they were a critical part of his winning coalition in 2008. and this year president obama needs latino voters more than ever as he faces a very tough re-election campaign. just a few hours ago the president addressed one of the country's largest hispanic conventions laying out his vision not only for immigration reform, but also for the country's economic future. our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin, is traveling with the president in florida. jessica, after a surprise move last week ending deportations for some illegal immigrants brought to the united states as children, did the president use that and more to politically go after mitt romney? >> reporter: he did, wolf, but not by name. he sounded almost defiant, wolf, in insisting that his executive

action on immigration last week was the right thing to do. he called out congress for failing to pass the dream act through legislation. here's the president speaking just a short time ago. >> we should have passed the dream act a long time ago. it was written by members of both parties when it came up for a vote a year and a half ago, republicans in congress blocked it. the bill hadn't changed. the need hadn't changed. the only thing that had changed was politics. >> reporter: wolf, he went onto say that it's not too late for congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. it's not even too late for them to pass the dream act. he said his door's open and congress members know where to find him. but, you know, that really is a rhetorical device in an election year passing such a polarizing

piece of legislation like this. there are greater chances that i will beam into your studio right now than that piece of legislation would get passed before the election, wolf. >> yeah. he didn't mention mitt romney by name, but he did speak of his opponent who addressed the same gathering yesterday. and he noted that romney during the republican primaries said he would veto if elected president, veto the dream act. and the president specifically said, you know what, he promised he would do so. he got a lot of applause, the president, when he recalled what romney was saying then as opposed to the tone of his remarks yesterday. >> reporter: that's right. he insisted that because mitt romney in the past has said he would veto the dream act that in the president's words "we should take him at his word and believe that the will veto the dream act if elected president." as you say that was received with applause. he didn't refer to mitt romney by name. he said your speaker yesterday, but everybody in the room knew

he was referring to governor romney. and he went onto draw stark contrasts between the republicans' position on immigration and his own. and he used some very -- some rhetoric, some language that was so familiar from the 2008 campaign. after the president has been criticized for in the last few weeks of having a very muddled message for sounding sort of in the weeds, he had the lofty rhetoric we heard from 2008 that was so uplifting to this audience and won him a lot of applause. listen and see if this sounds familiar to you from the candidate of 2008, wolf. >> whether our ancestors arrived on the mayflower or brought here on slave ships, whether they signed in at ellis island or crossed the rio grand, their diversity has not only enriched this country, it helped build the greatest economic engine the

world has ever known. >> reporter: now, wolf, he has clearly honed his message. and he will be delivering a message like this, we're told, from here through election day, wolf. >> four and a half months or so. not that much time left. thanks very much for that, jessica. mitt romney's campaign is having to walk a fine line on some critical battleground states where the economy is in fact improving under republican governor. so what's his campaign message there? cnn's joe johns is joining us now. joe, what else is romney able to campaign on right now? >> well, wolf, the focus is what it is. and that's jobs and the economy. but the message has to be tweaked just slightly. with a new series of tailored ads targeting a few battleground states, it looks like the presumptive republican nominee is doing the only thing he can, choosing his commercials carefully. the romney campaign is trying to thread a needle on its message about economic hardship. it's a little dicey in some of the big battleground states

where the economy is showing signs of improvement. republican governors in those states want to take credit for good news. like florida's governor, rick scott. >> we've had the biggest drop in unemployment of any state but one in the last 17 months. >> reporter: in ohio unemployment has dropped from a high of 8.9% last year to 7.3% now. not great, but better. so instead of talking about how bad things are, romney's newest ads about his agenda for the first 100 days talk about getting tough with china on trade. >> president romney stands up to china. demands a level playing field for our businesses and workers. >> reporter: the romney camp's message in ohio is complicated by republican governor kasic who's been selling his job creation record. polls show 55% of ohio voters still think the country is on the wrong track. almost the same exact percentage as in iowa where unemployment is down to 5.1%. but pessimism about the economy is high. the republican governor's website is crowing about all the new jobs and the increase in

family incomes here. romney's ad talks about controlling spending not doom and gloom. >> president romney is working towards a balanced budget. making sure the government lives within its means. >> reporter: a similar situation in virginia where unemployment is down from a high of 6.4% last year to 5.6% now. the romney ad in virginia talks about offshore drilling. >> president romney reverses obama's offshore drilling ban creating thousands of new jobs. >> reporter: some republican strategists say the romney message can go hand-in-hand with republican governors who are promoting lower unemployment. >> it's a one-two punch. the first punch is you can take those states that are doing well and give credit to the governors because they've taken innovative approaches and raise them up and give them credit. and the second punch is romney can talk about this on a national level. >> the romney campaign says it differentiates between the national policies of president

obama and governors with innovative policies in the states. by the way, the ohio ad that talks about china got a reaction from the obama campaign today. senior strategist david axlerod asked how he could stand up to china if he was shipping jobs to china as a new report suggested romney challenged that report saying there's a difference between outsourcing and offshoring or shipping jobs overseas, wolf. >> tailoring their messages specifically. they got audiences obviously on their minds. thanks very much, joe, for that. let's bring in our chief political correspondent, the host of "state of the union," candy crowley. does romney face a dilemma? how does he deal with the swing states, the republican governors, the economy clearly improving, let's say in virginia or ohio, but he can't really talk about that that much because he's going after the president on the economy? >> but i think if you listen to ron bonnjean that he's onto

where the romney camp is going. look at the policies these republican governors have instituted. you've got them in wisconsin, michigan, in a lot of different places. and look what's happened under these sorts of circumstances. so i think he can take the governor's record. it does -- the question here is, if you don't give president obama credit for the good things that have happened say in virginia, how can you give him blame for the bad things that have happened in other states? so i think that's where this sort of strategy runs afoul. but nonetheless i think what he does is takes the republican template and says look what happened here, what these governors did for their states, i want to do for every state. >> let's talk about campaign fund raising right now. looks like romney and republicans did better last month. they might do better this month. they might have an advantage on that. they certainly have an advantage with super pac money. and some people's critics of the president say his blunder in 2008 was that he rejected public

financing of a presidential campaign, which has given the opening to these hundreds of billions of dollars if not a billion-dollar race for the white house. >> sure. we also have to remember that money becomes a part of a strategy. so if president obama looks and says, oh my goodness, those republicans have raised so much money, but i'm hoping my message will will out. i mean, there is something to be said against, you know, i'm not the richest candidate, but i'm the right candidate. so we don't know how much money in the end mitt romney is going to be able to raise. i would guess right now they're going to be pretty even. the president is -- certainly knows how to raise money, certainly has raised money over a much longer period of time than mitt romney has. i think they'll be even with money. i think there is always a strategy to those monthly numbers and the way they play them. and i think right now the obama campaign's way to play the numbers is to say, wow, look at all that money. we don't know where some of it's coming from. i wonder what that's all about.

so they're using it. >> i think they will be basically even, the campaigns, the rnc, the dnc, where the democrats will suffer is the super pacs. >> and that's a supreme court thing, not a barack obama thing. >> you're absolutely right. thank you. the supreme court, by the way, is burning the midnight oil as it puts finishing touches on epic decisions. the long-awaited ruling of health care among them. we'll look at what's at stake. we'll preview the possible outcomes of the landmark case. and james carville, he's not a shy guy, as you know. he's shaking things up amongst his fellow democrats. he's here to talk about some of his controversial memos of recent days. plus, a wedding ring is now back home after a 50-year. you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways.

