to spread cheer among schoolkids. tickle me elmo became torture me elmo until he managed to dance out of danger. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. that's it for us. thanks very much for watching. thank you. "erin burnett outfront" starts "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "outfron "outfront" republicans are rolling out ther thep thetheir att. thp they say they hathey repeal and then replace. but does it add up. a texas grad student mauled at the jane goodall institute. what went wrong? and one man trying to rewrite the constitution. let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm john avlon in for erin burnett tonight. "outfront" tonight, republicans

in a corner over health care. the supreme court battle may be over. but has the political and policy war just begun? the house of representatives has already scheduled a vote to repeal health care reform next week. and senate republicans have pledged to repeal it if they take back the senate this fall. the conservative base is firmly aligned against the health care law. mitt romney is campaigning on a pledge to repeal and replace. just look at the sign on his podium. over the weekend, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell was dismissive when he was asked, what happens after repeal? what would his party do about the 30 million uninsured americans? >> that is not the issue. the question is how can you go step by step to improve the american health care system? it's already the finest health care system in the world. >> you don't think that 30 million -- >> what our friends -- >> you don't think that's an issue? >> let me tell you what we're not going to do. we're not going to turn the american health care system into

a western european system. >> we get it. we know what you're not going to do. we know what republicans are against. but what are you for? after repeal, what are we going to try to replace it with? when pressed for specifics, even mitt romney's own campaign has struggled to stay on message. while republicans when out of their way to attack it as a tax, here's mitt romney's campaign manager this morning. >> the governor believe what is we put in place in massachusetts was a penalty and he disagrees with the court's ruling that the mandate was a tax. >> i'm not sure what that means, but here to help us make sense of it is republican congresswoman nan hayworth of new york. you represent a hotly contested swing district. i want to read new poll numbers to you from cnn. when asked who would better handle health care, 51% of registered voters say obama, and

44% say romney. but more importantly, 65% of non-white voters would like to keep all the provisions in place. do these numbers concern you as a representative from a swing district? >> they don't, john, in the sense that i espouse the goals of the 2012 law. they're the right goals. every american should have good, affordable health care. and affordable health care insurance. that's not in question. but that law is a bad law. bluntly it imposes $2 trillion worth of bureaucracy that takes resources directly away from care. so there are smarter and better ways to achieve those goals. that's what i'm for. >> let's talk about that. you're a doctor. you have unique insight through your medical practice into the way medicine really works. >> right. >> and mitt romney and his advisers have said they do support certain popular provisions, keeping kids on

their parents' insurance till the age of 26, making it not policy for companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. if those elements of the law are kept, how do republicans propose to pay for it? >> we want to make sure that everybody gets care. but we want to put you, the citizen, patients and doctors, at the center of care and not the government. so how can we do that? we're going to be listening to the american people. we are going to espouse commonsense, step-by-step solutions. but here's what i would do. i'm speaking for myself here. what i would do is make health savings accounts the way in which americans pay for their health care and their insurance, tax-protected, health savings accounts. i would make insurance broadly available across state lines so that people have the competition that drives down the cost of insurance. i would make sure that we have real liability reform, because in the united states that's a unique problem. so when we try to model a care system like the affordable care

act, after, say, the national health service in britain, they do not have the defense of medicine problems that we do. that's one major obstacle to its success. the final point is that we do need to provide for those who would not be able to get insurance. if they didn't have help. high-risk pools making sure that everybody gets the coverage they need. >> i appreciate you being specific. i'm going to read one specific plan to you and get your take on it. offered by a prominent republican. he said, we established incentives for those who are uninsured to buy insurance. using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, encourages free riders to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others. this doesn't cost the government a single dollar. that's governor romney back in 2009 in "usa today." what changed? sounds like president obama took some of his advice? >> the state of massachusetts liked that plan and, to my knowledge, they still like that plan. but i would not want to see it

