and a big thank you to danny glover for joining our team today. we certainly appreciate it. >> thank you. >> it's time to send it over to c "cnn newsroom" and carol costello. good morning. happening right now in the newsroom, houston pitch. mitt romney houston bound to address the naacp after eric holder called the texas i.d. law a poll tax. what will mitt romney say to the nation's oldest civil rights organization? station break. if you're one of the 20 million direct tv customers, you are waking up with more than two dozen fewer channels this morning. comedy central, bet, and the list goes on. overnight, negotiations falling

through, big time. painkiller prescription. oxcontrin makers planning to test their drug on children as young as 6 years old. the cash behind the candidate as big corporations give millions to obama and romney. cnn digs into who's raking in the most green. will the election be decided by wall street and not main street? and home of the beret. the u.s. olympic team in french hats and blue blazers. do these guys look ready for the olympics or a croquet match in the hamptons? good morning to you. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. we begin this morning with a terrifying airline flight into miami. this morning, we are learning just how bad it was. flight 1780 was en route from aruba when it slammed into

turbulence on its initial descent about 30 minutes before landing. pilots landed without major incident but a dozen people were injured, five of them taken to the hospital. >> i never felt something like that in the past. basically, we didn't know anything. and the bumps, you just think that it's going down. >> i thought we were going to die. it was scary. >> john is in miami following this story. i guess american airlines is saying there was nothing on the radar to indicate such violent turbulence in the air. the passengers had no warning? >> well, they had their seat belts on because they were on its final descent, 30 minutes from landing. anybody who flies in south florida, in florida, in the summertime, knows that turbulence is not unusual. in fact, it was just an article in one of the local papers about a week ago discussing the fact

that in the summertime in florida, afternoon, early evening thunderstorms, certainly can cause a lot of turbulence in the sky. we don't know if that's what caused it yesterday. it was a pretty nice day. there were some storms around. pockets of storms around in the south florida area yesterday. but at this point, we don't know what exactly caused it. and may never know. you get these updrafts during the summer here in south florida that literally cause this kind of turbulence, carol. >> john, thank you. remember this video of a jetblue pilot who had an inflight meltdown and caused the plane to be diverted? yeah, that was the pilot. it was a terrible incident. we are now learning that a lack of sleep may have led to clayton osbon's outburst. a psychologist testified at osbon's trial that the pilot suffered from brief psychotic disorder and delusions secondary

to sleep deprivation. last week, a federal judge found osbon not guilty by reason of insanity for interfering with the flight crew. to columbus, ohio, now, where a fiery train crash overnight forces people to evacuate from the one square mile that surrounds the site. that's because, you can see it, 11 cars that left the tracks were carrying chemicals like denatured alcohol and a chemical used to make plastic. our affiliate wbns reports at least two people were hurt. a pit maneuver could not stop an l.a. area police pursuit involving a teacher accused of lewd acts on a former student. instead, the teacher himself ended the chase dramatically. there you see it, he went airborne, crashing through a guard rail, slamming into a tree. the teacher is expected to survive. he is probably in custody this morning. nearly two weeks to the day after the u.s. supreme court left its stamp on president obama's health care law, house republicans are poised to do the same thing.

but they are seeking a very different outcome. >> the american people do not want to go down the path of obamacare. that's why we have voted over 30 times to repeal it, to replace it, and we are resolved to have this law go away. and we're going to do everything we can to stop it. >> senior congressional correspondent dana bash is on capitol hill. some call this vote symbolic, noting that any measure would likely die in the senate. but it will still be a pretty dramatic day, huh? >> reporter: no question about it. and, you know, democrats are having a little bit of fun with this debate, trying to stay on message. but also say things like one said yesterday the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, which obviously will not happen ultimately. it will as you said not get past the senate. and it certainly wouldn't get past the democratic president who has made this his signature issue.

still, there has been debate from democrats and republicans and it will continue through the day. >> as far as what voters think of this, let's call it political theater for lack of a better term, what do voters think of it? do they think it's a great thing that republicans are doing? >> you know, they are really, really evenly split. the democrats by and large support the president's health care law. republicans by and large think it should be repealed. independents, who both parties are really going for, are also pretty evenly split. if you take a look at what they want congress to do, again, you know, either you see actually favor 52%, oppose most or all of it 47%. if you look at congress, 51% say yes, repeal. 47% say no. so what this is, especially now where we are in the political calendar, carol, is an attempt to really rile up the bases, to show the bases on both sides who may or may not be excited to get out and vote for the congressional candidates or the presidential candidates, that

they are at least doing what they want them to do, and that's really a big part of what we're seeing today on capitol hill. >> all right, dana bash reporting live from washington this morning. mitt romney will have a chance to score some points with african-american voters next hour as he addresses the naacp convention in houston. every four years, the group invites the presidential candidates to speak. mr. obama spoke to the convention in 2008, but he will not be there this year. vice president joe biden will fill in on thursday. in his address to the naacp yesterday, attorney general eric holder took on the proposed texas voter i.d. law. federal judges are reviewing that proposal this week after the justice department blocked it. holder says the proposal would be discriminatory. >> under the proposed law, concealed handgun licenses would be acceptable forms of photo i.d. but student i.d.s would not.

many of those without i.d.s would have to travel great distances to get them. and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them. we call those poll taxes. >> holder said studies show 1/4 of voting aged african-americans do not have government-issued photo i.d.s. that compares to 8% of voting-aged whites. now "daily show"? "jersey shore" jitters? here's why. >> this is a bad situation. >> it's like the end of civilization. >> tonight, direct tv is getting rid of mtv. >> really? >> nickleodeon. >> what? >> we're doomed! >> comedy central. >> no! >> that's so sad. >> can we see just the disturbing part again? >> bet. >> what? >> we have to stop the show. hold on, hold on, hold on. >> and more. >> that is the reality for direct tv viewers this morning. the satellite provider has

dropped 26 viacom channels, including comedy central and mtv and viewers or customers i should say are not happy. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. this was in "usa today." angry customers lashing out at direct tv. what's going on? >> but it's not only direct tv in this equation. if you go and ask viacom what's going on, and viacom says, you know what? direct tv dropped its programming at 11:50 eastern time last night, and viacom said the last it heard from the carrier before that was more than 12 hours earlier at 11:00 a.m. so, sure, directv dropped the station 10 minutes early, but what they are claiming is that viacom threatened legal action at 11:24. so, yes, this was almost inevitable if they couldn't work it out, and they didn't. this has been pretty lepublicizlepublicizwell

publicized if they didn't reach a deal. directv say that viacom wasn't up for them carrying the channels until they worked it out. >> this is going to affect a lot of people. do you think that people will dump directv because of this? >> it could be. you know, it's quite a possibility. we'll have to wait and see what pans out. but remember this. unlike time warner or verizon, directv is only a television provider. it doesn't have internet or tv. so it really has to watch its pennies. directv is using the ratings slide on some of viacom's channels as a bargaining chip, saying it's annoyed because so much of the content you can get from nickleodeon, mtv and other channels you can get it online or netflix. and they think that viacom is taking away the number of people that are willing to pay for directv when they can get the channels for free. >> good point. alis alison kosik, thank you.

