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Democrats Tackle "Better Off" Issue; Interview with Jeff Bridges

Aired September 03, 2012 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: We heard the Republicans. Now, the Democrats get their turn. I'm Suzanne Malveaux, live from Charlotte, North Carolina, for the CNN grill, where the Democratic National Convention officially kicks off tomorrow.

But the politics, the parties, the protests already underway. They are setting the stage for the Democrats to try to convince voters to re-elect President Obama.

We'll be here throughout the convention, bringing you interviews, insights, as well as highlight the speeches and the events. We're going to take a closer look at what is at stake for the Democrats. Also focusing on the key issues, jobs and the economy.

We're also going to preview the convention speeches leading up to President Obama's acceptance speech -- that is on Thursday night.

And, first, we're also going to bring you some of the sights and sounds here from Charlotte. Carolinafest is going on right now. Organizers say it is a chance to celebrate and honor American workers. There are going to be lots of music, lots of food. We're going to see all of that performances, including James Taylor, Janelle Monae and Jeff Bridges.

So, if you have seen "The Big Lebowski," you know that Jeff Bridges is the Dude. That is right. The Academy Award-winning actor and musician isn't just performing at the DNC, he's also promoting an amazing cause. We're going to talk to him live in just a couple of minutes.

But, first, the Democrats are kicking off the convention with a question that is lingering from the Republican convention last week. That is, are Americans better off than they were four years ago?

In a CBS interview, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley said, no, but he blamed President Bush. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: Can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago?

GOV. MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), MARYLAND: No, but that's not the question of this election. The question -- without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before George Bush brought us the Bush job losses, the Bush recession, the Bush deficits. the series of desert wars charged for the first time to the credit card, the national credit card.

SCHIEFFER: Yes, but --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor James Carville.

We've done a lot of these grills together. This is a nice -- but we'll get into the menu in a little bit here, because this is quite the menu.

JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: All right.

MALVEAUX: Let's start off, because the party is having a hard time here seeming to identify are we better off, are we not better of here? It doesn't seem like they really have a very clear message.

How does the president going into the next couple of days tell the American people what they need to believe that another four years is going to be better for them?

CARVILLE: Well, we don't know that they don't have a clear message. We haven't started the convention yet.

MALVEAUX: Well, so far the surrogates have not done a great job and you have one governor says one thing --

CARVILLE: Again, the question, and people will have their own conclusion. Certainly no one wants to go back to losing 750,000 jobs a month. That's what we were doing four years ago. This month -- I mean, in January, when the president took office, we lost 750,000 jobs, the stock market was collapsing, the auto industry was about to go under. Now, those are demonstrative facts that we can make.

Has, I think the better question, and I think that the question that the president talked about is: what are we going to do for the next four years to make things better? I think that is really where it is.

You could go back and forth are we better four years ago -- I think clearly, I wouldn't want to be losing $750,000 a month, I wouldn't want the stock market at 6,700 or 6,900.

MALVEAUX: James, let's talk about the facts here. I mean, this is ground zero, North Carolina, the Bible Belt. And the latest poll from Elan University now is saying that Romney is up by four points. You've got more than 9 percent unemployment in this state.

What does that mean when people here are starting to swing Romney's way?

CARVILLE: Well, first of all, North Carolina is a traditionally a red state.

MALVEAUX: Yes, but, 2008, he made history here.

CARVILLE: Yes, 2008, we won by 7.5 points and we don't have to win that much. We got only 300 and whatever electoral votes. And to win the election, you don't have to carry the state.

I think it's remarkable he is only four points down. Understand this -- North Carolina in my definition is not really a swing state. In order to be a swing state, it has to be a state that you have a chance to win, but you could lose it and still win the elections.

The Republicans can't lose North Carolina and still win the election. This is a must win state for them. It is not a must-win state for President Obama. He could easily lose North Carolina and still win the election.

MALVEAUX: Talk a little about one of the things that the president and the surrogates are saying in sort of, look -- you know, there's a lot of Republican obstructionism here and people have been fighting me and we have heard it from Speaker Boehner. We heard from Newt Gingrich, from the very beginning. But he had two years, two years, where the Democrats were in charge in both the House and the Senate.

Could there have been more that he could have done in that two years to argue to the voters to say, look, I'm an effective leader?

