. >> i'm joined by alice stewart. alice, let me start with you, do you think it's inevitable that akin's going to drop out? >> that's up to him what he's going to do. we've had people that have asked for that. governor romney and ryan disagree with what he's said. it's inexcusable, it's wrong and there's no place in the gop ticket for something like that. to make as to what he does. but the most important thing is for people to understand at least from the presidential ticket side, that they disagree with what he says, and they do support abortion in cases of rape. >> i doubt it's a coincidence that president obama chose to have a press conference today for the first time in weeks. how much impact do the democrats think this is going to have. >> this is not just about todd akin, this is about the republican party. this has been 18 months of a war on women, just being waged by the republican party. and i want to remind everybody, and i think every woman is going to know this by election day, todd akin and paul ryan are

. >> alice stewart, thank you very much. stephanie shriok, thank you as well. >> thank you. >> thank you, anderson. >> as we just heard, the akin controversy has brought romney and ryan's positions on women issues to the forefront. especially in ryan's case. it's a hard-line stance the democrats have wasted no time in seizing upon. tom foreman has that. >> reporter: as soon as paul ryan was picked, democrats hit hard on women's rights. a laundry list of complaints about the wisconsin congressman popped up on the president's re-election website. and this white house attack ad went white hot. >> in congress, ryan voted to ban all federal funding to planned parenthood. and allow employers to deny women access to cancer screenings and birth control. both romney and ryan backed proposals to outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. >> reporter: the ad exaggerates some of those claims. while romney's position on abortion rights has been a moving target, he's supported them in the case of rape or incest 37 ryan's record sh

alice stewart is the former press secretary for rick santor santorum's campaign. amy stoddard associate editor and columnist for "the hill" and chris cofinas democratic strategist. you heard larry kudlow say we have to be strong on specifics. where will the cuts take place? we know that governor romney is not embracing the paul ryan budget plan but we're still in the situation, they're talking about cuts that seem to be still a mystery. where are they coming from? >> well, that will be determined as we get closer to it. but they've made it very, very clear -- >> what is closer to it? aren't we in a crisis? >> they made it very clear the most important thing to do at this point is cut federal spending and encourage private sector growth and get us back on the road to a balanced budget. that's most important. and they have outlined their middle class tax plan which includes energy independence, which includes better trade for america, which includes greater skills for american workers. they've outlined specific steps on what we need to do in order to rein in the siz

i want to thank my wednesday power panel, joy-ann reid, chris kofinas and alice stewart. >>> we are keeping a close eye on what's taking place with isaac. a slow moving category 1 hurricane. now sulking -- or soaking the louisiana coast. i'm going to talk with senator mary loaned randrieu who rode o storm in her home. >>> former congressman artur davis, a former democrat and ted cruise who sprinkle someday spanish into his big speech. and as always, we want to hear what you think. do you think they should have switched up last night. maybe let ann romney go last and chris christie go first? tweet me your thoughts. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against t

tomorrow, governor rick snyder, for forum santorum aid alice stewart. .arrett, susan page, mike kranish and jim vandehei also. >>> we are following breaking news, tropical storm isaac. in the next hour we will get the latery advisory on the storms. also joined by new orleans mayor. also jefferson parish, many of you will recognize the names, devastated by hurricane katrina. how are they preparing this time around? also, breaking news, republican convention in tampa where the gavel is set to come down to open the convention at the top of the hour and we know that isaac has already had an impact on that convention. all of that coming up for you in just three minutes. the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie sweetener. with the original sugar-like taste you love and trust. splenda makes the moment yours. watd anc ]relib f sugar-li

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joining us, our cnn contributor, the democratic strategist, donna brazile and alice stewart, a formernd michele bachmann presidential campaigns. ladies, let's start off with this new obama campaign ad featuring a star. >> this election to me is about which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper income people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from the ground up, investing in innovation, education and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. >> i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. >> all right, alice, what did you think of that ad? >> well, it's kid of hard to say who he's promoting there. he wants to talk about who is going to return us to jobs and who is going to help promote the middle class. that's governor romney. that's the romney/ryan ticket. with all due respect to president clinton, he's

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