hello. tamron hall is on assignment. paul ryan will speak within the hour. ryan will hold a campaign event in des moines at the iowa state fair. the event comes a few hours after the president launch add three-day swing in i a. ron mott is in iowa following paul ryan. >> reporter: hey, there, jose. good day to you. congressman paul ryan should be walking down this sidewalk to where he's going to speak about 150 yards from here to an enthusiastic crowd here at the iowa state fairgrounds. when you run for president or vice president, you have to hit one or two state fairs. he's probably going to keep his remarks to pretty broad issues with the romney/ryan ticket, the

direction they'd like to take the country. one thing that he was criticized by his primary opponents, jose, is he had a hard time connecting with blue collar middle americans. a lot of blue collar folks here, business owners here, so congressman ryan from wisconsin can identify with the midwesterner. we saw some huge crowds in virginia. big crowd here as well. a lot of folks down here waiting to hear what he had to say. i talked with one of the concession workers, she was so excited she was organizing her lunch hour around this timing of the event because she wanted to see him. so there's a lot of enthusiasm in the air both on the right and the left. democrats see him as a big target if you will. we'll have to see if he does, in fact, come down behind me her in just a few moments. i think he may be passing through the gates. jose, i'll throw it back to you. >> thank you very much. ron mott from iowa.

now let's bring in carlos gutierrez. thank you for being here. >> thank you. it's a pleasure. >> what's the message romney is trying to get out in choosing ryan? >> first of all this is a very serious ticket. these are two people who are here to do tangible things. obviously it says that the economy is number one. given paul ryan's background and given his tremendous knowledge of the economy, governor romney has put the economy front and center, which is something that president obama does not want to talk about. he doesn't want to talk about the fact that there are 23 million people either unemployed or understood employed, that the household income for middle-class families has been reduced by $4,000. he doesn't want to talk about

that. governor romney and paul ryan are going to put this front and center in their campaign. >> and we're seeing live pictures, mr. secretary, of paul ryan arriving at the fair. that's what you say president obama doesn't want to talk about. is mitt romney going to talk about, for example, paul ryan's medicare plan or social security changes? >> absolutely. >> romney's coming into florida today. are those issues the guys are going to be bringing up? >> that's a very good point and in the end there's going to be a romney plan and only one plan than will be future president romney's plan. he'll take things from the ryan plan. he wants to make it bipartisan. >> does that include, for example -- >> here's the thing, jose, that we have to -- we have to realize, and it's irresponsible to manage it politically the way

the president and his administration has done. medicare is going to go bankrupt and social security to a lesser degree is also in trouble. medicare will go bankrupt unless we fix it. so governor romney and paul ryan want to fix medicare. they want to strengthen it for future generations. >> let me get an answer from you with all due respect. that going to talk about it? >> of course, of course, we have to talk about it. of course, of course. president obama is taking $700 billion out of medicare to fund his new obama plan. that doesn't make sense. of course we have to talk about it. this is a serious campaign. >> yeah, i agree with you. >> we're talking about issues and problems that need to be solved. >> i agree with you. and one of the biggest issues, doesn't matter where you come from, unemployment, 14.1% in the african-american community,

10.3% in the hispanic community. 8.3% across the country. what specifically do you think a president can really do to change that situation? >> there are five things they want do. this problem is worse. these are people who have been taken out of the labor force. president romney will dramatically increase and strengthen our ability to become an independent energy source, a power of energy. we have natural gas, we have wind, we have solar, we have oil. we have so many things that we can do not just to reduce independence but to create jobs. these are real jobs. he's held the keystone pipeline on hold even though that would have created thousands and

thousands of jobs. this is all political. improve the skills of our population. improve the ability for small businesses to be started to grow and to prosper. improve -- >> secretary, i'm running out of time and i want to touch on an important issue for people who are watching throughout the country. let's say immigration reform. just a month, month and a half ago, craig romney, one of mitt romney's sons in a nice speaking spanish accent in spanish has started running ads saying if you elect my dad, he will fix the broken immigration system. we're talking about a broken immigration system. both sides agree with that, yet congressman ryan voted against the d.r.e.a.m. act. governor ronlny said he would vote against the d.r.e.a.m. act. what exactly is your side going to do to fix a problem that they may be in a very large part responsible for? >> good, good.

