no one else has been charged, of course. i think some people talked about andrew young possibly being complicit in this because there is a conspira