peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish. he went on to say he's kicked the ball down the field to the president. the republican candidate was also secretly recorded at a private fund-raiser back in may going on and on about obama supporters. 47% of americans, he pretty much called them losers, said they were victims, said they relied on the government for support. here's what he said. >> my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> former governor's been trying to clarify his remarks. he said they were off the cuff. he said they were not elegantly stated. but he said he can and will state it more clearly down the road. but certainly is not what team romney would like to be discussing this morning. cnn's andrew spencer has more for us. take a look. >> reporter: in one clip mitt romney jokes about wishing his father's parents had been latino. >> had he been born of mexican

parents, i'd have a better shot of winning this. but he was not. -- americans living in mexico. he lived there for a number of years, and i mean i say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be latino. >> reporter: and it goes off on obama supporters. all right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, >> reporter: the obama campaign issued a response saying of a romney presidency, quote, it's hard to serve as president for all americans when you've disdainfully written off half the nation. in a news conference late monday night romney said he could have spoken more clearly, but said he was trying to point out the differences between the two campaigns. >> we have a very different approach, the president and i, between a government dominated society, and a society driven by free people pursuing their dreams. this is really a discussion about the political process of winning the election. and, of course, i want to help

all americans, all americans, have a bright and prosperous future. and i'm convinced that the president's approach has not done that, and will not do that. >> reporter: i'm andrew spencer reporting. >> coming up in just a few moments we're going to be talking with bay buchanan. she's a romney campaign senior adviser. she will be our guest. first though we want to get right to john berman with a look at the rest of the day's top stories. >> good morning. at least nine people have been killed in a predawn car bombing in afghanistan. the deadly attack taking place near the kabul airport. a spokesman for an afghan insurgent group with ties to the taliban is taking responsibility and says this is in response to that anti-islam film that's angered muslims around the world. the car bomber reportedly rammed a small sedan into a mini bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport. new developments in the case of those topless photos of the duchess of cambridge, kate middleton. score round one for the royals. the french court has just fined the french publication "closer" ordering it not to distribute its magazine or the photos of

the duchess in print or online. earlier this morning french prosecutors announced they're opening a preliminary criminal investigation to determine whether "closer" magazine breached the privacy of the royal couple by publishing those topless photos. in chicago, 350,000 kids will get yet another day off from school, as striking teachers continue to look at a deal that's on the table to end their walkout. meanwhile parents still scrambling to juggle work and keep their kids out of trouble for the seventh day in a row now. mayor rahm emanuel has gone to court to try to force the teachers to go back to work but a judge won't look at that until tomorrow. a security scare at new york's jfk airport. authorities stopped two arriving planes yesterday afternoon after receiving a telephone threat concerning the flights. an anonymous caller said explosives and a hijacker were on board the two planes. a finn air flight from helsinki and an american airlines flight from san francisco. the american pilot demanded to know what was going on outside his aircraft.

>> we're surrounded by a bunch of slj vehicles. somebody's got to give us a reason or we're going to evacuate the aircraft. >> the fbi searched both planes. a tense moment that ended well. >> all right, john, thank you. back to our starting point this morning, mitt romney calling president obama supporters those people, talking about voters who rely on government assistance, released tapes say he says he's not sure mideast peace is possible. so what was supposed to be a relaunch of his campaign today is now being reframed by new snippets from a fund-raiser. and by hastily put together press conference that was held late last night. let's get to bay buchanan. she's a romney campaign senior adviser. nice to see you, bay. thanks for talking with us, as always. let's begin with some of the clips that are being sent out. sort of little pieces at a time, from this fund-raiser. i want to talk about what mitt romney said about roughly half of the country. let's play that. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.

all right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. that that's an entitlement. and the government should give it to them. and they will vote for this president no matter what. these are the people who pay no income tax. my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> he says he's not going to worry about 47% of the country. he says they're victims, they feel entitled, they don't have personal responsibility, they don't care for their lives. that's roughly what he said in that clip there. how do you justify that if you want to be president of the entire country? >> soledad, it's unfortunate we don't have the question. but it's clear, even from that clip, that what he's talking about when he says he's not worried is that, listen, he's talking politics.

he's analyzing the voter base. how do i reach my 50 point plus one vote? and when you do that, and i tell you i haven't met a candidate who doesn't, i always recommend they don't, but they always seem to like to be that political analyst, what he's saying is there are people out there who don't pay taxes, unfortunately, they're in a position where they're dependent on government, and those individuals are -- those americans are voting for barack obama. they're in his backyard. and so those are people that i'm not going to be able to reach with my 20% tax cut or my cuts in spending, because they would be concerned. it's not going to impact them getting a 20% tax cut. they don't pay taxes. so that's what he was talking about here. not that -- clearly as president he is extremely concerned. his whole policy is designed to help those people get moved back into the middle class or get into the middle class if they haven't been there before. >> what plan -- >> so they can start paying taxes as well. >> what question, bay, would

make that -- what you said you don't hear the question in the context. let me finish my question. because, i'm going to just repeat what he said. it's not about policy and strategy in an election in a campaign. he said, they believe they are victims, they believe the government has a responsibility to care for them. i'm not going to worry about 47% of the country. my job is not to worry about those people, i'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> as a candidate, he can't worry about those he can't get. you know. that's the first thing you do as a -- >> i'm not going to convince them to take personal responsibility and care for their lives. he didn't say, listen, those are hard-core democrats and they're never going to be republicans? >> you know what, what the real issue before us, soledad, as a country, and in this campaign, is that one-third of americans are in poverty. no, one out of every six americans are in poverty today.

and that 47 million are taking food stamps in order to take care of themselves and their families. that's a national disgrace. 23 million americans trying to find work. >> listen, i fully understand the strategy is to -- the real problem and talk about this. >> that's right. the real problem. >> i'm going to focus on this for a moment. and we can take about the real problem maybe a little bit later on. i want to talk a little bit about the 47% of the people who are not paying taxes. let's play a little bit -- another clip that -- from this dinner. >> among those that pay no tax, approximately 47% of americans, i'm not likely to be highly successful with a message of lowering taxes. that's not as attractive to those who don't pay income taxes as it is to those who do. and likewise, those who are reliant on government are not as attracted to my message of slimming down the size of government. >> was governor romney on monday

night sort of talking about these tapes as they were released, and of course, he says 47% of americans pay no tax. that's not correct. >> it's no income tax, soledad. that you are correct. it's no income tax. they certainly pay payroll taxes. >> and even those 47%, i think i have a chart of these, 47% of those people who pay no income tax, look at that chart there, 61% of those folks, they're paying payroll tax. money is coming out of their paycheck. >> yes, they are. >> it's being described as a sort of myth the deadbeat nation. >> no, no, no. >> but they're paying money, right? payroll tax, of course. >> absolutely. what he is saying that 40% that are not paying income tax, what his proposal is, part of his, in order to turn this middle class around, part of his proposal is 20% across the board income tax cut. so what he's saying is, that's not going to appeal to those -- that message is not going to appeal in this campaign to those who don't pay income tax. that's what he's saying.

