>> reporter: i can't imagine social security doesn't become the number one issue or at least one of the top couple of issues in this debate. it won't only be mitt romney who will be criticizing governor perry for his position on social security. expect michele bachmann as well to differentiate herself from perry. i've been told that by bachmann advise arors. they needs to show the tea party folks all across the country that she's the true conservative, yet she won't go as far as he's gone on the issue ofocial security. >> yeah, she's dropped a bit in the polls so she really does need to show something tonight. >> reporter: no doubt about that. >> mark preston there in tampa. mark, thank you so much. once again, a reminder. tonight's debate, 8:00 p.m. eastern, the cnn tea party debate, first of its kind. and that will do it for me. hope you have a great afternoon. i will hand it it over now to brooke baldwin. >> hello, randi kaye. thanks very much. i'll pick up where randi

left off. big debate tonight. there's no denying this guy, texas governor rick perry, is the republican partly front-runner for president. we have a brand new poll. rick perry sweeps it it. have a look with me. republicans' choice for president, rick perry 12 points ahead of mitt romney. sarah palin, ron paul the only others in double digits. then this one, best chance of beating barack obama, perry by a long shot, over mitt romney. strongest leader, perry and once again double digits ahead of romney. most likely to get the economy moving, say it with me, rick perry. a rick perry sweep in this poll. that debate tonight, as you now know, from tampa, 8:00 p.m. eastern time, co-hosted by cnn and the tea party express. eight republican ready to go. joins me from austin, texas, the guy who knows rick perry like no one else, we've discovered here, wayne schrader of the dallas morning news.

wayne, as a guy who's dofred rick perry for years and years, are you surprised to see him rocket to the top of the pack? a month ago today the governor hadn't even entered the presidential race. >> two months ago he hadn't even decided whether he was going to enter the race. honestly -- no, i think he is the p perfect candidate at the perfect moment in the perfect campaign, his side thinks. this is a campaign where voters are anxious, they're angry, they want somebody who looks like a leader, somebody strong and tough and is a fighter. people like myself who have watched rick perry for about 20 years knows if he's anything, he is a no-retreat, charge-ahead fighter. >> rick perry, you know this, started out in texas as a democrat, political winds shifted, perry switched parties. fwhak the day, he said nice things about the clinton health plan, only later to say he didn't mean them, only to say those to curry favor with the white house.

now today he sort of papering over the fact, he's insisting social security is a ponzi scheme, not really going that far in the op-ed. you've got to say, wayne slater, if you're talking about -- i say this air quotes -- quintessential politics, is rick perry kind of coming straight out of central casting here? >> you know, it's amazing his entire career has been this way. he has done things, like you say, was a democrat, became a republican, early in his governorship that he's changed to some extent. but he never seems to get hurt. it there's sort of a teflon quality about him. he's able to change without looking like he's significantly changing. i think that's a quality that voters will p accept, even some of the tea party voters who may not be happy with everything he said. the fact that he is this boot-scooting it texas cowboy with a record of creating jobs is something that i think is appealing. i was just in southern california late last week talking to some tea party

activists in southern orange county, republicans, and they like rick perry a lot. what they like a lot is not that he has shifted his position, they don't care, they like where he is today. >> we'll see how floridians feel tonight. speaking of boot-scooting, we have managed to get ahold of this ad that perry ran during his first run for statewide office. take a look. wayne, you see rick perry, here he is, about to get atop a horse, wearing that ten-gallon hat. i know he told us he wears cowboy boots each and every day. the thing is, he's been in politics for 28 years. wayne, what did he do before? did he have any business experience? >> well, he did. it's not the kind of business experience that mitt romney had, but he worked on the family farm. he really is a guy who grew up, unlike the caricature of george w. bush, perry was someone who grew up in a dryland cotton farm in west texas. he would put together airplanes,

small planes with duct tape and john deere parts and check the cattle. when he lived on the ranch actually in the early '30s he still didn't know what he was going to do in life. he would take his dog and take his horse and go up brazo's river creek and he would put a tent up there and live there for one or two weeks in solitary confinement. this is the rick perry who was decided what he want to do. he was a rancher. he understood that business. what he didn't understand at the beginning was, how would he spend the rest of his life. >> i think it's interesting you've said is he's changed so much without looking like he's significantly changed over the past 25 years. how do you think, looking back -- you talked about being in california, how did perry do in that debate last wednesday and what are you looking for as you look to tonight? >> again, the key here is, from the perry camp, will he look

like a fighter? the political guru for perry are, dave carney, believe voters want red meat rhetoric and someone who doesn't look like they back down from tough, strong stands. perry took a heck of a stand with respect to social security being a ponzi scheme. i don't see him significantly backing away from that. they think that language is appealing to the voters and the constituents they want. i think rick perry needs to explain better that he's not saying, i want to blow up social security. i want to fix it. look for him tonight to try to add that to his resume of points. but don't look at him to back away from the positions he's stood because the very fact that he stands up, talks tough, is a message, really a dog whistle to republican voters who say, we want somebody to go into the ring and who will fight and beat barack obama.

