liz sidoti and mike viqueira.ut a high risk, it's low risk. >> not only low risk, it's very calculated managed risk, right? you're not saying to him -- he's doing one interview that we know of, at this point, with brian williams. >> i think he's doing one or two others. >> but beyond that, there's no news conferences with foreign leaders. do we know even if he's going to venture into the palestinian areas when's in israel? >> he is supposed to meet with some palestinian leaders. what do you expect out of this the trip, clint? >> i expect him to build his image as being somewhat familiar with foreign affairs, because it's not something that's been talked about very much. but i don't think he wants to talk about it very much either. >> and i want to move quickly to congress today. we're going to see some tax cut votes. >> largely symbolic. does anybody in their right mind -- >> there's to deal? >> right. remember, monthitch mcconnell t to bring up the tax cut plan, forcing harry reid to block it. so it's classic kab

nbc's mike viqueira has more from the white house. mike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, lester. both candidates are out of sight today, the president with his family at camp david, mitt romney continues his family vacation lakeside in new hampshire. but after another lackluster jobs report came out early yesterday, both sides were quick to react, trying to find a political edge in the numbers. the new numbers were out four months to the day before the election, and mitt romney was quick to pounce. >> america can do better, and this kick in the gut has got to end. >> reporter: after a rough week that saw him take fire from conservatives on the state of his campaign, romney was back on message, hitting the president on the economy. >> his policies have not worked, and that's just not a short period of time, that's over a four-year period of time, almost. >> reporter: the june numbers fell short of expectations. the jobless rate 8.2%, unchanged from may, with just 84,000 jobs created. it was the third straight month of sl

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house for us. mike, good morning. >> reporter: president obama and mitt romney spent one last day out of sight, resting with their families, but both campaigns had their ground games going full tilt as mitt romney considers his options for number two on the ticket. in florida saturday, they were pounding the pavement, looking for support in person. and over the phone. it was the same in virginia. >> thank you very much, johnny. >> reporter: and new hampshire, both campaigns looking for votes in swing states, where every vote counts. >> would you be interested in volunteering? >> i believe i would. >> reporter: while mitt romney spent much of last week vacationing in new hampshire, his surrogates have been busy. >> let's decide this one for mitt romney. >> reporter: ohio republican rob portman said to be on romney's short list for a running mate was also in new hampshire saturday. and staying mum on his chances. >> what matters is we have energy and enthusiasm on the republican side. >> reporter: rom

mike viqueira is at the white house tonight with more. >> reporter: good evening. the president stayed on the offensive today, ignoring kplanltsz from mitt romney and his insistence the president back off his attacks on bain. despite a driving rain outside richmond, supporters turned out to hear a drenched president obama renew his attack on bain capitol. >> he invested in companies that have been called pioneers of outsourcing. i don't want a pioneer in outsourcing, i want insourcing. i want to bring companies back. >> this less than 24 hours after romney condemned the attacks and called for an apology from the president. >> the president's campaign has been outrageous in making the kind of charges they have. i think the kinds of attacks are beneath the dignity of the presidency. >> reporter: but today, no let up. the obama campaign upped the stakes attacking romney in a new ad. ♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain ♪ >> romney did not campaign in public today. spending time at his lakeside home in new hampshire. rahm emanuel -- romney says he

nbc's mike viqueira joins us live from the white house. good to see you, my (.t drenched or burning up, either way. >> no. it is coming though. >> do we know what the white house is planning to do to help these drought stricken states halfway through long hot summer? >> you cited startling statistics there. and secretary vilsack after meeting with the president appeared at this briefing room just behind me. he had even more than -- no fewer than one-third of the counties in this nation are now under a disaster declaration with what they call secretarial disaster declaration. price of corn, multiplier effect. more than half of the food we get are the grocery store has some ingredient depends on corn or made of corn. 38%, prices up for corn since june for bausch elf corn, june 1. so a lot of threatening clouds on the horizon economically. and as well as agriculturally. the secretary says he's already streamlined the process by which farmers can get aid. already lowered interest rates for low income farmers so they can get loans to get aid. they are urging congress

