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Sen. Rubio Campaigns for Romney; Obama Puts Iowa in Play; Three Dead in Shootings Near Texas A&M; Inside a War Zone; Women's Empowerment Icon Dies; Fired for "Liking" on Facebook; Ryan Creating a Social Media Buzz; Ryan's Plan to Change Medicare; Taylor Swift Announces "Red" Album

Aired August 14, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning there, Soledad. Yes, indeed, we will keep talking about it. Thanks so much.

Well, hello, everyone. Ahead in the "NEWSROOM," it's beginning to look a lot like November. The battleground blitz is in full force. Iowa, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado -- just some of the turf being covered. And that's just today.

Plus, they may have been passed up for VP. But don't feel bad for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie or Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Some primetime consolation prizes are headed their way.

Also --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is saying, you want to go back and drive faster through the intersection because there's a sniper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Dodging bullets and taking cover. A CNN reporter takes us along his daring trek inside Syria's most dangerous area.

And how Facebook could get you fired. You might want to watch what you like because someone could be watching you.

And good morning and thanks for joining us. I'm Deborah Feyerick in today for Carol Costello.

The countdown is on. Eighty-four days until Election Day. And both sides, Democratic incumbents and the Republican challengers, are crisscrossing the country looking for votes.

Take a look at this map. This is where they are today. President Obama continues touring in Iowa. Mitt Romney is stumping in Ohio. Vice president Joe Biden is in Virginia and Congressman Paul Ryan will look to rally votes in Colorado and Nevada.

Republican star Chris Christie getting the spotlight on one of the party's biggest nights. The New Jersey governor has now been tapped to deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in Tampa later this month. The outspoken Christie was considering his own presidential run, but instead backed Mitt Romney.

The Romney camp and the Republican National Committee decides the key speakers at the RNC.

Well, he was on the VP list but did not get the nod. Instead, running mate Florida Senator Marco Rubio will be introducing Mitt Romney on the final night of the Republican National Convention. Rubio is also campaigning for the GOP ticket. He spent yesterday on the Romney bus with the presumptive GOP nominee touring Florida. Rubio was warning voters about the need to save Medicare before it's too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: Just like Paul Ryan's mom is on Medicare, so is mine. Both of our moms are on Medicare here in Florida. And I want to protect Medicare. I want to save it. It's going bankrupt. And so the only way to save it is to come up with a solution that allows our parents and our grandparents to see absolutely no changes to their Medicare but people like me and Paul Ryan, I'm 41, he's 42, our Medicare is going to look different.

I'm willing to do that for myself so that current beneficiaries, retirees, people like my mom, people like his mom, don't have to see any changes at all in their Medicare.

(CROSSTALK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But when senior citizens --

RUBIO: So I think it's an important issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And when asked why he was not picked as Mitt Romney's running mate, Rubio simply said that Romney made the right choice.

As for the Republican presidential hopeful, his bus tour rolls on. Today, Romney travels the swing state of Ohio. Ever since his bus tour began this Wednesday, the Romney campaign has been looking to really -- to rally support for the GOP ticket. Monday in Miami, he urged voters to think about their bottom line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you think jobs are plentiful, if you think home values are good, if you think your health care needs to be taken over by the government, why, you know the person to vote for, and that's Barack Obama. But if you want someone --

(AUDIENCE BOOS) ROMNEY: If you want someone who will get good jobs and rising wages again and rising home values, and finally get America on track to have fiscal sanity, then I'm the person that should be the next president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Mitt Romney will wrap up his bus tour with stops in North Carolina tomorrow.

Now back to President Obama and his three-day tour of Iowa. Let's check in with Brianna Keilar at the White House.

And Brianna, Iowa only has six electoral votes. To win you need 270. Fair to say the Obama campaign is factoring in Iowa in their plan re-election?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Of course and you can tell that, Deb, just by looking at where the president is spending his three days. He is on his second, of course, of three days on this bus tour with several stops throughout Iowa. He won the state in 2008. And even though it doesn't have a lot of electoral votes, it's really shaped up to be a battleground state.