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it is just about 14 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories now, today house republicans will have their say on repealing the so-called obamacare. it will be the first vote since the u.s. supreme court upheld the sweeping health care reforms two weeks ago. but even if passed by the gop majority in the house, the repeal is doomed in the senate, which of course is controlled by democrats. in california, another city is in financial peril.

city leaders in san bernardino voting to declare bankruptcy. this is the third time in just the past two weeks that a california city needs bankruptcy protection. san bernardino has a budget short fall of nearly $46 million. bills cannot be paid. and city workers could soon have trouble getting their checks. this heat wave has us paying higher cooling bills, and it could have us paying higher grocery prices too. corn prices are skyrocketing, up more than 40% in recent weeks. the heat ruining crops in the midwest, and that could have us paying more to feed our families. the heat wave continues across the southwestern united states. las vegas set a new record yesterday. 115 degrees. i can't even imagine that. and guess what? no relief in sight today. it was 125 degrees in death valley. that's what's expected today. 112 degrees in las vegas today. 109 in phoenix. and in the northwest,

temperatures are up 15 degrees higher than is normal. seven-time tour de france winner lance armstrong is refiling his lawsuit against the u.s. anti-doping agency. he wants the judge to throw out the case accusing him of using performance enhancing drugs. he says he was clean and never failed a drug test. four young boys in california are being hailed as heroes today after they saved a drowning toddler from a fast-moving canal. the little girl's family lost sight of her. she fell in the canal and was swept away and nearly a mile downstream, four boys saw her floating in the water, and they pulled her to safety. >> i thought it was a dog until he got closer. and he was like, it's a little girl and he jumped in to get her. >> all you guys. >> it was scary. and it gets your heart running. and we wanted to cry, all of us. >> words just can't express the

way i feel. >> this morning the little girl is just doing fine after spending the night in a local hospital. mission impossible. that's how politico describes mitt romney's speech this morning before the naacp, the nation's oldest civil rights organization. so romney may be taking a risk simply by showing up, but could he also pave the way for republicans in future elections? joining me now is hillary sheldon, the senior vice president for advocacy for the naacp. welcome. >> good morning. >> good morning. a gallup poll shows that 87% of african-americans approve of president obama, and that far outpaces any other group. what can mitt romney possibly say before the naacp this morning? >> like any other candidate that comes before the naacp, he should simply lay out his plan to address the real challenges

of the african-american community. certainly we begin with the issue of voting rights. it's always been a premiere issue for the naacp and we'd love to hear from mr. romney what he'd do to help mitigate many of the challenges across the country. it is conceived by many that over 20% of voting age african-americans may very well be locked out of the polls because of things like photo i.d., shortening early voting, eliminating sunday voting and other issues across the country. >> let's talk more about voting rights. i know that eric holder appeared before the naacp yesterday and received a hero's welcome. and the naacp issued a special resolution. let's listen. >> be it further resolved that the naacp calls upon all of its members to contact their members of the united states house of representatives and the u.s. senate to express their outrage at the treatment of the first

african-american and one of the best attorney generals in american history. >> now many african-americans feel u.s. attorney general holder is being targeted by republicans because of his race. in light of that, are african-americans really in a listening mood for a republican candidate? >> no, absolutely. we want to hear from everyone. the naacp is a nonpartisan organization. we do not support political candidates or political parties. but we do have an agenda, an agenda that actually pushes for voting rights for all americans. the reason that eric holder received that hero's welcome as you said is because he has been on the frontline fighting for america's voting rights, among other civil rights concerns. we know there are a number of obstacles, and we appreciate those who fight to make sure that every american, regardless of race, gender, or national origin can carry out that right

to vote. we support making voting easy but fraud difficult. >> what if mr. romney doesn't mention that at all, what if he skips over that issue and goes right to jobs? >> well, we want him to talk about jobs as well. don't assume that our agenda is limited to one issue like voting rights. we see voting rights as that predicate. you have to have the right to vote to be able to address the other challenges and concerns of our communities. but we do have to talk about jobs. and we do want to hear what mr. romney has to say about the disparities between african-american unemployment rates and white american unemployment rates. we believe everyone should have the opportunity to work. but whether the economy is good or bad as it is now, we know that african-americans are disproportionately unemployed. we want to hear about a plan that also includes us. how do we make sure to address that disparity? we know one size doesn't fit all. tell us how you would tailor america's laws to make

employment is available to all of us. >> why isn't president obama addressing that very issue? >> well, we are disappointed mr. obama is not able to join us. he's been with us many times in the past. we know that he was planning on coming, and unfortunately some things happened as we were setting up the date for him to appear. as you know, mr. -- the vice president of the united states will be with us in his place. so we're looking forward to seeing him and hearing what he has to say. he is the vice president to mr. obama. >> it's great joe biden will be there. but i'm just saying that some people say that president obama is taking the black vote for granted. he knows he doesn't have to be there because mitt romney can't possibly get anything more than, what, 10% of the black vote if he's lucky. >> well, let me say that in the past, we have seen african-american voter support for the republican party vary from 9% to 11%. so we know there is a margin that could very well make a difference for either one of

them. i know as we look at quite frankly how both of them are polling right now, it is so close, they can't take any vote for granted. so it's my assumption that mr. obama recognizes that just a few points can make a huge difference in the outcome of the election. and mr. romney clearly understands that as well. >> do you think, though, that mr. obama is taking the black vote for granted? >> oh, i don't think so. very well if we look at how not only the african-american community has voted but we look at the issues that mr. obama has made primary issues for his administration, we know those are issues that are very important to the african-american community. if we go back and look at everything from health care reform to improving our hate crimes laws. if you look at the kind of appointments he's made to make sure there are those that recognize those issues and concerns. if you look at the bills he has signed over the years, they are truly and clearly in support of the agenda of the naacp and the african-american community. >> hilary shelton from the

naacp, thank you so much for joining us today. >> always delighted to be with you. >> thanks. our talk back question this morning. should governor romney open the book on his finances? is there a bear there? mitt romney under pressure to spill what democrats call his financial secrets.

now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, should romney open the books on his finances?

is there a bear there? mitt romney is under pressure to spill what democrats call his financial secrets. >> i think what's important if you are running for president is that the american people know who you are, what you've done, and that you're an open book. and that's been true of every presidential candidate, dating back to mr. romney's father. >> governor romney has only released his 2010 tax return. oh, and an estimate for 2011. democrats hasay all of those otr returns could contain information about swiss bank accounts and nifty clever ways to avoid playing taxes. republicans are calling foul. at least they are now. during the republican primary, they sounded a lot like mr. obama. >> why not release it? >> i don't know why he isn't releasing his tax returns. >> every candidate up there, they should put their taxes out. including mitt. >> governor romney says his assets are in a blind trust, and

even he doesn't know where they are. >> you know, i don't know how many years i'll release. i'm take a look at what our documents are. >> are you satisfied? so the talk back question today, should romney's finances be an open book? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your responses later this hour. the money behind the campaigns. which companies that you deal with, that you use, are shoveling cash to the presidential candidates. we'll tell you. er is different

but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you.

