help america prepare for this economic storm. but you better be ready to debate. because i read all of the tweets and posts and i love to write back. thanks for joining the conversation. we are here on saturday at 1:00 p.m. eastern and sunday at 3:00. have a great weekend. hello, everyone, you're in the cnn newsroom. we begin with politics, presidential politics. the president has two important campaigns stops in virginia today. in his own words, quote, if and when we get virginia, we will win this election. end quote. he won it in 2008. the stakes can't get any higher with. however this president not taking virginia for granted at all, is he? >> no, not at all, fredricka. the state has 13 electoral votes. very important to the president's reelection efforts. as you mentioned, he did win in

2008 but he was the first democrat to do so since lindon johnson in 1964. so it is by no means a reliably blue state. but the obama campaign is helping to keep virginia in the blue column. they are doing so, they hope, by arguing that the president will look out for the pr of middle class wheel mitt romney cares more about helping out the real wael think. let's see what he had to say at his first stop in glenn oa virginia. he got rained on but let's hear what he had to say about mitt romney and republican fles congress. >> they will spend a lot of time talking, but if you cut through all the stuff, what they are really saying is tax cuts for the wealthy, roll back regulations. that's essentially their plan. we can't afford to go back to top down economics. we need somebody who believes in a middle out economic, a

bottom-up economics. somebody who will fight for you. >> so there you have it, fred. and i should mention that this sm of this language may sound familiar. it is a lot of the same things we heard in 2008 in the fight against his then rival john mccain, fighting about how he will fight for the middle class, where as republicans care more about big business and big spenders. fred? >> athena, what about the polls? what do latest polls in virginia say about the president's chances to reclaim that state? >> well, the latest polls show that president obama is running ahead of romney by a few points. but it's still very, very close, which is why we're seeing this two-day trip, multiple stops, retail events. radio and tv interviews, in addition to the speeches on the stump and this is exactly the kind of thing you can expect to see more of over the next several months, fredricka. >> a very busy next few months indeed. thank you very much, athena jones at the white house. meantime, president obama

rival, mitt romney, is not campaigning today. he is taking it easy at his lake house in new hampshire. look at this scene, critics saying it reinforces the rich guy image that he is actually trying to play down. romney's former rival rick santorum made his first campaign appearance for mitt romney today. he opened the campaign office in greensburg, pennsylvania. another key battle ground state. and we're learning more about the two american tourists kidnapped in egypt. they were taken from their tour bus in the sinai peninsula along with their guide, pastor michelle louis, on a missionary trip in the middle east with he and his family. he and a woman who attends a sister church were abducted. i spoke to journalist earlier and he said he was able to speak to the kidnappers. >> caller: i spoke to the head of security of sinai and he said that a tribe kidnapped two boston american citizens in

sinai for vacation. one is a pastor from massachusetts. and a woman accompanying him. i spoke to the kidnappers a while ago and they said the hostages are unharmed and safe but they are also demanding that authorities let go someone detained on drug charges and they vow to kidnap more tourists if their person is not released. >> all this happening while u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. she has been meeting with mohamed morsi, the country's newly-elected president. hillary there to offer help for the tran. >> translator: transition and its economic rival. >> he understands his presidency and indeed the democratic transition depends on building

the transition across the spectrum to work on a new constitution at parliament. to protect civil society, to draft a new constitution that will be respected by all. >> clinton is also expected to touch on two sensitive issues, women's rights and equality for the egyptian copton christians. visa and master card and some of the biggest banks have agreed to a massive settlement with retailers totaling $7.2 billion. the law center surrounds credit card swipe fees. merchants alleges they were fixing the price on the feees. credit card companies agred to suspend fees for about eight months. and speaking of big banks, j.p. morgan chase is now the focus of a federal investigation. yesterday the bank said that losses from risky trades totalled nearly $6 billion.

that's about three times more than j.p. morgan initially reported. now investigators want to know if traders hid the size of the losses after the banks said an internal probe found reason for suspicion. i'm going to talk with a diver who had an up-close and personal encounter with a great white. and he said he would actually get in those waters again. he's not scared at all. in fact, he was back in the water today. he will join us to talk about his great adventure. being a did of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you. a living, breathing intelligence teaching data how to do more for business. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions, to bring all the right results.

