mike viqueira is there. he focused mostly on the economy. >> reporter: you heard him talk about the great weather here at camp david. hanging over is the cloud of greece and the euro zone. greek voters turned out their leaders, some indications they are going to toss over a bailout deal. perhaps leave the euro zone all together. the tension here was growth versus austerity. austerity was the watch word. you heard the president -- >> mike, unfortunately, we are almost out of time. i have to cut you off there. i love talking to you. as always thank you for joining us. once again, president obama speaking live from camp david where the leaders of the g-8 nations are all meeting this weekend to be followed with a nato summit this weekend in chicago. back to our programming, after this. >>> bobby gilbert's request for transfer to be closer to his mother has just been rejected by the senior staff at holman. >> i sat on my [ bleep ] for five [ bleep ] years. you going to do it that way? i'm going to show you what i

nbc news white house correspondent mike viqueira j n joinses njoi joins now.e first time he's coming back but the first time the first lady is coming back. >> there's a book coming out by that name. george w. bush was here with clinton two years ago on the haiti relief fund. if you'll forgive the analogy, it's like a fox hole. all the tremendous responsibilities, if it's not overly dramatic to say so, that come with being the president and it transcends the political differences of the day. this is the individual bush 43 that president obama said drove the economic car into the ditch. it has all kinds of policy differences on iraq and policy on tax cuts. it's not personal. it's just business and today it's more of the personal side. both presidents bush, herbert walker bush and george bush 43 and mrs. bush will be there. it's on to the east room for the main event. an unveiling of the portrait of the previous president, president bush did it with president clinton. it's been going on for years. it's going be smiles all around. that's what we can expect today.

mike viqueira has our report. >> jobs growth and jobs must be our top priority. >> reporter: a reminder that economic downturns can change the political landscape. three new leaders from italy, japan and france's francois hollande, in office for just a week, were greeted by the president. while the german leader, angela merkel, the leader of europe's biggest and strongest economy was somber. among them, the greek bailout deal, made in exchange for deep domestic spending cuts, now in doubt as greece voters ousted their leaders. today leaders insist that greece will not exit the euro zone. president obama has a new ally in hollande, but so far no concrete agreement. >> president obama has a huge stake in this. if europe blows up, it l a knock-on effect of the u.s. and election. >> reporter: there are fears of another oil price spike. in an unusual move to calm worried markets, allies broadly hinted they will release strategic reserves if needed. >> they are ready to act. >> reporter: and lester, while the president was at camp david, meeting with g-8 leaders, first tlad dimichelle obama w

nbc's mike viqueira at the white house for us now. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, lester. you're right, after headlining some 130 fund-raisers and a series of official events that critics say were little more than political rallies in disguise, the president is now officially on the trail, and he's naming names. this weekend there was no mistaking the real thing. >> it is my privilege to introduce my husband, and our president, president barack obama! >> reporter: the first lady michelle obama firing up the crowd. the president launched his re-election bid with a frontal attack on mitt romney. >> the challenge we've faced for over a decade is that harder work hasn't led to higher incomes. it's that bigger profits haven't led to better jobs. governor romney doesn't seem to get that. >> reporter: two rallies in two crucial swing states. ohio and virginia. nbc's chuck todd says the goal was clear. >> he wants this election to be a choice, not a referendum on the economy. but just as important, it was about kick-star

mike viqueira has the latest. good morning, mike. >> reporter: last night the president greeted fellow leaders of the g8 at laurel cabin. this meeting was originally to take place at chicago. they shifted it to this quiet, bucolic setting. leaders mingling among themselves outside the glare of the media. there is a big media contingent. a working dinner inside after the president greeted leaders. they talked about iran, its nuclear ambitions, syria the humanitarian and military crisis. the arab spring as a holwhole. one issue hangs over this meeting. that is greece. over the years, several deals with greece, austerity measures, to deal with the rest of europe. greek voter has other ideas. last weekend, rejected austerity measures and back to the drawing board, and elections in france, of course. fran choice hollande elected on a promise of getting back to a fiscal stimulus and away from austerity. that's something president obama wants to encourage. many leaders will go to yet another summit in nato, where afghanis

