i'm craig melvin in for alex witt.r julian assange emerged from the equadoran embassy in london. we are live in london with more on this story. >> good afternoon, cra. julian assange called on the united states to release private bradley manning, accused of leaking massive amounts of private information which wikileaks published. assange says if man diagnose what he says he did, he's a hero. he came out onto the balcony, cheered by supporters. here is a little bit more of what he had to say. >> as wikileaks stands under threat, so it is the freedom of expression and the help of all our societies, we must use this moment to articulate the choice that is before the government of the united states of america. will it return to and reaffirmed the values, the revolutionary values it was founded on? or will it lurch off the -- off the precipice, dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark. >> but you know the one th

"weekends wi "weekends with alex witt."he plan that revolves around you. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. tap into a single pool of shareable data and add up to 10 different devices, including smartphones and tablets. the first plan of its kind. share everything. only from verizon. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr. >>> headlines making news on the west coast now. the "san francisco chronicle" has hey front page story on the big win for apple in the smartphone suit. a federal jury decided friday that samsung ripped off the technology used by apple to kriet the iphone and ipad. >>> "the los angeles times" has a story entitled china eagerly buying up u.s. assets, how chinese companies are making huge bids for american aviation, energy and entertainment busine business. china is facing a charge economic slowdown at home. >>> in oregon, a local couple's attempts to care for a cemetery. they've been told to stop mowing and planting flowers because their efforts viola

welcome to "week ends with alex witt." alex is off. i'm craig melvin. >>> hunger games versus harry potter. along awaited sparkle. and a test drive on mars. but, we start with front page politics and a passionate plea to paul ryan it seniors in florida. with his mom by his side, he talked a lot about medicare at the largest retire community in florida. promising over and over again that his plan would not change benefits for people close to retirement. >> when i think about medicare, it's not just a program. it is not just a bunch of numbers. it is what my mom relies on. it's what my grandma had. and we have to keep that guarantee. >> nbc's ron mott is there. ron, we listened to the speech and he made it very personal. how did it play down there? >> it played very well. having a 42-year-old vice presidential candidate try to make a pitch on medicare, you need someone to personalize that. so he brought his mom with her hair today. her name is betty douglas. she is a snow bird as he described her. she is here during the cooler days. so w

that's a wrap of this hour of "weekends with alex witt."hour edition of the show at noon eastern. but straight ahead, smart political talk on "up with chris hayes." wa e 'sdr red e. haesem l el'm we d nte he

welcome to a special early edition of "weekends with alex witt." on tap today, serena williams will go for gold. michael phelps will swim the butterfly leg of the men's medley relay, looking for another medal. and teen sensation missy franklin win be chasing gold in the women's relay. 15-year-old katie ledecky won gold on friday. what an accomplishment there. after the u.s. swim team won five more medals last night, the u.s. has a total of 43 medals, 21 of them gold. in second place we have china with 22 run russia with 23. we're going right to kevin tibbles who has the prime spot in london. very good day to you, kevin. i have the competition under way. we can hear the roars of the crowd. what are the big events taking place this morning? >> the crowd is cheering in the stadium, that's why one of the reasons why yesterday was the largest day for attendance at the olympic park. over 200,000 people. they are expecting that again because of the fact there are so many events taking place. the women's triathlon is going on right now. there are numerous

this is "weekends with alex witt." stay with us. hello? the words are going this way-there's no way. oh, the lights came on. isn't technology supposed to make life easier? at chase we're pioneering innovations that make banking simple. deposit a check with a photo. pay someone with an email. and bank seamlessly with our award-winning mobile app. take a step forward... and chase what matters. metamucil uses super hardworking psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model, but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. >>> to front page politics and tropical storm isaac impacting the republican national convention before it even starts. all events scheduled for opening day tomorrow have been delayed with the convention reconvening on tuesday. delegates began arriving today, though. in a new interview, mitt romney attacking the way p po has run his campaign. >> his whole campaign has been about dividing the american people. it's between the hav

welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." alex is off. i'm craig melvin.n with his mother by his side later this morning. how seniors receive him will be crucial because of the controversial budget and medicare plan. ron mott is traveling with paul ryan. ron, what can we expect to hear from him later this morning? >> hey, craig, good saturday morning to you. a big speech for paul ryan, in a very big place, the villages in florida, billed as the world's largest retirement community. one of the residents here, 60,000 folks who live here. paul ryan said the medicare program that he and mitt romney would like to address, they need to change it to keep it. president obama's plan is putting medicare on the track to bankruptcy and insolvency, earlier in the week, he started taking on the issue directly, paul ryan, saying it's a debate that mitt romney and paul ryan wants to have, the country needs to have, and ultimately, paul ryan and mitt romney believe they can win. this has been a whirlwind week forpa for paul ryan. last week he was rolled out as romney's run