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a decision expected within days that will impact every american. we're back in one minute.

all eyes on the supreme court this coming week as the justices are expected to hand down a major ruling that will impact every american and shape the future of the country. the long-awaited decision on president obama's health care reform law. coming just months before the election, the stakes politically could not be higher either. let's bring in kate bolduan. she's got a preview of what we can expect. it will be significant one way or the other. >> so much anticipation. and you and me and everybody else knows that this is the biggest secret in washington and only the justices and their law clerks know how this drama will end. one thing is certain, we'll know

by this time next week if the affordable care act stays or goes. an unprecedented decision effecting as wolf said nearly every person in this country. long days and late nights at the supreme court as the justices rush to finish what justice ginsberg recently called the flood season. >> many of the most controversial cases remain pending, so it is likely that the sharp disagreement rate will go up next week. >> the biggest case this session and the biggest in at least a decade, the president's health care law. the election--year blockbuster argued for more than six hours in new york has far reaching implications from main street to the campaign trail. >> i'm actually continue to be confident that the supreme court will uphold the law. >> if i'm elected president, i will repeal obama care. and i'll stop it in its tracks on day one. >> the nine justices face four separate issues in this one case. the centerpiece, will the individual mandate requiring

nearly all americans to have health insurance stand? or will it fall? and does the rest or any of the law survive if the mandate is struck down? does the law's expanded medicaid program unfairly step on states' rights? or will the court call for a legal time-out until the main provisions go into effect, though this option is unlikely. >> there's going to be a bottom line of whether the mandate is constitutional or not. i would be shocked if we didn't know that after the decision. >> key to the decision may be these two men, chief justice john roberts and the traditional swing vote, justice anthony kennedy. both seem skeptical of the government's case. >> can you create commerce in order to regulate it? >> yet they asked tough questions of both sides giving hope to the law's supporters it may survive at least in part. >> i don't think you're addressing their main point, which is that they're not creating commerce in health care.

it's already there. and we're all going to need some kind of health care, most of us will, at some point. >> now, after the decision is handed down, the big question quickly becomes, what now? house republican leaders have remained clear if the law is not thrown out, they'll vote to repeal whatever's left. and for weeks the white house and congressional republicans have been quietly strike that jazzing their message so they're ready as soon as the decision comes down. wolf, clearly everyone is aware of the political stakes here. you can be sure no matter what the decision is, both sides will try to spin it in their favor. >> i was curious, interested the speaker, john boehner, he urged republicans, don't spike the football, don't overly gloat or anything like that, deal with this but don't go crazy. >> it was in a memo he sent out to his members. he said exactly that. don't spike the football here. the acknowledgment is while they're happy it's repealed, they also know millions they don't want to be cheering if americans are negatively impacted by this decision.

so it's a delicate balance for both sides. >> we'll be watching. thanks very much. the video went viral. a gang of pre-teens hurling endless insults at their bus monitor. the outrage over the bullying case came back in spades. funds are pouring in for the humiliated grandmother. we're going to study the power of social media. that's coming up. and is the man in this video a brazen art thief? a valuable painting goes missing from a manhattan gallery. and later, a rare sight especially in a suburban florida neighborhood. look at this. two bears locked in what looks like mortal combat. we have the video -- you'll see more of it. ♪ i hear you... ♪ rocky mountain high ♪ rocky, rocky mountain high ♪ ♪ all my exes live in texas ♪ ♪ born on the bayou [ female announcer ] the perfect song for everywhere can be downloaded almost anywhere. ♪ i'm back, back in the new york groove ♪ [ male announcer ] the nation's largest 4g network.

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hotel in afghanistan has all the looks. militants attacked the hotel and seized dozens of hostages triggering a severe battle between troops. 26 people were killed including seven militants. this follows recent strikes against taliban and afghan forces. the hotel attack targeted westerners. gas prices keep falling. the price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline dipped for the tenth straight day to a national average of $3.45. that's a 6% drop just over the past month. one oil expert says production is up and demand is low because we're driving fewer miles and more fuel efficient cars mpkts the hunt is on for an art thief who snatched a painting by salvador dali. it's valued at $150,000. the 1949 work was taken tuesday

from the manhattan gallery in new york by a man posing as a potential buyer. surveillance video shows a thin balding man walking out with a shopping bag. and the air we breathe, the the country's carbon dioxide emissions are falling. it's happening in spite of the u.s. reputation as an energy hog. the director of environmental economics program says the primary reason is plentiful cheap cleaner natural gas allowing some utilities to trade up from coal-fired power plants. the u.s. has cut carbon emissions from its energy sector by 9%. and it's something rarely seen by humans. and catching it on video, well, that's even rarer. take a look here. what you're seeing people in longwood, florida, neighborhood today witnessed this. two young male black bears going at it in someone's yard tearing up a flower bed, rolling over an

air-conditioning unit. the brawl eventually ended and the pair, they went on their way. state wildlife officials, they're not exactly sure what was going on here, but they say that it's possible that they were just fighting over territory, wolf. when i first saw that video, i thought it looked a little bit like they were dancing. >> yeah. >> but apparently they're not so happy over there. >> they just disappear. they just walked away from there, is that right? >> i think if you let this video play out, eventually you'll see they kind of go off frame. one sort of pushed him out of the way. and clearly there was a victor there. you know what's frightening about that is if you think about it, that was in somebody's yard. >> can you imagine seeing that in your backyard? >> not one, but two black bears in your backyard. >> call 911 immediately. >> yes. an outpouring of sympathy along with $500,000 for a grandmother. and uncertain future at nbc news. is she unfairly taking the fall? r favorite foods fighting you?

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[ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org. will ann curry take the fall for "today" show's recent struggles? back in a moment. and kept turn, writing the next chapter for the rx and lexus. see your lexus dealer. oh, yeah? [ chris ] you can call us 24-7, get quotes online, start a claim with our smartphone app. you name it, we're here, anytime, anywhere, any way you want it. that's the way i need it. any way you want it. [ man ] all night? all night. every night? any way you want it. that's the way i need it. we just had ourselves a little journey moment there. yep. [ man ] saw 'em in '83 in fresno. place was crawling with chicks. i got to go. ♪ any way you want it ♪ that's the way you need it

♪ any way you want it ♪ i'm wolf blitzer. here are some of the stories we're working on for our next hour. new egyptian lawmaker who joined the delegation to washington may have been allowed in by a mistake, a major mistake. is he a terrorist sympathizer in sheep's clothing?