CARVILLE: Well, look, he passed a historic health care bill during in that time. As I recall, the auto industry is up and running, that was collapsing. As I recall the banking system hasn't collapsed, and you --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: But you still have that lingering question, James. Lingering question, are you any better? Go ahead.

CARVILLE: I am answering the question.

MALVEAUX: Go ahead.

CARVILLE: I'm talking about the things that he did and I'm saying to you that if we think that we are better off losing 750,000 jobs a month and the stock market maybe half of what it is today, and a little under half -- I mean, you know, we just can't say accept the fact that somebody says that and not answer the question.

And the question is, if you want the look at it hence the recovery, and the rate we wanted? No. But now we know historically, the recoveries after a financial crisis take a long time and that's what the president is doing pretty well now.

MALVEAUX: How important is Medicare? How important is that debate?

CARVILLE: Well, it's hugely important. And think of not just the people on Medicare who depend on Medicare, but they've got families that depend on Medicare, who wouldn't be able to afford what the illness is. Think of all of those things.

I think that it is important, and so important that Romney is trying to somehow preempt the issue, which it makes sense to him, but I don't think he's going to be able to do it. I think you're going to hear some stuff this week about it, but it's a critical issue in the campaign obviously.

MALVEAUX: All right. James, we're going to keep you here, for a minute here.

I want to go to the vice president, Joe Biden, who is actually talking about that very issue out of Detroit. Let's listen.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.

(CHEERS)

MALVEAUX: James, he just wrapped up. So, he was talking about Medicare.

I want to talk about a couple of things, because everyone, and you and I being from New Orleans, our families there and hurricane Isaac that hit, people were talking about Hurricane Bill potentially here, as in Bill Clinton. What are we expecting to hear from him? And leading up to President Obama?

CARVILLE: We are expecting to hear a very good speech. That's what I'm expecting. He has been working on it. He is very fired up. He wants to help the president, and get elected again.

And I'm amused at this sort of Republican puffery around Bill Clinton. It seems to me and maybe I'm the only person that remembers this, that they actually tried to impeach him. And I think that the Republicans are going to be very, very disappointed in President Clinton's speech from Wednesday night.

MALVEAUX: I want to talk a little bit about the evolution, because back in the election in 2008 and when I was covering the campaign, clearly, there was a case and certainly during South Carolina, where there was bad blood between President Clinton, as well as the candidate Barack Obama. We have since seen the emergence of these two together on the same stage and same page.

There are people who say, look, well, he could upstage the president. But how did that come about? Talk a little bit about how that emerged.

CARVILLE: Well, I think there was a -- well, the reality is when you are in a primary, it's really tough. I mean, it takes a while to get these wounds to heal sometimes, and it has been an evolution here. I think that they have reconciled a lot of things. And you know, after all the president did hire his wife to be the top diplomat in the United States.

I think that their relationship has evolved to be a very good relationship now, and I think you're going to see that manifest by the president's remarks on Wednesday night. And, you know, one of the dangers of saying, oh, there's all of the trouble between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and what have you, you see, I think that when we leave Charlotte, I expect and hopefully it will be a united party and the people say then, Bill really went to bat for Barack Obama on Wednesday night.

MALVEAUX: How important is it after Thursday, when the president accepts his nomination, you got the Friday jobs numbers that are going to come out that morning, and you've got the Fed chair, Ben Bernanke, in a couple of weeks talking about whether or not they will inject more stimulus into the economy. Are people going to essentially take a look at those numbers and those speeches looking forward in the next two months?

CARVILLE: Well, obviously, that's going to matter and you preferring to have a good jobs number and not a bad jobs number. Who wouldn't thought you do.

But, look, we have come into the convention with 8.3 percent unemployment. They have just finished their convention and the race is tight. Knock me over with a feather, that's not a bad position to be in, we haven't made our case. They have had a chance to make their case. They had a bounce of a one point or two points, I think -- congratulations.

MALVEAUX: All right. We may not knock you over with a feather. What are you ordering on the menu here? You they got hot wings.

CARVILLE: I know. They got any they got hot wings, they got Queen City smoked bologna sandwich, CNN barbecue --

MALVEAUX: I never had that before. What do you got there?

