wednesday october 12th. american officials are outraged and say iran will pay. this texas used car salesman is the unlikely suspect in an alleged assassination plot backed by iran. the u.s. claims that mons orr arbab arbabsiar was going to kill the ambassador of the united states. saying ar baubs yea wanted to blow up a restaurant killing the diplomat and potentially many americans right along with him. officials gathered in washington and gathered the diplomatic corps at the state department to ensure them they are safe. the obama administration is also deciding how to respond to iran. >> it's an outrage that violated one of the fundamental premises of which nations deal and that is the sanctity and safety of their diplomats. this is really over the top. they have to be held accountable. >> the u.s. linking the alleged plot to the elite quds force that is part of iran's revolutionary gad, but it is far from clear if quds was acting on its own or from top iranian leaders. iran calls the plot a fabrication and accusing the united states of stupid mischief, quote/unquote. president obama says the fight for jobs, not over. plans to break his jobs legislation into smaller bills and press congress to pass each of those. the senate blocked his $474 billion jobs package, happened last night, a voes of 50-49. the president needed 60 votes to advance it. herman cain's surge in the polls made him a target lart night at the republican debate in new hampshire. his 999 tax plan drew fire as an unworkable plan that didn't stand a chance in congress. and cain, the former ceo of godfather's pizza, wants 999. jon huntsman thought that was the price of a pizza. and this morning, in detroit, a nigerian man pleaded guilty to all counts on the second day, just the second day, of his trial. abdulmutallab charged with trying to blow up an airliner with explosives hidden in his underwear. it happened christmas day, you may recall, in 2009. the new libyan government says its fighters now control 90% of sirte. that is the hometown of former leader moammar gadhafi. troops loyal to gadhafi have been holding out ever since tripoli fell six weeks ago. our dan rivers is with the fighters. >> reporter: this is pretty much the front line. you can hear, a lot of shooting going on down this road. we're right in the outskirts of the city, and it is what sounds like a very fierce battle indeed going on just a few hundred yards up the road. [ speaking in foreign language ] we ventured down that road quickly, because it's not somewhere you want to lengther. >> the new political leadership of libya will declare the country liberated once sirte falls. a cargo ship captain is facing criminal charges in new zealand today. his ship his a reef leaking tons of crude into the sea. patties of slimy oil washing up on new zealand's beaching. workers are trying to remove the rest of the oil from that ship but are dealing with high winds and strong swells. [ cheers and applause ] a year ago tonight, rescuers, may recall, began pulling 33 men out of a collapsed mine in chile. the group spent 69 gruels days trapped a half mile underground. stick around. i'm going to be talking with journalist jonathan franklin about the astonishing revelations about those miners and their lives underground. that from his new book on those miners called "33 men." now is your chance to "talk back." one of the big stories of the day, if you watched last night's republican presidential debate, mitt romney. he was ready for the assault. waiting for those inevitable attack on the thing that makes him most vulnerable in the eyes of many republican, and that is health care. >> mitt romney, your chief economic adviser glenn hubbard, who you know well, he said that romneycare was obamacare. >> we have less than 1% of our kids that are uninsured. you have 1 million kids uninsured in texas. >> so it was a swit comeback, but still, romneycare is an issue that's not going away. today's "talk back" question, does romney's changing position on health care matter to you? carol costello is joining us from new york. and, carol, a lot of people think that mitt romney perhaps flip-flops on different issues, different sides here. what do we suppose is kind of the measurement here? his own health care plan? >> interesting wait he answered rick perry's question. he didn't really answer the question. he deflected it. he's thinking up new ways on to you to address this health care thing. the biggest thorn, though, in mitt romney's side is what his opponents call romneycare. as i said, that's what opponents call the health care plan. romney created it in massachusetts had he was governor. turns out the obama administration was entranced with romney's plan and according to nbc news, obama officials met with romney's advisers to create obamacare, and, yes. both plans include a requirement to buy insurance. romney says, yeah. so? >> the truth is, our plan is different, and the people of massachusetts, if they don't like it, then get rid of it. right now, 3-1, but i'm not running for governor of massachusetts. i'm running for president of the united states and as president i will repeal obamacare, grant a waiver on day one to get that start and make sure we return to the states what we had when i was governor, the right to care for our poor in the way we thought best for our respective states. >> still, makes you wonder. here's governor romney on fox news the day he signed the ma massachusetts law. >> when i set out to get everybody health insurance i couldn't have cared less and i don't care less about how it works politically. in my view, it's the right thing to do. >> so mitt romney was for the individual mandate before he was against it, at least on the national level, and he says as president he will repeal the very health care law he inspired. so the "talk back" question today, does romney's changing position on health care matter to you? facebook.com/carolcnn. facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your responses later this hour. >> carol, thank you. a rundown of the stories we are covering. first, an alleged murder for hire plot to kill an ambassador to the united states. we dig deeper as the u.s. points fingers at iran. then blackberries. they're going down all over the world. now that's also hitting here at home. the united states. and then, while the occupied wall street protesters are battling corporate greed, some wall street workers are scaring for their own job. we'll tell you why. and scientists don't know where this is going to land. later, strange story. a family gets lost in a corn maze. >> i'm really scared. it's really dark and we've got a 3-week-old baby with us. woman: saving for our child's college fund was getting expensive. man: yes it was. so to save some money, we taught our 5 year old how to dunk. woman: scholarship! woman: honey go get him. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. it'll cause cavities, bad breath. patients will try and deal with it by drinking water. water will work for a few seconds but if you're not drinking it, it's going to get dry again. i recommend biotene. all the biotene products like the oral rinse...the sprays have enzymes in them. the whole formulation just works very well. it leaves the mouth feeling fresh. if i'm happy with the results and my patients are happy with the results, i don't need to look any farther. so if i didn't know better i'd say you're having some sort of big tire sale. yes we are. yeah. how many tires does ford buy every year? over 3 million. you say you can beat any advertised price on tires? correct. anywhere? yes. like this price? yes. riously? yes what about this one? i'll beat it. this one? s we will. right, i only have one more question for you...this one? (laughing) yeah. get $100 rebate when you buy four tires. 100 bucks! only at your ford dealer. 3 million tires. 11 major brands, fiona's kind-of-nice. i don't know why you're not here. we are following the trial of umar farouk abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber. in the courtroom at the time he actually pleaded guilty to the charges. first of all, take us inside. tell us what happened, how this came about, whether or not this was a rather surprising development? >> reporter: yeah. it definitely was a surprise. it started out the day, of course, started at 9:00 with an immediate recess that lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. when they came back into court, standby counsel addressed the judge, just nancy edmonds and said his client wanted to enter a plea of guilty. from there, they went through all of the counts. the judge was very, very specific and very careful to go over all of the counts with him and one by one he said, i plead guilty. to each and every count. and then after that, he read a statement saying i knowingly did all this and was inspired by mr. al awlaki, recently killed in a military action two weeks ago and said he did it 0 to avenge the killing of innocent muslims and the that the u.s. was guilty. he also said he was guilty under u.s. law but not under the law of the koran. after all that ended he said at the end, a la akla which also means god is great, and that was how it ended. >> what was the reaction when he made that statement? >> reporter: well, a lot of buzz. in the courtroom, i was in that overflow room watching it from the overflow room. of course, in the courtroom, you could not leave, but the buzz was to stay in the overflow room or in the courtroom and there was a lot of activity, a lot of typing going on. people trying to get it out. this trial, again, was supposed to last three weeks to a month. there was a three to four jury selection process. it took a while to get going. almost two years and all this preparation, and on the second day of the trial he pled guilty. >> quick, if you can button it up for us. what happens to him