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five days to go. could one letter make a difference in whether your vote is counted? how about your handwriting? that answer will effect the tea party's outcome come election night. you have to hear this. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. a school board member says, sure, he'll wear purple for gay spirit day if, quote, they all commit suicide. >> that's not right. this man spent 2 1/2 years in prison in iran. now the 71-year-old california businessman is sharing his story with me live. a class trip to a mortuary. and students realize one display was all too familiar. >> and they saw this jar with a brain in it saying that it's jes jesse's. >> hear what the young man's parents are doing now. we are five, five days out now from those midterm elections. the headline continues to be the tea party. no matter where you stand on some of these issues, there is no question this whole tea party movement is turning conventional political wisdom pretty much upside down. this week, much of the national spotlight, it was once again on this woman. this is delaware's christine o'donnell. but this time it's not necessarily for what she's saying. this is about body language. i'm going to play you a clip. take a look at this. this is an exchange between christine o'donnell and this radio talk show host in delaware. pay close attention to her hands. >> i'm running for u.s. senate. because -- >> i'm challenging you on your criticism -- >> i just gave you my answer. i would not have created sweetheart slush funds. i would not have spent money on private casino nights, private catered dinners for -- >> but how would you make us -- >> i would -- >> how would you make us economically feasible in 2014? what? >> delaware's christine o'donnell on the cover, check it out. this is the cover of "time" magazine this week. in fact, this is one of four covers "time" is crediting these four candidates i'm about to show you with reviving republican politics by crashing the party. so the magazine calls christine o'donnell here the trouble-maker. next up, you know this face if you're in florida here. this is florida's marco rubio. he's one of the party's crashers as well according to "time" magazine. he's what they're calling the up-start who defeated a popular governor in florida's republican primary. next, you know this face. they are also singling out kentucky's rand paul, calling him the populous. he won the primary for his call for a small government revival. the fourth candidate on the cover of "time" magazine, california's meg whitman. she is this billionaire who has funded her own campaign with a lot of her own money. so given the fact that the tea party still here on the cover of "time" magazine this week and on the minds of many as we talk elections. i want to talk to cnn's political producer. this is shannon travis here. he's joining me in this conversation because you have essentially, shannon, been embedded with the tea party this entire last year. you're putting out this inkreebl revealing, if that's the right adjective, documentary this weekend with never-before-seen moments. if i can just get you to react to the wdel interview where you have christine o'donnell who wanted to sue the radio station for recording that incident. >> christine o'donnell has been getting as much attention on what she's been saying in her past statements from the '90s as her combativeness or hostility with the press. this is just yet another example of that. we already know they have a public declaration that they wouldn't talk to the national media. they've done some interviews since she declared that, but even with the local reporters, some of the local talk show hosts that we saw there, there's been a sense that -- a sense of back and forth, a sense of hostility. >> to her defense, her campaign has said, look, the media is clearly biased against her. >> that's right. >> and what was your experience in seeing her, trying to talk with her? how did that go? >> well, i spoke with christine o'donnell the day before she won the republican primary there in delaware. after that, again, when she mounted this blackout with the national media. it was hard getting information about even where she would be, her public schedule. so you'll see in the documentary, we went on a search just to say, hey, to her campaign office, can we talk to her or find out where she's going to be? along the way, we talked to local reporters and said, hey, they promised they'd talk to you guys, the locals. the local reporters. the people that we talked with said the information is really dried up. so, again, you see this sense that, i mean -- in fairness, their side, the o'donnell campaign, says that there's not a whole lot of fairness going around in terms of the media exposure for her. >> we have a clip of one of those moments. let's show the clip. this is from "boiling point." take a look. >> i'll leave my call-backen inoni innumber once again. i've been calling and calling and calling. it's shannon travis, political producer with cnn. called and left you a few messages. this is what it's been like for at least a week and a half for me personally. a lot longer for some other people who have been trying to contact the o'donnell campaign. we're going to hop back on the bus and see if we can find her at the places that we know that she might be. >> so we're here in the building where christine o'donnell's campaign headquarters is. apparently it's on the second floor. this is the headquarters. >> hello? i've been knocking repeatedly and pretty loudly. and we definitely hear people on the other side of the door. a lot of activity back there. maybe someone is coming to the door now. hello? >> hey, turn the camera off, guys. you're acting immature. >> the camera is off. >> i just want to get for the record what -- i want to get the audio. >> it's audio only. >> huh. >> there you have it. you have to watch the documentary to see what happens next. >> what was he saying? >> well, i'll just say this much. two gentlemen came out from behind the door. it was a very tense moment. they wanted to know who we were, why we were there. i explained who i am, who i was with, who the crew was and why we were there. but they refused to give us their names. eventually they did. you'll see the scene as it unfolds. but i want to make this point at the o'donnell campaign feels that at least they told me that they have some enemies in the press. they're not getting a fair shot. not getting a fair treatment. it's not unlike what a lot of conservative republican candidates have said about mainstream media. they're very careful out possibly even gunshy about who they talk to. that's a moment that you say unfolding right there. >> that's the moment we saw, and we'll see more of that this weekend. i want to talk the turn to alaska. another case of an up-start tea party movement candidate beating a strong republican incumbent. tea partier joe miller beating lisa murkowski for the republican senate nomination during the primary, but she has not given up. she's now the write-in candidate. last night's alaska debate got kind of testy. look at this. >> how do you handle -- how do you handle those who may be at 50 and have paid into the system for all of their working years and now you're saying, well, you may or may not get it? >> i've never said to eliminate it. that's never come out of my mouth, senator. >> it was reported in the anchorage daily news. >> that's right. it was reported in the adn, which is basically your arm piece in this entire campaign. that's not what i said. i said that we have got to go to a different system. people in my group clearly have got to have the option of putting their money somewhere where that money is not going to be stolen from them from the government. >> i'm still waiting for the answer. >> i just told you. >> next up. >> i think we need a group hug. >> she says she's still waiting for the answer. very testy. we're seeing that a lot. >> absolutely. i mean, joe miller is basical basically -- he's not unlike what a lot of conservatives in this cycle have been saying about social security. i mean, if you want to tackle massive government spending, there's no way you can do it without taking on, doing something about the massive entitlement programs, social security, medicaid, medicare. and so it will be a test to see if that resonates with voters, possibly privatizing social security, doing something -- doing away with the federal program for it. that's what a lot of conservative activists are pushing, whether that will resonate with voters is still a test. in fact, the entire tea party movement is a bit of a gamble. they've won in republican primaries and won over conservative activists, but can they win in a general election? >> i want to look at a couple of states' polls. some of these races are fairly tight. we have polls from alaska. let's take a look at those polls. we have -- here is from nevada. you have sharron angle against harry reid. 49% to 45%. that's a close one. we have a poll from kentucky. you have rand paul, 50%. one of the guys we saw on the cover of "time" magazine, and jack conway, pretty close as well. we also have alaska. so you have murkowski, the write-in candidate, doing well. 37%. and then there's joe miller, pretty much neck and neck with her. what's so fascinating here, the tea partiers have made a dent within conservative circles, but come tuesday, the test to see how tea partiers fair in the general election. >> absolutely. i mean, you