At the Global Food Summit in D.C. today, NBC's Andrea Mitchell interview U2 frontman Bono about efforts to curb hunger in Africa.

An excerpt:

You know, no one wants to see those extended bellies. No one wants to see children -- emaciated children. Hunger is a ridiculous thing. And we know what to do in order to fix it.  There's, you know, these whole new approaches to agriculture to increase productivity, etc. Etc.

But what's key about today's announcement is that the president of the United States is supporting African ideas on how to fix their problem. There are country-owned, country-devised plans in 30 African countries. And that's what it will take to get to that 50 million people taken out of -- out of hunger over the next decade.

So it's -- that's what's different.  It's partnership, it's not the old paternalism.  These are sort of horizontal relationships, not vertical ones.

Below is the entire transcript of the interview:

ANDREA MITCHELL, HOST:  Here at the Global Food Summit, President Obama has issued a call to action for world leaders to attack poverty in Africa by expanding agriculture.  The immediate goal is to lift 15 million people out of poverty over the next decade.  Participating in this big launch for the G-8 Summit, some big players.  Singer/songwriter, co-founder of the One Campaign, Bono.

                Welcome.

                You've spoken here to the summit.

                What is the mission and the cause and -- and why is it so urgent?

                BONO:  Well, the mission is, I guess, obvious, to...

                MITCHELL:  Right.

                BONO:  -- you know, no one wants to see those extended bellies.  No one wants to see children -- emaciated children.  Hunger is a ridiculous thing.  And we know what to do in order to fix it.  There's, you know, these whole new approaches to agriculture to increase productivity, etc.  Etc.

                But what's key about today's announcement is that the president of the United States is supporting African ideas on how to fix their problem.  There are country-owned, country-devised plans in 30 African countries.  And that's what it will take to get to that 50 million people taken out of -- out of hunger over the next decade.

                So it's -- that's what's different.  It's partnership, it's not the old paternalism.  These are sort of horizontal relationships, not vertical ones.

                MITCHELL:  And these countries have spent the last couple of years, 30 countries, submitting their plans.  And now this is the time for action, for business leaders, for others, to -- to join in and invest.

                You wrote in "Time" magazine this week that Africa is so rich in resources, that this is really the -- the continent which can be like the American continent was in the last century.

                Tell us what...

                BONO:  Yes, it's...

                (CROSSTALK)

                MITCHELL:  -- the potential there.

                BONO:  -- we've -- we've got to, you know, we've just got to reboot our thinking on the continent.  Africa is -- this -- the 21st century, people say it's about China.  Ask the Chinese.  They're all over Africa.

                MITCHELL:  Exactly.

                BONO:  Africa, by 2050, will double the population of China.  So you've got this -- there -- there will be more young people on the continent of Africa than there are Chinese in 2050.  I mean it is just stunning.  They're rich.  They've got all these minerals on the ground.  And the people are saying to us, the African people, they don't want aid as an ongoing basis.  They need it now to help them get to a place of independence.

                But they're future consumers for the United States.  The president is talking business.  This is good.  It -- it's just -- it's a whole new kind of development paradigm, I think, today.  It's -- the old sort of donor-recipient relationship, it's over.

                MITCHELL:  And I mean the Chinese, as you point out, they get it.  They're investing everywhere in Africa.  These businesses want to invest.

                What do we do about the -- the fact that there has been so much widespread corruption and how can that be tackled?

                The World Bank has tried to tackle it.

                BONO:  Absolutely.

                MITCHELL:  There are some demands here up front.

                BONO:  Exactly right.  Corruption is killing more kids than any dis -- killer -- of the killer diseases, AIDS or malaria.

                So if you look at food as a resource that comes out of the ground, the same way, if you look at oil, gas, the great mineral wealth of the continent of Africa, what can you do to make sure that the wealth that's in the ground, under the feet of the people who live there, gets into the hands of the people who live there?

                Well, there's one way, transparency, daylight, which is to say, when private contracts are put out -- given to a -- to explore for oil or for gas, that the people know how much was paid for that contract.

                So in this, in this -- this Congress is a bill in the finance reform bill, the huge big Dodd-Frank bill, there's a Cardin-Lugar Amendment what -- which actually makes it law that any company published on the United States Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, has to publish what it pays for those mining rights.

                This is huge.  This is bigger than anything you can imagine.

                Who's telling us that?

                Africans are telling us that.  This is what they're saying.  They're saying just bring some daylight, bring some transparency and we won't be as dependent on you.

                MITCHELL:  And, you know, this is such a novel idea, the Europeans, some of them, are pushing back against this, saying whoa, you know, we don't have these same rules, we don't want these rules for our companies.

                But this would really tell the people in Africa exactly what money is being transferred and what -- what their resources are going for.

                BONO:  That's it.  So then they can ask -- they can hold their own governments to account.