now? >> reporter: repeat that again? >> what happens to him now that he's actually pleaded guilty? >> reporter: he will remain in custody. he will most likely get life in prison. many of the counts he pled guilty to had maximum penalties of life in prison with consecutive sentences. sentencing will be on january 12th, and that's when we're gel that decision by the judge. the judge makes that decision. >> thank you very much for bringing the latest on a trial a lot of folks have been watching carefully. thank you very much, laura. u.s. officials are fired up over an alleged plot to the assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states here on american soil. congressman peter king is calling it an act of war. the state department is issuing a rare worldwide alert warning americans to be onguard against terror attacks, and u.s. officials are right now briefing the diplomatic corps about the alleged murder for hire scheme. iran categorically rejects the claim calming it an evil plot. it reads like a spy novel. saudi ambassador adel ap jubeir was to have been blown up in his favorite restaurant in washington. they've arrested this man. manssor arbab arbabsiar jailed in new york last month. he's accused of working with members of an arm of the iranian revolutionary guard to carry out the assassination. arbabsiar believed he was hiring assassins from a mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million. a drug cartel member turned out to be a paid informant for the u.s. drug administration pap recorded conversation taken directly from the federal complaint quotes that arbabsiar said, he wants you to kill this guy. the paid source says there's going to be, like american people there, in the restaurant. do you want me to do it outside or in the restaurant? well, about baubs jahr answ abat matter how you do. joining us live abu dhabi. is it reasonable to believe members of the revolutionary guard and quds force would be able to plan such an attack? >> reporter: suzanne, it's still hard to know. while the quds force is an elite force in iran, analysts and experts, you know, since this news broke, they've been scratching their heads. they're baffled by this. when you look tat from the saudi side to try to understand how high up the target of this alleged plot goes up in the saudi government, it goes up quite high. al jubeir not just an ambassador to the u.s. for saudi arabia. we spoke to robert jordan and asked why al jubeir might have been a target. here's what he told us. >> he is so close to king abdullah it makes him a target to some degree and a almost like a son to the king. some have said that his duties as foreign policy adviser have continued. so he spentds a tremendous a lot of time in riyadh consulting with the king and involved in almost every high diplomatic level meeting that king abdullah has. >> reporter: suzanne, it's, ambassador al jubeir goes up very high in the saudi government. not your average run of the mill diplomat. somebody who if they had successfully targeted him, that would have been a direct strike at the king of saudi arabia as well. suzanne? >> mohammed, he's been around washington a long time. i actually know him. what do we make of the fact that they believe that the highest level of the iranian leadership was involved in that? is that a plausible scenario? who do you suppose they're talking about here? >> reporter: well, it's hard to know, because you could talk, be talking about elements with the quds force. talking rogue elements. who exactly are they taking their direction from? and the more you speak to analysts and iranian experts since yesterday, it's just unclear at this point. if this does point to the top level of iran's government or not. but these are all questions that are being very diligently asked right now, suzanne. >> and mohammed, iran and saudi arabia. explain to us why it would be that they would be on opposite sides? >> reporter: well, suzanne, iran and saudi arabia have a relationship of enmity and hostility that's lasted years. no surprise there's tension between those two countries. go back to the iran/iraq war. saudi arabia backed iraq in that war. one source of tension. there's the sunni-backed saudi arabia, the shiite government of iran. these are super powers in the region that are very budge divided across the ideological spectrum and sectarian spectrum as well. more recently during the arab spring that's taken root in this region, because reiahrain, 70% . the country in the past, the saudi government, very much supports the sunni leadership's bahrain. once it looked that leadership was threatened in mash, saudi arabia and other countries in the gulf sent forces into bahrain to try to prop up the government there, to try to make sure their stability was ensu ensured. a source of tension. the saudis pointing to iran. iran pointing to saudi arabia. a lot of tension and it's been boiling over as of late. suzanne? >> mohammed jamjoom, thank you. the juv gloves came off again. the latest debate, a lot of facts and figures thrown around. some you true, some, not so true. tom foreman from washington to do fact checking. listen to comments from one of the front-runners, mitt romney. >> if you go back a few years before that clip and go to jfk's time, the government at all levels, federal, state and local, was consuming about 27% of the u.s. economy. today it consumes about 37% of the u.s. economy. >> so, tom what do we think? what do we make of that? >> what he's trying to imply, suzanne. the idea, the growth of government has become sort of rampant. crazy. have to bring it under control. government expenditures risen dramatically since the 1960snumbers are basically right. total government spending in 1963, about $27.7% of gdp, the last year of john kennedy the presidency. 20010, a dramatic increase. something he's not mentions. some increase, military spending. many republicans support, and some has been growth of things like the population living longer. so that social security costs a lot more. different programs like this. it has been existing programs having to take on bigger burdens or we're choosing to take on bigger burdens with them and are actually getting something for that money. it's not a matter of government expanding, expanding, expanding. in some cases it's expanding because the need we addressed a long time ago has expanded with it. so overall, we consider that, we have to say he got his numbers right, but this is true and incomplete. sort of bordering towards just true. nonetheless, there is an incompletion to this, suzanne. >> pretty fair. what about michele bachmann talking about the economy and the president? >> michele bachmann with the economy and the president. listen to the statement she made about health care reform. >> but the number one reason that employers say that they aren't hiring today is obamacare. >> she has said this before, suzanne. last debate, said the same thing. the number one reason we're not getting jobs is because of health care reform. employers don't know what it's grog to cost, don't want to add new job. that's her whole case. here's the problem with what she's saying. this is not based on an incredible study or big, comprehensive look at this as far as we can tell. all it seems to be based on, a report from an international investment firm where they issued a report saying health reform is arguegly the biggest impediment to hiring, not based on a study. just their opinion to investors, and that same report cited ten other things including tax codes, financial regulation, environmental laws and much more as being impediments to job growth in this country. so for her to simply say that health reform is the number one block to job creation has to fall in the category of false. there's simply no empirical evidence to say that's really the case, suzanne. >> tom, thanks for keeping them honest. appreciate it. you want to be sure to tune in for the cnn western republican presidential debate. that happening in las vegas. it's coming next tuesday night at 8:00 eastern and cnn the anderson cooper is going to be the monitor. if you have problems checking your e-mail or surfing the web on your blackberry. here is why. the company is reporting outages. we'll look at some of the problems worldwide. vegetables...60 calories. ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? 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[ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. 