Transcripts For CNNW John King USA 20110905

today. here in south carolina, a handful of republican presidential candidates took part in a forum organized by the conservative and tea party power broker senator jim demint. >> what are the programs at the federal level that we need to get out of the federal government? >> well, that's a difficult question because that's a long list. i'd rather you give me the list of one of the things we should keep. >> president obama was also on the road this labor day in detroit for what the white house billed as an official policy event. >> thank you, everybody. thank you. thank you. thank you. >> but those chants of four more years and the appearance with major players from organized labor left doubt the focus was on the troubled economic climate that puts the president's re-election hopes in serious jeopardy. >> now is not the time for the people you sent to washington to worry about their jobs. now is the time for them to worry about your jobs. >> action in new hampshire too, where the former alaska governor sarah palin did nothing, nothing to quiet speculation she is pondering a late september entry into the gop race. >> we need a pro growth agenda. >> run, sarah, those chants if you can't hear them at home. in south carolina, often the decisive state in contested republican nominating contests. today's presidential forum at the last minute lost the texas governor rick perry who decided he needed to return home to texas to oversee the response to destructive wildfires. but five other candidates fielded questions on jobs, taxes, health care and whether the federal government should try to outlaw abortion and same-sex marriage. the man behind the event is often labeled senator tea party, the conservative jim demint who is with us tonight from the convention center where that event took place. senator, let me just start with the this the question. you have yet to pick a candidate this campaign. did any of the five today convince you that's the guy or the woman in case of bachmann i want up against president obama a year from now? >> well, first, john i want to thank you and cnn for carrying this to the nation. we've gotten a lot of response that people really enjoyed getting a little deeper with the candidates. i did learn a lot about some of the candidates i thought i knew well. but the whole point of this is to show that the principles that unite the republican party are very different than the democrats. and the more we give these candidates a chance to talk about those principles, the better i think we have a chance to convince americans that it's time for a change. >> well, let's talk about one of them. let's have a contrast between the candidates. all of the candidates are critical of the obama health care plan. for one of them, the former massachusetts governor, mitt romney, this is, as you know, a significant challenge with conservative voters because of his state plan in massachusetts. listen first to congresswoman bachmann who describes repealing the president's health care plan as in her view the defining issue of 2012. >> this is an issue that must be solved in 2012 because i believe that obama care will so metastasize itself into every part of american life we will never get rid of it again and this is the foundation for socialized medicine. make no mistake about it. it will change the face of this nation forever. >> now, congresswoman bachmann said that she believes the constitution prohibits the constitution prohibits even the states from adopting an individual mandate like senator demint, governor romney has in his plan in massachusetts. yes romney in response to a question you asked him said he relishes a chance to contrast his approach with that of the president. >> the critical thing is this. he dealt with -- with 8%. he dealt with 100% of american people. he said i'm going to change health care for all of you. it's simply unconstitutional, it's bad law, bad medicine and on day one of my administration, i'll direct the secretary of health and human services to grant a waiver from obama care to all 50 states. it has got to be stopped and i know it better than most. >> senator demint, you backed governor romney in the 2008 campaign. he obviously did not win the nomination. you have not yet endorsed in this campaign. there are reports saying you want him to repudiate his massachusetts health care law or he has no chance of getting your endorsement. did he say anything today that convinced you, yeah, i can support him? >> well, he makes a good distinction between what the federal and state government should do. but i frankly think a mandate, a requirement that someone has to buy eight particular government approved health insurance policy is wrong whether it's at the state or federal level. that should be part of the debate. there are some big differences with what was done in massachusetts and obama care. certainly the constitution relates to what we can do at the federal level. and our hope is as a judge, the supreme court will the strike this down, but i think michele bachmann is right is we need to repeal this or we're going to end up with socialized medicine. we don't have much longer to go. about 2012, we need a president who repeal it. i think every one of the candidates here today made