i'll tell you what we won't do is a patchwork fix on the d.r.e.a.m. act just to get hispanic votes. that we won't do. governor romney wants do a big comprehensive strategy for immigration. he believes in immigration. he believes in immigrants. as a source of economic growth and ideas and energy and vitality, this administration looks at immigration as a source of votes. our laws don't allow farmers to hire documented workers because there are too many agencies and loopholes and bureaucracy. we're opening them instead of in the u.s. because the immigration laws have to be changed. >> secretary -- >> and that is a big strategy. and that includes what to do with the undocumented worker. he said he will deal with them with compassion and with

resolve. >> secretary carlos gutierrez, thank you very much for being with us. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> it's time to bring in the panel. thank you very much for being with me. jimmy, let me start with you. your reaction to what you just heard from secretary gutierrez. >> i appreciate what the former secretary said except there are a couple of fallacies. first the president did not cut $700 billion of medicare and put poor people in the street. that's absolutely false. they took those and used them in ac bills. secondly, i appreciate what he said and i'm glad you asked the question about the d.r.e.a.m. act but he didn't answer your question, which is what's the romney/ryan team going to do about immigration in this country. secretary gutierrez was a men of the cabinet in the last administration, the bush administration, and i don't recall them doing anything, anything about the -- >> i've got to tell you, jimmy,

in all fairness, secretary gutierrez spent nine months on capitol hill working along with democrats to see how they could get -- >> you're right. and who filibustered that. >> by the way, i haven't seen the obama administration send a cabinet secretary or two, chernoff, to deal with this issue. >> you're right he did that by himself. who filibustered that bill? house and senate republicans. let's be honest about who wanted to get it done. >> you're right but talking to your point, i think on both sides there's been a lot of talk and little action. >> i completely agree. >> day after tomorrow we're going to have 1 president 8 million young people who for the first time in this country are going to be able to come out from the shadows and show their faces and contribute to this country legally. now, today, ann, large number of voters called romney's pick of

ryan fair or poor. they found it bold but will ryan be able to appeal to the middle of the aisle, the swing voters? >> what's amazing about the numbers is not how they seem on the face but also they seem to be a little bit worse than what we saw four years ago when sarah palin was picked an even when dick cheney was picked in 2000. so it looks like the instant first blush is that there are problems embedded in this choice. now, it's extremely early, and think what we're probably seeing is a lot of people don't know who congressman ryan is yet. he's a house member. a lot of house members, most house members are completely anonymous, even budget chairmans so i think -- >> that's true. politico talked about the pick as a game-changer, as something truly significant for republicans. in what way. >> look.

given that he's got an ideological stand and a conservative ideology, one na the tea party likes. that is something that halters the dynamic for people, especially conservatives, might complain they doesn't know where mitt romney was or how committed he was to the parties. to your earlier question, it's not clear what this does to the middle. are there going to be moderates, people in the center who decide to learn about him and decide they don't like it? will they learn about him and who will define him first, that's really the phase we're in right now. >> jimmy, vice president joe biden is campaigning in iowa today. >> congressman ryan has been givening a definition to the vague kminlts romney has been making. >> today you heard ryan is hurting romney. he doesn't change his perspective much. >> well, that riechlts and as i

wrote this morning in my column, i'm just of -- i like paul ryan and frankly i like mitt romney as a person. but paul ryan's authentic. what you see with him is exactly what you get. i don't think there's a single person in this town, especially in that building that doesn't believe that he believes every word that he says and that's a good thing. that's a stark sort of opposite of governor romney when he was governor. he did one thing. today, something different. and while i really appreciate governor romney moving to the far right to get the nomination, he's got -- and he's got a very conservative guy on the bottom of the ticket with him, that's a smart idea except it just makes him look more flip-floppery if you will. that's a bad word. i made one up. listen. what do i see? i see a very authentic guy, a core when it comes to paul ryan. i don't like his core when it comes to his policies, but at least he's believable. no one believes mitt romney and i believe that's going to

delineate and turn the flashing lite back onto mitt romney and america is going to say he doesn't believe what he says and he wants to be president. i'm betting within a week most conservatives are going to say, gosh, i wish ryan were at the top of the ticket and not romney. that's just my gut. >> jimmy williams and anne kornblut, thanks for being with us. i'll talk with zachary caravelle. plus, this was within the last couple of hours. the house filed a lawsuit against attorney general eric holder over the fast and furious operation. and later olympic and bronze medalist dan el leyva talks to us live. he'll talk about the changing face of the olympic team. [ mrs. hutchison ] friday night has always been all fun and games

