not a supreme court ruling on health care, but then, a heck of a lot easier to follow the action. that's it for this edition of reliable sources. if you miss a program, you can go to itunes and download an audio podcast. we'll be back for another media look. >> out of the courts, on to the campaign trail. today. >> we want to get rid of obama care, we have to get rid of president obama. >> 128 days from the election, a conversation with jack lue. >> then, the good, the bad, and the confusing economic signals. former hewlett-packard ceo and jennifer granholm are here. all things political with susan paige and dan lothian. and weather gone wild. we'll talk to two governors

whose states have been hit hard. >> and finally, colorado on fire with their governor. i'm candy crowley. and this is state of the union. twice a week for the white house, a major victory in the supreme court followed by history of a different sort on the house floor. the president used the trappings of the white house in this case the formality of the east room to suggest in picture and in word that the supreme court ruling settled the controversy over his health care law. >> today's decision was a victory for people all over this country. >> as the president tried to close the book on the health care debate, his republican rival was writing the next chapter. >> obama care was bad policy yesterday. it's bad policy today. >> well, trying to ring the politics out of health care, the administration was equally determined to underscore the politics of capitol hill's investigation into a botched

federal gun running sting. >> the resolution is agreed to. >> the republican-led house cited eric holder in contempt of congress for refusing to share some documents. >> today's vote made for good political theater in the minds of some, but it is at base a crass effort and a grave disservice to the american people. >> joining me now is white house chief of staff jack lue. thank you so much for joining us this morning. let's talk about health care a bit. i wanted to show you an opinion poll taking by usa today/gallup after the decision. and this is the opinion of the supreme court's ruling that the individual mandate, in fact, most of the entire law is constitutional. 46% of americans agree with that and 46% of americans disagree with that. why does health care law remain so divisive at this point? >> i think one of the great

things about this country is we have a supreme court. when it reals, we have a final judgment. there's not a question now whether or not the law is constitutional. it is constitutional. health care has been a divisive debate for many years. it's a personal issue to many people. they understand health care is a big part of their lives and they hear a political debate, it makes it more, not less divisive. we have to implement the law and focus on the things people are seeing day to day that make a difference. if you have a student who graduates from college and they don't have a job, they're now able to stay on their family health plan. if you're on midcare and uused to spend $600 on prescription drugs, you're now covered. if you had a child with a pre-existing condition, you're covered. >> tlohose are the good parts, d those are wildly popular with most americans. i think it's what the supreme court has called the tax part and other things. i wanted to ask you about the

whole idea of the penalties if you want to call them that, the supreme court calls them taxes, whatever. if you do not have health insurance by 2014, the fine for not doing that, this goes through the irs, is $285 or 1% of your income, 2015, it goes up to almost $1,000 or 2% of your income, and 2016, it goes up as well. if part of your health care law is that insurers cannot deny you insurance on the basis of pre-existing kissconditions, wh would someone pay for health care insurance if when they get sick, they can still go buy it? why wouldn't they just pay these fines, which are pretty low, rather than pay health care, which is like $7,000, $8,000 a year? >> let's just be clear. most americans want health insurance. >> i agree with you. >> most have health insurance. everyone who has health insurance is going to have their

insurance, keep it, and those who can't afford it, will get tax subsidies and get insurance they don't have. let me answer your question. the group of people you're talking about, we have an understanding of the size of people. in massachusetts where there was a plan like this, 1% of the people fell into that group. that 1%, let's be clear who we're talking about, people who can afford insurance and decide not to have it, and when they get sick and go to the hospital and go to the doctor, they're sharing their costs with everyone else. this penalty is a way of saying you have to pay your own way, pay your fair share. >> you embrace the word tax as the supreme court did to rule this constitutional? >> the law is clear, it's called a penlalty. second of all, what the supreme court ruled is this law was constitutional. time to move on. >> under the tax act? >> actually, they didn't call it a tax. they said it was using a power under the constitution that

