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Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day; Woman Moderator Wanted as Presidential Debate Moderator; Obama Stumps in Ohio; Gas Prices Going Up; Phelps Wins Historic 19th Gold Medal; Olympic Badminton Controversy; ObamaCare in Effect

Aired August 01, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": And hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West.

They put the bad in badminton and now they're out of the London Olympics. We're live with the story of athletes not giving 110 percent.

It's a new day for health care, especially for American women. We'll run down the latest benefits to kick in under ObamaCare.

And does it really take a man to oversee a presidential debate? Of course not. So, why has it been 20 years since a woman did it?

Well, we begin with a tough act to follow after yesterday's clutch performances by U.S. athletes, but on tap today, plenty more opportunity for glory. Here's what you can keep your eye on.

In gymnastics, the men fight for the individual, all-around title. They'll try to steal the show from the Japanese favorite then look for redemption after a devastating fifth-place finish in the team final.

In the pool, the women team-up in the 4-by-200-meter freestyle relay, Allison Schmitt going for her fourth medal.

And aces of U.S. tennis, Venus and Serena Williams, expected to once again prove their dominance as they take on Italy in the quarterfinal round of women's doubles.

That wasn't Serena and her sister, but OK.

Let's talk about Michael Phelps now, shall we, and the "Fab Five" gymnasts doing the U.S. proud yesterday. Zain Verjee in London. All right, Zain, Phelps just became the most decorated Olympian ever and has a chance to actually get a few more, right?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. I mean, you know, this is just a topping on a sundae now, is what I think he called it. He still has three races in which he can win a medal and, if he does, he will just blow past that already incredible number he hit, 19.

Just a few minutes ago, he swam a heat behind me in the aquatic center and he qualified for the 200-meter individual medley, went through to the next round.

But, Kyra, there's all this arguing about whether or not he is the greatest athlete ever. Do you think so? One of the chief Olympic officials here doesn't. Listen to what Sebastian Coe said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN COE, HEAD OF LONDON GAMES: I think you can probably say that, clearly, by self-evidently in the medal tally, he's the most successful. I don't think -- my personal view is I'm not sure he is the greatest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: The logic there, Kyra, in part was, you know, in swimming, you can just get more medals than a lot of the other events. There are a lot of relays. The swimmers can be in competition.

And, anyway, is he really the greatest ever? That's up for debate. I mean, is he greater than Muhammad Ali, Kyra? Is he greater than Jesse Owens or Nadia Comaneci from Romania, the amazing gymnast? It really depends how you see it.

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, we're going to talk about it with an Olympic swimmer in just a minute, Zain. So, it's not the end of that discussion.

However, I have got to ask you about the "Fab Five." I mean, I just love all these names. The "Flying Squirrel," I couldn't stop watching them last night. It was fantastic.

VERJEE: I know, I know. They were amazing, Kyra, solid performance, really excellent. The hardest part was just getting it kicked off and Jordyn Wieber did it so well on the vault and then, boom, boom, boom, they nailed it.

They left the Chinese and the Russians in tears and they clinched the gold, which they haven't had since 1996. It was pretty amazing stuff. They only didn't do too well on the uneven bars, but who cares? They got gold and they did brilliantly.

PHILLIPS: OK, and you, you know, being the Brit, when you hear "Fab Five," do you just constantly think of The Beatles? I don't know. That's just constantly going through my head on a constant basis.

VERJEE: I do. I do, actually, when you say that. Wait, The Beatles won a gold?

PHILLIPS: Anyway, they're all top of their class. All right, what's going on with the badminton. Tell me about this scandal.

VERJEE: Kyra, they put the "bad" in badminton today, I think is what you said. OK, now, this was unbelievable. These eight players, women, disqualified because they deliberately threw their game is what was decided. They had all qualified to go into the next round and the next match was the quarterfinals, but they wanted to lose their matches, so that they could just play a weaker team that would put them in a better position of winning gold.