that is the rick perry you'll still see. of course, tonight we do expect as you know not only romney to come after him on social security but bachmann, michele bachma bachmann, to try to get back in the race and go after him on social security. >> of course. >> and possibly immigration. >> we'll look for it and look for those words, the red meat rhetoric as you phrased it it, not backing down. wayne slater, thank you so much. now let's talk about the president are. you remember the president's jobs speech, the big one last week? here's the cliffs notes version. >> pass this jobs bill and we can put people to work. you should pass it right away. pass this bill. pass this jobs bill. pass this bill, and hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people -- >> just one minor issue was that was certainly the president's refrain that night as he spoke. there was no bill. well, today there it is in his left hand, the president has it and now he sent it up to congress. more than $440 billion, now they are spelling out how they plan to cover that cost. let's go to brianna keilar

covering the white house for you. brianna, two words, right? tax increase. >> reporter: tax increases. brooke, i hope you can hear me okay. i will tell you the sound you're hearing is the sound of people at work soy guess it's all sort of in line with what we're talking about. the proposal for paying for the president's jobs plan, tax increases, limit aring deductions, those itemized deductions that wealthier americans take, and we're talking about people who as individuals earn $200,000 or more, families who earn $250,000 or month. they would see their taxes increase if they do use those itemized deductions when they file their taxes. this would raise the bulk of the funds to pay for the president's jobs plan. but you'll also see in his proposals for tax increases things that would affect hedge fund managers, oil and gas companies and also corporate jet owners. those may sound familiar. we have heard the white house talk about those before during that debt ceiling battle, brooke. >> what about the other big one, if you can hopefully still hear

me there. >> reporter: i can. >> i know the one that makes a lot of people's ears perk up, limiting itemized deductions. >> reporter: yeah. this is one that certainly will make a lot of people's ears p perk up. here's the thing. when you look at how much the white house is trying to raise through these tax increases in this proposal, it's $467 billion. they want to build in cushion to make sure it would cover everything. that's over ten years, according to jack lew, the president's budget director. 400 billion of that 467 billion comes from limiting these itemized deductions. this is really the bulk of it. keep in mind, though, it's actually lacked support in congress and i'm not just talking about republican support. i'm talking about support from moderate democrats as well. so it's pretty interesting to see the white house really not emphasizing this tax increase as much as the other ones. listen to jack lew. >> if the american people were asked to make a choice between

tax breaks for investment fund managers who get preferential treatment for carried interest and oil and gas industry tax breaks that treat oil and gas more favorably than other investments, and corporate jets that are treated more favorably than commercial, that is not a hard choice for most americans. >> reporter: so, brooke, you'll see he didn't mention the itemized deductions. he mentioned the corporate jet tax increase. i should tell you that would bring in, the white house says, $3 billion. so 3 billion of the 467 billion. the industry of course will argue that that tax break creates jobs. but as you know, brooke, when with americans are just hurting the way there are, there's not a lot of sympathy for people in corporations that can afford to own corporate jets. but the other thing is -- and you have to realize it certainly does make a very good talking point, and the white house is using it. >> we heard the same line as last week. the election is 14 months away,

but the american people don't have the luxury of waiting 14 months. brianna keilar from the white house, thank you so much. as president obama delivers his jobs pitch, the nation's biggest bank announces at least 30,000 people will lose their jobs. 30,000. my next guest says one man is responsible for bank of america's problems, one man and his ego. also, if banks are on the verge of shrinking, how does it affect you, your savings, your mortgage? rebel cole, a former federal reserve economist, will join me next. (screams) 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.

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. check of the clock here, we are 47 minutes away from are the closing bell. markets closing on this monday, two big stories really

percolating through this action today on wall street. you can see the numbers right now, the dow down triple digits, 104 points here. now, the first story i want to tell is an announcement by bank of america that could cause it to lose its status as the nation's biggest bank. baivg of america announcing this morning it is eliminating some 30,000 jobs in the next couple of years as part of this plan to save $5 billion a year. the other big story since the p option bell here this morning -- and there is the p opening bell -- american investors reacting to news from europe by selling off. the concern here is that greece -- we've talked so much about greece this year -- could default on its debts if it doesn't get bailout money soon. alison kosik watching these stories from her perch at the new york stock exchange fifrmt talk about the markets and how they're reacting to bank of america's announcement today. >> shares at bank of america are moving lower, down 1.5%. it just adds to the huge losses that bank of america shares have

suffered this year, down about 50% for the year, trading below $7 a share. as far as the job cuts go, investors knew this was coming. rumors have been circulating for weeks. as for b of a, many of the job cuts they say are p happening through attrition and they'll do away with unfilled positions. because the goal here is to cut costs by $5 billion a year between now and 2014. it's really part of a long-term plan that b of a began last year. and it's already shaken up its management structure because b of a really needs to take drastic action to turn this company around. brooke? >> also, as we mentioned, another part of the story you and i have talked about many times, look, it's a global economy when you have fears continuing to deepen in europe with regard to the economy there, fears of a greek default, that affects our numbers right where you're sitting as well. >> it does. that's why we see the markets down so much today, the dow down 112 points right now. you know what? these worries about european

