-- i iowa -- i won 12 elections. >> who would you say has a better organization in iowa? governor pawlenty or bachmann? >> bachmann did well in the polls. her announcement went over well. and she is a native iowan. but i think pawlenty may surprise some people. he has a lot of key people involved in this campaign. he is aggressively campaigning throughout the state. it is interesting. you have two minnesota is competing, but they are not the only ones. you need to look at herman cain, who has a following here, and ron paul, and rick santorum says he will be people's expectations. who knows what rick perry's efforts may produce? it looks like he will get in the race after the straw poll, so it could be a wide open situation. renault's? there may be others that i have not even mention that could do better than expected. >> i wonder how you would assess governor harry -- perry's ability to campaign in iowa. >> remember, george de b. bush, who was the governor of texas at the time, won both the straw poll and the iowa caucuses and went on to be elected president of united sta

electorate in iowa. could there be a situation of, you know, splitting that vote, paving the way for someone like romney who has a -- someone like huntsman, for example, who says he's not going to compete in the race but also has a few moderate divisions to come in and win the caucuses? >> i actually met with governor huntsman when i was at the national governor's meeting in salt lake city and suggested he rethink his position of not competing in iowa. i think really after iowa since romney is the frontrunner, whoever does well in iowa either wins the caucuses or surprisingly a strong second. it's going to be them versus romney in new hampshire. and everybody else is not even going to be considered. you know the way it works. iowa wins over the field, and it's down two or three candidates. i think he's making a strategic mistake by not competing in the iowa caucuses. i suggested he take another look at it and recognize that, you know, it's not the be all issue in iowa anymore. corn prices are good. we're

she came back here to iowa. iowa is a critical state. first in the nation caucuses, and michele bachmann is winning -- >> shannon, i've got to stop you. i'm having a hard time listening to you, seeing the presidential candidate sit behind you eat a waffle five feet behind you. turn around to representative bachmann and tell her that we are live on cnn right now and try to toss a question at her? did she tell you already that she wouldn't take questions? you're live right now. >> reporter: they said they were not, but let's see if we can interrupt her conversation with the kid here, t.j. congresswoman bachmann, we're live right now, actually, what does this mean for you to be here. >> it is so wonderful to be back home in iowa. i was born and raised in waterloo and cedar falls, so we're here in iowa city. it's such a clean town, a beautiful town, family oriented town, business oriented town and everyone is so happy the humidity broke. so it's just like being in hawaii today. it's beautiful here in iowa. my family and i are here, and we're

iowa kicked off the season with the iowa caucus next year, and a shift in the iowa staff for republican herman kane. two top staffers have resigned. he's downplaying the changes and insists new hires are coming on board. >>> rhode island has legalized civil unions. it will give same-sex couples new breaks, health couple benefits, but it falls short of marriage. it fell through despite strong opposition. >> up next, jaw dropping testimony from the woman who said she had an affair with casey anthony's father in the weeks after little caylee went missing. >> do you get to know mr. anthony a little better? >> yes. >> did you develop a relationship with mr. anthony? >> we started to. >> and was it an intimate relationship? >> yes. >> what else did crystal holloway have to say? we'll hear that when we come back. >>> did you develop a relationship with mr. anthony? >> we started. >> and was it an intimate relationship? >> yes. >> did you have a romantic relationship with her? >> no, sir, no. she made that -- that's very funny. >> can you read the date of that text message to the ladies and gen

(laughter) >> i need plain people in iowa.e who farm, i need small businesspeople, i need people who want to build roads, i need every people in iowa. i don't need the fat cats. i need every plain, hardworking people. i need republicans, i need independents, i need them all. (laughter) i think you can listen now, stephen. >> stephen: say that again. just tap it, grandpa. (laughter) now legally i can go home and watch the show tonight and hear you what said. >> you can do that. >> stephen: i just couldn't be here with you plan. >> so we can communicate. >> stephen: no. we cannot communicate. you communicated with them, and later tonight i will hear what you said. >> i got you. >> stephen: does that make sense. >> makes no sense at all. >> stephen: me either. buddy roemer, thank you so much for joining-- joining me. (cheers and applause) governor buddy roemer,