jurors in jerry sandusky's child sex abuse deliberate. and once a hero, twice a hero. the newark, new jersey, mayor dawns his cape once again. we have the details for you. standby, you're in "the situation room". millions of people have now seen it. and most of us find it very painful to watch. a grandmother ruthlessly bullied by a group of boys on a school bus. let's talk about that and more with howard kurtz, the host of cnn's "reliable sources." lauren ashburn working with howie on a new website called "the daily download." thanks for coming in. howie, let me start with you. you saw this video, millions have now seen it, an outpouring of support for the 68-year-old

woman, more than $500,000. she's invited to disney world by the disney corporation. explain this phenomenon. years ago even a few years ago this could have never happened. >> no. because we would never have known about this, wolf, if not for one of these middle school bullies posting this video on his own facebook page. and it gets picked up by everyone. the mainstream media a step behind here. lauren, you saw the way in which this went to use the cliche, viral. >> i did. i saw a tweet saying ellen dejen res, comment on this. ellen came out saying bullying doesn't end when you grow up, it ends when you stop bullying. >> let's play a clip just to remind viewers what happened. >> oh, my god, you so fat. >> you're so fat. >> you take up the whole seat. >> you don't have a family cause they all killed thems --

>> my heart went out to that woman immediately like everyone else. now, these two boys -- at least two of the four supposedly have now apologized and said they're sorry for this. but the pain is going to be there for a long time. >> it is. and if it hadn't been for that video being posted on social media, we wouldn't know about this. this would be another story of another person who's been bullied. >> you said you couldn't even watch the whole thing. >> i couldn't. i had tears in my eyes. i only could watch two minutes. it's motivated people to donate money and to actually do something. these netizans are trying to help this woman. >> there's a site that raises money for various causes. i think so many people felt so moved by this, so angry also that they wanted to reach out. people don't know what to do. how can they participate? what can they do? so they contribute money. the goal was $5,000. ends up being $500,000 because people somehow wanted to participate in a solution, not just share on social media or sometimes overshare, but

participate in a solution. >> let me move onto ann curry because you wrote on "daily beast" an interesting analysis of what's going on at "today" show. what is going on? >> ann curry looks like she's moved off certainly hasn't denied it, wolf. she told me a few months ago she's a hard news reporter at her core. that's true. she's a tremendous journalist. but that's not the same set of skills as sitting on a couch in the morning being breakfast company. and more important, having good chemistry for lack of a better term with your co-host, matt lauer hasn't made anything by saying he likes ann curry but doesn't feel they have much chemistry. >> is it fair for her -- the ratings for the show have gone down a little bit. "good morning america" has picked up. some are saying she's being made the scapegoat, is that fair? >> the fall guy. tv news hast a history of doing this. you make the woman the fall guy when the ratings go down. you can look back as far as debra norville coming in replacing jayne pauly and being

considered a home wrecker on the show. >> you've been watching the media, howie, for a long time. do you think that's fair? >> i think lauren's right. when it's a male and female pairing, it's unusual for the male to be eased out. ann curry's only been on the job for a year. ech though the show is still number one, there's a tremendous amount of money at stake in the morning. hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue. "today" show feels like it's slipping, the idea would be to get a better combination on the air. is that fair to ann curry? no. but i bet she'll land on her feet. >> in the end it's a business and they want to make money. thanks very much for coming. "reliable sources" 11:00 a.m. sunday morning. good stuff coming up. >> thank you. he steered the clinton campaign and a popular commentator on cnn. james carville has a new book that will be on the shelves. he tells in plain english what he thinks should be priority number one.

it's called "it's the middle class stupid." james is here live. that's coming up. and five big banks see their credit ratings slip, triggering a huge reaction in the markets. what's going on? cnn's erin burnett is out front standing by to weigh in. and later, a long-lost wedding ring found. we're going to follow the 50-year-old ring's journey back to its rightful owner. ♪

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with two times the points on dining in restaurants, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. bay buchanan is here, james carville is here. they're getting ready. look at this, james carville "it's the middle class stupid." we're going to discuss. standby.

let's get right to our

strategy session. joining us right now, the democratic strategist and cnn political contributor, james carville. he's out with a brand new book. it's not even in bookstores yet. it's called "it's the middle class stupid." and also here bay buchanan, a senior advisor to the romney presidential campaign. have you read this? >> i saw it. >> a strategist, you've got some -- what does that mean? you said it's the economy stupid in 1992 and that was the theme, the motto that helped your friend, bill clinton, become president of the united states. what does this mean it's the middle class -- >> i think it means the number one crisis in this country is what's happened to the middle class. the number of people fallen out of it, how difficult it is to stay in it. and i think it's been going on for a long, long time. right after we wrote this book a study comes out saying middle class people lost 40% of their wealth. i think we have a humanitarian crisis here of any kind of magnitude. i think when we lose the middle

class, we actually lose who we are as being americans. i think that's important. >> i think the unwritten headline in this book, james will correct me if i'm wrong, is that republicans think it's the rich people stupid. is that your message? >> it's a little bit different. a lot of books and many of them very good on a very important subject called income equality. what we're talking about is what's happened to the mid l class. it's a little different in, yes, we do think and we obviously talk about it, we favor democratic policy by and large over republican policies, but we also don't think the democrats have aligned themselves sufficiently enough with the middle class. so we're somewhat critical of our own party. >> he's a smart guy. >> he's a very smart guy. and i listen to him. and i think he's absolutely correct according to that headline. it is the middle class. i think that's what mitt romney's been hammering out there is the middle class has suffered enormously under this president, under his policies. james is correct. >> to be fair, right? >> but in the last three or four

years, whether it be assets or jobs, homes, they're losing them. wolf, they're losing them across the board. and barack obama has not helped the situation. he has worsened it. >> actually, though, the loss of wealth in middle class all happened before barack obama became president. let's be fair. this financial crisis did not start under president obama. >> there's plenty of blame to go around. >> there is. >> but when you're sitting president and more americans have lost their job in the three and a half years he's been president, more have lost their homes, more have fallen into poverty, he has to take some responsibility. >> the book was about something else. but for a man that now we find out was advising people, making tens of millions of dollars advising people how to outsource jobs, how to take jobs away from the united states and put them overseas and then who took those profits and then put them in the cayman islands and put them in switzerland, i don't know if that's the guy the middle class is going to trust to do this. i really don't. >> skeptical in "the washington post" today. >> i read the headlines. a very good story.

>> listen, what this election's going to come down to and i think most everyone would agree there is how has this -- barack obama and his record, has it helped americans? are we better off? there's no question we are not. it's getting worse. you saw the unemployment numbers. you saw more and more people signing up for benefits filing for unemployment. things are not getting better. >> ronald reaganed asked the american people in 1980, you remember when he was facing incumbent president, jimmy carter, are you better off today than four years ago? >> that's one question mitt romney will not ask barack obama. >> why? >> he'll crush it. you want to know what this economy looked like? i hope that he says we've made no way near the progress that i would have liked, but i would be delighted to answer the question that where the country is today is -- mitt romney will never ask obama that question. i promise you. >> i don't know if he will or not. but i would have no hesitancy to

advise him to it. >> please do it. >> look at the promises this president made three and a half years ago to the american people, four years ago. he said he's going to cut the deficit in half. he told them if indeed unemployment is not lower, more americans are finding jobs, that he wouldn't get another four years. and that's the situation today. he's been spending outrageously, no concern -- >> quickly on both of you. if you had to give one piece of strategic advice, not to mitt romney, because i know you're advising him, but to barack obama, what would that be? >> i would say pack his bags early because things are not looking good. >> that's what i'm talking about. how to get himself re-elected? what's the most important thing he could do as a strategic analyst and professional, what should he do to get himself re-elected? >> stay away from his record. see if he can't run on something other than his record because that record will send him right on down -- >> give romney other than don't ask the american people are you better off that four years ago. >> i would say don't ask that question. and don't talk about specifics, but talk about how you've been