But the problem is, even if that was their strategy, Kyra, they made it too obvious. They missed a lot of really easy shots. They just served into the net and it was really obvious what was going on and everyone was booing.

Now, they've been disqualified. There is an appeal. The Indonesians, as well as the South Koreans have said that they're appealing this and the Chinese are saying they're launching their own investigation.

But that's what happened today in badminton. Not a good day. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Yeah, of course, you have a badminton racket. Of all people, I'm not surprised. You put the "bad" in badminton, that's for sure. Zain Verjee, great to see you.

All right, I want to talk more about Michael Phelps and what Sebastian Coe had said. The fact that Phelps may be the most successful Olympian, but not the best ever. I wonder what other Olympic swimmers would say to that.

That's why I wanted to call up Dara Torres, on the phone with us now from Coral Springs, Florida. She has won 12 Olympic medals. She's also one of the greatest female swimmers in the world. We had her on a lot before and after the Olympics last time around.

So, I'm curious, Dara, what do you think about what Coe said?

DARA TORRES, OLYMPIAN (via phone): Well, I, obviously, beg to differ with him. I mean, here you have someone, Michael Phelps, I mean, how could he not be called the greatest Olympian ever.

You know, no one can say that they've won eight gold medals in one Olympics, been to four Olympic games. He surpassed the gymnast who had the record for all the Olympic medals. So, I don't know. I completely beg to differ with Coe.

PHILLIPS: All right, so, Phelps sat down with our Piers Morgan, I don't know if you saw the whole interview. But let's go ahead and just play a small clip of that because I want to get your input on the mindset of this swimmer from your perspective. Let's roll it.

TORRES: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL PHELPS, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: Unmotivated, didn't want to do anything. Didn't want to get out of bed. Didn't want to work out. Had no drive, had no goals.

I had goals, but I just didn't want to do anything about them. I'm just unmotivated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK. He was talking about the last time around. And, now, you're looking at him now and we're talking about this guy, who is, you know, the best in the world at this point. And he's talking about being unmotivated and didn't want to get out of bed and just lying on the couch.

What do you make of that? It just seems so, just the complete opposite of what you'd think an amazing athlete would ever experience mentally, I guess.

TORRES: Actually, it's not. Because here you have someone who, at his first Olympic games, was 15-years old in 2000 and I think at some point -- I think between the '04 and '08 games -- I don't think he even took a day off, not even at Christmas time.

So, you know, it's very hard for someone. I don't think people really know how tough that it is with all the training and stuff that you do continuously. You know, hours upon hours, days upon days that you're going to have times when you mentally are just exhausted and, you know, he experienced that. He had never had a break.

So, you know, it's really not uncommon for someone who has been in the sport for so long to sort of mentally need a break.

PHILLIPS: OK, so, then that sort of -- when you -- it's true. You mentioned he was 15, so, let me ask you this. When we look at, say, Missy Franklin, right? She's 17 and then this young gal out of China, she wins, 16, right?

What can these two learn from a Michael Phelps? I mean, there's definitely a lesson here about too much, too young, burn out, maybe pushing it too hard. You know, what would be your insights and your advice?

TORRES: Well, you know, I finished my first Olympics when I was 17 and I don't think that's too young. It's just matter of taking breaks. You know, swimming's a year-round sport, so you maybe get a week off, two weeks off for the entire year and it can wreak havoc on you.

And I think one reasons why I stayed in the sport so long, I took seven years of here, six years off there and I took lots of breaks. I'm not saying you need to take that extended amount of time off, but you definitely need to give your body a break and your mind a break to sort of regroup, if you want to stay in a sport long.

PHILLIPS: Final question, you know, there was a lot of, obviously, controversy that was, you know, surrounding Phelps. The whole issue about, you know, when the picture was revealed about him smoking pot and, you know, just talking about this phase he went through where he was unmotivated and now we see what he has achieved and where he is right now. For younger athletes who are looking at him and his past and his present, you know, what's the message there? What does that -- what does he represent to you? He's been very revealing about the bad stuff, you know?

