that's all i can say. >> kimberly: bob! >> glenn: thank you for watching. see you tomorrow. thank you for joining us. >> kimberly: they're out front. captioned by closed captioning services, inc >> bret: romney mocks hope and change. ryan mocks biden. white house fields questions about a possible change on the ticket. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ good evening, i'm bret baier. president obama number two is making himself a number one target on the campaign trail. joe biden has had a tough week on the stump. but the president's people say it hasn't been tough enough. to warrant a change. chief white house correspondent ed henry on the president standing by his man. >> you know that is not what this is about. >> spokesman jay carney pressed repeatedly about gaffes by vice president joe biden leading him to shoot down any speculation biden may

get dumped by president obama. >> once and for all, this is the ticket. obama-biden. >> yes. that was settled a long time ago. >> that shot of mccain's choice of sarah palin came after the senator suggested to fox biden should be pushed out in favor of secretary of state hillary clinton. >> i think he might be wise to do that. that is not going to happen obviously for a variety of reasons including the fact i'm not sure if i were hillary clinton i'd want to be on that team. >> it's not just republicans blasting biden's attack on mitt romney before a partially african-american audience. >> he is going to let the big banks again write their own rules. unchange wall street. they're going to put y'all back in chains. >> former virginia governor douglas wilder the first african-american governor since reconstruction and democrat was not amused. >> the history of this nation's involvement with

slavery is nothing to pass off in a joke. so let's give him the benefit of the doubt saying he didn't mean that. his apologists have that. but you can't continue to make gaffe after gaffe after gaffe. >> the president offered his vote of confidence in an interview with "entertainment tonight." defending biden noting the context was about wall street reform. >> joe biden was talking about, again is an example of a substantive argument, substantive issue that the american people should be concerned about. >> that focus on substance came amid a three-day bus tour he gave interviews to entertainment tonight, "people" magazine and sports talk radio station among others. he is not held a news conference in eight weeks. today, the president's advisors again refuse to condemn an outside ad suggesting romney's actions at bain capital led to the death of a steelworkers' wife. >> no one could or should blame romney for the death of that guy's wife. i don't believe that that ad said that.

>> in fact, the ad said this. >> i don't think that mitt romney understand what is he has done to people's lives by closing the plant. >> leading paul ryan to charge the president is running out of ideas. >> he is giving us more of the same. and he will resort to distortion, resort to fear and smear. >> wilder did another interview with neil cavuto and said the president is stuck with what he's got and the white house is trying to baton down the hatches because in wilder's word he thinks they will take on more water with the vice president between now and november. >> bret: ed, the vice president's trip in virginia raised eyebrows especially within the press corps. >> politico reports during the campaign swing they claim that the vice president office tried to edit some of the reports that a small group of journalists put together before sending it out to the white house press corps. i talked to democrats that downplayed this and suggested it did not happen. the implication is that the vice president's office was trying to massage some of the

information to downplay the gaffes. >> bret: ed henry live on the north lawn. thank you. the man who wants to replace biden had fun at the vice president expense today. chief political correspondent tells us the guys at the top of the g.o.p. ticket has its own message about home and change. >> romney stepped up, summoned the press and sketched out why his approach to medicare is better than the president's. >> my plan presents no change. the plan stays the same. >> in ohio, paul ryan riled up a crowd blasting the president for taking $760 billion out of medicare to fund the healthcare law. >> president obama's campaign calls this an achievement. raiding medicare to pay for obamacare is an achievement? on a crucial issue for seniors both sides say they relish the fight. >> this is what we want to be

talking about. these are the substantive issues that will be decided for this country that will have huge impacts. on this country. >> because of obamacare for the first time in decades the g.o.p. sees medicare reform as a winning political issue. >> this is a debate we want to have. a debate we need to have. a debate we're going to win. >> ryan is getting physie physi. biden thought he was in north carolina when it was virginia. romney was asked about harry reid's unsubstantiated charge that romney paid no taxes. >> the charge was false. i'm waiting for him to tell us who told him that but every year i paid at least # 3%. if you add in addition the amount that goes to charity, number gets above 20%. >> romney today ramped up

