in this special hour, we're taking a close look at the man mitt romney's asked to join him on the republican presidential ticket, congressman paul ryan of wisconsin. fittingly, romney made the big announcement in front of the battle ship, the "uss wisconsin." ryan is chairman of the house budget committee, made a name for himself here in washington, by battling deficits and fighting for cuts in government spending. listen to how mitt romney broke the news. >> it's an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan! [ cheers and applause ] his leadership -- his leadership begins with character and values. paul is a man of tremendous character, shaped in large part by his early life. paul's father died when he was in high school. that forced him to grow up earlier than any young man should, but paul did, with the help of his devoted mother, his brothers and sister, and a supportive community. and as he did, he internalized the virtues and hard-working ethic of the midwest. paul ryan works in washington, but his beliefs remain firmly rooted in janesville, wisconsin. he's a person of great steadiness, whose integrity is unquestioned and whose word is good. paul's upbringing is obvious in how he's conducted himself throughout his life, including his leadership in washington. in a city thas far too often characterized by pettiness and personal attacks, paul ryan is a shining exception. he doesn't demonize his opponents. he understands that honorable people can have honest differences. and he appeals to the better angels of our nature. there are a lot of people in the other party who might disagree with paul ryan. i don't know anyone who doesn't respect his character and judgment. >> paul ryan was only 28 years old when he was first elected to the united states congress. he served seven terms, almost 14 years. at 42, he's the same age as the eldest of romney's five sons. ryan's catholic with a wife and three young children. >> i want you to meet my family. this is my wife, janna. our daughter, liza, and our sons, charlie and sam. i'm surrounded by the people i love. i love you too. janesville, wisconsin, is where i was born and raised and i never ally left it. it's our home now. for the last 14 years, i have proudly represented wisconsin in congress. there -- there i have focused on solving the problems that confront our country, turning ideas into action, and action into solutions. i am committed, in heart and mind, to putting that experience to work in a romney administration. my dad died when i was young. he was a good and decent man. there are a few things he would say that have just always stuck with me. he'd say, son, you're either part of the problem or part of the solution. well, regrettably, president obama has become part of the problem and mitt romney is the solution. i represent a part of america that includes inner cities, rural areas, suburbs, and factory towns. over the years, i have seen and heard from a lot of families. from a lot of those who are running small businesses. and from people who are in need. but what i've heard lately, that's what troubles me the most. there's something different in their voice, in their words. what i hear from them are diminished dreams, lowered expectations, uncertain futures. i hear some people say that this is just the new normal. >> no! >> higher unemployment, declining income, and crushing debt is not a new normal! i've worked closely with republicans, as well as democrats, to advance an agenda of economic growth, fiscal discipline, and job creation. >> paul ryan's name was certainly on many people's short list of vice presidential possibilities. still, the choice is somewhat surprising, and carries some very definite risks. our chief national correspondent, john king, is here to assess what's going on. you spent a lot of time studying paul ryan. and you've looked at the pluses he brings to the ticket and some of the minuses. >> it's bold and risky, all at once, wolf. the biggest plus is the immediate one you see. governor romney today had a bit of a swagger, he was loser, more of a candidate. this was the first oh, yeah, i'm the leader of my party. the american people will decide between governor romney and president obama, but can paul ryan help? here's some of the pluses, he energizes a republican base that has been somewhat suspicious of governor romney. people saying, this is a big ideas guy, we want him there. he's a very energetic debater and a campaigner. he adds youthful vigor to the race. but there are some downsides. he's never run, meaning he's never run won statewide. so can he put wisconsin in the republican column? that's a big question mark. the republicans will be together, their first event in the milwaukee suburbs, that's the key test there. he has zero foreign policy experience, governor romney's also weak there. and 42 years old, some will say, youthful vigor, but others will say, is he really ready to be commander in chief? >> and most of his experience has been within washington, in government or think tanks, a legislative aide. he doesn't bring the experience in the private sector