standing by in new york. tune in tomorrow for "fox news sunday." we preview the third and final presidential debate focusing on foreign policy. >> fox news alert right now on a dramatic shift in the presidential polls in the nation's biggest battleground state, and the site of next week's final presidential face-off. according to the latest fox news poll, governor mitt romney now leads president obama 48-45% among likely voters in florida. that's a stark contrast to just last month when the president was enjoying a relatively comfortable lead. hello, everyone. welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's election headquarters." i'm kelly wright. >> i'm jamesy colby. great to have you with us. the fox news poll may be due to an increase in support among florida's female voters, which

in the last month alone has climbed eight percentage points, a huge boost for the governor as both candidates shift their focus to the sunshine state ahead of the third and final presidential debate. carl cameron live in boca raton before it will take place. carl, good to see you. what do you expect? >> it's worth noting that one of the internal numbers in that survey said that when it's comes to who can handle the economy best, mitt romney is leading in florida. it matches his margin, seven points actually, goes well beyond that margin, and explains a great deal about his popularity here. not the case in ohio where the president has a slight advantage, both if the fox poll as well as who can best handle the economy. that dominated the debates up until this point, gave mitt romney the first boost in his widely acclaimed victory in the first debate, but hasn't pushed the needle in the last two debates, the vice presidential and second presidential debate. the next one is foreign policy. you can bet that mitt romney and

the moderator bob schaeffer will questions about libya, and israel will be a big issue, and the relationship that the u.s. has with the jewish state. on a trip earlier this year, mitt romney made a quite to do about his longstanding relationship with benjamin netanyahu, characterizing it much stronger than president obama, who mr. romney throwing mr. netanyahu under bus, and refusing to have a meeting, etc. president obama has met with benjamin netanyahu, and the white house and the democrats play down any possible rift in all this. it does matter a does the critical issue that mitt romney and president obama have addressed in the parks and that's the threat of a nuclear

program, nuclear weapons program, by iran. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad has been doing lots of saber-rattling, speaking at the u.n. recently, making lots of noise. that's a big issue, too. in the upcoming debate, you'll hear foreign policy through its entirety, not viewed as one of mitt romney's strong suits. he's argued that the entire campaign should be focused on jobs and the economy so he could speak about his own performance in the private sector. a big test for mitt romney. after all that happens, whether foreign policy can have a direct effect or not, the polls are tied, tied in the battleground states. there's a surge for mitt romney in virginia and florida, climbed back into a tight race in ohio. out west of the mississippi, polls suggesting things have shifted back to president obama and democrats in iowa, colorado and nevada, and that's why mitt romney plans to go there after the debate next week to do a little bit of firewall

back-filling to make sure he gets the key battleground states west of the mississippi right there in toss-up, if not leaning toward romney. jamie? >> campaign carl cameron. carl, good to see you. thank you so much. governor mitt romney's now calling out president obama over what many are calling a string of petty attacks on the campaign trail, truly getting nasty. it's a huge sign, according to governor romney, of just how desperate the obama campaign has become. take a listen. >> they have no agenda for the future. no agenda for america. no agenda for a second term. it's a good thing. they won't have a second term. [cheers and applause] they have -- they've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games. just watch it. the obama campaign has become the incredible shrinking campaign. >> so little time left. angela mcgown is a fox news

political analyst, jumu green is a fox news contributor, the former president of the women's media center. we now, ladies, have our christmas cards between us. great to see both of you. >> you too, jamie. >> i know voters are looking for specifics. i know that foreign policy is going to be the topic for the debate on monday. what is it that you want president obama to say to reel in whatever democrats are undecided? >> all president obama has to do is to continue to say what american people have heard and know of this candidate, what he says he means what he says, when he says it, he's going to get it done. i think the problem with governor romney, he has no core. now, i know angela has spent a lot more time dealing with a trainer in a gym i have, and what we learn is your core is your most important muscle you have to work out. where is governor romney's core? on a number of issues, but

really important to the american people, he's trying to hide the truth. >> let me jump in there. you're making a specific allegation. what topics do you think that governor romney hasn't been specific about? actually that line about saying what he means i believe belonged to vice president biden. i'll let angela respond. tell us specifically what you think is an untruth. >> i think that everything romney has said i guess true. >> no. >> let's ask jumu. she made an accusation about governor romney not being honest. about what? go ahead. then we'll have angela respond. >> he hasn't been honest where he stands on the issue of reproductive rights. he moved himself to the right to win the primary, now running ads, trying to convince woman that he's more moderate on this issue. he won't tell us if he would have supported the lilly ledbetter act. he won't tell us where he stands on paycheck fairness act.