it clear they thought that was important. >> but do you view it as dis6:qualifying for your endorsement for governor romney in this campaign? and if the answer is yes, sir, how could you have supported him in 2008 in the massachusetts health care had already passed by then. >> well, the election in 2008 had a totally different feel. i'm waiting to look at the entire field, the republican party. things are very different. we're trillions more in debt and the economy is in the tank. i'm looking at the candidates with a fresh look so i have not decided who i'm going to endorse and i haven't ruled anyone out. >> and governor perry decided at the last minute, senator, that he could not participate in your forum today. i know you were disappointed. i know you suggested if maybe he could have gone first instead and then gone home to texas. are you disappointed in that decision? do you think he hurt himself in any way here in south carolina, about five months to go? at the moment, he leads the polls here. >> sure, i'm disappointed. i haven't met the governor in person. we talked on the phone and i think a lot of people here in the state wanted to hear what he really believed and how he would translate his principles into policies. but a governor's responsibility is first to their state and their people and there's a real tragedy unfolding in texas. so i don't blame him at all. i think he needed to be at home in texas. so he promised to make up for it by doubling his commitment in south carolina. so we'll work through that. >> senator, you asked each of the candidates about their jobs plan. and you rolled your eyes a bit. you had some sarcasm about the speech the president is going to give to the nation thursday night. you didn't sound very confident he was going to say anything that would convince you to support him. you just mentioned the economy is in the tank. that is something democrats, republicans and independents of all stripes can agree on. one of the things the president talked today about in his labor speech was some sort of infrastructure back to put construction workers back to work. he said labor and business is for this. the federal government would have a minimum investment to lever and private investment. is that something you can say yes, i may disagree with you here and there but i can support you on that one? >> i want to see the president write down his plan and we want to see what it costs. the way he sold his stimulus was not the way it unfolded. it the did not work. the president has given a lot of speeches. we have yet to see any legislation from him. i'm, frankly, just frustrated with him giving a spin to the nation and then never delivering on the details. so if he wants to deliver a plan to congress, i'm anxious to read it. and give him some objective feedback, but frankly, what they've been leaking out of the white house is just more of the same temporary ideas. i was in business my whole life. i would never hire people if you gave me a $5,000 tax credit that i wasn't going to hire anyway. that kind of thinking just suggests the president really doesn't understand how jobs are created. >> let me ask you lastly about the democratic criticism of your event here today. your freedom forum you called it. you brought in five of the republican candidates for president. what the democrats said was that most of celebrated labor day and that south south carolina because of your event celebrated tea party, a distraction into issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and the like. how would you respond to that criticism, sir? >> well, what we were talking about today is how to put america back to work. the democrats continue to talk about things that have put people out of work, and has actually put our economy on the edge of a cliff. what we were doing here today is the work that i think americans is want us to do is to develop a political consensus about how we can turn this country around and move us back towards prosperity. the democrats clearly don't have a clue about how to do that. >> senator jim demint, sir, appreciate your time today. we'll keep in touch as the campaign unfoeds here and across the country. a wildfire season that already is the worst in texas history now threatens the area, near the capital of austin. and next, president obama asks union members if they have learned the lessons of sometimes republicans. the teamsters president james hoffa here with us to discuss jobs and labor's role in campaign 2012. balance after 50, i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage has ginkgo for memory and concentration, plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. 