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Rage Against Anti-Islam Film Spreads; Chicago Strike May Be Nearing A Resolution; Who Is Sam Bacile?; Paul Ryan Speaks Before Conservatives, Delivers Blistering Attack.
Aired September 14, 2012 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everybody. It is 11:00 on the East Coast. It's 8:00 a.m. on the West Coast and we begin with this violent protest worldwide over an anti-Muslim film made here in the United States. All of this erupting for the fourth straight day across the Middle East and North Africa and beyond. And so far the demonstrators have taken to the streets in Egypt, in Lebanon, in Tunisia, in Yemen, in Sudan.
Friday, by the way, is a day of prayer in the Muslim world and as we have often seen it is the catalyst that drives many protesters straight into the streets.
Let me start with some of the latest pictures that we've been getting out of Tunisia. Anti-American protests continuing there. Riot police firing tear gas at rock-throwing protesters who were marching on the U.S. embassy. They've breached the wall of the U.S. embassy. They tore down the U.S. flag of our embassy and also hoisted a black flag, oftentimes symbolic of the far radical wing of Islam and oftentimes al Qaeda, as well.
These, some of the latest pictures that we've been getting in from the capital of Tunisia. Again, reaching the U.S. embassy in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. And that's not all. To Sudan, now, in Khartoum, the capital there, protesters targeting American, British and German embassies and setting fire to the German embassy. So far, the protests that are outside the American embassy have been peaceful, but these are the images elsewhere. The British and the German embassies seeing the most violence in Khartoum in Sudan.
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has canceled a nationwide call to demonstrate. But before the announcement was made, several hundred protesters were clashing with riot police near the U.S. embassy in Cairo anyway. Right now, thousands of protesters are gathering in Tahrir Square, again, despite the fact that the call for the nationwide protest by the government and its party in support -- you know, its leadership party called off that protest and yet they are in the streets.
In Yemen, police fired tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators who were trying to march on the U.S. embassy in Sana'a. In response, a senior American official says U.S. Marines, a security team, now being sent to Yemen to help protect the American diplomatic installations. And, elsewhere, Lebanon, at least one person has been killed after police fired on thousands of protesters in the second largest city in Lebanon, Tripoli, Lebanon.
So, the violence is spreading. We have reporters throughout this region bringing you the very latest on the outrage over this anti- Muslim film.
First, I want to take you to the Sudan. The journalist Isma'il Kamal Kushkush joins me on the phone now from Khartoum. Can you get me up to speed on the very latest and, specifically, the United States embassy? The latest we had was that the protests, Isma'il, were somewhat peaceful outside the U.S. embassy, not so the British and German embassies.
ISMA'IL KAMAL KUSHKUSH, JOURNALIST, SUDAN (via telephone): What we know so far is that there were protesters in the hundreds outside of the U.S. embassy, but the police have used tear gas. The U.S. embassy is somewhat on the outskirts of Khartoum, so it (INAUDIBLE) the large numbers that were protesting in downtown Khartoum at the German and U.K. embassies.
I'm actually on my way to the U.S. embassy at the moment. (INAUDIBLE) damaged (INAUDIBLE) to the embassy. But I was just at the Germany embassy and saw the remains of burning (INAUDIBLE). The embassy was essentially on fire. Protesters stormed the embassy, climbed in, took down the German flag. The U.K. embassy (INAUDIBLE) right next to the German embassy (INAUDIBLE) that protesters were throwing, as well.
BANFIELD: You know, Isma'il, we're having a hard time hearing you and I understand you are on the move and you also have your security concerns, as well. I'm going to move on. If you could stay with us, though, and bring us up-to-date, I want to establish a better connection with you and get further information with you as our program continues, but we do have a lot of areas of unrest.
I want to move right now onto our next location, Cairo. Thousands of demonstrators also gathering there in Tahrir Square in defiance of the Muslim Brotherhood and their leadership. Earlier today, the Muslim Brotherhood calling off nationwide protests. Ian Lee is our correspondent in Cairo. What do things look like right now? Did they not get this message?
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ashleigh, the Brotherhood did cancel their message, but they said they were going to give a -- do a symbolic protest in Tahrir, which surely means they just wanted to say they support their voice, but they're not going to go down there.
