countrywe. he also denies any wrongdoing. according to the house report, documents and testimony obtained by the committee show the vip loan program was a tool used by country wide to build good will with lawmakers and other individuals positioned to benefit the company. the report went on to say that the effort, well, it worked. there's a lot to talk b joining me is jason jaf it is, republican from utah. i think people would be surprised to hear that people got a deal. in your opinion did anyone here commit a crime? >> well, there was no quid pro quo. we could not tie anybody's vote directly to getting this benefit skirts awfully close. you're given a benefit to some your friends and neighbors or somebody off the street wouldn't

get because they were members of congress or working for members of congress. >> what i found amazing in your report is that according to the report, these sweetheart deals basically came about because so many congressional staffers were actually complaining to the countrywide lobbyists about their own personal loans, so the lobbyists would spend the first 30 minutes of meetings dealing with people's personal complaints. that just seems outrageous to me. >> it does. particularly when you're on the committees that are charged with tightening up the rules and regulations. we were dealing with all these bad loans and whatnot. and these people, they were complaining about them but then -- so they took this program, internal program and called it friends of angelo and decided to go ahead and sta helping thesel. and it's just wrong. it didn't smell right, didn't look right because it wasn't right. >> it would be as if i went to interview the head of countrywide and spent the first 30 minutes of the interview before the cameras are rolling complaining about my personal mortgage to the guy and then get directed to some program.

i would be fired for that. >> look, they re put -- a little bait was put out in front of these people and a number of them bit on both sides of the aisle. key, important people bit at this stuff. some claim they didn't really understand what they were doing but that doesn't seem like much of a defense to me. >> a lot of the members of congress claimed they never knew they were part of any preferential program. are they lying? do you have any proof that they did in fact know they were? >> could not directly tie that. this investigation lasted some three years. again, people on both sides of the aisle. but this was something you couldn't just pick up the phone or go down to your local countrywide representative and get, you could only get it by dealing with the friends of angelo. and it seems obvious to me. but -- >> yeah, the senate budget committee chairman, kent conrad said to politico that the senate ethics committee concluded he didn't receive any sweetheart deal on any transaction. your report, though, alleges that he did. that he saved something like

$20,000 through two preferred loans. so did the ethics committee get it wrong in the senate? >> well, the ethics committee in general is fairly impotent. usually the voters have to deal with this and make these types of decisions. what we could not directly tie was, hey, you got this sweetheart deal in exchange directly for this particular vote or for changing a piece of legislation. we could never tie these two together but you can see what the consequences were. the taxpayers ended up footing all of these bills and at the same time some of the key people on finance and banking and the key staffers, one term was this person has the pen in hand. they were a staffer actually helping to write this legislation. you can understand why when this lobbyist said to the committee this is why this person was targeted, you can see that there was -- there was an attempt here to influence. >> the report now concludes that congress should consider making it illegal for company to offer discounts or other preferential treatment to members of congress

or their staff. i think most people would say that seems like common sense. do you expect that will actually happen, though? >> well, as you said, it's very difficult to legislate common sense. look, it is already inappropriate and illegal for a member of congress to accept something that they wouldn't otherwise be able to get. so i don't understand why the ethics committee thinks that there's nothing here in the house. i think there's still some outstanding issues. but it was wrong, it doesn't look right, it doesn't smell right because it wasn't right, anderson.

>> the government could decide that we're going to tax you if you don't eat broccoli on tuesday. >> in fact the affordable care act is a tax. it is the largest tax in america's history. >> the middle class tax increase. >> the largest tax increases on the middle class in history. >> obama care raises taxes on the american people. >> it's actually nowhere near the biggest tax increase in history. but all the same, according to the court, it is a tax. so there was a minor political tremor when romney's campaign chief bucked the party line and said this. >> the governor does not believe