nbc's mike viqueira reports. >> reporter: for mitt romney today, praise from a former rival. >> he'sough. he's much tougher than i would have thought. he's prepared to do what it takes to win. >> reporter: the race is already a dogfight, likely to be settled by independent voters in a handful of swing states. a poll shows a tightening race in three of those crucial contests, florida, ohio and virginia, with president obama holding on to a slim lead in each. >> 50% is almost a safe haven, safe territory for an incumbent. president obama is almost there. but you see mitt romney has room to grow and make this a very competitive contest. >> there are a lot of good relationships with a lot of groups. >> reporter: seeking an edge in fund-raising, this week, romney will appear with donald trump, who last week raised questions about the president's place of birth. some republicans say the decision is a mistake. >> the cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me. >> reporter: even after some democrats voiced misgivings, president obama kept up his early offensi

. >> joining me live, mike viqueira. o you, mike. >> reporter: good day to you, alex. >> what did you pick up about the first lady's speech? >> reporter: this is the first lady's second commencement addresses in as many days. mitt romney was also in virginia, today. i know you've heard from him and he reiterated or reaffirmed his stance on gay marriage saying he's opposed to it, marriage is between one man and one woman. michelle obama today in north carolina, that was the site of that vote last tuesday, that ban on gay marriage. she talked about a greensboro lunch counter sit-in in 1960 and said that serious injustices are crying out for our attention. there are still all kinds of prejudice in the world today. she talked about that very clear illusion in most people's minds to the situation and to the recent developments, the president changing his stance earlier in the week. speaking of the president and a little bit earlier, we saw the president in the rose garden today, a rare saturday event in the rose garden. incide

nbc white house correspondent mike viqueira is at camp david. hello to you, mike. >> reporter: good afternoon to you, alex. the g-8 continues here in camp dav david, maryland. there is a sick man in europe and that is greece. there is concern that he could infect the rest of the continent with an economic downturn. and the contagion could spread to the united states. that issue is front and center here as these g-8 leaders gather with their host, president obama. he greeted each individual leader last night at laurel cavern at camp david. if you look am at the some of these leaders, many of them are new. it's caused so much political upheaval. and no one needs to be reminding it is an election year in the united states where the economy is front and center. the italian prime minister, the japanese prime minister, the french president, all new faces at the g-8. last night at the working dinner, they talked about some of the issues surrounding this summit, notably iran and its nuclear ambitions. and syria calling for more action in the face of the

nbc's mike viqueira at the white house for us now. >> reporter: after headlining 130 fund-raisers in a series of official events that critics say were a little more than political recalliallies in disg. this weekend there was no mistaking the real thing. >> it is my privilege to introduce my husband, and our president, president barack obama. >> reporter: the first lady michelle obama firing up the crowd. the president launched his re-election bid with a frontal attack on mitt romney. >> the challenge we've faced fo work has not led to higher incomes. bigger profits haven't led to better jobs. governor romney doesn't seem get that. >> reporter: two rallies in two crucial swing states. the goal was clear. >> he wants this election to be a choice, not a referendum on the economy. but just as important, it was about kick-starting what's going to be a massive turnout operation in two of the most crucial battleground states. >> reporter: romney himself was out of view, but today allies hit back. >> is there any hope with the failure of leadership of this president on the economic issues t

nbc's mike viqueira standing by. mike, good afternoon to you, what can we expect from the dinner tonight? >> well, you know, they got the day twhanlted when they moved the from chicago. they said, oh, the weather's going be beautiful, may, the mountains up in maryland, part of that, the unspoken portion was they wanted to get away from some of the protests that we're seeing now in chicago that have beleaguered these g-8 meetings over the years since the antiglobal nations started taking to the streets more than a decade ago, really, craig. what hangs over us besides the sunny weather is the specters in greece, including eurozone. how many times have we heard they finally got this resolved, 27 countries led by germany and france, the two biggest economies had worked out a debt repayment plan in exchange for cutbacks in greece. of course it turns out they had other ideas and now a reassessment. of course, the greek election still in flux. they won't have a government till june. and in france we saw a bilateral meeting w