And what we're seeing in Tahrir now is a couple of thousand protesters. Really, that number has remained steady. It's going on 5:00 in the afternoon here, going into the evening, and we haven't seen that number rise or fall, really.
But if you go just about 200 yards towards the American embassy from Tahrir, the clashes are still ongoing and they've actually escalated. Protesters are trying to go around that barrier that the police built to keep protesters away from the embassy. Protesters tried to outflank it, but the police were ready for them, using tear gas to disperse them, so that's very much -- the clashes are still ongoing and these clashes have been continuing since Wednesday night. And they don't look like they are about stop any time soon, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: So, Ian, I think there were a lot of people who were surprised when the Muslim Brotherhood called off that nationwide request for people to filter into the streets and protest. Do we know why that happened? Was there some high-level diplomatic work going on that we don't know about?
LEE: Well, it's hard to say. The message, what we saw, came over the Twitter feed that they were calling it off, saying that they wanted to make sure there wasn't any violent clashes, violent outbursts around the city and they wanted people to remain calm and that's really what we're hearing from the Muslim Brotherhood.
But, you know, their calls were for peaceful protests, but around Tahrir, around the U.S. embassy, we've seen these protests continue and a lot of people are wondering why hasn't Mohammed Morsi done more. He is one of the leading figures in the Muslim brotherhood. He is the President of Egypt. Why hasn't he urged his supporters to go down and stop these protesters from clashing with the police? They definitely have a lot of clout here in Egypt, so a lot of people are wondering why he hasn't made that move yet. That is to be seen, if he will or won't.
BANFIELD: And that was my next question, whether he made any public statements about the violence or whether he, in fact, may have had private conversations with this liaised group that he is such an integral member of, the Muslim Brotherhood, and whether he has had some doing in trying to tap down the call for protests that could lead to violence?
LEE: Well, he definitely has called for restraint from protesters and for peaceful demonstrations. He encouraged people to go out and protest, but peacefully. And, you know, we're seeing around the U.S. embassy, he said that he was going to protect diplomatic missions and, so far, since that Tuesday night, the breaching at the U.S. embassy, he has made good on his promise and the police have been able to cordon off the embassy, making sure that protesters are unable to get there.
And, if you look at these protesters, they're not a wide spectrum of Egyptian society. These are youth. These are boys in their teens and early 20s, some as young as 6, 7 and 8, street children. This is not a cross-section of Egyptian society. This is definitely a certain demographic and we've seen this demographic before in other protests where these are the people that are on the front lines fighting with police.
So, it's really uncertain how much they really do support the cause to protect Islam or how much of this is really just boys going down to fight the police.
BANFIELD: Ian Lee, live for us in Cairo, Egypt, thank you
I want to move on the Lebanon, as well, where we're learning more about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of our American ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three of his colleagues.
One of those victims was Sean Smith. He was an avid player of an online, multi-player gamed called "EVE Online," that attracted hundreds of thousands of play, right across the globe, and he was online the night of the attack. In fact, he actually sent messages, one of them to a friend online, while protesters were gathering outside of the consulate and he said this.
"Assuming we don't die tonight. We saw one of our quote/unquote 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures."
CNN's Arwa Damon joins us on the phone, live from Benghazi and, Arwa, I know you've had a chance now to walk through that compound. Give me a bit of a feel for what you've witnessed, what you've seen in the aftermath of these murders.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is quite chilling to be standing inside that compound, even with the bare information that we have, trying to piece together exactly the horrific events that transpired there on Tuesday.
The buildings are utterly gutted. They've been burned. There's black soot across many of the walls. There's debris littering the floors. There is some handprints, or what looked to be partial handprints in blood on one of the walls.
We spoke with a security guard, a Libyan security guard, and, even though, we say the security guard is actually only armed with a radio who was manning one of the main entrances into the consulate compound and he described a simultaneous assault that took place from three directions, incredibly intense, heavy machine gunfire, grenades, rocket-propelled grenades.
He then said that masked men and men with large beards stormed into the compound. They grabbed him, held him at gunpoint and threatened to kill him because they said he was protecting the infidels. Again, after that happened, another individual who was part of this attacking group did, though, step in and basically saved him, allowing him to leave.
While we were on the ground earlier today, the head of Libya's General National Congress was touring the site, as well, and he said that at this point in time the government does, in fact, believe that these attacks were carried out by extremists.
