Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Mitt Romney Picks Paul Ryan as His Vice Presidential Running Mate; Sinkhole Opens in Louisiana, London Olympic Games Begin Wrapping Up; Violence Continues in Syria

Aired August 11, 2012 - 14:08   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You're in the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredericka Whitfield in Atlanta. Lots to get to from here.

The two are actually on a four swing state tour. From Virginia they go on to North Carolina and then Florida and then onto Ohio, many of the states won by President Obama back in 2008. Now Romney and Ryan together are hoping to change all of that.

We're going to bring you up-to-date on all the things said there in Ashland, Virginia. And we're also going to bring you that big announcement that took place earlier today with Mitt Romney introducing Paul Ryan as a man with unbounded optimism in America's future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Paul's upbringing is obvious in how he's conducted himself throughout his life, including his leadership in Washington. In a city that's far too often characterized by pettiness and personal attacks Paul Ryan is a shining exception. He doesn't demonize his opponents. He understands that honorable people can have honest differences and he appeals to the better angels of our nature.

There are a lot of people in the other party that might disagree with Paul Ryan. I don't know of anyone who doesn't respect his character and judgment.

(APPLAUSE)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are on an unsustainable path that is robbing America of our security. It doesn't have to be this way. The commitment Mitt Romney and I make to you is this, we don't duck the tough issues. We will lead.

(APPLAUSE)

RYAN: We won't blame others. We will take responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And that was earlier today when the announcement was made when Mitt Romney revealed his running mate in Paul Ryan. So where does Congressman Paul Ryan stand on the issues? He's mostly known for his conservative budget principles. Back in July 2009 he proposed the road map for America's future, an economic plan that would end Medicare as we know it and privatize Social Security.

At first he got criticism from his own party because Republicans worried that it would scare away senior voters. Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich in fact even called it, quote, "right-wing social engineering." But Ryan has become the darling of Tea Party support.

And Ryan, who is a Catholic, voted to ban federal health coverage of abortion, and then on economics he is the leading GOP voice against the Obama administration. He voted no on the president's stimulus plan. And Ryan also took on the White House over the affordable care act and wants to repeal it.

On guns, he is backed by the NRA. He voted to decrease the gun buying waiting period from three days to one day.

And on privacy, Ryan voted to allow electronic surveillance of Americans without a warrant. And on defense, he voted to send America to war on Iraq and voted against ending the war in Afghanistan.

So Mitt Romney and his new running mate are going right to work, as you see right there in Virginia, launching that four-day, four-state bus tour of battleground states. Right now in Virginia, they started out in Norfolk, Virginia, at the USS Wisconsin, and now they're in Ashland, Virginia.

CNN national political correspondent Jim Acosta has been traveling at least in another vehicle behind or alongside. He is joining us on the phone.

Jim, the message is that Romney-Ryan team, they can expect to focus on the economy, on jobs, on small businesses just to name a few.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): That's right, Fredericka, and I can report I'm in the same gymnasium as Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan right now. We're in the same area. That's right. You heard Paul Ryan talk about that in his remarks just a few moments ago. He talked about the economic malaise in the country and said, quote, "It doesn't have to be this way."

And I think we also heard something striking from Mitt Romney that takes us into this thinking in terms of making his vice presidential pick. He said that he wanted to make this race not about getting dragged down in the dirt, as he called it, and he wanted to make it about the issues. And there is really no other vice presidential pick that he could have made other than Paul Ryan if he wanted to make this campaign about the issues. Because selecting Paul Ryan essentially fuses Mitt Romney with the fiscally conservative movement in the Tea Party that says, look, the social welfare programs that we've had for years and years like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, they are not sustainable as they stand now. They're going to be changed in some way if we're going to make this social safety net somehow fiscally viable in the years to come.

