i'll begin with obama's father, this man, barack obama senior.ack obama senior was born in kenya. he came of age in kenya's great struggle of independence against the british, called anti-colonialism. to push the british out of kenya. he came to america in the late 1960s as a student, to study at the university of hawaii. this is where he met obama's mother. this woman right here. stanley ann dunham. they were married. actually, he didn't tell her at the time he was already married. he had married a woman in kenya. they had two children. ultimately he married four different women and had eight children. he was quite a character. he was also a chronic drunk driver. he was involved in multiple accidents. he lost both of his legs in one of the accidents. >> glenn: hang on a second. i want to make this really clear. because my mother was an alcoholic. died a tragic death. yada, yada. you're not insinuating anything on that he was, you know, a drunk or anything else. >> no, no, no. >> glenn: it's fact. >> it's fact and i'm getting to it because it cre

obama exhausts organized labor. he fumes at republican opponents and their alleged negativism. >> yes, we can. remember that was our slogan? their slogan is, no we can't. [ laughter ] nope, no. no. >> 50 days to go in the name of the game is blame. blame the opponent. keep the focus on him. for the incumbent president, the strategy is offensive. blast the republicans. the party of no. >> when it comes to just about everything we've done to strengthen our middle class, to rebuild our economy, almost every republican in congress says no. >> as a punitive positive yes merger, embraced by the democrats, mr. obama calls for $50 billion of new spending. infrastructure on roads, bridges, runways, but spread over many years and fully paid for, but how the $50 billion would be produced was not explained. this was not a stimulous proposal and chance of passing congress seemed to be minus zero. on thursday, the president called for other money measures, including investment tax credits, emphasizing restriction development, the

does obama care what she says? >> well, she aligned herself with secretary of defense gates and the military, supported them even more to a certain extent than gates did. they talked about the five blocks of granite, the three generals and admiral and gates and hillary and they just said, 40,000 troops and in a sense, an unlimited counter insurgency strategy, which is what general petraeus wanted. >> bill: just win the war. now, you correct me if i am wrong. my gut instinct, and i have this not on anything other than gut -- is that barak obama doesn't listen to hillary clinton. she is not a major shaper in what he does or doesn't do. >> that is absolutely correct. and political people in the white house were quite annoyed that she aligned herself with the military in such a dramatic way. i wanted to get to something -- you really need to make a distinction on the fight against al-qaeda, which as we know is in pakistan, not afghanistan, obama has been very aggressive and i think we're going to see in coming weeks mo

obama doesn't know the country. john, i thought your answer was interesting and said he lacks a consistent compelling communication right now. is it the people don't get why he is president, the basic reason he's there? >> yeah, and actually it goes beyond communication. you mentioned in the setup reagan and clinton. these are two people who are not just good communicators but had a good theory of the case, they knew what they believed and explained it well to the country and talked about where the country was at that moment in history and how their policies would translate and lead us forward. obama during the him campaign had a clear message but had that theory of the case, he was for change, he was not a clinton, he was not a bush. he came into office still without that big narrative and really hurt him because at this moment you can see he is left as a state figure. people on the left think he's sold out as becoming a modern centrist and betrayed their ideals. people in the center think he sold out and went to t

barack and michelle obama. that's right, the first black president has followed in the footsteps of previous presidents known for their elite education, significant personal worth and preppy trappings. franklin dell nor roosevelt, john kennedy and both jorgee bushes. he went to columbia. she went to princeton and both went to harvard law. for the second year in a row they've summered at martha's vineyard. they have that was pi sartorial style under control. barack obama with the jacket over his shoulder and michelle has made the eternally preppy j. crew label a major part of her wardbe. even beau is preppy. what's next? time to bring back the sboya with cole porter music wafting through the potomac evening? wow. all the bad news for the o bob: administration means the g.o.p. nomination is a rize p worth having. weho's definitely running for president on the republican side. plus tell me something i don't know. chris: welcome back. we're close to go or no go time for the republicans, believe it or not andho are

even though president obama -- colin powell has supported obama. >> he has lost some support he had in campaign. it's not just me picking on the president. it's polling. he has to do more with respect to reducing the deficit and also being careful about putting more and more programs, more and more rocks into that knapsack because the american people looking for singular focus on the economy and unemployment. >> bill: check four, former president clinton also being questioned about mr. obama. >> let me ask you about health care. back in august of 2009, you spoke in front of that net roots convention. this is what you said about health care reform. let's watch. >> i'm telling you i don't care how low they drive support for this with misinformation, the minute the president signs the health care reform bill, approval will go up because americans are inherently optimistic. >> the white house said the same thing, mr. president, but it hasn't happened yet. >> well, i was wrong about that for two reasons. first of all, the benefits of the bill are spread out over three or four years. it take

