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GOP's New Winners and Losers; Perry Enters Presidential Race; Rick Perry Stumps in Iowa; Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll; Obama Kicks Off Bus Tour; Norway Suspect Re-Enacts Shootings; State Fair Reopens, Honors Five Killed; Hackers Target San Francisco Transit; Rapper May Face Charges for Tweet; Thief Runs Off with Rembrandt; Honoring the Fallen; America's Best Small Towns; Missing Woman in Aruba; Interview with PGA Winner Keegan Bradley
Aired August 15, 2011 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, wild weekend shakes up the Republican race for the White House. You've got the winners, the losers and a potential game changer.
First up, Michele Bachmann. She begins the week with a big win, the coveted straw poll in Iowa. The same contest that actually chases Tim Pawlenty from the race, he finished a pretty disappointing third.
And Texas Governor Rick Perry steals much of the spotlight with his weekend entry, charismatic and divisive. He actually brings a new excitement and a lot of buzz in the GOP landscape.
Well the Best Political Team on television is breaking all those stories for us. Jim Acosta, Mark Preston in our Washington Bureau. Athena Jones at the White House for the unofficial start to President Obama's re-election campaign.
Let's go ahead and start with Rick Perry and his promise to turn around the nation's economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is time to get America working again and that is why, with the support of my family and unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I declare to you today as a candidate for president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Jim has been following the Rick Perry campaign. So how much of a potential game changer is he do you think for the Republican field?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you're hearing a lot of talk this morning that there is now a top tier in the GOP field, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann.
It's extraordinary after just announcing that he was running for president about 48 hours ago that Rick Perry is in that top tier, but he is. He's got a web site up. He has a new web video out. He's got bus.
You heard Rick Perry saying there it's time to get America working again. Well, by the way, those words are scrolled across the side of his bus right now. Rick Perry is in it and he's in it for real.
You just look at what he's been doing so far in the last 24 hours. He went to Iowa yesterday and his very first stop was in the town of Waterloo, the hometown, the birth place of Michele Bachmann where she announced her campaign just a few short weeks ago.
And not only was he in her hometown, he was going after her base of support in a speech last night in Iowa. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: I have heard people say, wait a minute. You're Tea Party types. You all are angry. We're not angry, we're indignant. We're indignant at the arrogance and the audacity that this administration is showing about the values that are important to the people of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: So you're going to see Bachmann and Perry going at each other, if not explicitly, at least behind the scenes over the next several weeks as they both try to court this Teavangelical vote, Kyra.
They both have the Tea Party and Evangelical Christians behind them, but only one of them can win in Iowa. It also raises the question, what's Mitt Romney up to?
He's going to be at New Hampshire today in a town hall about 30 minutes from now. Is Mitt Romney going to give Iowa up and say, OK, that's for Rick Perry and Bachmann to duke it out or will he try to go in there and compete. It's going to be very interesting to watch, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jim, thanks. And in Iowa, voters weigh in and Michelle Bachmann rises up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT STRAWN, CHAIRMAN, IOWA REPUBLICAN PARTY: With 16,892 Iowans voting, the winner of the 2011 Iowa straw poll is Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And here's the finish from the Iowa straw poll, Bachmann narrowly edged out Ron Paul. Pawlenty and Rick Santorum were a distant third and fourth. The other candidates were in single digits as you could see.
Senior political editor, Mark Preston is in Washington. Mark, what is the message that seems to resonate so well with Iowa voters?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, she had a dual message. Look, she appealed to social conservative voters out in Iowa, which makes a big component of the Iowa straw poll.
They also talked a lot about the economy. You know, that's the number one issue we've been talking about it a lot this year. We're hearing Rick Perry really sound off on that and that has been Mitt Romney's call message, as well.
So Michele Bachmann was very successful and in a very quick period of time was able to show that she could put a ground game together and that's what we saw happen out in Iowa, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: New Hampshire this weekend with Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, so what do you think? How different is the race today than say a week ago?
PRESTON: Well, Jim is exactly right. We had a top tier of candidates right now. We have Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry. We also have this alternative candidate in Jon Huntsman, let's not count him out.
He's going to wait in the background and see if one of these three were to stumble. But over the next couple of weeks, look at Michele Bachmann to focus on some key states that she thinks is critical to her nomination victory.
She's going to be in South Carolina for several days making several stops, trying to sure up support in that state. We have Rick Perry out in Iowa, of course, trying to get into the race very quickly.
We have Mitt Romney who's going to be spending all of his time up in New Hampshire at least 20 events until the end of the month. We'll see Mitt Romney up in New Hampshire.