the mandate is a tax. that's what you're saying? >> the governor believes that what we put in place in massachusetts was a penalty and he disagrees with the court's ruling that the mandate was a tax. but again -- >> so he agrees with the president -- he agrees with the president that it is not -- and he believes that you shouldn't call the tax penalty a tax, you should call it a penalty or a fee or a fine? >> that's correct. >> now, that is totally consistent with then governor romney's thinking back in 2006. but as we pointed out, it's totally out of step with his own party right now and he got blasted for it. so tuesday he changed his position. >> thank you. >> mitt -- >> the supreme court is the final word, right? they said it was a tax, didn't they? >> so if romney is saying it's a tax, that motion raises the inevitable question which cbs news's jan crawford asked. >> does that mean that the mandate in the state of massachusetts under your health care law also is a tax? and that you raised taxes as governor? >> actually the chief justice in

his opinion made it very clear that at the state level, states have the power to put in place mandates. they don't need to require them to be called taxes in order for them to be constitutional. and as a result, massachusetts mandate was a mandate, it was a penalty, it was described that way by the legislature and by me. >> so mitt romney yesterday denying that the penalties in massachusetts amounted to a tax, just as he did back in 2006. what's interesting is that that's not how he described them when he was running for president back in 2008. >> tax penalties in massachusetts. >> if people can afford to buy it, either buy the insurance or pay your own way. don't be free riders. >> so he seemed to agree then that they were tax penalties in 2008. he says they were fees in 2006 and a straight-up mandate today. as we mentioned, all the differing are versions are causing consternation among romney supporters, including rupert murdoch and jack welch. they're calling for a romney

campaign shake up. murdoch tweeting mitt romney last week, tough o chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. doubtful. the following lead, if mitt romney loses his run for the white house, a turning point will have been his decision monday to absolve president obama of raising taxes on the middle class. let's talk about it now with red state.com's eric erickson. he's with us so is rick santorum and alice stewart. also senior political analyst ron brownstein. so, eric, where does this clarification get romney exactly? it certainly doesn't help him with the folks who are worried he's a flip-flopper, does it? >> no, that's the problem. i think the romney campaign doesn't want to be seen as a flip-flopper, but sometimes you can be so careful you trip over your feet. that's what's happening here. he just needs to go on and say it's a tax. it didn't work well for him in the primary campaign to say, well, it was massachusetts and

states could do something the federal government can't do. he might as well just go on and say, yeah, it's a tax. the individual mandate is a tax. anderson, i do have to take one issue. when you said it wasn't the largest tax increase in history. remember the cbo window only looks at ten years. if you move the cbo window to when the individual mandate starts and goes into complete effect, it is the biggest tax increase in history. >> alice, one of your former bosses, rick santorum, who lost the gop to mitt romney, said romney would not be able to make the argument against obama care because of his similar plan in massachusetts. is senator santorum right? is that what's going on here? >> no. there was a tremendous difference between what's instituted in massachusetts. they have the power to do that in the states and governor romney made it very clear -- >> so it was not a tax in massachusetts? >> it was a mandate. he made it very clear in his interview with jan crawford. he said he agrees with the dissent. the supreme court has ruled. the majority ruled that it is a tax. like it or not, it's a tax. now, the real question should go

to president obama. he's the one that's come full triangle on this when he was thinking -- just a second. >> wait, are you saying he flip-flopped, though? because it seemed like earlier in the week he wasn't -- at least according to his spokesperson he wasn't thinking it was a tax. >> what governor romney said clearly is that he agrees with the dissent but like it or not the supreme court has ruled. that's the final rule. but it will come down to the voters in november as to the court of public opinion. as i said, it's very important also to look at where president obama has stood on this. while seeking passage, he promised the american people repeatedly this was not a tax. yet he sends his attorney to the supreme court arguing that it was a tax. now he's saying it is not a tax. so he's the one that's come full triangle on this issue. >> it's one thing when it's coming from democrats. the fact it's coming from conservatives and extremely prom negligent conservatives, how much trouble does this spell for romney. >> it's kind of a week that has your head spinning. i think it underscores what rick santorum argued that it's very

