right now. our starting point this morning, playing politics with your paycheck, president oba bam promising to veto any bills that extend the tax cuts for all americans. instead, he's calling on congress to extend cuts only for those making less than $250,000 a year. >> many members of the other party believe that prosperity comes from the top down. so that if we spend trillions more on tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, that that will somehow unleash jobs and economic growth. i disagree. >> republicans say the president's plan would hurt families and raise taxes on small business. >> it really is class warfare, if you look at the people who make over $250,000 a year, many are small business owners and pay their taxes, not in a corporate context but in a

personal returns. >> joining us now live, congressman steve king, a republican from iowa and member of the tea party caucus. good morning. >> good morning. >> the president wants to keep lower taxes for 97% of americans, the treasuries department's office of tax analysis for the tax year 2007, under bush, 3% of all tax returns were for incomes over $250,000. explain the view that obama's proposal would hurt. walk me through it. >> i recall back when the bush tax brackets were first implemented, a decade ago. the argument was how do you give tax breaks to people not paying taxes that's a number approaching or exceeding 50%. the lowest bracket would receive a 50% tax increase if the bush tax brackets were allowed to expire. i think this is just another one of the class pieces the president has done, dividing

people along whatever lines he can demographically to -- >> how is that class envy? >> i'm sorry. >> you say this is a class envy play by the president. what do you mean? >> if you demonize the people making over $250,000 and say they aren't paying their fair share. if you ask people what is a fair share, the people over 250 are paying more than the people paying less than 250 think they are. you can always make the argument you want to raise the taxes on somebody else. the president doesn't think he gets a lot of votes out of that group and thinks he gets more energy and more from his base if he just simply targets people making over 250,000. that's where the jobs are created. >> let's look at the polling here. a majority of people would support this proposal of extending tax cuts for all people. increasing taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year. democrats, 83% of them favor it.

independents 63% favor it. republicans only 37% favor it. you can see this is where there's a real idealogical difference here. that's something both are playing into in an election year. >> i see this and it begins as a shift within the culture that that poll reflects. that says there are more and more people looking at others saying they shouldn't be making that much money because i'm not. and they don't feel as much guilt about the 72 different means tested welfare programs that we have. if you go back to franklin roosevelt, freedom from want, freedom from fear, they were manufactured freedoms, it's it's almost a government guarantee from a middle income standard of living from programs. i like when americans feel guilt about that and want to step up and carry their fair share of the work. too many americans not contributing to the gross domestic product in the united

states today. >> you're saying the president is talking about fair share, saying that people above $250,000 a year should pay what he says is their fair share. are you saying poor people and people in government programs are not paying their fair share, that's that's not fair? >> i don't think that's arguably. if rethey aren't paying income tax, paying property tax and saels tax. if they are not going to work and number approaching 100 million americans of working age not in the workforce that includes the 13 million that are unemployed, some can't do anything about it. something aren't willing. when you add that up, roughly a third of americans of working age are not contributingo the gross domestic product of the united states. >> whose fault is that? because the economy is not giving the opportunities it useded to? >> people are told they aren't required to create opportunities, i've heard that with the people who are occupying wall street.

there's that theme there. once you get that into the minds of people that it's not their responsibility, they don't step up to the responsibilities americans have traditionally had. that's a negative to our country and the president promotes these things with our policies. >> let's talk about whether there could be action on taxes anyway before an election because we know that we talked about this fiscal cliff that is looming. if the president is going to say he's 100% committed to only tax -- extending the tax cuts for up to $250,000 a year. could we be at an impasse if republicans are saying, no it's got to be for everyone. >> we are at an impasse until beyond the election. as i'm asked from constituents across the district in the country, i tell them the results of the election in november will determine what happens in the lame duck session after november and before the december 31st expiration of these tax brackets. and i think that's what this is about. it's about the election for the president. it's not about ending his

spending spree. this tax increase on those making over $250,000 a year does not do a thing to solve the president's spending problem. it is a spending problem and a problem of a stagnant economy with a burden of obamacare and burden of regulations and uncertainty out there. i'd like to see people making over $250,000 a year make more. they'll create more jobs with that. and republicans and democrats have forgot be to remind the american people that jobs, jobs, jobs, but you pay for those jobs you have to have profit. business will not invest capital, not take the risk that creates jobs if they don't have access to profit and confidence that the government is not -- >> there's certainly this certainty issue when you have a fiscal cliff in congress and can't really do anything in an election year that adds to uncertainty as well. steve king, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> coming up in 20 minutes, we'll talk to lloyd doggett, a senior member of the house ways

and means committee and later jason chaffetz will join us live. let's go to ali velshi. a record heat wave fading and floodwaters are rising, flash floods in the mid-atlantic, stranding 30 cars on the interstate in north carolina. the government says the past 12 months were the hottest ever on record in the mainland u.s. and that's not even countg july, more than 2,000 heat records alone broken or tied so far this month. for more on that, let's go to meteorologist alexandra steele in the weather center. >> good morning, ali. the preponderance of those were east of the mississippi river. look at these records, 113 in vegas, 108 in boise, 99 in reno, didn't seem that great but it was a record. here's where the heat will be on. departures, that's what the

numbers are in red, six or seven degrees above average. 101 in reen no, boise, 102. 14 degrees above average. in spokane, 92. it's pretty cool out there typically, 15 degrees above average. the heat is on. what's happeningn the southeast, along the eastern seaboard, the cold front that moved through brought the temperatures down which was nice, took us out of the 100s but now this front has become stationary and with all of that moisture in the air, that lifting mechanism of the front, the unstable air and heating of the atmosphere, it's allowing for showers and storms to roll and train over this front. so yesterday a lot of flooding in north carolina, 3 inches. today expect another 1 to 2 inches of rain. that's the story but you'll notice the front move through cool things down. boston, 81, new york, 86. no 100s. good news, kansas city, 92. 15 degrees cooler than you've been. feels nicer but we've got the flood threat in the mid-atlantic

today. >> we'll keep a close eye own it with you. a power struggle in egypt between newly elected president mohamed morsi and the military is taking another step. egypt's parliament reconvened hours ago in a gesture of defiance against the country's military rulers who had dissolved the legislature. lawmakers were in session for less than an hour after morsi decided to override the military. his party, the muslim brotherhood has called for a million man protest march in support of morsi's decision. and russia is suddenly distancing itself from syria. that could spell trouble for syrian president bashar al assad, the deputies foreign minister would welcome a chance for a meeting of world powers to stop the violence. the russians have agreed to stop delivering new weapons to syria, as long as the country remains unstable. russia's foreign minister pledged not to deliver 300 fighter jets despite having a

signed contract with the syrian government. a makeshift memorial to slain teenager trayvon martin has been dismantled but all items have been preserved and moved to a museum in sanford, florida. the city consulted with martin's family before moving the items from the entrance of the subdivision where he was shot. prince putting on a show, detroit tiger prince fielder won the hole one derby last night which will host the major league all-star game tonight. justin verlander for the american league. the team that wins get the home team advantage in the world series. that's it. back to you. >> i have another sports story, bush league, a parents brawl at the little league tournament. they interrupt trophy time. that's our get real this morning. bad news for tourists, washington monument about to

undergo years of repairs to repair damage from the earthquake. make and pay over the delay. the maker of blackberry facing a lawsuit from users who were promised something new. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym.