they are focusing on iowa, the iowa straw poll in ames august 13. the g.o.p. on fox is august 11. here is the latest poll out. quinnipiac has a new poll out that says mitt romney at 25%. michele bachmann at 14%. this is nationwide. sarah palin, rick perry, 10%. you have can see the rest there. the governor of texas said this. he has his day of prayer coming up in houston august 6. he says, "i'm getting more and more come president ofable every day this is what i've been called to do. this is what america needs." talk about running for president. back with the panel. juan? rick perry in? >> it looks that way. now he says he hasn't, he is not ready to announce anything. but i have to believe if he is waiting he is thinking money. do i have the money to do this? you know what? it flies below the radar but rick perry is a tremendous rundraiser. he raised $22 million last quarter for the republican governor association. broke records there. haley barbour from mississippi, terrific politician. rick perry did better. rick perry has a good economy in texas. some peopl

iowa kicked off the season with the iowa caucus next year, and a shift in the iowa staff for republican. two top staffers have resigned. he's downplaying the changes and insists new hires are coming on board. >>> rhode island has legalized civil unions. it will give same-sex couples new breaks, health couple benefits, but it falls short of marriage. it fell through desmite strong opposition. >> up next, jaw dropping testimony from the woman who said she had an affair with casey anthony's father in the weeks after little caylee went missing. >> do you get to know mr mr. anthony a little better? >> yes. >> did you develop a relationship with mr. anthony? >> we started to. >> and was it an intimate relationship? >> yes. >> what else did crystal holloway have to say? we'll hear that when we come back. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater a

an earlier stop in iowa city, it's one of five stops she has today in iowa.he basically kicked off her bus tour in iowa today. so this is going to be a big deal for her and her supporters who are here. and later she's going to be going to an iowa cubs baseball game and talk to supporters and voters there as well. >> so she's on a bus tour, is it all iowa all the time this weekend? where is she going? apparently shannon can't hear me, we'll get back to shannon travis, he's reporteding for us live in iowa. >>> a political note for you, the presidential seal fell off the white house limousine this weekend while he was on his way to the airport. a philly police officer found the seal alongside route 76, he returned to the secret schlts. >>> closing arguments set to begin tomorrow in the murder case that has millions watching. what you can expect. the lawyers to say and what our legal expert thinks of the verdicts, we'll have that for you straight ahead. >>> also more on dominique strauss-kahn and the case against him that seems to be unraveling. is he a guilty ma

but can it move voters in this iowa it is doing just that. lead to victory in the hawkeye state, as nbc explains it, it may not lead to the republican nomination. >> reporter: for iowa republicans, you got to have faith. take michele bachmann. at an iowa church two weeks ago it was more sermon than stump speech. >> jesus is part of every part of life, including law, including politics. >> reporter: bachmann's not the only one. >> for me my faith is very important to me. it influences all that i do. >> if you believe your rights come from your creator, then it is time for us to stand up to washington. >> reporter: the message has come in the past. in 2008, mike huckabee, a baptist minister, won the caucuses handily. in 2002008, 40% of iowa caucusgs say they were religion conservatives but that has jumped to 60%. just 1 in 5 registered republicans in iowa participate in the caucus so intensity matters. in 1988, pat robertson's army, as they were called, propelled the evangelical pastor to a surprise second place finish ahead of vice president g

why such an emphasis on iowa? >> because iowa's the first in the nation. it's very important to be here and have a presence here because the values and the opinions that people have in iowa count. they count for the nation. so it's important that we come here. this is the breadbasket of the world for a reason. this is where the food is grown, we have the best farmers in the world right here in iowa. it's important to come and listen to what people have to say here in iowa and take that message back to washington, d.c. >> shannon travis now joining us live from iowa city. shannon, a lot served there at that diner, including a real spontaneous moment there between you and michele bachmann. >> reporter: that's right, fred. michele bachmann is here in iowa. she's going to be barnstorming the state today with five different events. i caught up with her, was the only person allowed to fire off a few questions to her. but she's hoping to win big in this state. obviously iowa is important because they're home to first in the nation caucuses. she's going to have th

