Transcripts For CNN The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20110915

sympathizers. we are investigating the bureau's training materials that may be making tensions with the muslim community much worse. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." one thing for republicans to say president obama's re-election campaign is in big trouble. another thing when a die-hard democratic insider like james carville says it. he has three words of advice today for the obama white house to try to salvage the party's chances of victory in 2012. those words, "fire, indict and fight." james carville is joining us now. james, you created quite a stir in this article you've written for cnn.com. let me read a couple of lines. among other things you say, "what should the white house do now? one word came to mind, panic. this is what i would say to president barack obama. the time has come to demand a plan of action that requires a complete change from the direction you are headed." what are you talking about? >> well, simply this. we lost two elections tuesday night. we lost 65 elections in november. it's sliding back. macroeconomics say there is 1/3 chance we are going into recession. you look how crazy the opposition party is cheering death. this is not working, not politically, economically or anything. bring in a new team and indicate to people you get it, they understand you were dealt a tough hand, but you keep playing the same hand over and over again. it's not working. >> you have two specific recommendations in your cnn.com article. fire somebody and indict people. let's talk about both. what do you mean fire somebody? who should be fired? >> when we lost all the seats in 1994, a lot of us got fired. i didn't have a consulting contract with the dnc. people, he made changes. that's what happens. that's what president reagan did in 1980. he fired john sears and other people in his campaign. he talks about lincoln. how many generals did lincoln fire? even rumsfeld lost his job. the republicans fired newt gingrich. when things are not going well, i'm sorry the coach, the manager, we are both sports fans, you've got to do something to try to change direction here. it looks like the same people doing the same thing over and over again. it's not working. what i said on cnn has been repeated to me by democrats all over the place. i feel guilty of plagiarism. many people like this president and want him to succeed feel. >> he is not going to fire himself or the vice president. he's got a new chief of staff. rahm emanuel is gone. who does he fire? >> he's got political advisors, cabinet members. i'm not privy on the inside to know. some people have got to go. it may be they've got to go unjustly or maybe they are doing the best they can under the circumstances. that doesn't matter. you've got to give people a signal out there that something's not working and you're trying something else. the president can't fire himself. he's not going to fire the vice president, but he's got to signal to people, i know what we are doing here is causing a lot of hardship. we keep losing elections and having the same people. >> you want to name names? >> i don't want to name names. for the simple reason is i'm not on the inside. i'm not privy to what's going on or who is giving what advice. something is not going right. >> what about timothy geithner, treasury secretary? he's been there from day one. >> certainly, you can't fire the fed chairman, but maybe there is a deputy secretary. i have no idea. that is not what i'm trying to say. i'm not trying to get into details. bill daley is a very good friend of mine, very nice guy. somebody, somewhere, more than somebody. i talked about the battle of stalingrad. they started shooting every tenth person. that is an extreme example. >> timothy geithner on the economic team has had a significant turnover over the past 2 1/2 years. >> people have left. i think the indication was that the policies would stay the same. turnover is one thing. he's got to stand up and say -- it's not just economic teams. it's other people, too. you have to show that you are displeased with the direction that things are going in. for whatever reason, the way do you that is you fire people. then everybody gets the message. >> what about indicting people? what do you mean by that he should start indicting people? >> we had the greatest -- we had a period of -- we are in a recession and now the experts are saying as a result of the overleverage, speculative, irresponsible nature of the american finance and housing industry, we are going to have no job growth for six years. somebody did something wrong here. i mean, this is not that hard to figure out. we have, i don't think we've been near aggressive enough. people around the country, they know barack obama didn't cause this. they are not blaming him for this. they know who caused this and they know what caused it. >> if you're going to indict someone, they've got to be doing something that's allegedly criminal, not just stupid. >> i'm not united states government. i'm not the attorney general. i'm not the united states attorney. i don't have the power to subpoena people. i don't have 100 wizard lawyers working in me. i'm not the securities and exchange commission. go watch charles ferguson movie "inside job." you're going to tell me somebody came in and wrecked an entire economy and no one is going to be held responsible for this? i don't buy that neither does anybody else. how would james carville deal with it? we have people in place that are able to investigate this and pursue these kinds of things. we haven't been very aggressive about this whole thing. people understand. look at the havoc that has been wreaked by this massive irresponsibility. it's unbelievable. >> james carville speaking his mind as he always does, this time more forcefully than usual. james, thanks very much. >> you bet. another strong shot of criticism aimed at the president today. this time from a more predictable source. we are talking about the house speaker john boehner. he gave an economic speech here in washington and drew a new line in the sand when it comes to tax hikes. let's bring in our congressional correspondent kate bolduan. >> coming one week to the day after president obama laid out his jobs plan, house speaker john boehner called the president's proposals a poor substitute. for the first time, he told the supercommittee what it should and should not take on. in his most detailed remarks yet, house speaker john boehner spelled out his prescription for the so-called supercommittee, tax reform. >> committee can develop principles for broad-based tax reform that will lower rates for individuals and corporations while closing deductions, credits and special carve-outs in our tax code. >> boehner called on the 12-member committee to tackle entitlement reform, laying the ground work for possible areas of compromise. just as quickly as he's done before, boehner ruled out any tax increases. >> tax increases, i think, are off the table. i don't think they are a viable option. tax increases destroy jobs. the joint committee is a jobs committee. >> a starting position that could prove challenging. house democratic leader nancy pelosi said as much shortly before boehner took to the podium. >> i don't think we should any of us go in there with any lines in the sand about taxes or entitlements. i think our only sacred cow has to be the creation of jobs for the american people. >>. >> reporter: with a target finding $1.5 trillion in deficit savings by thanksgiving to avoid across the board cuts, one democratic member warns everything, including revenue, must be in the mix. is it possible to hit the mark you all need to hit by taking tax increases off the table from the beginning? >> there is no doubt that the only way to get an overall solution to this problem is to take a balanced approach. every bipartisan group that's gotten together has taken a balanced approach where they say in order to reduce the deficit over a period of time, you've got to do a certain amount by cutting and look at the revenue side. >> in boehner's response to the president, while not offering a wide-ranging jobs plan of his own, he does set the stage and possibly the terms of debate for the ongoing battle between democrats, the white house and republicans for reducing the country's debt and creating jobs going forward. >> it's going to be a fascinating few weeks and months. thanks very much. a rogue trader cost a banking giant billions. how did it happen? stand by for that. and for my live interviews with republican presidential candidates mitt romney and john huntsman. starting my progresso soup for lunch plan, huh. nope, just having some tender chicken and some tasty noodles. let's see...south western vegetables...60 calories. ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? 