wolf blitzer moderated the debate, john king, david gergern, zbloer ya borger, eric ericson, paul begala, ari fleischer and roland martin. i don't know how many folks we have, i lost count. qst talked to john king. there was this -- there's one particular exchange on social security between rick perry and mitt romney that got a lot of people's attention. we heard a bit of it before, but i want to play an extended version now. >> do you still believe that social security should be ended as a federal program as you did six months ago when your book came out. or do you want to retreat from that. >> i think we ought to have a conversation. >> we're having that right now, governor -- >> if you'll let me finish, i'll finish. are there ways to move states into social security. for state employees or retirees. we did it in the state of texas in the 1980s, i think those types of thoughtful conversations with america, rather than trying to scare seniors like you're doing and other people, it's time to have a legitimate conversation in this country about how to fix that program or that's not bankru

michael gerishen, gloria borger, helene cooper and andrew sullivan. that's the show.nk you for watching. see you back here next week.

. >> gloria borger is our chief political analyst. gloria, we're going to get in a moment to find out about whether or not we are still in a recession or danger into getting into another one. but a cnn poll shows 37% of americans approve of how president obama is handling unemployment, or the employment situation. on thursday night, the president gives his jobs speech. politically, what could he possibly say to convince americans that his administration has some idea or answer to fixing this chronic, dire unemployment situation? >> well, he's got to go out there and tell the american people that he's got proposals to try and fix this unemployment problem. so you're probably going to hear some things from him that people will like such as payroll tax cut extension, tax credits for employers who hire new employees, those kinds of things that he believes that republicans will sign on to. the question is, how big is this package going to be because if it's too big, you know republicans will not go for it. so he's got a decision he's got t

gloria borger, our chief political analyst.ct, gloria, this is tense and about to get a little bit more tense. >> reporter: it is going to get more tense. you're seeing the beginning of a negotiation. you point out, this is the president's marker, and he laid down this marker so the base of the democratic party which has been kind of upset with him, would know exactly where he is going into these negotiations. there are a couple of things that barack obama has been criticized for in the past by democrats. one is, not participating enough in negotiations, and, two is, when he does participate, they believe he kind of negotiates with himself and gives away a lot before he actually enters the room. what you've done, laid down marker saying, if this were a perfect world for democrats, woe do a lot of things, including repealing the bush tax cuts. end the subsidies for oil and gas, es spetly, et cetera. and saying, we have to reform the tax code. when we reform the tax code these are the things that are important to me, because we w

joining us now is erick erickson and gloria borger. you think that he went too far with this last night? >> i thought she scored sizable points against rick perry last night. had she stopped there, she probably would be okay. but to go on to the mental retardation issues today without knowing the woman was i think the quickest implosion of a candidate since the dean scream in 2004. we learned at redstate.com today that michele bachmann was in the minnesota legislature and they did on the similar grounds of hpv, they did the hepatitis b vaccine. not only did they not include a parental opt-out, they didn't include an opt-in. it was mandatory. we can't find a record that shows that michele bachmann either sponsored, drafted, submitted or wrote legislation to include a parental opt-in or opt-out. this makes the issue in texas moot when she was in the minnesota legislature to fix the hep-b vaccine and she didn't attempt it. >> really her argument last night, putting aside the mental disability issue which she suddenly brought up today, but

. >> gloria borger, i can't wait to see what you come up with. cnn poll finds two-thirds of americans say creating jobs is a more important goal for this administration than reducing the deficit. gloria, the president called for a joint session of congress to deliver that jobs plan. clearly he wanted the american people to view him as a leader on job creation. did he convince americans? >> we'll have to wait and see. he was talking to independent voters out there, the swing voters that are so important that are so upset about the fact that congress isn't able to get anything done. what the president was trying to do was to say to voters, look, i am a reasonable man, i'm laying down a gauntlet for congress. they can decide if they're going to take it or leave it. but if republicans out there decide that they don't want to take this package, they're going to have to explain to the american voters why. what was very important was the president said, i'm going to take this on the road, which means the game is on here for the 2012 campaign. and he's c

