so they develop this plan and they take it to obama in this meeting in the oval office in november 2009. a lot of the rest of the economic team is not sure about this because obama has run on never raising taxes on the middle class. obama was actually very intrigued. he started asking a lot of questions about how it works. he was taken with the effect on the deficit and with the political effects of making the republicans on up to the cost of the tax cuts. precisely because -- what is up happening is a lot of the political hands are made nervous by this because he would be reversing himself on a very big campaign pledge about not raising middle-class taxes. biden said this is crazy, we have to put a stop to this right now preconceived the insight into a guy who is willing to entertain going back on probably the most politically sensitive of his campaign promises of 2008, if it means putting yourself in a better position to balance the budget. i think you see that current running almost from the beginning of his administration. we check the stimulus, they are talking about how to make sure we are not totally vulnerable on the

obama campaign is ready to go head to head with mitt romney. the battle lines have been drawn and there's no doubt where team obama stands. vice president biden was on the campaign trail preaching economic fairness. he called mitt romney out by name. the vice president said romney will give additional tax cuts to the rich at the expense of middle class families. >> to put it bluntly, we think it's out of step with american values. they are sound, patriotic americans. i don't want to hear anybody play that game with me. but it is out of step at least with the american values, the middle-class values that most of us were raised with and governor romney calls the president out of touch and anti-women, by the way. but out of touch. hey, how many of y'all have a swiss bank account? >> i sat down with the vice president after his speech today. we talked about his tax burden on the middle class. >> mr. vice president, thanks for your time. >> it's nice to be here. i'm a fan. >> thank you. my head explodes when i hear, you can't raise taxes on the job creators. what goes through your mind? >> where in the heck have these guys bee

president obama's team is already launching attacks against the front-runner -- g.o.p.unner. >> this is in the bidle class and none -- middle class and none of what he's done

. >>> republicans accuse president obama of using the death of osama bin laden to his political advantage. does this ad cross the line. >>> plus teaming up, former president bill clinton works with president obama to win cash and win your vote. great to have you with us. a lot on the agenda for you morning. a leading u.s. diplomat is in china amid the reports that the two countries are negotiating the fate of a prominent scchine disside disside dissident. he's under the protection of the american embassy after escaping house arrest. members of american based china aid confirm he's in u.s. hands. >> he's very safe and in good spirit. physically a little tired given the years of house arrest. >> protesters walked the streets following word that the two sides could reach agreement in the next 48 hours. joining me now is ian williams. so plain explain the backer to. this highlights the sophisticated underground. >> surprisingly so. and there are few facts but plenty of intrigue. dissident sources have said to us he's in what they call the safe place. and they say there is only one safe place in beijing for him, the u.s. embassy. or at lea

obama here target romney and i have talked to a lot of -- and feels very familiar, to how teamh pivoted and never gave kerry a moment to breathe after he became the nominee. it feels like the -- >> the obama campaign wants to take up all the oxygen that they can and keep the fist in the face of the mitt romney campaign. that's why it is so critical for mitt romney to be able to turn his direction back towards the president. use some of the resources and messaging opportunity that he will have to take up some -- put his own fist in the obama camp. >> you know, brad are you are a consumer of a lot of polling data and seem there is are a couple of interesting things that came out, you had the head of american cross roads are, this issue, the president has a hire favorable rating than job rating with some critical group, a democratic polling firm out this morning with a similar finding and this is -- and i have heard this from folks close to the romney campaign, this is an issue that they have, the president, higher favorable rating than mitt romney with a group of voters that mayb

. >> that is exactly why the obama re-election team threw hilary rosen went, went after her by name, because they recognized how big a threat she sis. the white house logs, 35 visits, several were directly to the white house office of media surrogates. she's technically a surrogate for the obama team. >> we didn't get to the other big story of the week. rick santorum dropped out. he blamed in part his decision to do so on his treatment in the media. >> i mean, he got a terrible press, but, i mean, let's face it, this has been a slow slide for him since, i guess, he lost the ohio primary. so, you know, he's managed to get out in time to preserve his viability for the future. i think that's a lot further he thought he'd get. >> here's how he put it. >> the one critique i would give is that, you know, the media does drive this a lot more than people realize. they do in fact have a -- have a -- have the ability to drive a narrative beyond the campaign's ability to really -- to do much about it. and in that respect i give romney a lot of credit, in that he was more effectively able to spi

virginia and ohio, what message is the obama team trying to send? >> with andrea away, can i be sarcastic? nice to see the president out there finally campaigning. >> i don't know what you mean, mark. >> they're designating these official campaign trips, and they'll do some of that. the president uses officials traffic to get in some campaign events. look, this race will come down to a handful of states. just how much time barack obama and mitt romney and major surrogates and tv ad spending goes flooding into the 7 to 12 states that are going to determine who the next president is. >> you know, i always say it's a national election in name only. it's really a series of state elections, as you point out. the latest map updated this morning, you said a relative small number of states, ohio and virginia are on there. colorado, nevada, north carolina and pennsylvania are the other ones that nbc ranks as full toss-ups. a conference call was made yesterday, in that we have a lot most paths to the electoral votes. is that spin or right? >> it's totally tru

