. >>> paul steinhauser, all eyes on are president obama and congressional leaders heading into theirday of talks about increasing the debt ceiling. >> you've got it, ali. day four ended on a very, very tense note between the president and eric cantor, the house majority leader. listen, they were discussing cantor's proposal for a shor short-term agreement. cantor says the president got aggravated and he told cantor, i've sat here long enough, he said don't call my bluff. i'll go to the american people with this. ali, as you can imagine, democratic sources have a different take on this exchange saying that obama was basically getting extremely frustrated with the congressional republicans' refusal to compromise on any tax increases. here we are going into day five, both sides seem pretty far apart, ali. >> what's the guessing, the betting in washington, regardless of the day-to-day goings on in washington? >> everybody says we have to get a deal sooner or later. everybody realizes the dire consequences if nothing is done by early august on the debt ceiling. if you look at every day me

let's turn to cnn deputy political director, paul steinhauser, live from washington right now. nomy can have a very huge impact on the elections. how much of an issue is this latest finding? >> reporter: the economy, fred, has been the issue, the top issue with americans, issue number one, since december of 2007. nothing has changed. when you look at the economy, what's the top issue on the minds of americans in the economy, jobs, jobs, jobs. no surprise. it hasn't changed. in january of 2009 when president obama came into the white house, the economy was in a freefall. unemployment level jumped up to 7.8% and continued to rise topping out at 10.1% in october of 2009. e slowly getting down to 8.8% in march of this year and back up to 9.2% where it stands today. >> what do voters think about overall president obama's performance, especially as it pertains to the economy? >> reporter: they always say the buck stop there is at the white house, right? it's true. take a look at this number. this is the most recent national poll on how the president is doing on jobs. it's a bloomberg

cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser joins me now from washington. paul, jobs seem to be really the top issue with americans, because if they don't work, they don't have the money to support their families. >> oh, no doubt. it is the top economic issue in this country, but it's also the top campaign issue for the economy. when you look at just economic issues, what's the top economic issue? jobs. let's take a little trip down memory lane. when president obama took over in the white house back in january of 2009, the economy was in a free fall. the employment rate had jumped. it topped out at 10.1 in october of 2009. very, very slowly getting down to 8.8% the this march, and now back at 9.2%, susan. >> and paul, do americans blame the president for the bad economy? it seems that no matter who's in office, they do tend to blame the president? >> yeah, the buck stops there. that's what they always say. the buck stops here at the white house. i want to show you two poll numbers here. how americans think the president is doing handling jobs, this is a bloo

. >>> now for our political ticker, let's bring in paul steinhauser on the phone from d.c.g. debt ceiling crisis, there's a big showdown in the house today. i want to play a clip from senator john mccain reading from a "wall street journal" editorial. listen to this with me, paul. >> the idea seems to be that if the house gop refuses to raise the debt ceiling, a default crisis or gradual government shutdown will ensue and the public will turn en masse against barack obama. republican house that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all the blame and democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced budget amendment and the tea party hobbits could return to middle earth having defeated mordor. >> paul, what do you think of that? >> the old maverick, i guess. you don't hear a lot of republicans taking on the tea party. that's what john mccain was doing. he was railing against the republicans saying basically if there's no balanced budget amendment, forget it, we're not going anything on the debt ceiling. john mccain is not up for re-election for five years

. >>> let's bring in paul steinhauser on the phone in washington.g about the debt ceiling increase. >> ali, we heard the president yesterday talk about that combined approach to -- on an agreement that would include tax increases plus spending cuts. he said most americans can't afford that. five polls out over the next week say, yeah, americans do support it including two that came out last night. an abc-"washington post" poll released last night indicates more than six in ten americans say any agreement on the debt ceiling needs to include a combination of spending cuss and new taxes. when you break that down, large majority of democrats, independent voters and nearly half of republicans say so. nbc-"wall street journal" came out with a new poll, the same story, 57% of the people in their survey support that approach. only 37 support the house republican approach which would only have spending cuts and no new taxes for the wealthy and corporations. one other thing on that. the top two democrats in the house that say they have a problem in that appr

