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Romney States He Will Not Raise Taxes; Congressman Misspoke About Rape; Nude Swim In Sea Of Galilee; Univision Anchor Wants Latino Debate; Space Walk At International Space Station; Augusta National Admits Women; Obama Speaks In Briefing

Aired August 20, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: A number of people who smoke way down in the United States and the rest of the industrialized world. But in developing nations, the opposite is true. Smoking is actually way up. The World Health Organization in the biggest ever global study on tobacco use found that the most smokers and most new smokers in low the middle income countries. The heaviest smokers are in Russia. Sixty percent of men, 22 percent of women, they smoking. People in China, Ukraine and Turkey are also the world's heaviest smokers. The WHO estimates at this rate a billion people will die from smoking before the century is over.

Several stories -- we are on the campaign trail. I want to go to our own Jim Acosta who is covering the Romney, Ryan campaign. And, Jim, tell us what's going on where you are and how that it's shaking out. I know there's a lot of developments going on.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan just wrapped up a joint appearance here at the campus of the Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire -- Manchester, New Hampshire, a key battleground state, obviously, for this campaign. And they went after the president on a number of issues, the deficit, taxes, the economy, Medicare. But undoubtedly, Susanne, the distraction of the day is the situation out in Missouri where a candidate for the U.S. Senate there, Todd Akin, who is in the Congress right now over in the House, made these explosive comments to a Missouri T.V. station when he talked about how women could not become pregnant by what he called, quote, "legitimate rape." His comments have been roundly denounced by just about everybody in the Republican party in the last 24 hours, including Mitt Romney, who did an interview with National Review Online, and he called those comments inexcusable.

When I had a chance to talk to the Romney campaign about Todd Akin and whether or not he should get out of that race, they did not say he should get out of the race. They said that decision is up Todd Akin. So, that, from the Romney campaign, those are some new developments from the Romney campaign in the last couple of hours. But there are others who are calling for him to get of this race, most noticeably, Scott Brown who is running for re-election in the Senate just to the south of here.

But no question about it, Suzanne, a day when the Romney campaign wanted this to be all about Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan reuniting out on the campaign trail one week before the convention, they are talking about Todd Akin today. Mitt Romney is going to be doing an interview with the local T.V. station. If he hasn't already done it, he will undoubtedly be asked about that. And from what we understand, Todd Akin, the embattled Congressman, is going to be doing an interview with Mike Huckabee any moment now, so we're waiting for that to happen. That's happening on the radio, so we should get those comments as well -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, Jim, let's put this into perspective here. We're talking about a week away from the Republican national convention. We know that the RNC has really done a lot of work, made a lot of effort in outreach to female voters. It is something that Romney is actually behind President Obama when you look at the polls here.

ACOSTA: That's right.

MALVEAUX: How much of this is really going to hurt this campaign and hurt this candidate or is this merely a distraction until the next issue?

ACOSTA: Well, I think it depends how long Todd Akin hangs on. You know, he could hang on and decide to run in this race against Claire McCaskill out in Missouri, but I have to tell you, from what we're hearing from a lot of to Republican sources, there are a lot of people inside of the GOP who would like Todd to go away and go away soon. So, I think it depends on how long he stays in this race, apparently he has until 5:00 tomorrow, Suzanne, to voluntarily withdraw from this race. If he doesn't do that by tomorrow evening, then it gets a little bit dicey. He has until sometime late next month to get out of the race, but he would need a court order to do that and he would also have to pay of rewriting those ballots in Missouri, so it would be a huge hassle, a huge undertaking for the Missouri Republican party, for the national Republican party, and they just don't want it. But as for what the Romney campaign is doing to try to appeal to women voters, you are right, there is a disadvantage there for the Romney campaign, they know this.

But keep in mind, Suzanne, look at who they were going to put out there for the very first speaker of the Republican convention, Ann Romney. As our Mark Preston reported yesterday, Ann Romney was supposed to just about open up this convention. And Ann Romney is very popular within the Republican party right now. And it just goes to show you, they are thinking about the women vote, and this, obviously, does not help matters.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jim Acosta. Thank you, Jim, appreciate it.