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minding your business, day two of earnings season today, one company over pressure over its books, blackberry at its annual meeting today, rim executives will face questions from shareholders over the delayed release of the new operating system. the company stock is down 95% from its peak and posted a $518 million loss last quart ir. google is close to paying a record $22.5 million fine to settle charges that it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using apple's safari browser. the ftc charges google used a special computer code to track apple users. google said it was inadvertent.

u.s. stock futures are trading higher ahead of the opening bell. european stocks are up too after positive data on manufacturing out of the unitedingdom. that was a surprise. so that's pushing markets higher this morning. most americans make more than their parents did but not all moving up the economic ladder in a new pugh report that looked at economic mobility and income inequality. the study found family wealth rose 27% in a generation in the top fifth of the economic ladder and sunk a whopping 63% on the bottom wrung. as you know, that is the intractable economic problem of our time, greater disparity between what people herein and how much they have. >> and the politics around what causes it and whether it should be fixed. the washington monument won't be open to advise tors any time soon. it's expected to remain closed to the public for another year.

the monday ult has been closed since last august when a magnitude 5.8 earthquake cracked five marble panels near the top. the repairs require huge scaffolding around the building, normally 700,000 visitors go to the top every year. good morning, you've got the beautiful picture behind you of something that is really -- i mean every eighth grade class in america saves money to see the washington monument and climb up there. what did you find out about the extent of the damage? what do you know now you didn't know last august in the days after the earthquake? >> well, good morning, it's a beautiful day here and we did find -- we did a very extensive analysis of every crack and every stone in the monument. and i don't think we found out the damage is that much worse but we have a detailed analysis and we're putting a contract out

to start the work this fall. >> tell me what will that beautiful -- that beautiful monument look like for the next year or so as you're doing that work? it will be covered in scaffolding and what will you be doing? >> it will be unfortunately covered in scaffolding all the way around it. and we'll be doing extensive repairs. the challenge to the product is so much of the damage is at the very highest levels of the monument, which is why we require the scaffolding. and we have about nine large panels, some of them weighing 2,000 pounds or more that have cracks in them. we have about 50 stones that need to be repaired and multiple other cracks that will need to be repaired during the extensive repairs. >> during the repairs you have to be careful for accidental damage as well. parts of this monument are 128 years old. >> absolutely. it truly is a monumental task.

this is certainly an icon, not only of washington but of our entire nation and so that's why we've done this very met tick house analysis and i have experts around the united states working on the project. we don't want the monument to be closed one day longer than it needs to be but we also have to make sure we repair it correctly so it will be here for all time. >> how do we safeguard against another earthquake, it was so odd for it to hit this part of the east coast. i guess it could happen again. >> it could. we did have an earthquake over 100 years ago but it's really quite unusual occurrence. we don't anticipate it happening again soon. but nonetheless, that's the reason why we need to make these important repairs. >> bob vogle with a beautiful picture behind you, a monument, literally and figuratively task

ahead of you. thank you. a fight breaks out at the little league game but poor sports aren't the kids. they are not the problem here. that's our get real and our starting point team is heading in to talk about this and more, abby huntsman and will cain, this is from abby's playlist, maroon 5. [ female announcer ] the coffee house.

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a quick look at the head lipz, team usa goalkeeper hope solo getting a way with a warning after a positive drug test. the anti-doping agency says solo

tested positive for a due receiptic drug which does not have to result in a suspension. a federal judge throwing out lance armstrong's lawsuit the same day it was filed. he was trying to block the u.s. doping agency from punishing him for alleged doping violations. the new york yankees made at mr. october, according to the new york post. they have told reggie jackson to stay away from the team after he made comments that rodriguez's numbers are taintsed because of his use of persecuformance enha drugs. speaking of teams, the starting point team, abby huntsman, ryan lizza and will cain, columnist for the blaze.com. >> dope free the three of us. >> as far as i know, are you willing to say so in front of a

grand jury. >> adder all, whatever it takes. >> this is supposed to be a fun evening in a little league game in georgia, the northern little le league defeated the all-stars, a fight breaks out, not between the children, between adults. people in their 30s, the 36-year-old brother of the coach asked charles davidson, a 38-year-old father to turn down his music, davidson was playing all i do is win, the auburn university rally song. he and king started to talk about a player and the verbal fight got physical, lots of pro fanties and the two were arrested and one charge of disorderly conduct and due in court august 16th. one of the league's administrator called it the most disgusting thing he has seen in little league. >> is it the most disgusting thing in little league?

i feel there's one at least once a year. >> doping among the children would be worse. >> this has to do with the parents. it's embarrassing. >> the fans and parents just get -- it's like a jets game or eagles game. >> both sides bring their own theme musics for the team and play the theme music between innings and there was a dispute over music. >> your oldest is 5. >> how old is yours? >> 6. this might be something in you that comes out once you child goes in competitive games. mine is not there yet. >> a warning for the other time. >> i'm just saying. >> there we go. my kd is not there yet. ahead on "starting point," an alert about tainted lettuce in our a.m. house call. plus, want to live longer? we have a simple idea for you. researchers say this can add two years to your life right now. stick around and we'll add two years to your life.

why jeb bush may not be in the running on romney's number two list. this is my playlist. had always called oregon home.i until i got a job in the big apple. adjusting to city life was hard for me. and becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but we had each other and he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. always there for you.

the marines are moving toward the notion of putting more women in combat roles. you'll hear from one woman who thinks that's a lousy idea. >> a book captures the struggle in the white house to redefine america specifically foreign policy. >> i thought you were going to

talk about "fifty shades of grey,". >> you've already finished it? >> 30 pages in. >> the fast and furious bountdy, feds offering up to $1 million unsealed indictment against five men, one is already in custody. terry's death tied to the botched fast and furious gun running program that allowed guns to cross the border. nine u.s. border patrol stations will be shut. california, montana and idaho, u.s. customs officials say the goal is to concentrate personnel and resources in the immediate border areas to police human trafficking and illegal immigration. the strategy is expecteded to say $1.5 million. veteran new york congressman charlie rangel is a step closer to the 22 term in congress. a final count has rangel ahead of his challenge, espaillat.

1,000 votes separate them. he conceded the race and sued for a recount. he has dropped his legal challenge. president obama calling on mitt romney to show us his money. he needs to be more transparent to the american people and he and other doctemocrats are demanding he release his tax returns. >> is it your belief for it to be unpatriotic for someone to have a swiss bank account? >> i think what's important if you are running for president is that the american people know who you are, what you've done and that you're an open book. and you know that's been true of every presidential candidate, dating back to mr. romney's father. >> in january, romney disclosed his 2010 tax filings and an estimate of his tax liability for the 20 tax year. former florida governor jeb bush is not being vetted by the romney campaign as a possible

running mate according to bush's son george. the nephew and grandson of two former presidents says his father means what he says, he's not actively pursuing a higher office. a recall alert in your a.m. house call, produce company pacific international has announced a voluntary recall of 19 cases of bulk romaine lett e lettuce, the cause is possible salmonella contamination. no lettuce sold in cartons or bags are affected. you might want to stand up, too much sitting down can kill you. sitting down for more than three hours a day can shave a person's life expectancy by two years according to a study publish d today in the online journal. watching tv more than two hours can make the problem worse and trim another year and a half off

