tv Wolf CNN February 11, 2014 10:00am-11:01am PST
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talk about whether over the long term you see a future where health insurance is less tied to the workplace. >> well -- i'm sorry. >> reporter: if i may for president hollande. you both talked about the pursuit of the transatlantic trade agreement. i wonder if you have followed the domestic battle here over fast track authority and if that raises questions in your mind about whether such a deal could be ratified. >> you know, the announcement yesterday was fairly straight forward. the overwhelming majority of firms in this country already provide health insurance to their employees, are doing the right thing. the small percentage that do not, many of them are very small and are already exempted by law. so you have just this small category of folks who don't provide health insurance, weren't exempted by law. they are supposed to make sure that they meet their responsibilities so that their
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employees aren't going to the emergency room, jacking up everybody's else's costs. and the employers end up not having any responsibility for that. what we did yesterday was simply to make an adjustment in terms of their compliance, because for many of these companies, just the process of complying -- yeah, they're mid size, between 50 and 100 folks. it may take them some time, even if they're operating in good faith. and we want to make sure that the purpose of the law is not to punish them. it's simply to make sure that they are either providing health insurance to their employees or that they're helping to bear the costs of their employees getting health insurance. and that's consistent, actually, with what we have done in the individual mandate. the vast majority of americans want health insurance. many of them couldn't afford it. we provide them tax credits. but even with the tax credits
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and in some cases they still can't afford it, and we have hardship exemptions, phase-ins, to make sure that nobody is unnecessarily burdened. that's not the goal. the goal is to make sure that folks are healthy, and have decent health care. and so this was a example of administratively us making sure that we're smoothing that -- this transition, giving people the opportunities to get right with the law. but recognizing that they're going to be circumstances in which people are trying to do the right thing and it may take time. our goal here is not to punish folks. our goal is to make sure that we've got people who can count on the financial security that health insurance provides. and where we've got companies that want to do the right thing and trying to work with us, we want to make sure that we're working with them, as well. and that's going to be our
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attitude about, you know, the law generally. how do we make it work for the american people, and for their employers in an optimal sort of way. what was the second part of that health care question? >> long-term. >> long-term. in terms of employer base. well, look, we -- we have a unique system compared to many parts of the world, including france. where partly because of historical accident and some decisions that fdr made during war time, back in world war ii, our health care has been much more tied to employers. that's not the case in most other developed countries. it has worked for a long time, but what is also true is that it is meant for a lot of u.s. companies a greater burden, more costs, relative to their
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international competitors. that's a challenge. it's also meant that folks who were self-employed, for example, or were independent contractors, weren't always getting the same deal as somebody who -- somebody who had a job. it meant that folks who worked for small businesses sometimes had more trouble getting decent premiums and decent rates than folks with large companies. so there was -- it just created a great amount of unevenness in the system. i don't think that an employer-based system is going to be -- or should be replaced any time soon. but what the affordable care act does do is to give people some flexibility. it says if i'm working at a big company like ibm or google and i decide i want to start my own company, that i'm not going to be inhibited from starting a new company because i'm worried about keeping health insurance for myself and my family. i can go make that move.
