good. the unemployment rate is still stuck at 9.1%. dan lothian is adding up the numbers. what do they mean for the president and for the american pe people? >> the economy is having a difficult time finding traction even as the 2012 campaign ramps up. republicans are blaming this on the president's quote failed policies, but this is all showing a sense of urgency for the president and members of congress that they need to do something now. on a beautiful fall day in the nation's capitol, nothing but blue skies and sunshine. but a dark cloud continues to linger over the nation's economy. >> the reason we're not seeing the hiring we want is because we're not seeing the economic growth we need. >> the latest numbers bare that out. unemployment remains at 9.1%, what a white house called unacceptably high. while employers added 103,000 jobs, the report was relative weak. >> it is far from good enough. >> white house aides say this underscores the need for quick action on the president's jobs bill, but mr. obama described as an insurance policy against a double dip recession. >> at a time when so many people are having such a hard time, we have to have an approach. we have to take action that is big enough to meet the moment. >> but there's resistance on capitol hill where the jobs act as one piece of legislation seems unlikely to pass and republicans were quick to point to the unemployment numbers as yet another sign of failed leadership. >> and after three years of false hopes and broken promises, americans continue to be left asking the question, where are the jobs? >> with success in the 2012 elections expected to hinge on the health of the u.s. economy and republican presidential hopefuls taking shots at the president, there's mounting pressure on the maix to turn things around. >> can he get re-elected if the economy is not significantly improved and does he deserve to? >> yes. because what the election will be about is whose vision for america's future is best? >> the president met here at the white house today with democratic leaders in the senate including harry reid. carney says it was a good meeting. they talked about the president's jobs act and what the leadership is planning to move forward on a vote on this next week, wolf. >> thank you. meanwhile, the republican presidential front-runner laid out his vision of a strong united states playing an activity role as leader of the free world. he accused president obama of shrinking from the challenge. it came on this day the exact tenth anniversary of the start of the war in afghanistan. listen to this. >> i'll order a full review of our transition to the afghan military to secure that nation's sovereignty from the tyranny of the taliban. i'll speak with our generals in the field and receive the best recommendations of the commanders. the force level necessary to complete our gains is a decision i will make free from politics. i will bolster and repair alliances. our friends should never fear that we will not stand by them in an hour of need. i will reaffirm as a vital national interest israel's existence as a jewish state. i will count as dear our relationship with united kingdom and -- this is america's moment. we should embrace the challenge and not shrink from it. not crawl into an isolationist shell. not wave the white flag of survrender nor give into those who assert that america's time is past. that's utter nonsense. an eloquently justified surrender of world leadership is still surrender. i will not surrender america's role in the world. this is very simple. if you do not want america to be the strongest nation on earth, i'm not your president. you have that president today. >> all right. let's talk about this with our chief political analyst and chris lawrence. this was a very tough speech on the president's foreign policy record. >> it was, wolf. and mitt romney was saying something we've heard before from many republicans, which is this notion that barack obama does not embrace american exceptionalism. the president was asked about it and said, yes, i believe in it, but the british probably believe in british exceptionalism. it's been easier to say this is a president who doesn't believe we are the greatest and who spends too much of his time apologizing for america rather than defending america. >> chris, what are they saying at the pentagon about what romney's strategy in afghanistan is all about? >> i think when we talked about going back to the commanders on the ground and getting their best assessment and making sure the withdrawal decision is not based on politics, it was a pointed attack at president obama setting the 18-month deadline and governor romney is right in the respect that many military leaders did not approve of setting that firm deadline. but go back just a couple of months to the june republican debate. in that case, governor romney said quote, u.s. troops shouldn't go off and fight a war of independence for another nation and it's time for us to bring our troops home as soon as we possibly can. that statement sounds a lot like president obama. and if governor romney was going to open the possibility of extending a larger u.s. presence in afghanistan, you have to deal with the effects of cost. by some estimates, it costs $700,000 to upwards of a million dollars for every man that the united states has in afghanistan. >> that's costing about $2 billion a week in u.s. taxpayer money to keep all those troops in afghanistan and president's strategy says another three plus years. 