tv John King USA CNN October 6, 2011 6:00pm-7:00pm EDT
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>> great man indeed. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. the news continues next on cnn. thanks, wolf. good evening, everyone. tonight a top energy department official resigns hours after the president forcefully defends a controversial loan program to a green energy that went belly up, leaving taxpayers holding a $535 million bill. >> there were going to be some companies that did not work out. solyndra was one of them. but the process by which the decision was made was on the merits, it was straightforward. >> no politics, forward? we'll put that to the truth test. plus steve jobs is remembered around the world. his impact on technology and culture is every where and his legacy includes a powerful lesson from his fight with cancer. >> you've got to find what you love, and that is as true for
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work as it is for your lovers. your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. >> and as sarah palin exits the republican presidential stage, which candidate left behind can claim a giant advantage over president obama on the number one issue facing the country today? that and much more ahead. first our top of the hour look at what you need to know right now. first that breaking news i just mentioned. cnn confirms that jonathan silver, the head of the energy department's controversial loan guarantee program is resigning tonight. dan, what do we know about the particular official and why is he leaving? >> reporter: well, that official who headed up that controversial program which committed some $38 billion to 40 clean energy projects across the country, he is leaving, cnn has learned, in order to become a fellow over at the think tank third way. but the timing of all of this certainly raising some
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questions, no doubt, in an effort to blunt some of those questions secretary chu put out a statement saying silver came to him in early july, pointed out he wanted to transition back to the private sector after september 30th and so the secretary explaining that that's what is behind this move, john. >> and then the move comes hours after the president defended the program generally and specifically one or two of the loans that have come under quite controversy. let's listen to a bit of what the president had had to say in his news conference. >> the overall portfolio has been successful. it has allowed us to help companies, for example, start advanced battery manufacturing here in the united states. it's helped to create jobs. >> and so, dan, the president says it's successful. then within hours the official who runs it resigns. it's going to lead a lot of fresh questions in washington, isn't it? >> reporter: well, certainly. i mean some people would certainly point to this as an example that everything did not
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go as this administration has been trying to make it seem, that this was a program that was very strong. that this was vetted in the right way. that there are risks when you get into these kinds of investments. 20/20 hindsight we've heard the president say but still standing behind this program despite the fact that we saw those red flags that were raised not only inside but outside the administration, all of that coming out in the congressional investigation. but the president again pointing out that it's important for the u.s. to back this kind of technology because not only will it lead to jobs, but it's the only way for the u.s. to compete with countries like china that heavily subsidize this kind of sector. john. >> dan lothian live for us at the white house on the breaking news. thank you. we'll have much, much more just ahead in tonight's truth. the president called that news conference today. he wanted to talk about jobs and the economy. he was defiant, promising he'll keep demanding congress pass his jobs bill even though at the moment, well, safe to say the prospects look bleak.
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>> we will just keep on going at it and hammering away until something gets done. and i would love nothing more than to see congress act so aggressively that i can't campaign against them as a do-nothing congress. >> the president said he was, quote, comfortable with senate democrats' plan to pay for their version of the jobs bill with the so-called millionaire sur tax instead of with spending cuts. throughout that news conference the president took swings at specific republicans, including the senate republican leader, mitch mcdonnell, who opposes any tax hikes. >> but i'm also dealing with a republican majority leader who said that his number one goal was to beat me. not put americans back to work. and he's been saying that now for a couple of years. so, yeah, i've got to go out and listen to the american people to
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see if maybe he'll listen to them if he's not listening to me. >> no direct response on that point from senator mcdonnell, but we did ask his staff about this. they referred us to this speech on the senate floor about 90 minutes before the president's news conference. >> so the real goal here for the democrats as far as i can tell is entirely political, about arguing for a permanent tax hike to pay for a temporary stimulus. they're essentially admitting they're not particularly interested in creating jobs, because proposing a partisan tax hike 13 months before an election won't create one single job. not one. >> kate has been working her sources all day. the democrats have a plan, the republicans are pushing back on taxes. does all this help or hurt prospects of a deal. >> reporter: aides to senate democratic leaders say that senate democratic leaders are
