President Obama's campaign releases a Hollywood-style trailer for an upcoming film that chronicles his first term. CNN's Brianna Keilar reports.

RELATED STORY: Obama quietly prepares for fall as Republicans fight

By Wolf Blitzer, CNN

(CNN) - I know that lots of critics accuse President Obama of being anti-big business. Some go so far as to suggest he’s borderline socialist.

The criticism stems from some of his own rhetoric against Wall Street, which occasionally has been over the top – as many of his own big-business Democratic fund-raisers acknowledge.

The critics also point to his desire for more intense oversight and regulation of the big banks and brokerage and investment firms.

Finally, they charge he engages in “class warfare” by insisting that “millionaires and billionaires” should see their tax rates go up. That, the critics say, will merely undermine the “job creators” and weaken the overall economy. They don’t like his efforts to promote greater “wealth distribution.”

I fully understand all the criticism. But here’s my question: If President Obama’s policies have been so anti-big business, why has Wall Street done so well since he took office?

On January 20, 2009, when he was sworn in, the Dow Jones closed at 7,949. Now, it hovers around 12,000. That’s a pretty impressive increase.

In the past year, the value of the U.S. dollar has gone up as well, although the euro crisis has certainly played a significant role in that.

Finally, so many major American corporations are raking in record profits and sitting on trillions of dollars.

In short, big business is doing well even though the overall economy is still sluggish and unemployment is still way too high.

And those latter factors are key to his re-election prospects – not the state of big business.

Follow Wolf Blitzer on Twitter: @WolfBlitzerCNN

PEOSTA, Iowa (CNN) – President Barack Obama placed the blame for Washington's current political paralysis squarely at the feet of his Republican opponents Tuesday, telling CNN that the GOP's "ideological rigidity" is standing in the way of compromises necessary for stronger economic growth.

In a wide-ranging interview with Wolf Blitzer, the president said the inability of GOP leaders in Congress to support a recent $4 trillion deficit reduction deal focused more heavily on spending cuts than revenue increases is evidence of a party placing political considerations before national interests.

WATCH: Video clips of Wolf Blitzer's interview with President Obama

Staff from CNN's The Situation Room meet with Pres. Barack Obama after his interview with Wolf Blitzer.

President Barack Obama explains to CNN's Wolf Blitzer what he's doing to create more jobs in the U.S. The full interview will replay on CNN Tuesday at 11 pm ET.

Wolf Blitzer asks Pres. Barack Obama about his reelection prospects. Watch the full interview at 6 pm ET on CNN's The Situation Room.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer asks Pres. Barack Obama about his potential GOP challengers. Watch the full interview Tuesday at 6 pm ET on The Situation Room.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer sat down with President Barack Obama today in Peosta, Iowa. In this one-on-one interview, on the second day of the president’s bus tour across the Midwest, Blitzer and the president discussed a variety of topics from domestic economic and international issues to 2012 politics. Tune in to CNN – Blitzer’s interview with Pres. Obama will air on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, 5-7 p.m. ET and replay at 11 p.m. ET.

By CNN's Wolf Blitzer

Decorah, Iowa (CNN) - This is really rural northeast Iowa. And I love it.

What a pleasure to get out of Washington for a few days. I can identify with President Obama and the Republican presidential candidates who are all working the crowds here in the Midwest. The people are very friendly and seem so happy to see us; the weather is fabulous; and the corn fields are majestic.

Like so many political reporters, I come to Iowa every four years. I remember interviewing then-Governor George W. Bush in 1999 when he was running for the Republican nomination. I remember interviewing then Senator-Barack Obama in October 2008 just before he was elected president.

Iowa may not be the largest state, but right now it's one of the most influential. The folks here love the fact that they are the first in the nation in the race for the White House.

The Republican field is lively - with all of the candidates really lashing out against President Obama. And now, he's beginning - slowly - to lash back. It will get much more intense in the coming weeks and months.

I'll be interviewing President Obama tomorrow here in Iowa. He's on his bus trip that began this morning in Minnesota and continues through Iowa and ends in his home state Illinois. He needs these three states in his bid for re-election. He carried all three in 2008.

I would love to hear from you. If you have a good question for the president please let me know @WolfBlitzerCNN on Twitter.

If you're a political news junkie - as I've been my whole life - it doesn't get any better than this.

By CNN's Wolf Blitzer

(CNN) – When President Barack Obama started speaking at the White House at 1:52 p.m. today, the Dow Jones was down around 400 points. When he wrapped up 10 minutes later, it was down around 430 points. And when the market closed at 4 p.m., the Dow was down 635 points for the day – a drop of more than 5.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index was down nearly 6.9% for the day. The S&P 500 was down 6.7%. In short, it was a horrendous day on Wall Street – as it was earlier in Europe and Asia.

It’s certainly not fair to blame only the president for this awful downslide. There are limits to what he can do in the current economic and political climate. There is plenty of blame to go around – including to congressional Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.
FULL POST