And as we mentioned, two Congressmen under fire today. One for what he, another for what he said. We mentioned Congressman Todd Akin now saying that he misspoke when he said what he called legitimate rape rarely results in a pregnancy. Akin was explaining why he opposes abortion even in cases of rape. Dana Bash is joining us live. Let's, first of all, talk about the Congressman and the comment that he made. And let's -- very specifically, I want to listen and have our viewers listen to what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TODD AKIN (R), MISSOURI: First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. You know, I think that there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Dana, you know, you listen to that. It is very offensive. I don't -- bizarre and you cannot even understand, really, what he's talking about here. But people have taken issue with this. This is -- but, you know, he's a six-term Congressman here. He was up in every poll, so, specifically, when you look at his race in Missouri, does this basically go away and limit his chances at all for running against McCaskill?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly -- it could limit his chances in terms of if he stays on a ballot in the race and continues on to November. I want the read to you first of what the specific comment that he made to try to explain or clarify what we just heard. Here is what he said. He said, in reviewing my off of the cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview, and it does not reflect my deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. Suzanne, that might be true, but you just played it, we just heard it, our viewers just heard it, it didn't sound like he misspoke. He sounded like he had said this and thought about this and this was his conviction, and that is the reason why, as you were just talking about with Jim Acosta, Republicans are -- to talk of -- to say this colloquially, freaking out, because this is a race that they were really, really banking on to get the majority in the Senate, to get that 51 for Republicans. They wanted to beat Claire McCaskill.

MALVEAUX: And how close are they? How close are they? I mean, how much -- how damaging could this be when you take -- when you take a look at the possibility of them capturing the majority of the Senate?

BASH: It could be very, very damaging. Look, the Republican establishment, so to speak, did not necessarily want Congressman Akin to be their nominee in the first place. There were others on the ballot -- there are others in the Republican primary, I should say, that they thought would have been better to run against Claire McCaskill, better equipped. And because they realized that -- you know, as you said, he's a six-term Congressman. They knew that there were problems in a general election against Claire McCaskill. And already, Claire McCaskill -- you know, she's a good pol (ph). She's jumping on this. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAIRE MCCASKILL: For me, in this race, I want to make sure that this is a moment where Missourians can take a close look. He was -- he was elected by the Republican primary voters by a wide margin, and I know there are people that are out of the mainstream that really support Todd Akin. But for most Missourians, I hope this is one of those gut check moments when they realize, this is not somebody we want speaking for us and our values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And just to give you an example to illustrate how problematic even the Democrats thought Congressman Akin were for the Republicans -- was for the Republicans, I should say. Paul Steinhauser, our political director, just reminded me that Claire McCaskill waded into the Republican primary, aired an ad touting the conservative credentials of Congressman Akin, because she knew that he was the person that she would really want to run against the most on the Republican side, that she had the best chance of beating him. Clearly, we can see why.

MALVEAUX: Yes. And Dana, talk about this other story that seems to be brewing here, percolating, another Congressman who's making headlines for skinny dipping, is that right? In the Sea of Galilee?

BASH: I mean, this is in the category of you just can't make this stuff up, right? This is -- the thing is that this -- first of all, I should give a shout out to our friends at Politico who broke this story. It happened a year ago, almost exactly a year ago. There was a large group of Republicans, maybe about 30 lawmakers, I'm told, and their families and some staff who went to the -- to Israel on a long trip, they were at the Sea of Galilee having dinner, some were drinking, and they decided that it was an appropriate time to jump into the water.

I was -- I talked to a number of sources this morning, Suzanne, who were familiar with this incident. Some said that, for the most part, it was maybe a little bit odd, but it got very odd when Congressman Yoder of Kansas decided that he was going to skinny dip. He took off all of his clothes and jumped in, and that's when the swimming, I am told, came to an end. And the next day, two of the Republican leaders, Kevin McCarthy and Eric Cantor, who were on the trip, they were not swimming, but they were on the trip. They heard about it and they were furious. They ripped into the members and they said it was absolutely inappropriate. And I am also told that, at the time, there was a lot of preparation for damage control, because they were shocked that it didn't come out, very worried about it coming out. Not just because of what happened, because of the time of it. It was a year ago after the debt ceiling debacle and it was actually the day that the Dow plummeting more than 500 points. It would have looked absolutely awful. It still looks pretty bad a year later.

MALVEAUX: Yes, it does. All right, Dana Bash, thank you. I appreciate it.

BASH: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: To another angle in the campaign. Latino vote, Jorge Ramos, is a prominent anchorman who's been compared to Walter Cronkite, says that President Obama ad Mitt Romney should add one more debate to their schedule. And, of course, it would be on his network, Univision. The questions would be asked in Spanish and then translated into English. Jorge Ramos, he's joining us from Miami. And tell us why, first of all, you are pushing for the debate.