debt have been around for more than a year, but what's new today, brooke, is that word that greece may not be able to pay its bills. it could default as efrl as this week. that's what's keeping the market on edge. for u.s. markets it's really more of a fear of what default would mean for the u.s. reality is we're not directly connected to greece. you've probably heard of the six degrees of separation. >> of course. >> this is more like two degrees of separation. i'm talking about france and germany, those countries are very exposed to greece and we are connected to france and germany. so it's france and germany that could be stuck essentially financially underwriting greece and that could have a direct impact on u.s. banks and ultimately our economy, which is why you see our markets kind of getting a little jittery today. again, brooke. >> i know, again. we've seen that multiple times. alison kosik, thank you very much. i want to talk a little bit more about this news. what do the bank of america layoffs really mean for you? i want to bring in economist

rebel koefl. rebel, before we talk about what you call, i read articles where you've called this a stupid business plan. we'll get to that. here's what i know a lot of americans want to know, if i'm a bank of america customer, i have a mortgage, how will all of these changes affect me? should i be scared? >> well, i'm also a checking account holder at bank of america. for most customers this is really a nonevent. there's no news here about bank of america that's new. the restructuring is the new ceo's attempt to get his arms around the problem abdomen cut costs and boost his capital ratio. if you're a depositor, this is a nonevent as long as you don't have more than $250,000 in one account, which most us don't. if you're a borrower, it means you may get worse customer service. if you're an employee, this amounts to a little over 10% of the workforce so that could be -- it could impact you. but probably only if you're in the nonbanking activities, not in commercial banking. >> you have also said, rebel, that it was the hubris of one

man, that man being the former ceo, ken lewis, that took down the largest bank in america. his plan was to make it the biggest. how did his plan and his ego, i guess, fail him? >> well, ken lewis did a masterful job up to a point following call before him, as we have followed him, this is the only premier banking organization outside of new york city except for wells fargo. what his mistake was, was to embrace the countrywide franchise. he viewed that as a mratd form for competing in mortgage origin nation with fannie and freddie. it didn't turn out that way. over 80% of the bad loans at bank of america came from countrywide. most of the litigation they're facing came from countrywide. it it just turned out to be a horrible investment. a lot of people talked to the merrill lynch investment that was sort of a shotgun wedding. that's turned out pretty well for bank of america. but countrywide has been a disaster. >> we saw the announcement --

mr. moynihan talking about eliminating 30,000 jobs in addition to the 6,000. is this a trend? are banks shrinking? >> i think you'll see that especially among the mega banks, the two big to fail banks, the ones 1 trillion to 2.5 trillion in assets. regulators want them to shrink, they're too big and unwieldy to properly govern. i think you'll see the downsizing and focusing on core activities rather than trying to be the financial supermarket that provides everything to everybody. >> so focused more perhaps on being profitable and less concerned about being the biggest bank out there with regard to bank of america. you're a former staff economist for the fed. does this fall in line for what the fed is looking for from our nation's biggest lenders? >> i think they would be very happy if the biggest banks shrunk down to size. now, they're at 2 trillion. they've got a long way to go. >> rebel cole, thank you very much.

appreciate you coming on the show. now this. >> reporter: it's an eerie feeling. you don't know what you're going to bump into. gunfire still going off. most of the cages seem empty. >> you remember this piece from a couple of weeks ago, nic robertson showing us the animals there at the zoo left behind in war-torn libya? the story got so much reaction that cnn has returned to the zoo and found some pretty disturbing scenes. we'll take you there ahead. plus, star watchers make a big discovery. 50 new planets? they're calling one of them a so-called superearth. we'll show you what they've found. chad myers will help me out with that. one astronomer is calling this incredibly exciting. we'll be right back.

astronomers say they have discovered a planet that could be similar to the atmosphere as our own, dubbing this super-earth. this is an artist's rendering of what it might look like, according to "the washington post," 50 new planets were discovered and this one is circling an orange star that's similar and cooler than the sun, the super-earth is just the right distance from its star to have water. chad myers is here because he knows we like to talk everything space what is it? they call it may be in the habitable zone, meaning it may have water. >> remember the story about goldy locks and the three bears, not too hot, not too cold, just right? that's where the habitable planets, it's just right. now, it's big, though. it's 3.6 times the mass of the earth. that tells -- these astronomers say, hey, this is a rock, not just some gas planet going around. this could be real. and it's 77 degrees, at least

