joining me tonight is ben labolt, national press secretary for the obama campaign 2012. very basic, ben. how can romney go out there and the republicans go out there and get away, after day saying, you know, the president has no plan. it's easy to pick up the research here of what we just did. it's very easy to see what was introduced, when it was introduced, what it was targeted for, and what it would have done. but your opponent is out there saying, hasn't done anything. how do you not let him get away with it? >> that's a good question. there is a candidate in this race who doesn't have a plan to create jobs, and it's mitt romney. he's been telling voters he has a 50-point economic plan, but it's just filled with warmed-over republican rhetoric and things we've tried before and haven't spurred job creation. things like $5 trillion tax cuts for the wealthiest, repealing wall street reform and leaving the middle class held hostage to the sorts of risky financial deals that put our entire economy at risk. the president's had this plan to create over a million jobs on the

ben labolt is the national press secretary for the obama campaign. he joins us this morning. morning, ben. >> morning, luke. >> romney was asked whether he would repeal the obama executive order on immigration. let's take a listen. >> my anticipation is, i would come into office and say we need to get this done. on a long-term basis, not this kind of a stopgap measure. what the president did, he should have worked on this years ago. if he felt seriously about this, he should have taken action when he had a democrat house and senate. but he didn't. >> i'll pose the question to you there, ben labolt. president obama had huge margins in the house, a filibuster approved senate for the first two years of his presidency. why not push the dream act through in the first 100 days? why was it done just -- or some variation of it done this past friday? and by executive order? >> well, it came up for a vote. look, the president for a long time has been committed to comprehensive immigration reform, and he's been committed to the dream act. the fact is, it came up for a vote in congress.

and ben labolt will talk about targeting key voters. the day-to-day political operations, and we will look inside the chicago headquarters. "wrote to the white house" today at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on c- span. >> how to approach book interview's differently than news reporting interviews? >> book interview this are gathering -- interviews are gathering history. i think of interviewing when i'm working for the news side as gathering contemporary information. >> how difficult is it to remain impartial in your reporting and not get caught up in one campaign? >> i am going to try to give people it is full understanding of what is happening in this campaign. it is not that difficult to put your biases to the side. >> has social media changed work? >> twitter is not a primary new source for anybody who covers politics and anybody who pays attention to politics. twitter did not exist four years ago. the >> tonight, students interviewed dan balz. tonight at 8:00 p.m. on c-span. >> house republicans say they will vote on whether to cite attorn

thanks so much to ben labolt.ere are new polls showing a tightening race between the president and mitt romney in three battleground states. colorado, iowa and nevada. all states the president won in 2008. now, one thing that could swing the vote, though, is women, and we know they are important. issues they care about central to this campaign. today a heated debate over sex-selective abortions. dana bash is outfront. >> reporter: what you're looking at is a sting operation. an anti-abortion actor undercover at a texas planned parenthood clinic pretending to want an abortion if she's having a girl. a planned parenthood staffer helps by giving advice on how to find out the baby's gender. >> you don't have to say what you're going to go do. >> reporter: planned parenthood released a state saying it condemns sex selection motivated by gender bias and fired its employee caught on tape. appearing to help do just that. and in yet another video from new york city just released today, a social worker doesn't encourage abo

. >> ben labolt, thank you very much. good to see you on the program again. >> thanks for having me. >> let me bring you back in. do you think those kinds of attacks resonate with the american people. do they care the president is at six fund raisers today? does that work for republicans? >> i don't think that people pay that much attention to how many fund-raisers candidates do. i do think the point you made in that last question is important, that barack obama vastly outspent john mccain in 2008, was able to compete in states he probably wouldn't have been able to compete in, because of that fund raising advantage. this time, he is almost certainly going to be outspent when you put all of the republican money together. again, i don't think presidential races are all that affected by money, as long as it's reasonably close. but i do think it may open up the map a little bit for romney. put states like north carolina that obama carried narrowly the last time perhaps out of reach. and i just think it's going to be a very d