                Now, the British are -- are looking at this.  There's some discussion about whether it should be project by project or country by country.  It has to be project by project, I think.  We're meeting with David Cameron later.  I -- I'm -- I am hopeful to -- to convince him and to do that.

                The French are there on this.  I spoke with the Germans, with Chancellor Merkel's people, not with her yet.  But I have before on this subject.  And she is leaning in -- in this direction.  That's huge.  The German leadership will be great.

                I've actually spoken to 12 of the G-20 heads of state on this matter.  So Brazil is -- is looking to lead in this.  And Australia is.

                And this is the way of the future.  Daylight is the way of the future.  The direction of information technology, guess what, it's information.  People want information about the big decisions that affect their lives.

                MITCHELL:  Now, speaking of information technology, you have been so innovative.  You've been on the -- the cutting edge of this.  Back in 2009, I think, you were first investing in Facebook.  It's gone public.  You are reportedly going to con -- you know, conceivably have this huge payout.

                Tell me about Facebook, what you see in it, what the business model is and what you think it's going to accrue to your own investment.

                BONO:  Well, contrary to reports, in bus -- I am not a -- this boy is not a billionaire.  And -- or going to be richer than any Beatle.  And not just in the sense of money, by the way.  The Beatles are untouchable.  That's just a joke.

                MITCHELL:  I -- I get it.

                BONO:  We -- you know, in Elevation, we invest other people's money -- endowments, pension funds.  We do get paid and -- and that is a -- a good thing.  We will get, you know, I'm blessed.

                But, you know, I felt rich when I was 20 years old and my wife was -- was paying my bills, you know, just being in a band.  I've always felt like this, I mean being -- being so blessed.

                I got interested in technology because I'm an artist.  I'm interested in the forces that shape the world, you know, politics, religion, the stuff we've been talking about today.

                Technology is huge.  I wanted to learn about it.

                And people say it's, oh, you're a musician, what are you doing on this?

                But I think it's odd that -- that artists are not more interested in the world around them.  The zeitgeist, I'm always chasing that.

                MITCHELL:  What do you see in Facebook?

                What is it about Facebook that you think, to those who say, well, what is the business model here, what do you think is the future of Facebook?

                BONO:  Well, they're -- they're an amazing team.  They're a brilliant team.  And they really care about this stuff.  And -- and, you know, it's -- it's a technology that brings people together, people who are traveling a lot, to keep in touch with their families, with their friends.

                And -- and you see it, the role it's played in -- in -- in North Africa, in the -- in the so-called Arab Spring.

                So it's a whole -- it's -- it's the village square.  But it was the leadership of it that got me excited to going back.

                And -- but there's other companies out there.  Yelp I invested in, Drop Box.  There's -- there's just a -- there's just -- there's a lot of excitement in America.  This is -- in this area.

                MITCHELL:  What do you say to people, Wall Street and others, who say there is no real business model here, that people might go to Google and, you know, really look at the ads, but not on Facebook, that social networking is a different kind of -- of zeitgeist and that you don't really want advertising?

                BONO:  That's an intelligent criticism.  I'm not even going to try to answer it.  I'll let Facebook do that.

                You know, I'm, in a ways, the -- the thing that I bring to elevation is I'm curious about people.  You know, I asked Warren Buffet what was the most important thing in investing.  He said judgment of character.

                And -- and there's some pattern recognition and some sensing of what the future might look like.

                But I think -- I think Facebook has gone -- is only beginning.  That's my own view.

                MITCHELL:  We'll be back in a moment with the president of Tanzania joining our conversation...

                BONO:  Yes, he's a very special man.

                MITCHELL:  And he is a very special leader...

                BONO:  -- worth meeting.

                MITCHELL:  And we will meet him and talk more.

                Our exclusive interview with Bono coming up and Tanzania's president, Jakaya Kikwete, next, right here on ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS at the Global Food Summit.

                (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDREA MITCHELL, HOST:  And we are back here at the Ronald Reagan Building at the Global Food Summit with Bono.

                And joining us now, Tanzania's President Kikwete.

                Mr. President, thank you so much for joining us.

                We've been talking about the crisis of poverty and the opportunities now to really do something significant to lift 50 million people out of poverty with food, with a different approach to food and agriculture.

                Tell us, what does it mean at the -- at the grassroots level, for people to have a different kind of food security?

                PRES. JAKAYA KIKWETE, TANZANIA:  Well, of course, in most African countries, Tanzania included, 80 percent of the people live in rural areas.  And this is where the majority of the people, of the poor are.

                So any initiative to improve the agriculture, increase productivity, means increasing their incomes, producing more food, ensuring them food security is something that is welcome.

                For us in Africa, no meaningful intervention to deal with poverty would -- would be successful if you leave out agriculture.

                MITCHELL:  What is your pitch to businesses and to other government leaders as to how this can work?

