♪ >> see, that is a convincing infomercial. the ab circle pro people meanwhile will have to pay up to $15 million in refunds to those who bought that particular product. news that have frankly shaken us to the very core. that does it for us. "erin ber net outfront" is up next. every million dollars spent on a job that ben bernanke says he created. does it add up? plus obama revealed. we have an exclusive cnn documentary about the president and new details about his personal life. and update on the "outfront" investigation of federal employees who are paid to work from home and get to travel across the country on the

taxpayer dimes and we have been trying for months to find out how much it is costing us, and tonight, an answer. tonight, an answer. let's go "outfront." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com well, good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett, an outfront tonight, $1 million per job, that is what america's top money man says we have spent on stimulus from the fed alone. and he says that that is money well spent and he may spend more. today, ben bernanke was in jackson hole, wyoming, a bucolic location for a big speech, and he defended the action else to hp the u.s. e copmy and with good reason, because the fed chairman appointed by george w. bush and embraced by president obama and criticized by some influential people including mitt romney has a little bit of an image problem as president romney for example, ben bernanke would lose his job.

>> my view has been that i would want to select someone who was a new member, actually a new person to that chairman's position, and someone who shared my economic views. >> romney's running mate budget hawk paul ryan is not a fan either, because he chided the chairman during a hill hearing earlier in the year. >> at love us felt that the federal reserve was too loose for too long in the 2055-2008 period, and that led to the investment problem, and the problems to i da. i know you don't agree with that, but because you don't agree with that, our fear is that you will repeat those same mistakes again, but by orders of magnitude that we can't comprehend right now. >> paul ryan is right about one thing, what the fed has done over the past few years has never before happened in history, but the question is will ryan and romney's words backfire, because after all, ben bernanke could be the kingmakers and kingner of who wins in november. so he could announce another new

round of fed spending which announcement alone could send the stocks higher and that is crucial, because it is noted that president obama's numbers rise and fall in conjunction with the stock market. and so a well timed bounce in the stocks could mean everything for the president. but as to whether more money from the fed will work, the record is dicey and that is why today in the huge speech in jackson hole, wyoming, ben bernanke made 43 references, 43, to other experts to bolster his view, that his easy money for america is working. pimco executive tony crezenssi says that is the most he has ever made. and remember, this is a wonky guy, and so that is a big record he wants to defend. so why does mitt romney think that ben bernanke is dead wrong?

well, the two rounds that are referred to as quantitative easing, ben bernanke's fed has injected $2.3 trillion into the economy. that is $2.3 trillion that did not exist before the fed created them, a bernanke said something inkr incredible that he has never done before and he is trying to prof why the $2.3 trillion has worked, because it has created 2 million private sector jobs created as a direct result of the easy money. that is interesting, because that is an interesting link between jobs and how much he spent, because that is not a cheap cost per job, because it is more than a cool $1 million per job, and 1.2 million to be exact. and repeat that, because it did take a second to digest it. 1.2 million per job, and so for those who are keeping track, we are not counting the president's extra $2 trillion or so in stimulus in that money, just the fed's money, divided by the number of jobs. history though may prove that

ben bernanke is completely right, because as i said this has never been done before and the payoff could take more time and he said today, the taxpayers may make money on the policy and he may be skrind kated but the big question is with unemployment stuck at over 8%, should bernanke do it again and make $2.3 trillion, $2.8 or $2.7 trillion? as we have reported on "outfront" each round of quantitative money has had less effect than before. interest rates only went down in the meaningful way after the first round, and we go by the 30-year mrnlg fell from 6% to just over 5%, and round two was last year and the 30-year went up. and the fact is that the rates are low no matter how you look at them. low rates in and of themselves have not meant more lending or economic recovery. so we are joined by a member of

obama's council board, and also served in the economic council of advisers in the clinton administration. and steven, i want to start with you, because you were thrilled when ben bernanke said $2 million and you could divide the $3 trillion and get 1.2 million a job, and that is a high number. >> yes, sichlt and i was hardly thrilled by it. if we are going to put, say, another 1 million people to work, we have to print $1 trillion more dollars. that is not such a good bargain. i'm not so sure, and i'm not as rose rosey as you are about ben bernanke and the fed's performance over the last four years. it is true they have printed several trillion dollars and a couple couple million jobs created, but it is true, erin, with the record money and we have had the lowest job kree ice since the

