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Mitt Romney vs. Harry Reid; U.N. at Standstill on Syria

Aired August 03, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Out of town, Congress, they have adjourned for the summer, but several pieces of key legislation were left unresolved. One of the most important, a relief package for farmers and ranchers suffering through the most widespread drought since the 1930s.

Dana Bash joining me now from Capitol Hill. So Dana, tell us what did get done and what is left on the table for weeks?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll answer that question, but first I want to show you place that you're familiar with, Brianna. This is the Russell Rotunda.

The reason we wanted to show you the wide view is because, as you know, this is usually bustling with reporters, with senators, with people because this is sort of a place to be when Congress is in town. Now you can hear a pin drop and that is because Congress is gone until September. To answer your question, what did they leave behind, a lot unfinished.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): Behold a familiar ritual of the modern republic, the congressional bolt for the exit, five weeks home for summer sun and campaign craziness. Instead of boasting about accomplishments, bipartisan hand-wringing.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: I am disappointed, perplexed and somewhat confused.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: There's so much unfinished business.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The American people are probably more polarized than any time since I have been here. And as a result we see that polarization reflected here in the halls of Congress.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: This is a moment of disappointment that I really cannot conceal.

BASH: Joe Lieberman was talking there about a classic example of congressional gridlock, cyber-security, legislation national security experts call critical to protecting America from espionage and cyber- attacks, stuck in the Senate because of partisan differences. But that's just one stalled bill on a countless list of others from food stamps and drought relief to reform for the cash-strapped Post Office, legislation left on the table that really affects people's jobs and lives.

To be fair, Congress did get some important things done so far this year, like extending federal aid for student loans and sanctioning Iran. But it's not just our imagination. It has been far less productive than in the past. Take a look at this.

So far, this 112th Congress has enacted 151 laws. That's fewer than half the 385 laws enacted in the last Congress and a lot fewer than the 460 laws enacted before that. A key reason this Congress is less productive, divided government. More laws passed in the last decade when one party controlled all of Congress.

Of course, more laws don't necessarily mean better government. Even so, by historical standards, this Congress is slow to move legislation, even issues both parties want to tackle. They can't find compromise.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: There certainly is plenty blame to go around.

BASH: She was talking about cyber-security, but it could also be said about most of Congress' large stack of unfinished business. One retiring Republican says he still has hope in a colorful, if not alarming, way.

REP. STEVEN LATOURETTE (R), OHIO: It's a little bit like an alcoholic in my mind, that I think the place has to hit bottom before they realize they have got a problem and begin to fix it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And, Bri, Congress will have a lot to fix in the fall. Really some of the biggest issues facing this country, not the least of which huge issue, and that is whether or how to extend those Bush era tax cuts, which expire at the end of the year.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And of course, Dana, when they back in the fall, it's so much more politically charged. It's even closer to the election. What do you think are the chances this gets any better?

BASH: Between now and November, slim to none.

In fact, unfortunately, I can probably predict it could get worse in terms of the polarization here. The big question will be what happens after November in the so-called lame-duck session which will be long and very important. That's going to depend on what happens in November. That's really going to decide what happens with some of these big issues, especially the one I mentioned, the Bush era tax cuts.

KEILAR: And you will be so busy following the election either way. Dana Bash from the Hill, thanks for that. BASH: Thanks, Bri.

KEILAR: And it's Mitt Romney vs. Harry Reid in yet another tax income returns debate. In a Huffington Post interview published Tuesday, the Senate majority leader said that an unnamed investor at Romney's former private equity firm, Bain Capital, told him in a phone conversation that Romney had not paid taxes for a decade.

CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser joining me now from Washington.

Paul, how is Mitt Romney firing back at those allegations, and how can he do this short of releasing his tax returns? I guess that's the point.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, which he says he won't do. He won't release any prior to 2010. He is firing back very forcefully, yesterday in a radio interview and again today at a news conference he held in Nevada after a campaign event.

Brianna, as you mentioned, this started earlier in the week when the Senate majority leader, the top Senate Democrat, basically accused Mitt Romney of not paying his taxes in prior years. And again he went on the Senate floor yesterday to say the same thing. Take a listen to Harry Reid yesterday on the Senate floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID: The word is out that he hasn't been any taxes for 10 years. Let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Now, Harry Reid says it's a very credible source, but he won't say more than that. He won't name that source.

