Joan Rivers' conditions 'remains serious'

NEW: Daughter: "Her condition remains serious"Joan Rivers stopped breathing during a procedure at a medical clinicHer reality show documented a health scare last year She has been open about previous health issues

(CNN) -- Comedian Joan Rivers is "resting comfortably" in a New York hospital after apparently suffering cardiac and respiratory arrest during a procedure at a medical clinic Thursday.

Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, issued a statement on Friday.

"My mother would be so touched by the tributes and prayers that we have received from around the world," she said. "Her condition remains serious but she is receiving the best treatment and care possible. We ask that you continue to keep her in your thoughts as we pray for her recovery."

A law enforcement official told CNN that Rivers stopped breathing during throat surgery. Rivers, 81, was taken by ambulance in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

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It was the beginning of a relationship that would include dozens of appearances as guest and guest host.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":2,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Rivers followed her Carson breakthrough with appearances on talk and variety shows. 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Here, she chats with Dolly Parton.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":6,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} She starred on the daytime "Joan Rivers Show," for which she won a Daytime Emmy, for five seasons, from 1989-1994. Here, she poses with her dog, Spike.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":7,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Rivers wanted to be an actress when she was young, and she fulfilled that goal after her success as a comedian -- though sometimes playing herself, as she did on "Nip/Tuck," with Julian McMahon, left, and Dylan Walsh.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":8,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Rivers and her daughter Melissa are regulars on awards show red carpets, critiquing celebrity fashion with lines both generous and cutting.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":9,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Rivers talks with Tim McGraw and wife Faith Hill at the Grammys in 2005.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":10,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Rivers with Tina O'Brien at the British Academy Television Awards in 2007.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":11,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Rivers is a star among comedians, admired for her longevity and wit. She attended the Mark Twain Prize ceremony in 2008. The honor that year went to the late George Carlin.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":12,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Kathy Griffin is one of many comedians who can cite Rivers as an influence. Like Rivers, Griffin is known for mocking celebrities at various events. She and Rivers share a stage during a Rivers roast in 2009.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":13,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Rivers proved herself to be quite the savvy businessperson by winning a season of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice." Trump and his wife, Melania, join Rivers at the season finale in 2009.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":14,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Katie Finneran and Joan Rivers attend the Broadway opening after-party of "Promises, Promises" at the Plaza Hotel in New York in 2010.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":15,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Rivers, a fashion lover, attends the LensCrafters' reveal of Sunglass Fashion Crimes in 2011.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":16,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} In February 2013, she attended the Dennis Basso Fall 2013 fashion show. 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She was a guest on February 17, 2014.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":18,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Joan Rivers officiates the wedding of William "Jed" Ryan, left, and Joseph Aiello at the Plaza Athenee on August 15, 2014, in New York.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":19,"title":"Joan Rivers through the years"} Joan Rivers through the years var currExpandable="expand25";if(typeof CNN.expandableMap==='object'){CNN.expandableMap.push(currExpandable);}var mObj={};mObj.type='video';mObj.contentId='';mObj.network='cnnintl';mObj.source='showbiz/2014/08/29/ac-field-joan-rivers-hospitalized.cnn';mObj.videoSource='CNN';mObj.videoSourceUrl='http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/';mObj.lgImage="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140828211812-ac-field-joan-rivers-hospitalized-00001602-story-body.jpg";mObj.lgImageX=300;mObj.lgImageY=169;mObj.origImageX="214";mObj.origImageY="120";mObj.contentType='video';CNN.expElements.expand25Store=mObj;var currExpandable="expand35";if(typeof CNN.expandableMap==='object'){CNN.expandableMap.push(currExpandable);}var mObj={};mObj.type='video';mObj.contentId='';mObj.network='cnnintl';mObj.source='showbiz/2014/08/28/nr-field-joan-rivers-hospitalized.cnn';mObj.videoSource='CNN';mObj.videoSourceUrl='http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/category/anchors/brooke-baldwin/';mObj.lgImage="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140828142634-nr-field-joan-rivers-hospitalized-00011216-story-body.jpg";mObj.lgImageX=300;mObj.lgImageY=169;mObj.origImageX="214";mObj.origImageY="120";mObj.contentType='video';CNN.expElements.expand35Store=mObj;The clinic address given by a New York Fire Department spokesman is a building that houses an endoscopy clinic where doctors perform minor procedures on patients. The clinic is a mile away from the hospital.

Rivers had been scheduled to perform her comedy act at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, Friday night.

Michael Lucas, who was in the audience for Rivers' show at New York's Beechman Theater Wednesday night, told CNN that she joked about death.

"She said, 'You know I'm 81 years old, and I could drop dead at any moment and you would be so lucky because you will have a story to tell your friends for the rest of your life,'" Lucas said. "Then she mimicked people talking about what it was like to see her drop dead on stage."

Rivers was in fine form, he said. "There was no sign (Wednesday) night that she was declining. Her show was over an hour long and she never stumbled or even paused to catch her breath."

In 2013, Rivers allowed cameras to record a health scare for her and her daughter's reality show, "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?"

Rivers said on the show that doctors found a spot on an X-ray after she had a persistent cough.

"We're just not going to be sad about this," Rivers said during the episode. "We're gonna do jokes and be up until we know. That's how I deal with things. I'm not just gonna sit around the next couple of days and go crazy."

Rivers has been open about her health issues. She was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2002 after a fall down some stairs left her with broken bones, and she became an advocate for screenings for women.