if this is a campaign analysis, as he's saying, if i talk about cutting spending, which drastically has to be done, because the spending under obama has been so reckless, we have to cut, well people who are dependent on government are going to be less likely to be -- to respond to that positively because they're concerned. but you know, for their own selves, how they're going to take care of their families. >> let me read a little bit of what david brooks wrote in his op- op-ed. he said the people who receive the disproportionate share of government spending are not big government lovers. they're republicans. they're senior citizens. they are white men with high school degrees. as bill galston of the brookings institution have noted the people who have benefited from the entitlement explosion are middle class workers more so than the dependent poor. so essentially, didn't mitt romney, in these leaked tapes, really bash his own voters? those are the people who are voting for mitt romney. >> honey, i -- it's like i'm

talking to my husband. soledad -- >> that's okay. i like it. >> i think what he's saying -- i'm trying to charm you here. you know, it's -- you know there's no question that mitt romney's plan is that he recognize more and more people are becoming dependent on government. and that is barack obama, his answer is more government, more government. where as -- >> i hear you, but my question to you is, aren't the people that he's bashing, these wealthy donors, these are republicans. these are white men, with high school diplomas, these very people are the people who were going to vote for him, and now you have a major problem. >> we're not -- first of all, we're not bashing them. he was analyzing saying certain people are with barack. certain people we have. certain people are in the middle. and that's who we're going to appeal to. but the key here is that we recognize that america today deserves better than we have. you can't have 23 million unemployed or underemployed americans, and say that we're doing well. and barack obama wants you to spend more.

and we say, mitt romney said that's not the right way. the right way is to give these people who are out there, who are finding they need food stamps, an opportunity to, again, be able to work and produce and take care of themselves and family. and have that -- >> but 47% of the nation is not on food stamps. >> 47% -- >> that 47% number is not people who are on food stamps as you see -- >> 47 million americans are on food stamps. and that is a national disgrace. you have to agree. >> but the number he's talking about in these leaked tapes is half of the country. half of the country is not on food stamps. he's talking about half of the country are people who are going to vote, potentially, the people he's talking about, who are getting some kind of entitlement including social security, including medicare, they are white people. they are people who are going -- men, high school degrees, you are essentially the campaign, meaning you, are essentially undermining the very people that you're trying to get. let me ask you another question about this -- >> you know, soledad. let me make a point. i do believe that the majority

of americans, without question, way more than 47%, whether they're dependent now on different aspects of government, they want to again see the kind of enormous opportunity out there for their children and for themselves. that they can really pick and choose the kind of jobs that they can take. >> yes, they do. but -- >> that is what he offers. >> i wish he said that. but he didn't offer it. i bet today he wishes what bay just said, i wish i had said that at that dinner. because today the clips that we're talking about, he didn't say that. he said 47% of the nation are basically losers, they consider themselves to be -- >> no, he did not say they're losers. don't put -- not pay income tax. that's a fact. >> he did not. he said they are victims, they believe the government has a responsibility for them. my job is not to worry about them. i'll never convince them to have personal responsibility, implied, they don't. i'll never convince them to care for their lives. implied they don't. that's what he said. >> no. >> let me ask you another question. i've got to move on.

i want to play a clip about a joke that he made about, latino. if he were latino he would have an easier path i guess. >> had he been born of mexican parents i'd have a better shot of winning this. but he was not. -- americans living in mexico. lived there for a number of years. i say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be latino. >> the irony is that earlier in the day he'd been talking to the hispanic chamber of commerce and he highlighted in his speech to the hispanic chamber of commerce the direly high unemployment figures for latinos and makes a joke if only i were latino i'd be doing better than i'm doing. at the very least, bad idea? >> it's a joke. he's used it before. he did on univision, where they were laughing and talking about, hey, you were born in, you know, your folks were born in mexico. so could you claim this? and so it's kind of a joke that's been going back and forth. but the key is, you look at

barack obama, black americans are extremely proud to have him as president of the united states. one of their own, if you like. and they vote overwhelmingly, 90-some percent. and so the idea is, hey, maybe i could get a higher percentage of hispanics if i could claim that. and it's a joke. that's it. we all should be laughing and not be too concerned about this. >> you know, there was a while back in the beginning of the campaign in the primary process when i did an interview with mitt romney and we went back and forth in the interview, he had just won the florida primary. it was about hey, you won, congratulations. let's talk a little bit about the strategy ahead. and then he says this. i'm going to run the chunk of the interview that i did with him, because it now seems to be coming back around. let's play that. >> i'm not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there. if it needs repair i'll fix it. i'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine. i'm concerned about the very heart of america, 09 prs, 95% of americans right now who are

struggling, and i'll continue to take that message across the nation. >> all right. i know i said last question, you just said i'm not concerned about the very poor because they have a safety net. and i think there are lots of very poor americans who are struggling, who would say, that sounds odd. can you explain that? >> well, you had to finish the sentence, soledad. i said i'm not concerned about the very poor that have a safety net, but if it has holes in it, i will repair them. >> got it, okay. >> the challenge right now, we will hear from the democrat party, the plight of the poor, and there's no question, it's not good being poor. and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor. but my campaign is focused on middle-income americans. my campaign, you can choose where to focus. you can focus on the rich. that's not my focus. you can focus on the very poor. that's not my focus. >> i think there are people who would say, yeah, and i guess that's true. you know, he kind of went later and backed away from those comments. but i think people hearing these clips from inside this private

dinner, with very wealthy donors, $50,000 a plate to attend this, they actually, what he said there was the truth. was what he was thinking, that he doesn't care about the very poor. >> again, he didn't say he didn't care, soledad. let's -- >> no, he said he didn't care. >> there's a safety net out there for the poor. and he said if there's any holes in it, let's make certain that we fill those holes because we have to have a safety net. a government does. and he supports that. but right now what's happening in america is we're losing our middle class. and so his campaign is to give a plan, to show americans what he will do as president to provide those opportunities, to make certain the private sector becomes invigorated, that that energy is started again, and that's where the american spirit lies. >> what he said was half the country sees themselves as victims and there's nothing i can do about those. >> no, what he -- it wasn't -- he said 47%. that's a fact. that comes out of a report. 47% of americans do not pay income taxes. >> no, no, no, no. what he said -- he said that,

too. but he said this, there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. who believe they are victims. another section he was sort of conflating the idea that 47% of people do not pay taxes and you could argue he's speaking specifically about income tax, even though they're paying payroll tax, so it's really 18%. but 47% of people, he says, they're victims and they think they're entitled. and obviously, today, everybody in the campaign is thinking that's a big mistake. listen, there's a sense, you saw the politico article i'm sure, that the campaign is in big trouble. bloomberg writes, here's a headline from bloomberg, today mitt romney lost the election. politico says the thing is kind of the wheels are falling off. is that correct? is it just a hot mess in there? >> i find it humorous, everybody said romney has had a rough week. certainly this is a bump in the road. but we, but is anybody looking at the campaign of barack obama?