thinks obama wants to impose islamic law now tell me where did that come from because it sounds like it comes came from the blogs fear that go from the blogs fear into the mainstream and now everybody's talking about it and it seems quite amazing that we can hear these things repeated over and over again and then people start believing it i think that's right i think you're exactly right peter i think what you have is you have these rumors that began in the in the right wing fever swamp so the blogosphere they see upwards into into the world of talk radio and fox news and other murdoch outlets like the new york post and they are amplified they enter this right wing media app echo chamber in which they raise doubts now. as with other bits of right wing propaganda you don't have to succeed you don't have to get most of americans believing that obama is in fact a sleeper agent for for islam but if you can toss that you can throw some smoke out there and muddy the waters if you will to mix metaphors you can create doubt and this is bad for your opponent and it's a it's a tried and true w

one of those things that obama -- look, obama is in two political boxes. one as pat points out, he has general patraeus in there and he can't say no to general patraeus. when he was campaigning, he has made iraq the bad war, afghanistan the good war. the question is, how is he going to do it and how is he going to do it effectively? >> exit question. is obama the victim of his own success in the war of afghanistan from the 2008 campaign? >> just said. that is exactly correct. >> eleanor. >> i think that we needed to put troops in afghanistan. i think president bush squandered several years by misdirecting american attention into iraq and this president is trying to clean up the mess. he is doing it imperfectly, but not going to stay there for ever. >> you cannot have a political reconciliation without changing the balance of security forces on the ground. if the taliban and other radical forces believe they can wait out the american forces, they will certainly do that. if we are in this and fight it to win , you can have some relatively political resolutio

obama is basically saying and i kind of admire this from obama. i'm not moving to the center. i'm going to stay hard left. i'm going to tell you that my policies will make the country better. you just have to be patient but i'm telling you, i think he's going to get whacked in november with that stance. >> i think certainly we're going to see some democratic losses in congress and in governorships. >> do you agree with me that obama is not moving to the center? >> i think he's staying where he's been all along. that's one of his great strengths. he has a program and he has some values and he's sticking to them. >> philosophically you're right. >> right. >> but practically speaking, the american public basically says we don't like what you're doing. it's not working. >> well, there's certainly some disappointment in health care and i think the administration needs to continue to work harder to frame that issue better, i don't think most -- most of the benefits, it's all about money. and by the way, we're still at 9.6% unemployment and i think that's obama's biggest problem, by

michelle obama has long said she is, quote, no political animal. but, she's about to jump head on into the political fray. the white house is about to unleash one of its biggest stars onto the campaign trail. next month, first lady michelle obama will headline at least nine democratic fund-raisers in six states. she'll raise money for a handful of candidates facing tight re-election battles on democratic turf. among them, wisconsin senator russ feingold who passed up a chance to campaign with president obama earlier this month and california senator barbara boxer. >> i think she will go out and make a forceful and positive case for what this administration has done. >> reporter: the white house insists mrs. obama is eager to hit the road and democrats are just as eager to have her. polls show she's more popular than her husband. >> michelle obama has, i think, enormous power in energizing the base and reenergizing the base where that's necessary. >> reporter: the first lady has scored points with americans through her efforts to curb childhood obes

obama as a christian. we're going to have more on this story later this hour. >>> let's go to connecticut right now where a tightening senate battle could contribute to a major power shift in washington in november. to cnn's mary snow working the story for us. getting closer to the contest in connecticut, is that right? >> this is -- this is a state that democrats outnumbers republicans months ago. rich blumenthal had a lead over newcomer linda mcmahon. a new poll out today suggests it's too close to call and anger at the government is one reason why. >> gained fame and fortune in the form of wrestling. now lindamacman is going to give a blow to the democrats in the blue state. mcmahon has chipped away at what once was a wide lead held by democrat richard blumenthal, a popular attorney general seen by many as a shoe-in. a new quinnipiac poll shows blumenthal leading 49% to 46%. quinnipiac's polling director says independents are making the difference. >> an anti-government feeling that connecticut voters h