Mitt Romney firing back today. As I mentioned, he was in Las Vegas, Nevada, for a campaign event. He held a media availability after that. He was asked about Harry Reid. He said, Harry Reid, show your cards. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Harry Reid really has to put up or shut up. All right?

So, Harry, who are your sources? Let's have Harry explain who that is. I have paid taxes every year, and a lot of taxes, a lot of taxes. So, Harry is simply wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: But, Brianna, Mitt Romney has released his 2010 tax returns. He's released an estimate for 2011. He says he will release the whole return when it's completed. He got an extension.

But he refuses to release any more than that. He says he's doing what he needs to do. But Democrats have been pushing back against Mitt Romney. We have been talking about this for quite some time, Brianna, right? Democrats have been pushing back about Mitt Romney, saying what are you hiding? Show all your other tax returns.

He says won't do it because he's doing what he needs to do. And if he releases more returns, he says it will just give the Democrats more to search through and more to attack him on.

KEILAR: Obviously, there's this element of the Obama campaign wanting to show that Mitt Romney is out of touch. At the very least his tax returns show just really how wealthy he is and fact that a lot of wealthy Americans sort of find ways to pay a lower tax rate.

But I'm wondering, how do the American people feel about this issue? Is it resonating or are they just kind of like, I have heard way too much of this?

STEINHAUSER: Well, there's a partisan divide on this. And here's a good way to illustrate it. Take a look at this from the Pew Research Center. This poll was conducted, national poll, just a few weeks ago.

And you can see right here all Americans, overall, all Americans, 36 percent said they wanted to hear more about Mitt Romney's tax returns. But when you break it down, over half Democrats say they feel that way, only 18 percent of Republicans. Basically for Republicans this is issue is not resonating. They are sticking with Mitt Romney. Among Democrats, they feel this is an issue that could help them.

KEILAR: I'm sure they definitely do. Paul Steinhauser, thank you so much for that.

Syria, the violence, well, it doesn't stop. And now members of the United Nations are blaming each other for not stepping in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Let's turn now to Syria.

Opposition forces put the death toll at more than 100 in violence across the country today, nearly 70 in Hama alone, this as the United Nations approves another resolution, this one stressing -- quote -- "grave concern over the deteriorating conflict in Syria."

CNN's Jim Clancy joining me now.

So, Jim, Kofi Annan resigns yesterday as the special envoy because of the inertia at the U.N. And now there is this resolution. What does it do? Does it really do anything and is the U.N. mission totally just in jeopardy in Syria?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a word, it does nothing.

And I only use that word, nothing, because there isn't another word in the English language that means anything less. And it does that, nothing at all. And, in fact, you talk about the mission. It would appear by the middle of August, we may be losing that whole observer force. Its mandate may not be renewed. There's a lack of cohesion anywhere.

You have got one set of countries who don't want to see anything close to regime change. Even this resolution was watered down. In order to get it to pass, to have some kind of at least a meaningless moral statement, they had to water it down. They had to withdraw wording that would have called for the resignation of Bashar al-Assad, for the regime to give it up.

What we have here is complete collapse of diplomacy. People are looking on. They are very frustrated. They want to do something. They put this up. It will have had -- it will absolutely no effect on what's happening on the ground.

And what's happening on the ground can be pretty frightening today.

KEILAR: So what are the politics and why did they even pursue this if it really means nothing?

CLANCY: Well, the Saudis wanted to pursue it because they wanted to put some pressure on. But I don't think that it accomplished that in any way, shape or form.

It sends a clear message to the regime that it can go ahead and do what it needs to do, what it thinks it needs to do with impunity right now, because no one is going to intervene. We have 75 people that are said to have been killed today. We have 27 are thought to be been killed in and around Damascus, I believe 13 in Aleppo.

We had six in Homs who were killed. This is going on. The clock is ticking on Aleppo. We're really looking to see the Syrians hit Aleppo and hit Aleppo hard with full force. This is a huge prize. This is the biggest, most populous city in the country.

KEILAR: Now, Kofi Annan has gone. Has someone been named to replace him? Is this discussion of this? And it sounds like does it even really matter?

