nations general assembly is underway. >> absolutely. because the streets are clogged. president obama and the new libyan leadershiping for face-to-face talks at the united nations and the stakes could note be higher. moammar gadhafi reportedly starving citizens. the president arrived in new york yesterday. front and center at the united nations. cnn senior correspondent, u.n. correspondent, i should say, richard roth joins us this morning. so this would be the first face-to-face meeting between president obama and the national transitional council? >> a good deferment for the obama administration, able to champion at that meeting and with the other diplomats, their way did work, although fighting remains. and helps solidify this new government in libya. the flag actually flew over the united nations monday for the first time, removing that green gadhafi flag. jaleel, of the national council, will be there and libya will have to set out what kind of government it will be. helping transportation igsly with idea, a big operation to help people not used to some form of democracy. >> i was going to ask you that. so president obama clearly wants some form of democracy to take hold in libya. how can the united states help assure that may be so? >> as we've seen in many spots, you can't say, here we go. instant democracy, and every country can't be like the united states. the always a process. that's why the u.n. is here. people to help election preparers. police monitors. maybe different ideas there. they're mapping the way forward. this country is not iraq, it's not east timor, but the people seem will be to move forward. >> it's also not egypt. we still don't know where moammar gadhafi is and there's no indication he would step down even if we did find him. right? it's such a complicated, tough situation. >> but the success, you'll hear a lot of that. a speech, an open meeting. i think there's still optimism there can be good things there. we've seen in the region. hello, syria. it's a take your choice. which country do you want to put your weapons into? the much more aggressive than in syria. at the security council, russia and china block any type of resolution. was a resolution that open the door to nato attacks in libya. >> richard roth, thanks. appreciate t. thank you, richard. gop front-runner rick perry is wading into the fray over palestinian statehood. another big story we're watching, and using the opportunity to take shots at president obama. the texas governor is making his second visit to new york in just a week. he'll hold a news conference today with jewish leaders from israel and the u.s. talk about that with cnn deputy director paul steinhauser live with us from washington this morning. paul, good morning. what can we expect perry to say today? >> reporter: you'll see perry once again strongly back israel and strongly back the president for his policy with israel. palestinian statehood is a big, big issue. since perry jumped into the race a month ago he's been very critical of the president. a taste of what he's been saying on the campaign trail. >> you talk about the situation today relative to israel. you're talking about the president's statement that he would go back to the 1967 borders, which basically is throwing israel under the bus. israel is our friend. it's the only democracy in the middle east. i'm going to stand with israel every day. >> you know, you're hearing a lot of that language not only from perry, also from some of the other republican presidentials. here's one reason why. social conservatives. evangelical voters, big supporters of the state of israel and very influential in picking the neck nominee. they are 100% committed to security of israel. ladies? >> paul, there's no question that obama in the last election got a huge percentage of the jewish vote. how do you think this is going to play? >> reporter: let's take a look at it. yes, four, three years ago, 2008, indicating the president won almost 80% of the jewish vote. a recent gallup poll out last month, the president's approval, much lower. you see it now at 54%. jewish voters according to exit polls only made up 2% of the vote in the last election. you know what? it's an important battleground state, states like florida, close, could be influential to which way things go next year, 2012. and you wanted a taste how important the jewish vote could be, last week up your way, new york, a democratic held seat for quite some time. republicans won it back. one of the reasons, the president's policy towards israel. listen, a large jewish population in that district, and that was a large issue. it helped republican win back a long held jewish seat. >> paul steinhauser talking to us about rick perry's visit to new york. thank you. president obama picking a fight with republicans over cutting the nation's rising deficit by $3 trillion. a fight he knows he cannot win but one for the most part has the public in his corner. the plan includes new taxes on primarily the wealthiest americans. the president is calling for some cuts to medicare and medicaid. republicans immediately denounced the proposal, but the president vowed to oppose any republican attempt to slash spending unless they agree to higher taxes for millionaires. >> i will veto any bill that changes benefits for those who rely on medicare but does not raise serious revenues by asking the westie iesies iesies iesiesn s or biggest corporations to pay their fair share. >> we need revenue, but i want to get new revenue from putting americans back to work again and back on the tax rolls. >> also with the president's plan, afew unexpected ideas including cutting saturday mail delivery to help out the u.s. postal service, which is teetering on the edge of default and raising fees on corporate jets. though it's likely all passengers would feel the pinch. coming