imposed federally. i don't think that it's a good plan for the entire united states. governor romney seems -- and i would not presume to speak for him -- but he seems to have come to that conclusion as well. massachusetts has had a lot of challenges with rising costs. they have a very expensive system that is rapidly heading toward real access problems. but i'll tell you where health savings accounts have worked really well, in the state of indiana. republican governor, democrats and republicans in the legislature, not partisan, they have health savings accounts for their medicaid recipients and they have them for state employees as well, healthy indiana, great program. it's worked brilliantly. >> i want to bring the race up to date for a second. you were in a hotly contested district in 2010 and there's a robo call playing in your district, i want to play it and get your reaction. >> congresswoman nan hayworth has gone washington after taking nearly $130,000 from insurance

companies, congresswoman hayworth wants to put insurance companies back in charge of our health care and let them deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions like asthma, heart disease and cancer, cut back your health benefits, throw some kids off their parents' insurance and roll back prescription coverage for seniors. >> now, that sounds like fear-mongering to me. tell me where they're wrong. >> that is partisanship. it's fear-mongering. it's wrong. i support every goal aft 2010 law. i don't want to see everybody kicked off health insurance. i want to see everybody get the care they need. and let's not ignore the fact that everybody who voted for and everybody who supports the 2010 law is supporting taking a half trillion dollars of funding out of medicare. medicare is going broke. we need to protect our seniors. and the best way to protect our seniors right now is to make sure that that funding goes back into medicare. great goals, wrong law, too

costly. we can't afford it. we can't afford to have the federal government try to run your health care from washington. we can do it much better if we allow our patients and doctors and consumers to make smart choices. >> thank you, congresswoman. a secret phone call from air force one. who's the president calling and what's he saying? and a tale of two cities, while chicago is dealing with one of the deadliest summers ever, another city is on its way to a record low in murders. does it add up? and have scientists found god? we'll explain. are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee.

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. our second story "outfront" tonight, it's the phone call the obama campaign didn't want you to hear. lloyd grove of the daily beast said the president called campaign donors from air force on friday. bottom line, the president sounds a little worried. he said, i'm asking you to exceed what you did in 2008. the truth is that early money is always more valuable than late money. so just where does all this game of moneyball stand right now? let's take a look. there are reports out that mitt romney raised close to a record $100 million in june. that has yet to be confirmed. but obama has an advantage among

small individual donors, people giving as little as $2 and up to $250 to date. so just how worried does obama really need to be? "outfront" tonight, ben smith, editor in chief of buzz feed. margaret hoover, cnn contributor and lisa borders, president of grady health foundation and a fellow co-founder of no labels. ben, let's take a look at the total fund-raising numbers first. obama's raised more than $255 million while romney's raised more than $121 million. this doesn't include june. if the romney campaign numbers are right, should obama be worried? >> i think he should. it's basically almost mitt romney's profession. when he was running bain capital, that was about getting rich people to give him money to invest. that's basically what he is doing this summer. you may see him on tv once in a while.

he's raising a lot of money. and he has friends and outside groups who are going to give more. >> but this is something that president obama has not been bad at in the path either. that's what president obama did in breakthrough ways. he didn't even take matching funds from the government when he ran in 2008. so i think the real issue is, is there actually an enthusiasm gap as represented by the lack of donations into president obama's campaign? >> but one question about unprecedented is the use of air force one. is that really a sign that the obama camp is worried? are you hearing anxiety among democratic donors that what they thought would be an easy race sure isn't, especially in the moneyball game? >> no race is an easy race. i can tell you that early money is the best money. i think the president is being very strategic. and making sure that he has all his resources in the arsenal and ready to launch them whenever he

needs to, whether it's to buy air time, whether it's to put collateral together or otherwise get his message out to all of the voters. remember, the money is an enabler. it doesn't necessarily say who's going to win the race, as we evidenced here in georgia when one of our former governors had more money 4 to 1 to the candidate that actually won. >> that's true. money does not always equal strength. but, margaret, one of the ironic results of the supreme court decision was a huge moneyball on behalf of mitt romney. $4.6 million raised in the first 24 hours. >> from 43,000 donors at least. it looks like about 30,000 of them were new donors. the republican cause, the republican party. this is also unprecedented. what you've seen in the past is this issue, galvanizes the conservative base. but it's independent and new people who have not donated to the republican campaign before. that is trouble for president obama. >> back to air force one, if it

