washington won't happen overnight but if we truly want to see congress start to work for the national interest and not the special interest, we're all going to have to start straight being our civic backbones and demanding something different and better. our big story tonight, the >> we may get knocked down but we always get back up. >> i'll ask rick santorum as a member of president'inner circle on economics who's got the plan to put america back to work. veep wars it the uproar of joe biden saying this. >> they're going to put ya'll back in chains. >> also, conspiracy theories. you know him as a detective on tv's "law and order." taking on real-life conspiracy theories. i'll get him to square off against master of political satire p.j. o'rourke. plus, you've got to have hope. solo that is. my prime-time exclusive with hope solo, the olympic golden

girl with the troubled past. >> i have a bad rap. >> how she managed to save the team and herself. this is "piers morgan tonight." our big story tonight, the biggest issue of this campaign. the economy. president obama and mitt romney were both on the trail in ohio today. stop after stop, talking to thousands of americans, putting people back to work was job one. let's listen to mitt romney. >> overall, there are 23 million americans, 23 million americans, out of work or stopped looking for work. in a nation as prosperous as ours, that record is not just bad, i think it violates our principles. >> joining me now. the man who ran against mitt romney. now campaigning for him. man who possibly may have had vp aspirations himself. senator rick santorum. senator, how are you?

>> well, i'm doing great, piers, thank you so much. we miss being on your show. it's good to be back. >> well, it's always a pleasure to have you. >> thank you. >> harbor any inspirations to be the last-minute vp? >> no, no harboring of any aspirations. very pleased with governor romney's pick of paul ryan. i'll be out actually in ohio tomorrow. i'll be campaigning for governor romney in northeastern ohio. i look forward to doing what i can to make sure we have the right man in office come november of of this year. >> well, he's a conviction conservative. he's pro-life. he's pro family. he advocates for our military. and he's a catholic. you couldn't be further apart, could you? >> well, i have a lot of respect for paul. i think he's served our country well. he's been an idea guy. he's not been afraid to go out and push the envelope and provide real principled leadership. i think what paul really brings to -- well, he's already brought to this race.

he's brought the issues to the fore. we're not talking as much now about mitt romney's tax returns. we're talking about medicare, we're talking about social security, we're talking about the budget deficit, we're talking about the economy and jobs and how to move forward. that's really what this campaign's about. the president's failure to accomplish any of those things. >> right, but the problem -- i mean, it could be a problem. it may not be a problem. it may be a brilliant game changer. it's got all the excitement that sarah palin had before and that went horribly wrong as you know as a party. this sort of early excitement needs to be maintained. how are you going to ensure as a party that your message wins the day? >> well, the interesting thing here is the facts are actually on our side when it comes to making the pitch to the american people. paul ryan has gone out there and put a bold plan together on the issue of medicare, for example. and along with mitt romney have said they need to repeal obama care. which according to the congressional budget office is going to cut $750 billion.

$750 billion from medicare. mitt romney has said we want to put that money back. change the way medicare functions to give younger people in this country options to consume medicare in a much more responsible manner than the way the govt government is running medicare now. if they want to put the money back into medicare and obama's the one who has suggested we need to take $750 billion out to fund a brand-new health care program that bears his name. so i think on the substance, you're not -- it's not going to be as clear cut as the obama campaign would like to make it out to be. substantively what paul has done is come up with innovative bipartisan ideas. that's the important thing. unlike president obama who's run a very partisan administration. paul's been able to reach across the aisle and get bipartisan support for a lot of the ideas he's put forward. i think the re we examine the details of of what both ryan and romney are proposing, i think the better off they're going to be.

