gun battle in the fight for libyan liberation. plus, war is hell. and there's been ten years of it. now a war widow needs your help. a man of god and an icon makes news on same-sex marriage. >> you are either for equal rights or not. >> the reverend joseph lowery turning 90 and taking a stand. it's all here on cnn. hello, everyone. thanks for joining us. i'm don lemon. you are in the "cnn newsroom." we're going to start tonight with two subjects consuming the nation for the last few days. politics and religion. more specifically, what is keeping republican voters from fully embracing mitt romney? if you believe the headlines out of the value voters summit, the annual conference for conservatives it could be his mormon religion. as candy crowley reports, many in romney's own party of doing what they can to sidestep the issue. >> thomas jefferson talked about the wall of separation between church and state. nobody said anything about separating church and politics, but everybody knows it's a sticky wicket. >> is mitt romney a non-christian? >> i'm not running for theologian in chief. i'm a life-long christian. krp and what that means is one of my guiding principles for the decisions i make is i start with do the right thing. i'm not getting into that controversy. >> rick perry is -- >> the question arises because dr. robert jeffress, a southern baptist minister, introduced rick perry at a voters values summit the other day calling perry a genuine follower of jesus christ as opposed to another candidate jeffress can and did mention in a later interview. >> i think mitt romney is a good, moral man, but those of us who are born again followers of christ should always prefer a competent christian to a competent non-christian like mitt romney. >> mitt romney is a mormon and has passed this way before. four years ago, the first time he ran for president when he addressed concerns, rumors and political analysis of his religion. >> i believe in my mormon faith, and i endeavor to live by it. some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. if they are right, so be it. >> many things sank his candidacy in '08. religion may have been one of them. >> you look at the result frtss -- results from 2008, he ran poorly among evangelical christians. he never topped out above 20%. only 11% in the critical state in south carolina. >> in all, 45% of republicans who vote in primaries are conservative evangelical christians. they are far less a factor in a general election. for romney's gop rivals, this requires a straddle. you don't want to alienate a huge part of the primary vote, nor do you want to look intolerant. the pastor who was introducing and supporting governor perry in texas who said that governor romney who is a mormon is not a christian, i want to know if you agree with that statement. >> you know, this is so inconsequential as far as this campaign is concerned. >> you leave open the possibility that people will say you dodged the question, the direct question. >> i think, again, to make this a big issue is just ridiculous right now because every day i'm on the street talking to people. this is not what people are talking about. >> it will look like you're dodging it. >> if that's what it looks like, i'm dodging it because it's not going to help us boost this economy and that's my number one priority. >> and that's how you navigate around a sticky wicket. candy crowley, cnn, washington. two men who never talk around the tough issues are cnn contributors will kane and elsie granderson. they joined me earlier for a lively discussion about mitt romney and religion. elsie gets us started. addressing the political challenges facing a mormon candidate. >> mormonism is a problem because so many evangelical christians believe that he's going to hell. and no one wants to vote for anyone that's going to hell. i think that's the reason why people pay so much close attention to who the president is and who the president chooses to worship because the bible strictly says, and if you are a fundamentalist and follow the bible literally, it says no man can come to the father but by me. that's jesus' words. you are saying this guy isn't following jesus, then whoever he is following is not the right person. he's going to hell. i can't vote for somebody going to hell. that's the reason we keep having this conversation over and over. >> go ahead, will. >> i'm very curious because elsie knows, i don't have a dog in this fight. i believe nothing, honestly. i mean, christianity, mormonism, they are competing myths to me. but i don't understand that religion should be off the table. it seems like religion is something that informs our decision making, our world view. it informs our philosophical bearings. when choosing a leader of the free world i don't understand why we should exempt their religious beliefs as part of our analysis. >> i'll tell you the most disturbing thing to me about all of this. there are so many opportunities for president obama and others running for the white house to get in front of a microphone and say this is america. it doesn't matter what your religion is because we have freedom of religion, freedom of expression and none of this should be impacting the white house. they keep ducking it and pandering by saying, no, i'm a christian. or if you are romney you don't talk about your religion at all. i think what really needs to happen is someone needs to stand up and remind america what america stands for because right now, all we're doing is, you know, ducking the question because no one wants to offend the far right. >> i can't deny that it matters something to some voters. but the question none of us can answer is how much. to be honest, we're all guessing. so