campaign and the political media strategy with the campaigns david axelrod and then labolt -- and ben labolt. we'll talk about the day-to-day obama operations and we will look inside the chicago headquarters. "wrote to the white house," tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. on tuesday at the heritage foundation, a former alabama congressmen artur davis. he seconded the nomination of barack obama at the democratic national convention. other speakers included ohio congressman jim jordan and tea party pay to co-founder jenny that martin. this is one hour. >> ok, we will go ahead and get started. i hear we are out of food. sorry. i guess it pays to show up early, right? [laughter] todd will like that. thank you, everybody, for joining us to the bloggers meeting. welcome. welcome to our viewers on c- span. thank you for attending in today. for those of you who are new, basically, we will have three speakers. we will give them an opportunity to make some remarks and then we will take your questions. we will begin with artur davis. his the former member of congress from alabam

campaign strategist david axelrod and campaign strategist ben labolt, and the effort to target key voters in battleground states. also the day-to-day political operations and the social media and a tour of the chicago headquarters. that's sunday at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. this past march witnesses on capitol hill said the federal government needs to put more resources into traumatic brain injury treatment and research. the house energy and commerce subcommittee health also heard from government officials who described efforts to coordinate tbi programs across various agencies. the centers for disease control and prevention says 1.7 million americans sustain a traumatic brain injury every year. this is just under 90 minutes. >> subcommittee will come to order. the chair recognizes himself for five minutes for an opening statement. as many of you know, march is brain injury awareness month. according to the cdc an estimated 1.7 million people sustained a traumatic brain injury each year and of that figure, 1.365 million or 80% are treated and released from the emergency room. 275,000 a

ben labolt of the obama campaign responds tonight. >> let's get to work! governor rick scott is officially refusing to stop his voter purge. the attorney general is responding. we'll have the latest from

. >> ben labolt, good to have you with us tonight. lots more coming up. stay tuned. we're right back. >> very clearly they made a crisis, and they're using this crisis to somehow take away or limit people's second amendment rights. >> the big panel on the big conspiracy theory before the republican fast and furious witch-hunt. >>> student loan rates double in nine days unless republicans act. >> if congress does not get this done in a week, the average student rack up an additional $1,000 in debt over the coming year. >> the president was making his case for action today. that report ahead. and it's the clearest evidence yet. why obama care is working and why republicans want it dead? former congressman alan greyson on the big news on the health insurance refund. as a home, there are things i'm supposed to do. like, keep one of these over your head. well, i wasn't "supposed" to need flood insurance, but i have it. fred over here chose not to have it. ♪ me, i've got a plan. fred he uh... fred what is your plan? do i look like i have a plan? not really. [ female announ

ben labolt of the obama campaign responds tonight. >> let's get to work!officially refusing to stop his voter purge. the attorney general is responding. we'll have the latest from florida. >> we will make sure that the federal law is enforced. and we have to enforce the law to protect the rights

. >> ben labolt, good to have you with us tonight. lots morce coming up. stay tuned. right back. >> very clearly they made a crisis, and they're using this crisis to somehow take away or limit people's second amendment rights. >> the big panel on the big conspiracy theory before the republican fast and furious witch-hunt. >>> student loan rates double in nine days unless republicans act. >> if congress does not get this done in a week, the average student rack up an additional $1,000 in debt over the coming year. >> the president was making his case for action today. that report ahead. and it's the clearest evidence yet. why obama care is working and why republicans want it dead? former congressman alan greyson on the big news on the health insurance refund. ♪ summer in new york state has something different for everyone to love. discover what you love. visit ilovenewyork.com to plan your summer trip now. constipated? phillips' caplets use magnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives, for effective relief of constipation

ben labolt of the obama campaign responds tonight. >> let's get to work!ly refusing to stop his voter purge. the attorney general is responding. we'll have the latest from florida. >> we will make sure that the federal law is enforced.

