obama i would trust mitt romney 100 times over. >> he's the guy. he called and i called him back. we kind of traded some voice mails. >> he's the person that is going to go up against barack obama. it's pretty clear. and we need to win this race. >> i am joined by the latest candidate to exit the race, former house speaker newt gingrich. thanks for being here this morning. >> good to be here. >> my question is these have not been warm embraces. it was a tough campaign, and i get that that's a tough step to take, but do you think that it's time now to try to bring those who would follow you and say, listen to me, i do embrace this guy in a whole manner, because he needs to move on, doesn't he, to get into the fall campaign? >> i think what he did this weekend is exactly right. he needs to draw the contrast with barack obama whose campaign lunch i thought was an absurdity. >> why? >> well, this is a president who talked about hope and change. what are the changes? more americans lost their jobs than since the great depression. more americans lost the

mitt romney was up 30,000 to 40,000 jobs. when mitt romney took office, the unemployment rate in massachusetts was close to 6%. when he left, it was 4.7%. the unemployment rate under this president has gone up over the last 3 1/2 years. so i think their job creation records are entirely different and, of course, they have plans for getting this economy moving again are different. >> and we'll be talking about that a lot in the future. thanks so much for being with us today. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> and they're counting ballots in egypt. and so far the muslim brotherhood's candidate is in the lead. should the west be worried? >>> plus, a huge fire raging just a few miles from disney world. chad myers is tracking the flames for us. >>> also, a historic moment which could change space travel forever. >>> could egypt's landmark presidential election end up being settled in the streets? egyptians are proud of a history going back thousands of years, and now they're finally free to choose their own leader. but 15

romney and that shifted 44% for barack obama, 46% for mitt romney. there's clearly been a shift in the new york times poll, but the methodology is something that leaves expert pollsters in doubt on the reliability of the new poll and we've seen new polls coming out in the next few days whether it's a trend or if it's a mistake on the part of the new york times and cbs. >>> tell us what the president of the united states is doing to reenergize the female base because without it he'll be a one-term president. >> reporter: that's right. you can tell by his schedule. ya yesterday he was at barnard college a prestigious women's school urging women to fight for a seat at the head of the table and right after that he went to "the view" to talk about the all-female team of hosts there, talking about how to raise daughters in the internet age. >> what sort of rules do you and the first lady have to protect them and guide them? >> first of all, malia didn't get a phone until last year, so sasha still doesn't have one. >> how old is malia? >> she's 14. >> they

who would you pick if you were mitt romney? >> well, i think he's going to look for somebody who is not a washington insider. he's going to look for somebody outside the beltway and somebody that merits his own experience in government and the business community. so romney will pick someone equally as bland and boring as he is. >> that's donna brazile. donna, thank you very much. >> donna wins the line of the day. >> erickson, thanks to you. bland and boring, neither one of you is bland and boring. >> love letters from a young barack obama. two of his former girlfriends are now speaking out about their relationships two decades ago, sometimes three decades ago with the future president of the united states. stand by. >> an al qaeda leader urges his followers to use wildfires as a weapon of terror. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. th

trump, except mitt romney. if he wants to drive voters away, all he has to do is indulge the lunatic ravings of donald trump's rantings, and for mitt romney to align himself with this gas bag with the funny hair is tantamount to wanting to destroy his candidacy before it gets off the ground. except for contributing money there is no way donald trump helps mitt romney become the next president and if mitt romney can't see that, i'd say the lad has serious problems. here's the question, why does mitt romney continue to put up with donald trump? go to cnn/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog or go to my post on the situation room's facebook page. by the way, wolf, the consensus i talked to is you kicked some ass on that one. you won that on points all of the way. >> thank you very much. i would have preferred not to have to win anything, but it was an important interview. >> it was a good interview. >> we'll have donald trump back at some point to explain his side of the story once again. thanks very much. >