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. ♪ millions of blacks bare users aren't able to check e-mails or surf the web today. a problem for the rest of the world tore days now, now the u.s. is getting hit hard. i want to go to dan simon from san francisco who's got some of the details on this. why do we think this is happening, dan? >> well, it's a very good question. you know, blackberry ran their base in canada and they have a proprietary e-mail technology that does not affect other smartphones. if you use a blackberry it's going to affect you. when you send an e-mail using a blackberry it goes to their servers and reaches the destination. the reason it doesn't happen to others, they don't have that problem. so here's the deal. blackberry is using what they call a core switch to transmit all of these e-mail. they're having a problem with their core switch and put out a statement and the it says that although the system is designed to fail over to a backup switch, the failover did not function as previously tested. let's take a step back for a moment. you have a smartphone. there are two propositions that you want. number one, want to be able to make phone calls. number two, want to be able to send e-mails. the fact that you cannot send e-mails if you're using a blackberry is an enormous public relations problem for blackberry, and they cannot afford to have a p.r. problem at this moment. their market share has been declining rapidly. they're now entrenched in third place behind android and apple. apple, of course, releasing its new iphone on friday. the iphone 4s, they've taken in about 1 million pre-orders. it's shattering all records, and the fact that blackberry's having this issue right now is something they definitely do not need. suzanne? >> dan, they released a quick comment, i understand? >> say it one more time? >> did they release response? did they explaining? a quick statement from blackberry? >> they did. they put a statement, and it's a problem with their infrastructure, and they're saying that it's a core switch problem, meaning that when you send the e-mails from your blackberry it goes through rim's routers in canada and they're having problems with the routers. the core switch. they believe they can get it figured out but it's lasted now three day. hopefully they'll get it figured out very, very soon. >> lkly, mine is still working. thank you, dan. appreciate it. a used car salesman accused of trying to hire a mexican drug dealer to knock off an ambassador. who is this guy? we're going to tell you about the man from this nice texas neighborhood, now suspected in a murder for hire scheme that u.s. is blaming on iran. i'm really glad we took this last minute trip! you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what? i have the hotels.com app so we can get a great deal even at the last minute. ah, well played get the app. tels.com. i want to focus on the prime suspect accused in a $1.5 million assassination plot. his name, mons orr arbab arbabsiar tried to hire a drug cartel member to kill the saudi ambassador to washington. the u.s. says the plan was conceived, sponsored and directed from iran. the suspect has spent most of his past few years living and working as a used car salesman in texas. our cnn affiliate kuve got an interview with his wife. >> i want this over with. my children and i are under a lot of stress right now because of this situation. we don't have nothing to do with it. i may not be living with him, we're separated. but i cannot, for the life of mine think, that he would be capable of doing that. he was at the wrong place at the wrong time i'm sure of that and i know his innocence is going to come out. >> cnn's josh ruben trying to get details about the suspects and his family, joins us from a. we just heard from the wife. difficult to find relatives and get information, but we know he was living in a suburban, a rather quiet neighborhood there. what are the folks who live around him think about this guy and whether or not he was capable of doing such a thing? >> reporter: well, suzanne, round rock is a very quiet community just north of austin, texas. when i arrived here this morning, it was business as usual. kids getting on the school bus going to school, folks heading out to go to work, but when news bros broke last night that the wife lived here of arbabsiar. they were surprised. take a listen. >> mom, mom, a lady came banging on our door saying there's a terrorist living, i'm like, huh? >> couldn't believe it. >> like, omg. >> i said, brush it off. they said, mom, the neighborhood is filled with -- >> terrorists. >> the news. >> reporter: these neighbors here lived for for years and say they've seen arbabsiar for years and years. not the friendliest of neighbors. kept their distance over time and were shocked, as anybody is in this small texas town to hear what their neighbor has been accused of doing. >> josh, have you seen any family members in the neighborhood? anybody who is very familiar with him? >> reporter: that's a good question. what i arrived here this morning there were two cars in the driveway. two young women proceeded to come out in the morning. we think they were family friends. not necessarily family members. but they would not talk to us. the second woman who actually came out was covered led to toe wearing a hoody, sunglasses, a scarf across her face, obviously very, very stressed and concerned about the media attention cast in this small, quiet cul-de-sac. >> seems the neighbor was quite surprised to sdo ed td to disco were living amongst and what he's been charged with. the bigger picture. would iran plan such a brazen attack on the united states and if so, why? currently, william cohen, ceo of the cohen group and joins us from washington. great to see you. >> thank you, explain to us, what does iran even get out of this? is this advantageous to try to do something like this in the first place? >> i can see no good news coming out of this for iran. number one, whif the leaders we aware of this and participated in this, then they are going to be held accountable by the international community as possibly precipitating a major war that would result in possibly even shutting down the persian gulf gulf. if that planned action had succeeded, then the retaliation coming from the united states and others would have altered the landscape in iran. so i see no good that could possibly have come out of this. if they didn't know about it, then there's still a problem. if they have, "rogue" agents or elements in their government that are in the process of planning an action which could result with this kind of consequence, they have to be very worried about this. >> and, secretary, i mean, you bring up a good point here, which is, if it had been carried out successfully, it would have really been the initial -- the catalyst, if you will, for potentially a third world war. it didn't go down like that. so what can the united states do now to punish iran? pursue sanctions or is this something that the military does end up handles? >> initially it will have to be at the diplomatic level. i think the united states will obviously want to go to the security council. it will want to have china and russia join in imposing even steeper sanctions on iran. and i think here, saudi arabia will have a major role to play. saudi arabia is certainly developing its infrastructure. making improvements in its country on a massive scale. there are many countries who want to participate in that. i would say the saudis can now voice their concern about those countries who don't see iran as threat, and have some kind of economic consequence as far as doing business in saudi arabia. second of all i think the saudis will look to perhaps fund the opposition in syria and make life much tougher for iran on a number of different fronts. so there are consequences that will play out, that will be very damaging to iran. >> do we suspect the united states will have a tough case to make before the u.n. security council when it coming to presenting evidence that this plot, this alleged plot, was actually hatched iran? . >> a lot depends on the level of cooperation that the accuses have provided. so far. apparently he has given a lot of information to the justice department officials and drug officials. so i think that making a case and behind closed doors to the security council can be persuasive. if the evidence is there. if we don't have the evidence, the case won't go far. if the evidence is clear and convincing i think iran has a lot to fear from the, repercussions that will come from many countries. >> all right. secretary cohen, appreciate your time. obviously, this is a very tense moment and we're watching and waiting to see what's going to happen. secretary of state hillary clinton reaching out to diplomats today to figure out what will be the next moves after they believe this foiled attack was initiated and backed by iran. well, remember just a few weeks back when a satellite came crashing down? it was okay. well, there's another one. that is now heading back to earth. and we asked the question, should we be worried? going to check in with chad myers to get the answer. ♪ oh, it was the first time i fell in love ♪ ♪ the first time i felt my heart ♪ [ man ] people say i'm forgetful. [ horn honking ] ♪ ...all through the night [ man ] maybe that's why we go to so many memorable places. ♪ [ male announcer ] the subaru outback. love the road you're on. ♪ it's just how i want to do it ♪ ♪ changing of my mind ♪ it's just how we're gonna do it ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] turn your world upside down with gillette fusion proglide because you can shave against the grain with comfort. fusion proglide's microcomb guides hair for its thinner blades to cut close effortlessly. get against-the-grain closeness comfortably with gillette fusion proglide. 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. take a look at a live picture. we're monitoring this event that president obama is holding at the white house to speak before the american latino heritage form. we will listen as we to see if he makes any comments about this alleged assassination and terrorist spot foiled that allegedly was backed by iran. if he comments on that we will certainly dip into that event and bring that to you. well, it's a strange story, because it's almost like deja vu or ground hog's day. here we go again. weeks after a falling american satellite put the world on alert, another that could be plunging to the earth. chad, with the details here. >> yes. >> we survived the last one, right? >> hit the water. >> another is coming our way? >> one that's going to not break up as much, though. because it's, a lot of it is made of ceramic. that's is not going to burn up on its way into the atmosphere. a bigger piece. they're saying the size of a small black bear. now, that's going to leave a mark. you know -- somewhere. but here's the irony of this story. this is about r.o.s.a.t. these are all the things flying in our atmosphere that eventually will have to come down. oh, 4,000 at this point in time. here is rosat now. ge on to a website, n2yo.com and track it. up in the left-hand corner called rosat. over the northern sections of brazil, then over to europe. what's it look like? a pretty big satellite. not quite as big as the one that came down a little bit ago, because it was part of an x-ray exam between the u.s., brits and canadians, satellited around the earth, 150,000 times. and the heaviest piece will be this time 1,700 pounds. that's pretty big. the risk of anyone being hit, 1 in 2,000, if you multiply that by the world's population, the chance of you being hit is 1 in 13 trillion. yes, the sky is falling, technically, but i think you're safe. >> hopefully it's not falling on us. >> that's right. >> thank you. we'll watch out for the big, black bear. getting lost in a corn maze. right? well, sometimes people think that would be a fun thing to do, but a couple in massachusetts, they had to call 911 positi 911t them out. ] ] ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ ♪ [ imitates guitar noise ] ♪ [ vocalizing up-tempo heavy metal song ] ♪ [ vocalizing continues ] ♪ [ all singing ] from honda. 