the sixth young man at the table is peter alexander. he covers the romney campaign for us.e and wide-ranging conversation with the romney five. >> they are quite a starting five. the romney brothers could soon become america's first sons. they certainly look the part. handsome, disciplined, and fiercely competitive as i found out firsthand. this is not a joke. you guys like to compete? >> yeah. >> we're competitive on about anything you can exceptive on. >> ranging from 31 to 42, craig the youngest is in real estate. ben is a doctor. josh, the middle son is also in real estate as is matt. tag, the oldest, runs a private equity firm like his father once did. these days they're rarely altogether. last time everybody was together was when? >> new hampshire, primary night in new hampshire. >> you forgot that ben was there? >> yeah, we occasionally forget about ben. ben can be quiet. >> the romney brothers were raised in belmont, a boston suburb, all attended the same private school and later the same mormon university, brigham young in utah. three have har vord mbas like their

>> peter alexander traveling with governor romney in jerusalem. peter, thanks. >>> former vice president dick cheney said it was a mistake for senator john mccain to pick then alaska governor sarah palin as his running mate back in '08. he says she just wasn't ready to take over the top job, a bomb line qualification for a v.p. selection. >> i like governor palin. i've met her. i know her. she's an attractive candidate, but based on her background, she'd only been governor for about two years. i don't think she passed that test. >> of being ready. >> of being ready to take over. and i think that was a mistake. >> cheney went on to say the mccain campaign didn't handle the vetting process well, which, of course, is a perception the romney campaign is trying very hard not to repeat. >>> now we turn our focus to syria where violence continued to intensify today in that nation's largest city, aleppo. as we pointed out last night, it's a city larger than chicago, illinois. and today dozens were killed. today there were also signs that some kind of paran

including his stop in israel where the news from there followed the candidate to poland where peter alexander is tonight traveling with governor romney. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. mitt romney has found himself on the defensive during the first two stops of his foreign tour. first in london with the olympics then in israel with the palestinians and here in poland his campaign insists it will not be three stops in a row. with a solemn visit to the polish memorial marking the start of world war ii and a meeting with the founder of the country's solidarity movement -- >> thank you so much. >> reporter: mitt romney today tried to contrast himself with president obama, who romney says has neglected this eastern european ally. but the day began in israel with another diplomatic misstep that forced the romney campaign on the defensive. this morning romney told jewish donors at a fundraiser that israeli culture is part of what's enabled israel to be more economically prosperous than the palestinian territories never mentioning the impact of severe trade restrictions

peter alexander joins us live in london. he's been following the story for us. peter, pretty safe to say mitt romney has not been generating the guide of headlines his campaign had envisioned. >> reporter: richard that's exactly right. let's be really clear. this campaign trip for romney, his first trip overseas during the course of the campaign was designed to again rapist positive publicity for the candidate to show him as a statesman, in addition to his experience in working on the stage in salt lake city in 2002. >> developments here in the uk and across europe and across the world. >> okay. nbc's peter alexander there live in london, following mitt romney as he's on his multicountry tour, i believe we have him back. peter alexander, are you here? >> reporter: yeah, we're having some technical difficulties maybe from all the celebrations going on in the background. check out this headline from the daily mail it reads who invited party pooper romney. mitt the twit. he's dialing this all back. again he was on the "today" show with nbc's matt lauer. take a liste

peter alexander covering the romney campaign is with us from just outside olympic stadium where the romneys are among those taking in tonight's opening ceremony. peter good evening. >> reporter: brian good evening to you. for mitt romney attending these games was intended to show case his strength as a problem solver. he helped turn around the 2002 olympics in salt lake city. instead, he is now trying to resolve an international stir of his own making. with much of london stuck in a preolympic lockdown today mitt romney like thousands of others here had to abandon his ride and walk to his meeting with ireland's leader. >> i enjoyed the walk. >> you also had to walk. >> yes. we're used to walking in ireland. >> reporter: but after waking up to another round of harsh british headlines attacking his critique of london's preparation romney told matt lauer he now believes the city can deliver. >> but after being here a couple of days it looks to me like london is ready and, of course, it is hard to put on games in a major metropolitan area. what they've done that i find so impressive is they too

