a commuter airliner and two other planes dangerously close to one another. it happened at washington's reagan national airport. and in an extraordinary move, the faa administrator and the transportation secretary came out today to talk about what happened. our brian todd is at the airport. brian. >> reporter: yeah, candy. extraordinary because for the first time we're getting the hard information from america's two top transportation officials that this was really too close a call. they came out in a hastily called news conference to say, yes, it was too close a call. another part of that news conference they really want to brush back on initial media reports saying that these planes were on a collision course. they're saying they would not have collided. that would not have happened. essentially the way they lay it out is this. it all played out pretty much over where i'm standing here tuesday afternoon. there was a whole line of planes coming in from that direction toward me to land at that tarmac right there. at some point a regional control center miles away from here made the call to switch directions because the weather at that time was doing kind of what it's doing now, it was changing and the wind was shifting. they said everybody switch directions. everybody's now going to land this way from north to south. and they're going to all take off this way from north to south. well, that order somehow got lost in the communication. and while an incoming plane was traveling this way to land at that tarmac north to south, two planes over here were cleared to takeoff from south that way this way. translation, they were heading right for each other. two planes, one after the other taking off heading toward an incoming plane. now, at that moment very sortly after that mistake had happened the controller in this tower behind me at reagan national caught it and ordered the incoming plane to turn in that direction to his right. and it avoided a possible collision. but here's what the pilot said to the controller in the moments right after that. >> 180, we were cleared back there. what happened. >> 3329 standby, we're trying to figure out that too. stand by. >> reporter: and so at that point a possible collision was avoided. again, top transportation officials saying even if the controller had not made that call, these three planes would not have hit each other. this is the faa administrator earlier today. >> it is important the planes were on different headings and at different altitudes, so they would not have collided. >> reporter: slight correction. that's the faa administrator saying these two planes would not have collided. mainly he says because the plane taking off was at a higher altitude, 800 feet above the incoming plane, and they would not have collided. they're still saying this was a close call. there was a miscommunication here, candy. they are investigating. >> so are -- is there any preliminary guesses -- was it communicated and not heard? or was the weather change not communicated in the first place? >> that is really at the crux of the matter. i pressed the two top transportation officials. was it a miscommunication from the regional center to this control tower? or this control tower here not communicated properly to the planes in question? they said they don't know yet. they are looking into that. clearly there was a breakdown in communication somewhere along the line. but they are quick to praise the controller in this tower who caught the error and diverted that incoming plane. >> i imagine they will find out. they may not have been on a collision course, but it was certainly too close to anybody on the plane i'm sure. thanks so much, brian todd. appreciate it. now to politics. president obama's in another must-win state right now. this time he's hoping to convince florida voters to igre the unemployment numbers due out tomorrow and focus instead on mitt romney's tax plans. cnn white house correspondent dan lothian is traveling with the president. dan. >> reporter: well, you know the president is really fighting hard to win the battleground state of florida. today he was trying to draw that contrast between his policies and the policies of mitt romney specifically when it comes to tax policies. he also talked about what he's doing to help the middle class. now, the president is up by six points here in the sunshine state. but there's still 95 days and nine hours until election day. president obama is trying to convince florida voters that even with a high unemployment rate in the sunshine state of 8.6%, his economic policies are working and that he deserves four more years. >> we've been able to see 4.5 million jobs created. that's why we've been able to see the housing market just barely slowly start to tick back up. that's the reason that we've seen the auto industry come all the way back. >> reporter: the message team obama wants voters to get is this, mitt romney's tax policies will hurt, not help, the middle class. >> the top one-tenth of 1% would get a tax cut under mr. romney's plan of almost a quarter of a million dollars, $250,000 would go to folks making $3 million a year or more. >> now he has a plan that would give millionaires another tax break. >> reporter: it's a message playing over and over in a new campaign ad that airs in florida and seven other battleground states. >> raises taxes on middle class families by up to $2,000 a year. >> reporter: but in this battle for florida, there's always a counterpunch. as mitt romney campaigned in colorado, his top surrogate in florida and potential running mate, senator marco rubio, was at an event not far from the president's rally. he accused the president of making a bad economy worse and mr. obama might raise taxes to historic levels. then he delivered a compliment and jab in the same breath. >> his presidency's been a historic disaster. >> reporter: and the romney campaign continues to use the president's own