we are out of time. we'll send it right to "cnn newsroom" with kate baldwin. >> good morning. have a great weekend. >> thank you. happening right now in the "cnn newsroom," raging wildfire. colorado becoming a tinder box this morning. new evacuations and new fears as a deadly blaze rages through the

mountains. and it's not your father's father's day. discount chains, hotels, even jcpenney bucking the traditional father's day ad and going gay. >> jcpenney needs to go back and focus on selling knit socks and t-shirts. >> this morning, the praise and the criticism of the campaign. the rental as relief. industrial lofts, garden apartments, swanky penthouses all making a comeback. why the rising rents are actually good news. plus this. >> for whatever else i am, a husband, a lawyer, a president, i shall always think of myself first and foremost as a hunter. >> abe lincoln, you know him as honest. maybe not a vampire hunter. or was he? the skinny on the 16th president. "cnn newsroom" begins right now.

happy friday morning, everyone. i am kate baldwin in today for carol costello. hope you're having a good start to your day. let's begin with the latest unfortunately haunting testimony from the jerry sandusky trial. the words will hang over the proceedings until monday, when the prosecution is expected to wrap up its case. eight alleged victims have testified against the former penn state football coach. the last witness provided the most violent, brutal, and really troubling descriptions of abuse. the man said during one assault in the basement of sandusky's home he screamed for help. he said he hoped that sandusky's wife would hear him, and come to his rescue. cnn's susan candiotti is outside of the courthouse for us this morning. susan, it was tough to read what this testimony was. how damaging do you think this testimony from these victims has been to sandusky's defense? >> reporter: well, good morning, kate. certainly for four straight days, your jurors have heard

what had to have been painful testimony from alleged victim after victim, each one telling their story on the stand. and of course it was riveting, as you said. but prosecutors were also trying to prove consistency among them. trying to prove that a serial predator, jerry sandusky, is at play here. trying to prove that he groomed each young man, that he showered them with gifts, and that, yes, he gave them love, but that love came at a price. but perhaps as damaging as that testimony from alleged victims was testimony from two witnesses, including graduate assistant mike mcqueary and a janitor. both who said, and they have no stake in this, that they saw, they witnessed, jerry sandusky raping two different victims in this case. so, kate, a lot for these jurors to think about. >> they now really have kind of a three-day weekend to mull it over. so what's in store? what are you hearing is in store for the trial when it resumes

next week? >> we fully expect the prosecution to rest on monday. and also for the defense to begin. they acknowledge it's been a very difficult week for them. and of course we've already had a window into their case through their cross-examination, trying to prove inconsistencies or point them out, trying to imply that the alleged victims in this case are only in it for the money, that some of them have hired lawyers and intend to sue jerry sandusky and penn state. but the big question is, of course, will jerry sandusky himself take the stand? we'll find out possibly next week. >> until then, thank you so much, susan. we'll speak with you soon. now we want to go overseas to the crisis in syria. the opposition reports at least four people killed today. these are government troops pinned down in the capital city

and coming under heavy fire from rebel fighters as you can hear it as i'm speaking. as syria descends into civil war, opposition leaders and senior u.n. officials say the world community needs to step in. and stop the bloodshed. and the u.s. is weighing its own strategy. barbara starr is at the pentagon for us this morning. hey, barbara. what are the options that are being considered now, barbara? >> well, you know, kate, for the record, the pentagon, the administration will tell you, they haven't moved off where they have been for weeks now, which is they are looking at the diplomatic option, sanctions, diplomacy, anything they can do to stop the violence. the question of course is whether any of that is working in the face of this unfolding tragedy. behind the scenes, however, the pentagon has finished its contingency planning if, and it is a big if still, if it was called to do something. if there was a u.n. resolution, if there was an international coalition, if the pentagon was called to step in. what are the kinds of things

they've been planning? what have they been looking at? it ranks from things like a no fly zone, which clearly would be an international operation. would involve many countries flying aircraft over syria. they'd face opposition from syrian air defenses. protecting chemical and biological sites in syria. that is critical. right now, they are said to be under government control. that always could change. the u.s. could have to step in there. but all of these scenarios, even assisting other countries with humanitarian relief and refugee flows, very difficult. the assessment is it would involve a large number of troops, be very expensive, and be a very complex long operation, kate. >> of course. and of course the question remains and has been all along, if and when, when will be this tipping point for the international community to take more forceful steps to step in. obviously, that's a lingering question today. barbara starr at the pentagon. thank you, barbara.

let's turn to presidential politics. next hour, republican mitt romney kicks off a big bus tour. over the next five days, his campaign will roll across six battle ground states. new hampshire, pennsylvania, ohio, iowa, wisconsin, and michigan. in each state, he'll visit several small towns. both romney and president obama duelled yesterday. we talked about it quite a bit, in opposite corners of the state of ohio. which may be the crown jewel of the swing states. the presumptive republican appeared in cincinnati, and hammered the president on his handling of the economy. >> talk is cheap. action speaks loudly. look what's happened across this country. if you think things are going swimmingly, if you think the president's right, when he said that the private sector is doing fine, well, then he's the guy to vote for. >> we'll have much more on this coming up in the next couple of hours. also, aretha franklin among the president's supporters at a

star-studded fundraisers. actresses meryl streep and olivia wild shelled out the $40,000 to attend the swanky dinner hosted by sarah jessica parker in her new york townhouse. the lavish affair a far cry from the president's middle class message in cleveland. >> recovering from the crisis of 2008 has always been the first and most urgent order of business, but it's not enough. our economy won't be truly healthy until we reverse that much longer and profound erosion of middle class jobs and middle class incomes. >> before the president spoke, we got a reminder of just how contentious, if you needed a reminder, the campaigns really are. this romney bus continually circled the cleveland site honking at the crowds assembled to hear president obama. the obama campaign called the move antics more at home in a second grade classroom. obviously than on a campaign

trail. i'm sure this is only getting started, folks. so here is a sign that it's not your father's military anymore. the pentagon says beginning this year, june will be recognized as gay pride month. it comes just mine months after a change in policy to allow gays to serve openly. a pentagon spokesman says that leon panetta wants to recognize the contribution of gay men and women in uniform. navy captain john kirby says, quote, now that we have reveal the don't ask don't tell, panetta feels it's important to recognize the service and professionalism of gay and lesbian troops. probably don't need a reminder or if you do here is your reminder, sunday is father's day. and some advertisers are talking a bold -- taking a bold risk to update the traditional celebration of family. they are profiling gay couples, and some conservative groups are outraged. cnn's carol costello explains. >> reporter: public relations executive cooper smith helps clients shape their public image. but images of families like his