TORRES: Well, I think that's great. And it just shows that he's human and makes him more, you know, vulnerable. But, you know, everyone goes through stuff and everyone makes mistakes in their lives and they learn from them. And he, obviously, made some mistakes and learned from them.

And, you know, I think he's a great role model for kids to look up to and to be able to set goals. You know, go for your dreams and work hard, sacrifice and dedicate to what you want in life.

PHILLIPS: No one's perfect, right?

TORRES: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Don't we all know. We wish we were at times. I'm so glad you called in. I knew you'd be the best one to talk about this morning. Dara, thank you so much.

TORRES: Thanks, Kyra. I appreciate it. Have a great day.

PHILLIPS: You, too.

And we wish Michael Phelps, of course, the very best of luck and we will keep watching him as he takes on or aiming for more gold there in London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There's not an inch of Ohio that the president does not love to visit. So, I -- it's a great state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: More than great, if you want to be president or remain president. Ohio is vital and that's why President Obama is headed there for the 25th time since he took the oath of office.

He's due to speak in Mansfield later this hour, Akron, Ohio, after that, and then you'll hear him live here on CNN.

In the meantime, strong indications that all this strong presidential attention and TV ad money is paying off. New polls from CBS, The New York Times and the Quinnipiac show that Mr. Obama running ahead of Mitt Romney in Ohio and two other major battlegrounds.

Likely voters in the Buckeye State give the president a six-point edge over the challenger. Now, in Florida, same story. In Pennsylvania, the margin swells to 11 points. CNN's Brianna Keilar joining me now from the White House. Ohio, a hugely important state, Brianna, what do you think he'll talk about today?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's going to be talking, according to campaign sources, about that push for what the campaign calls "the middle-class tax cut," extending Bush era tax cuts for the first $250,000 of earnings, Kyra, so, he'll certainly be talking about that.

But as you know, Ohio is hugely important. We're talking 18 electoral votes. In the last five presidential elections, Ohioans have gone for the presidential candidate that went on to be president and the campaign is hoping that President Obama's support for the auto bailout is really going to help push him over the top. One in eight jobs in Ohio tied to the auto industry, so, certainly, that action he took was very popular.

In addition to talking about the tax cuts, though, we're going to hear something new today, according to the campaign, and that is President Obama talking about a new report that's out from the Tax Policy Center. It's a middle-of-the-road tax group and this report says that Mitt Romney's tax plan would help wealthier Americans most. That, for instance, it says, if you're earning more than a million dollars per year, you'd get to keep about 4 percent more of your earnings under Romney's plan and then if you're earning less than $200,000, you'd see your take-home pay drop by a little over a 1 percent.'

But I have to tell you. The Romney campaign, Kyra, no surprise, is saying there is a whole other side to this. They say that when you look at the authors of this report, one of them, for instance, is a former Obama administration official. So, they're going, shortly, to be putting out some paper, drawing some questions up about whether this is really an unbiased report.

PHILLIPS: All right, you mentioned Romney. Let's talk about his trip overseas and what many are saying were a number of awkward moments, shall we say? Gaffes. Do you think President Obama is going to mention that?

KEILAR: You know, he is -- we're told he's not going to mention that, but as you saw yesterday, his campaign was more than happy to talk about this. They actually had a conference call with reporters where they were drawing comparisons between his trip, which was a very extravagant trip back in 2008. Remember, he went to eight countries in about eight days. Mitt Romney went to three.

And his trip went pretty well, I think you could say and it was really important at the time that it did because one of the things that he was running on was winding down the war in Iraq, so foreign policy, especially for a then-junior senator who didn't have a lot of foreign policy experience, it was very much a test for him.

And I will tell you, the Obama campaign was just sort of reveling in some of those gaffes of Mitt Romney's and they talked a lot about it yesterday and a lot of the president's surrogates did, too.

PHILLIPS: Yeah, they sure did. Brianna, OK, thanks.