permits it. it was not labeled. this is a penalty, it's something that only 1% of people who can afford insurance who choose not to get it will pay. everyone who chooses to buy insurance will not pay it. what they're going to get is security, lower premiums and better health care. that's a good thing for the american people. >> let me move you on taa different subject. that's immediately after a health care victory or within hours, the house voted to sight your attorney general eric holder in contempt of congress for not turning over some of the documents he's turned over a great many documents, but some of the documents that congress was asking for in connection with fast and furious, a gun running scheme that went awry. this is what the president -- now, you all claimed executive privilege for eric holder and said these documents that he's not handing over are covered by executive prifrbolog, meaning they don't have to hand it over. we went back and this is from an

interview obama did in 2007 with larry king. he was talking about george bush invoking executive privilege when it came to one of his lawyers and another staff member in an investigation that congress was doing. here's what the president then a senator had to say. >> there's been a tendency on the part of the administration to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there's something a little shaky that taking place. >> why did you all invoke executive privilege this time? when there are some who feel there's something a little shaky taking place? >> let's go back to the fact. the facts are this was a bad plan, fast and furious. something that started in the bush administration, the attorney general did not know about it, came out of the region, and when the attorney general learned about t what he did was stop it, he said it was wrong and we're not going to do it. there was a period of time when he didn't know about it because

it was happening in a regional office that a statement was made to congress that had to be corrected. he corrected it. every document related to the decisions up to that point has been shared. this is not a question of finding facts. congress at the beginning of the investigation said they were going to use their investigatatory powers in a political way. >> is there something so important about this papers that you had to invoke executive privilege from a president who had previously said what is the point here? >> this administration has been the most transparent ever. taxpayers can go online and find out more about the way their government works than ever before. every president since george washington has taken executive privilege seriously. every republican president has. the opinions that are relied on -- >> why did you do it, though? >> because this is not about the facts. the facts are out there. this is about a committee that is on a path towards turning a review of policy into a

political witch hunt. that's not the kind -- they're looking for documents that have nothing to do with what they're asking questions about. there has to be the ability for a president to get confidential advice. there has to be an ability for congress to use their speech clause. this congress should pay more attention because they're hurting the very institution. >> were there things in the documents that involved a consultation with the president? is that why you invoked executive privilege? >> i'm not going to speak to the documents. there was an unprecedented amount of cooperation up until the correction they were given about the policy itself and the testimony. now they're looking for internal documents they know are not appropriate. >> let me turn you to the subject of the economy where we think the election will turn one way or another. what do you expect the

unemployment rate will be at november? >> i don't ipredict unemploymen from month to month. when we took office, we were losing jobs. we're now gaining jobs. we have added millions and millions of jobs and the economy is moving in the right direction. not fast enough. we say every day the economy needs to gain strength and we need to create more jobs. what we need to do is shift our attention from the kind of divisive political fights and do the things we can do to create jobs. the president has given congress many ideas ranging from putting policemen and firemen and teachers back to work to helping people who are underwater refinance their homes, congress should act on these. there would be a million more jobs today. that's what we ought to do. >> if you could predict there would be a million more jobs if the president passed that, you can't take a stab at what november brings for unemployment? >> you look at the arc, we have been moving in the right

direction slowly. we've been gaining jobs and unemployment is going down. we took the right decisions three and a half years ago and we stayed on the path doing the things we needed to do along the way. there's more we could have done and we told congress and we're going to keep working. the american people are working from now until november, congress needs to work from now until november. thank you. appreciate your time this morning. >> good to be with you. >> jobless claims down, house sales up, and consumer spending flatlines. next. stay in the moment sanya

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it's an article of faith in 2012 that the election will turn on how the economy is doing. more correctly, on how voters think the economy is doing. it's not that easy to figure out or economists say the plans are mixed. first time unemployment claim

were down this week, but the week before, they matched the highest of the year. record high mortgage rates pugged it to the best in two years but consumer sentiment fell to the lowest in june. it's a fresh sign that americans are cutting back even as wall street shook off the blues. u.s. stocks ended the first half of 2012 in fine fashion with the dow up 5.3, nasdaq surged by 12.5, and the s & p up 8 perc%.t are we up or are we down? car ca carli and jennifer are next. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive. because the last thing you want is to spend too much on your mortgage.

