road. we will get things done. the way we're going to do this is we're going to elect leadership. at the 11th hour. cue the beltls. that reminds me -- i'm a big fan of winston churchill, and i have a bust of winston churchill in my office. churchill said americans can be counted on upon to do the right thing, but only after 2450e6 exhausted all of other possibilities. i think that's kind of where we are right now. we can get back to work. we can get people out of poverty. we can reignite prosperity and save medicare and we can do this

by electing leadership. the man who is going to lead this comeback for america is the man standing next to me. his name is mitt romney, and he is going to be the next president of the united states of america. sfoo thank you. what a treat to be here. thank you. thank you so much. paul, you're terrific. thank you. and to frank and charlie. kelly. what a team here. and only a catholic guy would be able to get the bells to toll just at the right time. father, did you that for him. i know. oh, my goodness. so many friends here in new hampshire. gosh, i feel like i'm almost a new hampshire resident. i come here, and it would safe me some tax dollars, i think. but it's great to be here with

you. you've been here for me on the day that i announced. you've been with me time and time again at town meetings like this, and you voted for me when it counted most. you got me the nomination. i appreciate your willingness to be here with me today. thank you so much. it is delightful to have a guy part of my team who has character and integrity who has the capacity to take on tough issues, who is willing to take on tough issues and not just kick the ball down the field and hope someone else will deal with america's challenges. i appreciate a man of courage, integrity, and strength as paul ryan is. i appreciate the fact that he has learned how to work with people on the other side of the aisle.

as you may appreciate, having served as governor of massachusetts, you either did that or you perished, and because my legislature was 87% democrat. oh, they were okay. that's all right. i always comment. there's a border security problem here, all right? thanks for letting me across the border honoring. here's a guy who has been able to work with good democrats, find people that could look beyond partisanship and find common ground to get things done, and that's what we need to have happen, and i'm planning on going to wash wish with paul ryan, and we're going to get this country back on track for the american people. i am asked from time to time why did you get into this, and you know the reason. you've heard me say this before. you see, i want to make sure that everybody in america who

wants a job can get a good job. i want to make sure that everybody that is thinking about retirement or in retirement knows they have a secure retirement. i want to -- i want people to know that if they get ill, they can -- they're going to be able to get treated. they're going to have health care that's affordable, and i want every mom and dad to know that their child will get the best education in the world. these things we have to provide to americans across the country. and i know -- i know what it takes to get those things done. i've had the experience of working in the real world, if you will, the private sector, and seeing how enterprises get started and how they change the lives of people when they're successful and how, by the way, sometimes they're not successful and how we lose jobs. i understand those things. i want to bring that understanding to make sure we can create good jobs for every american that wants a good job. we've got to do that.

and so i have a deep desire to make a difference for the people of america of the middle class accident after all classes that we love so deeply. this is a great land, and we owe our people a brighter prosperous future, and that's what paul ryan and i will do with every ounce of our energy. that's what we'll bring the american people. now, i've seen something about what it takes, and one of the fun things of this campaign over the last year and some odd months has been to get to know the people of america and see just how we tick and how -- actually, how new hampshire ticks as well. i was at the madison lumberyard. i don't know if you know madison, new hampshire, and there are a couple of guys there. jim smith, ken moore. international paper owned the lumber mill there, and they decide thad lumber was not part of their future, so they were going to close it down, and these two guys went to the bank and got some investors and loans and they bought the lumberyard

from -- lumber mill, rather, from international paper, and they keep it in business and employ a lot of people there, and i respect that entrepreneurship, the innovativeness of individuals who step in, who take a risk, who make things happen. i met a young woman. i was in high point, north carolina just a few days ago. her name is melanie mcnamara. she's in the furniture making business. i'll tell you, the chinese have just killed one job after another in furniture manufacturing for a lot of unfair reasons, but putting that aside, she figured she was going to lose her business and the jobs of the people that worked for her unless she could find some way to keep in business, and she had this idea. she's going to make furniture of a very specific nature. furniture that goes in the waiting rooms of hospitals. that's her niche. she does that well. the 27 people who work for her are happy to have a job because she figured out how she could compete with the chinese and win, and we're going to do that all over the country.