And don't forget the president is due to speak in Mansfield, Central Park, 11:40 Eastern time. We will bring you those comments, live.

All right, we mentioned Mitt Romney. He's ramping up now for a swing-state blitz, stirring speculation about who the Republican presidential candidate will actually choose for a running mate.

Beginning August 10th, he's going to go on a high-profile, four- day bus tour through Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio and a Romney campaign official says that the theme of that tour will be Romney's vision for the economy.

But some say hitting the big markets and big states ahead of the convention is a sign that he's getting closer to picking a right-hand person.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, ObamaCare, love it or hate it, but starting today, new health care benefits kick in, requiring coverage of preventative services and screenings largely affecting women.

It's another facet of the Obama administration's controversial healthcare law and our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta here to talk to us about these new health care benefits. Where do you want to begin?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, a lot of what we've been talking about with regard to ObamaCare comes in phased-in programs. Most of it's going to be implemented by 2014, but some things have already taken effect, as you know, for example, children staying on their parents' plan until age 26.

Today, something else unfolds, so, and this has to do specifically with preventive services for women. Now, there have been about 14 preventive service programs that have already gone into effect. Eight more are being added today. I will give you an example of a few of them -- routine, preventive care check-ups, for example. And when we talk about these, remember, there are no deductibles and there are no co-pays. Those were thought to be real obstacles to people actually getting this done.

Sexually transmitted infections screening, also part of this, again, completely free for the reasons I just mentioned. Contraception and contraceptive counseling, those are some of the other ones. Mammograms, starting at age 40, because, remember, that was a point of controversy, whether they should start at age 40 or 50.

But this is a lot of -- you know, they said it was going to roll out over time and this is an example, specifically addressing women. August, now, of this year, you know, two years prior.

PHILLIPS: So, will all insured women have access to the new services?

GUPTA: Well, it's a very important question. It's interesting because we dug into this and the best number that they're sort of providing is that 47 million women will have access to this, not everybody, in part, because there are insurance programs that are sort of grandfathered in. New insurance programs that started since March of 2010, they have to do this.

PHILLIPS: How do you find out how your insurance company is ...

GUPTA: You basically have to call them to find out.

PHILLIPS: OK and just say, are you grandfathered in or not?

GUPTA: That's right. And what they also tell us is by the year 2014, which is when the plan is fully in effect, 90 percent of insurance companies will now have to abide by these insurance regulation. They will no longer be grandfathered in.

But even as things stand now, 47 million women will now be eligible for these free preventive services.

PHILLIPS: And, of course, one of the most controversial issues has been the contraception coverage.

GUPTA: And it was this question basically saying whether or not you have a religious affiliation as a hospital, as an insurance provider, you would have to provide contraceptive counseling and contraceptives.

And it was a firestorm and we talked to a lot of people about this issue. You saw some of the medications that were going to be covered. The president sort of backed down from that a bit and offered a compromise where he says that religiously-affiliated universities and hospitals will not be forced to do this, offer this counseling or contraception to their employees, but they had to be able to get it from a third party.

So, even if they couldn't get it from a religiously-affiliated hospital, those people still had to have access in different ways. So, it was a bit of a compromise. It didn't satisfy all parties here, but that was probably the most controversial part of this important chunk of the bill.

PHILLIPS: So, you know, just as a doctor, what is it you're paying attention to or something that you find interesting or something that's going to impact you?

GUPTA: The trend is towards putting more and more of these resources toward prevention. I mean, prevention was not something that was ...

PHILLIPS: You're all about prevention, too, from what you see.

GUPTA: Right and I think, even as a neurosurgeon, someone who is a sub-specialist, I think the thinking is, and most doctors agree with this, it would be better that people never get sick in the first place.

PHILLIPS: Sure.

GUPTA: So, you know, if you can do that and you get a healthier America as a result, could you then achieve the other things we're talking about, you know, less chronic disease, lower cost, all the things that you think about?

