career. what i hope, and i think is an unrealistic hope, we he an honest debate about entitlements and spending in this country, over what we can afford in the future. >> do you really think that will happen? please. coming up tomorrow, food versus man. talking about the best sandwich in america. yum. cnn "newsroom" begins now. good morning, soledad. ahead in the newsroom, energize the base, check. go bold, check. will mitt romney's decision to go with a tea party big gun be a big gamble for the republican ticket? and make room for this guy. president obama heading back to iowa today for the fifth time this year. you can bet there will be some tough talk for the new man in town. >> my opponent chose his running mate. the ideological leader, the republicans in congress, mr.

paul ryan. plus, the olympic plame's finally out leaving team usa swimming in gold. there's another big reason to celebrate as the curtain closes on this year's summer games. and no men allowed. saudi arabia's ambitious new plan to separate the sexes, a first of its kind city exclusively for women by women and of women. "newsroom" begins right now. good morning and thanks for joining us, everyone, i'm deborah feyerick in for carol ko costello. the wisconsin congressman hits the campaign trail on his own. he is set to visit the iowa state fair today. meanwhile, mitt romney will continue on his bus tour. the gop candidate is in florida making two campaign stops today, the first in st. augustine, romney's first event will soon get under way. interestingly enough romney is

joined this morning by florida senator marco rubio, a man who is on the short list in the veep stakes. jim acosta is joining us now from st. augustine and, jim, what's going on there? >> reporter: well, this romney event is getting started a little later than the romney campaign expected. they got in very late last night. well after midnight. it's been that kind of 48 hours for this campaign. they are very happy, i can tell you, deb, with the rollout so far of paul ryan as his running mate. they have seen bigger crowds and they've had almost throughout this entire campaign and i will tell you that they are sensitive. they do recognize that there is this debate going on that this issue of the paul ryan budget plan is going to be a question for them as they roll out paul ryan as this running mate with this campaign. yesterday a senior romney adviser went as far as to say, hey, wait a minute. mitt romney is at the top of

this ticket. he's going to be presenting his own budget plan but, deb, later on on cnn state of the union and later on romney advisers have been saying if the ryan plan were to come across a president romney's desk, he would sign it into law a. couple of different stories there on the ryan budget plan. but i will tell you they do like the way this ticket looks to the american people. they point out that paul ryan is the first generation x-er to be on a presidential ticket and they trotted out his very young family out on the campaign trail yesterday. showed the romney grandkids playing with the ryan kids on the romney bus. as you mentioned these two candidates have gone their separate ways. paul ryan to wisconsin, was in wisconsin last night with mitt romney. he got on a plane to go to iowa. the two men came off of the bus and then shook hands and got on their separate planes. ryan going to iowa and mitt romney coming here to florida but not before ryan had a very

emotional homecoming in his home state of wisconsin. and here is a little bit of what he had to say to the crowd, deb. >> i'm fifth generation from this state. my family came here back in the 1800s, made a go of it. it's where we've all raised our families ever since. this is such a phenomenal place to live, to work, to raise your family. my veins run with cheese, bratwurst and a little miller. >> and, you know, jim, as we look at that what's also so interesting is the ryan budget plan that you mentioned is so controversial and it does affect medicare and social security. can we read into anything the fact that paul ryan is not in florida where there's a huge senior population?

>> reporter: well, that's right. at the very heart of this debate over the ryan budget plan is this issue of medicare. the ryan budget plan would partially privatize medicare, give seniors the option of using vouchers or premium support payments as the ryan folks have called them to buy plans in the open insurance market approved by medicare. that is going to be a tough sell down here in florida. there are a lot of seniors, as you know, down here, deb, and the campaign knows this. they put out a web video going after romney and ryan on all of this. the campaign has been pushing back on this notion that they're hiding paul ryan from the state of florida. he will be coming down to the orlando area this coming saturday. so we're going to get a full sense, i think, today and on saturday how seniors are responding to that budget and those plans. it's going to be a hard sell for se senior citizen voters who, by the way, deb, right now naturally gravitate to the republican ticket. so this goes to why had was a

very big gamble for mitt romney to choose paul ryan as his running mate. >> thanks so much and, of course, when mitt romney speaks, we will certainly bring portions of that to you live. well, one thing is certain about mitt romney's choice of paul ryan on the republican ticket, conservatives love him and democrats wasted no time in showing they do not. here is obama senior adviser david axelrod on c th n's "state of the union." congressman ryan is a right wing i hdeologue and that would include trillions of dollars of new tax cuts skewed to the wealthy so we're going a millionaire $250,000 tax cuts while cutting college aid for kids and research and development and a whole range of things that we need to grow. >> well, senior adviser to the romney campaign joins us this

morning. congre congressman ryan is clearly a tea party hero. he wants to dramatically cut or privatize safety net programs like social security, medicare, medicaid. he is catholic and yet the nation's catholic bishops and nuns denounced his cuts in this budget plan as so severe that they would leave vulnerable seniors, at risk food stamps, child care programs. has mitt romney locked in the conservative vote almost to the exclusion of many other groups -- seniors, women, for example, and he's going to need all of those if he's to win. >> that was an amazing assessment you just laid out there. listen, what paul ryan is is a very bold, courageous young man who is willing to put serious issues on the table, unlike so many people in this town of washington don't want to discuss things that are controversial, won't put a tough budget forward, but he's a fellow willing to listen. he has lots of ideas, talks to the democrats and says, okay, you don't like this. what do you think it should be? and that's what mitt romney

wants. he wants somebody on his team that's willing to put ideas on the table. mitt romney is making the final decision on all of them. paul ryan was a terrific decision, has brought enormous energy to this ticket. you can see the excitement out there and that energy is contagious. it's going to spread to the tea party, to the independents and to democrats who want fiscal sanity returned to washington and jobs returned to america. >> bay, there's no question that he's putting forth bold ideas but are those ideas written in stone? mitt romney has said he would sign the ryan budget if it came across his desk, but for a huge portion of america it's almost like ripping a very huge band-aid off without presenting anything else that can fill the gap in a way so that there's no sort of emptiness, no vacuum. >> listen, we're not going to be stuck to the specifics of the ryan plan. it's the mitt romney plan that

comes down. he's going to be proposing the budget. and certainly ryan is going to have a lot of ideas and he's just brilliant when it comes to how this is going to be done. but the thing is we welcome a debate on medicare. we absolutely welcome it. the only person on either ticket that's ever cut $700 billion out of medicare and that's for medicare, the people on medicare today, is barack obama. he's the one that's cutting medicare today and in addition to putting together a bureaucratic panel to decide what kind of care our elderly get, the answer is barack obama and his administration have failed the mesh people. they do not have the answers and they don't have anything new and clear now that they have failed. what romney/ryan is fresh leadership, bold, decisive, and courageous. they will look at the problems and they recognize they're serious and will give serious problems to those and all ideas will be on the table for a final cut, if you like. >> and, bay, when you say president obama is the one who