we turned to cnn's deputy political director, paul steinhauser, who is live in washington. issue. tell us why. >> yeah, it sure is. not only here in washington, but across the country. here's why. we're talking about the president calling for $4 trillion in cuts for this -- as part of this agreement that they're trying to hammer out. and where are that going to find some of that money, those savings? well, social security and medicare. and those affect all americans. that's why this is such a touchy issue with so many people. check out this number from pew, the pew research center. this is a recent poll just a couple weeks ago, and it wit as what's more important, reducing the budget or keeping medicare and social security just as they are? and you can see right there, the majority of americans say keeping social security and medicare just as they are is the most important thing. a lot more, about a 2 to 1 margin over reducing the budget deficit. and susan, you're seeing a lot of pushback to the president to democrats saying, keep it off the table. do not touch social secur

paul steinhauser on the phone from washington this morning. ul, congressional leaders go back to the white house for debt ceiling talks. they made it about 75 minutes yesterday. i mean what is the problem here, paul? >> both parties are playing their bait. probably what the president wants to do is increase tax on wealthy americans. that's a huge no-no, no way rng they're not going to tax anybody, not even the rich. why are the democrats upset about the problem? because of the entitlement programs. they're saying leave your hands off our ebb titlements, mr. president. that's why it's so hard to say no to any kind of compromise, ali. >> paul, talk to me about this pledge. there was a marriage pledge that an iowa social conservative group got mick shell bachmann and rick santorum to. there's a preamble there. since slavery had a disaster impact on african-american families, yet sadly a child born into slarchry in 1960 was more likely to be raced by husband mother and father in a two-parent household than was an african-american baby born after th

neither is paul steinhauser.rail today, who's there. >> it's a great day if you're a candidate. you get to march in the july 4th parades. this is from amherst, new hampshire. here's mitt romney, he's saying hello to people along the side. that's what you do when you're running for president. go to the next tape, guess who else was at that parade? jon huntsman. he's running a little faster than romny, maybe that's because he's a little further down in the polls in new hampshire, and he has to greet more voters. >> yeah, he has to run harder and faster. >> it's still early, though. it's not just new hampshire. check out this map we made up here. we have a bunch of candy dates in iowa today. michele bachmann will be there marching in a parade. same parade will be rick santorum and newt gingrich. these states are the first states in the primary caucus. herm is at a tea party event in philadelphia. and he goes to new hampshire later today. >> thad mcconner also joined the race over the weekend. he's saying he wants to

paul steinhauser is joining us. >> you're working. i'm working. >> they might as well work. >> it's a good day to do it, too. a lot of parades and events. they're going to all those important early voting states. take a look at the map. michele bachman, newt gingrich, rick santorum, where will they be? iowa. mitt romney and jon huntsman will be marching in the same parade in new hampshire. herman cain will be at philadelphia's hall. no holiday at all, as you said, for the presidential candidates, kyra. >>> speaking of the fourth of july, it seems a lot of americans need to go back to school. >> yeah, yeah. check this out. this is a national poll. they asked what year did the u.s. declare its independence? 58% got it right. nearly six in ten got it right. about one in four said they were unsure what year it was and 16% got it wrong. when you break down those numbers, older americans did better than younger americans when it comes to getting the date right, the year right, kyra. >> no surprise. it happens all the time, right? we talk ab

. >>> let's take to paul steinhauser joining me on the phone. sident. polling way ahead of everyone else either in the race or not in the race. he's not in america right now. >> he's running for u.s. president, so why is he across the pond in great britain? a little crazy. well, he's over there for a couple things. first of all, fund-raiser yesterday. raising money in britain? there's a lot of americans who work and live over there. a lot of money, a lot of them republicans. so that was one of the things he did. today he's going to number 10 downing street, meeting with ministers. yesterday he met with the former prime minister tony blair. is this unheard of? no. rudy giuliani did this four years ago. john mccain, as well, and barack obama. so not unheard of for some americans who are running for president to go across the pond. we'll keep our eyes on it and everything else on the campaign trail. >> and he's got a little leeway with his lead. paul, good to talk to you. >>> a canadian sports doctor has pleaded guilty to charge that's brought illeg

the ticker with paul steinhauser. , another one of these people whose got no holiday today. paul is working. we're working. and, paul, so are the republican presidential candidates. tell us who is doing what and where today. >> yeah, makes good sense, ali. this is july 4th. pa patriotic day, lots of parades. who is out there? three are in iowa. iowa is off the presidential caucus calendar. you've got michele bachmann and newt gingrich marching in the same parade in fact out there in iowa and are going to hit on a bunch of other events. rick santorum also campaigning in iowa. let's move east to new hampshire where of course that's the first primary in the nation, so that's another busy state. you have mitt romney and jon huntsman marching in the same parade in new hampshire hitting a bunch of other events. herman kaine is going different. pennsylvania, tea party in independence hall in philadelphia. but you know where he ends up, ally? ends the day in new hampshire. they're going the end up in one of those two states ev