he won't talk -- >> you're saying women's issues. angela, where does the governor stand on women's issues? >> first of all, jamie, women's issues are american issues. if you poll women -- and in my book "bamboozled" i did a whole chapter entitled "what do women want." women care about the economy. women care about jobs. obama says that romney has romesia, the last four years have been obamanation. the only way to solve the economic quick stand is not obama's hope and changes but actually mitt romney's hope and change, and what he wants to do is give more women jobs. he wants to change the unemployment rate. he wants to give us more money in our pockets because we know what best to do with our money to run our households. jumu, you can say that romney doesn't have a core, but we need to get away from the weekliy

board blocks that obama is doing, blowing with the wind, let's see the poll numbers here, and to attack mitt romney on big board, both candidates need to talk about the issues, solutions and results. >> jumu, honestly, with so few days left till those who are undecided before they go into the voting booth, name-calling is a good strategy? >> i don't think name-calling is a good strategy for any candidate. when president obama says romesia, that's a broad way of saying that governor romney has -- it's basically trying to hide the truth from us. i would like to hear where ç79l pay. when he was asked in the debate, he told a made-up story about how he tried to go out and find binders full of women instead of talking about where he stood on equal pay. >> jumu, if you don't have -- if you don't have a job, you won't have equal pay. if you don't have a job, you won't have equal pay.

today more women are in poverty they were in 2008. ñvç;ççç women don't have jobs. so let's get the jobs first. then let's discuss equal pay. what about that? >> i think we have to do both, because the women who are working and making 77 cents to the dollar for men who do the same job, that affects their family. it's not actually a women's issue. it's a family issue. if women aren't getting paid their equal pay, and governor romney refuses to say where he stands on this. >> ladies, i have to leave it there. jumu, i know 23 million people right now want jobs. >> yes. >> for both of you, i think that's really topic number one. thanks for weighing in, though, on all other issues. fair and balanced. appreciate it. have a great day. >> thank you for having us. >> kelly? >> good topic as always from ladies on politics. as mitt romney and president obama hungerer hunker down before monday's third and final debate, they're leaving the work of courting voters this weekend to their running mates. here's a live look at a campaign

event in st. augustine, florida, near jacksonville. vice president joe biden is expected to speak any moment now. florida is a crucial swing state for both campaigns with 29 electoral college votes up for grabs. it takes 270 to win. if you'd like to hear vice president biden's remarks, the event will stream live on our website, foxnews.com. >> also, we're getting a brand-new snapshot of the state of the race in another crucial battleground state, and that's ohio. a lot of people say it may even come down to ohio. according to a brand-new fox news poll, the race tightening in the buckeye state from last month with president obama edging governor romney among likely voters, 46 to 43% inside that margin of error. among likely female voters, the president's lead also shrinking from last month against governor romney 49-39%. meanwhile vice presidential nominee paul ryan is campaigning

right now in belmont, ohio, hoping to sway voters there about concerns about the economy and the future of the coal industry under president obama. as we've been telling you, that final presidential debate, three days away. we know you'll check it out here on fox news channel live from boca raton, florida, coverage on october 22nd, 8:55, less than three days away. >> brand-new intel out of banghazi. eyewitnesses telling our crew about an angry mob near the compound just minutes before the terror attack. this as brand-new state department documents reveal ambassador chris stevens was in fact worried about security threats in the weeks before he and three others were killed on

