he runs the aspen ideas festival. we'll talk about what the next big game-changing idea may be with walter isaacson. "the wall street journal" report begins right now. >>> here's what's making news heading into a new week on wall street. europe once again ruling the day, but this time a summit with low expectations appear to have overdelivered. leaders in brussels came to several important agreements this week, most importantly bailout funds can now be used to directly stabilize struggling european banks without adding to the country's debt, a move that should help spain and italy's skyrocketing borrowing costs. also countries seeking bailout money would not have to follow stringent austerity rules which could allow for more growth. there was also a move towards a joint banking supervisory body. as always, the devil's in the details, many of which have yet to be worked out. still, the move sent stocks sharply higher at the open on friday, closing out a rough quarter on a strong note. more signs of a rebound in the hou

i'm andrea mitchell live in aspen, colorado. the supreme court used the "t" word and that gave republicans a big opening to label president obama as a tax and spend liberal, or try to. but their only problem is, didn't mitt romney do the very same thing in massachusetts? that's what democrats are asking. chris cillizza is an msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com for our daily fix today. let's talk about this tax versus penalty. where does it all come down? wanted to show a little bit of eric fernstrom, the top advisor from the romney campaign, talking to chuck todd on the daily rundown this morning. >> the governor believes that what we put in place in massachusetts was a penalty and he disagrees with the court's ruling that the mandate was a tax. but again -- >> so he agrees with the president? he agrees with the president that it is not -- he believes that you shouldn't call the tax penalty a tax, you should call it a penalty or a fee or a fine? >> that's correct. >> so how does this play out politically, c

we're live in aspen with the man himself. mike allen.his is "andrea mitchell reports." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. >>> coming up on "news nation" new developments on that deadly storm to strike much of this country. from illinois to new jersey, around two million are still without power and it may take a week for it to come back on. i'll get the very latest from the area's largest utility company in the d.c. area. >>> also, the dnc's p

he runs the aspen ideas festival. we about at the next big game changing idea may be with walter saacson. "the wall street j journal repo" begins right now. >>> th is america's number one fincianews program. "the wall street journal report." now maria bartiromo. >>> here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week on wall street. europe ruling the day, but this time a s low expectations appear to have overdelivered. leaders in brussels came to several important agreements this week, most importaly bailout nds can now be used to directly stabilizetruggling european banks without adding to the country's debt. a move that should help spain and italy skyrocketing borrowg costs. >>> also, countries seeking bailout money would not have to follow stringent austerity rules which could allow for more growth. there wawas also a move towards joint banking supervisory body. but as always, the devil is in the details. many of which have yet to be worked out. still, the move sent stocks sharply higher at the openn fri

we're here in aspen, colorado. in our strategy session joining us former democratic congresswoman jayne harmon now president of the woodrow wilson center in washington. also joining us former homeland security secretary michael chertoff. they're both here and i'm here as well for the aspen institute

i'm andrea mitchell live in aspen, colorado. in our daily fix today, the public is sharply divided over week's supreme court ruling on health care. according to three new polls, although support for the president's health care law has now ticked up slightly since the court's decision last thursday, that advantage comes largely from democrats. the percentage of democrats who now say they have very favorable views of the law is up 16 points since may, up 19 points among self-described liberals. mark murray is nbc's senior political editor and joins me now from washington. mark, let's go through the numbers. you're the expert on polls more than anyone. you have been going through these all day. what are you seeing in this and the new abc news poll about health care and this election campaign? >> the first thing, it is a little bit early in this process. the decision just came out on thursday so these are the first polls that we're really seeing on instant reaction to the health care ruling. as you mention, it shows the public is pr

