grow up like that. >> john king joins me now. dan lothian and jim acosta with the romney campaign. the latest polling, we asked likely voters which candidate would better handle taxes, what did they say? >> president obama, anderson. republicans normally have the edge, but at this moment, the president does. 51% to 46%. close but advantage to the president. here's why. when you ask voters, those who attended college, you see the president, 52% support on the tax issue among those who attended college. now we're going to match that up with those who describe themselves as moderates. 58% of moderates support the president. moderates, college educated people tend to live in the suburbs. it's not all bad news for governor romney. in florida, if you look at older voters, they tend to be more reliable. these are voters 50 and older. 54% support governor romney on taxes and 42% for president obama. so jobs is a number one, but taxes a subset, at the moment, advantage to the president. >> governor romney has been criticized for not laying out enough specifics in the tax plan, particularly

and reckless. indiana republican dan coates, who once served as ambassador to germany, was asked about the kerry criticism of romney. listen. >> let's avoid the political statements right now. >> should that be true of mitt romney, as well? >> i think we need to keep the political focus on the election separate from the possible implications of what goes to security and how to protect our citizens. >> and late today president obama weighed in. >> there's a broader lesson to be learned here. you know, governor romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later. as president, one of the things i've learned is you can't do that. you know, it's important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you've thought through the ramifications before you make them. >> joining us now is ari fleischer, who's an unpaid occasional communications adviser of the romney campaign and also democratic strategist and obama 2012 pollster cornell belcher. ari, the governor said last night the administration's first response of the death of an ame

presidential debate, republican senator dan quayle's comparison to john f. kennedy elicits this blistering response from his opponent. >> senator, you are no jack kennedy. >> body language plays a part in the presidential debate. in 1992, george h.w. bush deliberately looks at his watch and he pays for it when the audience and voters see it as disrespectful. body language makes a difference in the debate between al gore and george w. bush as well. gore sighs over and over again and bush, the underdog, surprises by winning the debate and of course, the election. both president obama and governor romney are seasoned debaters, and experts say neither are prone to making major gaffes. but if there is one thing that history has taught us, when it comes to presidential debates, expect the unexpected. joining us now to talk about the moments and debate magic yet to come, republican consultant romney 2008 campaign advisor, alex castellanos and donna brazile. a lot of folks are saying these debates are do or die for romney. donna, do you agree? >> absolutely. first impression is very, ve

something. >> a young journalist i knew in somalia named dan elden who died in somalia was killed, wrote in his journal, his journal entry is called the journey is the destination. i think that's a lot of what you're saying. >> absolutely. i can say it was an adventure. he really enjoyed that. he was a wonderful person to travel with and wonderful skier. his french ski instructor, we never let him down. he's kind of, you know, it's -- it's just funny. great stories of some pretty high fullutent people that were his clients. it was very nice getting to know him. it breaks my heart that i wasn't able to -- i thought for sure he was going to be right there and we were going to be -- not a cynical laugh but going, oh, my gosh, we're alive, dude. >> glen, i'm sorry for what you have been through and your friends that are missing an our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families right now and i appreciate you talking to us, glen. >> appreciate you guys caring. this is not an ordinary event. we're not adrenaline junkies. this is catastrophic. this thing -- there's 30-year himalayan v

fuel. i spoke earlier to cnn political analyst david gergen and white house correspondent dan lothian. david, you heard the ambassador talking. obviously he's not going to wade into the u.s. politics in the midst of an election. what do you make of what he said of where israel stands? >> well, i think the first thing was that the deadline has been pushed back to six to nine months which means there's not going to be an attack during the elections, which from the white house point of view is a great relief. but we've got a very serious issue on the table, the next president. that is the israelis are telling the united states look, the red line is when the iranians get the technological capability to build a bomb, we then feel we have to attack. previously, the united states government has been telling israel no, the red line should be when they actually get a bomb. >> acquire it, right. difference between acquiring and the capabilities. >> exactly. you brought that out in the interview. from the israeli point of view that's way too late. there's a great deal of distrust on both

. >> dan, if the president were to win reelection, it would be historic -- it would be the first really. the economy is still struggling, the fed has made a move but it's unlikely to make much of a difference before election day. this is an uphill fight for the obama campaign historically, isn't it? >> it really is an uphill fight. the argument they're making it is things would be much better if the republicans weren't standing in the way and you hear this from the president and top aides. they point to the fact that the president submitted his jobs bill, yet it sits there in congress, they haven't moved on it yet. he said if they passed this jobs bill, a million more jobs would be created. i go back to the trend line they are pointing to. they say the economy is adding jobs so they're not subtracting at all. the jobs are not being added the way that some of the economists had expected that there would be bigger numbers, but they point to the fact that jobs are being added, not subtracted and that's the message they're telling the voters out there. >> we'll see who voters believe

, jim acosta and dan lothian. let's start with president obama. he promised to wind down the war in afghanistan. where does that stand? >> anderson, he says he wants to wind it down by 2014 and that effort is on the way but a long ways to go. let's take a look by the numbers at america's longest war. if you bring up u.s. troop levels in afghanistan, currently this is a june number, 88,000, we are down to 70,000 now. if you go back in time, remember the initial deployment back in december 2001, 2500 troops. you see the escalation during the early bush administration but here was the big spike. this is president obama's surge, 67, then 97, just shy of 100,000 troops in afghanistan. again, it was down to 88,000 by june. we are told by the pentagon tonight that number is 70,000 with the troops coming out. as we make a point about that, we should also remember the toll of afghanistan, the more than ten years of fighting in afghanistan. you see the spike in fatalities, this is combat deaths, other deaths in afghanistan, military personnel, nearly 500 in 2010. at the height of the surge, 2

happened. i spoke to cnn's dan rivers about the case. what are the latest developments in the murders? >> well, there's a real profound sense of shock here in the quiet london suburb of clay gate. people still digesting the news that the family in the house behind me were targeted in such a brutal way. we're still waiting for more details from the french police. they're looking for two vehicles that were seen near the shooting. a motorcycle and green 4 by 4. french dedetectives coming to the uk. it is a french investigation leading this. people are digesting the news of what happened. the family it appears were targeted in a kind of execution-style shooting. three adults in the car shot through the head. a child, a 7-year-old child, shot as she tried apparently to flee. she was found on the road outside. amazingly, the 4-year-old girl who was cowering in the back of the car stayed in there, wasn't discovered for eight hours. police finally found her under the body of her mother. >> no leads on motive now? >> it's a complete mystery at the moment. there was a suggestion in the media he

. dan lothian has been traveling with the president. we asked likely voters, which candidate would better handle taxes, what do the numbers say? >> president obama the democrat. at the moment, the president has the edge, a number of reasons why. majority, 51-46. close, but advantage to the president. one of the reasons why. you ask likely voters who attended college, 52% for president obama. we have to match those up as those who describe themselves as moderates. 58% describe themselves as moderates. they tend to live in the suburbs. an important advantage for the president. taxes part of the economic debate. not all bad for governor romney. state of florida, more from our most recent poll. older voters, tend to be more reliable. voters 50 years of age and older. again, more reliable voting group. 54% support governor romney. 42% for president obama, obviously, jobs number one part of the economy. on taxes, at the moment, an advantage for the president. >> governor romney has been criticized by fellow republicans by not raising out enough specifics. what loopholes he would close. h

biggest pull on the economy. >> back with john king and dan lothian traveling with the president and jim costa with the romney campaign. how does the housing issue impact both candidates? s awe said it will come down to a few king states. >> no question. there's been a national crisis. guess what, some of those happen to be in the key swing states. this is foreclosures across the country. if you're seeing light there aren't a lot of foreclosures. let's look here. you see a lot in florida, in michigan, a lot in this part of ohio. a lot in the corners of nevada, northwest corner here. i want to do something. look at these. those are all swing states, florida, ohio, michigan. nevada. watch when we do this. take this off and turn this on. this is guy buy county, presidential four years ago by county. look where i circled. important to the president, important to the president up here and down here. you can make the case the problem is exacerbated. higher foreclosures in places around the country critical to the president. one more point i want to take if you take this out. look nationall

dived down into the foot well of the car almost immediately. >> dan rivers, appreciate the reporting. >>> let's check back in with susan hendricks. >> lawyers for drew peterson may appeal his murder conviction. he was found guilty yesterday of killing his third wife kathleen savio. two witnesses testified his fourth wife stacey who disappeared five years ago told them peterson killed savio. >>> a philadelphia man has been charged with calling in a false threat that a passenger aboard a us airways flight had a bomb. apparently the caller was trying to get back at the passenger over a facebook posting. >>> wall street closed out the trading week in the black. the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 all finished higher today and all three rose for the week as a whole. >>> a mother in china has come up with a novel way to tell her quadruplets apart. she shaved their hair giving each a number from 1 to 4 on the tops of their heads. her mom says the 6-year-old boys are identical and their teachers feared they would not be able to tell the boys apart in school. >> i'm sure that will make them very popu

dan lothian and jim acosta with the romney campaign. how could the housing issue impact both candidates? it's an important issue nationwide but it will come down to a few key swing states. >> no question, anderson. it's a national crisis but exacerbated in some parts of the country. this is foreclosures across the country. darker the color, the more you have foreclosures. a lot in florida, michigan, this part of ohio. you see a lot here in the corners of nevada, the northwest corner down in here. look at these. those are all swing states, florida, ohio, michigan, watch this when we do this. take this off and turn this on, back in time, this is by county, presidential election four years ago by county. look at where i circled counties important to the president up here and down here. you can make the case that the problem has been exacerbated, higher foreclosures in places around the country that are critically important to the president. one more point if you pull this out, nevada has been hit the hardest. look nationally at home prices, down 166,000 on average when president