his father, george romney, ran himself in 1968. but dropped out when he slipped and said he had been brainwashed by the generals in a visit to vietnam. second, is mitt romney driven by ideology or philosophy? and third, did he have a big career in business to build a life for himself? or was it also always a foundation for politics? neil swidey, you're on the spot. you've covered him for years for the globe. let's get to some basics here. i grew up knowing a lot of us here with george romney who ran for president. looked like a real contender. and then he had that comment about the generals having brainwashed him into supporting the war. how much of the son is driven by the old man's failure? >> i think it's enormous. i think george romney forms the central axis in mitt romney's life and when you see him follow his father's footsteps from business leader to governor to presidentialas prant. i was shocked, he had never seen the brainwashed interview. i showed it to him a few years ago when i was doing a profile of it and to watch his

if mitt romney turns out like his father george we will all be blessed. george romney was great. the fact of the matter is mitt romney in 2007 to 2008, 2011 to 2012, thousands of campaign appearances, the most virulent anti-illegal immigration person ever never once mentions that his father was born in mexico and his grandfather is born in mexico. he is a hypocrite. >> bill: now we go off the rails. >> how do you talk about illegal immigration of mexicans and you don't say. >> bill: look, my people are are from ireland and i don't like what the ira did. >> i hear you are from ireland all the time. your people are from ireland all the time. how you can talk about all these mexicans and never mention that your father is one of them and your grandfather is one of them. >> bill: you always get hysterical. >> i will tell you i'm not hysterical. who knew? don't you wish he had mentioned it once or twice? >> bill: okay. >> i understand these mexican immigrants because my father was one. >> bill: you are puerto rico >> congress and the president poised to raise the debt another $1.2 tril

if george romney shot from the hip, his son before he shoots the all carefully studies the target, linesbarrel just right and might even fire a few practice rounds. mitt romney who sought shortcomings of his father's approach has often been more inclined to identify the consequences of what he wants than figure out how to get there. boy you it sounds like exactly what you just described with his time at bain. >> well, you know, george romney famously, his presidential hopes were dashed when he had one sentence on television he said i have been brainwashed by the generals of vietnam, lost his presidential camp neighbor 1968. mitt's sister quoted in the book saying that, as a result of that, that affected mitt, that he is more cautious, more scripted. had this also flies why romney doesn't connect well some people, he comes across sometimes as wooden and robotic, one of his greatest challenges in running for the presidency. >> sounds like you are painting a picture here of a guy always concerned what other people think. >> right. this is one of the key questions about him what are his core

and interestingly, if you listen to that clip, you're reminded of that george romney, mitt romney's fatheresidential candidate, would have been a poster child for the dream act, which mitt romney candidate, now opposes vociferously, and could potentially be a problem for him, obviously, with the latino voters. but it's interesting to hear george romney describe very precisely what happened to him when he was brought back to the united states at the age of 5. >> and mike, when george romney was running for president, did the question of his birth, of his legitimate right to run for president, come up? he was born on foreign soil, claiming american citizenship. which by all records, indicate was a legitimate claim of american citizenship. >> our research shows that the question did come up, but before it became an issue of national discussion, we all remember what happened. we made the famous statement of having been brainwashed into a hawkish position about vietnam, and that brainwashing statement eventually derailed his candidacy's pursuit of the presidency, which nixon won later this issu

number one, you hear the obama white house talking about george romney, mitt's father, who did release 12 years of tax returns. the second is, this is the first most direct engagement the white house has made of the presidential candidates, of mitt romney, from the white house briefing room, carney, before, had made this decision, say, well, when you ask him a campaign question, ask the campaign, not going to get into presidential politics now. not so much. here's why. finally, for the first time, president obama's re-election campaign is requesting ad rates for a potential and significant tv ad buy in key battleground states, also on the re-election state, arizona, michigan and minnesota are in this grouping. also, we learned a little bit more about this summer's democratic convention. it will be three days and not four. going to take place at charlotte's bank of america stadium, not exactly the name the obama campaign would like to have on all these programs, 73,000 seat venue is home to of the carolina panthers. as the president prepares for his third state "state of the u address,

aside from the political science angle, george romney's citizenship status and whether that would have sur sooifvived a challenge, the issue is immigration. >> obviously, they have a different point of view than does candidate mitt right now. he's in opposition to the dream act and supports a border fence and his cousins say that doesn't make sense at all. there has to be a way because it's important to people find a way to work, and they don't think their cousin has the right point of view. that's a big issue. >> couldn't you make the case the family tree is an aspect of the dream act? >> absolutely. his father could be the poster boy for the dream act. >> mike, thank you. later in the broadcast, by the way, the film footage he we saw today for the first time since 1967 from the nbc news archives of romney's father, george, and the resemblance to his son in more than just looks. still to come here tonight, a story that started just as we arrived in haiti to cover the earthquake. walt wait until you see where it took us. we visit a remarkable american family and the two little girls th