And that's why you also notice that Paul Ryan was there yesterday. It's also got a bit of a symbolic aspect for President Obama because it was the caucuses that really gave him the momentum in that primary battle in 2008 that ultimately propelled him towards the presidency -- Deb.

FEYERICK: What's so interesting is really each side is right now in full attack mode. Yesterday, the president invoked Paul Ryan's name in connection with the failed farm bill. Is this personal?

KEILAR: You know, I would not say this is personal. I would say that this is political. I don't think that there is personal animosity between President Obama and Paul Ryan. But President Obama certainly took the opportunity to make his case and take this hit against a Republican member of the House of Representatives.

When the House left for August recess, they were unable -- they failed to pass a bill for drought relief, which as you know is huge right now because of all of the farmers, all of the cattle ranchers who are suffering through this terrible drought in the Midwest. And Ryan is someone who is supposed to help the Romney ticket in the Midwest. President Obama certainly aimed right there -- Deb.

FEYERICK: All right. And Brianna, polls show right now that the Ryan pick, it hasn't exactly swayed voters, certainly independent voters. At what point does team Obama redirect its aim back at Mr. Romney? Or now are the two, Romney and Ryan, simply inseparable?

KEILAR: I think there is an element of Romney and Ryan being inseparable. And this was an election that was shaping up very much to be a referendum on President Obama and the economy. And you saw the main strategy of the Obama campaign to just portray Mitt Romney as out of touch, as this rich guy who doesn't understand what middle class Americans are dealing with.

I think you're going to see that continuing to happen. But the Ryan element, and Democrats, were of course salivating over this when Paul Ryan was picked. They love that Medicare has now been introduced into this because of Paul Ryan's plan for entitlement reform and tax reform that includes changing Medicare into a voucher system. Medicare referred too often as the third rail of politics. And this is definitely an opportunity that President Obama will take to hit Paul Ryan and to hit Mitt Romney for his support of the Ryan plan. This will keep going until Election Day -- Deb.

FEYERICK: It is going to be really interesting to watch. All right. Brianna Keilar at the White House, thanks so much.

Well, it started with an eviction notice. Now people in College Station, Texas, are mourning three people killed in a half-hour shootout. Police say a sheriff's deputy went to a house near Texas A&M University to deliver an eviction notice. A man opened fire on the deputy. Police responded.

When the firing ended, the gunman, deputy, and a bystander were dead. Four other people were injured. Constable Brian Bachmann had been a sheriff's deputy since 1993.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF SCOTT MCCOLLUM, COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS POLICE: He was a pillar of this community. And it's sad. And tragic. That we've lost him.

JACKLYN CANTU, WORKED WITH CONSTABLE: He's just a really good person. Always went out of his way to help everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a great loss for our community and a senseless tragedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And the suspect has been identified as Thomas Caffall. His mother said he had been ill.

And this morning, a former member of Syria's embattled government is giving new hope to rebels. Syria's former prime minister says the regime is collapsing. Riad Hijab defected to Jordan last week. He says even the rebels are now struggling with dire weapon shortages, their victory is within reach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIAD HIJAB, FORMER SYRIAN PRIME MINISTER: I can confirm to you given my experience and the position I had that the regime's morale, economy, and military has completely collapsed, and is only in control of no more than 30 percent of Syrian lands.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FEYERICK: Still suffering in Syria is far from over, and the U.N. says two million people have been affected by the civil war. More than a million people internally displaced.

Aleppo is the Syria's largest city and a city under siege for weeks. CNN's Ben Wedeman and his crew have a rare inside look at the fighting between government forces and the dangers of covering a civil war. We begin with Ben's team reaching Aleppo and heading for a district where the fighting has been intense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: We made it. We left our safe house at 11:00 in the morning. Now it's 10 minutes past 10:00 at night and we finally made it to Aleppo.

All right. We're now going in the direction of Salahadin, where of course all the fighting has taken place. What we're going to do is go to the Mushhud neighborhood, which is adjacent to Salahadin. There we'll get out and make our way slowly and cautiously towards Salahadin, which the rebels say they've largely retaken. But, you know, if you have to take everything they say, everyone says, with a great big sack of salt.

