this case are no longer able to speak publicly about any of this. the information we've been getting is going to slow to more of a trickle as the hearings go on. people here got a bit of a surprise when christian bale, the actor who plays batman showed up here. it was a surprise to just about everybody. he visited patients in the hospital at the bedside. after that he came to this make shift memorial here and joined a prayer circle and prayed with people. it was all unannounced, they had no cameras with him and didn't want media coverage. our affiliate happened to be there and caught him. and it exploded on twitter and facebook, people pretty excited he took the time to come and visit. >> i'll bet that helped folks trying to recoup rate in the hospital. thanks, jim. the rest of the day's top stories, let's get right to christine romans. good morning. >> good morning, soledad, syrian forces stepping up attacks to regain control of aleppo, targeting rebel strong holds in syria's largest city overnight. there are reports thousands of troops are being sent in as reinforcements. violent clashes killing 123, 21 in aleppo. there are concerns in u.s. and iraq about al qaeda's growing influence in syria and video warns the group is forming suicide cells to make jihad in the region. apple stock is down 5% this morning after earnings missed estimates yesterday, a rare earnings missed for apple. and iphone rumor mill is churning once again. the latest, the iphone 5 will come out in september instead of october. iphone sales were a disappoint in the second quarter, people have been holding out buying their phones, waiting for the new version this fall. ontario's special investigation unit looking into the death of a man who went over the wall and fell into niagara falls. a police officer was chasing a man when both fell 100 feet in the gorge. the officer was rescued and recovering from a broken leg. the man he was chasing didn't make it out alive. cops are not offering any other details about that incident this morning. life and then some, a chicago judge sentencing jennifer hudson's former brother william balfour, to three life terms plugs 120 years for the murders of her mother, brother and nephew. balfour was convicted in may. in delivering the sentence, the judge said balfour's soul was as baron as dark space. competing plans to extend the tax cuts. it would extend the cuts for couples making less than $250,000 a year. republicans want to extend the tax cuts for all taxpayers, including the wealthiest americans. neither proposal is expected to pass. >> he was george jefferson, actor sherman hemsley rose to fame with "the jeffersons", spinoff of "all in the family." no word on the cause of death, he was 74 years old. too young, soledad. >> really young. he had a couple of successful sitcoms. remember amen? >> yeah, just a funny guy. >> yeah, christine, thanks. a new high is new low for president obama and mitt romney -- that's a way to put them together. save a little time. president obama and mitt romney is what i'm trying to say, the new cnn poll of polls shows president obama with a lead over mitt romney, voters prefer him 47% to mitt romney's 43%. but the negative tone of the presidential campaign seems to be taking a toll on both candidates, a new poll from nbc news wall street journal shows 43% of the voters polled now have an unfavorable view of the president, that's up 38% in june. 40% have a negative view of mitt romney up one point. when they are asked which candidate is conducting a more negative campaign, 22% say president o obama, 34% say both sides are equally running negative campaigns, brings us to congressman, democrat from maryland. good morning to you. >> the polls show that the tone and the nastiness seems to be hurting both candidates. both are winning when it comes to campaigns perceived as negative. that would be a bad thing. a pollster who was interviewed said this is the kind of thing you expect come october, not in july. do you see a major downside to both campaigns in this? >> sure, i think the public are tired of the partisan politics and want to know where each candidate stands on the issues of creating jobs, looking at their issue of national security. i know an issue know that has come up because of the recent storms that people are concerned about how are we handling energy as far as losing power, what's happening with respect to the weather, that type of thing. hopefully we're going to move forward with respect to the issues important to the country and i just hope that people will vote on what they think is the best candidate. i support president obama and i think that he has done a good job and i think he's doing the best he can to attempt to create the jobs necessa to get us out of this serious financial problem we have. >> the basic wisdom is people will vote based on what's important to them and that we know from polling is jobs, jobs, jobs. when you look at this nbc news wall street journal poll, they said when asked, better ideas to improve the economy, whose got those ideas? mitt romney leads the way, had 3% to the president's 36%. when it comes to better overall in dealing with the economy, mitt romney leads the way, 43% to obama's 37%. those polled numbers are quite close. again, if everybody is thinking jobs, jobs, jobs, that's how they are going to vote, doesn't this spell big problems for your candidate, the president? >> i think it is an issue but you look, they both have records, if you look at mitt romney's record in massachusetts, i can't say that has been as positive as it should be. in the end it's about the two candidates will debate, people will make hopefully the right decision. we are moving ahead, moving ahead slowly. remember, president obama inherited a lot of these issues, he's attempting to do the best we can. my concern is congress, congress has to stop the partisan politics and we have got to come together and a lot of what happens with the market and business is consistency and people want to know that we are working together in congress. and i hope we can do that. i think if we do that together and deal with those issues that will then allow two candidates to debate and people will decide. at this point, if i was a betting person, i would bet the president would win in a close race. >> you say as a man who supports the president, i'm not sure anyone will take that bet from you, sir. let me ask you about leaking and this is a conversation mitt romney brought up yesterday in reno, nevada. here's what he said about leaks. >> more top secret operations were leaked, even some involving covert action going on in iran. this isn't a partisan issue. it's a national security crisis, just yesterday democrat senator dianne feinstein whose chairman of the senate intelligence committee and i quote, i think the white house has to understand that some of this is coming from their ranks. end of quote. this conduct is contemptible. >> says this conduct is conte t contemptibility and national security crisis. is the white house doing enough to control the leaks even if they are not the leakers, it has to come from somewhere near the inner circle. are they doing enough to control the leaks? >> the leaks are serious and undermines our country. senator feinstein chand list are the two leadership in the house and we are focusing in the oversight capacity to make a determination where the leaks are coming from. it seems to have started, the leaks have gotten more aggressive since 9/11. but these leaks can cost lives and hurt us internationally, the ability to get money. as far as what romney said about the white house, you know, i was a former prosecutor and did investigations and one of the things you have to do is you have to get the facts and follow the facts. and in this country we do not find somebody guilty because issues are in the media. it's very important that we move forward with the investigation. you have some of the best fbi agent investigators working on it. you have two prosecutors, one republican and one democrat focusing on the leaks. and i can say this, senator feinstein and chand lis and congressman mike rogers and i are focusing on this investigation and we need to find the leaks. the problem though is the culture of the leaks. we will eventually find who leaked this and they will be brought to justice. but the bottom line, we need to stop the leaks today and we have to make sure that we focus on all of our intelligence agencies and make sure that we can stop these leaks because they are hurting our country and hurting our national security. >> senator feinstein said this, i'm disappointed by the statements made by mr. romney today regarding a question i was asked yesterday at the world affairs council. i stated that i did not believe the president leaked classified information. i shouldn't have speculated beyond that because the fact of the matter is i don't know the source of the leaks. you just mentioned the culture of leaks, what do you mean by that? >> i mean we've had serious leaks since 9/11. i'm concerned about the information that has come out with respect to iran as an example. we have really dedicated people working hard to gain intelligence and analyze intelligence and get it back so we can use it to protects ourselves and our citizens. not only can it cost lives but hurts the ability to recruit people to give us information, that's very, very serious. and it also costs us money. i mean, we're getting information and our sources and methods are out there and getting to the enemy because of the fact that somebody decides to give information to the media. that's wrong, we have to stop it and we're going to aggressively pursue it. i have a lot of respect for senator feinstein and mike rogers, the chairman of the intel committee, we're working hard to coordinate with the fbi and administration to find out where the leaks are and they have to stop today. >> congressman ruppersberger, thanks for your time. >> weet get reaction from the other side when we talk to campaign surrogate randy forbes from virginia. stocks taking a plunge, a fiscal cliff is approaching and congress needs to do a little bit more than they are doing. is another recession looming? christine romans will join me to break it all down. this man told to leave disney because he looks like our favorite jolly old elf. look trey songz is on my playlist this morning. bottoms up. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪ s differentow you want. but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you. u.s. markets in the red for three days. christine rom anz following all of this bad news. >> it feels a lot like it did last summer quite frankly. >> it does, doesn't it? >> it really does. futures look a little better this morning quite frankly, but how long that will last, i don't know. if you look at the dow over the past year, it's up a tiny bit year to date. but you know, it's down about a half a percent over the past 52 weeks. look all the way to the left of that screen, you can see what happened last summer. see how it was ugly into the fall and spent a whole year trying to crawl back out. here we are again worried about the same thing, deja vu, we saw ford earnings and you can see europe's problems hitting the international. now we're worried about the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling again later this year. high unemployment, and slow economic growth, we'll get a gdp number on friday and it could be one and a half percent growth in the you hu.s. economy, not enou >> i think in some ways you could argue worse or is it stabilized? >> i think it's been a whole year now and we're still fighting these fires in now spain, greece, still uncertain whether it will stay in the euro zone. it's uncertainty that is the enemy of your 401(k) quite frankly. there were comments overnight by european officials saying that they were hoping they could boost the fire power of their rescue, their bailout fund. i think you'll see markets recover today a little bit. after three down days that's not a hard call to make. lots of uncertainties and one thing soledad, that i think is interesting, we've been talking about europe, something that other people are doing to us that is a problem for the u.s., u.s. companies that are seeing it in the slow european sales, there's also what we can do to our selves and that's the fiscal cliff and uncertainty in washington. >> if you're talking about an election year, add to the uncertainty, i don't know there is a political will or there's a sort of energy to really tackle tough things, it may not help you in an election year. >> this is the kick the can washington and they keep kicking it and what have we done since we lost our aaa credit rating? nothing to get it back. now we have the fiscal cliff looming. those are big tax increases and big spending cuts that go in together starting at the end of the year. that would be a real jolt to the system. there are conservatives telling me, we need a jolt to the system. but the congressional budget office says it will cause a recession. we're watching -- or you're watching and will tell us what happens. still ahead this morning, it may be the happiest place on earth but it is saying no to this man. why? because he looks like santa. it's our get real up next. we're back in a moment. and the "starting point" team is heading in. arguing in the corner. i said heading in, that's the cue. >> we didn't hear. >> you, will cain, roland martin will join us in just one moment. we'll play the theme song from "the jeffersons" as we remember sherman hemsley. let's listen. ♪ collegei was a kid. when i didn't know how i was gonna to do it, but i knew i was gonna get that opportunity one day, and that's what happened with university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky's the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. the lines, the cost, the hassle. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? 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[ male announcer ] at 0% apr for 60 months, no one needs to know how easy it was to get your new volkswagen. that's the power of german engineering. but what about your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. welcome back, new agreement to overhaum the scandal ridden new orleans police department. the justice department has announced hundreds of new policies on the use of force, searches and seizures, arrests and interrogations, coming up next hour, soledad talks to ronal serpas. >> $22.6 billion in fees from passengers to check bags and upgrade their seats and get reservations and change the reservations to pay for food and drinks. this is according to a new study. recently merged continental airlines collected the most at $5.2 billion. take the clothes and leave the baby, surveillance video from a walmart parking lot shows a 19-year-old woman on the run after she was allegedly caught shoplifting. police say she ditched her baby in a shopping cart before she took off. they found the woman and her sister partying in a nightclub the next night. the baby was taken in by authorities and police say the woman denied he was her son. soledad? >> that's a lot going on in that story. what? baby she says isn't hers but happened to be in the shopping cart, lecht the baby to try to get away, was shoplifting allegedly, because she hasn't gone to trial yet. >> don't forget the nightclub. >> yes, as many do at the end of the day. >> with all of the details, classy. >> i think it's sad really, i do. >> christine, thank you. today's team, margaret hoover joins us, don't laugh at his terrible jobs, will cain -- >> strolling in late, look who's here? >> nice to see you. >> will cain as i was mentioned the blaze.com. >> roland martin -- >> what's shaking? >> i'm chilling. >> every time you get time with roland, i'm in ohio, i'm in texas today. >> san francisco, new orleans. yeah, glad to be here. >> our get real this morning, this is such a great story. it may be my favorite of the day. walt disney world, happiest place on earth. pays people to dress like cartoon characters and spread cheer. one guest looked a little too much like santa who is not a disney character. according to wkmg in florida, they asked a guest, thomas tolbert who looks just like this, this is his picture, he looks exactly like santa claus. they said, please be less santaish because he was becoming a distraction at the park. apparently kids saw him and they assumed it was santa on summer vacation and were asking for autographs and pictures. something that he's used to because apparently he's an actor and does a santa impersonation. he was told by park officials, tell the kids no. he was supposed to say this, you need to say, i'm sorry, i'm not who you think i am and this, i'm on vacation and you need to leave me alone. imagine if you thought santa said that to you, listen, i'm on vacation, you need to leave me alone. >> that is the get real, he's not a disney character so it puts the park in a rough place. >> don't stop them from handing out scripts. >> if this was a hollywood star who was going to disney world would they actually tell them, don't take photos and dough autographs for fans. >> they need -- the kid goes to disney land and they see disney characteristics and santa claus. >> he says he's not in costume and anybody who spent more than ten seconds at disney understands it's all about costume and kind of controlling the message of how the park runs. walt disney was very specific about how he wanted those parks to run. they are really careful about that. >> someone is coming up to him, so be it, he's a customer. >> but it fits into the narrative too, it's summertime and off season for christmas, santa is on vacation, not in the north pole and building toys. >> my kids would die of joy if they happened to run into santa in jeans at disney, it would he be done and done as we say. >> you know what's going to be the story tomorrow? universal will say please come over here, we'll glad you come to our facilities. >> santa, we would love to have you. >> i love you're wearing pink, the color of the website of the 22-year-old running for congress. >> i'm supporting her candidacy. >> tomorrow you're going to dress like sata. >> pink and green today. >> oh, my goodness, still ahead this morning, banged heads at the white house over t.a.r.p. funds and how they are used. the special inspector general for t.a.r.p. says the white house is more interested in protecting wall street than americans on main street. a new book called "bailout" we'll talk about that straight ahead. syrian rebels gearing up for a fight in the biggest city. a former general will talk about what they are up against. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. 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[ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! welcome back, we start with christine romans for an update on the top stories. >> a new federal report says bp and drilling rig owner trans ocean failed to learn critical lessons before the deep water horizon, the chemical safety board says the companies focused more on preventing injuries rather than disastrous well blowouts. 15 workers were killed in 2005. michigan's governor declaring a federal emergency after a fuel shortage. the upper peninsula was in short supply of gas and diesel fuel. the west shore pipeline which carries 70,000 barrels per day was shut for several days after a gasoline leak was found on july 17th. they restarted the pipeline saturday night. can't beat them, ban them. the l.a. city cncil voted 14-0 to ban pot shops in the country after the city gave up trying to reign in hundreds of medical marijuana dispense tris that operate in violation of federal law. it's legal in california, the first state to allow the drug for medical use. the state likely headed to the supreme court. a contract dispute threatening to delay the start of modern family's fourth season. sophie i can't vergara and others want increase salaries. 100-78 in the final olympics tune-up. it was rematch of the gold medal game, lebron james scored 25 and the game was played in barcelona where the dream team won gold in 1992. >> i'll have a chance to sit down with carmelo anthony and chris paul. we'll run that interview because of the shooting in colorado we pushed that back. i think it's going to run tomorrow, great interview with them, talking about what they are looking forward to in the olympics. the violence escalating in syria. the situation is deteriorating. turkey is closing its borders with that country coming to us via state-run tv. international concerns have increased after syria's ministry says the country has chemical weapons and there's fear they could be used against other countries. listen. >> any stocks of wmd or unconventional weapon that the syria army possessed would never be used against civilian or against the syrian people during this crisis. these weapons are meant to be used only and strictly in the event of exterior aggression. >> retired brigadier general who served with the military for 17 years. thanks for talking with us. is he right, the syrian foreign min stre spokesperson, in a way was trying to ee lay fears about using weapons against civilians and opened up a big can of worms by one admitting there were chemical weapons and saying we're willing to use them on anybody to attack us. >> the aspect of using chemical weapons as retaliation for the intr national and military intervention, this is a big bluff from a military point of view. big bluff. but the regime can use these chemical weapons anywhere against the syrian people. >> let's start with the big bluff part first. >> the chemicals are component and then carriers, if you have components in barrels and storage, you need carriers. >> on a missile or something. >> long range activity missiles and airplanes. of the longer range activity can't do anything, 27 kilometers, it's like coming from the gulf or from the red sea or mediterranean, what can he do? for the airplanes, it's very difficult because syria does not have any supremacy in the air according to what's around it. the only way he can use it in the missiles he have, xud missiles, the first one is 300 kilometers range and the other one was enhanced developed to have like 700 kilometers. the intervention if it happened and wish it happened and we urge the international community to have this international happen in syria right away. this intervention will start with a tomahawk missile -- >> you're saying a scud or enhanced scud wouldn't be enough to to damage in the neighbors? >> yes. >> but clearly even though that spokesperson was saying we would not use it on civilians, are you saying they would? >> yes. because everything anybody from the serial regime does say, this is completely something they cannot hold for. they lied and lied and lied for more than a year and a half in every aspect in everything, including this myth about the al qaeda working in syria, which i have a confirmed information that there is not any existence to al qaeda and syria unless it is like few individual people came from here or there, that's it. as an organization, nothing. >> general, why won't assad leave? we're used to leaders just taking off. why is he still there? >> first, because he's stupid. second -- >> okay. >> because he have no authority make this huge decision because it's not up to him. as i said before, so many times, he have the utmost power in syria. he can do anything except this, he cannot leave because this is not about him or his family. it's about a huge corrupted establishment of the regime, which is the composed from wealth and power together. it's tens of thousands of high rank officials in the armed forces, in the intelligence forces and in everybody in the economy sector and media sector everywhere, this is huge and all of this establishment was involved in the killing and everything has been in syria during more than 40 years, including the era of the father. including the corruption which made the syrian people very poor while they accumulated billions of billions of dollars. they cannot leave. >> do not trust the regime, that they could potentially use the chemical weapons against their own people. why after 18 months have they not used them yet? >> first of all, they already used some kind of light chemical weapons, it is in the middle -- i'm talking about effective, it's in the middle between tear gas and conventional chemical weapons. it makes like a very effective harmful result on the skin on the eyes, not like tear gas. i've been subjected to tear gas when i was a young guy. you wash your eyes thoroughly and it goes. they already used something like that. but as a desperate measure, these people can do anything you can imagine. >> he's not gotten desperate enough yet? >> not desperate enough yet. this is like an arabic would call it, means a sword with two edges. >> double edged sword? >> exactly. because this -- if he used it as hussein used it north iraq, if he does this such a thing, then this will attract the military intervention, we heard president obama saying that he threatened the regime not to think of using that. >> brigadier general, retired who served in the syrian military for 27 years. thanks for joining us. >> you're welcome. >> ahead on "starting point," the former inspector general for t.a.r.p. which bailed out dozens of companies say the program was a big failure and the programs haven't stopped. plus, capitol hill's hottest, who made the new list of the most beautiful on capitol hill. >> short list. >> you're watching "starting point," we're back in just a moment. now you can apply sunblock to your kids' wet skin. neutrogena® wet skin kids. ordinary sunblock drips and whitens. neutrogena® wet skin cuts through water. forms a broad spectrum barrier for full strength sun protection. wet skin. neutrogena®. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. hundreds of bailed out banks are rtruggling to pay taxpayers, from the office of the special inspector general from t.a.r.p. more than 700 banks rereceived taxpayer dollars, only half repaid the treasury. the man charged with overseeing t.a.r.p. and he says the program was not a success as this, the sadly predictable consequences resulting from the government's disparat treatment of wall street and main street have only become worse as the banks amass more size and power, main street continues to get pummeled. the book is called "bailout." it's nice to see you, thanks for talking with us. >> thanks for having me. >> wow, this book, you have no love lost for the people you were working with. t.a.r.p. was a failure, no silver lining, just an out and out failure. >> there is a silver lining. i don't have anything against the people personally. when i got down to washington, i was really shocked to see how much the interest of wall street, how much power a handful of wall street banks have over our government and how much control they had over -- >> how much power do they have? >> they dictated the terms of their own bailout. t.a.r.p. there were some successes for t.a.r.p. it did help prevent a complete collapse of our financial system. that is a good thing, but it's all of those other goals of t.a.r.p. that congress insisted on when they gave the money that were unfulfilled. you throw enough money at the couple of institutions they are not going to collapse. that's why the program was supposed to help reinvig rate the economy