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tv The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer CNN October 13, 2011 1:00pm-3:00pm PDT
meeting of congress about to happen. minutes away. the president of south korea visiting with the president of the united states. one of multiple state visits under the obama administration. i'm going to go ahead and hand things off to wolf blitzer, who will cover this one and many more. "the situation room" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com happening now, president obama speaks out at length for the first time about the alleged plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the united states. what he's saying about links to the iranian government. stand by. also, "the wall street journal's" european edition is hit by ethics allegations. details of the latest scandal to rock rupert murdoch's empire. plus, a u.s. senator accused of plagerism. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."
a visit by the south korean president overshadowed by the unfolding international drama surround i surrounding an alleged iranian terror plot. for the first time, president obama spoke at length about what the united states maintains was a plan to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the united states here in washington, d.c. let's go straight to jessica yellin. jessica, the president was asked about the links to the iranian government. what did he say today? >> he declined to say the highest levels of the iranian government had knowledge of it. he would not say that the nation's supreme leader or president was aware of it. >> i don't think the problem here jessica is that i have not been unwilling to negotiate with republicans. i've shown repeatedly my willingness to work overtime. to try to get them to do something. he had direct links.
was paid by and directed by individuals in the iranian government. now, those facts are there for all to see. and we would not be bringing forward a case unless we knew exactly how to support all the allegations that are contained in the indictment. we believe that -- if even if at the highest levels, there was not detailed operational knowledge, there has to be accountability. with respect to anybody in the iranian government engaging in this kind of activity. >> wolf, he went on to say that the u.s. government is using the evidence it's gathered to talk to international partners, pressure then to ratchet up pressure on and isolate iran.
>> we'll have more on what the u.s. is doing towards iran rigts now, but you had a chance and played that clip inadd ver tantly. you asked the president about the jobs bill that he got defeated in the united states senate this week. what did he say? >> he's been saying he's going to ask congress to break up the bill and vote on pieces of it. he declined to say which piece, but i did ask whether he would invite republicans over to the white house for a sit-down with them to negotiate on a bill that they could agree on. on something they could get done to get jobs started now. here's what the president said. >> i don't think the problem here, jessica, is that i have not been unwilling to negotiate with republicans. i've shown repeatedly my willingness to work over time, to try to get them to do something to deal with this high unemployment rate. what we haven't seen is a
similar willingness on their part to try to get something done. >> now, senior administration officials have said they expect the likeliest pieces of this package to pass, the extension of unemployment insurance and the payroll tax. >> let's get back to the alleged iranian plot. jill daugherty is over at the state department. the obama administration at least seems to be partially on the defensive in explaining this plot, especially making the case internationally. what do you know? >> we know that the secretary and other top officials here at the state department are on the phones. they've been talking with officials high up officials from other countries, making that case. also, up at the united nations. susan rice, the ambassador to the united states, has been meeting with members of the u.n. security counsel. we understand those meetings are over and she has been doing the
same thing. essentially, explaining how serious ly the u.s. the u.s. views this. these are countries that want more information. we're told that the state department offered to do it right from the beginning and several countries have taken them up on id and specifically, we have china has wanted more information on that. you can imagine because china has a lot of trade and economic interest with iran. russia is the next one. ditto on that. they have a lot of economic interests and finally, the last would be turkey, which would be a major player in the world. these teams, we're told are made up of senior officials. how it was supposed to have gone down and how the case was made by the government. >> jill, you know, here's what i don't understand, the target of this alleged plot was saudi
arabia's ambassador here in washington and the reaction at least so far from the saudis, they've condemned what's going on. they seem to believe everything that the obama administration is saying, but they have not yet recalled their ambassador from tehran. they still have full normal diplomatic relations. is that about to change? >> you know, they are i think preparing to do something the indications are they will, but specifically, what is not clear, they are studyi ining it very carefully, looking at the evidence and you can imagine they would want to do something, but they have to be very careful. the biggest relationship in that region between saudi arabia and iran and they have to do it correctly, wolf. >> but do they believe the saudis that the iranian government tried to kill the ambassador? >> they're been very careful about what they're saying. they were thankful to the united states. there's been a lot of diplomatic speech on that. but at this point, publicly, at
least, they're not saying exactly what they think. they're saying we're going to look at the evidence. >> so, as far as the u.s., what's the next step? >> well, the next wup would be what do you do and that is sanctions. and the united states already has taken sanctions. the next thing and we heard this from the administration today at the senate banking committee. they're making the case that the sanctions that were put in place a year ago are working. let's listen to david cohen, the treasury under secretary, who deals with terrorism and these issues. >> iran's shrinking access to frad finance has made it difficult for iran to pay for i imports and receive payment for exr ports. iran's central bank has been unable to halt the steady erosion in the value of its currency. and iran has been increasingly unable to attract foreign investments. especially in its oil fields. leading to a projected loss of
$14 billion a year in oil revenues through 2016. >> so next targets could be the central bank of iran. there are number of senators up on capitol hill who would like to do that. they want to have tripling sanctions to really cut them off and in some cases, they say collapse the iranian currency. the next step is oil. oil is 50 to 75% of the income iran gets and if you target that, pushing other countries to simply do not deal with iran. what specifically they'll do, wolf, they are still planning that you can expect there would be more and wendy sherman, the new under secretary of state was saying nothing should be off the table. >> jill, thanks very much. it will be fascinating to see how far the saudis go in underscoring their anger at iran. we'll see if they recall their
ambassador from tehran and sever all commercial ties. we'll see how seriously they take the u.s. allegations against iran. meanwhile, $707 billion is the pentagon's budget this year, considered by some to be a black hole of federal spending. today, leon panetta promised lawmakers to show in detail how those billions are spent. he faces mandatory cuts to his budget if congress can't agree on other cuts before thanksgiving. >> i truly believe that we do not have to make a choice. between fiscal security and national security. but to do that, to do that, will require that we have to make some very tough choices. >> our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, found the u.s. army already making some tough budget choices. >> everything for war is for sale here.
military assault weapons, the latest ammunition rounds, missiles, drones, the newest off-road vehicle for special forces, complete with weapons on board. hundreds of frantic defense contractors are scrambling knowing congress is about to slash military spending in the coming weeks. >> right now, you're tech book is a little thinner than it used to be cht. >> right. >> we spoke to army chief of staff. >> will you be able to deter those or want to do things knowing we wouldn't be able to deploy a large enough army. >> he worries the military faces $600 billion in mandatory cuts that could make the u.s. vulnerable. >> i think it will fundamentally have an impact on all the services, specifically the army, and our ability to provide security. >> business wants to military to keep buying. competition is so tough these
days amongst military contractors. this company is keeping some of their best gear behind closed doors. this is their proposed new vehicle to replace the humvee. nothing may be more crucial for saving lives than finding a new humv humvee. replacement vehicles would protect troops better, but it's big money. 50,000 new ones would cost as much as $50 billion. bea systems let us sit in their proposed new vehicle for that contract competition. >> this is already meiered in controversy because of the spending issue right now. and the budget crunch. this is a big program. >> and because of the perceived cost of the program, the question is just one of affordability. >> so, in the case of the hum view, the army may just upgrade the current hum view one more time for about half the cost.
kevin of textron systems says saving money is something everyone relates to. >> rather than buy a new utility vehicle, we want to refurbish and improve the ones in the industry. that is remodeling the house twice buying a new house. >> the army has born the brunt of ten years of war. xanders agree, it's time to downsize. time to trim. they just don't want to trim too much. there's an awful lot on that floor they'd like to buy. >> they're going to have to start cutting all throughout the federal budget and the u.s. army is about 20, 21% of the d.o.d. overall. so the navy, is air force, the marine corp., all are going to be cutting assuming the budget constraints continue. thanks very much.
a top executive at "the wall street journal's" european edition is stepping down as the scandal heats up. and my interview with rick santorum. i'll ask him about the alleged plot to kill saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states. we'll also talk about the republican race for the white house and much more. there's only one bottle left !
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looking at live pictures of the president of south korea. he's here on official state visit to the united states. the president of south korea formally invited by the president of the united states and estate dinner tonight. now he's addressing a joint meeting of the united states congress, the house and senate underscoring the u.s.-south korean relationship. also, praising the u.s. congress editi decision yesterday to approve a new free trade area agreement. we're monitoring the president's address before a joint meeting of the u.s. congress. we'll bring you some highlights later. meanwhile, another scandal rocking repurt murdoch's media
