Obama Back on Campaign Trail
KAYE: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.</s>BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's great to have you with us. Here are some of the stories we are working on this morning: President Obama kicks off a two day bus tour in Florida this morning. He's riding post-convention wave with approval rating hitting a 15- month high. He's got stops in St. Petersburg and Kissimmee today. We'll take you live to the St. Pete event in our 10:00 hour. In Pakistan, the Haqqani Network has been formally designated a terrorist organization. The Obama administration claims the al Qaeda linked group operates in Pakistan's north region with ties to the Taliban. The decision was made despite concerns it will undermine U.S. relations with Pakistan. The U.S. now has the authority to freeze Haqqani assets in U.S. banks. In Afghanistan, Britain's Prince Harry has reported for helicopter duty in the Helman Province. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson says Harry will be treated like any other soldier during his four-month deployment. It's his second tour in Afghanistan. Back in the States, Republican vice president nominee Paul Ryan told a Colorado TV station he believes states should decide themselves whether to legalize medical marijuana. Colorado is one of 17 states that allowed it. Ryan also said during the same interview that the issue is not a high priority.</s>KAYE: Staying with politics now, Mitt Romney is back on the campaign trail today in Virginia. And it's likely he'll continue hitting President Obama hard on the issue of jobs. CNN national political correspondent Jim Acosta has more on that from Nashua, New Hampshire -- Jim.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, Mitt Romney came to this Minor League Baseball park to give his pitch on the economy. But he was served up a Major League softball in the form of the nation's unemployment report. (voice-over): Mitt Romney tried to offer sobering words on what he called the hangover after President Obama's convention party, yet another disappointing report on the nation's stagnant jobs market.</s>MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's been 43 straight months above 8 percent. It's a national tragedy.</s>ACOSTA: The government's latest unemployment numbers found a mere 96,000 jobs created in August. And while the jobless rate did drop to 8.1 percent, that was due to 368,000 people leaving the work force. At a brief news conference, Romney had a new line for where the president is taking the country.</s>M. ROMNEY: The president's plan is four more years of the four last years. And I don't think the American people want four more years of the four last years.</s>ACOSTA: Romney also hit back at the president's charge that he has yet to offer many specifics, promising that his plan will create 12 million new jobs, with tax cuts, fewer regulations and more domestic energy. And listen to how he vowed to tackle the deficit.</s>M. ROMNEY: Balancing our budget. President Bush and President Obama, neither one made the kinds of steps on that front that I think needed to be made.</s>ACOSTA: And as for that jab from the president at Romney's gaffe on whether the British were ready to host the Olympics --</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can't visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally.</s>ACOSTA: -- the GOP nominee punched back.</s>M. ROMNEY: I'm very pleased that my Olympic experience allows me to talk about the Olympics in a straight-talk manner. And I think it would be appropriate if the president would talk to China in a straight-talk manner. This president can tell us it was someone else's fault.</s>ACOSTA: As soon as the president's speech was finished, the Romney campaign announced an aggressive ad blitz aimed at eight battleground states all captured by Mr. Obama four years ago.</s>ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT M.  ROMNEY: I should tell you that I feel right at home because I'm in a barn.</s>ACOSTA: Ann Romney was in one of those targeted states, Virginia, urging voters to turn the reins on the economy over to her husband.</s>A. ROMNEY: So let's talk some horse sense. Barack Obama said four years ago, if I can't turn this economy around after three-and-a-half years, I'm looking at a one-term presidency.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): But there could be trouble looming for Mitt Romney if it the unemployment rate ticks below 8 percent, a number he says the president cannot beat. Still, the Romney campaign plans to drill down on the issue, as one top adviser put it, for the next 60 days -- Randi.</s>KAYE: Jim Acosta, thank you very much.</s>BLACKWELL: A lot of people are talking about Clint Eastwood's empty chair at the Republican National Convention and he's talking about it, too. Find out how he says he came up with the idea, backstage. And Romney is not talking at least about gay marriage. Find out what happened when a reporter tried to ask her about that hot button issue.