cut medicare, under the ryan plan, it's going to cost seniors a lot more money and that's what they're going to be focused on and that's one thing that could keep them from gravitating towards the republican party. that is something that you are going to have to contend with. also the female a vote, they see a lot of ryan's ideas as being anti-women. how do you see it? >> well, listen, the most important thing for women is that they have jobs to take care of themselves and their families. that's the number one thing. and we know that the other ticket has completely failed to do that. but, again, the -- what we have here is, you know, mitt romney's plan says clearly, and paul ryan, that those who are presently on medicare, we have to keep that commitment to them because they made plans for retirement around that. there are no changes to that unlike barack obama's cuts which cut today for those on today. what we're talking about is seniors in the future. we want to make certain it's

solvent, that it's there for them and they have choices, possibly that might be even better than those that have it today. so that's what we're looking at is one that strengthens medicare for all americans because we do recognize the need to keep that policy in place and strong and so i think this debate is going to be a terrific one. at least it's certainly more responsible debate than what we're hearing on the campaign of obama which is just a tax and assault and lies and dishonesty. let's have a debate on the serious issues that americans are facing today. we, our ticket, the romney/ryan ticket, has ideas, has proposals, is open-minded to other ideas. but the key is that we solve the problems. we discuss them. we consider options and that we solve them. both mitt romney and paul ryan have enormous experience of doing this, are willing and courageous enough to move forward and turn this country around. >> okay. well, bay buchanan, adviser to

the romney campaign, they are just coming at it from very different perfespectives. thanks so much for joining us. >> you are sure welcome. the president is own a bus tour of his own. mr. obama begins a three-day, seven-stop tour of iowa. the first event this afternoon where he'll talk about the economy in council bluffs. the president welcomed congressman paul ryan to the race. >> my opponent chose his running mate, the ideological leader of the republicans in congress, mr. paul ryan. and i want to congratulate -- no, no, no, no. being loo, i want to congratulate congressman ryan. i know him. i welcome him. congressman ryan is a decent man. he is a family man. he's an articulate spokesman for governor 0 romney's vision. but it's a vision that i fundamentally disagree with. >> well, vice president biden is

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and you are looking at a live picture there. mitt romney getting ready to speak any minute now in st. augustine, florida. of course we will bring you some of his remarks live once he begins. and later today he'll address a crowd in miami. his running mate, paul ryan, makes his first so lo appearance. president obama in the heartland, his fifth trip to iowa making seven stops over three days. and vice president joe biden stumps in durham, north carolina. well, mitt romney's pick of paul ryan to be his running mate is being described as bold but risky. ryan is likely to firm up battle lines in large part because of his controversial budget plan. let's talk about how that could play out. joel goldstein is a vice presidential scholar from the school of law.

welcome, joe. you studied vice presidential choices through the years. has there ever been a running mate like ryan who is more like ly to define the presidential platform than in some respects the other way around? >> deb, i don't recall that we've ever had quite this situation before. the ideas identified with representative ryan a seem to be the ones that will define the republican platform in this election. in 1996 bob dole chose jack kemp to emphasize supply side economics but those ideas have been around for a number of years and weren't so clearly at that point identified with secretary kemp of dwight eisenhower chose richard nixon who had been very involved with the anti-communist idea in 1952 but, again, not so much so as representative ryan. so i think this this situation really is a unique one. >> it's so interesting you mentioned jack kemp who was a mentor to paul ryan but do you see is there the risk, perhaps,

that paul ryan could eclipse mitt romney? >> well, i think it's difficult to be eclipsed by the vice presidential candidate. there will be three debates, only one presidential debate. the presidential candidates will receive a lot more attention, but i think it does create a situation for governor romney that it's a little bit delicate. on the one hand, the ryan economic plan really now is owned by governor romney. if he trace to retreat from it, is there some indications he may be doing a little bit, then it creates the impression that he's a little bit of changing his position, which is something that he's been accused of doing in the past. so it creates a difficult dynamic for him, i think. >> and joe biden welcomed paul ryan to the race. both men were young when elected to congress. both men are catholic. both were hit by early tragedy when they were young. ryan was 16 when his father

died. biden lost his wife and infant daughter. how do each of them succeed separately in capturing the public's imagination? what do they have to do? >> as the vice presidential candidate you are playing a supporting role where you're champ ioning the presidential candidate, trying to make the case to sell his leadership ability, and then you're also trying to make the case against the opposition. the vice presidential candidate typically sort of leads the attack on the other ticket. it doesn't mean that you have to do it in a nasty or negative way but i think that's the challenge both to champion the standard-bearer and to explain why the other ticket would be a disaster for the country. >> all right. joe goldstein for us in st. louis. thank you so much for those insights. really appreciate it. and we are looking at some live pictures of mitt romney who is getting ready to speak in st.

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we know you're going to miss that melody. stellar olympic games for american tv viewers ended way too soon deliberately, on purpose. the closing ceremony began with the tradition al parade of athletes but nbc cut away from the elaborate musical portion of the show before it was over to debut a new sitcom. well, that infuriated viewers cheated out of seeing several rock legends perform including the who. the olympic flame was slowly extinguished, the 2012 games ended with the usa having won the most medals, 104 in all. and the olympics gave us so many unforgettable images but what the world did not see deserves notice. all the intricate preparations paid off. there wasn't a single act of terrorism or even a hint of a security problem. here's amanda davis on some of the signature moments of the games.

>> reporter: london 2012, seven years of planning, 17 days of great stories, success, and celebration. ♪ it all started with the corgis and, of course, the queen. and finally we got the answer to a long-running mystery. and then created history. ♪ we said hello to a new

generati generation. all were welcomed with open arms. ♪ we bid farewell to some true greats. many were stronger than ever. will were those who were older than ever. but others saw their bodies let them down. we've had our fair share of scandal with seating, with security, and even social media. sadly there's been the drugs as well. while some bent their bodies, others chose to bend the rules. there's been royals and runaways

and rain, quite a lot of it. then lightning struck once, twice, three times. there's been talk of a new world order. not all of it deliberate but as far as the hosts are concerned, britania still rules. ♪ some flew -- ♪ some fell. ♪ others were just left hanging. ♪ >> give me a ladder.