difficult for romney to draw contrast with obama on this one pick issue. earnly what they did in massachusetts, it would pass a dna paternity test for how the dna was structured at the federal level. the penalty for not buying health insurance in massachusetts is double what it is at the national level. in fact most people choose to buy health insurance in massachusetts. only 44,000 are subject to the mandate. what justice roberts said a tax is not the mandate per se, it's the fine on people who choose not to buy health insurance under the mandate with help from the government. the best estimate is that would only apply to four million people so it's hard to see how this would be the largest tax increase in history if we're only talking about four million people who might choose not to buy the health insurance and pay the tax instead. >> eric, is the danger -- does it matter at this point if people say romney is a

flip-flopper on this? you're saying it's more important that he -- that he basically embrace this idea that it's a tax? >> just -- just say it's a tax. listen to this conversation. in massachusetts it's a mandate. in the federal government it's a tax. in the federal level we've been talking about an individual mandate. but an individual mandate at the federal government is a tax. is it a leprechaun or little person. what's the difference? it's the same thing. it's a tax. admit that in massachusetts they did it and say barack obama has done a bigger tax and say he's going to get rid of it. this compounds the problem with conservatives who don't trust him. >> eric, hasn't he been saying all along he didn't raise taxes in massachusetts -- >> that's the problem. >> there you go. >> anderson, it's important -- he has said that it's a tax. >> he said chief justice roberts said it's a tax. >> governor romney says like it or not, the supreme court has ruled. it's the law of the land, it is a tax. >> but earlier in the week he didn't seem to believe that, at least according to his

spokesman. >> as i said, what governor romney clearly stated is he has agreed with the dissent, which is exactly what fuehrstrom said. but that will be decided in november as to overturning this law. but it's also important to point out too what governor romney wants to do, he wants to completely do away with this. he wants to institute free market policies on health care. he wants to take the government out between the patient and their doctors and he wants to make sure that people have more freedom and choice in their health care and that's what he'll do on day one. >> ron. >> yeah, i was going to say -- >> yeah, i think this does create a challenge for president obama. they have focused mostly on somewhat peripheral issues like letting your kids stay on your insurance until they're 26. i understand that's important for people who it affects. the central idea is they need to explain what the logic behind the mandate, why mitt romney adopted it in massachusetts.

why arnold schwarzenegger tried to do knit california. the argument that the only way to do the insurance reforms that are popular is to bring more people into the risk pool by requiring those who don't have vns and can afford it to buy it with substantial government help. >> but ron, it's also important to note that governor romney made it clear his plan was the massachusetts plan. it wasn't a one size fits all plan. it fit massachusetts. it's not something that should go across all 50 states. >> the logic is the same, alice. the underlying logic is the same. the exact argument that romney has made, we can play the tape of him many times talking about free riders and the need to bring people into the system, to broaden the risk pool which allows you to do the insurance reforms that are popular in the public, that is a case obama has never tried to make. he's focused on things easier to defend and that has been a failure. at various points they have had almost half the country saying this is good for the country overall. they have never gotten a majority saying this is good for

me and my family. as long as that's true, it will be more a negative than a positive in the election. >> eric, is it going to boil down, governor romney, whatever his position may have been and is now, the fact is he wants to eliminate this program, this is what he is saying. is that a winning issue for him? how much of a winning issue do you think that is? >> yeah, look, even in cnn's latest poll, a majority of americans, 51% in c. this n's poll and the average is a 10% gap want the individual care in its entirety repealed so he's got a winning issue if he focuses on that and tells people he's going to repeal the whole thing. but saying it's a mandate in massachusetts and a tax at the federal level, people in des moines or toledo, don't understood the nuance between the federalism between what a state can do and the national government can do. they might as well bite the bullet and say it's a tax but it's going away under mitt romney. >> appreciate you all being on, thank you very much. colorado's massive wildfire forced them from their homes. so what happens now to all those

pets that have been left behind? that's next on the program. possible glimpse inside the one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now.