CARVILLE: We have CNN barbecue stuff. And you can follow it up with a CNN beer, if you will.

MALVEAUX: This is shameless self-promotion.

CARVILLE: It is shameless self-promotion. But, no, it's nice they have this here. And you can get a nice burger. You get some tacos, it's very good.

MALVEAUX: It's a great place to be, the CNN grill, great place to be.

CARVILLE: It is.

MALVEAUX: And always nice to have you on. Of course, we'll be talking throughout the day.

CARVILLE: Never mind schilling for the guys in Atlanta, you know?

MALVEAUX: All right, James. Nice to see you again.

CARVILLE: You bet.

MALVEAUX: We'll see you in a bit.

We have more on the Democratic National Convention after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The president is taking some heat from both sides of the aisle for not achieving more bipartisanship in his first term, especially with the important campaign pledge back in 2008.

In an exclusive interview with our own Jessica Yellin, the president said that some nights, he could have been out patting backs, shaking hands, that kind of thing. He said he was working on some work/life balance. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sometimes, Michelle and I are not doing the circuit and going out to the dinners with folks is perceived as us being cool. It actually really has more to do with us being parents. When we are in town here in Washington, in the evenings, 6:30, we want to be at the dinner table with our kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Jessica Yellin also spoke with the president's closest advisers, most trusted friends.

Check out "Obama Revealed: The Man, The President", tonight at 8:00 Eastern, on CNN.

And there is no doubt that the economy, job, biggest challenges for the president and his campaign, Mitt Romney trying to give new life to a slogan that was made famous by Ronald Reagan back in the '80s.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This president can ask us to be patient. This president can tell us it was someone else's fault. This president can tell us that the next four years, he'll get it right. But this president cannot tell us that you're better off today than when he took office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It does be beg the question, however, if whether or not Americans really are better off than they were four years ago. When you look at it by the numbers, it says that there is a mixed picture.

I want to bring in Alison Kosik from New York to talk a little bit about this.

And, Alison, first of all, talk about the reaction to this question that people are saying are we better off than we were four years ago?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and when you hear the question, Suzanne, there are a lot of ways you can look at it. And you know what? The real answer really depends on lot of individual factors. And you know what? In the end, what it may come down to is actually how people feel about their own individual situation compared to the last election.

So we had producers go out across the country and ask that very question. Here are some of the answers they heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTIONER: Are you making more money now than you were four years ago?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I make about one-third of what I made four years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I'm making less money and the sad part is that I have a master's degree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, even like a corporate job right now doesn't pay what it was paying four or five years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm making the same amount of money and able to save a little bit, but same as before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four years ago struggle. Today, even more struggle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: So there you go. A lot of no's Suzanne on whether or not people are better off today than they were four years ago. A lot of people are saying, "Nope, we're not."

MALVEAUX: Alison, break down the numbers for unemployment, because that is one of the things that a lot of voters are looking at, whether or not that actually favors or hurts the president.

KOSIK: OK. So unemployment is actually higher than it was when President Obama took office in January of 2009. And, of course, we're hearing this on Romney's campaign trail. That is really what Romney has focused on.

The Obama campaign is going to be focusing on the fact that the unemployment rate is lower compared to the peak of more than 10 percent and the unemployment rate hit 10 percent in October of 2009. The Obama campaign is focusing on the fact that the economy has added jobs in the last 22 months in a row compared to losing over 800,000 jobs in the month that President Obama took office. So, you know, it can go both ways depending upon how you spin it. But if you're out of work, it certainly doesn't feel any better.

MALVEAUX: Alison, one of the things that people are looking at is whether or not they can afford their own homes, their mortgages. Home prices are stronger than before. How does that actually look in terms of the bigger economic picture?

KOSIK: So, housing, Suzanne, is actually a bright spot right now. You look at the median home price right now, it's higher than it was four years ago. Sales have been going up. Home builder confidence is rising.

The housing market, you have to remember, had the deepest hole to climb out of. It's really what got us into the situation, the economy meaning the situation that we are in. Record low mortgage rates are helping to get the housing market back on its feet.

But you have to also remember -- jobs and housing, they go hand in hand. Housing can't fully recover without having to have a strong recovery in the labor market -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Alison, tell us this week is very important and important for the president, important for Mitt Romney, because they are looking at a very strong economic indicator, talking about the Friday's jobs report that comes out.