here at aspen i heard a couple experts speak to that. you will see that they are saying now they're not going to implement it and over time they're going to. remember, it took arizona some 20 years i guess to implement medicaid. you're going to see a gradual shift. this is a good thing for people who don't have health care, a good thing for all of us. it's going to lower our debt and or deficit, as you know i think -- well, i'll let the experts speak to the exact amount but it's a positive thing and i think the governors who say they're not for it right now ultimately will be. >> let me ask about the convention. are you the chairman of the democratic convention. already we have heard from the west virginia delegation except for of course jay rockefeller, but joe manchin, the other senator, and the congress members not going to the convention. there's very little support in west virginia for president obama. claire mccaskill in a tough race in missouri, not going to the convention. what does this say when leading democrats do not want to

i'm wolf blitzer in aspen, colorado. you're in "the situation room." >>> they're not the headlines mitt romney's campaign was hoping to see as the candidate met britain's prime minister today. romney sparked an uproar with remas about london's readiness for the olympic games and promptedprompt ed pointed rebuke against himself. jim acosta is in london traveling with romney right now. what's going on with the republican candidate? what happened? >> reporter: wolf, earlier today mitt romney told british leaders he's hoping to take in an olympic swimming event during his time here in london. but with no pool in sight he's making some waves of his own. as mitt romney chatted up the olympics in meeting after meeting with former and current british leaders, the london media were already off to the races with comments the gop contender made about the city's preparations for the games. >> you know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out. >> reporter: in an interview with nbc, romney noted some of london's problems in g

i'm wolf blitzer in aspen, colorado. you're in "the situation room." >>> but we begin with new developments here in colorado involving the colorado theater massacre. a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation tells cnn police and the fbi have discovered a package in the university of colorado mail room that appears to have been mailed by the suspected shooter, james holmes. cnn's ed lavandera is in aurora for us. ed, what do we know about this package? >> reporter: well, we're still trying to gather information on what exactly is inside that package, wolf. but as you mentioned that law enforcement official telling cnn that on monday police and fbi discovered a package that was apparent apparently sent by james holmes, the 24-year-old suspected gunman. now it's unclear obviously if this package was indeed sent by him, it was clearly sent before he was taken into custody. it arrived at some point on monday at the university mail room. we've also been told by hospital officials over the last couple of days this

i am wolf blitzer in aspen, colorado.n room." [ gunshots ] >>> syrian rebels fighting to the death to take control of the country's second largest city, the battle for aleppa could be decisive in the battle with the assad regime. look at this report filed on the rebels and what they're up against. >> reporter: syrian rebel fighters show off captured weapons of war. the largest weapons yet in rebel hands. a vehicle mounted mortar that fires giant 120 millimeter rounds. an armored personnel carrier, and this mounted on a pickup. this has gotten use in battle. a couple weeks ago, i shot down a helicopter, says this bus driver, now a rebel. moments later a helicopter flies high overhead. >> we're looking at a helicopter circling over this town now, and hearing gunfire, and this is what scares the fighters the most. this is what has been killing the most rebels that we've come across, the most casualtiecasua. this came from aleppa. they say they're fighting for freedom from the assad regime and succeeded pushing government for

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we're here in aspen, colorado.trategy session joining us former democratic congresswoman jayne harmon now president of the woodrow wilson center in washington. also joining us former homeland security secretary michael chertoff. they're both here and i'm here as well for the aspen institute security forum. more on that coming up today and tomorrow. but let's talk a little bit about what happened. an interesting quote and congress harmon, i want to throw it out to you first. this is from the mom of the denver muslim community. here's what he said. i'll put it up on the screen. he said if my name is ibrahim or mohamed and i order a gun or that much information on the internet, i think within a few hours of the delivery the fbi and the cia is at my house. is there some sort of double standard going on here? you know what's going on at homeland security. what would you say to him? >> well, i certainly hope there's not a double-standard. it's a few bad apples who are non-muslim and muslim, but we don't have enough monit

i'm wolf blitzer in aspen, colorado.om." >>> they're not the headlines mitt romney's campaign was hoping to see as the candidate met britain's prime minister today. romney sparked an uproar with remarks about london's readiness for the olympic games and promptedprompt ed pointed rebuke against himself. jim acosta is in london traveling with romney right now. what's going on with the republican candidate? what happened? >> reporter: wolf, earlier today mitt romney told british leaders he's hoping to take in an olympic swimming event during his time here in london. but with no pool in sight he's making some waves of his own. as mitt romney chatted up the olympics in meeting after meeting with former and current british leaders, the london media were already off to the

