bring a critical food source to the world. where others see obstacles, o'hanlon seize opportunity. his determination might just steer the centuries old business in a new direction. for more on brian and other agents of change, check us out online, follow us on twitter, like us on facebook. also join me on my life stream. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. thanks for watching. you're in the "cnn newsroom." i'm fredricka whitfield. tomorrow may not be a school day in the third largest public school system in the country. chicago teachers are threatening to go on strike in the morning if the school system doesn't agree to better pay and improved work conditions. the walkout could affect 400,000 students at 700 schools and involves 29,000 unionized teachers. let's go live now to cnn's ted

rowlands who is outside one of the schools that could be closed tomorrow. ted, how are negotiations going? is there still a slight chance that school might be on tomorrow? >> reporter: yeah. they're at it right now at this hour, fredricka. and yesterday they worked into the evening and after that session, both sides seemed cautiously optimistic. that said, they are going forward with plans, are the teachers, they're picking up signs today and red t-shirts and the plan is to start striking at 6:30 local here. they are going to continue to, as i said, negotiate into the night and the hope is that they can avert this strike. there's also been a little bit of a backlash from the community. people are asking the teachers since the negotiations are ongoing, that they could please just not strike and continue to work while these negotiations continue. on the other hand, we've been talking to a lot of parents that say, you know what? this is the only thing that teachers have, is that threat of a strike. if they don't follow through with it, they're going to lose

some of the leverage. some parents we talk to, absolutely side with the teachers. take a listen. >> the city has not put children first because they have put their teachers last and that is what has brought us to a point where none of them will be where they should be on monday morning, in their classrooms teaching and learning. >> reporter: the deadline for the negotiations, midnight, fred. if they don't come up with something by then, the strike is on. >> okay. and then there are apparently these locations, these places where many of the students could end up but then when you hear some educators who are saying we don't advocate that at all, what is a parent to do? >> well, that's the thing. parents have to come up with plan b. if they don't have one now, they better come up with one soon. there's a lot of concern about the safety of kids in certain neighborhoods that are plaikgue with violence over the summer. the school district is going to open 144 schools including the one behind me here in inglewood

and they're going to allow kids to come here. they're going to feed them. there won't be any learning going on but that's the plan. there's also some churches that are opening up but the bottom line, there is a lot of worry that these kids may be roaming the streets and won't be safe for the kids that have parents that are at work. >> ted rowlands, thanks so much in chicago. keep us posted on that. now to the race for the white house. president barack obama campaigning hard today in florida, a critical swing state. it is the second day of his bus tour through the sunshine state. in melbourne this morning he took aim at mitt romney's economic plans starting with the republican candidate's proposal to cut taxes for high-income americans. >> tax cuts, tax cuts, gut a few regulations, and then give some more tax cuts. tax cuts when times are good. tax cuts when times are bad. tax cuts to help you lose a few

extra pounds. tax cuts to improve your love life. >> in about two hours, president obama speaks to voters in west palm beach. we'll bring you those remarks live. mitt romney is spending today off the campaign trail at his home in massachusetts. but during an interview that aired today on nbc's "meet the press," he talk about his plans to balance the budget. >> i'll balance the budget by the end of my second term doing it in the first term would cause, i believe, a dramatic impact on the economy, too dramatic, and therefore the steps i've put in place -- we've put together a plan that lays out how we get to a balanced budget within eight to ten years. >> romney returns to the campaign trail tomorrow with a rally in the battleground state of ohio. you can get a closer look at the candidates for the white house. find out what barack obama and mitt romney are really like tonight beginning at 8:00 eastern time when we profile the republican presidential nominee in "romney revealed -- faith, family and the road to power,"

"followed at 9:30 p.m. by "obama revealed, the man, the president," right here on cnn. overseas now. iraq is reeling under a sear ruz of violent attacks today. several car bombs rocked cities including amara, kirkuk and western basra. gunman hit checkpoints and at least 46 are dead, 125 wounded. many of those killed are iraqi soldiers. the u.n. special representative for iraq is condemning the attacks. one of the bombs went off near the french consulate in nasiriyah. earlier we spoke to reuters' baghdad bureau chief patrick markey. >> these kind of attacks happen at least once a month now. they're still carrying out a coordinated attacks on various cities once a month. this is certainly not the worst that we've had this year, even if the death toll is at 70. we've had death tolls of more than 100 in one day. as you point out, no one has

claimed responsibility but even after u.s. troops have left, iraq is still fighting various insurgent groups, including local wing of al qaeda and former member saddam hussein's baathist party. >> violence has been on the rise in iraq in recent months. 325 people were killed in july. deadliest month since august 2010. now to syria. the international envoy is meeting in cairo tomorrow with arab league officials on the crisis in syria but the violence continues. according to the opposition government forces are dropping barrel bombs on civilian areas. they say the bombs are filled with tnt, nails and fuel. at least 36 people have been killed across the country today. from washington to new york. the weekend storms hit with a