They detained four individuals in association with them, not yet identifying which group they are affiliated with, but the government also saying that they believe that these attacks were pre-planned and intended to inflict maximum damage on Western, specifically U.S., interests.
The government says that the motive is to drive apart the Libyans and the Americans, but this most certainly underscoring how critical it is for the Libyan government, at this point in time, to really rein in these various and numbered extremist militias operating here. BANFIELD: And just quickly, Arwa, you mentioned those four arrests. And with the note that was sent out to the gaming community that there were police taking photos, do we have any idea whether perhaps some of those photos may have led to those arrests? Somehow, there had to be a nexus and somehow the investigation had to get to these four people.
DAMON: The government is alluding to the fact that part of the evidence is photos, videos that the managed to obtain from the scene taken by a variety of different individuals who were there. A lot of fingers pointing to an organization called Ansar al-Sharia. They are believed to be a (INAUDIBLE) al Qaeda-affiliated group. They have denied direct responsibility for the assaults, but many people believing that they were, in fact, somehow, to a certain degree, involved in this.
They have claimed responsibility for various attacks against Western interests in the past. This attack is not an isolated incident. There have been mounting attacks against Western interests, the ICRC, the U.K. ambassador over the past few months
Many Libyans who we've been speaking to have actually been imploring us to put a message out there, though, that this is not an action that was support by the population here. This is not why they went out the revolted against Moammar Gadhafi. This, most certainly, is not the course that they want to see the country taking. Many of them, all of them, in fact, wanting to see the government disarming these militias. But this is a government that, in and of itself, is admitting that at this point in time it is incapable of reining in these extremist gangs.
BANFIELD: Arwa Damon live in Benghazi, Libya. Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Three-hundred-and-fifty-thousand students shut out of the classroom for the fifth day in a row as Chicago's school board and striking teachers are still struggling to come up with some kind of middle ground on their impasse. But a resolution may -- and I stress "may" -- be near. Both sides are saying progress is being made in the talks concerning pay and teacher evaluations and benefits, which were really the toughest sticking points in this problem.
Let's take you now live to Chris Welch who is live on location in Chicago. Chris, the negotiations resumed about two hours ago and we are hearing that there's some reason to believe that a meeting today may intimate that there could be a deal on the table. Why is that?
CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, that's certainly what both sides are hoping for and, if something does come down, if something does happen, it's going to happen right here.
We're standing in front of a union hall where, later today, about 2:00, local time, here in Chicago, about 800 delegates of the Chicago teachers' union are expected to come here and essentially vote on some type of resolution. That is, of course, if they can come to some form of an agreement this morning. They resumed talks again this morning around 9:00 and officials on both sides of this issue are hopeful.
I want to give you a little listen. This is Barbara Byrd-Bennett. She is with the Chicago public schools.
Well, apparently, we don't have that sound. Apologies for that. But, essentially, what folks are saying is, look, they're optimistic. The tone changed yesterday. Yesterday, essentially, really the first day of talks where folks took a different tone in this. They said, you know, we're optimistic. We are going into Friday thinking we could have kids back in school as early as Monday.
So, we've got 350,000 kids out of school, 30,000 teachers striking. It's been quite a week and nobody want this to drag on for very much longer. Ashleigh?
BANFIELD: Especially the children and the teachers who are so, so terribly affected by this. All right, Chris Welch, thank you for that.
I also want to bring in Jay Rehak who has been teaching for 25 years and he is a Chicago teachers' union board member. We've had you on the program. This is your third time. I had said I didn't want to speak with you, again. I'd hoped you'd find a deal by now.
So, what about today, Jay. We're hearing there is this meeting and the specifics of that meeting are that those 800 or so members that Chris just alluded to are the kinds of members who have to vote on a potential deal. Does that tell you it's good news?
JAY REHAK, VETERAN CHICAGO TEACHER: You know what? I have to tell you, Ashleigh. Thank you again for letting me be on the show. I -- all we got is that it's an update today at 2:00. Of course, everyone is hopeful, but we are also resolute.
So, sort of to paraphrase Yogi Berra, as an English teacher, it's really not over until it's over. So, I am optimistic and I will be in the house of delegates at 2:00, but I don't know, really, if it -- you know, where we're at because, until it's over, it's not over.
BANFIELD: And, so, truly, when you say an update, it's just to get you up-to-speed on how bad things could be?