at problem solving. maybe people didn't like the general way you solved the problem, but gotten things done. i would stay away from specifics. >> what's the most important message from this book? >> the most important thing i want to know is i want people to understand that there's a crisis in the american middle class. and where is the presidential commission on the middle class? where is the joint committee on the middle class? where's the princeton institute study on middle class? why aren't we treating what's happening to the american middle class what it is? it's a crisis and we need to deal with it. >> james, all those things indeed are true. policy that comes out of washington impacts that middle class. >> you know what's like bad policy? like cutting a state tax. that does nothing. you know what's really bad policy for the middle class? is mitt romney saying he wants to give the rich another 20% tax cut. >> that's not a policy. >> you know what's bad policy, iran budget going to have middle class people pay $6,000 more a year. that's really, really bad

policy. >> this enormous regulation, the outrageous spending, the huge debts, the uncertainty in the market. he won't even tell us about the increase in taxes. this man has failed the middle class. >> the book is call e eed "it's middle class stupid." the book in stores next week? >> tenth of july. >> thanks, guys. >> thank you. you bet. fallout from a financial jolt. five major u.s. banks have their ratings downgraded. we're taking a closer look at the markets, how did they react today? cnn's erin burnett is out front. she's standing by live. and pilots forced to rely on possibly outdated weather information. we have details over the growing concern over the next generation radar. 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

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stocks bounce back today with all three major stock indices posting gains. the dow up more than 67 points. a dramatic turnaround from yesterday when investors panicked ahead of moody's decision to downgrade five major u.s. banks, citi group, morgan stanley, jpmorgan. cnn erin burnett on this story. were you surprised the markets bounced back today? a lot of us were expecting doom and gloom. >> it's interesting, wolf. the markets e so volatile as you know. today mario monti of italy said he gave the euro one more week if we don't get our act together and market still go up. the bank news was disconcerning

to some, but people thought they might be downgraded further. and also a lot of people say, wolf, look, these rating agencies didn't get the financial crisis right. banks had ratings too high before and everybody knew it. this was just coming back into line with reality. so you actually saw the bank stocks, a lot of borrowing costs and everything, borrowing costs fell, stocks went up. so it ended up being a pretty solid day. i think it's a case of, look, this is acknowledgment of something we already knew by the ratings agencies and could have been worse. >> what's going to be the big fallout? if there is a big fallout, from this moody's decision? >> for now, wolf, initial fallout is going to be -- it's sort of ironic. remember last summer when the united states got downgraded. in the big picture of things is not good, not what we wanted, something we need to rectify, but around the rest of the world it's so much worse that people would rather put money in the united states even though the united states is a bad spot. so you've seen borrowing costs for our country for mortgages continue to fall. it's counterintuitive, but you still saw it happening.

i think what you might see happen with the big u.s. banks is the same thing. moody's downgraded about 15 banks around the world, but the five in the united states, they're going to be seen as better and stronger and more well-capitalized than any of their rivals in europe. even though it's bad they got downgraded, it may be still safer to put money there than in a lot of those other banks. bottom line. >> i'd rather keep my money in those five american banks than any of those european banks on any given day. >> absolutely. >> thanks very much. 7:00 p.m. eastern "erin burnett out front". growing concern of a radar system designed to give pilots weather information, but could it make flying even more dangerous? our aviation correspondent, lizzie o'leary, is working this story for us. lizz lizzie, what's going on here? >> for about two years private pilots have been flying with a next generation radar picture that sends a picture around them into their cockpit. officials are cautioning those could be dangerously delayed.

>> get into the yellow, oranges and red magentas, that's heavy precipitation. >> it's a state of the art weather display in a cockpit. like gps, it shows where the plane is, where airports are and where bad weather is. but there's a dangerous catch. the weather picture's called nexrad aren't in realtime. what do you tell your students about nexrad? >> you don't want to use it to actively navigate around weather. you have to be very aware that that is old information. >> we got up in the air with one of his pilots to see how it works. and what federal safety investigators worry about. so you can see right here there's a little bit of weather. and that's us. and this picture was sent up about one minute ago. the worry that the ntsb has is that pilots will think that the data is one minute old.

it's not. that picture was sent to the plane one minute ago, but could reflect weather radar that is ten, even 15 minutes old. a potentially dangerous delay. >> it could mean the difference between life and death. we have seen accidents where we have found that pilots had information that was displayed to them that was seven, eight, nine minutes old. they thought they were ahead of storm or clear of the storm but in fact they were right in it. >> her agency says this confusion may have contributed to two crashes. a helicopter crash in 2010 in tennessee after the pilot tried to beat thunderstorms. and in december a small plane broke up mid-flight over texas after flying into a rainstorm. >> here's the problem. here's the radar. it only goes about this far. if you take all the radars across the country, 159 of them, and you try to make a quilt so that you can make one image or one mosaic, you have to sew together 159 pictures.

takes a long time to do that and send it to an airplane. >> the ntsb is now telling pilots not to rely on these images. it can be a guide, but far from a perfect one. now, it's important to note that is for private planes, not commercial airliners. those are equipped with very sophisticated radars, often they're in the nose cone and airlines have their own weather team to make sure pilots have their most up to date information. this is about protecting smaller planes, smaller pilots heading into stormy thunderstorm season, very important for general aviation pilots don't rely on this data because it could be old. >> did you get a little nauseous on that cessna? >> i'm not going to tell you that. it was a lovely flight. we had an excellent pilot. >> you're braver than i am. thank you. a white house visitor shouldn't have been in the united states at all. brian todd is taking a look at his possible ties to terrorism. a glittering and bittersweet reunion. you don't want to miss this. [ woman ] my husband, hank, was always fun.

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i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. a long-lost wedding band found in a used car in california finds its way home. ron jones of our affiliate kovr has the story. >> reporter: what a journey this 50-year-old wedding ring has been on. >> i'm real excited. i cannot wait. >> reporter: shannon and her husband can't wait to get it to its rightful owner. just tuesday they told cbs 13 how they found it, stuck between the backseat of their car. that was three weeks ago. >> my first thought was, wow, you know. where'd this ring come from? >> reporter: the car and ring are from el paso, texas. the callihans purchased their used vehicle from a local dealer and through the vin learned it came through the lone star state.

hoping to find the ring's owner, they reached out to the local media. it was discovered the car's previous owner moved from texas to auburn. and that's where the original bride was too. they called her and she was able to verify the inscription inside the ring, april 1961. you've been holding onto this for three weeks. how exciting is this the anticipation? >> this is the most wonderful moment. >> reporter: they drove all the way to deliver the golden ring. what a reunion. darlene king says she hasn't seen the ring in years when her husband, tom, lost it in texas. >> i never thought we'd ever get it back. i thought it went down the drain. >> reporter: tom is not here. he recently passed away. >> nice people found it. and i just wish my husband were alive. he died in january of this year. >> reporter: surrounded by local media types, darlene kept checking just to make sure it was tom's.