your life. stand up while watching, get up. no sitting around. >> get up. all right. >> everybody sits more than two hours a day. everybody. >> now, really, it's true. >> president obama is setting the stage for a new round of tax battles in congress and promising to veto any bills that extend all tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. he called on congress to extend only cuts for households making less than $250,000 a year. republicans want to extend them for all americans and say the president's plan will hurt families and small businesses. lloyd doggett, a senior member of the house budget committee. >> great to join you. >> cnn money spoke with several economists and found they are mostly in favor of some extension of the bush tax cuts. in fact, majority of those economists say they want all tax cuts extended, all of them. one of these economists

specifically cited politics, by just favoring one group of taxpayers and not another, you reduce the possibility of the tax cuts being passed. we don't need to raise taxes in the short term. when unemployment is down to 6%, we can talk about phasing out tax cuts, own though that could be in a while. the president is promising, 100% committed to these tax cuts for the middle class and below. what do you think of the economists saying, why don't you do it for everyone? >> we've got an economist with an opinion on just about everything but i think the economic facts are that tax breaks, more tax breaks for those at the very top just have not produced jobs. they certainly didn't in the bush years. they only grew the debt and deficits. i believe that we ought not to provide tax breaks to those at the very top of the economic ladder that amount to more in a tax break than a median income family in central texas earns in an entire year.

that will just continue to destart the gap between the very rich and rest of the country and it will not grow jobs. >> i have to tell you though, the contrast from steve king who we spoke to earlier today from iowa, is pretty sharp and shows these two, talking about fairness in a completely different light. i want you to listen to what he said. the fairness issue is not about the rich paying more, it's about everyone else paying their fair share. listen. >> if they are not going to work and there's a number approaching 100 million americans of working age not in the workforce and that includes the 13 million that are unemployed, some can't do anything about it. some aren't willing to do anything about that. when you add that up, roughly a third of americans of working age are not contributing to the gross domestic product to the united states. >> he talks about class envy. that's what you're going to hear. that's what you're going to be hearing a lot from the gop this week, sir, that you've got a president playing the class

envy. >> i think that what some of our republican colleagues like steve want is that the single mom who's out there right now serving breakfast tacos at the near minimum wage job, she may not have a big income tax liability, but she's paying payroll taxes. she's paying sales taxes and regressive property taxes. they think she should be taxed more. i think we need a simpler and more effective tax code but that incentives work. you can call it class envy. i think the class warfare is over and there's no doubt in the portion of the bush years those at the very top captured almost all of the wealth growth during that period of time. now it's a question of whether we can have a little equity and do something other than just grow more debts and deficits for tax cuts for the top that do not

work. >> congressman, many economists say now in the short term this will be a bad time to raise taxes with the economy in the fragile state it's in. i don't have to look at economists, i can look to president obama who in 2009 said very clearly, you do not raise taxes, do not raise income taxe on anyone in a recession. does this tell us, that president obama has either changed his mind or the economy is headed off down a sunny path? what has change from 2009? >> first, i think many of those economists are talking about letting all of these tax cuts expire and a negative effect that would have rather than focusing in on whether we extend the tax cuts for another year for all middle class americans and the top one or two percent don't get an extension, they go back to what were the very reasonable rates of the clinton years. >> same thing as 2010, that's what i'm talking about in 2010 president obama said you don't allow taxes to raise on anyone during a recession. what's different now?

>> your point is so well taken about 2010. it's why we have a little of the problem we do now. i disagreed strongly with president obama in 2010 that he ought to accept tax breaks for billion airs which he opposed trying to reach a compromise with rpz. he compromised with them and gave them the extension and what benefit has it had to us in the meantime? i think very little. i think it's another one of those economic facts that shows that agreeing with republicans on more tax breaks for those at the top works. it does not work and did not work and it will take more than speeches and using repeating the same old mistakes to get us where we need to be. >> congressman, it's ryan lizza, as you alluded to, president obama and republicans came very very close to a so-called grand bargain onsetling tax entitlements and spending issues. if you take care of bush tax

cuts and get that out of the way, isn't that going to harm your ability to do something after the election on a big tax reform piece? shouldn't you save this and make this part of the bargaining after the election and get the entitlements and deficit reduction and get the bush tax cuts on the table in one place and get that deal done? isn't this going to mess this up? >> that is the way to do it, one of my colleagues, a republican from texas said on your program yesterday, he thinks president obama will give in again, just as he did in 2010, just as he did when republicans took us to the brink of disaster in rejecting full faith and credit of the united states last year. we need all of this on at once. the republican idea of compromise is you agree to what i want and then beg for what you want. that does not mean the kind of effective agreement we need working together here in washington. i think this is something that will have to be done over the

period after thanksgiving, leading up and perhaps into next year. >> another exciting autumn, can't wait for all of the -- we'll getting hotel rooms in washington, d.c. to cover it all. there's rare agreement between progressives and the far left of the president's party and the gop this morning. gop coming out with something called the obama nom ics outsource.com, they are saying obama policies have cost hundreds and thousands of american jobs because of the growth of chinese exports and criticizing the president on this although not through this website and this gop effort, large american corporations according to the bureau of economic analysis, large american corporations in 2010 added way more jobs overseas than they did in the united states. there's criticism that the president hasn't done much on this. >> i think we do need a more effective policy directed at those corporations like general electric that sometimes pay less rate than the employ --

>> the ceo of ge runs the president's competitiveness council. >> he wouldn't have been my choice, exporting revenue and jobs. i take a different stance on. i sponsored legislation to reduce the incentives for corporate export of jobs. of course our republican colleagues are talking about eliminating taxes on these overseas of operations that will be an incentive to export even more jobs. we do need to look at the outsourcing of tax revenues, increasing the burden on small businesses and driving up the deficit and leads to the outsourcing of more american jobs. >> comprehensive tax reform. maybe 2013 will be the year after 19 hearings this year and after all of this fighting over the debt ceiling and the bush tax cuts, maybe then -- can you do it next year? >> let's hope so. for some people corporate tax reform is a way of shifting more

burden to small businesses and individuals. if we accomplish reform by keeping the current level of corporate revenue that's coming into the treasury or increasing it slightly, that would be real reform. by lowering taxes on those already paying so little, that won't work. >> comprehensive anything in d.c. is always difficult these days but maybe it will happen this year. lloyd doggett, nice to see you. >> thank you. >> jason chaffetz will join us live. ahead on "starting point," females on the front lines giving women the khaki green light. why one marine corps officer doesn't think they are cut out for the battlefield and she's a woman. >> a new jersey teen plunges from a chair lift. why she made the split decision to jump. steven baldwin is talking about forgiveness and his faith, loving the bad man. he's here next hour. this is ryan lizz a's playlist.

