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Mitt Romney Lays Out Jobs Plan; Romney's Plan to Save the Economy; Wildfires Destroy Hundreds of Homes and Buildings in Texas; David Petraeus Takes Post as CIA Head

Aired September 06, 2011 - 16:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(MITT ROMNEY SPEECH SENT AS SEPARATE DOCUMENT)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Lawmakers across the country are talking about one thing -- jobs. And now add Mitt Romney to that list, former Massachusetts governor.

He just mentioned, businessman himself. He says he knows a thing or two about business and the economy, taking a couple swipes at the president.

And, you know, said essentially he is outlining 59 specific proposals, how he can bring, create, hire in this country. And he actually said -- just a couple notes, I'll just pass along a few.

He said he could add 11.5 million jobs in America in the course of the next four years if he's elected president, gave 10 concrete actions, be it executive orders or acts, he could begin to enact on the first day if he's elected president. Talked about lowering corporate taxes for the middle class, eliminating tax on savings, and talked about this Reagan Economic Zone which he said would be a partnership among countries committed to free and fair trade.

I am sure you can go to CNN.com/politics, and the good folks in our political unit will be writing up some of those proposals for you to read.

But just a quick reminder. You know, add Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Sarah Palin. We'll be hearing from Michele Bachmann, their different job proposals. We'll also be hearing from the president of the United States, don't forget, this Thursday.

Our "Best Political Team on Television" will be covering when the president goes to Congress and addresses the joint session Thursday, 7:00 Eastern. We will have full coverage of that.

Let me move along now. Just a short time ago, Wolf Blitzer sat down with former vice president Dick Cheney. He asked him some tough questions, including his thoughts on Bin Laden, why the U.S. went to war, and his mistakes while in office. You will be the first to see a clip.

Wolf Blitzer and former vice president Dick Cheney, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: All right. Well, our own Wolf Blitzer just wrapped up with an interview with former vice president Dick Cheney. It was apparently this wide-ranging interview, as you can actually see from Wolf's tweet. Let's pull it up.

He says, "Just taped with Dick Cheney good exchanges on TARP, Saddam, Bin Laden, his mistakes, heart legacy, and more." Of course you can watch him 5:00 to 7:00 on "THE SITUATION ROOM" Eastern Time.

In one of their exchanges -- and we're about to show you here -- Wolf asked the former vice president about the effects of America going to war in Iraq. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm concerned that when all the dust settles in Iraq, and the U.S. troops pull out, supposedly by the end of this year, although there may be a residual number of some troops left -- they're negotiating that -- when all the dust settles, the Shiite-led regime in Iraq of Nouri al-Maliki is going to be a partner of Iran and Syria, for that matter. In recent days, Nouri al-Maliki's government has supported Bashar al-Assad on peaceful protesters in Syria, together with the Iranians, one of the few countries to do that.

Is that why the U.S. went to war, so that Iraq would become a strategic partner of Bashar al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

RICHARD CHENEY, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, first you're constructing a worst-case scenario there, Wolf. I don't think it's going to happen.

BLITZER: You think there's going to be a democracy, a pro-American government in Iraq?

CHENEY: I think the Iraqis will in fact be somebody we can work with on a regular basis, that they will have a rudimentary democracy, if you will, and I think it will be a success.

BLITZER: So when they support Bashar al-Assad, what goes through your mind?

CHENEY: I think Bashar al-Assad is not long (ph) for this world either. It looks to me like he's on his way out because of the unrest that's been occasioned by his own people inside Syria. He's one of the least popular leaders in that part of the world.

It's the Middle East, and stuff happens in the Middle East. You know it. You've covered it for years.

But I don't think you can make the case that the world would be better off today if Saddam Hussein were still in power.

BLITZER: So no regrets in Iraq?

CHENEY: I think we made exactly the right decisions. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: In that sit-down interview, Wolf also had a chance to ask Cheney about his health, about his heart, which the former vice president showed -- he actually showed it off for the CNN camera.

Make sure you tune in the top of this next hour for the entire interview. Wolf Blitzer, he is in "THE SITUATION ROOM." A special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" live from Los Angeles, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

And now, speaking of L.A., let's go to Jim Acosta, with the latest news fresh off the CNN Political Ticker.

Jim, I'm sure you were sitting there, as was I, of course, listening to Mitt Romney tick off a couple examples of his 59-point plan to create jobs.

What jumped out at you?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, it's interesting to see Mitt Romney not only come out with a 59-point plan, he's come out with a book his campaign just e-mailed out to reporters who are covering his campaign, the fact that he has this 160-page book that's dedicated to getting jobs going in this country again. So it's sort of a "my jobs plan is bigger than your jobs plan," is what's sort of going on this week between the Mitt Romney campaign and the president, who is going to have his big speech coming up on Thursday night.