♪ >> reporter: there's been love, there's been tears. ♪ we've had a whole lot of laughs along the way. ♪ so as we're left looking at the legacy of london 2012, rio, it's over to you. amanda davis, cnn, london. >> just great the strength of human spirit. well, the vatican says it's a case of the butler did it. secret documents, a scandalous leak and one of the assistants closest to the pope. ♪

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well, it's been one year since congress' debate over the debt ceiling sparked a downgrade of the u.s. credit ratings by standard & poor's. it was supposed to hurt america's ability to raise money from foreign investors, but to most of the world the u.s. is still the safest investment going. >> reporter: deb, you know the funny thing about this, you would never know it would happen that the credit rating was downgraded because the impact in the bond market never materialized what everybody expected to happen was that investors would sell treasuries because the u.s. was deemed less credit worthy and could have a harder time paying back its debts. instead the opposite happened. investors have flooded into u.s. treasuries pushing interest rates down. in fact, you look at the ten-year treasury rates now, they're at record lows. so what that's done is it's pushed mortgage rates to record lows as well. one trader puts it this way saying that investors realize as bad as the u.s. economy is right

now, the u.s. is still the prettiest girl at the party if you compare us to europe and its financial situation. deb? >> alison, is there any chance if the u.s. is the prettiest girl at the party that it actually gets its aaa rating back anytime soon? >> reporter: just remember the u.s. still has a aaa rating at moody's and fitch, the other two major credit ratings agency. when standard&poors restores the status, that's anyone's guess. the down grade has as much to do with congress' inability to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling as with the country's actual ability to repay its debt. now congress is facing another test of that ability later this year and you can bet that standard & poors will be watching closely, again, when we smack our heads at the ceiling, the debt ceiling again. deb? >> all right, ali is son kosic at the new york stock exchange. thank you so much. well, stories we're watching in the newsroom. today the vatican says the pope's butler will be charged

with leaking secret documents from pope benedict's apartment and passing them to an italian journalist. they appeared in a best-selling book. according to a spokesman a second man, a vatican computer expert, will be charged as an accomplice. and in iran the death toll now stands at more than 300 after two earthquakes struck the northwest part of the country over the weekend. more than 3,000 people have been injured by the quakes which destroyed or damaged dozens of villag villages. sarah palin will not address the republican national convention later this month. the former vice presidential candidate says, quote, this year is a good opportunity for other voices to speak at the convention. i'm excited to hear them, unquote. palin has not said whether she will attend the convention in tampa. well, paul ryan just stepped on to the biggest staining in the country and a lot are asking, just who is he? paul ryan is a congressman from wisconsin's first district

including much of southeastern wisconsin including milwaukee. he grew up and still lives in janesville. his wife is a former congressional aide, now raising their three children. he's been elected seven times, serving in congress 14 years, and he's up for re-election this november. ryan is the chairman of the house budget committee. and for a college job he drove the oscar-meyer weiner mobile. i am joined by l.z. granderson, a writer for espn, and will cain is an analyst for "the blaze request" and a cnn contributor. your thoughts on paul ryan. >> morning. >> will, where do you think paul ryan stands? >> i know where paul ryan stands because he's put it out there boldly and specifically. i'm excited about it, deb. it shows leadership both from mitt romney in picking somebody who has been so specific and so bold in some of their solutions

to our problems, and it's obviously -- i'm talking about paul ryan's leader shship on touching issues that are politically unpopular. will this play well politically? will this work among the electorate? americans have shown time after time that they want to solve our deficit problems but don't want to touch entitlements. you can't have that both ways. will they be willing to reward somebody who has risked talking about how to do that? that's what we'll find out with paul ryan. i hope we have an honest debate. i hope that's what we have. >> l.z., do you find it as -- do you find entitlements something the democrats are not willing to deal with or just coming at it from a different perspective? >> no, i don't think it's anything democrats aren't willing to deal with. it's just a very, very sensitive conversation to have because how do you go about taking care of the kcountry's least protected while trying to save money? it's a different conversation. it certainly is one that the democrats have been avoiding for

political reasons as well and i agree with will. i think paul ryan's presence will force some specifics from the democrats' side. there are a lot of things about paul ryan that i happen to like. i think we have a great deal in common. we're both midwest guys who live in small towns. i do not agree with the way paul ryan thinks the country should be heading in terms of what we're cutting. i don't think that cutting out the poor as much as his budget proposal does, is what the country is about. i do think there needs to be a balance but i don't believe the way he's doing it is the way that's most compassionate. >> and, gentlemen, we're looking at also we put up pictures of mitt romney who is in st. augustine. we're going to take a quick listen. just stand by for a moment. >> he knows how to solve problems. he did not just go to washington and become involved in public service to try and make a name for himself. he instead went to make things better for the american people. he attacks problems and he recognizes that there are honest differences between honest people and he looks to find ways to find common ground, to bring

people together. he's come up with ideas that are very different from the president's. the president's idea, for instance, for medicare was to cut it by $700 billion. that's not the right answer. we want to make sure we preserve and protect medicare. the president's plan for our budget deficit was to make it worse. and paul ryan and i are going to get america to cut our spending and to finally get us to a balanced budget. now, as you know, about four years ago candidate obama was speaking in denver to the democratic convention, and he got the up there and made a lot of promises. and he did it in front of those greek columns. i don't think he'll be standing in front of greek columns at this year's convention. he won't want to remind people of greece because that's where he's taking our country if we don't get off the road we're on. he said that he would be able to measure progress and measure

success by a whole series of his own standards. number one was being able to create jobs, but i hope he understands that he hasn't done that 23 million americans out of work or stopped looking for work and can't find the jobs they need to put food on the table for their families is unacceptable. it's a moral failure for a country as successful as ours not to have created these jobs. mr. president, by your own measure you've failed to deliver the jobs americans need. all right. and will and l.z., you are listening to the president talk about -- sorry, you are listening to the presidential candidate, the presumptive nominee there, talk iing about what needs to happen. it's so interesting because when i hear him say that the president cut $700 billion from medicare, that would be something, if i were the president, i would say, look, i'm willing to look at these programs, these entitlement programs and see where we need

to cut out the fat, where we need to trim. it's always the perspective, the position from where you're coming. will, when mitt romney just said, you know, that paul ryan brings people together, do you think he's going to bring people together or he's going to alienate a large block of voters? >> well, i think we're going to learn a lot about the american people over the next several months. certainly we'll be divided on paul ryan's solutions to our problems, right? there will be people like l.z. and myself who have different opinions on whether or not these are the right solutions. the one thing we should be able to come together on this is the right debate to have. this is an issue we can no longer pretend doesn't exist. this problem with our mounting debt, our yearly deficit, and the role entitlements play. what i hope doesn't happen, deb, when this would be pulling people apart, if we have this debate and it boils down to paul ryan wants to throw grandma off the cliff and he wants to end medicare as we know it, he wants to change medicare for those people under 55 like myself who

