pivotal for republicans in close statewide races. may notice president obama carried that area or part of it in 2008. republican challenger hopes to look at the last three plus years, convinces voters not to give the incumbent four more. look at what we're talking about. look at the past three plus years, governor romney would make this case. unemployment rate when the president took office, 7.8. where is it now? 8.2%. same time frame, again, the nation lost, there's the math, more than 600,000 manufacturing jobs. >> my experience in thinking about people who i want to have work for me, whether my doctor or the person that is painting the house, i want them to do a good job the first time, and if they didn't, i want someone that can do a better job. >> in ohio, a state that's essential to romney's path to the electoral votes. let's take another look. romney can make the case

manufacturing jobs are down, 23,000 in the past three plus years. look at the unemployment rate since obama took office. 7.4% now, 8.6% when he assumed the presidency. >> of course the economy isn't where it needs to be. of course we have more work to do. everybody knows that. the debate in this election is about how we grow faster and how we create more jobs and how we pay down our debt. >> chief white house correspondent, jessica young and gloria borger join us. big day in the state of ohio. jess, you hear both candidates, predictable, both explaining positions to voters. i say it to be a bit critical i guess, not much outside the box or bold, fairly predictable, yes? >> yeah, and it was more pressure frankly on the president. he is the one that went out, saying they planned this speech

to reframe the choice in this election. what he gave was a forceful defense of his record. he said repeatedly he has made progress. not only did he not outline new ideas to jump start or move the economy forward, he didn't outline a new frame to understand the choice, and john, you could say this is the second time in the last week and a half he has gone out to talk about the economy without really offering something new. >> i think it is a reflection in part of how close the race is. both candidates are being safe. others may say they're being timid. focus on governor romney a second. he is down in that part of the state that's absolutely critical. he knows four years ago, president obama carried hamilton county. republicans are still embarrassed by that one. most of his speech was how the guy had three-and-a-half years, haept done that much. has he been proactive about here is what i would do?

>> obviously his preferred choice is to make this a referendum on president obama, so he wants to say we have given him three-and-a-half years, it's not working, now you have to give me a chance. i would argue and lots of other -- lots of republicans argued, including governor walker of wisconsin, just as barack obama may need a vision, economic vision, so does mitt romney. he has a 59 point plan, a muddle. who knows what's in it, 59 points, people don't. they're saying you have to narrow, simplify, focus the economic message beyond this is what i would do day one, this is what i would do in the first 100 days, give people something to vote for rather than asking them to vote against president obama. >> and jess, you mention a critical point. we have an incumbent president. the threshold is first, are we open to having him back. if they answer no, governor romney's path is easier as it was for a guy named governor clinton in the 1992 election.

listen to the president. he tried to convince voters i am trying, i need more time. >> recovering from the crisis of 2008 has always been the first and most urgent order of business, but it's not enough. our economy won't be truly healthy until we reverse that much longer and profound erosion of middle class jobs and middle class incomes. >> it is a very different framing from the bit last night, in february, 2009, weeks after taking office, he said if i haven't turned this around in three years, it is a one term proposition. now he is saying it is an eight year proposition. >> look, maybe what he could do is come out, wonder if he shouldn't come out, say maybe, maybe we underestimated to quote george w. bush, wasn't he the one that said it, the depth of the recession, the depth of the hole we were in, and that we inherited something, a much more

protracted recession and we realized and it will take longer to dig out of it. it is like running against george w. bush again, saying this is a major disaster we were handed, we did our best, made progress, but those guys really put us in a hole. and it is no surprise he is saying that because gallup polling shows as much as americans, majority blame the president for the u.s. economy shape, more blame george w. bush. >> the public doesn't blame bush, they're not interested in hearing that. >> even if they blame george w. bush more than barack obama, george w. bush won't be on the ballot in november. >> right. and it is a leadership question. they don't want a president that whiens about what a terrible situation he is in and woe is me. they want somebody that can lead us out of it. >> we could have gone to the website six weeks ago, found what both of them talked about today, economic conditions in the world changed. we know job growth is less