. >> ben labolt, thank you for giving us insight into the campaign. >> here is a look at president's obama -- president obama's scheduled this week. president obama meets with the crown prince of abu dabi to discuss regional issues. continuing wrote to the white house coverage on the c-span networks, c-span radio, and on our web site, c-span.org. >> this week on "after words," a discussion on fast and furious. >> there are hundreds of mexican citizens who have been murdered as a result of this. the only thing we knew outside a big government program was that american gun dealers were going into mexico and causing all of these problems with the cartel. the government was sanctioning these sales and sending them into mexico. >> tonight at 9:00 p.m. parts of book tv on c-span 2. >> republican presidential candidate mitt romney spoke thursday at the national association of latino elected officials. he criticized president obama's decision to halt the deportation. >> thank you for that generous introduction. i appreciate the chance to be with you today. i am delighted to be invited to you

we will talk with chief strategist david axelrod and press secretary ben labolt. we'll also take you inside the chicago headquarters. that is sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. . .

the obama campaign's national press secretary ben labolt will join us along with nicolle wallace. said he screamed for help during an incident that happened in sandusky's basement. we'll take a look at what the defense is going to say next. we'll talk to criminal defense attorney jose baez, famous for getting casey anthony acquitted. if he were sandusky's defense attorney, what would he do? >>> also, the former star of two live crew, remember them? the hard core rappers, luther campbell is now a high school football coach in miami. >> that does not look like two live crew. there's a new battle over whether or not he should get his teacher's certificate that would allow him to continue coaching because of his past as a hard core rapper. >> might make him a better teacher. >> it could. that and the top stories starting at the top of the hour. >> that is going to be good. i'm sticking arranound for that one. >>> egypt on edge. a court ruling is leaving a lot of people wondering, what exactly do we have going on at the head of government? do we even have government? why did we go craz

spokesman ben labolt e-mailing this statement, mitt romney has been actively campaigning on a promiseall street write its own rules again and pursue risky financial deals that put our economy at risk. president obama still has support from many business leaders who agree with the measures he's taken to try to prevent another financial crisis. >> even with a significant drop in money coming in, he's still raising a ton of money. >> that's right. analysts say the president and his campaign team very good at raising small contributions from all over the country. he's raising almost half of his money that way right now. some analysts predict he's going to get to a cool $1 billion come november. some say he may not get quite that far. but he's not going to have much problem raising money overall. he's just not going to get it from wall street. >> brian, thank you very much. >>> another new medical study shows something we thought was good for us maybe not so much after all. the supplements you're taking to strengthen your bones may be causing another kind of health problem. >>> and will pr

at the obama for america campaign and a look at the strategy with david axelrod and ben holt -- ben labolt. we will take a look inside the chicago headquarters. "wrote to the white house" tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. and 90 p.m. eastern here on c-span. governor's mansion. >> here we have a photograph of brown and his wife and his child brad pitt in what is interesting about him is that -- child brad. what is interesting about him is that it is daughter -- >> book tv in american history tv explore the heritage and literary culture of missouri state capital, jefferson city. >> there was a boxer governor his horse up the front steps of the mansion into the dining room and proceeded to feed his horse boats out of the sideboard. the comment was that he probably should not be feeding his horse in the governor's mansion command is common to them was that, i have had to feed more people in this home with less manners than my horse has. >> july 7 and eighth on c-span 2 and c-span 3. >> in his weekly radio address, president obama called on congress to pass a jobs bill that he says will create employment o

. >> we'll talk to ben labolt who will give ugs the other side later this morning. appreciate it. thank you. >>> still ahead on "starting point." after all of that graphic testimony from eight alleged victims in the jerry sandusky trial, how does the defense counter? we'll talk to jose baez, the guy who got casey anthony acquitted. he'll weigh in next. >>> also get real for the groom who never made to his reception before he cheated on the bride. come on. we're sharing our heads. we start our "starting list" playlist this morning with ledisi. ine, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] >>> welcome back. the jerry sandusky trial is in recess today. it will pick up on monday morning when the prosecution is expected to wrap up its case and the defense is expected to begin that case. some of the most shocking and graphic testimony came from three alleged victims yesterday. the accuser, the victim rather, known as victim numb