What are we expecting?

KOSIK: Yes. So, just to put this into context -- the government jobs report comes out Friday and this is actually the last jobs report that's going to come out before the Fed heads into its policy meeting happening on September 12th and 13th. And the expectation is that the employers added 130,000 jobs in August. And yes, that's pretty good especially since it would be the second triple-digit gain in a row.

But considered this -- that's good, considered good in a normal economy. We're not in a normal economy. We really need more, and more jobs added because the recovery has been really bumpy, and the momentum in job creation hasn't kept up.

You look at how the second quarter did, between April through June. Those job additions almost stalled out. So you are not seeing the momentum of jobs really keeping up.

Now, even Fed Chief Ben Bernanke on Friday said that the labor market is a grave concern to the Feds. So, look, even if Friday's jobs report show shows that 130,000 jobs were added in August, there is a huge hole to fill, because at least 12 million people, Suzanne, are still out of work.

MALVEAUX: All right. Alison Kosik, thank you very much.

The stakes could not be higher, Democrats are now calling on Hollywood star power to help them get out the vote. We're going to talk to actor/painter/country music rocker Jeff Bridges about what he is doing at the DNC.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: End two wars --

MALVEAUX: Before the convention officially kicks off, there is the Carolinafest, and you're going to see it going on right now. It is Labor Day. So, of course, it's a chance to celebrate and honor American workers. There is also parade, lots of music, live performances from Janelle Monae, James Taylor, as well as some others.

And, of course, Jeff Bridges is going to be one of those performing at the Carolinafest later today. You may know him as the Academy Award-winning actor for his work in "Crazy Heart". But he is also an extremely accomplished musician.

And Bridges is at the DNC to promote No Kid Hungry campaign. He is the campaign's national spokesperson.

I want to bring in -- nice to the see you. both as well. Bill Shore is CEO of that organization.

You and I talk about this, about a year ago. You are now with the DNC. You were at the RNC. What's behind your campaign about?

JEFF BRIDGES, ACTOR: Well, No Kid Hungry is all about making -- feeding the kids in America, and, you know, the bad news is that we've got so many kids who are in need, from nearly 60 million, one in five kids are struggling with hunger in our country. And the good news is that it is a bipartisan issue, and historically it has been.

Going over to the Republican convention and just coming from there a couple of days ago. It was great to see that that, you know, the Governor McDonnell from Virginia, who is the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, he's on board. We got other Republican governors who are on board.

MALVEAUX: You are not taking a position either way, whether it's a Republican or as Democratic?

BRIDGES: No, it's not about that. It's about issue. And one of the things that's exciting about the campaign -- you know, I have been working on alleviating hunger for close to 30 years now, and this campaign is a little bit different in that we are going state to state and working with the governors and calling upon powerful people in those states to make ending childhood hunger in their state a priority and to deal with the unique aspects of nit their state.

MALVEAUX: What do you think of Michelle Obama, the first lady, and her drive to bring the issue of childhood obesity to the attention of people?

BRIDGES: Well, she is a real anti-hunger champion. And her organization is --

BILL SHORE, FOUNDER SHARE OUR STRENGTH: It's called "Let's Move." And we have been real allies together. She asked us to bring 200 chefs to the White House lawn to kick it off, which we did. And, of course, it started with President Obama as a candidate saying to make a commitment to end childhood hunger. And we've had incredible results since then.

But, you know, it's an issue that is not talked about much. Forty-six million Americans are living in poverty. Forty-six million Americans on food stamps. So, it's an opportunity to give some voice to this issue.

MALVEAUX: Now, Jeff, you played the voice of the president in "The Contender". What did you learn from the role and the bare knuckle politics from both sides?

BRIDGES: It's a tough gig, I'll tell you. Oh, man, it's tough.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Out here in the RNC and DNC, what's the feeling you get?

BRIDGES: It's tough. It is the only game we got, you know? And I've got to applaud the politicians for even -- for doing what they do, you know, because -- you know, I am a big admirer of James, you know, Carville.

MALVEAUX: Carville, yes, we had him on.

BRIDGES: And I was saying, what an example. He is married to Mary Matalin.

MALVEAUX: Republican.

BRIDGES: A conservative.