REHAK: I don't mean to be evasive, but it could be very good news and it could be, you know, we're going keep on going. I mean, honestly, I checked with my leadership just a few minutes ago and it's just, at this point, it's an update and, basically, the house of delegates ...
BANFIELD: So, what happens?
REHAK: What happens is the house of delegates will meet. Karen will give us an update and she may give us a recommendation and she may say, you know what, now is the time for us to settle, if you want to, and the membership will vote on that. The house of delegates will vote on that. Or she may turn around and say, you know what? We're not really that close. You know, I think we should keep going and, you know, what do you think? And, of course, the house of delegates will be resoundingly with her, whatever way she kind of comes in.
Now, if, on the other hand, she somehow -- a third option would be if she says, I'm not sure. What do you think of this deal? Then we're going to have to take a closer look and that's going to take a little bit of time. So, the longer the meeting goes, the more you'll know which way it's going.
BANFIELD: All right, well, let's hope that it's good news and let's hope that there's some resolution and the kids are back in school by Monday. Jay Rehak, thanks for the update. Appreciate it.
REHAK: Thank you very much.
BANFIELD: All right, and I want to keep everyone else up-to-date on the latest, as well, with this and other education news that makes the headlines.
We've got a great blog. I encourage you to go there. It's called "Schools of Thought" and you can find it CNN.com/education.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: You know we still don't know very much about the man behind all of the outrage, all of the mess around the world right now, the man whose film started off the firestorm rage that's now spread from Egypt to Libya and to Yemen and Tunisia and Sudan and Lebanon and, as we speak, there could be more protests emerging because this is Friday prayers
But from the information that we do have about this filmmaker, it is safe to say that he has a very shadowy past. Take a look at this. He says his name is Sam Bacile, but we have found him also to be named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and, apparently, he has several other aliases, as well. He was convicted in 2009 of bank fraud. He lives in Cerritos, California, and he's married with two children.
Our Miguel Marquez has even further details on this man.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's the shadowy maker of a low budget, anti-Islamic film who has a criminal past and many aliases, clearly, someone who doesn't want to be found, and, as we discovered, for good reason.
In 1997, Bacile -- his real name Nakoula Basseley Nakoula -- spent a year in prison, convicted of intent to manufacture methamphetamine. In 2010, he spent another year -- this time in federal prison -- for fraud.
These are just some of the documents for criminal cases against Sam Bacile or Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. It is clear by going through these that investigators had a hard time tracking him down, as well. The guy had several addresses, many social security numbers and lots of names. Court documents showed he used at least 17 different names including Sam Bacile, Kritbag Difrat, P.J. Tobacco and Thomas Tanas. Anyone having anything to do with Sam Bacile is scared to death right now across Los Angeles. This is a neighborhood in Long Beach. A man who lives here says that Nakoula Basseley used his address to get credit cards and conduct some of the fraudulent activity that he carried out. He found out about it, called the police and hasn't seen him since.
Numbers associated with Bacile's many identities turned up nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via telephone): The number you dialed is not a work number.
MARQUEZ: Even anti-Islamic activists who worked with him say they were never exactly sure who he was.
STEVE KLEIN, CONSULTANT TO THE FILM: Sam is not his real name. I knew that.
MARQUEZ: The same is even true for the actors in his movie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told me he was from Israel today. He told me he was going to show the movie in Egypt and either I assumed he was from Egypt or ...
MARQUEZ: He led you to believe he was Egyptian.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Because that's what I believed.
MARQUEZ: Well, this is the best address we have for Sam Bacile or Nakoula Basseley, whatever you want to call him.
You can see all of the media is camped out here. We're going to try one more time to talk to him.
Mr. Bacile, Mr. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, this is Miguel Marquez with CNN.
This house, the center of an intense search for answers from a man who has many questions hanging over his head.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: And, Miguel Marquez, joins me live now from Los Angeles.
It seems, Miguel, that the FBI has made contact with this man because of the potential for threats against him. Understandable. Certainly, in Cerritos, he's not that safe, but he's not under direct investigation for anything and we need to make that clear, right?