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[ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪ what if we designed an electric motorcycle? what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com. it's schwab at your fingertips wherever, whenever you want. one log in lets you monitor all of your balances and transfer between accounts, so your money can move as fast as you do. check out your portfolio, track the market with live updates. and execute trades anywhere and anytime the inspiration hits you. even deposit checks right from your phone. just take a picture, hit deposit and you're done. open an account today and put schwab mobile to work for you. president's labor day rally in detroit today was billed as an official event, which means taxpayers, not the obama re-election campaign will foot the bill. but it had all the trappings of a 2012 pep rally with the appeal to the turnout of organized rally and something many union leaders and democrats have been urging for a long time, stronger direct attacks from the president on republican policies. >> you say you're the party of tax cuts? well, then prove you'll fight just as hard for tax cuts for middle class families as you do for oil companies and the most affluent americans. show us what you got. so when i hear some of these folks trying to take collective bargaining rights away, trying to pass so-called right to work laws for private sector workers, they really mean the right to work for less and less and less. >> but winning blue collar union support was an issue for candidate obama back in 2008 and with high unemployment now looms as a major challenge for president obama heading into the campaign. among those trying to give the president a boost today was the teamsters is union president, james hoffa. >> everybody here has got to vote. if we go back and we keep the eye on the prize, let's take these son of a bitches out and give america back to america where we belong. >> and president hoffa with us from detroit tonight. i want to begin with your assessment of the president's speech. you had a big crowd there. you had a pumped up president being more direct in his attack on the republicans. you have criticized him in the past saying he needs to get out and be more specific, get into the fight, not give speeches. are you convinced now the president gets is the message and is prepared on the substance to give you more of what you want and on the politics to be tougher? >> i think he's getting engaged now because he realizes what's at stake. you know, i think he learned a lesson with this debt ceiling battle that he went through that there really is no dealing with the tea party people. you can't be reasonable with people that are unreasonable. and i think he learned a lesson that now he's going to have to take them on because there is no middle ground. there isn't any way he can work this out or sit down and reason with them. i think he's learned a lesson. i think that's why he's sharpening what he's talking about and going to start really getting ready for that speech that's going to happen on september 7th, which is going to be an important speech to outline how he's going to put america back to work. >> and so what should he do in that speech? there are some who say be bold even if you know the house republicans will not pass what you're saying. others say mr. president, with so many he americans unemployed, split the difference and get some of help by proposing things republicans will support. do you want him to give a speech that has in it proposals that maybe are more leaning towards republicans and get them passed or prefer he be bold even if it means nothing be done and we fight this out in the election. >> he's got to be bold right now. the lines are getting drawn right now. we have these attacks from the tea party on him, on everybody else. you've got mitch mcconnell saying it's their job to beat him in '12. i think he's got to be bold. i think he's got to the basically stake out a plan, a program that makes sense to the american people. he's the reasonable one to a say here is a plan that will work and i'm willing to take this to congress. if they turn it down, then he's going to say okay, this made sense. they don't want to do it. i'm taking it to the voters. i think that's where this is going to end up. i don't see any middle groundworking out between here and '12. >> and if he takes it to the voters, one of the big questions is, do your rank and file members and those of other unions, do they support the president in high numbers or either stay home or do we have a reagan democrat moment? a lot of them supporting republicans? the president seemed to have that in mind today when he recall add appearance labor day many years ago by president truman. let's listen. >> americans it that voted in some folks in the congress who weren't very friendly to labor. and he pointed out that some working folks and even some union members voted these folks in. and now they were learning their lesson. >> in the 2010 midterms, mr. hoffa, republicans had 37% of union households voted republicans for congress. that's about the same as the 2008 presidential election, 59% of union households voted for president obama, 39% for senator mccain. you remember the final days of the 2008 campaign. i remember them well. unions were spending a lot of time and money in the local union halls in the big states telling rank and file members vote for the president, support senator obama and they were reluctant to do so. some of them supported president clinton. some were hesitant because of the race issue. are you confident heading into 2012 that your rank and file will support this democratic president or will we see in places like michigan what we saw in the reagan days, blue collar reagan democrats helping the republicans? >> i think it's going to be different this time because of the attack on the -- on labor by the