wasn't something they were trying to hide, how come they didn't tell people about it? >> i don't think they want to talk about the enormous amount of time obama's spending trying to raise money. i think if there's a little sense of panic in that call -- it's not -- they want donors to panic. they're trying to get democrats scared about this election. that was the core of his message. >> lisa, are you starting to hear a little bit of anxiousness about the problems that could arise when the affordable care act begins to be implemented, that somehow democrats will own whatever infish sis occur in the health care system and that would be a political issue? >> the health care system is broken and the money that's being spent that will be spent in the future, we have costs coming from the emergency room every day. what i'm hearing on the ground from republicans and democrats alike is they are very excited about the affordable care act. we understand that folks are concerned about how to finance it. but at the end of the day, democrats and republicans alike

are in this boat together. the people in america are really interested about having their care delivered, not being seen when they have a crisis, a stroke or a heart attack, when it could have been prevented and being spent one-tenth of the price that it would normally cost. >> before we go, i want to have a little bit of fun with politics. you at buzz feed put up a gallery of political figures' high school yearbook photos. it is a must-see. let's see which of these photos we can connect the dots to. one of these folks is rob portman, rick santorum, david axelrod and janet napolitano. there should be some game show music here. >> top left, rob portman. bottom right, napolitano. bottom left, axelrod. top right, santorum. >> santorum was the easy one.

>> there were no answers given out ahead of time. just to tease the gallery, it also features rand paul dissecting a cat. >> that was not acceptable for "erin burnett outfront." >> paul ryan looking fully out of the breakfast club and eric cantor's yearbook photo with the slogan "i want what i want when i want it". >> i don't know if jrn john boe knows about that. >> it was a great gallery. ahead. a texas grad student fighting for his life after being dragged and mauled by chimpanzees. his roommate and longtime friends comes "outfront." and could the bailout cause president obama a key battleground state? we'll find out. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires.

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a new cnn poll out today giving mitt romney an eight-point lead over president obama in key battleground states. perhaps no swing state is more important than ohio. not since kennedy has a candidate won the white house without first winning ohio. on the surface, the numbers there tell a good story for president obama, 7.3% unemployment, well below the national average. it's also a state where you'll hear the obama campaign tout the auto bailout. but does it add up to a win for him in the buckeye state? not necessarily. poppy harlow is "outfront" tonight in warren, ohio. >> reporter: what i'm learning in these factory towns is that there are many different stories, many different perspectives.

how's the economy doing here in warren, ohio? >> i'm trying to think of different ways to say horrible. >> the economy's doing fine here in god's country. >> reporter: you voted for president obama in 2008. what about this year? >> not a chance. >> reporter: warren, ohio, and lordstown, ohio, two towns 15 minutes apart with two very different stories. does this town really revolve around the gm plant? >> yes. >> reporter: no question? >> no question. >> reporter: we met sherry gaunt in lordstown, longtime gm worker and vice president of the local united auto workers. >> look where gm is at now. if the government didn't step up, might not have a job. >> reporter: here at gm's lordstown, ohio, plant, they are cranking out the chevy cruz. the plant has gone from one shift of 2,200 workers in 2009 to three shifts, with 4,500 workers today. but like most auto workers these days, sherry's felt the pain of

layoffs. how much does the auto bailout play into politics for you today in this election? >> it means everything. >> reporter: everything? >> everything. because the future -- we're doing real well right now. >> reporter: her co-workers told us a similar story. who are you supporting for president? >> obama. >> reporter: why? >> because he's for the working class. and he helped with the bailout. >> it speaks a lot about his character, his concern for us. >> reporter: but in warren, ohio, some former auto workers are angry. >> i was one of the innovators. >> reporter: bruce gump worked at auto parts supplier delphi for 34 years, a senior engineer. non-union. what did the auto bailout mean to you? >> the auto bailout, the effect on me and my family is a loss of all of my health care insurance, a loss of all of my life insurance, a reduction of my pension by 30% for the rest of my life. >> reporter: he and his fellow delphi retirees think they've

