and today sadness as bodies of four americans returned home after being killed in beng hasy -- benghazi, lickia. >> there has bain difficult week for the state department and for our country. we've seen the heavy assault on our post in benghazi that took the lives of those brave men. we've seen rage and violence directed at american embassies over an awful internet video that we had nothing to do with. it is hard for the american people to make sense of that because it is senseless. the people of egypt, libya, yemen, and tunisia did not trade the tyranny of a dictator for the tyryran of a mob.yr gw en: but the protests re spread as this ow sh s. throughout thee dlideast a beyond. you ca lndoo ak see -- it'son a i london, i everywhere all over the region and beyond. what happened in benghazi was tragic, but is this something that had been building for some time, david? or was this just the spark? >> gwen, i think it was the flip side of these revolutions that we all watched with sauch maysment and such enthusiasm in some cases in january and february of last year. you know, at the time o

he hasy american is less secure today because he has failed to slow iran's nuclear threat. >> reporter: strip away all the rhetoric, though, and the two sides aren't that different when it comes to iran. diff both believe the military option should remain on the ry optio in truth, though, jeff, you oun't hear a lot about foreign cy fro from either candidate. they know that the issue that is at the top of most voters' minds is the economy. >> glor: nancy cordes, thank thu. as the democratic convention prepares to gavel to order in two days conventioneers are beginning to arrive. already there are demonstrates for causes that took to charlotte's streets today. while organizers had expected 10,000 people to show up, police estimated-- estimated only about 800 took part. turning now to our political johntor john dickerson who is in charlotte tonight. ch john, obama officials have had a imugh time answering the the tion, are you better off than you were four years ago. how big a problem is that for them as they head into this convention? >> well, it's a central obstacle of this convention.

it's responsive to the effective line in the speech about take two tax cuts and cal er p40 years the hasipublican solution has been a tax cut and david's chart proves the point. years and years ago, decades, when rate was % top earner rate, cut from 70% to 50%, yes, mas a really big differen. w tte' cngm to 35 or 35 to 32 or 32 to 31, you're not getting much bang for your buck. really each incremental piece that you take off from the revenue matters in the budget. i think they're not stup about this, they know tre's not a lot to be gained from saying we g you an extra 3%. they may try to get in front of it or erase it as quickly as possible. >> the bigger issue, as we talk about, putting more money in the pockets of a higher income earner, the question of income ineqlity iecoy. is is underdiscussed i think in the american media but the median household income fell 1. 5% to $50,000, which is 8% lower than it was in 2007. u look at the income gap, it rose in 2011. the trend linesere are diur, erf stithe american economy, and the growth of the middle class. >> yeah, we've had two things goin

they're on display at the national air and space museum's rudvar hasi center in chantilly.rong died last month. a public memorial service takes place a week from today at the washington national cathedral. >>> one last check at the door before we head out. >> a little wet this morning, so pack the umbrella. showers right now are generally light with heavier stuff south of culpeper. showers, a chance for the afternoon, maybe even an isolated thunderstorm i think prior to 4:00 in areas south of d.c. but "todatoda hot today, 92 fee 95 with humidity. still hot tomorrow, a big cooldown sunday. danella? >>> still checking i-66, sluggish making your way eastbound past fairfax county parkway, and your travel speed there, 37 miles per hour. eun and aaron? >> thank you, danella. and that is "news4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. we'll be back in 25 minutes with weather, traffic and any breaking news and we're back here tomorrow morning at 4:28. hope you'll join us then. until then, have a great day. >> make it a great thursday, everybody.