                What do you tell them you want and what can Tanzania do as a partner in all of this?

                KIKWETE:  Well, of course, we -- we have developed plans and programs to accelerate the pace of transformation in the growth of our agriculture.  We are looking for partners.

                And who are these partners?

                Governments in the developed countries to help us where our governments cannot reach.

                We're looking for private sector participants to work with our small holder farmers, to work with our government.  The small holder farmers, support them, get -- get the inputs that they need, the seeds, the fertilizers, the pesticides, the herbicides.

                But for our small farmers, assure them of a market for their produce, a good market at a good price.

                So in essence, the -- this -- this is the partnership that we are looking for, support from the -- from -- from -- from -- governments of 12 countries support us with infrastructure like roads and so on, through the farming areas.  They will support us with infrastructure for the irrigation schemes, because you need -- the major canals have got to be done by government.  You cannot leave it to the small holder farmers.  They are too poor to do that.

                With electricity, with clean water supply and with other -- with other services, IT and telecommunications.

                MITCHELL:  You know, Bono, you, I know, have traveled so often across the continent with -- with teams of people looking at these issues.  It is -- the big issues have to be done by governments.  They can be done with private investment, as well.

                But when we talk about, as the president has said, what about clean water and communications, but the small farmers then can get the water that they need and then they can put the herbicides to use and the seeds, so that there really is a whole hierarchical system here that has to be attacked.

                BONO:  Yes, I -- I'm particularly excited when I go to Tanzania.  If you could see what this -- what the president has...

                MITCHELL:  Tell me what you've seen there.

                BONO:  -- and his team has pulled off.  It's -- first of all, it's just the most stunning country, I mean just in every which way, you know, from, you know, looking up there at Kilimanjaro and then right down to the astonishing beaches to Dar-es-salaam and the industry there and Arusha.  And -- and this is a very fine and accomplished macroeconomist who is not just leading in this region, but I think the whole of the continent, and -- and people outside of the continent are looking to their successes.

                And the Maputo commitment, which is 10 percent of your GDP to be spent on this agriculture thing, it's a hard thing, sometimes, to -- to -- to pull it off.  And -- and -- and the president has committed to this next year.  And that was, you know, it was a tough and brave decision.  And we harassed him.  You know, the One Campaigners were in -- making a petition.  We handed in 20,000.  These are African One Campaigners.

                And he was so gentle with them and respectful to them.

                So I can't really say too much about this man.  And he's kind of a hero of mine.

                But it's just when things work and when you have also seen that he's in -- he gets annoyed.  He gets restless when things don't move fast enough.  But -- but Tanzania is -- is one of the -- the -- the great stories to keep an eye on.

                There -- there are other countries that it's -- it's harder.  And so you need some to really work and as success stories to be contagious (INAUDIBLE).

                MITCHELL:  And Tanzania can really be a model...

                BONO:  Yes.  Oh, yes.

                MITCHELL:  -- for the continent.

                What about the One Campaign and how you can keep the pressure up to keep governments focused and to keep businesses interested and honest in the way they approach the Campaign?

                BONO:  I mean why is David Cameron sticking with his aid pledges in the greatest austerity that his country has seen since the Second World War?

                Why is he doing that?

                The reason he's doing that is because he has a mandate from people who care about this stuff up and down the UK.  That way he -- he does it.  I'm not -- I think because he's also moved to do it and interested to do it.  But he's been given permission.

                So that's why the One Campaign is important, because we help to sort of create wind at your back if you make a good decision.

                We're not, as -- as the president know, we're not from the left, we're not from the right or sort of -- we're all over the shop.  We're ambidextrous.

                But, you know, so -- so whether it's President Bush stepping out on AIDS or whether it's President Obama stepping out on -- on food security, we have people in every state and every jurisdiction of this country who will support people who do the right thing.  They're motivated by conscience.  They're motivated by their faith.  Whatever the reasons are, they knew that the -- this world does not have to be the way it is and that very structural things can be made to happen to help.

                I mean they don't need our help, to be honest with you.  We're really here to keep all the politicians in Europe honest.  We don't actually have to keep him honest.

                (LAUGHTER)

                BONO:  He's -- sorry.

                KIKWETE:  The One Campaign is awesome, you know.

                BONO:  Yes.

                KIKWETE:  A few months ago, the One Campaign marched the hundreds of people to -- to the statehouse to bring a petition on behalf of 120,000 farmers asking governments in Africa to scale up investment in agriculture.

                BONO:  They're quite wonky, as well, our -- our campaigners tend to -- you know, they're very -- they're the (INAUDIBLE)...

                KIKWETE:  Yes.

                BONO:  -- variety.

                KIKWETE:  I made a commitment and a promise that I -- I would deliver the message to the -- to the African heads of states in July in Malawi.