obama is attacking mitt romney very hard. and in the case of, i think and many people think, very unfairly. i think the republicans have to fight fire with fire. i've always felt that. we can't be nice like we were four years ago and expect this to happen. it's going to be a tough race. it's going to be a close race. i think mitt romney's going to be an amazing candidate. i think not only an amazing candidate but an amazing president. but to become president, i think you have to fight the fire with fire. they're being very tough on him. and i see we're already -- the republicans are pulling back. they don't want to throw all their punches. i think you have to throw all your punches. those punches are going to be thrown at you. and piers, i think you know that better than anybody. >> yeah. certainly know what you're getting at. i think the issue you're talking about which you don't really want to name, but i'm guessing is the issue of reverend wright who of course was so closely aligned to president obama. now, are you saying

romney about it -- >> is mitt romney a democrat? is he an obama supporter? >> what i speak to mitt romney about is jobs. what i speak to mitt romney about is china because he's got a great view on it is china and how they're taking our jobs and taking our product and manipulating their currency so it makes it almost impossible for our companies to compete. what i speak to him about is opec. i don't speak to him about this. you bring it up because you feel it's probably going to get a few more people watching your station which, unfortunately, they're not doing. >> here's what the romney spokesperson andrea saul said this week, today, not yesterday, not six weeks ago. governor romney said repeatedly, he believes obama was born in the united states, he says you're wrong. >> you know what? everybody's entitled to your opinion. you know my opinion and you know his opinion and that's fine. we're entitled -- as he said yesterday in the airplane, we're all entitled to our opinions and he's entitled to have his opinion. i don't happen to sh

this is a man, mitt romney, whose experienced in doing that. he's turned around every organization of which which he's been a part. that's what the ads are intended to remind the voters of. >> when barack obama starts campaigning ferociously, he's going to say, i saved the car industry, helped bring unemployment down, not as far as i'd like to, but made a big inroad to where it was. he's going to say that i ordered the killing of osama bin laden. the actual list of things which are to his credit, which republicans never give him credit for, is actually quite impressive, if you highlight those pluses, isn't it? >> well, he's been saying those things already. and his poll numbers are not reflecting that the people believe he should be re-elected. they're going south on him, and it's in part -- and we do give credit. the killing of osama bin laden, sure, that was a good thing. but you know, when he says unemployment, for example, going down, the american people know that's a very hollow claim. as you know, if you consider the people who have quit

is mitt romney conservative enough? and my answer is simple. compared to barack obama? >> hello, virginia. >> thank you, ohio. >>> and battleground politic was former ohio governor ted strickland and former virginia congressman tom davis. >>> then gauging the power of the taliban, al qaeda, and the afghan government with the chairs of the senate and house intelligence committees, democrat dianne feinstein and republican mike rogers. >>> plus, the anemic recovery and the election with "the national journal's" major garrett and janice rivlin. i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." >>> republican leaders and former rivals are gathering around mitt romney's candidacy, but the coalescing lacks a certain warm and fuzzy feature. >> compared to barack obama? i would trust mitt romney 100 times over. >> he's the guy. he called and i called him back. we kind of traded some voicemails. >> he's the person that is going to go up against barack obama. it's pretty clear. and we need to win this race. >> i am joined by the

mitt romney mathematically clinched the republican nominee. this morning, he got a congratulatory phone call from the guy that lives in the big white house that romney wants to call his own. >> it was very collegial and friendly, not particularly long. >> nice, courteous and, of course, temporary. >> a prairie fire of debt is sweeping across iowa and across the nation. >> he left out some facts. his speech was more like a cow pie out of distortion. >> over 8% unemployment. 39 straight months people are suffering because this president has failed them. >> i have to ask, why is he running around with the same bad ideas that brought our economy to collapse this last time out. >> you get it. 160 days out. the truth is, this one at the moment about as close as they come. president obama is more likeable. look at these new numbers from "the washington post" abc poll. li likeability matters, favorability matters. when you have an incumbent. right there is governor romney's opening. a majority disapproves of how the president is handling the economy.