joining us now is erick erickson and gloria borger. you think that he went too far with this last night? >> i thought she scored sizable points against rick perry last night. had she stopped there, she probably would be okay. but to go on to the mental retardation issues today without knowing the woman was i think the quickest implosion of a candidate since the dean scream in 2004. we learned at redstate.com today that michele bachmann was in the minnesota legislature and they did on the similar grounds of hpv, they did the hepatitis b vaccine. not only did they not include a parental opt-out, they didn't include an opt-in. it was mandatory. we can't find a record that shows that michele bachmann either sponsored, drafted, submitted or wrote legislation to include a parental opt-in or opt-out. this makes the issue in texas moot when she was in the minnesota legislature to fix the hep-b vaccine and she didn't attempt it. >> really her argument last night, putting aside the mental disability issue which she suddenly brought up today, but

still with us, mary matalin, and peter hart and cnn's gloria borger. run republican campaigns for a living, mary, heading into the next stretch, what is the biggest question for governor perry to prove, that after the initial boomlet, he has staying power? >> he's a very solid front-runner. peter's polls show he's got the highest front-runner number of any previous front-runner and i think also peter's poll shows among the most intense activists, the so-called self-identified tea party activists, he's 2-1, holds a 2-1 lead and all this happened in three weeks. but he has to show that he can withstand the front-runner assault, the comparable period in the last cycle hillary clinton and rudy giuliani and fred thompson were the front-runners, so you have to stand up to having the target on your back, which i think he -- his political skills as are evidenced in his longest-serving governor in texas are considerable and misunderestimated as we adopted texans say, so we'll get through the debates. and i think it's got down to the two-man races as ed rollins

talk about it with cnn political analyst david gergen and gloria borger.hear republicans and captor saying they are not playing politics with disaster relief funding, especially as government shutdown looms, do you buy that? >> anderson, i think both sides are going to try to make points, democrats try to do that in the senate. gloria has been reporting on that to make points off the fema thing. i think they will get something passed, i don't think there will be a government shutdown. the amount of money at issue here is actually modest, but what this has done, it was one of the thing that was a backdrop to the markets going down so much today. the investors looking and saying, my god, those people in washington haven't made peace they can can't even agree on this tiny little bit of business. and it is fueling a sense that they are not going to be able to get a real bargain on -- big bar gape on t gain on deficits is. >> they cut this deal on the set ceiling, we passed a bill to keep the government running known as a continuing resolution it is going to be

senior political analyst, gloria borger, is here. paul because he has a remarkably fervent group of supporters, they e-mail and tweet and call us and complain if they don't think we're giving him a fair shake. and they're everywhere around the country where you go, growth ability? >> no. you know, he's not even going to win a primary. he's an important part of the debate. in fact, i would argue that the debate in this campaign in the republican party has moved more towards ron paul than away from ron paul when you think back to 2000. >> in terms of troops overseas and muscular foreign policy. >> absolutely. when you heard about republicans talking about bringing our troops home, et cetera, so it's moved towards him, but on issues like that, ron paul does not carry the republican party. >> and so between the two guys at the top, governor perry and governor romney, the biggest dispute has been social security. governor romney trying to essentially say don't nominate this guy because he thinks social security is unconstitutional and he'

i'm joined here in tampa by david gurden and our chief, political analyst, gloria borger.art with the president. he gave the speech thursday night, surrounded by teachers, firefighters, policeman, people he says would be helped by his jobs act. construction workers. the president in the rose garden and his case to the american people is, help me, and in part, he says republicans should like most of what's in my plan. he thinks they oppose it simply because passing it might help him politically. >> the notion that there are folks who would say, we're not going to try to do what's right for the american people, because we don't think it's convenient for our politics, we've been seeing that too much around here. and that's exactly what folks are tired of. >> is that what this is? or is it just a legitimate policy difference? >> there are genuine philosophical differences between the parties on this. just as they have been on how you cut the deficits. and john, i think, politically, there have been two surprises since the president's speech. the president was all fired up for