                MITCHELL:  In Malawi.

                KIKWETE:  Yes.

                MITCHELL:  And what do you want to see?

                Briefly, we've just got a few seconds left, Mr. President.

                What do you want to see come out of the summit here?

                What kind of promise and -- and delivery system do you want?

                KIKWETE:  Well, of course we -- we look -- we -- we look to the G-8 to -- to increase support to governments and farmers in Africa.  We look to the private sector in America and -- and elsewhere in the G-8 countries to -- to be forthcoming, come and work with us, work with the farmers in Africa.

                So a combination of these, of -- of the governments in the G-8, governments in the developed countries, our governments in Africa, the private sector, local in Africa, and the international private sector coming and working with us, and the small holder farmers, I'm sure we should be able to increase agricultural production, ensure food security, improve nutrition and eradicate poverty in Africa.

                MITCHELL:  Well, not...

                BONO:  Not bad for a...

                MITCHELL:  Not bad at all.

                BONO:  -- first summit.

                MITCHELL:  Thank you...

                BONO:  Between now and the G-20, I think you can pull that off.

                MITCHELL:  That's pretty exciting.

                Thank you so much, Mr. President.

ANDREA MITCHELL, HOST, MSNBC'S ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:  And which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours?  We have a special guest, Bono.  In the next 24 hours, the president is going to be meeting with four African leaders at Camp David, over lunch, to talk about food, poverty, African -- global security.  And, including, of course President Kikwete.  What's different about these summits?  Have the G8, the G20 - have they outlived their usefulness? 

BONO, MUSICIAN AND PHILANTHROPIST:  That's a very interesting question.  I mean, it is sort of absurd that eight -- seven men and one woman will get into a room and the decisions that they make in those rooms will affect hundreds of millions of lives outside of their own geographies.  So that is -- It's a hell of a burden.  And I think they know that.  I hope they know that.  The G20 sort of democratizes it further by bringing in China, and, you know, Brazil, and India, of course.  But it gets a little harder to get things done because there's more of them. 

MITCHELL:  We've seen that on climate change. 

BONO:  Yes, Yes.  But I think what's actually happening, is in a funny way what we've seen at the start of 21st century, is the pyramid.  The old pyramid of power has turned upside down.  Ironic that it started in the land of the pyramids, in Egypt.  But the base is now in charge, and the top is strangely at the bottom.  So for these political leaders to achieve anything, they really have to listen to what people are saying, and that's  different.  So the civil society, the role of civility society has become really important. 

And I think people are sending a message to this G8.  Please don't let it just be a talking shop.  We know Iran is important.  We know the euro is important, critically important if you live in Europe as I do.  But actually, the idea of taking 50 million people out of hunger and poverty over the next ten years, if that's possible, wow.  After the stuff we've done on AIDS and malaria, you know, it gets you -- that's a reason to get out of bed, Mr. President. 

MITCHELL:  And to sing. 

BONO:  And to sing. 

MITCHELL:  Thank you, Bono, as always.  Thanks for all your leadership on this, and the ONE Campaign.

First Read confirms with the campaign that Mitt and Ann Romney contributed $75,000 each to the Romney Victory Fund – money going to the campaign, the RNC, and various other state committees.

That $75,000 is the maximum an individual can contribute to these entities.

Those contributions – first reported by CNN – will show up in the May FEC report (which doesn’t have to be filed until June 20).

While $150,000 is a significant amount of money, it pales in comparison to the millions Romney contributed to his 2008 campaign.

Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss four stories from this week that could impact the 2012 campaign. New Obama ads attack Romney’s work at Bain Capital while a GOP super PAC considers rehashing the Rev. Wright attack on Obama from 2008. Romney nearly matches Obama in April fundraising, and John Boehner hints at another debt ceiling showdown.

Video edited by Matt Loffman

HILLSBORO, NH -- Wrapping up a weeklong effort to paint President Obama as a heavy-spending "old-school liberal," Mitt Romney stood here Friday before a half-built bridge, an example of what he claimed was the failure of the president's stimulus program.

"This is the absolute bridge to nowhere if there ever was one," Romney said of the Sawyer Bridge, a handsome stone archway, restored with stimulus dollars, that ends abruptly several yards before reaching the far side of the Contoocook River. "That's your stimulus dollars at work: A bridge that goes nowhere."

Romney regularly assails the president's stimulus package on the campaign trail, and today was no exception as he deployed a new number -- what he claimed was the cost per job created of the $787 billion dollar stimulus.

"They're required to report these things and they did an analysis and of course they stretched I'm sure as far as they could as to how many jobs they saved and how many jobs they created. Then they take that number and divide it into the size of the stimulus. It turns out the cost per job was $317,000," Romney said.

