athena jones, cnn, washington -----end-----cnn.script----- orioles and yankees tied for fi.t...see if he o's are in sooe possession of the divisionn..next in sports. ((break 3)) anncr: this casino's in west virginia. but it makes millions off marylanders every year. now they're running dishonest ads. why? because voting for question seven is a vote to build a... world-class resort casino in maryland. creating thousands of jobs and... ...according to the official department of legislative... services, hundreds of millions for our schools. while saving taxpayer money by cutting casino subsidies. question seven. good jobs and better schools in maryland. not west virginia. let's take a peek inside our puuple pride gallery.this is isabella!how cute is she?! robert sent this in... from baltimore. aad this was sent in.. by keegan!looks like this pooch is ready for the raaens' seaaon and home opener! 3show us your pprple pride.you po us through purple -at -fox baltimore -dot- com.and you can see those pictures onnour "see it shoot it send it" page at foxbaltimore dot com.or you face

athena jones is with the president today. does the president feel like he has an advantage in that state? well, certainly, fredricka, the democrats have a historical advantage here, but you know, the campaign spokesperson was asked about it on the way over on air force one. and she said we always thought that wisconsin would be closer this time than last time around. you will remember that president obama won the state by 14 points in 2008. and it has not gone for a republican since ronald reagan, so nearly 30 years ago. but she also said yes, you can see the latest polls showing that the president is ahead. our cnn polls have him up 52% to romney's 43%. but sake said they will treat wisconsin like any battleground state, which is they will act like they're five points behind. >> all right, what is the expected message from the president today? >> well, the day will be all about energizing the supporters. when we got here today there were people lined up. it is also, they expect him to touch on the early voting. it is not exp

here is athena jones. >> reporter: as election season enters the home stretch lawmakers return to capitol their recent record of accomplishment or lack thereof the question is whether any of it will get done. >> voters want to know when congress will stop kicking the down the road. >> reporter: the only item is a short term item to keep the government running. it's expected to pass. congress could also pass measures to help people hit hard by the drought and by hurricane isaac. perhaps the biggest challenge the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax increases and spending cuts that experts warn taken together could plunge the economy back into recession. >> they will have about four weeks after election to deal with some of the largest tax increases and spending cuts seen at one time. >> reporter: $110 billion in cuts from defense to education to food inspections last year aalone will take effect in january. one problem, republicans and democrats disagree on the bush tax cuts due to expire at the end of this year. >> americans know what works, low taxes, reasonable regulations and leavin

athena jones explains why their wait may soon be over. >>> i lived on staten island at the time.eporter: ernie rushed to the world trade center site on september 11, 2001, to help with rescue and recovery efforts. >> a lot of confusion. a lot of smoke. you couldn't -- you couldn't see -- when you were trying to walk to search for survivors, you know, you could barely see your hand in front of you. >> reporter: then a new york city police detective, he spent six months at the site. a few years later he was diagnosed with cance >> 2004 is when i was sdieg nosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma. >> reporter: now in remission, he had to use retirement savings to pay bills his insurance didn't cover and is hoping to recoup some of the money. >> it's been something that they've been talking about for ten years now. >> reporter: valabona and other first responders made sick by the chemicals and dust are still waiting for compensation by the government. payments to some who developed respiratory, digestive, and other conditions begin in the next couple of months under a law that president obam

don't worry about money, co-payments, we got your back. >> reporter: athena jones, cnn, washington. >timated 40,000 first responders are being monitored. 20,000 treated for illnesses. >>> the saying goes you have a right to your own opinions but not your own facts. we have done fact checking of our own on the democratic convention. i don't spend money on gasoline. i don't have to use gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. the last time i went to the gas station must have been about three months ago. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. ♪ have led to an increase intands clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief don't have access to the professional help they need. when you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up? with a degree in the field of counseling or ps

