to run the village post office. and at the same time giving them new customers. but the kims say for their town, the post office is much more than a business. >> they told us if we didn't do this, then the zip code was going to disappear and we're going to merge into oma's zip code then the malone's identity will disappear. >> reporter: so far they say reviews have been good, for the most part. >> they'll come in, well how do you call yourself a post office when you don't have everything that the post office offers? and i tell them, we're a very limited post office. that's why they call us the village post office. >> reporter: chad picks up some stamps and says he prefers having a smaller post office because it is open until 10:00 p.m. every night of the week. >> it's a lot more convenient because their hours are obviously much longer than what the old post office hours were. >> reporter: for the moment,

malone's is the country's only village post office. the postal service says they expect to save about $42,000 a year here and may turn as many as 3,700 existing locations into village post offices. but with a looming debt of $9 billion, saving the u.s. mail service is going to take more than a village post office. patrick oppman, cnn, malone, washington. the news continues now with randi kaye. this is the bill, says president obama. the question now is whether the american jobs act will ever be turned into law and how fast. as you may have seen live right here on cnn, president today showed off the job creating blueprint he plans to send to congress just hours from now. it is $447 billion worth of tax breaks and new federal spending which the white house says will be more than offset elsewhere in the budget. it would deepen and extent the

existing payroll tax cut for employees and employers, it would pump $60 billion into infrastructure projects and $25 billion into school repairs. $49 billion go for unemployment benefits now capped in many states at 99 weeks. by writing up a bill instead of just making a speech, though he's done that, too, mr. obama hopes to speed things along on capitol hill. new tack cuts fx cuts for busin he's almost daring republicans to say no. >> these aren't games we're playing out here. folks are out of work. businesses are having trouble staying open. you've got a world economy that is full of uncertainty right now in europe, in the middle east, some events may be beyond our control. but this is something we can

control. whether or not we pass this bill, whether or not we get this done, that's something that we can control. >> i want to talk more about this now, this control idea with cnn chief political analyst gloria borger. she comes to us today from tampa, site of this evening's gop presidential debate. we'll get to that in a second. dplor gloria, the president's sending up an actual written piece of legislation. what does that tell you? >> reporter: well, as you were pointing out before, randi, it is about control. this is very much a different barack obama from the one we saw, for example, in the health care reform debate. health care reform debate he had democrats in charge of each house. he said to nancy pelosi, he said to harry reid, you folks get together and you write this health care reform bill. and they did and it was a long drawn-out, complex, controversial process. in the end they got something passed, which is quite controversial.

this time you have the house controlled by republicans, you have the president facing a very tough election, you have the congress being very unpopular, so what did the president do? he's sending up a bill taking take it or leave it, or if there are parts of it you don't like -- there is what a senior white house advisor told me -- the advisor said if there's parts of it they don't like, then they have to go to the american public and explain why and explain just what else they would do to create jobs. so he is essentially calling their bluff. >> it sounds that way. let's talk about tonight's debate. this is a cnn/tea party express event. set the stage. talk about rick perry first of all. 's doing very well in the polls but you now have a new poll that shows he's even more dominant? >> reporter: yeah. he's doing incredibly well. this has been a very unsettled field, as you know. but take a look at our most recent cnn/orc poll which we

just released. which republican candidate has the best chance of beating barack obama? that's the key question here, randi. if you look, rick perry, 42%. mitt romney, 26%. that's not good news for mitt romney. he's been portraying himself as the most electable candidate. republicans above all else, as you know, want to win this election and suddenly they see rick perry as more electable out there. they also believe that he is somebody who will fight for his beliefs. another question we asked. and 3 in 10 believe he will fight for his beliefs. only 1 in 10 believe mitt romney will fight for his beliefs. so that gives you a real sense of the fight that mitt romney has on his hands right now. >> let's talk a little bit more about mitt romney and rick perry. they want to steer the discussion it seems to social

security while the white house is trying to keep it focused on jobs. >> reporter: right. but right now there's a fight going on in the republican party which, by the way, people in the white house are very happy to let the republicans have. and mitt romney believes he's found the achilles heel here for rick perry which is the question of social security. as you know, at the last debate, rick perry confirms what he had's already written, that social security is a ponzi scheme. right now here in the state of florida, mitt romney has thesee and in the flyer it says that he's going to hurt -- that rick perry's going to hurt social security. perry has an op-ed today in "usa today," randi, and he wrote in it, "for younger workers, we must consider reforps to make social security financially viable." so you see, there's a bit of a shift, a nuance, if you will, in

rick perry's position. tonight i bet we're going to hear an awful lot about it. but if he says we have to find a way to make it viable and not call it a ponzi scheme anymore, he's going to have to come up with plan. so we'll watch for that. >> we certainly will. gloria borger, thank you very much. coming up at the bottom of the hour, we are going to talk very much more about this whole issue of social security and our new segment on the show called "fair game." checking other developing stories that we're following -- europe is the big concern on wall street right now. stocks have been falling most of the day over fear greece could be moving closer to default. also reuters reports that the top banks in france could be facing a possible credit downgrade from the ratings agency moody's. right now the dow is down 89 points. the battle is far from over for firefighters in texas. the forest service says 19 new wildfires erupted in the central part of the state yesterday. some 180 wildfires in hard-hit bastrop county and other

counties have destroyed more than 1,500 homes and burned more than 170,000 acres since last week. there is a flicker of good news. the bastrop county fire is 60% contained and residents will be allowed to return to four subdivisions that. six people remain unaccounted for near austin where the worst of the blaze has been you are burning. it is official -- iran now possessed the middle east's first civilian nuclear power plant. i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru.

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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. we condemn iran's persistent refusal to fulfill its international nuclear obligations. iran's actions underscore the continuing necessity of full enforcement of sanctions by the

international community in order to motivate iran to comply with those obligations, and to deny iran the ability to advance its prescribed programs. >> that was united states ambassador to the united nations susan rice expressing concern about iran's nuclear program on wednesday. today iran officially launched its new civilian nuclear power plant. the first such plant in the middle east. iran's foreign minister says his country's committed to nuclear non-proliferation and international atomic energy standards but the u.s. and other countries are questioning iran's intentions and expressing concerns that iran plans to develop nuclear weapons. the director of the international atomic energy agency recently told his board, "iran is not providing the necessary cooperation to enable the agency to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities." joining me on this for much more, international security analyst jim walsh. jim, thanks so much for coming

on the show to talk about this. help us understand. you've been to iran and spoken to iran's president, ahmadinejad. is the plant a threat to anyone in the world or is it iran's lack of cooperation that's really making people worried here if. >> i think you are right to point to the second element, it is a lack of cooperation. when we hear the word "nuclear" we all think nuclear weapons right away but not all nuclear technology is created equal. some nuclear technologies get you on a direct route to the bomb. things like enrichment of fuel. with centrifuges. but then other technologies really don't bring you close to the bomb at all and that would include this power plant that is coming online. it is a power plant that's going to generate electricity. there are iaea inspectors who have been to it, russian technicians are on ground. it is really a separate issue from iran's alleged bomb program and in fact it is so separate, it is really not even subject to the sanctions that you alluded to before when you mentioned ambassador rice's comments. >> so we hear so much about the concern about enriching uranium.