he has spent the last week with america watching as his foreign policy is of appeasement and apologies has disintegrated. we have problems around this world in all the muslim countries, where people are anti-american sentiment is unbelievable. and that's a good week? >> but aren't you kind of answering your own question when you say looking at the campaign of barack obama. no, because look at the headlines. you're right. you're drawing focus to your own campaign. >> that's an indictment on the media soledad that they would think that some comment by the candidate is more important than a policy, an entire foreign policy of the president of the united states. also, is this into the a story that one out of every six americans is in poverty? is that not a much bigger story that 47 million americans have to take food stamps to take care of themselves and their families? and that's because of four years of barack obama. and that he has no new, fresh ideas on how to put america back to work.

that's what mitt romney is all about. that's what our campaign is about. that seems to be a whole lot more important than some comment that he made, inarticulately stated about which voters are barack obama's. >> i appreciate your spin on that. but i think inarticulately stated is the least of the problems they're facing. >> let's get to the serious problems about america. >> bay, it's nice to have you. thank you for talking with us this morning. got to take a short break. still ahead this morning the two were convicted of a murder and a sensational trial before an italian court eventually released them. now amanda knox's ex-boyfriend making some interesting admissions. we've got a live report on that up next. and then todd akin, the congressman who said a woman can avoid getting pregnant after a legitimate rape because you know that secret special magic biology that kicks in. now his wife is making some controversial comments of her own. we'll share with you what they are. ll over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color.

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alright. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service. welcome back to "starting point," i'm christine romans. stocks losing some steam after the federal reserve stimulus announcement last week. an announcement that took stocks to almost five-year highs. stock futures are down this morning. apple closed just shy of the milestone yesterday at $699.78 a share. all fueled by the big iphone 5 announcement. the new phone will be in stores september 21st, soledad. >> are you going to get one? >> i don't know. we'll see. >> can we get them at work?

>> who gets those to test drive them? how do you get to be one of those people? >> now the smartphones over at yahoo! -- >> the blackberry, i have to have both. i need the buttons. you can't do it on a treadmill without the buttons. you ever tried to do that on a treadmill? >> i haven't been on a treadmill in years. >> brings us to a whole other topic. new revelations to share with you from the ex-boyfriend of amanda knox about the death of her roommate meredith kercher. you'll remember that knock and raffaele sollecito were convicted and cleared of murder after they spent four years in prison. now sollecito, the ex-boyfriend, has written a book called "honor bound: my journey to hell and back with amanda knox." and in it he maintains their innocence. but he admits that they gave italian police good reason to suspect them. cnn's matthew chance is live for us in london this morning with some details. what does he say, matthew, about that night? >> well, first of all, as you mentioned, he goes out again and says, you know, that they

weren't -- they weren't guilty of this crime. they had nothing to do with it. he talked about how they smoked marijuana on the night that meredith kercher, the 21-year-old student from britain was killed in the italian town of perugia. but obviously says that they had nothing to do with it. and he also says in the book what he said at the trial, which is that he could not believe that amanda knox was capable of murder. there are some things that come out of it, though. he is very critical of the italian judicial system and internationally there was a lot of criticism about whether the investigation was handled. but he writes in the book that neither amanda knox nor i had anything to do with the crime but we came very close to spending the rest of our lives in prison because the authorities found it easier and more convenient to take advantage of our youth and inexperience than to mount a proper investigation. so very critical of the italian authorities. he also accuses the italian

prosecutor of trying to get him to do a plea bargain and to implicate amanda knox which he said he refused to do. >> so, then, he has written this book, and he's restating his innocence. but of course amanda knox has a book coming out, as well. word is she got a $4 million advance for her book. is there any sense that what he's telling and what she's going to tell are going to be different? >> well, we'll have to wait and see. i've heard that figure, too, $4 million for that book. it's due out in the spring. certainly this book by raffaele sollecito, former boyfriend, is not going to be the last word on this very, very high profile case. you've got the amanda knox book. plus you've got movies coming out, as well. one of them starring colin firth, happen to know, about the very high profile trial. it was remarkable for a number of reasons. that the media attention on that trial, especially on the appeal last year, it was quite, quite phenomenal. and so there's a lot of interest in it.

obviously both parties here are capitalizing on it. and that's, of course, in contradiction to the sort of pleas of the kercher family who have asked all the parties involved to keep a very low profile for the sake of out of respect for their dead daughter. >> just got to be brutal for that family, this whole entire process. matthew chance updating us this morning. thank you. appreciate it. still ahead this morning on "starting point," it was bad enough i think when congressman todd akin had a woman getting pregnant by legitimate rape is rare. because of the biological magic that happens, apparently. but his wife is now comparing the push to get her and her husband out of the gop to rape, again. maybe not the best choice of words for them. it's our get real this morning. plus our "starting point" team is heading in to talk about that and much more. richard socarides, maggie haberman and jesse ventura is with us. ♪

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." our team is richard socarides, a former special adviser in the clinton white house. nice to have you with us. mag zi haberman is back. senior reporter for politico. jesse ventura, the former governor of minnesota. >> that's hard to say. >> it is. >> rebloodlikins. >> i think that's just run through it fast. >> the key is the subtitle of the book, no more gangs in government. i'm calling for the abolishment of political parties, and i have pretty good backing on it. george washington, thomas jefferson and john adams. >> then there's that whole chunk in the middle between then and now where you've had a lot of political parties. we'll talk a little bit about that. >> that's why we've been

progressively heading down the hill, isn't it? >> well, i think we look forward to that on all fronts. i was just saying that -- don't make me crawl across the table, governor. >> good morning. >> that's right. this is going to be a long morning. >> good morning. >> let's go to our guests this morning. probably you weren't expecting any more rape metaphors from the todd akin campaign. another kind of odd moment, i thought. this time from the missouri senate candidate's wife, raising some eyebrows by comparing the republican party's treatment of her husband to rape in an interview that they did with the national journal. the republican party wanting him to drop out after those comments last month about a woman's ability to shut down, i guess biological to prevent pregnancy during legitimate rape. not my word. akin's wife comparing the gop's conduct to the tyrannical party bosses, she says that when colonists rose up and said not in my home, you don't come and

rape my daughters and my wife, but that's where we are again. that's her quote. seems an unfortunate choice of words. we say to her, don't use those phrases. >> she's obviously a little upset still about what's happened to her husband. >> well, you know, i think it is that anger against the base perceived to be on the republican side and democratic side of pressure to drop out when they felt like they weren't particularly supported anyway. >> they won a primary fair and square. and he clearly, you know, said something that was a mistake. he's been trying to deal with it. he has said he is sorry. his supporters say isn't there still something in politics where if you mess up you get forgiveness but i do think that was probably not the greatest -- >> he's going to try to stay in, right? he's going to stay in. >> the next big deadline -- >> -- body to repel this rape? as a male, you know. >> see, it's the right of the national journal. we've got to talk to ron brownstein about that.

isn't there some biological magic when the gop party bosses -- >> that he can repel this and not have to deal with it. >> oh, it's going to be an interesting morning, i can tell. all right. that is our "get real" this morning. we've got to take a short break already, i know. still ahead, mitt romney is going to talk about all these comments that have now been leaked from this fund-raiser, $50,000 a plate talks about voters as those people. the 47% who rely on the government, who exactly are those 47%? they say don't pay taxes. christine romans is going to join us to break it down. and baseball players use eye black to black out the sun but one player may be in trouble for a message he decided to write on his eye black. really? jack, you're a little boring.

