good morning and welcome to "this week." olympic fever. as the world's premiere athletes compete in london -- the presidential campaign here keeps its fierce pace. with stops on the economy. >> the president doesn't have policies that put american families back to work. >> tax plans. and tax returns. >> harry reid has to put up or shut up, all right? so, harry, who are your sources? >> the big questions, was friday's jobs report a sign of hope or for of the same?

and how much of a splash can romney make with his running mate? we'll ask the party chairs. debbie wasserman schultz for the democrats and reince priebus for the republicans. and our roundtable. plus, abc news at the olympics. all of the latest from london. hello again and how about that michael phelps? what a stunning cap to his olympic career last night. 18th gold medal. as the top olympian ever. buts politics first, face-off with the party chairs in the first week in august. debbie wasserman schultz for the republicans and reince priebus for the republicans. unemployment report that came

out on friday the good news, 163,000 jobs created. . bad news, unemployment up to 8.3%. that makes 42 straight months of unemployment above 8%. no president since fdr has been reelected with numbers close to that, how do you respond to americans that 8% unemployment isn't good enough? >> we know that we need to keep pressing forward and continue to fight for new jobs and getting this economy turned around. what we do also know is that we have had 27 straight months of jobs growth. this month, friday's job report, 132,000 new jobs were created. we have had a surge in the growth of the manufacturing sector. more than 500,000 jobs created in manufacturing. that's the first time that we have seen job growth in manufacturing since the 1990s. we're moving in the right direction and the president has

imposed the america's job act. it would be great if my colleagues would care more about getting the economy turned around and working with this president to pass that plan and create millions jobs that would be created. >> congress has gone home. but that's not going to happen this year. >> well, we shouldn't have gone home before passing the america's jobs act. they care more about defeating this president more than working with him to pass a balance plan. the ball is in their court. >> he doesn't want any more intervention from the federal reserve between now and election day, do you agree with that? >> mitt romney also said that in an interview out today, that he doesn't want any more intervention for the federal reserve. >> i think that's up to the federal reserve. it's an independent financial institution. it's important that we not dictate from the white house or

certainly from candidates for president of the united states what the federal reserve should be doing. that's why they are an independent institution. >> harry reid made a pretty explosive charge this week, he said that romney hasn't paid taxes in six years. >> the word is out that he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. let him prove that he has paid taxes. because he hasn't. >> now, you know, senator reid only source there is an anonymous bain investor that he won't reveal. is it appropriate for the democratic leader in the senate to make charge like that with no more than anonymous source? >> i don't know who the source is. if romney can clear this up -- mitt romney could clear this up in ten seconds by releasing 23 tax returns when he gave to john mccain when he was being vetted

for vice president. even 12 years of tax returns that his own father said was appropriate. >> but it's one thing to say -- >> let's not forget a week ago, mitt romney said, in response to a reporter's question when asked if he had ever paid a rate below 13.9% that he would check and get back to us. i'm glad that i wasn't holding my breath. he still hasn't responded. whether he's paid a lower tax rate. >> he has denied that he hasn't paid taxes for ten years. i take your point that it would be right. at the same time, i don't think you would be okay to make a charge like that with no evidence. >> like i said, i don't know whose harry reid source was, i do know that this is a question that has swirled around mitt romney for this entire campaign. i know that he could clear it up just like that by releasing his

tax returns. which every major president candidate has done except for romney. those are questions when you're running for president of the united states, that the american people deserve answers to, why is mitt romney refusing to answer them? why is he refusing to show the american people what he was willing to show john mccain 23 years of information on? there's got to be a answer. >> you're not going to repudiate senator reid's charge. >> everybody is be responsible for saying the things that they have information on, harry reid said that he has a credible source, i know that this question is not just generated by harry reid. it's been asked by countless reporters. >> congresswoman, do you stand by harry reid's charge? >> what is he hiding?