And so Mitt Romney is really adopting the Paul Ryan plan, and Paul Ryan is essentially adopting the Mitt Romney plan. The Romney campaign did have a pushback earlier this morning saying, wait a minute, just because Mitt Romney selects Paul Ryan as his running mate doesn't mean he's going to sign Paul Ryan's economic blueprint, for example, right into law. So that is a sign that perhaps they'll have to work some things out between them in terms of what the future will hold for his economic policy.

But I will tell you that the Romney economic plan is not very different from the Ryan economic plan. And so it will be interesting how that debate develops. Already we've heard from the Obama campaign. They are already saying that they are also looking forward to this fight. Vice president Joe Biden called Paul Ryan this afternoon to congratulate him and said that he looks forward to the debate that's coming this fall. It will be a barn burner, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Jim, lots of comparisons to be made and lots of contrast that will continue to be made as well. But on the scope of comparisons since you began, let's talk about these two family men, you know, taking to the stage. Paul Ryan, a very young man with a pretty sizeable family there taking to the stage, that in comparison to Mitt Romney's big family. You know, Paul Ryan is young enough to be Mitt Romney's son. He represents a real vibrancy and popularity. So you have to wonder whether image, how image may have played a role into the selection of Paul Ryan.

ACOSTA: I think so, Fredericka. If you looked at the pictures outside of the battle ship in Norfolk, first of all, the stage crafting was pretty impressive in terms of what the Romney campaign was able to pull off in almost total secrecy. Nobody really knew about this until less than 12 hours before this unfolded.

But when Paul Ryan came out on stage and delivered his speech and his wife and children joined him by his side along with Mitt and Ann Romney, you saw the future of the Republican party and Mitt Romney symbolizing the president, Paul Ryan symbolizing the future of this party. And I think that those images are ones that the campaign would like to see out there, you know?

And earlier this afternoon I could tell you, Fredericka, when we were going up interstate 95 the Ryan children and the Romney grandchildren were playing together in the Romney bus and they were learning how to make Mitt Romney's favorite sandwich of peanut butter and honey. And they were doing bus surfing, whatever that is by the Romney campaign. So they were having some fun there.

And it's one of the lighter moments that the campaign wants the public to see. They want to see that this image that they can put up against what say very impressive image from the stage crafting standpoint on the president's side, the president, his wife, their two beautiful daughters. That's obviously a very warm and a very American picture of the presidency.

WHITFIELD: Yes. ACOSTA: The Ryan-Romney image they're putting out, I would say that's equally the case and that's part of what you're seeing today, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Jim Acosta, thanks so much for traveling with the Romney- Ryan ticket now in Ashland, Virginia. So Jim talked about Vice President Biden already reaching out to Paul Ryan, congratulating him.

And we also is now have a formal statement from the Obama campaign on the Mitt Romney selection saying, quote, "Mitt Romney has chosen a leader who shares his commitment to the flawed theory that new budget- busting tax cuts for the wealthy while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors will somehow deliver a stronger economy," end quote. That coming from -- oh, wait, but there's more, I think. Quote, "Ryan rubber-stamped the economic policies that exploded our deficit and crashed our economy." That, end quote, from the Obama camp in response to Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan.

All right, in other news, a huge sink hole has swallowed up an entire area the size of a football field in Louisiana. We'll tell you why this could be an explosive situation for those who live nearby.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: How would you like to be told that you can't go home for a month? That's the situation facing people living close it a huge sink hole in Louisiana. And to make matters worse their homes might be sitting on a chemical power-keg. Ed Lavandera is in Assumption Parish waiting along with some worried and frustrated residents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From above it's hard to fathom, but this massive sink hole has swallowed up hundreds of cypress trees, some as tall as 100 feet. And it has the residences of Bell Rose, a small bayou town, 20 miles south of Baton Rouge, feeling anxious.

STEPHEN CHUSTZ, LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES: It is an area that's now turned to slush. It's -- the trees and so forth have sunk into the ground and it is not known what caused it.