gloria borger, appreciate it. getting interesting. >> yep. >>> and next more about the debate.the facts. >> instead of giving it to the states, let's give it back to the -- [ male announcer ] this...is the network. a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world...work. rethink possible. [ doorbell rings ] hello there. i'm here to pick up helen. ah. mom? he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ when the things that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps

. >> and we know, gloria borger, erin is going to stand by as we see members there. there's gene sperling, the president's economic adviser walking in as well. he's a member of the cabinet, the director of the economic council. once he's tout will be a moment or so before the president himself is introduced by the deputy sergeant at arms of the congress. gloria, $450 billion, that's what we're told that this package that the president will announce tonight will cost. and republicans no doubt quickly will say this is just more of the same old, same old. the economic stimulus package that they say didn't work two years ago. this is not going to work now. >> right. >> either, and they will dismiss it. >> to follow up on what david gergen was saying. the republicans are going to say it's too large. the folks at the white house understand that the republicans are going to say that, but they also have a democratic constituency they are trying to speak to as well, wolf. so i think what they are optimistic about, what jessica was talking about what, they are optimistic about

. >> and we know, gloria borger, erin's going to stand by as we see members there, there's gene spurling the president's economic adviser walking in, he's a member of the cabinet, the director of the national economic council. once he's out it will be just a moment or so before the president himself is introduced by the deputy sergeant of arms of the congress. gloria, $450 billion, that's what we're told, that this package the president will announce tonight will cost. and republicans no doubt quickly will say this is just more of the same old, same old. the economic stimulus package that they say didn't work two years ago, this is not going to work now -- >> right. >> -- either, and they'll dismiss it. >> to follow up on what david gergen was saying, the republicans are going to say it's too large. the folks at the white house understand that the republicans are going to say that. but they also have a democratic constituency they're trying to speak to as well, wolf. so, i think what they're optimistic about what jessica was talking about, what they're optimistic about is getting the, sa

i'm gloria borger of cnn and with me is the executive editor of the news hour jam lehrer who's just written a fabulous book called "tension city: mauney view from the middle seat," which is going to be on bookstands on september 13th, and it's all about the presidential debates. we will watch the presidential debates, some of us cover the presidential debates but you are the only person i know was moderated the presidential debates how many of them? >> guest: 11 of them. >> host: 11 of them alone and you are the man in the middle seat at the center of the stage. you've written fiction about these debates but you have never told us what it is like to be in the middle. and why did you decide to write a nonfiction book about debates this time? >> guest: i thought it was time to do it. i felt that 2008 when i did the obama mccain debate i knew this was probably going to be my last presidential debate and so i decided pretty much that was the case, so i started collecting my thoughts and i'd taken a lot of notes through the previous ten and i realized i had things i wanted to say that it would b

cnn's david gergen and gloria borger. let's start first with the policy challenge. the president was at the united nations. the president was not scheduled to meet with the palestinian leader abbas, but they will have that meeting wednesday. david gergen, how critical is it for the president to try to convince president abbas and what might there be as a compromise? >> it is enormously important to the united states, john, and to much of western europe. and that's why tony blair is trying to head this off. we are in this situation. president obama said he supports statehood for the palestinians. if the palestinians now look for a vote on that in the security council, we promise we would veto it. in other words, the president who supported statehood is going to now veto statehood and that, as you saw, will risk a backlash not only in the arab states but palestinians and could put the united states -- the statehood issue itself could lead to more violence. it certainly will lead to an end to prospects for negotiations any time soon with the israelis. >> gloria, the pr