empire. this time, the allegations are against t"the wall street journa journal"'s european edition. richard, this scandal seems to have two parts sh doesn't it? >> it does. and they are connected. the first part wolf concerns "the wall street journal" europe's circulation. and the allegation that the journal paid a third party, a company called executive learning partnership, to take the paper and then sell it at a deeply discounted price of a couple of cents a copy. in other words, the journal was literally paying somebody sto buy the paper thus to boost its circulation numbers. now, related to that allegation is the suggestion that the journal promised elp favorable coverage in a couple of articles for doing this deal, this back scratching deal to boost circulation. as a result of that lack of
ethical breach, "the wall street journal" europe publisher has resigned, so you definitely have the sense something was off in the circulation department and that's why the abc is going back to look at the numbers from a couple of yearses ago! what is "the wall street journal" saying about all of this? >> first of all, he's gone and seems to be an admission of the ethical breaches, but on the circulation, the journal says the story from the guardian newspaper which broke it is full of untruths and full of malign interpretation. that's a posh way i think of saying one newspaper beating up on another. >> what are the chances that rupert murdoch himself may have known anything at all about this? >> very slim.
"the wall street journal" europe, "wall street journal" is of course the jewel in the news corp. crowd, but the european edition sells less than 100,000 copies a day. it's prestigious. very much part of what they want to be about in europe. but nobody is really frankly suggesting that mr. murdoch himself had any news of this particular allegation, which must be admitted and said. so far, the journal is saying they did nothing wrong. >> richard quest in london for us, thank you. richard, it's the deadliest shooting rampage that ever happened in orange county, california and now, we're learning more. and protesters occupying wall street, they are saying no. no to the new york city mayor, michael bloomberg. what he asked them to do. we'll have details coming up. i'm not a number.
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wall street protesters say they're not going anywhere. and lisa sylvester is nmonitorig that. >> the occupy wall street movement says it won't believe so that the park can be cleaned up. michael bloomberg has asked protesters to leave the area by tomorrow morning. bloomberg says there is a concern about unsanitary conditions, but the protesters say this is an effort to force them out and they would be willing to clean up the park themselves. the park's owners say protesters can return once it's cleaned if they follow the rules. a custody battle may have led to the deadly shooting in california yesterday. eight were killed. the suspect's ex-wife, a stylist
at the salon, is reportedly among the dead. ktia reports the suspect and his ex-wife were involved in a custody battle over their son. and french prosecutors have dropped an attempted rape complaint against dominique strauss-kahn. they say there's a lack of sufficient evidence. a journalist says he tried to rape her in 2003. strauss-kahn had admitted to sexual aggression at the time. he returned to france after charges were dropped against him in new york. >> ktla. don't want to get our affiliates upset. a law that has both families prepared to flee the state of alabama. why the obama administration is trying to block it. also, the surge of republican candidate, herman cain. james carville and david fromme
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according to one poll, herman cain is now the front-runner among the republican presidential candidates. we'll talk about this and more in our strategy session. joining us, the democratic strategist, james carville. david fromme is joining us as well. not necessarily along time friend of the clintons. he does write for frommeforum.com. a former speech writer for president bush. erin burnett had a chance to speak with herman cain. listen to this. >> you talk and money that you haven't raised as much as your rivals. mitt romney said he raised 11
million, rick perry, 17 million. your numbers, can you tell us what they're going to come to? >> r for the quarter, we will report first of all, no debt. you see, i run this very tight like a start-up business because that's my nature as a business man. and we are going to have, we will report at the end of the quarter several hundred thousands of dollars of cash on hand. within the last few weeks, our fund raising has really picked up. >> the interview later tonight, 7:00 p.m. eastern. james, how important or not so important is money in a republican contest or democratic contest even? >> it really doesn't matter between now and iowa. herman cain is not going to be the republican nominee. this is not about herman cain. it's about mitt romney. it was about michele bachmann.
this is all about a lot of the republican -- he doesn't have any intention, headquarters and that kind of stuff and i respect him for that. by the way, so far, it's working pretty good for him. >> it is pretty amazing, david, when you think about it, look how well he's doing in this new pol poll. >> he's occupy iing the donald trump memorial chair. the real story of this race has been as james said, there are a lot of republicans who want somebody more radically conservative than mitt romney. they have not been able to coales that part of the party around a plausible, disciplined candidate with some kind of record. i think the theme of this year,
we would think to be the 15-party. i understand the tea party used to be a big phenomenon, but they haven't been able to do it. their candidates have either failed of their own plaus or having unserious like michele bachmann and now, herman cain. >> is it possible that whatever is going on here, james, you're looking down the road, that mitt romney will not be the republican nominee? >> no. i'm posting a piece on cnn comparing this field to the 1980 republican field and david, it's going to be some painful reading. there's not the reason they haven't been able to coalesce is frankly, there is none. and forgot that trump has been four pretenders and none have been credible. romney, to his credit, seems like the you know, ugly girl who's waiting by the phone for the prom. you're going to call him. and he doesn't get his feelings
hurt. i give him credit for that. got some tenacity. >> rick perry tomorrow is going to announce his economic plan. i think he's going to be in pittsburgh. his numbers have gone down just as cain's numbers have gone way up. here's the question to you. can rick perry make a comeback and be a serious challenger to mitt romney? >> well, he could if all the people who don't like romney would make their piece that rick perry is really the only plausible all terntive. in the same way that tim pawlenty was the possible alternative then. i think it says something about the tea party movement and those who support the movement are going to have to do some self-examination. why couldn't they translate this into a presidential campaign? so, the irony is that in order to defeat president obama, republicans are going to rally around the man who is the author of a similar kind of health care reform. my joke is it's after if the democrats responded by nominated
robert mcnamara. the republican party is going to offer them a much better president than if the tea party had coalesced. >> seems to me, james, that the democrats, the ob arkobama camp are working urpd the assumption they will face romney in 2012. >> of course they are. i guess to be fair is perry could be credible, but hasn't shown any sort of sense that he can either debate or give a speech or do anything other than raise money. i think he's found wanting. again, these reporters, they're watching this. that's why you go from bachmann to perry. they're watching this closely and just not a credible alternative to mitt romney and it's, that's what it is. and maybe romney's lucky or
whatever, but this is the state of play over there and i think the correct asupgs is willing to operate on. >> earlier in the week, romney and chris christie, the republican governor of new jersey, very popular among republicans. is this potentially the ticket? >> usual talk is that it will be mark rubio -- said perhaps for having popular with the conservatives, i think having two northeasterns, none of whom is popular with the evangelical base. you know, there was a time when you might have said rick perry would have made the ideal running mate. >> i remember the republican race. very excitinging. certainly in time for our next
cnn debate. join cnn for the western republican presidential debate in las vegas. next tuesday, 8:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. alabama's moving forward with a tough new immigration law. the law is already having an impact despite the federal government aes attempt to block it and michele bachmann has breakfast with an important business leader. we'll tell you who and why. stand by. we're america's natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country...
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blackberry users can breathe a sigh of relief. what is the latest? >> blackberry service is running again after the worst outage in
company history. the device's maker says it suffered a hardware error and the back-up system didn't work as planned. the outage affected millions of users around the globe including here in the united states. the company has had a rough year. sales and the stock price are down as they face tough competition from iphone and android phones. japanese officials blocked off a tokyo neighborhood after detecting a spike in radiation. officials say the source may be glass bottles found in the basement of a house. and republican presidential candidate michele bachmann paid for third visit to real estate mogul donald trump. she said they had a wonderful breakfast and agreed to keep a close relationship. the minnesota congresswoman is polling at only 5%.
she insists her campaign is strong ond the poll numbers only show volatility in the race. an accused celebrity hacker says he deeply apologizes for what he calls one of the worst innovations of privacy. he says he was addicted to the intrusion. authorities say the florida man hacked the accounts of more than 50 people, including scarlett johannsen and christina aguilera. he faces a maximum of 121 years in federal prison. >> that's a long, long time. thanks very much for that. the obama administration is trying to block a tough new immigration law in alabama saying it invites discrimination. already, it's making the state anything but a sweet home for illegal immigrants. david, you had a firsthand look at the laws impact. what did you find out? >> that's right. i spoke to some immigrant
families liveing in alabama who now say they are living in fear and are faced with making some very tough decisions. >> right there. >> this is it? >> he was just two months away from graduate, but now, alabama high school student roman, is afraid to go to school. what are you thinking? >> how i was so close. one little piece of paper kept me from graduating. >> that piece of paper is the new alabama immigration law. that supporters and opponents alike call the toughest in the country. for the undocumented, a simple traffic stop could lead to deportation. roman's family immigrated to alabama illegally ten years ago. today, he likes hunting, lynyrd skynyrd and alabama football. if i didn't know better, i'd say you were a good ole boy. >> i've grown up with southerners my whole life. some call me a mexican red neck. >> and yet, he and others are
