>> it was particularly given the disappoint of the men and given the disappoint that had been all of those tears of sadness after jordyn wieber missed out on the individual all-around final. but they smashed it frankly, the fab five. didn't they? there was really no competition, winning by five points, which in gymnastics terms is absolutely huge. in the run-up they were watching videos in atlanta in '96 for inspiration and that did the job. they started with a three phenomenal vaults and russia just crumbled under the pressure. it's fantastic to see tears of joy so soon after those tears of sadness after disappointment of the men. i have to say now i'm going to talk about team gb, when are we going to win our first gold medal. we've just done it. the women's pair heather

stunning and helen glover, they have just stormed to victory in the rowing in the women's pair, which is really quite something. and they weren't even heralded at the start of the day. these are the front pages of some of the tabloid papers, it was all about bradley wiggins, he was the one heralded as the great hope for today. bradley wiggins side burns quite special and "the daily mirror", a whole wig thing, which is kind of interesting. >> you hang on to that. congratulations on your first gold medal for your country. we're happy for you on that. we appreciate the update. coming up in a few minutes, we're going to talk to dominique dawes on that team giving inspiration to this year's team. coming up in the next hour, three-time olympic swimmers his name is aaron piersol.

he'll be with us as well. zoraida has a look at the top stories. >> good morning, a shocker in the state of texas, gop voters choosing a new man as it's contender for the u.s. senate. several texas newspapers reporting ted krcruz is the winner. it's being build as a win for a conservative grass roots underdog. he had support from sarah palin and rick santorum. leon panetta arriving in jerusalem this morning for talks with israeli leaders, iran's nuclear program and violence in syria are expected to top agenda. panetta is scheduled to visit israel's iron dome, a missile defense system funded largely by the united states. hollywood is mourning the death of gore vidal, a fixture on talk shows and gossip columns, "lincoln" and

tony-nominated play "the best man." he ran twice for congress and lost both times. his nephew confirms he died at his holy wood hills home yesterday of complications from pneumonia. he was 86 years old. a recent college graduate from glenn elenvirginia was able to save her father's life thanks to quick thinking and super human strength. her car was working on his car when the jack slipped. that's when his daughter leaped into action. >> lifted it up right here and kind of kind of threw it like, shoved my body into it as hard as i can and came back and dragged him out and started cpr. >> lauren says an adrenalin rush helped her lift the car off her father. her lifeguard cpr training helped keep him alive until the paramedics arrived. and her father is expected to

make a full recovery. an average car weighs about 4,000 pounds. imagine that. >> good for her. what a great story. zoraida, thank you. we're turning to the olympics, two american gymnasts are looking for redemption in the men's individual all around, they follow the womens' team incredible performance. the first gold was back in 1996 when dominique dawes and here teammates took the top spot in the atlanta games. she is an analyst for fox sports.com and member of the first olympics dell game. i'm a big fan. the young ladies who were doing gymnastics last night and got to the gold talked about your team as their inspiration. that must be really a thrill for you, i would imagine. >> it's an honor definitely to know we were able to motivate the team to reach their full potential and get a gold medal. i was in the arena last night

and thrilled. their performances took my breath away. the russians didn't get them any competition, when they came to the balance beam it was close then they faltered and continued to falter on the floor exercise, a aly raisman onlied needed a 10.2 and she surpassed it and they won gold. >> they came on the vault the strongest, one after the other the first person's energy and ability kind of inspiring the next person to do an even better job in some ways. i thought mckayla maroney's vaulting was terrific. karolyi thought it should have been a ten. i could not believe it to not reward her with a 10. >> i don't agree with that, bela, we're in 2012, there are no more perfect tens in the sport unfortunately. >> why not?

>> well the scoring system has changed so there's no more perfect ten. could she have gotten a perfect score, it would have then been a 17.0. i saw a slight deduction, it was very min unite, she could have gotten a slightly higher score. the perfect score would be a 20 if someone was able to come up with that amount of difficulty. she rocked her fault. she's coaxed by an amazing coach, someone who helped me back in the day. he tried to get me to do that vault when i was a kid and i refused because it was way too hard back then. >> john getter says his team is better than your team, a little trash talk. others might agree, the '96 team might disagree but this is the best team. difficultywise and consistencywise, this is the finest. >> i do believe the fab five is out of our shadows, they have achieved an amazing fete, winning gold off american soil.

the magnificent seven was able to win and i think the hometown crowd helped. i think we can compare the two teams but i would love to put on a leotard is and go at it with these girls. but we're going to give them full credit. we don't need to compete anymore. i'm 35, not flipping anymore, i'll give them the props they deserve. >> your fans are older than that and want to see you do that still. dominique dawes it must be so much fun to watch this and be in the stands and not have the pressure on you. >> i'm a nervous ninany, looking forward to the all-around. those two, one of them are going to be america's next sweetheart, reminds me back to the 1992 olympic games and shannon miller stepped up and took the spotlight and i think that will happen in the all-around finals. >> we appreciate it. >> thank you.

>> still ahead on "starting point," mitt romney is now back on his home turf and defending comments that angered palestinians when he talked about the culture. our get real, back from owing back child support to penning a children's book. the original bad boy, dennis rodman has a bedtime story for your kids. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. fo. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions, to bring all the right results. [ whirring and beeping ] it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ [ "human" by the human league playing ] humans. we mean well, but we're imperfect creatures living in a beautifully imperfect world.

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welcome back to "starting point." minding your business, federal reserve policy makers set to make an announcement on interest rates this afternoon. they are expected to keep them near zero percent where they have been since 2008. right now the dow and nasdaq and s&p 500 are pointing up in pre-marketing trading suggesting we could see a bounce at opening bell. the sister of facebook founder mark zuckerberg is working for the enemy. she is now employed by google after the search engine giant

bought out her marketing firm wildfire. she worked there as a junior product manager. back to you, soledad. >> you think he could offer her a job, hook her up in the family. get that girl a job. >> here you have insider information perhaps. >> oh, interesting. >> zoraida, thanks. mitt romney is in boston this morning following his three-store tour overseas standing by the controversial remarks where he stated that israel has been more prosperous than neighboring palestine because of cultural differences. in an op-ed, he writes israel has embraced freedom. economic freedom is the only force that has consistently succeeded in lifting people out of poverty and only principle that created sustained prosperity. it is why our economy rose to rival the lead are powers and long surpassed them all. editor in chief of red

state.com. thanks for being with us. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> he had to clarify comments he made that angered a lot of palestinians because he talked about cultural differences being the reason for israel's success and highlighted the neighboring palestine as sort of the nonsuccess. >> do you think he had to clarify those remarks? do you think that was critical to do? >> he probably needed to, if only because we're heading into august and august tends to be the hastings crossings for the party where politicians consume themselves and each other with random stories. this had the potential to blow up and consume his campaign for a couple of weeks. he needed to clarify it. no one denies the palestinian authority area has a big fence around it but also palestinians would deny it but it's also fact in their culture a lot of people teach their kids to put on bombs and fire homemade missiles into israel than to go out and try to

