confident dick durbin of illinois and one of romney's possible vp picks senator kelly ayotte from new hampshire. >> and mitt romney's company were pioneers in outsourcing jobs. >> barack obama's record is the worst record since the depression. >> and we will talk about those ads with our cnn political analyst ron brownstein and "time" magazine's michael sherer. an incumbent president still in peril, and measuring optimism about the economy has fallen to the lowest level this year, and personal spending cooled as shoppers cut back on items big and small from cars to groceries and the broadest measure of economic health, the gross domestic product grew at an anemic 1.5% in the second quarter. not good news for president obama 100 days away from the election. and joining us this morning is senator dick durbin. i want to put the gdpp fod -- g figures the gross domestic product figure, because it has been up, but not to the point where it can bring down unemployment. that is a 3% growth rate, but we have a 1.5% in the last quarter. no president in modern history has beeen re-elected with these kinds of numbers and what is your concern? >> well, ki say this, more than 26 straight months of private sector job creation, and many of the jobs that we have lost in the public sector the president has appealed to congress to help him to make sure that there are firefighters and teachers and we have had no cooperation from the republicans, because they are determined to keep the unemployment numbers low. >> you know how this works -- >> well, the president accepts responsibility, but he also believes we are on the right track and returning to the economic policies of the bush administration which romney endorses would plunge us back into a recession situation where we are giving tax breaks to the wealthiest in america and seeing a deficit out of control and not creating strength in the middle-class, the working families of america and that is really the future and where we ought to pin our economic policies. >> so you are not concerned about the president's re-election prospects? >> oh, no. let me tell you that this is going to be a very close election and we take it seriously and we are going to have the up s dow s and downs i and the people are moving in the right direction and they want to keep us moving forward and that the key. look at what happened this week. the president's tax cuts in the united states senate passed with a 51/48 vote to make sure that the families making less than 250,000 tlrz a year have no ulg kriz in -- $250,000 a year and have no increase. and those making under $250,000 will not have any tax cuts whatsoever if we retain the republican policies. everyone in washington right now is talking as though they had nothing to do with the deal that came up with the so-called sequestration by which there is across the boards and huge cuts in the defense of $500 billion in defense and $500 billion in nondiscretionary budget, and everyone acts as if this was not your doing, but the fact of the matter is that this deal passed 74-26 to put the sequestration in place and most of those were democra democrats, including yourself, so isn't there a responsibility to fix this since you all voted for this? >> absolutely. there is a case of republican amnesia on the floor of the senate. we have the republican senate leaders coming to the floor and blasting sequestration that they voted for. they said if the super committee failed -- >> you voted for it? >> of course i e did, because here is the alternative, the tea parties and their followers in the senate said they were prepared to shutdown the economy america and default for the first time and instead we came up with a bipartisan approach that was brokered with the republican leaders and the president to say we will put together a souper committee to give them the responsibility to cut the deficit by $10 trillion in ten years and to vote for it we avoid a economic shutdown and now here is the good news with the president's leadership, we can come together. there is a bipartisan answer here to reduce the deficit and still create environment for economic growth. >> well, it has not been much public indication of that, and let me ask you, given that, 74 republicans and democrats voted for this bill which now puts the country at this fiscal cliff that republicans and democrats for different reasons say will be disastrous, but siisn't it n incumbent for those who voted for it stay in town and fix it. you know the schedule, senator, you know you are gone for august and barely working and campaigning in september and october. don't you guys have a responsibility to stay here in town and fix it? >> i can tell you that candy, meetings are taking place this last week and before, and our gang of eight an equally divided democrats and republicans sitting around the table and working on the solution. we will continue to. we believe there is a responsible reasonable way to move forward, and we are going to try to put something on the table to be considered. let me be honest with you as well, in the next 100 days before the election, the political environment is not one for compromise and negotiation, but if we are prepared the day after the election to move forward with a plan that restores confidence in the economy and the able of congress to react to it, it is going to be a positive thing for us, and i think that we can do it. >> and the truth is that both sides see this as a good campaign issue, correct? >> well, maybe. i'm not sure i view it as a campaign issue so much as a desperation that we have not succe successfully addressed the deficit and growth, and many of of us, democrats and republicans and all 46 of us in the senate