today, the situation room airing at 5:00 p.m. eastern, 2:00 pacific only on cnn. thanks for watching. i'm going to hand it over now to brooke baldwin. brooke baldwin. hi brooke hello to you. t r p thp this multistate bus tou in iowa. oour owp our own woour own with him. he is interviewing the president right now. he wip he will johe will joe bit. wop wolwolf will, not the . to talk a little about what the president revealed in the sitdown interview in how to win over voters in the key states. that will be later in the how. i do want to begin with this story. it's this bizarre extortion plot. never heard anything like it. i want to start with the victim here. take a look. this is the young woman who spent ten hours, ten hours with a bomb just dangling from her neck. a bomb or so she thought at the time.

and now, this is the man who allegedly strapped that thing in place in hopes of prying money out her parents. paul doug peters, age 51, an australian finance executive. paul doug peters arrested yesterday outside of louisville, kentucky, by a local fbi swat team in connect with the case that has gripped australia for nearly two weeks. let me take you back to august 3rd. this was the scene in a wealthy enclave outside of sidney where this sl-year-old spent a heldish ten hours. she was fearing this mechanism would explode. it turned out to be a hoax. but the assailant's demands were very real. he wanted money from madeline parents. >> the demands were that it was financial, demands made.

again, i can't go into too much detail on exactly what they were and that they needed to be some follow-up contact. and further instructions would be given. >> like i said, a truly bizarre story. let's go to susan candiotti outside o the federal court in lieu louisville. i know you want to talk about the court appearance. first, if you could, take me through these bizarre events alleged to have happened in madeline's bedroom back on august 3rd. >> reporter: well, you pretty well laid it out. it must have been terrifying for this teenager who was studying for on exam when this man came into her house. she said what are you doing and he strapped this thing around her neck that he told her -- she didn't find out right away. he was carrying also a baseball bat and then he left the room. and then he seemed to simply leave the house. she called out his name and looked to see the note that he

had left behind. it said something about explosives. so she called her father who called the police and that's when she sat there for ten hours until they figured out what to do, finally determined there was no explosives in it. but imagine the terror that she must have been going through. >> absolutely frightening. >> that was australia two weeks ago. now you're in louisville, let's talk about peters, he was taken by swat teams in this five-bedroom home. it's owned by his american ex-wife in kentucky. how is he identified as a suspect and connect the dots? how was he tracked? >> all the a from australia to kentucky? >> one of the first clues was contained in the ald ransom note because it contained an e-mail address. it turns out, this is an odd connection, is the name of a character in a james clavell novel called tie pan. it talks about an investment banker located in asia who takes

out rivals by any and all means including extortion, kidnapping, you name it. be that as it may, they tracked down the computers where that message had been sent from. and then they looked for surveillance cameras to find out who was using the computer. then they found out what car that person was driving. tracked down who might have been the driver. came up with a name. found out that that person had taken a plane and flown to chicago and on to kentucky. then they started to look for any kind of records as to why he would be in kentucky. learned that he wired money to an address in louisville. turned out to be the ex-wife of mr. peters. so they sent an fbi agent out to the house. he sat outside and lo and behold, he sees, he says, mr. peters or a man who matched the description of a drivers license in the u.s. and that's how they brought the swat team and arrested him without incident. >> how about that. all from that e-mail address.

do we know, susan, anything about the financial dealings of this guy, this paul doug peters? was there any potential overlap with the business of the victim's father? >> reporter: well, that's what police want to know. there seems to be conflicting information about that. but some authorities are saying that there is no apparent connection at this time. they're looking for one. but a tenuous one. at the very least, based on the fact that both men did business in asia. both men -- well at one time were married. both men have children, including some daughters. okay, there's a connection there. both work in the world of high finance. and so of course, that's at least tenuous connection. now, authorities are trying to learn whether obviously one thing to look at is whether one man had done the other man wrong and was this sort of a revenge plot. that, of course, one of the many questions that we have. >> did they know one another and why would he have done this?

susan candiotti, thank you so much in louisville kentucky. president obama as we mentioned is hitting the road. right into america's heartland. he's doing it in style. check this out. this is the president's new million dollar bus. not everyone is on board with the president's new message as he is rolling around the mid section of our country. breeann a keeler is traveling with the president in iowa. we'll check in with her next, plus this. >> mr. president, you've tried now for two and a half years of government creating jobs. and it's time to let the private sector get back to work. >> he is the new man in the republican race for president. but some are asking, is texas governor rick perry just a chip off the old block? back in a moment. prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®.

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today marks day two of the president's bus tour of the midwest. three states in three days today. iowa. take a look at the president rubbing elbows in piasta, iowa. he continues to hammer congress, especially the ones who put aside partisan politics and get to work on job creation. here's the president. >> we could do even more if congress is willing to get in the game. there are bipartisan ideas, common sense ideas that have traditionally been supported by democrats and republicans that will put more money in your pockets, will put our people to work, that will allow us to deal with the legacy of debt that hangs over our economy.

>> white house correspondent brianna keilar is there. the president is saying yes, he's ready to go on jobs creation but congress is playing politics. is that the mess amg you're hearing? >> that's exactly right, brooke. congress is playing politics. what he really means is republicans and specifically house republicans are playing politics. he's been pointing a lot to that bruising debt ceiling battle of just -- that ended here a couple of weeks ago. as republicans are criticizing him for not doing enough on jobs, he is reiterating his plans that we have heard before, extending unemployment insurance, extending of payroll tax cuts, infrastructure spending. what he's saying, brooke, is that it's congress standing in the way. listen to this. >> the only that is holding us back is our politics. the only thing that's preventing us from passing the bills i just mentioned is the refusal of a faction in congress to put country ahead of party. that has to stop.

our economy cannot afford it. >> reporter: so what is the president doing here in iowa? he's here where we are brooke at the northeast community college talking to his rural economic council, talking about new proposals for creating jobs in rural communities, for instance, increasing loans for farmers and small businesses here. but you can't really miss the fact that this is a hugely important political state. first in the nation caucuses here in iowa. the president was able to win the caucuses and give himself some early momentum in the 2008 election. but also, rural communities across the nation, brooke, it's important to notice this was a big problem for the democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. you can actually argue that this is what cost them the house of representatives. there's certainly a lot of work to be done here for the president. >> given the fact that this area is very, very significant for the president if he would like

to win, when you talk about his message, how is it being received there in iowa? >> reporter: at these events, brooke, he's getting a good reception. there were a lot of people invited to these events. the town halls you saw in minnesota and iowa, he had good receptions. he had one person with the iowa tea party who was not so happy him. that got a lot of attention. it's -- the areas less controlled from the events, our travel pool is rolling in the motorcade right behind him as they move across the state. you can see some of the signs that he's being greeted with. some are supportive, but some of them are not. people coming out, trying to deliver a message. some people not happy about jobs. some saying i don't trust you on the sign. he can't escape some of the negative feelings that people have, brooke. >> brianna, before i let you go, there's been a lot of talk about this brand new bus, comparing it to the beast.