MARQUEZ: Well, as far as we know, he's not. They haven't closed the door completely on that, but what the FBI doesn't want to do, they don't want to overreact. They don't want to do the same thing that other people have done. They don't want to make the mistake of shutting down free speech and creating problems in a different way. So they want to investigate everything having to do with this case, including his past, including what he told his cast members and whether there was any fraudulent activity in making this film. But at this point, he doesn't seem to be under direct threat of investigation, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: And then I you know got your hands on the film permit for the film that is now called "Innocence of Muslims" and it was not initially called "Innocence of Muslims." What more did the film permit shed light on, in terms of the story?
MARQUEZ: Well, interestingly, typically, these film permits are just given out. We know that the film did air or showed just a couple of blocks from here in some form in June, but the film permits itself are usually public record. It's usually very simple to get them. There's usually no controversy whatsoever.
But when we tried to get these, the county of Los Angeles said that they could not provide the film records because federal authorities had seized it and didn't want it public because they feared it might create a bigger threat out there which leads one to believe it was an over-eager agent who just put a -- you know, closed off all information or there is something in that film permit that is clearly and obviously inflammatory.
BANFIELD: There's been so much reporting. He called himself an Israeli-American. It's now becoming more clear he may be Egyptian and Coptic Christian. But, specifically, there have been Jewish groups who have been very angered at the reports that there was, I think, he or his colleagues had released a report that 100 Jewish people financed this movie. That's not necessarily true.
MARQUEZ: Not true at all. It was just another dangerous deception he was playing. He is a Coptic Christian. CNN spoke to the bishop of the Coptic Christian Church that he goes to here in the Los Angeles area. I've spoken to friends of his who are Egyptian. They have confirmed that he is Egyptian. It seems that he perhaps wanted the Israeli thing out there perhaps to fan the flames further or to make it seem as though he had more connections than he actually had.
But now, I mean, the frustrating part for Coptics in Egypt, where they have had a lot of problems before, this may become a bigger problem for them. It may backfire in a way that he never even intended. Ashleigh?
BANFIELD: Just mysterious and sinister, all at the same time. All right, Miguel, good work in tracking down those details. Miguel Marquez, live for us in Los Angeles today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Some live pictures for you now from the values voter summit under way in Washington. Bill Bennett live at the microphone right now and not the only one who is there. 53 days before the election, Family Research Council is gathering some of the biggest names on the far right and among them the president of that organization, Tony Perkins, seen earlier on getting to the microphone and introducing this man, Rand Paul. Also Minnesota Congresswoman and former presidential hopeful herself, Michele Bachmann, speaking to the council. The group will hear from the biggest name at this conference, Republican presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, who is seen here yesterday on a brief return to his current job, which is still on Capitol Hill, he's still got to be one of those voters on particular legislation. But today he's expected to really amp up those partisan attacks on President Obama's foreign policy, especially with what's happening right now across the Middle East.
And that brings me to my colleague Wolf Blitzer who is live with me in Washington, D.C.
I'm expecting he will echo what his running mate, Mitt Romney, has been doing refusing to back down on the harsh criticisms, how Obama and the administration is handling what's going on right now and particularly in a pointed interview with one of our colleagues in the media, George Stephanopoulos.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": This is what Romney said. He's not apologizing at all for his initial or subsequent comments about how the Obama administration handled the unrest both in Cairo as well as in Benghazi. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I said was exactly the same conclusion the White House reached, which was that the statement was inappropriate. That's why they backed away from it.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: They didn't say they were showing sympathy for the attackers.
ROMNEY: I think it was not directly applicable and appropriate for the setting. I think it should have been taken down. And apparently the White House felt the same way.
STEPHANOPOULOS: In no direct response when the President says you shoot first, aim later?
ROMNEY: This is politics. I'm not going to worry about the campaign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's interesting, Ashleigh, some of Romney's top national security foreign policy advisors even go further and they are almost completely blaming, at least in part blaming, I should say blaming the President and his supposed weak policies in the Middle East and elsewhere for encouraging the kind of violence in Egypt and Libya that's spreading throughout North Africa. Rich Williams, in particular, a former Reagan administration official who is now a top national security advisor to Romney, making that kind of assertion in the "The Washington Post" today.
BANFIELD: Another Reagan official said quite the opposite as well that this isn't the time to be making partisan attacks and should stop at our shores. Given the fact we're in the campaign season, Wolf, and given the fact this is dominating the news headlines right now, a lot of people were wondering if it would get traction. I'm not sure the polls are reflecting what's going on and the attacks on what's going on because it's only been three or four days. What are the most recent polls showing us?
BLITZER: These polls were done before Benghazi, before care jobs before the violence in the Middle East.
Having said that, we've done our CNN poll of polls. This is what we have when we do the average of all of these major polls. 49 percent right now for Obama, 46 percent for Romney. This is after the convention but before the violence. These poll numbers, as you know, they are works in progress and they go up and go down. Certainly, they can change. We'll see if at all they change as a result of what's going on in the Middle East.
When you least expect it, in the world of politics, there can be a surprise that can make some major changes in these final weeks before a presidential election. We've seen it before. We might, might be seeing it now.
BANFIELD: Let's also talk about how the debates may change things as well as we approach debate season. Mr. Romney had a specific accusation that he leveled regarding how he thinks the President is going to perform in those debates. Let's listen to his answer in this interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: I think the challenge that I'll have in the debate is that the President tends to, how shall I say it, say things that aren't true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Wolf, you can couch it anyway you want. That's calling the President a liar.
BLITZER: That's a serious accusation. Let's see specifically how he backs it up with X, Y and Z, where is the President lying, what is he saying that's not true. One of the three presidential debates, as you know, will be strictly devoted to foreign policy and national security. I'm sure they will get into all of this. But as can you obviously see as well there's no love lost between President Obama and Governor Romney right now. These final seven weeks, eight weeks or so whatever, it is it will be intense.
BANFIELD: All right. Wolf Blitzer, thank you. I want to cut away from you. You'll be back at 4:00 for "The Situation Room," 4:00 eastern, 1:00 pacific here on CNN.
I'm only cutting away because I need to get a live moment at the Value Voters Summit, going on live right now.
Here's the guest of honor. Paul Ryan has taken to the podium. This is the gathering of social conservative, folks, and make no mistake, this was expected. We got a protester -- that wasn't expected, but a protester being led out of the auditorium as vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, begins his speech. And what was expected, this will be a blistering attack. The attack will continue on the foreign policy of the administration, especially in light of what's happening and sort of the explosion of violence against American interests overseas. Let's listen.
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's good to be here.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: It's good to be part of the Values Voter Summit once again. And this time, I bring greetings from the next President of the United States, Governor Mitt Romney.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: In this election millions of Americans count themselves as values voters. I'm a values voter too. In 53 days we have a choice between two very different ideas about our country, how we were meant to live and what we were meant to be. It's the kind of choice that can never be taken for granted. Peace, freedom and civilized values have enemies in this world, as we've been reminded by events in Egypt, Libya and Yemen. We've all seen the images of our flag being burned, and our enemies under attack by vicious mobs. The worst of it is the loss of four good men, including our ambassador to Libya. They were there for the most peaceful purposes in service to our country. And today, our country honors their lives and grieves with their families.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: All of us are watching events closely. But we know who America is dealing with in these attacks. They are extremists who operate by violence and intimidation and the least equivocation or mixed signal only makes them bolder. Look across that region today. And what do we see? The slaughter of brave dissidents in Syria, mobs storming consulates, Iran four years closer to getting a nuclear weapon. Israel, our best ally in the region, treated with indifference bordering on contempt by the Obama administration.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: Amid all these threats and dangers what we do not see is steady, consistent American leadership. In the days ahead and in the years ahead, American foreign policy needs moral clarity and firmness of purpose.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: Only by the confident exercise of American influence are evil and violence overcome. That is how we keep problems abroad from become being crises. That is what keeps the peace. And that is what we will have in a Romney/Ryan administration.
(APPLAUSE) RYAN: In the all-important election of 2012, values voters are also economic voters. This election will hold the incumbent accountable for his economic failures and affirm the pro growth agenda of Mitt Romney. It is true that President Obama, he had a lot of problems northwest his own making. But he also came in with one-party rule. And a chance to do everything of his own choosing. The Obama economic agenda failed not because it was stopped, but because it was passed.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: That's a key distinction.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: And here's what we got: Prolonged joblessness across the country, 23 million Americans struggling to find work, family income in decline, 15 percent of Americans living in poverty. The record is so uniformly bad that maybe you've noticed something. President Obama himself almost never even uses the word record. That is except when he's trying to trade on the record of Bill Clinton. In his convention speech the President never said that simple word, record. He didn't say the other word stimulus either. Because he wasted $831 billion of borrowed money. At a time of mass unemployment, he didn't even say unemployment. Because we're in the slowest recovery since the great depression. And by the way, he didn't even use the word recovery either. Never mind the recovery was what all America expected from Barack Obama.