lift themselves up. they are multifacetted problems there but romney needed to clarify it to stop a story from exploding. >> cultural differences too, you know, can to some degree mean anything. i mean, he didn't mention all of the things that i think the palestinians would mention, all of the things they felt were perceived as racist in those comments. he didn't talk about occupation, didn't talk about settlements or talk about roadblocks or talk about closures, there's a long list that's very correlated. it's not in a bubble. >> the roadblocks and fences are in it because they had a tendency to blow themselves up on israeli buses. >> what you're saying seems to be the opposite a little bit of what mitt romney is saying. he's saying i'm not going to weigh in on what the palestinians have done in their culture. i'm talking about the israelis, if you're saying what he's saying is a metaphor because of

the activities of people who have been fighting against the israeli occupation, sometimes using bombs, suicide bombers, that is ultimately why israel is successful in the palestinian territories or not? >> i think he's commenting on israel but it leaves the vacuum open for what the difference between the two is and i think there's a profound difference. he may not want to go there but i'm perfectly happy to. >> let me ask you a question. mark mckinnen, a republican strategist who you well know, said this in the "washington post." he had a good flight plan. he wasn't wearing a seat belt. he hit a lot of turbulence and lost altitude but in the end he returned safely. this is what he said to the "washington post," talking about the trip that started in london and went on to israel and went on to poland. every part of that trip there was a little bump in the road. would you say it was a successor

failure? >> you know, i'm a.m. bif lent about the trip, it happened during the olympics, i don't think any american paid attention to the fact mitt romney went overseas. he wanted to connect to his biography having been a part of the salt lake city olympics. but the things that came out of the trip were not news worthy items other than he got a taste of his foot on occasion. everybody was paying attention to what michael peophelps was dg in london. >> so the question is did anybody care ultimately. >> yeah, i don't think so. >> harry reid -- >> i don't think so, yeah. >> interview in the huffington post, harry reid brings back the tax issue and i wonder if this will be an issue that keeps coming back because we know the romney campaign will not release anymore of the candidate's tax returns. he said this, a month ago, reid said, a person who invested with bain capital, who he did not name, called his office, quote,

harry, he didn't pay taxes for ten years, reid recounted the person as saying, he didn't pay taxes for ten years, now do i know that's true? i'm not certain, said reid. but obviously he can't release the tax returns, how would it look. that's from "the huffing ton post" yesterday. do you think things like that will make him change his position and release the taxes? >> i always thought that mitt romney would ultimately cave but not over what harry reid is saying. there's a post that either harry reid is lying or the person who told the story is lying because mathematically is would be impossible from what we know, it couldn't be that way. yeah, i think this story will continue to dog mitt romney. remember, august is the time where monica lewinsky came out, cindy sheeman, veterans for truth came out. it will be a time where they amp up efforts to come out with the tax returns, if he sticks to his

guns, i'll be surprised considering how often the pressure builds he does cave. >> and it's only august 1st. just the beginning of august on that one. thanks for your insight, appreciate it. thank you. >> coming up later this morning, we'll talk to maryland democratic congressman chris van hollen, we'll speak to the former gop presidential hopeful and former speaker, newt gingrich. he'll weigh in on governor romney's trip and presidential race as a whole. the nba bad boy, been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and had his share of child support problems. now dennis rodman is penning a book he would like your kids to read. we'll talk about that with our "starting point" team, margaret hoover, ryan lizza, nothing lasts forever. so true.

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welcome back to "starting point," i'm zoraida sambolin. carrying a baby to safety from raging floods in fephoenix. people were trapped in water 4 feet deep. the area was hit with severe storms last night. starting today, all new health insurance plans will have to provide eight free preventative health benefits to women, it is a requirement of the president's health care reform law, impacting an estimated 47 million american women. it includes contraceptives and breast feeding supplies and prenatal care.

a milestone in new orleans where the new $90 million saint bernard parish hospital is getting ready to open its doors next month. it replaces the center that was destroyed during hurricane katrina. >> great milestone. we covered stories because they had no hospital, so i remember once when sheriff's deputies would be injured, that would be a 45-minute drive or more to get to a hospital. horrible for local people. >> it's great news indeed. >> fantastic news, i'm happy about that. our team this morning, richard socarides and margaret hoover, white house appointee in the bush administration and ryan lizza for the new yorker. >> i feel like all you've done is cover it so. >> we're friends. >> we are.

>> as are president bush and president clinton. >> yeah, very good friends. >> take that, twitter. >> i think president bush and president clinton are better friends than president clinton and president obama. >> no they are very friendly. i have it on good authorities. >> ryan, everybody is friendly, where you been? >> our get real this morning is about dennis rodman. nba hall of famer, basketball's bad boy, several arrests for drunken driving, domestic violence, the head coach of a topless women's basketball team. problems paying more than $200,000 that he had in child support due until last month. and now, he is penning a children's book. the book is called dennis, the wild bull. and it kind of looks a little bit like dennis rodman has tattoos and piercings according to the website for the book. it will convey good lessons to children based on dennis's

experiences as a world class athlete. it focuses on character was told to "the daily news." would you read that to your small children? >> we have the book, go the xpletive to sleep. have you read that book? >> i've never seen that. >> fantastic book. >> i don't know if it is in genre. >> it's a serious children's book. i'm all for redemption, maybe this was part of his therapy in rehab, write a children's book, help get through your childhood and help other children to continue to not make mistakes you made. >> i think so too. our culture now, everybody is entitled to rehabilitation and maybe he has something smart to say or maybe what he's been through will help other people. >> daddy, tell me about dennis rodman, daddy.

>> he's a fantastic basketball player, made bad mistakes then wrote a children's book. >> i like that. >> it's the new stuff in the celebrity life. >> like the rehabilitation team today. i like that. okay. still ahead this morning on "starting point." take a look at these pictures, a close call for 151 passengers on a united airlines flight to denver. we'll tell you how their boeing 727 ended up with a gaping hole in the nose of the plane. president obama is heading to ohio later today. we're back in just a moment. in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf...