i stand by the fact -- george, i stand by the fact that i believe, like the overwhelming majority of voters show, because polls show that mitt romney owes us more than one more year of tax returns. why he's decided to invest in foreign countries as opposed to investing in the united states? oweses a answers to why he shipped jobs overseas at bain. when president obama has a plan to insent vise companies to bring jobs back here. they weren't raised by harry reid. they were raised by voters, people who have a right to ask and mitt romney has yet to come clean. one final question, president obama celebrating his birthday, he got a little present from the rnc over the

weekend. i want to show you. birthday cake, you didn't bake this. happy birthday mr. president. do you think the president will be able to shake "you didn't build" line? >> supporting cuts in investments like education, like infrastructure, like all of the things that we know help businesses thrive. small businesses have an opportunity to thrive. large businesses nap's why he pushed through eight different tax breaks for owners. supporting investments in infrastructure, education, the internet and the economy, so that businesses have more of an opportunity to thrive while republicans support flashing and mitt romney supports major cuts in those kind of programs which would harm businesses' ability to thrive. that's the choice we got in this election.

continuing in the direction that president obama has taken? a president who wants a balanced approach to deficit reduction. we're all in this together. this election should not be about defeating barack obama. it should be about getting the economy turned around. let's get to reince priebus. good to see you, mr. chairman. >> good morning, george. >> let's get a response right away from you just heard from the congresswoman. >> do we want to continue down the line of unemployment above 8%. hasn't fulfilled the promises. do we want to continue that direction? heck no. as far as harry reid is concerned, listen, you might want to go down that road, i'm not going to respond to a dirty

liar, who hasn't filed a single page of tax returns himself. complains about money but lives in the ritz carlton down the street from here. this is just a made-up issue. the fact that we're going to spend any time talking about it. >> you just called him a dirty liar, you think harry reid is a dirty liar? >> i just said it. >> so, do you want from him right now? >> listen, this president has a job to do. and harry reid has a job to do. we have an opportunity in this country to save the very idea of america. to bring back the days of liberty, freedom, the american dream. and the fact is, we're just -- we're not doing well right now. as an economy. and this president, is the head of this country. and he has not fulfilled the mission and he hasn't lived up to the promises that he made to

the people of this country. and it's hard to believe that the president of 2008, when he campaigned and said that he was going to bring america together that he would trot out harry reid and try to divide this country and spread this division and hat red, e it's ridiculous, wrong and it's untrue. it's going to hurt the president. >> setting aside harry reid's charges, lot of major figures in your party, said mitt romney should release more of his tax returns. >> george, here's what i think, i think president has a problem with the american dream. you know, when i grew up and i know both republicans and democrats listening to this right now agree with this, when i grew up, in a great place in wisconsin, my dad was a union electrician, my mom was a realtor, we drove around town and when my parents -- we drove

passed a beautiful house, they didn't point out the house and look at this lousy people in this gorgeous house. my dad probably did the same thing that your dad did, he turned around, he said, listen, pal, if you work hard and you go to school, mom and dad, we hope you live in that house. we hope it's two times bigger than that house. that's the american dream. this idea that we're spending all of our time killing people because they live the american dream and made something out of nothing and made money, i mean, this is crazy talk. i just think we need to get back to the issue and you don't believe that he has to do anything more on the tax returns? i think it's hurting the president because people know that the job to do in this country and the job that he president claimed that he was going to do, what did he say? jobs one. he hasn't met with his jobs

counsel. the job of barack obama can be summarized in one word -- solyndra. >> let me ask you another question about taxes. romney's plan to raise taxes on the middle class. they point out this study from the tax policy censessentiacent that our major conclusion is that any revenue-neutral individual income tax change that incorporates the features governor romney has proposed would provide large tax cuts to high-income households and increase the tax on middle-class. not to raise taxes on the middle class? >> that's just not true. they didn't take -- first of all, this thing was written by a former employee of barack obama. that's number one. number two -- >> it worked for president bush.

