job done. is it enough time to save the world from a deep recession? and the bottom line on occupy wall street. the new york court has ruled that the protesters cannot camp in the park. let's go ""outfront."" >> i'm erin burnett. we have breaking news. in a major turn of events, occupy wall street protesters told they cannot camp in new york's park anymore. the protesters were evicted in the early hours of this morning and the verdict came down as dark descended this evening. the tents were removed and protesters allowed to go back in to get their personal belongings. the new york state supreme court overturning the earlier ruling on this. we'll have the breaking story and the implications on the park tonight. first developing news in washington. the co-chair of the super committee charged with cutting america's deficit said just moments ago, quote, we are in the hours to go. and the countdown is on. this is important and we are watching. the panel of 12 has got eight days, four hours and as you can see, 58 minutes and 11 seconds and counting to make a deal that cuts manager's deficit. if there is no deal when this clock hits zero, our economy will be hurt. your interest rates may go up and companies won't hire. we reached out to our sources. we know that today the six republican members met for breakfast and the six democrats met at the capitol in the afternoon. we need all 12 to be super heroes. they can really change the world and one came out front tonight. congressman bassera. he said this week could be magical and i asked him what he meant. >> if we're going to have the stars align, it has to be this week. in the next few days, we'll know if we're ashl to put aside those special interest pledges and come out with a good compromise for the american people. >> do you think that, you've been a proponent of going big as in shooting for $4 trillion of cuts to the deficit as opposed to the $1.2 trillion minimum the committee must come up with. do you think there's any chance of going above $1.2? >> i think there is a great chance. it does require us to be by partisan and come out with balance. the bigger you get, the more the hurt. so if we want to do something where there's shared sacrifice where everyone participates and you go big, you send a very strong signal but it is tough. i think the public and the markets will appreciate if we do something big that shows that america can get itself back on track and put americans back to work. >> they sure will. we don't have to come back and do this again. a $1.2, we might end up in that position. there was a great analysis in the new york times magazine noting that taxing millionaires at 100% wouldn't have as much of an effect as actually having an increase in taxes of 8%. the point was not to say you should not tax millionaires. the point was to say that no one group could solve all of our problems if we were to raise taxes. is that something that the super committee as a group, democrats and republicans agrees with? >> i would say that this should never be a process about targeting people or programs. it should be a process to come out with the best way to come out with the plan that shows balance in how we go about extracting savings. and so every time you hear about increasing revenues, it is more because we understand over the last decade, it is the wealthy that benefited so much by the policies in place through the bush tax breaks and so forth. it's not a matter of just telling wealthy. because you're wealthy, we want to target you. they're the ones that benefited at a time that the american middle class was being hollowed out. and there are 14 million americans still looking for a job. most of them, part of that middle class until a few years ago. >> right. absolutely the case. it is interesting when we looked at it from a numerical perspective. i know this oversimplifies the debate. if you were to get rid of the bush tax cuts on people making over $250,000. it would be $800 billion. if you got rid of them on everybody, it is $2.8 trillion. it does make a big difference to this point. not any one group. whether cutting medicare order over who or raising taxes only on the wealthy. >> you have to have a balanced approach. it makes no sense to tell seniors that their social security benefits will be cut to pay for deficits when social security didn't contribute a cent to these deficits. but if you're requesting to have a big package that really goes into the future, certainly could you ask everyone to participate. but it's simply a matter of making decisions about your priorities. and in this case, if you want to really get the country back on track, you really do want to go big. be bold. but certainly, tell the american people that it will be fair. it will be balanced. >> what about defense? one of the big issues, segt of defense panetta has been very, very loud about this saying that if you don't do your job, he has to cut $1.2 trillion in total from the defense budget. that would hurt america's defense. when you look at the numbers, and i would ask this question recently. eisenhower, george h.w. bush and nix object all cut defense by a lot more than that. so our massive and extra defense cuts on the table? >> well, they certainly are on the table because of the sequestration. the automatic cuts that will come if we don't come out with a deal. i will say this. the department of defense has to acknowledge that in the last ten years, the