up first tonight, presidential politics. a major shift in tone. not much new on policy front. mitt romney makes a direct appeal for latino votes. speaking to a national conv convention down in florida one day before the same group hears from president obama governor romney began by asking hispanic voters to remember promises the incumbent failed to keep on immigration and other issues. >> that you don't really have an alternative. i believe he's taking your vote for granted. i've come here today with a very simple message. you do have an alternative. your vote should be respected, and your voice is more important now than ever before. >> making his case, governor romney focused primarily on economics. >> is the america of 11% hispanic unemployment the america of our dreams? we can do better. >> but he also offered a broad outline of his immigration policies. governor romney, for example, pledged a permanent status for young illegal immigrants brought across the border by their parents, promised new border security measures, also promised to make keeping families together a priority for green card approval and said a stronger employer verification system is necessary to deter illegal immigration. >> immigration reform is not just a moral imperative. it's also an economic necessity. >> short on specifics, the shift in tone was striking. in the gop primaries, we heard this -- >> you know, i think you see a model here in arizona. they passed a law here that says, that says that people who come here and try and find work, that the employer is required to look them up on e-verify. this e-verify system allows employers in arizona to know who's here legally and who's not here legally. >> in the same primaries, you also heard this -- >> well, the answer is self-deportation, which is people decide that they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here. so we're not going to round people up. >> today you might say his language was kinder. gentler. >> we could find common ground here. and we've got to. we owe it to ourselves as americans to ensure that our country remains the land of opportunity. >> so was it enough to change minds? and more importantly, to win votes? our executive director of the national association of latino elected and appointed officials. mr. vargas, let me start right there. i assume before governor romney came in, a lot of skeptics in that audience. after he left, what was the conversation? were people saying, i will give him a second look? i was impressed, or was it flat? >> i think there was a great deal of respect. the fact that governor romney made the time to appear before this audience. this is not an audience that is necessarily was with governor romney during the primaries. there certainly was a large number of republican latinos here. but it's an audience that is interested in wanting to know exactly what governor romney's vision is for latinos in the future of this country. >> one of the things he focused on, we just outlined his views on immigration. he also spent a lot of time on economics suggesting the last 3 1/2 years under president obama have not been good years for latino community. let's listen to a bit more. >> the middle class under president obama has been crushed. more americans are living in poverty today than any point in american history. over 2 million more hispanics are living in poverty today than the day when president obama took office. >> what is the sense? these are elected and appointed officials. they understand. they have to keep in touch with people back in home communities. how much are economic conditions driving the conversations among them about who to vote for and who to support and what constituents are telling them and how much of it is an issue, say, immigration? >> well, i think, in fact, the economy is the most important issue in this election. poll after poll of latino voters demonstrate that the number one issue that they care about is the effect the great recession has had upon them and their families. foreclosure crisis, the loss to latino families of wealth has been enormous in this great recession. and many of the elected officials who are here at the conference are dealing with this issue at the front lines. they're running cities and school boards and counties and states with budget deficits and dealing with the effect of unemployment on their own constituents. so what we wanted to hear today from governor romney, we'll want to hear tomorrow from president obama, is what is the remedy to the economic crisis that will specifically improve the economic outcome for latino families in this country? >> help me understand, how big of an opening? president obama got two-thirds of the vote in 2008. governor romney is trying to get above what john mccain received four years ago. how big of an opening is there? we talked about the skepticism of governor romney because of what happened during the republican primaries. what about the president? he promised he would introduce comprehensive immigration reform in his first year and didn't deliver on that promise. poverty, unemployment up in the latino community, up in country. how big is the question mark for the president? >> well, in fact, i believe that the campaign and the battle for the latino vote began today at the conference. because if you look at the whole primary season, the president made virtually no campaign during the democratic primaries, unlike four years ago, and governor romney only really campaigned for the hispanic vote here in the state of florida. now we're moving to a new phase of this election, the general election. i think you're seeing governor romney move to the center. that's exactly where the latino electorate is. today the campaign for the vote has begun. and it is a vote that will decide this election much like it decided the election in 2000 here in florida. 