it is just about 30 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. stories right now in the newsroom, opening bell on wall street. stocks set for a higher start today following an announcement from spain that it's getting its fiscal house in order. ringing the bell this morning, you see them there, mrc global, celebrating its recent ipo. cnn has learned that a mix of pathogens caused a mystery illness that killed 64 children in cambodia. doctors say an inappropriate use of steroids made the illness worse in most patients. our doctor, sanjay gupta, will have the latest from cambodia. we'll bring that to you in the next 30 minutes i'd say. today, house republicans will have their say on repealing the so-called obamacare. it is the first vote since the supreme court upheld the sweeping health care reforms two weeks ago. but even if passed by the gop majority in the house, the repeal is doomed in the senate, which the democrats control. in a perfect democratic kind

of world, you would decide who to vote for based on cold hard facts. the truth is, that's hard to do because of all the cold hard cash out there. 2012 could be the year of the $1 billion campaign. that's more than enough money to sway your opinion based on the ads alone. so the question this morning, who will buy your vote? corporate america, unions, who? vivica novak is the communications director if the center for responsible politics, a nonpartisan group. welcome. >> good to be with you, carol. >> i took these numbers from your fabulous website, opensecrets.org. to date, mr. obama has raised more than $255 million and mr. romney more than $121 million. those numbers don't tell the whole story, though, right? >> no. i mean, if money were everything, then we'd have a president ross perot to be looking back on or a president steve forbes.

clearly money is hugely important, though, or these candidates wouldn't be spending so much time raising it. >> so we here like last month mitt romney outraised president obama, but those figures show obama is up in total take by $100 million. why is that? >> well, yeah. that doesn't mean, though, that he has an extra $100 million. you have to remember these candidates raise the money, and they spend the money. and every month, it's almost like starting from zero again. >> if you look at who's donating to whom, i thought this was really interesting, obama's top five donors, microsoft, the university of california, google, et cetera. it's interesting that employees of these entities are donating to obama. what do they have in common? >> well, you're correct that obama seems to be getting a lot of his money from law firms, lawyers at law firms, from universities, academics and

other employees of universities seem to like obama. and tech companies very much like obama. on on the other hand, as i'm sure you'll show in just a second, romney seems to be very popular with banks and investment firms. >> let's go down the top five. you can see them. goldman sachs. jpmorgan chase. morgan stanley. bank of america. all of them are big banks. >> right. and this is not surprising in a way. in part because mitt romney is from that world. he knows these people. he is of their mindset. and the other thing is that they don't like obama so much anymore because they have been blamed in part for the financial crisis, in some cases perhaps with good reason. and in are the cases, there have been various misdeeds that people have looked askance at, and it has led to more regulation, aka the dodd frank

bill that has been very, very unpopular in the financial community. >> so, you know, we hear this a lot. mitt romney is getting these huge do nations from people with a lot of money, and we can see that he is. so does that necessarily mean that these big banks and big corporations will decide our election? >> well, you know, it's very hard to draw a straight line there because there's a lot more going on. i mean, they may be helping our election, but of course money is not everything. you have to have, you know, the basics in place. you have to be a, you know, intelligent individual who is able to make a good case for you taking over the presidency of the arguably most important country in the world. so it's not everything. but, again, the number of fundraisers that these candidates are having is hugely

important. it's indicative of what they think they need to win. and the people who are giving the money definitely have better access than the average american. >> you've got that right. thank you so much for joining us this morning. opensecrets.org if you want more on the numbers. they are fascinating. thank you so much. >> thank you. is mixing justin bieber and the paparazzi a disaster in the making? his people seem to think so. and now they have issued a warning. >> i want to create the equivalent of what lego is today for toys, i want to have not just the predicate if but the movement of democratized health care. i use toys to make affordable medical devices.

an airline has planes... and people. and the planes can seem the same so, it comes down to the people. because, bad weather the price of oil those are every airlines reality. and solutions won't come from 500 tons of metal and a paint job. they'll come from people. delta people. who made us one of the biggest airlines in the world. and then decided that wasn't enough.

i'm already laughing at this next story. but i shouldn't, because it's serious. especially to missy elliott.

grammy-winning rapper and singer missy elliott says she's been taken for a ride by a dealership that is allegedly holding her ride as hostage. hi, aj. >> it's not one of life's major issues, but you don't want to get between missy elliott and her ride. she is suing an illinois car dealership claiming she hasn't gotten her 2012 matte white lamborghini she ordered last july. she did put a down payment on the car when it was ordered, and according to the document provided in her lawsuit she traded in her bentley, valued at about $85,000 and put down an additional $30,000 in cash towards this $400,000 occur. car. missy says the dealership hasn't delivered because in the last year the value of the car has substantially increased so now the dealer wants her to pay significantly more money. carol, a hassle for missy for sure. but i think what we can all call a happy problem. >> yeah. i know. i could lend her my 2004 rav 4

if she wants it. it has a little damage on the back fender, but hey. let's talk about justin bieber and the paparazzi. a tragedy waiting to happen? >> yeah. this is a serious story. a tragedy waiting to happen is what an l.a. city council is telling "showbiz tonight" because he says he saw bieber involved in a high speed chase with paparazzi last friday. councilman dennis zion, who was a police officer for more than 30 years, said he saw the biebs leading a pack of paparazzi at speeds of more than 100 miles an hour. he called the highway patrol. they gave bieber a ticket, but that didn't stop the chase. photographers continued to follow him afterwards. so the biebs called 911 when the chase continued. and although he started the call by giving a false name, which justin -- it's always a no-no to do that to the police, eventually police caught up with the attack. bieber filed a complaint against the paparazzi. and there is an investigation going on. they'll see if this violated california's paparazzi law.

so if the photographers are found guilty, they could understand up in jail. bieber was driving a $100,000 electric sports car. >> i just can't imagine paying that much more a car. but then again, i'm cheap. >> people do it every day. >> i know. lucky them. aj hammer, thanks so much. oxycontin and kids? yes, doctors have been prescribing the powerful painkiller for kids for years. now the fda wants to know what effect this powerful drug has on children. ess yourself ♪ [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? with over 25 delicious flavors for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house. add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. in every way, shape, and form. it's my dream vehicle.

