>> begin with knuckled politics and how the obama campaign framing the anniversary of the u.s. raid that killed osama bin laden. they're asking whether mitt romney would have issued the same order to secretly send u.s. forces into pakistan and based on something romney said back in 2007, team obama claims the former massachusetts governor's answer would be no. the new hampshire today the former massachusetts governor strongly took issue. >> ♪ >> would you have given the order, governor? >> even jimmy carter would have given that order. >> followed that answer a short bit later and president obama paused, smiled, and you might say twisted the knife. >> i said that i would go after bin laden if we had a clear shot at him. i did. if there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they would do something else, then i would go ahead and let them explain it. >> with us are white house correspondent brie eleer. >> you saw the president smile there. you were there in the room. what's at the white house and the broader campaign's strategy for teelg and some would say using bin laden for political gain. >> they want to frame this as one of the president's defining accomplishments and they're setting up this whole narrative that he made a tough call. it paid off. it was something that generally speaking the country could rally behind and they want to make sure that mitt romney can't really minimize what is a big accomplishment here. he they also want a contrast between president obama and mitt romney trying to show that he wouldn't have had really the wherewithal to make this exact same decision. while mitt romney obviously can emphasize that he has executive experience, john, and you know how important this is in a campaign, he does not have the foreign policy experience that president obama has. this is just sort of the incumbent advantage, something that the obama campaign and the white house want to preserve and you really see them pushing this not only in that video that came out today really framing his campaign ahead of the kick off on saturday, but also in this interview they're doing with nbc news where they gave nbc news a lot of access to "the situation room" ahead of the big anniversary tomorrow. >> said he wouldn't spike the football and a lot of people view that as spiking the football, maybe once, maybe twice. that's how it goes. let he me read something. governor romney said this in 2007, among other things, when the president said if he had a clear target in pakistan he would go after osama bin laden, then governor romney said i do not concur in the words of barack obama in a plan to enter an ally of ours. i don't think those comments help in this effort to draw more friends to our effort. ironically a lot of criticism about george w. bush's cowboy diplomacy doochlt they regret those words and wish they could have them back. >> i think they're trying to turn back on the president. when the president talks about who other folks would do i think the new rule is he is talking about mitt romney. i asked the romney campaign for a statement on what the president had to say today and they did not directly talk about 2007. they said, look, it is a cheap political ploy on the part of president obama to distort governor romney's strong policies on the war on terror. i tweeted that statement out and ben, spokesman for the re-election campaign within minutes tweeted back to me saying what policy on counter terrorism did governor romney ever outline. this is happening in realtime going back and forth quickly and the one thing that should be noted is that when mitt romney made those comments back in 2007 about moving heaven and earth to get one person, he was asked about that at the debate a few days later after he made the comments and he did say, quote, unquote, we will move everything to get him. i guess at that time governor romney did try to move away from the comments after senator mccain called him naive and safe to say he won't be able to take the words back and they'll dog him for a while. >> and the intensity, april 30th turning to may and feels like september and october. thanks so much. we'll watch for this in the days ahead. dramatic details about a chinese disdent escape from house arrest and harrowing journey to bejing where he may now being preked. according to a supporter he climbed over eight walls and a dozen barriers by himself tripping and falling hundreds of times and supporters say in the course of 19 hours. the supporter also tells reuters the ultimate goal is not to seek refuge in the united states but stay in china where he has been jailed and persecuted for objecting to policy of forced abortion and sterilizations. chen's sheltering could jeopardize the talks between chinese officials and top u.s. officials including the secretary of state hillary clinton. when asked about chen at a white house news conference president obama was very careful saying just this. >> every time we meet with china, the issue of human rights comes up. china will be that much more prosperous and strong as you see improvements on human rights issues in that country. >> joining me with more perspective on this fascinating story is the former under secretary of state nicholas burns. the president asked about this, the world is watching, the community is watching and he says i am aer with a of the press reports. we know the president has been briefed on this. we know the president sent a high ranking dip low plat to bejing to sort this out. why? >> i think the administration is doing the right thing in this respect. if we talk about this with china privately, not under the glare of the international spotlight and press where more likely to arrive at the solution that we want and that is the continued freedom and security of jen chang. the full glare of now the public attention is on this, and we are the champion of human rights and only one outcome here. the united states has to protect him but our ability to do so is probably through quiet negotiations, not through acknowledging this publicly and making it public. >> is there only one outcome and how do you weigh this as a diplomat? china is critical comes to iran, syria, critical comes to north korea. are there other competing pressures on the president or does he have a choice here. >> it is the most important relationship in the world, bar none. the global economy, iran, north korea, syria, normally you have to balance human rights versus the more concrete interests. in this instance with all the world trained on this issue, on this man right now, i think given the legacy of the united states, that for 200 years now we have been the champion of human rights and when it is at stake publicly, i think only one option that we have to support him. >> let's listen. he posted this dramatic video direct straight to the chinese leadership. he escaped and he is worried about his family. >> they broke into my house at more than a dozen men assaulted my wife. they pinned her down and wrapped her in a blanket beating and kicking her for hours. they also violently assaulted me. >> if the chinese come into the meetings and say he doesn't want to leave china, he's publicly said, release him to us and everything will be fine. can you trust that. >> absolutely not, not given the record of the chinese government on human rights, one of the worst offenders in the world on human rights, religious rights, woerk worker rights. if he wants to cleave china and seek a new life in the united states or elsewhere, it is a relatively easier solution, i think, for all sides. if he decides -- >> the chinese would find a way to look the other way. >> they would find this embarrassing and humiliating and probably the least of that option for him. >> if he does not want to leave china and the united states does not want to take the risk of being humiliated and releasing him and having god knows what happened, does he stay in the embassy or stay in some u.s. compound for five years, ten years, 20 years. >> ultimately that's one option to keep him under u.s. custody if he is in u.s. custody. the government has not acknowledged that. think of the history. fon joour was a refuge in the 1990s. cardinal mind zst s glchlt enty lived in the embassy for years. i don't think the united states government will give up this man unless he agrees to leave and unless he and the embassy and our government both believe that his security can be protected. >> the importance to the president here. he obviously has other bigger, grander foreign policy challenges whether it is iran, the arab spring, the bigger relationship with china. how important is this one man and episode. >> i think extraordinarily important. all the concrete interests are important. our creditability, our narrative as a country rests in being a champion of human rights and freedom. here is a man that put his life on the line to approach the united states and say please, help me, i think in these circumstances those other interests subside in importance and this one is in the forefront and i will bet i am sure the administration will do the right thing here because the stakes are too high for our country. >> appreciate it. >> thank you. >> just a bit we'll speak with the u.s. base activist in touch with him and says he is disappointed with president obama's response today. the obama campaign is rolling out a new slogan. next, will forward make us forget hope and change? major airlines unusual and some say risky move to control the fuel cost. i'm always looking out for small ways to be more healthy. like splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweeteners. this bowl of strawberries is loaded with vitamin c. 1 ask for transitions adaptive lenses. 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[ whirring and beeping ] it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ the re-election campaign rolled out a brand new 7 minute web video and a full minute is nothing but scrolling text of what they want you to remember from the last three plus years of his presidency and even make news at the end unveiling the new campaign slogan for 2012. see if you catch it. >> i believe america is on the way up. thank you. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. >> change we can believe in now replaced by forward. will it have the same ring at hope examine change and yes, we can. here to give us a lesson, kurt davis, republican media consultant and in seattle frank greer, democratic media consultant and partner at gmmb communications and advertising. fred davis, you're on the opposing side. has forward put fear in your heart? >> didn't really put fear in my heart. it is i think a hip thing. i like short slogans. it sounds great. to me, on my side of the aisle, it is the kind of thing you talk about when you can't talk about what came in the pastor what you have done in the last three years. >> address that. >> i have got to say that as you pointed out, we have a seven minute video that does a very good job of explaining an amazing record of accomplishments for this president in the face of a no congress and in the face of incredible partisan opposition. now we're in a choice, you know, period, where you have to choose, do you want to go forward? do you want to continue the forward momentum or do you want to go back? i think it is a powerful choice and a pretty powerful slogan. >> that's where the rub is, fred, on the one hand you can say president obama wants to you look forward because you doesn't want to you look back at his record or at least the economy the last few years but as frank notes the central theme, the president's team thereabout electing mitt romney is going back to george w. bush. in that sense does it work? >> we did the same campaign for arnold schwarzenegger a few years ago and ran all the footage backwards and it was very successful then. i am not sure it will be successful now. he left out two things. i love the film. i think it is beautifully made, frank and jim do wonderful work. a friend of mine this morning said why didn't they run a debt ticker across the top? there is the missing piece. yes, he's had accomplishments. has he bankrupted the company and forced us into class warfare while he was doing it? >> i want you to listen and go back. this is an obama ad from 2008 and the president himself acknowledges the circumstances. first, let's listen. >> we are one people. we are one nation. together we will begin the next great chapter in the american story with words that will ring from coast-to-coast, from sea to shining sea, yes, we can. >> you see the power there, frank and fred at the aspirational, very inspirational candidacy of then senator obama and listen to a recent fundraiser. >> it is not a trendy to be involved in the obama campaign as it was back then. some of you, you know, rolled up the hope posters and they're in a closet somewhere. >> is it harder, frank greer, as you're messaging for this particular democratic candidate because of the his toric nature and the aspirational nature, how much harder is it to say give me four more? >> i think first of all you need to portray the accomplishments and i think this video that was released today begins to do that and i think you need to remind people what a difficult situation was that he inherited and i think you have to remind people what it was like before obama, so it is a slogan that says foward, but it can be most a forward motion with hope for the future. it is certainly is not a time that america wants to go back or turn back the clock. >> and, fred davis, ronald reagan had morning in america. he had a much more robust economy at the beginning of his re-election even thoed he had been through very tough times early in the presidency. in terms of uncertainty about the economy, you say you appreciate the slogan. how much difficult dash how dependent i guess is this president on the economic numbers starting to get better? >> i think the economic numbers right on the surface, the ones that the average guy doesn't spend a lot of time studying the economy sees are beginning to get better. there is a small decrease in gas prices right now. the stock market is doing really pretty well. numbers can always be manipulated but unemployment right at the top level is beginning to decline. as long as he can get the emphasis on the curse sigh numbers, i think he has an easier path to hoe than looking back over. one thing i enjoyed in the seven-minute movie there is one sentence, maybe two, on obama care. that's going to be a little more -- it will have more attention from our side, i think, than one or two sentences. >> i suspect as i enclose ez this conversation it will get more taepgs going forward. >> exactly. >> frank greer. >> see how well it works. >> it works fine. appreciate your help tonight. we'll revisit this in the days and weeks ahead. when we come back, the jury at the john edwards trial had to be sent out of the courtroom today. one of the witnesses couldn't stop crying. update from the courthouse in just a little bit. next, history making day in the new york city skyline. down here, folks measure commitment by what's getting done. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. welcome back. >> hello, john. good evening, everyone. get you caught up on headlines. a ferry crousing a river in northeast india sank today. the bbc reports about 300 people were aboard when it went down. officials say at least 40 people died and 100 others are still missing, about 35 passengers rescued. reuters reports the ferry had no life boats or life preservers. a pair of car bombs killed at 20 and wounded 100 others in a syrian city of idlib and one targeted a security building and they quickly blamed terrorists. an opposition group accused the government of staging the explosions, a third explosion later in the day caused no casualties and is blamed on a roadside bomb. for the first time the obama administration is publicly defending its uses of unmanned drones to kill militants saying the attacks are legal under international law. pakistan has condemned the use of drones that often result in civilian casuals. the counter terrorism advisor says u.s. forces try very hard of course to protect innocent civilians and he calls the attacks, quote, unfortunate fact. the one tower monday lift the new one world trade center over taken the empire state building as the tallest building, seeing it happening right there. a steeled column was installed on the 100th floor of the structure making it new york's tallest sky scraper by 21 feet. construction is set to finish in early 2014. the building is expected to retch even higher to almost 1,800 feet. remember last week talking about this, the lead up and everyone was excited and we saw the time lapse. >> looks good. i think eventually when it is done people will go to the top and have an overlook and you see a live picture, beautiful. at the moment i think they will go up the empire state building for longer because they will be nervous up there. >> that would be advised. >> when i went up, 70 something, it was fun. you go up in the construction elevator and it is windy up there. great view for me. >> high enough for me. >> you can see lady liberty. >> you don't have to have a fear of heights to have a respectful fear going up that high. trying to book a flight lately? 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