can look at it two ways. right now, they have absolutely scored a lot of successes during the republican primaries. they've scored -- they've definitely taken on a lot more independent membership. but can they win, can they actually win in a general election? can democrats -- will democrats vote for them? will all of those independent supporters vote for them as well? that's yet to be gauged whether the tea party movement will have lasting impact or whether it will go the way of other movements that we've seen. >> we'll have to wait and see how tuesday goes and that will foreshadow the big year, 2012. shannon travis, so nice to have you in person. your documentary "boiling poi point," when can we watch? >> this saturday, 8:00 p.m. eastern. i encourage everyone to watch it. >> thank you, shannon. still to come here, some of the most popular vehicles on the market right now, plagued with all kinds of engine problems. we'll break down the latest recall that could send 750,000 drivers back to their dealers. later, a tragic coincidence has one dead student's parents asking what did the medical examiner do to their son's body? and why were his classmates able to see that young man's brain? you will not believe this one, parents. stay with us. introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever. i was living on welfare and supporting a family of four. after i got the job at walmart, things started changing immediately. then i wrote a letter to the food stamp office. 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[ female announcer ] certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. tell your doctor all medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. these may be signs of ttp, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, reported sometimes less than 2 weeks after starting plavix. other rare but serious side effects may occur. taking a look at the top stories now. i know this is still a really huge number, but 434,000 americans signed up for unemployment benefits for the first time just last week. that's actually a good thing. it is the lowest jobless number the labor department has reported in three months. can you believe that? economists tell us the number really needs to get below the 400,000 mark simply because we can then view it as a sign businesses are finally hiring again. the jury is about to get the ninja home invasion murder trial in florida. attorneys delivering closing arguments right now. leonard patrick gonzalez jr. is the man accused of leading that band of men dressed like ninjas who broke into the homes. the couple was shot to death, excuse style, with their nine children in the home. gonzalez could be sentenced to death if he is convicted. and aid is trickling in here as more and more bodies are found in indonesia. now we're hearing 343 people are confirmed dead on the remote islands off of sumatra. but almost as many are still missing. it is feared they were swept out to sea. meanwhile, a volcano is erupting again. this is in java. it is the most active volcano in indonesia. 32 people were killed during tuesday's eruption. and nissan announcing its third largest recall ever. more than 2 million vehicles worldwide here. the carmaker says faulty relays could cause the nissans to stall. so owners of almost 750,000 trucks and suvs in the united states are being told to go to the dealer, get your repair. so pay close attention here. the u.s. is recalling six of these models. armada, titan, pathfinder, the qx-56. at least no one has reported any accidents because of this particular problem. so imagine this. imagine being held in an iranian prison for more than two years without ever being charged. all because of a misunderstanding. that is what happened to that california businessman. he's finally home. but in 20 minutes, he'll tell me how he survived in one of the toughest, most notorious prisons in the world. also, if jobs and the economy are the top two issues in this campaign, you know the stakes are high for detroit voters, right? what do they think about the gam game-changing candidates in the balance of power in washington? don lemon is in motor city, joins us live right after the break. stay there. with yummy hamburger helper? oh! tada! fantastically tasty, huh? ummm, it's good. what would you guys like? hamburger helper. what?! one pound... one pan... one tasty meal! t adwiwiout food al t five days now until the big day, election day. all this week we've been rolling through the midwest ahead of those midterms. don lemon is in michigan today. last night he spoke to patrons of a boweling alley and they offered him some solutions for the problems plaguing detroit and the whole country. >> this is pampa's lanes. i'm here practicing. >> getting a little stronger from my operation. i'm trying to get my game back together. well, detroit has -- i've been here over 60 years. and it's not the same. politics has been the detriment of detroit. we need to bring back some real good leaders. >> i think a lot of the -- the politicians are out of touch with what the people in this state need. not just this state, but throughout the country. >> yes! >> i mean, it was the auto industry. we -- we lived by it and now we're dying by it. >> what is this election going to do? it'sboutbo americans learning how to survive, perhaps maybe with less, but lengetting things back through some agenda that can be created by a consolidation of all parties. >> i think we need people that have the heart that are willing to get out there and work and make a fews sacrifices and don' let all of the sacrifices come from the middle income class. >> republicans and independents and democrats. even the tea party. let's come together and work together for a better solution for all american people. we can't come together in a house divided among itself. it's going to fall. >> and don lemon now joins me from lou's country oven in michigan. >> leo's. >> you're always eating. and talking to some wonderful people. do they agree, though, that really it's all about compromise and working together? >> oh, yeah, they do, brooke. we'll talk to some of the people here at leo's country oven. >> leo's. >> it's just outside of detroit. it's in madison heights. we've been here all day today. they've actually put me to work here. michelle is going to -- she asked me for coffee there. i'm hired, right? >> yes, you are. >> we spoke to the workers bowling last night. what is on your mind coming up to the election? >> the wrong governor could ruin things for us. that's one of my concerns. >> besides working here, darlene is an activist. >> i am. i am. i'm really into just trying to keep the safety and the honest politicians. i want honest politicians. i don't like the trash back and forth. that turns me off. i'd rather vote for the other day. i'm into my safety. i want my politicians to listen to us when we're talking. we want our police, all of them. we want our firefighters. we want all that. we need our security. if we don't have that, we have nothing. >> do you agree? >> absolutely. >> do you all agree? >> we all agree. >> big union town with the auto industry. 14% unemployment in the area. hardest hit by the economy. nevada, you're only second to nevada. a couple of union workers here. what do you think? what are you looking at coming into the election? >> you know, we're worried about the health of the middle class. we need a strong auto industry in michigan to survive. it doesn't just affect auto worker families, but everybody in the state of michigan. >> i would agree totally with that. the workers in this country have been taking it on the chin for the past 30 years. one election is not going to save everybody. we've got to keep it going. >> thank you. are you guys all ready to vote? >> yes! >> oh, yeah. >> you can see, hey, listen, only a couple more days. they'll put me to work. this is my second job now. i'll finish up here and then i'll make it back to atlanta so that i can vote on tuesday as well. >> i'll coffee with cream and half a splenda. thank you, don. >> i've got it. >> thanks, don. this next story, this is unbelievable. you have this grieving family. they get another shock after this bizarre coincidence. what happened is their son's classmates found his brain on display during a class field trip. that is next. also ahead, a school board member's stunning comments about a show of support for gay students. he said he'd only wear purple if they, quote, all commit suicide. introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 if anything, it was a little too much. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 but the moment they had my money? nothing. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no phone calls, no feedback, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no "here's how your money's doing." tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i mean what about a little sign that you're still interested? 