JORGE RAMOS, ANCHOR, UNIVISION: Well, I think, Suzanne, that it is not OK not to include us. The Commission of Presidential Debates was supposed to be wise and sophisticated. I think that the moderators that they chose are first-rate journalist, I truly admire their work. But the U.S. is much more diverse than that. I think that they should have noticed that this country is changing very rapidly. Minorities, for instance, surpass whites in U.S. births, and those changes simply are not reflected. I really can't believe why they didn't choose a member of a minority group to be part of at least one debate, and I really can't understand why it an inside journalist from the fastest voting block in the country, the Latinos. They are going to be about 23 million Latinos ready to vote in the next election. But let's suppose that only 12 million will go to the polls. Well, Latinos will decide who is going to be the next president of the United States, it's just a new rule in American politics. Nobody can make it to the White House without the Hispanic vote. And then, we are not there, so they are not going to invite us to the party, I think we are going to have our own party.

MALVEAUX: Well, let me ask you about this, I mean, have you made efforts to approach the commission, itself, and potentially, you know, put another debate in motion? Is that even possible?

RAMOS: Yes, yes. Yes, Suzanne, we did. And they responded last week, and they rejected our idea. They think that the same issues that Latino care about are the same issues that Americans do care about. And in a certain level, it is right. I mean, we Latinos -- we care about jobs and education and health care. But on the other hand, we have unique concerns and interests. For instance, our unemployment is incredibly high, 11 percent. Our drop-out rate within the Hispanic community is a tragedy. One in three Hispanic students doesn't finish high school. And then, we have a special relationship with Latino America. I don't know if President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are going to recognize the new president of Mexico who won and made a widespread fraud or if we're going to have a free trade agreement with Chavez. We have the same thing with China, in both have (INAUDIBLE) or Chavez is a national threat to the U.S. since he has this very special link with (INAUDIBLE.) So, yes, we do care about the same issues, but, at the same time, we have unique concerns that I'm not sure if they're going to be addressing during the four presidential debates.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jorge Ramos, we appreciate your perspective, and we will follow up on that as well.

To the four lucky kids having a state dinner at the White House today. The honorable guests, they are being rewarded for winning a healthy lunch recipe contest. They started the morning with a formal arrival and some photos and then an address from the first lady, Michelle Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF OBAMA: I heard that there was a state dinner going on here, and, usually, I get invited to the state dinners. So, this time I just had to crash. I had to crash the party, because I did not want to miss out on all of the fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAEUX: That's a lot of fun. The kids, they've all been between the ages of eight and 12, and they visited the White House garden. Here is what we are working on for this hour.

(voice-over): Despite jelly fish (INAUDIBLE) and strong currents, 62-year-old Diane Nyad is halfway through her heroin swim from Cuba to Florida and without a shark cage. She's tried three other times and failed. We're tracking every stroke.

And out of this world, a laser is used for the very first time to zap rocks on the Martian surface. And there is a space walk outside of the international space station.

Also, actor Michael Eli joins me here in Atlanta to talk about his new movie, "Unconditional." He hopes it will inspire people to mentor at-risk kids.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Take a look at this. Pretty cool. After about an hour delay this morning, two Russian cosmonauts floating outside the International Space Station making some needed repairs, upgrades to the football-field sized satellite. John Zarrella joining us from Miami.

Pretty cool stuff, John. Tell us -- explain to us what they're doing?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's interesting because we don't often get a look at the Russian side of the Space Station. Most of the time when we see these space walks, it's the U.S. guys. And what we're looking at, just briefly, right there on some of the live pictures and some of the tape are the two of them outside and they're moving a handheld crank. A handheld crane out of the way, moving it to another location.

And then they're going to put in a shield for some micro meteorite deflection because, you know, even those tiny, tiny little specks flying through space at, you know, 12,000 miles an hour can put a horrible hole in your space station. So they're working to put up a deflector out there as well. They're doing some of this stuff in preparation for the arrival in 2013 of a new science module that they're going to put up on the Russian side.

So it's pretty interesting to see the -- you know, the Russian team out there. And you know what, Suzanne, this is the 135th space walk from the International Space Station. Hard to believe there have been that many so far.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Very cool. You've covered a lot of those.

ZARRELLA: Oh, yes.

MALVEAUX: Now, tell us about the conditions of those guys there, because they're in a situation, they can't go to the bathroom, they can't eat, can't even scratch their face, right, for more than six hours?

ZARRELLA: Six and a half hours. And they got started over an hour late because there was a leak in one of the seals in the airlock. So hay had to deal with that. So, you're right, six and a half hours at least outside before. And then they've got to go back inside and they've got to go through the decompression and all of that. So it's quite a while. And it's incredibly strenuous. Any of the astronauts I've ever talked to who have ever done space walks have said, but you know what, your mind is not on any of that other stuff when you're outside and you're looking down at the earth and it's just the most phenomenal image, you know, you can imagine.

MALVEAUX: Yes, you're focusing on other things, I'm sure.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Let's talk a little bit about the NASA rover. It broke out its laser, right, to blast a small rock on Mars. What were they trying to do?

