the next 30 minutes will be your cram session. there will be a lot going on today including new details out of syria where activists claim as many as 200 were killed by government forces. we'll have an exclusive report that takes us inside the massacre. >> -- >> that's it! >> further evidence that we need a parliamentary system here in the united states, at the very least for entertainment purposes. we'll explain what she was getting really excited about later in the show. but first, let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. >> mitt romney travels to nevada today to cam pan alongside one of his toughest opponents from the republican primary, texas governor rick perry. it was perry who suggested seven months ago that romney's record at bain capital could be a fatal flaw in his presidential bid. >> there's a real difference between venture capitalism and vulture capitalism. venture capitalism we like. the fact of the matter is he's going to have to face up to this at some time or another. >> romney's campaign is working to fend off a wave of negative stories about his tenure at the financial firm. a "boston globe" article says romney was still listed as a top executive at the company years after his reported departure date back in 1999. the story reads in part, "the globe found nine s.e.c. filings submitted by four different business entities after february 1999 that describe romney as bain capital's boss. some show him with managerial control over five bain capital entities that were formed in january 2002." romney has repeatedly said he was not responsible for bain's business dealings after 1999 and shouldn't be blamed for the firm's decision to close american factories and move jobs overseas. his campaign pressed the globe for retraction and issued a statement reading "the article is not accurate as bain capital has said, as governor romney has said and as has been confirmed by independent fact checkers multiple times, governor romney left bain capital in february of 1 1999 to run the olympics and had no input on management of investments at that point. mitt romney left bain capital in neb 199 to run the olympics. due to the sudden nature of mr. romney's departure he remained the sole stockholder while ownership was being transferred to the group of partners who took over management of the firm in 1999. accordingly, mr. romney was reported in various capacities on s.e.c. filings during this period. obama deputy campaign manager steph stephanie cutter says the disparity in the date may be a felony offense. >> either mitt romney in his own words or his own signature was misrepresenting his position at bain to the sext, which is a felony or misrepresenting to the american people to avoid the consequences of his investments. if he was lying to the people, that was a real care terk and trust issue. >> romney's campaign was outraged saying "president president obama ought to apologize for the out of control behavior of his staff, which demeans the office he holds. the nation's oldest civil rights group ea from both campaigns. vice president joe biden received a warm reception in houston just a day after mitt romney addressed the same audience. biden suggested the republican vision for the country posed new dangers to voting and personal rights. >> you have the right to vote, you have the right to chang things. we see a future where those rights are expanded, not diminished. where racial profiling is a thing of the past, where access to the ballot is expanded and un unencumber unencumbered, there no distinctions made on the basis of race and gender on housing and financing. and so much more. did you think we'd be fighting these battles again? i didn't think we'd be back. i remember working with republicans, republicans. and by the way, this ain't your father's republican party. this is not the republican party in view today nor romney's. they see a different future where voting is made harder, not easier. >> biden taergted romney's stance on everything from education to health care, saying romney's economic plan would increase taxes for 2.2 million african-american families but ultimately biden said the election would be a test of integrity. >> as president barack obama says, we are our brother's keeper, we are our sister's keekee keeper, we have an obligation. and at the outset, as i said, i believe this election will come down to character, conviction and vision and it will not surprise you i don't think it's even a close call. ll kick off a two-day swing through virginia. >> overseas there are reports of another horrific mass killing in syria where activists say more than 200 people were murdered by government forces. opposition groups describe the massacre as ethnic cleansing. richard engel has been reported in the region and got an exclusive look at the site of another unspeakable crime. >> in this small farming village in northwest syria, villagers say a terrible massacre took place last december. anti-government protests just erupted in this area and syrian troops rolled in to stop them. these cousins had defected from the syrian army and feared the troops would be looking for them. >> translator: when we saw the tanks, we thought that was it for us. >> soy fled to this steep, narrow valley a few miles out of town. it seemed like a perfect hiding place. but it would become a death trap as other frightened villagers followed their lead. they thought they were safe and for the first few hours they were. but then around 9:00 in the morning, syrian troops found them. they took up positions here on the top of the valley and then pointed their guns down on the people taking refuge below. he shows me how syrian troops attacked. >> translator: they started firing on us with all kinds of weapons. >> reporter: firing from above, i ask? >> translator: yes, from above. we were surrounded from every side. there was no escape. >> reporter: some tried to surrender to government forces. >> translator: about 15 feel tried to give up. the troops tied their hands, lined them up and killed them. >> reporter: this cell phone video shows bodies on the valley floor. some appeared to be bound, shot, kugs style. then they say syrian troops climbed down into the valley to finish off any survivors. >> translator: they were searching for people hiding behind rocks and killed them one by one. >> translator: the soldiers were 30 meters from us. they saw us covered with blood and moved on. >> reporter: this couple's two sons were among the 127 bodies villager counted in the valley. people were piled on tom of each other like sheep, she says. all dead, he adds. more cell phone video shows bodies gathered in thevil vilin mosque. >> today's wall street journal reports syria is now moving chemical weapons out of storage facilities. >> now to business where new reports show china's economic growth has dropped to its lowest level since the beginning of 2009. according to the data, china's gdp for the second quarter slowed to 7.6%. it reflects concern over europe's debt crisis and a downturn in china's own housing market. let's take an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business this morning. cnbc's children tkaren tso has for us. >> many were concerned the numbers could be to the down side today. the markets are rallying, asia is up, copper prices are ki higher. this might be enough to encourage the u.s. market to snap a losing streak. the dow has been down for six straight sessions. also there is a sense the numbers are not weak enough to derail the growth story. what's interesting today is the bank reporting season. wells fargo and jpmorgan are reporting to the market but another day and another fine for the banks. this time for wells fargo, they've agreed to pay $175 million to set al race discrimination probe. also in terms of jpmorgan, we'll see the extent of the losses that london whale that placed huge bets on markets. the losses were up to $2 billion initially. they could be up to $9 billion today. we'll get a sense of that later on. >> karen, thanks. still ahead, a scathing report blames joe paterno and other officials at penn state university covering up jerry sandusky's behavior. that story and more when we come back. ♪ every time you close your eyes ♪ >> i accept the nomination of the democratic party. 