on the world stage. please, keep the conversation going. facebook.com/carolcnn and thanks, as always, for your comments. thanks for joining me today. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with kyra phillips. >> hello, everyone, i'm kyra phillips. 11:00 amp on the east coast and 8:00 in the west. they put the bad in badminton and we're talking about not giving 100%. does it really take a man to oversee a presidential debate? of course not. so, why has it been 20 years since a woman did it? we begin with a tough act to follow after yesterday's performances by u.s. athletes,

but on tap plenty more opportunity for glory. here's what you can keep your eye on. in gymnastics the men fight for the all-around title and try to steal the show from the japanese favorite and look for redemption after a devastating fifth-place finish in the team final. . in the pool the women team up in the 4 by 200 meter relay. allison schmitt going for her tenth medal. and venus and serena williams expected to prove their dominance as they take on italy in the quarterfinal round of women's doubles. let's talk about michael phelps and the fab five gymnasts doing the u.s. proud. zain verjee in london. all right, phelps just became the most decorated olympian ever and has a chance to actually get a few more, right? >> yeah, exactly. you know, this is just a topping

on a sundae now. he will blow past that incredible number he hit, 19. just a few minutes ago he swam behind me in the aquatic centre and qualified for the individual meddy and wept through to the next round. all this arguing about whether he is the greatest athlete ever. do you think so? one of the chief olympic officials doesn't. listen to what sebastian coe said. >> self-evidently in the medal tally, he's the most successful. i don't think, my personal view, i'm not sure he is the greatest. >> the logic there, kyra, in part was, you know, in swimming you can get more medals than a lot of the other events. a lot of relays and the swimmers can be in competition.

is he really the greatest ever? is he greater than muhammed ali? really depends how you see it. >> i'll tell you what, we'll talk about it with an olympic swimmer in just a minute, zain. not the end of that discussion. however, i have to ask you about the fab, the fab five. i mean, i just love all these names. the flying squirrel i couldn't stop watching them last night. it was fantastic. >> i know, they were amazing, kyra. solid performance, excellent. jordyn wieber did it so well on the vault and then, boom, boom, boom, they nailed it and they left the chinese and the russians in tears and they clinched the gold, which they haven't had since 1996. pretty amazing stuff. didn't do too well on the uneven bar, but who cares, they got gold. >> you, being the brit, when you hear fab five, do you constantly think of the beatles?

that's constantly going through my head on a constant basis. >> i do, actually, when you say that. wait, the beatles won a gold? >> anyway, they're all top of their class. what's going on with the badminton. tell me about this scandal. >> kyra, they put the bad in badminton, i think is what you said. this is unbelievable. these eight players, women, disqualified because they deliberately threw their game was decided and they had all qualified to go to the next round and the next match was the quarterfinals but they wanted to lose their matches so that they could just play a weaker team that would put them in a better position of winning gold. but the problem is, even if that was their strategy, kyra, they made it too obvious. they missed a lot of really easy shots. they just served into the net and it was really obvious what was going on and everyone was booing. now, they've been disqualified. there is an appeal. the indonesians, as well as the south koreans have said that

they're appealing this and the chinese say they're launching their own investigation. but that's what happened today in badminton. not a good day. kyra? >> of course you have a badminton racket, of all people. i'm not surprised. you put the bad in badminton, that's for sure. zain verjee, great to see you. all right, i want to talk more about michael phelps and what sebastian coe had said. the fact that phelps may be the most successful olympian, but not the best ever. i wonder what other olympic swimmers would say to that. i wanted to call up dara torres on the phone with us now from coral springs, florida. she's won 12 olympic medals and also one of the greatest female swimmers in the world. we had her on a lot before and after the olympics last time around. i'm curious, dara, what do you think about what coe said? >> here you have michael phelps,

how could he not be called the greatest olympian ever. no one ever said they won eight gold medals in one olympic game and he surpassed the gymnast who has the record for all the olympic medals. i don't know, i completely beg to differ with coe. >> phelps sat down with our piers morgan, i don't know if you saw the whole interview. let's go ahead and play a small clip of that. i want to get your input on the mindset of this swimmer from your perspective. let's roll it. >> okay. >> unmotivated, didn't want to do anything. didn't want to get out of bed. didn't want to work out. had no drive, had no goals. i had goals, but i just didn't want to do anything about them. i'm just unmotivated. >> okay. he was talking about the last time around. and now you're looking at him now and we're talking about this guy, who is, you know, the best in the world at this point. and he's talking about being