fleeing alabama schools. their families making plans to flee the state. others feel trapped. if you could speak to the people who passed this law, what would you say to them? >> don't be selfish. we all have and want an opportunity. >> the 27-year-old immigrated illegally 11 years ago. she says she and her husband can't move because she's almost seven months into a high risk pregnancy. they ask their full names and faces not be revealed. >> translator: we are not stealing anything from them. simply asking them to let us work. >> families living in fear, children being pulled out of schools. was this the intent? >> there's no intent for families to live in fear. >> the state senator led passage of the law. he tells me the focus is on jobs. >> our responsibility is to the
people that elect us, to the people of alabama. if there are other states out there who want to welcome an illegal workforce and displace their own workers, they should invite them there. >> in the meantime, roman says his dreams of graduation and college are fading. in his family's two bedroom apartment, the blinds are drawn and bags packed, ready to run if needed at a moment's notice. >> my parents gave me the option to stay and i told them we came as a family and we'll leave as a family. >> and all eyes are now on the federal courts again wolf, as they continue to work this law out to see if what provisions in it will hold up. meanwhile, the families in alabama, they say it's strictly day by day. >> thanks very much. skepticism about the alleged iranian plot to kill the saudi ambassador. does rick santorum believe
president obama? the republican presidential candidate is standing by live. we'll discuss with him and senator scott brown tries to explain what looks like planlg on his website. an airline has planes and people. and the planes can seem the same. so, it comes down to the people. because: bad weather, the price of oil those are every airline's reality. and solutions will not come from 500 tons of metal and a paintjob. they'll come from people.
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president obama with strong words today for iran saying it will pay the price for its alleged plot to kill saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states. the president spoke at length about the plot saying it was directed in his words by individuals in the iranian government. let's diswusz what's going on on this suggest and more with former senator from pennsylvania, rick santorum. senator, thanks very much for coming in. >> thanks, wolf. >> do you believe the president of the united states when he say at high element in the iranian government were plotting to kill adel al-jubeir? >> obviously, the president sees things i don't see and if i'm hopeful that the president's telling the truth. this is a pretty strong assertion to make that senior levels of the government are plotting to kill somebody in the united states, so i'm hopeful that the information is good and
i have no reason to believe it's not. if that is the case, the president's response is an appropriate one. i wish that he would have had a stronger response two years ago when there was a revolution in iran that could have been successful and we wouldn't be dealing with this situation. >> what would you have wanted him to do two years ago? >> well, there was a green revolution taking place as a result of fraudulent elections that declared ahminedjad the winner before the votes were counted and he unfortunately did not side with the protesters. contrary to what he did with the situation in egypt and in other countries in the middle east, he sided with the ruling mullahs and ahminedjad and to the consternation of those true democracy lovers in iran. this was a con temgs, a theocracy that has been at war with the united states since 1979 and unfortunately, the president coddled them to
through this whole process and allowed them to crush these protesters instead of doing the, starting the arab spring in persia two years ago. >> he didn't speak out as loudly as many would like, but to go as far as to say he was coddling or supporting the mullahs and the ayatoll ar ayatollah in iran, isn't that going way too far? >> compare what president obama did at the beginning of the green revolution legitimizing the revolution, which he did, and not doing anything concre concretely to support the protesters in any kind of strength like he did later on in egypt and as i mentioned, subsequent protests. there is a whole difference in kind to the reaction of the president, let's take each for
example and the reaction of the president when it came to iran and the odd thing was that the person in egypt that the president was dealing with was an alley of the united states as opposed to the people in tehran, who had been at war with us and have been killing american troops in both afghanistan and iraq by supplying them i.e.ds and training and equipment to those who want to kill us. >> let's say you were president of the united states right now and your attorney general said the united states is just tharted a plot to kill saudi arabia's ambassador in washington, maybe even blow up the saudi and israeli embassies here in washington, d.c. what would you do? >> well, i would sit down and look at options that we have available to us. everything from economic options, which i have supported the fact. in fact, most recent round of legislation that passed was my
bill and i would -- i have encouraged this administration to take action against the iranian nuclear program and there are lots of things we can do to stop that program from moving forward. both from the standpoint of covert operations as well as and i'm talkinging about actual operations within the country, to make sure that program does not continue and those would be some of the things that i would look at to pinpoint what is the next problem, which is if iran get as nuclear weapon, that what happened just a couple of days ago that was thwarted, will be a regular occurrence not just in the united states, but around the world. if iran has a nuclear shield to protect them, that cannot happen and the president of the united states, as president, i would make sure that they do not have that nuclear capability and use whatever means necessary to make sure that happens. >> i just want to be precise, then i'm going to move on. you would go to war, launch military action against iran to stop its nuclear program?
>> no, what i said was that i would use what means that were appropriate and i would i go to war to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon? if that was what's necessary, but i think there are a lot of things we can do before you know any kind of direct military strikes. >> you and ron paul, your republican presidential rival, you had a major exchange at one of the earlier debates on this specific issue. ron paul saying iran does not have an air force to come here. they can't even make enough gasoline. and here we are building up a case just like iraq. build up the war propaganda. can you still hear me, senator? unfortunately, i think we've lost our line. our connection with senator santorum. senator, are you there? unfortunately, i think we've lost senator santorum. we're going to try to fix that and get back to him. apologize to you and the senator as well. stand by. meanwhile, we'll take a
quick break. when we come back, a serious accusation against the sitting united states senator. did scott brown from a former senator? we're separating fact from fiction. plus, one of washington's most influential conservatives has a problem with the 999 plan. not white collar or blue collar or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges. but at prudential we're helping companies everywhere find new solutions to manage risk, capital and employee benefits, so american business can get on with business. ♪ hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today.
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that's personal pricing. we've reestablished communications with rick santorum. he's in pennsylvania. let's just wrap up this -- >> lots of things not working in harrisburg right now. >> let's just wrap up, ron paul, your republican rival says iran really represents no major threat to the united states and yet we rare e hear you suggest that if necessary, if president, you would go to war against iran to stop it from building a nuclear bomb. what do you say to ron paul? >> that iran is an exten shl threat. the greatest concern they have is not over the palestinians or syrians, they're concerned about iran. they're concerned about them getting a nuclear weapon and having the ability to then
really sponsor terrorism that will drive israel, that will drive israel as ahminedjad has said, off the face of the map. in addition to that, they have made it very, very clear they want to dominate that region of the world and when they have that nuclear weapon and this theology about their destiny to be in control and to use that as a platform to spread around the rest of the world, this is a serious, serious threat to the region and ultimately to american national security. it has to be authoritied before it becomes nuclear. >> we're going to continue this conversation in the days ahead with ron paul. appreciate it very much. other news we're following, scott brown is responding to charges of plagiarism. lisa sylvester has more. >> senator brown's office says
that this was all just a technical glitch and it was not in any way intentional. but there is a democratic group that says it was a deliberate swiping of dole's material. >> i have decided to run for the united states senate. >> it was in 2002, elizabeth dole kicking off her senatal campaign when she spoke of her upbringing saying quote -- those same words she used in her book, speaking from the heart, and was also posted on her senatorial website, but the very same language, word for word, also appeared on scott brown's website on his student resources page.
a democratic political action committee combing through republican records discovered the duplication. >> this wasn't't him trying to explain some of those. this was a personal values statement about who he was trying to explain that to students and if you can't as a politician, come up with your own words as to who you are and how you were raised and brought up, then i think you have problems and the voters o of massachusetts are going to see that. >> scott brown's office was quick to push back. they say young staffers were eager to get a website up and running after brown took office. in their haste, they made a big mistake -- we confirmed with the
spokesperson that brown's office had permission to use her website as a template. dole's chief of staff calling this much adieu about nothing. the posting has been taken down. now, at the very least, this is pretty embarrassing for senator scott brown and his staff, but we know there were some changes made to scott brown's page. elizabeth dole's name replaced with scott brown and there were some other minor tweaks, but brown's office says he has written a 400 page plus awe doe biography and didn't need to borrow from elizabeth dole. >> thanks very much for that. new theorys about why the iranians wanted to kill the ambassador to the united states. i'll ask dianne feinstein what she's learning today. and herman cain strengthening his hand as leader of the republican pack. we'll take a closer and harder
