but what's going to prevent terrorists from buying and using them? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com he entered the race at the top of the polls, but rick perry has been watching his numbers slide and slide. his momentum rather slow. now, with a closely watched speech, the texas governor is trying to reverse his declining campaign fortunes. jim acosta is joining us now. he delivered what his campaign described as a major speech today. >> that's right. the speech was called the energizing american jobs and security speech, wolf, but it was also designed to energize his campaign. looking to jump-start a campaign that's been stalled for weeks, rick perry laid out a texas-sized energy plan that the governor claims will create more than a million jobs. >> america's the saudi arabia of code. >> if elected president, perry says he'll push for new coal mining, oil exploration. perry would even expand production to the gulf of mexico to what he calls pre obama levels. he would also curb regulations at the environmental protection agency. democratic leaning critics saying this is all old hat cht listen to palin in '08. >> and we'll drill for the billions of barrels of oil that we have right now. warehoused under ground including our resources offshore. we will drill here and drill now and now is when you chant, drill, baby, drill. >> and perry now. >> we're standing on top of the next american economic boom and it's the energy under this country. and the quickest way to give our economy a shot in the arm is to deploy the american ingentleman. >> this plan is big oil gone wild. it would benefit the oil companies by giving them special places we're saving for our childr children. >> his pole numbers have been powering down after the endorsement of a pastor who called mormanism a cult. >> i would call upon governor perry to reputeuate the sentiment and remarks made by that pastor. >> perry's wife says it's her family that's taking the abuse. >> we've been brutalized by our opponents, their own party. because of his faith. and they may feel like god called them to, but i truly feel like we are here for that purpose. >> texas governor says he can handle it. >> i've been doing this for a long time. i understand slings and arrows and that's a diversion. this is the big leagues. everybody understands that. >> but perry has 17 million reasons why he can't be counted out just. republicans expect perry to open up his war chest to unleash a barrage of attack ads in the next coming weeks, which means the brutal part of this campaign is just beginning. >> in all the interviews he did today, he sort of tried to distance himself from the pastor, but avoid ee eed reputeuating. >> that's right. he was given multiple opportunities to eject that endorsement and he used this line again, he said he can't be held responsible for the comments and statements. he says those are not necessarily his comments. >> thanks very much. a presidential visit to detroit with not one, but two presidents in the motor city. the president of the united states and the south korean president. president lee. with mr. obama. it's a chance to tout what he's done for the state of michigan, a state that's critical to his re-election. brianna keilar has details. >> president obama climbed into the rather petite chef sonic, the only sub compact made here in the u.s. and president lee was his passenger. that was the photo op, but the real reason for his visit was to promote the new u.s.-korea trade agreement and to claim success in the auto bailout. president obama held it up as an example of the government successfully intervening to help the economy. >> president obama hit the road friday touring a gm plant in detroit with korean president lee. >> tit is great to be back in te motor city. >> the purpose of the trip, to tout the free trade agreement between the two countries this week ratified by the congress. >> americans can buy kias and hyundais from korea and korea should be able to buy some fords and chryslers and chevys made here. >> the united auto workers union endorses the deal, but others like the aflcio do not, concerned it will cost their workers jobs. lee, a former ceo of hyundai, dawned a detroit tigers cap for the visit, a nod to the people here as he tried to assure them. >> i want to give this promise to you that the fta will not take away your jobs. rather, it will create more jobs for you and your family and protect your jobs and this is the pledge i give you today. >> president obama also championed the 2009 auto bailout a month after chrysler, gm and ford posted significant sales increases. >> this is a city where a great american industry is coming back to life. for every cynic saying it can't be done, there are a whole bunch of folks saying, yes, we can. >> the auto industry is the white house sees it is a prime example of what government can do to restore the economy. of course, there is a political significance to this trip. obama's ninth to michigan since becoming president. he won here handily in 2008, but in this political climate, he's more vulnerable and holding on to michigan is key to his strategy. >> traveling with the president, thank you. the occupy wall street movement moved well beyond lower manhattan today with protests and arrests in cities across the country. in new york, parts of the protest got out of hand this afternoon after staving out of a morning confrontation with police. our national correspondent, susan candiotti is joining us from the scene. so, what happened today? >> reporter: at this hour, there's a much more relaxed atmosphere and the park looks pretty much normal as you see people standing around making signs, and just gathering to hear speeches, but earlier today, there was a real nervous excitement in the air before the sun came up as protesters were worried about the police moving in and expecting passive resistance on the part of these protesters because they were warned they were going to move everybody out in order to clean up the park, but at the last moment, the words spread and people started cheering that that wasn't going to happen after all. according to the mayor of new york city, he said that in the middle of thing night, the park's owners got some alleged threats from a lot of people and a lot of phone calls, including public officials, unnamed, telling the park they better back down. well, that's what happened and people said here the protesters said that they won, called it a victory and people power. take a listen. >> it was awesome. absolutely awesome to see the people support this in such a way that says to the city, no, we're occupying this park and we're really not going to move until we're ready to move. >> it's really catching on and the more this city push back, the more the people will come. >> you can't expect people to be here on this cold ground with no type of covering, no type of sleeping bags and possibly survive. >> any way, as rain starts to pour down here in the park, and people are grabbing for their tarps. there was some violence, a scuffle at one point when some marches took place this morning. according to witnesses, there was one man who was a legal on server watching things happen and he got into the street. somehow, he fell down and one of his feet was run over by a police motorcycle. and when the motorcyclist and the police officer moved forward, his other leg was rolled over as well. the police pulled him out from underneath there and they arrested, at least took him into custody, put a baton on the back of his neck, a knee on his back, and pulled him out of the way. a lot of people were screaming and yelling. a lot of confusion. that league observer remains in custody. police said he had tried to escape. the witnesses we spoke with did not see evidence of that as we continue to try to sort things out. could say just another day in the park, but they're planning many more protests tomorrow. not om here, but in they're expecting several hundred cities in the united states and they say in 80 other countries as well. >> susan candiotti in the rain. thanks. we'll check back with you. meanwhile, an alleged plot by iran to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the united states. is it just the latest? new reports linking iran to the murder of another saudi diplomat. i'll talk about that with senator john mccain. plus, new transcripts of the final seconds of air france flight 447. they're dramatic and chilling. also very continroversiacontrov. exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. ♪ ♪ ♪ when your chain of supply ♪ goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there ♪ ♪ track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that ♪ hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ there's been a significant shift in the obama administration's health care reform law. jessica yellin is watching what's going on. what's just coming in? >> the obama administration has decided to end one piece of the health care law. it's called the