. >>> i'm wolf blitzer in aspen, colorado. this week, some of the world's top experts on fighting terrorism gathered here in colorado for the aspen institute security form. i had a chance to conduct the first-ever public in-depth interview with the u.s. navy admiral who planned and executed the raid that killed osama bin laden. our discussion was extraordinary, candid, and at times even funny. we're going to play part of it throughout the hour. admiral william mccraven may not be a household name, but as you're about to see, he's a genuine u.s. hero. we always think of, in recent years, of course, at least in the past year, with admiral m mccraven, as the orchestrater, the architect of the raid that killed osama bin laden. and you know, we've all read a lot about it. i know peter bergen is here, he's written a whole book about it, an excellent book about it. but this is the guy who's sitting right here, who had the guts to tell the commander in chief, we should do it, let's do it, and when you ordered that raid, and when you s

alliance data aspen stek and worldwide.alliance data first. >> many think it's private label credit card company. they do that but all about data. we think the ability to influence consumer behavior is a big opportunity. we're just getting started in that area and these guys a key provider not only behind private label but data analytics for major credit companies and corporations. >> tell our viewers about aspen tech. >> aspen technologies anything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, got new management in there. this took a lot longer than we thought to work its way out, leading provider of software to the process industry. chemical industry, pharmaceutical industry, petroleum industry, gaining market share and making money, stocks poised to go to 30. >> aci worldwide. >> here is another one. one thing i said intelligently a long time ago, maybe the only one, never underestimate the power of bad management. it was awful. they got new management. they have turned the company around, leading provider of software to the

and we had in congress or in the senate, we had peter dominic and byron rogers and wayne aspen dal who was considered this mega power house, never met a water dam he didn't like and on every kind of project you could think of. colorado river base sin, arkansas this, colorado that. he was considered one of the most powerful people there as the chairman of the interior committee. and we had done bratsman and frank abbotts. so that was 1970 and we were the second most conservative delegation voting in the house. but it fit with joe coors and that's how the world saw us. all of those young hopeaholics that moved in. there were so many of them, that the permanent settlers here didn't have time to encircle them and tell them to chill out. they all came in and had selected colorado by choice. they thought it was the greatest place on the planet and they were going to make it. they were really going to make it a wonderful place to live and they were going to follow all of these things that people had talked about in the '60s. so the big rumble started in 1970 when craig barnes decided to run a

the aspen institute sponsors this. it's the third time they've done it.ng exercise in sort of taking d.c. outside the beltway and coming out to where current officials, former officials, kind of intermingling with members of the public, members of the press, and they talk about the current issues of the day. this is going on for the next four days. we're very happy to tell you that cnn's security clearance blog is a cosponsor of this event this year. if you are interested in olympic security or what's going on right here in the u.s., we encourage you to go to cnn.com/security clearance because we'll be live blogging from here and putting up all the stories and news that breaks. also tonight wolf blitzer is launching this off and he is interviewing admiral william mccranm mccraven. that's something you don't want to miss. >> thank you so much. >>> we are learning more about the man called a serial infector accused of infecting patients with hepatitis c. he worked in eight states, new hampshire, michigan, maryland, new york, arizona, georgia, and kansas and

enough to know he was a not on his way to california, nor would he settle on a local town such as aspen or pennsylvania where a brother lived and where he would be most vulnerable but would choose instead the security and anonymity provided by a large city, such as pittsburgh, philadelphia, or new york. that is where they should look, he said. but ashby's efforts in philadelphia had drawn a blank as had kline's. masse also suspected banks had the support of someone who knew the preferred way of leading to california and was feeding him this information. banks were using stamps designed to throw them off the track. he has found means, masse observed, of having an imperfect stamp put on his letter. not only was the stamp imperfect whatever the hell that means but the letter was headed steam ship without giving the name of the ship. masse suggested he contact the post officer at port royal to find out if the stamps were legitimate. others who buck hired him to recapture banks were convince head was headed to his brother's home in western pennsylvania. the idea was not that far-fetched. if

