-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> we begin in wisconsin where voters have three more hours to cast ballots in an effort to recall their republican governor scott walker and replace him with the democratic mayor tom barrett. both parties see it as a potential weather vane for november's election. the exit polls are fascinating to begin with, number one and number two show a very close race and how polarized and partisan the electorate is. we mentioned governor walker's efforts to limit collective bargaining rights, strongly disapprove of the efforts, 38% of those voting today strongly days prove but let's come to the other end, 37% strongly approve, that tells you why we think this is going to be a close race as we go through, the others in the middle there. that's the defining issue in the race. look at the electorate again today another close divide, 35% of those voting today are democrats, 33% are republicans, we get that to highlight, 32% of the electorate today independents so a closely bre breakdown in the election results. income you see diverse electorate, the classic middle class voter, 50,000 to 75,000, that's 25% of the electorate today, 50% for the incumbent, 49% for the democratic challenger among the middle class voters in the early waves of exit polls a dead heat, telling us we're likely to have a very close election. let's look at this, this is a recall election. people are clearly fed up with the polarization in their state, 50% have an unfavorable view of the republican party, 47% say favorable. you might think that benefits the democrats. not so much. 50% the exact same number have an unfavorable view of the democratic party, 47% a favorable view. let answer get out to the ground there, three more hours to vote. senior congressional correspondent dana bash is at governor walker's headquarters. what is the move on the incumbent side in this huge recall? >> reporter: the incumbents got off the phone with an official in wisconsin saying they are cautiously optimistic. there are a lot of nerves in the cautious optimism. we're hearing from the republican side and the democratic side and state officials that turnout across the state is incredibly high, and when it comes to governor walker, they are happy about the fact that it is high in some of the places that they really need the voter turnout to be up, for example where i am right now in wakeshaw. i talked to someone who said this is off the charts and the money and income issue in some of the wealthier areas we're also hearing that turnout is up, so that is making republicans certainly happy but they are really not betting anything, because they also know on the democratic side turnout is up in some of their key areas, john. >> i talked to a republican not that long ago said we're done biting our fingernails and on to our toenails because of the turnout operation. i want to talk about the money being spent, unprecedented amounts of money, tens and tens of millions of dollars. was the money well spent? only 3% of the voters today say they decided today. only 4% in the last few days so you've had millions and millions of dollars spent on television ads, look at this, 88% of the people who voted today say they decided before may so dana, whether or not that money was well spent or not, there's a ton of it, right? >> reporter: there is a ton of it. i got to tell you coming into this state talking to people on both sides they knew from internal polling it was a very small number of undecided voters, but that did not stop them from raising already about total $63.5 million. we could expect at the end of the day, $80 million. i want to you look at the gulf of money raised between these two candidates. tom barrett, the mayor of milwaukee, the democratic candidate $4 million. scott walker outspent him by 7.5 times, $30.5 million, and it's not just that. the money that walker has gotten just gives you an indication of how nationalized this race has become and 70% of it has come in the last month from outside of this state, john, and i just want to you look at these huge numbers because you have really yet to see them to believe them. he got enormous checks from people like bob perry, who is a well-known republican fund-raiser, half a million dollars, $250,000 from a couple of others and the list goes on. you just have to see it to believe it to know how mind-blowing these dollars are that have come in for the recall election in this state. >> and how much republican donors view it as a national contest. dana bash at walker headquarters, thank you. ted rowlands at the wisconsin state house in madison. as i bring you into the conversation, this will make the democratic side happy. is someone in your household a union member? 