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i'm ali velshi, fists flying in court, a nasty brawl breaking out in a florida courtroom between the family of two murdered brothers and the suspect's family. it happened after a hearing on the stand your ground gun law was canceled. the victim's father and the defendant's stepfather were taken away in handcuffs. the 17-year-old makes a terrifying decision. melanie took a 35-foot leap from a sky ride as debris started flying during a nasty storm on the jersey shore. she was afraid she was going to be struck by lightning. she and a friend on the ride who didn't jump off are both okay. the disney corporation is not happy with north korean leader kim jung un.

video showing enjoying a show with disney characters and clips from animated movies was an unlicensed use of its product. i'm not sure of the list of things kim jong-un is going to deal with, a possible lawsuit from the disney corporation is way up on the list. >> he despises the west but doesn't. >> everybody likes disney. >> he knew i guy who starves his people didn't respect copyright. women being trained as an infant infantry -- on early start, katie said her experience is living proof. >> i went from breaking school records to being broken in a short amount of time.

i left seven month deployment 17 pounds lighter and i had muscle atrophy and stopped producing estrogen which caused me to have infertility and i was only doing a portion of what my breathren were doing. >> the new kinds of battlefield is not going to be this old battlefield with the kinds of physical demands that she's talking about it. it's going to be much more high tech and different kinds of front lines. >> maybe that will make it easier. >> i think if women ready and willing to serve, this is great, they should have the ability to test it out. my initial reaction, that's a tough job i don't know that women are necessarily made to be in the front lines of combat. more power to them. >> if you can do the training, you can do it fine. we can talk about it in theer receipt cal, she has done it and said it's too tough. >> the if in both abby and your statement carries a lot of weight. if they are willing and able. this training program they are putting women into will help us

answer that question, right? we'll note statistically can they keep up physically with these demands that the program requires. >> they need to get enough sample size, 92 so they can really see how it works out. >> it just seems like the history of women in combat, it's inevitable they will take on more front line roles. i believe more than half of female fatalities -- >> other countries do. >> iraq and afghanistan, most of the female fatalities were in combat. they were due to hostile acts. women are already serving and already -- >> come a long way when it comes to military and you know, if this doesn't end up working out, that's okay. >> there are cockpits and submarines but the infantry, this is where she says it's -- >> her experience was what, she was going through this extremely rigorous training that the marine corps, very specific training and that's what she was discussing there. >> lost 17 pounds, muscled at trow feed and facing infertility.

>> you want your strongest on the fron lines, that's important to. there's something about equal rights but -- >> that's the truth, it's not about men and women, it's about having the best possible fighting force the united states can put forward. if it's men, exclusively or not. >> it's not the best for the institution or the individual in either case she said. >> the original point is the most point. the military is changing so much that a lot of this conversation will be moot in the decades to come. >> you want the choice. women have always wanted the choice to be able to try -- >> and they are getting it, which is great. >> ahead on "starting point," getting fierce on foreign policy, how president obama's view evolved from the day he took the white house until the night he ordered the hit on bin laden. the author of the new book "the obamians" joins us next [ man ] ever year, sophia and i

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welcome back, everybody. president obama's domestic policies are receiving the most attention lately, but some of his biggest successes in office have come from foreign policy, including the death of osama bin laden, expanding the drone program, and ending the wars in iraq and afghanistan.

a new book," the obamians," explores the president's world view and how it has shaped america's place in the world. james mann interviewed 25 people for this book, some of them in the obama administration. good morning, sir. >> morning. good to be with you. >> in this book, you talk about this group of white house staffers that have influenced the president's foreign policy and called them the obamians. who is this core of the obamians and how are they redefining american foreign policy? >> they are people who worked with obama starting in the campaign on the one hand. but really hadn't served in the clinton administration because they were too young. so they are democrats who tend to be age 50 as obama is or younger.

and they hold a common different view of the world, which is that they came of age way after the fall of the berlin wall. after the prosperity of the '90s. they are people whose main experiences were in the last decade under george w. bush, during the financial crisis, during the iraq war. >> and you write of them, you know, you say that there was a lot of emphasis on -- they were idealistic. all of these people are very idealistic. a lot of emphasis on diplomacy rather than more of the hawkish tactics of the administration that preceded them. and you said this about them. you said the obamians tended to know less about the nuances and subtleties of the issues and less concerned about the practical details of governance. they were, however, more adept at providing a determined opposition to the republicans and much better at figures out what to say in the public about foreign policy. tell me how that maybe has evolved for them over the past few years. >> right. it's interesting, because those -- i wrote those words

about them during -- as they were in 2008, they were more politically attuned, i think, than not just the mccain forces but also hillary clinton's team. and as it's evolved, they are still intensely political. the political wing of the white house affects foreign policy as well. so -- and it's also the rest of the administration. you know, it's very rare to have both a secretary of state and a secretary of defense and a national security adviser who really began in politics before they turned to foreign policy. >> right. interesting point. >> but the obama administration has all of them. >> will? >> i think it's interesting, james points out in this book that this evolution from actually realism to idealism took place, and we can see through how various situations across the world were handled.

specifically the green movement in iran versus how it was handled when the arab spring arose a few years later. james, tell us about that. what changed between those two periods in time? >> right. when they took office in 2009, they are what i call the scowcroft democrats. that is, their model was george bush sr. and brent scowcroft. they thought really what counted was a balance of power among nations, and that the united states should not be promoting democracy overseas. they were reacting against george w. bush. and so when the green movement hit in 2009 in iran, they really kind of kept their hands off. so what changed was that they began -- first of all, they weren't getting what they wanted in iran. and second of all, they came to see the movement in egypt as particularly important. to american foreign policy. and they really came to the conclusion they just couldn't

just stick with mubarak, a dictator. it just wasn't going to work. >> well, the book is called "the obamians: the struggle inside the white house to redefine american power." james mann, thank you so much. >> thank you. just ahead, a pennsylvania city running out of cash. $5,000 in the bank. hundreds of employees opening their paychecks to find out they have been reduced to minimum wage. can the mayor get away with that? and loving the bad man. actor alec baldwin to talk about his new movie. and a cheerleader who came to the rescue of a football coach who collapsed on the field. you're watching "starting point." matters. pioneers in outsourcing us jobs supports tax breaks overseas. insourcing. industry and favors bring jobs home. it matters.

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add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. our "starting point," politics and your paycheck. we are cutting through the talking points about the bush tax cuts. what does it really mean for you? huntsman out. the former presidential candidate skipping the convention, saying he is disappointed in his party. and the mayor's tough call. his city is out of money. he slices city workers' salaries down to the minimum wage. including his own, by the way. but was it really $7.25 an hour or nothing? plus, she's got spirit. she knows cpr. a cheerleader saves a football coach who collapsed on the field. actor stephen baldwin is here. it's tuesday, july 10. "starting point" begins right now.

♪ every little thing she does is magic ♪ ♪ even though my life before was tragic ♪ ♪ now i know my love for her goes on ♪ >> that's from my play list. ryan lizza says that's a good song. >> too upbeat for will cain. i knew it would be. ryan lizza, washington correspondent for the new yorker, and will cain, columnist for the blaze.com. a new round in the tax fight, and its toll on your paycheck. president obama is promising to veto any bill that extends all tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. calling on congress to only extend tax cuts more americans making less than $250,000 a year. >> many members of the other party believe that prosperity comes from the top down. so that if we spend trillions more on tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, that that will somehow unleash jobs and economic growth. i disagree.