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the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged. i'm joined by hewlett-packard ceo carly fiorina and jennifer granholm, the host of current tv's the war room. great to have both of you here. >> thank you. >> let's talk about the recovery. it is really hard to read these tea leaves. to me, the most important tea leave is that consumer confidence. i think it leads things that we don't often know about in the figures. when it's down, what do you make of that? >> it's a mixed bag. the manufacturing numbers are encouraging. the jobless rates continue to decline. i mean, this whole 4.3 million jobs that the president has created, i think, has an impact, but it's not where everyone

wants it to be. i do think that's the campaign itself is going to be now after the health care decision. focus on the economy. i do think the health care decision puts that issue off to the side, and now we get to see what the plans are for spurring economic growth. and you know, honestly, i think if you look at the two candidates, you give the edge to the president. >> republicans aren't going to put aside the health care, and i want to get to that, but let me ask you and take advantage of your background in business. an estimated $2 trillion sitting around in corporations. they're doing pretty darn well, and they're not hiring. first, i think as i have said on other occasions, the second half of this year is going to be tougher than the first half. consumer confidence is a leading indicator. i think what we're seeing here is we're not just as an economy trying to recover from the financial crisis and the subsequent recession. we now have structural problems in our economy. one of those is small

businesses. we have more failing and fewer starting than at any time in the last 40 years. that's important because small businesses create jobs. big businesses like small businesses are strugging with massive amounts of uncertainty, a tax code that is neither competitive and is overly complex, a regulatory structure that is almost impossible to understand, and yes, obama care is yet another -- >> uncertainty. >> blanket of uncertainty on top of companies -- >> this is part of the republican mantra. big business doesn't know where tax reform is going. they don't know how much new regulation is going to cost them, what kind of infrastructure they'll have to put in, so they're sitting on all this money and not hiring so it becomes this self perpetuating thing where the job rate stays where it is because they're afraid to spend the money they clearly have. i want to play for you because i want to get into the health

care. this came from congressman gringry after upholding health care. >> i got a smile on my face because i think this is going to elect mitt romney the 45th president of the united states. >> this being the constitutionality of obama care. >> yeah, good luck to the republicans. especially mitt romney in campaigning about taking away now people's health care benefits, taking away the ability for people with pre-existing conditions to have health care. taking away people's kids being on health care. now that they have it, it's been ratified by three branches of government, taking that away is not a good campaign strategy, and quickly, to get on the small business thing, it's baloney to say that small businesses are worried about obama care when small businesses are exempt from obama care. those with 50 people or less, that's 96% of small businesses, so that talking point is just baloney. >> sadly, it's not a talking

point. that's why the national federation of independent businesses joined many attorney generals in filing suit against the law. it's why you saw on friday virtually every business common tear saying this is small for ball business. >> if it doesn't apply to them -- >> believe it or not, most small businesses want to become big businesses. they want to grow, succeed, hire. >> there's an argument that said if you have 51 employees and you get along with 49, wouldn't you do that to stay out of the requirements? >> of course, but the obama care f you will, provides tax credits for small businesses who choose to opt in to make it more affordable. >> what i find so amazing, first of all, there's no question obama care is going to be a huge part of the election. >> republicans would like it to be. >> they will make it, and that's because as the polling you showed indicates, there's a huge amount of division in the country about whether this is a good idea. what's interesting is there's

never been any disagreement about the goal. the goal is to provide access to quality affordable health care for every american. however, at least half of the american people deeply fear that a 2400 page bill written by a bunch of folks on capitol hill who are not experts and who are now trying to manage from washington, d.c., not from the states, 18% of our economy is going to be a big problem. >> it's something. they did something. >> they did something. >> and there are consequences to all sorts of things. you can go back -- in fact, they already have on some of these things, long-term care in particular, isn't there a point that jennifer has pointed out that we're going to see after the fourth of july recess, the republican-led house of representatives get on the floor and undo obama care? it won't go anywhere because the senate won't follow them, but undo obama care vote by vote by vote. so you're going to have as i