He is saying at the intersection, go faster. OK. We're going through an intersection where he says to drive fast. So time to get on the gear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just put your foot down, mate.

WEDEMAN: And so we're just going through this intersection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep going.

WEDEMAN: OK. Now we're good. We're good. It was just that road here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WEDEMAN: OK. He is saying here there's a sniper that's shooting. OK. He is saying you want to go back and drive faster through the intersection because there's a sniper. He said get down. Get down. Get down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hit the deck.

WEDEMAN: That's all right. You're fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come down.

WEDEMAN: Come down. Just get down. Even if it's uncomfortable, just get down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you going to do it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're off. WEDEMAN: All right. OK. We made it past that one. OK. Well, maybe now is a good time to get out, get our bearings.

What are you doing, Karim? OK. He's going to take us between the buildings. Probably will park the car there and --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allahu Akbar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Amazing. Well, coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, more of Ben's report from Syria including a show of kindness in a war zone.

And they are off and running together. But is Mitt Romney running away from Paul Ryan's budget plan? We'll talk with a senior Romney adviser to find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Hello, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick.

Checking our top stories now:

A wildfire in Washington state is less than a full day old, yet already threatens some 100 homes. Evacuations are underway about 80 miles southeast of Seattle. Fire crews are calling in reinforcements.

Firefighters in northern California battling two wildfires. Some residents in Lake County, about 100 miles north of San Francisco, have been forced from their homes.

NASA's separate key test of the unmanned experimental aircraft known as the Waverider. The test will take a hypersonic plane 50,000 feet over the Pacific. It will then detach from the B-52 bomber's wing and hit speeds of up to 3,200 miles per hour. The new planes could somebody zip passengers between New York to London in just 60 minutes.

Well, luxury cars didn't fare well in crash tests involving front corner impacts. Only the Acura TL and Volvo S60 earned good ratings in the test. The Infiniti G was rated acceptable.

But the Audi A4 and Lexus IS and ES all ranked poor, along with the Mercedes Benz C-Class.

Well, you would think that the race for president would be about Obama versus Romney, but in many ways, it almost seems like it's Romney versus Ryan. We're talking about their budget plans. And earlier, Romney endorsed Ryan's.

But now, he and his surrogates are backing away from the controversial plan. Listen to the exchange between "STARTING POINT's" Soledad O'Brien and Romney supporter, former New Hampshire governor, John Sununu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He said this on March 20th, in Chicago, "I'm very supportive of the Ryan budget plan." He said, "I think it would be marvelous if the Senate were to pick up Paul Ryan's budget and adopt it and pass it along to the president."

That sounds like a lot of support. Am I wrong?

JOHN SUNUNU, SENIOR ROMNEY CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: It's support for the concepts that are in the Ryan plan. But Mitt Romney for six months has had on the table his package, his plan, and his approach for dealing with Medicare. And if all you want to do is keep repeating the garbage that comes out of the White House, then you've got a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, joining us now is Tara Wall, communications adviser for the Romney campaign.

And, Tara, let's set the record straight, OK? John Sununu says Mitt Romney's plan has been out there for six months. How does Mitt Romney's plan differ substantially from Paul Ryan's budget? We're talking about Medicare, Medicaid, privatization of Social Security.

Let's start with Medicare -- how does it differ?

TARA WALL, SR. COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: Well, I would say first and foremost that this ticket is unified. It is a unified ticket. I think with any ticket and any personality you have differences. You have different viewpoints and ways of handling things.

But certainly they are 100 percent on the same page and on the same path, relative to saying that we have to reform Medicare. We have to reform the system because it's not sustainable. It's not going to be there, period.

I think at the end of the day, folks can talk about al these differences and similarities and all of that. The main thing is, both Romney and Ryan acknowledge and recognize the fact that we have to do something about Medicare. We have to do something about entitlements and reforming the system and ensuring that our seniors are taken care of. And that this country is sustainable from a debt and fiscal standpoint.

The bottom line --

FEYERICK: I understand that.

