right for america to stand with you. >> mitt romney trailing in polls when they are asked which candidate would handle foreign policy better. it's a critical time for him to recover from what some say were big gaffes made in britain. michelle is the co-chair of the obama campaign's national security committee and former defense secretary under president obama and in the situation room during the osama bin laden raid. nice to see you. thank you for talking us with this morning. do you see a big difference between mitt romney's foreign policy stance when it comes to iran and president obama's foreign policy stance when it comes to iran? they both talked about no option being off the table. >> there really isn't that much substantive difference, soledad. the president has made clear his policy is to prevent iran from gaining a nuclear weapon and that all options are on the table. right now we're focused on imposing the most crippling sanctions in the history of any country. those are tightening the screws on iran's economy and we hope it will change the catalyst with regard to the nuclear program. >> we want to read what mitt romney said about the arab spring and lack of stability in the middle east. he said president george w. bush urged hosni mubarak to move toward a more democratic post tour but president obama abandoned the freedom agenda and we're seeing a whirlwind of tur molt because the nations did not em grace the reforms that could have changed the course of their his tri in a more peaceful manner. what do you make of that comment? >> i think this is a great example of romney sort of using foreign policy as a way to mischaracterize the president's record. i think from the president's cairo speech all the way through his actions during the egyptian revolution, it's been clear which side the united states is on and that is on the side of democracy and freedom. what romney fails to do each and every time is really layout how his policy would be different. what specifically would he do differently and we haven't heard from him on those issues. the american people frankly deserve to know that. >> we know now there was a contingency plan shared with attacking iran if any kind of diplomacy should fail and looks like they are getting a nuclear weapon. some people have said that is purely politics and especially the timing is suspicious considering it comes at the moment when governor romney is making his way to make headlines in israel. >> well, i think again, president obama has made very clear that all options are on the table. what romney seems to be doing is grabbing at straws and trying to make an impression on his foreign trip. frankly with the gaffes in london and performance in israel, i think this trip raised more doubts. is he really ready to represent the united states abroad? is he really ready to be commander in chief? is he really ready to lead on the global stage? i think this trip and his performance has raised more questions than its answered frankly. >> some of that was part of what i was asking was is the timing suspicious, especially and is it set to undermine what he is trying to do in israel? >> it is actually. and it's particularly striking when you contrast the nature of this trip, which has been very political, very focused on fund raising and statements and so forth. with president obama's trip, where first and foremost, he went to see the troops in harm's way in iraq and afghanistan, understanding the importance of that stew ardship role as commander in chief. he laid out a very substantive agenda and set of policies for the american people so they would know if he became president what he would do. we haven't heard that from mitt romney on this trip. >> we heard the president committing 70 million on the trip. is that again to undermine and undercut whatever he's going to do? >> no, it's really not. congress finally passed the legislation. this was the president's first opportunity to have a signing ceremony. and underscore the very strong, really unprecedented level of support and assistance that this administration provided to israel's security. >> one of the things we'll talk about is the new cover of "newsweek." can we throw that up on the screen, guys? >> it asks, is about the wimp factor, a big picture of mitt romney and the author's premise is that maybe mitt romney is too much of a wimp, his words, certainly not mine. what do you think of that cover? >> i'm not going to get into any name calling. what i can say president obama's record, if you look at the facts as opposed to the miss characterizations, it stands for itself. he's one of the strongest national security presidents we have had ever had whether it's its his performance on ending the iraq war, setting up transition in afghanistan, bringing osama bin laden to justice. the list goes on. that record stands for itself. >> that's a complete dodge because i didn't ask anything about that. i ask about the cover but i understand. thanks for joining us, we appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. >> coming up, we'll get reaction from the gop senator john mccain will join us and new hampshire senator kelly ayotta will join us as well. we'll talk to the author of "newsweek" who wrote that piece. other stories to get to. zoraida sambolin has a look at the other stories. >> the man accused of the colorado movie theater massacre will face formal charges in court. he made an appearance in court last week where he seemed dazed and did not speak. cnn's jim spellman joins us live from centennial, colorado. what can we expect today, jim? >> reporter: well, well, zoraida, we will not see television cameras in the courtroom today. in four and a half hours he's going to make his way from the jail through an underground tunnel into the court. we expect him to be formally charged with 12 counts of first degree murder. and numerous counts of attempted first degree murder and other charges likely around the booby trapped apartment he set up as he went off to do this shooting at the movie theater. zoraida? >> let's of talk about the death penalty. any decision on that? >> reporter: that will come down the road. they have to take into account what the victims want to have and all of the evidence in the case. when they get to that point, but they tell me they would be shocked if the da does not go for the death penalty. >> jim spellman, thank you for that. next hour, remembering the victims of the colorado movie theater massacre, including 32-year-old rebecca's mother will join us live. people chanting, tell the truth during a protest over recent police shootings in the city. police say they arrested two people when a peaceful protest started to take a turn yesterday. the demonstrations follow the fatal shootings of two men this month by police. his relationship with president obama has been rocky but former president bill clinton will play a major role at the democratic convention in charlotte. an aide confirms that clinton will deliver a key prime time speech and on september 7th, the final night of the convention, president obama will accept the nomination. soledad? >> all right, zoraida. blown leads and world records and tears part of the team usa story. leading the medal count is china with 12, the united states right behind with 11. italy is in third place. let's get right to amanda davies in london. good morning to you. gosh, the big story has got to be this gymnast, jordyn wieber, misqualifying because of the rule that only allows two to make if into the next level. talk to me about that first. >> reporter: there's a lot of americans feeling hard about this this morning but the rules is the rules and that's it, bottom line. and sadly for jordyn wieber, she finished beneath gabby douglas and ally raisman. she won't be able to go for the goal that she trained s eed so for. it was walking through the zone after the event, team mates wanted to celebrate that they performed well but they had one of their teammates who they trained against who was obviously absolutely devastated and had obviously been crying. ail little bit later on jordyn tweeted, thank you for your love and support, i'm so proud of our team today and can't wait for the team finals. she will be taking part in the team finals and be able to go for gold on her own in the floor event on august the 7th. not the end of jordyn wieber's olympic campaign but it's certainly not the start she was hoping for. >> it was so sad. sad to see her crying while her teammates were trying to cheer for themselves. there were some reports that were set yesterday, tell me about that. >> reporter: yeah, it was a pretty good day for the usa women in the pool, not so good for the men. they had to settle for silver. it was france who beat the men to the gold medal. but dana vollmer, took the gold medal and set a new world record. she's been working for after the last eight years after claiming a team gold in athens in 2004. then we've also got to congratulate kim rhode taking part in the shooting event, the skeet, which not many people have necessarily heard of it. it was a great day for her. she is the first u.s. athlete to have won medals in five successive olympic games. >> i would think with skeet shooting, you have a career forever, right? you should be able to do that when you're 70 if you want to. >> reporter: i suppose you do. it's not something i'm particularly good at, not so hot with guns but i suppose you don't have to move anywhere particularly. i don't know whether she'll make it to another five games, that's quite something. >> we'll watch for that. we appreciate that. coming up later in this hour, we'll talk to olympic great kerri strug about the gymnastics and that incredible upset. that's going to be straight ahead. our get real this morning, talk about a couple denied their dream wedding because they are black. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. mornings are a special time for the two of you...) and now you can make them even more special... with new fancy feast mornings. mornings are delicious protein rich entrées... with garden veggies and egg. each one perfectly designed... to start her day with a little love. new fancy feast mornings gourmet cat food. the best ingredient is love. welcome back, minding your business this morning, u.s. markets deflating after the big rally last week. stock futures are all trading lower right now. apple and sam sung take their patent war to a federal court in california thd. they've been fighting since apple sued samsung last year claiming smartphones and tablets ripped off the iphone and ipad. samsung accuses apple of infringing on its patents and stifling competition. the dark knight took the top spot raking in $64 million. it has made $537 million, that is worldwide. soledad, back to you. >> we told you earlier about mitt romney's trip to poland for the final leg of his overseas tour, his stop before this in israel is where he took a strong stance on iran, appeared almost hawkish, he said tehran must be halted in its ability to create nuclear weapons and the senior foreign aids. "newsweek" magazine is covering romney a wimp, the wimp factor is the cover title. the article was written by michael tan as ski, the editor of a quarterly journal publication. what's your definition of a wimp? >> well, as the second instructive word on the cover says, somebody who's insecurity in the positions he takes and way he presents himself as a candidate. i see this up and down. i saw it this weekend on the surface, the speech in israel sounded like a real tough speech and headlines say tough talk and so on and so on. you said it yourself. what the speech actually was was him pandering to the right right base in america and israel and saying every word that would absolutely please them and not a single sylla balance that would dilease them. we remember all of the flip-flops on the most important issues of our time. what sort of person that? >> you think the flip-flop sg what defines somebody as a wimp. i want to read from your article. the episode highlights what's really wrong with romney, he's kind of lame and really annoying and keeps saying these incredibly off-key things and apologizes with all of the sincerity of a hostage. he never mans up, double down and take his lumps. that's from the article. your assessment doesn't focus on for a voter or potential voter, not really about the policy, not really how he was wimpy in thinks political stance in massachusetts or fighting to get health care in that state or wimpy in his business at bain. do you think you create a strong argument for the wimp factor as opposed to a personal attack framed around the wimp factor? >> there are some person quirks that he has that are highlighted in that paragraph you read. farther down in the article and heart of the piece and i say this in the piece, it centers on the positions that he takes, the way he has up and downered so consistently on important, important issues, issues on which we'd like to see our politicians have some kind of consistency, some kind of back bone. he's repeatedly just changed positions completely and up and downered totally to the right wing. when rush limbaugh says jump, he says how high. i think it's a fair question to ask, is this the kind of person we want to see in the white house? >> he said this when he was asked what was his reaction to your story, he said this. i want to play a little bit. >> if i worried about what the media said i wouldn't get much sleep and i'm able to sleep pretty well. >> meaning he doesn't care about it at all. do you think he should worry about it? do you think when it comes to the election that that is going to potentially have a big -- play a big role, potentially be a factor. >> i'd like to say yes, i don't know. i can't control those things. the obama campaign as we know is not really highlighting anything like this. they are not really making his flip-flops his character and issue, they are talking about bain and his financial history and so on. but they are not really making this aspect of his character an issue, which is probably a little bit of a mistake and could persuade swing voters there's not much to this guy. >> in 1987 there was a similar cover story and she described president bush -- it was called fighting the wimp factor and here's what robert o'brien said, a romney campaign adviser, "newsweek" was beyond silly quh it called naval aviator george h.w. bush a wimp. the fact is mitt romney is a steely nerved businessman that turned around failed companies and corruption plagued 2002 olympic winter games. not only do you have it wrong, you have it completely wrong and picking examples of wimpiness that they would take exception too. >> i did say in the article that george h.w. bush was a war hero and "newsweek" was probably not a wimp. okay, a steely minded businessman? well, yeah, he saved some companies. bain has also not saved some companies as we know very well. look, i want to return to the main point. he is wishy washy on most of the most important issues of the day on pro-life versus pro-choice, on immigration, used to support a path to amnesty. >> politicians as you and i both know, if we had a dollar for every politician who changed his position on an issue, we could both retire. >> one or two issues, sure. not six. not seven, not the most important issues, not every single one of the most important issues of our time. >> we are out of time. thanks for speaking with us, the article is called -- let's throw up the cover story from "newsweek," the wimp factor and asking the question is mitt romney a wimp. we have to take a short break. still ahead, it was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their life but they were denied their dream wedding because they are black. our "starting point" team is heading in to talk about that, margaret hoover leading the way, ryan lizza and lenny cruz with us. here's lenny's playlist. >> i heard this song a million times. how are you? nice to see you. this is "we are young." who sings this? that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense. welcome back to "starting point," a couple of headlines to tell you about, illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. is being evaluated for depression and also said to be suffering from gastrointestinal issue u.s. the son of reverend jesse jackson hasn't been on capitol hill for two months. u.s. safety officials are investigating engine problems on the new 787 dreamliners jets after debris fell from the plane and caused a grass fire at charleston in south carolina. that is according to the "l.a. times" and other papers. it has been hit with several glitches. >> yikes. our team joins us, lenny, the last time i saw you was -- we really saw each other for the rst time when the show started in florida. >> nice to see you. >> nice and cool. >> only 100 today, you'll be fine. >> margaret hoover is with us, former white house appoint ee in the bush administration. ryan lizza has a new piece out today, it's a profile of paul ryan and it's called fuss budget. we're going to be talking about that piece i think tomorrow. do they show you the art work they are going to do ahead of time? >> they do, yeah. >> don't always show the art work on the cover? >> that's true. >> that's always a surprise at times. our get real, this is such a sad story because i was reading this story along with an article that talked about had race relations improved under a black president. this is a story of charles and tee an dra wilson, planning their dream wedding for months. wanted to get ready in crystal springs mississippi, date was set and maimed the invitations, the day before the wedding, the pastor says several members of the church are having a problem with having black people married at the church. this had never been done here before so it was setting a new precedent and there were those who reacted to that. >> isn't that unbelievable? you have a church that never had a black wedding in it. >> in mississippi where there are a lot of black people. >> still segregated. we talk about the wimp factor, this was a wimp. the leader of the church, some of the congress gants went to the pastor and said, we don't know exactly what they said but whatever they said, they were uncomfortable with the wedding and he was the one that went to the couple and said maybe we should do it somewhere else. >> his job as the pastor to come -- to tell these people, you guys are wrong, come on. >> to not buckle to the discrimination and bigotry. >> and pastor weatherford. >> the few don't speak for the church. >> some of the quotes seems like a number -- >> a number of people were outraged as anyone would be. the pastor is the real leader that failed. >> the pastor gets the wimp win for the day. but it's more tha