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happy with the president's endorsement, although not the most forceful of endorsements of the so-called millionaire surtax and they are scheduled to move forward with the first test vote possibly on this bill early next week. but it really does seem while the president continues to hammer away on congress should really move on this bill and move on it now and really is targeting republicans, in addition now to this surtax, it may help unify a majority of democrats clarifying their message going forward, but it seems like it is doing nothing to increase support on the other side of the aisle and doing nothing to increase the chances that this bill is going to move anywhere in the congress. as we always say, john, republicans remain steadfastly against tax increases and republicans as you heard mitch mcconnell today and i've heard it from other republicans are really now accusing democrats and the president of doing nothing but playing politics here with this jobs fight, john. >> and as both sides accuse the other of playing politics, is
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there any effort, i'll call it grown-up effort behind the scenes to say there are millions of americans who are unemployed or underemployed who would like some help. will they keep banging it out or find a back room to find some consensus. >> there has been some talk of pulling apart measures that could be more agreeable and gain more support and try to move parts of possibly the president's jobs plan or simply find jobs initiatives that democrats and republicans can agree on to move forward with. but i'll tell you right now both sides seem laser focused on fighting this one out. we've heard that it's not only republicans that are showing some -- that republicans showing opposition to this. even some centrist democrats have come out saying they also will oppose a millionaire surtax included in this bill. so there are some problems but everyone seems dead set on
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fighting this one out right now, john. another testy topic at the news conference today, a program called operation fast and furious. the president defending his attorney general who's under fire for that program. some republicans in congress think the attorney general lied about when he became aware of a program that ended up putting guns into the hands of mexican drug cartels. the program was designed to help the government keep track of weapons smuggling, but some of those guns ended up being used to murder people on both sides of the border, including a u.s. border patrol agent. the operation was run by the department of alcohol, tobacco and firearms whi. >> i have complete confidence in attorney general holder. he's indicated that he was not aware of what was happening in fast and furious. certainly i was not. and i think both he and i would have been very unhappy if somebody had suggested that guns were allowed to pass through
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that could have been prevented by the united states of america. >> around the world today, an outpouring of grief over the death of the apple computer co-founder, steve jobs. two images caught our attention and sum up the changes he helped bring about. first a simple note on a piece of paper, ithank you taped outside an apple store in new york city. on the other side of the world the image of a small candle on an iphone. look at that, during a vigil outside hong kong's apple store. sandra endo outside apple headquarters in cupertino, california. obviously a sad day but apples officials want to pay tribute to steve jobs' life. what's the scene today? >> reporter: absolutely, john, a very somber day for employees here at apple headquarters. on campus here many heavy hearts. through those trees you can see the crowd gathering. so many people have been coming by, laying flowers down, cards, and real apples themselves, all
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in tribute to the late tech icon who many people here say have changed the way the world functions forever. so clearly a very sad day and a day of remembrance for steve jobs. john. >> is it a work day or was -- did the word come down essentially to use as a day of reflection and remembrance? >> reporter: that's a good question, because we did see a lot of hustle and bustle. this is a very sprawling campus. and apple spokesman says it is business as usual. everyone here is here working. but clearly a sense of sadness throughout this entire area. and, as you mentioned, apple will be holding an internal private memorial for its employees as ceo tim cook put it, it will be a celebration, a celebration of his life. john. >> sandra endo for us at the apple headquarters. thank you so much. another occupy wall street protest gathering steam right now in new york city. this is the 20th day of demonstrations there, although
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tonight's is expected to be smaller than yesterday's, which attracted thousands. last night's demonstration ended with scuffles between new york police and some of those protesters. in the end, 28 people arrested last night. susan candiotti is out in the crowd tonight, we've seep these protests for weeks. what will it take to satisfy them? >> reporter: that's hard to say and i think they're trying to work that out themselves now. we're still trying to hear some goals, and that's what they're trying to formulate. as we speak now, we can tell you if yesterday was meant to be a tipping point in terms of attracting more people, well, we haven't seen additional numbers today. they're back to the normal number of people that show up at this park, which is very busy at this hour. and they have a daily walk over to wall street. it was uneventful today. what's happening right now is that they're making some speeches. and because they don't use microphones, you need a permit for that, someone stands way off
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in the distance, says a few words and people sake turns shouting it out to people back here on the sidelines. john. >> an old-fashioned way of spreading the word. where do they plan to go next? >> reporter: well, that's the question. we have seen, of course the same amount of interest here in new york. we are seeing other protests in other cities today. for example in san francisco, in los angeles, in portland, oregon as well as a couple of cities in texas. they are going to establish some political goals, which we haven't scene yet. they keep insisting they're not going to align themselves with any political party. if that does happen, it might be some splinter groups. >> susan candiotti in the middle of it all braving a form of democracy herself. susan, thanks for your coverage and your courage.