And obviously some of this stuff is political. Mitt Romney is saying on day one of his administration, he would get rid of Obamacare, as he calls it, the president's health care law. But there are some interesting items in here that I think folks will sink their teeth into.

One of them obviously is going to appeal to Tea Party activists out there. He's talking about dramatically lowering taxes. But there's one item on China, Brooke, that I want everybody to listen to.

I think it's very interesting, because this is something that you've heard progressives talk about, this is something that you've heard libertarians talk about. It's not something you hear a whole lot of mainstream politicians going on a rant about, and that is the allegation that China manipulates its currency to keep the cost of its goods that it exports to other countries low, which obviously is an advantage for its economy. And Mitt Romney actually went out and called China cheaters when it comes to its currency.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: And that is I'll clamp down on the cheaters. And China is the worst example of that.

(APPLAUSE) They have manipulated their currency to make their products artificially inexpensive. It's hallowed out many of our manufacturing facilities in this country. That's unacceptable, and I will label China as it is, a currency manipulator, and I will go after them for stealing our intellectual property. And they will recognize that if they cheat, there is a price to pay.

I certainly don't want a trade war with anybody, but we're not going to have a trade war. But we can't have a trade surrender either. We have to make sure that we protect Americans, that we have fair trade with nations that are willing to live by the rules. And we're going to insist --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And if it seems like Mitt Romney is pulling out all the stops this week, that's because he is. There are two new polls out, Brooke, as you know, that show Mitt Romney basically pretty far behind Rick Perry, who is essentially the new front-runner in the race for the GOP nomination. And it might explain why you saw another GOP contender today, Jon Huntsman, going after Mitt Romney's record on jobs, accusing Mitt Romney's record in Massachusetts of being the 47th state in the nation when it came to job creation when he was governor there.

That is something that you've heard Democrats say up until now. Now Jon Huntsman is taking up that line of attack.

It goes to show you that with Rick Perry now in the front, in the lead in this race, that Huntsman is sort of trying to become the un-Perry, that Romney, very much at this point, wants to stay the un-Perry, because as Rollins has pointed out -- we've been talking about that a whole lot lately, his leaving the Bachmann campaign in an official capacity -- that this is really down to a two-person race between Perry and Romney.

It's interesting to see Mitt Romney pull out all these stops and to see his fellow Republicans going after him on this jobs plan that quickly.

BALDWIN: Yes. You mentioned Ed Rollins leaving. I guess he's still remaining in some capacity, but Joe Johns was talking about that at the top.

ACOSTA: As an adviser, but --

BALDWIN: Yes. But go ahead.

ACOSTA: That's exactly right. It's a very different role for Ed Rollins.

BALDWIN: It is, yes.

ACOSTA: And it does show you that this race is changing.

BALDWIN: It is. Jim Acosta, thank you very much. Taking jabs at one another. In addition to the president, Jim mentioned Rick Perry, governor of Texas. He actually headed home because -- take a look at this -- here we're getting some new video here, firefighters fighting these massive wildfires in the state of Texas. Thousands are realizing that everything they own, burning to the ground.

We're going to take you there, to Texas, live.

Also, we are monitoring that situation in Nevada. Remember, police say someone opened fire during breakfast rush. We're getting word two members of the military in uniform were shot and killed.

Back in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I know a lot of you have been tweeting about me asking on this. We're working on getting more details right on that deadly shooting that happened today, happened this morning in Nevada.

Here's what we know so far. A man reportedly entered this IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, shot three people, killed those three, wounded six others, then turned the gun on himself, shot himself. Last we heard the shooter is not dead but he is not expected to survive.

Additionally, a police spokesman says at least two of the people killed were military members in uniform. Still no I.D. on the gunman. We're going to give you updates as soon as we get them. We're working on it.

Now to Texas, which is battling its worst fire season in state history. Orange flames scorching thousands of acres, 700 homes destroyed, two people have died thus far, thousands are evacuated. Not sure what if anything they would be returning to. Wind speeds, some silver lining, they are down today, giving firefighters a better chance to slow and try to contain some of the flames, but the dry weather not at all making it easy for them.

Let me bring back in Jim Spellman live in Bastrop, Texas. Jim, 700 homes destroyed, 500 destroyed on Sunday alone, is that correct?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just about. Maybe a few of those on Monday, but IT'S just amazing how intense this fire was, and how intense all these fires are that are breaking out over the last 48 hours or so. Each seems to pop up and take out 20, 25 homes. And there's this big one, almost 500 here.