MALVEAUX: Yes.

BRIDGES: And that's a great example of -- for our country. You know, we are married to each other. We're in on this. How do -- how do we have a good marriage? How do we work on what we need to work on?

MALVEAUX: That is something that everybody wants to know, how do we have a good marriage. I have to ask you about this, because you co-starred with "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" with Clint Eastwood.

What did you think of the chair routine at the RNC?

BRIDGES: I didn't see Thunderbolt's performance, but I'm looking and I heard about it.

MALVEAUX: What did you think? Was that appropriate?

BRIDGES: I'm going to go and look at it, you know, when I go back to my room before I play today. I'm going to go check out Clint's performance. Bill Maher gave it a rave I here.

MALVEAUX: Do you think it is appropriate to pretend, because it is a --

BRIDGES: I didn't see it. I didn't see it.

(CROSSTALK)

BRIDGES: I had this vision of Obama doing a ventriloquist thing with a puppet of Clint and doing a rebuttal and I don't know if that will happen, but maybe that is where my mind went.

MALVEAUX: They might consider that at the DNC. Now, would you ever consider politics yourself as a dude? You're very popular.

BRIDGES: I don't know. I don't think -- I think I'm more of an issue man, you know?\

MALVEAUX: Issues aside from politics.

BRIDGES: Yes, I mean it's in the political aspects to it, and I'm an Obama supporter, I'm going to vote that way. But, as the, you know, as the dude says, everybody's got their opinion, you know. That's my opinion. Obama's the man.

MALVEAUX: All right. OK. Well, we have heard it here the endorsement and we will see how far that goes.

Thank you very much, Bill, and great to see you as always.

SHORE: Thank you, too, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And some are talking about some of the biggest stars in the DNC this week. In about 20 minutes or so, we're going to be talking to the governor of Massachusetts, Democrat Deval Patrick. Remember, he took the governor's office after Romney in 2007.

And then at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, Sandra Fluke is going to join us. She is the Georgetown law graduate who Rush Limbaugh called a slut, after she spoke in front of Congress about health care coverage for contraception. She is set to speak to the DNC about women's issues.

And looking ahead to Thursday, we're going to be joined by the DNC keynote speaker, Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

And on Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, he is going to be joining us also. He is the chairman of the convention, and he's going to gavel in the proceedings.

President Obama spending his Labor Day out in the campaign trail. He is talking with union workers out in Ohio today. We're going to bring that address live as soon as we can.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: North Carolina, one of a handful of states that could decide who wins the presidential election in November. Now Democrats, they're descending on the state for the convention, they hoping to swing it in President Obama's favor.

I want to bring in Dana Bash and the message they are hoping to convey. Dana always good to see you.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You, too.

MALVEAUX: The grill, isn't it great?

BASH: It's amazing it's the place to be. I have been here since 3:00 a.m.

MALVEAUX: I know, I know, you are fresh as a daisy. Now they're serving some food here.

What is the sense that you're getting, the folks that you're talking to here about the message here, because it seems that the Republicans are doing a pretty good job of asking the question, hammering the question, framing the debate -- are you better off than you were four years ago?

You know what is so amazing to me, Suzanne, and you know the Obama campaign advisers very well, because you have covered them four years ago that they didn't have an answer for it yesterday.

David Axelrod and David Plouffe, it is kind of when you're an incumbent it is kid of rudimentary question and has been since Ronald Reagan and they danced around it.

Now in fairness, it is a very difficult question to answer politically, because you want to say things are great, but do don't want too far to make people think they are out of touch.

That was problem one and then problem number two, of course, was the the normally very good communicator Martin O'Malley, the governor of Maryland who said no, and then he came here and starting point to clean it up and so did Brad Woodhouse and others fanning out saying the answer is absolutely we are better off.

So it is difficult for them, but you know what, get it out of the way for them I think they feel like, and then they're start for real tomorrow and then that will be forgotten.

MALVEAUX: Let's talk a little bit about what it looked like four years ago, because I remember walk into that huge stadium, that field and you had those Greek columns and we were all talking about those great columns --

BASH: Oh, yes, they're still talking about it.

MALVEAUX: Whoa, a little over the top --

BASH: Yes.