look at president obama. of people have read this book and said it's very painful. >> larry: so far it is to me. >> to see that -- he's not sure what to do, that he's perhaps overintellectualizing. so people on the right, republicans, can look at this and say, he's not committed. democrats, all kinds of people who don't like the war, could read this and say, you know what, he got it, he understood that this is not just a bad hand, as he said at one of the end -- end of one of these monthly reviews, which he does, he walks out, and they're talking about kandahar and he's being briefed. he says, given that definition of the problem, i don't know how we come up with a solution to this. now, that was four months ago. >> larry: tell you whose strong, biden, right? >> yes, yeah. >> larry: i mean, he is -- he slams the fist down. >> biden, he does, and i asked president obama, doesn't this make you a little uneasy and jumpy? i mean, biden makes long, passionate arguments, and president obama said, no, that's exactly

it goes to obama. >> obama is at the end of the day carrying the bag and deciding whether or not the investigation is correct. >> bill: walk into the oval office and says this is what i find out about your pal holder he is a pinhead. >> i don't know those words. >> the president would be hard-pressed to ignore the findings of the inspector general. >> oh, p.r. >> to have the oversight. >> bill: how long is this going to take? like eight years? that's how they usually do it. >> after the next presidential election. see what i'm saying? >> isn't that true? >> take as long as they want. what they have done now is apiece the people who said look, you didn't bring these charges. >> bill: they didn't appease me. >> they are trying to appease. they are not going to appease quickly. >> bill: the final thing we have to ask ladies real quick in florida a disturbing thing a manual that was floating around on the internet teaching people how to molest children. okay? >> outrageous. and the florida authorities looked at it and what conclusion did they come to. >> authorities said look, this is le

that is not -- i don't believe, i spent too much time studying barack obama, that is not who barack obama is. i'm not saying that he shouldn't take a little of bill clinton's vaerks pour it over, do the i feel your pain bit. but you have to in politics, the reason barack obama won this presidency in the first place, because he was true to himself. because he didn't pander. he didn't do the sorts of things that are expected of politician. >> i think that basically the advice is basically, you can do it, i can't. it's more like bragging. >>> coming up, the republican party unveils its so-called pledge to america and it may be just the biggest political cover up since watergate. you know the good stuff, cut taxes. cut spending. but the big question is, does it really hide or disguise the much more serious, more radical proposal than the republican party has? the tea party stuff that we hear all of the time. how come that's not on the paper? let's talk about what's being covered over on this pledge. you're watching "hardball." no pain medicine is proven to last longer than advil. not tylenol.

for obama's senate seat in illinois.olorado senate michael bennett. washington senator patty murray. nancy pelosi. california senator barbara boxer. political analysts say several races are must-wins for democrats. >> they know if patty murray and boxer go down on election night, they've almost certainly lost the senate. if they hold them both, they're in better shape. >> reporter: it's not unusual for first ladies to campaign in mid-term election. laurie bush did it in 2006. first lady is no strainier to campaigning. she stirred controversial in 2008 talking about her husband's candidacy for president. >> for the first time in my adult life i am proud of my country. >> as first lady, mrs. obama in a recent poll had 68% favorability rating focussed on platform of healthy eating and physical fitness for kids. her office says he comes to campaigning as a mom. that is the lens as she sees the world. sabato expects she will stick to fixed, nice remarks. >> she says nice things about the candidate she's with. >> reporter: sti

>> bill clinton led them down the garden path as did barack obama. this was perhaps the greatest political miscalculation in the last 50 years, this thing is not selling and, yeah, he is going to have to offer them jobs. >> the line is going to be long. when we come back, the latest salvos in the battle over school reforms, the movement, get the boost as al gore's movie director sets his sights on the teachers union, but they have the school chief michelle reed in their sights. will she hold on to her job? . look at all this stuff foffee. oh there's tons. french presses, expresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it, tho. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. th is easy. best news i've hed all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort mped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate bo

obama says, i'm taking charge. do a 30,000 temporary surge but we're going to have a plan to get out of there. i was impressed by that. he took charge. good for him. >> bill, bill, i think this bill -- this book is very troubling. the fact of the matter is the pentagon and the white house are not on the same page. the fact that the president's worried mostly about politics and not about policy, he's worried about losing the whole democratic party. why doesn't he -- and also does not say at all -- >> well, hold on, john. >> john, john -- >> no sense of winning the war. >> wait. >> here's the bottom line here, gentlemen -- >> they are -- >> hold it, time-out. hold it, we have to bring in point in. john, this is a key point. the bushies always said that they listened to the generals on ground. despite of what president obama wants to do he's listening to the generals who are operating this war. he gave them another 30,000 troops. >> exactly. >> how can the conservatives turn on him for that? >> the implication of this

