swing states. president obama and mitt romney take the campaign to key battle grounds as a skirmish over taxes heats up. drought disaster. the historically dry conditions are getting worse. more than half of the nation's counties are considered disaster areas. and cyber threat. the senate considers a bill to hold off a high tech attack on the senate considers a bill to hold off a high tech attack on the united states. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, august 2, 2012. good morning everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. tax policy has become a central economic issue in campaign 2012. the president slammed the tax plan as the issue played out on capitol hill. republican controlled house voted to extend bush era tax cuts including the wealthiest americans.

last week the democratic controlled senate passed a bill allowing tax breaks for the richest americans to expire. today the president campaigned in florida and virginia. mitt romney is in colorado and our susan mcginnis is in washington to start us off this morning. susan, good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. yeah, both candidates spending the day today campaigning in key battleground states. and from the results of this latest new survey, it's easy to see why. president obama is shaking lots of hands these days. but nearly every handshake is taking place in a few critical swing states. a new poll from quinnipiac university, cbs news an "the new york times" shows the president has a clear lead in three key battleground states, pennsylvania, florida and ohio. the president campaigned in ohio yesterday and unleashed a new attack on mitt romney's tax plan citing a study from the nonpartisan tax policy center, the president says romney's tax plan would provide big tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, as

much as $250,000 for multimillionaires and that those would be paid for with tax increases on the middle class. >> guess who gets the bill for these $250,000 tax cuts? you do. >> the romney campaign dismisses the study as a liberal attack. >> liberal policies don't make good jobs. >> the poll does show an area where mitt romney could gain some ground on the president. but to do so, he'll have to focus on a key demographic. >> mr. romney's single biggest problem, electorally, is women voters. >> the poll bears that statement out. in florida, romney trails president obama with female voters by 7 points. in ohio, the gap jumps to 21% and in pennsylvania, it's 24 percentage points. if there's good news for romney, it's that there are still more than three months left to election day. >> a month in politics is an eternity.

i guess three months is three eternities. >> a lot can happen in three eternities. >> cbs news is tracking the presidential election through these surveys over the next three months. the next one coming out with "the new york times" and quinnipiac university will cover colorado, wisconsin and virginia. terrell? >> we'll be looking forward to it. susan mcginnis in washington for us. this morning. the faa is investigating a near collision in the skies over washington's reagan national airport. on tuesday, air traffic controllers dealing with bad he weather changed the path of planes coming in or leaving the airport. pause of a miscommunication, the controllers cleared outbound flights to head in the direction of incoming planes. the jets came within about a mile and a half or 12 seconds from each other. controllers, once realizing the mistake, had the incoming jet turn off to avoid disaster. overseas this morning, security forces in afghanistan thwarted what they believe was a widespread attack on the capital. police killed seven suspected insurgents.

the attack was aimed at three areas of kabul, including an area housing foreign embassies. a gun battle broke out. five suspects blew themselves up. police found three cars of explosives, ammunition and rocket launchers. the general assembly is expected to vote calling on bashar assad to step down. the vote largely symbolic. the general assembly has no way to enforce that measure. it will call on the syrian army to stop shelling on rebel forces. there's been heavy fighting in aleppo. an update on the bombing in bulgaria that killed five israelis. this computer generated image was released of the sue said attacker. so far the bomber hasn't been identified. israel blames iran in the lebanese militant group hezbollah. "moneywatch" time now on a thursday. the post office fails to make an important delivery. chick-fil-a restaurants are packed. ashley morrison with more. good morning. >> good morning, terrell.