guests are david axelrod and ben labolt. use of social media and operational boat to target key battleground states. we will get a tour of their chicago headquarters. sunday on c-span. this weekend, the civil war and the movement to end slavery. >> one of the fascinating hiscts upon abolitionists' when lincoln does his inaugural, the self-described abolitionists are still a minority, and they are still slight. what transformed abolitionists into respected, prescient critics of the american team is fort sumter. >> "the contenders," a look at eugene debs, sunday at 7:30 p.m., this weekend on c-span3. >> out the new approach book interviews differently than news reporting interviews? >> i think it as a gathering history. interviewing when i am working for the news side, i think as gathering contemporary information. >> how difficult is it to remain impartial? >> i am want to try as best as i can get people as full an understanding of what is happening in this campaign. it is not that difficult to put your biases to the side. >>

. -- ben labolt. they talk about social and media and it tends to target key voters in at -- a battleground states. edison and i, 6:30 p.m. on c- span. -- sunday night, 6:30 p.m. on c- span. >> how you approach book interviews differently from news reports and interviews? >> the book is viewed as gathering history. interviewing when i am working for the news side as -- is gathering contemporary information. >> how difficult is it to remain impartial and not get caught up in one campaign or in other? >> i tried to, as best as i can, give people a full understanding of what is happening in this campaign. it is not that difficult to put your biases to the side. >> how has social immediate change to work in terms of reporting? >> twitter is now a primary source for anybody who covers politics. it did not exist four years ago. >> perdue university students interview the washington post reporter on at the newspaper business, covering elections, and the rise of social media. sunday at 8:00 on c-span. earlier

we'll have a look at the obama for campaign with the campaign's david axelrod and press secretary ben labolt. they'll talk about operation vote, the effort to target key voters in battleground states. also, they'll be discussing the day-to-day obama political operations, how the campaign is using social media, local news markets, and cable, and we'll also take a look inside the obama re-election chicago headquarters. all of that is on the next edition of "road to the white house." you can see that on sunday at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. eastern time on c-span. you'll also be able to listen to it on c-span radio. you want more details about "road to the white house" or any other programming, find it on our website, c-span.org. back to the phones. golds brow, north carolina. joyce is on our line for democrats. good morning, joyce. caller: good morning. host: what's the impact of the supreme court's decision going to be on and you your family regarding the healthcare law? caller: myself personally, nothing. i'm on medicare. i don't think it will affect medicare. but i do wish that there are member

. >> ben labolt, thank you for giving us insight into the campaign. >> president obama begins the week on the campaign trail. a short time ago he left events in new hampshire and boston. tomorrow, several more events. c-span is covering a number of these stops. tokyo c-span -- go to c- span.org. the court struck down three of the provisions leaving in place the part where police can check the immigration status. also, on the emigration decision, mitt romney had these remarks. today's decision underscores the need for a president who will lead on this issue to pursue a national immigration strategy. president obama has failed. i believe that each state has a duty and the right to pursue our borders, particularly when the federal government has failed to meet its responsibilities. as candid it obama he promised, but we're still waiting. go on line where we have set up a session where you can post your comments. go to facebook.com/cspan. thursday, they are expected to release the results of the health-care law. the republican u.s. senate candidates are having a july 31 runoff after neithe

we'll talk with chief strategist david axlerod and press secretary ben labolt.peration vote to discuss battleground states. that's sunday evening at 6:30 and 9: 30 eastern here on c-sp c-span. >> defense secretary leon panetta said veterans suicide prevention is one of the most challenging tasks he's faced since he entered the job. he spoke at a suicide prevention conference in washington. the veterans affairs department estimates that 18 veterans take their own lives every day and the defense department recently confirmed that suicide is among -- among veterans are on the rise. this is about half an hour. [ captioning provided by national captioning institute ] [ captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012 ] [ applause ] thank you. thank you. thank you very much. thank you all for your leadership, for your wise council and for your commitment to ensuring our servicemembers and their families receive the kind of treatment and support that they so richly deserve. i'd like to express my appreciation to all of you in this audience, appreciation for comin