look at whether he can go the distance. and there's a good chance that warren buffett pays this smaller percentage in federal income tax than you do. new information about tax breaks for the super rich may leave you outraged. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. breaking news, political headlines and jeanne moos all straight ahead. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com president obama says one way or another, iran must be held accountable for an alleged plot to kill the saudi ambassador to the united states. he said that true even if officials at the highest level didn't have details of what was going on. the president didn't say exactly who was within the iranian government might have been in on the plan. >> we have a situation here where the attorney general has
laid out a very specific set of facts. what we know is that an individual iranian american decent was involved in a plot to assassinate the ambassador to the united states from saudi arabia and we also know that he had direct links, was paid by and directed by individuals in the iranian government. now, those facts are there for all to see. and we would not bnging forward a case unless we knew exactly. how to support the allegations in the indictment. so we have contacted all our
allies, the international community. we've laid the facts before them and we believe that after people have analyzed them, there will not be a dispute that this is in fact what happened. this is a not just a dangerous escalation, this is part of a pattern of dangerous and reckless behavior by the iranian government. >> let's dig a little deeper into the political intrigue inside iran. it all could lead to clues about why the iranian allegedly wanted to kill the saudi ambassador to the united states. brian todd has been investigating this mist misry for us and there are some really provocative theorys out there. >> because the iranian have their hands in a lot of intrigue in the middle east. they deny any involvement in this plot, but there's no doubt that the rivalry between iran and saudi arabia has been boiling for some time.
u.s. officials say they've had much internal discussion over why the iranian regime might have wanted this man dead. the backdrop for the scene is a long standing bitter power struggle between iran and saudi arabia. its persian versus arab, shia versus sunni. tehran vehemently denies involvement in the plot, but analysts say iran would have plenty of motive. >> especially since the arab spring, iran has been very upset with involving in bahrain. >> sent troops to bahrain to help the sunni king. that was led by the majority shia population of bahrain supported by iran, but there could be other motives for iran to strike out against saudi arabia, the u.s. or other enemies. in a letter to the united nations, iran's ambassador calls his country a victim of
terrorism citing a assassination of a number nuclear scientists in the past two years and blaming israel and the u.s. for those murders. another theory, divided faxes within iran. iran's quds force said to be behind the alleged plot, may have been acting on behalf of yemeni. author roy hakn has written about the plots. could this be tied to the power struggle? >> there have been internal power struggles that have played out in similar ways within the domain of internal politics of iran, but ironically, what has remained fact, all the people who seemingly had these internal struggles remain in poverty today. >> if this conspiracy is proven true, it's not the first time iranian have been implicated. >> attacking saudi allies,
clients, people assassinating people that are close to saudi arabia and lebanon, they've done this in the middle east. >> he's talking about the 2005 assassination of the lebanese prime minister. he was backed by saudi arabia. a u.n. investigation found the people who killed him were supporters of he has bla. hezbollah denied any involvement in his killing. >> also accusations that the syrians were involved. they're close allies of the iranian as well. proving a motive in this case could be crucial as where the u.s. and ohs go from here. >> it could be. because if this is true and if a motive the proved, it could speak to how high up in the regime this went. right now in public at least, u.s. officials are not tieing this to ahminedjad or the se prum leader.
if they can prove a motive, there could be some ties there. >> could be some serious ties, ramifications. thanks very much, brian todd. the obama administration is directly venting its anger at iran accusing the government of involvement in the alleged plot. all this despite the fact that the two countries don't have official diplomatic relations. listen to the headline today. >> we have had direct contact with iran. i'm not going to give you any further details than that, but just to say that we have had direct contact with iran on this issue. >> let's get more on possible motives in this alleged plot. david ignatius writes about this in the "washington post" cht he's got a column out today. has covered the middle east, the intelligence community, extensively. written some excellent books on the subject. when you first heard about these allegations, the attorney
general, the fbi director, making these allegations that iran was plotting to kill al-jubeir, what did you think? >> that it was farfetched. the details that came out. an irani american used car dealer had been recruiting mexican drug cartel in which there were informants who turned over information to the justice department just seemed farfetched. as i dug deeper, why would iran engage in such high risk behooifr, i do see evidence. this is the evidence the u.s. government and other governments are collecting, that iran over the last year, perhaps longer, has engaged an increasedly risky activities in particular going after saudi arabia and its diplomats. this instance, the attempted assassination plot against al-jubeir in washington is not the only iranian effort to kill a saudi diplomat. that's the first thing. >> i know that there were allegations that iran in
directly was involved in the assassination plot of lebanese prime minister, who was very close to the saudis, but what other allegations have there been that iran is tryinging to kill saudis? >> i'm still working on this reporting out the details, wolf, but what i can tell you now is that a saudi intelligence official told me within the hour that there is evidence of direct iranian involvement and sponsorship of an assassination effort against the saudi diplomat in another country, so there's reason to think that the iranian have been taking more risks against their most bitter adversary in the gulf, saudi arabia, for some time now. and that this washington plot is unlikely as it seems, comes on top of a number of other instances. and i think that's part of why u.s. officials when they look at this, think there's more to it as you just quoted the president saying, there is a pattern of
dangerous and reckless behavior inside iran. as i push my reports and talk to more sources and governments, i'm getting a lot more evidence of that. >> so, your skepticism is fading quickly. >> the story is one that would arouse skepticism, but as you dig deeper, you see signs that the iranian are taking other risks to go after their enemies. >> and how serious was the allegation? is the allegation that they were also plotting not only to kill the ambassador, but to blow up the saudi and israeli embassies here in washington? >> that part, i can't comment on. that sounds a little like moose talk, but i don't have further detail on that. what i am confident about is that the person that was recorded on october 4th in a conversation with arbabsiar, the
indicted person, the person in tehran he talked to is a significant quds force player who's activities in bahrain and other countries are well documented. not just by u.s. intelligence, but by saudi intelligence. >> we're going to have more on the story later with dianne feinstein. she's been briefs thoroughly on this and i'm going to press her and ask her is this an isolated attempt against one individual or were there other targets at the same time. >> she ought to know. >> let's see if she'll tell us. check out my blog as a thriller, a novelist yourself, you'll enjoy it today because i write whether terrorists read tom clancy. i'll be anxious to hear what you think. >> great. >> david ignatius of "the washington post." thank you. the billionaire, warren buffett, is fighting for a new tax on the super rich. the super rich americans like himself. we're taking a closer look at
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a new study is revealing about 25%, a quarter of all millionaires, pay an effective federal tax rate less than some in the middle class and this play may add fuel to warren buffett's charges that congress should raise taxes on the super rich. a concept that is now a key factor in president obama's jobs bill. let's bring in poppy harlow. give us the main plight of what warren buffett is trying to say. >> wolf, what he's trying to say and what he's really been pushing for since his new york times op-ed in august is that he wants to see the ultra rich in america like him taxed more. that he has those that make a million dollars and over taxed hire. his reasoning is that people that make money off of money
through their investments are often taxed at a lower rate. 15% capital gains tax. now, he is pushing for word increasing that drum beat and i talked to him yesterday and he talked to me deeply about the supercommittee and tasks they're faced with, but he said there are 12 people who should be motivated to improve something better than our present system and went on to say that the richest americans right now can afford to have their belts tightened if we're going to ask hundreds of millions of americans to do the same. >> it seems he's getting more involved politically. we know he's a supporter of president obama. seems to be more involved than ever. is that fair? >> it's a great question and that's the question i had for him in california for a one-on-one interview last week. why is he so outspoken? take a listen to his answer. >> sure, i'm more out in the open than i was 30 years ago and i've gotten better over time and there's a chicken and egg aspect of that i suppose, but so, if i
say something now, it's more likely to be on cnn than it would have been 20 years ago. >> but is it because you are a very outspoken on public policy now, you're supportive of president obama. is it in part because washington, the one thing most people can agree on, is that there's a lot of dysfunction in washington and so private business, business leaders need to step in and impact policy? >> i don't think when you become a business leader that you put your views on the world in a blind trust. i was president of the young republicans club at the university of pennsylvania when i was 17 or 18, so i was on a national radio program called youth wants to know on cbs when i was 15. grew up in a family where i was, my family believed in that. that you have -- public policy is belongs to the public and if
you're a citizen and you think you have something to say, there's nothing wrong with saying it. >> and he certainly is saying it, wolf. i went on to ask buffett to clarify his relationship with the obama administration because we certainly hear the president reference warren buffett a lot these days. what warren buffett told me is that he has never once called the president. that was interesting. he said it would be presumption of him to do so. he said he's gotten a few call frs the president. he takes them every time, but he has not called the president. he said he would not call it a close relationship. i did ask if he is still 100% in support of president obama. he said, yes, he may not agree with all his policies, but he's still a 100% supporter and showed that by holding a fund-raiser for president obama. >> and we see on your website behind you, he made nearly $63 million and paid 6 or 7 million in taxes. that's about 10%. certainly not the 35%, the