will this help or hurt rick perry? i'm sure there's a segment out there that believe the same thing that pastor said about mormonism and it won't hurt rick perry with them. will it hurt perry with general election voters, should he win the primary? i don't know. i think elsie has some interesting things to say about religion there but it doesn't answer the question. if religion is so important in forming who we are, why should it be something we exempt from the debate? >> for the record, rick perry has distanced himself from the remarks labeling mormonism a cult. he's not cut ties with the pastor who made those comments. monday marks the 24th straight day of nonstop protests by the fledgling occupy wall street movement. occupy events have been popping up all over the country, including this one sunday in front of the white house. about 100 people gather to protest what they call corporate greed and social inequality. one person was arrested when he tried to throw a shoe over the white house fence. secret service says the shoe hit a uniformed officer. the man has been charged with assault. the occupy wall street movement apparently doesn't have many friends among republicans. house majority leader eric cantor called them mobs and republican presidential candidates have been lining up to dismiss the protesters as un-american and engaging in class warfare. listen to herman cain and then michele bachmann. >> i went by one of the protests in washington, d.c., on friday and saw a lot of signs from unions and others there. i don't know how spontaneous these protests were. but it seems to me that their anger should be directed at the white house because barack obama's policies have put us in one of the worst tailspins, economically, that we have. and maybe that's why the protests that i saw was within shouting distance of the white house. >> yes, but the fact of the matter is, why aren't there jobs? go and picket the white house. demonstrate in front of the white house. the thing this administration does not get is that the business sector is the engine of economic growth. that's key. they don't get that. so this president and administration wants to continue to try and spend our way to prosperity. part of it is jealousy. i stand by that. >> as you might imagine, civil rights veterans such as the reverend joseph lowry have a much different perspective. >> the people know that he is not responsible for our financial dilemma, and they know that the financial community is responsible. that the greed, the corruption, the selfishness of the financial community, and even today when the wealthy are not willing to share their wealth. they want to keep less than 10% of the people own more than 90% of the wealth. that's unfair. >> dr. joseph lowery turned 90 this week and is a living legend of the civil rights era. why are so many people ignoring the similarities between the occupy wall street protest and that other dissatisfied citizen powered movement, the tea party? well, we'll take that on in our no talking points segment in just a few moments. and the war widow needs your help. she's lost a symbol of the union with her late husband, his wedding ring. we'll tell you what she's doing to try to find it. capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. 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[ giggles ] woohoo! yes! ♪ it was the best day ♪ it was the best day yeah! ♪ it was the best day ♪ because of you [echoing] we make a great pair. huh? progressive and the great outdoors. we make a great pair. right, totally. uh... that's what i was thinking. hmm. covering the things that make the outdoors great. now that's progressive. call or click today. it is going to be a big week in washington. the senate is expected to vote on president obama's $447 billion jobs bill. 60 votes will be needed to overcome republican efforts to block the measure. cnn's athena jones has a look at the highlights. >> reporter: the bill would cut payroll taxes, extend unemployment benefits, give tax credits for raising wages or hiring out of work veterans or the long-term unemployed. and provide money to keep public workers on the job and invest in rebuilding schools and roads. it would be paid for with a 5.6% tax on income over $1 million, starting in 2013. >> unemployment remains stuck at 9.1%, another reason the democrats argue that a jobs bill is badly needed. we have been telling you about the occupy wall street phenomenon going on in new york and other cities around the country. cnn contributor and political anchor for new york one errol lewis is in lower manhattan tonight. errol, thank you. you are right in your own backyard, almost. so it's good to see you. what are protesters telling you. are they still in this for the long haul because i know you've been reporting on it on your show. >> yeah, they are here for the long run. this is day 23. what they've said and there's one sign back here to that effect, it says that the medium is the message. that the fact that they have an -- see you later, pal. the fact that they haven't presented a list of demands, the fact they haven't been organized in a traditional sense, the fact they haven't put a group of leaders forward as their leaders is part of the message. and that indeed is what they've done. they've sort of decided just to hang here and to be here. and to let people come by and find out from them what it is they're talking about. and we and a lot of other news organizations have done just that. >> you said you had a couple of bloggers on, some people who were arrested. you had close contact with the folks there. what are -- not people saying they don't have a coherent message. what is the feel you get, especially as a new