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colorado's history is now nearly contained. the waldo canyon fire spread so fast it forced thousands of families to flee their homes. the pictures just unbelievable. the flames destroyed close to 350 homes. for those who live there, now is the time to start all over. others returning to their neighborhoods to try to pick up the pieces and resume life as best as they can or at least figure out a new kind of normal. the future is far less certain for pets lost in the struggle gary tuchman has the story. >> reporter: at the intersection of animal afternoon and bark avenue, they just hang out and wait. the pets temporarily left behind when the colorado wildfire spread rapidly. >> we knew right away that evacuees were going to start coming to us. >> reporter: jan smith is the president and ceo of the humane society of the pikes peak region

in colorado springs. >> in total we cared for 439 animals. >> reporter: most of the pets have now been back to their families with the evacuation orders lifted. but some still remain. dogs, like 9-year-old hunter and 7-year-old phoebe. cats like 5-year-old pippen and 2-month-old marilyn, given that name despite she is really a he. and what a variety of wildfire visitors there are. meet scooby, a 5-year-old female turtle. snowflake, the parakeet, sitting quietly by scooby. there was also an unnamed but very large rabbit, and an unnamed and very camera shy guinea pig. and last but certainly not least, there's bingo the goat. most of these animals aren't abandoned or lost, they just remain until their owner can say get back to their old homes, or their new homes. there's great relief here that most of these pets have gone

back to their families, but also the realization that if the fires flare up again, these veterinarians are taking care of the remaining pets. they say the animals are going through stress just like their owners. >> all this is very new to these animals. they don't know the people around them, they're surrounded by other animals. it's an extremely situation for them. >> reporter: indeed, among the stressed, these three hens. not at all happy to see their camera its, but they're about to have a happy reunion. cindy cabrera had to evacuate her ranch when the fire came, but now she's coming back. >> how are you doing, baby? >> reporter: going back with her chickens. >> and they got a lot of good loving while you were away. >> i'm sure they did. without question. >> reporter: it's a day of a lot of smiles. for people who haven't had a lot to smile about. gary tuchman, cnn, colorado springs, colorado. >> nice to see them reunited.

randi kaye joins us now with a 360 bulletin. >> reporter: wikileaks says it's releasing millions of e-mails exposing inner workings of the syrian government. the whistleblower website claims the messages dating back to 2006 came from politicians, government ministries and companies working with them. one e-mail shows an italian company trying togd around u.s. sanctions on syria. the judge in the trayvon martin case setting bond for george zimmerman at $1 million. this comes after he revoked zimmerman's original bond for failing to disclose more than $150,000 raised from supporters. the captain of the wrecked costa concordia cruise ship can now leave his home but is far from free. a judge released the captain from house arrest, but says he can't leave his town near naples. at least 30 people died when the ship struck rocks and turned on its side last january. and gone in a flash. a glitch causing san diego's entire fireworks show to launch at the same time.

organizers promised a choreographed 20-minute show. instead, anderson, it lasted just 15 seconds. >> i've seen this video a couple of times today. i feel so bad for the folks who were probably lined up watching that. >> no kidding, right? you always wait for the finale and you got it all at once. >> it was an amazing display in new york last night. more tonight, does tom cruise's scientology faith have anything to do with the breakup of his marriage? we'll take a look at his role in the church of scientology, nextn r on the powerful c250 sport sedan. but hurry before this opportunity...disappears. the mercedes-benz summer event ends july 31st. the mercedes-benz summer event this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs.

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beefing up security ahead of the olympic games and a terrorist arrest. the latest from london when we continue.

a lot of news websites are buzzing over katie holmes' decision to file for divorce from tom cruise after five and a half years of marriage. there's been a lot of coverage about whether her husband's affiliation with the church of scientology played a role in the actress's decision to end her marriage. they have a daughter together, 6-year-old suri. tom foreman takes a look at tom cruise's role in the church of scientology. >> reporter: when it comes to scientology, tom cruise may be the famous defender tearing into matt lauer over the church's repudiation of psychiatry. >> do you know aterol? do you know ritalin? do you know that ritalin is a street drug? do you understand that? >> the difference is this was not against her will, though. >> i'm asking you a question.