She also admitted to not being as healthy as she could be.

"I try not to be, but I'm a terrible eater," she said. "I wish I could say I eat super-healthy, but I don't. I love junk food -- it should be its own food group -- so I help my bones with supplements and medicine."

Joan Rivers 'stands behind' Gaza quotes: 'War is hell"

See more comedian content at CNN Comedy.

CNN's Tony Marco, Lisa Respers France and Doug Ganley contributed to this report.

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Poll: Race for White House remains tight in 3 key states

Obama and Romney (AP Photo)

President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney remain locked in a tight race in the key swing states of Colorado, Wisconsin, and Virginia, according to a Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll released early Wednesday.

Obama leads by 49-45 percent in Virginia and 51-45 percent in Wisconsin, while Romney has a 50-45 percent advantage in Colorado.

Obama won all three states in the 2008 election.

The poll results "highlight the stubborn divisions of this year's presidential race among two of the most important voting groups in the most hotly contested states," namely white working-class voters and women.

The Times says Romney has been able to withstand Democratic efforts to portray him as an "out-of-touch elitist" and is so far maintaining  "the traditional — and sizable — Republican advantage" with white working-class voters.

Obama, meanwhile, has fought off Republican attempts to weaken his popularity with women, and "is holding on to their crucial support in most battleground states."

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Despite mortgage crisis, home ownership remains cherished American dream (Exclusive to Yahoo! News)

Last week's confirmation that the gross domestic product grew only 1.8 percent in the first quarter came when economists were already busily revising their growth forecasts downward for the rest of this year. A double-dip recession remains unlikely, but this is the weakest recovery since the Great Depression and the first one not being led by housing. The nearly moribund housing sector is, in fact, weighing down the recovery.

The conundrum is very real. On the one hand, the subprime-mortgage crisis and easy money—loans with minimal down payments and scant documentation—brought the U.S. economy to its knees just three years ago. Clearly, changes had to be made to prevent that from recurring. On the other hand, housing-industry leaders now fear that the pendulum is swinging too far the other way, potentially decimating an already battered sector and further stifling the anemic recovery. Although we hear the perennial debate over limiting the homeowners' mortgage-interest deduction, which would hurt the middle and higher end of the housing market, other proposed regulations really terrify the industry. These rules include increased down-payment requirements and loan restrictions for all but those with near-bulletproof credit ratings.

A bipartisan national poll of 2,000 likely voters to be released next week by the National Association of Home Builders makes clear the unique position that homeownership holds in Americans' minds and the delicacy required in dealing with the issue.

The May 3-9 telephone survey, conducted by Celinda Lake and Jonathan Voss of the Democratic polling firm Lake Research Partners and by Neil Newhouse and Robert Blizzard of the GOP outfit Public Opinion Strategies, found that 75 percent of voters believe "that owning a home is the best long-term investment they can make and is worth the risk of ups and downs in the housing market."

Interestingly, a high percentage of people in different financial situations felt this way, including 81 percent of those who own their homes outright, 76 percent with mortgages, 67 percent who are renters, and 65 percent with underwater mortgages. Respondents were also asked whether they would recommend buying a house to a close friend or family member just starting out. Eighty percent of all voters said yes, including 78 percent who had underwater mortgages. Seventy-three percent of the respondents who do not own a home said that their goal is to eventually buy one. Clearly, the decline in home values and economic turmoil have not diluted their dream of homeownership and the aspirational element that makes the notion a core value.

Today's Lesson: Neither Party's Economic Plan is Working

Some have suggested that the government end tax incentives for homeowners, but the survey suggests a hostile voter reaction to that plan. Told that "since the federal income tax was introduced in 1913, the federal government has used the tax code to encourage home­ownership," respondents were then asked: "In general, do you think it is appropriate and reasonable for the federal government to provide tax incentives to promote homeownership, or do you think it is not a good idea?" Seventy-three percent of all voters thought those incentives should be provided, including 71 percent of Republicans, 68 percent of independents, 79 percent of Democrats, and even 68 percent of those who support the tea party movement.

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When asked about requiring a 20 percent down payment to purchase a home, respondents split evenly, with 49 percent supporting such a threshold and 49 percent opposing it. But among those most likely to be affected, mortgage holders and renters ages 18 to 54, opposition was strong, with 58 percent of younger mortgage holders and 59 percent of younger renters opposed to adding that hurdle to buying a home.

Given this kind of visceral connection to home ownership, it's not surprising that 71 percent of respondents oppose eliminating the mortgage-interest deduction and 63 percent oppose lowering it. Moreover, 58 percent oppose eliminating the deduction for home-equity loans or limiting the deduction for those who earn more than $250,000 a year. Fifty-seven percent of voters said they would be less likely to support a candidate for Congress who wanted to eliminate the mortgage-interest deduction; only 26 percent said they would be more likely to support such a candidate.

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These numbers are pretty much across the board: Sixty-three percent of Republicans, 56 percent of independents, 55 percent of Democrats, 61 percent of tea party supporters, and 58 percent of those voters in congressional districts held by freshman Republicans would be less likely to support a candidate who favored killing the deduction. With the unusually large sample, the pollsters segmented respondents who live in congressional districts that The Cook Political Report rates in the swing category. Fifty-eight percent of that group were less likely to support such a candidate, with 56 percent of those voters in swing Senate states and 54 percent in states that The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza rates as swing presidential states.

The clear message is that owning a home is among the values that Americans most cherish—an important part of the American Dream.

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