100,000 eventually will be withdrawn, but they're going to be there until the end of 2014. i didn't hear a lot of difference between what the preside president's strategy is at least as far as romney's sfrat ji right now -- >> there isn't a whole lot of difference. what romney was trying to do was place himself firmly on the side of the generals, which is a good political position to be in, and say that the president is withdrawing troops faster perhaps than we ought to be doing it right now, but in terms of 2014, he agrees with the president that we ought to be out of there. what's interesting is that i think romney was criticizing republicans in this speech, too, by talking about a strain of isolati isolationism. talking about his fellow republicans like ron paul and michele bachmann, who wouldn't want to remain under any circumstances even if the jeopardies said, you needed to stay. >> yeah, he ridiculed that wing of the republican party. chris, romney also said he doesn't want to cut anymore defense spending on day one, he's going to stop that defense cuts in order to try to balance the budget. was there anything in what romney was saying that the military might not like? >> i think the one thing that jumped out to me was when he said i will reverse president obama's massive defense cuts. the reality is that defense spending has gone up every year that obama has been in office. now, the president has proposed cutting about $400 billion in defense, but again, that is a proposal right now and that's spread out over the next 12 years. the other thing that jumped out was specifically that the governor would like to increase the number of ships that the us navy is building from about nine a year to about 15 a year. that has music to the ears of many in the navy and also to a lot of states like virginia where you've got shipbuilding. the question is, how do you pay for that? his aides have talked about going after waste, but even robert gates says all that low lying fruit has been picked. they've already made the easy cuts when it comes to waste. they call themselves values voters, but right now, republican hopefuls are trying their hardest to lock down their votes. we're going live to hear what some of those republican candidates are saying. and what happens to the economy if neither side budges in time. two expert rs standing by to debate that and more. the former white house chief economist, austan goolsbee, and stephen moore. ♪ do you believe in magic? [ male announcer ] there's just something about werther's caramel that makes a chocolate so smooth and creamy, you don't just taste it, you feel it. ♪ magic [ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. but they also go beyond banking. we installed a ge fleet monitoring system. it tracks every vehicle in their fleet. it cuts fuel use. koch: it enhances customer service. it's pretty amazing when people who loan you money also show you how to save it. not just money, knowledge. it's so much information, it's like i'm right there in every van in the entire fleet. good day overall. yeah, i'm good. come on in. let's go. wow, this is fantastic. ge capital. they're not just bankers. we're builders. they helped build our business. ♪ [ male announcer ] with 50 horsepower, dual overhead cams and fierce acceleration, the gator xuv 825i will shatter your expectations. ♪ and so no one gets left behind, check out our all-new, affordable xuv 550s at johndeere.com/gator. republican presidential candidates are courting social conservatives at the values voters summit. rick perry and rick santorum spoke today. jim acosta is there for us. what's happening right now? >> well, wolf, i was able to pull aside here just for a few moments, dr. robert jeffers. the pastor of the first baptist church of dallas. he also gave a speech introducing rick perry and if you don't mind me saying, you've created a bit of a stir coming out of that speech because in talking to reporters, you said in pretty strong, plain language what you think of mormonism. you described it as a cult and you said that if republican votes for mitt romney, they're giving some credibility to a cult. do you stand by that comment? >> absolutely. that's not some fanatical. that's been the -- southern baptist convention has officially labeled mormonism as a cult. i think mitt romney's a good, moral man, but those of us who are born again followers of christ should prefer a competent christian that's why i'm enthusiastic about perry. >> what do you say to those voters who said religion as mormonism shouldn't be an issue. he's just as american as anyone else. >> i aglee and article 6 of the constitution -- >> and mormons do say they are christians. they believe in jesus christ. >> a lot of people say they're christians and they're not. i again believe that as christians, we have the duty to select christians as our leaders. that's what john jay, the first justice of the supreme court. between a rick perry and a mitt romney, i believe evangelicals need to go with rick perry. >> well, you started an issue here. we appreciate your time and just want to also mention that i had a chance to talk to upstart insurgent presidential candidate, herman cain, about dr. jeffers' comments as he was coming in. here's what he had to say. >> remarks? >> no comment. no comment. some people feel that way. you know, i respect everybody's, you know, religious beliefs and mormonism's been around a long time. no comment. not going to get into that. >> do you think that's appropriate to say? >> i don't think it's appropriate to say, but he said it. okay? he said it, but i don't want to get into it. i want to focus on growing the economy. creating jobs. >> what did you think about the jobs report today? >> i think it's another indication that this president has had failed economic policies. period. and what some, what some people have done is they've tried to create a distraction with this whole wall street thing. the policies -- they shouldn't be -- >> shouldn't some people on wall street be held accountable for what happened during the financial crisis? >> wall street didn't write the economic policies. the white house did. what happened on wall street is part of the problem, but it didn't create this high unemployment. >> and that was herman cain on the economy, but this issue of mitt romney's faith is certainly taking center stage here and i had a chance to talk to tony perkins, the head of the organization hosting this event. he said mitt romney's faith should not be an issue in this campaign. it should be the issues all americans will be voting on, the economy, how to get the economy moving again. >> i want you to relay this question. is he saying that because mitt romney is a mormon, people shouldn't vote for him for president of the united states because of his faith? >> wolf is skl me to ask you, are you saying that because of mitt romney's faith, that people should not vote for him? they should not go into the voting booth because of his faith? >> look, i think if it came down to a contest between mitt romney and barack obama, i would hold my nose and hope for mitt romney. i would have a nonchristian who at least supports biblical principles than a professing christian like barack obama who embraces unbiblical positions, but we're in the primary season right now and because of that, i believe that christians