>> i understand there's abuse of all of these things. >> no, you see he's the problem. you don't know the history of psychiatry. i do. >> reporter: although cruise joined scientology in the 1980s, over the past decade his public identification with the group has been much more pronounced. he's explained his beliefs on talk shows, in the press. and scientology meetings featuring cruise with his "mission impossible" theme playing in the background and the star giving a military salute to a scientology leader have appeared in videos like this one posted by radaronline. >> i think it's a privilege to call yourself a scientologist and it's something you have to earn because scientology does. he or she has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions. >> reporter: many of cruise's statements underscore a central lesson of the faith, this its followers can accomplish great things. again, radar online. >> when you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else.

if you drive past, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one that can really help. i won't his tight put ethics on someone else because i put it ruthlessly on myself. >> reporter: such talk echos teachings laid out in the 1950s by the faith's founder, science fiction writer l. ron hubbard. he created an outline for conduct and advancement. for example, through counseling sessions, referred to as audits, followers are supposed to be led toward positive thinking and achieving their goals, no matter how ambitious. listen again to that radar online video as cruise talks about world leaders. >> they want help. and they are depending on people who know and who can be effective and do it, and that's us. >> reporter: that was 2004. by 2005, cruise was expressing even more enthusiasm over actress katie holmes most notably by jumping around on oprah's sofa.

so what happened? holmes, who was raised catholic, is believed to have converted to scientology as her relationship with cruise grew. but in the wake of their split, there are reports that she is concerned over their daughter, suri, being raised in the faith. but for now neither is addressing those reports. holmes' attorney called the divorce a private matter and said her primary concern is her daughter's best interests. cruise's attorney did not respond to cnn inquiries but told "the los angeles times" he hoped the divorce would not be contentious. cruise has spoken dismiss i'vely of what scientologists call sps, suppressive persons, people who try to impede the mission of scientology. again, radar online. >> they said, so, have you met an sp? [ laughing ] and, you know, i thought what a beautiful thing, because maybe

one day it will be like that, you know what i'm saying? maybe one day it will be that -- wow, sps, like they'll just read about those in the history books. >> reporter: whether any of this plays into the split with holmes is yet unknown, but when cruise and his second wife, actress nicole kidman, divorced, similar speculation appeared. kidman, who was also raised catholic, never seemed to fully embrace scientology. after the breakup, she was described as enjoying a homecoming in the catholic church. as for cruise, one last time, listen to radar online. >> and i do it the way i do everything. there's nothing part of the way for me. it's just -- >> reporter: there is no sign he has any intention of backing away from his controversial faith. tom foreman, cnn, washington. why katie left tom, that's the cover story of the july 16th issue of "people" magazine. it looks at what role

scientology may have played in the split. joining me now is the executive editor. so what role according to your sources did scientology play in this some. >> well, it's interesting. i think a lot of the reports out there have really played up the role of the church of scientology. and that may not be the whole story. certainly katie holmes came from a catholic upbringing. she was not a scientologist before she married tom cruise. she did embrace the church of scientology. that was part of their life. that seems to have changed. we do really know how important or not important it is in their dispute, but it certainlies a factor and people are obviously curious about that. >> she's moved back to new york city. or has moved to new york city, has an apartment now. she's trying to establish residency? basically there's now going to be a battle over where this divorce proceeding should take place? >> that's the way it seems to be. katie and tom have homes all

over the place. they're very wealthy people. they have been all over the world. they have spent a lot of their time in los angeles. they do have an apartment here and she has rented another apartment. so the speculation, of course, is does this mean that she is, you know, making an obvious case for the fact that she's a new york resident or that she lives here. she clearly seems to want to be here and that seems to be, you know, the thrust of some of the disagreement. >> is she seeking full custody? >> it seems so. it seems that she is at this point saying that she would like to raise their daughter, suri, and she will be the primary parent there. >> and was he -- according to your reporting, was he aware of this? did he know this was coming? >> according to everyone that we've talked to close to tom cruise, this was quite a surprise. now, there are two people in every marriage, and people close to katie holmes said that she is -- she's been unhappy. this has been something that's been very much on her mind. but she did not give any indication to him that he understood as recently as a couple of weeks ago when i spoke