. >> how does the obama team counter that argument? >> i use the buffett calculator. i put in my salary and how much more i am paying that mitt romney. when they see the disparity they will understand what the president is talking about. >> the calculator, the latest political prop is further separating these two sites. while the proposal is unlikely to make it through congress, the arguing will last through november. >> mitt romney did not have any public events today but people have said using the buffett rule to target investors, it will deter the people from investing here at home and they will spend the money overseas. >> we will tell you the best way to witness nasa history as one space shuttle prepares to land in our area for the last time. >> a warm-up for the weekend. doug hill has a look at the forecast after the break. >> the number of people applying for jobless benefits is up. >> it jumped by 13 thousands since steadily declining since fall. amazon is cutting its e but prices facing a government lawsuit. they are slashing prices to less than $10. the anno

sign that shows the general election is underway, romney was greeted with new ads, one from the obama team and one from the super pack supporting the president. >> he is the $200 million man and big oil's fingerprints are all over him. >> reporter: the rnc has started sin: izeing with mitt romney. they cran coordinate on how to spend millions of dollars in tv advertising. there's no question now this will be one heated race between president obama and romney. >> last night rick santorum gave his first interview since dropping out of the race. what did he have to say? any indication he who jump on the endorsement bandwagon for romney? >> reporter: this is all about semantics. i will play the sound bite and we'll stalk after. >> he is the person who will go up against barack obama. it's pretty clear. we need to win the race. >> unless i'm mishearing things you just endorsed mitt romney. >> if that's what you want to call it. >> reporter: rick santorum and mitt romney are supposed to meet in early may. maybe a formal endorsement will be on the table. pel are talking about decide he endhoars h

. >> well, that is not the obama team's whole strategy. >> the focus of the republican party on turningthe clock for women really is something that's unacceptable and shows how callous and insensitive they are towards women's priorities. >> a war, on, like, 20, 25% of the country. that is why. guns are not going to get you elected. >> jon: i think women are 50% of the country. >> really? then why am i still single! >> jon: i don't know. wyatt, howl will romney combat the war on women accusations? >> oh, i don't know, perhaps with a war on women accusation. >> 92.3% of the job losses during the obama years have been women who have lost those jobs. the real war on women has been the job losses as a result of the obama economy. q. that's it?this is what the c- they're just going to borrow each other's attacks? you are. i mean, it's crazy. it's like to armies sharing one cannonball just back and forth. >> no, no, no. >> you know who will handle the war on women, women charged with some pizazz. >> rick perry. >> oh, yeah, perry would have been all, war on women! where do i sign up! it's man'

we're following the latest heated exchange between president obama's re-election team and the presumptive nominee mitt romney cause the before the killing of osama bin laden and a few days after a much debated web ad was released, that features bin laden touting the decision to take out the al qaeda leader, romney is responding to sharp words from obama campaign adviser robert gibbs who appeared on "meet the press" sunday. >> osama bin laden no longer walks on this planet because of the bravest decision and the brave men and women in our military. and mitt romney said it was a foolish thing to do a few years ago. >> even jimmy carter would have given that order. >> we'll talk about that. much is being said and written about former president clinton narrating that ad and about he and president obama teaming up. joining me, jimmy williams, and erin, let me get your take on mitt romney's response and why he felt even the need to bring up jimmy carter in this flip way. why not take it head on? gibbs was very strong on "meet the press." what do you make of his reaction in. >> i think it is wha

obama. but we haven't heard from him since. teambama is quote, sitting on a stack of money so tall that a show dog country jump over it. a line from former rnc chair, haley barbour, former governor of mississippi. how will romney fight back. >>> is the ving stall a result of tax and obama care policies from washington? i ask three powerhouse ceos, one from obama, the other supports romney, the other down the middle. you don't want to miss that. >>> moments ago, the secret service announced new rules. men that would take a bullet for the president are told they can't go to places of ill repute. really? you need to spell that out in rules? i guess so. we're going to have that story for you. >>> first up, call it the battle of the campaign war chest. at the end of march, president obama's campaign had ten times more cash on hand than romney. republican super pacs are raising a done and leveling the field. if only they had run more serious ads with premarket pro-growth tilt instead of this one. check it out. >> obama, obama, obama. >> o