The big question right now, Kyra, is can Michele Bachmann use the straw poll as a bounce to try to maintain her lead now or at least stay in the top tier? Kyra --
PHILLIPS: Well, we'll find out. Mark, thanks. We're standing by to hear Mitt Romney from Richfield, New Hampshire later this hour. We're going to hear some of his remarks live. It will be Romney's first comments since Perry entered the race and the Ames straw poll results coming out. So we'll take that live as soon as it happens.
Also just within the last hour, President Obama left the White House to kick off his bus tour. The White House is insisting that the focus is on the economy, not the Republican challengers, but he's going to be awfully close.
He begins in Bachmann's home state of Minnesota and then he travels to Iowa and Illinois. Athena Jones is at the White House. So Athena, what are the themes likely to be? What will we hear from the president? I guess number one, of course, will be jobs. ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kyra. Jobs is issue number one for voters. The White House knows that. He took from Andrews Air Force Base just about half an hour ago. So he'll be touching down in Minneapolis.
In a couple of more hours, he'll hop on a bus. Go to these three states over the next three days visiting five towns. He's host town halls at most of these stops.
One stop in Iowa, he's going to have what the White House is calling a rural economic forum. We expect to hear him talk about some ideas he has for spurring hiring. Things that we've already heard before actually.
Things like extending the payroll tax cuts, extending unemployment insurance, that's the kind of thing he wants to see, put more money in people's pockets, which is really important in this consumer spending driven economy.
He'll also likely mention that he wants to see Congress pass road construction bills and pass the pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.
All ideas that will help us kick start hiring. I should mention though that I just got a note from one Republican's office on the Hill who noted that the White House has actually send these bills to Congress, these free trade agreements for instance.
And so it's one thing to talk about wanting to see Congress do these things, but you have to actually send the bill to Congress. We expect to see a lot of reactions from the Republican side as the president goes along on these next three days, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Yes, and all these different headlines that we've had within the past few months. The president has hit various marks in his job approval rating. It's at a low mark now. Tell us about that.
JONES: That's right. In the Gallup poll for the first time since he's been in office, he's fallen below 40 percent, down to 39 percent in terms of approval ratings.
Now this is a rolling average that Gallup does, so these numbers can change pretty quickly. But it's still important because it's another sign of just how pessimistic and how worried Americans are about the current state of affairs and the challenges he faces in going out on the road and trying to convince Americans that things are going to change.
Our own polling has shown a lot of people, more than 70 percent say they are very few jobs in their area and less than 30 percent believe that's going to change a year from now. And so it's a tall order that he is facing on this trip, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Athena, thanks. It's been of a strange scenario that's taken place in Norway. CNN's International Ralitza Vassileva is here and we're talking about the Norway shooter actually going back to where he went on that rampage and giving police details about what he did?
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. Eight hours of very intense interrogation. He was taken back to this island where there was a youth retreat of the ruling Labor Party going on when he went on a shooting sprint.
He killed over there 69 young people. He just hunted them down, some of them, jumped in the water. He described to police for eight hours how he had done it. He was led there under heavy security.
They were afraid, of course, of revenge attacks. You see him there, the red, you see the vest. He had a harnis with police as he showed them around the island and he expressed no remorse.
Kyra, I talked to a journalist who took some pictures of this re-enactment. Here is what he said. I just want to play a little bit of sound of what he told me about what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATHIAS JORGENSEN, VIDEO JOURNALIST, VG NEWSPAPER (via telephone): He was pointing in many different directions and raising his arms as to his shoot. He showed no remorse yesterday and - but, he was not unmoved, the police officers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VASSILEVA: See, he showed no remorse. He said that he actually admitted to the killings, the shooting spree and the bombing of the Oslo government buildings.
But he said he is not criminally guilty because that is something that he believed was necessary not only in Norway, but also Europe from Muslim.
The ruling Labor Party was promoting those policies that were allowing Muslims to gradually take over the continent. So that's where things stand.
PHILLIPS: Yes, it's pretty amazing that he can just walk along and talk about that with absolutely no feeling at all.
VASSILEVA: And he destroyed a whole class of people, like the youth of the Labor Party and the Labor Party government, just eliminate them was his goal.
PHILLIPS: Ralitsa, thanks.
The Indiana State Fair reopened this morning with a solemn memorial service for the victims of this terrifying stage collapse. People were waiting for a concert by the band Sugarland Saturday night when a powerful gust of wind knocked down metal scaffolding over the stage. Take a look.
