evening, everyone. welcome to a special keeping them honest hour. we're focusing on the presidential campaign. specifically on the message that both candidates are putting out there. in recent weeks, more than 50,000 ads, and 97% of the ads were negative. only some of them stayed true to the facts. sorting fact from fiction takes more than just the 30 seconds or the minute it takings each spot to play. so tonight, we're taking some of the most factually challenged in

the campaign season and hodding them up for a close examination. and, as always, we're in the taking political sides here. we're simply trying to figure out what is true and what is not. we begin tonight with the romney ad. >> in 1996, president clinton and a bipartisan congress helped welfare as we know it. but on july 12th, president obama quietly announced a program to gut welfare reform by gutting work requirements. you wouldn't have to work. they just send you your welfare check. >> and in a moment, you'll hear from newt gingrich who tries to defend that ad. it's pretty stunning about whether the ad he's speaking is true to the facts. i want to show you how mitt romney is campaigning on the claims made in that very ad. >> with a very careful executive action, he removed the requirement of work from

welfare. it is wrong to make any change that would make america more of a nation of government depend si. we must restore it. i will restore work into welfare. >> now,istening to tnd watchinghe ad,ou would think that t whiteusesome manage undo all th your lekted representatives accomplished back i the late '90s in welfare reform. and in case you missed the implications, romney's surrogate, newt gingrich, today, spelled it all out. >> i think on the hard left, there is an unending desire to clean america. it's not just obama's a radical, the people he appoints are more radical. >> a string of fact checkers blasted the akt as false. the washington post-fat guy weighed in with four

pinocchioes. what it's doing is giving more flexibility to their own states. these were questioned by the republicans in nevada. >> if president obama didn't want people to think that he was going weigh the central work requirement and welfare reform, his administration shouldn't have written a memo saying it was going to wave the work requirement in welfare reform. >> keeping them honest, . >> so the administration is incesting they aren't trying to wave the work requirement. they're, in fact, trying to make it resz bureaucratic aless bure. as we said, newt gingrich's definty ad goes beyond it. it makes a surprising admission.

i spoke with the former presidential candidate just a short time ago. mr. speaker, this ad says under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work. they just send you your welfare check. now, according to the fact checks, it's not true. they said, there's no plausible scenario under which this new policy constitutes any kind of serious attack on welfare reform. are they all wrong? >> well, robert rector of the heritage foundation who was the original developer of welfare reform worked with governor reagan and then president reagan. he was the first person toe come out aggressively and say, look, this one in the end got welfare reform. and his reasoning is pretty straight forward. this is why, by the way, the law itself does fot permit waivers. the president actually could t

waive section 407. so he fudged and found a way to get around it, which i suspected will turn out to be illegal. the governor of virginia has come out and said that he thinks this is clearly gutting welfare reform. the two governors that the obama administration is hiding behind, the governor of utah and the governor of nevada have both come out and said this is not what they wanted. this is not the flexibility they asked for. >> this ad said under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work. they just send you a welfare check. there's no evidence of that, at all. >> given that this is the administration which has maximized the number of people on food stamps, maximized the number of people to rely on the government. there's no longer evidence once the waiver system is in police station, that you can rely on this add hin straministration t work.

according to governors themselves, that's not their intention. they say utah's request from a waiver stems from increased maximizing employment from utah's recipients. that's almost word-for-word what the hhs is saying. the act k assistant seblg tear of hhs said that this is all about trying to create innovative strategies, flexibility, policies and procedures designed to improve employment outcomes. they're basically saying the same things. >> the question you have to ask yourself is given the track record of this particular secretary of health department and human services, and remembering that part of what i think led to this strong reaction on the part of a lot of conservatives and a lot of republicans. this came out of the same 48 hour period as the president's famous speech that you didn't build it. that you aren't responsible as a small business owner 23r what

you achieve. so it's almost as though he was psychologically attacking work in achievement at the same time as he was shifting the regulations. candidly, this was not the legislation that you were going to find any conservative give the benefit doubt to. >> i've got to find the wording of this ad. it's under obama's plan. you wouldn't have to work, you wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. that's not saying we assume this or we think this or we worry about this. it's saying, as a fact, this will happen. and that's just not supported by evidence. >> i think if the ad makers had asked me, i would have said this makes it possible. >> so you think the wording of the ad is too straight forward? >> i think that the ad does assert -- but this is a political ad. in 30 seconds, you tend not to get all the various amendments and things.