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if i'm a woman whose husband is a farmer and i would really like to work with him on the farm, but we can't afford health insurance on our own, so i've been working at the county clerk's office for the last ten years, now maybe i've got the opportunity to no longer work in a different job and instead work on that farm and increase the likelihood of economic success for my family. so it's giving people more flexibility and more opportunity to do what makes sense for them. and ultimately, i think that's going to be good for our economy. but we understand from the start there were going to be some challenges in terms of transition. when you have had one system where a whole lot of people did not have any health insurance whatsoever, for a very long period of time, and we finally
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passed a law to fix that, we knew there were going to be some bum bumps and transitions in that process. and that's what we're working with all the stakeholders involved to address. >> translator: the question on the trade partnership. you wanted to know when this partnership would be signed. well, we discussed it with president obama. i'm aware of the debate that is currently under way in congress. but as long as principles have been set up, as long as mandates have been decided and the interests of everyone are known, speed is not of the essence. what we need is to find a solution. of course, a speedy agreement would be a good thing, because
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otherwise there will be fears and threats. so if we are -- act in good faith, if we respect each other and if we want to promote growth, as we said a few moments ago, we can go faster. and i think now we'll hear a question from mr. post. since last year, foreign investments in france is been crumbling, and we are not benefitting in france from the world recovery. president obama, do you think that mr. hollande doesn't do much to encourage american investors to invest in france? and mr. hollande, you will meet businessmen. for them you are a socialist. you think that the world of finance is an enemy, and you tax wealth at 75%. so how on earth are you going to convince businessmen here. and what will you tell pierre
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gattas that he wanted no compensation for the labor cost cuts? >> it's good to know that, you know, reporters have something in common in france and the united states. you know. >> translator: these would be? which would these be? >> i think that all of us were traumatized by the crisis of 2007-2008. and is, you know, the united states has to take responsibility for its role in that crisis. we made some quick decisions that allowed us to stabilize the financial markets and begin the long process of recovery. but it was painful, it was slow,
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and, you know, it was only because of the incredible resilience of the american people and our businesses, as well as i believe some well-timed policies we were able to begin a growth process that we have now sustained for some time, and we have brought our unemployment rate down. but, you know, europe has a different set of challenges, because of the eurozone, because of the nature of the shared currency, but not completely shared governance and supervisory authorities. you know, that has created some particular difficulties that francois and others have had to deal with that we did not have to deal with as a country with a reserve currency that could make some independent choices. despite that, i think europe
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actually has made enormous strides over the last year. france in particular has taken some tough structural reforms that i think, you know, are going to help them be more competitive in the future. you know, i think all of us in the developed world are having to balance the need for growth and competitiveness to be what we say in america, lean and mean. and make sure that we are maximizing efficiency as well as in no vacation. but also do it in a way that allows for the benefits of growth to be broad based. and so that workers are all benefitting from some sense of security and decent wages and rising incomes and the ability to retire securely.
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and so each country is going to have different circumstances. the kinds of reforms we need in this country right now revolve around things like investing in infrastructure. where we have not made the kind of strides that i would like us to see, and would actually boost growth even faster. we're going to have to invest in skills training, which every country is going to have to do, because businesses will locate where they think they have got the most capable, most highly skilled workers. we still have to do more on the innovation front, as innovative as we are. i think we are still underinvesting in research and development. so america has some inherent strengths, but we also have some areas where we have got to make progress. and i think francois would be the first to say that france is in the same position. i would certainly encourage american companies to look at
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opportunities for investment in france. i would encourage them even more to look at opportunities to invest money back in the united states. and i would welcome any french companies who want to come here to do business. but one of the great things about our commercial relationship, which is also part of the reason why i think the transatlantic trade partnership could be valuable is a lot of the growth is in small and medium-size businesses. and they are the ones who could stand to benefit greatly from export. they don't have the ability to decide where to invest. they're going to be in their home countries. if we can open up trade opportunities for them, because they don't have a lot of lawyers, this they don't have a lot of accountants, they can't open plants in different places. if we expand trade opportunities for them, that can mean jobs and growth in france. it can mean jobs and growth here in the united states, and so i'm
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hopeful that we can get this deal, which will be a tough negotiation. but i'm confident we can actually get it done. >> translator: france is one of the world's countries that receive the -- received the largest amount of foreign investments. of one of the world countries that is the most open to foreign capitals. and i want to strengthen and enhance this attractiveness of france. if you look at physical investments, real investments, not just financial investments, not transfers between companies, if you look at genuine investments, tangible investments in france, factories, job creation, well, in spite of a crisis, in 2013, we maebted the level of investment. in france.
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which bears witness to the confidence in france and france's talent, know-how, companies. and this is nothing new. there are more than 2,000 american companies that are working in france, employing 500,000 people in my country. and the united states of america, one of the main investors in france. and i hope that this trend will be confirmed and strengthened in the future. and barack is perfectly right. i have nothing to fear from french investments here in the united states. there are many french companies here in the united states. and they create 500,000 jobs, not all in the silicon valley. everywhere in the united states. and when talents come and invest in the u.s., this is good for the united states and this is good for france. i don't have this vision of
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focusing on protection and blaming anyone who invests abroad, because they will bring about new technologies and know-how, and it will be useful, especially if they come back. so we need to make efforts when it comes to attractiveness. and soon i shall invite many foreign companies to take part to the -- which we call the invest in france council, to see what can be done to improve the situation in france, including when it comes to tax stability. for this is what is very often referred to -- the stability of rules. because companies want visibility, first and foremost. but american companies that have operations in france, ask them why they stay, why they invest in france. well, it is precisely because
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they find french society particularly welcoming for them. you also asked me a question on a statement made by mr. gattas, the employers' union president, on what i call the responsibility pact. well, this has nothing to do with the declaration or the statement. what is the responsibility pact? this -- i'm explaining most to american journalists, because french journalists are familiar with it. this responsibility pact is about mobilizing the entire country to reach one goal. barack obama mentioned the american economy's resilience following the crisis. well, there comes a point where after an ordeal, you have to be stronger. than you were before the ordeal. before the crisis. you need to be able to mobile eyes more strength, more energy.