great depression, so where is there evidence that it works? and you asked the question, is this going to bail out barack obama? is the push for qe3 going to help obama get re-elect ed? i doubt it. i think that, you know, it is too late for, and it does not matter what the fed does at this point in my opinion, because it is too late for those tlar, because it will take three to six to nine months for the dollars to percolate through the economy. >> and laura, what is your point of view? will history prove that ben bernanke is right, and this is something that saved and helped the u.s. economy or not? >> well elg, i think that history will prove him right. i think that it is very, very, very, and i do want to do three veries misleading to talk about spending money. it is correct to say that the fed has been involved in a balance sheet transaction and it has been buying assets. it is holding those assets on its books. it believes and i think that there is evidence to support this view that those assets will make money for the taxpayer, and

so to compare this to government spending is just misleading, number one. number two, i think that it is really misleading to suggest in any way that bernanke and the fed would be influenced by the election in terms of what they do. this is evidence-driven group and that why they cited the 43 s studieses, unlike, unlike if you listen to the speeches in the candidates of the convention this past week, there was no evidence, but assertions and there were asterisk, so the fed is following a set of evidence. the fed will make a decision on what to do based on the state of the economy, and they have said that on and on and on for the past several years, and they look at the unemployment rate and look at the inflation rate, and the employment rate suggests and the inflation rate that there is a reason to do more qe now as they said fairly soon. >> and let me jump in on that, because i want to follow up on

something, and we talked about the fed not being political and everybody gives ben bernanke credit for not being political and we are all aware that the man is registered republican, but let me ask you this, because chuck schumer, a democrat, obviously, put out a statement about ben bernanke today about the remarks and he said it is clear that chairman bernanke looking at the indicators believe it is time to prime the pump, and ie, go out with more money and he snoultd not let political backlash deter him from going through and doing the right thing. isn'tb that political pressure? >> i don't agree. i believe the most important feature of the economic system is the independence of the fed, and the feature of the fed that looks at the economic evidence and makes reasonable decision. i do not think that politicians should be commenting on the fed. >> you know, laura, i agree with that. >> particular ly in a political season. >> particularly. i agree with the point, and i am not saying that the fed is political, but what i am trying to say, erin, is that it is too

late no matter what the fed does is going to influence what is going to happen with the economy before the election, and my major point, and maybe this is where laura and i disagree, but i don't plooe that creating economic growth and creating jobs is as easy as printing money, and if it were, we would be out of this mess, but i don't see the evidence that it has worked well. >> i will hit pause there, because i know that laura disagrees with the definition of printing money, but we will have you both back and it is a great pairing. so have a great weekend and still outfront, after a week of attacks from the republicans, how should president obama fight back? the mayor of los angeles and the democratic chair antonio villaraigosa is "outfront" next. and the number of families that have not received money are the the colorado shooting fund? and how a book about the osama bin laden raid could send

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our second story "outfront," fighting back. in just four days, the president will get his turn to make his case against the attacks like these. >> the president hasn't disappointed you because he wanted to. the president has disappointed america because he hasn't led

america in the right direction. >> these past four years, we have suffered no shortage of words in the white house. what is missing is leadership in the white house! >> you listened to the last guy running for president. he laid out what he would do, and he was unable to do it. >> fighting words. so what does the president need to do at his convention? "outfront" tonight, the mayor of los angeles, national co-chair for the obama campaign and chairman for the democratic national convention. the man in pole position for all the key issues next week. mayor, great to see you. obviously, those were a few of the samples off what we have heard over the past few days out of tampa, and mitt romney and paul ryan attacking the president's leadership on many front fronts. should the president respond in kind? >> absolutely not. he's going to be presidential. he's going to tell the truth. something novel at the republican convention.