george romney said one year could be a fluke. gingrich said no, i'm going to do one year. et the standard. there were so many answers that romney could have had. he was having a good night. he was speaking strongly. with passion. then he ran in the tax issue. absolutely incomprehensible. >> bret: he was on the trail, romney was today, a.b., saying that the newfound transparency by gingrich should lead him, the former speaker to call for a release of the ethics report during his ethics charges too. little, too late. does it stick? what about that play? >> too little, too late today. for south carolina. i understand why he wants to fight fire with fire, makes sense. he could have had surrogates doing at it week ago. other thing about the tax record, not only is it inexcusable he didn't have an answer for it, there are bombs in there. such a gift to democrats we can only do it once. he is worrying everybody about what is in there. >> bret: last word. >> i mean if you are calling on gingrich to release ethics files. it's not that he wants or expect them to be released but he is

what you're about to see is george romney, mitt romney's father, a former auto executive, governor of michigan and presidential candidate himself, defending his own wealth and status and success in a sidewalk encounter that gets heated in chicago. >> i've been poor. i worked from the time i was 12. my parents were driven out of old mexico when i was only 5. my people were revolutionary refugees. they had to be fed by the united states government and housed by the united states government. i know what poverty is. i've been up through it. >> it's an amazing moment we discovered we had in our archives. it mentioned a story we are debuting later tonight on "rock center," the romneys of mexico, the members of the extended mitt romney family who are mexican citizens, and how they are watching all of this going on in the gop presidential race. again, that's tonight on "rock center" at 10:00, 9:00 central. >>> there is more political news to report tonight. it comes from the west wing. there's been a change at the top there. our chief white house correspondent and political director chuck tod

i think tfit was a tradition th was initiated by george romney. >> perhaps george romney paid a fairer share of his wealth back in 1968. let's bring in our panel. david corn and msnbc perry bacon. good afternoon. david, isn't it becoming easier to understand why mitt romney offers a $10,000 bet on the debate stage. he argues if you shouldn't run for election if you have a mortgage to pay and why he likes firing people because these comments come from the psychology of a man who is worth more than $200 million and makes $374,000 a year from speeches. >> i don't know. i'm shocked that mitt romney acts like a rich guy. he's not in the top 1%. i haven't done the math, but i'm guessing it's the.001% .001%. first he tried to duck and finally had to answer the question about his tax returns. he couldn't just say, yes. we might, we intend to. other people have done it that way. all he have to say is i've made a lot of money and i'm going to release my tax returns like my daddy did. he just couldn't bring himself to say yes. >> he can't. >> we've had a lot of exposure already and i've gone hunt

. >> i think it was a tradition that was nominated by then presidential candidate george romney. >> that's what i'm going to do. >> romney seemed a little rattled. >> it was clear in my mind he was uncomfortable answering it. >> will he end up releasing those tax returns by april and what will he end up releasing, one year, five year, ten years' worth. >> we know this guy has cash. come on. >> and i get speaker fees from time to time, not very much. >> not very much, that not very much amounted to about $349,000 a year. >> he just showed the old romney we've seen time and time again. >> he's the total 1% package. >> if you don't run chris christie, romney will be the nominee. >>> today, democrats announced that president obama's convention speech in charlotte, north carolina, on september 6th has been upgraded from the time warner cable arena to the 74,000-seat bank of america stadium. this will be the president's second open air stadium presidential nomination acceptance speech. sources close to god report that he was inundated today with republican prayers for rain in charlotte on the ev

in the crowd, i caught up with george romney, son no. 3. -- josh romney, son number 3.e is looking relaxed. >> he has a lot of energy. he likes being out here. he loves the energy of the crowd and the enthusiasm building in iowa over the last few months. i think it looks good. >> are you concerned about the threshold he does not seem to make it over, the enthusiasm deficit, not being able to excite the base? >> you look at the new hampshire polls, and we are doing really well, up in the 40's. i think we are going to do well. >> you know him better than anyone else in this room, almost. there is your mother and brothers. this image he has of being somebody who people cannot pin down, having one position and then another -- does that strike you as true? >> my mom, dad is a man of great conviction and principles, married to the same woman, a man of great faith, a man of core convictions. >> why would you tell voters to caucus for him tonight? what do they need to know? >> there are two things. my dad is a guy with the experience to turn around the economy, with private sec