obama shouldn't waste his i'm. >> we shall see how it all plays out. thanks to all of you. i appreciate. later this hour, president clinton teaming up with president obama for the first of three fund-raisers for the re-election campaign. we'll bring you the details straight ahead. but first george mmerman's lawyer launches social media mpgnor his client afte utng dow mrm's bse lt ek whhe dngt, pusaj misteme o world tde ceeril spa t pi ste ilngsneyo's taessk rer wel t rertroyo we asked tottrangers. to w it for us. i'll be right ba we asked tottrangers. didt ke a d w mu ifees dyouran tao wah ur mon ban no ne. peoe. emale ce st lsuranccompan okt ud stee pic ava weo in dfent. wee inngumit cko fensan. >>> a controversial new fwtwistn the case of george zimmerman. zimmerman's attorney is launching a social media campaign on behalf of his client. two new websites have been created, one to circulate details about the trial while disputing this this information, and a second site which hasn't gone live, but that will collect donations to pay for zimmerman's legal expenses. o'mara has also created a facebook page and twitter feed for zimme

through strength idea, and obama wants to weaken tamerica through the world, and i think that the obama teamld argue and i'm no foreign policy expert, but with some justification that the world has changed since the cold war and it is no longer us and russia and us and afghanistan and us and syria and a huge number of threats that exist out there so that the older approach does not work as well, but it is a fascinating line of argument on the foreign policy that if not romney is making all of the advisers are trying to craft. >> well, our presidents who have been popular in the world like kennedy and eisenhower and all have been smart about restraining the u.s. power and not hawks. anyway, there is a new ad out there against bill clinton playing up obama's courage and taking out osama bin laden last year and questions if romney would have done the same. here is clinton. >> one thing that george bush said that is right, the president is the decider in chief and nobody can make that decision for you. look, he knew what would happen, and suppose the navy s.e.a.l.s had gone in there and it hadn'

politically, the white house is hoping for that. >>> team obama spent today playing defense.e will ask the president's top political strategist, how much damage has been done by a democratic critic of mitt romney's word. >> why people view this dust-up over working women and political loyalty very differently. and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ >>> ahead this half hour, new worries about the economy. the election just seven months a

. >> reporter: president obama's team is already launching attacks again the front-runner. >> this is about the middle class. it's just returning the old policies. >> reporter: mitt romney argues his background makes him the best candidate to challenge the president on the economy. an issue voters say is the most important this november. mitt romney has 554 delegates, that's more than twice santorum's count. >> thank you. >>> meanwhile a group of more than 70 nations, including the united states, has decided to send millions of dollars of aid to the syrian opposition groups. at the friends of syrian people summit in istanbul, secretary of state hillary clinton called on u.n. special envoy kofi anan to set a timetable for the peace plan. u.s. and others are getting involved 37 >> the united states is also going beyond humanitarian aid and providing support to the civilian opposition. including communications equipment that will help activists organize, evade attacks by the regime and connect to the outside world. >> kofi annan reports to the u.n. security council this morning. >>> this

that's the argument team obama would make. >> let me get to the battle ground. i want to get to the toss-up state. colorado, florida, nevada, north carolina, ohio, pennsylvania and virginia. mark, continuing first read team talked about that nevada, colorado, you can probably see going the way of the president. but it is when you start to shift on over to the east that things get certainly interesting. >> well, right. and no surprise why president obama is having those campaign kickoff rallies in ohio and in virginia on may 5th. those places are probably going to end up deciding the election. ohio has been a place that has been a battleground state. virginia is the one i'm keeping an eye on. it was the one that actually matched the popular vote margin in 2008. and it does have that mix of suburban voters, urban voters, minorities, young people that the obama team thinks can be a win for them. >> all right. let me get you to talk about pennsylvania. it is on that list. we know that you have the white working class male voters who we talked so much about. what is y

the question is, could the obama team overplay its hand in what most everyone as grease was a victoryresident and the country. "the new york times" in a front page sunday story reports that anal is working the tax code to pay less than 10% on its massive profits. the question is is apple doing anything wrong or just taking advantage of a flawed system. and the celtics rajon rondo is tossed from boston's playoff game for bumping an official. the big story in the nba, the devastating loss

the obama team is hoping to tap into clinton's wide network of donors while the former president helps fine tune the party message. it's a relationship put on display last week when clinton was featured in a campaign web video taughting president obama's leadership raid that killed osama bin laden a year ago. ed gillespie says the fight against terrorism should not be a partisan issue. >> this is one of the reasons president obama has become one of the most divisive presidents in american history. he took something that governor romney applauded him for and our military, for killing osama bin laden, and he's managed to turn it into a divisive, partisan political attack that frank car lush chi called sad, john mccain called shameful. i think most americans will see it as a sign of a desperate campaign. >> that's "meet the press" yesterday. robert gibbs argued bin laden's death is fair game in the election. in fact, he questions whether there would have been a different outcome if mitt romney had been sitting in that room. >> just a few years ago president obama, then a candidate, said i

