politically. legally, he's fine. we know mitt romney didn't break any laws. we know all those things. but what we don't know is how much tax he did pay and until he releases more. now, depends on how you define more. i don't think he's going to release 20 years' worth but something that provides a fuller picture of his financial background. the obama team at least is not going to let this go away and i would say the most republicans i talked to, here's what they say. look, this is an election still about the economy. we need to get back to talking about the economy and what they believe to be barack obama's poor performance in making the economy better. the longer we spend talking about how much tax mitt romney paid, when he paid it, how wealthy he is, the cayman islands, swiss bank accounts, all this stuff gets them away from talking about what they want to talk about which is why i think he needs to lance the boil politically sooner than later. >> we do know one thing. thanks to nbc's jammie gangel, chris christie will be the keynoter. what does that tell you about the romney campaign other than that chris christie will not be the running mate? >> the first thing it tells us is that chris christie isn't going to be the running mate. look, i think what it tells us is they understand that chris christie is a powerful force within this party. he is someone who kind of has the charisma, the zeal that mitt romney to be frank lacks. i think they want to elevate chris christie. one other thing about chris christie i think gets lost in this, he is the speak truth to power guy, the i'm going to tell it how it is. he is also a governor elected in 2009 in a blue state. let's not lose sight of that, either, the messaging it sends that republicans can and do win in states that tend to go to democrats on the presidential level. assuming that jamie's reporting is right, i have no reason to believe it isn't -- >> jamie's reporting is always dead on. take it from me. >> i believe that christie is an intriguing and probably a great pick. i think he's going to draw a huge amount of attention and he will use this, christie will use this i think to launch himself even higher in kind of the national stratosphere politically. >> in 2016. we know what happened to past keynoters. remember that little known senator from illinois who was the keynoter in 2004. >> guy named barack obama. that's right. >> one quick footnote. ann romney told robin roberts in a pretape for "gma" that mitt romney as of this morning at least had not yet decided who will be the running mate. thanks so much, chris. see you later. is it july or october? for more on the presidential race and all the mudslinging, i'm joined by former new mexico governor bill richardson, the surrogate for the obama campaign. governor, great to see you. you've seen a lot of campaigns but this one does have the feel of a campaign that has gotten dirty really fast. let me show you a little bit of a new ad from the obama camp which of all things goes after dressage. ann romney's horse that's competing in the olympics. let's play a little of that. doesn't it seem that this is a little below the belt? >> this is the dirtiest campaign i have ever seen. i've seen a lot of them. i think what we're talking about is that ad focused on the tax returns. that ad focuses on the controversies relating to bain capital. so i think it's appropriate. >> but they took a sideswipe at the wife, the wife who first started learning horseback as a therapy for her multiple sclerosis. dancing horses is not exactly field hockey, not something most americans are used to so it seems a little elitist, perhaps. >> i heard criticism of the president yesterday that he was un-american. i think mrs. romney is a very dignified person and families in campaigns like this probably you keep it out and so at the same time, though, this is a campaign where i think governor romney is just creating a lot of his own problems. just release your tax returns. tell us about the issue of the s.e.c., when you left bain capital. i think there's no felony there but obviously, there's somebody made a mistake. at least admit a mistake and stop saying the reason you're not going to release your tax returns is because you're going to get picked apart. well, this is a presidential campaign. there's going to be criticism. there are going to be negative ads. the american people want to know where he made his money. they want to know where this wealth was created and so that's a legitimate issue. >> i talked to tim pawlenty, who is on the short list according to everybody's reporting, ours included, on the short list for the vice presidency and asked him about the tax returns yesterday. this is what he had to say. >> do you think that two years is enough, so far only one year, but to promise to provide two years is enough? it's not what governor romney's father laid out when he did a dozen years, and he was running back in 1968, and it's become such a big issue. even haley barbour, george will, bill kristol, leading republicans say just do it, already, put the taxes out there, take this issue off the table. >> well, mitt romney has released as you noted two years' worth of tax returns and that's basically been the standard for republican nominees for president. >> that's a very low end. >> there's no allegation or insinuation of wrongdoing or any time that he's been in trouble or accused of wrongdoing. why would mitt romney be held to a different standard than almost every other republican nominee for president? >> well, my answer is that i think senator mccain released substantially more than two years. >> he did two years when he was running but he had done the annual disclosures to the senate. >> which i don't think governor romney has done. so he's creating his own problem. that's the issue. so what the american people, you know, they hear about funds in switzerland and the cayman islands that he only paid 15% capital gains when others in his income bracket are paying 35% and 40%. so i think there's a legitimate issue about disclosure, transparency. he's just creating his own problems