words from a speech in virginia last month to highlight what they say makes him unfit to fix the economy. >> if you got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> reporter: even though the obama re-election campaign says those words are being taken out of context, 13 video billboards are up in the orlando area drawing attention to what he said. and offering rebuttals from voters. now, a senior obama campaign official told me that they believe that this issue of the focus on taxes is resonating with voters so expect that the president to hit that in the coming days. on a lighter note, candy, just before the president began his formal remarks here today, the crowd started singing happy birthday to him. his birthday is this coming saturday. the president thanked them and said winning florida would not be a bad birthday present. >> well, we'll see. a long time between now and november. but he's right. it would be a great birthday present for him anyway. thanks so much, dan lothian. mitt romney is in another swing state, colorado. he isn't about to let anyone forget about jobs and unemployment. >> this is important. getting america working, this isn't a statistic we're talking about. 23 million americans out of work or underemployed, 23 million. it's a tragedy. it's a moral failing for a country as successful and wealthy as ours to have had policies that kept people from going to work. >> cnn chief political analyst, gloria borger, is here. gloria, the president hitting mitt romney both on his tax plan and on his wealth. you know, a lot of democrats have been kind of worried at least about the wealth part. it says to me that he believes this kind of attack is working. >> yeah. i do think they believe they're attack is working. what they're trying to do is essentially disqualify mitt romney over the summer. and what they're saying is not only is he wealthy, because that in and of itself is certainly not a disqualifier, but that he's completely out of touch. that he pays a 14% tax rate. and guess what? you don't get to pay a 14% tax rate. so this is the way they say to the american people he's different, that there are two sets of rules. one set of rules for you and me. and another set of rules for mitt romney. and they believe as dan was saying that that has a lot of resonance with the voters. for example, the polls show that the voters want to repeal the tax cuts for the wealthy. so the president's on terra firm when it comes to that issue. >> mitt romney back on the campaign trail today also talking about -- anything new? >> there's nothing really new. it's all about the economy. as the president was in the important swing state of florida, mitt romney released a campaign ad in that state. let's take a look at a little of it. >> four years ago barack obama was concerned about florida's economy. >> when wages are flat, prices are rising, more and more americans are mired in debt, our economy as a whole suffers. >> but under president obama 8.6% unemployment, record foreclosures -- >> so there are lots of people who believe that in a state like florida that mitt romney ought to be doing better because the economy is not doing well there. but we just had a battleground state that came out this week which showed that mitt romney is six points behind the president in florida. and the campaign -- the romney campaign believes florida is really a must-win for them. that's not really great news. >> yeah. but speaking of maybe not great news, we're expecting some unemployment jobless figures for the month of july tomorrow. >> right. >> we often talk about how the economy under george h.w. bush was getting better. >> that's right. >> when he lost his re-election, but folks didn't feel it. they already made up their minds about the economy. are we at that state in this race yet? >> well, it depends who you talk to. democratic pollsters will say, no, no, people haven't quite gelled yet and republicans will say, yes, they have. people understand things are getting worse and the polls bear that out. a majority of americans believe things are getting worse. if there's not good economic news on friday, i think you'd have to say that public opinion would be jelling against the president. so that's not good news for him. but here's what the campaign looks at. let's take a look at this. at the unemployment rates in the key battleground states. and you see there that in four of the seven battleground states, the unemployment rate is actually lower in florida and nevada. those are places where it's higher than the national average. that's another reason people are saying, why isn't mitt romney doing better in the state of florida if the unemployment rate is higher than the national average? so this right now -- this, you know, snapshot, works to the president's advantage to a degree because in some of these battleground states they're not feeling it as badly as they are in the rest of the country. >> such a small margin of people who haven't made up their minds yet these numbers may in fact -- >> one out of ten maybe. >> gloria borger, thanks very much. >> sure. here's a look at some of the other political headlines making news on the cnn political ticker. more uncertainty for california democratic congresswoman waters. the house ethic's committee is extending the contract of special council billy martin. he's investigating waters' alleged reference of a bailout of a bank in which her husband had a financial interest. with the contract extension, the waters investigation could cost taxpayers $1.3 million. and by voice vote today the house of representatives reprimanded california democratic congressman laura richardson. an ethics committee investigation found she misused her congressional staff by making them do campaign work. richardson apologized just before the vote but also took issue with some of the allegations. the reprimand carries a $10,000 fine. former california governor arnold schwarzenegger