i met a guy in southern illinois. jim leatode is his name, and jim graduated second in his class in high school. second from the bottom, that is. he decided that college was not in his future, and so he went to his dad and said, dad, can i borrow some money? i want to start a little business. and he his dad worked something out. his dad would own half the business, wee own half, and they were going to serve food, and went out to buy one of these hamburger griddles and then the rollers that make hot dogs ask then you e needed a big hood to take out the smoke and all that. by the time he costed it all out, he found he didn't begin to have enough money to buy all that stuff. all he could do is sandwiches. he got some tables and went to a

friend's garage and made sandwiches, and then delivered them to people's homes. that was his idea. good sandwiches. delivered at work. now jimmy john's has 1,500 restaurants and employs 60,000 people. isn't that amazing? it's just -- you see, it's just the way america works. it's individuals in their own ways pursuing their own dreams who take a risk in some cases, who work harder than they ever imaged they would who use all their brain power to come up with ideas like, okay, we're going to make hospital furniture or we're going to find a way to make this lumberyardwork even though this big company that owns it can't make it work profitably, and we're going to start this little restaurant, and it's going to grow and go all over the country. this is the way america works. i understand it. the founders understood that. you see, when they decided what america would look like, they

had some extraordinary i'll call them inspirational shots. our rights did not come from government. our rights came from the creator. among our rights -- among our rights were life and liberty and, by the way, that includes religious liberty. we respect the right of religions to practice in a free and tolerant way. number three, the pursuit of happiness. americans will be free to pursue happiness as they choose. the founders recognize that far more effective in guiding an economy than having bureaucrats to try to tell people how to make and how to sell it and how much to charge for it. instead of that, we let free

people decide what they want to do. each person going off in their own way, building enterprises like making sandwiches or hospital furniture or cutting lumber. this would create, as you know, the most powerful economy in the history of the world. you see, america's economy is driven by freedom. freedom is what makes america work. the president -- the president says something and paul alluded to it just a moment ago. but the president said something extraordinarily revealing about himself. and about how he thinks about the economy. you could see where he was coming from with what he did. you know, with the stimulus dollars, do you know how much money he invested in so-called green energy companies? $90 billion.

$90 billion. i guess he likes to pick winers and losers. in his case losers. those businesses -- those -- he thinks in some respects that he and his people by picking businesses can do a better job than free people, consumers making the choice of what's better for them, and it just -- it hasn't worked. it's the wrong approach. what he said underscored his philosophy. he said this -- and you heard it. he said if you have a business, you didn't build it, someone else did that. i -- he said, look, you're taking me out of context. that's not really what i meant. so go on youtube and look at the context. all right? the context is worse than the quote, all right? he says, know, if you are successful, you think it's because you're smart, but there are a lot of smart people, and if you are successful, you may think it's because you worked hard, but there are a lot of people who work hard, and i wonder where is he going with this?

is there something wrong with being smart or working hard? you see, in america we value people who are smart, who work hard, who take risks, who build things for themselves and for others. and we recognize we're in this together, and we help one another, and americans coming together, by the way out of many of us coming together and uniting. that creates a stronger nation. nonetheless, we recognize and celebrate the success of each individual, and we acknowledge their success. we don't denigrate it or divide americans based on their level of success. we come together. the other day i thought about a kid that works hard to get the honor roll. she works real hard. i know that to get the honor roll, she had to go on a school bus to get to school, but when had he she makes the honor roll,

i credit the kid, not the bus driver. >> whoever thinks the government creates our economy and it's free people that drive our economy, i'm going to do five things when i'm in washington with paul ryan, paul things we're going to do that are going to get this economy jump-started again. number one, we're going to take advantage of our energy resources, our coal, oil, gas, our renewables, even nuclear. number one, energy. we got a lot of energy. low cost, low cost natural gas is going to bring manufacturing jobs back. by the way, keep our utility bills down. number two, i'm going to make sure that our schools are second to none. we need our kids to succeed. that's number two.

number three, i want trade that works for america. that means we're going to open up new markets for our goods in latin america and other places, and we're going to crack down on cheaters like china when they play on an unfair basis. number four, for people in this audience to take a risk to start a business or to invest with a friend that's got a good idea or some big corporation overseas that's thinking about building a factory maybe in this united states or maybe somewhere else, for them to put money and put it at risk in america, they have to know we're not in the road to greece and so we're going to have to do something and do it soon, and that is show america that this team can put america on track to a balanced budget and stop the deficit spending.

