governor mitt romney on the campaign trail, just wrapping up an event in evansville, indiana. richard murdoch, is he is the tea party backed candidate. he beat out the incumbent richard lugar in the g.o.p. primary earlier this year. welcome to a brand-new hour. i'm heather childers. >> i'm kelly wright and governor romney coming off a big night on friday. dirty harry himself, clint

eastwood announcing his support for the governor's bid. molly henneberg has more details. dirty harry coming out in support for mitt romney, make my day. >> molly: very good. klinlt eastwood, in 2008 endorsed mccain. at a fund-raiser in idaho last night, he says his leadership is now more important than ever. >> i think the country needs a boost. >> molly: meanwhile, president obama is celebrating his 51st birthday. he and his family will spend the weekend retreat in maryland. july job numbers and he focused on the 136,000 jobs added last month. more than expected and almost 100,000 more than what was added in june. still he says there is more work to be done. >> we knew when i started in

this job that this was going to take some time. we haven't had to come back from economic crisis this deep or this painful since the 1930s but we also know if we were persistent and kept at it and kept working that we'd gradual to get where we need to be. >> molly: on the other hand governor romney was focusing on the unemployment rate, 8.3% in july, up from 8.2% in june. he says the president's economic plans including the stimulus plan have not worked. >> this continues a pattern of american families really struggling having hard times and the president's policies are to blame for not having getting the economy back on track. a lot of people are suffering in this country. >> molly: governor romney was also asked yesterday about the timing of his vice presidential

announcement. all he would say it will happen before the third day of the republican convention later this month and the third day, that is the day vp nominee is expected to make a speech. >> kelly: molly henneberg, good to see you. >> heather: iran is showing off military might and successfully test fired a short range ballistic missile. they claim the missile can hit targets on land and at sea making it one of the most accurate weapons in its arsenal and putting naval forces patrolling the persian gulf within range. peter doocy is in washington with that story. >> reporter: the fata 110 missile they successfully tested have the ability to hit targets at landt a range of about 180 miles with great accuracy. it's once again put shipping

routes in iran's crosshairs if they decide to make a move. >> they would use it mostly against land-based targets within those ranges. also sea based targets that are stationary. most vulnerable would be tankers straits of hormuz. >> reporter: he also said iran's saber rattling is an attempt to deter an attempt by israel while the defense minister with the fourth generation of missile the armed forces of our country is able to target and destroy land and sea targeted, missile sites radars and other points. >> the american secretary of defense says diplomacy is still the preferred method for dealing with iran especially when it comes to the war of words with israel, but if things escalated our stance might change. >> should notion efforts fail and should iran make the decision to proceed, that we

have all options on the table including military options. >> the missiles have been around since 2002 they can travel about 60 miles further today than they did a decade ago and they can theoretically be out fitted with nuclear warheads. >> heather: thanks, peter. >> kelly: firefighters are getting the upper hand outside of oklahoma city. flames destroying dozens of homes in a town of luther, deputies also looking into reports of someone in a pickup truck seen throwing out newspapers that had been set on fire. oklahoma's forestry tri-service the number of wildfires could be the worst in state history. maria molina is live with more details on some of the heat conditions out there as well as the drought that has been going on. >> good to see you. we do have an ongng drought

across in the central plains. we had a lack of moisture and pretty much of the lower 48 have seen dry conditions with about 80% of the country seeing those below average precipitation amounts over the past several months. we do have red flag warning for the state of oklahoma not only do we have dry conditions that are ongoing out here, dry brush is in place to help wildfires continue to grow. we have gusty winds that could reach 30 miles per hour and also very hot temperatures once again more triple-digit temperatures in parts of oklahoma and 95 could be your high north of kansas city and dallas, texas expecting triple-digit at 103. take a look at the next couple of days. we are not expecting relief from oklahoma from those hot temperatures. no much in the way of precipitation. maybe an isolated shower or storm sunday afternoon. it's going to be very spotty in nature and 20% chance. we're not going to get significant rainfall over the

next couple of days. as we head north, we're going so see much needed rain in the great lakes and out in the west. some of that rain is going to come in the form of thunderstorms that could produce severe weather from the great lakes down to southeastern parts and isolated tornadoes are possible. another big story, the tropics, it becomes very active. we have two tropical storms, ernesto is one of them and this one is going to continue to track westward. it could intensify the next couple days. by monday morning it could be a category one hurricane and reemerge over the gulf of mexico. we'll keep a close eye on ernesto. >> kelly: maybe they could generated some rain. >> that would be ideal

situation. >> heather: another scary incident in the sky. this time over detroit. two planes coming too close to one another while attempting to land at the airport there. a delta flight from phoenix and a small regional jet separated by about two miles. faa says the standard separation is three miles. this coming on the heels of another incident this week in washington. that one involved three planes. chairman of the house transportation committee says that our air safety system has to change. >> what we've got in place light now at our air traffic control towers across the country is post world war ii ground based radar system, there has been a delay in actually putting in place a space based system. we don't rely on just the human tracking. we have high technology that can tell us where every plane is

every second. >> heather: faa says an investigation is underway. >> kelly: it's about jobs, jobs, jobs. new jobs report a hot topic on the campaign trail. governor mitt romney focusing on the slight uptick on employment. both men are saying latest numbers say it becomes a their differing stances on the economy. >> we're not going to get to where we need to be if we go back to the positive policies that helped to create this mess in the first place. the last thing that we should be doing is asking middle-class families who are still struggling to recover from this recession to pay more in taxes. >> today we just got a new number from the unemployment report, it's another hammer blow to the struggling middle-class

families of america, because the president has not had policies that put american families back to work. i will put them in place and get america working again. >> that begs the question, was there a winner in the jobs report? what will be the impact come november? a staff writer at roll call is here. i'm looking at the numbers again and the reaction is mixed. president obama acknowledging that more work needs to be done but he says his administration has added 4.5 million jobs during his presidency. governor romney said the economic plan hammering the middle-class and hurting the american people. how do you think american sleorts will respond to these two candidates in november? >> i think in general voters really look at the unemployment rate, 8.3% number when they think about the job situation in this country. yes, itself country added more

jobs and obviously that helps the president's argue. unemployment rate and much easier to stick in a campaign ad and i'm sure the romney and republican committee is going to be that. >> kelly: it could be as high as 11% and 16% for hispanics and african-americans. the bottom line, working america makes a growing america. at the current 8.3 rate, it's not a sign that our economy is turning around. there is a great deal of uncertainty out there among those that are seeking jobs and employers. how will it affect president obama who said if he wasn't doing the right job, people will get rid of him? >> there is no question it's not good for him. every month are so so they are watching the numbers very closely. if the economy doesn't get better it doesn't bode well for

his reelection chances. i think voters can only can consume gloom and doom economy. seeing those ads on their television screens. eventually if it continues, voters will want to hear more about governor romney's plan. >> you talk about fatigue. will it bode well for the president? she still doing well in battleground states and how can he keep that narrow lead over governor romney? >> i think it will benefit the president somewhat, basically it will depress turnout. when they see a lot of negative advertising, female advertising that we've seen on television, they don't show up to the polls at all. they say i don't want any part of it. >> kelly: what does governor romney need to do.

