leading our party. >>> just hours after arizona congresswoman gabby giffords made an emotional return to the hill for the president's state of the union, she'll return this morning to officially resign from congress. later this hour, house leaders from both sides plan to discuss her service, this is congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz will read the her aloud. it reads in part -- every day i am working hard. i will recover and will return and we will work together again. then the house will vote on a bill that giffords cowrote designed to strengthen penaltieses for drug smugglers who use airports from mexico. she was greeted by cheers when she arrived last night, just her second appearance since being shot in the head last january. the president greeted her with a long hug. she stayed for several minutes afterwards to speak with friends and colleagues. it was quite moving to watch last night. >>> well, back on the campaign trail, mitt romney and newt gingrich, still on the attack. neither have shown sides of easing up on their war of words. let's start with peter alexander. h

game. the big question now, who moves ahead. in just a few days, we'll know who fill s gabby giffords' seat in congress. we'll ask him about that provocative ad that plays off soft sympathy for giffords and attacks his opponent. does it go too far? >>> and a tragic statistic. suicides among american troops are surging. just about one per day this year. that's far more deaths than troops killed in action. >>> good morning from washington. it's friday, june 8th, 2012. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. of course, stay with us this morning. the president will be making a statement in the press briefing room, also expected to take a few questions. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. presidential campaign is a marathon, and this is the week mitt romney caught up with the president. not just the national polls have been tightening for a while, but now romney has pulled even in a handful of key areas. most important is money. the president has had a big appraisering advantage, and even had his biggest fund-raising month in may. that didn't matter. romney and the rnc out-rai

move to replace gabby giffords. good morning from washington. it's wednesday, june 6, 2012. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. i need two hours this morning and let me get to the first read of the morning. i'll jam it this morning. if you're going try to kill the king, you better make sure you succeed. state democrats didn't come close to succeeding. walker easily beat back tom barrett, 53-46. it was almost identical to the first time the two ran against each other and over 2.5 million people voted in a summer recall election and more votes were cast, nearly as many as in the 2008 presidential election. walker actually got more votes than john mccain won in wisconsin in 2008 and there was a more electorate in 2008? look at this, as you can see the numbers, 38% in 2004 to 38% in 2012. what did we learn here in 2004, 2008, 2010, and 2008 might be the anomaly. rebecca governor kleefsch. he held on to his seat. the balance of power hangs on the final results of the 21st district with democrat john lehman. at this hour the a.p. still has not called the race. as you can see, les

appearance by former congresswoman gabby giffords campaigning for her potential successor what her husband mark kelly is telling us about gabby's future in politics. all that coming up. first a look ahead at the president's schedule. he's doing a bunch of local interviews today in smaller markets talking about rural initiatives. but the campaign is likely to come up quite a bit. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf's pizza palace gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! pizza!!!!! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! put it on my spark card! [ high-pitched ] nice doin' business with you! [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve the most rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast rel

: absolutely. >> a couple others points. we do know that gabby giffords's husband, mark kelly will be in the first lady's box tonight and the republican response is being given by indiana governor mitch daniels. >>> last night's florida debate had a decidedly local flavor. well, florida republican senator george lemieux, who's running for the u.s. senate joins me now. i want to break things down, senator, nice to see you. >> nice to be with you, chuck. >> i'm going to go to the first question, and i'm curious about your reaction. i believe you have not endorsed in the race? >> that's correct. i'm focused on my own race. >> fair enough. which was romney's the sponges romney gave to what's been a bit of a confusing position he has on what to do with undocumented workers here in the united states. do you force them? deport them or not? here's what he said. >> if you don't deport them, how do you send them home? >> the answer is self-deportation. people decide they can do better by going home, because they can't find work here, and so we're not going to round people up. >> let me ask you, yo

congresswoman gabby giffords. while in nevada, virginia, north dakota, voting will help decide the lineups for november's key senate races. and john bryson makes a major decision following his hit-and-run convictions on saturday. all that and more coming up on thisda "the daily rundown." good morning from washington. it's tuesday, june 12th, 2012. also this morning, our deep dive into the sometimes strained relationships with israeli prime ministers, especially this one, beeb bibi netanyahu. >>> both obama and romney are going rural, focusing on small towns and states that could make a difference this fall. this fall, romney launches a bus tour through battleground states. and president obama kicked off this week by going local, inviting reporters from eight small stations around the country to the white house. the target, mostly rural markets in battleground states. think sioux city, iowa, roanoke, virginia, and the biggest little city in america, reno, nevada, hoping to turn the page on the private sector is doing fine gaffe, the president made his state-by-state pitch for econom

had gabby gifford's aide. >> as you pointed out this week on the show because i watch every day. >> yes. >> had the democrats lost then we would say, oh, a big sign for the fall. that it doesn't tell us much about the national picture. >> i think this is true. this was about gabby giffords and her legacy and as much as the republicans tried to say it was about the future of america and the policies she recast that election and propelled him to victory. >> what do you make on walker making this argument that, hey, this was a policy split in the state of wisconsin. that's true but was the recall a policy split? or was the recall election -- did he win because he benefited from some folks that may not have agreed but didn't agree with the idea of recall. >> it seems to me from the exit polling that most of the voters didn't think the recall was the way to go. you'll have another election in the next couple years. if you don't like scott walker then get rid of him. the voters it seemed to me were saying we don't want outside sources deciding who is going to be the governor. >> i won

district, gabby giffords' former seat, though it had had been redriked, democratic congressman ron barber is trailing by about 400 votes but no call there. in arizona's 9th district, 125 vote there. in california, lungren is trailing by less than 200 votes. in florida's 18th district, 100% of the vote is in. republican congressman allen west is trailing. seems a little bit too much to overcome. 2,500 votes. he's demanding a recount. you do wonder what happens if the florida presidential has to go in that direction. i'll explain that in a few minutes. north carolina, district 7, 100% in. the democrat incumbent there is in the lead but it is only 500 votes. there will be a runoff in louisiana's third dwikt between two republicans. >>> two races still too close to call at this hour, in washington state, the governor's race is still undecided. we've been down the road here before with washington state. haven't we? the mail-in ballots. talk to us next week. we might have a winner there. then there's florida. we still haven't called in the presidential race, because of the law that requi

he stands on issues outside of the economy. >> very quick. this win in arizona, the gabby giffords' seat is a big win. >> a very nice win. maybe democrats aren't quite hitting the panic button as much as they would. >> psychological boost. >> mark murray, fan of the oklahoma city thunder. >> the u.n. says the syrian conflict is now a civil war. gun battles are being reported in the capital damascus in four main provinces and for the first time, washington is accusing moscow in helping assad with the brutal crackdowns on civilians. >> we have confronted the russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to syria and we are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from russia to syria which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically. >> richard engle is nbc's chief foreign correspondent and he's live in cairo and richard, give us a state in play in syria now. do you believe the citizenry there is aware of the russian influence and how big a role russia will continue to play in this conflict? >> the people across syria are certai

congresswoman gabby giffords. first a look at the president's schedule. you are watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. losing weight clicked for me when i found a plan that was as active and on the go as i was. weight watchers online is absolutely that tool. it was never further away than my pocket. my sidekick! the weight tracker really let me see that my real problem area was when i was traveling. it allowed me to kind of tailor my plan to my lifestyle. i lost 29 pounds with weight watchers online. i am like me times five. i'm like cara intensified. [ female announcer ] join now and get one month free. hurry offer ends april 21st. weight watchers online. finally, losing weight clicks. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!! [ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. â

seat in arizona. second. gabby gifford's former seat. the open sea in arizona nine uncalled. dan lun green is votes. the open seat in california 26. we don't know what will happen there. 100% are in . mary bono mack is behind. will she join her husband coming an congress. bilbray is behind with 100% reporting in california as we mentioned already, incumbent allen west is behind in florida 18 with all the votes counted. representative menechek is leading. that appears to be a couple thousand votes apart. ke mcintyre, will he be one of the few blue dogs that remains? he has a small lead. there will be a run-off for one house seat in louisian the third two republicans there. but if all those leads hold, nbc news is current ly projecting they could pick up eight seats in the house again. yes, we know all those 100%. mail ballots particularly out in the state of california so we'll see but ifíu all leads hold it'a net pickup of eight seats for the democrats in the house. there's a lot more to come on this special two-hour post-election edition of "the daily rundown." i'm basically going

." tom, ron barber running for gabby gifford's sheet. up next, chris jansing speaking to bernie sanders. bye-bye. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ and on small business saturday bothey remind a nations of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement... and main street found its might again. and main street found its fight again. and we, the locals, found delight again. that's the power of all of us. that's the power of all of us. that's the membership effect of american express. after just one use? think again. [ female announcer ] with olay regenerist wrinkle revolution, it's possible to reduce the look of wrinkles in just 10 minutes. now you've seen it. experience it for yourself. [ female announcer ] olay regenerist. free-credit-score-dot-com'sur boargonna direct you ♪ts ♪ experience it for yourself. ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be hea

gabby giffords returned to tucson one year after the shooting that killed six people and left her critically wounded. giffords led the crowd in the pledge. >>> the book the obamas alleges feuds between the first lady and the president's staff and says she once told the french first lady that living in the white house was hell and first lady was not interviewed for the book, what really has washington buzzing is that it's the west wing senior staffers, either ex-staffers or current ones. one advisor jeremy jar shut. >>> tony blankly has died. he worked as a journalist and a regular commentator on tv. he was 63 years old and just one of the great gentlemen of washington. the guy never would just yell or say bad things about people, just hood a very, very elegant way about him. he'll be missed. 21 hours to go before the new hampshire primary kicks off. and if tradition holds- ---mike murray joins me now from washington and mark, we think we know new hampshire will surprise us, then again it could surprise us by not surprising us. take it away. >> absolutely, chuck, well, with his vic

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online as early as 2016. gabby giffords is endorsing her former aide ron barber's bid to finish her term in congress. barber who was shot twice in the attack that nearly killed his boss says giffords asked him to run in this spring's special election. even if he wins it is not clear whether barber will seek a full term in the fall. going to be a heck of a race. >>> three of the four republican presidential candidates are set to speak at today's gathering of conservative republicans in washington, d.c. they're trying to make the case to rally conservative support in the coming contest. joining me now on the phone is nbc's jamie novagrad. thanks so much for joining us. >> good morning. >> jon kyl who is in the senate leadership had a very interesting quote. he said it exactly a mitt romney-mania right now. how can you tell me what is going on on the ground? is this mitt romney-mania gaining traction? is there going to be good reception to the former governor of massachusetts's message? >> well the reason that he probably said that is that there was a lot of red meat yesterday with the crow

. plus, a big development in the gabbie giffords campaign. her former district sends republicans scrambling, but first, look ahead at the president's schedule. we will celebrate gay pride month at the white house month and then it's off to chicago. little personal time this weekend. perhaps headed to a friend's wedding, then off to mexico for the g20. ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. support team usa and show our olympic spirit right in our own backyard. so we combined our citi thankyou points to make it happen. tom chipped in 10,000 points. karen kicked in 20,000. and by pooling more thankyou points from folks all over town, we were able to watch team usa... [ cheering ] in true london fashion. [ male announcer ] now citi thankyou visa card holders can combine the thankyou points they've earned and get even greater rewards. ♪ and get even greater rewards. it's time

on gabby giffords nearly two years ago. now what he's saying about gun control and the precarious nature of the fiscal cliff talks. >>> plus, a high honor for the late senator daniel inouye. >>> 11:45 this morning we expect the president and vice president to go to the brady press briefing room to announce the process for a response to gun violence in this country. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accept

gabbie giffords brings the dnc to tears. he defeated two lesser known democrats to win the massachusetts primary. kennedy is the son of former congressman, joe kennedy ii and the grandson of robert f. kennedy, so a new generation possibly of kennedies coming to congress. he faces a republican business man in november for a house seat left open by retiring democrat, barney frank. >>> now, a bizarre update to the story we reported here yesterday where for one philadelphia man, it turned out the joke was on him. so christopher shell was the target of a prank yesterday on a dallas bound flight when someone called us airways to say he was carrying liquid explosives. he was removed from the plane, questioned and the situation was determined to be a hoax. but after the plane finally made it to texas, shell was arrested by local police on charges completely unrelated to the prank call. it turns out he was wanted on several preexisting warrants in texas. >>> finally, former arizona congressman giffords brought the dnc crowd to tears last night as she led them in the pledge of allegi