$1.1 million, secret service. give me a little something about it. what have you learned? >> reporter: it's like a beastly bus. it's actually owned by the secret service. it's all black. we saw it roll into an event yesterday. we saw it roll into the event at the community college with lights. we don't know some of the things x brooke. you can imagine it's well-protected, well-armored vehicle. good communications on there so that the president always is able to have a protected communications system outside of the bus to any advisor or anyone that he needs to talk to. but it's pretty interesting. yeah, $1.1 million and there's actually two of them. we'll be telling you a whole lot more about it in the next hour. >> we'll talk about that beastly bus and get to your behind the scenes video, what it's like traveling with the president. we'll talk to you and wolf. thank you ms. keilar. the midwest bus tour is

continuing and our own wolf blitzer will take you along for the ride. join wolf for a one-on-one interview this afternoon with the president. of course, they are going to be playing this interview in the situation room which begins at 5:00 eastern. but wolf is kind enough to hop on my show. he's going to give us a sneak peek in about 45 minutes. what they talked about there in iowa. don't miss that. next hour. you may remember hearing the president say that he and other people who are wealthy, they don't pay enough in taxes. then just a couple of weeks ago, we heard house majority leader eric cantor say hey, if the president feels bad about that, he is free to write a check to the irs. well, that may have been the birth of a talking point. because today we did hear a version of republican presidential candidate michele bachmann here, she's campaigning in south carolina and here she is taking on billionaire warren buffett for saying that he too, is undertaxed. here's bachmann.

>> we also believe unlike warren buffett, that taxes are high enough already. now, the president's friend, warren buffett, just came out and said, all the billionaires should be paying more money. i have a suggestion. mr. buff ett, write a big check today. there's nothing you have to wait for. >> so there she was. michele bachmann in south carolina, here's rick perry. governor perry in iowa. you know, as we've told you, rick perry talks about god, he talks about jobs and he talks about the federal government. in particular, federal regulations. many of which he doesn't like. here's rick perry. >> what this country needs is jobs. they don't need symbolism. we need new jobs. we don't need new federal agencies. if you want to create jobs, don't create a new agency. solve all the unnecessary regulations that these agencies

are already implementing and, frankly, out of control in some places. market the confidence that -- i think we should go into a six-month freeze of all federal regulations, new federal regulations. get the epa and the department of labor out of the way so that employers can start hiring people. >> so that was rick perry. governor of texas. here's mitt romney. mitt romney meeting with workers in merry mack, new hampshire. he says the tea party has been good for washington but that the nation's leaders need to try harder to work together. in libya, as rebel forces claw their way to the capital city of tripoli, they say they're almost ready to move in on moammar gadhafi. so will this zero hour happen and could gadhafi have an ace up his sleeve? we have a reporter standing by. we'll check in with him after

the break. plus, we're now getting breaking news out of california. here's what we know. a possible gunman on a college campus. we're gathering the facts. i'm going to get some information here over the break. we'll bring it to you on the other side. that's next. under $20 like our crab and seafood bake... or our snow crab and crab butter shrimp. my name's jon forsythe and i sea food differently. discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers.

all right. breaking news here to us at cnn. here's what we know right now. santa monica college in california, they are under lockdown right now. after reports of a possible gunman on campus. you're looking here at aerial video. this is just in from santa monica taken moments ago. thanks to k abc hovering over the scene in the skies. we're watching the story and making phone calls. you know we are. we'll bring you more information as soon as we get it on cnn.

santa monica college under lockdown. possible gunman. the game may be changing on moammar gadhafi's side and also with the growing rebel movement trying to force him out of power. up to now, opposition forces have not advanced in large numbers there on the capital of tripoli but a rebel spokesman says that that will soon happen, possibly by the end of the month. that is coming as news emerged today that the libyan army loyal to moammar gadhafi launched this scud missile in the direction of rebel units just a couple of days ago. i want to go straight to the senior international correspondent, matthew chance there in tripoli. matthew, first, i want to start with the report of the scud missile launch. if it is true, how might that change things? >> reporter: it certainly is true. it's monitored by u.s. warship off the coast in the mediterranean sea. it was fired from the a town of gadhafi's hometown towards the port of brago, where tlu clashes

right now. notoriously difficult to target these missiles. this one, according to the u.s. officials that monitored the flight path, say it landed about 50 miles off target. it landed in the middle of the desert and didn't actually cause any injuries as far as anyone can make out. nevertheless, it's clear that gadhafi's forces have large numbers of these ballistic missiles in their arsenal and what they've proved today or yesterday when this was fired for the first time is that they are prepared to use these potentially extremely devastating weapons which have a range of about 250 miles or so. they could reach deep into rebel held territory, brooke. >> matthew, if they're prepared to delve deep and use those weapons, what about this. we heard from u.s. defense secretary leon panetta describing the situation today as gadhafi's days are numbered. but you're in tripoli. does that resonate in tripoli? do you sense a similar sentiment

where you are? >> reporter: it's clear to some extent it's wishful thinking that his days are numbered. i think clearly he's being surrounded at the moment as we speak by rebel fighters in the east of tripoli or to the east of tripoli. to the south and most importantly perhaps to the west of tripoli as well. where there have been struggles under way, arms struggles between gadhafi loyalists and rebels in the town of za wir. we've been reporting a lot on that. it's important because it basically controls the main road that goes into tripoli from the west, from the neighboring country. that road has been used a lot to keep the capital supplied with food stuffs, with water and with fuel from neighboring tunisia. that road is cut. we understand that there are clashes under way between the rebels and government loyalists to try and open up that road and to basically the government

trying vigorously to regain control of that area. at the moment, it hasn't happened. the road is still closed. that puts tripoli in a very vulnerable position, brooke. >> given that fact then, what matthew, stands between these rebels and tripoli? if rebels are honing in, what are moammar gadhafi's options? >> reporter: well, the authorities hearsay that they've got enough supplies in house, enough weaponry to hold out for an indefinite period. that could well be true. there's also the roots that they could potentially be supplied by sea. there's a nato, naval blockade on the country in the mediterranean. but i think the big question everybody is asking now is will the rebels be able to hold on to the territory that they've managed to capture in the course of past 48, 72 hours or so. in the past they've made dramatic advances only to lose the territory they gained a few days later, a few weeks later.