up in about an hour, 7:10 eastern, republican congressman jeff blake to find out if the president's plan is dead on arrival. >> and the don't ask, don't tell policy is history. barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military became final at midnight nearly nine months after president obama first signed it. the pentagon policy had been in effect since 1993. service members will join lawmakers in washington this afternoon to talk about the change in policy in a news conference. gay rights groups are planning celebrations across the country today to help usher in the new era. a developing story out of turkey this morning. a menmen ny minibus explosion. pictures from our sister network. you can see images of several vehicles on fire. cause of this blast is still not known. we'll bring you updates on the story throughout the morning as more information becomes available. we have an update this morning. ten people are now dead after an air race crash in reno, nevada. the crash happened friday killing several on site including a nearly 70 people injured. they now say the plane was equipped with video and data recordings. a political error report released friday. and robin gardner final hours before she went missing six weeks ago. police returned to the beach where the 35-year-old maryland woman was last seen. her traveling companion claims they were snorkeling when she was swept out to sea. he is being held in aruba as the prime suspect in her disappearance. also new this morning, atlanta falcons defensive back dunta robinson fined for an illegal hit on eagles' white reader jeremy maclin. the helmet-to-helmet blow is similar to robinson's hit last year on desean jackson. fined $50,000 for that hit but cut in half on appeal. >> he meant to do that. just leading with his head. and haven't we learned how dangerous that can be for other players as far as concussions are concerned and putting someone out of the game for good? in m my estimation he deserved every bit of that fine. baseball has just rewritten the history books. the yankees mayor jana rivera registers his 600th career save over the minnesota twins last night. awesome. at at 46, the best that ever put on his uniform. an explosive new book claims early days of the obama white house was a hostile workplace for women. now the administration is firing back. and republicans call president obama's new tax rate for millionaires divisive, but is a higher tax on the wealthiest americans really class warfare? it's our "talk back" question today. carol, get a load of this. chaz bono stepping out for the first time on "dancing with the stars." so how did he do? and his fellow contestants, like nancy grace do? we'll show you. it's 20 minutes after the hour. we're back after this. (screams) when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. 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. welcome back. as president obama does battle with republicans over the economy a new book levels explosive charges against the president and his inner circle. now the white house is taking direct aim at the pulitzer prize winning author. cnn's brian todd is following the story. >> reporter: for a best-selling author, serious brushback from the white house over a new book which depicts in-fighting and indecision in the obama administration's early day. in his book "confidence men" ron writes the top advisers had doubt whether he could handle the economic crisis. larry summers is quoted assess saying in 2009, we're home alone. there's no adult in charge. clinton would never have made these mistakes. we couldn't reach him for comment but in "the washington post," it's a combination of fiction, distortion and words taken out of context. >> i lived the reality, and the reports i've read about this book bear no resemblance to the reality we live together. >> reporter: treasury secretary timothy geithner referring to a passage saying president obama decided early on to restructure several troubled banks but discovered nearly a month later his directive had been ignored by the treasury. >> absolutely not. i would never do that. i've spent my life in public service. >> reporter: gloria borger says in books like this former officials try to bolster their own legacies or settle scores. would it lead to some kind of finger-pointing behind the scenes and people looking over their own shoulder, i've got to watch what i'm saying to everybody. >> i mean, this is washington. people are always going to try to figure out who was the source for that? who was the source for that story? i bet that came from him, tore came from him. >> reporter: a defiant white house press secretary -- >> one passage seemed to be lifted almost entirely from wikipedia in the book. >> reporter: when cnn followed up after that briefing, officials say jay carney was referring to the federal mortgage firm fannie mae. quote, in 196 it officially became a publicly held corporation to remove its debt and related activities from the federal balance sheet. the wikipedia passage says, it converted to a publicly held corporation to remove its activity and debt from the federal budget. we contacted the publisher harpercollins for response to the claim about wikipedia and other criticisms. a spokesperson said it spent nearly 200 hours. exhaustively researched and sourced and harpercollins is proud to be publishing it. brian todd, cnn, washington. ron sussstein will be wolf blitzer's guest wednesday, 5:00 p.m. right here on cnn. your chance to "talk back" this morning. class warfare, is higher tax on millionaires. that depends. wielding his bully pup pit to pit the rich against the poor. >> comes out today and starts demonizing the very people responsible for innovation, the very people who are responsible for economic growth, who are responsible for job creation. >> democrats say, oh, come