increased spending that occurred in those ten years, two-thirds went to the department of defense. so if the problem here is excessive spending, 65% of the excess spending was done by one department and one department only. the department of defense. that doesn't mean we should do anything to harm the training and equipping of our troops and making sure they have what they need if we send them into battle but it does mean the department of defense shouldn't undergo an audit. it is the only department that could not undergo an audit because they don't have their books in order. that doesn't make sense. everyone has to be more responsible. >> thanks again. >> thank you. >> let's bring in john avalon, senior columnist. good to see you tonight. going big. that's what bacerra wants. you're hearing probably not. >> we're hearing a lot of cynicism in washington but cynicism passes for wisdom in washington. i think there are folks holding out hope. i liked that he said they could make a deal. maybe bigger than $1.2. although that $4 trillion that you seem to be referring to seems to be too far. >> it does. we have patty murray out tonight saying there are hours to go. but she was saying it is in light of there's hours to go. we'd better get a deal. not in the sense of we'd better get an hour to go until we get a deal and we're making progress. >> that's right. we all know the path here. congressman bacerra was talking about cutting defense. raising tax. the trick is to get democrats to agree on entitlement reforms. it is part of bending that long term cost curve. both sides will have to be willing to gore the ox that their base is most likely to protect. that's what it will take, to go big. they have the ability to do this. they know what needs to be done. they need to follow through on the super committee. >> let's hope they do. our countdown clock every second of every day. john will be with us after the break. we have a new cnn poll that says more and more americans disapprove of how the president is doing his job. what does this mean for re-election? 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[ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. now to politics. we have a poll breaking today with some starting number for the president. a year before the election, the number of people who disapprove of how president obama is handling his job is up to 52%. that would mean a 46%, as you can see, approve. 52% disapprove. on the handling of the economy, that's where you see the stark difference. the number one issue into 2012, 63% disapprove. 35% approve of his handling. john avalon, what's your take on this? especially when you look at history where a lot of people like to say okay, with an approval rating of the magical what number you can get elected? >> well, what folks say is that you need to be, your approval rating is over 50% you have a good chab of being reelected. let's view with it a sense of history. that 46 is a slight uptick on recent polls as crazy as that may sound. gerald ford had 44% and lost re-election. jimmy carter had 32% a year out. soundly defeated. but george h.w. bush had 62% and he was defeated. the issue is the trend. and the only bright spot for the president, independents, he is underwater. 42%. centrists, 52%. and mid we shall voters, 54%. so there's some good news there but he is a very vulnerable incumbent. those are just the facts. >> do you feel good when you see this? that the trend is a slight improvement? or are you terrified? >> the other good news for the president is the president is actually beating his opponents when you look at one to one races. you look at romney and the aggregate of the polls. he is beating romney by one on or two point. and serve frustrated about the economy. the president is frustrated on the economy. i think you have to go back and remember where we came from. the last month of bush's presidency, this economy shed 800,000 jobs. you fast forward today. consumer spending is up. last month we gained 80,000 jobs. everybody wants those numbers to be better but the president put forth a plan that the economists slay create 2 million jobs. when you go back to the one on one numbers, the president's numbers are very good. >> david frum, what did you look at? the one-on-ones? or the approval rating where he doesn't? >> i look at french interest rates. >> now here's a new little curveball. okay. >> the real puff of winter for the president in these economic numbers is that they are responding to the drum beat of fear and bad news from across the atlantic. from the risk of the crack-up of the euro. if that happens, and if it is bad news and it may mean cheap vacations in italy and greece for americans which no one on this side of the atlantic will mine too much. if it portends, a sharp recession in europe. 