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[ male announcer ] each of these photos was taken by someone on the first morning of their retirement. it's the first of more than 6,000 sunrises the average retiree will see. ♪ as we're living longer than ever before, prudential's challenge is to help everyone have the retirement income they'll need to enjoy every one of their days. ♪ prudential. bring your challenges. jack cafferty is here with "the fafrt file." >> here is what the president needs, another fire threatening to burn out of control. the democrat's loss this week could signal serious trouble to president obama and the jewish vote in 2012. congressional district number nine made up of parts of brooklyn and queens is probably the most jewish district in the country. certainly one of them. many think if the democrats lost there then president obama could be in trouble in key states like florida, ohio and pennsylvania. you cannot win the white house without those states. the problem is a lot of american jews feel neglected by this president and think he's been too tough on israel. in the new york race former mayor ed koch, quintessential new yorker, jewish democrat endorsed the republican. he cited israel as the main reason why. he said he likes this president, helped get him elected, but "obama threw israel under the bus." a recent poll shows other issues that trouble many voters, things like the economy, social security, medicare, are more important than israel among jewish voters. republicans smell blood in the water, they are likely to make this a wedge issue in the campaign next year. back in 1980, jimmy carter was the last democratic candidate to not get an overwhelming majority of the jewish vote. all mr. obama needs is another comparison to jimmy carter. president obama's approval rating currently is about 60% among jews nationally. in 2008, exit polls show nearly 80% of jews voted for him. this makes jews just another group to start deserting the president. he's lost support among other key voting blocks, blacks, women and independents. how can president obama save the jewish vote? go to cnn.com/cafferty file, post comment on my blog or go to our post on the situation room facebook page. >> i'm anxious to read what our viewers think. the gop is split right down the middle when it come to the blossoming tea party movement. according to the survey, 49% of those who lean republican neither support the movement or are active members. 51% feel indifferent or oppose it all together. the poll shows that demographically, tea party republicans are more likely to be male, older and college educated than their nontea party counterparts. i write about this on my blog today. the swiss banking giant ubs suffering what could be an unprecedented multibillion dollar loss at the hands of a rogue trader. we'll tell what you happened. plus, two people are dead, several others injured in a raging cruise ship fire. ♪ there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder to help neutralize odors in multiple-cat homes. and our improved formula also helps eliminate dust. so it's easier than ever to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. >>. >> we are getting news of another strike of what u.s. officials are calling a series of major blows against al qaeda. what's the latest? >> u.s. officials are reporting al qaeda's chief of operations in pakistan has been killed in the northwest tribal region. he's said to have helped coordinate anti-american plots in the region and worked closely with pakistani operatives to carry out attacks. he may have been a possible successor to al qaeda's skekd in command who was killed last month. firefighters and other crews are struggling to stabilize a norwegian cruise ship after a fire in the engine room killed two crew members. the fire is under control, but the ship is said to be taking on water. two other members were seriously burned. all 207 passengers have been evacuated. the ship was operating on a popular route along norway's coast. despite a judge's order telling striking teachers to return to work in takoma, washington, many teachers there are returning to the picket line instead. the school district canceled classes when many teachers failed to show up this morning. the judge says the strike must end because it's harming students. an attorney for the union says missed class time can be made up later. a man is in police custody after the ubs reported he cost the company an estimated $2 billion with unauthorized trades. that would be the third largest rogue trading loss in banking history. experts say the bank is big enough to take the hit, but ubs shares closed down around 10% in u.s. trading. $2 billion. that's quite a sum of money. >> it's billions, thanks very much for that. republican john huntsman says his opponent said scary things during our cnn tea party presidential debate monday. i'll ask if he is willing to take sides. critics fear the fbi training of counterterrorism agents may be increasing the terror threat. ♪ [ dr. ling ] i need to get the results from the m.r.i. see if the blood work is ready. review ms. cooper's history. and i want to see katie before she goes home. 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[ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? ♪ [ male announcer ] what is the future of fuel? the debate is over. ♪ lexus hybrid drive technology is designed to optimize any fuel source on the planet. even those we don't use yet. because when you pursue perfection, you don't just engineer a future-proof hybrid system. you engineer amazing. ♪ the tragedy of september 11 united our country. this year, as we open the 9/11 memorial in new york city, we ask that you join us to honor, remember, and reunite. to learn more or to reserve your visit, go to 911memorial.org. i'm wolf blitzer. here are some of the stories we are working on. he's battling to reclaim the top spot in the republican race for the white house. stand by for my live indepth interview with the former massachusetts governor mitt romney in the next hour. a marine with a surprise medal of honor ahead. disturbing fallout from the deadly fire fight that earned him the decoration. a technology giant with ties to the white house with controversy over a service that could interfere with essential gps services around the country. right now, republican john huntsman is in new hampshire, a state that is certainly critical to his presidential campaign strategy. the former u.s. ambassador to china, former utah governor has his work cut out for him trying to make inroads with voters. the former ambassador is joining live from manchester. thanks for coming in. >> greetings, wolf. >> let's talk about social security first. if you were president, how would you make sure that our children and grandchildren would continue to get social security? >> well, i'd begin with a conversation like i had with a large group of seniors today in exeter. that is not to scare them with language that tends to turn off voters, but rather put forward ideas like the idea that we can look at the underlying assumptions for inflation and peg it more for the consumer price index like the idea that we can take social security now that we are living three decades longer than somebody born in 1900, and maybe take it out to the 85th percentile of the average length of life. there would be people who don't need social security and they would probably applaud if a politician said let's draw a line in the sand where people don't need it. they can afford to do otherwise. let's begin fixing the numbers to secure it for future generations. the fixes are there. we don't have the political leadership to move us forward. >> those are courageous positions you're taking. the cost of living, in effect that means less money for retirees. right? >> that's correct. >> on the issue of means testing, people pay into social security all their lives. if you earn a certain income, you wouldn't necessarily get social security. where would that cut-off point be? >> we'd have to work out those details. i would be willing to ha that conversation with the american people. you can find the cut-off and it would be in the spirit of shared sacrifice. everyone has to recognize that given entitlements, where they are today, given the fact this economy is sucking wind, we have no choice. people have to stand up and hear the president say it's going to require shared sacrifice. we haven't started that conversation, but i believe part of it will be exactly what i outlined in broad strokes here. >> from 65 to 67, what age would be a good age, not necessarily for the current retirees, but for ten years down the road, 70? is that what you want to raise the age to? >> let's say we are living long were each passing year and benefits of science and health, all a very good thing. let's face it to the 85% percentile of the average length of life. that would be a good place to start this conversation. >> another sensitive issue came up during the debate we had monday night in tampa. the hpv vaccine that in texas the governor by executive order, rick perry, mandated that 11 and 12-year-old girls get this vaccine. it's to deal with sexually transmitted disease that could lead to cervical cancer. michele bachmann was critical of him on this. who is right, rick perry or michele bachmann? >> let me say whoever comes down against mandates, i think, is on the side of where the american public are. parents and guardians can make choices. mandates do not have a role predominantly in these kinds of issues, whether it's health care reform or whether it's what we are discussing here. american people are very skeptical of mandates in society. they want freedom. they want the freedom to choose these things. i think rick came out courageously said he erred and took back that earlier decision he made. >> he said he erred in the sense he did it by executive order. he should have gone to the legislator. he yesterday said we should have had an opt-in instead of an opt-out. are you with him on the opt-in as opposed to the opt-out? you would get that vaccine if parents want the little girl to get the vaccine, but wouldn't get it if the parents don't want you to get it? >> i think parents ultimately ought to drive that decision. i think the broader issue is we've got to take our dialogue beyond simply the day-to-day drama and into the bigger issues we face. our place in the world, our role in afghanistan and iraq. what we are going to do structurally to get this economy back on track. these are the big issues of the day. i believe the american people are crying out for a real dialogue and a discussion around them. >> i want to get to those issues. one final question, michele bachmann says she spoke to someone, a woman who told her that her daughter became mentally retarded after getting that hpv vaccine. a lot of scientists, almost everyone saying that was totally irresponsible, no evidence for that. what do you make of that? >> if you're going to say something, check your sources, get your information right. if you're going to run for president of the united states, people are pretty much going to want to rely on your facts. they are going to rely on what you're presenting. you darn well better make sure it's consistent with reality. >> is she qualified to be president of the united states? >> i think she meets the constitutional requirements, of course. >> constitution is one thing. in terms of her experience, her expertise, her knowledge, is she ready to become commander in chief? >> i would never go beyond what the constitution requires. leave that up to the people to decide. they always typically make the best choices. >> another sensitive issue, immigration. 