republican-controlled house for bringing it up for a vote 29 others times already. i want to bring in our congressional correspondent kate bolduan to explain what is going on here? why the five hours of debate when we know this is going to be dead on arrival in the senate? >> well, that's right. i mean, the result of this vote, suzanne, is a fore gone conclusion, but republicans will argue this is one of the reasons that voters voted them into power, voted them into the majority in 2010, to repeal the president's health care law. just listen here first to house speaker john boehner kind of saying just that, just earlier this morning. >> the american people do not want to go down the path of obama-care. that's why we voted over 30 times to repeal it, to fund it, replace it. and we are resolved to have this law go away. and we're going to do everything we can do stop it. >> this question -- >> they also very well know,

suzanne, that this bill is going nowhere. just as the 30-some-odd other attempts to repeal or defund the law have gone nowhere in the past. so why are they going through this? why are they spending five hours on debate in the house when they know if when it does pass in the house it's going nowhere in the democratic-controlled senate? well, one of the reasons is political messaging, and political trying to score political points. this is an election year and we look through the lens of politics and the election for much of what's going on on capitol hill up until, for the next four months. i mean, they know the polls. well, the american public is split on this overall. they know republican voters of an overwhelming majority are opposed to the individual mandate as well as in a recent cnn/orc poll, suzanne, they found 55%, a small majority of independents are also opposed to the individual mandate. and that is a key constituency

that both sides are clambering for. so this is the beauty of being in the majority. you can hold votes on the house floor and hold three separate hearings today on an issue that you find important. >> kate, they call it messaging. they call it symbolism. it's been done on both sides for both parties. is there any concern folks see this as show boating, that they are going to have to face criticism here, that they're not addressing what people really are concerned about, jobs and the economy? >> that's something the democrats are trying to hammer home. you heard that today and heard that leading up to this vote. democrats argue, look, why aren't we talking about jobs and the economy as well as bush era tax cuts? why are you holding this vote when you know it's going nowhere? republicans, i've heard them tell me time and time again, number one, they say we can walk and chew gum at the same time. it's not like we're only focused on one thing. also republicans argue the health care law is an economic issue. just look at the statement i received from a spokesman for house speaker john boehner earlier today. michael steele wrote to me, he says "the president's health care law is making it harder for

businesses, especially small businesses, to grow and hire. the supreme court ruling that it is, in fact, a middle class tax hike and last week's lackluster jobs report reinforce the need to repeal it and replace it with common sense step-by-step reforms that actually lower cost." i should point out that graphic actually has a wrong michael stee steele. that's chairman of the rnc, not the michael steel i speak to every week on capitol hill. the michael steel i speak to on capitol hill every day makes this argument. house republicans they, very quickly, they announced they're holding the vote by the end of this month to extend all of the bush era tax cuts. president obama came out yesterday to start making his push for only extending the tax cuts for middle class americans, not wealthier americans and that's the next fight. as you can see, this is an important political vote today and they say has big implications in the forthcoming

election. >> all right. thank you, kate. appreciate it. >> thanks. president obama is taking the tax cut message to the battleground state obviously of iowa. he left this morning. he's meeting now with a family in cedar rapids. the president is talking to them about the benefits of his tax policy. the president came out yesterday, called for extending tax cuts for most americans. i want to snow you how it works. the 98% of americans get tax cuts. top 2% of the americans, the richest, would not get the extension, those families making over $250,000. we heard from mitt romney, at a town hall meeting in colorado. let's listen to him, and the reaction he has now to the president's tax plan. >> this week the president added insult to injury with another kick in the gut. by announcing that he has a plan he said to lower taxes. now, we were all excited when we heard that, but you have to be careful. when people in washington say they're lowering taxes, hold on to your wallet. because, in fact, he didn't lower taxes for anybody. for some people, he announced

your taxes are going to stay the same. in washington, that means he lowered taxes. all right? so your taxes are going to be the same. and then for others, for job creators and small businesses, he announced a massive tax increase. so at the very time the american people are seeing fewer jobs created than we need, the president announces he's going to make it harder for jobs to be created. i just don't think this president understands how our economy works. >> i want to bring in our white house correspondent dan lothian in d.c. to talk a little bit about that. and dan, we know that the audience that president obama has, they really aren't hurting for jobs as much of the rest of the country. their unemployment rate above 5%, compared to the 8.2% national rate. how does the president sell his economic message there where folk s aren't hurting as much? >> reporter: that's a good question. it's not just iowa, and other states where the president was last week, ohio and pennsylvania, where the unemployment rate is much lower

than the national average. the way the president has sort of pushed his message in those key battleground states is say, look, you know, the situation you're in now is much better than the rest of the nation, but it's because of my policies. it's because, as he points out, that he's been able to reel back the economy from a cliff. because of investments in infrastructure. he's taking some of the credit for the gains that you've seen in some of these key battleground states. but the second message from the president, today, in iowa, will be one of the fair share for the wealthiest of americans. the president is really trying to build his campaign around help for the middle class and say that the wealthy americans don't need the help. the millionaires and the billionaires, at least when it comes to this tax issue, they don't need the help. the middle class families are the ones that are under a lot of pressure and stand to gain from the extension of this tax, this bush era tax cuts for at least another year. so that will be the message from the president, but as you heard from mitt romney and other

republicans as well have been saying that in this economic environment, this is not the time to be raising taxes even on the wealthy, especially on those who are creating jobs. suzann suzanne. >> you and i spent so much time last go-round in iowa there and the president obviously winning the iowa caucuses, the first contest of the nation. does it tell you anything, the fact he's going back to iowa again, the state of the campaign? >> reporter: well, it certainly does. i mean, a campaign spokesperson said that that state, iowa, means a lot to the president because it was iowa that essentially launched him into the white house. so they realize that that's a critical state and that it's very tight right now. that the latest polls showing 44% tied up between the president and mitt romney in that state. and so they still have a lot of work to do in convincing voters, especially those independent voters, to support the president. the economy, as i pointed out, alone, is not doing the job. so this tax debate they're

hoping will be able to prod some of these voters, especially in states like a iowa. >> can't take anything for granted. thank you, dan. appreciate it. here's what we're working on for this hour. some college students say they've had enough of crime on their campuses. they want to pack a gun. >> if you're being threatened walking to and from your apartment, when you should be concerned about your schoolwork, that's a problem. had enough of the heat yet? a new report finds this is the hottest first six months on record in the united states. and managing the millennials. we're talking about a generation. how these young adults are very different from boomers and gen-xers.

should packing for college include a gun? that is right. the long battle for concealed weapons on campuses is being reunited here, reunited in georgia because of a recent spike in crime at georgia tech. joining us to talk about it, a young man leading the effort for guns on campus, robert eager, president and treasurer of tex marksmanship club. robert, good to see you. good to have you on here. >> thanks for having me. >> give us a sense of why you feel so strongly about this issue. >> we've seen the violent crime against students escalate on georgia tech's campus over the course of the last three years. initially entering the campus we knew it would be unsafe in the surrounding neighborhoods, considered high crime areas. stepping foot on campus was considered safe. last week, a robbery of a student inside his apartment building, we feel students should have the right to protect themselves on campus just as they do anywhere else. >> does it worry there are many

different studies that show if you put a weapon in hands of folks who don't know how to use them and they face a criminal, that person is going to take it away from you and it ends up more dangerous for you than it is for the person attacking you? >> yes, if the person doesn't understand how to use their weapon. we encourage them to get training to go through the licensing requirements, require a background check in georgia and licensing requirements to acquire the weapon legally and learn how to use it. it's not always a best time to take out your weapon when you're being mugged but when you're at risk of your personal well being or something you consider important to your survival that you should use a gun as a last resort. >> i want to snow our viewers how it looks across the country. georgia is one of the 22 states that ban carrying a concealed weapon on campus. the gun laws one of the more lenient in the nation. georgia lawmakers, themselves, don't necessarily believe it's going to make students safer. they believe that this is actually more dangerous in terms of putting weapons in the hands of students. >> well, clearly being more dangerous is something we're not expecting to happen. we've seen at all university of