class act and it would have left americans voluntarily pay into a plan that would give them long-term care in case of disablty. the problem is that congress knew this is very expensive and before passing it, they required that the department of health and human services study it to make sure it would not cost taxpayers a dime for 75 years. we, today after concluding that study, the secretary of hhs sent congress a letter that says in part quote, despite our best analytical efforts, i do not see a viable path for word for class implementation at this time. so that means this one piece of the health care law will not be impleme implemented, this class act. administration officials insist to cnn this does not impact the rest of the health care law. none of the coverage aspects in the health care law beyond this one discreet part is affected. >> but it does represent an embarrassment to the obama administration after making that ea earlier suggestion it wouldn't cost anything for all those years and now, all of a sudden, they realize they were wrong. >> they're saying this this is a -- because they recognize that, they're taking it out of the legislation. >> jessica yellin, watching the story. thanks very much. panic stricken conversations, confused pilots. just some of the chilling new details of the final seconds of air france flight 447. they're being revealed in previously unpublished transcripts, now being condemned by french officials. richard, take us through the minl moments. very chilling moments inside the cockpit. >> until now, we've known that it was a four-minute or three and a half minute incident from when they lost air speed to when the plane crashed into the south atlantic. the authorities have only released little sections of the first two minutes of the final transcript. now, the author in his book, has given us more insight into frankly, the disorientation, the confusion between the two co-pilots flying the plane and the captain, who had just come back urgently from his rest break. listen to the last few seconds. just before the aircraft does hit the ground. the captain says, watch out, you're pulling up. am i pulling up, says the co-pilot. we're pulling up. we're 4,000 feet up. come on, pull. come on, pull. pull, pull. then you get to this last poignant piece where it says, damn it, we're going to crash. and there was a final comment on the tape which came from the pilot saying, but what is happening? and that is really, wolf, the story of this. the pilot's flying did one thing. the captain knew they should be doing something else, but he wasn't sitting at the controls, wolf. >> these transcripts were not supposed to be released yet. what is air france saying about them? >> fume and fury. complete disapproval is the way it was described and the b.e.a., the french equivalent says we strongly condemn the disclosure, these personal conversations have no bearing on the event. wolf, i spoke to the author of the book earlier today. i asked him knowing it was controversial, why did he print these transcripts? he said that he did so because he believed in giving a full account of what had happened on the plane. we're still at least six months plus from the final report into why this plane crashed sh but one thing will be certain. the investigators are looking into the relationship between pilots and modern aircraft and the crm, if you like, to make sure they are flyable. >> because the charge has been the pilot in this particular case did exactly the opposite of what you're supposed to do when the plane is descending. >> yes, they did the opposition. there was some who said we should be doing this or that they were disoriented. what really it comes down to, we know why this plane fell out the sky now. we know what happened pretty much. but which needs to be inves gaited is the relationship between today's pilots and these extremely complicated state-of-the-art aircraft that cockpi cockpits, how they interact, the relationship between the men and women involved and that is why a special panel is being set up. it's why the faa is looking into this and frankly, it's what's going to be the future way of training for pilots. >> and remind our viewers how many people died in this crash? >> more than 200 including the crew. 228 i think was the final death toll. the key point to remember. yes, the tubes blocked, yes, they lost air speed indications, but these are things that should not have brought down the airliner. this was a perfectly flyable plane with training. >> richard quest in london for us. thank you. the latest for alabama's controversial immigration law. we're going to tell you which part of federal appeals court has now blocked. plus, a billionaire harris arrested. we'll tell you why. meineke's personal pricing on brakes. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. parts of a controversial immigration law put on hold. lisa sylvester is investigating that. some other top stories in "the situation room." what do we know? >> a federal appeals court has blocked portions of alabama's immigration law while letting other parts go into effect. the u.s. justice department had asked for the law to be put on hold. the obama administration says immigration enforcement should be left up to the federal government. among other things, alabama's law would let state and local officials check the status of the students. and after a long wait for apple's new iphone 4s, some owns, they can't connect. several tech websites report that at&t users are having problems activating their new iphones. it appears the issue is too many people are trying to activate their phones at the same time. at&t has had similar problems with earlier versions of the iphone. so r far, it looks like sprint and verizon users haven't had the same problems. and speculation in the oil market could add as much $600 to your family's gasoline bill this year. one consumer group predicts this will bring household spending on gasoline to the highest level ever. the group says market deregulation is also to blame for high oil prices. oil has been trading between 80 and $100 a barrel this year. and a walmart heiress was busted for drunken driving on her 62nd birthday. the texas highway patrol says she was pulled over for speeding in a construction zone. people magazine reports the daughter of the founder spent the night in jail. she was released on bond next morning. she actually spent the night in jail. that's kind of tough. >> yep. the law's got to be fair and equal with everybody. >> right. >> thanks very much. zblncht so, here's a question, how should the united states respond to the alleged plot to kill the saudi ambassador to the united states? senator john mccain is standing by, live. and jon huntsman decides to boycott the next republican debate in nevada. what's behind his decision? we'll explain. really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪ i'm not a line item on a budget. and i'm definitely not a pushover. but i am a voter. so washington... before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits... here's a number you should remember. 50 million. we are 50 million seniors who earned our benefits... and you will be hearing from us... today and on election day. ♪ [ male announcer ] fellas know that when you don't get your shave right, the irritation can be a problem. [ record scratches, crowd boos ] so get your grooming game right with gillette fusion proglide razor... which has thinner, finer blades for less tug and pull along with the gillette irritation defense shave gel. together they help defend against 5 signs of shaving irritation -- leaving your skin looking smooth and feeling fresh. help defend your skin. ♪ with advanced power, the verizon 4g lte network makes your business run faster: smartphones, laptops, tablets, mobile hotspots. but not all 4g is created equal. among the major carriers, only verizon's 4g network is 100% lte, the gold standard of wireless technology. and while other carriers may have limited lte coverage, verizon is the largest lte network in america and ever-growing. with verizon 4g lte, you can invent new ways to upgrade your business using real-time group meetings from remote locations, video conferencing, mobile credit-card payments, lightning-fast downloads, and access to thousands of business apps. plus, verizon has the largest selection of 4g lte devices and the most 4g lte coverage for your business. all on america's fastest, most reliable 4g network. no wonder more businesses choose verizon wireless than any other wireless carrier. verizon. is the alleged iranian plot to kill is saudi ambassador part of a murderous pattern? david ignatius reports that -- has linked iran to the murder of another saudi diplomat gunned down in pakistan. let's talk about what's going on with senator john mccain. thanks for coming in. zpl thank you, wolf. >> if we believe and i do, what david ignatius writes, he's an excellent reporter. he was here yesterday. it looks like a pattern is emer emerging. do you see