. >> which leads us perfectly to our deputy political director paul steinhauser. we are told getting reaction from republicans. paul, this is what the president has been talking about at every speech and every town hall meeting he has been doing and, still, it's not looking good. >> reporter: and, kyra, as christine was saying, listen, my e-mail, blackberry bouncing the last few minutes because so many responses from republicans in congress and also republicans running for the white house. we keep saying what the is most important issue on the minds of americans? the economy. what is the most important economic issues? jobs. the first person out of the gate after the release of the report was house speaker john boehner. he said in a statement off the top, the american people are still asking the question, where are the jobs? and his statement was followed by a bunch, a bunch of other top republicans in congress who was the first republican presidential candidate to have a statement, kyra? michele bachmann. the congresswoman from minnesota was equally critical of th

joining me now to break this down for us is cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser.there, paul. edwards has to pay back money, but this has nothing to do with the criminal conspiracy case against him, is that right? >> reporter: you are absolutely right. we're talking about $2.3 million. this was a ruling today by the federal election commission, and edwards' campaign from the 2008 presidential election needs to pay that back to the u.s. treasury. why? because of what's called matching funds, matching funds the government gives to candidates when they are running for office. they give money from the government, raise own money and there's certain limits. they have about $2.9 million left so i guess they have the money to pay it back. randi, as you said, this has nothing to do with the criminal conspiracy case against the former u.s. senator from north carolina. you know, he's accused of issuing false statements and violating campaign contribution laws. a lot of this has to do with the money that was given to his mistress at the time rielle hunter by benefactors of th

. >> i'm paul steinhauser. a swing through iowa doing well in the state that holds the first contest in the race for the white house is crucial to winning the nomination. wednesday, what's billed as the first ever twitter presidential debate. six candidates say they will take part in the event put on by a tea party group. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. a watch dog association in washington opens its doors on thursday. the consumer financial protection bureau inspects the books of the biggest banks to ensure they are abiding by credit card laws and respond to consumer complaints. the white house has yet to appoint a director due to opposition in congress. we'll get key reports on the housing market and also earnings from g.e., coca-cola, wells fargo and caterpillar. we track it on cnn money. >> i'm carlos diaz of "showbiz tonight ". this week, casey anthony aftermath. the frenzy following her release from jail. plus, the end is here for "entourage." we'll talk to the stars from the hit hbo show. catch us at 11

. >>> i'm paul steinhauser. tim pawlenty tomorrow will begin a five-day swing through iowa.there is crucial for his hopes of winning the republican presidential nomination. wednesday, what's being billed as the first-ever twitter presidential debate. six candidates will take part in the event. >>> i'm poppy har low in new york. a long awaited watch dog agency in new york opens its doors on monday. they will inspect the books of the country's biggest banks to be sure they are abiding by current credit card laws and respond to consumer complaints. but the white house has yet to appoint the director due to opposition in congress. also key reports this week on the housing market and also earnings from ge, coca-cola, wells fargo, and caterpillar. we'll track it all for you on cnn money. >>> i'm carlos diaz. here's what we're watching this week. casey anthony aftermath. the frenzy following casey anthony's release from jail. >>> plus, the end is here for "entourage." we'll talk to all of the stars from the hit hbo show. cat catch "show biz tonight" right here on hln. >>> thank you