worldwide investors are watching europe today. the european central bank is meeting to discuss ways to prevent the debt crisis from spiraling out of control. the head of the ecb has vowed he will do whatever it takes to save the euro. one course of action could be a bond-buying program lowering borrowing costs for struggling economies. it was a mixed day for the asian markets. the nikkei went up a fraction and the hang seng dipped almost 1%. economic news from ben bernanke and the federal reserve. they wrapped up a two-day policy meeting. growth had slowed over the first half of the year and job creation was weak. and they said they would probably keep interest rates near zero until 2014 and signaled a willingness to step in if the economy does not improve. markets didn't like what the fed had to say. the dow dropped 38 points and stayed under 13,000. while the nasdaq fell 19 points. dozens of stocks on wall

street saw sharp swings in prices because of a technical glitch. it happened during the first hour of trading. it follows a computer problem that plagued the opening hours of facebook's ipo in may. for the first time in its history, the united states post office defaulted on it loan from the treasury. it missed a midnight deadline to pay $5.5 billion to the government. that money is required to pay future retirement benefits for postal employees and another $5.6 billion is due in september. and you might have noticed your local chick-fil-a was doing brisk business on wednesday. supporters of the conservative leaning chain flocked to restaurants on what was dubbed chick-fil-a appreciation day. chick-fil-a came under fire when the company's president said the chain does not support same-sex marriage, gay rights marriage and others called for a boycotts of the restaurants. i have not had chick-fil-a in a long time. >> but i almost wrecked my car trying to get the chicken minis they have for breakfast in the

morning. >> i have no doubt. >> pretty bad. ashley, good to see you. thank you so much. take a quick break. when we come back, massive flames from a raging wildfire threatens homes in southern california. threatens homes in southern california. try this. it's oikos greek yogurt. it's creamy, nonfat, and it turns the next person you see into john stamos for five seconds. honey! i think i'm getting burned! heh! eat. ♪ tastes pretty good, huh?

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it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. hundreds of firefighters battled a fast-moving wildfire in marietta, california, southeast of los angeles. they made a stand at a hilltop home wednesday afternoon. they called in tanker aircraft to drap fire retardant. to they couldn't stop the 350 acre fire from engulfing another home not far away. the drought of 2012 keeps getting worse. more than half the counties in this country are so dry they're considered federal disaster areas. the agriculture department added 218 counties to its natural disaster list yesterday. that means farmers in nearly 1600 counties and 32 states are now eligible for federal aid including low interest emergency loans. welcome as it may be, additional

federal aid may be coming too late for farmers and ranchers. you know better than anyone what severe drought does to drops and livestock. karen brown got a first hand look from a hard hit cattle rancher in arkansas. bill pruitt has been raising cattle with love and pride for years. >> every day, it's like a grandchild basically. >> which is why it's breaking his heart to see them go. >> you used to have how many? >> 234. >> 234. and how many do you have left? >> i've got 112. >> the drought has killed the grass and forced pruitt to start using up expensive winter hay. so he's selling off cattle. >> it's just a hard feeling. but you know that they'll be better off down the road where there's going to be plenty of grass for them. >> at the arkansas cattle auction, it's a buyer's market. owner randy goodman is selling more than twice as many cows as usual. and they're going for a third less than the normal price. >> a lot of the cattle has went

to slaughter. that's sad. >> the lucky ones find homes in other states. gerald knapp drove 260 miles from oklahoma. when he waves his card, it means he's bidding. >> did you just buy a cow? >> yes. >> did you get a good price? >> yes. >> knapp had to sell off his own herd during last year's drought. now he's rebuilding. >> all i can hope for is next year it won't be this bad. >> all this selling means less cattle for next year. that could drive up beef prices as much as 5%. by then, some ranchers will be out of business. bill pruitt says he won't be one of them. he'll survive this drought and rebuild in better times. karen brown, cbs news, arkansas. in wetter news, a tropical depression has formed in the atlantic east of the caribbean. forecasters at the national hurricane center in miami say it could strengthen to become a named tropical storm later today. storm watches are posted for the windward islands. including barbados, martinique and others.