>> republicans want to extend tax cuts for everyone. earlier i spoke with congressman steve cain. he says that the president's plan, quite frankly, would raise taxes on small businesses, and he says the fairness question is totally misplaced. that actually, the rich people are paying their fair share. it's just that there is too many people in this cntry not working and expecting the government to take care of them. jason shaifits is joining us this morning. kborning. >> good morning. >> let's talk about the tax cuts, the president wants to extend the bush tax cuts for 97% of all people. explain to me why that 3% of small business -- people who make more than $200,000 a year, why would it cripple the economy to raise taxes on them right now? >> well, to hear president obama and the democrats say it, we are just one good tax increase away from prosperity in this nation. that's not true. you don't raise taxes in times of such uncertainty. so we are saying let's keep the taxes the same. what governor romney is saying,

let's cut the taxes for the middle class. anybody who is making $200,000 or less as their adjted gross income, let's take it down to zero. their income on dividends and interest and capital gains. those types of things actually are pro growth, pro jobs, and that's why governor romney i think has the better case. >> governor romney also wants to cut the corporate income tax. the president does too by the way. agreement from both parties, just as to how much and how to close loopholes to do it. but what governor romney is proposing, how do you square what the governor is proposing in terms of cutting taxes even more than they are now and also balancing our books eventually? how do you square those two goals? >> because at some point, you actually have to cut spending. federal spending is atrocious. when president obama took office, the national debt was about $9 trillion. and by the way, in order to get to $1 trillion, you have to spend $1 million a day every day for 3,000 years. so president obama took us from $9 trillion in debt over to $16

trillion in debt. if you're going to grow the economy, if people are going to have more income, you have to have stability in the marketplace. and one of the things that i think president obama fails to recognize is that when he calls for the extension of taxes for just one year, it creates more uncertainty in the marketplace. capital is resistant to making investments, and therefore creating jobs, when you have so much uncertainty. uncertainty with health care, uncertainty with the debt, uncertainty with hey, we're going to raise taxes on the job creators. >> to ryan real quick. a lot of republicans talk about how the president ran this up. there are wars in there that preceded the president. bush tax cuts which preceded the president. and a financial collapse which the seeds were sown before this president. >> most of the debt was inherited by president obama. but congressman, i just have one question that's related -- semirelated to taxes here. yesterday, haley barbour, the former republican governor of mississippi, called on mitt

romney to release his tax returns, or at least he said he should. what's your position on that? should governor romney release all of those tax returns? right now he is in a very unique position for a presidential candidate. he has only released one year and a summary of 2011. >> governor romney has paid 100% of his taxes that are owed. he has complied 100% with what the law requires. >> i asked you if he should release the tax returns. >> i think he has released them. >> more of them. >> no. >> should he release them or not? >> no. >> why shouldn't the american people see those? >> he's been very successful. he has released everything that is required to be released, including paying more than 16% of his income to charitable givings. so i think it's a diversionary tactic. most people don't care about this. governor romney has been very successful. get over it. it's a reality. he's been successful. that's the kind of guy i want to be president. he actually knows how to turn

the economy around. >> is that why he's not releasing them, because he's so successful? what does that have to do with not releasing tax returns? >> he is doing everything that's required by law. he's had these things in blind trust for a number of years. he was governor for four years. he is one of the most well vetted people out there, and he has done everything required as possible. >> but he hasn't done what previous candidates have done, which is release all his tax returns. >> i totally disagree with you. let me go back to your first premise. the first thing that you said is that president obama inherited all of this debt and deficit. that is not true. since barack obama took office until now, there are machine than 133,000 additional federal workers on the federal payroll. the democrats have had the house, the senate, and the president for two years. that's why the debt has gone from $9 trillion to $16 trillion. that's why we pay $600 million a day in interest instead of that money going to something more productive. >> should we continue to hammer on the tax returns or not?

here's my question about the tax returns. to me, maybe -- they are going to show just how wealthy he is. they are going to show just how the tax code favors people who are very, very wealthy. and allowing tax experts to go over it and journalists to go over it and democrats to go over it and opponents to go over it. it just raises more questions for this candidate. all legal, quite likely all legal, than just taking the heat for not releasing them. don't you think, congressman? >> well, he had the head of the irs, the former irs commissioner, actually reviewed thromney taxes. nobody has ever suggested that he's done anything other than pay 100% of the taxes that he's done. >> i don't think anybody is suggesting that. i think they are showing that it would show the tax code in this country this big argument about the tax code favoring people with a lot of money. >> look, governor romney becomes president romney has said on day one, one of the things he wants to do is broaden the base, lower the rate, get rid of the corporate loopholes. he understands this as much as

anybody. the success of a romney presidency is going to be on his ability to create opportunity and prosperity for e middle class. he's already been successful. we all understand that. what i like about governor romney, he wants to create that success and those opportunities for the rest of the nation. that's not happening right now, and that's the difference between governor romney and president obama. >> congressman, always nice to talk to you in the morning. thank you for dropping by, sir. >> thank you. >> have a good day. >> now to ali verby. >> you're not going to ask me about my blind trust? >> 10 years of tax returns before the end of the show. torrential rains unleashing flash floods in the mid-atlantic, stranding 30 cars on the interstate in greensboro, north carolina. the government now says the past 12 months were the hottest ever on record in the mainland united states. and that is not counting this month. more than 2,000 heat records broken or tied so far in july. now a quick check on the weather with alexandra steele. >> we have more records to talk

about. here now on the east coast and the southwest. las vegas, 113 yesterday. boise, 100 as well. so the heat is on. and the axis of the heat continues to be there. departures from average, las vegas. 114. seven degrees above average. boise as we head toward tomorrow, 14 degrees. spokane, 15 degrees. that heat will push eastward, but the heat relief in the east is now stationary. so the lifting mechanism we have in the air, the unstable layer, the weak winds aloft, kind of a recipe for flooding kind of training right over this area. so virginia, north carolina, similar to yesterday. will see one to two inches of rain today. temperature department, a lot cooler than it's been. a lot more comfortable. 84 in memphis. 93 in atlanta. the heat is out west, and will continue to be for the next couple of days. >> alexandra, thank you for that. a peaceful power struggle unfolding in egypt.

parliament conseened overnight for the first time in a month after the newly elected president mohamed morsi defied the military and the courts by overriding their decision to dissolve parliament. secretary of state hillary clinton is stressing the need for dialogue in egypt following more than a year of political turmoil there. clinton says democracy is not just about elections. russia is suddenly distancing itself from syria, and that could spell trouble for syrian president bashir al assad. russia's foreign minister says his country would welcome a chance to host a meeting of world powers to try to stop the violence. the russians also have agreed to stop delivering new weapons to syria as long as that country remains unstable. russia's foreign minister specifically pledged not to deliver three dozen fighter jets despite a signed contract with the syrian government. a makeshift memorial to teenager trayvon martin has been dismantled but all of the items preserved and moved to a museum in sanford, florida.

the city consulted with his parents before removing the items from the subdivision where the teen was shot in a confrontation with george zimmerman. zimmerman is again free on bond. he claims he shot martin in self-defense. penn state university reporting one of its best fundraising years ever, despite the stain of the jerry sandusky child sex abuse scandal. alumni and boosters helped raise more than $208 million in the latest fiscal year. that is the second highest figure in the university's history. a spokesman says despite the scandal, penn state never lost the support of its alumni. christine? ahead on "starting point," today's tough call, a city out of cash. the mayor slicing salaries to minimum wage saying it's all the city can afford. stephen baldwin is here to talk about his latest movie. you're watching "starting point." [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

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♪ mr. know it all ♪ close your eyes >> that's a great song. red hot chili peppers, "scar tissue." it's just like a moment in time. some songs, that's a beautiful thing. actor stephen baldwin became a born again christian in 2001. his latest movie "loving the bad man" centers around his faith. it's about a woman who gives birth to a baby conceived during a rape. and baldwin is the leader of a prison gang who meets the woman's attacker. >> brother tyler. you're my recruiter. any thoughts about the new guy?