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you need to be able to make sure that the economy focuses not on what was before, but what will be after. this is precisely what is at the very root of this recovery in the american economy. companies mobilized their workers to go ahead. and this is precisely the spirit of this responsibility pact. we have modernized labor markets. we have modernized and updated vocational training. there is a whole list of things that we have done and are doing. but there are other things we can do. we want to strengthen competitivety, lower labor costs. streamline regulations. create more visibility in terms of tax regime. but everyone has to do its bit. the state is going to make an effort. there are tax breaks that have
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already been granted. we also need to look at fiscal policies in order to have sufficient room for maneuver and commitments will have to be made. but these commitments need to be shared by companies. and businesses. in order to create jobs, in order to improve vocational training, to fight against the outsourcing of activities to promote investments. and i hope that discussions will move along quickly between employers' unions and employees' unions. because this is a prerequisite for confidence. and that is the key word, confidence, trust. it is true of international relations, but it is also true of the economy. >> thank you very much, everybody. so there they are. the presidents of the united states and france, shaking hands, walking off the stage there at the east room of the white house. spending more than an hour with
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opening statements and answering questions. only four reporters asked questions, but there were a lot more than four questions that were asked. they went through a whole range of important issues, including iran, what's going on with the interim deal, the nuclear deal with iran that the u.s. and france were involved in helping negotiate. questions about syria, questions -- sensitive questions about nsa spying and if france could get the same kind of arrangement as far as espionage considerations as britain, for example, has. lots of questions on the u.s./french economic relationship, and also a question on president obama's latest decision to go ahead and delay one aspect of the affordable care act yet again, involving some mid-sized firms. gloria borger is here. let's talk a hill bit about what we heard. on iran, there has been some criticism of the administration, because there has been an easing of the sanctions in this interim six-month deal with iran.
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but the president said if any company fools around with sanctions, they are going to pay a significant price. listen to what he said. >> businesses may be exploring are there some possibilities to get in sooner rather than later if and when there is a actual agreement to be had. but i can tell you that they do so at their own peril right now. because we will come down on them like a ton of bricks. you know, with respect to the sanctions that we control and we expect full compliance with respect to the p5 plus 1. >> so there the president making it clear, the sanctions will continue during this interim deal. and we heard a similar strong statement from president hollande. >> and the french president, however, added he couldn't control these businessmen, but he clearly shared the president's sentiments about having them not overstep their
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bounds. and what was also interesting to me, wolf, was the president's response on syria. when he was asked about the situation on syria, he called it a horrendous situation on the ground. and he really voiced his frustration with what's going on there. he said nobody is going to -- this is enormous frustration here. and then he seemed to be asking a rhetorical question about is there any additional direct action or military action that can be taken that would resolve the situation in syria. and he restateded yet again that nothing is off the table. those were pretty strong words. and the frustration was voiced by both presidents. >> yeah, they both seemed to say this chemical deal with the syrians -- syrians would destroy their chemical weapons stockpil stockpiles. >> slower than they really wanted. >> brianna keilar, you were there during the news conference, and at one point an important domestic issue was raised involving the affordable care act, obamacare, as it's
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concerned. the president seemed to play down his announcement yesterday, the administration's announcement, that one more delay in implementing a sensitive part for mid range businesses was in place. let me play the clip of what we heard from the president. >> we understood from the start that there were going to be some challenges in terms of transition. you know, when you've had one system where a whole lot of people did not have any health insurance whatsoever, for a very long period of time, and we finally passed a law to fix that, we knew there were going to be some bumps and transitions in that process. and that's what we're -- >> all right. brianna, the president is clearly defending all the decisions he made over the past several months to delay various acts implementing the affordable care act, raising questions about his executive decisions on this part, whether or not the plan was really ready to go. >> reporter: no. and that's one of the questions
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i think has been raised by critics. but the president sort of trying to communicate the part of this is knowing that as you roll out something big, there are going to be changes that need to be made, that the administration knew they would have to stay nimble. but at the same time, this was a big announcement yesterday. it came after there had already been a delay of the employer mandate, which says to employers, you must provide health insurance if you have a certain number of employees. this is a key part of the affordable care act. so this was certainly a big deal. but president obama sort of down playing that. and he was also asked, wolf, if he saw really a change that may come into effect. employer-based health insurance. if he saw a shift away from that. he did not engage in that. he said, you know, that's the way the u.s. has been. but what we're doing is giving employees a little more flexibility, a little more an ability to get their insurance not just from an employer, not
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being tied to a job, really trying to stress the benefits for regular americans having some flexibility without saying that he wants to shift away from employer-provided health care, wolf. >> there have been at least a half dozen or maybe even more. maybe ten decisions he's made in recent weeks and months, delaying implementation of various acts of the aspects of the affordable care act. brianna, stand by. we're going to continue our coverage of this. gloria, stand by, as well. also, atlanta right now, the rest of the southeast getting ready for what weathermen say is a potentially historic and catastrophic storm. heavy ice could wipe out power to hundreds of thousands of people. and there's more bad weather on the way. we'll have that and a lot more news when we come back.