>> you know what? it is his ring. yes, it is. >> reporter: she already has plans for it. >> i think i'll probably wear it on a chain around my neck for a little while. >> that's ron jones reporting. king also told him that she plans to eventually give her late husband's ring to her son in washington state as a keepsake. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, a member of a united states designated terror organization not only makes it inside the united states but getting access to top administration officials. standby. general motors announces a mass recall of more than 00,000 cars. we're going to tell you which vehicles are effected and just how dangerous the problem might be. and he carried a woman out of a burning building, now this so-called hero mayor apparently strikes again. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

first, to what could be a recipe for a whole new political uprising in egypt. you're looking at a live picture of tahrir square in cairo. this scene of last year's historic revolution where thousands are now gathering around unconfirmed reports that the ousted mubarak loyalist, ahmed shafiq, will be named the new president of egypt on sunday. the dramatic development, if true, would be a huge blow for egypt's muslim brotherhood whose opposing runoff candidate, mohammad mursi, has also declared victory. all of this as egypt's military leaders are tightening their so-called iron fist on power. they're raising serious fears right now of a coup. lots at stake. here in the united states, meanwhile, new questions about

an egyptian delegation that came to washington. and you won't believe what one group one member is linked to or the places and people he actually got access to. brian todd is joining us now. he's been investigating this story. this is pretty shocking stuff, brian. >> it really is, wolf, this group of egyptian lawmakers was here just this week. among those members was a man tied to a known terrorist group. we found out he was not only allowed to enter the united states but got access to top officials of the obama administration, possibly even at the white house. he came to washington in a gaggle of egyptian lawmakers in town to meet with top officials of the obama administration. but it appears he shouldn't have been allowed into the u.s. at all. seen here on his facebook page, recently elected to egypt's parliament as a member of the building and development party. analysts say that's an arm of the group designated a terrorist organization by the state department. under american law, that means he should have been denied a visa to come to the u.s. >> this is a terrorist

organization without any ambiguity about it whatsoever. and for somebody who represents a terrorist organization to be given a visa to come here and to meet with officials, i think that's dubious diplomacy at best. >> or maybe a mistake. in an interview with "the daily beast," he says he got a visa. in washington the state department acknowledges he met with two of hillary clinton's top deputies. he told the daily beast he met at the white house with deputy national security advisor, dennis mcdon og. we tracked through washington to find out how he got here. first through the egyptian embassy. well, at the embassy, they claim they didn't arrange this visit. they don't know where the delegation is at this moment. they say this visit, most of the logistics of it, where he came and who he visited, they say that was arranged by a

washington think tank, the wood row wilson center. here at the center a spokesman said he did not handle the visit, he said the state department handled that. he said he had a meeting here, but not sure who set that up. the state department first told "the daily beast" the wilson center invited, now a spokesperson says the department is looking into it. what about checking his background? you can actually find out information online about him fairly easily, right? >> definitely. let's google his name in arabic. the first entry you have here is his facebook page. and once you enter on his facebook page, you can very easily see him and a short bio about him where he very clearly says that he is a member and was arrested in egypt, spent 11 years of his life in prison. >> but he told "the daily beast"

he's not a terrorist. and points out he did renounce violence several years ago, wolf. >> i assume he got the visa from the u.s. embassy in cairo. somebody at the u.s. embassy in cairo actually stamped his passport, gave him an entry visa to come to the united states. >> he says he got that. we've been trying to check with the u.s. embassy in cairo. we've not gotten any resolution to that. >> this whole notion that while he was here he had these high-level meetings at the state department, the woodrow wilson center. but at the same time, and you can confirm this, he was pressing for the release of a notorious terrorist serving a life sentence in the united states. >> that's right. he asked dennis mcdono for a transfer. he was convicted in the 1993 world trade center bombing. he asked for a transfer to an egyptian prison. he says that request was denied. the national security council, again, not commenting on that. >> but this organization is still on the state department's list as a terrorist organization

even though as you say they renounced terrorism a few years ago. >> that's right. they're still on the state department's website right there as a known terrorist organization. >> somebody screwed up. they should find out what happened. >> it could have been an oversight. >> i know there's a high level of egyptian delegation that's been here all week meeting with high-level -- and this individual was part of this delegation. >> and he was a legitimately elected member of parliament. it came as part of that delegation. but there was something that went wrong in trying to let him in here. >> if you get more answers, let us know. >> sure thing. brian, thank you. turning to syria right now. the opposition says at least 61 people died today. and the syrian government also claims heavy casualties at the hands of the opposition. these latest images show fierce fighting said to be a rebel attack against a regime. we can't verify the claims because the regime severely restricts journalistic access. we know there are cracks in the civilian military armor

including defections of several senior level officers. let's bring in barbara starr. what does this mean for the fight going forward in syria? >> wolf, that is the question. u.s. officials believe that defections by syrian officers are accelerating and that it is coming at the very time the opposition appears to be making progress. it's just one syrian armored vehicle under attack by opposition forces. opposition forces that have grown from handfuls to nearly 40,000 by some estimates. now attacking bashar al-assad's regime every day. some weapons are being smuggled into the country. but as senior u.s. official with access to the latest information says there's also an increasing number of weapons from the syrian military itself. how the rebels get them says a lot about what is going on. >> they just purchased them from

officers. so, you know, the syrian system is quite corrupt. many times when people are stopped at checkpoints, soldiers are asked if they would like to buy ammunition. >> there's no sign of collapse by assad's most elite military units. but the rank and file may be less loyal. opposition sources tell cnn some syrian troops may deliberately be missing their targets, a sign of support for the people. >> i've heard that on a number of occasion. it wouldn't surprise me. that also can be, you know, these kind of slowdowns in the government and the army and the bureaucracy are a way of resisting the assad regime's reaction to the uprising. >> u.s. officials say there's no way to confirm the reports, but it's now clear that opposition forces are strong enough that assad's most elite units cannot always respond everywhere they are needed. >> you have an opposition -- a set of opposition groups that is finding ways -- they're not

totally organized but they're finding ways of organizing themselves more effectively. >> now, no one is predicting that assad's regime is about to collapse. but this week, two generals, two colonels deflected. and pilot tells us that defected yesterday he was a senior colonel who has access to syrian military information, wolf. >> the syrian pilot who defected is now in jordan. he's received asylum there, is that right? >> that's correct. >> thanks very much for that, barbara. let's dig a bit deeper. right now what's going on in syria and, more, the former bush homeland security advisor joining us. when i interviewed the deputy prime minister of israel this week, he said bashar al-assad's regime is numbered because there are major defections in the military.