2012 could be another bad economic year. and the president really can't control that very much. and that will be, i think, one of the major determinants of his fate. doesn't europe go into a slide? if so, presidents lose. they get blamed for everything. there's a famous study of the 1916 election where woodrow wilson up for reelection got penalized by voters in new jersey for a series of deadly shark attacks off their coastline. if they'll punish you for shark attacks, they'll punish you for europe. >> when we talk about the polls in iowa, these are out today. herman cain, still number one. ron paul, number two. romney, number three, gingrich, number four. you can see the gainers. paul and gingrich. the guy that tim is saying could potentially beat the president, mitt romney, is not the guy that seems to be running away with even now. >> i have to say this. this makes my blood boil. it is so insulting. i can only imagine how mitt romney feels about it. he is the guy who looks the president and the republican voters keep moving from one joker to another. newt gingrich less of a joker than herman cain but newt gingrich, not going to be president, with all these negatives, who reopens all the debates of the 1990s, meaning the election becomes a referendum on the past. not the future. i think the choice for republicans is obvious. and yet republicans seem to be wanting to nominate an obama-critic in chief rather than a commander-in-chief. >> obama is coming out now. romney romney will come out and fight against obama. the obama camp has already been making it clear, they think they're running against romney. he will come out against romney. your unemployment is nape%. you're done. coming out with a bunch of ads. can you get traction there as a businessman? well, no, with when we look at your private equity record. >> mitt romney has a free ride right now. he can be out there and be the critic in chief without putting forward any kind of concrete plan. at the end of the day it will be one person versus one person and one plan versus one plan. you'll have mitt romney as a businessman, a venture capitalist. he wants to lower taxes on the wealthy americans. and there be their will be a clear choice. >> final word? >> look, mitt romney is the only guy in politics with a glass ceiling. what maers in other with a and iowa can relace all the troubles. it is the ground game that's the key to winning the caucus. paul has very devoted supporters. gingrich and cain, big numbers. >> thanks very much. we appreciate it. the race makes for good tv. tonight's look beyond the video, take a look at these pictures out of africa's most active volcano. this is lava that you're seeing going up 650 plus feet into the air. the volcano is located in a remote area of the democratic republic of the congo. in the midst of what could be the biggest eruption this century. surprisingly, there is no immediate threat to the population. they're keeping a close eye on it. it could last from a few days to weeks to months. they don't know. it is that remote. officials at the park, and it is in a park where there are a lot of gorillas, they're saying it's safe for tourists. people have to be escorted to see it. they've been racked by conflict. the worst genocide since world war ii is ongoing. it is tragedy because it is one of the richest countries in the world. we've been to the southern part of congo. it is called the copper belt. riffest reserves of copper and cobalt in the world. it is safe to say almost every car, every iphone may have something in it from the the democratic republic of the congo. still "outfront," mike mcqueary breaking his silence. disturbing details about the black market ryno trade in tonight's outer circle. and brad pitt's days as an actor are numbered. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. i want to work with people who are objective. how about a plan with my name on it? 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[whispering] big dreams. try smart balance buttery spread. it's heart-healthier than butter. with omega-3s. 64% less saturated fat. and clinically proven to help support healthy cholesterol. ♪ put a little love in your heart ♪ we start the second half of our show with stories we care about. we focus on our reporting, do the work and find the "outfront" five. tonight it's a busy show. we have more breaking news. an earthquake hitting indonesia. the 5.8 quake was center in the papua, indonesia. we've learned a tsunami warning was not issued. obviously important. number two, troops in iraq today, leon panetta appeared before the senate armed services committee. john mccain accused the obama administration of putting politics before the security of iraq and america. >> the truth is that this administration was committed to the complete withdrawal of u.s. troops from iraq and they made it happen. >> senator mccain, that's not true. i guess you can believe that and i respect your beliefs. ? and i respect your opinion. but the outcome has been exactly as picked. >> that's not how it happened. >> it is how it happened. >> this is about negotiating -- this is about negotiating with the sovereign country. an independent country. >> there were sparks there. president obama announced the complete withdrawal of troops after iraq refused to grant immunity to u.s. troops past december 31st. number three, the u.s. postal service lost more than $5 billion in its 2011 fiscal year. "outfront" crunched the numbers. here's what we found. the amount of first class mail in this country has dropped more than 20% in the past five years. with half the revenue coming from first class mail, postal service is getting crushed by e-mail. the competition, fed-ex and ups, a lot more flexibility posted quarterly profits. number four, the clock is for the super committee. saying there are just hours left to go. and congressman xavier bacerra said he thinks the committee is on track to do a deal and go a lot bigger than t 1.2 trillion they're mandated to cut. more cuts to the deficit mean more jobs. it has been 102