WALL: But the bottom line is that I think probably the big -- one of the things that the governor has talked about early on was making sure obviously that the folks 55 and over, they --hat we will not touch anything -- nothing will be changed for them at all.

But offering options like vouchers and things like that and opportunities for folks to look at this from a common sense approach that will help to alleviate our debt and our burden on Americans to start solving problems for this, something that this administration has yet to do.

So I think there's boldness in that. And I think again, there's unity with this ticket relative to going forward --

(CROSSTALK)

FEYERICK: But I understand there's unity. So, Tara, hold on one second. I do understand there's unity. But you say, you know, both Ryan and Romney are intent on Medicare reform. Well, arguably so is President Obama.

So everybody agrees about that. That something's got to be done. But I guess the question is, when you say it seems that Paul Ryan is saying that Medicare will not be touched for those over 55. It's the younger generation, like me and you, we're the ones who are going to be affected by that.

But how -- but that's what Paul Ryan is saying. So is Mitt Ryan -- I'm sorry, is Mitt Romney saying something different? Has he separated himself on that? Or are they hand in hand?

WALL: One thing President Obama is not talking about is our generation. I would hope we start talking about what our generation needs to do to address this and not leaving debt to future generations. I would hope that our generation does not do that.

And I think that we -- that is what Paul Ryan is talking about. I think he brings a fresh air and experience and excitement to this ticket because he is talking about these things for our generation. And I think that makes it very real and very relevant to our generation.

FEYERICK: Right. I understand that, Tara. I understand that.

But here's what I'm asking. John Sununu was very emphatic that Paul Ryan's plan is not Mitt Romney's plan. That Mitt Romney's plan is different. But what I'm hearing is you're simply repeating what Paul Ryan is saying.

So I'm asking for voters, for folks who are watching, what are the fundamental differences so that if there is a distancing of the Paul Ryan plan, saying, no, no, we have our own plan, what is that plan? That's where I'm confused.

WALL: I think -- there's no confusion. I think that this is a -- this is something that people are just kind of putting out there. There is no confusion. I don't -- frankly don't understand what the confusion is.

The point is, you have a Romney-Ryan ticket, and you have great ideas about how we address this issue, and I think at the end of the day, this will be a President Romney's plan to addressing entitlement reform, debt reduction, and reforming Medicaid.

At the end of the day, that's what we should be -- we are talking about, what we should be talking about, and there are no differences relative to how we address this going forward with these two great men at the top of the ticket.

FEYERICK: OK. Tara Wall in Washington, communications adviser for the Romney campaign -- thank you so much. We really appreciate your joining us today.

WALL: Thank you.

FEYERICK: Well, she frustrated feminists, but in the '60s, she gave millions of American women a voice they had never had before. We will look at the legacy of Helen Gurley Brown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, she infuriated feminists by saying things like, "Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere. " Helen Gurley Brown helped define the sexual revolution in the 1960s with her book "Sex and the Single Girl."

For more than 30 years as the longtime editor of "Cosmopolitan" magazine, she empowered women. Her death yesterday underscored the role she played in the women's lib movement.

Alina Cho is joining us from New York.

And, Alina, boy, this was a woman who was truly ahead of her time, in many respects.

CHO: In many respects, and she really was an icon. It's a word we throw around a lot in fashion, Deb, but it's actually true. But if you think about it, any time you see a scantily clad woman on the cover of a magazine with the headline that says "sex", you can thank Helen Gurley Brown.

Now, remember when, Gurley Brown wrote "Sex and the Single Girl" back in 1962, June Cleaver was the ideal woman, the perfect wife, the perfect mother, and the perfect cook. Now, what Gurley Brown did was talk about sex and lots of it.

And she also told women it was OK to be unmarried and have sex, which was revolutionary at the time. Three years later in 1965, she became the editor of "Cosmopolitan" magazine. She threw out the recipes for jell-o salad and replaced them with sex tips. She was that girl. The "Cosmo" girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HELEN GURLEY BROWN: I stopped working for a while to write books. But I was getting all this mail from a whole lot of constituents out there, because at the time, there wasn't anybody giving advice to single girls. If you were having sex with a man, of any persuasion, you were supposed to go, throw yourself in the Grand Canyon or put your head in the oven and get it over with.