are you saying that at no point could this plant actually be used to do so? >> you know, if they had no plant whatsoever, if iran had no nuclear power plants but had centrifuges, they could make a bomb. if they had a power plant but no centrifuges, they wouldn't be able to make a bomb. it is really a separate thing. now some folks like to argue that if you have a big civilian nuclear program that can sort of provide cover, it gives you an excuse to have a lot of nuclear scientists so it makes detection of an illicit program more difficult. but it's been u.s. policy since the late bush administration. late bush, now into obama, it is fine for iran to have a civilian nuclear program. they can have the bashir reactor, run it under iaea inspection but we really don't want them enriching and that's the nub of the argument today. >> putting possible nuclear bombs aside, are you at all concerned about this plant say in terms of state of?

mig -- in terms of safety? >> i am a little bit concerned about the safety issue. not for the same reasons as what we saw in fukushima, though iran is in an earthquake zone. it is in a big earthquake zone. but my concern -- this is a very old plant design. it has been in slow motion for decades now. it was designed by germans, built by russians, it is being operated by iranians. it is sort of like a bad joke. you can't worry about the safety and reliability of the reactor. will it have an accident, problems, what are the environmental implications. that is something to watch going forward and they've pulled back a couple of times because they've run into problem. i think that would be my major concern is more with respect to safety and environmental issues than proliferation. >> quickly, do you think the u.s. should be at all concerned about russia's involvement with this plant? >> no. i think actually the u.s. is probably pretty happy that there are lots of russians on the ground watching what's happening. and so i think that's a good

thing. it is better than if the plant were run only by iranians who have little experience in this regard. i think that's a win for everyone concerned. >> jim walsh, international security analyst, always appreciate you coming on the show. thank you so much. they are in our computers, they are in our airplanes, our lasers, our x-ray machines and they could soon be just as rare as their name suggests. i'll show you why in our new segment "undercover" when we come back. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. the healthcare law gives us powerful tools to fight it... to investigate it... ...prosecute it...

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time now for "undercovered." a new segment devoted to the news we should be hearing a lot more about. today we dig deep to bring you the scoop on rare earths. before i show you what they are, let me show what you they do. they run your computer and your cell phone. mine, too. actually, everybody's. they power your electric car. they guide missiles, and without rare earths, wind turbines would be really big lawn ornaments. remember this from high school chemistry, the periodic terrell or as i like to think of it, the ingredients of everything. rare elements are -- actually rare earths are 17 elements. we have them all here. they're absolutely vital to just about any high-tech device that we couldn't live without. that's the science. now here is the news. more than 95% of these elements come from china. more than 95%! china has only 36% of the world's known reserves but no other country can produce them on a scale that even comes close. and beijing's been tightening rare earth exports for years. just last week it announced a total shutdown at three major mines. the u.s., japan, world trade organization all are pushing to keep the supply lines open and rare earth mines in the west

which are rarer than rare are scrambling to produce even more and to find more reserves. here's one place that looks promising. afghanistan, believe it or not. as far back as 2007, the u.s. 1 ts re rt rv emated mor3

let's be frank. religion can be controversial but whatever your beliefs, place of so-called worship in phoenix, arizona takes religious controversy to a whole new level in today's crime and consequence. arizona prosecutors say this church, the phoenix god dess is really a house of prostitution.

police are still searching for 17 more. police say that they seized evidence that church employees were performing sex acts for money. members say those acts were religious practices, protected by the first amendment right to religious freedom and they say the payments were donations. joining us to talk much more about this, andy hill, a retired sergeant from the phoenix police department, and cnn's senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. thank you both for coming on. jeffrey, let me start with you. i want to read you something from the maricopa county attorney, bill montgomery. "freedom of religion does not allow individuals to trade sex for money." so how credible is the argument that these members have that freedom of religion rights under the first amendment? >> well, it's almost certainly a sure loser given what i understand to be the facts of the case. but frankly, the courts have struggled with this issue at times, usually involving cases about certain kinds of drug use,

pay oty by certain american tribes. there is a well known case involving some kind of narcotic kind of tea that was used in new mexico and there the supreme court said, well, we will allow the religious group to use it because they have a compelling interest and a legitimate interest in the religious observance. this brothel -- that's certainly what it appears to be -- certainly i think is not going to be able to make out a climb like that. >> let's take a look at the temple's website, if you will. look at this with me. they say that their practices are body centric and help people connect with the divine through the healing power of touch. members told our affiliate kpho that they are spiritual warriors and healing goddesses. so i guess, andy, how broadly do you think the law protects freedom of religion under the first amendment? >> well, i don't think this has anything to do with religion.

for thousands of years these types of places have been able to and try to disguise themselves as something other than they are. when you're offering to give sex for money, you're a brothel. of course you have to depend on the law enforcement agency that's doing the investigation to make sure that they follow the law, that they do the investigation, develop the probable cause and in this case the county attorney and maricopa county decided that they had probable cause. it is really a bigger issue than that when we talk about prostitution. everybody knows and understands now especially through the past two presidential administrations how significant prostitution is as it relates to the health issue of aids and aids prevention. when you talk about people paying for sex, there are health issues, criminal issues and there are neighborhood issues. >> so, jeffrey, the phoenix police say that this temple has generated tens of thousands of dollars. now the temple, they say that these were donations, these weren't payments. what do you make of that? >> well, obviously a jury will ultimately decide that but

certainly on the surface, it seems like this is just using religion as a cover for breaking the law. you didn't use religion to break the law. you can't invent a religion that says thou shall rob banks. thou shall not pay minimum wage. religions have to follow the law like everybody else and there is a narrow category of cases -- mostly involving these in drugs -- where the courts have created an exception but certainly none of the factors where they have created an exception seem to be applicable here. >> andy, in terms of evidence, what would they be looking for? what would be key? >> well, the way to do this type of investigation traditionally is to try to either infiltrate the organization or develop information from people that are involved that lead to you meet the criteria of the law and every state has a law and a definition for prostitution or this type of crime. in arizona they would need to show that there were sex acts made in exchange for either a

monetary fee or something else of considerable value. once they develop that case to the point where they have probable cause and the county attorney agrees, either they go to a grand jury or seek some kind of indictment and they move forward from there. as jeffrey said you let the jury decide. >> all right, andy hill, jeffrey toobin, thank you both. in just one minute -- what killed andy whitfield? the 39-year-old star of "spartac "spartacus."iv can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks.

