there for the entire durationf the rescue from the last moment of this mine -- of this mine disaster. it will be 35, not 33 men down. >> patrick altman, thank you so much. apologies. that situation in 30 seconds. 35 men, they have to give them shots, sedatives, imagine going up and down in that teeny tiny capsule. we'll be there live when they do that. right now, "situation room," wolf blitzer right now.

sharon angle positioned herself as the ultimate outsider in her race against the ultimate insider was caught on tape bragging about her washington connections because she -- >> pretty serious name dropping here. you can't be the outsider and the insider at the same time. >> we've had audio problems. i want to apologize for that. thank you very much. reaction to the man who made her make the remarks about dabbling in witchcraft public. bill maher was wrapping up an interview with john king when we

learned details about o'donnell's new ad. here's what bill maher had to say. >> i think when you have to start your campaign ad with "i'm not a witch," the battle has been lost. she would have been much smarter to ignore that. but being much smarter is not her strong suit. >> o'donnell was a guest on march's old show "politically incorrect" in 1999 when she talked about dabbling in witchcraft when she was young. now to the democrats and the tsunami of campaign ads hitting the air waves right now. senior political analyst gloria born borger is in the situation room. what do we hear from the democrats? >> won't surprise you they try to individualize these races. the republicans trying to nationalize it. the democrats are trying to say this is between one candidate and another candidate. the opposition research people had been working overtime, looking at republican candidates. what we're starting to see now and for the next few week, we're

going to see a slew of negative advertising from democrats against their republican opponents. take a listen to a few of the greatest hits we kind of picked out today. >> he invested over $1 million in the oil companies that received billions in tax breaks, even companies involve in the bp oil disaster. >> sued by customers in the fraudulent and deceptive practices. two fs from the better business bureau. >> he evicted a homeowner on the verge of saving his house just to make a buck. >> it's a long way from the party of hope and change to these kinds of ads. they're also not talking about health care, they're not talking about financial reform. they're not talking about the stimulus package. all of the things that they passed. because they know that folks right now are not really pro government. so instead, they're trying to say, look -- you may be anti-incumbent, but look at the person who's running against me and you may just decide to vote

for me instead. >> republicans are going negative too. >> sure they are. with their negative ads, they're trying to make the larger points, the larger points ant government, the larger points about barack obama. take a listen to some of these. >> barack obama is the worst president in history. and my generation we'll inherit a weakened country. drug cartels in mexico, tax cartels in dc, what's happened to america? >> it's the worst economy in decades. and the folks in washington are living it spending our tax dollars like there's no tomorrow. leading this big song and dance, obama, of course, and nancy pelosi. >> nancy pelosi is a real favorite. that last advertisement was paid for by a third party group. you can't underestimate the impact the third party groups will have in this election. the democrats claim that

republican third party groups have spent $66 million versus about $13 million for the democrats. that could really end up being a game changer in this election. >> could all of this negativity turn off independent voters? >> that's the question mark. independent voters have made it clear so far that they like what republicans have to say more than democrats. but they've also made it clear in a couple of recent polls they have no long-term allegiance to the republican party. so the question is once they start seeing these ads, do they just decide to sit at home? if they decide to sit at home, that could help the democrats this time. >> we'll see. thanks very much, gloria, for that. >> sure. republicans are eager to pick up any and every senate seat they can get. do they have any real hope in the state of oregon for an upset. stand by on my interview with the gop challenger, jim hoffmann. that's coming up. does he expect to ride on the sea of the tea party movement, the sarah palin bandwagon.

stand by for the interrview. >> newt gingrich's popular plan. this election comes down between a choice between paychecks and food stamps. mmm, it threw a curve at my curves. so i threw it right back... with yoplait light -- strawberry shortcake, red velvet cake and key lime pie. 30 i indulgent delicious flavos that satisfy my love for tasty treats. around 100 calories. zero fat. now i love my curves in all the right places. yoplait. it is so good. [ e. clark ] i'm an engineer. i love my job. i can see what it's doing for the community on a day-to-day basis. natural gas is cleaner burning than most fossil fuels and it's vital to our energy needs. increasingly we're finding gas in hard to reach areas, but now we've developed new technology that enables us to access gas in hard rocks so we can bring more fuel to homes

and help provide a reliable source of energy into the future. the co-host of cnn's new primetime program, parker spitzer are out of the gates swinging. they're holding democrats and republicans accountable. in case you missed last night's first show, this is eliot spitzer's opening argument for president obama. >> mr. president, i'm a fan, big suppo supporter, i promise, i am. but do yourself a favor, do us all a favor, fire tim geithner, you need a clean sweep of your economic team.

larry somers gone, finish the job, fire tim. they haven't done the one thing people care about, producing jobs. that's what we need, jobs, more jobs. they took care of wall street, but not main street. you know what, mr. president, the reason we have a tea party is because your team took care of the same insiders as the last administration. we brought our hopes and aspirations to washington with you. and we've been disappointed. please, give us a treasury secretary who understands main street. i've got some names. give me a call. >> meanwhile, kathleen parker had her own message for sarah palin telling the gop lightning rod it's time to decide whether or not she's going to run for president in 2012. >> it may be that palin is waiting for a thunder bolt or a voice from beyond to instruct her next move. in the meantime, she's teaming with rnc chairman michael steele to raise money. come on, sarah, drop the tease and just tell the american people you're not running. as consolation, maybe you and

michael steele can turn your road show into a money-making gig for real -- a tv show, perhaps. you could call it, "steele magnolia."

then to be caught on tape in some gotcha political moment. observers are stunned at the lengths to which some of these candidates are going, like refusing to release public schedules to local reporters or running away from the cameras and shouted questions. some wonder if going forward candidates in state races will be tightly guarded as presidential candidates. then again, you can't really blame the politicians completely when you take into account the rise of what's called the tracker culture. opponents send staffers with camcorders to their events to record every single word a candidate utters. make a mistake, you turn up in the opponent's campaign ad to be seen over and over and over again. so here's the question -- is it better for a candidate to stay off of the campaign trail or risk making a mistake?

go to cnn.com/cafferty file, post a comment on my blog. >> jack cafferty, thank you. let's zero in now on the battle for the u.s. senate. republicans need a net gain of ten seats to reclaim the control of the chamber. with every race important, the state of oregon is on the radar for some republicans. the democrat incumbent ron widen has been in the senate since 1996, won his most recent term by a wide margin. the anti-incumbent mood across the nation could leave him more vulnerable than expected against the republican challenger, jim hoffmann. joining us from portland, oregon, jim hoffmann is the republican candidate for u.s. senate challenging the republican, ron widen, the democrat. thank you for coming in. >> thank you for having me, wolf. >> are you part of the tea party movement? >> wouldn't say i'm part of it. i've spoken at numerous rallies

and i think they're an important part of the base that i need to have support me in this election. >> are they involve? are they helping you right now? >> well, i think they're helping. they believe that my stand is very supportive. >> talk about the key issue. social security, for example, do you favor privatizing social security. >> i favor giving young people an option of putting some of their money to a private account. at the same time, i'm preserved at the benefits for the people invested in those who are already retired and near retirement. >> you believe social security is constitutional, right? >> that it's constitutional? absolutely. >> because there are some republican candidates out there who question the constitutionality of social security and medicare. but you're not one of them. >> i'm not one of them. i've run into people questioning the constitutionality of all kinds of things.