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hundreds of protesters marched in washington this afternoon marking the tenth anniversary of the war in afghanistan. on the campaign trail today, more evidence the presidential candidates are among those watching the occupy wall street protesters. in texas, republican her mman cn doubled down on his criticism of those protesters. >> if you are envious of somebody that happens to be rich that you call a fat cat, go and get rich instead of expecting them to walk outside of their office and write you a check. that's not the way america works. work for it. >> mitt romney was in south carolina today. his focus, the military. we'll try to fix that and bring it to you later. in the house today, democratic congressman jesse jackson jr. tried to get a vote condemning governor perry of
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texas for his association with a hunting camp that has a racist name. we wander warn -- >> it calls upon governor perry to condemn the use of this word as being totally offensive and inappropriate at any time and at any place in the united states history. lastly it calls upon governor rick perry to list the names of all lawmakers, friends and financial supporters he took with him on his hunting trips to nigger head. >> jackson's resolution was deemed out of order but was entered into the house record. the 2012 primary season keeps creeping closer to 2011. republicans are scheduling their presidential caucuses to stay ahead of south carolina and florida. that doesn't leave much room on the calendar for iowa and new hampshire, which worries, among others, newt gingrich. >> it will be a problem if we have to start the elections prior to january 2nd or january 3rd.
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but i think as long as we can figure out some pattern that enables us to start in the first week of january, the candidates will adjust to the states. the states don't need to adjust to the candidates. >> arizona congressman gabrielle giffords came to washington to attend a ceremony marking the retirement from the navy of her husband. she had a brace on her right hand today. during a short speech kelly said, gabby, you remind me every day to deny the acceptance of failure. amazing pictures there. still to come, the palin factor. how does her no-go affect the republican race and was it shamed by the fact she had no chance of winning sgnchts and from the ipod to ipad and it tunes and more. steve jobs didn't just change our technology, he changed global culture. that's next. coffee doesn't have vitamins... unless you want it to.
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city over the toyota camry hybrid. uh... that's not good. i would like 10 more miles. he's going to have a a lot to think about, kimberly. and there you have it....fusion hybrid. with best in class city fuel economy. steve jobs changed the world and today people around the globe said thanks. jobs died from complications of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. here's just a small part of hi legacy. the itunes store, the largest music retailer. it sold 15 million songs.
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there are 54 million mac users worldwide. over the years jobs has introduced some of the most iconic tech innovations. take a look at how they and he changed. >> god, look at that. look, i'm on television. >> hey! >> we think a lot of them will get into the home but we like to say they'll get there through the garage door. >> the coolest thing about the ipod is that your entire music library fits in your pocket. >> this is the new ipod nano. an ipod, a phone, and an internet communicator. is there room for a third category of device in the middle? we're not perfect. we know that, you know that. and phones aren't perfect. i'd also like to thank everyone's families, because they support us and let us do what we love to do.
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>> let's discuss the man and his legacy. with us now, a technology journalist who covers silicon valley and daniel kotke who was apple's 12th employee. let me begin with you, one of the apple originals. at the beginning, we saw some of the pictures of steve jobs back in the day, did any of you, including steve, have any idea that apple would become such a transformational force not only in technology but in how we listen to music, how we communicate? >> oh, i don't think so. i don't think anybody could have predicted. i'm getting an echo. anyway, you know, i was the first employee as well as the 12th employee. there's an echo. you know, the apple 1 was a hobby kit and it was hard to predict what use it would be.