i'm here tonight supporting the idea. i believe, absolutely, that the obama administration is filled with people who do not believe in the work requirement. as you, yourself, pointed out, even when bill clinton decided to sign the bill, half the house, 101 representatives voted no. barack obama himself was opposed to it. so if you say to me do i think all of those people who opposed the bill would probably try to gut it if they get a chance? of course i do. >> but if you were running this ad, you would change the wording to say i at least worry about this? >> well, if i were running the ad, it would be a much tougher ad because i would start by saying as the leading food stamp person in american history more than anyone else in modern times. and a guy who has failed totally with child poverty. with the clinton-gingrich

welfare plan, child poverty went down by 25 pnt, the largest decline was because we had a work requirement and people went to work and went to school and their lives got better. so mill ad would have been tougher than this ad in setting up the conditions you're looking for. and then it would have been a 60 second ad and i don't know if we could have afforded i. >> it did sound like you were saying earlier,and i want to gist try to clarify this. you wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you a welfare check. that is not factually correct. >> we have no proof today. but i would say to you under obama's ideology, it's absolutely true that he would be comfortable sending a lot of people checks for doing nothing. >> speaker gingrich, i appreciate you being on. you can follow me on twitter or anderson cooper. we're not taking sides here.

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metamucil uses super hardworking psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model, but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. we're focusing tonight on campaign ads not as the truth, but the plain, old-fashioned truth. we begin with a factually bogus romney ad. now a factually bogus ad created by the obama super pakt. >> a short time after that, my

wife became ill. i don't know houpg shefgs sick. and i think maybe she didn't say anything because she knew we couldn't afford the insurance. and then one day, she became ill and i took her up to the jackson county hospital. and admitted her for pneumonia and that's when they found cancer. by then, it was stage four. there was nothing they could do for her. and she passed away in 22 days. >>. >> so obviously, a very sad story. keeping them honest, though, as heart wrenching and loss of a job and a spouse is, nothing fits either the timeline or the facts. mr. romney was still on the books as being ceo. he had left two years before to run the olympics. now, you can argue he was still listed as the ceo. but in the ad, he says his wife became ill of "short time" after romney and bain closed the plants and he lost his health care. turns out it was five years after that and 2006 that his wife unfortunately died.

her primary insurance was for her own job. as with the romney ad we talked about before the break, the fact checkers are not there smiling. it's the same as romneys and four pinnochios. on just about every level, this stretches the bounds of common sense and decency. they're trying to distance themselves from the ad. jcarney saying i still haven't seen the ad. i don't speak for a third-party group, i speak for the president and administration. >> she went onto say we don't have any knowledge of the story, the family. keeping them honest, though, the family should have some knowledge of him and his family because they used him in one of

their own campaign ads earlier. >> i was a steel worker for 30 years. we had a reputation for quality products. it was something that was american made. we weren't rich, but i was able to put my daughter through college. >> that was an earlier ad for the obama 2012 campaign. bill burton is a seen jor strategist. he joins us now. so, bill, let's talk about this. the washington post says on your ad, just about every level, it stretches the common sense and decency. they've echoed saying it's inaccurate. how can you imply that mitt romney and bain are somehow to blame for that poor woman dying of cancer. >> we don't and we would not. those fact checks presuppose that's what we were trying to do. that's not the point of the ad. the point ovt ad is to tell the story of the impact that mitt romney had on the lives of thousands of people. when he came to town, they lost their jobs, they lost their health care, they lost their

pension benefits ch and that impact is felt today still in those communities. >> but you're a smart guy. you have a lot of smart ad people in the group that you're working with. half the ad is talking about him and his wife's demise. the implication is clearly that he is responsible or what the actions that he took led to his wife's death. >> the story is a very sad one. and the truth is that there are thousands of stories that are -- that happened as a result of mitt romney and his time at bane. but some of them are really tragic. we think it's important to tell the stories of these folks and how they were impacted by mitt romney. >> how is a woman dying dshl i mean, she had health insurance from her job after this man lost his job and then she got an

injury years later and then lost her insurance. >> to say that presupposes that we're trying to link mitt romney with her tragedy. >> you really want people to believe you're not trying to link in anyway even just suddenly or not subtly, that there's some linkage between mitt romney, bain capital, the business decisions he made and her death? >> the point is that even today, it's completely out. people still don't have jobs in some cases. many folks still don't have health insurance. people who don't have jobs are getting paid much less. mitt romney's experience had a profound effect on the lives of thousands of people and that is still being felt. that's what this ad tells the story of. that's what all of our ads tell the story. >> i don't want to go back and forth with this, but if this ad tells us the very specific

story, more than half of the ad is him talking very detailed with his wrief. and it is a very sad story. but it also jumps over -- i mean, it truncates time in a way that makes it seem like he got fired, she didn't have health insurance, which she did from her other job, her primary snurnls, in fact. >> she had health insurance for a very short time. >> right, because she lost her job. >> but when jo optic promised to him by a contract that mitt romney had helped to negotiate. he didn't have the health insurance. >> right. because under bankruptcy protection, they were able to do away with the promises they have made. >> they were able to avoid the contract. but they made plenty of money. all of those workers got screwed. >> rieblg right, you can make an ad all about that. i think any nonpartisan observer

is looking and saying you are linking this. you would not put this in an ad. >> i think just the opposite. i think the rational thing to take away here is how on earth can you possibly involve that. it's totally disingenuous. >> well, i don't think that's true. >> thanks, bill. >> thanks, ander zone. >> up next, donald trump's actually incorrect birther claims. do surrogates and supporters on both sides help candidate on both ways on controversial topics. [ ross ] the streets of monaco, home of the legendary grand prix circuit. the perfect place to bring the all-new cadillac ats to test the 2.0-liter turbo engine. [ engine revs ] ♪

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good eye.

a new hour on bogus campaign claims. mitt romney says he doesn't doubt that president obama was born in hawaii. but he's very publicly and we might add profitably for his campaign. despite report after report, investigation after investigation, there's nothing to the birth of the story, mr. trump is not backing down. either that or he's looking for attention. either way, the romney campaign hasn't backed away from mr. trump since this controversy erupted several months ago. >> nothing's changed my mind. and, by the way, you have a huge

group of people. i walk down the street and people are screaming please, don't give that up. look, a publisher came out last week and had a statement about obama given to them by obama when he was doing a book as a young man a number of years ago, in the '90s, born in kenya and raised in indonesia. i mean, this was his statement. this was from obama. >> that's not true. the publisher says it was only a typo. and for the record, he has produced a long and short firm version who claimed to have been investigators in hawaii on the case. when we sent him to hawaii around the same time, he found plenty of evidence that the president was born there. i asked donald trump about it eight month ts ago. >> we've had a team in hawaii talking about everyone from the state health department to other families who were in the hospital the same time as when

he was born. >> well, maybe they're not saying it. maybe they haven't contacted the same people, anderson. >> we've interviewed the republican who has actually seen the original birth certificate that you're talking about. she says she hasn't been contacted by her people. >> i've been told very recently, anderson, that the birth certificate is missing. i've been told that it's not there and it doesn't exist. if that's the case, that's a big problem. >> who told you that. >> i just heard that two days ago from someone. >> can you name at least one person? >> i don't want to do that. it's not appropriate. >> you can't name anybody? >> it's just not appropriate. >> he never revealed any names or investigators. as for the missing birth certificate, it was missing shortly there after. as for mitt romney, he says i don't agree with all the people who su port me and i they don't all agree with everything i believe in.

hoe a he might personally donate millions more. he's also made robo calls for the campaign. this picture is uncle sam next to amounts you can donate for a contest. the winner gets flown to new york for dinner. the question is, though, could his support actually cost the romney campaign with votes? in any case, the governor has also said he needs to get 50.1% to support to win and he's happy to have the help of, quote, a lot of good people. now, back to those remarks at the top. he was talking tonight about president obama's lack of business experience. >> sometimes, i think he just doesn't know what it takes to help people.

i was speaking with one of these business owners who owns a couple of restaurants in town. and he said, you no, i'd like to change the constitution. i'm not sure i can do it, he said. but i'd like to have a provision in the constitution that, in addition to the age of the president and the citizenship of the president and the birthplace of the president being set by the constitution, i'd like it also to say that the president has to spend three years working in business before he can become president of the united states. >> joining me now is republican strategy. people are looking at those comments that the candidate made tonight and seeing that it was sort of a dog whistle. the fact that he would bring up the birth requirements in the constitution on a day where donald trump has talked about a job whistle on this issue. fair? >> i just don't agree with that. the governor was actually relaying a conversation that he had had with a voter. and i think that's what governor

romney is finding as he engages voters all across the country. they're focused on the economy. they're focused on somebody who can turn the economy around. quite frankly, that's been the entire focus of the governor's message today. when he was out there in colorado, he was talking about energy to helping sustain the economy in that region of the country and how important the economy is in turning the economy around. >> but he is holding this big event with donald trump and he's out there talking about berther stuff. when a supporter in the crowd says something false to john mccane, he set that reporter straight. he is clearly a surrogate. democrats are saying the fact that mitt romney hasn't said that don trump is wrong and is factually proven false, shows romney doesn't have backbone. does he have an obligation in

anyway to set his surrogate straight? >> oh, he has. he believes that the reason we need to beat president obama in november is because he hasn't done enough to fix the american economy. every time he's had an event, he's talk about what he can do to fix it. >> well, i think he has said it. i think he said it clearly publicly. he sent the message time and time again that the focus of this campaign has to be the economy. you were saying when hillary supported and the white house was very quick to distance themselves from her and a lot of conservativings jumped on her as speaking for the kand dat. isn't it fair, then, for

democrats to do the same thing? that crystallized the debate about women's role in the workplace. and the different visions that each party has for the economy. and that was what really crystallized that debate. i don't think that there are a whole lot of people sitting at home with 23 million people out of work with unploimt over 8%, consumer confidence going down. i don't think there's a whole lot of people talking about the i shall shoe that the media is talking about. they're not just focused on the economy. >> it's not just the media. in arizona, they were just demanding birth certificate from president obama. there are initiatives in a number of states since he's been in office. >> i think that's right. but do you think right now that voters, that that's going to

drive what their main decision is on this campaign? i really don't think so. i think over kitchen tables right now across the country, there's so much economic anxiety about the state of ploimt, the lack of jobs, people that have one are worried about losing theirs. i think that's really what the american people want to see. that's the focus that they want to see in this campaign. >> okay. >> and a lot of this are just distractions. >>. >> when we come back, a trip across the aisle to america's top democratic lawmaker. a man who's made big claims without showing the sliektest evidence. that's next. and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through.

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senate majority leader harry reed from nevada, despite his manner, is a former boxer and enjoys a political pumpbl. well, he has. the question is, though, is it a cheap shot? taxes claiming that romney didn't pay any taxes for a decade. without the chips and the facts to back it up. governor romney reacted sharply to the claim. >> it's time for harry to put up or shut up. harry is going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because that's totally and completely wrong. it's untrue, dishonest and

inaccurate. it's wrong. so i'm looking forward to have harry reveal his sources. >> he's offering no facts, no evidence and just allocations and insinuations. before we go any further, you should know we're not being partisan here. for weeks, we voted on michelle bachman about islamic radicals infiltrating the u.s. government. making claims of the top secretary of state hillary clinton. the standards should be no different for democrats, lib ratarians or anyone. extraordinary allegations require extraordinary proof. this began earlier this week. harry, he says this investor told him, he didn't pay any taxes for ten years.

he wechblt on. now, do i know that's true? well, i'm not certain. that was harry reed saying i'm not certain. you kind of keep it to yourself, right? well, instead, harry reed wempbt further with some local reporter saying he had a number of people tell me that, unquote. so it went from one person telling him to now a number of people. today, he went even further. >> so the word is out that he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. let him prove that he has paid taxes because he hasn't. >> this is on the floor of the senate. he's now saying the word is out. that's because senator harry reed put it out. what he hasn't put out is anything that anyone can check. here's what republican senator john mccain told me about this the other day. harry reed on the floor of the

senate reiter rated this idea that mitt romney has not paid taxes for ten years. he said, and i quote, on the floor of the snat, so the word is out that he hasn't paid taxes for ten years. he's offered absolutely no proof at all about this. what do you make of this? is it just politics? is it ak septemberble? first of all, i've known senator reed for many, many years. to accuse someone of doing something without a shred of proof that the al gagsz has any substance is really something i, frankly, don't understand. he's currently advised in the top pro super pack.

paul, you cannot defend harry read on this, can you? seriously? >> you watch me. but harry reed doubled down on this. hoe said it's out there that he hasn't paid in 10 years. it's only out there without any evidence, what so ever. >> fl's tons of evidence. the one release that he prettied up. >> harry read says there's evidence out there that he hasn't paid taxes in ten years. >> this kbie has an incredible history of tax avoidance. the shell kormgs in bermuda, camen island, a blocker corporation in bermuda, whatever that is. you choose the simplest, obvious choice.

what do you think it is? do you think he owns the bunny ranch brothel? i don't. he's got impeccable, personal moral character. i don't think he's secretly owner inner city liquor stores. no, i think he's -- no, i'm just trying to show that ut's the most logical explanation. >> mare? harry read has no evidence on this. >>. >> go ahe, mary. >> you know what, to answer paul's question, this is a fallacy lodging. this is how they argue. they make the accuse d -- on th accused. do you really think -- does this pass the smell test?

the lab test, that this man would have been governor and running for president for eight years and he has all of his money, yes, he has a lot of money. he's a big success. he's an american opportunity inspiration. that he would be doing something illegal? the really sad thing is harry reed is not some goof ball. he is the democratic senate majority leader. if i were a majority behaving like gene mccarthy. >> it just seems hypocrite kal to me. when louie gomer went on the floor of congress and said some unnanled former f.b.i. agent told him that middle eastern women were coming to the united states pregnant to have them babies, taking them back to the

middle east to raise them for 20 years as terrorists so they could then come back as american citizens and he had sources on this, though he didn't call the f.b.i. about this. and when we asked him for evidence, he wouldn't give us any. what is the difference between that lunacy and what harry read is saying? >> what gomer poz sited is ipso facto crazy. what reed depositing is the most logical, simplest explanation. why this man who is obviously burning with desire to be president, is hiding his tax returns as mary points out he should have known getting into this business, it's not plent, perhaps. he paid $6 million in taxes. may i? may i quit imitating?

romney -- that the obama strategic imperative is to distract. they've announced that they're going to destroy romney. this is just a distraction. his father is embarrassed. this is really grotsz, too. he played the dead card. his father would be embarrassed. what has happened to your party, paul? romney has the evidence. he's choosing a puzzling political thing. why is romney feeding this distraction? because there's something in there that he does no want us to see. i've been doing this for 28 years. when politicians don't disclose their takts taxes, it's because they can't. >> before i get inundated, my point is simply for any sitting member of congress or the senate, republican or dem krat or whatever party to be making

serious allegations without any evidence what so ever seems to be a troubling precedent and it surprises me that more people aren't upset about it. whether it's this or bachman at all or infiltration of the muslim brotherhood. anyway, we've got to loef it there. we'll dig into that when this "keeping them honest" special continues. ♪ this is the sound of my soul ♪

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i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. our "keeping them honest" special report, both sides are using a campaign that's heavy on ads, but light on tax. let's talk about it. we'll see cnn chief national correspondent who is also anchor of state of the union. so, kennedy, mitt romney had an interesting observation just yesterday. i want to play that for our viewer. >> it's interesting, too, when, you know, the vaers fact checkers look at some of these charges in the obama ads and they say that they're wrong.

he keeps on running them. today, they just blast ahead. >> the interesting thing about that is that he and his supporters are if not more guilty of everything he's blaming the obama campaign on doing. it's by a pro-obama super pact. is this sort of, you know, argument? is it just par for the course? >> first of all, i think it's amazing he can remember a time when campaigns pulled ads. i'll take you at that. first of all, i think there are a lot more watchdogs out there in this campaign. so we know about it more? >> yes, we pay more attention to it and, you know, the rise, obviously, television advertising has been out there for a while. but now it's almost a campaign unto itself.

we should talk about the money and certainly we talk about the content. is there's so many people watching these ads. numerical numerically, perhaps there's more. i'll tell you, they are a lot earlier they went negative. not just stretching the truth, just plain out lying about stuff. >> and the power of the super pacts and the money involved, they're able to take it to a whole new level? >> there's been more advertising. last month in july, there wasn't a final month in the campaign in 2 0e 08. when you're calling into the campaign and you say hey, that's been proven to be wrong. they believe, especially the obama side needs to disqualify romney. there's no question about that.

so this particular ad you're talking about, i asked bill burton, will you take it off the web. it's never been on paid tv. he said no. the distortions, the false attac attacks, is it possible they do more damage to him? >> they are looking at 2004. bush really moved to define john kerry very early. he started running ads in march. >> when you think about negative ads, they've always been around and they always often work. i think what you're seeing particularly now in august is that each of these campaigns is really trying to generate some feeling among their base. among those voters. if you generate some feeling, some sort of moral out rage, those are the sorts of feelings

people are actually at and donate and knocking on doors and mobilizing. so that's what you're seeing. these campaigns real li try to grab people by the collar and get them to act. >> and kennedy shlgs that's the expenditure for the obama campaign early on. to try to find his dpoe nant early on. >> president obama, people have gotten used to him. he's been on tv every day. it's much more difficult to redefine president obama. and i think what's interesting to me is the romney campaign knew this early on. they admitted that the idea of making people dislike president obama probably wasn't going to happen. and and what they wanted to do was make people like mitt romney. and the negative ads, i totally agree, were aimed much more at mitt romney getting his base

activated than at trying to drive down president obama's favorableties. i think the really key question, now, though, is whether mitt romney, at this point, can come back and use these big tuntds he's about to get to define himself in a positive way and bring up the likability. >> there's no question the obama and the obama allies have done the best. you'd have to say those are the most effective so far. they are winning, if you will, in terms of moouing the numbers. some happen to be reprehensible. he has to convince people that he will fight for the middle class. the damage that's been done against him is to say he's a rich guy, he's hiding his taxes, he doesn't care about you and your community when it comes to the economy. it's a steep hill.

that's the scar the people have put on him. he will own the second half of august. that's how it works. he has a big opportunity to do that. the question is can he? >> thanks very much. we'll be right back. >> thank you. are created and protected.tunis gonna need more wool! demand is instantly recognized and securely acted on across the company. around the world. turning a new trend, into a global phenomenon. it's the at&t network -- securing a world of new opportunities. ♪ anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon heth probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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well, there's a lot more we're following tonight. >> anderson, it's supporter, iran, continued to pose a global terror tlelt. that's according to the state department's counter terrorism

coordinator. more sanctions on hesbola. and across syria today, opposition groups say at least 160 people were killed by government forces. they say most of the deaths happened in aleppo, syria's largest city. the attorney for the ohio man arrested for bringing guns, ammo and knives to the latest batman movie. says the his client had to gear for protection. police say the items were in a bag he was carrying last saturday night. new islamic center and mosque over in tennessee today. security is tight with fears of vandalism and arson. and a dramatic rescue at sea. this fisherman was forced to tread water for 20 hours when his boat sank off the coast of wets e western austral ja.