i'm joined now about nbc's deputy political director mark murray. good morning to you, mark. >> good morning, alex. >> as we look at that poll, most americans want to see something get done. why can't washington make this happen? >> well, according to our poll, alex, almost all americans want some type of compromise, but not everyone does. overwhelming majorities of democrats and independents say they want democratic leaders to compromise. also, an overwhelming majority of political independents want republican leaders to comp midz. the exception? a majority of republican respondents want their republican leaders to hold their ground and stick their ground, and that really sums up the impasse right now. >> okay. can you tell me, though, what is really going on here? did the president move the goal post, or did the gop and boehner -- were they the ones that reneged at the 11th hour? >> we're right now in the midst of a big spin war, and in mike's piece right now, republicans have made the charge that they said that they had agreed to $800 billion in a

i'm joined by mark murray. ning to you, mark. >> good morning. >> mitt romney is the economy candidate for republicans. with the unemployment where it is, he's still getting beat by obama in ohio. is this a bad sign for the gop? >> there are two ways to look at these numbers. on the one hand, mitt romney at 41% with perfect name i.d. at a time he's relatively unscathed as the front-runner. almost all the scrutiny is on michele bachmann these past few weeks. so that's one way to look at the numbers. the other way to look at the numbers is president obama in that same poll is at 45%. as the incumbent you want to be at 50 or above. >> okay. how about romney's message about obama's handling of the economy? that's been somewhat uneven. at times blames it all on the president, and then saying this in last on wednesday. here that is. >> obviously, the challenges here are not all the result of the current administration. a lot of the economic woes that you're seeing around you and around the country are the result of er

nbc deputy political director of news, mark murray.nk you. >>> and democrats are equating the budget to equating a family budget, and so now there was one letter that a senator read from a boy scout who says he has a solution to balance the budget. >> in our house, we are careful to only spend what my mom and dad earn. that needs come first and what is left is for wants. many times we were told no when we asked for something. >> "time's" magazine reporter wrote an article about this, and there was a opoll that said that 66% of americans support the cut, cap and balance bill, and you look at the reality of the family budget and the government and i'm sure that the boy scout is a cutie, but if he were a member of congress that might not be the advice he would give. >> absolutely. but one of the things that is tough to counter about the folksy bits of wisdom is that we have to balance our budget and the government should do it, too, because it has an emotional appeal and sounds sensible, but the federal government is not the same as a fam

nbc's deputy political director mark murray is talking campaign cash with us. mark, good morning. the big headline in "usa today" gop fund-raisers staying on the sidelines. what's happening here, a little shy? >> it's clear that they are staying on the sidelines and that's one of the reasons why current texas governor rick perry might be eyeing the contest. there is -- this race is more open than i've seen on any primary field probably since the democratic race in 2004 for the presidential nomination. not only is it wide open among voters and primary voters, but it's also open among big donors. but one thing worth noting, that while the current republican feel is trailing what john mccain was able to do in 2008, remember a lot of those donors came to him because he was the eventual republican nominee. once we get to the general election where it becomes a democratic versus republican ideological war, all sides will be in and be in heavily. >> might see more cash then. when we take a look at, again, president obama's numbers, looking very good. $35 million. a big number traced to 2

bachmann says she does not feel that the deficit deadline is real, and we have deputy director of news mark murrayoining us. let me play to you what herman cain had to say sunday morning in an interview on fox. okay. i am told we don't have it just yet, mark, but the bottom line is that herman cain has gained traction and popularity while on the campaign trail, and he has on several occasions discussed muslims and mosques and here is the latest we have here on fox, his comments. >> don't americans have a right of whatever religion under the constitution that you speak so much about to free speech and freedom to worship? >> to the people in murphreesboro, it is hallowed ground. they are objecting to the intentions of trying to get shariah law. >> so you are saying any community that wants to ban a mosk? >> yes, they have a right to do that. >> and he was asked about who might want to ban african-americans from areas and the civil rights history that he has experienced, and he said it was different. is that going to hurt herman cain, because he is not a but . >> and he said something similar in the

so mark murray joining us, but over 400,000 were deported last year and actions may speak louder thanat about president obama being there to give that speech today? h. >> well, thomas, a lot of 2012 because the latino vote is important. and latinos have had two main gripes with the obama administration and one is not to achieve comprehensive immigration reform and the second is having to do with the deportations that you mentioned, but from the white house perspective, the deportations is what they need to get republican votes to ever have a chance of passing the comprehensive immigration reform, and the republicans said, president obama, you need tougher on the border and tougher mechanisms and the white house with deportation and other mechanisms said we have delivered and now it is time for you to help us pass comprehensive immigration reform. >> when we talk about the president being there to give the speech, there is a report that all of the gop candidates wereç invited to attend, but ty all turned down the invites. what more do we know about that? >> well, thomas, i spoke with

other but they'll come together in the end mostly to beat president obama, that's the focus. >> mark murray the transition to mitt romney. i want to play to you a sound bite, mitt romney's attacks on the president and the economy have gotten a little extra scrutiny particularly against the dnc, here's what he said yesterday in los angeles, campaigning was what he was doing, but fund-raising was what he was doing. >> obviously the challenges are not the result of the current administration, a lot of the economic woes around you and the country are a result of errors made over a long period of time. >> that's a different answer than he's given about president obama. the romney campaign will say, hey, wait a minute, he's given a version of that answer all the time. >> they reached out to us and said, when he was criticizing obama in pennsylvania and in allentown, that had to do with an economic stimulus that obama touted in allentown, that factory later had closed, this venue in los angeles has been something that had been a problem since the 1990s. the one problem with mitt romney, though, th