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before we get to the big storm that's moving in the south right now, the new jersey governor, chris christie, is getting ready to answer questions in chicago. he's at an economic club forum in chicago. he'll be taking questions there. tonight he's scheduled to attend several fund raisers for the republican governor's association. he's the chairman of that association. but back in new jersey, the investigative panel looking into the george washington bridge scandal is serving yet more subpoenas. our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash, is in chicago right now. is the bridge scandal following him to chicago, dan a? >> reporter: of course, the bridge scandal is following chris christie everywhere he goes. but you can hear behind me the event here is about to get under way. and what is note worthy, it's the first time he's going to be appearing in public and taking questions in front of a public
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audience since this bridge scandal broke. however, the person who is going to be interacting with him, the moderator, if you will here, man by the name of greg brown, turns out it will be a friendly discussion, because chris christie actually appointed him to the rutgers board of governors back in new jersey in 2012. so they clearly have a relationship, the two of them. but the other thing that's no noteworthy about this, democrats having a field day making the case that chris christie is a pariah, not seen with any republican kaenlts, even though he is the chair of the republican association. i did talk to a man by the name of bill brady, one of the candidates for the republican nomination for governor here. and he says that he goes back with chris christie, he believes him he didn't do anything wrong. so that's why he's here. context of that, wolf, he also happens to be now 20 points down in the gop race to challenge the democratic governor. so there's a lot at play here. but the big picture, of course,
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is that chris christie is under fire, continues to be. you have democrats like former governor ted strictland from ohio making his way to chicago to try to argue that he is somebody who should not be trusted. clearly democrats are concerned about him, and they want it try to continue to knock him down. but this is going to be a moment that we are -- we haven't seen in a long time. again, the public -- in private, raising a lot of money throughout the day here for republican governors' association, wolf. >> dana, thanks very much. once he starts taking questions, we're going to monitor what he is saying of this economic forum. if he addresses the bridge scandal, we'll break in so we can all hear his latest comments on that. other news. millions of people across the southeast right now are hunkering down due to a winter storm that forecasters are predicting could be, in their words, catastrophic and
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historic. the headline in the "atlanta journal constitution" saying it all. here we go in reference to the crippling snow and ice two weeks ago that caught georgia unprepared, left thousands stranded on highways. right now getting rain. but the suburbs to the north are already starting to see snow. this photo was taken just a short time ago by cnn staff kenneth saw in georgia. our meteorologist is in the weather center right now. power companies, chad, as you know, and warning for the past 24 hours, they're warning customers, get ready. hundreds of thousands of you are about to lose electricity. how bad is it going to be? >> it will be worse than the storm in 2000 that put down about 350,000 people without power. significantly worse than there. and here is another issue. it's going to be an issue for louisiana, mississippi, alabama, georgia, south carolina, north carolina. so all of those states that could or sometimes do send a mutual aid to georgia to put our
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power lines back up will have their own problems. wolf, i know you said 100,000. but easily, in my opinion, if this happens, like i forecast, it will be millions of people without power. and many of them will be without power for a long time. because you can't put 2 million power lines back up that quickly. there will be millions of trees down. augusta, you're right in the middle of this bulls-eye. there's usually a golf tournament in augusta. think how many thousands of trees will fall with the ice. we could see an inch of ice on every tree. trees can't handle that kind of weight. so the warnings from texas all the way to north carolina, into new jersey, as well. the storm comes in tonight. although it's raining now, it's the raining of 35. it starts to ice after midnight tonight badly. and it rains and ices in atlanta, in shore shore charlotte, augusta, columbia, south carolina. scarest forecast i've seen. two inches of liquid water raining at 30 degrees. your only hope is that it's sleet, wolf, and that when it