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welcome barks back, d.l. hughley will stop by our studios, saying politicians are

ruining america. hello my political people. let's talk about that. well, it's also the title of his book, i want you to shut the up, how the audacity of dopes is ruining america. zoraida? >> i'm looking forward to that, the state department has released the first report on terrorism since osama bin laden was killed. it says a number of worldwide terror attacks last year fell to their lowest level since 2005 and that iran remains the leading state sponsor of terrorism. the state department also says the death of bin laden put the terror network on a path of decline. a federal judge ruling that al qaeda and the taliban along with iran and hezbollah owe victim's families $6 billion for the deaths of 9/11. the ruling says they are libel because they allowed free

passage to al qaeda terrorists according no the 9/11 commission report. they found no evidence that iran was aware of the terror plot. syria's president assad reiterating support for the country's arm the forces this morning. he says, quote, the enemy is among us and using inside agents to weaken the country. this as rebel fighters making gains in syria, opposition forces reporting they've seized control of two critical government police stations in central aleppo. a nasty collision between a bird and this united airlines flight as it landed in denver. that crash left a gaping hole in the nose of the 737. the smithsonian institution will try to identify the bird. it has a dna database of all bird species in the world and luckily no one on the plane was hurt. ulted airlines flight from newark to germany had to be diverted to boston after flight attendants found a camera in a

seat pocket. they couldn't find the owner of the camera. no one claimed it so investigators had to inspect the camera and the plane. i wonder how long that camera had been sitting on that plane? could you imagine if you were on that plane? someone claim this camera, please so we can get on to geneva. >> oh, it was my camera. safety first is what i say. later today, president obama will be in the swing state of ohio. he's currently leading mitt romney there in several polls, there's a brand-new quinn pea yak new york times poll that shows mitt romney trailing 50 to 44%. calling on congress to act about the fiscal cliff happens, which is going to happen at the end of the year when the bush era. tax cuts will expire and automatic spending cuts will trigger across the board. the house is expected to vote on bills addressing the cuts this

week before congress goes on break which happens on friday. all of this brings us to chris van hollen, the ranking democrat and obama campaign surrogate. thanks for being with us. >> good to be with you, soledad. >> the democrats had passed the tax cuts passed in the senate last week. what do you think is the likelihood in the house a similar thing will happen? >> well, we would like it if our house republican colleagues would take up the president's plan, the plan that passed the senate last week, which would provide tax relief really to 100% of the american people compared to what the current law provides, 98% of the american repeople. the top 2% don't get twice as much. republicans in the house said they are going to prevent the tax relief from going forward unless they get the bonus tax

break for folks at the top. i hope they'll reconsider. we'll put forward a proposal that's identical to the senate proposal which means if our house republican colleagues agreed to it, it would go directly to the white house and the president would sign it next week. >> very unlikely, right that your house republican colleagues are going to agree to it? >> that's right. but i think it is important to understand what they are saying. they are saying that even though they say they want to provide this tax relief to 98% of the american people, they will only allow that to go forward to provide this extra bonus tax cuts for folks at the very top which increases the long-term deficit at everybody else's expense. >> they are saying tax cuts for all and sounds like democrats are saying tax cuts up to $250,000 if you're talking a family and $200,000 if you're talking about an individual. as the fiscal cliff approaches us, and every day i say that i get more and more anxious about it, it better to extend the tax

cuts for all or better to let them expire if you were given those two options? >> first of all, a clarification, people making over $200,000 get tax relief on the first $250,000, the same tax relief that everybody else gets on that income. number one. the reason it's important, not to continue with this trickle-down theory we inherited from the bush years is it's blowing a big hole in the long-term deficit. if we don't ask folks at the high end to pay a little bit more to contribute to the deficit, it means everybody else gets whacked that much harder and seniors on medicare have to end up paying more and means we cut our kids education and investments in foreign infrastructure and other areas important to the economy. every bipartisan group who looked at the deficit challenge recommended a balanced approach, cuts and we did a trillion

dollars in cuts as part of the budget control act. we should do moreover time. they also recommended that we deal with the revenue side of the equation, if you don't ask, folks at the high end, as i say, everybody else gets hit. it comes at other people's expense. >> congressman van hollen, hold it for a second as i talk to margaret hoover. he's stating what the republican position is about the balanced approach, of course the position doesn't spell out how you get to the growing revenue, clearly. >> and doesn't spell out how you change -- how you make -- on the spending side reforms have to be made on medicare and social security and medicaid in order for the programs to be sustainable for people my age and younger in the future. a balanced approach where everybody is happy, if it's an honest approach, not ka bookie congress that are simply for show. >> let's go back to the congressman. you mentioned the budget control act and you voted in favor of it but you said this, the cuts,

$1.2 trillion over ten years are reckless and irresponsible way to reduce the deficit. it was designed to be so unpal atable that the democrats and republicans would come together to avoid this sort of domestic quees. >> sorry, my greek is not that -- my degree was in english literature. >> you wrote that for politico on july 18th and voted for that. isn't your vote and that of your colleagues what brought us to where we are today, which is dealing with the massive cuts in military spending that everybody is saying are potentially a disaster? >> i did vote for that because i believe we do have to reduce our long-term did he have silt and what we did in the control act was to things, we immediately put spending caps for ten years

on discretionary spending, a trillion in savings. but we also needed another trillion dollars in safrgz and no agreement on how to get there because our republican colleagues refused to take the balanced approach that's been recommended by bipartisan groups, which involves not just cuts but also asking folks at the very top to contribute more to deficit reduction, beginning to close these big loopholes like the big taxpayer giveaways to the big oil companies. they refused to take that kind of approach, which is why we're rear heig right here. we put forward a proposal to prevent the sequester from taking place by replacing it with a combination of cuts to for example, foreign subsidies that are unnecessary right now and secondly, eliminated a lot of tax breaks for big oil companies. that would have prevented the sequester by replacing it with a

smarter approach to deficit reduction. because it had some revenue, in this case generated from closing tax breaks for big oil companies, republicans said no to that. if i could quickly address the health care issue, which is very clearly something we have to address in the long term, what we've put forward is a change in medicare that would move us away from a strict fee per service system which drives up use and costs and replace it with a system that rewards physicians and providers based on the quality of care they provide, not the quantity of care. and in that way we can begin to bring down costs. we do reject the republican approach, which is just simply shift costs on to seniors. we don't think that that is the right way to do it, especially since the median income of a senior on medicare is under $23,000. >> as you describe it, it sounds like both sides are very far apart. you'll take your recess and then

you have tomorrow and friday and you're gone for five weeks. before the end of the year you don't have much time to get this worked out. chris van hollen joining us, i appreciate your time. >> i would say the bipartisan groups provide a model. i wish we start looking at those. >> margaret is nodding her head. >> maybe it's a good thing they don't work this out. that's what the election is for. the winner of the election will get to put their ideas into law. >> i would rather see a deal before the election. >> this discussion now is like -- i think chris van hollen is great and i agree with him. it is mind-numbing. for those that follow it closely it's hard to follow. >> i don't know, i think to me seems like -- >> sequester and -- >> fiscal cliff is clear to the american voter. cliff is a bad thing. almost never a good thing. we've got to take a break. ahead on "starting point," are politicians ruining america. stand-up comedian d.l. hughley

will join us to talk about his new book "the audacity of dopes." straight ahead. plus, the most expensive apartment in this country hits the market and yes, every room has a view. we'll tell you how much it costs and where it is straight ahead on "starting point." it's human nature to invent. it's human nature to try to make your life better and human nature to try to make the world around you a better place. and to actually do that and execute those ideas, it's really freaking hard. good ideas shouldn't find their ways on to shelves because they are ideas with the people right look or circumstance. they should find their ways on to shelves because they are great ideas, that's it, plain and simple.