tea party. we had 100,000 people at a rally in madison, wisconsin. we had 50,000 people in ohio. we collected a million signatures in ohio. people realize what's going on, that they might have voted republican a small group of organized labor. but i think people are aware now that this group is coming after them. when they start talking about, you know, getting rid of social security, medicare, medicaid, rolling back collective bargaining in major states, i think this is -- this has been the wake-up call an maybe labor needs. and some of those people that voted republican are now going to say, what a mistake i made because i didn't know they were going to take my job away, i didn't know they were going to take clollective bargaining awa. you saw what they did and what they believe in. and you heard this debate in washington with regard to the debt ceiling that they want to keep cutting and cutting and they start talking about entitlements and about social security, medicare and medicaid. i ask them do you want to give those things up, and they say no. it's not about these other airy issues but how you live and what you expect of america. and i said that's the issue we've got to address and stay on that issue. >> you're in detroit tonight. among the republican candidates for president is a son of michigan whose father worked in the auto industry and went on to become the governor of massachusetts. i'm talking about romney. sell outline his economic plan tomorrow in an essay that will appear in "usa today" tomorrow, he says this, seeking to pay back political favors, president obama has catered to the institutional interests of union bosses at the expense of workers and businesses. i will fight against measures that deprive workers of basic rights such as the secret ballot. do you view that, labor right there front and center in the romney economic plan? >> i think he's making a big mistake. his father was george romney. you know, it's hard to imagine in coming from detroit where we had the successful loans to both chrysler and general motors that both companies have come back. they're paying the loans off. it's a success story. it's a success story here in michigan. we have hiring going on. we have new industries going on. i can't believe that he's talking this way and i don't know who he's addressing but it's not going to work in michigan. >> james hoffa is the president of the teamsters union. thank you for this time on your labor day. we'll keep in touch an the campaign unfolds. still to come, u.s. baess worldwide go on higher alert as the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches and a mix of wildfires, winds and heavy rains puts is much of the country in emergency response mode. take a look at this ireport video. a tornado crossing the highway near albany, new york, on sunday. 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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ tonight, crews on fire lines southeast of austin, texas, are battling a wildfire that's destroyed at least 475 homes. about an hour ago, governor rick perry who rushed home from south carolina today called flying past the smoke and flames surreal. >> i have seen a number of big fires in my life. this one is as -- this one's as mean-looking as i've ever seen. i'll be real honest with you, i'm not paying any attention to politics right now. peoples' lives and their possessions are in danger. that's substantially more important. >> cnn's jim spellman is reporting right near the fire lines. give us the latest, especially on this property destruction the governor talks about. >> reporter: sure, take a look, first, john at this. we're a couple miles from the front of the fire. just this massive wall of fire. governor perry saw it from the air. we saw it from the road driving in here today, and it was just staggering. right now up in the air, there's helicopters, planes dropping water. retardant, trying to get a handle on this. 475 homes already destroyed and many subdivisions notice way. this is really the worst possible combination of this almost year-long severe drought conditions here with the high winds that kick up in the afternoon and a fire near these populated areas. that's really a difference an that the governor stressed. i think that that's really what is going to make this stand out. already since last november, john, an area the size of connecticut has burned here in texas. it's just unbelievable what they've been dealing with. most of them though ha been away from populated areas. here they don't have that luxury. it's added a real sense of urgency to the fire fighting. the governor committed all the resources possible. tomorrow a federal team is added to the mix. right now, they still don't have this fire at all contained, john. >> so jim, you mentioned they don't have it at all contained. what's the prognosis? when they look at the forecasts, the winds, the resources available, what's the prognosis for getting it under control? >> i spoke with a couple firefighters here on the ground and the prognosis is just not good at this point. at the really need help from the weather. you can see just from this wall of smoke here, when the winds in the afternoon kick up and they hit these fires they just go so far forward. they need to establish a fire