Indiana Governor Nick Daniels led mourners today in a moment of silence for the five people that were killed and at least 40 people that were injured, at least 40 people at this point.
Rob Marciano is actually here to talk about that wind gust. It must have been a pretty powerful storm and the question is, how could they -- if they were monitoring the weather patterns, how do they say something like that what is so powerful could happen and a lot of people say they didn't even see it coming.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I mean, the watch - we'll go through the timeline in just a bit. You know, I think a lot of people during the summertime, especially in the Midwest may soften up a little bit, maybe not think so much about the weather because we think about severe weather during the months of the spring.
But you can get a slow one like this, like we saw. This is the radar at 8:00, 8:50 in the evening. But notice how the rain is back in through here. The winds actually pursue the front. So the wind, it won't be necessarily be storming and wind will come and kind of sneak up on you. That's kind of what we saw.
During the thunderstorms that develop during the summertime, we don't have a lot of operator dynamics. You don't have a lot of fronts and jet strings that are driving this severe weather. You'll get a lot of convection and that will drag down some of that colder, stronger air at the top of the atmosphere and force it out down below at the bottom of the atmosphere.
Here is the timeline, how things broke down. At 5:30 in the afternoon, the fair staff actually called the National Weather Service because they knew some rough weather was coming. They had several calls between then and 8:00.
At 6:00, a severe thunderstorm watch was issued and at 7:04 and shortly after 8:00, the fair staff actually got auto messages on their phone to tell them severe weather was imminent. At 8:39, the National Weather Service put out the severe thunderstorm warning and at 8:45, the stage was cleared and people were told to get out of there.
Only four minutes later is when that stage collapsed. That's where it got a little bit dicey as far there wasn't a lot of warning from the announcement to get out of there. How can you better prepare yourself?
Obviously, know the weather beforehand, check the weather beforehand. When you get to an outdoor event like this, look around. Look where your emergency exit is. Look where your emergency shelter is and focus on that if bad weather strikes you.
And, of course, if you have a group, you're going to want to pick out a meeting spot for that. Also, the Smartphones nowadays, Kyra, have fantastic applications that instead of lugging around the weather radio, you can download one of these applications and they'll alert you when a severe thunderstorm may be heading your way.
PHILLIPS: Yes. They look all the time, every time you travel. Thanks, Rob. Coming up next, a soldier steps up to help a little boy who just lost his dad. The latest twist in the story that touched all of our hearts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Stories making news "cross country," the hacking group known as "Anonymous" strikes San Francisco's transit system BART. It appears that passenger information like names and phone numbers was posted online. BART is also warning riders about a protest that "Anomymous" has planned for today.
Sheriff's detectives in Los Angeles are considering misdemeanor charges against the rapper "The Game" after he allegedly tweeted the phone number of a sheriff's station. "The Game" who's real name is Jason Taylor says on his Twitter page, it was an accident. Meanwhile, dispatchers and deputies were flooded with phone calls.
And who ripped off the Rembrandt? Someone stole this masterpiece from Rich Carlton Hotel Lobby in Marina Del Rey, California. It's called "The Judgment" and it's worth about $250,000. The piece dates from around 1655 and was part of an art exhibit there.
Several more memorials were held this weekend for the 30 U.S. troops killed in that horrific chopper crash in Afghanistan. Many were Navy SEALs, which got a lot of attention.
But Braydon Nichol's dad died, too. He wasn't a SEAL, he was a soldier. And Braydon wanted to make sure that his dad, Brian, was not forgotten. By now, you may have heard his story and seen the CNN I- Report.
He wrote in, quote, "my father was one of the 30 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan yesterday with the SEALs rescue mission. My father was the pilot of the Chinook. I have seen other pictures of victims from this deadly mission and wish you would include a picture of my father. He is the farthest to the left."
Well, the horror of that accident now shifts to those left behind like little Braydon. This 10-year-old's courage and honor have gotten a lot of people's attention and there are ways that you can support him, as well and all the other survivors.
Army Captain Schwann has stepped up to do just that. He's actually created a trust fund for Braydon. Captain Schwann was good friends with Braydon's dad, Chief Officer Brian Nichols.
Jamie, we'll talk about Brian in just a second, but Braydon, what a strong little boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he was and thank you for having me on. Braydon is a very strong boy, as you know and his family is very thankful for the support and donations that they have received so far.
PHILLIPS: And when you came out and said you wanted to establish a trust fund, and we talked about his I-Report also on cnn.com, the home and away page on cnn.com. And the response has been unbelievable. People have written in, want to go help, wanting to contribute to your trust fund, why did you want to do this?