will not have it as it exists today in the future. we just -- that's not an option for us. how it is today will not exist. so the question is how do we fix it? if we disagree on how to fix it, great. but let's at least have the discussion. >> l.z., let me ask you this -- >> and i agree with the discussion. i was going to say i agree we definitely need to have a discussion and i want it to be an honest discussion. >> right. >> mitt romney has not been honest. he hasn't even been honest when he introduced paul ryan. he described him as someone who was thrust into politics because of their passion. when you look at paul rye yap's biography, politics is something he was interested in as far back as his teenage years in high school. even his own brothers say he used to talk about politics around the dinner table. it's not as if he was thrust into politics. he wanted this career. and if you check paul ryan's voting record, you will see an individual who wasn't about voting for cutting deficit. he actually voted to increase deficits. if we're going to have a conversation, then we want to have an honest conversation. lack at paul ryan's voting record and not just what he's talking about in terms of cuts. look at what he voted to spend

on. a lot of spending in his 13 years in congress. >> right. i'm always uncomfortable when we use words like lies or dishonesty. both sides are coming to this from very different perspectives. but this really comes down to an election about the size and scope of government, letting businesses thrive. but will that vision lift america up fast enough and create jobs because president obama found that really he couldn't. will? >> well, i mean, that depends on whether or not you think government is the primary driver of the economy and jobs or whether or not you think the private sector is and how much you enable both, right? and you're right. there's a differing opinion on who drives that vote and who is enabled. is it the government and should be enabled throughout the economy to spur job growth or is the better driver of job growth. i do think we have a fundamental choice, a broad scoped debate to have here. and obviously you know where i stand. i think the private sector and the republicans hopefully chann

championing of that is the better answer. >> l.z., very quickly, do you believe that the american people have enough faith in business to create jobs especially given what we're seeing over the last couple of years? >> well, you have to keep in mind that we've had more than 24 con ssecutive months of job creation. i know the mantra are for the republican party is to keep saying president obama hasn't created jobs. the same measure of jobs lost are the same that jobs were created. over two straight years we've had job creation. there are currently 3.5 million jobs that are going unfulfilled right now, unfilled right now. so it's not as if there aren't think jobs per se. the question is, does the american people have the training needed in order to get those jobs out there swlts jobs in the future? and i go back to paul ryan's budget because in his budget he's cutting a lot of training out of it. he's cutting a lot of educational grants out of it. he's cutting the pathway that americans need to get to those jobs it 3.5 million jobs today, but also the jobs of the future. they're all going to be in science, technology,

engineering, mathematics. american people need to be trained in that. you need the government's help to help train people to get to that place to be effective workers in the private sector. >> hard to imagine there are 3.5 million jobs that remain unfilled he especially with so y folks out of work. >> absolutely. >> gentlemen, we could talk forever. thanks so much as always. >> thank you. >> thank you. well, coming up, you know him for his unparalleled exploits in the water. we'll tell you why legend michael phelps will be trying to avoid the water in his next athletic endeavor. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance.

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so what's next for olympic hero michael phelps? looks like the decorated swimmer is already willing to try another sport. joining me from los angeles cnn's "showbiz tonight" correspondent nischelle turner. out of the water and onto dry

land. >> reporter: deb, there's been a ton of speculation about which reality show would scoop michael fe phelps up but i never heard the hapy project as an option but here we have it. hank haney, one of the best golf coaches in the world, works with a celebrity on their golf game. haney has joked he has heard phelps' desire and work ethic won't really be a problem. those 22 olympic medals are not going to help much and phelps has been on twitter saying he's looking forward to this. when someone asked him if he had a golf handicap, he replied, yes, but it's not good, lol. we'll have to see how he swings the clubs. the haney project featured charles barkley one season and anyone who has seen charles barkley play golf, well, my mama always said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. so, deb, back to you. >> absolutely. it will be very interesting. it will be very interesting to see how he handles something when he's out of his element.

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and checking our top stories. gabby giffords is finally back home in arizona, 19 months after she and 18 others were shot at a political nercht tucson. the former arizona congresswoman and husband mark kelly moved into a home they recently bought

in central tucson. giffords has spent most of her time since the shooting at medical facilities in houston recovering from her injuries. her husband says, gabby has been waiting for this day a long time. and this morning reverend billy graham is hospitalized in ash field, north carolina. the 93-year-old evangelist is suffering from a pulmonary infection thought to be bronchitis. he is improving. doctors expect him to remain in the hospital for another day or two. and wildfires are familiar and frightening story during the drought. this morning, two are burning in northern california. together, they've already burned 5,000 acres and they are growing. people had to evacuate a subdivision about 100 miles north of san francisco as the fire advanced. here's something suspicious. the fire started at about the same time along highway 20 in lake county. and check out this picture. a cnn ireporter captured

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well, saudi arabia is bringing a new meaning to the phrase girl power. the country's planning to build a city exclusively for women run by women. this new city would prevent women from breaking the country's strict islamic laws. cnn's nic robertson has a preview. >> deb, what the saudi authorities are trying to do here is put more women into the workplace. barely 15% of women are in the workforce in saudi arabia. that compares very poorly with the rest of region. 60% or almost 60%, for example, here in the united arab emirates. why are they putting women directly into the workplace for men? because islamic law says you can't do that and this is the

saudi solution. the government agency funding the project says it's going to cost $130 million to create this women-only work environment. they're saying that there is space for perhaps up to 50 different businesses that could employ as many as 5,000 women at this one particular site in the east of saudi arabia. they're saying that they will perhaps, if this works, then replicate it in as many as 40 other sites across the country. an effort to redress the balance of the female to male workforce, a recognition as well that while saudi arabia puts a lot of money on certain -- certainly a lot of money into female education, over-producing female graduates of the unemployed female workforce, 80% of them are university graduates. until now, they've been geared to go very much into the education sector. many of those not finding jobs are leaving the country. so this businessman, this women

only business city, is hope to get women working in the pharmaceutical and the textile and the food processing industry. so it's an expansion of wealth for the roles for women but to find more space for all those educated women saudi arabia is producing. deb? >> nic robertson. 80% of college grads, we wish them well. back in the u.s., $100 million in manhattan, what would you buy? you could buy pretty much anything. we're going to go on a tour of the city's most expensive listing ever. the next hour of "newsroom" starts after a quick break. i'm done... i'm going to read one of these. i'm going to read one of these! [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 dusters extender gets into hard to reach places so you can get unbelievable dust pick up in less time. i love that book! can you believe the twin did it? ♪ [ female announcer ] swiffer. great clean in less time. or your money back. ♪