that's what they think. >> i like it that. >> that's the -- isn't that perfect? >> 77 degrees? >> with a view of the ocean? >> like all the time? >> and only 36 light years away. >> it's beingcalled something with a lot of numbers. >> what about naming it bob? >> something better. i was looking at my notes, 36 light years away. >> correct. >> so that means we will never live to see what this may be. >> it it also means we can't see it. they think it's there. they believe it's there because of this telescope in chile. how this happen sz they take it a look and they it shoot the star and see if the star wobbles. if the star actually moves a little bit, that's the gravity from the planet going around it. that's where the wobble comes from. that's how they know it's 3.6 times heavier than the earth because it made that star wobble a little bit. we won't even try to look at it until the new telescope komz out next year from the observatory

in chile. >> i think we should take a field trip. >> it's ha high ae's high in t lot of atmosphere to go through. you speak spanish fluently. i'm going with you. >> great. thank you. love talking space with you p. she's only appeared in person once since the tucson massacre. gabby giffords about to speak publicly for the fist time after being shot in the head. also, she's considered a tea party favorite but no republican candidate is plummeting faster in the polls than michele bachmann. tonight with the tea party movement asking questions, is this bachmann's last stand or could it be a rebirth? don lemon with a preview of cnn's publrepublican debate is .

some of the top stories unfolding right now, texas still burning. officials say they responded to 19 new wildfires just yesterday

on more than 1,000 acres in the past week, the texas forest service has fought 141 fires on nearly 35,000 acres. some of the flames you're looking at from magnolia, texas. obviously this is the charred aftermath. so far, more than 1,500 homes in texas have been stroied by these wildfires. it doesn't help that 95% of the state is in extreme drought. an explosion in a densely populated part of nairobi, kenny area, kills more than 70 people. the fire is mostly out, but owe feshs say a pipeline burst probably while desperate peopler were siefenning fuel from it. the death toll is expected to rise. this happened in one of nairobi's packed slums. the blast burned and flattened many makeshift homes there. and iran holds a ceremony to inaugurate its first civilian nuclear power plant. the facility now up and running and connected to the national electronic grid. the plant is expected to produce 2.5% of the country's

electricity when fully operational. the u.n.'s nuclear watchs dog is concerned that iran may be trying to develop nuclear weapons, which iran denies. diane sawyer getting the first exclusive interview with arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords. abc will air the prime-time special november 14th, the night before a book written by the congresswoman and her husband mark kelly, shuttle commander, hits store shelves. the book is "gabby a story of courage and hope." giffords was shot in the head back in january while meeting with people in her district in tucson six were killed, 13 wounded. and we are getting set for tonight's big debate in tampa, florida, the cnn tea party republican debate. our whole team is down there, including our own don lemon. don, i'm hearing michele bachmann's campaign actually reached out to you to give you insight on what to expect from their candidate. what do they say? >> reporter: yeah. they reached out to me and i spoke with alice stewart from

the campaign, had a very nice conversation with her. listen, quite frankly, they are concerned about some of the reports that have been out, which may maybe indicating that michele bachmann is going to attack rick perry, going to go as they say strong against rick perry, come out against him. what she said is that's not so. she's not going to attack rick perry. "attack" is the wrong word. what she said basically is they're going to use this opportunity in this first ever tea party debate to distinguish herself and doing very strongly from rick perry, with social security, with health care, with jobs, with the deficit and all of that. so what she says is michele bachmann she believes is strong in every single debate, but this one in particular, this is right up her bailey wick, the tea party, these are the people she says she has favor with and she wants to come out swinging, so to speak. she says that's what she'll use this opportunity for. and quite frankly looking forward to this debate more than any other debate since she is a

tea party favorite. >> also, we had a conversation with dallas morning news' wayne slater. he's covered perry for years. i asked him about the issues percolating. obviously social security, but he also mentioned immigration. is that what you're hearing as far as issues that will dominate the debate? >> reporter: that issue will definitely dominate when it comes to -- i shouldn't say it's going to dominate the debate. it will be important when it comes to rick perry since it's texas, a border state and all of that. listen, you know the tea party, they say soercial issues is secondary to them. it may be important for the candidates, but the people here say it's secondary. what they want to talk about. >> marney: money, emergency, money, jobs, jobs, jobs. that's what's important to those folks. let's get back to the whole bachmann/perry thing and the tea party. because, remember are, michele bachmann won the iowa straw poll and was ranking very high. >> until rick perry joined the

crowd. >> reporter: the same day, right? >> right. >> reporter: so the last poll that -- the most recent poll we have, perry is at 30%, romney 18%, palin, brooke, who's not even in the race, 15%, ron paul at 12%. you don't see bachmann on that. she's down at 4% behind cain and gingrich. you know, what her campaign said to me is, this isn't do or die nor her. they think that she is going to have the upper hand in this debate because these are the people who she can relate to most and relates to her most. so there you go, on that end. >> so as we talk about the candidates, i also want to talk about -- i was trying to read how this will work. i know there's a red zone, right? these tea party voters will sit in the audience. there were three viewing parties, people can ask questions over twitter, facebook. it sounds pretty unique. >> reporter: it is unique. we always have -- there are people we have question thasz are preselected that are up front. that's in the red zone. then there's a broader audience