that mitt romney would bring to the ticket. >> you would have on the one hand, as paul ryan said today, a great combination. he was a governor, a chief executive, a businessman. he doesn't have washington experience. i'm a guy who can help him navigate the nooks and crannies of the bureaucracy. governor romney's right when he says democrats respect paul ryan. they do respect him as someone who comes to the table with ideas, not just with rhetoric and partnership. >> he's a likable kind of guy. that's what you hear from democrats as well. today, i spent time going through a lot of the interviews i've done with him over the past few careeyears. i want to play this little clip and talk about it with you. it's about taxes, which is a very, very sensitive issue. >> not only are we open to tax reform, as you describe it. but it's in our budget. what we proposed in our budget that passed the house, get rid of these loopholes in exchange for lower rates. and what we want to do is get rid of these loopholes in exchange for lowing everybody's and every business's tax rates to make us more globally competitive. >> he doesn't like the fact, for example, that a company like ge pays no taxes for whatever reason. he wants to do away with those kind of loopholes, different tax rates for u.p.s. as opposed to dhl. he goes into some specific details. is that orthodoxy start that conservative base, which some of whom see any reduction in those loopholes as, in effect, a tax hike? >> it is becoming orthodoxies to the effect, flatter, simpler, fairer and some of these offshore tax shelters. even governor romney says, let's get rid of those. but some republicans draw the line, they won't take that if it brings more revenue to washington. paul ryan says, i'm not going to worry about that. if we simplify the tax code, if the end result is more money for washington, great. but he says it's to make it simpler for middle class families. but he says, the main goal for businesses, you take away those stacks of the loopholes, more money goes into the economy, more economic growth, more of a reagan camp supply-sider. >> and he repeatedly said to me, he would love to work with democrats, would love to find some compromise that hasn't happened lately, but maybe it will happen. >> with these issues front and center, maybe whoever wins the election will have a mandate to govern. maybe. >> we'll see. thanks very much, john. we're just beginning our special hour in "the situation room." we have inside information on how mitt romney picked paul ryan. stay with us for a window into his decision-making process. 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. they buy all their groceries right here, but let me ask you, did you ever think of walmart for a smartphone? 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>> well, that's something i leard, working with him, as chief of staff in the governor's office for four years, that there is a way -- he's very methodical in making his decisions. and what he wants is a couple things. first of all, he want always the information. and we went about a very thorough process in making sure we had a lot of information, about a broad group. he also doesn't like to rule anything out, until he has to. so, you know, the first swath was broad. and we got a good cut of information about a lot of people. he then narrowed it down, and we got even more information. we got personal information from each of the potential candidates. and at that point, again, we had some attorneys look through and go through everybody's record to make sure that there was -- you know, i didn't want to miss anything about them. and then mitt took these candidate dossiers and he thought about them. he read all of them word for word. i had talked with each of the candidates personally. he had, obviously, been campaigning with a lot of the folks that he was considering. and he read the dossiers and we narrowed it down once again. and we did, you know, an even more deep dive on them, and then gave them the final product, and he's thinking about it now. >> does he solicit your advice or -- >> he solicits the advice of a small group of his advisers. but then he asks, i think, everybody he meets, you know, what's your thought on this? >> and he listens? >> he listens. i mean, he asks sort of people you wouldn't think that he'd ask about it, he talks to -- you know, he calls friends from all walks of his life, all across the country, wanting to know what they think. he listens to that. and then he -- but i haven't told him. i have not shared with him my opinion, because i think it's important that i'm the objective -- >> so it's his comfort level with someone, and his feeling that person is qualified to be -- >> yeah. >> -- president? >> yes, absolutely. i mean, obviously, his first qualification is that the person is qualified to be president. and perceived to be qualified to be president. >> all right. gloria's here with me in "the situation room." gloria, a good interview. i'm glad you did that. let's talk a little bit about what this says about mitt romney, what iz set about paul