is getting his own think tank. the l.a. times reports he's funding the usc schwarzenegger institute for state and global policy. it will bring together experts to think up bipartisan solutions to environmental problems, economic policy, political reform and other public policy issues. for complete political coverage, be sure to read the ticker on cnnpolitics.com. you're looking right now we hope at some dramatic images out of litchfield, illinois, where a megabus has crashed on highway 55. we are monitoring this and we'll bring you the latest details. and still ahead, more than half the counties in the u.s. are disaster zones because of the drought. but coming up why congress probably won't lift a finger to help all the ranchers and livestock producers who are hurting. also, kofi annan gives up syria and takes a few parting shots of his own. for you new city dwellers, a new report might change your mind about renting. this is new york state. we 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to be able to walk again... it was a pretty bad accident but shriners showed me who i could be again. they turned my whole life around. hunter's life is one of nearly a million changed by donations from people like you. send your love to the rescue. donate today. we have been monitoring a megabus accident of some sort. we're told about 20 ambulances on the scene in litchfield, illinois, which is just north of st. louis. it's on i-55. we're told the interstate is now closed to traffic. you can see those pictures there. i want to bring in trooper doug frances of the illinois state police. trooper frances, give us what you know right now. >> okay. the bus hit the bridge abutment at 1:22 is when we received the call. we are told it blew a tire. the bus did not roll over. it stayed upright. and at this time 30 ambulances were dispatched to the scene. ten medical helicopters and seven fire departments were dispatched to the scene. at this time i don't have the number of injuries or the number of people on board. i do not have their destination. >> okay. let me just back up a little bit. so it hit this bridge abutment, but i'm assuming we're seeing on the pictures which you may not be able to see. so it was on the road, blew a tire and then swerved off the road and hit the abutment? is that what happened? >> that would be correct. >> so with the 30 ambulances, is that standard amount? or must somebody have had some idea of injuries there? >> usually they send ambulances until they tell them to stop sending ambulances. >> okay. and we are seeing helicopters. are those life flight helicopters in there? do you have any reports on the kinds of injuries we're looking at? >> no. i do not have the reports on the types of injuries at this time. >> okay. that's trooper doug francis with the illinois state police helping us get some information on a bus crash in litchfield, illinois. right now as you can see an unfolding situation. certainly cnn will continue to uncover it. thank you so much, trooper francis, for being with us. now, take a look at the latest drought report mapping out today. nearly half of the continental u.s. is orange or red. and that represents severe drought or worse. that's not just farmland in trouble. livestock producers are suffering. and they're not going to get any help from congress. our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, is live on capitol hill. dana, we know congress is headed out of town without a -- to a specific part of the population hurt by this drought. >> reporter: that's right. first, i want you to look at this, candy, from all your years covering congress this is a familiar scene to you as i know. all of the cars waiting for members to come out to take them to the airport and take them out of town for summer recess. as you mentioned, before they do that they're going to have what we understand a nail-biter of a vote to give just a small portion of those hit hard some quick relief. but according to the people in the senate they're not going to pass it. a hard-hit hog farm in iowa. livestock producers are devastated by drought, but they're not getting the federal aid most farmers are. livestock is not covered by key government programs. why? because of an accounting trick to save money in the farm bill four years ago. congress eliminated federal aid for livestock in 2012, this year. and, oops, it turned out to be the biggest drought in half a century. >> it expired because they were playing a gimmick to keep the costs of the last farm bill down. so it turned around and bit them in the behind. >> reporter: in a mad dash to act before leaving for summer break, the house took up a $383 million bill to restore four expired programs, for livestock, certain trees, honey bees and farm-raised fish. >> we can't gamble with people's lives and businesses here. >> reporter: freshman republican a rancher and farmer herself argues the aid now is crucial. >> our livestock guys take just as much risk as any other farmer or rancher out there. and they need to have some kind of protection in situations like these. >> reporter: but in the senate, democrats refuse to pass drought relief before leaving town. why? bare knuckle negotiating. democrats like agriculture chairwoman worry a short-term fix will undermine their long-term five-year farm bill which includes disaster relief and reforms scores of farm programs. in the optics of congress leaving town with the worst drought in half a century and not doing something, not so good? >> the optics are in this building. if we get out in the real world, that's not what we're hearing from farmers and ranchers. farmers and ranchers want us to get the job done. they want a five-year farm bill. they want disaster assistance. i intend to do both. >> reporter: why not pass that five-year farm bill? a candid house speaker admitted he doesn't have the votes. >> the house is pretty well divided. frankly i haven't seen 218 votes in the middle t