we will start now with nbc news foreign correspondent eamon mohyeldin and mike viqueira at the white house. ayman, you say today's attack is tactically significant. >> tactically, you've taken out the deputy minister of defense, the defense minister and a senior military officer all within the command and control structure of the military at the tip and spear of these. 0 rations to suppress the uprising. have you disrupted that to the extent that the military can not trust of who is among its midst. how did they penetrate the inner circle of the regime to carry out such a lethal explosion. even if they cannot meet to discuss out who carry out operations you get the sense of the kind of paranoia that can infiltrate the inner circles of the regime. from a psychological point of view that somebody was able to go deep into the heart of the regime with little collateral daniel no doubt is going to raise the anxiety levels because president assad, the question is how can he even meet with his senior officials if those among them cannot be trusted. it will have an impact on both fronts. >>

and mike viqueira. the house has done this so many times already.ouse must have a response on file. they bring it out for the 33rd time. is that right? >> well, sort of a pain by numbers quality to it, you might say that, martin. yes. today they whipped out a polysymb polysymbolic word. this is what the american people loathe about politics in washington. sort of the side show. clearly this is something that they did, house republicans. for the same reason frankly mitt romney willfully antagonized the audience in houston today. what supporters -- their supporters want them to do after the supreme court ruling. i always considered myself something of a -- why don't we go to you now and tell us how the vote went. >> hang on. luke, luke russert. he is not speaking. no, no. wait. >> i want a turn. >> luke, house republicans are referring to the vote, as you know, as groundhog day. was speaker boehner bringing out the same old issue over and over again? can i ask you this, luke? is speaker boehner so lost in the bubble of washington that he doesn't reali

nbc news white house correspondent mike viqueira joins us with more. tell us about the president's schedule has changed obviously rapidly through the course of this morning. he just gave us some remarks calling for national unity, reminding us of the fragility of life. tell us the latest. >> reporter: you also heard the president say this is not a day for politics and obviously, mitt romney and his campaign agree. there's really no doubt in hindsight as the morning unfolded and we had some questions about whether the president would go forward with his second consecutive day in florida, no one needs to be reminded that is a swing state. he campaigned there yesterday. he had two events scheduled, one in ft. myers where he did speak, obviously changing the tone, tenor and substance of his remarks, cutting them short, injecting no overt political rhetoric into it at all, obviously, as most would agree was appropriate. then he had another event that was scheduled for winter park, florida, in the orlando area. that has been cut short. the president is now a

as nbc bay area's mike viqueira reports, there are few on the short list who are getting plenty of attention. >> reporter: while mitt romney has spent much of the last week vacationing in new hampshire, his surrogates have been busy. >> let's decide this one for mitt romney. >> reporter: rob portman said to be on romney's short list for a running mate was also in new hampshire and staying mum on his chances. >> what matters is that we have energy on the republican side. >> reporter: romney along with a handful of close advisers is considering his options for the number two slot. >> it's being done in a very methodical, internal way. you don't hear about a rushes to judgment. >> reporter: kelly ayotte of new hampshire was at romney's side. >> thank you all for coming out. >> reporter: there are a number of possible choices including bobby jindal. >> he actually has a long resume for somebody so young. >> reporter: former minnesota governor tim pawlenty who weighed in on the veepstakes himself. >> the most important quality in selecting a vice presidential candidate is somebody who's ready to

mike viqueira live with more.ot off of it going into the new week? >> it's funny, jack lu on the one hand says we need to get past this on the one hand and certainly the obama campaign would like to do that on the other hand, getting stick in there to governor romney, look at what governor romney did when he was the governor of massachusetts. the individual mandate. video clip they pass around of governor romney endorsing exactly what was so controversial and republicans fought so hard for to repeal just that. the individual mandate.Ñi not only is mitt romney now promising to repeal it on his first day of office if he does end up occupying this building behind me, congressional leaders will vote on it first thing when they get back from the july 4th recess. they voted on it in the house of representatives. all sides now, even governors, republican governors, rick scott, scott walker, and today bobby jindal said they will not implement key provisions. that's the k they will simply ignore it for the time being. the