been thrown under the bus by the obama administration. >> he certainly didn't protect my pension. i was just road kls dill, to be kicked to the curb, out of the way. >> reporter: bruce gump says he and thousands of salaried delphi retirees saw their pensions slashed and lost their health and life insurance benefits so delphi could emerge from bankruptcies in 2009. general motors needed its biggest supplier, delphi, to be healthy. what are you fighting for right now? >> i want to see the full restoration of our pensions. >> reporter: he's fighting here and in washington. >> simply put, our decades of effort for the company were considered to be valueless to this administration. >> reporter: the retirees have sued to get their pensions back. but the case is moving slowly. when they heard we were coming to town, a group of retirees and their families showed up. raise your hand if you supported president obama in the last election. raise your hand if you're supporting president obama this year.

>> no, we're not. >> he didn't bail us out. he left us behind. >> i've lost all my health care, all my pension. for the first time in my life, my husband and i this past spring asked for the republican party ticket. >> reporter: president obama will be a hard sell for these folks in ohio, a state he's visited more times than any other, a state he's fighting hard to win again. >> you can see more of poppy's rust belt road trip series tomorrow on "cnn newsroom". still "outfront" in our second half, more people have died in chicago this year than u.s. troops killed in afghanistan. this while another major u.s. city is on pace for a record low in murders. does it add up? and an incredible milestone today for aimee copeland, the young woman battling flesh-eating bacteria.

welcome back to the second half of "outfront." we start the second half of our show with stories we care about. in a very public showing, iran began test-firing missiles today as part of a three-day exercise. according to the semiofficial news agency, iran says it is testing the precision and efficiency of long, medium and short-range missiles by firing at 100 targets. we asked an iranian nuclear expert about the timing of the war games, which come just as

iran is hit with new tougher sanctions. he told us nothing iran does is by coincidence saying iran is using the exercises to send a message that is tough and will not back down from western pressure. the united states said today it strongly condemns the destruction of historic sites in the country of mali. reuters reports islamic militants linked to al qaeda have destroyed tombs and religious sites over the last three days, including a 15th century mosque in timbuktu. the rebels say they're trying to erase traces of what they believe is unislamic idolatry as we saw with the taliban before. as we've trorted the u.s. has been closely monitoring the rise of al qaeda since a military coop earlier this month. the cybersecurity act would

require standards for certain infrastructures. a new report found the number of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure has increased by more than 2,000% between 2009 and last year. the senate plans a vote on the bill in the next few weeks. an incredible milestone for aimee copeland, the young woman attacked by flesh-eating bacteria. she left the hospital today and entered a rehab facility. when she was admitted to the hospital nearly two months ago, doctors gave her a 1% chance of surviving. the battle with the bacteria claimed aimee's hands, one of her legs and her remaining foot. but her father told us aimee is excited and ready to begin her rehab. andy and her sister will come "outfront" tomorrow night. it has been 333 days since the u.s. lost its top credit rating. what are we doing to get it back? well, we got a much waeshg-than-expected report on manufacturing today. data shows the sector is

contracting, after 34 months in a row of expansion. economists tell us the negative report along with others are just a sign of slowdown, nothing worse. let's hope so. our fourth story "outfront," the deadly summer in chicago has a new face -- 7-year-old evan sutton. she was standing in front of her home selling lemonade and candy on a hot afternoon when she became the youngest of the 253 people murdered this year in the windy city. that's more than the number of u.s. troops killed in afghanistan this year. and the spike in violence occurs at a time when crime is decreasing nationwide. for example, in the first six months of this year, new york city has recorded 193 murders, the lowest in the city's history, compared to 253 in chicago. new york city is three times as large, so what is going on in chicago? and what is being done to stop the violence? cnn's roland martin has been calling for action from the beginning.

roland, welcome "outfront." you were an early voice in drawing attention to this epidemic. police say it's gang violence. but gangs exist across america's cities. what's making things explode in chicago? >> it's interesting the police are saying it's gangs. i talked to a pastor who recently convened a meeting of about 20 well-known gang leaders. what they said is that even they are trying to figure out what's going on, that part of the problem is that the gangs in chicago have become so fractured that you have pretty much folks just doing whatever they want. i know it might sound crazy. it used to be -- organized crime was called organized for a reason. but you pretty much had these lone wolfs where folks are doing pretty much whenever they want. and even the gang members are saying, man, we really can't put a handle on what the in the world is causing the outbreak of violence in chicago. that was amazing to me. >> that is amazing. as you know, this spike coincides with former obama chief of staff rahm emanuel taking over as mayor of chicago.

you've been saying the president should be doing more to help solve this problem. what do you mean exactly? >> first of all, as i said last week, i personally believe the president should use what's taking place in chicago to speak to the moral outrage, if you will, of youth gun violence nationwide, using chicago as a backdrop. the d.o.j. gave $100 million to local municipalities. but what i think is needed in chicago is you have an intensive neighborhood watch program. i've been talking to pas tors and talking to elected officials there, regular, ordinary residents. and no one seems to be able to put a finger on the short-term issue. they can talk about education. they can talk about what's happening economically, the lack of jobs, things along those lines, also just the poverty being entrenched in those areas. those really are long-term, systemic issues. but you have to have the short term -- i'm telling you right

now, short term, rahm emanuel, the mayor of chicago, is going to have to have -- to really flood the zone of police officers in those areas because residents are simply saying, we are afraid to even walk outside. there was a guy with a paraplegic who was killed on his steps because somebody started firing a gun. he was shot and killed on his steps in a wheelchair. >> roland, we've seen random high levels of violence like this before. america was suffering epidemic levels of murder and street crime in the early 1990s. new york city reached a high of 2,244 murders in 1990. and in that time, president clinton specifically tried to use the bully pulpit, giving one of the most powerful speeches of his presidency at a church in memphis. >> if martin luther king were to reappear by my side today and give us a report card on the last 25 years, what would he say? you did a good job, he would

say, but he would say, i did not live and die to see the american family destroyed. [ applause ] i did not live and die to see 13-year-old boys get automatic weapons and gun down 9-year-olds just for the kick of it. >> is it time for president obama to go to chicago, his adopted hometown, and give a similar speech? >> he gave a speech similar to that when he was a senator when there was an outbreak of violence that took place back in 2006. but as president, it's a whole different deal. the violence is not blamed on him or on policies. but i do think, again, though, by using the bully pulpit, this is not limited to chicago. we're seeing this happen in other cities across the country in terms of youth and gun violence. the president did create a town hall forum, if you will, where chicago was the first city. they've gone to four or five

other cities, looking to add four more cities. but i think that needs to be, again, explained, expanded and using that pulpit to say america as communities, we have to get out of our houses. as a community organizer he used to be, call on that aspect of his background to engage the nation and say, you've got to shake out of your just sort of -- just ignoring things and say, you've got to do something where you live because the people who are shooting, those are somebody's kids. that has to be, i think, spoken to and not just him, obviously the governor, the mayor and others. but i do think he can make the issue a national concern, going beyond the borders of chicago. that, to me, i think is important. a president can do that using that bully pulpit. >> thank you, roland martin. certainly all eyes are on chicago and our hearts are with the family of 7-year-old evan sutton. a texas graduate student working in south africa is out of surgery but in critical

condition after being bitten, mauled and dragged for nearly half a mile by two chimpanzees. 26-year-old andrew oeshlly's body was nearly torn apart in the attack. he was leading a tour group at the jane goodall institute at the time of the attack. institute officials say oberle crossed behind one of the two security fences. our reporter is outside the hospital. did anyone else corroborate the institute's version of the attack? >> reporter: look, john, chimp eden have been the ones that have given us the most detailed information, the hospital behind me where andrew oberle is literally fighting for his life, being very conservative what they share with the media, telling us that he's still in the intensive care unit, that he is critical but stable. not giving us details of the