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hits the ground or tree, it bounces off or bounces off the house. because if that's all liquid water and it all freezes on trees, every tree is going to have some type of damage. then the storm hits you, hits washington, d.c. with a snowstorm as it continues to develop and move up east coast. that white area there, that's at least 3/4 to 1 inch of ice. that purple area there for you, that's between 8 and 12 inches of snow. i don't know where d.c. puts 12 inches of snow on the beltway. it's going to be a rough couple days. it's coming to you in a couple. it's coming to us tonight, wolf. >> so you're saying i should get out of here when, by thursday? >> where are you going to go? >> i don't know, i'll go someplace. >> we're staying at the hotel. no chance. >> 12 to 14 inches of snow in washington, moving up towards new york city. thursday, is that what we're talking about? >> absolutely, yeah. thursday afternoon. it even starts probably 9:00 tomorrow night, but that's light. you can still get around tomorrow night. but by thursday, the city -- if the storm goes in this track, is
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crippled. >> all right. we'll stay in very, very close with you, chad. thanks very much. >> you're welcome. other news we're following, including a new book on hillary clinton hitting bookstores today. that her political opponents are bringing up once again the monica lewinski. our newest commentator standing by live on whether the extra scrutiny will hurt hillary clinton's chances for the 2016 presidential nomination.
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clinton right now. she is clearly considered by many an early favorite for the democratic nomination. right now cnn producers, by the way, in fayetteville, arkansas, poring over boxes and boxes of documents from the clinton family friend that offers certain glimpse into clintons' private moments so many years ago. on top of that, the new book, "hrc: state secrets and the rebirth of hillary clinton," hitting bookstores today. one of coauthors says if hillary clinton does run for the white house again, it won't be like 2008. >> in 2016, you're going to see her i am braes embrace the fact she is a woman candidate more, which is something she didn't really do in 2008. and i think she heard from aides there was an arrogance at the top and people weren't really telling her what she needed to it hear. you're going to hear more of that from her -- or she is going to get some truth-tellers. and i think you're going to see a different ball game when it comes to technology. she really learned her lesson. she felt like barack obama ran circles around her campaign.
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and i think she is going to see a lot -- you're going to see a lot more of that. >> let's welcome our newest cnn contributor, michael sme smerkonoish. welcome, glad you're on our team. let's talk about hillary clinton and the monica lewinski name all of a sudden resurrected over the past few days, in part by senator rand paul and senator paul's wife. so do clintons opponents believe she is vulnerable on this front? >> i think it plays well for a primary audience, but i don't think it grows the tent one iota for a general election. if you're rand paul, wolf, if you're marco rubio, ted cruz and courting that very conservative constituency, within the gop, the mere mention of the clinton name is a fund-raising magnet. i don't think this wins you support among independents when the rubber meets the road in a november general election. >> because in 2008 when she was
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running for the democratic presidential nomination, i don't remember any significant discussion of the monica lewinski affair in her bid to win the nomination, she obviously lost to the then junior senator from illinois, barack obama. do you remember any serious discussion at that time? >> no. and why, if you were an opponent of hillary clinton, would you ever want to bring it up you ? all it does is reinforce a very sympathetic portrayal of the former first lady. i'm sure her numbers rise at the mere mention of monica lewinski's name. people are acting as if this is news because she spoke ill of lewinski. news would be if hillary clinton said something complimentary about the woman who carried on a relationship with her husband. >> yeah. so -- but i think you're right. i think as far as in a republican primary or caucus among the base, this presumably could help someone like rand paul, who is not only doubling down but tripling down on this
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whole frontal attack. but in a general election, probably not so much. what's your sense, i'm curious? because you studied this, you have taken a close look. assuming she is healthy and she is -- and she has no more problems with blood clots in her brain or anything along those lines, i assume you agree with me, she is going to run. >> it sure looks like she is going to run. i suspect he wants her to run, perhaps even more than she wants to run herself. but it's hard to see anyone denying her the nomination if she does go. although, you know, it's very easy to look at her numbers when there is no opponent in the race and see that they're awfully high as compared to other democrats. if she makes the run, it will be a tightening of the race, whether it's in a primary or in a general election. so i don't think it's a foregone conclusion that she skates all the way to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. but it's very hard to see who on the republican side of the aisle can give her a strong run in the end. >> who do you -- who are the three or four who seem at this point from your perspective,