mitt romney, a successful businessman. and the two both certainly donald trump at one time tried to make a run at the presidency. whether that was an advertising stunt or whatever, it worked pretty well for donald trump. >> pete? >> well, birtherism is a conspiracy theory with no basis in truth whatsoever. the president is, of course, american and makes donald trump a conspiracy theorist and mitt romney is campaigning with donald trump and like president obama campaigning with a 9/11 truther or the believe of mormonism is a cult. it's ridiculous. no basis in truth. the transcripter idea, they're one president too late asking for the transcript of the president but there's going to be some, you know, part of the population always racist and will never believe a guy named bara barack hussein obama is american. >> all right. on to the second question. mitt romney said in a speech in san diego that the world is a dangerous place. let's listen. >> chavez is campaigning for power throughout latin america. mexico is under siege f

chancellor, is mitt romney right or wrong. he says smaller class size doesn't necessarily translate into higher achievement. >> it's actually right that it doesn't necessarily mean better outcomes for kids. for decades in this country we were focused on this notion that smaller class sizes meant kids would get more attention and, therefore, we would have better outcomes. but if you look at the research, it's very clear that that's actually not the case and that really what we need to be focusing in on is the quality of the teacher in front of the children. that's much more important than class sizes. and i actually think intuitively parents know this as well. if you have -- if you're sending your kid to school and there's two teachers, one who's an outstanding teacher, the other one not as much, you're going to fight as a parent to make sure your kid gets in the classroom of that great teacher. as the principal said, well, there's already 25 kids in that classroom and you would be the 26th kid, but this classroom over here onl

and mitt romney is with donald trump. it is a great contrast for the obama people. >> here is an ad the obama campaign is playing about this issue. here it is. >> good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. >> we're scared of an obama presidency. >> i have to tell you he's a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared as president of the united states. >> i have read about him. he's an arab. >> no ma'am. no, ma'am. he's a decent family man, citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with. >> i've got to say one thing that frustrates me is that there are decent family men who are arabs. that is a different issue. that is a whole separate issue. here's the thing. when you are running a campaign it totally makes sense let's make mitt romney apologize for everyone who seems vaguely connected with conservatism in some broad sense rather than mitt romney allow him to make this case based on the state of the economy regarding whether or not president obama should be re-elected. i think that similarly in 2008 ther

i think that's what mitt romney think as well. he's sitting back, letting the bain conversation take place, trial on capitalism take place. let barack obama make mistakes, which i think they are mistakes. >> here is the one thing i think would trump both of our arguments, unemployment and debt and deficit come second to health care. >> that's the wild care under this thing. >> obama wins on this one. >> he does. economic debt and deficit, economic growth, mitt romney is the winner in most of those, how health care plays will be huge. right now barack obama's solution to that problem we point out isn't very popular with americans. >> the election. >> really. >> just to make it interesting for you. always a pleasure to see you. coming up next, has the housing market finally overcome the burden of the bubble. later one of the best days in the ford family history as they get back a piece of their heritage. an airline has planes... and people. and the planes can seem the same so, it comes down to the people. because, bad weather the pr

thank you. >>> mitt romney is now the unofficial nominee. the governor finally hit the magic number of delegates. 1,144 to lock in the presidential nomination with a win in texas last night. while the spotlight should have been on the former governor and his supporter donald trump is making the news again questioning the president's birth certificate. listen to the contentious interview he had with wolf blitzer. >> a lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate. >> how can you say that? >> you won't report it but many people do not think it was authentic. his mother was not in the hospital. there are many other things that came out and frankly if you would report it accurately you would probably get better ratings which you get which are pretty small. >> donald, have you seen the actual newspaper announcements within days of his birth in honolulu? for example the honolulu star bulletin you see the birth announcement back in 1961. listen to me, donald. honolulu -- can i ask the question? donald, you are beginning to sound a litt

romney now supports what the president did because the president followed mitt romney's advice on the auto bailout. >> no, what i'm saying is that the president followed the advice as it was laid out by mitt romney back in november of 2008. it took the president seven months after that point to finally move these companies into a bankruptcy process. it was the bankruptcy process that got these companies to skinny down, to shed excess costs, to lower their employee costs and that is why they're profitable today, not because they got a check from government. >> eric, thanks very much and good to see you. >>> a blind chinese activist walked out of the american embassy in beijing today, but he says he didn't want to and he fears for his life. outfront story four next. ok! who gets occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. demand media expands on the big board. >>> welcome back to