are rarely in public view until now. >> i'm told that this is one of the first if not the very first time that a national retailer or actually a national advertiser has used a same-sex male couple with children in a mainstream ad. >> reporter: he and his partner todd and kids claire and mason are featured in jcpenney's father's day campaign. one of several spring ads featuring gays. >> we do this kind of tracking, tracking of lbgt images in advertising regularly. this time last year we had just a few. and this -- now this year, we see this sort of wealth of inclusive advertising. so we do believe that it's a trend. >> why so many coupons? this is ridiculous. was it always this way? >> reporter: that's not what you might expect after christian conservatives attacked jcpenney for choosing ellen degeneres as their spokesperson. >> jcpenney made a deliberate decision to pay her a lot of

money to be the public face of jcpenney. they knew that she was an active and out lesbian. jcpenney has doubled down on their may catalog. they featured a lesbian couple with their children. >> reporter: it's not the only couple who has doubled down. american apparel is using transgendered models. mor yot hotels celebrating gay pride. and then the gap, urban outfitters, and the discover america travel ad. walgreens have even enlisted betty degeneres. >> jcpenney needs to go back and focus on selling knit socks and t-shirts and take a neutral position in the culture war. >> reporter: but advertising has never been neutral. >> in about 2003, we started to see a little bit of imagery that represented gay families as parents. >> reporter: mike wilke covered the advertising industry for 20 years and began tracking gay images after seeing this ikea

ad. >> advertisers don't see as much of a risk today as they would have years ago. again, because of the increasing comfort level that the general population has shown in poll after poll. >> reporter: american family association is urging moms, though, to make these businesses pay a price. >> if this campaign is going to back fire on anybody, it's going to back fire on jcpenney. the reality is according to ucla less than 2% of the american population identifies themselves as exclusively homosexual. so jcpenney here is catering to 2% of the american population and running the risk of offending the other 98% of the people that they want to shop at their stores. it's just bad business. >> reporter: carol costello, cnn, atlanta. we wanted to do a quick fact check on one claim made right there by ryan fisher of the american family association. he quotes this ucla study as saying only 2% of americans describe themselves as gay. the actual number in that study

is nearly double that, 3 1/2%. our team found some other studies, albeit it more controversial, go as high as 10%. as for jcpenney, retailer says it's included all kinds of diversity in their father's day campaign, including dads in wheelchairs, single dads, and dads from many racial and ethnic backgrounds. so are you shocked when you hear a politician curse like a sailor? but would you pay more attention to a presidential debate if the candidates were allowed to do just that? i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans.

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checking some of our top stories right now, tokyo police are holding a 19-year-old american on suspicion of killing an irish exchange student. nicola furlong was found dead in a hotel room last month. the suspect is not being named, though, because he is a minor under japanese law. police have charged a second american man with groping the dead woman's friend. activists in egypt are calling for protests against military rulers today on the eve of the country's presidential runoff. state media reports that the

runoff will still take place. military leaders plan to announce an assembly today to draft a new constitution. activists accuse the leaders are trying to maintain their hold on power. and in money news, allen stanford, remember that name, will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. stanford received a life sentence of 110 years. he was convicted of bilking thousandses of investors out of $7 billion. he used a ponzi scheme to fund his lavish lifestyle. and in sports, the miami heat have pulled even with oklahoma city in the nba finals. the heat never trailed in last night's game, but the thunder missed a chance to tie with 10 seconds left. the heat won 100-96. the series is tied at one game apiece with game three sunday night in miami. so if politicians swore like

characters out of "pup fiction" would voters fieeel like they we more authentic? but it seems every time a politician is caught cussing, the public lashes out in disapproval. remember how people reacted to these moments? >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states of america, barack obama. [ applause ] >> [ bleep ] >> i don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. we talk to these folks because they potentially had the best answers so i know whose ass to kick. >> so what if obama and romney had a debate on a channel like hbo or showtime where they could drop the rehearsed talking points and drop something else? cuss words, without censorship? political comedian dean proposes

we do just that on an article that had us talking. he is joining us from new york. dean, i love the article. it was very refreshing. definitely got some conversations started on our end. >> thanks. >> so what exactly is your point here? don't you think that elected officials should be held to a higher standard? >> no. not at all. they are us. they are not religious figures. they are not even role models anymore to be honest with you. they are -- they reflect us. we curse when we're angry. we are impassioned, we use language that evokes emotion. yet these guys, it's all like focus groups, sterile language. it becomes boring and dispassionate. my point is, the cursing is not the end all. it just allows them to show some of their human side that we would use if we wanted to get people to be inspired and moved and believe us. >> so i do need to take you to task on one part, because i found this really interesting. you wrote, we have neutered or politicians intensity and passion by limits their choice of words and then we wonder why so many of our elected officials, and especially our

presidential candidates, seem so bland and hard to relate to. when i read that, i was thinking, do you really think that a lack of foul language is why people can't relate to our elected officials these days? >> it can hurt. look, we have this debate on hbo. it would be the highest rated debate ever and the most quoted debate in the history of debates. and let's be honest. what is more sincere and authentic saying i won't raise taxes, or i won't raise ex pletive taxes, i'm not expletive kidding? you're going to be like, that's the guy i'm going to vote for, in my book at least. >> of course we would love the debate on hbo. hbo's parent company time warner is also the parent company of cnn, i should say. but give me an example that is pc enough for television viewers. what would you like to hear different from obama and romney in said theoretical hbo expletive debate? >> i can only say the word

"expletive." so people at home you have to imagine. romney might say vote for me, i will get the expletive economy going, i'm not expletive economy. maybe obama says, i killed obama, expletive, and i will keep you safer, expletive. it's the way we would talk when we are emotional and passionate. and that's lacking. >> true. but one thing, there is so much talk right now, i hear it all the time in washington, how the political discourse has hit an all-time low. wouldn't this just be adding fuel to that fire? >> this is just the beginning, kate. after this, i want to have a steel cage match. really bump it up. obama and romney, steel cage. two men go in, one man out. that's the president. the old days in congress, they would fight. i'm not saying they should curse each other out. my whole point is let's get away from this dispassionate focus group talking. we are all bored with it. it's all so safe. let's see a human side, and that helps the candidates too. it shows us who they really are.

i would love to know more about mitt romney and i'd love to see president obama get angry sometimes. and i think some liberals would love for him to show real passion and fire in the belly. curse if you have to. don't do it in front of children. i've got their back. i'm with them. i'm not expletive kidding. >> i was going to say just that. no one is faulting you for not thinking outside of the box this fine friday. dean, thank you so much. you can read more of his article and other op-eds on cnn.com. it's a fun one this friday. thank you, dean. >> thanks. so how far would you go for your family? sanjay gupta has the incredible story of a woman who's become her sister's surrogate. ♪[music plays]