>> if tax cuts are the answer, why did we end up after eight years of george bush with the financial crisis we ended up with? >> well, the financial crisis really wasn't related to the tax cuts. it was related to a housing market and housing bubble caused by a variety of facts. a bunch of which frankly was government. and government incentives to securitize a bunch of debt to people who frankly shouldn't have been in your home. >> i accept that. the point, that is true, certainly the catalyst of what happened. but certainly there are problems with the entire financial system. the argument about cutting taxes at a time when many here believe you should do the complete opposite. the argument is it will stimulate the wealthy to create jobs. i didn't see any evidence of that in the eight years of george bush. and so i'm curious to why you as a party believe that is actually

going to work. i mean, it may get you elected. is it actually going to work? >> there's a lot of evidence to it. we had very low rates of unemployment. 4% unemployment through most of george bush's tenure. we saw fairly strong -- >> not in the end. what was the rate the date he left? >> well, now, because we had a financial meltdown. i mean, you know, again -- >> right, to be fair, you can't quote 4% when his final percentage was what? >> well, no, i understand that. i think -- >> what was it? >> the linkage -- i don't remember. probably i think it was 6% or something like that, 6.5%. remember, president obama when he passed the stimulus package said we can't let the unemployment rate get to 8% so it was well below 8% when he said that. no, the connection, though, between lower taxes and, you know, the failure of the bush administration to hand off a strong economy to obama really i don't think there's a nexus there. the nexus was the lack of proper regulation.

you know, look, something i voted for and have second thoughts about, which is repealing the separation of banks and getting involved in investments and other types of financial activity. so there's a lot of things, regulatory side, that we need to look at. i don't think you can look at the tax rate structure and say that was the reason for the economic woes. in fact, i don't think you can point to that at all as being the problem. >> listen to what joe biden had to say today. because this has also rattleled a few cages. >> look at what they value. look at their budget and what they're proposing. romney wants -- he said the first 100 days, he's going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. they're going to put ya'll back in chains. >> so apparently, senator, you're all going to put everyone back in chains.

>> well, the way he said it, put ya'll back in chains, back in chains, that, you know, to an audience that was, you know, a lot of african-americans in that audience, that's just -- that's just the kind of stuff that you would expect from -- from a campaign that has played special interest politics more than any other campaign in the history of this country. there is no depth that this campaign won't go to try to solidify votes and to try to polarize this nation it to see that out of president -- vice president biden was really sickening. to see him stoop to that depth. >> yeah, i don't think there -- there was no racial element to what he was saying. he's clarified tonight. you go back to releasing the shackles of wall street, you're going to take everybody right back to the problems we ended up with two, three years ago. that is what he meant. you know. >> hold on one second. you want to talk about releasing the shackles of wall street.

i can tell you, there were efforts made by paul ryan and rick santorum and others to try to shackle wall street when it came to the housing industry. it was the democrats in the congress who blocked it from happening. republicans are not for no regulation. but they're for regulation that makes sense instead of having government regulation to force businesses to do things that lead to economic calamity. we are for regulation that allows for opportunity in free markets and transparency. that was not the case during the wall street meltdown. there was an effort to try to stem that. it was joe biden who opposed that regulation. >> senator, it is great to have you back on the show. as feisty as ever. please come back soon. >> my pleasure, thank you very much, piers. here now with the other side of our big story is the former chairman of president obama's white house counsel of economic advisers, austan goolsbee. thank you for joining me. what did you make of what senator santorum was tub thumping away with?

>> i believe i agree with the first thing he said, hello, thank you for having me on the show. >> anything else? >> no. >> i was trying to get to the anytimy nitty-gritty of this whole debate. you are making a signal the world that basically you endorse his financial plan, his budget plan, even if it's not the exact one. you're going along with the idea behind it. less government. less tax action. many people interpret it as helping the rich. and taking some from those who need it more. that is the democrat view, isn't it? >> i think it is. i think it's more than just the democrat's view. if you look at romney's budget and what romney himself says about paul ryan's budget, he was very appraising of that. it is basically the document blueprint that forms a foundation of what they're

doing. so i don't think the efforts that it seems like they're engaged in to say, well, he wasn't actually endorsing the ryan budget makes any sense. it is his budget. if you look at what he said. >> i mean, i suppose the argument in favor of paul ryan is he's young, he's personable. everyone seems to like him. a lot of politicians in america have been arguing, squabbling, anyt cone.ing up with at least paul ryany common agreement has a plan you may not agree with it. you manot think it works. he has come up with something he believes may work. and the polls at the moment are pretty useful for mitt romney. the early reaction's been very favorable. the democrats must be a little bit worried, aren't they, that this bandwagon currently rolling, the romney/ryan bandwagon, could resonate to a victory in november. >> i don't know. you don't want to ask my political advice.

