coming up on half past the hour.

now to people who grabbed them are making demands. here's where it happened. egypt peninsula. a pastor from massachusetts traveling with a woman and a group of church goers and their egyptian tour guide. both him and the woman and the tour guide were abductioned. they were stopped in northern sinai and they are still being held at this hour. sylvester stallone's son, sage, found dead in his los angeles home and his father is devastated over the death. 36-year-old sage stallone performed in a few movies. foul play is not suspected, but an autopsy is to be performed. debachery at the olympics? u.s. olympics soccer goalie hope solo said the olympic village was home to nonstop antics including alcohol and sex. she said alth lites are extremists. when they are training, it's laser focused. when they go for drinks, it's 20 drinks.

you want to build memories whether it's sexual, partying or on the field. olympic gold medallist dominique daws talked about it this morning. >> i will see that athletes are focused and we have laser focus, but everythi else i don't agree with. that was not my experience in 1992 when i stayed in the olympic village. >> they begin july 27th. turning to politics, mitt romney and president obama are neck and neck except when it comes to race. take a look at this. among white voters romney has a 15-point advantage over the president. when it comes to black voters, only 5% of black voters in this survey said they would vote for romney. we talked with voters here in atlanta about why they think that is. >> you vote for people that you can relate to. that you feel walked in your

shoes more than the other person. >> black and white is no support. that's the closest thing we have as far as being a black american. that's the closest thing we have to being in the white house. >> a few opinions. no the a full poll or study, but here to talk about this race for the races is republican strategist and contributor and a columbia university professor and director of the center on african-american politics and society there. let's start with you. we know by now we heard bits of mitt romney addressing the naacp this week. times he was applaud and times when he was booed when he said he wants to repeal obama care. thing that stood out. i want you to take a listen. >> i believe if you understood who i truly am in my heart and

if it were possible to communicate what is real in the best interest of african-american families, you would vote for me for president. >> why doesn't he just tell them. if you can understand what's in my heart, then you would vote for me and i would be the best candidate for you. why can't he tell them? >> that's a good question. i think mitt romney has a problem and we need to hear what is in his heart. i don't think he went to the naacp to speak to the 5,000 people in that room. he knew he was going to get booed. i saw him get booed for the same obama caroline a month before when he spoke in front of a latino audience. what he chose to do is say look, i will be consistent and say the same thing to every audience. i am not going to pander and say different things to one audience or another. that's the choice he made. it was courageous and the naacp

is a non-part an organization. they gave him a lot more applause than they did boos. they gave him or two boos and 25 or 27 applauses. that is what we focused on. though they are nonpartisan, they are members and they can be partisan and most of them are democrats for barack obama. >> he talked about defending traditional marriage and other topics. what do you think? why do you think that he is having such a hard time resonating with black voters. >> i am not sure. he has been strategic and comes off this conservative as president did in 2000. i don't think black voters cared all that much about what is in his heart. i think they care more about how his policies are going to speak to black america. what is mitt romney's plan for criminal justice reform.

what is mitt romney's plan for the high levels of black unemployment? it was mostly rhetoric and mostly him bashing the president about obama care. the republican party provided no new initiatives or alternative when is it comes to black america. we hear the same old tired proposals around vouchers that have been talked about since reagan was in the white house in 1980. i don't hear anything new that is coming from the republicans. >> let's talk about jobs. to you first. even under this president, president obama, that has the support of the majority of black voters. you have 14.5% unemployment for black americans. it's 7.4% for white americans and 8.2% average. for hispanics it's 11%. when you are addressing that

group that was just so helpful to the president in 2008 in getting him elected and jobs are the number one issue, the economy and jobs this election, has the president failed black voter when is it comes to jobs? >> that is going to be a question that black voters are going have to answer. obviously you are looking at black voters that have been disproportionately affected by the economy under obama. 14.4% is a painful, painful statistic and not only that, i think one of the problems that barackbama has with the black voters is that there were huge expectations by the african-american community on what having that first african-american president would mean. the first black president would mean. many of them are disillusioned the same way many latinos are disillusioned. there were many promises he has not delivered on. that's why he still has the

support of the african-american community. it has slipped according to polls 7 or 8 points. that can make all the difference in states like florida that are going to be close. >> you are talking about this gallup poll in 2008 a survey saw an 84% black voter turn out. now that is down to 76%. it's important when you talk about certain states and north carolina where the president in 2008 won by a narrow margin. i want your reaction when it comes to jobs. this is the most important point for americans and you got black unemployment at almost 14.5%. what does that do to support and energize the base for the president? >> i'm sorry, is this for me? >> yes. >> i mean it's a very difficult electoral map. unfortunately half of the black electorate is in a reliable red state in the south. the key battle ground states