Romney, whose remarks today were uncharacteristically brief, clocking in around nine minutes, was greeted in Hillsboro by a small but vocal group of pro-Obama protesters, who chanted "Four more years" and "O-ba-ma" audibly throughout his remarks.

Romney laughed off the group in with his opening lines.

"We have behind us a Greek chorus, and I say that because they remind us this president is leading us towards Greece," Romney said. "And one reason we're going to get rid of him is to make sure we don't have the kind of deficits that lead to Greece. So I hope they keep up with their Greek chorus over there."

Forget a president's first 100 days. Mitt Romney's first television ad of the general election, "Day One," comes as close as anything in describing the most urgent priorities of a President Romney upon taking office.

The ad is running in five swing states, and the presumptive GOP nominee's campaign is putting $1.3 million behind it; a Spanish-language analog is running in North Carolina, with a much smaller ad buy behind it.

Nonetheless, Romney's ad is meant to drive a three-point plan: 1. Approve the Keystone Pipeline, 2. Introduce tax reform, and 3. Begin dismantling and replacing President Obama's health care law.

In short, Romney's message is about jobs, taxes, energy and health care.

So what do we know about the specifics of Romney's three-point plan?

Keystone -

Republicans, including Romney, have vocally criticized President Obama for rejecting an initial proposal by the TransCanada Corporation to build an oil pipeline through the central United States. The administration rejected the project out of environmental concerns and because it felt Republicans were rushing its approval of the project, at the expense of due diligence. (TransCanada has subsequently re-applied for a permit to build a pipeline along new routes.)

Romney invoking the example is meant to address the issues of jobs and energy.

TransCanada and supporters of the pipeline -- who range from Republicans in Congress to the organized labor community -- contend the project would create at least 20,000 jobs. The project's most ardent supporters claim these, in turn, would lead to additional job creation.

As for energy, it's much more difficult to say what the effect of building the Keystone Pipeline would have on the price of oil. Its mere approval could conceivably diminish speculation that drives up oil prices, but gauging the direct impact is difficult. Moreover, the pipeline would take years to become fully operational and deliver excess supply to gas stations in the U.S.

"Taking advantage of our energy resources is one of my priorities," Romney said Friday in a conference call with supporters. Among his other plans for his first day in office, Romney said he would also allow expanded permits for oil and gas exploration on federal lands. Romney said, for instance, he would authorize drilling on the East Coast's Outer Continental Shelf.

Tax reform -

The centerpiece of Romney's plan would include a permanent, across-the-board reduction of 20 percent for all income tax brackets.

He's also on the record supporting a number of other tax cuts, including maintaining current tax rates on investment income, eliminating the taxes on estates, cutting the corporate tax rate to 25 percent, and repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, among other reforms.

The impact of these reforms on the rising national debt -- something Romney routinely decries -- is much more opaque, though.

Romney has said eliminating some tax deductions, combined with economic growth and cuts in spending would make the impact of his tax plan deficit-neutral at a minimum.

"One thing I'm also going to to do is work with Congress to limit the deductions and exemptions and special deals that are in our tax code," Romney said on the conference call.

But the former Massachusetts governor hasn't specified the exemptions or deductions he would eliminate beyond a select few (for instance, the mortgage deductions associated with a second home). Romney has previously said that the wealthy might shoulder a greater tax burden under his reforms, though he hasn't said how. (An analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has suggested that might not be the case.) The Romney campaign also hasn't provided a detailed enough tax plan in order to subject it to static or dynamic scoring of its impact on the deficit and debt.

As for the spending side, Romney's website offers some additional details, but not enough to necessarily account for the total impact of his plan -- either on jobs, or the deficit.

The "issues" section of Romney's website includes an additional "Day One" promise: to send Congress a bill slashing non-defense discretionary spending by five percent across-the-board.

Other parts of Romney's site detail areas he would cut, and the savings associated with each of those cuts. Those savings include the elimination of subsidies to programs like the National Endowment for the Arts, and cuts in subsidies to Amtrak or the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

"There are items that I like that I will stop funding," Romney explained during the call.

Health reform -

Romney's new ad calls for not just the repeal of "ObamaCare," but its replacement, as well.

If part or all of the law were allowed to stand following the Supreme Court's ruling next month, Romney would have some options to undo the law on his first day in office, but they would be limited.

The former Massachusetts governor has said his ultimate goal is to return health care decisions to individual states, and create incentives for more efficient health care delivery.

Romney repeated his promise to issue a waiver to states, allowing them to duck some of the requirements of health care reform that conservatives find most onerous. But many other parts of the law would remain in effect, and would require legislative action to both enact a repeal of ObamaCare and a subsequent replacement. That could conceivably pass the House if it were to remain in Republican control, but unless Republicans were to somehow win a 60-seat majority in the Senate this fall, the GOP would need to attract Democratic support for Romney's alternative.

