Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20

CNNW The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer May 10, 2012



-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com anyone cheering president obama's new stance on same-sex marriage has vice president joe biden to thank. the president himself is now confirming what many had suspected that the vice president forced the president's hand when biden announced his support for gay marriage over the weekend and now we're hearing that's a sore subject at least among some white house insiders. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is working the story for us. what are you hearing over there, jessica? >> reporter: wolf, there are times when a president is more forgiving than his aides and this may be one of those times. some of the president's top aides are deeply annoyed. they acknowledge the president was going to come out and speak out in favor of same-sex marriage before the democratic convention, but boy, are they frustrated that vice president biden made it happen sooner than they wanted. he was planning to say this some time before the democratic convention. >> for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get marrie married. >> but vice president biden forced up the timing with his unscripted remarks on "meet the press" or as the president put it. >> she got a little bit overseas, but out of generosity of spirit would i have preferred to have done this in my own way, in my own terms without, i think there being a lot of notice. but all's well that ends well. >> reporter: some of the president's aides are not as forgiving. senior officials say they're frustrated, annoyed the vice president got out ahead of the president's policy and possible plans for a rollout, but this is hardly the first time biden's gone off script. remember this? or when the administration was trying to reassure the public it's safe to fly during swine flu outbreak. >> you can find earth craft, when one person sneezes it goes through the aircraft. that's me. i would not be at this point if there was another way of transportation suggesting they ride the subway. >> reporter: adding to the frustration, some say the vice president had previously -- against speaking out in favor of same-sex marriage because of the potential political risk, but officials say the president has a close, personal relationship with biden which will trump his advisers' frustrations. they add the president knows sharing the building with biden comes with risks and rewards which the president has acknowledged. >> he's warm, cuddly, loyal, enthusiastic you just have to keep him on a tight leash. every once in a while he goes charging off in the wrong direction and gets himself into trouble, but enough about joe biden. >> reporter: if you need any indication that biden is not being kept in the doghouse, so to speak, he is out on a campaign swing to ohio next week. two days in that crucial battleground state and i'll tell you that sources tell me that the vice president, of course, does feel regretful that he put the president in a tough position, but again, all sides saying that this does not end up souring the relationship between the two men. they have a close bond. wolf? >> i know that's absolutely positively true. they do have a very close relationship. thanks very much, jessica, for that. mitt romney isn't saying much about the president's new stand on gay marriage, but he is being asked to explain high school bullying for a fellow student who turned out to be gay. jim acosta is here and what are you hearing about all of this? what's going on? >> one day aftered president's comments in favor of same-sex marriage mr. obama wasn't doing damage control after his high school days forced him to offer an apology of sorts. five of mitt romney's former high school classmates all told "the washington post" the same story. in 1965 that the elite prep school in michigan, those classmates romney and a group of his friends tackled and cut the hair of a fellow student who was rumored to be gay. the alleged victim of the bullying incident according to the post account cried and screamed for help. within minutes of going up on the newspaper's website, the story blew up on twitter. the democratic party sent out a tweet mentioning in the article which said it was vicious. >> i played a lot of pranks in high school and they describe some that, you just say to yourself back in high school, well, i did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, well, obviously, i apologize. >> reporter: in a radio interview romney said he didn't recall the incident, but he did remember the classmate who was allegedly bullied. >> i certainly don't believe that -- i can't speak for other people, of course, that was the furthest thing from my mind in the 1960s. >> the story from romney's past emerged less than a day after the president declared his support for same-sex marriage when the gop contender seemed reluctant to pounce on the con tro verse. >> this is a very tender and sensitive topic as are many social issues. >> reporter: in a interview with a denver tv station he got testy, aren't there issues of significance that you want to talk about? >> this is a significant issue. >> the economy, the growth of jobs? >> reporter: it's not 2004 anymore when many pundits say john kerry lost the presidency in the state of ohio where same-sex marriage amendments drew scores of conservatives to the polls giving george w. bush a second term. ohio put its amendment on the ballot after the massachusetts supreme court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, ironically, when rom neefs governor, but attitudes have changed. back then, 55% of americans said same-sex marriage should not be legal. the public is more split today. while president obama's comments may cost him support among independents -- >> he is going to lose a few raying abdemocrats in ohio and mush gan and north carolina, working class white males. >> reporter: but consider how quickly house speaker john boehner changed the subject back to the economy, 14 seconds. >> i shall that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, and the president and the democrats can talk about this all they want, but the fact is the american people are focused on our economy and they're asking the question where are the jobs? >> reporter: both campaigns appear ready to move on from the issue of same-sex marriage. the obama campaign put out a rash of new ads today that focus on the economy. the romney campaign, meanwhile, is talking up mrs. romney who has an op ed out on the vifrtue of motherhood. >> this coming sunday. everyone is getting red for mother's day. let's talk to our chief political analyst gloria borger. are you surprised that republicans are not necessarily coming out swinging at the president a day after his dramatic announcement? >> no. i'm not really surprised. i mean, when you look at the number across the country on gay marriage you see how it's shifted over the last 15 years. 