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what's the best gift you've ever given your brother? perhaps it's the gift of fatherhood. our cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is joining me with this amazing story of a family, kind of embarking on this journey of surrogacy. it's fascinating. >> it really is. and just the whole process of surrogacy, i learned a lot in reporting this story. it can be very intricate. but try and keep up with this

because this is really interesting. take a look at this family specifically. and you're going to understand how sister surrogacy could potentially work. i think we have a full screen here. but there's a brother and a sister. there you see the brother, james, in the striped shirt. his sister over there is tiffany. his wife, natalie, they have a son. but after that delivery, natalie had significant bleeding and had to have a hysterectomy. so her dreams of a large family were shattered. and that's where tiffany, james' sister, stepped in and said i think i can help, i can be the surrogate for my brother and sister-in-law's baby. that's just the start. look at how it came together. >> october 30, 2010, i was brought into the hospital because i was two weeks late. i had to be induced. after he came out, i got to see him. we got to -- he was put on my chest, and i basically started to not feel good. >> the bleeding slowly i think

over 45 minutes started to get worse and worse as time went on. and basically, they had to take your uterus out after trying to save it. >> we chose surrogacy as our first option because i still had my eggs left, and we were able to have our own child. it would be james' and my child. >> after a couple of days in the hospital, my sister felt compelled to tell us that she would be more than happy to carry a baby for us. it just really brought tears to our eyes that my sister was that willing to do this for us. >> we have good news for you today. you are pregnant. >> yay! we're going to have a baby! >> i was almost getting emotional, it's so sweet to see that moment when they find out.

but we were talking about this, you know, in the break. it's an, amazing gift thing, an amazing gift to give, but it also raises a lot of questions. it's not like they can shake hands and say, let's go for it. >> and they both have children of their own. so just in terms of pregnancy and how moms react during that. >> and what they are preferring to do. how did they -- did they enter into some kind of agreement? >> it's very complicated. first of all, they have to go through medical and psychological exams, which you might expect. but then are lawylawyers have t involved and papers signed before the baby is delivered. even though they are brother and sister here, there's still lots of different, you know, legal issues. there's also financial issues just paying for everything, who will pay for what and how does it all come together. so it's very involved. and we're going to follow them along through this whole pregnancy. >> this is going to be a series of reports. that's awesome. i can't wait to follow along

with you. dr. gupta, great to see you in person. >> you too, kate. thanks. you can hear more of this amazing story this weekend on "sanjay gupta m.d." tomorrow and sunday right here on cnn. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance.

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sfampt good morning again. wall street now opening for business with the opening bell

ringing just seconds ago. futures indicate stocks will take a cue from europe and rise. overseas optimism is tied to central banks saying that they'll put more cash -- put up more cash to banks dealing with the european debt crisis. watching that this morning. as well as attorney general eric holder offers to release more records from the fast and furious program to congress. a house panel has threatened to hold him in contempt in a dispute over the records. this has been going on for quite some time now. atf agents lost track of hundreds of weapons in operation fast and furious, a botched sting attempt targeting drug cartel leaders. so china will send its first female astronaut into space tomorrow along with two male crew members. the 10-day mission is highlighted by a docking with an orbiting chinese space lab. if successful, china would become the third nation after the u.s. and russia to complete a manned space docking. so it is a critical weekend in egypt as well as in greece as voters head to the polls in two

widely watched elections. for greece, it's all about the economy as the outcome there could determine that nation's future in the eurozone. in egypt, the supreme court dissolves parliament, throwing that country's political future really into doubt. today is the final day of campaigning for greek politicians hoping to grab control of a country burdened by debt. and filled with scenes like these, as angry citizens continue to express their outrage over steep budget cuts. the goal of this sunday's vote, a permanent government after a may election failed to give either of greece's two main parties a majority. the current contest is between supporters as well as opponents of the bailout, with polls showing a slight lead for those who are against the measure. we'll be watching that very closely. in egypt, this weekend there will be a runoff between two leading candidates. mohammed morsi as well as ahmed

shafik, who was prime minister for former president hosni mubarak. we have a report from cairo now. very chaotic in egypt there, ben. what can we expect this weekend? any resolution really? >> well, it's two days of voting, in this the second round of presidential elections in egypt. now yesterday there was initial outrage at this decision to dissolve the parliament, which of course is dominated by the muslim brotherhood. but so far, the street reaction has been fairly muted. there's been a large demonstration up in the northern port city of alexandria. but here in cairo, because it's so hot, we are not expecting any demonstrations until the evening. now the military has said they are prepared for all eventualities in terms of maintaining law and order during the elections, during the first round of the presidential election, and during parliamentary elections earlier this year the vote went off very

peacefully. there were no major incidents. but given that so much is at stake, the worry is that this time around, it could be different. the muslim brotherhood, despite the fact that they have lost their pillar of power in the egyptian parliament, they have gone ahead and said they will contest these elections over the weekend. but many of their members are very unhappy at this turn of events. and this unhappiness could be resulting in violence at the ballot boxes. kate? >> and, ben, real quick, i heard you describe this yesterday in regard to the dissolving of parliament, that some are saying that it's moving back to the mubarak model, just not with hosni mubarak this time. what do you mean by that? >> well, if you look at what's happened over the last 48 hours, day before yesterday, the justice ministry came out with a decree that the military police

and military intelligence can arrest, detain, and interrogate civilians. this is really a resumption of martial law without actually calling it that. and since parliament has been dissolved, the supreme council of the armed forces, which took over from hosni mubarak in february of last year, now have full legislative and executive power. and the military is also going to hand pick the 100 members of an assembly that's been tasked with writing up a new constitution. so really they control the whole show. now the election will of course result in another president having executive powers. the military has committed itself to handing over power to civilians by the end of the month. but we'll have to wait and see if that actually happens. >> all right, ben wiedeman watching this developing story for us in cairo. thank you so much, ben. they are young and sweet. but one toddler is quitting the

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hold the phones, everybody. there is turmoil on "toddlers and tiaras." if you don't know about it, it is the hilt reality show on tlc. last year it faced controversy over a contestant posing as a prostitute. now a mother is pulling her daughter out of the pageant. show biz correspondent corrine winter is joining me now from los angeles. what is this all about? >> i know. exactly. we'll break it down for you, kate. it really seems like this is a fight for control over a little girl's image here. it was just a few months ago, kate that, 5-year-old isabella barrett was touted as the new it girl on tlc's "toddlers and tiaras." this week, isabella's mother, suzanna, is coming out against the show. suzanna says she's pulling her daughter off the show for good, and she explained why. listen.