>> i've got a few ideas. >> stephen baldwin is joining me now -- the a tough subject. a controversial subject. forgiveness in christianity is something that is hard. and it's critical. >> well, on a daily basis, obviously, it's the most challenging. but it's really what christianity is all about now, isn't it? >> right, right. >> and "loving the bad man" was a lot of fun for me just because, you know, you have movies like "fireproof" doing well. "loving the bad man" is a lot more edgy, a little more challenging. if you're looking for something more intense to challenge you in your christian faith, "loving the bad man" is a wonderful opportunity. and christine kelly, the lead actress in the film, her performance is tour de force. >> tell me about the story and this woman is the other people

in the film go through on that path to forgiveness. >> before we started talking, you were saying how's it going, how is your life? and i said, oh, i have two teenaged daughters. they are very attractive. well, how are you handling that, stephen? it's similar to the story in the film. the lead character is raped. she comes from a christian family. she says i'm going to keep the child. and then on top of that, go back and meet my attacker and express forgiveness. and actually in christianity, there are so many stories like this that are so true. i think that we have a lot of content out there today that is kind of relaxed and soft and safe. >> what do you mean? >> well, i just think that being a true christian and living out your faith is something that according to the faith it's not about me. it's not about what i think is the right thing to do based on, you know, traditional christianity. it's about reading your bible every day.

being in prayer every day. hopefully hearing from the holy spirit inn such a way that you become a missionary in some third world country or answer the call that you know is coming from your god. and that's not for everybody. >> is that what this film is for you? >> oh, absolutely. this film -- you know, there's a line in the movie where she says, you know, the christian mom and dad say, you know, it will be ok if you don't keep this baby. and she goes, it's not an it, mom. it's a baby. and i'm going to live out everything you taught me. why are you going back on it now? >> do you feel like you can relate to the bad man? i know you've had -- you weren't a born again christian until a few years ago. you had kind of a wild life in hollywood. is there a part of you that feels for -- >> a baldwin had a wild life? news flash. >> the lord has a sense of humor, so to speak. back to my two teenaged daughters. >> and so does stephen baldwin. >> my two pretty daughters are

answers to all of those pig tails i pulled in elementary school on gals such as yourself. but, yeah, i can relate to the bad man, certainly. but i think that's a little bit of bad man in all of us. you know, nobody is perfect. we all walk every day and try not to judge others in our mind. >> we all have a little baldwin in us, i guess? >> well, i think that's okay >> i want to be around the baldwin dinner table when you guys are talking about politics and religion and all this stuff. does it get fiery? feisty? >> we do that on a daily basis here. i'm the resident conservative. >> no, you're not, will. >> i'm not? anyway, we have these debates on a daily basis and we deal with it. are your dinner tables like that? or are they a little bit more explosive? >> no. they can get explosive. i mean, alec and i and billy and i, you know, we respect each other a lot. >> abobut you're politically ve different. >> and mine is a result of my

faith. and my brother has said something like, i think stephen is hijacked by the republican party and is confused about what it means to be a christian or a republican. and none of that is true. if you look at authentic cr christianity, it aligns itself more with conservatism. i think that republicans and conservatives are for more common sense logical. >> do you think your brother should run for new york city mayor? >> really? >> listen, alec is a very talented guy. super smart guy. i think he'd be a great mayor. i think that obviously that comes along with all of the terrible mudslinging and dragging your personal life through the mud. and i think he's had enough of that. it's up to him. >> you recently had a court case with kevin costner that went against you. bp oil spill, device to clean up after the oil spill.

have you talked to kevin costner? is there bad blood about that lawsuit? >> no. there's no bad blood in my mind. there's nothing personal about it. kevin costner's partner, the fans of the case are the facts of the case. kevin's partner in that transaction did some very terrible, illegal things that are documented throughout the case. >> but you lost that case. >> yeah. and there's some new stuff cooking about it as we speak. >> ok. new stuff cooking. so we'll watch this develop. stephen baldwin, thank you. the movie is called reque"lovin bad man." coming up, the truth in tax cuts. plus, a city that's out of money so a mayor makes a desperate move, cutting city workers' salaries to minimum wage. that's our "tough call." you can watch cnn live on your computer, mobile phone, while you're at work, all the time. head to cnn.com/tv.

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welcome back. i'm al ali veshi. there have been a ton of claims being thrown back and forth about the bush tax cuts. i want to break down fact and fiction here. let's listen to what the president said. >> many members of the other party believe that prosperity comes from the top down. so that if we spend trillions more on tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, that that will somehow unleash jobs and economic growth. >> ok. listen to that. will cain, he said if we spend trillions more on tax cuts. what president obama is talking

about is spending money on tax cuts. spending money on taxes. a little bit of fiction there. i'm throwing you a bone, will. >> thank you. thank you. >> first, it is obviously not yet the case. the spending of money, if you want to call it that. some call it raising money. only happens if the bush ctax cuts are extended for everyone, something that the president said he would not allow. it's not trillions of dollars. it's not even a full trillion. the administration itself says it would save, or again if you look at it a different way, raise $968 billion over 10 years by allowing the bush era tax cuts to expire for high earners. now, let's go to the other side and listen to what mitt romney had to say. >> small businesses are overwhelmingly being taxed not at a corporate rate but at the individual tax rate so successful small businesses will see their taxes go up dramatically, and that will kill jobs. >> ok.

so as he said, many small businesses use a system that means their income is taxed as personal income, not corporate income. it's an entirely different discussion as to whether that will change. but will allowing the tax cut to expire for those earning more than $200,000 as individuals hurt small business? there's some fiction in there as well. if the president gets his way and the cuts do expire for wealthy americans, the vast majority of small businesses will not be affected. i'm going to say that one more time because somebody told you otherwise this morning, christine. the vast majority of small businesses in the united states will not be affected by the increase in taxes for those netting more than $200,000. that is according to congress' joint committee. joint meaning both parties' committee on taxation. only 3% of small business owners would take a hit. separating the facts from fiction. i'm not saying to raise or low are taxes. just telling you both

presidential candidates are not being honest with you, which goes along with the theme of both of these presidential candidates generally not being honest with you about the economy. >> news flash. news flash. fact check from ali veshi. thank you. time for our "tough call." scranton, pennsylvania, making a tough decision to save money and jobs. the mayor cut the pay of 400 municipal employees, including himself, to minimum wage. someone who was a city truck driver saw their pay cut by 62% from $19.39 an hour to $7.25 an hour. another worker says his paycheck went from $900 to $340. scranton only has $5,000 in the bank and has a $16 million budget gap. the city council is outraged, but there's no alternative plan. and the people who work there say, are you kidding me? minimum wage? it's a tough call. >> desperate times.