CAPT. JAMIE SCHWANDT, U.S. ARMY: Well, first of all, let me start by stating I was not alone in creating this fund. A good friend of mine and a good friend of Brian's, Sergeant First Class Seth Castle, who is the finest NCO I've had the privilege of serving with.
We both established this account in honor of Brian and assisting Braydon. So I did not act alone on this. I had great help with this. Brian was a wonderful person, a proud father, a great husband to his wife and outstanding soldier.
Sergeant Castle and I were brainstorming some ideas that would properly honor Brian and assist Braydon and we came up with this college fund. And it's doing just that. It's honoring Brian and assisting Braydon. We felt very helpless and we desperately wanted to help and that is, in a nutshell, how it started.
PHILLIPS: Well, and Braydon, most little boys wouldn't know how to react and what to do when given word that they've lost their father. And he just stepped right up and said, look, I'm seeing the news and seeing the photographs of all these other daddies. You know, where is mine? And he really took the initiative to do something about it. It's like you see his father living right through him.
SCHWANDT: That's right. Again, Braydon is a strong boy and that shows you his character to go on there and do the CNN I-Report, show you he's brave and he's not afraid. And he wants to tell the world how great of a person Brian was.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's pretty fantastic what you and Seth have done. I will give you both the shout out there in fair due.
And once again, we want to encourage all our viewers to support what you're doing to also go to cnn.com, the home and away page and read more about Brian and Braydon and thanks so much for your time, Jamie. We appreciate it.
SCHWANDT: Kyra, can I have one final comment?
PHILLIPS: Of course, of course.
SCHWANDT: If you don't mind. I just want to thank everyone for their support and donations to the family in this difficult time. Please keep Brian's family and the family of all those that were lost on that tragic day in your thoughts and prayers.
Please remember that we have the finest military in the world and you should all be extremely proud of those who serve and those who have served. And a quick message for Braydon, Braydon, buddy, from your extended Army family, we just want to let you know that we had the privilege of serving with your father, and we found out firsthand just how great of a person your father really was.
He loved you so much. He talked about you all the time. You should be extremely proud of him. Your father put the interest of others before his own, served with great courage and determination. Braydon, your father was a true American hero and he will be greatly missed. Kyra, I just want to thank you and CNN for your time and God bless the United States of America.
PHILLIPS: Jamie, it was our absolute pleasure and I have no doubts Braydon is going to go on to a pretty amazing school of some sort and due amazing things with his life. He will follow in his father's footsteps.
SCHWANDT: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you. Coming up, a man detained in the case of a missing woman in Aruba is expected to appear in court today. We're going to have the latest in the case and a live report.
But first, maybe the economy has you ready to pick up states and move. Well, cnnmoney.com has some tips on where to go. They've ranked America's best small towns for 2011, the top five around the country from Nebraska to Virginia, Ohio to Massachusetts and out west again in Colorado.
Reynolds Wolf has more now on the top towns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): What place has plenty of space to horse around? Number one on "Money" magazine's list of best places to live is Louisville, Colorado, not to be confused with Louisville, Kentucky.
The outdoors is what attracts people to this town. It has 27 parks and 27 miles of trails to keep you out in the sun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you get a little older and you need a little space and have a family, Louisville is the perfect place.
WOLF: And the perfect place to own a home. Real estate values in the town have barely badge in six years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The man detained in the case of a missing American woman in Aruba is expected in court later today. Authorities have released the name and photo of Gary Giordano and hope that they'll generate more information in the disappearance of Robyn Gardener.
CNN Martin Savidge live in Aruba. So Marty, is he cooperating with authorities at this point?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that depends on who you talked to. Robyn Gardener vanished almost exactly two weeks ago. It will be two weeks tomorrow, allegedly while snorkelling with her traveling companion, Gary Giordano.
Now he was taken into custody a couple of days after she vanished. There's been no sign of her ever since. They haven't recovered a body. They have not seen any indication of her someplace else.
So he was detained at the airport as he was attempting to fly back to the United States. He's been detained ever since. Right now, he was saying, look, I was just a witness to a tragic accident here this not a crime.
However, the authorities have their suspicions. That's why they detain him and that's why they continue to hold him. And a judge is basically going to decide should they keep him a little while longer as the prosecution would like because they say they've just barely begun their case or let him go and fly back to the United States?
We expect that decision later today, Kyra. Meanwhile, the search for her goes on.
PHILLIPS: And we'll follow it right along with you, Marty. Thanks.