where african-americans will have a huge influence is north carolina and virginia in particular. what he has to do is really make the case. he needs to make the case about why is it he hasn't been able to come through with the small promise he made in 2007 and 2008 around criminal justice reform. >> particularly on jobs. >> on jobs, it's difficult. what should have happened in the first two years is there should have been a massive job plan coming out of congress with the president's signature. unfortunately that didn't come through and the republicans came in and they blocked him ever since. >> the president started off with health care reform. that was the administration's choice. >> he had a few years where he had a democrat house and senate. let's not forget that. >> exactly. i wrote about the price of the ticket. that was a huge mistake. what he needs to do is go forward looking and talking

about what specifically he plans to do. what is he going to do about black unemployment and the promises that he made in 2007 and 2008? that will close the enthusiasm gap that appears to be a problem among black voters. >> i want you to stick around on the next side. an interesting conversation about condi rice.

as mitt romney fights to gain traction, the rumor mill went into overdrive this week. the report named the former secretary of state condoleezza rice as front-runner for the ticket. is it even a possibility to discuss republican strategist anna navarro and frederick harris. condoleezza rice said last year, i want you to take a electric at what she said. >> i cannot imagine myself running for office not because politics are tough, but it's not me.

>> she said it time and time again. this is a policy woman. she is an intensely private woman and has no interest at least in the past for run for example office. this is on the drudge report. what's your take? is this even possible? >> it's interesting. this question about credibility with minority voters having condi rice on the ticket is interesting. she provides romney with credibility around foreign policy issues. romney has no foreign policy experience. if anything, he needs condi rice for that. >> anna, when we look at how central she was to the bush administration and defending mass destruction and abortion, she calls herself mildly pro choice. she is not on the same page when it comes to that. >> that's a problem for the conservative base and the republican party. we saw two reactions that told

you that probably if condi rice was being considered earlier in the week, she is not as highly considered at this point. one was the reaction from the conservative base. mitt romney promised he will have a pro life number two. condi rice herself and let it be known that she is not interested in politics and being mitt romney's vp. she is a woman of substance and she deserves just on her merits to be considered, but she has never run for office and though she has been on the field, there is a huge difference between being part of the team and being the number two at-bat. a huge difference. it's two completely different games. >> not to mention the timing.

you have to wonder about that. >> poppy, i think mitt romney needs to stretch this out as long as he can. whenever he needs to, he can pop out a name and we will all go there and get obsessed with that. >> here said we will know before the convention. we have to go. here's what's ahead. steven tyler out, j-lo out. is the queen of soul going to replace them? that's next. dentity, turning your life upside down in a matter of seconds. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> you just read my mind. >> announcer: just one little piece of information and they can open bogus accounts, stealing your credit, your money and ruining your reputation. that's why you need lifelock. lifelock is the leader in identity theft protection, relentlessly protecting your personal information to help stop the crooks in their tracks before your identity is attacked,

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i realized that the only way they could change was through education. i am helping educate the children so we can change the town together. >> we helped the children by paying for school uniforms. the main focus is the program that is running four days a week. as young people, we know the challenges of this community. we also do a number of activities. we have got to come together for fun while we also come for academics. >> this program gave me a chance to go to university and pay for my fees and i can come become and help out here. a little can go a long way.

>> math and science and english! >> i did not go to universy. i feel excited. >> i am going to be an accountant. >> a lawyer. >> the work that you do here is bringing change.

empty seats at the judge's table. j-lo is out and steven tyler is

out and the challenge is to find us to give unique quotes. okay. dean is in new york. what do you make? >> i think that "american idol's" ratings are down. 20 million viewers, the lowest since 2003. steven tyler will be fine. he eligible for social security now. he will be fine and land on his feet. he will have to get new judges to inn vision rate. >> the highest rated show in the u.s. has big sponsors like coca-cola and ford. aretha franklin, 18-time grammy awarwinner told cnn in an e-mail she is interested in joining as a j. what do you think? >> i am available and interested in being a judge. i don't think she is the that will bring back the young people.

maybe lindsay lohan. she has been in front of more judges and lawyers. >> can she sing? >> think outside of the box. if you are listening, get chief justice john roberts. >> that ll bring politics and older and younger people together. charlie sheen, another guy >> oh, lord. >> the whole cast of jersey shore. >> that are i might watch. >> bring excitement back to the show. it's still number two, but since 2003, it was the number one show and losing the average age of viewers is up to 15 years ole. that doesn't sound old, but it's important. >> it's all relative. i am voting for you for judge. we will be back with an interesting op ed. vacation or die. it has a lot of viewers fired up.

dean said you better vacation or die and he is here to make his case. really? >> go to cnn.com and read my article. i tell you, go on a vacation and don't put it off. study after study said your chance of a heart attack goes way up if you don't vacation. don lemon is saving his life. there should be signs saying if you don't take a vacation, you are going to die. we are not kidding. take time off and go anywhere. go to the jersey shore or go to the mountains or camping.