romney trade criticism of the president for not halting the unfair trade practices, theft of the u.s. intellectual property. >> president obama said he would stop the practices and go to the matt with china. but they're treating him like a doo doormat. >> we will have the moral authority, the obligation, the contract, the covenant and the mandate to do what needs to be done to get it back on track. >> ryan plans rally in florida in the massive retirement development known as the villages. on monday they reunite for the first town hall and they'll take questions from the public. >> bret: in florida i heard ryan will be bringing his mom. >> his mom will be there. he mentioned her on the campaign trail many times making the point the medicare

and budget proposals are backed by her and that is a senior he cares a lot about. >> bret: thanks. stocks were up today. dow gained 85. thetoptop finished 10 ahead. the nasdaq was up 31. arizona gor jan brewer is figuratively wagging her finger at president obama. brewer who did it for real in january is channeling that economic policy. the latest on the showdown between the two. >> there is an issue for the obama administration created. i'm not responsible for that. >> perpetual thorn in the president's side, arizona republican governor jan brewer did not disappoint. as young illegal immigrants lined up to apply to live in the u.s. without deportation. because the president's plan did not mass congress and is not an executive order, brewer argues those receiving federal protection are not into italed

to driver's license or other state benefits. >> i believe it was not proper. it should have gone through congress. it should have been determined by the election official. >> opponents marched yesterday in protest. >> this executive order is extremism at its worst. okay? this is out of touch. it shows that the governor is out of touch with reality. >> governor order sets up a legal showdown. the aclu claims immigrants authorize to be in the u.s. are eligible for licenses and subsidized services like child care and health insurance. they expect a political fight. >> difficult to know how states to react to this or what extend they have to recognize the status. jan brewer is really calling him out. >> white house spokesman carney said today -- >> i have not seen it and i don't know enough about it to give you a comment on it. >> arizona's largest community

college said brewer forced to reconsider providing in-state tuition. the other states that don't provide illegals driver's license, they have a decision to make. because it involves taxpayers money and state right misexpect this issue to enter the presidential race. bret? >> bret: william, thank you. equador granted political asylum to wikileaks founder julian assange. he has been holed up in equador london embassy for two months. angelides jumped bail after being accused of sexual assault against two women in sweden. he insists he is innocent. british authorities are under legal obligation to arrest assange if he steps foot outside the embassy. south africa opened fire on striking miners today near johannesburg. 3,000 miners walked off the job last week and there has been violence since then. officials say today's incident began when miners rushed a police line. the united states will not

renew the observer mission in war-torn syria. the-up said the people will leave next week. the survivors from wednesday's assault near a town in -- a town near aleppo are preparing to bury dozens of friends and family members. correspondent steve harrigan was there during the attack. >> one day after air strikes by a syrian government war plane, the people are picking through the wreckage of their houses and their lives. >> we heard a lard sound, first we thought it was a missile. the windows got broken and the walls of the house collapsed an we got together in one room. thanks to god we were able to get out. >> many of those killed were women and children at home on wednesday afternoon. >> the town is held by the rebels but had seen no fighting for a month.

>> as the rebels continue to gain ground in the north, they are holding out against superior government fire power in the city of aleppo. u.s. officials say bashar assad cities in power are numbered. >> it's unquestionable that the momentum in syria is with the opposition forces. syrian people. and assad will not be a part of the future in syria. >> panic and violence continue to spread. even across syria's borders. lebanon has seen a series of kidnappings if revenge for kidnapping of lebanese citizens carried out inside syria. five arab nations including saudi arabia are now evacuating their citizens from lebanon. bret? >> bret: steve harrigan in turkey. thank you. we'll talk exclusively with the israeli ambassador to the u.s. about the talk of war with iran. that's coming up later. straight ahead, the dry season on the mighty mississippi.