john king, erin burnett, the host of the upcoming "up front" paul begala, gloria borger, eric ericksonnd editor of red state.com and cornell belcher and david frum, speech writer for george w. bush and founder of forumforum.com. eric, i noticed a tweet you posted a few minutes ago. you wrote, quote, instead of yelling, you lied at him, i wish they would laugh at this farce. this speech is a rehash joke. tough words. why do you think it's a joke? >> you know, i heard this speech before. i heard it in january 2011. i heard it in january of 2010 and in february of 2009, and, you know, we wouldn't have had this speech tonight had those last three speeches done anything, particularly those first two when the democrats controlled congress and the white house. >> cornell, is this a joke? >> no, but that -- that sort of partisan talk is part of the reason why we're in this problem. look, i'll go back with you on this, eric, and truth of the matter is what the president -- the president's actions that he took when we were in a complete nosedive and losing jobs, you know, each month pulled us ou

gloria borger, chief political analyst.ery much. . >> thanks, brooke. >> and still ahead, new orleans right now bracing for a big storm that could reach hurricane intensity. also an alarming new study suggesting 9/11 first responders are at a higher risk of cancer. plus, four months after after deadly tornado ripped through alabama, the state is about to get a huge emotional boost. and what happen a treat for me. joining me in studio, cnn's david mckenzie here from africa where he's based in nairobi. he's been covering the hunger crisis that is covering that part of the world. [ bell dings ] [ car door closes ] ♪ are you okay? yeah, i'm okay. and the truck? i got good news for you, kid. you're getting a new truck. what do you mean? i mean it's gonna cost more to fix than it's worth. besides, the truck's older than you. grab your stuff out of the truck and meet me up front. ♪ ♪ just fix it. ♪ i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for.

gloria borger is standing by on the new poll for america's broken government.natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. what's vanishing deductible all about ? guys, it's demonstration time. let's blow carl's mind. okay, let's say i'm your insurance deductible. every year you don't have an accident, $100 vanishes. the next year, another $100. where am i going, carl ? the next year... that was weird. but awesome ! ♪ nationwide is on your side >>> the american's public's trust in america's government has dropped to a shocking low. our poll shows that too clearly. always or most of the time, only 15% o

joining us cnn chief political analysts. >> reporter:ia gloria borger and ron brownstein. administration doesn't? >> if you read between the lines sounds like bill clinton liked a lot about the simpson-bowles plan not the least of which the plan to fix social security over an extended period of time, and i think knowing bill clinton's politics as we all do that this would have appealed to him because it would have allowed him to tackle an entitlement problem without having to do it very quickly or all at once, and so you know, i've said previously lots of other people have said that perhaps looking back on it, barack obama made a mistake by not embracing the simpson-bowles deficit reduction plan in his state of the union last january. i wonder whether bill clinton would have endorsed him. >> that raises a question, ron, what can, what should president obama learn from bill clinton the way he negotiated, newt gingrich the speaker of the house, you remember those days. >> absolutely. first of all in sermz of simpson-bowles obama may have made a tactical choice not to embrace

. >> reporter: gloria borger says in books like this former officials try to bolster their own legacies settle scores. would it lead to some kind of finger-pointing behind the scenes and people looking over their own shoulder, i've got to watch what i'm saying to everybody. >> i mean, this is washington. people are always going to try to figure out who was the source for that? who was the source for that story? i bet that came from him, tore came from him. >> reporter: a defiant white house press secretary -- >> one passage seemed to be lifted almost entirely from wikipedia in the book. >> reporter: when cnn followed up after that briefing, officials say jay carney was referring to the federal mortgage firm fannie mae. quote, in 196 it officially became a publicly held corporation to remove its debt and related activities from the federal balance sheet. the wikipedia passage says, it converted to a publicly held corporation to remove its activity and debt from the federal budget. we contacted the publisher harpercollins for response to the claim about wikipedia and other criticisms. a s