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welcome to "weekends with alex witt" i'm richard lui. alex is off today. mitt romney and paul ryan wasting no time getting into full swing of the campaign, kicking off a four battleground state bus tour with an event in ashland, virginia, last night. congressman ryan set the tone for the rest of the campaign, going after president obama and the economy. take a listen. >> we've got a choice of two futures ahead of us. we know that. president obama, with his party firmly in control, the first two years, got almost everything passed into law that he wanted. and now we're living under those policies. now we're witnessing a nation in debt, further in doubt, deeper in despair. >> now president obama's campaign is already hitting back, releasing a new ad attacking paul ryan's budget plan, which campaign manager jim messina says would take the country back to the failed policies of the past. >> put on a plan rewriting the health care system, medicare, social security, our entire tax system. >> i think it would be marvelous if the senate were to pick up paul ryan's

welcome to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui in for alex today. in north carolina before they head to wisconsin later today. while flying to north carolina yesterday, mitt romney talked about the direction of the campaign and the benefits of a running mate. take a listen. >> for us, this is a campaign of ideas and a direction for america. what's america going to be, what kind of nation we're going to be, how are we going to help people across this country have a better future, and having two people talk about that i think is a far more compelling dynamic than being out there on my own. i'm excited. >> meanwhile, president obama's campaign is giving paul ryan no time to settle into his new role. cnn adviser david axelrod came out swinging on nbc's "meet the press" this morning attacking the republicans' economic plan. >> we have more to do not just to deal with unemployment but to rebuild the middle class in this country. and the way to do it is not to give trillions of dollars of new tax cuts to the wealthiest americans, raise taxes on the middle

good morning, everyone, welcome to the special edition of "weekends with alex witt." the announcement is expected three hours from now when mitt romney will hold an event at the uss wisconsin. a seven-term member of congress, paul ryan is the chairman of the house budget committee and senior member of the ways and means committee. joining me right now, nbc news campaign, garrett haake. how did all of this come up last night? >> good morning, alex. the actual news announcement came out 11:15. the campaign sent out a blast e-mail. it will be not be a traditional campaign stop. his reporters and staff members were getting ready to go to bed. folks were caught off guard and everyone went into gear. nbc news tracked down a handful of sources who were able to confirm the announcement. early clues that look more present this morning than 24 hours ago. the backdrop will be the "uss wisconsin." and even little things like the staff members traveling with the candidate with note worthy. traditional he travels with the bare minimum ever staff, might be a testment how budget cons

love the air. [ sneezes ] >>> welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." chard lui in for alex. the last day of the xxx olympiad already in full swing in london, 11:30 a.m. there. london counting down to the world's biggest after-party. tonight's closing ceremony at the olympic stadium will feature more than 4,000 performers, a celebration of british pop culture, is rumored to include the spice girls, the who, plus sup supermodels and comedians. first usa takes on spain in the gold medal game today. it's a rematch of the gold medal game in beijing. team usa players include lebron james, kobe bryant, and carmelo anthony. also today, the front pages of uk papers honored their own gold medal athletes. while commemorating the final day of the games, as well. right now the u.s. leads with 102 medals. 44 of those gold. china coming in second, followed by russia with 78 total. now organizers of the games hope to go out on a new high this weekend. the games themselves set records in the field of attendance, ratings, and sales. nbc's annabelle roberts is live in lon

. >>> welcome back to "weekends with alex witt."ave breaking news to report, that is the dynamic duo you'll see on the campaign trail if all of our sources are correct, one and a half hours from now you'll see mitt romney on the "uss wisconsin" in norfolk, virginia, announcing that paul ryan, wisconsin representative, will be his choice for running for vice president. joining me now, peter alexander in norfolk, virginia. tell me how you found out about this pick because it took a lot of people by surprise, the timing of it, late last night. >> reporter: yeah, alex, it is now confirmed by the campaign. they have put out their app suggesting in fact, confirming that paul ryan is the man who will be the vice president. that happened at 7:00 this morning. overnight if you went to romney/ryan.com, the website was live. that was a good tipoff as well. traveling with this campaign for a four-state battle ground bus tour. we were with several of the top senior advisers and they gave no indication this announcement was coming during our conv

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welcome to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui in for alex today. topping this hour, mitt romney and paul ryan heading to another campaign stop in north carolina before they head to wisconsin later today. while flying to north carolina yesterday, mitt romney talked about the direction of the campaign and the benefits of a running mate. take a listen. >> for us, this is a campaign of ideas and a direction for america. what's america going to be, what kind of nation we're going to be, how are we going to help people across this country have a better future, and having two people talk about that i think is a far more compelling dynamic than being out there on my own. i'm excited. >> meanwhile, president obama's campaign is giving paul ryan no time to settle into his new role. cnn adviser david axeod came out swinging on nbc's "meet the press" this morning attacking the republicans' economic plan. >> we have more to do not just to deal with unemployment but to rebuild the middle class in this country. and the way to do it is not to give trillions of dol

but, first, time for a preview with "weekends with alex witt." >> a stop to that discussion. it approaches the gulf. live reports on the latest path of the storm and how severe it might get. plus, how the storm is affecting plans for the republican national convention. will it steal the headlines from mitt romney for much of the week? the economy, women's vote, medicare and mitt vote, and mitt romney's critical convention speech. we're going to discuss all that with debbie wasserman schultz and kay bailey hutchison. back to you. >> i appreciate it. this isaac thing has be me worked up. so i'll be watching. and thank you, my footnote is ahead. i'm going to talk about why none of us deserve to be in a big box. ♪ [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may

