Mitt’s Olympic Flip-Flop, Shake-Up at CNN, and More

Romney Walks Back Olympics Comment:

London is miraculously ready to host the Games! That’s according to Mitt Romney, who, during his current trip abroad, had questioned how prepared the city was for the Olympics. British leaders, including Prime Minister David Cameron, mocked the GOP presidential candidate for the controversial statement Thursday. Said Romney on Friday: “After being here a couple days, it looks like London is ready.” Here’s a question: Does Mitt Romney have any principles? (Read more)

Mitt and the Banksters: Gaffes aside, Romney’s trip proved to be successful on one front: fundraising. On Thursday, Romney met with at least 250 top bankers at a London hotel, including representatives from Barclays, which is in the middle of the Libor controversy. Most candidates would probably shy away from meeting with anyone involved in the interest rate rigging investigation, but not Romney. Oh no. He came for the money. A cool $2 million, according to reports. But money doesn’t come for nothing. In exchange, it’s likely the so-called banksters will have their interests served if Romney is elected president. Romney told them: “I’d like to get rid of Dodd-Frank and go back and look at regulation piece by piece.” Guess that answers the question posed above. (Read more)

CNN’s CEO to Call It Quits: Jim Walton, CNN’s longtime chief executive, announced Friday that he would step down from his post at the end of the year. The move comes as no surprise, considering the cable news channel has taken a big hit in terms of ratings and reputation in the past year. In an internal memorandum, Walton wrote: “CNN needs new thinking. That starts with a new leader who brings a different perspective, different experiences and a new plan, one who will build on our great foundation and will commit to seeing it through.” (Read more)

Cantor Defends Bachmann: At least one Republican is coming to the defense of Michele Bachmann. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will not join some of his fellow Republicans in condemning the Minnesota congresswoman and others for their controversial allegations that some in the government—including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin—have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Said Cantor: “I think that her concern was about the security of the country.” House Speaker John Boehner and Arizona Sen. John McCain are among those who have been highly critical of Bachmann for calling on government agencies to investigate a possible infiltration by the Muslim Brotherhood. (Read more)

Boehner’s Veep Pick: Mitt Romney’s campaign has remained mum on the subject of running mates, but that’s not stopping John Boehner from playing the Romney VP guessing game. The House speaker noted that Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana were all good choices to be the next vice president, but when all is said and done, he’s partial to Portman. (Read more)

Video of the Day: If this video is any indication, Mitt Romney definitely will not be carrying the torch at the London Olympic Games.