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time right now just about half past the hour. time to get you caught up on what you might have missed today. president obama stepped in to the white house rose garden to make a pitch for his $447 billion job creation plan earlier today. he called the plan a commonsense blueprint threatened by politics and announced that he is sending the bill to capitol hill tonight. house speaker john boehner promises the house will consider that plan. if you take a look at dow right now, it is down 117 points as investors continue to struggle with the new wave of anxiety over the possibility that greece will default on its debt. adding to the jitters france's top banks could be facing a credit downgrade from ratings agency moody's. according to reuters. traders fear a downgrade announcement could be issued at any moment as a window for

review comes to a close. an update on those texas wildfires. evacuees in and around bastrop, texas will start going home today if they have a home to go home to. the wildfire has burned more than 1,500 homes. near austin two people were found out in a burned-out neighbor last week. six are unaccounted for but officials hope they are on vacation or possibly staying with friends. the police chief at the center of a brutality controversial has extended his medical leave for another 30 days. fullerton, california police chief michael sellers move comes amid failure to file criminal charges against six officers involved in the brutal beating and death of kelly thomas. as we told you, thomas was a 37-year-old homeless schizophrenic. he died five days after his beating in july. two city council members have called on sellers to resign over what they say was a failure to provide full details to the public. they also say information has been withheld from them, including surveillance video of

thomas's struggle with the officers. cnn has confirmed that actor andy whitfield has died. you know him from tv's "spartacus blood and sand" seen here where he played the famed gl gladiator. he passed away in sydney, australia, from nonhotchkins lymphoma. taking aim at social security. rick perry has come under fire from recent comments calling it a ponzi scheme. we'll discuss the issue, it is all "fair game" coming your way next.

welcome back.

time to take a closer look at the political hot topic of the day and go beyond the paths talking points to the heart of the debate where all sides are "fair game." today i am talking about social security as a political football. texas governor rick perry may have spiked the ball when he called social security a ponzi scheme. listen to what he said at the last republican debate. >> it is a monstrous lie. it is a ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today you are paying into a program that's going to be there. anybody that's for the status quo with social security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids. and it is not right. >> that comment drew immediate criticism from some of the other candidates and this from vice president joe biden who spoke to our john king. >> no, it's not a ponzi scheme. he should go back and find out who ponzi was. he was an individual. it was a different deal. but, no, it is not a ponzi

scheme. it is secure through 2036 and to fix it is not hard. >> you can see the rest of that exclusive interview with the vice president tonight on "jk usa" at 7:00 a.m. eastern. was it a good move by perry to set himself apart? >> it doesn't matter whether you're a democrat or republicans, if you're a senior you're really concerned about your social security and you usually don't start a presidential campaign by setting grandma's hair on fire. but that's what rick perry did when he not only called social security a ponzi scheme, he implied he might undo it if he could go back 70 years. he's got to fix that. >> voter turnout numbers from the last presidential election show you how big a deal social security may be as a campaign issue. look who tops the list -- yes, 70% are voters over the age of 65. the ones who are getting social security. at 69% are those aged 45 to 64. the ones who will be getting it

soon. joining me now to talk about perry's comments on social security and the use of it as a campaign issue, memphis tea party chairman mark skoda and mark whithouse. pi rick perry said anyone who wants the keep the status quo is lying to our kids. i don't think anyone is saying the system is just fine as it is. mark, did he just overshoot with this message? >> yeah. this is the first time out, i think he did overshoot. at the end of the day we know social security in its current incarnation is in trouble. we know that for instance disability pensions under social security are currently almost bankrupt. we pay $29 billion more this year in 2010 than we took in. so his point while perhaps bombastic is still no less important in the discussion and i think when we look at options, to leave the stat us quo -- which no one is in fact suggesting. but ultimately there are better ways to fund social security. i think chile is one of those

countries we should look at. >> brad, what do you think of perry's comments and what do you think that the message should be? >> well, look. first of all i think perry's comments were absolutely wrong. he doesn't understand social security's financing. he doesn't understand that as vice president biden says, it is solvent for 25 years. for some 50 years after that it would pay three-quarters of current benefits without any changes. no one's saying that we shouldn't make changes to it. but it really is minor changes that need to be made. medicare, as you know, is in worst shape than social security. but the focus on perry i think has distracted from the fact that every republican in this field, either because of their support for what was known as cut cap and balance during the debt default debate or there is just previous support for privatization, they're all for policies that would undermine if not dismantle social security and randi, that includes mitt romney who is trying to make a big deal out of rick perry's

comments. >> i want to call your attention to rick perry's op-ed in "usa today." it is titled "i'm going to be honest with the american people." in that op-ed today he does not mention the word "ponzi" once. mark, does it sound to you like maybe he's backing off that a little bit? >> well, probably so. look, i suggest that his comments there were perhaps over the top but let's look at it this way. at the end of the day what he is trying to highlight is there is a problem here. by the way, the current social security system is nothing more than $2.5 trillion of ious from the government which in itself is in the hole $1.3 trillion a year. so somewhere the money's got to come from something. and there is insufficient scale of revenues in the u.s. treasury today to even pay for that $2.5 trillion. so to the extent that he suggests that there is a problem here, yes. it's government authorized essentially taking of those monies and using them in the general fund and replacing those

with ious. now ponzi schemes are illegal but what the government is doing and promising, frankly, is immoral. >> so, brad, what is the answer here? how do you fix it? >> well, let me just say this, randi. when it comes to republicans or tea partiers or rick perry or mitt romney, their first solution for dealing with social security involves either gambling it in the stock market -- we've seen how the stock market has performed -- or cutting benefits. people have earned these benefits. they've paid into them. we're not doing them a favor by letting them receive their benefits. so we need to look at ways to tweak it. there are ways to do it. any number of ways to do it, including on the revenue side. but the first solution to deal with social security benefits shouldn't be to cut social security benefits. >> all right, we will leave it there. mark skoda, brad woodhouse, thank you so much. at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight right here on cnn is the tea

party/republican debate up sponsored by cnn and the tea party express. tune in for that one. he is the leader of what many regard as one of the world's most corrupt governments. hamid karzai is also washington's main ally in the war against the taliban. the afghan president speaking out to cnn coming up in a live report right after this. ah. mom? he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪

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whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right. hamid karzai has led afghanistan for ten years. that's as long as the u.s. war

against the taliban. his relationship with both the u.s. government and military has been far from ideal. critics accuse his government of being one of the most corrupt in the world. they also accuse him of weak leadership turning a blind eye to drug smugglers and cutting deals with warlords. but washington has stuck with him because there is no one else to turn to. today karzai sat down with cnn's suzanne malveaux for an extensive interview and suzanne joins us now from kabul. hi there, suzanne. what are the headlines from your meeting with karzai? >> reporter: well, randi it was about 30 minutes or so. very hospitable. we met at the presidential palace, covered a lot of different subjects, including corruption and including some of the criticism that you talked about. the main thing that we focused on here is obviously americans are very war weary. it's been ten years we've been in afghanistan. a lot of folks are looking for the exit strategy, if you will. 2014. at the end of that year, that is

the time that u.s. and nato combat troops are looking to come home. they can't do that until the afghan troops take over their own security, until they are able to protect their own country. so that was the main point here. i put it to him quite poignantly whether or not the afghan people have the capability, whether they have the will for that timetable to work, to basically take over their security, as well as the future of their country. here's what he said. >> from that point onwards, a majority of international forces will have liberty, freedom, to go back home and afghan forces and afghan people will be looking after their own country. so yes, by 2014, in short, the forces can and will leave. >> reporter: randi, one thing that he also mentioned, too,