You see, he wants us to forget all of these things. And lately, he's been trying out a new tactic. It's a classic Barack Obama straw man. If anyone dares point out the facts of his record why then they are just being negative and pessimistic about the country. The new straw man is people hoping for the decline of America. You know, it's pretty sad but this is the closest President Obama can come these days to sounding positive himself but we have to face up to all that has gone wrong these past four wears so that the next four years can be better.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to make economic failure a two term proposition.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: You know lately the President has been also trying out sports comparisons. He compares his fourth year of his term to the fourth quarter of a basketball game. You can expect more of this. Because if there's one thing that the man can do, is talk a good game.
(LAUGHTER)
RYAN: Only problem is the clock is running out and he still hasn't put any points on the board.
(APPLAUSE) RYAN: His whole case these days is basically asking us to forget what he promised four years ago even if use instead on his new promises. That's a fast move to get around accountability. He made those ringing promises to get elected. Without them he wouldn't be president. And now he asks as if it's unfair to measure his performance against his own words. But here's the question. If Barack Obama's promises weren't good then, what good are they now? If we renew the contract we're going to get the same deal. If we renew the contract, we'll get the same deal with only one difference.
In a second term, he will never answer to you again. In so many ways, in some ways starting with Obama-care, re-electing this president would set in motion things that can never be called back. It would be a choice to give up so many other choices when all the mandates of government-run health care comes down the last thing the regulators want to hear is your opinion. When the Obama tax increases start coming, nobody in Washington is going to ask whether you can afford them or not. When all of the new borrowing brings our national debt to $20 trillion and then $25 trillion, nobody is going ask you about the debt crisis or even help you prepare for it. But we the people need to think ahead, even if our current president will not in order to avoid the crisis while there's still time.
Everyone knows that President Obama inherited a bad economy. And four months from now, when Mitt Romney is sworn in as president, he will inherit a bad economy. Here's the difference. When Romney/Ryan administration takes office we'll also take responsibility.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: Instead of dividing up the wealth, our new president will get America creating wealth again.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: We're going to revive free enterprise in this country to get our economy growing faster and to get our people back to work.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: On the path that this president has set, by the time my kid are my age, the federal government will be far bigger and more powerful even than it is today. At that point this land of free men and women will have become something it was never intended to be. We were expected to meekly submit to this fate, but I got a different idea and I'm betting that most Americans share it. I want my children to make their own choices to define happiness for themselves and to use the gifts that God gave them and live their lives in freedom.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: That's the American idea.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: You know, you say things like this, and our opponents will quickly accuse you of being anti-government. President Obama frames the debate this way, because here again it's the only kind of debate he can win against straw man arguments. No politician is more skilled in striking heroic imposes against imaginary adversaries.
(CHANTING)
RYAN: Thank you.
(CHANTING)
RYAN: Thank you.
(CHANTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the Constitution --
RYAN: In case you didn't hear it, let me say it again.
(LAUGHTER)
RYAN: We all know this. No politician is more skilled at striking heroic imposes against imaginary adversaries. Nobody is better than rebuking non-existent opinions. Barack Obama does this all the time. In this campaign we are going to call him on it.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: The President is given to lectures on all that we owe to government, as if anyone who oppose his reckless expansion of federal power of capable of ingratitude. He treats free enterprise as little more than revenue support for government. He uses government as the allocator of opportunity.
Well, the results are in for that too. Here we are, four years of economic stewardship under these self-proclaimed advocates of the poor and what do they have to show for it? More people in poverty, lesser upper mobility wherever you look. After four years of dividing people up with the bogus rhetoric of class warfare just about every segment of society is worse off. To see all this played out in any country would be bad enough. To see it becoming the daily experience of life in the United States is utterly contrary to everything we are entitled to expect. Mitt Romney knows that this country and all the millions who are waiting for their working lives to begin again were made for better things. To borrow the words of another mentor of mine, Jack Kemp --
(LAUGHTER)
I had to do that for Dr. Bennett.
