Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Romney Hammers Obama On Economy; No Bail For Anti-Islam Filmmaker; NASA Says Mars Had Rivers; Black Women Struggle With Weight; Obama, Netanyahu Talk By Phone; Polls Reflect Battle for Key Swing States; Economy, Abortion, Social Security Hot Topics in White House Race; Romney Talks to Netanyahu on Phone; Obama versus Romney on Iran.
Aired September 28, 2012 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Suzanne Malveaux. This hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, Mitt Romney's campaign says the president likely will win the debate next week and he tells us why.
Also, new pictures from the Mars rover show water flowed on the red planet in a big way. Plus, a group of runners hit the road to fight the obesity statistics among black women. We road along with them and decided to take a look. Let's get right to it.
Mitt Romney raising cash and rallying his supporters with 39 days to go until the presidential election. Both Romney and Mitt Romney speaking at fundraisers today. Now, Romney held one earlier in Philadelphia. The president has got later in Washington. At a campaign rally last hour at a military academy in Pennsylvania, Romney hammered away at the president over the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have to tell you that I don't know how a single person who goes to this institution could consider voting for the incumbent for president. And I say that for this reason, if they want to go in the military, why, he is planning on cutting our military by about a trillion over the next decade. And if they want to go on to either get a job directly or go on to a four-year college and come out with a degree, why, you know that 50 percent of kids coming out of college today, they can't find a job or a college level job. So, on both fronts, this president's policies have not worked for the young people of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The economy, of course, is going to be front and center when Romney and President Obama meet for their first debate, that's happening on Wednesday. The Romney team is downplaying expectations. Romney advisor Beth Myers distributes this memo explaining why the president is probably going to do better. She says that President Obama is one of the most talented political communicators in modern history. This will be his eighth one-on-one presidential debate and Romney's first. The president will use his ample rhetorical gifts to attack Romney. And Obama won the debates against John McCain if 2008 by double digits. So, it is not just the Romney team that is trying to lower expectations. Check out what Obama's senior campaign advisor Robert Gibbs said recently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Look, Mitt Romney, I think, has an advantage because he has been through 20 of these debates in the primaries over the last year. He even bragged that he was declared the winner in 16 of those debates. So, I think, in that sense, having been through this much more recently than President Obama, I think he starts with an advantage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our Jim Acosta, he's covering the Romney campaign in Wayne, Indiana. And, Jim, I'm tired of the false flattery really. I mean, do people really buy this?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I don't think anybody buys it, Suzanne, but, you know, campaign aides are going to do that, and they're going to keep doing it as long as we have elections in this is country. I had a chance to talk to senior Romney advisor, Kevin Madden, earlier this week, and he compared President Obama to Cy Young, the pitching great from major league baseball, you know, they hand out the Cy Young Award every year to the best pitcher in baseball. There's a Washington national that might win that this time around, Gio Gonzalez. But, you know, it's one of those -- it's one of those comments where you are sort of like, come on, guys, give me a break.
MALVEAUX: Yes, really. Really.
ACOSTA: But they are going to do that because -- they are going to do it because, you know, these debates are so high stakes. I think David Georgean last night tweeted out that this could be a make or break debate for Mitt Romney. So, obviously, it's in the Romney campaign's interest to lower expectations somewhat, so we'll have to give them a pass for that. But just a few moments ago, Mitt Romney wrapped up his event here in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Suzanne, and it's sort of fitting that Romney came here. His campaign has sort of been battered and bruised lately, but, you know, Republicans can take heart that -- if history is any guide, that Washington was able to survive with his forces and go on to win the Revolutionary War. But he did sort of strike some military themes here at Valley Forge, talking about Mitt Romney, of course. He is trying to make the case --
MALVEAUX: Right.
ACOSTA: -- that the best defense is a better economy tying national security to the economy. But one very interesting thing that happened here, Suzanne, Mitt Romney at the very end of this speech here said he is going to win Pennsylvania. He said that earlier this morning at a fund raiser. He said it, again, he is going to win Pennsylvania. The polls -- our latest CNN poll of polls, Suzanne, shows Mitt Romney down by 10 points here. It would be a very tough uphill climb for him to win this state. MALVEAUX: Right. And, Jim, --
ACOSTA: I think it's in the Romney's campaign interest to expand the map, and I think that's what they are trying to do.
MALVEAUX: John McCain didn't win Pennsylvania last go round either. Has the state changed in any significant way when they take a look at the demographics and they get some sort of confidence -- some optimism or confidence from that?