there are two different discussions that are taking place at the same time. the united states and the afghan government, over some sort of long-term agreement, whether or not there would be some permanent form a u.s. presence or international presence. those discussions are happening. we are talking about beyond 2014 a significant presence in this country. the other thing that's happening are talks that are going on with the taliban. those who are part of the taliban who are not a part of the insurgency, not a part of the violence but want to see peace in this country, the afghan government, the u.s. government, as well as an international coalition is sitting down with the taliban to figure out some sort of way of resolving and bringing peace to this war-torn country. hamid karzai saying that he believes it is going to take perhaps a year or two before that kind of arrangement, that agreement, happens. but randi, it is starting to

happen. it is the beginning of that process to try to bring peace to this country. randi? >> suzanne malveaux in kabul, afghanistan for us, suzanne, thank you. now for other top stories making headlines -- one of moammar gadhafi's sons has left libya. niger officials say saadi gadhafi arrived in a convoy and has reported by been accepted on humanitarian grounds. this is saadi seen here with cnn's nic robertson during an april interview. while we know where saadi is, it is still unclear where libyan leader moammar gadhafi is located. 1 of only 2 survivors of the deadly russian plane crash has died. russian hockey player died of his injuries today. 37 players an staff members were killed when their plane crashed last week on their way to a game. prime minister vladimir putin joined mourners as a memorial service for members of the russian hockey team. a british married couple is attacked while vacationing in

kenya. a gunman reportedly burst into the couple's cottage at a beach resort near the somalian border killing the husband when he resisted a robbery attempt an then kidnapping the wife. a source close to the situation says she was taken away by speedboat toward somalia. the british government says it is doing everything it can to win her release. taking the lead texas style. rick perry seems like the big dog heading into the cnn/tea party debate tonight. but do the new numbers back up his swagger? your cnn political update is next. introducing the schwab mobile app.

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let's check in on the debate that's happening tonight. we have shannon travis and paul steinhauser both in tampa, florida where the gop/tea party debate will be taking place. shannon, start with you. how does this debate, do you think, speak to the influence of the tea party? >> this is major. first of all, they're paying up with a mainstream news organization whereas when the tea party first began in 2009, a lot of people were -- critics were saying they were on the extreme edges of the republican party so that's first. secondly, the tea party had mixed success in the 2010 mid-term elections. they won some races, they lost others. but they effectively changed the conversation, randi. right now everybody's talking about how to reduce spending, how to get less taxes. that's right now the true impact of the tea party movement. the fact that in american politics right now a lot of people are talking about the issues that tea partiers care about, randi. >> speaking of the race, let's talk about these new numbers, paul.

what are the latest polls showing in terms of rick perry and mitt romney? >> well, our poll was taken over the weekend so it was the first national poll conducted after last wednesday's debate. that was the first debate where rick perry took part. he only jumped into the race for the white house a month ago. he's still at the top in our poll. at 30%. 12 points ahead of mitt romney who is in second place. romney, former massachusetts governor, was front-runner until perry got in. we asked republicans who is the candidate who can best beat barack obama, the electability factor. look who is on top right there. rick perry, far ahead of mitt r everybody else. why is this important? because romney's strategy is basically to tell republican voters, listen, you may not agree with me on all the issues but i'm the person who can beat barack obama in the presidential

election. at least right now, republican voters think rick perry is the man too do that. >> one more question to you shannon on mitt romney. he got an interesting endorsement from tim pawlenty. how significant do you think that is? >> reporter: politics makes for strange bedfellows. romney was endorsed by pawlenty who was running for president up until it last month. this might help romney with some -- might help romney with some pawlenty supporters, he had a lot of support in iowa. but the other thing is, the reason this is it so interesting to all of us observers, remember pawlenty slammed romney, called his plan obamney care. it it's interesting. paul lenty will be the national co-chair to romney's campaign. >> reporter: he'll be here for the campaign.

to most voters, endorsements are not that important. i don't think it will sway that many votes. >> we'll give you the last word on that one, paul. thank you for mentioning the debate, 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. now in just a couple of hours the u.s. open men's final will pit two of tennis' powerhouses against each other, the first rematch for the u.s. open men's championship in more than 20 years between novak joke avic and rafael nadal. but it's the women's favorite against williams and her australian challenger has us still talking about. we're joined it at the u.s. open. can candy, sarena'ses forehand cost her the u.s. open title t. was a heartbreaker. >> reporter: it it was a heartbreak arer for her especially. thanks, randi, yes the grand slam committee are about to vote

whether sarena's outburst sunday's final during sosa was a major event. williams is on a two-year probation given what happened in 2009 right here in the semifinals here against kim clijsters. she verbally abused a lineswoman and threatened to put a -- down her throat. she was given a probation and major fine. that didn't end until the end of this tournament so during sunday's final she was rather upset about the umpire giving her opponent a point for intentional hindrance. sarena hit a wonderful forehand but shouted "come on" right after it before sosa could return the ball if at all. two games later, sarena is sit down, been given a code violation and she continued to berate the umpire saying that the umpire shouldn't look at her if she cross paths in a hall and she was unattractive inside. so this could cause sarena to get another fine and perhaps a

suspension in tennises. we'll find out in a couple of minutes. >> in a couple of hours, we'll see raphael na daud take on djokovjoke avich. a lot of down other na daud. i would like to see a nadal/federer rematch, but we'll take this one. what's the doubt? >> reporter: the doubt i suppose is nadal hasn't beat djokovic in five finals including the wimbledon championship where he was blown off the court in four sets. djokovic has been the outstanding player of the year, has won the australian open, wimbled wimbledon, lost just two matches this season. he he's beaten nadal all five times they've played. he was asked how he's going to handle djokovic. he joked, serve and volley. >> candy, i'd like to switch places with you, but i'll watch it it on television at home.

you can, candy, very much. the rumors are true that bank of america is prepared to cut tens of thousands of jobs. could other banks follow suit? we'll have the absence for you -- answer for you in two minutes. my name is robin. and i was a pack-a-day smoker for 25 years. i do remember sitting down with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promise mommy you'll never ever pick up a cigarette." i had to quit. ♪ my doctor gave me a prescription for chantix, a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] chantix is a non-nicotine pill