9/11 of this year. we're live in banghazi, libya. greg, you delivered such a moving story last night in our special report about banghazi. tell us what's happening on the ground now there, please. >> yeah, thanks. it's been about 5 1/2 weeks on the attack in the u.s. mission which left ambassador stevens and three other americans dead. it's still a horrible place to see, and there's still more answers to be found out. we spent a good deal of time there in the past couple of days. the main residence is a burned-out shell. you can till smell the smoke from the diesel fuel fire set by the mob. you can still see the signs of desperation, blood spattered in a bathroom, handprints on a wall, the place ransacked. as to the answers to the remaining questions, a few possibilities. one eyewitness tells us that a mob marched to the compound the night of the attack, chanting

bloodthirsty slogans before they attacked. that could be an explanation why we're hearing from other people there was a protest before the attack. we're toldlvarious members of islamist groups were a part of the mob. they've been denying responsibility, including one former militia leader we spoke with on friday who, believe it or not, was named as a key suspect in reports just this past week. we counted as many as five close circuit cameras around the compound. images from the cameras could explain a lot. and finally, as we've been reporting, ambassador stevens and the staff was worried about a growing terror threat in banghazi. we've been getting-n of that on the ground in the past couple of days. we talked to one libyan official who told us he warned the americans of the risks in the city two days before the attack and the americans agreed. now the attack on the consulate is one more example of the instability in this country since the capture and killing of

ex-dictator muammar gadhafi. in the past two hours, we have confirmed that the former spokesman for gadhafi was captured south of tripoli today. he's been on the run for more than one year. a lot of instability here. a lot of questions still to be answered. >> a lot of questions to be answered, indeed. greg, thank you for the excellent reporting. by the way, for those of you who may have missed it, catch "special report investigates death and deceit in banghazi" with bret baier. former u.n ambassador to the und nations john bolton will join us. just how far away are we on getting a straight answer on how much the administration knew and when? >> there's new questions concerning the obama administration's handling of the secret service prostitution scandal. remember this? nor ron johnson of wisconsin is flagging what he calls a series

of, quote, potential discrepancies between what happened in april and white house officials have told congress. our peter ducey is live in washington with the details. peter? >> jamie, the things the secret service said in public don't match up with the facts in the latest private report put together by the inspector general of the homeland security department. according to republican nor ronr ron johnson who read the report and raised red florida, the secret service director came out and testified that none of the women involved in the prostitution scandal had any connections to anything criminal, but the i.g.'s report says the intelligence community knew quickly that one of them might have. senator johnson also says the report shows a white house communications agency worker signed female foreign nationals into their hotel, but that the dhs inspector general was never able to investigate possible white house involvement, and

even though the dhs ig was never able to investigate, the white house press secretary said this back in april. >> the white house counsel's office has conducted a review of the white house advance team, and in concluding that review came to the conclusion that there's no indication that any member of the white house advance team engaged in any improper conduct or behavior. >> independent senator joe lieberman criticized his colleague, saying the leak of selective information from the ig's report is unfair to the united states secret service and its director mark sullivan. both have served our nation honorably and ably for a long time and deserve the benefit of a presumption of innocence unless real evidence leads to a different conclusion. i will await the inspector general's finished report before making any judgments. and so far we haven't heard

anything back from the secret service about senator johnson's memo. >> still open questions there. stay on it for us, peter. thank you. >> will do. >> she was shot in the head by the taliban for daring to go to school. now hear the latest about this young girl's incredible recovery. >> really good news there. plus, consumer demand for new mortgages is on the rise, but is the banking sector responding fast enough? what impact this could have on the recovering housing market. >> also, she was abducted and murdered 3 miles from her home. next why police think some new evidence could lead to her killer. >> we feel it may have been dropped or left behind by the killer. and because of the unique characteristics of its, again on both sides, having different etching or inscribing into it we want the public to look at that. [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing

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>> will have nominee paul ryan is campaigning right now in belmont, ohio. here's a live look. congressman ryan says he hopes to sway voters there over concerns about the economy and the future of the coal industry under president obama. if you'd like to hear his remarks, the event will be streaming live on our website,

foxnews.com. >> well, police are investigating the murder of a 10-year-old girl in denver, and they're now releasing a picture of a small wooden cross they say could lead them to her killer. her name's jessica ridgeway, and her body was recovered in a park 3 miles from her home last weekdays after she failed to show up at school. we're live in our l.a. bureau with what police are now hoping to uncover. tell us about this cross, dominic. >> well, it's a crucial clue that could unlock the identity of who killed little jessica ridgeway earlier this month. it's tiny in physical size for forensic evidence, but it could be a big turning point in unmasking her abductor. photos were released of the miniature celtic cross. it's an inch 1/2 tall, one inch

across, with a hole vertical style suggesting it could be worn as a necklace. there's three lines etched vertically, and a zig za zigzage on the reverse side, unique to this piece of jewelry. >> we feel it may have been dropped or left behind by the killer. because of the unique characteristics of it, again on both sides having different etching or scribing into it, we want the public to look at that, believing somebody may end up calling with a tip, providing additional information. they knew somebody who had one recently. >> now, authorities are saying it's definitive definitely not jessica, and they want to hear from members of the public about anyone who though who might carry or wear this kind of cross, even seen to have bought one recently. other developments in jessica's case, the authorities also suspect jessica's killer may

have tried to abduct a female earlier in may as she was running. police are asking if people know someone with a cross they found who also matches the description of that suspect. he's a light-skinned mail, on the shorter side, 5'6" to 5'8". police that fits a description of a man who made a similar attempt on a local female back in 2010. the concern he is he has the potential to be a serial killer. jamie? >> great concern out from for sure. dominic, thank you so much. >> growing controversy over the white house's handling of the benghazi terrorist attack that killed four americans, including ambassador chris stevens. coming up, former u.s. ambassador john bolton, just how did do we get a straight answer from the administration about what they knew and when. he'll talk about that. >> so long after that happened,

still waiting. and the death toll is flying that meningitis -- is rising from that meningitis outbreak. >> plus, an update on the remarkable pakistani girl shot in the head by the taliban. hear her amazing recovery just ahead.

>> welcome back, everybody. the obama administration continues to be under very intense pressure over how it's handling the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya that killed four americans, including our u.s. ambassador. there are new questions being raised by members of congress who continue to demand answers concerning the attack and how the white house addressed it in the aftermath. molly hennenberg is live in washington with more on that. what are the new questions, molly? >> republican lawmakers say they aren't getting answers from the obama administration on this attack in libya and the events

leading up to and starting to voice their frustration. congressman peter king, the chairman of the house homeland security committee wrote a letter dated yesterday to the president asking him to, quote, release the intelligence community reporting which led to your administration to characterizes the assault on the united states consulate in benghazi, the assassination of u.s. ambassador to libya, j. christopher stevens, and the murders of three other americans, as a spontaneous t-rex a film trailer posted on the internet. and republican senators john mccain, lindsey graham and kelly ayotte yesterday sent their second letter to the cia director and other intel leaders asking in part whens intelligence community decided it was a terrorist attack. they write, our questions should not be hard to answer, and the american people have a right to learn what our intelligence communities knew about events of september 11th, 2012, and when they knew it. congressman buck mckeon, chair

of the house armed services committee, says the president's team keeps, quote, digging a bigger hole. >> this to me, it looks like they're trying to hush this whole thing up, hope it goes away, and wait till after the election. they're wrong. the american people are getting engaged in this. everywhere i go, people talk to me about this. they're concerned. >> but democrats are pushing back, saying republicans are using this tragedy to, quote, score political brownie points. >> barack obama is no more responsible for what happened in benghazi than george bush was responsible for 9/11 or ronald reagan was responsible for the marines that were murdered in beirut, over 200 marines. the 50s, when those other incidents happened, democrats rallied around the president because in times of national tragedy, americans need to be united. >> the state department says it cannot comment further until after an independent board finishes its investigation of