* * *

There are other things Romney said he would do on his first day, among them labeling China a currency manipulator and putting a hold on regulations enacted by the Obama administration.

Democrats have contested Romney's ad, with the Obama campaign labeling it as full of "empty promises."

"We know why Mitt Romney didn’t keep his promises- his business experience wasn’t in strengthening companies and creating jobs for long-term economic growth. It was in reaping quick profits for himself and his investors at the expense of workers and communities," said Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for the president's re-election. "These are the values that he wants to bring to the White House by giving more budget-busting tax cuts to the wealthy and letting Wall Street write its own rules—the same formula that benefited a few, but crashed our economy and punished the middle class."

A Democratic super PAC, American Bridge 21st Century, also produced a parody ad concluding of Romney's first-day plans: "We'll pass."

Vice President Joe Biden stayed mostly on message during a two-day swing in eastern Ohio this week, but one comment made to a local TV news station may have earned him some rolls of the eye at Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago.

In an interview yesterday with WTOV-TV, NBC's Steubenville-Wheeling affiliate, Biden said that he doesn't "blame people" for voting against Barack Obama in West Virginia's Democratic primary earlier this month, when an incarcerated felon won about four in 10 votes against the sitting president.

"Look, I come from a household where whenever there's a recession, somebody around my grandpop or my dad's table lost their job - a brother, a sister, a friend, a neighbor," he said.  When you're outta work, man, it's a depression. And a lot of people are still hurt because of this God-awful recession we inherited that cost 8.4 million jobs before we could really get going. And so I don't blame people. They're frustrated. They're angry."

Biden quickly pivoted to make the case that the administration's economic values would prevail nationwide over Mitt Romney's in the general election.

"At the end of the day they're going to decide is the way back to their employment, is the way back to being able to have a job and raise a family, is it under the value set and the ideas of Romney? Or is it under ours? And we feel confident we'll do just fine. "

Keith Judd, also known as Prisoner 11593-051, is serving a sentence at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas for making threats at the University of New Mexico. He makes occasional cameos on state ballots and won about 40 percent of the vote in West Virginia's May 8 primary, embarrassing national Democrats and highlighting Obama's challenges in coal country.

The lessons we learned this week on four stories -- Bain Capital, Romney’s $40 million, Jeremiah Wright, and the debt ceiling… Romney goes up with his first general-election ad… And it has a (small) Spanish-language component… Listing the 10 hottest ad markets right now… The culture war (abortion) resumes.. Jim DeMint’s rough week… Americans Elect was a bust… And the NC GOV ad war.

*** Four lessons we learned this week… : There were four big political stories this week, and we learned something important from each of them. The first was the introduction of Bain Capital into the general election. While some of the attention focused on former White House adviser Steve Rattner calling the Obama ad unfair and the president’s subsequent fundraising on Wall Street, we learned that Romney still doesn’t have a solid response to this issue that hurt him in 1994 and hurt him in South Carolina 2012. “There's this fiction that some have that somehow you can be successful by stripping assets at enterprise and walking away with lots of money and killing the enterprise,” Romney said yesterday, per NBC’s Matt Loffman. “There may be some people that know how to do that. I sure don't.” But the examples of GTS Steel and especially Ampad tell a different story. That said, the Romney camp’s web video pointing out that the auto bailout ended up hurting Delphi employees is a pretty solid counterattack and a reminder that there are some similarities in what the Obama administration did with GM and Chrysler to what Romney sometimes did at Bain (though Obama never personally profited from the auto bailout).

Mary Altaffer / AP

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, gestures while speaking to reporters on the tarmac after arriving in West Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday, May 17, 2012.

*** … On Bain, Romney’s $40M, Wright, and the debt ceiling: We also learned that with the second story of the week -- the Romney/RNC’s $40 million haul in April -- they’ve caught up to Team Obama VERY quickly in the money chase. Given all the GOP outside money, that has to concern the folks in Chicago, and it puts pressure on the Obama grassroots machine to start pumping out even more money. The fact is: The Obama campaign isn’t going to have the ENORMOUS financial advantage they enjoyed in 2008. A third story of the week was that proposed Jeremiah Wright ad, and the big lesson it taught us is the power that outside money is going to have in this election, even if no one ends up airing such an ad. In addition, we told you that such an ad could consume the Obama-Romney race, and the mere discussion of it consumed an entire day. Considering how toxic the idea was treated by the media and the Romney campaign and many other Republicans, it’s pretty clear Rev. Wright will be confined to the conservative media world. And the fourth big political story was House Speaker John Boehner raising the prospect of another debt-ceiling showdown, which reminded us how potentially important the lame-duck session is going to be after the November election.

*** One more thing we learned this week: What we learned last week and this week is how hard it is for both Obama and Romney to stay on their own messages. Both had their best-laid plans for the week stepped on in various ways. Last week, gay marriage did that to Obama. This week, the debt ceiling and then Ricketts did that for Romney. It’s just never easy to stay on message (and it’s hardest part of a presidential campaign). The good ones figure out what to ignore and what to jump on.