understand it, republicans on record saying let's get rid of a requirement that insurance companies must provide insurance to people with preconditions? isn't that bother you politically saying how am i going to explain this? >> well, it also bothers me thereat we have a president who refuses to stand up and defend on its merits the largest entitlement in years. >> he won't campaign because he knows it's a losing argument. i'm a cancer survivor, all right, so i have great personal empathy for people with pre-existing conditions and can't get insurance. we have to fix that, but there are less expensive ways to fix it than the bill has done. as a cancer survivor i will also say this, it terrifies me the survival rate for breast cancer which is what i had, are so much

worse in the uk and canada. why? because they don't focus on prevention and aggressive detection the way we do. >> there's prevention in the new bill, right? >> the new protocols that have come down as a result of obama care would have been very dill tearious to my personal health, mammograms every year. the point is we can find as many and more bad things in this health bill as we can cherry pick one or two good things. i'm here -- >> the baby in the bathwater approach to this? do you have to have a holistic bill? >> you don't have to have a 2400-page bill come out of washington, d.c. >> first, this is run by the states. this is mitt romney's plan. mitt romney is the father of the individual mandate because of personal -- how can you say it's ridiculous? he's the one who passed it in massachusetts. he when he passed it chanted

individual mandate is our responsibility. why not go after health care chiefs for those who can afford health care and "foist that on the rest of us. if it's to me anything, the policies that work on the states can be taken to scale on the federal level and that's exactly what is happening, and to run against that is to run against the presidential candidate and your party. >> what is going to happen is republicans from mitt romney on down are going to continue to make health care a front and center issue. it's not separate from the economy. it is part of the economy argument. secondly, i find it amazing when the governor and others in her party just dismiss the difference between a state having a plan and the federal government having a plan. >> there's all the difference in the world. all the difference in the world. >> the supreme court just dismissed that argument. >> actually, they didn't. actually, they didn't.

>> what the supreme court said among other things is that the federal government could not compel the states to expand their -- extend their medicaid program. >> so the states can opt out. >> they understood the difference between states rights and federal government rights. >> their supreme court justice, the supreme court justice that mitt romney said is his model for apointing supreme court justices said this is constitutional and states have the ability to opt ing and this is the same thing that was passed in massachusetts. >> i hope you both would come back. >> i would love to. >> we need to talk about the bain issue. >> exactly. >> thank you so much. i really appreciate it. >> you bet. >> next up, fast and furious politics. >> the only recourse left for the house is to continue seeking the truth and to hold attorney general in contempt of congress. >> i believe that the political motivations behind this

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joining me is usa today washington bureau chief susan paige and dan lothian. let me pick up where my guests just left off which is the fight over health care. it seems to me the white house is quite intent on saying, oh, case settled. done, and the republicans are quite happy to say, gosh, the only way we can fix this is to have a new president. i want to pup ut up a poll. a usa today/gallup. what should congress do now that

the supreme court has ruled? repeal the entire law, 31%. expant it law, 25%, repeal part of the law, 21%, take no action, 13%. between repeal part and repeal all, you have a majority. and knwe know that the house wi have votes to repeal it. who wins this fight? >> well, i think president obama is a big winner clearly from the supreme court decision because imagine what we would be talking about if the signature achievement had been thrown out. >> wasted the whole first year. >> still, 52% want to repeal all or part of the law, only 38% want to keep it or expand it, that means they're continuing to not want to talk about this. tricky for romney, too, as you could tell from governor granholm's comments about comparing the massachusetts law to the federal law. the mitt romney -- mitt romney has been extremely disciplined about talking only about the economy. he doesn't want to talk ability gay marriage. he doesn't want to talk about health care.