MALVEAUX: -- but clearly there was a lot of symbolism, there was a lot of hope, a lot optimism. This is a convention that's spending -- there is a lot of money, millions of dollars on this convention we know who the nominee is, I mean this is one of the times that they might have downplay and be a little bit more modest in their presentation in that nomination effort.

BASH: Well, exactly. Well the one thing that I do know and you do, too, is there won't be Greek columns this time. I think we can take that to the bank, but it is a difficult dance just like messaging is difficult in terms of how far to go when things are good or not good.

The same with the symbolism and how grand the scale and scope of this is given where we are right now given the reputation that the president has fair or unfair that the Republicans have built really since John McCain ran against him that he is this rock star celebrity and just like Mitt Romney said last week in his speech that what he -- that he promised the moon and the stars and the seas and whatever.

MALVEAUX: Fixing the planet.

BASH: Yes and he said, I want to help your family, so they got to balance the expectations and the sort of imagery of grandeur versus the reality that people facing now.

MALVEAUX: I asked James Carville this question, and really, there was this notion of like, so of RNC had Hurricane Isaac, here potentially hurricane Bill, as in Bill Clinton. What is the level of concern here that perhaps he might overshadow the president?

BASH: Well, you know this, because you have covered both of them for years, President Obama and President Clinton, I think that it's fascinating to me that the Obama campaign has turned to Bill Clinton after it was so, so tense and raw between the Clinton and Obama camps because of obviously his wife and he got very tough with Bill Clinton. I remember I watch you covering Bill Clinton over and over again and listening to some of the things that he said. I mean he was accused of being racist --

MALVEAUX: Right, right.

BASH: -- which is unheard of for the first black president. But look, the whole issue is the economy Obama campaign feels that the last best example of the Democrat who did very well with the economy was Bill Clinton, and it is true, so they want to take people back to the time when a Democratic president did bring the economy back.

MALVEAUX: All right, Dana, good to see you as always.

BASH: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: We're going to go directly to the president out of Toledo, Ohio.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: -- teachers of America and factory workers and construction workers and students and families and small business owners, and I know we got proud auto workers in the house helping to bring Toledo back.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

After all, it's working folks like you who fought for jobs and opportunity for generations of American workers. It's working people like you who helped to lay the cornerstones of middle-class security, things that people now sometimes take for granted, but weren't always there. The 40-hour work week, weekends, paid leave, pensions, the minimum wage, health care, Social Security, Medicare, those things happened, because working people organized and mobilized.

It is unions like yours that helped to forge the basic bargain of this country. The bargain that built the greatest middle class and the most prosperous country and the most prosperous economy that the world has ever known.

And you know what that bargain is, because it is a simple one, it is a bargain that says, if you work hard, if you're responsible, then your work should be rewarded.

If you put in enough effort, you should be able to find a job that pays the bills. You should afford a home to call your own. That you'll have health care you can count on if you get sick. That you can put away enough to retire, maybe take a vacation once in a while, nothing fancy. But you can enjoy your friends and your family and most importantly that you can provide your children with an education to make sure that they do even better than you did.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

It's an American promise that says no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter what your last name is, no matter who you love, you can make it here if you try.

And that's what we are fighting for, Toledo, that's what's at stake in this election, and that is why I'm running as a second term as president of the United States of America.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Now, last week, the other party gave their sales pitch at their convention down in Florida.

(CROWD BOOS)

Don't boo, vote. Vote.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) As I say, it was something to see. Despite all of the challenges that we face in this new century, we saw three straight days of an agenda out of the last century. It was a rerun. You might as well have watched it on black and white TV with some rabbit ears on there.

(CROWD CHEERS)

Should have been on Nick at Night.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Now, if you didn't DVR it, let me give you a basic recap of what they said. The economy is bad. It is all Obama's fault. And Governor Romney has the secret to creating jobs and growing the economy. That's a basic summary.

They spent the most time on me. They were talking about me. And there was a lot of hard truths and bold choices they said, but nobody ever bothered to tell you what they really were.

And when Governor Romney had his chance to let you in on the secret sauce of job creation, he did not offer you a single new idea. It was just a retread of the same old policies that have been sticking it the the middle-class for years. And then after the convention and governor Romney came here to Ohio, and he said he's going to be the coach that leads America to a winning season.