and then there are these huge monitors on each side. one side will have people like anderson in new york or whatever remotes we go to from around the country, then the other side will be xrikt striktly social media, they'll be taking live comments, live tweeting. then some of the questions will be given to some of the candidates as well. but it's -- the inside is amazing. it's amazing, brooke, to go behind the scenes and see -- it's really cool because it it's just an arena. it's an arena where they may have trade shows and sometimes concerts or what have you. what we do is basically turn it into a studio, an hd-high tech studio at that in a couple of days. >> what's the coolest part about it? you've been there a couple of days. what are you seeing that we don't get to see? >> reporter: nothing's cooler than the bus. the coolest thing, quite honestly, for me is to see like media from around the country come in and actually report on

this. i mean, there are hundreds and hundreds of stations, probably about 200 or 300 stations, maybe more, just for other media coming around the country. there's probably more than that. for them to come in and say, oh, my gosh, don lemon, cnn. yeah, i'm a reporter just like you. but the local people look to the this as quite honestly a big event because they know news is going to be made from the eight candidates on stage. and the coolest thing, too, is just the feeling, brooke, because this is unprecedented. it's unchartered territory, never before have we had a tea party debate. and the candidates on the stage are going to have to walk this fine line between appealing to tea party candidates and appe appealing to a broader electorate. >> and wolf blitzer gets to moderate the whole thing. we'll be talking to him next hour. eight candidates, 8:00. don lemon, thank you sir. 8:00 tonight, the big republican debate right here on cnn. now this. the gunman repeatedly

attempted to fire upon me. i feared for my life. >> walgreens fired this pharmacist after he pulled a gun on these two robbers, the whole thing caught on video. so what do you think? does protect aing yourself and your employer deserve this punishment? both sides and the video, next.

now to a story we are are following out of michigan. you know, some might call one walgreens employee a hero after he pulled a gun on armed rob rers in may. the robbers took off, no one was hurt. but walgreens apparently didn't think there was anything heroic about it it at all. in fact, the company fired this man. now that employee was a pharmacist. he is now suing. as part of the case, we're getting video surveillance of the entire thing as it went down. here is reporter steve patterson of affiliate wzzm. >> i feared for my life. >> reporter: in may, two armed

men entered a walgreens in benton harbor where jer huven worked. they take a manager hostage and push him to the back of the store. >> the gunman repeatly attempted to fire upon me. >> reporter: in this edited security footage, given to wzzm 13 news from huven's attorney, you can see a masked man leap over the counter, weapon drawn. >> in self-defense, i fired my weapon. >> reporter: and the crooks ran off. in a press conference on wednesday, the pharmacist says he has hey permit for the weapon but was fired a week later. >> mr. huven by the way of this lawsuit is challenging walgreens' right to fire him. >> reporter: a walgreens district manager fired the pharmacist based on a nonescalation policy, his attorney says. >> as we stand here today, neither jeremy nor i have ever seen that policy. >> reporter: a statement from

walgreens says, employees go through extensive training in crisis situations and are told to be compliant. >> that makes for a really interesting case, you know, potentially with national importance. >> reporter: this law professor says in michigan anyone is al w allowed to carry a weapon with the proper permit unless it is written anywhere in the company's policy. >> the legal issues are really going to stand against what potentially was an act of heroism. i don't know that it it will go away as easily as walgreens would like. >> so it's a fascinating case. obviously a lot of legal questions coming from it. coming up next hour, sonny hostin will answer some of those questions when we go on the case. still ahead -- you're going to see the interview with one of my all-time favorite bands on this music monday. i'm so excited for this. also -- as folks ran for their lives in libya, they left behind animals there in tripoli's zoo. >> reporter: to get some more

water in here, he we laid this plastic pipe on the floor right into the tank where the hippopotamus, but it didn't work. >> now, after getting so much reaction from you, cnn returnsed to the zoo for an update. and what we found is a heartbreaking moment of life and death.

let's get you caught up in what's happening in libya.

while no word is on where's moammar gadhafi is, one of his sons has surfaced, saadi gadhafi seen with nic robertson. government officials confirm that the third son of moammar gadhafi is there and he was allowed to crossing the border. he told cnn a couple of days ago he has not seen his father in months and he supports neither his family's longtime rule nor the opposition figures now in front of libya. he promises to hand over suspects wanted by the international criminal court that includes gadhafi family members. and while tripoli fell to opposition fighters last month, cnn correspondents, producers, cameras were finally able to look around freely without the libyan handlers, the minders. we showed you this story just a couple of weeks ago on the abandoned tripoli city zoo and the animals that survived air strikes, near starvation and

worse sufrg. that two-minute piece energized animal rescue experts all around the world to rush in to help. here is cnn's jill dougherty. >> 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. do you know why he's so sick? >> honestly i don't know. 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 that option. >> coming from outside and make a big hole. >> reporter: the zoo's director, dr. abdul fat ta, leads us to

the mammal house. >> reporter: wow. that came dlu through the roof but none 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 are shiny, they want water, just swimming, no problem. >> reporter: shells still litter the zoo grounds. right here in the zoo. >> it's coming from outside, you know. >> reporter: so just all over the place. at the height of the conflict, 15 of the staff came here every day to feed and water the animals, rusking their own lives to do it. and if they hadn't, many of these animals would have died within three or four days. dr. khalil from an animal rescue team rush ared from vienna to help after seeing cnn reports about the fate of these animals.

