when you look of those fox -- fax, obama wins hands down about mitt romney city is asking the public if you're better off than you were four years ago. kaine pay our -- can you pay your mortgage more easily? what will you tell the ones who might be on the fence? >> is sort of a false choice about why or when. mitt romney talks about the rise in budget. -- the paul ryan budget. that budget would give more of a tax break to the rich. george bush with good times lost jobs. or barack obama during the worst recession in the world created several million jobs. imagine what would have happened if the republican congress, the house, and the senate, instead of fighting against and everything would have said let's get together and fix the economy and put the merits of that to work. imagine what a great job they could of done and how further advanced this recovery would be now. to putsking everyone this stuff aside for a little bit and think of america. create jobs that our kids and grandkids can have a job and buy a house and retire with some security. we want a quality public education system

i say mitt romney, in the grand scheme of things, i don't know na mitt romney benefits from a mike bloomberg endorsement, as a resident of new york citye new yorkers who think mike bloomberg's stock falls in their eyes. >> bloomberg endorsed romney, which i find unlikely that would be significant. a sign to centrists that romney wasn't as far right as he looked in the primaries but when you go and sort of look for an endorsement and don't get it of course you've done harm to yourself. >> mitt romney has had a problem with full-throated and arduous endorsements. >> i'd like to know the details of the conversation that both men of great means -- >> they are. >> anyone can talk car elevators, it's bloomberg and romney. >> anybody knows from car elevators. >>> a year after the killing of osama bin laden, sobering details regarding the united states' presence in afghanistan. we'll take a look at that when pulitzer prize winner david wood and willie geist join the discussion next on "now." coffee do esn'have vitamins... unless you want it to. splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a

. >> you know, i think that was mitt romney speaking in oklahoma city. ink when you hear mitt romney here, this is something that he has not flipped flopped on. >> which is exceptional. >> which is refreshing. there was a bit of levity because www.current.com captured something. he it didn't stay there very long but there is the headline on fox nations website. obama flip flops and declares war on marriage. they've sense taken it down. but they're also showing cleavage and nudist capital of the world. >> and they're differentiating themselves on mitt romney on this. they are saying that mitt romney doesn't care about gay people, he doesn't care about lesbians. >> but rereally do have to take very seriously the fact that this was a brave gesture without a shadow of a doubt, but obama is going to take a beating from the right wing. they are waiting for this type of fodder. this is an significant amount of interest in fighting gay marriage. north carolina's vote you discussed proves it, and we should understand this as a long-term and vicious battle. >> one

. >>> as tracii just mentioned, mitt romney appeared at a new york city firehouse. actor alec baldwin told lawrence o'donnell his view on how the republicans are doing in 2012. >> things for these guys aren't going that well. you know, the economy may stumble, it probably won't stumble that badly between now and the election, for those people who look at these very handy benchmarks like the dow, the dow is still staying pretty well above 13,000, which that kind of crowd of romney's really, really goes for. it's the anniversary of this president getting osama bin laden, and i think that the republicans -- i think romney, these guys are really, really getting scared. for me, the most important thing is that obama shows up, he's stealthily going into afghanistan here and on this anniversary and talks about peace. he's talking about peace. and i'll tell you one thing, if you play all these republican debates and they had more debates than they are games in the nba season, these guys had debate after debate, you never heard them once, never heard the word "peace" mention

romney reaffirms opposition to marriage or unions for gay couples, mitt romney was in oklahoma city yesterday and here's what he had to say in response to a question from a reporter. >> i have the same view on marriage that i had when i was governor and that i expressed many times, i believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. states are able to make decisions with regards to domestic partnership benefits, such as hospital visitation rights, benefits and so forth of various kinds could be determined state by state. my view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman and that's my own preference. i know other people have differing views, this is a very tender and sensitive topic as are many social issues. but i have the same view i've had since, well, since running for office. >> and inside "the new york post" is this article. obama evolves at last. valerie is a democrat in baltimore. you're the first voice this morning. go ahead. >> caller: good morning. i disagree with the president. but i respect his opinion. i have to ask, if you think it's okay to

mitt romney, you're a racist! >> i'm sorry, i can't quite hear you. >> mitt romney, you're a racist. >> mitt romney, you're a racist. >> that's mitt romney getting a big cityme at his press conference today with rudy giuliani at a new york city firehouse. romney and giuliani delivered piazza whys to the firefighters of engine 24 ladder 5 who lost 11. their own on 9/11. mitt romney is doing everything he can to erase his campaign statement from 2007 about osama bin laden. >> i do not concur in the words of barack obama in a plan to enter an alley of ours and their country in a manner complete with bombing and so forth. >> here is romney 2.0 on osama bin laden. >> of course i would have ordered taking out osama bin laden. add i been president of the united states, i would have made the same decision the president made which is to remove him. >> joining me now is alex wagner host of msnbc's now with alex wagner and three time golden globe winner oscar nominated star of nbc's "30 rock" and registered voter alec baldwin. alec, in 2007, the man runs for president. he hears president -- then senator barack obama say, if necessary, i will violate pakistan's sovere