he wants to talk about jobs, deficit, debt. those are the issues he things he can win orb. >> neither one of them want to talk about health care. >> that's right, and i do think that the tea party section of the republican party, they want to talk about health care reform. and they want to push not supporting romney necessarily as sort of the greatest republican candidate, but certainly someone who they believe could, you know, get rid of health care reform. so that part of the partsy pushing for it, but you're correct. this is not something i think is going to be a huge part of the romney campaign. they are focusing on the economy. and yes, you will hear talk about health care reform, but the focus will be about jobs. >> exactly, what mitt romney is trying to do is turn this into an economic issue. it will drive up the debt. small businesses aren't hiring because of it, in fact, they'll get rid of people to get under the 50 employee cap. another tactic republicans use

coming out of the supreme court decision, this is minority leader mitch mcconnell on the floor right after the vote. >> the president of the united states himself promised up and down that this bill was not a tax. this is one of the democrats' top selling points because they knew it would never have passed if they said it was a tax. well, the supreme court has spoken. this law is a tax. the bill was sold to the american people on a deception. >> are is there any resonance to this. i love nancy pelosi's reaction, which is call it an aardvark if it's constitutional. it's essentially what she said. is there resonance here? >> i think we'll have to wait and see. the president said, there was an interview with abc news where he

said it was not a tax, but immediately after the court ruled republicans jumped all over this. they're going to continue pushing this. my mail box, my e-mail mail box was filled from e-mails from different folks in thep rn party saying tax, tax, tax, the president promised it wasn't a tax and now he's going to raise the taxes on the middle class. i think they're hoping it will resonate with the voters. >> it fits into the steery line the republicps want to push which is he's going to raise taxes. >> it's not what people hate about the health care law. they hate it's such big government and it's a mandate, the federal government telling them what they have to do. it seems to me it's not the big issue and the reason people don't like the health care law. in the end, people care about, do i have a job? can my kids move out of my house and get on health care? that's driving what americans are worried about. >> i want to move to fast and furious and the vote to hold

eric holder, attorney general, first cabinet member in hurstry held, cited for contempt of congress. there were 17 democrats that voted to hold him in contempt. a number of them, democrats, walked out. i want to play for our audience and you all, this is from pennsylvania congressman jason altmyer and what he had to say. >> i couldn't get around the fact, i'm a member of the house, the house has asked for documents related to the investigation. i understand that attorney general holder doesn't want to give them. he has reasons why he doesn't feel he's obligated to provide them, but the fact is he didn't provide them, and when there's a vote on contempt, that's something you have to answer. we asked for the documents, they were not provided. >> does the president pay any price for this? do you think? it seems to me an issue that hasn't quite taken hold in terms of politics. >> i think it's unclear if the president pays a please. clearly, republicans are trying to show that the administration is hiding something.

if this is something as simple as internal deliberations, that it doesn't have anything to do with the investigation of fast and furious, why not release the documents inthe question you'll hear them asking over the next few weeks is what are they hi hidi hiding? why didn't they just release these documents? the white house is saying we're, it's based solely on primsple. >> i know you had a big interview with ann romney recently. what would surprise the public about ann romney? >> i ask her, this is going to be in usa today, and if she was going to write a book? and she wants to write a book about her struggle with multiple sclerosis and fighting breast cancer. that's what she wants to talk about. >> a lot of talk that ann romney is one of mitt romney's best

weapons? >> i think she comes across as waurnl. she's able to warm him up, make him look a little more approachable. but you know, she'll also -- she also has this very expensive habit which has been a part of her recuperation from ms, but she'll be at the olympics watching her horse perform. that's probably a double edged sword for the romneys. >> i think she does humanize him. i covered romney in local news and i have known them for quite some time and she gives him that side that the public doesn't see. dan lothian, susan paige, thank you. >> up next, our sound of sunday. highlights from the other sunday morning talk shows and then fareed zakaria gps at the top of the hour. in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf.

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time for today's sound of sunday. house speaker john boehner said he's shocked by the supreme court decision on health care law. he does appear, however, undeterred. >> this has to be ripped out by its roots. this is government taking over the entire health insurance industry. the american people do nod want to know down this path. they do not want the government telling them what kind of

insurance policy they have to buy and how much they're going to pay for it, if you don't like it, we're going to tax you. it has to be ripped oun and we need to start over. >> democrats have largely reacted to the high court ruling by declaring the health care debate over, but house democratic leader nancy pelosi said if republicans want to bait, she's in. >> they'll bring it up, when they bring it up, they'll ask for repeal, repeal of the things that help children, young adults, help seniors, help men or women who play have prostate cancer, breast cancer, any precondition, and everybody will have lower rates, better quality care, and better access, so that's what they want to repeal, we're happy to have that debate. >> a vote on repealing obama care is expected in the republican-led house in over a week. a largely symbolic move. >> still, elections change things, and senate minority