[ chanting mitt ] >> and there's one more. there's one more. and that's this. toipt champion small business. i want to make it easier for entrepreneurs and innovators. i want the small businesses you work in to find it ease wrer to hold on to capital so they can grow their enterprise. the president wants to raise taxes on small business. i want them lower. i want to make sure that regulators and regulations are designed to make sure we encourage small business and, by the way, i want to take off that big cloud that's hanging over a lot of small businesses. that is i want to make sure that we get obama care out of the way and replace it with something which will help encourage job growth in this country. you know -- you know how important this is. you know what a difference this

will make for america. for the 23 million americans out of work for the one out of six out of poverty, we need these things to help those folks. we also need to do these things to help the coming generation, and one more thing. american strength is critical not just for us in this country but also for the world. i was fortunate enough to be in poland a couple of weeks ago, and i had the chance to meet with a world hero, and i just met with the prime minister brsh he said you must be tired. you just came from overseas. he said sit down. i talk. you listen. so i did. he spoke for about 15 minutes, and he kept on hammering me with the same point. we need american leadership. where is american leadership? look at the challenges in the world. look what's happening in the

middle east. look what's happening around the world. we need america to lead. let me tell you, if this man is your vice president and i'm your president, we will do everything in our power to keep america strong, to lead many the world, with strong values, strong homes, strong principles. we'll lead with a strong economy, fwet this economy going again so people have good jobs and so that we can make sure we have a military that's second to none in the world. it's essential america is strong. that's my commitment to you. we're going to get america back. we're going to make sure it remains strong. my request of you is that you also make a commitment.

i would like you to find one person who voted for barack obama that you could convince for paul ryan and had he. all right? you each know someone who voted for barack obama, and i know there are a lot of them out there that aren't quite sure what they're going to do, so you guys, i want you to meet with them and talk to them. i want to you tell them that we're going to help get good jobs. we're going to make sure we restore and strengthen our homes and schools. we're going to get america's economy so strong that we can afford a military that protects liberty for ourselves and preserves peace on the planet, and i'll bet if you do that job, we can make sure we win not just in november, but here in new hampshire. new hampshire, make the difference. help this man and i become the next president and vice president with your help we're going get america back. thank you so much. thank you. now it's your turn. now it's your turn here. we're going to take some questions and small audience

back here. please. just shout it out. i'm not -- >> politicians often talk about ending the national deficit. that's not -- the marshall debt. i'm wondering if you can say that to help us build you will end the national debt? not just the deficit, but the actual debt. >> well, as you know, we have about $16 trillion of debt, which is about the size of the total economy and passing on this debt to our kids. oh, and, by the way, not just the debt, but also unfunded promises to coming generations and our to our generation. that's about another $62 trillion on top of that. we're passing these burdens on every year. the folks at usa today calculate the number of debt and unfunded promise per household. it's over $500,000 per

household. you don't know you're carry and will carry and the interest on that and most likely my generation will be gone before all that interest and debt is paid off. these are burdens for things we've purchased during my lifetime that are going to get paid for by our kids. it's -- in my view it's not just bad economics, it's immoral for us to pass these burdens on to coming generations. what do i do? well, first you have to end the deficit and then accumulating reserves and growing. most states figure out how to do this. they balance their budget. in my state i came in and had about a $3 million budget gap. we balanced the budget and began building a rainy day fund. it was over $2 billion when i left. that's how you do it. what do we do here? i have three things that i do. one, get rid of the deficit. then let me tell you how we're going to go on and hard holding down the debt. three approaches. number one, we're going to get rid of programs we don't need.