ryan, the impact of all of this on the campaign. >> i think, first of all, as beth myers said, it shows that mitt romney is someone who likes to look at all the data when he's making a decision and someone who is for methodical. i also think he had to be personally comfortable with the person he was going to put on the ticket. but aside from that, wolf, i think it tells us something about where this campaign is headed. i think they take a look at the campaign and they said, gee, we cannot run just against president obama's economy, or they would have been up five or seven points by now. instead they're not. it's been either flat or they've been down. so they said, look, we need to focus this campaign, and what they've done by putting paul ryan on the ticket, and this is not without some risk, is they've focussed this campaign and said, look, this is about the future, the economic future of this country. they want to talk about spending, they want to talk about tax cuts, they want to talk about deficits. and use that as a way to talk about the economy and where they would take it. >> looks like they've got a good, good relationship. and it looks like they've energized this campaign. we'll see what happens, gloria. >> this is day one. >> day one. we'll see what happens day two, tomorrow. >> thanks, very, very much. paul ryan's midwestern roots. how has his wisconsin hometown shaped his political beliefs? that and a lot more, straight ahead. people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. when mitt romney first introduced his new running mate, he said paul ryan's beliefs remain firmly rooted in his hometown of janesville, wisconsin. that's where athena jones is right now. what are you finding out, athena? >> reporter: here we are, right outside of paul ryan's house, but we spent the whole day, talking to people right across town. and as you might imagine, wolf, people here are of two minds of congressman ryan and what it will mean for the republican ticket. folks here in paul ryan's hometown of janesville, wisconsin, are reacting to the big news. >> i think he's an excellent candidate. >> i personally don't like what he stands for. >> reporter: the seven-term congressman who comes from a prominent local family is well-known in this town of 63,000 people, southwest of milwaukee. he attended school here, is a parishioner at the catholic church, and his brick home on a quiet street sits near the home of extended family. neighbors describe him down to earth. >> we've spoken to him in the neighborhood, so we're friendly that way. just a down-home kind of guy. you know, he's in the labor day parade with his kids and his daughter was selling lemonade. >> reporter: at a water ski tournament on the river, voters celebrated what they call ryan's vision and expressed hope that he will help the gop win this traditionally blue state. >> i think he wants to get the country going where it needs to be going, budget wise, and the economy, but it also makes you feel good as a wisconsinite. so i hope that helps some of the other people who are on the fence or whichever, to lean on over. >> reporter: while at the farmer's market just down the street from ryan's district office, voters applauded romney's choice for different reasons. >> i was very excited and inspired. >> reporter: why? >> just because that paul has a great vision for america and i think he's the right choice. >> rorter: som democrats say the pi man consvative are deep budgetcuts will end up itmo boosting the democratic ticket. >> i'm totally elated. >> reporter: why is that? >> because it's going to be easier for the democrats now. they can attack two birds with one stone. and their fiscal restraint -- read the records. they stand for the 1% and they're going to gut all the programs for the poor. >> reporter: both detractors and supporters have good things to say about ryan. >> he sticks to his beliefs and he's a big advocate for the district. i think he's a hard-working person. >> i think he's a man of integrity. >> reporter: but one thing voters we spoke with from both parties seemed a bit unsure of is whether the 42-year-old is ready to be president. >> i think he's not old enough yet to know what he's doing. >> reporter: do you think paul ryan's -- he's 42, is he ready to be president? >> i don't know yet. that's kind of young. >> reporter: as you know, wolf, i don't have to tell you, wisconsin's been a reliably blue state for years. ronald reagan was the last republican presidential candidate to win it back in 1984. but it's been of a mixed bag. president obama won this county with 48% of the vote back in actually, but paul ryan's been elected seven times. so while there are plenty of democrats around here, there are also plenty of republicans. it will be interesting to see how the state goes in november. >> we'll see if paul ryan can turn things around in wisconsin for the republicans. athena jones, thanks very, very much. mitt romney's former presidential competitor, newt gingrich, is standing by to give us his take on paul ryan, that's next. 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