[Velshi:] Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Gay couples can now legally marry in six states, but "state" is the key word here.
[Romans:] Right. Keep in mind, same-sex marriages aren't recognized by Uncle Sam, the federal government. That means a lot of perks enjoyed by heterosexual married couples don't apply to gay married couples. CNN's Poppy Harlow joins us now with more on that. It's something that that people are finding out as they're getting married
[Poppy Harlow, Cnnmoney.com:] Yes.
[Romans:] in New York, for example, and then they're realizing that there's a little bit of a hurdle there.
[Harlow:] All this excitement, right, that they finally have the right to say "I do" and then they're realizing, oh, what about our finances, we never thought about this before because we just thought we couldn't bring our money together. We didn't have financial rights. But what I was so surprised to find out in reporting this, is that even though gay couples are allowed to get married in these six states, their financial rights are not equivalent on the federal level to same sex married couples. Take a look.
[Unidentified Male:] I pronounce you both married.
[Unidentified Female:] We've been waiting for this day.
[Unidentified Male:] My husband and her wife.
[Harlow:] Not so fast. For many gay couples in New York, the last few weeks have been filled with celebration.
[Ellen Desarno, Axa, Certified Financial Planner:] Marriage equality is very good for morale in New York State. However it doesn't change a lot of the laws that affect us.
[Harlow:] Openly gay financial planner Ellen DeSarno says the biggest road block for gay couples is the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. As a result, many of the federal tax breaks that straight married couples get, same sex married couples don't. Gay couples still can't file joint federal tax returns, share retirement benefits or combine their money freely.
[Desarno:] Heterosexuals that that marry is recognized at a federal level. They have the ability to give each other unlimited gifts and inherit unlimited amounts from each other. I can't give my partner more than $13,000 a year without it being a taxable gift.
[Ralph Gilmartin, Engaged:] Friday.
[Harlow:] Ralph Gilmartin and Bill Herbst have been together nearly 30 years and plan to marry in November. They own their apartment together, but have questions about their financial rights.
[Gimartin:] The state tax question is a bit of an issue.
[Herbst:] And we have to go back and maybe dismantle or rethink or reallocate because we're not sure what these things are going to do.
[Harlow:] We've arranged for our financial pro to sit down with the couple.
[Herbst:] Are there things that we can look at that will save us money or make things easier that we can maybe change now?
[Desarno:] If you're not married and you're partners, there's a $1 million exemption of assets you can pass on to your heirs without any New York State tax. When you're legally married in New York that's unlimited.
[Harlow:] And there are other state benefits. Rights may include health insurance and some pension benefits for spouses. Ralph and Bill say the right to finally say "I do" far outweighs the financial headaches that may lie ahead.
[Unidentified Male:] I think it's an important baby step, but are we there yet? Absolutely not. There's a lot more that we need to continue working on.
[Harlow:] Now gay couples have to also keep in mind once they marry, they're going to assume the debt of their partner and no one wants to think about divorce. But if there is a divorce, it's just like a heterosexual couple, they will have to pay alimony. Those things still remain. But I was shocked to find out that because marriage isn't recognized on a federal level they do miss out on a lot of these financial benefits of getting married. There are some activist groups out there fighting for these rights, but at the same time, even that couple tells me one step at a time. We're just glad we can get married after 30 years together.
[Romans:] Specifically the Defense of Marriage Act on a federal level.
[Harlow:] It is that. That 1996 act signed in by President Clinton, not likely that's going to get overturned any time soon.
[Velshi:] All right, Poppy, thank you for that.
[Costello:] Now 30 minutes past the hour. Time to check this morning's top stories. President Obama wrapping up his three-day Midwest bus tour on his home turf in Illinois. Yesterday, the president sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Wolf asked him about the approaching 911 anniversary and threats to national security.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States Of America:] The biggest concern we have right now is not the launching of a major terrorist operation, although that risk is always there. The risk that we're especially concerned over right now is the lone wolf terrorist, somebody with a single weapon being able to carry out wide- scale massacres of the sort that we saw in Norway recently.
[End Video Clip) Romans:] All right. The 911 first responders are not invited to next month's ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 911 attacks. New York City officials say there's not enough room. Only families of 911 victims will attend. First responders will have their own ceremony at later date.
[Velshi:] Two Democratic state senators in Wisconsin will keep their seats. They defeated their Republican challengers in a special recall election yesterday. The vote was in response to the bitter fight over new laws that crack down on unions and their right to collectively bargain. Bottom line, status quo, things haven't changed there.
[Costello:] Back to the world of politics, Rick Perry refusing to back down this morning, even after members of his own party criticized him for harsh comments he made about the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Listen.
[Perry:] We would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. I mean, printing more money, to play politics at this particular time in American history, is almost treasonous.
[Costello:] Joining us to talk about this, Gerry Seib, Washington Bureau chief of the "Wall Street Journal" and CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston, he's on the road with Perry in New Hampshire. Welcome to you both.
[Unidentified Male:] Thank you.