leader mitch mcconnell argued if republicans take charge next year, the law would be on the agenda. >> taxes are clearly what we call reconcilable, the kind of measure that can be pursued with 51 votes in the senate, and if i'm the leader of the majority next year, i commit to the apaern people that the repeal of obama care will be job one. by the way, i think we will also be invisting we have a vote on obama care again before the election. but in terms of achieving it, it would take another senate with a different majority leader and a different senate. >> democratic senator chuck schumer warns if republicans push a vote, they'll pay on election day. >> i think if republicans make, as their number one issue, the repeal of health care, they're certainly going to lose the election in the house, the senate, and the pres dnlsy. bottom line is most americans

are not for repeal. >> a poll taken just this week shows the majority of americans favor repeal of all or part of health care law. that's today's sound of sunday. the governors of two states effected by the storms, maryland and west virginia, are next. ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

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♪ ♪ [ transforming sounds ] [ male announcer ] transformers. the ride. ride it at universal studios hollywood. joining nme on the phone is martin o'mallo'malley. 650,000 people without storms. some power has been restored. by the end of this day, what are you expecting having i'm assumed talk to the power company? >> i expect to continue

progress. there's a lot of untangling of downed limbs and wires and all of that sort of tedious work that has to happen. overnight, we have been able to cut by a third the number of people without power, and we hope to be able to cut that, i would hope, by another third in the next 24 hours. we have crews on their way now, candy, from florida and from texas, but unlike a polite hurricane that gives you three days of warning, this storm gave us all the impact of a hurricane without any of the warning of a hurricane, so we could not predeploy as the utilities often do, the mutual aid crews from other states in advance of the wallop. >> governor, as you know, maryland and particularly the electric company that serves so many marylanders has been under fire over the past several years for being, according to one study in late 2010, one of the worst in terms of other comparatives to big cities in power outages and in restoring

that power. how do you think they're doing so far? >> well, it's very early in this event, but i do believe that they are certainly recognize the problem that they had, the public service commission took them to task, fined them, and they are on a path to bring their preventative maintenancma tree trimming and things like that, up to par so they're better prepared when the storms come through. so far, what's happening right now is we have been able to restore about a third of the people and the next few days are going to be trying and it will challenge all of the utility companies in maryland to meet the expectations we have of them, not to prevent storms from happening but to get us back up with electrical power in a reasonable amount of time. these are a hot few days ahead of us and we're supporting the utilities to get us back up as

quickly as they can. >> are you confident in your state there are enough resources for those folks who not just have power outages but homes destroyed and folks who really need to get someplace where it's going to be cooler? >> i do believe that we have a good network here in maryland that, good county executives and montgomery, talking with stefaern rollins blake from baltimore, all of the jurisdictions have been opening cooling centers. many are preparing for trance tashz today as the prolonged heat continues. that's the population we're worried about, vulnerable people, particularly the elderly who might not have someone to reach out to to take the precautions to cool down. so this will challenge us. this will challenge us, and it will challenge the neighbors of maryland to act like marylanders.

>> governor martin o'malley, governor of maryland, we wish you luck in the next couple days. we would love to have the electricity back. thanks. >> we'll do our best. thank you. >> i want to bring in the governor of west virginia now, earl ray tomblin on the floor from charleston. thank you so much, governor. let me ask you the same question i asked the governor of maryland. that is by the time night falls in west virginia tonight, what do you expect the situation to be? >> we have got -- have had the largest power outages in the history of the state with 53 of our 55 counties without power. that serves about 688,000 people. the power is slowly coming back on online, we still have over half a million people without power. yesterday was a tough day with no power with the nearly 100 degree temperature we had. we can continue to tell people to stay calm. it's going to take some time. we're working with the power