you talked about the fatigue factor, what does he need to do to talk about his strong stand on the economy and what his plan moving forward will look like? >> i think after labor day, he will probably continue to harp on the job numbers and unemployment situation but he should probably, his advisors are probably going to recommend to come out and include a few more specifics about how he would kurn the country around. >> kelly: before i let you go, let's talk about governor romney of an how to respond the attacks from the obama campaign. even senate majority leader harry reid about the latest attacks. here is what he said. from the senate floor, today the most secretive candidate since richard nixon is coming to nevada asking to be president. forget about mitt romney couldn't get confirmed as a cabinet secretary and adding, that his message is this: he

won't release his taxes but want to raise yours. what do you make of these attacks. how does he have to go on the offensive? >> harry reid is referring to the governor's unwillingnesses to release a year or two of tax returns. traditionally they are not required a law to release much more than that but they have released more tax returns in the last couple years. so politically think it's a lingering issue for governor romney. i don't think he will eventually -- but its lingering problem and harry reid, top officials keep bringing it up it will continue to be an issue for him. >> kelly: he addressed that issue by telling a scenario, put up or shut up. we'll end that for now. thank you. >> heather: battle is escalating in syria as government forces fight for rebels in the largest city.

meanwhile, the u.n. is issuing a new resolution on the violence. what is next for syria? >> kelly: we've been talking about the latest job numbers being out. while the unemployed already have reason to worry, some are saying people with jobs should be nervous, why. >> heather: and pregnant woman and her children struck by lightning. the details and latest on their conditions just ahead. >> when i got home from work it seemed like any other day. it was raining. >> there was no thunder. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+.

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>>. >> kelly: welcome back. time for a check of the headlines, friends and family remembering a college student killed in a charter bus crash this tuesday, he was sitting in the first row of the upper deck when the bus slammed into a bridge supported in illinois. they say a blown tire may be to blame. >> a 87-year-old denver man is accused of running a marijuana

operation from his home. he was growing more than 400 plants and harry truman's grandson making a special trip to hiroshima. he was honoring the people that were killed in the blast. >> a michigan mother is demanding answers saying that her autistic adult, they said that her daughter returned home with bruises and black eye. a driver and another attendant were on board at the time of the incident. mrs. reed described what happened. >> the boy was upset and they had to be taken off with something that happened at school and he hit my daughter. they proceeded to take everybody off the bus except my daughter. they left of her strapped in her seated, buckled in and everything. as he walked by again he continue to hit on her some

more. i don't want the 13-year-old held accountable. he doesn't know what he is doing. i understand with the disabilities. this is the school's responsibility and the transportation responsibility to protect these children. >> heather: the school district is investigating the incident. >> kelly: for more than 140 years they have been providing education for african-american students. they prepare students to to become future leaders. graduates often develop what is known as the confidence and attitude of excellence in character and service. leo is one of those fortunate students that enjoys a life of success as a world-renowned artist living his life beyond a dream.

>> the voice of the claptond cho display the artistic qualities. he captures many themes from the southern up bringing. in one painting he illustrates how his family relied faith and god to overcome racism. >> african-americans, religion is a real part of how we got over so to speak. it's what sustained us. i tried to show here, this is sanctuary. when you are in the spirit you are heojd on and you can make it. >> he grew up a time when blacks were viewed as infear to your to whites. he was one of six children living in the small town. his father died when he was 15 and his mother had the task to take care of six children on her

o'. he worked as janitor at the local movie theater but his job and racial tensions caused his mother to have many restless nights. >> my mother was always scared somebody would harm me. it was kind of out of place, you know. she worried that somebody would find out and harm me. >> no harm came to leo. he worked hard they theater and even at school. >> i rose to the top of my class. i went to college. you can go to college but nobody told me how to do that. a white minister in my hometown, first baptist church came by and put my stuff in the trunk of his car and brought me to classes. >> they gave him a scholarship and s experience as a

projectionist came in handy. he worked seven days a week at a local movie theater and earned enough money to pay his tuition and send money home to his family. from college, he went to earn his master of arts degree from new york university. in 1970 he was the first african-american student to receive a doctorate of arts from the university of georgia. leo became a pioneer, developing his paintings in a unique technique. >> patique that is what this process is. this is wax and dyes on fabric. it's traditionally used to decorate fabric, what if i tried to painted with it? >> he always dreamed of being a success. he remembers as a child often watching a bird fly over his home. it became his motivation to aim high, to achieve his dream. >> when i saw the bird, i always

felt that my dream is flying away, what it would look like out there. >> that is amazing. >> as the bird flies away your dreams can soar, as well? >> yes, precisely. >> kelly: his works have been featured in art galleries around the world. he was selected to design ornaments for the white house christmas tree. his book is the first book to be published by his alma mater. >> case of man who went missing off a new york beach taking a bizarre twist after he turns up alive. why his wife says he is angry with him next. >> heather: new trouble for the u.s. postal service after it defaults for the first time ever. that is coming up. ♪ waited, mr. postman ♪ wait, wait, mr. postman

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>>. >> heather: time for the top of the news, we begin with this, chinese ambassador is blaming the u.s. and other western nation's for the crisis in syria. he claims the west sabotaged the political process by calling for regime change. >> kelly: they have restored service to about 8,000 atms across in oregon. the power was off the system according to banks. >> nasa scientists are on edge as they await mars rover landing one of the most difficult in space history. >> kelly: a man reported missing after he went swimming at

new york beach is alive and well. turning up in south carolina a few days later, now investigators are focusing on whether he may have been trying to fake his own death. anna is live with more details. strange story. >> reporter: according to his wife it appears that long island new york man raymond moss tried to fake his own death. it went south when he went south. his son reported his missing at an apparent drowning. resources sent out to to find him but then on thursday, he got a speeding ticket hundreds of miles away in south carolina. he tripled his life insurance policy in january and revised his will. at a news conference she mentioned things the raymond ross left behind, keys, wallet and suspicious e-mails between him and their son possible plot. telling him to call him from a

pay phone update how things were developing in new york. >> i feel like that he put a lot of people in danger to look for him as though he drowned. he was planning a funeral for him. i lost my husband. in a matter of hours and to find out he is alive, it's anger and sadness. the public that went out to try to save a man that was not there and vacationing in florida. >> reporter: the district attorney gave thus statement. d.a.'s office is collaborating with police investigating this matter. investigation is ongoing and no decision has been made as to whether criminal charges will be filed. police say ross says he plans to return to new york but he hasn't surfaced just yet. >> kelly: he has some explaining to do.