It's really impressive how dynamic this has been. It will cool down a little bit and we've seen flare-ups today. It's been cool today which helped firefighters and the winds have been lower but now hot again. There is avenue a lot of firefighters in the fire trying to create a fire line, trying to create a break between the active fire and the fuel that will feed it, forest and of course working around properties, trying to burn away foliage and create buffer zones. They have to take advantage of every minute of this calm weather. They think they'll have the moderate to low winds for the rest of the day. Tomorrow it could be a completely different story and the fire could flare up again. And when you get the winds especially what they're afraid of, embers that can lift off from the fire, travel two miles, three miles away and start a whole new fire.

Again, with these kind of drought conditions, a fire started just by a single ember, bam, can take out another community, take out some homes and possibly hurt people. So they have to take advantage of every minute of calm weather, Brooke.

Right. So firefighters are working from the air and also by land and then you have these homeowners, you and I have both spoken with this woman, hopped in the car, grabbed the calling it, a couple photos and they have to leave their home Sunday, where do she and the hundreds, I don't know thousands of people who may or may not have lost their homes, where are they now?

Some of them are in shelters, a lot of them are staying with their friends and neighbors. What's going to be involved in rebuilding their lives. Her daughter, Claire, has to go back to school sometime in the next few days. She told us the principal's house is burned. A lot of classmates going through that and teachers.

And the same with police officers, firefighters. This is going to affect so many people in the community as all of those institutions get going, will be really difficult and that's the kind of thing that people rely on, having the schools opened and things like that, all going to make it more challenging for these people to get back.

And what really struck me about her story and what we've heard from other people is how quick this came through, 10 minutes from when the sheriff told them to get out from when the house was burned. We've heard similar stories from people in the other fires across the state, Brooke.

BALDWIN: It has been a tough year for Texas. Jim Spellman thank you so much, covering it for us on the ground there, again, Jim, thank you.

Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Below the serene surface of lush landscape, Moammar Gadhafi built an intricate system, a bunker designed to protect his family in the worst scenario.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coming up next, this fascinating look at Moammar Gadhafi's secret bunker -- showers, escape routes, even an underground hospital. And what was discovered in this whole hideout reveals what may be Gadhafi's greatest fears. Wait until you see this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: To Libya now, still no word on the whereabouts of Moammar Gadhafi. This is despite the movement of two convoys of Libyan officials out of Libya into Niger. U.S. State Department officials responded saying they don't believe the ousted longtime leader was in any of those vehicles that left the country, but take a look at this, because we are getting a better look at how some in the Gadhafi family lived in Tripoli.

You are looking at a home once occupied by one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons. It was overrun and seized by rebel fighters. You can see we have cameras inside, looks normal aboveground. But below ground a high-tech bunker with multiple entrances, decontamination showers, airtight bomb-proof doors, a full hospital with operating rooms, kitchens, bedrooms. Analysts say the bunker system was designed to sustain and protect Gadhafi family members for a long period of time.

BALDWIN: And now let's go to the Pentagon to our Correspondent Barbara Starr because she has news as the CIA has a new boss today. Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: First day on the job for Dave Petraeus over at the CIA as the new director. You might remember, Brooke, he retired from his very long and noteworthy army career. Now he puts on the gray suit.

But that's really the question. He might be putting on a business suit, but is he still the general? The CIA is involved in lots of joint operations with the U.S. military conducting counterterrorism operations. We saw it in Pakistan on the raid to kill Osama bin Laden. We're seeing more and more of it in places like Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia. So a lot of people are saying Dave Petraeus may no longer be owe officially an army general but a lot of what he'll be doing at the CIA is essentially running joint operations, very secret wars with the U.S. military. Brooke?

BALDWIN: It's funny to see him in a suit, is it not? We're used to seeing him highly decorated. Now he is in a suit and tie.

STARR: He's in a suit and tie, his hair looks a little bit longer. You know, I think he's sort of getting into the Washington groove just a little bit.

BALDWIN: Yes. And we should mention Secretary Gates moving on to be chancellor at William & Mary.

STARR: He is returning to the academic world. Before he came to the Pentagon, of course, held a similar post at Texas A&M. So everybody is moving on. And of course Leon Panetta came from the CIA and is now at the Pentagon as the defense secretary. He's leaving the intelligence world behind, and his major job ramping up in the next several weeks to deal with defense spending and those budget cuts with Congress.

BALDWIN: Barbara Starr thank you so much.

STARR: Sure.