here is the challenge for mitt romney. if governor romney's argument is that his leadership of bain gave him expertise in creating jobs then why when he was governor of massachusetts was the state 47th in job development in the country. likewise, if he has such a brilliant investment strategy how did he walk away from the most important investment, the investment in america's automotive industry which has been a tremendous success. and governor romney said let it go bankrupt. that speaks to why his investors are wealthy people but doesn't show he has the leadership or skills to create jobs. >> you are talking about why it is an issue. i'm asking both of you that 53% of voters don't know what bain capital is. >> i can answer that. and i have two quick points. when it concerns the auto industry usually with an investment you get a return on it. as far as mitt romney being governor of massachusetts he did have a state legislature to work with. when it comes to bain capital i'm confused as to why the obama campaign chose to go

48% to the president, 40% to mitt romney. enthusiasm gap, this is obviously hugely significant for mitt romney. a quarter of the people who say they'll vote for him aren't enthusiastic. they might not even turn out. >> absolutely. i think that's a huge issue. i would actually throw out that the number about who understands your economic problems ask a really, really big one. mccain got blown away on that number in 2008. if you don't believe a candidate understands where you're coming from economically, you're not going to support that candidate. >> jamal, there's some good news in the economy here though for president obama. >> absolutely. and i think ryan is right about that number. this goes back to that issue of trust. the president has been to be able to convince people, mitt romney may have done some things on business but can you count on him to understand you and who you are and what you need? if he can get people to buy that he's the one to trust, they will be okay. >> thanks to both of you. "outfront" next, texting a

that's how long it took to sit down with mitt romney. they met this morning in pittsburgh for 90 minutes. no one else was in the room. joining me now is the man that lent his office. what happened in the meeting? >> i think it was, from what i could couch, a very friendly, yet certainly a very serious talk. i think both of them are very focused on how to defeat barack obama this fall. so i think much of the discussion, if you will, centered around that. i do know there was some issue discussions. senator santorum particularly wanted to talk about his manufacturing plan and how to revitalize manufacturing in america and bring jobs back from overseas. i think he also wanted to talk about some of the pro-family, economic ideas certainly that he has and about health care. i got the sense from spending a little time with both of them that it was a very candid yet friendly meeting. >> candid and productive is state department ease for there was some disagreement. >> i don't know that. when i say candid i think they both respect each other's op

mitt romney as an extremist on the social and cultural issues. because his economic appeal is to independent voters. independent voters don't like extreme social issues, so you have to portray him as extreme. >> one or topic. bill clinton, we were talking about the terrible discourse here in washington and he talked about when he lost to republican bob in-glis as part of the far shift to the right, here's what bill clinton said. >> this by was on the judiciary committee that impeached me and it wasn't enough for him. he's a very good guy, by the way. >> i mean, come on. if you can forgive and forget that, we can get stuff done here. >> for give and forget. >> makes you really miss bill clinton. >> all right. thanks to all three of you. appreciate it. just one of those moments. >>> all right. our third story up front, controversial pardon by haley barbour, obviously you know the back story to this, about an wow has gotten more controversial because one of the inmates that the governor pardoned in january is being charged with driving under the inf

mitt romney is there. there are hundreds of -- >> if president obama showed up next week next to jeremiah wrig, no republicans would say anything? >> he would have to denounce jeremiah wright again. you done do that in politics. >> okay. >> it's actually a plus for mitt romney because nothing makes you appear more rational than standing next to donald trump. >> well, beat that. >> i'm going to have to disagree. i have to. here's my thing -- >> i don't want to get into guilt by association but -- >> here's the -- >> i think trump does this for attention. the thing that bothers me about this issue is that small silver of people who can't accept the fact he's black. >> that has nothing to do with it. it doesn't stick because everyone knows who mitt romney is and he's not that guy. >> wait a minute. >> mitt romney is not a scary creature of the lunatic ritd so, this stuff does not stick to him. >> this is not enough to be self-certain about who you are. it's important to show people who you are. when you're ru

not so of president mitt romney. mitt romney's future for america would be a legalization of american energy, a legalization of millions of high-paying jobs. that's our future in america. that's something to get excited about. it's why we must elect mitt romney as the next president of the united states. [ cheers and applause ] and your wonderful governor, bob mcdonald, is doing everything within his power in the state of virginia to make sure that virginia becomes an energy producing state, a state that stands strong on national defense and governor bob mcdonald deserves every bit of applause and appreciation we can give him today. please welcome your governor, bob mcdonald. >> thank you! [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you, congresswoman bachmann. thank you. good afternoon hampton roads. for those of you not from here, welcome to the most friendly state in america, the commonwealth of virginia. welcome to the state with the lowest unemployment rate in the southeast. as good as that is, imagine how much better off

the controversial part is what would mitt romney do? it's controversial because one of the cliches we hear is foreign policy is to stop at the water's edge. the football said we shouldn't gloat about it running campaign ads gloating about it. saying the other guy isn't tough enough to do what i did. and i think that's reprehensible? >> you do. >> i have no problem about him killing osama bin laden. >> what about mccain who said shame on president obama by turning it into a cheap political attack ad. the same president who criticized hillary clinton for invoking bin laden to score points. how do you feel about the speech when he used the capture of saddam hussein? he said george bush took the fight to our enemies and away from our shores destroying the regime. president obama made the difficult decision to liberate iraq. we need a leader with experience to make the tough decisions and the resolve to stick with it. what is the difference? >> there's a big difference. the big difference in there does john mccain say anything about john ker

you're for mitt romney. period. end of story. the choice is so decisive i can't imagine any conservative that won't vote for romney in november because the alternative is to unacceptable. >> it's been a delight having you back. i've missed you. looking in fine form. >> good to be with you. >>> when we come back, is anybody playing fair in this campaign? a top republican and democrat face off. >>> to me mitt romney takes from the poor, the middle class and gives to the rich. he's just the opposite of robin hood. >> the latest obama campaign stepping up attacks on romney and bain capital. here to look into it hilary rosen and margaret hoover. welcome. let my start with you hilary. is this the obama strategy, you think? >> it's certainly one of them. first and foremost, president obama has to campaign on his vision for america going forward. but there's no question that mitt romney is kind of walking away from his governor of massachusetts and telling the -- based of his experience. i think the obama campaign is completely fair game

about mitt romney's tax plan. here it is. >> the 9-9-9 plan that i have proposed is simple, transparent, efficient, fair, and neutral. my question is to governor romney. can you name all 59 points in your 160-page plan and does it satisfy that criteria of being simple, transparent, efficient, fair, and neutral? >> if he endorses the principle of tax reform and doesn't come out on 9-9-9, are you still going to be fight iing for him? >> yes. and the word rotating endorsements is an evolving endorsement. and i have said all along i will support whoever gets the republican nomination. and secondly, the fact that he has not adopted 9-9-9 is started with the premise yet i'm still going to support him. we have talked and we have talked to his staff. but the process is what it is. when you are in the competition to get the nomination, yes, you go constructively against some of the people you're working with. but in the end i will support mitt romney, who is the presumptive nominee for the republican party. >> let's play t

do you think this story tells you anything about mitt romney? do you think this is an important point in a campaign where you start looking at who the person is? >> well, here is what it comes down to. i find it hard to believe that you couldn't remember that kind of an episode in your life, even if it occurred in high school. >> so you think he's lying? >> i'm going to say this -- well, i just say it's hard to believe he doesn't remember, but i will say this. there's not a single thing that i know about mitt romney in his adult life which suggests this kind of discrimination or this kind of prejudice. and so i don't believe it was a telling moment in terms of who he is today. it was obviously something he should regret and probably does deeply regret from his youth. >> senator, i want to just pick up on one more subject, and that is the defeat of senator lugar. he's been in the senate for more than 30 years. he was known as someone who would reach across the aisle. what does this say about republicans' desire to have someone who actually will w