certainly, gadhafi's forces are going to be fighting quite literally as if their lives depend on it to free up some of these supply roots and to push the rebels back. the big factor on the side of the rebels, it's not just them fighting gadhafi forces, it's the rebels backed by nato warplanes that are fighting his forces. those warplanes patrolling the skies every hour over libya are making it difficult for gadhafi's forces to reach out and to strike the rebel positions. >> matthew chance in tripoli. we'll have to wait and see if the rebels can maintain where they are. this has been going on for month and months. matthew, thank you so much. have you heard about this? shocking news out of hollywood. the estranged husband to one of the cast mates of the real housewives of beverly hills has committed suicide just one month after his wife filed for divorce. more on that. plus, this story. we talked about this yesterday. the missouri man says he kidnapped a three-year-old

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the top stories. i want to start with the economy. let take a look at the big board. just a smidge down 38 points. just about a half hour away from the closing bell. this all comes on the heels of the meeting of the leaders

between france and germany where they discussed europe's debt problems but offered little action. meanwhile, the fitch rating agency reaffirmed the trip aa credit status. they may revise the outlook from stable to negative if that debt super committee, the panel of 12 doesn't come up with a plan or if the economy weakens. the man in charge of al qaeda is urging his followers to attack the united states. he reportedly released this on-line video in which he called the united states a criminal country that's corrupting the world. he also said al qaeda's jihad against america did not die with osama bin laden. if this video is authentic, it would be the third video message issued by al za wa hir i. no comment from u.s. officials. a reality show shocker. the estranged husband of one of the real housewives of beverly

hills has killed himself. investigators say 47-year-old russell armstrong was found dead in his bel-air home last night. the coroner says he didn't leave a note. he and housewife taylor armstrong were in the midst of a divorce. celebrity gossip websites have been reporting detailed allegations of abuse made against him in that divorce case. and this from the world of baseball. a texas rangers fan who died while trying to catch a ball will be honored with a statue. 39-year-old firefighter shannon stone fell to his death at a game just last month. his six-year-old son cooper was there, saw it all happen. the rangers say they're going to put up a bronze statue that will show stone and his son attending a game. the team says the statue should be in place outside the home plate gate of rangers ballpark just in time for the 2012 season. desperate search still under way in missouri for the body of this little girl. a three-year-old who was allegedly strangled with a trash

bag. now, the man who confessed in a police affidavit to the murder, this guy right here, has told authorities where he dumped her body. so why can't anyone find it? that's next. plus, police suspect this man is hiepd the disappearance of an american woman in aruba, but they have only two weeks to try to prove it. we'll be right back. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. great! did i mention no hands in the bundler? bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

[ martin luther king jr. ] i still have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream today! [ male announcer ] chevrolet is honored to celebrate the unveiling of the washington, d.c., martin luther king jr. memorial. take your seat at the table on august 28th.

right now authorities in a small missouri town along with the fbi now were looking for the body of a missing three-year-old girl. all the while the town is in shock trying to understand why one among them would allegedly murder a toddler. >> was there with me. but nothing unusual. same old shawn. i said i'm going to ride around town. shawn said can i go with you? my goodness i had him in the truck with me. >> shawn more dpan, that's the shawn he was referencing made a court appearance today. did not enter a plea. charged with first degree murder in the case of three-year-old breeann rodriguez. she was last seen riding bikes with her brother two weeks ago. in a court document, morgan tells police he saw breeann

standing that very day on a ladder at his swimming pool, this ladder in fact. grabbed her, took her inside, suffocated her with a white trash bag. he goes on to tell police he placed her little body in the same trash bag and tossed it into this flood way. the question still remains, motive. why did he do this? this is a man, one neighbor describes as a loving father. his three kids played with the rodriguez's children. what happened to him? sheriff bob holder has been out and about searching with these teams for little breeann. he's kind enough to join me on the phone from missouri. any news today on breeann, sheriff? >> no. we began at 7:00 this morning. searches continue as we speak. >> i understand that you are searching and there are cadaver dogs searching by air, by land, by water. tell me about this community and

the volunteers pouring out in support for this little girl. >> caller: we have a great community in this area. a lot of loving people. everyone has really been gracious about coming out and supporting us. we've had, of course, the local fire departments, the fbi, the sheriff's offices, rescue squads from dire, tennessee, mississippi county, arkansas. they're coming in. we've got local businessmen, a lot of farmers that are out now bringing their boats and just a great number of volunteers that have actually been walking the ditches, manning the boats and the drags and, of course, with the helicopters, we have the missouri highway patrol divers, the division of drug and crime control. we've just got a number of people here that are just, have just opened up and willingly giving their services and times to try to find this young lady. >> we're looking for these guys. some searching up to their shoulders in the water. help me understand this.

i read the court document in which morgan tells this police officer, you know, yes, i dumped her body into this spillway. i went back, took her bike apart piece by piece, tossed the bike in the same area. you guys have recovered the bike but not her. based upon any conversation you have had him, is it possible he's not being truthful. >> all i can say there is that we have not found the body of course. we're very hopeful, we've been hopeful every day. but whether or not he's telling us the truth right now, we're not -- we don't know. we're just going on the information that we got. hopefully, that we can find this young lady to bring some closure to the family. >> i know. you told one of my producers, said something interesting saying people don't understand in this community why in the world someone would do something like this. yet, people in this town have compassion for both families, not just for the rodriguez family, but the morgans as well. explain that.