the assault on the consulate. jamie? >> hearings and more hearings, and congressman king had said last week that there's so little information coming to the intel and homeland security committee, molly, that it's difficult to guarantee that we'll stay safe. thank you so much for covering this story. we'll check back with you, of course. kelly? >> also according to the newly-released state department documents, u.s. ambassador chris stevens was worried about security while in libya, and repeatedly sounded alarms to his superiors in washington. now house homeland security committee chairman peter king is requesting more information on what the administration knew about the security situation ahead of that attack. so how far away are we from getting to the bottom of what really happened in benghazi? >> joining me now former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, john bolton, also a fox news contributor. he joins us now. how far, sir, do you think we are away of getting the real answer of what unfolded in

benghazi leading up to the deaths of chris stevens and three other americans? >> the pattern of the administration's behavior, as congressman buck mckeon said, they're hoping they can simply get past november 6th without the details coming out. now if the details are coming out despite their efforts to keep them undercover, but i think it's very hard with this determined line. in fact, today in the press the administration is back on the argument that the attack in benghazi was spontaneous and the line they're using now is that there's no evidence of preplanning as if that proves anything. you know, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absences, they say, but that hasn't deterred the administration. so i think the pattern of not coming up with what actually happened that we've seen since september 11th is going to continue as long as they can. >> ambassador, if you will, let me direct your attention to last document that ambassador chris stevens signed on the day he died. he wrote about a growing frustration with libya's police

and security forces in the region, writing that those forces are too weak to keep this country secure. first, what are your thoughts on ambassador stevens' assessment of the lack of adequate security in libya? >> well, i think it's a very carat assessment. really not just on the absence of security, but on the general political situation. the near anarchy that prevails in much of the country. and of course that is -- i think that's an accurate assessment of where things stand. and i think the ambassador deserves credit for being candid in his assessment. unfortunately that assessment runs contrary to the administration world view that everything's fine in libya and that the arab spring and the overthrow of gadhafi have been real triumphs. i think this is the reason why all of those requests for enhanced security before september 11th were denied, because if you add security too

our diplomats there, in effect you're saying that the administration world view is wrong, which they couldn't bring themselves to do. >> so you're seeing this, then -- i'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but from what i hear this is an unraveling of the obama foreign policy as we heard congressman paul ryan allude to with regards to the foreign policy that mr. president has conducted in benghazi, libya? >> right. i think the world view, the ideology covers as an explanation both the failures before september 11th and the administration's storyline after september 11th. the fact is these members of congress, i think, are doing important work in trying to get the facts out. senator lieberman, senator collins as well trying to get hearings scheduled. >> absolutely. i'm losing time with you here, so on that note about congress acting, meantime as we know more critical questions are in fact being asked by members of congress about what the administration did or did not know about the assault.

republican congressman peter king, as we've discussed, the chairman of the house homeland security security committee, has sent a letter to the president requesting the release of this information, the intelligence which led to the administration in the first place characterizing the attack as a spontaneous reaction to a film trailer posted on the internet, and then the facts that led to the administration to conclude it was in fact a terrorist attack on 9/11. does it show that something is inherently wrong in the. 's foreign policy or are they just not getting their facts in line? >> well, i think it's the world view that's wrong. the problem is when facts come in that contradict the world view the facts don't get through the screen they've put up to resist them. this is something. i think it's very important to have did you find now. i don't see this as politicalization at all. we're in the middle of a presidential election campaign, and the next president will have to make very difficult decisions about what's going on in the middle east and how to protect

american interests. so i think this is sadly a very timely issue and one where there should be public debate and more public disclosure. >> to your point, we may hear a lot more on monday during that foreign policy debate between president obama and governor mitt romney. ambassador john bolton, thank you averages sir. >> thank you. >> always great insight from ambassador bolton. we'll see him again tomorrow morning. shocking study linking a chronic skin disorder and diabetes. we're going to tell you who is at risk. our medical team is here just ahead. >> and new concerns about the housing recovery. why some analysts say banks are responding too slowly to rising mortgage demands, and what this could mean for the markets and your bottom line. >> plus, is it a sign of the times or a disturbing trend? why scientists are saying boys are entering puberty earlier than ever. [ humming ]