thanks. >> heather: new questions about the viability of the u.s. postal service. earlier this week it failed to get the check in the mail defaulting on $5.5 billion and health care benefits for future retired workers. this as congress was unable to pass a rescue plan. now some are wondering if the postal service can be saved or if it is headed the way of the pony express. joining us is coalition for 20th century postal service? >> good to be with you. >> heather: neither snow nor rain can stop the post men but congress might. can congress save the post office? >> it's no too late. what they have done is keep its head above water for about another year by robbing peter to pay paul. in other words, by not paying these amounts, by defaulting on these payments, it can preserve

enough cash, we hope, to last for another year. what that does take some of the pressure off of congress acting. senate passed a bill in april. the house has a bill that is pending in front of it but no action is being taken until the fall, probably until the lame duck session. we don't know without that relief from congress whether in fact the postal service can survive. >> so talk to me specifically about this, congress passed a law back in 2006 that required the postal service to make an annual payment for ten years into the healthcare benefits fund that will cover retiree benefits for something like 75 years. postal officials want to restructure that. is that a realistic long term solution and will that alone provide the relief that the postal service needs? >> it won't do it alone but an important factor in getting the

job done. senate bill does reamortize the payments. it lowers the payments from $5.5 billion to maybe half that. at the end of the day, after the 40 years, there is no unfunded liability that taxpayers are holding the bag. some of your viewers know, that no taxpayer funds are given to the postal service, it's supported by the sale of stamps. >> that is the other problem, first class mail volume has fallen 25%, one of the things. it's expected to drop another 30% by 2016. what more can the postal service do? >> it has to restructure itself. getting financial relief is an important short term response to what is happening to the postal service but longer term for them to survive it's got to reduce

its size to the scope of the business in front of it. right now it's by a factor of two. eliminating some of the facilities, reducing the number of people work for it is vital to keeping the postal service on its feet for the foreseeable future. >> postmaster general says it's a crisis 6 confidence that could lead to even more loyal customers to abandon the mail. banks diverting electronic payments and then starting next year the federal government themselves will stop mailing paper checks for millions of people who receive social security and other benefits pa paying with direct deposit or debit cards. is this a losing battle? >> i no, i don't think so in the long run if congress acts and if the postal service reduces its size to meet the amount of

business that it has in front of it. the biggest problem is the crisis of confidence because right now you've got the default. you've got congress delaying action on a bill that could help the postal service. both of those things are happening right when large mailers, banks, utilities, a large of large mailers are in the middle of their budget season. so they are looking ahead to next year. they are seeing the uncertainty about the postal service and its viability pile up. the result of that is unfortunately they are going to did i investigator still more mail out of system. what we have to do is get a fix in place so that confidence can be regained that the postal service is going to be here and serve the american public in the way it always has. so that we don't lose a whole lot of additional mail and

additional revenue and maybe get to the point for one thing the congress doesn't want to do which is to bail out the postal service. >> heather: thank you so much. thank you. >> you're welcome. >> kelly: a pregnant woman and her two children are recovering in a hospital following a lightning strike in delaware. the family was eating dinner outside an umbrella when the bolt hit. here is more. >> reporter: the umbrella, it was in the ground, when i came outside the umbrella must have come out of the ground and flew in the air. >> mark came home from work and noticed his neighbor outside playing with their kids. >> kicking the soccer ball back and forth and they were playing around. when i got home from work, it seemed like any other day. it was raining and got under the umbrella. there was no thunder to be heard so there was no reason to think

not to be under an umbrella. >> he heard a massive boom? >> i heard a loud bang. you here the roaring of it. i had sounded like a gunshot. >> boy was crying. the mother and younger boy, she complained of numbness on the side. >> they were laying on the ground crying. >> fire trucks showed up. this is second pregnant woman to be struck by lightning this week. the other one was on the beach. neighbors are very shaken. >> that is really scary knowing i stepped outside and i didn't see or hear anything. i'm glad i hope they are okay. >> they got lucky. >> kelly: we thank her for that report from our affiliated for that. >> heather: national unemployment rate we told you about this taking another jump this time 8.3%, we'll tell you

why it isn't just job seekers that should be concerned and what it means for americans with jobs. so anyway, i've been to a lot of places. you know, i've helped a lot of people save a lot of money. but today...( sfx: loud noise of large metal object hitting the ground) things have been a little strange. (sfx: sound of piano smashing) roadrunner: meep meep. meep meep?

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yeah, and i took on all the bigger, tougher ones. but now that mr. clean's got this new select-a-size magic eraser, i mean, he can take on any size job. look how easily he gets things cleaned. it's enough to make you cry. you, specifically. not me. i'm just happy we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. because it's hard to clean or because you're scared of an itty-bittyoggy?

[ dog barks ] aah! oh! [ clears throat ] yeah, that was a sneeze. i think i sprayed myself. [ male announcer ] new mr. clean select-a-size magic eraser. lets you pick the right size for every job. >>. >> heather: new numbers from the labor department show that the economy added 163,000 jobs in july, that was not enough to keep the national unemployment rate from jumping to 8.3%. add to that, a weak g.d.p. report and rising inflation and it isn't just job seekers that should be concerned. ed is manage can pattern with an investment firm. great to have you. break it down for me. 8.3%. you are one of lucky ones, i'm one of the lucky ones, kelly

wright with me but we are part of the 63% of americans that have a job right now. why should we be worried? >> this matters to everybody. we have to make it relate amp to everybody. if doesn't matter you are security guard, a grocer, what matters is the economy. the unemployment number being high, what that means that equals a very weak economy. so we're very happy we have jobs, but those jobs are on very soft footing. the reason say that a weak economy, basically the unemployment number tells you if it's high, we have a weak economy. don't expect raises, don't expect bonuses and be happy you have that job. if we don't reverse this soon, that number is going to increase. it's a ripple effect. if you have a job don't be spectator sitting back, too bad for everyone else. real soon if the economy doesn't pick up, you'll be out of a job

too. >> heather: we have a lot of numbers when we hear the economy. lately not a lot of it very good weak g.d.p. report, rising inflation. high unemployment. what is the most important number to pay attention to and why. >> we do get bombarded. over and over again we get so many data points. most important number right now is that unemployment rate. if we have people working in this country, we have economic activity. we have more money in the system. so everybody out there that is supporting a service or a product, if we have more money in the economy, they get job security. when we talk about all these different numbers, the unemployment number and g.d.p. but the most important one is this unemployment number. i got to throw out that the participation rated meaning the number of people looking for jobs was the same as it was in 2009, so many people have left the work force and stopped looking, the same number today unemployment is around 11%.