*** Romney’s first general-election ad: Meanwhile, Romney is up with his first TV ad of the general election. And as he suggested yesterday, it’s a positive ad. “What would a Romney Presidency be like?” the narrator asks. “Day One, President Romney immediately approves the Keystone pipeline, creating thousands of jobs that Obama blocked. President Romney introduces tax cuts and reforms that reward job creators, not punish them. President Romney issues order to begin replacing Obamacare with commonsense health care reform. That’s what a Romney Presidency will be like.” What’s particularly interesting are the four states where this ad is airing (at a buy of $1.3 million) -- Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia.

*** And its Spanish-language component -- in North Carolina: We’ve pointed out how the Romney campaign and its allies haven’t responded to the Obama camp’s big push on Spanish-language TV. Well, this new ad has a Spanish-language component. But so far, according to SMG Delta, it’s airing in just one market (Raleigh, NC) at a buy of only $3,000. Interestingly, the campaign has still not countered the Obama Spanish-language advertising in Nevada, Florida, or Colorado. And unlike those Obama ads, it’s not necessarily targeted to the Latino community -- it’s just the new ad translated to Spanish.

*** The 10 hottest ad markets: By the way, here are the 10 hottest ad markets this week (5/14-5/20), in terms of advertising points, for the Obama campaign, the anti-Obama American Future Fund, the anti-Obama Crossroads, the pro-Romney/anti-Obama Restore Our Future, and the anti-Romney/pro-Obama Priorities USA:

1. Greensboro-High Point (Obama/1300, AFF/560, Romney/480, Crossroads/320, ROF/280)
2. Roanoke-Lynchburg (Obama/1600, AFF/400, Romney/311, Crossroads/270, ROF/265)
3. Norfolk-Portsmouth (Obama/1300, AFF/430, Romney/380, Crossroads/240, Priorities USA/200, ROF/165)
4. Colorado Springs (Obama/1250, AFF/475, Priorities USA/350, Crossroads/245, ROF/225)
5. Greenville-Spartanburg-Ashville (AFF/845, Obama/815, Crossroads/525, ROF/350)
6. Raleigh-Durham (Obama/1,000, Romney/485, Crossroads/340, AFF/325, ROF/275)
7. Des Moines (Obama/1,500, Romney/330, AFF/300, ROF/150)
8. Richmond-Petersburg (Obama/1,000, Romney/370, Priorities USA/265, AFF/225, Crossroads/145, ROF/140)
9. Cedar Rapids (Obama/1,200, Romney/350, AFF/250, , Crossroads/165, ROF/165)
10. Toledo (Obama/1,400, AFF/350, Crossroads/185, ROF/170)

*** On the trail: Romney stumps in New Hampshire, holding an event in Hillsborough at 1:30 pm ET… And President Obama goes to Camp David, where he will meet G-8 leaders.

*** Quick G8/NATO preview: This week’s back-to-back summits initially were supposed to be about the announcement of the 2014 combat troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. But that news leaked out MONTHS sooner than the administration planned. Now, about the biggest news that could come from this weekend’s meetings is the G8’s collective decision to release “global” oil reserves: similar to how the Obama administration released the Strategic Petroleum Reserve supply the last time. They did it under the cover of a “global” effort, rather than have it looked totally political and domestic. Given the Iranian sanctions issues, there is a rationale for the G8 countries to want other oil on the market to keep the price down. Bottom line: Don’t be surprised if SPR is done this weekend, which, in turn, could blunt the usual Memorial gas price rise and take that media catnip issue off the tape. The bigger lifts for the president at these summits are twofold : 1) working with Germany’s Angela Merkel on the Eurozone’s issues 2) in this age of austerity, raising money from other countries to help offset the costs of supporting Afghanistan from 2014-2024 as the U.S. has already committed to.

*** The culture war resumes: We’re probably sure that the Romney campaign would rather House Republicans focus on another issue. House GOPers held a hearing yesterday, led by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), pushing a bill that would limit abortion rights in DC. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton was denied her request to testify. It is a generally accepted courtesy that if a member of Congress wants to testify at a hearing they are granted that. The committee is “considering legislation that would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy in the District,” First Read DMV writes. The Washington Post adds,  “Rep. Trent Franks’ (R-Ariz.) bill, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would prohibit all D.C. abortions beyond 20 weeks except to save the life of the mother, based on the much-debated idea that fetuses beyond that point are capable of feeling pain. The measure will be the subject of a 4 p.m. hearing before the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, which Franks chairs.”