>> a credible source. >> okay, we'll put aside that the author worked for barack obama. we'll put that aside. secondly the study itself said that it wasn't going to be a score on mitt romney's plan. it doesn't take into account the deficit reduction plans that romney put in place. reducing spending to 20. reducing individual income tax rates 28% across the board for middle-class families. getting rid of the big obama care tax. all of that deficit reduction, and a plan to get rid of obama care, brings down the deficit that that makes the growth rate in this country increase and all of those assumptions weren't taken into effect. they just weren't. in this plan. i think the growth rate that will come out of romney's plan,

of reducing taxes on small businesses, reducing taxes on individuals and cutting spending in washington, that, together, creates growth, will increase individual income rates in jobs and getting america moving again. >> romney closing in on vice presidential candidate. i want to put something up from the weekly standard. go for the gold, mitt romney. what looks safe can be risky portman from ohio. pawlenty's presidential campaign was a disaster. the 2010 election was the best for republicans in a long time. marco rubio. they want a bold choice. they think it's marco rubio or paul ryan, do you agree? >> well, paul is one of my best buddies. i went to law school with marco

rubio. think the other two guys are great as well. i think we're going to have an exciting august, a great convention, unfortunately, we got a president that doesn't seem to connect the dots. we got the birthday of the credit downgrade today. and we've got a democratic party the that thinks we're moving in the right direction. i think the american people see things differently. we're going to give people a bold choice. i don't think people want another four years of this misery. and we're going to give them the anecdote and that's mitt romney. coming up our powerhouse round table weighs in all of the week's politics. >> it's halftime, america. and the second half is about to begin. chick-fil-a appreciation day. victory of free speech or discrimination >> i believe in free speech. let's show an appreciation not

just for chickens. they really gave their lives in mass numbers. and later, the latest from london. michael phelps set an all-time record for gold medals. he has so much good on his chest he's been asked to join the cast of "jersey shore." te from sprint is now available in white. ♪ ♪ will i catch the moon ♪ like a bird in a cage? [ male announcer ] evo lets you hear what you love with beats audio. and capture what you love with both video and stills. [ camera shutter clicks ] it's everything you love about evo... in white. available only at sprint stores and sprint.com.

roundtable is coming up after this from our abc stations.

♪ and i won't back down >> the culture wars over gay marriage. >> i think we're inviting god's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him when we say what koss constitutes a marriage. >> this was not a protest, it was an affirmation of the rights of an owner of a business to speak his or her convictions. >> chick-fil-a's values aren't

chicago's value and we are chicago, a cibuilt on gambling t intolerance. >> chick-fil-a's appreciation day set sales record on wednesday. let's join the roundtable. george will, jonathan karl covers congress and politics for us. also van jones, former obama adviser. and ann coulter whose book is now out in paperbook. george, let's start out on the economy. coming off friday's employment report. you see good news/bad news for either political side. we have the economy, the economic table is set pretty much going into the election? >> yes, july was the 42nd consecutive month of unemployment over 8%.

august, we can be fairly sure it will be the 43rd month. in 2011, we created on average 150,000 jobs a month. through 2012, 51,000 a month. 172,000 this most recent month. that means we're creating 50,000 more jobs a month than necessary just to keep pace with the growth of the workforce. that means if we're going to reduce this notion of unemployment out there, in increments of 50,000 a month, would take us ten years. this is not a happy picture. >> no way it can be under 8% on election day >> i wouldn't say no way. it's 8.2%. it could go down a little bit. the fact is, this was a pretty good month, 160,000-plus new jobs and most of them in the priefrtd sector. more than 100% of them in the

private sector and it's slow. i don't disagree with george. but i think we're slow and steady progress. >> i don't think there's any way to make these numbers look good but this the recovery from the recession, recovery you're supposed to be, it's supposed to be the second ten years of reagan. the 1984 election for obama. no matter how you talk about the numbers and adding these jobs and those jobs, everyone knows that people are out of work. you often hear it said by the party out of -- person out of party, can't run on the record. that's why he's going to talk about personal attacks. it's true this time. president obama can't run on his record. that's why they're so obsessed with tax records. which is why romney has to be careful about who he chooses about vice president. >> ronald reagan was able to win