BALDWIN: She is the American accused of killing her roommate during a drug-fueled sex game. Today Amanda Knox's lawyers arguing police mishandled the evidence, and the woman who examined it takes the stand. Find out what she said. Sunny Hostin is back. Sunny Hostin, we missed you. She's back with us on the case, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A new twist to the Amanda Knox appeal in Italy. Experts argued today whether a key piece of evidence was contaminated. Amanda Knox, she got a 26-year sentence for that 2007 murder of her housemate Meredith Kercher. Her lawyers are trying to prove the DNA evidence used in her original trial is not conclusive.

Sunny Hostin is on the case for us. And Sunny, how could the same evidence used in that trial to convict her now be considered inadmissible? How does that work?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: Isn't that fascinating? It works because in Italy, Brooke, you get a new trial. That's really what an appeal is. It's very different from the American system where you're sort of wedded to the facts that happened at trial, you're wedded to the facts and evidence at the trial.

In Italy, you really almost get a second bite at the apple. So what this judge did was he questioned the evidence that was entered against her at trial and asked not one, but two independent neutral experts, scientists to review the facts, to review the evidence.

And most importantly, Brooke, to review the DNA evidence, and what they found was that the DNA evidence just was collected improperly and that the sample that was used was too small to extract a DNA profile, a valid DNA profile, so it really has thrown into question the entire conviction.

BALDWIN: So, I guess, it means that it could be possible. My question is, do you think that her lawyers, Knox's lawyers will prove the evidence here and I think we're talking about the bra clasp and maybe even the weapon were contaminated and would that potentially mean, I know it would, that she could go free?

HOSTIN: I think that's right. I have a been following this case closely, Brooke, and I think the defense has done a very good job of calling the DNA evidence into question.

As you mentioned, we're talking about the handle of the knife used to allegedly murder Meredith Kercher, and it was Amanda Knox's DNA was allegedly found on that murder weapon.

Now that DNA evidence is excluded, there is no physical evidence linking Amanda Knox to this crime and that means in my view when this appellant decision comes back at end of September.

If it comes back in her favor, she should be set free. We may be seeing her in the United States as early as October. BALDWIN: Wow, how about that, if that is in fact the case. We'll follow it. Sunny Hostin, thank you so much and thank you for coming back. We missed you.

HOSTIN: It's good to be back.

BALDWIN: Thank you, Sunny.

Coming up next, social media is blowing up over this, over the University of Maryland's new football uniforms. Take a look. You love them? You hate them? I guess, we'll be talking to our fashionista, Monte Durham, does he say yes to these uniforms? Don't miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, we're having a little fun on this today. In case you haven't noticed styles are changing on the gridiron, started with these guys, you know the Oregon Ducks. They have so many different accessories, never out in public wearing the same thing twice.

Well here we go, Georgia got into the act Saturday, kind of a red and black ninja look, if you will, and now come the Maryland Terrapins. These were the guys. They wore these uniforms last night.

There's a guy named Vince Lombardi is probably spinning around in his grave right about now. Monte Durham, he's a friend of the show. He is on the phone with me. He is the fashion director and stylist and fabulous host of TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress" Atlanta. Monte, are you there?

MONTE DURHAM, TLC "SAY YES TO THE DRESS" (via telephone): Hi, how are you?

BALDWIN: Hi, Monte. I'm doing wonderful. Thank you for coming on. I never thought I'd be talking football with you, but let's do it today. What do you think of these uniforms?

DURHAM: Nor did I. This is a new one for me.

BALDWIN: What do you think?

DURHAM: Well, I tell you what. It is amazing to me these guys kept this a well held secret. I mean, we haven't seen this much secrecy since the duchess of Cambridge's wedding gown. I mean, they come out, they play in the regular uniforms, then they turn around, go back in and wow do they give us a bang!

BALDWIN: Why keep it a secret, just to get us talking about it?

DURHAM: My big thing is, here we go a-guessing again, who designed these? Where did they come from?

BALDWIN: I think, I'm blanking on the name, guys, Under Armour.

DURHAM: But it's very interesting to see from a design standpoint, helmet divided in half, they match hat to shoulder. And we're getting to close to my three "Fs" you know, which are fit, fashion and fabric so they got a couple of those thrown in there.

BALDWIN: Well, hang on. I'm going to stop you in the helmets because I'm just going to read some of my tweets. People are saying they look crushed head dummies. The fact that they're sort of like split down the middle, you think that's a fashion yes?

DURHAM: Well, you know what? I think depending on which side of the field you're on it could be a benefit to you. You know, we don't always get to see them head on.