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there's no question your campaign is trying to make this election a referendum on barack obama. now some people are saying you are making it a referendum on paul ryan's budget plan. >> well, i have my budget plan as you know that i've put out and that's the budget plan that we're going to run on. >> mitt romney on 60 minutes making it clear he has a budget plan of his own separate from the one his new running mate has proposed. the obama campaign has been referring to the ryan plan as a ryan/romney plan for months and it's already become a center pooiz against the ticket. some of the major point,/ed deficit spending by more than $5 trillion for more than ten years with cuts to medicaid, food

stamps, transit infrastructure. the wealthiest would benefit with a 10% tax cut. medicare would turn into a voucher system for those under 55 years old essentially giving participants a choice between medicare or private insurance. let's bring in zachary caravelle. good to see you. >> you too. >> let's talk about this. for the first time we're seeing a campaign in 2012 where issues of great importance will be center stage. >> right. and i think that's what you want a presidential election to be about. as much as we focus on bain capital, the thing that's going to be remembered is what's it spending on and now we have a campaign that it's going to deal with. >> let's talk about the political pitfalls of something like being specific in politics, the least specific you can be, the better off you are. >> that's been ryan's, i think, virtue and success so far.

if i say to you we're going to cut spending, taxes are going go down, revenue is going to go through. there's not a single human being alive when presented with that statement wouldn't say, hey, that sounds great. >> if i told you if you're under 55, social security as you know it will cease to be, medicare will be different, medicaid and a whole slew of other things that we're used to as a society may not be there when we're ready to retire. the same way they are today. >> and that is the real challenge that ryan and romney and republicans are going to have, which is that they've ee none yat which everyone has agreed is a viable vision for the future with zero specifics on how it's going to get us there and when you start think about it the math doesn't add up or the social consequences. government dmouts exist to provide us with certain common goods and you need to spend money to buy those. you say i'm going reduce the deficits by pawning off the

costs on the states doesn't get there. >> one of the things i love about living in a democratic society is how things can change in a matter of minutes. now it seems that ryan and romney are taking the mantle of change. >> so there's nothing new about that narrative. ly say this about the democrats. this is really crucial. look, we can poke a lot of holes in ryan's plan. there's a lot lacking there, but for the country's good and the sake of the presidency, obama and the democrats need to offer their own kind of roadmap that is credible to deal with certain issue like rising health care costs. i know that's in the affordable care act. there are revisions to reduce long-term health care costs but they're going to have to be extremely co-subsequent if they're going to serve. >> i just have to think about

the onslaught. that i sear dependent. how do you overcome that if you're romney in a national campaign? >> yeah, i don't think you do overcome it in the sense that this does -- their plan represents a radical change to expectations of government safety nets, point to social security. you point to medicare. the problem again is i think it's incumbent on the democrats not to point out the deleterious kons quebecoises of the plan but to offer their own plan to a economic future. >> some will tell you they do that. >> i agree. there's a exception where you govern a country. >> zachary karabell, pleasure to see you, buddy. >> you too. >> thanks so much for being with us. >> we'll take a quick break. the florida factor. mitt romney is campaigning there today. "the miami herald" puts this way. ryan could be a drag on romney

in florida. we'll get the first read from senior editor mark murray. plus, a milestone for the military. meet the first openly gay general. it's one of things we thought you should know and you can always find me on twitter. i twitter in two line garages so be patient with me, por favor. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels.