let's move over now to mike viqueira, from the white house. vick, you were there listening to the president. he had a political event. he quickly changed tone. still flew into ft. myers, florida. what has he been doing over the last five, six hours? >> first of all, the president is back here at the white house. he arriveded back about six hours earlier than planned as you reported, richard. he did order the flags flown as half-staff. we've seen that happen here at the white house, the united states capitol and other federal buildings. we've just been told that we don't expect to hear from president again today. he is more or less in for the evening, but here is how his day started. 5:26 a.m., he's informed by john brennan of the events in aurora. first, a written response, then to have him go from west palm beach, where he overnighted. he was on a two-day campaign swing through florida, to go to this event that had been planned in ft. myers, florida. he arrived, but dramatically changed. wasn't a rally at all, but a very somber statement by t

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house. >> good morning to you, lester. the president is back at the white house after staying on the offensive ignoring complaints from mitt romney and his call that the president back off on bain. despite a driving rain outside richmond, supporters turned out to hear a drenched president obama renew his attack on mitt romney's record at bain capital. >> i don't want a pioneer in outsourcing. i want some insource. >> this after he condemned talks in an interview with nbc news and called for an apology from the president. >> i think the attacks are beneath the dig any of the presidency. >> but there was no letup. he upped the stakes, attacking romney in a new ad. ♪ oh, beautiful for spacious skies ♪ >> romney did not campaign in public, spending time in his lake side home in new hampshire after a week-long barrage over his personal finances, including overseas bank accounts. >> he not only couldn't be confirmed as a cabinet he couldn't be confirmed as dog catcher. at least you want to look at his income tax returns. >> he s

joining me now from the white house is mike viqueira.e of presidents, of course, both these candidates hope it's the birthplace of their presidency. of course, president obama for a second term. he's got five stops over the next two days, friday and saturday. virginia beach along with roanoke tomorrow. comes back to the white house for a rest, a sleepover, then back out on the trail. glenallen, virginia. that's down near richmond in eric cantor territory and then northern virginia. the demographics of virginia have shifted a lot over the last several years. the first time in ten election cycles that a democrat has done so. won by six points. the latest average of the polls has him up by three now. it is expected to be key. these candidates, these campaigns, are spending more money here than any other of the nine swing states except perhaps ohio and the president's going down to these areas here outside of northern virginia, which has become increasingly blue. he's going down to the tide water area, a big military presence cht there's som

. >> mike viqueira and a man mew ha dean. up next, the budget cuts that could cost america millions of jobs. we're putting it through the spin cycle as we roll along for wednesday, july 18th. eat good fats. avoid bad. don't go over 2000... 1200 calories a day. carbs are bad. carbs are good. the story keeps changing. so i'm not listening... to anyone but myself. i know better nutrition when i see it: great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. for multi grain flakes that are an excellent source of fiber try great grains banana nut crunch and cranberry almond crunch. would you mind if to be i go ahead of you?omer. instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise yo

we will start now with nbc news foreign correspondent eamon mohyeldin and mike viqueira at the whiten, you say today's attack is tactically significant. >> tactically, you've taken out the deputy minister of defense, the defense minister and a senior military officer all within the command and control structure of the military at the tip and spear of these. 0 rations to suppress the uprising. have you disrupted that to the extent that the military can not trust of who is among its midst. how did they penetrate the inner circle of the regime to carry out such a lethal explosion. even if they cannot meet to discuss out who carry out operations you get the sense of the kind of paranoia that can infiltrate the inner circles of the regime. from a psychological point of view that somebody was able to go deep into the heart of the regime with little collateral daniel no doubt is going to raise