i've had constitutional law for 35 years and social security is constitutional. >> and medicare is well. >> medicare as well, yes. >> what would you do in the entitlement programs to save money. you're worried obviously about the deficit. it's growing by the trillions all the time. how would you reduce the deficit? >> well, i think we have to rein in spending across the board, getting more efficiency in government. you're correct to suggest a lot of the problems is with entitlement. we have to look at those in the future who are going to be entitled to various programs and start extending the age of entitlement and social security, for example, and controlling future benefits. >> raising the age from 67 or whatever to 70 or beyond? >> i think -- for people who are just entering into social security. i don't want any changes for people who are on it and will be in the next 10 or 15 years. >> you want to extend the bush tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 for everyone, even though that's going to wind up costing over

the next ten years nearly $4 trillion, right? >> i would prefer not to think of it as costing the government anything if we don't extend it, it costs the taxpayers. and the reason i would extend those tax rates for everybody is because in this state, about half of small business would be affected if we didn't extend it for people making over $250,000 a year. >> you want a perm negligent extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax rates. you want that to go on indefinitely. >> i do. although i would like in the long run some fundamental tax reform in the direction of a flatter tax system. >> and the tax -- the tax rates for those earning more than $250,000 a year, which the -- the democrats at least a lot of the democrats and the president -- they wanted to go back to the rates that existed in the clinton administration. you don't want that. you want it to continue as-is even for the wealthiest americans? >> absolutely. because when we -- in that category of the wealthiest americans, as i say, they're included half of the small

businesses in the state of oregon. >> do you support abortion rights for women? >> i do. >> you do support abortion rights for women. do you believe that president obama is a christian? >> i do. >> do you believe he was born in the united states? >> i do. i have -- i see no evidence to the contrary. >> is sarah palin qualified to be president of the united states? >> you know, i don't know about that. i admire her. the impact that she's had on politics, that she's rallied a lot of people to politics that haven't been involve in politics before. whether or not she's qualified, i think she's -- her experience is probably no less than the current president's. >> is there a republican out there right now you think who is most qualified to be the next president of the united states? someone you already like? >> i'm a supporter of steve forbes.

i don't think he's running longer. john from south dakota, he's an able and strong politician and he's a good candidate. >> what's your problem with ron widen, the incumbent? >> well, the biggest problem i have specifically with him aside from his general position and voting 97% of the time with the democratic leadership is his help on the health care bill. he had a better idea. he said that competition was essential in health care to get costs down. he voted for a bill that does nothing to increase competition. >> you want to repeal the obama health care legislation? >> i would support repeal of it. i think there's a serious problem in health care, which is high costs. and i think that the obama care legislation does nothing to reduce costs. in fact, it's increasing costs. we're seeing it all around us today. >> the fact, though, that tens of millions of americans will eventually be eligible for health insurance and pre-existing conditions will no longer be a factor, doesn't that motivate you a little bit? >> it motivates me to get better

reform than we got in this thing. i think this bill that we enacted, that congress enacted, as i say, increased costs. and it does nothing to bring competition. if we want to provide better service to those who are uninsured, those who aren't getting health care and aren't getting health care, we need competition. it brings costs down and increases quality. that's what happens in the other services in the economy. >> jim hoffmann is the republican candidate in u.s. senate in oregon. behind in the polls, four weeks. can you do it? >> i think we can do it. we look at the election two years ago. senator gordon smith was up by about ten points at this point in the election. and he lost to jeff americaley. scott brown was down 26 points with a month to go. so, absolutely. i think we can do it. it gets the message out and i think we're doing that. >> thanks for coming to the situation room. >> thank you, it was a pleasure. we asked senatorwiden to join us for an interview as

well. so far, he's declined. we'll keep asking to see if he changes his mind. get to t strategy session right now. joining us, our cnn politic call contributors. donna brazil and alex cost la knows. thank you for coming in. you heard the republican challenger to ron widen. if ron widen is in trouble in oregon, you know there's a wave that the democrats potentially could lose the united states senate majority. >> you know, wolf, this is the first time i've heard of this candidate. i know ron widen had an opponent. but ron widen like many other senate democrats have been out there for months laying the groundwork for a successful campaign. it's a terrific organization. oregon is a vote by mail state. he's one of the safe democrats. >> you think he's safe? >> i don't think anybody's safe this year who's an establishment washington. if you made washington bigger instead of save in washington, you could be trouble. pollsters are getting numbers back in some of the states and

congressional districts that are surprising. they're weighting their numbers more historically to conservative models because the data is too good. >> widen is safer, for example, than russ feingold in wisconsin, the long-time incumbent from wisconsin who's facing a stiff challenge as well. >> much of the weight has been -- the focus has been on likely voters, not registered voters. in a state like oregon, you have ron widen, knows the voters, been out there campaigning hard, raises money, i think he'll do quite well. >> this year, the elections aren't about the candidates. you may have -- we've seen democratic candidates next year with high favorable ratings. people like them. something's got to change in washington. we can't keep going in the same direction. if you have one party controlling everything, the white house, the house, and the senate, it's like a car with no brake pedal. good guy, sorry to see you go. >> that's the republican story this year. we've seen the tea party, you

know, take out republican establishment candidates like mr. bennett and republicans have been busy. democrats are out there talking to voters, closing the enthusiasm gap. you'll be surprised on the election. >> one thing that's happening, the president of the united states, he's popular with a lot of people out there. he's going to do one of the town hall meetings, one hour, no commercial town hall. it will air on mtv, bet, cmt. he'll go out there and try to mobilize younger people to go out and vote. you know that when it comes to midterm elections, generally speaking, older voters get out the vote. younger voters don't necessarily show up. how important is this outreach by the president to so many young people that supported him in 2008? >> it's pornltd but it's a double-edged sword. as long as he doesn't play the

saxophone or dress like lady gaga, he'll be fine. he's trying to motivate his base. they don't come out in off election years like this one. here's the problem. the message younger voters want to hear, they like health care reform that the president did. they want to hear about the carbon tax. those are things that the president can't talk about to everybody else. they're not popular topics. so, does he motivate his base? if so, what he's doing is ali alienating independents. that's the trap for the democrats this year. no good solution for them. >> you remember when another incumbent president went to a town hall meeting back in 1994. this was the exchange. listen. >> mr. president; the world's dying to know, is it boxers or briefs? >> usually briefs. >> yeah, he goes on to say i

can't believe she did that. in other words, asked that question -- bill clinton was very good in those kinds of events. i assume barack obama will be good in that kind of an mtv-bet-cmt town hall meeting. >> if cnn has any additional time available right now, president obama i'm sure will come on the air waves and fill the hours as well. >> is that like an informercial for the president? that kind of thing? >> that's the advantage you get when you win the bully pulpit. >> that's one of the perks of power. you get to command the stage and decide where to go. >> more the better. this is an important period of the election season. we're in the home stretch. the president is trying to close that enthusiasm gap with young people. if they turn out in record numbers, we can stop the tide that's taking place on the republican side. the republicans have stalled. >> the problem for the democrats is, motivating their base -- that makes a difference in liberal districts. in states like oregon, places like that. but in the swing congressional

districts in the house, the liberal base is not that big, it's not helping them there. >> our base is much larger than just liberals, alex. we have independents and moderates and in many close -- in many -- >> two-to-one republican this is year. >> that's this week. next week, they'll change their mind once they figure out what the republicans truly stand for. >> more jobs. >> you finally got two words that mean something to me. >> good discussion, guys. don't go too far away. we might need you back here. we always need you guy else. thanks very much. monitoring other stories as well, including sentencing day for the man behind the failed bomb plot in new york's time square. we want to hear why he's telling americans, and i'm quoting him now. brace yourself. now, a grim new warning about the alien state of the u.s. economy. why some are predicting high unemployment will last much longer than the white house says it will.

