anti-immigration policy could come through as early as next week, so, when it comes to immigration policy, michael brought this up, too how boxed in is mitt romney by high-profile members within his own party like arizona governor jan briar around the fa jan brewer and people will have a hard time walking away from thing said in the primary. >> boxed in? he is like in solitary confinement on alcatraz, i was chuckling when my friend, michael, was talk. he doesn't have a hill to climb, he has mount everest to climb. why? he gave us his policy. during the primary, add very simple policy, people not here illegally should leave. that was the policy, doesn't matter if you were young, old, self-deport, grandmother, a worker, tough leave. and now when barack obama comes out with this policy affecting 800,000 or more younger illegal immigrants, undocumented workers, they could say, he can't respond to that this is a key issue here. there is no reason to penalize those percentage out of the country, to homes that they never knew were not really their homes, there's no good policy position to do it. so, my guess is latino voters look at people who oppose the president's policy. we don't accept it. and say there is only one reason to take that poe you don't like us. you don't like our community. you're using us as fodder to appeal to your conservative base, if you can't convince people you like them, doesn't matter what you say about the economy and jobs. >> chris, the best thing that mitt romney did in response to the president's executive order on immigration is confirmed that marco rubio is being red is the for vice president? 'cause i mean that was basically the only thing he has done in response to the fact that, you know, hey, i have got nothing on this for you you yet i'm not going to talk about it, i will show up with push the naleo. >> elections are demographic puzzles, win a certain percentage of certain groups to be in a fighting chance to win. republicans have hist toerically had problems with hispanics. but george bush actually did better, junior did better with hispanics. romney has got serious problems right now he is losing 20, 30 points, depending on the poll. he loses that bad, he cannot win some of these key battlegrounds. his problem is he got boxed in the primaries. he went far, far to the right. this is a key demo graph rick. he has to figure out a way to moderate. he can't, because as he moderates, he alienates those on the right and trying to plate tap dance and actual slit worst of all worlds because then it reconfirms the sreotype of this man that he doesn't have any core convictions. it is a terrible place for governor romney. >> boxed in at the bottom of mount everest but about to show up at naleo. gentlemen are i will ask you all to stand by for us, hang in a minute. we are going to get an update about this showdown looming on the house floor as gop leadership plans a contempt of congress vote next week for attorney general eric holder. republicans pledge the vote in this house will happen unless the president, holder and the justice department stop asserting executive privilege and hand over documents related to the fast and furious gun walking investigation. >> you can't just simple is play ignore this. this is not a partisan game and the white house and the department of justice should have put this to bed about a year ago. we shouldn't be at this point at this time. >> democrats are blasting gop leadership, accusing their colleagues of a witch hunt, playing politic with us the obama administration in an election year. here's house minority leader nancy pelosi speaking just moments ago. >> what we have seen is a shameful display of abuse of power by the republicans in the house of representatives. instead of bringing job-creating legislation to the floor, the transportation bill, they are holding the attorney general of the united states in contempt of congress for doing his job. >> capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins me now from washington, d.c. kelly, the outcome of yesterday's vote along the party line there is that makes up that house committee of 23-17. so what is the next step in this timeline? >> well there is a window of space that we have now, thomas, where the attorney general, who is traveling today in europe, says there might be time to resolve this. house republican leaders say there might be time to resolve this. and that would mean some kind of agreement on releasing more documents, at least according to house republicans, who do plan to vote on this next week. because of their numbers in the house, it would be reasonable to assume, if it went to the house floor, it would likely pass. then there are some complicated next steps because the congress never held a sitting attorney general in contempt before, what typically happens is a contempt citation is referred to the u.s. attorney for the district of columbia. then it would go to a grand jury. well, those are all things related to the job eric holder actually does. so, it gets complicated, we are not sure what some of those next steps will bring. politically, what this fight has been about, you know the backstory about this originally being a concern about a program that was being running guns across the mexican border. this was between 2009 and 2011. it had an intent to try to follow those guns to find cartels and traffickers but it did go wrong. ed administration acknowledged that. both parties agreed it was flawed. part of what they were trying to zero in on, initially the department of justice said that program did not happen that way. they made a denial. the months went by, they acknowledged, yes, in fact, some of those tactics were being used. what darryl issa and his community want to look at is specifically what is happening between the scenes between the denial and acknowledging this to congress? that is the narrow focus they say they want to look at. it has certainly turned into a big political fight. thomas? >> kelly o'donnell in d.c. thanks so much. we will bring back our political power panel, michael steele, david corps, chris kofinis. i want to play something that president obama said in '07. >> every time there is something a little shaky that is taking