my test is this. i look at every program and say is this so critical as a program it's worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? that o that basis we'reoing to get rid of programs like obama care and some others. number two, we're going to take a lot of programs and send them back to the states where they can be run more owe efficiently and with less fraud and abuse, and, number three, we're about to skinny down the size of the federal work force that remains with attrition to make sure it's more productive. now, how do you actually get to a balanced budget and start paying off the debt? the answer is there are three mathematical ways you can do that. one, you can raise taxes. want going to do that. that's a mathematical way. two, you can cut spending. i'm going to do that. number three, and most important, you can grow the economy. all right? and so when democrats say, oh, just raise taxes, what did he they don't understand is that raising taxes slows down growth, and it's like a dog chasing its tail. you're never going to get to the balanced budget by raising

taxes. you have to encourage growth. that's why our policies are focused on one, bringing down spending and, two, encouraging growth. that's why we champion small business. make it -- that's why we champion our energy resources. we want to grow this economy and cut federal spending. you do those two things. we get to a balanced budget, and ultimately we get rid of this debt. thank you so much. thanks. paul. this guy -- i want to hear what he has to say on this topic. he has been working on this for the past 14 years. >> i can't really top that. that is the magic secret. pro-growth economics to get people back to work. going from an unemployment check to creating and building businesses to having a paycheck. that brings in more re new through economic groelt growth. cut spending, reform government programs so that they are paid for. the problem is we've had decades of politicians from both

political parties making lots of empty promises to voters to get re-elected, and when will happen if we have a debt crisis is those empty promises become broken promise with painful consequences unless we act. turn on your tv when you get home. look at europe. that's what happens. they 345id all these empty promises. they have a debt crisis. now they're in recession. now they're slashing health and retirement benefits for current seniors, raising taxes, slowing down the economy. young people don't have jobs. we need to prevent and preempt that, and that's what this is designed to do. get people back to work. cut spending. reform government. prevent us from being europe. then we'll be the port in the storm in the global economy. america will be the place you want to create jobs, you want to have your company. this is the engine of economic growth we've had before. we can turn it around. if we do that, then we'll get our debt under control and get it paid off and our kids and our grandkids will have a debt-free nation just like our parents. they took on the challenges in their generation. we do that, and we revive the

american idea and the american legacy. >> governor romney, congressman, we have not had a budget at the federal level for three years. is the absence of a blueprint for our nation. there's an absence of the rapport with constituents and with congress, and that's the problem with our existing president. what are you two going to do when you're in the white house leading the nation to get a budget in place that will give confidence to the financial markets and give confidence to the business community in the world economy that you have just spoken about? >> yeah, thank you. good question. thank you. paul.

>> we're going to follow the law. go figure. we have a budget law. the budget law that governs how congress taxes and spends your money, that law says that not only is april 15th tax day for all americans. it's budget day for congress, and the congress is supposed to pass a budget every day -- every year by april 15th, but where kelly works, because she's in the minority, the senate has chosen to ignore this law for three years. we haven't had a budget for three years because the united states senate hasn't passed a budget for three years. you guys err heard of a guy named harry reid? okay. you have. i rest my case. >> apparently. >> yeah, i guess so. the point is it takes leadership. president obama has given us four budgets. each and every one of these budgets dumped the tough issues, kicked the can, and have given

us deficits that are over $1 trillion every single time, and no solution in sight. he punted leadership. the senate hasn't led. we're still living under the obama budget from 2009 that paved the way for obama care and everything else. we're going to follow the law, lead, introduce a budget that solves this problem. we need kelly have to have more help in the senate and courageous people who served on the budget committee who helped us do this, we're going to get courageous men and women back in the congress and we're going to lead and offer a budget and fix this mess before it gets out of our control. >> i'm just going to underscore one thing there. that is as the congressman indicated, there is the role of leadership. i hope you have experienced that in your homes, as moms and dads lead. you've seen it in the enterprise you may work. you've seen it in your state here. there are times when there's strong leadership and you're