voter apathy.many voters seem reluctant to head to the reasons.as athena jones - explains, bbth partiesard to get oottthe vot. vote. --reporter pkg-as follows -- it's a fixture at every obama campaign rally... a voting call to arms...and saturday in wisconsin was no different... don't boo,,vote! vote !! i'm asking you for your vote. some 733million americans are eligible to vote - but aren't registered, accordiig to census figures. so, registering people and campaigns -- here in wisconsin and in other states where the race could be very close. in virginia, a key battleground state, the republican national committee took advantage of a romney rally this month in fairfax to register attendees. when you have this many people in one place, uh ittmakes rrgistering folks a lot easier. that ease is also parttof the appeal for voters.i picked up a form at thh library laat week, but i hadn't actually done it, so this is great, to be able to just sit and do it and get it done right now.we have one of the best ground games here in virginia. we've registered and made contact with 300,000 people jus

athena jones, cnn, wisconsin. >>> a judge has ruled on a different kind of voter i.d. case. the "denver post" reports that opponents argue that the bar codes would make each ballot trace tobl the voter but the juj ruled in favor saying there's absolutely no fundamental right to a secret ballot in the constitution. >>> mitt romney spoke out about the plane. ann romney eventually made it to los angeles and was there last night when her husband talked about the incident. >> i appreciate the fact that she is on the ground, safe and sou sound. i don't think she knows how worried some of us where. when you have a fire in the aircraft, there's no place to go and you can't find any oxygen from outside to the inside because the windows don't open. i don't know why they don't do that. it's a real problem and it's very dangerous. she was choking and rubbing her eyes and fortunately there was enough oxygen for the pilot and co-pilot to make a safe landing in denver. >> sounds pretty scary. no one was injured on the plane. a secret servicemember spoke with ann's mom saying it was suppose

and that happens to be where we find our athena jones. hey, athena. >> reporter: hi, candy. is calling their road to charlotte, the president speaks on yet another college campus. here at the university of colorado at boulder. we expect his message to be a lot like what we heard from him yesterday in iowa. another key battleground state where he spent part of its speech responding to what we heard from the republicans at their convention last week. let's listen to a little of what he had to say. >> despite all the challenges that we face in this new century, what they offered over those three days was, more often than not, an agenda that was better suited for the last century. [ applause ] >> it was a rerun. we'd seen it before. you might as well of watched it on a black and white tv. >> reporter: and another big push we heard from the president yesterday and from campaign staff that we expect to hear again today has to do with early voting and voting by mail. according to the campaign here in colorado, 77% of the vote came in either early or by mail last time around. so it'

our athena jones is traveling with the president there in boulder, colorado. let's talk about that youth vote. we are talking about a rally constituted mostly of young people. it was very pivotal in 2004. will it be just as vital this year? >> reporter: well the campaign certainly thinks so. fire officials put this crowd at 13,000. yesterday a crowd of 10,000 in iowa. what you just mentioned is going to be very important. this event people started lining up very early this morning. all along that line people going along telling people how to get registered and make sure that they are registered and make sure they can vote early. colorado is an early voting state. much of what we heard from the president is very similar from yesterday in iowa. he spent a lot of time rebutting the republicans at the convention. one thing he did at the top of this speech that is interesting is he said they put together a challenge, challenging the folks at colorado state university not that far from here, challenging each school to see how many people they can get registered to v

athena jones explains why now their wait may be over. >> i can see the smoke coming from the tower. >rade center site to help with rescue and recovery efforts. >> there was a lot of confusion and a lot of smoke. you couldn't see. you could barely see your hand in front of you. >> reporter: then a new york city police detective he spent six months at the site. >> 2004 i was diagnosed with lympho lymphoma. >>. >> reporter: he had to use his retirement savings to pay bills his insurance didn't cover. >> it has been something they have been talking about for ten years now. >> reporter: he and other first responders made sick by the chemicals and dust are still waiting for compensation by the government. payments to some who developed conditions should be given in the next couple of months under a law president obama signed in january of 2011, the act named after new york police detective who died of a respiratory illness. it sets aside $2.8 billion to cover the claims. the government will announce which of more than 50 types of cancer and illness left off the list will be covered under th

our athena jones was there. >> reporter: hi, fred. president obama is making two stops here in iowa today as this campaign launches what they're calling the road to charlotte tour. that's the road for the democratic national convention next week in charlotte. this is the president's seventh trip to iowa just this year alone and his third trip in the past three weeks and it shows how important it is to his campaign to keep this state in the democratic, and he only has six electoral vote which is isn't that many, but in a close race every little bit matters and of course, this is the state that really launched the state's candidacy back in 2008. as you'd expect he'll continue to draw contrast between his plans to help the middle class and what he said his opponents will do. let's listen to what he had to say. >> when governor romney had his chance to let you in on his secret, he did not offer a single new idea. yes, we had the same old policies that have been sticking it to the middle class for years. they talked a lot about me. they ta

athena jones has more from washington. >> reporter: as election season enters the homestretch lawmakersen their recent recordf accomplishment, or lack thereof, the question is whether any of it will get done. >> voters want to know when congress is going to stop kicking the can down the road. they're sort of out of rope. >> reporter: the only must-pass item is a short-term measure to keep the government running and avoid the kind of costly shutdowns we saw twice in the 1990s. it is expected to pass. congress could also pass measures to people hit hard by thedrought and by hurricane isaac. but perhaps the biggest challenge, the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax increases and spending cuts that experts warn taken together could plunge the economy back into recession. >> they'll have four weeks after the election to deal with some of the largest tax increases and spending cuts that the country has ever seen at one time. >> $110 billion in cuts to everything from defense to education to food inspections next year alone will take effect in january unless lawmakers reach agreement on re

athena jones is with the president, traveling with the president, that is. you're becoming the advance team, too. he has two events there and he rides in with a lead in the polls in that state. so is he trying to keep down any possible bump the republicans might be getting from adding ryan to the ticket or what is the real ambition here? >> good afternoon, fredricka. they want to make sure they can keep wisconsin in the win column. in 2008, the president won this state with 14 points, by 14-point lead. and wisconsin has been a pretty reliably blue state. the last time it went red in a presidential election was back with ronald reagan in 1984. of course, putting paul ryan as a running mate for romney changed the game a little bit. we haven't seen many recent polls with the president with a huge lead. recent polls have said he's in the lead, but our cnn poll puts him up 52% to 43%, but it's a state the campaign may not have expected to really spend time in, but they certainly don't want to let it go. it's got ten electoral votes and in a close race, every litt

athena jones is with us now. she's traveling with the president. so the president there, likely to have two fund-raisers. is he feeling like he has the advantage given that he won that state back in 2008 and still seems to be in the lead with recent polls? >> well, you know, the campaign would say the only poll that matters is the poll on election day, but it's got to be heartening that the three recent polls have the president up. one with a 14-point advantage. cnn averages those polls for our poll of polls and that poll of polls shows that the president is leading romney 52% to 43%. but you know, wisconsin has been a traditionally blue state. it last voted for a republican in a presidential election nearly 30 years ago for ronald reagan. and the president won here in 2008 by 14 points, but of course, mitt romney chose paul ryan, a wisconsinite as his running mate. that changed the game a little bit, and of course a couple years ago, we began to see a republican surge here. you'll remember those efforts to recall governor scott survived. that invo

we begin with the president's plans for the week. >> i'm athena jones in ft. bliss, texas.ama speaks at a labor day event in toledo, ohio, on monday before heading down to louisiana to meet with people affected by hurricane isaac. on tuesday he travels to norfolk, virginia, and on wednesday he goes to charlotte, north carolina, for the democratic national convention. he accepts his party's nomination for president on thursday night. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. it will be a shortened trading week with the markets closed for labor day but when trading kicks off on tuesday morning, wall street will be all eyes on the august jobs report. that is set to be released on friday morning, and it will be critical for consumer confidence and also in the race for the white house. also on tap this week, the august car and truck sales data. that comes out, as well as a look at how much folks are spending on construction. a pretty good sign of how they're feeling about the economy. we'll track all of that on cnn money. >>> i'm "showbiz tonight's" a.j. hammer. here is what we're watchi

our athena jones was with him. what did he have to say?er: on day two of the president's road to charlotte tour he spoke before a large crowd here, about 13,000 at the university of colorado, boulder. his message was part a rebuttal from what we heard from the republican national convention last week and an effort to rev up the crowd of young voters. let's listen to what he had to say. >> just over two months from now for the first time in many of your lives you will get a chance to pick a president. and by doing so you will get a chance to choose the path that we take from here. last week the other party gave their pitch at their convention down in florida. don't boo. vote. >> colorado is an important swing state. nine lectoral votes. the president won the state in 2008. they are hoping he can do so again. he has been to colorado 11 times as president and eight of those times this year shows you how important it is. one other push they have been making was this focus on early voting and voting by mail. campaign officials tell us here in t

our athena jones is in urbandale. it looks like a sizeable crowd. what is the president hoping to accomplish here that perhaps he won't or maybe it's the warm-up to the convention? >> reporter: hi, fred. that's exactly what it is. today launches what the campaign is calling their road to charlotte which is, of course, the road to the big speech he'll be giving on thursday night in charlotte at the democratic convention accepting his party's nomination once again. his goal is to continue to draw contrasts between the plans he has and what he's already done to help the middle class in terms of tax cuts or affordable access to health care and college and what he says his opponents do which is offer plans and proposals that will favor the rich. tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and we expect to hear some of that today. this is his third trip to iowa in the last three weeks and the state has six electoral votes and it shows you how important it is for them to fight for the state and to keep those six votes in a race that could b

athena jones, thank you so much in urbandale, iowa. we'll check back with you later.tand the president when he comes to the podium, it may be 2:00 eastern hour, we'll bring that to our viewers. >> a marine was jailed in iran for allegedly spying for the cia. now his parents are pleading to get him out. >> he couldn't stop crying. he was crying and he was all asking mom, i don't know why i'm here. >> he was arrested a year ago. the u.s. denies he ever worked for the cia. >>> two suicide bombers have targeted a joint u.s.-afghanistan military base in central afghanistan. the attacks killed eight civilians and four police officers. the taliban has claimed responsibility. they say they sacrificed two bombers, one on foot and one in an explosives laiden truck. no military personnel was killed. 57 others were injured. >>> in pakistan, intelligence officials tell cnn a suspected u.s. drone strike has killed four militants. a barrage of missiles was fired into a house and a vehicle. it all took place in a tribal region bordering afghanistan. officials say the area was a milit

athena jones explains why the wait may soon be over. >> i lived on staten island at the time and couldg from the tower. >> reporter: ernie rushed to the world trade center site on september 11, 2001, to help with rescue and recovery efforts. >> a lot of confusion, a lot of smoke. you couldn't see, when you were trying to walk through the smoke to search for survivors, you know, you could barely see your hand in front of you. >> reporter: then a new york city police detective he spent six months at the site. a few years later he was diagnosed with cancer. >> 2004 is when i was diagnosed with nonhodgkins lymphoma. >> reporter: his cancer now in remission he had to use retirement savings to pay bills his insurance didn't cover. and he is hoping to recoup some of that money. >> it's been something they've been talking about for ten years now. >> reporter: he and other first responders made sick by the chemicals and dust are still waiting for compensation from the government. payments to some who developed respiratory, digestive, and other conditions should begin in the next couple of month

athena jones is following all the developments from capitol hill. we used to think about these impending shutdowns as a big deal. now the threat of them is so common place we assume they're going to go in and avert a shutdown. but this is what government has come to. we avert shutdowns. we don't actually deal with big issues these days. >> reporter: yeah. you know, as you mentioned, this congress is not really known for getting a whole lot done. that really is the only must pass bit of legislation, a short-term measure to keep the government running through the end of the month. it has to get to president obama's desk by the end of the month. the house is expected to vote on that bill on thursday. we're told the senate should get to it next week. really, ali, beyond that there's a whole long list of bills that are in the works. some of them could get passed. we don't really know what's going to happen. the farm bill is one of those bills that could get passed. there's still differing versions in the house and senate. if they can reconcile those, it c

athena jones is traveling with the president. will the focus be much different from the looking forward kind of concept that he delivered in iowa on saturday? >> reporter: we expect the focus to be much the same responding to some extent to what we heard from the republicans at their convention last week. but as you mentioned, this is day two of the road to charlotte tour that the campaign is calling it. you can see the crowd behind me. they've lined up since early this morning, they are still making their way in. the president is expected to take the stage in about 30 minutes. this is an important battleground states. it only has nine electoral votes. but when you try to get to the magic number of 270, every little bit counts. it is going to be important to their calculus here. i should mention that the president has been to colorado 11 times since taking office. this is his eighth trip this year alone. so it shows you just how important colorado is to their campaign, fredricka. >> so the president clearly is campaigning but he