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tunnel in northern mexico setting off a massive search along the border near eagle pass, texas. mexican authorities are blocking all roads leading to the u.s. the coast guard is searching off the coast of florida after a 21-year-old woman went overboard during a cruise headed for the bahamas. the captain immediately stopped the ship and turned around to search for her. two other nearby ships joined the search before coast guard crews took over. classes will resume at louisiana state university a day after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of the entire campus. thousands of students, professors and university employees were told to leave since no specific part of the campus was mentioned. police and bomb sniffing dogs swept each of the school's 250 buildings. cancer is now the number one cause of death for hispanics in the u.s. that's according to a new study from the american cancer society. heart disease remains the number one cause of death for african-americans and non-hispanic whites. the study says the reason cancer is already the biggest cause of death for hispanics is probably because the hispanic population as a whole in the u.s. is

younger. a new health warning for parents from the centers of disease control says too many american kids are eating too much salt. in fact, kids consume as much as adults. an average of 3300 milligrams every day. the cdc says that puts kids at a risk of high blood pressure very early on. peyton manning continuing his comeback on monday night football. but it was not his night. manning threw three interceptions on his first four attempts. putting the broncos in a 20-0 hole early on. a late rally came up short. the falcons beat denver 27-21. and this, a baseball player may be in trouble for an offensive message written in eye black. major league baseball is investigating reports that toronto blue jays shortstop escobar played saturday's game against boston wearing eye black with a gay slur written in spanish. we blurred the image you're looking at for obvious reasons. the blue jays released a statement saying the team does not support discrimination of

any kind, or condone the message displayed there. >> i don't get it. why? like why? why would you -- why? >> it's interesting that there's all this stuff in pro football now about the baltimore ravens guy who came out and had that message -- it's hard to understand. >> all the teammates got around him. they supported him. so, i mean -- >> we said get real. what could he possibly have been thinking? >> it's not like this is going to be sanctioned by anyone. this is purely attention getting. it is not positive attention getting. it is going to earn you criticism. i'm not really sure. >> very well might be sanctioned. >> governor ventura and his wife did an amazing video in minnesota for the people trying to beat the constitutional amendment in minnesota which would ban gay marriage. i really want to thank you for doing that. it was really, very, very nicely done. >> i'll tell you why i'm so passionate over allowing gays to marry. when i was in pro wrestling i had a friend in there who was gay. he had a partner for over 25

years. when his partner ended up in intensive care, he was not allowed to sit bedside because hospital rules stated spouse or next of kin. which he couldn't qualify as either. and i thought that is cruel and inhumane. and you know, who's government to tell you who to fall in love with? that's not the role of government to do that. >> why would -- i just don't get, why do that? why overtly state whatever your ideals -- it seems insane. maybe he will be sanctioned. >> assault with the children, does that mean children is going to ban salt in nut rolls, because kids -- >> maybe, michael let's write that down. no salted nut rolls. up next. >> when i say sanctioned, i don't mean he will be sanctioned, i mean this won't be condoned. >> back to gay marriage.

i've been married 37 years. how does it affect me in two gay people get married? it doesn't affect me a bit. what you have here again is not the separation of church and state. you're bringing church thoughts into state policy, or of government policy. keep them separate. government should only acknowledge civil unions. let the churches recognize marriage, they're the private sector. if they don't want to do it, and they want to discriminate, that's up to them. >> this is important now in the context of the election, because there are four states this year that will vote on marriage equality. maine, maryland, minnesota, and washington state. and three of those places, if the vote goes with pro-equality advocates we'll have three more states where you'll have same-sex marriage might be allowed. and recently as coming next week the supreme court may rule on the california case. so we may have four new same-sex marriage states. >> all right. we've got to take a short break. still ahead, mitt romney says the 47% who rely on government

assistance probably won't like his plans for the country. who are those 47%? christine romans has the break down. ♪ keys, keys, keys, keys, keys. ♪ well, he's not very handsome ♪ to look at [ sighs ] ♪ oh, he's shaggy ♪ and he eats like a hog [ male announcer ] the volkswagen jetta. available with advanced keyless technology. control everything from your pocket, purse, or wherever. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ that dirty, old egg-suckin' dog ♪

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>> welcome back, everybody. a hidden camera recording -- recording is shaking the romney campaign this morning at a private fund-raiser back in may, the former governor is heard saying this about millions of americans who rely on government assistance in terms of funding or other kinds of assistance. listen. >> there are 47% who are with

him, who are dependent on government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them. who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing. >> christine romans is going to break that number down. so 47% number. >> right. >> who are on government assistance. >> and he says that 47% do not pay federal income taxes. taxes. that's right. well what he thinks he means for the tax policies, 46.4% of people do not pay federal income taxes. 53.6% do. of those who don't pay federal income tax, most of them pay, or a majority of them pay a payroll tax. they probably pay state and government taxes. virtually no family in america is not taxed some way. 22% are elderly, and 15% are very poor. under $20,000 a year in income but not elderly. i want to look at some of the other assistance he may be talking about. you heard him talk about food

stamps. medicaid is the biggest sort of federal aid that people get, 26% of americans get that. food stamps, 15%. women, infants and children, wic, 8%. >> those are basically, all these are government assistance for people who are very poor. >> right. >> and that's what, when you talk about people who are not paying federal income tax that is a group of people who are largely elderly and very, very poor. there are some lower middle-class families that fall into that category. because remember congress passes all kinds of tax deductions and tax breaks. we get tax breaks for all kinds of things. so there are middle-class and lower middle-class families who have a negative or zero tax burden at the end of the year. >> so government assistance is also medicare and social security if you're a veteran and you're getting some kind of benefit, that's a government assistance. a pell grant is some kind of government assistance. that 47% is a very large -- >> there's some people who talk about government assistance. and others say government benefits. for example you pay into social security. you pay into medicare. social security there are 61 million families who are getting

either social security, people getting social security, or social security supplemental income. that would be like somebody who's lost a parent. a minor who's lost a parent and then gets social security benefits that their parent was paying into. >> but this 47% number, half of the nation is not in poverty. >> no, you're right. >> that's right. so we're not talking about 50% of the nation is poverty and these are the people who are the deadbeats, the losers, who don't have jobs, who are not providing anything. so this number has to include more people. they can't just be the poor. it has to include the middle class or the lower and middle class. >> there's a very real debate being had had by how big can the government safety net get, right? we've seen it swell from the early 1980s, no question. that was not the debate that was being had, at least aat that venue. a lot of conservatives are talking about this. >> is it 47% -- 47% of people who don't pay income taxes. >> federal income taxes. >> or 47% of people who are receiving government benefits or both?