line where they create a break between the active fire and the fuel of the woods surrounding it. to do that, they really need to have the winds die down. so that usually happens in the morning. tomorrow they're going to be out here full force with even more resources from around the state to try to get ahead of it and until the windsened probably kick up again tomorrow. it's been so long since they've had meaningful rain here. until they really get that, even if they get this under control, another one can pop up at any minute. john? >> jim spell man on the fire line in texas. stay safe. texas continues to battle this. while winds on the backside of what used to be tropical storm lee were pushing the fires in texas, the leading edge causing big troubles in georgia. at least 100 homes in the atlanta area were damaged this afternoon by thunderstorms and tornadoes. cnn meteorologist jacqui jeras is keeping track of that storm in the weather center. what's on the front end, the wet end? >> yeah, well they're still looking at that threat of tornadoes. that's going to be ongoing through the rest of the evening, even into tonight here. there you can see the watches which extend all the way up into the parts of virginia at this hour. i want to take a look and i think my magic wall just literally died on the air for you. wa we've got some pictures of those tornados in atlanta. you mentioned 100 homes or so which have been damaged. this is mostly rooftop damage and a lot of tree damage, hundreds of trees are down. there are a lot of people without power there for tonight. in addition to that, we also have a lot of floodwaters that are starting to creep up on the roadways. we've seen flooding across louisiana through mississippi. all the way over into alabama as well as in georgia and now we're concerned as this heads into the higher terrains that we could be seeing some mudslides. that's a good possibility. the other thing is that we're looking at the storm. you know what's left of lee. that's going to ride up the coast with this cold front. it's going to bring more flood conditions to already flood ravaged northeast from the remnants of irene. so we've got a who long ways to go with this slow-moving storm. we'll continue to have problems at least through the end of the week. the best thing we can tell you is that thing are looking a lot better along the gulf coast, but still, there are thousands of people without power. in alabama alone, 93,000 people are in the dark right now. john? >> and you talk there about the latest on lee, the remnants of irene. jacqui, take us out to sea and katia. how worried, a category 3 i believe. how worried should people along the east coast be? >> well, you know, there are going to be some impacts likely from katia, but we don't think it's going to be making landfall at the u.s. this is a very powerful storm, a category 3 hurricane right now with maximum winds around 115 miles per hour. however, we think it's going to get real close to the u.s. coastline and then make a curve on up to the north. so maybe 300 to 500 miles away from the coastline, enough to bring rip currents and nasty waves. keep people away from the beaches but it won't be enough to make a u.s. landfall. we can actually thank part of lee and these cold fronts moving through the northeast. that's going to help kick this out and keep this out to sea. >> busy time in the weather center. jacqui jeras, appreciate your help tonight. when we come back here next, back to politics, abortion, marriage and other social issues drives the debate, part of it anyway at the republican candidates forum here in south carolina. >> rick perry was scheduled to be with us. radar that detects the distance between you and the vehicle ahead and manages that distance automatically. it also allows you to say to people, "dude, my car has radar," which, in these competitive times, is kind of a game-changer. the s.u.v. is back. right now, get $2,000 cash allowance or 0% apr financing on the 2011 dodge durango. i know you're worried about making your savings last and having enough income when you retire. that's why i'm here -- to help come up with a plan and get you on the right path. i have more than a thousand fidelity experts working with me so that i can work one-on-one with you. it's your green line. but i'll be there every step of the way. call or come in and talk with us today. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil. 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"anderson cooper 360" coming up at the top of the hour. anderson is with us now with a preview. >> thanks very much. tonight on 360, in south carolina, job creation was a major topic today. tonight we're focusing on presidential hopeful mitt romney who never misses an opportunity to it out his record on job creation when he was in the private sector. tonight we're keeping them honest. also tonight, the latest out of aruba and missing american woman robin gardener. authorities are appealing for the public's health on a mystery car spotted on a camera. they believe the driver of that car may have seen her right before she disappeared. we have a live report from aruba. also the latest on the wildfires, devastating parts of texas, also tonight's ridiculous and a lot more at the top of the hour. >> looking