talking about jobs for a long time now. >> the american people's top priority is the creation of jobs. >> creating jobs for the american people. >> create jobs in america. >> create jobs. >> job creation. >> focus on jobs. >> new jobs. >> jobs. >> jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. >> jobs. >> talking about jobs. >> talking about jobs. >> and now it's time to talk about jobs. >> well, they're all talking about jobs. the question is what are they actually doing about it? this afternoon wolf blitzer spoke one-on-one with mr. obama much he said why wait until september for a new big push on jobs? mr. obama pointed to initiatives already pend brg congreing befo. >> you got something much more ambitious in mind for the september. there's been reports you want to create new department of jobs, something along those lines. is that true? >> you know, that is not true. but what is true is that i think we missed an opportunity a month ago when we could have dealt with our debt and deficit in a serious, balanced way that would have avoided these huge ji ragss in the business markets. washington had the fiscal house in order. and included in that, because of the savings that we would be getting over the next 10, 20 years, more efforts on the front end to spur job creation. >> that does not really create jobs. economists both agree on that. another white house initiative such as the tapayroll tax has bn cut. the least productive house session on record. there are bills putting the budget, abolishing health care reform and gutting the new consumer credit watchdog agency. house republicans say such cuts and deregulation will create jobs. none of the major legislation has made it through the democratic-controlled senate. meantime, congress is on vacation and president obama is on the road. digging deeper now with paul begala and ari fleischer. they're also on twitter. paul, welcome to the world of twitter, first of all. >> thank you. it's only a matter of time bring use it to end my career. >> no doubt about it. just don't send pictures. first off, the white house says that president's bus trip o discuss jobs and key states no less is not a campaign trip. we all know that president dozen this. but still, it's campaigning, isn't it? >> well, it's both. you can't separate the two. the whole notion we should separate politics from governing, it is like trying to separate mathematics from psychics. it is language through which a democracy operates. so i celebrate both. i'm glad the president is out of washington. i'm glad he's out there talking to real folks. and i'm praying that what he told wolf today is hinting at major new jobs package is what he's going to come with. when it comes to creating jobs, can the president really do a lot? can't the president only do so much? the congress is not likely to prove any stimulus money. even with a unified congress, the role of the washington government is creating an environment which the private sector can grow and create jobs. i don't think is a whole lot in both party can do directly to create jobs other than get a national climate in which the private sector does the employing. i suspect for barack obama the numbers are baked into his cake. it really doesn't matter what he does at this point. we'll be a nation that has high unemployment for first four years and maybe the only four years of obama. if the business cycle happens to turn, it's going to benefit whoever comes in place, whether it's obama getting re-elected or the republican taking his seat. i that i is what we're really looking at. nothing is going to change the job picture substantially between now and election day in 2012. and that's a real big headache for barack obama. >> when you hear the president talking about some sort of big jobs initiative, what do you expect? what can he really do? >> well, an awful lot. i strongly disagree with mr. fleisher. there are a lot of things that a president can do. the president he served did a lot to kill off a lot of jobs. the president i served help set in policies that created 23 million jobs. a case in point under obama. his first year, he passed his recovery act. the so-called stimulus. republicans like to say it didn't work. i went and looked. the congressional budget office say it created up to 4.8 million jobs. that's good. 4.8 million, maybe 1.7 million, somewhere in that vast range. that's good. but we need at least 15 million. so it was good and it was a good start. it was not enough. now flash forward to this year. basically, the president cooperated with the republican agenda. cutting taxes. he signed one of the biggest tax cuts in american history in december. $858 billion, extending the god awful bush tax cuts. and so cut taxes and republican agenda. and then cut spending, a republican agenda. the economic policy institute says that the debt reduction alone will cost us 1.8 million jobs because the contraction fiscal effect. so we're losing jobs as we follow an attempt to follow republican economic policies. i hope that president gets to democratic economic policies. >> you are shaking your head. >> yeah. here's the fundamental problem. when barack obama came into office, there were 19.9 million americans unemployment. today there are 13 p.9 million americans unemployed. we have trillion dollar deficits and many people in the private sector tell you that they're frozen. they're frozen because of the regulations in place and the fear of obama care as that kicks in has people sitting on what they have because they're so uncertain about the economic climate. presidents can make things a lot worse. i think that's what happened here during the obama presidency. and it's why you have an unemployment rate that is refusing to go down. and it's a significant part of this uncertainty in the private sector. but the stimulus was a failure. the president promised us if it was inactive and we spent a trillion dollars of taxpayer money on it, create mostly government jobs, the unemployment rate would not exceed 8%. it went above 10% and now it's at 9.1%. this is the longest period since the depression where you have this many americans be out of work for such a long period of time. something about the president's policies are not working. and that is nothing he is doing is going to change that unless he decides to go for another stimulus and put more people on the government payroll. sure that, can create temporary jobs and an astronomical price. >> i want to play at clip from wolf's interview with the president today. >> whether you took office, you said this i'm sure you remember -- you