. >> i'm paul steinhauser. chris christie is in iowa. mind about running for the president but there to speak about an education summit. but plenty of people will be in the state that votes first in the caucuses and primaries. michele bachmann, tim pawlenty and ran sanatorium all campaigned there. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. reports from amazon, ford and caterpillar and mcdonald's. tuesday, two key reports, one on consumer confidence, and new home sales. and we will look ahead to friday when we see the second quarter gdp and see how much the economy grew during those three months and track it all for you on cnn money. >> i'm carlos diaz. here's what we're watching this week. we'll have the details of a michael jackson tribute concert being put together by his family and will the arnold schwarzenegger/maria shriver split get nasty over support payments? catch "showbiz tonight" tonight weeknights at 11 p.m. eastern on hln. >>> now, a look ahead at the weather and how it will impact travel. jacqui jeras joins me. a couple of regions wi

>> paul steinhauser, thanks so much. your next political update in an hour. always get all of the political news 24/7 at cnn/politics.com. >>> east africa's worst drought in decades is helping spawn the world's biggest refugee camp with thousands of more people arriving every week desperate for food and water. the camp is in kenya and most of its refugees from somalia. zain verjee is joining us with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kyra. this is the largest refugee camp in the world and it's right near the kenyan border with somalia. like 500,000 people now in that refugee camp and thousands of somalis are pouring across the border to he escape the scorching heat. they have no food, no water, no shelter in somalia. so they are coming to kenya. aide agencies are saying it's really difficult to give them everything they need and it's also even tougher to get the food to somalia to help them out simply because of the instability and the fighting that has racked that country. it's such a difficult situation for people, kyra, because they are

. >> i'm paul steinhauser at the cnn political desk.ampaign in early voting states. among them herman cain who opens in iowa. tuesday, there is a special election in the los angeles area to fill the seat of former democratic congresswoman jane harmon who stepped down earlier this year. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. following the abysmal jobs report on friday, general electric's ceo will speak in d.c. at a jobs summit on monday. second quarter earning season kicks off with j.p. morgan chase, citigroup and google all reporting numbers. as far as economic news we'll get minutes from the fed's last meeting. those are critical to see how the economy is doing. we'll track it all for you on "cnn money." >> i'm a.j. hammer. this is what we are watching tonight -- new developments in the casey anthony watch. the incredible explosive ways casey may cash in on fame and the disturbing connections between casey and o.j. simpson. be sure to catch "showbiz tonight" exclusively weeknights on hln. >>> the nation is mourning the death of former first

cnn's deputy political director paul steinhauser has details on this political look ahead. >> hey, fredwa is in the spotlight this week. new jersey governor chris christy there tomorrow. wait a minute. before you start thinking he's changed his mind and decided to run for the white house, hold off a second. he's there to speak on an education summit. plenty of people running for the presidential nomination will be in the state. congresswoman michele bachmann, congressman ron paul, tim pawlenty and former senator rick santorum of pennsylvania all campaign in iowa this week. you know what? that make sense. we're just over three weeks away from a crucial straw poll in the state. texas governor rick perry who seems to be moving closer to jumping into the presidential race speaks at a conservative conference in colorado. fred? gl thanks so much, paul. for the latest political news you know exactly where to go. cnnpolitics.com. >>> all right pap controversy over rob lowe's next movie. he is set to play accused wife killer scott peterson. here is lowe explaining that role. >> this is for the p

here's cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser. >> a bunch of the presidential candidates willampaign this week in some of those crucial early voting states on the road to the white house. herman cain tomorrow kicks off his come pain in iowa. democrats are likely to hold on to that seat. the spotlight is also constant on tuesday. it was just a few months ago the protest over a controversial plan to strip public workers of rights rocked the capitol. we'll learn this week how much money president barack obama's re-election campaign has brought him since it started up in early april. sources say that number could be $60 million. friday is the deadline for all of the presidential campaigns to report their fundraising figures. fred? >> thanks so much, paul. appreciate that. >>> for the latest political news you know exactly where to go. cnnpolitics.com. in case you need a little reminder there. >>> another little reminder, a few minutes from now more of the newsroom with my colleague don lemon. what's ahead. >> on cnn. don't forget. watch it here on cnn. a lot coming up. we are real

cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser takes a look at what's ahead this week in politics. >> it the battle for iowa. tomorrow former minnesota governor tim pawlenty begins a five-day swing through the state that holds the first contest in the race for the white house. all this comes a month before a crucial straw poll in iowa in mid-august. pawlenty needs a strong showing there and more importantly in iowa's february caucuses if he hopes to win the presidential nomination. possibly standing in his way fellow minnesotan michele bachmann. iowa is just as crucial for her. the congresswoman was born in iowa and is spending this weekend stumping in the state. she's on top of most of the recent polls of like lly iowa caucusgoers. wednesday, six candidates will take part in an event put on by an online tea party group. >> thanks so much, paul. for the latest political news, you know kpalexactly where to g. cnnpolitics.com. >>> about 11 minutes or so from now, more of the newsroom with don lemon. >> you're good at math. >> no, i'm not. how are you? >> i'm good. i told you yesterday,

presidential hopefuls spread out from iowa to alabama, but as cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser the biggest turnout may actually be for the president. >> good morning, t.j. president barack obama's re-election campaign is taking to the streets today. campaign aides say they're launching what they call a major day of action across the country to help register new voters to beef up their grassroots network of obama supporters. this week the president's re-election team announced some eye-popping fund-raising figures. the obama victory fund brought in $86 million the past three months with $47 million going to the re-election campaign and the rest to the democratic party. >> it is so great to be here in iowa! >> congresswoman michele bachmann of minnesota campaigns today in neighboring iowa, doing well in the state that holds the first contest in the race for the white house is crucial bachmann's hopes of winning the nomination. bachmann's not only candidate out on the trail this weekend. mitt romney's in new hampshire. the perceived front-runner is spending a lot of time and effor

cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser joining us from washington. who's signing on now?nesota, she becames the latest of these republican candidates to do this, just about all of them have signed this pledge. she's going to sign them in south carolina, and that's the first southern primary to vote and it's also the home of the mastermind behind this cut, cap and balance pledge. let's look closely at what it's all about. cut calls for cutting a substantial amount of spending into bring down $1.5 trillion in that deficit. cap the government spending at 18%. right now it's at 24%. and balance, that is to pass a balanced budget amendment. as you can imagine, this is a little bit controversial with a lot of democrats, but on the republican side, a lot of support, especially conservatives. >> paul, i just want to ask you, as we have been watching the gop field for the presidential candidates, we keep expecting it to grow, a lot of talk about governor rick perry, any more word on his decision. he had some comments over the weekend, the register, the big newspaper out in iowa, i

>> thanks as always to paul steinhauser. >>> check out this video of one of the presidential republicanopefuls. out on the campaign trail. on the right of your screen, that is john huntsman. he's a republican candidate. he led about 50 bikers through the streets of salt lake city. it was a campaign rally at the end of their ride. huntsman met with several influential republican governors in town for the national governor's association meeting. >>> 22 minutes past the hour now. mila kunis and justin timberlake got offers you simply cannot refuse. yes. we'll tell you how they are now about to serve their country. discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is withou

deputy political director paul steinhauser joining me from washington. , what do americans think? should tax increases be included in any agreement to raise the debt ceiling? i'm just curious. maybe americans have the answer here. >> reporter: yeah, they might, they might. because it seems like democrats and reasons cans can't agree. republicans in congress saying no way, mr. president, no tax increase whatsoever in a dole to win the debt ceiling. this is from quinnipiac university, just came out this morning. should the agreement, if there is an agreement, be only spending cuts. about a quarter say yes on that, but look at, that two-thirds say taxes on the wealthy and corporations should be included in a deal. randu, randi, democrats and republicans differ on the results. >> i want to ask you about gop presidential candidate ron paul. we had him on the show yesterday talking about the debt ceiling, and he clearly is very against raising the debt ceiling. >> reporter: oh. yeah. >> going a little bit further now with that, isn't he. >> reporter: going on t

cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser from the political desk in washington with some brand polling. paul, have liberals driven president obama's approval ratings down? >> it seems like it, randi. take a look at, this a national poll from cnn. and you can see the president's approval rating now at 45%. that's down a few points from last month. and look at that disapproval now up to 54%. that ties his all-time high of disapproval in our polling. bull take a look, go to the next number. when you break it down, not jusÑ republicans and others who are upset giving the president thumbs down. 13% of the people who disapprove say they're upset with the president because he's not liberal enough. and maybe part of that is because he's willing to negotiate on social security and medicare in those deficit talks. you know what, though, go to the next number. and you can see here, the republican brand is coming into some problems, as well. the policies move the country in the right direction or wrong direction? right direction down to 37%, that's down nine points from back in january when