and restore lending and put it back into the economy so we don't have the sluggish recovery we have today. most importantly, it was supposed to help struggling homeowners, this was part and parcel of why the democrats voted for t.a.r.p., the promise to help foreclosure relief for so many struggling homeowners. >> there was foreclosure relief, a million is the number. >> the number is around 800,000, which is one fifth of what the goal was supposed to be. the amount of money spent was supposed to be $50 billion. it's around 3.5, 4, what one of the credit card companies got. >> tell us what congress dictated through the t.a.r.p. fund that banks dictated the specifics? tell us how that happened. >> one example, congress has says you have to preserve homeownersh homeownership, that was the idea, buy the mortgages and it got written into the bill that treasury would then modify those mortgages. well treasury didn't do that. they ped money into the banks. that was out there. then we have a program, a mortgage modification program that secretary geithner himself said that was more about foaming the runway for the banks, in other words helping extend out the foreclosure crisis for the banks he feared could go under, not about helping home owners. it was a series of choices favorable for the banks but bad for the homeowners, when the banks started violating the rules and pummeling the homeowners and squeezing the last few dollars out of them, rather than do something about it, treasury looked the other way and complained they were afraid that if they got tough with the banks, the banks might walk from the program which shows you the level where the level of power lie between the banks and washington. >> you really, really hate timothy geithner? >> it's not true. >> no, it's true. >> strong dislike. >> it's not personal. i hate what's happened to the country. i hate how he put the interest of the banks over homeowners and i hate his role in making the too big to fail banks even bigger and more dangerous. and i hate the fact we're on the verge of another financial crisis if we don't address these things in the coming years. i hate all of those things. i don't know tim geithner, only had a handful of interactions with him. >> they don't realize that there's only one department that shares along with the white house, treasury. so if you want to understand this relationship between money and power, it's right there visibly based upon the simple location treasury and the white house. >> those interests, those wall street interests creates a level of defer ens that we saw consistently. when you talk about power, it's incentives that are baked into the system. for example, i was told very point blank in 2010 by senior treasury official that he was critical of my tone, said i was too harsh of the white house, the administration and of wall street. if i didn't change my tone i was going to do real harm to myself, my ability to get a job in washington or wall street. if i changed my tone and pulled my punches and played ball more, good things to happen, maybe even a judgeship in the white house. that captures the problem of our regulators in washington. all faced with the same choice. do your job and be tough you'll cause harm to yourself and your family or play ball and a big pot of gold at the end of the wall street rainbow. >> tim geithner was on charlie rose and here's what he said about the criticism you have in your book of him. >> he raises this question with tim geithner too friendly to the banks because he knew them from his -- >> i'm deeply offended by that. i find that deeply offensive. it's the result of the urban myth. a lot of people including my critics said we went out and gave and lost trillions of taxpayer dollars, deeply misleading. >> is that wrong? is it deeply misading and terribly damaging. he seems like he hates you back. >> that might be true. if it were true -- what secretary geithner did in the interview and it's kind of funny. one of the things i lay clear and expose how the treasury department and white house, how washington works and how things misrepresentation, lies are floated in the media to try to discredit. and this is the same lie that the treasury floated back in 2009 against me. and i write about it in the book on page 163. i never said that tarp was going to cost people trillions of dollars. that was then twisting a different report that i did where i said when i talked about the total commitment to the financial system. but that whole speech was sort of right out of the book, the faux outrage. i talk about how often treasury officials told me how deeply offended they were at various things. this is just politics right out of the playbook. and it's a shame because it detracts from what are the very real issues and challenges that face the economy. i wish they would get serious and talk about the issues instead of trying to mislead the american people anymore. >> it's rare that a book about tarp is a page turner, but this is really fascinating and kind of depressing to understand how it all works. you wish it weren't like that. >> but unless we get that out there, people are not going to have -- this gives people the ammunition to demand change. and we have to have change to take our country back. >> nice to have you. we have to take a break. ahead on "starting point," we'll tell you who made this -- speaking of capitol hill, let's talk about who is the most beautiful. we name some names. and here is roland's play list. calvin richardson, "i've got to move." we're back in a moment. welcome back to "starting point." new list out this morning on what really, really matters on capitol hill. who's the most beautiful? congressional website the hill ranks the top 50. finishes number two is kelly ayotte. she is rpotentially america's sweetheart. michele bachmann. described as almost president, almost swiss. in second place, carolyn amirpashale. they call her a dead ringer for a kardashian. hmm. >> she's probably not ticked. >> well, huh. >> that's a compliment. >> well, yes, they are very beautiful girls. >> they are. >> and the most beautiful person on capitol hill is max angling, a staff assistant for house administration committee. happens to be a former model. and here is how the breathy description of max goes. forget the loaded potato skins. marks enlgling was the best thing to commute off the tgi friday's. >> this is news? and let me tell you, the first thing that happened to me just to put this in perspective, if you haven't worked in washington, when i showed up as a junior staffer on the hill i was told, you're going to love it here. i was 23 years old. you're going to love it here, margaret. it's just like college. and you know what? this hill list of beautiful is exactly like college. it's ridiculous. the functioning of the mechanics of our capital should not be run on who's beautiful and who's not beautiful. it's ridiculous. >> somebody's mad. she's not on the list. >> ridiculous. >> somebody's mad she didn't make the list when she was 25. no, i'm teasing you. >> i'm really not concerned about it. still ahead this morning -- i hear you, sister. i agree. a new ad slamming mitt romney for his time heading up the olympics. have you seen this ad? calling him an outsourcing pioneer. a romney supporter randy forbes is back with us today to talk about that at the top of the hour. plus, the federal government moves in to wipe out decades of corruption within the new orleans police department. is the plan going to work? we'll talk to the head of the city's police force. also ahead this morning. we're back in a moment. 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[ female announcer ] the travelocity guarantee. from the price to the room to the trip you'll never roam alone. our "starting point" this moshing is hurting themselves. new polls show that ugly campaign ads are turning off voters. so how will this new one bashing mitt romney's time heading up the olympics go over? we'll take a look. and time to heal the families who are trying to honor the lost in aurora, colorado, as the dark knight himself makes a surprise visit to the hospital. and reversing a history of corruption. the feds laying out major reforms for the new orleans police department. will they work? a packed show ahead. congressman randy forbes of virginia is our guest coming up next. also, ronal search as will join us. chris cillizza and jennette mckurdy. we'll talk about healthy eating it's wednesday, july 25, and "starting point" begins right now. that's beyonce. what song is that? >> love something. >> "love on top." i'll just read it off the screen. that print is too small for my eyes. >> i just know it's beyonce. >> our team this morning, roland martin. nice to have you back. >> what? >> will you stop doing that? come on, man. >> ok. hello. >> thank you. >> what up? hello. >> margaret hoover. >> it doesn't look as good if i do it. >> you've got to hit it. >> i did. >> she did it. >> former white house appointee of the bush administration. will cain is a columnist for theblaze.com. >> we know he can't do it. >> he is just shaking his head. our "starting point" this morning, a new high is kind of a new low for both president obama and mitt romney. i called them president obomney earlier today. a new poll shows that obama has a lead over mitt romney, 47% over mitt romney's 43%. but the negative tone of the campaign is taking a toll on both candidates. a new poll shows that 43% of voters polled now have an unfavorable view of the president up from 38% back in june. 40% say they have a negative view of mitt romney up a point. when asked which candidate is conducting a more negative campaign, 22% say it's the president. 