have come together to say there has to be a way out of it. i voted for the bowles/simpson approach, and puts everything on the table, and keeps revenue and p programs like medicare strong, but takes an honest look at how to make them stronger and these are the things that we need to do and we can do let. >> let me turn you to the role of foreign policy and commander in chief. as you nknow mitt romney is in israel and in advance of the trip, one of the advisers dan s senor had to say about the subject of iran and the development of nuclear weapons and dan said this, if israel has to take action on its own in order to stop iran from developing that capability, meaning nuclear weapons capability, the governor would respect that decision. do you have it now, a nd they emphasized diplomacy, and this is a last resort, but do you have a problem with that stateme statement? >> of course, the object of the romney trip was to show how sure-footed he was when it came to foreign policy and he came stumbling out of london after the statements on the olympics and now he is headed to israel for a political fund-raising event which he has closed to the public. in the meantime, the statement that was made that you just quoted really puts in perspective what president obama has achieved. he has put together the strongest coalition of countries around the world to put pressure on iran not to develop a nuclear weapon and it includes china and russia, and he has invested american resources in the iron dome to protect the israeli people, and he has worked clo closely with them to make sure that ton shakeable alliance is going to be there for israel for years to come. so i think that our position from the president's point of view has been a solid one. >> but do you think that in the end that if diplomacy is, as iran moves closer and closer and there is a window after which israel can't do anything about it, should the u.s. stand with israel if israel makes that decision that they can no longer wa wait? >> the united states will stand with israel, but this president has understood that the two choices between all-out war and iran having a nuclear weapon are choices that we don't want to face. that is why he has put the strongest economic sanctions in the history on iran. they are working. we believe they are putting pressure on them to move towards eliminating the threat in the middle east and working toward peace this that region. it is the president's leadership in this that has made the difference. i understand that mitt romney is on the political tour doing this fund-raiser in israel, but the point is that the president has had to sit down as he has over and over again with prime m minister netanyahu to work out a sound policy to avoid prospect of war. >> dick durbin, senator from illinois, thank you. >> thank you. what would the president do different on the policy front? and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. with two times the points onake lunch dining in restaurants,ch? you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. there's more to enjoy. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. most done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. [ female announcer ] and try aleve and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. get headed in a new direction. with humira, remission is possible. i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. joining me is romney supporter and new hampshire senator kelly ayotte. thank you for being with us. >> thank you, candy. >> i want to talk about the viewers who have been watching the olympics and not politics. in london mitt romney held a fund-raiser with executives of b banks that are under investigation. and he says things about the olympics that caused a "tempest" over there, and he held talks publicly about secret intelligence meeting with mi-6, and also his adviser talks about his anglo-saxon heritage. this is not how you thought that it would go for? >> well, i think that he is for american exceptionalism, and strong foreign policies, and he won't apologize for it. and the first foreign policy speech by president obama was to apologize, and mitt romney will not apologize. he will make our country stronger. >> this did not help the london leg of the trip? >> well, candy, stuff always happens on the campaign trail, and governor romney said that he was confident in the red i diness, but what is missing is that when salt lake city was in trouble, mitt romney stepped in and served the community and face it, he had to go in there and clean up somebody else's mess and not a sure thing. there were financial scandals and he went in and served the country and salt lake city was a success and america was proud. now we need someone to clean up barack obama's mess and mitt romney is the person to do it. >> i know that is the message, but let me move on to something that you just said that you believe that president obama has conducted a weak foreign policy, but we are talking about a man who upped the drone war to get at al qaeda operatives both in pakistan and yemen well beyond whatever george bush ever did, and this is a man who gave the okay to get bin laden who is of course now deceased. he has wound down the war in iraq and winding down the war in afghanistan and more important ly for americans, there have been no attacks on u.s. soil since president obama took office, and what is weak about that? >> well, i certainly give him credit for osama bin laden and the drone attacks, but candy, be clear where we are. in syria, he has outsourced leadership to the united nations, and is it a surprise that china and russia don't want to support freedom in syria? i mean, look at the re-set po