mark murray is nbc news' deputy political director.ould tell chris christie, health issues do come up in the course of questioning one's political fitness, whether they are physically fit enough to do the job and now we're learning about problems breathing. politically, what might this mean for christie? >> well, first, when you're running for president, there is that extra threshold and scrutiny about one's health. chris christie is not yet in the republican field for the presidency and he's actually said there is absolutely no way that he's going to run in 2012 but he has received a lot of attention. he was in iowa giving a high profile education speech on monday. as you just mentioned, the governor's office says that it's mostly or probably asthma-related, and he is in the hospital for precautionary reasons, taking tests. >> just by the way, a spokesperson says the governor is fine at this point. i just want to be clear here. it doesn't look like there's serious consequences for this little scare. >> absolutely. but one other piece

palin, and texas governor rick perry, and new york city mayor rudy giuliani, and we are joined by mark murray, and we say this as if their names have just sprouted up. i want to start with rick perry, because "forbes" just released the top cities that should recover and be the next boom and three of the top five were texas cities. >> well, if rick perry, who is the governor of texas, and odds are that he will, because he is making phone calls to conservative activists in iowa and new hampshire and if he gets in, he has a ability to capture the tea party message and say that somebody like mitt romney governs like a liberal and i govern like a conservative. >> what is taking him so long? >> well, opening up the field, and people like mitt daniels and haley barbour did not run and newt gingrich's campaign implosion allowed a lot of of rick pey's former staffers who were working with gingrich to join up with perry. >> and sarah palin says that coming soon at the end of the summer, she will make a decision. >> well, the odds on favorite is that she is probably not going to run. to be able to run f

murray knocking off rafael nadal. but they are looking for their first male champion in 75 years and the drought continues. how about this world champion? markd, the five time match boring. andy murray came out smoking. a big forehand nadel can't handle. he will take the first set. but in the second, rips the backhand. check out the touch at the net. that is some soft hands. he wins the second. he rolled from there. on match point, the big serve. watch his forehand. that's nasty. defending champion has won 20 straight women den matches for the victory. and djokovic meeting tonga. djokovic, the ace. he takes the first one. and watch the reflections at the net from the big guy. he would win the third set but too much novak in the fourth. tsonga can't handle the serve and with the win djokovic takes over the number one ranking from nadel and will go on to face rafael nadal. >>> the nba lockout is official with the league shutting down thursday night at 9:01:00 p.m. teams can no longer contact players, agents or family members until a new bargaining agreement is reached catch lot of players will be going overseas to play. some will go back to sc

murray knocking off rafael nadal. but the racket club is look for their first male champion in 75 years and the drought continues. how about this world champion? mark wood, the five time match boring. andy murray came out smoking. a big forehand nadel can't handle. he will take the first set. but in the second, rips the backhand. check out the touch at the net. that is some soft hands. he wins the second. he rolled from there. on match point, the big serve. watch his forehand. that's nasty. defending champion has won 20 straight wimbledon matches for the four-set victory. and djokovic meeting tonga. djokovic, the ace. he takes the first one. also won the second. but tsonga answers in the third. watch the reflections at the net from the big guy. he would win the third set but too much novak in the fourth. tsonga can't handle the serve and with the win djokovic takes over the number one ranking from nadel and will go on to face rafael nadal. >>> the nba lockout is official with the league shutting down for the first time in 13 years thursday night at 9:01:00 p.m. teams can no longer contact players, agents or family members until a new bargaining agr

. >>> bill murray on hand for the senior british open. mark calcavecchia won the british in 1989. could become the fourth to win that and the senior british. an opening round 68 to grab a share of the lead with mcnulty and harwood. >>> tour de france stage 18, schleck on the left glances back and makes a bold move taking off along with 37 miles to go. his rivals don't chase him down. contador admitted that victory is impossible now. unquote. schleck wins the stage by over two minutes. voeckler will remain in the yellow jersey. his overall lead is just 15 seconds now over schleck. >>> no team has a larger division lead than the giants who are 4.5 games in front of arizona. and now the diamondbacks are looking at playing the rest of the year without the shortstop steven drew. last night he broke his ankle in a freak play sliding at the plate. you don't have to remind giants fans about the danger of that play. called up in his place, cody ransom. >>> parpadres and marlins. cameron takes a home run away. morrison in disbelief. that's a beautiful play. he is not done yet. this is gabby

gold prospector murray colin powell say he and his friend found it back in 1987. >> characteristics markings it was just impossible that it could have been anything but the same nugget. >> one of his accusers says if grill lied, it's probably because he was selling his property and wanted to make it seem more valuable. there is no comment yet from grill. >>> san francisco police blaming alcohol for embarrassing rescue off the embarcadero. crews rescued two guys from the water after they jumped off of pier 7. you can see them there floating. one of the men tells the chronicle he went in after someone threw his coat in and that had his id and social security card in it, into the water. so he jumped in. his friend followed him to try to save him, and police say not surprisingly, these guys were drunk. getting them out involved a diver from the fire department and a ladder there as well. >>> at uc berkeley this fall, there will be far more new students from out of state. 26% of new freshmen and transfer students are not from california. the chronicle says that is an increase of 23% over last yea

bill murray on hand to check out the first round of the senior british open across the pond. 3some top the leader board including irish man markshot within 5 birdie 4 under par 68. american mark right there with him. on 13. long birdie putt. 68 for this and tie for first place at 4 under par. >> steve williams not happy at all. he has been so silent throughout all of the controversy. >> he doesn't have to be silent any more. we'll see how that plays itself out but tremendously loyal through the years. >> thanks very much. that's this he kition of 7 news at 9 for all of us here, nice to be with you as always. appreciate your time. hope to see you again in an hour on the big 7. your time. hope to see you again in an hour on the big 7. see you then