LAVANDERA: The sink hole dropped about a week ago. It's now about 320 feet wide. In some places, reaches more than 400 feet deep, and several hundred residents have been told to evacuate their homes. The sink hole sits over a salt dome cavern. It's believed that the cavern collapsed, causing the sink hole. Louisiana's department of natural resources says the company mining the salt dome, Texas Brine, was trying to expand when it cut into the cavern last year, long before the sink hole appeared.

CHUSTZ: In order to expand that mining of that cavern, a cut in the well casing -- they made a cut in the well casing several hundred feet above the top of the cap. And then they reported a potential breach at that time, and that information was brought to us in 2011.

LAVANDERA: But the collapse is also next to a well containing more than 1 million gallons of liquid butane, a highly flammable vapor if it's released. Local officials say if that happens it could cause catastrophic problems. John Achee, Jr., has organized a community group to get answers from regulators and the mining company that owns the underground salt dome.

What are you most afraid of at this point?

JOHN ACHEE JR., ASSUMPTION PARISH ADVOCACY GROUP: Everybody is afraid of the unknowns. You know, we don't know how big the sinkhole can happen, if other sinkholes can happen. You know, they're talking about now looking in the gasses in the aquifer, I believe it's in the butane cavern. People are concerned about an explosion.

LAVANDERA: The first signs of trouble were spotted more than two months ago and Henry Welch took us by boat to the edge of the sink hole to show us.

Look at all these bubbles.

HENRY WELCH, RESIDENT: That's what started it all.

LAVANDERA: This is what you started seeing first?

WELCH: Exactly.

LAVANDERA: As one resident told us, the bayou water looks like a boiling pot of craw fish.

Henry Welch has evacuated these nearby home and he's not sure he'll ever be able to move back. He thinks all of the property will now be worthless.

Are you worried about what it means long term?

WELCH: Yes. I have my life savings in this place. I'm retired. That's all I've got.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Ed Lavandera joining us now from Assumption Parish. So what is Texas Brine saying about this situation?

LAVANDERA: Well, they say they're working closely with state officials to figure all this out. They're saying that they don't know exactly what has caused this sinkhole. They're not saying whether they're responsible or not responsible and saying simply the answers just aren't there yet, but the company has been ordered to drill a well into that cavern to test the integrity of it to figure out if indeed that's what happened here and that the site of the cavern collapsed and caused this sink hole. But that will take at least 40 days. Many of these resident, I've been told until then the evacuation orders will remain in place.

WHITFIELD: A pretty miserable situation and mysterious, Ed Lavandera joining us from assumption parish, Louisiana. Summertime, people are still thinking of their swimsuit bodies. Getting your body and diet into shape, the best way to work out and getting the six-pack abs or the four pack, whatever it takes. Our fitness expert will show us how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, in today's "Health for Her," getting your body and diet in shape. I teamed up with fitness expert Desiree Nathanson to show you the best ways to workout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A lot of people fantasize about the wash board abs and they want a six pack and a four pack, let me do as many crunches as possible and you say there's another way.

DESIREE NATHANSON, FITNESS EXPERT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: You can be on the mat or on the carpet in your home.

NATHANSON: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Or your hotel room or at work.

NATHANSON: Or at work, a friend can join you at work if you're not wearing a skirt.

We're going to do the ever popular exercise, the plank, which is actually a yoga pose. Let's go down to the mat. We'll start on our hands and knees. And when you're doing any of these balance positions on your hands, you want your fingers spread so that gives you a nice wide base and helps you balance. We can do a beginner plank, just walk your hands out and bring your hips forward. You want the hands directly under the shoulders and you want the crown of your head, the shoulders and your hips in line. From here we'll tuck our toes under and lift our knees from the mat. So with this we're working our upper body, we're working our core, balance.

WHITFIELD: I'm shaking. Wow!

NATHANSON: And then of course, if this does become too difficult you can drop your knees down to the mat. Then the recovery pose in yoga is a child's pose.

WHITFIELD: Right here.