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>> bret: the amount of the contiguous u.s. mired in a severe drought dropped by one percentage point in the last few days. that mips prices for many thing, not just food are going up. correspondent mike tobin explains why. >> reporter: 50 to 60 billion of cargo moves up the mississippi every year. it drains water from 40% of the continental u.s. when mid-america is dry, mighty mississippi isn't so mighty. the giant barges are at risk of running aground. >> the coast forward is working with industry to ensure that the impact is minimal. we have safety advisors in place. >> here is where the river level gets to your pocketbook. normal time, tugboat pushes one ton of cargo 1616 miles

for one gal listen of diesel fuel. it costs more to get it down the river. it's artery from corn to fuel. >> so much more expensive. it will be passed on. i heard the other day they are expecting food prices to go up 5 to 7%. this will be part of that increase. >> so many barges have been parked that tug operator george lovelle is running out of space to store them. the river is now only a foot-and-a-half higher than the record lows of 1988. as we go in the low month of august and september. the only consolelation is that the army corps of engineer has been hard atwork since the last drought. >> a different river now than in 188. channel improvements have been made. >> because of the improvements made by the army corps of engineers the shutdown of the river have been only temporary. to deal with some of the tricky nighttime navigation. also to deal with the ever-more common event when a fleet of barges runs aground.

>> bret: mike tobin live on the mississippi. anyone or anyone who uses corn is feeling the drought. that led some governors to ask the federal government to use less corn for one specific purpose. here is correspondent doug mckelway. >> reporter: with record drought distorting crops across the country, corn prices are up 60% causing a worldwide ripple effect. governors from maryland, delaware, north carolina, arkansas, democrats all, have now asked the epa to waive the 10% ethanol requirement for gasoline. >> we can universally acknowledge ethanol is raising the prices of food. not lowering the price of the gas. it may raise price of gas. is it having de stating environmental effect in term of the coastal pollution. >> coastal dead zones may be increasing because of the runoff for fertilized intensive corn crops. the food and agricultural organization da silva called for suspension of ethanol mandates, too, claiming it may

lead to starvation in poorest nations. if the administration is not active to wave the mandate. >> what i can tell you is this. the epa made clear they are working closely with the department of agriculture to keep an eye on yields, and they will evaluate all the relevant information when assessing that situation. >> when asked recently about waving the mandate, deputy white house communication director said this of president obama's ethanol view -- he absolutely believes in it. he thinks it's a driver of the economy here and key component of renewable energy. in 2008, the epa denied a similar waiver request from texas governor perry. >> it's a combination of politics, lack of, a desire not to look weak. a desire not to look anti-environmentalists. a desire to never retreat. and they don't want to acknowledge that their policy has caused pain. >> that pain is not felt among corn growers. they are making record profits since ethanol was imposed. it includes key swing states and neither party wants to

risk losing those votes. >> bret: thank you. spraying for mosquitoes begins in a few hours in and around dallas. texas is in the throes of west nile virus epidemic. 14 people died. ten in dallas county. >> i'm neem a tight window because we have people dying, we have to have a sense of urgency to get this done now. that is what is the most important thing. >> bret: we'll follow that story from dallas tomorrow. up next, is the president playing politics with domestic terrorism? later, war drums for israel and iran. we talk about it with israel's ambassador to the u.s. a