. >>> paul steinhauser joins us with the latest. , sir. >> hey, t.j., how are you? listen sarah palin weighing in on the negotiations going on right here in washington, d.c. of course,ed deadline august 2nd. critical of the president, she's always critical of this president, but she also had tough words for mitch mcconnell, the top republican in the senate, going after him for proposing a short-term deal that would give the president the authority to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a government default. here's what she said last night -- we cannot default, but we cannot afford to retreat, either. it's the time to reload and we reload with reality. there's tough talk. she also talked about whether she will or won't run for president. her timetable she's considering next month or september she'll have a decision. >> i know you keep an eye on numbers. a lot of the debate that has to do with taxes. where are americans right now? >> one of the big sticking points. republicans are saying huh-uh, no way to taxes, even on the wealthy. a qui

. >>> now cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser weighing in on the debt limit. paul, what are presidential candidates saying? >> reporter: they are all republicans, right? i guess you can imagine they are critical of the president, not of john boehner. the first one was from tim pawlenty. here is what he said. president obama is lecturing the country instead of leading it. michele bachman says shame on president obama for casting the american people aside as collateral damage as he continues his political gamemanship with the national debt crisis. they are critical of this president and you know where they stand. they are republicans. remembered the president last night and john baper last night b boehner last night. any poll conducted the last couple of weeks american people want compromise. this is from our most recent poll. when dealing with the gop, the president should and look at that. two-thirds say comom rather than stand up for his beliefs. go to the next number when it comes to the gop in dealing with the president what should they do? look at it. nearl

paul steinhauser joins us live from washington. >> rick perry is thinking about jumping into the white house and could do it. stay tuned on that. the brand-new numbers ass this survey is out a few hours ago. a traffic jam there at the top. romney who is making a second bid for the white house at 16%. look at that. two wants behind is perry. followed by two people who aren't even in the race either. rudy giuliani and sarah palin. both of them flirting with running for the white house but not taking concrete steps towards forming a campaign and sarah -- i mean, ma shell bachmann. everybody else in single digits in our poll numbers. this is interesting about perry. last month early in june we asked republicans do you think perry should run for president? 50% said no and only a minority said yes. it's turned around. now they say yes we would like to see perry run for our party's nomination with only a minority saying they would not. i guess things have changes when it comes to rick perry. >> paul, thank you very much. your next political update in an hour. always get all of the political n

paul steinhauser, part of the best political team on television, joining us from the political desk.hat shows that this might be costing politicians quite a bit in credibility. >> oh, yeah. a lot of americans fed up with what's going on right here in washington. and the leaders who try to deal with this. a new poll from gallup asks do you approve or disaproof of how they're handling the crisis. 41% giving the president the thumbs up on the issue. that goes down to 31% for john boehner and only about a quarter of americans are giving harry reid a thumbs up on how they're handling negotiations. more proof i guess you could say americans don't think the leaders here are doing a good job. they just want the leaders to get the job done. >> and what about how they're using this in their political ads. >> i guess coming soon to a television near you, it's only heating up, the ad wars from both sides. the newest ad from a bunch of progressive groups and unions. this going up today in eight states across the country. it's targeting republican lawmakers for how they're dealing with the debt cr

deputy political director paul steinhauser is joining us. >> reporter: he will be sounding and looking like a presidential candidate today talking to a new hampshire women's group. that's what you do when you're running for president. i asked one of rudrudy's advise they say nothing has changed. let's talk about michele bachmann who is running, the congresswoman from minnesota. three polls out this week. now three -- three -- three polls and she is on the top of all three polls in iowa. how about that? also a national poll came out this week as well and michele bachman is number two. she is definitely rising in the polls. been doing that since they did a pretty good job, i think people would agree, at the presidential debate that cnn had last month. >> jon huntsman keeping up his attacks on mitt romney. you have been following this back and forth. >> reporter: today, where is mitt romney? new hampshire. the state with the first primary in the nation. are we going to hear him respond to huntsman who is attacking romney over creating jobs and huntsman saying romney not doing a good job w