robust than people predicted, we know the european crisis is effecting the united states. will either of these guys change their plans to adapt to today or are they just going to stay in their predictability. >> it is hard to no honestly. i think they're in their safe corners right now. you have to see where this is at the end of the summer, as you head into the convention speeches. some democrats suggested to me that the convention speech for president obama as well as for mitt romney is the place where you can start defining your campaign. that's when people start paying attention. i think today they were playing it safe. >> playing it safe. jess, the convention with your we draw the line. >> won't change policy prescriptions and message unless polling tanks and he is forced to. this is the track he's on for awhile. but i would make that they're committed to for now at least. i would make the point that the reason he is blaming bush, he is

making the case that mitt romney is bush 2.0. you vote for mitt romney, you get the policies that george w. bush was advocating, that's the point. since we are not getting it, i don't think voters will. >> jessica yellin, gloria borger, thanks. next, we will deal into the romney and obama economic plan. and a week of wrenching testimony wraps up. the prosecution isn't finished with the sex abuse case against the former penn state football coach, jerry sandusky. our cloud is not soft and fluffy.

our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. verizon.

but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

well hello, welcome to hotels.com. summer road trip, huh? yep uhuh let's find you a room. at hotels.com, you'll always find the perfect hotel. cause we only do hotels. wow. i like that. nice! no. laugh...awe hmm nice huh ooh, yeah book it! oh boy call me... this summer, we're finding you the perfect place - plus giving you up to $100 at hotels.com

back to the ohio show down. mitt romney, president obama trying to build up their economic plans while tearing down the other's. >> you may have heard president obama is on the other side of the state, and he is going to be delivering a speech on the economy. he's doing that because he hasn't delivered a recovery for the economy. >> i don't believe that giving someone like mr. romney another huge tax cut is worth providing the basic security we provided the elderly and sick and those that are actively looking for work. >> let's cut through the rhetoric, talk about how both plans would impact the economy. joining me, martin o'malley, and

ben webber, a policy adviser for mitt romney that worked for bush and mccain campaigns. governor o'malley, want to start with you. the president is in ohio today, trying to convince the american people, give me more time, four more years and i'll bring the economy back. it is a steep challenge with the jobs report. 69,000 jobs in may, 115,000 in april, 120,000 in march, just today, governor, we learned that weekly claims for unemployment spiked again, which tells you june is probably another tepid. what can the president say to get people to give him four more years. >> what the president is laying out in ohio is that plan that actually expands opportunity and what mitt romney would like us to return back to is a plan that concentrates wealth. and oh, by the way, the side effects of concentrating wealth, especially through our tax code, is that you fuel deficits, you let your infrastructure crumble, and america for the first time ever educates less of our

children in lesser ways, rather than expanding opportunity and doing the things that grow our economy in every generation. that's the smart choice. >> answer what the governor is saying, elect mitt romney and go back to george w. bush. give the rich tax cuts, don't create jobs, hurt the little guy. >> the governor has a policy direction that changes considerably from what we're doing right now. we start by freezing regulation, rolling back the regulatory avalanche that's crushing business under this administration, and then we start to move to tax reform that brings rates down and broadens the base, closes loopholes, which everybody agrees would be a more efficient tax code, including the president's own deficit reduction commission. we're not talking about giving anything away, talking about going to policy that promised to revive a private economy that's doing badly. >> do circumstances of the moment change what either of the candidates wants, one the in

couple bent president wants to do. president bush called both candidates off the road because they are at a cliff. a lot of people think there's a risk of another recession because of what's happening in europe and slow down in the states. vin, would governor romney change anything in the plan today, say we have to tinker with this because we are on the edge of a cliff? >> i don't think he needs to change anything. there's more urgency to doing the things he wants to do, some simple, improving the keystone pipeline, create jobs and closer to energy independence, others take more time. >> your candidate is the incumbent, governor o'malley. republicans want to extend bush tax cuts, maybe the president should exchange that for infrastructure and exchange to keep the police and firefighters and teachers. would that be a deal worth cutting before the election? >> i think the president is open to anything that accelerates this recovery. republicans are opposed to anything that accelerates the recovery. right now, we may well be going