>> he don't succeed. >> reporter: did he die? >> it was too late. >> reporter: he just died. >> yeah. it it ae it's too late. >> reporter: are it tripoli's zoo was being rebuilt when the war started. 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, cnn, tripoli. >> you can help the animals at that zoo. you can help make an impact, cnn can show you how. go to cnn.com/impact. donate, volunteer, learn how to make a difference in the world, including there at the zoo in tripoli. again, cnn.com/impact. straight ahead today -- music monday, i'm falking to one of my favorite bands ever, death cab for cutie. here's a first. i'm actually doing a little singing of my own. ♪ happy birthday to you

♪ happy birthday to you yeah, a little behind the scenes fun there, probably the last time ever you will hear me sing. but what do you do when you find out it's the lead singer's birthday? i had to get candles and cupcakes, right? more with death cab right after the break.

well, they may have a strange name, and there's a whole story behind it. but the band i talked to for this week's music monday makes music anything but. death cab for cuties, one of my favorite bands, and let me tell you, if you haven't heard their music yet, you are missing out. this seattle indy rock group has become a long wayes. they talked about how they

started writing songs in a bedroom under bellingham, washington. and the group is now singing for packed venues across the country. their newest albums, codes and keys, is lighter than the last one. chris told me, their impulse and inspiration is still the same. check them out, music monday. >> this band is called death wab for cutie from seattle, washington. thanks for coming out tonight. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ben, if you bump into someone and you've never met them and they say, oh, death cab, what kind of music do you play? what's your answer? >> at this point, if someone is not familiar with the band and i'm trying to describe the kind of music that we play, i just say rock music. >> so the uber lir sift just boils it down for t.o. a rock band for someone whose never heard it. >> yeah, because that's who we are. we are a rock band.

there are those who rock harder than we do. a lot of people do. >> i think a lot of people do. >> but that's what we are, a rock band. >> how would you describe how your music has evolved? >> i think the record that just came out earlier this year, codes and keys, is something different than came out in 1998 bp. but it is years and years of travel and experience and contracts. and trying to figure out how to wrap all of that into recorded and performed music p.m. and our relationships have morphed and changed with one another. but again, the impulse is still kind of the same. it is to try and make the best stuff that we know how to make. >> with you and your writing, do you write your life? >> i have always found it interesting that song writers are kind of the only type of

writer that people take first person as, well this experience happened to the person who's narrating the song. the person narrating the song is the singer, so this is about their life. that's not always true. in fact, more times than not, it's not always true ♪ i wish you could see the potential, potential of you and me ♪ are you one of those people who says this is my job, i have done so many albums now that i could sit down and write a song? or does it take you a moment of solitude or hours to craft something? >> i have to see the song in my head like a movie. i see a couple of lines leading in a direct. it is only after i can see the forest from the tree answers can i see the characters and how they react it each other. >> if you could meet anyone who is sort avenues maker of that ilk, who would it be? meet anyone and play for them? >> we have yet to meet and play for barak. >> that would be -- that's a

start. >> are you on the same basis as the president? >> i guess we're not, are we? >> i guess not. barack obama is the president of the united states. >> when you fill arenas like out there, do you still have that pinch-me moment? >> yeah. >> or is this the norm? >> this is somewhat normal now. in 2011, by mean that's normal, i just feel like we have been able to adapt these songs that were written, you know, in a bedroom in bellingham almost 15 years ago. you know, to a space like this. >> what is the one thing over the years that has really truly remained the same? whether it's among the band or how you play? what's the biggest difference from then to now? >> our relationship as a band and as friends and band members has, you know, there have been new elements brought into the dynamic of that relationship. but i think, you know we remember playing music for the first time in a house in

bellingham, that felt good. and we have a lost love and respect for each other and realize how lucky we are to get to do this with each other. >> thank you, death cab for cutie. make sure you check out my blog if you would like it see any of the other music mondays we've been doing. we will also post the video from the death cab, like singing happy birthday. click if you dare, again it is my singing voice and that is a tad frightening. next, this. women, raped, beaten mercilessly and left with children. >> each time i see this child, i remember what i went through. it's hard to love him. but then i remember, he's innocent. >> they're called al qaeda babies aent u.s. fears the terrorists are setting up a future for suicide bombers. also the 9/11 memorial

opening to the public today. there are some amazing details about the names of these victims and how they were placed on that memorial. don't miss that, next. i can my own homemade jam, apricot. and really love my bank's ise your ratcd. i'm sorry, did you say you'd love a pay raise asap uh, tuly, i said i love my bank's raise your rate cd. you spen8 days lo at sea ? no, uh... you love watching your neighbors watch tv ? at ally, you'll love o raise your rate cd that offers a one-ti rate increase if our currentates go up. [ jim ] i need to push out a software upgrade. build a new app for the sales team in beijing. and convince the c.e.o. his email will find him... wherever he is. i need to see my family while they're still awake. [ male announcer ] with global services from dell, jim can address his company's i.t. needs through custom built applications, cloud solutions and ongoing support in over 100 countries. so his company sees results. and jim sees his family.