here to help me out is gloria borger. i watched you earlier, you listened to the president earlier and you heard the president are say he will veto any plan that proposes to cut social security, medicare, if it doesn't include higher taxes on the wenlalthy. is that a real it threat or is it political posturing or political maneuvering? >> can i say all of the above? i think when you make a threat, i cannot p accept cutbacks and entitlements unless they're accompanied by tax increases, i think you better be prepared to do that. so i think he clearly is prepared to do that. on the other hand, it is a political statement because what he is doing is he's saying to his base, which has been upset with him of late, as you know, that, i'm fighting for you. because this is a president who's been accused of being too passive or negotiating with himself. and so he's doing neither of those today. he's laying down a political marker and that's all it is, a mrit are cal mashlg epolitical this was a perfect world, this is what i'd like

. >>> joining us now from washington, chief political analyst gloria borger.ht if we see the president guns blazing, marching to capitol hill picking a fight with republicans who control the chamber he'll be speaking from? >> i think what we'll see tonight, brooke is more of a challenge from the president to the republican party. he's going to say where really -- we have problems in this country with the economy. here with my solutions to get people back to work. some of them you republicans have signed on to before. so why not join me now this time because we need to fix this and get the job numbers better. so he's going to lay down the gauntlet and try to be the reasonable person in the room. i don't think he's going to collide them as much as saying, guys, the ball is in your court -- i talked to a senior white house adviser who said to me, once we put the ball in their court, if they don't want to take it, they have to go to the american people and explain why. >> if he's putting the ball in their court, who is he speaking to chiefly? is he speaking to mem

>> i want to talk more about this now, this control idea with cnn chief political analyst gloria borger. she comes to us today from tampa, site of this evening's gop presidential debate. we'll get to that in a second. dplor gloria, the president's sending up an actual written piece of legislation. what does that tell you? >> reporter: well, as you were pointing out before, randi, it is about control. this is very much a different barack obama from the one we saw, for example, in the health care reform debate. health care reform debate he had democrats in charge of each house. he said to nancy pelosi, he said to harry reid, you folks get together and you write this health care reform bill. and they did and it was a long drawn-out, complex, controversial process. in the end they got something passed, which is quite controversial. this time you have the house controlled by republicans, you have the president facing a very tough election, you have the congress being very unpopular, so what did the president do? he's sending up a bill taking take it or leave it, or if there are parts of it y

. >> gloria borger is up next.g down what many are calling the president's transformation. [ tires screech ] [ crying ] [ applause ] [ laughs ] [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] your life will have to flash by even faster. autodrive brakes on the cadillac srx activate after rain is detected to help improve braking performance. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right. at exxonmobil we recognize the chit feels like helpmportant is never far away. it feels like you're protected against life's little mishaps. it feels like you'll make it home. that's what it feels l

gloria borger is with us. as we see the president going back, he'll walk up the stairs and go back into the oval office, get on with other activities today. i had a chance, i met with steve forbes last night. for years he's been talking about a flat tax. is it realistic at all as we get ready for election year to think there's going to be, beyond talking, any significant tax reform, substantive change? >> well, the only way, wolf, and the only real hope is that you have this super committee that has an ax hanging over its head. that if it doesn't do some serious tax reform, deficit reduction, entitlement reform, then the congress will have to accept these kind of cuts that could be very politically difficult for them. so since there is an ax hanging oakar their head, maybe they will actually do the job they were sent there to do. i also have to say that i believe the president himself, who i was listening, talking about how we need to do this tax reform, missed an opportunity himself in his state of the union

it is, as gloria borger says, the holy grail for some republicans, and the devil's work for many democratso the cliff, and then over the cliff. >> the ryan proposal, obviously, would destroy our government. >> i gave fear up for lent this year. >> you're not joking. >> no, i gave up fear for lent this year. >> you're not kidding me, right? >> no. >> how do you do that? >> well, i'm working at it. >> reporter: until recently, paul ryan was a relatively unknown budget wonk. now he's famous. as the face of a new brand of republican economics that includes the most sweeping plan to cut government spending in decades. >> there's a big test for this country. and whether we ply our country's principles, you know, liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self-determination, government by consent of govern -- >> right. >> all of these really core principles are being test the right now, and you can't have fear if you try to fix these problems. you know, there's kind of a shoot the messenger strategy these days. and you can't -- >> you're the messenger? >> the messenger, and you can't fear that. >> report