able to get things done. there are other times in an enterprise you're associated with where you haven't seen the kind of leadership you need. the president the other day was speaking about some issues he hadn't tackled and congress hadn't acted on. he said they know where my office is. they know where the white house is. you got to be kidding. are you the president. you have to know where they are. go and meet with them. go talk to them. i mean, i remember -- >> he doesn't do that. >> he can't point at harry reid and say, oh, they can't get the job done there in the senate. he has to go over to the senate. he has to meet with them, talk with them. remember ronald reagan sitting down with tip o'neil. two more different guys i can't imagine. there are important things in the country at that time. there are important things today, and you have to have a president who after getting elected is willing to sit down with people across the aisle and lead america. this is that kind of time. we can't go on the way we're going on or we'll end up being greece.

we cannot do that. if i'm there, i will fight and i will lead and we'll have a budget and it will ultimately get us to a place where we can pay back debt. >> thank you, governor. when my son's boss asked why he wanted the day off, he said i get a chance to see romney and ryan, and he said you mean that guy that wants to raise taxes? what are you going to do to combat the lies the left are telling about you? >> yeah. thank you. it seems that the first victim of an obama campaign is the truth. it has been sad and disappointing. frankly, you know, when i became the presumptive nominee, the president called me and congratulated me on becoming the presumptive nominee and says the cult deserves an honest debate. i'm waiting to hear him begin that.

because all we've heard so far is one attack after the other. frankly, here not -- they're typically not honest. there may be one that is. i keep looking for it. it's been a disappointment. so, for instance, let me make this very clear. you know i signed a statement. i elizabeth raise taxes on anybody. i don't want to raise taxes on the american people. this is a president that has proposed raising taxes. let me just point out. you realize the great majority of enterprises that americans work in across this country are taxed as individuals. they pay that rate. they call them flow through companies. when you raise taxes on small business from 35% to 40%, you will kill jobs. then he put in place the obama care tax.

it doesn't sound very big. only 2.3% of revenues. not of profit. of revenues. let me tell you, the heart of my tax proposal. i will not raise taxes on the american people. i will not raise taxes on middle income americans. we're going to make sure that americans have the money to pay their bills. we're not going to raise taxes. that slows down growth and kills jobs. we're going to get this economy growing, and, mr. president, stop saying something that's not the truth. thank you. >> i tell you if you add up all these tax increase that is president obama is promising, it doesn't even pay for one-fifth of his proposed deficit spending

increases. if taxing, borrowing, and even more spending and more regulating were the secret to economic growth we would be entering a golden age along with greece today, and as mitt said, don't forget that eight out of ten of our businesses in america pay their taxes as individuals. where i come from, overseas, which where i come from means lake superior, the canadians just lowered their tax rate on all their businesses to 15% last january. president obama is promising that the tax rate on our successful small businesses where most of our jobs come from is going to go above 40% next january. when we tack at a higher tax rate than our competitors, we lose, they win. he may be taxing people on the

emotion of fear or envy or anxiety, speaking to people as if they're stuck in some station or class in life. that's not who we are in america. we believe in opportunity and in upward mobility and prosperity. we want people to succeed. we want businesses to grow because as businesses grow, as they can compete and they can thrive and survive, they give more people opportunities. our communities come together. that's what we're going to acclaim and achieve and get in charge and fix this mess in washington. >> mr. president, mr. vice president -- >> thank you for your service, sir. >> thank you for being here in good old new hampshire, home of

the red sox. i have a very pressing question to ask. i've heard a lot of good things from you folks, and i agree with you 100 percent, and this is not a curve ball, but i have a grandson, my wife and i do, that's headed afghanistan in 45 days. they haven't had much luck. okay for them. we have veterans, and i happen to be one of the romney veterans here in new hampshire. i'm proud of it. i want to know what you guys are going to do about afghanistan to get those characters over there shooting our guys and our guys are coming home in body bags. you guys take over washington, what are you going to do about the damn mess in afghanistan? >> first and you know i've said this to you before, thank you for your service personally. for our veterans and members of the armed forces, will you raise