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beach front community of breezy point. >> reporter: this is a private beach club called breezy point. lot of cabanas out here, people don't live in these cabanas but they usually come out to spend the day at the beach. only a few people were there when this happen. fortunately, no injuries but the clean-up well under way. minor damage, minor power outages in this area. as you can see, these guys are already putting some of the debris from those cabanas, some parts of roofs, that kind of thing, throwing into the back of this pick-up truck and getting rid of it. this gentleman over here, jim brady, was here when the funnel cloud came through. you were inside your cabana. >> i was in the cabana. i didn't get to see anything but i heard the noise. the intense white noise. it felt like were you in a wind tunnel. noise and debris going all over the place. i just laid on the ground and waited it out, 15 can be 20 seconds later it was just quiet, came out and saw all the debris all over the place. >> reporter: you'll have some cleaning up to do. >> a little bit. >> reporter: matt keogh, you were here as well but outside

and saw the funnel cloud. >> funnel cloud come from the southwest into the northeast. huge amount of debris flying all over the place. scared the living hell out of me because we didn't know which way it was going to move. i put it about 60 feet across. >> reporter: how did you stay out of the way or take cover? >> i just stood still. be honest with you, you're not thinking of yourself, you're thinking of people. my god, people could have got hurt. >> reporter: harry, he comes from trinidad, he is a manager here of maintenance and he took instant command of the situation. >> susan candiotti there on the ground in breezy point in queens. so heavy thunderstorms also whipped through the washington, d.c. area on saturday. power officials say at least 15,000 homes in northern virginia are still without electricity this morning. two frightening helmet to helmet collisions shake college football.

is one of the horrifying hits that took arkansas corner back tevin mitchell out of the game with a neck injury yesterday. just hours before that accident or collision, we should say, tulane's devon walker fractured his spine after a head-on hit with his teammate. a tulane doctor says walker will have surgery in the next day or two. just a short time ago defending champ novak djokovic beat david fer. er in the men's u.s. open semi-finals. now djokovic moves on to his third final in a row. bad weather stopped the match in its first set yesterday. the same for women's finals scheduled for last night, weather delayed it until later on this afternoon. you see right there one of the players, serena williams, taking on victorias a ren ka. an american tennis player sloane stephens got knocked out of contention. but no worries yet, because at

19 years old she is he youngest wochl rank woman ranked in the top 50 and a rising star. >> she is a great talent. she seems fearless at a jung age. sloane is a phenomenal athlete. >> certain players have that it factor. they talk about that in sports. she really has it. she resonates among the fans. >> i think she has like a lot of topspin. >> sloane stevens is making a name for herself in the tennis world. the 19-year-old with the athletic build and big smile is the youngest player in the top 50. she's not afraid to tell you about her approach to the game. >> it's going to be hectic out there. but i think, you know, just going to be a grind to hit every ball back, run after every ball. just if i'm losing, you're going to be tired, i'm going to be tired and it's just going to be a battle. >> oh, and there she is live.

sloane stephens, joining us live in just a few minutes with the best dim pals and smile on the planet. can't wait to talk to you. we're going to be talking to you up next about what's next. where do you go from here? oh no, not a migraine now.

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later today the u.s. open women's finals plays out in queens, new york. serena williams taking on victoria azarenka. one of serena's biggest admirers, american sleoane stephens, ranked celebrating mae third round of thes open. how are you feeling? >> thank you. great. i'm just excited that i had a really good year and i just have been enjoying it. >> what are you most proud of about your play, your game while at the u.s. open? >> just i had a couple tough matches and it just -- it was really good to have all the support and the fans and i just kind of -- i just got through a couple of tough ones and it was just -- i don't know. it was just exciting. >> i'm sure there were some

great teaching moments there, too, being on such a big stage. u.s. open is very intimidating, i've heard a lot of american players say that. so later today, serena williams playing. i understand that you're pretty good friends with serena. my guess is you're pulling for her. >> yeah. but i love me her, too. >> you'll be watching intently? >> yes, definitely. >> you turned professional just three years ago but only until last year, 2011, were you allowed to play, full wta tournaments. has this year been nerve-racking or exciting or how do you kind of classify what this first full year of professional play has been like on the circuit? >> it's been tough. i mean it's a lot of travel. it's really tough on your body and things like that. but i got through this year, i think, with a pretty big bang and i had some really good

