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Seven U.S. Troops Killed in Chopper Crash; Ryan Slams Obama on Medicare; Fight Intensifies Over Voter ID Law; Facebook Stock Down 5 Percent; Arizona Governor Bans Benefits for Illegal Immigrants

Aired August 16, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening right now in the NEWSROOM, bomb scare. Terrifying moments aboard a transatlantic flight. A jumbo jet flying from New York to Moscow makes an emergency landing in Iceland.

And backing Biden; President Obama is standing by his vice president this morning. The "chains" comment still drawing fire.

And we have a winner. The winning $337 million Mega Jackpot Powerball ticket sold in Michigan, the winner beating the 1 in 175 million odds. This also means you still have to go to work today.

And King Felix. A perfect game and a perfect night. The premier pitcher from Seattle. Felix Hernandez in the spotlight. And retiring all 27 batters he faced.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: And this breaking news out of Afghanistan this morning. A NATO Black Hawk helicopter crashed, killing at least 11 people. Seven of them are U.S. service members. This happened in southern Afghanistan. But NATO's International Security Assistance Force isn't giving an exact location.

Here is an example of what a UH-60 Black Hawk chopper looks like. Among the dead, three Afghan troops and an interpreter. We'll keep you updated as we get more information this morning on this downing of that Black Hawk in Afghanistan.

Also just in, a new measure of the economy. Just minutes ago, we learned of an uptick in the number of Americans filing their first claim for jobless benefits. The new number, 366,000, that's 2,000 more people than the week before. So what does that mean?

Our Maribel Aber is at the New York Stock Exchange.

First off, what does this say about the so-called recovery?

MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka. well, you know what, it's not bad news, per se. Of course we'd always like to see a decline. This reading was essentially flat, but much better than some of the dramatic jumps that we've been seeing a couple of months ago. Jobless claims, they correlate closely with layoffs. So the higher the number, the more layoffs we're seeing.

And we just learned a couple of weeks ago that U.S. employers added 163,000 jobs in July. So it's not a great -- in the big picture of things, but much better than what we expected.

So the bottom line, Fredricka, is that the job market overall, it's moving forward. But it's not a straight line, and it's pretty much a slow improvement. And we just have to hope that August report will continue to point to a rebound.

WHITFIELD: And how did this measure up with expectations?

Sure. Well, Wall Street was forecasting a slightly bigger rise, so this was a bit better than expected. But we'd like to see here claims staying consistently around that 350,000 mark to signal a slow recovery, and then ideally make their way down to 300,000. So the problem here is that we've been in this 350,000 range since November and just haven't been able to make much headway here.

There is still roughly 13 million Americans out of work. So it's not going to be an easy or quick task, Fredricka. We just hope for that downward trend.

All right, Maribel. Thanks so much. Appreciate that from the New York Stock Exchange.

All right. President Barack Obama's program to help young illegal immigrants avoid deportation is facing a new hurdle. That program is now being challenged by Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAN BREWER, GOVERNOR OF ARIZONA: We will issue an employment authorization card to those people that apply, but they will not be entitled to a driver's license nor will they be entitled to any public benefits in response to the public overwhelmingly voting that no public benefits would be extended to illegal aliens in the state of Arizona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Many people in Arizona are already protesting Governor Brewer's decision. She claims the president's plan will cost her state more money. His executive order allows undocumented children and teens to get a work permit and avoid deportation for two years.

They can also be deported while their application is -- they cannot, rather, be deported while their application is being considered.

Miguel Marquez is joining us right now.

Miguel, Governor Brewer's action could affect 80,000 people in her state alone.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could affect them, but we won't know for several months. It will take -- it's a five- or six-month process from the time they put that application in. So we'll see what happens along the way and whether or not there's a federal test and this ends up in the courts all over again.

But I want to show you here in Los Angeles, it's 6 o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles. We're out in front of this immigrant rights group here. This certainly hasn't slowed people down at all. There has been a line forming here since 3 o'clock in the morning so they can get into workshops, so they can figure out how to get these new benefits and how to apply for this deferred action plan.