mitt romney's getting 52% to president obama's 42%. how do you translate that into an emotional campaign? that's what he has to do. president obama gets out there and does the ronald reagan, i'm going to make your life better. what does romney do? >> i think i reject the premise. he doesn't have to go out there and make this big emotional appeal to connect to voters. in november, this is a referendum on barack obama and how people feel about how he's been as a steward of the economy. that's what i think this has to be about, and i think mitt romney thinks that as well. he's sitting back, he's letting the bain conversation take place, he's letting the capitalism on trial conversation take place. and i think that's the right move. let barack obama make those mistakes, which i think they are mistakes. >> here's the one thing that i think would trump both of our arguments. unemployment and debt and deficit come second to health care, according to this -- >> everything under health care -- >> and obama wins on that one. >> everything under

is mitt romney a liar? >> he said things at times that are untrue. >> so your answer is yes. >> i also believe in relation to president obama, i would trust mitt romney a hundred times over. >> it wasn't exactly an endorsement for mitt romney. >> i said i wanted to come pain for him, he would be appoint better judges, do far more to balance the budget than the president. i went down a long list as to why mitt romney would be better than president obama. >> would you consider what you said yesterday an endorsement? >> the only distinction people draw is at some point in the next couple of weeks mitt and i will be together and there will be some kind of endorsement. i tried to send every single that if you were a conservative and you do not want to reelect barack obama, you have one choice and that's mitt romney. >> so from your opinion, you endorsed him? have you been speaking with him? >> we don't have a specific date that we're going to do that. i talked with the governor, i met with his campaign manager,

i don't think it works for mitt romney. he needs to get on to talking about his economic message. >> a lot of obama will be spent on t vfv ads. >>> new leaked details concerning the agent that foiled the latest al qaeda plot to bomb a u.s.-bound airliner. they are hurting efforts to discover more about the terrorist intentions. >> so you think just so i understand, you think that the leak made now exposed this particular informant, the person who carried the bomb out? had the leak not happened, that person might have been able to try it again? >> correct. that's right. >> let's bring in fran townsend. fran, you heard senator lieberman. he said, you think if this word didn't leak, this guy could have gone back in? how does the mole go back? >> well, john. i think there is sort of a misconception here. when you have a deepen trags or a double agent like this, it is not as though you send him in and don't talk to him. this is somebody. i can't go into the details of how. it is someone with whom you communicate pretty regularly

you're for mitt romney. period. end of story. the choice is so decisive i can't imagine any conservative that won't vote for romney in november because the alternative is to unacceptable. >> it's been a delight having you back. i've missed you. looking in fine form. >> good to be with you. >>> when we come back, is anybody playing fair in this campaign? a top republican and democrat face off. d@ last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. >>> to me mitt romney takes from the poor, the middle class and gives to the rich. he's just the opposite of robin hoo

are you going to work hard for mitt romney? if he endorses the principle of tax reform, are you still going to be out there fighter for him? >> yes. and the word rotating endorsements is a misnomer. it's a revolving endorsement. i said i would support whoever gets the republican endorsement. and the fact that he hasn't endorsed 9-9-9, i'll still endorse him. we're talking to his staff, but yes, the process is it what is. when you're in the competition to get the nomination, yes, you go constructively against some of the people that you're working with, but in the end i will support mitt romney who is the presumptive nominee for the republican party. >> and a quick final here. i wanted to ask you, well, what you think of this. let's play it so you can hear it. ♪ there's no pizza i couldn't if i tried ♪ ♪ i so in love with you >> does the president have what it takes? have a baritone? >> well, he's okay, but, you know, i have been a vocalist most of my life as sort of a vocation. i do it for fun and that clip that you playe

. >>> today who will define mitt romney? >> romney made sure the guys on top got to play by a separate set of rules. he ran up massive debts, and the middle class lost. >> centerpiece of his campaign is quite clearly character assassination. >> exclusive interviews with david axelrod and republican national committee chairman reince priebus. also spending cuts, tax cuts, and what do women want in 2012 with senators barbara boxer and kay bailey hutchison. >>> plus, an exclusive interview with nato secretary-general anders faux rasmussen and the exit of afghanistan. >>> and chewing over the week with jeff zell mi and cnn congressional correspondent dana bash. i'm candy crowley, and this is "state of the union." vice president biden questioned mitt romney's business credentials on the stump. the obama re-elect team pumped out a small buy ad with a big bite attacking bain capital, the equity firm romney founded. >> they made as much money off it as they could, and they closed it down, they filed for bankruptcy without any concer