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with a medicare supplement plan. it's all in our free guide. is there a single plan that combines medicare parts a & b with medical and drug coverage? [ male announcer ] absolutely. many medicare advantage plans can give you doctor, hospital and prescription drug coverage all in one plan. remember, the annual enrollment period is earlier this year. call unitedhealthcare now or visit us online to get this free answer guide from unitedhealthcare medicare solutions. call right now. today is the very first day you can visit the new 9/11 memorial at the financial center in lower manhattan. it was open only to families during yesterday's 9/11 service there. but if you haven't heard about th, the story behind this, it is incredible. the names are arranged around

the footprints of the towers, not alpha betically, but so that the names of loved ones would be near one other nor ever. a computer programmer helped design the whole thing. >> not only do have you 76 these very large bronze panels that have to be grouped and sub grouped by names, you also have to take into consideration typography. which names can span two panels. names ending with a t cannot follow first names beginning with a j. how many names, can follow with a grid. the city of new york didn't know if it was possible. the groups that took on the project hired freelance computer program jared thorp, who i add chance to speak with, and i said how did you work this out. he says the algo rhythm took about a month to create and about six months to really create this human connection. what was amazing was with the success of the software, showed something much deeper.

we start to see the names that had much more meaning behind them. we take for example, cantor fitzgerald, 704 employees were lost. this loss wag so significant that the names take up half of the pools, bronze slabs around one pool, showing the impact of a such a terrible event. and two brothers, john and joseph, 34 and 36 years old that pass aid way that day. we their first responders but now can be forever memorialized right next to each other on the bronze plating. >> how about that? you can learn more about the design of the memorial. go to cnn.com/911. here we are can be top of the hour. tonight, folks challenging president obama will square off telling republicans why they deserve the nomination. but this time, some of the questions will come straight from the tea party movement. here we go, the news is now.

these candidates know if they want the republican nomination, the road may go through this group, the tea party movement. and hours from now, they'll take the stage just as president obama delivers his jobs plan to congress. >> well, here it is. plus, they're called al qaeda babies. the u.s. military was finally able to drive out al qaeda fighters. >> cnn speaks with women sitting in the shadows revealing their stories of horror trance. >> i fought and he put the gun to my head and said, either i kill you or i kill your children. >> wallgreen's use is for >>. >> here we we go. we are counting down to the big debate. it is a wake-up call for seven

republicans. what i'm talking about here is any presidential republican candidate here, not named james richard perry, aka, rick. our poll released today, cnn and research corporation shows the texas governor cemented his lead over the rest of the gop field. let me share this with you. first you can see republicans choice for president, rick perry, 12 points ahead of mitt romney. sarah palin, ron paul only others that got double digits. best chance of beating barack obama, rick perry by a long shot over mitt romney. next one, strongest leader, rick perry once again, double digits ahead of mitt romney. most likely to get the economy moving, say it with me, rick perry. rick perry sweeped in that poll. so that debate tonight there, inside there from tampa, 8 p.m., cohosted by cnn and the tea party express. eight republicans in all ready to go. let's go to gloria live for us from tampa. and gloria, as we pointed out, a month ago today, governor perry wasn't even in this race.

>> right. >> does this rocket to the top say more about him gloria, or does it speak more about republican voters feelings about the rest of the candidates? >> i think it is a little bit of each, brooke. look, this was real oe unsettled field. i would still argue it could still be unsettled. but it was clear that voters were looking, republicans were looking for somebody other than mitt romney. don't forget, mitt romney's been to this rodeo before. he didn't do so well in 2008. there is still some concerns, residual concerns, about him, about his authenticity and about whether he's the person to take the fight to barack obama. because more than anything else, brooke, republicans want to win. so they are looking at rick perry and right now, rick perry's biggest competitor is rick perry. because he's got to introduce himself to the american people. he's using these debates to do so.