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the apple 2 was clearly going to be a much more accessible product and in my memory, it was the day i first saw the rainbow logo that i thought apple could really be going somewhere. it's funny to just associate that with the logo, but there were so many competitors in those days, it was really hard to say. >> hopefully we can help you work on your echo with the technology. on a day like this when you try to assess the impact and legacy of the man and all the innovations, is there a way to sum it up in a sentence or two or is it too diverse? >> no, i think there are ways to sum it up in a sentence or two. here's a guy who came from humble beginnings and went on to revolutionize four industries, information technology, mobile phones, the music industry and the movie industry. and i'm hard put to name any
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businessperson or technologist in the history of america who did it four times. >> that's an awesome way to put it. mr. kottke, let's see if we figured out this connection with you. you knew the man out of work as well as in work, taking hikes with him in india and the like. the question i have, as somebody who carries all my technology with me almost all the time, emphasis on almost, when you're hiking in india, does steve jobs bring along technology or is that his escape zone? >> oh, no, it was very much an escape zone. i actually regret that i didn't even bring an instamatic camera on that trip. there were no photos. we were making our expedition into the wilderness, so to speak. we had some good adventures. it did not -- did not find the holy man stories that we were wondering if we would find, but it was a very interesting trip.
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>> we're showing a picture of you and steve jobs, we're showing this picture of you and steve jobs back in the day. it's a little different how folks wore their hair and the like. >> that photo was at -- that was at the -- that photo was at the personal computing festival in atlanta in 1976, and i was just trying hard to look like i had a clue about how these computers worked, because i really didn't. i was helping staff the booth. >> and, bob, when you think about the transformations, we all think about how these things happen through our own lives. i used to be a pc person, now i'm mostly a mac person. my kids are mac kids. in our offices most of the creative editing is done on macs. i went to french and so i downloaded an app so i could learn to speak french maybe a little bit better. i was covering a hurricane just
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a few weeks back, hurricane irene. on the way up from washington to the beaches off new york city i brought this, my iphone. had no satellite truck, no electricity, but look, we were able to show people that time on live television, it's not perfect but you're in the middle of the beginning of a hurricane and you're showing live pictures on stream box, one of the apps you can download and you see it playing out. in terms of how steve jobs changed lives, you can learn the piano on an ipad. our children now don't know what a record album is or an 8 track is. how transformational is this one man? >> oh, well, completely. if you look at the -- he didn't invent the personal computer, he didn't invent most of these devices, but they were perfected. and his -- his dedication to good design, to the user experience and to the evolutionary growth of getting closer and closer to the silicon, to the point where you can have a tv studio in your hand on the beach, that was a
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30-plus year process that someone had to see from a long distance off. in this case, steve is our visionary. >> bob and daniel, we appreciate your time today to look at the man and the legacy. something of course we will keep watching. steve jobs dead at the age of 56. gentlemen, thank you very much. when we come back, a top energy department official resigns tonight. that breaking news, we'll give you the latest. plus the president today defended a loan to a company called solyndra. he says it was done by the books. does that hold up to the truth test? that's next. or hires another employee, it's not just good for business. it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $7.8 billion to small businesses across the country so far this year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible.
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important breaking news tonight. the energy department official in charge of a now controversial green energy loan program has resigned tonight. just hours after president obama forcefully defended the program and one particular loan to a company that is now bankrupt and under fbi and congressional scrutiny. the man's name is john than silver. a statement from secretary chu thanks him for his outstanding work and notes the secretary has, quote, absolute confidence in mr. silver. it says he's returning to the private sector because funding for the loan program ended in september. the loan getting the most scrutiny went to a california company called solyndra. as the white house pushed to speed the loan forward, some in the administration raised a series of warnings. so did a major obama fund-raiser who warned the white house the company was on shaky financial ground and the loan could come back to embarrass the president.