said -- >> if i don't have this done in three years, then there will be a one-temperature proposition. you remember that? >> here's what i remember. when i came into office, i knew i was going to have a big mess to clean up. and, frankly, the mess has been bigger than i think a lot of people anticipated at the time. we have made steady progress on these fronts. but we're not making progress fast enough. what i continue to believe is the buck stops with me. i'm going to be accountable. ultimately they say, look, he's the president. we think he has begin tensions. but we're impatient. we want to see things move faster. >> it's amazing how much younger he looks just even two years ago. but if unemployment is still at this level next november, can obama win? >> he can. but no one ever has, not since fdr. you got to go back to even before i was born to find that. he's going to have a terrible problem if you can't move the needle on jobs. i think he was essentially saying that to wolf. i thought there was a very definite answer. he said it is my responsibility. i did inherit a big mess. he wasn't finger pointing but he didn't accept the blame. what he needs is that third step. i think he's putting it together. he hinted that at wolf which is and now i want the congress to pass my jobs package. why won't the congress pass my jobs package? if he can spend the next year and a half either signing into law new job creating measures like he is proposing and i'm told from wolf's interview he will propose, or just campaigning against the do nothing republican congress who doesn't want to fight for jobs for the middle class, then i think he's got a good chance to be re-elected. >> got to leave it there. let us know what you think. thank you both gentlemen. can you follow me on twitter. i'll be tweeting tonight. up next, more of wolf's exclusive interview. we'll talk with wolf and jessica yellen and david gergen. also tonight, more on that scene on the streets in syria and an apparent peaceful protest torn apart by machine gunfire. and we'll show you the regime's youngest victims, including one just 2 years old. i got to tell you, i've seen a lot of terrible things in sear yachlt the video you're going to see coming up is the worst that i have seen. first, let's check in with our news. >> just ahead, part two of our special report on godly discipline. an investigation of a controversial book on child discipline found at the mom home of a 7-year-old who was beaten to death. 360s gary tuckman talked to the authors. >> rubbing the spaghetti all over your head. you shouldn't have done that at 7 years of age. okay. that hurts. i'm 50. okay. i mean -- but are there any marks on you? no. you would hit it -- a 5-year-old like that? yeah, sure. throwing away mispers about natural gas vehicles. more of the vehicles that fuel our lives use clean american natural gas today. it costs about 40 percent less than gasoline, so why aren't we using it even more? start a conversation about using more natural gas vehicles in your community. but i did. they said i couldn't fight above my weight class. but i did. they said i couldn't get elected to congress. but i did. now i'm trying to make it in music. ♪ sometimes when we touch ha ha! millions of hits! [ male announcer ] the new hp touchpad starting at $399.99. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is our beach. ♪ this is our pool. ♪ our fireworks. ♪ and our slip and slide. you have your idea of summer fun, and we have ours. now during the summer event get an exceptionally engineered mercedes-benz for an exceptional price. but hurry, this offer ends august 31st. [ indistinct conversations ] [ hissing ] agents, what did we learn here today? that lint balls are extremely flammable! well, yeah. and that 15,000 dryer fires happen every year! that's why it's important to regularly clean and inspect your vents! correct. where did you get that?! i built it. [ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ president obama sitting down with wolf blitzer talking jobs, saying the buck stops with him, admitting he'll be held accountable if he doesn't deliver and also blaming gridlock on the other side. here is another portion of wolf's exclusive interview. >> you keep saying that there are some in congress and you don't say who, some in congress more interested in political gain than really helping the country. who do you mean fwha? >> look, i think there is no doubt that the deal that i put forward to speaker boehner which a lot of people in my party attacked me for because they thought that we were going too far. we were being too generous in terms of trying to compromise. the fact that they couldn't accept a deal in which you had significantly more cuts than revenue that would have done substantially more to close our deficit than the deal that ultimately we arrived at, the fact that speaker boehner and folks in his caucus couldn't say yes to that tells me that they're more interested in the politics in it than they are in solving the problem. i think, to his credit, i think speaker boehner tried. i think he wanted to. i think he had problems with members of his caucus that thought that somehow cooperation with this white house would help us politically as opposed to thinking what's going to -- what's it going to take to help the country as a whole? >> wolf blitzer joins us now along with jessica yellen and david gergen. wolf, i'm curious for your perspective. i've been talking to you. a couple folks that donated a lot of money to the president and been a big supporters of him and recently have been surprised at how -- what they said is how depressed he seems or how down he seems. how did he seem to you? >> he didn't seem depressed or down with me. he seemed to be finding his groove a little bit. he's obviously got a long way to go. and he's not in the midst of a campaign right now. he's being hit hard by rick perry, mitt romney, all the other republican candidates. he's being hit hard by all the tea party supporters, a lot of republicans in congress. and from the left he's being hit hard by some democrats and liberals who are disappointed in his job performance. but he seemed okay much he seemed pretty lively. the only time i saw him get emotional is when i asked him the worst part his job and he talks about when he comforts family members who lost loved ones fighting in iraq and afghanistan. i didn't get any sense he was depressed or anything like that. >> here's president obama said when asked why it is taking so long on some of the initiatives. >> what happens is, number one, you have seen a lot of layoffs at