the military will eventually get rid of this guy. what do you think? >> i have no doubt. i think that what we're seeing is the beginning of a wave. when you see a guy take his mid-21 into jordan, that's a real signal and a real demoralizing effect. so i think we can expect we will see sort of a knock-on effect throughout the syrian military. the other thing is we don't know what of course has not been revealed to us, that is, look, are there other covert clandestine activities on behalf of the united states and other allied governments? we've got to assume there are that would support such an effort. >> i'm sure there's a lot of covert activity going on. we don't have the specific details as you say, but what i assume that's going on. but if bashar al-assad were to go down, that would be a huge setback for its ally in iran. but, the suspension of these iranian nuclear talks in moscow did not go well. there's some concern, i know here in washington, that the

about to take effect. what do you hear about that. >> i think there is real concern especially among diplomats and seniors in the united states military. of course we worry israel will become impatient and act on their own unilaterally. i think that ahmadinejad will be surprised. they went into the talks knowing the sanctions would have an impact. and i think how widespread and how dramatic the impact will be is going to be surprising. i think it's a devastating impakts on the economy, which is why they've tried so hard to avoid it. >> i went to a dinner last night, the defense secretary, leon panetta honored. i was expecting he would give a nice bland little speech. but he really deviated. he was on fire. he was really passionate in going after democrats and republicans for even the possibility that there could be these mandatory cuts in u.s. defense spending a deal called

see questions trags. listen to some of what he said. >> i'm always asked in the congress, well, have you looked at sequester and tried to plan for it? i said, i can't plan for something that was designed to be crazy. in january of 2013, it will pose, if it happens -- and i've made this clear, an unacceptable risk to our ability to defend this country. make no mistake it will hollow out our force. it will weaken us at the very moment when the united states needs to remain the strongest military power on earth. it would virtually double the cuts in the defense area. and worse, it does it by cutting everything across the board. basically hollowing out the entire structure of our national

defense. >> now, i know you went with leon panetta to pay respects for the death of the crown prince of saudi arabia. you were on the official u.s. delegation. this is not vintage leon panetta. he didn't seem that -- normally he's much more cool. but on this issue, he is so passionate. >> well, wolf, look. this is a former director of omb, a former member of congress. he understands the politics of it. sequestration was a hostage taking exercise. and the hostage was the department of defense budget. now we're getting up to the deadline and it shouldn't surprise anybody that the hostage is angry and speaking out and resents being used as leverage in what has become a political game. he honestly feels -- you know, i've heard him speak about the fact that he's got to write the condolence letters. this is not a game to him. when you see him angry and passionate about the defense department budget and political games that are played, i think that's why you see him sort of

lash out at republicans and democrats. >> he berated them. if young men and women can go off and risk their lives for their country, how dare these members of congress play games. heefs furious. >> right. and it's from the heart. >> fran, thanks very much. >> sure. general motors recalls more than 400,000 chevys built here in the united states. just ahead we're going to tell you which models are effected, just how serious the problem could be. plus, president obama slams mitt romney on immigration at a major latino conference. who will come out on top with one voting block neither man can afford to lose? and with so much talk about young victims of sexual abuse, we have a firsthand look at how some children are managing to recover. ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts.

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president obama's in tampa. he just finished a major rally in a town where the republican national convention will be held at the end of august. the president, by the way -- look at that. when he walked on stage at the

hills bo ro community college, he stumbled apparently on some big paint chips on the ground. he quickly recovered. and he was on fire as he spoke. listen to this. >> you can decide whether we're going back to the days when you can be kicked out of the united states military just because of who you are and who you love. you can decide whether it's time to stop denying citizenship to responsible young people just because they're the children of undocumented immigrants. you can decide that this becomes the last election where multi-million-dollar donations that are undisclosed somehow speak louder than the voices of ordinary citizens. >> the president of the united states recovering quickly from that little stumble. i'm sure he's fine. let's discuss what's going on with two cnn contributors.

democratic strategist maria cardona, ana navarro, the spokes chair. i take it it's raining. thank you for doing this. it's interesting. yesterday romney addressed this group of latino lawmakers, elected officials, today the president did the same thing. i want to play a little clip of what romney said today. >> now, tomorrow, president obama will speak here. he may admit that he hasn't kept every promise. and he'll probably say even though you aren't better off today than you were four years ago, things could be worse. he'll imply you don't really have an alternative. i believe he's taking your vote for granted. >> that was romney yesterday. the president responded today. but let me ask maria first, do you think romney scored some points with the latino community

yesterday? >> very few points, wolf. his speech was found wanting because in fact he didn't really address two things that this crowd was really looking to him to address. the first one was, he still couldn't answer what he would do with the policy president obama announced last week that would help the 800,000 dreamers, which are the undocumented students here through no fault of their own and making positive contributions to our country. he did say he would replace it with a permanent solution. he also said that we could trust his words. well, if we trust his words, wolf, during the primaries he was very unequivocal about what he would do about the dream act. which effects those students. which means he would veto it. he was also unequivocal about what he would do about the 12 million undocumented immigrants that are here. he did not address yesterday. if we take him at his word, he would want to make life in this country so miserable those 12 million would have to self-deport.

>> he didn't exactly say that. he said what he does want is comprehensive immigration reform. he said he would get to work on day one and try to work with democrats and republicans to come up with a big package solution. you're right, he didn't go into a whole lot of specific details. >> he didn't say anything. right. >> you have to look, ana, that the president was so much more enthusiastically received today than romney was yesterday by the same audience. >> absolutely, no doubt. for a while, wolf, i thought it might not have been the same audience because they were much more pumped up, much more enthusiastic than they were yesterday. it's a tough crowd for mitt romney. these are latino-elected officials. about 10% of the membership is latino is republican. so this is not a particularly friendly crowd for romney though they were very respectful and did give him some applause and were courteous. this is a good crowd for the president. and i have to tell you, barack obama is a great speaker.

barack obama gave a good speech. and he knows how to connect with the latino community. mitt romney's not going to outspeak barack obama with the latino community. he's not going to be able to compete on personality. so he's got to give substance. and i think what mitt romney's going to have to do is try to exploit the credibility gap on the immigration issue. but in order to do that, mitt romney's going to have to fully engage on immigration. if he doesn't fully engage barack obama on immigration, confront him repeatedly on this issue, then this issue's going to be one that obama's going to end up winning. he was here today after the announcement seven days ago he was here taking a victory lap doing his touchdown dance basking in the afterglow. it was -- obviously he was reaping the benefits of a very political move from seven days ago. if he had been here ten days

ago, he probably would have received a much different reception from this crowd. >> he did get a good reception today. romney got a very polite reception yesterday. ladies, it's pouring down there. we're going to let you go right now. go inside that cnn bus right behind you. terrifying video as powerful floods paralyze the midwest. lives have been lost, roads shut down and the damage could cost millions. plus, greece has a chance to do something incomprehensible. knock germany out -- we're not talking about currency, we're talking about the biggest tournament in europe. ♪

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to midwest states reeling right now from two days of heavy flooding. lisa sylvester's monitoring that

and other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's going on? >> three people are dead in wisconsin after crashing on a washed out road after intense flash flooding. parts of wisconsin and minnesota remain under flood warning. and many roads are closed. up to ten inches of rain fell in the area surrounding duluth, minnesota. hard-hit was the zoo. 11 animals died there. officials estimate the recovery will take months and cost millions of dollars. a sad day on washington's mt. rainier after a park ranger plunged to his death after trying to rescue four climbers. he was preparing the climbers to be rescued when he fell almost 4,000 feet. the climbers are safe. none of their injuries are life threatening. talk about an intriguing grudge match in the euro 2012 soccer championship. greece and germany have been linked a lot lately with germany providing the bulk of the bailout. on the field germans leading

greece 4-2 behind an explosion. germany moves into the final four of the europe big tournament. have you been following? >> you have a future in sports. you're doing that well. show a little passion. little excitement telling the scores. giving a little color. >> i have to practice that. >> lisa sylvester. >> the sports caster. >> espn, maybe, you never know. >> thanks for the plug. an alleged victim of jerry sandusky becomes the first to tell his story on television. what it means in the case against the ex-penn state football coach. and when should we expect a verdict? standby. and the trauma suffered by children of abuse that can stay with them for a lifetime. we explore how young victims can ever begin to heal. so you're n. but thanks to the htc one x from at&t, with its built in beats audio, every note sounds amazingly clear. ...making it easy to get lost in the music... and, well... rio vista?!! [ male announcer ] ...lost.