15 years ago there was about a 27% approval rate for gay marriage. so that has really shifted. when you look at independent voters, the majority of independent voters approve of gay marriage. women approve of gay marriage. the majority of women approve of gay marriage. so i think there's a down side to staying on that issue, and i think they're smart to say you know what? what really matters right now is the economy. they want to get back to the economic message they have because they think that's very sellable during the political campaign. >> you're an excellent observer, joe. in terms of politics, the decision by the president a net plus looking ahead to november or a net minus? >> i think it's hard to say, wolf. i agree with what gloria just said. the difference between now and 15, 20 years ago is that an awful lot of homosexuals have been liberated and they live among us, they're our friends and families and they are who they are and it's become very uncomfortable for people to abide by the old prejs dids. so it's right for the republicans to move off of this. i think we in the press are making a big deal out of something that will probably have -- say more about the president's place in history than what happens in this coming election, and you know, when you look at the republicans they're one path to victory in this election is the economy. it's not social issues. it's not foreign policy. it's the economy ask that's why they want to get back on it. >> you heard jessica, gloria, say some of the president's aides are forcing his hand on this issue. what do you think about that? >> i think the aides get very upset because, of course, it's their job to protect the president. they had a plan or so it seems for a rollout of this. they say the president always intended to come out in support of gay marriage, but the president likes to do things on his own timetable and doesn't like to be forced by the vice president. so the vice president did get out in front of the president. that's not a good thing. in the end, though, as jessica said before, i think they've got a good relationship and the president has kind of come to expect that these kinds of things could sort of happen with joe biden. so they may try to keep him more to a script if they can in the future. >> what do you think, joe? >> i think it's a very, very bad thing for politicians to be season stage managing their positions on moral issues. i think it was a mistake for obama to try to do this on his time. when he came to the conclusion that gay marriage was an okay thing he should have just said so. there are things you roll out, complicated policy platforms, positions on the economy, you know, a new position on afghanistan, but when you change your mind about gay marriage you just come out and say it and, you know, thank god that we have politicians like joe biden who say it when they mean it. >> i agree. we give joe biden a lot of credit here because he answered the question honestly and he had to know there were going to be repercussions coming out of the white house and he felt there was an issue that he couldn't fudge anymore. don't forget, joe biden is someone who had evolved himself and this was someone who voted for the defense of marriage act when he was in the senate. so it was only so angry that the president could really get. >> i don't think he's that angry, either. take a look at the cover of time magazine. there it is. mom enough? it's one of the reasons why i suspect that "time" magazine is the magazine of the year. congratulations to joe klein, and all of our friends at "time" magazine, you guys are doing an amazing job. keep it up and that cover, joe, it's generating a lot, a lot of buzz out there. >> wolf, i had nothing to do with that cover. >> i know you didn't write the cover story this week, but -- >> nor did he pose for it. >> no, i didn't pose. that isn't me. >> a bold cover on "time." i may look like a baby sometimes, but that wasn't me. >> all right, guys. thank you. president obama, gay marriage and black voters. jack cafferty is up next with "the cafferty file." also, the president accusing mitch romney of an etch a sketch moment. what's going on? dramatic video of police thwarting a suicide attempt with only seconds to spare. if you made a list of countries from around the world... ...with the best math scores. ...the united states would be on that list. in 25th place. let's raise academic standards across the nation. let's get back to the head of the class. let's solve this. jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." jack? >> wolf, president obama's support for same-sex marriage is sure to fire up parts of the liberal base it could alienate other parts including black voters. in other words, backing gay marriage might be a risky proposition for the president in an election year when it comes to one of the core voting blocs. in 2008, you'll recall african-americans were crucial in making this president the first black president. 96% of black voters supported obama and they made up 13% of the electorate. fast forward four years approximately while polls suggest america on the whole is moving toward supporting same-sex marriage. nbc-washington post voting say 56 are opposed to it and this opposition from blacks could hurt the president especially in the south. just this week, north killer carol blacks voted two to one in favor of an amendment in that state banning gay marriage. unanimous support secured his victory in 2008. what if they choose to sit the election out baz they don't like the president's position on same-sex marriage. groups on both sides of the issue they like to compare the struggle for gay rights compare it to the struggle of civil rights and ministers playing a big role in the opposition to gay marriage. while it's unlikely blacks will suddenly decide to vote for mitt romney, that ain't going happen, if some of them decide to stay home it being make a difference in the outcome of the election. here is the question. will president obama's support of same-sex marriage cost him black votes? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog and go to my post on the situation room's facebook page. every decision the president makes makes somebody happy and somebody not so. >> comes with the territory. we'll be watching a lot of the ministers in those black churches this sunday to see what message they're sending about the president and his decision, jack. i'm anxious to hear what our viewers think and we'll get their e-mails. that's coming up. >> we're also getting new information right now about an alleged murderer who is accused of kidnapping two young girls. mary snow is monitoring that and also some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's the latest, mary? wolf, the mother-in-law of adam mayes says he may think he's the father of the two girls. the fugitive is suspected of killing their mother and older sister before taking off with the 12 and 8-year-old girls. authorities are still searching for them and they're asking for your help. there's a $175,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. you can start your countdown to the summer olympics. the traditional olympic flame was lit today in greece. it will make its way from olympia to london and it will take a week to get to britain and it will travel an 8,000-mile route before arriving in london for the opening ceremony july 27. the dow ended the day in positive territory snapping a six-session losing streak. investors welcomed the dip in jobless claims and uncenter ney greece and europe as a whole still weighs on traders. the nasdaq and s&p finished near where they started the day. >> a dramatic scene on a bridge in oregon as officers race to save a man trying to kill himself. deputies learned he was heading to the bridge to jump and they got there just in time. one deputy tried to get close enough to keep him from opening his door, but the man leapt out of his car and sprinted toward the railing. another deputy grabbed him before he could jump. wolf? >> very dramatic pictures. thank you, mary. >> president obama is laughing off a claim mitt romney is making. you will hear what the president is calling another etch a sketch moment for his republican rival and are republicans nervous about criticizing the president's support of gay marriage. we're breaking it down. our "strategy session" is next. 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[ meow ] [ male announcer ] another example of volkswagen quality. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 jetta for $159 a month. that's the power of german engineering. kiwi. soy milk. impulse buy. gift horse. king crab. rhubarb pie. lettuce shower. made by bees. toucan sam. that's not cheese. grass fed. curry. gingersnaps. soup can tower. 5% cash back. right now, get 5% cash back at grocery stores. it pays to discover. i've been crisscrossing the gulf i can tell you, down here,. people measure commitment by what's getting done. i'm mike utsler, and it's my job to make sure we keep making progress in the gulf. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. another fourteen billion dollars has been spent on response and cleanup. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to the gulf of mexico research initiative... to support ten years of independent scientific research on the environment. results will continue to be shared with the public. and we're making sure people know that the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues, but that doesn't mean our job is done. bp's still here, and we're still committed to seeing this through. i'm wolf blitzer and here are some of the stories we're working on in "the situation room" for the next hour. new details on the double agent for the latest bomb out of yemen. one got into the terrorist's trusted circle. stand by. >> what will it take for cuba to free the jailed american alan gross? i'll speak to a top cuban government official in havana. it's a rare interview. president obama is getting ready to spend the evening with george clooney and other wealthy donors. the cash he's expected to take in is record breaking. stand by. you're in "the situation room." first let's get to our strategy session. joining us right now the democratic strategist and former white house deputy communications director jen socky and republican strategist john fury, the president of quinn and gillespie communication, a bipartisan public affairs firm right here in washington. guys, thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you. >> here's an exchange robin roberts had with the president yesterday. i'm going to play it and then we'll discuss. >> mitt romney recently says he deserve the credit for the revival of the u.s. auto industry. how do you respond to that? >> well, i think this is one of his etch a sketch moments. i don't think anybody takes that seriously. people remember his position which was let's let detroit go bankrupt so had we followed his advice at that time gm and chrysler would have gone under and we would have lost a million jobs throughout the midwest. >> nice smile there when he was talking about that etch a sketch moment. what do you think? anybody take what mitt romney said seriously? >> well, it wasn't one of mitt romney's finest moments, let's not kid ourselves and romney had a better plan for the detroit bailout than go through managed bankruptcy and come out stronger. the fact of the matter is the auto industry has come back and that's a good thing for all americans and america is still struggling. mitt romney has a better story to tol on economic growth and his plan to grow the economy. >> what do you think? >> the president with the foresight even when it wasn't politically popular to save the auto industry. mitt romney offered an alternative suggestion. the auto industry is doing well and detroit is doing better and it's a great story to be telling. >> romney and the president had some sort of structured bankr t bankruptcy program for gm and chrysler. the problem is if you do it in the private sector, none of the banks and investment houses they didn't want to help bailout gm and chrysler at that time. >> you're right about that. i do think, though, at the end of the day if mit

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