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one of the many questions being asked at a conference of top security officials in aspen.se in attendance, michael hayden, cia director for george w. bush, his thoughts on everything from cybersecurity to syria and the threats against america, next. [ male announcer ] if you have to take care of legal matters. legalzoom has an easy and affordable option. you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support, backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. >>> syria is in chaos. terrorism remains a constant threat worldwide and warfare is increasingly being waged with computers, from hundreds, thousands of miles away. is this the u.s., though, prepared to deal with these kinds of dangers? that is precisely what some of the most top-level national security officials and experts are discussing right now in colorado at the aspen security forum, including general michael hayden, the former cia director appointed under george w. bush, speaking there today. general hayden, it is a pleasure to have you on. welcome, sir. tha

and joining me now from aspen is former u.s. ambassador to iraq christopher hill.g, ambassador. nice to see you. let's talk about syria. do you think the u.s. should be there, should be involved there in any way? >> well, i think the u.s. should be extremely involved diplomatically. i know we are working in the u.n. i think it's very important that we get extremely involved, because this syria situation is qualitatively different from what we saw in libya and elsewhere. i mean, this is a situation that really could kind of metastasize to other countries as well. this is not just about syria, this is about sunni, this is about shia, it's about muslim brotherhood, and there's a lot to be concerned about. and i think it's very important that we get behind whatever political arrangements people can come up with and see if we can make those stick. >> you know, you look at some of the actions that the u.s. has taken, and it seems as though the u.s. is picking and choosing where to go. i mean, the u.s. military was actively involved helping the libyan people against moamm

i'm andrea mitchell live in aspen, colorado.n our daily fix today, the public is sharply divided over last week's supreme court ruling on health care. according to three new polls, although support for the president's health care law has now ticked up slightly since the court's decision last thursday, that advantage comes largely from democrats. the percentage of democrats who now say they have very favorable views of the law is up 16 points since may, up 19 points among self-described liberals. mark murray is nbc's senior political editor and joins me now from washington. mark, let's go through the numbers. you're the expert on polls more than anyone. you have been going through these all day. what are you seeing in this and the new abc news poll about health care and this election campaign? >> the first thing, it is a little bit early in this process. the decision just came out on thursday so these are the first polls that we're really seeing on instant reaction to the health care ruling. as you mention, it shows the public is

. >>-- aspen forum in colorado. >> marco rubio was on his way from las vegas -- las vegas 2 when the plane had to make an emergency landing. speak by telephone at rally for mitt romney. >> a woman is counting her blessings after an suv plow .ight through her home a 21-year-old man hit four before driving into home early friday morning. sleeping at the time. the home was heavily damaged. the driver phasis reckless driving charges. flood a blocked their people did not stop them. >> we will show you what >> we told you about the severe flooding in china last week. take a look at these determined people. to theird not get because the bridge had washed out. they found a rubber hose to get to the other side. >> look at those waters. >> determination is one way to describe it. is a another way. you live,ng on where all courtw nothing at of boards of an inch of rain. inch ofwards of an rain. this is all i can find. frederick county, montgomery county. this is not severe, but this is something with quite a bit of in a short period of time. otherwise, outside, is quiet and dry. breakare beginn

. >> speaking of which, mitt romney was busy enjoying the rarefied airs in aspen, colorado. he did respond to the move in a radio sper view on the john frederick show. >> what the the president's proposing is therefore a massive tax increase on job creators and on small business. small businesses are overwhelmingly being taxed not at a corporate rate, but at the individual tax rate. that will be another kick in the gut to the middle class in america. >> right, so a tax cut is another kick in the gut to the middle class. okay, if you say so, mr. romney. but the president did pick a choice moment with today's statement just as romney and friends seemed to be staging their own version of lifestyles of the rich and famous. today, romney is taking his caravan up to aspen after leaving his lake side estate to hobnob in the hamptons on sunday. yes, there was a $50,000 per person fund-raiser at the college of david koc hrk. with protesters storming the beach, but it was those occupying the range rovers awaiting entry who offered some of the most arresting and boldly transparent stat