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i was in an accident. i lost my hands, my feet. shriners did a lot more than just heal me. they helped me put my whole life back together. (vo) send your love to the rescue. (vo) donate to shriners hospitals today. ahead this hour in the "newsroom," we may be the newman in town, paul ryan won't be the only one today. president obama, republican, take its new number two face-off in iowa. chaos and carnage in the

streets of syria. desperate rebels running for their lives begging the world to step in and stop the siege before time runs out. plus, he's out of jail and now out of a job, too. the nfl star formerly known as ochocinco arrested and accuse of head butting his soon to be wife. they say don't come back. everyone knows the big apple is not cheap but this is plain ridiculous. go inside the most expensionive apartment ever listed in new york city. "cnn newsroom" beginning right "cnn newsroom" beginning right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com mitt romney hitting the campaign trail today but not with his new running mate. they're splitting up, at least just for the morning. each visiting a battleground state. the newest member of the ticket, paul ryan, heads to iowa. he will speak at the state fair in des moines while romney is in florida. his event in st. augustine wrapped up just a few minutes

ago. that's where we find our national political correspondent jim acosta. jim, did romney make any news out there? >> well, i have to tell you, deb, one thing that we noticed from this crowd this morning is that there was a little less energy in the crowd without paul ryan at mitt romney's side. he sort of called attention to the fact that there was sort of a smallish looking crowd around him. there were hundreds of people waiting to get in. they couldn't get in because of the security line here was just enormous. there was a line going around the block outside of this event. but this event was very much about his running mate paul ryan. you can see mitt romney trying to layout his defense of his running mate paul ryan. obviously paul ryan is coming under some attack from the democratic side for his budget plan that would partially privatize medicare. during his comments, mitt romney said that we want to make sure we preserve and protect medicare. and then he went after the obama campaign, describing it as

smear, dirt, distortion, and dishonesty. he also took a few moments to sort of pay homage to the space coast here where we're fairly close to here in st. augustine and talking about his running mate. here's what he had to say. >> now, when president obama was candidate obama, he promised everyone in this country the moon. but he never got off the launchpad. and so we have a very different approach. i'm delighted to have picked as my running mate paul ryan, a great leader, a man who has proven that he knows how to solve problems. he did not just go to washington and become involved in public service to try to make a name for himself. he instead went to make things better for the american people. >> reporter: on later today, mitt romney will also be joined by marko rubio once again down in miami. that's obviously a very important area for the romney campaign in terms of winning this state. and then tomorrow he heads to ohio where he will link up with

rob portman who was also on that short list for his running mates on this republican ticket. so you can say, deb, over the weekend it was all about the running mates. this weekend for mitt romney it's about the runner-ups. deb? >> it's interesting. we're listening to the music behind you "when a man loves a woman," very mellow for the kind of energized event that i think that they're trying to portray. i know i read that you have a favorite song on the campaign trail, too, right, right there, jim? >> reporter: that's right. i mean, i sort of like "a little less conversation" by elvis press presley. i did treat that out this morning. it's interesting you noted they that played "when a man loves a woman," they should be playing "stand by your man" this morning. by the way, the romney campaign is sort of pushing back on this notion that they're hiding paul ryan from the state of florida, the wisconsin congressman will

be down here on saturday according to the campaign, to talk to voters and obviously defend that medicare plan that has caused some controversy for this campaign. >> absolutely. senior, one group he's going to have to persuade come election time. jim acosta live for news st. augustine, florida. thanks so much. now, more on romney's running mate. congressman paul ryan's roots run deep in the dairy planned. he reminded them in wisconsin last night. >> my veins run with cheese, bratwurst, and a little spot of miller. >> spotted cow is a beer brewed in wisconsin, not too far from ry ryan's hometown of jamesville. they have mixed feelings about their congressman. >> folks here in paul ryan's hometown of jamesville, wisconsin, are reacting to the big news. >> i think he's an excellent

candidate. >> i like what he stand for. >> reporter: the seven-term congressman who comes from a prominent local family is well-known in this town southwest of milwaukee. he attended school here. is a parishioner at the catholic children, and his brick home on a quiet street. neighbors describe him as down to earth. >> we've spoken to him in the neighborhood. we're friendly that way. just a down home kind of guy, you know. he's in the labor day parade with his kids and his daughter was selling lemonade. >> reporter: at a water ski tournament on the river, voters celebrated what they called ryan's vision, and expressed hope that he will help the gop win this traditionally blue state. >> i think that he's got the country -- wants to get the country going where it needs to be going, budgetwise and the economy. but it also makes you feel good as a wisconsinite. i hope it helps other people on the fence.

>> reporter: while at the farmers market just down the street voters applauded romney's voice for other reasons. >> very excited about inspired. >> why? >> just because that paul has a great vision for america and i think he's the right choice. >> reporter: some democrats say that pick many conservatives are hailing as boeld and outstandin because of his commitment to deep budget cuts will end up boosting the democratic ticket. >> i'm elated. >> why is that? >> because it's going to be easier for the democrats now. i think they can attack two guys, two birds with one stone. and their fiscal restraint, read the records. they're going to gut all the programs for the poor. >> reporter: both detractors and supporters have good things to say about ryan. >> he sticks to his beliefs. and he's a big advocate for the district. i think he's a hardworking person. >> i think he's a man of integrity. >> reporter: but one thing voters we spoke with from both parties seemed a bit unsure of is whether the 42-year-old is ready to be president. >> i think he's not old enough

yet to know what he's doing. >> reporter: do you think that paul ryan, 42, ready to be president? >> i don't know yet. that's kind of young. >> reporter: while paul ryan has won this district seven times, the state of wisconsin hasn't gone red in a presidential election in nearly 30 years. and it's hard to say whether a romney/ryan ticket will change that. athena jones, cnn, janesville, wisconsin. president obama also hitting the road today. a three-day bus tour through iowa with a speech in council bluffs. he will hit seven cities throughout the battleground state. let's bring in our white house correspondent brianna keilar. what are you hearing? what is he saying about the paul ryan pick? >> he talked about it last night, deb. yesterday when he was in chicago he had five fund-raisers and he addressed the pick. personally he had some very warm words for paul ryan. he cgratulated him. welcomed him to the race. called him a decent man and a family man.

but then on policy, president obama pounced. and we saw what we will no doubt see a lot more of, framing paul ryan along with mitt romney as fighting for the wealthy while he, president obama, tries to frame himself as fighting for the middle class. here's part of what he said. >> he's an articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision, but it's a vision that i fundamentally disagree with. my opponent and congressman ryan and their allies in congress, they all believe that if we just get rid of more regulations on big corporations and we give more tax breaks to the wealthiest americans, it will lead to jobs and prosperity for everybody else. >> and some more biting words coming from david axelrod, a key

campaign adviser to president obama, he called ryan a certi certifiable right winger. deb, we're kind of getting a sense of where the campaign is going to be going already here in the last couple of days. they will be microtargeting certain constituencies. key constituencies trying to chip away for support or rile up romney's base. for instance, they will be hitting medicare a lot because of ryan's support for changing medicare into a voucher system. that will be targeting seniors who are very important to mitt romney. trying to chip away at some of that support. and then president obama looking at some key constituencies like women. his campaign will be saying to women, he voted to defund planned parenthood. mitt romney supports this. and, also, looking at perhaps some cuts to programs that president obama will argue will affect things like education as he targets women and also hispanic voters. deb? >> the debate absolutely shaping up to be a very interesting one. brianna keilar at the white house for us.