ZARRELLA: Yes, you know, and we always hear that old expression, dumb as a rock. Well, rocks are actually pretty smart, at least as NASA's concerned. What they did was from the mast cam they fired 30 laser blasts at a rock. And it vaporized tiny, tiny speck of the rock is all it was. And the plasma charge that's emitted as a telescope takes a picture of that -- and we can see the rock and the rock's name is "Coronation" for the first rock. But they take a picture of this plasma and then they can analyze it for the elements of the rock and get a better idea of what Mars is made of.

MALVEAUX: Pretty cool.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

MALVEAUX: And tell us a little bit about Curiosity here. We've got a new poll that says -- a new CNN/ORC poll showing that most Americans think it's been a major achievement, but they don't believe that they're going to find any life on Mars.

ZARRELLA: Yes, 72 percent. I think this proves that a good percentage of Americans are at least space geeks. Seventy-two percent said that they think the curiosity mission was a major achievement. Only 18 percent said that it was a minor achievement. And as far as finding life on Mars, I think it was kind of a broad question. Thirty- one percent said they thought we'd find life on Mars, 62 percent said no. But I think we should have qualified that. I mean they're really looking for microbial life, not people like us that walk upright on Mars. So, maybe the number would have been different -- different if they'd asked it that way. MALVEAUX: I'm still holding out for those little green men.

ZARRELLA: There you go.

MALVEAUX: All right, John, good to see you.

ZARRELLA: Sure. Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: After 80 years of rejecting women as members, the all- male Augusta National Golf Club is now accepting women. And Condoleezza Rice, she is one of the first. We're going to tell you why the club picked her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It may have taken 80 years, but one of the world's most famous private golf clubs admitted women members. That is happening today. Georgia's Augusta National Golf Club is letting in former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and business executive Darla Moore into the club. Now you probably know Augusta as the home of the Masters' golf tournament where golfers like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson won their green jackets. Well, Mike Walker, he's joining us from New York to talk a little bit about this. He is the senior editor at "Golf" magazine.

So, Mike, you've got Augusta having this men-only rule since opening in 1932. What took them so long?

MIKE WALKER, SENIOR EDITOR, GOLF MAGAZINE: I think that part of it is they were just out of step with what's going on in the world. A part of it is they're a club about tradition and they move slowly with change. And I think that today -- I mean it -- definitely the phrase, better late than never seems to apply. But it's a good -- it's a great day for golf and for Augusta National. They've kind of taken this position at the greatest tournament that's been kind of an embarrassment and move we can kind of move forward and hopefully put this issue behind us.

MALVEAUX: Who was actually at the forefront of all of this? Was this just from a lot of pressure or was there something inside that finally they said, OK, you know, it doesn't make sense any more to stick with this tradition?

WALKER: Certainly the thing that finally changed it, I think, was this year the new CEO of IBM, Ginni Rometty, she is -- she -- traditionally, the CEO of IBM is always a member. And it became, are they going to ask her to be a member. And I think this year, particularly, it seemed out of step. Warren Buffett, who's a member, said he wished the policy would change. And so I think because of what happened with this past Masters, the public pressure and just sort of, I think, the club really felt they were out of step and that's why you saw the change today.

MALVEAUX: Yes, I want to point out here, this is Bubba Watson. He's a 32 -- 33-year-old who won this year's Masters. He told our own Piers Morgan the following. He said, "this day and age, I think that, I don't see any reason why admitting women could hurt." Do you think essentially the bad press -- the press, essentially, was -- was at issue?

WALKER: Yes. I mean I think that Augusta National is more than a -- it's more than a golf club. I mean they host this tournament. They see themselves as stewards of the game. Certainly legally they could keep excluding women. I think that that's -- that case has been decided for other golf clubs. And there's a ton of golf clubs that do exclude women. But I think that their position as leaders of the game, they really felt that, you know, they were out of step with where -- where in as sports in this country and in the world and that that's why they made change. And certainly Bubba Watson, Warren Buffett, I mean countless media and commentators everywhere, I think that it just -- the pressure became enough where they made the change. And they move slowly, but they do move ahead. And like I said, I mean, I think that hopefully the club wants to put this issue behind them. And I think it will. I think you'll see -- it won't be a rush of a lot of women members, but you'll see more women members. I know that the IBM CEO would be one that would -- they would look at. And certainly Condoleezza Rice and Miss Moore, they seem like really good candidates as well.

MALVEAUX: Would they have to make any change to the club physically in order to allow women to be members?