unmotivated and didn't want to get out of bed and just lying on the couch. what do you make of that? it just seems so, just the complete opposite of what you think an amazing athlete would ever experience mentally, i guess. >> actually, it's not. because here you have someone who at his first olympic games was 15 years old in 2000. i think at some point, i think between the '04 and '08 games i don't think he even took a day off, not even at christmas time. it's very hard for someone, i don't think people really know how tough it is with all the training and stuff that you do continuously. hours upon hours and days upon days. we all have times when you are mentally just exhausted and, you know, he experienced that. he never had a break. so, you know, it's really not uncommon for someone who has been in the sport for so long to sort of mentally need a break. >> that is true. you mention he was 15. so, let me ask you this.

when we look at, say, missy franklin. she's 17 and then this young gal out of china, she wins 16, right? what can these two learn from a michael phelps? i mean, definitely a lesson here about too much, too young. burn out. maybe pushing it too hard. what would be your insights and your advice? >> well, you know, i finished my first olympics when i was 17 and i don't think that was too young. it is all about taking place. maybe get a week off, two weeks off for the entire year and it could wreak havoc on you. one reason i stayed in the sport so long, i took seven years off here and six years here. i took a break. i'm not saying you need to take x amount of time off, but you need to give your body a break and your mind a break if you want to stay in a sport long. >> final question. there was a lot of, obviously, controversy that was, you know,

surrounding phelps. the whole issue about, you know, when the picture was revealed about him smoking pot and, you know, just talking about the phase he went through when he wassen unmotivated and now we see what he has achieved and where he is right now. for younger athletes who are looking at him and his past and his present, you know, what is the message there? what does that, what does he represent to you? he's been very revealing about the bad stuff. you know. >> well, i think that's great. it just shows that he's human and makes him more, you know, vulnerable. but, you know, everyone goes through stuff and everyone makes mistakes in their lives and learn from them. he made some mistakes and learned from them. i think he's a great role model for kids to look up to and to be able to set goals. you know, go for your dreams and work hard, sacrifice and dedicate to what you want in

life. >> no one's perfect, right? >> exactly. >> yeah. don't we all know. we wish we were at times. i'm so glad, i'm so glad you called in. i knew you'd be the best one to talk about this this morning. dara, thanks so much. >> thanks, kyra, i appreciate it, have a great day. >> you, too. we wish michael phelps the best of luck and we will keep watching him as he takes on, or a. aiming for more gold there in london. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wet cleaning better doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna...use these. ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] unlike mops, swiffer can maneuver into tight spaces and its wet mopping cloths can clean better in half the time. mom? ♪ ahhhh! ahhhh! no it's mommy! [ female announcer ] swiffer. better clean in half the time.

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it's law that just makes sense. >> there's not an inch of ohio that the president does not love to visit. so, i -- it's a great state. more than great if you want to be president or remain president. ohio is vital and that's why president obama is headed there for the 25th time since he took the oath of office. he's due to speak in mansfield later this hour. akron, ohio, after that. then you'll hear him live here

on cnn after that. in the meantime, strong indications that all this strong presidential attention and tv ad money is paying off. new polls from cbs running ahead of mitt romney in ohio and two other major battlegrounds. likely voters in the buckeye state give the president a six-point edge over the challenger. now, in florida, same story. in pennsylvania, the margin swells to 11 points. cnn's brianna keilar joining me now from the white house. ohio an important state. what do you think he'll talk about today? >> he will talk about, according to campaign sources, that push for what t campaign calls the middle class tax cut. extending bush era tax cuts for the first $250,000 of earnings, kyra. so, he'll certainly be talking about that. but as you know, ohio is hugely important. we're talking 18 electoral states in the last five presidential elections. ohioans have gone for the

presidential candidate that went on to be president and the campaign is hoping that president obama's support for the auto bailout is really going to help push him over the top. one in eight jobs in ohio tied to the auto industry. certainly that action that he took was very popular. in addition to talking about the tax cuts, though. we'll hear something new according to the campaign and that is president obama talking about a new report that's out from the tax policy center. it's a middle of the road tax group and this report says that mitt romney's tax plan would help wealthier americans most. that, for instance, it says if you're earning more than a million dollars per year, you'd get to keep about 4% more of your earnings under this, under romney's plan and if you're earning less than $200,000, you'd see your take-home pay drop by a little more than 1%. there is a whole other side to this. they say when you look at the