athena jones today, thanks. >>> this just in to cnn.ut of the detroit area say an officer has been shot and killed in a standoff with a gunman who was barricaded in the detroit suburb of west bloomfield township. we're being told by our detroit affiliate that police have closed off roads in the area. we have no other details available right now. we are monitoring the situation and will bring you updates throughout the morning. >>> sad news on the campaign trail. a veteran police officer who was part of the security detail escorting president obama's motorcade, he has died after a tragic accident. >> at approximately 4:40 p.m. today, officer bruce saint laurent was involved in a motor vehicle accident during the presidential motorcade. officer saint laurent was transferred to st. mary's hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. officer saint laurent was a 20-year veteran of the jupiter police department, 18 years as a motor officer and his family has been notified. >> a pickup truck hit officer bruce saint laurent's motorcycle o

athena jones, cnn, milwaukee, wisconsin -----end----- cnn.script----- hour..d trade joe's... pulling a popular brand of peanut butter. you're watching fox 45 morning news.. all local.. all morning. news.. all local.. all morning. i'm a professional stylist but styling my friend's is my favorite. they all love the latest trends but none of them want to pay full price. they each have their own unique style, so t.j.maxx is a great place because they have such an incredible mix of designers for so much less than the department stores. when my friends feel beautiful i just feel like i scored. fashion direct from designers. savings direct to you. i'm a maxxinista and now so are all my girls. t.j.maxx. let us make a maxxinista out of you. game natslate fieldgoal that won the game game 3 listen up.. beforeeyou pack your child's lunch.the brand of peanut butter being recalled this morning.. and what's wrong with it hat could make you sick. and.. this doesn't look like a sweet 16 party.who the birthday girl is blaming.. for this party-turned-riot. 3 3 monday, september

let's bring in athena jones, she is there now. hello, is the president's show a sign of strength or a sign of concern? >> reporter: hi, don, well, you know that is a good question, the president has a "wisconsin problem" because he ignored the state for years. but he won it back by 14 points. but the spokesperson said they always knew the state would be closer than it was last time around. that could be something to do with the surge in republican activity here, activity among republicans, republican groups regarding the recall fight for governor scott walker, which he was able to survive. so they were able to see a sense of the republicans ground game, that is also something that campaign manager jim mes messins touched on. i will say that three recent polls show the president is ahead of romney here in the polls, averaging him up 52% to 43. so this is certainly a state they want to keep in the blue column. and that is why they're here, don. >> all right, listen, i hear the president is hanging out with a sports legend in wiscons

athena jones takes a look. >> reporter: both the obama and romney campaigns are doing their best to lower expectations ahead of wednesday's debate. >> we have expected all along that governor romney will have a good night, he's prepared more than any candidate in history. >> president obama is a very gifted speaker. the man's been on the national stage for many years, he's an experienced debater, he's done these kinds of debates before, this is mitt's first time on this kind of a stage. >> romney -- the president was widely regarded as one of the most talented political communicators in modern history. myers even pointed to a cnbc poll. the obama camp likes to remind volters that the president hasn't had as much time to prepare for the debates because he's busy being commander in chief. when it comes to just how how much debates matter it depens. >> most often debates don't make that big a difference. very few candidates win an election with a debate, but many have lost an election with a debate. >> reporter: in 1980, between ronald reagan and jimmy carter. and lloyd benson's wipe at dan

cnn's athena jones has the reasons why. >> reporter: meat has pride of place at jamie's butcher shop what can i get for you, my friend? >> reporter: ham, pa stromy, stak steak, it's all here. >> we're a meat-eating country number matter what, people are going to finding a way to get meat. >> reporter: with prices of pork and beef expected to rise. this long-time meat man says people are going to have to pay more or get used to new cuts. >> what happened in the last increase is people went to leading a lot of primals to new york strips to new york strips, they went to secondary cuts. >> reporter: the coming sticker shock will impact not just butchers but restaurants and dinner tables across the country. the worst drought in decades means higher prices for animal feed and water. this farm in maryland has had to raise prices to keep up. julie gray steiner runs a small farm near the west virginia border where she raises hens, hogs, and cattle. a third of her costs go to animal feed. prices for chicken and pig feed has skyrocketed. >> it was 1477 on july and now 16.79. so it's gone up by