32% said yes. that's up from 2010. here's one to counter balance in voting by age, 63 and older generally a more reliable republican constituency also up a bit. ted looks like both sides are getting out their vote. what is the view of mayor barrett's team? >> reporter: well i just talked to jim dean from democracy of america, john, and he also is cautiously optimistic so a lot of people cautiously optimistic because of the voter turnout numbers that they're getting from their people on the ground here. one thing in particular, they're very pleased with apparently they claim they're getting reports that more ballots were needed in a north milwaukee area where they are very strong, they're looking at that as a very positive indication, but i think everybody's biting both the fingernails and the toenails on both sides with three hours left to go here. >> cnn's ted rowlands at the democratic head quarters, we'll keep in touch with ted as well. it's a massive recall. the wisconsin vote something being watched for its potential national implications and governors of both parties who want to see whether voters reward or punish governor walker for the bruising battles of his first two years. martin o'malley is maryland's governor and head of the democratic governors association. as you watch the voting and you were campaigning for mayor barrett, the democratic candidate, what will the message be? >> i think that the message that tom barrett's been taking across wisconsin is, look, we had to stop fighting one another and start fighting for jobs and for opportunity. this sort of ideological effort to roll back workers' rights, roll back womens' rights and voting rights, none of those things create jobs and as a result wisconsin has been 50 out of 50 states in the rate of job creation so i think that is the main thrust and the main message here and it will be very interesting to see, you know, if mayor barrett pulls this off, this will be one of the biggest upsets in modern american history. he's been outspent 7:1 and the race is yet coming down to the wire. >> if he doesn't pull it off, what's the message then? >> it will be interesting to see how you handicap this as we roll out of here but every race is important to us. we'd love to see wisconsin join the ranks of those states that have effective leadership instead of ideological leadership that has wisconsin creating jobs and expanding opportunity again. >> you make the case for how important it is and yet the leader of your party, the president of the united states has been in the view of many democrats i've spoken to out in wisconsin m.i.a. he did send out a tweet and e-mail this morning to his list in wisconsin, but the president didn't go to wisconsin and campaign. if you talk to some democrats they say he's risk averse, some say it's selfish. >> i wouldn't agree with that. it's a tricky thing here. governors, i mean the people at every state select their own governor and i think the appearance of the president has the potential to nationalize a race that, quite frankly, should be about whether or not the people of wisconsin are creating jobs and expanding opportunity again, so the chair of the dnc was there. the grassroots organization is certainly on the ground. the president and all of his people are supportive of that. >> whether the president goes out there or not or nationalizes only the voters of wisconsin can vote in the election, what is the fear of nationalizing it if that's the term you want to use, the president going out there? are you afraid if he went out there it would motivate republicans, might hurt your chances? >> i don't determine the schedule and i don't determine that sort of strategy. i can tell you this, that the grassroots effort that's going on in wisconsin is no doubt every person that's working for mayor barrett knows that president obama would like to see wisconsin effectively led by an effective democratic governor. >> the state hasn't voted republican for president since ronald reagan's 49:1 sweep. do you think it will matter in that regard? >> i'm not sure. every race is different. i believe that president obama will carry wisconsin in the fall. you see auto manufacturing being turned around. you see that our nation instead of losing jobs every month has had 27 months of positive job creation, so there's ups and downs ahead of us but overall i believe that the president's going to carry wisconsin, what this means in terms of a bellwether for the presidential i'm not sure. i know a lot of people will be watching this in terms of these new rules that allow unlimited out-of-state big time billionaire money to come in and put points and commercials underneath facts that in the last week are sometimes made up false and dubious. >> governor o'malley, i appreciate your time. we'll touch base in the days ahead. >> thanks a lot. >> thank you, sir. next bill clinton goes off message, way off message, his latest comments sure to raise hackles at the obama re-election campaign. the dot on the face of the sun is the earth sized planet venus. you're looking at fascinating live pictures. stand by, we've get more spectacular views. 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>> helpful to the press. he is like covering teddy roosevelt after he left office. he rattled the cages today but give him credit. he told the truth and people in washington are not often doing that right now. most americans -- >> people in chicago probably don't appreciate that. >> probably right now most americans think we're in a recession. importantly bill clinton even as he took on the republicans and you pointed out he did say the republicans were wrong about trying to make permanent tax cuts and wrong about going to austerity but we should look at and he would favor extending all the tax cuts, all of the bush tax cuts and the obama tax cuts for a few months into next year to help the recovery. there are a lot of americans who believe that, and more importantly, john, too