. >> president obama teams up with late night's funnyman. ♪ oh, yeah you should listen to the presidentike to call in the presi of the united stesi. see the president slow jam with jimmy fallon. >> what should you say after that? >> and stay tuned. >>> there is so much suspense in terms of what they might do. >> didn't you remember first round draft picks. daryl green, art monk on the other end. nobody knew it was coming. >> suspense. >> that's not the case. >> not this time. >> there its the heart-pausing moment when the nfl commissioner announces your team's first round draft pick. we have been completely robbed of that this year in washington. robert griffin iii the guy. the official announcement at this thursday's draft will be the worst kept secret well since, 15 minutes before that when the colts announce they're taking andrew luck. zero suspense this year. today in new york city, rgiii enjoying the spoils of an nfl star. he signed an endorsement with subway restaurants and a life sized sculpture of himself, made entirely by subway's smoke house barbecue chicken. >> that is horrib

i think the obama team would argue, i think with some justification, that the world has changed since the cold war. it's no longer just us and russia. it's us and afghanistan and syria. there's a huge number of threats that exist out there. so that older approach doesn't work as well. a fascinating sort of line of argument on foreign policy that if not romney is making all of his advisers are trying to craft. >> our presidents who have been popular like kennedy and eisenhower and all, they were smart about restraining u.s. power. they were not hawks. the obama campaign is out with a new web ad narrated by bill clinton that i plas up obama's courage in taking out osama bin laden last year and questions whether romney would have done the same. let's listen to president clinton here, at least part of it. >> that's one thing george bush said that was right, the president is the decider in chief. nobody can make that decision for you. look, he knew what would happen. suppose the navy s.e.a.l.s had gone in there and it hadn't been bin laden. suppose they had been captured or killed. the dow

president obama's team is already getting ready to take on mitt romney. on face the nation sunday vice president joe biden called romney out of touch with the average american. monday romney responded. >> well, my guess is i get a chance to be with a lot more average americans every day than he does. >> reporter: romney's counting on wins in all three of tuesday's contests to bring him closer to the magic number of delegates needed to lock in the republican nomination. even though newt gingrich trimmed down his campaign staff and cut back on travel to save money, he campaigned monday in maryland ahead of tuesday's round of primaries. at the white house danielle nottingham, now back to you. >>> in an editorial the washington post is urging d.c. voters to clean house beginning with tomorrow's d.c. council democratic primary. the powe says in couple -- post says marion barry and yvette alexander and vincent orange should be sent home. their challengers face an uphill battle in part because of the crowded field, name recognition and campaign war chests of the

we note that obama, team obama is shifting from the trying to paint romney as a flip-flopper to maybe someone who is, in fact, severely conservative. >> kind of hard to do both. >> it is hard to do both. >> and i kind of wonder how successful they will be. i don't think anybody really believes that mitt romney is severely conservative. and that the idea of him not having core values is in fact, i think for the ample american more of a convincing argument. >> because the obama campaign has made pretty clear and to be fair, the obama campaign is also just doing tactics. we're not looking at a huge message. today they're doing a huge push on women, a huge push on hispanic voters. this is their whole play. because they're targeting these slices of the electorate and going very focused about it, this is why, you know, you're kind of having this sort of small ball experience and why they are trying to do extreme because that plays better with specific groups of voters. the problem is again, as you said, it's really hard to have no core and also you know, be severely conservative. >> and to

gps folks yesterday when that poll about independents came out admitted, frankly, that president obama, teamaction on their economic arguments. obviously, the polls show they're making -- getting some traction on the arguments about the war on women. again, this feels, though, like another one of these strategies that says, just tell women it's not true. just tell those little ladies they're just crazy and making it up in their heads. now, the other piece of this, though, shows. if you listen to what he was talking about. a couple things. number one, clearly this is the message frame we're going to hear from him. this president obama doesn't understand the economy and i do. that plays into his, he's a nice guy but he's in over his head. we know that's his theme. but also this idea that he doesn't understand how women feel about the economy. if you threaten my basic health care, you're threatening my family's economy and my economy. so clearly he still doesn't get pinpoint >> karen finney, msnbc political analyst, sorry, we're running out of time tonight, because we had to devote more time to