with 7.2% unemployment because the trend was in much better shape. >> the good news here, no double dip. the danger going into this month, if we saw, again, this month what we saw last month, double-dip recession right in the middle of november, that would be game over. there's no double dip recession. obama created 4.5 private sector jobs in four years, more than george bush. number two, romney said that he's a job creator, but when you look at his performance in massachusetts, his state fell to number 47 out of 50 in job creation on his watch. america is going this way. i think we're moving in the right direction here. >> jon karl, i want to get to the tax blanks in a second. this whole back and forth over harry reid and the tax returns. you cover capitol hill every day. you have covered harry reid. what do you make of how he's

doubling and tripling down without citing any evidence. >> sometimes you see this stuff out, you know, first there was an interview with huffington post, when harry reid comes to the floor of senate and makes an outrageous charge, mitt romney paid $3.1 million to the irs. he paid taxes. it's completely a false charge. reid loves it. the democrats love this. no matter how much he takes in, no matter how much he gets attack here or jon stewart, it gets the story out and out again. romney should have laughed it off, made a joke about harry reid's imaginary friend and moved on. it's an unbelievable -- >> harry reid's source, if we are to assume that he has one,

is identified as investor in bain. i owned some microsoft, as a stockholder have an insight into bill gates' tax returns. he said i have in my hand of 205 communists in the state department, didn't have a list. harry reid doesn't have any evidence. >> i don't disagree with either of you guys on harry reid. why won't he release his tax returns? if he's paid taxes every year, why not release them and move on? end this discussion. >> it's true, ann, even though romney told abc's david muir last week that he would show that he's paid more than 13.9% at various times, he went back and checked nothing came out.

>> absolutely not sure release anymore tax returning. he released two years. bill clinton would release his medical records. >> he's not releasing tax returns. that's something that the american people, we got two years on romney. perfectly well the media distanced romney's m.o. unfortunately romney isn't divorced. hopefully, his vice presidential candidate won't be divorced. it's al always dirty politics. when obama was running against mccain/palin. what did we get, false affairs -- rumors of an affairs with john mccain. >> mccain got 23. >> as james carville said, the

only person who saw tax returns, john mccain saw 23 years of tax returns and then he picked sarah palin. >> nothing is big hidden. >> something isn't become revealed. >> this is what turns people off from politics. this is exactly the problem we have right now. ordinary people don't care about this stuff. what they care more than anything else, their houses, their homes are under water. it used to be, it was the good old days. when you sign that mortgage check you were building wealth for your family. in washington, d.c., you got ed demarco, a bush administration holdover whose building held on by obama, who sits back and said, freddie and fannie, they came up with a report if they just reduced some of these mortgages and gave some mortgage relief and stopped overcharging

people for their homes, america would save a billion dollars in foreclosures. this one bureaucrat said, no way, took it off the table. it's not even become talked about in america. the american people can't continue to lose their shirts trying to keep to try to stay in their houses. >> i know you disagree with ed demarco. >> well, the housing situation is one of the most complicated issues that we have. we would like to do more for homeowners. there's a feeling in america, equity in the sense that someone who overborrowed, who got a second mortgage, used it to buy a new television is now under water. living next door to someone who acted responsibly and didn't take out a second mortgage. >> the great thing about the report, if you narrowed it to

people who are not in that situation, you would save a billion dollars for americans. you're not talking about people who are overborrowed. they can't get help from thissed a main strags or washington, d.c. you have to have underwater voters sitting out this election in droves. that hurts the economy. >> i think they're house flippers. they won't give you the numbers. how many of these houses are under water are second homes. all of the housing crisis hot spots, arizona, nevada, california, not new york city. >> these are the issues that we talked about -- >> 75% of mortgage owners who are under water are continuing to pay their mortgages. if you go into competitive debt forgiveness, the president saying that maybe student loans should be forgiven. then you're going to have a classic case of moral hazards