2004. 2008. when president obama won this state. and in 2012, with the million latinos who will vote, again, a decisive element of the electoral. >> arturo vargas, appreciate your insights. we'll check back as the president speaks to your important organization tomorrow. thank you, sir. >> thank you. president obama does, as i noted take his own turn at the latino convention tomorrow. here in washington today, the president focused on two other important pieces of his voter turnout puzzle. >> if congress does not get this done in a week, the average student with federal student loans will rack up an additional $1,000 in debt over the coming year. >> that event from the president to focus on younger voters and his confrontation with congress over student loans and this new ad from the obama campaign focuses on women. >> so the first law he signed was the lilly ledbetter fair pay act to help ensure that women are paid the same as men for doing the exact same work. because president obama knows that fairness for women means a stronger middle class for america. >> let's assess the state of the race, 138 days out with "washington post" chief correspondent dan balz. good to see you, my friend. i want to go through this in two different ways. one is focusing on, dan, the bigger economic numbers we got today. those are not such good numbers for the president, not just today, all this week. you see numbers, for example, housing. the bad housing numbers today. there have been bad numbers about hiring and job openings this past week. heard the federal reserve chairman yesterday say the economy, the recovery is weaker than they thought a couple months ago. there's always uncertainty from the eurozone and based on recent unemployment claims filings, every reason to expect another weak jobs report, maybe an uptick in the unemployment rate. on the big picture, the big economy numbers, how do they deal with this inside the obama campaign knowing things are not getting better? >> they deal with it the way they've begun to deal with it which is to try to disqualify governor romney as someone who has a set of solutions that will do any better than the president has done. i mean, they are stuck with the economy they have and they're going to be stuck with the numbers that we'll be seeing over the next weeks and the next couple of months. they know that there are some potential real problems out there on the horizon, depending on europe and elsewhere. and so what they have begun to do is try to say, governor romney tells you he knows how to create jobs, but there is nothing in his record as governor of massachusetts, for example, to show that he was able to do that. and they will continue to try to pound on that. >> and they're also doing what i call jigsaw puzzle politics. they're the incumbent. they understand they could have a wave against them or tide against them because of the economy. you see the latino vote tomorrow will be a top focus. they showed you with the younger students on student loans, the ad on women, he has a new radio ad aimed at african-americans. i'm over at our electoral map now, where we stack it now, dan. 247, strong or leaning for obama, 206 strong or leaning for romney. as you well know, you have to get to 270 to win it. i want to come out to the national map. you get mixed results. i talked about the bigger picture, the economy. that's not good news for the president. there's a brand new poll out in florida today. look at this. it's close. it's close. you have the president ahead now, this same poll back in may had governor romney ahead. in one of the biggest battleground states they have to feel better about that. we thought after the wisconsin recall, boy, should we make that a tossup? might that be trending republican? a new poll out of wisconsin the other day shows the president, again, this is still close. the president still on top in this battleground state. dan, i'm interested in getting your take on this one. also new numbers out of michigan. this has to have the romney campaign encouraged. he went through on the bus tour, 47% to 46%. when you look state by state, dan, you have six or seven tossup states, three or more states we call battleground states. what strikes you at this point 138 days out? >> a couple things are important. one, if the whole water table moves in a direction toward the president or governor romney, these holds will begin to look dimpb different. we are to take all of these as you well know with some reservation at this point, but i'm struck by those numbers in michigan. i would not have thought it would be that close at this point. when you -- i was in wisconsin with governor romney on monday, and the republicans in that state think that that will be a competitive battleground. they've tried hard in the past and come close, but lost. so you have to say that at this point the president still has an advantage. i was in iowa on monday afternoon with governor romney. that state looks very competitive at this point. so, you know, all in all, the map still seems to favor the president, but, you know, of all of those states we're talking about, i still think a lot will come down to ohio. if governor romney can't win ohio, it's unlikely he's going to win some of those surrounding states like michigan or pennsylvania or wisconsin. so i think that's a very important bellwether we will continue to watch as we have the last several elections. >> time to get out of town and get out to the battlegrounds. chief correspondent for the "washington post," dan balz. thanks for your help. >> thanks, john. the attorney general eric holder can go across the ocean to europe, but he can't get away from questions about wednesday's contempt vote in the house committee. we'll assess that situation next. as the jury begins deliberations in the jerry sandusky case, a new accuser comes forward. sandusky's own adopted son. s is corporate caterers, miami, florida. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. 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[music] transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. cuban cajun raw seafood pizza parlor french fondue tex-mex fro-yo tapas puck chinese takeout taco truck free range chicken pancake stack baked alaska 5% cashback. signup for 5% cashback at restaurants through june. it pays to discover. attorney general eric holder it in europe holding meetings in denmark one day after the house oversight committee voted to recommend holding him in contempt of congress for not handing over documents in the fast and furious investigation. even overseas the attorney general couldn't avoid questions about the big vote. >> i would say that the action that the committee took yesterday was both unwarranted, unnecessary, and unprecedented. we put before the committee a proposal that would have allowed for a resolution of that matter, consistent with the way in which these have been resolved in the past through negotiation. i think the possibility still exists that it can happen in that way. >> republicans unless there is a deal struck plan a full house vote on charging holder with contempt next week. let's dig deeper on what comes next with cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. you heard the attorney general. he thinks this is an election year stunt. he's right when he says it is unprecedented. does your gut say we'll have a negotiation here or given the polarization, the partisanship, will we have a vote? >> i think the latter, frankly. there are really two possibilities. the one possibility is as what happened with janet reno when she was almost held in contempt burg the clinton administration, that there was sort of some sort of deal worked out. allowing access to some, but not all, of the contested documents. that's one possibility. the other possibility is they'll find him in contempt next week and that will lead to a court dispute which will go on almost certainly for the rest of president obama's term. in other words, this is likely to remain political theater rather than a legal -- a serious legal dispute for the foreseeable future. >> you would think if you're going to have productive negotiations, to get access to the documents and to strike some deal, you get these documents, you don't get those documents you'd want calm, everyone to dial back the rhetoric. i want you to listen here. the house democratic leader nancy pelosi was taking questions from reporters today. she says not only is this vote in her view shameful, she thinks she knows why. listen. >> they're going after eric holder because he is supporting measures to overturn these voter suppression initiatives in the states. this is no accident. it is no coincidence. it is a plan on the part of the republicans. >> you can see her anger there, as she's also making a pretty serious charge. because the attorney general opposes the efforts in several states to require tougher identifications for voters, sh e calls it voter suppression, that they're going after him. >> you know, this is where politics is so difficult, because, you know, it goes to the question of motive. why are politicians acting one way or another? i mean, it is certainly -- there is certainly evidence out there that suggests there is a political motive behind what the republicans are doing to holder. holder has been a target for republicans almost since the day he became attorney general. however, democratic congress, members of congress, tried to get documents from president bush, from the first president bush, from president reagan. so, and their motives were questioned. it was very difficult to untangle the motives. there's certainly ample evidence for cynicism on both sides. >> how much does it undermine the white house case? number one, that they waited until last minute. the documents requested for months and months and months and months and only at the last minute did they bring up the prospect and actually use executive privilege. that's one thing, what he did as president. then there's this. always say running for president is different than being president. listen to senator obama criticizing the bush administration for doing just what he did yesterday. >> there's been a tendency on part of this administration to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there's something a little shaky that's taking place. and i think, you know, the administration would be best served by coming clean on this. >> candidates say the darnedest things. >> he has aged, hasn't he? certainly that was my reaction to that statement. i think, you know, again, he was questioning the motives of the bush administration. republicans are questioning his motives. it's very difficult to untangle. most voters who are following controversies like these bring their own biases, bring their own conclusions. i don't think anybody is going to be convinced by these arguments, but frankly, it looks like it will wind up in the courts and the courts will then work document by document and decide whether these documents are covered by executive privilege, whether they reflect internal deliberations that the executive branch should not have to disclose. or whether they are simply ordinary documents that congress in its right to oversight to investigate has the right to see. that's what the courts will do. and that's where it looks like it's heading to me. >> and that means we'll get an answer in 2013 or 2014. jeffrey toobin -- >> don't hold your breath. >> appreciate your help tonight. we'll stay on top of this one as well as the big supreme court decisions. lawmakers debate whether the united states should send weapons to syrian rebels. there's a new report claiming the cia is already doing it. 