you saw soaring rhetoric. there were a lot great speeches. but there wasn't a lot of meat to either what governor romney had to say or really what most of the speakers had to say, so i think that the president will focus on his plan. a $4 trillion plan to cut spending, to reduce the deficit. a plan to keep medicare strong, a plan that will make sure that we don't extend the bush tax cuts on the super wealthy so that we can maintain the quality of life and not raise taxes on the middle-class. a plan that will invest in education and infrastructure, and a plan that will move america forward. you know, if you listen, and if you read the platform of the republican party, you would think that they are trying to repeal the 20th century. they're taking us back. with those platforms. but interestingly enough, their

speeches didn't speak to the platform. they spoke to soaring rhetoric. and i think we're going to put a lot more beef in our speeches. >> well, obviously, the candidate and the republican party's in an awkward position in that he doesn't agree with some of his party platform, which is a separate conversation. let me ask you this, because you talk about the president's plan. there's also this reality, right, four years in a row of trillion dollar deficits. gas prices up 9% in the month of august, unemployment still above 8%. it's been a bad four years for a lot of people. how does the president get through that and say, i'm going to do something different now? >> well, let me tell you, according to -- first of all, we've created more jobs -- there have been 29 straight months of a growing economy. we created more jobs in the last year than bush did in the eight before that. according to moody's analytics, if they keep moving forward with the president's job acts, we can create another 12 million jobs. there's no question that we have

to do so in a way that's balanced, and we have to protect the middle-class, and make investments that will pay the dividends down the line. that is very different from what mr. romney would do. as you know, the romney/ryan plan would extend the deficit for 29 years so that the budget hawks, and the people who talk about reducing the deficit would actually extend it. their plan would undermine medicare. their plan would put $5 trillion of taxes, cut $5 trillion of taxes and raise taxes on the middle class. that is very different from what the democrats and president obama want to do. >> all right. >> this is going to be an interesting war of ideas. i am excited to see you in charlotte, sir, look forward to seeing you in person. >> i look forward to seeing you too. >> thank you, mayor villaraigosa from los angeles. still ahead, $5 million raised for the survivors and families of people killed in that horrible shooting in the colorado movie theater.

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our third story "outfront," accused colorado shooter james holmes is back in solitary confinement tonight. it is day after his court appearance in which his psychiatrist testified that she had contacted campus police after their last meeting which was june 11th, which was six weeks before the mas sacre that wounded 58 and killed 12. survivors and families of victims are asking questions about $5 million that have been raised in donations for them. they say they haven't seen much of the money. they're demanding answers. our kyung lah investigates. >> reporter: with every step, josh nolan feels shooting pain where a bullet ripped through his calf and broke his arm.

this was nolan, a 31-year-old navy veteran, a day after the shooting. >> i'm still alive. >> reporter: a month later, he's now swimming in bills. he's on short-term disability. only getting half of his paycheck. struggling to support his two children. even though donors across the country gave $5 million to a victim's fund. nolan and 70 other survivors and family members have only received $5,000 each. >> it's like being teased with a bunch of money. like, here's $5 million but you can't touch it till i say so. >> reporter: so where is the rest of the $4.6 million? sitting in a fund. >> this isn't rocket science, what i do. >> reporter: fineburg knows that all too well. because he's been the administrator for high-profile victims fund. 9/11, the bp oil spill and the virginia tech mass shooting. with virginia tech, feinberg was able to distribute $7 million dollars to the shooting victims

in just 45 days. >> here are the rules. he is eligible. here's how much money you get. the check's in the mail. i don't understand why it has to be complex. >> reporter: the nonprofits in aurora have set up a complex system. this is the community first foundation. they're holding the funds. >> so it's not as simple as writing the check? >> to whom and for what purpose. i think that's the part we want to be smart about. >> reporter: the community first foundation president marla wi williams says that they immediately hit hurdles. a gag order on law enforcement that made it difficult to verify all the victim's names. now they're trying to form a community input group and then the governor's office got involved. and then another layer of nonprofits. this is the colorado organization for victim assistance. they actually give the money to the victims after community first foundation releases the funds. but cova wouldn't talk to us, citing that gag order, but they did say this. >> 100% of the donations that are coming to cova are going to the victims.