Over the weekend, Michele Bachmann was asked if she would appoint an openly gay person to her administration. Her answer and what the panel thinks of it, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Coming up any second now, we're monitoring something and we've got it on our radar. At any moment, we are expecting to hear live from presidential candidate Mitt Romney. This is actually taped from earlier this morning.
As you know, he's the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. He's expected to take questions from reporters for the first time since Texas governor Rick Perry entered the race over the weekend. So as soon as he starts speaking, we will take it live.
All right. "Political Buzz," your rapid-fire look at the hottest political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, CNN contributor and independent John Avlon and CNN contributor and talk radio host Dana Loesch.
Hi, all. First question here --
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hey, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: -- over the weekend -- good to see you three -- Michele Bachmann, as you know, who won the Ames straw poll. Rick Perry stole many of the headlines, though.
So, what's your take, who did this weekend actually belong to? Bachmann or Perry? Dana? DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Gosh, it's kind of a hard call. I think ultimately it belonged to Bachmann. I think that she had a good turnout, she had a good performance at the debates and obviously, she won the straw poll. So I think ultimately, it belongs to her.
However, she's still sharing a lot of that spotlight with Rick Perry, who I thought his timing and the way he rolled it out in order to get attention was pretty slick. So, they're sort sharing it right now, but she's in the lead.
PHILLIPS: Maria?
CARDONA: I'm going to agree with Dana on this, Kyra. I think you cannot take it away from Bachmann, especially given where she started out at the very beginning, no one gave her a prayer to ever make it to the top tier. And the Republican elite had a lot to say about how unserious she was. And I think that she has really shown them her ability to organize, to fundraise, to really give a speech that riles up the base.
I think frankly, her rise has a lot more to do with the weakness of the rest Republican field, but having said that, you can't take away from the fact that she did win the straw poll. This will give her a big bounce. Definitely -
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
CARDONA: -- won't say whether she will win, but it gives her a big bounce.
PHILLIPS: John.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Always beware when the Democrat is pumping up a candidate, especially if it's someone on the far right.
Look, Bachmann had a great day. But ultimately, Perry has the game changer, which is his entry into the race fundamentally changes what this field likes like. Therefore, in terms of the big picture, I think you have to give it to Perry.
PHILLIPS: All right, guys. Well, since we're talking about Michele Bachmann, she was being pushed on the specifics of her stance on homosexuality. In particular, I'm talking about "Meet the Press" over the weekend. Let's take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GREGORY, HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": Would you appoint a gay, and openly gay person to your administration, to your cabinet or name them as a judge?
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My criteria would be the same for -- which would be where do you stand on the Constitution, are you competent, and do you share my views? That's my criteria. GREGORY: But those views are pretty clear. So you would -- as far as the judge, you talked about that. An openly gay person is acceptable as a matter of your administration - as a member of your administration?
BACHMANN: I have my criteria for what my appointments would be based on, and it's whether you uphold the Constitution, if you're competent --
GREGORY: So it would not be a factor?
BACHMANN: I am not out asking any other question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: OK, guys, here is my question to you. Why not just give a yes-or-no answer? Maria.
CARDONA: Because we know in her heart of hearts that she would never do it. And this is where I think she would get into trouble if she does end up being the GOP nominee. There's no way she'll be able to get through the general election with those kinds of views.
We all know very well how she feels about gay and lesbian rights. And when you want to give more than 10 percent - more than 10 percent of Americans less rights than the rest, I think that is not a mainstream view. Especially when the majority of Americans now believe that gays and lesbians should have the exact same rights as other Americans, where it comes to marriage, when it comes to family and everything else.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
PHILLIPS: Dana.
LOESCH: Were we listening to the same answer? because I heard her answer, and yes. What, gay people can't stand for the constitution? gay people can't be for fiscal responsibility?
I'm so tired of the left try to hijack the gay movement and present them as, oh, no, conservativism is patented only to Christian conservatives. That's such hooey. It's just ridiculous.
I thought her answer was quite clear. Yes, if they stand for Constitution and they're for fiscal responsibility, what's the big deal?
PHILLIPS: Guys, stay with me -
CARDONA: She didn't say yes or no. That's the problem.
PHILLIPS: Guys, we have to get to Mitt Romney speaking live. Let's go ahead and listen in. We'll come back.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS) MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- very proud of what this company has been able to accomplish. I'm sure those people here in New Hampshire are pleased to have a company of this nature racked (ph) within their own borders.
This is a tough time for the country, as you know. We're facing an economic crisis. Twenty-five million people are out of work or stopped looking for work or in part-time jobs and need full-time employment. The president has set about a bus tour today going to swing states. And frankly, I think the American people would rather see him in Washington working on getting this economy going again. He seems to be more intent on trying to save his job than to try to create jobs for the American people.