so we are in a serious anemic, terrible economic condition right now. to stimulate it, i'll tell you what we have to do. we have only one thing left. we can't lower interest rates like we on used to to stimulate the economy. the one thing we have is to cut corporate taxes to get more money into the economy and that will have a ripple effect and create more economic activity. that will create more jobs and that unemployment rate will drop quickly. if we don't do it we got a problem. >> heather: so do you see either potential administration, either the current obama administration or a romney administration, do you see either doing that? >> it won't be surprised who i'm going to say. we know one thing the current administration is not going to do that. they have come out and publicly stated that.

especially on individuals. i think the corporate tax rate we may see movement. if romney is elected i will guarantee we'll see a corporate tax cut that will stimulate the economy. for everybody on the job and all the independents out there. remember you want to hold on to that job and get a raise. you have a better chance of doing it if we see corporate taxes drop and unemployment come down. >> heather: thank you very much. getting straight to the point. bye-bye. >> kelly: syria going from bad to works. the fighting rages on with to stop the bloodshed. what needs to be done to end the conflict. some answers, next. [ gun shots ] choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you.

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>>. >> kelly: syrian troops pounding the rebel front line of the city of aleppo and the city is bracing for a massive assault. they are reprimanding the syrian governmental of using heavy weapons against syrians and more words as the bloodshed spirals out of control. joining me former state department senior advisor christian whiten. good to see you this afternoon.

this is very tough thing going on in syria, as the fighting continues the bloodshed on both sides is escalating right now and many would agree that the rebels are facing a tough uphill claim because of the syrian military. you pointed to some rebel success going on. how does it achieve it and does it get closer to ending the regime of assad? >> there have been interesting points of progress. they have been able to sustain operations in damascus and aleppo but they took control of tv and radio only temporarily, but in repressive nations like syria, you can get control of the regime mouthpiece, that is actually psychologically very beneficial because it reinforces that the assad regime doesn't have an infinite life span. >> kelly: you were talking about

the symbolic image of getting control of the mouthpiece there in syria. what kind of message would they be able to put out, rebels that is, promote desire for freedom and demgz or lean turned islamic point of view, even al-qaeda? >> it depends entirely what voices you put on air. we could help this short of going to war. we have tremendous capabilities, civilian and military. military has airplanes as flying tv studios to use for psychological operations in military conflicts to try to get troops on the other side to defect. by by putting voices of the rebels you can potentially shape a post assad regime or post assad syria. >> kelly: how does the united states do that?

>> basically by finding, by identifying the source, the elements of the rebels that are not the muslim brotherhood and not al-qaeda. we know they are there. particularly among defecters of assad military. they are unlikely to be sympathetic to muslim brotherhood. by providing them arms that would be the best thing but channeling it to them and cutting off the muslim brotherhood element and gives us a handle what happens. even if assad goes it doesn't necessarily mean the war is over. >> kelly: china is saying that unis responsible for this united states is actually promoting regime change. that is not true, it's the people in syria themselves. is that right? >> that's right. this is something that china is very worried about, just as there have been arab spring, there could be a chinese spring. experts refuted that.

beijing is worried that people will take matters in their own hands. this is the syrian people. there is very attractive elements there too. >> kelly: we thank you for your perspective. thank you so much for weighing on this matter. very important topic. >> heather: coming up. we're going to talk about wildfires leveling dozens of buildings in oklahoma. one local mayor calling it heart breaking and what is the cause of the fires -- that is up next. [ donovan ] i hit a wall.

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>> kelly: hello, everyone. i'm kelly wright in for gregg jarrett. welcome. >> heather: i'm heather childers. topping the news, iran claims that it has a missile that can strike with pinpoint precision, sea and land targets. we will have an in-depth report about what this means for our forces in the region and our allies. >> kelly: a trial years in the making, drew peterson faces a jury in the murder case charging him with killing his third wife. judge jeanine pirro joins with us how the trial is going so far. >> heather: some of america's top drivers are making a special effort this weekend to get out the word about two iowa girls missing for over three weeks.

we begin with this fox extreme weather alert. upper midweeks the threat of hail, damaging winds and tornadoes are not out of question. a high fire danger across oklahoma. firefighters gaining control of a wildfire there, but not before it destroyed 56 homes, forced evacuations and burned thousands of acres. >> i don't want to lose my home. i don't want my neighbor to lose his house. that's his house there. that's his rental property. it's going. they've been working on it. he's been working on it for a while. >> if they can catch it when it first goes, they can knock it out. but once it goes, all you got to do is sit back and let it go. we don't have the resources to knock it out. >> heather: and as if all of that isn't enough, tropics are heating up. maria molina is live with the latest for us. >> hi.

good to see you. a very active day weather wise. you mentioned the tropic, wildfires and severe weather. a line of very strong storms starting to impact southwestern parts of the chicago area. suburbs already experiencing gusty winds, up to 70 miles per hour across southwestern parts of chicago area. we want to take you live now to chicago where basically we had louisiana palau is a -- the festivities were going on and it's been canceled because of the strong line of storms approaching that army you can see it looks quiet. the clouds rolling into that area. we should see the rain coming down shortly. they are currently under severe thunderstorm warning in the chicago area and surrounding suburbs because we're expecting wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour or greater and at least quarter size hail across this region. stay alert. not just in the chicago area, but further to the north in milwaukee and across northern parts of illinois. we'll continue to track the

severe weather potential throughout the rest of tonight. across the great lakes area and further off toward the south, across parts of missouri and also indiana and indianapolis, you could be seeing some of the storms rolling through. large hail, damaging wind gusts and even some isolated tornado tornadoes. the other big story, oklahoma wildfire. red flag in effect because of the very low humidity in place, also very hot temperatures in the triple digits and gusty winds possible of up to 30 miles per hour out here. conditions that are not favorable for basically firefighters to help put out these wildfires across the region. again, temperatures very hot across the region. 103 in dallas. as you look further toward the north, in the upper 70s today across rapid city and minneapolis and that's all due to the frontal system pushing eastward. slightly cooler air behind it. that cooler air interacting with the hot air, helps fire up strong storms across the midwest. oklahoma, no relief in sight for

you as far as those hot temperatures. triple digits for sunday, monday, tuesday, and even wednesday of next week along with very dry conditions. maybe a shower or storm possible sunday afternoon. very isolated and it really won't be producing much of a dent as far as those drought conditions in place across oklahoma and the rest of the central plains and midwest as well. tropics heating up. tropical storm ernesto now maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour. the storm system is intensifying. this is just as of 5:00 p.m. local time because of basically the new advisory issued out by the national hurricane center. look at the track. it's forecast to continue to move westward, very warm water here. could be a category 1 hurricanes early as monday and forecast to eventually move out into the gulf of mexico by late next week and the workweek issues thursday into friday. a very dangerous storm system that will need to keep an eye on. >> heather: all right. jam packed weather forecast. thank you very much. we appreciate it. kelly?