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[ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. focus lolo, focust sanya let's do this i am from baltimore south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love this is for everyone back home it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth. welcome back. here's kate bolduan with the latest news you need to know. >> hello, john. good evening, everyone. let's catch you up on other headlines we're watching this evening. foreign minister confirmed the country is arming syria and intends to carry out arms contracts with president bashar al assad's government. the announcement in response to a british company that withdrew its coverage of a russian boat transporting helicopters to syria. meanwhile "the new york times" reports u.s. intelligence operatives are sending weapons to syrian rebels. a little profanity or nudity on tv isn't the end of the world apparently. at least that's what the supreme court seems to be saying in a new ruling today. the justices threw out pricey fcc fines for broadcast indecency. in another case the court ruled against certain fees that public unions have been able to charge non-members until now. and who wouldn't want to own a piece of paradise? i'm so excited i can't even say it. larry ellison, see him, ceo of oracle, bought 98% of the hawaii island of linai. 140 scare mile island has been losing money in operating costs. on the island are what else? luxury resorts, golf courses, commercial and residential real estates. the other claim to fame, it used to produce most of the world's pineapples and bill and melinda gates got married there. yes, please. >> you yes, you want to be invited to larry ellison's island. >> or love to purchase -- >> leave it to you in his will? what are you asking for? >> just an invitation to see the place. >> larry, if you're listening, kate wants to see your island. jury deliberations begin in the jerry sandusky case. the greatest bombshell comes from a witness who never testified, sandusky's adopted son. george zimmerman returning to the exact spot where he admits he shot trayvon martin. he says it was in self-defense. that's ahead. but what about your wrinkles. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to visibly reduce wrinkles in just one week. 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[ normal voice ] same agent and everything. it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ ask an allstate agent about the value plan. are you in good hands? this half hour of "john king usa" jerry sandusky's own adopted son says he's one of his father's victims, as the child sex abuse case goes to the jury. new video of george zimmerman, not just telling police how he shot trayvon martin. he's showing them right there. the exact scene. plus the truth about mitt romney's stance on immigration. would he undo president obama's executive action or not? tonight in his own words we're hearing george zimmer map's side of the story about shooting and killing trayvon martin. the police video released by zimmerman defense's team, vonteeneighborhood officer gives officers a step-by-step replay. watch here, this is a one minute excerpt when zimmerman describes firing his gun. >> i kept yelling, help, help, help. as long as i could. he put his hands on his nose -- on my nose and his other hand on my mouth. he said shut the [ bleep ] up. then i tried squirming again because all i could think about was when he was hitting my head against it, it felt like my head was going to explode. i thought i was going to lose consciousness. i tried to squirm so i could get -- he only had a small portion of my head on the concrete. i tried to squirm off the concrete and when i did that, somebody here opened the door and i said, help me, help me. and they said, i'll call 911. i said, no, help me. i need help. i don't know what they did, but that's when my jacket moved up and i had my firearm on my right side hid. my jacket moved up, and he saw it. i feel like he saw it. he looked at it. he said, you're going to die tonight, [ bleep ]. and he reached for it but he reached -- like, i felt his arm going down to my side and i grabbed it and i just grabbed my firearm and i shot him. one time. >> cnn's martin savidge has been going over this tape and other police documents just released. you see zimmerman with the bandage on the back of his head saying trayvon martin was the attacker, trayvon martin said he was going to die. how much does the defense team think this bolsters their case? >> they obviously believe it bolsters their case a great deal. george zimmerman had credibility issues coming up to this. as you remember, his bond has been revoked under concerns by the judge in the case he may have lied or at least misled the court about money he may or may not have had when it came to getting bond. credibility is key. it's a self-defense case here. george may have seen his credibility damaged somewhat. now the release of this video on the part of the defense team may see it as bolstering his case. he makes an argument in the visceral show and tell. that