>> i often say everything i need to know i learned in iowa. >> stephen: republican, she left iowa at age 12 and has had the courage not to learn anything since. [laughter] of course, some people -- good-looking lady. some people don't know michele bachmann so she told fox news everything she wants us to know. >> what i want them to know is just like johnway was from waterlao, iowa, that's the spirit i have too. >> stephen: she has the spirit of john wayne but the critics couldn't wait to it in pick on a detail. >> johnway is from iowa but three hours away. there's a john wayne from waterloo but it's john wayne gacy. >> stephen: sexual serial killer is from waterloo but that's sem mantics. bachmann said she misspoke. that's a big mistake. no retreat, nor is rounder. -- surrender. it's day one. don't show weakness. what on earth are you apologizing for. all you said is you have the same spirit as john wayne gacy and there's something to that because like gacy people might think you are a clown but if they dig a little deeper they'll find you are deadly serious. come on, you are a repub

let's talk about iowa and all the different pieces of iowa. now in iowa in terms of what's happening with romney and bachmann? want to play a little bit of bachmann's first ad which went up today. >> as a descendent of generations of iowans, i was born and raised in waterloo. as a mom of five, foster parent and former tax lawyer, now a small business job creator, i know that we can't keep spending money that we don't have. that's why i fought against the wasteful bailout, against the stimulus. i will not vote to increase the debt ceiling. i'm michele bachmann and i approved this message. >> so that's a pretty potent ad and especially as a signal of where she stands on the debt ceiling talks. where we've just had what the president called constructive negotiations today. you can see how the speaker of the house, if he tries to make a deal, will be squeezed very hard from the right. >> absolutely. two things about that ad that jump out to me. one, for all the talk that we hear about cultural conservatives dominating the iowa caucuses on the repu

i'm confident in the iowa straw poll that we will.have a campaign that's prevailing not just in the iowa straw poll, but in the caucuses and beyond. >> let me ask you about your main challenger, front-runner at the moment, mitt romney, and his position on health care. in massachusetts, he passed new universal health care coverage. this is what you said back in june on fox news about him. >> i don't think we can have a nominee that was involved in the development and construction of obama care and then continues to defend it. >> so, let's be clear here, straight talk, governor. are you saying he cannot be the nominee, unelectable as the nominee of the party because of his position on health care? >> i think if you're going to prosecute the political case against president obama in one of the top three or four issues, it's going to be the direction of the country and health care, it's going to be very difficult for our nominee to be one of the c co-conspirators. it's going to be difficult for him to be successful with that on his record

i will tell new, i worked in iowa in the presidential race in 1988 for dick gephardt he won the iowae didn't win the nomination. it is all about organization on the ground. that's what wins iowa i the better part of the month in january, it is cold, troops on the ground win this. while the poll is interesting. o'it doesn't mean too much. >> rick: romney won in 2007. i looked at some of the other past winners this is not the iowa caucus this is the straw poll. in 1979 george h.w. bush won. not go on to win the party's nomination. in 1987 pat robertson won he didn't win his party's nomination. if you are a political junkie, you love this stuff. if you are a student of history, you can see this stuff doesn't mean a whole lot. >> but it does tell you how they are going to do later in the caucuses. both those candidates you mentioned did well. i think you can't discount what is going to happen in the straw poll. there are some side stories. will the conservatives step up and do well? is this a place where rick santorum can get momentum? there's been talk about rand paul and michelle bachm

the iowa caucuses bring a lot of money into iowa.ichele bachmann is going like gang busters in iowa. the subtext of what terry branstad was saying, is hey, mitt romney, hey, tim pawlenty, you're former governors. don't give up on iowa. get in here and compete. now, pawlenty is doing it, but mitt romney is not taking part in the straw poll in august. he is trying to blow off iowa, not really compete there. the subtext there is branstad saying, please come to iowa and compete here. in addition to the point that he makes about governors, which is a perfectly valid one. >> howard, michele bachmann's husband has been unknown to me. and i think other observers of national politics up to now. but when you get into that presidential campaign, the heat is on, the microscope starts focusing. listen to something that her husband has said. >>> howard, the barbarians he's talking about are gay people. he can obviously produce quotes that are even hotter than michele bachmann. so now she's going to be carrying the dual liability of what she says a