ought to select evangelical christians. >> and nobody from the perry campaign asked you to bring this up today? >> absolutely not. i have no reason to believe that governor perry shares my views at all. he probably doesn't. but i'm speaking at a pastor, not as a politician or pundit. >> as you heard, wolf, this issue is coming up here. it is an issue that mitt romney thought he dealt with in the 2008 campaign. he gave that big speech at texas. it appears that issue is now back. >> one quick question if you could ask him how he feels about this hypothetical. what if there's a nonchristian like eric cantor, the republican leader in the house of representatives who's jewish. could he support a jewish republican conservative like eric cantor if he were running against an evangelical christian. >> wolf has another question for you. that is because a lot of people have talked about eric cantor as a potential presidential or vice presidential nominee, would you hold his faith against him, the fact he is a jew? would you be okay with seeing a jewish person in the white house? >> no, i don't think it ought to be held against him. given the preference of having a christian versus a nonchristian, it was john jay said we should prefer and select christians as our leaders. we need to remember this. in 2008, 30 million evangelical christians sat at home and didn't vote. barack obama won by ten million votes. whether you like it or not, mitt romney will not energize evangelical christians. the fact is -- >> not everybody b agrees. tony perkins says that's not the case. >> i understand that, but people don't always tell the truth to pollsters. what they say to a pollster and what they do in the voting booth sometimes are two different things and i believe for a significant number of evangelical christians, they would prefer a strong christian like rick perry to a mormon. >> this is going to be an issue that evangelical christians will be talking about. it makes folks uncomfortable, but it is coming up. >> let's just point out that mormons consider themselves to be christians. they believe in jesus christ. even if the reverend and others do not believe. i think this is going to cause quite a stir out there. thanks very much. nerves were already frayed in congress with the bitter dispute over the economy and election year partisanship, but there was an extraordinary outburst of arraign in the senate last night. the flash bill was a bill aimed at punishing china for so-called currency manipulations, but the bill does have bipartisan support. it was really about power and politics and it broke out as minority republicans tried to tack on some unrelated amendments to the so-called china bill. after democrats gathered the 60 votes needed, a stalling tactic used by which ever party is in the minority, they shocked republicans by ramming through a rule change preventing republicans from adding the amendments. let's get more from athena jones. >> the issue here, the whole idea of minority rights. senate republicans are in the minority, so to offer amendments to be heard, but also about the idea of keeping the senate going and getting things done. what mitch mcconnell wanted to do was tack on unremitted amount amendments like the farm bill and this jobs bill. he wanted to see democrats vote on the original version of the president's jobs bill. this is the one without the updates that senator reid added changing the way the bill would be paid for. so, they wanted to push through this vote knowing that it might show some divisions among the democrats. if you talk to majority leader reid, he'll say this was really just a delaying tactic op the part of the republicans. it got heated. l let's listen. >> the united states senate, the minority is entitled to be heard. not entitled to win, but entitled to be heard. and so that the core problem here and i'd say to my friend the majority leader, nothing personal, we are fundamentally turning the senate into the house. no amendments before closure. no motions to suspend after. the minority's out of business and it's particularly bad on a bill that has the support of over 60 members as this one did. if your not among those 60, you're out of luck. >> i found over the last congress in nine months that when i try to have an open amendment process, it is a -- road to nowhere. we haven't been able to effectually single bill being passed that way regardless of whether that's right or wrong, that's what i did. >> i really don't want to speak. here's what i want to happen. i think members on both side of the aisle feel like this institution has degraded into a place that is no longer a place of any deliberation at all. and i like for you and the minority leader to explain to us so that we have one story here in public, as to what has happened this week to lead us to the place that we are. that's all i'm asking. that's all i want to know. explain how the greatest dlib rative body on a bill that many would say was a messaging bill in the first place, ended up having no amendments and we're in this place that we are right now. i just like to understand that. >> and so there you saw these simmering tensions right leading into a week where we're going to have a lot of big bills on the floor. they're supposed to be discussing the jobs bill, free trade agreements and the currency bill. right now, doesn't make it look like -- it shows more dysfunction in congress. >> certainly does. not a great surprise though and i think it's just going to begin. thanks very much for that. 103,000 new jobs created last month. where did they come from? we're talking jobs, the economy much more with austan goolsbee and wall street senior exhibition writer, stephen moore, thath coming up. exploding tankers full of ethanol. we're getting new details that's forcing hundreds to evacuate. but they also go beyond banking. we installed a ge fleet monitoring system. it tracks every vehicle in their fleet. it cuts fuel use. koch: it enhances customer service. it's pretty amazing when people who loan you money also show you how to save it. not just money, knowledge. it's so much information, it's like i'm right there in every van in the entire fleet. good day overall. yeah, i'm good. come on in. let's go. wow, this is fantastic. ge capital. they're not just bankers. we're builders. they helped build our business. my son and i never missed opening day. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporo