up first tonight, presidential politics. a major shift in tone. not much new on policy front. mitt romney makes a direct appeal for latino votes. speaking to a national conv convention down in florida one day before the same group hears from president obama governor romney began by asking hispanic voters to remember promises the incumbent failed to keep on immigration and other issues. >> that you don't really have an alternative. i believe he's taking your vote for granted. i've come here today with a very simple message. you do have an alternative. your vote should be respected, and your voice is more important now than ever before. >> making his case, governor romney focused primarily on economics. >> is the america of 11% hispanic unemployment the america of our dreams? we can do better. >> but he also offered a broad outline of his immigration policies. governor romney, for example, pledged a permanent status for young illegal immigrants brought across the border by their parents, promised new border security measures, also promised to make keeping families together a priority for green card approval and said a stronger employer verification system is necessary to deter illegal immigration. >> immigration reform is not just a moral imperative. it's also an economic necessity. >> short on specifics, the shift in tone was striking. in the gop primaries, we heard this -- >> you know, i think you see a model here in arizona. they passed a law here that says, that says that people who come here and try and find work, that the employer is required to look them up on e-verify. this e-verify system allows employers in arizona to know who's here legally and who's not here legally. >> in the same primaries, you also heard this -- >> well, the answer is self-deportation, which is people decide that they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here. so we're not going to round people up. >> today you might say his language was kinder. gentler. >> we could find common ground here. and we've got to. we owe it to ourselves as americans to ensure that our country remains the land of opportunity. >> so was it enough to change minds? and more importantly, to win votes? our executive director of the national association of latino elected and appointed officials. mr. vargas, let me start right there. i assume before governor romney came in, a lot of skeptics in that audience. after he left, what was the conversation? were people saying, i will give him a second look? i was impressed, or was it flat? >> i think there was a great deal of respect. the fact that governor romney made the time to appear before this audience. this is not an audience that is necessarily was with governor romney during the primaries. there certainly was a large number of republican latinos here. but it's an audience that is interested in wanting to know exactly what governor romney's vision is for latinos in the future of this country. >> one of the things he focused on, we just outlined his views on immigration. he also spent a lot of time on economics suggesting the last 3 1/2 years under president obama have not been good years for latino community. let's listen to a bit more. >> the middle class under president obama has been crushed. more americans are living in poverty today than any point in american history. over 2 million more hispanics are living in poverty today than the day when president obama took office. >> what is the sense? these are elected and appointed officials. they understand. they have to keep in touch with people back in home communities. how much are economic conditions driving the conversations among them about who to vote for and who to support and what constituents are telling them and how much of it is an issue, say, immigration? >> well, i think, in fact, the economy is the most important issue in this election. poll after poll of latino voters demonstrate that the number one issue that they care about is the effect the great recession has had upon them and their families. foreclosure crisis, the loss to latino families of wealth has been enormous in this great recession. and many of the elected officials who are here at the conference are dealing with this issue at the front lines. they're running cities and school boards and counties and states with budget deficits and dealing with the effect of unemployment on their own constituents. so what we wanted to hear today from governor romney, we'll want to hear tomorrow from president obama, is what is the remedy to the economic crisis that will specifically improve the economic outcome for latino families in this country? >> help me understand, how big of an opening? president obama got two-thirds of the vote in 2008. governor romney is trying to get above what john mccain received four years ago. how big of an opening is there? we talked about the skepticism of governor romney because of what happened during the republican primaries. what about the president? he promised he would introduce comprehensive immigration reform in his first year and didn't deliver on that promise. poverty, unemployment up in the latino community, up in country. how big is the question mark for the president? >> well, in fact, i believe that the campaign and the battle for the latino vote began today at the conference. because if you look at the whole primary season, the president made virtually no campaign during the democratic primaries, unlike four years ago, and governor romney only really campaigned for the hispanic vote here in the state of florida. now we're moving to a new phase of this election, the general election. i think you're seeing governor romney move to the center. that's exactly where the latino electorate is. today the campaign for the vote has begun. and it is a vote that will decide this election much like it decided the election in 2000 here in florida. 2004. 2008. when president obama won this state. and in 2012, with the million latinos who will vote, again, a decisive element of the electoral. >> arturo vargas, appreciate your insights. we'll check back as the president speaks to your important organization tomorrow. thank you, sir. >> thank you. president obama does, as i noted take his own turn at the latino convention tomorrow. here in washington today, the president focused on two other important pieces of his voter turnout puzzle. >> if congress does not get this done in a week, the average student with federal student loans will rack up an additional $1,000 in debt over the coming year. >> that event from the president to focus on younger voters and his confrontation with congress over student loans and this new ad from the obama campaign focuses on women. >> so the first law he signed was the lilly ledbetter fair pay act to help ensure that women are paid the same as men for doing the exact same work. because president obama knows that fairness for women means a stronger middle class for america. >> let's assess the state of the race, 138 days out with "washington post" chief correspondent dan balz. good to see you, my friend. i want to go through this in two different ways. one is focusing on, dan, the bigger economic numbers we got today. those are not such good numbers for the president, not just today, all this week. you see numbers, for example, housing. the bad housing numbers today. there have been bad numbers about hiring and job openings this past week. heard the federal reserve chairman yesterday say the economy, the recovery is weaker than they thought a couple months ago. there's always uncertainty from the eurozone and based on recent unemployment claims filings, every reason to expect another weak jobs report, maybe an uptick in the unemployment rate. on the big picture, the big economy numbers, how do they deal with this inside the obama campaign knowing things are not getting better? >> they deal with it the way they've begun to deal with it which is to try to disqualify governor romney as someone who has a set of solutions that will do any better than the president has done. i mean, they are stuck with the economy they have and they're going to be stuck with the numbers that we'll be seeing over the next weeks and the next couple of months. they know that there are some potential real problems out there on the horizon, depending on europe and elsewhere. and so what they have begun to do is try to say, governor romney tells you he knows how to create jobs, but there is nothing in his record as governor of massachusetts, for example, to show that he was able to do that. and they will continue to try to pound on that. >> and they're also doing what i call jigsaw puzzle politics. they're the incumbent. they understand they could have a wave against them or tide against them because of the economy. you see the latino vote tomorrow will be a top focus. they showed you with the younger students on student loans, the ad on women, he has a new radio ad aimed at african-americans. i'm over at our electoral map now, where we stack it now, dan. 247, strong or leaning for obama, 206 strong or leaning for romney. as you well know, you have to get to 270 to win it. i want to come out to the national map. you get mixed results. i talked about the bigger picture, the economy. that's not good news for the president. there's a brand new poll out in florida today. look at this. it's close. it's close. you have the president ahead now, this same poll back in may had governor romney ahead. in one of the biggest battleground states they have to feel better about that. we thought after the wisconsin recall, boy, should we make that a tossup? might that be trending republican? a new poll out of wisconsin the other day shows the president, again, this is still close. the president still on top in this battleground state. dan, i'm interested in getting your take on this one. also new numbers out of michigan. this has to have the romney campaign encouraged. he went through on the bus tour, 47% to 46%. when you look state by state, dan, you have six or seven tossup states, three or more states we call battleground states. what strikes you at this point 138 days out? >> a couple things are important. one, if the whole water table moves in a direction toward the president or governor romney, these holds will begin to look dimpb different. we are to take all of these as you well know with some reservation at this point, but i'm struck by those numbers in michigan. i would not have thought it would be that close at this point. when you -- i was in wisconsin with governor romney on monday, and the republicans in that state think that that will be a competitive battleground. they've tried hard in the past and come close, but lost. so you have to say that at this point the president still has an advantage. i was in iowa on monday afternoon with governor romney. that state looks very competitive at this point. so, you know, all in all, the map still seems to favor the president, but, you know, of all of those states we're talking about, i still think a lot will come down to ohio. if governor romney can't win ohio, it's unlikely he's going to win some of those surrounding states like michigan or pennsylvania or wisconsin. so i think that's a very important bellwether we will continue to watch as we have the last several elections. >> time to get out of town and get out to the battlegrounds. chief correspondent for the "washington post," dan balz. thanks for your help. >> thanks, john. the attorney general eric holder can go across the ocean to europe, but he can't get away from questions about wednesday's contempt vote in the house committee. we'll assess that situation next. as the jury begins deliberations in the jerry sandusky case, a new accuser comes forward. sandusky's own adopted son. s is corporate caterers, miami, florida. 