>> kelly: thank you. we're talking about a new jobs report right now fuel ago battle over economic messages on the campaign trail. governor romney holing an event in indiana. vice president biden speaking at the disabled american veterans national convention in las vegas. and the governor getting a surprise endorsement from a hollywood heavyweight, clint eastwood, throwing his support behind governor romney. molly henneberg has all the details from washington right now. so the big question now is why did eastwood, dirty harry, decide to make romney's day? >> hi, kelly. clint eastwood, who endorsed john mccain in 2008, says he believes governor romney would give the country a boost. and fix the tax system so that, quote, people are not pitted against one another at who is paying tax examines who is not. governor romney is pushing his take on the july jobs report that came out yesterday. today in indiana, the governor focused on the unemployment rate.

8.3% in july. that's up from 8.2% in june. romney said it's been 42 months in a row now where the unemployment rate has been over 8%. >> these are real families having real hard times. some coming out of high school. some out of college can't get work. half the kids coming out of college can't get work or work that's consistent with a college degree. this has been an extraordinary series of policy failures on the part of the president. >> romney also says the obama administration promised that the unemployment rate would fall below 8% after the stimulus plan passed and that that hasn't happened. kelly? >> kelly: you also know that golf knee said 23 million americans are without job, living in not a recession, but depression, he would say. but getting back to the president, president obama probably, i'm sure he has a different take on these job numbers, doesn't he? >> yes. he's focusing on the jobs added in july. 163,000 jobs added.

not enough to bring down the unemployment rate. but more than expected. almost 100,000 more than what was added in june. >> we've now created 4.5 million new jobs over the last 29 months. and 1.1 million new jobs so far this year. those are our neighbors and family members finding work and the security that comes with work. but let's acknowledge, we've still got too many folks looking for work. >> the president is celebrating his 51st birthday today. he went golfing this morning and now will spend the rest of the weekend with his family at camp david. the presidential retreat in maryland. >> kelly: we'll say happy birthday to the president, but get back to work because you've got more job to do in terms of creating jobs. we'll see what happens as we follow the campaign trail. molly henneberg from d.c thank you. >> heather: another close call to tell you about in the air. this time in detroit. two planes reportedly coming

within two miles of each other while landing. planes are supposed to be kept at least three miles apart. the faa issuing a statement saying this, quote, because the controller's head set jack was operating intermittently, the pilots did not hear all air traffic instructions. however, the pilot of the regional jet saw it. the two aircraft landed safely and the head set jack was fixed immediately after the incident. that's a guerdoning. this comes three days after a near collision between three jets at reagan national airport. we told you about that. congressman john micah, who chairs the transportation committee, says technology is key to keeping the skies safe. >> it's human error and what we've got in place right now at our air traffic control towers across the country is post-world war ii ground based radar system and there has been a delay in actually putting in place a

space-based system so we don't rely on just a human tracking. we have high-tech nothing that can tell us where every plane is, every second and then make the adjustments and the calculations much better than a human being. >> and the faa is investigating both incidents. >> kelly: missing man from new york turning up alive in south carolina and it appears he may have been trying to fake his own death. anna kooiman is live with more details about this bizarre story. >> according to his wife, it appears a long island new york man tried to fake his own death, but he was caught when a cop pulled him over for zooming down the highway at 90 miles an hour states away. roth's son reported him initially miss not guilty a beach on saturday. resources sent out it find him. but then on thursday, roth got a speeding ticket in south carolina and the officer noticed he was in a missing person's

registry. the 47-year-old allegedly tripled his life insurance policy in january and revised his will recently. that's according to his wife. at a news conference, she mentioned the things raymond roth left behind. his keys, his wallet, shoes, and some suspicious e-mails between roth and their 22-year-old son, referring to a possible plot. one e-mail in particular telling jonathan to call roth from a pay phone or a friend's phone to update him on how things were developing in new york. >> i feel like a sadness that he put a lot of people in danger to look for him. we thought he was drowned. i was planning a funeral for him. i lost my husband all in a matter of hours. then to find out he's alive, it's anger, it's sadness. the public that went out and tried to save a man that was not there and vacationing in

florida. >> the district attorney gave us this statement. thethe d.a.'s office office is cooperating. the investigation is ongoing and no decision has been made as to whether criminal charges will be filed. police say roth said does he plan to return to new york, but he hasn't shown yet. his son's whereabouts are also unknown. >> yeah. he's going to have to face the music when he meets with his wife. thank you. >> heather: this is a good story. sort of. race car driver in iowa doing his part to help find two missing cousins. you remember their story, elizabeth collins and lyric cook, they disappeared while riding their bikes more than three weeks ago. now driver michael is using his car to show pictures of the two girls. the number for their tip line as he races in the u.s. cellular 250 at the iowa speedway. >> this is the best way we could come up with to try and help. it made sense for not only so

many people that will be here action but people at home watching. >> heather: he isn't the only race car driver pitching in. two others will also feature photos of the girls at the pennsylvania 400 and pocono raceway on sunday. hope they find them. >> kelly: the first week of testimony wrapping up in the trial of drew peterson. he is accused of killing his third wife, kathleen savio. our reporter from our affiliate has the story. >> the judge leaving the will county courthouse because of a juror's illness. the judge wrapped up testimony for the day. the testimony of a key prosecution witness had been interrupted twice by the juror's persistent coughing. she's cate lean savio's older sister. she testified six weeks before savio was found dead in her bathtub, she was afraid and upset. she said drew had told her he was going to kill her, she

testified. she was not going to make it to the divorce settlement. she wasn't going to get his pension or his kids. it was the prosecution's first use of statements by savio which are technically heresay. but admissible because another judge previously found peterson was probably responsible for savio's death. >> it's all good to end on a positive note. >> on cross-examination, joel lopez suggested she was lying, asking repeatedly why she waited for years to mention his alleged threat to police. >> she made no outcry three or -- >> 3 1/2 years. >> it was the disappearance of wife number 4, stacy, which led her to speak out. defense lawyers and so far the judge say stacy's disappearance can't be mentioned. >> it's frustrating. it's dumb founding and obscene the way this trial appears to be so one sided right now.