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over 7 million people have gotten a prescription. learn how you can save money and get terms and conditions at chantix.com. now to wall street where investors are struggling with a new wave of anxiety over the possibility that greece will default on its debt. alison kosik joining me from the new york stock exchange. alison, how are things looking? >> oh, randi, one of these

volatile days, the dow making big swings, falling 127 points right now, at one point we saw the dow flat. what's really moving the markets today is just a lot of nervousness about greece's debt problems. there's talk greece could possibly default within days. germany officials say an orderly bankruptcy could be part of the solution for greece. as far as the u.s. goes, it's not greatly exposed to greece, but you think about it in terms of six degrees of separation here. although we're not exposed directly to greece, we're exposed to france and germany which helps finance greece. that's where you see the nervousness in the u.s. markets. >> what about these job cuts at bank of america? what do you know? >> bank of america is confirming it's cutting 30,000 jobs over the next few years, many of the jobs go away through attrition and bank of america is doing away with unfilled position rumors of job cuts have been circulating for weeks. ceo brian moynahan addressed the

rumors today. what he wants to do is cut $5 billion each year between now and 2014. what it is, part of a long-term turnaround b of a started last year. it continues to try to keep selling off its non-core assets. it shook up its management structure especially if you look at b of a shares, they're down almost 50% this year, less than $7 a share. randi? >> a lot of people looking at what bank of america doing, maybe wondering, could this be a trend? other banks might follow? >> oh, you make a really good point because you think about hsbc are. it announced 25,000 job cuts last month. other analysts said, other banks could follow. it may not be as bad or widespread during the financial crisis of 2008, but the reality is these lawsuits from that crisis are just now beginning to hit these big bankbanks. another factor is the economy, how tough the economy is.

you know, americans just don't need as many loans, not taking out as many credit cards or mortgages. so you don't really need that much of a staff if these services aren't being used like they used to be. >> alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. a lot to keep track there. thank you very much. appreciate it. we are now just six hours away from an american political first, the first cnn tea party debate among republicans who want president obama's job. this is also the day president obama sends his job creation plan to congress where republicans are promising to think about it. but that's about all. less than a week after he lob lobbied for the american jobs act, mr. obama showed off the actual legislation in a speech from the white house rose garden today. it is $447 billion worth of tax breaks and new federal spending which the white house says would be more than offset elsewhere in the budget, deepen and extend

the existing payroll tax cut for employers and employees, pump $60 billion into infrastructure projects and $25 billion into school repairs, $49 billion would go for unemployment benefits, now capped in many states at 99 weeks. already republicans are balking at anything that smells like stimulus. sot president wants to go over lawmakers' heads maybe literally. >> we can't afford these same political games, not now. so i want you to pick up the phone, send an e-mail, use one of those airplane skyriders, dust off the fax machine, or you can just like write a letter. so long as you get the message to congress, send me the american jobs act soy can sign it into law. let's get something done. let's put this country back to work. >> my colleague don lemon is hard at work in tampa, florida,

where the gop presidential contenders are gathering for tonight's debate and where there is plenty of feedback on job growth. of course, president obama there is feedback as well, tax cuts. don, i could go on and on. tell us what you're hearing frt tea party folks about the president's jobs plan today. >> reporter: i'm sure, randi, you can guess, especially when it comes to the people who are associated with the tea party. tea party voters, candidates, what they care about, they say, money, jobs. that's really what their platform is, they deal in money. that's what they say. social issues not so much. what they're saying is that they hope it works. i think that's what most americans are saying. they hope it it works but others are saying, we have heard this before, we've had a stimulus before that they don't believe work and this $447 billion in inseptemberii incentives and tax breaks they're not sure it's going to work. they want to know from the president and the people who are going to be on the stage tonight

what their exact plan is. they don't want people speaking in platitudes. as far as what the president said about jobs today, they say they hope it works. they say they've heard it before from him, but they're not sure what he is proposing is go be to work, randi. >> of course, the president is talking about his jobs plan but rick perry and mitt romney are talking a lot more about social security. isn't that true? >> reporter: oh, yeah, they are. wolf blitzer is just wrapping up an interview with tim pawlenty now, who was in the race. social security, it's a big deal, especially when with it comes to romney and perry a. there was a flyer passed out here yesterday, all this weekend -- i should say saturday and sunday -- really sort of comparing the two and their stances on social security. and it was distributed by the romney campaign, who believe that rick perry really, really made a mistake, stuck his foot in his mouth when he made the comment about social security being a ponzi scheme.

of course, randi, you know about what he wrote today in "usa today." >> yeah. it seemed as though he was sort of backing off because he didn't even use the word "ponzi" in that op-eded in "usa today." but given perry's dominance in the polls we're seeing, maybe that whole ponzi scheme idea was working for him. >> reporter: well, i don't know. it could be working for him. if you listen to the people here, which is a small fraction of the voters of the electorate and then also a fraction of the republican party, if you listen to them, they say absolutely it's about time that somebody came clean and spoke out about social security. now, using the term "ponzi scheme" they weren't so sure about. here's the interesting thing, especially when it comes to what's happening tonight. there are a whole lot of quotes even in this book you hear about what rick perry said about social security. some people believe from his book and from what he's been saying that he thought it shouldn't even exist in the beginning, he thought it should be abolished. but if you look at the op-ed,

what he wrote in "usa today," i think it's important to point out, he said, the first step to fixing a problem is admitting there's a problem. america's goals must be to fix social security by making it more financially sound and sustainable for the long term. that's the first time we've ever heard him talking about fixing social security, about fixing social security rather than saying, hey, it's a ponzi scheme or never should have taken place or should be abolished. so that is i wouldn't say subtle change in tone, i think it's a huge change in tone talking about fixing it. >> i think you're right there. don lemon in tampa. don, thank you so much. don't forget you can see tonight's cnn tea party republican debate right here on cnn at 8:00 p.m. eastern/5:00 pacific only on cnn. let's check some other developing stories. europe is the big concern on wall street right now, stocks falling most of the day over fear greece could be moving closer to default. also, reuters reports that the top banks in france could be facing a possible credit downgrade from the ratings

agency moody's. right now you see there the dow is down 146 points. cnn has confirmed that actor andy witfield has died. you know him from tv's spart acuss, blood and sand seen here where he played the famed gladiator. according to the "new york times," the 39-year-old passed away sunday in sydney australia from nonhodgkin's lymphoma. he leaves behind a wife, two children and a sister. president john kennedy during his time of crisis. thoughts about lyndon johnson. jacqueline kennedy's thoughts, her revealing audiotapes, coming up. prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. so lily and i are back on the road again. or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community.

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private. just months after president john f. kennedy was assassinated mrs. kennedy gave a candid and poignant interview about her husband and their time at the white house. her conversations with part of a seven-part interview done in 1964 by longtime aide arthur sl slesen jer jr. the audiotape of the interviews will be released in a book later this month. carl spa rauz za anthony joins me to talk about this. what jackie says during those interviews are pretty revealing about her husband's presidency. what strikes you most about these tapes and these interviews? >> well, i think it's going to be certainly one of the great strengths that jackie kennedy had as first lady and one upon which in the course of interviews i did with many

people who worked with her in it the administration, they always pointed out that oftentimes it was not policy of her husband's that she was expert at as much as it was assessing as slesen jer said a ruthless judgment, the character and quality, the intelligence, and the honesty of in that day and age men, exclusively with whom her husband interacted with, cabinet members, vice president johnson, civil rights leaders like martin luther king but also heads of state. >> according to the "new york times," she calls the french president an ego maniac. does it surprise you to hear her speak sog candidly and so openly? >> not at all. it's so fascinating to me because, you know, the way we