CLANCY: There's discussion of it certainly, but raise your hands, all of you who want to be put out front and center in the midst of this with no backing, no unified backing with from the Security Council, with the inability of the U.N. General Assembly to do something.

And right from the start, we see right now the regime isn't going to comply with any of the points.

KEILAR: It's a neutered position. Who wants to be put in that position?

CLANCY: Exactly. What's the point of all of this?

We have a radicalization going on, al Qaeda forces known to be on the ground, very small numbers. People shouldn't get upset about this at all. But it's a radicalization going on, a militarization that is going on. And what we have here is a proxy war between Russia and Iran supporting Syria and the West, including the United States, along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other states, Turkey, trying to support the opposition in here.

KEILAR: And it sounds like that's the next step.

CLANCY: It's that proxy war and the world is going to have to look on. The people inside Syria, we have got to say, are desperate at this hour. Unfortunately, I think they have given up hope of getting any of that assistance from the United Nations.

KEILAR: Jim Clancy, always so good at breaking this down, thank you so much for that.

CLANCY: All right, Brianna.

And let's take a turn now, going to the Olympics with a former Olympian. Our Fredricka Whitfield, our very own Fred, she has this privilege, and she shares her insights next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: He can't stack up in medal count to Michael Phelps, true, but U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte is the man that all the ladies are swooning over. Let's be honest, right? The guy is H-O-T, to say the least.

So, Lochte, we have got him talking with CNN's Piers Morgan about the gold, the grill, and what it's like to suddenly be the world's most eligible bachelor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": I can take you to a desert island. It would be perfect because you could swim all day long. Desert island and you choose one famous woman to spend the rest of your life with, who would you take right now?

RYAN LOCHTE, AMERICAN OLYMPIC SWIMMER: Right now, Blake Lively.

MORGAN: Would you really?

LOCHTE: Yes. She's gorgeous.

MORGAN: Have you met her?

LOCHTE: No, never met her.

MORGAN: If she's watching this -- and she probably is -- what would you say to her?

LOCHTE: I would be like, hi.

(LAUGHTER)

LOCHTE: I would be like, do you want to go to an island with me?

MORGAN: Well, she's dating Ryan Reynolds, who I think is overrated. He's not that good-looking.

You have got to have a shot.

LOCHTE: I think I do.

MORGAN: He can't do a front crawl like you. He can't even do a backstroke like you.

LOCHTE: No. So I got him on that.

MORGAN: I think you have got a -- Blake Lively and you, so, it's a perfect match.

LOCHTE: It is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He does need to work on his lines a little bit, though, I think.

They're a piece of history, men and women who will be forever known as Olympians.

And our own Fredricka Whitfield's father, great guy, Mal Whitfield, is a gold medal-winning track star. It's the ultimate behind-the-scenes view of the Olympics from an Olympian's perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's it's like traveling to London with the man known as Marvelous Mal 64 years after he won two gold and a bronze here in the 800-meter, 4x400 relay and 400-meter races?

See for yourself.

Doors open for Olympians like dad, Mal Whitfield. Invitations pour in, lots of autographs, pictures and hands to shake. Also

(on camera): And especially poignant is meeting up with other fellow '48 Olympians from that historic Games following World War II and Olympians of other Summer Games that followed.

HERB DOUGLAS, 1948 OLYMPIAN: We won three medals, two gold and one bronze.

WHITFIELD: Ninety-year-old bronze long jumper Herb Douglas.

DOUGLAS: But it was gracious and it a marvelous beginning. And here we are 64 years later.

WHITFIELD: Standout triple-jumper Ira Davis from the 1956, '60, and '64 Games.

IRA DAVIS, OLYMPIAN: These two gentlemen, Mal Whitfield and Herb Douglas, were icons in our world when I was coming up. I'm a little bit younger than they are. I'm only 75. But I looked up to them. They were special in my life. And to share this moment with them, you can't imagine how I feel.

WHITFIELD: And 1988 Olympic race walker Gary Morgan.

GARY MORGAN, OLYMPIAN: It's always great to reconnect with your fellow Olympians, to see what they have done and where we have all kind of went, what we're still doing.

WHITFIELD: At 87, dad is in a wheelchair. His legs took a real beating from a career of hard training and competing using less-than- sophisticated equipment by today's measure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I get a hug?