president obama used the sup mitt on community colleges today to launch a fresh attack on republicans and their policies. he argues that the gop economic plan would lead to risky cuts in education. listen to this. >> so strongly disagree with the economic plan that was released last week by the republican leaders in congress, which would actually cut education by 20%. would reduce or eliminate financial aid for 8 million college students and leave community colleges without the resources they need to meet the goals we talked about today. instead, this money would help pay for a $700 billion tax cut that only 2% of the wealthiest americans would ever see. an average of $100,000 for every millionaire and billionaire in the country.

that doesn't make sense -- not for students, not for our economy. think about it. china isn't slashing education by 20% right now. india is not slashing education by 20%. we are in a fight for the future, a fight that depends on education. cutting aid for 8 million students or scaling back our commitment to community colleges, that's like unilaterally disarming our troops as they head to the front lines. >> some republicans are fighting back. they're accusing the president to resorting to scare tactics and they're running up sprawl spending. >> the white house is gearing up for an environmental makeover of sorts. not long from now it will be powered, at least, in part, by solar energy. let's bring in our kate baldwin, she's over at the white house. she has the details. kate? hey there, wolf. we have the obama administration announcing today that the white house is planning to turn a

little green. plans are in place to install solar panels as well as solar hot water heater to the roof of the white house residence by spring of next year. administration officials are making the announcement yesterday saying this decision underscores the president's commitment to renewable energy, energy use in the u.s. as well as kind of setting the example of if we can do it, well, so can you. leading by example here in the white house. but this isn't the first time the white house has tried to go green. you may remember this -- in the year 2000, the solar water heater behind me which is being dedicated today will still be here, supplying cheap, efficient energy. a generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an

example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the american people. >> so president jimmy carter may have been well ahead of his time installing solar panels on the top of the west wing in 1979, but those were removed during roof repairs during the reagan administration. interestingly enough, just last month, an environmental group brought one of the carter solar panels down from maine to washington to lobby the white house to reinstall the solar panel and really make solar energy and clean energy and renewable energy more of a priority of the president, the administration, though, says that this decision today -- the announcement today, had nothing to do with any outside groups, wolf? kate, jimmy carter was not the only president to try to tap in to solar initial, was he?

>> he wasn't. it was interesting to look back at all of this. because president george w. bush also tapped solar energy, solar technologies to help power a maintenance facility as well as at least in part keep the white house swimming pool here. and those two systems, we're told, are still in use. in terms of the new system that's being installed, wolf, the department of energy is going to start a competitive bidding process to figure out which company is going to install the system. no word yet, no comment on estimations of how much the new project is expected to cost. >> or save, is that right, too, how much it will save in the long term? an estimate of that? >> i did get a little bit of an estimate. the two systems together, the water heating as well as the solar panels as well as the electrici electricity, those two systems together could save upwards of up to 3,000 a year on an average utility bill for a typical american house hold. that, of course, we'll have to check back and see what that means for the white house here.

>> $3,000 is $3,000. don't go too far away either. barack obama and hillary clinton, some called it the dream ticket that never happen in 2008. but "washington post" reporter and author bob woodward tells cnn's john king that the pairing is on the table. on the table, his words for 2012. under the scenario vice president joe biden and secretary of state hillary clinton would simply switch jobs. and he adds that some of clinton's advisors see it as a real possibility. >> i'm guessing you don't design the cover of your book. vice president biden and secretary clinton side-by-side on the cover at the bottom of your name. you know the talk in town. a lot of people think the president is a little weak going to 2012, he'll have to do a switch and run with hillary clinton as his running mate. in all of the political conversations and the asides you're doing serious research, sometimes you have political asides. things like that come up? >> it's on the table. some of hillary clinton's

advisors see it as a real possibility in 2012. president obama needs some of the women, latinos, retirees that she did so well in the 2008 primaries. so they switched jobs and not out of the question, the other interesting question is hillary clinton could run in her own right in 2016. and the yube younger than ronal reagan when he was elected president. you talk to hillary clinton advisors and say no, no, there's never a political consideration here. the answer is, when you point out to them that her clout around the world, when she goes to europe, asia, when she goes anywhere, is in part not just because she's secretary of state or married to bill clinton, that people see a potential future president in her.

>> full interview with bob woodward will air later tonight on "john king usa" starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern. talk about this and more with gloria borger, senior congressional correspondent, dana bash. they're both here. gloria, is that realistic? biden and hillary clinton could switch jobs and she would be on the ticket. >> it's difficult to disagree with anything that bob woodward reports. in talking to a senior biden advisor, just told me that woodward has gone to too many georgetown dinner parties. of course, this a biden advisor. woodward said it's on the table. the question i have is what table? whose table is it? the chatter outpseudoside of the house, hillary and obama, that would be great. we heard that in the campaign but that didn't happen. the chatter is much more from the outside. when you talk to senior white

house advisors, not biden advisors, but senior white house advisors, they say the president likes it the way it is. even if you read bob woodward's own book, it's clear that these men have a good relationship. besides, obama could look just a tad political if he shoved biden aside. >> two questions to ask. one is would the president want to do that to help himself? if he's in such a bad -- a bad situation, we heard from democrats again outside of the white house say that he may be so weak that he would need somebody strong like hillary clinton. the other question about this potential scenario is would it be something that hillary clinton would want or not. historically, the person who is the vice president has a better shot at being president. didn't work out so well for al gore. but certainly that would potentially be the case. hillary clinton herself has been asked about this, you remember, wolf, and she in general about the idea about running for president. and she said she really wants to retire. she's going to be 69 years old

at that time. >> attend of a second term. >> end of the second term. >> 62 -- 63 right now. >> right. we'll talk about if she'll be placed to run for president herself. regardless, she made clear that she's had a good run and she's tired -- when somebody says to you -- they're the president of the united states come and be my vice president, that would be a different question. but i think -- i've heard it -- you heard it too. >> most people think conventional wisdom would be a mo formidable ticket, obama-clinton versus obama-biden. >> you only replace a vice president unless he's giving you real problems. aside from his gaffes, it's clear he's a important advisor including on foreign policy issues. he's traveling all over the country in this campaign to lots of blue collar areas. >> campaign, he can do that. he could travel around as secretary of state. it's a parlor game we love to play in washington, you know?

overnight is a lifetime in politics as howard baker used to say. you don't know what it will be like a couple of years from now. if bob woodward says it, i guess you have to listen. but right now, not there. >> the ladies in red. they're here. >> you didn't get the memo. >> got it. >> got the tie. >> both of you look lovely. >> wow. >> thank you thanks very much. he's the master mind of republican campaigning. now a group formed by karl rove is coming under fire for an irs investigation. story and details coming up. ♪

[ deb ] people don't just come to ge capital for money. they come to us for help. at ge capital, we've been financing taylor guitars for over eight years, helping them build a strong dealer network. bringing music to people... i like that. ♪ ♪ [ bob ] i didn't know you could play. i didn't either. ♪

mark preston is monitoring some of the major stories move right now on the cnn political ticker. paul first. paul, what do you have? >> michelle obama, you see a lot of the president on the campaign trail helping out candidates. with four weeks to go, you'll see a lot of the first lady. put out a fundraising pitch to work for her husband in 2008 on that campaign, she's urging them to contribute money to the democratic party and vote for democrats in the midterm elections.