believe -- you know, i think it was a tradition that was initiated by then-presidential candidate george romney back in 1968. >> my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past rather than ordinary income or rather than earned annual income. and then i get speakers fees from time to time, but not very much. >> the latest national gallup poll of republicans finds romney has a commanding 23-point lead. >>> republican presidential contender rick perry and three other candidates will not get their names on virginia's primary ballot. a three-judge panel from the federal fourth circuit court of appeals unanimously ruled against them yesterday. they said the candidates knew the rules, and the requirements to get on the ballot have been on the books for years. romney and congressman ron paul are the only two candidates that will be printed on virginia's republican primary ballot. the virginia primary is march 6. >>> right now, about a dozen web sites are staging a protest. they're shutting down for 24 hours, protesting two anti-piracy bills under consideration in congress. wikipedia's

a lot of americans remember when george romney said he'd been brainwashed by the generals in vietnam.sentence pretty much exploded his presidential ambitions. mitt romney has taken a lesson from that. in the book we quote his sister saying as a result mitt is more careful, more scripted in what he says because one sentence could end your campaign as it did his fathers. that gives you insight into how mitt romney runs his campaign, why he does seem to some people distant. it's one of the great challenges that he has. while scott mentioned, he's obviously in a circle of friends and advisors he trusts, very warm. for the general public it could be a harder connection to make especially given his great wealth, career, and trying to make that connection to the average person. >> he has claimed that he's created more than 100,000 jobs. we've heard this over and over again. now he's sort of dealing with on two fronts some issues. number one the taxes issue and number two bain which is a conversation that will keep coming up. have you been able to prove that number was it 100,000 plus jobs th

romney, it is the white house. here is jay carney yesterday. >> president george w. bush, president clinton, nominees for each party, for years and years and years, i think going back to 1976 this has been a very standard tradition. and obviously we think it is a good tradition and that's why then senator obama released his tax records going back i think six or seven years when he was a candidate for president in the 2008 election cycle. and i believe -- just -- i think it was a tradition initiated by then presidential candidate george romney back in 1968 who released 12 years of tax records in '68 as i understand it. >> romney's disclosure was red meat for newt gingrich who has been pushing for a 15% flat tax. the former house speaker suggested his plan should be renamed in romney's honor. >> well, first of all, you got to release your taxes and find out if the amount was really 15%. and second, i think that we ought to rename our flat tax. we have a 15% flat tax. so this will be the mitt romney flat tax that all americans could pay the rate that romney paid. that's

>> i believe -- i think it was the tradition that was initiated by then presidential candidate george romney back in 1968. >> my income comes overwhelmingly with investments made in the past, rather than earned annual income, and then i get speaker's fees from time to time but not very much. >> a washington post poll out today said romney is the only one that comes close to the president in a head-to-head match-up. >>> the president will unveil a new plan to boost tourism. the industry has been pushing the president and congress to make travrl to the u.s. easier from developing countries. it's part of the we can't wait series to help create jobs. >>> the president also taking heat tonight for where he will give his speech during the democratic national convention. he will accept his party's nomination in charlotte, north carolina. critics are upset because the stadium is named after a bank from the bailout. >>> and then we take a closer look at northern virginia and fairfax county. >>> paula deen reveals she has been keeping her diabetes a secret for years. >>> and then the hysteria sweeping

they're going hard after george romney. >> mitt romney. >> they're going hard after governor romney, in part because they see that he has got a big head of steam at this point. he's very likely going to be the candidate if it continues as well as it has in the opening two phases of this campaign. but it's, the real danger for the republicans is it will deeply divide the party at a time when they want it to be united. because most republicans, as we've seen demonstrated in iowa and new hampshire, want somebody who they think is electable. who can run a strong race against president obama. >> well the real question then becomes, is will it work? will this tactic work in terms of taking down romney? because romney is saying look, it didn't work in iowa, it didn't work in new hampshire. why do you think it's going to work here on? >> we saw the way it could go in south carolina. and a lot of things could happen, there's two debates between now and then. and that's always the test, about who makes the biggest mistake or the strongest impression. my guess is, it won't work. i've been tal

uyjl6ns'4m4oxl,f3+ >>> this is george romney, he was mitt romney's father, ran for the republican nomination for president in 1968. he was the governor of the state of michigan. he was the head of the american motor corporation, a major car manufacturer. mitt romney was born his son. to understand his upbringing and start in life and who he was, when he got a deferment from serving in viet nam to be a missionary in france when he went to harvard, where he got law and business degrees, he went in high dollar corporate finance for context, understand whose dad was governor and who ran for president and ran a big auto company. mr. romney, the younger, is himself now estimated to be worth a quarter billion dollars. we know he continues to be paid a share of tro capital. that is not only where he made his zillions, it's where he continues to rake zillions in from every year. so, mitt romney, zillionaire, son of zillionaire, a man who may have trained himself to put on jeans to campaign for president. he has not trained himself to recognize his life as a zillionaire and the son and father is not t