>> for the first week, at least, defense lawyers have managed to keep stacy peterson's name and her disappearance from playing a significant role in this trial. but there are dozens of witnesses still ahead and a lot of testimony to be heard. at the will county courthouse, fox chicago news. >> kelly: judge jeanine pirro will join us with her thoughts on this first week of the drew peterson murder trial straight ahead. >> heather: but coming up, occupy protesters taking to the streets in oakland. we showed you these pictures and some among them turning destructive. we will tell you who was on the receiving end of their rage. >> kelly: the obama administration revealing new details about its controversial new immigration policy. why the timing of the program has some folks concerned. >> heather: and mitt romney now back home after an overseas trip. which candidate do most americans think has a better grasp on foreign policy? scott rasmussen breaks it down

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>> kelly: welcome back. time for a quick check of the headlines. clean-up underway at president obama's campaign office in downtown oakland. protesters smashed a window last night. the vandals reportedly broke off from a demonstration against the deadly police shooting. new report the parents of olympic gold medalist ryan lochte are facing foreclosure in florida. the swimmer's parents divorced last year, but they are in london cheering on their son. secretary of state hillary clinton is in kenya today urging leaders to hold free and fair elections. this is part of a tour of africa to encourage democracy. >> heather: the obama administration revealing new details on its controversial immigration policy. it will allow more than a million illegal immigrants to stay in the u.s. as long as they meet certain criteria. but the president insists that the government still needs to do

more. >> we're lifting the shadow of deportation from deserving young people who were brought to this country as children. it's why we still need a dream act. >> heather: applications for the new immigration program become available august 15. it is due to take effect right around election day. what impact could this have on the election? joining us is chris, and kristy and form spokesperson for vermont governor howard dean. kristy, i'll start with you. as the president had huge majority in the house and senate for two years o'clock but he failed to act on immigration until now. what is your response to that? is the president pandering for votes from a much needed contingency? >> the president is certainly acting from a place that is doing the right thing for our country. we're about to become a majority-minority country. i think he's recognizing this is an incredibly humane policy for

children who came here through no fault or desire of their own, who are friends with our children, who pledge allegiance to our flag and he would like to get a job here and contribute to our society some day themselves. but yes, it's also very smart politics for him. there is no question he's going to win the latino vote bay significant margin. he in current polls wins like something by 40 or 50 points. it shows the extremist nature of the republican party oners of immigration reform. >> heather: and trey, critics say it's amnesty, although it does not offer a path to citizenship. congressman steve king, republican, accused the president of legislating by executive edit, his words, he says he has a legal team to challenge the directive, the new rule does bypass congress. that's a fact. it is effective immediately. did the president overstep his authority? could this be used against him? >> he did, first of all.

i got to say, kristy is certainly on message today. and in your piece earlier, the president said that the government's got to do more. if the government had to do more, where was he the first two years of the administration when he had the votes to get immigration passed? this is pure political pandering to a vote he badly needs, especially a vote that is a little challenging for him right now because of his stance on gay marriage. the catholic hispanics are not happy with that. but this is pure political pandering and yes, it's being done as consistently as been done with this administration, of going around congress and just doing it, saying and doing whatever he wants. frankly, i have expect tomorrow to be picking up the paper and reading he's going to be -- that he has been talking or working with his buddyies at the place where kristy worked on these applications and registering them to vote and for sciu

membership. >> heather: kristy, you were talk being how president obama will win basically the latino vote bay landslide. but i found this interesting and i'd like to get your take on this. recent survey of latino voters by the pugh hispanic center asked which issues are extremely important in the 2012 election. roughly half named jobs and education. immigration actually came in last among six issues. only one third saying it's extremely important. so is the issue being overblown? >> yes. this issue because immigration reform is not a voting issue for most people, including for latinos. you're absolutely right. like for everyone else, the top issue is going to be the economy. however, as i said, the republican party has gone off a cliff on this issue by essentially treating all immigrants as though they are would be criminals. that is why latinos in particular have felt much more an affinity for the democratic party.

>> heather, it's interesting she says that about criminals because this is an example of how wreckless this policy is right now because it has not been properly vetted. they are talking about granting work permits to people who have been responsible for deadly car accidents in virginia, other states around the country, and they did not have a us driver's license. it's one thing if we're going to let illegal immigrants be in the country. are we going to let them break the law as well? >> as know, the obama administration has been second to none deporting illegal criminals. but in fact, they have actually deported more than twice as many people as the bush administration when you look at the yearly averages. they're not going to do is target honor roll students when want nothing more than to graduate and contribute to our society. it's not humane or american. >> heather: kristy, what about identity theft, is that a crime? >> look, what we're looking at

here, where there is serious criminal activity, the obama administration has been diligent and very effective when it comes to deporting those criminals. however, what we are talking about here again is children ho have come here through no fault or interest of their own and would like to stay here and do good things for our country. it's very popular policy, as i said. and people understand why. there is nothing more american than want to go grow up and contribute to our society. >> heather, i think we actually are in agreement. i think both parties are in agreement that these children came as infants, they should not be punished for the crimes of their parents coming here illegally. but it has to be done right. it has to be done correctly. it has to be done working with other policy makers. you just can't stand up in an election year and say, this is what we're going to do. now vote for me in november. >> it's unfortunate we don't have the republican party we did in 2004 when ten republican senators actually supported the

dream act. >> you haven't answered the question about 2009, and 2010. where was president obama in those years when he had the house and senate democrat controlled? >> heather: voters will answer that question come november, what they believe happened two years ago and what they believe will happen in the future. we will see what happens in november. thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> kelly: the debate continues. there is troubling new developments out of iran. the rogue nation claiming it has successfully tested a missile capable of reaching u.s. ships in the persian gulf. >> heather: and boy scout saves a young swimmer from drowning. he's been slapped with a major medical bill. he is joining us after the break with the very latest. >> i have a feeling there would be a bill, but i didn't know how much it would be and i feel bad for the fact it's so expensive. but i couldn't let the kid go. so i had to do something