thanks so much. well, the death toll in iran continues to climb after a pair of deadly earthquakes hit the country saturday. at least 300 people are dead. more than 3,000 are injured. government officials say some historical sites are damaged along with more than 100 villages. officials say relief supplies are being delivered and tent camps are in place for the thousands of people now homeless. iran sits on major fault lines and has a long history of catastrophic earthquakes. and it's another deadly day in syria. rebels say government forces have killed at least 33 people across the country today. more than 100 yesterday. cnn's eye van watson joins us now from istanbul, turkey. e iv ivan, we have new video here, appears to be a plane being shot down. what does this tell us? >> this appears to be a syrian made fighter jet in the eastern syria over the province. we know that the syrian fighter jets have been used over the

past month to bomb syrian cities in town where's rebels are active. our teams have seen them on the ground bombing the city of aleppo, for example, in this video shot by rebel amateurs, it's clear that the jet is flying low and then as anti-aircraft fire crackles in the background, it suddenly bursts into flames. and then appears to go down. now, syrian state media has officially said, deb, that this was a technical failure to a military aircraft on an ordinary training flight. and the pilot ejected and has still not been found. the rebels are claiming they shot this plane down with a 14.5 millimeter anti-aircraft gun which is highly unlikely. what is clear is that a fixed wing air force jet has gone down. the syrian military has enjoyed complete dominance over the skies in this increasingly

brutal civil war. deb? >> and you know, ivan, you talk about this brutality and i think it was yesterday you showed us that incredible video of the people being thrown from roofs. the violence is escalating. apparent executions are taking place. what can you tell us? >> yeah, i have to warn viewers. the next video, even though we've cut it down, is highly graphic, because it shows what appear to be rebels hurling the bodies of government fighters off the rooftop of a communication/post office building in a rebel-held town in northern syria called albob. and it's clearly an extra execution taking place of at least three people. this is not the first time in last weeks that we have seen rebels executing government fighters and government supporters. a number of active viss that we have talked to, syriiyrian

opposition activists, they've been under way for 17 months is taking a terrible turn. many of them condemning the rebels themselves for these types of actions. rebel groups are accusing the government of public executions of at least ten men in the city of homs on sunday. all this points to an increasingly brutal cycle of revenge killings under way in this bleeding tragic country. deb? >> all right. ivan watson, thank you so much in istanbul reporting for us. thanks. well, the uss porter and an oil tanker collide near the strait of hormuz. the destroyer dented. we'll tell you what the crew is up to now. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role

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moines. president obama has two speech necessary iowa today as part of a bus tour through the state. and joe biden stunts in durham, north carolina. well, talk about a traffic accident. the crew of the uss porter is checking damage after the guided missile destroyer collide with the japanese oil tanker. it happened early sunday near the strait of hormuz. no one was injured. and look at this incredible view of the a bus accident as it happens caught on video. it shows the moment of impact. look at that. when the kansas city transit authority bus swerved to avoid a car careen down an i'm baenkment and rolled over. 13 people were injured. they will use the tape in their investigation. and democrats wasted no time in trying to frame congressman paul ryan as a part of the far right fringe. even using his own controversial budget plan in a new ad.

>> the paul ryan budget which cuts aid to the addition abled, which cuts aid to immigrants' children, which cuts aid to the elderly. >> and that is a web ad video clips of ryan and mitt romney are throughout the ad endorsing the proposal who privatizes social security. they went on "60 minutes." >> got real problems, domestically you have 23 million americans out of work. the president has not been able to get this economy going. i believe that you have to have folks that have the kind of capacity and experience that we have to get america back on track. >> so let's talk about the choice and the democrats' response. mayor of minneapolis, minnesota, and vice chair of the democratic national committee. mr. mayor, we heard mitt romney there talking about the economy, paul ryan is a numbers guy. he knows the budget. he's going to force the issue. does this trouble you, the chances of winning with him on

the ticket? >> well, i think basically what we've seen is what mitt romney was trying to get the american public to buy they didn't buy so they basically outsourced his policy to one of the architects of the policies that led to gridlock in congress. congressman paul ryan supported a budget plan that does pretty extreme things. all the shift to the -- against the middle class just to give huge tax breaks to the rich while cutting thanks that matter, helping young kids get early childhood, and most important, really ending medicare as we know it. it's going to need to possibly up to $6,000 more for a senior for risky voucher scheme. we know what happened when george bush proposed doing it with social security. with the strong support of paul ryan and now there's this other extreme. is america going move forward with the president trying to pull this country together or take an extremely conservative

right wing ideologue out of a congress that has shown an inability to govern. >> mitt romney says, with all due respect, that paul ryan's plan is not his plan, he's going to come up with his own plan. is the democratic strategy, in part, to focus on groups who really have the most to lose and perhaps instill a little bit of additional fear? >> well, if you talk about the middle class as a group, the answer is yes. this is an election about the middle class. and if you go to barackobama/calculator, he would eliminate tax breaks, but, what, the the ones he's benefitted from? we don't know. how ryan has put some meat on the bones but it's really under the guise of deficit reduction. getting people to school,

getting envinvestments in emerg industries so we can get more tax cuts to the very, very wealthy? yeah, the middle class, you call it an interest group, i call it what really makes america work and that is what the president is focused on. romney/ryan is all about take from the middle class and give to the very rich. it doesn't work. it didn't work under bush. if it would have worked it would have soared under him but it collapsed. >> at the same time, ryan is from a district that voted for bill clinton, barack obama, a swing district. he's young, smart. really almost the kind of person that people were saying barack obama was four years ago. are you worry that perhaps paul ryan is now the new face of hope and change? >> well, paul ryan is -- seems to be a nice enough guy with an incredibly mean spirited budget. i don't really think hope and change is taking a senior who's really been about building their neighborhood and this country and saying to them, we're going

to turn something you depended on for your financial and health security and turn it into a risky voucher scheme. or what if we had listened to paul ryan and george bush when they wanted to put the social security into the stock market and the stock market collapsed? could you imagine what mess we would be in now? think about what they are proposing doing. and then think about what's happened in congress. and personalities are one thing. they matter but congress matters a lot. congress has demonstrated it's incapable of governing under this republican leadership. paul ryan has been one of the key leaders. when you really think about what the strategy must be with the romney campaign they're afraid of it enough that all of a sudden this great partnership between romney and ryan kind of breaks off when it's time to go to florida and talk to seniors. they've got him on a bus to iowa while romney goes down to pretend that seniors are not at risk when they are. >> the campaign has said that paul ryan will be going down to

florida, just not right now. but at the end of the week. okay. mayor r.t. rybak, thank you for joining us there for us live in minneapolis this morning. >> thank you. well, help may be on the way for homeowners. details from proposed rules from lenders to keep them in their homes. you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated. nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. no. come on. how about... a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service. [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow! [ male announcer ] when your favorite foods fight you,