results and i had fun. my family was really supportive and i just enjoyed myself and i think that's kind of helped me get through it. so it's been good. >> you talk about your family being very supportive. just listening to your press conferences. you mention your family, your grandmother, your mom, cousins, everybody who sends you tweets or text messages all the time. your family moved to florida and then you actually started attending a tennis academy. did you or is it your family kind of see in you right away that tennis was going to be your path? how did you know that that was the right investment -- or how did your family know it was the right investment for you? >> well, moms know everything. my mom, i think she kind of helped me with that. and it was just -- i'm so thankful that my mom was so supportive and believed in me that i could do it because i just kind of was going with the flow and just seeing how things would work out and i mean my

mom's always believed in me so that's kind of -- it really helped me and i think she's been a big part of the tennis player that i am today. >> a lot of tennis watchers are already talking about your powerful serves and your percentage of getting it on the mark in that first serve. people are kind of comparing you to the williams sisters, the power play of kim clijsters. do you like that? do you want to be compared to these other great players or do you kind of want to establish yourself as just sloane's style? >> i really don't mind. it's okay. it's tough, but i think somebody has to do it so you have to be compared to somebody. there has to be somebody before you and there has to be somebody after you. i don't mind because those are the best players to ever play so it all works out. >> next big grand slam, us a tl australia. how are you preparing yourself for that? >> a lot of practice. a lot of days in the gym. only sundays off. i'll just be working hard until

then and hopefully start off next year with a bang. >> well sloane stevens, enjoy the ascension. we're all enjoying watching your game improve with every tournament. congratulations. >> thank you. >> thanks for joining us from los angeles. all the best. all right, a man-made winter wonderland in the middle of a desert? and it kind of looks like the real thing, doesn't it? except for maybe the painting on the wall. we're going to take you there. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco.

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checking our top stories right now -- iraq's vice president has been sentenced to death in absentia. he fled the country months ago after allegedly being involved in the deaths after lawyer and an iraqi army general. he's also accused of running a death squad. the vice president says he is being targeted because he's sunni muslim and he accuses prime minister nuri al maliki of pushing the country towards a religious divide. the 7-year-old survivor of that mass murder in the french alps has come out of a coma and her 4-year-old sister has returned home to england. they were the only survivors of a deadly shooting wednesday j. t prosecutors say the girls' parents plus a woman believed to be their grandmother and a female cyclist were all shot twice in the head. killer is still at large and police have not ruled out robbery as a motive. in western nicaragua, more than 1,500 people had to evacuate their homes today when

a volcano erupted. officials say it shot gas and ash more than two miles into the sky. a government website says as many as 20,000 people may be affected. when i say united arab emirates, you probably think sun, those beautiful skyscrapers like that, the crystal clear blue waters and pristine beaches, of course. frankly, that's the appeal for many who actually vacation there, but today we're heading to dubai, the uae's tourism and trading hub for a very different kind of chill-out spot. a producer with cnn international takes us there in today's "travel insider." >> reporter: most people around the world look forward to the summertime, but here in the uae, we dread it. temperatures soar more than 110 degrees fahrenheit. i haven't even been outidentify for five minutes and i'm sweating already. so, apart from staying at home, what do most people do to cool down? many come to giant air

conditioned shopping malls like this one. retail therapy doesn't really do it for me so i head to a place where i can really chill out. during the span of around ten minutes i've gone from the sweltering heat to the freezing cold. this is ski dubai. it is a man-made winter wonderland in the middle of the desert. i think it is time i hit the slopes -- or rather -- the slope. the thing is, it's pretty expensive to get in here. it is around $50 just for a couple of hours of ski time. i can't even imagine what it costs to power a place like this. this place may not be the alps or the rockies, but what i like about it is that it is a real escape from the boiling temperatures outside. i mean it is basically a giant refrigerator around it is freezing. you've got to have your clothes, you've got to have your ski clothes, and above all, it is just a lot of fun and i'll see you at the bottom.

so this is where i come to beat the heat in the desert. cnn, dubai. >> getting a little cool air in the united arab emirates. i'll be back in one hour and we'll talk with former nfl star kurt warner around his wife brenda. she's stepped out of her husband's shadow to become a popular christian speaker and author. all that straight ahead. stay with cnn. "your money" starts after this.