The problem is everybody's already seen his economic playbook. We know what's in it. On first down, he hikes taxes on by nearly $2,000 on the average family with kids in order to pay for a massive tax cut on multimillionaires. That is is on first down. Sounds like unnecessary roughness to me.

(CROWD CHEERS)

(END LIVE FEED)

MALVEAUX: Political candidate Mitt Romney once served as, of course, as the governor of Massachusetts. We're going to be talking to the man who currently holds that post, Governor Deval L. Patrick and talk to him about Romney's record in Boston and what it means for this race after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back. Live pictures from the Carolina Fest, this is Janelle Monae and she is performing, and a lot of people gathered there to obviously celebrate Labor Day, but also the DNC with a large crowd there, and taking a look and a listen there, and a lot of people just enjoying the day, it is a holiday after all.

By now, Mitt Romney's credentials of course everybody knows including the governor of Massachusetts, and during his time, he signed the state's health reform bill into law that happened in 2006. He left the governorship before it was enacted. Our next guest, however, the current governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick. He is the first democrat to serve after 16 consecutive years of Republican leaders. And he joins us now.

Deval, You and I go way back.

DEVAL PATRICK, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS: We do.

If my grandmother would look at us now.

MALVEAUX: Oh, I know, look at us now.

I want to ask you a couple of things here.

There is a poll, the latest CNN poll that shows, should, it asks the question, should Congress repeal all provisions of the health care law, right? This is the Obama Care; yes, 51%, no, 47%, and so why is it that despite the health care reform in your state that seems to be so successful that people don't believe in the president's health care reform?

PATRICK: You know, I have a sense of that. I'll tell you, we've had a over 98% insured today in Massachusetts and 99.8% of children -- I don't think any other state can touch that. It has added 1%, the expansion to the state spending, and there are more people getting preventive care today, and so we are healthier. It is very, very popular and it pulls in the 60% to 70% approval.

The national health care reform pass in Massachusetts about 50-50 and they are the same thing. And I think it has almost everything to do with how poorly the Affordable Health Care Act has been marketed. People don't understand it.

MALVEAUX: does that help or hurt Romney, because obviously he says that I'm behind my plan in Massachusetts, but he would repeal Obamacare.

PATRICK: Well, I, you know, governor Romney has always been a gentleman to me, he is a fine fellow, but you have the sense that if the Affordable Care Act were polling better nationally, he would wrap his arms around it, because the Massachusetts model is the model for national health care reform.

MALVEAUX: It suggests that he is being disingenuous, is it just that he's just being political?

PATRICK: Well, I think he has been political about it, frankly. We have a record, I think from Governor Romney's time in -- in office which is not quite consistent with the nation's storyline he's selling right now, but the one profoundly important he did, Suzanne, was health care reform which helped a lot of people and helped a lot of businesses. And I think there is really no doubt that if it were polling better, if national health reform were polling nationally, he would wrap his arms around it.

MALVEAUX: You know the man. You know him personally, you know him professionally, has he gotten a bad rap? Have people treated him fairly in terms of the presentation that the Democrats are making about who he is? PATRICK: In fairness I don't know him well. I know him well, I know him as a citizen when he was governor and I know him through the work we did in transition which was smooth.

I think that most people in Massachusetts, his home state will vote for president Obama at the end of the day because we do know Mitt Romney and we know that he was a governor who frankly at the time was more interested in having the job than actually doing it.

MALVEAUX: That quite a slam.

PATRICK: Well, that's the record. I mean, again, he's not a bad man. He had his eye on the job he's trying to get right now.

MALVEAUX: Why do you say that? Why do you say that?

PATRICK: That he's not a bad man?

MALVEAUX: No that he was more interest in --

PATRICK: Well, at the time that Governor Romney left office, we were 47th in the nation in job creation and a relative stronger economy, real wages were declining. We'd seen the largest per people cut in education in the whole country during that time. He left a structural deficit. There are a whole host of reforms that he talked about in state government that he didn't accomplish. We did in the last six years, but didn't accomplish --

As I say, there was one incredibly important thing that he did and that was health care reform, but he doesn't like to talk about it.

MALVEAUX: Let me ask you this, because four years ago you were very prominent on the campaign trail, you and I talked often and there were really some rising stars, there was yourself, Corey Booker, among others who people are paying a lot of attention to.