. >> it was a tradition issued by then presidential candidate george romney in 1968. >> my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past rather than ordinary income or rather than earned annual income. then i get speakers fees from time to time, but not very much. >> the latest national poll of republicans finds romney has a commanding 23-point lead. >>> the obama campaign is now requesting advertising rights in a number of states including virginia. that's a sign the president could be close to airing his first television commercials for the 2012 campaign. mr. obama's campaign headquarters is seeking out the advertising information in 14 states that are expected to be heavily contested between mr. obama and his republican opponent. no word on when the ads might start airing, though, on tv. >>> the president is now taking heat for where he will give his speech during the democratic national convention. dnc leaders announced he will accept the party nomination at the bank of america stadium in charlotte, north carolina. some critics are upset because the stadium is named

. >> so his own father, george romney, released 12 years of taxes. is that something your candidate is going to do? >> well, you know, that was a different era. he has released more years of tax returns than any of the other candidates running for office. in fact, there were candidates on the stage last night who still haven't released their taxes. and yet, you know, little was made of that. so, you know, i think the issue here is less about the tax story, which is now out. there's nothing new there. he's paid at the 15% rate. the rate that anyone would pay on investment income. it reveals his charitable giving. the story is what's buried in that $1.6 million contract with freddie mac and what other clients were out there paying either gingrich or portions of gingrich incorporated to lobby for different aspects of public policy, whether it's housing policy or health care policy? >> we'll have an opportunity to talk to trent franks just ahead and ask him those questions later this morning. it's interesting, roland, to hear -- i'm not surprised, it's b

i want to bring in george will and then get peggy and paul here. do these attacks immunize romney or infect him? >> i think they do both. but they probably immunize him more. it's been 70 years since an austrian economist put in our vocabulary, the phrase, creative destruction. recently, it was estimated that 15% of all american jobs disappear every year to try to create more than that. it's the adjective. is it creative destruction? in this sense, it seems to me, it's much better to have this argument now than in october. it's good for romney to be attacked now by the vocabulary by the left. >> paul? >> we're only immunizing if this thing goes away. this is not a punitive scandal. the issue about jobs and economic inequality is going to continue to resonate. i think it does -- all it does, it gives the democrats to court republicans. plus, you know, we are learning more about mitt romney. this morning's "washington post" has an interesting article about how bain functioned under romney. >> so, the story on bain keeps coming. >> i think there is no, inoculating romney against the

flee mexico to the united states. >> george romney built a life in the u.s., becoming michigan's governorturned to the colony with both a school, businesses and temple. his own circumstances has visited. he has not. >> mitt romney has not felt comfortable talking about the family history, partly bus of mormonism and partly because of polygamy. >> polygamy is no longer practiced in the settlement but there are other issues. he was recently booed in a south carolina debate. we have to follow the law and those who have come here illegally ultimately return home, apply, get in line with everyone else. >> his hard line against illegal immigrants from his own father's birthplace does not sit well with his mexican family and does not do well among immigrant workers. >> but this family is proud to include someone who might be president. >> he is the solution to the economic problems in the united states. >> still, they would like to meet him. sandy kozel, the associated press. >>> a special election has been set to replace gabrielle giffords. arizona governor jan brewer has set the election to ap

his father the wonderful former michigan governor george romney and his great grandfather were both born in mexico. romney's great grandfather miles romney fleeing there to escape utah's laws banning polygamy. he had five wives at the time utah said polygamy is over. if elected technically mitt romney could be the first hispanic president since under mexican law he could have dual mexican citizenship if he choose to claim it. i am not being facetious because it is mexican law. i am enjoying the story. i think what goes around comes around if you are not frank with people it always catches up with you. we understand why he didn't bring up his family heritage. one they didn't want to talk about polygamy which is understandable. that is so 19th century. 21st century mormonism has evolved from that. mormonism is a net positive for any candidate. if you mitt romney is half of the politician his dad george was we would all be lucky he would be a great president. the other reason he didn't want to talk about it is because he has been so harsh on the issue of mexican illegal immigration. i know