In Arizona, they were doing the same thing yesterday, thousands of people lining up across Arizona in order to get that plan as well. What Jan Brewer is talking about is denying them a driver's license and any sort of public benefits.

It's not entirely clear what they would be applying for, perhaps whether it's student loans or whether it's assistance for food and rent. But those are the sort of things she is trying to deny them. And a couple of folks in Arizona had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What Jan Brewer did today is bullying. She's bullying the voiceless, she's bullying children that they can't defend themselves, and she is bullying immigrant youth that don't have a voice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As an Hispanic, as an undocumented person, I don't -- don't know what else to do. I feel -- I live in fear. My life -- I can't go forward or backwards. I just -- we need an opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: So this really sets up yet another fight in the immigration policy debate. The people here behind me are taking full advantage of this. We will see in the months ahead how this plays out.

But most likely we'll see what Jan Brewer has done yesterday in the courts again. And it could all be resolved before these applications even get processed and before anyone starts to receive their deferred action notices.

WHITFIELD: So, Miguel, do we know whether there's any response from the Obama administration or Justice Department to respond to Jan Brewer's comments?

MARQUEZ: I have not seen any response as of yet. I don't know that they are even -- they are probably trying to figure out if they -- what response they should have, if they even have to have one. It sounds to me like this is something that will probably end up in the courts eventually.

WHITFIELD: All right. Miguel Marquez, thank you so much from Los Angeles.

All right. New developments to a story we told you about yesterday, Joe Biden's latest campaign trail gaffe where he told an audience, "Romney's bank deregulation plan will put y'all back in chains," quote, unquote. Well, now the president is standing behind what his vice president said.

Meanwhile, Republicans used it as an opportunity to slam the vice president for what some consider a poor choice of words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He said in the first 100 days, he's going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street. He's going to put y'all back in chains.

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: There weren't enough groans and boos when he said such a disgusting comment, really, especially to a demographic there that includes about 48 percent of the community being black Americans.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NYC: I have never seen a vice president that has made as many mistakes, said as many stupid things. I mean, there's a real fear if, God forbid, he ever had to be entrusted with the presidency whether he really has the mental capacity to handle it.

This guy just isn't bright. He's never been bright. He isn't bright and people just think, well, he just talks a little too much. Actually, he's just not very smart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Our White House correspondent Briana Keilar is now at the White House.

So most of this criticism, Briana, is coming from Republicans. But what is the White House saying besides the fact that the president is standing behind or standing along with, you know, Joe Biden? Anything else that may kind of change the scope of the dialogue coming from the White House or even from Joe Biden?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really the president, in his words, Fred, because he actually did speak while on his Iowa bus tour to "Entertainment Tonight" and "People" magazine while he was in Dubuque, Iowa. He talked to "Entertainment Tonight." He said, just kind of brushing aside the criticism here.

He said, "We don't spend a lot of time worrying about the chatter and the noise and this and that. The country isn't as divided with gaffes or some stray remark as Washington is. Most folks know that's just sort of a WWF wrestling part of politics. It doesn't mean anything, just fills up a lot of airtime."

So we're also -- if you look today at the public schedule for President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden in all of the meetings. So certainly -- and the White House wouldn't say this is what it is. But there's the sort of appearance that very much he is in step with his vice president. But I think that part of this is, Fred -- and I have actually -- I've been down to the area where Vice President Biden was speaking when I was covering congressional races there. It's not really a super- friendly area, to tell you the truth, to President Obama, quite the contrary.

But a lot of the support that President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden get from that area of southern Virginia and also from North Carolina, some similar voting demographics there, come from black voters. And that's why I think so much of this criticism has come out, especially in an election where every single word is going to be scrutinized.

And perhaps that wasn't the best choice of words for Vice President Biden to use. But right now, President Obama, standing by him, and really just kind of saying, you know, really, let's not focus too much on these words.