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43 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories now, obama back on the agenda. today, house republicans will vote to repeal the affordable care act, obamacare. it will be the first vote since the supreme court upheld the sweeping health care reforms two weeks ago. even if passed by the gop majority in the house, the repeal is doomed in the senate, which the democrats control. jcpenney laying off another 350 workers at its headquarters in plano, texas. the retailer has been trying to revamp its image under a new ceo, but that has been a tough transition. jcpenney eliminated 600 jobs at their headquarters just six

months ago. since february, they have lost half their value. the heat wave continues across the southwestern half of the united states. las vegas set a new record yesterday. 115 degrees. and no relief today. 125 degrees in death valley. 112 degrees expected in las vegas. 109 in phoenix. and in the northwest, temperatures are up to 15 degrees higher than is normal. in sports, an ohio man has uncovered a baseball gold mine in the attic of his dead aunt. karl kissner opened up a cardboard box to find a collection of baseball cards probably worth millions of dollars. cy young, honus wagner, ty cobb among the stash. some cards in mint condition going back as far as 100 years. kissner says her curse was his family's blessing. >> when i opened the will, my aunt had put little handwritten

notes in it. and one of the little notes was that karl, as you go through the house, you will find things you never knew existed. could not have been a truer statement. >> now he's going to be a millionaire, if he chooses to sell the cards, of course. the cards which apparently belonged to kissner's grandfather will be auctioned off in august. he says the money will be split among 20 family members if, of course, they want to auction off those cards. that is incredible. oxycontin in kids. the powerful drug has been used to treat pain symptoms in children for years. now there's a study going on to determine the effects. and as our jason carol reports, that too is raising red flags. >> reporter: oxycontin, the powerful painkiller that has brought relief to millions, but it has also made headlines for its abuse. rush limbaugh, courtney love, notable names of a few, whose

addiction became public. the latest controversy, a study underway to test the effects of oxycontin on children. >> my concern is the reason they are interested in this research is they want to get approval to market the drug for use in children. >> doctors have been prescribing drugs like oxycontin to children for years, doing it off label. in other words, prescribing it even though it's only approved for adults. often improvising dosage because there's no research on how much to give children. the fda asked oxycontin's maker, purdue pharma, to conduct a study offering the company an incentive to extend its patent for six months on oxycontin, which would translate into huge profits. the study's criteria on its 154 patients include the child must be between 6 and 16 years old. must be suffering from moderate to severe pain. must already be receiving

treatment with the drugs. >> it's not fair to the child to withhold a treatment that can help them recover and feel better and be productive. >> well, i have complete compassion. >> reporter: her son has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. his chronic condition is managed without oxycontin, but she says the study would help parents and doctors make more informed decisions. >> worrying about the teens getting addicted to oxycontin because of the clinical trials with children. one thing is not the -- it's so silly. one thing has nothing to do with each other. >> this recovers oxycontin addict disagrees, worrying the study could lead to more addiction. he got hooked at 18 after a doctor prescribed the painkiller following a baseball injury. >> it's a fine line between like is this going to help or is it going to create more chaos in the future.

>> reporter: first introduced in the late '90s, oxycontin was promoted as nearly addictionproof. purdue pharma pleaded guilty to label misbranding, paying $635 million in penalties, and reformulated oxycontin. as for the study, purdue says it's not trying to market the drug to children, but that the results will give information about oxycontin's safety and efficacy in pediatric patients. two clinicians who may consider using the product in children with severe to moderate pain. >> jason carol is live in new york now. jason, the drug maker is doing the research. so how can this study possibly be impartial? >> well, you have to remember those conducting the study are doctors, like the one we spoke to at nyu medical center, one of the lead investigators on this particular study. so doctors are actually taking part in the study. so the findings from the study,

i think most people would agree, can be trusted. the question now becomes what then do you do with the findings of the study. what happens next. what's the next step. >> so the other scary part of your story is doctors are guessing dosages for kids? >> yeah. >> does this happen every day? >> this was new to me too, carol, and it's one of the more fascinating things i discovered through researching this story. if you look at the way most drugs are prescribed, one point that we have here, this coming from the fda, 50% of drugs that are in some cases commonly used for children actually have not been tested on children. they have only been tested on adults. so it's just not just oxycontin that we're talking about here, but a host of other medications that are routinely given to children that have not been tested on children. they have only been tested on adults. so doctors are improvising in some ways on a whole host of medications. not just oxycontin. >> wow. jason carroll reporting live

from new york. thank you. >> you bet. we asked to you talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, should mitt romney open the book on his finances? your responses on the other side of the break. c250 sport sedan.l but hurry before this opportunity...disappears. the mercedes-benz summer event ends july 31st.

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we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the big question for you this this morning, should mitt romney's finances be an open book? this is from rufus. of course he should. it's only fair. doug said, absolutely. if he doesn't know what's in his accounts, how should he be able to control the economy? and adrian says, both candidates should release their financial records. and doug says, who cares? he's rich. they are all rich. if we want to vote for the average broke guy, i'll run for president. more of your responses in the next hour of newsroom. melky cabrera all-star mvp. [ female announcer ] nature valley protein bars.

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. if you want to talk baseball, you can't even. >> justin berlander got shelled. he supposedly dated the sports illustrated swim suit model. so he can find comfort in her arms. >> i think a lot of men would say, i would be glad to give up five innings if kate would be there to comfort me. you have the mvp, he was

struggling. i couldn't believe justin had a nightmarish first inning. let's look at the pregame that -- >> i thought you were going to say, let's look at kate upton's picture. >> this is luke bryan looking down at his hand. i think he might be cheating and making sure he has the words right. on twitter people were going nuts talking about, did he do it? did he really do it? we have no way to know yet but people think he was looking at his hands for the comment. >> just a comment. >> yes. >> why can't they find a singer that knows the song? why is that so difficult? >> i've never sung in front of millions of people, maybe they -- >> he's an entertainer. >> a professional. he pulled it off. reading and singing at the same time. as for the game itself, justin, not good. there is melky cabrera getting

things going with the base hit. then he comes around. the national league pounded justin. it's just coming against the best pitcher in baseball. the national league goes on to win 8-0. he had a two-run home run in this game. he pulls it out and wins 8-0. now the nl team has home field advantage. >> where is kate upton? >> i didn't pull her up on youtube. it's good to know that it's just not the men who do it. finally, if you want to dress like an olympian, you're going to need a beret.