up next on your thursday morning, your weather forecast and in sports, we'll wrap up wednesday's results at the london olympics. plus, the president's message to u.s. women gymnasts on winning the team gold. the team gold. maybe you can't. when you have migraines with fifteen or more headache days a month, you miss out on your life. you may have chronic migraine. go to mychronicmigraine.com to find a headache specialist. and don't live a maybe life. boost your training routine with an avocado kick. it's a game changer. [ male announcer ] so is the tasty turkey avocado. tender turkey breast and smooth avocado on freshly baked 9 grain wheat bread. just sounds good doesn't it? i'm lapping it up. [ male announcer ] try it in the ultimate veggie. fresh veggies with super foods spinach and avocado.

gimme some of that! now that's an ultimate veggie. subway. the official training restaurant of robert griffin the third. nastia liukin. apolo ohno and athletes everywhere. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. in new york, thunderstorms, 86. partly sunny skies in miami, 91. afternoon thunderstorms in chicago, 88. 106 and sunny in dallas, partly cloudy skies in los angeles, 82 degrees.

let's check your national forecast. relentless heat continues in the southern plains and most of the lower mississippi valley. highs range from 100 to 115 in oklahoma, texas, arkansas and in western tennessee, mississippi and louisiana. the central plains and much of the ohio valley will be uncomfortably hot. a few thunderstorms likely in the great lakes. from southern new england to the virginia, most of the west will be dry. in sports, another gold-plated day for u.s. olympic swimmers. nathan adrian won the 100-meter freestyle by .01 of a second. he's the first u.s. swimmer to win the event since 1988. american women set an olympic record in winning the relay. rebecca soni won a race in the 200-meter breaststroke setting a new world record in the process. she'll swim for gold in the event today. away from the pool by the way, american gymnast danell leyva rallied to take the bronze in the men's all-around competition.

mariel zagunis was eliminated from women's fencing without a medal. also yesterday, president obama called u.s. women gymnasts from air force one to congratulate them. on their team gold medal and mentioned it at a campaign stop in ohio. >> so i told these young ladies as i was congratulating them, how do you not bust your head every time you're on that little balance beam? i couldn't walk across that balance beam. so anyway, we could not be prouder of them. >> so true. isn't it? >> after five days of olympic competition, here's the medal count. china leads with 30 total medals, including 17 gold, the u.s. in second. 29 total, 12 gold. japan is in third with 17 total. two gold. one more olympic note. four women's doubles badminton teams one each from china and indonesia and two from south korea have been disqualified for throwing matches. the highly ranked teams deliberately hit bad shots by to gain the round robin

tournament system by losing early matches. they set up easier opponents for their approach to the medal rounds. of all places to cheat, why would you cheat at the olympics? when we come back, another look at this morning's top stories and the store clerk who never saw this coming. what happened and why he's lucky to be alive. chili's lunch break combos are a sizzling deal, starting at 6 bucks. try our new lunch-size chicken fajitas, sauteed onions and peppers topped with grilled chicken, served with soup or salad. chili's lunch break combos, starting at 6 bucks. but what about your wrinkles. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to visibly reduce wrinkles in just one week. "why wait if you don't have to." rapid wrinkle repair.

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here's another look at the weather in some cities around the country. in d.c., partly cloudy, 91. thunderstorms in atlanta, 96 degrees. thunderstorms in st. louis, 100. afternoon thunderstorms in denver, 91. and in seattle, mostly cloudy skies, 70 degrees. top stories now on a thursday morning. during a campaign visit to ohio, president obama blasted mitt romney's tax plan as unfair to middle class americans. romney launched an ad challenging the president's auto industry bailout. tomorrow, the u.n. general assembly is scheduled to vote on

a resoluion calling or syrian president bashar assad to step down. it also demands that the syrian army stop using artillery and helicopters to attack rebel positions. president obama is urging lawmakers to pass a new internet security bill to protect the u.s. from cyber attack. experts warn the computer networks controlling vital systems like electrical grids are vulnerable. but the bill senate sponsors don't appear to have enough votes for passage. before congress takes its summer break. bob orr explains the threat. >> after 24 years with the fbi, many spent as the top cyber cop, shawn henry has come face to face with the internet threat and he's worried. >> is a serious cyber attack against some critical system in the u.s. inevitable? >> i think that it is very, very likely. >> near term? >> i'm quite frankly surprised it hasn't happened yet. >> every day, u.s. government and private computer systems are being probed by cyber thieves and state-sponsored hackers from china and russia.