all perceive news and people in the news, you know, photographs are are sometimes where we think we get our news and they can be very misleading. you know, jackie was quite expert in using nonverbal cues so one had thought -- many thought for years and year and years that she was a great admirer of his. i'll never forget. when i worked on one of my books and she actually helped me, she made a remark. she said, one of the things that galled me was when people said, oh, you spoke french so well, you know so much history, you couldn't possibly be american. she never identified who that was. i always suspected she was talking about charles degal but was too discreet to say to. >> let me ask you about something she said about her husband. she talks about president kennedy as a loving father, playing with his children s

saying, quote, he loved those children tumbling around him in this sort of -- sensual is the only way i can think about. she used the word "sensual." does that strike you as odd? >> no. because to somebody like her, who really was in love with the world of words, someone who really made an effort to strive and find the right word to capture something, i think when you look at pictures and film, you see that because of his back he was oftentimes unable to bend down or crouch down to hold these little kids. so, you know, he would oftentimes show that affection in touching their face or kissing their forehead. you know, so "sensual" in the sense of tactile because he wanted to, you know, with the power of touch show these kids how much he did, in fact, love them, even though he was

oftentimes so busy as one might imagine with a father as president. >> just very quickly, in terms of these conversations and tapes, what do you think we'll be left with? what will this finally tell us that maybe we didn't know about jackie kennedy? >> i think it it will finally prove to people who i think have been skeptical in the past when this has been written is her absolutely unique political form of -- or unique form of political contribution to the administration. eleanor voroosevelt and hillary clinton were more involved in policy, but jackie kennedy was really an astute observer and she used those observations in very telling and crucial bits of advice and suggestion to her husband on everything from personnel at the pebt gone to the way he opened a speech.

>> it's going to be fascinating to listen to these and read much more about them. carl, always a pleasure to have you on. thank you for your expertise. and coming up, rick perry tops our new poll of gop contender contend ers. what's the secret to his success? we'll go in depp itth. are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

cnn this week is going "in depth" on rick perry. the tex it tex governor has energized the republic race for president and jumped to the top of the polls. take a look it at the new cnn poll released this morning. perry way out in if front there over the former front-runner mitt romney. while perry is out front, you have to ask, are people

supporting him because they like him or they're just not wowed by anyone else in the race? do they really know him? after all, he's only been in the race for a short time. our ed lavenderry takes a closeser look. >> sometimes your instincts you when a man is right for the job. >> reporter: wearing chaps and riding a horgs, this was rick perry's first ad in 1990. >> i'll tell you a great story. >> reporter: texas political -- remembers perry on posters. he has the "it" factor. >> you're going to get an energy and vitality off him that you'll feel and will surprise you. >> reporter: miller isn't surprised to see perry rocket to the top of the polls. he credits perry's risk taking 0 like joining the tea party movement early. >> we didn't know where it was going or how it would play out. he's a risk taker and a smart

one. bets he makes have paid off well for him. >> reporter: herald cook is another political consultant in austin. he knows a thing or two about crafting political messages. he says perry has a great narrative but he haen locked up the nomination yet. >> if you hope to knock perfery down you'll have to get in the middle of his jobs narrative and knock it down a couple of notches. the notches are there to knock. they just haven't tried yet. >> reporter: cook is a democrat and he wouldn't let an opportunity slip by without trying to burst the rick perry phenomenon bubble. >> as easy as perry is to underestimate, it's also are kind of easy to overestimate perry are. he is not some magic monolith of a campaign here. since 1994, the only thing you've had to do as a republic in texas to win is avoid being the democrat. >> reporter: rick perry is also used to being the front-runner. he's always held the lead and he's comfortable in front of the

crowd. he was a yell leader like a cheerleader at texas a&m. >> all of that in a weird way helps him and i think makes him a better politician, better campaigner and certainly by all accounts he's as good a campaignerer as anyone seen down here in our lifetimes. >> reporter: but there's still months left in this race. rick perry can't ride off into the sunset as the republic nominee just yet. >> and ed lavandera joins us now. ed, how much do you think perry's recent successes does he really owe to the tea party, would you say? >> well, i think that's an interesting question because if you look back at the last five or six years where rick perry has been politically here in this it texas. in the 2006 gub ernatorial race he didn't even get 40% of the vote but was still able to win. in 2010 he went up against kay bailey hutchison, senator, one of the most popular republicans in this state. he was supposed to lose. then along came this tea party

and as you heard bill miller in that piece talk about, he latched onto that movement early. whether the tea party helped him or he just saw it had the political kind of thermometer there, having the right pulse and understanding what to latch onto. he grabbed onto it early and it's helped out tremendously. >> certainly seems that way. i know you'll be watching the debate and see how he performs along with us, 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cc. ed lavandera, thank you. students in maine are having a tough time with math and reading, almost one-third not up to grade level standards. one school district thinks that ipads are the solution. find out who's getting them, next. [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse.

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in the country to give every kirnd gart ner an ipad. mrs. mccarthy says the ipads give her 19 students more immediate feedback and individual attention than she ever could. >> as much as you would love to as a person get to everybody right away and individualize what they're doing, sometimes you can't. >> reporter: 40% of the third graders in auburn aren't reading at grade level. superintendent gronden says the goal is sto change that. >> by the time they leave third grade, our goal is 90% of those students are meeting benchmarks. >> you have to sit like that. >> reporter: there's no question he these kids love their ipads. maybe a little too much, some might say. a study done last year shows kids with too much computer time were more likely to have psychological problems. some experts worry too much screen time takes them away from reality and away from face time

with other kids and teachers. the school district says they're making sure that doesn't happen. >> we're going to really make sure that they're outside playing, that they're interacting with each other, interacting with adults, besides using the tool we're giving them. >> dot has a hat. >> reporter: soon they'll find out if the ipads help or hurt when they test the kindergartners' reading and math skills in november. >> elizabeth cohen joins us. i'm curious what the parents think. >> some of the parents love the ipads and they think it's helped the children's math and writing. others say, wait a minute, $200,000 for ipads, fill s philosophical philosophically, shouldn't that be spent on it teachers? $200,000 would have are gotten some assistant teachers. >> are they at all concerned about what they might get into and look at on the ipads? >> they are strict and police

that. they can't go on facebook and tweet. >> what about psychologists? what do they say about this i don't even know what psychologists think about adult usage of things like this. >> some are in disagreement. some say we shouldn't worry about this. others say, ipads are fast moving and constant stimulation. it makes it more difficult for kids to handle the rest of the world, which is kind of slow and boring. their brains are sponges and it kind of forms their brain to wanting everything to be fast, fast, fast. >> yeah. >> i can say -- i have a kirnd gart ner. when she gets on an itouch and ipad, it aels hard to get that away from her. her brain really likes that kind of pace and sitting and talking or playing with a toy, she's not quite as interested in. >> it's so funny that generation are so used to jumping online and looking things up instead of the old-fashioned way, the way you and id did it. >> and they're used to these graphics that just move constantly. they're not used to sort of reading a book necessarily or

dog a jig saw puzzle. they want things to go. >> yes. the old days of encyclopedias, out the window, dictionaries out the wind dough. just grab the ipad. thanks, elizabeth. we had him on last week. remember the amazing 61-year-old vietnam vet who was the oldest college football player ever? well, he made even more history this weekend. we will show you, next. meineke's personal pricing on brakes. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing.