. >> mitt romney was in new york with former mayor rudy giuliani yesterday here in the city and talking to people. they had an unfortunate incident at a local firehouse. take a look at this. >> to track osama bin laden anywhere he could be found. [ mitt romney, you're a racist! >> i'm sorry. i can't quite hear you. >> taking that opportunity there, a protester basically to heckle mitt romney at a time where he's trying to make, you know, a statement himself about the importance of what happened in new york city back in 2001. but, when you look at the different visuals out of this, did the president check mate mitt romney yesterday? >> did he check mate him? i mean, i don't think so. appearing with rudy giuliani is important. giuliani is a very visible figure on national security back from september 11th, and having his endorsement is of course very important. but i wouldn't call it check mating the president on that, no. >> giuliani, as you bring up, very important to mitt romney. ed, as we talk about mitt romney being in new york city, we have to point out new york's mayor michael bloo

. >>> and mitt romney met yesterday with former new york city mayor rudy giuliani declaring in the middle of this political flap over the killing of osama bin laden of course he would have made the decision to go in and get the world's most wanted man. the question is, will the obama's reelection campaign continue to hammer romney as a man who won't pull the trigger in the situation room. it's "way too early" for this. good morning. i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show that makes the big calls each and every morning. calls like, which foot does this shoe go on, while dressing in the dark? i'm glad you're up with us this morning watching on msnbc or listening on sirius xm radio. shoot me an e-mail or tweet me, let me know what you're doing up at this hour. or do what bryce harper does, we'll read the best responses later in the show. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this wednesday, may 2nd. a lot to tell you about, including news that the escaped blind chinese dissident has now left the united states embassy and china has some tough words for the u.s. on

>>neil: mitt romney is in oklahoma city, oklahoma, and this is a campaign event but you know how thiss. he will be asked questions on this and the president's position. he is my special guest tomorrow, mitt romney, on this and so many other developments that have transpired just in the last hour. also, ron paul, my special guest tonight, the lone surviving opponent in the republican race, opponent in the republican race, tonight. it just makes it easier to go. dulcolax stool softener. make yourself comfortable. [ crunches ] mmm. ♪ [ male announcer ] pringles... bursting with more flavor. [ crunch! ] my new place isn't that far away. it's 15 miles away ! with this droid razr by motorola on verizon 4g lte, we can video chat on skype. you're gonna get lost ! this has gps. well, that makes me feel better. me too. i'll go get two from the back. the droid razr by motorola now only $99.99. hurry in, offer ends may 13th. verizon. >>neil: the president changes his stand on gay marriage, the first united states president to say he is okay with same-sex marriage. romney is not okay with that and

yesterday mitt romney campaigned in oklahoma city with oklahoma governor mary fallon. it was hours after president obama anoujsed his support of same-sex marriage. >> thank you all for coming today. i want to thank chairman panell for hosting us today and all of those who have come to be part of our welcoming team to governor mitt romney to the great state of oklahoma. and it is my great pleasure to welcome governor romney, the next president of the united states, from the great state of oklahoma. >> thank you, governor. [ applause ] >> governor romney, i'm sure you have heard that you are now in the reddest state in the nation. >> congratulations. >> senator john mccain when he ran for president in 2008 carried every single county in the state of oklahoma. so i'm promising that i'm going to do all i can to help you carry every county, every 77 county in the state of oklahoma to help you in your race for the president of the united states. in oklahoma is a great state, we're a very conservative state, governor. we are people who believe in the power of the individual,