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aftershocks continue to rock the region. at least 20 villages were destroyed by the quake and about 130 were severely damaged. another quick break, but still ahead, we'll get the latest on the lawsuit filed today against attorney general eric holder over the fast and furious investigation. plus -- >> income tax, we do make contact with martians, please let me know. president obama calls nasa to offer congratulations on a successful mars mission. be sure to check out our news nation tumbler page. you'll find pictures behind the scenes at newsnation.tumbler.com. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. mine hurt more! mine stopped hurting faster... [ female announcer ] neosporin® plus pain relief

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tour. >> i am told that governor romney's new running mate paul ryan might be around iowa the next few days. he's one of the leaders of congress standing in the way, so if you happen to see congressman ryan, tell him how important this farm bill is to iowa and our rural communities. we've got to put politics aside when it comes doing the right thing. >> nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker is traveling with the president. i'm sure that's not the last time we'll hear that as he travels across america. >> reporter: good afternoon jose, you're absolutely right. it certainly won't be the last time we hear that. he's calling on congress and appliances to pass the farm bill. that's a bill in the farms community, especially given the

drought that's impacted their crops, livelihoods, quite frankly. and, of course, farmers are a key voting block here in this key battleground state. one of the spokespeople point out that he also cares about helping and aiding the farming community during that difficult time. to make all of this more interesting, paul ryan is here in the hawkeye state today. he's at the iowa state fairgrounds shaking some hands, talking to folks there, and the president just announced that he plans to make a stop at the fairgrounds latter on today. the two won't actually cross paths but it's face-off of a different kind, if you will. iowa is an interesting state. president obama won this battleground state in 2008 by almost ten points but if you look at the polls, it shows the race basically deadlocked. if you look at the unemployment,

it's far below the average, 5%. but if you talk to some iowan, they'll tell you they don't feel the economy is recovering here so there's a little bit of disparity in terms of the unemployment rate and what iowan are actually saying. they have a high population of seniors, about 14%. so romney and ryan are really going to have to explain to them why they're plant overall entitlements will ultimately wind up being a good thing, why in their words they believe it's going to save medicare because there's a lot of trepation about that right now. so that's going to be a challenge for them. president obama is on a three-day bus tour through iowa. by the way, hi will be joined by the first lady. her ratings are far higher than her husband's, so she always draws a big crowd and certainly we call her his secret weapon,

not so secret anymore as we're about three months out. >> kristen, let many ask -- me ask you a question. am i wrong that he has a better plan? >> reporter: if you talk to the republicans they're working to really beef up their ground game here, that while mitt romney was busy with the primary, president obama's campaign worked for over a year to work up their ground game and i believe at last check they have about 20 campaign offices here. if you talk to the obama campaign, they say, look, we are going to get outspent in this election through super pacs. so they're expecting to get outraised in terms of fund-raising, however, they say that what they're counting on is their ground game, especially in key battleground states like iowa. >> kristen welker, thank you so much. who would have guessed we were going to be talking an $2

billion presidential campaign in 2012. thank you so much. everyone who well knows the issue says that the key to the victory in november is florida, florida, florida. now newspapers across the state are questioning whether mitt romney has a running mate will cost florida 29 electoral votes. from "the miami herald," here's what they say. ryan could hurt mitt romneyny in florida. from the palm beach post and from the. mark, good afternoon. the issue here is ryan's impacts on the 6th of november when people go out to vote in the sunshine state. >> it all comes down to the issue of medicare, and as you know very well, there are so many seniors in the state of florida and those people tend to end up deciding electilectioele. you think of latinos, women, the

one demographic group that is benefiting mitt romney right now has to be seniors. somehow they're a jump ball in this election, that's a big advantage to president obama. now, it's important to know that the ryan budget plan that we're all talking about how it relates to budget care doesn't affect current seniors. they say it's going be for future seniors. but of course those on medicare are the ones who know how it could end up impacting their children. >> a lot of people who it wouldn't affect has parents that they're dealing with who they're having to, you know, deal with their last years of life and so it doesn't just affect those under55. it affects those under 55 who have parents they're dealing with. >> absolutely. and just to be clear on what the ryan bucket plan does on medicare, hoe say, it actually transforms where right now it's the government that actually pays in a fee for service program in the medicare, and the ryan budget plan gives people, future seniors, a voucher or

premium support to pay for their medical bills and that is what is so controversial that democrats and a lot of other budget krun chers look at the numbers and say the plan that would come out wouldn't cover the cost they currently need for their care sniet shows president obama with a six-point lead over romney among likely voters in florida. can he win if he loses in florida? >> oh, it's going to be virtually impossible for mitt romney to be able to win, to get to 270. there's one path that he can do that. that is to win almost every others to-up state. but, jose, if you take florida off the state for mitt romney, he is in some serious trouble. >> let's talk about another issue and it doesn't just affect florida. the i-4 corridor, the latino voters. paul ryan has voted against the d.r.e.a.m. act. mitt romney said he would vote