[Costello:] So, Mark, let's start with you, Rick Perry used that word treason that's a crime against your country, it's in the constitution, it's punishable by as much as death. But Rick Perry isn't backing down, is he?
[Mark Preston, Cnn Senior Political Editor:] No, he's not backing down, and it's the kind of phrase that is going to play very well with a certain segment of the Republican base. Rick Perry, when he was making that statement, I believe, knew what he was doing. However, what he could run up against is moderate, middle of the road Republicans and independents that are turned off by that remark. We've already seen some former Bush administration officials, including Karl Rove, who we do know is not close to Rick Perry, actually criticize him for that.
[Costello:] Gerald, I wanted to ask you about that. Karl Rove did come out, as Mark said he's not the best friend of Rick Perry, but he said this is not presidential. So why isn't Perry stepping back from the remark?
[Gerald Seib, Washington Bureau Chief Of The Wall Street Journal And Dow Jones Newswires:] Well, I think for starters, you got to remember there's a lot of anti-fed sentiment in the Republican Party, particularly among primary voters. Ron Paul tapped into that. Ron Paul came in second in last week's Iowa straw poll. So he's kind of showing that there's a lot of populist anger about the fed. He's tapping into that whether he did so intentionally or not that's the effect of it. But I also think there's kind of a Rick Perry style of political discourse here that you're seeing and the great question is whether it plays as well in the center of the country as you get beyond a primary into a general election as it does with Republican primary voters. I wrote a column this week and talked about that being the question about Rick Perry, the kind of approach, the rhetorical attack that works in a Republican primary setting work in a general election setting or is it off putting to swing voters in the middle of the electorate. That's the question I think about the Perry candidacy.
[Costello:] And talking about confrontation, President Obama is on this bus tour through the Midwest, and he talked with Wolf Blitzer, not many people are paying attention because it's August. A lot of people are on vacation, but I think that an image people will remember is the president being confronted by that Tea Party leader in Iowa and, of course, Democrats did the same thing to Mitt Romney in Iowa. I mean is this the kind of thing we're going to see all the way through the campaign, Gerald?
[Seib:] You know, look, the campaign is now under way. I think what we've seen in the last week really is the real beginning of a campaign that was slow to get off the ground. It's an unhappy and an angry electorate that shows through in all the polls. You've got a lot of anxiety and a lot of anger at Washington, at the economy, and at Washington's inability to get a grip on the economic problems that really date back to 2008. So you're going to see that play out I think in a lot of the campaign. It's a bad backdrop if you're the incumbent president running for re-election and see President Obama have to confront that over and over again over the next year or so.
[Costello:] Mark, I'll ask you this. How are campaigns combating that because you really don't want to get into an argument? I mean, a lot of analysts say President Obama should not have engaged as long as he did with that Tea Party leader.
[Preston:] Well, no. And look, it's always the peril of being on the campaign trail and being willing to put yourself out there and actually have to take questions from people in events such as the one I'm in right now. I mean, there's business leaders, some of the top business leaders in New Hampshire will be here this morning. Rick Perry will make some remarks. Not sure if he'll actually answer some questions. The question is, when do you engage when you have a heckler? We saw Mitt Romney do that last week. Some thought he handled it poorly. But the Romney campaign thought he handled it correctly. In fact, they're trying to raise money off the whole idea. That he made the comment that corporations are people and by doing so, they think that they can tap into a very conservative fiscal base as well. So it is the peril of being on the campaign trail. If you're running in politics and want to run for office that's something you have to deal with, Carol.
[Costello:] I know, the DNC is using it too. How bizarre. I want to touch briefly on Ron Paul, put out an ad that's quite interesting. In that ad, if we can show a little bit of it, it lumps together Mitt Romney, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and President Obama. I think Michele Bachmann is in there too. So there are both Republicans and Democrats in that ad. What is Ron Paul trying to demonstrate, Gerald?
[Sieb:] Well, look, Ron Paul is the ultimate anti-establishment candidate in a lot of ways. He's almost a libertarian and he's trying show that all regular politicians and his whole campaign is based on saying I'm not a regular politician even though I've been in Congress for a long time, don't understand what the populist anger out in the country is about. That's what I think the point of the ad, to put all the other guys together as the politicians and me, Ron Paul, as the not politician. There's a lot of appeal to that. I think one of the things that frustrate the Ron Paul supporters right now is that he's not getting more attention. He's getting more press coverage than he does, and that he's not being considered a serious mainstream candidate, but a marginal candidate, he's trying to fight back against that.
[Costello:] Yes, because he came in second in the Iowa straw poll and really no pundits were really talking about him, but honestly, he probably doesn't have a he doesn't have a really great chance of being president, but who knows. I guess stranger things have happened.
[Sieb:] Exactly.
[Costello:] Gerald Sieb, Mark Preston, thanks for talking with us this morning. We appreciate it.
[Romans:] Wow, still to come, danger at Yosemite National Park. We're going to tell you what's behind a deadly summer there this year.
[Velshi:] Plus, heart disease affects 30 million men in the U.S. and one of the early indicators may shock you. Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has your morning house call.