>> both. those are two separate -- >> no, two separate -- >> i wrote in my book, democrips and rebloodlicans, let's focus on major corporation that is make 14 billion a year and pay -- wait. and corporations, it's documented, they actually pay more to lobbyists than what they pay in taxes. >> general electric is the sixth largest corporation. >> how about focusing on that? >> in 2010 they disclosed they paid zero in federal income tax. >> companies have a financial duty to make sure they get all the tax breaks that are legal to them. maybe the american people have a federal duty to make sure they get all their tax breaks. >> it's the word victim that i think is the biggest problem for him here pliltcally. we are talking about numbers and trying to figure out exactly what he was referring to. i don't think we'll have clarity on that right now. we didn't get clarity last night at the press conference that was being called hastily called. it was the word victim.

these are people who consider themselves victims. that is the part that will haunt him through today. >> it's not the math. it's the english. >> well put. >> it's 47% of the country. regardless of what that 47% is, half the country are victims. >> and for lack of personal responsibility care for themselves. >> you never want to go after the american people when you're asking them for their votes. >> it's one thing to have a debate about government and i's and it's another thing to be insulting to voters. did they win the battle against the magazine that posted the [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ]

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. welcome back, everybody. you're watching starting point. topless photos of the duchess of cambridge, kate middleton. score round one to the royals. they're also banned from distributing the photos in print or online.

max foster is travel iing with e duke and duchess as they celebrate the queen's diamond jubilee. good morning, max. tell us about those rulings this morning. >> reporter: well, i think they're certainly celebrating right now. they've effectively closed this one down. what they've done is said to the magazine that they cannot reproduce these. they cannot resell these pictures around the world. so they've closed it down. also a criminal prosecution looks like it's under way, a preliminary investigation is taking place, which could ultimately mean sanctions against the editor, potentially jail time. and also the photographer, even though they haven't identified the photographer yet, could face sanctions as well. so, certainly first round to the duchess of cambridge. they will be celebrating. soledad, they have been some incredible scenes coming to us where the couple have just landed and they've been dancing in grass skirts, we're told.

maybe they got the news sooner than we thought, because they're having a great time on this tour right now. it had some great success on the legal challenge. certainly for them will be some repress since the day of this. after a hidden video is released of mitt romney, just what did he mean by calling half the country "those people"? 0% r. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's. starts with ground beef, unions, and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. what makes stouffer's meatloaf best of all? that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. let's fix dinner.

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our "starting point" this morning, "those people," gop candidate mitt romney, those people are dependent on the government and they think they're entitled. big fallout this morning. we'll hear from his campaign. they're trying to change the message on this one, and it's hard to do. murder trial that shocked the world. young american and her italian boyfriend convicted of killing her roommate. they were then acquitted. now that ex-boyfriend has written a new book, talking about what happened that night. a rapper, reality star, an actor, author. tip t.i. harris. he is stopping by our studios to talk this morning. "starting point" begins right

now. >> good morning. welcome. our team this morning, richard s socraides, maggie haberman, jesse ventura, democrips and rebloodlicans. john berman, it's like we're brother and sister up here. i almost forgot to name him. romney's hidden camera controversy is what we're talking about. republican candidate was secretly recorded at a private fund-raiser that happened back in may, talking about obama supporters. this is what he said about 47% of the nation, who depend on some kind of government assistance. listen. >> my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. >> well, the governor has since tried to clarify his remarks, saying they were off the cuff and not elegantly stated but he didn't back away from them.

>> reporter: in one clip, mitt romney jokes about wishing his father's parents had been latino. >> had he been born of mexican parents, i'd have a better shot at winning this, but he was unfortunately born to americans living in mexico, they lived there a number of years and when i say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be latino. >> reporter: goes off on obama supporters. >> there are 47% who are with him, who depend upon government who bloev that they are victims, who believe that a government has responsibility to care for them. >> reporter: the obama campaign issued a response saying of a romney presidency, quote, it's hard to serve as president for all americans when you've disdainfully written off half the nation. romney said he could have spoken more clearly, in a press conference, but that he was trying to point out the differences in the two campaigns. >> we have a very different approach, the president and i, between a government-dominated

society and a society dominated by free people, pursuing their dreams. this is about the political process of winning the election and, of course, i want to help all americans, all americans have a bright and prosperous future. and i'm convinced that the president's approach has not done that and will not do that. >> reporter: andrew spencer, cnn, atlanta. >> earlier on "starting point" i spoke with senior adviser bay buchanan. she had this to say. >> romney has had a rough week. certainly this is a bump in the road but we -- the campaigners, everybody looking at the campaign of barack obama. he has spent the last week with america watching as his foreign policy of appeasement has disintegrated. we have problems all over this world in muslim countries where anti-american sentiment is unbelievable. and that's a good week?

>> maggie haberman, a bump in the road? >> i think it is a -- >> crater in the road? >> perhaps a big bump in the road. at least she's acknowledging perhaps this is not the week they wanted. romney campaign, politico had a story that went up sunday night about internal strife in the campaign. this is never a good story so far out from the election. it was sort of written almost like a premortem. this is still a winnable race for mitt romney. the fundamentals of the race are still not great for president obama. this is what's frustrating to republicans. they were trying to do a messaging reset. it wasn't that much of a reset but we're going to sell mitt romney better and then this video comes out and this becomes what everyone was focusing on last night. to do an interview or speak more specifically or answer a bunch of questions about it. there were three questions answered in the press conference last night. one was still being yelled at

him while he walked away he. that's why there will be questions about this today and tomorrow. >> he didn't really end it? >> right. it's another lost few days. >> and they're going to continue to put these little clips out piece by piece. >> correct. to be fair, president obama had a problem with this in 2008, clinging to guns and religion private video. >> what did hillary say? >> i believe she said you can't -- you shouldn't be able to offend voters, in pennsylvania. >> you can't win the election by offending voters. >> that's right. >> as devastating as this is, i think we'll look back at this and say this is the moment where the election was no longer winnable for him. up till now -- >> today, mitt romney -- >> up till now, you could make a case for him. this is a problem because it reinforces a lot of perceptions about him at a crit ical moment >> that is true. >> what troubles me they're always the economy, the economy. our economy went bad under george bush, with a republican congress backing him. because when you talk about the

economy in 2008 when the recession began, you have to look at three to four to five years earlier, decisions were made. that's how long it takes. >> republican messaging on that is -- he said 3 1/2 years to fix it and he has not fixed it in a way that everybody had hoped. >> so we're going to go back to the guys who wrecked it in the first place? >> that's the democrats. >> that's the point of view on that. >> you're hearing from an independent here. i'm an equally despiser of both parties. >> you did a very funny piece the other day that used the word distraction. in bay buchanan's interview, she used the word bump in a road, used the words -- >> inarticulate. it's as bad as it gets when you have your own supporters saying bump in the road and inarticulate, that's about as big an indictment as you get. i heard bay buchanan talk to you and i was messaging them overnight, they're exhausted, very tired of dealing with the mitt romney fallout, between the

statements about libya, between the politico article and this, they're tired of having to respond to these process questions. they're trying to move on and reboot but don't get the chance to. >> we keep talking about this. we should be talking about something else. >> that's called spin. >> the thing i would say is that they have had a problem driving a message this whole time. it is not just because these things keep popping up. it's also because they have had a problem driving a message. >> john makes an excellent point. i've worked in these campaigns and you have stuff coming at you so fast. and when it's every day, day in, day out when you're on the defense it's almost impossible to get back up on your feet. >> you need to campaign like i do. tell the truth. wait. when you tell the truth you don't have to have a good memory. in a few minutes, we'll be talking with former governor, ohio governor ted strictionland, co-chair of president obama's re-election campaign. some of these leaked tapes as

well we'll discuss. some of the headlines making news. john has that for us. >> at least nine people have been killed in a predawn car bombing in afghanistan, taking place near the kabul airport. spokesperson with ties to the taliban is taking responsibility. they say this is in response to that anti-islam film that's angered muslims around the world. reportedly ram a small sedan into a mini bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport. >> in chicago, 40,000 kids will get yet another day off from school. striking teachers continue to look at the deal on the table to end the walkout. parents are scrambling to juggle work and keep their kids out of trouble for the seventh day in a row now. mayor rahm emanual has gone to court to force the teachers back to work but a judge won't look at that until tomorrow. >> jerry sandusky will know his fate october 9th when he will find himself in front of the

judge. he will also determine whether sandusky should be classified as a sexually violent predator. authorities stopped two arriving planes yesterday afternoon after receiving a telephone threat concerning the flights saying an explosive and hijacker were on board the two planes, american airlines flight from san francisco. the american plt demanded to know what was going on outside his aircraft. >> we're surrounded by emergency vehicles. there's a reason for this. somebody has got to give us the reason or we're going to evacuate the aircraft. you've got 60 seconds. >> the fbi searched both planes and gave it the all clear. so, scary, but a nice ending. >> i wish that were my pilot. he's like, listen, no joke. something's going on. tell me. i'm going to tell the people or i'm getting them off my plane. i salute you, sir. >> fighting for his passengers. >> yes, yes. i support that. thank you for the update. we'll be talking, of course,

about mitt romney's comments about the private fund-raiser back in may that have now been leaked online. he calls obama's supporters "those people," writes off nearly half the country. let's get right to ted strictionland, former governor of ohio, and co-chair of president obama's re-election campaign. thanks for talking with us. >> it's good to be with you. >> thank you. appreciate that. earlier today i was talking to buchanan. she was defending what mitt romney said as a bump in the road and as sort of inarticulate but she said really the bigger problem is that the stories we're not covering, focused on something that's sort of a distraction and not things that she thinks are more relevant. i'll play a little bit of what she said in our interview. >> is this not a story that one out of every six americans is in poverty? is that not a much bigger story, that 47 million americans have to take food stamps to take care of themselves and their

families? and that's because of four years of barack obama. and then he has no new fresh ideas on how to put america back to work. that's what mitt romney is all about. that's what our campaign is about. that seems to be a whole lot more important than some comment that he made, inarticulately stated. >> do you think she has a point? she listed a bunch of issues basically saying, economy, economy, economy is what we should be talking about, not some leaked videotape. >> well, it wasn't a bump in the road. it was a deep casm, in my judgment. quite frankly, what the governor said is very significant. it reveals something about his value system. for him to speak with with such disdain about so many americans, and he wants to be our president? i mean, some of those people that he was talking about, soledad, are soldiers that are risking their lives at this very moment in afghanistan. some of those people he was

disdain -- talking about in such a disdainful way are older people. how can this man, who wants to be president, talk in such a disdainful way about half of the american people and then hope to pull this country together and to be our president? >> as you know -- >> i think this is -- >> forgive me for interrupting you there. as you know, when he did his press conference on monday night he said, listen, what i'm really talking about are pique people who don't want to -- who are not paying taxes, is what he is saying. and people who -- >> there again -- >> okay. >> he's very sly. people who don't pay income taxes, that's what he said. income taxes. many people don't pay income taxes because they're so poor they don't make enough money to be able to pay income taxes, but they pay payroll taxes, state taxes. they pay excise taxes.

this man apparently feels if you're not part of his social class or economic -- you don't have his economic status that somehow you're a parasite. >> but eric erickson, who you know say conservative commentator, a cnn contributor as well -- >> yes. >> he tweeted this last night. seeing these undercover videos actually make me wish romney would talk more about this issue on the trail. i think what he's talking about is that 47% tax number. we're breaking down and taking a closer look. and i guess also the sort of sense of big government. who is contributing to government and how much is government helping this large percentage of people. that seemed to be his perspective. he thought that was a good thing. is there any way in which you could see this having a positive impact for some people who are romney's supporters? >> sure. well, you know, let's talk about mitt romney's taxes. he made, what, $20 million? he paid about 14% in taxes. for many years we had no idea if

he paid any taxes at all. he tells us he did. but he's unwilling to show us he actually did. and for him to meet in boca r aaton with these really, really wealthy people and talk with such disdain about nearly half the american people says something about this man's character. >> okay. >> i'm sorry. i just think this is a very significant thing that reveals something very troubling about mitt romney's character. >> back in 2008 -- >> he seems to have -- >> back in 2008, sir, right, when president obama was running in pennsylvania and he used the phrase people clinging to their guns and their religion, you were the guy who defended it. you were the guy who said, listen, he was saying that to supporters he didn't really mean it. this is not what he means. when you talk in private, this is -- how come that same thing doesn't reply now to mitt romney when he's talking to people for $50,000 per plate? >> there's a difference.

if you listen to his total comment, the president's total comment, he went ahead and said, but i've got to go to these people. i've got to reach out to them. i've got to take my message to them. he was not saying, i'm going to forget about them. they aren't important to me. you know, i'm just going to write them off. what mitt romney said was 47% of the people in the country, he's not concerned about. and i think that's really problematic. to talk with such disdain about hardworking americans. and i repeat myself. some of those 47% that he was talking about are risking their lives today for him and for me and for all americans in afghanistan. does he consider them -- i mean, are they victims? are they dependent upon government? i mean he said i spoke inelegantly. no, he spoke from his heart. and that's what troubles me.

if you listen to that tape, you understand that this man is speaking in the most casual, relaxed way with rich fat cats about a large portion of the american population that he has written off. that's what's important about this issue. >> governor strictionland, thank you very much. appreciate your time. >> thank you, soledad. >> coming up on "starting point," the two were convicted of murder in a trial that made headlines around the world. they've been convicted and now a book. [ female announcer ] born from the naturally sweet monk fruit,