12% say it's mitt romney. 34% say both sides are equally running negative campaigns. that brings us to congressman randy forbes this morning, republican from virginia, a romney campaign surrogate. nice to see you, sir. appreciate it. >> always great to be with you. >> thank you. i appreciate that. the polls are a bummer. i just gave you a little insight into some of the polls, not all of it. the negative ads reaping negative benefits, and it's only july. that to me bodes a bigger problem as we head into the actual election. i think one pollster said this is the kind of stuff you usually see in october. are you concerned about that? >> well, i think everybody's concerned about that. you know, one of the things that we know, the president spent about $100 million attacking governor romney, and so far most of that boomerangs back against the people that are running these negative ads, regardless of which party you're in. i think by the time we get to november, though, soledad, most people will be focusing on one thing, and that's the economy and which of the two presidential candidates they think can do a better job to get the economy back on track and creating the jobs we need for the country. >> if you look at the polls, mitt romney wins in that category. when asked who has the better ideas to improve the economy, it's mitt romney who leads at 43% to president obama's 36%. when asked who is going to be better at dealing with the economy, kind of similar numbers there. mitt romney again leading at 43%, the president at 37%. so we know people vote the economy. and yet when you look at the poll of polls, and this is a cnn poll, the president is leading, and continues to lead. this is held pretty steady. 47% for the president and mitt romney at 43%. and it seems contradictory to the first round of polls i read you. jobs jobs jobs and the economy, and then the poll of polls shows he's still behind. >> well, there's a host of polls out there. we had some last week that showed governor romney was ahead in one point. in virginia, he has closed an eight-point gap and is now dead even with the president. and one of the things we know is any time you've got a sitting president below 50%, we know that those undecideds break very heavily for the challenger most of the time come november. we feel pretty good about where the polls are now. but you can't base this on where the polls are. it's still summer. this will change a lot as we go into november. but i still believe that as we head closer to the election, americans are focused on one thing, and that is the economy, getting it turned around, and getting the jobs they feel they need. i think that's what's going to push governor romney over the top. >> when you look into i guess heading into the conventions and asked about who has a favorable view of the candidates and who has an unfavorable view, mitt romney, the former governor, with a 40% unfavorable view, 35% say that it's favorable. when you look in the past, compare that to john mccain back in 2008. his favorable was higher. let's throw the numbers up on the screen if we can. his favorable was higher by 12 points. bush in 2000, his favorable was higher by 20 points. bob dole in '96, his favorable was higher by 12 points. just as you talked about a president whose numbers are below 50%, i think people would say a candidate whose unfavorable outweighs the favorable is a big problem, isn't it? >> soledad, there are two statistics you didn't look at. one is that the guiding statistic on these electrics is still right direction, wrong direction for the country. and overwhelmingly, over 60% of the people in this country feel the country is headed in the wrong direction. that's not going to play very good for the president. the second thing, back when you look at senator mccain's candidate, they didn't have nearly this amount of negative campaign money spent on him early in the cycle like it's been spent at this particular point in time. i think once you see the conventions going on, and governor romney has been hoarding a lot of his money, i think you'll see that coming towards the end. i think once the american people get to see more of who governor romney is, that favorability is going to increase. and again, once they walk into that polling booth in november, i think it's going to be all about the economy and jobs. i think that's what's going to win this for governor romney. >> the gop has been attacking president obama's comments from the other day, and will cain and i have been arguing about this a little bit ourselves. this is what the president said 12 days ago, talking about business. and who's responsible for a business's success. let's play that. >> if you are successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. there was a great teacher somewhere in your life. somebody helped to create this unbelievable american system that we have that allowed you to thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you've got a business, that -- you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> well, that was 12 days ago. the romney campaign then ran an ad that basically said, you know, why are you demonizing us for being successful? and then the president now says that mitt romney has taken him out of control. he says this. what i said was we need to stand behind them as america always had by investing in education, training, roads, bridges and technology. that's part of a new obama campaign ad. do you think and believe that the president in fact was demonizing business owners? >> soledad, i don't put much in what people's words are as much as i do their actions. and i think what small business people are looking at across the country is they have had 41 straight months of unemployment above 8%, net job losses of 473,000. they know that these tax rates go up, it's going to cost us 700,000 jobs. the president's health care build according to the congressional budget office, 800,000 jobs. if the defense cuts come through, that's going to be 1.5 million job losses. that's what's really impacting them far more than any of the words that the president might say. >> this is will cain. before we let you go, i wanted to reserve the final 10 minutes of our satellite time with you to get you on the record on the breaking news in the last hour that you employ the second best looking person in washington, d.c., according to the hill. >> yes, it's carolyn amirpashaie. >> will, i think she's the number one most beautiful person inongress. but also one of the most competent people in congress. >> bravo. >> and we're very proud to have her in our office. >> bravo. >> i love the way he said that. >> i'm sure she is talented and competent staff. >> and intelligent as well. before we go, i want to play for a new ad, the super pac that backs the president. i think we had this conversation last week talking about efforts to take what is mitt romney's perceived strength in the economy and business and flip it to try to make it a weakness. let me play a little bit of this ad about mitt romney's time helping with the u.s. olympics. >> welcome to the olympics. there's mitt romney, who ran the salt lake city games, waving to china, home to a billion people. thousands of their jobs went to mitt romney's companies. india, which also gained jobs thanks to romney, an outsourcing pioneer. >> what do you think of that ad? will cain is shaking his head. what do you think of that ad? >> soledad, i haven't seen the ad. but, you know, i think we're going to continue to see a lot of these negative ads on both sides. i just don't think they are going to work that much. i think by the time we get to november, people are going to look on the records and make decisions based on the policies that both candidates have, and they are going to be basing their votes on their pocketbook. who they think will turn this economy around and get them jobs. and, again, i think governor romney will win that debate and be the next president of the united states. >> congressman randy forbes joining us this morning. nice to see you. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> at the end of the day, every politician knows negative ads work. that's why they keep running them. >> they do. yet at the same time, they also hit you on your favorability and unfavorability numbers. they do. >> you can ignore that. >> maybe not. >> the american public says it all the time. we don't like negative ads. but they respond to them. >> that's a different question. those are two different things. whether you respond to a negative ad and whether you get annoyed with favorability. if your numbers go really down, who's going to vote for a candidate whose numbers are unfavorable? you're not going to run to the polls for them. >> they are going to turn out. somebody is going to win. one of them is going to win. they work. >> we'll see. christine romans, let's get to the top stories this morning. good morning. good morning. several new developments in the aurora movie theater massacre. families getting ready to lay their loved ones to rest this hour. this afternoon, a memorial service will take place for 51-year-old gordon cowden who took his two teenagers to see the midnight movie. both children survived. also today, a visitation is scheduled for 23-year-old micayla medek. she was working towards her college degree. the star of "the dark knight rises" paid a visit to aurora to pay his respects and thank the heroes. and bittersweet news to report. a woman named katie medley gave birth to a boy as her husband, caleb, a victim of the shooting, lay in the same hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. hugo jackson medley was born at 7:11 a.m. yesterday at university of colorado hospital, and we wish them well. and we hope that his daddy gets better. syrian forces escalating their attacks overnight to regain control of the country's largest city aleppo. government helicopters and fighter jets targeting rebel strongholds there. we are getting reports of thousands of fresh government troops being sent in. violent clashes in syria claiming at least 133 lives yesterday. 21 of them in aleppo. the senate preparing to vote this afternoon on competing plans to extend the bush era tax cuts. democratic plan would extend the cuts for couples making less than $250,000 a year or individuals making less than $200,000. republicans want to extend the tax cuts for al taxpayers, including the wealthiest americans. neither is expected to pass. and remembering actor sherman helmsley. americans knew him as an actor, george jefferson. "the jeffersons" ran for 11 seasons. he died at home in el paso, texas. no word on his cause of death, soledad. he was 74 years old. >> 74 is kind of young, isn't it? i remember watching that when i was 9 years old, that was on tv. and i remember they had the first like interracial couple on tv, the williss. remember? it was roxy roker and -- >> lenny kravitz is her son. >> right. and i remember like, wow, a black woman is married to a white guy, which of course was my family makeup too, on tv. this is amazing. >> and he was an owner. an entrepreneur. so also that whole issue as well. >> he was funny. >> and came off from "all in the family." >> right. spinoff successfully. and he had his own show after that, "amen." successful guy. cleaning up the force. a major reform in the new orleans police department after major corruption. will it work this time? you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas. the lines, the cost, the hassle. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? with over 25 delicious flavors for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house. add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage. >> this consent decree will allow us to move forward, and move forward tother, and will enable the people of new orleans to have in the words of mayor landrieu, and i quote him, a world class police department. >> welcome back to "starting point." that was attorney general eric holder announcing an unprecedented agreement designed to clean up the infamously corrupt police department in new orleans. among the more than 100 new requirements, detail theed repo mandatory review by public integrity bureau, videotaping interviews with suspects to make sure no threats of harm are made, and a limit in pay for off-duty security work, which was previously a pretty big source for corruption. ronal serpas is the superintendent of the new orleans police department and is joining us this morning. thank you for being with us. we appreciate that. >> good morning. good to be here. >> thank you. i appreciate that. some people described this as peeling an onion to the core to try to get at the problems. are you confident that this time around this is going to work and why? >> oy have no doubt it's going to work this time. mayor landrieu and i came together two years ago and worked very closely with attorney general holder and his team. in the last two years, we have begun to implement many pieces of the pie that have to be put into place. for example, we have done about 40% of what needs to be done to make sure we follow this consent decree. new orleans is a city on the rebound. our real estate values are up. the charter school system is doing well. we're in the middle of an unprecedented 15-month run of major sporting events, culminating with the super bowl in just a few months. we are a city rebuilding with new numbers of tourism and people coming to new orleans saying i want to build a business in new orleans, i want to move to new orleans. >> which is why some of the information about corruption and crimes is a real challenge. that's a great story you're spinning right there with an asterisk of the except the crime problem. how will you tackle that? >> we have two things going on at the same time, soledad. we have a 30-year history of a city that experiences seven to 10 times the national homicide rate. 30 years we've had far too many murders. but for 30 years, new orleans has been an incredibly safe city. when you look at murder, we have a challenge unheralded in the history of american cities, and we thank president obama and eric holder for the safe cities too. but when you look at new orleans without the murder event, which is people who know one another unfortunately, we are the 79th safest city in america in cities over 700,000. it's a competing story. we are not giving any ground on the fact we will reduce murder in the city, but we also have a very safe city beyond that particular question. >> ronal, a question for you. it seems to me that there wouldn't have been -- i'm a glass half full kind of person. do you think there would have been the political will to have such extraordinary reforms with the justice department, with eric holder, the attorney general, had katrina not happened? >> i think it's pretty clear that if you look at the history and the investigation from about 2005 to 2010, the new orleans police department absolutely unequivocally lost its way. it stopped training. it stopped disciplining. it stopped thinking forwardly. it stopped putting policies in place. it looked inward and not outward. so what we've had to do is recognize that a great city that wants its police department to be successful needed us to make changes in our behavior, and that's what we're going to do. and i have absolute confidence we're going to win this battle. i have absolute confidence we'll continue to reduce crime and murder. no question about it. >> chief, how do you change a mindset, though? the reality is you were having to deal with officers who historically have said, we don't make enough money. and so therefore, we will cut corners. so you have to change a mindset of the very people who are on your force. >> that's an excellent question. yesterday the first thing i said at the press conference was i am proud to be a new orleans police officer. being a police officer is the most noble profession on this planet as far as i can tell. and we have to reenergize the men and women of the department to recognize that's what you serve for. we can fix the paid detail thing. we can fix the off-duty employment. we can work on better salary and benefits. but it all starts when police officers get hired with higher standards which we did a year ago and they get promoted and train with higher standards which we're in the process of now. i've seen this change before. i've been a change agent four times in three different at this point in times. it takes time. your point is well made. but it can be done. >> superintendent ronal serpas. thank you for your time this morning. appreciate it. >> come on down and get a beignet. >> still ahead this morning on "starting point," we are getting a first look at dramatic tape showing a killer whale biting a trainer and dragging that trainer underwater during a show at sea world. it happened in san diego. we have details on that straight ahead. we're back in just a moment. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? welcome back to "starting point." so you may not know that i'm a big supporter of the u.s. deaf women's soccer team. >> didn't know. >> my son, who's 7, has significant hearing loss, so he is always trying to see what other people do who are hearing impaired. so we started supporting the u.s. deaf soccer team. men's and women's team. and right now they are playing their championships, in turkey. so there's a young woman we met, a midfielder, and she started filing reports for us on their path to what's hopefully a championship win. and here is her report. >> we just played against germany. the final score was 8-0. shutout. i have nito here with me. what did you think of the game today? >> we played very, very wonderfully. it was beautiful. we really played as one. it was a beautiful thing to see. >> so watch our next game against poland. >> we will continue to strive to rise to the top and win the world cup. thank you very much. see you later. >> back to you, soledad. >> thank you, alison, for that report. you know when they play they cannot have their hearing aids and you cannot have anything that sort of helps your hearing. so they have do a lot of signalling. >> hand signals and such? >> yeah. it's a pretty amazing thing. their next game is tomorrow morning eastern time, 2:30 in the morning against poland, and they are hoping to win the big championship. >> is your son going to get up early to watch it? >> no, he won't, because that would mean me getting up early. but we will tivo it so i can share it with him the results. >> wow. great. >> the women and the men's team. and they are over there playing. >> cool. still ahead this morning on "starting point," new polls show that voters have a negative opinion of both president obama and mitt romney. what does that mean for november? chris cillizza writes the popular "the fix" for "the washington post." everything you need to know about politics. that's straight ahead. plus, dramatic video of a killer whale dragging a trainer underwater. it happened at a show at sea world. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. with chase sapphire preferred. starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. good afternoon. chase sapphire. (push button tone) this is stacy from springfield. oh woah. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0," i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire. welcome back to "starting point." let's get right to christine romans for a look at day's top stories. one lifetime in prison not enough for william balfour. jennifer hudson's former brother-in-law was sentenced yesterday for murdering the singer's mother, brother, and her 7-year-old nephew in 2008. a chicago judge gave him three life sentences, plus 120 years. in delivering the sentence, the judge could barely contain his anger, telling balfour, your soul is as barren as dark space. perego is recalling 220,000 strollers made between 2004 and 2011. infants can become trapped between the seat and the tray and strangled. one death has been reported. take the clothes, leave the baby. surveillance video from a walmart parking lot in ocala, florida, showing a 19-year-old woman on the run after she was allegedly caught shrifting. shoplifting. she ditched her baby in a shopping car before she took off. they found the woman and her sister pearing in a nightclub the next night. the baby was taken by authorities, and police say the woman then denied he was even her son. chilling video of a killer whale attacking its trainer at sea world has been released to the public for the first time six years after it took place. this video was first shown at an osha court hearing last fall. the whale is seen dragging the trainer underwater. the trainer was ok. two years ago, orlando sea world trainer dawn brancheau died after being pulled underwater by a killer whale. >> that's just horrible to watch. wow. christine, thank you. we've been telling you about the polls out this morning showing that voters have a negative opinion of president obama and mitt romney in the negative ads that are getting the voters down, but it's only july. so does that mean we're all doomed come election day? nope. a new book called "the gospel according to the fix" lays it all out for us. written by chris cillizza. he writes the column "the fix" for "the washington post." nice to have you. >> thank you for having me. it's a pleasure. >> this book is great. if you ever wanted to figure out what's happening in an election year, you just read "the gospel according to the fix" and you'll know everything. and it's hilarious too. >> i figured i'd go with like a non -- don't overpromise in the title. kind of go low key in the title. you know, the gospel according to john, mark, luke, the fix. you know, right. look, the one thing i would say about the book, soledad, is i hope the first line in the book is politics takes itself too seriously. it shouldn't. you know, i think we have to remind ourselves that the sublime and the ridiculous go together. in politics. and acknowledging that it can be ridiculous does not mean that it also can't be sublime. it is a hugely high stakes affair. something we all spend most of our lives talking about, thinking about, writing about. but at the same time, there are elements to it that are also just kind of fun. >> let's start with the sublime then. voters are disenchanted, unhappy. we see that in the polling. at the same time, roland was saying a moment ago that negative ads are have successful. and that's why they keep running. i >> i was in the green room and shaking my head in agreement because there's a piece in there about the top 10 negative ads of all time in the book. and some the intro, i say ask 100 people on the street. if we asked then, what do you think of negative ads? 99 of them would say, oh, they're terrible. they don't influence me at all. but i always say campaigns aren't in the business of wasting money. so you don't spend $20 million on negative ads if you have focus groups and polling that shows it doesn't work. it does work. we know that. unfortunately, work as it's defined here, you show the nbc/"wall street journal" poll earlier. that's how work defined. both candidates negative ads are going up, and we have 100-plus days until the election. and it's not going to get more positive from here on out. >> that's right. >> that's the one thing i can be certain of. >> don't you think with both candidates' negatives going up, winning in the bad way, at some point, that infusion of money and negative ad is working but it's sort of sinking everybody down. is that a problem? >> yes. and the politics -- >> and less people are turning out? >> that's a possibility. i would say, and i heard roland make this point earlier and i nodded in agreement again, that yes, the negative ads -- >> it's killing will cain right now. >> back down a little bit. we still have a long time to go. >> yes, negative ads do tend to depress turnout. but in a presidential election where you have the republican base, incredibly energized to vote against barack obama. you have the democratic base slightly less energized but still very energized to vote for barack obama. i just don't see people not turning out. could it turn off the 52 people who live in ohio who are still undecided about this election inexplicably? sure. it could. but i think the campaigns are willing to take that risk. i think we are looking at an '04 electorate. extremely close. not in '08. >> i think you're right in turnout, chris. but that means in the end that voters will pick between two candidates they are both holding their nose for. it's not '08. it's not about hope, change, and inspiration. >> right. this is not barack obama '088. this is -- i hate to say it, because it's the lowest common denominator politics and i don't think this gets people excited to be involved in politics, and i spend every day of my life doing it. this is devil you know versus devil you don't know. >> i think that's fair. >> that's where we are headed. the path to barack obama's victory in this election is disqualify mitt romney. because barack obama's positive message only can go so far because we know from the polling we've seen out there says a majority of people don't approve of how barack obama is handling the economy. if we're talking about the economy every day, it does not take a political genius to realize he probably comes up short. >> sort of what you take what is perceived to be a positive or strength for mitt romney and try to twist that. >> devil you know versus the devil you don't know. the new polls that show mitt romney with a low are favorability rate, do you think that's still because he is the devil that people don't know yet? >> yeah. i think what's hard, margaret, is the consensus when you're in like my shoes, you think everybody knows about mitt romney. we have been following his presidential campaign. there is no chance that most people know about him. but i would guess that most people know that he was a businessman. and maybe the olympics and maybe the governor of a state, maybe. so while his name might be out there, if you ask do you know who mitt romney is, 90% of the people say yes. but anything beneath that is a total -- >> his history isn't out there? >> that's why you see barack obama spending $107 million on ads trying to say, look, this is who mitt romney is. oh, by the way, that is not the story mitt romney wants to tell about who mitt romney is. >> and the polls are snapshots. >> right. >> last week, two weeks ago, we spent so much time, poll, poll, poll. but when you talk about the critical vote -- >> that's the centerpiece of my show today. so what were you going to say? >> but my point, is the voters who are sitting there haven't made their mind up are sitting here at disney world saying i'm on vacation, they are going to make up their minds come october. >> and the thing that is amazing is we've had all these things happen over the last six months or a year where we -- i won't lump you all in, but i spend time analyzing this could be important, this is a mountain, not a mole hill. >> game changer. >> right. and what do we see? about 45% to 47% of the american public is voting for mitt romney, and 45% to 47% are voting for barack obama, and 5% are people are undecided. it is like '04 in that regard. it's so polarized. there is no piece of information you could tell them about mitt romney that would get them vote for barack obama or vice versa. i also want to talk to you about how to survive a sex scandal. that's also a chapter in this book. >> there's a script for that? >> it's purely analysis. also, we'll talk to jennette mccurdy who plays sam on "icarlie." you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. 