I saw this morning that his approval ratings are at an all-time low for him. That is not because he's not campaigning. It's because he's not leading. The American people need a president who will lead this economy back to vitality, creating the jobs that the American people want.
I also noted that this president has lost more jobs so far than Jimmy Carter did in his full four years, that the number of people unemployed is more than during the Jimmy Carter years. I joked in the past that in some respects we might say the Jimmy Carter years were the good old days. They certainly weren't for those that endured them, but things are even worse now. And we need a president who understands how the economy works, who has experience in the real economy, I believe that's why I've gotten the support I have to date in my candidacy.
So, with that, I'm going to turn to you for the questions you have. Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION) Do you think that he could take credit for the jobs that have been created over the last years?
ROMNEY: You know, I can tell you that I think my job's record spans not just four years as governor, but also the 25 years that I've lived in the private sector. I think understanding how the economy works by having worked in the real economy is finally essential in the White House. And I hope people recognize that. That understanding day-to-day what it takes to build a business, to have a business grow and succeed, why businesses fail. I've been on both sides of that. Not everything I've invested in or worked in has been successful, but I've learned how the economy works. And I believe that still is what the nation is looking for.
And I respect the other people in this race, but I think the only other person that has that kind of extensive private-sector experience besides me in the Republican race is Herman Cain. And I respect Herman Cain, but I also think it's helpful to have had that government experience I have.
(CROSSTALK) ROMNEY: I'll let the American people at this stage who can take credit for which jobs. I think what people want to see is not credit, but instead a vision of what it takes to get this economy going again.
QUESTION: How are you going to change your strategy with Perry in the race and Michele Bachmann winning the Iowa straw poll (ph)?
ROMNEY: You know, my strategy is to tell people about my background, what I know how to do and what my vision is for America. And I'm going to be doing that in states across the country, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, Michigan, Florida, -- I'm planning on going to all the early states and probably a lot of the later states, as well. And expressing what I believe.
And if people line up behind that and think I'm the ride guy to lead the country, terrific. If not -
(END LIVE COVERAGE)
PHILLIPS: All right, "Political Buzz" panel. I know you stayed with me because we had to break out of our segment to go to Mitt Romeny there. So, let's roll with this, okay? You just heard Mitt Romney there in Litchfield, New Hampshire. The first question thrown out to him, guys, was about Rick Perry entering the race.
So what do you think? I mean, it was the first question thrown out there. You heard his response. Is he nervous? Should he be nervous about Rick Perry jumping in? Maria?
CARDONA: yes, absolutely he should be nervous here, Kyra. Because clearly, Rick Perry just jumped into the race and he's already in a lot of the polls. Number two, at 15 percent with Romney at 17 percent. Romney absolutely should be nervous, but he should also be nervous about his own record. It's so laughable that he talks about job creation. When he was governor of Massachusetts, forty-seventh. Massachusetts ranked 47th in the state - or in the country -
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
CARDONA: -- among job creation. Laughable.
PHILLIPS: Dana?
LOESCH: I'm a little scared right because I'm agreeing with Maria on this. Romney's done, as far as I'm concerned. Perry is more conservative than Romney. Romney, the big small business guy who with his heath care mandate was taxing businesses over $200-something per employee if they had more than 11 employees.
That's not good for business. And he has a lot to answer to with his record.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
LOESCH: He just didn't cut it.
PHILLIPS: John?
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, Mitt Romney sidestepped the direct criticism, but you heard something that's going to be a major theme of the campaign, which is that he's saying Rick Perry is essentially a career politician. And he's going to be trying to say, look, I've got business experience and private-sector experience.
But of course he should be concerned. Rick Perry's entry in this race immediately makes this at least a two or three-person race. I think it's going to very quickly whittle down to Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Those are going to be the top two.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
PHILLIPS: Guys, thank you so much. And thanks for rolling with me. I appreciate it.
CARDONA: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, talking about these names jumping into a race. Talk about these guys jumping into a race, how about the name Keegan Bradley? Oh, yes. He's jumped into the game of golf. And if you haven't heard of him, well, you'll hear about him now. He's joining us live, and believe me, you'll want to follow his career after the win he had this weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: College? Who needs college? Yes, that's the last thing mom and dad want to hear right now.
But listen to this. Some of the nation's top CEOs have never finished college, and they're doing just fine. But Alison Kosik, even though you've got the names, the odds are very slim that we should -
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, yes.