Again, it's a long road to get there and we've also got to make sure that people actually use the services. You have a lot of great services right now, a lot of people do who are very well insured, but they don't always use those services.

PHILLIPS: I also didn't know really what our company offered until recently. We were talking in the newsroom and someone talked about the little medical clinic that we have here in our building now. I had no idea.

GUPTA: Yeah. And a lot of big corporations are starting wellness centers and things like that for that very reason because they want to try to keep, first of all, their employees at the workplace and, second of all, try and keep them healthy.

So, I think that's the trend that you're seeing and I think it's a good trend. The question I think a lot of people are going to ask, if you look back 10 years from now, did people use the services that were now provided and, as a result, did we become healthier and ward off more disease? Maybe you and I can talk about that in about 10 years.

PHILLIPS: Stay tuned.

GUPTA: All right.

PHILLIPS: Hopefully, we'll still be around.

GUPTA: That's right.

PHILLIPS: Thank, Sanjay.

And don't forget to catch "Sanjay Gupta MD," this weekend, Saturday 4:30 p.m. Eastern, Sunday 7:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's closed on Sunday and opposes gay marriage and now the fast food chain is stirring up controversy over same-sex marriage and it's also deciding to have its own day.

That's right. Today is Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day and it was these comments from the company's president that started it all.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DAN CATHY, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, CHICK-FIL-A: I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, you know, we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So, today, thousands of supporters are expected to eat at Chick-Fil-A restaurants in support of Dan Cathy and his stance against same-sex marriage.

CNN's George Howell, joining us from a Chick-Fil-A in Atlanta, actually the suburb of Smyrna, my old stomping grounds out there. Hey, George, so, tell me what's happening this morning.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, close to lunchtime here on the East Coast. We're expecting to see a lot of people come together here at many Chick-Fil-As, at this Chick-Fil-A, some who will be supporting this Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day.

Now, for the company itself, it says that it does not endorse Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day. Today is business as usual. In fact, we know that the company will not endorse other events that could be planned from this situation that's resulted from the CEO's statements.

But you're finding people in different regions, here in the South, for instance, Kyra, people who support Chick-Fil-A. You find more support, but in areas where the company has expanded, you find less. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY JAEB, CHICK-FIL-A SUPPORTER: Supporting Mr. Cathy and his views, his biblical views. And it's not necessarily his views, it's God's views.

ERIC STORHOLM, CHICK-FIL-A SUPPORTER: Well, what gain a man the world to lose his soul? What gain a few customers just for you to throw away your principles? Who cares about money? Money's not real.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe wherever he comes from that's good business, but in New York, it's terrible. It's terrible policy and terrible business. He should just shut it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So, Kyra, here in the Bible Belt, the South, where this company was founded, you find more support. At NYU, you find less, in these regions where the company expanded. That's what we're seeing as we talk to people.

PHILLIPS: So, what do you think about Chic-Fil-A just becoming the latest political symbol in this same-sex marriage battle?

HOWELL: Well, Kyra, you're finding that. Ed Helms, for instance, from "The Office" made a tweet jokingly about this issue, and also indicated that the company would lose a customer. And you're also finding the mayor of Chicago, the mayor of Boston making remarks against Chic-Fil-A and against the stance. But here in Atlanta, and throughout the south, in many places, you are finding these supporters and people coming together to support Chic-Fil-A. Former and presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, created a Facebook page asking people to come together to support Chic-Fil-A. So far, more than 500,000 people, Kyra, have signed onto that.

PHILLIPS: As expected, there will be a counter-protest. And that's going to take -- I guess take -- it will happen on Friday. A kiss-in, I understand.

HOWELL: I alluded to that also. And the company says it will not endorse that either. The company taking a very neutral stance on all of this, backing down a bit after those first comments that came out from its leadership. But you are finding a lot of people coming together to support Chic-Fil-A Appreciation Day.

PHILLIPS: George Howell, thanks so much. It'll be interesting to see how the restaurant will handle the kiss-in on Friday. We'll be watching this for sure.