>> they can also risk getting fired. he is doing what he has to do. a lot of cities are going through really difficult times right now. and the unions can't have it all, all the time. >> remember when the president recently said that the private sect sor doing fine and that is the real problem is government employees, states and cities laying people off, because they don't have money? this is at the heart of what is wrong with the economy right now. and the president got in all kinds of trouble for poiing that out recently. but we're going to go through more of this. if congress wanted to do one thing that would be anti-recessionary, more than anything that's out there, they would send some more aid to the cities and states. >> so you don't fix the economy by growing more government jobs. >> so the solution to our problem is to continue the problem. municipalities and states, there are no doubts, have financial problems. you can go from stockton, california, filing bankruptcy, the state of california, to scranton, pen. and i just don't understand how you rationalize it. it's a solution to the problem.

pension obligations, too many employees at the state and city levels, is to continue that? >> jobs are jobs. when the unemployment numbers come out it doesn't care if it's private or public sector jobs lost. when you have an economic crisis, a government or private sector job is a job. >> now it's a minimum wage job now. >> the mayor lowered his too. >> he said after the financial crisis, they would return the salaries. but real crisis there in scranton, p.a. just ahead, tough luck for hundreds of thousands of tourists. the washington monument is about to undergo years of repairs and be covered in scaffolding. so get out there and take your picture with the family today before the scaffolding goes up in months to come. we're live at the national mall. and former presidential candidate jon huntsman skipping the republican convention. what does he want to see changed? we have his daughter and her commentary this morning.

talk about dinner table conversation. can't wait to hear that. you're watching "starting point."

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in a new minutes, a closer look. does the texas voter i.d. law discriminate? that's just ahead. a manhunt in mexico. the feds now offering up to $1 million to find four fugitives in the murder of border patrol agent brian terry. federal authorities unsealed the indictment monday against five men, one of them already in custody. terry's death is tied to the botched fast and furious gun running program. that operation allowed guns to cross the border and some were found at crime scenes including at terry's shooting. staying with border stuff, nine u.s. border patrol stations will be shuttered over the next six months. six in take, the others in california, montana, and idaho. u.s. customs officials say the goal is to concentrate personnel and resources closer to the actual borders. the strategy is expected to save nearly $1.5 million, and some 41 agents would be relocated to stations of their choosing. veteran new york congressman charlie rangel is closer to his 22nd term in congress.

his opponent has dropped his legal challenge. he originally conceded the democratic primary race. then changed his mind and sued for a recount. a final count has rangel ahead by nearly 1,000 votes. president obama is calling on mitt romney to come clean. the president insisting that his republican rival needs to be more transparent with the american people. he and other democrats demanding romney's release his financial records, including more tax returns. >> your belief that it's unpatriotic for someone to have a swiss bank account? >> well, you know, i think what's important if you're running for president is that the american people know who you are, what you've done, and that you're an open book. and, yeah, that's been true of every presidential candidate dating back to mr. romney's father. >> in january, romney disclosed his 2010 tax filings and an estimate of his liability for

the 2011 tax year. the washington monument may not reopen to the public until 2014. it's going to be covered in giant scaffolding to fix the cracks that shut it down after the east coast earthquake last year. this was the scene. you might remember this last august when the quake hit. you can see pieces of debris falling inside the monument as people run. sandra endo is joining us live from the national mall right now. what's the reaction, sandra? >> reporter: well, ali, i can tell you that the repair work is set to begin in the fall. and it is a massive project. as you were mentioning, because as you know, the washington monument has been closed since last august when the 5.8 earthquake struck this area. after a thorough investigation, engineers determined this 555-foot tall monument will need extensive internal and external repairs. we're talking about sealing cracks, removing loose stone, repairing joints, and reinforcing beams inside as

well. they say at least nine outside m mar bell panels are loose as well. this is high tourist time, and the national parks say over 700,000 tourists come here to go inside the washington monument each year. they'll have to wait until 20142014 to get back inside. this is a big ordeal. it will take a lot of monmanpow. and of course the money. it will cost an estimated $15 million to make sure that the monument is up and secure. 7.5 million of that is from a donation from the co-founder of the carlyle group. and the rest is of course from government money. >> i don't think a lot of people knew that the washington monument had a sugar daddy. thanks, sandra. good to see you. christine, remember that earthquake? you and i were in an office about 100 feet from here and we felt something shake. and you thought it might be an

earthquake and i looked at you in that, sort of, come on, it's the subway. >> i said, ali, everything is moving here. >> i'm like get over it. it's a city. >> you're so jaded. ali veshi, thanks. a hearing is underway to decide whether the texas voting law will stand. it requires all voters to have a photo i.d. texas lawmakers argues it curbs voting fraud, but the department of justice says it would prevent thousands of minorities from voting. during opening arguments, doj's attorney argued, at least 1.4 million registered voters in texas lack any form of state-issued i.d. accepted under smaet bill 14, and those voters are disproportionately hispanic and black. we have here now the director of the brennan center for justice, which is representing the naacp in texas against this case. do you think it's purely a political law?

>> well, you know, in terms of the impact, it's going to be quite large in terms of keeping potentially a lot of eligible voters away from the polls. the way it was crafted certainly seems political in intent. when you look at it, we all want election integrity. we want people to be who they say they are. but this law was crafted very precisely to be a way that people don't have the id. in texas, you cannot use your university of texas i.d. as a government i.d. but you can use your concealed carry gun permit. >> a state issued i.d. versus the university of texas i.d.? >> well, the state of texas runs the university of texas. the way they did it hurts lots of minority voters and other voters too. >> let me tell you something that the director of the elections division said yesterday. he was calleds a witness in this

case. they said 17 counties in the state have more people registered than their voting age populations. 18 counties have more registered voters than their population. also, in that testimony, in the may primary election, 239 dead people somehow cast ballots. that i say there's a voter fraud problem in texas. >> well, that latter point about the dead people voting isn't true. but what it is true is that in texas, and everywhere else, voter registration systems are kind of a mess. and that's a real problem. people showing up to vote claiming to be somebody they aren't. that's the real problem. the way to fix the problem of voter registration, which is that tens of millions of eligible voters aren't on the rolls but a lot of the names are wrong. there's typeos. people die. they aren't taken off the rolls. you need to use computers and modernize the voter registration system. not do something in a partisan way, where the politicians are

trying to sort of slice and dice the electorate, that keeps hundreds of thousands of eligible people from voting. >> yesterday, i talked to kevin brady and asked him about data released by your organization. and i quoted this. i got so much just feedback from people who do not believe this number. i want you to listen. your senator says that 11% of americans or 21 million people do not have a government-issued photo i.d. here's what the congressman said yesterday. >> i don't think those numbers are accurate. in fact, there is a real question about whether the justice department is relying about democrat -- >> so you think the department of justice is making that up? >> yeah. i think they are absolutely cherry-picking the numbers in the political groups they want to use for that data, and i think at the end of the day the court is going to realize that. >> i'm afraid he's wrong. first of all, about 11%, one out of 10 american citizens, don't have the kind of specific voter i.d., government-issued photo

i.d., that a law like this includes. look at pennsylvania. just this past weekend, the philadelphia inquirer, not a partisan group, looked at their voter i.d. law and concluded the same thing, something like 400,000 eligible voters just don't have a driver's license. that's basically what we are talking about. >> is this the best we can do? where is the middle ground? why can't we give people options? give them three things they can show. like when you get hired for a job, you can show your passport, show your driver's license, or show your social security with an electric bill. why can't we give people more options? >> you're exactly right. there are all different kinds of forms of i.d. that lots of people have. social security, a utility bill that comes to their house. a veterans card. that's not what the laws do. and we could easy haveily have like the help america vote act that says the first time you register to vote, you have to show i.d., but it's many different kinds of i.d.