authae au authors of this report, one is an obama administration official, they will draw some questions up about whether this is an unbias report. >> you mentioned romney, let's talk about his trip overseas and what many are saying were a number of awkward moments, shall we say. gaffes. do you think president obama is going to mention that? >> you know, he is, we're told he's not going to mention that, but as you saw yesterday, his campaign was more than happy to talk about this. they actually had a conference call with reporters where they were drawing comparisons between his trip, which was a very extravagant trip back in 2008. remember, he went to eight countries in about eight days. mitt romney went to three. and his trip went pretty well. i think you could say. and it was really important at the time that it did because one of the things that he was running on was winding down the war in iraq. foreign policy, especially for a then junior senator who didn't have a lot of foreign policy experience, it was very much a test for him and i will tell you, the obama campaign was just

sort of reveling in some of those gaffes of mitt romney's and they talked a lot about it yesterday and a lot of the president's surrogates did, too. >> they sure did, brianna. >> don't forget the president is expected to speak in mansfield 1 1 11:30 eastern time. we mentioned mitt romney. he's ramping up for a swing state blitz. beginning august 10th, he'll go on a high-profile four-day bus tour through virginia, north carolina, florida and ohio. and a romney campaign official says that the theme of that tour will be romney's vision for the economy. but some say hitting the big markets and big states ahead of the convention is a sign that he's getting closer to picking a right-hand person. chase scene

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obama care, love it or hate it, starting today, new health care benefits kick in requiring coverage of preventative services and screenings largely affecting women. another fast of the obama administration's controversial health care law and chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta here to talk to us about these new health care benefits. where do you want to begin? >> a lot of what we talk about

with regard to obama care came in phased in program. most of it implemented by 2014, but some things have taken effect, as you know. for example, children staying on their parents' plan until age 26. this has to do with preventive services for women. now, there have been about 14 preventive service programs that have gone into effect and eight more added today. i will give you an example of a few of them. routine preventive care check-ups. no deductibles and no co-pays. those were thought to be real obstacles to people getting these done. sexually transmitted infections screening. completely free for the reasons i just mentioned. contraception and contraceptive counseling and programgrams, whether they should start at age 40 or 50. they said it was going to roll out over time and this is an example, specifically addressing women. august now of this year, you

know, two years prior. >> will all insured women have access to the new services? >> it's an primportant question. we dug into this and the best number they're sort of providing. 47 million women have have access to this. not everybody, in part, because there are insurance programs that are sort of grandfathered in. new insurance programs that started since march of 2010. they have to do this. >> how do you find out if your insurance company is -- just say, are you grandfathered in or not? >> what they also tell us by the year 2014, which is when the plan is fully in effect, 90% of insurance companies will have to abide by these insurance regulation. they will no longer be grandfathered in. 47 million women will now be eligible for these free preventive services. >> one of the most controversial issues has been the contraception coverage. >> this question basically saying whether or not you have the religious affiliation as a hospital, insurance provider. you would have to provide con a

contraceptive counseling and it was a firestorm and we talked to a lot of people about this issue and you saw some of the medications that were going to be covered. the president sort of backed down from that a bit and offered a compromise where he said religiously affiliated universities and hospitals would not be forced to do this, off aer this counseling or contraceptive to their employees, but they had to be able to get it from a third party. even if they couldn't get it from a religiously affiliated hospital, peephole to have access in different ways. it didn't satisfy all parties here, but that was probably the most controversial part of this important chunk of the bill. >> so, you know, just as a doctor, what is it you're paying attention to or something you find interesting or something that's going to impact you? >> the trend is towards putting more and more of these resources towards prevention. i mean, prevention was not something. >> you're all about prevention, too. >> i think even as a neuro surgeon, someone who is a

subspecialist, i think the thinking is and most doctors agree with this, better that people never get sick in the first place. so, you know, if you can do that and get a healthier america as a result, could you achieve the other things we're talking about. less chronic disease and all the things you think about. it is a long road to get there and make sure people use the services. you have a lot of great services right now, a lot of people do, very well insured but they don't always use those services. >> i also didn't know what our company offered until recently. someone talked about the little medical clinic that we have here in our building now. i had no idea. >> yeah. a lot of big corporations are starting wellness centers and things like that for that very reason. they want to try to keep their employees at the workplace and, second of all, keep them healthy. that's the trend that you're seeing and it's a good trend. the question a lot of people will ask. if you look back ten years from now, did people use the services that were provided and did we