>> it's really just we are a victim of what everybody else does on the show, we're a victim of. and what i mean by that is that if, you know, some of the mothers do things that we certainly don't agree with. and we're just put in a pool just like all of the other mothers and we are scrutinized. you expect that if you're a good person and you put good out there you get good back. and with "toddlers and tiaras," it's really in the editing. they are there to sell a show. they weren't there -- they dropped the ball for us when we needed them. >> now of course, kate, mom is still pushing an isabella jewelry line which will sell brag bracelets or accomplishment bracelets. so she's not exactly unhappy with all the attention. she just seems to think that the world of pageants is getting a bad rap from the show. oh, the business of reality tv, kate. >> there is a risk we need to remind everyone when you want to jump on a reality show. the good may come with a little bit of the bad.

thank you very much. i'm a bit speechless after that one. but you will be back and we'll talk to you in the next hour with more show biz headlines, including the courtroom drama between actors kevin costner and steven baldwin. we're not talking about a movie, though. this was real. also, abe lincoln is known for the gettysburg address and the emancipation proclamation. but have you ever thought of him as a vampire hunter? >> 80 miles from here to gettysburg. 80 miles will decide whether this nation belongs to the living or the dead. >> we are taking a look at the new movie "abraham lincoln vampire hunter." is it a respectful depiction of an american hero or laughing in the face of history? [ thunk ] sweet!

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let's get another check of top stories right now. tokyo police are holding a 19-year-old american on suspicion of killing an irish exchange student. nicola furlong was found dead in a hotel last month. the suspect is not being named because he say minor under japanese law. police have charged a second american man with groping the dead woman's friend. and in money news, there's new hope for the depressed housing market. analysts say the rising price of rental properties may spur more renters to buy homes. a new report from harvard university shows rental rates rising nationwide with the largest increase in the northeast. and in sports, the miami heat have pulled even with oklahoma city in the nba finals. the heat never trailed in last night's game, but the thunder missed the chance to tie with 10 seconds left. the heat won 100-96. the series is tied at one game each, with game three sunday night in miami. game three in miami. so -- >> you knew lebron and the boys

would come back after game one. >> i'm sensing that you are a heat fan. i'm kind of switzerland on this one. >> i really can't discriminate, because you have the thunder, weather related, and the heat, also weather related. >> did we plan this? >> i didn't, no. but weather geeks among us are very excited about this final for other reasons besides sports. >> we'll keep watching that. meantime, can you also tell us what's going on? >> there will be some thunder and some heat in the plains today. and that's not helping the firefighting situation out near fort collins, colorado. this is the expanse of those fires. if we have any fresh video, throw that up as well. because it did jump up overnight to 52,000 acres. and you see where fort collins is just to the west there in the foothills or the front range of the rockies and just over the ridge into the roosevelt national forest is where this thing is burning. they had thunderstorms in the area last night. you would think that would be a good thing, but it's not typically because, you know, the amount of raindrops that come out of these things are not very many.

so what you get are gusty and erratic winds, and that fans the flames like you see right there. all right. let's talk about the stats of this thing. we have it at 52,000 acres. 200 new evacuation orders were ordered last night with that fire jumping highway 14. so we've got more evacuations. we've got slightly more containment. but the thing just keeps on growing. 81 square miles burned so far. this is the third largest wildfire in colorado modern history. current conditions, 52 degrees. winds generally calm. but low levels of humidity as you would imagine. and the thunderstorms although dissipating right now are expected to refire around this part of the country later on today. some of these could become severe. not only for today, but most of the thunderstorms that do develop near the fire zone will be dry thunderstorms meaning just lightning and also gusty winds. that's not what we want to see, and we will see that for the next two days. temperatures in the lower 80s.

once we get to sunday, monday, and tuesday, we turn the heat back on and more sustained winds are a problem. so weather not necessarily cooperating but this time of year it's tough to get weather to cooperate. this fire is so large, kate, over 1,000 personnel trying to battle the flames and just having a tough go of it. >> conditions are just not working with them. the winds are coming. the wind. i mean, i keep feeling that it keeps going and going and going. you'd think they could get their hands around it. >> well, we set it up this year with a pretty low snowpack. the last few years we had incredible smonowpack. if you get a decent snowpack, that's a longer runoff season. and we didn't have that this year. so that's making the fire season that much longer. >> rock, thank you. >> you bet. just in time for father's day, advice for young fathers from a man who grew up without a dad in his own home. in about 50 minutes, i'll talk to eton thomas, the nba veteran, who will explain how a positive father figure can keep children on the right path to be a success. all energy development comes with some risk,

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so forget about buffy the vampire slayer. it's time for abraham lincoln, vampire hunter. it's a new movie featuring the former president and an army of vampires. >> i presume you know what i can do with this. >> i know what you can do against one vampire. but against 20? >> this is all based on the book by the same name from the author who wrote "pride and prejudice and zombies." they worked hard to stay respectful of history and never wanted to make abe look like an idiot. they even consulted with the abraham presidential library is and museum. the video is distracting.

joining me to talk about this is david lenchet, the deputy director of that museum. >> good morning. >> clearly it this movie takes creative liberties with lincoln's life, but from your perspective, how close does the movie, how close does it stick to the idea of honest abe? >> well, there are a couple of facts that are accurate in the movie. there was a guy named abraham lincoln and he was handy with an ax. but it is a fantasy. the producers and the author admit it's a fantasy. so our main interest in this is that we hope people will be entertained enough by the movie to want to learn about the real lincoln and the real civil war and visit places like the presidential library to find out the real story. we're hoping it generates interest in lincoln. >> you said that previously that

this movie gives you a rare opportunity to maybe reach ina w audience. what's the reaction been? >> we have certainly reached that audience. when they debuted the book, we hosted a book signing and had a record crowd at the library and museum. there's a lot of people that came to that that are interested in vampires who otherwise wouldn't think of setting foot in a presidential library. so we're reaching a new audience and turning them into history buffs as well as vampire buffs. that's our mission to teach people about history and any way we can open the door to that educational lesson, we're certainly willing to try to do that. >> i'm sure people hearing that abraham lincoln, vampire hunter, would not think that the first group that would be a fan of the film would be history buffs. what do you think of this film? is it a fun tame on a well-known historical figure, or is there some level reaching a level of

mocking a great president? >> well the author and producers were very careful. they didn't want to make lincoln look like an idiot. they make him look like a super hero. that's not too far from the truth. he was a wrestler, he was an inventer, he was a literary genius. he helped keep the nation together during one of the worst cry cease in our history. so it's not that far off the mark. killing vampires, that's fantasy, but we encourage people if they enjoy the movie to learn about the real lincoln and we think they will be entertained by lincoln's real life as well. >> we will see. i'm definitely entertained and intrigued. the movie hits theaters june 22nd. thank you so much for coming in this morning. >> my pleasure. >> my pleasure. we'll take a quick break.