welcome back. it's about half past the hour. let's get you caught up on some news you might have are missed. president obama stepped into the white house rose garden to make a pitch for his $447 billion job creation plan earlier today. he calleded the plan a common sense blueprint threatened by politics and announced he's sending the bill to capitol hill tonight. speaker john boehner promises they will consider the plan. dow, down 139 points as investors continue to struggle with the new wave of anxiety over the possibility that greece will default on its debtsed adding to the jitters, france's top baichkzs could consider a downgrade from rating agency moody's. that's from reuters. a window for a review comes to a close soon. bank of america plans to cut

30,000 jobs as part of a plan to save $5 billion. b of a says a significant portion of the reduction will occur through attrition and the elimination of unfilled positions. the bank had already announced earlier it would cut $6,000 jobs this year. shares of b of a rose 1.3% in the morning trading. now an update on the texas wildfires. evacuees will start going home today if they have a home to go to. the wildfire has burned more than 1500 homes near austin. two people were found dead in a burned-out neighborhood last week. six are unaccounted for, but officials hope they're on vacation or maybe even staying with friends. a truck bomb carrying more than 1500 pounds of explosives injured 77 u.s. troops and killed at least two civilians in afghanistan over the weekend. the attack which occurred on the eve of the tenth anniversary of al qaeda's 9/11 attack on the u.s. left a large crater at the site that could be 20 feet deep according to an official it who asked not to be identified.

the injured u.s. troops are all expected to return to duty. the police chief at the center of a brutality controversy has extended his medical leave for another 30 days. fullerton, california, police chief michael sellers' move comes amid calls for criminal charges to be filed against officers in the brutal beating of kelly thomas, six allegedly involved. as we told you in our extensive reporting on this story, thomas was a 37-year-old homeless schizophrenic. he died five days after his beating in july. two city council members have called on sellers to resign over what they say was a failure to provide full details to the public. they also say information has been withheld from them, including surveillance video of thomas' struggle with the officers. allen moore made history twice this weekend. the 61-year-old vietnam vet wasn't just the oldest college football player ever but, take a look at video, he became the oldest college football player to ever score a point when he

knocked down this extra point en route to his team's 41-19 win. you go, allen! under fire and low on food and water, the plight of the animals at tripoli's zoo. cnn return for an update, right after this. when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home.

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we have are so some develops from libya. these show damage to libya. four american troops on the ground to assess the damage. a pentagon spokesman said the embassy suffered extensive damage. the troops are accompanying state department officials trying to determine if the facility can be renovated or if if a new embassy has to be built. officials say the embassy was trashed during a 38-hour rampage

during pro-gadhafi supporters in may. now to another story we just told you about a couple of weeks ago, the suffering of the animals at tripoli's zoo. cnn's nic robertson found animals in dire need of food and water and medical treatment. his report triggered huge responses from people around the world, sending tweets, concern for the animals. jill dougherty has just paid another visit to the zoo. conditions aren't as bad as they were, but a lot of work does remain to be done. >> reporter: in a city slashed by war, a tiger fights for life. >> vitamins, please. >> reporter: osama, a siberian tiger at the tripoli zoo has been suffering for days. dow know why he's so sick? >> i don't know some few days here, but i believe he is old, number one. number two it was a lot of stress in the surrounding here. >> reporter: during the battle for tripoli, there was shooting just outside the zoo. humans fled. the animals didn't have that

option. >> our vision is coming from outside just on the surface. >> reporter: the zoo's director, dr. fata-husni leads us to the mammal house. oh, yes, wow. so that came right through the roof. >> yes. >> reporter: but none of the animals were injured? >> no. >> reporter: for two weeks, there was no water in tripoli, a disaster for the hippos who had to survive on what little stagnant water was left in their pool. >> they want water. >> reporter: shells still litter the zoo grounds. right here. >> it's coming from outside, you know? >> reporter: so just all over the place. at the heist the conflict, 15 of the staff came here every day to feed and water the animals, risking their own lives to do it.

and if they hadn't, many of these animals would have died within three or four days. thissor doctor from an international rescue team rushed from vienna after seeing cnn reports about the fate of these animals. >> he don't succeed. >> reporter: did he die? >> it's too late. >> reporter: he just died? >> yeah. it's too late. >> reporter: tripoli zoo was being rebuilt when the war started. the director hopes that will continue. there will be exchanges with zoos around the world, he says, something that stopped during the gadhafi regime. bringing new animals unscarred by war. >> jill dougherty joins us now from tripoli. jill, so sad to see that they lost that tiger. that was a beautiful animal. the animals, though, do seem to be a little better. but are they really getting what they need at this point? >> reporter: not really everything, randi.

you know, as i said, the electricity is back, the water is back, and that is really crucial. and they are getting food. but here is a good example. when the electricity went off, all of the medicines got hot and were with unuseable. so unfortunately think were really down on the medicine supply, and this team that came in was able to bring some extra medicine to help them, even vitamins, thing its like that. but i think one of the saddest things, as we were walking around, people in the city are still setting off guns to celebrate, weeks after the city was liberated, and the animals aren't flinching anymore, which is unfortunately one doctor said they're getting used to gun dpiers. but i think they are physically better off. >> yeah. is the zoo open to the public? i mean, with all that's going on in libya and in tripoli? >> reporter: well, not really. actually, it was closed because they're doing a very nice job,

oddly enough, on renovating the place. it's been under renovation, as i said, for two years, and it really will be beautiful when it's finished. but right now there's no way people could go in there are. a lot of the paths are kind of jumbled with various things, and it's not set up for people to visit. they hope that it -- it's almost finished. they hope if they can get it back on track and they can get a team -- there was a south korean team doing the renovation -- they can finish the job and reopen it if they come back. >> when gadhafi was in power, was it different there? did his veregime take care of tt zoo? >> reporter: you know, it did. kind of a sad commentary as one of the doctors put it, they cared under the regime more about animals than they did about people. so actually the zoo did get sufficient funds, they say. and don't forget, you know, the renovation began under gadhafi.

so right now the good thing is, during the gadhafi years they were cut off from let's say communicating, going to conferences around the world, and being in touch with v veterinarians and people who were experts in this field, from around the world. now that that's over and the sanctions will be ended, they can get animals from other countries, they can have specialists come here, the vets here can go to other countries. so they'll be back in communication with the rest of the world. >> jill dougherty live in tripoli for us. jill, thanks so much if you're watching that it story, certainly it's hard not to be affected by it. so many of our viewers touched by what's happened at that zoo to the animals. if you want to help, here's how you can. just log on to cnn.com/impact and see how you can help. checking some top stories now. iran has officially opened its first nuclear power plant. western leaders worry that iran is developing a nuclear weapons

program, but iran says the new plant is just for civilian use. it's eventually expected to supply about 2.5% of iran's electricity. iran says the plant was built to international standards. russian engineers helped build it and at a joint news conference in tehran, russia's energy minister says his country looks forward to working with iran on other nuclear energy projects. one of moammar gadhafi's sons has left libya. saudi arrived in the country and has been accepted in niger. the location of moammar gadhafi still unknown. one of only two survivors of that deadly russian plane crash dies. the hockey player died of his injuries today. 37 players and staff members were killed when that plane crashed last week on their way to a game in ba lairs. prime minister vladimir putin

joined mourners at a memorial service. a british man was murdered at a beach resort in kenya, his wife kidnapped. reports say gunmen burst into the couple's beach cottage early yesterday and shot the husband when he resisted the robbery attem attempt. they reportedly carried the wife away on a speedboat. the british government says they're doing all they can to win her release. coming up, he is a brand. his fashion considered the work of a genius n. in just a couple of minutes, we catch up with marc jacobs for a very rare interview.