might have been the strategy here. there is a potential bond hearing coming up in about a week. >> and the defense also released, martin, an interview from the police station. zimmerman's written account of what happened that night. the prosecution has access to all of this, too. what's your sense? what can you tell from sources they're looking for as they pore through all of this evidence? >> yeah, they're looking clearly for discrepancies. he tells his story a number of different times. they're waiting to see if it waivers in any way, shape or form. there are subtle discrepancies. we didn't see major discrepancies. the big issue was, was there racial profiling? that's something the prosecution is going to maintain in some way, shape or form it was george zimmerman that started the tragic trigger of events here because he identified trayvon martin who had every legitimate right to be in that neighborhood as somehow a suspect and that led to the eventual deadly confrontation. i think that's still an issue the prosecution is going to make a case of. >> fascinating to see this in the public domain as the case goes forward. martin savidge, thanks so much. child rape case against jerry sandusky in the hands of the jury. tonight we're learning a new alleged victim stepping forward. coach sandusky's adopted son, matt. cnn contributor sara ganim is live outside the courthouse in bellefonte, pennsylvania. i want to read a story from matt sandusky's lawyers. quote, matt sandusky contacted us and requested our assistance in arranging a meeting with prosecutors to disclose for the first time he is a victim of jerry sandusky's abuse. this has been an extremely painful experience for matt. why didn't matt sandusky in the end become part of the prosecution's case? >> reporter: we don't know why prosecutors didn't call him in the stand. it's my understanding this meeting was after the prosecution initially rested on monday of this week. so the defense was already presenting their case when they had this meeting. that's my understanding. now, they had a chance for a rebuttal case. after jerry sandusky's attorney rested yesterday and they declined to present any evidence. we don't know why that is. however, you know, matt sandusky has been denying that he was a victim in any way of jerry sandusky for many, many months. actually almost a year. and he even testified before the grand jury that's investigating jerry sandusky still. we don't know exactly what he said, but joe amendola, jerry sandusky's attorney told me he wasn't worried at all about matt sandusky's testimony. now, interestingly enough, his mother, his biological mother, not his adopted mother, because that would be doddie sandusky. his biological mother has been saying more than a year she believed her son was abused in some way we jerry sandusky. she said she witnessed all kinds of strange behavior and really resented the fact jerry sandusky in her own words stole her son from her family to adopt him. now, he was 18 already when he was adopted but he had been a foster child in the sandusky home for a couple of years at that point. and she testified before the grand jury but when the charges were filed against sandusky in november, matt sandusky was not a part of that grand jury presentment. >> sara, this case is now in the hands of the jury. you're in the courtroom during the closing arguments. what was jerry sandusky doing? how were his reactions during that phase? >> reporter: one of the most compelling things for me, john, was watching him during prosecutors' closing arguments. there were so many moments where he was either smiling or silently laughing, and they were really the moments where prosecutors were hitting the most important points. the biggest evidence they presented. talking about mrs. sandusky, what she said. there was one point the prosecutor called him a serial predator pedophile and jerry sandusky smiled. talking about the gifts he allegedly gave these kids and talking about, using his status as a celebrity in the community. all of these times jerry sandusky would smile. and really probably the most compelling part of those closing arguments was the very last thing that jurors saw and heard from either of the attorneys. that prosecutor walked back from the jury box, he stood right behind jerry sandusky and he said, you need to convict him. he knows what he did. you know what he did. find him guilty on everything. and jerry sandusky, again, he had this smirk look on his face. it was very, it was very interesting to watch him. >> interesting. i think that might say a bit bizarre there. the case now in the hands of the jury. sara ganim outside the courtroom. thanks so much. up next here we shift to politics. the truth about what we really learned during mitt romney's big speech to latinos on immigration. major banks get a big credit downgrade. we'll tell you which ones. also we'll tell you what it might mean for you. 