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good morning. i'm kate baldwin. we want to begin this hour with breaking news. the obama administration is expected to announce changes to the immigration policy. still working on the details here. but homeland security janet napolitano will unveil these changes during a conference call that will be happening in just about a half an hour. 30 minutes from now, we'll be monitoring that call and bring you the latest developments as soon as we have them. it will be interesting to hear that as we enter a contentious election season. more on that to come. more than a year after an historic uprising that forced hosni mubarak out of office, they will choose his successor. they will choose between mohammed mor si and ahme

ahmed shafik. they are throw inging a lot of turmoil into that country. and on join outrage, greece will hold a repeat election as they struggle to fight consensus on the financial future. it will be felt far beyond greece as it could determine the country's future in the euro zone. there's a lot going on here, christine. walk us through this. what will happen -- i hate doing the ifs and whens, but you kind of have to. what would happen if greece would leave the year? euro? >> the leftest groups who want to get rid of the bailout agreements. if greece basically loses its emergency funding and goes broke and has to leave the euro, it would be catastrophic for greece. look at what it would mean for greece.

there would be a run on the bank. most estimates say there would be 30% inflation. greece wouldn't be able to pay its debts. that's how it would spill over into europe where people are really concerned about a potential credit freeze in euro, quite frankly. if you have a credit freeze in europe, which is the biggest trading partner with the u.s., you'd have a market reaction that could be quite severe. you could have stocks plunging. you could have oil prices plunging. you'd have a great deal of uncertainty. and then now there's this lexicon. it's a relatively small economy, but it holds so much power in what's going to happen in the global recovery. you're hearing words like drokmagedd drokmageddon. they are calling it europe's lehman moment. having all these problems. could greece be like the lehman moment for the rest of europe?

and then the greece exit from the euro zone. all three of these are scary, scary kinds of scenarios that serious people are seriously considering now as they watch what happens with greece. >> pretty amazing. this is one of those stories that people here in the u.s. will say that's greece. that's happening over there. but you just lay out the ripple down effect, the domino effect is significant for us here in the united states. and what really happens in greece is really important for all of us to pay attention to. >> absolutely. a lot of the banks are saying that they are insulated from the greece crisis, but the lehman story told us the system is so complicated that these are these unintended consequences. when you have somebody leaving the euro zone, something that was really good for somebody and now prosperity is on the wane

has been dangerous for these countries. the things that we don't know is something people are concerned about. that's something you have seen in the stock market. they still have an eye to what's going on in greece and europe in gener general. >> absolutely. all right christine romans, thank you so much. just minutes from now, republican mitt romney kicks off his big bus tour. over the the next five days, his campaign will roll across six battleground states. iowa, wisconsin, michigan, ohio, pennsylvania, and new hampshire. he will visit several small towns. we are along for the ride. we have a report from the phone in new hampshire. jim, what's the strategy with this bus tour? a bit of a new tact for the romney campaign. >> reporter: yeah. they gave a briefing before they got this bus tour started.

we're rolling up to new hampshire as we speak. we actually crossed into new hampshire and will be arrive in at the site of mitt romney's first event here in just a few moments. and he's picked the spot where he launched his presidential bid a year ago. as you mentioned, he will be heading through several different battleground states or at least what they call battleground states. they held a brief iing earlier this morning. and a romney advisor acknowledged that all of these states that the gop contender is visiting was won by president obama in 2008. but republicans would like to pick one of these states and put it up on their board in november. this is important for them. these are the areas that mitt romney will arguably be doing stronger come this fall. this is a way for the romney campaign to shore up their

support in these areas. he's also going to be getting some support when he's out on the campaign trail on this bus tour. he's going to have tim pawlenty by his side. and new hampshire senator kelli ayott with him at a couple events in new hampshire. those names will get a lot of people talking in washington. they are both, according to a lot of republicans out there, being highly considered by the romney campaign for a vice presidential pick. there's a little bit of veepstakes underlying story in all this as well. >> a couple things going on. jim a kos ta, thank you so much. i want to get back to the breaking news story. the announcement coming from the obama administration regarding a change to immigration policy. let's get straight to white house correspondent brianna keilar. what more are you learning? >> reporter: this is a really

big deal, kate. this according to a press release we just received from the department of homeland security from janet napolitano. announcing that there will be a process so that it's really younger illegal immigrants who will either not be deported under circumstances or will be considered for relief from proceedings. they would have to meet the following criteria. they would have had to come to the u.s. before they turned 16. they would have to have been in the u.s. continuously for at least five years before the date of this announcement. then would currently would have to be in school or graduated from high school or obtained their ged or been honor bli discharged veterans of the coast guard or armed forces of the u.s. they would not be able to have any criminal record. they would not have been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor, et set ta and not be above the age of

30. president obama is going to be in the rose garden at 1:15 p.m. eastern to talk about this. and this is really a big deal, kate. certainly this is something that's looked through the prism of politics. this is an election year. one of the president's very important constituencies are his panic voters, a growing voter bloc in the u.s. there's a lot of frustration coming from this voter bloc. the administration has done some things. there was a hardship waiver they put in place in january that a lot of people didn't take notice of. but certainly if you're in the u.s. illegally or perhaps you were related to someone and concerned about someone's immigration status, you paid attention to it. there's a lot of frustration from this constituency and this is something that congress has been trying to do for a long time. the president, the administration now taking action on this. this is something that will go a long way with this constituency, kate. >> yeah, as you noted, this is

not only as real policy implications, but talk about the timing here. absolute political message and motivations here as well. this sounds to me, and i can't recall all of the details of the dream act that was long debated with congress, but this sounds to me as if it's the administration implementing the dream act without congress. >> reporter: that's definitely it, kate. the dream act is something we have seen a lot of -- a lot of attention for the past years in congress for. and one of the ways you could see attention brought to that would be young people in the u.s. who sort of fit the bill who are essentially the poster children for the dream act. young people who might be the valedictorian of their high school are going to a very good college and yet are facing deportation. so that's something that certainly democrats have tried to bring a lot of awareness to.