and to illinois president obama's old senate seat. both candidates had ethical issues, but the republican is virtually tried with the democrat. the green party candidate gets 7%, and says that's significant for democrats. >> it hurts them, because most of the green party voters in 2008 voted for barack obama. >> a surprisingly close senate race in the blue state of washington and one point united states patty murray from her republican challenger dina rossy and in ohio still a double digit lead for republican rob portman over democrat lee fisher. president obama won all five of the states in 2008, but now, ohio seems somewhat out of reach. and democrats are struggling to hold on to the others. barone attributes that mainly to voters discontent over the democrats handling of the economy. in washington, molly henneberg, fox news. >> bret: over on capitol hill senate democrats failed to pass a measure aimed at discouraging out outsourcing of american jobs. why a handful blocked the bill. >> mr. hennessey, no-- >> another legislative show

>> what do i think about billy or obama? >> sean: obama. >> i've never spent any time with him. of his policies. but i've never met the guy. so i'm going to be more merciful than you are. >> sean: that i can see. >> interesting if he continues to get the question about the christian thing -- >> sean: on your new cd, you have two songs that you wrote to your wife. there's not enough diamonds in the world. you make all other husbands and men look bad. i really resent you for this. last chance to get in your text vote. we want to know the issue, which is impacting your midterm vote the most. . the results coming up after the results coming up after the mmmmmm. mmmmmm. wow! you have got to be kidding me. 80 calories? light & fit has 80 calories versus 100 in the other leading brand. light & fit. irresistible taste. fewer calories. i love light & fit. host: could switching to geico did the little piggy cry wee wee wee all the way home? piggy: weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeee weeeeeeee. mom: max. ...maxwell! piggy: yeah? mom: you're home. piggy: oh,cool, thanks mrs. a. anncr: geic

this is a huge blown opportunity by obama. he could have had a massive stimulus that still spend money on all sorts of things, but it could have been structured in a way that did not seem like it was rewarding the old bulls in congress. instead of seeming like new ideas, it was this placating of people with old ideas and old wish lists. if we wanted to send a signal of trying something new, we could have done that with that huge amount of money they had to spend. i think they poisoned the well for themselves by st. nancy pelosi, harry reid, what do you have lying around that you want to fund? that took all of the new fresh thinking that obama had telegraphed to people that was going to be coming. >> i would add another thing, if i may. earlier on, we have a positive example of the social democracies. we could always look to europe and say we are never as advanced as they are. now we have greece. that brings home the people that there are really cost -- concrete costs to going down the road that nobody foresaw. >> the new deal

no way sarah palin beats obama. don't think she beats huckabee or mitt romney in a primary. >> speculation is unimportant. whether she could beat obama, i don't know. >> let me ask you a question. >> i think she's a strong candidate. >> do you think she would be an effective president? >> the media keeps talking about, you mentioned sarah palin or christine o'donnell. >> larry: what does the former governor -- >> either one of those two, and the hits on your web page go through the roof. people like to hear about sarah palin and christine o'donnell. >> they like to mock sarah palin. even republicans don't want sarah palin. karl rove, major strategist doesn't want sarah palin. >> larry: what about karl rove? >> this is why there's a tea party movement, because of the establishment republicans who have -- >> larry: karl rove is an example of that? >> yeah, and a lot of republicans in washington have basically taken the position we're going to be the washington generals to the democrats harlem globetrotters. we'll be g

barack obama could recover. but this smear will stick, and this is what they're hitting him with when they got him down. that's my thought p it's purely political but that's what newt is, i think. >> well, i think newt is visoral. he's a visceral attack guy. he wasn't very good as a speaker because he wasn't an affirmative character as much as a brilliant attack guy. here, he's doing the dirtiest of dirty work for the conservative cause and the conservative coalition. why he feels he needs to do this, i'm not sure. he used to be more focused on economics and issues like that. than he is on this. even though he came out of georgia, he was seen almost as a progressive in certain respects, for his -- the flavor of what he said 15, 18 years ago. why he's doing this now, i don't know. but you're right. it's to keep obama down and to try to turn the virtues of biography around on obama. let's not forget that obama sold himself originally and was embraced for it. i think the republicans understand that his biography is