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in the water. in fact, he went back into the water today. nathan and his friend, dave, were off the coast of australia in perth, when they encountered a great white shark. nathan captured the whole thing with a video camera. so you and your friend can be wb dave, were spear fishing in an area where there were reported incidents of great white attackes. why did you decide to go spear fishing there? >> there hadn't been any reports in the area we were. there were a couple of attacks in the state. a few people had seen what was likely in the area -- >> so nathan, take me back. you and your buddy are fishing.

you are at depths that are fairly shallow. we can see that you have a mounted camera, so you are videotaping it all. you have your spear fish rod there. then what happens? >> i turn the camera on, ready to do the second dive of the day. and i was breathing up. my body was facing the opposite direction. i was just taking my final breath ready to do a dive and i just heard him scream and i turn around and i'm face-to-face. >> so you've said that you always wanted to encounter a great white but now that you have, it's the scariest thing. and you don't everwant this to happen again. what were you thinking at the time when you saw this great white? which by estimates was about 12 feet long. >> yeah, i said i would like to see one. but i couldn't have gotten lucky

with the encounter we did have. i never want to see another one in the world. that was just -- it's nuts. what do you say? >> how close did this shark get? did you actually have contact with it? did you actually poke it with that spear? >> yeah, i today fend it off twice in my dive. and my friend, dave, today fend it off twice as well. >> what did your instincts tell you? did you feel like it was in attack mode? or did you feel like you could actually scare it off? >> no, it wasn't in attack mode. it was more curious. but when you are face-to-face, yeah, you don't want let it get too close. and yeah, just sort of let it

know that we knew it was there and we weren't going to let it get any closer. that was the stand, so to speak. >> did it go aby on its own? you can see on the background from your images, that your boat was a pretty good distance away. >> yeah. the boat, we were just over 15 meeters from the boat when it came in. and it followed us the whole way back. it came in closer. we got back to the boat, my buddy jumped straight in and as soon as it was just on the edge, and that was it, we never saw it again. >> nathan podmoore, one of the luckiest men in australia right now. he said, that is something he always wanted to do, but of course, will never do that again. perhaps you want to do something a little milder. how about getting down on the mat, like i did with ms. deseret

there, to try to tighten the tummy, but not by way of crunches. she shows us some other ways to tighten the core. thanks for babysitting the kids, brittany. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42.

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i know you can identify with this. you know how maybe you do a hundred crunches a day and still have nothing to show for it? forget that. i teamed up with expert deseret nathanson to show you how to get a flat tummy without the crunches. lots of people fantasize about the whole wash board abs. they want a six pack. a four pack. and they're thinking, let me just do as many crunches as possible. >> yes. >> you say there's another way. >> yes, there is another more efficient way. >> so we are going to get on the mat. or can you be on the carpet in your home. >> absolutely. >> the floor. >> absolutely. >> hotel room. >> yes. yes. or at work. >> or at work. >> okay. >> get a friend to join you at work. if you're not wearing a skirt. we are going to do the plank. we are going to start done here on our elbows. and from here, a regular plank position is going to be up on your toes and your elbows.

now this may be difficult for some people who are just starting out. so to make this easier, you are going to drop your knees. so this is going to be a beginning plank position for someone who doesn't have a lot of abdominal strength. from here, if you want to make it more difficult, you lift your knees off the mat. now if this is still too hard, put your feet further apart and that will make it a little easier. from here, there are hundreds of variations of the plank that you can do. can you lift one of your limbs. lift two of your limbs. >> what? >> yeah. rock side to side. bring your knee to the outside of your elbow. absolutely. so that is working your obliques and maybe some leg muscles. >> oh, yeah, you are getting total body here. and of course with the plank you're working your upper body. that is the most efficient way it really strengthen your abdominals. >> you can break this up into phases. you have beginning positions. at what point do you start advancing to these other moves when it feels too easy?