place, they want to hide behind executive privilege. i think theed a minute would be best served by coming clean on this. >> then rick santorum tweeted, transparency, yet another obama promise broken as his administration invokes executive privilege in fast and furious. do you think the president got backed into a corner, especially at this time pivotal to the campaign election? >> i don't think so. you look at it in terms of executive privilege, he has invoked it once nearly four years, an issue which from their perspective, they see this as big political football season and basically all the balls being thrown at the attorney general holder. from my perspective, the problem the republicans have they have gone way overboard in terms of making this look overtly political, doesn't serve their interest. i don't see how it has any kind of political gain for them in the long term. tend of the day, what thing ends up about getting resolved between the party bus i don't see how the republicans think they look good in this. >> michael, let's get your tank on this "washington post," the fix, said this of the holder vote "the question whether in reacting quick labor day forcefully to his provocations, republicans are playing directly into obama's strategic plan. the bottom line is this vote took some attention away from the campaign tray. "did republicans only hurt them sbifs making this look so highly as a resultson? some people looking back as far as when darrell issa got in charge of oversight to look like poor winners, as if they are going to pull congressional hearings on everything. >> right. right. i think that that set the tone for where we are now. i think it put in place the narrative that we are starting here that, you know, chris himself has just touched on about how this ultimately impacts on republicans in a negative way. i think the administration has an advantage they could play should this thing get up against the wall and there is no movement and is there a vote on the house floor next week to run against the do nothing congress. the country is hurting. they are trying to track down old files from whatever be acknowledged was a bad plan and we fixed and moved on beyond that. the problem is that there was a life lost here. there was an agent of our government serving in the field who was killed. and so that raises the bar on this a lot in terms of making sure the administration wasn't negligent in management of this program, that's what the documents should speak to in one way or the other what issa is trying to get after. my caution to the gop is just to make sure that when you're playing this thing, you play it in a way in which you down play the politics and play up the fact that there was a life lost here. >> agent terry. >> weekend we are trying to get to the truth. >> gentlemen, i want to turn quickly, david, while you i have you here, getting this hot you the note, the secretary of commerce has resigned, handing in his letter of resignation, john bryson. going to read a part of this. "dear commerce team, i have informed the president that i'm resigning as secretary of commerce. the work do you to help america's entrepreneurs build our economy and create jobs is better than ever and i have come to the conclusion i need to step down to prevent distraction from this critical mission." david, let's talk about this, brysonas people will recall, a couple weeks ago was involved in a series of accidents on the west coast, blamed on seizures that he had behind the wheelsome this a surprise to you to see him step down? >> no, because in one of those accidents, apparently, he left the scene of the crime and being investigated by authorities thought for doing so there is obvious speculation he was driving under the influence. spokes people said there were seizures. any convenient, an investigation it is campaign season. but by and large, a politician says i don't want something to be a distraction it usually means that they have something to worry about and so it is probably a good move for his part, for the department and the republican to step aside if he is part of an ongoing investigation r. >> the letter goes on to sayize step down from the cabinet, dr. blank will continue toself as acting secretary. as you know, she provided very capable leadership in this role last year and i ever confidence on her watch going food, the commerce department will continue to fulfill its mission with excellence. michael, are you reading between the lines here on something else? >> i think david hit it on the head i will give the benefit of the doubt to the secretary in terms of having a seizure, being taken behind the wheel maybe disor yenltd, left the scene. all that will be investigated. let's wait to find out what the facts are here. number one. number two, the secretary blank who will finish out the job will, you know, begin to, you know have to pick up the mantle for the administration in terms of what happens for this campaign season and we will see whether that goes. but right now, i wish the secretary well because, you know, there's still more questions than answers at this point. >> thanks so much, chris kofinis, michael steele, david corn, i appreciate you all this morning joining me. coming up, closing arguments are under way right now in the jerry sandusky trial. and shocking new details about why jerry sandusky may have decided not to take the stand. apparently, need surprise rebuttal witness. you're not going to believe who. plus, new video released of george zimmerman less than 24 hours after he shot and killed trayvon martin. he goes back to his neighborhood where that shooting happened and shows police what he says took place the night before. my cut h! mine hurt more! mine stopped hurting faster... 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[ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. george zimmerman less than 24 eat good fats. avoid bad. don't go over 2000... 