WALKER: No. I think that the tees for good women players, it's not a particularly long course. I mean traditionally women tees are shorter than men's tees. They might put some tees in. And women have always been able to play the course. I think that's something that's been lost in the controversy. It's not like women weren't allowed to play the course, they just weren't allowed to be members. So I don't think they're going to have to make any changes I mean as far as, you know, construction of the club, because women were always welcome to play the course.

MALVEAUX: OK. And why Condoleezza Rice?

WALKER: Well, I mean, I certainly think Condoleezza Rice, being an African-American woman, being from the south, is a significant candidate for them. And then also she's been a real supporter of golf and just sort of sports in general. I mean I know she's a big NFL fan as well. So she has sort of become part of golf and wants to support the club. And -- but, yes, certainly her background is a big reason I think why she's a member. I mean Augusta having a history of, you know, with social change in the south, that she becomes a, you know, perfect member.

MALVEAUX: All right, got to leave it there. All right, got to leave it there.

President Obama in the briefing room at the White House. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Before I take some questions, let me just mention since Medicare has been in -- a little bit in the news lately, I thought it would be useful to start with some actual facts and news about the program.

Today, HHS announced that thanks to the health care law that we passed, nearly 5.4 million seniors with Medicare have saved over $4.1 billion on prescription drugs. That's an average savings of more than $700 per person. This year alone, 18 million seniors with Medicare have taken advantage of new preventive care benefits like a mammogram or other cancer screening at no extra cost.

These are big deals for a lot of Americans. And it represents two important ways that the improvements we made as part of the Affordable Care Act have strengthened Medicare and helped seniors everywhere get better care at less cost. That's been our goal from the very beginning. And I'm going to continue to do everything I can to make sure that we keep our seniors healthy and the American people healthy.

So with that, let me start off with Jim Koonin (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for being here.

You're no doubt aware of the comments that Missouri Senate candidate, Republican Todd Akin, made on rape and abortion. Wondered if you think those views represent the views of the Republican Party in general? They've been denounced by your own rival and other Republicans. Are they an outlier or are they representative?

OBAMA: Well, let me first of all say, the views expressed were offensive. Rape is rape. And the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the American people. And certainly doesn't make sense to me. So what I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn't have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decision on behalf of women. So although these particular comments have -- have led Governor Romney and other Republicans to distance themselves, I think that the underlying notion that we should be making decisions on behalf of women for their health care decisions for qualifying forcible rape versus non-forcible rape. I think those are broader issues. That is a significant difference in approach between me and the other party.

But I don't think that they would agree with the Senator from Missouri in terms of his statement, which was way out there.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Should he drop out of the race?

OBAMA: He was nominated by the Republicans of Missouri and I will let them sort that out.

Nancy Cordes?

NANCY CORDES, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Mr. President. Thank you.

As you know, your opponent recently accused you of waging a campaign filled with anger and hate. And you told "Entertainment Tonight" that anyone who, at the ends your rallies can see they are not angry or hate-filled affairs. But in recent, your campaign has suggested, repeatedly, without proof, that Mr. Romney might be hiding something in his tax returns. They have suggested that Mr. Romney might be a felon for the way he handed over power at Bain Capital. And your campaign and the White House has declined to condemn an ad by one of your supporters that links Mr. Romney to a woman's death from cancer. Are you comfortable with the tone that's being set by your campaign? Have you asked them campaign to change their tone when it comes to defining Mr. Romney?

OBAMA: Well, first of all, I'm not sure all those characterizations that you laid out there were accurate. For example, nobody accused Mr. Romney of being a felon. What is absolutely true is, if you watch me on the campaign trail, here's what I am talking about. I am talking about how we put Americans back to work. And there are sharp differences between myself and Mr. Romney in terms of how we would do that. He thinks that if we roll back Wall Street reform and roll back the Affordable Care Act, known affectionately as Obama-care, that people will somehow be better off. I think that if we are putting teachers back to work and rebuilding America and reducing our deficit in a balanced way, that is how you put people back to work. That is a substantive difference. That's what I talk about on the campaign.

When it comes to taxes, Governor Romney thinks that we should be cutting taxes by another $5 trillion. And folks like me would benefit disproportionately from that. I think that it makes a lot more sense, and have put out a detailed plan for a balanced approach that combines tough spending cut s with asking people, like me, millionaires and billionaires, to do a little bit more. That is a substantive difference in the campaign, whether it is on wind energy or how we would approach funding education. Those are the topics that we are spending a lot of time talking about on the campaign.

Now, if you look at the overall trajectory of the campaign and the ads that I have approved and are produced by my campaign, you'll see that we point out sharp differences between the candidates. But we don't go out of bounds.