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no surprises, no run arounds. that's what some federal watchdogs are saying about proposed rules to help protect homeowners. joining me from the new york stock exchange is allisison kos >> don't you hate trying to get information about your mortgage, that's what the consumer financial protection bureau is trying to avoid, giving you that run around. they're proposing new rules to make the mortgage process easier for homeowners to understand, beginning with the mortgage statement itself, which can get kind of confusing when you look at it. that's not it. servicers would have to give six to seven months advance warning before changes were made to your

adjustable rate mortgage. early outreach if you're delinquent borrower. at risk borrowers wouldn't fall too behind. also have to be a faster fix for errors. meaning they would have to respond to complaints of mistakes within five days. and finally, servicers would also have to post your mortgage payment to your account the day they get it instead of dillydallying and not posting it the day they get it. these are just proposed rules. they still have to go through a public comment period. when the rules are finalized they could go into effect as early as the beginning of next year. deb? >> a little hope there for the homeowner. thank you so much. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. if the view doesn't take your breath away, price tag certainly will. $100 million for some prime new york real estate. we're going to be taking you on we're going to be taking you on ay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor?

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your repairs are guaranteed for life. call... to switch, and you could save hundreds. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? stories we are watching right now in the newsroom. today the vatican says the pope's butler will be charged for leaking secret documents from pope benedict's apartment and passing them to an italian journalist. the documents appeared in a best-selling book according to a vatican spokesman, a second man, a vatican computer expert, will also be charged as an accomplice. and in iran, the death toll now stands at more than 300

after two earthquakes struck the northwest part of the country over the weekend. more than 3,000 people have been injured by the quakes which destroyed or damaged dozens of villages. sarah palin will not be addressing the republican national convention later this month. the former vice presidential candidate says it's a good opportunity for other voices to be heard. palin has not said whether she will attend the convention in tampa. thanks to mitt romney, paul ryan is quickly becoming the most talked about congressman right now but a lot of voters don't know his background. who is he? paul ryan is a congressman from wisconsin's first district. that includes much of southeastern wisconsin, including milwaukee. he grew up in and still lives in janesville where a general motors facility plant closed about four years ago. his wife is a former congressional aide now raising their three children. ryan has been elected seven times, serving congress 14 years. up for re-election this november. he is the chairman of the house

budget committee. and for a college job, interesting, he drove the oscar mayer wienermobile. erick erickson is the managing editor of redstate.com and cnn contributor. thanks for joining us. maria, you first. is paul ryan the right pick for the gop? >> well, he's certainly the right pick where democrats are concerned. and here's why and here's why i think it's a risky pick for the gop. it's bold for sure. that's definitely true. and i believe that paul ryan does bring a lot to the ticket in terms of enthusiasm. and that's exactly what the gop needed, especially with conservatives. here's the problem. it's risky with so many of the other demographics that the gop really needs in order to win. it does absolutely nothing for latinos except underscore that the gop has essentially written off the latino vote. it does nothing to close the

gender gap, which we know romney has a lot of trouble with. and it has handed democrats exactly what they have sought all along, which is not a referendum, the election not being about a referendum on president obama but a choice election between a ticket that wants to fight for the middle class and a ticket that essentially wants to fight for millionaires and those who are the best off in this country. that's what it will be about. >> erik, respond to that. do you see that in the way he's being defined by republicans? >> i think whoever mitt romney picked maria would have gone through the litany exactly the same and democrats will do that. i think paul ryan is a very interesting pick. people in the media have for years says they want a substantive campaign. here's a substance tive campaign. paul ryan has a budget proposal which managed to make it through the house of representatives. he managed to get democratic support. he got them to say it's an honest, serious attempt to fix problems. barack obama can't even get his budget out of the senate.

he's gone over 1,000 days without a budget. he has yet to address entitlement reform which is weighing on the economy. it's a sbrr interesting thing. m maria is right, though, it is a choice now. now it's going to be a choice between two visions and which will help the middle class and which won't help the middle class. maria thinks that president obama will help the middle class. i don't think he can help the middle class when he's busy raiding their pockets. >> you say it's going to be a substantive campaign, but do you think that romney and ryan is going to be -- they're going to polarize the middle class, middle class that maria is saying is being defended by the obama campaign? >> no, they're not going to polarize the middle class. barack obama is prying to polarize the middle class. the democrats is run ags campaign ad accusing mitt romney of killing a woman, for god's sake. they won't stoop as low as the democrats will in that one ad. they're going to fearmonger and

scare because there's nothing to show for barack obama's agenda other than an unpopular health care plan and unemployment. >> it's unpopular for those who don't like it but popular with those who do. >> except the majority of americans dislike it. >> maria, when you look at what's at stake, how do you see this ryan pick right now, what is at stake? >> well, here's exactly what's at stake, deb, and here's why i think this pick is actually very risky for republicans. they love to call it a courageous pick, they love to talk about how paul ryan has put on the table very courageous, bold views in terms of his ryan budget. but here is the problem. what is courageous about a plan that disseminates -- dissemin e disseminates all of the programs that middle class families and workers depend on and asks absolutely zero from the -- those who are most well off in

this country. it is not balanced whatsoever. it does cut the budget but it doesn't do it for like another 20 years, but it does cut the budget on the backs of seniors and on the backs of those who are most vulnerable who have been the hardest hit in this recession p a recession. and that is the discussion that democrats are going to put front and center and they're going to talk about how the ryan plan turns medicare into a voucher program, basically a glorified coupon book, which is great if you're going to go shopping but not great if you're looking for health care to save your life. it's going to be a choice election. that is what this pick has handed the democrats, a very clear vision. the majority of the american people have already said they don't like the ryan plan because it isn't ball lapsed. >> it's handed something to the democrats, it's also handed something to the republicans. maria cardona in washington, erick erickson in washington. thanks for joining us. >> thanks so much. nfl player chad johnson is out of jail. he is now also out of a job.

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well, chad johnson was heading into the upcoming nfl season with his hold name and a new team, miami dolphins. but after his arrest this weekend, for alleged he head butting his wife, johnson finds himself without that team. joining me from los angeles is cnn's "showbiz" correspondent turner. this all started with a receipt that was left laying around. >> yeah. it looks that way, deb. you know, chad johnson and evelyn lozada just got married on july 4th. in the midst of shooting a reality show about their relationship. he started vh-1's the ultimate catch and was on "dancing with the stars" and six-time pro bowl wide receiver in the nfl. he was signed as a free agent in the off season by the team

dolphins. they were also shooting "hard knocks." the show was subto debut but you talked about how this started about some receipt she found in the car. according to the police report from evelyn lozada, she said she discovered a receipt for a box of condoms in the car. that culminated in a three-inch cut on her forehead. she says he head bit her. he says she slammed her head into his. >> the dolphins reacted quickly. did they use this as a reason why? >> quick and swift. they didn't really say this was the reason they released him. they released a short statement on saturday saying they were aware of this situation, they were gathering the facts. by sunday afternoon, he had been cut by the team. one thing to note, though, deb, the the dolphins do have a new head coach, they have a new attitude. coach philbin has said to have implemented a zero tolerance

with this team. in this case, he wasn't joking. >> i guess maybe he still has his reality series. thank you so much. appreciate the update. >> sure. well, manhattan has a $100 million view and, yes, it's on sale. we'll go on a tour of the city's most expensive listing ever.

you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. call or click today. brave knights! as you can clearly see from this attractive graph that our sales have increased by... sorry, my liege. honestly. our sales have increased by 20%.

what is this mystical device i see before me? it's an ultrabook. he signed the purchase order. with an ultrabook, everything else seems old fashioned. introducing the ultra sleek, ultra responsive ultrabook. a whole new class of computers powered by intel. begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime.

how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. so you have an extra $100 million to spend? i'm out. this three-floor penthouse with breathtaking floors has a view if you do. this is the city east most expensive listing. >> reporter: this is the view that you get from what is the most expensive apartment to ever be listed in the new york real estate market, but this isn't the only view. it wraps around the entire apartment, all three floors, for 360-degree panoramic view. but for a $100 million price

tag, it's not just the view you're going to get. we're going to look at the other amenities. we get an exclusive tour of the penthouse from can chairman of the listing agent prudential douglas element. >> has there been interest already? >> there have been. we have had a few important showings and a few more lined up. >> reporter: six bedrooms and nine bathrooms located on the top of the city's spire building on manhattan's west side. what makes this apartment so spectacular? >> the most important part of the apartment is the views. this is a view apartment. you have terraces, over 3,000 feet of terraces facing the city, east side, west side. >> reporter: $100 million asking price. it's steep for anybody out there. is the view really what's going to capture it? >> pricing apartments today, it's not a science. you know? if this is what the owner wants for the apartment, it will either sell or it won't sell. this is the dining room which can seat 20 30rks people at least. >> reporter: come on. i like to cook. >> you like to cook?

okay. i'm not going to test your cookinging though. how would you like to be cooking looking at this view. the river. downtown. >> wow. >> reporter: and while sales of less swank manhattan homes have been flat, business is booming in a so-called super prime sector. >> the high end of the market has reached new height. low and middle has not. it has come back and it's close to where it was before but it hasn't, you know, gone past it. there are plenty of buyers, a lot of foreign buyers. and local buyers, also. >> i think it's a reflection of general interest of high end everything. you know, if you're a luxury consumer and there are a lot of them out there, still, you're looking at a place to put your money that's reliable, that's a hard asset class. that could include a boat, i could include a plane, it could include a great piece of art, watches and jewelry, or an incredibly fabulous piece of real estate. >> reporter: and fabulous real estate is going fast. at least four deals within eight months. $52 million bought one american a lux pad on park avenue.

another american bout the penthouse on central park for $70 million. $88 million earned a russian family a penthouse. and yet to be completed 157 has a deal on the table for about $90 million, possibly with a middle eastern royal. back in the tripelx here's more of what a lot of money can buy. for $100 million asking price, naturally to get to the second and third floors, you have a private elevator. the master bedroom sits at the top and above it the massive dome that caps the building. the penthouse owner controlses when it's lit, adding to the new york city skyline. whoever the buyer may be for this apartment, the sky certainly seems to be the limit when it comes to new york city real estate. from high atop gotham, i'm felicia taylor. >> that's $100 million without furniture. the games are over and now the athletes are headed home. go live to london to show you all the activity at heathrow airport. are you okay, babe? i'm fine. ♪

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well, the olympic flame was slowly extinguished and the games are officially over. now the rush is on for the athletes and the fans to get home. heathrow is one of the busiest airports and that's where we find erin mcglauflin. show us what it is like there now. >> reporter: hi, so far things seem to be going pretty smoothly here at the olympic terminal. the exclusive exit point for olympic athletes as they leave the country. so far we've seen plenty of at leaths come through here. come appear to be a bit blurriy eyed a after last night's celebrations. we spoke to these about their lasting impressions of london 2012, including u.s. sprinter justin. let's take a listen to what they had to say.

>> just a dream come true. you know, a mission. to be able to come back out here and to -- to make my supporters and my friends and my family happy, to show them that i am a god-given talent, to come out here and be tomorrow's content. >> fantastic. we had a bit traveling through there but it was fantastic out there and all the people was cool. so it was -- really good. >> see how everything goes. it's all new for me. i can't wait to get home, see my family, get back to school soon, and it's just going to be really fun. >> reporter: deb, let's just show you around here. some 6,000 athletes expected to pass through here today alone. they will receive a warm reception and farewell from the volunteers here at heathrow

airport. this temporary terminal was set up just for the games, just for the athletes, designed to resemble a london park complete with a lamp post, telephone booth. there's even a memory tree. this isn't just about however leave that one last impression, it's also about making sure health throw runs smoothly on this day so regular passengers can get home on time as well, deb. >> all right. erin mclaughlin for us there. very festive background. nice way to say good-bye. thanks so much, erin. and we are back after a quick break. wfaces,look up intos i see pride. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, that pride, that was on my face. i am jocelyn taylor. i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now.

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infection. he is being treated with antibiotics and he's improving. doctors expect him to remain in the hospital for another day or two. well, you hate exercise, maybe you haven't done it in years. but you know that you've got to get off that couch. so how do you get started? fitness expert has a few simple ideas. >> you guys all know me from nbc's "biggest loser." i've helped out plenty of people who are new to gyms, new to working out. it's just not their life. maybe that's you. maybe you haven't worked out in a very long time. but you've never worked out before. guess what, you have to get started. and the best way to get started, here are a few examples. go for a walk, a challenge yourself, walk on a hill. you're not limited to just walking on a flat terrain. go up the hill and come right back down. do that 10, 15, 20 times, as many as your body can stand. give yourself a goal. always add ait