I think while it's totally out of the box, it is fun to see this happening in a sports arena. I mean, I'm used to seeing changes from the reception to the going away outfit, they're following suit a little bit. What do you think?

BALDWIN: Let me ask you this and I'll let you go. What would you say you would like to see on a football uniform, if Monte Durham could design something that would be pushing the envelope just a tad how would you design a football uniform?

DURHAM: You know what? It would be monochromatic. I'm very big about that. The accessories would have to match and you know, we have showcased the talents.

So legs and arms, those would be totally showcased and I would be able to make sure every single body knew who was in the uniform so number or name would be very, very big in my book on this.

BALDWIN: See I'm thinking if you're going monochromatic, we're looking at the pictures of the ducks. Go Ducks because they kind of have that down. Phil Knight knew what he was doing.

DURHAM: You know what? It makes more of a team spirit, and it's to read on the field. However, with that being said, it's kind of fun to see these peppered out there on the field and have a little fun with the fashion. It's great.

BALDWIN: It's kind of fun. Monte Durham, you're our go-to guy. We talk to you about the weddings and dresses and now football. I kind of love it.

DURHAM: Yes, I think we're covering our bases.

BALDWIN: I think so, Monte. Thank you so much. Thanks for calling me up very much.

Also trending, it is confirmed, Eddie Murphy will host next year's Oscars. This is first time the funny man has hosted the ceremony. Murphy, of course, known for his comedy "Saturday Night Live." I loved him in "Beverly Hills Cop," the voice of the donkey in "Shrek." Keep in mind, he can sing. He can dance. He was nominated for an Oscar in his role in "Dream Girls." The academy awards will be schedule for February. So here's a question, how old is too old to run a presidential campaign or should the question be this, how far behind is too behind to be in a presidential campaign?

Joe Johns looks at the big blow to Michele Bachmann's team in today's "Political Pop" and the Democratic National Committee unveils a new look, well, new depending on who you're talking to. Familiar? Definitely. Mr. Johns up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The shake-up in the Michele Bachmann campaign with Ed Rollins stepping down as campaign manager, but it turns out Bachmann knows a thing or two about staff turnover. Joe Johns is back after a long vacation himself. Welcome back.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Doesn't feel like that long.

BALDWIN: It feels like a long time. We miss you, Joe Johns.

JOHNS: Missed you too, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So let's talk. What's going on over at camp Bachmann?

JOHNS: OK, Michele Bachmann's campaign hasn't gone on that long. Anybody is going to tell you. People come and go in presidential campaigns all the time depending on how the candidate's doing.

And for the record, Ed Rollins, who's the big name who stepped aside or changed jobs, he says it was all about his health, but it's also true that Michele Bachmann has had some serious staff turnover in her congressional office over the years.

One report in the -- OK, liberal leaning "Slate" magazine says since 2006, her legislative offices and political operations have lost about a dozen, a dozen key staffers. She's had at least four chiefs of staff from our count.

I did speak to someone who has some knowledge of what's going on in Bachmann's legislative office and as you might expect they're saying some of the turnover is explainable, some people leaving for better positions, retirement in one case. In other words, amicable departures, but not all of the departures we think were on friendly terms. Brooke --

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about one more, what about the former Bachmann chief of staff, who actually went public in favor of another candidate, right, what was the story there?

JOHNS: Yes, I mean, that was messy. This is a guy named Ron Caray, Bachmann former chief of staff, also a former chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party. He not only came out in support of Tim Pawlenty, but Caray actually wrote a brutal op-ed in an Iowa newspaper, the "Des Moines Register" in which he asserted.

But basically the congressional and campaign offices he managed for Bachmann were wildly out of control. So, I mean, just from that you can say there appears to be some tension and that is probably an understatement.

BALDWIN: Quickly last topic, Mr. Johns, we know the 2012 DNC Convention will be in Charlotte. They unveiled a new logo today. What did it look like?

JOHNS: Not designed by Under Armour. The Democratic National Committee's logo is red, white and blue, of course, which is absolutely no surprise. Take a look at the logo. It's a circle, supposed to show a group of people embracing each other.

The DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz says it's supposed to be the people's convention. But now take a look at the Obama campaign logo, same colors, same shape, it's red stripes running through the middle of a circle.

So I think we can conclude that the letter "O" as in Obama is basically going to be the thing that captures your eye in these logos over the next year, surprise, surprise.

BALDWIN: Surprise, surprise, very familiar for a very specific reason. Joe Johns, thank you so much and that does for you and for me today, but stay right there. Wolf Blitzer special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" in Los Angeles. Wolf, to you.