the guys will wear double breasted blazers and men and women will where berets. more than one person, though, has asked, shouldn't the berets be for the french team? but, hey, it's a look. >> it's a weird look. they look like they should be playing crow kay on or a yacht somewhere. >> but if kate upton was wearing it, she would be look great. >> she's wearing much less online. it's been fun. thanks. the next hour of newsline starts rights now. happening in the newsroom, houston pitch, mitt romney addressing the naacp in about 30 minutes after attorney general eric holder called the texas

i.d. law holder tack. big blessing. the episcopal church and same-sex unions. we have reverends from both sides of the issue. a freight train in central ohio is derailed and a columbus neighborhood evacuated. from sea to shining sea, now america is in search of -- wait for it -- a national mammal. will it be the bear, the bison, the billy goat? the election that really matters straight ahead. good morning. i'm carol costello. mitt romney gets a shot at addressing the naacp convention. as romney tries to connect with

the african-american audience, he has huge numbers stacked against him. a recent gallup poll shows president obama leading 87% to 5%. >> that's right. but, carol, there's a good reason for mitt romney to come to this audience. not only because of the economic message that he wants to get out there and whether he's talking to an african-american audience, evangelical, he wants to talk about the economy. for political reasons it makes sense from that standpoint and you mentioned the poll a few moments ago that shows that african-americans, according to the latest gallup survey, 87% for obama, 5% for romney, but back in 2004, that election was

kind of a squeaker. if mitt romney can inch up his support among african-american voters, it could be crucial in states like florida and ohio. it makes political sense for mitt romney. the romney campaign did release some excerpts from his speech that he's going to be delivering in a few moments. he's going to be mentioning the high unemployment rate in this country, which is now at 14.4%. he's going to talk about this in an excerpt that i can show you online. he says -- or he will say, quote, if equal opportunity in america where an accomplished fact, then a chronically bad economy would be equally bad for everyone. instead, it's worse for african-americans in every way. he's saying that

african-americans have are been suffering greatly during this weak, intrepid recovery. >> romney is going to be -- sorry, jim. i just want to run this by you because you're talking about mitt romney and what he's going to be saying about the economy. i talked with someone from the naacp in the last hour of newsroom. he told me, yeah, we know that it's bad but unless mitt romney presents a plan for us, it isn't going to fly. >> reporter: well, no doubt about it. i mean, he is walking into an audience that is very supportive of president obama and obviously this are plenty of folks around the country in the african-american community that would like to see president obama not be just a one-term president, they would like to see him be a two-term president.

but i will tell you, carol, that mitt romney is determined, no matter where he speaks, to spread this economic message. while he may not have a plan that is tailored to african-american voters, he has been talking a great deal about how, for instance, president obama's plan to extend the bush tax cuts for only people making less than $250 thou,000 a year. he has said it will be a kick in the butt to the middle class. he's going to go back over that message and hopes that it will translate with this audience as it translates with every audience as he goes around the country. >> thank you so much, jim acosta reporting live this morning. should mitt romney open the book on his finances? is there a bear there? mitt romney under pressure to spill what democrats call his financial secrets. >> i think what's important, if

you are running for president, is that the american people know who you are, what you have done, and that you're an open book. and, you know, that's been true of every presidential candidate dating back to mr. romney's father. >> governor romney has only released his 2010 tax return and an estimate for 20democrats are? our business guru, christine romans, is here. good morning, christine. >> good morning, carol. >> mitt romney is not releasing all of their tax returns because they will contain information about swiss bank accounts and ways to avoid taxes. if romney did release those taxes for the past 12 years, what would they show us? >> they would show us a very complicated family financial situation of a very, very rich family, one of the richest men ever to run for president. and, quite frankly, it would show a very complicated web of investments and hedge fund investments and, look, we know

that he owns plain vanilla stocks, investments in hedge funds. we know that he's had a swiss bank account. they closed that down. we know that he has what his campaign calls funds running through the caribbean. we also know that this romney and his spokes people, people close to him have said over and over again, serving legal. he pays all of the taxes that he owes and everything is on the up and up. but they will not release more than just a year. >> he pays all of the taxes so that he owes -- >> yes. yes. >> okay. let me ask you about this. romney says that his assets are held in a blind trust and he doesn't know what's in them because it's a blind trust. the blind trust is actually run by a good friend of romney's. is that standard operating procedure? shouldn't it be run by a stranger who's a professional in the financial world? >> well, it's run by his personal attorney and he has an

accountant -- this, for example, is the family trust, the filing for the 2010 -- the family trust. an attorney did that. look, he has been a trustee for his firm for an awful long time. i don't know how deep their relationship is. i know that there are federal rules against friends being your -- that manage your blind trust. but from everything that everyone has said to me, this is a, you know, long-term professional relationship where this is the guy who is in charge of his money n terms of it being blind, can i tell you something, he's not really blind if he reads the newspaper. we've been going through the federal disclosures and finding every single thing that he's been talking about and writing about it. these little blue things, carol, this is something that katie has mentioned in the family trust filing in 2010. this is a bermuda-based company that a lot of people are asking

questions about now. people would like to see more of his returns to find out what these offshore companies are and what are is the purpose of them. >> christine romans, thank you so much. >> you're welcome. the u.s. supreme court may have ruled that it is the law of the land but that is not stopping the united states house of representatives, republicans. they are moving forward today with efforts to repeal president obama's health care overhaul. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash is on capitol hill watching it all unfold. good morning, dana. >> reporter: good morning, carol. if this is a movie, it's not so much a mystery, it's a rerun. this is going to be 33rd time that they have voted to get rid of the health care law. they are doing it, everybody admits, for symbolic reasons, for political reasons. but when it comes to the voters in november, what they are trying to say is, if voters elect republicans again in the

house to a majority in the senate and to the white house, they would have the ability to repeal this but it's a big if and so they are just trying to go through the motions in order to allow them to speak about this issue. >> other issues besides health care is coming up on the house floor. i understand that mitch mcconnell, he's been slamming president obama's suggested end to the bush tax cuts for people making under $250,000? >> that's right. over in the senate this morning, the top republican, mitch mcconnell, went on the senate floor to, just as you say, make the point that we've heard from republicans as their retort to the president's big message about tax cuts and what he actually tried to do was call for a couple big votes. he said, let's stop talking about these tax cuts. let's not put them off and hold a couple of votes. what he suggested was a vote on what the republicans wanted to do, which is a one-year extension of all of the bush tax cuts for those making above $250,000 and below, which many democrats don't support, and also what the president is calling for, which is just the vote on those making $250,000 or

less. the democratic leader, harry reid, rejected that saying, we are going to have these votes but not right now. i talked to a democratic it source just before coming on the air and one of the reasons that they don't want to do it is because they say it's a good issue politically for them. they want to drag it out and have it at the end of the month before they go home for recess. >> there's political theater going on in both houses of congress? >> reporter: shocking. >> dana bash, thank you so much. in columbus, ohio a. fiery train crash forces people to evacuate from the one square mile that surrounds the site because 11 cars that left the tracks are carrying chemicals, like alcohol and a chemical used to make plastic. our affiliate is reporting that at least two people were hurt. a pit maneuver could not stop an l.a. area police pursuit involving a teacher accused of performing lewd acts on a

student. the teacher ended it there. he crashed through a guardrail and slammed into a tree. he's expected to survive. earlier this month, a judge issued a temporary restraining order protecting the clinic from mississippi's new laws for abortion clinic. remember, these are some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation and would cause the only abortion clinic to close. he wants to make a state abortion-free. the new law requires all doctors in the clinic to be ob/gyns and have admitting privileges at a local hospital. david mattingly is outside of the federal courthouse in jackson, mississippi. what could the judge decide to do today? >> reporter: well, carol, you laid it out very well just now. the judge is going to be listening to two sides of this argument. first of all, is this state law

