today's opening session will focus on nebraska's governor and nga chair dave heineman's initiative, growing state economies. >>> in washington first lady michelle obama welcomes winners of the smithsonian's cooper-hewitt national design award to the white house. they recognize extraordinary contributions in ten categories including fashion, interior, and landscape design. >>> and happy birthday to actor harrison ford. he turns 70 years old today. >>> all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and more as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." >>> and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. in a "today" exclusive savannah talk with former president bill clinton about the economy and the upcoming election, and the country act zac brown band rocks the plaza as part of the summer concert series. >>> and 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 d

they opened the meeting and highlighted the challenges facing state government and governor dave heinemandent obama to make tough policy decisions. virginia governor bob mcdonnell hosted the event. this is from the old capitol building in williamsburg. >> welcome to williamsburg. i hope everybody will get a chance to see why that rich history of the virginia, 405 years old now, is still alive and well. i am delighted to be the host governor for this national governors' association conference and i am delighted to be joined by the chairman of the national governors association , dave heineman of nebraska and vice-chairman, jack markell of delaware. you will hear from him shortly. this place is the old house of virginia. has beenerally history made. since 1607 when 144 brave men and boys landed at jamestown, virginia, they began the greatest experiment in human freedom and free enterprise and democracy i think the world has ever known. we are excited about the rich history still being alive in virginia. in 1619, the settlers first started what would become the oldest continuing legislative

dave heineman in nebraska is doing just that. we love to talk to him hear about that. lly we will. governor heineman from nebraska. bill: 25 past the hour now. there is no end in sight to our jobs cries and the rest of the modern world for that matter. that is the latest finding from one of the world's leading economic organizations. it puts the average unemployment rate across its 34 member-states including the u.s. at 7.9%. that number would be a lot higher if you factor number of people who stopped looking for a job all together. cheryl casone from fox business network is here. good morning to you. member-states, canada, italy, korea, spain, u.s., all over the modern world. you find one thing especially alarming in this. what is that? >> reporter: the projection this paris-based organization came up with. this is a very extensive survey. as you mentioned 34 member countries the united states being one of them. particularly i dug into the numbers they were looking at for the united states and that's where i find this is really scary number. 7.4% unemployment by the en