12 million illegal immigrants here in the united states. in texas, governor perry did support in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants going to state universities. are you with him on that? >> i am with rick on that. i supported the same kind of legislation in our state of utah. i don't want to punish young kids for the sins of their parents. in many senses, young kids were dragged across a border with no say over their destiny. i'm not prepared to have a two-tiered bifurcated society. i want to make sure we fix the system whereby we are able to grant citizenship. that is broken and has been broken for years. when i ran an embassy in southeast asia, it was 1 1/2 years to get citizenship. today it's 12. the reality of 12 million people living in the shadows, we cannot create a bifurcated society among the young kids. if they earn their way into a local university, i was willing to say, let's give them the opportunity to succeed. >> assuming the border is secure, what would you do for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the united states right now as far as a pathway towards citizenship is concerned? >> i would deal with it humanely and i would deal with it pragmatically. you can't round people up and can't wish them away. you can wisk away the violent criminals and drug dealers. you can wish them away. the others we need to bring out of the shadows and establish some systemic approach with backs taxes. english is our primary language. whatever fee or penalty or fine has to be paid. we have to begin to make this system work because it is broken. it resulted in a lot of very passionate conversations in our country dividing people and dividing families at a time where we need solutions. we need a department of homeland security that can fix the system. beyond that, we need to remember that immigration and legal immigration has always served this nation extremely well. we are going to need to rely on that again in the future. the infusion of brain power, infusion of capital, the infusion of energy that we are able to assimilate and have from the very beginning is one of our nation's greatest attributes. >> i want to pinpoint your position on afghanistan. it's costing the u.s. taxpayers about $6 billion a week to maintain 100,000 troops in afghanistan, try to develop and secure that country. it's going to go on for a while. if you were president, what would you do specifically? i know you want to withdraw a lot of forces, but how quickly would you do it? >> as quickly as you could do it in a safe and systemic fashion. realizing full well we still have a job to do there, wolf. that is collecting intelligence. that is a special forces need on the ground to take after the terrorists as we see our very brave folks do on a daily basis. some element that would be left behind to train the afghan military. that's not 100,000. that's well south of there. we've got to realize this is an asm asymmetrical threat. it requires intelligence and special forces responses. beyond that, let's begin to review our real national security needs internationally and building around that. i believe our real national security needs will be first and foremost international economic policy, free trade agreements that will play back to creating jobs here at home. and second, counterterrorism. our relationship with israel and india will be extremely important going forward. >> you think those 100,000 troops if you were president today you could get them out six months, a year? >> soon as we could do it safely, and soon as we could do it in a way consistent with. best advice i could get from the generals on the ground, realizing full well many would be of differing opinions and as president, you're also the commander in chief. you can't always defer to them for all the decisions. you have to make some of them at the end of the day. the american people feel increasingly passionate about this. we have given our all in afghanistan. a lot of families have given the ultimate sacrifice. to them we offer a salute and heart-felt sense of gratitude. the time has come after ten years to restructure our presence in afghanistan and make sure we are prepared for the future and not the past. >> one final question before i let you go, our most recent cnn/orc poll came out before the most recent debate and had you almost at the bottom with michele bachmann at 4%, huntsman 2%. why aren't you resonating with republican voters nationwide right now? >> i believe we will resonate with all voters, many independent, a whole lot republican, some the old reagan democrats. we are beginning the process of introducing ourself to the american people. the it's slow and arduous. we've been after this a couple of months. when they hear what we have to talk about, they think about it and say that is a common sense conversation this candidate is willing to have with the american people. above all, he wants to bring this country together. what people feel pains the most is the fact we are divided in an unprecedented fashion. it's an unnatural place for us to be. i'll continue to take these messages out to people in new hampshire. that's where this begins. from what than can tell, anecdotal evidence on the street, it's i catching on. >> governor huntsman good luck. >> thank you, wolf. i appreciate it. >> thank you, governor huntsman. former governor of utah, former ambassador to china. stand by for my interview with another republican contender, mitt romney. i'll ask him about rick perry's political problems and his own political problems. we have viewer questions posted on facebook. an advocate for the muslim community is warning fbi training materials are promoting "bigotry of the worst sort." we believe honor is not exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. is to take you from where you are... to where you need to be. and we're not just talking about points on a map. with a more intuitive delta website and mobile app... and the most wifi equipped planes. we let you be everywhere at once. innovations like these are extending our reach so you can extend yours. and now, even at 30,000 feet you can still touch the ground. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. new criticism that the fbi is playing into al qaeda's hands. at issue, training materials for counterterrorism agents that portray mainstream muslims as anything but mainstream. brian todd is investigating this for us. >> serious brushback from the american muslim community to this. the fbi says this was a one-time training session conducted several months ago. that it doesn't reflect the views of the bureau. this presentation depicting mainstream muslims as prone to violence was written by an fbi analyst. the implications are troublesome to muslim leaders. in the often-tense relationship between the muslim community and the u.s. and law enforcement, another potential problem. fallout over an fbi training presentation which claimed that mainstream muslims sympathize with militants. wired magazine says it obtained slide presentations from fbi whistle-blowers, shown at the training facility in quantico, virginia. it says the prophet muhammed ordered the assassinations and execution of his critics. that islam's world view is that there can be no peace between islam and others until islam conquers and assimilates its adversa adversaries. james zogby calls the cult reference horrific. says muhammed didn't order his opponents to be killed. then he says the strategic themes animating these islamic values are not fringe, they are mainstream. what do you make of that? >> again, i say this is the propaganda of the islamaphobes. they want to paint an entire community, entire faith community as extremists and radical and violent and prone to violence. it's bigotry of the worst sort. >> reporter: contacted by cnn, the fbi wouldn't comment on that and would not allow us to speak to the analyst who wrote that presentation. an fbi spokesman acknowledged that training session took place, but says that was six months ago, one time only and was quickly discontinued. policy change s are under way ad that instructor no longer provides training for the fbi. the instructor is still an fbi analyst. since september 11th, the fbi often invited muslim leaders to talk with agents. >> true or false, all arabs or muslims and all muslims are arab. >> false. >> reporter: i asked former fbi assistant director tom fuentes if they would believe any points in that presentation? >> they don't believe it. they believe strenuously in a strong outreach program. >> reporter: fuentes says the publicizing of this training segment could play into al qaeda's hands for propaganda and could inhibit the ability to get the american muslim community to help in the investigation. hopefully the fact that the fbi act soed quickly to terminate that program may give the bureau more credibility with muslim leaders. >> has that fbi analyst been disciplined at all? >> we specifically asked the fbi spokesman will he be disciplined? he says they don't comment. we know he is still working at the bureau. >> but that whole program is done with? >> six months ago, one time they pulled it. >> thanks very much. more potential trouble in the middle east for president obama. details on a possible showdown rooming next week at the united nations. >> the state department issues an urgent warning to all american citizens who are in syria right now. [ male announcer ] we went to germany's nurburgring to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. the cts-v, from cadillac. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. let's get right to our strategy session. joining us our political contributor, the democratic strategist donna brazil and joining us cnn.com contributor former bush speech writer, david frahm. thanks very much. did you read james carville? we spoke to him earlier this hour. did you hear what he had to say to the white house? panic. start firing people. start indicting people. do something. >> he's fired up. the saints play the bears this weekend and he's probably having an extra dose of tobasco. james is right. we should fire the republicans. >> he didn't say fire republicans, fire democrats. >> i'm adding to what he said. i understand how strongly he feels about this. i think democrats are fired up and ready to go. they want to fire the republicans for not helping the president passing this jobs bill. they want to indict those who would rather sit back and watch the country continue to have this dismal employment rate. so i think james is absolutely right. we've got to fire up the base, get ready to fight the republicans. we've got to stand by the president with this jobs plan. >> it's not just james carville, but bill burton, former white house deputy press secretary in the obama administration, fellow buffa buffalonian, by the way. democrats should be very nervous. they need to put on war paint and get ready for what will be a difficult battle. unless they engage and >> look, i respect james carville, he's run a national campaign, i certainly haven't. the democratic white house didn't going to take advice from me. that said, it's not very good -- >> james carville advice. >> to panic? >> that's never good. second, look, i don't want to break it to people working the white house but you're not that important to the re-election of the president. firing them is sort of a waste of time. the thing that this president needs to if he wants to get re-elected, one, produce signs of positive recovery. at this late date that means monetary action from the authorities of the federal reserve. if he can aspire that, that's the most important thing he can do. picking fights with business, i think that's not going to make a lot of sense for him because what he needs now to do, i'm sorry to say, is to raise big boatload of money from business to a negative advertising he needs republicans. the his main hope if he doesn't get recovery to wage a very ugly campaign of personal attack and that's expensive. >> james says don't only panic, indict people, meaning in the big business community that he blame for this economic disaster, this economic situation in the united states. you know, as you know, fairly or unfairly, the president's accused by some on wall street as being anti-business to begin with. you think james is right when he says go indict some of the people who he blames for creating this mess? >> there's a lot of people who would like to see folks on wall street serve time for the mess that they created. on other hand the president's trying to get the united states chamber of commerce, he's trying to bring people to find jobs to get the public sector, the private sector, to work together to create jobs for the american people. that's what matters now. >> i'd like to see a robust attitude toward the legal system and the executive branch. you don't indictment people to react sell rate the president. the president's fate is already set. it's a product of economic decisions he made in 2009 and 2010. if he loses, people will say the reason he lost not because he didn't take james carville's advice but because string of 2010, when his stimulus wasn't working the way he promised it would, he did very little for seven or eight months until the end of 2010, that's the moment he got into enduring trouble. >> if you listen to republicans you believe everything's gloomy. if you look at what others have said, the stimulus did help to stop the economic crisis and to create to save over 2 million jobs. >> look it up, recovery stalled in the spring of 2010. probably because that's when the federal reserve dialed back its monetary stimulus until the end of 2010. and the president at that point, he didn't do anything. to do something he'd have to admit the old plan wasn't sufficiently working, and that would have meant admitting error to do something new and he wasn't ready to do it because he wanted to go in november 2010 and say it worked and it didn't work. >> very quickly, i know you've been watching this a vote in the united nations general assembly that's coming up that would declare a palestinian state. what should the president of the united states do when it comes to that resolution? >> that starts a war process. that's the first step toward further delegitimatation of israel. he should make it clear to every country in the u.n., including the palestinian authority, this is going to be very expensive to you in every way the united states can make it expensive. >> a direct warning, is that a good idea? >> he should veto it, stand with israel and he should encourage the palestinians and israelis to sit side by side, across from each other, secretary clin has dispatched david hale and david ross to the region. i was in the region this summer, wolf, i can tell you, i sat down with the prime minister on many occasions. >> of israel? >> right. he's ready to negotiate with the palestinians. it's time to negotiate. we don't need any more gimmicks. >> we'll see what happens. i'll be reporting from new york all week. thanks very much. looking into a new technology that might disrupt gps systems that many americans and the u.s. military sorely depend on. did the white house push to get a green light for it because a big democratic contributor was involved? stand by. new information coming into "the situation room" right now. a high honor for a u.s. marine, but the firefight that made him a hero revealed serious failures within the u.s. military. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain. then i tried salonpas. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. salonpas. 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[ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪ jack's back with the cafferty file. >> the question, how can president obama save the jewish vote? that surprising victory by a republican in a congressional seat out in brook len here in the new york area that's been democratic since 1923, got their attention at the white house. dee writes, jewish people want israel to bully the other middle eastern countries and expect the u.s. to back them the entire time. i think that president obama's calling them out on this behavior and now the jewish people are upset. therefore i don't think president obama can save the jewish vote. richard writes from pennsylvania, jack, why are you only mentioning one specific group that's lost faith in obama? many of us italians think he's dropped the ball once too often and doesn't deserve a second time. mike in sacramento, i don't know that he needs to really. israel isn't a part of the u.s. other than strategic. with the arab spring and growing support for a palestinian state, israel could become a more of a problem than a help. the gop might be too conservative for the jews, especially when you throw in the evangelical element into the mix. dee writes, probably nothing short of building a house on the west bank. where's the united gone in the united states? to many factions pushing agendas in the country. apparently we can no longer please some of the people some of the time. scott in oakland, california, send more money to israel from social security and medicare accounts and veto palestinians' bid for independence in the united nations. joe on facebook, create jobs, reduce the national debt, deficit, reform entitlements. those are thing his needs to do save the american vote. they doesn't save the american vote, night going to matter what happens with the jewish vote. david in nashville, tennessee if he starts wearing a black wide brimmed had hat or yamika, i'm out of here. go to cnn.com/caffertyfile or through our post on "the situation room"'s facebook page. >> the president will be in new york for the united nations general assembly, with a lot of other world leaders, jack. i'm anchoring from new york as well. any words of advice for those of us coming? >> yeah, just try to, you know, not jam up my traffic on my route home to new jersey, will you? >> you know what? you're going to be with a lot of traffic jams in manhattan whenever the president and other world leaders are there. we'll do the best we can. >> we'll look forward to seeing you. >> thanks, jack. see you in a few minutes. you're in "the situation room." happening now, republican presidential candidate mitt romney standing by to join us live to talk this hour about his rivalry with rick perry, talk about health care reform, the tea party movement, a whole lot more. my interview with mitt romney coming up. and rick perry is on the cover of the new issue of "time" magazine. the managing editor is here to take us inside their in-depth interview with the texas governor. and the command failures that put a group of marines in a life or death situation and ultimately led to one of them being awarded the medal of honor. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. breaking news, political headlines and jeanne moos straight ahead. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." a proposed, new broadband network sparking stiff opposition and controversy. there's deep concern it could lead to a communications breakdown, interfering with everything from aviation to the u.s. military, as well as some serious new questions about whether political contributions helped pave the way for the company to proceed. we're getting new information, lisa sylvester's been investigating this story for us. lisa, what is going on? n. this particular case. >> lightsquared is a company, many may not have heard of before, but the company wants to create a whole new broadband network. billions are on the line here for the company. their proposal hasn't been given a complete green light but it hasn't been killed either. one watch dog group says the company's influence in washington may have played a role. >> drive one -- >> reporter: gps is used to help math map your destination, used in commercial aviation and by the military to guide missiles. because of gps, a company called lightsquared is at the center of a controversy. the federal communications commission granted conditional, preliminary approval for the company to set up a new national broadband network in rural and underserved areas. the problem is, lightsquared services interfere with gps signals. the military says, if the company is given the complete go ahead it would have a detrimental impact on military training. >> the lightsquared network would effectively jam vital gps receivers and to our knowledge, thus far, there are no mitigation opposites that would be effective. >> reporter: that's why the commercial and defense sectors are heavily opposing the fcc's decision. lightsquared says, it's working on alternatives but it is also heavily lobbying the government. the company's ceo gave $30,000 each to the democratic national committee and the national republican congressional committee between september and october of 2010. new york hedge fund managers phillip falcone, principal investor in lightsquared, has given tens of thousands of dollars to help elect lawmakers. also, a lightsquared representative reached out by e-mail to the white house chief technology officer september 23, 2010. that's the same day the ceo made the contribution to the dnc, saying i touched base with my client and he expressed an from in meeting with you. he's going to be in dc next week for a fund-raising dinner with the president. the center for public integrity, a nonpart zant watchdog group says e-mails obtained show a rare glimpse of washington's inner workings. >> the average joe out there in long island or nebraska or san diego doesn't have $30,000 to knock on the white house door and get access to the science and technology office. just doesn't happen. you have to be rich. you have to be powerful. you have to have lobbyists here in washington like lightsquared. >> reporter: the fcc pushed back. it asked for additional testing from lightsquared before giving final approval to the company's network. >> the commission will not authorize lightsquared to begin commercial service if its operation would cause harmful interference to gps. >> reporter: we reached out to lightsquared, but they would not comment on the record. but the company has said that its new wireless service would provide 15,000 jobs over 5 years. lightsquared is now hoping as a compromise that it will be allowed to operate in lower fcc spectrum, not adjacent to the gps spectrum. another option would be using some kind of a filter on high-precision gps systems. but the general testified neither of those are suffixes for the military. for the approval process, the white house says that the fcc is an independent agency, that they make their own decisions and they stay out of it. >> what pay story. thanks very much. you'll continue working the story for us. it's been just over a month since he jumped in, talking about the texas governor, rick perry. he certainly has shaken up the republican race for the white house quickly moving to the front of the pack. part of the reason he's on the cover of the brand new issue of "time" magazine. our corporate cousin. let's bring in the managing editor, rick stengle "the rise of rick perry" the governor, the front-runner, a line from the main article, he has executive experience like romney, talks as tough as bachmann, and can be almost as prickly in his individualism as libertarian iconoclast ron paul. he knows how to win. talk a little bit about rick perry and his -- he's never lost a race in his life, has he? >> no, he has never lost a race. he's an enormous political talent. one of the things you see up there on the stage with other republicans, is that he's very comfortable in his own skin. he knows who he is. he's got a little bit of a swagger. he doesn't feel like he has to mold his views to one way or another. it was karl rove, many years ago who saw the political tal nen rick perry when he was a democrat. and so he has a pretty good pedigree that way. >> is he the biggest threat among the republicans to president obama's re-election? >> i don't know the answer to that. there have been recent polls comparing him to romney. there are those who say, of course, that because he is so different from romney and so different from obama, that it's a true kind of clash of people who have a very different idea about government and the role of government in our society. and in that sense, it's a clash between two people who represent very different ideas that the electorate may have. and that would make it interesting. >> let me read another line. perry is in some ways a chamele chameleon, a shape-shifting political an hal who can be for smaller government and bigger highways, against illegal immigrants and for assimilation of their children. claiming to be an anti-washington maverick he's tapped federal programs including 2009 stimulus to float his state through hard times. he took some positions at that republican debate we did earlier in the week that angered some of the tea party activists in the audience. >> he did. and he wasn't afraid to anger them. and we talked to him about that when we interviewed him a couple of days ago. and he said, look, i'm not -- i'm not out there to please different constituencies. i know i'm going to alienate people, including the tea party. and one of the things you said him about being a chameleon, governors are -- tend to be nonideological, they have to build highway, they have to take money from the federal government. so with governors you can look at all the constellation of thgs they have done and find things that don't fit some particular ideological scrim but that's what makes him interesting. >> i want to talk about it, listen to this -- >> there may be someone who is an established republican who circulates in the cocktail circuit that would find some of my rhetoric to be inflammatory or what have you, but i'm really taking to the american citizen out there. i think the american citizens are just tired of all of this, you know, political correctness and politicians who are tiptoeing around important issues -- they want a decisive leader. >> did you get the impression, and you knew the context of that clip -- was that a thinly veiled reference to mitt romney? >> you know, it's funny. i didn't think of it that way, wolf. i think he was saying that people always know where he stands. i guess in a way he's saying obliquely, you might not know where my opponents stand or where mitt romney stands. but the question actually, an interesting answer, the question was, are there folks in the republican party establishment, governor, who feel that you shouldn't be the candidate and are flocking to others. basically he was saying there is no republican party establishment anymore. it's just the people who support republican ideas and the tea party. so, he's -- he's a -- he's a rebel from any conventional look at the republican party. >> rick stengel, managing editor of "time." thanks for coming in. jack cafferty has the cafferty file. >> you probably already suspected this, but just in case, s.a.t. reading scores for high school seniors this year are the lowest they've been in almost 40 years. the college board a nonpartisan group that administers the test reports that s.a.t. scores are down in every subject, dropping three points in reading, one point in math, two points in writing. overall-the combined score of 1500 was down 6 points from last year, down 18 points from 5 years ago. the college board says scores are lower due to the growing diversity of students taking the test. in 2011, 44% of test takers were minorities, 36% were the first in their family to go to college, and 27% didn't speak english exclusively. the test administrators say more students than ever are taking the s.a.t., which includes more students from different ethnic, economic, and academic backgrounds. meanwhile, these disappointing s.a.t. scores come as schools have been working to raise scores on standardized tests under the no child left behind law. sounds to me like a lot of children are getting left behind. experts acknowledge that we should be worried about this. they suggest that high schools need more rigorous classes in order to prepare students for college. gee, there's a concept. others suggest that educators have been putting more focus on math and science in this age of technology and not as much on reading and writing. without reading and writing how in the world will the next generation of americans be able to communicate and lead this country out of the serious myriad problems we've got. here's the question, then. where's the united states headed if s.a.t. reading scores are at their lowest point in almost 40 years? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on the blog or go to the post on "the situation room" facebook page. probably more kids know how to text than read. >> a lot of spelling mistake in the texts new york doubt about that. thank you, jack cafferty will be back. he ran unsuccessfully for president of the united states in 2008. what lessons did mitt romney learn that he's applying now to his 2012 campaign? he's standing by live. he's here in "the situation room." i'll ask him that, a whole lot more when he joins me this hour. the first living u.s. ma lean to receive the medal of honor for heroism in afghanistan. details of the battle that he calls the worst day of his life. an airline's job, is to take you from where you are... to where you need to be. and we're not just talking about points on a map. with a more intuitive delta website and mobile app... and the most wifi equipped planes. we let you be everywhere at once. innovations like these are extending our reach so you can extend yours. and now, even at 30,000 feet you can still touch the ground. you know what,ell me, what makes peterpeter ? 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>> reporter: well, wolf, courage and valor on the part of this young marine, shocking lack of awareness on the part of his superiors. >> sergeant dakota meyer, we see the best of a generation. >> i didn't do anything that any other marine wouldn't do or i would hope any other marine wouldn't do. i didn't -- i didn't -- i don't see myself as a hero. >> reporter: the president disagrees. >> because of your honor, 36 men are alive today. >> reporter: dakota meyer was just 21 in september 2009 when his unit, along with an army team and afghan troops, moved into a village in eastern afghanistan to meet with elders. the village lights go out, it was an ambush. what happened next is a six-hour firefight that made meyer a hero. but as this highly critical army investigation found, senior officials were complacent, lacked awareness of the battle, and failed at all almost every level. >> it's a bad day, you know? to describe it, probably the worst day of my life. not probably, it is the worst day of my life. >> reporter: one marine radios, we are going to die out here. commanders denied request for extra firepower, helicopters and backup troops. artillery was scrambled at within point about according to the investigation, the decision was overruled by higher echelons. four times headquarters denies myers' request to run and help. finally, he disobeys orders and gets in a humvee with another marine, meyer enters the kill zone five times. >> i was applying aid to as many of them as i could. we were under heavy fire the entire time. i know i applied quite a few tourniquets to stop the bleeding on a few guys. >> reporter: meyer saves 13 u.s. marines and soldiers and kills eight taliban. >> it took well beyond the specified amount of time for a quick reaction force to be on the spot to provide assistance. that entire mechanism broke down. >> reporter: three officers were reprimanded, the scathing report found the actions of key leaders at the battalion level were inadequate and ineffective. the report also ripped apart the poor performance of commissioned officers who were present. the team even got bad intelligence from their superiors going into the village. they faced five times as many insurgents as they were told to expect. none of this, of course, takes away anything from the extraordinary courage of this young marine and the men he fought with on that day. wolf? >> we salute and praise this marine as you do and everyone else does as well. thanks very, very much. amid the praise for sergeant meyer president obama shared this humerus story about him. >> despite all of this i have to say dakota is one of most down to earth guys you will ever meet. in fact when my staff first tried to arrange the phone call i could tell him i approved the medal dakota was at work on a new civilian job. he felt he couldn't take the call because he said if i don't work, i don't get paid. so we arranged to make sure he got the call during his lunch break. i told him the news and he went right back to work. that's the kind of guy he is. he also asked to have a beer with me, which we were able to execute yesterday. dakota's the kind of guy who gets the job done, and i do appreciate you taking my call. >> got to have a little sense of humor in this kind of situation. thanks very much for that. mitt romney certainly a very vocal critic of the white house's approach to the unemployment crisis that's ongoing. just ahead, i'll speak live with him, i'll ask him about a key part of the president's jobs plan, what he would do differently. lots of questions for mitt romney, standing by live. look at all this stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it, though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. mitt romney was among the earliest conditions to begin laying the groundwork for the 2012 presidential campaign and he enjoyed front-runner status until the texas governor, rick perry, jumped in last month. the former massachusetts governor is joining us now live from los angeles. governor, thanks very much for coming in. >> thanks, wolf. good to be with you. >> good to have you back here in the situation room. start with issue number one, the economy, jobs, jobs, jobs, as we like to say. president obama's jobs bill, he wants to create jobs in part by investing lots of money in infrastructure development. are you with him on that? >> well, infrastructure enhancement in this country is a positive way to long-term improve the job prospects in america. but, look, a stimulus approach has not worked. the idea of item by item looking for a quick solution, throwing gasoline on the fire, that hasn't worked. the first stimulus of almost $800 billion didn't create private sector jobs. this stimulus won't work. it's not going to get passed. the president needs to put aside stimulus plans and instead work to restructure the foundation of america's economy, to make america the most attractive place to invest long term, not just over the section six weeks, but over the next 60 years. >> because four years ago, we did some checking on infrastructure, and i'm going play a clip of what you said back on january 30th, 2008, during one of the cnn republican debates on the issue of infrastructure and jobs. >> there's no question but to investment in infrastructure makes enormous sense for our country. it's good for business. it's good for the economy. and as the governor that watched the completion, well almost the completion of the big dig i think that was i don't know how many governors watched that $15 billion project, they create a lot of good jobs and they help our economy, they're great things. >> what's the difference between what you have in mind and what the president has in mind when he talks a lot about infrastructure and jobs? >> well, i said the same thing a moment ago, which is that infrastructure is good for jobs and for the foundation of our economy, but it's not a short-term, quick fix put in a few million dollars or a few billion dollars. this is the kind of project that's going to have to be part of a very comprehensive effort to restructure our infrastructure in america and that's going to require a new financing setting. we have to look to see whether we use toll roads public/private partnerships. we have choke points across the country that are affecting commerce. infrastructure plan is going be needed. but to suggest that spending a few tens of billions of dollars is a stimulus plan is going to get america back to work is just silly. that's just not the case. the president needs to sit down and look at a major rehaul of our entire economic foundation. i don't think he has in within him. i think he's gone from stimulus to stimulus. what we have to do is restructure our corporate tax rates, regulatory structure, energy policies, trade policies, our labor policies and he's got all of those wrong. >> the front-runner, rick perry, according to a lot of the polls, spoke to "time" magazine. i'll play it for you and then we'll discuss. listen to rick perry. >> i still believe they are socialist. i mean, their policies prove that almost daily. i mean, look, when all the answers emanate from washington, d.c., one size fits all, whether it's education policy or whether it's health care policy, that is, on its face, socialism. >> talking about the obama administration's poll. you agree with him? >> well, you know, words have a lot of unintended meanings and calling people socialists probably goes onthe fact that it is true that president obama's team and the president himself seem to believe that government has a bet ar approach to our economy than the private sector and i disagree with that approach. i believe we have to have a government that's a partner, that is encouraging the private sector, encouraging freedom, encouraging free people. what they've done is add regulation, taxation, burden. s to the free enterpriseso syst which makes us more european. european isn't working in europe. europe isn't going to work in this country. i don't use the word socialist or i haven't so far but i do agree the president's approach is government heavy, government intensetiive and not working. >> you use the word more european -- >> government heavy, washington heavy, a nation which is free and dependent upon free enterprise as ours is doesn't need washington telling businesses how to do every aspect of their business, how people can get their education, how they can get their health care. look, government is playing too heavy handed a role in america today and people want to see the government pulled back, as it should be, and allow free american people to pursue their own path in life rather than having the government dictate that for them. >> you stand by the health care reform you passed you got enacted when you were the governor of massachusetts and you differentiate between who what you did in massachusetts as opposed to what president obama did on a national scale. some other news organizations have done some research, and i'll give you a chance to respond to this. they have taken a look at your book, the book "no apology" the hard cover version in that book you wrote, it's portable, affordable health insurance, something people have been talking about for decades. referring to your plan. we can accomplish the same thing for everyone in