a pattern of iranian authorities wanting to kill saudis? >> yes, and maybe larger than that. we've seen a pattern of terrorist attacked orchestrated by the iranian and quds force in particular orchestrated attacks in other capitals. they are obviously they're exports of the most lethal i.e.d.s. supporting terrorist organizations like hamas and hezbollah. they're trying to orchestrate events in bahrain as we speak and also meddling in afghanistan. so, there's a long pattern here of attempts to exert iranian influence in the region and around the world and the thing that surprises me very quickly, is one, the hand fistedness of it because they're usually pretty efficient in these aksivities. and second, to think they could get away with it. that's kind of disturbing when you think about it. >> but do you have a good understanding why they would want to kill ambassador al-jubeir here in washington as this indictment says at a restaurant a lot of americans could have been killed in the process? >> well, there's the competition and tensions in the region between the two countries saudi arabia and iran has been there for a long period of time. good evidence of that as, but there is across the board competition and tensions between the two countries and the iranian view in particular their money as a great impediment to their ability to exert their influence in the region and they want that and they're willing to -- obviously do whatever they can to achieve it and by the way, what about when they get nuclear weapons, wolf? they probably wouldn't launch one at the united states, but don't you think there's a great risk they might afford a nuclear weapon to one of these terrorist organizations they support? >> what do you think the united states should do about this right now? >> i think the president should go on national television and tell the american people, give them the chronical of acts of terror that the iranian have carried out. their interference, responsibility for the deaths of young americans and then i would do probably what the president is doing. i'd call general petraeus, our new director of the cia and others and say what kind of covert activities can we engage in here? what can we do? and frankly, i don't know what they are, but i would be exploring those options and of course, going to the u.n. for the sanctions against their central banks so that anybody who does with iranian central bank cannot do any business with us. probably maybe expecting more from russia and china in the way of strong action in the u.n. it's obvious that the iranian need to be disciplined before they achieve nuclear status in my view. >> here's what surprises me. i'll let you weigh in before we move on. the saudi reaction, or should i say the lack of reaction, they haven't severed diplomatic relations with iran. done anything in terms of the commercial relationship, they haven't done anything assuming they believe this u.s. allegation that the iranian wanted to kill their ambassador here in washington. does this surprise you at all? >> a little bit, but you know, the saudis do business in different ways than we do. for example, they are -- financing a lot of activities in the region, which are directly countered to the iranian to counter iranian ambitions and they have engaged in other operations, which would cause discomfort or difficulties for the iranian in the region, so you know, it's a very kind of a busy situation over there, but i am sure they are contemplating some kinds of actions. >> i think you're probably right, but we haven't seen anything yet. before i get to jobs and other political issues, what do you make of the obama administration's decision to send 100 u.s. troops to uganda to deal with the wris is with the warlords. you're the ranking member of the armed services committee. >> well, the large resistance army is one of the most atrocious and barbaric organizations in history. they have carried out unspeakable acts and are destabilizing the region. it's so terrible. it's hard for us to even talk about, but so, i think that actions need to be taken to help these countries combat particularly uganda and its neighbors, to combat this lra, but i want to be very careful that we don't get into another lebanon or somalia. i'm not saying we will, but we've got to be very careful and i think it requires more consultation with congress and with the american people again. you don't want to get in something you can't get out of, so i certainly applaud the goal. i would like to know more and i think the american people should know more as to how we're going to do it. remember, we sent peace keepers into places before that ended in tragedy. >> we'll have more coming up. let's move on to some other issues. you beat mitt romney for the republican presidential nomination four years ago. what's his weakness right now? what do you see? >> i don't know, wolf, i think he's been running a very good campaign. i ran a better campaign in 2008 because of the experience i had in 2000. after i won the nomination in 2008, no one helped my campaign more than mitt romney did. he was there every time we asked him to be there. i think he has run a very intelligent campaign. i think he has a very strong position in new hampshire, but if you and i had been chatting two or three weeks ago and i would have said herman cain is ahead, you would have thought i was smoking something fairly strong, so there's a lot of things that can happen between now and probably the florida primary or after that. to determine who our nominee is, but i think that the romney campaign has been maintaining a steady strain and it's put him in a good position, but i'm not predicting. >> are you ready to endorse? >> no. >> not yet. let's talk a little bit about the conservatives, some tea party activists. if he gets the nomination, will he be able to unit all the base of the republican party? >> i think he will. i don't have any doubt about that. i'm very confident of that. not only because of his qualities, but the fact is, you know, this country is very, very dissatisfied and they're not just dissatisfied with the president. they're not too happy with congress in case you noticed the 13% approval rating. we work a little harder, maybe we can get it down to single digits. >> let's talk about jobs. you and some fellow republican senators introduced legislation to create millions of jobs. are you, do you really believe what you introduced yesterday has a chance in this gridlock of washington, d.c. right now to get passed? >> i think the first thing it does is it hopefully would remove the president's line from his rhetoric that congress doesn't have a plan. all of the republican senators and outside groups and house members i'm confident the overwhelming majority will support this legislation. second of all, the president's jobs plan is more of a same. it's stimulus, too. you notice the deficit is second highest in history was announced today and that is another ample proof that the president's ideas of government creating jobs instead of business creating jobs, is not successful, never has been or will be. as some of us said when we introduced this legislation and senator rand paul and i and others, this should be a reason for us to sit down together at least work together, for example, reforming the tax code. i met no one that doesn't believe we ought to reform the tax code. now, there's a lot of differences in how, but at least we should find common ground on some of these issues, for example, repate rating this 1 hn 4 trillion that's overseas. i think there's areas we should find agreement on ai think the american people are really demanding that. >> are you liking or not so much herman cain's so-called 999 plan? >> well, i haven't examined it carefully, but it appears it is a tax increase for some middle income or lower income americans and i'm -- would look forward to hearing his explanation. i'm not condemning it, but i certainly wouldn't favor that. >> any final piece of advice as far as the next debate is concerned for rick perry, the governor of texas? he seems to be having some trouble with those debates. >> it sounds rather simplistic, but my one bit of advice to be, two things to do. one, get some rest. when you're tired, every time i made a serious mistake politically and i've made them, it's been when i'm tired. and the second thing is get somebody in there who will give it a good scrubbing. will play these individuals, romney for example and really put it to you so that you're prepared for any question that comes up. i think both of those would help him. >> excellent advice. >> by the way, since i lost, i'm not sure how good my advice is. >> well, you may have lost the general election, but you didn't win, nowhere. lot of people were writing off your campaign and you went on to win the republican presidential nomination. that's obviously rather impressive. i'm sure he would be grateful if you have good advice. i don't know if you want to do that, but we'll wait and