maximum tax rate that people in that bracket should pay, but everything he did was legal. there were no violations of the law. we should point that out as well. twhauz right? >> wolf, yeah. when you look at his taxable income just to clarify, it's about $39 million in taxable income because he gives so much to charity and state and local taxes, so he paid 6.9 million in local taxes. we have not seen his tax returns. we've got a republican congressman from kansas asking to see that tax return. he has laid out what he said he paid in 2010 in taxes and made in taxable income. that 63 million number, that's his gross income, but we'll see warren buffett said if the ultra rich will release their tax returns, he'll do the same. >> thanks very much. another major blow for the bankrupt zero lar company. plus, authorities in new york city are bracing for a potential confrontation.
just ahead, why members of the so-called occupy wall street movement are defying a key record from the mayor.
to capitol hill are where republicans are renewing their attack, raising serious concerns about federal abortion funding. athena? >> right. the talk was not about jobs or economy. it was about one of the most devicive issues in american politics. abortion. and is often the case with this issue, the debate got pretty heated. >> we must protect the sanctity of an innocent humanlife. >> this is beyond irresponsible. it is reprehensible. >> abortion returned to center stage thursday in the house of representatives as republicans pushed for a vote on what they're calling the protect life act. >> it takes away no rights of women. it is not extreme. 77% of the people in this country are opposed to tax pare funding for abortion.
>> instead of focusing on jobs, republicans are continuing to wage their war on women. >> this bill would amend the president's health care law to ban federal money from being used even indirectly, to pay for any health plan that includes coverage of abortion services. the bill would allow hospitals to perform abortions without being penalized. democrats say federal law -- and this bill puts women's lives at risk, even in the emergency room. >> when the republicans vote for this bill today, they will be voting to say that women can die on the floor and health care providers do not have to intervene if this bill is passed. it's just appalling. >> on the house floor, california democratic jackie spear talked about her own mischarnmi miscarriage. >> i was bleeding. if i had to go from one hospital to the next trying to find one
emergency room that would take me in, who knows if i would even be here today. >> speaker boehner said the house was making good on a promise. >> this bill was part of our pledge to america. we're going to do it. >> now, wolf, even if this bill does pass the house, it's unlikely it will be taking up in the senate and the white house has said the president would veto the measure. still, this is an issue they promised they would push pr the. iran angrily denies the plot, but does the obama administration have proof? i'll ask dianne feinstein. she's standing by and one candidate's wife shows the stress of the republican presidential campaign. rt tissue can make it from australia to a u.s. lab to a patient in time for surgery may seem like a trumped-up hollywood premise. ♪ but if you take away the dramatic score... take away the dizzying 360-degree camera move... [ tires screech ]
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david ignatius, he was just here. he said he was originally skeptical of these allegations, but he's now come around to believe what's going on and also says he's now getting information that this alleged plot against al-jubeir was not the only time iran allegedly has tried to kill saudis. is that true based on what you know? >> well, based on what i know, david ignatius is a very smart man. based on the briefings, yes, this was a real plot. and yes, this had to do with iran. specifical specifically, quds force. department 400. treasury has sanctioned four quds force members yesterday. it is real. it happened. it doesn't appear that one would think this is a real plot. it was. we've been briefed by treasury, by state.
by cia. and of course, by fbi. now, on two occasions, and run through it and run through all of the intelligence and the evidence. and i am convinced that it was for real. the question is why. why would iran escalate by coming into the united states by finding someone, a dual citizen in this case to employ criminal elements to try to assassinate the saudi ambassador? you asked me the question. have they done this before? i would answer that question, yes. they certainly did it camp victory in iraq, which killed six americans. they have done it in places, countries closer to the near east. i won't be specific because it involves sources and methods, but i believe that's the case.
the other question is how high up did this go. and i believe that i know it went to the top of the quds force. and therefore, it's likely that the revolutionary guard knew about it. whether the civilian government in terms of the supreme leader or ahminedjad knew about it, there is no evidence that i have seen of that. >> have you seen evidence, senator, that the iranian tried to kill other saudi citizens? not necessarily americans, but saudis in recent years? >> i'm not going to comment on specifics, but i believe that to be correct. >> you believe that saudi -- that iran played a role in the assassination of the lebanese prime minister who was very close as you know to the saudis. >> i can't say. i don't know. >> was this just a plot to alleged plot to kill the saudi
ambassador or how serious was this other part of the story that they were also allegedly planning to blow up the saudi and israeli embassies here in washington? >> i think it's fair to say that might well be correct. here and possibly in origin tina as well. >> how strong is that evidence? as strong as the allegation of the assassination plot? >> no. it's not as strong. >> some are suggested, senator, that this may have been retaliation for the killing of a few iranian nuclear scientists in recent years. the allegation was that the israelis backed by the united states, may have been involved in the killings. what can you tell us about that in. >> i can't tell you anything about it. >> you have no reason to believe it may have been the saudis in the plots against iranian scientists? >> no.
>> do you have a good reason why iran at the highest levels of the quds force may have wanted to kill the saudi ambassador in washington? >> well, now, this is speculation. adel al-jubeir is not just the ordinary person. he's really an amazingi person. reportedly, he's close to the royal family. it may well be, i'm only speculating, that the iranian wanted to send a signal to the saudi government. but this, i would highw-- that al-jubeir is the number one saudi ambassador in the world. >> so they were hoping, is that what you're suggesting, the iranian to send a signal? >> wolf, that's just my speculation and worth what you're paying for it. >> but any of the additional
skepticism, you, like david may have had, that's gone away. you believe this to be the real dole. >> i believe it to be the real deal. i believe this man will be convicted in a court of law. i believe the evidence will be overwhelming. >> a lot will be watching in saudi arabia to see if they do anything to retaliate diplomatically, economically. against iran. do you suspect they will sever diplomatic relations, recall their ambassador from tehran? >> well, i have no idea what the saudis will do. what's important is what we do. this is our country and we offer the sanctity of a democratic government in which we houz ambassadors. some of who are friendly, and some of whom are not, but we provide them with an element of security and i think that's important for everyone to know. so this is a real affront to the united states as well as to saudi arabia. the second part of your question
i think i lost. >> just that the saudis are going to retaliate economically or diplomatically by severing their relationship with iran. >> what i wanted to say is that some have been critical of what the united states has done. i am not one of those. i believe the united states has acted in a very responsible way. treasury has sanctioned various parts of the iranian government. and ukrainirai iranian enterpri individuals. state is going out, delivering evidence yesterday to the security counsel of the united nations and to our allies all over the world, so i think the effort to isolate iran and hopefully to convince iran that this is not the behavior that's going to endeer them to any nation is really important and critical. i think it's going to be very interesting to see how the iranian government reacts.
other than bluster, which is to say this is made up. i think it's very secure that it is not made up. that it's real. >> we'll stay in close touch with you. thanks very much. >> herman cain now has front-runner status in the polls for the presidential nomination. a key conservative has some serious problems with herman cain's so-called 999 plan. that's coming up. a refrigerator has never been hacked. an online virus has never attacked a corkboard. ♪ give your customers the added feeling of security a printed statement or receipt provides... ...with mail. it's good for your business. ♪ and even better for your customers. ♪ for safe and secure ways to stay connected, visit usps.com/mail
a major milestone for herman cain. he now lead as new poll. jim acosta is joining us now with more. so, what's going on here, jim? >> wolf, he's written off as the unromney, the flavor of the month, but the poll suggests he needs to be taken seriously. it is time to start asking the question, could herman cain become the next president of the united states? >> this long shot may not be such a long shot. >> herman cain is no long shot anymore. latest cnn poll of polls shows the upstart gop contender right on the heels of front-runner, mitt romney. for many conservatives, this sudden surge is as simple as 999. cain's economic plan which would replace the current tax code which taxes at 9% and add a new national sales tax, also at 9%. >> it's bull. it's traumatic. >> but grover norquist cautioned
against creating new revenue streams for government. >> you've got one needle, that can hurt. put in two more and really begin to drain the plood out of a person or the income out of people's pockets. >> cain arguing consumers could take steps to avoid that sales t tax. >> you don't pay it on used stuff. it gives the decision as to how they stretched their dollar to the consumer. >> cain is far from a conventional candidate. for economic device, he relies on a planner -- for independent analysis of his plan, cain turned to husband and wife tax consultants outside of d.c. >> you've got to help me cut the budget a little. >> it sounds a little like something out of the movie, dave." >> who does this blocks.