. >> david gergen and gloria borger. >>> and the trial of the doctor of michael jackson, will they getning allegations of child abuse and we will hear from the pastor who runs the school. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. can make it from australia to a u.s. lab to a patient in time for surgery may seem like a trumped-up hollywood premise. ♪ but if you take away the dramatic score... take away the dizzying 360-degree camera move, and take away the over-the-top stunt, you're still left with a pretty remarkable tale. but, okay, maybe keep the indulgent supermodel cameo... thank you. [ male announcer ] innovative medical solutions. fede

. >> john king, gloria borger, paul begala and eric ericson, john. we heard bachmann, her response to the president. she said she wasn't there to answer question bz the campaign, that she was there as a member of congress. do you buy that? >> sure. i buy it serves her purposes tonight. she doesn't want to answer question bz a staff shake-up, answer questions about whether she was overshadowed in the debate last night. she wants to take direct aim at the president of the united states and hopes she gets some attention for that. the fact we're talking about it maybe says she succeeded. what is most interesting about it is one would expect the candidates running against president obama to draw sharp contrast on just about everything. but michele bachmann who is often out of step with her own republican leadership, listen to what she said. she said, not only should we not act on it all of the president's policies are awful. at the same time the republican majority leader and speaker are saying there's a lot in the president's plan we like and had some of

. >> david gergen and gloria borger. >>> and the trial of the doctor of michael jackson, will they get jury and start trial tomorrow? >>> stunning allegations of child abuse and we will hear from the pastor who runs the school. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. the cts-v, from cadillac. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. helps defends against occasional justconstipation, diarrhea,alth probiotic cap a day gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. from centrum. omega-3s go beyond heart health. probiotics go beyond digestive balance. and fruit & veggie has antioxidant properties. new pronutrients from centrum. help make nutrition possible. >>> dramatic testimony in a federal hearing looking who whether sea world or orlando should be charged in the death of one

i spoke earlier tonight about it with chief political analyst gloria borger and contributors erick erikssoneditor in chief of redstate.com and dana loesch, tea party organizer in st. louis. >> so, erick, in your opinion, how big a deal was rick perry's hpv lie or mistake, whatever it was? >> you know, i don't know that it was a huge deal. i mean, given the rest of his debate performance, you can't help but realize he probably got that wrong, too. i mean, in fact, when i e-mailed some of the campaign staff and asked them about it, none of them had actually -- i guess they had tuned out by that point, and were like of course he didn't know the lady before he signed the executive order. he didn't say that and then went back to the transcript. so, very clearly -- i mean, even the perry campaign is willing to admit he had to have screwed up. it wasn't a lie as much as a rick perry did not have a good debate performance last night. >> to say the least. dana, i want to play one moment from last night that a lot of people felt perry fumbled. he was trying to attack mitt romney for being a flip-flop