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♪ i like this. from margaret's playlist, thank you, margaret. >> you're welcome. >> i don't mock people. i just give my opinion about what i like and don't like. sometimes i don't like stuff. that's okay. to each his own. welcome back to "starting point." a couple of stories catching our

attention. we want to talk about the most expensive apartment in the u.s. is for sale. $100 million. you could have this apartment, highlights includes outdoor space, the most outdoor space, highest outdoor space too, located in new york city, 8,000 square foot wraparound pent house, described as a one of a kind gem. cost $100 million. >> it's on the 73rd to 76th floor and in new york -- three floors but when you're 76 stories in new york city, that means you can see north to laguardia and south to the statue of liberty and over to new jersey. >> sounds like you've bb to this -- >> i have not been, trust me, i would like to have been. >> you should see all of those sites, on 56th street between 6th and 7th. it's not even on the park. >> it's a little goesh.

>> there's a russian -- >> not only does it have -- this is my favorite part. it has a wine room, not a wine cellar, but a wine room -- >> for 1,000 bottles. >> i'm in then. bought it for 4.5 million. if he can sell it for that, that is a good return on your investment back in 1993. going to take a break. still ahead on qu"starting poi," d.l. hughley joins us and has advice for president obama and every politician. he has a new book, he wants them to shut up. nice to see you. how are you?

you know d.l. hughley as one of the kings as comedy, standup comedian and actor who starred in his own show and hosted a show on cnn. but now he is issuing a wake-up call and warning that the problems in american society will only get worse because of the audacity of dopes running the country. it's actually called "i want you to shut the f*-* up." i have to keep my finger right there. and he joins us to talk a little bit about this book. >> happy chick-fil-a day. chick-fil-a appreciation day. like america needs an excuse to eat bad food. >> if conservatives keep eating at chick-fil-a, then obama care won't seem so bad. >> the argument is that they believe a marriage should be between a man and a woman. but if you eat enough chick-fil-a, it will be between you and a cardiologist. >> not all conservatives believe that marriage should be between just a man and a woman.

there's quite a few of us. >> how much of a reality check does politics give you? >> you don't have to say joke and politics. they mean the same thing. we don't -- like the american -- even when i grew up, it was certainly a different time. but we were proud of what we did. like quality was job one. now people will actually -- you have to pay extra to talk to somebody. like if people care about you and they believe that you are a viable commodity with you, they will communicate with you. but they don't that. >> you give advice to president obama in your book. what's your advice to him? >> i think to stand. to stand. >> be tougher? >> not even tougher. tougher is a word that i think people throw around that means probably more masculine than it should. but i think it would be a decidedly different presidency like when joe wilson called him a liar he said, you don't have to like me, but you have to respect me. somebody remove this man from the premises. i think that would change the way i know i saw him and i think

that the country. i think his adversaries saw him as wounded. as weak. >> but you also write a lot about race. and i wonder, yeah, is the first black president really going to be able to pull that off? >> no. i think you go to what you naturally have. being able to -- it certainly was more difficult to get there. so being who you are once you're there shouldn't be as difficult, i wouldn't imagine. and we are a nation full of contradictions. we brag about -- like we literally are like a drunk at a bar. we brag about our strength. we can't wait to get into a fight to show how strong we are, with little regard for any of the consequences. if that doesn't express exactly our foreign policy, i don't know what does. >> can i say, we were joking about it at the break. and there's a lot of really funny stuff in here. but why do you think it's come to this? and why do you think we're not talking about bigger issues and bigger ideas? >> we are the descendants of people who did great things. who won wars, and who led the world in manufacturing, and put

a man on the moon. we're a step down from that. we've got facebook. we can like all that. >> you don't think we're developing things that are great or have potential to be great today? >> certainly that would be an overstatement to say that we don't. but to be -- but clearly we're not what we were. and we're not what we were because we don't have the same goals and ambitions or even the same kind of unvarnished look at ourselves. >> the differences you see in a man or a woman who is raised by their father. what's the -- >> well, i think you -- women coddle. women want anti-bullying laws. men want to teach their boys how to stand up to bullies. women want to erase bullies from the face of the earth. men accept the fact that they exist and to make an adjustment. >> i've had to keep pulling this book back. like the entire seg. grabbing my book back. the book is called "i want you to shut the f*-* up." how the audacity of dopes is ruining america. it's really funny, but has an

undertone seriously about the political state of this nation. >> it's sad. even the way -- you look at the olympics now. like we used to be so proud. like we used to know, and like now, when i was watching the olympics, the first thing i thought is all those countries had health care before we did. even macedonia. i was like, wow. and the chinese are killing us. but it's hard to beat the people that they beat to get there. like if you win all the golds, you can't say you didn't have the money to get there. >> congratulations on the book. it's really great. >> thank you. still ahead on "starting point," first it was sugary soft drinks. now michael bloomberg is foc focusing on baby formula. we would like mothers to breastfeed. and olympians accused of throwing their badminton matches. it could be against the rules.

you're watching "starting point." you're back in just a moment. nt. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get free one-on-one help from america's retirement leader.

welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning, pure gold. it was a magical night at the olympics for the u.s. women's gymnastics team, and an historic one for michael phelps. and it was an embarrassing one for a few badminton players now accused of throwing games. mitt romney is standing by his comments that culture matters. comments that palestinians called racist. we'll tell you why newt gingrich is backing up his former foe

mitt romney. and bloomberg knows best. the new york mayor's plan to lock up baby formula to encourage new mothers to breastfeed. we'll talk to one of the women in charge of the mayor's latch on program. it's wednesday, august 1. and "starting point" begins right now. ♪ as you were ♪ as i want you to be >> i like it. >> really? >> you can't go wrong with nirvana. ryan's play list. >> all week i have been getting hammered for my music. so i figured i'd get something safe. >> hammered? all i say is that's not my favorite. that's hammered? you have not seen me hammer somebody. no, i'm just teasing you. i love your choices, ryan. love you, love your choices. >> thanks. >> our team this morning, ryan lizza joining us of course. "the new yorker" columnist. and we had a chat about his

column, which is in "new yorker" magazine this month. richard socarides is with us. margaret hoover, former appointee in the bush administration. i am having a hard time speaking this morning. our "starting point" this morning, the fab five. everybody is talking about what was an amazing night for the u.s. women's gymnastics team, routing the russians. really routed everybody on their way to the gold medal in team competition. michael phelps as well. big night for him, where he was able to cement his legacy. he is now the most decorated olympian of all time. winning his record-breaking 19th medal, adding another gold to his count. sebastian coe says he is not the greatest olympian of all time. what? zain verjee is in london for us this morning. all right, zain. what? yes, he is. i just said it. >> how dare he. >> why does he think he's not? >> well, that's the debate that