>> bret: the suspect in

yesterday's shooting at the headquarters of a conservative christian group was in court today in washington. it's not yet known whether the incident will be treated as domestic terrorism. tonight, correspondent catherine herridge looks at what could be seen as uneven political application of that term. >> as he is charged with two gun-related offenses as the shooting of the family research council, the head of the conservative christian advocacy group said the mote sif clear. >> terrorism is designed to intimidate and to drive people back and make them fearful. well, that, i believe, would describe what they tried to do here yesterday at the family research council. by extension to traditional value, supporters, christians across the nation. >> white house press secretary jay carney was asked if the shooting by a gunman who allegedly said he didn't like the group's politics was a hate crime or something else. >> determinations are made by the f.b.i. >> the f.b.i. is investigating whether wednesday's shooting amounts to domestic terrorism. earlier in month, an alleged

neo nazi military vet opened fire on sikh temple, the u.s. attorney general is unequivocal. >> that's precisely what happened here. act of terrorism. act of hatred. >> military recruitmer the was targeted in 2009 by carlos bledsoe who described himself as al-qaeda operative, the kiss was handled in arkansas tate court with no terrorism charges. when 13 were murdered at fort hood late they're year by a gunman who opened fire the defense deparent said it was handled in the content of workplace violence. >> we can have a legal discussion whether it's hate crime or act of terrorism. it wish there was consistency here. to me, fort hood would be classic case of what should be clear case of terrorism. >> in some cases it may be easy to show the suspect is guilty of murder rather than prove ideological motive, but having said that, a survivor said calling it workplace

violence was insult to every service member killed there. >> bret: no grapevine tonight to bring you a special segment. i talked today with israel's ambassador to the u.s. whether his country will attack iran's nuclear program soon. hi, i'm phil mickelson. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b,

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iran nuclear facility. the country civil defense chief says hundreds of israelis cowped die in a war that may last around a month. what about that? let's get perspective from israel ambassador to the u.s., michael boran. thank you for being here. >> good to be here. >> bret: you wrote an editorial in the "wall street journal" this week, in it you said israel has been semily sounding the alarm about iran for two decades. you point out the nuclear program and say mahmoud ahmadinejad said the annihilation of the zionist regime is key to solve the world's problems and you end by saying this. as repeated attempt to benefit that diplomacy or sanction removed the threat. combination of truly crippling sanction and military threat, threat ayatollahs still do not believe today may convince iran to relinquish its nuclear dreams. time is dwindling. with each passing day lives of 8 million civilians grow in peril. the window that opened 20

years ago is almost shut. that sounds different. we have talked many times. it sounds different. >> no country has a greater stake in trying to remove the threat of a nuclear iran by diplomatic -- diplomatic means in the state of israel. we have the most skin in the game. we have 8 million citizens. we have a great, great stake in resolving this by diplomatic means. we are coming up to a sunk juncture where we waited for the 20 years and it took ten years for world to take us seriously and eight years to impose sanction on iran. the sanctions haven't worked. diplomacy hasn't worked. the iranian nuclear program is actually accelerating. they have enough enriched uranium now for close to five nuclear devices. that program, big part of it, thousands of centrifuges are moving under ground. to places where our

capabilities will be incapable of reaching them. this is a country as you said never misses an opportunity to say they want to wipe israel off the map. yesterday, the supreme leader said that. >> bret: some people in this country are seeing moves inside israel. that are suggesting that things are speeding up. for example, avi dictor joined the government as minister of the home front. equivalent to secretary of homeland security. the theory is he is brought in to sway the group of eight ministers comprising the security cabinet for the go/no go decision on strike against iraq. true? >> i wouldn't read too much in to it. he is a revered figure in our security establishment. he was a member of our delta force, commander there. he is replacing my former commander in the army who is becoming israel's ambassador to china. but we are always vigilant, surrounded by 70,000 terrorist

rockets in lebanon. at least 10,000 in the hands of hamas in gaza. we always have to be vigilant because our front lines are our neighborhood. >> bret: is it fair to say what we are seeing on the ground and hearing from people there, that this is sort of accelerating? that as you note the window is closing. and that israel is preparing? >> the window is closing. we are dealing with this iranian regime, in addition to its penals to destroy us is backing up the -- pledges to destroy us is backing it up with deeds. carried out terrorist attack across five continents 25, countries including in washington, d.c. in an attempt to along with the assassinating the saudi ambassador to blow up the embassy here. they killed five of our citizens in bulgaria a few weeks ago and they're providing tens of thousands of rockets and trying to kill americans. they killed american seasonals in you afghanistan and iraq. they are helping the assad regime murder their own people in syria.

