travelling with the president in seoul, south korea. thank you. the u.s. trade deficit fell 5.3% in september to $44 billion. but the shortfall through the first nine months of the year is still 40% higher than a year ago. first time applications for jobless benefits fell by 24,000 last week. the third drop in the last four weeks. stocks posted modest gains today. the dow was up 10. the s&p 500 finished ahead five. nasdaq gained 1. the man leading the republican takeover of the house is letting the g.o.p. me sanel of fiscal frugality take wing. while the current speaker is not exactly going down with the ship. correspondent james rosen has a round-up of today s capitol hill pronouncements. time will not dim the glory of their deeds. reporter: the house speaker used those words to honor disabled veterans at a memorial ground breaking but clearly feels the same way about herself and the bang wished democrats in the congress. feisty op-ed for usa today,
for his first stop. the president said the u.s. and india are united. fox business network s peter barnes is travelling with the president has more. uma, the president started his first day in india, dealing with terrorism and then he moved on to deal making. the president and the first lady honored victim of the terrorist attacks in mumbai in november of 2008. 166 died and others were wound at the hotel they were staging, taj mahal palace and elsewhere in the city. indians says it s their 9/11. president said making mumbai the first stop was no accident. we visit here to send a clear me sanel in the message to say the united states and india stand united. later, the president spoke to the u.s. and indian business executives.
on america s news headquarters tomorrow with the latest on his fight for the alaska senate seat. two mid-term winners will make history when they are sworn in come january. south carolina tim scott and florida alan west will be the first two african-american g.o.p. candidates to serve together in congress. west ran as tea party candidate and the first african-american candidate to win in his district since reconstruction in the 19th century. congressman west joins us on the phone. welcome. nice to have you here. thank you for having me. i got finished with early morni morning in south florida. uma: good for you. i know you must savor your own win. what message does it send to people saying the tea party movement is racist? it sends a message that it s nothing to do with racism and everything to do with principles. it has everything to do with the me sanel that the tea party stands for, the limited
her tour is to deliver a softer me sanel and stir clear of the controversy she generated on one occasion in the presidential campaign. for the first time in my adult life i m proud of my country. today she framed her political point as the role of mother of two young daughters and all the children she sees travelling the country. i see it in the eyes of a child whose mom just lost her job. a little girl worries how her family is going to pay the bills. aside from the money she will raise, democrats hope she will provide a spark to underenthused democrats. she will encourage young people to vote. but political observers say don t count on that. unlikely she will show up and suddenly a democratic candidate in illinois, wisconsin, or colorado will see a jump in the poll numbers.
saying white house wanted him out of the race. what did clinton carry to sestak? i think bill clinton always has a different definition for, you know, what is is and he is a good parser. he carried on a me sanel and offer, earnest offer. he has been good staying on the team after his wife was secretary of state and staying on the team. he carried an offer. what he did in the video in response to the question saying i didn t even try to get him out of the race, i wasn t even accused of that is saying apassed on the offer, but i wasn t pushing him. even with a wink and nod was encouraging him to stay in the race while he passed on the offer. it s a way of double-speaking but also a way politically let s admit making the story last longer and embarrassing the white house and making them answer the questions all over again. shannon: charles, a lot of