actually an attempt to impinge on abortion rights here in mississippi? are they trying to shut the clinic down? or is this exactly what the supporters say it is, something to protect the health of women seeking abortions in mississippi? you can imagine both sides are very far apart on this issue. the judge will be listening to both and here now is what both sides are saying. >> they've had over 75 days to become compliant with this legislation. they still have an opportunity to have a physician receive mini privileges at a local hospital. we are not banning abortion in mississippi. we don't have that ability. this is intended for health care for women and we believe this is what is best for mississippi. >> if the policy makers really cared about health care, they wouldn't have spent so much time regulating abortion services. there is health care crisis and

disparities in mississippi that health care has not addressed. they've spent time regulating what is a very safe procedure. >> reporter: we went to the state health department asking questions about the safety of this clinic and they tell us that this clinic actually does a very good job here. they see about 2,000, maybe more than 2,000 patients a year. of that number in the last two years, 4 to 5,000 patients, only one has reported to have any kind of complications and the state tells us that those complications were minor. they inspect that place about five times a year. they found two violations. one was involving paperwork. another was involving a generator, two things that didn't affect patient care. so the big question here is, if there is a need to protect the health of women seeking abortion in mississippi at this clinic, people who are against this law say the law was completely unnecessary.

carol? >> david mattingly reporting live from jackson, mississippi, this morning. a cnn exclusive. a mystery illness blamed for the deaths of more than 60 children in cambodia. now dr. sanjay gupta will tell us what professionals there think the cause is. we'll take you live to phen [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

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protests are under way in mad drin. people are outraged about solving the debt crisis in spain. the sales tax is going up, along with other spending cuts. 43 people have been hurt, including a dozen police officers. we'll keep you posted. other top stories this hour, mitt romney facingi a big challenge this morning. he's speaking to attendees of the naacp conference. they are meeting in houston this week. gallup poll shows 87% support president obama. american airlines turned terrifying. it hit unexpected and severe turbulence. five ended up in the hospital. >> i never felt something like

that in the past. basically with the noise and the bumps -- >> i thought we were going to die. it was scary. >> in all, 12 people were hurt. most had bumps and bruises. chevrolet is offering a refund within 60 days. gm is trying to make chevy stand out from the pack. the heatwave continues across the southwestern united states. las vegas set a new record yesterday, 115 degrees. no relief in sight today. 125 in death valley, 109 expected in phoenix. in the northwest, temperatures are up to 15 degrees higher than normal. the deaths of more than 60 children from a mysterious illness in cambodia. now we're the first to report what doctors believe is to be the cause of those deaths.

our dr. sanjay gupta has been covering the story from cambodia. sanjay, what is causing this? >> reporter: well, you know, who, world health organization, has been looking into this for some time. what they have found is a study of blood samples of some of these children was three different organisms, pathogens. in other children they found another organism and then also an organism causing dengay fever. the question that they were wrestling with for some time is, these organisms exist in many parts of the world. why were they behaving so aggressively? why were the children dying within 24 hours of arriving at the hospital. probably because of the use of steroids. steroids are a medication people are familiar with. they can be good

anti-inflammatories. but the problem is this. if you give steroids to someone who has an infection, you are also suppressing their immune system and you can take a dangerous infection and turn it into a deadly one. all of the children who died received steroids initially. that led to the worsening of their infection. by the time they got to the hospital, they were in really, really tough shape. as you know, as you've mentioned, 64 out of 66 of them have died. the infection is still out there but it was probably the steroids that really turned this into something much more dangerous. >> so doctors, have they stopped using steroids to treat this, are the children more likely to survive? >> it seems so. and that's exactly what the world health organization is going to put out an aid advisory saying, probably later on today, that the doctors and the health care professionals, outside of hospitals, should not be using

steroids in children who have signs of this infection. they are going to tell doctors not to do that because they think that despite their best intentions it was a steroids probably in combination with these infections that was so deadly. >> dr. sanjay gupta reporting live from us from phnom penh, cambodia, this morning. should mitt romney open his book on his finances? is there a bear there? what democrats call his financial secrets.

now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this

morning, should mitt romney open the book on his finances? is there a bear there? mitt romney under pressure to spill what democrats call his financial secrets. >> i think what's important, if you are running for president, is that the american people know who you are, what you've done, and that you're an open book. and, you know, that's been true of every presidential candidate dating back to mr. romney's father. >> governor romney has only released his 2010 tax return and an estimate for 2011. democrats hint all of those other returns could contain information about swiss bank accounts and nif fee, clever way to avoid paying taxes. republicans are crying foul, at least they are now. during the republican primary, they sounded a lot like mr. obama. >> well, why not release it? >> i don't know why he hasn't released his tax returns. >> every candidate out there, they should put their taxes out, including mitt.

>> governor romney says his assets are in a blind trust and even he doesn't know where they are. >> that trustee follows all u.s. laws, all of the taxes are paid as appropriate. all of it has been reported to the government. there's nothing hidden there. >> are you satisfied? "talk back" question today, should romney's finances be an open book? facebo facebook.com/carolcnn. you will hear from both sides of the issue coming up. [ slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security,

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. just about 30 minutes past the hour, i'm carol costello. thank you for joining us. checking our top stories, the fight over obama care continues. today house republicans vote to repeal the law t will be the first vote since the u.s. supreme court upheld the reform two weeks ago. it's doomed in the senate which is, of course, controlled by democrats. another city is in financial peril. city leaders in san bernardino voting to declare bankruptcy. this is the second time that a city has declared bankruptcy in california. san bernardino bills cannot be paid and city workers could soon have trouble getting their paychecks. and we're keeping an eye on what is happening in houston where any minute now mitt romney, the presumptive republican nominee, will address

the annual convention, the naacp's convention. when mr. romney begins speaking, we'll, of course, take you live to houston. we want to switch gears now and talk about a policy that's been three years in the making and now the episcopal church has become the largest christian denomination to allow same-sex blessing couples. joining me now is a bishop of the episcopal diocese of pennsylvania. he supports the church's stance. i want to welcome edward s. little, he's against same-sex blessings and is at the northern indiana diocese. welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> good morning. >> great to have you both. reverend baxter, i want to start with you. you say this is all about inclusion and follows the

episcopal church. was this just the next natural step for the church? >> i think this has been much more -- our denomination's response to what we've recognized as a real pastoral need among many in our church. and so this effort to recognize and bless same-sex couples committed to lifelong love and faithfulness and in their lives a witness to christ. this is an effort to mark that with a blessing. >> and reverend little, you say this measure means episcopalians change the sacrament of holy matrimony but a church spokesman said the following, we have authorized a blessing, and a

blessing is different than a marriage. it's a theological response to a monogamous, committed relationship. can you tell me exactly what has changed? >> well, if you look at the litergy, it's in exchange of rings, pronouncement and a blessing. and so it's virtually indistinguishable from a marriage. so in many ways we have implicitly supported marriage and made a change in basic christian teaching. >> i know our connection is not so grade, but i'm sure we'll fix it. but he's saying that this blessing is, in essence, a marriage so why not call it what it is? >> well, first of all, i want to say good morning also to bishop little, a dear friend. we understand that anything that has any sacrimental character to