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>> heather: welcome back. intense battles today in syria. the heaviest fighting in the country's largest city of aleppo. regime forces driving away hundreds of rebels from a radio and tv station in a three-hour long battle. rebels fighting to hold several neighborhoods in aleppo that they seized two weeks ago. heavy explosions rocking the capital city of damascus as regime soldiers attack an area known as a bastion of rebel support. >> kelly: in iran, iran claiming it has successfully test fired an upgraded version of its short range ballistic missile. accuracy and distance are said to be two of the most noticeable improvements in the technology. peter doocy in washington with more details. >> the missile iran says they successfully tested have the ability to hit targets at land and at sea at a range of about

180 miles with great accuracy. this once again puts shipping routes in the straits of hormuz in their cross hairs. >> they will use it mostly against land based targets within those ranges and also sea based targets that are stationary and most vulnerable would be tankers that are parked in place, straits of hormuz, waiting the traffic through the strait. >> he also said iran's saber rattling is likely an attempt to deter any potential strike by israel. while iran's defense minister says with the fourth generation of it, they're able to target and destroy land and sea targets, enemy headquarters, missile seats, ammunition sites, radars, and other points. the american secretary of defense, leon panetta, says diplomacy is still the preferred method with dealing with iran, especially with their war of words with israel. but our stance might change.

>> should those efforts fail and should iran make the decision to proceed that we have all options on the table, including military options. >> the fata 110 missiles have been around since 2002, but can travel 60 miles further today than a decade ago. they can thee receipticcally be outfitted with nuclear war heads. >> kelly: thank you very much. >> heather: scathing new government report is shedding light on the solyndra collapse. the solar panel company failing after receiving more than half a billion dollars of your tax money in loans. now we're hearing about bold new accusations and the white house firing back. chief washington correspondent james rosen reports. >> this was the high point for solyndra when president obama toured their northern california plant. under the obama stimulus program, the department of energy had extended 53,035,000,000 in loan --

3,535,000,000 in loan guarantees to help them expand. a move the white house said would create at least 4,000 job jobs. 15 months later, solyndra was bankrupt. the f.b.i. raiding its office. now after 18 months of investigation, the gop majority stamp on the house energy and commerce committee has concluded it is clear doe should never have issued the loan guarantee to solyndra and they violated the plain language of the law when it restructured the terms of the loan guarantee. >> mr. liu and the white house owe the american people an explanation. >> in february 2011, jack liu was director of the office of management and budget with solyndra collapsing, emb signed off on a restructuring of the loan and under the new terms f solyndra went bankrupt as the firm did, when it came time to dole out whatever money could be recovered from the wreckage, the taxpayers were to be placed second or subordinate to do solyndra's private investors, chiefly the top

billionaire george kaiser, was an obama bundler in 2008. it shows liu did not follow the recommendation of his own analyst who urged the white house it forget restructuring and cut its losses there and then. advice that if headword have saved the taxpayers 400 million the reviews of the application were rough and the quality of the reviews was negatively affected by political considerations, adding treasury and emb staff believed doe's decision to subordinate the government's interest to two investors was not proper and questioned whether this decision was consistent with a provision in the energy policy act of 2005. >> i think there obvious israeli a sense of favoritism and they're trying to cater to their contributors and i think ultimately, if we find there is a case of untruthfulness, we will refer it to the justice department. >> chairman stern has been on a witch hunt for months over this. it's unfortunate when a loan like this comes south because

the taxpayers lose a lot of money. but that doesn't mean you get rid of the whole program. >> the white house said this report produced, quote, zero evidence of political favoritism and president obama still believes it was the right decision to invest in clean energy technologies. in washington, james rosen, fox news. >> kelly: that was james rosen. we thank you for that. dramatic testimony is marking the first week of the drew peterson murder trial. but there is one thing the judge is not allowing anyone to talk about. what it is and why it has some folks very upset. we'll have that next. >> frustrating. it's dumb founding and obscene the way this trial appears to be so one sided right now while some fiber ads use super models, metamucil uses super hardworking psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model,

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[ male announcer ] tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. >> kelly: drew peterson murder trial set to resume the trial.

it left off friday with key testimony from the victim's sister, anna doleman, claiming six weeks before she was found dead, kathleen savio said drew peterson threatened to kill her. here to discuss the trial is judge jeanine pirro, host of "justice" with judge jeanine. it areas tonight at 9:00 o'clock. we'll tease that one more time. listen, you were there. you were in the courtroom. how can you describe the courtroom atmosphere? >> that's a great question. i was in the courtroom and it seemed almost like a free for all at times. you've got this defense team and there are six of them lined up and who is jumping up, who is jumping down, toning around, looking at the audience? i thought i was at a sporting event. i expected them to start high fiving each other. >> kelly: kind of like a show. >> it was really unusual. and then the prosecution side, and i was a d.a. and i was -- but i was also a judge. they're somewhat more subdued. >> but the difference is palpable.

so i'm sitting behind drew peterson. i'm in the first row. at one point he turns around, or we make eye contact. he's three, four feet from me. he winks at me, smiles, and puts his hand on his heart, you know. and i said, this guy is cocky. he is arrogant. he is confident. it's just unbelievable, kelly. >> kelly: so it's really bizarre to see that go on in a courtroom drama. how do you think they're going to convict this guy? how can they get a conviction because some of the things going on that seem to be -- is the prosecution dropping the ball? >> well, for the first couple of days, the prosecution got some very bad press. it really was a result of certain rulings by the judge. now, remember that in three days, the defense made three motions for a mistrial. and the judge took his time with them. but i think they ended on a high note on friday with the sister, as you just reported, of the victim, kathleen savio, saying

that within six weeks of her death, the victim in this case said he's going to kill me. well, the defense then gets up and cross-examination, and when you say he said he was going to kill your sister and make it look like an accident, the defense totally messed up there. they got in evidence that the judge wouldn't allow. >> kelly: let's point out that kathleen savio was found dead in her bathtub, in the home that she shared with drew peterson. they were going for divorce and according to the sister, that was not going to happen. drew was not going to allow they are live. the question becomes to mind, why didn't anna doleman contact domestic shelters, domestic abuse shelters or the police to say, my sister has been threatened? >> kelly, it's a good question. but you have to understand there was a long history here. there were 18 times that the police were called to the home. and there was little, if any, response. kathleen was convinced that he would kill her and get away with

it. she wrote to the state's attorney. she made complaints. she did everything that she could do to defend sheriff and to place the blame on her family, you know, the sister said, move in with me. at the end, then kathleen's body is found in a bathtub within one hour -- the technician says, it's an accident. all of that and will -- that's the issue. how did she die? was it an accident or homicide? >> kelly: this guy was a former police officer. >> he was a police officer at the time. the issue will come down to, given that there is no physical evidence, there is no dna, there is no fingerprints, there is no confession and the the d.a. admd to that. but you know, kelly, there are certain circumstances -- and i tried murder cases where i've gotten convictioned based on circumstantial evidence that point to no other conclusion. >> kelly: we'll see more details on this tonight. >> i've got breaks news. more than meets the eye going on in the courtroom.