going to ask our camera man to zoom in here. take a look on this political ticker. also, wolf, tomorrow the first lady will be a featured speaker on a guest call to go out and reach other people, democrats across the country, to get them motivated, to give money, and to also, of course, go out there and vote on november 2. and, wolf, starting next week, you're going to see a lot of michelle obama on the campaign trail as well. starting next week and through november 2, she'll be out there campaigning for democratic candidates and committees. that's what i have. what do you got? >> there's been a lotf talk about democrats shying away from president obama, they don't want to be on the campaign trail with him, they don't want to socialize with it. democrats are trying to localize it. not so in california. barbara boxer released a web video just about an hour ago that had all president obama and it's all president obama telling his volunteers and his supporters to get out and support barbara boxer in

november. the video is a minute and 17 seconds. i spoke to the boxer campaign. they're not going to release the ad strategy. they're not telling me if it's cut into a 30-second spot. this is poe tebt footage. if she wanted to do so, she would do that. we saw president obama earlier this week. he appear in a television commercial for a ja dogentleman in new orleans a seat the democrats are trying to pick up, the seat once held by william jefferson. president obama did appear in a television commercial for him. there are democrats out there, wolf, who want to embrace the president. >> no doubt about that. mark preston, paul stein hauser, two of the best members of the best political team on television. that's where you can get your political news. brianna keiler is monitoring other stories in the situation room right now including the sentencing behind the failed time square bomb plot.

>> 31-year-old faisal shahzad is sentenced to life in prison for the thwarted attack. he pleaded guilty to all ten counts against him told the courtroom, brace yourself, the war with muslims has just begin. the white house issued a statement saying it's pleased with the sentence. s shahzad is accused of trying to set off a car bomb in times square but it failed to detonate. lasting far beyond 2014 when the white house is expecting jobs improvement. analysts by a left-leaning think tank agreed that lawmakers failed to adequately stimulate the economy and they say more needs to be done. panelists compared the u.s. recovery to the long recession that plagued japan in the 1990s. shoppers here in washington appear to be getting along fine without their paper or plastic bags. the city says it's collected millions less in revenue from the five-cent tax on disposable

bags than they expected they would. and grocery stores report bag use is down 60%. the money that's being collected helps cleanup efforts in local impoverished areas. you can see it everywhere. went out, got my lunch. no bag -- they don't give it to you a lot of times. >> they have to charge you five cents. >> i don't need a bag. no thanks. >> walking around with sodas and stuff like that. that's dangerous. thank you for that. jack cafferty is asking, is it better for a candidate to stay off of the campaign trail or risk making a mistake? we'll be right back. but my husband looks the way he did 20 years ago. well that's great. you haven't seen him... my other can is ringing. progresso. hey can you tell my wife to relax and enjoy the view? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. boy we wish edmunds.com hadn't told you to start looking over your shoulder. ♪ we were gonna sneak up on ya. ya know, with our 1.4 liter turbo charged engine

and our six speed automatic transmission. shhhh... we're going hunting. it's civic season. ♪ the all-new chevrolet cruze. starting under $17,000. get used to more. ♪

jack cafferty here has the cafferty report. >> the question is it better for a candidate to stay off of the campaign trail or risk making a mistake. jack says they're at risk regardless of their decision. if they can't get their message out, they lose. if they make a mistake, they lose. if they allow an opponent to run without the unchallenged rhetoric, they lose. get out there, deliver the message. trash the opponent and message and take your chances. steve in new york writes

staying away is the best bet. hungry journalists and the internet tend to destroy people. if we got rid of half the journalists and 75% of the news channels, things would be more peaceful in today's society. dee writes, spare us the agony of society. and this one says that bs during the election process is too much, and silence is golden. too much has already been said by too many. does it really matter? and then mario says it is in this political environment where idiocy is king, and ernie says that the late vermont senator george akin ran for last term in 1968 he spent $17.09, and won. and paula says that it is clear that some candidates are outright cowards. it also means that voters will

be buying pigs in pokes, but that is what we have been doing for years, isn't it? and james says that candidates staying a off of the campaign trail is like a soldier staying awe of the battlefeed. it might be better for the soldier, but not the country. if you want to read more on this, go to my blog, cnn.com/caffertyfile. >> you know, jack, we hear from republicans and democrats from all over the country, and appear, and come on the show, and we will talk about different things such as national security, and jobs and most of the politicians say, not happening. not interested in doing a serious substantive interview, and it is not just the conservative democrats and republicans, but a lot of them are just scared. >> well, some of them are terrify and you have the tea party candidates and the far right wing and very conservative

parties who are by definition a fringe element, and so they want to stay out of the mainstream spotlight, so what we have is a democracy where the voters will go to the booth relatively uninformed. i don't know if that is a good thing, do you? >> no. >> i would like them to come on the show, and ask them questions. >> get in "the situation room" and talk to the wolf man. >> that is what i say. let's see if they listen. all right. thank you, jack. >> and we have a new snapshot of latina voters coming into "the situation room" and how anger over immigration in arizona could play out on election day four weeks from today. and another reason to be terrified of lions on the attack. "10 airbags... daytime running lamps... "onstar automatic crash response. "in case ya didn't see it, that's probably why "msn autos called the cruze "the class of its class right now. that seems pretty clear, doesn't it?"

the all-new chevrolet cruze. starting under $17,000. get used to more. ♪ ♪ when it's planes in the sky ♪ ♪ for a chain of supply, that's logistics ♪ ♪ when the parts for the line ♪ ♪ come precisely on time ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ a continuous link, that is always in sync ♪ ♪ that's logistics ♪

♪ there will be no more stress ♪ ♪ cause you've called ups, that's logistics ♪ we need directions to go to... pearblossom highway? it's just outside of lancaster. sure, i can download directions for you now. we got it. thank you very much! check it out. i can like, see everything that's going on with the car. here's the gas level. i can check on the oil. i can unlock it from anywhere. i've received a signal there was a crash.

some guy just cut me off. i'll get an ambulance to you right away. safely connecting you in ways you never thought possible. onstar. live on. brianna is back and monitoring the other top stories in "the situation room" right now, including a verdict in the deadly connecticut home invasion. briann, what have you got? >> well, wolf, after four hours of deliberations, jurors convicted steven hayes in a capital murder offense which killed dr. petit's wife and two daughters. prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the penalty phase of this trial. and rescuers are trying to

free 33 trapped miners ahead of the chilean planned trip to europe. the interior secretary says that it is not connected to the time line of the rescue. they have been trapped hundreds of feet underground since august. and imagine being saved by an heir to the british throne. it happened when prince william became certified. he was part of the crew that helped to pluck a crewman from an offshore gas rig. >> brianna, thank you very much. a any source of democrats hoping to avoid a election debacle a month away. and the support of latinos seems to be as strong as ever. a pugh poll showed that registered latino voters nationwide say they will support the democratic congressional

candidate in their district, but most of the latinos are not motivated to go to the polls. only half say they are certain, certain they will vote in the midterm election compared to 70% of all registered voters who say they will turnout in nfc. . arizona has the sixth largest latino population in the nashgs a nation and home to 4% of the overall vote in the nation. there is a big push to turn out the latino vote in arizona because of a immigration crackdown in the state. young people are leading the way. here is cnn's thelma gutierrez. >> okay. are we ready to change our zoning. like, i have to do this, because if it is not now, when? and if it is not us, who? >> reporter: they are young, motivated and part of a fast-growing electorate. >> we are going to the state capitol now. >> reporter: they say they have a score to settle with governor and the sheriff of maricopa