and those other republicans are right saying just national review just release them. >> jeb bush, one of his surrogates, the former governor of florida, was in ohio today making their points against the president on the economy. let's watch. >> he said in virginia, if you've got a business you didn't build that, somebody else made it happen. now, that was kind of like saying that the private sector's doing pretty good, it's the economy that's doing bad. these are insights into the thinking of a man who has had no practical experience in creating jobs, who has a belief that government owns the resources really of the country. >> governor, was the president off message on friday when he made those comments about business, because the republicans are making as you know, quite a lot out of this. >> no. he wasn't off message. he was on message. what the president was saying is that the private sector is the engine of growth and the government in some cases, for instance, in the funding, the government research of the internet, highways, infrastructure, technology, a strong educational system, clean energy is what a strong economy needs, that the government plays a role as a catalyst. that's what he was saying. he wasn't saying that government creates jobs. he was saying that government should be a partner in creating jobs. now they're so desperate to take the discussion away from bain capital and the tax returns that they're resorting to i think a nonissue totally. >> governor bill richardson, good to see you. thank you very much. as the drum beat grows louder, will romney change his mind and release more tax returns? up next, romney press secretary andrea saul. plus chris christie's prime time gig in tampa. 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[ feedback ] attention, well, everyone. you can now try snapshot from progressive free for 30 days. just plug this into your car, and your good driving can save you up to 30%. you could even try it without switching your insurance. why not give it a shot? carry on. now you can test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. the calls for mitt romney to release more of his tax returns are coming increasingly from what should be friendlier territory such as the editors of the national review and fellow republicans. joining me now, andrea saul, romney campaign press secretary. good to see you. thanks so much for being with us. want to ask you about the national review which basically said release the returns, that he's a politician running for the highest office in the land. his current posture is probably unsustainable, in all likelihood he won't be able to maintain a position that looks secretive and is a departure from campaign conventions. the only question is whether he releases more returns now or later. >> governor romney has gone above and beyond what's required of him. he's voluntarily released over 500 pages of tax return information and will release his 2011 returns as soon as they're ready. the real question here is why are we talking about this. we are because the obama campaign would rather talk about anything besides president obama's economic record. >> with all due respect, it's republicans now, barbour, will, kristol, the national review. it's republicans who are raising this point, rick perry most recently. let me play a little bit of that. >> i'm a big believer that no matter who you are or what office you're running for, you should be as transparent as you can be with your tax returns and other aspects of your life. >> as the national review pointed out, what governor romney has done so far is not the standard. the standard is minimum of two and in john mccain's case, he had been doing yearly disclosures to the center, financial disclosures, and george romney in 1968 said that anything less than a dozen years could be a fluke. so why not get this issue off the table? >> like you said, senator mccain released two years of tax returns and governor romney has released public financial disclosure forms as well when he was -- five years when he was governor of massachusetts and also when he's been running for president. so there's more information out there beyond the over 500 pages of tax return information he's already released, and the more that he's going to release when his 2011 taxes are done. at the end of the day, american voters are asking where are the jobs. that's the question on voters' minds. as we saw with what president obama said on friday, he thinks that government's responsible for creating businesses which is just insulting to all the entrepreneurs in this country. so it's no wonder that he doesn't care to raise taxes on these job creators considering he thinks government's responsible for everything. what governor romney is going to do is make sure that entrepreneurs and job creators have the government on their side and not just trying to tax them more, burden them more and take credit for what they're doing. >> i wanted to ask you about former governor john sununu. this was an interview he did on fox yesterday. i think even before that conference call where he questioned whether or not the president understands what it is to be an american. this was sununu, who took this particular shot at president obama. >> he has no idea how the american system functions and we shouldn't be surprised about that, because he spent his early years in hawaii smoking something, spent the next set of years in indonesia, another set of years in indonesia. >> do you agree that that was an appropriate comment? >> well, i think governor sununu is his own man but as far as the campaign's concerned, with president obama's comments on friday, it's true that president obama doesn't understand the free enterprise system in this country. >> governor sununu was a surrogate speaking for the campaign so in this instance, yesterday he was not his own man. >> he clarified that he was talking about how president obama is not a supporter of the free enterprise system in this country. and that's what he said. he said that you didn't build this business. somebody else did. he thinks someone else is