paul steinhauser will tell us who he's going after. >> after mitt romney.the front-runner for the gop nomination. you said, no more mr. nice guy. yesterday in south carolina huntsman seemed to be trying out a new line sharpening his attack over romney. over job. whether he was a great job creator. huntsman pointed out when i was governor in utah, number one in the nation creating jobs and guess what? massachusetts was 47th. guess where romney has been governor, massachusetts? stay tuned. kyra. this one is far from over. more to be said about this. >> did you say something about it's election day? >> reporter: it is. right in the middle of july -- >> wait a minute. >> reporter: what is going -- exactly. wait. it is election day. you could say republicans are california dreamin'. here it is. the gop thinks they may pull an upset. a special election in the los angeles area, along the beach, the south bay area of l.a. it's an open house seat. used to be harmon's old seat. democrats have had this district for years. a democratic overwhelmingly area, but tough ec

well, cnn deputy political director, paul steinhauser joining me from washington. happy friday.it costing politicians in terms of the poll numbers? >> definitely not helping them, no doubt about that. americans getting frustrated. check this out, here's an example. new poll from gallop, only 4 in 10 approve how president obama is handling the debt ceiling crisis. look at that, numbers keep going down and down. three in ten give a thumb's up to house speaker john boehner, and only two in ten approve of how harry reid is handling. americans want this deal to get done, and it hasn't happened so far. they are frustrated and taking it out on the politicians, randy. >> the politicians are using the debate as a political weapon in their ads. what can you tell us about that? >> oh, yeah, coming soon or at a television near you, ads on national cable, ads on local tv stations across the country. today a group came out with ads that go out against republican lawmakers over the debt crisis, and i learned a couple of minutes ago a conservative group is releasing ads attacking the president.

deputy political director paul steinhauser has the rest of the story here, read iing between t lines. >> a lot of of people talking about this story, iowa, first caucus state. family leader, one of the top social conservative groups in iowa. very, very important, constituents in iowa. and we're talking about traditional marriage, a pledge for the candidates to sign, to promote fidelity with your spouse and promote traditional marriage, not same-sex marriage. the preamble says slavery had a disastrous impact on african-american families yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an african-american baby born after the election of the u.s.a.'s first african-american president. that's where the trouble started. they took that preamble out. it's no longer in the pledge. two candidates had already signed that pledge, michele bachman, the congresswoman from neighboring minnesota and the former senator from pennsylvania. both those campaigns are doing a bit of damage control. here is what the bachman te

. >>> paul steinhauser with our political update now. new developments i understand on the campaign trail. paul, what do you have? >> reporter: let's talk -- start with jon huntsman. i guess call it 2.0. remember, he jumped into the race for the white house about a month or two ago? a lot of fan fare but not rising in the polls. in fact, not doing much at all in the polls. what do you do? i guess you shake things up if that is the case. changes campaign manager last week. now a newer maybe tougher jon huntsman on the campaign trill. heard it yesterday in new hampshire. aggressive going after president obama and aggressive going after mitt romney who is considered i guess right now in the early stages of this race the front-runner for the gop nomination. campaign aides to huntsman say expect to hear more of that. >>> george pataki, i guess we have to talk about him. three terms in the '90s and last decade as well as governor of new york. he is in new hampshire today and tomorrow. last week, in iowa. the first two states in the presidential

cnn dependty political director paul steinhauser joining us from washington. all right, paul.er. how about this name, george pataki, former new york governor. guess where he was last week? iowa? guess where he'll be later this week, new hampshire. >> nice. >> what's the story here? he considered a bid for the white house for the gop nomination in 2008, didn't do it. said no to a run earlier this year, kind of reversed himself. now a spokesman for pataki says he's considering a run. i guess, i guess also keep your eyes on george pataki. >>> talking about congressman wu of oregon his decision not t

