outcome, ohio. where the candidates spoke speaks volumes in the battleground. in northeast ohio, blue from 2008, cuyahoga county, democrats must dominate to win close races statewide. mitt romney was here, hamilton county, where cincinnati is in the southwest corner. pivotal for republicans in close statewide races. may notice president obama carried that area or part of it in 2008. republican challenger hopes to look at the last three plus years, convinces voters not to give the incumbent four more. look at what we're talking about. look at the past three plus years, governor romney would make this case. unemployment rate when the president took office, 7.8. where is it now? 8.2%. same time frame, again, the nation lost, there's the math, more than 600,000 manufacturing jobs. >> my experience in thinking about people who i want to have work for me, whether my doctor or the person that is painting the house, i want them to do a good job the first time, and if they didn't, i want someone that can do a better job. >> in ohio, a state that's essential to romney's path to the electoral votes. let's take another look. romney can make the case manufacturing jobs are down, 23,000 in the past three plus years. look at the unemployment rate since obama took office. 7.4% now, 8.6% when he assumed the presidency. >> of course the economy isn't where it needs to be. of course we have more work to do. everybody knows that. the debate in this election is about how we grow faster and how we create more jobs and how we pay down our debt. >> chief white house correspondent, jessica young and gloria borger join us. big day in the state of ohio. jess, you hear both candidates, predictable, both explaining positions to voters. i say it to be a bit critical i guess, not much outside the box or bold, fairly predictable, yes? >> yeah, and it was more pressure frankly on the president. he is the one that went out, saying they planned this speech to reframe the choice in this election. what he gave was a forceful defense of his record. he said repeatedly he has made progress. not only did he not outline new ideas to jump start or move the economy forward, he didn't outline a new frame to understand the choice, and john, you could say this is the second time in the last week and a half he has gone out to talk about the economy without really offering something new. >> i think it is a reflection in part of how close the race is. both candidates are being safe. others may say they're being timid. focus on governor romney a second. he is down in that part of the state that's absolutely critical. he knows four years ago, president obama carried hamilton county. republicans are still embarrassed by that one. most of his speech was how the guy had three-and-a-half years, haept done that much. has he been proactive about here is what i would do? >> obviously his preferred choice is to make this a referendum on president obama, so he wants to say we have given him three-and-a-half years, it's not working, now you have to give me a chance. i would argue and lots of other -- lots of republicans argued, including governor walker of wisconsin, just as barack obama may need a vision, economic vision, so does mitt romney. he has a 59 point plan, a muddle. who knows what's in it, 59 points, people don't. they're saying you have to narrow, simplify, focus the economic message beyond this is what i would do day one, this is what i would do in the first 100 days, give people something to vote for rather than asking them to vote against president obama. >> and jess, you mention a critical point. we have an incumbent president. the threshold is first, are we open to having him back. if they answer no, governor romney's path is easier as it was for a guy named governor clinton in the 1992 election. listen to the president. he tried to convince voters i am trying, i need more time. >> recovering from the crisis of 2008 has always been the first and most urgent order of business, but it's not enough. our economy won't be truly healthy until we reverse that much longer and profound erosion of middle class jobs and middle class incomes. >> it is a very different framing from the bit last night, in february, 2009, weeks after taking office, he said if i haven't turned this around in three years, it is a one term proposition. now he is saying it is an eight year proposition. >> look, maybe what he could do is come out, wonder if he shouldn't come out, say maybe, maybe we underestimated to quote george w. bush, wasn't he the one that said it, the depth of the recession, the depth of the hole we were in, and that we inherited something, a much more protracted recession and we realized and it will take longer to dig out of it. it is like running against george w. bush again, saying this is a major disaster we were handed, we did our best, made progress, but those guys really put us in a hole. and it is no surprise he is saying that because gallup polling shows as much as americans, majority blame the president for the u.s. economy shape, more blame george w. bush. >> the public doesn't blame bush, they're not interested in hearing that. >> even if they blame george w. bush more than barack obama, george w. bush won't be on the ballot in november. >> right. and it is a leadership question. they don't want a president that whiens about what a terrible situation he is in and woe i me. they want somebody that can lea ks woulde gone to the what both of them talked about today, economic the world changed. we know job growth is less robust than people predicted, we know the european crisis is effecting the united states. will either of these guys change their plans to adapt to today or are they just going to stay in their predictability. >> it is hard to no honestly. i think they're in their safe corners right now. you have to see where this is at the end of the summer, as you head into the convention speeches. some democrats suggested to me that the convention speech for president obama as well as for mitt romney is the place where you can start defining your campaign. that's when people start paying attention. i think today they were playing it safe. >> playing it safe. jess, the convention with your we draw the line. >> won't change policy prescriptions and message unless polling tanks and he is forced to. this is the track he's on for awhile. but i would make that they're committed to for now at least. i would make the point that the reason he is blaming bush, he is making the case that mitt romney is bush 2.0. you vote for mitt romney, you get the policies that george w. bush was advocating, that's the point. since we are not getting it, i don't think voters will. >> jessica yellin, gloria borger, thanks. next, we will deal into the romney and obama economic plan. and a week of wrenching testimony wraps up. the prosecution isn't finished with the sex abuse case against the former penn state football coach, jerry sandusky. our cloud is not soft and fluffy. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. verizon. but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. well hello, welcome to hotels.com. summer road trip, huh? 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>> i don't think he needs to change anything. there's more urgency to doing the things he wants to do, some simple, improving the keystone pipeline, create jobs and closer to energy independence, others take more time. >> your candidate is the incumbent, governor o'malley. republicans want to extend bush tax cuts, maybe the president should exchange that for infrastructure and exchange to keep the police and firefighters and teachers. would that be a deal worth cutting before the election? >> i think the president is open to anything that accelerates this recovery. republicans are opposed to anything that accelerates the recovery. right now, we may well be going through a rough patch, but the direction is forward. we need to restore the balance that was lost during the disastrous decisions of the bush presidency and need to keep moving the country forward, expanding jobs and creating opportunity. >> vin weber, if the president extended all bush tax cuts for a year because of this precarious situation, take away some uncertainty, in return give me construction spending, keep the firefighters and police on the payroll, would that work or is that a bad idea. >> i think the governor thinks spending is a problem now, not a solution. certainly extending the tax cuts, bush obama tax cuts, because president obama signed them into extension once would be the right thing to do. coupling that with an increase in spending is not necessarily the right thing to do. >> governor o'malley, both of you have been incumbent politicians. sometimes life and politics isn't fair. you look at the president's predicament. some compare to 1992 to president hw bush. the economy was coming back, then goes back. two steps forward, one back. when you look at it historically, how steep is the hill for the president. forget he is a democrat. >> this is a tough part in america's history, but i think the president rises to that occasion and we all need to rise to that occasion as well. look, he has been responsible for the smallest spending growth rates in the federal spending of any president since eisenhower. that's a fact. what some of the romney camp would like to create is an alternative universe where you can eat cake, lose weight, and that's not the way the world works. >> when president obama says you're getting george w. bush again, give me one or two specific policy examples where he is different and helps the economy and creates job. >> governor has a tax proposal that applies to people making less than $200,000 a year to encourage them to invest. we need people to invest, get the average person to have renewed confidence in the free enterprise system. that's not something president bush ever proposed. >> appreciate your time today. thank you. coming up, the pentagon puts the finishing touches on contingency plans for u.s. military intervention in syria. and coming up, find out how many people are questioning whether god exists. isn't it time the automobile advanced? 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. welcome back. here is lisa sylvester with the latest news you need to know. >> the pept gone has a plan for how to use u.s. troops in syria, in case axis ordered. the military tells cnn it finished its assessment of what units would be used, how many troops, and even how much some operations would cost. the news comes on a violent die as a suicide bomber blew up a bomb filled bus in the capital city of damascus. at least 60 people killed reportedly nationwide. secretary of state hillary clinton has simple pointed advice for north korea's new leader, kim john un. >> put the north korean people first, rather than spending money on implements of war, feed your people. >> clinton's comment during a meeting with south korean officials on how to deal with the north's threat of weapons launches and weapons tests. and some good news on the economy today. inflation is down thanks to lower gas prices. consumer price index fell .3% in may. it is the biggest monthly drop since december of 2008. and the value of raising a child may be priceless to you, the federal government says it will cost about $235,000 for babies born in 2011. check out the money spent in the first 17 years of life. more than $70,000 on housing, almost $40,000 on food, and a little more for child care and education. all told, about $8,000 more expensive than it was in 2010. we both have young children, kids in diapers, a story we can both relate to. >> i am a little short. $235,000. okay. yeah. >> i think a lot of parents out there are doing the exact same thing, thinking oh, my goodness, i had no idea, that expensive. >> can i trade in one of the older ones. all right. see you in a bit, thanks. there was a potentially dangerous turn in one of the countries caught up in arab spring. some call it a bloodless coup. and after four days of harrowing testimony in the jerry sandusky trial, a break. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. this half hour, jerry sandusky called himself the tickle monster according to one of the accusers. pouring over the testimony in the child rape case, the former sex crime prosecutor including allegations of what happened in a locker shower. and a speech from president obama and challenger mitt romney. the truth about why they are heavy on words, light on substance. more people doubting the existence of god. we ask what's behind this lack of belief with young people. two more alleged victims took the stand against former coach, jerry sandusky. victim number six told the courtroom sandusky molested him in a gym shower in 1998 when he was 11 years old. he said sandusky picked him up to rinse his hair and said i'm going to squeeze your guts out. he says that's the last thing i remember about being in the shower, it is all black. the boy's mother reported it to police but it was not investigated and no charges were filed. wendy, good to see you. wish the circumstances were better. if you notice a pattern, you notice a pattern from young people testify