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( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon. welcome back to "way too early o early" as we show you a beautiful view of times square looking north i believe. isn't it beautiful there, bill karn karins? >> if you say so. you're acting all nice and polite now. you were just mocking my profession during the last commercial. >> i was not! bill -- look, i'm just having fun with the fellas and the folks. >> i understand you got to be liked by the crew. i get it. they're not on my team. >> they got the camera, they got the lights, everything. stockholm season drom. >> it looks like a tranquil weekend. the warm air will head up the east coast. it's been very dry and pleasant in areas of new england and the great lakes and ohio valley lately. it's been warm but not that humid. not so much today. quiet weather in the northeast, a little more cloud around d.c. than you've had lately. the southeast and up through the middle of the country, it still very warm, pretty much from coast to coast. this is usually the time of year where we see the peak temperatures. hit-and-miss storms just about everywhere. i don't think we're going to get too many washouts out there. jonathan, your personalized weekend forecast you asked for, going to have to wait for that. >> wow! >> thanks, bill. 267-page internal report released by penn state yesterday claims that joe paterno and other top university officials covered up allegations of sexual abuse against former defensive coordinator jerry sandusky, fearings impact of such a scandal on the university's reputation. we have more from state college, pennsylvania. >> reporter: the most powerful men at penn state failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who sandusky victimized. >> reporter: freeh concluded top penn state figures repeatedly concealed critical facts from law enforcement and the public at large. who were they? graham spanier, tim curly, former athletic director, gary schultz, the former vice president, all of whom have denied wrong doing and joe paterno, the legendary and revered football coach who died last january. >> there's more red flags here than you could count. >> reporter: several of the more than 3 million e-mails and documents unearthed by freeh's investigators show that paterno, contrary to his grand jury testimony, was informed and kept apprised of a 1998 police investigation of suspected child abuse by sandusky in the school's locker room shower. curley wrote in one e-mail he had touched base about the probe and days later this was there follow up "anything new in this department? coach is anxious to know where it stands." the allegations was disturbing enough that schultz, ch harj of the university police, wrote in private notes "is this opening of pandora's box, adding other children"? >> nobody even spoke to sandusky, not one of those four persons, including the coach, a few steps away from his office." >> when graduate assistant tells paterno about seeing sandusky neighborhood with a young boy in the shower in 2001, paterno responds "you did what you had to do. it's my job to figure out what we had to do." what they did according to freeh was keep it secret. spanier, curley and schultz initially agreed to report the incident to child welfare. spanier signed off on not reporting the incident but agreed sandusky should be encouraged to seek professional help, calling that a humane approach. freeh also blamed the penn state board of trustees for poor oversight but board members reacted soberly. >> our hearts remain heavy and we are deeply ashamed. an event like this can never happen again in the penn state university community. >> reporter: but it won't end there. lawyers for sandusky's victims says freeh's report provides powerful new evidence for what is expected to be a flood of lawsuits and on campus a reevaluation of the legend of joe paterno. >> coming up at the top of the hour, the battle over bean continues on the presidential campaign trail. joe, meika break down the debat. and when we come back, a member of the british parliament reminds us what we're missing here. that when "way too early" comes right back. ♪ take me to the place where you go ♪ it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. new v8 v-fusion plus energy. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. ♪ we told you at the top of the show that the romney and obama campaigns continue to spar over mitt romney's involvement with bain capital after he left to manage the salt lake city olympic games in 1999. romney's role with bain capital and the wealth firm's practices have been a point of contention for both campaigns. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends according to the national venture capital association, investment firms in the united states managed $176.7 billion in committed capital and generated more than $3.1 trillion in revenue in 2010. investment-backed companies also accounted for 11.9 million jobs in america. enough of the real news. let's gather around the water cooler to watch british mp ann marie morris steal the show at the commons, flailing her injured left arm and her voice growing louder and louder as she tried to heard over roaring comments. >> ann marie morris. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this government has a great record of -- given the huge success of the universe created over 25, you will support a further round of applications this order and the funding is available the the businesses, universities -- [ all shouting ] >> thank you for receiving the honorable lady on such feisty form. >> wow, she turned as orange as her dress. but let's compare that performance with a typical moment from the senate floor here at home. >> the piece of legislation we're dealing with, the house posted that last night just before midnight to meet their rules and it includes the transportation conference and flood insurance and student loans on one package. >> sorry. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your flailing tweets, texts and e-mails are next and "morning joe" just moments away. ♪ ♪ a quick correction. we reported earlier that governor rick perry will be in nevada today campaigning on behalf of mitt romney. just a note, romney is not expected to be in attendance at that event. at the top of the show we asked you why are you awake? pr