all i do is look at the content of what's in these budgets. i mean, the president outlined a budget and romney and ryan have outlined a framework of a budget, and they're, as you highlight, totally different. they come from totally different ples. the president's budget cuts -- would cut the deficit $4 trillion over ten years. and it's a balanced plan. it's $3 trillion of cuts and $1 trillion of revenue. and depending if you look at all the promises or only some of the promises in terms of tax cuts that are coming from the other side, they're going to cut taxes by at least two and possibly as much as $5 trillion. and you cannot do that without crushing social security and medicare or by blowing up the deficit. there's not -- that's just mathematics. if you're going to give that much in tax cuts. >> as i pointed out to senator santorum, if you look at countries like britain, they're

by far not the worst case in europe. there are much worst cases. in britain they have tried to dramatically cut spending. and tried to ramp up taxation on the rich and it simply isn't working. >> wait, i would say the uk's -- the main thing they've done is tried extensive austerity and cutting the budget. and they are cutting the budget. but they are dramatically slowing the growth rate of their economy. that's making it pretty tough going. you've seen that universally in the countries in europe that are engaged in that effo. i think if you look in the u.s., bill clinton raised the top rates. exactly the form president obama says we ought to do for high-income people. and it generated revenue. then when george bush cut taxes substantially by trillions of dollars for high-income people and companies, it lost a whole lot of revenue. so the argument that if the rates go back to what they were in the '90s, that wouldn't

generate any revenue, i think that's just not borne out in the data. >> i think it's -- look, i'm going to have to end it. it's an arguable point. i think the difference is the global economy is in a very different condition now to when bill clinton did what he did. and that is one of the problems that i think all ecomimimi>> th >> -- economists are trying to wrestle is now is given the current situation, what is the best way to go. >> yes. >> it is a very complicated thing. for now, austan goolsbee, thank you very much for joining me. >> thank you for having me, piers. >> coming up "law and order's" richard beswick as you've never seen him before. what he believes about conspiracies and cover-ups. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds )

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who found the body? >> two uniforms. >> yeah, you got prints? >> half of manhattan handed this door. >> ah, valet parking. you ever think your friends accused you of some stranger? >> funny. >> what do we got? >> that's richard belzer in his role as detective john munch on nbc's "law and order, special victims unit." here with his new book. belzer claims it's all true. the book is titled "dead wrong," straight facts on the country's most controversial cover-ups. richard belzer joins me now. welcome. >> thank you, appreciate you having me on. this is a world exclusive and i couldn't think of a better show to be on. >> well, thank you very much. i'm a huge fan of "law and order" so it's a big thrill for me too. >> come on the show, i'll arrest you.

>> that would make you very, very popular back in my home country. >> i'll be gentle. >> trust me. "dead wrong, straight facts on the country's most controversial cover-ups." you go through in extraordinary detail a lot of the most famous high-profile deaths, killings, so on, in modern american history. the running theme really is the american people have been the victim of cover-up after cover-up. how much of that do you personally believe is completely true? is it? or is the purpose of the book to put out enough doubt to make people just question, again, the veracity of of what they've been told? >> that's a very good question. the answer -- i'm very proud of this book because it will be in the history section. i've written other books. i've written novels and nonfix backs. this is the first history book. it is a history book. it is all facts. it's not a conspiracy book. because conspiracy's a word that has been marginalized. and made fun of in our culture.

so you can use the word. it means two people breathe together and create -- you know, figure out a crime. >> let's go through some of the cases. marilyn monroe. you say in the book she didn't overdose. there were no pills found in her stomach. is the assumption we should draw, then, she was murdered? and if so, by who and why? >> well, the scientific evidence is overwhelming. we just follow the facts. we interviewed an old fbi agent who said, i have no theories. i just have facts. marilyn was murdered. she did not have any -- any residue in her stomach from what they said killed her. they said she died on august 5th. they actually didn't call the police for six hours. they called the pr division of the studio first. her two doctors. peter lawford came in. they cleaned up the scene. the first police officer on the scene said this is a staged murder. because marilyn's body was

straight, like in the military position, on the bed. if someone ingests as they say she did, usually what happens is the body contorts, you die before they're all digested, usually you regurgitate. it's not a pretty sight. >> what is your theory about who may have killed you? >> well, it wasn't the kennedys. which is, you know, some people would think. my own theory is i believe she was murdered to embarrass the kennedys. that, you know, the president's so-called mystery commits suicide. that would have been a horrific public relations debacle to say the least. but because they didn't call the police for six hours, all the evidence was cleaned up. >> then we're talking about the kennedys. let's move on to the death of robert kennedy. you say his killer, sirhan sirhan didn't act alone and didn't make the kill shot. saw him at the scene with a weapon in his hands.