but i always said coming from iowa, i'm proud of iowa. but it starts -- you start thinking about things a little bit. i think i've been a little more introspective about my time at the meat-packing plant. i mean, they are animals. >> do you feel guilty? >> probably. yeah. i'm sure. >> do you ever wonder if your life hadn't taken a deviation in stand hup, do you ever wonder if you were still there now? >> well, when i don't feel -- i got fired from hormel. got arrested for pub click nudity in an old folk's home. >> wait! rewind, slow down. you did what? >> me and mike and mo, still buddies this day, there's nothing to do in our town in iowa after 10:00. they had a strike system in the union, three strikes you're out. i always had two, one would expire. i called in sick for work. party ended at 10:00. i was staying at indian hills community college. on the way back there, let's streak. only things open were the diner and jefferson square manor. we ran through the diner, wasn't anybody there, it didn't satisfy us. we knew the nurses there at

i grew up in iowa. my grandparents are buried here.s the day my mother told me we were going to leave ottawa when i was in the sixth great, because this part of iowa was all i had ever known. i remember telling my mother that we cannot possibly move to minnesota, because whad not even bid to the state capitol in in the morning yet. [laughter] when we lived here, i grew up a democrat. my first involvement in politics was working for jimmy carter's election in 1976. but when i saw the direction that jimmy carter to our country, how big spending his liberal majority group government and weakened our standing in the world, how the decreased our liberties, i became a republican. [cheers and applause] i remember the date distinctly when i stood in the kitchen of my grandmother's home on at lafayee street here in waterloo. i listened to my dad, who was a democrat, talked to my grandmother, who was a republican, and they were discussing lyndon johnson's great society program. it was my republican grandmother who gave an admonition to my father

obviously not in iowa.has been invisible. >> and all of the other candidates are trying to engage him because they know that he is the frontrunner. he is choosing his spots and going against the president and is not really actively engaging in the cam page. you see governor pawlenty talking about the miles he is putting on in rvs in iowa. you will not see anything like that from governor romney. >> greta: the question i would like answered from governor romney. he has been successful financially. that doesn't necessarily mean that you are good at creating jobs. what was he doing in the '80s, creating jobs or not creating jobs? i want to see the hard numbers. i don't think he has been put through the test yet. that is a hard question for him. >> and people remember his senate campaign in 1994 against ted kennedy. there were tough ads right there. all of that material is going to be gone through again probably in the primary and would be in the general election what the job creating record is. all the candida

iowa of course kicks off the campaign season with the iowa caucuses early next year. and a shift in the iowa staff for republican herman cain to tell you about. two iowa top staffers have resigned in what the campaign is down praying as routine changes. i'm don lemon. see you back here an hour from now. the situation room with wolf blitzer starts now. >>> bill clinton on the republicans he says will be most threatening to president obama in 2012. stand by for my one-on-one interview with the former president of the united states. we'll talk about the campaign, the economy and much more, including a topic that made him get rather emotional. >>> and an office space is empty leased by the federal agency for millions and millions of dollars. this hour u.s. taxpayers on the hook for what's being called an outrageous waste of money. >>> in the line of fire. cnn is embedded with u.s. troops in afghanistan when the taliban attack. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. a special gathering to ta

for the entire fourth of july weekend. >> reporter: i'm here at the bloomberg diner in iowa city, ioware republican candidate michele bachmann left just a few hours ago, she came here to speak with supporters, to answer questions, she is kicking off her iowa state bus tour, she kicked it off here at this diner, she's got two other events later on this evening, including pairing up with some iowa tea party leaders this evening. earlier at the diner when she was here, i was the only reporter allowed to engage in a bit of a q & a with her. take a look at some of the questions i asked. is the iowa caucuses very important to you? >> it is very important to her. >> reporter: in that q&a that i had with her, i said congresswoman, the person who emerges as the winner of the iowa caucuses doesn't always go on to become the republican nominee. she said it's important for ana candidate to have a presence in iowa and she called it the breadbasket of the world. >> for the latest in political news, you know where to go, cnnpolitics.com. >>> maria shriver filing for a divorce, a look at some of the o