severity of his injuries. of course, his parents are here by his side. they flew into south africa today. and we're hoping that we'll hear from them as well, as things unfold here in south africa. but from what we've been able to gather, this was one horrific incident. we've been told that andrew oberle was attacked by those two male chimps for about a good 15 minutes and that anybody who tried to intervene was also attacked by the chimps. we're told by the manager of the sanctuary that he actually had to shoot one of the chimpanzees in the abdomen to stop them from continuing to attack andrew. we're told that he has lacerations all over his body, that he has tear marks and bite marks on his head and on his hands and on his legs and thighs. and really some people saying that he was very lucky to be

alive, john. >> horrific details. i want to bring in andrew oberle's close friend and roommate, tony rymer. what went through your mind when you first heard about this attack? >> well, i was very saddened hearing about it. all i wanted was to make sure that he got home and got back safe. and that's been my main concern the whole time. after we heard about it, just the devastation, all the emotions that -- it was a lot to deal with. >> we know his family arrived in south africa today. but when you talked to them, what sense did you get about how they're dealing with all this? >> well, of course we're all devastated about it. our main concern is just that he can get better and that he can get back. we just spread the word about what had happened and asked for people's prayers and just that everybody pray for him and hope that he gets better. >> sure.

as you heard, though, the institute says andrew may have unintentionally provoked the attack. does that sound right to you? >> no. i don't really know the full story about what happened, in that aspect. but andy had been working with chimps and studying them for a very long time. he knew what he was doing out there. without knowing all the details, it's really hard to say. >> given his love of these animals, did he ever talk to you about why he was drawn to the goodall sanctuary in south africa? what drew him there in particular and to protecting chimps in general? >> well, i think jane goodall is a well-known figure and being the fact that he was studying physical anthropology and loved animals and watched animal planet all the time, he knew about the goodall institute. i think he just wants to help animals. he's worked in zoos his whole life.

and i'm not exactly sure what drew him there. but just the fact that he loves chimps and found a place where he could help. and that's where he went to. >> since the attack, i know you've helped set up a fund for andrew. what kind of support have you gotten so far? >> yes, sir. we have set up a we pay donation site. on there we've just sent it out to all our friends and family and just to anybody to help. we've raised around $14,000 right now to help out andy, to help out his family with the travel and medical expenses that we know are going to come up. we also set up a facebook site at facebook.com/helpandyoberle. and it has all the links to the "we pay" site. we're just trying to collect as much as we can to help andy out and we told the family what we were doing. and we're just trying to help out any way we can at this point in time. >> thank you for coming

"outfront" and thank you for your commitment to your friend. still "outfront" tonight, have scientists found god? that's a question that's plagued mankind. and it could finally be answered. the man behind some of the funniest president obama jokes has written a new book and he's "outfront" next. the postal service is critical to our economy, delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer.

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have scientists found god?

bear with me here. the standard model is a collection of physics theories that explain what the world is and what holds it together. you know, the small stuff. developed throughout the 20th century, the current model was finalized in the 1970s with the confirmation of the existence of stuff that you barely paid attention to in school. in fact, the only fundamental particle predicted by the standard model that has yet to be observed is something called higgs bossom, a.k.a., the god particle. for years, researchers have used a $10 billion super collider only to spot this elusive particle. so far, there have been hints of a higz detection but no actual confirmation. that brings us to tonight's number, 99.9994%. that's considered the gold standard of certainty in citizenics. only can a discovery be officially announced when it

reach that is number. why is that important? this weednesday, the scientists zejing for the god particle are holding a press conference. no official word on what they found yet, but peter higgs have been invited to attend. and we think it would be lousy for them to ask him to travel all that way just to tell him he's been wrong. tonight's outer circle, we reach out to our sources around the world. first we head to mexico city where the party that ruled the country for more than 70 years is poised for a return to power. returns show enrique pena nieto in the lead with 38% of the vote. miguel marquez is in mexico and i asked him what we know about the projected winner. >> reporter: when this 45-year-old presumptive mexican president takes over, he is promising huge change across mexico, starting with security

and the economy here, promising to build a national police force in order to take on the drug cartels, promising to reform the energy sector and all the monopolies across the mexican landscape. he's also promising to take on poverty and create more opportunities for the middle class here by creating lots of educational opportunities for them so that more and more mexicans can move into the middle class and have better lives. john? >> let's check in with ashleigh banfield in for anderson cooper with a look at what's ahead on "a.c. 360". >> we're keeping them honest ahead on "360." the biggest tax increase in the world? that's what some politicians are calling president obama's health care reform after the supreme court upheld the law. republicans have really zeroed in on the tax language. democrats, are pretty adamant that it's a penalty. despite what the opinion of the chief justice of the supreme court actually wrote in that opinion. so we've got the spending and the facts all together.

