on the state of michigan. the unemployment rate in the great lakes state is 9.1%. that is higher than the national rate and 6th highest in the country. the foreclosure rate in michigan is 1 in 607 housing units making it the 10th worst in the u.s. the state is $124 billion in debt. let s turn now to the bloody civil war in syria and there s new word from the defense secretary leon panetta that the assad regime appears to be slowing its preparations for the possible use of chemical weapons against rebel forces. all this as an activist group inside syria claims they are in full control of a massive military base not far from the country s largest city. national security correspondent jennifer giffin is following it from the pentagon. hi, jennifer. reporter: hi, alisyn. the pentagon never officially acknowledged the intelligence reports that the components for sarin nerve gas had been mixed. u.s. officials spoke on
hi, i m fred thompson. hi, i m henry winkler. reporter: critics say, tv commercials prey on seniors. the government is warning reverse mortgages are not free money. turn equity into tax free cash. give you tax free cash. they re not being told. about the downside. reporter: right now in america, 57 seniors in reverse mortgages are in danger of losing their homes. nearly 10% foreclosure rate, 4 times higher than traditional mortgages. the department of housing and urban development will recommend congress prohibit large lump sum payments and recommend seniors be careful with reverse mortgages. is the reverse mortgage the last option? i really think it should be, absolutely. reporter: an option. it is a wonderful house. reporter: linda mcmahon regrets taking. i hope somebody enjoys it. reporter: jim avila, abc news, washington. you have to feel for her, too.
in the reverse mortgage. hi, i m fred thompson. hi, i m henry winkler. reporter: critics say, tv commercials prey on seniors. the government is warning reverse mortgages are not free money. turn equity into tax free cash. give you tax free cash. they re not being told. about the downside. reporter: right now in america, 57,000 seniors in reverse mortgages are in danger of losing their homes. nearly 10% foreclosure rate, 4 times higher than traditional mortgages. the department of housing and urban development will recommend congress prohibit large lump sum payments and recommend seniors be careful with reverse mortgages. is the reverse mortgage the last option? i really think it should be, absolutely. reporter: an option. it is a wonderful house. reporter: linda mcmahon regrets taking. i hope somebody enjoys it. reporter: jim avila, abc news, washington. you have to feel for her, too. here s the problem in a nutshell. unlike traditional mortgage. make your p
hasn t voted republican in 1988. here is the 270 you need, right? president obama at 201. mitt romney at 191 on our map. if president obama wins pennsylvania, see how the numbers add up, if he wins ohio, you see numbers he picks up right now at 239? for governor romney, runs the south here with florida 29 and virginia at 15 and then, sorry, virginia 13 and north carolina at 15. he now is at 248. so you have one, two, three, four, five, six states in play. let s say nevada, to be economy poor out there. foreclosure rate is high. maybe mitt romney takes nevada. maybe also takes colorado. still doesn t get him there. he is at 263. now you see the importance of ohio. go ahead. ohio is ground zero. you need ohio. becomes very difficult for anybody, president included to put it together without ohio. ohio is bellwether state. whoever wins ohio in the last he will several decades
investigating and may decide to limit the amount of caffeine allowed in these energy drinks. right now soda does are a cap, energy drinks do not. back to you. jenna: that s an interesting fact, i didn t know that, rick. watch out. all right, thank you. jon: let s take you inside america s election headquarters once again and talk a little politics. you know, over the next two weeks the swing states can expect all kinds of attention a barrage of campaign ads and cam pawn visits are coming campaign visits are coming their way. tomorrow both president obama and governor romney will be making stops in the state of iowa. let s take a look at some of the stats that are important there. six electoral votes up for grabs, but those votes could be key in this very tight election. in terms of the economy, iowa is doing pretty well with an unemployment rate of only 5.2%. gas prices looking pretty good there, too, compared with the rest of the nation, $3.53 a gallon. the foreclosure rate one in e