ACOSTA: Well, you know, Pat Toomey, the Pennsylvania Senate Republican, was up on stage introducing Mitt Romney. And you recall just two years ago in the midterms, he was able to win this state, even though he had some fairly conservative Tea Party credentials. He was ahead of the club for growth at one time, and so this is a state that has been trending a little more Republican in recent years. They have a Republican governor now replacing the outgoing Democratic Governor Ed Rendell, and so I think the Romney campaign senses an opportunity here.
But, obviously, you have to put advertising dollars in. You have to back up that talk of predicting a win in Pennsylvania with advertising dollars, so far, we don't know that the Romney campaign has done that. I asked a Romney aide, well, do you have any plans to do that? He said that's for us to know and for the Obama campaign to worry about. So, perhaps setting some expectations here in Pennsylvania as well -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right, Jim, thank you very much.
I want to you stick around, just get started with politics. At the half hour, we're going to see the latest numbers on the economy, how it's playing out for both of these candidates. We're also going to take a look at how high the stakes are for Mitt Romney in Wednesday night's debate as his team, of course, is trying to lower expectations. And we're going to tell you what your favorite brand of beer says about your politics. All that and more coming up in about 30 minutes or so. President Obama, Mitt Romney face-to-face as American voters weighing their choice. The first presidential debate Wednesday night. You got to watch that live 7:00 Eastern, CNN and CNN.com.
The man believed to be behind the fictitious anti-Islam film that set off a wave of protests in the Muslim world, apparently he has a long list of fake names, and that is what is keeping Nikoula Bassely Nikoula in a federal lock up today. He has been held without bail after his arrest in California for violating his probations. Now, according to court documents, he has used at least 17 phony names, couldn't even decided which name to tell the judge in yesterday's bail hearing. Well, CNN's Cyung Lah, she is in Los Angeles, and she's got some information. And, of course, let's be clear here, he is being taken into custody. It doesn't have anything necessarily to do with the film, is that right?
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Technically. That's the important word here, Suzanne. Technically he is not. He is being taken in for violations of his federal probation. His probation violations, essentially. When he was arrested and detained for a year for that 2010 bank fraud conviction, basically, the terms of his probation were you can't use any fictitious names. No false identities. Well, the prosecution says that they -- as you've mentioned, they have some 17 names that he has been working under, and also that he isn't supposed to use the computer without notification of the court -- without letting the court know.
And certainly, if it's proven that he is connected to this Internet film in some way, he probably used the computer at least to upload it to YouTube. So, he has been held ordered without bail. He is in a federal lockup this morning today here in Los Angeles. And something I found quite interesting, you mentioned that court hearing, Suzanne. When the judge said, so, what is your name? He said, Mark Bassely Auseth . And the judge said, what did you say? And he said Mark Bassely. So, even in that hearing, he wasn't quite sure what name he wanted to use.
MALVEAUX: He was confused. Seventeen names, he was confused. His attorney says that he believes that his safety could be at risk. Why?
LAH: The reason why is that, according to his attorney, you think about all of this anger that's been inflamed around the world because of this film. And what his attorney says is in the federal prison, where they're looking at a population with a significantly large Muslim background, and so that's why he says that he believes that putting his client in that federal lockup could pose a risk for his own safety. But the prosecution saying that he's just going to be kept separate from the general population, and the judge eventually siding with the prosecution.
MALVEAUX: All right, Kyung Lah, thank you.
Here's what we're working on for this hour.
(voice-over): An exciting new find on Mars. The Martian rover finds proof that water once flowed in a big way on the red planet.
And just 38 days to go until the election. National polls show President Obama ahead by at least five points. I'll talk to some great minds about what needs to happen in the next seven weeks for both the president and the man who wants his job.
And a startling statistic, four out of five black women in America are either overweight or obese, but this group is bucking the trend. They're called black girls run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's about defeating the statistics that are saying that, you know what, we're dying because of obesity and diabetes and heart disease.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: High-tech rover on Mars just keeps blowing our minds with what it's actually finding there. I want you are to check out these brand new pictures from Mars. See the jagged rock with the circle around in t? Scientists say you are looking at evidence that rivers and streams once flowed across the surface of Mars. So, let's bring in Chad, because you're, like, an expert on Earth weather but also on and Mars weather too, I think. What does this mean?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It means that the rocks or stones that were in this will be now known as a river bed rolled and became round. You can't get round stones unless you have some type of erosion. A rock will want to shatter and break and be hard on the ends, be like a cube. But this -- and these rocks have rolled over time and the rolling has rounded them off and that now we know as proof that there was water on Mars. And not -- this is the big story. We've always pretty much known there was, at some point in time, water. But not this much. Not this much. There goes the rover walking around. But not this much.