county, judge arpaio. >> we want to find all of those people and give them a voice who are not registered to vote. >> are you registered to vote? >> reporter: this group of latino youth volunteers are part of promise arizona and since june, teen leaders like emily have made it their mission to register 12,000 new voters and working in the desert heat has not been easy. >> i was out with voter registrations from 9:00 to 9:00, and it was really discouraging today, because it is not my day and there are a lot of ignorant people not wanting to vote, a not one person say has thanked and when they do, it makes my day. >> you are only 14 years old, and you are not old enough to vote. >> well, at first, i am

interested in politics. >> reporter: that is right. she is 14. for emily and her friends this is the first taste of political activism. they say that the latino youth galvanized to oppose the tough immigration law, and judge arpaio's immigration sweeps and to support the dream act to create a path for legalization for undocumented university students and u.s. military hopefuls. >> i believe that voting does give people a voice. it just gives one voice can make a difference. >> reporter: emily says that everybody talks about the latino vote and who is at stake and who will get it in the midterm elections. >> i am registering people to vote, are you registered yet? >> not yet. >> reporter: she knows that the first step is registering voters from store parking lots to canvassing neighborhoods to hitting up businesses in the bar owe. this is the first time i have come into the ice cream shop to

find a box to drop off the forms. >> you see, what happened is that the businesses have been affected for all of the laws and stuff, and we just have a hard time, so we have to unite. >> our new grand total -- >> reporter: as these volunteers handed in the last of what they say is a record number of voter registration forms ever collected by a grass roots group in arizona, emily says for her and her friends and the thousands of first-time latina voters they have registered, this is maybe the dawn of a new era. thelma gutierrez, phoenix, arizona. here in "the situation room," happening now, chilling words as the man who tried to detonate a car bomb in time's square is sentenced. details of the defiant message to americans. unusual words from a republican senate candidate trying to reassure voters she's not a witch. plus, the fake story that fooled fox news. welcome to our viewer ins the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, and you are in

i'm wolf blitzer, and you are in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com he's revered by many conservatives and reviled by many liberals, but as the architect of two successful presidential campaigns, karl rove is undeniably a political force to be reckoned. and now he is coming under fire with a demand of investigation by the internal revenue service. brian todd has the details for us. brian, what is going on? >> well, wolf, karl rove is back as a major political player and a group created under his direction says it is hoping to raise $50 million this year, and is already spending many millions on ad buys in several senate exam pacampaigns and one that money unfairly tilting the elections towards republicans and one group challenging him wonder if it is legal. >> reporter: karl rove,

politil and a group started under his direction is accused of breaking tax laws. ads like this, and tartigeting political ad like this. his group crossroads gps are spending thousands on ads just like this. now there has been a letter written to the irs asking whether crossroads gps is abusing the tax exempt status to criticize candidates and letting the donors remain anonymous. >> do you believe that this organization was created specifically to fly under the rules of the campaign rules? >> that is certainly every indication. the organization was created by some of the leading republican operatives in the country. it is headed by former republican operatives.

self-defined by their chairman as an organization that is going to plow millions of dollars into senate races, and set up in order to avoid disclosing thaur donors. >> reporter: jonathan is a spokesman for crossroads gps. what do you make to the allegations and the letter to the irs? >> well, it is a baseless complaint by a organization that files complaints like this for the living. we know what the laws are regarding the 501-c organizations and the same that apply for left groups like the center of left progress, and moveon.org political action fund and we all operate under the same framework of laws and we follow the laws very, very carefully. wertheimer denied the allegation that democracy 21 is partisan. we con tageted the irs to see if the agency is going to investigate rove's groups, and they said that under the

confidentiality rules they cannot comment on who they are investigating or not. >> are the rules clear cut on organizations like rove's and how they can spend money? >> not really, there is wording that as long as the primary purpose is the promotion of social welfare, but the line between promoting social welfare and attacking candidate is not very clear and the irs has not articulated it yet, but cases like this may force it to. >> we will watch that. and a man who tried to blow up a massive car bomb in time's square and even as he was sentenced to life in prison, he said, quoting here, brace yourselves, because the war with muslims has just begun. deborah feyerick has the report. did he show any remorse, deb? >> none. he remained come politely defiant, and justified the attempt to kill dozens of people with a car bomb in time's square saying that muslims have a right

to defend themselves and their lands and as the judge sentenced him to spend the rest of his life in prison, he said in air ric -- arabic that god is great. >> he is no longer a threat, and the ongoing important challenge for all of us is to get the next shahzad before he does real harm. >> and he showed no remorse and give ten chance he would likely do that again and contrary to the oath he took in the citizen last year, he said his desire is not to defend americans, but to kill them. he came prepared with what amounted to a political statement warning quote, brace yourself because the war with muslims has just begun. he urged the court to embrace islam and become muslim and saying that the defeat is imminent, and he was handcuffed and led away and the judge said quote, i hope he will spend time

in prison thinking whether the koran wants you to kill people, and rather than shy away, he said, the koran gives us the right to defend ourselves. he was defiant, and prepared to spend the rest of his life in a tiny cell in a high security prison. >> you were in the courtroom, deb. describe what you saw? >> what i was intrigued by was his absolute conviction that what he had done had a justifiable reason. he never waivered from his political statement. he never said he was sorry. in fact, he really seemed for lack of a better word, brainwashed into believing this and nothing else. even when the judge tried to challenge him on a couple of key points, he simply stuck to what he wanted to say and continued on, so very focused, very almost single-minded. >> he will have the rest of his life to think about it in a u.s. prison. thank you, deb, for that. nine children have been killed in back-to-back explosions in kandahar in

southern afghanistan. the first blast was a roadside bomb that struck a police vehicle and the second explosion went off as crowds gathered at the scene. a major change tonight in the way that government rates car safety and making it harder for cars to get the top seal of approval. jeanne meserve is here to explain how the new tests actually work. jeanne. >> well, if you are in the market, the government is touting a new and improved safety rating system. >> reporter: new slam, bam, crash tests are being incorporated with the old to give consumers for the first time an overall vehicle safety score. >> i am pleased to announce that we are raising the bar on safety. >> reporter: the new testing incorporates data on side pole crashes as well as front impact crashes and rollover resistance. for the first time female and male crash test dummies are

being used to learn how people of different sizes are hurt in a crash, and new data is being collected about head, chest, neck, and leg injuries. >> this is a giant step forward for car buyers, because they can assess a broad array of safety performance features in cars with just one rating and puts a lot of pressure on the manufacturers to improve the ratings. >> reporter: of all of the pickups, suvs and cars tested so far, only two have earned the five star, the bmw 2005 series, and the 2011 versea, and nissan. they say it has tested well in real studies, but they will study the results, and improve. the impact safety agencies have

hit a all-time low in 2008 and projected to drop further when data for 2009 is available. the new crash safety ratings can be found on the d.o.t. website safercar.gov, but beginning on 2012, it is on the sticker of every new car. wolf, back to you. >> thank you. two of the top richest men in the united states is speaking to poppy harlow about tax cuts. it is a huge debate. poppy is here, and warren buffett, the oracle of omaha and you had a chance to sit down with him, and he said, raise my taxes in terms of his taxes, right? >> it was an interesting wide-ranging conversation about the economy and where we are in recovery according to warren buffett this recession is nowhere near over, but he has always said raise taxes on wealthy people like me, but what he has not said today, is to lower taxes even more for the

middle-class and those not making as much in the country and a controversial statement politically in this economy. listen to warren buffett. >> we should raise taxes for the wealthy and cut them for the middle-class. >> more than the bush tax cuts? >> if it need to be, because we are taking in a fraction of gdp in income in the united states. that is not enough. we have to get more money from somebody, and the question is, do we get it more from the personis serving me lunch today or from me. get it from me. >> and outspoken supporter of barack obama, wolf, and what we talked about after that is yes, but is it politically viable for the president to cut taxes more for the upper middle-class, and he said, you know, that is a political issue and something that warren buffett does not have to worry about. >> he will weigh in more on cnnmoney.com?