WHITFIELD: Is there even a better explanation from -- whether it be Biden or any of the White House's surrogates -- as to what Biden was really trying to say?

KEILAR: Well, they're saying, Fred, that he was really talking about this in terms of Wall Street reform, that he was trying to point out that Mitt Romney's plan for how you would deal with Wall Street is that it would be less regulations, that the banks would be able to run the show.

We did hear from one surrogate who hasn't always backed up the president, I should say, Cory Booker. Here's what he said.

MAYOR CORY BOOKER (D), NEWARK, N.J.: Listen to the whole speech. This was a substantive speech about how we're going to reform Wall Street, about how we're going to protect consumers, about how we're going to stop the overleveraging of banks, about how we're going to create a consumer bill of rights, a credit card bill of rights, how we're going to go against predatory lending.

All of that is the substantive things that my majority black city in Newark is concerned with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So Newark Mayor Cory Booker there, defending President Obama, saying look -- or defending Vice President Biden, saying look at all of the comments that he said. But that's not the case with every single Democrat. In fact, Douglas Wilder, former Virginia governor, first African-American governor, is saying that it's inappropriate, that you can't defend it.

And you're seeing, from the Romney campaign, Mitt Romney himself is accusing the Obama campaign of a campaign of division and anger and hate.

So I think it's also interesting, Fred, to point out President Obama was having these interviews, where we read the statement that he said, "Entertainment Tonight" and "People." these are supposed to be fluffy interviews that he's doing, something that more speaks to his personality. And he ended up answering some pretty serious questions. So maybe not exactly where the campaign wants to be, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Briana Keilar at the White House, appreciate that.

All right. There's some rain in the forecast today for Flint, Michigan. But it's an absolutely glorious day for the $337 million winner of last night's Powerball.

Here are the winning numbers just in case you want to double check your tickets: 6, 27, 46, 51, 56, and the Powerball number 21. The single winning ticket was actually sold in Lapeer, Michigan, near Flint. The jackpot is the third highest in Powerball history. And there were more winners. Eight players won the $1 million Match Five prize. So we get a little bit of something there.

In sports, the MVP of baseball's All-Star game is suspended after testing positive for testosterone. San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera apologized to the team and his fans. Cabrera will miss a total of 50 games. That works out to the rest of the regular season, plus five more games, served either in the playoffs or next year.

Cabrera, who leads the National League in hits, has been a huge factor in the Giants' playoff push.

And a happier story from baseball now. Seattle's Felix Hernandez threw a perfect game against Tampa Bay, right there. It's the 23rd perfect game in Major League history, and the third this season alone. After the game, Hernandez was asked how he felt about winning in front of the home crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FELIX HERNANDEZ, PITCHER, SEATTLE MARINERS: Awesome. I think they deserve it and I deserve it too. I mean --

(LAUGHTER)

HERNANDEZ: Yes, (inaudible). It's unbelievable. But you know what? It's -- I mean, I'm a little sad because my wife take a flight back to Venezuela last week. She's not here. The kids are not here. And I'm alone, man.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, maybe they got a chance to see the replays. Hernandez, nicknamed King Felix, is one of baseball's premier pitchers. He won the Cy Young Award in 2010 and is often the topic of trade rumors, but he seems perfectly happy in Seattle. And we're perfectly happy with him. All right. A Chinese boy learns a very valuable lesson right between the ears -- he gets stuck in a hole in a guard rail. We'll tell you how this story ends.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: More breaking news to share with you out of Louisiana, where CNN has confirmed a manhunt is underway after two officers were killed and two others hospitalized after a shooting that happened around 5:00 a.m. local time this morning in LaPlace, Louisiana, which is west of New Orleans.

Officials say the deputies who are members of the St. John Baptist Parish were conducting traffic at the time of the shooting when they were, quote, "ambushed." This taking place apparently near the bayou steel plant, in a parking lot of highway 3217 there in LaPlace, Louisiana. Four deputies shot. Two, we understand, have actually died. More information on that as we get it.

Meantime, other top stories we're following now, the founder of WikiLeaks is being offered asylum in Ecuador. Julian Assange has been living in Ecuador's embassy in London for nearly two months now. Assange is accused of sexual assault in Sweden, which he denies. British police have been waiting outside to arrest him, and the Ecuadorian foreign minister says in a letter that the British have threatened to storm the embassy and arrest Assange.

A bomb threat forces an air flight from New York to Moscow to divert to Iceland. The plane with 253 people onboard landed safely. Crews had been searching through the passengers' luggage.

All right. Less than three months until the presidential election, do you think you can last that long? It seems like both sides are always on the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Governor Romney explained his energy policy this way. You can't drive a car with a windmill on it. That's what he said about wind power. Now, I know he's tried some other things on top of a car. I didn't know he had tried windmills on top of a car.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He demonizes some. He panders to others. His campaign strategy is to smash America apart, and then try to cobble together 51 percent of the pieces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Barbara Comstock is the Virginia co-chair for the Mitt Romney campaign. She's joining us live right now.

So, Barbara, good to see you.

So these negative ads, both sides have been accused of such, and are guilty of such. Is there any real worry that this is going to be turning off the electorate in general?

BARBARA COMSTOCK, ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT INC.: Well, what we're doing when we go door-to-door every day and make phone calls is we are talking about the issues. And that's what Governor Romney and Paul Ryan are doing, as they go around the country.

What you cover in the press -- I have to say I'm amazed in the setup piece you just did that you didn't even show Wolf Blitzer's interviews from your own network with Artur Davis, the man who seconded Obama's nomination, and Doug Wilder, the first African-American governor in this country, from my state of Virginia, where Joe Biden made his outrageous remarks, and you didn't see their denouncements of Joe Biden. You just showed Republicans from another network. That's the most bizarre way of telling the story that I've ever seen.

I mean, Wolf Blitzer did very substantive interviews yesterday asking both of those gentlemen their thoughts. Doug Wilder said, you know, you don't make jokes about slavery. And, you know, I don't know -- Joe Biden, 70 years old, and he hasn't figured that out yet. But the people of Virginia and elsewhere want to talk about the substantive issues.

And when we had rallies this past weekend and had thousands, tens of thousands of people turn out, we talked about the 23 million unemployed. We talked about our plan to get people back to work. And we talked about the utter failure of this administration. And they want to now change this race and have Joe Biden making jokes about slavery. Something that is so outrageous that even Doug Wilder had to denounce it.

Yet your own network can't even cover --

WHITFIELD: Well, actually, all those sentiments have been making airtime. We are a 24/7 news network.

COMSTOCK: Not a lot here.

WHITFIELD: You're aware of it because you saw it on this network, right?

COMSTOCK: Yes. But you haven't been replaying it this morning, have you?

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about what's at issue here. While we have both sides accusing the other of being negative, clearly, it is kind of tit for tat. And at what point does it end?

COMSTOCK: Again, you want to ignore the fact that Democrats are critical of this president and this vice president. Artur Davis, who was the man who seconded Obama for presidency, has now called him out because he realizes what a disaster this health care plan is and how anti-jobs this administration is. And so, you have Democrats, independents, and Republicans talking substance. Those are two very substantive men that Wolf Blitzer had on yesterday. And Artur Davis went into detail how issue after issue, this president has been dividing people by race and by class and not talking about 23 million unemployed.

Black unemployment is the highest it's been in decades. Women are at their lowest level of employment now. And you see new numbers coming out that are still low, still abysmal. And this president still is putting out tax increases and a tax on small businesses.

WHITFIELD: And is it your charge that if the president isn't addressing this, then the candidates that you're backing are? In what way?

COMSTOCK: Of course we are. We are out there. Come out and instead of following the little sound bites that you like to focus on come out to the rallies and see what people are talking about. That's not what you cover, because when you talk to people on the phone calls and door-to-door and when you go to the rallies, people are concerned about their children's future. The crushing $16 trillion debt.

The president said he would cut the debt in half yet he's increased it $1 trillion every year. That is suffocating small businesses. That's why you had a small businessman just yesterday or today in Virginia say, I don't want Joe Biden in my business. He's killing my business.

What they're doing policy-wise is hurting businesses. And not allowing people to start businesses and get out there and start spending again, because we don't know how much will be taken away from us.

My state of Virginia is ground zero for tax increases from Barack Obama and from guts to our military that will cost up to 200,000 jobs. Yet he doesn't want to talk about that. We're talking about that every day.

And I can tell you our defense community, our high tech community, is very concerned about these job cuts.

WHITFIELD: OK. One of the issues that Mitt Romney is being pressed on, and his wife Ann Romney was pressed on most recently in an interview with NBC News, is about tax returns and releasing those kinds of documents. And this is what that interview -- this was the crux of that interview, and this was the response from Ann Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S WIFE: We have no issues that way. And the only reason we don't disclose any more is, you know, we would just become a bigger target.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it's because you'll just continue to face more questions?

ROMNEY: Well, it will just give them more ammunition. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the American people, though, when they hear about, you know, perhaps accounts with your name on it overseas, and tax shelters, they feel like you may be hiding something.

ROMNEY: There's nothing we're hiding. We've had a blind trust for how many years. We don't even know what's in there. It's been managed by a blind trust since before Mitt was governor, 2002, forward. And so, you know, I'll be curious to see what's in there too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Barbara, how long will this continue to haunt the campaign? Why doesn't the Romney campaign just go ahead and release more tax returns so that, you know, the questions can stop being asked?

COMSTOCK: Well, again, you bring up an issue that people out there are worried about, their own taxes and the tax increases the president is going to bring. Actually, the truth is, is that Ann didn't even point out they have gone beyond what's required by law. They have disclosed actual tax returns and they will for two years.

And this is American people -- again when you talk to them and talk to the voters, they are concerned about their future, about their jobs. And Mitt Romney's been very successful, has been extremely generous. They give over 10 percent of their money to charity, to the poor. You know, and to have that be attacked.

And again, that's the only thing that the Biden camp -- Obama-Biden camp wants to talk about because they can't talk about the 23 million unemployed, 8.3 unemployment, and they aren't answering the issues about how to turn around the economy.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are. They have a plan. Go to MittRomney.com and you'll see the jobs plan. They are going to do things like we did in Virginia, make jobs number one.

WHITFIELD: All right.

COMSTOCK: When jobs are number one, and that's what people are talking about, and that's what you focus on, that's the way we're going to get this economy turned around and get people back to work.

WHITFIELD: All right, Barbara Comstock. Sorry, we're up against a break and we're out of time.

Virginia co-chair for the Mitt Romney campaign. Thanks you so much for your time from Washington.

COMSTOCK: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we'll have much more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Good morning again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Carol Costello.

We begin with breaking news out of Afghanistan this morning. A NATO Blackhawk helicopter crashed, killing at least 11 people. Seven of them are U.S. service members.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is at the Pentagon with more on this.

What are the circumstances of this Blackhawk going down?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDETN: Well, the military still is investigating, Fredricka, trying to determine how this helicopter went down. The Taliban has now claimed responsibility for shooting it down. But you've got to take anything they say with a grain of salt because they have made claims in the past, many claims, that turned out not to be true. In fact, they often claim responsibility for any deaths this Afghanistan of NATO personnel.

But right now, we've got seven dead Americans from that helicopter crash as well as three Afghan troops and an interpreter who was working with them.

I can tell you, this area has been an insurgent hotbed, and at times the Taliban has been successful in bringing down an American copter. You remember about August of last year when the Taliban shot down a Chinook killing all 38 people onboard, including 25 Special Operations forces, in one of the deadliest days in recent memory for the Special Operations community.

But all in all, this has been just a devastating week for U.S. forces in general in Afghanistan. Earlier this week, we saw three Marines shot dead by an Afghan worker right on their own base. Earlier, three Special Operations forces were shot by an Afghan policeman in what looked to be a setup. So all in all, August is becoming an incredibly dangerous and violent month for all of the U.S. men and women over there.

WHITFIELD: Perhaps it's premature, maybe not, Chris. Is the Pentagon, Department of Defense, in any capacity talking about reassessing, trying to, you know, further extrapolate all that's taking place right now since it seems to have been that there's been and you just spelled out one incident after another in a very large, deadly way there in Afghanistan involving U.S. troops?

LAWRENCE: Well, certainly you have to look at some of the green on blue attacks and take that into account. Senior commanders have been, you know, somewhat worried about that, and they say it does have a devastating effect on morale when the Afghans turn on the Americans.

But when they look at overall strategic plans, they don't look at any one incident or even any one month. They are going to look big picture, look at the entire year, look at what they have planned for 2013, before making those kind of decisions. Not to say one incident isn't important. But it would have to be taken in context with a lot of other incidents before they would drastically change their strategy.

WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Lawrence. Thanks so much for keeping us posted there from the Pentagon. Appreciate that.

LAWRENCE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Other stories that we're following in Louisiana.

A manhunt is underway after four deputies were shot. Two of them have been killed. It happened in LaPlace, Louisiana, west of New Orleans. Officials say the men were ambushed in a parking lot while conducting traffic.

And at least 70 large fires are burning in 13 states west of the Mississippi River. Near triple digit temperatures and winds are expected to fuel the flames. In Washington state, a 22,000 acre fire has already forced more than 900 people to flee their homes.

And President Barack Obama gets slammed over leaks about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In a 22-minute web video, former Special Forces officers, including Navy SEALs, accuse the president of taking too much credit for bin Laden's death and for allowing too much classified information to become public.

And some unsettling economic news. About 30 minutes ago, we learned of an uptick in the number of Americans filing their first claim for jobless benefits. The new number, 366,000. That's 2,000 more than the week before.

And American voters, listen up. The men who want your vote this November might actually be talking about the issues. We'll tell you which ones, and a little fact checking along with it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Turning to politics now. And for his first few days on the campaign trail, Paul Ryan has seemingly avoided the issue of Medicare. Thanks to his budget plan, which proposes steep cuts to the program. But those days might be over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president I'm told is talking about Medicare today.

We want this debate. We need this debate. And we will win this debate.

What I don't think he'll be telling people is that the president took $716 billion from the Medicare program he raided it, to pay for Obamacare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is joining me now.

Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are taking that Medicare fight directly to President Obama. And what he just said is, you know, Obama raided the Medicare to pay for the affordable health care plan. Is that right?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: We have a political battle over Medicare, Fred, you're right. That talking point from Paul Ryan yesterday has been the Romney campaign theme pretty much since Saturday when Romney named Ryan his running mate.

Well, is it true? Where did they get the number? They got it from a July 24th Congressional Budget Report, and it took a look at repealing Obamacare, which most people know as the national health care law. And they said if that happened, yes, $716 billion would -- if Obamacare was repealed, which is what Mitt Romney says he would do if elected, it said that $716 billion would go back into Medicare.

What the report doesn't say, though, is just the opposite, which is if the president's national health care law is not repealed, that there would be a $716 billion decrease in Medicare funding. So that is the difference there, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So President Obama is pushing back, telling voters that if elected, Romney and Ryan would change Medicare as it is currently known. This is actually what the president had to say during a stop in Iowa earlier in the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: They want to turn Medicare into a voucher program. That means seniors would no longer have a guarantee of Medicare. They would get a voucher to pay for private insurance. And because the voucher wouldn't keep up with costs, the plan authored by Governor Romney's running mate, Congressman Ryan, would force seniors to pay an extra $6,400 a year, and I assume they don't have it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what is the president's plan?

STEINHAUSER: Well, what the president is saying here, Fred, is that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are basically going to redo Medicare as we know it. Is that true? Well, there will be major changes, but here's what they are proposing.

They are proposing private exchanges where vouchers would be used, government money would be paid for people to pay for private plans. But that would compete with traditional Medicare.

And the other point here is that this plan, the plan from Ryan and from Romney, would not affect anybody who is currently 55 or older. So for current people on Medicare or about to get on Medicare, this would not change. What Obama says, what the president says in his campaign, is that regardless, these changes that Ryan and Romney are proposing would affect current people on Medicare, would make it more expensive for them.

This argument is not going to end anytime soon. We're going to hear it separate through November 6th, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, something tells me. Thanks so much. Paul Steinhauser, I appreciate it -- in Washington.

STEINHAUSER: The presidential race. What is being decided now could affect whether you can actually vote in November. We'll look beyond the political spin to the realities of new voter ID laws.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hard to believe it. Just 82 days until the presidential election. And with the race too close to call, both parties are going to war over any issue that could cost them votes.

The latest example, a new ruling from a Pennsylvania judge -- he is allowing Pennsylvania to become the sixth state, requiring voters to show a photo ID before casting a ballot.

Republicans backed the measure, Democrats opposed it. Saying it could rob many people of their right to vote. The stakes are high, and so are the emotions.

We get details now from CNN crime and justice correspondent Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Pennsylvania court ruling is another skirmish in the country's emotional battle over voting rights this election year. More than a dozen states have passed new voting rights laws, including the one in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which is requiring people to show photo I.D. in order to vote.

Opponents went to court to try to block the law, saying it could disenfranchise up to 100,000 people, especially minorities and older or sick voters, who are more likely not to have acceptable photo identification, people like 93-year-old Viviette Applewhite, one of the lead plaintiffs in the case.

VIVIETTE APPLEWHITE, PLAINTIFF: And I just think it's terrible, because there's so many people that don't have I.D. and they're not going to be able to vote.

JOHNS: Republican Commonwealth Judge Robert Simpson ruled that the opponents trying to keep the law from being enforced did not establish that disenfranchisement of voters was immediate or inevitable. In Harrisburg, the legislator who wrote the law said disenfranchisement was never intended. DARYL METCALFE (R), PENNSYLVANIA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: The only people it disenfranchises are those individual who are trying to perpetrate election fraud.

JOHNS: But the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acknowledges that it would not be able to prove a lot of voter fraud in court even if it tried. Pennsylvania is also the state where a top GOP legislator recently seemed to suggest the voter law would help Republicans win back the White House this fall.

MIKE TURZAI (R), PENNSYLVANIA STATEHOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Voter I.D., which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.

JOHNS: Opponents say it just shows something other than fraud motivated the legislation.

NICOLE AUSTIN-HILLERY, BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: That in the past decade that they have found only about 10 instances of in-person voter fraud. And those were mostly instances where people were simply confused and didn't know what the rules were in their area.

JOHNS (on camera): So this is about voter suppression, in your view?

AUSTIN-HILLERY: In my view and in the view of the Brennan Center, this is about keeping certain voters from the polls.

JOHNS (voice-over): The Justice Department now is studying the Pennsylvania law , which Representative Metcalfe, the author of the law, claims is a waste of time.

METCALFE: I think it's a fishing expedition where they're really overreaching. They have demanded documents that -- from us, through our Department of Transportation, demanded information that many Pennsylvanians would object to.

JOHNS (on camera): Lawyers for opponents of the Pennsylvania law will be asking for an expedited appeal. They say the lower court should have applied a strict standard of review to the government action in this case, but the court didn't do that.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So both parties are doing their best to spin this issue of photo -- photo ID for voters and gain a political edge.

So let's take a closer look through the eyes of a legal and constitutional expert. Jonathan Turley is a professor of law at George Washington University. It's good to see you professor. Joining us from Raleigh, North Carolina, however, today.

JONATHAN TURLEY, PROFESSOR OF LAW, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Hi Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Ok so -- so Professor Turley, you know dozens of states are engaged in the fights over voter ID law. We saw that in Joe Johns' piece. And a number of reports show however that voter fraud is actually not much of a problem. So is this a solution in search of a problem?

TURLEY: Well actually, a national study found that voter fraud is virtually nonexistent when they looked at the 2000 election. There are over eight million voters in Pennsylvania and only a handful of these cases. That means that the chances that your vote is going to be stolen by someone in Pennsylvania is slightly above your chances of being attacked by a puma at the polling place.

So the question for the court is how does it address that. The court resolved that regardless of the statements by the GOP leader, that this was to deliver the state to Romney, the state still had a valid reason to require photo identification.

WHITFIELD: And what was that valid reason? Because the court did not say this is an issue of constitutionality, but a valid reason. What does that mean? And what is at the heart of that argument?

TURLEY: Well, the court did a couple of things that are likely to be questioned on appeal. One is that Judge Simpson, who wrote by the way a very well constructed opinion. This is a well written opinion. It's going to be very difficult to reverse.

But he downplayed the number of people likely to be affected by this law. They range from as high as around 780,000 to as low as 80,000. He said it's somewhere in the middle, but he doubts that top number really would apply. But he said that the state has a valid reason to assure voters that people who are voting are actually allowed to vote.

But more importantly, he said, I just don't see why this is such a difficult burden for people to have to produce an identification; 30 states require some form of identification. But this is one of those states that's requiring a photo identification.

WHITFIELD: So during the appellate process and I understand it could be, you know, the appellate judges could make a decision within a month's time so in time for that November election.

So would the argument have to be made that, you know, that there -- that is a propensity of fraud, and thereby that constitutes the election commission to make such changes? Or would an argument have to be made that there are people who will be disenfranchised by the change in this law? Or these rules?

TURLEY: Well, I think that latter part, Fredricka, is going to be prominent in the appeal. I think they're going to focus on Judge Simpson's decision not to use the so-called strict scrutiny standard, which imposes a very heavy burden on the state.

But the problem they're going to encounter is that Simpson really iron-plated this opinion. It is filled with factual findings which are generally given deference on the Court of Appeals. It's going to be a very hard opinion to reverse. And I would bet against a reversal.

Also remember there are three Democrats and three Republicans on the Supreme Court. We shouldn't assume they are going to vote according to those affiliations. But if they even just split, it would uphold the decision by Judge Simpson.

And I doubt they're going to vote along political party lines. I think they are likely to uphold it.

WHITFIELD: And we're talking about that state's Supreme Court.

All right, Professor Jonathan Turley, thank you so much from George Washington University -- however joining us from North Carolina today. Thanks so much.

TURLEY: Thank you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Much more of the NEWSROOM after this.

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WHITFIELD: All right, checking our "Top Stories".

You may not want to drink the water; and that's what Louisiana officials are warning residents in southeastern areas of that state. The drought has dropped the river level so low. There's a danger of too much salt water mixing in with freshwater.

And it's an amazing rescue caught on camera. On Sunday, this young boy actually got his head stuck in that guardrail hole. Firefighters used hydraulic tools to help expand the hole while another firefighter protected the boy from falling debris. And you can say his face is a little twisted there, but he made it out ok. Unhurt and reunited with relatives.

All right. Perhaps you're having trouble getting stuck on a diet. And that may not be a bad thing according to a study by the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle. 439 women were studied -- almost half of them yo-yo dieters. Their weight loss was equal to those who followed a steadier diet plan.

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MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. I'm Maribel Aber at the New York Stock Exchange. Today officially ends one of Facebook's lock-up periods so that means investors who got in on the IP can sell their shares. So people like COO Sheryl Sandberg and those big investment banks like Goldman Sachs.

A lock-up period is normal for any company that goes public. It requires some shareholders to hang on to their shares usually for a 90 to 100-day lock-up period. The goal is pretty simple -- it's is stability. It prevents the market from being flooded with shares immediately after that IPO and in most cases that stock would tank since millions of shares would flood the market all at once.

So that's the latest from here at the New York Stock Exchange. Stay tuned. CNN NEWSROOM continues after the break.

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