>> that's usually good barometer for it. you want it start off holding ten seconds, see what you can do. >> okay. all right, we have some good things here. now we have to do it routinely. you do it. but we, me, have to do it regular regly. >> it is fun, easy and cheap. >> perfect. all right, danielle nathanson, she has some rock hard abs to admire. and it also makes you hungry, working out. next week, deseret will tell us about the best snacks after your workout and in between. find out more about exercises. other fiess steps on deseret's website, deseret nathanson.net. now that you're all buff, how about a trip to mexico. well take you there. some very cool getaways. [ manager 1 ] out here in the winds,

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all right. so the mayan calendar is set to end this year. and if you believe, that means it's the end of the world, well, they have the perfect place for you to take in the show. rob mars anno takes us to the heart of their empire, on the go. >> the ruins of chichen itza, found on mexico's yucatan

peninsula. only hour's drive from cancun. >> it is best to go early in the morning so you can either depart from cancun with a tour group and arrive around 11:00 a.m. if you are traveling independently, that will give you more flexibility to get there as soon as it opens at 8:00 a.m. >> the most iconic structure is the temple, which when built was positions to line up with the movement of the sun. >> one of the best times to visit is during fall and swing equinox. because the sun hits the pyramid in such a way that it gives the illusion of a moving serpant on the stair case of the pyramids. >> the temple has 365 steps. one for each day of the year. and if you believe the mayan calendar is ending this december, the possible apocolypse is creating a tourism boom. >> we've seen a lot of tour companies offering doom's day themed tours. offering to give double your money back in the end of the world actually does occur.

>> okay. so ready to book your trip before the end of the world? or even if it doesn't end, there is a lot of great stuff to see and did along the yucatan peninsula. there are lots of great things to see and do in other parts of the yucatan peninsula. here to help us plan that trip, kate maxwell with jet setter.com. editor in chief. first of all, how in the world do we get to chichen itza. >> well the easiest way it so t.o. fly into cancun and it is about three hours from cancun. and so you could -- that's another jumping off to chichen, itza. >> so is there an intimate resort kind of city? >> merida is elegant. boulevard and plazas.

all sorts of great museums. so yeah, it is very, very cultural. but cancun is the breach resort. it has a of a spring break reputation but it has adult, like aqua and did includes everything. can you check your wallet at the door. all meals and drinks are free. eight swimming pools at different temperatures. all sorts of fung things. for families we like jw mariott on jetsetter.com. that is $219 per night. four swimming pools. pools are a big thing in cancun. again, ocean front and a 35,000 foot spa. so that's another great option. >> all right. >> and just outside meridan is a built after splurge but genuine

17th century hacienda. they have cooking classes. can you learn how to make some great mexican food. >> oh, fantastic. you have to have a great trip with great food and even better if you learn how to make it. so your springboard location is cancun. but there is a pleasant strip of beach, playa dell carmen which we love as well. >> i like that and i know have you been and enjoy it as well. >> sand and water is just amazing there. if you travel about an hour further south of that, you get to a really really beautiful rustic resort with ruins that tumble into the sea. absolutely stunning. and really fantastic restaurants. there is a place called the heartwood that opened last year. chefs are from new york. food is fantastic. really great. octopus in particular. so lots of things to check out there too. >> what did you like about the meroma resort at playa del

carmen? >> i loved that one. if you are going with a loved one, it is definitely a place to check out. >> thanks you so much. we enjoy going to these incredible places by way of you and your guidance. >> thanks very much. >> who knows what's next. thanks, kate. >> see you next week. >> all right. have your passport ready. because kate will take you to some incredible places, as can you see. you can find a lot more travel tips at jetsetter.com/cnn. all right, comic-con in san diego this weekend. you know what that means. comic book, sci-fi, pop arts fans, all dressed as their faf rt characters. they are also finding collectible and their favorite hollywood. you recognize her there? we will see which movies are pleasing the crowd. she is hilarious. that cloud is in the network,

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george zimmerman, the charged with killeding 17-year-old trayvon martin wts a new judge. they have asked the judge to step down accusing him of bias. they filed a complaint saying the judge made despairaging remarks about their client's character. sylvester stallone is devastated today after his son, sage, seen here, was found dead in his los angeles home. he appeared in