what do you believe happened? >> well, i know what happened, and so do you and it's all in the public domain. what's great about this book is we're not making anything up. everything we have is corroborated by forensic evidence, police on the scene, fbi agents, contemporary witnesses. what actually happened is sirhan had an eight-shot pistol. as you know, i believe rosy greer and george clinton grabbed him and he fired his gun. he was about eight or ten feet away from senator kennedy. senator kennedy died of a shot to his head. there were powder burns on his hair. sirhan was too far away. and there were 14 bullets in that pantry that were taken out. that has been proven by lapd, by fbi, by many people. >> finally, do you believe man landed on the moon? >> why are you going there? that's, you know, i'm disappointed in you for asking

me that. >> why? >> because you're grouping that with this. this is much more -- of course we landed on the moon. and if i said we didn't, would you summarily dismiss everything i said before that? >> not at all. >> these are about murders. i understand your question. perhaps some day i'll write a book about the moon landing and how brave and wonderful the people were who accomplished that. there's no conspiracy there, sir. i mean no disrespect. >> no, it was not intended in the question, i assure you. let's bring in after the debate p.j. o'rourke. >> talk about brilliant. >> about being brilliant, yes, why not. >> yes, he is brilliant.

you got to help us. we got to finish what obama started. we got to finish this recovery. >> without a doubt, president obama inherited a difficult situation. here's the problem. he made it worse. >> vice president joe biden, republican nominee for vice president paul ryan, talking during today's campaign events. back now, richard belzer.

joining us, best-selling author and political satirist, p.j. o'rourke. >> hi, how are you? >> i'm good. >> hi, p.j. >> before we go to on politics, are you a natural conspiracy theorist, p.j.? >> no, i'm not. in general, conspiracy theories are the way people say, golly, the world's so dumb, even i can understand it. so i generally tend to leave them alone. i'm not saying -- richard's done the leg work here on this. i'm not dissing him. i'm just talking about -- >> no, no. don't get me wrong. it's a fascinating book. it's incredibly detailed. i think it will raise a number of questions. that have in many cases remained unanswered for a long time. it's definitely well worth reading. let's turn to politics. p.j., we now have the gloves off, don't we? in the sense that we know what the battleground is. we have the two men against the

two men. they're all coming out shooting at each other. i wouldn't say -- it's not as undiified as the republican nominee race at the moment. it's all reasonably civilized. the clear battleground now is an ideological line in the sand between president obama who believes you have to get revenue up by taxing the rich and so on and between mitt romney, coupled with paul ryan who say, no, no, you've got to cut government spending, cut taxes. that's the way to stimulate the economy and fire up america again. what is your view? >> hell of a choice, isn't it? do i want to sell my soul to the bankers on wall street? or do i want to get into the greece boat with europe? it just doesn't come out pretty either way. i tend to fall on the conservative side for a very simple reason. which is i don't want my life run by politicians. i've got enough problems.

i'm stupid enough. but it's -- not because they're good or bad or right or wrong but because they're a committee. we all know what happens when thins are run by a committee. so i tend to vote for smaller government. but is smaller government going to be painful for people who need government? well, yeah, that's absolutely going to be true. i like paul ryan because at least he sort of faces up to that. then they're saying on the other hand, you know, once you get in a situation where the citizens of a country all get more from the government or the great majority get more from the government than they pay into the government, well then the s.o.b.s have won, haven't they, they've got you by the short hairs and you'll never be rid of them. so i don't know. i don't know what to do. >> richard, let me bring you in here. i know you're on the other side of the political divide. >> i'm on every side. >> okay. well you can tell me what you feel. >> i'm on the side of reason. >> well, we're all on the side of reason, obviously. newt gingrich was on last night.

very combative. >> on your show? >> yeah. >> with you? >> yeah. he was trying to park us all into the obama's got all the media stitched up. none of us know what we're talking about and so on. the reality is, he was saying to me, look, you know, this is the way to go. you've got to cut the taxes. you've got to cut the spending. everything has to be cut. >> haven't we tried that? we tried that. >> i was to say, the bush years -- >> -- with ronald reagan who -- >> say what you want to say about that. >> and p.j. will agree with me, this is just factual stuff, we're not going to debate anything because we love each other. anyway, reagan, when he came in, had utter contempt for the government. i'm not a big fan of government. clearly government has a role. when your house is on fire and they come and put the fire out, they don't give you a bill. if they have a business and it's unacceptable and there's a public highway, then you can be in the marketplace.

obviously, hospitals, research. there's a role for government. it certainly has gotten out of hand on both sides. but the way i view the thing in -- when i say "the thing" i mean this whole mess that we're in. when i vote, i take it very seriously. and the deciding factor for me is which person when they're in office will cause the least amount of suffering on the planet? and i know there might be a subtle distinction. but i don't think there has ever been -- i'm sure there has been but in modern times, this is a pretty stark choice we get to make between obama who i have problems with and romney who i have more problems with. i think i say this to p.j. 20 years ago but bears repeating. the democrats and the republicans let's say america is passengers on a bus and if the republicans driving it off the cliff, they're going 80 miles an hour and the democrats are going 40 miles an hour.

we're going off the cliff. it's just the question of, you know, which driver you want and how long you want to live i guess. >> well, p.j., let's go to the cliff. here's the point i would make. here's what i would say. back in britain for example they have jacked up the tax rates for the rich. >> it didn't work. >> pretty significantly. it hasn't worked at all. >> but they also cut social services and, you know, they, you know, it was a mess. >> right. but let me go to p.j. my point is it's not as easy as the liberals may have you make it. which is you tax the rich and everything's okay. clearly isn't as easy as that. >> no one's saying that. go ahead, p.j. >> i wasn't saying you were saying it. >> no, i understand. >> many, many -- >> you're right. >> here's the point. this is to p.j. -- >> margaret thatcher made the point -- margaret thatcher made the point that sooner or later you run out of other people's money. it sometimes seems like there

are way too many rich people. certainly i've been to manhattan. it certainly looks that way there. once you tax the living heck out of them, they vanish. it's like the rolling stones. they go move to france. i guess you wouldn't move to france. >> they don't have to vanish. they know how to hide their money, p.j., you know that. they know how to hide their money. >> let me make the point which is we also had four years of bush. at the end of that, he ended up being one of the more unpopular presidents in recent history. the country came to its financial knees. you can see failure in both these ideological plans. >> which democrat brought this country to its knees? >> p.j., over to you. >> personally, i vote to get the funniest people into the white house. i think -- >> for us, yeah.

for guys like us. >> and of course naturally i had to vote for palin. >> of course. >> i think romney is kind falling down on the job here. there's a little joke there. >> there's no funny there. >> you take the smartest guy in washington and give him spiro agnew's job. it's a little bit of a joke but it's not a sarah palin in the white house. biden's pretty good. >> yeah, he's all right. >> it's going to be tough for me this fall. >> yeah, but you always manage to come up with brilliance and great observations. no, really, he does. >> the one thing -- the one thing -- i've got to bring this, sadly, to a close. the one thing i think we can all agree on is p.j. o'rourke will still be brilliant come november 7th. >> no matter who wins, he and i will find jokes. >> piers, from your mouth to god's ear. >> all right. >> piers, thank you for having me on, i appreciate it. coming up, my prime-time exclusive with soccer star hop so on what drives her and what

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hope solo saved the day. led to a gold medal win over japan. she's flashy, she's fearless, and just a little controversial. my kind of woman. the new book, hope solo, a memoir of hope. hope, how are you? >> i'm doing great. >> first of all, what a save. i don't say that like most american men would. like what's this funny game you're playing with the wrong-shaped ball? i am a die-hard soccer fan so i have followed soccer in britain for 41 years. >> as a british man, do you appreciate goalkeeping? >> i do. we've had some of the great goalkeepers at my team. that was one of the best saves i have seen in a long time. talk me through it. look, we're seeing you now in all your glory saving that ball. which basically i think saved

the game. when you made the save, at goes through your mind? >> well, let's talk about before i made the save. she broke through. she was free, one on one, probably less than ten yards away. she should have scored, to be honest. all i could think about was somehow, some way, i have to make the save. >> how did you celebrate? if i'd been involved in winning an olympic gold medal for soccer, think i would go -- what we in britain would call a ten-day bender. >> i'm still on a bender. i'm still on a bender. no, i literally -- i got to the states yesterday. it's been a whirlwind. i'm tired. but i'm sporting the gold medal. i'm wearing it with pride. but i'm tired to be honest. these olympics have been filled with stress. filled with controversy. of course. but it's been really stressful and i can't wait to just take some time off, turn off my phone, turn off my computer and just relax.

>> what is strange is that women's soccer in america seems to me to be a much bigger sport than men's soccer. certainly much more interest in the women's olympic team, i felt, i guess the sense you may win it. why is that, do you think? >> we've come a long way, let's be honest. men's soccer as well has come a long way in america. the women are just that good. let's be honest. we're number one in the world. americans like success. it is a beautiful game. i think for the first time in the last few years, americans are starting to see the beauty in the game of soccer. you look at our world cup last year. our epic game against brazil in the quarterfinals, our loss against japan, our heartbreaking loss. you move on to the olympics. we played with so much passion and beauty but also the drama. i mean, we have captivated the audience because of the dramatic games that we've won. >> it's also not unhelpful that you radiate beauty yourself, is

it, hope? >> yeah, you know what, that's not true though. that's what i'm saying, for the first time, the game speaks for itself, period. the game is beautiful. >> hope, you can't deny the undeniable. >> i'm not denying anything. >> you just have to admit it. >> but we have a fan base because we're hard core. we're athletes. i mean, you take a player like abby wambach, she goes in hard for tackles. she wins air balls that no other player can, men or women. and that's why people love us. people love us because they see women playing a sport with so much heart, so much passion and just so much grit that you rarely see in women. it's not about our looks. >> how do you feel -- well, listen, you may think that and i -- listen, i think it applies -- >> i may think that? it's true. it is true. what, you're telling me you watched our final because i'm hot? >> honestly? i watched it for the

magnificence of your goalkeeping. >> thank you, perfect. perfect answer. >> okay. we're going to come back after the break and we're going to talk war, pestilence and the economy. see you in a moment. siri, what's my day look like? [siri] another busy day today. are you serious? [siri] yes i'm not allowed to be frivolous. ah ok, move my 4 o'clock today to tomorrow. change my 11am to 2. [siri] ok marty, i scheduled it for today. is that rick? where's rick? [siri] here's rick. oh, no that's not rick. now, how's the traffic headed downtown? [siri] here's the traffic. ah, it's terrible, terrible! driver, driver! cut across, cut across, we'll never make it downtown this way. i like you siri, you're going places. [siri] i'll try to remember that.

hope solo. contestant on abc's "dancing with the stars." she's back with me now. you dance as well. a woman of many assets and qualities, hope. let's turn to your book. because it's a fascinating memoir. first of all, there was a report that your coach didn't want this to be published till after the olympics. that true? >> oh, you already heard about that? yeah. >> yes. >> understandably so. i mean, i see her point of view. there you go. great picture of her. but yeah, i mean, i talk a lot about 2007 and the controversy that took place. and people haven't heard all the events that took place. i've never spoken openly about them. and for the first time i'm coming out to reveal everything that happened not because i'm trying to reveal anything or

throw anybody under the bus bau more because i want to speak the truth about my life and what i've been through. so it's for the first time it's coming out and i can understand that. you know journalists. you know the media. they are going to hang on to anything negative they possibly can. and that would be every question throughout our journey in the olympics and we didn't need that. so i understood her point of view. >> what was the most important thing that you wanted to get out there about that whole time? >> it's not really the most important thing. it's just i wanted -- i knew for a long time i'd write a book. i knew for a long time my story was compelling. it was a story about hope. it was a story about -- it truly is a beautiful struggle. my life is a beautiful struggle. and i'm happy of everything i've been through. i'm strong and everything has made me who i am. so i'm not shy about it.

and for the first time i get to come out and tell me story. >> you dedicate the book to your mother who is obviously a hugely important figure in your life. but we know also about your father and a complicated relationship. he was your first coach, your biggest fan. he was in and out of jail and he died very sadly before, i think eight days before he was due to watch you play for your country for the first time. which must have been extremely sad for you, just on every level. but tell me about your father. >> yeah, you know. when my father passed away, i was able to look back and be grateful that i had the time that i spent with him. i never wanted to go to the college in the state of washington because i was so embarrassed and ashamed of my family life and i wanted to run. i run as far away as i can. i wanted to go to school on the east coast. i didn't want to be around my family.

and for whatever reason i was compelled to stay in the state of washington, go to school at the university of washington. and it enabled me to have a relationship with my father, to build one. and when my dad passed away, i looked back and i realized, you know what? i'm so happy for the time that i was given. yeah, there is aets a lot of people, yeah my dad was in and out of my life, but there's a lot of people that don't get the time that i received with my father. >> do you think that you are scarred by your family background? do you feel you've had to deal with a lot of stuff that most people don't have to deal with. >> i like the word scarred. i doen think it's negative. of course i'm affected. everybody should be affected by their own realties in their own lives. it makes us who we are and we all know that. but it is -- yeah, i'm scarred. but not in a negative way. people don't know me. i do have a heart, a good heart.

and i can look at somebody on the street and wait -- want to know their life stories. i want to say hi. and to me that goes a long way. so i have a bad wrap. people look at me as selfish, outspoken. but i know who i am. but i know that the struggles in my life have allowed me to withhold judgment. i'm proud of that. >> i don't think you should be so hard on yourself. >> you think i'm being hard on myself? >> i think you're slightly overdoing the whole bad wrap thing. >> you know i have a bad wrap, come on. >> i know you've had some negative. >> i sent out tweets and all of a sudden i'm taking down our team at the olympics. >> there's the tweet and you said layoff commenting about dwending and until you get more educated. so when you do that kind of

thing, i salute you. i think it's absolutely your right to do that. but you can't all the media to say oh, hope, aren't you a lovely misunderstood lady. >> that's where you've got me wrong. i don't expect any of the media to be positive. i understood that i'm a ground-breaking female athlete. and with that, there's a lot of struggle with that. but i know that i'm doing wonderful things for the sport of soccer and amazing things for female athletes. so i can take it. >> you're a feasty, smart, beautiful lady who happens to be a fast tas particular goalkeeper. you're almost a perfect woman. >> i love you. i knew there was a reason i did this interview tonight. >> it's been fascinating to talk to you. i like your feistiness. congratulations on the gold. everyone is very proud of you.

>> thank you so much. it's good to be here. hope solo. up next. only in america. my need for speed and the new skram jet that might just change my life. so what i'm saying is, people like options. when you take geico, you can call them anytime you feel like saving money. it don't matter, day or night. use your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, whatever. the point is, you have options.

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for tonight's only in america, here is a question for you. what is the mode of

transportation that now takes twice as long to get from london to new york as it did 40 years ago? yeah, it's the air plane. when david frost was hosting talk shows on both sides of the atlanta, back in the ' 0s his journey took three hours on concord. now it takes at least tobl that since the demise of that plane. this is supposed to be progress? the wave rider, the plane designed to fly at mach 6 could allow them to be miss i'lls or planes to the other side of the planet in minutes instead of hours. let's not stop there. you can't talk me with the prospect of a one-hour transit flight and tell me it's not for you.

would enable me to do all this and host this nightly cnn show live every night in new york. think not what this technology can do for your country's military, mr. president, and focus on what it can do for me and my morning commute. that's all for us tonight. "a.c. 360" starts now. we begin with keeping them honest. the presidential running mate getting all the headlines it's not paul ryan. we're talking about joe biden. and so are lots of people. now he's responding. we'll play what he said shortly. he's defending and people are arguing about whether something that he said today amounts to ordinary campaign rhetoric or racially loaded language. here's the vice president today in danville, virginia. >> look at what they value and look at their budget and what