through a rough patch, but the direction is forward. we need to restore the balance that was lost during the disastrous decisions of the bush presidency and need to keep moving the country forward, expanding jobs and creating opportunity. >> vin weber, if the president extended all bush tax cuts for a year because of this precarious situation, take away some uncertainty, in return give me construction spending, keep the firefighters and police on the payroll, would that work or is that a bad idea. >> i think the governor thinks spending is a problem now, not a solution. certainly extending the tax cuts, bush obama tax cuts, because president obama signed them into extension once would be the right thing to do. coupling that with an increase in spending is not necessarily the right thing to do. >> governor o'malley, both of you have been incumbent politicians. sometimes life and politics isn't fair. you look at the president's predicament. some compare to 1992 to

president hw bush. the economy was coming back, then goes back. two steps forward, one back. when you look at it historically, how steep is the hill for the president. forget he is a democrat. >> this is a tough part in america's history, but i think the president rises to that occasion and we all need to rise to that occasion as well. look, he has been responsible for the smallest spending growth rates in the federal spending of any president since eisenhower. that's a fact. what some of the romney camp would like to create is an alternative universe where you can eat cake, lose weight, and that's not the way the world works. >> when president obama says you're getting george w. bush again, give me one or two specific policy examples where he is different and helps the economy and creates job. >> governor has a tax proposal that applies to people making

less than $200,000 a year to encourage them to invest. we need people to invest, get the average person to have renewed confidence in the free enterprise system. that's not something president bush ever proposed. >> appreciate your time today. thank you. coming up, the pentagon puts the finishing touches on contingency plans for u.s. military intervention in syria. and coming up, find out how many people are questioning whether god exists. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. the teacher that comes to mind for me

is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us. support team usa and show our olympic spirit right in our own backyard. so we combined our citi thankyou points to make it happen. tom chipped in 10,000 points. karen kicked in 20,000. and by pooling more thankyou points from folks all over town, we were able to watch team usa... [ cheering ] in true london fashion. [ male announcer ] now citi thankyou visa card holders can combine the thankyou points they've earned and get even greater rewards. ♪

mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing.

welcome back. here is lisa sylvester with the latest news you need to know. >> the pept gone has a plan for how to use u.s. troops in syria, in case axis ordered. the military tells cnn it finished its assessment of what units would be used, how many troops, and even how much some operations would cost. the news comes on a violent die as a suicide bomber blew up a bomb filled bus in the capital city of damascus. at least 60 people killed reportedly nationwide. secretary of state hillary clinton has simple pointed advice for north korea's new leader, kim john un. >> put the north korean people

first, rather than spending money on implements of war, feed your people. >> clinton's comment during a meeting with south korean officials on how to deal with the north's threat of weapons launches and weapons tests. and some good news on the economy today. inflation is down thanks to lower gas prices. consumer price index fell .3% in may. it is the biggest monthly drop since december of 2008. and the value of raising a child may be priceless to you, the federal government says it will cost about $235,000 for babies born in 2011. check out the money spent in the first 17 years of life. more than $70,000 on housing, almost $40,000 on food, and a little more for child care and education. all told, about $8,000 more expensive than it was in 2010.

we both have young children, kids in diapers, a story we can both relate to. >> i am a little short. $235,000. okay. yeah. >> i think a lot of parents out there are doing the exact same thing, thinking oh, my goodness, i had no idea, that expensive. >> can i trade in one of the older ones. all right. see you in a bit, thanks. there was a potentially dangerous turn in one of the countries caught up in arab spring. some call it a bloodless coup. and after four days of harrowing testimony in the jerry sandusky trial, a break. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day

with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help.

cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help.

go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer.

this half hour, jerry sandusky called himself the tickle monster according to one of the accusers. pouring over the testimony in the child rape case, the former sex crime prosecutor including allegations of what happened in a locker shower. and a speech from president obama and challenger mitt romney. the truth about why they are heavy on words, light on substance. more people doubting the existence of god. we ask what's behind this lack of belief with young people.

two more alleged victims took the stand against former coach, jerry sandusky. victim number six told the courtroom sandusky molested him in a gym shower in 1998 when he was 11 years old. he said sandusky picked him up to rinse his hair and said i'm going to squeeze your guts out. he says that's the last thing i remember about being in the shower, it is all black. the boy's mother reported it to police but it was not investigated and no charges were filed. wendy, good to see you. wish the circumstances were better. if you notice a pattern, you notice a pattern from young people testifying between age 11 and 13. saying they met jerry sandusky and he took them to the shower and molested them. how important is that to stake for a successful prosecution? >> these kinds of cases are unusual when you have this many victims, but you can bet that a

jury that might have trouble believing one victim or even two is going to find it pretty difficult to think they're all lying when they hear the same m.o. all over again. it starts to look like he had a plan for the kids, exercised the plan over and over again in the same way, that's how he won their trust, groomed them. tried them in the shower first. if any of the kids told about a hand on the leg or hug, he could say we're in the shower, it is innocent, and move on to the next victim he may have an easier time silencing. i think the jury can use the fact that there was similarity heavily against sandusky in this case because they're going to think this was his way of accessing this particular group of kids. >> most of these accusers met sandusky through his charity, called the second mile, disadvantaged youth, trying to help them out. some of them, including victim six said he continued to have

contact, sending father's day cards, thanksgiving day greetings. how common is that, does that undermine the prosecution that the victim stayed in touch? >> if you didn't understand these cases, you might say well, that's weird, and lots of jurors who are not familiar with this kind of behavior do say to themselves, if that happened to me, i wouldn't stay in touch with the guy, and it can be a problem. but in fact, it is very typical. kids especially when they're groomed before puberty, they don't have the context and maturity to understand sexuality, so they don't really understand, make sense of the behavior in the way that gives them the tools to understand it right, so they start to like the guy. they can feel great affection, sincere affection for a guy like this. these were kids that for the most part didn't have fathers, 95% of the time he was good to them, taking them places, they loved this man. so there is sincerity in

affection for him. it makes sense to me that these kids continued to feel something for the guy, strange as that may seem. children do accommodate the abusers because they're desperate for affection. >> you had another of the alleged victims, victim three, said he never told anyone, not anyone, until police came to question him in 2011. how common is that, and is keeping the secret a long period of time impact the prosecution or defense strategy? >> boy, you know, such a good question because i don't think we quite get in this culture how prevalent this behavior is and how underreported. millions, millions of kids are sexually violated every year. only a handful ever tell, primarily because it is easy to keep kids quiet. offer them prizes, threaten to kill their parents, they're easy to manipulate into silence. as long as the jury gets the sense, which is happening in this case because they're hearing it from kids over and over, they get the sense that's how the kids react, they're

going to think it is normal, and they're right. we as a culture need to understand it is normal not to tell, and then we have to really convince kids that it is okay to tell. i hope any child watching your show or paying attention to this case feels empowered to tell now that these kids have come forward, because it is the fear, the sense that they're the only ones it is happening to that allows this kind of behavior to perpetuate in society. i love the fact that this case is happening in a sense, and it is very uncomfortable for us to hear this stuff and it is so disgusting and abhorrent, but we have to get through this, open our arms to them, be open minded, humans, even seemingly nice guys are capable of doing very disgusting things to children. it is quite common, sad to say. >> sad to say. sad point. let's hope that some good, some openness comes from this, because it is a hard one to

cover, disgusting is a good word for it. the case continues. we appreciate your insights. moving to a story overseas. in egypt, some call for new protests after more than a year of reforms wiped out today, setting off a confrontation between the old guard and military on one side, islamic military parties on the other side. ben wedeman is there in cairo. >> reporter: some in cairo call it a soft military koup de tas. they ruled the parliament is to be disbanded due to irregularities in the election. a day after the justice minimum tree granted military police and military intelligence the right to detain and interrogate civilians. the country's military rulers, supreme council of armed forces have sweeping legislative and executive powers and hope that one of their own former head of

the air force will defeat in the runoff presidential elections this weekend. in the words of one wit, this scenario is a remake of mubarak regime, without hosni mubarak. >> ben wedeman in cairo. important day. we will watch that as we go forward. regardless of your own personal faith, you have heard the question, what would jesus do. here is the question more and more young people are asking. is there a god? more people under 30 doubted the divine power. 68%, compared to five years ago, 83% never doubted, said they never doubted god's existence. steven, an interesting question. some would look at the results and say more and more young people are nonbelievers. you look at them, say what? >> well, two-thirds saying they

never in their entire lives have ever debated, doubted the existence of god. i think most church people i know have some mixture of faith and doubt. i don't see evidence here of the fact that religion is going away. seems that religion is perhaps changing a bit, but only about 3% of people under 30 say they're atheists. i don't see a lot of evidence for sek u larization problem in america. >> one of the things you do, you use a google program, m grand viewer. tell us about the program, how it helps you keep track and what you learn about religious views. >> it is a nerdy thing you can find online. tracks words in books from 1800 until 2008 is the last year they do it. you can look for a keyword, match it against another keyword, see how often it shows

up in books. it is a blunt instrument, a rough gauge to see how certain ideas or people are sort of trending as we may say over time. >> i don't know if there's a database to make this test or match this up, but are younger people today, you say sure, it is a healthy skepticism, of course people at times challenge it at times in their lives, things happen, you doubt the existence of god. do young people ask it more often than young people 20, 50, 100 years ago? >> i think it is possible. but if you track on that survey data, track the word faith versus doubt, you see that in the 19th century, faith was more prevalent than doubt. since about 100 years ago, they have been tracking pretty closely. for most people in america, there's some mixture of faith and doubt in their belief, so the fact there's doubt, after all, mother teresa told us she doubted, we don't think of her as a noncatholic or nonbeliever. seems to me that the how of our religion is changing, and maybe

it is for the better. maybe it is becoming our religion in america becoming more thoughtful. >> that's a point you made in your cnn.com piece. what's shifting is the how of religion. what do you mean. spell it out more clearly. >> we think about religion, people outside of it, as a fervent faith that captures our imagination, gives us all of the answers to the big questions in life. i think of religions as more as collections of questions and they prompt us to ask difficult things. so the fact that there's doubt in the midst of people's faith again doesn't strike me as a big argument that religion is going away. it seems that religion is changing, becoming more sophisticated as they grow up. >> a fascinating question. thank you. president obama, governor romney going head to head in battleground ohio. the truth about why neither is pitching a bolder plan to fix the economy.

introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ ♪ helping you do what you do... even better. you want to save money on car insurance?

no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance.

in ohio, president obama spoke one undeniable truth. >> this election will take many twists and many turns. polls will go up and polls

willing down. there will be no shortage of gaps and controversies that keep both campaigns busy and give the press something to write about. >> now it was designed as a laugh line into what the campaign billed as a major economic speech. >> if you want to give the policies of the last decade another try, then you should vote for mr. romney. >> here is governor romney, a few minutes before the president, also in ohio. >> talk is cheap. action speaks loudly. look what's happened across this country. if you think things are going swimmingly, if you think the president is right when he said the private sector is doing fine, well, then he's the guy to vote for. >> now, there's no question, the race offers very different choices. president obama wants to spend on roads and bridges, give states more to pay for teachers,

police, firefighters. governor romney wants to keep push tax cuts, cut some taxes more. he says the deficit is too high for washington to be borrowing to help the states pay for the policemen, firefighters, and teachers. truth is, neither candidate is being especially bold. both are close to the respective parties orthodoxy. neither put anything new on the table about longer term questions, medicare, social security, big tax reform. in a word, both are playing it safe. that happens in very close elections and happens a lot, too often in today's very polarized politics. the country could use a bigger, bolder debate. in the big politics of the moment, it is unlikely to happen. >> what's holding us back is a stalemate in washington between two fundamentally different views of which direction america should take. and this election is your chance

to break that stalemate. [ applause ] >> now, will that happen? will voters break the stalemate in a big way? you're the voters. you have 145 days to think about it. here to talk truth to new yorkers, ryan list et, penny lee, and erick erickson. ryan, to you first. the question i have. will circumstances force them to change the current, rather predictable, whether you like them or not, policies. in the 2008 campaign, crisis came along, george w. bush had the tarp program, bailouts. will something, the slow down in europe, force both candidates to do something bold in the short term? >> well, the danger, political strategists tell the candidates don't be too specific, because as soon as you're too specific, you can attack that policy. so, so far obama laid out stuff in the state of the union and in the budget earlier this year.

those are some specific policies. romney laid out his how many points economic plan. i think it might be the period we're in in this campaign, maybe the conventions in october when we get more meat on the bone. i think the other people the obama people have, talked about it last night, they feel like they have laid out their agenda since going back as far as 2007, they laid it out, told the american people what his presidency and he is all about. there's debate in the campaign between political strategists and policy guys about, you know, is there something new, is there something new we can put out there. as you pointed out, this speech got panned by a lot of people in political press because it didn't have any news in it. >> a strategic way, penny, to run a campaign, more tactical ways. this seems tactical. looking at constituency, if obama wins ohio, romney can't be president, there are math mat cal -- do we need a more

strategic campaign that talks big picture? whoever wins will probably have a closely divided congress and government. wouldn't it be better if they put meat eeer things on the table? >> i think the president has laid that out, he has done that state of the union other places, i thought it was interested to see the audiences. mitt romney went back to the base and spoke primarily to that. president obama spoke not only to the base but expanded it to independents as well. had he some key lines about bridging and working together, about shaping out and not having this division we had, not having this overtly part son politics. bringing everybody together, very much back to the 2008 election when independents were key, he was speaking directly in those in this message today. >> i am not sure, i am not sure anybody in america believes that. >> still had that hope and vision and wanted to get out, reach out, even though he has

been rebuffed. >> eric, sometimes an incumbent president, criticizing him is enough. you say guy had a chance, hasn't worked, let's have somebody new. given the challenges the country faces, has governor romney done enough? >> i don't think he has done enough, but i think he is headed in the right direction. you look at the gallup poll where most americans blame george bush for the economic downturn, and barack obama, if you go to the underlying pulse in that, remember the last three weeks we have been hearing from surrogates from the obama campaign and editorialists that really the president has nothing to do with the economy and can't really shape it in that way. seems like the american people think the president can and they blame george bush. if we head into another economic downturn, head winds from europe or what, the american people are going to blame barack obama. so mitt romney can afford to play it more safe than president obama can. >> erin burnett at the top of

the hour. today in egypt, this is disappointing, high court kicks out parliament, not just the election but the protests. some egyptians call it a military coup. you're out front. what do we expect? >> it is amazing, john, talking about the military, a candidate they want to win the elections, now looks like according to some independent oberers i talked to, elections will be rigged or perceived as rigged. it is a tragic thing. barack obama called it a moment like gandhi. we will talk about what america got so wrong about egypt, and more inspirational story. aimee copeland with the horrible bacterial infection, lost several of her limbs, is getting a little better, john, and could be on the road to recovery. amazing. her father will be on the show. >> great.news.

erin, thanks. still ahead, back yard in texas wow, baseball-sized hail. and this is how the army celebrates its birthday. [ male announcer ] count the number of buttons in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward.

welcome to hotels.com. summer road trip, huh? its, finding you thpe

who gets heartburnf you're s and then treats day after day... well, shoot, that's like checking on your burgers after they're burnt! [ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

tonight, on hbo, "41." a documentary about our 41st president, george h.w. bush. here's a snippet. >> i've seen the unexpected crisis that arrives in a cable and a young aide's hand and so i know that what it all comes down to, this election is the man at the desk. who should sit at that desk? my friends, i am that man. >> let's continue the conversation. erick erickson is in macon, georgia. it was our last one-term president. bill clinton served two terms.