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michael, the most formidable? we could take chris christie at least for now out of that mix. >> well, it certainly wouldn't be any of the usual suspects. i don't think that someone who is nominated from the very conservative quarters of the gop ultimately could give her the run. so i think it's probably a republican governor and someone who is not so identified with the tea party movement. that doesn't leave many people. i don't think it's rubio. i don't think it's cruz. i don't think that it's rand paul. it's going to be someone who today is perceived as being on a second level who then emerges as they all fight for that very hard-core support. >> yeah. i hear you suggesting maybe someone like scott walker of wisconsin. john kasich of ohio. maybe even paul ryan from wisconsin. those names seem to be gaining some momentum. >> i think any of the three is as likely as anyone else to win the nomination as things stand today. but, you know, the republican party has got to decide whether they want to win primaries or
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win general elections. they have not yet altered the rules sufficiently, i think, to control that fringe factor. and that could be devastating in terms of the nomination. >> what about the democrats holding on to their majority in the senate in november? the republicans need a net gain of six. and it is certainly within reach. >> well, it is within reach. and i don't blame you for not bringing up the house. because i see no possibility that the house is going to change hands. the question on the house side is whether that gop margin creases. i think it's going to be very close. and i think history dictates that that six-year election out for the incumbent's party is a very tough race, a very tough year. so i don't know that the ds are going to be able to hold it. i think it will be within a which is kerr or two and i think it will be determined about whether you see a gop repeat of a nomination process of wolf, say, you know, the christine o'donnells and the richard
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murdochs and the todd akins. that will be the saving grace of the ds holding control of the senate, if more moderate influences are able to break through, i think the republicans have a real shot. >> i think you're probably right. all right. michael smerconish, welcome to cnn. >> thank you. >> you'll be a frequent visitor for sure. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. as her scandal ripples back to the surface, so does the question, where is monica lewinski? shortly after bill clinton left office, lewinski was everywhere. she wrote a book, appropriately entitled "monica's story." then there was a stint as a weight loss spokeswoman. also a reality tv host. but since around 2006, she has been out of the spotlight. she moved to london, went back to school, got a master's degree in social psychology. then around 18 months or so ago, reports surfaced she was planning to write a tell-all book for some $12 million. so far, though, no word on that
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book, no word on that contract. we're going to have more on this part of the story coming up later today in "the situation room." we'll be right back after a short break. [announcer] if your dog can dream it, purina pro plan can help him achieve it. ♪ epic classical music stops ♪music resumes music stops ♪music resumes [announcer] purina pro plan's bioavailable formulas deliver optimal nutrient absorption. [owner] come on. [announcer] purina pro plan. nutrition that performs.
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"stubborn love" by the lumineers did you i did. email? so what did you think of the house? did you see the school ratings? oh, you're right. hey babe, i got to go. bye daddy! have a good day at school, ok? ...but what about when my parents visit? ok. i just love this one... and it's next to a park. i love it. i love it too. here's our new house... daddy! you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen. republicans investigating the 2012 benghazi attack in libya concluded the u.s. consulate was an easy target because there was no imminent threat. the white house failed to
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comprehend the threat or ignored it completely. four americans died in the september 11th attack, including the u.s. ambassador to libya, christopher stevens. you could easily mistake it for a plot in a hollywood film. fbi agents teaming up with cops in italy to take down mafia crime families. police raids targeting drug smuggling investigations. evan perez, tell us about these arrests and this latest operation. it's pretty dramatic. >> it is dramatic, wolf. members of the gambino family, among 24 people arrested in italy, and in new york. in italy, 17 arrests. in new york, there were seven. they are charged with drug trafficking and organized crime. this all ties into a family down in the southern part of italy. it's an old-time mafia family. and according to the fbi and according to the italian police, they're involved in everything from shipping drugs from south america to italy and the united states and into canada.