is actually raging here, ok? look, on numbers, no one can take it away from michael phelps. he's got 19, and he's even got three more races. so he could even get more in numbers. so he's got that hands down. but what sebastian coe is saying he is the most successful but not the greatest. why? because he says swimming is a sport that offers so many different opportunities to get medals. and there's so many different relays that one individual can just continue to rack them up. for example, take like the decathlon or track and field, sprinting, any kind of these sports. a champion marathon runner for example. you just don't get that many opportunities to get a medal. so is he the greatest ever? is michael phelps greater than jesse owen or carl lewis or muhammad ali? you know, that debate will keep going on. but i think we can say fairly is that he is an olympic history for good. >> so they are going to argue

the semantics of what the greatest is. i'm willing to be part of that argument. let's talk about the women's gymnastics team. unbelievable. that was so much fun to watch last night. starting with the vaulting, which was like hard core nailing it every time. and only got better from there. >> exactly. i mean, that really was the one thing that gave such a big boost to the u.s. women's team. jord jordin wieber started it off, and then they did well in all of their events except for the uneven bars, but that didn't matter. the performance was so solid and they won by such a big margin that it was theirs, and the u.s. team left the russians and the chinese on the sidelines there in tears. so well done team usa. >> it was good to watch. zain verjee for us this morning. thank you, zain. appreciate it. we've got zoraida sambolin with a along at the rest of the stories. the texas gop chooses a new

man as its contender for senate. ted cruz is the 100% of the republican primary runoff against lieutenant governor david dewhurst. cruz had support from high profile republicans like sarah palin and rick santorum. and cruz served chick-fil-a at his victory party last night. the chain now a rally point for conservatives after chick-fil-a's president came out against same-sex marriage. gore vidal is being remembered this morning after dying from complications from pneumonia. his works include the best selling novels "lincoln" and the play "the best man." vidal twice ran for congress, once in the '60s and once in the '80s. he lost both times. he was 86 years old. and another needle found in an airline meal. air canada says a passenger found a sewing needle in a sandwich during a domestic flight yesterday. the airline says it is working

closely with the caterer to make sure it is following security measures. the fbi and dutch authorities are also investigating reports of needles found in six sandwiches on delta flights from amsterdam to the united states. that was two weeks ago, if you recall. and olympic fever is so high it might cause a computer meltdown in l.a. according to "the los angeles times," city workers have been asked to stop watching the olympics online in fear of a network crash. an email was sent to thousands of city employees yesterday morning the day of the women's gymnastics time. -- final. it was worth it, though, wasn't it? >> wait a minute. i'm on my computer downloading the women's results. you know what? come on. >> i know. that's a tough one. it's the american way. >> yes. to use the internet during work hours. absolutely. god bless america. absolutely. thanks, z. appreciate it. mitt romney is back in boston this morning after his overseas tour. he is standing by the comment

that he made in israel where he stated that that country has been more prosperous than palestine because of cultural differences. his supporters are defending his visit and his abilities as a statesman. one of them is newt gingrich, who campaigned against romney for the 2012 presidential nomination. and i had a chance to speak with mr. gingrich about the upcoming election as well as his speech at a conference of conservative young people in washington, d.c. and i asked him if the underlying duel of 2012 is really seniors versus millennia millennials. >> i think the underlying crisis in america is a lack of leadership that innovates and creates enough new wealth and new opportunity and new breakthroughs that nobody has to fight anybody. >> let's talk a little bit about president obama's main challenger, mitt romney. his tour, his foreign policy tour, started in london, and then moved on to israel, and it is headed into poland. how would you assess how he's done so far? >> the visit to israel and the

visit to poland were very effective. and drew a very real contrast between obama's policies, which have been largely anti-israeli and anti-polish, and where romney would be, which would be returning to a classical america friendship with both israel and poland. >> there are people obviously who would disagree with you on the anti-israeli and anti-polish thing. but i'm going to move on and tell you about some of the gaffs that some say he has made in israel. he talked about the difference between israel and the palestinian territories saying this. culture makes all the difference. and as i come here and look out over the city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, i recognize the power of at least a culture and a few other things. that's what he said at a fundraiser. palestinians were very angry at that, saying that he did not mention all the other issues that might lead to a difference in wages and opportunity between israel and the palestinian territories. >> well, first of all, i don't think he made a mistake in

israel. i think the congressmemments ab culture were right, and i wish the elites had the courage to look at the united nations refugee camps and realize what a human disaster those are, how much they have been breeders of terrorism, how fundamentally wrong their design is, and how much we have done a disservice to the palestinians to allow them to be subjected to that kind of government-run totally inappropriate structure. so there i hope that governor romney will stick to his guns. let's have the argument. >> let me ask you a little bit about the bush era tax cuts. obviously, we are headed for the fiscal cliff, which we keep talking about. how do you think that's going to go? should they be extended for all americans? >> i hope that after governor romney wins that we will have an agreement on how to fundamentally reform the federal government. i don't believe we are undertaxesed. i believe we are overspent. and i helped balance the budget for four straight years. i worked in a bipartisan way

with president bill clinton to achieve that. we actually cut taxes while getting to a balanced budget as well as reforming welfare. >> bill clinton it turns out will be the person who will introduce the president at the democratic convention in september. makes him a key player obviously in primetime. in the past, you've certainly had some choice words for the former president. and some for the current president too. what do you make of that? >> well, i think it's a very high risk thing for president obama to have president clinton at the convention nominate him. it's going to drive home how big the differences are. president clinton could work in a bipartisan way. president obama can't. president clinton reformed welfare. president obama repealed by executive order in my judgment illegally the welfare reform that was the centerpiece of the clinton years. president clinton got four consecutive balanced budgets. president obama has had huge deficits. so i think having bill clinton there is going to remind people of a democrat they used to like, and may in fact shrink obama by comparison. >> hmm.

or the theory goes, and certainly they would argue, that it is certainly different times that president obama is dealing with, and president clinton had to deal with. but the theory would go, i would imagine, that president clinton has some really, really high approval ratings, and really, really low negative ratings. so put them together, and hopefully one rubs off on another. >> i'm sure that's their theory. i just think it's a big risk. >> you're not going to speak at the republican convention which happens next month. or maybe you will. but my understanding is you haven't yet been asked to speak. will you end up -- >> i'm very comfortable not speaking in the evening convention. we're working on a project right now to have two hours a day every day for training workshops on major issues, including energy, economic growth, and i think that i'll probably play the lead role in putting together four straight days of those kind of workshops. so i'm going to have a fairly big role at the convention. but i'm fairly comfortable not speaking, and i'm fairly comfortable that maybe it's time

for a new generation of republicans. we have so many bright young new republicans around the country that i think we really want to make sure we maximize their appearance in primetime. and show people what a diverse and what a broad party we are. >> newt gingrich joining us. he is the former speaker of the house of course and formally a presidential candidate as well. nice to see you. appreciate it. >> thank you. still ahead this morning on "starting point," we talked about this a little bit yesterday. bloomberg versus baby bottles. this morning we are talking to the woman in charge of new york city mayor's controversial latch on breastfeeding program. and our tough call today is some of badminton's very best are accused of blowing their games on purpose. not exactly the olympic spirit we've been celebrating over the last couple of days. was it a smart move, though, to get a medal? here is margaret's play list. the smiths. i love the smiths. >> i love this song. >> i really do love the smiths. i was being sarcastic with ryan, but i do like the smiths.