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at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life, so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. call us at... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy? second day of deliberations underway right now in the infamous jerry sandusky child rape trial. jurors are pouring over transcripts of testimony even as new allegations of abuse from sandusky's adopted son, matt, could lead to additional charges. let's go straight to cnn national correspondent, at the courthouse. what issues does the jury appear to be focusing on right now? >> well, wolf, they've been out for about 16 hours over the course of two days now. and they started off the morning

by having testimony read back to them in the courtroom by prosecutors and defense attorneys of two important witnesses, first, then assistant mike mcqueary who testified in 2001 he said he saw something sexual going on in a locker room shower between jerry sandusky and a little boy. he said you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know what was going on. but then they also wanted to hear back the testimony from a doctor who testified for the defense that he had only heard mike mcqueary describing he heard sexual sounds. they could be deciding on mcqueary's credibility. or they might possibly be deciding on the degree of guilt. it's impossible to know, wolf. >> they've had a few questions, haven't they? >> well, they also asked another question. they came back in the courtroom and wanted to have the judge re-explain to them what circumstantial evidence and what hearsay is. and that involved the testimony of a janitor who said he saw

sandusky and a little boy walking out of a shower late at night. but also he talked about what another janitor said he told him about ten minutes later that that other janitor is now ruled incompetent to testify because he's too old and senile that he was really upset and said he actually saw an attack going on. so these are issues that the jury is now apparently struggling with. >> all right. we'll stay in close touch with you and await this verdict. thanks very much. when the ten alleged victims in this case while they await the verdict, another sandusky accuser who did not testify in this trial is breaking his silence. travis weaver sat down with nbc's rock center. he claimed sandusky abused him 100 times over a period of four years beginning when he was only 10 years old. >> in your opinion, was this a guy who thought he would never get caught? >> yes.

i don't think the thought ever even crossed his mind. >> at age 14 travis weaver says he reached a breaking point. sandusky took him to philadelphia for a second mile fundraiser he says, and started wrestling with him in the hotel room. >> i told him if he didn't get off me, i was going to call the police on him. and he just laughed at me. and forced me to stay on the bed. and told me if i ever said anything that nobody was going to believe me and he would get my dad fired from penn state. >> so how does that young victim of sexual abuse ever begin to heal after undergoing a horrific ordeal? lisa sylvester spent some time with children and teens at a camp nearby. >> reporter: it's the first day of summer. these kids are racing. something so normal. >> they're having a great time. >> reporter: for children who have been so traumatized. >> the worst you can imagine

people are capable of, these children experienced. >> reporter: 60 boys and girls who live at a residential camp in rural virginia ranging from ages 5 to 14. they are all victims of physical or sexual abuse. >> probably 75% to 80% of our kids have been sexually abused. >> reporter: they live here. >> sweetheart, right here. >> reporter: eat here. and hope to heal here. >> you need to go eat what you got. your salad. before you come back for cucumbers, honey. >> most of the kids don't come out and report that somebody did something to them because there's that whole shame factor. >> reporter: the children's stories at the nonprofit child help residential center are almost too difficult to hear. >> the scope of the problem is huge. >> but you can see their angst. >> you can see where the kids really are struggling with some of their identity in some of the pictures. >> reporter: subject to severe neglect, physical abuse and

horrendous sex abuse. sometimes at the hands of a parent, a stepparent or another trusted person in their lives. lancaster says child sex abusers choose their victims carefully. >> if they walked into a room, they could pick out which kids they could probably groom and probably victimize. it's that loner in the classroom or the child often unincluded in the groups. >> reporter: and sexual predators manipulate their victims. >> from convincing a child nobody's going to believe them, that they're going to lose friends, that everybody's going to hate you, to things as drastic as if you tell, then i'm going to do something, you know, horrible to your family. >> reporter: the advice for parents. >> listen carefully and believe what your child is telling you. and to inquire if you see them acting differently. and to avoid what's all too easy, which is to discount concerns because priest or coach would never do this. >> reporter: when innocence and self-esteem are stolen, the center tries to build it back. >> this is such a healing place. you've got this 270 acres that

used to be a horse farm. >> reporter: the horses have stayed and are now part of therapy. >> i think four-legged therapists are better than any two-legged therapists. very confident building especially for kids who have been victimized. gives them a sense of, wow, i'm not as small and cowher desz as i thought. >> reporter: when the children leave the center either to return home or foster care, they leave behind their hand prints at the stables. some of these hand prints are so small, this one is about the size of my son's hand print. and he's not even 5. small hands hopefully leaving behind huge burdens. >> and lisa's here with us. lisa, i'm glad you did that piece. can these kids -- what do the experts say? can they ever fully recover? >> you know, i asked that question. is it something they can get past?

is it something they can move beyond? and in a way it will always stay with them. it will always be a part of their future, it's part of their past. and kids are very resilient. with therapy and programs like this, i mean, this is a starting point. the key is, they have to get lots of therapy, wolf. >> what should parents, grandparents, ung ls, aunts, what should they be on the look out to see if these young kids are being abused? >> this is a story, you're a parent, i'm a parent, when people hear about what's going on with the jerry sandusky case, these allegations, raises a lot of concerns. there are some things that parents should look out for, teachers as well, care givers, one of the things you want to see if a child's behavior starts to change. if they're suddenly reverting back to their old ways or younger age, for instance, wetting the bed, things like that. if they have nightmares. these all might be potential red flags. another thing you want to do is have a conversation, have a dialogue with your child. parents need to tell their kids, you know, there is appropriate behavior and there is inappropriate behavior. these are boundaries. it is not acceptable for anybody to touch you in certain places.

and it is important that parents have these conversations with their kids even when they're real young because this stuff happens -- in fact, that's one of the things they told me, wolf, is that there are other stories and other cases like this that never come to light because these kids are so embarrassed and they're such a shame factor that it is so difficult for these children to come forward. >> so heartbreaking. >> it really is. >> thanks for doing this report. >> thank you. >> lisa sylvester on the scene for us doing important work. meanwhile, a verdict in another notorious pennsylvania abuse case. a jury finding the monsignor, william lynn, a high-ranking cleric in the catholic archdiocese guilty of endangering children by covering up incidents of sexual abuse. he's set to be sentenced in august. general motors announces a huge recall of a popular model, 400,000 of them to be exact, because of an engine failure. engine failure may cause fire.