>> right. it's tragic for both families. i don't know of anyone that would -- i don't know -- losing a child would just have to be just awful. i can't comprehend somebody losing a child. so -- and people are gathering around wanting to help, wanting to help find this child. so it's on everybody's hearts and minds. >> this man charged first degree murder. he's a father as well. three children. what about little breeann's parents? have you seen them? how in the world are they holding up? >> well, i think it would be like any parents. they're certainly very, very saddened and it's just almost unbelievable to have something like this happen. in this community, senath is a town of 100 people and the neighborhood in which they live on that street, there's about 26 houses on that street. you would just never think

anything like this would happen. but you it seems like we're seeing this more and more on the news each and every day. it doesn't just have to be young people. it can be older people as well. we just all need to be conscious of that and pay a little bit more attention to what's going on in our neighborhood. >> absolutely. don't lookt other way. call authorities if you suspect anything. sheriff bob holder, i appreciate it. let us know how the search pro dpress. thank you. 16 more days, that is the deadline investigators in aruba are now up against to try to find this woman. 35-year-old robyn gardner. a judge ordered a man arrested gary giordano to remain in custody until then. investigators have been searching for clues since this maryland woman disappeared on august 2nd. another search, we're hearing, could begin as early as tomorrow. giordano told police that gardner disappeared while they were snorkeling but he was arrested two weeks ago when his

story didn't quite add up. some subway riders in san francisco are still furious. they say the city's rapid transit system shut down their cell phone service during a protest. it's a story we talked about yesterday here. today there's an important update. the fcc is piping in. that's next. oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! [ quack ] oh yeah? what about your family? ♪ we added aflac, so we get cash! it's like our safety net... ♪ to help with the mortgage or whatever we need! so my family doesn't feel the pain too. ha! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! [ martin luther king jr. ] i still have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together

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sfwliefrnlts want to update the lockdown at santa monica city college in california has now been lifted. no gunman was found there on campus. it is an issue that could affect just about every one of you. the story, though, starts and centers in san francisco where subway riders are asking, have my first amendment rights been violated? you talk to the folks in the mass transit system. they're saying look, we're trying to keep the passengers safe. back and forth, getting more and more intense. take a look at the video here.

protestors trying to disrupt service at several bart stations across san francisco. it's an acronym for the bay area rapid transit system. demonstrators are angry that bart officials decided to shut down cell service ahead of a protest last week. they're upset about shootings involving their own police officers and riders in the past. new today here, the federal government is investigating. in fact, take a look at what the fcc told us today. they say any time communication services are interrupted, we seek to assess the situation. we're continuing to collect information about bart's actions and will be taking steps to hear from stakeholders about the important issues those actions raised. protecting public safety and ensuring the availability of communications networks. yesterday, bart did temporarily shut down four different downtown stops trying to keep a step ahead of those demonstrators as they move from station to station. but it's important to point out,

cell phone service was not cut off for riders last night. bart is still standing by its decision to shut it down. shut that cell service down last week. telling me they acted within the rights of the constitution. >> i believe we upheld our customers' constitutional rights because we prevented those who were trying to do our customers harm from using the tool, the very tool that was provided to them as a safety mechanism from -- prevented the protestors against our customers. we preserved that tool for them. a very narrow focused period of time, three hours, in which they said they would disrupt bart service, as well as over four stations and only on the platform level was this disrupted. in the interest of protecting their constitutional right to safety as well as ability to free speech. by the way, that interview went on for a quite a while. you can watch the whole thing. go to my blog.

bart explaining their stance. you know what, one first amendment lawyer likens bart's cutting off cell service last week to breaking the legs of people trying to march when dr. king was in the '60s. see if you agree when i talk to that attorney live next hour. the man who runs one of the largest food and drink companies in the world. you could say he's kind of ticked off at washington politics. starbucks ceo howard schultz is so fed up with lack of leadership that he's doing something he says will hurt politicians where they feel it most. cnn's poppy harlow in new york. poppy, you talked to howard schultz today. what is he saying? >> reporter: i did. i mean, he's clearly had it with washington. he's fed up. like a lot of americans are. it was that debt ceiling debate debacle if you will that led him to this position. he said washington doesn't have it together. this lack of leadership has led us to a crisis in confidence and he says that in turn trickled into the financial markets which we watched play out live on your show all last week, that it's

trickled out to the broader economy and he sent a letter to fellow ceo's asking them not to make political contributions at all, brooke until washington figures it out. i am asking that all of us forgo political contributions until congress and the president return to washington and deliver a long-term debt and deficit plan to the american people. he explained that further to me in our interview this morning. take a listen to what he said. >> when i began to kind of ask the question, what could we do? i uncovered the fact that almost $4 billion was spent in 2008 in the presidential election cycle among the president and congress. $4 billion. i just thought, given the ideology and the partisanship, that all it seems that people are interested in is reelection. that reelection is the life blood of it is fundraising. i just thought given the situation and the profound

disappointment that we all feel, let's send a powerful message to washington that we do -- no longer want to embrace the status quo and we want to see change. >> reporter: so he's saying, brooke, let's cut off the life blood to the politicians until they do their job. let's cut off that funding brooke. >> as he's sending out that message, he has another message to fellow ceos in this letter. what did he tell you about that? >> reporter: he does. the top half of the letter is all about political contributions and how he's asking them to get on board and not contribute. the bottom is a call to the ceos to hire. obviously, he's not telling them what to do. but he's saying we at starbucks are going to continue to hire even in these tough economic times. he says we as business leaders with trillions of dollars on our balance sheets, these companies admittedly he says have some of them the most money on hand that they've had in decades. we need to spend it. we need to hire, he's calling on ceos to hire.

he says we can't wait for washington to do that. we need washing top to get rid of the certainty. we can't wait on them to do. we, as business leaders in america, need to take up this with our own hands and really put into action what we are calling for. we can't wait for washington. he said, brooke and i quote "americans deserve better than this." this is interesting to hear a high-profile ceo like this and making a bold statement and move with his pocketbook and asking fellow ceos to come along with him. i want to let everyone know if you're interested in this, you can see the full interview on cnn money. he's going to be a special guest tomorrow night on piers morgan. 9:00 eastern. that should be a fascinating and long conversation. you can get to the root of where he's coming from here. >> poppy harlow, we'll look for your interview first seen in money.com. we'll piers as always tomorrow.