we have to take them seriously. >> bret: today, israeli president, perez, in an interview said that israel alone should not and cannot attack iran facility. saying this. "it's clear to us we alone cannot do it. we can postpone it but we know we have to go along with america. there are questions of coordination and timing but no matter how much nearer the danger is growing, at least this time we are not alone." how heret. is moving a story quoting netanyahu aides saying, "in opposing israeli attack on peron, peres forgot its place." what is the message from the israeli president and inside the netanyahu administration? >> i have the honor to accompany him when we gave him the presidential medal of freedom. at the end of the day, the decision has to be made by the democratically elected government of israel. that is our duty, that is our

right. that right has been recognized by president obama. obama said israel has a right to defend itself against any middle eastern threat. only israel as a sovereign nation can decide how best to defend citizens. >> you are saying that pers has ceremonial role in israel and this does not speak to netanyahu administration. >> the buck ends with the government of israel. that buck is in jerusalem with the democratically elected government. >> bret: we will follow this closely. ambassador oren, thank you. >> as always, thank you. >> bret: so do you think israel will carry out a unilateral strike on iran before the election in the u.s.? let me know on twitter. follow me. is joe biden helping or hurting the president? we talk about that and the campaign news when the fox all-stars join me after the break. it doesn't get any better than endless shrimp at red lobster.

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i don't think you or anybody who has been watching the campaign would suggest that in any way, you know, we have, you know, trieded to divide the country. we have always tried to bring the country together. >> they have been trying to sell trickle down snake oil before. the plan ends medicare as we know it. governor romney obviously has got more friends than i do, that can write $10 million checks. >> romney wants to let the -- he said in the first 100 days he will let big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. they are going to put y'all back in chains. >> okay. the president's interview on "entertainment tonight" last night. sights an sounds this week from the campaign trail. bring in the panel. steve hayes, senior writer for "weekly standard." juan williams, columnist with the hill. syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. steve, you heard the president there. no one would say that we have

tried to divide the country. we always tried to bring the country together. thoughts? >> a lot of people said exactly that. it manifests the truth that the president tried to defy the country. that is the basis of his re-election campaign trying to cobble together the democratic special intest groups that made up the democratic party for better part of the last three decades. energize them and get them to the polls so he can win. this is a base election. we have talked about that for better part of eight months. the president and the campaign team sees this as a base election. the goal is get the base to the poll. that meebs dividing the way we have seen them do it in the past several months. >> the issue about the cancer ad which continues to come up. david axelrod, senior advisor to the come pain asked about it this morning. we have seen how thous has answered it before, the campaign, super-pack, bill burton who is running it

answered it. here is what david axelrod said today on msnbc. >> no one should or could blame governor romney for the death of that guy's wife. i don't believe that that ad said that. >> i think it should be understood that, you know, we are not in criminal of third party ads. >> how can you imply that mitt romney and bain are somehow to blame for the woman dying of cancer? >> my goodness, we don't and we would not. the fact check presuppose that's what we are trying to do. that is not the point of the ad. >> bret: so i guess the point here is 0-3. obama campaign, white house and super pac has not apologized or condemned that ad. >> no. it's an ad that is over the top. i described it scurrilous. but it's hard ball politics. right now, i think what we see from the romney campaign is an attempt to focus on president obama somehow divisive, tearing apart the country. all of this is a smoke screen

to change the conversation. there is so much attention right now to paul ryan and medicare. so much fear that seniors are going to run away from it. both sides are playing hardball politics right now. to my mind, on the down side, nobody is talking about the economy or president obama stewardship of the economy. this comes back to the criticism that you hear from so many political strategists around town. the best race for republican is referendum on president obama stewardship of the economy. what they have done now by introducing ryan is created a choice election. particularly difficult for them to win over the seniors heart of their base. >> charles, mitt romney was supposed to be behind closed doors raising money but came out and wassed is that question aren't you hurting the case on the economy choosing ryan and having this battle on medicare? >> i think we are the ones that brought up the topic.