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how did he do today? >> i think he did have an honest exchange. what we heard from mitt romney today was a sober presidential policy speech. look, he didn't say all the things i wanted him to say. but you know what, john, four years ago, i heard all the things i wanted to hear. i heard them from barack obama. and after 3 1/2 years, nothing has happened. the only thing that has happened is that deportations have gone up. so i think mitt romney really did not fall into the trap of pandering. election time pandering to latinos. and he made that point over and over again. i'm not going to be barack obama who shows up with valentine's day gifts with flowers and bonbons every election time. i'm going it give you some truth, going to give you some reality and he made some good suggestions, some good proposals, things that can help solve the problem. not entirely, but can certainly improve parts of the immigration problem. >> so maria, did governor romney say anything that as a democrat makes you think, okay, he gets it, he's on to something here, we're going to have to work harder, or flat? >> no. absolutely not. i do give him credit for coming. i think that that was smart of him. he absolutely needed to do it for all the reasons you stated earlier. but the problem is, and you stated this, too, this group wanted to hear from him more than what his plan is on the economy. which frankly would be devastating to hispanic communities around the country. but in terms of immigration, they wanted to hear clearly if he is going to repeal the president's policy and he said today that he would repeal it and he would put in his own permanent solution. he also said, interestingly enough -- >> you and i are different. >> also that latinos should also listen to what his words are. and we listened very clearly during the primaries and he was unequivocal when he said that he would veto the dream act if he got elected and h got to his desk and he also failed to mention today, john, what he would do with the 11 million undocumented immigrants that are in this country today and, again, if we heed his words during the primary, he would make life in this country so difficult for them that he would want them to self-deport. so those two things still stand. i talked to a lot of people that were here today. they believe that those two things still stand for mitt romney. >> i want to get to the president's challenge in a minute. ryan lizza, if you look at what happened in the last three presidential elections, george w. bush wins barely in 2000 with 35% of the latino vote plus the supreme court thank you very much. in 2004 he gets 44% of the vote. john mccain gets 31% in 2008. loses in an electoral college blowout. i assume romney has to get above 31%, closer to 35%. to have a reasonable chance to win the presidency? >> absolutely. look. obama can lose florida and still win the election. it's important, hispanics are in florida, that's not crucial for obama. you could even argue that the whole race depends on his panic in two states. colorado and nevada. colorado in 2008, obama split the white vote about 50/50. he won that state. he won colorado in 2008 because he ran up a huge margin among hispanics which made up 13% of the electorate in 2008. this is a battle for a small number of hispanics in a couple crucial states. look, romney today, he's absolutely right when he says obama had 3 1/2 years to address immigration and waited until the election year to do it. 2009, 2010, big priorities, getting the economy going, health care, cap and trade. immigration reform was not on the agenda. romney is right about that. what i've seen last week since obama's decision is romney doesn't know what to do. the white house -- >> boxed in. >> he's boxed in. they don't have a policy yet. they're surprised at what obama's policy and he hasn't figured out the specifics of his plan yet. >> everybody stand by. >> hey, john -- >> hang on just one second. we'll be back to the group in a second. "erin burnett out front" at the top of the hour. breaking news tonight. the credit rating agency moody's downgrading 15 global banks including two big ones right here. bank of america and jpmorgan chase. what's that mean? >> you know what, and the reason, john, isn't going to surprise you. moody's saying it's very concerned about global financial stability but the bottom line is, this means banks get downgraded just like people. that means it's going to cost them more to borrow, means they have less money to lend. as we know, that's already a problem in this economy. europe continuing to bleed. congress continuing to not act. that's really the one thing that could change. we're going to be joined by senator rand paul top of the hour. you know what, john, i think he's going to say something pretty darn interesting about, well, you know, what he thinks of democrats and whether he sort of might be a democrat. that's coming up top of the hour. back to you. >> that's going to keep us waiting right here. we'll see you in just a few minutes. uh-huh. see you then, erin. thank you. when we come back, this is horrible. middle school students ruthlessly bully a 68-year-old woman. we have the video, and whether or not they fessed up. and just look at those floods. homes under water. streets are rivers. floods have even drowned two animals. we'll have the latest from minnesota. ♪... ♪... choose the perfect hotel oh! 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let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. 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. we're back talking about the competition for the latino vote. maria, i want to come back to you on this question. you heard governor romney say today when obama comes tomorrow, remember all the promise also he brokepy don't think there's any question the president will win the latino vote. the big question is, will he win by as big a margin? what does the president have to do to tell this community, yes, i know you're mad at me about some things but? >> frankly, he has been talking about that for the last two years. i think what he last week goes a long way towards assuring the latino community that he wants to continue to keep that promise, which, by the way, i've always said he shouldn't have made. in fact, when he made it, he didn't know the economic hole was so big that he was going to be handed