yorker, about this group which has sparked other groups. do they realize what's happening across the country or are they in a vacuum because they are now the the parks every day? >> no, they are probably better wired up than most offices in this country. they've got a whole internet setup back there. and, in fact, i came and they were projecting it up on the screen as they were having a large group discussion. one of those discussions was about a group from california that's going to be coming here to talk with them and sort of watch and learn from them about some of their demonstration tactics. but, no, they are very, very aware that they have inspired different groups around the country in washington, d.c. and in a number of cities around the country to do sort of the same thing. they are getting support. they are getting packages on a daily basis from all across the country. people are sending them money. i talked with the folks at the financial institution where they've opened up an account. i mean, they are digging in for the long haul. >> what i'm wondering, we've been talking about the president's job bill is coming up next week. if people in washington, if lawmakers may be paying attention to this and do you think it will have any effect on that passage or nonpassage of that bill? >> what's going on down here? >> yeah. >> i suspect that there will be very little, frankly. i mean, look, one of the things going on, don is there's a profound distrust of the existing institutions, whether it's the media, as you just saw or the courts or the congress or the white house and certainly wall street. so those avenues are always open for these folks to sort of do the traditional thing. write a letter to your congressman. hope for passage of a particular bill. by and large, the mood here and the signs that are back here and the conversations going on it goes far, far beyond that. they want to talk about the core reasons that people do things, not passage of a particular bill. >> the reason i asked you that is because i spoke with someone from "the wall street journal" earlier who writes about these matters and writes about the economy. he believes that the people on wall street are starting to pay attention now but the change is going to have to come from washington. so i'm wondering if that has trickled down into washington. that's why i asked you that question. >> it's interesting. i mean, look, i've seen signs of every description back here. some say impeach obama. some say, you know, waterboard wall street. you know, so i think there is sort of a sense of a plague on both of their houses and we, the people is what they are saying, need some action. they are not really getting into the ins and outs of who is supposed to act first, what particular action they are supposed to take. what they are saying is, as if you will, consumers of the end product, they don't like what they've gotten. they don't like what they are seeing. they don't have a lot of trust it's going to be done properly and they want an entirely new way of approaching this so that in the end, there will be jobs. it goes way beyond passage of a particular bill. >> thank you, errol louis, in the field, on the scene. we appreciate that. >> thanks, don. libya's new leaders say they are in the final stages of controlling moammar gadhafi's hometown of sirte. that report is next. and my conversation about poverty across america. for convertibles, press star one. i didn't catch that. to speak to a representative, please say representative now. representative. goodbye! you don't like automated customer service, and neither do we. that's why, unlike other cards, no matter when you call chase sapphire preferred, you immediately get a person not a prompt. chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. 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[ chorus ] ♪ we are farmers bum-ba-dum, ba-bum-bum-bum ♪ the last gasp of forces loyal to moammar gadhafi. libya's new leaders on the national transitional council say they are in the final stages of the fight to take over sirte. it's the most important remaining strong hold for gadhafi's supporters. the ntc is waiting for the city to fall before declaring liberation. gadhafi's whereabouts are still unknown, but the military commanders say it's unlikely that he is still controlling any forces. >> this week the country's second largest indian nation, the cherokees will elect their chief. 2800 descendants of african-american slaves will get to vote in the election after a federal court fight. cnn special correspondent soledad o'brien has more on the battle over civil rights and tribal rights. >> samford is a cherokee freedman. >> i'm an african-american with cherokee heritage. my great grandmother was a slave of the cherokees. >> it's a little known chapter in american history. the cherokees were one of five indian tribes whose members owned slaves. so what were those slaves doing for the cherokee nation? >> agricultural laborers. they were also individuals who worked as domestic slaves. >> in 1866, the cherokees freed their slaves. they signed a treaty guarantees that all freed men and theiry is -- and their descendants would have all the rights of native cherokees. today, that treaty is at the center of a controversy involving nearly 3,000 african-americans. on august 22nd, cherokee nation kicked them out of the tribe. >> and the treaty of 1866 did not give citizenship to the freed men nor their descendants. >> diane hammonds is the attorney general for cherokee nation. >> the heart of the issue is whether or not an indian tribe can describe, can determine who is eligible to be a member of that tribe. >> in 2007, cherokee nation passed a law requiring