forward to all of that, especially i've been off for two weeks. it's been awhile for ridiculous. see you in just a few minutes. we have no doubt on labor day 2011 that jobs and the economy will dominate the general election contest for president in the fall of 2012. but we're also reminded tonight that contested nominating fights often lead to interesting det r detoudetou detours. for republicans that can mean abortion and gay rights especially in a state like south carolina where in the 2008 republican presidential primary 54% of the voters described themselves as evangelical christians. no surprise those issues were a part of today's republican presidential forum. >> i would like to see that supreme court return to the states the responsibility for determining laws relating to abortion. >> i would do everything within my power to restrict the number of abortions that occurs in the united states. >> i do believe that we have every right to defend a 3,000-year clear record that that's what marriage is. >> the event here is one of several defining moments this month for the republicans who would be president, including three debates over the next three weeks. cnn contributor eric eriksson is the editor of the conservative blog redstate.com and with me in columbia south carolina is the state treasurer, who just endorsed the former massachusetts governor mitt romney. eric, obviously jobs and the economy are issue number one. during this event today, you put out a tweet. robert george was one of the conservative activists, part of the yessing there. you said i respect robert george greatly but i think his questions were way too in the weeds on topics that do not relate to the issues of the day. obviously some of these issues are important to ejan gel cvang voters. do you think the focus today should have been more on jobs and the economy? >> my personal preference was yeah, it should have been. senator demint focused on labor unions, focused on jobs and the economy. yeah, i have a great deal of respect for robert george. i really do. i kind of wish that we didn't spend so much time on social issues. by and large these candidates all agree, there are nuances here and there. some may not be as pro-life as others. most americans, even most evangelical voters really are focused on retarting the economy, creating jobs and what we can do to tamp down on regulations coming out of washington. >> mr. loftus, in this state where we know more than half of the voters in the last republican presidential primary said they're evangelicals. how much does it matter given the times we live in whether a candidate says he wants a constitutional amendment to keep marriage between a man and a woman says each state should think that, whether the congress should repeal roe versus wade or that's up to the supreme court? >> i think it matters a lot right now early in the process. i was raised in a republican household, conservative household all my life. it's important now. as we get closer to the election, it's going to become more about jobs and money. south carolina pretty pragmatic voters. they're going to say how do we beat barack obama. the social issues won't help us. >> you say pretty pragmatic voters. this is viewed as as the establishment republican state. in republican politics, south carolina likes to think it picks the winner in contested republican presidential primaries. senator jim demonth was for romney last time. romney came in fourth in south carolina. you're for romney this time. a lot of people say, wait a minute, you're a tea party guy. you're supposed to be the people who say go away, mitt romney. >> the tea party's a diverse group. i can only speak for myself. i did get virtually every terry party endorsement when i ran for treasurer. they're very smart and get a bad rap in the national media. they're going to start thinking about money. now these social issues are great. everybody likes to debate. it's high school in a way and we like it. but when it gets closer to the time, i think that's when it will be clear mitt romney is the man who can create wealth in this job again. >> eric eriksson, you watched the forum today. senator demint gave governor romney to try to convince a voter who says well if president obama modeled his health care on romney care in massachusetts, how did he do in his explanation? >> you know, i wish he had been giving this answer all along. he probably gave a better answer today than he has in the past. i'm not sure when you talk to a lot of tea party activists that that answer is going to settle it for them. it definitely was a betterance today than he's given all along. all the opportunities he's had including the one speech he gave defending his record, i thought today he did the very best job. he had to have known this question was coming. he did a very good job. >> so we're in south carolina today. five of the republican candidates were here. i think it's fair to say in what we would view at the top tier, governor romney would be the top tier candidate here. congresswoman bachmann had a lot of steam coming out of the early debates. of up in the state of new hampshire though, samp fresh from an appearances in iowa is at a tea party rally in new hampshire. first she hears run, sarah run, she smiles and says thank you. what