i want to make sure that people understand what the president has done in welfare, what the president has done in medicare. >> okay, charles? >> i think what is really happened here is the republicans want the fight on medicare. not just because i think they will went. in 2010, the election where they swept, they emphasized over and over again the theft of the $700 billion from medicare to pay for the new entitlement, obamacare. they won on that issue. it's a deeper issue as well. the one republican who is the least equipped to fight and argue on obamacare was romney. because of what he did in massachusetts. but now he can completely engage obama on obama care. we're not speaking about the individual mandate. we're not speaking about other similarities. we are speaking about the one stark difference between romney in massachusetts and obama in obamacare, which is that obamacare steals from

medicare. romney has no access to any kind of medicare. so it's not even an issue. he can state openly on this one issue, the big difference is you stole from the elderly. so you could have your pet project. we didn't. so it allows a fight with obamacare. obama knows he is weak. a reason he is losing on that. there is a reason he had two lines on it to save the union address. now he turned against him and they relish fight on it because it's the one area romney can argue toe to toe. >> bret: i'm going to steve, but juan is smiling. paul ryan is campaigning in the villages in florida with his mom who is 78 years old. >> whose name is betty.

i had one republican ad man said could you pick a more perfect name? imagine the ad where you have a senior citizen in florida saying i'm going to vote for mitt romney and betty's son paul ryan. not hard to imagine that. if you think back, conventional wisdom is no way to pick paul ryan or any way that republicans would embrace medicare reform and no way to win the argument. we have seen all three in rapid success. the republicans are clearly winning the argument on medicare reform. can they sustain it? we don't know. mitt romney ran for four months to talk about nothing but the economy and at the end of the four months he was at best tied where he was when he won the wisconsin primary. >> bret: some conservatives are saying you have to run on something else besides just the economy. can't just hold the ball. >> a lot of us made the argument. make at it debate about

leadership, not just stewardship. then you can go bigger. you can say president obama led on the economy and failed. left from behind on foreign policy and on debt and deficit he is didn't lead at all. >> first of all, i don't know what evidence that republicans are winning on the medicare argument. it requires people to buy in falsehood, continue here, tonight by my colleague krauthammer, that president obama stole money from medicare to fund -- >> $716 billion. >> first, the same money, this is the same amount of money -- >> that is a fact. >> it's not a fact. secondly, paul ryan -- >> bret: panel. let's talk about mitt romney. >> let me finish this point in response to charles. that this money was saving, this is savings from medicare, because they put medicare to a new structure so you have a reduce rate of growth. no money from the existing medicare pot. in the reduced rate of growth, there are more benefits. you close the doughnut poll.

all sort of benefit for american seniors including a guaranteed that you still get services here, medical attention you have under the current system. that does not exist in the ryan plan. >> medicare actuaries say if you implement the cut, it will reduce payment that treat the eldly payments that one-sixth will go flush and not be available. doctors who are reluctant to actually because of how low the payments are. will say no all together. no services at all. it's a huge real cut. it will affect the elderly. and the money is placed in ensewerring the uninsured in obamacare. that is a fact. >> i know the argument. that the president himself out theed this cut before. it's in a republican add.