proof of indian blood to be a member. the proof is based on a record that was created a century ago called the dawes rolls. they said they're wrong because they were based on how you looked. >> if you looked back, they wrote cherokee freedman. if you looked not black, they wrote cherokee. >> many freed men were of mixed cherokee and african blood. but on the rolls, they were listed with no indian blood. last month, it all went to federal court. >> i was restored as a member of the cherokee nation. >> a settlement has let the freedmen back into the tribe for now. the descendants can vote in the election for the cherokee chief but there's no guarantee that they'll get to stay in the tribe. reporting for "in america," soledad o'brien, cnn. make sure you join soledad o'brien as she examines how some black entrepreneurs are risking everything to become the next big thing in the silicon valley. a black in america special "the new promised land -- silicon valley" will air sunday night november 13th at 8:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. coming up, the ultimate case of trying to find a needle in a haystack. we'll show you what one afghanistan war widow is trying to do to find her husband's lost wedding band. it's a heartfelt story. 6 how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? 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[ male announcer ] get low prices every day on everything to prepare for cold and flu season. we're so confident in our low prices, we back 'em with our ad match guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. this week marked the tenth anniversary of america's longest running war, afghanistan. one of the lowest points for u.s. forces occurred in august >> when an attack on a chinook helicopter killed 30 americans. navy s.e.a.l. aaron carson vaughn was among them. recently vaughn's widow lost his wedding band shown here in a family photo. she had been wearing it since her husband's death. right after vaughn died, his grandmother told me about their last conversation on his 30th birthday. >> i told him to be careful and he said, granny, don't worry about me. he said, i'm not afraid because i know where i'm going if something happens to me. aaron was a christian. and he stood firm in his faith. >> so that was aaron's grandmother back in august when it first happened. now his wife joins us now. and since then, you've sadly lost your husband and now you lost one of the things that you think that was closest to you and him. >> absolutely. he left his wedding band with me before this deployment. and the day that i found out that he had been killed in action, i went downstairs and i had been wearing it on my right-hand thumb ever since that day. and i took a trip to texas last week and looked down on one of the flights and realized it was missing. and that i had lost it. so it was pretty crushing. >> the producers asked you for a picture of the ring and you look for it and you found this and you think this was the last time you wore it? >> absolutely. i was looking through my camera today for some other picture and noticed on october 1st that i had taken this and i was wearing the ring. my father snapped it of me on the airplane. i was like, oh, that's one less place i know it's not in the hotel or the car or the rental car. that it's actually either on that airplane, in the charlotte airport or on the next airplane. thrifty rental car was wonderful. they tracked down the actual rental car, took the seats out, pulled up the flooring to look for this ring. and i mean that's really amazing to me that total strangers would be willing to do this for something, although such little monetary value, means, you know, it's just -- well, priceless for me. >> so i think anyone would say, you know what? you have made a big effort. you've made a big effort here. others would say it's just an object. maybe you should just give up and say it's an object. how do you feel about that? >> well, you know, this kind of snowballed. it was basically a suggestion of a friend to put this on facebook hoping to reach out to some people you know, maybe the cleaning crew in the airport. just someone that i wouldn't necessarily know who said, hey, i found that ring. and, yes, it is small in value and people probably lose wedding bands or jewelry all the time. but to me it was just something tangible that my husband used to wear, that then i could wear that just reminded me of our commitment and love. and, of course, i'll move on and i'll be fine without it, but it's just the memento that meant a lot to us that i'm hoping that i could get back. >> kimberly, are you ever going to give up, you think? >> you know, it's -- it's a memory that i'll always have. it's not going to change the love that aaron and i shared, so, you know, i'm just hoping -- excuse me -- that i can find it. that there's a good samaritan out there who will turn it in. but, you know, it won't change my now focus is raising my two wonderful children and just remembering the love that aaron and i shared. >> well, i say you're going to find it because the whole world is looking for this ring. thank you for the sacrifice not only that your husband aaron made but for the sacrifice that you made, your family and can you please tell geneva carson vaughn, the grandmother, i said we are all thinking of her and the rest of the family. >> absolutely. thank you so much for sharing my story. >> thank you. kimberly vaughn kickstarted her search by starting a support group on facebook. the find aaron vaughn's wedding band page. had more than 11,000 members at latest count. kimberly, good luck and update us. occupy wall street and the tea party. both are angry. both claim no party