an interesting outcome. this may be good news. plus, a school district that pays struggling students to go to summer school. talk about outrage. we re going to chat about that this morning. we re going to begin with the olympics and the night that was filled with so much promise and ended in so much disappointment for the u.s. men s gymnastics team after finishing first in the trials, they entered the finals last night as favorites. but a fall on the floor, two costly errors in the pommel horse and a fall on the vault undid team usa. halfway through six rotations they were in last place. last. but they rallied at the last minute to finish in fifth place. better, but still not great. amanda davies joins us from london. they were talking so big going into the finals. what happened? i think the mood in london at the olympic park today probably reflects the mood of the u.s. men s gymnastics team. gray and gloomy is the best way to sum it up. they were hotly tipped for a
members of the united states congress, people in imported positions of power who are pointing fingers at individuals working in this government making allegations or spreading innuendo about them without any direct evidence. they re dragging people s names and reputations through the mud. these are the five members of congress we re talking about. over the weekend, they ve got a new and powerful ally seem. he refers to congressman bachman and the others as the national security five. he blames political correctness to the threat. he goes on. the national security five are doing their duty and asking difficult questions designed to make america safer. asking the difficult question, he says. he says that critics are the five, in his words, the kind of willful blindness that keeps america at risk. now, they ve named these two to investigate muslim brotherhood infiltration. on the left is a member of president obama s homeland security advisory council. on the right is hillary cl
the olympics. that s right. a 16-year-old chinese swimmer wins the gold medal and denies that she is doping. ye shiwen set a record yesterday. on saturday, she won gold in the 400 meter individual medley. yesterday, the head of the world swimming association called her swim unbelievable. and suggested she may be doping. the young swimmer, she told reporters late last night and we are quoting here, my achievements derive from diligence and hard work. i will never use drugs. the chinese team is extremely strict on doping control. so i can assure you that it is not an issue with us. and women s gymnastics, the team finals happening right now. if the u.s. wins, it will be their first team gold since 1996. we ll keep you posted on that one. i want to go back to the swimming. the women s 200 meter freestyle happening in about two hours. 17-year-old american missy franklin, she is taking on the world record holder, that is fredricka pell greeny of italy. in men s swimming, michael p
there was plenty of talk about the dire consequences of the looming fiscal cliff. we re talking about tax cuts expiring for everyone automatically, payroll taxes going up, emergency unemployment benefits ending and, of course, the $1.2 trillion in so-called sequestration cuts. about half of that sum is going to come from defense. the obligation of the commander in chief is to act like the commander in chief, and that wld be to prevent these cuts, which in the words of his own secretary of defense, would devastate our national security. interesting, acting like a commander in chief, because a lot of the previous commanders in chief have done a lot more than barack obama may be about to do. we ve certainly been here before. ronald reagan during his second term cut defense spending by about 10%. the cold war was winding down. those cuts continued under former president george h.w. bush, about 18% in cuts. and then former president clinton. clinton did start to increase defen
good evening from london and day three of the spectacular olympic games. behind me is the aquatic center. a new world record. an extraordinary achievement. a devastating loss for u.s. gymnast jordan wieber. leaving her team and country shocked. finishing out of the medal race. and gymnast twisting and turning in their seats as they watch her perform. for sheer drama, nothing can quite match the u.s. men s team and the ongoing battle for glory between michael phelps and ryan lochte. are we witnessing a changing of the guard? with me now on our big story is olympic legend mark spitz. also with me is christine brennan, sports columnist for usa today. welcome to you both. mark, let me go to you first. because you we watching a little earlier the astonishing race where everyone assumed it would be a easy comfortable win for ryan lochte. this french swimmer has taken the scruff of the neck of the swimming competition and changed the whole game, hasn t he? i think all of us have