coming up in 15 minutes, mitt romney is in new york city with rudy giuliani, marking the one-year anniversarydeath of osama bin laden been but romney and giuliani at odds going into pakistan and taking out bin laden, if given the chance. now that's the same issue that has romney in a heated exchange of words with president obama. plus, i'll talk to a florida lawmaker who has come up with recommendations to change florida's controversial stand your ground law and he's calling on the governor of state to review his ideas that he pull together with the help of law enforcement officials and attorneys. we'll have that coming up. >>> british lawmakers have issued a scathing critique of rupert murdoch. accusing him of ignoring the phone hacking scandal at his tabloid and claiming he's unfit to run a major company. in a sharply worded report, a committee said, quote, rupert and his son janes murdoch's instinct throughout until too late was to cover up rather than seek out wrong zwoog discipline the perpetrators michael isikoff has been following this closely. the murdoch empire has tried to strike ba

mitt romney was campaigning in oklahoma city today when the president spoke. governor romney had this to say. >> my view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman, and that's my own preference. i know other people have differing views. this is a very tender and sensitive topic, as are many social issues, but i-- i have the same view that i've had since-- well, since running for office. >> pelley: though the president weighed in today, this really hasn't been a federal issue. states are passing their own laws. these are the 41 states that have made same-sex marriage illegal. six states and the strict of columbia have passed laws to make it legal. that leaves three states where the issue is in limbo. california passed a law legalizing gay and lesbian marriage, but it's being held up in court right now. we noticed that all of the critical swing states that will decide the presidential election have passed laws against same-sex marriage opinion this decision of the president's is likely to be unpopular with one group of americans that was

city. >>> marking the one-year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden, mitt romney is campaigning today, here in manhattan with former new york city mayor, rudy giuliani. bin laden's death coming about as a major political talking point in the last few days. romney is pushing back against suggestions from the obama campaign that he, mitt romney, would not have gone after bin laden as the president did. >> even jimmy carter would have given that order. >> even jimmy carter would have given that order. meanwhile speaking at news conference with japan's prime minister, president obama reacted to that comment from romney referring the former massachusetts governor's 2000 statement that he quote, wouldn't move heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person. the quote from mitt romney. the president addressed critics who say his administration is putting too much emphasis on the anniversary of the death of osama bin laden. >> i hardly think that you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here. i recommend that everybody take a look at people's previous

they are planning to search the area where tz found. >>> new york city former mayor saying mitt romney's economic record might not hold up against his own but it is still better than the president's list of accomplishments he says. >> maybe it was circumstances or whatever but i had massive reductions in unemployment. had about 8, 10, i think it was 15 percent. which had a growth of i don't knows jobs at 500 thousand. it was a far superior record. >> in 2008 he bashed romney's job creation record as governor. it was only in comparison with what he had accomplished in new york city. let's go over to you. >>> the plane crashes right into the water in san diego, california. the shocking scene all caught on camera. >>> oh my god. oh no. he's going towards the water. he is on the water. >> listen to the ending. the cessna getting dangerously lower to the ground. ven actualitily going into the water. luckily the two men in the plane managed to make it out and swim to the surface where they were rescued nearby boaters. they made mayday calls saying they had lost their engine. >> 500 miles in 42

mitt romney was there. he wasn't making an appeal to students of parents of inner city. romney is letting republicans know he's committed to privatizing education in america and turning a profit on grade school students. it's all about the money. in his new education proposal, romney directs more federal funding for charter schools and digital education and more state control over public education costs. we must provide families with abundant school choice among traditional, public schools, charter and online alternatives. romney doesn't care if the class sizes are overcrowded. more students means more money, to keep the schools in the black, students are another spot on the ledger, another number on the bottom line. it's the romney family way, get a load of this. take the private equity firm solamere capital. romney invested $10 million. the firm's managing partner is his son, tagg romney. he has an investment stakes in ta associates, on thor of several for profit schools. how about that? folks, it isn't about education, about making a dollar. privatizing education takes

but also today, mitt romney got a vote of support from former new york city mayor giuliani who calledney's record on jobs, quote, decent. >>> ahead tonight -- homophobic comments spark tensions in the mid-atlantic. >>> coming up, the remarks by a pastor that had protesters from our area heading south. >>> the over the top wedding proposal that's even catching the attention of pop artist bruno marz. and the cutting edge technology that is changing the lives of our nation's wounded warriors. >>> coming up in just a few minutes on "sports final," we have a first place baseball team in town. the nationals defend their perch atop the n.l. east against the braves. >>> tiger talks legacy in a one on one with dan hellie. and our nights of the roundtable have playoff predictions and weigh in on what the wizards should do next. all that and more tonight on "sports final." that's at 11:35 right after the that's at 11:35 right after the news right here on nbc 4. [ creaking ] [ male announcer ] trophies and awards lift you up. but they can also hold you back. unless you ask, what's next? [ zapping