And when it comes to releasing taxes, that's a precedent that was set decades ago, including by Governor Romney's father. For us to say that it makes sense to release your tax returns, as I did, and as John McCain did, and as Bill Clinton did, and as the two President Bushes did, i don't think that it is anyway out of bounds. That is what the American people would rightly expect is a sense that, particularly when we are going to be having a huge debate about how we reform our tax code and how we pay for the government that we need, I think that people want to know that, you know, everybody's been playing by the same rules, including people who are seeking the highest office in the land.

This not an entitlement, being president of the United States. This is a privilege. And we have to put ourselves before the American people to make the case.

CORDES: Why not send a message to the top super PAC that is supporting you and say, I think an ad like that is out of bounds.

OBAMA: Well --

(CROSSTALK)

CORDES: We should not be suggesting that --

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Well, take that particular issue, as opposed to -- because you lumped in a whole bunch of other stuff that I think was entirely legitimate. I don't believe that Governor Romney is somehow responsible for the death of the woman who is portrayed in that ad. But keep in mind, this is an ad that I didn't approve, and I did not produce, and as far as I can tell, has barely run. I think it ran once. Now, in contrast, you have Governor Romney creating, as a centerpiece of his campaign, this notion that we are taking the work requirement out of welfare, which every single person here who has looked at it says it is patently false. What he is arguing is somehow we have somehow changed the welfare requirement, the work requirement in our welfare laws. And in fact, what has happened was that my administration, responding to the requests of five governors, including two Republican governors, agreed to approve giving them, those states, some flexibility in how they manage the welfare rolls as long as it produced 20 percent increases in the number of people who are getting work. So in other words, we would potentially give the states more flexibility to put more people back to work, and not the take them off of the work requirement under welfare.

Everybody who has looked at this says that what Governor Romney is saying is absolutely wrong. Not only are his super PACs running millions of dollars worth of ads making this claim, Governor Romney, himself, is approving this and staying it on the stump. So the -- you know, the contrast I think it is pretty stark. That is, they can run the campaign they want. But the truth of the matter is you can't just make stuff up. That is one thing that you learn as president of the United States. You get called into account. And I feel very comfortable with the fact that, when you look at the campaign we are running, we are focused on the issues and the differences that matter to working families all across America. That is exactly the kind of debate that the American people deserve.

Jake Tapper?

JAKE TAPPER, ABC CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. One, I am wondering if you could comment on the recent spate of green-on-blue incidents in Afghanistan and what is doing done about it and why your commanders tell you they think there has been an uptick in this kind of violence. And, second, with the economy and unemployment still the focus of so many Americans, what they can expect in the next couple of months out of Washington if anything when it comes to any attempt to bring some more economic growth to the country.

OBAMA: On Afghanistan, obviously, we have been watching with deep concern the so-called green-on-blue attacks, where you have Afghan individuals, some of whom are actually enrolled in the Afghan military and, in some cases, dressing up as Afghan military or police, attacking the coalitions, including our own troops. I just spoke today to Marty Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who happens to be in Afghanistan. He is having intensive consultations not only with our commander, John Allen, on the ground, but also with the Afghan counterparts. And I will be reaching out to President Karzai as well, because we've got to make sure that we are on top of this. We are already doing a range of things. And we are seeing some success when it comes to better counter intelligence and making sure that the vetting process for Afghan troops is stronger. And we have what is called the Guardian Angel program to make sure that our troops aren't in isolated situations that might make them more vulnerable. But obviously, we have to do more, because there is an uptick over the last -- over the last 12 months on this.

Part of what is taking place is that we are transitioning to Afghan security. And for us to train them effectively, we are in much closer contact, our troops are in much closer contact with the Afghan troops in an ongoing basis. Part of what we have to do is to make sure that the model works. But it does not make our guys more vulnerable.

In the long-term, we will see fewer U.S. casualties and coalition casualties by sticking to our transition plan and making sure that we have the most effective Afghan security force possible. But we have to do it in a way that doesn't leave our guys vulnerable. So we are deeply concerned about this from top to bottom, and hopefully, over the next several weeks, we will see better progress on this front.

In terms of the economy, you know, I'd love to say that when Congress comes back -- they've got a week or 10 days before they go out to campaigning again -- that we will see a flurry of action. I can't guarantee that. I do think that there are specific things that they could do to make a big difference. I'll give a couple of examples. First of all, just making sure that we have what is called a continuing resolution so that we don't have any disruptions and government shutdowns over the next couple of months. That is important. It appears that there's an agreement on that, but we want to make sure that is done.