I just said that wasn't the case. So, I'm getting, you know, single women were having a good sex life, probably better than their married friends.

LARRY KING: Really?

BROWN: Yes. And they weren't in bad trouble at all. So I'm getting so much mail.

David said, why don't you start a magazine? We didn't know you couldn't do that. So we did it in a format and we got it to "Cosmo", which was failing and they said we could try the format on their old dying magazine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: As you can see, Gurley Brown was a petite woman. She was about 5'4" and 100 pounds. She also said that she was five pounds over her ideal weight.

Meanwhile, she remained the editor of "Cosmopolitan" magazine until 1997, 32 years. After she stepped down, she remained the editor of "Cosmo's" international editions, and until her death, she kept an office at Hearst Tower.

Now today, "Cosmo" has 64 international editions. It is the number one selling women's magazine in the world. Now, Hearst just released a statement this morning saying in part, "Helen Gurley Brown was the real deal. She was the most successful magazine editor in America, making 'Cosmopolitan' into the largest selling women's magazine in 64 countries. She had an empowering message for women that today continues to span the globe."

And as luck would have it, I just got off the phone with the current editor of "Cosmo," Kate White, who said she was so authentic and a little bit quirky in a way that makes people memorable and charismatic. She added, Deb, that she only had the pleasure of having lunch with Gurley Brown once, but she remembered very distinctly that she ate her salad with her fingers. And when she asked Gurley Brown why she did that, she said, because it's sexier. And that's exactly what Kate White says made Gurley Brown distinctive and what made her stand out from the pack -- Deb.

FEYERICK: It really is amazing. I met her about a dozen years ago. What was so incredible she is such a strong and vivacious woman, so elegant, and yet so petite. You wonder how all of that energy fit into such a small elegant package. But she certainly is defined a generation.

Alina Cho, thank you so much.

CHO: You bet.

FEYERICK: Well, be careful who or what you like on Facebook. It could lead to big problems with your boss. One group of sheriff's deputies say they were fired because of it. We'll share their legal fight over the First Amendment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Stocks on Wall Street are set for a higher open today. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange where the ringing of the opening bell happened just a couple of moments ago.

And there was a little bit of star power down there ringing that bell, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rob Pattinson, you know him of "Twilight" fame, Deb, and more recently caught up in the Kristen Stewart-Rupert Sanders cheating scandal.

But he's not here to talk about that. He's here to talk about the opening of his movie "Cosmopolis," that actually opens here in New York and L.A. on Friday and then nationwide on August 24th. And Pattinson plays a financial wiz kid and billionaire asset manager in this thriller.

As for the market, looks like a pretty strong open right now, the Dow is up about 45 points after a better than expected report on retail sales. Sales in the U.S. rose in July for the first time in four months.

Also some good news out of Europe with France and Germany reporting better than expected economic growth for the second quarter, although the overall eurozone economy shrank.

We are also continuing to watch corn prices after the USDA warned on Friday of a massive slump in production because of the drought in the Midwest. Corn prices hit an all-time high last week climbing to almost $8.5 a bushel. They since come off those highs, but still are up above 50 percent since the spring.

Consumers are feeling those rises prices at the gas pump. Aren't you, Deb, when you hit those places? I know I am.

FEYERICK: Yes, no question about it. No question about it.

By the way, you know, I still like Robert Pattinson from his role in Harry Potter. But that says more about the kind of movies I'm watching these days than it does about Robert Pattinson.

KOSIK: OK.

FEYERICK: Thank you so much, Alison Kosik, New York Stock Exchange.

Well, Facebook and free speech are the focus of a battle brewing over your freedom of speech in social media. It begins with six sheriff's deputies in Virginia. They say they were fired for liking the Facebook page of their boss' political opponent.

Well, they sued, saying they and their jobs should be protected by the First Amendment, freedom of speech. However, federal judge said, uh-oh, no.

Now, both Facebook and the UCLA are jumping into the fight to define your rights.

CNN legal contributor Paul Callan joins me now.

And just for the wider audience, Paul, basically when you click "like" on Facebook, you're letting somebody know they enjoyed something they posted. The judge ruled that liking a person or a group is a symbolic expression.

Now, how is that not protected under the First Amendment?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you have to understand first of all that in the workplace, a lot of things are not protected under the First Amendment. "Businessweek" had a great headline recently. It said workplace, where free speech goes to die.

In other words, you criticize your employer, if you're in the private sector, you can clearly be fired. Maybe you'll get some union protection if there's a contract in place. Even if you're a public employee, you may be fired depending upon what the expression is.

But the judge in this case went way beyond even that concept by saying, this isn't even speech. He's saying by pressing the "like" button on Facebook, you're not really saying anything, and I'm not going to even view it as speech. So he doesn't even get to the level of analysis as to whether it's protected or not. He says not speech at all.

FEYERICK: You know, OK, well, all things being equal, certainly, it was not the smartest career move on the part of these men. But still, Facebook basically said, the ruling was based on an apparent misunderstanding of the way Facebook works. How so? When you click like, you don't necessarily have to leave a comment.

CALLAN: No, you don't. And I think Facebook has a point. And they submitted a brief in the case. The UCLA submitted a brief, indicating that the judge maybe doesn't understand how Facebook works because people who use Facebook know that generally when they click "like" next to a posting on a Facebook page, they are endorsing some aspect of that posting. And in a sense, it's political speech. It's like two thumbs up at a political rally.

I think it's clearly political speech. And I think there's a very, very good chance that on appeal, this ruling will be reversed. But we're in a brave new world of social media. And we have new rules, and a lot of people don't know how Facebook works even in this day and age and what the like and dislike symbols mean, although I don't think there's a dislike symbol, I think it's only like.

FEYERICK: I think you delike or you unlike or --

CALLAN: Oh, you can unlike something.

FEYERICK: Just to ignore.

CALLAN: Yes, I know. Facebook has been playing around with that. But you get to the bigger issue about social media, and is it free speech like publishing in the newspaper or giving an actual speech.

FEYERICK: Sure. And clearly, you know, Sheriff B.J. Roberts won re-election. His political opponent did not. So as I said, career-wise, not really a smart move on the part of these men. But the sheriff blamed the firing on poor job performance, and the fact that their Facebook activity hurt the harmony and efficiency of the office.

So it is on some levels -- don't they have a case of retaliation?

CALLAN: Well, yes. If this is speech, free speech and protected speech and they were fired for expressing that speech, they most certainly do have a case. They have a very strong case to be reinstated. So they really have got to establish to this judge that this is speech. And then he looks at speech and says, was that type of speech legitimate political speech or was it disruptive of the office?

Now, if it's disruptive of the office, you can still be fired. So these employment cases get very, very complex.

FEYERICK: Yes.

CALLAN: But he starts out right in this very important area, is social media speech, protected speech.

FEYERICK: It's fascinating.

CALLAN: Most judges say yes.

FEYERICK: It's like creating laws in the Wild West. All of it is new and unique. I tell my friends when in doubt, just stay out.

So, Paul Callan in New York, thank you so much for joining us.

CALLAN: Thank you, Deb.

FEYERICK: Well, now that the tickets are set for both sides in the upcoming presidential election, what's the buzz been since Paul Ryan officially entered the contest? We track some social media numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Exploding onto the scene. Well, it seems to be happening to Paul Ryan, even though he's been in Congress since 1999. That's what we're seeing on the world's largest social network, Facebook.

And we are tracking the numbers on our exclusive Facebook CNN election talk meter.

Joining me now is CNN political director Mark Preston.

Mark, no doubt that the newly named Republican ticket has really created a buzz on Facebook. Ryan even beating the president, right?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: H is. And this is according to the scale created by Facebook that measures buzz and attention around a specific person, topic, or event. In this case, Ryan is the most buzzable politician on Facebook.

And part of that reason why, is because Ryan is on top, is that Facebook's decision making process is based on the increase in chatter both positive and negative about him, as well as the number of people who have liked his page.

To give you some perspective, Ryan is just one point below what Michael Phelps reached on the same scale when he became the most decorated Olympian of all time, Deb.

FEYERICK: Now, he literally started from zero on his fan page. So this is a dramatic sort of increase, and the interest that he's generating.

PRESTON: Yes, and without a doubt. Ryan's fan page grew from zero to over half a million people in the last few days, and that number continues to rise as we speak, which just goes to show how much interest there is in Mitt Romney's presidential pick certainly on Facebook.

FEYERICK: OK. So overall, let's dig a little deeper and look at the age and the gender breakdown for the two party tickets.

PRESTON: Sure. You know, the average age of the person who liked President Obama's fan page, for example, was 28 years old. Mitt Romney, 46 years old. Paul Ryan, 43 years old.

As for gender, it's pretty much split right down the middle. For Obama, Vice president Biden and Romney. But look at this, 63 percent of Ryan's fans are men, while only 37 percent are women, which is kind of an interesting figure. Certainly as we head into November and Republicans are trying to make inroads with women, Deb.

FEYERICK: That is incredible that President Obama's attracting a younger crowd, and Paul Ryan coming in at 43. That means the people liking him are a year older than he is.

Well, Mark, among the four candidates, there's an interesting gender gap also in the face of the data which you just referenced really.

PRESTON: Yes. And, again, it all goes to what is now being buzzable right now on Facebook. And it just goes to show that perhaps Republicans need to do a better job of trying to get women, Deb, to come to them. And they need to do a better job of reaching out to them.

FEYERICK: Well, interesting. And certainly it's going to be very interesting to see how you're tracking this whole Facebook phenomenon when it comes to watching the various candidates.

Mark Preston, for us in Washington, thanks so much.

PRESTON: Thanks, Deb.

FEYERICK: Well, Medicare just jumped to the front of the line for the presidential candidates. And it's all thanks to the newest member of the GOP ticket. Dr. Sanjay Gupta helps us break down the revitalized Medicare debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Checking our "Top Stories".

Your wallet is a little lighter this morning. That's because there's a new update on the cost of the auto bailout. The Treasury Department expects the losses to top $25 billion on the $85 billion bailout. One big reason: GM's plummeting stock price.

Both presidential tickets are touring the country as they rev up their campaigns now, just 84 days until the election. President Obama is in Iowa. Mitt Romney in Ohio, a key battle ground state.

His new running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan, visits Colorado and Nevada. And Vice President Joe Biden, he's campaigning in Virginia.

And a set of quintuplets was born in Dallas yesterday, their mother, a missionary, calls them five tiny bundles of perfection. The three boys and two girls are in stable condition in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit until they gain weight. The smallest one was only one pound, 12 ounces at birth.

Well, with the addition of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to the GOP presidential ticket, the debate over health care grows even more passionate. Ryan says he has to change Medicare to save it and that could hit a lot of seniors right in the wallet.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me now to help us understand Ryan's plan. And the one thing I want to start about is we're hearing from Romney- Ryan that President Obama has cut $710 billion. So what is that?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is interesting. And I'll preface by saying that it's really no different than what the Ryan plan puts forth as well in terms of projected cuts.

So what they are basically saying is, look, Medicare grows at a certain rate and so does the economy and so does Gross Domestic Product. We're going to cap the growth of Medicare. It's going to be Gross Domestic Product plus half a percent. We're not going to let it grow any more than that.

If you figure that out and you play that out over 10 years that ends up being about $700 billion according to Congressional Budget Office. But again, the point is that there's no difference here. They are the exact same cap -- with the Ryan plan or the Affordable Care Act.

With the Ryan plan, I'll point out quickly, is that first of all it doesn't affect people who are 55 and older. So it's not of -- it's not immediate impact. But also the way it works ultimately is people when they get to retirement age are going to be given a choice. Do they stay with Medicare or do they join a private plan that is set up to act like Medicare. It's a -- it gives the same sort of services as Medicare does, or do you join a sort of an exchange where you can buy your insurance wherever you want. That's what the Ryan plan does. You know that's essentially how he's sort of getting at these costs.