. >>> paul steinhauser is joining us for our political ticker. paul, more evidence that next year's presidential election could be too close to call? >> reporter: yeah. a long way away. two polls in the last week showing the same thing, that battle next year for the president, the republican candidate all tied up basically. look at this. pugh research center. the president versus a no-named candidate, generic candidate. it's all tied up with the president with support of 42% and 41% -- or 40% going for the republican. look how it was back in may. what a difference back then. 11-point advantage for the president. i'll say one thing about these numbers. remember, election is over a year away. things change, people change their minds. what is the big factor in all of this? the economy, the economy, the economy, the economy. you were talking about it with ali and this slow recovery. let's talk about governor rick perry. do it almost every morning. he is thinking about jumping into the race for the republican presidential nomination and he speaks at a

our deputy political director paul steinhauser, got our political update. >> always good to see you. he in great britain? what's going on with that? well, he was over there today meeting with the british prime minister. how did we find out about that? he told us on twitter. take a look at this, gave us a picture in his tweet meeting with the british prime minister over there. also yesterday had a fund-raiser. listen, this isn't the first television candidate go to britain, john mccain, barack obama and rudy giuliani all did this last time around so it beefs up their foreign policy chops and helps them with fund-raising, a lot of americans who live in britain have a lot of money and want to spend some of it on candidate. new campaign ads, the ad wars in iowa heating up, iowa so important, the first caucus state. michele bachmann up with a new ad. what does she do in that ad, reminds people in iowa guess where i was born, iowa. how is that, t.j. >> a pretty good strategy. one political campaign having to apologize to the other, and bachmann is in the middle of this one. >> getting the

. >>> paul steinhauser is in washington with our political update.ore signs rick perry tossing his hat in the ring? a lot of people saying just do it already. >> we keep talking about it. cnn confirmed a bunch of conservative activists for new hampshire where are they going? texas next week to meet with the texas governor. next week he meets with more financial backers and doing that to see if the money is there for a race for the white house. tomorrow he speaks to a conservative conference a gathering in denver, colorado. remember those two polls? the two most convenient polls out there where is he? second place. we definitely keep our eyes as we have been on rick perry. talk about sarah palin the former alaska governor, john mccain running mate. boom, she is back in the spotlight. we found out yesterday, guess where she will be labor day weekend? iowa. she be will the keynote speaker at a tea party rally there and she says she will have her decision sometime some september whether she will or won't run for the white house. >> still waiting to hear

>>> let's go to paul steinhauser. we heard from the president and from speaker boehner. got a brand-new poll but it's the same story. americans want a compromise. check out these numbers. should your lawmaker compromise even if it goes against their principles when it comes to the debt ceiling or should they stand by their guns? look at that, 68%. nearly 7 in 10 say compromise to avoid a default. but there's a bipartisan divide. democrats say compromise. it goes down for independents and down even more for republicans. and for tea party republicans, only 1 in 4 say compromise rather than avoid government default. our own cnn poll had the same numbers last week and just about every other poll showing the same thing. >>> we're talking about david wu. he's now saying resign because of all this pressure mounting. how will this play within the democratic party. >> i think in a way this is almost a relief to the democratic party, at least the national democrats. wu is a congressman out of oregon's first congressional district. some of the other areas around portland. and it's

political director paul steinhauser. >> now she's changing her mind on this one. you'll hear a lot about this pledge over the next couple of days on the campaign trail about right here in washington where she's going to sign today? south carolina. why? two reasons, south carolina a crucial early voting state, first primary in the south and home to senator jim demint, the mastermind behind this pledge. what is it? let's start with cuts. cut of substantial amount of spending to bring down roughly $1.5 trillion expected approximate in that deficit this year cap government spending at 18%. it's at 24% and pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution that includes spending caps and to make it more difficult to raise taxes. bachmann starts today at iowa before going to south carolina and sign this pledge. you'll see tim pawlenty spending all week in iowa, five days across the state. why? because iowa is so important to pawlenty's campaign as well for the race to the white house. he's a former minnesota governor. he needs to do well in that straw poll plus the ca

our deputy political director paul steinhauser. what is the news there? >> reporter: an hour after the president's news conference in chicago, outside the president's re-election headquarters, you're going to see the progressive change campaign committee. they are one of these progressive liberal groups and they have been pushing back against the president for a couple of years now. and deliver what they say is 200,000 pledges from democrats across the country who say they won't campaign, they won't contribute to the president's re-election campaign if he cuts social security, medicare or medicaid as part of this plan. republicans are hearing it from the tea party and the president and other congressional democrats are hearing it from the progressive groups. let's move from chicago north and west to minnesota, it looks like that two-week long government shutdown may just about be over. the democratic governor up, mark dayton and lawmakers have come to an agreement to end the shutdown up there. minnesota like every other state needs a balanced budget. they