if i ran my business this way, i'd be out of business. >> our tax code is the 21st century version of slavery. >> cain is going after the social conservatives who once flocked to rick perry and michele bachmann. >> i felt like moses when god said i want you to go into egypt and lead my people out. moses resisted. i resisted. >> darling of the right, cain's challenge could come in a general election campaign. the former godfather's pizza ceo rarely holds back. >> would you be comfortable appointing a muslim in your cabinet or federal judge? >> no i will not. as this attempt to gradually ease sharia law and the muslim faith into our government. >> another challenge, cain's staff is small. just 35 people, but his campaign says it is ramping up. to do that, cain will need cash to take on the likes of mitt
romney and rick perry, but he's already thinking about who his running mate might be. he said in an interview today naming paul ryan and jim demint as possibilities. >> maybe a little premature, but maybe not. let's discuss with gloria borger. once you're in the top tier, they start coming after you. >> yeah, we do his political opponents will. you start getting the scrutiny of a front-runner and today was very interesting. rick perry's wife was speaking in south carolina and let me read you what she said about her husband's journey. >> she was really up and now, down. >> she said, quote, it's been a rough month. we have been brutalized and beaten up an chewed up. we are being brutalized by our opponents and our own party. now, she's right. but that's what a presidential campaign is. actually. you do get brutalized by the people who oppose you and that's
what her maine cain is going to get. a lot of conservatives believe that a national sales tax is is not the right way to go, so he's really going to start getting it. >> and erin burnett's going to be interveeing herman cain on her show tonight. let me just read to you, i want to switch gears to hillary clinton. last week, i wrote a blog that got a lot of attention, a lot of hits, on our c cnn.com/situationroom website. among other things, i said this. if the economy is still awful next summer and president obama's poll numbers are really low, he could throw a hail mary pass and find a way to lose joe biden and ask hillary clinton to be his running mate. today, the secretary of state was asked about all of those rumors out there that buzz. here's what she said on the "today" show. >> is there any chance you would be vice president in a sec term? >> no. >> in the realm of possibility?
>> i do not think it's in the realm of possibility. >> she sounds like chris christie. >> even after she says that, there are still people saying if the president is desperate and it looks like she's going to be a one-term president, he may have to throw that hail mary pass. >> yes, there are lots of people saying it. i got to take her at her word, but obama and biden, they're pretty close. >> very. >> and so, i think it would have to be a real, really, really tough brace for this president to say to joe biden, no, you go become secretary of state. >> hillary clinton would energize. >> but she's been a very muscular r secretary of state. there are a lot of people in the liberal democratic base who think she's too hawkish for them. after all, she's quite aligned with barack obama as part of his cabinet, so yes, it would help, but maybe not as much as you'd think. i think it would be a real sign of weakness for barack obama to say, oh, guess what, i need to
do some shuffling. the last time an incumbent president switched running mates was 1976 when gerald ford brought on bob dole and dumped nelson rockefeller. >> i remember that. >> i don't. okay. >> i suspect we're going to be discussing this more down the road. >> and join cnn for the western republican presidential debate out in las vegas. it airs live here on cnn next tuesday, 8:00 p.m. eastern. some democrats now rallying behind the occupy wall street protest movement, but could it backfire on president obama in the 2012 election? we'll be right back. the vending machine on elm is almost empty. i'm on it, boss. new pony ? sorry ! we are open for business. let's reroute greg to fresno. growing businesses use machine-to-machine technology from verizon wireless. susie !
the vending machine... already filled. cool bike. because the business with the best technology rules. i'm not a line item on a budget. and i'm definitely not a pushover. but i am a voter. so washington... before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits... here's a number you should remember. 50 million. we are 50 million seniors who earned our benefits... and you will be hearing from us... today and on election day. ♪ at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, man: good job. where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee,
where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life. so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. looks really good. call us at... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?
major new development in the growing scandal surrounding a new bankrupt solar nrnl firm that refed more than half a billion dollars in u.s. taxpayer money. what's the latest, lisa? >> reports out that the ceo of
solyndra has resigned. harrison last month refused to testify in front of congress. he pleaded the fifth and congress wants to know why the energy department awarded the company half a billion dollars even when it was clear the firm was in financial trouble.troubl. solyndra the subject of an fbi investigation. harrison came on board july 2010. most of the employees were laid off when the company went under in august of this year. harrison one of future kept on as the company navigates through bankruptcy court. harrison, background on him, spend a large part of his career at intel in various role as vice president and general manager of business units. tomorrow there is another energy and commerce subcommittee hearing looking into whether or not the department of energy ignored warnings from the treasury department on the restructuring of that $535
million loan. representative cliff stearns who heads the subcommittee released a statement saying, quote, documents that the white house dumped last friday reveal a disturbing prev reince of wealthy donors and bundlers littered throughout the loan guarantee process with direct access to the president's west wing inner circle. and now allegations of political influence and impropriety involving other loan recipients are rampant. it is a topic we do not take lightly. the white house strongly disagreeing political influence played a role in how loans were handed out. officials are insisting there was a proper vetting of the companies including solyndra. president obama said it's important we invest in the green industries and he said some are going to succeed and some are going to fail. >> this issue's not going to go away. member of the economic protest occupy wall street movement are refusing to heed a
new york city mayor michael bloomberg's order to temporariiy vacate the park tomorrow. rick stengel is joining us. a new cover story, return of the silent majority. what's the political impact of this occupy wall street movement, rick, right now? >> i think it's too soon to tell but we did a poll in association with cover that shows 54% of americans have a favorable view of the occupy wall street movement which is twice as many as number of people who have a favorable view of the tea party. a lot of people in the democratic party see it as a foil or counterweight to the tea party but the tea party's an institution compared to occupy wall street. there are congress men and women in washington who follow the tea party line. right now the occupy wall street movement represents a kind of fringe but a fringe that may tap into a -- have a larger
residence. they say they represent the 99%, which is bigger than 1%. >> 99 last i heard a lot bigger than 1%. karl rove wrote in the "wall street journal" this, he said rushing to identify with occupy wall street could well threaten mr. obama's re-election by putting off vet swing voters whom the president needs. it could further diminish the president's support from center-left business leaders, already sick of mr. obama's class warfare and faux populism. does he have a point there, karl rove? >> well, i have two reactions to that. one, he may be right, and particularly if the occupy wall street movement seems like a bunch of flakes, but my other reaction is if karl rove is opining against the democrats associating with occupy wall street, there may be something good in in for the democrats, otherwise he wouldn't bother. >> is occupy wall street sort of the left-wing's version of the tea party movement on the right? >> i think a lot of people are
looking at it as that way. i mean kind of grassroots movement that ashoes having any leader or spokesperson. as i was saying before the tea party which we have, you know, thought of as not being institution, is a virtual political party compared to occupy wall street, which is still so not formed. it's hard to say what they represent. we certainly know some of the things they're against. we don't really know what they're for. the return of the silent majority, that's the cover on the new issue of "time" magazine. thanks for that rick stengel. >> an 8-year-old youtube singing sensation gets a surprise of a lifetime. jeanne moos will be back with more on this. beep [ ] you have one new message. [ mom ] hi scooter. this is mommy. the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. the vegetables are cut nice and thick... you were always good at cutting your vegetables. and it's got tender white-meat chicken... the way i always made it for you. oh, one more thing honey...
those pj's you like, the ones with the feet, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.
>> famous pop star's getting a run for her money from a young singing sensation who is wowing the world. here's cnn's jeanne moos. ♪ >> reporter: when 8-year-old sophia grace brownlee hit youtube -- >> let's hit it now. >> reporter: -- she was a hit doing her version of the nicki minaj song "super bass". ♪ like a drum did you hear that boom boom boom♪
>> reporter: okay, maybe nicki minaj had a few more pelvic thrusts but sophia grace's version got around 9 million views on youtube and landed the little girl from england on "ellen" show. >> that is your favorite sing. >> we love nicki minaj. we mants to meet her so much! >> reporter: that's nice, nicki minaj tweeted the same thing about her. i have to meet her. she's a superstar. a superstar with a sidekick, her cousin rosy. >> rosy makes me feel more confident because i got someone with me. >> and nicki minaj. ♪ you got my heart running away♪ >> reporter: but sophia grace's heartbeat really started running away -- >> come on out, nicki. >> reporter: -- when ellen introduced her idol.
even the parents were overcome. dad asking for a tissue. >> she blew me away. >> reporter: there's some bad language in "super bass" but when sophia grace sings it the f word and gone. >> when the panties are coming off off off. >> reporter: nicki promised sophia grace a shopping spree. she also got a wig so she could look like nicki. >> i'm the second nicki minaj. >> reporter: and then they sang a duet. ♪ boom boom boom boom boom boom ♪ ♪ boom boom boom got that super bass♪ >> reporter: her boom booming heart never slowed as she danced relentlessly through the commercial break. >> nicki minaj! r
The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer
CNN October 13, 2011 1:00pm-3:00pm PDT
News/Business. Wolf Blitzer. Traditional reporting and online resources update international news. New.
Iran 20, Washington 18, Herman Cain 12, Obama 10, Alabama 10, Scott Brown 8, Obama Administration 7, Warren Buffett 7, Rick Perry 7, Tehran 6, Nicki Minaj 6, California 5, Ron Paul 5, Michele Bachmann 5, Cain 5, Dianne Feinstein 4, Sophia Grace 4, Brown 4, Rick Santorum 4, Egypt 4
Uploaded by TV Archive on October 14, 2011