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"brown eyed girl"? you are welcome on this panel anytime you want, margaret. >> i liked my song way better. >> pink cadillac. >> there's a song called "soledad." >> i want to talk to you about a couple of chapters. one, the art of an october surprise. how likely is that this time around? >> if you judge by the last couple of elections, very likely. that is october surprise, something that happens in october or in '08 it was september with the collapse of the world economy. that changes the dynamic. i would say, soledad, if you go back and look at elections prior to '04, 2000, which is when the bush dui came out three or four days before the election, there's not that big of history of it. and i talked to lots of people, a lot of political types about, does this really matter? and they said, kind of and kind of not. you know, yes, it can have an effect. but i would say again back to what we were talking about before, when you have an electorate this polarized, i don't know what surprise could be out there. i feel like it's july, and we already know so much negative stuff about both these guys. you know, i don't know what it could be. >> well, the economy. >> let's talk about the sex scandal chapter. the do's and don'ts. do, admit you did it immediately. don't do a press conference. >> yeah. i mean -- >> do refuse to resign. don't have your wife with you. >> i like that. >> that was heavily influenced by my wife, i would say. my wife when i was writing this, you know, we watched like mark sanford or some of these other folks, and she would say, if you ever did something like that, i will not only not be with you, i will hold a press conference against you. >> i was saying the same thing to my husband. >> my wife is tough. >> i said i will hold a rival press conference. >> i do think there is unfortunately the way that we conduct politics there is kind of a blueprint now for how you make these things. and there you go. >> and it's in the gospel according to the fix. >> my publisher is smiling ear to ear right now. thrilled. >> nice to have you with us this morning. >> thanks for having me. coming up next, this young lady is the star of "icarly." and she'll talk to us about how to get kids to eat their vegetables. that's straight ahead. we're back in just a moment. hei? 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[siri] i'll try to remember that. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. welcome back to "starting point." nickleodeon's "icarly" is about a teenaged girl who hosts her own web show with her friends. it's been a hit in part because of one young lady, jennette mccurdy who plays carly's best friend. >> my daughter is a big fan, and i am too. >> wait. is she -- >> soy what are you doing here? your excellency? >> you don't call her your excellency. >> no, no. i kind of like it. [ laughter ] >> she's pretty funny. she has pretty good timing. michelle obama, obviously. jennette mccurdy with us. tell me what that was like to do a show with the first lady. >> it was insane. we had 65 secret service onset. they were very strict and secret servicy. and she was so nice and came on and hugged everybody and made everybody feel right at home. you know, everybody just had a great time with her. >> it's all part of her mission. she's really been focused on healthy eating. >> yeah. >> and you have become the veggie loving ambassador, i'm told. >> yes, yes. >> tell me about that, because i have to imagine that like of all the jobs to a young audience, you might have the toughest job. >> veggies? >> yeah, i think selling vegetables -- i have four young kids. >> well, they are great. >> i agree. >> we are teaming up with birds eye vieggies. and i think they are a great thing. they are fun. and kids can really -- if they think of them in new creative ways, they can have a lot of fun things with them. >> do you cook? are you a good cook? >> i'm not a great cook, but birds eye makes it easy because you literally just put everything in the microwave and it's done in a couple of minutes. >> why did you decide this was an issue -- obviously, it's a big issue for michelle obama too. there are terrible numbers about obesity rates, et cetera, et cetera. >> absolutely. i just think eating healthy makes you feel better, and i think that's the ultimate goal, beyond any sort of weight issues or anything like that. life is about feeling good and eating healthy helps that. >> do you think that the kids watching the show -- and i know the show takes on issues. my daughters are obsessed with you and the woman who plays carly. >> yeah. >> but do you think that's a strategy that will work? my kids by watching the show where you espouse vegetables will make them actually want to make healthy choices versus chicken nuggets? >> i hope so. i think when kids watch shows when people sing songs, they want to sing songs. hopefully if they see other people eat veggies, they'll want to eat veggies. >> there was a study that said 90% of commercials that kids watch exceed the dietary guidelines for sugar and salt. and that's what you're up against, miss vegetable ambassador. >> look out. with birds eye, we'll get you. >> do you think that's doable? what's the message? what's the sell that will make your average 9-year-old girl say, you know what? i actually would like to have some steamed broccoli. >> i think that there are creative ways to treat your vegetables. and birds eye does a lot of great things that makes the veggies extra tasty. so you might not think of corn as something you like or broccoli something you like, but you'll find some sort of birds eye original creation that makes it tasty for you, like broccoli in a cheese sauce or something like that. >> i do like that. you have been doing the show now for five years. we were talking about this a minute ago. you were 14 when you started? >> yeah. 14. >> so your whole childhood really has been on that show. >> yeah, it's nuts. we all grew up together really. >> you've been working on an album. and i didn't realize you were a singer. >> yeah. i signed with capital nashville a few years back. and i recently left that label and i'm looking at other opportunities and seeing if music is something that will fit into my life. >> is it music? acting? >> it's acting. >> you're an actor first? >> yeah, for sure. >> what made you decide to do an album? >> well, i lo of ve to sing in shower. and i posted some songs on youtube. my fans responded and seemed to like it. and capital saw the videos and decided to sign me. >> that's awesome. >> yeah. >> what about a pilot? you're doing a new pilot too. >> yes. i'm so excited. i'm doing a pilot in a few weeks with our producer, dan snyder, who created "icarly." >> it is a spinoff? >> i can't say. >> are you getting your own show? >> i can't say. >> tell me. there's a team of publicists here. but tell me. >> i can't say much, and i don't know much to be honest with you. we're starting in a few weieks and i haven't seen a script yet, nothing. but i know that dan snyder is creating it. he has created great things in the past. and there's nobody that i trust more than him. >> we look forward to whatever that top secret project is that you will not tell us. my daughters will be thrilled because we watch your show all the time. >> thanks. >> nice to have you with us. >> thank you. syou know, i've helped a lot off people save a lot of money. but today...( sfx: loud noise of large metal object hitting the ground) things have been a little strange. (sfx: sound of piano smashing) roadrunner: meep meep. meep meep? (sfx: loud thud sound) what a strange place. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. [romney singing]: oh beautiful, for spacious skies, i'm barack obama and i approve this message. for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain, america, america, god shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good, with brotherhood... s different but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you. i love my new graphics so much. >> and the music. >> yeah, that too. margaret, i'm giving you "end point." one good turn deserves another. >>y oh, wow. my end point, chief serpas was so interesting. what's going on in new orleans post katrina. really extraordinary evolutionary changes that have happened in the education system and now the police force.