i make the case he's the most underrated president of our time. why? because the cold war ended on reagan's watch but bush was president when the soviet union collapses, nuclear weapons all over eastern europe, great uncertainty what will happen in poland, estonia, on and on. not a shot was fired. no loose nukes, at least that we know of. bill clinton never would have had or at least not an easier path to the balanced budget had bush not broken "read my lips, no new taxes." doesn't he deserve credit for that? >> i think it will depend. i agree, george h.w. bush is one of the most underrated presidents. we couldn't have transitioned into the 2 1st century without the things he did leading up to clinton. george h.w. bush was helpful to him once he got into the white house. >> he served -- >>p are republicans, they can't

swallow that pill. he knew it, he might be costing himself a second term. he thought it was the right thing to do. >> what a foreign thought. >> the one termers never looked kindly upon by history. he did two big things. successful prosecution of the gulf war. in a way his son's war in iraq -- makes that look pretty good. and he cut the balance -- he got the budget on a path to being balanced in the clinton years. i remember years ago, the new republican did a cover story called our greatest modern president. it was after the first -- after he left office. you know, there's a good case he was successful. >> but incredibly underappreciated. not just by republicans. okay, that was when i came to washington and i was covering labor issues. he cut a deal with the late senator to raise the minimum wage. the bush white house said kennedy's a socialist. what's he trying to do, it's going to ruin the economy. then again, they cut a deal. what an odd thing to do.

>> exactly. and he was a good leader. and he was exactly what the times needed. he reached across the aisle, which is something people are desperate for. i was at the presidential library in college station. you are reminded of all the sacrifices he made for this country. when he was young, the tragic accident he had on his own aircraft. he gave a lot to this country. a lot to be deserved. >> a gentlemen. politics could use more gentlemen. i'm sorry, erick, he's just -- >> -- shifted under his feet -- transition period, right -- >> we always talk good about the presidents once they're out of office. >> that's true. but we should. we should be nice. they're good public servants. >> other than jimmy carter. >> there you go. that dig in at the end. lisa silverest now. >> a grim milestone tonight. 2,000 americans have now died in operation enduring freedom. the latest, a marine corporal,

taylor bonn, of minnesota. the 21-year-old died in combat yesterday in southern afghanistan, three months after marrying his high school sweetheart. keep in mind, some operation enduring freedom deaths have occurred outside afghanistan. british prime minister david cameron testified today yes, he was friends with press executives but it never affected government policy. he appeared before an ongoing inquiry into press ethics which he set up. he fielded questions about murdoch's news international and its ties to the government. including his friendship with former murdoch executive rebecca brooks. and the texas billionaire who defrauded thousands of investors in one of the largest ponzi schemes in u.s. history was sentenced to 110 years in prison today. allen stanford is convicted of selling $7 billion worth of fake deposits to an offshore bank in antigua. the financier is appealing the conviction. the hailstorms that battered northern texas last night left

damage, roofs, about baseball-sized dents in cars, adding up to $400 million in damage. the national weather service calls the storms the worst to hit the dallas area since 2003. three people were hurt. there's some kind of damage there. look at that. unbelievable. >> i've seen hail before, but nothing like that. tonight's moment you may have missed. there we go. >> 3, 2, 1. >> that's the sweet sound of cupcake ammo being launched from a cannon. cupcake tank. celebrating the army's 237th birthday. you're looking at 5,000 cupcakes, 200 pounds of camouflage frosting and one delicious birthday president courtesy of georgetown cupcake. some extras there in case -- wow, you hungry? >> i am, love georgetown cupcakes. i'm sure you've probably had them a time or two, john. >> i'm hungry now.

dinner first, then dessert, folks. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. next, what is being called a soft coup in egypt. and the president heads to a big fund-raiser tonight. but you're not going to see pictures from it and we're going to tell you why. a surprising similarity between the apple you buy now and the first one sold. let's go "outfront." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com out front tonight, chaos in cairo. a spunning move by mubarak era judges today who declared parliament illegitimate and the military announced it was over. the same parliament egyptians have spent months voting for in their first votes ever. one tweet from a human rights activist said, egypju