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that company is now bankrupt. a house committee is investigating why the warnings were ignored and whether political favoritism was behind the white house push. today the president was adamant it was the right call. >> there were going to be some companies that did not work out. solyndra was one of them. but the process by which the decision was made was on the merits. it was straightforward. >> here's tonight's truth. the process, despite what you just heard from the president, was anything but straightforward. and was the decision on the merits? the president may have no doubt, but some in his administration did. as the congressional inquiry goes forward, that is at a minimum a debatable question. an administration e-mails obtained as part of the republican-led investigation into why the administration awarded solyndra the guarantee, look here. a white house budget analyst wrote about his concerns. it's march 10th, 2009, saying, quote, this deal is not ready for primetime. in another e-mail an official from the office of management and budget worried the second guaranty request was imminent,
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the second loan guaranty request and said possible to close and default on one before closing on a second? could be a record. and the los angeles times reports president obama knew of the problems with the loan program in late october 2010, administration officials took their opposing views directly to obama. the memo laid out their different concerns and options to fix a, quote, broken process for getting loans approved. with us now is eric lipton who has done much of the ground-breaking reporting on this important story. ai eric, i want to start with what the president said, done on the merits, straightforward. this process had a lot of herky jerk movements in it. have we answered the question on the merits? >> from almost inauguration day in 2009 there was a political imperative to get money out the door through this program. there are e-mails that we've seen that show they were saying within 60 days we've got to get a deal done. so they were working quite diligently to evaluate the
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merits, but there was also an urgency. and that is what you saw with the dispute between some divisions within white house was they felt this intense pressure to get the money out the door. and so in fact some of the auditors have already seen that they didn't complete all of the due diligence, they didn't check the necessarily was there a good market, was the price right. they hadn't completed that work before they made the conditional approval in march of 2009. they met the 60-day deadline but did they really do all of the work that they needed to be sure it was on the merits, and that's an open question. >> that's an open question. it also sounds like you can't say the process was straightforward if they didn't follow all the guidelines. >> that's right. the government accountability office has already asserted they didn't follow the rules and complete the reviews before they made the additional commitment. the reason that they were so determined to get it done by march was that the white house had said we want money out the door within 60 days. this is change you can believe in, that was the slogan of the administration. we want some money out the door. we're going to show you that we
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can do things in the obama administration. so they were determined to make that commitment quickly. in this case they did. it was the first deal done and now there are questions about it. >> and those pictures we were showing on the other side of your screen, that's the president at the solyndra factory. eric, washington is often not fair. somebody resigns, they may or may not have perfectly legitimate reaches and may have been planned forever, but of course the president making this emphatic defense of the program today. we know about the congressional investigation. we know about the fbi inquiry into solyndra and then mr. silver resigns. resigned under pressure or just to return to the private sector? >> very clearly in the statement that the department of energy put out today, they said that this was a decision that really was started back in july of this year. you know, making -- trying to assert that this was something that has nothing to do with the investigation, which really didn't heat up until much more recently. but there's still more shoes to drop in this investigation, even within the next coming days, i think there's going to be more information out there that may be embarrassing to the administration on this. and so to have this guy leave, it's convenient that he's got
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another position, but you have to wonder whether or not this was, you know, done with some pushing to try to have someone that they could point to that's taken a fall. >> eric lipton of the "new york times." thanks again for your help. >> thank you. sarah palin heads for the sidelines and republicans debate whether she can still hold sway over the gop. our debate includes a top mccain adviser who admits there was talk of somehow dumping palin from the ticket if john mccain won the 2008 election. and there are millions, billions of ways to count steve jobs' impact on the economy and our culture. tonight's number reflects a very sound investment. male announce] what is the future of fuel? the debate is over. ♪ lexus hybrid drive technology is designed to optimize any fuel source on the planet. even those we don't use yet. because when you pursue perfection,
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welcome back. here's the latest news you need to know right now. today fbi director robert mueller warned congress that u.s. foreign terrorist anwar al awlaki is still a threat even though a u.s. drone killed him last friday. >> he was behind the recruiting of personnel who could undertake attacks in the united states. his death has certainly put a dent in that capability, but they still have the ability to undertake and develop ieds. it would be somewhat more difficult for them to find persons to put them on planes or bring into the united states, but there is still that threat out there.