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>> the kids started screaming. you know, they knew jesse. jesse knew them and they're looking at his brain and it's looking back at them. >> reporter: so this got back to you? >> yes, it did. >> reporter: how did you feel when you heard about it? >> very violated. >> reporter: several of jesse's organs, including his brain and liver, had been taken from his body during the autopsy and were sitting on a shelf in the medical examiner's office where anyone passing by could see them. what did you expect when you say okay to do an autopsy? >> you look for the coauses of death, you check the organs and put it back in the body. >> reporter: in a statement to cnn, the city's attorney says although they sympathize with the family, it's within the medical examiner's discretion to perform an autopsy and in appropriate cases to remove and retain bodily organs for further testing. dr. cyril wecht is a forensic pathologist and attorney who specializes in cases like these. he says to determine the exact cause of death, especially after head trauma, it's necessary to remove the brain. >> that's the whole purpose of medical legal investigation. if you don't do that, then forget about forensic pathology and about doing things in a proper scientific fashion. that is why you would save the brain in such a case. >> reporter: medical examiners say the brain needs to sit in a formula for two weeks before it can be studied. by then, the funeral has already taken place. art kaplan says that's no excuse. to him, the law is very clear. >> in situations of autopsy, when the coroner, the medical examiner is doing a mandatory study of a body, you're supposed to get everything back, no questions second. >> reporter: the shipleys are suing the city for the mishandling of their son's remains. they say they'll never be able to forget what they went through following his death. >> we bury our son and then we have parts of him coming back in. all we got back were little chunks. >> we held the organs in our hands. i almost fell to my knees when i saw that. now we have to live with that for the rest of our lives. >> what a story. elizabeth cohen is here. i remember when the story came out a couple of weeks ago. i thought what was revealing in your piece, so if you have head trauma, they have to remove the brain to do testing. by that point, they had the funeral for jesse shipley. am i to then dedeuce that there could be money bodies out there that don't have the organs replaced? >> right. i think it's interesting. a lot of people assume after an autopsy that everything goes back in. >> of course. >> medical exampiners tell us that that is not the case. some samples are taken out and that they are then examined later. you obviously don't want to hold the body that whole time. the body needs to be buried. one of the big questions they'll get to as this goes through the courts, should they have told the shipleys this and informed them that this was the situation? >> so they had a court date yesterday. what happened? >> nothing was decided. they now have another date in january. again, that's going to be one of the focuses of this court date in january is should they have told them? hey, guess what, your son is not being buried with everything. some families, it's very important to them for religious reasons to get everything back, and those families do ask. all right, we know you need to keep some parts out, but -- >> but not everybody knows about this. >> some people who know to ask do ask. but who knows to ask? exactly. >> do you think most families expect, like we said, my guess would be no, that families don't know that everything is -- >> i think they think the doctors do their work and that's it. >> but it's one thing to do their work and place it on a shelf and maybe this is just me, but it's quite another to have a school field trip and you see on a jar, jesse shipley. >> right. these things should be stored in a way that they are not seen by passers-by. there's a lot of agreement on that. and certainly if you're going to invite outsiders in, you should probably be careful about how you store and label those specimens. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. >> thank you. are mexican cartels using al qaeda tactics to intimidate lawmen and innocent bystanders? we'll have the latest. and there is a whole lot of asphalt and grass in this shot. why did the plane land on two small cars? look at this. that story is coming up. the country of iran jailed this man here for bringing $200 into his country. 200 bucks. he is now free, but only after spending 2 1/2 years behind bars. what was -- why was he behind bars? what were the conditions like? did he talk to any of the other americans there? his incredible story is next. plus, the latest here. i feel like this is chapter three this week in the charlie sheen saga. who was the other women in that hotel room? do we know now? and can he really get back to business as usual? that's ahead. without art. then why rely on healthcare coverage that's missing something, too? with medicare alone, your coverage could be incomplete. so call now to find out about another way to get medicare. aarp medicarecomplete from securehorizons. you may get your hospital, doctor visits, prescription drug coverage and other medical services in one complete package -- often for no more than what you currently pay for original medicare. no wonder it's called medicarecomplete. don't miss out. call securehorizons now to get more complete coverage without paying more. and without having to get a medicare supplement plan. it's a healthcare plan that not only helps take care of you when something goes wrong, but helps you stay healthy in the first place. get benefits like an annual preventive screening and immunizations for a $0 copay, vision and hearing benefits... and more. and some plans have zero dollar monthly premiums. in these changing times, the name on your medicare plan may be more important than ever. as one of the leaders in medicare advantage plans, securehorizons knows how to get more from your medicare benefits. with the cost of many things still going up, aarp medicarecomplete from securehorizons is a smart choice in uncertain times. is your healthcare missing something? 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>> exactly, yeah. yeah, i didn't know that. they used me to do that. and after that, they put me in jail and they keep -- said pretty soon, a month, a week, two weeks, took me 29 months finally. my attorney took me out of jail. >> let's talk about those 29 months, sir. i can't imagine 29 months for anyone, let alone a gentleman in his 70s. talk to me about prison conditions. did you get -- >> it was really tough. it was really tough. it was some different jail every time, a different jail. you know, jail is tough for anyone. especially when you're old. it's very tough. but, you know -- >> how many people -- how many people were you having to share a cell with? did you get at least a bed to sleep in? >> i got -- yeah, because i was old, they gave me a bed, but we were -- every time between 30 and 34 people in the room like with 16 beds. >> so people were obviously having to share beds. >> yeah. no, we didn't have shared beds. they were sleeping on the -- on the ground and outside of the room or across the door. >> sleeping on the ground. you got a bed because you were elder lae. sir, what did you do to pass the time? i imagine it was very, very slow. >> it was very slow, very slow. i was -- you know, we were walking around the cell, around the -- around the backyard, and it was very hard for me, especially i am not a smoker. and everybody was smoking down there. it was extremely -- extremely bad for me. >> so you weren't smoking? you're not a smoker, so you weren't smoking. were you able to read? did they provide you with books? could you watch television? >> yes. but television only four channels they have. i could see just those four. >> four channels. i heard you watched a lot of that show "24." is that right? >> yeah. they would -- once a week, they had a show "24." i saw one of them. >> one of them. mr. prosper, if i can just ask you a question here, you played a role in negotiating mr. taghavi's release. why -- because this is a story not a lot of americans know a lot about, unlike some of the other stories, the american hikers, for example. why was this story kept so quiet and out of the news? >> well, one of the things that we did when i was contacted last summer, the summer of 2009, to help mr. taghavi, i recognized the fact that i'm obviously not a former governor, a former president, so we had to develop a strategy that was designed for the maximum success. that was two-fold. one, to stay below the radar so that we could have a widest room to maneuver in our negotiations with the government of iran. and, two, we -- we asked the united states government to not get involved because we did not want this -- the issue of mr. taghavi becoming a political one and becoming politicized to the extent that he would not be released. >> so, just briefly here, and then i want one more question of mr. taghavi, how were you able to negotiate that? i know there were conditions for the release. what were they? >> well, the negotiations, as you can imagine, were difficult. mr. taghavi at one point was even facing the death penalty. so what i had to do was really have five rounds of meetings with the iranian authorities. one here in new york, three times -- three meetings in -- rounds of meetings in tehran. i ravtraveled to iran, as well meetings in europe. exchanged countless e-mails and spent 75-plus hours of face time going back and forth. really in the end, it was persistence. we really bupushed our -- the facts that mr. taghavi was unwittingly used here. and had nothing to do with this organization that committed the -- the terrorist bombing at the mosque. >> if i may ask my final question of mr. taghavi, i understand that this notorious prison in iran, i understand two of those american hikers are still there. were you able to speak with them at all? if so, how are they? >> no, i didn't see them. they were on top of my dorm. there was a room. they were there. they were in good shape. they had movies, they had beds. and they were in good shape. but they wouldn't let anybody see them. >> mr. taghavi, mr. prosper, i appreciate you. mr. taghavi, welcome home. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. the notre dame campus is in shock today after this freak accident. it killed a student. so coming up next, the young man's haunting final tweets. he tweeted moments before his tragic fall. take a look with me. we've got sandra endo. she may be in washington today watching some of the stories developing on the edges of the news today. we've got her doing what's trending. sandra, i heard about this. this one, i think it was last night, in fact. notre dame university, this is a tough, tough day for them because of this young man. tell me what happened. >> yeah, brooke. this is a trending story today. a very tragic one. we're talking about a 20-year-old junior from notre dame university who tragedy died after falling off a hydraulic scissor lift. he was on that camera tower filming the school's football practice when there were severe wind gusts. there are a lot of storms going through the country this week. there were wind gusts of 50 miles per hour. but then this is the eerie thing. he tweeted about this moments before his tragic fall. let's just take a look right now at the tweet. at around 3:22, this is what he tweeted as practice was starting. gust of wind up to 60 miles per hour. well, today will be fun at work. i today will be fun at work. i guess i've lived long enough" with a crooked smiley face. then, just homes later, another eerie tweet from him this is less than an hour before that tower came down. he tweeted, holy bleep, holy bleep, this is terrifying. now, that tower came down at 4:50. today, we heard from school administrators and the school athletic director spoke to reporters. he says he was near the football field, he heard the tower come crashing down. he didn't know anyone was injured but now, the quest is on for answers. >> we don't have those answers today. i know there's a lot of speculation about what may or may not have happened but that's what the investigation is for. and we will let that investigation thoroughly and completely run its course and then we will have the ability to understand what happened to learn from it and move on from it. >> a state safety administration, indiana's osha is investigating the situation so it could be prevented in the future. brook? >> it is tough because you think why are you tweeting? just get down. shows how dedicated he was to filming that football practice. sandra, a second here, you got a story about a british airline who says they are sick of kowtowing to us americans. what's going on there? >> yeah, this is an interesting story that is trending today also. it kind of goes to what a lot of people experience when they go to the airports, you know, those long security lines here, having to take off your shoes, pulling out those laptops, all just to get to your gate. this british airline official, a chairman from british airways says that their airline should stop kowtowing to u.s. security standards and he said this at an industry airlines convention, saying that, look, we should stand up to the united states, that their security restrictions are actually redundant and pretty much said what a lot of us always think, right, when we go to the airport. but surprisingly as well, his european counterparts, his colleagues, also agree with him, but the united states, of course, is saying that those comments are not okay, that security is very, very important and that is also what is trending today. so, a lot of mixed opinions out there about what security should be like at airports, but of course, the traveler has to deal with all those hassles. >> i know, i'm headed to the airport after the show, ready to pull my laptop out, take my shoes off, i would rather be safe than sorry. >> don't wear tall boots, okay? >> yeah, note to self. note to self. thank you, see you next hour. up next, you got to see this some of the video of the day here. and here is a hint. you really, really, really shouldn't get too close to lions and sharks. we will leave it there. be right back. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, including celebrex, may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor about your medical history and find an arthritis treatment that works for you. ask your doctor about celebrex. and, go to celebrex.com to learn more about how you can move toward relief. celebrex. for a body in motion. most animals at a zoo seem oblivious to the thousands of visitors each and every year. not so much for this fella. you got to see this off from the distance, past this precious creature here, you have mr. lion hanging out under a tree, nothing unusual about this, right? as this cute little girl is singing and dancing at the top of the exhibit, he gets up for what appears to be a stretch. whoa, the lion jumps up at this little girl, scares her half to death. you can hear them. and the parents saying, get away. thank goodness for the glass. next, imagine you are scuba diving 30 feet down, you see this coming through your camera. you have got to see this scott mcnichol did the only thing he could, scream and keep recording. listen. this time didn't have a whole lot of glass separating him from the shark. maybe the shark wanted his closeup. mcnichol estimates the shark wases eight feet long, 300 pounds, needless to say, lucky to be alive this guy. yikes. coming up next what you have got to see from the world of politics, wolf blitzer has the candidates making news during these final campaign days. cnn newsroom. we will be back. co to us for he. 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. ♪ [ man ] ♪ trouble didn't either. ♪ trouble, trouble trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. take the scary out of life. you do? 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[ man ] learn more at stopmedicarefraud.gov. five days to go here until election day. cnn has all your latest political news with the best political team on television. cnn equals politics. wolf blitzer is in new york for us today and wolf, going become to a comment a couple days ago here, maybe telling the president to shove it was not such a good idea? >> not a good idea if you believe the polls in rhode island. frank capri yoerk the democratic nominee for governor of rhode island. remember, the president went into rhode island a few days ago, pointedly did not endorse caprio, who is the democratic nominee, didn't endorse anyone, but he head it clear he likes lincoln chafee, the independent. the former republican senator from rhode island. and lincoln chafee has been doing ads showing him together with obama ever since then. caprio said the president could take his endorsement and really shove it. that was the quote from caprio. there's a new poll in rhode island that came in today shows it didn't exactly help caprio, those tough comments. right now, chafe, if i the independent, at 35%. the republican, john row bit tie, at 28%. frank caprio now in third place with 25% this only five days before the election. we will see what happens in rhode island. let's go to this coming weekend when jon stewart is coming to washington with his supporters, rally to restore sanity. we have now learned that the dnc, the democrats, are going to try to take advantage of these tens of thousands of young people coming to washington. going to try to enlist some of them to go to phone banks, to get out the vote to try to help energize that democratic base. we will see how successful that is, but there will be buses waiting at union station in washington to try to get some of these young people to help other democrats. finally, the story that we are working on, chris lawrence, our pentagon correspondent is working on it over at the pentagon, apparently, some opposition research developing at the democratic national committee. apparently looking for some background information under the freedom of information act among some potential republican candidates, including mike huckabee to see what at the pentagon they might have on these candidates a dozen or some huckabee says they are flattered thinking about him. he says it was better than four years ago when i was an ast ter risk, if i decided to run again. he said the democrats are nervous because they are bracing for a political tsunami, his words, on tuesday. they know they are going to get wiped out next tuesday, huckabee says them wouldn't be looking down the road in two years if they thought they had any shot of winning these races next week. we will have a lot more "the situation room" at the top of 5 p.m. eastern, brook. a lot more politics, only five days before the election. >> wolf, before i let you go i want to go back to rhode island. we have talked about a lot of these gubernatorial races so, so important, they are the ones overseeing the redrawing of the congressional district, playing key roles in presidential politics and i'm curious how does the white house feel secure in having lincoln chafe fishing the republican turned independent in charge of that in rode island and not a democrat? >> white house officials say it was simply a matter of the president being loyal to lincoln chafee, who, as a republican senator from rhode island, remember, endorsed president obama and president obama had a good working relationship during the brief time he served in the u.s. senate