NATHANSON: That's a favorite.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I like those a lot. I feel good. My arms are still shaking.

(LAUGHTER)

NATHANSON: You know we worked hard.

WHITFIELD: And it is really nice to come outside and do it, too. Thanks so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Every Saturday at this time we bring you new information about medical breakthroughs and ways to improve your health and quality of life.

Back to politics in a moment. Mitt Romney's new running mate has an economic message for voters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Presumptive Republican presidential candidate or nominee Mitt Romney is hitting the campaign trail today. He's with his new running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. They just wrapped up a rally in Ashland, Virginia. Ryan known for his fiscally conservative positions told Virginia voters a Romney presidency will send the economy in the right direction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: We are at that proverbial fork in the road. We've got a choice of two futures ahead of us. We know that. President Obama with his party firmly in control the first two years got almost everything passed into law that he wanted. And now we're living under those policies. Now we're witnessing a nation in debt, further in doubt, deeper in despair. Now we are seeing a country where after the recession of the so-called recovery is the worst we've seen in 70 years, unemployment above eight percent the entire time.

We have had the largest deficits and the biggest government since World War II. Nearly one out of six Americans today is living in poverty. That's the worst we've seen in a generation. Household incomes are down. Unemployment is up.

You know what the good news is? It doesn't have to be this way. We can turn this thing around. We can get this right.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: With Election Day less than three month away, new polls suggest Mitt Romney's support is slipping while President Obama's lead is growing. Obama now leads Romney by seven points, 52 percent to 45 percent, that's according to a new CNN/ORC poll.

Some more bad news for Romney. This unfavorable numbers have gone up six percent with registered voters. It's believed some of those troubling numbers may have something to do with those negative ads that groups -- negative ads, rather, coming from the Obama campaign.

But he is solidifying some support in May, only 47 percent of Romney voters said they were strongly behind him in his jump to 56 percent, and Obama's numbers have not changed much. So now that Mitt Romney has announced Paul Ryan as his running mate will it help his approval rating? Our CNN poll shows 54 percent of voters don't a favorable or unfavorable opinion about Ryan, saying that voters don't know enough about him. 45 percent said they were unsure about Ryan. If they had to choose they would prefer to see Florida Senator Marco Rubio on the Romney ticket ahead of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie or Paul Ryan.

All right, coming up in the next hour CNN's chief political analyst Gloria Borger takes a look at how Romney chose Ryan as his running mate.

Other stories we are also watching, a new report blames drivers for a deadly multi-car crash in Florida's interstate 75 back in January, and 11 people died and 46 others were injured after heavy fog and smoke caused the collision. In that report the Florida highway patrol said, quote, "Despite the presence of fog, smoke, warning signals, some drivers did not take proper precautions and slow their speeds to prepare for reduced visibility." Police have recommended changes that include improved training and better communication with the National Weather Service.

The feds are desperately trying to rescue two children seen in child porn videos online. Police say this woman is posting videos of herself and a man having sexual contact with two children. Her name isn't known yet, but Homeland Security believes she lives in the U.S. Police found videos while investigating an unrelated case.

Hillary Clinton is in Turkey talking Syria. We'll tell you who she's meeting with and what's on the table.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, now to Turkey where U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is discussing the crisis in Syria. She's been meeting with Turkish leaders and Syrian opposition activists. Ivan Watson has details from Istanbul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: "There is a very clear understanding about the need to end this conflict quickly, but not doing it in a way that produces even more deaths, injuries and destruction." This was a direct quote from U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton after a round of talks with the Turkish foreign minister here in Istanbul on Saturday. This announcement coming 17 months after the uprising began in Syria, and after the deaths by conservative estimates, of more than 17,000 people and after the UNHRC registered nearly 150,000 Syrian refugees that have fled across borders to neighboring countries and many more believed to have gone across borders fleeing the violence unofficially.