affiliation. both say they're grassroots. so why are conservatives and liberals choosing sides denouncing one and not the other? i'll take that on in our no talking points segment next. and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. ooh, the price sure doesn't. i'm tired of shopping around. [ sigh ] too bad you're not buying car insurance. like that's easy. oh, it is. progressive direct showed me their rates and the rates of their competitors. i saved hundreds when switching. we could use hundreds. yeah. wake up and smell the savings. out there with a better way. now, that's progressive. all right. in our no talking points segment tonight, taking to the streets in protest. a grass roots movement voicing anger with the establishment. demanding change. all of that describes both the occupy wall street movement and the tea party. while conservative leaders defend the tea party, it's a different story when it comes to wall streeters. here's virginia congressman eric cantor in 2010 and then a few days ago as house majority leader. >> i differ with you to say that the people affiliated with the tea party across this country are outside the main stream. >> really? >> these are people that are concerned about the fists of -- these are people, maggie, that are concerned about the fiscal state of our country. i for one am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying wall street and the other cities across the country. >> now the democrats. here's charlie rangel comparing the tea party to people opposed to civil rights in the 1960s and him defending the new york group last night on this very program. >> a group that in washington fighting against the health bill and fighting against the president looked just like and sounded just like those groups that attacked the civil rights movement in the south. >> all i can say, don, is that we should have more and more people protesting. >> it doesn't stop there. scholars like dr. cornell west are weighing in. >> the tea party movement is a right wing populist movement obsessed with individual liberty, obsessed with small government, lower taxes, whereas what you see with the young people especially in the occupied wall street movement across the country is a different kind of movement. not just populist in the progressive sense, it's embracive. >> and just this week, while not embracing the new protesters, president obama did acknowledge them by saying they are giving voice to a wider frustration with the financial system. but conservatives, especially those running for his current job like michele bachmann and herman cain insist the wall street group should turn their anger towards mr. obama. >> if they're frustrated because they don't have jobs or because this economy is not moving, they ought to be protesting the white house because of the failed policies. >> it seems to me that their anger should be directed at the white house because barack obama's policies have put us in one of the worst tailspins, economically, that we have. >> so we know there's always rhetoric but in truth and beyond theoretic, no matter where either proup -- either group is on the political spectrum you cannot deny it. and at its core, that is not partisan or ideological. it's a right under our institution and it is the american way. an important visitor is headed to the white house this week. that's just one of the stories we'll tell you about in the week ahead. later, failure has never been so funny. find out what. that's coming up. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? 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[ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ now to the big stories of the week ahead from the white house to wall street to hollywood. our correspondents tell you what you need to know. we begin with the president's plans for the week. >> i'm dan lothian at the white house where this week, president obama heads down the street and out of state as he visits with wounded service members at walter reed medical center in maryland. that's on monday. then on tuesday, he heads to pittsburgh, pennsylvania, where he'll meet with union members. the focus will be on job creation. he wraps up the day in orlando, florida with fund-raisers. on thursday, a state visit. the white house welcomes the president and first lady of the republic of korea. i'm chris lawrence at the pentagon where after a brief break on monday to celebrate columbus day holiday, the defense department kicks into high gear. it's highlighted by the association of the u.s. army convention here in washington, d.c. most of the pentagon officials will be there talking about the army strategy, personnel. we expect to see some technology advances rolled out. so just the use of robots in the field. and then on thursday, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff both head to capitol hill to testify on national defense ten years after 9/11. i'm poppy harlow in new york. on the economic docket, retail sales figures for last month are due out. the report is going to give smus insight into consumer spending as we approach the all important holiday shopping season. also coming up, we'll get a look at consumer spending and consumer sentiment. the latest u.s. trade balance. that's due out along with import and export prices. and in washington, the senate will vote on free trade deals with south korea, columbia and panama. track it all on cnn money. i'm a.j. hammer. here's what we're watching this week. kim kardashian's over the top wedding finally airs on tv. was it worth the wait? and cher on "dancing with the stars." will she show up and will her appearance help keep chaz on the show? make sure you catch us tonight. catch "showbiz