intrigued me was this. >> it's media incited internal squabbles, unfortunately and we can nip some of that in the bud right here right now because we've got a lot of work to do constitution constitutionalists. our challenges today are too great. we simply don't have time to be bogged down in internal conflicts and friendly fire conflicts. >> eric, do you have any idea what she's talking about? she has taken a few polite gentle, but a few shots at governor perry and governor romney. here she seems to be saying, whoa, that sounded almost like ronald reagan, thou shallish not attack a fellow republican. >> the best i can say is no comment on sarah palin till she decides what she's doing. i've got to tell you, i've heard a lot of her aides and peter hamby reported on some of her aides saying her crony remarks were about mitt romney. unless you hear that come from sarah palin, i don't believe it because i've heard too many people reading too much into what sarah palin is saying. she and rick perry, for example, are very good friends. she endorsed him last year. she has, interestingly enough, i thought shown up plenty of occasions in new hampshire and iowa right where mitt romney is. i'm wondering if she's trying to take some attention away from him. i'm done trying to figure it out. >> eric is done trying to figure it out. how about you, mr. loftus. is sarah palin running? >>. >> they tell me she is. and that will make it interesting. i think what she's referring to about the tea party, she's got to get all of the tea party vote. there are eight or nine people in this race and votes will land on all of them. everybody is jockeying to get those votes. >> if she got into the race, what would she had do here in south carolina. >> i think she would do well and take a lot of votes from miss bachmann and mr. perry. especially those two. but again, not beat ea dead horse, the tea party folks are very interested in financial issues. they're core issues that america spends too much money. we wrupted ourselves and have to get out of the hole. a lot of these issues that are lie lighted today aren't going to be that important in three or four months. >> if sarah palin gets into the race, he makes the case that would affect governor perry and others. governor perry seems to think at the moment and i think most republican strategists would agree, at the moment rival number one is the former governor of massachusetts, mitt romney. so before he left south carolina today, he was here in the morning for an event. he needed to go back home and check in on the wildfires, he had governor romney in mind when he said this. >> there's going to be some that get up and say well, i created jobs. that's true. there's one in particular that's created jobs all over the world. while he was the governor of massachusetts, he didn't create very many jobs. >> i think out of the 50 states, what governor perry is referring to there is massachusetts was 47th in the terms of per capita job growth when governor romney was the governor. is that how most republicans see this right now is a perry-romney race or is there more to it? >> i think it very much is shaping up to be a perry-romney race. michele bachmann is fading. we're seeing more and more republicans, 60% saying though hope that sarah palin doesn't get into the race. people are ready to settle. ironically, i do think it's a bit of a tactical mistake for romney to go after rick perry and say he was governor for 11 years, don't attribute any job growth in texas to him. the better angle is to go after him for being a career politics primarily because then, in the second two years as governor of massachusetts, he had good job growth though not in his first two years. he has to dismiss the turn around story in massachusetts if he tries to make the argument that we have to ignore everything perry did as governor. >> let me ask the romney supporter here though. is it genuine for governor romney to attack the career politicians? i grew up in massachusetts. one of the races i covered a long time ago was when mitt romney fresh from the olympics challenged senator kennedy. he lost that election. he had won, he would have been in the united states senate. maybe he would have run for governor or president. didn't he at once try to be more of a politics. >> he tried at one time i know. the important part for 30 years, mitt romney's been creating jobs, creating wealth and signing the paychecks that go to the irs every year. rick perry has been cashing those paychecks, a government employee for 30 years. i think we have a lot of government employees in washington, d.c. we need more business people. the united states government is the most complex business entity that has ever existed in the history and we need somebody who can understand that. right now you have to go a long way down into leadership structure in washington to find people who understand business. >> you're a romney supporter. >> yes, sir. >> you're a republican. i want to ask you as honest as you can be, because they're fighting amongst themself. we have this internal tug of war. have you heard a compelling case, detailed case from any of these republicans where you say that's the person? i can see them debating president obama a year about th election? >> yeah, i have. i heard