everybody has it. and there's no problem with fraud. >> michael, we could point out 10,000 different forms of i.d. people can come up with. you were talking about utility bills to government-issued i.d.s. but the basic question is this. is it partisan and overly burdensome to have them show a government-issued i.d.? is that too burdened? just show an i.d. that the government issued to you. >> there are tens of millions of people who don't actually have an i.d. that the government issued to them because they don't drive. >> is it so burdensome for them to get some form of i.d.? >> there are 80 counties in texas that don't have an office near them to get a photo i.d. it's difficult for the elderly, for people in these rural areas. >> especially the elderly. >> will is such a city slicker. u >> i'm from there. you have a hard burden to prove to say this burden is too much. >> for many people, it's too hard of a burden.

our country was founded on the idea that all men are created equal. it's wrong and it's not only wrong but i would argue it's basically counter to our american exceptionalism to suddenly start saying, oh, now a lot of people can't vote. that's not what america is about. and this really flies in the face of that. >> somehow it's gone from the sanki sanctity to vote to your ability to vote. and there's no middle ground on this discussion. we'll keep talking about it, because the case is ongoing. just ahead on "starting point" why, is former republican presidential candidate jon huntsman skipping the republican convention? we'll ask his daughter, abby, next. and a cheerleader to the rescue after a football coach collapses on the field. you're watching "starting point." oh you too! ooh, hey america's favorite cereal is... honey nut cheerios ok then off to iceland!

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>> it's a great choice before people have to speak. no doubt "don't speak" from abby huntsman's play list. you can see the entire list every morning on our website. former presidential candidate and utah governor jon huntsman says he won't be at the republican convention next month. he says the party needs to make bigger, broader, and bolder

changes. huntsman was a ronald reagan delegate in 1984, and despite losing his voice, introduced a little known running mate sarah palin four years ago. >> history -- history will be made tonight, and her name is sarah palin. [ applause ] >> i forgot about that. >> i think that his -- >> well, he was right. when your dad watches that clip, does he cringe? >> yes. that's one of his least favorite clips. he was deathly ill, if you can tell by his voice. he was not his normal self unfortunately. >> what is the problem here for him and his party? >> like ali veshi said earlier, the candidates are lying about the economy, and that's not the case necessarily in what we're talking about. but i think he's frustrated with the party. like you said, they are not being inclusive. they are not talking about bold ideas. and there's a lot of people that feel the same way. it's because ever the lack of

leadership that we are in this position today. i'm very proud of my dad, because i think he is standing up for what a lot of people feel is a problem today, this lack of leadership, this lack of boldness that is so desperately needed in the party. >> do you think he is speaking for moderate republicans? >> i think he is speaking for a lot of republicans and independents and democrats even. this is above politics. this is about the country. >> this is what he said to the salt lake city tribune. i will not be attending this year's convention or any republican convention in the future are you until the party focus on a bigger, bolder, more confident future for the united states, a future based on problem solving, inclusiveness. >> i'd argue that's why he didn't do as well as people expected in the primaries because he is about boldness, he is about i guess standing up for what he feels is right, not throwing out the red meat because that's what people want to hear at the time. >> there are many gop -- many in the gop who it's all about repealing this president.

your dad worked for this president. >> he did. because he always believes in putting country first and serving. and i think he's frustrated with the lack of ideas that are out there today. you know, like you said, you can say repeal this, repeal that, but where are the ideas? that's really lacking today. >> during the primary, i took the popular position of saying your dad was the best of the field, and he had some ideas that -- >> that surprises me, will. >> between his ideas from tax reform to entitlement reform, he had bold ideas. what i was met with was skepticism as to whether your idea was truly a conservative. >> he was arguably the most conservative governor of the reddest state in the country. >> since he dropped out, he joined the brookings institute. do i need to fear that my critics were right, your dad is not a committed conservative? >> he is a committed conservative. when it comes to social issues, he is a modern day republican. and i think that the party will

move in that direction. we're not there yet. >> how old is he? >> 51, 52. he just made it on the "sexist man alive" on the aarp. he is old enough to be in the aarp. >> thanks, guys. just ahead, take a look at jessica anderson, a cheerleader from indiana, and she is a life saver. how she rescued a football coach on the field, coming up next. ♪ [ male announcer ] let's say you need to take care of legal matters.

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she is the type of cheerleader every team wants on their side. jessica anderson is being called a haddy row after saving a life this weekend. as the players took the field, jerry center collapsed, suffering a disrith mia in his heart. she jumped to the rescue and began performing cpr until center was rushed to the hospital. he is now fine. up and talking. and jessica is not only a cheerleader. she also a certified emf and a

firefighter. is it true, jessica, you just recently got off your night shift, right? >> i did. yes, i just came off work this morning. >> tell me a little bit about what happened. you were cheering for the team. did you notice him collapse? or you notice the people in the stands had noticed something was happening? something had gone wrong on the field. tell me what happened. >> well, i heard that the players screaming to call for an ambulance. so i rushed over there to see what was going on. and saw coach down on the ground. so checked out the situation, and initiated cpr. >> that means you checked if he was breathing. tell me what you did. >> yes. checked for a pulse. checked to see if he was breathing. and said his name a few times to see if he would respond. and he didn't. so we went ahead and started cpr. >> i assume this is the first time you have ever done cpr in a cheerleading uniform. >> absolutely. >> and hopefully the last time. how's he doing now? >> from the reports that i've

gotten, he is doing great. he's up and talking. and he's recovering. >> it must have been a pretty dramatic moment. your cheerleading coach told a local news outlet this. she said the girl kept going when the crowd was saying, he's gone. jessica kept going at it, no matter what. you kept doing your job while everyone around thought it was a hopeless situation. >> absolutely. i'm trained to do what i can and help people and try to save lives. i was doing what i was trained to do. >> at some point, he came to when you were with him there on the field? >> no. he did not. >> he did not? so you just kept working on him until the ambulance got there? >> absolutely. and then the medics showed up and took over patient care. and took him to the hospital. >> he must be so grateful that you were there. quick points for me. i don't know cpr. maybe we should all go out and get certified in cpr. >> absolutely. i think cpr is critical in

situations like this. it's definitely a big key to know cpr. and, you know, be willing to give it to people who need it the most. >> that's just great that you have the job, and then cheerleader by day, life saver by night. in this case, both of those merged together. jessica anderson, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> "the end point" is next. according to ford, the works fuel saver package could terally pay for itself. jim twitchel is this true? yes it's true. how is this possible? proper tire inflation, by using proper grades of oil, your car runs more efficiently, saves gas.

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time for "end point" this morning. >> we were just talking about my dad boycotting the convention. i think this is an important time for our country to come together. we are so divided as americans, republicans and democrats. and we're not getting anything done. that's the problem. i think we need to rise above politics, and start finding some solutions to the problems, to the taxes, to the voting laws, and start making a stand and change this country for the better. >> there's an argument about whether the republican party, if romney loses, will return to some of the politics that i think your dad represents. and i'm skeptical. i think parties do moderate the longer they are out of power. but i think it will take a few losses in a row for the republican party to get off the conservatism it's on right now. it's moved further to the right. to move back to the center, it will take a few losses. >> we are debating the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy and the question of fairness. that's a question we must all answer. what's fair. look at the percentage of