see. senator, thanks very much. >> thanks, wolf. >> senator john mccain joining us from feen igs. rush limbaugh takes aim at mitt romney. why he says he can't unit behind romney. also, how to buy your own drone. why some are willing to pay the price and what the potential dangers are to terrorists. go out and simply buy a trone. l. certified. international. and the mailman picks it up. i don't leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4-week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. next tuesday night, white house hopefuls will face off in the western republican debate cosponsored by cnn, but one of the candidates won't be there. jon huntsman. he says he's boycotting the debate because nevada moved up its caucuses in violation of gop rules. >> i'm honored and delighted to be a candidate for president of the united states of america and i'm happy to be here in new hampshire, not nevada. where they're trying to leapfrog the system ahead of new hampshire in such a way that i think it steals a little bit from our democracy because this is a state in which citizens get to know the candidates. >> mark preston is already in las vegas, site of next tuesday's debate. is there more to governor huntsman's decision? >> what's interesting, the former governor of utah, the neighboring state, is basically dissing nevada. he is not going to participate in the nevada caucuses and we've learned this morning he will not appear at the cnn western republican presidential debate. he says he's doing it on principle to try to maintain the tradition. a big fight now between new hampshire and nevada about who should go first. rather where they should be in the calendar. jon huntsman says he is siding with new hampshire. >> putting all his eggs in the nevada basket. none of the other candidates have pulled out of the debate have they? >> no, they haven't. in fact, all the other candidates have said they will be here. there will be seven on the stage here at the resort behind me, however, five of them say they will boycott the nevada caucuses. herman cain has said he will do it. newt gingrich and rick santorum and michele bachmann. the campaign that was hope tog gain more relevancy by being able to have one of the early voting states in this presidential nominating process is really in deep jeopardy peshlsly if these candidates decide not to come here. >> it's a fluid situation, as we say. mark preston already in vegas. thanks for that. and please be sure to watch the republican presidential debate cosponsored by cnn tuesday night, 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. i'm be broadcasting monday and tuesday from las vegas. dramatic new video inside the fighting going on in libya. we're taking you to the front lines. that's coming up, also, hurricanehundreds of missiles have gone missing. what the united states is doing to keep those out of the hands of terrorists. nationwide insurance, what's up ? what's vanishing deductible all about ? guys, it's demonstration time. let's blow carl's mind. okay, let's say i'm your insurance deductible. every year you don't have an accident, $100 vanishes. the next year, another $100. where am i going, carl ? the next year... that was weird. but awesome ! ♪ nationwide is on your side so, is mitt romney really, really a conservative? let's discuss in our strategy session. joining us, hillary rosen, and david frum, the former bush speech righter. thanks very much for coming in. rush limbaugh, he doesn't like to mix words and they said this about mitt romney. listen. >> 70% of the republicans polled are split all over the map, but they know that they do not support romney. the reason is simple. romney is not a conservative. he's not, folks, but you can argue with me all day long on that, but he isn't. >> should have been a capital "r" for republicans. is mitt romney a real conservative? >> look, they've changed the definition, so if you support the republican alternative to what hillary clinton proposed for health care, if you support the heritage foundation health care plan and if you don't think it's a good idea to raise interest rates in a depression, you're not a conservative. i don't think we should recognize the jurisdiction of this particular membership committee. the reason is true. 70% of republicans are all over the map, but the tea party alternative has not been able to produce a viable candidate and that is not mitt romney's false. >> is romney ever going to be acceptable to certain elements? >> it was interesting you interviewed john mccain earlier and asked him this question about conservatives. it was john mccain that rush limbaugh set off after last election, saying he wasn't a true conservative. in fact, that didn't prove to be the case. i think republicans are so desperate to be rid of barack obama they will rally behind anyone of those candidates. but whether or not he's a true conservative, he's clearly not somebody who can be relied upon to stick with his opinions. he has gone back and forth over the years on virtually every issue including the ones important to conservatives. >> he's got his hands full, but he's been steady. if you take a look at all these months, there are some republicans that have gone up and have quickly gone down, but romney has been a steady feature on this race. >> you say, do i see a president here that who here looks like the world would be in safe hands if that person had the ultimate authority. and he has taken a pulmoling. he never loses his temper. you get more impressed with him, not less. >> there's no doubt at the same time though that if you take a look at mitt romney right now, let's say and i think a lot of democrats have privately said to me, he's the one that scares them the most as far as trying to get president obama re-elected. >> i don't know. i'm ready to run against mitt romney. i think this is a guy who has consistently reinvented himself on his views. now, we see him a little bit moving to the general. he's starting to embrace again health care reform that he was rejecting weeks ago. he's been all over the place on abortion, gay rights, all sorts of other issues. but most importantly, this guy has no job creation record and he cannot go out there for the next year talking down the economy with those words. >> you just heard mark preston reporting from las vegas. jon huntsman has decided to boycott next tuesday's republican presidential debate in nevada. at the same time, peter hamby is noting that as far as huntsman's fund raising, he raised about $327,000. he's got an $890,000 debt. since june, he's raised $2.26 million, but 2.25 million of that was his own money. that sounds like a campaign that's got some serious financial problems. >> this whole business of states deciding who goes first, why can't they all be first? the idea that each state decides for itself where in the calendar it's going to go, i think it's time the two parties agree, this is a national decision making process and you need to have national organizations make national decisions. >> we hear this every four years, it never changes though, hilly. >> if i was jon huntsman's strategist this past week, i would say, nobody's been talking about me for weeks. what can i do to get somebody on situation room to talk about me because i'm a nonsubject. >> we had him on the show earlier this week talking about a vaet of issues, including his own mormon faith. mitt romney being the other. >> that's because you're a fair journalist, but nobody thinks he's in the hunt here. >> you think he's still in the hunt? >> if herman cain is number two, then huntsman is in the hunt because the cain balloon is going to deflate and at that point, huntsman has a bigger tax cut than romney, a stronger antiabortion rate. >> shouldn't have dropped out as quickly. thanks very much. do it yourself drones. where do buy your very own drone for less than $1,000. what's going on? and coming up, why president obama has now decided to send ground troops to africa for the first time since black hawk down. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, man: good job. where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee, where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life. so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. looks really good. call us at... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? the u.s. military is relying on unmanned drone air. one was used to take out awlaki. now, similar aircraft are available to almost anyone willing to pay the price. chris lawrence has more. >> vehicles are flying out of this small san diego warehouse. they're equipped the cameras that can hover, maneuver, even fly on their own and for under $1,000, you can buy your own. what uavs offer is low cost access to the sigh. >> chris is a wired magazine editor and co-owner of do it yourself drones. a company pushing military technology into the civilian world. >> these things always become less expensive, but why would anyone need a personal drone hovering around them? >> i don't know. security maybe. >> anderson says% kno personal s could record crimes and alert police. since people are already using social media to broadcast their lives 24/7, a personal drone could take that to the next level. >> the notion of cameras being something you hold, maybe cameras have wings. >> the company imagines a uav zooming into a burning building. the vehicles heat sensors tell them how hot each room is. but even small uavs potentially offer terrorists the same advantage the u.s. military looks for. an ability to extend its reach miles from their physical location. >> not everyone can use an atomic bomb effectively even if they could get one, but we have seen that groups can get and yut lose these small unmanned ariel systems and pretty effectively. >> hezbollah used iranian made uavs during its war with israel and last month -- he had loaded the remote control planes with what he thought were explosives. >> it wasn't a model airplane in his vision. it was more like a 1970s, 1980s cruise missile. >> peter singer is the author of "wired for war." he says small emotional helicopters are more advanced than any model plane. >> if there is a danger, who's providing that capability to someone who continue do it on their on the e own. >> so far, the company has taken 14,000 orders. it's being used in italy on an ork logical dig where the crew can't afford a full helicopter. a company is using it in mexico to monitor the construction of an airport there and it's even being tried out in africa to see if it can deliver medicines effectively. wolf? >> thank you. happening now, it could be the final battle for moammar gadhafi's home. loyal forces maybe coronered now. rick perry tries to pump new energy into his presidential bid. his wife describes the campaign as being brutalized. what would it take to put perry back on top to have polls? and air traffic controllers in the united states are making twice as many mistakes. stand by for a frightening new aviation safety report. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." but let's get to breaking news. the united states about to deploy troops to africa at a time when u.s. forces are already strained. so is the pentagon's budget. a brand new u.s. military mission is unfolding right now in a very, very dangerous part of the world. we're talk iing about central africa where some u.s. ground forces have already landed in uganda. barbara starr is joining us with more on what's going on. lot of people are surprised to see the obama administration make this major decision. what's going on? >> wolf, this is a very dangerous new mission for u.s. special forces in this part of africa. the pentagon says they are going to be fully equipped to take on whatever comes their way. president obama is sending 100 combat equipped troops to central africa to advice local forces on getting rid of one of the continent's most vicious operatives, joseph coney, the head of the lord's resistance army, a group responsible for atrocities across the region. it's the first open deployment of u.s. ground combat power to africa since the black hawk down incident in somalia in the 1990s that killed 18 troops. u.s. troops may wind up now in uganda, south sudan, the central african republic. it's part of the growing military effort to engage in africa. >> and so, our presence on the african continue net is part of our efforts. >> still, martin dempsey warns current budget cuts could risk it all at a time when the threat to americans is rising. general carter hamm oversees all operations. his major worry, al-qaeda and africa's threat to americans. right now, he says al-qaeda groups in somalia, as well as algeria are trying to join forces. >> at least the stated intent for those organizations to collaborate and synchronize, which if they are able to do so, would establish an extremist link network, if you will, that would extend from somalia across the north into the sahel and into west africa. and that network would be very dangerous. not only to us as americans, but clearly to the africans as well. >> general hamm along with the central intelligence agency is focused on targeting the militant al shabaab group, which is recruiting american somalis for terrorist training. >> there are clearly some smaller number camps where there is the presence of foreign fighters. i believe there is an intent to train foreign fighters for extennell operations, both in africa and europe and potentially back to the united states. >> now, wolf, these troops on their way to central africa, the white house is adamant, they are military advisers only, advising african military forces on how to hubt down this man, but you and i know, military advisory options can suddenly take any turn at any point. >> this is one of the most dangerous parts of africa and a lot of americans are going to be asking the question, why is the united states sending these ground combat forces to advise these africans in this long running battle. why aren't other africans doing it. why does the united states always have to send in its own ground forces to deal with the very dangerous situation like this? >> well, you know, wolf, the u.s. special forces, especially u.s. green bareas, have a very long standing effort in africa. actually, a long with the french forces, to train african military forces and get them up to speed to do this sort of thing, but it has gotten to the point where this man who heads this militant movement in africa is responsible for thousands of atrocities against african civilians. there has been a decision to go after him, but it will depend on many african nations being willing to accept these u.s. forces and accept the help. make no mistake, it is a very dangerous, sensitive mission they are undertaking. >> reminds me of some of the most dangerous missions, black hawk down. we're going stay on top of this story. we're getting reaction. spoke to john mccain a little while ago. he's got his own reservations. thank you. let's get to the battle for libya. cnn is now obtained some really remarkable video of the fighting in moammar gadhafi's hometown. troops with a transitional government say they're in the final stages of rooting out gadhafi's loyalists. look at this video. >> they going to go right now, man. we will see. really amazing video. let's go to libya now. dan rivers is joining us. he's in misrata. dan, you've shot your own video as well. tell us what's going on because it looks brutal. >> reporter: yeah, we've been here for the last four days, wolf, and it has been brutal. that's the only word to describe it really, they have been trying to clear out the last vestages of the regime, but those gadhafi forces are putting up very stiff resistance and there is no sign at the moment they are managing to get them out of district two. we've seen today, the forces being pushed back by sniper fire, but explosions. not clear if those were coming from the gadhafi side or if it's a friendly fire, own mortars falling short, but have taken a lot of casualties today as they have done every day this week and i think it's just showing how difficult this is going to be to get the last of these forces on top of all that, wolf, there has been disturbances this evening in tripoli as well. about a handful of progadhafi forces coming out and engaging ntc fighters there. i think it's a little premature to say this is all over. >> and moammar gadhafi, he's still on the run some place. no one seems to know where. what about his sons? >> reporter: yeah, we have this rumor yesterday that one of his sons had been captured. since then, the ntc has road back from that. another example of false information coming out through one means or another. that now seems to be very doubtful. as for colonel gadhafi, you're right. no one knows for sure where he is. frankly, you know, there's so many rumors and council rumors in this war. it's very difficult to pin it down, but one thing's for sure. the pro gadhafi forces are dug in and are fiercely resisting and that's causing some of the ntc commanders on the ground to think there must be some high valued targets there they're protecting. >> dan rivers on the scene for us. we'll check back with you. thank you. the united states is launching a new operation inside libya to try to track down hundreds of those shoulder fired missiles still missing could fall into the hands of terrorists. brian todd is following this part of the story. some disturbing new developments. >> u.s. officials tell us some of these weapons were destroyed by air strikes, but not enough to make anyone comfortable. american teams on the ground in libya to track what's missing and considering the track record of these missiles, they've got to move fast. >> every pilot and passenger's nightmare. november 2003. a dhl cargo jet is struck by a missile as it flies over iraq. with fire and fuel spewing out of the wing, the plane was able to return safely to baghdad, but over the past 35 years, more than 800 people on commercial flights