of greece's bailout and concerns about slowing growth in china. china has been a very big engine of economic growth for the rest of the world while the u.s. has been taking a back seat and worrying about jobs here. all these major trends and factors are still in play here. also, moody's downgraded some of the greek banks. so, we're still watching the banking system in europe. still watching the european wildcard and, again, we've been talking to traders and analysts who have been saying to close out a week, a very bad week in stocks at this point, people still looking for some reason to try to buy in. i will tell you, the last couple of days have been two of the worst days for the dow since those bad old days of 2008. you'll feel all of this this week in your 401(k). kyra? >> okay, i wish we could get some better news. christine, thanks. >> me, too. the politicians that are out there promising to fix the economy, and virtually everything else. nine republicans, as you know, squared off in last night's debate but one candidate still wears the biggest bullseye. rick perry is now showing a little bit of wear and tear. >> governor perry. >> reporter: it may have felt like badminton to rick perry, but for the texas governor it was almost a game of one against eight. >> an argument i just can't follow. >> reporter: on the perry-backed texas law that offers in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants, romney with the set up. >> that doesn't make sense to me and that kind of magnet, that kind of magnet draws people into this country. >> reporter: and rick santorum with the overhead smash. >> why should they be given preferential treatment in this country? that's what we're saying. yes, i would say, i would say that, i would say that he is soft on illegal immigration. >> i don't think you have a heart. >> reporter: the gop frontrunners defense of the law drew cheers and also boos from the crowd. >> this was a state issue. texans voted on it and i still support it greatly. >> senator santorum. >> reporter: with the debate staged in florida, where senior votes are on the line, romney, once again, pounded on perry's past statements on social security. >> there's a rick perry out there that sang and almost to quote, that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business. that it's unconstitutional. unconstitutional and should be returned to the states. you should find rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> reporter: at moments, it seems the punishment was taking its toll. perry seemed to get lost delivering one zinger on the health care law romney passed as governor of massachusetts. >> i think americans just don't know sometimes which mitt romney they're dealing with. he's for obama care and now he's against it. >> reporter: except that romney has never supported the president's health care law. >> nice try. >> reporter: but there were also standout moments for contenders trying to break through on foreign policy, former ambassador jon huntsman. >> only pakistan can say pakistan. only afghanistan can save afghanistan. all that i want right now at this point in history is for america to save america. >> reporter: on the economy, probably the line of the night from former new mexico governor gary johnson. >> my next door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration. >> reporter: another defining moment didn't come from the stage, it came from a handful of people in the audience who booed a gay soldier for asking the candidates for their views on homosexuals in the military. >> you intend to circumvent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military? >> rick perry's had a rough ride over these last few debates and he may be coming across as a little saddle sore, kyra, but unclear whether it will have an effect on the state of the race. florida republicans will have a chance to have their say this weekend. they're holding an informal straw poll and one final note on that gary johnson joke on the shovel ready jobs, turns out the credit should go to rush limbaugh. apparently he came up with the quip about the dogs and the shovel-ready jobs. >> someone is always wanting to take credit for the line of the day. while you were sleeping, lawmakers in the house passed a spending bill to keep the government running several more weeks, but this morning we may be no closer to avoiding a government shutdown. kate baldwin on the hill. kate, how bad does it look for this quick deal? >> i would be silly to try to forecast how this would try to turn out, kyra. it seems both sides are still ready for a fight on this. here are a few deadlines to remind our viewers of. i know you know, kyra. the federal government is scheduled to run out of funding and run out of the money that we have and our country's coughers, if you will. house and senate are supposed to be going on recess really starting today and fema disaster relief funds could run out early next week. so, what happened last night as house republicans, they passed narrowly passed largely the same bill that failed the day before. the change was really that republican leadership added an additional spending cut to another kind of green, clean energy, renewable energy program to win over more house republican votes. this one linked to that company solyndra the company that went bankrupt after saving $500 million in federally backed loan guarantees. that won over more republican votes, obviously. listen here to just how fiery the debate got late last night on the house floor. >> i'm not one of those people who believe that we have to offset every emergency. we have done some in the past. some we have not. but in the past, we have not had a 14 trillion deficit. that's the danger to this country. is the $14 trillion deficit and the $1.6 trillion we add to it every year. >> wake up! wake up! you can't kill these programs. this is the solution you are killing. republicans say, fine, we'll provide emergency relief for those who have been afflicted by this nature's wrath, but we won't do it unless we can cut the funds for the programs that promise to be the solution to the problem. >> now, as i indicated earlier, the fight is not over. the focus now on the senate, harry reid had indicated last night that democrats are really standing united against the house bill. they think the amount of money going to fema is inadequate and much more money going to fema, kyra. they oppose the fact that in order to pay for part of this fema program, the fight is still on and very unclear on how things will turn out today. harry reid warned tonight that it is possible they could forego the recess to try to work into next week. my colleague has heard that the vote on the house passed bill, there will be a vote on it in the senate early this morning. they say they stand united against it. we'll have to see how this turns out today. >> kate, thanks. republicans are making early push to win the critical latino vote in 2012. our deputy political director paul steinhauser tells us about a big event today. what's taking place? >> a center right group called the hispanic leadership network and holding a two-day conference that starts today in new mexico. that's the home state to governor susanna martinez who is really a rising star in the gop. won a big election there last year. again, yeah, this is all about courting latino voters and let's rack three years ago, 2008, the presidential election. look at the cnn exit polls from back then. senator obama then won two-thirds of the vote in that election. that was a big, big win for the president. let's fast forward to present day. look at these numbers from gallup. the approval rating at 48%. that's down from 60% at the beginning of the year. and, kyra, again, this is all about latino and hispanic voters. they are so crucial, especially in some battleground states like new mexico, nevada, colorado, they could be the difference in those close contests. talking about florida. how about the debate last night. this could be a problem for republicans because you saw those nine republican candidates at the debate last night and other than rick perry, most taking a very hard stand against illegal immigrants here in the united states. that could be a problem as republicans try to reach out to latino and hispanic voters, kyra. >> candidates going to be definitely reaching out this weekend on the campaign trail, rights? >> you were just talking to jim down in florida there. there is a big straw poll in florida on saturday. of course, florida, a very important state in the battle for the nomination and in michigan, as well. two straw polls there. two major republican conferences. we can get a gauge on how the candidates and they're doing. two more next month one is a cnn debate in nevada. this battle for the nomination moves on and we'll move with it, kyra. >> your next political update in about an hour. a reminder for all the latest news, go to our website 24/7 cnnpolitics.com. how are the gop candidates doing with this country's christian leadership? ralph reid joining me live, next. and priceless works of art considered a national treasure are finally returned. 60 years after they were stolen by the nazis. we'll tell you about that in cross country, next. so, how was school today ? i have to be a tree in the school play. good. you like trees. well, i like climbing them, but i've never been one. good point. ( captain ) this is your captain speaking. annie gets to be the princess. oh... but she has to kiss a boy. and he's dressed up like a big green frog ! ewww. ( announcer ) fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself nonstop. american airlines. checking stories across country. jaycee dugard is suing the federal government. keeping her in his backyard for 18 years. in new york, two paintings stolen during the nazi occupation of poland during world war ii have been returned. it happened last night. the polish consulate. the paintings were found five years ago at a new york auction house. students protesting college tuition hikes. it took a turn for the worse when demonstrators stormed a building on campus. two people were arrested. more protests are expected today. watching last night's debate, a republican strategist who has worked on seven presidential campaigns. ralph reid, chairman of the faith and freedom coalition as a strategist and christian leader, ralph, i want to ask you first off, who do you think won your vote last night? >> well, i think we've got a pretty big membership, kyra, of about 500,000 members and they're falling about where the polling is showing among all social conservatives and tea party activists. i think rick perry when he got in this race, it wasn't a big fish in a small pond. it was a whale in a bathtub and he came in with a big splash. he's done very well. romney will get his fair share of these people and they're also very high on bachmann. i don't think you count her out at all. i think this is going to be very competitive, very hard fought. we had our event yesterday with over 2,000 of our activists in florida. they all came and made their case and we're, i think we're dating, but i don't think we're ready to get married yet. >> strong as an acre of garlic. i had to write that one down. we'll get to michele bachmann and garlic in just a second. but, ralph, you actually had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the candidates at your faith and freedom forum. you got two mormm candidates. mitt romney and jon huntsman. have evangelicals embraced these men and the mormon faith? >> well, look, i don't think you can gloss over the fact that there are thelogical differences. but there are theological differences between jews and evangelicals and yet they cooperate fully on issues like the sanctity of life and marriage, strong support for the state of israel and opposition to terrorism. we're not electing our minister or preacher. we're electing the president of the united states and remember that four years ago in his first time around the track, romney got one out of every five evangelical votes in a crowded field. obviously, it was very difficult for him to compete with huckabee in that category. i think romney will do that well or better and i think, again, perry has that sort of huckabee factor where as a devote evangelical, he can speak directly to his own spiritual journey as he did at liberty university last week. he'll do extremely well. but, look, these folks are not easy to command and not sheep who just go where they're told to go. they're kicking the tires and looking at these candidates very carefully and, as i said, i don't think it's really come down and solidified. this is still very fluid. >> let me ask you about a moment that got a lot of attention last night at the debate. this openly gay soldier with his question to the candidates. take a listen. okay. i guess we don't have that sound bite, but you remember what happened. for the viewers that might have missed the debate, he asked a question about gays, you know, serving openly in the military. and he got boos. so, let me ask you, do you think it was, i'm told we have it now. let's go for the sake of fairness here so our viewers can hear it, let's take a listen. >> in 2010 when i was deployed to iraq, i had to lie about who i was because i didn't want to lose my job. my question is, under one of your presidencies, do you intend to circumvent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military? >> yeah, i would say any type of sexual activity has no place in the military. >> here's my question, ralph. do you think it was appropriate to boo? this is a soldier serving our country and serving all of us in iraq. >> no. no, that wasn't appropriate. but, look, i don't think it's fair for either party or for any candidate to somehow or another, you know, assign to them the impolite conduct of somebody in an audience. that's just not fair. that's where the candidates -- >> nobody jumped on the moment to talk about, you know, don't ask, don't tell going away and it just sort of went right by and no one seized the moment. >> no, i don't think it was a missed moment and i'll tell you why. because what the american people want is a substantive debate on the issue and i think rick santorum. to whom, as you know, the question is directed handled it just right. he said, look, if under obama's policy someone has already publicly acknowledged their sexual preference as this soldier did, then their grandfathered in regardless of what happens in a subsequent administration. it wouldn't be fair to go back and treat them differently. in terms of what happens with don't ask, don't tell which served this country, kyra, very effectively. >> i think i know the law -- we respect the law, but, ralph, it's an issue of respect. i'm just asking you the issue of respect here. was it respectful to do that? >> i think i answered that. i don't think it was. and i don't think that was the right thing to do. but what i would -- let me just stress the point. >> would you have liked to have heard one of the candidates say, look, okay, that's disrespectful. let's have a mature, respectful conversation about our men and women who are serving overseas, risking their lives for us. putting politics aside, you know, let's address our behavior here. >> well, i know these candidates very well. they're friends of mine. and i'm sure they'll be given an opportunity to do that andi i'm sure every one of them will say that's not my attitude. when the president of the united states has somebody at one of the events and his spokesman refuses to condemn it, i don't think people who live in glass houses should be allowed to throw stones. the president of the united states and his spokesman should make sure that words that can lead to violence should be condemned. >> ralph reed chairman of the faith and freedom coalition. always good to talk to you. appreciate your time today and sorry it is so hot out there. >> same here, kyra. take care. opening bell is just minutes away and we'll check on what we can expect just a day after the dow plunging. take a quick break. be right back. you can't change the way banking works. just accept it, man. free ? doesn't close at five ? try nature. it's a bank. what do you want, a hug ? just accept it. hidden fees, fine print, or they'll stick it to you some other way. stay with the herd, son. accept it. just accept it. accept it. just accept it. accept it. if we miss this movie, you're dead. if you're stuck accepting banking nonsense, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. want to take you to come live pictures right now. this is some unique access that we've been able to get from a checkpoint right there in the west bank. actually, let's listen in for a second here. this has actually picked up a bit since we've been monitoring these live pictures. young palestinians have been clashing with israeli border guards here all morning and, as you know, this happened, it's happening just a few hours before mahmoud abbas is going to address the u.n. general assembly. kevin flower our cnn jerusalem bureau chief on the phone with me now. kevin, it kind of picks up and then slows down a bit, but can you kind of give us an idea of what it has been like throughout the morning as we're watching these live pictures unfold right here within the west bank. >> yeah, kyra, this has been going on for about an hour and a half or two hours, i would say. it started at the checkpoint, which is a big giant checkpoint that separates the west bank from jerusalem. this is a checkpoint with 20 feet concrete walls. manned by israeli security. pretty much every friday on a regular basis palestinians will come to this checkpoint throwing rocks and bottles at the israeli security positions along that checkpoint. that's what we saw happen, again, today. and, so, what's happened during the course of this hour and a half or two hours of clashes between the two, like i said, lots of rocks, lots of bottles being thrown. what the israeli security forces have been doing is trying to push back the palestinian protesters with a combination of tear gas and rubber bullets. they've also been using some fairly new technology, which is sort of this ear piercing alarm car that they drive close to the protesters to try and disperse them. as you mentioned, this is going on just a few hours before palestinian authority mahmoud abbas is supposed to be thinking, but it's worth noting, also, this is a scene that plays out on a fairly regular basis here on the west bank, kyra. >> all right, kevin flower there. cnn jerusalem bureau chief reporting to us right there to us from the west bank. kevin, we'll continue to monitor these pictures with you, obviously. two other things that we're following for you. the opening bell is just minutes away. we will, well, hopefully we're going to see better numbers today as the dow just took a massive plunge yesterday. and also speaking live, michele bachmann kicking off today's conservative political action conference in orlando, florida. we'll check in on that, as well. somewhere in america, a city comes to life. it moves effortlessly, breathes easily. it flows with clean water. it makes its skyline greener and its population healthier. all to become the kind of city people want to live and work in. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest questions. and the over sixty thousand people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. 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