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. 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[music] transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. cuban cajun raw seafood pizza parlor french fondue tex-mex fro-yo tapas puck chinese takeout taco truck free range chicken pancake stack baked alaska 5% cashback. signup for 5% cashback at restaurants through june. it pays to discover. attorney general eric holder it in europe holding meetings in denmark one day after the house oversight committee voted to recommend holding him in contempt of congress for not handing over documents in the fast and furious investigation. even overseas the attorney general couldn't avoid questions about the big vote. >> i would say that the action that the committee took yesterday was both unwarranted, unnecessary, and unprecedented. we put before the committee a proposal that would have allowed for a resolution of that matter, consistent with the way in which these have been resolved in the past through negotiation. i think the possibility still exists that it can happen in that way. >> republicans unless there is a deal struck plan a full house vote on charging holder with contempt next week. let's dig deeper on what comes next with cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. you heard the attorney general. he thinks this is an election year stunt. he's right when he says it is unprecedented. does your gut say we'll have a negotiation here or given the polarization, the partisanship, will we have a vote? >> i think the latter, frankly. there are really two possibilities. the one possibility is as what happened with janet reno when she was almost held in contempt burg the clinton administration, that there was sort of some sort of deal worked out. allowing access to some, but not all, of the contested documents. that's one possibility. the other possibility is they'll find him in contempt next week and that will lead to a court dispute which will go on almost certainly for the rest of president obama's term. in other words, this is likely to remain political theater rather than a legal -- a serious legal dispute for the foreseeable future. >> you would think if you're going to have productive negotiations, to get access to the documents and to strike some deal, you get these documents, you don't get those documents you'd want calm, everyone to dial back the rhetoric. i want you to listen here. the house democratic leader nancy pelosi was taking questions from reporters today. she says not only is this vote in her view shameful, she thinks she knows why. listen. >> they're going after eric holder because he is supporting measures to overturn these voter suppression initiatives in the states. this is no accident. it is no coincidence. it is a plan on the part of the republicans. >> you can see her anger there, as she's also making a pretty serious charge. because the attorney general opposes the efforts in several states to require tougher identifications for voters, sh e calls it voter suppression, that they're going after him. >> you know, this is where politics is so difficult, because, you know, it goes to the question of motive. why are politicians acting one way or another? i mean, it is certainly -- there is certainly evidence out there that suggests there is a political motive behind what the republicans are doing to holder. holder has been a target for republicans almost since the day he became attorney general. however, democratic congress, members of congress, tried to get documents from president bush, from the first president bush, from president reagan. so, and their motives were questioned. it was very difficult to untangle the motives. there's certainly ample evidence for cynicism on both sides. >> how much does it undermine the white house case? number one, that they waited until last minute. the documents requested for months and months and months and months and only at the last minute did they bring up the prospect and actually use executive privilege. that's one thing, what he did as president. then there's this. always say running for president is different than being president. listen to senator obama criticizing the bush administration for doing just what he did yesterday. >> there's been a tendency on part of this administration to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there's something a little shaky that's taking place. and i think, you know, the administration would be best served by coming clean on this. >> candidates say the darnedest things. >> he has aged, hasn't he? certainly that was my reaction to that statement. i think, you know, again, he was questioning the motives of the bush administration. republicans are questioning his motives. it's very difficult to untangle. most voters who are following controversies like these bring their own biases, bring their own conclusions. i don't think anybody is going to be convinced by these arguments, but frankly, it looks like it will wind up in the courts and the courts will then work document by document and decide whether these documents are covered by executive privilege, whether they reflect internal deliberations that the executive branch should not have to disclose. or whether they are simply ordinary documents that congress in its right to oversight to investigate has the right to see. that's what the courts will do. and that's where it looks like it's heading to me. >> and that means we'll get an answer in 2013 or 2014. jeffrey toobin -- >> don't hold your breath. >> appreciate your help tonight. we'll stay on top of this one as well as the big supreme court decisions. lawmakers debate whether the united states should send weapons to syrian rebels. there's a new report claiming the cia is already doing it. 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