>> yes. >> we will go there and find out more. jack is here with the cafferty file. >> how about this for an idea, why doesn't the government stop spending so much money and then they would not need to take in so much money. j u.s. a thought. another sign of how the troubled economy is forcing americans to make tough choices. this is scary. a new study shows that almost one fourth of parents plan to raid their own retirement accounts in order to pay for their kids' college education. it is a sallie mae survey done by gallup, and shows that 24% of parents plan to pay for college by dipping into 401(k)'s and pension plans, and 24%. this is money that people have set aside for the golden years. experts call the trend disturbing and a dispratiespera move and risky, because of tax penalties and fees if you withdraw money from the accounts early, and restrictions on how quickly you have to pay back

money you borrow from a retirement plan. experts say there are 529 college savings plans tax-free to pay for the youngster's education when he turns college age. nevertheless, the survey finds that despite the shaky economy, edge skags is a tucation is sti priority for americans, and 60% are saving for their children, and by the time they are ready for college, parents will have saved close to $50,000 and the most common way they are saving is cds or saving accounts which earn precious little interest, and those are followed by stocks and mutual funds and money market accounts. here is the question then. what does it mean if one-fourth of parents want to use their retirement money to pay for college tuition. go and post a comment on my blog. >> that means we are all in

trouble. that is frightening. jack cafferty will be back. thank you. a celebrity billionaire is eyeing the oval office and details of what donald trump is saying right now. and now the connetroversial tea party candidate says, i'm not a witch, i'm you. and lions turn on their trainer attacking him in front of a horrified audience. we have the yid owe. ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪

♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ the new cadillac srx. the cadillac of crossovers. cadillac. the new standard of the world. sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. boss: and now i'll turn it over gecko: ah, t, ecko.rs. as we all know, geico has been saving people money on rv, camper and trailer insurance... ...as well as motorcycle insurance...

gecko: oh...sorry, technical difficulties. boss: uh...what about this? gecko: what's this one do? gecko: um...maybe that one. ♪ dance music boss: ok, let's keep rolling. we're on motorcycle insurance. vo: take fifteen minutes to see how much you can save on motorcycle, rv, and camper insurance.

it certainly helped to snub the flames of anger for the tea party movement, but it is not just the conservatives who consider t.a.r.p. the four-letter word. the massive bailout is hugely unpopular across the political spectrum, but now despite the loathing, t.a.r.p. has been highly, highly successful for american taxpayers. cnn's mary snow is in new york with a t.a.r.p. reality check and what are you finding out, mary? >> well, wolf, this program expired two days ago and now the fr treasury department is out with the assessment report. they say that the cost to taxpayers is fraction of what was expected, but it says that the economy has a long way to go before returning to normal. touted as the potential savior for the u.s. financial system, bailouts were to be the villain. two years ago congress authorized $200 billion for

t.a.r.p., and the troubled asset relief program for banks and financial institutes and it is so hated that some politicians paid a price for supporting it. it cost utah senator bob bennett his bid for re-election. despite the unpopularity, the treasury department is claiming success for t.a.r.p. which expired this week. the treasury says far less than $700 billion, and actually closer to $50 billion and maybe $30 billion after selling off a stake of aig. after stepping down as the secretary of financial stability oversaw t.a.r.p., herbert allison. >> i think that the taxpayers can say that a program that is hated and pretty much disliked by most members of the public is going to turn out to be a lot less costly than people feared.

>> reporter: allison says that credit goes to the markets, and making money from aig is not out of the question. >> we expect to possibly make a profit out of aig. >> reporter: a profit? >> it is quite possible, and you know, as we see it today, this is a different company with better prospects and it has shed the huge risks for instance in the financial products department that it had a year and a half ago or so. >> reporter: while many economists believe that t.a.r.p. was necessary to keep the financial system from collapsing, not all believe that the money was used properly. economist peter morici is not claiming victory. >> 10,000 of the regional banks are on the fdic watch list and 270 or so have fail and many of the regional banks upon which small businesses rely can't make loans. the t.a.r.p. aided wall street a lot, and main street didn't get much. >> wolf, another thing that critics worry about without a

price tag is that among the large banks, they believe they can be bailed out again in the future. another thing in the treasury report, it says that outside of t.a.r.p., it expects substantial losses from freddie mie mac and fannie mae. and donald trump speaks out of whether -- get this, he aims to run for president of the united states in 2012 and that is not saying all, and that is not all he is saying. you will find out why he thinks that president obama is in big danger of not being re-elected. and plus, don't kick bolivia's president or you will face tough retaliation. we have the details here in "the situation room." [ male announcer ] this rock has never stood still.

since our beginning, we've been there for clients through good times and bad, when our clients' needs changed we changed to meet them. through the years, when some lost their way, we led the way with new ideas for the financial challenges we knew would lie ahead. this rock has never stood still. and there's one thing that will never change.

we are, the rock you can rely on. prudential. we are, the rock you can rely on. it doesn't look risky. i mean, phil, does this look risky to you? nancy? fred? no. well it is. in a high-risk area, there's a 1-in-4 chance homes like us will flood. i'm glad i got flood insurance. fred, you should look into it. i'm a risk-taker. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. visit floodsmart.gov/risk to learn your risk.

one of the busiest ports in the united states is shutdown and all due to a tilting tower. brianna keilar is here with more on that and other top stories. briann in? >> well, wolf, the beauty port of houston is expected to stay closed until tomorrow at least, because a high voltage steel tower is leaning to one side after a tow vessel rammed it sunday. and workers are called there to remove big john to remove the tower. they hoped to connect it today, but the powerlines are going slower than expected and in the meantime, dozens of ships have nowhere to go. and militants have attacked another convoy carrying supplies for troops in afghanistan. gunmen fired on the convoy in western pakistan killing one person, and this is the fourth attack since friday. the pakistani taliban claimed responsibility for two of the attacks saying they are in

revenge for drone strikes. if you are getting social security benefits, you won't be seeing bigger checks next year, and thats according to experts who have crunched the numbers. the experts say not enough inflation to justify that benefit bump. check this out, this one really looks like it hurts. yes, that was the bolivian president kneeing an opponent in the groin, and the opposing player had kicked him in the leg, and actually, he was not ejected, but the opponent was for fouling him and that was a player on opposition politicians. you know, you may have heard, i'm sure you have of the sun chips biodegradable bag, because it is so loud that it might just drive you crazy. and it has managed to inspire facebook sites saying nothing is louder than a sun chips bag.

and the manufacturer has heard you and they are replacing that bag. >> you mean this quiet bag here. >> for five of the six flavor, because think are working on a new quieter option. >> because if you are eating some of these -- >> and if you are at a movie. >> little annoying. >> you are the annoying guy at the movie. >> ki opcan i open it? >> yes, we brought them. >> and you take out. hmm, and delicious, and tasty, too, but they are going to get a new bag. >> yes. >> but this is very green though. >> and it is a warning and this is what cracks me up. this bag is louder, because it is compostable. >> very loud bag. you don't want to be sitting in the movie theater with that. >> all right. you want me to take those? all right. thank, wolf. >> give them to the crew. they like those. hillary clinton as vice president? new buzz of what some are calling the democratic party's

dream ticket in 2020 and some are saying maybe it will happen in 2012. and a horror show at a circus as the lions attack the trainer. we have exclusive video from an i-reporter who was there. and a unusual campaign ad. when is the last time you heard a united states candidate say this -- >> i'm not a witch. i'm nothing you've heard. i'm you. i like to discuss my ideas with someone. that's what i like about fidelity. they talked with me one on one, so we could come up with a plan that's right for me, and they worked with me to help me stay on track -- or sometimes, help me get on an even better one. woman: there you go, brian. thanks, guys. man: see ya. fidelity investments. turn here.