Number two, you know, we have put forward an idea that I think a lot of Americans thinks makes sense, which is, we have historically low interest rates now and the housing market is beginning to tick back up, but it is not where it needs to be. There are a lot of families out there whose homes are under water. They owe more than the house is worth, because housing values dropped so precipitously. And they are having trouble refinancing. We are going to be pushing Congress to see if they can pass a refinancing bill that puts $3,000 into the pockets of the average family who hasn't yet refinanced their mortgage. That is a big deal. That $3,000 can be used to strengthen the equity in the home to raise values. And that is ultimately $3,000 in people's pockets to spend on a new computer on the kid going back to school or new school clothes for the kids. And that would strengthen the economy as well.

Obviously, the biggest thing that the Congress could do is to come up with a sensible approach to reducing our deficit in ways that we had agreed to and talked about last year. I continue to be open to seeing Congress approach this with a balanced plan that has tough spending cuts, building on the trillion dollars of spending cuts that we have already made, but also asks for additional revenue from folks like me and folks in the top 1 percent or 2 percent to make sure that folks who can least afford it are not suddenly bearing the burden. And we're providing some additional certainty to small businesses and families going forward.

Alternatively, they could go ahead and vote for a bill that we've said that would definitely strengthen the economy, and that is giving everybody who's making $250,000 a year or less certainty the taxes won't go down next year. And that would make a big difference. Now, obviously the Republicans have voted it down already once. It is not likely realistically. But they will bring it back up again before Election Day. But my hope is, after the election, people will step back and recognize it is a sensible way to bring down the deficit and still invest in things like education that will help the economy grow.

Chuck Todd?

CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Mr. President, can you tell us about the latest thinking of where things are in Syria. And in particular, whether you envision using U.S. military, if simply nothing else, for the safe keeping of the chemical weapons.

But I also want to follow up on the answer that you gave to Nancy. You said that one of the reasons you wanted to see Mitt Romney's tax returns was you want to se if everybody is paying to the same set of rules. It actually goes to the question she asked, which is this implication you think that Mitt Romney is not telling us something in the tax returns that he is not playing by the same rules?

OBAMA: No, there is a difference of playing by the same sets of rules and doing something illegal. In no way have we suggested the latter. But the first disclosure, the one -- years of tax returns we have seen disclosed, indicated that he used Swiss bank accounts, for example. Well, that may be perfectly legal, but I suspect if you ask the average American, do you have one, and is that part of how you manage your tax obligations, they would say no. They would find that relevant information, particularly when we are going into a time where we know that we are going to have to make tough choices, both about spending and taxes. So, you know, I think that the idea that this is somehow exceptional and that there should be a rational or a justification for doing more than the very bare minimum has it backwards. The assumption should be that you do what previous presidential candidates did dating back for decades. And Governor Romney's own dad says the reason he put out 10 or 12 years is because any single year, it might not tell you the whole story. And everybody's, I think, followed that custom ever since.

The American people have assumed that if you want to be president of the United States that your life is an open book when it comes to things like your finances. I'm not asking him to disclose every detail of, you know, his medical records, although, we normally do that as well. (LAUGHTER)

But, you know? I mean, this isn't sort of overly personal here, guys. But it is pretty standard stuff. I don't think that we are being mean by asking you to do what every other presidential candidate has done, right? It is what the American people expect.

On Syria, obviously, this is a very tough issue. I have indicated repeatedly that President al Assad has lost legitimacy and he needs to step down. So far he hasn't gotten the message and, instead, he has doubled down on the violence to his own people. And the international community has sent a clear message that rather than drag his country into the civil war, he should move in the direction of a political transition. But at this point, the likelihood of a soft landing seems pretty distant.

What we have said is that, number one, we want to make sure that we are providing humanitarian assistance, and we have done it to the tune of $82 million so far. And we will end up doing it more, because we want to make sure that the hundreds of thousands of refugees that are fleeing the mayhem that they don't end up creating or being in a terrible situation or also destabilizing some of Syria's neighbors.

The second thing that we have done is we said that we would provide, you know, in consultation with the international community, some assistance to the opposition in thinking about how would a political transition take place and what are the principles that should be upheld in terms of looking out for minority rights and human rights. And that consultation is taking place.

I have, at this point, not ordered military engagement in the situation. But the point that you made about chemical and biological weapons is critical. It is not just an issue that doesn't just concern Syria, but our close allies in the region, including Israel. It concerns us. We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people. We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is that we start to see a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized and that would change my calculus, and my equation.

TAPPER: It is somehow under --

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: In a situation this volatile, I wouldn't say that I am absolutely confident. But what I am saying is that we are monitoring the situation very carefully. And we have put together a range of contingency plans. We have communicated in no uncertain terms with every player in the region that there is a red line for us, and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front, or the use of chemical weapons that would -- that would change my calculations significantly.