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. >>> welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui. alex is off today. romney's pick for vice president, the headlining topic all morning. >> i think it's a choice that will thrill the most strident voices in the republican party -- the tea party, the social conservatives. i think it's going to be troubling to the mainstream of the american electorate. it may overshadow the actual candidate on some of the most important issues of the day. what do you say? >> i had that problem. i don't think that's the case. i think this is a team that understands the challenges that we face. >> the effort that ryan has put in makes -- in my mind makes him an extraordinarily exciting choice because you now have a national leader who is capable of talking in detail with the american people absome very complicated topics. >> nbc's kristen welker is live at the white house with more on how the republican challenger's decision is shaping the president's strategy and response. kristen, many are saying this is exactly what president obama wanted. >> reporter: right. well, the

plus iconic actress jennifer beales will join me. >>> up next, "weekend with alex witt."ghter. it once stomped a stain with such force, the results could be felt around the world. [ explosion ] [ alarm buzzing ] [ rumbling ] [ people screaming ]

. >>> i'm alex witt.m isaac will become a hurricane and could hit south florida by monday. the still fragile haiti is bracing for a direct hit. lightning sparked wildfires and destroyed homes and buildings. on wall street the dow jones skidded 30 points and the nasdaq gained 6 1/2. now, back to "hardball." >>> welcome back. it may not be true, but mitt romney has no plans to give up his attack on president obama that he's dismantling welfare work requirements and handing checks to people. today his campaign released a statement commemorating the 16th anniversary of president clinton of signing work reform and he accused obama of gutting work requirements. earlier this week they leased the latest ad. >> since 1996 welfare recipients were required to work. this bipartisan reform reduced welfare rolls. on july 12th president obama quietly ended the work requirement gutting health care reform. they say if you want to get more people to work, you don't loosen the requirements, you tighten them. mitt romney's p

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welcome to a special early edition of "weekends with alex witt."ap today, serena williams will go for gold. michael phelps will swim the butterfly leg of the men's medley relay, looking for another medal. and teen sensation missy franklin win be chasing gold in the women's relay. 15-year-old katie ledecky won gold on friday. what an accomplishment there. after the u.s. swim team won five more medals last night, the u.s. has a total of 43 medals, 21 of them gold. in second place we have china with 22 run russia with 23. we're going right to kevin tibbles who has the prime spot in london. very good day to you, kevin. i have the competition under way. we can hear the roars of the crowd. what are the big events taking place this morning? >> the crowd is cheering in the stadium, that's why one of the reasons why yesterday was the largest day for attendance at the olympic park. over 200,000 people. they are expecting that again because of the fact there are so many events taking place. the women's triathlon is going on right now. there are numerous track

. >>> welcome back to an early edition of "weekends with alex witt."elling nbc news that mitt romney will announce paul ryan as his running mate at 9:00 a.m. eastern time today. a seven-term member of congress, paul ryan is the chairman of the house budget committee and senior member of the ways and means committee. joining me now, nbc's david gregory, host of "meet the press." first your gut check. >> a bold pick for sure and risky pick. bold, an attempt by mitt romney to choose someone who he's clearly comfortable with and use to make a very strong statement in the campaign that he wants conservatives in the party concerned about the budget who are fiscally conservative. who can help him draw a bright line between his platte platform and that of president obama. and the risky part, this is a young, sometimes brash republican legislator who can excite the conservative base, but who is also going to gal vannize democrats as well because of views on the budget and medicare. i proposed in his on budget, changing the way medicare operates. the program for

good morning, everyone, welcome to the special edition of "weekends with alex witt."the announcement is expected three hours from now when mitt romney will hold an event at the uss wisconsin. a seven-term member of congress, paul ryan is the chairman of the house budget committee and senior member of the ways and means committee. joining me right now, nbc news campaign, garrett haake. how did all of this come up last night? >> good morning, alex. the actual news announcement came out 11:15. the campaign sent out a blast e-mail. it will be not be a traditional campaign stop. his reporters and staff members were getting ready to go to bed. folks were caught off guard and everyone went into gear. nbc news tracked down a handful of sources who were able to confirm the announcement. early clues that look more present this morning than 24 hours ago. the backdrop will be the "uss wisconsin." and even little things like the staff members traveling with the candidate with note worthy. traditional he travels with the bare minimum ever staff, might be a testment how budget consc