with lincoln chafee. he didn't feel it would be the right thing to do to formally endorse the democratic nominee, even though the president is the leader of the democratic party. this hassing an eared lot of democrats because they think the president really hurt the democratic nominee. the democratic governors association, for example, spent $1.5 million trying to help caprio. they see that money potentially going down the drain now as a result of this decision by the president to go in to rode island, to sort of rub it in. he didn't have to go to rhode island and make it clear he was neutral in this race. didn't obviously help democratic nominee. >> wolf blitzer, we will see in an hour. thank you, sir. going to get another political update in half an hour. always get latest political news go to c nchlt nchnnpolitics.com. want to welcome the men and women watching us right now on american forces network all around the world. we are going to hit you fast this hour, let's go. first, a heartbreaking tragedy out of california. let me tell you about t one police officer is dead after this eight-hour standoff in san diego. here is how it went down. police and a u.s. marshal, they went to this apartment complex to serve this arrest warrant, but someone slammed the door in their faces. gunfire erupted. five suspects barricaded themselves inside. this officer, chris wilson, was shot, later died at the hospital. i want you to listen to the city's mayor describing today as a day he always dreads. >> officer wilson, a father of two, was a 17-year veteran of southeastern division. he was popular, extremely bright and a consummate professional. it was routine for other officers to pay him the highest compliment by calling him good cover. in other words, you always knew officer wilson had your back. this horrible event is a reminder that our police officers put their lives on the line every time they put on their uniform. >> hmm. officer -- also two teenagers lost their dad today, following the standoff, two of the suspect were found dead, the other three taken into custody. next, thousands and thousands of people in haiti right now in desperate need of treatment that is cholera outbreak is spreading but as time is running out, it seems some of the red tape is slowing down the process. hundreds have already died. medical crews working with around the clock. but as sick people wait, a lot of them children here, supplies just sit in warehouses. sanjay gupta now in haiti getting to the bottom of this. >> well, people have been waiting for hours outside and days in hospitals as this, pallets of iv fluids, literally life-saving stuff to treat these patients with cholera, thousands of them, not just this pallet. look at this whole warehouse full, despite what's happening here in haiti. >> hundreds of people have died and they would say, look, i don't understand how all these organizations could have supplies an hundreds of people still died and you would say what? >> well, again, we have given away to evan who has come here to us for supplies. >> several medical workers in haiti are now having to wait for paperwork to clear before they can take those supplies. sanjay showed us, to the sick. the cases could rise for the next couple of years. we will stay on it. next, bomb on board. that was apparently the threat forcing authorities to evacuate a sky west passenger flight there in utah. there is the plane. it landed in salt lake city from montana. we are told someone called in the threat but nothing was found on board. no one was hurt had. the feds, they are investigating. next, take a look at how this plane landed. this is wesley chapel in florida. i'm thinking this is not what was meant to go down. we are told a student pilot took off at a local airport, had had some problems, hit two parked cars, you see them smushed, in the airport parking lot. police say fortunately, no one was with hurt here, including the pilot. if you are asking how the student manage old to hit these two cars what appears to be a pretty empty parking lot, good question. we will let you know as soon as we know. next, another major car recall this time from nissan. the japanese automaker calling back more than 740,000 trucks and suvs for electrical problems. nissan says the problems could cause the engines to stall. so heads up, if you own an ar mad dark titan, frontier, pathfinder, x terra, better check to see if your model is included here. next, many people in france are really, really upset that the country's retirement age may be going up two years, from 60 to 62. so angry, they are taking to the streets still. look at this. the government estimates more than half a million people turning out in protest. unions say the number is closer to 2 million. retirement bill just a couple of steps away from becoming law. french aviation officials expect a good majority of flights to be canceled in and out of paris tonight as workers strike this proposal. next, what is george w. bush's favorite gadget, might you be asking? it is the ipad. former first lady laura bush says her husband use it is to read "the wall street journal" first thing each and every morning. oh, and she says he constantly plays scrabble on it. sound like someone you know? apparently that is his favorite app. mrs. bush has been revealing details about their life after white house, weeks before the former president's book is released. next? ♪ god bless america ♪ my home sweet home >> grab the cracker jacks and play ball. that was tony bennett before game one of the world series, which is officially in the books. the san francisco giants roughing up the texas rangers, 11-7. bad news for tonight's game two. there is some rain in san francisco's forecast. next, you just missed out on the chance to be as cool as james bond. why? because his famous gadget-filled car now off the market a mysterious buyer spent a whopping $4 million on this car, you recognize it? this is the aston martin dd 5, auctioned off in lon do the 1964 sports car driven by sean connery in the bond classics "gold finger" and "thunder ball." so what accessories come with it, you ask? here's what. machine guns, an ejector seat, a nail spreader, tire shredders, and a bulletproof shield. you know, the kind of stuff you need every day on the road, kidding. the previous owner bought the car for 12 grand four decades ago. he says he has only driven the car one time. >> just pure beauty. i mean, just gorgeous. it's a work with of art, believe it or not. i don't look at it as a car. i look at it as a work of art. >> yes, sir, for $4 million. one expert calls the car a gentleman's club on wheels. and finally, forget first class, how about cuddle class? it's coming, i'm serious. take a look. air new zealand announcing it will soon offer passengers the chance to buy seats that turn into couches or beds. the airline is marketing them as "sky couches" perfect for couples, families maybe with young kids, kind of cuddlelism we are told they will be avail a able next year on flights from new zealand to los angeles and london. those are long flights, right? listen to this are mexican drug cartels taking a page from al qaeda terrorists? i'm going to show you a picture that may indeed prove t that is ahead. also, could your handwriting decide whether your vote is actually counted next week? you miss a letter, might that affect it. wait until you hear how the answer affects the tea party movement's chances. that is next. to work one-on-one with homeowners. since 2009, we've helped over 200,000 americans keep their homes. and we're reaching out to small businesses too, increasing our lending commitment this year to $10 billion and giving businesses the opportunity to ask for a second review if they feel their loan should have been approved. this is how recoveries happen. everyone doing their part. this is the way forward. even if you think your mattress is just fine... ask me what it's like to get your best night's sleep every night. why not talk to someone who's sleeping on the most highly recommended bed in america... it's not a sealy... or a simmons... or a serta... ask me about my tempur-pedic. ask me how fast i fall asleep. ask me about staying asleep. these are actual tempur-pedic owners! ask someone you know---check out twitter. try your friends on facebook. you'll hear it all...un-edited. ask me how it feels after 10 years. ask me if it's a good value. just ask me. there are 4 million tempur-pedic owners! and they're more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. ask me why i feel better every morning. ask me why someone who's never had an ache or a pain is in love with this bed. start asking real owners. ask me how we took the first step... take the first step right now! call or click today for your free information kit with dvd. call the number on your screen or visit tempurpedic.com. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. five whole days here until election day and alaska's democrats and republicans are united. what? yes, they are united in their concern over senator lisa murkowski's write-in campaign. in fact, they are so concerned, they went to court monday to force the state to start providing voters with a list. now, a list of those candidates, including obviously, murkowski. you seeker the list provides the name of certified write-in candidates at the polls. now, why, you may be asking, is a list of candidates a concern here? well, first, i want to show you the latest cnn/time opinion research polling. this is from alaska. and you can see, two of those candidates, top two candidate there is in this really neck in neck race now. you have murkowski, you see the ast ter risk, because she is the write-in, sitting with 37 percentage points of the vote here. you have joe miller, the tea party candidate here, running on the republican ticket at 37% as well. and scott mcadams polling at 23%. the democrat candidate there in alaska. but why all this concern over these lists, the list of the write-in candidate. here is the thing if a voter goes in to vote and misspells the name of the candidate that they are trying to vote for, that vote may not count. and as you can see behind me, it is a pretty long name here. this is the name of the write-in candidate. this is murkowski, nine letters, the name maybe familiar to a lot of people in alaska, but perhaps not. it is spelled just as it sounds, nine letters, like i said. let's talk a little bit more about this whole revelation here coming out of the state supreme court. joining me now on the phone from anchorage, alaska is matthew telling. he is an anchor for ktva. and matthew, if you can just first outline for me what happened today with regard to the alaska supreme court. they eventually intervened, allowing these voters to have these list hads of possible write-in had candidates, correct? >> absolutely, brook. and the unfortunate and uncomfortable thing up here is, to a lot of alaskans, it sort of feels like the alaska division of elections, which is the group that oversees this, the state department that he sees it, might be making it up as they go along, because this is such an unprecedented sort of contest. normally, a write-in candidate is, you know, the independent person or the person who doesn't have millions of dollars and years of experience and they are sort of trying to be more accommodating, despite the fact that both democrats and republicans are, you know, walking hand in hand for once saying, listen, you got to abide by the rule of law, you got to how to move forward and keep everybody happy and it is just not going to work. >> let me ask you guys if we can throw the name if we can, back behind me. i want to underscore the point. here it is. this is murkowski if a voter had the skate supreme court not intervene and said it is okay to have this list written out with murkowski's name if somebody goes in and see the i at the end of the name if somebody wrote a y, for example, matt, that vote, not counted? >> actually, brook, the lieutenant governor of the state has said he is going to be lenient with regards to spelling, they are going to -- and they are going to measure intent. but then, if you get, you know, a gang of lawyers up here in a very close race, we are going to have to start figuring out exactly what lenient and intent means. how flexible are they going to be. so it is not going to have to be exactly all nine letters you are seeing now in place but at the same time, we have to wonder are they going to allow two flubs in spelling, flee flubs in spellings. >> at what point do you draw the line? >> exactly. >> if i am a joe miller supporter or a scott mcadams supporter, i'm probably not going to have the same threshold that a senator lisa murkowski supporter would have and honestly, we are shaping up to have a pretty brutal fight. we have had a lot of legal battles with elections across the country in recent years and it is going to replay itself up here in our -- the great, white north. >> so interesting because you have the three m options in this particular race, you have mcadams, miller and murkowski, not to make it anymore confusing here. before i let you go, matt, let me ask you, here we are, five days out. is the supreme court -- the state supreme court ruling is this finished or could this change? >> well, right now, they are sort of trying to straddle. they are saying, listen, we will allow the write-in candidate guides forms to be given to people who ask for them but not going to put what party they are in. i don't know what sort of wiggle room they are trying to give themselves. the one side want it is to be done away with entirely, one side want it is to be extremely chapter and verse, all the libertarian,ll the republicans, all the democrats grouped accordingly and i think just trying to please everybody and in the meantime, pleasing no one with. i think it is going to change in the next few days but then we will see what happens because there is a massive write-narcs massive absentee number are we going to have a different standard apply after election day? it starts to get really, really, you know, the math starts to get extremely difficult to guide your way through. >> matt telling, i know we will have a voter irregularities beef and desk here at cnn but a feeling we will talk to you in the days and of course the day after election day, matt telling, thank you so much. >> have a good one. gunned down at parties, cars shot up in broad daylight and now this kidnapping victim held at gunpoint on youtube. what is going on in mexico? our raphael row mow joins me next to explain how the bits and pieces of violent acts are piecing together for one very large problem for americans. and so you thought the whole charlie sheen episode was over? oh, no. we are now hearing exactly who he was with inside this know new york hotel room. here is a hint, she is an actress. that's -- 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. mexico's violent border drug war taking a new turn. one drug cartel taking a tactic long used by terrorists halfway around the world. they have grabbed this hostage, here is a picture, interrogated him on camera at gunpoint and released the video to the world. now, what we are showing here this is the still image from the latest video posted just yesterday on youtube. so we don't note veracity of what the hostage is saying. we are going to get into that just a moment here, but as accusations, they are damning and they are about his sister who is a former state attorney general in mexico. so i want to bring in raphael row mow, who is our senior latin american affairs editor. raphael, from listening to the video, and knowing we are not going to play it but from listening it, it what is he saying? >> i listened to the whole nine minutes what essaying is his sister, a former state attorney general for the state of chihuahua, south of texas, was actually in charge of ordering killings in connection with drug cartels. so -- but the reality is when you look at this video, tough realize that he is surrounded by heavily armed men wearing military fatigues. he is wearing handcuffs. so, you have to remember that, to put it in context to really question the veracity of the video. however, there is a new term in our part of mexico it is far this co-politicians, which means politicians who are tied one way or another with the drug cartels. >>politicians, which means politicians who are tied one way or another with the drug cartels. >>. >> because he is surrounded by these men he could be telling the truth, could be coerced, could be reading a script? >> that was my question, is he reading or talking about all of this? because in nine minutes, he talks about a number of different names of officials throughout the state who he acoursed of being involved with drug trafficking organizations and is he really remembering all of that? if he was, he was really involved in all of this. otherwise, he might have been reading a script, his demeanor, he is very calm, he is very -- you don't see any nervousness. very intrigug to see the the video. >> what about the mexican government what are they doing? >> the mexican government says this is their strategy now only way to fight the drug cartels. as a matter of fact, president calderon earlier this week said that his way is the only watch let's take a listen to what he said. >> it's a long road, for sure it is a road without many results in the short term or at least not spectacular ones but itson efficient path and furthermore, it is the only one we have with. >> now, president calderon is in office until december of 2012 and he says, and his government says, that they are not going to change the strategy, that is it is working, the reason why there is so much violence is because the drug cartels are reacting like a wounded bear would react. >> what do you mean? >> if you wound a bear it is going to lash out, that is what is happening with the drug cartels. >> they are lashing out, case in point, saturday to today, four massacres. >> exactly, four massacres, we used to count victims in mexico one by one, now we are counting massacres n two border cities, mexico city and one northwestern city, four massacres. amazing when you look at what happened. and most of them, very young people n one case, there was a 7-year-old boy who was wounded in one of these shootings. >> recently at a car wash. they could be anywhere, any time. >> one of them was at a house party, families children, women, they were all gathering together last saturday in ciudad juarez, across the border from el paso, texas, heavily armed men, stormed the party, started shooting at close range and they killed 14 people and left just as many wounded. >> and it was just 35 miles southeast of juarez, where we have a young woman, 20-year-old criminology student taking the helm as a police chief in that new his pate. so let us know if any other videos materialize, raphael row mow, i know you are all over this thank you. >> thank you. >> frightening stuff. a school board member in arkansas says he wants all gay people to kill themselves. he allegedly wrote this, this is his personal facebook page, you will see the rant and hear the outrage. that's next. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. 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. got a story for you, this one out of arkansas that is, to be honest, pretty hard to believe. off school offs in this small arkansas town, pleasant plains, arkansas, coming under fire for allegedly posting this anti-gay rant on his facebook page. take a look with me. here is the page this is clint mccant's page, by the way, the president of the midland school district and now, many in the area are calling for this guy's resignation. but before i actually tell you what he posted, i want to warn you he uses some words you may find offensive, also, the misspellings, they are his, not ours. remember, he works at a school. here is part of his posting. "they want me to wear purple because five queers committed suicide. the only way i'm wearing it for them is if they all commit suicide. end quote. he goes on, we are honoring the fact they sinned and killed theirselves because of their sin. really, people? put it on facebook and what is said in arkansas, probably not going to say in arkansas if it was on the internet. this thing has nearly gone viral. last night on cnn, anderson cooper talked with a whistleblower who outed mccance's facebook rant. >> i'm really thaful for the it gets better campaign, where everybody from rock stores the president of the united states posted online videos telling kid it is gets better, not just high school, but things are better after. i really think we have a responsibility to make sure it gets better now why should students have to wait until they graduate for things to be better? you know we need to do something. and if it is the case the laws are the way they are, the policies are the way they are and nothing can be done in this particular instance, than that he thank should serve as a wakeup call to all of us we need to really think about our public policy and really think about, you know, situation where hate like this, where this horrible kind of conduct from a board official could be tolerated and nothing can be done about it. >> so you're listening to the story, wondering where mccans is now, right? out of reach to almost anyone trying to get ahold of him, trying to talk to him. he did tell the arkansas times that he is worried about his and his family's safety. the arkansas times is also reporting a protest rally to demand mccans's resignation was met earlier today with anti-gay counter protests. stay tuned to that one. also, the dalai lama, one of the most famous spiritual figures in the whole world now giving this rare tv interview to cnn. find out what he base is money and happiness and retirement that is ahead. also, here they are. look who is standing by on his blackberry banging out the latest story, right paul steinhauser, paul steinhauser and mark breaston, cnn political ticker is next. not a lot of days here, five days to go until election day, cnn has all your latest political news with the best political team on television, of course cnn equals politics. we have our favorite duo in washington, mark preston and paul steinhauser joining me now from d.c. guys, five days, down to the wire. what's going on with the ticker? >> brook, let's talk about alaska, you were just discussing it earlier this hour. and just with five days to go i want oliver jani, our cameraman to zoom in here, brand new on the cnn political ticker, joe miller, he is getting assistance from the tea party express, that is that national tea party organization that spent over half a -- $500,000 for him in the primaries to help him win in the primaries over lisa murkowski, the incumbent senator, they are going to help him again two new ads starting today, one attacking murkowski, one bragging about miller's bio. putting their money back on the line here in the closing days. brand new on the ticker, that is what i got. back over to you. >> yesterday, i wrote how michael steele, the republican national committee chairman, very controversial figure making plans to run for another term, this frustrates some republicans who wish he would quietly two away. he does have supporters. a few weeks ago, i interviewed michael steele, didn't publish too much of the interview, talked about how he wanted to work closely with mr. obama, but looking for a hook to really put the whole interview out, now i have the hook. the hook is the fact he is going to run for re-election as the chairman. give you a couple of quotes a little bit of a tease our viewers can read to i asked him, how do you think you were treated in this job and what were your expectations of the job? he said to me all i ever wanted from the first day i took this job was a fair shot to do it. as far as the critics go, brook, i said, look what do you think about your critics? said, don't criticize me for not raising money when you have told people not to give to us. so, some very strong words from michael steele from an interview a few weeks ago. as i said, we reported yesterday, he is taking steps to run for another term as chairman. brook? >> quickly to follow up on the chairmanship, what is that, two years? >> yeah. >> two years. okay. >> two years. >> and here we go, you know, the final push, guys, five days until election day, what are the candidates, what are they doing these last couple of days? >> brook, i mean, look, a couple things, one is republicans are going to continue to nationalize the election while democrats are trying to localize it. they feel that is the way they can hold onto the house of representatives. they hold onto the senate. in addition to that, you are going to see democrats out there really trying to talk about how their solutions are the ones that are going to save the economy. republicans say theft answe s . paul. >> the ads on the air waves the last couple of days, now the gotv, get out the vote efforts. that is crucial atlanta last couple of days. >> as if we haven't seen enough ads, get ready for more. paul and mark, thanks. another update next hour and get your fix, hop online, cnnpolitics.com or on twitter go to at political ticker. what happened inside of charlie sheen's hotel room? he is not saying a whole lot. he is just texting a couple of people. this whole story has been overplayed but there is one woman doing a lot of the talking. we are going to hear her side. that is coming up. randy quaid and his wife, they are out of the canadian jail but they are still the targets of this bizarre murder plot allegedly targeting actors r they still? we will have the latest on the couple's claims. also, some news, mariah carey, her fans had some suspicious and today, the singer confirmed them. the secret she revealed is next in trending. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. time for what you are tweeting about what you are blogging about and what's trending for that are we go to sandra endo plugged into the web all day long. there is a lot this hour, sandra showbiz chatter that's trending. let's begin with what are you -- what are we starting with, charlie sheen? >> oh, yeah, there's a lot to talk about that's trending today actually, brook. and yeah, charlie sheen, the actor we can't get enough about, he is dishing out his side of the story, kind of. let look at our virtual picture board here that we can touch. here is a picture of the actor who says he wants to respond to what happened tuesday night and that is when he was found make it in a new york hotel room and police responded to an emotionally disturbed person. well, he says he was taken to the hospital and that everything is fine, that it was just all overblown. he was also supposedly hanging out with a prostitute that night. he wants to clarify that it wasn't a prostitute. in fact, it was a 22-year-old porn actress, capri anderson. and a rep for charlie sheen says that he just had a bad reaction to some medication, brook. >> clarification, dually noted. let's move on from that let's talk about the quaids. they were seeking asigh lum in canada. what is the latest on this couple? >> right. take a look at this couple right here. i don't know if those are happy faces. actor randy quaid and his wife, evi, actually got released from custody in canada. that is where they were seeking refuge. that's because quaid's wife does qualify for canadian citizenship but they say they were fleeing from what they call hollywood star whackers. and yeah, it is a term for people they think are trying to go after celebrities. they claim this so-called group, real or imagined, were responsible for the deaths of their friends, heath ledger and david carradine. and actually, this couple, randy quaid and his wife, are wanted on a warrant for charges of burglary and vandalism. they were caught squatting in a guesthouse of a property they owned in santa barbara, california. so, certainly a lot to contend with and they will be back in court later this week with. brook? >> so, that story continues. finally, the news that everybody has reported erroneously for quite a while, finally, mariah carey legitimizes. go ahead. >> in the news, look at -- these are happy faces, a happy couple indeed because this is happy news, not celebrities going bad. the couple finally admitted that they are expecting a baby. they admitted it the "today" show earlier this morning. and mariah has been talked about, rumored about tweeted about. people guessing that she was pregnant. she did make news because she declined and pulled out of a tyler perry