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but lately they have also gotten into the heroin so, as dramatic as this raid may be, does it really put much of a dent into the mafia's operations here in the united states? >> you know, we don't have as many big headlines on the mafia as we did in the 1980s. but according to the fbi and italian police, this is still a huge problem. they say this operation shows that the mob in italy is very much still tied in to the mob families in new york and along the east coast of the united states. recently there was an arrest in an old case, the good fellas heist from 1978. a 78-year-old member of the lou chassis family was arrested. they're still on the move. >> this is a serious subject. thanks very much. coming up fight over photos of
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osama bin laden. did the pentagon break any laws when they issued orders on these personal pictures? stand by. new information coming in. this is kevin. [ mal] to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap.
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the group judicial watch right after bin laden's death sought the public release of those photos. that was denied. about 11 days after that, after his death, the group file aid lawsuit seeking release of these photos. that was kind of stalled but just six hours after they filed that lawsuit, we now have the contents of an e-mail. when you see these redactions you know you're on to something. judicial watch got this e-mail. this is from the special ops commander. you interviewed him. he was in charge of the bin laden raid. this was on may 13, a few hours after that lawsuit was filed and in the e-mail, he's saying to some people, we don't know who he's saying this to, but he says, gentlemen, at this point, all photos should have been turned over to the cia. if you still have them. destroy them immediately and get them to the -- and that is reda redacted. what the judicial watch said, this means that they were trying
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to cover up the fact they wanted some photos destroyed which would be the violation of the law if they're not preserving those photoses. this is tom fintop from the group judicial watch and what he says about this. >> the troubling part is there was a lawsuit, many requests for these document, and he's giving his people the option to destroy them. that isn't the way the law is supposed to be and certainly if the records were classified as the government suggest these were. there were other rules that may have been broken. >> tom fitton saying under the pre dom of information act you have an obligation to at least preserve these documents and not destroy them. no comments on any of this. we'll work that for later. >> brian todd, thanks very much. i know we'll have more coming up later today. that's if for me this hour. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. there's new developments happening in that trial in
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florida, ashleigh banfield is standing by. ashleigh, update our viewers on what is going on? >> well, it has been a very busy morning here in jacksonville, live at the duvall county courthouse right now where michael dunne has been undergoing at first, some pretty easy questioning from his own lawyer, on direct examination, and then the sparks began to fly under cross-examination this is the same attorney that you're going to hear, john guy, who did a lot of the prosecution case in the george zimmerman trial. if the voice sounds familiar and face sounds familiar, it's because it should. he is, right now, grilling michael dunn, which i should add for context, all morning long, has been very, very stoic. and very, very clear, and there's been very little inconsistency, if any, from this witness stand. let's listen in live as the judge, russell healey, from the bench, continues to monitor the proceedings, again, this is
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cross examination of this defendant. >> about whether or not you told rhonda roawer there was a gun? >> i wrote in here that i cannot recall in i ever convey the details of motion mai decisionmaking to you. >> is that your letter? >> yes. >> okay. is it -- it hasn't been altered, has it? >> no. i don't have the original. >> okay. well, you wrote it, right? >> it appears to be. >> okay. fair and accurate copy? >> sure. >> judge, can i move this in as state's 202?
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>> i think it is 202. >> no objection, your honor. >> that will be received as state's exhibit 202. >> thank you. >> now you got 202 in front of you. i ask you to turn your attention to the front page. did you not write, in passing -- he mentioned in passing that i made no mention of a gun to you. >> right. so what's your point? is that what it says? >> is that not what it says? >> uh-huh. >> okay. so you didn't tell rhonda rower about a gun. >> that's not what this says. this says somebody else. somebody else told me she didn't mention the gun.
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that's different than me mentioning the gun to her. >> you're going stick with the account that you told her about the gun multiple times? >> yes. >> okay. >> and to be sure, you were not injured that night, right? >> correct. >> your car was not damaged? >> not to my knowledge. >> you pulled the trigger ten times, right? >> yes, sir. >> each time you pulled the trigger, i mean, it's 6 1/4 pound of trigger pull, right? >> that's what i heard testified, yes. >> does that sound right? >> i don't know what -- i don't know what it would be. >> well, you had that gun, at that point, for 22 years? >> sure. but i had never had the trigger pull measured. >> but it's not a hair trigger, right? >> correct. >> to expel one bullet, you got to pull the trigger one ti
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