. >> you know, i -- >> gloria borger, go ahead, quickly. >> you know, i think that -- dick cheney is trying to say that, you know, colin powell himself got sandbagged as if he had any choice but to believe the intelligence that he was presented with. it was sort of an interesting way of describing it. >> gloria and david, thank you. more of that conversation to come. one-on-one conversation with dick cheney at the reagan presidential library. >> i think the democrats ought to have as much fun on their side as we are on ours. >> blockbuster allegations of indecision, turmoil and sexism at the obama white house. one of the aide who says he has seen it all. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. as luxury s.u.v.s, it helps to have the quality and craftsmanship of your leather interior test better than the lexus rx 350. it's also helpful to set your "select terrain" dial to "sand." ♪ accept it. you can't c

let's bring in our chief political an lift, gloria borger and john king, host of john king usa.n this jobs plan, so far at least, john, most of the republican presidential candidates are being quite negative. >> quite negative, in part, because of where they're going to be at the debate you're moderate, wolf. the tea party doesn't like president obama, period. they don't like president obama's spending proposals. the tea party views this as stimulus deja vu. the republican candidates for this environment are catering to the far right of their party. an interesting dichotomy, isn't it? the congressional leadership, sparred with the president many times, being more diplomat ex-, saying we see grounds for compromise and that's an important distinction. the president knows, and one of the reasons the president's plan is modest and not controversy, he knows he has a small window to get things done. the republican congressional leadership won't listen to the presidential conditions now. when we get to february and march and one person emerges as the front-runner that's correct when th

well, rich galen and gloria borger have a few thoughts about that. rich, i'll start with you. i bumped into you a few times with fred thompson in 2008, why do people say this is late, iowa doesn't vote for 130 more days, there is plenty of time to get in, but it is hard. >> it is. the early days of march, april, may traveling around the living rooms and the barns as you put it, that's like spring training for a professional baseball team. that's when you learn how to cover first on a bunt, that's how you learn all the fundamentals. when you get into the actual race, the little mistakes are not little mistakes because it is the championship season. there is a very famous saying in most nfl stadiums, most popular guy in the stadium is the backup quarterback. he's never fumbled the ball. he's never thrown an interception. and perry was that guy. he strapped on this chin strap, ran -- took us behind center and fumbled the ball. >> he's not running. i think we all agree he's not running, except his office releases some experiments of this speech tonight, he's going to give it at th

let's start there with our gloria borger and david gergen.an you fix a democracy by -- >> no. >> -- by stopping democracy? >> no, i think it is a predi ridiculous idea. if you don't like the way members of congress are performing, vote them out of office. that's what voters in fact have been doing the last three elections, swing elections, and the next one might be a swing election. they're paid to go do a job. if they don't do it, vote them out. >> but, david, gloria makes a very important point, and this is something you wrote about today, the voters have been doing this. the voters, as frustrated as they are with washington, need to spend time looking into the mirror because they are responsible for divided government. maybe we should have redistricting reform, maybe we should have more competitive house districts, but with what we got, the voters are sending what we get. >> i think there is a tendency to blame the politicians for everything. and we treat them like they're -- and a lost times they have screwed up and it is not working. but

correspondent, the "state of the union" host, candy crowley, and our chief political analyst, gloria borger. we're looking ahead to the president's big speech, candy, thursday night before a joint session of congress. but hovering over all of it, these latest numbers we got this week, unemployment remaining 9.1%, effectively zero job growth for all practical purposes. that does not bode well. >> no. and a forecast, by the way, that they put out, the o&b put out, that doesn't forecast much more throughout next year. >> 9% continuing unemployment for next year. is there yeah. so what does the president need to do? he needs to -- listen, 9% unemployed is going to stick with him through the whole year. he's got to convince the 91% of americans that are employed that they're not going to lose their jobs. he's going to convince the people who do have a home that they're not going to lose their home. because now it becomes for him trying to convince americans that things will get better. because we already know they're not going to get that much better next year, at least in terms of the jobless r

i spoke earlier tonight about it with chief political analyst gloria borger and contributors erick eriksson in chief of redstate.com and dana loesch, tea party organizer in st. louis. >> so, erick, in your opinion, how big a deal was rick perry's hpv lie or mistake, whatever it was? >> you know, i don't know that it was a huge deal. i mean, given the rest of his debate performance, you can't help but realize he probably got that wrong, too. i mean, in fact, when i e-mailed some of the campaign staff and asked them about it, none of them had actually -- i guess they had tuned out by that point, and were like of course he didn't know the lady before he signed the executive order. he didn't say that and then went back to the transcript. so, very clearly -- i mean, even the perry campaign is willing to admit he had to have screwed up. it wasn't a lie as much as a rick perry did not have a good debate performance last night. >> to say the least. dana, i want to play one moment from last night that a lot of people felt perry fumbled. he was trying to attack mitt romney for being a flip-flopper. l