>> i bet ryan likes the smiths. >> i love them. >> we should debate the music one day. we're back in a moment.

welcome back, everybody. new york city is rolling out a new initiative this week called latch on nyc. it's designed to encourage new mothers to breastfeed and curb formula use in the hospital. mayor michael bloomberg made the announcement yesterday. here's what he said. >> most public health officials want to encourage women to breastfeed at least for the first couple of weeks because the outcomes are better. and if they can do it, that's great. and if they can't, they can't. our job is we're not making anybody do it. we're suggesting. >> 25 hospitals have already signed on. and under the plan, the hospitals would restrict access to infant formula, track and share the distribution date with the health department, and stop

giving free formula when the mothers leave the hospital and also prevent formula promotional materials. joining us now is the group who is helping to implement the program. we talked about this yesterday. and i supported the transfat ban. i love that no one can smoke in bars anymore. i even believe that people should not be allowed to buy big giant sodas. then i hear this, and i think, no, i disagree. what was the thinking behind this plan? >> well, the majority of mothers, actually 90% in new york city, initiate breastfeeding. most moms at least want to start breastfeeding. but we know that many times once they arrive at the hospital, they don't get the support that they need. and this is a partnership now with 2/3 of new york city hospitals to support moms who want to breastfeed and remove those practices that can interfere with her choice. >> but the strategy is to make it harder, right? you just had a baby. if you want to get formula,

because you usually get freebies and coupons and the stuff is very expensive. if you want to get formula, you actually have to go see a nurse. you have to sign it out. they probably lock it up in some capacity. you make it much harder for someone who's just popped out a baby. >> look, it's very hard to start breastfeeding. i know that that's the case. and mothers need a lot of support. first of all, for the mothers that don't want to breastfeed, they will get formula and that decision will be respected. this is about mothers' decisions. if they say i want to breastfeed, they have the right to get the support they need. one of the things we did through the health department was train hospital staff to be at the mom's bedside and show her how to breastfeed. a lot of moms haven't gotten that support. and we know that these practices to give formula out at discharge can actually make mothers feel my milk isn't enough, and make them not feel like they can do it. >> but why not do both? why not focus on teaching women how to breastfeed? because it seems to me that's the challenge. as opposed to taking away the

formula. >> we are doing both. so we've been doing the teaching and the training for years now. >> but upping that, and putting the focus on that. i tell you, i had my kids at nyu medical center. and i love that hospital. but there was a nurse who basically berated me for giving my baby formula. and i breastfed all of my kids, and it was hard. i felt very unsupported. i had to cry. my doctor had to intervene. a nurse's aide helped me. it was awful. >> i understand. if i hadn't had the support and someone showing me. it's different than it was in the old days where their mother's breastfed. the women in the community showed them. many women who want to breastfeed don't have anyone to support them. but what has been found and proven is that some of the practices like giving out free formula or giving moms supplementing babies who are already breastfeeding without actually being at the bedside and helping moms breastfeed actually interferes with their choice and make moms not be successful. >> so you take away the formula

as opposed to add more help on the other end? >> we do both. but if a mom says i want to formula feed, no lecture. she will get that formula the entire time. this is about removing barriers for moms who want to breastfeed and supporting that choice. >> well, thank you for talking with us this morning. >> thanks for having me. a short break. but still ahead on "starting point," were they throwing the game on purpose or just saving energy? there's word that the olympic badminton players are out of the games for poor performance. it's our "tough call" this morning. don't forget you can watch us on your computer or even on your mobile phone while you're at work. go to cnn/tv. of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself.

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dea welcome back. our tough call today is not the olympic spirit. eight female olympic badminton players are facing a hearing for trying to throw their matches yesterday. and both rueters and the bbc are now reporting that the players have been disqualified. the players are from china, from south korea, and from indthesa. ipd mpt /* /- indonesia. the referee came out to warn the players for deliberately serving into the net. all the players had already qualified for the quarterfinals. and because of the way they organize the draw, they could have been losing on purpose because it gives them a better draw. some of the players said they weren't doing that, they were just trying to save their energy. also bad. saving the energy thing, also bad. >> not in the olympic spirit. it's kind of surprising this hasn't happened before. but i guess it hasn't because you wouldn't do it if it had happened before. but it's definitely not in the olympic spirit. i guess they would say they were

making a strategic decision to conserve their energy. >> isn't the problem, though, look, as a noted expert on badminton -- >> and the olympics. >> of any sport, where there's any incentive to not play your best, has a rules problem. like in basketball years ago they didn't have the 24-second shot clock. >> but swimmers slow down, you know. they'll take it a little easier. >> won't they? >> yeah. but that's different, though. that's different than throwing the match. if you're conserving energy to surge ahead later, that's totally different. >> you can argue a strategy. if you want to be against certain people in the next round, that's part of the game strategy. >> so isn't throwing the game part of the strategy? >> well, it's a problem with the sport. >> there's a problem with the rules. >> that's why it's our "tough call." >> i just say kill badminton for the next olympics. >> if you have tried badminton, you'd like it. what is wrong with you today? >> this is not really a tough call.

>> because we are ousting badminton as an olympic sport? >> we're going to have a bad minton session, ryan and i. >> well, we believe they have disqualified the eight players. from south korea, china, and indonesia according to the bbc and reuters. so they will not -- maybe they'll learn a lesson and they won't do that again. >> maybe we'll get another gold. still ahead this morning on "starting point," you remember that police lieutenant who pepper sprayed those peaceful protesters last fall on the campus of u.c. davis? we'll tell you what's happened with his employment status. and michael phelps trying to break an olympic record that he just set. we'll talk to his 2008 teammate aaron pearsol about the swimmer's legacy. we have to take a break. we'll see you on the other side. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology.

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welcome back, everybody. 19 gold medals for michael phelps. 19. but does it make him the greatest olympian ever? the man who organize the london's games says no, that doesn't make him history's best. where does fellow olympic swimmer aaron peirsol stand on the debate? we'll ask him that in just a few moments. but first, a look at the day's top stories with zoraida sambolin. a shifting terror threat from al qaeda to iran. the first state department report on terrorism since osama bin laden was killed. it says a number of worldwide terror attacks last year fell to the lowest level since 2005 and that iran remains the leading state sponsor of terrorism. the state department also saying that the death of bin laden and other top lieutenants put the al

qaeda network, quote, on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse. the university of california davis police lieutenant who pepper sprayed peaceful campus protesters last fall is no longer employed by the school. lieutenant john pike was vilified last year after being caught on tape dousing demonstrators with pepper spray. students at the school were protesting rising tuition. uc davis won't say if pike left or he was fired. a nasty collision between a bird and a united airlines flight as it landed in denver. you can see yesterday's crash left a gaping hole in the nose of the 737. the smithsonian institution will now try to identify the bird. it has dna databases of all bird species in the world. luckily no one on the plane was hurt. and check this out. flash mob patriotism. ♪ now i'm on a mission ♪ to get that victory

>> 400 kenyans dancing in the streets in a show of support for team kenya at the 2012 olympic games. that's cool. and catchy. what do you think, soledad? >> i love it. i think it's going to go viral if it hasn't already. i want to be part of a flash mob one day. i want to be part of a friendly dancing flash mob. come on. wouldn't that be great? >> there's flash mob proposals happening all over the place. so a proposal, like a man will organize a flash mob to propose to his girlfriend. you could be part of that, soledad. >> i want to be in a dancing one. >> no, they are dancing, choreographed and everything. and the guy starting proposing. >> just so you know, if anybody had proposed to me in that fashion, the answer would be an unqualified, absolutely not. >> really? >> you're so romantic. >> you brought people here to dance? >> it's kind of romantic. >> this would not work out. >> when you least expect it, a panel flash mob. [ laughter ] >> yes. i would love that.

zoraida, thank you for the update. >> you are welcome. >> margaret would have to lead us. >> we'll be back in a second. >> you guys work it out while i do this next interview. the question this morning, is it michael phelps the greatest olympian of all time? sebastian coe, who organized london's games, says, no, not really. just one day after phelps won his record-breaking 19th olympic medal, coe says that phelps may be the most successful, have the most medals, but he's not the greatest. it's coming down to semantics. >> it sounds like something that ron would say. >> last night he won his 18th and 19th medals. a silver in the 200 meter butterfly, and a gold in the 4 b by 200 relay. and he has other races coming up as well. aaron peirsol is a seven-time

olympic medallist, three-time olympian, on the same team as michael phelps back in 2008. nice to see you. i have to ask you to weigh in. sebastian coe says no. is phelps the greatest ever with 19? what do you think? >> i think that's one measurement. i think there's probably many. you know, i think that's a lot of medals. no matter how you stack it up. there aren't many -- i mean, there aren't many sports that you can actually tally up that many medals. and i think that's something to keep in consideration. you take in like muhammad ali or jesse owens or athletes like that. they all have their own kind of contribution to the games. and they are iconic in their own way. michael is, you know, kind of an olympian of this era, i think. and, yeah, i think he's at least talkable in the same breath as those athletes. >> greatest has a big

definition. so he's going to swim this week tomorrow and friday and saturday. do you think he'll continue to break his own records? >> yes. there's still a few chances for him to medal. he still has a few swims left, and some of his best ones. likely some more gold. so, yes, i mean, you'll be seeing quite a bit of michael still to come. he's halfway done. >> let's talk about ryan lochte. he started off very strong with the gold. and then he has really struggled a little bit. talk to me about the psychology of how you come back after that. because he's been tweeting, you know, even his own frustration. >> right. >> you certainly as an athlete have been through those highs and lows. what do you think he is going through right now? >> sure. an eight-day meet is a very long meet. but you don't get to that level and swim that many events if you weren't capable of resetting. and what ryan has done, is he

hasn't really swum slow. he has swum incredibly well. the rest of the world is just very good. and that does make a difference. you know, a lot of these swimmers that have already touched the wall maybe ahead of ryan, not many people have heard about them, but they're really good swimmers. and, you know, it does kind of -- at the level of competition, i think it shows what michael did last time, how impressive it is. but at the same time, what ryan is doing i think is still incredibly impressive. and the standard with which michael did that kind of throws off kilter, i think, how amazing being able to swim seven events in an olympic games really is anyway. >> right. >> and it's a marathon kind of week for that guy. it's a long week. >> aaron, how about missy franklin? can you put in perspective how hard it is? her winning the gold medal. in the 100 meter backstroke. 30 minutes after having swum another race, where she

qualified in the freestyle. has that ever happened before? in american olympic swimming? >> well, that's unique. i'm sure it's happened to some degree. but i think it's special. there's a certain level of fearlessness in missy. and there's -- you know, what she did last night was -- because of that, but also because she would have won anyway it would have been special. but kind of what she went through to do that, it was just very unique. it's a unique thing unto her. she's got something very much to be very proud of. and it's just -- that was an impressive feat. for about 20 minutes there. that's not easy. >> what are you watching outside of swimming? what's your next favorite sport to watch? >> i got to see my u.s. boys play water polo last night.

they did really well. tennis is going on. and wimbledon is the venue. and i have always wanted to step foot in there. and between volleyball, we're looking over at the pell dream right now. and the pillow, where they play basketball, i love that name. and hockey. if i could go see it all, i would. >> you're listing everything, aaron. >> i like that. i'm a kid again. i haven't seen an olympics for a long time. and it's absolutely incredible. london has done an incredible job with these games. it's -- these are amazing. >> it looks amazing. >> and to see it at home, yeah, they are, they are pretty spectacular. >> we are insanely jealous of all our friends who are overseas enjoying it in person. aaron peirsol joining us this morning. thank you so much. >> thank you, guys. crops throughout the midwest are shriveling because it's one of the worst droughts on record. we're going to take you live inside a general store in iowa

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it is the worst drought in 50 years. and in iowa, where soy beans and corn are king, farmers are watching the crops shrivel. there are dying hopes for a good harvest this year. christine romans is in iowa, her native territory, with an in depth look. tell me what you're doing this

morning. >> reporter: well, this morning i'm in the argo general store, which has a cult following. farmers come and gather for breakfast and head off to the fields and off to work. and they are all talking about this, the corn. this is a decent ear of corn that we got outside in one of the fields. decent but not perfect. not perfect iowa corn. this is not a good ear of corn. and this is pretty typical of the kind of stuff that we're finding out there. this corn does not have enough moisture. it's not getting enough rain. and no rain in the forecast at least for the next week or so. so what the farmers are talking about here, they are talking about how bad this year is. and i talked to a farmer this morning, 92 years old, he's been farming fulltime since he w basically a kid, until he was 90, and still overseeing the family farm. and i asked him how this year stacks up. farming, has it changed a lot since when you started? >> oh, talk about change a lot.

i walked behind a team of horses cultivating the corn. at that time we cultivated corn. now they don't even cultivate it. at that time, we planted 18,000 or 20,000 per acre. now they plant 28,000 to 35,000. it's about as bad as it was in '36. >> '36? >> it was real bad then. >> and it was bad in '56, bad in '88. there were some bad patches in 2005. >> but they weren't as bad like it is this year. this year i think is worse. >> reporter: not very many people can reach back to 1936 and remember the droughts from the 1930s. so pretty interesting conversation with him. as well i talked to another farmer who said, look, this isn't the end of the world. it's bad. but it's not the end of the world. most of these people have crop insurance. they'll just stand in place this year. you know, they are not advancing. they are not growing their business.

they are not growing their income. they are going to be just sitting still this year. so we won't know for sure, soledad, until they get in the combines and harvest the corn and see what they've got. there's still hope for the beans. everyone wants me to make sure i tell the world that's hope for the soy beans if they get some rain. the soy beans are planted a little bit later than the corn. >> great. thanks, christine. >> please tell margaret that harry first voted for herbert hoover. >> really? >> and he probably went to his dedication of the presidential library right around the corner from where you are now. >> that's awesome. that's so great. >> yeah. >> christine, thank you. still ahead this morning on "starting point," sex and money and politics. just a typical day in washington, d.c., isn't it? a new book takes us behind the campaign curtain written by a woman who would know all about it. she raised millions for the 2004 kerry/edwards presidential race. her new book is called "domestic affairs." welcome. good to have you with us.