policy, and russia is basically thumbing their nose at the united states of america and continuing to provide arms to the assad regime, and in addition to that, this week a report at the end of the week that the russian naval chief that russia was actually looking at opening additional bases including one in cuba. we are not stronger. the relationship with israel when the people of teheran stood in the streets of 2009 and asked for freedom, the president did not speak up for them. i can tell you that when mitt romney -- >> they imposed sanctions. >> he was drug to the table, to the economic sanctions. i mean, you can, the congressional leaders of both sides of the aisle are the ones who pushed stronger economic sanctions and took years into the presidency to get the tougher economic sanctions in place. >> let me show you the nbc poll showing that who is better to handle foreign policy, and american voters have said 47% barack obama and only 37% for mitt romney. clearly there is something that they like better here. >> well, if you begin your foreign policy by apologizing to cairo, and ask the israelis if they feel safer, and iran is closer to having nuclear weapons than when this president came into office and we could have been tougher on the sanctions and he could have done it sooner and certainly to think of negotiating with teheran which is how he came into the presidency, that has obviously not worked. >> in the fiscal cliff category, you voted against the bill that actually set up this -- >> i did. >> -- sequestration that now everyone is saying this is armageddon if we do this. but right that you have warned that for defense spending this would be terrible for our veteran veterans and that sort of thing. if it comes down to, because certainly the democrats seem dug in, as does the president, may come down to are you worried about the defense cuts or more worried about the tax increases about wealthier americans, at least the income, and you may have to choose about that between defense spending cuts or keeping the tax levels where they are? >> well, candy, it makes me sick that some in washington and particularly some of the senate democrats want to play and even the president unfortunately want to use our military as a bargaining chip. and last recently mitch mcconnell and eric cantor and john boehner wrote a letter to the president asking him to come to the table to resolve this issue of sequestration for the military. i'm calling on the president to do it. i am willing to sit down with members on both sides of the aisle and resolve it before the election, because if we wait until after the election, it is not just the national security that secretary panetta said we would be shooting ourselves in the head, and undermining our national security, but in terms of the industrial base with nearly 1 million jobs. >> and i asked the same question for the democrats, here are the stakes for you. the stakes for the republicans, do you want the horrible awful defense cuts or do you want to protect the tax cuts for the wealthier income, the $250,000? >> well, that is not the choice. where is the commander in chief on this choice? seriously. here he is talking about giving a speecho the military, and why isn't he right now at the table with members of both sides of the aisle resolving this? he could lead this effort and he has been awol on this. i'm calling ing on him to do t. we are leaving on a tour. and why isn't he he in washington? this is too important. >> and beth myers you may or may not know her, but she is heading up the vp search, and she put out a tweet recently and she does not tweet, and she is putting out the names for the vp, and the first name on that is kelly ayotte. have you been vet ted by the romney campaign, and something that you are interested in? >> well, candy, it is an honor to be mentioned, but addressing new hampshire in these fiscal issues is where my attention is right now, and governor romney will pick who he feels is best for the country. >> and you are a penn state alum, and -- >> yes. >> and very tough or just right? >> well, tough on penn state, and you have to be tough on sexual abuse. when i was attorney general i had to go after the catholic church and you cannot condone this behavior. >> dwlung, kelly ayotte. >> thank you, kelly. >> we will have more of mitt romney's talk in jerusalem, but next, president obama and mitt romney going for broke in campaign ad wars. ♪ why not make lunch more than just lunch? with two times the points on dining in restaurants, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. there's more to enjoy. i've never written a fan letter before, but you've done the impossible. you made gluten free cereals in a whole bunch of yummy flavors. cinnamon chex and honey nut chex are two of our favorites. when my husband found the chocolate one, we were in cereal heaven. the only problem is, with so many great flavors, you're making it very hard to choose. your fans, the mcgregor family. 'cause we love chex. ♪ [ male announcer ] and now try new gluten free apple cinnamon chex. new gluten free by what's getting done. measure commitment the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. if you live in one of eight swing states where most presidential ads are running and running and running, we apologize in advance. >>. ♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies ♪ ♪ for amber waves of grain ♪ for purple mountains majes majesty ♪ >> the amount of money spent and the number of ads running are mind boggling and bottom line, you are looking at the most expensive ad campaign in history in a presidential race, but it is not just about the money, but the neg i.v. the ti. >> friends, donors and campa