WHITFIELD: His words are few in his frail state. Instead, his eyes and smile say everything.

My brother Lonnie (ph) and I feel privileged to witness firsthand these moments. Dad told us he feels right at home here, six decades after setting an Olympic record at Wembley Stadium. Together again in their golden years, their memories far from tarnished, their Olympic flame not to be extinguished.

Fredricka, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: I have met Mal Whitfield. He's amazing and still a trooper all these years later. Very exciting for him to be back there in London.

Now, nearly four years without a job, you can imagine one California man who dealt with this hit rock-bottom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had something to eat. Didn't have money for that. I look under my car seat and I had $1.65.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How that small amount of money actually changed his life -- we have got an amazing job turnaround next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The new jobs report out today shows improvements, modest ones and setbacks. Employers added more jobs than expected, more than 160,000 new jobs, but the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose slightly to 8.3 percent, as people lost jobs or they got discouraged and dropped out of the job market.

Of course, the jobs report got a quick political reaction. Here is President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we should do right now is give middle-class families and small business owners a guarantee that their taxes will not go up next year. When families have the security of knowing that their taxes won't go up, they're more likely to spend and more likely to grow the economy.

When small business owners have certainty on taxes and can plan ahead, they're more likely to hire and create new jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Meanwhile, Republican candidate Mitt Romney took a jab at President Obama's track record on job creation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: And, of course, today, we just got a new number from the unemployment report, and it's another hammer blow to the struggling middle-class families of America, because the president has not had policies that put American families back to work. I do.

I'll put them in place and get America working again.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Meanwhile, a California man got emotional on the first day of his new job. He's been looking for work for, yes, nearly four years. He used to wear fancy suit to the office every day.

CNN's Kyung Lah has more on his struggle to survive and his victory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The start of the day and the new full time job for Ernie Casillas. These first steps on the Los Angeles Airport tarmac have been nearly four years in the making.

(on camera): How long were you employed?

ERNIE CASILLAS, UNEMPLOYED FOR FOUR YEARS: I'm going on four years November 6.

LAH: Four years?

CASILLAS: Yes.

LAH: Barack Obama started his new job as president, as short time after Casillas lost his job making big bucks as a mortgage broker.

CNN met him as the subprime mortgage crisis wrecked havoc on the economy and his own career.

CASILLAS: Driving expensive cars, having expensive suit. Now, I'm just like everybody out of work. The humble suit. LAH: He not only lost his job, but his home and his marriage. He moved in with his mother.

Casillas went to job fairs and networks, sending out hundreds of resumes. He started his own computer consulting company, but it never took off.

Increasingly desperate, he put this ad on Craigslist stating bluntly, "I need a job."

Last year, still unemployed, he hit downtown Los Angeles carrying a sign.

CASILLAS: I'm so tired of collecting unemployment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just think if there's a lot of us who are working here, we know we're not that far away.

CASILLAS: Yes.

LAH: Last week, he was at rock bottom.

CASILLAS: I have something to eat, didn't have much for gas. I looked on my car seat and I had $1. 65.

That paid for the gas that took him to meet Anna Rosales and she gave him a job as a supervisor for her cleaning company newly contracted at LAX.

ANNA ROSALES, CEO, AVOR, INC.: He deserves it. Everyone deserves to work. Have you ever been unemployed? Have you ever been able to pay a bill? There's a whole of Ernies out there.

LAH: As the next presidential election looms, with the economy as the defining issue, Casillas says political intentions may surprise you.

(on camera): Who are you going to vote for?

CASILLAS: Obama.

LAH: Why not vote for Mitt Romney?

CASILLAS: He -- I don't that he's with the people. He's a person that we for.

LAH: Casillas says Obama was distasteful and Romney deserves more time. He says his long jobless ordeal showed him there's no easy path out of unemployment and no quick fix for this country's sluggish economy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: As the economy stumbles and more people are also concerned about managing their debt, keeping an eye on your credit report, that is becoming very important, as we see in today's "Help Desk."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Here on the Help Desk today, we're helping you clear up your credit report.

And with me now, Liz Miller and Doug Flynn.

Liz, this question is for you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do I clear up my credit report when debt keeps getting purchased from company to company?

LIZ MILLER, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: That certainly can be frustrating.