john king, erin burnett, democratic strategist, paul, gloria borger and cornell belcher and david frumm. a lot to talk about. eric, i notice a tweet you posted a few minutes ago, you wrote, quote, instead of yelling, you say i wish they'd laugh at this farce. this speech is a rehash joke. tough words. why do you think it's a joke? >> i heard this speech before. i heard it in january of 2011, i heard it in january of 2010 and february of 2009. you know, we wouldn't have had this speech tonight had those last three speeches done anything, particularly those first two when the democrats controlled congress and athe white house. >> cornell, is this a joke? >> no, but that sort of partisan talk is part of the reason why we're in this problem. look, i'll go back with you on this, erick. the truth of the matter is the president's actions that he took when we were in a complete nosedive and losing jobs, you know, each month pulled us out of a nosedive. but clearly we need now something a little boost here. and what he's asking for is, look, most of these plans, a balanced approach to this and m

i'm gloria borger of cnn and with me is the executive editor of the news hour jim lehrer is written a wonderful book tension city my view from the middle seat which is going to be on bookstands on september 13th, and it's all about the presidential debates. we watched the presidential debates, some of us cover the president colby yates but you were the only person i know whose moderate presidential debates among how many of them? >> guest: even. >> host: 11 of them and you are the man as you say in the middle seat at the center of the stage. you have written fiction about the debates but you've never told us what it is like to be in the middle of it. why did you decide to write a nonfiction book about debate? >> guest: i thought it was time to do it. i felt that in 2008i did one of the obama-mccain debates and i knew this was probably going to be my last presidential debate and so i decided pretty much that was the case so i started collecting my thoughts and i took a lot of notes through the of their previous ten and i realized i had some things i wanted to save a would be hard to sa

i spoke earlier tonight about it with chief political analyst gloria borger and contributors erick erikssoneditor in chief of redstate.com and dana loesch, tea party organizer in st. louis. >> so, erick, in your opinion, how big a deal was rick perry's hpv lie or mistake, whatever it was? >> you know, i don't know that it was a huge deal. i mean, given the rest of his debate performance, you can't help but realize he probably got that wrong, too. i mean, in fact, when i e-mailed some of the campaign staff and asked them about it, none of them had actually -- i guess they had tuned out by that point, and were like of course he didn't know the lady before he signed the executive order. he didn't say that and then went back to the transcript. so, very clearly -- i mean, even the perry campaign is willing to admit he had to have screwed up. it wasn't a lie as much as a rick perry did not have a good debate performance last night. >> to say the least. dana, i want to play one moment from last night that a lot of people felt perry fumbled. he was trying to attack mitt romney for being a flip-flop

. >> let's go to gloria borger and david gergen. as someone who has helped four presidents, democrats and republicans, decide what to say at big moments, is this more of a political statement for the president, or is this a serious policy proposal? >> he threw down the gauntlet today, john. it's a very, very political statement. you know, the republicans had been engaged in a political campaign against him, he feels, for a long time. now he is joining that fight and coming the other way. instead of setting up a proposal that might warm the hearts of republicans and try to invite them to a compromise, something democrats think has never worked, he has put up a proposal that warms the heart of nancy pelosi. this is exactly the kind of a plan she wanted. it protects social security. it protects medicare, and it sticks it to the wealthy. that's exactly the kind of thing that she thinks will help democrats and, of course, we're now into a situation, i think, it's good politics for the president in terms of rallying his base. i do think i