mitt romney's ties to, well, private equity. the campaign released an ad blaming romney and former firm, boehner capital for the 2001 closing of gst steel in kansas city>> i know how this works, why jobs come and why they go? >> and they were responsible, mitt romney was deeply involved in the influence that he exercised over these companies. >> they made as much money off it as they could and they closed it down and they filed for bankruptcy without any concerns to families or to the communities. >> and can't handle stuff-- >> and joining the panel this week, wall street columnist dan henninger. assistant editor, james freeman and washington columnist kim strassel. >> you spent all week looking into the story the closing of that steel plant in kansas city. why don't you tell us what the facts are. the reality of what really happens? >> it's not really the ad. you have 1993, the steel industry is a wreck. hundreds of thousands have been laid off. companies losing billions of dollars and you have the plant in kansas city which i spoke to someone who was vice-president at the business before and after the bain acquisition. this plant was going to be clo

going live to new york where republican presidential candidate mitt romney is meeting today with new york city firefighters talking about the death of osama bin laden one year later. he's at engine 54 ladder 5 in manhattan which was named the pride of midtown after it lost 15 men on 9/11. it's more than any other fourhouse in new york city. firehouse in new york city. here's former mayor giuliani. >> good afternoon. i'm very honored that governor romney came to in particular this firehouse on the anniversary of the elimination of osama bin laden. this fire hours is of special importance to me and others in not new york city. the place we had our first press conference right here in this spot. and it's a firehouse that has suffered more than most. not only losing

thank you so much. [ applause ] >> republican presidential candidate mitt romney is in southeast virginia today in the city of portsmouth. joined by bob mcdonnell. we'll bring you their remarks at 1:15 eastern. former republican candidate and minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann will reportedly endorse mitt romney at this event. that will be live on c-span. the libertarian party will select their presidential nominee this weekend at the 2012 libertarian national convention in las vegas. 40th anniversary this year. our live coverage of the convention from the red rock resort starts tomorrow at 9:00 eastern with a two-hour debate including former new mexico governor and republican presidential candidate gary johnson. live coverage will continue saturday at noon eastern with the presidential selection process. convention delegates will hear speeches by the candidates and then vote for their party's nominee. that's all live on c-span. >> spend the weekend in oklahoma city with book tv and american history tv. saturday at noon eastern check in on literary life with boorks tv on c-span2 including must read p

it's hard for republicans to accuse president obama of politicizing bin laden when mitt romney stopped by new york cityto op with mr. 9/11, rudy giuliani. they used the first anniversary of bin laden's death to visit a 9/11 fire house. romney chose his words about president obama carefully. >> this is on the anniversary of the day when bin laden finally was taken out and we respect and admire the many people that are part of that. the president that authorized that attack to the intelligence community that worked on it for so many years to identify where he was, and of course, to the members of our armed services. >> where was that audio yesterday? somewhere between yesterday and today the republicans figured out they were playing a losers game politically. mitt romney looked small while republicans criticized the president. the obama camp has decided to be aggressive on national security and keep telling the story. they are putting the president's record out in front and it's working. it would not be surprising if republicans take national security off the table in this election. they're not off to a

city. >>> president obama says if mitt romney is willing to talk about his time at boehner capital, it is fair game for democrats to talk about it too. speaking at a news conference during the nato summit in chicago on monday, the president argued that his opponent's record as a corporate ceo is open to debate. president obama saying a successful career in private equity does not make one fit to run the country's economy. >> my view of private equity is that it is set up to maximize profits and that's not always going to be good for chupts or businesses or workers. and the reason this is relevant to the campaign is because my opponent, governor romney, his main calling card for why he thinks he should be president is his business experience. when you're president as opposed to the head of a private equity firm then your job is not simply to maximize profits, your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot. if your main argument for how to grow the economy is, i knew how to make a lot of money for investor investors, then you're missing what this job is about. >> the

mitt romney needs 38% or more of the vote to win the delegates needed to put him over the top. but we have just learned mitt romney has clenched the republican nomination for president. >>> right now the city of pinol is holding a special meeting to consider severe budget cuts if voters fail to renew a city tax. an 8% tax is set to expire at the end of the year. the city is considering cutting 14 city positions. the city's swim center may also close. >>> the city passed a bill that would limit the pay for state university employees. the measure would ban public pay raises at csu schools for the next 10 years and then limit raises to 10% for the next four. >> there's a balance of what we can pay and what we ought to charge our students and their families. >> reporter: the bill now heads to the assembly, if it passes, and is signed by the governor within the next month the salary cap could go into effect immediately. >> another controversy is surfacing over housing for csu presidents. the university system has reportedly spent more than $2 million renovating homes for campus presidents over the last few years. leland yee says the numbers replace the misplaced priorities of the csu administra