it sl related to intention. so we less many things in the life of our church, from furniture to animals to other situations. the intention in this service is to be a right for witnessing and blessing same gender or same-sex commitment. i recognize for some within the church this is uncomfortable and immediately feels to them or appears to be marriage. we've made it very clear, in all of the work that we have done, in our theological papers, this is not a marriage but a blessing of a relationship. it has no civil, no legal authority, and as the marriage ceremony goes, it is not the

same thing. but we recognize that for some this is uncomfortable and we are making provisions also that no priest or no congregation is compelled or obligated to offer this service but every loaning cal bishop will have the responsibility of using her or his pastoral discretion as to whether it will be used or not. so it's a blessing of a same-sex relationship but not a marriage. >> so i'm interested, reverend little, suppose the episcopal church were to say, yes, we are going to marry same-sex couples. i knew i'd get it out eventually. let's say that the church was going to do that. how would that affect the church, do you think? >> first of all, greetings to bip shop baxter as well. he is a dear friend. well, first of all, it would continue to further divide the

church over the painful human sexuality. christians of goodwill and good conscience come down on different sides of this issue. but by taking an official stand like this, by providing a right, we've essentially moved forward in a direction that is not affirmed by a significant number, probably nonetheless a significant number in our own church and is also looked upon with some horror by christians around the world. we are, as episcopalians a tiny minute north and for one small portion of the church to make such a monumental step really separates us from brothers to sisters to around the world. the implications are enormous, not only for our own church but from well beyond. >> reverend baxter, some might assume that you're going to

allow blessings of same-sex couples and that this is just the first step and not very long from now you'll be performing marriages of same-sex couples. >> well, certainly one could take any action and project it to a direction that either for some would be favorable or for others would be very disheartening. that's not our intention. our intention at this point is to offer the opportunity to pastoraly reach out to people who are a part of the episcopal church, who have demonstrated wonderful christian commitment and love and as a church we welcome all. we welcome not only those who would differ with decisions we make but we are reaching out also to say that we recognize in the lives of persons of same-sex that there can be holy marks of

love and fidelity and caring and the witness of christ in one another. so this is our commitment. it is provisional. we are taking this step and we are recognizing that in many places this may make us a minority. but because we feel this pastoral calling, we know that we will learn much from this provisional experience of providing a blessing, a recognition of the love between two persons. >> reverend baxter, reverend little, thank you so much for joining us. i know you passionately disagree but this has been the most civil discussion on a passionate discussion that i've ever experienced on national television and i appreciate it. >> well, thank you, carol. we're both delighted to have the opportunity to share. >> thank you so much. >> thanks to you both. thank you. all right. we want to dip in to a live picture out of houston, texas. you see the stage there. any minute now mitt romney will be taking the stage. he'll be talking to a roomful of

people associated with the naacp. it's going to be a monumental task because, as you know, the vast majority of americans support president obama. when mitt romney takes the podium, we'll take you to houston live. we'll be right back. brave knights!

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well, they split up. now he's trying to take the rocker who ran off with his wife to court. a.j. hammer has the showdown. i don't mean to laugh. >> i'm laughing with you, carol. this is the second time that he's had this case thrown out of court. he was asking for, are you ready for this, $50 million from the journey guitarist for the financial and emotional damage. now, shown's attorney called this a victory of commonsense. salahi is planning on taking this to the supreme court and i would think his chances of success there are about the same of his chances of becoming governor of virginia. he told us back in april he was campaigning for that office and let's just say while we dpintd any indication that eavesdropped out of this race, carol, his campaign, if you want to call it that, is not getting a lot of

attention. >> i bet not. let's talk about rapper missy elliott. she's taking a lamborghini dip to court? >> yes. sheets claiming that she hasn't gotten her 2012 lamborghini that she ordered last july. she put money down on it. she traded in her bentley, put down more cash towards the $400,000 car. missy says the dealership wants her to pay more than the initially agreed upon ride. the car's value has gone up significantly. it seems to me, you pay a down payment, you agree upon a price, you are done. the dealership has not responded to the story. you mentioned that you have an older rav 4. if you push it over 100 miles an hour, this lamborghini will do 212 miles per hour. >> oh, man, mine starts shaking

over 80 miles an hour, not that i ever drive that fast. >> of course not. >> a.j. hammer, fun as always. mitt romney will address the naacp convention. opening ceremonies have begun. jim, set the mood for us. what's the crowd like? are they excited to hear from mitt romney? >> reporter: i should tell you, i'm going to have to keep my voice down a little bit. you were asking about the mood a few moments ago. there was an opening prayer to today's event with mitt romney. so i'm going to keep my voice down a little bit. he is expected to come in here. as we were talking about at the top of the hour, bring his message that is key to the election this fall. obviously this is a group of voters that will be highly supportive of president obama and his re-election campaign. 87% of the gallup survey is

supportive of mitt romney. if mitt romney can peal off a certain percentage, a small sliver, that could help him in swing votes. we're going to talk about the economy. he's released excerpts through his campaign. he's going to talk about the high african-american unemployment rate, which is somewhere around 14.4%. that is 6 percentage points over the national average. we'll hear mitt romney talk about that. it's going to be one of those events where he's going to come in and deliver that message and go. he has a couple of fund-raisers coming up later on in this week in montana and out in wyoming. but it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. >> mr. obama, he chose not to speak before the convention, supposedly had he a scheduling conflict. i know joe biden is talking tomorrow. but are people attending this convention disappointed that president obama won't be speaking in houston? >> you know, i think that there are people who are disappointed that president obama -- i raise

my voice now because the opening prayer is over with. i think there are people who are disappointed that president obama is not going to be here this week. joe biden will be here tomorrow and the president said he's got a scheduling conference. after all, president obama was here four years ago and indicated, according to a new york times report, they talked to ben of the naacp and he had indications that the president was coming and so the president not coming is not going to rub some people very well here. but this, as i mentioned a few moments ago, is a very supportive group of the president. if you took a poll here, there aren't going to be many votes about mitt romney. having said all that, he hasn't made his pitch yet. >> and i believe the speaker is talking about mitt romney. let's dip in and listen for just a bit.

my god. that's amazing. mitt romney is taking the stage. that was just dumb luck. let's listen to mitt romney. >> thank you. thank you. i do love that music. i have to tell you, i do love listening to that organ music and the prayer. that was a wonderful thing. good morning to all of you members of the naacp. >> good morning. >> and thank you to bishop grays for his introduction and chairman for the opportunity to be here this morning. and for your hospitality. this is an honor to address you and one that i had not expected and one i value very highly. i appreciate the chance to speak first, even before vice president. well, vice president biden will get his chance tomorrow.

i just hope the obama campaign doesn't think you're playing favorites. now -- >> oh, no. i was making that face because it's back. let's head back to houston. >> when you're in a face with 11% of republican registration, you don't get there by just talking to republicans. you have to make your case to every single voter. we don't count anybody out. and we sure don't make a habit of presuming anyone's support. support is asked for and earned and that's why i'm here today. now, with 90% of african-americans who typically vote for democrats, be you may wonder or some may wonder why a republican would bother to vote in the african-american community and address the naacp. one reason, of course, is that i hope to represent all americans of every race, free of sexual orientation. from the poorest to the richest

and everyone in between, there's another reason. i believe that if you understood who i truly am in my heart and if it were possible to fully communicate what i believe is in the real enduring vestige of african-american families, you would vote for me for president. now, i want you to know if i didn't believe that my policies would help families of color, more than the policies of president obama, i wouldn't be running for president. now, of course you know the opposition charges that me and my party are running for office to help the rich. nonsense. the rich will do just fine whether i'm elected or not. the president wants to make this campaign about blaming the rich and i want to make this a campaign about helping the middle class in america.