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[ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. we're talking stories making news across the country. police are back in control now of a prison in western oklahoma where a riot broke out. prison officials say inmates barricaded themselves in rooms throughout north fork correctional facility. police in riot gear tossed tear gas through windows and doors and forced them out. in massachusetts, a couple with a new baby thought it might be fun to make their way through a maze, through a cornfield. it started getting dark and they realized they were lost. check out the 911 call. >> we thought this would be fun. instead, it's a nightmare. i'm really scared. it's really dark and we got a 3-week-old baby with us. >> calm down. your husband's with you, right? >> the son was getting upset and they didn't want to go through the rest of maze to be able to get to the end. >> we understand. they're fine. a couple in illinois are the proud parents of twin girls. now, this is the strange part. born five days apart in two different states. they're actually called interval twins. one ready to come out october 1st at a hospital in illinois. the other was not. so mom was taken to a children's medical center in missouri where her other twin arrived five days later. when hip-hop started in the late 1970s it was a cultural movement. young folks in new york exposing problems in their neighborhood, drug abuse, gangs and through music. at the time, middle america was ignoring it. not anymore. here's cnn's soledad o'brien. >> reporter: hip-hop changed the nation and in his new book, steve stout says he knows how it happening. >> reporter: what does the tanning of america mean? >> where the next generation of kids, ma lennianers see the world no longer through color or ethnicity. they see it through shared values. >> reporter: stout used his connections as a former record executive to connect big business with urban oriented marketing campaigns, like jay-z for reebok and he's the man behind justin timberlake's popular slogan for mcdonald's. ♪ lovin' it ♪ >> and i felt like i could find authentic ways for the branch to tap into the culture hip-hop has created. >> reporter: hip-hop was something that started from the streets. writer nelson george says the partnership with big business is watering down the art form. >> but what gets on the radio and most of america is not very content driven. it's more an inducement to dance, then leading to inducement to buy a particular brand of alcohol or clothing or car. >> reporter: forbes music editor zach greenberg says many hip hoar artists make more on endorsement than their recorded music. >> we're speaking about the music. most of it is just silly. hip-hop create add culture and i think that culture was meant to the shared. >> reporter: you say you can draw a direct line between hip-hop and 1600 pennsylvania avenue? >> that younger voter was open-plinded to an african-american president as a result of the cultural sharing that we're discussing. i believe hip-hop was a main driver of that cultural sharing. if using corporations helped spread that message, then that's what it takes. >> reporter: reporting for "in america," sol brad o'briesoleda o'brien. a special hosted by soledad november 13th at 8 eastern. well, you have been sounding off on today's talk back question. does mitt romney's changing position on health care matter to you? fred says, dare we rekindle that old phrase used against john kerry, flip-flopper? more of your responses coming up. welcome to the team. here's your signing bonus. better deposit that before you get hurt! 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[ 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. ♪ you have been sounding off on today's talkback question, does mitt romney's changing position on health care matter to you carol costello with the anticipates. hey, carol what are folks saying? >> here's what folks are saying right here. this from matthew, i live in massachusetts, so yes. he forced his plan on our state, bailed and changed his mind on the individual mandate but we still have his plan to deal with. america, i hope you are paying attention to his back and forth behavior. this from elaine, don't we all grow and therefore, change? i would hate to vote for someone who had never changed his or her mind about anything. change not the enemy, nor is compromise. this from lucas, i feel bad for him with romney care, he showed add heart, something which isn't allowed in today's republican party. this from chris, it certainly bothers me when any person running for office acts in a manner that is a blatant attempt to win votes. it's like a band that writes a song to try to get on the radio. you can just tell it isn't coming from the heart. keep the conversation coming, facebook.com/carol cnn. i will be back with you in about 15 minutes. >> thanks, carol. republican candidates who hope to unseat president obama, they are facing off and they did so in the latest debate, one of them stealing the spotlight. [ female announcer ] we understand that today your life if full of responsibilities. so if you're thinking of going back to school we created the phoenix prep center, a personalized academic planning resource. and when you're ready to take that next step you can attend our orientation workshop, either on campus...or online to see if our university is right for you. our commitment to you begins before you even enroll. explore these resources and more at phoenix.edu. in our political ticker, the republicans who hope to take back the white house took on each other last night again. the latest debate informs new hampshire, one of the candidates, herman cain, stole the spotlight. here is cnn's jim acosta. >> reporter: suzanne it is fitting that this latest gop debate was held on a college campus because the gop field was hazing cane. >> 9, 9, 9. jobs, jobs, jobs. >> herman cain found out what happens to gop candidates who shoot up in the polls, they become big targets. >> when you take the 999 plan and you turn it upside down, i think the devil's in the details. >> reporter: take 999, cain's economic plan to scrap the country's current tax system and replace it is with one that sets rates for corporation and individual ought 9% and create a new 9% national sales tax. >> i think it's catchy phrase. in fact, i thought it was the price of a pizza when i first heard t here is something that we need, we need something that is doable, doable, doable. >> 999 will pass, not the price of a pizza. >>. >> but getting sliced up by the other candidates sitting at the table? >> how many people here are for a sales tax in new hampshire? >> you keep mention 999, herman cain, i'm going to have to go back to him every other question. >> reporter: feeling confident about his plan's really role in the debate, cain serve it had up to gop front runner mitt romney, who promptly sent it back to the kitchen. >> herman, i have had the experience in my life of taking on some tough problems and i must admit that simple answers are always very helpful, but oftentimes inadequate. >> reporter: candidates were also pressed on whether the financial crisis should have led to more prosecutions on wall street. newt gingrich fingered democrats in washington. >> if you want to put people in jail, i want to second what michelle did said, you ought to start with barney frank and chris dodd and politicians to created the environment, the politicians who profited from the environment and politicians who put this country in trouble. >> reporter:ry, who struggled in past debates did not get the breakout he need. he seemed sluggish in offering up his new economic plan, declining to offer specifics. >> open up areas of our domestic energy area, that's the real key. i'm not going to lay it all out for you tonight. you know, mitt's had six years to be working on a plan. i've been in this for about eight weeks. >> reporter: once again, mitt romney who projected the image of a contender cruising to the nomination, talking the pot shots in stride, even when it came to his tough talk on china. >> and we will go after them f you are not following stand up to china, you will get run over by china. >> reporter: but the night belonged to cain, even if he raised eyebrows when he said his not m-- model for a federal reserve chairman wasable greenspan, when he had the job at the bank. >> alan greenspan was a disaster. [ laughter ] >> reporter: with the focus of these debates shifting from michele bachmann to rick perry and now herman cain, mitt romney could not write the script better himself. after picking up the endorsement of chris christie, he has now secured the support of former speaker of the house dennis hastert and former new york congresswoman, susan moll lynn far thisry. for mitt romney, just another