*** Jim DeMint’s rough week: Folks, it was a tough week for Jim DeMint, given that the candidate his group sent money on in Nebraska’s Senate GOP contest -- Don Stenberg -- finished third. That result spurred this comment from Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns, per Politico: “The question I’d get asked as I get around the state: ‘Who is this guy [DeMint] and why he is spending this money to elect people in our state?’ … I just think it was a poor choice of strategy. I don’t think they understood the state. People hate that kind of stuff in our state, and so they recoiled, they looked for an alternative.” Ouch. The lesson here: When you play this game and lose, people are going to gloat.

*** Americans Elect … no one: Yesterday, the third-party group Americans Elect called it quits. What’s interesting: The idea of a third party has never been greater, and there’s never been a better-financed vehicle (in terms of ballot access) than Americans Elect. But it didn’t work. What we’ve always heard: “If you build it, they will come.” Well, guess what: They built it, and the candidates didn’t come. Every recruiting effort we know of started off well enough (insert obvious ex-Democrat or ex-Republican lawmaker here), but then that ex-lawmaker would back away for fear of two things: 1) that they couldn’t win; 2) their candidacy would hurt their former party’s nominee and they’d be blamed forever for it.

*** NC GOV ad war: In North Carolina, the group NC Citizens for Progress – funded by the Democratic Governors Association – is up with a TV ad hitting GOP gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory. It’s in response to a Republican Governors Association-funded ad hitting Dem nominee Walter Dalton. 

Countdown to WI recall: 18 days
Countdown to GOP convention: 101 days
Countdown to Dem convention: 108 days
Countdown to Election Day: 172 days

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*** Friday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN) on the economy, 2012 and more… NBC’s David Gregory on the latest in Obama vs. Romney… Former five-time Jeopardy champion Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) on Chuck’s performance last night… More 2012 news with Politico’s Joe Williams, Voto Latino’s Maria Teresa Kumar and one of us (!!!).

*** Friday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews former Bush White House spokesman Tony Fratto, Center for American Progress’ Daniella Gibbs Leger, Politico’s Glenn Thrush, Reason Magazine’s Matt Welch, Grio Managing Editor Joy-Ann Reid, and financial advisor Lynette Khalfani Cox.

*** Friday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include former State Department spokesman James Rubin, the Business Insider’s Henry Blodget, the AP’s Kasie Hunt, BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith, GOP strategist Robert Traynham, and Dem strategist Karen Finney

*** Friday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, anchoring from the Global Food Summit in DC, interviews Bono, Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, the New York Times’ Elisabeth Bumiller, Time’s Richard Stengel, USA Today’s Susan Page, and NBC’s Mike Viqueira.

*** Friday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Craig Melvin, filling in for Tamron Hall, interviews the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet, Jimmy Williams, and Zachary Karabell.

*** Saturday’s and Sunday’s “Weekends with Alex Witt” line-up: As part of her weekly “Office Politics” series, MSNBC’s Alex Witt interviews NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman. Also, Witt interviews (on Saturday) former Gov. Gray Davis and (on Sunday) Ben Mezrich, who wrote the book on which the film “The Social Network” was based.

*** Saturday’s and Sunday’s “Melissa Harris-Perry” line-up: On Saturday, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry interviews, among others, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, Reason.com’s Nick Gillespie, and The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel. On Sunday, she interviews former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ) and the Boston Globe’s Glen Johnson.  

Romney’s up three points in a Mason-Dixon poll, 47%-44%. Obama has a six-point lead with women and a seven-point lead with those younger than 50. Romney leads big with men and those 50 and older, and has a six-point lead with independents. (The poll was commissioned by Ron Sachs Communications of Tallahassee to focus on social media.)

Charlie Cook says to pay attention to some voices in analyzing the 2012 presidential race, but not the masses.

National Journal compares Obama’s and Romney’s world views: “America’s destiny is to lead the world, Romney said, not be one of several equally balanced global powers, and fulfilling that destiny rests on restoring the United States’ military preeminence and resolutely confronting rivals. … Of course, the danger of such an assertive foreign policy is that it will remind American voters not of Ronald Reagan but of George W. Bush.”

In fact: “Many of the neoconservatives and hawks who held sway in Bush’s first term and championed the Iraq war, and who continue to argue for a more assertive American leadership that confronts adversaries militarily and actively supports democratic revolutions, have signed on to advise the Romney campaign. The election campaign will help determine whether that vision of a more unilateral, values-based foreign policy and a muscular brand of U.S. leadership still sells in a country wearied by a decade of war and years of economic upheaval.”

We hardly knew ye… “Their motto was: ‘Let’s Make History!’ They didn’t. After spending $35 million trying to launch a centrist, third-party presidential candidate, Americans Elect is giving up the quest—without a candidate,” the Wall Street Journal writes, adding, “Thursday, the group said it was throwing in the towel. ‘The primary process for the Americans Elect nomination has come to an end,’ the group said in a statement.