tonight" monday through friday on hln. >> let's see what's ahead for the people traveling as the workweek begins. tomorrow's commute tonight. jacqui jeras is here. looks like some problems on both coasts. >> southeast and northwest, in particular, and i think the southeast is going to see the worst of it, especially if you'll be traveling on the interstates. i-95, i-75 will be rough going. we have a storm system here which has some tropical characteristics. it's been bringing incredible wind gusts along the coasts. as much as 60 miles per hour. we could have power outages. stop lights may be out tomorrow as well as trees down, as well as power lines. you are really going to have to use a lot of caution here from northeastern florida on up into parts of georgia. now this system will be something that will be tracking really throughout the better part of the week that rides up the coast. also a new system in the pacific northwest that will bring heavy rain and that's going to track across the country. we'll advance you throughout the week. watch for the rain to spread into the northeast by thursday and into friday with the pacific storm right on to its heel bringing very windy conditions and bringing in cooler weather for the middle and latter part of the week. tomorrow's commute tonight. city number five, minneapolis. looking at low clouds, rain and thunderstorms as you head into the afternoon hours. number four city, atlanta. expecting to see rain, wind and we could have some heavy downpours from time to time. city number three, portland, oregon. looking for rain and wind. the pacific storm moves in. you'll also probably have problems along i-5 and watch out in seattle as well. city number two, we're going with san francisco. you're going to get the rain in the afternoon, but the fog is going to be in there in the morning. we could have delays at san francisco international airport around an hour or so at times. and city number one, jacksonville, florida. we could see those power outages tonight like i mentioned. a lot of rain and a lot of wind. things look a lot better in florida by the middle of the week. don? >> i was wrong. i always try to guess. i try to guess the number one city. and i said atlanta because of hartsfield and the storm coming up. but i was wrong. >> for airports it will be, yeah, way up there. >> number four, right? >> yeah. >> thank you, jacqui jeras. we appreciate it. next, the new face of poor americans. you may be surprised to learn how young they are. 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(phone ringing) chase sapphire preferred, this is julie in springfield. when someone loses their home and nearly everything they own, where do they go? this is a homeless camp outside of ann arbor, michigan. pbs host tavis smiley and dr. cornell west visited the camp as part of their recent poverty tour. smiley will highlight the poverty tour all this week on his show on pbs. i recently spoke with both smiley and west about their tour and how it fits in with the occupy wall street movement. >> i'm hoping very quickly these five nights of conversation on pbs about poverty in america will do my small part at least, a small part, to advance this conversation about the poor being rendered more and more invisible in this country every day. >> let's talk about the numbers. how many people now qualify as poor. dr. west, were you surprised by -- do we know how many people qualify as poor and were you surprised by the sheer number? >> we don't know the exact number. what is so unprecedented is we get a chance to put a human face on poverty on the one hand but also to acknowledge that 42% of our precious children of all colors live in or near poverty. that's a national disgrace. it's a moral obscenity. >> let's talk about the timing in all of this. you mention the occupy wall street and other cities around the country. this grassroots movement now growing. either of you can answer this. the timing is right on here. is there a sense of frustration and outrage that's growing in america when it comes to poverty? >> i think the answer is yes. one of the reasons dr. west and i wanted to get out this summer while we had a little time we could adjust. of course, he's teaching at princeton all the time. i'm doing my tv and radio work. we cleared our schedule in august to take this poverty tour. 11 states, 18 cities. we did that this summer because we wanted to do our part to raise the issue of poverty higher up on the american ark -- agenda specifically as we start to head into this campaign for the white house. and we want to make sure this that time that democrats and republicans debate the issue of what we're going to do to eradicate poverty in this country. the last presidential cycle, three presidential debates, the word poor or poverty does not come up one time in three presidential debates out of the mouths of mr. mccain or mr. obama or any of the moderators. it wasn't even on the agenda last time. it's not just about jobs in the short run but eradicating poverty in the long run. >> absolutely. >> professor, then what is the lesson here for the national classroom? >> i think part of what we're talking about in this yom kippur season, reading the book of jonah and so forth that this is a moment of rebirth. a moment of re-examination, that greed needs to die, that avarice needs to die. that indifference to poor people needs to die and a rebirth of empathy, a rebirth of social justice, a rebirth of people of all colors and all cultures, all sexual orientations and all genders committed to ensuring we fight the wealth inequality in this country running amok and try to renew democracy. >> what is our pain threshold? so many americans being squeezed and some being crushed by this bad economy. are -- black folk are catching the most hell. the numbers bear that out. what is our pain threshold in america in some serious questions that people of color and that all americans have to wrestle with in these very difficult times of economical deprivation and cowardice. >> the poverty tour airs all this week on tavis smiley's show on pbs. a former beatle walks down the aisle again. and the reverend joseph lowery gives us his thoughts on the fight for equality. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality. ...which meant she continued to have the means to live on... ...even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. 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[ announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. out and proud, thousands lined the streets of atlanta for the annual pride parade. this is the 41st year of the festival, which has grown into one of the biggest lgbt events in the south. it's a banner year for gay rights with the don't ask don't tell repeal taking place. the push to legalize same-sex marriage has drawn parallels to the civil rights movement, but leaders have been at times reluctant to support the gay rights. i spoke with reverend lowery on the occasion of his 90th birthday and he told me his views on gay issues are evolving. >> you're either for equal rights or you're not. you can't be partially for equal rights. equal rights means what it said. it means everyone has an equal opportunity. while i think we have less controversy if we just dealt with civil unions, i can't commit it to equal rights. i can't deny anybody the right to engage in same-sex marriage. i don't -- you know, i think it would be better off the other way, and i have had problems with it because i grew up under boy/girl, man/woman. romance and marriage. but i realize that equal rights are equal rights. >> how can you say that as a religious person, as a minister? think about what the religious doctrines, what the church and the bible says. >> what does the bible say that you're talking about? what does the bible say that you're talking about? the bible talks about equal rights. the bible talks about all god's children. the bible talks about -- when you talk about one or two counts in the bible, leviticus, it talks about homosexuality, there are passages that talk about slave, obey your master. i resent that like i resent what's in leviticus. i think we have to look at it holistically and the truth is that god insisted that god's children got shoes, and got equal rights and if you believe in equal rights you cannot deny any god's children any portion of rights. >> including gay people? >> including gay people. >> reverend lowery was honored in atlanta with a star-studded birthday celebration and there were appearances by stevie wonder and sis ali tyson. the occupy wall street protest is entering the fourth week. it started in the new york's financial district and it's spread to this protest sunday near the white house. was protester was arrested after throwing a shoe that hit a police officer. better education opportunities await illegal immigrants in california. governor brown has signed the second part of the controversial dream act into law. it makes illegal immigrants eligible for state-funded financial aid starting in 2013. the first half of the act went into effect allowing them to to receive private scholarships. the coast guard rescued four boaters who officials estimate had been treading water for almost 20 hours. among those saved was a 4-year-old girl. and it happened in the waters off marathon, florida. the coast guard says a boat sank with a totaling of eight people on board. and not all wore life jackets. an 80-year-old woman drowned. three others were picked up by a boat passing by. libya's new leaders say they're in the final stages of getting gadhafi's forces. they're waiting for the city to fall before declaring liberation. and gadhafi's whereabouts are still unknown but the military commanders say it's unlikely that he's still controlling any forces. a fugitive hijacker whof wa on the run for four decades is fighting extradition to the u.s. a lawyer says he believes he'll die in prison if sent back to the states. wright is a convicted murderer who escaped from prison in 1970. in 1972, he hijacked a flight to miami with other members of the black liberation army. he was on the run until authorities caught up with him in portugal last month. paul mccartney may be a famous formal beatle, but all eyes were on his bride. this is his third marriage. among the guests at today's event ringo starr, barbara walters. good luck to them. now for some supreme silliness and fun where nothing works and everyone latches. talking about pluton. ♪ >> what is it? >> it's about flying, innovation, making things fly as far as they can. >> what is it? >> the flugtag is a mechanical flying man. >> trying to get the furthest to see if they can beat the people from last year, but we haven't seen anyone do it yet. >> how do we join this event? >> three thing, first, creativity. second is a little skit that with edo. and latestly, you have to fly, dude. >> the record is -- >> 207. >> it's going down today. >> the theme is miami beach lifeguards and he's sitting in a glider and flieding gliding tot >> we fight breast cancer in unusual ways. we made a giant flying bra. we're the second baseman. >> the usa team, because the a-team has been copyrighted or something. i don't know what fwthey're talking about. >> i think it's cool. >> did you guys ever want to be in this one? >> she wanted to be this year. i'm like, we don't have time. >> all right. so much bad news, depressing news, we decided to have fun.