i'm wolf blitzer in aspen, colorado.he situation room." >>> but we begin with new developments here in colorado involving the colorado theater massacre. a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation tells cnn police and the fbi have discovered a package in the university of colorado mail room that appears to have been mailed by the suspected shooter, james holmes. cnn's ed lavandera is in aurora for us. ed, what do we know about this package? >> reporter: well, we're still trying to gather information on what exactly is inside that package, wolf. but as you mentioned that law enforcement official telling cnn that on monday police and fbi discovered a package that was apparent apparently sent by james holmes, the 24-year-old suspected gunman. now it's unclear obviously if this package was indeed sent by him, it was clearly sent before he was taken into custody. it arrived at some point on monday at the university mail room. we've also been told by hospital officials over the last couple of days this is something

the scariest airport is reported lay aspen in colorado. >> i always think the pilots are extremely careful. >> you get to see the beautiful skyline end the lovely -- >> i love reagan national taking off. speaking of beautiful the weather is spectacular. an elementary school in montgomery county, it has been a beautiful day all day long. here is comfortably dry. good stuff for july. it will change starting tomorrow as a warm front roles in. 86 degrees in quantico. 85 degrees in bowie. the winds will turn more southerly and that will draw in heat and moisture. 88 and 72 the highest level at rated national airport. 70's, mostly in the mid 80's in the metro area. up to 83 in hagerstown. 81 degrees in martinsburg. it looks good. as far as what is happening in other parts of the country, he all over the place but nothing dramatic. syracuse a little toasty at 91 degrees. the elevation in nashville, 69. also cloudy and rainy. over all he will start building. you cannot tell from this map but it is building and will bill. once the warm front opens the door and we start to see high- pressure build a

. >>> rite rite heads to aspen, colorado for a private fundraiser today. -- mitt romney heads to aspenor a fundraiser. protesters were nearby when attended a fundraiser in the hamptons. he's scheduled to speak at the naacp convention in houston wednesday and will attend a fundraiser thursday with former vice president dick cheney. >>> jane king is live at the new york stock exchange with the business report. >>> good morning. mexican cocaine trafficking cartel used bank of america to launder money according to the fbi which says the money from that cocaine extortion as well as bribery was used to buy racehorses. the bank was not accused of any wrongdoing. deal news, campbell soup buying -- [ unintelligible ] well point agreeing to buy amerigroup to become the top private manager of medicaid programs in the u.s.. negative overnight the market up at the moment dow down 50 points. bloomberg index a little higher. global it spending may grow faster than previously forecast up 3% this year. smartphone maker htc third straight drop in profit and facing more competition from apple and samsung

they were flying to aspen colorado from utah city and everyone who knew the couple. >> this was a fellow who cared more about quality than he did about profit. >> right now the city does not know what will happen with any of the current projects peter was working on. one of the couple's three adult children is working on bringing their parents' bodies homes. >>> it was a training attack, sewing needles were found from on a flight from amsterdam to the u.s. one passenger was hurt but refused medical treatment. they stopped serving the sandwiches after the needles were discovered. no other passengers were injured -- passengers were injured. >>> and what is happening in berkeley that the city hopes will change its reputation among tourists? . >>> he was in a coma until sunday when his mother told doctors to remove him from life support and donate his organs. nobody has been arrested for the beating. they are offering rewards for any information leading to an arrest. >> yesterday's strike led to the cancellation of nine criminal trials. several similar cases were also affected. at issue is a