1200 calories a day. carbs are bad. carbs are good. the story keeps changing. so i'm not listening... to anyone but myself. i know better nutrition when i see it: great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. for multi grain flakes that are an excellent source of fiber try great grains banana nut crunch and cranberry almond crunch. closing arguments now under way in the sexual abuse trial against jerry sandusky. the day began with the judge tossing three of the charges against him out. we are also learning about a possible reason why sandusky did not take the stand yesterday in his own defense. 48 charges though remain, 52 originally. and the reason why he did not take the stand, and this is what some reporting is alleging, is the fact that his adopted son would have been a rebuttal witness because head approached prosecutors during this case. nbc's ron allen is live at the courthouse in bellefonte, pennsylvania. ron, what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: well, that's one of many reasons that jerry sandusky probably didn't testify in his own fense. we understand that his son was here at the courthouse, prepared to testify, that he had conta contacted the prosecutors after being silent throughout this entire case. he apparently witnessed something, he may have been a victim himself, we are not sure but yes, that is one reason we believe sandusky did not take the witness stand. imagine the spec trouble, sitting there, being cross-examined by prosecutors and going through each detail of the allegations of the ten now young men about what happened over those ten years of alleged abuse. clearly that would have been something that the prosecution wanted to avoid as well. right now, we are in closing arguments, the doselves going first you can the prosecution will follow, we expected the jury should have this case some time after lunch and then the deliberations begin. the jury will be sequestered, them set their own schedule, so, anybody's guess as to how long this could all take but this trial has moved along at lightning pace so we expect that to perhaps continue as we go through closing arguments and into the deliberations beginning this afternoon. thomas? >> nbc's ron allen in bellefonte, pennsylvania. ron, thanks so much. joining me here in studio is criminal defense attorney, former federal prosecutor, jay fahey. great to have you here. as ron was pointing out and we were talking about in break this seems like it has gone by at a lightning pace they have been able to get this far and the fact the jury could be handed this case by lunch time. the judge though throwing out two of the counts relating to a i kaiser around victim number four, saying the charges did not bear out. is that a sign that part of the prosecution's case was weak or that out of these 52 charges, they may have overreached in trying to get them all to stick? >> it is more the overreaching. prosecutor of the-put everything they can into an indictment t has to be sustainable at least from the grand jury because the grand jury vote on the indictment. but prosecutor tries to load up everything he can, knowing in most cases, most cases, a couple of criminal counts get thrown out, if there are over 20 counts in the indictment. this is very common. this suspect something a big surprise or would upset the prosecutor. >> the revelation that has everybody's ears perked up, matt sandusky contacted prosecutors after this trial began and was prepared to provide potentially damaging testimony against his father if jerry sandusky had taken the stand. why didn't prosecutors just bring matt sandusky to the stand anyway? why utilize him as a rebuttal witness and not just as a witness in general? >> well, his son, matt, had been a huge supporter of him, gone to almost all of the hearings and then spoke about how good a man his father was. what i suspect happened, as time went by and as matt sandusky saw what the evidence was, he started maybe to rethink things that had occurred in the past and he reached out for the prosecut prosecutor's office, we understand urkt past week or so so that couldn't be brought by the prosecutors now because they had brought -- assuming there was something criminal involved in his son that would have to have been a new indictment and put everything back many, many weeks and the jury has been selected in this case, this case had to proceed. >> at the rate of speed that we have seen this in terms of what's taking place in court, do you think that the jury is going to be returning just as fast? >> my guess is that since the jury is sequestered and staying overnight, think we will see a verdict between five and 12 hours, i would expect a verdict by late friday at the latest and may deliberate into the evening. that is going to be completely up to them v dinner tonight. >> set their own work hours? >> set their own work hours. they can have a verdict tonight if they decide they had wanted to have a session tonight. >> jay fahy, thanks for your time, we appreciate your insight as well. george zimmerman says he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed trayvon martin. and now, look at this, we get to see and hear exactly what he told police the next day at the very scene of the shooting. plus, it really is a screw summer, temps near 100 degrees, fill you in on who is in for another sheltering day. do you see it ? there it is ! there it is ! where ? where ? it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. ♪ hello...rings ♪ what the... what the... what the... ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪ ♪ and we're here to drop a rhyme about free-credit-score ♪ ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ dot-com narrator: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. so we are getting this first happened look now at the trayvon martin shooting today and it is a big first happened account given by the man who pulled the trigger, less than a day after the shooting. kerry sanders is live for us in orlando, florida outside of zimmerman's lawyer's office. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: well, it was zimmerman's lawyer, thomas, who released these documents today. as you know, in florida is there a back and forth exchange between the prosecution and the defense in a process known as discovery. and all these documents become available for the public to view. today's documents released by the defense counsel include videotaped statements during a voice stress test and a walk-through with the police as they are