FEYERICK: But -- but when we talk about that. So for example, you and I, when we -- when it comes time for us to -- to -- to access Medicare, it's going to be a fundamentally different plan under Romney/Ryan than it is today. Can the same be said about President Obama? Will -- will -- it be the same?

GUPTA: That's a good question. I think if you -- if you play it out and some of this is obviously you know just trying to assume certain things that are -- that will be true several years from now.

But I think the overall impact probably from the Romney-Ryan plan will be felt more on the consumer because now they're going to be in this position where they're going to have to decide, do they stay with Medicare, do they join a private insurance plan. What are they going to do? How are they going to pay for it?

With the Obama plan, with the Affordable Care Act, it's more sort of on the provider side. So hospitals, physicians, other providers having to decide are they going to take less money to provide those same services and to achieve those costs?

But again, the number that everyone fixates on, the one that you brought up, the $700 some billion dollars is a total projection and what both campaigns are likely to tell you in the days going forward is that our plan, whoever is speaking, is going to reduce costs. So it's not going to be $700 billion in cuts because we're actually going to reduce Medicare costs in our various ways.

With -- with President Obama, he says we're setting up an independent payment advisory board to determine what works and what we should pay for. And with the -- with the Ryan plan they talk about the fact that we're going to -- you know create this private sector competition to drive down costs.

So this really gets at the heart of, you know, these -- these two plans and really the principles of these two parties.

FEYERICK: And just very quickly, seniors now, do they benefit or lose more under one of the plans?

GUPTA: Well, you know, again, with the Ryan plan, if it goes forth ever it's -- it's not -- are going to affect people who are 55 and older. So really for ten years you're not going to feel any impact of that.

FEYERICK: And so there's a pillow, there's a cushion?

GUPTA: There's a cushion there.

FEYERICK: Ok.

GUPTA: So with the -- with the -- with the Affordable Care Act, a little bit harder to say but I think the implementation is going to go in sooner.

FEYERICK: Ok, Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. It's always great to see you.

GUPTA: A lot to talk about it. Yes, you too.

FEYERICK: We can talk forever. Thank you, I appreciate it.

GUPTA: Thank you.

FEYERICK: Well, in music, Taylor Swift announces when her new album releases. We've got all the details coming up in Showbiz headlines.

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FEYERICK: Well, we've got some good news for all of you Taylor Swift fans. She brought some big news chatting with fans last night. The 22-year-old music sensation announced her fourth album "Red" releases worldwide in just a couple of months.

Showbiz correspondent, Nischelle Turner is live for us in Los Angeles with more details. Good morning, Nischelle.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN SHOWBIZ CORRESPONDENT: Hey good morning, Deb. You know yes, this is -- this is good news for Taylor Swift fans. Once again, she is turning turmoil, personal turmoil into a pop hit. You know this is kind of become her thing, hasn't it?

As she announced the new album, she also released her brand new single "We are Never Getting Back Together" and I think she said it just like that, which is already number one on iTunes. And no, she didn't identify who the song is about although she did tell ABC that she wrote the song about someone that she had a messy break-up with.

So boys, beware. If you're dating young Taylor, odds are the song is about you. Now, according to Taylor, she called the album "Red" because of the tumultuous crazy adventures of love and loss that it chronicled. In my mind when you experience love that's fast paced and out of control and mixes infatuation, jealousy, frustration, miscommunication and all of those lovely emotions, in retrospect it all looks "Red".

This album is going to be available worldwide in October. And Deb, I don't know about you but for 22 years old, that girl seems like she has been through some things. FEYERICK: I was just thinking the exact same thing. I did not have that much drama in my life when I was 22 years old and I regret it.

TURNER: Me neither.

FEYERICK: I know. All right.

TURNER: She's got a lot to write about. Doesn't she?

FEYERICK: Yes she does, take note, all you young people.

All right, thanks so much Nischelle, I appreciate it. We'll check back with you.

TURNER: Thanks Deb.

FEYERICK: Much more ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM which begins after a quick break.

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