i'll be joined by ari fleischer, bill burton and cnn legal strategist, jeffrey toobin. they'll have some answers for you. also tonight, the tiger has been caged but that door is still wide open. that's open. that's how one official in the battle to contain the waldo canyon fire in colorado is describing it. we have an exclusive look on the men and women who risk their lives to predict where these fires are going and then how to shut them down when they find where they're going. those stories and the staff picking the best rediculist of the year so even though anderson is off, rediculist is on. it's at the top of the hour. >> we'll be watching. our fifth story "outfront" tonight. abraham lincoln as a vampire hunter. let's take a look. >> presume you know what i can do with this? >> i know what you can do against one vampire.

but against 20? >> it's part of what appears to be a trend of a reverent but heartfelt takes on american history. now a writer has taken it upon himself to rewrite the constitution. in his new book, "me the people one man's selfless quest to rewrite the constitution of the united states." a comedy writer rewriting the constitution, what could go wrong? kevin, welcome to "outfront." >> i could not see that clip but from sound alone i want to see it. count me in. if abraham lincoln can be a vampire hunter, i can be a self-appointed expert on the constitution. >> alexander hamilton, james madison, kevin, what inspired you to rewrite the constitution? >> your point is well taken.

come rick reverence is different from being disrespectful. the founders themselves were a bit irreverent themselves. they were sent to do a few nicks and tucks and thomas jefferson told me i had to rewrite this constitution. he said that every constitution naturally expires after 19 years. by his math, not mine, our constitution has been in his words expired for over 200 years. i feel bad i'm just getting to it now. it should have been rewritten 11 times by now. i've been slacking for far too long. >> it is extraordinary. thomas jefferson said every 19 years it should be rewritten. if canniongress can't agree on

tackling the debt, a new constitution, how is that going to go? >> again, i think that the framers would have been surprised that it hasn't been rewritten or even amended more often. james madison himself was surprised near the end of his life it hasn't been amended more often. george washington, famously said near the end i wish it would have been made more perfect. benjamin franklin said he could stomach it with his faults. the last day he stood up and begged fellow delegates to sign the instrument by doubting their infallibility and i consent to the constitution because i expect no better and because i am not sure that it is not the best, which to some ears sound like republican endorsing mitt romney. damning with faint praise. i tried to phrase with faint damnation. abraham lincoln vampire would

get that and even justice scalia got that. >> you were threatened with a fork by justice scalia. what did you do to offend him and how did this give you insight into his dissent on health care? >> yes. i suggested that the constitution doesn't actually literally say that supreme court justices get lifetime tenure. it merely says they should serve during "good behavior." he said don't you dare change lifetime tenure for supreme court justices and if you do, at least grandfather me in because i like my job. he's a man with a sense of humor. that's for certain. >> it's an aud ashs effort. it's a good reading before the fourth of july. "outfront" next, has independence become a bad word in america? the capital one cash rewards card

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the fourth of july, independence day, just two days away. that's my favorite holiday. a time for fireworks, baseball, a beer and the beach. but of course there is a deeper meaning because independence day is also a time to honor the courage of our founding fathers. it's a time to celebrate our traditional american resistance to quietly falling in line and taking orders without question. we are, after all a question of successful rebels. principled independence is one of this country's bedrock principles but we see it less and less these days especially

in our politics. ining increasingly our political officials same willing to surrender their common sense with their polarized political parties. they are congratulated for being courageous enough to vote with the party line 100% of the time. that's not courage. that's conformity. it's cowardes and it's got to stop. we have a gap between the super rich and middle class and deficit and debt. we can't afford to divide ourselves into us against them, my team versus their team. our politics have become small tig at a time we need to be big. there's been far too much power given to special interest pledges like the ones put