text:
require "crashHandler.lua"
require "table.lua"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Addon Info

AddonRevs = {}

local startTimer = Spring.GetTimer()

local function GetDefaultKnownInfo(filepath, basename)
	return {
		filepath = filepath,
		basename = basename,
		name     = basename,
		version  = "0.1",
		layer    = 0,
		desc     = "",
		author   = "",
		license  = "",
		enabled  = false,
		api      = false,
		handler  = false,
		before   = {},
		after    = {},
		depend   = {},
		_rev     = 0,
	}
end

function AddonRevs.LoadAddonInfoRev2(filepath, _VFSMODE)
	local basename = Basename(filepath)

	local ki = GetDefaultKnownInfo(filepath, basename)
	ki._rev = 2

	_VFSMODE = _VFSMODE or VFSMODE
	local loadEnv = {addon = {InGetInfo = true}, math = math}

	local success, rvalue = pcall(VFS.Include, filepath, loadEnv, _VFSMODE)
		if not success then
			return "Failed to load: " .. basename .. "  (" .. rvalue .. ")"
		end
		if rvalue == false then
			return true --// addon asked for a silent death
		end
		if type(rvalue) ~= "table" then
			return "Wrong return value: " .. basename
		end

	Spring.Echo("LOADING AS REV2", filepath)
	tcopy(ki, rvalue)
	return false, ki
end

function AddonRevs.LoadAddonInfoRev1(filepath, _VFSMODE)
	local addon = AddonRevs.ParseAddon(1, filepath, _VFSMODE)
	if addon then
		local basename = Basename(filepath)

		local ki = GetDefaultKnownInfo(filepath, basename)
		ki._rev = 1

		local rvalue
		if (addon.GetInfo) then
			rvalue = SafeCallAddon(addon, "GetInfo")
			if type(rvalue) ~= "table" then
				return "Failed to call GetInfo() in: " .. basename
			end
		else
			return "Missing GetInfo() in: " .. basename
		end

		tcopy(ki, rvalue)
		return false, ki
	end
end

function AddonRevs.ValidateKnownInfo(ki, _VFSMODE)
	if not ki then
		return "No KnownInfo given"
	end

	--// load/create data
	local knownInfo = handler.knownInfos[ki.name]
	if (not knowInfo) then
		knownInfo = {}
		handler.knownInfos[ki.name] = knownInfo
	end

	--// check for duplicated name
	if (knownInfo.filepath)and(knownInfo.filepath ~= ki.filepath) then
		return "Failed to load: " .. ki.basename .. " (duplicate name)"
	end

	--// create/update knownInfo table
	tcopy(knownInfo, ki) --// update table
end

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Addon Parsing

function AddonRevs.NewAddonRev2()
	local addonEnv = {}
	local addon = addonEnv
	addonEnv.widget = addon
	addonEnv.addon  = addon  --// makes `function Initizalize` & `function addon.Initialize` point to the same data

	--// copy the engine enviroment to the addon
		tcopy(addonEnv, handler.EG)

	--// the shared table
		addonEnv.SG = handler.SG

	--// addon related methods
		tmergein(addonEnv.addon, {
			Remove = function() handler:Remove(addon, "auto") end,
			DisableWidget = function(_, name) handler:Disable(name) end,
			EnableWidget = function(_, name) handler:Enable(name) end,

			IsMouseOwner = function() return (handler.mouseOwner == addon) end,
			DisownMouse  = function()
				if (handler.mouseOwner == addon) then
					handler.mouseOwner = nil
				end
			end,
			UpdateCallIn = function(name) handler:UpdateAddonCallIn(name, addon) end,
			RemoveCallIn = function(name) handler:RemoveAddonCallIn(name, addon) end,
			AddAction    = function(cmd, func, data, types) return actionHandler.AddAction(addon, cmd, func, data, types) end,
			RemoveAction = function(cmd, types)             return actionHandler.RemoveAction(addon, cmd, types) end,
--[[
FIXME???
			AddLayoutCommand = function(_, cmd)
				if (handler.inCommandsChanged) then
					table.insert(handler.customCommands, cmd)
				else
					Spring.Echo("AddLayoutCommand() can only be used in CommandsChanged()")
				end
			end,
			GetCommands  = function() return handler.commands end,
--]]
			RegisterGlobal   = function(name, value) return handler:RegisterGlobal(addon, name, value) end,
			DeregisterGlobal = function(name)        return handler:DeregisterGlobal(addon, name) end,
			SetGlobal        = function(name, value) return handler:SetGlobal(addon, name, value) end,
		})

	--// insert handler
		addonEnv.handler = handler
		addonEnv[handler.name] = handler
	return addon
end

function AddonRevs.NewAddonRev1()
	local addonEnv = {}
	local addon = addonEnv --// easy self referencing
	addonEnv.addon  = addon
	addonEnv.widget = addon

	--// copy the engine enviroment to the addon
	tcopy(addonEnv, handler.EG)

	--// the shared table
	addonEnv.SG = handler.SG
	addonEnv.WG = handler.SG

	--// wrapped calls (closures)
	local h = {}
	addonEnv.handler = h
	addonEnv[handler.name] = h
	addonEnv._handler = handler
	addonEnv["_" .. handler.name] = handler
	addonEnv.include = function(f) return include(f, addon) end
	h.ForceLayout  = handler.EG.ForceLayout
	h.RemoveWidget = function() handler:Remove(addon, "auto") end
	h.DisableWidget = function(_, name) handler:Disable(name) end
	h.EnableWidget = function(_, name) handler:Enable(name) end
	h.GetCommands  = function() return handler.commands end
	h.GetViewSizes = function() return gl.GetViewSizes() end
	h.GetHourTimer = function() return Spring.DiffTimers(Spring.GetTimer(), startTimer) % 3600 end
	h.IsMouseOwner = function() return (handler.mouseOwner == addon) end
	h.DisownMouse  = function()
		if (handler.mouseOwner == addon) then
			handler.mouseOwner = nil
		end
	end

	h.UpdateCallIn = function(_, name) handler:UpdateAddonCallIn(name, addon) end
	h.RemoveCallIn = function(_, name) handler:RemoveAddonCallIn(name, addon) end

	h.AddAction    = function(_, cmd, func, data, types) return actionHandler.AddAction(addon, cmd, func, data, types) end
	h.RemoveAction = function(_, cmd, types)             return actionHandler.RemoveAction(addon, cmd, types) end
	h.actionHandler    = actionHandler.oldSyntax

	h.AddLayoutCommand = function(_, cmd)
		if (handler.inCommandsChanged) then
			table.insert(handler.customCommands, cmd)
		else
			Spring.Echo("AddLayoutCommand() can only be used in CommandsChanged()")
		end
	end

	h.RegisterGlobal   = function(_, name, value) return handler:RegisterGlobal(addon, name, value) end
	h.DeregisterGlobal = function(_, name)        return handler:DeregisterGlobal(addon, name) end
	h.SetGlobal        = function(_, name, value) return handler:SetGlobal(addon, name, value) end

	return addonEnv
end

function AddonRevs.ParseAddon(rev, filepath, _VFSMODE)
	_VFSMODE = _VFSMODE or VFSMODE
	local basename = Basename(filepath)