Clinton announcing after these talks that it was now time to set up a working group with their Turkish allies that would include intelligence and military assets and that they would work on setting up contingency plans in the event of the downfall of the Assad regime, basically, analysis for the future about the crisis that has been tearing Syria apart for more than a year.

When asked about what fears Clinton had about Syria she said one fear was that it could become a breeding ground for terrorism. Take a listen.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We worry about terrorists, PKK, Al Qaeda, and others taking advantage of the legitimate fight of the Syrian people for their freedom to use Syria to promote their own agendas, and even to perhaps find footholds to launch attacks against others.

WATSON: In private conversations with CNN, Turkish officials have characterized U.S. foot dragging on the biggest crisis facing the Middle East. One Turkish diplomat saying that it feels like Turkey's been left alone to deal with the refugee crisis and the conflict across the border. Another Turkish diplomat telling CNN now that the U.S. asked for this special round of urgent talks with the Turkish prime minister and president and foreign minister, but now it appears the U.S. is starting to recognize the severity of this conflict and this crisis for the region.

During her visit, Mrs. Clinton also met with Syrian activists, one dissident activist telling CNN that she specifically asked about which groups and opposition leaders would be worth giving U.S. money to and which groups they should not give money to.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: On to Iran now -- two strong earthquakes jolted the northwestern part of the country and at least 87 people have been killed and 400 injured. The earthquakes measured 6.4 and 6.3. Some buildings have been damaged and power and telephone lines are also down.

All right, she's brash, has movie-star looks, and is one of the best- known athletes at the London games. How Lolo Jones says she's coping with the pressure she says she gets from all sides.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Olympian Lolo Jones felt the heartbreak of finishing without a medal in the 100 hurdles in London, but she still is one of the best known athletes at the games. Her athleticism, her beauty, and big personality have brought her endorsements and fame. But when I talked to her earlier I asked her how she's assessing it all at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: How do you assess it all at this point?

LOLO JONES, OLYMPIC ATHLETE: Um, yes, well, obviously I'm not, you know, uber-thrilled with the results, but I'm pleased, very pleased with my effort because I had a lot of setbacks this year. The injuries were, you know, they kept coming, and I fought through it all, you know, I made the team and even when a lot of people said I wouldn't make the Olympic team. So just to fight through all of that, I'm proud of myself. It wasn't the fastest I've ran in my life, but I'm pleased.

WHITFIELD: There is tremendous pressure that an Olympian puts on oneself and coaches and corporate sponsors. From which has the pressure really been the toughest?

JONES: Well, I think you hit all of them. They're all kind of equal because you have the corporate sponsors that invest in you, and, you know, they actually make the dream financially possible because without them you can't train, you can't travel. So you have a lot of pressure to kind of help make sure that you're making their effort into you worth it all.

And then your family, like, to see my family afterward they're going to say they're proud regardless, but I can just feel like I just let them down. And then also just everybody -- even people you don't know, you're representing a country. And I represented team USA, and I felt like I let them down when I didn't get the medal, but I was pleased because my other teammates both got second and third. It's a team effort and you're, like, man, I feel like I didn't do my part. It's just a total effect.

WHITFIELD: What's been the most challenging, dealing with the tough competition on the track or dealing with the media, dealing with the social media?

JONES: Well, obviously my competition on the track will always be difficult. I think I get a lot of peace from running. And so I'm used to dealing with the pressures of track. A lot of the athletes are learning how to navigate through that, and, you know, I learned a lot through this Olympics, and I would definitely say the social media is harder because you can't please everyone. It doesn't matter if you're probably an angel out here and even you saying, bolt, he's winning. He's double repeat Olympic champion about to be triple, and I'm pretty sure if I went through his Twitter timeline he has people saying "I hate you" or just this and that and negative comments about him.

So I think the social media, from what I'm talking with the other athletes, it's one of the hardest things, because we're trying to reach out with our fans and we want to interact with them, but at the same time there's always going to be someone out there who will say something hurtful.