companies. the department of highways to get the debris cut from the highways. major roads are open. it's the secondary roads where we're concentrating now. once again, we ask people as much as possible, stay off the roads. conserve fuel, we do have cooling stations set up in all of our counties and first priority is the health and safety of our people and especially those in nursing homes and hospitals, they're pretty much secure. the things we're looking athright now is getting power or generators to our murp water systems, make sure people still have water so those are what we're doing, a lot of the churches today, rather than having regular services are going out to different homes to make sure that their friends, neighbors, especially the elderly, have what they need. if they're okay. so that's what we're looking at now. we just, once again, ask people

to be patient. it's going to take a few days. if you have emergencies, go ahead and call 911 and we'll get help to you, but we have been working very hard since friday evening around the clock to make sure that we get everyone back to normal as quickly as possible. >> what's your biggest worry moving forward? >> obviously, our water, our public water systems are down, that's a big concern. with the amount of heat that people are having to endure and you know, when they get into the second and third day, if they do not get to a cooling center or to some shelter some place, it really concerns me about the health of -- especially our senior citizens. >> governor earl ray tomblin, west virginia, you have your work cut out for you. thanks for taking the time this morning. >> thank you. >> colorado governor john hickenlooper on fighting his stase's wildfires. >> the devastation is enormous,

and our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families who cent have been affected. lly filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. visit your local walmart vision center today to discover how authentic transitions brand lenses enhance your vision. walmart. save money. live better.

focus lolo, focust sanya let's do this i am from baltimore south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love this is for everyone back home it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. near colorado springs, firefighters continue to battle

a massive wildfire that is spall for two deaths and the destruction of nearly 350 homes. president obama visited the region friday, declared colorado a disaster area, and freed up federal money to fight the largest fires. joining us now, the governor of colorado, john hickenlooper. thank you, governor. busy, busy time for you, i know. there is this feeling, particularly as you get this one colorado springs fire under control, that the worst is over. is that how you're feeling? >> well, we're certainly feeling that way. and now we're beginning to look at how do we rebuild and begin the recovery, but we also know that mother nature can be fickle out there. so we're chekeeping ourselves v alert. >> i know you have probably flown over a lot of these fires. i imagine you have visited some of the scenes of the destruction, if you can get close to it. personally, can you give us through your eyes what you saw? >> well, it's been difficult.

devastating. the waldo fire down in colorado springs when we flew up there tuesday night and it was like your worst nightmare of a movie set trying to show what the apocalypse or armageddon would look like. we helicopters in. this is as the fire was going on, the fire storm going on, and i thought it was trees burning. as we got closer, the was homes. basically almost 350 homes burned in a couple hours. it was that fast. >> seven wildfires in all, i think. are they all of them under control? or any of them out? give us the current situation. >> well, almost all of them are under control. we have one out in grand junction in western colorado that's not completely under control, but the largest one that was almost 88,000 acres, the high park fire just west of ft. collins, it is now

completely contained. that was the first really big one that was so difficult because again, many homes, these lovely secluded mountain homes where people were trying to -- they had a sense of safety that this fire has completely destroyed. >> i was going to ask you if you had, looking back now that we hope this is under control, are there any could have, should have, would haves here as you look back at the destruxz, or is the lesson here you cant outfight mother nature if she's ready to unleash the worst of the fury? >> well, you know, there are lots of could have should haves, and we're ginn to continue to examine them, better building codes, no defensive states. make sure the trees are at least 75 feet away from the homes. all that stuff we want to do, but you also recognize that we have seen the courage of the firefighters and what an incredible job they have done, and people, i mean, the victims

of this fire, the risk canyon volunteer fire department, when the high park fire burst into a big fire about a month ago, they were down defending their one-room school house, stove prairie school house, and the volunteer firefighters protecting the house would see up the canyon their homes were going to burn and they kept saving the community treasure. those kinds of acts of heroism in a way become so inspiring, it holds the community together and we say, mother nature has knockknock ed us around, we have been here before. we're going to come back. this is going to make us bigger as a community. they were talking about how colorado springs, they're going to come back. >> laulots and lots of stories of colorado, individual stores and the big story. governor john hickenlooper, thank you for joining us. if you would like to help