many people in washington have refused to face what's going to come after this election and he's helping to get the ignite debate. >> to ignite an important debate for the country which has the potential of a fiscal cliff. however there's one important person the incumbent president of the united states who says the bush tax cuts should expire, wealthy americans pay more, the buffett rule or some other way. what bill clinton says you can do as long as you can get the right price from the house republicans is contrary to that. >> absolutely he's saying we don't decouple now. it's the wrong thing to do. remember, though, this is what president obama himself did a year ago. he extended all the tax cuts for a full year. >> his base didn't like it. >> his base didn't like it but this could give the president some cover. i have to tell you this, bill clinton tells the truth but he's also the best spokesman for obama on many issues. last night he gave a very, very strong endorsement of the president. i talked to people there at the fund-raiser. they said bill clinton did a better job of framing the choice for obama in full than did obama himself. >> how he made himself national politics on the economic argument in 1992, but he could be giving the president some cover you mentioned. >> right. >> the president may feel no choice if the economy stays sluggish and the contagion from europe stays, he may feel no choice, but can the president in the united states in a 50/50 presidential election where turnout of the base will be critical in the big battlegrounds go back to his liberal base and say nevermind again? twice he's angered them by extending the bush tax cuts. >> i think he can go back to his base and say it's too early to make the calls and we'll decide this after the election. >> how can he say that? >> he can be very clear as bill clinton was, he does not want to extend all the tax cuts permanently and does not want an austerity program next year that could throw us into recession but i think bill clinton has given him a way out to deal with this period and it can start this debate. i mean, one of the things that's happening, john, if you talk to business guys here in new york you'll find they'll tell you, the fa kt that noboct that nobo will happen at the end of the year is dampening investment and job creation. if the congress and the president would get going and say extend the tax cuts for three months, that would help the climate, if they were to pass that right now. >> to pass that now would require the president to completely rewrite what he's telling the american people is the defining economic challenge in the election. >> what the most important responsibility is for the president to govern well. >> you just framed the choice. govern or politics. we appreciate your time. michelle obama has a new convert to her fight to help people eat better. queen elizabeth's heartfelt thank you after four days of spectacular celebration of her diamond jubilee. 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. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ helping you do what you do... on my journey across america, i found new ways to tell people about saving money. this is bobby. say hello bobby. hello bobby. do you know you could save hundreds on car insurance over the phone, online or at your local geico office? tell us bobby, what would you do with all those savings? hire a better ventriloquist. your lips are moving. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's putting more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy this year. in pipes, cement, steel, jobs, energy. we need to get the wheels turning. i'm proud of that. making real things... for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪ welcome back. here's kate bolduan with the news you should know now. >> yesterday a u.s. drone kills al qaeda's number two man. the terror group will have a hard time replacing him because no one comes close in terms of expertise. he even escaped from bagram air force base in afghanistan in 2005. the first eight people have been selected as jurors in the child rape trial of jerry sandusky, the former assistant football coach at penn state. the judge says the jury will not be sequestered and the court says opening statements will start monday at the earliest. it's been more than six months since sandusky was arrested and accused of abussing ten boys over a period of 15 years. and back in the u.s., over here, in california, smokers might have to pay double the tax for a pack of cigarettes. voters head to the polls today to decide on proposition 29. it would raise the tax by an additional $1. the tax is expected to bring in more than $700 million for the state and three-quarters of the revenue would go to cancer research. michelle obama has a new ally in her work against chile hood obesitobesity, mickey mous walt disney company is banning junk food advertising from its programs for kids under the age of 12, and they're stamping a so-called mickey check label on the healthier foods in stores. the first lady joined the disney ceo in the announcement saying the move is "a game changer for the health of our children." so mickey's getting fit, john. >> i'm going to check your lurching from now on, kate, to make sure it has the mickey stamp of approval. >> very well, well you know my eating h