when he walked in the office. let's go back to something that romney said and ryan actually repeted which is about that promise. and basically saying what the president did last week was all political because he hasn't done anything on immigration up till now. that is factually not correct. in 200, 10, he famously tried to push the dream act, calling republican senators, try to get them to support it. he only got three republican senators to support it. has always talked about comprehensive immigration reform. the 11 senators still in the senate today just a few short years ago supported comprehensive reform. including john mccain. he has his name on the legislation. has turned their back. >> he did need the republican votes it the reason he couldn't pass it is because i think some of his critics, including in your community, said they didn't see the president out there pushing for it and pushing for it and pushing for it. >> the big thing president obama did on deportation, frankly, that's the -- that's the most significant thing in his record on immigration. >> i think last week was the most significant thing on his record in terms of immigration right now. >> and mitt romney was completely right, it was -- last week's announcement was a stop-gap measure. maria's right, obama has talked about immigration for the last 3 1/2 years. it's been about a sentence and a half in every one of his state of the unions and he has had a lot of meetings with folks like eva longoria and other celebrities. what he hasn't done is propose a real plan. he hasn't met with the congressional leaders who are the champions and have been the champions on reform. john mccain has told me he hasn't spoken to obama on immigration, has not gotten a call from him in months, if not year, and many of my democrat friends in the senate have told me exactly the same thing. i do want to correct, john, please, something that maria said in the earlier segment. she said mitt romney had said he would repeal barack obama'sly. you know -- >> i don't think we got a clear answer on that one. i don't think we know what he'll do. >> we didn't get a clear answer -- he said he was going to replace it -- >> -- put in his own permanent solution -- >> well, maria, unless he says it, i don't think it's clear, you know, it's not clear to me he's repealing it. i heard him say he wiould replae it -- >> by the way, there's clear -- there's clear legislation on comprehensive immigration reform. there's clear legislation that existed. so the president didn't have to present anything. he just needed for the 191 republican senators to not turn their back, to not say, we're not going to help this president because -- >> no, maria, a one-term president -- >> -- not to solve the big problem -- >> a president has a duty to lead. he has not led on immigration. >> he has talk to legislatures. he has talked to the community. >> the immigration proposal that exists on immigration is bush's proposal, not barack obama's -- >> i don't think we're going to settle this one tonight. i don't think there would be much grumbling, as many in the community think he should have spent more time on this early on. as you can see, we got a feisty debate. i want you two ladies to try to settle this one. we can fix it all by tomorrow. maria, thank you, ryan as well. now, the latest news you need to know. >> four middle schoolers have taken responsibility for bullying their school bus monitor. some was caught on video. listen to this. >> karen, you're so fat. you take up the whole seat. you look like a troll. >> if i stabbed you in the stomach, my knife would go through you like butter. >> i don't have a family because they didn't want to be near you. >> those words were cruel against the 68-year-old, whose son killed himself ten years ago. this took place, all this, in upstate new york. supporters have raised more than $300,000 on an internet campaign to send klein on a vacation of her dreams. and flash floods in duluth, minnesota, cause up to $80 million in infrastructure damage. just look at this video. streets have turneded into what looks like raging rivers. the unprecedented rainfall even drowned several zoo animals that were kacaught up in it. white americans now have 22 times more wealth than black americans according to new census numbers. you can see the huge difference in this graph. just look here. white house holds, median net worth hit over $110,000. asian house holds, nearly $70,000. hispanic households, $7,000. and black households, under $5,000. these gaps have gotten worse over the past few years. there are ten brands you know may be gone by next year. that's according to at least -- here are the top five. this is according to 24/7 wall street. they put this out every year. american airlines. you see talbots, current tv, research in motion. that's the company that makes blackberry. and pacific sunwear. the 24/7 wall street looked at several factors like big loss, drops in sales, as well as rising costs. other factors, inefficiency and losing their competitive edge. so those are -- it's not -- we don't know we're going to be losing these brands but they're in a little trouble. >> i think in ten years we'll have the airline. that's just my guess. we'll see. kate, stay right here. tight moment, moment you may have missed. mitt romney's five sons all squeezed on to conan o'brien's set last night. while we know the romney family loves pranks, we don't often get behind the scenes footage. check this out. >> governor, mitt romney, how are you? >> hi, how are you? >> i'm just fine, governor, how are you doing today? >> good. good. >> what can i do for you? >> i want to ask you a bunch of