for preverse behavior. >> let's talk about the broader tax plans that each campaign has, the president putting out adds against mitt romney's tax plans. george, let me ask you about this, you heard what priebus said, the tax center has a reputation for nonpartisan ship. they made the assumption that there would be some economic growth. it's mathematically impossible for mitt romney not to raise taxes for the middle class. >> he'll have to do a better job in his responding in some detail to the loopholes he plans to close. we had a limit experience of that week. the finance committee, they do the extenders. they extend all of these special tax breaks. one example, mitt romney has

come out against extending the wind power tax break. cost $1.8 billion a year. on the senate finance committee the vote was 19 to 5 to extend it. half the republicans on the committee voted for this bit of industrial policy that government -- the republicans are just as bad and unreliable as the democrats. >> the problem with this, george that's $1.5 billion a year item. the only way you can pay for that as the tax policy center found was to eliminate 65% of all the loopholes. we're not talking about corporate jets and oil and gas, we're talking about the fact that your health care benefits are now taxed. we're talking about the fact that your 401(k)s and your i.r.a.s aren't taxed. you get to a situation where

that hurts the middle and lower class much more than it hurts you and me. under romney tax plan, only people making over $250,000 a year, would actually end up ahead. everybody below $250,000 would end up behind. those are the facts. george, as you pointed out, the head of the tax center was a member of bush administration. >> i think chicago is going to try the obama campaign has made it clear that this study and its findings something that they'll talk about from now until november, the utter plausibility of the taxing the rich and getting the budget anywhere near to balance, they presented plans without much detail. frankly, i think both of them when they get into us a, either one, next term, you'll have to raise taxes. >> the difference, though, is

that you have obama putting forward a plan that would raise taxes on himself. and you have romney that would cut taxes on himself and raise taxes on everyone else. but, we're talking about two different things here. we have a problem with mitt romney, because it seems that romney doesn't understand what ordinary people are going through. the levels, what he's calling loopholes what ordinary people rely on to keep moving forward in the economy. do you want to elect someone who won't give you his tax returns? it will cut his taxes and raise yours. >> the point is whether barack obama's personal taxes get raised, we have to run this beheem ott of neverland ranch of washington, d.c. is cutting the size of washington, d.c.

>> that didn't freeze their salaries. they still get their automatic pay increases. you the government running around having these conferences in las vegas and mexico. that's what romney is selling. he is the bain guy, he's going to cut down this ridiculously sized government. the story today with amtrak food cart, with $10 two-week old turkey, they're open an hour a week. that's how the government runs something. you need a bain guy to cut government. >> how plausible is getting to your point about tax extenders. was study, liberal leaning but seen as credible from both sides of the isle, you're talking about 49% cut.

>> mortgage interest deduction and the nontaxing of lawye lawyer-provided health insurance. there's zero vote in congress for cutting either of those. ze zero. >> zero votes, how does you make up the revenue, the $360 billion that's lost by romney -- >> the other problem that you have, you got -- if bill goes through, good analyst say that you're going lose 4 million jobs right away. we had to fight to get 4.50 million jobs. not only is this tax plan for him cut his own taxes and raise yours, he's going wipe out jobs. >> government jobs? >> cutting taxes creates jobs. that's why we like cutting tax and when you look at the ryan budget you wind up losing jobs. >> government jobs. >> we can have this fight right

here right now. the real tax, the real job creator are the middle-class people who buy products. that's what creates jobs. >> i want to get to the next big decision that romney has to make, choosing a vice presidential running mate. jon karl you're covering this. i sktd reince priebus about the boiled versus boring pick. >> the big decision facing romney, does he go solid and safe? does he pick tim pawlenty or rob portman? or does he go build, with marco rubio or paul ryan? i think they're going with big and bold. romney behind in virtually all of the battleground states. he's been urged by some voice