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with no teaser rates and no minimum deposit to open. it's just the right thing to do. time now for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. joining me this hour. manisha and john, the president of consumer education at smart credit.com. got interesting viewer questions. the first for you john comes from patricia in arizona. she patricia asks, i'm a grad student with about $13,000 in credit card debt and i'm

considering taking out a student loan to pay that down. is that a good move? >> oh, man. i would like to say it's a bad move, but it's not. there are hidden gems of cold. you're converting revolving debt to debt. you're converting dischargeable debt to nondischargeable debt. you're essentially borrowing from peter to same paul. you're still in the same amount of debt, except it's less expensive debt and more specific debt. fw she is disciplined and she attacks the debt as aggressively as she should attack credit debt it's a good move. >> and we're talking about $13,000, not $130,000. >> your question, my wife and i both have a 401(k). you think diversifying would be smart here. >> this question comes up a lot

in financial planning one of the things i like to point out. people forget that women and men have different life spans and often times an age difference. so for instance, i'm 41 and my husband is 59. if we were at the same place, we should not have portfolios that look the same, not necessarily from from a strategic standpoint in terms of value versus growth, but just an asset allocation standpoint. invest in target date retirement funds through their plans that are age appropriate. that will adjust for any age differences they have. that enable them honestly to have a chicken rotisserie top set it and forget it approach that will allow marital harmony. >> marital harmony is very important. if you have a question you want answered by our experts, please send an e-mail at anytime to us to cnn cnn help desk at cc.com.

>> illinois is doing everything it possibly can to create nutritious meals and keep children healthy. >> if you can get to age 50 without any health risks, the trouble starts pretty early. about 1 in 5 kids isn't just overweight but obese. now, there are some best practices out there, things that are working. we found this cool in illinois will where they're doing everything they can to turn that around. northeast elementary school in danville, illinois. the kids here eat healthy foods. >> we had chicken sandwich and apples and --

>> yogurt, fruit and juice. >> reporter: when she got hired, the school board toll principal mcintyre, make health a priority. >> we had lots of fried foods, with eha had a lot of processed foods. now nothing is fried. we have to have fish several times a month. we have fresh fruit and vegetables at every lunch. >> and there are also 30-minute phys ed classes every single day. kids take yoga breaks during class. and the annual fundraising event that used to be a bake sale is now a one-mile walk. this earned them an award co-founded by the clinton foundation. and the changes at school are changing habits at home as well. >> they're going home talking to parents about the things they've tried and encouraging their

parents to buy it at home. >> these students are a mirror of the community at large. >> they are. and word has gotten out this is what we have to offer here. and parents have come to us wanting that for their children. >> heart disease is america's number one killer. and the risks? well, they start right here, with children. northeast elementary is one of a growing in pum ber of schools fighting back. and pointing the way toward a healthier future. i want to add this as well, brooke. you know, when we talked for this documentary, mr. clinton was very candid about his own history of heart disease. and how his doctors missed it when he was in the white house and now he's completely reversed his own heart problems. so i think, you know, brooke, there's some real lessons there for everyone. brooke, back to you. >> that's amazing. sanjay, thank you. by the way, bill clinton joins sanjay this sunday night to explore the sienls that could result in the last heart attack. watch this special cnn presents sunday night, 8:00 eastern right here on cnn.

and from one president to the over, cnn's wolf blitzer, just wrapped up his aun on one interview with the president. he will be live from iowa. don't miss this. have i got a surprise for you! [ barks ] yeah, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta.

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time now for your "cnn

equals politics" update. let's talk about ron paul. we know he just about clinched the win for the straw poll this saturday in iowa. what's he up to? >> we haven't heard a lot about him. he almost won that straw poll. only a few hundred points behind michele bachmann. his campaign out with a brand-new add today, playing in iowa and new hampshire. this special really interesting. kind of comparing mitt romney and rick perry to president obama. those are fighting words. and the top two democrats in congress. the campaign tells me they're spending good money to play this add in iowa and in new hampshire. and ron paul's people tell me they were really, really pleased with this very high close second-place finish in iowa. we're going to hear a lot more about ron paul between now and the rest of the primaries and caucuses early next year. i can't wait to hear what wolf

has to say. >> i know, we're all sitting here to see what the president told him. now, though, watch this. wolf blitzer just sat down with president obama and he's asking tough questions. also a look behind the scenes. how does the president pull off a bus tour? a shocking arrest voing a teenage girl in australia and that fake bomb put around her neck. >> this has been a baffling, frightening experience. >> guess what? the suspect is right here in the u.s. and the note he allegedly left behind could break this case wide open. is one of america's biggest city violating your zil rights?

cell phone coverage blocked out to quell protesters. now the government investigates. >> plus it's being called urban war wear. >> we heard loud explosions. we heard warheads overhead. >> coming face to face with moammar gadhafi. >> welcome back. the time has come as promised. our one-on-one interview with president barack obama. we have people working very, very hard to get the sound turned around. hopefully it will happen while we're talking. what did the president say?

he said when i'm re-elected. we were talking politics at one point. we did speak at length, brooke, about all the major issues facing the u.s. right now, or at least most of them, including the economy and jobs. he says he's going to make a major announcement. and i pressed him, i asked him what's taking so long? and he went through all of the things that he's trying to do over the past 2 1/2 years in terms of creating jobs. he knows that the economy and jobs will be issue number one in hissed by for re-election right now. we went through several other issues as well. i messed him on medicare, for example. i tried to get some specifics. when he says he supports modest modifications in medicare, i wanted to hear what he had to say. we went through that. 'wls went through some of the

other fears. i have a fear on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, al qaeda supporters or sympathizers might try something spectacular to seek revenge against the united states or the president for that matter because of the killing of bin laden. he did speak about his concerns, although he did suggest he's more concerned about a lone wolf kind of terrorist than some sort of spectacular event. he spoke about rick perry and mitt romney. the governor for texas is now a republican presidential candidate. he suggested here in iowa that the american military, for example, wants to respect someone as commander-in-chief who actually served in the military. i pressed the president with that disrespectful of mitt romney to raise that kind of suggestion that the men and the

women of the u.s. military might not respect the commander-in-chief right now. i think you'll be intrigued by what the president had to say on that. also something mitt romney said the other day, that corporations are people. we went through that whole discussion. >> i would love to hear it from the president. we had a little walk and talk. we sat down in iowa, he looked younger and he certainly did not have the gray that he has right now. i requested if he still liked being president. last time he was elected he told his kids he would get them a puppy, bo. i asked this time if he was

re-elected. he said when i'm re-elected. it was a long interview. we're going to run it. let me tell our viewers what we're going to do in the sense of transparency. i know you want to be transparent with our viewers. when "the situation room" comes up in less than an hour now, 5:00 p.m., we're going to run some of the interview at the top at 5:00, some more at the bottom at 5:30. but we're going to run the whole interview, including the informal part when we were walking and talking at 6:00. a special at 6:00, my conversation with the president of the united states here in iowa. i know, brooke, you and all of our viewers are going to be interested in what we have to say. i'll give you a little flavor of what's going on.