donald trump for president of the united states in 2012? the real estate mogul and reality television star is now talking precisely about that. >> for the first time in my life, i've had so many people over the years to ask me to do that, and for the first time in my life, i am absolutely thinking about it. i don't know that i'll do it. it is probable that i won't do it, but i can tell you they 'm thinking about it. somebody has to do something. we are losing this country. >> he says if he runs, he would run as a republican. i recently sat down with donald trump and asked him who is to blame for president obama and the democrats' declining political fortunes with the american public and listen to. this. >> well, everybody gets blamed, wolf. he is having a hard time. i don't know if he is ever going to recover. i look at him as a president that really is in trouble. i see what is happening in the country. there is a movement that i have never seen before, whether it is tea party or whatever, and i

just don't know if anybody that's an incumbent is going to be able to recover unless they are really good and doing a really good job. >> when you say not recover -- what does that mean? >> recover and be elected. that what i mean. >> you assume he will run in 2012 for re-election. >> i do assume. >> and you are not convinced that he can win re-election in. >> i don't know if he k because i see such hatred and animosity out, there and we see taxes going up and wars that we should not be in and roadways into manhattan that are falling apart and yet we are rebuilding afghanistan. i don't know that it is going to work out for him. >> because you and i are old enough to remember 1994 when president clinton suffered a huge setback losing the house and the senate and he came back in 1996 and beat bob dole. >> he did, and lots of things can happen, but right now the level of animosity and level of almost hatred for the government by our people is unbelievable and i am sure you have never

seen anything like it and i have never seen anything like it, but will he run? yes. will he win? i don't know. if you asked me a year ago i would have said absolutely he will run and win. it is looking bad for president obama. we are not respected throughout the world. in the reagan years we were respected, but we are not respected anymore as a country. >> those are tough words that you are saying. >> well, i don't know if they are tough, but accurate. i have a lot of so-called friends in china and they call me and talk and they can't believe how stupid our representatives are that they are getting away with it. i don't blame them, but i am saying they are getting away with murder, and they are selling us product with a low currency, and they are getting away with murder, and they can't believe they are getting away with this murder. >> who is this -- name names? >> well, you have the start by saying that the person who appoints the people. now, who appoints the people?

the president appoints the people. when i negotiate with china, i y want the best business diplomats there, and not people who want to keep them happy. they have the smartest and the best negotiating. we don't. we have some diplomat who doesn't know the first thing about business. >> donald trump saying that he is seriously thinking about the possibility of running for president of the united states as a republican. we will see how serious that consideration turns out to be. and an illegal trip to cuba by a american turncoat, and those are explosive allegations rocking the governor's race in california. right now it is jerry brown under fire. casey wian is in los angeles with more on the story. casey, what is going on here? >> reporter: well, a crazy story, wolf. the race to be california's next governor is nastier by the minute on the allegations that

republican candidate meg whitman employed a illegal immigrant in her house for years and now comes word that her opponent jerry brown used a disgraced cia agent as a tour guide in cuba ten years ago, and the daily beast reports that brown, mayor of oakland, took a trip to set up a sister relationship with santiago, cuba, 10 years ago. the man was philip agee who was a turn coat who revealed cia agents in a book, and infuriating the united states, and he also worked with the kgb against the cia and a woman who was there at the time of the visit wrote the article for the daily beast. >> it is bad judgment for a public official, and not for a citizen who may not know better,

but jerry brown is a attorney, and the question is should he be held to a higher bar. >> reporter: and a spokesman said it is rare that the sitting mayor makes his own travel arrangements, and he did go from oakland to cuba to work on a mission, and came home. and they don't know how he came in contact with agee who died two years ago and there is no evidence he knew who he was before the trip. and there is another story that brown may have violated u.s. laws going to cuba, but he in fact did not violate laws, his campaign claims, but still, the whitman campaign e-mailed the report to us, and criticized him for ignoring the law. we are still awaiting clarification, wolf. >> another wrinkle in the california race.

supporters love her, because she is not typical candidate and the newest ad is not the typical commercial. >> i'm not a wichlt i'm nothing you have heard. i'm you. what's this option? that's new.

personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke.

not every day you hear a campaign commercial that starts out like the new one from the republican delaware senate candidate christine o'donnell. >> i'm not a witch. i'm nothing you've heard. i'm you. none of us are perfect, but none of us can be happy with what we see all around us. politicians who think that spending, trading favors and backroom deals can stay in office. i will go to washington and do what you'd do. i'm christine o'donnell, and i approve this message. i'm you. all right. let's talk about this with cnn's john king who is the host of "john king usa" which begins at the top of the hour. her democratic opponent chris coons issued this statement, in her new television ad christine

o'donnell says she is you, but unless you think that the retirement age of social security should be raised and want to further deregulate wall street, and against the woman's right to choose, and want public schools to teach creationism, and think that homosexuality is a identity disorder, she is not you. tough reaction from chris coons. >> and pretty tough reaction and hard-knuckles pith. we all wondered when she would go up on television and when she would raise $2 million since the surprise win, and that is the first ad that comes close to it, i em n i'm not a witch. some republicans say, bad idea to bring up the past, and others say, hit it head on. the i'm you, sarah palin talks like that and that is the hockey mom sarah palin would say, and the elitist want you to do that and let's have normal people make these decisions and that is a tough and smart politically

response from chris coons and we wouldn't know that she dabbled in witchcraft if it weren't for the archives of the bill maur show. and we had him on john king when this came out, and we got bill maher's reaction. >> i think that when you have to start your campaign ad with "i'm not a witch" the battle has been lost. i think that she would have been much smarter to ignore that, but, you nknow, but being much smarter is not her strong suit. >> ouch. harsh words for bill maher, and he is is a liberal and he is getting mileage out of the christine o'donnell race. she is behind in double digits, and delaware seems to be a moderate state, and if she intends to win, she should be unorthodo, and i can't wait for the next ad. >> well, most people didn't think she could win the primary,

and she did. remember linda tripp, and the monica lewinsky story, and you remember her? >> yes, i do. >> she was the confidant for monica lewinsky, and we go back to this. >> i understand that there has been a great deal of speculation about just who i am. and how i got here. well, the answer is simple, i'm you. i'm just like you. >> listen, linda tripp is like you and christine o'donnell is like you, too. >> and monica lewinsky did not appreciate that, and i had a lot less gray hair in those days. >> we both did, and that was back in 1998, as you recall. >> i was your junior white house correspondent, and you were the senior. >> john will have more on this coming up on the top of the hour. and is bill maher back on the show? >> yes, we will talk about the democrats. we got in shots at the republicans last night, and

democrats tonight. >> okay. and reminder, you can see the delaware senate debate between christine o'donnell, and chris coons right here. i will moderate the debate on october 13th. that is going to be a good debate. and a family outing ends in fear and panic as not just one, but several circuit lions attack their trainer. one i-reporter sent us the video. and jeanne moos will take the most unusual look.