. >> you missed us at aspen. >> i missed you at the food and wine class in aspen.n't have high plans for this. >> i've got confidence in you. there's only one gold medal winner here so someone gets the silver. what you're doing is taste each wine and decide what country you think it's from. >> we have the flags. >> which is almost impossible because -- >> tell us about the first one. >> first one, sparkling, made from a combination of peinot an chardonnay. >> i will say the usa. california. sparkling. >> i will go with spain because of no reason whatsoever. >> what is it? >> france. >> no. i said america. >> but you put the french flag out. >> that's what i meant. i said red, white and blue. that's what i meant. >> my god. >> next wine. slightly sweet like, you know -- >> i know. that's definitely from australia. >> which one is germany? i don't want to make a fool of myself again. >> that's germany. >> kathie lee wins. german risling. >> is this rigged? >> this is one of the things they try to prevent in the olympics, rigged games. next one, it's a chardonnay. cou

. >> from new hamp to the country house to the hamptons, now in aspen.how we're determining the president. >> cenk: absolutely. they don't have time sometimes to go to wisconsin or they don't have time for this or that, but they always have time for the hamptons. >> and aspen. >> cenk: the other thing that happened today, karl rove announcing a $25 million ad campaign. this is what the money buys you. let's take a look at one of their ad. >> announcer: miracle miracle has a lot of bad excuses for the economy. >> things we could not control. >> you go to the airport, a and you're using a kiosk. >> we have been lazy over the last couple of decades. >> announcer: but obama never blames washington's skyrocketing debt. >> cenk: is that going to work? has president obama done a good job framing mitt romney. >> or too much too early. this is a very early stage in the campaign, the kind of thing you put into people's minds later on in the campaign. so yeah to that extent i don't think it's going to work right now. you have to remember there are going to be thing

they were flying to aspen, colorado over the weekend when their plane went down in utah. the service will be at 1:00 p.m. on saturday in danville. >>> leaders worked with crews fighting the robbers fire on protecting tribal areas. a leader went over sensitive areas with a cal fire official. they are working with that tribe to try and identify areas at risk and then create an action plan. >> the neighborhood consists of different villages and those villages span from 8-10,000 years to the present. >> so far the robbers fire burned more than 2600 acres. it is 80% contained. officials expect to have full containment by saturday. >>> fans of bat man are lining up. and some are paying more than $100 to get a first glimpse of the new movie. new at 6:00, ktvu's paul chambers is live where many are not paying the big money but waiting in a long line. >> reporter: bat man, he is the star of the night and the newest is bane. this is a huge deal. the dark night will rise tonight. there is a line outside of people waiting for the film. not too many outside right now, there is about 5

when you talk about the optics of all this, i wonder if it is a problem for mitt romney, who's in aspen today and who was in the hamptons over the weekend. i don't know if you saw this quote, it's getting an awful lot of quotes on twitter and the blogosphere at one of the hampton fund-raiser, hamptons evokes this rich folk kind of image. she said -- again, she wouldn't give her name. i don't think the common person is getting it. nobody understands why obama is hurting them. is that the kind of stuff that plays into essentially mitt romney's worst nightmare of an image? >> i think it does. what we're going to see is most people in america already know who they're voting for. we're down to 10% of voters undecided and people that don't watch our program every day. low information, don't follow politics very closely. they follow images very carefully. when romney is jet skiing or on vacation a lot, that kind of thing, this is not helpful for him. he's trying to appeal to voters worried about their own economic conditions. i don't think these messages help him very much. >> let me bring in

joining us now, two guests, clark kent irvine is with the aspen institute's homeland security programalso a former inspector general over at the department of homeland security. also joining us, steve kall. he's president of the new american foundation and a staff writing at "the new yorker," also a best-selling author. guys, thanks very much for coming in. young the u.s. is really safer now that bin laden is dead? >> well, it's a complicated question, wolf. there's no question that the killing of bin laden was a huge victory, cut off the head of the snake, and a great retaliation for 9/11. but there's no question that there are affiliates in yemen, somalia, and west africa are on the march and they pose a potential threat to the homeland. likewise, we're concerned about lone wolves. the aurora colorado, not far from here, incident that happened haas week, could easily have been a terror attack by a lone wolf or a terrorist. so the threat picture is more complicated now than at any time in a long time and so there's a lot of work to be done. >> are you surprised that the number two al

we will be live from the aspen ideas festival right here in a few moments with a big cast.e've got jane harmon from the woodrow wilson center, plus i will talk to ron howard about andy griffith. all that and more on "andrea mitchell reports," next. i stepped on the machine, and it showed me the pressure points on my feet and exactly where i needed more support. i had tired, achy feet. until i got my number. my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotics number. now i'm a believer. you'll be a believer, too. learn where to find your number at drscholls.com. we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. >>> right now on "andrea mitchell reports," a nation divided. americans are sharply split on the suprem

. >>> mitt romney -- heads to aspen. >> he's at a private campaign fundraiser today back on the campaignrail this week after a week on vacation. protesters were nearby when attended a fundraiser with east -- with new york's elite. he's scheduled to speak at the naacp convention in houston. >>> finally, relief from the sweltering heat for millions back east. cooler temperatures come with a price. violent round of storms. tahman bradley has the latest. >> reporter: overnight temperatures finally fell across the country providing much needed relief after a historic heatwave. extreme weather triggering severe storms is expected as the cold air smacks into hot air this thunder clap, at last night's game sent players and umpires rushing for cover. 2,000 record highs set since july 1st. 46 people have died nationwide because of the heat. it was so hot over the weekend in washington, d.c. the tires of a jet sunk into the melting tarmac at reagan national airport. 9 heat is blamed for this manhole explosion in new york. relief -- little consolation. >> we are angry is we can see people about us i

still -- >> the lucky ones had portable stop signs standing in like this one on veers mill road in aspen hill. >> do you trust the other guy? >> um, i guess. >> what is helping really is officers out there in the boiling sun and they are doing a great job. >> despite endless warnings to treat dark intersections as four-way stops, many motorists simply breeze through intersections like this one. meanwhile, busy trying to restore power and traffic sanity this pepco crew in takoma park. >> all right, so i have seen the pepco guys out. we have seen the tree crews out. some good news i have to report to you a few minutes ago. i saw the first out of town power crew cruise by. it said fpl on the truck. i believe that's florida power and light. so that's my first indication out here in the field that the cavalry is beginning to arrive. so, hopefully they will step it up and get lights back online for traffic tomorrow. reporting live in rockville, scott broom, 9news now. >> i thought you were going to say the lights came back on, but we aren't that lucky yet. >> not that lucky. thanks, scott. com

nicky edwards is a vice president of the aspen institute. he was a republic an congressman from oklahoma for 16 years and is the former chair of the republican house policy committee. mickey is a distinguished educator, regular political commentator, and columnist and has authored several books. his latest book is also due out this summer and its title is "the parties versus the people: how to turn republicans and democrats into americans." you can see why i wanted to have them both here with us tonight on this stage to have a dialogue with all of us. before i bring them to the stage, though, i'd like to share a clip of each of them in action. we're going to see two very short pieces. an excerpt from a speech mickey edwards gave in october of last year at an event entitled "the constitution, democracy and unintended consequences." then we're going to see jackie salat appearing on "fox and friends" last summer in the midst of the debt crisis. so give us a moment and we're going to have a look. >> democracy is about process. it's not about pol

he has events today in aspen, colorado, and took in a huge haul over the weekend.tended a swank fund-raiser in the hamptons yesterday where totals are expected to top almost $4 million. and then just this morning, his campaign announced romney and the rnc, they had raised $106 million just last month. also the numbers just coming in this morning. the obama camp saying they raised $71 million in the same month, june. joining me is nbc's peter alexander. quet might be in the next four months, will we see these numbers sort of even out? >> it's a good question. president obama's team has made it very clear that they need the help from their donors, that he would be the first can dated incumbent to not be able to beat his challenger opponent in terms of fund-raising haul right now. the question for republicans, clearly, as you saw the manicured grass at those homes in the hamptons, a series of fund-raisers last night where they raised approaching $4 million. as you noted. the question is, can those individuals giving to romney now, the republican power brokers, busines