Your first call should be the original owner of the debt. And they will usually refer you to the current owner. And that's who you have to negotiate it with. And then I recommend signing up for one of those online credit reporting systems for a yearlong membership and just regularly look at it.

The original company will be notified and your credit will eventually be updated on that report.

HARLOW: Doug, do you agree with that? And anything else to add?

DOUG FLYNN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: Absolutely. I find that things can pop back on it after they fall off. So, staying on top of it even after you think it's gone is something really important to do.

HARLOW: Yes, what kind of time frame? Is a year enough?

FLYNN: I think it's -- well, with your credit, something as important as your credit, something you want to keep at yearly, especially if you are looking to buy a new home or an automobile or something that is going to require credit.

But you do want to stay on top of it, I think, even after you think something is off.

HARLOW: OK. All right.

If you have an issue you want our experts to tackle, upload a 30- second video with your Help Desk question to iReport.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: A man gunned down outside his son's day care center and his wife's boss convicted. Now, the courts go after the victim's widow, saying it was a plot to get his insurance money. Accusations of sex, lies and murder, coming up in "On the Case."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The widow of a man gunned down outside a daycare center is now charged in connection with his death. Andrea Sneiderman was taken into custody yesterday. Prosecutors say that she conspired with her lover and her former boss to have her husband killed so they could continue their affair and get about $3 million in the husband's life insurance money.

Attorney Seema Iyer with us now from New York. So, Seema, prosecutors say that Sneiderman really tripped up, that she made mistakes when she testified against her ex-boss. So, how did her testimony hurt her own case?

SEEMA IYER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Brianna, I called this back in February during Neuman's trial on this network. I called it. I knew this was going to happen to her.

She set herself up by testifying. Now, all those statements, Brianna, they're going to be used in her trial against her and probably were the basis for the indictment with respect to murder charges, perjury. The list goes on.

KEILAR: And attorneys for her alleged lover and her ex-boss, Hemy Neuman, who you just referenced, they say that he may cooperate with the prosecution, that Andrea, quote, "played him like a yo-yo." So, how does that affect the case?

IYER: Again, this is preposterous. Let me say this. OK, so, Mr. Newman was found guilty, but he was also found to be mentally ill, so he's not going to be the greatest cooperator.

Number one, he has a motive to lie, right, because perhaps the prosecution is going to help him with sentencing or put him in facility that's going to be more comfortable.

And the next part, in terms of his credibility, he's been deemed mentally ill. So, he's -- I mean, who's the yo-yo here?

KEILAR: Well, so then why is the prosecution considering that?

IYER: I think the prosecution may have a weak case against Miss Sneiderman, so they're just putting it out there. And perhaps they want to have the defense kind of be on the defensive and be concerned that Neuman may testify against Sneiderman. And maybe they're trying to get a plea deal out of this so they don't have to go to trial.

KEILAR: Yeah, very interesting, very confusing case here. Seema Iyer, thank you so much for being with us. We've got some breaking news that we're going to jump to right now.

So, here is what's going on. Multiple crews are at the scene of a wildfire. This is in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. This is happening, obviously, right now this afternoon in Oklahoma.

Firefighters say that the blaze began near, locally speaking, 123rd Street and Cemetery Road. It's now moved to 127th Street, so this has gone a few blocks. No one has been evacuated. However, there's several people who have left voluntarily. You can imagine why.

Two helicopters are busy dumping water on the blaze and crews have closed a road there while they're trying to battle the blaze. Chad Myers, joining us now.

So, this is interesting. Oklahoma, we've not seen, I think, a lot of wildfires there.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, but it has been very dry the past couple of weeks and, in fact, we went from about 50 percent D3, which is extreme drought, to about 70 percent of Oklahoma being in D3, just in the past week. That means it hasn't rained there at all.

This is actually suburban Oklahoma City, to be honest.

KEILAR: OK.

MYERS: Cleveland is -- Cleveland county is the next county south of Oklahoma County and Oklahoma County's where Oklahoma City is. So, looking at the pictures here, winds blowing almost 20 to 30 miles per hour. These helicopter drops are not keeping up with the fire. They just can't, at this point in time.

And many times in Oklahoma, you see people out there with shirts and pants that are trying to beat the fire down. This is way beyond that. This is now into trees. They're in the cedars, into the kind of the scrub little oaks that are in there in this area. I lived up in Edmond for quite a few years about 30 miles north of where this fire is.