>> reporter: the frustration from the families is there shouldn't be all of these middle men involved, all of these nonprofits. that it should be money from the donor directly to the victims. >> get the compensation delivered to the victims. and their families as soon as possible. delay is the enemy of these programs. >> reporter: this $5 million fund what would you like to tell the administrators of the fund? >> get off your butt and get the funds to the people who need it. >> reporter: until that happens, nolan will continue to limpp along, basically on his own. kyung lah, cnn, aurora, colorado. >> the governor of colorado held a meeting today with victims families and the nonprofits, pledging to help them. now, no money was actually issued, but the nonprofit said they will speed up the process. the familying tell cnn, they will believe it when they see it. next, an update on an "outfront" investigation. the federal government paying employees to work from home.

on top of spending taxpayer money to have them travel across the country. it's a question we have been asking for months. tonight, an answer. and the pentagon threatening to go after a navy s.e.a.l. who penned a tell-all about bin laden and the raid that killed him. is there a case? oç

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we start the second half of our show with stories we care about, where we focus on our reporting from the front lines. and we begin tonight with isaac. some residents across the gulf coast are cleaning up from the hurricane. others are still being asked to evacuate because of floods. authorities say four deaths have been reported and utility companies tell us tonight that more than 600,000 people in arkansas, alabama, louisiana and mississippi are without power tonight. meanwhile, republican presidential nominee mitt romney toured damage and met with first responders in new orleans today and the white house announced president obama will travel to louisiana to meet with officials monday. a federal judge has halted a new law that restricted early voting in ohio. ohio's new law had cut off early voting for most people three days before the election. this was a procedure the obama campaign has been fighting saying it would primarily affect minority and low-income voters who will vote much closer to the election in their view. the judge agreed, granting an

injunction, saying the public interest is disserved by re -- is reserved by restoring early voting to all voters. the governor of ohio says he will file on tuesday. it's an important gauge of what people are going to spend and it hit an early high. lower interest rates and price discounts were the reason for, that and we spoke to an economist who said that the improving job market will help in the medium term, but the longer term is still pretty grim. there's uncertainty in the political world and of course the problems in europe. facebook shares today hit a new all-time low in trading. many brokerages came out and cut their price targets from where they think the stock could actually trade and it closed at $18. that is 52% lower than where it ipo'd. analysts say the upcoming lockup expirations -- basically what that means is insiders and big investors who were in at the beginning, they're going to b

allowed to sell. they are prohibed for first few months, but when they are allowed to sell, they believe that the stock will go down even further. we will see. it has been 393 days since the u.s. lost its top credit rating. fed chairman bernanke's remarks did give a lift to the stock market today. all three major indices ended the day higher. the dow gained 90 points. our fourth story "outfront." an update on the investigation we first brought you last week. how the federal government's general services administration is spending your tax dollars on its employees who work from home full time. now, a lot of companies do this. they say it saves commute time, office space and hassle. maybe people aren't as productive, maybe they are. but there's a catch here. some of the government workers and actually quite a few of them don't live in the city or the state where the office is located and the costs are adding up. here's an example of one gsa virtual employee we told you about last week. >> reporter: we'll call him mr.

x because he hasn't personally done anything wrong. in kansas city, when the gsa was looking for a new business development specialist, mr. x, in hawaii, emerged as the perfect candidate. for $86,000 a year, he was on the federal payroll, living and working not even at the gsa's office right in downtown honolulu but from his home as a virtual employee of the kansas city office. >> now, mr. x has had to make 13 trips since he was hired which has cost taxpayers nearly $33,000. just in travel. now, remember, this is the agency whose mission is to monitor how much other government agencies are spending. it was created in the spirit of helping provide a transparent government for the american people. drew griffin from our special investigations unit has been trying to find out for months how much all this extra travel is costing. it's his voice you heard there. his report on mr. x. you have gotten delay after delay after delay, drew, from the gsa.