within the republican party. the message has come back particularly to marco rubio supporters that he's under serious consideration. that said, george, if you talk to republicans close to romney still overthe overwhelming expectation that we goes -- there's increasing pressure and an increasing chance. >> what is the romney's assumption about the dynamic of this race? if they assume accumulating bad economic numbers will push him across the finish line -- which has been their assumption. then, fine. go with safe and cautious. if not, if you think that at this point in the summer, there's time to change the basic perception of romney himself, then bold would measure up and i think the longer it takes the more bold would run. i would add to that list bobby

jindal. >> would accept that the premise that rubio and ryan are at top of that list? >> i have no idea. the president's handling of the economy, he gets decent marks. the lub still blames most of these problems on the previous administration. i would love to see him pick paul ryan, then we could have a decision kus about romney's economic plan. when people understand his plan, they'll understand all of the tax things that we talked about. they'll understand the spending implications of the spending plan. what it does to medic aid and the 33% cuts that are going to occur in a whole series of programs, including food stamps. i would welcome ryan and the discussion that we have about it. >> you want to keep rubio and

ryan where they are. i don't think it e's bold versu drab? i think the base is definitely needed galvanizing with john mccain. the base is galvanized by obama care. that's not what you need here. what you need here is to go into the divorce records of the man he's running against, he needs someone who needs no scandal that's pure than caesar's wife. >> and not your choice, condi rice. >> i'm heartbroken. nobody's talking about it anymore. i was proud to be the first person to put her in. there's always 2016 been. >> she's not divorced. >> before we go, george, ann coulter talked about energizing the base, in texas the tea par y

y had a big victory of ted cruz. >> another example of journalistic mall practice in this country. the constant writing off of the tea party. that goes along electing ted cruz. often, george, the most interesting and important fight in american politics, aren't between the parties they're within the parties. people say about ted cruz, well he's part of the anti-intellectual tea part rtty. well, princeton, harvard, i don't think so. then, they say, well he doesn't play well with others. people in texas, he doesn't play well with others. send him to washington. >> we have other primaries coming up. >> i would say, deb fisher in

nebraska, not a tea party candidate, she was endorsed by sarah palin. sarah palin is 4 for 4 on her endorsements. so, it's a bit of a mixed record. the big difference this year, george, is that none -- we have no people in here like o'donnell or engel, no tea party candidates getting nominated. >> ted cruz's victory party, they served chick-fil-a. >> i want to talk about that, ann coulter, we saw those record sales at chick-fil-a. what does tell you as the guy marriage going into the election? >> um, it tells me something about polls generally because they keep taking gallop polls, gay marriage is so popular, every time people have been allowed to vote on gay marriage,

in 30 states, it has lost in oregon, in walk on the, in california. and now you see this guy and i actually what he said zbecause he made it clear it wasn't an anti-guy thing. it's genuinely a pro-marriage position to oppose gay marriage. when you see those crowds coming out, it makes me suspicious at the polls on the presidential election. >> this became not an issue about marriage equality, it became an free speech. once the mayor stepped in. >> i think it was a huge mistake. >> we're going to use the power of government to punish people because they had a different opinion. however, i think, you citizen boycotts of chick-fil-a that's inappropriate. government stepping, not

appropriate. >> george soros the owner of dinosaur barbecue, and i know a lot of conservatives who love dinosaur barbecue and eat ben and jerry's ice cream. >> i didn't know that. >> maybe ann will never go again. but i mean -- >> got to take a quick break. we'll be back in 60 seconds with our top olympic moment. one thing that i have never understood about the olympics. for some reason, they open the games with the halftime show. i think it's metric. i don't know. and lives inside you. inspires the things you choose to do. things that may not always change the world in a big way. but can change it in a million little ways.