we'll make the revelations on my show tonight at 9:00 o'clock. >> kelly: "justice." thank you. >> thank you. >> heather: thank you very much. interesting stuff. i will definitely tune in. 9:00 p.m. tonight, right? just to repeat it one hour time. eagle scout from washington state is learning a life lesson the hard way. the 17-year-old certified life guard raced into the ocean to save a drowning boy. what does our hero get for his bravery? slapped with a near will he $2,600 bill. all those medical bills. joining us is eagle scout lifeguard and most of all, hero, john clark. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> heather: so before we get to those medical bills, take me back to the day this happened. this was sunday around 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon, july 1. what happened? >> i was on the beach just flying kites with my family and i heard some screaming. i look out and about 100 yards offshore there is this young boy floating in the ocean. so i didn't take a second thought about it. i just took my shirt cough swam out to him and he was panicking

pretty bad. soy calmed him down and held on to him. in between every breaker, i'd tell him, hold your breath and pray. we would get pounded down to the ocean floor together. he was too tired to swim, so i held him up while treading water for 15 minutes 'til rescue got there. the waves were strong and flipped over the rescue crew's jet ski. >> heather: wow. >> luckily we waded back together and from there, the emt's were gathering information and then they had us climb in the back of the ambulance. >> heather: you didn't think twice about climbing in the back of the ambulance. what were the injuries involved to the two of you? >> i had swallowed a lot of salt water. i had a headache. robert, the boy, looked like he was hypothermic. they had us a climb in the back. >> heather: you went to the hospital. they treated you and then you got a bill. pretty big bill, right? >> yeah. >> heather: was that anything that you were expecting? what did you think when you got

that? >> i figured there probably would be a bill 'cause they're all just doing their job. but we were all in shock about how much the amount really was. >> heather: but you couldn't -- he was 12 years old. you couldn't let him go in the ambulance by himself, right? that's the main run got in? >> yeah. the main reason i got in was to make sure he was okay. but i thought it was standard protocol o for me to get in. >> heather: good news, your good deed did go rewarded. that perhaps is the lesson here. what happened in the end with that medical bill? >> luckily we have two anonymous donors who are helping cover the bill. so that's great. >> heather: people do do a good thing given the opportunity. so they're helping you out, possibly helping you out with college tuition as well maybe? >> yeah. they have helped set autopsy truss fund for any overflow of the money that will be going toward college tuition. that's really amazing. >> heather: that's awesome. you deserve it because you really are a hero. what would you say to any other young person. you're just 17 years old, that may find she was in the same

position, what would your words and advice be to them and would you do it all again? >> i would gladly do it again and honestly say, follow your gut instincts and do what you know is right. in the end, the community will support you. >> heather: absolutely. john clark, thank you so much for a positive story today. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> heather: coming up, new polls revealing american's fears that medicare may not thereby when they need it. they'll talk about that. is there a consensus forming over reform? we have the numbers for you [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+.

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>> heather: new polls show just how close the presidential race really is. neck in neck, the real clear politics polling average has president obama up by just 3%. >> kelly: that's really tight. and today's rasmussen report's daily tracking poll has them in a virtual tie. governor romney up by two points. joining us now is scott rasmussen himself of rasmussen reports and the author of "the people's money." let's get to it. this is very close. what you were talking about, foreign policy as well, you want to start with foreign policy? as we know, governor romney just

returned from his overseas trip. >> kelly, really doesn't matter where we start. the numbers are evenly divide. we asked who is better to deal with our allies and 44% say it's president obama. 44% say it's mittevery week whee talk about how the poll of the real clear poll which has a loft registered voter polls shows the president up by a couple points. likely voter polls like ours show romney autopsy couple of points. i think the thing that perhaps revealed the state of the race more than anything else this past week, the obama campaign placed a $77 million ad in eight swing states, all states that the president won the last time around. those states had 100 electoral votes and that's where the election will be decided unless something big changes between now examine november. >> kelly: does that suggest he's worried about his status in those states? >> it certainly expresses some level of concern. they're playing defense and not offense. there is some evidence that the spending he's been doing so far

may have presented a decline for the president in those states. but look, nationally, his job approval rating is down below where his vote total was from four years ago. the numbers are very close. a loft those swing states are much more challenging for the president this year than they were when he ran against john mccain four years ago. >> heather: we'll see how the latest unemployment numbers affect all those polls as well. >> that's right. >> brian: let's look at another issue now. medicare. do people think medicare is a good deal? how do people feel about that? >> 45% believe it's a good deal for today's workers. by the way, younger workers are more pessimistic about it than their elders. it doesn't mean they think medicare is a bad thing. six out of ten think it's good program. they're concerned about the trade-offs. one of the reasons, not a lot of people are convinced they're going to get the promised benefits. only 34% think it's even somewhat likely they'll get their benefits. only 10% say that's very likely they'll get their promised benefits. people are saying, wait a

minute. i'm paying into this system. i'm not going to get my benefits back? that doesn't seem very good. >> kelly: what about the solvency of medicare itself what, are the american people talk being? >> there is great concerns about the solvency of medicare. the program is, depending which estimates you want to believe, from 30 to $80 trillion underfunded right now. what people are saying is the real way to solve this is get to the underlying problem, which is the cost of medical care. 58% say we can't solve the problems of medicare until we solve the cost of delivering it. i think this is a real key point. most of the policy debate is how do we pay for the medical delivery system the way it is today? most americans say no, we've got to change the way we're doing that. competition would do a lot to reduce cost. voters are comfortable with that as an approach. i think technology will play a role, too. the of two you will probably not be too far away, you'll be pricking your finger and putting

blood into a smart phone device and your doctor will get a report that way. >> heather: how do we make sure medicare has the money it needs? >> there is no consensus on that. the biggest thing, again, people want to reduce the cost of care. we gave people some different option. 37% say we should raise the retirement age for future generations. slightly smaller numbers say we should raise taxes, 15% say we should be cutting some benefits. people don't like the choices they have right now. by the way, younger adults say they'd be comfortable with both social security and medicare making a decision for themselves. >> kelly: we got to run. what i sense is that there is a high degree of uncertainty out there. thank you, scott. >> that's right. >> heather: that does it for us. rick folbaum, arthel neville take over at the top of the hour. >> kelly: see you with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf's pizza palace gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! pizza!!!!! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! put it on my spark card!

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