state and local government. and that has been an impediment to robust job growth that we would like to see. and there are been headwinds over the last six months, japan's tsunami, the european debt crisis, what happened in terms of the spring that raised gas prices. >> do you think those are legitimate explanations? >> i think they're legitimate. but i think it's only part of the story. and he's going to tell his part of the story that helps his case. others will say but look, you should have done a lot more and what you did didn't work very well. as far as the stimulus program and ari fleischer was just arguing. but on the delay, anderson this is the critical point. i give credit to the president tonight for saying i am going to put forward a plan on the deficit. we've been waiting for that. good for him. he's going to put it forward. but on jobs, to put forward a plan in september and then go out and hit the people to push for it means we're not going to get a bill any time this year. i think most americans would like to see the president sit down tomorrow, bring the republican and democratic leaders in from the congress and sit down and see what they did work out and get something done in september 1 instead of waiting for some grand plan that's going to go through the ri wringer the next several months. >> he's on a tour talking about jobs. why isn't he unveiling his major job proposal right now? >> well, first, it's not done. but, you know, i talked to his advisors. they see no advantage in unveiling a jobs package in the debt of august when congress is out of session. they believe it will get lost. and the thinking is wait until congress is back. release it in september. when he'll come out with both a jobs package and this proposal for that congressional super committee that's going to work on spending and maybe taxes. and as david says, it will hit it selling it to the american people. it is moot edda hyper vent lacing for action given that congress is unlikely to pass it anyway. why does it have to come right at this moment? i point out the president's job approval numbers are down right now. his advisors believe from experience that his numbers fall when he is locked in negotiations and congress. so when he goes out, he hits the street, it will give him distance. you'll hear him fight and attack congress which is code for him for republicans who are blocking his agenda and accuse him of not doing more. >> david, i see you shaking your head. >> everything she said is absolutely right. it's just i don't know how that really fits with americans are saying. that is we need help now. you know, we're really hurting. we're really frustrated. this economy could be floating into a second recession. we do not know that. but there's a lot of fear and anxiety out there. just because people can campaign on the hustings, it may be liberating and fun. it doesn't solve the problem. i think people are looking for action now, not four, five, six months from now. >> wolf, how much of the president today was president obama and how much was candidate obama out there? >> they were both out here. yesterday i watched him all day yesterday. today as well. this campaign has started. look, there is always a campaign whenever you're president. it is almost every single day you're thing about it's a first term. fwhut week i think marks a turning point. sometimes, you know, it starts after labor day or whatever. certainly for the republicans they're at full bore. they're going ahead with their chance for the republican presidential nominee. i think with this president, he was out there and while he was talking substantive policy issues, he was certainly campaigning. he needs these states here in the midwest. he needs minnesota. he needs iowa. he certainly needs his home state of illinois where he's heading tomorrow. he doesn't carry these states. he's going to be in big trouble in his re-election bid. he's campaigning. let be there no doubt about that. >> whether wolf was asking him about romney and perry, he didn't go there. how important -- i mean at this point does the white house simply want to stay above the fray? >> absolutely. there's no advantage for them to elevate either of the candidates. and why start a campaign in full force until there's an actual nominee? instead, what you're hearing the president do increasingly is take his attack to republicans broadly. as i said a moment ago, he doesn't even say generally republicans, he'll say congress which is again shorthanded for the republicans in congress who are blocking his agenda. but he -- they have a clear strategy over in campaign land for how they'll go after romney if he's the candidate. they're working on one for perry if he's the candidate. he needs to, in their view, stay above it all and stay presidential and stay focused on the jobs and the economy which is what the american people want. >> whether does that clafrpg? when does he start to enter the fray? >> oh, i think -- when a republican candidate emerges. i think jessica is right. he'll go more hammer and tongue at that person. but here's what's ironic. wolf said what is exactly right. this is usually you see this start up in full campaign mode after labor day. after labor day. but wolf knows and jessica knows that is usually labor day of election year. and now we have a full campaign mode on labor day of the year before. and i think when the country is hurting, i think a lot of americans would like to see less campaigning and more action in washington. >> no doubt about that. wolf, great interview. thanks for being us with. jessica as well. up next, no end to syria's brutal crackdown on protesters. we'll talk to an activist who says the syrian people are no longer afraid of assad's violent government. we're also going to show you video which is just stunning. and that is hard to say after four and five months of brutality that we have witnessed. this is a little girl shot to death by security forces. we'll show you the video. people have risked their lives to get this video out. also, our 360 special investigation, a little girl beaten to death by her parents who believe the bible told hem to punish her with belts and rods. where did they get that idea? a book was found in their home. our gary tuchman tracked down the author. >> i don't use the word hitting. >> what word do you use? >> spanking. >> is there a difference? >> absolutely. [ male announcer ] this is lisa, who tries to stay ahead of her class. morning starts with arthritis pain... that's two pills before the first bell. [ bell rings ] it's time for recess... and more pill