on. if there is a war on the middle class, the middle class has already lost. you need proof the wage gap is grow be ever tighter. taxes lowest since the 1970s and the rich aren't creating jobs, at least not on american soil. president obama wants to tax millionaires more. he says that's not class warfare. that's mad. >> i reject the idea of asking a hedge fund manager to pay the same tax rate as a plumber and teacher is class warfare. i think it's just the right thing to do. >> what is class warfare anyway? it's a term made famous by that influential socialist karl marx. in short, marx describes class warfare as when the lowly worker rises up against the higher class that exploited him making those rich people play. from the university of virginia, calling it bumper strip language. democrats love it. republicans hate it. so the "talk back" today, is a hire tax on millionaires class warfare? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> 54 comments before we even sat on the set? people obviously striking a cord. >> a term used to keep things from getting done in our country and people do really care. i'll be interested to hear what you have to say. stay tuned. meanwhile, "dancing with the stars" kicking off its 13th season last night. 13 seasons? when all over, seemed the most talked about contestant, chad bono, can really cha-cha. did i say that? the judges raved praising his footwork and choreography. wow. not bad. as for our own nancy grace, she made her debut starting out behind the anchor desk. really? but soon she was on the dance floor showing her sassy side. the judges telling nancy, she's got the moves. >> oh, look at her go. >> she looks great. >> he twins were in the audience, too. >> good for her. >> i don't know that i could do that. >> i could not do that. i would forget the steps. >> that's why i was never a cheerleader. >> that and for many other reasons. rob marciano to save us. good morning, rob. >> how about nancy grace? >> i know. >> how about that outfit? a little flapper thing going on. >> very sexy. a safety dance at the cnn weather center. throwback to the '80s. remember that one? >> yes, we do. >> rein across the eastern third of the country. a weak front but continuous light rainfall from the canadian border. getting you wet at time. a hard time getting across the appalachians. when it does, sprinkles and light showers through the day stretching back down across the southeast including metro atlanta. front number one, in between this other front. decent amount of fog, travel delays. and comes don the pike for a reinforcing shot of cooler air. won't get back into the 100-degree temperatures but to 90 between the fronts in dallas and 81 in kansas city. the tropical system out in the middle of the atlantic ocean. up to a 70% of becoming a depression or tropical storm in the coming days. looks impressive, but it's pretty far out there. they have a difficult time traversing closer to home and quiet. we'll take it as we head towards the awe tum noauk tum knot equi >> yes, we will. michele bachmann not backing down. she took a lot of heat for comments about the hpv vaccine. remember that? 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"minding your business" this morning. we could be looking at a higher opening on wall street today after steep declines yesterday. that sell-off fueled by lingering concerns over europe's debt crisis. right now the dow, nasdaq and s&p futures are up. the federal reserve is searching for ways to jump-start the u.s. economy at a two-day meeting, and speculation is growing the fed will revive a program known at "operation twist." its goal, keep long-term interest rates down and fuel economic growth. the u.s. is reportedly looking into whether there was any insider trading done ahead of the s&p downgrade of america's credit crating last month. according to the "wall street journal," subpoenas sent to several hedge funds which may have bet the stock market to tumble. downgrading italy. the euro zone's third largest economy. the cut is said to be in response to the weakening growth and growing debt. coca-cola is downsizing. this week the beverage giant rolls out a smaller 12.5 ounce bottle. coke is hoping this will boost profits, because what will cost you about 10 cents less per bottle, you're actually paying more per ounce. that's your latest business headlines. "american morning" will be right back after this. there's only one bottle left ! i've got to tell susie ! 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. (rawhen an investmentrsation) lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. just about 30 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. time for your top stories. the u.n. general assembly gets under way today. president obama scheduled to meet with the transitional council. troops loyal to moammar gadhafi are starving and massacring helpless citizens. a developing story out of turkey this morning. at least 15 people injured in a minibus explosion in ankara this morning. no word on what caused the blast. cnn turk television showing images of several vehicles burning in the heart of the city. and the u.s. military's don't ask, don't tell policy is history this morning. just issued on the pentagon's website, sexual orientation cannot bar you from military service and former service members discharge under don't ask, don't tell may now apply for re-entry. the fbi is reporting a drop in violent crime across the united states. officials say the decline has more to do with the aging population than the economic slump. murders fell 4.2% last year. aggravated assaults down 4.1%. rapes down 5% and robberies down 10%. michele bachmann is balking about comments about the hpv vaccine. she took a lot of heat after the cnn tea party debate telling reporters a woman approach her in tears claiming her da