utah state schools that have allowed carry since 2006, not a single incident has occurred with a licensed weapons holder doing something illegal with his gun on campus. people are capable of doing it safely. in over six states that have allowed colleges the options to carry on 200 different campuses. >> we got a statement from georgia tech that says it follows state law that most colleges subject students travel in groups, that they watch out for surroundings, that these are the kind of common sense security measures that will prevent students from being attacked. that they don't need to weaponize themselves. >> we definitely agree. common sense safety measures are necessary while on campus. we've seen people ignore those entirely and get robbed. that's something that is critical to their safety. however, we've now seen cases where people were walking in groups, notice d suspicious people behind them and tried to get away who were unable to do so. or in their campus apartment, who were mugged at night while sleeping.

there's no way to get away from that if they're able to breach that many layers of security. >> you have a facebook page. many people are liking what you're doing now. how do you get georgia to change its law? >> we're working with state legislators and georgia carry to draft legislation that allows carry on campus. we've been talking to incoming freshmen and parents at orientation sessions and work to speak with the general population on campus. we're scheduling an opening meeting to offer information about that in august and hopefully have a debate with the administration or at least with other individuals on campus who are concerned since the administration has simply told us they're following state law and don't want to comment further. >> have you faced an attack? have you been attacked personally, yourself? is this something that affects you personally? >> not on georgia tech campus. i've been approached off campus. happened to be in front of an atlanta cruiser. criminals aren't observant at all to their environment. it's not something that's affected me on campus as much as

my concern for my safety and the safety of others. >> all right. thank you for joining me. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. does it seem hotter this year than ever before? you're not imagining it. u.s. has a new record for the hottest first six months of the year. 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? (sfx: loud thud sound) what a strange place. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

all right. if you own one of the smart phones you're not alone. according to research from the pew internet and american life project, more u.s. adults own smart phones than basic feature phones but there is a problem. tens of thousands of smart phone apps like air push can hijack the phone and steal your context. tech expert and reuters columnist joining us from new

york to talk about this. tell us what's happening here. >> well, there's a problem with some free apps which includes in app advertising. these are basically delivery systems for terrible advertisements that kind of take over your notifications. they change your book marks. they take your name and address and send them to the mother ship so they can send you other things. it's kind of a small problem but very annoying and potentially because mobile ads are such an important business potentially turn people off to mobile apps. >> we've seen reports of 5% of free mobile apps use aggressive ad network to make money here. what about the payouts, the ones you actually shave to, you know put out money for. >> there are a couple things going on here. these are mostly in the android ecosystem. the android marketplace isn't policed as well as the apple itunes app store. and it's also kind of limited to sort of free dumb things like wallpaper and fonts and stuff like that. silly things you really don't

need. the apps that you get from legitimate vendors that you're paying 99 cents or $2 for generally speaking will not have aggressive apps that do bad things to your phone. they might have aggressive ads that are in your face all the time, but they're not going to go in the operating system and do nasty stuff. >> so is there anything, john, we can do to keep our information safe? >> yeah, well, look. it's kind of a small problem. the basic advice is, like in the old days, don't download stuff that you really don't have any faith in. keep away from those things. the problem will sort of take care of itself because the industry is very, very motivated to stamp this sort of thing out. so i think nature will take its course. >> all right. we'll have to wait and see. thank you very much. appreciate it, john. all right. anybody who's guessing that it was the hottest year on record, you probably need to guess no more because now we've got a report from the government today saying that the first six months of the year were the hottest on

record in the united states. and they've been keeping these records since i guess, what, 1895, chad? >> that's right. >> wow. so what is happening here? by the way, i experience, like, this apocalyptic thunderstorm that happened last night here in atlanta. that was crazy. >> yeah. it was a lot of lightning. actually that had something to do with the heat. we have so much heat in the atmosphere now. we've had so little dry areas across the country that just got bigger and bigger and bigger. we're almost in a whole drought for the whole eastern u.s. when the sun bakes on dry land, it heats that dry land up a lot more than it would heat up a mud pile. right? if it was muddy, it wouldn't be that hot. it wouldn't get to 120 degrees because the ground would just absorb some of that. the humidity would roll off. it would be it's not the heat, it's the humidity kind of thing. it's been so dry over so much of the country that this dry dirt has given us so extra heat across the entire country. now, we talked about this hottest first six months. believe it or not, this doesn't even count the last ten days that have been brutal that have

broken 2,200 record highs. we're probably going to see this hottest seven months out of the year coming up rather soon. it's not going to take very long. the heat has moved to the west. it's vegas, reno, all the way down to phoenix. and las vegas was 113 degrees yesterday. boise, idaho, wouldn't expect that, 108. that's only 7 degrees above normal today, though, for vegas. 113. you go all the way to san francisco and fresno, cooler along the coast. boise today at 102. so what's going on? what caused all that you saw yesterday was a front. this cool air here. that's a relative term because it's in the 80s. but warm air down here or hot air down here, it's a relative term, it's in the 90s. along this front is where all of the battles are happening. the up and down, the moisture. the motion going up and down. those are the storms we saw here in atlanta all the way through the carolinas. in fact, we even had an awful lot of rain out in texas. we're downloading pictures now from texas. not that far from san antonio, where weberville picked up 10

inches of rain in three hours. there has been flooding there. we're going to download those pictur pictures now. not a big area, but there is flash flooding going on. with this much heat and humidity in the there, a lot of stuff in the sky. one more thing to talk about, emilia, a strange name, a category 4 hurricane in the middle of the pacific ocean. big storm out there but not going to hit anything. good news. >> that is good news. we need good news, chad. hospital in the u.s. has given million of dollars to, it's treating patients in horrible conditions. watch cnn's exclusive report up next. don't forget, watch cnn live on your computer while you're at work. head to cnn.com/tv.

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the u.s. is offering up to $1 million reward in the search for the killers of a u.s. border agent. brian terry died in 2010 in a border gunfight. guns at the scene of the death were later determined to be part of the botched fast and furious arms trafficking scheme. now the feds have unsealed an indictment charging five men with murder, four are still fuj ti hu fugitives. cyclist lance armstrong's lawsuit against the u.s. anti-doping agency. the judge said the suit which armstrong filed on monday is full of legally irrelevant claims aimed at increasing media coverage. the agency accuses armstrong of using performance enhancing drugs. the judge told armstrong he can refile his case without any of the overheated rhetoric he used the first time. afghan soldiers wounded in

battle often wind up at the military hospital in kabul. all too often their suffering is compounded, even exploited. this afternoon u.s. lawmakers are going to hold a hearing on these abysmal conditions brought to light now by an american doctor and later by pentagon inspectors. barbara starr has an exclusive report. first we have a warning that some of the images are hard to watch. >> afghan soldiers starving, lying in dirty beds, with festering wounds. denied painkillers. all of this at the kabul national military hospital, a hospital the u.s. paid more than $100 million to help the afghans run. >> things as simple as dressing changes are not done. patients become infected and they die. >> reporter: these days, a world away, skylar gellor, a retired air force doctor, tends to his tennessee farm. >> this will be kind of a little haven. >> reporter: from february,