and gay republicans will bring up during the 1994 senate race between mitt romney and ted kennedy, mitt romney was saying something very different on the issue of equal rights for gays and lesbians. he was positioning himself as a champion of that cause, someone who would be more effective than ted kennedy on that issue. he's obviously had an evolution, you might say. to now he's obviously very much against same-sex marriage and he made that pretty clear earlier today. >> okay, jim acosta, thank you very much. if you hear any more, let us know. meantime, let's go back to washington. john king, a couple of questions for you. i guess when i think about this big picture and you think of general election, you think battleground states. i mentioned amendment 1 yesterday, the referendum on the ballot which passed. president obama won north carolina in 2008. how does this play in those key states come november. >> that is the great question. because you were just talking to gloria about the polls. there's no question that nationally public opinion is moving toward supporting same-sex marriage.

romney talking about the deficit and how you have to get that down and how mitt romney can manage the deficit and the economy better than president obama. >> romney's got a story he could tell about bain capital with thousands of jobs that were created with sports authority or staples or dominos pizza. this is something we can discuss in the strategy session. >> those were republicans, so -- >> gloria, thank you. debt ceiling deja vu, the white house and congressional republicans squaring off over raising the government's borrowing limit. this time the stakes are higher. can you believe it? the independent vermont senator bernie sanders is not one of them. he's here to tell us why. >>> i think you have a candidate like romney, somebody is george bush reincarnated. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. and

cnn poll of polls find 47% of registered voters favor president obama, 45% support mitt romney. the tight race makes for pointed rhetoric. >> i know governor romney came to des moines last week, warned about a prior airie fire of dea. that's what he said, prairie fire. but, you know, he left out some facts. you know, his speech was more like a cow pie of distortion. [ cheers and applause ] i don't know whose record he twisted the most, mine or his. >> with a 24/7 focus on the economy, the soon to be republican nominee has begun to paint a picture of what a romney white house would look like, starting with the jobless rate. >> over a period of four years by virtue of the policies we put in place, we get the unemployment rate down to 6% or perhaps a little lower. >> joining me is former new york mayor and romney supporter rudy giuliani. mr. mayor, you are also a former presidential candidate and a pretty astute observer of politics. let me start out with the broad brush question, which is give me your most honest assessment of how you think the presidential race will play out this

that's what this is all about, whether mitt romney just tried to make money, mitt romney says making money makes jobs. it's impossible to know how many jobs were created or lost. private equity is private but mitt romney's entire career is built on the private equity business. i want you to listen to what newt gingrich told piers morgan last night. newt gingrich was the first one to go after, to go after mitt romney about his career in private equity saying that he was the king of bain, remember, that he was looting some of these failing companies. listen to what he said last night. >> how can you be the president with the worst unemployment record since the great depressi depression, the longest period of deep unemployment since the 190s and pick a fight over job creation? there's a point where this becomes ludicrous and in effect what obama is saying is government investment is smarter than private equity. >> that's what the election is going to be about, who is better at creating jobs, the capitalism of president obama and the capitalism of mitt romney. both campaigns have rows an

are you as disgusted by this as mitt romney seems to be? >> i haven't seen the particular ad, but some of the things you're talking about in the document -- >> this is a document in preparation for the mother of all ad campaigns designed to destroy barack obama using jeremiah wright. >> i would reject those tactics, but i will tell you back before people knew barack obama as president, when jeremiah wright hit the tv screen, not the sakt moe knee of the left, it hit a disturbing effect, particularly on america's women, who then in the democratic party were pretty much supporting hillary clinton. that forced the famous race speech, where he can say i can no more disavow than i could my own white grandmother. days later -- >> let's assume alls fair in love and war in politics. what jeremiah wright did for barack obama is a lot. i mean it's not underestimate it. a hugely-close relationship. he ended up marrying barack and michelle obama. very close spiritual advisor for him. is he fair game? maybe not to do it in this way, kr is frankly pretty