you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to do the things that matter. to dream. to learn. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. ♪ just went out there and swam. we're able to get our hand on first. it's weird to think that was my

last time ever. but it's something that i'm very happy for and very proud of. as soon as i stepped up on to the podium, i could feel the tears start coming. i tried to fight it. but then i decided to let it go. there's no better way to finish a meet like this. >> most decorated olympian ever, michael phelps, 22 career medals. 18 gold. the medical count. the usa over china 27 to 25. tied in overall medals. van, your best moment of the week. >> watching gabby's mom. she grew up in poverty, her mom has to send gabby away to a family that she doesn't know. that family takes her in. she's mothering her kids by

skype. we're one family. color doesn't matter. it's having that common gold. >> she's now on the cover of corn flakes. >> it's so amazing to see how hard they try, the way they perform, when you see someone like gabby in what she gave up wand she had to do succeed was amazing. >> what will you be watching this week. >> the usa men's basketball. they dominated tunisia, they dominated nigeria and they came up against lithuania and came close to losing. is the dream team really the dream team? >> did you watch. >> no, i was taping my next book all week. i watched katie ledecky win the gold. because she's the niece of my

friend john. >> i think all of us were actually struck by what you wrote this week about so far, your column this morning, pretty simple but staggering conclusion, you wrote that football can't be fixed. >> the human body is no longer built about football. in 1980, george, there were three nfl players over 300 pounds. today, there are 350 pounds and 352 on the 2011 rosters weighed more than 300 pounds. over 20 yards, these guys are fast as cats. fast as running backs and the kinetic energy is produce iing . get used to that. it will be a subject of lawsuits and other things. the crucial word is crucial. repeated blows to the head, now we know causes early dementia

and other problems. >> right now, there's no evidence that the american public is ready to turn away. >> it will start at the small level of kids playing football in grade school and then in high school. we all know in our hypercautious parenting put crash helmets on children riding tricycles. how many of these parents are going to let their children go out and play football once they learn, again the chronic, the engt of small brain trauma? >> any way to fix football. >> i hope so. i was taken aback. i like football. my dad loves football. when you start hearing about people in your column, they get to their 40s, they're 50s, they're demented. they're killing themselves because they can't cope with it. >> it's astounding. we were talking about

refrigerator perry in 1985, he looked like a giant on the field. now he would be on the smaller end in 2011, 31 of the 32 nfl offensive lines averaged over 300 pounds. >> wow. george will, thank you all. thank you all very much. terrific roundtable this week. your voice is coming up. but first -- three weeks from this week in history. what year was it. >> the former soviet union becoming a capitalist country. >> the soviet union collapse zmrd the new regime the new leadership promises change, new order and new economy, now they have to produce. the first gulf war began. >> how goes the war? the campaign is unfolding just as we had expected. as far as i'm concerned, it's the high-tech lenses for uppity blacks. >> and anita hill challenged clarence thomas. >> which one lied?

the senate committee can't tell. we may never know. >> was it 1989, 1990 or 1991? we'll be right back with the answer. 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.

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whether it's showing competitors' rates or striving to be number one, we're always up for a little competition. zap! [ sparking ] now, that's progressive. so, what year was it? when did the soviet union disappear and anita confront clarence thomas, 21 years ago, 1991. now, we honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. this week, the pentagon released the names of 12 soldiers and marines killed in afghanistan.

and finally, your voice this week, today's question comes from kelly harper collins who asked, do you and ali agree or disagree on politics? do you discuss, debate or avoid the subject? our house is mostly politics-free zone. although the campaigns have given ali plenty of fodder for her comedy. the ads, new york is not a battle ground state. that's all for us today. thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. check out "world news" with david muir tonight and i'll see you tomorrow on "good morning america." ons. knowing what to make and when could help cut down on thousands of unsold baked goods per month. using analytics, we discovered when it's drizzling outside... people eat more cake. and when the temperature rises, panini sales go up. finding these hidden connections helped our european bakeries

increase profitability by up to 20%. let's build a smarter planet. hd 8.

this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com.