WHITFIELD: I know you're still living in the moment, but have you thought about what's next for Lolo Jones?

JONES: I'm just trying to figure out, because it's weird. Track is different. This isn't our last race or last competition, so we have another four more races and I'm trying to figure out which races I'll run in. So, yes, that's my immediate future, but, yea, obviously I'll reiterate that 2016 was always going to be my last Olympic.

Gail Beavers, thank you for the call and telling me, she was, like, at 33 she broke the American record and at 37 she won her last gold medal and I appreciate Gail calling me and making sure I didn't retire at the young age of 30 for hurdles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And she also talked about how Shaquille O'Neal even reached out to her and tried to offer some comfort by not feeling so defeated and so heartbroken over her fourth place in the 100 hurdles. So I will have part two of my interview with Lolo Jones Sunday at 2:30 eastern time. We'll talk about the overall spirit of the Olympic Games and the camaraderie between team members -- is it there or is it not there?

All right, for a select few this Olympic Games has meant a chance to relive past glory. That's the case for my dad, a five-time medalist. Coming up, a personal journey to London six decades later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's the final weekend of competition at the London Olympic Games before tomorrow's closing ceremony. So many memories to reflect on. I've been privileged to attend four summer games, including this 30th Olympiad. But this time attending an Olympic Games with my five- time medalist dad Mal Whitfield was uniquely different. What made London so special? So much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Serving in the Korean War as a Tuskegee Airmen couldn't stop his dreams of making history at the 1948 Olympic Games in world war II bomb-scarred London, so why at 87 in a wheelchair, a survivor of two strokes and deteriorated legs from decades of competitive world stage racing would Mal Whitfield put on the brakes now? Returning to London for the 30th Olympiad destined good medicine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're the stars.

WHITFIELD: They are, are they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1948 London games was their first goal. It was a long time ago.

WHITFIELD: Dad, known as "Marvelous Mal" because of his seemingly effortless style on the track and near-undefeated winning streak in the 800 meters saw old London and friends of long ago with new eyes and lots of laughter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very different here.

WHITFIELD: Fellow '48er bronze long jumper Herb Douglas made the return, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's reliving what we did in 1948 and the maturity that we have we're able to handle it now. Your dad and I couldn't handle it back in 1948, but today, we're ready.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: 1968 Olympian Bob Beamon whose world record jump stood for more than 20 years says he owes much of his Olympic success to men like dad.

BOB BEAMON, 1968 OLYMPIAN: I read about them through my coach Larry Ellis, and he said these are the great ones that came before you. These are model guys to look at, so this is just a real treat to be with them.

WHITFIELD: I'm your groupie.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: The journey to London with dad and my brother Lonnie was filled with golden moments like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to take a picture.

WHITFIELD: At lunches and galas honoring unforgettable athletes.

Other highlights, this historic super city of London transformed through a host of modern-day sports venues.

On the way to beach volleyball here at the horse's guard parade, and we have to pass by the queen's crib here at Buckingham Palace.

A playful volleyball pit between the skyline of Westminster Abbey and the queen's palace guards. The fear of gridlock and frustration with the crush of 200,000 at a time at the Olympic park replaced with this reality. Crowds, yes -- headaches, few.

What happens when an event ends and it coincides with rush hour? Well, you cannot be claustrophobic, but hey, the bright side is when you do get an Olympic ticket you also get a travel card, and that saves you about seven pounds or $14 round trip.

Our trip, a smooth ride fueled by the inspiration of one marvelous Olympian forever touched by fellow athletes he calls his brothers, together creating new memories in a city where they first made history 64 years ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Many of the 1948 Olympians told me that this will be their last games likely to attend. It would be hard to top the kind of special reunions that took place this go round in London six decades after they all competed together as Team USA.

All right, on to politics again, Mitt Romney and his next running mate, Paul Ryan are on the trail right now. We'll hear from them and their plans to turn the economy around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)