mike viqueira at the white house. thank you. >>> and mike halparin is a senior political analyst for "time" magazine and on nbc. this is likely to have a political impact as well. how are voters going fall on this. >> this is a big divide between the president and mitt romney. president obama is arguing that he's been someone who's championed protecting american consumers from wall street and it shows that. governor romney is the one who favors a more free market approach. anything that's in the headlines goes to that debate. should washington be regulating the economy, is going to be part of the campaign and i think if you had gone for pure politics, it's good for the president. wall street is still out there. threatening consumers, threatening taxpayers. >> another big headline, of course, was the gay marriage debate. it was opened wide by the president talking about his being in favor of gay marriage. in terms of who wins with this, obviously it's energized wins for both. but is there a winner in this debate. >> i

virginia is a toss up as mike viqueira said, it's the number one battleground state.e welcome the president coming to virginia as often as he is. he needs to work really, really hard to win back the trust of virginia voters here. hundreds of voters voted for a democrat for the first time since lbj won the presidency did virginia go for a democrat. they bought into the message of hope and change candidate obama was selling. he looked at your colleague, matt lauer. he said the economy is going to be right. the results aren't there. virginia voters are left holding the bag. i think it's going to be a tough road. >> i want to talk about stats from former mccain, okay. chief economist and republican. mark zandy. job losses are the most serious weight on the job market thachlt is mccain's former economist. what do you think about that? >> all due respect to senator mccain, i don't think his economic program won the day in 2008. you can pick a random economist out there and, you know, say anything that you want. alex, i think the great thing about the president coming 20 vir

we know this because mike viqueira has a passion for music as great as his passion for the news. n't play alphie, because i know it reduces you to tears. >> i think that was a bridge, a segue that was worthy of the master. >> okay. that's very kind and flattery will get you everywhere. the president has a campaign swing tomorrow in ohio and virginia. his campaign is calling them the first official events of the year, but we know he's been campaigning for quite a while, don't we? >> that's true, and there's been fundraisers galore. i hear something from our friends at the "washington po," the president has had 39 events since becoming president in the state of ohio. and virginia, 87 events, of course that's just across the river. he can pop over there any time as he did today as a happy and fortuitous coincidence. it's target rich in terms of swing voters. if you compare that to states like deep red states like arkansas, nebraska, south carolina, then there are a total of zero times. to answer your question, yes, it is an eternal perpetual campaign that has lasted three years and c

mike viqueira is so he is not on the road but he is what's happening in rockville, maryland.know that this even entered, of course, the presidential race. the conversation. if the president is responsible for gas, all of that aside. where things stand right now. at least have people comfortable enough to travel this weekend. >> it's funny that you should mention that. the spike in gas prices, it happens every spring. it started so early. it really caught people off guard and became even more of a political issue than ever. now they're sinking. they have sunk for seven straight weeks. they've been since april. you reported, down to $3.67 a gallon. not only 17 cents lower than a month ago but they are lower than they were at this time last year as far as a nationwide average is concerned. if it were not for california where the prices still remain high and many places, above $4 a gallon, that average nationwide would be even lower. it will be a busy weekend. it is hot out here. they say there are summer people and win people. i know where i stand. some like it hot. i'll take th

nbc's mike viqueira has more from the white house. good morning, mike. >> reporter: good morning, courtney. the president became a candidate officially a year ago but this is the first official campaign event for the president. he'll board air force one at andrews air force base this morning and fly with the first lady to two crucial swing states, ohio and virginia. they're not just key swing states but swing cities. columbus and richmond. these are states that voted for president bush and in 2008 voted for president obama. they are going to be visited quite a lot by both president obama and the presumptive nominee mitt romney. it has the president up by seven points, it is a crucial state considered this year's florida really when it comes right down to it, courtney. one more thing we'd like to add, mitt romney is down this weekend. he and his wife ann are welcoming their 17th and 18th grandchildren into the romney clan, born to their son just yesterday. courtney? >> mike, thank you. >>> self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 terror a