have been killed after being hit by heat seeking, shoulder fired missiles. in libya today, they've been everywhere. officials say gadhafi stockpiled 20,000 of them. rebels got their hands on many of those and now, there's a big concern. >> there are some worrying indicators, not hard evidence, but certainly enough indicators to cause me to be concerned that some of these portable air defense systems have left libya. >> u.s. officials won't give numbers, but weapons experts say hundreds, possibly thousands, have vanished from libya. now, u.s. officials are on a mission to track down and destroy these killers. they're sending in more than a dozen experts to work with the former rebels. >> they are working on the ground in libya, visiting ammunition sites to identify and inventory what exists, what may be missing and help destroy and disable whatever they find. >> for now, andrew says they're staying in libya. former inspectors say that could hinder the teams. they say to recover the missiles, they've got to have more people on the job and have got to venture outside libya. maybe even deal with underworld traffickers. the state department says they're working with neighboring countries to do the tracking. part of the effort is distribute these fliers to guards so they can recognize who to look for. matt shoeder tracks missiles. why are these so attractive to terrorists. >> the missiles are guided, which means that after the missile leaves the launch tube, it guides itself to the target, requiring no additional action on the part of the user. they're lightweight. 25 35 to 40 pounds generally. >> they can also fit in the truk of a car and when you pop them out, experts say you've got instant, deadly range. they can hit planes flying as high as 15,000 feet from up to three miles away and move at twice the speed of sound. >> a lot of officials have expressed deep concern about the black market because these are pretty valuable. >> that's what really scares you. matt says one type of shoulder fired missile, he says it's the most commonly tracked weapons system in the world. the fastest spreading weapon system on the black market. the most common hi found weapon outside government control. translation, it is all over the black market. that's what makes it so scary. >> the great fear is terrorists are going to buy some. >> absolutely. >> thanks for that report. the obama administration is complaining directly to iran about an alleged plot to kill saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states. we're getting a look at how the u.s. is getting its message across. new information coming in. and republicans ask some angry questions about a possible cover up in the solyndra loan controversy. was someone trying to protect the energy secretary of the united states? stand by. i'm not a number. i'm not a line item on a budget. and i'm definitely not a pushover. but i am a voter. so washington... before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits... here's a number you should remember. 50 million. we are 50 million seniors who earned our benefits... and you will be hearing from us... today and on election day. ♪ today and on election day. ♪ ♪ co-signed her credit card -- "buy books, not beer!" ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for her whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? more on the breaking news we're following. president obama has announced he's notified congress he's authorized the deployment of 100 ground u.s. troops to central africa to deal with a bloody battle unfolding. the so-called lords resistance army which the obama administration is accused of killing tens of thousands of people throughout central africa. 100 u.s. ground forces now in uganda. i spoke about this last hour with the ranking member of the senate arms service committee, senator john mccain. >> so, i think that actions need to be taken to help these countries combat particularly uganda and its neighbors to combat this lra, but i want to be very careful we don't get into another lebanon or somalia. i'm not saying we will, but we've got to be very careful and i think it requires more consultation with congress and the american people. you don't want to get into something that you can't get out of and so, i certainly applaud the goal. i would like to know more and i think the american people should know more as to exactly how we're going to do it. remember we sent peace keepers into places before that ended in tragedy. >> lot of people remembering black hawk down in mogadishu, somalia about 20 years ago. other news we're following, just days after learning about the alleged iranian plot in washington, we're getting new details about a direct meeting between the united states and iran. our fortune affairs correspondent, jill daugherty, is joining us now. she's just out of a meeting with the person who represents u.s. diplomatic interests in iran. what's going on? >> that happens to be the swiss ambassador and her name is libya loi augusti. the swiss do not have diplomatic are relations. they broke them off in 1980 and the swiss are what's called the protecting power. in other words, ambassador loy is really the channel between two countries that don't talk to each other. the iranians called in your -- what is it like? what happens when they call you? >> well, they call you, the embassy. they ask us to come to the foreign ministry, which we do rather quickly normally and we have received by the person responsible for american affairs who gives us whatever he wants to give us to pass on. >> is it verbal or a letter? yell if they're not happy. >> it can be either way. normally, they don't yell at us. >> what's it like to be in the middle because you are the swiss ambassador, but also representing the interest of the united states? >> well, as you said, first and foremost, i am the swiss ambassador and have to come with this. that makes it only possible to represent the american interest, a country that does not have diplomatic relations. >> now, being in the middle, do you ever feel any type of tension between your role as the swiss ambassador and representing interests of the united states? >> that's certainly part of the trick of my job. to be able to maintain relations on a swiss level if you will, with the authorities in order to be able to represent the american interests. >> and you played a major role, of course, with the american hikers. you visited them a number of times. what do you do when you visit them? ofl, you're in the prison. what happens? >> well, i -- first of all, it's not so easy to get to that point. i had to make many, many requests. and was not always granted access, but i could visit them several times and it was very important, these meetings, i must say, and they have confirmed it to me now. i have seen them back in freedom. you go -- you bring them some kind of hope, to make sure, are you okay, how are they treated? we have to ask a number of questions. how they're doing. and also, bring them a little bit of the outside world. into the prison. >> yes, it's not an easy job and the interesting thing is, you've got two things. one positive, the hikers, and then right after this, this assassination plot. so she's earning her money as a diplomat. >> she certainly is. speaking about another diplomat, the united states ambassador, susan rice, she had a direct meeting with her iranian counterpart at the united nations over this alleged plot to kill al-jubeir, the saudi ambassador in washington. what happened? >> well, that's a pretty rare thing. usually, the united states is not talking with the iranian. occasionally maybe they bump each other drekly in a haulway, but this is something where the united states really wanted to send a message and here's how press secretary at the state department explained it today. >> it was to have a face to pace meeting to say to them this is absolutely unacceptable and we will hold you to account. >> so, very curt. hold you to account. obviously, it was not negotiations, anything like that. it was to deliver that message, wolf. >> and no word yet from saudi arabia, taking any punitive economic or commercial actions against iran for allegedly trying to kill al-jubeir. >> so far not, but i think you have to say they are prepared to do something. now, what exactly they will do and when, but it is a serious thing they are looking at. they evaluate it as being very serious. stay tubed. we'll see. >> thanks very much. some republicans are raising serious questions about a possible cover up by the obama administration in the so-called solyndra loan scandal. we're going to tell you what a new congressional hearing has unkored. plus, after some dramatic stumbles on the road to the white house, can rick perry reset his campaign? lots of news happening today right here in "the situation room." hold on a sec... progresso... i love your new loaded potato with bacon. that's what we like to hear. where was i? oh right... our rich & hearty soups.. people love the thick cut carrots... we do too! where was i? progresso. right, our new rich & heart soups... [ ring, ring ] progresso... switch our phone service? [ ring, ring ] [ ring, ring ] ...no, i think we're pretty happy with our phones. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. for medicare made clear, we're here to answer all of your questions. call unitedhealthcare medicare solutions. in washington, congress is taking another look at solyndra loan controversy looming over the obama administration. one of the most combustible words in washington surfaced when republicans raised the cover up. lisa sylvester has been following the story. >> a lot of twists and turns with this one, wolf. republicans want to know who at the department of energy signed out of on a half a billion dollar loan to solyndra that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. and they have been combing but tens of thousands of e-mails and documents and now, some gop lawmakers want secretary chu to testify. angry republicans didn't mince words questioning whether there was an attempt to protect steven chu as it became apparent the government would likely lose $535 million in the solyndra deal. in a key february 2011 memo, the chief council offered what she believed was a justification. but there are two versions. one obtained by subpoena, which is a draft titled memorandum for the secretary. the other where secretary chu was removed. republicans played this up in a house subcommittee hearing. >> they felt it was necessary to erase his name out there and to try and hide the original january memo. i think those are important questions to ask because it looks like there's a cover up to protect dr. chu. >> ranking democrats accused republicans of trying to create a false scandal. >> i think these allegations are exactly the problem with this investigation. >> this is going to resemble a kangaroo court. >> the original folk of the hearing was whether the department of energy followed the law when it agreed to the longer restructuring, including a subordination clause that meant taxpayers would be paid after investors if solyndra filed for bankruptcy. republicans say that was illegal. >> this is the law on subordination. just one sentence. says you can't do it. yet they went and got a legal opinion any way. >> the legal department says restructuring a loan was the best way to -- and that the law allows the energy secretary to act in the best interest of the taxpayer. it -- but newly released e-mails show treasury officials expressed skeptici skepticism. one e-mail saying quote, i think they may have stretched this definition beyond it's limits. democrats on the committee are arguing what this is all about. they say it's republicans trying to gut clean energy investments. several democratic lawmakers made the point that green jobs are the industries of the future and that it is important for the government to put its resources behind these types of companies even though we have and saw what happened with solyndra. >> yeah, there's going to be a lot more investigation. thank you. now to the republican presidential race. rick perry is looking to reignite his campaign with a new energy plan. the governor delivered his first major policy race since august. governor perry vowed to expand domestic oil and gas exploration and create jobs in the process. >> today, today, i offer a plan that will create more than a million good paying american jobs across every sector of the economy and enhance our national security. and the best news is it can be set in motion in the first 100 days of my administration and my plan is based on this simple premise. make what americans buy, buy what americans make and sell it to the world. >> governor perry's hoping to rebound from a significant slide in the polls and stumbles in the debate. his wife claiming this campaign has quote brutalized in recent weeks. let's bring in gloria borger. they're trying to reset the campaign right now. >> right. they believe in the campaign that in a way, they need to reintroduce rick perry to american voters, so he went on a media blitz this morning, appearing on the morning shows. but we've heard this from him about energy in the past. he promised in the last debate that he was going to come up with a jobs program and his campaign says this is just one prong of a multipronged bill of measure he would like to use to create jobs, but perry has been complaining that he's new to the race. he hasn't h had a lot of time, romney's been running for four years. you've got to give me more time. my question would be if you don't have the ideas, why are you getting into race? you shouldn't need that much time to come up with ideas and generate ideas. ideas are while people idealy, become presidential candidates. >> he said at the debate, he was going to come up with his employment, his jobs creation plan, but he came up with an energy plan. >> and he says this is one part of it and there will be more, but the question is, why isn't it all coming out now because you should have the ideas before you run. >> that chock is clearly ticking. not much time left. it's still pretty unsettled, this whole republican contest. >> very unsettled, except for mitt romney. the only person that seems to be at a certain percentage and can't get off it. we looked at the unfavorable rating numbers between june and october and you see here, mitt romney doesn't budge much. 26% in junipjune, look at that r in october. 36% more than double. i guarantee you, wolf, that that decline has a lod to do with what people expected to see from rick perry and what they got in those debates. that's why on tuesday, it will be interesting to see how he performs. >> some point, get above say 30%. >> he does. he has to kind of break through. and romney has a problem there. what he's got to do is break through with those tea party voters, the conservatives who are very, very skeptical about him. this week, we spoke with mark sc or s scoda, he said the last perfect person i recall is jesus. we have had the rhetoric. now, we want some steadyness. if tea partiers are coming along saying look, folks we need to get behind a candidate because we need to endorse somebody who can beat barack obama, give up on the purity, then i think you'll see mitt romney's number going up. >> and at some point, if he selects as a running mate assuming he gets the nomination, someone like marco rubio, the senator from florida. >> you bet. thank you. president obama went to michigan today after -- he visited a general motors assembly plant along with the south korean president to talk about jobs created by a new trade deal with south korea and by the auto industry bailout. the white house says more than 17,000 jobs at the assembly plant were saved on the president's watch. >> there are a lot of politicians who said it wasn't worth the time and the money. in fact, there are some politicians who still say that. tell that to the workers here because two years ago, it looked like this plant was going -- all these jobs would have been lost the entire community would have been devastated. and the same was tree for communities all across the midwest. >> south korean president borrowed a page wearing a detroit tigers cap. a fighter jet nose dives into a ball of flames. we're going to have the horrifying footage and the latest on what happened. and a startling number of close calls. what's behind the increase in mistakes from u.s. air traffic controllers. the vending machine on elm is almost empty. i'm on it, boss. new pony ? sorry ! we are open for business. let's reroute greg to fresno. growing businesses use machine-to-machine technology from verizon wireless. susie ! the vending machine... already filled. cool bike. because the business with the best technology rules. a we don't go lower than 130. ts a room tonight for 65 dollars. big deal, persuade him. is it wise to allow a perishable item to spoil? he asked, why leave a room empty? the additional revenue easily covers operating costs. 65 dollars is better than no dollars. okay. $65 for tonight. you can't argue with a big deal. a catholic bishop indicted. lisa sylvester is monitoring that. >> bishop robert w. finn in kansas city st. joseph have been indicted on a failure to report suspected child abuse by a prosecutor. it carries a sentence up to one year in jail as well as a potential thousand dollar fine. both are pleading not guilty. and horrifying footage of a fighter jet nose diving into a ball of flames. it happened during an air show in northwest china. a local official says one pilot was injured and another is now missing. state run news is quoting witnesses who say one pilot eje ejected, but the parachute failed to open. an investigation is now underway. and humans are not the only ones being plagued by the deadly floods in thailand. a number of elephants are stranded. they climbed on top of a building last week and are now going hungry because food can only be provided in smaller amounts. and steven seagal is starring in a new role, but not on the big screen. he has been sworn in as a deputy with the sheriff's office in deputy where he'll be helping secure the u.s.