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well, it's closed on sooend are sunday and opposes gay marriage and now the fast food is deciding to have its own day. today is chic-fil-a appreciation day and it was these comments from the company's president that started it all. >> i think we are inviting god's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. >> so, today thousands of supporters are expected to eat at chic-fil-a restaurants in support of dan kathy and his stance against same-sex

marriage. cnn's george howell joining us from a chic-fil-a in atlanta, actually the suburb of smyrna, my old stomping grounds out there. hey, george, tell me what's happening this morning. >> kyra, close to lunchtime here on the east coast. we're expecting to see a lot of people come together here at many chic-fil-as. at this chic-fil-a, some supporting chic-fil-a appreciation day. for the company itself, it says it does not endorse chic-fil-a appreciation day, today is business as usual. in fact, we know that the company will not endorse other events that could be planned from this situation that's resulted from the ceo's statements. but you're finding people in different regions here in the south, for instance, kyra, people who support chic-fil-a. you find more support, but in areas where the company has expanded. you find less. take a look. >> supporting him and his views, his biblical views and it's not

necessarily his views, it's god's views. >> we'll gain a few customers just for you to throw away your principles. >> in new york, it's terrible. it's terrible policy and terrible business. he should just shut his mouth. >> kyra, here in the bible belt, the south, where this company was founded. you find more support at nyu you find less in these regions where the company expanded. that's what we're seeing as we talk to people. >> so, what do you think about chic-fil-a just becoming the latest political symbol in this same-sex marriage battle? >> well, kyra, you're finding that. ed helms from "the office" made a tweet jokingly about this issue and also indicated that the company would lose a customer and you're also finding the mayor of chicago, the mayor of boston making remarks against

chic filet and against the stance but here in atlanta and throughout the south in many places, you are finding these supporters and people coming together to support chic-fil-a and former and presidential candidate mike huckabee created a facebook page asking people to come together and support chic-fil-a. >> as expected, there will be a counterprotest and that's going to take, i guess take, it will happen on friday. a kiss-in, i understand. >> i alluded to that and the xaemp says it will not endorse that either. the company taking a very neutral stance on all of this, backing down a bit after those first comments that came out from its leadership. but you are finding a lot of people coming together to support chic-fil-a appreciation day. >> how the restaurant will handle the kiss-in on friday. we'll be watching, that's for sure. an air canada passenger has

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we're just over three months out from the election and time to start planning some debates, picking cities, setting formats, choosing moderators and that brings me to a question. when was the last presidential debate moderated by a woman? think real quickly now because i'm about to tell you and you may be surprised. it was 1992. carol simpson presided over a three-way faceoff among president bush 41 and challengers bill clinton and ross perot. take a listen. >> mr. perot, everybody thought you won the first debate because you were plain speaking and you made it sound oh, so simple. we'll just do it. what makes you think that you're

going to be able to get the democrats and republicans together any better -- >> go carol. well, if you think it's high time for another woman moderator, i know three gals from new jersey who agree with you. elena, sammy and emma learned about presidential debates in their high school civics class and promptly launched a petition for a female moderator in 2012. elena, sammy and emma join me now from new york. ladies, good to see you. >> thank you for having us. >> it's a pleasure. >> emma a, how many folks have signed on to your cause so far? >> with the two petitions combined, we have over 170,000 signatures. >> wow. i want to ask, okay, so 170,000. i'm curious, have you heard anything from the commission on presidential debates yet? elena? >> not directly. we have been trying to contact

janet brown since friday. they knew we were coming and she never said anything to us directly. but she told cbs that she wasn't sure if she was meeting wh the girls and it turned out that she wasn't going to meet with us directly. >> oh, she told cbs. emma, you must have some connections there, wink, wink. for full disclosure. emma's dad is a fantastic journalist for cbs. so, my guess is they'll probably get the scoop if you ladies work this out and actually get a female moderator. put you on the spot there, emma. sammy, let me ask you, i'll ask all three of you this question. why, you know, i guess do you think a female in 2012 when we actually saw hillary clinton make such strides within the past five years and even her position now, sammy, what do you think? would a woman be better at this m

than a man at this time? >> i don't think a woman would be better than a man or a man would be better than a woman. i mean, there is so many well qualified women like diane sawyer, katie couric and a few names thrown out on the comments of our petition and really time for them to start looking for women. >> so, emma, what could a female moderator offer that a man couldn't. >> equal representation, it has been all men for the past 20 years. that's four years longer than any of us have been alive. we have never been able to see it on that stage. sending a message about gender roles in our country and what they think women are capable of. >> sammy has obama or romney responded to you gals yet given any input? >> we have not received any response from them yet but over

50,000 signatures on our petition, but we should be in contact with them soon. >> elena, what would be, i know you guys don't want to make a pick, but you have mentioned a lot of fabulous female journalists who could be the moderator. matter of fact, six great choices right up there on the screen. what would be your first question. what would you want to hear from a female moderator right out of the box? >> i would definitely love to hear her address some issues that pertain to women. something that pertains to reproductive rights and family planning and care after school and just issues that are commonly overlooked in the presidential debates when there is a male moderating. >> emma, really smart, motivated and amazing young ladies. wow, i look at you and i hope my daughter winds up on cnn at some point talking about something like this. is this sort of the sense that you get from the younger

generation of women now that they want to see more women in the political process, not only moderating debates, but actually holding a high-profile office? >> i definitely think it's something my generation is concerned about we're not seeing many women. get more of us thinking about that field for us and for our female friends and sisters, it could only be a positive thing. >> here's what i want to know from all of three of you. are you definitely going to get an a in your civics class? >> an a plus, plus, plus, right? all right, well, sammy, elena and emma, you guy are emarkable young ladies. we'll follow what happens to your petition and good luck. >> thank you so much. >> you bet. my pleasure. ♪ [music plays]

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the president is expected to speak any minute now. this is from mansfield, ohio. he is expected, of course, to campaign in the state. a crucial battleground state and we will bring you his comments live as soon as he steps up to the mike. and that may be right now. perfect timing. here we go. the president of the united states making his way out to the podium right now in mansfield, ohio. you know what, i'll tell you what, he is going to work his way up to the podium. do you want to hold on this live picture? it will take him a while to get up to the mike. while we're waiting for the president to do that. let's talk about swimmer rebecca soni.

she won gold and silver medals in beijing just four years ago, but her rise to the top has not been easy. rebecca was born with a heart condition that made rigorous training impossible for years. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta had a chance to tell us her story in today's human factor. >> great swim by ruboca -- >> these days rebecca soni is used to getting to the wall first. being an olympic swimmer was never part of the plan. >> just never crossed my mind. when we grew up, my family, we didn't watch a lot of sports. my parents were from europe and we didn't understand the american sports football, baseball and they just didn't watch very much tv in general. i never had those people to look up to and be like, oh, i want to be like them. >> as she began to excel, she refocused her goals. but an unexpected obstacle got in her way. >> i was diagnosed with svt. it was basically a rapid heart

rate, but only at certain times, usually exercise induced and all of a sudden my heart rate would go up to the highest i counted was 00 beats per minute. it only lasts about five minutes and kind of loose feeling in my arm as and legs. i just kind of climb out of the pool. >> her heart condition required her to take it easy in practice, something soni doesn't like to do. >> it would always hap aen at the hardest part of practice, the most important part. >> six years as the episodes became more frequent, she decided to have an operation to remove abnormal tissue from her heart. once she was healthy, again, she dove back into training and qualified for the 2008 olympics in beijing where she won gold and two silver medals. >> i definitely feel like i have the meet of my life in 2008. the race of my life in the 200 breaststroke. to win a gold medal and break a world record all in one race was kind of that ultimate moment of sport. >> even so, soni wasn't ready to

hang up her suit. >> i could have probably walked away and been happy, but i still felt like i had a little bit more to give to the spo. i'm just excited to race. >> let's take you back live to mansfield, ohio. the president now stepped up to the mike, let's listen in. >> and i know how to swim, they just swim much better than i do. these gymnastic folks, i don't understand how they do what they do. so i told these young ladies, as i was congratulating them, how do you not bust your head every time you're on that little balance beam? i couldn't walk across that balance beam. so, anyway, we could not be prouder of them and there are a whole bunch of ohioans who are representing our country in the olympics and the paraolympics.

abby johnson from upper arlington already won a silver medal in diving. we'll be rooting for army specialist justin lester from akron. he will be wrestling for america next week. so, you know, the wonderful thing about the olympics is it reminds us for all our differences. when it comes down to our country, we're americans first. and we could not be prouder of them and everything else they're doing on our behalf. now, unless you've been hiding from your television, you may be aware there's a pretty intense campaign going on right now. and the reason that this is an intense campaign is because the choice that we faced in november could not be bigger. this is a stark choice. it's a choice not just between two candidates or two parties,

but more than any election in recent memory, this is a choice between two fundamentally different visions for america. two fundamentally different paths that we should, that we could be going down. i appreciate that. now, the direction that we choose, the direction you choose when you walked into this voting booth in november is going to have a direct impact on your lives, but also on your children's lives and your grandchildren's lives. and four years ago we came together as democrats, but also independents and some republicans. to restore the basic bargain that built the greatest middle class and the most prosperous country the world has ever known.

and it's a bargain that i've lived in my life and so many of you have experienced, it's the basic idea that says, here in this country, if if you work hard, that work should be rewarded. if you act responsibly you should get ahead and it is a deal that says that if we put in enough effort we should find a job that pays the bills, and we should be able to afford a home we call our own, and we should have health care that we count on if we get sick. we should be able to retire with dignity and respect. and most of all, we should be able to give our children the kind of education that allows them to dream even bigger and do even better than we ever imagined. that is what we believe.

it's a simple american promise. it is at the core of the american dream. we knew that restoring it would not be easy and we knew it would take more than one term or even more than one president and that is before the middle-class was hammered by the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. a crisis that robbed too many of our friends and neighbors of their home, their jobs, their savings, and pushed the american dream further out of reach for too many people. but you know what? there is one thing that the crisis did not change, it did not change who we are. it did not change the american character. it did not change what made us great. it hasn't changed why we came together to do what we did in 2008, but it has made the mission more urgent. our first order of business is

to recover all of the jobs and wealth that was lost in the crisis. we have made strides these last three-and-a-half years to get it done. but, beyond that, we are here to reclaim that financial security that has been slipping away for more than a decade. the decade before i came into office, your incomes and wages generally weren't going up. jobs were moving overseas. auto industry had been getting hammered, so our job is not just to put people back to work, but it is also to build an economy where over the long haul that work pays off so that no matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from here in america, you can make it if you try. [ applause ] that's what this campaign is about, ohio. that is why i'm running for a

second term for president of the united states of america. [ crowd chanting "four more years" ] >> now, mansfield, there are no quick fixes or easy solutions to the challenges we face. but there is no doubt in my nind that we are the capacity to meet them. think about everything that we have going for us here in america. we've got the best workers. we have got the best entrepreneurs. we have the best scientists. we have the best researchers, and we have the best colleges. best universities. we have a buckeye guy right here.

we are a young nation with great diver diversity of talent an ingenuity and people come here and want to come here from every corner of globe. so matter what the nay-sayers tell us and no matter how dark other side tries to make it look, there is not another country on earth that wouldn't gladly trade places with the united states of america. if you want to continue watching the president's speech he is live there in manfield, ohio. go to cnn.com/live, and we will be back after a quick break. . then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com.

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an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. well, folks, planning to drive to their vacation destination, listen up, the gas prices are going up. the first monthly gain since march with the averages at $3.50 nationally going into today and it is the biggest july jump since 2000, right, alison kosik?

>> exactly. you know why the gas prices are going up? blame it on corn. corn. it is a key ingredient in ethanol, and ethanol is a key ingredient in gas that makes up 10% of the fuel that you put in your car, and it is used everywhere. it is used in rural areas, and they use an ethanol blend there since it is a local resource, and urban areas use it because it is cleaner. the drought in the middle of the country is hitting our supply of corn making the prices go higher. corn is part of the issue, and then you have crude oil. crude oil is also a big ingredient in the fuel, and the price of oil went up in july, too, because of the worries of the supply disruptions in the mideast, and along with the demand and it pulled the gas prices right up with it. >> thank you. our christine romans is out there in the midwest tracking that down for us. thank you, alison. you are playing double duty for us. >> the corn correspondent. >> yes, exactly. talking about food and talking gas and talking about the the

lifestock, and alison, thank you so much. thanks for watching, everyone. you can continue the conversation at twitter @ @kyracnn. newsroom international starts newsroom international starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com welcome to newsroom international. scandal on the badminton court crushing the dreams of eight plin. >> one woman's dream is so difficult to survive, and she is se selling her eggs. and a makeshift prison in rebel-held syria, and this is a schoolhouse where the rebel fighters have locked up government