I want to take you to the proof -- the proof is in the pictures really. This is Earth, and this is what happens when you get rocks rolling down a hill in an ancient stream bed. The rocks are round. That's Earth. On this side, here's Mars. They look exactly the same. They are rounded off at the corners. They are not just jagged rocks. That means water pushed the rocks down the river, down the hill and rolled them away. They think -- now, OK. Wind could have done this, but these rocks are too big. These could not have been blown by the wind. This is -- and look, they even found people on Mars. No, I'm kidding.
MALVEAUX: We were waiting for the Martians. They're here.
MYERS: This is chilly. This is down in the Atacama Desert, where we know there has been water in the past but right now it's just completely dried up. That's what the rocks look like. If you take a look, the rocks look exactly the same on Mars. Rolled down hill, made round, so, therefore, part of a bottom of a stream bed. There may even be gold in some of these hills.
MALVEAUX: Do we think there could be plants and animals, that it was green as well?
MYERS: Well, it takes more than just water to get green, you know, to get green. You need photosynthesis. You need oxygen and carbon dioxide, and the atmosphere on Mars is only like 1/100th of what the earth's atmosphere is. So, maybe green, maybe just something different than what we were used to. You know, this could have been -- this water could be three billion years gone, so if there are trees there, they would be completely dust in the wind by now. This is going to take some time before we find something that may have been living, I think.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
MALVEAUX: The statistics are alarming. Four out of every five black women in America are either overweight or obese. But these women, they're doing something about it. I got a chance to run with the ladies from Black Girls Run, here how much weight they've lost and the confidence that they're gains. See how much weight they've lost and the confidence that they've gained.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Obesity is a big problem in this country. It's hitting African-American women especially hard. Now, these are alarming statistics. Four out of five black women are considered overweight or obese. I want to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta to talk a little bit about this and the context of these figures here.
When I heard this, 80 percent, I really didn't believe it. I didn't think that it could be that high or was that high. Is it overstated? Has it really gotten to that point?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the Centers for Disease Control, they look at data over, you know, periods of time, over several years, and you got to keep it in mind of the context of where we are in this country overall. I mean right now, if you take all comers, adults, three out of five, 60 percent, are either overweight or obese. In the African-American population, they've been hit harder. And if you look at women specifically, African-American women, they're about 70 percent more likely to be overweight or obese as compared to, you know, white or Hispanic women. So it's pretty significant.
MALVEAUX: Why do we see this disparity? Is it about diet? Is it about exercise? What do we attribute this to?
GUPTA: You know, it's a lot of the things that we have talked about certainly with regard to health care overall. This is important. You know, just access to health care. Diet's very important because of access to healthy foods.
And it's remarkable, you have these things that are called food deserts in many places around the country where you simply cannot buy healthy foods. And, you know, we've talked about this for so long, Suzanne. What's quite striking to me is now we're seeing the repercussions of this. We know that people, for example, who don't have access to those sorts of things are more likely to have significant problems. I mean you can take a look there. I mean these are shocking things. Two times more likely to die from heart disease or stroke. More likely to die -- develop and die from cancer.
But it's also things like exercise. Being able to have places where you can exercise and getting the advice on how to do these things. How to eat right. How to exercise.
Here's the good news in all this, if there is some good news, is that what you're doing and what I try and do as well, is educate people. It makes a difference. We now have data on that specifically saying, you know, just how much of an impact does it make? Take a look at this. Spend a minute just looking at this full screen. If people are provided exercise advice, look how the numbers change among the African-American, 54.7, lower than the white population, 57.8. Simply by getting some of this -- some of this education on exercise.
Nutrition. You've asked about that in the past. We've talked about it. Again, the number's lower. So we know as well that that education makes a huge difference.
MALVEAUX: I want to bring in as well a group of amazing women that I met. This is --
GUPTA: We've been talking about this all week.
MALVEAUX: Oh, yes. This is my favorite segment.
So I met a group of enthusiastic women and they are tackling the obesity problem. They are basically putting on their running shoes. They are putting it on the pavement. This is an organization that's called Black Girls Run. We ran with them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Whether you lead the pack or you come in dead last, everyone is celebrated.
ADRIENNE WHITE, BLACK GIRLS RUN LEAD AMBASSADOR: It really is about friendship, sisterhood. We're not going to leave any woman behind. And so we have this cheer tunnel, and it's so incredible. The energy is amazing.
JANELLE SUMPTER, BLACK GIRLS RUN PARTICIPANT: They would wait for me at the end. And I was, like, wait for me at the end? You mean they would actually be there? And so I tried it and went out and they were there clapping for me, applauding for me. And I was just like, this is really good.
MALVEAUX: This is Black Girls Run. Women taking charge of their own health.
SUMPTER: Had gotten up to 241 pounds. And the biggest I had ever been. And my kids were in college. I had just got them into college. And it was time for me to concentrate on myself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a stage four colon cancer survivor. And it was a way for me just to incorporate some additional exercise in my routine after I got finished through chemo. But it's about me just showing cancer you can't kick my butt, I'm going to kick your butt.
MALVEAUX (on camera): You are clearly kicking some butt here.
WHITE: Black girls run. That simple. And then on the back we've got --
MALVEAUX: Preserve the sexy. WHITE: Preserve the sexy. And when you think about the word sexy, it really is about confidence. And that's the key thing that I've seen gained in so many women through their commitment with BGR.
Good job, ladies.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): This is just a practice run. Eighty-five women come out to participate. The big event is the national 10k in Atlanta.
MALVEAUX (on camera): Thirty-three hundred women gathered from across the country all here and it's not even 7:00 in the morning. It is still dark. But they are out here to show that Black Girls Run.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Ashley Hicks started the group with a friend three years ago. What started as a blog has now grown into a movement.
ASHLEY HICKS, FOUNDER: You know, we created these groups on FaceBook, and they're running all over the country. I never really get to see them in person. So this is like, wow. It's real. It's not about just the weight. It's about the quality of life. It's about defeating the statistics that are saying that, you know what, we're dying because of obesity and diabetes and heart disease and all these other things, and really just taking that back.
OCTAVIA MANUEL-WRIGHT, BLACK GIRLS RUN PARTICIPANT: My personal story, I always talk about my mom who was 49 years old when she had a stroke. She was 54 years old when she died from a heart attack. And my family is just plagued with heart disease and hyper tension. So I'm just trying to beat, you know what I'm saying, just beat the odds with that.
MALVEAUX (on camera): Running for your mom?
MANUEL-WRIGHT: Running for my mom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Joining us, Janelle Sumpter, who lost more than 80 pounds running with Black Girls Run, Adrienne White, who leads a group of runners every Tuesday night.
It's good to see you again.
SUMPTER: Good to see you too.
WHITE: Good to see you.
MALVEAUX: That was a tough race. That 10k, that hill --
SUMPTER: Those hills.
WHITE: Oh, yes.
MALVEAUX: That was no joke. WHITE: That's all you can (INAUDIBLE).
MALVEAUX: Thank you. Yes, you saw me sweating there a little bit.
SUMPTER: Yes.
MALVEAUX: I'm going to start off with you, Janelle, because we've talked a lot about this and you lost more than 80 pounds.
SUMPTER: Yes.
MALVEAUX: It's really extraordinary. One of the things that a lot of people have said was that they put themselves last. Everybody else comes first.
SUMPTER: And they do.
MALVEAUX: And, you know, and you really had to change your mindset. How did you do that?
SUMPTER: Well, once I got my children into college, it was time for me to focus on me. And getting out, running, and just concentrating on what I eat and it was just so important to me to just get it together. I've given them all I could give and I wanted to be around for their children. And so I wanted to take back my life. So I --
MALVEAUX: Now, Adrienne, you talked a lot about confidence. I mean, so many people, when we were together and they said, I never thought I'd be that person, that I could be that person who was out there. How have you seen people change?
WHITE: Janelle is an excellent example of a woman who has transformed. I mean, when I met her, she had 80 more pounds on her. And now, I mean, she's phenomenal. Another woman I met, she, on her first run, she said, hi, my name is Kim. And now, when I see her, she's, like, hello, my name is Kim. And you can't -- you can't stop her. She's phenomenal. So I've seen that in so many women.
MALVEAUX: And some of the things we talked about too, and I don't even think people even realize, there are issues, right, to exercise. I mean we talked about our hair, sweating out of your hair.
SUMPTER: Right. Right, right.
MALVEAUX: I mean there are all kinds of things that you can give tips to people to say, look, you know what, it's important to be out there. And the outfits too. What does that mean?
WHITE: Well, the outfits kind of unify us across the nation. So it doesn't matter where we are. Like I know several of my girlfriends, they're traveling to do half marathons. And if they wear the shirt, they'll see another woman from a totally different state that they've never met and they have an instant connection.
SUMPTER: Right. Right. MALVEAUX: OK. And, finally, one of the things, it's Black Girls Run, but when I was out there, I saw some men out there. I saw white women. I saw a lot of people who were out there.
WHITE: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Is this -- it's something that's open?
SUMPTER: It's bring the community together. And I think that's the biggest thing that I enjoy about black girls run, it brings people that have something in common together. And it's being healthy. And so it has turned into a wonderful outlet for me.
MALVEAUX: All right. Well, I enjoyed it tremendously. I'm going to hit the trail every Tuesday as you guys --
WHITE: We do. Everybody (INAUDIBLE) station , yes.
MALVEAUX: Every Tuesday you're out there. All right.
WHITE: I'd love to see you.
MALVEAUX: Thanks again. Appreciate it.
SUMPTER: Great.
WHITE: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: We're going to go to a quick break after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Getting down to crunch time, of course, in the presidential race. We are revving it up to bring you the latest in political news. Take a look at the calendar here. The election just 39 days away, but early voting already underway in several states, including the battleground state of Iowa. We're just five days from the first presidential debate of the campaign. President Obama, Mitt Romney, meeting face-to-face next Wednesday. You can see it here live on CNN, of course.
And we want to also bring in, President Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu, we are learning, just have wrapped up a conversation on the phone. CNN just got a photo of the president on the phone in the Oval Office. Dan Lothian, he is joining us from the White House with details.
What do we know about this call, Dan?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you pointed out, the White House releasing that photo of that phone call. The president making that phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A senior administration official telling me that that phone call lasted a little bit more than 20 minutes. A read-out was provided to us -- a short read-out of what the two leaders discussed. This White House saying that, quote, "the president reaffirmed his and our country's unshakeable commitment to Israel's security." It went on to say that they discussed a number of -- a range of security issues. And that they also came to some agreement of this goal, this shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And then ending the statement by saying that both leaders agreed to continue their consultations on this issue.
As you know, Suzanne, the White House has been criticized for the president not sitting down and meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu face- to-face while they were in New York. They were not there at the same time, and the White House saying that it was a scheduling issue. But others brought up the point that there could have been a meeting here at the White House. That did not happen. The White House had been pushing back, saying that the two leaders are always talking to each other, constantly in communication, trying to brush aside that there was any issue here that they did not sit down face-to-face -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Dan, what was the reaction, the response, to Netanyahu's presentation when he actually had that drawing of the -- almost looked like a cartoon of the bomb and the red line?
LOTHIAN: That's right. Essentially, sort of laying out his timeline as to what he believes that Iran would be able to have -- be at a stage of having a nuclear weapon. The White House not reacting. In fact, I did reach out to a senior administration official to get direct reaction to that. Not reacting at all.
But, as you know, what they have said sort of generally is that the United States, and the president in particular, shares that same goal as Benjamin Netanyahu does of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And so that's sort of the official word coming from the White House to the remarks made by the prime minister yesterday.
MALVEAUX: All right. Dan Lothian. Thanks, Dan. Good to see you, as always.
Just a handful of swing states could decide who is going to win the presidential race. Polls showing President Obama with a slight edge in several of those swing states. Romney neck and neck in some others.
I want to bring in our political editor, Paul Steinhauser.
Paul, first of all, we've got poll numbers, and it looks like some of these swing states are very much still in play. Some not so much. What do we know?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. You know, let's not talk about Ohio and Florida because we've talked about them so much in the last couple of days. Let's talk about the other swing states, Suzanne.
A brand new poll out in Virginia has the president up by just two points. Take a look at that. We factored into a CNN poll of polls. This averages all the most recent polls in Virginia. We have it at 49 percent for Obama, 49 percent for Romney. So it's a pretty close call -- a close contest in Virginia. 13 electoral votes at stake there. Of course, the president won Virginia four years ago, the first Democrat to do that since 1964.
How about New Hampshire? American Research Group out with a new poll in New Hampshire. Take a look at this -- 50 percent for the president, 45 percent for Mitt Romney. This is among likely voters.
Let's move on to North Carolina. Last night, NBC, Marist and the "Wall Street Journal" coming out with a poll. Another state that was traditionally Republican, but the president won four years ago. Very close contest there -- 48 percent for the president, 46 percent for Mitt Romney.
Finally, go to Nevada. A new poll out there yesterday. We average out into our CNN poll of polls. Three polls out in Nevada over the last two weeks. Again, a very close contest -- 49 percent for the president, 46 percent for Mitt Romney among likely voters.
Suzanne, we always say this. Polls are a snapshot of how people feel right now. As you said, we have 39 days until the election. We have those debates coming up. The needle could definitely move.
MALVEAUX: Yes, absolutely. Talk about the debates coming up. You have five days before the first debate. Of course, they're going to talk about domestic policy here. You know, Paul, every time --
(LAUGHTER)
I mean, they do this, this lowering expectation game here, this false flattery of the other guy. Oh, is he going to do better than I'm going to do.
(LAUGHTER)
Do they really think that's going to be adequate here? I mean, I imagine there's a lot of really serious debate going on behind the scenes.
STEINHAUSER: A lot of serious debate prep, and both candidates will be doing that this weekend. Both campaigns and the candidates themselves are trying to lower expectations.
Take a listen to Mitt Romney on the campaign trail the last few days.
MALVEAUX: All right, Paul, thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, he is president of the United States. He is a very effective speaker.
Now, he is a very eloquent speaker. And so, I'm sure, in the debates, as last time in his debates with Senator McCain, he will be very eloquent.
(END VIDEO CLIP) STEINHAUSER: There you go, Suzanne, lowering the bar. That's what they're trying to do, lowering the bar. Do Americans really pay attention to this? I don't know. But both campaigns are trying to lower the bar. The Obama campaign saying, guess what, Mitt Romney debated 20 times during the primaries. He is going to be the better of the two. We'll see who wins when the debates actually happen.
MALVEAUX: All right. We'll be watching.
Thanks, Paul.
The economy, abortion, Social Security all taking center stage this week in the race for the White House. We're going to debate the issues with the strategist, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: 39 days and counting until the presidential election. Just five days until the first presidential debate. President Obama, Mitt Romney meeting face-to-face next Wednesday to focus, of course. Domestic issues and the economy, front and center.
I want to bring in my favorite strategists, Republican strategist, Ana Navarro; and Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona, both CNN contributors.
Good to see you.
(CROSSTALK)
MALVEAUX: Last time, I guess, was the DNC. The party continues.
(LAUGHTER)
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST & CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Always.
MALVEAUX: Yes, we're talking about the economy here. And, of course, we've seen Mitt Romney in the last couple of days really try to put the focus back on the economy. And here's how he reacted. Here's what he said after you had the domestic -- the gross domestic product, the GDP, actually revised down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Look at the numbers that just came out and the growth of our economy -- 1.3 percent versus Russia at 4 percent, China at 7 percent to 8 percent. We're at 1.3 percent. This is unacceptable. It is not working.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: I want to bring in -- Ana, I want you to tackle this one first here because he is talking about how the growth has not really been what is expected, but then we've got some good economic numbers that we're working with as well, some of the numbers that actually showed that he created jobs during his time in office. How does that weigh? How do you balance those two?
ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, I think Mitt Romney is right in what he is saying. When you take a look at even what some of President Obama's economic advisors have said in the past, they've warned that a GDP of lower than 2 percent -- of lower than 2 was not going to be effective and would mean very bad news. Coupled with things that could be happening in Europe -- and we've been seeing the video of what's been happening in Europe and what's going on in places like Spain that's very concerning.
Now, that being said, Suzanne, I just don't think Mitt Romney is cutting through. He is not somehow making the sale. He is not delivering the message strong enough. I would like to see him do a very presidential-looking address on the economy, on his plan. Go large, as he is being prompted to do by so many other Republicans. You know, give us big, bold ideas and solutions.
I don't think this message is cutting through in these very similar looking campaign event that are going on day after day.
MALVEAUX: Maria, it looks like Ana is helping you out a little bit here. I mean, you've got the polls that are --
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: She's a smart woman.
LAUGHTER)
(MALVEAUX: They seem to be moving in President Obama's column, some of the very important swing states. Is there a risk here now of this campaign being a little bit overconfident, a little cocky here just before the first presidential debate?
CARDONA: I'm not so concerned about the campaign being cocky because they understand, in order to continue on this trajectory to be able to get the president re-elected, they have to act like they are running five to 10 points behind, and that's exactly what they're doing.
I am a little worried about other Democrats out there and our base who are seeing these polls, which I happen to believe are also closer than what we are seeing, and they become then complacent. Because what we need now more than ever is for all Democrats to come out and, frankly, all Independents who are not happy. And, frankly, I agree with Ana that Mitt Romney's economic message is not getting through. And, frankly, the one that if it is getting through, Americans aren't buying it. We need to get them to come out and vote. I think that's the danger as opposed to the campaign being complacent.
MALVEAUX: Ana, one of the things that's happening today -- it's interesting really. I mean, you have President Obama on the phone with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. You have Mitt Romney who is also going to be on the phone with him as well because they have a personal relationship that dates become to the 1970s or so. Do you think that's appropriate to have the presidential candidate making these phone calls to world leaders? I mean, it really looks like is he trying to upstage the president at this point.