>> there are estimates that there are attempted breaches in the millions of times per day. they'll just continuously knock until they find an edge to get in. >> do they get in? >> they get in regularly. >> in 2011, henry led the fbi in breaking up an international hacker ring that had infiltrated 4 million computers, including some at the u.s. space agency nasa. the head of the u.s. cyber command estimates corporate and government losses may already total $1 trillion and many companies don't even know they've been hacked. >> when i was with the fbi our agents routinely went out and knocked on the doors of major companies and told them that their networks had been breached and the reason we knew their networks had been breached was because we found their data outside their network in the course of another investigation. >> senator joe lieberman is behind the new bill aimed at tightening cyber defenses. >> you've seen what the government analysts say about

this. how grim is the picture they paint? >> well, the picture is dangerous. somebody can attack us through cyberspace and really do as much or more damage than the terrorists did on 9/11 by knocking out the power grid for weeks, by incapacitating all of our banks. >> lieberman's bill seeks to protect those critical networks by encouraging companies to share sensitive threat information and requiring them to report all cyber attacks. >> i think our time is running short and i think it's important that people take this seriously today. we can't wait for the physical implication. >> despite the dire warnings, some businesses oppose the new cyber bill calling it more unnecessary government regulation. lieberman may not have the political muscle he needs right now to push the measure through. bob orr, cbs news, washington. an accident that nearly killed a texas convenience store clerk was caught on camera. the video just released. the clerk, seen standing here

behind the counter when a car smashes into the store, sending him flying. this happened in a town northwest of houston. the driver a 36-year-old woman is free on $100,000 bail. charged with drunk driving. you think? this is something you don't see every day. a huge rv crashed into a backyard pool in massachusetts. police say the driver had a medical emergency and a neighbor pulled him from the water. in belarus, two generals have been sacked of a a teddy bear invasion. on july 4th an advertising plane got through the heavily guarded airspace and dropped more than 750 cute, cuddly bears. each with a slogan supporting human rights. the leader named europe's last dictator tried to cover up the incident but it became viral. he fired the nation's air defense chief and the head of the border guard service. mad because he's embarrassed. coming up on "cbs this morning," the latest on the investigation into the three commuter jets that just avoided a midair collision. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news." brown.

this is the c"cbs morning news." try this. it's oikos greek yogurt. it's creamy, nonfat, and it turns the next person you see into john stamos for five seconds. honey! i think i'm getting burned! heh! eat. ♪ tastes pretty good, huh? ♪ best yogurt ever. yeah! [ men grunting ] open!

[ male announcer ] dannon oikos berry flavors beat chobani 2 to 1 in a national taste test. oikos greek yogurt. possibly the best yogurt in the world.

4 minutes before 5:00 on this thursday morning. it's a kind of humid day start. tim williams in for marty at first warning weather. >> it's going to get warmer and temperatures are going to stay up around that 90 degree range. we're already at 71, 68 oakland, 64 cumberland. breezes determining the temperatures. we have a bit of a breeze off the ocean keeping it cooler on the shore. our forecast today going up to around 9 2, hot and humid with sun. tonight 7 2. back up to about 94 tomorrow, thunderstorms around in the afternoon. the maryland man accused of

threatening a mass shooting are charged. why some are disappointed. >> a dwreer -- year after a maryland woman disappears her family 0003is not giving up hope. >> how michael phelps is more marketable. >> more news, first warning weather and your first traffic report of the morning in a couple of minutes. ,,,,,,

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it is 5 o'clock and quite the sky show this