>> bill clinton led them down the garden path as did barack obama.s was perhaps the greatest political miscalculation in the last 50 years, this thing is not selling and, yeah, he is going to have to offer them jobs. >> the line is going to be long. when we come back, the latest salvos in the battle over school reforms, the movement, get the boost as al gore's movie director sets his sights on the teachers union, but they have the schoo what super fruit is taking america by storm? surprise! it's sunsweet ones. prunes... a super fruit? really? they're a delicious source of nutrients. wow! have you ever had a prune? it's been a little while. i've been wanting to try one. this is delicious. that's really good. it's packaged by itself... that's fantastic! that is so juicy. my kids are gonna love this. these could really catch on. i think they already have. sunsweet ones. over 375 million enjoyed, and counting. now available in a new value pack. ♪ i like your messy hair ♪ i like the clothes you wear ♪ i le the way you sing ♪ and when you dance with me ♪ y

that is not -- i don't believe, i spent too much time studying barack obama, that is not who barack obama is. i'm not saying that he shouldn't take a little of bill clinton's advice, do the i feel your pain bit. but you have to in politics, the reason barack obama won this presidency in the first place, because he was true to himself. he didn't pander, do the sorts of things expected of polices. >> you're basically saying, you can do it, i can't. it's more like bragging. >>> coming up, the republican party unveils its so-called pledge to america and it may be just the biggest political cover up since water gate. the good stuff. cut taxes, spending, but the big question, does it really hide or disguise the more serious, radical p radical pro pose sal the republicans have. let's talk about what's being covered over. stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, expresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it, though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywher

is president obama trying to circumvent the nomination process. and the pope arrives in great britain with a message of traditional values. live from our studio in washington. this is special report. good evening, i'm bret baier. president obama looked to the future today saying he is confident the country will emerge from the current storm, with the stronger economy. but for the average family, that positivity about tomorrow doesn't necessarily translate when bills need to be paid today. chief washington correspondent jim angle looks at the economic situation. >> more signs of a struggling economy today as mortgage lenders repossess more homes in august than any month since the housing market crashed almost three years ago. >> looking at rising foreclosures and the expectation is we're not going to peak until at least the middle of next year. >> reporter: in all banks repossessed more than 95,000 homes last month. up 3% from july and an increase of 25% from august of last year. and some say administration efforts have only made things worse. >> t

why then should president obama buck that trend?> this time i think it is different because you have a president who is committed to not just israeli-palestinian peace but for regional comprehensive peace. and he said it from day one time and time again. that is a very different from the previous president. >> obama is aiming for a breakthrough with talks within a year. but is uneasy relationship with the israeli prime minister could complicate things >> from what we can see probably, i think it is the puck -- it is a complicated relationship. but it is a relationship where they understand that they need each other on a certain level, and they also understand that they can make problems for one another. >> a meeting earlier this year, obama did not shake hands with netanyahu. but at a later meeting in summit, obama strongly emphasize a cordial relations between the two countries. >> the bond between the u.s. and israel is unbreakable. >> and israel's most important ally, obama could put pressure on netanyahu to make more concessions

obama's policies. as for the republican party, mitt romney has a 45% favorable rating. 28% don't like him. sarah palin 44% like her. 49% do not. mike huckabee 49% like him. 25% do not. and newt gingrich clocks in at 35% favorable. 39% unfavorable. turning to the media listen to this. 81% of likely voters now get their information about politic from cable news. 71% say they get it from information from network news. on the cable news front, 42% of respondents say fox is their main source of information about politics. 30% say cnn. just 12% cite msnbc, which is disastrous. the politico george washington survey also polled media people. when asked who has the greatest positive impact on the political debate in america your humble correspondent the o'reilly guy comes out far ahead. 49% of americans cited me as having a positive impact on the political debate in this country. now, i know i'm not a humble man but that's really something. i appreciate it very much. i should note that 32% of the public say tha

obama is eager to hit the road and democrats are just as eager to have her. polls show she is more popular than her husband. >> michelle obama has, i think, enormous power in energy sdoising the base and reenergizing the base, where that's necessary. >> reporter: the first lady has scored points with americans through her efforts to curb childhood obesity and her role as a mom and fashion icon. liberals believe that star power could help shrink the growing enthusiasm gap among voters. >> even if you are not necessarily a big fan of barack obama's presidency and policies, a lots of people still like michelle obama as a person, a more, and role model. >> reporter: come november democrats hope mrs. obama will leave up to the same nickname she earned during the 2008 presidential campaign, "the closer." the white house says don't expect mrs. obama to go negative. instead, she will focus on what democrats can do for the future. terrell, back to you. >> tara mergener in washington this morning, thank you so much. >>> an american war hero finally publicly honored for