during the campaign, he -- eric whittaker traveled on the airplane, the campaign plane with him. their families are very, very close. eric whittaker is a guy that barack obama turns to when he has something personal that he wants to have handled outside of the normal channels. >> sean: why does this sound to me a lot like why john edwards is on trial right now? [chuckles] >> sean: think about this. >> right. >> sean: in other words, is it an offer for an in-kind donation to buy the silence of somebody that could hurt his campaign? even reverend wright said at one point, when they cancelled him for the invocation of the announcement in springfield, when he announced he was going to run for president -- he was cancelled -- he talked to you about that? >> yes, he d. he was very upset and list family was more upset about it. he had to settle for giving a little prayer beneath the platform where he was not seen with his family. but he was not rolled out to give the invocation in front -- on the platform in front of everybody in springfield, illinois. >> sean: so, what does that -- wha

>> i would say now -- >> was he aware that eric whittaker had offered you mony? >> i don't know. i didn't mention that. >> but he asked you not to appear at the naacp or the national press club. >> national press club. >> those two things? >> and, no, don't do no more public speaking. >> don't do any more public speaking. >> any more! >> i said, how am i supposed to support my family? i have a daughter and a granddaughter in college, whose tuition i pay. >> right. >> i have to earn money. the press is going to eat you alive. >> sean: interestingly, jeremiah wright didn't take the money. >> he didn't take the money. >> sean: he was offered it. do you think it's possible that whittaker could have made that offer independently on his own? >> no. >> sean: why? >> because i don't think whittaker would have done something as important as that without -- first of all, he was a confidante of barack obama's. i mean, they were as close as brothers could be. and i don't think he would have done something as dramatic as offering $150,000 bribe without checking with his pal, barack, and sayin

but here's what he said. >>. >> that's a long meeting. >> yeah. >> was he aware that eric whittaker had offered you -- >> no? >> klein didn't come out of a swamp. he is the editor of the new york times magazine, but it's suffering a total blackout in the press. is that correct? >> of course it's news and should be covered. and does it surprise you that nbc, abc, cbs haven't said a word about this book? look, here's the narrative from now until election day. if it advances obam ait will be covered. if it hurts him in any way, it's going to be spiked. consider this -- when bush ran for re-election, there were a slew of books that came out against him. they were all over those networks. gma, the today show, 60 minutes, nightly news, nightline, they were covered everywhere. even when bob woodward wrote a book favored to abush, dan rather brought him on to attack bush. so the duplicity is extraordinary. yes, it's number 1. remember mark levin, they didn't give him an ounce of coverage and he sold a million. so there is another audience. >> he works in the mainstream media, highly vetted so-c

eric whittaker runs the health initiative which was launched by the first lady.ther administration officials have ties to the program. it is 21 after the top of the hour. war taking front and center in the presidential election. obama for america launch ago new attack on mitt romney's jobs records and his time at bane capital. >> those guys were all rich, they had more money than they will ever spend. they didn't have the money to take care of the very people that made the money. >> bane capital walked away with a lot of money they made off of this plant. mitt romney we see him as a job december troir. >> to get up on national tv brag about jobs when he destroyed thousands of people's careers. >> mitt romney as you would expect fighting back releasing this ad. >> incredible from when i started we had cles to 1400 employees now we are 6,000. >> i think there's a lot of pride in what we have built out here. >> sdi almost never got started. when others shied away, mitt romney's private sector leadership team stepped in. >> a dream with over 6,000 employees today. >>

health initiative, which is run by president obama's long time friend and frequent golf buddy eric whittaker, former new york city. al fonz d 'amato is with us. good morning to you. this initiative is connected to the university of chicago medical center. michelle obama has a connection there, vallerie jarrett has a connection there, david axelrod has a history as well. i mean, on the surface, what's it look like to new. >> look, they have this belief that out of the thousands of applicant the and i think they only took a handful, i think 26 of them, they won this on their merits. it's a lot of nonsense. it really cries out to be investigated. if you believe they won this grant without the white house saying they want this, sending the word to social services, kathleen sebelius, you'd have to believe in the tooth fairy. bill: to be clear on this, the reporting suggests there's no specific evidence that links the organization directly to the permission to award the money. the appearance, however, is it's a different thing. >> it cries out to be investigated. and really, congressman is issa, t