day at the office. suzanne? >> thanks. be sure to tune in as cnn western republican debate, coming up next tuesday night at 8 eastern that is from las vegas. cnn's anderson cooper is going to be the moderator. top of the hour, i'm suzanne malveaux. i want to get you up to speed. american officials are outraged, they say iran will pay. this texas used car salesman is the unlikely suspect in an alleged assassination plot backed by iran. now, the u.s. claims that man soar arbab see jar tried to hire an undercover informant to kill the ambassador to the united states. he wanted to blow up a washington restaurant killing the diplomat and potentially many americans along with him. u.s. officials gathered washington's diplo not mattic core to the state department today to assure them that they are safe and the obama administration is now deciding how to respond to iran. >> an outrage that violates one of the fundamental principles this is over the top, have to be held accountable. >> the u.s. links the alleged plot to the' leet quds force, could be backed by iran's revolutionary guard. unclear if the quds were acting on their own or from iranian's top leaders them call the plot a fabrication and accuses the united states of "stupid mischief." the terror trial of a nigerian man ended today, pleading guilty to all counts on the second day of his trial. abdulmutallab is charged with trying to blow up an airline we are explosives hidden had in his underwear that happened, you may recall, back on christmas day, 2009. attorney general eric holder and other justice department officials got subpoenaed today on fast and furious. a house committee want ease mails and other communications on that botched operation. that operation allowed illegal gun sales in phoenix so that federal agent does follow the weapons to mexican drug cartels. agents lost track of 2,000 guns. some were used in murders in the united states and mexico. holder told congress in may that he had only known about fast and furious for just a few weeks. republicans claim that holder knew more than he is acknowledging. senate republicans have blocked president obama's $447 billion johns package, but lawmakers are likely to see that bill again, but in smaller pieces. president obama says he is going to break the jobs legislation into several small bills and press congress to pass each one of those. he just wrapped up a speech at the white house forum on latino heritage that happened just moments ago and republicans did not like the way that the president would pay for the jobs bill. he wanted a surtax on people earning more than $1 million. herman cain's surge in the polls made him a target at last night's republican debate in new hampshire. cain's 999 tax plan drew fire as an unworkable scheme that didn't stand a chance of passing in congress. cain, as you know, is the former god father's pizza ceo. he wants a flat 9% tax on individuals, a 9% tax on businesses along with 59% national sales tax. candidate jon huntsman joked, he thought 99 was t 999 was the pr pizza. >> the next debate is tuesday, october 18th at 8 p.m. eastern. anderson coop letter moderate live from las vegas. budget cuts lead to an unintended result in topeka, kansas, the city council has repealed the local ordinance on domestic violence. that is because the district attorney stopped prosecuting misdemeanors. he says he didn't have the money. 18 people have been arrested in topeka on domestic violence charges but released because no one would prosecute them. an update now on brian stow, the san francisco giants' fan brutally beaten outside dodger stadium in los angeles. stow has left a san francisco hospital, now in a rehab facility that specializes in severe brain trauma. the beating left stow, a paramedic and father of two in a coma for months. he recently spok lly spoke his words and began interacting with his family. >> when brian came here, he was in a comatose state and when he left us today, he was able to begin to speak, interact with his family and he is now beginning to eat as well and he is making dramatic progress. >> doctors still aren't sure how much brain function that stow is going to get back over the long haul. they call him a challenging patient. back to our lead story. the alleged assassination attempt against saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states. justice department alleges that the plan was to blow up a restaurant while ambassador adele al-jubeir was dining, killing him with eight wrong other americans. the u.s. says the plan was conceived, sponsored and directed from iran. outraged u.s. officials are planning right now their reaction. our cnn foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is joining us live from the state department. so jill, these allegations, everybody is talking about them around the world, the state department is getting together officials to figure out what to do next what are they considering? >> well, let's start. there is quite a lot happening. number one, we have a meeting over here, a briefing that's being held by the second in command at the state department, bill burns. he is briefing ambassadors from around the world and telling them about this alleged plot. he is also, by the way, assuring them about security for themselves here in washington, d.c., but really, he is making the case, as the u.s. sees it, that this was a very serious plot and we are interested, of course in finding out, suzanne, if possible what those ambassadors think, were they convinced about that? we also have secretary of state hillary clinton, who this morning was scheduled to meet with the swiss ambassador to iran. and why that is important is because since the u.s. doesn't have any relations with iran, the swiss represent the u.s. interests. and the charges defair was called in by the iranians, furious about these allegations i and the u.s. wants the swiss to carry that message back to washington. the sanctions, maybe we can talk more specifically about that coming out of treasury. >> watching live picture there is, jill, about the secretary about to take the podium here to make some comments. we will see if she has anything to talk about this in particular. but do you have a sense of what the united states needs to do to convince are those in the international community, those who she's meeting with, that this plot was real? is there some sense of skepticism among folks? >> they have to give them as much proof as they can without, of course, revealing sources and other thing that they are doing, and this is really important, they are urging the international community to isolate, isolate, isolate iran. just before we went on acre the treasury department had another notice that they are designating mahan air, a commercial airline in iran, which it alleges, treasury alleges, has been transporting arms, et cetera, and the important thing was, they said we are doing this, today's action highlights further the undeniable risks of doing business with iran in the wake of that alleged terror plot. so, that is the u.s. -- the u.s. is really lobbying around the world for countries to have their own sanctions and also to carry out the sanctions that are on the books. >> all right, jill, thanks for following that we will get back to you, certainly if there's anything that the secretary says that is of importance dealing with this particular story. thank you, jill. now r,now, your chance to t about. mitt romney, he was ready fight sault in last night's debate, waiting for the inevitable attacks, something he is vulnerable with the eyes of republicans, that is, and that is health care. >> governor romney, your chief economic adviser, glenn hubbard, who you know well, he said that romney care was obama care. >> we have less than 1% of our kids are uninsured. you have 1 million kids uninsured in texas. >> so, a swift comeback but romney care, an issue, not going away. today's talk back question, does romney's changing position on health care matter to you? carol costello, she is joining us from new york. so carol, a lot of people think that several positions that he has taken he has flip-flopped on and health care seems to be a pretty big one. >> i know. he keeps shading his message when it comes to health care, you are right, suzanne, the biggest thorn in mitt romney's side what opponents call romney kay, the health care plan romney created in massachusetts when he was governor. turns out the obama administration was entranced with romney's plan. according to nbc news, obama officials met with romney's advisers to create obama care, and yes, both plans included a requirement to buy insurance. romney now says, yeah, so? >> the truth is, our plan is different and the people of in massachusetts if they don't like it they get rid of t right now they favor it 3-1. i'm not running for governor of massachusetts but president of the united states. as president, i will return the right to care for our poor and the way we thought best for our prospective states. >> still, it makes you wonder, here's governor romney on fox news the day he signed the massachusetts law. >> when i set out, find a way to gefrt be health insurance, i couldn't care less and don't care less about how it works politically. in my view, it was the right thing to do >> mitt romney was before the individual mandate before he was against it at least on a national level and he says as president, he will reveal the very health care law that he inspired. so, the talk back question today, does romney's changing position on health care matter to you facebook.com/carolcnn. facebook.com/carolcnn. i will read your answers later this hour. >> thank you, carol. here is a run down the stories we are cover the next hour, first, republican presidential candidates make jokes about herman cain's 999 plan, but what's the reality here? and then a profile of iran's elite special operations unit, accused of plotting to assassinate an ambassador to the united states. and also, it's a year after chilean miner rescue, i'm going to talk to a man who says that many of the miners are close to poverty and losing their minds. and later, why the nba lockout is hurting more than just the fans. we look at the businesses that rely on those games. 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[ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go see your doctor now. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. i want to go directly to secretary of state hillary clinton making remarks out of washington and see if she says anything else about this alleged assassination and terrorist plot that was backed by iran. >> crimes against internationally protected persons, which, of course, includes diplomats. iran is a signaller to to this convention. iran is also in agreement with the security council resolutions, to implement t this kind of reckless act underminds international norms and the international system. iran must be held accountable for its actions. in addition to the steps announced by the attorney general yesterday the united states has increased our sanctions on individuals want iranian government who are associated with this plot and iran's support for terrorism. we will work with our international partners to increase iran's isolation and ask other nations to join us in condemning this threat to international peace and security. now, i want.to thank you for thinking about tomorrow and for devoting this day and many other days as well to discussing the sources of america's greatness, the power of our ideals and the prospects for our future. at the state department -- >> secretary of state hillary clinton saying in very clear terms that they are looking for further action, retaliation against iran. that they have slapped additional sanctions on individuals in the iranian government they believe are associated with this alleged terrorist plot, that they are also encouraging people to isolate iran from the rest of the international community. they are speaking before foreign policy analysts but also holding meetings with diplomats themselves to try to figure out what are the next appropriate steps in retaliation for iran. herman cain found himself last night in the hot seat. it was the republican presidential debate. it was in new hampshire. former ceo, god father's pizza, he has now surged in recent polls, his rivals, they are waste nothing time in going on the attack. he is the latest attack. their target is his 999 plan to overhaul the federal tax code. they hit that plan pretty hard. there was some lighter moments as well. i want you to take a listen. >> i think it's a catchy phrase. in fact, i thought it was the price of a pizza when i first heard about it. [ laughter ] >> one thing i would say is win take the 999 plan and you turn it upside down, i think the devil's in the details. >> so here's how cain defended his plan. he was good natured about it. >> 999 will pass and it is not the price of a pizza because it has been well studied and well developed. it starts with, unlike your proposal, throwing out the current tax code, continuing to pivot off the can current tax code is not going to boost this economy. this is why we developed 999. 9% corporate business flat tax, 9% personal income flat tax and a 9% national sales tax and it will pass. >> herman cain quite confident there that this is what his plan would entail, lowering the corporate income tax rate to 9%, setting a 9% income tax rate for everyone and imposing a 9% national sales tax. alison kosik, she joins us from the new york stock exchange, so allison, cain's opponents have a number of objections to this. first of all, they say that this is not likely to pass congress. how come? >> well, first of all, it's clear that the critics are really pouncing on this you know what they say, they say one of the big issues here is that the plan is almost too simple because look at what it does. it wipes out most deductions, even the ones that are extremely popular, like the biggie, you know, deducting the interest on your mortgage. it is one of the reasons people buy instead of rent are. so taking it away could hurt the already lousy housing industry. another issue here, says critics, the national sales tax, you know, who wants to pay more for things that they buy? it is likely to be a real tough sell. also, will this tax apply to everything? for necessities like food, clothing and housing? i don't know if this is going to go of over too well as far as the pop.larity contest, suzanne. >> congress, popularity is important for those for example got to win office again and again. >> yes. >> second criticism of the plan is that poor people would have to pay more in taxes. does that ring true? >> yeah. well, you know, you talk to analysts and they say whenever you change the tax system there are going to be winners and there are going to be losers. many tax experts say the losers under 999 will be lower income americans because 22% of taxpayers don't pay taxes, they are low income, they don't make enough money to owe money or they get credits for things like having kids. so under 999, what's going to wind up happening is they would owe more and the higher earners would be taxed at a lower rate. also, the national sales tax, that's considered a regressive tax and the poor and middle class, they spend a greater percentage of their income on every day items, now that will be subject to a new tax. right now, remember sales tax is just state or local, it is not federal, suzanne? >> the third criticism of the plan is not going to bring in enough revenue. cnn has crunched the numbers, jkusa crunching those numbers for us found a significant gap in the revenue between cain's plan, which would bring in more than $1.7 trillion and the current tax structure which brings in more than $2.1 trillion. so is that true? is there a disparity here, just not going to raise enough revenue? >> yeah. you make a big -- a good point here this is really the big question. cain says 999 will bring in enough revenue to cover government costs but we are not really hearing all those details. this is kind of murky, various groups, they are crunching their own numbers and everybody is coming up with something different. cnn's numbers say 999 won't bring in as much revenue as the government collects now. some tax experts say if you don't have all the details it is almost impossible to crunch these numbers the right way and compute the real answer at this point. suzanne? >> finally, before we let you go how are the markets doing today? >> we have got a nice rally that's holding up, the dow up about 118 points, bank stocks are leading the way, jpmorgan, citigroup, wells fargo are leading the dow right now there's optimism that is growing that something is going to get done to help europe, the expectation is that investors are going to hear a plan today to recapitalize the european banks, so it doesn't hurt to get good headlines out of europe to move the markets higher today. suzanne? >> we like it good news, thank you, alison. noon it for the western republican presidential debate, next tuesday night at 8 eastern from las vegas. cnn's anderson cooper is going to be the moderator. ♪ [ male announcer ] we're not employers or employees. not white collar or blue collar or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges. but at prudential we're helping companies everywhere find new solutions to manage risk, capital and employee benefits, so american business can get on with business. ♪ 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. ♪ my sunglasses. [ tires screech ] ♪ oh, it was the first time i fell in love ♪ ♪ the first time i felt my heart ♪ [ man ] people say i'm forgetful. [ horn honking ] ♪ ...all through the night [ man ] maybe that's why we go to so many memorable places. ♪ [ male announcer ] the subaru outback. love the road you're on. [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. the oldest fashion house in the world is not kahnle or dior, some of you may not be familiar with the name lanvin, around since 1889 and a decade ago it needed a facelift. the industry's most beloved deseeners has step inched. >> reporter: may not look the part. [ speaking french ] >> reporter: but lanvin al lber elbaz has the face of a cher rub and the golden touch. >> i think fashion has to be relevant for the moment. the day after, the day before it is sour. try this ones. >> reporter: this 50-year-old designer has been making cloths for the moment as creative director of lanvin for ten years. resurrecting a label with a good name but not much else into a luxury fashion force. you came to paris just for him? >> yes. yes. >> why? >> i think if you're going to see a show, his work is so spectacular it is going to be worth it. >> reporter: and they do come, because elbaz is able to do in fashion what few others can, create clothes that wow but don't scream at you. you say your work is like a whisper, explain that. >> i think that whispering is something very personal because when someone whisper to you, he has to get really close to you. >> reporter: clothes both customers crave and critics adore. all around, there were raves for his latest collection for spring 2012. >> he could use those clothes which as soon as you put them on, you feel really good about yourself. >> reporter: and this season, elbaz launched clothes for kids. tot couture. >> oh! >> reporter: with three to four-figure price tags, miniature copies of mom's clothes from the most copied designer on the planet. how do you know that you've made it? how do you define success? >> i don't. oh, i never know. i mean, first of all, i think i'm always the worst. success is like a perfume. if you smell it, it is good but if you drink it, it it is not good for you. >> reporter: elbaz says the collection isn't ready until the clothes speak to him. >> well, i see the world. the dress tell me that she is okay and she doesn't want to go elsewhere, i know i have to leave her alone and let go. >> reporter: a design here creates not just clothes but a sensation. when you see a woman walking down the street wearing a lanvin dress, how does that feel? >> that touch me the most. i feel they chose me and i find it very, very personal. i just want to go and hug them and say thank you for doing that. >> before working at lanvin, he thought about quitting fashion, going to medical school. now he says, he doesn't have to be a doctor because in his word, a doctor is going to give you tie len no he is going to give you a dress. well, did members of iran's quds force not to assassination a saudi envoy? ircalls the u.s. allegation a comedy show fabricated by america. well, who exactly is quds force? could they have done it alone without authorization from iran's top leaders? we are going to get to the bottom of this with the guests, former state department official nick burns. ♪ [ male announcer ] when we unveil the all-new 2012 m-class, we're actually introducing a vehicle built upon 125 years of engineering excellence. which is why, no matter what is happening in the world outside, there is such a sense of complete confidence inside. introducing the 2012 m-class. quite possibly the most advanced suv ever. from mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. u.s. officials are fired up over an allege plot to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states here on american soil. congressman peter king is calling it an act of war. the state department is issuing a rare worldwide alert, warning americans to be on guard against terrorist attacks and u.s. officials are right now briefing the diplomatic core about the alleged murder-for-hire scheme. iran categorically rejects the claim, calling it an he evil plot, but it reads like a spy novel. saudi ambassador adele al-jubeir was been blown up at his favorite restaurant in washington. this man, was jailed in new york just last month, with iran and u.s. citizenship. he is accused of working with members of an arm of the iranian revolutionary guard to carry out this assassination. arbabsiar believed he was hiring assassins from the mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million but a member turned out to be a paid informant for the u.s. drug enforcement administration. a recorded conversation taken directly from the federal complaint quotes ar bar say jar as saying he wants to you kill this guy. a paid source says there will be american people in the restaurant, you want me to do it outside or in the restaurant in the answers, doesn't matter how do you t iran was labelled a state sponsor of terrorism 27 years ago and president bush lane it had an axis of evil, but because of the country's complex and unusual power structure it is really tough to know how far up the food chain or chain of command this plot might have gone. so, that's supreme leader, the ayatollah, the president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, and the revolutionary guard, which includes the quds force and the basij militia. former undersecretary for political affairs, nick burns, joins us from cambridge, massachusetts, also former ambassador to nato. if you could nick, you hear this plot, tell us, does it make sense to you? what would iran even get out of this? >> it is a strange plot to be sure, but i find the u.s. charges to be highly believable and credible what we are looking here in the revolutionary guards is a radical organizations who influence has grown in the iranian government the last few years. think is fair to say that organization is tied directly to the supreme leader of iran and not so much to the president of iran, mahmoud ahmadinejad. so this is a very serious challenge to the united states. here is plot to assassinate one of the closest friends and united states, the ambassador of saudi arabia in the capital city of the united states, so of course our government is taking this very seriously, the attorney general, the fbi director and secretary hillary clinton indicateded yesterday and the iranians need to be held accountable for, this as all the officials said yesterday. >> what does the u.s. do? what are the tools in administration's disposal here to hit iran and to hit iran hard? >> i think the things the united states is obviously trying to think of now that it can do first, we are hearing that the administration, we have read in the paper, the administration might want to sanction the specific individuals in the quds force, the revolutionary guards responsible for this second, the administration can try iran in the high court of international public opinion. if you take this episode and you also look at the fact that iran is making progress on its nuclear research effort, i think obviously going to the security council, mobilizing the many, many allies and partners of the united states around the world, along with the help of saudi arabia, because, of course, remember this is not just a crisis in u.s./iran relation. >> sure. >> very much a crisis in relations between saudi arabia and iran. the arab world i think will be nearly unified in opposing the iranian regime and setting up a barrier to the ex-pen is spanns of iranian influence in the middle east through a strong development of the military notice gulf in the in association with the united states. in essence it is an opportunity for the united states as well now to really turn up the pressure and turn up the heat against the irrainian government, which is, of course, an international outlaw as a government. >> nick, turning up that heat here, clearly seen secretary clinton out front, saw attorney general eric holder yesterday. does that indicate to you that this really is a diplomatic and a law enforcement issue here? that they are going to take that strategy and we are not looking at not looking at military strikes not this playing now the terms of some sort of conflict, an armed conflict with iran? >> well, neither president obama or president bush before him ever took military option awful table because of the nuclear challenge that iran poses to the u.s. and our allies but i think very much right now this is a diplomatic political crisis and that's where it properly should stay. what we want to do now, their government, our government wants to prove conclusively in the united nations and elsewhere that iran was responsible, the iranian government was tied to this plot and the charges yesterday by the attorney general and the fbi could not be more serious and i think the charges could not be more credible. that's where i think the administration has the greatest opportunity to isolate iran to weaken iran further. this is a government that was riding high several years ago with lots of people around the world listening to t this government in iran has lost a lot of influence. ahmadinejad had as well this is a time for the united states to pressure, sanction and further isolate the iranians. >> you can in burns, thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> thank you. republicans who want to take back the white house are facial off in new hampshire. herman cain, he has got an loft attention, it seems all his opponents want to take on cain's plan to fix the economy. we will check in with our wolf blitzer in washington to talk about that. th is the hot dog ez bun steamer. steam is the key to a great hot dog. i knew it was going to be a success. the invention was so simple that i knew i needed to protect it. my name is chris schutte and i got my patent, trademark and llc on legalzoom. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. herman cain was front and senter in the latest republican presidential debate. the former ceo of god father's pizza has been surging in the polls and, of course, his gop rivals noticed that, they went on attack over his plan, the 999 plan that would of overhaul the nation's tax structure. they say it can't possibly work. ca cain is standing by the plan. >> 99 will pass, not the price of a pizza, because it has been well studied and well developed it starts with unlike your proposals, throwing out the current tax code, continuing to pivot off the current tax code is not going to boost this economy. this is why we develop 999. 9% corporate business flat tax, 9% personal income flat tax and a 9% national sales tax and it will pass. >> my friend, wolf blitzer, he is joining us from washington and wolf, what i found fascinating about that debate last night was the fact that so many people and so much time of this debate focused on herman cain and the 999 plan. he is doing pretty good in the polls here but we have seen people come and go dip and dive. how long do you think this is going to last? >> i don't know how long it will last but he is doing well, he is an intelligent guy, he's smart guy, happens to be a nice man as well, and he is very available to the news media. you see him on television all the time. he is not afraid to answer tough questions, i think one of the biggest problems he is going to have, suzanne on, this 999 plan, the third part of it a 9% national sales tax. if you add a 5 or 6% state sales tax in many parts of the country, you are already talking about 15% and for poor or middle class people, everything they are going to go buy is going to be, let's say you add 15s for their purchases, that's not going to be very popular. so i think that is going to be a problem. dees pretty good job explaining what he has in mind because he has eliminated so many all the other tax, restructure every bug in terms of politics, explaining that 9% national sales tax on top of state sales taxes, that's going to be the hardest thing he is going to have to deal with, but he is doing well in the polls, you can't dispute that. >> a lot of attention, everybody is talking about his plan which is more than you can say for some of the other candidates. i thought it was interesting, too guys like jon huntsman and rick santorum, both presented themselves very well in the debate last night but still not doing well in the polls why do we suppose there is not more traction there? >> santorum is doing relatively well, i use relatively deliberate any iowa. huntsman is doing relatively well, 4, 5, 6%, let's say in new hampshire that's where they are looking, huntsman, for all practical purposes, is staying away from iowa. santorum is spending a lot of time in iowa. so, they are very effective debators, they are very good in making their points they come from very different perspectives on some of the economic issues, you take a look at huntsman's economic plan, widely praised, by the wake the editorial page writers of the "wall street journal." you luke at some of santorum's plans there are some significant differences there, but by and large they still players in all of this they make their views known and certainly have a say in the debates as we can all testify. >> well, thank you very much, wolf, great to see you. >> thank you. you want to be sure to tune in for the cnn western republican presidential debate next tuesday night from las vegas. anderson cooper will be moderating. they aid it was like torture, being trapped underground for more than two month, not even knowing what their future held. the chilean miners, they still haven't recovered, one year after their rescue. i'm going to talk to an author who says that some are in pretty bad shape. who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. 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[ chanting ] the world watched and celebrated, one year ago today, when the 33 chilean miners were finally rescued after being trapped underground for two and a half months. >> i was with god and i was with the devil. but god won. i held on to god's hand, the best hand, and at no point in time -- how i do explain this? at no -- at no point in time did i doubt that god wouldn't get me out of there. >> so the miners thought they had a second chance at life, right, that things would be okay, but it turns out that many of them are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, they can't sleep at night, they can't even hold down a job. but joining me now is the author of of a new book, "33 men," jonathan franklin answered spent almost six weeks on a hill side during the rescue operation answered interviewed the men while they were underground. the men even let him read their diaries. jonathan, a year now since they have been rescued. we all saw the rescue, we were smiling, we were cheering along with them, thinking that these guys a new lease on life, but you have written that they are experiencing something very different, stock home syndrome even, like a feeling attachment to this mine where they were tortured by their experience. can you explain? >> yeah, exactly. they got fame but no fortune. they really thought they were going to be millionaires out of this. and it turns out, as usual, life is much more complicated, they have nightmares, they have flashbacks, they can't even go back to working in a mine. >> what is their mental state of most of these miners now? how are they living? >> well, what's interesting is they feel very comfortable when they are together, they formed a bond, this underground society, they were slowly starving to death underground and remarkable what they did underground, but now they are above ground, they also miss that kind of -- that camarader camaraderie, the friendship they had they feel alone when they are not with the other miners. >> and yet they are alone. you said during an interview you had with one of those miner, samuel avalos recently, i told you i live in a house that creeks and when i am asleep and i -- and hear that groan, it reminds me that i am back in the mine. are they having flashbacks or are they feeling a certain sense of fear in the real world? >> yeah. when you're with the guys, it's -- you know, it is like being with a soldier who doesn't like the sound of a mortar, strange noises, they really still live inside the mine when they close their eyes and when i wrote the booking, i brought you underground to make you feel how terror-filled it was and i think anybody be who paid attention to those first 17 days when they were slowly dying, slowly starving to death could understand why this -- this will never leave them. >> you write about that, two horrible fates that he they thought they were facing. this one with, you writer, you say the men were look act one another, wondering who would die first. it was an open secret that the first victim would also be the first meal. is that true? is that what they told you? >> yes, it is true. i tried not to talk too much about that in my book because there's a lot of sensitivities and we -- who are we to judge people who are slowly dying and starving to death underground? but indeed they can did talk about when the first person died, they had two options, they could bury him or they could eat him had. >> you also talk about a suicide pact is that right? >> i'm not so sure about a suicide pact. what i do believe is that the men were starting to question whether it would be better to die quickly or slowly starve to death, so yes, they did talk about this idea of a collective suicide. i wouldn't exactly call it a pact, but they were slowly starving to death. for 17 days, they had no food. it was 90 degrees, 90% humidity. if you put yourself in that and then add in that you're trapped with 32 co-workers for ten weeks, you might understand the stress they lived. >> sure. jonathan, i want to try to end on a more positive note, a sense of optimism, if we can with what is the one thing that you think these miners need right now to be able to move forward, to function and to have a future? >> what they really need right now is for the world to show they still care about them, letters, $10 donations, i know is a hard time in the united states but these guys are begging me, i'm journalist, begging me for money for english classes for -- to get medicines. they are really -- apart from all the psychological problems, they are living port verty.as we all new york the dire poverty on top of all the problems these guys are having, it's not fair. >> jonathan franklin, thank you for your excellent work, your insights and clearly, your update here because these are -- these are men who need a lot of help and who clearly need that message to be sent thought to the publicment thank you, jonathan. >> thank you. they do appreciate all these words of support. >> thank you. you have been sound offing on today's talk back question. does mitt romney's changing position on health care matter to you carol costello, she has got your responses. sounding off today's talk back he question, does mitt romney's changing position on health care matter to you carol costello what are folks saying, carol? hey. >> hi, suzanne. i think many of these folks are democrats, quite frankly, but i don't know. some of them could be independents. talk back question today, as you said, does mitt romney changing his position on health care matter to you? 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. ♪ [ gnome ] awwwwwwww. i just feel bloody awful. she told tiffany, stephanie, jenny and becky that she was coming to a place like this! but somebody didn't book with travelocity, with 24/7 customer support to help move them to the pool daddy promised! look at me, i'm swimming! ♪ [ gnome ] somebody, get her a pony! [ female announcer ] the travelocity guarantee. if your booking's not right, we'll help make it right, right away. from the price to the room to the trip you'll never roam alone. the nba has canceled the first two weekses of the season and could mean a longer timeout. the lockout will have a big impact on a lot of folks who make a loichk game day. more from cnn's casey wian. >> reporter: farm of beverly hills near staples center relies on customers going to lakers and clippers games for about a third of its business during basketball season. ceo fran berger is preparing for a long lull. >> staffing's gonna get cut way back. everything is going to get cut way back. we won't be buying as much. we won't be having as many people working at those nights and those hours. it is going to hit a lot of people. >> reporter: restaurant workers making a minimum wage plus tips acres rena employees making $11 an hour. >> i understand as far as the union talk i know they have to negotiate everything but other people thought that actually need the money. >> my wife and i, we couldn't go on vacations and that is just those things we have to cut back on the i have to make sure i watch out for the bills that i have so i don't want to overspend myself now. >> reporter: the loss is particularly hard for workers in businesses near staples center, them two nba teams and the potential for 82 nights plus playoffs in lost revenue. in atlanta, restaurants near phillips arena are reeling from the recent location of the thrashers professional hockey team. now, the nba's hawks are gone until mid-november, at least. a decrease in business on what would have been home games, we usually get a nice pop, two hours before the game and then depending how they do after hearn game business. >> lakers in town, lebron in town it becomes a whole day affair. >> reporter: convention and visitor business will soften bloat but not about 2,000 union workers at nba's arena in california. >> billionaires disputing in a dispute with millionaire ball players and typically, as it's happening across america it is the working people that suffer