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>> so the warning there. here's a first, the interest rate on a 30-year fixed rater for imagine has fallen to 3.94%. that's the first time it's ever dropped below 4%. however, the mortgage bankers association reports those low rates have done little to boost home buying. we want it to put the impact of steve jobs in our economy and culture into context. wow, there are so many options. 54 million, for example. that's the number of mac users worldwide or 15 billion. that's the number of songs downloaded from the itunes store. maybe one more. we could have more. but in the end we settled on 6,000. what's that? that's the growth rate of apple stock. 6,000% since jobs returned as ceo in the mid-1990s. let's put it this way. if you bought $10,000 of apple stock when steve jobs started, you would have $640,753 today. maybe erin burnett bought some
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of that stock back in the day. she's coming up at the top of the hour. erin, you'll be interviewing amanda knox's father? >> yes, yes. we'll talk to kurt knox about amanda knox. it hasn't even been 48 hours since he's been back in the u.s. but what has she been doing. we're going to be talking with her father, which we're very much looking forward to. also we're going to talk about the hispanic vote and also what to do to fix washington. i guess we all wish there was an answer to that. we'll talk to the mayor of san antonio who will be coming up on our hour. someone you know well as well. john, back to you. >> good luck with that fixing washington thing. also i don't want to let you go just yet. christey turlington, why is she making news? >> well, she has been fighting for maternal health around the world. a supermodel who used his beauty, her braun and her brains to do a lot of good. we're also going to take you
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inside a women's jail in pakistan, which by the way, john, that was a pretty amazing place to see and i'm excited to share it with everyone. >> looking forward to the program. thanks, erin, we'll see you in a few. when we come back, sarah palin this time last night was bowing out of the 2012 presidential race. what will the factor be now, can she still sway the gop? stay with us. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries.
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presidential nomination. the former alaska governor made her announcement on a conservative talk radio program and later explained it to her employer, fox news. >> i would go back and forth about whether now is the time and if i say no to the opportunity that's in front of me, running for office now, politically speaking will i de, will i be ineffective. no, after making the decision today and making the announcement i know beyond a shadow of a doubt, greta, i know that it's the right decision. >> truth be told, governor palin's political standing is in decline even among republicans. but she does maintain a strong base of support among conservatives at the grassroots level. to them, she offered this. >> i apologize to those whom are disappointed in this decision. i've been hearing from them in the last couple of hours. but i believe that they, when they take a step back, will understand why the decision was made and understand that really you don't need a title to make a
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difference in this country. i think that i'm proof of that. >> one of those support irz is the iowa conservative activist, becky beach, who joins us now from des moines and with me tonight is former adviser. let's begin the conversation. becky, i want to go to you first. you traveled to alaska recently and you have been asking governor palin, you were with her when she came to iowa a few weeks back. you wanted her to run. she explained to you directly why and for a palin supporter like yourself, now what? >> well, first, we were in alaska to visit family, but i've had the wonderful opportunity of getting to know both governor palin and todd. and i did hear from them yesterday before they made the announcement. i applaud them and am pleased for them to make the right decision that they did for their
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family and for themselves. i don't have any question in my mind that she'll still be a very strong force for conservative values. her love of the country and i don't think that she'll -- i don't think that her role will be diminished, it's just that she's not going to run for president and worry about taking a title. >> what's the impact on the state of iowa, is there one candidate that benefits? do you now have bachmann, santorum, cain and others trying to scoop up the palin vote, governor perry as well? >> well, i think they do. yes, i think they will try to scoop up the movement here. i think it is just that. i don't think in iowa any of the folks that have been working for governor palin will, as a group, move to any of them. iowans are used to meeting all of the candidates individually. but i think that the movement that she represents, as i said, you know, the main thing that all of our candidates want to do is beat president obama. and, you know, her hard work and
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the grass root effort that her people -- her volunteer force here have put together will definitely still have an impact, i think, on the 2012 election. i think also -- yes, i mean some of the lower tier candidates i think will soon drop out. and definitely people will be courting her current supporters here. >> and so, nicole, you hear from an ardent supporter. you're not a fan. you came to have a relationship that i describe as somewhat testy. i think you're both not in each other's fan club. you recently told this to "time" magazine. there certainly were discussions, not for long, but there certainly were discussions about when if they were to win, meaning mccain/palin, it would be appropriate for her to be sworn in. you came to the conclusion and others as well, if you're having these conversations late in the 2008 campaign, that she was unfit. >> let me just say three quick
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things. one, the power of sarah palin has always laid in the fierce devotion and loyalty of people like becky, and that i think that in this decision that she recognizes that her ability to have people who would give up their lives, put their lives on hold, there are all sorts of people in iowa who were there working on her behalf so her power has always been in that connection. i am a fan of her ability to connect. it's extraordinary. >> but you don't think she's fit to serve. you had conversations in which people were saying even if we win the election, how do we get rid of somebody that's just won an election as vice president. >> well, what i said to "time" magazine was based on advice that i got and that's to never really betray your relationship with your readers. when you're asked about the creative inspiration. i became deeply concerned about the candidate for which i worked and the impact of the scrutiny
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of being watched had hurt her and her family and there was concern and there were discussions as i described in that interview. >> she was a candidate and a celebrity all at once. i'm going to guess that you're not in sync with sarah palin's politics. what is it about her? what is the palin star power? >> i think the palin star power is simple. power? >> snoorchlthe star power is si. people believe she's one of them, a soccer mom and represents their interests. i do believe she has amazing power. while i don't -- i was just saying we are the most entertained and least informed society in this world because of our media and distraction and she was used to distract and many people who don't want obama there, if you listen to conspiracy theorist, she was to make sure obama won because people didn't want the motion of her there. i think it's sincere but i think she's misinformed about certain things like we all are.