PHILLIPS: -- yes, count on this as we're raising our kids.
KOSIK: You have to remember that. Yes, I mean, this is where I get to name drop because I'm talking about household names. I'm talking about Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates. None of these guys finished college, but all of them helped run and create these multibillion -ollar corporations.
Did you know that Ralph Lauren, he never went to college? And Virgin founder Richard Branson didn't even graduate high school?
But before you go ahead and just chuck that college education based on what their paths have done, these people are huge exceptions to the rule. You have to remember that for the rest of us, graduating college typically means bigger salaries and more job security.
Right now, the unemployment rate for people with bachelor's degrees or better is just five percent. That's half the rate for people without college degrees. But for those who didn't even graduate high school, the unemployment rate is 13 percent.
So, there you go. I've kind of brought you back to reality. How do you like those pictures there, Kyra, nice, huh?
PHILLIPS: Yes. Not bad.
You know what else is nice? That little bit of a rally that we saw when the markets opened. I haven't seen the numbers since we last talked. How are they looking now? Has it calmed down since last week?
KOSIK: It has calmed down. We're still in the green. Let's see if we can make it three in a row because we did close higher on Thursday and Friday. You know, investors are grabbing at these beaten down stocks, Kyra. There's also word that Google is using some of its mountain of cash to buy Motorola Mobility. That's helping to inspire some buying for the broader market. That is also why we're seeing stocks in the green today. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: OK. Alison, thanks so much.
All right, I'm getting up from my post for this one. Because I just -- as I'm teasing this to break, I'm running back there. Yes, I am a big golfer. I think Keegan Bradley is amazing. But I know this is going to disappear real quickly, so I'm just going to be able to say I touched it. We're going to talk to Keegan coming up in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: OK. So I'd love to set up our next guest, Keegan Bradley with, you know, all his years of experience, all his trophies, all the amazing highlights. But here is the deal. He's only in his 20s and he's a rookie and I bet he is about to tell me right now that he's still in shock this morning after an unbelievable round of ups and downs. Keegan stunned all of us, especially all of us that play golf because he won the PGA Championship at Johns Creek just north of our studios, which is why he gets to join me live this morning.
Great to see you.
KEEGAN BRADLEY, PGA CHAMPION: Thank you very much for having me.
PHILLIPS: So, did you sleep at all last night? Be honest.
BRADLEY: Honestly, no, I didn't. I tried to go to sleep around 2:00, and I basically stayed up all night staring at this thing right here.
PHILLIPS: Did you sleep with it? Like when we were little kids, you know?
BRADLEY: I had it right where I could see it all night, right in my room.
PHILLIPS: Just to make sure nobody was coming to get it. BRADLEY: I wasn't going to let anybody take it.
PHILLIPS: And so, my guess is you're going to tell me that is the best golf you've ever played in your life, yes?
BRADLEY: It was.
PHILLIPS: Or would you say it's the luckiest day in my life? Because we know how golf can be a lot of luck.
BRADLEY: Probably a little bit of both. I see some of the highlights and I look at that person playing and I'm like, that's not me. I don't know who that is. It's an alter ego or something. So, yes it was the best golf I've ever played but also the most fun I've ever had on a golf course.
PHILLIPS: So, let me ask you, because on the 15th -- that was the big triple bogey -- were you just thinking, "Oh, my gosh, this is it?" Because we know how mental this game is. Or is this where the golf psychologist that you meet with -- I think it's Bob Rotella, right? Don't you meet with him? Came in to play where you - oh good. Scotty says here it is right here. This is the hole, the par three.
Is that where the psychology came into play, and you went, "OK, that's it, enough of this, I'm going to rebound". Or, were you struggling mentally, I guess -- is how did you make that rebound?
BRADLEY: You know, I was walking off that green and I kept telling myself, I don't want this to define me from this tournament I played too well. And I just had Dr. Bob Rotella on my shoulder, talking to me in my ear telling me what to do.
PHILLIPS: The little angel.
BRADLEY: Yes. And I was able to kind of put it behind me and not worry about it.
PHILLIPS: See, that's amazing because that's how you conquer golf, right? You can be a great player, but when your mind goes, you know how that blows the game completely.
BRADLEY: Right, yes. I mean, the game is so mental and I was able to put it behind me and hit some great shots coming in.
PHILLIPS: OK. So we've got Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, and now you causing this huge, huge buzz on the tour. And I'm just going to be blunt and ask you, do you think that the era of Tiger Woods is over?