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welcome back to "starting point." beginning today, all new health insurance plans will have to provide eight free preventive health treatments to women. it is a requirement to the president's health care reform, impacting an estimated 47 million american women. the benefits include contraceptives, breastfeeding supplies, and prenatal care. and for the first time ever, a latino will be giving the keynote address at the convention. julian castro has been picked. it was barack obama, the junior senator from illinois in that same spot in 2004, and then he

burst onto the national scene, soledad. >> that's a very interesting selection, isn't it? julian and his brother are really up and coming rising stars in the democratic party. very, very interesting. clearly the message they are trying to send there. intrigue and politics. speaking of politics, a campaign that is filled with sex, scandal, back room dealings. it sounds like washington, d.c., any typical day. but is the topic of a new fictional novel from a woman who lived the real thing. bridget siegel was the financial director for multiple campaigns, including kerry-edwards in 2004. and he used all of that knowledge for her new book, "domestic affairs," and literally affairs people. so how much of this is real? will we be able to read this and name names? >> i hope so. you know, it's all compilations. but what i like to say is i really tried to keep all of the stories in it are true. just different pieces put

together. >> all the names are the same. >> but all the stories are true stories from friends in campaigns and myself. you say a lot about the youth of people running these campaigns. you were 24 when you were in charge of raising zillions of dollars in these campaigns. >> it really is amazing, the youth is that at the helm of all of these positions. >> not a lot of other people, by the way, are willing to stay up 24 hours a day for that many days in a row. for that little pay. >> exactly. >> what's your favorite story or anecdote in the book? because i understand this is the "50 shades of gray" of political novels. >> exactly. there's a lot of scandal and fun in the book and hopefully a lot of insight into what it's like on a day-to-day basis. i really wanted to bring to light the interesting part of being a fundraiser, especially on a campaign, and a young fundraiser. you're working 24 hours a day. you have no money.

you know, you're running yourself ragged. and yet you're flying on a private jet to get somewhere where you need to grab a metro card from next. >> what's the most extreme thing a fundraiser has ever done to get the big check. >> i can't tell you that. >> no. >> and name names. >> you know, we run ragged, run all over the place. >> whatever it takes. >> whatever it takes. >> don't you think based upon all of your experience here that most of these people working on campaigns are doing it for the right reasons? are people trying to do the right thing for the right reasons? you know, margaret will agree with me, right? >> i'm very idealistic, and youth are idealistic. and that's why we are willing to dedicate themselves. >> do you it because you believe. you believe in government. you believe in the candidates. >> that government can help people and change the world, right? >> and the idea of freedom and america and the -- >> the two reporters on this will stay very silent. uh-huh, sure. >> you can get into a lot of

trouble trying to do the right thing, right? you can run afoul of some laws. you can have a romance. lots of trouble. >> who is the protagonist? >> the protagonist, i'll let people just guess about it. >> ok, fine. >> try to figure out who it is. >> in the plot. >> it's a presidential candidate. >> a southern governor who is running for -- >> handsome? >> a handsome southern governor. >> charismatic? >> indeed. >> really? extraordinary. >> and really an idealistic young fundraiser who is kind of in over her head and learning about this whole world of politics and fundraising at a whole new level. >> you wrote this on your blackberry. >> i did write it on my blackberry on the new york city subways much it was the only place i could write it. >> because it was quiet and you could have space to write or because it was so swamped that you literally only had those moments? >> no. there's no signal. and i think it was filling the void of the campaign

blackberrying all the time. i missed it. so i needed something to do with my blackberry after i finished campaigns. >> it is a scandalous, scandalous novel called "domestic affairs." bridget siegel, congratulations on the book. >> thank you so much. and thank you so much for having me. "end point" is up next. we're back in just a moment. ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced haldex all-wheel drive. [ engine revving ] it's bringing the future forward. with lean cuisine steam bags. get our crispiest carrots and our snappiest peas all freshly steamed in just minutes. steam bags from lean cuisine. be culinary chic.

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close to a romney vp pick, and i think it's going to be rob portman, senator from ohio. >> you're just throwing it out there. >> and anybody that wants to bet, because i have been very successful. how much? >> a dollar. >> ok. >> you're betting against it? >> i'm going with paw lebt lent -- pawlenty too. >> ryan, 15 seconds. >> these polls today in "the new york times," swing states, show that 4%, only 4% of likely voters, actually are undecided. this whole election, hundreds of millions of dollars, are being spent at h4% of the public. >> and turnout. it will also be about who actually comes out and votes. we're out of time. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. we'll see everybody else back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. good morning. hi, soledad. happening now in the newsroom, the greatest ever swimming sensation michael phelps smashing the record books, winning his 19th olympic medal.

a chance at history being made again this morning as he gets back in the pool. it's happened again. another needle found in another airline catered sandwich. just two weeks after delta had to deal with the same issue. what's going on? controversial coverage. the mandate requiring employers to provide free birth control to women kicks in today. critics say it's the beginning of the end of religious freedom. this morning, a gut check. bad behavior in badminton. the future of eight players is on the line. did they throw their olympic game? i'm zain verjee in london. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. good morning. thank you for being with us. i'm carol costello. we begin with chick-fil-a appreciation day. and what's become depending on who you talk to a fight for religious freedom. today, hundreds of thousands say they'll show support for chick-fil-a's coo dan cathy and his stand against same-sex

marriage. that includes evangelicals, including the reverend billy graham, who's in poor health. a staffer will deliver chick-fil-a to his home. george, good morning. >> reporter: carol, good morning. according to chick-fil-a, today will be business as usual. the company does not officially support this idea that was sparked by a once republican presidential candidate mike huckabee. nor will it support the national same-sex kiss day that is expected to happen on friday. but when you look at huckaby's facebook page, the page he created to ask people to sign up and support chick-fil-a today, you find that more than half a million people will be showing up to these different stores to show their support. that's what we expect to see at many of the stores today. but, carol, it really depends upon where you go. for instance, here in the bible belt, here in suburban atlanta, where this company was founded, you find a lot of support as opposed to cities where the company expanded. take a look.