. >> joining me now, nbc news white house correspondent mike viqueira. good sunday to you, mike.rrogate out there this morning talking brain. let's take a listen to this. >> took a leave of absence from bain. and left a life he loved to help a country he loves more to save the olympics and he was not responsible for day-to-day decisions and not participate in day-to-day decisions on part of the management company at that time. he was on leave. >> okay. he was on leave there. >> leaves on leave. we went on to say mitt romney retired retroactively from bain in 1999. in other words, those sec findings and controversy that swirleded over the course of the last several days, the last week reably exactly what mitt romney's duties were at bain capital from that period, 1992 to 2002. that has been the attack on -- of the obama campaign. why is it important? i'm going to let you listen to dick durbin. he was on "meet the press" today. he explains the democratic reasoning behind these attacks. >> we need to get down to the bottom line here. why is mitt romney running you a way from his com

i wanto go to the white house, and bring in nbc's mike viqueira, the latest from the camp taine traile you? >> reporter: hi, alex. the president is back at the white house, up at camp david with his family, a little r & r. mitt romney, as you ha reported, breaking his week-long -- in new hampshire. even though the candidates weren't out or giving stump speeches, the ground games are out in full force, even as mitt romney considers his options for the number two spot on the ticket. in florida saturday, they were pounding the pavement, looking for support in person. [ knocking ] and over the phone. it is the same in virginia. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: and new hampshire. both campaigns looking for votes in swing states were every vote count. >> would you be interested in volunteering? >> i believe i would. >> reporter: while mitt romney has spent much of the last weekend vacationing in new hampshire, his surrogates have been busy. ralph portman, said to be on romney's short list for a running mate was also in new hampshire saturday and staying mum on his chances. >> [ inaudibl

let's go to nbc white correspondent mike viqueira, live from the white house where it's not as soggy, took a beating in the rain. >> reporter: a distant rumble of thunder from that location, it was a pouring rain as you can see, the president soaking right through his shirt. at one point after it waxed and waned a little bit, picked up a bit, he said those hairdos are gone. obviously supporters of the president, glen allen, virginia, that is eric cantor leader of house republicans is his territory, just outside of richmond. the president continue to hammer home his theme of this is a choice not referendum, a choice of economic policies you've heard the president give in his stump speech time and time again. his second trip to virginia in as many days, underscoring this is a key part of the campaigns electoral strategy. talking about not going back to the policies of the past, top-down economics as he put it. casting it as a choice between two economic theories. the president also hitting mitt romney on that insourcing/outsourcing, this continue rage between the campaigns with charges

joining me now, nbc news white house correspondent mike viquei viqueira. >> after the jobs report, boths are out of sight. the president went to camp david and mitt romney continues on vacation with his family. but it was really another lackluster jobs report and both sides were quick to react, trying to find a political edge in the numbers. >> the new numbers were out four months to the day before the elections and mitt romney was quit to pounce. >> america can do better. and this kick in the gut has got to end. >> after a rough week that saw him take fire from conservatives on the state of his campaign, romney was back on message, hitting the president on the economy. >> his policies have not worked. that's over a four-year period of time almost. >> reporter: the june numbers fell short of expectations and jobless rate, 8.2%, unchanged from may with just 84,000 jobs created. it was the third straight no of slow job growth. >> the unemployment numbers were disappointing because they do suggest the economy is growing at a very slow pace and generating only a modest amount of jobs in the

. >> mike viqueira at the white house, thank you very much. >>> we began this tragedy with 58 peopleod news this morning, over 30 released from the hospital. seven are in critical condition. we're joined by the director of medical services. doctor, can you tell us the latest on who is still at your hospital and what their conditions are? do we have that? apparently we don't have that. let's take a quick break. we'll be back. coming up at the top of the hour, aurora police update the latest on the information. this is msnbc special coverage of the tragedy in colorado. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. devry university, proud to support the education this is new york state. we built the first railw