BRADLEY: No. I don't think it's s over. I think Tiger's still got lot of great tournaments in him. I'm sure he'll be back. As long as Tiger is still playing, it's still the Tiger era. He brings a lot to the game. Without him, we wouldn't have the PGA tour the way it is now. I know, personally, I'm thankful for everything that he's done. But it is great to have some good young Americans coming up and playing some good golf. PHILLIPS: Some good young - that's right, or some good young Irishmen, shall we say? So now, now that you're going to be gearing up for the next tournament, how do you keep that humble heart? How do you kind of stay in that zone? Because you're getting a lot of attention. There's a lot of hype now and a lot of times guys will win one and then you don't hear much from them down the road.
BRADLEY: Yes, you know, I'm just a small town kid, grew up in Vermont. You know, this is all very fun and I'm hopefully not going to get complacent. I'm just going to keep on trying my hardest and practice hard and see if I can win some more of these.
PHILLIPS: All right. So, do you mind if I ask you for a little help? Because, I was telling you, I'm a big fanatic of golf. And Scotty, can we -- we have that app, my better half and I, OK? And we always shoot our swing and then we analyze it with the pros. So, right behind you, this is what we did on our iPhone. Will you take a look at my drive and tell me what I can work on?
BRADLEY: First of all, the set up looks really good.
PHILLIPS: OK.
BRADLEY: Good swing. If anything, I think you got a forward press in your hands. I'd move those hands back a little bit. And, as always, I think you're swinging a little too hard at the top there. I'd take a deep breath and stop choking that club as little as you can.
PHILLIPS: How did you know? I like to grip it and rip it.
BRADLEY: Yes. The swing looks great. I mean, it looks like you're a great player.
PHILLIPS: Can we play sometime? I'm going to put you on the spot.
BRADLEY: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: OK, fabulous. Thanks so much.
BRADLEY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: It was such a pleasure. Hey, your hands are sweating. Was it like that?
BRADLEY: I'm more nervous now than I was on Sunday.
PHILLIPS: Well, you did great. Congratulations.
BRADLEY: Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: We're expecting more from you, Keegan.
BRADLEY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Well, next hour in the newsroom -- slashing the deficit by $1.5 trillion. That's a big task for the super committee. We're going to ask one of the members if, well, he can get the job done. Plus, the Michael Jackson tribute concert is set. But two of his brothers - they're not going be there. We're going to ask his mom, Katherine, why the whole family isn't behind the show. She joins us live at 12:30 pm Eastern. Right here in the CNN Newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking the stories that are making news later today -- the three Dougherty siblings, caught after a nation-wide hunt, appear in a Pueblo, Colorado courtroom this morning at 11:00 Eastern.
And Republican candidate Rick Perry, of Texas, speaks at the Iowa State Fair at 12:15 Eastern time. And President Obama hosts a town hall event in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. That's going to happen about 12:45 Eastern time.
OK. Two Republican presidential candidates that didn't shine in the Iowa Straw Poll, but they're pushing on. Our political ticker is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Herman Cain, using a child's story to describe their campaigns - "The Little Engine That Could". CNN's Deputy Political Director, Paul Steinhauser joining us now.
I believe you read that to your new baby, isn't that right?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Every night. He doesn't know what I'm saying, but, yes, I do read it. You know, Kyra, here is the curious question -- Tim Pawlenty finished third, so why is the former Minnesota governor out? Whereas Santorum, who finished fourth, and Cain still in? Why? Because they have shoestring budgets. They're really doing this on the fly.
Here's what Santorum told me Saturday night, after the Straw Poll results.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM, FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR: We were in a range of three. I mean, you know, we felt like -- here is a guy that spent a million bucks or more in this and we've spent a fraction of that. Here we are within a few hundred votes of him. I feel very, very good about that. Hopefully the media will start paying a little bit more attention to us, because they certainly haven't been doing much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: OK. From the Republicans to the Democrat in the race, President Barack Obama - Kyra, some troubling numbers in our brand new CNN/ORC poll. Check this out. We asked Democrats only should the President be re-nominated? And look at that number - 81 percent in June down to 70 percent. Now, those are troubling numbers for the President right now. But remember, Bill Clinton's numbers were even worse back in the 90s. He got re-elected. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Paul, thanks. And we'll have your next political update in an hour. And a reminder for all the latest political news, you can always go to our website, cnnpolitics.com. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning.
Drew Griffin in for Suzanne Malveaux this happy Monday. Good to see you, pal.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a happy morning. Enjoy that little golf swing, Kyra Phillips.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about yours. Maybe you should meet with Keegan Bradley.
GRIFFIN: We're moving on.