nbc's peter alexander is traveling with the governor and remains in warsaw tonight. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. here in poland, mitt romney wrapped up his week-long foreign tour visiting several war memorials and praising the polish people and their thriving small government and free enterprise economy. he made it clear this trip was supposed to be a low-risk one, with romney projecting the image of a leader ready for the world stage. but it was at times marred by missteps. offending his olympic hosts and palestinian leaders. tensions grew today over restricted access. and this morning it boiled over when romney ignored shouted questions and a press aide angrily intervened. >> governor romney, just a few questions sir. >> show some respect. >> you haven't taken but three questions on this trip. >> show some respect. >> reporter: that press aide later apologized to reporters, but be very clear tonight. this did not go the way the campaign had planned. as they land back in boston, they are all happy to be focusing on what they think is

it's where we begin our broadcast tonight with nbc's peter alexander on the campaign trail in new hampshire. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. just a short time ago we wrapped up the sit down one-on-one interview with governor romney here not far from his lake front estate in new hampshire where he'll spend the weekend with his family. he has been on the defensive over new accusations about his business record at bain capital and about his personal finances. tonight during our conversation he insisted that the president needs to apologize about his attacks on romney himself. in a heated campaign that's become increasingly nasty with both president obama and mitt romney's teams accusing the other of lying romney today told nbc news it's the president who is being dishonest to the american people. >> and the president's campaign has been outrageous in making the kinds of charges they have. i think the kinds of attacks are beneath the dignity of the presidency. >> reporter: the obama campaign is trying to raise new questions about romney's business experience at bain capit

our report tonight from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: at his first town hall of the 2012 campaign today in cincinnati president obama sharpened his attacks on mitt romney, having already accused his opponents of shipping jobs overseas while at bain capital. president obama today hammered romney for tax policies that the president argues would encourage other companies to do the same. >> we don't need a president who plans to ship more jobs overseas or wants to give more tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas. i want to give tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in ohio. >> reporter: the romney campaign called that report biased linking it to an obama support. >> what does it say about a president whose record is so poor that all he can do in his campaign is attack me? >> reporter: on meet the press the romney adviser insisted romney wasn't involved with bain in 1992 as the obama campaign charges when companies the equities firm managed began outsourcing jobs. >> he actually retired retroactively at that point and ended up not going back to the firm

our report tonight from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: an unusually animated mitt romney today seized on some of president obama's own words, charging they reveal an anti-business bias. >> if you want to understand why his policies have failed, why what he has done has not created jobs or rising incomes in america, you can look at what he said. >> reporter: what did the president say? while outlining his vision of american progress, a partnership between business and government last friday, he included this line. >> if you have a business, you didn't build that, somebody else made that happen. >> reporter: with both sides angling for any advantage, romney today pounced. >> to say something like that is not just foolishness, it's insulting to every entrepreneur, every innovator in america, and it's wrong. >> reporter: and he added this about the president's view of the role of government services and economic development. >> we pay for those things, all right? the taxpayers pay for government. >> reporter: the romney campaign is fighting to redirect the debate, away from his tax return

peter alexander covers the campaign for us. he's traveling with the candidate here in london to start us off. boy, this got interesting in a hurry. >> sometimes a small thing can turn into a big deal, brian, especially overseas. mitt romney certainly did not expect this when he planned his trip to london and now on the eve of the opening ceremony he spent the day on the defensive. it wasn't the cheering british welcome mitt romney was hoping for. >> mitt romney has turned on the charm during his visit to britain by questioning the country's ability to host the olympic games. >> reporter: but the message that he wanted to get out on this trip has been obscured. >> if he is here to make a friend he's got a funny way of showing it. >> reporter: criticism exploded on newspaper headlines. "the guardian," the times." "the telegraph" fired off this commentary. mitt romney is perhaps the only politician that could start a trip that was supposed to be a charm offensive by being utterly devoid of charm and mildly offensive. touring the o

it's where we begin tonight with nbc's peter alexander who's traveling with governor romney. he's in jerusalem tonight. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you from outside the old city here today. mitt romney insisted the u.s. has what he called a, quote, solemn duty and moral imperative to prevent an iranian threat to israel. >> we love you. >> thank you, thank you. >> we love you. >> reporter: surrounded by a crush of israelis and international press mitt romney made a pilgrimage to jerusalem's western wall, delivering a prayer in one of jerusalem's most holy sites and later a warning to iran. >> make no mistake the ayatol h ayatollahs in iran are efforting our moral defenses. they want to know who will object and who will look away. we will not look away, nor will my country ever look away to our passion and commitment to israel. >> reporter: earlier dan senor seemed to to take on a tougher policy. in order to stop iran from the capability of building a nuclear weapon. the campaign later released statement softening that stance. during his speech to je

it's where we begin tonight with nbc's peter alexander on the campaign trail covering mitt romney. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. this is far and away the most pro obama crowd mitt romney has spoken to all campaign season. while his advisers admit they would never expect all african-americans to agree with all of mitt romney's policies, they insist they were pleased by the reception here. it was a gutsy claim from mitt romney. >> if you want a president who will make things better in the african-american community, you are looking at him. you take a look. >> reporter: just consider the audience, the naacp, the nation's premier civil rights group. tasha from ohio compared today's setting to a lion's den. >> i thought it was extremely encouraging that president hopeful romney even came. >> reporter: four years ago then candidate obama won 95% of the black vote. today romney asked for a fair hearing. but on several occasions heard the crowd's disapproval. >> the president will say he's going to do those things. he has not, will not, cannot. his last four

. >> nbc's peter alexander's traveling with the candidate and joins us live on the phone from jerusalem. what's on the agenda today? >> reporter: what's impressive is mitt romney on the ground for 36 hours and a full plate on tap for him already this morning. speaking to you, standing outside the private residence of israeli prime minister perez. mitt romney left here a matter of moments ago finishing a sit-down conversation with him. earlier today, romney met with a man he refers to as an old friend, prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu. they have a relationship to the mid-'70s working in boston together as corporate advisers. they were business colleagues and really the intention for romney on the trip to demonstrate through the relationship we had with the individuals here and with his words that he would effectively be a better friend to israel than the current administration. earlier today, making some news was the fact that the senior adviser of romney said that if israel has to take action on its own to prevent iran from being able to bomb, to make a bomb, to enrich the n

peter alexander, are you here?rations going on in the background. check out this headline from the daily mail it reads who invited party pooper romney. mitt the twit. he's dialing this all back. again he was on the "today" show with nbc's matt lauer. take a listen to how mitt romney tried to characterize his new outlook on the games. >> i'm absolutely convinced that the people here are ready for the games and in just a few moments all the things politicians said will be swept away because the athle

peter alexander, you talked to him on friday. over the weekend, george will, among other republicans, let's play a little of what they said about getting this off the table. >> if something's going to come out, get it out in a hurry. i do not know why, given that mr. romney knew the day that mccain lost in 2008 that he was going to run for president, that he didn't get all of this out. >> release the tax returns tomorrow, it's crazy. you've got to release six, eight, ten years of back tax returns. >> you talked to him on friday and this is your questions to him about whether he'll release more of his tax returns. >> john mccain ran for president and released two years of tax returns. john kerry ran for president. you know, his wife -- >> i just want to clarify this, then. after february of 1999, you never attended a single meeting for bain, a business meeting, even by phone, attended a meeting regarding bain or bain controlled entities? >> you've asked quite a few questions there so let's go through it. i didn't involve myself in

peter alexander has more on how romney says the president is being dishonest. >> in a heated campaign becoming increasingly nasty, with both teams accusing the other the lying, mitt romney said it's the president being dishonest to the american people. >> the president's campaign has been i think outrageous making the kind of charges they have. the kind of attacks are beneath the dignity. >> they're trying to raise new questions about his business experience at bain capital. especially when he stopped running the private equity firm. he saying he went to turn around the winter olympics. but these documents list him as the chief executive officer in 2000 and 2001. >> most americans figure if you're the chairman, ceo, and president of a company, you're responsible for what that company does. >> if you were officially the boss in those years, why are you not responsible for bain capital's activities including the outsourcing of jobs at that time. >> in february 1999, i left bane capital and all management authority and responsibility for the firm. i had no ongoing activity in the affairs

joining me nbc's peter alexander. peter, make it clear, this was an unnamed romney donor. was not someone who worked for the campaign. >> sure. >> never theless, when you hear something like that, those protesters, by the way, many of them were occupy associated according to the informing, but when you read a quote like this, a donor going in shelling out a lot of money, it does make you wince a little bit if not a lot. >> it certainly does. a lot of republicans would say that's not the way we're trying to put this debate right now. i think they do agree in opposition to the president, they would argue, hey, we disagree with the president fundamentally. we disagree his plan in terms of extending the bush era tax cuts for the middle class. they say it needs to be done for the higher income earners, wealthier job creators. we need to help those people in an effort to build up this economy. as you speak about the numbers specifically, tamara, let's take a look at what they look like. in may, just about a month ago, the number in may, mitt romney with close to 77 million raise

his five sons sat down with peter alexander in their first joint interview of the 2012 campaign. peter has their story tonight on "rock center." >> good to visit with you, this is a unique opportunity to sit down with all five of mitt romney's sons, they range from 41 to 32 and first time they were sitting down this campaign cycle. the effort is to try to humanize their father. we had a chance to visit with them in recent weeks and take a look at our time together. >> they are quite a starting five, the romney brothers could soon become america's first sons. they certainly look the part. handsome, disciplined and fiercely competitive as i found out firsthand. >> this is not a joke, you like to compete? >> we're competitive on just about anything. >> last time everybody was together was when? >> new hampshire, primary night. >> you forgot ben was there. >> occasionally we forget when ben -- he can be quiet. >> they clearly like to raz each other. >> momma's boy? >> josh. >> thanks, guys, good to hear. >> obviously they like to have some fun but we had serious questions for them as

peter alexander with more. >> reporter: for mitt romney, be very clear. this was supposed to be a risk averse trip overseas as campaign advisers put it to us, this is a chance for romney to listen and learn. again this morning romney is getting it in the ear loud and clear. from the british folks. they were not impressed with his comments about the preparedness for the games. check this out in local headlines. it reads mitt the twit. as romney wraps up his stop here in the uk, he's hoping tonight's festivities will wash away some of the hard feelings. as mitt romney looks forward to tonight's opening ceremony -- >> governor, did you intend to criticize the way london prepared for these games. >> reporter: he's hoping to avert the political firestorm he sparked when he spoke with brian williams and was asked if london is ready for the olympic games. >> it's hard to know how it will turn out. it's disconcerting the story about the private security game not having enough people, the strike of the customs official. that's not encouraging. >> british reporters

the romney sons sit down with nbc's peter alexander and talk about life and a lot of things, includingt's just -- you know, that's part of -- part of his charm, i think. we were with him recently. he said, "i was guffawing when i looked at this old picture." >> i lost it. i was completely guffawing. >> we're used to it. it's part of his personality. it's the same corny jokes we grew up with. >> it's an interesting wide-ranging conversation with correspondent peter alexander, who covers the romney campaign for us. and we will have it for you next week. a small part of next week's broadcast. in the meantime, for all of us here in new york and elsewhere, thank you for being with us this week. i'm brian williams. good night from new york. your late local news begins now. [ male announcer ] you sprayed them. thought they were dead. huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem.

. >> that was mitt romney speaking to nbc's own peter alexander. we'll be talking with him shortly.f this happens as the firestorm over romney's time at bain capital continues to rage this morning. the obama camp is questioning when exactly governor romney was in charge and what role he played at bain capital. and romney is addressing the controversy, doing it head on, saying the president's camp is making outrageous charges. joining me is richard wolffe. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> uniquely mitt romney all over the air waives yesterday, five television interviews. did he take control of the story? >> his performance was assertive and confident. stylistically it was fine, but the substance of what he said doesn't just leave unanswered questions, it raises new questions really. when he said as you just heard in that clip, he had no responsibility for this company at this time, it's very hard to square that with the official papers he signed. when most people sign official papers in this case for the sec, there are statements of responsibility, when you say you're the ceo,

back to you. >> peter alexander reporting for us there. okay. so on social media, hash tag romney shambles the twitter handle that launched a tirade against the candidate. we want to talk more about this with our panel. okay, gang great to have you here. first take a listen to more of what mitt romney had to say this morning matt lauer on the "today" show. >> all right. we don't have it. i wanted to play it. if we get that in the control room. leapt me know. let's take a listen. >> after being here a couple of days it looks to me london is ready. course it is hard to put on games in a major metropolitan area. what they've done is they took the venues and put them right in the city. you'll be able to be on the back side of 10 downing side for beach volleyball. >> michael, he's talking directly now to all of those leaders in london like cameron and johnson who came out against him basically chastising his tenure in park city saying it's easy to do it in the middle of nowhere. >> his later comments, obviously are the comments he should have made in

peter alexander is covering the romney campaign and joins us now. peter, what do we know about this event tonight out there in wyoming? we heard that foster freeze will be out there, liz cheney, what is the campaign going for out there? >> who you will see will be dick cheney for first time opening up his home for the romney fund-raiser tonight, expected to raise roughly $2 million which luke, in itself, is historic. most money raised at a fund-raiser in wyoming state history it is being reported right now. the people you are not going to see there tonight no karl rove, condoleezza rice, the head of a private equity firm and another beef executive, beef company executive expected to be there as well. what this really says more than anything else, it says a lot about this relationship between dick cheney and mitt romney. and in some ways it is the passing of the torch. dick cheney is the living thread of -- for four of the last five republican presidencies. in the words of liz cheney this say person, mitt romney is, that dick cheney says he believes w

. >> joining me now is nbc's peter alexander, who was with mitt romney in houston and covers the campaign. peter, first of all, it was important that he went. there have been republican candidates who have refused to go to the naacp convention. we know that the african-american community is overwhelmingly supportive of president obama, that has been the track record there. so it was a mixed reaction. >> yeah, i think that's definitely a good way to characterize it. i spoke to one young man, member of the naacp, just a short time ago after mitt romney left the convention hall. he said if nothing else, this was a gutsy and courageous speech for mitt romney to come speak to this audience. but recognize the skeptical audience that it is. just four years ago, barack obama as you noted, won 95% of the african-american vote, new poll figures now show he holds a roughly 87% of the african-american support at this point. but the obvious point for the romney campaign is not so much to win this community. they will not do that. but to chip away. it's a significant community, the african-american dem

they spoke exclusively to nbc's peter alexander for tonight's broadcast of "rock center" and peter asked them whether they wanted their father to try a second run for the presidency after losing the nomination to john mccain in '08 and notably four of the five sons initially said no. >> i didn't want him to run again. i really didn't. i thought you gave it your best shot in 2008, you felt like you had to do it and you had to go and give back to the country and you tried and they didn't take you, so let's move on. >> reporter: for a candidate who at times has struggled to connect, the campaign hopes the sons can also help explain some of their father's more idiosyncratic moments. >> feels good being in michigan. the trees are the right height. >> a little goofy. that's part of his charm i think. >> we were with him recently -- he said i was guffawing when i looked at this whole picture. >> i lost it. i was completely guffawing. >> at one point he was with you guys when he said i love them like they're my own sons and they are my own sons. >> the same corny jokes we grew up with. we're use

