tara mergener for cbs news, capitol hill. >>> if the committee votes to hold the attorney general in contempt, then the full house will consider that charge and if the full house votes to hold him in contempt, the matter will go to the democratically controlled senate where it is likely to die. >>> former d.c. council member harry thomas, jr. checked into a federal prison camp today. he will begin serving a 38- month sentence for stealing $350,000 from city youth programs. thomas admitted to spending the money on luxury vehicles and lavish trips. he will serve his sentence in montgomery, alabama. he could be released as early as february 200015. >>> u.s. military investigators are suggesting that troops that burned qurans in afghanistan be punished. several of the muslim holy books were thrown into a garbage fire pit back in february. the punishments could range from a letter in their file to docking their pay. the recommendations are still under review by the pentagon. >>> former egyptian president hosni mubarak is off of life support. however, he's still -- he still remains in a co

we get the latest now from tara mergener. >> reporter: attorney general eric holder is holding out hope negotiations can still resolve the showdown with congress. >> i think the possibility still exists that it can happen in that way. >> reporter: a republican led house committee voted on wednesday to hold him in contempt. >> the ayes have it. >> reporter: four refusing -- for refusing to turn over more documents in the investigation of a failed gun smuggling sting. the program was called fast and furious and allowed thousands of guns to cross the border into mexico. holder's office has already turned over thousands of documents and he says he offered to compromise with the republicans on releasing more. >> we put before the committee a proposal that would have allowed for a resolution of that matter consistent with the way in which these have been resolved in the past through negotiations. >> reporter: but here on capitol hill, republicans accuse the administration of a coverup. they want the full house to vote next week on whether to hold the attorney general in contempt. the white ho

tara mergener for cbs news, the white house. >> the president also told the crowd his jobs act would put millions of lat teen mows to work and -- latinos to work and the health care reform helps latinos more than any other ethnic group. >>> a mechanic of the house of delegates is resigning over an extramarital affair. david englin will leave office the end of august. he first spoke publicly about the affair in april when he announced wee not seek reelection. he says the needs the time to focus on repairing his marriage. >>> dick cheney's openly gay daughter mary got married to her partner during a ceremony today in d.c. the former vice president issued a statement saying he was delighted his daughter and her partner were able to have their partnership recognized. the newlyweds have two young children and live in virginia. >>> mother nature is taking care of -- i cannot read today. howard, i'm just going to send it over you to. >> it's the heat. 97 was the high today. a little hotter than we expected. that's helped fuel some of the storms we're dealing with right now. i want to go liv

>> tara mergener is live with this report. good morning. >> hello. president obama and mitt romney are gearing up for these duel economic speeches minutes apart in the crucial swing state of ohio. the president's first major economic speech will happen at a community college in cleveland where he is expected to defend his handling of the economy and telling voters he feels their pain and for them to stick with him for another term. mitt romney will make a campaign stop in cincinnati. he will tell a divided public how he would leave the economy, including his prairies for the first 100 days in office. the speeches fall a month of bad economic news including a spike in the unemployment rate. the economy remains the top --- >> the election may come down to the american people's comparative evaluation, who is more out of touch? that is not a comfortable position for either of these candidates. >> the president is not expected to outline any new economic policies during his speech today. >> tara mergener, thank you. >> as we head into summer, the mayor to

tara mergener joins us with more on the story. >> good morning. collet a road test of dealing economic plans. fine-tuning messages on the campaign trail before telling them in the swing states. president obama and mitt romney back on message, pushing their economic plans on the campaign trail. >> i am here because the country needs your help. >> later the president will deliver a speech on the economy, contrasting his vision against his opponent. >> my question is, why are you running with the same bad ideas that brought our economy to the brink of disaster? >> his republican rival is hitting back, calling the president out of touch with what the people want. >> the president doesn't understand how was policies have made it so hard for the american people. >> mitt romney looking to drive his message home to voters will begin a bus tour on friday. both men will be campaigning in the nation's capital today. mitt romney discussing the economy and president obama at a fundraiser. >> what can you tell us about the speech the president plans to make thi

tara tara mergener has more on the showdown. >> reporter: a house panel spent hours on wednesday debating whether to hold the u.s. attorney general in contempt of congress. >> the department of justice has fought this committee's investigation every step of the way. >> reporter: republican chairman darrell issa called for the vote after attorney general eric holder did not turnover subpoenaed documents into the investigation of operation fast and furious, a botched mexican gun-running sting. >> it shouldn't be a political witch hunt against the attorney general of our country and our president in an election year. >> reporter: the attorney general and chairman met tuesday but could not reach a deal. holder asked the white house for executive privilege, and the president granted it. >> the executive privilege creates more are questions. >> reporter: the committee has been investigating fast and furious for a year and a half, and the justice department has turned over 7600 documents related to the operations. >> i think we were actually involved more in political gains manship as opposed to

in this 2012 campaign report, tara mergener reports for wjz. his address led to a back-and- forth with his republican challenger. >>> the weak economy brought president obama to the white house briefing room friday. >> good morning. >> he urged european leaders to take action on their debt crisis crisis and called on congress to take action on the jobs plan he sent to capitol hill last year. >> they left most of the jobs plan just sitting there. and in light of the head winds that we're facing right now, i urge them to reconsider. >> reporter: the president says there is already money set aside for projects that will get construction workers, teachers, police, and firefighters back on the job. >> reporter: >> the private sector is doing fine. whera where we're seeing weakness in our economy have to do with state and local government. >> reporter: republican white house hopeful mitt romney wasted no time answering the president's assessment of the economy. >> he said the private sector is doing fine. is he really that out of touch? >> reporter:

in tonight's campaign 2012 report, tara mergener reports the president is defending his decision to stop deportation of illegal immigrants. >> reporter: president obama was in florida to address latino leaders, exactly one week after his administration announced it will stop deporting thousands of illegal immigrants. >> gracias! >> reporter: the president said he took the action because congress refused to act. >> so lifting the shadow of deportation and giving them a reason to hope, that was the right thing to do. >> reporter: president obama went on to say when he was a senator, he joined with republicans, including president bush in trying to pass the dream act, but now, the gop is different. >> the bill hadn't changed, the need hadn't changed, the only thing that had changed was politics! >> reporter: white house hopeful mitt romney spoke to this same conference on thursday, saying the president has taken the latino vote for granted and they do have a choice. florida senator marco rubio said latino voters care about more than one issue. >> when people speak to hispanics and latinos,

at the white house, tara mergener, wjz eyewitness news. >> well, today, stocks continued their recent winning trend. the dow is up 93 and had its biggest weekly gain of the year. the s&p nasdaq also posted gains. >>> maryland voters will decide on same-sex marriage in november. the state board of elections today certified more than 75,000 signatureoss petitions. that's more than enough to put the petition on the ballot. the maryland marriage alliance will continue to gather signatures through the end of the month. >>> well, there is a missing bag of cash tonight. if you found it on i-97, state police want you to come forward. a 7-eleven employee said he put the night's receipt and bag on his car and drove off. and the money fell off. the bag is light red, with 7- eleven printed on it. anybody with information on the bag of cash is asked to contact the glen burnie barracks of the maryland state police. >>> closely monitoring a black bear, spotted wandering near homes and a school in the northern section of the county. mike helfren has the latest on this potentially dangerous situation.

tara mergener has the latest for wjz from washington. >> i would say -- >> reporter: attorney general erik holder is holding out hope negotiations can still resolve a showdown with congress. >> i think the possibility still exists that it can happen in that way. >> reporter: a republican-led house committee voted on wednesday to hold him in contempt. >> the aye's have it. >> reporter: for refusing to turn over more documents in a failed gun smuggling sting. the program was called "fast and furious" and allowed thousands of guns to cross the border into mexico. holder's office has already turned over thousands of documents, and he says he offered to compromise with the republicans on releasing more. >> we put before the committee a proposal that would have allowed for a resolution of that matter consistent with the way in which that's have been resolved in the past, through negotiation. >> reporter: but here on capitol hill, republicans accused the administration of a cover-up. they want the full house to vote next week on whether to hold the attorney general in contempt. the white hou

at the white house, tara mergener. >> the president also told the crowd that his bill would put hundreds of thousands of latinos to work. stay tuned to wjz for complete coverage of campaign 2012. >>> the catholic church has chosen baltimore to kick off a national campaign aimed at promoting religion liberty. the arch-bishop of baltimore celebrated the catholic church's fortnight for freedom. peel-- people gathered across the street to encourage people to atynd mass. >>> now let's check with christie for the traffic. >> reporter: friday traffic, always an adventure out there. as far as the beltway goes, the north side of the interloop is stop and go from charles street to pairing parkwayway. and the west side outer loop, it's going to be a struggle for you in that direction as well. traffic is moving very slowly there. 70 eastbound, brake lights there as you make your way towards the beltway. and as far as accidents, avoid the causeway at helen road in baltimore city. >>> things are pretty slow on the live look. this traffic report is brought to you by terminex. congress roaches can carry

tara mergener has more on the story. good morning. >> good morning. president obama and mitt romney are gearing up for these du eling economic speeches just minutes apart in the crucial swing state of ohio. the president's first major economic speech of the general election will happen at a community college in cleveland, where he is expected to defend his handling of the economy, tell voters he feels their pain, and urge them to stick with him for another term. mitt romney will make a campaign stop about 250 miles away in cincinnati. the gop hopeful will tell a divided public how he would lead the economy, including his priorities for the first 100 days in office. the speeches follow a month marked by bad economic news including dismal growth and a spike in the unemployment rate. while the economy remains the top priority in this election, polls show many voters are not impressed with either candidate on this issue. >> so the election may come down to the american people's comparative evaluation -- who is more out of touch? that is not a very comfort