film back in may and, of course, now they finally confirmed the big news and nick cannon says that they don't know the sex of the baby yet, but they are expecting their bundle of joy to come in spring, brook. a loft celebrity news out there today. >> i think they don't want to know if it is a boy or girl, i think they are waiting, i think that's what i heard her say this morning. congratulation the couple. sandra endo, great to see you by the way. see you next week. how about it? >> sure, you got it. president obama or the first dude, according to jon stewart. you watch this last night, making history on the "today" show, the first sitting president to sit down with -- excuse me what i did say, "daily show." sarah palin comes to a tea party movement's rescue and wolf blitzer is back with that and a whole lot more. we will be right back. five days to go until election day and president obama was on the daily show last night, talking with john stewart. so, here is the president's answer, i want to play this for you, when he was asked about the u.s. economy. >> in fireness, larry summers did a heck of a job trying to figure out how to -- >> you don't want to do that phrase, dude. >> sorry -- i was -- pun intended. all right. >> heck of a job. >> daily show veteran, as we have learned yesterday, mr. blitzer, joining me from new york. i don't know if he took your advice trying not to bring on the jokes, wolf, i think jon stewart certainly had people laughing. what was your take? do you think he -- do you think he pulled it off in terms of -- in terms of i guess appealing to that younger audience, the younger vote? had. >> you know, i feel sort of sorry for larry summers who is the former economic adviser to the president 'cause all of a sudden, by the president saying he was doing a heck of a job it reminded everybody of michael brown, brownie, you're doing a heck of a job during katrina, the homeland security adviser over at the white house. so you got to feel bad for larry summers who is a former treasury secretary, former president of harvard university. all of a sudden, he is sort of lumped into that. so it is unfortunate for larry summers. look, if you watched the whole interview, as i did the president obviously was thoughtful and gave good answers and showed off his knowledge of a loft issues, he had good answers. and a lot of people, no doubt, watched the whole interview on the daily show with jon stewart last night, but a lot of people didn't watch it what they did see were the clips that ran on the morning shows today, were running on cable all day today, will be running in the situation room at the top of the hour, probably throughout the night on prime time on cable. a lot more people will just see those little clips, some of the embarrassing moments for the president, which will not necessarily be all that good but that is the nature of the beast.you go on these shows, you know you're going to get, you know, 15, 20, 30, 40-second soundbites that are sort of unusual and that's what you do when you go on the late show or leno or the view or some of these shows. that is certainly what happens when you do these kinds of interviews, you are always looking for those clips that will be memorable and the one you just played certainly was memorable. >> one of several lives on in television. as you we know now the internet. wolf, speaking of jon stew warkt the democrats hope and looking ahead to this weekend, the huge rally, receipt store sanity rally. do you think that the dems -- do you think it will help them? >> well, i know that a lot of young people will be coming into washington, tens of thousands of young people. the democrats are certainly going to try to mobilize some of them to go to their phone banks, to try to get them out and make sure they vote on tuesday and presumably it will help, but at this stage, given the poll numbers, given all the indicators we are getting it looks like it is going to be a very bad day for democrats. they will win certain battle ground states, win certain races but overall, especially in the house of representatives, they are going to lose a lot of seats and in the senate, they are going to lose some seats as well. so probably won't be a very good day for the democrats, they have got a few more days to energize that base and certainly what they are trying to do. >> to alaska this is a race we have been talking about a couple times the last two hours, sarah palin heading home, to her home state tonight to try to help tea party-backed republican candidate for senate joe miller. if you watched the debate last night finally, there was confusion past weeks, joe miller saying i would support palin if she were to run for president in 2012. >> you know, the alaska race is going to be fascinating. if lisa murkowski who is the incumbent republican senator, didn't went nomination, joe miller did, if she wins as a write-in candidate it will be the first time since strom thurmond won as a write-in candidate. it will be pretty amazing. you know what the polls are showing she is right at the top now and she has a really good chance of staying in the united states senate. joe miller has got his own problems up there right now. we will see what sarah palin can do for him. tonight, they have got, as you say the rally, see what else can happenful five days is still a lot of time in alaska but lisa murkowski might be able to pull this one off. >> 37 and 37, i remember the percentage points in that latest cnn opinion research poll. neck in neck, a race we will be watching. wolf blitzer, see you in a couple minutes on situation room. here is a question, do what do billionaires and paup verse in common in the dalai lama knows and he has a solution for the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor. his holiness sat down with our own cnn's hall la gar ranee and hall la sets down with me next. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. buddhists consider the dalai lama to be the reincarnation of his predecessor, so internationally, he is like a spiritual rock star and he sat down with cnn's hala gorani in this rare television interview and she is joining me to talk about it. we know that he has a lot of fans globally's, all right of regular folks but big celebrity names, i think of richard gere, a picture with him. >> a buddhist himself, absolutely. 's spiritual rock star in a sense, because his cause has become this cause celeb among celebrities in hollywood, the cause for an autonomous tibet. he is also a very charismatic man. people who need and want spiritual guidance, when he speaks up, people listen to him. in fact, one of the questions i asked him, because i knew so many of our viewers would be interested in this, look, what is important to do in life, not to be somebody or something, but what is important to do in life in order to be happy? >> hmm. >> here is how he answered. >> in order to get happiness satisfaction, we usually put so much attention toward education and material value. now there are cases, very highly educated, very intelligent person, but very unhappy. and very rich, even billionaire, as a person, very unhappy. so, therefore, besides material valuables and education, another factor that affects happiness, more compassionate attitude. >> in order, having envy toward someone, being angry at someone or something for things you feel you don't have in your life cannot be compatible with being content and happy that is the message. >> did you feel sitting across from him, were you just sort of leaning in, listening, you are buddhist or not, just -- >> he is a very charismatic man. of course, as someone we have been used to seeing in the public eye for so many years it is always in our line of work, fascinating to meet someone you have only known on tv or we have only read about in papers and magazines. >> let me ask you about china. in china's eyes, he is a criminal and china put a lot of pressure on world leaders not to meet with him. has he seen some leaders backing away because of their connection or their alliance with china? >> absolutely. he ac knowledges it. he won the nobel peace prize in 989. that was the year, of course, of the tiananmen square massacre, we all remember. and during that year was a year when china was perceived with easily sort of pointed at in terms of human rights as flouting human rights. so, now china has become this very strong economic and political player on the world stage, world leaders have sort of back aid way from meeting with him publicly and he has said, i am not concerned about that. i want to meet the ordinary people. so, that's interesting as well. >> how old is he? >> 75. turns 75 in july. >> and you asked him, sir, his holiness, any thoughts on retirement, right? >> yeah, right. and he was very candid. 75 years old. dalai lama is a title. they usually don't retire. when they die, then a reincarnated successor is chosen by the leaders in tibet. he said, you know what it is my right. i'm tired. here is how he answered that question, very interesting. you think you would retire? >> oh, yes. >> when might that happen? >> that, i don't know. usually, in south india, we have one big sort of meeting. at that time, i ask the people, the meeting, whether i have human right or not. i am also a human being. literally, i want to have a human right. so, including retirement, also my right. >> it's his right. he is tired. >> yeah. >> and it is interesting because he said inside of tibet, which is this region in china where

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