>> any of you going to be in florida? i'm the speaker at the convention. it's good to see you. thanks for coming. >> don't expect the republicans to exactly roll out the red carpet for vice president joe biden. his announcement yesterday surprised a lot of folks. you just don't show up like that. show up in place where many, many republicans are not exactly your party. certainly no doubt you have seen mitt romney, the campaign ads accusing president obama of changing welfare rules by dropping a work requirement. those ads might play well in peoria, but are they true? tom foreman checks the facts. >> join me as i sign the welfare reform bill. >> reporter: it was a big success in the mid-1990s. it fulfilled promises by the democratic president and the republican congress to push welfare recipients to work in exchange for their benefits, to end welfare as we know it. the idea of another democratic president, barack obama, taking the work requirement off of the table is political dynamite, right? >> on july 12th president obama ended the work requirement gutting work reform. one of the most are trespectabl newspapers calls it nuts. >> reporter: president obama calls it nuts. >> every single person said it's false. >> reporter: where did this come from? the notion of a giant change in welfare rules. it did not originate here in washington but out in the country. several states including some with republican governors asked for more flexibility in how they hand out welfare dollars. they want to spend less time on paper work and with what they hope will be better ways of getting people connecting to jobs. they have granted waivers from some of the existing rules. >> giving some states flexibility in how they manage welfare roles as long as it produced 20% increases in the number of people who are getting work. >> reporter: that might in a small way change precisely how work is calculated with the goal of pushing welfare recipients to work remains in place. that's pretty much it. this is clearly not an effort by the president to kill off the welfare work requirement. that's why some republicans have backed away. governor romney's claim doesn't work. we rate it false. there's another warning today that unless congress gets moving, we are all going to end up like this. come on. a little thelma and louise for you on a wednesday afternoon. we're not talking about movies. we're talking about reality. we're talking about this fiscal cliff we've been hearing about. today's warning comes in no facts, just politics. according to the projection there is from the cbo released today, we are looking at another recession and unemployment topping the 9% mark last year. unless congress puts the brakes on massive tax hikes and spending cuts that start taking effect in january. we've heard this from the cbo about the fiscal cliff and recession. what is new in today's warning? >> it's just the official pleszing of what we do all know. if the goth stops spending a lot of money and taxes go up for all americans, that can't be good for the economy. we're only averaging about 1.7% growth. really slow recovery. half of what we see in post world war ii recoveries. just those cuts and tax impact would push us into recession. i know we don't like slow growth but we're going the like recession a lot less. >> i want to talk about the what ifs. ifnd when the fiscal cliff goes away. i was talking to alison kosik and she was reporting new numbers when it comes to the housing market. july home sales up 2.3% which makes me think that is good news. perhaps we're shifting psychologically. why is that and have we already hit the bottom? >> i think we're in a bottoming process. it depends on where you are. here is what we know. from 2000 to 2006 home prices doubled. that's not normal. that's a bubble and it crashed in a big way. prices down nationally. i know these poor people in la vegas and phoenix saying a lot more than 35% here. we're seeing signs of activity in the existing and home mortgage markets. people are coming back into the market. it will be a slow recovery. i promise you if we go into a recession there will be housing market hits >> wt about jobs? >> we've created 3.8 million jobs since the low point in the job market, beginning of 2010. bad news, we still have five million fewer jobs from brve the recessi before the recession started. this was not just your run of the mill recession. this was a horrible recession and it was accentuated by there credit bubble. >> too easy. >> too easy. when that exploded an started to melt down that created a situation where we were looking at long awful recovery. you know the one area that is doing pretty well? how about the stock market. >> stock market. >> we've seen stock prices double from the bottom. you can really think about is that of course that makes sense because the stock market is a leading indicator. as a result people pile in. things happen fast. it's a liquid market. in many respects the stock market is at a better place than all other parts of the economy. we're not sure that's going to continue. >> hopefully. glimmers of hope but reality speaking, it's up to congress to act when it comes to this fiscal cliff. let's say that do act. give me the picture of the economy. >> let's say they act. if they were really helping us out, they would happen well before the holidays. >> let's be realistic. >> that's not happening. cancel your vacation the last week of december. here is what we think could happen. there's a few scenarios. one is they absolutely kick the can down the road. do over. let the next congress deal with it. we're not touching this. that doesn't do anything for us. what they also could do is they could come to some sort of conclusion and say we're going to make an agreement that some of the cuts go into effect. some of the tax hikes go into effect. the fragile recovery could not handle that. i think that's the best case scenario. people who are hoping for some magical lala land where they get together and fix everything at once. >> they're all smoking the lala because that's not going to happen. we'll be talking at the end of the year. i'm sure i'll be working and you as well. thank you. so much more speculation. the obama campaign will keep the vice president under wraps next. there's word he may be crashing the tampa party as promises. plap as we mentioned at the top of the hour joe biden announced his campaign will take him to tampa next week just as the republicans are launching their convention. wolf, you've covered many conventio conventions, is this something they really do? >> reporter: i don't remember a time when a sitting vice president showed up in the city where the opposition party is holding their presidential convention. i could be wrong but it is pretty extraordinary, at least in any recollection. it's not extraordinary to send democrat democrats to a republican convention to have their truth squad there. i wouldn't be surprised if she were to show up or some campaign spokesman or stephanie cutter. to have a vice president show up is pretty extraordinary. i'll want to see if paul ryan shows up a week later to do some speaking and try to draw a little attention way from all the political convention. it is pretty surprising to me. >> if nothing else, this should squelch any speculation that the obama campaign will try to keep joe biden under wraps. >> reporter: he's a top, top notch campaigner for this president. they're not going to keep him in check. he's going to go out there and speak. i haven't seen him do a lot of interviews lately, at least national interviews. i'm hoping he'll do some pretty soon. he has been doing a lot of campaigning. he's been saying a lot of things. some of those things he wish he could do a little doover to remake some of those words but you can't. everything is recorded nowadays. you can't get away with anything. that's the nature of the beast. people always say some stuff they wish they could do a redo. we're in the same business. we often wish we could redo some of the words we say. >> there are cameras everywhere. i do want to talk about republicans. yesterday they specifically, the platform committee approved this plan that calls for constitutional amendment banning abortion, zero exceptions. these platforms rarely amount to a hill of beans but this. >> change by this convention because of the timing. it's attracting focus to the platform itself. it's more conservative than it's been in the language, the human life amendment. >> it sounds like he's saying this is actually case where a platform could matter. this concerning abortion to ban abortion no exceptions. it's relevant now. >> because of what happened in missouri. he had some explanation that a woman didn't want to become pregnant she had mechanisms. because of all of that it's an issue. normally and i've covered a lot of conventions there are these platforms. the democrats have their platforms. political nerds like you and me look at these platforms, we report about them. most people don't read these all that carefully. the paragraph is very similar if not identical to the way it was in 2008, 2004. this is the standard republican platform paragraph opposing abortion, period. they didn't go into exceptions last time. they're not going into exceptions this time. although the republican presidential candidate, mitt romney is on record saying he does support exceptions for incest, rape and the life of the mother. until now, until he became the vice presidential running mate paul ryan only supported for life of the mother, not for incest or rape but he says because he's on the ticket he goes along with the position that mitt romney lays out and he will adhere to that. >> we political nerds will be in tampa next week. i can't wait to see you. >> when do you get into town? >> oh, wow. i get into town sunday. you going to hang out with me. >> i get in on saturday. i'm looking forward to seeing you at the cnn grill. >> i will be there every day. i'll see you then. very excited to be in tampa. see you then. a large spike in the number of cases in deaths from the west nile virus. we'll look at how this epidemic has reached nearly every state in the u.s. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. new numbers released today paint a grim picture of the west nile virus. this year is one of the worst years for the virus ever in the united states. we just learned the state of arkansas has now added its first death in this disease. elizabeth cohen has been following this one for us. arkansas added to the list. it just continues. >> most states in this country have had a human case of west nile. we've had more cases year to date than in any year previous to this. let's take a look at the specific numbers that came out today from the cdc. last week they told us 26 deaths from west nile. now that number is up to 42. last week it was 693 illnesses and now it's 1,118. as i said, all states, nearly all states have had west nile in them. there's five states that are the hot spot and had more cases than others. 75 of cases are in texas, oklahoma, mississippi, louisiana and south dakota with texas being the epicenter of this out break. >> how frightened should we really be? >> out of all the mosquitos out there, maybe about 1% of them carry the virus. most you come into contact with are not west nile mosquitos. even if you do get bit, 80% of us are not going to get sick. we're not going to know we were bit by a west nile mosquito. 20% will have mild symptoms, fever, nausea, things like that. you don't necessarily have to go to the doctor. 1 in 150 people will is severe symptoms. that could mean paralysis, a coma and death. >> i was talking to the mayor of dallas. he said, i'm wearing my deet. remind all of us what we need to be doing. >> deet is the first of the four ds. this is so important if you live in one of those hot spots. wear an insect repellant with deet and you want to dress in long sleeves and long pants. at dusk and dawn be the most careful. drain standing water. that little kiddie pool that your kids swam in this weekend, i hope it's still not sitting out. you have to get rid of that water. >> thank you. patrolling the deadly and crime infested chicago streets. the violence at an all time high. cnn ride along with chicago police and get a first hand look at what is being done to curve the crime rate. you've been busy for a dead man. after you jumped ship in bangkok, i thought i'd lost you. surfing is my life now. but who's going to .... tell the world that priceline has even faster, easier ways to save you money. . . on hotels, flights & cars? you still have it. i'll always have it. so this is it? we'll see where the waves take me. sayonara, brah! exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank. two 15-year-old boys and a young man who's older brother was murdered was shot and killed yesterday. these are the latest victims of the gritty street violence that has some neighborhoods in chicago in a hold. the violence is far worse than it was a year ago. i want you to watch this. this is ted rowlands. he rides along with police patrolling the streets of chicago. >> there's a couple of places i want to check out. >> reporter: it's a friday night in the englewood neighborhood. >> you scan everything. when they see you're a policeman if they're doing something wrong or got a gun they start moving away or start running. >> reporter: there's near constant reports of shots fired over the radio. a call comes in that gets their attention. >> shots fired. that's one block away from the police station. >> reporter: it's also near a park where in the morning there's a community event planned. >> we know we got people over there setting up. >> reporter: when arrive there's no sign of the person with the gun. we leave because there's another call just a few blocks away. several officers are there when we arrive. there's a man in custody and this gun was found in the house. >> they're still working. that's the name of the game. >> reporter: this year the homicide rate in chicago is up about 30%, which is not what first year police superintendent gary mccarthy envisioned would happen when he took the job. >> it's playing out not as well as i anticipated. we expected to make much greater gains. >> reporter: chicago's overall rate is down from last year and the murder problem is concentrated in a few spervcifi areas. >> the entire city suffers. this idea of not in my backyard is not okay. >> reporter: the plan which he is competent will work includes holding gang members in custody, taking back specific street corners where drugs are sold and using gang information to predict and stop retribution killings. he says needs more help from the community. >> law enforcement is not going to solve the gang problem in chicago. law enforcement is not going to solve the gun problem in chicago. law enforcement is not going to fix if educational system or the poverty rate or any of those other systems. >> get close to home. >> reporter: one thing we noticed was the amount of children on the streets after dark. >> you guys about to go in the house. >> reporter: 34 kids have been killed in the violence this year alone including 7-year-old heaven sutton who was shot in the head while selling candy in her front yard. >> juveniles are the ones getting shot. we have to get them home. >> we need the parents to step up a bit more and take ownership sincerely of their children and raise them a bit better. >> reporter: at one point they pull over two men driving car with illegal tail pipes. they approach with caution and them out. they end up being clean. no gang tattoos. just two young men out trying to have a good time. they may feel like they are being harassed. they say it's part of the job. >> overall we do a good job. you don't know by the end of the year we may have that taken care of. >> reporter: that's easier said than done and there's more work to be done in every way. >> shots just fired. >> reporter: ted rowland, cnn, chicago. >> thank you. make sure you tune in tonight, 8:00 eastern for more of ted's reporting on ac 360. he shadowed a trauma surgeon that's seeing a 20% increase in gunshot victims this summer alone. syria's first lady, she's a self-proclaimed supporter of human rights. what is her reaction to all the violence, all the suffering and slaughter affecting the syrian people for the last 18 months and counting. two long time friends weigh in on her silence. 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[ beeping ] ...that helps remind you that the highway might not be as desolate... as you thought. ♪ the latest reports out of syria say 80 people have died in the war there today alone. this is the latest video. it shows massive plumes of smoke. people fleeing for their safety. the united nations humanitarian is accused them of failing to safeguard civilians. we have talked at great lengths about the first lady of syria. it turns out she's not the champion of human rights she once portrayed herself as. ivan watson will tell the story. >> reporter: asma assad stood smiling by her man as the syrian president cast his ballot last february in a constitutional referendum held in the a backdrop of escalatiing violenc. she remains silent even though it wasn't that long ago that she declared herself a local defender of human rights. >> this is a conflict that's been going on for too long. we have a choice. we can either sit by and we can sit and watch our tv screens and watch atrocities and see some horrific images or we can get up and do something about it. >> reporter: she issued that call to action in a 2009 interview with cnn during the three week bombardment of gaza that left palestinians dead. >> nobody is immune from what's happening. we've heard of women, children being killed, medics, journalists. it seems like it affects everyone. >> reporter: the trouble is for most of the the last year and a half, syrian security forces have been documented committing horrific abuses against syrian citizens. this month cnn recorded syrian war planes repeatedly bombing aleppo. cnn witnessed a hospital targeted twice by war planes on the same day. last week the organization human rights watch documented be aftermath of more syrian government air strikes against the rebel town. at least 40 people were killed. in the syrian country side they towns are pounded. we feel defeated by the shelling this resident told us. these are young children. what have they done to deserve this. >> where is human dignity? where are the rights of the human rights that we talk about? >> reporter: these were questions asma assad asked in 2009 when she joined the wife of the prime minister of turkey campaigning on behalf of civilians in gaza but they are not questions she asks today after more than 17,000 syrians have been killed throughout the uprising much to the surprise of her friends. i never thought she would accept these events. i can't believe she's remained silent about all this happening. three years ago asma talked about the responsibilities of being a first lady. >> what do you do in the position you hold. what is it that you are going to be doing. as a mother and a human being we need to make sure these a tr atrocities stop. >> reporter: inspiring words that ring deafenly hallow. >> ivan, thank you. a top high school basketball player collapses in court after being sentenced by an ohio judge. watch this. >> the court ordered that the defendant serve a term of two years. >> find out why this young athlete who many thought would be headed to the bright lights, big playing of the nba now going to jail. we're on the case, next. in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. nah. [ dennis' voice ] i bet he's got an allstate agent. they can save you up to 30% more by bundling your policies. well, his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. are you in good hands? throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage. this high school basketball star collapses, not on the court but in a courtroom. one of ohio most recruited players drops down to his knees when he hears a ruling from a judge. here it was. >> the defendant shall serve a term of two years in prison on that count. as to count three of that case robbe robbery, the court orders the defendant shall serve two years on that count as well. >> there he goes collapsing out of camera's view. that judge who's voice you just heard sentenced this 18-year-old to three years after he pleaded guilty to robbery, assault and kidnapping for an incident in april involving the ex-girlfriend. the ex-girlfriend testified on his behalf. an umpire is not going to make the matches. she has been arrested and charged with murder. she's accused of bludgeoning her husband to death with a coffee cub and stabbed his with shards from the cup. she was arrested in new york wearing her uniform for the us open. joey jackson on the case with e me. when he heard about a coffee cup, i thought how the heck. it was april when he died. she says he fell down thestairs. police didn't buy that. >> husbands be ware. sometimes it takes a bit of time for the physical evidence to come up to speed with what you tell the officers that the evidence is. you say it's a tumble down the stairs. they contact an investigation. she gets to do what she has to do. you further investigate. now you find the blunt trauma is consistent with the stair fall and when you add shards from the mug which are stuck, stuck, stuck in him. now you have problem. she's in new york. she gets apprehended. an arrest warrant is issued and she's being held accountable and charged with murder. >> she's in uniform. she's traveling to new york. why do it then? >> it's a crazy scenario. often times police want to go about their business in a very careful way and so ultimately once they figure they had enough probable cause to determine that she was the guilty party, irrespective of where she is. let's lodge the warrant. >> she's 70? >> yes. >> she's 70. do prosecutors every take age into consideration. do you think they'll say she's 70 maybe we'll cut her a better deal. i think prosecutor are talking about a million dollars in terms of asking for bond or bail. generally in cases like this you have remand. what does remand mean? there's no bail at all. on the issue of bail you see age is being taken into consideration. it's a life sentence. >> have you ever heard of a coffee cup? >> you know stranger things have happened. coffee cups, knives, shanks, people come up with some very creative ways not to mention the pots and pans so you have to be careful. fine line between love and hate. >> yikes. it appears the gop has suffered a setback. how the fall out from this man, missouri congressman, todd akin and his comments about legitimate rape could impact the female vote. erin burnett joins me live. first, elections are just a couple of months away and all the talk of campaign funds and tax returns and money, money, money got us wondering who the richest folks in congress are. the political news blog did some digging. we have a list. number five with a net worth under $86 million is virginia democratic senator mark warner. number four with $91 million, colorado democratic congressman jared polis and number three, california gop rep darrell issa at $140 million. there are two others to take the cake here. who are they? that's next. creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of protein. so it's energy straight from nature to you. nature valley protein bars. so it's energy straight from nature to you. well another great thing about all this walking i've been doing is that it's given me time to reflect on some of life's biggest questions. like, if you could save hundreds on car insurance by making one simple call, why wouldn't you make that call? see, the only thing i can think of is that you can't get any... bars. ah, that's better. it's a beautiful view. i wonder if i can see mt. rushmore from here. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. 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. ♪ let's pick up where we left off. ever wonder who the richest people in congress are? we did. here are five, four and three. at number two, $198 million, massachusetts senator john kerry. the number one wealthiest member of congress topping every one with $90 million is for the second year in a row texas republican michael mccall at $290 million. staying on politics. talking about a guy we've been talking a bit about, todd akin. he says the mess he's in is the media's fault. the republican senate hopeful says he will indeed stay in that race in missouri despite the blow up over his statement that for reasons rape rarely leads to pregnancy. now take a look at this tweet. he's dropped this tweet. i apologize but the liberal media is trying to make me drop out. actually, his fellow party members are the ones begs akin to quietly go away. they include these men. you have mitt romney. you have romney's number two, paul ryan and rush limbaugh and another republican explains why akin is making the party squirm. >> this is a time when the republicans were trying to ramp up to the convention. we want to have a message of tolerance, diversity, big tent and a focus on economic issues. suddenly we're having the focus drawn back into issues that republicans really don't want to be talking about except for somebody like todd akin who has fairly prehistoric notions about some of these social issues. >> akin is just another blow to the gop's to draw those women voters. the latest poll from the "new york times"/cbs news and quinnipiac shows president obama comfortably leading romney in colorado, virginia and wisconsin. comfortable leads. 50 percentage more or less in each of those categories. joining me now, fellow colleague of mine erin burnett to talk ladies. nice to see you. let's first begin with congresswoman marsha blackburn. the news yesterday with regard to abortion, no exceptions, she voted for that, obviously, as the coco-chair. she's saying hang on a second, i want to distance myself from that. >> absolutely. i spoke with her. she's the only woman in the key chairman roles. the platform is split 50/50, men and women. in terms of leadership, she's it. i said to her, to you support an issue like todd akin where there would be no exception any case. she said, no, i support exceptions in the case of rape or incest as do many republicans. you know, 67% of republicans agree with that exception. 75% of independents and 59% of people who say they're pro-life. most americans aggress with that point of view. the words in that platform that she voted for, this is what they want the amendment to say in the constitution. affirm the unborn child has a fundamental right of life that cannot be infringed. >> she voted for. >> we spoke to jeff toobin. he said if that were to pass, there would be no exception in the case of rape or insicestinc. women feel differently than men on this issue in leadership. >> you guys pick up the phone. you call all five -- women in the senate. >> all five republican female members of the senate. >> they say? >> this is fascinating. lisa mur kkowski. kay bailey hutchison. sue collins from maine always has been prochis. kelly ayotte exceptions in the case of rape or insist. olympia snowe believes the question on whether to have an abortion is personal, moral and religious one. pro-choice. >> you and i marinating on this. they have to make a dent in president obama's lead when it comes to female voters in the poll. what they have left is the convention and the debates. with this akin story sort of muddying the waters if you will at the convention, it's the debates. i can't wait to watch to see. >> i can't either. the numbers are incredible. if you look at the men versus women gender gap, if and how tight this is, if mitt romney can get that to move one or two percentage points, literally two per scentage points, if nothing else moves, can give him the election. >> candy crowley moderating. she's have tough questions, i'm sure. >> our pride. >> make sure you watch erin tonight 7:00 eastern only here on cnn. because we like space, it is a big day for nasa's mars rover curiosity. we have some cool new pictures and even, oh yes, animation of curiosity on the red planet. making its first parallel parking job, if you will. taking a spin. that is next with chad. tweet it be surprised be productive. make a sale make some lunch make it movie night. play a game or an old favorite. do it all more beautifully, with the retina display, on ipad. until i got a job in the big apple. becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. and for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight. exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. here's a question. would you toss 80 hamburger patties, just chuck them in the trash? how about throwing 24 boxes of breakfast cereal into the bar gaj. a new report says we waste 40% of our food here in the u.s. each american waisstes about 20 pounds of food a month. it says 17% of food served in restaurants is thrown away. an environmental group did this report. if the situation can't quite get worse for the poseal service, wait for this. they have to figure out how to get rid of 700 million stamps featuring bart and homer and marge, the simpsons. 1 billion stamps were presented in honor of the 20th season. the thing is only a third of these things sold. that's more than $1 million in printing costs wasted. this is a big, big day for nasa's mars rover curiosity. it's been sitting on the red planet for pretty much two weeks now getting ready to, you know, take it for a spin on the red planet. i want to bring in chad myers who's been watching this voyage just as closely as i know i have. how did the first spin go? testing the old wheels? >> we're calling it driving miss curiosity. instead of driving miss daisy. it only went 12 feet. >> yes, 12 feet. >> that's a big deal when it takes 14 minutes to send the signal for it to get it. 17, 18, 14 minutes for it to come back here. there are the tracks. there are the wheel tracks. you can take it in full screen if you want and be able to see those tracks a little bit better. on the wheels, do you know what the wheels say when they drive? >> there's an imprint on the wheels? >> there's an imprint. it was slightly secretive. as the wheel drives, obviously there's traction. >> does it say chad myers was here? >> yes, it does. it says j.p.l. in morse code. jet propulsion laboratory. in case someone was looking at mars they could read j.p.l. >> morse code on the green monster at fenway. now on the tires of the mars curiosity rover. >> cool picture. >> quickly while i have you, 60 seconds, i know there are 16 different drivers, how exactly do they drive it? >> actually, they send a bunch of commands to the curiosity at one time. then curiosity does all the things itself. the 16 drivers are all going to be on shifts. this thing doesn't go very fast, doesn't go very far. you understand you don't want to drive a $2.5 billion vehicle into a