>> this is incredible validation

for the industry. >> yeah. but a lifetime is something that feels very final and i certainly don't feel my lifetime is over, i certainly hope it it's not over. i hope it's only halfway started. >> reporter: he may be light. the biggest rumor off the runway is word that marc jacobs is in line for one of the most coveted jobs in design, creative director of famed french fashion house christian dior. >> yeah, it it would be an honor. i mean, there's no question there are two great couture houses in paris, chanel and dior. i think it would be a very hard thing to turn down. >> reporter: dior has been without eye designer since john gall yawn know was fired earlier this year for making anltty semitic comments. jacobs says he doesn't think about the future. his focus is on the present. >> reporter: one te'i at "time, one hour at a time. >> yes. one minute, one second at a time. >> reporter: an obsession that started at 15, a stock boy at a

hot new york city boutique. overnight, he was selling his own designs. then designing for perry ellis. in the early '90s he started his own label and created a sensation when he reinterpreted grunge for the runway. marc jacobs had arrived. >> i instinctively react to things that stimulate me. >> reporter: such as? >> it could be anything. things that have affected me in the pasts coup couple of months weather affects me, the death of amy winehouse, moving into my new place. >> reporter: a perfectionist. >> we so mock up the sides. >> reporter: famous for working right up to showtime. >> if it's a day or week before the show, it it doesn't matter, if it's before the show, it's before the show. >> reporter: a former drug addict with 33 tattoos and a certain fondness for skirt snsz.

>> i like swearing skirts. i like wearing kilts. i started a few years ago. i moved from are kilts into pencil skirts. i wear now mostly prada pencil skirts. i like to do the things that make me feel good and make me happy, that don't hurt other people. >> reporter: a man who on and off the runway has done it his way, and yet is never satisfied. >> i'm always nervous. i'm a total nervous wreck all the time. or most of the time. i'm very, you know -- i'm always questioning my choices, and i'm always relooking at things. >> reporter: are? >> yeah. and i don't think that's a negative thing. >> alina cho joins me from new york. what happens to the marc jacobs line if he gets the dior job? >> it's an interesting question. as far as we can tell, the deal isn't done. marc jacobs is owned by the mega fashion conglomerate lvmh, which

also owns christian did dior. the thinking is he'd be the corrective director and also designing the marc jacobs selection. >> i understand he delayed his show? what happened with that? >> he did only as marc jacobs can, randi. what happened is we actually interviewed him just as hurricane irene was approaching. there were very few people on his design team who were able to make it into work because of the hurricane. he didn't feel as though he had enough time to prepare. his show was scheduled to go on tonight, but, again, as only marc jacobs can, he decided to delay the show until thursday. keep in mind, there are 250 designers who show during fashion week. it's tightly schedule, choreogra choreographed. >> pretty private guy. we said he doesn't do a lot of interviews, but it sure seemed like he opened up to you.

>> he did. you know what? what's interesting about that is i've long wanted to meet him, long wanted to interview him. we've been working on it for about a year. when it came time to finally interview him, his press representative, his publicist just left. i said, why are you leaving? she said, you know what? marc jacobs says whatever he wants to say, always. that carries over into design. he does what he wants to do. he does it his way always. and it's part of the secret to his success, i think. >> i think you're right. alina cho, great story. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> and you'll have the full backstage passes to the spring 2012 fashion week. join alina cho saturday afternoon 2:30 eastern time right here on cnn. say it ain't so, joe. find out who is going to face the music right after the break.

it feels like help is never far away. it feels like you're protected against life's little mishaps. it feels like you'll make it home. that's what it feels like to be a member.

time now for "face the music," a new segment it that will bring you every day around this time, our chance to call out people for, well, to put it blunt bluntly, screwing up. today hats off to the geniuses at major league baseball, more specifically former yankees manager and mlb executive vice president joe he tore re. at last night's mets game against the cubs in queens, new york, on the ten-year of the 9 is it 11 attacks, toretold the mets they could not wear hats honoring new york police officer and firefighters. why, you ask? because he said the problem was the mets wouldn't all be wearing the same university. seriously! that was his reason aring. do matching uniforms really trump honoring the selfless bravery of firefighters and emergency responders?

really? does this decision seem to come out of left field or what? after those towers crumbled all those years ago, the mets even delivered supplies to ground zero. and if anyone knows the impact the attacks had on new york city, it's joe torre. he was the yankees manager at the time. torre explained it wasn't a lack of respect, it was a unanimity thing. yeah, that's far more important than the men and women who risked their lives and ran into a burning building, don't you think? instead, the mets were limited to wearing the fdny and nypd hats during batting practice only, then switched to their regular hats which displayed tiny commemorative flags. is it me, or does joe torre's decision have you crying foul, too? it's time for you, joe torre, to "face the music." ♪ you can leave your hat on

welcome back. question we are just about five hours away from the first-ever cnn tea party republican debate taking place at 8:00 p.m. eastern. let's check in with mark are preston. he is in tampa where the debate is taking place. mark, let's get a preview, but before we even do that, actually, i understand you have some breaking political news for us. what do you have? >> reporter: randi, just hours before the cnn tea party debate,

a big endorsement will be made. louisiana governor bobby jindal is backing rick perrier for president. this is a big get. their states are side-by-side. not only is he endorsing rick perry, bobby jindal will be here in the audience as one of perry's special guests. in flight right now, we expect him in a couple of hours. that's when they make the anounlsment formal. a huge get on the same di romney rolls ousz out paut lenty as someone endorsing him. we'll see pawlenty tonight, too. >> battling endorsements tfks sounds like. mark, what do you think we can expect from towed tonightnight'? >> reporter: look, for all the candidates they have different tasks and accomplish. s they need. for rick perry, he needs to come into the debate, remain steady, probably has to alter his position on social security, which was a little

controversial. but don't expect him to back down. mitt romney has to appeal to the tea party republicans but not look like he's capitulating from him being that moderate or centrist republican that can also be convict turf sieve. someone like jon huntsman has to be able to allow the tea party to think he can represent their views. basically his campaign is the middle of the road campaign. then there's the others, herman cain, ron paul, they need to break above the pack. programs the person who has the most on the line is michele bachmann. in the new poll just released hour ago, it shows her numbers have prumt ared to 4%. who's to blame for that? rick perry. he's taken away the tea party support. a lot on the line for bachmann. we've seen romney and perry trade some barbs on the issue of social security. dow think those two will get into it