your hand and be recognized? thank you. new hampshire serves america. thank you. thank you. let me say a couple of things in response. one is when our men and women are in harm's way, i expect the president of the wraits to address the nation on a regular basis and explain what's happening and why they're there, what the mission is, what its purpose is, how we'll know when it's completed. other presidents have done this. we haven't heard this president do this. this is something he ought to do time and time again so that people of america know where we stand. the idea that we're all here thinking about what's happening at home, i understand that, but we also want to recognize that there are people overseas that are fighting for us who are responding to the call of the

commander in chief and he ought to be reporting to their parents and their communities and the people of america. that's one thing i'll do. number two -- number two, to send men and women into harm's way is quite a high hurdle. you don't just do that at the drop of a hat or any time you don't see something you don't like in the world, you don't say we're iffing to send in our troops. you recognize american troops will require a significant american interest at stake. that's number one. number two, before you send them in, you would have to understand and communicate to the american people what the mission is and what we want to accomplish, why we're there, and then how we would know when the mission was completed and then you would mashgsz provide for them all the resources to protect them and to make sure they're successful in their mission, and then, finally, you would have to communicate to the american people what's going to happen after we go and how we're going to go. all these things have to be communicated. wish we had it from the beginning and all the way along the line. i can tell you this, when i

become commander in chief, if i'm so lucky, i will address the american people about these issues, and with regards to afghanistan, i will do everything in my power to transition from our military to their military as soon as possible, bring our men and women home and do so in a way consistent with our mission, which is to keep afghanistan from being overrun by a new entity that would allow afghanistan to be a launching point for terror again like it was on 9/11. thank you, sir. >> good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts at 30 rock in new york, and you've been watching mitt romney and paul ryan in a joint town hall addressing the crowds that have gathered there outside of church in manchester, new hampshire, which has just four electoral votes, but the campaigns are battling very hard to win that state. taking questions from voters, defending their plans. as you saw there, the last question talking about afghanistan. mitt romney talking in vague genralts about what it would mean under his presidency to go to war and also what it means to bring home our troops from afghanistan. there is a withdrawal plan under

president obama for that, but also on the agenda today republicans playing damage control. topic that is didn't come up today right there, but two separate firestorms erupting within the gop. the gop ticket has spent the last 24 hours trying to distance itself and limit the fall-out from the controversial comments about rape and pregnancy made by missouri republican senate candidate todd akin. the president republican's best hope for the recap fewer of the senate. this is how he responded when he was asked about exceptions on abortions when it comes to rape. >> from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> he was trained as an engineer. he worked for ibm as an engineer. >> what are you saying? >> that guy ought to know that there's not some magic vaginal switch. >> excuse me? >> also taking aim at akin democratic senator claire mccaskill who trailed in polls.

>> i know there's a lot of chatter nationwide about what congressman akin said, and i know you all are talking about this in the context of the presidential, but for the state i love, i hope this is a moment where everyone who hasn't been paying close attention, this statement is kind of a window into todd akin's mind. >> mitt romney has now come out condemning congressman akin's remarks calling them offensive. massachusetts senator scott brown face aing tough re-election of his own, came out this morning and called for akin to step down from the race. a week before the big republican party that's going to take place in tampa and akin's comments are the first hit of a one-two punch for the gop. the second a report that a freshman republican congressman took a dip in the sea of galilee in nothing but his birthday suit. >> think about the one-two pudge of akin and the sea of galilee thing. >> in the same 24 hours. >> for the republican party. i mean, mitt romney better be out today swinging. >> all right. let's bring in sean spicer,

communications director for the republican national committee. sean, it good to have you here, and we appreciate your patience. you know, this morning mark halprin tweeted that akin's remarks were a birthday gift. his birthday today is from the obama campaign. he was just on with my colleague chris januarysing on januarys and company, the last hour. here's what he had to say about it. take a listen. >> i didn't think there's any doubt that congressman akin's comments were both appalling and offensive and the broader debate that the republican party has been having over women's issues, it sounds like something we would have heard 50 years ago. >> so when you hear that, i know that we have just heard the gentleman, you know -- we've heard governor romney and congressman ryan talking to a town hall and enan engaged crowd in manchester. none of this coming up. romney today saying that this to the national review on-line. congressman akin's comments on rape are insult and inexcusable and frankly wrong. like millions of others americans, we found them to be offensive. sean sshgs this controversy going to overshadow the campaign's message for a while?