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>> as we told you down in the sunshine state, we want to give you a live look at the campaign event in st. augustine, florida, where vice president joe biden is speaking. florida, of course, a crucial swing state for both campaigns. if you'd like to hear vice president biden's remarks, the event is streaming live on our website, foxnews.com. >> one more person has been found dying from fungal meningitis linked to tainted steroid injections. the death toll stands at 21. the growing outbreak, which spans 16 states now, has beening linked to an injectable steroid used to treat back and joint pain. more than 270 cases have been reported so far. we're live in our atlanta bureau with more details. elizabeth? >> yes, kelly. so many patients are on edge today as they wait to find out if they have an infection linked

to the contaminated vials, or even worse meningitis. >> my husband is my other half. >> katherine can only hope and pray while her husband bob fights for his life after being injected with a bad batch of medicine. >> he's got a fever. it was like 102. >> he's just one of the many faces in the center of a nationwide medical scare, an outbreak of meningitis that i guess keeping millions of people on the edge. several have died, hundreds are sick, and even more are at risk. >> my wife and i are sitting there watching the news, and it came out on the news, this meningitis outbreak. i said, that's us. >> john isn't sick yet, but got a letter along with a hospital bill saying he may have been exposed. he's frustrated about th way his case has been handled. >> there's a lot of people that are contract this disease. there's people dying with this

disease. and the healthcare system is more of the health i don't care system, here's my bill, pay me, and deal with our attorneys later. >> janet russell can't talk or eat. she's been in the hospital since mid-september. her attorney says she's had a lot of pain and suffering. >> never dream anything like this would happen. i'm sure none of the other patients who have had this happen to them ever thought it could happen either. >> kell critics there's a consensus in the medical community, although treatments do work, they cannot be used for preventative measures. they carry toxic side effects, so folks have to wait and see if they do develop symptoms. kelly? >> very alarming and coverage elizabeth, thank you for the report from atlanta. >> other concerns over a possible new risk to the recovery of the u.s. housing market. everyone wants to see it turn around, but some experts are saying that bankers are the ones failing to respond quickly enough to the rising demand for

new home loans and refinancing. kevin, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. >> it seems like homeowners are getting mixed messages. the housing prices are up, month-to-month last month, and this month, but the values, or sales, are down. it doesn't make sense to a lot of us. >> yeah. i would contend that housing is one of the few bright spots in the u.s. economy right now. as you alluded to, prices are up 11% on a year over year basis. housing starts have risen by 15%. the inventory of unsold homes now stands at 5.9 months, half of what it was during the peak of the downturn and its lowest level since 2006. so there is growing momentum in this housing market. >> so it sounds like opportunity's knocking if you want to buy a house, trying to sell your house, you won't have to sit with it longer, you could buy it faster, but are the banks screwing up, so to speak, by not

helping people get the money they need? >> i think the banks are very well sith wade right now. they're sitting on a large capital base. if we look to what banks used to do, they made money by lending money. now that they don't have big proprietary trading books they need to lend money, need to feed into this growing momentum in the housing recovery. so as long as they don't get back to the lax lending standards that got us partially into this mix back in 2008, i think there's a lot of potential for financials to make money as well. >> you hear a lot of homeowners say, i can't get my loan refinanced. the bank doesn't call me back. they're not willing to work with me even though i've made my payments. are they down in employees and staffing? is that part of the problem? >> on wall street, we generally overhire and overfire. i think we're at a period right now where banks need to staff up to take advantage of this surge that we see in housing. anybody who hasn't refinanced their mortgage at this point in time, i guess they've been living under a rock, rates won't get any lower, so the --

>> you sure? >> if this was wood, i'd be knocking on it right now. i can't imagine rates getting any lower, let's hope not, or we'll turn into a japanlike economy. i think it's the point where banks can take advantage of this. credit is available and consumers are starting to take advantage of that. >> though there are complaints that the banks have this opportunity, but they're so cautious, they're so overly cautious because of what happened with appraisals that weren't accurate, or they said how much we should say you make, not with verification of salaries, they're unwilling to lend the money they're sitting on. they're probably earning money on the money they're not lending, right? is that a better strategy? >> they could earn more money by lending it out. the fact they're sitting on this cash right now, for them to grow their revenues, they actually need to have more loans in place. so are they being more cautious? perhaps they should be. but at the end of the day, for the banks to grow and banks to make money, they need to make loans. >> okay. so your call to everyone out there who hasn't checked it out, this is your time? >> this is your time.