second of terror all

captured on tape and happening, believe it or not, at a circus. stunning video from cnn and i-reporter doug shepherd showing a lion mauling his trainer, and this is far from the only incident like this one. cnn's brian todd has been looking into the attacks for us. brian? >> wolf, we will show you a classic predator and take look at this guy, a 5-year-old fully mature male lion from south africa sitting in his front yard at the national zoo. we are looking at the animal's behavior not only under normal circumstances burk when they are irritated. >> reporter: in an instant a massive lion turns on the trainer, and this ferocious attack happened on a family in ukraine last weekend. as one lion strike, another joins in, and biting the trainer's left arm. as people in the crowd scream, workers hose them down the try to keep them at bay, but seconds later, another strike.

a similar event occurred at the mgm resort in las vegas and posted on youtube. at the washington national zoo we got into the dangerous dynamic between the predators in captivity and those who interact up close. we are here to talk with don moore the head of animal care sciences at the national zoo. we have a 400-pound male lion named luke here and the same size as one involved in the mgm incident. first of all, don, when you are in there, in that yard with the lion as a trainer or a handler. >> yes. >> and the lion wants the attack or play too rough, what is the first thing you are trained the do? >> well, the first thing that we do is not to go in with large dangerous animals, so we always have a protective barrier between lions, tigers and bears. >> is that a mobil carrier? >> no, it is a solid wall that has spaces in it, so we can interact with the animals in a safe way. >> reporter: in this incident in

ukra emergency surgery. what triggers that behavior in the lion? are they territorial or encroaching in there that spurs that behavior? >> well, in carnivores, they have a prey response, and so people at home may have seen the cat chasing a dustball, and if you get down on all fours and lower than a lion or bear, they may just snap. >> reporter: interlopers beware, last fall a deer jumped into this lion's yard in washington, and video taken by a visitor on youtube. now, that went down into the mote, and lions didn't go after it, so would you advice people if they are near water to go into the wear. the. >> but i am surprised that they did don't into the water, because they were obviously motivated to hunt that deer. >> reporter: and female lions are no less dangerous.

a female just gave birth to four cubs, and don moore says when lions are in that state before and after giving birth, they are more irritable, and more prone to attack. wolf. what does it mean if one quarter of americans out there plan to use their retirement money to pay for kids' college? jack cafferty is standing by with your e-mail. and what about bat boy? this one passed the smell test at one news network. and jeanne moos will take a most unusual look.

.

let's check back with jack for the cafferty file. >> what does it mean if one-fourth of parents plan to use their retirement money to pay for their kid's college tuition? curt writes, i don't know what that means, jack. i worked full time. i went to college part time. and earned my degree in six years. i think that adult children need

to take care of themselves and should not be such a burden on their parents. blowing your retirement money on your kids is stupid. peg in new york writes, it means the kids will need to make vast amounts of money in order to pay for their parent's retirement. abel writes, parents will now have to work more years. thus the graduating students will have fewer jobs available. a vicious cycle indeed. barbara writes, we have no choice. even by using money that should be in retirement, our son will be strapped with over $50,000 in debt after four years of college, not including the loan we, his parents, took out, at a price tag of $40,000 a year. where else is the money supposed to come from? pat in michigan says, there are a lot of cheaper colleges in this country. we have become so label driven that it has seeped into our culture even in the field of education. an "a" is an "a." tom writes this is moronic to say the least. you can borrow money for college. you cannot borrow money for your retirement.

shawn in florida, not a good idea. in spite of what most seem to think, it's not a parent's duty to put their kids through college. my parents didn't. i got financial aid and loans that took me ten years to pay off. i'm flat broke in this economy. if my kids want to go to college, they'll have to pay for it themselves. joanne writes, we have tougher times ahead over the next three to five years. we haven't hit the bottom yet. if you want to read more on this rather depressing subject, go to my blog. cnn.com/caffertyfile. >> some school, the tuition keeps going up and up and up. >> despite the fact some colleges are sitting on huge endowments. i mean, in the billions of dollars. >> right. >> and they're raising tuitions and expenses far beyond the pace of inflation. >> and there are state universities -- not everyone has to go to some of those -- they're great schools if you can afford it or get a scholarship but there are pretty good schools that are a lot less

expensive. >> not anybody can get into those other schools either. you have to be half sharp to be admitted. you probably went -- >> i went to the state university of new york at buffalo for my b.a. and went to one of those elite schools for graduate school. but undergrad wauate, it didn't cost my parents a whole lot of money to go to suny, buffalo. >> they have a suny in buffalo? >> great school, very proud of it. barack obama and hillary clinton, will it become a reality in 2012? bob woodward is talking to john king on "john king usa." and a billion dollar news story takes off. only get this, it's not true. 3q did you know vitamin d helps our bones absorb calcium

so they can stay strong ? and sunshine gives us vitamin d. so if you've got osteoporosis, get out there, soak up a little sun. but you may need more than vitamin d, calcium, and exercise. ask your doctor about once-monthly boniva. boniva worked with my body to help stop and reverse my bone loss. in fact, studies show, one year on boniva worked for nine out of ten women. ( announcer ) don't take boniva if you have problems with your esophagus, low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or can't sit or stand for at least one hour. follow dosing instructions carefully. stop taking boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems.

if jaw problems or severe bone, joint, and/or muscle pain develop, tell your doctor. i've got this one body and this one life. so i take boniva, which has helped me stop losing and start reversing. ask your doctor about boniva today. to get one month free, plus more tips, visit boniva.com or call 1-800-4boniva. to everyone who wants to go to college and everyone who started college but never finished... to late bloomers... full-time moms... and everyone who is good at something but wants to be great. welcome to kaplan university. the university that's changing the face of education... to undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees... degrees that can give you a leg up... in a tough job market... in any job market... welcome. welcome to kaplan university. call kaplan university now or visit us on-line to take our free learning assessment.

jet packs for sale. they can be yours for a mere billion dollars. only this tall tale had one major news network fooled. cnn's jeanne moos has the most unusual flight of fancy. >> reporter: this is the story of a news story that took off. the story that got off the ground. even though it was made up out of thin air. the joke's on fox news. reporting on the martin jet pack which does exist. >> the city of -- are you kidding me? the city of los angeles already ordering 10,000 jet packs for

its police, paramedics and fire departments. >> are you kidding? >> reporter: does this mean l.a. will be buzzing with jet pack police like the guys chasing tom cruise up a fire escape in "minority report?" like james bond, escaping the bad guys in "thunderball." like tom cruise, fox news fell for it. >> yeah, but get this, the cost, $100,000. states -- i mean, i'm all for buying stuff up and help the capitalism and all that -- >> they already ordered 10,000 of them. >> reporter: let's see, 10,000 jet packs at 100,000 a piece comes out to an expenditure of $1 billion. an expenditure the l.a. police department never heard of. as for the new zealand-based makers of the martin jet pack -- >> certainly we haven't sold 10,000 to the los angeles police, though we would love a call from them if they're interested. >> reporter: fox news didn't return our calls, but this is

where the story originated. remember the old saying, consider the source? well, "weekly world news" is known for imaginary scoops like bat boy found in cave. these are the folks who brought us headlines like ten new commandments found, death cured, and first photos of heaven. the ceo of "the weekly world news" never takes his tongue out of his cheek. >> think about law enforcement jet pack officer being able to descend down on sunset boulevard and stop a celebrity that's loaded driving a convertible into a tree, that's something that could save a lot of lives. >> reporter: the last time a "weekly world news" story got picked up in the world press was when it was reported a chaos cloud was headed for earth. just to be clear, the martin jet pack is real. it goes 63 miles an hour. there are two of them in existence, as the company lookses for somebody to invest $15 million. as for the 10,000 ordered by the