>> you said to unveil these initiatives to put americans back to work. do we have any ideas, specifics, wolf, as far as what those initiatives might be. and number two, would it set the stage for another huge battle with republicans in the house? >> yeah, there's going to be a huge battle. the differences are so stark. he really went after the republicans, for example, on the 10 to 1 proposal. $10 in spending cuts for $1 in increased taxes. in the interview, you'll be interested to mare what he says about that. there will be enormous differences. he says there are some inform congress who are more interested in scoring political points than

in helping the american people. and i asked him to name names and get into that. you'll be interested in that part. but he does say he will have a major initiative in september. and when i said what's taking to long, he went through some of the things he's already done. he did deny this suggestion over the weekend quoting some of his aids, he was getting ready to create what some are calling a department of jobs. that's not true hp. he's not going to do that. he's putting that to rest. so this is the president of the united states. he's got a lot to say. he's here in iowa. he's going to have a lot more to say, i'm sure. i did get the sense also, by the way, he's looking forward to getting a few days off when he goes on vacation at martha's vineyard at the end of this week and next week. when you're president of the united states, you're never really on vacation. >> tough to take time off.

>> did we get the interview yet? >> somebody snuck in my ear and told me we'll have it in a matter of minutes. i'll let you go, but we will play that sound in a couple of minutes. i urge all of you watching, if you would like to hear just a snippet of the conversation that wolf blitzer just had with the president we'll play it in a couple of minutes and they'll play it in its entirely at 6:00 eastern time live from iowa. wolf blitzer. as we told you, the whole bus tour the president is now on, folks are lining the roads to see him. and here's that beast, or it's referred to as a beastly bus he's riding on. we're going to try to do something we don't do very often. bree jana keeler is going to take us behind the scenes for what is a pretty big production there, working and traling along with the president. watch this. >> this is our work space here, the event the president is having in iowa. and this is just for television.

up in front of us here, you can see the transition pool operating. this is where they're sending out feeds of all of the live events where you can see all of the different camera angles from this event that the president is doing today. he's watching every movement on television monitors over there. you have live locations. this is with respect different networks can do their shots. you see all of the silos. it definitely gives you the sense that we're in iowa. this is actually an education building. it's used for act cultural safety. if you move over here, you'll see some farm equipment. i was told over here by someone

at northeast iowa community college, this is sort of a one of a kind facility they have where they concentrate on agricultural safety. they do things like overturning trackers here on if you were to simulate farm accidents and train people how to deal with them. the president addresses all of these here and breakout sessions where he's going to be talking with local business leaders and farmers. >> do you have time in between live shots to get out and talk to some of the folks who live there? a. >> at the event we're at today, people have been invited to come to the events.

a few of the town halls were gwynn away, first come first serve. but by and large, these are supporters. you have probably seen some of the video that there are signs folks are holding up on the side of the road. by and large, the folks we've been talking to are supporters. i'll tell you that. >> we saw pictures of the bus. this thing is -- i don't know what to call this thing. is there even a name for this thing? >> yeah, there is a name for it. >> the new president that comes in obviously, this is what the new president would be driving around in. there is no name. the limousine, of course, is called the beast. so i've been sort of joking this

is called the beastly bus. it kind of looks like the beast only the bus version. it's sleek and black and nondescript in a way, but also very heavily armored of course to protect the president and it has advanced communication technology. so he has a secure line. there are two buses, $2.2 million they cost. the secret service saying they wanted to do this in preparation for the 2012 election because they've been covering -- or they've been dealing with bus tours for some time and they knew they were going to have to deal with this and they needed an appropriate, i guess, vehicle to be moving around in. because what they normally do is lease them and then they outfit them with all of the technology they need which you can imagine is pretty expensive. then they have to pull out of that out when they return the bus. so it's pretty expensive.

>> this is a serious bus. thank you so much for lifting the veil and showing us what it's like being with the president. we'll have the interview with the president right after this short break. the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be le to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream today! [ male announcer ] chevrolet is honored to celebrate the unveiling of the washington, d.c., martin luther king jr. memorial. take your seat at the table on august 28th.

>> we now have a portion wolf blitzer's interview with the

president. >> the united states military wants someone who's warn the uniform. he says he served in the air fort. do you see a comment like that as disrespectful to the commander-in-chief? >> mr. perry just got into the presidential race. i think everybody that runs for president probably takes them a little bit of time before they start realizing that this isn't like running for governor or running for senator or running for congress. you've got to be a little more careful about what you say. i'll cut him some slack. he's only been at it for a short time now. >> mitt romney says corporations are people. does he have a point? >> well, if you tell me that corporations are vital to american life, that the free enterprise system is the greatest wealth builder we've ever seen. folks and ceos working in large companies that are creating

incredible products and services and that is all to the benefit of the united states of america, that i absolutely agree with. if e on the other hand, you tell me every corporate tax break that's out there is somehow good for ordinary americans that we have a tax code that's fair, that asking oil and gas companies, for example, not to get kpesexemptions that other f don't get, that closing the tax loophole, that's going to hurt america, that i disagree with. ultimately we've got to look at what's good for ordinary people. how do we create jobs and economic growth. and a lot of the special interests we see in washington is not benefitting ordinary

people. >> make sure you watch wolf's entire people with president obama. coming up at 5:00 eastern right here on cnn .. i know i'll be watching. and now watch this -- >> there are more constitutional rights than just free speech here at stake. there's a right to be safe. >> many folks are livid. some people like this stoern i'm about to talk to liken it to iran. nope. we're talking about san francisco. it affects your constitutional rights. the government has just made a big move as well that could signal trouble for constituent officials behind it.