NAVARRO: Well, you know, we're talking about Netanyahu. We're talking about Israel. We're talking about an issue that is front and center right now. And also it's an issue that's very politically expedient right now. As you know, Suzanne, I live in Florida, and we are actually seeing ads on the air right now that feature Netanyahu, and some of Netanyahu's speeches. I think that what -- when you see the back and forth, this telenovella that's playing out between Bebe Netanyahu and President Obama of, "You know, he snubbed me. No, it wasn't a snub. Well, I'm now going to go call you. I didn't have time to see you."
(LAUGHTER)
It's a very strange back-and-forth dance going on between them. You can see, I think, through it that there is a very cool relationship between the two, and that Netanyahu would not be very sad to see Mitt Romney in the White House.
MALVEAUX: We just got word actually that they're on the phone as we speak. Mitt Romney talking to Benjamin Netanyahu. A telenovella. Wow.
Maria, you want to respond to that?
CARDONA: Well, here's what I'll say. Look, there has been a lot of hoopla around, you know, what has been done, what meetings the president is having, what meetings he isn't having. But I got to tell you, Suzanne, from the standpoint of having been in some of these bilateral meetings, the pomp and circumstance that surrounds those kinds of meetings, especially at places like the U.N., nothing of substance gets done. I actually prefer that our president is on the phone with Prime Minister Netanyahu today. He was on the phone for an hour last week. He has been on the phone with other leaders from the Middle East constantly throughout all of the chaos that is happening. That is much more important from a substantive standpoint than from any sort of perception standpoint of who he met or who he didn't meet.
MALVEAUX: All right --
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: And we also saw the prime minister walk back his criticism.
MALVEAUX: We got to leave it there.
Ana, Maria, good to see you both.
CARDONA: Yes, thanks so much.
NAVARRO: It would be great if he were meeting with the ladies of "The View" instead of meeting with Netanyahu.
CARDONA: Hey, he --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: That's my personal preference.
(CROSSTALK)
MALVEAUX: All right. We'll
(CROSSTALK)
MALVEAUX: We'll continue this --
(CROSSTALK)
MALVEAUX: We'll continue this conversation another time.
We have to take a quick break.
CARDONA: Thanks, Suzanne.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Early in the race, the pundits said the presidential race would be about the economy. Lately, foreign policy has also been a priority. Now President Obama has talked on the phone today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And we understand that Mitt Romney just spoke with him by phone moments ago.
We got surrogates from both campaigns to talk about this.
First up, of course, Jen Psaki, a traveling press secretary for the Obama campaign.
Jen, first of all, there was some criticism -- hi. Good to see you.
JENNIFER PSAKI, TRAVELING PRESS SECRETARY FOR OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: There was criticism, back and forth, about -- one of our analysts said it was a telenovella, this drama between the president and Netanyahu over whether or not they should see each other face-to-face, around the United Nations meetings, these kinds of things. They have now spoken. Does this put this to rest?
PSAKI: Well, Suzanne, they also spoke for about an hour about two weeks ago, and they are in consistent contact, as are members of the president's national security team, and Secretary Hillary Clinton. You know, the president has focused on governing, restoring our place in the world, focusing on what needs to be done in these areas. And Mitt Romney seems to be focused on politicizing, inappropriately at many times, these global issues. There's a real difference.
MALVEAUX: How do you respond to some folks who look at this, the way this is played out, and make the case that the president was kind of drawn into this kind of political back and forth with Netanyahu? Was that really an important part of the president coming forward and saying, look -- demonstrating to the American people that he is on top of what is going on in Israel, that they're on the same page?
PSAKI: Our relationship is Israel is absolutely important. The president is the first person to say that. That's why they speak consistently. You heard Prime Minister Netanyahu say a week or so ago that he doesn't have any desire to get involved in American politics. You know, he knows the president is absolutely committed to making sure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, and we're focused on that every single day. So I don't think there's any -- I think there's been a lot of talk about this, but the reality is, this is a focus of the president, this is a focus of his team, and the Jewish community in this country knows that.
MALVEAUX: Was there any sense from the campaign that -- when we see these pictures of the Israeli prime minister before all these world leaders with this kind of cartoonish look at this bomb, talking about Iran, that he was raising the stakes here, raising the level of visibility, and even the point, bringing up the controversy between these two, by going forward and being so dramatic in this way, did that help the president at all?
PSAKI: The president has been absolutely clear that he will not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon and all options are on the table. They have a real governing decision. They have a real diplomatic relationship. This is not a political issue to the president. This is something he has been focused on since the first day he took office. Unlike Mitt Romney, who has, every time he has dipped his toe into foreign policy waters, has -- it's been an unmitigated disaster. And I think that's what the American people are really looking at. Who is prepared to be commander in chief? Who has shown leadership in the world? Who has delivered on their promises?
MALVEAUX: All right.
PSAKI: You know, we'll put the president's record up against Mitt Romney's any day of the week?
MALVEAUX: We'll be watching that on Wednesday.
Jen Psaki, good to see you. Thank you.
PSAKI: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: We've heard the Obama-Biden perspective. So what does the Romney-Ryan team think? We have a member of their campaign team here in the newsroom who will weigh in as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We have a member of their campaign team who will way in as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: We just spoke with the top Obama campaign aide about foreign policy and the president's phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Well, Republican presidential, Mitt Romney, he had a phone conversation with the prime minister. Happened just moments ago. And Romney met with Netanyahu as recently as July during his trip to Israel. The two men are friends.
Joining us, Matt Schlapp, a former White House political director in the George W. Bush administration.
Matt, good to see you.
Respond, first, to the criticism and the accusations here that this is a political stunt here. You have the president who is already talking to Netanyahu. That's his job. He's got this covered. Why is Romney on the phone with Netanyahu?
SCHLAPP: I think it is totally appropriate for Netanyahu to talk to the opposition government leader here in this country. this is something that is standard protocol. Quite frankly, I think Mr. Netanyahu knows that his relationship with America is incredibly important. And I think it is clear he has concerns with the Obama administration and how reliable a partner they're going to be on stopping Iran from acquiring the material it needs to create a nuclear weapon. And I think the relationship between Mr. Romney and Mr. Netanyahu is close. It is important. I don't think we're overdramatizing what happened today.
MALVEAUX: What was the phone call about? Can you tell me? Do you have any read in on it?
SCHLAPP: I don't. It just happened literally moments ago. It could actually still be happening. And I think it would be appropriate for probably much of that conversation to stay confidential. But I think the clear thing that Governor Romney wants to know is what was intended by the speech that Mr. Netanyahu gave at the United Nations the other day, and what can he expect coming out of that speech, and how the two of them can partner together.
Look, we all want America to succeed on this. I think the problem that the President Obama has is that he's beginning to show some problems overseas. They're seeing problems with our relationship with Israel. Libya is a complete disaster. And it --
(CROSSTALK)
SCHLAPP: Yes, I'm sorry.
MALVEAUX: Talk a little bit about Netanyahu. I want to stick with Netanyahu here.
SCHLAPP: Sure.
MALVEAUX: We saw this demonstration. He had the bomb and the cartoon there. I mean, did Romney -- did he feel that that was appropriate, an appropriate way to demonstrate that the danger of Iran and where we are?
SCHLAPP: Look, I think the reason why Governor Romney and Mr. Netanyahu have a good relationship is because he believes that Israel has to set their policy. And we should not be dictating to Mr. Netanyahu how serious the problem is in Israel with their security, with what Iran is attempting to do and what Iran is doing. If he has to draw a cartoon to the world to explain to them how serious this problem is, he ought to do it, and keep doing it, because there can't be any more serious foreign policy question out there today --
MALVEAUX: All right --
SCHLAPP: -- than this question.
MALVEAUX: All right. Matt, got to leave it there. We're running out of time. I really appreciate your time. And we'll bring you back. Thanks.
We'll take a quick break.
SCHLAPP: Thanks, Suzanne.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Before we go, Alison Kosik, back at the "Help Desk" to help answer your financial questions. She tackles a topic that keeps many of us up at night. That is saving for retirement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. Here on the "Help Desk," we're talking about saving for your retirement.
And with me this hour are Liz Miller and Greg McBride.
Liz, this is the question for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Other than the 401K, how else can I save for retirement?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: It seems like a good fallback, doesn't it, the 401K? And most people only invest in their 401K, don't they?
LIZ MILLER, PRESIDENT, SUMMIT PLACE FINANCIAL ADVISORS: They do. But if someone is in a position they can't put more in their 401K -- allows, there are some other options. In fact, if a couple makes a bit less than $175,000, you can additionally put money into a Roth IRA. that will grow tax deferred and be tax free at retirement. And you can put always $5,000 after tax into just a traditional IRA, even when you already have a 401K.
KOSIK: OK. Anything beyond those that she just mentioned? GREG MCBRIDE, SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST, BANKRATE.COM: I love the IRA. And too many people think it's an either/or proposition. The fact is you can do both the 401K and the IRA. And even for higher- income households, there's a back-door way to get money --