It happened again. An Air Canada passenger has found a sewing needle in an in-flight sandwich. The caterer has not been named yet. But just two weeks ago, needles turned up in six sandwiches on Delta flights to the U.S. The Dutch caterer in that incident, Gategourmet, says while it caters for Air Canada, it doesn't provide food on that particular flight path.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're just over three months out from the election and time to start planning some debates, picking cities, setting formats, choosing moderators. And that brings me to a question, when was the last presidential debate moderated by a woman? Think real quickly now, because I'm about to tell you and you may be surprised. It was 1992. Carol Simpson presided over a three-way face-off among President Bush 41 and challengers Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL SIMPSON, PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE MODERATOR: Mr. Perot, everybody thought you won the first debate because you were plain speaking and you made it sound, oh, so simple. We'll just do it. What makes you think that you're going to be able to get the Democrats and Republicans together any better --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Go Carol. Well, if you think it's high time for another woman moderator, I know three gals from New Jersey who agree with you. Elena Tsemberis, Sammi Siegel and Emma Axelrod learned about presidential debates in their high school civics class and promptly launched a petition for a female moderator in 2012.

Elena, Sammi and Emma join me now from New York.

Ladies, good to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: It's a pleasure.

Emma, how many folks have signed on to your cause so far?

EMMA AXELROD, LAUNCHES PETITION: With the two petitions combined, we have over 170,000 signatures.

PHILLIPS: Wow. I want to ask -- OK, so 170,000. I'm curious, have you heard anything from the Commission on Presidential Debates yet?

Elena?

ELENA TSEMBERIS, LAUNCHES PETITION: Not directly. We have been trying to contact Janet Brown since Friday. They knew we were coming and she never said anything to us directly. But she told CBS that she wasn't sure if she was meeting with the girls and it turned out that she wasn't going to meet with us directly.

PHILLIPS: Oh, she told CBS.

Emma, you must have some connections there, wink, wink.

(LAUGHTER)

For full disclosure, Emma's dad is a fantastic journalist for CBS.

So, my guess is they'll probably get the scoop if you ladies work this out and actually get a female moderator. Put you on the spot there, Emma.

Sammi, let me ask you -- I'll ask all three of you this question. Why, you know, I guess, do you think a female in 2012 when we actually saw Hillary Clinton make such strides within the past five years and even her position now, Sammi, what do you think? Would a woman be better at this ma than a man at this time?

SAMMI SIEGEL, LAUNCHED PETITION: I don't think a woman would be better than a man or a man would be better than a woman. I mean, there is so many well qualified women like Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and a few names thrown out on the comments of our petition, and really time for them to start looking for women.

PHILLIPS: So, Emma, what could a female moderator offer that a man couldn't?

AXELROD: Equal representation, it has been all men for the past 20 years. That's four years longer than any of us have been alive. We have never been able to see it on that stage. Sending a message about gender roles in our country and what they think women are capable of.

PHILLIPS: Sammi has Obama or Romney responded to you gals yet given any input?

SIEGEL: We have not received any response from them yet but over 50,000 signatures on our petition, but we should be in contact with them soon.

PHILLIPS: Elena, what would be -- I know you guys don't want to make a pick, but you have mentioned a lot of fabulous female journalists who could be the moderator. Matter of fact, six great choices right up there on the screen. What would be your first question? What would you want to hear from a female moderator right out of the box?

TSEMBERIS: I would definitely love to hear her address some issues that pertain to women. Something that pertains to reproductive rights and family planning and care after school and just issues that are commonly overlooked in the presidential debates when there is a male moderating.

PHILLIPS: Emma, obviously the three of you are really smart, motivated and amazing young ladies. Wow, I look at you and I hope my daughter winds up on CNN at some point talking about something like this. Is this sort of the sense that you get from the younger generation of women now that they want to see more women in the political process, not only moderating debates, but actually holding a high-profile office?

AXELROD: I definitely think it's something my generation is concerned about we're not seeing many women. Get more of us thinking about that field for us and for our female friends and sisters, it could only be a positive thing.

PHILLIPS: Here's what I want to know from all of three of you. Are you definitely going to get an "A" in your civics class?

(LAUGHTER)

An "A"-plus, plus, plus, right?

(LAUGHTER)

All right, well, Sammi, Elena and Emma, you guy are remarkable young ladies. We'll follow what happens to your petition and good luck.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: You bet. My pleasure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A reminder. The president is expected to speak any minute now. This is a live picture from Mansfield, Ohio. He is expected, of course, to campaign in the state. A crucial battleground state and he'll talk about his economic plan. We will bring you his comments live as soon as he steps up to the mic. And that may be right now. Perfect timing. Here we go. The president of the United States making his way out to the podium right now in Mansfield, Ohio.

You know what, I'll tell you what, he is going to work his way up to the podium. Do you want to hold on this live picture? Let's do that because it will take him a while to get up to the mic?

While we're waiting for the president to do that, let's talk about swimmer Rebecca Soni. She won gold and silver medals in Beijing just four years ago, but her rise to the top has not been easy. Rebecca was born with a heart condition that made rigorous training impossible for years.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, had a chance to tell us her story in today's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Great swim by Rebecca --

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These days Rebecca Soni is used to getting to the wall first. Being an Olympic swimmer was never part of the plan.

REBECCA SONI, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: I just never crossed my mind. When we grew up, my family, we didn't watch a lot of sports. My parents were from Europe and we didn't understand the American sports football, baseball and they just didn't watch very much TV in general. I never had those people to look up to and be like, oh, I want to be like them.

GUPTA: As she began to excel, she refocused her goals. But an unexpected obstacle got in her way.

SONI: I was diagnosed with SVT. It was basically a rapid heart rate, but only at certain times, usually exercise induced and all of a sudden my heart rate would go up to the highest I counted was 400 beats per minute. It only lasts about five minutes and kind of loose feeling in my arm as and legs. I just kind of climb out of the pool.

GUPTA: Her heart condition required her to take it easy in practice, something Soni doesn't like to do.

SONI: It would always happen at the hardest part of practice, the most important part.

GUPTA: Six years as the episodes became more frequent, she decided to have an operation to remove abnormal tissue from her heart. Once she was healthy, again, she dove back into training and qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where she won gold and two silver medals.

SONI: I definitely feel like I have the meet of my life in 2008. The race of my life in the 200 breaststroke. To win a gold medal and break a world record all in one race was kind of that ultimate moment of sport.

GUPTA: Even so, Soni wasn't ready to hang up her suit.

SONI: I could have probably walked away and been happy, but I still felt like I had a little bit more to give to the sport. I'm just excited to race.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Let's take you back live to Mansfield, Ohio. The president now stepped up to the mic. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I know how to swim. They just swim much better than I do. These gymnastic folks, I don't understand how they do what they do.

(LAUGHTER)

So I told these young ladies, as I was congratulating them, how do you not bust your head --

(LAUGHTER)

-- every time you're on that little balance beam? I couldn't walk across that balance beam. So, anyway, we could not be prouder of them. And there are a whole bunch of Ohioans who are representing our country in the Olympics and the Paralympics. Abby Johnson from Upper Arlington already won a silver medal in diving.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We'll be rooting for Army Specialist Justin Lester from Akron. He will be wrestling for America next week.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So, you know, the wonderful thing about the Olympics is it reminds us for all our differences. When it comes down to our country, we're Americans first.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And we could not be prouder of them and everything else they're doing on our behalf.

Now, unless you've been hiding from your television, you may be aware there's a pretty intense campaign going on right now.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: And the reason that this is an intense campaign is because the choice that we faced in November could not be bigger. This is a stark choice. It's a choice not just between two candidates or two parties, but more than any election in recent memory, this is a choice between two fundamentally different visions for America, two fundamentally different paths that we should, that we could be going down. I appreciate that.