the country, and it can be done without letting government take over health care. now in the paperback recent version, it was changed to say, it's portable, affordable health insurance -- something people have been talking about for decades. and it was done without government taking over health care. the line twwe can accomplish th same thing for everyone in the country was taken out. explain why. >> wolf, we updated the book because it came out almost a year after the first book and of course the president's plan was then put in place. i was in asked when we put our plan together, is the plan in massachusetts something that if you are president, you'd have the entire country adopt? and i said no. i said that very clear le. i've said it throughout 2008. the massachusetts plan was crafted for massachusetts, for the needs of 8% of the population that didn't have insurance, not for the 92% that did. obama care is a plan that catak over 100% of the people in the country and their health care and that's one of the reasons why people don't want it. so our plan was a model for other states to copy, some states have copied part of it others say no way, they'll do something else, it's their right. but it's no a plan to have a one size fits all approach, i said that from the beginning, continue to say it. it works pretty well in massachusetts but there's flaws in it, i'd like to see them changed. >> you remember the exchange at the debate with ron paul when i asked about the hypothetical 30-year-old who has a good job, healthy, makes a good living but decides he doesn't want to buy health insurance, he wants to do something else with that money but he gets into some sort of accident and needs life support for six months, costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. what do you do with -- who pays for that kind of care? you heard the exchange i had with ron paul. but what do you say? >> well, as you know what i say states have a responsibility for caring for their own poor, this should not be a federal responsibility, and there are two ways that states have traditionally done that. one give out free care at hospitals and that gets paid for either by other insured individuals or taxpayers. in my state it was paid for by taxpayers. or you can have inferior care given to people in which case their live or health may be in jeopardy. we said we'll insist on people taking personal responsibility. we're not going have people dying or have health care in jeopardy. we'll come up with a system that gives people the care they need and if they can afford their own care, we're going to insist they pay for it as opposed to looking for government. other people have come up with other ideas. i would like to see those ideas in different states. in massachusetts now 98% of the people have insurance, and i'm proud of the fact that we're seeing better health outcomes as a result. >> were you taken aback like many other were when the audience tea party supporters when i said would you let the young man die and some said yes. were you take an back by some in the audience? >> i sure was. i was disappointed by that response. we're a people that care very deeply for one another, we respect the sanctity of human life, whether an unborn life or someone in the middle of their life or at the end of their life. i tried very hard as governor of my state to come up with a plan that would care for people in our state in a thoughtful and compassionate way. in our state, less than 1% of our children don't have health insurance. over 99% of our kids have health insurance. there are other states where the uninsured kids are as high as 20%. you know, i look to find a solution to problems and to try to help our people and i think that's the role of those that have responsibility and incidentally, there may be better way to do it than i came up with. ts ross perot would say, i'm all ears. if they come up with something better than we did, i'm happy to have state as don't that. but a federal takeover with the federal government telling states how to do it that's a mistake, and that's one reason i'd repeal obama care. >> we have more to talk about, please stand by. we'll continue this conversation including some lessons learned from four years ago that you're applying now. we have national security issues. we want to discuss as well. ♪ [ male announcer ] each of these photos was taken by someone on the first morning of their retirement. it's the first of more than 6,000 sunrises the average retiree will see. ♪ as we're living longer than ever before, prudential's challenge is to help everyone have the retirement income they'll need to enjoy every one of their days. ♪ prudential. bring your challenges. okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? 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[ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? be happy. be healthy. ♪ ♪ co-signed her credit card -- "buy books, not beer!" ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for her whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. into we're back with republican presidential candidate mitt romney. governor, thanks, once again. i want to get to national security issues. how far would you go to stop iran from building a nuclear bomb? >> well, iran has to be convinced that we would go all the way we would take military action, that military action's on the table. i think our president has communicated, in various, subtle waysing there is not a military option to consider. i think that's a mistake. i think you to have crippling sanctions against iran, covert action in iran to convince the people of the folly of becoming a nuclear nation. the iranians have to believe, and particularly their leadership believe, america would consider taking military option,s that that has to be on the table, plans have to be in place and that's something which clearly you have to consider. we cannot endure a world where iran has a bomb because of course the saudis will and turkey will and you go around the world, syrians will, you'll have all sorts of people with nuclear weapons and ultimately fissile materiel will find the way into the hands of terrorists. >> if you were president and had to deal with united nations general assembly vote calling for the creation of a palestinian state, what would you do about that? >> well you, start a long time ago. this vote, and the course pursued by the palestinians and others in the united nations is another testament of the president's failure of leadership. this could have been avoided had the president made it clear from the very outset we stand by israel, that we lock arm and arm. instead the president tried to communicate to the palestinians and others that support their effort that, well, there may be distance between us and israel. look, you stand by your allies. you show that you're united, that's the best way to keep people taking adventurous activity. >> explain something you said yesterday that's got a little buzz out there. i'll play the clip and then we'll discuss. unfortunately we don't have it. it was basically a comment praising dick cheney, you were saying something, i listened to him speak and said whether you agree or disagree with him, this is a man of wisdom and judgment, and he could have been president of the united states, that's the kind of person i'd like to have, a person of wisdom and judgment. it's causing a little controversy. what did you mean by that? >> i think that's pretty straightforward. i listened to the vice president speak the other day and his thoughtfulness and his deliberation, and his intelligence shown through. i remember watching the debates, the vice presidential debates and between joe lieberman and the vice president, dick cheney, and i thought both of those men were men of substance and thoughtfulness and experience. dick cheney served in the department of defense, served with prior presidents. i know he's criticized by many, many people but you do want in the vice presidency an individual who has the confidence of the american people that that person could be president, and i think dick cheney was a man of that character. >> we've got a question from -- on facebook from joshua worthheim. if you got the nomination would you distance yourself from the tea party so you could appeal to moderates and ind minutes? if not how would you expect to win the general election? >> you know, when what i intend to do is what i've been doing, which is continue to talk about my vision for america, and i know a lot of tea partiers who believe government's too big and is borrowing too much they agree with me. a lot of mainstream republicans agree with me. i also think a lot of independents and democrats agree with me. there's almost not a day that goes by that i don't have democrats come up to me and say, i'm a democrat, but i'm going to vote for you. i was on a flight, a southwest flight from phoenix to let's see burbank, and -- no, orange county, and a person came up and said, look, i'm a democrat, but i'm going to vet for you. and i believe if you talk to people what you honestly and fundamentally believe that you'll get the kind of support you need. >> what's the most important lesson you learned four years ago in your unsuccessful bid to win the republican nomination that you're applying now in this current campaign? >> well you, know last time i spent a lot of time answering all of the question on all of the topics and you frankly have no choice but to respond to the questions that come along but you want to make sure your message gets through and you communicate why it is you're running day in and day out. you want to be known for something. i spent my life in the private sector for 25 years. i understand how this economy works at the fundamental level. i haven't just watched jobs get created, i've created jobs. that's a message i want to get through. i didn't get that through as well last time as i should have. this time i'm going to try to do a better job, making sure in every effort that i have meeting with people they know i'm the guy who knows something about the economy and i can get america strong and get jobs created again. >> good luck, governor. we'll stay in close touch. >> thanks, wolf. good to be with you. >> we'll take a quick break. more of our coverage here in "the situation room" when we come back. ♪ what are you looking at? 