>> not at all. >> is the rnc going to call on congressman akin to step aside? >> well, i think that's up to him to decide. i think he admits that he made a mistake, that he used inappropriate language. i think we can all agree it was rep hencible and biologically stupid. he has come out and said that. governor romney and congressman ryan came out forcefully saying that they disagree with it. i think we're going to keep talking about the issues that i think are important to the american people. namely what you just had governor romney and congressman ryan there in new hampshire talking about the economy, debt, deficit, how to get this country back on track. >> sir, the statement, though, that -- we just want to be fair about this as we talk about akin himself releasing a statement saying that he did misspeak using the word misspoke. mitt romney called the comments wrong, called them offensive. however, the dnc debbie

wasserman-schultz said he had a bill that changed the definition of rape, calling it forciblerate rape. ryan has said that in the past he opposes abortion in cases of rape and incest. now, mitt romney, sean, has distance himself from ryan's budget, from his cuts to medicare. now at least part of ryan's abortion platform. is there a problem here with ryan on this ticket? shouldn't he be shoring up the ticket as opposed to contradicting that ticket when we look at paul ryan's political history? >> any ticket when you have -- you know, you are president obama or vice president biden or in this case congressman ryan, the top of the ticket leads. when you join a ticket, the number two joins the number one. mitt romney didn't look for a yes man, someone who agreed with him 100%. he looked for a serious running mate who has bold solutions to getting the deficit under control and instilling pro-growth economic policies. so if it's a question of is the

number two going to agree with the number one, 100% of the time, there's no -- that would be silly, and, frankly, that's not what i think governor romney looked for both in terms of paul ryan and the people that surround themselves in an administration. will he surround himself with people who are serious about tackling the problems that the country faces, will bring a variety of solutions to the table, and want to get the job done. so i think that's what you are going to hear us focussing on, and we look forward to a great convention starting next week in tampa. >> it's certainly not the attention that the ticket wants right now. my team has just found out that representative akin is not going to be on a broadcast today with kmox in st. louis. a radio station in st. louis. they booked him on friday for an interview today, and he has decided not to go through with that. this controversy, sean, surrounding akin is coming as politico is reporting the house republicans took a dip in the sea of galilee, one in the nude. roughly about a year ago. should the party be considered -- or worried,

rather, and considering what these twin controversies are going to do to the headlines? bad branding exactly one week before the kickoff of the convention. >> well, obviously we don't like to wake up and see that kind of stuff and in the case of that story, majority leader can'tor, the same story reports that he immediately took action and found that those -- the actions of those members of congress were inappropriate and scolded them. also, in the politico story this morning that has that has a story by glen thrush that details several problems in the obama campaign and the concern with how debbie wasserman-schultz and a lot of the infighting and campaign strategy problems that the obama campaign faces and, again, they're heading into their convention. you know, i don't think i'm particularly decide excited about the two stories that you mentioned on our side, but if i were them, i wouldn't be excited about what's going on their side either. we're going to be talking about the economy. >> if she were here, i would ask

her about what it means for them. i was asking about what it means for you and your branding for the rnc going into the conventions. >> right. again, i'll admit, those are not headlines that any party wants to wake up and see. as you mentioned governor romney and congressman ryan came out, talked about how those were inappropriate comments. they didn't share them, and they pushed back forcefully against them. then they got back on to the issues that are important to america right now. i think, you know, the end of the day, right now america -- you got 23 americans out of work. many of those who actually have worked are in jobs that aren't paying what they wanted or aren't doing what they wanted to be doing, and so we've got a housing problem. we've got a debt and deficit problem. we've got a huge issue with health care that's still not resolved because of what obama-care is doing. i think what we're going to focus on are those issues that affect america on a day to bay basis and continue to talk loudly and forcefully about when you get a bad headline, you deal with it, and you move on. again, i don't think that the