. >> i'm peter alexander in for lester holt. my neighborhood is one of those still missing power today. this has been a mess. >> is there a way to get is from here to there without stepping outside, that would probably be -- it is sweltering out there. >> the nation is baking in heat today. in a lot of places, the power could be out for up to a week because of the big storm. >> at least 13 people are dead and states of emergency have been declared in ohio, virginia, west virginia and the nation's capital. >> in total, more than 2 million homes are still without power, all the way from indiana to maryland. >> that's not the end of it. heat advisories remain in effect for most of the southeast and the mid-atlantic states. once again, triple digit temperatures are expected across the southern third of the country. we'll have much more on all of that in just a little bit. >> also this morning, we're going to have an update on aimee copeland, the brave young woman from georgia who is battling a flesh eating bacteria. she is making re

sometimes it's successful, sometimes it's not. >> nbc's peter alexander covered the romney campaign.his is the first interview with all five together, first time they sat down for television. you really had a rapport. it's clear they were trying to explain how their dad is. >> they joke on the campaign trail that i look like the sixth son. suffice to say they're between ages of 31 and 42 and haven't sat down all five of them together this campaign cycle, not more than five years they've done something like this. they were on conan o'brien recently. this is an orchestrated effort. the campaign is doing what it can to help make their dad look less, as you say perfectly, buttoned up. they accomplished that, i think, tremendously. they tell a lot of stories about their dad at home as a prankster, josh who's the middle son tells a story about one time their dad was going into the basement and he was hiding there. josh was. when their dad reached out to grab the string to pull the light, josh grabbed him and they were wrestling downstairs. sounds like a black and white 1950s or '60s sitcom

the romney sons sit down with nbc's peter alexander and talk about life and a lot of things, includingat's part of -- part of his charm, i think. we were with him recently. he said, "i was guffawing when i looked at this old picture." >> i lost it. i was completely guffawing. >> we're used to. it's part of his personality. it's the same corny jokes we grew up with. >> it's an interesting wide-ranging conversation with correspondent peter alexander, who covers the romney campaign for us. and we will have it for you next week. a small part of next week's broadcast. in the meantime, for all of us here in new york and elsewhere, thank you for being with us this week. i'm brian williams. good night from new york. your late local news begins now. . >>> next at 11:00, talk about a political spin. our unit takes a lock at how cyclists are riding a new wave of political influence. a >> it takes a death of a baby and a shooting the next day to get the security we need. >> seven deadly days forced action in oakland. a new plan to crack down on crime and we are there as the mayor and police chief

. >> nbc's peter alexander with governor mitt romney. thank you. let's bring in matt welch and sharon topliz. good morning to you both. matt, you were chuckling along the way as you were listening to some of the set up for this segment. i guess no matter which way you look at this you have to chuckle in what's happened with mitt romney so far. this was thought to be a slam dunk for the governor and so some folks are asking is he ready for the world stage? >> it's definitely a bunch of unforced errors. i think that in the long haul no one will be talk about this. if romney loses by one percentage point in november nobody will bring up the olympics. series of unforced errors to be sure. it will be forgotten as obama's trip to copenhagen in 2009, he went to get the olympics for chicago and ended up looking foolish. we'll come back to what this election is about which is the economy. >> we're at halftime. 100 days to go. first quarter. >> it's more than just the olympics when we are talking about these gaffes. i want to play another clip that got romne

the romney sons sit down with nbc's peter alexander and talk about life and a lot of things, including, that's part of -- part of his charm, i think. we were with him recently. he said, "i was guffawing when i looked at this old picture." >> i lost it. i was completely guffawing. >> we're used to. it's part of his personality. it's the same corny jokes we grew up with. >> it's an interesting wide-ranging conversation with correspondent peter alexander, who covers the romney campaign for us. and we will have it for you next week. a small part of next week's broadcast. in the meantime, for all of us here in new york and elsewhere, thank you for being with us this week. i'm brian williams. good night from new york. your late local news begins now. [ obama ] i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. [ female announcer ] every woman who believes decisions about our bodies and our health care should be our own is troubled mitt romney supports overturning roe versus wade. romney backed a law that outlaws all abortion -- even in cases of rape and incest. and that's not all. i'll cut off fu