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[ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. for wherever life takes you. hundreds of mail handling facilities are on the chopping block across the united states as part of a mass overhaul underway at the u.s. postal service. athena jones is working the detail. >> reporter: the postal service has struggled for years as more and more people pay their bills online. and the economic slowdown hasn't helped. total mail volume has fallen by more than 43 billion pieces in the last 5 years. and first class mail has dropped 25%. just weeks ago, post office officials created an uproar when they said, in order to survive they might have to close up to 3700 post offices. and stop saturday delivery. now, a new plan for even more cuts. >> it is no exaggeration to say that we are radically realigning the way that we process mail, the way that we deliver mail, and the way that we operate our retail network. >> reporter: officials will study closing 250 mail processing facilities across country in a bid to dramatically reduce the number of site business 2013. this is in addition to the 61 facilities already being considered. in a move sure to raise eyebrows, slower mail. first class mail would arrive in two to three days rather than one to three. >> our mail processing network is much larger than we can afford. >> reporter: this would mean 35,000 fewer mail processing employees. a reduction officials say will try to make through attrition or not replacing positions as workers retire. >> we have a substantial number of our people, almost 150,000, eligible for retirement. there are different ways of working with people to move them into that direction. >> reporter: all part of a plan to cut costs by $20 billion by 2015. and return the service to profitability. but congress is going to have to sign off on changing delivery from six days to five, and the way the postal service prepays retiree benefits. the postal service is most concerned about the 5.5 billion in health benefits for retirees that it has to pay this month. postal officials are hoping to postpone that payment long enough for congress to resolve the services long-term issues. >> lots of jobs at stake right now. thank vs very much. new information on our top story this hour, lisa sylvester's working that. what are you learning? >> we have a statement that is just in from the company lightsquared and they are pushing back on suggestions that it has used its political ties in washington to try to win approval over new broadband system that it hopes to create. the pentagon has been saying that it will interfere their new broadband system would interfere with gps but the company's ceo saying in the statement, quote, any suggestion that lightsquared has run roughshod over the regulatory process is contradicted by the reality of eight long years spent gaining approvals. just this week, there has been another request from the government for an additional round of testing of lightsquared's network. we understand that some of the telecom sector fear the challenges for their business model that lightsquared presents. we understand the opposition of some in the gps industry, many of their devices squat on someone else's spectrum and while technological fixes are readily available, some companies are loathe to make the necessary engineering changes and would instead prefer to get access to someone else's spectrum for free. lightsquared there referencing the fact making it clear, we only this piece of the spectrum and that they are arguing that the new broadband net work is something that is good for the economy, that this will create competition in the marketplace and ultimately bring down prices for the consumers. the proposal, they're saying, has bipartisan support, and they're hoping they will prevail but it's going to be ultimately up to the fcc to make the final decision. and this is very controversial because there are a lot of entities out there, the pentagon being one, that is concerned of how this might interfere with gps, wolf? >> thanks for that update, appreciate it. jack cafferty's standing by next with "the cafferty file." why didou buy my husband a falcon? thanks for the falcon. i didn't buy anyone a falcon. sure, you did. you saved us a lot of money on auto insurance. i used that money to buy a falcon. ergo, you bought me a falcon. i should've got a falcon. most people who switch to state farm save on average about $480. what they do with it, well, that's their business. oh, that explains a lot, actually. [ chuckles ] [ male announcer ] another reason people switch to state farm. aw, i could've gotten a falcon. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. [ falcon screeches ] let's check in with jack for the cafferty file. >> question this hour, wolf, is where is this country headed? if s.a.t. reading scores are at their lowest in nearly 40 years. john in alabama, the s.a.t. scores are going to get worse before they get better. the no child left behind program only funded the testing on students. there were no funds of remediation of children who needed a little help. therefore, the nation is seeing low test scores in all standardized tests. in addition the baby boomer generation is retiring and the bart simpson generation is taking over education. james in north carolina writes, it means they have all got a phone that tweets and chats and takes photos and accesses the internet. that's all my grandkids do these days. i'm not sure they even know how to read. robert writes, i'm afraid it means that the next crop of new voters is ready. chris writes, and this is verbatim, this is how it was sent. test, singular, are not the most important thing in evaluation how smart a kid is. there's a lot to learn. there are no punctuation marks in this paragraph. a lot to do, it has nothing to do with algebra or spanish or education is to hyped up on one test. they forget other stuff that determines how smart a kid will become. if the people are smart enough, they'll back legislation that gets the teachers fired for poor performance and takes away tenure. the kids are the ones who suffer while unions and teachers benef benefit. all kids do in school is text and take pictures with their phones. when i was in school, the teachers actually taught us and had the courage to take our friends away. ernie writes, i guess this describes the rise of the tea party. if you want to read more go to my blog, cnn.com/caffertyfile or the post on the situation room page. what were your s.a.t. scores, wolf? >> i don't want to talk about that. >> me either. up next, a model takes revenge. jeanne moos has details. an airline's job, is to take you from where you are... to where you need to be. and we're not just talking about points on a map. with a more intuitive delta website and mobile app... and the most wifi equipped planes. we let you be everywhere at once. innovations like these are extending our reach so you can extend yours. and now, even at 30,000 feet you can still touch the ground. ♪ [ multiple snds ng melodic tune ] ♪ [ malennounc ] at northrop grumman, makthworld a feplace. th's value performance. northr gruan. this is t kind ruck that has it all. ♪ gue thameans youan dit all. it's thevseason of doing now combine the all-star editn discount with oer offers for a tal value of $6,000. or quifieduys can get 0% apr for 60 mont plus $1,000 llan ll sileradmols. get to your evy aler and ghat truck today american apparel is trying to grow its consumer customer base. some are not happy. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: she may be a size 12. she's no stuffed pig, even if she did pose like one on a bed of greens on her mom's dining room table. >> she walked in and was like, oh my god and walked back out. >> reporter: the photos devouring chicken in a pool. guzzling chocolate syrup amid gallons of ice cream were meant to mock american apparel's plus size model contest. instead nancy upton won. her pictures were voted most popular. using words like booty licious, american apparel called on curvy ladies to sent in their photos. they're known for imagery of skinny types in skimpy clothes. a plus sized model contest was held to kick off their expansion into plus sized styles. nancy thought they were pandering. >> i didn't wake up two weeks ago and decided i was going to have my revenge on american apparel. i thought, i'm going to cover myself in ranch dressing. >> reporter: which she did, bathing in it. >> it was very cold. >> reporter: so was the letter nancy got from american apparel after her satirical photos came in first. it's a shame your project attempts to discredit the positive intentions of our challenge and beauty licious was too much for you to handle. quoting destiny's child. ♪ american apparel didn't have to pick the top vote getter and refused to call her the winner since she's no fan especially of their advertisements. >> i remember there's one i'm going to see for the rest of my life when i close my eyes. >> reporter: this one advertising a thong. >> are they selling the boots now? >> reporter: the booty is what they're selling. the booty. after nancy won the contest, american apparel got slapped around for acting like a bunch of babies. now the company invited nancy out to their l.a. headquarters. >> we're dying to meet her. >> reporter: as for nancy's satirical photos -- >> i actually love them. i thought they were beautiful. >> reporter: by the way, that's nonc

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