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>> do you believe her, nicole she can have the impact she wants to have or be a media commentator and go around and show up on the tea party rallies as before. will she have as much influence on the sidelines as a candidate. >> i think she will have the exact kind of influence she wants and thrives in having. her power lays in the devotion of her supporters. as long as there are people who are devoted to h ed to hed to h in her she will have power and influence. when we come back, the president votes to threaten against a do nothing congress if it doesn't pass the jobs bill now. is he too weak to rally?
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at his white house press conference today, the president's ex sass berration was front and center. >> this is not a fame. this is not the time for the usual political gridlock. >> he's right. this isn't a game. there are nearly 23 million americans underemployed or unemployed, and it would be nice if washington could help them. is president obama too weak to help them. a record low job approval. 41% approve, 55% dysapprove. in that same poll, presidential candidate rick perry narrowly edges obama. and look at this, another
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leading presidential hopeful, massachusetts mitt romney has a 10% advantage over the president on the economy. joining us, david gergen, who has advised four presidents. the president is trying to get to congress and he has problems, let's be honest, with democrats and republicans. is his political stand doing weak to rally the public to his side? >> a good question. the president has scored political points about taxing millionaires. we have not seen the public response we have seen earlier and the debt ceiling fight when he asked americans to call congress, phone lines were jammed and messages came pouring in. this time, there's very little response. i've been around the country this week, in new orleans and columbus, ohio and now in greensburg, north carolina, not one person has asked me about the jobs bill. not one person says, do you
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think we can get that passed? that quinnipiac poll, 10 point lead for romney, that was really eye opening. >> you have on the left, people discouraged in the president and they see lately the fight many have been looking for. a lot can change, a lot can change, four in 10 americans approve of his job of the president and the number one candidate beats him by 10 points. >> that's about an illusion, impression a businessman can save our problems. business folk got us into this mess to begin with, wall street, these incredible giveaways to an industry that did not lend back to the economy, to the people it took the money from. i think unfortunately the fan base is a little jaded. i think we recognize this as pre-election posturing and we don't know if it's too little too late. >> let me just say, it's disillusionment also. i think that while it was
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republican eric cantor who called the jobs bill dead on arrival, it was the democrat lead senate that killed it. the fact that he announced this jobs bill with no legwork done with his democratic controlled senate leadership and supposed allies, it died on the vine in all that period between his big speech to the country, his big announcement that help was on the way and the democratic controlled senate letting it die. >> democratic controlled senate let that die. listen to the president. he asked the senate democrats completely changing the financing of the president's jobs plan. they want the millionaire's surtax. the president was asked if he was okay with that. listen. >> there will be more work to do with respect to making our tax system fair and just and promoting growth in terms of immediate action getting this jobs bill passed, i'm fine with the approach they're taking. >> david, if you read the body language, he's less than fine
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with it. >> you know, it's -- i think you're right, john. the fact is the white house thinks it's scoring political points by reframing the argument and pointing blame in other directions beyond the white house. they're trying to say now they're saying it's millionaires an billionaires really screwing this up, if they just did the right thing, we'd be fine. they are trying to reframe the argument for the election. they don't want to run an election based on accomplishments of the past. they want to run an election based on choices for the future. >> i want to jump in -- i want to jump in, david. run an election, david gergen says. there are 13 months to the election. unemployed, underemployed american out there, wait to the next election? >> i don't think so. you can't. something has to change fundamentally. the system is broken. you can go from republican to democrat all day long, certain things are not going to
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