average american sitting out there are concerned about -- >> those are the big concerns of the day, then why do you think that representative akin gets tripped up about abortion. if those are the big headlines and the big concerns, why do you think someone of his stature gets caught up in something like this if that is not something that's on his mind? >> well, i don't -- as you mentioned before, i mean, it's a great question to ask him. i don't speak for him. we are a large party. we've got obviously majority in the house, a large number of senators, governors. i can't speak to why every candidate says what they do. i can tell you where we stand as a party, and i can tell you where governor romney and congressman ryan as the top of the ticket what they believe the important issues are facing america, and when someone in our party does something that is inappropriate, they're going to stand up and show that bold leadership that says that that's not appropriate and get back to the issues that are important. >> sean spicer from the rnc. again, thanks for your patience. i really appreciate it. i'm looking at the shot that i left, and romney and ryan still taking questions there in new hampshire.

we'll keep our eye on that. i want to move on to other breaking news. historic news that we're following this morning coming to us out of georgia because the folks at the augusta national golf course there, the home of the masters, marking a water shed moment in the world of golf. inviting the male awes all male membership and changing that by admitting its first two women. that's right. south carolina financeir darla moore and condoleezza rice. they have both been offered membership. this is the first times in augusta's history that women have been offered a private invitation to join. both accepted. the chairman saying that these accomplished women share our passion for the game of golf and both are well known and respected by our membership. they said in a statement also that it will be a proud moment when we present condoleezza and darla their green jackets when the club opens this fall. this is a significant and positive time in our club's history. on behalf of our membership, i want to take this opportunity to welcome them and all of our new members into the augusta

national family. again, the season for augusta opening in october, and when they do, they will have two women as formal members. you're looking at them right there. darla moore and condoleezza rice. we're back after this. atd anc ] elib f buoehi rtalenre tu.

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[ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible. is. welcome back. we want to go to the white house where the first introduced by a named marshall read, a former overweight child that wrote a book called "portion-size me." it's the first state dinner for kids. kids invited who sent into the white house healthy recipes. let's listen in. >> i want to start by thanking all of the staff, everyone who helped put together this gorgeous room, the tablecloths, the chairs. this stuff isn't normally here. they brought this in for you. did you notice the centerpieces on the table? everything was thought out to the nth detail down to the little drink glasses and your programs. it's just so wonderful.

i want to thank everyone who put so much time and effort into making this day special. again, he want to thank marshall for that very sweet introduction. he is an outstanding role model, truly, for kids in this country and we are so proud of him. we're so proud of his family, because again, you often can't do this alone. you need some kind of support for young people to get on the right track. so we're just grateful that he is now one of those leaders, has written a book and is going to do magnificent stuff in the future so congratulations, marshall. and of course, i want to thank epicurious for their tremendously generous support of this event. through their efforts to make today possible, they have inspired kids across this country to learn about healthy eating and to get in the kitchen

and start cooking, right? for how many people was this the first cooking you've done? you guys are old hands. you guys are always in the kitchen. you are going to inspire some kids to get in the kitchen, just understand that. this is exactly the kind of leadership that we need to give all of our kids the healthy futures they deserve. so i want to thank tanya as well as the folks from the departments of education and agriculture. we have representatives here -- >> we're listening to the first lady addressing a group of 54 different kids between the ages of 8 and 12 at the first ever state dinner just for kids. these are all kids that were chosen to be there today by sending in healthy recipes to the white house. we will be back with more after this. pitching is 100% mental. you have to be locked in.

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that's going to wrap things up for me today. thanks for your time. see you back here tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern time. don't go anywhere. "now" with alex wagner is next. you have a very special show ahead that works out to be really timely. >> it is indeed. coming up, it is a special edition of "now" dedicated to women in politics. on the heels of missouri congressman todd akin's controversial comments on abortion, we will discuss whether attitudes towards women are moving backwards. we will tackle the most important issues facing women this election season. specifically, the underrepresentation of women in office, their roles as leaders and legislators, equal pay and how far women have come, and have yet to go. our all-star lineup features senator kirsten gillibrand and kay bailey hutchison, lilyledbetter and gabrielle union, all coming up in 180 seconds. ♪

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