that very well. i was with the governor 15 minutes today. he was on fire. we were with him in the car from the airport. he was on fire. i sit with them for an hour, hour and a half each. when i sat with him i said, this is the guy. i have been following him. if you had been with him today, he knocked the romneycare insurance question out of the park. >> erick, are you convinced any of the republican candidates have given as detailed a case as will be necessary to win come november? >> i don't think there's been the opportunity yet. mitt romney will have his jobs plan the same day the president has his. john huntsman has an extremely good program. i'm not a fan of his. i think wisely the president, all of them waited until after labor day to come out full force with their plans. we'll see. the forum was probably a better format for long form answers. the debates haven't been so much. there are five coming up. i'm not endorsing the idea for him being a vice president yal pick, but i would like to say it's not anybody versus barack obama. it's ron paul versus joe biden. i would pay money for that. >> we'll put it on paper for you. appreciate your insight tonight. stay in touch. next with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 looming, u.s. embassies around the world are on alert. pakistan makes an arrest it says makes all americans safer tonight. just take a picture, hit deposit and you're done. open an account today and put schwab mobile to work for you. ♪ whoa! hey! 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[ male announcer ] introducing cadillac shield. the most comprehensive suite of owner benefits offered by any luxury auto maker in the world. pakistan announced the arrest of what it called a senior al qaeda leader. the deannouncement says the leader was seeking ways to attack the united states, europe and australia. a senior state department official tells cnn all u.s. diplomatic facilities abroad are reviewing their security posture and most are now on high alert as we approach the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. i'm joined by national security adviser fran, let's start with the arrest. pakistan says all westerners and americans should feel safer because of the arrest of younis al-mauretani and two other al qaeda associates. who is he? >> he is a senior operational leader. he had a direct relationship with bin laden before he was killed. younis al-mauretani is responsible for bringing in foreign jihadists, especially germans from a german plot. he was working with sadiki last year. this is a guy who has real operational gravitasse within the organization. they have captured him with two compatriots and this puts a blow to the continuing operational capability of al qaeda. >> fran, you remain well plugged in with intelligence sources. when you get an arrest there is a debriefing. we are in the early hours. any sense from people you talk to that this was someone active, planning something around the anniversary? >> absolutely. he's been active. whether or not it was tied to the anniversary is less clear to me. last week the state department issued a warning to americans traveling overseas to be careful. it was unnusual that it was worldwide. this travel advisory was worldwide. last time we saw it was when younis al-mauretani was planning in the fall of last year. last week we see this travel advisory go out worldwide. i suspect it was triggered to younis al-mauretani's conduct. of course that would have put pressure on the pakistanis to step up cooperation with the americans to disrupt any plot or potential operation he was planning. >> when you hear things like the state department saying embassies are double and triple checking security postures, some on a heightened alert. is that based on actionable intelligence or common sense with the anniversary approaching? >> i think there is a little bit of both going on. the security officials feel pretty good about the security activities they have undertaken in the united states. their work with state and locals. there is no direct specific credible threat to the anniversary. so i think when you look at that. when you look at the tightness of the security inside the united states it's natural to say americans will be more vulnerable outside the united states. so that's one piece of it. when you take that and add that to somebody like al-mauretani's history of targeting americans and allies around the world you can see where they would want the embassies alert, linked up with allies in intelligence services around the world. >> we know from the materials seized at the bin laden compound that there were references to the anniversary, but i don't believe any specific plans, anything bin laden or his top deputies wanted to happen. what's your sense based on the actions based on the intelligence that other western governments believe they have a better sense of what could come? >> i think so, john. every intelligence official, either u.s. or foreign, that you talk to says that the notion of an anniversary attack out of the bin laden compound was an idea and there was no indication in his communications they could see that anybody had picked up the plan or idea and actually put a plan to it to make it

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