(LAUGHTER)

Now, the direction that we choose, the direction you choose when you walked into this voting booth in November is going to have a direct impact on your lives, but also on your children's lives and your grandchildren's lives.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And four years ago, we came together as Democrats, but also Independents and some Republicans to restore the basic bargain that built the greatest middle class and the most prosperous country the world has ever known.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And it's a bargain that I've lived in my life, and so many of you have experienced. It's the basic idea that says, here in this country, if you work hard, that work should be rewarded. You have experienced -- it's the basic idea that says, here in this country, if you work hard, that work should be rewarded. If you act responsibly, you should get ahead.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: And it is a deal that says that if we put in enough effort we should find a job that pays the bills, and we should be able to afford a home we call our own. And we should have health care that we count on if we get sick.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: We should be able to retire with dignity and respect.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: And most of all, we should be able to give our children the kind of education that allows them to dream even bigger and do even better than we ever imagined.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: That is what we believe.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: It's a simple American promise. It is at the core of the American dream.

Now, we knew that restoring it would not be easy and we knew it would take more than one term or even more than one president. And that was before the middle-class was hammered by the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. A crisis that robbed too many of our friends and neighbors of their home, their jobs, their savings, and pushed the American dream further out of reach for too many people. But you know what? There is one thing that the crisis did not change. It did not change who we are. It did not change the American character. It did not change what made us great. It hasn't changed why we came together to do what we did in 2008. It has made the mission more urgent.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Our first order of business is to recover all of the jobs and wealth that was lost in the crisis.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: We have made strides these last three-and-a-half years to get it done. But, beyond that, we are here to reclaim that financial security that has been slipping away for more than a decade.

The decade before I came into office, your incomes and wages generally weren't going up. Jobs were moving overseas. Auto industry had been getting hammered. so our job is not just to put people back to work, but it is also to build an economy where, over the long haul, that work pays off, so that no matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from here in America, you can make it if you try.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That's what this campaign is about, Ohio. That is why I'm running for a second term for president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHANTING)

OBAMA: Now, Mansfield, there are no quick fixes or easy solutions to the challenges we face. But there is no doubt in my mind that we are the capacity to meet them. Think about everything that we have going for us here in America. We've got the best workers.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: We have got the best entrepreneurs.

(SHOUTING)

OBAMA: We have the best scientists. We have the best researchers, and we have the best colleges, best universities. We have a Buckeye guy right here.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We are a young nation with great diversity of talent and ingenuity. And people come here and want to come here from every corner of globe. No matter what the nay-sayers tell us, no matter how dark other side tries to make it look, there is not another country on earth that wouldn't gladly trade places with the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

PHILLIPS: If you want to continue watching the president's speech, he is live there in Mansfield, Ohio. Go to CNN.com/live.

And we will be back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, folks, planning to drive to their vacation destination, listen up, the gas prices are going up. The first monthly gain since March with the averages at $3.50 nationally going into today, and it is the biggest July jump since 2000 -- right, Alison Kosik?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. You know why the gas prices are going up? Blame it on corn. Corn. It is a key ingredient in ethanol, and ethanol is a key ingredient in gas that makes up 10 percent of the fuel that you put in your car, and it is used everywhere. It is used in rural areas, and they use an ethanol blend there since it is a local resource, and urban areas use it because it is cleaner. The drought in the middle of the country is hitting our supply of corn making the prices go higher. Corn is part of the issue, and then you have crude oil. Crude oil is also a big ingredient in the fuel. And the price of oil went up in July, too, because of the worries of the supply disruptions in the Mideast, and along with the demand, and it pulled the gas prices right up with it.

PHILLIPS: Thank you. Our Christine Romans is out there in the Midwest tracking that down for us. Thank you, Alison. You are playing double duty for us.

KOSIK: The corn correspondent.

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

Talking about food and talking gas and talking about the livestock.

Alison, thank you so much.

Thanks for watching, everyone. You can continue the conversation at Twitter, @kyraCNN, or on Facebook.

NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL starts right now.