The president had a Democratic majority in the House and the Senate, the first two years he was in office. Are you satisfied in what he was able to accomplish? I mean why did -- why wasn't he able to get more done in those two years before he lost that majority to the house?

PATRICK: Well you know, it's interesting you say that.

First of all, I could take --

MALVEAUX: But you can talk about Republicans, you know, fighting him.

PATRICK: Yes.

MALVEAUX: He had support the first two years.

PATRICK: So this is a president who has added four and a half million jobs in the last two and a half years which is private sector jobs, which is more jobs that in eight years of George W. Bush, who has bright health care to every single American after 90 years of trying; who brought Osama Bin Laden to justice; who ended the war in Iraq; who saved the American auto industry -- the American finical industry for that matter.

MALVEAUX: But you still hear people talking about disappointment.

PATRICK: Well you know what? I think there's an old scripture from the New Testament, Romans I think, that says "hope does not disappoint."

Hope is fuel and there has been a concerted effort I think to tear this president down, to hold him back. It's very public, no that's not a spin, that's something that the hard right has talked about, the leadership of the Senate -- excuse me -- the Minority Leader in the Senate has talked about it. There have been meetings about how to make sure his president's agenda has been frustrated.

I think the fact that he has accomplished as much as he has with the political and economic headwinds is an enormously positive thing and I think he's running for a second term because he and we know that there's more work to be done.

MALVEAUX: All right, Deval, I have to leave it there but any ambitions beyond your own term as Governor?

PATRICK: Who me?

MALVEAUX: Yes.

PATRICK: I'm going to finish this term which is my second term and not something Massachusetts governors have often done and then I'm going to go back into the private sector and I'm looking forward to that.

MALVEAUX: We'll hold you to that, we'll keep asking, we'll keep hounding you.

PATRICK: Well you do.

MALVEAUX: All right, good to see you as always.

PATRICK: Good to be with you.

MALVEAUX: Always been.

Now what are the main goals of the war and that is to train Afghan Forces, essentially to fight for themselves? So why are American troops suddenly shutting down the training program in Afghanistan?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It's a setback in the war in Afghanistan. For now, the U.S. has stopped training local Afghan police forces. The U.S. and its allies, they've been training the Afghan military and police so they could gradually take over the security of the country by the end of 2014. Well, late last year, I actually got a firsthand look at how this is done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Their pay has been doubled. They are being taught to read and write and have pride in their work. Afghan police recruit Hesa Mudin Asizi is ashamed of the police's behavior.

HESA MUDIN ASIZI (through translator): Some police use their power to abuse people, but I urge them to stop, to be honest and help people.

MALVEAUX: The reason why these guys are so important to the future of this country is because they represent the face of a new authority. Insurgents target the police, hoping to put fear in the hearts of the Afghan people and undermine the Afghan government. The international coalition here believes supporting the Afghan police is key to bringing down the terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: But in last year, members of the Afghan security troops or insurgents disguised as Afghan police have now killed more than 40 NATO troops. Authorities are now redoing background checks on local police forces and they're re-interviewing candidates. There's no word yet on how long the suspension of this training is going to take place.

And if the election were held on Twitter, President Obama, he would have a huge advantage over Mitt Romney. We're going to take a look at how the candidates stack up when it comes to social media.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Twitter has become a very important campaign tool for the election. Well, over the weekend, Romney's team got 1 million Twitter follower. That is right. Romney and his team tweeted out pieces of his speech during the RNC, which followers were able to retweet to their followers. Well, here's one of Romney's tweets. He says, quote, "our economy runs on freedom, not government. It's time we put our faith back this the American people."

It was retweeted, right, by 4,900 people. Romney has had to make sure to point out that his followers were active after some high profile figures, including the GOP presidential nominee, had been accused of beefing up their follower list with fake names purchased from follower agencies. Romney's campaign, however, they deny buying any inauthentic names. But when President Obama tweeted a response to Clint Eastwood's empty chair, which simply states, "this seat is taken," it dominated the RNC twitter coverage with over 50,000 retweets.

And you can tweet me, too, follow me as we. We are fully engaged at Twitter @SuzanneMalveaux.

We're going to have more live coverage from the Democratic National Convention when NEWSROOM continues after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)