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look at this. everyone is chitchatting. >> let's not forget, you're -- >> working. working, governor. amanda knox's ex-boyfriend, as you remember, and amanda knox, were convicted and then acquitted of murder. now that ex-boyfriend is speaking out. he says they were innocent. he does admit to some bizarre behavior. the book is called "honor bound:to hell and back with amanda knox." it's by raffaele sollecito. ann, give me a sense of this ex-boyfriend. when you -- you had a chance to meet him in seattle after the convictions were overturned, what is he like? >> he's lovely. he was grateful and he was humble. and he had a group of supporter that is met him out here. and really somebody that was very impressive. very quiet. but very happy this was all over

with with. but different than he was po r trayed, of course, during the course of the trial and the media. >> he says some of that portr portrayal came from some of the odd behavior. he admitted that it was odd, how they were photographed kissing. they were in all this legal trouble and making out outside the courthouse, outside the crime scene. they were shopping for underwear for amanda knox, like i think people saw those things and thought this case is odd. >> yeah. but the thing is that when you -- maybe it looked odd at the time. when you look at it in ret retrospe retrospect, that shot where they're kissing that's so famous, the next frame they're comforting each other, looking distraught. shopping for underwear. they basically went out and did some shopping. it said they were whispering sweet nothings to each other in the store. the person who supposedly witnessed this didn't speak english and they were speaking english. these were used by italian

authorities to, quote, unquote, probable cause. >> re ridiculous reason to throw me in an isolation cell. the problems were with amanda and the things she might or might not have done, why not focus the investigation on her? maybe she knew something. maybe there was something she might not have told me. but please, leave me out of it. what do you think when you heard that? >> human nature. his family wanted him to distance himself from amanda knox. we've heard that in the book. the fact is that he stuck with her. the name of the book is called "honor bound." he was the one that was never really in the press with the, quote, unquote, she devil, quote, unquote, foxy knoxy and the, quote, unquote, innocent abroad. he had the best lawyer, arguably, through the case. through all of it i think he was very loyal and very honorable and his story is one to be told. >> he said a lot of the lack of

memory was because they had been smoking marijuana the night, november 1st. he also said a police investigation, authorities found it easier and more convenient to take advantage of our youth and inexperience than to mount a proper investigation. do you think that's true on the part of italian authorities? >> i do. we called it, you know, forensics that were unreliable, inadmissible and tainted. four years later, the authorities in italy, the judge all agreed. they basically went into this as real innocents, lambs to the slaughters saying we'll cooperate. amanda should have been on the first plane to seattle and raff should have gone back home. their cooperation is what led them and snowballed really into this prosecution. odd behavior, statements they made. including the lack of, quote, unquote, true alibi. >> anne bremner is a former prosecutor, and defense attorney. it will be interesting to read

amanda's vehicles version of what happened. in our "tough call" this morning, statement made by mitt romney at a private fund-raiser, will it kill his bid for presidency? [ giggling ] [ laughing ]

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our "tough call" this morning, our top story, mitt romn romney's campaign doing a lot of damage control after new clips surfaced, him referring to 47% of the country depending on government assistance as "those people." take a listen. >> my job is not to worry about those people. i will never convince them to take personal responsibility for their lives. >> an op-ed, who writes this.

mark my prediction now, secret recording from closed doors mitt romney's fund-raiser has killed mitt romney's campaign for president. the really disastrous thing is the clip about victims and the conversation about contempt and pity he shows for anyone who is not going to vote for him. romney is the most opaque presidential nominee since nixon and people have been reduced to guessing what his true feelings are. this video provides an answer. he feels that your a loser. it's that victim word, framing of this. 47%, what percentage of those are paying payroll tax, et cetera, et cetera? >> any time you're talking about this issue, who is paying taxes, who is not, that's a discussion that romney campaign wants to have today. that's not the most controversial part of that statement. it was judging people saying these people who aren't paying tacks don't have personal responsibility or care for their lives. that's what democrats will pick up today again and again. you saw the smile on governor

ted strictionland, former governor of ohio. you saw it on richard socrides today. it's this cheshire smile. where you're sitting there, grinning. >> there comes a time, a moment in every campaign where voters say i just heard something from the guy's mouth that says something about who he is. and because this so reinforces ideas about mitt romney, he's a rich guy, wants to cut taxes on the rich. the idea that he's talking about people that don't pay taxes when he refuses to show his own tax returns is kind of -- >> independent on our panel -- everyone is trying to get independence to win this election. do you think he has done severe damage to his -- >> you're not an independent if

you vote for a democrat or republican. you're just wishy washy. i'm an independent. i do not vote for democrats or republicans. i vote for alternative candidates and i've been doing it since 1980. >> okay. so, given that, has he killed his campaign, as bloomberg would say? >> he has certainly done grave damage to it. can they recover? maybe. you know, i would give them maybe a 20% chance that they could somehow dig their way out of this hole by bay buchanan did a great job of spinning it to other things, taking it to different places and getting the focus off what the candidate said. but ultimately everything should come back to the candidate because the candidate is responsible for anything that happens in their campaign. i think what we ought to be looking at -- how about open disclosure of all these billions of dollars that are coming in to these campaigns? i said before i think presidential candidates should

be required to wear nascar racing suits so that they have patches on them. >> could you imagine? >> so we as voters know who owns them. >> maybe just the disclosure and not the actual suit. that could be unattractive for some people. current supreme court is one of the oldest on record. whoever wins the presidency in november could have a chance to shape the court for generations. we've got a new book about competing visions between the president and court. no stranger to trouble, rapper t.i. will join us live, talking about his new book. you're watching "starting point." the pace of change is accelerating. the way we...

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ordering it not to distribute its magazine with the photos of kate or online. breaching the publicity of the royal couple by publishing those topless photos. throw iing out anyone in th organization involved in covering up child's sex crimes. the network organized by those abused by priests are talking about secret so-called perversion files kept by the boy scouts, detailing hundreds of child predators involved with the scouts from 1970 to 1991. they were never reported to police. he spent two years in a bug infested prison in nicaragua. this morning, ta krchcoma washi man is back with his family in the u.s. thoughts of his wife and 5-year-old son sustained him in

prison, he tells anderson cooper. >> it's an overwhelming joy. that's the only way you can describe it. such a relief to have my family in my arms and everybody together and hugs and kisses all around. it's still very, very surreal. >> puracal still says he has no idea why he was arrested and jailed by nicaraguan authorities. mcdonald's is bringing back the mcrib. that's right. it will be back on the menu during the holiday season. i have toell you, supreme court expert jeffrey toobin is sitting here beside me and said there's a strong case to be made for the mcrib. >> there is. it contains no pink slime. i want to be clear about that. >> no bones. >> no bones. it was a pig so long ago, like so many generations of food product ago. but, you know -- >> it's delicious and now it's

back. one of those important issues coming up in the election that we rarely talk -- nothing came out there. talk about. one of the oldest on record could have a chance to shape the court for generations. jeff toobin has a new book out. what he calls the competing visions between president obama on one hand and chief justice roberts. >> good morning. >> at the very beginning, it went pretty awry. and you remember, of course, on inauguration day, standing hand on the bible, trying to do the oath of office and it went wrong. let's play that first and we'll talk about the supreme court. >> i, barack hussein obama still solemnly swear. >> that's why the book is called

"the oath." i find out the story of what happened. john roberts prepared like crazy. people thought he blew it off, forgot the oath. quite the opposite. he prepared so much that his wife said to him at this point the dog thinks its the president. what happened was that he prepared a document, pdf of the oath where he was going to make the breaks. and his assistant sent it to his secretary at the joint congressional committee that runs the inauguration. the secretary never opened it or forwarded it to the obama campaign. so, obama never knew what roberts was going to do. >> there's a picture of it. >> that's a scoop this my book. no one has seen that card before. that's the card. and obama -- notice that first mistake is that he started to say due solemnly swear and -- the chief did.

and then obama interrupted him. >> the two of them are similar and also very different. >> remark similar and difference. six years apart in age. both products of the chicago ar area. both products of harvard law school. harvard law review. fundamentally, in terms of what matters, incredibly different. one of them really wants to change the constitution. the other doesn't. and i think most people would be surprised that it's actually roberts who is the candidate of change when it comes to the supreme court. >> tell me a little bit about the transformation. you talk about justice o'connor, who sort of feels disheartened and dismayed as she stepped done from the court. >> one of the themes of "the oath" is really the theme of american politics of the last few years, which is the evolution of the republican party. think about the last three justices to lead the supreme court. sandra day o'connor, david

suitor, john paul stevens. they all left completely alienated from the modern republican party, no one more dramatically than sandra day o'connor, who, of course, was the symbol of the republican party for years, ronald reagan's first appointment to the court. but the new justices, alito, roberts, reflect the modern republican party. and that split between the moderate vanishing species of republican and the more modern conservative republicans is

played out in court. >> what happens -- go ahead. >> i was saying the book is fantastic. there's so many interesting things in the book and i heard your talk last week and learned so much. >> thank you. >> right up to the minute on this health care stuff. you talked about how this health care decision got carved up and how the conservatives lost roberts. i thought that was fascinating. >> or is it a win in a way? >> well, it was a loss for the conservative cause. i don't think there's any doubt about that. in the short run or the long run. but john roberts, in addition to being very conservative, is also a strategic thinker. and he viewed the health care case as sort of the third stop in a trilogy.

bush v. gore 2000, citizens united 2010, health care case 2012. if the five republicans had again ruled against a democratic goal, as in those two previous cases, i think roberts recognized correctly that the court would be at the center of american politics and the center of this campaign we're going through and roberts didn't want that. roberts wants a certain remove from the day-to-day politics of the supreme court. so he surprised everyone, including me, by siding with the liberals. >> that's right. you were not exactly right on the money. >> can i say in my defense -- >> yes, you may. >> -- whatever. i was just totally wrong. i was in the a little wrong. i was a lot wrong. >> the fine student of the supreme court, he was right. >> he was right. >> linda greenhouse predicted it. >> i am going to stick to predicting the past rather than the future. that whole predicting the future didn't work out too well for me. >> it's called "the oeth:the obama white house and the supreme court." thank you for being here. appreciate it. >> it's great to be here. putting his life lessons in a novel, into a reality show, into his tv show "boss." t.i. will talk to us live, coming up. erks you've been busy for a dead man.

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earlier this year, cnn reported on a little leaguer playing at the top of his game, despite his unusual circumstances.

chipper jones of the atlanta brave braves saw our story sw wanted to meet the young man. dr. sanjay gupta has an update for us. >> reporter: he can hit, field the ball, even slide into home plate. >> good job, reece. give me five. >> all the way around the base. >> 6-year-old reece holloway wants to play in the big leagues some day, just like his idol, chipper jones, who plays for the atlanta braves. when he was born, he was shocked to discover that he didn't have a left hand. they weren't sure he would learn how to crawl without a secondhand. they got him a prosthesis. little reece didn't want it. he did learn to crawl and walk. reece taught himself how to hit a ball. he was just 2. >> he got plastic balls and would hold them under his chin and drop it and swing the bat and he was hitting the ball, no problem. >> he's a natural.

and he has been playing on a team since he was 3 years old. as far as the hol lochoways are concerned he doesn't have a zpablt. >> i wso far they say the only thing he can't do is tie his shoes. when chipper jones saw the story about him, he invited the little leaguer and his family to see the braves. first batting practice, then autographs. then a private meeting with his hero. >> he signed my glove and my ball. >> after this experience, reece is even more determined to follow in chipper's footsteps and make it to the big leagues. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. >> oh, i love that kid. aactor and rapper, but t.i. is also an actor. he joins us live with his new novel. that's next. good morning. >> how are you? >> nice to have you. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

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>> he's a rapper, reality star, actor, author. t.i. harris these days is doing literally everything. tncht i. & tiny, recently launching its second season on vh-1. a former fwang member who has his eyes on a political career. a new book called "trouble & triumph:a novel of power and beauty." stop stealing my books. as i lean over to grab my book, i'm like, where is my book? t.i., nice to have you with us.

i didn't know you were an author. is it hard to write in the woman a's voice what you do? >> in a woman's voice? no. i've kind of -- i've heard a woman's voice for most of my life. so i kind of interpret the women in my life and the way they would say it. >> t.i., i would like to tell you, you have a future. i'm a former ganger and i'm a governor. >> i never have been a ganger. >> in his tv show -- >> i was in real life. >> maybe you should be writing some novels, governor. let me ask you a question, though. do you like writing the novel? do you like your reality show? is it "boss" where he plays a gang banger. >> the original.

>> right. which do you prefer? >> music will always be my first passion. i started that when i was such a youngster. you know, it is the way that all these other avenues have been created. but every other endeavor i find myself in, designing my clothing line, being an author or an actor, you know, it's a different -- it gives me a different sense of accomplishment. >> creative process? >> it's a different way to create, express myself creatively. >> have you seen this reality show? it's hilarious. your kids -- he's got six kids and they are hilarious in this show. let's play a little clip. >> acting is not hard. i bet all you're going to do is get out and -- >> hey, whatever i'm going to do, i'm going to be the best dad doing it that you've ever seen.

you understand that? >> you're going to look good doing it. >> you can't act better than him. >> do you feel pressure? >> i'm being challenged in my own home. >> in your own home by your own children. >> by the mouths i feed, the very mouths that i put food in just challenged me. >> you're going to do denzel. >> you're a young man. you've had such an interesting career already. >> thank you. >> what advice would you give to young people who feel like they have a creative career in front of them? you've been able to do all these different things. what advice do you give to young people? >> my philosophy has always been prepare yourself for hard work. because there is no amount of success that's going to come without hard work and sacrifice. most people see the glamour, the luxury. they expect for it to come easily. they don't -- they're not

preparing themselves for all the blood, sweat and tears, the sacrifice and, you know -- just the things that come with the success. >> much like what jon wooden, the great basketball coach said, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. >> there you go. >> the book is called "trouble & triumph:a novel of power and beauty." and, of course, now on "boss." we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!! [ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪

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