But this is going to go for a while. This will go until the winds start to calm down and, Brianna, that may not be until 8:00 or 9:00 tonight.

If you smell smoke right now in Cleveland County -- and we're talking not that far from Moore, although not in the city, proper, of course -- you can kind of see this is even far out suburbia.

If you smell smoke right now, you may be in the path of the wind coming from that direction. Therefore, that's the direction that the embers would come from. It's time to take those precautions. You know what to do. Get cars inside, get your stuff packed up and get ready to go in case the authorities say go.

KEILAR: Well, and to that end, if people are not being evacuated yet, is that because this happened so quickly? I mean, this is something at a certain point you may have to take matters in your own hands in terms of making a choice to leave.

MYERS: Yeah, don't make the government make you move. Be smarter than that. Move on your own. If you feel in danger, move out of the way.

When you get flames -- that's a 30-foot flame that just sparked up right there. That is now sending very hot, burning embers into the smoke and into the sky. That will eventually land downwind.

Even if it's quarter-mile downwind, these -- they start to hyper-jump, what we call it. It's just not one big line of fire or smoke that runs along. You'll start to jump a half-a-mile ahead with new embers coming in and the ground has been so dry. Even grass will burn at this point in time. Your grass around your house will burn at this dryness with this type of wind.

Look how the wind is blowing the fire ...

KEILAR: Serious, I mean, serious fuel ...

MYERS: ... straight down.

KEILAR: ... for this fire.

MYERS: And there are homes in the way here. Firefighters are in structure-protection mode right now. They're not trying to put this fire out. They're trying to make the houses last through this. And we'll get back to this in a second.

KEILAR: Yeah, we'll be getting more information. Breaking news here at CNN as we follow this fire. This is in suburban Oklahoma City, a populated area outside of Oklahoma City. We're getting more information and we'll have more for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We're following a wildfire developing in -- near Oklahoma City, I should say, the suburbs outside of Oklahoma City. This is a populated area. You can see the flames jumping there from trees.

And we'll tell you that multiple crews are at the scene of this wildfire. This is Cleveland County. Firefighters say that the blaze began there in the area. It appears to have gone several blocks in, again, this area where you can see lot of homes and structures.

No one has been evacuated. It seems that this has, obviously, popped up pretty recently, Chad Myers. No injuries, so that's the good news and we do understand that there are helicopters and we've seen some video of them as they are trying to dump water on the blaze.

But how can they really keep up with this?

MYERS: You can't. You can't keep up with what they have there right now. This is KOCO, my old affiliate up in Oklahoma City. I've got a better idea because I can find this fire actually on radar.

And you think to yourself, what are you talking about? Radar picks up rain. No radar picks up things that are in the air. Radar picks up things that are in the sky and, so, the radar is actually picking up the smoke particles and, so, this is not very close to Moore, as I was earlier confusing southwest and northwest.

This is a little bit farther off to the east towards Slaughterville, a little bit farther, maybe eight -- six, eight miles south of Lake Thunderbird, which would be east of Norman and east of that I-35 corridor.

There, you go. That's where we're talking about this wildfire, right there. And it's kind of in a wildland area. Homes are far spread out, not really in neighborhoods. They don't -- they haven't plowed this up to make big neighborhoods.

But now you see there's not -- there's more than one fire. That's how dry this is. That may have been a spark from one fire flying that far in the wind and making another.

This is going to be one of those days and there may be 40 wildfires in Oklahoma today, just because there's a high, high risk of when one spark goes, you can get an entire -- I have seen people park on the side of the road, just park there and the catalytic converter being hot, starting these dry grasses on fire.

That's how tender and just dry this stuff is. It will go in an instant.

KEILAR: And this really illuminates not just the problem in Oklahoma, but in a number of states that are experiencing this drought, the drought conditions, the worst that we've seen in decades.

So, this is -- you would say, judging by the pictures -- can you sort of deduce that that was sparks jumping from one fire to another area.

MYERS: It could have been. That seemed pretty far away. I mean, that seemed, probably, a good two miles, but sparks can certainly go that far and that's what I was alerting people to a little bit ago, that, you know, when you get a flame like that, a big flame that's pushing hot sparks in the sky now and those sparks are blowing in the wind waiting to land somewhere else.

Trains can actually make sparks off their wheels. The wheels can start wildfires there. It happens all the time. These wildfires go and you just need to be out of the way when they're coming to you. You can't save your home. You can't save your structure. You can't be a hero at this point in time. Save yourself.

KEILAR: And just to be really clear, real quick, before we move on here, but is this an Oklahoma City suburb because you said it seems to be a little farther outside?

MYERS: It's still -- I would still consider it to be Oklahoma City suburb. Sure. It's probably 15 or 20 miles south of downtown Oklahoma City, itself. Lake Thunderbird's on the east side of town and it's about eight miles or south of there.

But that I-35 from Oklahoma City, that yellow line that goes all the way south to Purcell and all the way down to Norman and it keeps going, that is a very highly populated area.

The good news is, Brianna, the wind is blowing from the southwest and not toward that populated area, actually up toward Shawnee and maybe even across I-40, if it ends up going that far.

This has a good start. It has an awful lot of pieces to it. Obviously, zero-percent containment. This is going to go for a while.

KEILAR: Chad Myers, thank you very much and we'll be keeping an eye on the grassfire, but next, we're going to be talking sports with the commander-in-chief. President Obama called in to a radio talk show in Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you go to a game, do you have like 18 people that have to taste your beer when you go to the game before you can get a sip of it?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA (via telephone): You know, the truth is that when I go to a game, these days, it's not that bad. The only games I've gone to are Nationals games. And usually they have to put me in a box just for security, but other than that, I can pretty much do whatever I want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, because if you do have a beer taster, I'm up for the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Is this just shooting the breeze or calculated battleground politics? You probably know the answer to that and we'll be talking to the host, right there. The Common Man and the Torg, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: So, we're keeping an eye right now on a wildfire just outside of Oklahoma City about 15 or 20 miles. This is in a semi-populated area, suburb of Oklahoma City.

No evacuations, at this point. No injuries reported. It's been extremely dry. No rain for some time there. There are helicopters on the scene dumping water, but it's really a tough row to hoe, very hard to keep up and we will be -- Jerry Lojka who's with Oklahoma City Emergency Management, I'm being told, is on the phone with us now.

Jerry, what can you tell us about this fire and the prognosis for containing it?

JERRY LOJKA, OKLAHOMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (via telephone): Well, the wind conditions have changed. They have increased some.

We now have gusts from the southwest, 15 to 25. And the humidity keeps -- seems like it's getting lower. We're down to 13 percent and our temperature is 110 degrees. So, the conditions are very difficult for us.

We do have a request for a second helicopter, so the situation is not improving there. Otherwise, they would be scaling back, so we can anticipate that it's going to get worse before it gets better.

KEILAR: And, Jerry, our meteorologist Chad Myers is jumping in here with a question. He's also familiar with the area.

MYERS: Yeah, Jerry, it seems like a very dangerous day out there for you. You may get 10 of these a year with temperatures so hot. Tell me what the crews there are going to go through today with 110 degrees and all of them, obviously, getting close to the fire. Are you going to try to contain these things or just let them burn?

LOJKA: Well, unfortunately, in this particular situation, we have many, many homes, 75 to 100 homes that are threatened. So, standing back and watching it happen is not an option.

Unfortunately, the firefighters can't tolerate, you know, with the protective clothing that they wear, dragging the hose and doing the physical exertion that they do, they can't stand that for very long without having to move out.

So, we go through a lot of personnel. But they're going to continue to fight it and, hopefully, they'll be able to contain it if the wind does not continue to escalate.

MYERS: Jerry, this is kind of a wildland area out there. Have you heard about any animals, any horses that might be in trouble at this point?

LOJKA: No. No. And we haven't even had verification that homes have burned yet. The biggest fear is that it's getting very close to them, but we don't have verification that it's happened yet.

KEILAR: All right Jerry Lojka with Oklahoma Emergency Management. We'll be keeping an eye on the wildfire. Appreciate your time there. We'll be bringing you any news that we have regarding this fire as we get it in.

Now, we're talking sports. Sports with the commander-in-chief. President Obama calls a radio talk show in Ohio and is it just shooting the breeze or is it calculated battleground politics?

You know it's the latter and we're going to be talking to the host, The Common Man and the Torg, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: When I'm not covering the anchor desk for Brooke, my regular beat is the White House in Washington, D.C. I know, first hand, just how hard it is to get a one-on-one interview with the president of the United States unless you're a duo known as The Common Man and the Torg.

They got an exclusive eight-and-a-half minutes with President Obama Wednesday when he was in the state campaigning. And one of the topics, this may seem weird, but it was the original Dream Team, the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and other greats, and whether they would lose to this year's Olympic team.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA (via telephone): There's no way that those guys can be as dominant as -- this team can be as dominate as though guys were. I mean, the separation between us and other countries was so great back then.

Now, you look at France. They've got Tony Parker and Argentina's got Ginobli and, you know, you've got -- everybody can play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Joining me now, Mike "The Common Man" Ricordati and Scott "The Torg" Torgeson from 97.1, "The Fan." So, Scott, or Torg, you first, tell me the back story to this interview. Were there any rules that you had to follow? How'd the campaign say, you know, we want to do this?

SCOTT "THE TORG" TORGESON, SPORTS TALK RADIO HOST, 97.1 THE FAN: Well, you know, there were no rules. They contacted one of our managers and they kind of went over everything.

According to them, they specifically requested coming on our show. And we kind of set the rules. We mentioned that we wouldn't talk any politics. It had to be 100 percent sports, nothing else. And then we didn't have to have pre-approved questions.

They sent over some suggested questions, but they were not going to be used in this interview. So we kind of looked at them and said, yeah, well, we're kind of going to do our own stuff and we just wanted to hit on everything that's topical in sports.

And it was very cool because I thought, for sure, he was going to want to pre-approve the questions and he didn't. It was great.

KEILAR: I love it. You guys threw the suggested questions out the door, so I'm wondering ...

MIKE "THE COMMON MAN" RICORDATI, SPORTS TALK RADIO HOST, 97.1 THE FAN: Because they weren't any good.

TORGESON: Yeah, they weren't good.

KEILAR: Brilliant. That's hilarious. Why do you think that you were chosen? I mean, you're in Ohio. I will tell you, to interject a little politics, there was a recent poll, "New York Times"/CBS/Quinnipiac, that showed President Obama up on Mitt Romney, even within the margin of error, Obama, 50; Romney, 44.

I mean, this, obviously, had something to do with why you guys were chosen.

RICORDATI: Well, of course. I mean, he wanted to appeal to a certain demographic. We have that. We knew what it was. And, you know, it's one of those things where, you know, people ask me, do you feel like you're being used, like a pawn in this whole political thing?

You know, maybe, but I'm a talk show host. It's not my job to babysit the weak and the uninformed. If you're going to base your vote just on sports conversation, then you need to inform yourself a little bit better.

TORGESON: Yeah, look, we're on CNN right now. We're just hoping to hang around and be on "The Situation Room" with Wolf in a bit. KEILAR: And, you know, let me ask you this. Because I listened to the interview, were you -- he's pretty knowledgeable about sports. Were you impressed?

TORGESON: Absolutely. You know what I was impressed about? That he answered honestly and gave in-length answers, too.

You know, a lot of people -- look at the college coaches out there. They're kind of defending Joe Paterno and Penn State a little bit and he was very harsh on Penn State. He gave his honest answer about Tim Tebow and the Jets.

I was really impressed that he answered at length and honest. That was pretty impressive because you know how the politicians are. They try to spin it a certain way, but he gave an honest answer.

KEILAR: "Common Man" Mike, we have 30 seconds left and I want to ask you, to be fair, have you reached out to Mitt Romney's people and is there an open invitation for him to come on?

RICORDATI: We said it on the air. We said Mitt Romney can come on any time. The only reason why the president was on and the governor wasn't is because the president called.

Mitt Romney, call me up. You can call my cell any time. We'll get you on eight-and-a-half minutes, same length. We'll talk Michigan football, Ohio state football.

TORGESON: Olympics.

RICORDATI: Whatever you want.

KEILAR: All right, an open invitation. Mike, Scott, thank you so much to you.

I'm Brianna Keilar. Thanks for joining us this afternoon.

Now, stay tuned for "THE SITUATION ROOM" and Candy Crowley.