-mexico border. his previous work as a deputy in louisiana was once captured on a tv program. the sheriff's office, they are insisting this gig is not for publicity, that it is the real deal. what do they say, art imitating life? >> you don't want to mess around with steven seagal. thanks very much. new evidence that air traffic controllers are making a lot of mistakes. find out why there's been such a jump in the number of close calls. nationwide insurance, talk to me. should i bundle all my policies with nationwide insurance ? watch this. on one hand, you have your home insurance with one company. and on another hand, you have your auto with another. and on another hand, you have your life with another. but when you bundle them all together with nationwide insurance, they all work together perfectly and you could save 25%. wow... it's all in the wrists. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ try smart balance buttery spread. it's heart-healthier than butter. with omega-3s. 64% less saturated fat. and clinically proven to help support healthy cholesterol. ♪ put a little love in your heart ♪ i'm not a line item on a budget. and i'm definitely not a pushover. but i am a voter. so washington... before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits... here's a number you should remember. 50 million. we are 50 million seniors who earned our benefits... and you will be hearing from us... today and on election day. ♪ a new report is revealing frightening findings about the errors air traffic controllers are making. what do we know? >> this increase is steep and the faa and air traffic controllers say they expected reported mishaps to spike. that's because the new reporting system designed to make flying safer. one of the congressmen who requested this study told us today it's a wake-up call for b better technology and policy. >> it is this kind of close call on jfk's runway in june that's on the radar of a government watchdog reporting an increase in mishaps. the jet was forced to come to an abrupt halt to avoid colliding with another plane approaching the runway. >> cancel takeoff plans. >> 411 is rejecting takeoff. >> all traffic stopped right now. >> there were no injuries, but while overseers point out u.s. air space is among the safest, they report a stiff increase in incidents. the government accountability office says errors have more than doubled in the last three years when it comes to airborne incidents cht it counts five in the second quarter of 2008 compared to 14. among the biggest increases, the gao counts a 53% increase in the tower area, which is normally within five miles of the airport and a 166% jump in the approach area, which is within 40 miles of the airport. the head of the national air traffic controller's association says the increase is due to a new reporting system in which controllers aren't punished for reporting errors. >> i believe it shows there's a healthy system where employees are comfortable and willing to report safety issues to management. it shows it's very healthy. >> the faa also points to the reporting system for the jump, saying more information will help us find problems and take action before an accident happens, which will help us build an even safer aviation system, but a former air traffic controller is skeptical. >> a jump is inevitable as you change reporting systems. you worry if you don't have a jump because you feel something hasn't worked. you should see more reports occur, but when you look under these numbers as gao's done very carefully, you can't explain everything away. looks like there's substance to it, too. and that has to be dealt with. >> this this report, the gao did make a number of recommendations, including the faa extend its oversight of terminal safety. the faa says it is now focusing on five areas and that changes in both procedure and training are in the works. >> thank you. martin luther king jr.'s rise to the helm of the civil rights movement is seen from the eyes of someone who knew him long before the rest of word. that and much more coming. the postal service is critical to our economy-- delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. dozens of new arrests in those occupy wall street protests across the country. the demonstrations appear to be gaining steam even late in the day and that's adding fuel for suggestions that the move is the left's version of the tea party. a tea party leader does say she sees some parallels but there are clear differences. >> everybody wants to compare these two movements, and we do agree that we're all mad as heck about the bailouts but aside from that i don't see that we have a lot in common. i respect their first amendment rights and their right to be there. i certainly respect that. what is their objective? that's the difference in the tea party movement and occupy wall street. we have a clear and defined objective. >> earlier today in new york the firm that owns the park where the protesters are staged backed o off on the promise to clean the park forcing protesters to leave at least temporarily. > a monument on the national mall is dedicated and a man who knew us before many of us did. here's white house correspondent dan lothian. >> reporter: long before martin luther king, jr., was carved in stone in the nation's capital, the foundation of his civil rights legacy began taking shape in boston. >> that itself was an experience. >> reporter: where herman hemmingway remembers a quiet, unassuming man whose intellect towered above his height. >> we had awe from the perspective of intellectuality. >> reporter: hemmingway was a sophomore in the fall of 1951. the first black male to enroll. king was pursuing his ph.d. at boston university. the young pledges combined from area schools would meet at hemmingway's home where king, a few years older, had a way of making sure things got done. >> there was an extra task that needed to be done, he would say in his notable voice, brother hemmingway will do it. that type of thing. >> reporter: the determination hemmingway witnessed in their chaplain never faded as the marches and speeches began maiding headlines. >> this is a man that had his mind on doing a particular task to help others. you couldn't turn him around for any reason whatsoever. that's what he was supposed to do. >> reporter: to change history and make it possible for black man to become president and another, a republican, to become a top tier contender to challenge him. >> that's the exciting part of the civil rights movement and its accomplishment and basically a hope that martin luther king generated. >> reporter: as hemmingway honors an old friend, he'll share the moment with his family's next generation. >> it's going to be breath taking experience. >> reporter: his granddaughter, a sophomore at howard university. >> my generation has a lot of work to do. dr. martin luther king, jr., started the whole movement but the movement is not done. we still need to be in the streets. we still need to be protesting. >> reporter: a movement in motion and now set in stone. >> he's still here and the spirit is still there and the determination is also still there. >> reporter: dan lothian, cnn, washington. >> sunday morning you'll see it live here on cnn. when we come back, biker versus antelope. video you're going to have to see. [ male announcer ] you love the taste of 2% milk. 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. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. jeanne moos has the story of biker versus antelope. >> reporter: biker, zero, antelope, one. imagine the story this south african mountain bike racer will have to tell run over by an antelope. >> holy cow. [ bleep ]. >> reporter: only thing is that it's hard to tell a story when you don't remember what happened. >> as the buck hit me i was knocked unkconscious so i don't remember the experience itself. >> reporter: we won't forget the moaning. what was that noise coming out of you? >> i didn't know i could make those noises. >> reporter: for a minute i thought that was the antelope. evan managed to stand up, he doesn't remember a thing until he was in an ambulance headed for an overnight stay in the hospital. evan suffered whiplash and a concussion. the buck was later spotted grazing as if nothing had happened. the good news for evan, hey, could have been a rhino. the video was shot by a camera attached to his teammate's bike. how many times have you looked at the video? >> hundreds. i'm still trying to make sense of it myself. >> reporter: maybe it's just payback. after all we hit them all the time. just last year i hit a deer. i had the deer hair stuck in my car's front grill to prove it. that was traumatic enough but this colorado man was biking down a hill and hit a bear back in 2008. >> this gigantic bear head with huge teeth was surprised to see me and i was surprised t