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general motors has just announced a mass recall of more than 400,000 chevy cruze small cars built right here in the united states due to an engine shield issue that could potentially cause a fire. our aviation and regulation correspondent, lizzie o'leary's back. she's got the details. what's going on? >> this is a lot of cars. some 400,000 cars. remember, the chevy cruze is one of gm's crown jewels, their best

selling car last year, one of the things that's helped them move forward from the bankruptcy. the recalls we're talking about all involve chevy cruzes built in the u.s. from september 2010 to may of this year. the fear is that an engine shield, which is basically a big piece of plastic under the e engi engine, could trap oil and create a fire hazard. they're also worried about cars with manual transmissions that burning hydraulic fluid could ignite the shield. gm says there are no known crashes, injuries or deaths related to this recall. we do know that federal investigators have two reports of engine fires that essentially destroyed two chevy cruzes. they since kind of went back, looked at the pattern and found 2 fires. they have an open investigation into these cars. they still say they're safe, but there was an issue, also remember with gm's chevy volt. the federal investigators here say those two are unrelated. people had some concern, wait a minute, what's up with all these fires. they say, no, no, they're still safe cars and consider the two

issues unrelate. >> so if someone has one of these chevy cruises, what do they do? >> take it back to the dealer. chevy is saying it will take probably half an hour, if it's a more minor repair, it could take up to three hours to fix these. but bring them back to the dealer. there is no worry, wolf, of an engine fire from one of these engines. >> it's a good chevy. i rented one a few months ago. >> facebook all the built-in. >> very cool. >> you tweeted from it. >> not when i was driving. thank you. that's bad. never tweet while driving. remember that. he shovelled snow and carried a woman out of a burning building. now the hero mayor as we like to call him, cory booker, he strikes again. standby for details. and you can call it an expensive car sandwich. just ahead you're going to find out what caused this dramatic pileup. [ male announcer ] aggressive styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior.

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perhaps no one finds himself in the right place at the right time more than corey booker. the newark, new jersey, mayor says he helped a man who was hit by a vehicle today. all this coming just two months after he actually carried a woman out of a burning building. let's go back to new york. mary snow is standing by. what's going on with mayor booker and these incidents? a lot of folks call him the hero mayor. >> there's something about newark, new jersey, wolf. his timing is even something cory booker has joked about. he's playing down his role in this one. he credits a detective with coming to the aid of a pedestrian hit by a car. earlier in the day, booker tweeted, god bless my residents. pulled up on pedestrian vehicle accident. we got man stabilized and into ambulance. he'll be okay. thanks to all who helped.

he says, i appreciate the driver. man ran into traffic. driver did the right thing and stayed and helped me and others aid man until medical help arrived. as you just mentioned, back in april, booker ran into a burning building, suffered minor injuries. he rescued his neighbor. and after today's tweets, he's getting some amusing responses on twitter. this one reads, man, you seem to always be in the right place at the right time. recently booker himself poked fun at himself with help from new jersey governor chris christie. >> governor -- >> hey, trooper. >> you guys have any problems you want me to handle, a fire anywhere, people trapped? >> no. >> like a bad automobile accident where you need me to help some folks? >> no, nothing like that. >> maybe a cat in a tree? >> no, i think we're all set here. >> trooper, what do we have. >> mayor, there's a two-alarm fire on state street. we have a car broken down and a little girl has lost her cat in a tree.

>> all right, trooper, as you were. governor, i got this. >> if you remember, booker started getting attention as a hands-on mayor during a blizzard two years ago. he was out shoveling and also writing about it on twitter. >> yes, he was. he's a good guy. he's a good mayor and, obviously, a hero as well. thanks very much, mary, for that. u.s. stocks are bouncing back. lisa is back monitoring that and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. this mayor is at the right place, at the right time. he does something about it. >> we need to get that guy a cape. get the mayor a cape. a day after 15 u.s. banks were downgraded, including major banks citigroup, morgan stanly, goldman sachs, bank of america and jpmorgan chase, u.s. stocks rebounded with the dow jones industrial average rising 67 points. investors tell cnn they are just released to have the looming downgrade out of the way and rallied through the news. and the daughter of former

vice president dick cheney has married her longtime partner, mary cheney and heather poe were meerd in washington. the cheneys released a statement saying mary and heath ver been in a committed relationship for many years, and we are delighted they were able to take advantage of the opportunity to have that relationship recognized. the couple has two children and we wish them the very best. talk about a pricey mistake. a chicago man accidentally crashed his rented bmw through a guard rail landing directly on top of, get this, a jaguar and a mercedes. the driver says he hit the gas instead of the break, but the driver of the smashed jaguar was not very amused calling the man an idiot. that's not good. a bmw, a jaguar and a mercedes all lumped together in one accident. >> pretty expensive stuff. >> and did you get this? it was a rented bmw. he'll go v to have to go back t rental car company. alec baldwin has a revealing

interview on "david letterman." not what he said but what he showed. ♪

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the actor alec baldwin is showing off his legs. and david letterman is showing off his socks. cnn's jeanne moos has a closer look at what happens when the pants come down. >> it was a day destined to go down in television history. the day not one, but two, major stars -- >> i've been trying to diet. i lost so much weight that -- >> dropped their pants. >> the problem is that none of my clothes fit me. if you put your hands in your pocket, your pants come down. >> so what if alec baldwin may have been trying to distract from his latest meltdown, shoving a photographer. such short-term memories

departed as he stoot there in his shorts. >> now i'm thinking, should i take my pants off? >> sure you should. dave modestly disrobed behind the chairs. but there are perils to publicly dropping your pants. >> let's talk about alec baldwin's legs for a moment. >> harry! >> very harry. >> a blog called seriously omg, he has some sexy gams. i just wish he took a weed whacker to them. >> it's like a woman's cleavage. after a certain age, no one wants to see it. >> oh, they're examining my junk. >> actually, dave, it's your socks that everyone is examining. we've seen them before. for instance, the time you showed them to the "vogue" editor anna wintor. but you always kept your pants on. >> here they are right here. >> fans always wanted to know why you wear white socks and dave would say, they're gray. that he got them as a gift or in bulk at costco. >> i got 1,000 pairs of socks.

>> when an audience member said he was inspired by dave to wear the same socks, letterman gave him three pairs. no one showed more interest than regis philbin. >> the man wears knee socks all the way up to his knee. $250 a pair. and i got myself a pair of them, too. check it out, baby. >> when letterman and baldwin finally did drop trough, dave made his own tabloid headline. letter junk. when the credits rolled on letterman, they should have read worldwide no pants. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> guys are having a lot of fun. that's it for me. thanks for joining us. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. remember, the conversation continues. you can follow me on twitter, @wolfblitzer. the news continues next on cnn. i'm candy crowley. john king has the night off.

tonight, president obama blames republicans for playing politics with immigration reform as he makes his case with latino voters. tens of thousands of egyptians gather in tahrir square on unconfirmed reports that a new president will soon be named. but it comes with a warning from the military. unrest will be met with an iron fist. plus, the jury in the jerry sandusky trial sends a note to the judge. they want to know more about a witness. we start on the campaign trail and president obama's full-court press to win latino voters who could be the key to winning re-election. so exactly a week after he announced the u.s. would stop deporting some illegal immigrants brought here as children, he spoke to one of the country's biggest hispanic conventions. >> we should have passed the d.r.e.a.m. act a long time ago. it was written by members of