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. some subway riders in san francisco are asking this question, have my first amendment rights been violated. but folks who run the transit system say they're just trying to keep transit riders safe. hackers tried to disrupt service at several b.a.r.t. stations across the city yesterday. b.b.a.r.t. an acronym for bay area rapid transit. b.a.r.t. shut down cell phone service ahead of a planned protest last week. b.a.r.t. did shut down four stops in anticipation of another protest but they did not shut off riders cell phone service. the basic issue here, one of the issues we want to point out, free speech versus safety. i want to bring in lawrence walters, who is a first amendment attorney. and lawrence, good to have you on. i want to start with something really simple. you know the story. in shutting off riders' cell service. is that when b.a.r.t.'s

constitutional rites to do that or is that overreaching? >> it's the constitutional rights of the protesters that are at issue here. b.a.r.t. doesn't have constitution rights to do anything. the constitutional rights of the protesters are the ones that we should be con earn issed with here. and this is a compound violation, not only where the free speech rights of the protesters interfered with, it was done for the purpose of violating another constitutional right which is the right of association. they tried to interfere with free speech rights as a means to control a protest. it's outrageous. >> i think this is getting into territory that hasn't really been delved into. government shutting off cell service. in this case, it's a city's public transportation system. i talked to a b.a.r.t. official yesterday. he came on the show, stood by their decision. he said the agency very much so

acted within the rights of the constitution. i want to play just a portion of what he told me. >> we upheld our customers' violations. we prevented those from trying to do customers harm from using the tool provided to them as a safety mechanism -- prevented the protesters using, i guess, our customers. so we preserved that tool for them in a very narrow focus period of time, three hours in which they said they were going to disrupt b.a.r. service. and only on the platform level was this interrupted. in the interest of disrupting their constitutional right to safety as well as their ability to free speech. >> so here's my question to you, lawrence. a lot of writers appreciate they're protecting their riders safety, but a constitutional right to safety? >> this is the first time i've

ever heard that there's a constitutional right to safety. a free society does not guarantee safety. it is somewhere dangerous to live in a free society. if you want a safe, secure society, then move to a place like russia or china where everything is controlled and nothing ever happens that's questionable. but here, this is a free society which requires a certain thick skin to live in. and a certain degree of tolerance. and yeah, there might be a protest. sometimes people might be inconvenienced, but that's the price we pay to live in a free society. it's not up to b.a.r.t. to decide when we get that freedom of speech. >> are there any situations in which a government, a mass transit system could rightly so turn off someone's sell service? >> i would have say sure, if there was an indication that someone was going to use a cell

phone to detonate a bomb. that's an assistant where the government to preserve national security and protect life and limb may temporary violate the right to freedom of speech if there is a known, credible threat. but here, we don't have any indication of that. >> demonstrations, that's not enough? >> no, stopping a demonstration, which is in itself protected is not sufficient. >> just wanted to ask. lawrence walters, first amendment attorney, appreciate you coming on. now this. >> for reasons we still don't understand had her life turned upside down, going through this dreadful experience. >> a teenage girl in australia spent hours with a bomb around her neck. the guy accused of putting it there has just been arrested 9,000 miles away, right here in the u.s. but this bizarre case, let's just say there's more than meets the eye.

>> larry: this is a young woman who spent ten hours, ten hours with this bomb just dangling from her neck. a bomb or so she thought. this is the man who allegedly strapped that bomb in place to pry money out of her wealthy parents. paul doug peters, an australian finance executive, arrested yesterday, just outside of louisville, kentucky, by local fbi s.w.a.t. team in connection with the case that's gripped

australia for now two weeks here. ten heldish hours fearing that this mechanism attached to a chain around her neck was about to explode. so it turns out this device was a hoax. but the assailant's kpends demands were very real. he wanted money from madeline's parents. >> the demands were that the financial demands night. there would be some follow up contact and further instructions would be given. and now to washington we go. we remember christine o'donnell,

right? she's out promoting her new book. she has a lot to say. kate, what is she saying? >> she said i am not a witch during the campaign. that came to remarks that she made in the past that she dabbled in witchcraft. now she's saying the ad itself was a mistake. in an interview that she was doing to pro-not her new book "troublemaker" she said she hated the ad and in the book she wrote, quote, of the ad, she came away, quote, thinking i never should have even read that stupid line. >> how about newt gingrich. i heard he has strong words

today. >> newt gingrich coming out strong and lashing out really against the super committee that we will be talking about over the next few months. >> they're charged with finding more than a trillion dollars in spending cuts. newt gingrich thinks the committee should be cut all together. gingrich saying in the sound bite the idea of the committee and the power of the committee and what it's tasked with is really absurd. he doesn't expect anything to really come out of this kmiet tee, meaning the spending cut weers all talking about.

political impasse is what he expects to come out of this super committee of 12. >> let's hope not. you will be talking about it for months and months to come as will i, kate baldwin. thank you very much. now listen to this. >> it's 2:00 a.m. we heard four, loud long explosions. >> moammar gadhafi and his regime look to come face to face with the people who want to take him down. they're calling it zero hour. they're warning it could come soon. we're live in tripoli for you. plus, many homeowners are making big, big changes when it comes to paying their mortgages. should you be part of this growing trend? whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a

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what is the story with fitch. what are they saying? >> fitch reaffirmed the triple credit rating. it did not have much of an impact. that's interesting is it shows a contra contrast. here's what fitch's perspective is. the u.s. economy eare mains one of the most productive in the world. most people are shortening their

mortgages through reminutesing? borrowing paid an average on a 30-year vix. -- fixed. but switching to this 15-year mortgage, it's not something homeowners liked to do in the past. you made a minimum payments on longer term mortgage. now everybody is thinking the markets going nuts the way they are, your home could be the safest investment out there. what they're doing is dumping as much money as they can into their homes saving ten, even hundreds of thousands of dollars, brook. matthew, explain to me here the

proximity of the rebel units as you explain honing in. they may make a move soon on the capital. the rebels say they're in charge of this very important little town. there are government forces east of the town. there's also a rebel presence to tripoli and east of tripoli. what's happening is that all around the libyan capital they're being surrounded and cut off by these rebel forces. that's subject to a nato, naval

bearing. it's making it difficult for the gadhafi regime to resupply itself and get all-important fuel for its military machine. brooke? >> well, now, we do know, this is a fact. gadhafi's forces launched this skutd missile just a couple of days ago. what kind of damage was done, if anything. and what kind of message did that send. >> the message is more powerful than the damage. it landed about 50 miles offtarget. it was aimed apparently at brega. the clash is under way. and it missed its target again by that significant distance. we know that colonel gadhafi

does have an arsenal at the military's disposal. up until now, he hasn't used a philanthropistic missile like this. kind of used to its best advantage. it can, of course, be devastating. it can reach deep into territory that rebels up until now have considered safely in their hands. it's potentially a sign of desperation. like it is now. will resort to using these very, very powerful weapons against the other side, the rebels, as it were. >> matthew chance, thank you so much. back here at home, a man said he kidnapped his 3-year-old neighbor, put a bag over her head and watched her die. now as he sits behind bars, is he about to reveal where he put her body? and is he even telling the truth. casey jordan is on the case. longest-lasting de, full-size truck on the road or because heavy duty made motor trend's 2011 truck of the year. no, it was good because you told us so.

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>> the 4 3-year-old missouri man who confessed in this affidavit to murdering a 3-year-old girl was in court today, shawn morgan. he was charged with first degree murder but did not report a plea. yo always hear no body, no crime? >> that's not entirely legally true. we do get convictions even when a body was not recoffered. but it usually requires a

witness talking about how a body was disposed of and why it can't be recovered. here we have a suspect who confessed to police with detail and even explained where he threw the body and yet they can't recover it. he also said he threw her body -- her bicycle into a different waterway and they did recover the bicycle exactly where he said he threw it. it raises the question, you can charge him, but could he actually be convicted if the body is never recovered and there's no autopsy? >> so that's a big question. another issue here, i'm trying to learn about the character of this man. neighbors say he was a nice guy, a father of three, no real red

flags in his past. >> nothing at all. we rare that when these sorts of tragedies happen. >> everyone is absolutely shocked and this case is fall into that category. a woman who's known him his entire life is absolutely shocked. he's 5'6", he's very mild mannered. people describe him as meek. no strange abnormal behavior. this guy was not on anyone's radar. i think it was just canvassing the neighborhood that turned up some questions he wasn't answering to the satisfaction. interestingly enough with the parents of the child didn't pass the polygraphs either. so the police had to be extremely thorough. and it's rally good they didn't

focus on the parents, they kept their net wide and, in fact, apparently based on the confession, they do have the right suspect in custody. but again, without that body, it will be interesting to see how this kid is progressing. >> a hockey shot seen around the world for this 11-year-old kid. let's show the video. here he goes. nay thought it was nick smith who made this shot. actually it was his twin brother nate smith. the prize money, $50,000, but the father felt it was the right thing to do and own up and say hey, you got the wrong kid. so the question is, casey, and this is for, i guess, debate, will they have to forfeit the money because it wasn't the kid they thought it was?

>> well, it's a great question. legally, of course, the insurance company would love to wiggle out of this and save themselves $350,000, but legally they would have to allege fraud. now fraud has nine elements, but i love this case as an attorney. one of the elements is that the misrepresentation of one son for the other, it had to be intentional to defraud, but the most important element is that it would have to be material to the outcome of the misrepresentation. i would have to tell you, i would love to argue this on their behalf. because they're identical twins with the exact same dna could you argue the outcome would have been any different if it had been nick instead of nate? i think they should pony up the money. they got fantastic public relations out of this.

i think they would gain $50,000 of good will if they just pay the money. >> give them the money, so says casey jordan. appreciate it. casey on the case for us this week. coming up next, wolf blitzer joins us live once again from iowa. find out what the president says about his republican opponent next.

>> wolf blitzer joins me live from iowa where he sat down with the president not too long ago. does the president say hey, wolf, how is it going or do you have to walk up and say mr.

president, nice to meet you, wolf blitzer, cnn. >> he actually came over to me and we did a little walk and talk. in 2008, a few days before he was elected president, reflected, i reflected on how much he has aged. bill clinton aged, george bush aged. if you look at pictures ott obama today versus three or four years ago, quite a difference. there was an especially moving moment when i asked him what's the worst part of become president of the united states, he didn't hesitate but he did get a little emotional when he spoke about having to meet with

parent, families, loved ones of u.s. mil tear men and women who died in the service, sacrificing themselves for their country. he was moved. and i think in part, he didn't say this, you know, last week he went to dover, delaware. the u.s. military base there, and he met with some of the family members of those navy s.e.a.l.s and others in to afghanistan. it has a toll on this president and every president. he opposes a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. we'll find out why. michele bachmann is known for making a few gaffes in her

career. a lot of politicians have made another one. it involves elvis. joe johns has the political pop next. but fist, speaking of elvis, today marks 34 years since the king of rock 'n roll passed away. and you know what, thousands of fans from across the world, pouring into graceland to pay tribute to the late entertainer. they held a candle light vigil, left flowers. we wanted to play a little homage, if you will. first five number one singles. see if you remember any of these. love me tender. the sound "hound dog." number three in terms of his single here. a classic, don't be cruel. the top two songs, i want you, i need you and heart break hotel. o nourish plus moisturize. active naturals wheat formulas

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sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. it was 34 years ago today the king of pop died. a flub michele bachmann made leads to our "political pop" with joe johns. >> she's been a very disciplined campaigner for the most part.

turned the gaffes that used to plague her as a thing of the past. at least until today. this is one of those anniversaries that a true elvis fan is going to remember. a lot of people of a certain age remember where they were on that day. and now michele bachmann took out this day on the campaign trail just a moment of it to wish elvis a happy birthday. and of course, it wasn't quite right. listen. >> before we get started, let's all say happy birthday to elvis presley today. happy birthday. we played you a little bit of "promised land" when we pulled up. you can't do better than elvis prez knee and we thought we would celebrate his birthday as we get started the celebrating. take our country back tour. >> again, no.

it's not elvis' birth day. so his birthday is actually in january. and why would she know this? i mean, i don't think you should expect her to have total recall in important dates but our political unit points out from time to time she does play elvis music at her rallies. and so this happens to be one of those days they would remember. i'm not a huge elvis fan but i know blue suede shoes. >> larry: we all remember mark sanford went away, found a mistress in argentina. he's back in the spotlight, making a little news, thanks to our friend piers morgan. >> that's right. went walking the appalachian trail or so we thought. he actually disappeared and went to argentina to see his girl friend. his staff and family didn't know where he was. kind of unravelled. both his career and his marriage. and the twist, of course, is that this guy was one of the

leading conservatives in the country. fiscal conservatives before all this bad stuff happened and he really would have been in the mirdle of the conversation about taxes, government spending, but for those marital difficulties. he was on piers morgan last night. and piers asked him about a possible comeback. >> let's listen. >> is this a comeback. you must be tempted to have a go at this? >> no. you know, i -- my go is, i want to begin the process oaf speaking out on things that i have cared about for 20 years. that doesn't mean candidacy, but it means at some level having a voice, relative to where it might have been on the direction of this country. >> so he stayed out of the spotlight. maybe coming back? who knows. >> piers trying to get it out of him. who knows yet.