city. it says about mitt romney's leadership on the economy, that he'll be ruthless. to respond, the romney campaign went up with its own ad, what they believe is a bain success story. it's about a company called steel dynamics in indiana that bain essentially helped restart from scratch. >> and it's commencement season. both romney and president obama chose audiences to go right after a red meat message. didn't they? >> it sure did. president obama today was in new york city, speaking at his alma mater, on the campus of his alma mater, columbia, but he was the commencement speaker for the all women's college barnard, and he sounded like a campaign speech, trying to drive up the gender gap. talk about women's issues. he really hopes that helped him. mitt romney on saturday was at the evangelical school in virginia called liberty university. it was a speech as much about talking about his mormon faith and the things they have in common with the evangelical christians, but the loudest applause line came when he talked about how he was for marriage between one man and on

president obama travelled to afghanistan on the anniversary of osama bin laden's death mitt romney travelled to new york cityith former mayor rudy giuliani bringing pizza to a firehouse that lost men on september 11th. >> we respect and admire the people who were part of that from the president who authorized that attack to the intelligence community that worked on it for so many years to identify where he was. i acknowledged that a year ago when this was announced that the president deserved credit for the decision he made. i continue to believe that and would have taken that action myself. >> joining me now is romney supporter and former republican senator norm coleman of minnesota. i noticed a change of tone from what the campaign was saying on sunday and monday and yesterday. fair? the tone changed a little bit? >> obama changed the tone. this is something we all should celebrate. something that brings americans together. obviously the president didn't respond that way. i think huffington quote plitization of this thing despicable. questioned whether romney would have done that. bottom line is mitt romne

it's hard for republicans to accuse president obama of politicizing bin laden when mitt romney stopped by new york cityor a photo op with mr. 9/11, rudy giuliani. they used the first anniversary of bin laden's death to visit a 9/11 fire house. romney chose his words about president obama carefully. >> this is on the anniversary of the day when bin laden finally was taken out and we respect and admire the many people that are part of that. the president that authorized it would not be surprising if republicans take national security off the table in this election. they're not off to a good start. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. does president obama have the right to run on his national security record? text a for yes. text b for no. our blog is there for you waiting from a comment. we'll bring the results later on in the show. i'm joined by the chairman of vote vets.org and an army captain that served in iraq during the occupation from may to september of 2003. good to have you with us tonight. >> thanks. >> is the obama team justified in promoting the president's national secur

city is safer. >> both president obama and mitt romney are sparring over economic data. april reports show that hiring was done for the second straight month. the percentage of americans working or looking for work is the lowest in more than 60 years. president obama focused on the positives, stressing the low unemployment rate of 8.1%. >> only 115,000 net new jobs were created. that was beneath the weather was expected to be. -- what it was expected to be. >> no u.s. president running for reelection has won with unemployment above 8%. today's's news sent stocks plunging. the dow jones closed down 168 points. nasdaq fell and s&p slipped 22 points during reports show that some investors feel the lack in jobs are a sign of a weakening economy. >> the man accused of orchestrating the september 11 a militaryaded to tribunal tomorrow at guantanamo bay on terrorism charges. a military judge is allowing television of the proceedings. the hearing is expected to start 9 a.m. tomorrow. seating is first-come, first- served. you should go to the theater and enter at the road did. it

. >> kind of things mitt romney is advocating that are going to further bankrupt our city. >> if my houses by next door name. >> day one president romney immediately approves the keystone pipeline. day two mitt romney is reminded by his wife ann that he lost to president obama by a landslide. >> if your main argument is i knew how to make a lot of money for investors, then you're missing what this job is about. >> amen, brother. >> john mccain made a terrible, terrible mistake. he was too nice. he didn't want to get into reverend wright. >> republicans don't seem as willing to fight the same way. >> why repudiate people that will fight, you know, fire with fire? >> they seem to have the fighting instinct of mr. snuf l will you have gus. >> joining us live from washington is writer and social activist mar ya dyson and joe williams of politico. good afternoon. joe, watching that interview with sarah palin and sean hannity, they really seem frustrated. it's almost as if one of them wilbur ast facial blood vessel unless mitt romney will start screaming jeremiah wright. >> this is something th