but tonight some answers? >> reporter: yes, some answers. actually we got them earlier this week, erin, while you and the rest of america were focusing on the republican national convention, that's when the gsa finally gave us a breakdown of all this. gave us the actual figures. of how many people are virtual employees. here is what they are. 379 of them work for the gsa. all over the country. only one in hawaii. over the last four years, these workers have racked up $7.7 million in travel costs. that guy in hawaii is the only one who caught our attention, but there are now, even worse ex examples of excess spending, erin, for these programs. more than $140,000 in travel costs over four years by a gsa employee based in miami whose office is in washington. another one costing taxpayers $64,000 over two years lives in the state of washington, travels back and forth to his office in

washington, d.c. this is the kind of waste the gsa's new acting administrator says he's going to end, vowed to end it. >> interesting, drew. as you point out, you've been asking for this information for a very long time and it comes out in the middle of the republican national convention and maybe they thought you would not notice it, but they were wrong. a followf up for you, because as you pointed out last week, mr. x, the person who lives in hawa hawaii, who was the perfect position for the candidate in kansas city and the gsa said he is the best guy and the only guy who could do this job. a lot of people say, really? one person who could do that job and you have to pay for them to travel from honolulu to kansas city? >> that was the initial argument. that's just in about a year, erin. we're told he's no longer traveling. it is not going to be allowed anymore. let me tell you about another guy, and you make your own judgment.

he worked for the gsa based out of the washington, d.c. office but actually lives in leawood, kansas. for a while, he was the project manager assigned to oversea the renovation of the thurgood marshall courthouse in new york. he made 58 trips from leawood, kansas, to new york city which cost us $99,000 in travel costs, and that project was severely criticized for $75 million in cost overruns. n now, i want to tell you he no longer works for the gsa and we don't know why, but i have to ask the question of gsa, they could not find a potential candidate in new york city? i mean the talent pool is so weak in new york city that you had to go to leawood, kansas? >> yes, the guy who had the courthouse overrun by $75 million, and -- well, sometimes the numbers and the words speak for themselves. one other thing, drew, is that there was a lot of response to your report last week about mr. x and some viewers say, all

right, all right, what's the big deal, don't yuou have to travel as part of business? these people were more understanding? >> we can only report that whatever excessive travel that was so needed the gsa has now stopped. and the virtual employee program has pretty much ended the excess travel and the acting administrator saying that the travel that has been done in the past like the ones we have brought to their attention like the one in hawaii no longer acceptable and make your own judgment call, were these people really needing to travel? we are also told that the virtual workers will be reviewed case by case to see if it really makes sense to have people in miami working in d.c. or a kansas city-based employee living in hawaii. >> i think that we are all grateful to drew griffin to be the one to go out there and expose this and make them make some changes. thank you so much, drew. >> thanks. and now to the controversy surrounding the release of a new

book pi a former navy s.e.a.l. he was the second man in of a raid to kill osama bin laden. it's called "no easy day." a firsthand account of the mission to kill bin laden written by mark owen. that's a pseudonym. his real name is matt bessonett. he faces charges for failing to have the book reviewed by government. according to the department of defense, the former navy s.e.a.l. has a continuing obligation to never divulge classified information. joining us is a national security attorney who has handled many cases like this one. thank you for being with us, mark. so, he has signed these agreements that he cannot divulge classified information and now the pentagon is saying we are considering legal action against this man, because we believe that he did some things wrong.

what do they believe he did wrong? >> they have a few things they could charge him with. one, seek a civil suit against him for breach of contract. essentially he failed to submit the book for prepublication. that would subject him to civil penalties like seizure of his royalties or his advance. if it is determined he disclosed classified information, he could be subjected to criminal penalties and a sentence in jail. >> so he could actually have to serve jail time? >> yes. >> any sense from precedent if it were to get to that how long? >> well, there's never been a prior case where an individual who wrote a book was sentenced to jail. there have been leaked prosecutions of course. the case isn't over yet. because it's not just going to be the book that's about to be published on tuesday. but if this s.e.a.l. goes on television as he is with "60 minutes" but any other interview after, if he repeats the classified information, and each successive time will subject him to potentially increased criminal penalties, and years in jail for each time.