We understand that no government in history has been able to do for people what they have been able to do for themselves when they were free to follow their hopes and their dreams. As a matter of fact, on the seven occasions I've been sworn in as a member of Congress, I have never taken an oath to the government. The oath that all of us take is to support and defend the constitution of the United States under which government is limited and the people are sovereign.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: That's what we do. That's who we are.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: In the experience of real life, the most important things we belong to, they have an important hold on us. I'm Catholic, not because anyone order me to accept a creed, but because of the grace in truth revealed in my faith. and that's how we all feel about the fate we hold. In the same way, we Americans give ourselves to every kind of good cause. We do this for the simple reason that our hearts and conscience have called us to do the work that needs doing, to fill a place that no one else can fill. It's like that with our families and communities too. The whole life of this nation is carried forward every day by the endless unselfish things people do for one another without giving it much thought. In books, they call this "civil society." In my own experience, I know it as Janesville, Wisconsin.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: Janesville is a place like 10,000 others. Where a lot of good happens without government commanding it, directing it or claiming credit for it. That's how life is supposed to work in a free country.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: Nothing undermines the essential and honorable work of government more than the abuse of government power. In the President's telling, government is a big benevolent presence, gingerly guiding our steps at every turn. In reality, when government enters the picture, private institutions are so often brushed aside with suspicion or even contempt. This is what happened to the Catholic Church and Catholic charities this past January when the new mandates of Obama-care started coming. Never mind your own conscience they were basically told. And, from now on, you're going to do things the government's way.
Ladies and gentlemen, you would be hard pressed to find another group in America that does more to serve the health of women and their babies than the Catholic Church and Catholic charities.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: And now suddenly we have Obama-care bureaucrats dictating how they will do it. As governor Romney has said this mandate is not a threat and insult to one religious group, it is a threat and insult to every religious group.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: He and I are honored to stand with you, people of faith and concerned citizens, in defense of our religious liberty. (APPLAUSE)
RYAN: I can assure you when Mitt Romney is elected, we will get to work on day one to repeal that mandate and all of Obama-care.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: Finally, when he tries to make big government sound reasonable and inclusive, the President likes to say we're all in this together. Here, too, he has another handy straw man. Anyone who questions the wisdom of his policies must be lacking in compassion. Who else would question him but those mean people who think that everybody has to that everybody has to go it alone and fend for themselves? We're all in this together. It has a nice ring. For everyone who loves this country, it's not only true but obvious. Yet, how hallow it sounds coming from a politician who has never once lifted a hand to defend the most helpless and innocent of all human beings, the child waiting to be born.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: Giving up any further pretense of moderation on this issue and in complete disregard from millions of pro-life Democrats, President Obama has chosen to pander to the most extreme elements of his party. In the Clinton years the stated goal was to make abortion safe, legal, and rare, but that was a different time and a different president. Now apparently the Obama-Biden ticket stands for an absolute unqualified right for abortion at any time, under any circumstance, and even at taxpayer expense. When you get past all of the President's strawmen, what we believe is plain too state. These vital questions should be decided not by the caprice of unelected judges but by the conscience of the people in their elected representatives.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: And in this good-hearted country we believe in showing compassion for mother and child alike. We don't write anyone off in America, especially those without a voice. Every child has a place and purpose in this world. Everyone counts. In a just society, the law should stand on the side of life.
(APPLAUSE)
RYAN: So much of our history has been a constant striving to live up to the ideals of our founding, about rights and their ultimate source. At our opponents' convention a rowdy dispute broke out over the mere mention of that source. I mean, for most of us it was settled long ago that our rights come from nature and nature's god, not from governments. Very clear. That's the American idea. A disregard for rights, a growing government in a static economy, a country where everything is free but us. This is where it is all tending.
This is where we are being taken by the President's administration. This is the road we are on, but my friends. That road has an exit just ahead, and it is marked Tuesday, November 6, 2012. We can be confident in the rightness of our cause and also in the integrity and readiness of the man who leads it. He is a solid and trustworthy, faithful and honorable man. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of marriage at its best. Not only a fine businessman, he is a fine man, worthy of leading our country, and ready to lead the great turnaround that we have spent four years waiting for.
You know, I'm not the only one who has told Mitt that maybe he needs to talk more about himself and his life. It wouldn't hurt if voters knew more about those little things that reveal a man's heart and his character.