to tom cruise, he was ecstatic about seeing her over his 50th birthday, very excited about that. had plans with her, had planned to spend his birthday in iceland with her and suri and then some time in new york. and then, you know, they were all to fly back to los angeles together. now, obviously that didn't happen. so from his perspective, it was a shocking surprise. >> according to your reporting, though, she had been planning this for a while? >> she seems to have put wheels in motion for some time. she has been thinking about this. this was a deliberate course of action. she consulted people who she trusted, her father was certainly part of her planning. but it was not necessarily apparent to him. >> she switched out cell phones. >> that is what we've heard, that she made some moves to kind of clean the slate. >> is it known how much her dad is involved? because is he a divorce attorney or family attorney? >> yes, he is an attorney. he is a divorce attorney from toledo. he's a very good attorney. they are a very close family.

it is clear that she has leaned on him during these past few days, but it is also clear that she's a strong person who knows her own mind. she's the one who has decided to take this action. so i think it's very important to say if there's any misconception about katie holmes, it's that she's some kind of passive person who was sort of swept along in this big hollywood marriage. she clearly knows what she wants and made some very decisive moves on her own, with help from family, of course. but she's her own person. >> j.d., thanks. >> thanks so much. a bizarre death is caught on tape. we'll show you more of the video taken in the courtroom. the question is did the man who was just convicted of arson commit suicide by swallowing something? you can see for yourself. details ahead. today, we stand against the tyranny

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welcome back. this the man was convicted of torching his multimillion home in phoenix. the scene as you're about to see, it looks like he slipped something into his mouth. the question is did he poison himself. toxicology tests will answer that question. but we want to find out how he ended up in this situation. is a tragic andby zar tale, but

before we tell this story, remember this moment. after now facing up to 21 years in prison, marin covers his face and appears to val osomething. we'll come back to this scene. drove a rolls royce. >> he was an engage. >> paul rubin profiled him back in 2008 for the phoenix knew times newspaper, spent hours talking to him. >> he's the smartest guy in the room, he's the smoothest talker in the room. he gets all the girls. he's that guy. and the brick wall was this

10,000 square foot home in the built more he estate. he bought the house when the real estate was collapsing. he had long left wall street and had not worked in several years and he was quickly running out of money that's when prosecutors say he concocted a scene to raffle off the house and in the process make money for himself. >> reporter: it raffle tickets would sell for $25, the proceeds would benefit the child crisis center. to generate publicity, investigators he scaled mount everest. eps says it was all a sinister ploy. >> what happened was he paid 2

million $50050,000 for the house and set up a bogus second morge designed to increase the value on the house for a second mortgage that didn't really exist. >> reporter: you think this raffle was a scam to make a million, basically. >> yes. and at the same time to look like a generous person who didn't make anything off of it. >> reporter: in april 2009, the attorney general ruled it was illegal. at this point marin was six months away from having to make a balloon payment of roughly $2 million to lenders or risk a major jump in his monthly interest payments. his financial world was collapsing around him. >> i don't think he thought this thing through and it ended up

where he had to do something that was pretty waky, which was burn down his house. >> in the early morning hours of july 5, 2009, fire engulfed his home. he called for help from his upstairs bedroom. >> what's your emergency? >> my house is on fire. >> are you able to get out? >> i've got one of those ladders. >> you have a ladder where? >> i'd rather work on that than talk to you, so let me get the held out of here. >> he emerged from the burning home wearing scuba gear that just happened to be reddy to go in his bedroom. >> you're not going to believe this guy he came out of his bedroom wearing a tank and a snorkel. >> reporter: he relived the escape from his hospital bed. >> i realized i had air left in that tank and that's what enabled me to get back to the window.