investors should consider investing into the growing momentum in the housing market as well. >> you're a great guest. you gave us a lot of great information. >> my pleasure. >> all right, kelly? >> thank you very much for that. a fox news health alert right now. coming up, the chronic skin disease that could lead to or at least be an early warning sign for diabetes. what you need to know next. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup

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>> i'm not sure why it matters, but apparently you need to know. it could be a sign of the times that boys are entering puberty earlier in life. researchers finding signs of puberty in american boys up to two years earlier than previously reported. age 9 for blacks, 10 for whites and hispanics. other studies have suggested that girls are also entering puberty younger. why is it happening? well, the theories range from higher levels of obesity and inactivity to even chemicals in food and water which might interfere with normal hormone production. keep an eye on your kids, folks. could be happening. >> well, growing concerns over a brand-new study linking the chronic skin disease psoriasis with diabetes. researchers found patients with psoriasis are at an increased risk for developing the disease.

let's bring in the vice-chairman of the department of you're rolling and chief of robotics at mount sinai medical center. first of all, let's start with what psoriasis is and what it looks like and then why people should be alarmed that it might lead to diabetes. >> kelly, this is a very, very interesting study that came out. psoriasis is really a chronic skin disease. it causes dry, scaly patches of skin that could be painful, itchy. >> redness as well. >> the skin sloughs off and it's gone, but there's some sort of inflammation or autoimmune disease that's breaking down the skin so fast you can't get rid of it. as a result you have scaly type of psoriasis that we see. >> if one has it, if they're looking at their arm, why it may be breaking out, why should they

be concerned about the possibility it could lead to diabetes or an indication they might be diabetic? >> it's not showing cause and evening, but they are finding that if you a mild case of psoriasis, or this skin disease, you have 1 1/2 times the chance of having diabetes at the same time whether you know about it or not. if you have a severe case of psoriasis, you have almost double the chance of having diabetic. why is this important? we see this type of patients in our office all the time and always treat them as a skin disease. the new way of thinking about this, wait a second, this could be a sign, symptoms, of this person having diabetic. what i would tell to this patient is, we need to do some screening for high blood pressure, for diabetes and cardiac disease. last week on "house call" we had a great segment where we talked about the fact that inflammation

is the keyword behind diabetes, heart disease and stroke. it happens to be that the same kind of foam is going on with -- phenomenon is going on with psoriasis. they have a common theme. >> rather than being an alarmist, this study is an informational piece that can actually show there's more revelations about you could have diabetes, and let's attack it now. >> that's absolutely right. the phenomenon behind this is very interesting. we have a great defense mechanism. there are t-cells or white cells that go after bacterias and viruses. sometimes these soldiers, they turn around and they start attacking us. they attack the pancreas, the skin. those are the kind of disease that we would see as a result of this kind of autoimmune disease. so your point is well taken. when you see this kind of -- now the primary care doctor should pay attention to this kind of skin disease, and, wait a second, let's test you for diabetes, look at your high blood pressure. that's how you save lives.

prevention is a keyword, why this study is so important. >> you mentioned "house call." >> before tweeting that, you always tell people the question they should ask their physician. if you go in and you have psoriasis, now you know to get everything else checked that's linked to diabetes. obesity is a bad thing. great topics for "sunday house call." >> absolutely. i come in on monday to see my patients, and everybody is sitting and taking notes. they're saying, it's amazing -- >> great. we're all healthier. thank you so much for watching, everybody. it's great to be with you. kelly and i hope you have a wonderful day. take care. now find the most hard core driver in america. that guy, put him in it. what's this? [ male announcer ] tell him he's about to find out. you're about to find out. [ male announcer ] test it. highlight the european chassis, 6 speed manual, dual exhaust, wide stance, clean lines, have him floor it, spin it, punch it, drift it,

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