responsible, bill gates is not responsible for microsoft. steve jobs is not responsible for apple. the local restaurant owner here in town is not responsible, the government's responsible? that's just insulting and preposterous. >> does the campaign think that nothing is off limits, including what president obama has acknowledged was his youthful use of marijuana, he wrote about it in his book so he never kept it a secret. >> we stay focused on jobs and the economy. you've watched this campaign. we're always talking about jobs and the economy and what governor romney will do to help the middle class. so we think that's the most important issue to voters. voters certainly think it's the most important issue. that's what we're going to stay focused on because this country's in real trouble. we're at a financial crisis. we need someone who has actually hired people, made a payroll, understands why jobs come and go and that person's mitt romney. >> one other thing. jamie gangel has confirmed for us today at nbc news that chris christie will be the keynoter in tampa. is there anything wrong about that? >> we haven't announced any speakers yet. you have to stay tuned. >> what would chris christie bring to the podium as the keynoter? >> when we announce our speakers, you will see we have a great lineup and you know, everyone's excited about the convention in tampa. i think it will be a great week. >> mrs. romney told "gma" in a pretape that the governor has not yet decided on the vice president. is that the state of play? he has not yet decided at this hour? >> i'm not going to get into vp but i will let what mrs. romney said stand and once a decision's made, i'm sure everyone will know about it. >> thanks so much. good to see you. up next, syria spinning out of control. is this the beginning of the end for assad's regime? and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness... man: great job. where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee, where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life. so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. looks really good. call... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? our current dividend tax rate will expire this year, sending taxes through the roof and hindering economic recovery. the consequences? millions of americans will see their taxes on dividend income spike, slowing investment in u.s. companies and jeopardizing development in energy projects that create american jobs. ask congress to stop a dividend tax hike -- for all of us. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ battles and massive explosions have led to major losses for the assad regime in damascus. top officials including the brother-in-law of president al assad and three defense officials are among the dead. leon panetta discussed the situation this morning with his british counterpart. >> this is a situation that is rapidly spinning out of control. for that reason, it's extremely important that the international community working with other countries that have concerns in that area have to bring maximum pressure on assad. >> amon, this is such a major change not only in damascus but the national security building in damascus, three defense officials including the brother-in-law. what is your impression from talking to people in syria? >> reporter: well, there's no doubt it is being described as a defining moment in the conflict with president bashar al assad psychologically and tactically. tactically you killed the minister of defense and his deputy, disrupted the command and control structure of the military which has really been the spear of the operations against protesters and countermeasures throughout the country and already as an effect of that, we saw the high number or a spike in the number of defections today alone. psychologically, what it's created is a sense of anxiety and fear within the regime that even if the minister of defense and inner security circle isn't safe, how could the president and others close to him be safe. that creates a sense of mistrust among others. many people are calling it not necessarily the end but at least the beginning of the end for the regime of president al assad. he himself has not been heard from or seen in a couple weeks. that's only raising speculation as to what is going to happen in coming days. >> at this stage, do the rebels and those whom you're communicating with feel they have a new military advantage? do we have any idea who is taking responsibility for this attack? >> reporter: we do. the free syrian army confirmed to nbc news that they were responsible for the attack. they did not give out details as to how they carried out this attack. there was some speculation early on that it may have been a suicide but then there was some evidence to suggest that perhaps it was a bomb that was planted in the room where this meeting was taking place and remotely detonated. there is no doubt that it has had an immediate impact on the ground. shortly after the explosion, the army and other rebels went into the suburbs in damascus. live pictures broadcast from these areas showed the free syrian army carrying out attacks. they were celebrating and it was a clear sign for them the tide had begun to shift at least in some of the suburbs. >> nicholas burns, professor of the practice of diplomacy and international politics at harvard and former ambassador to nato, of course, joins me now. good to see you. let's talk about this. is this a tipping point? >> the fact that we had this extraordinary attack today on the defense minister and the closest associates of assad, the defections last week of senior officials, the fact that the russians appear to be backing away from full support as they have ended new arms sales to syria and the rebel army has gone on the offensive, it does seem president assad has lost all initiative. he's much weaker, more isolated. he's certainly on the ropes. >> at the same time, we've got a stalemate. the u.n. security council has postponed a scheduled meeting until tomorrow at the earliest. kofi annan doesn't seem to be getting an