	--// load the code
	local addonEnv = handler:NewAddon(rev)
	local success, err = pcall(VFS.Include, filepath, addonEnv, _VFSMODE)
	if (not success) then
		Spring.Log(LUA_NAME, "error", 'Failed to load: ' .. basename .. '  (' .. err .. ')')
		return nil
	end
	if (err == false) then
		return nil --// addon asked for a silent death
	end

	local addon = addonEnv.addon

	--// Validate Callins
	err = handler:ValidateAddon(addon)
	if (err) then
		Spring.Log(LUA_NAME, "error", 'Failed to load: ' .. basename .. '  (' .. err .. ')')
		return nil
	end

	return addon
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
In the end, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary saw nothing like guidance in the bolded text in the Alabama Chief Justice's Jan. 6 order telling the state's 68 probate judges they had a "ministerial duty" to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the face of federal orders and a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
"A disinterested observer . . . would conclude that the undeniable consequence of the January 6, 2016 order was to order and direct the probate judges to deny marriage licenses in direct defiance of the United States Supreme Court," an opinion handed down Friday and signed by the nine members of the panel said.
As a result, the court Friday suspended Moore without pay for the remaining 26 months of his term, saying the order violated his judicial responsibilities to remain impartial, promote confidence in the law and uphold the integrity and independence of the state judiciary.
It's the second time Moore has lost his position on the state's highest court. In 2003, the Court of the Judiciary removed Moore after he refused to obey a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building, where the Alabama Supreme Court sits. Moore was re-elected to the post in 2012 after two failed efforts to win the Republican nomination for governor.
Moore's attorneys said Friday they will appeal the decision to the Alabama Supreme Court. The suspension, which took place immediately, may not end Moore's political career but will likely bring his time on the bench to end. Age limits will prevent the chief justice from seeking re-election in 2018.
The chief justice remained unbowed in a statement Friday, saying the decision reflects "the corrupt nature of our political and legal system."
"This was a politically motivated effort by radical homosexual and transgender groups to remove me as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court because of outspoken opposition to their immoral agenda," the statement said.
The Judicial Inquiry Commission, which prosecuted the chief justice, did not return a message seeking comment Friday. Moore's opponents said it was the chief justice pursuing a political agenda.
"It's a great day for the rule of law in Alabama," said Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which filed several ethics complaints against Moore over his handling of the same-sex marriage issue. "Justice Moore didn't recognize that he couldn't put his personal religious beliefs above his sworn duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution."
'Defiance of Obergefell'
Moore is an outspoken social conservative who unrecused himself from an Alabama Supreme Court in March case to pen an angry denunciation of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down state same-sex marriage bans six months before Moore's Jan. 6 order. But in that order and in his defense in his ethics trial, the chief justice and his defense team tried to downplay that. Moore and his attorneys focused instead on a case brought to the Alabama Supreme Court before the Obergefell ruling.
In the Jan. 6 order, Moore said that the Alabama Supreme Court was still dealing with a lawsuit brought in February 2015 by the Alabama Policy Institute (API) and the Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), both opposed to same-sex marriage. While the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in October 2015 ruled that Obergefell abrogated the API case, Moore insisted that without a ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court, the effect of Obergefell on Alabama's marriage laws was uncertain.
"Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect," the order said, in bolded text.
That came despite Obergefell and earlier rulings from U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade in two pre-Obergefell cases -- Searcy v. Strange and Strawser v. Strange – that blocked their enforcement.
The state's probate judges largely ignored Moore's order, but the state's Judicial Inquiry Commission did not. The JIC charged Moore May 6 with six ethics violations, which led to his suspension from the bench.
Justice Lyn Stuart has been acting as chief justice in his place. Gov. Robert Bentley's office said Friday afternoon they would not name a replacement, and would allow the state Supreme Court to operate with eight justices for the foreseeable future.
Moore and his attorneys argued in filings and Wednesday's ethics trial that the order aimed to advise probate judges on what they saw as conflicting federal and state opinions on same-sex marriage. Moore took the position that Obergefell applied only the plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit, not the country as a whole.
"I think it's like a status report," Mat Staver, Moore's chief defense attorney, said during Moore's trial Wednesday. "It's giving the status of where the Alabama Supreme Court is."
The chief justice denied ordering the state's probate judges to ignore federal law.
"Whether it's this issue or any other issue, I don't encourage anyone to defy a federal or state court order," Moore said near the end of his 90 minutes of testimony.
The Judicial Inquiry Commission dismissed those arguments. Attorney John Carroll noted that the Moore used the word "order" or "ordered" in the Jan. 6 document and that the U.S. Supreme Court put no limits on Obergefell's impact.
"Obergefell said it in black and white, all states," said Ashby Pate, an attorney for the JIC. "But (Moore's characterization) is also incomplete because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that its decisions are binding on all states."
The COJ Friday agreed with the JIC.
"A judge does not issue a 'status update' that 'orders and directs' that a law remain in effect," the opinion said. "Rather, a judge 'orders and directs' individuals to do something: in this instance, to comply with a law that is in 'full force and effect.' The January 6, 2016 order called for action -- and that action would have been in defiance of Obergefell and of the injunction in Strawser."
The court found that Moore's statement of the law to probate judges was "incomplete to the point that this court finds it was intended to be misleading," saying Moore "did not address the clear holding of Obergefell" in legalizing same-sex marriage. The opinion also noted that the U.S. Supreme Court rulings has held for decades its rulings bind everyone.
Moore and his attorneys also argued the chief justice had no choice but to issue the report because of approaching deadlines in the API case. The JIC called this a false dilemma, and the Court of the Judiciary Friday agreed with the JIC.
"There is a third option Chief Justice Moore fails to mention: He could have simply not issued the January 6, 2016 order," the court wrote.
Staver said in a statement Friday the chief justice "did nothing wrong."
"Today's decision by the COJ to suspend the Chief for the rest of his term throws the rule of law out the window," the statement said. "This system must be changed."
Eva Kendrick, Alabama state director for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT rights group, said in a statement Friday the HRC was "thrilled that justice has been done today."
"Roy Moore's bigoted rhetoric and unethical actions harmed LGBTQ Alabamians and emboldened those who would seek to hurt us further," the statement said. "We hope this is a turning point for our state. We must focus on electing politicians and judges who will move us forward, not backward."
No Alabama chief justice has completed a full six-year term in 21 years.
A long road to suspension
As Alabama moved toward the legalization of same-sex marriage in early 2015, the chief justice seemed to enter the debate like a voice from a mighty fortress. But whether Moore strode the jasper ramparts of the New Jerusalem or the crumbling mud brick walls of Jericho depended on what one thought he was defending. Where supporters praised him for standing up for their religious values against what they viewed as federal intrusion, Moore's opponents saw a man putting up a stubborn resistance against a God-given right.
After Judge Granade struck down Alabama's same-sex marriage bans in January 2015, Moore said lower federal courts had no binding authority on Alabama. On Feb. 8 of that year, a day before Granade's decision went into effect, the chief justice sent a letter to probate judges ordering them not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
While most state probate judges began issuing marriage licenses after Granade issued a second ruling a few days after Moore's order, the Alabama Supreme Court closed the same-sex marriage window in March. Ruling in the API lawsuit, the state's highest court ruled that it had the same authority as Granade to interpret the state's marriage laws; found those laws remained in effect and ordered probate judges to stop issuing licenses. Moore recused himself from the case.
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down Obergefellthat June, and most Alabama probate judges resumed issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But the Alabama Supreme Court asked the parties in the API case for briefs on what the impact of Obergefell decision would be. When the Alabama Supreme Court entered the fall without making a decision, Moore sent memos to his fellow justices urging them to rule. The chief justice, who at the time was still recused from the API case, said it was time "to make a decision in this (API) case, one way or the other: to acquiesce in Obergefell and retreat from our March orders or to reject Obergefell and maintain our orders in place."
The chief justice's lawyers argued Moore was trying to get the state's high court to make decision in the API case, a position Moore took that position in testimony in his ethics trial Wednesday, saying he just wanted a decision, not necessarily one that went his way.
But the JIC said the memos showed his intent was to stop Obergefell, and cited Moore's exertions to block Granade's rulings. Carroll also hearkened back to Moore's refusal in 2003 to move the Ten Commandments monument and said the chief justice "learned nothing" from that experience.
"If he's not removed, then this will happen again," Carroll said. "There will be some issue . . . where the Chief Justice will use all the powers of his office to take his position (and) foster an agenda."
Moore's plans beyond the appeal are unknown. After his removal from office in 2003, Moore ran for GOP gubernatorial nomination for governor in 2006. He led Republican Gov. Bob Riley in some early 2005 polls, but Riley soon consolidated his support and routed Moore in the primary. Moore made a second attempt to win the nomination in 2010 but finished fourth.
The chief justice's statement Friday said nothing about his future plans, though Staver's said the decision showed "Montgomery has a long way to go to weed out abuse of political power and restore the rule of law."
Whatever the chief justice decides, the HRC's Kendrick said in a conference call Friday her group would work to elect officials who represent the state "equally and fairly."
"When we elect politicians and judges who promote discrimination from public office, their actions define our future," she said. "Their actions and rhetoric trickle down to affect the actions of all people in Alabama."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl