>> this is new york. if you've got a pole, somebody is gng to climb it. >> reporter: yeah, well tell it to the cops. jeannie moos, cnn. new york. >> that's it for me. thanks for watching. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, i'm candy crowley sitting in for john king. we begin tonight with stunning developments in the case of dominique strauss-kahn. he's the former head of the international monetary fund who is accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in new york. today, a judge released strauss-kahn from house arrest after questions about the credibility of his accuser were raised by prosecutors, not strauss-kahn's defense team. the case was not dismissed but his attorney says they expect the charges to be dropped and

their client fully exonerated. susan candiotti is in new york with all the developments. what are the credibility issues with the alleged victim? >> reporter: hi, candy. prosecutors laid it out for the judge in court and in a letter to the defense. they said they turned up troubling outright lies by the maid. some they said she admitted on her own. among them, her story changed about where she was and what she did right after strauss-kahn allegedly assaulted her in his hotel suite. first she said she waited in the hallway until her supervisor came. she later admitted she cleaned another room and came back to dsk's suite before reporting the incident. the d.a. said she admitted she lied about a gang rape in a political asylum application. since she admitted faking information to the irs about her departments and income. she told other lies they did not detail. the maid's attorney would have none of it. outside court he made an

impassioned defense of his client's integrity. he went into painful detail about physical injuries she allegedly suffered during an alleged attack. >> the victim from day one has described a violent sexual assault that dominique strauss-kahn committed against her. she has described that sexual assault many times to the prosecutors and to me. she has never once changed a single thing about that account. >> reporter: her attorney also accused the d.a. of being afraid to go forward with the case. fact is it's possible the felony charges will be dropped down the road. the d.a. says the case is not being dismissed right now. >> susan candiotti, thanks so much. here to walk us through what happens next, we joined by two

legal experts. sun why you huston and holly hughes. let me put it to you, is this case toast now is? it done? if you have an alleged victim that seems to be sort of a serial liar about some pretty important things. >> absolutely. it's nice to see you. the problem here is in this particular kind of case, a sexual assault case, it's really the only case where even though you have dna, which is the gold standard of evidence, it's still a he said/she said. anyone accused with sexual assault can say it was consensual. what does that leave us if we take the scientific evidence out of the mix? two people giving two different versions of the story. one is now proven to be a liar. admitted she is a liar on important documents. we are talking about an application for asylum, statements to the irs and papers

filed with them. to try and go forward when all you're relying on is he said/she said puts the prosecution in an extremely difficult position. even though it may have occurred, what we have to think about as lawyers is what can we prove to a jury? her lies put her and this state in a very awkward position. >> awkward but not impossible. even if the alleged victim has lied about a lot of things or misled about a lot of things, some of them having nothing to do with the case, it doesn't mean she wasn't raped. >> that's right. the problem here is that the prosecution would have to put her on the witness stand to prove its case. if you read the letter they did send to the defense team, it is clear that she has made so many errors in judgment in terms of the stories that she has told, that it would be very, very difficult to put her on the witness stand. she would not be able to

withhold really cross-examination. i think, unfortunately, even if there was a sexual assault here, this case is going nowhere. >> wow. holly, the d.a., the defense attorney, rather, for the alleged victim also took what seemed to be pretty personal shots at the district attorney saying the district attorney was afraid to prosecute the case. the tone struck me as pretty harsh. did it strike you at all as unusual? >> yeah. it was a little harsh. again, you have to consider like sunny and i have both said just because something may have happened does not mean you can prove it in court. to be completely candid for our viewers what we need to remind them is there is something called brady material in the law. when the district attorney comes across evidence that is exculpatory, possibly exculpatory or favorable to the defense, they have a legal, moral and ethical obligation to turn it over.

if they don't, they're in trouble. so cyrus vance, when his investigators turned up this thing, did what he was required to do under the law. he disclosed that information to strauss-kahn's attorneys. i understand the victim's attorney is very upset making these bold statements against the d.a., but he was between a rock and a hard place. he had to turn it over legally. that's the stance he finds himself in based on what the victim did, not what the d.a. did. >> sunny, what do you make of the d.a.'s behavior? he did seem to so fully embrace this case in the beginning. we can have a long discussion about why they didn't look into other things before they so fully embraced it. nonetheless, it does look like he may be dropping it. do you sense that? >> i do sense that. let's face it. when he was faced with this decision whether or not to go forward, you had what appeared to be a very credible witness, what appeared to be a quick report which lends her story

some credibility, and a defendant who was about to leave the country. in a situation like that, you do have to make the tough call. she also testified in front of the grand jury, a grand jury indicted him. at that time, i think they did what was the right thing to do. they continued their investigation, which is what they are supposed to do. in looking into her background when they had the time to do so, they uncovered all these things. i think the district attorney has done the right thing by believing her at first, presenting her story to a grand jury. that is what the process is. then continuing the investigation, they found real credibility problems and turned it over, as holly mentioned, to the defense, which is what they are required to do. the district attorney has acted above board within the law. i think they actually should be commended because it's something to find something out like this after you have already indicted someone and come forward and basically admit something has gone amiss.

>> it is something. something really surprising. sunny and holly, thank you for your expertise. the case against dominique strauss-kahn is being followed very closely in france. at one point strauss-kahn was considered a strong candidate to be the president of france. many people in france were outraged by the treatment he's received from the u.s. justice system and american media. we want to talk about this with french television one correspondent. how are these developments playing out in france? what is the initial take there? >> well, the french thinks they've been taken for a ride. in the beginning they were shell shocked about the accusation. he was paraded and handcuffed, something we don't do in france. he was accused of all these crimes, was indicted, went to

ri riker's island. then we started believing he did what he was accused of. then the justice system says the whole story is fake, parts of it she lied. they don't understand the system, the american justice system again. >> a lot of americans would argue it is the justice system at work with the prosecutor saying here is stuff we didn't know. both our previous experts said it's quite possible these charges will go away. let's assume for a moment they do go away. what does this mean for strauss-kahn's presidential ambitions in france? >> it changes everything. he comes back to the race. i'm not sure. the timing is complex to him. he is not with the imf any more. co-go back to france and say i am the victim of a system

unjust. there are other players in the game in the socialist, the left wing games that have taken his place. he could go back in the game. could he be a contender against a president nicolas sarkozy who is not loved by the french people? maybe. he needs to play delicately. there is a civil case pending, hasn't started. that needs to solve whether he makes a deal with the victim. he still has problems. it's not sure he will come back in the race. don't count him out yet. he could face the primaries and try to challenge president sarkozy. >> stranger things certainly have happened. thank you for your input tonight. good to see you. coming up, ten years after september 11th, a man with an invalid boarding pass and improper i.d. can still get on a plane? congressman peter king on what needs to be done to keep america safe this fourth of july weekend. and the prosecution rests. really?

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now to the story that has everyone talking. how on earth did a man board a plane and fly from new york to l.a., allegedly with an improper boarding pass and insufficient

i.d.? somehow he got past tsa agents and airline personnel. he was charged with being a stow away in a hearing today in los angeles. sand remarks i understand there was concern. concern over whether he is a flight risk. >> reporter: absolutely. that is what federal prosecutors laid out today in front of the judge, asking the judge not to grant bail. they say noibi, the 24-year-old nigerian american they allege is a stowaway is a flight risk. he has no ties to los angeles. he has family in georgia and michigan, and also in his homeland of nigeria. also they argue he is a risk to the community using other people's identity to get onboard aircraft. other people's boarding passes. that is what they laid out in court today. the defense lawyer on the other hand says this is a guy who comes from a respectable family. that essentially all he did was steal a $500 flight and then he

is embarrassed by this whole situation. of course, the prosecution says despite not posing a terror threat, that when it comes to security, especially in the age after 9/11, this is a very score yus matter. it seems like the judge agreed. he did not set bail saying there is not enough information about this guy to really know where he comes from and the stability of all his claims. >> sandra endo thanks so much. a curious issue after anyone has watched their driver's license be examined with a flashlight. earlier today i spoke with congressman peter king from new york. >> it is indefensible. ten years after september 11th to have everything go wrong and still have him get past tsa and get on the plane with a boarding pass for the wrong flight number for the wrong date, and again tsa, the main responsibility here is tsa.

it's 101 that the same name on the i.d. should be the same as what's on the boarding pass. the fact the boarding pass was from the previous day. the names were totally different. the fact as you said his passport had been reported lost, you had all these flags should have gone off. it's just basic. i could have seen if it was a forged i.d., the guy wasn't sophisticated enough, but the names were different. i don't know wales he needed to see. this was a glaring mistake. it's inexcusable. to have that compounded at the plane when he was able to get on the plane with the wrong boarding pass makes absolutely no sense. i've never seen a case with so many unanswered questions. also could have had serious implicati implications. whether or not he was doing this as a lark, whether or not he's got mental problems or whether or not he was testing the system, i don't know. again, it's not reassuring as we

are coming up towards september 11th. >> as a normal person that goes through security all the time where they take out a flashlight and look at your driver's license, in my case maryland driver's license, where they are constantly doing this, is there any explanation -- it seems they do that for everyone. i find this, and i think most people say i go through so much just to get to my plane. here a basic thing was overlooked. what does it tell you about the tsa system? >> it certainly shows in this case it broke down. i'm an admirer of the director. he's done an outstanding job with the fbi. i defended tsa in the past when i thought they were unfairly attacked. i sent a letter to john pistle demanding a full investigation, asking him to report back to homeland security system by july 8th to give as full briefing. we have to have answers how it happened, why it happened, to make sure it's never going to happen again. also as to what action will be

taken against the screener. this can't be defended. i agree with you. every week i travel to reagan airport. about a year ago the guy at the counter gave me a mixed boarding pass and ticket. when i got to the plane, i couldn't get on. here i am a ranking member of the homeland security committee and i was kept off a flight because they couldn't get it figured out in time. here is a guy with the wrong boarding pass, wrong i.d., wrong date, wrong plane and he just sailed right through. went from jfk to los angeles. it's inexcusable and tsa has to take serious action. >> in your mind if it is what we are told it is, all the fact as we know them bear out what needs to happen? >> i would take severe action against that employee. the tsa has to implement new training programs. have much more inspections going

on. having people from the administration monitoring what's happening. let these employees know they are being watched. this can't be allowed to happen. we are talking about life and death here. not about somebody having a cup of coffee when nobody is looking. you could have a planeful of people getting killed. there could always be mistakes made and you could have a forged i.d., but when you have an obvious one of the wrong name, wrong date, wrong boarding pass, that is not picked up, that is a terrible sign. it encourages the enemy. it's not reassuring to the american people. part of the way our system is expected to work is a deterrent to the enemy. they have to believe it's impossible to breakthrough it. >> let me ask you a broader picture as we head into this july 4th weekend. that is the materials that came out of osama bin laden's home in

pakistan. there is evidence as late as february 2010 bin laden wanted strikes in the u.s., particularly around symbolic holidays. are you more concerned than you usually would be about this weekend or are you feeling reasonably steady that this looks like a weekend that we are well prepared for? >> i would almost say all of the above. i do feel reasonably secure because we have increased security as far as alerting local governments, alerting the private sector. there is no doubt we do know al qaeda was talking more about attacking the u.s. on symbolic dates. also in the lead up to 9/11, the tenth anniversary of september 11th, we know they are considering, trying to plan attacks. having said that, i'm not aware of any particular attack being planned right now. we do know they are looking for symbolism. they want to do something dramatic before september 11th. obviously, fourth of july would

be a prime time for that. everyone has been alerted to be on extra guard, to be much more careful. because of that, i feel reasonably secure. this is a dangerous world. al qaeda is a dangerous enemy. they are waiting for the weekend or week day, any time when we don't let your guard down. when we are having a barbecue on fourth of july, they are plotting somewhere to kill us. if not the fourth of july, it's another date. these people never stop. they are evil and want to kill us. >> a sobering assessment of where we are in the world right now. peter king, have a safe and happy holiday. >> thank you very much. another royal wedding. is the presidential race well on its way to an expected billion dollar price tag? hey! you want that? you want a warm, super-delicious strawberry toaster strudel yeah but now i have nothing to eat sure you do. hey! you can have the pop tart! pillsbury toaster strudel.

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prosecutors in the casey anthony murder trial in orlando rested their case this afternoon, closing arguments are set for sunday. before resting, prosecutors focused on a family home

computer and who exactly used it to search for information about chloroform. prosecutors accuse anthony of murdering her 2-year-old daughter caylee and using chloroform in the process. cnn's martin savidge is covering the trial. what can you tell us about what happened in court today? >> hello, candy. it was an interesting day. had a mixed bag of things. it started with the defense and the prosecution arguing this morning over what evidence could be admitted during the rebuttal case of the prosecution's case. at one point it got so severe the judge had to call an indefinite recess. about 1:30 in the afternoon the differences had been resolved at the prosecution went forward with its rebuttal. made significant points. then they rested. what came next was three motions by the defense for acquittal. they said there was inappropriate video entered as evidence. the judge wasn't buying that.

he said no. then they argued on a previous ruling involving the death penalty in florida. the judge is taking that under advisement. then they said the prosecution did not make its case. they haven't proved this was capital murder. the judge said, no, this is going to the jury that. was today. >> they tried to undermine casey anthony's mother, right, who said i'm the one that did that search. how good of a job did they do? >> well, they did a very good job on that. mom said i'm the one on the home computer. they showed mom was at work. they had the work records, the computer records that show mom is on a computer at the office, not at home. she couldn't be in two places at once. this planted the seed of premeditation into the jury's mind that casey thought about this, neck breaking, chloroform. right at the moment now the jury is getting ready to go off and deliberate, it was a strong finish for the prosecution. >> martin savidge in orlando,

what a story. thanks so much. let's turn now to nancy grace host of hln's "nancy grace." the day was spent by prosecutors trying to prove casey anthony's mom lied on the stand to protect her. did it work? >> well, you're absolutely right, candy. thank you for having me. i'm here outside the orlando courthouse here in orange county. today the state absolutely struck back against the defense, after the defense puts up a 13-day defense. a lot of testimony. they brought in a lot of family testimony. all together, the anthony family took the stand 19 times, candy. what we saw today was the state bringing on ginteva, a national corporation listed on nasdaq. that is who cindy anthony works

for. records to absolutely refute cindy anthony's testimony that she, and i've got the quote here. "if those searches were made, i made them." she was asked directly, specifically, about the day the deadly computer searches were made how to make chloroform, to break necks, ruptured spleen. turning household items into weapons. they gave her precise minutes the searches were made. she says under oath, if those searches were made, i did it. i was home that day. well, today the state brings in the record keeper from ginteva to show cindy was working at her computer. it is password sensitive. in fact, she was updating patients' histories in her computer at those exact times.

which tot mom and her defense attorney jose baez set her own mother up for perjury charges. >> there is not quite so brutal as facts. it seems perhaps going into what will be final arguments -- you tell me. who has the edge going into this? you watched this trial. in the end, the last moments count, don't they? >> they really do. it's funny how it works that way, candy. you go through weeks and weeks of trial. you want to get the last word into the jury because it will be ringing in their ears when they go out to the jury room to deliberate. in this case, the state has the burden. they have the choice of starting opening statements. the defense in the middle and the state at the end. or as they often do, they reserve the opening/closing argument and save it all for the end so they will have the final strong word to the defense.

what we've seen now, cindy anthony was one of the best witnesses for the state. so they don't want to destroy her. they want her for the credibility of their own case. what we have seen, and this is how it would strike me as a juror, tot mom used her mother, set her up for perjury to take the rap. blamed her father of sexual abuse. as george anthony cried on the stand, tot mom smirked. and her brother lee claiming he also sexually molested her and then they never asked lee about that when they finally put him on the stand. they used every anthony family member to tot mom's benefit, and to their detriment. that's how it would strike me as a juror. >> closing arguments are sunday. tell us about juries. help us read this jury. you see so much of people saying well, if they come in quickly, that means it's a decision of

guilty or if they take a long time it means it's going to be not guilty. help us with those sorts of statements we hear all the time on tv and elsewhere. >> let me throw a technical legal phrase at you. all that is complete bs. i tried somewhere over 100 cases. i heard all that, too. i had juries out for a long time and juries out for an hour or so. i remember one night, candy, this is right down the street from cnn center. we kept a jury out till midnight. at about 10 till 12 i walked in from my office and said, hey, let's order them a pizza. right then, we heard the buzzer ring that they had a verdict. now, this is a jury much like that. it's july 4th weekend. they want this to be over. unless you've got a hang up in there which may be juror number four, i don't think it's going

to take them days on end to come back with a verdict. if they come back with murder one, they'll go straight into a penalty phase which is like a mini trial. it will be the same jury that will determine whether she gets life or the death penalty. >> wow. the reason i love talking to you, nancy, you do not mince words ever. thank you so much. host of hln's "nancy grace" i appreciate your time. >> thank you, candy. up next, a deadly day in syria. s s s s ] ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪ [ whistle ] ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪

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it is absolutely clear that the syrian government is running out of time. >> secretary of state hillary clinton speaking today during a visit to lithuania about another day of deadly violence across syria. according to reports, 24 people were killed in protests against the regime of president saleh. cnn is the only network on the ground in syria today. today for the first time we have the only video of anti-government demonstrations. halah, tell me what the stat us is now, what went on today? >> reporter: there were very large demonstrations across the country, that we can say for sure. we can't put a number on that. it's always difficult to put a number on demonstrations. the images of hamma are quite

remarkable. at least tens of thousands of people. activists say hundreds of thousands. what it means for the regime is more than three months since the unrest in this country, demonstrators are still pouring out on to the streets despite the fact there are real risks associated with protesting. hamma is the site of a massacre in 1982 during the regime of the father of the current president assad. security forces have with drawn from the city center. the smaller military presence are encouraging people to come out on to the streets. some are saying this is perhaps a defining moment for the opposition and the government. will they be more tolerant of dissent or will more crackdowns come down the line? >> some people compared the main square to tarir square in cairo.

do they truly believe they can overthrow this regime? >> reporter: that is a very interesting question. i've been in touch with activists online who are too scared to speak to us in person. the young activists talk about tahrir square a lot. they don't want the protests to start at the mosque. many of these protests start at mosques and demonstrators pour out on to the sites and it becomes a bigger movement. they want their other tahrir square and are afraid they might not get it in this country. the operation is more complex. in egypt it was more of a middle class, secular tech-savvy youth movement. here you have a little bit of everything. you have those motivated by the

clerics. you have those who are young who want a transition to democracy. you have those who want the fall of the regime. the intellectuals willing to discuss things within the framework of the authoritarian system. one thing we know for sure, the opposition is not united. perhaps it hasn't reached the tipping point where it's strong enough to make a dent in the regi regime. >> our thanks to hala in damascus. joining us, david gergen. we heard hillary clinton say president assad is running out of time to open up a dialogue. do you see these pushes from the united states making any difference in the performance of the syrian government? >> i'm not sure they are making a difference yet in the performance of the government. clearly, the united states is

hardening its position now against the assad regime. there were calls for reform from the american government for a long time saying basically he had a choice of reform or go. recently secretary clinton is arguing he's not reforming. that leaves only one option. there is also a gathering sense in washington that maybe turkey will step in before this is over. the turks have more influence than we do. if the leader of turkey were to say assad has to go that, would have a big devastating impact on assad. there is a sense in washington that not only is assad not going to reform, but the opposition is toughening up. yes, it's not united, but is persistent as every friday. soon not far away in august comes ramadan. during ramadan in august, every day is a friday. >> i realize these sort of repeated warnings from the u.s.

give heart to the protestors, send signals to our allies in the region. i wonder if there is any down side to repeated warnings that don't have an "or else" to them. >> that is an interesting question. my sense of what's been reported out of the state department, they are reluctant to get specific to say assad must go because they do not think they have the capacity to get him out of there. they don't want the united states looking like a paper tiger with regard to syria. we had enough problems trying to get gadhafi to go. right now i think the united states is in a waiting game, trying to toughen sanctions, harden up the rhetoric, seeing if others will join and recognizing these protestors are not going away. a lot of people got killed today. there are going to be more protestors next friday. >> you heard hala report today, what looked like a turning point

in syria. is this a moment where you as presidential advisor to president obama would say, you need to take advantage of this and how would he do it? >> i think the best thing the president can do is not make a lot of public pronouncements. na runs all the risks we just spoke about. i think quiet diplomacy here to try to get a ring of countries around assad to tighten the noose, to encourage the turks to take a tougher position, to make sure the europeans try to isolate assad and make it clear his days are numbered. what we see in libya and syria is regimes that are on the edge and may well fall here in a matter of weeks. >> david gergen, thank you so much. >> thank you. up next, personal finance expert suzie ormond with advice. hey!

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outsmart the threats. see how at cisco.com cisco. but midnight last night was a key moment for the 2012 race for the white house. it marked the end for a quarterly period of fundraising for candidates including president obama. the campaigns much report by

july 15th how much money they raised. because the republican field is so large the news may not be good for so many gop candidates. jeff, thank you for being with us tonight. you've looked at some of the fundraising numbers. so who gets the lead here? what's the most interesting story? >> without a doubt, the leader in the fundraising pack is mitt romney. he's been spending almost every day, several times a day raising money in alcorners of the country. he's going to come in around $20 million which is a good number but not as big of a number that's they were hoping to solidify themselves as a front-runner. perhaps three or four weeks ago some of his advisors were not dissuading reporters from, you know, a $30 million figure or even more than that. they are coming in at 20. they are saying it's harder to raise money than they had hoped. but by and large they outpace

everyone else in the field pretty substantially. >> do you take that or do they take that as a sign of republicans not yet quite into it or a sign of a weakness on romney's part? >> of course the romney people will say it's because of this economy, because of this obama economy that people aren't writing as big of a checks as they are used to. i'm not sure about that. the economy isn't hurting some of those people that are writing checks. the contributors we talked to, there's still a sense of fatigue from last year but more than that, some fundraisere ers and donors are not sure who they are with. i think that a lot of fundraisers and bundlers are sitting on the sidebar. >> we expected romney, even

though he under performed is there a sidebar that somebody who over performed or under performed? >> michelle bachmann's fundraising number, which we don't know what she will have. she could sure raise money when she was a member of congress running for her house seat last year. raised some $13 million more than any other member of congress. i'll be watching if she can do that in a presidential campaign as well. she raised her money in very small chunks in monthly chunks. $25 a month throughout the whole year. if she can do that we'll have a howard dean phenomenon. in terms of other people, there weren't that many bright sides for people with the exception of ron paul from texas. he's also able to raise a lot of monday in small chunks. >> let me turn to the president. they had a $60 million fundraising goal for this quarter. we still don't know if they reached it. they don't set those goals unless they are sure they will reach them.

are we getting any sense of whether they are getting those small donations that they put so much stake in to show that the president has this sort of very broad support? >> they definitely hope they will get those small donation. they were trying every gimmick. have dinner with the president. have incident engineer with the vice president. raffles. contests. one of the reasons they want these small donation because it's a sign of support but brings down the average contribution size. some of these people are writing checks for, you know, some $38,000 for the joint committee between the president's re-elect and democratic national committee contribution so they are trying to even this out. i'm with you. i think they wouldn't have set the 60 million if they didn't reach it. i'm not sure if they will hit 80 or not. somewhere between 60 and 70. but those small donations are the people that they are, are the most concerned about the enthusiasm among these most fervent supporters who were so

with him last time. if you talk to anybody at the chicago headquarters they will candidly say they have some work to do on that score. >> i want to ask you something about michelle bachmann, simply because cnn wolf blitzer had an interview with bill clinton where he was complimentary about romney and governor huntsman but also said about michelle bachmann. i think she comes off as real. i don't agree with a lot of her things but she's a compelling public figure. you were out there when she announced. how did she come across to you and how did she interact with that crowd? >> think you're right and the former president is right. she does come across as real. she's such an in the moment politician. a lot of other people that are running are former governors. she's a current member of congress. that means she's in the fight. she was on the front line of the mid-term election fight last year, the front lines. tea party movement. she does sound real and not like your average politician. i think she's a great summer

time candidate, republicans are enthused to hear her tough medicine against the democrats. and she's telling very compelling stories out on the road about her personal life. but at the end of the day, i think that we'll have to see if she can do more than that to see if she with win the nomination. >> "new york times" political correspondent, jeff. i'll see you on trail. if governor rick perry runs for the gop presidential nomination he'll have a talking point. the federal reserve bank of dallas has created more jobs since any other state since the end of the recession in 20 oat. 30% of all new american jobs. ed lavandera is in austining tonight. most of these states struggling with unemployment. what makes texas different? >> reporter: depends on who you talk to. even in democratic and

republican circles here in the state they kind of credit the low cost doing business and also this state has just been able to whether the economic storm better than most. it wasn't hard hit by the real estate crisis and that sort of thing, unemployment here has remained below the national average even though it's still higher than most people would like to see it. take that combination into effect and i think that's why you see a lot of people on both side of the political aisle saying that's why texas has been able to whether this storm. >> ed, i want to play you something that will be on our program on sunday. we're doing a lot of talk about the american dream, one of them having a solid job and the other having a solid retirement. take listen to suzy orman. >> you used to hear people say all the time i want to work until i'm 60. maybe i'll retire when i'm 62 and then start to collect social security. now the probability and even the possibility, candy, of them being able to retire at 59 1/2, 62 is nil.

most people are going to have to work, if they have a job, that's a whole other story, but they are is going to have network until they are about 67 or 70 simply to be able to get by. so it's really, really, really sad that that american dream has changed dramatically by about seven years. >> ed, you travel all over texas covering all manner of things, they have a good job record there. but do you sense that even in a place that's creating jobs, the american dream seems a little, more out of reach than it used to? >> reporter: that's a good question. first of all that's the most depressing sound bite i could ever imagine hearing on a friday night after a long work week. but, you know, we've spent the week travel, started out in south texas made our way up to austin and you really get the sense, talking to people endlessly about how things are. yeah, they feel likeey