if i hadn't had those two things we wouldn't be talking. >> reporter: he said he found four spots in the house where fires that were intentionally set and a long line of phone books that was supposed to help it spread. a jury convicted him of arson. after he appears to val osomething after the verdict is red, notice he reaches down and appears to get something from his bag, swallows something and appears to swallow something again. eight minutes later he starts convulsing and collapses. even though it's not officially determined, it's believed he swallowed some type of poison. >> it was a gigantic shock. i think it's fair to say that we certainly had no ink ling that this was going to happen. >> ironically it's the investigator who tries to help him.

but pea body says there was no way to save him and that his final moments played out in a dramatic fashion, just as he had lived his life. >> if he's going to do something, this would be the time that he would do it. sort of like escaping from his house in scuba gear. this was going to be his closure. >> a grand finale exist. >> such a disturbing story. we'll continue to follow when those toxicology are released. randy kay is back. >> with the london olympics three weeks away but earlier in the day, six people were taken into custody in london on terrorism charges. the nuclear crisis in japan unfolded due to willful negligence and a flawed response according to a panel.

the panel also said the march 2011 disaster was caused by japanese reelectricity tans to answer authority. mortgage rates have fallen yet again to new lows. freddie mac reports that the rate for a 30-year fixed loan is 3.62%. a florida lifeguard who was fired for saving a drowning man has been offered his job back. tomas lopez was terminated because he saved the swimmer outside his coverage zone. he's not accepting receipt hire offer. vernlthsz i radios them and told them i'm goingtor a rescue, it's outside the zone. it's south of us. so i started going. my manager was telling me, don't go. you go back to your tower. i told him i'm not going back. i was running for a while. i still didn't see the guy and i kept running and i finally noticed him splashing around. by the time i got to the water, two other guests got to him and started dragging him in. i then was in the water already and dragged him under his arms

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time for the riduculist, tonight we're adding whoever writes michael bloomberg's i can't say it on television. well, mayor bloomberg was speaking ahead of the hot dog eating contest, and while he was fine with all the buns, he didn't quite relish all the puns. >> he's one of their dogged pursuers will finally catch up, cut the mustard and be pronounced wooener. who wrote this bleep? he was standing right in front of the microphone, so i'm guessing he knew everyone would hear him. regardless, the mayor is in solid company when it comes to saulty language.

>> this is a big deal. >> big time, back to mayor bloomberg, the problem appeared to be he didn't like what was written for him. take comfort mr. mayor, you are not the only one. >> the potential for a few flurries over balance moral, who the held wrote this discrepant. >> sometimes those of us in tv news have a little slip up. >> why did she take like that? i could watch that clip all night. fortunately, once you get to my level, you don't have those problems anymore. so here at this point in this show we're usually doing much different -- much more different -- what? oh, hey. sorry.

i didn't realize we were on the air. yeah, i didn't know i was on the air. big deal. i mean, it happens. as for mayor bloomberg, his hot dog speech might have been overcooked, but the contest out on coney eye licensed did not disappoint. joey chestnut won the title. eating 68 hot dogs in ten minutes. i don't know when this became a support, but people now think it is. if joey chestnut can get away with eating that many hot dogs, mayor bloomberg can get away dropping s bombs. outfront next. both president obama and mitt romney are slamming china to the attacks add up. a judge sets a $1 million bond for george zimmerman. will the man charged of killing trayvon martin be walking out of jail soon. a lifeguard fired for saving a swimmer. tonight that lifeguard and the president of the company that fired him both outfront. that's coming up.

good evening, i'm erin burnett. outfront is the boogie man. when they aren't blasting each other who has lost more jobs or fired more people, mitt romney and barack obama slam china. >> day one. president romney stands up to china. demands a level playing field for our businesses and workers. >> just today, to kick off his bus tour, the president played the china card too. >> just this morning, my administration took a new action to hold china accountable for unfair trade practices that harm american automakers. and let me tell you something. americans aren't afraid to compete. we believe in competition.