against the d.r.e.a.m. act. how is their lack of immigration proposals going to affect florida? >> it could also play a very big role as you know setting it very, very well. the electorate has changed over the last few years, when you look at that area in tampa and orlando with heavy latinos that necessarily aren't from cuba which have been reliable republican voters in the past, of course, you probably end up seeing the republicans do better in florida than they would in new mexico, would better in arizona, even colorado with latino voters. but if president obama is able to make a really big play, that's also a potential problem for mitt romney. >> a question i've been meaning to ask you for the longest time is the nbc washington "wall street journal" poll, is there any way to have it come toward

the republicans as far as the -- >> i think what you're hoping for is these people don't show up to the polls. the one thing that we've seen and it's been reliable nbc/wall street jornl/telemundo poll, that's a question that we have to see. >> we have to see what happens after wednesday when the president's executive order that allows dreamers to come out from the shadows. how that will have an effect on voters. dramatic new turn today in the politically charged battle over the government's botched fast and furious gun-tracking operation. how issa filed a lawsuit. it comes after they voted in june to hold the attorney general in contempt of congress for refusing to turn over some requested documents. but following the vote the

justice department announced it would not prosecute holder. joining me now josh gurstein from politico. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> thanks. what's going to happen with that. >> well, the main thing people may want to know is it's not going to go anywhere, so at this point it is really a political statement and something that will be worked out later. it's a really, really tough case. they'd prefer to see the president and congress work these things out among themselves and judges have been very, very reluctant to jump into these kinds of disputes but chairman issa is asking them to do just that. >> they turned over thousands of pages but apparently the republicans on capitol hill say that's not enough, is that correct? >> yeah. that i say it's not enough. they want to see machine about how this story unfolded, nod the

lead-up. how the justice department responded to the unfolding scandal over the last year and a half or so. and the justice department and actually president obama himself have taken the position that, no, that gets into our executive branch deliberations about how to address congressional inquiries and how to address media inquiryings and you don't have the right to that. >> clear up for me. the fast and furious operation which lost track of thousands of weapons, one border agent was killed with a few of those weapons, but you know what? there have been 50,000-plus mexicans killed in the past years in drug against drug cartels. who knows how many of those could have been shot by an america american-administered weapon. what heads have fallen as a consequence of this unbelievably botched operation? >> well, we receive a reshuffling of the agency. >> what does reshuffling mean?

>> a lot of the officials either quit, resigned, or were assigned to different agencyingses, so it's completely different than it was before. what we haven't seen is real disciplinary action at a tough direct level on account of what happened this this operation. that's because the justice department's own internal watchdog, the office of internal general is putting together a report on who's at fault. >> no one wants to talk about the fact that no one on the border thought it was odd that so many. maybe because so many weapons were easy to buy in u.s. border towns in areas. so a couple of thousand coming in. a couple of thousand more. it did cause a stir or raise a red flag. that's not even being discussed, the issue of armed sales, but let's talk about house minority leader nancy pelosi. she called it a distraction and democrats have reacted to what the republicans are doing. president obama also asserted executive privilege in the case. what exactly is going forward to happen if nothing's going happen

before the elections and after is it still going to be something we're discussing. >> well, it may be. i mean a judge is going to be asked to resolve this question and then it will be up to the appeals courts from there. odds are some sort of deal will be worked out at some point between the administration and congress. obviously if president obama were to lose this, it will be a lot easier to work out that deal. that's the same thing that happened with president bush back in 2008. they were in the midst of a similar dispute and when the president lost his election bid it became easier to sort out. >> we'll see what happens. josh gerstein, thank you so much. up next i'll talk with danell leyva about the incredible diversity of this year's u.s. olympic team. but first there are a lot of things going on and here's what we thought you should know. our first openly gay general.

her promotion comes less than were year after the repeal of don't ask, don't tell, a policy that restrengthed guys from serving openly in the military. >> gabrielle giffords is marking another major milestone. on sunday her husband tweeted that they're moving back to her hometown of tucson, arizona. giffords has been undergoing intensive therapy after being shot. and first lady michelle obama will pay another visit to jay leno this evening. it will be her third appearance on the show. mrs. obama is in los angeles for several fundraisers. president obama called nasa today. he called from air force one while en route to iowa. >> i thank you for devoting your lives to this cause and if, in fact, you do make contact with martians, please let me know

right away. >> so far, no martians up there. i've seen some down here. the euro asti roverer isending back some pretty incredible pictures of the martian landscape. some say they're similar to the desert in the u.s. those are some of the things we thought you should know. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. want to hop in the back and get weird? no. no. ♪ ugh, no! [ sighs ]