chief political correspondent carl cameron is in iowa with the story. >> reporter: returning to iowad-off caucus campaign trail, michele bachmann faced a front page political headache about the migraine in the state largest newspaper. >> good to see you. >> reporter: she made no mention of her migraines at various stops, having claimed yesterday they have not affected her work when in fact she missed most in congress and canceled and postponed events because of the pain. far behind bachmann in iowa polls, fellow minnesotaen and former governor tim pawlenty stepped up the offense. >> the general proposition for all of the candidates if you are going to be president of the united states you have to do all of the job, all of the time. >> reporter: asked specifically about pawlenty's remarks, bachmann changed the suggest. >> sounds like a tough shot. what do you think of that? >> well, last night i was in washington, d.c., and i was leading on the issue of the debt ceiling. i voted no on increasing the debt. >> reporter: she repeatedly side-stepped questions, including if she would relea

neither one of them in iowa. what is michele bachmann doing? she's spending a lot of time at churches. that was the mike huckabee strategy that worked very well for him. the one republican journalist out there, the iowa noted, when bachmann sent out her cards, nothing about the straw poll, making her wonder if there's a way to go when it comes to organization. we're going to have a lot more, including tim pawlenty's new tv ad. >>> in a week, the senate takes its first vote this afternoon on libya. it's something nobody wants to talk about. after 15 weeks of bombing, there's no end to the stalemate. signs of friction within the nato coalition. how this vote goes, what happens today, what amendments get on there over the week? this could actually be the newsier topic of the week more so than the debt deadline, but we're going to go to the deadline. it's on everybody's mind. as we know, the first order of business is going to be the procedural vote on libya. with me now, vermont independent senator, senator sanders. i want to talk about your plan

republican congresswoman michele bachmann is in iowa, home to the iowa caucuses.irst big election event in 2012. cnn's shannon travis is the only reporter to speak with bachmann today, and he asked her why iowa is so important. >> iowa's the first in the nation. it's very important to be here and have a presence here because the values and the opinions that people have in iowa count. they count for the nation. so it's important that we come here. had is the bread basket of the world for a reason. this is where the food is grown, we have the best farmers in the world here in iowa. so it's important to come and listen to what people have to say in iowa and take that message back to washington, d.c. >> michele bachmann has been on a roll recently joining mitt romney in a recent iowa poll. she officially kicked off her campaign in iowa last month. >>> 4th of july celebrations in minnesota have been scaled down for this weekend. state parks, the state zoo, even race tracks are all closed right now. a budget stalemate has shut down almost all of minnesota's state busine

rudy giuliani was ahead 10 or 20 points. >> not in iowa. >> hillary clinton was way ahead in iowa. get attention based on other factors, over the long haul when you look at record of results, leadership, executive experience and getting things done and not just talking about it. when the people of iowa zoom in on that, as they will, we'll do well, starting with the aims straw poll coming up. >> resume for resume you started out as a campaign driver which i hadn't realized. you've been in the state legislature, been a governor. you a very lengthy resume. i just wonder if sometimes when you look at the way the race has gone so far, if you think what is it -- is there an x factor here that i'm missing? >> well, i think the x factor is people initially get buzz or impact around the media impression. but over the long haul, people look for that impression to be not just somebody who is loud or entertaining, but can they really be president of the united states? people want somebody in the oval office who has an experienced, seasoned record of results. that's what i bring to it. i think

. >> how powerfully are republicans in iowa -- how carefully are republicans in iowa going to look at this? >> she is the best thing to happen to the democrats. >> you think she can win the nomination? >> it is not likely. she remains a longshot. she has a good chance of winning iowa, but i dhave not sure where she goes in terms of winning after that. she could easily end up number two. she is very appealing. the more you learn about our -- 23 foster kids, five kids of our own. looking after each other -- she talks about life, family, love the game after each other. it is not only rhetoric. she would have a hard time in the general election. >> defense secretary robert gates retired this week. they gave him a good a sendoff at the pentagon. he said when he looks back at his service, he will think of the younger warriors, the ones who never came back. remarkable guy, don't you think? >> certainly the only secretary of defense in history to serve the successfully and a president of different parties and get the trust and admiration of both of them. he had a sobering remarks on the way o