>> that is called a cut in washington now. >> it has to be clear with the listener and viewer. >> if you're clear like that all the time, fine. but if you say cut in the rate of growth is not a cut, you i have v to say it across the board. >> it is across the board. but what we are hearing from charles is by not putting pressure on seniors who need medical treatment but putting pressure on service providers somehow that will impact negatively. >> of course it will. >> what we are seeing from the ribe campaign here and the ryan budget is an effort to put pressure on seniors. >> there are doctors today who won't treat elderly on medicare because the reimbursement is so low they

will go bankruptcy. they have nurses, rent and malpractice insurance that has to be paid. they can't. imagine cutting to that and lower reimbursement. it will be a epidemic. >> i'm going to call an audible here. we have more to talk about. we can talk about israel and iran another day. we'll talk more about this on the other side of the break. well, i had all the classic symptoms... like the elephant on my chest... he thought he was having a heart attack. she said, "take an aspirin, we need to go to the hospital." i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm very grateful to be alive. aspirin really made a difference.

>> bret: call the audible. continues to talk about medicare and the campaign trail. juan was making a case about paul ryan's budget. mitt romney was out today talking with a white board about his plan for medicare has no change to medicare.

traditional medicare now. does not affect anyone. as far as medicare goes. steve, there is a lot of democratic talking points about paul ryan's plan and how seniors would have to pay more and the president is even using that on the stump. does that affect it? >> we'll see if it's effective. i don't think it's true. the way that paul ryan's plan works is a plan of competitive bidding and premium support. insurance companies will make offers and say we can provide this coverage for "x" amount of dollars. the second lowest bid among those offers will be chosen. so there will always be an opportunity to spend less or choose a plan that costs less. ultimately, it's not the case that seniors are going to have to pay $6400 more. >> bret: this is a crucial part. it's not going anywhere. and mitt romney is not running

on. >> no one is asking what the joe biden plan for medicare reform is by the way. >> when the president gets on the stump and says seniors pay $6400 more that is not true. under the romney plan. >> there is one key distinction between the romney plan and ryan plan. the big distinction is paul ryan preserves the cut and sends them back to medicare in the medicare trust fund. he says he doesn't want cut. >> so the difference is this represents the republican will and wisdom as the best way to proceed. mitt romney chose this man as the vice president. in people coming to know paul ryan, most americans don't know him, this is a guy that

was going to savage medicare? is that who romney is his choice? >> obama a posed to iraq war. he made it his number two. a guy who supported the iraq war. does it mean that obama then reversed his position on iraq war? no. ticket position on the iraq war in 2008 was obama. he is in charge, he is the guy, it's his position. end of story. >> bret: right. president obama didn't absorb vice president biden split iraq in three parts. to charles point. i want to get to one more point about the vice president. here is the question from ed henry to jay carney. >> since the president given vote of confidence, you defend him, once and for all, all the speculation this is the ticket. obama-biden? >> that is a yes or no --

>> yes. >> i continue and have a great respect and relationship with john mccain but one place i would not go for advice on vice presidential running mates is to senator mccain. >> bret: charles? >> the reason this is up because of the remark that biden made. the problem is obama could have said it's a slip of the tongue, mistake. on an issue choicenessestive a big mistake that the president should have been honest about it. don't drop him on the ticket, but he could have said it was a misstatement and i wish he hadn't said it. >> bottom line, obama-biden is the ticket. bumper stickers are made. >> no question. the shot was about sarah palin. >> bret: programming note. please join juan williams sunday for a special look at fixing our schools. we'll see what is working or

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>> bret: finally tonight, planning for the republic and democratic conventions has been going on for months. one show pointed to some recent documents found about the democrats' plan to try to find just the right people for the stage. >> the democrats are actively casting the entire convention. seeking, quote: real people like an auto worker whose job was saved. a student who benefit from college loans and a planned parenthood husband who talks tas about how a pap smear saved his wife's life. but here is one of the tougher. democratic convention planners are seeking a gay soldier and a fellow strip soldier who served together in iraq and afghanistan and ideally the straight soldier was helped by the gay soldier, ie medic or in a fire fight.