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hostage in february of last year. he is the highest ranking pirate captured by the u.s. and has cracked down on african hijackings and pirating. he was arrested last may. he's accused of stealing and leaking confidential documents from the pope's apartment. the miami dolphins have cut wide receiver chad johnson for his arrest for domestic violence. he's accused of headbutting his wife outside their home during an argument. if convict head could face a maximum of one year in jail. up next, back to our top story for today's "newsnation" gut check. do you think paul ryan will hurt or help mitt romney? what does your gut tell you? rogaine? well, i'll admit it. i was skeptical at first. but after awhile even my girlfriend noticed a difference.

[ male announcer ] rogaine is proven to help stop hair loss. and for 85% of guys, it regrew hair. save up to 42% now at rogaine.com. it regrew hair. put me at 5 timesd out my greater risk of a stroke, my first thoughts were about my wife, and my family. i have the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin, but my doctor put me on pradaxa instead to reduce my risk of stroke. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) reduced stroke risk 35% better than warfarin. and unlike warfarin, with pradaxa, there's no need for regular blood tests. that's really important to me. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition like stomach ulcers, or take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners, or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines.

tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctor's approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. pradaxa is progress. having afib not caused by a heart valve problem increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you can reduce your risk with pradaxa.

other the past two weeks more than 215 million people tuned in to the london olympics making it the most watched event in history. u.s. hauled in over 100 medals in all. part of it came from the great diversity in the team. no one exemplifies this more than dannell laey danell leyva. if corporations in the united states were more diverse, the united states would be a much better place. that's just me speaking. it's an honor, sir, to have you with us. how are you doing? >> good, good. it's nice to be here. thank you for having me. >> tell us a little bit about what it felt like when you stood on the podium and listened?

>> actually i wasn't able to hear because i got the bronze. it was literally a dream come true. it felt very unreal. i still haven't really processed it in my mind. >> danell, you're one of the kids we see in you, the dreams and aspirations that our children exhibit. your mother went through a ton to give you a better life in this country. tell me what the moment was for her and your stepfather, who's your trainer? >> like you said, she had to sacrifice so much for me and my sister and my dad as well.

he opened the gym up by himself in miami, which is very hard to do because it wasn't very popular to open up a gym in miami, especially at the time. you know, it's been a rough road, but not that much because of how hard we all work and we always strive for something a little better, and it's worked out a little well so far. >> the gymnastics team is probably more diverse than it's ever been. why are we seeing the diversity now in sports like gymnastics and swimming? >> i can't tell you the exact reason but i believe that america's literally the melting pot of the world. we have people from all over the place representing america. that's what makes us so good. it is that diversity.

i don't know why it's growing so much now but i'm kind of glad that it is. >> danell, what would you say to people who are thinking why are you bringing up his cuban past? i think it's clear you're as american as anybody who's been here for generations? whoo what did you feel? >> just as you said, i'm as proud to be an american as i was born a cuban. i'll always say that. it's a huge, huge honor and privilege to be able to represent this country, especially knowing that i'm not from this country. that's why i'm so proud to be part of this country. that medal wasn't only for me but for everybody. >> does this mean we're going to see danell leyva in rio? >> yeah, yeah. for sure. it gave me such a huge hunger

for that feeling again, you know. all the emotions, highs and lows of the olympics, it's so amazing i can't wait to experience it again. that's why i'm going to 2016 for sure. >> you know there are a lot of little cuban-americans, asian-americans, african-americans that see that. thank you for being with us today. >> thank you for having me. >> time for the "newsnation" gut check. the new poll shows that americans nearly evenly split on mitt romney's choice of paul ryan as a running mate. 38% are favorable while 33% reacted unfavorably. a whop 30g% said they have no opinion yet. so what does your gut tell you? will paul ryan help or hurt the romney campaign? go to facebook.com/newsnation to vote. that does it for this edition of "newsnation." thank you so much for the

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