All right?

Thank you, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't be a stranger.

(CROSSTALK)

(END LIVE FEED)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in Dana Bash about what we have seen here.

President Obama was under a lot of pressure and criticism for not going before the press corps more often. There were a lot of Republicans and journalists calling for more time with the president. it is interesting, Dana, that he made a couple of points here, and I think he addressed each one of the critical and important voter groups in the points that he made in attacking Mitt Romney.

First of all, he talked and addressed seniors, talking about the Affordable Health Care Act, and how 18 million seniors were now getting additional benefits. This is no accident that he is actually coming out of the gate and discussing this.

Explain to us, describe to us the importance of this issue because we know, in looking at Florida, looking at Mitt Romney, looking at Paul Ryan, that that is a key issue for the elderly people and certainly the seniors in Florida.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The Democrats -- and we've seen this all week long since Paul Ryan was picked -- they believe they can target the specific voter sector, and that is the seniors, because of the fact that Paul Ryan is the author of a budget that tries to revamp Medicare. Democrats have been trying to argue that seniors would lose their Medicare. We and other news outlets have been explaining that Paul Ryan's plan doesn't affect anybody who is 55 years and older. But that doesn't make any difference when you're talking about political rhetoric and when you have the bully pulpit. And you're the president of the United States, you might as well use it. So he's been doing it on the stump. And this is another chance for him to make a play for seniors using Paul Ryan on the Republican ticket to do it.

MALVEAUX: Dana, I want you to stay there.

I want to bring in Wolf Blitzer.

Wolf, I want to ask you about another group he addressed. This is really the importance of the female vote. He's got the advantage over Mitt Romney now. It was no accident that he brought up the issue of the Missouri Congressman Akin's comments, the comments saying there were cases of legitimate rape. Congressman Akin has since said he misspoke. The president was very clear. He said rape is rape. Why is this so important at this time in terms of how this is playing out in the campaign? WOLF BLITZER, HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: This is a huge development in this race, not only in Missouri because of what Congressman Aiken said. He's the Senate -- Republican Senatorial candidate. It was the first question out of the box, Suzanne, right after his opening statement in the White House briefing room. That reporter asked him to comment on what Congressman Akin said, the Republican candidate, against Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri. And the president was very forceful.

I'll play a clip for our viewers. Listen to what the president said. This was in response to that first question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The views expressed were offensive. Rape is rape. And the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the American people and certainly doesn't make sense to me. So what I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn't have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As you know, this is an issue that is obviously very, very sensitive. But the Democrats believe it will further help the president, especially with female voters out there. A lot of male voters as well.

As the news conference was under way, Suzanne, Senator John Cornyn of Texas -- he's in charge of getting Republicans elected in the Senate. He issued a very carefully worded statement, saying, "This Congressman should reconsider, should think about what he wants to do." The Congressman insists he's going to fight on. He's not dropping out. He's got until 5:00 p.m. Tuesday to drop out without any penalty to the Republicans in Missouri if he's going to back out of this.

But if you take a look Senator Cornyn's statement, it was a statement that didn't reiterate support for this congressman. He was basically suggesting, well, he's got to talk to his family and his loved ones and take a look at what the Republican Party is up to. A lot of Republicans now fear that what this congressman has said could undermine their chances of winning over this Senate seat in November.

MALVEAUX: Wolf, I'd like you to say there.

I want to bring Dana back very quickly.

Because, Dana, you've been covering the issue of the congressman and the controversy. How much pressure is there now, whether or not it's coming from the Romney/Ryan campaign or the Republican themselves, to say, look, Congressman Aiken, this is a distraction to the campaign. This is not helping our message when it comes to women voters. You need to quietly go away. BASH: A lot of pressure. As you were just talking to Wolf, I was talking to a Republican source who told me that not only did John Cornyn put out that statement, very carefully worded but a very clear statement that Congressman Akin should carefully consider what's best for him. Privately, I'm told, the committee that John Cornyn is in charge of has communicated to Congressman Akin's campaign that they want him to get out of the race. And if he doesn't, he's not going to get the support from the national party that he will need, especially in a race that is going to be as tight and as fierce as we expect this general election race against Claire McCaskill to be.

So the pressure is on him in an intense way. As the president was speaking, we were talking about John Cornyn, another candidate for Senate from the state of New Mexico, Heather Wilson, she also released a scathing statement calling on Akin to get out of the race, saying that his comments about rape were inappropriate.

MALVEAUX: A lot of moving parts happening behind the scene as well. We're seeing the president up there at the podium in the briefing room, making it obvious that he needs to weigh in at this critical time during the campaign.

I want you to both stick around.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back on the other side.

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