>> that's very interesting. i want everyone to understand, on amazon, it is already the number one best seller in the united states. this is a topic a lot people are very curious about. so what extra pressure does that put on the u.s. government, mark? >> well, tremendous. now, if anyone remembers back to the pentagon papers case 40 years ago and the thought of could the government stop publication of the book? the legal standard is just too high. the fact is is the book's been out. and obviously media has copies of it. so it would be too difficult to put the genie back in the bottle. the publisher has ratcheted this up. not only increased the print run from 300,000 to 400,000, but expedited the publication date from the 11th to the 4th so practically speaking there's not any time for the government to do anything. >> some people might say this is disgusting. you come back, all these other guys are on your team and they don't do this and you want to get rich and you go and put a pseudonym and write the book. other people say no, what's

wrong with what he did, after all, the president gave details of what happened in the raid. it's his version where they said bin laden was reaching for a gun and that's why they shot him. obviously, in this book, the s.e.a.l. refutes that saying that they didn't know if he was armed or not, and they didn't have no idea, so actual think president said that so maybe the pentagon doesn't have anything to have a case against this guy? >> there's actually nothing wrong with this navy s.e.a.l. writing a book. the fact is, though he didn't submit it for prepublication review and give the government the opportunity to determine if this classified information in it. he has a first amendment right to write, to write unclassified information. but not classified. and we're going to find out soon enough whether or not there's classified information in the book. and if there is that may subject him, as i said, to criminal penalties. and i think that the u.s. government is even contemplating possibly going after the publisher itself for facilitating the disclosure of national defense or classified information or soliciting the transfer of classified information which will be a

strong chilling message to everyone in the media including cnn not to disclose classified information. >> it certainly would. of course the publisher on this case for those who are curious is penguin. thanks very much, mark, appreciate your time. >> thank you. so what is president obama like behind the scenes? we'll hear from the person who is always by the president's side. thanks for babysitting the kids, brittany. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage

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our fifth story "outfront." even after four years in the public eye, president obama is still sometimes dogged by charges that he is sometimes too aloof, too cool. chief white house correspondent jessica yellin asked the president about those labels in an exclusive interview for a new cnn documentary. >> sometimes michelle and i not doing the circuit and going out to dinners with folks is perceived as us being cool. it actually has more to do with us being parents. when we're in town here in washington, in the evenings, 6:30, we want to be at the dinner table with our kids and i want to be helping with their homework. i think that's sometimes interpreted as me not wanting to be out there slapping backs and wheeling and dealing. it really has more to do with

just the stage we are in in our lives. >> if you're re-elected, your girls will be older. they'll probably have their own weekend plans. they might not want to hang out with mom and dad. >> it is already starting to happen. >> do you think that you might want to do more outreach, what you call back slapping with members of congress? >> my hope is that getting past this election, people will have the opportunity to maybe step back and say, you know what, the differences that divide us are not as important as the common bond s ths that behave as ameri and some of that will i'm sure require additional effort on my part and hopefully we will see more effort from to the other side as well. >> now, jessica, it's interesting, he talks a lot about being a dad. you had a chance to see the personal side of barack obama. what was your takeaway? >> i think that he believes that the reason he's not doing more outreach is because he wants to do more family time with his kids.

and one of his closest aides, erin, told me he wants to be the kind of father he did not have. and that's very important to him. i believe that. but, you know, at the same time obviously it's become something of a challenge in washington. because during a very partisan time he does not have those kind of very close relationships with members of congress. so it definitely has not helped. let's put it that way. >> you can talk about the personal side and his daughters. but there's another personal side to him as evidenced by a man i guess who's always by his side, reggie love. let's take a look at that exchange. >> reporter: reggie love knows the president as a strong mid range shooter. >> he'll take his midrange jumper and will attack the basket and knock down open shots when he's got them. >> reporter: the kind of guy you want on your side, and love has been on the president's team since the campaign days.

what's it like when he is just hanging out? >> he is like a guy, you know. he likes the bulls. he likes the bears. he likes sports. he likes cars. like most guys i know, which can sometimes be hard for some people, because they are taken back by it saying, oh, he is sort of like me, but he is the president. >> as the personal assistant and confida confidant, love has seen the president as few others have. >> he is very much a person who enjoys the simple things in life. he enjoys a good game. he enjoys a good cocktail. he is competitive at everything he does, whether it is pool or bowling or shuffleboard. there is nothing he would be okay losing at. >> you can see so much of the documentary and jessica yellin, you had amazing access to the president and through all of those who know him best, and the closest confidants and the president, himself, and watch for the amazing documentary.

"obama revealed, the man, the president." and that is monday night at 8:00 eastern. and also, railing against america, literally. their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you.

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road trip. in the 19th century the railroad was the most efficient way to travel across the country and the private rail cars are the equivalent to today's private planes so no surprise that lincoln and truman and roosevelt used trains to campaign and while they are now a novelty more than a necessity and one man is hoping that this tradition continues. he is paul dejoia and the founder of pa drone tequila and he has purchased a roosevelt campaign train. he is using the train to go to both the democratic and the republican convention, and he invited us to join him at the am trax station in tampa. this is not made to look like an old train. >> no, this is an old train. yeah. this train is 1927 and in fact, you sitting in a room where the

famous senator from the great state of louisiana, hewey long, spent many an hour and many a meal. roosevelt campaigned off of the back of this train in the early part of the 1900s and there were 10,000 private train cars and everyone who ran for office and especially the presidential office did it off of the back of the train. this is the cnn of the day where you would go around and talk off of the back of the train and get your message and grass roots where people could see and feel the politician eye to eye. >> and you spent a lot of money and refurbished to make it look like it looked. >> i took it all apart and rebuilt it to make sure it runs off of biodiesel and even the old materials and put state-of-the-art electronics behind the walls that you can't see. >> and you are going to be in tampa and charlotte, because it is symbolism. >> yes, because we go out there to each convention to say, we love you out there for one, but let's get back to what is america all about. america works. america is real.

>> well, of course, this whistle stop tour is not the only thing of disappearing in american political life, so in the conversation, jean paul told me how he wants to use the train to keep bipartisanship in government. >> reporter: you are here in the republican convention and let me ask you, you are a republican? >> not a republican. >> you a democrat? >> no, i'm an independent straight in the middle. i have donated to candidates that i thought would be good that are democrat and republicans alike. >> let's talk about ted cruz. >> okay. sure. >> and this is a guy that the country is watching, tea party, and he is at the convention and -- he's a guy that is polarizing to a lot of people, because he is a tea party guy, but hayes been on your train. >> oh, yes. >> you like him? >> i like him a lot. >> i what do you like about him? >> when he ran for the position, he was running for the senator of the state of texas, the republican seat. he ran by going from town to town to town. he told people, i'm going to really do this and if not, i

don't deserve to be your senator, and i said, ted, i want both candidates to do that write the campaign promises down and after they put it down, if we don't do this our first year or get it started in the first year, impeach me, and the first thing that ted said, j.p., i would do that in two seconds, because that is what i am telling people. i'm the real thing. he said, j.p., i will write all of the promises and if i don't do it in the first year, itmpeah me, and i don't deserve to be the senator. and he said, j.p., i'm accountable. i will do it in two seconds. >> he is the first guy? h. >> yes. >> what you say sounds great, but he said, i'll reduce the federal debt or grover norquist, i won't allow any tax increases at all, and you could find a way instead of compromise, and then it becomes impossible. >> right. >> how do you make the promises move forward for the country? >> simple, you go in front of the american people and say,

this is my promise and here is what i am trying to do and what i may have to do to compromise and here is why i have to do it politically to keep the campaign promise. >> and there is a debt clock heret at the national republican convention and i know you are here on the floor the look at them and they have two of them, the overall debt clock -- >> i saw it last night when i was there. >> is that the biggest issue that we face? >> i think more issues than debt. debt is definitely an issue. you can't keep on having debt, because you ruin the economy for everybody, and that is one of the issue, but even a bigger issue is america let's come together and work with one another. some people are creating job, and how are they doing it? and it is not just throwing money out there to let people survive. >> so, have you decided who you are going to vote for? are you going to decide soon? >> i won't tell you who, but i will decide before the time comes, but right now, i'm giving america a chance to be head, and at the same time, they hear what i'm about to say, too, and what i want to say ab