[ applause ] . i'm running for president because we will lift people from poverty and help people from becoming poor in the first place. my campaign is about helping the people who need help. of course, the president has said, don't do that. my course will. now, when president called to congratulate me on becoming the republican nominee, he said i look forward to a healthy and debate about america's future. i'm afraid this campaign has taken a different course than that. campaigns at their best, voters can expect a clear choice and candidates can expect a fair hearing. only more so from an organization like this one.

[ applause ] so it's that healthy debate about the course of the nag that i want to discuss with you today. someone told us in the 1950s or 1960s that a black citizen would serve as the 44th president of the united states, we would have been proud and many would have been surprised. picturing that day we might have assumed that the american presidency would have been the last door of opportunity to be opened. before that came to pass, on the path to equal opportunity surely would have had to come down. of course, it hasn't happened quite that way. many barriers remain. old inequities persist. in some ways, the challenges are even more complicated than before and across america and even within your own ranks there are serious, honest debates about the way forward. if equal opportunity in america where a fact, the economy would

be equal fee bad for everyone. instead, it's worst for african-americans in almost every way, the unemployment rate, the duration of unemployment, average income, median family wealth are all worse in the black community. in june, while the overall unemployment rate remains stuck at 8.2%, the unemployment rate for african-americans actually went up from 13.6% to 14.4%. americans of every background are asking when this economy will finally recover and you in particular are entitled to an answer. if equal opportunity -- [ applause ] -- if he'll opportunity was an accomplished fact, sons and daughters could be sent to school for hope of a better life. instead, for generations the

african-american community has been waiting and waiting for that promise to be kept. today, black children are 17% of students nationwide but they are 42% of the students in our worst performing schools. our society sends them into mediocre schools and then expects them to perform with excellence. and that's simply not fair. frederick douglas observed, and i quote, it's easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. and yet instead of preparing these children for life, too many schools set them up for failure. everyone in this room knows that we owe them better than that. the path of inequality often leads to lost opportunity, college, graduate school and first jobs should be the milestones. marking the passage from childhood to adulthood. but for too many disadvantaged

young people, these goals seem unattainable and their lives take a tragic turn. many live in neighborhoods filled with violence and fears and empty of opportunity. there are patients for change is understandable. they are told even now to wait for improvements in our economy and in our schools but it seems to me that americans have waited long enough [ applause ] >> the point is that when decades of the same promises keep producing the same failures, that it's reasonable to rethink our approach and consider a new plan i'm hopeful that together we can set a new direction and starting where our problems do start w. a family, a study by the brookings institute

has shown that those that graduate from high school, get a full-time job and wait until 21 before they marry and then have their first child, the probability of becoming poor is 2%. and if those factors are absent, the probability of being poor is at 6%. here you understand the deep and lasting difference that family makes. your former executive director, dr. jeng bin hooks had a right. the family he says remains the main stay of the black community. that great truth must not be over looked, end of quote. any policy that lifts up and honors the family is going to be good for the country and that must be our goal. as president, i will promote strong families and i will defend traditional marriage.

[ applause ] now, as you also may have heard from my opponent, i believe in the free enterprise system. i've never heard anyone say, there is too much free enterprise around here, too many jobs, too many people putting money in the bank. what you hear, of course, is how do we bring in jobs? how do we make good, honest employers want to move in, stay in, and with the state that the skmee economy is in today, we're asking that question more and more. free enterprise is still the greatest force for upward mobility, economic security, and expansion of the middle class. we've seen in recent years what it's like to have less free enterprise. as president, i'll show the good things that can happen when we have more business activity,

more jobs, more opportunity, more paychecks, more savings accounts. on day one i'll begin turning this economy around with a plan for the middle class and i don't just mean for those that are middle class now. i also mean for those who have waited so long for their chance to join the middle class. and by the way, i know what it takes to put people to work, to bring more jobs and better wages. my plan is based on 25 years in success of business. it's a job recovery plan. now, that's five key steps. first, i'm going to take full advantage of our energy resources and i'll approve the keystone pipeline from canada. low cost, plentiful gas, oil, and renewables will bring over a million manufacturing jobs back

to the united states. [ applause ] second, i want to open up new markets for american goods. we're the most productive major economy in the world. so trade means good jobs for americans. but trade has to be good and free. so i'll clamp down on cheaters like china and make sure they finally play by the rules and don't steal our jobs. and, third, i'm going to reduce government spending. i hope everyone understands that high levels of debt slow down the rate of growth of the gdp, of the economy. and that means fewer jobs are created. if our goal is jobs, we have to stop spending over a trillion dollars than we take in every year. and so to do that i'm going to

eliminate every nonessential expensive program that i can find. that includes obama care and i'm going to work to reform and save -- [ booing ]. >> you know, there was a survey of the chamber of commerce. they carried out a survey of their members, about 1500 surveyed. and they asked him what effect obama care would have on their plans and three-quarters of them said it would make them less likely to hire people. so, again, if my priority is job, that's my priority, that's what i would change and provide people what they would need is lower cost, good quality, a capacity to deal with people who have pre-existing conditions and i'll put that in place and i'll

work to reform medicare and social skusecurity. people keep talking about those programs are on their way to insolvency. and nothing is done to fix them. i'll fix that. higher benefits for lower income people and lower benefits for higher income folks. fourth, i'm going to focus on nurturing the skills of the workers that our economy needs today and the future demands. this is the human capital with which tomorrow's bright future can be built. too many homes and schools are failing to provide our children with education that are essential for anything other than a minimum wage job. [ applause ] and, finally, be and perhaps

most importantly, i'll are restore economic freedom. this nation's economy runs on freedom, on opportunity, on entrepreneurs, on people who innovate and build businesses. these entrepreneurs are being crushed by high taxation, unnecessary burdens and regulations, hostile regulators, excessive health care costs, and destructive policies. lee go to work to make america the best place in the world for innovators, for entrepreneurs and for businesses large and small. do these five things, open up energy, expand trade, cut the growth on government, focus on educating workers today and restore economic freedom and jobs will come back. we have got