2010, to february, 2011, he oversaw training of afghans at the hospital. these photos were taken by his american military staff. >> there are patients that are starving to death because they can't buy the food. they have to bribe for food. they have to bribe for medicine. patients were beaten when they complained about no pain medicine or no medicine. >> reporter: and you're not supposed to worry about that? >> that's what we were told. >> reporter: pentagon officials do not dispute that the photos from 2010 show hidden but deliberate abuse by afghan staff, but they insist that after a u.s. inspection, conditions have improved significantly. in this memo to congress, geller alleges two senior u.s. generals who oversaw afghan training, lieutenant general william caldwell and his deputy brigadier general gary patton in 2010 delays bringing in pentagon

investigators because of their political concerns over the looming midterm u.s. elections. geller says caldwell was angry his staff wanted the inspector general to investigate and that patton ordered a delay out of concern it would embarrass the obama white house. >> and then he said, but we don't want to put that request in right now because there's an upcoming general election. and we wouldn't want this to leak out. >> that's just not acceptable. >> reporter: congressman jason chaffetz's house oversight subcommittee is investigating the general's alleged behavior. >> that's a very serious allegation, but it didn't come from just one high ranking military official on the ground. it didn't come from just two. we have several of them who have stepped forward and said, yes, this was, indeed, the case. >> reporter: gellor says he wants the truth to come out. >> the biggest frustration is

our own leadership's response. and how slow that was and how inadequate that was. >> both caldwell and patton declined to comment, but the pentagon is looking into geller's allegations. caldwell eventually did request a d.o.d. investigation into the hospital, but that began after the 2010 elections. a senior pentagon official tells cnn there's no indication the white house knew about any of this and that conditions at the hospital are better. they're even inviting tv cameras in. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. they're known as the millenni millennials. the generation that grew up texting, using ipads. there's a lot more about them that's different from generations past, like how they behave in the workplace.

new generation entering the workforce. most companies not prepared for this. >> there was a time when you would expect to work for one or two companies for your entire career. now you're likely to change jobs every three or four years. technology has raced ahead and changed the way we work. and while all these changes and many more have been significant, they may not compare to the change that is coming. the millennials. >> i love that.

joining me from california, senior consultant at red tree leadership and co-author of the book "managing the millennials," chip espinoza. tell us about the group. the millennial generation, largest in numbers compared to the baby boomers. for gen-xers like myself, what does it mean when you look at the sheer numbers of how many folks are in this group? >> well normally when you look at numbers in the workplace today, you have the boomer, a large generation, then you have the millennials and it creates tension because usually the largest group gets to set the agenda. and so what's happened is boomers have been able to set the agenda for year. gen-x came along. they were a smaller generation. when they wanted to kind of act out and say this is what we want out of work, the baby boomer just kind of gave them the smack down. they had to fall in line and put their head down and do the work. what they're finding, millennials come into the place, say, this is how we want to work. to give you an example, they

want to have a say in how they do they work and have a say when they do their work. >> are there any advantages of having millennials in the workplace? we have quite a number on our team. >> oh, absolutely. they're incredible. i mean, they're fun, they're energetic. as a matter of fact, in my research and my colleagues with red tree, what we found is that when a manager had a change initiative they were working on, they preferred to have millennials on their team. wherever they wanted somebody to embrace change, they absolutely went for the millennial. >> and i understand -- >> by the way, too, another thing was that, and this came out, was managers, the ones that were effective with working with millennials said millennials made them feel younger. >> that's a nice thing. we all want to feel a little bit younger. i understand they're great at multitasking, don't mind moving. they don't want to get driver's license. they travel in different ways. what is the biggest challenge, you think, in the workforce when you have all the millennials there? >> i think their expectations.

i mean, they've grown up in a society or a culture that really is for them. and so if you look at everybody in their life prior to work life, everybody's there to help them succeed. when they show up at work and have that same expectation, they have kind of a culture shock. because managers say, hey, you're here to do what i need you to do and i'm not necessarily here to make you a success. and so i think that's probably one of the greatest challenges. and another thing, too, suzanne, is that this is the first generation that did not need an authority figure to access information. and if you think about it, it changes the dynamics and the rules for relationships with authority. they don't have a felt need to build a relationship with authority and so when they don't show up in front of the manager and say, hey, how do i do this, tell me about your experience, tell me about your career, the manager goes, boy, they think they must know it all or maybe they don't need me. >> is that because of the role of technology? >> absolutely. i mean, technology really has

changed things when it comes to -- even in communication in the workplace. if you talk to a millennial, one of the biggest challenges they face in a workplace is miscommunication. and they know it's partly because their communication style is through texting, messaging, and they realize that the kurtness of that communication style can create problems with older workers. >> do we know if it carries over into their relationships in any way? are they likely, more likely to live together, get married, or how does that translate? >> well, i think what we talked about last week -- by the way, this is becoming "tuesdays with chip." >> i love it. we'll make it a regular segment. that's okay. >> what we talked about is they're putting off things that earlier generations, the milestones that we talked about. they're putting them off until longer. i think some of the things you're seeing, yeah, they're more likely to co-habitat rather than get married. if you also look at from a religious perspective as far as their faith, you'll find a lot of them aren't -- they're

unaffiliating from, you know, churches, denominations they grew up in. and politically, they're the same way. they wouldn't really identify republican or democrat as much as they identify as independent. >> all right. chip, we'll have you back on tuesday. how's that? "tuesdays with chip." >> perfect. >> all right. >> that's great. >> thank you, chip. good to see you. so you remember ubiquitous the blackberry used to, right? we called them crackberries. president obama when he was a senator said he would take his blackberry with him to the white house. of course. times have changed. the canadian company that makes blackberries has its annual meeting today. it's facing pretty tough questions from shareholders. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange to explain this. a company that's lost, what, half a billion dollars last quarter, is that right? >> yeah, it's been really, really tough for rimm. rimm hasn't been able to keep up with the competition so now research in motion executives are facing some very angry shareholders. they want to know who the future

holds for the blackberry maker. the company has about $2 billion left in cash. that's really not a lot for a company of its size. it's just been a very tough time for r.i.m. over the past 12 months, look at how the stock has performed. it's plunged 75%. the stock is hitting at $7.33 right now. it's down another 4%. the blacker beberry operating has been delayed countless of times over and over again. r.i.m. is laying off thousands of workers. it needs to do more. early reports coming out of the meeting that's happening there, r.i.m. expects the next several quarters to be challenging. it's a sad story because the company was at the forefront of the smart phone game with the blackber blackberry, but hasn't been able to keep up with apple or google devices. they keep moving forward and r.i.m. is just stuck. >> there was another piece of news that was important. a report showing now folks are actually putting more on their credit cards again. alison, is that good for the economy? is that a good sign? >> well, there are a couple ways

you can look at it. for the good side, you know, many believe wrapping up debt in a reasonable amount, of course, is generally viewed as a healthy sign for the economy. this report, by the way, came from the federal reserve and shows americans actually borrowed $2.6 trillion with a "t" in my near the all-time high. up $17 billion from april. includes credit card debt, student loans and auto loans. it shows borrowing for all those things rose sharply. it could show consumers are more confident about the economy and more comfortable taking on more debt for big-ticket items. of course, the flip side to this is many americans are out of work, their incomes are stagnating. people could be charging more to cover their everyday expenses and actually taking out more student loans, suzanne, because tuition prices are skyrocketing. suzanne? >> how's the market doing? what are we looking at today? >> markets have some losses right now. the dow is down about 27 points. it's having a problem looking for direction after three days of losses on the dow. the market had been solidly

higher earlier on optimism about progress being made in europe. eurozone finance ministers agreed to give spain a $37 billion in a bank bailout. but investors kind of are shr shrugging that off now, looking ahead to the second quarter earnings season. it's not supposed to be great. you're seeing that negative sentiment weigh on stocks at the moment. suzanne? >> all right. thank you, alison. how do you find a low rate on your house payment? first you have to understand how the mortgage rates are set. that's what poppy harlow and the help desk team are talking about today. >> hey, there, everyone. here on the help desk today we're talking about your home. a very, very important asset likely. with me, ryan mack and carmen allred. carmen, take a listen to this question. >> how come all the mortgage rates are different at different banks? >> that's a good question. and they're often not as low as we see advertised. >> i love this question because it's a basic understanding of what a mortgage is. think about it like this. it's a gallon of milk. why does a gallon of milk at the

store next to you is priced differently than the gallon of milk at costco or sam's club? it's a product. a mortgage is a product like any other product you buy. think of the financial institution as the retailer. so they are selling a product. so that's why the price is different wherever you go. there are marketing costs. there are all these costs, overhead. so they can price it where they need to do. is it a promotion? here's what's important to understand. the prices that are advertised, you may not be able to get those prices. can you get that mortgage rate? that's your responsibility. that's about you. that's the only difference between buying that milk and buying the mortgage. >> i'm glad they don't check my credit card -- >> before you buy the milk. the price would go up or go down. you have to pay attention to what you can control. that is shopping around then making sure your credit is great, fantastic and on par and will affect your rate. >> there are certain things, again, you can control, maybe going to a credit union. a lot of credit union unions, y go to a smarterchoice.org that can find a good credit union in your neighborhood that gives you

good levels of interest rates. >> a lot of people think you don't qualify to go to a credit union. >> be part of a fireman or policeman credit union by knowing a fireman or policeman. >> if you have a question you want our financial experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video with your question to ireport.com. president obama set to speak live at a campaign stop in iowa in just a couple minutes. president's theme is going to be helping the middle class. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer.

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both president obama, mitt romney on sales trips today if you will. president obama selling what he calls his middle class tax relief plan. romney selling himself as the best possible replacement for the president who he is calling an extreme liberal. our national political correspondent, jim acosta, is joining us. jim, we know they keep fighting, jabbing at each other especially over this tax issue, but the polls still show they are deadlocked. is this an issue that is swaying anybody either way? >> well, you know, we're going to have to find out, wait and

see. latest polls out of colorado where mitt romney is today and out of iowa where president obama will be speaking in about an hour from now. they are deadlocked. and that is basically the case in nearly all of these swing states so that is why you are seeing this super heated white-hot rhetoric being thrown back and forth between these two campaigns. you know, a lot of this was getting going last week, suzanne, over this issue of mitt romney's foreign assets. this morning the obama campaign came out with a new web video on some of this stuff. and mitt romney sort of touched on this at an event that just wrapped up a few moments ago out in grand junction. he actually used the words "bain capital," suzanne, and defended his business. said, you know, look, we weren't always successful in investing in companies, but he cited a study from bain capital that claims that 80% of the time that they were successful when they invested in companies and 5% of the time they weren't. and romney told the crowd out

there in colorado, well, of course you're going to hear about those times, those 5% of the times when we weren't successful. and so it was interesting to hear him talk about that, suzanne. it's something we haven't heard a whole lot out of mitt romney in this campaign. he doesn't really talk about bain capital that much out on the campaign trail. >> and, jim, you mentioned there was a new web video. this is attacking romney for what they say is his lack of transparency. do they believe that that is a successful pitch here, that that is gaining some ground because they've created this new video? i imagine they think this is going to be something people will pay attention to. >> that's right, suzanne. i have to think that the obama campaign believes right now this is one of their best cards that they're playing. vice president joe biden in excerpts from a speech that he's expected to give later on this afternoon. he's going to be talking to a loraza crowd later today. and in that speech, he says to the crowd, mitt romney wants you to show us your papers, but he

won't show us his. so really going after mitt romney with some tough language, referring to his tax returns. the obama campaign has basically come out and said, mitt romney, show more of your tax returns. and it really is sort of a new stage of the campaign going after mitt romney on this issue. we saw this back in south carolina, suzanne. you remember during the south carolina primary, there was a lot of pressure on mitt romney to show some of his tax returns, even chris christie was saying, i think it would be it would be for him to do that. we're seeing a return to that now and no surprise, the obama campaign is doing it. >> all right. thank you, jim. drug abuse, a growing problem now for the elderly. it's only going to get worse as the senior population increases. will the resources to deal with it actually be there? we'll tell you what a new study says. now you can apply sunblock

to your kids' wet skin. neutrogena® wet skin kids. ordinary sunblock drips and whitens. neutrogena® wet skin cuts through water. forms a broad spectrum barrier for full strength sun protection. wet skin. neutrogena®. within 20 years the elderly population in america, those over 65, will actually double. with that comes the growing problem of substance abuse and mental health issues. more resources to diagnose and deal with it, of course, is going to be needed. are those resources going to be there? elizabeth cohen with the results of a study. what's the situation? do we know how bad it is? >> the institute of medicine is very concerned about this. they say between 6 and 8 million elderly americans have substance

abuse or mental health issues and use very strashg language to describe it. they say this borders on a crisis. that's the way they put this. borders on a crisis. >> is it harder to treat with mental illness, deal with mental illness with the elderly? >> in many ways it is harder. not only do you mental illness, depression, anxiety, whatever, and you also have dementia on top of that, and also on top of that they may have lost their spouse or closest friends because they're elderly. you are other problems that layer on top of it. maybe they have physical problems as well. >> are there even enough doctors who specialize with the elderly there to take care of them, to address this growing problem? >> this is a big problem. geriatricians are trained to take care of elderly people. if we take a look at elderly people in this country -- let's take a look at this one first. gear geriatric fellowships are 40% unfilled because these jobs

don't pay particularly well, let's say, compared to becoming a surgeon. the other thing is, 3 to 4 million elderly americans become elderly, turn 65. we're seeing more and more in this elderly category. >> thank you. you probably heard the best selling book "50 shades of grey" now a musical to the trilogy and we have the preview.

"50 shades of grey," x-rated trilogy, runaway best seller, it was only time before someone came up with a musical. in this case it's a mini musical. jeanne moos. >> reporter: "50 shades of grey "has gone from mommy porn to a musical. at least it won't make you blush 50 shades. it's relatively clean. ♪ 50 shades of grey how could i refuse ♪ ♪ my boring life as a plain housewife i can dream of being sexually abused ♪ >> reporter: the musical pits a reader who loves the book against aid reader who hates it. ♪ every page i read makes my eyeballs bleed j. >> reporter: the makers of this musical are brothers. >> the idea, i was in the subway and i saw all women reading it, from teenage girls to grandmothers. ♪ this is so well intent >> reporter: eventually a gay character makes his entrance. ♪ 50 shades of gray i hope no one realizes

that i'm loving it ♪ >> reporter: there have been other musical tributes to this phenomenon, turning ver bat tim words into lyrics. ♪ my hips arching ♪ to drive them deeper >> reporter: jimmy fallon featured "50 shades of grey" karaoke. that's from page 277, honest. comedians mockingly vie to record the audio version from gilbert godfrey to ellen degeneres, although she chose to parapraise the overheated prose. >> he guides his hands across my secret garden. i'm just going to add sound effects if that's okay because i think -- apologize. >> reporter: what's been whipped up are sales. "the wall street journal" reports the trilogy has sold almost 20 million copies in the

u.s. in five months. it took the dragon tattoo books three years to accomplish that. and while some couples say the book's done wonders for their love life -- >> we don't have a big bed but we sure get around it. >> reporter: the musical has it both ways. ♪ this flop i've had enough >> reporter: so they've written their mini musical but have you read the book. >> i did not read the whole book. >> reporter: and you read just a little bit? >> passages here and there. >> reporter: some of it is awful. >> reporter: no shades of grey in that book of review. ♪ f 50 shades of grey >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> cnn news room continues right now with brooke baldwin. >> where do i go with that? thank you so much. hi, i'm brooke baldwin, happy tuesday to you. a lot to get to but i want to begin with news just into us here at cnn. a report of smoke inside the control tower at newark liberty

airport in new jersey. ground stop on all air traffic. we are told the tower has been evacuated because smoke was reported in the elevator shaft. that's what we know. as of this moment air traffic controllers are managing air traffic at alternate sites. we're keeping an eye on any updates and we'll pass them along to you. also happening right now, president barack obama, speaking live to a crowd. he's in cedar rapids, iowa, pushing an issue that affects the paychecks of each and every american. he wants to extend the bush-era tax cuts but only to households earning less than $250,000. we're following this from the white house. we've talked about this. really is zero chance, zero chance republicans in the house that they're going to approve this partial extension. so, what is his strategy? what's the president's strategy here? >> reporter: that's right. also possibly zero chance this would get past the democratically controlled senate. what he's really trying to do

here, brooke, is stake out a position in an election year. this is all about politics. so, president obama has been talking now for months that he's the one fighting for the middle class. and this plays very much into that, because he's talking about extending the bush-era tax cuts but only for american families making up to $250,000 and he's trying to portray mitt romney and congressional republicans as protecting the wealthy. on the flipside, as you know, republicans and mitt romney are saying that president obama would be hurting small businesses without extending all tax cut for all americans. this is really a battle for the message as president obama talks a lot about fairness in that he's fighting for the middle class. >> as it's a battle for the message, let's remind everyone, he is -- the president just pushing for one-year extension. even if, this is a big if, right, if he gets it, we're going to be right back here, groundhog day again arguing about extended cuts again next year, will we not?

>> reporter: and house republicans who are expecting to have a vote later this month on an across the board extension also looking for a one-year extension. the idea here is that that would buy some time for comprehensive tax reform so you wouldn't be dealing with things piecemeal like with the bush-era tax cuts or loopholes for certain industries or for other tax cuts that have to be resolved. obviously, comprehensive tax reform is a very heavy lift. they're going to have to deal, certainly, with the bush-era tax cuts before they can tackle that. this is a fight we'll be hearing about for some time. >> as far as the fight goes, we know where a lot of republicans stands. we want to point out democrats as well. virginia democratic senate candidate tim kaine released the statement saying the cutoff should be twice as high as the president's proposal. president wants $250,000. cain wants $500,000. does the president even have his own party behind him on this one? >> reporter: no, he doesn't.

if passed as prologue this is something he would have passed getting past democrats. you have some key democrats like chuck schumer who has promoted in the past setting the threshold at $1 million. but now saying that, you know, this is important to look at what the president is doing and really indicating he would go along with what the president is talking about. you have a lot of other more sort of middle of the rod moderate democrats, especially in the senate, where democrats don't have the 60 votes they need to pass something. even a lot of moderate democrats facing tough re-election battles, it would be really difficult for them to sign onto this because they're really afraid of looking as if they're doing anything to hurt small businesses. that's certainly how their opponents would really, i guess, portray them. at a time when that's what americans want. >> president speaking in iowa right now. let's talk about mitt romney now because he is slamming president obama and president's plan to extend these bush tax cuts. he just wrapped up a town hall

meeting in grand junction, colorado, just a short time ago. like his fellow republicans, romney framed the tax expiration as a tax hike and not just for the wealthiest americans. take a listen. >> for job creators and small businesses, announced a massive tax increase. so, at the very time, the american people are seeing fewer jobs created than we need. the president announces he's going to make it harder for jobs to be created. i just don't think this president understands how our economy works. liberals have an entirely different view about what makes america the economic powerhouse it is. >> cnn political editor paul steinhauser. you heard the boos. as we were talking to brianna, democrats say this is just an expiration of temporary tax cuts. romney and republicans are calling the tax increase a tax hike. to her point about messaging, isn't this just a point about who wins the message? >> with less than four months to

go until the election, it's a lot about campaigning, no doubt about it. you heard mitt romney in that sound you say say jobs how many times? that's what the republicans, that's what mitt romney is trying to frame this. they say this would be small businesses, jobs, jobs, jobs. that's how they're trag to frame it because jobs and the economy, the top concern to american voters. what do americans think about all this? our most recent poll was last october and majority of americans said they were okay with those making $250,000 a year or more, they were okay with taxes increasing or cuts expiring. when we broke down the poll, there is a partisan divide. that's why you see mitt romney and congressional republicans very much opposed to the president. >> another poll we'll talk about in a moment. you mentioned jobs, part of this whole jobs discussion lately, this has been the word both camps are throwing out, outsourcing. romney hitting back at president obama over one the latest battle

grounds being outsourced. take a listen. >> it is interesting that when it comes to outsourcing, that this president has been outsourcing a good deal of american jobs himself, by putting money into energy companies, solar and wind energy companies, making their products outside the united states. if there's an outsourcer in chief it's the president of united states, not the guy running to replace him. >> so, here we go, paul. we heard outsourcing, outsourcing from kam obacamp obn it came to bain capital and now outsourcing in chief from romney talking about the federal stimulus money. >> again, this goes back to jobs. both sides claim the other side are sending jobs overseas. the obama campaign and an independent super pac have went up with ads in a lot of key battleground states in the last couple weeks claiming mitt romney, when he was head of bain capital, a lot of the companies they invested in shipped jobs

oversaes. now you see romney and republicans trying to turn the response back to the president saying he's sending jobs overseas. the chairman of the republican national committee was in iowa where the president is going after the same tactic saying the president's policies are shipping jobs overseas. fact-checkers have said there are holes in both arguments, brooke. >> they have, indeed. still, does that matter? it's interesting. talk to me about these poll numbers that came out today, despite all this sort of verbal battling back and forth. people are still very split. >> very split. let's take a look at the numbers from "the washington post," a national survey. can you get any tighter than that? >> no. >> we've been in a general election contest since early april when rick santorum dropped out and romney became the prumptive gop nominee. those numbers have stayed consistent in most national polls. a lot of ads have been up there. it doesn't seem to have changed the barometer that much.

a little less than four months to go. >> that needle is not moving very much, paul steinhauser. thank you very much. we'll watch the exciting next couple of months before the next elections. we have a lot more in the next two hours. a source tells cnn russian military ships are approaching a port in syria, but this comes as we're getting a hint that russia may be slowly backing away from the assad regime. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. one of the world's biggest banks under fire for bad behavior. but new questions surface about what the new york fed knew and when. and get ready for the death of cash. why tech giants are hoping the green soon becomes an american pastime. dry mouth may start off as an irritant. it'll cause cavities, bad breath. patients will try and deal with it by drinking water. water will work for a few seconds

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there's a lot going on "rapid fire." house republicans are making another attempt to kill president obama's law. they're set to vote tomorrow to appeal it. the measure has no chance of passing in the senate but gives republicans another chance to demonstrate their opposition to obama care. this is the first vote on the health care law since the u.s. supreme court upheld it last month. and the justice department is offering up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of four men allegedly responsible for the killing that set off that fast and furious controversy, the u.s. attorney's office says the men who are mexican citizens killed border patrol agent brian terry. guns tracked in fast and furious

were found at the scene of terry's killing. the indictment alleges upon entering the united states, these defendants armed themselves, they armed themselves with firearms and they did so with the intention they would use those firearms to rob marijuana loads from individuals as they were smuggling them into the united states. in addition here, u.s. attorney says a fifth man, allegedly involved in the killing, is in custody. and what a picture here. i just wanted to share this with you. just look at this. do you see something on the right side of your screen? this is a picture out of the united arob emirates. do you see the legs on the right? that's a baby. stuffed into a handbag. yep. an egyptian couple has been arrested, attempting to smuggle the 5-month-old through security at the uae airport. the baby was discovered because of this. you're looking at it. an x-ray machine. the couple flew into the country, didn't have a visa for the child so they apparently hoped to sneak the little past security in the hand luggage. come on, now. the parents remain in the uae to

be questioned. the baby is in good condition. a new day out of north korea. an unidentified woman joined kim jong-un. a lot of questions, his wife? his sister? his girlfriend? no one knows. she also showed up at the pageant yesterday. remember the pageant featuring the disney characters? there she is. her high-profile appearances are quite unusual but no official world on who she might be. hurricane emilia is getting stronger and larger, churning in the pacific, top winds at 140 miles per hour. this is a category 4 storm, churning just about 700 miles off baja, california. while the storm isn't a threat to land, you want to keep the dr dramamine close if you're on a cruise ship. a teenager jumps 35 feet. 35 feet from a chair lift during a lightning storm. watch. we spotlighted her for you.

35 feet down because of a lightning storm, jersey shore. melanie says she felt like she was caught in a metal death trap. >> or i'd break a leg maybe. i was like, okay, i'll only jump if you jump, too. she was like, okay. and then she jumped. i was like, oh, wait, i wasn't ready. >> well, they're laughing about it now and high-fiving so okay. bruised but okay. the operator of the lift says they were evacuating people from the ride when the girl jumped. a soggy but regal reception for the olympic torch in london. queen elizabeth and her husband, prince philip, we will copped the torch at windsor castle this morning after getting out of the rain. the 74-year-old torch bearer said, it's english weather, isn't it? summer in the uk. opening ceremonies are set for july 27th. russian warships heading to syria right now.

we'll explore why. because of it. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station. it's pretty great. i get a bunch of kids waving at me... giving me the thumbs up. it's always a gratifying experience. it makes me feel good about my car. i absolutely love my chevy volt. ♪ in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪

i just want to let you know that ground stop has been lifted. we talked at the top of the show about newark airport. reports of smoke in the air traffic control tower there, reportedly some smoke in the elevator shaft and the air traffic controllers say to move off to an alternate site. no word if you're heading there or heading out of there. hopefully -- no word on delays and still the cause of that smoke, we don't know. the ground stop has been lifted at newark airport at this hour. we want to talk about syria. i want to tick off a couple

items quickly here. first syria opposition now reporting 37 deaths in the fighting today. this video, this was shot today. as you know, the fighting pits the syrian armed forces and various allies against armed rebels. as you also know, the is syrian government's been accused of indiscriminate shelling that's claimed the lives of thousands of civilians. that is point one. point two, international envoy kofi annan raised some eyebrows today. why? because he went to tehran and said iran could play a, quote/unquote, positive role in ending the fighting in syria. that puts him as loggerheads with washington who says iran should butt out because it's only causing problems through support of syrian government. here's what really got our attention, though, today. russian warships headed toward a syrian port today. how many warships? well, that part's murky. at least two russian ships

chugged out of the back sea are expected to hit the dardanelles straits and then to the port of tartus where russians had a huge naval base of massive strategic importance to the russians. our guy on the story is in abu dhabi today. we know the russians are been accused of resupplying several times syrian forces allowing them to take the fight to the rebels. do we know why the russian warships are headed to syria this time? >> well, brooke, a u.s. officials tells us that these two military transport ships have actually been watched for quite some time by u.s. intelligence as they were docked at black sea port. the u.s. official told us they would be transiting through the strait to their ultimate destination of tartus, which is

a russian base in tartus of importance to the russians. today you also had reports, in fact a report on the russian news agency interfax of flotilla of four ships going to syria, ultimate destination tartus, nothing to do with the syrian conflict, that simply these ships were there to supply that port of theirs in tartus. it's coming at a time when there are so many questions about what russia plans to do with regards to syria and if they're still supporting the syrian regime as much as they have in the past. >> i have another question for you. on the murky factor, why doesn't russia come forward with all this moupting pressure globally and say, here's what we're doing and why. >> well, brooke, there have been signs in the last few days that perhaps, russian support of the assad regime may be starting to crumble a bit. yesterday you had a report in the state media in russia in which a russian official said

that there would be no new arms shipments to syria. that's very significant because syria -- >> it's huge -- >> syria is a major buyer of russia. that's huge. that's a very big deal. it's not known if this will encompass preexisting contracts, where arms are still being shipped. they say until this crisis is over and because of the instability they're not going to ship new weapons. that's one thing. another thing, there seemed to be a bombshell dropped yesterday. a interview with the russian-born president of center for national interest, a washington think tank and he was asked if russia was starting to -- if their stance towards syria was starting to crumble. he said they recently had a top level russian delegation hosted by center for national interest including senior russian officials in a official capacity at a private dinner, the question asked and the answer was very clear.

here's what he had to say. >> very clear. russia will not welcome such an intervention. russia will not approve such an intervention. it would not resist such an intervention. and this intervention would not become a major issue in the u.s./russian relationship. >> and in addition to that, also yesterday another significant thing happened. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov met with members of syrian opposition in moscow. you take all these signs together, the international community wondering is russia's stance towards syria starting to change even just a little bit? >> yeah, it's tremendous if their support of the assad regime is waivering whatsoever. we'll be watching along with you, mohammed, thank you. a mystery illness killing children. our dr. sanjay gupta is in cambodia's er.

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it is this mystery illness that almost always ends in death. doctors in cambodia are scrambling now just to find out what is killing these children. at least 50 kids so far. it is the speed of this virus that really worries these doctors described as 24 hours of hell and then death. our dr. sanjay gupta is in the capital with this mystery illness. sanjay? >> we are by no means at the conclusion of our investigation. >> reporter: an investigation into the mystery of what's killing some of cambodia's children at a frightening pace. >> the majority of these cases, they're mostly under the age of 3, were seriously ill and many of them had died within 24 hours

of admission. >> reporter: i mean, that's pretty frightening for people to hear. >> absolutely. >> reporter: i mean, there's a lot of diseases in this part of the world. many parts of the world, but to kill that quickly. the backdrop is important here. this hospital treats thousands of children suffering from dengai fever, malaria, tuberculoids every week. this is a part of the world where bird flu and sars originated. right away they knew it was different. >> it's a new picture for us. we've never seen this in kam bode body yeah before. >> reporter: he's the head of the hospital and he allowed us into the icu where the patients are treated. give you an idea how busy it is, even as we were talking the doctor got called away to call another doctor. he says 66 children came to this hospital with the mystery illness. for 64 of them, it was 24 hours of hell before they died. you heard right.

all but two died. and many of these children, it started off rather mild. a mild fever, but then things progress quickly from there. in this boy's case who's 2 years old, we don't know what's causing his encephalitis but this is typically what happens. the fontanellebulges and the it goes merciless, from the head, to the brain to the lungs. >> the lungs, 8:42 and five hours later -- >> reporter: in the last hours of life this unknown illness completely destroyed the child's lungs and there was no way to stop it. i've never seen anything like this before. >> no. this is the first time. this make us worried. >> reporter: something called

enterovirus 71 was found in more than a dozen patients but that's only adding to the mystery. the enterovirus leads to this? >> never, never. >> reporter: it has to be something else? >> i think so but we cannot proof. >> reporter: that's where the investigation goes next. cambodian health officials and w.h.o. say they're looking into whether expired medication, wrong medication or inappropriate medication such as steroids could be to blame. steroids can also make a relatively harmless infection suddenly much more severe. >> yes, that is definitely a possibility. >> reporter: as you can see from both the doctors and the hospital, as well as the doctors at the world health organization, they still have more work to do. they're trying to figure out what made this particular virus so problematic. the prevailing theory seems to be maybe there was a medication that was given either inappropriately or the wrong medication or a bad batch and they're trying to figure out what that medication is.

so, the laboratory tests may provide some answers, but they really want to go out there, find out where these kids lived, what medications they may have taken, and if there's anything these kids share in common. that's where the medical investigation goes next. brooke, as we get more details, we'll certainly bring them to you. back to you. >> i know you will, sanjay. thank you so much. millions of merchants, billions of transactions, trillions of dollars in commerce. cash is quickly becoming an endangered species. or is it? how companies want to make cash a thing of the past. 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. ♪

okay. do you see this? this is my wallet. i'll do this because i like to share. do i have any cash? no. i have 25 euro from a recent trip to london. or france, wherever i was. that's about it. and the deal is, if tech trends keep you on track, you're looking at a dying breed in my hand. the death of the wallet, the death of cash. google has been working having your smartphone carry your credit cards, your transit cards and more. a project the company called google wallet in its video. here it is. so, now a new cnn money article talks about how technology is getting to the point, you don't even have to take out your

phone. that option comes from the startup pay with square. the company has gained traction. i'm sure you've heard about this amongst small businesses for a device that turns smart phones into credit card readers as seen in an online ad. >> patient's home doing a "house call" and i pull out my phone with my square app. patients are actually blown away by how he's iscy it is to use. cash and checks -- >> so how close are we? really realistically here to the death of cash. let me bring in jill, editor-at-large at cbsmoneywatch.com. first, just -- i'm kind of old school. i don't have cash but my credit card is bent. how does this work? >> well, you know, it's kind of a cool thing. you saw that little square on the top of your phone being able to swipe the card. it's really neat. just a different way to use your credit card. and it help the smaller merchants not have to go through this whole lengthy process of getting a credit card account set up from the merchant site.

i want to say, don't throw away your wallet just yet. this is not ubiquitouscy. there's a couple of big issues i see with this. the first is, not a lot of merchants use it. and not a lot of systems providers can use the same kind of system. until they're all on a unified system it's hard to see how this takes off quickly. >> let me jump in because that's precisely one of my questions. in this cnn money article, i want to quote here, then there's the chicken and egg problem. this is what they call it. merchants don't want to upgrade pricey point of sale terminal to work wirelessly with smartphones unless e-wallets because main stream and they won't be main stream until consumers can use them just about everywhere. which does come first and how do you get main stream shoppers, jill, to ditch the wallets ultimately for what we're talking about? >> well, i think, obviously, if consumers find it to be convenient to do this, they will use it. so, i think there's a couple of things that have to happen.

number one, we mentioned square. square is just a different way to use a credit card. there's another technology that literally kind of skips over the credit card step, where you're swiping, and that's the one that really seems to be a little mor. the problem is, apple has not gotten on board. and i would say that the consumer will get on board when apple gets on board with this. when you can use your iphone to wirelessly transact something in a store, i think that's going to be the big sticking point. and i know that sounds crazy because people are going to say, you're an apple fan girl. it's not really that. it's just that so many people use those devices, that's going to be a huge, big hurdle to get over. >> you're saying beyond -- and i was just magically handed a square. thank you, kyle. that goes into my iphone. so, this is an apple product. but you're saying it needs to be something all apple and that to get us on board? >> it has to be hard wired into your phone. all of a sudden now i have an extra thing i have to swipe.

what's the great convenience of swiping my phone versus swiping at a merchant, right? i mean, you have to think about this reasonably. >> here's the other thing, because here's what i'm thinking. i don't have the best track record with my iphones. you don't know this about me, but you can lose an iphone or four and when you lose these iphones, in the time it takes to you realize your iphone is gone, someone could have, you know, taken your iphone or taken something, if you upload this app with your credit card information, by the time i realize i get my phone back, if i'm lucky, somebody's already taken my credit card information. >> well, i guess the answer to that is, there's two points of security. you could lose your wallet. i've left a wal net a cab. but it was the fastest 100-yard dash i ran. it was a some. >> good for you. >> i think a bigger security issue is, consumers are going to have to be convinced these are secure transactions. remember how long it took for people to get on board with online banking. people were freaked out about

this. i think the other piece of this is that technologically we're going to have to be convinced that these are safe transactions and you're absolutely right. have you to remember that, you know, if you're a ding bat and leave your card somewhere or your phone somewhere, you're going to pay a price. but, look, this is really an intriguing idea. it does start to really make you think that our world is shrinking into that one device. there's a great amount of convenience and freedom in it. it's a little scary so much is in there. >> it is. it's amazing, though. jill slesh thank you very much. texas state attorneys are defending their new law requiring voters to show personal identification before casting a ballot. today is day two of the federal trial in washington and the department of justice blocked it over concerns it might be keeping minorities, the disabled from voting. eric holder defended going after the law.

the naacp national convention just this afternoon. >> according to recent studies nationally, only 8% of white voting age citizens, while 25% of african-american voteding age citizens, lack a government-issued photo i.d. in our efforts to protect voting rights, and to prevent voting fraud, we'll be vigilant and strong. but let me be clear, let me be very clear. we will not allow political pretext to disenfranchise american citizens of their most precious right. >> let's bring in joe johns here. other states, they have already -- they have these voter i.d. laws. why the focus on texas specifically? >> well, texas, for one thing, is a big state. i actually sat in just yet on that three-judge panel listening to testimony on this. one of the takeaways from yesterday's testimony was about

absentee voters. anecdotally it sounds like there's bigger problems with voter fraud involving absentee ballots versus in-person voting. in the texas example, the voter i.d. there, that law is all about in-person voting. so, it wouldn't seem to be getting at the problem if there is one. a lot of people, brooke, say there isn't that big a problem with voter fraud. on the other side of the coin, even if just a few people get through, well, that's certainly offensive to a lot of americans. this question of minority voters, very interesting the kind of reaction there, that the attorney general got from the naacp, eric holder, obviously, has a lot of fans. and his appearance in the lone star state really just a day after this three-judge panel got started in washington's pretty interesting stuff. >> when should we have a ruling, joe? >> well, that's a good question.

certainly doesn't look like they're going to rule from the bench. they're moving very thoughtfully on this. but it's quite obvious to everybody involved that the justice department is taking this issue on and the state of texas wants a ruling in time for the november elections because that's when the law's supposed to be in effect. >> joe johns, thank you. a slow-moving storm, dumping 10 inches of rain in just a matter of hours, leaving some folks stranded. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid.

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talk about these folks taking a pounding here. the rain would not stop in the austin area today leading to extreme flash flooding in webberville, texas. streets, sign posts, more disappeared under 10 inches, let me say that again, 10 inch of rain that hit the area in just a matter of hours. there's a reason the region is called the flash flood capital of the u.s. chad myers has more on this. i mean, how rare is that, that kind of, what, 10 inches in how many hours? >> three hours. >> but it was only for like a three-square mile area. it just rained. the storm would just not move. it wouldn't leave the area and just poured right down. obviously, it has to go somewhere. flash flood capital of the world because some of the roads here don't have bridges. they go down and that's where the water would run, a dry

creek. but the roads go down into those creeks and then back up the other side. and they don't have time to build a bridge, don't build a bridge, because 99.10% of the time it's dry. but drive into that when it's moving that fast across the road. yeah, that was a mess this morning. rain has finally stopped now. but it's the flash flood capital of the world because these storms in the hill country especially will hit something, like a hill, go up the hill and then not stop. it will rain for hours and hours in the exact same spot and all of a sudden it all washes away. the ground is so dry, it's so hot. >> i was going to say, we talk about texas, about the drought, the rivers are so slow. and now it's -- >> when you get the dirt on land to literally be a pueblo block of dry clay. remember how the pueblo made their houses. they would make bricks out of this clay. when the clay is dry like that, it's like trying to rain on a brick. the rain can't go in. >> now what? rain's done -- >> rain stopped.

>> for the time being? >> until 4:00 tonight and then it starts again tonight, like it did yesterday. we'll be here. >> thank you. glitz, glamour and gowns from the runway to the ritz. what versace is known for. people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain.

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versace, a name you recognize for the gorgeous gowns

worn on the red carpet. in this cnn special fashion backstage pass, we sit down for her highs, lows, success of her brand and her brother's murder. >> reporter: it's nearly show time at paris' ritz hotel. why are they here? this is an event. how does it feel when you wear versace? >> you feel very sexy, very glamourous. >> reporter: they've come out for a fashion show. what will go down in history as donatella's return to the ritz. you never came back. >> it was too painful for me. >> reporter: painful because it was here at the ritz in july 1997 that her brother gwho started the versace collection, nine months later he was gunned down on the steps of hi miami

mansion. >> after the show, two days after, i said, we'll see you and never saw him again. >> reporter: the two were as close as could be. she his moususe, he the creativ force. the notion of dressing celebrities for the red carpet. the first to pay high salaries to models, creating the supermodel. when gionni was killed, donatella took over so the brand versace would live on. >> i need to find my own voice. >> can you walk for me? >> reporter: there are highs and lows. j. lo in this versace gown brought a lot of attention but the company lost money. donatella struggled with drug addiction. versace lost its way. then lady gaga came along. ♪ i'm on the edge of glory >> reporter: gaga opened versace to a whole new generation.

young buyers who don't remember gionni versace. that gave donatella the courage to do a collection for h&m, and ultimately gave her the strength to return to the ritz. >> i'm not afraid anymore. i'm not afraid anymore. >> reporter: and the clothes, reminiscent of her brother's designs, and yet all her own. >> no one knows a woman's body like donatella versace. >> i look at donatella really as like a hero in a certain way. >> reporter: in 2011, versace became profitable again. emotionally how do you feel? >> it's -- you know, it's difficult, but i'm very happy. i think gionnni would be very happy. >> he most certainly would. you know, the ritz hotel, brooke, will close for renovations at the end of july. donatella assures me when the hotel reopens in 27 months, versace will be back to stage an

couture runway show again. just like donatella as always, it will be glitzy, glamorous and star-studded, i'm sure. as you know, this was a very painful assignment for me to do. >> i'm sure it was very, very difficult. lots of arm-twisting involved. someone had to do it. i tell you, those gowns, i can't imagine seeing them in person. >> they would look great on you, brooke baldwin. >> i'd say one. you can watch alina's special this saturday afternoon. don't miss it, 2:30 eastern time "fashion: back stage pass". enough to make spongebob scream. millions of you could be cut off from jon stewart tonight? satellite tv and network moguls are battling over big bucks. we'll break that down. also, minutes from now members of congress are going to hear how your tax dollars went to a hospital in afghanistan where patients were mistreated and abused. this is cnn exclusive report. [ male announcer ] summer is here.

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this is a showdown between media giants but the real loesers could be american tv viewers. you have satellite carrier directv in this huge contract dispute now with viacomm.

let's go to brian, media reporter for "the new york times" and a friend of ours. brian, let's begin with the question that matters most to people watching. which channels -- what are we talking about if directv viewers lose at midnight, which channels might that be? >> it's actually more than a dozen of them. you probably haven't heard of ones like paladia or nick jr., but a bunch of those old channels that are, you know, pretty infrequently watched. and then a bunch of big ones. nickelode nickelodeon, mtv, vh1, comedy central. nickelodeon is the single biggest channel in american cable households, other than the broadcast networks, nickelodeon is the biggest one and it could go away in directv homes if negotiations remain at an impasse. >> say it ain't so. no "daily show," no spongebob. some of them are major channels. how many people are we talking?

millions potentially affected, yes? >> you know, these fights happen from time to time. this is a big deal because directv has 20 million homes. about one in five american homes that even have television subscriptions have directv. one in five viewers watching us right now probably have directv. they'll be seeing advertisements warning them these channels could go away. these fights do happen from time to time but rarely do they affect so many homes. >> right now this is an impasse between directv and viacom. i read your article. explain the crux of the issue. as you explain -- explain what bundling means. >> this idea of bundling goes way back in cable history. you know, for decades. when companies like viacom or the parent of cnn, time warner, goes out and sells channels to distributors like directv or comcast or time warner cable, they like to put them all together in a bundle. it's better for them to sell all those channels together. for instance, viacom will sell mtv and vh1 and smaller channels together in one package and they

say it gives directv a better price for all those channels because their interest is getting all those channels on your cable dial. that's why we have 300, 400 channels at home. direct v directv says we don't want to raise prices. why don't we buy some channels, not all of them. >> the ratings with viacom, does that play a factor? who has the upper hand? >> directv is saying, nickelodeon isn't doing very well, ratings are down but it's still a popular chance. people like nick jr., nick tunes and all of those choices. it's choice and convenience versus price. on the other hand, cable bills are going up. satellite bills are going up. directv and tpz licompanies lik want to try to hold the price down by being tough, going out in public, having these fights. the customers are stuck in the middle. >> prediction time. what's going to happen at midnight? >> usually these blackouts don't happen.

usually when they do they only last for a couple days. right now on dish network a competitor of directv, amc, ifc and we have been off the air for two weeks. we could see nickelodeon disappear at least for a little while tonight. >> nice to see you, friend. thanks. >> thanks. let's roll on. top of the hour, welcome back, i'm brooke baldwin. fighting over your paycheck. you will pay more in 2013 unless the bush-era tax cuts are extended by the end of this year. president barack obama has pushed his plan to address that precise issue here during this event in cedar rapids, iowa, this past hour. he wants to extend the tax cuts but only for households earning less than $250,000. mitt romney, on the other hand, slamming that idea during a town hall appearance today in grand junction, colorado. the president wrapped up just minutes ago. as these two really are duking it out, we do have a new idea exactly how tight this race is

for the white house. have you seen this poll? look at these numbers. a new abc/washington post poll shows president obama and mitt romney tied up, dead heat. 47% to 47%. very, very tight. and it could, i stress could, stay that way until elections come november. let me bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger. i want to mention one more poll from that abc/washington post poll. the poll actually asked registered voters whether they decided who to vote for and whether they might change their minds. here you go. look at that be number. 79 p 79% definitely decided. on top of that, 13% said no way they would change their minds. when you look at those numbers, gloria, who's left? and let me add to that, are these candidates spending millions to reach these voters who apparently aren't listening or already decided? >> they are.

it's astonishing when you look at these numbers and you say, 92% of voters are telling pollsters we know where we are. this is a race being played for those independent voters. when you look at those independent voters, brooke, some lean democratic, some lean republican. and some of them are in the middle. what i like to say is that this is an election about getting out your pace, about mobilizing the people you know will support you. it may, in fact, despite all the billions of dollars that will be spent, be more about mobilization than about persuasion. but you never know that from looking at all the negative advertising we're seeing that's already playing itself out and will continue for the next four months. >> so, as we talk persuasion, let's talk strategy. what is the president's strategy to then reach these voters and does his plan to partially extend the bush tax cuts, does that play into that?