the question is how does the president do this? how is he able to do that? because if this is something that has been stuck up in congress for years, it sort of begs the question of exactly how he'll execute this. we're obviously waiting to learn those details. >> brianna keilar, thank you so much. great detail from the white house. stick with me. i'm going to go to candy crolli. this is a big deal. this is a big deal in any time of an administration to be making such a significant announcement as brianna was laying out. these are real political implications as well. >> sure. we already know that somewhere around 60% of the hispanic voters state of preference for president obama. but this community has been upset on a number of levels

first because the president promised immigration reform in his first year in office. that didn't happen. second because he had a tough deportation effect that had gone into effect. and he had, in fact, deported his -- the department has deported a lot of paperless folks. so there was a huge push from the latino community saying, wait a second, you're enforcing this as presidents before you have not. it's helped him with conservatives. and then came, i guess, the next policy we had was this sort of discretion. if it comes across your desk and there's no felonies involved or crimes involved, that can be one you put away. only those with criminal records would be deported. but this is not how it's working.

so this is the next attempt to say basically these are innocent people. they were brought here as children when they had had no choi choice. they have now grown up here, know nothing except the united states. this goes a bit further than the dream act in that it seems to give these folks, i think you have to be 30 and under, give them working papers so they will be legal to go and get a job. so i think it goes a step further than the dream act. i'd have to go and look it up, but i think the dream act required some college or military service. what the president is talking about now is high school degree or ged. so there's some differences with the dream act, but nonetheless, politically this is a huge outreach to a community, not that shows signs they are going to abandon him, but that might not be as enthusiastic as they were say four years ago when they went for president obama. so i think this will be taken

very well within one of the bases of the democratic party. >> that's what i was going to ask. it's not that they were going to abandon him, but it's that voter enthusiasm, similar with the african-american voters. they are not abandoning the president, but would there be that enthusiasm to show up and vote in the numbers that they did back in 2008? this clearly, as you probably would agree, is a way to shore up that support. >> let's remember that while there's been a huge growth in the latino community, it is not a community that actually shows up in great numbers. their participation is less than other demographic groups. so there's been a huge drive to register eligible voters, eligible latinos. the next step is get them to the polls. the more you can get that enthusiasm going, he did this and this, the more likely they are to get in the buss or vans

and vote at the voting booth. >> let's continue this conversation. i want to get in a quick break. breaking news. a change to immigration policy coming from the white house. that conference call will be held in about 15 minutes. we'll have live coverage to bring you the develops as they come. we'll talk more about this on the other side of the break. rogn cuts through water. forms a broad spectrum barrier for full strength sun protection. wet skin. neutrogena®. i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw!

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minutes ago the white house announced major reforms to immigration policy. the u.s. will stop deporting young people who came to the u.s. illegally as young children. that is if they meet certain requirements. it's an election year. policy change sure to show passions in the debate. president obama will discuss the changes at the white house rose garden at 1:15 eastern. we're told we will have much more on that to come. moving on. after some of the most disturbing testimony. the jerry sandusky trial has reached the half way point. the prosecution is expected to wrap up their case on monday. court isn't in session today.

so far, eight alleged victims have testified against the former penn state football coach. the last witness provided the most violent and brutal, troubling descriptions of abuse. during one assault in the basement of sandusky's home, he screamed for help. he hoped sandusky's wife would hear him and come to his rescue. joining me is pillar prince. i want to get your take on this. this truly troubling, sometimes graphic testimony coming from these victims. one after another, especially with victim number nine. how can the defense overcome what the jury has heard? >> it's going to be extremely difficult when you have a case like this. they are going to want to show inconsisten inconsistencie inconsistencies. that's a classic defense. for example, some of the alleged victims say they were around the home at a similar time, yet they testify they were in the basement alone. the defense's argument is that the stories are so similar, but

the facts are too similar they were perhaps coached. and we have also heard hints they are going to say, because the victims are pursuing civil claims, there might be mote oif of financial gain. the defense needs to be careful not to attack the victims. it would really bite them if they do. >> it seems like, i don't know if this is the appropriate term, but the defense has to look for an escape hatch. the testimony from these victims, when our correspondents have been telling us what they have been saying, it's very emotional stuff for any juror to hear. >> it's horrific. you hear about crying in the courtroom, it's not going well for them so far. but they have a defense. it's the state's burden. what they need to do is focus on sandusky. we're hearing from the victims now. so it creates a compassionate story, but this is a man who was almost revered and treated not like an assistant coach but much like a head coach himself. so he was loved for a long time.

>> the prosecution didn't technically rest. so do you think -- this is always the question, do you think sandusky must take the stand? is there an advantage to that? i ask because is it also maybe too risky for him to take the stand when you look at the tv appearance that he did with bob costas and how well that went. >> absolutely he should not take the stand. he may have been liked, he may be a charitable man, but he was not a convincing witness. he came off as strange, vague, the way he answered the questions. he didn't come right out. he was not emphatic about no. >> what do you think about the timing of all of this? the prosecution they kind of wrapped this week. it's getting everybody in, which also leaves the jury -- i always think about the jury.

it's a jury of your peers. these people are sitting there listening to this. they have three days to think of all this testimony before they hear from the defense. is that part of a strategy? >> absolutely. great strategy. it worked out perfectly because the judge said we're going to take the day and have a long weekend. now the jurors have three days to sit and remember. these jurors were not sequestered, which i think is amazing. >> i thought that was surprising as well. >> small town, rural pennsylvania, to think you can escape. they are under these you can't twitter or facebook or watch the news, but the reality is, they are going home and it's all around them. you can't escape a 24-hour media. >> thank you so much for your help today. have a great weekend. >> you too. we're continuing to follow, as i said, the breaking news this hour. the white house is detailing major reforms. we're live in washington with details after this. a party?

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continuing to follow the breaking news out of washington that the obama administration will be making an announcement in minutes from now regarding a change to immigration policy. i want to get to brianna keilar at the white house, but first, i want to just yesterday president obama made comments about immigration while he was in cleveland. let's listen first to this. >> if we truly want to make this country a destination for talent and ingenuity, we won't deport hard-working individuals who have grown up here. we'll let them earn the chance to become american citizens so they can grow our economy and start new businesses right here instead of someplace else. >> let's go straight to brianna keilar at the white house. when we listen to that sound, it's like the president was giving us a tease yesterday. >> reporter: yes and that was no mistake, kate. looking back on that and realize

ing he said that yesterday, he said that knowing full well that this was coming down today. but this is very sweeping. this change that has been announced by the department of homeland security. we're expecting to hear more about this in a conference call happening in about five minutes. president obama will be in the rose garden at 1:15 p.m. eastern time to talk about this as well. but just to recap exactly what this means. this specifically targets young people brought to the u.s. illegally who may face deportation. and if they came to the u.s. as a child, 16 years or younger, that's what this new plan says and they it don't have a criminal record or pose a safety risk, if it they are in school or have their ged or military service and they are not over 30, they would be provided sort of a buffer for being deported. they would be able to defer that for two years, a time period of

which would be renewable, so it could go on beyond that. and certainly, this is something that's looked at through a political prism. the hispanic vote very important to president obama in many battleground states. they have growing hispanic populations. >> thank you so much. brianna keilar at the white house. so how could a change in immigration policy and reform impact voters and this election? we'll ask our political buzz panel, next. but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have

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not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. we're continuing to follow the breaking news this hour. right now, the secretary of the department of homeland security janet napolitano is going to be beginning any second now a conference call to make this announcement regarding a change to immigration policy from the obama administration. we're just learning this in the last few minutes. i want to go to candy crowley in

washington. we talk about the policy. that announcement has been made. the secretary will be discussing it more on this conference call. but right away, you have to look at the political implications. every announcement is looked at through the political lens in an election season. what do you think are the immediate implications here? >> well, i think it immediately pleases an important constituency. this is the time in the election cycle when what you want to do is make sure your base is with you. the latino vote has been a democratic vote. the latino community has been upset with president obama for not doing some of thelings the said he would do and for having a tough deportation policy in effect. late last year, there was a poll out that showed that 60% of latinos disapproved of the president's deportation policy. that shows you he was in a bit of a bind here.

i think you've seen recently a number of young latinos on tv and in magazines saying, hey, i was brought here before i was 16. i've only known this country. and i haven't been deported. so people have been talking about this. so it is through the political prism probably a smart thing for the president to do. because this will energize the latino base in colorado, new mexico, florida, places that are really key for the president to win. so this is an important constituency that can be important in important states. >> also an important announcement to say the least. candy crowley, thank you. i want to now take this to our political buzz panel. jason johnson is a professor of political science in ohio. we're also joined by strategist ron bonji.

and also raphael romo, he's going to be joining our panel today. so let's start with raphael. what do you think is the impact of this announcement? we're talking politics here. as you were telling me as you walked up, the latino community has been calling for this for years. >> when you think about the whole universe of immigration. this is probably the least controversial category you can think of. it's had bipartisan support as early as 2005. john mccain from arizona was behind it. dick durbin was behind it. at one time, they cosponsored a bill to give status to these students. so it's been talked about for many years. we're talking about kids who came to this country, it was not their decision. they were brought in by their parents. what we have heard in all these protests through the years is that it was not my decision.

i have been a good student. i have served in the military. i haven't committed any crimes. they are asking for an opportunity to stay in this country. now again, election year, a hot potato issue is going to create a lot of controversy. >> a lot of talk. ron, what's your take on this? obviously, this is something that's been -- it's always an election year topic. rarely is there any major announcement or movement on immigration policy. it's one of those big things that really there isn't a lot of big thinkers or ideas to push anything through congress. what do you think about this announcement? >> clearly, the election is going to be about the economy, but this move is designed clearly to sharpen the hispanic base. you have 50,000 registered hispanic-americans who are registered to vote each month. they turn 18 and are ready to vote. this is a move to try a make a

run and get the hispanics behind him. it is a devisive move. it's going to cause a huge eruption in congress. there's going to be a strong reaction. i do think it will be interesting to see how independents view this beyond the hispanic-americans. how do independents view this in battleground states? most were supportive of arizona's tough immigration law. to see this move is shoring up the hispanic vote, but how will independents react is a big question. >> jason, what's your take on this? it's a shrewd move, but could be divisive. it's a risk, but maybe worth taking. what do you think? >> well, it clearly is. you can't ever go wrong, you know, petting puppies and doing nice things for kids. this is a policy basically for kids. the image of some young person brought over here by their illegal immigrant parents, there

is no wrong answer on this. barack obama did a brilliant political move. independents who really in many respects, and i have to disagree with ron, they disagree with some of the harsher elements of some of the deportation policy. the idea of breaking up families, nobody likes that i a idea. so the idea that a 16 or 17-year-old who has been been here and working hard and wants to go to college and happens to be in the greatest country on the planet, it's going to resinate in the fall. >> we're going to hear from mitt romney later today. clearly, there is a political calculation here. you do not want to be on the other side of breaking up families. at the same time, you want to make sure there's a legitimate process for becoming a united states citizen. this is not necessarily the fault of kids, who are here. so we'll just have to see the reaction from their campaign. >> stick with me.

we are also joined by gabbi pachenko who was featured op this week's cover of "time" magazine. she's the founder of the florida-based group students working for equal rights. she's joining me by phone. gabbi, what's your reaction to today's announcement? >> kate, i wish you could see my smile and how happy i am. as a person that has been living in had this country for two decades, i have three degrees, i'm just waiting and dying to be able to go into the classroom and work with my children. which is my dream. >> you probably were hearing the discussion we were having just before we came to you. thinking about it, obviously, there's a lot of talk about policy. also about politics.

do you see this -- some see this as the president trying to shore up support among latino voters. is that a smart move? what's your take on the politics of it all? >> well, i want to echo what some people have been saying. it's a really brilliant political move from the president to have finally done this. i want to say it wasn't really calculated. this is something we have been putting pressure on the president. we walked from miami to washington, d.c. in 2010 asking the president for the same thing, to stop separating us from our families. what we're seeing is that in the the communities, millions of folks being deported from our country, that has been hurting the president. the president needed to do something to stop the waste of talented individuals being detained and put in jails and being deported from this country. that was just not the right move to do for him. and him doing this and finally

today on the 30th anniversary of the historic supreme court decision, i think "time" magazine coming out on the time to do it. >> we talk politics and policy, but this is about people when it comes down to it. what does this mean -- and we're waiting for more details as there's a conference call going on now. but what does this mean for you? what does it mean for you and your family? >> well, you know, today is, i think, the happiest day of my life. to finally know that my dream to contribute back to this country, my country, i'm an american, regardless of the paper that tells me that i'm not. for me, it's a realization of that dream. it's the realization of being able to feel whole and being recognized for all the times that i was in school standing up

and pledging allegiance to the united states of america. >> thank you so much for jumping on the phone with us. i'm sure we'll be checking back with in you. let's continue our breaking news coverage of this announcement coming from the obama administration. we're awaiting more details about the announcement. let's get in a quick break. ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays]

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going to bring back in our political panel. the conference call with reporters is going on right now. this is with the secretary of the department of homeland security janet napolitano. making the announcement regarding this change in immigration policy. a very big announcement out of washington. we'll also be hearing from the president a little later today. he'll be speaking in the rose garden at 1:15 eastern. cnn will be covering that live. let's bring back in our political panel. rafael, i want to talk about the policy implications of what this change would mean. what would it mean for the country? >> i was looking at testimony

given by secretary of education arne duncan. one of the points he was making is according to statistics from the congressional budget office, the dream act, which is essentially what it is, would generate $1.4 billion in revenue than it would cost the country. this is the secretary of education talking about this issue, testifying before congress a year ago. and one of the points he was also making is that 13 states already provide in-state tuition to undocumented students, which means they are not only allowed to go to college, but they are treated as if they had been born in those states. so that's a powerful point they are making. on the other hand, i have to tell you that many people in the hispanic community have been ailuated by the obama administration because of the deportation policy that he has carried out over this first term

for president obama. an average of 400,000 people deported every year. as you can image, most of them have been hispanics. i was talking to leaders in the hispanic community. they were telling me, we don't know which way to go in november because on the one hand, romney as a candidate has been unfriendly to our community. on the other hand, president obama has been deporting hundreds of thousands of people every year. so i'm sure this announcement today is probably going to change the equation in november. >> i think that's probably what the obama administration is looking for as well. stick with me. let's bring in jason as well as ron. candy crowley even talked about it. a majority of latinos disapproved of the obama administration's policy on immigration. i think this changes the calculous. jason, what's your take, though. voters are smart. they understand that we're in an

election season. do you think this could -- is there a risk that this could backfire on the obama administration making this calculated timing of this announcement coming right now in the middle of the general election fight? >> no. this is just like gay marriage. it's the kind of thing that people have been waiting for obama to do for four years now. he's rolling them all out around the same time, sort of like a boxer who is building up towards the end of the fight where he wants to make a knockout blow in novemb november. it basically leaves romney in a trap position. what's he going to say? he can't say anything at this point. so barack obama, a lot of the hispanic voters, they are not happy with everything he's done, but they are certainly not going to vote for mitt romney. when the president does symbolic moves like this, it makes people more excited about voting for

him in the fall. >> it almost seems this is more than a symbolic move. this is a major thing. one more time. i'm sorry, guys. senator menendez is on the phone with me right now. senator from new jersey. senator, you have been a long time advocate, of course, of the dream act and of the change to immigration policy like this. did you get any hint this was coming? >> well, we have been working for a long time with the white house trying to get them to this position. and establishing a legal precedence we think they have to do it. so i think today is a great day for all the young people who call this country their home, who have been unable to fulfill their dreams. we're certainly grateful to the president for allowing these young men and women who want to become doctors and teachers and police officers and served in the armed forces, this is an announcement that will change their lives forever. >> also changing the political

equation as well. you said that you've been working with the white house on many issues, but specifically in establishing the legal precedent to allow them to do it. you're a smart man and you've been in congress a lo long time. this is probably going to become quite a bit of a fight on capitol hill. i'm sure you guys have accounted for that. >> i think there is legal precedent here. for example, before cubans had the cuban adjustment act, a previous president years ago gave status to all of those coming from cuba without legislative action. and there's a whole host of those actions at different times by different presidents, democrat and republican, to give some form of a status in this country. so it is the congress that's

failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform. i don't think students or valedictorians should have to suffer while the congress, you know, fails to act. >> and senator, what do you think the impact of this announcement will be or hope the impact of this announcement will be on the election? you know, many will say that still the economy is what people care about most when they are voting, but obviously, the latino vote is a very important constituency for both parties. >> well, i think that certainly for urban communities, latino community being a big part of that, the reality is they have overwhelmingly said they support the president. but i think this is an affirmation of the difference between respective views. governor romney has consistently

said he would not do the dream act. he talks about self-deportation. and then the rhetoric of the republican party, as it relates to the immigrant community in this country, is alarming to many of those. so this is another solid response by the administration. and a continuing process. this has been taking some time to get this to point. but it's an important one in which the administration is showing that they have a different view of both how you respond to the needs of the immigrant community, how do you balance that with the rule of law, how do you ensure that, in fact, only people who, you know, are law-abiding, have no criminal records, but are great students or could serve in the united states. these kids only pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states. the only national anthem they know is "the star spanning led banner." this is an opportunity for us to

use their human intellect and help the country. >> senator menendez, thank you for jumping on the phone so quickly. senator from new jersey, i'm anxiously awaiting reaction from your republican colleagues in congress. we'll wait to see what they have to say. let's get in another break and continue to follow this breaking news and this developing story regarding a change in immigration policy coming from the obama administration. starts relieving pain faster and kills more types of infectious bacteria. neosporin® plus pain relief. for a two dollar coupon, visit neosporin.com.

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some of the changes is that they are making that the immigration policy is changing. they are loosening it up. maybe that's the safest way to

say it. it seems similar. this is similar to the dream act. our viewers may recall this. this has been debated for years. democrats very supportive of the dream act and supportive as we have seen on our coverage coming from the president. republicans, there's a real divide on how they think immigration policy should be put into place. republicans are absolutely opposed to this. we're waiting to hear how they are reacting. where's the argument on this? where's their issue? >> it's a very poor issue. on the other side, you have republicans and conservatives who say their main point is illegal is illegal. it doesn't matter if you came to this country on your own decision or whether you were brought to this country by your parents. the other aspect that they worry

about is the message this would send. some of the criticism that i have heard on the republican side is that, okay, if we give what is essentially they call it amnesty to these students, are we sending a message to the rest of the world that it is okay to come to the united states illegally with your children and once here, your children at least are going to have legal status in this country. >> and opening the flood gates. >> those arguments have been the main points of criticism on the republican and the conservative side. >> and of course, republicans say that people -- their view is they would like to tighten border security measures before they work towards changing immigration law. i mean, also there's a fight going on not only on the federal level, but between the federal government and the states. right now, the supreme court is considering a very big part of the arizona immigration law, a

very controversial measure as well. >> that's the reason you have states like arizona and also georgia and others implementing their own immigration laws. now you have this fight between the states and between the federal government that is going all the way up to the supreme court because for many, many years, the federal government didn't act on it. the states felt like they had to endorse their borders on their own. now everybody agrees, at least on this, that immigration in this country is failed and something must be done immediately. >> absolutely. we'll continue to follow this. thank you so much for being with me. just a quick recap. the obama administration is making a significant announcement this hour that they are going to stop deporting and begin granting permits, if it you will, to young people brought into the u.s. illegally. there's some of the details there. we'll have much more of our continuing coverage on this. thank you for joining me.

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