and so, republicans and the rest of mer car looking at him and trying to figure out just who he is. so far, republicans like what they see. >> now rick perry seems, gloria, to have backed away from his long time critique of social security. he called in his book "fed up", calling it a ponzi scheme. but it looks like mitt romney will try to hammer him on it tonight. what does mitt romney try to do to chip away at rick perry. are romney people shocked at rick perry's rocket rise to the top? >> well, what rick perry did today, in a piece in usa today's kind of nuance, brooke, he didn't quite back way from it, but he said we need to reform it. not kill it. we need it reform it for younger voters. i would argue that's a little bit avenuance shift. but of doesn't really matter because mitt romney and perhaps michele bachmann are going to, not chip away at him, they are

going to hammer away at him. there a flier i want to share with that you is being circulated in the state of florida right now. and in it, mitt romney sounds like a democrat, dare i say. he says, rick perry, how can we trust anyone who wants to kill social secure snit rick perry, reckless and wrong on social security. so you can be sure there's going to be some fights about that. tonight at the debate. and rick perry's going to throw it right back at him, telling mitt romney that you once called social security a criminal enterprise. so how is that any different from what i say? and people familiar with rick perry's thinking on this told me that what -- you know, what he's going 20 say is look, somebody's got to be the truth tellener this race. and he's going to present himself as the truth-teller, willing to talk straight to the american people because he's just not a regular politician. >> who, rick perry? >> see if it works.

>> rick perry? >> yes. >> he mentioned the word honesty three different times. that's interesting. >> right. you got that. >> also something else in the polls, gloria be republican voters were asked which gop candidate is most likely to fight for their beliefs. again, rick perry takes that with 29%. romney is way back. he is at 11%. does that say something to you? >> it does. three out of ten think rick perry will fight. only one out of ten think romney will fight. that tells me two things. one is, they want someone who's going fight and perry looks like their guy right now. they don't think mitt romney is going to fight because, and this again goes back to 2008, what does he believe? did he flip-flop on issues like abortion? did he flip-flop on all kinds ever things? mitt romney hasn't made that mistake this time around. he's been very careful for example to not back away from his health insurance plan in the state of massachusetts said it was right for massachusetts. maybe not for the federal

government. but there is still a question thereabout how hard mitt romney would fight. and they see rick perry as a fighter and so that's why, when he gets attacked in these debates, it is kind of good for rick perry because it shows you that he will fight back just as he would fight back against barack obama. it's clear that republicans kind of like that feistiness about him. they want a fighter. >> gloria, we will all be watching 8:00 tonight eastern time. >> yeah. >> thank you very much. here we are, seven minutes after the closing bell. let's take a quick peek and see how numbers are settling. keep an eye on the day it's up, on the day that bank of america is announcing 30,000 job cuts. alison is at the stock exchange. i'm looking again. that's a plus sign. great thing.

great thing. i'm so used to seeing it the other way. >> you know why you were startled? because it happened in the final few days of the trading day, brooke. it turned green here. >> finally seeing green. but part of the news, sort of bitter sweet, because you look at bank of america. you look at fears of default in greece, france, the banks. it is all part of this story that is interwoven and perhaps manifested in some of the numbers. >> oh, sure. and there's worries about the european debt crisis. just because we are ending in green, those worries are not going away. everyone is still worried that quote financial flew will become contagious and cause us to start sneezing. it is is likely that greece cannot pay its bills and will default early in this week. that's why you see the volatility we saw today. we saw most of the day in the red and of course bank of america, bank of america saying that it's going to be, you know, cutting 30,000 jobs over the next several years.

bank closures actually are not off the table. the company did not discuss that today, brooke, but it is something we have been hearing about. there is talk it may close 10% of its banks. b of a is restructuring. this will take years. it could wined up closing branchs that time. a lot depends on how the economy does. there are questions facing the banking sector. bank of america is the biggest bank by assets. but brian moynihan said something to the effect that being biggest doesn't matter at this point. the point is being profitable. having a strong balance sheet. being a leader. this story, far from over. i will stay right on top of it for you. >> i know you will. thank you very much, live forness new york as always. now, listen to this. >> i pushed him. i fought. but he put the gun to my head and said, either i kill you or i kill your children. >> what an ultimatum. a mother faced with that. knew what she today do to save her family. sadly, hers is not the only

story. we are learning more and more about the violence women endured at the hands of terrorists in one part of the world. they share their stories, next. ♪ priceis it true thata-tor. name your own price.... >>...got even easier? affirmative. we'll show you other people's winning hotel bids. >>so i'll know how much to bid... ...and save up to 60% >>i'm in i know see winning hotel bids now at priceline.

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[ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. 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 know from history that women off then times bear the brunt of violent regimes. we witnessed it this year in somalia, egypt, libya, syria. the claims are the same. brutal rapes, beatings carried out in iraq by members of al qaeda who seized an opportunity to grab power after the fall of saddam hussein. today al qaeda is diminished but

sadly so are the lives of the women they victimized. today we sit down with women whose lives were ransacked by these terrorists. >> inside this house, not far from baghdad, there are memories of horror. when he stormed in, his face was covered in a black mask. we were terrified. my daughter and my children. he had a gun. he took me to the room. chilling words describing the day in 2005 when al qaeda fighters took over her village. we're not disclosing anyone's real name or their identity. i pushed him. i fought. but he put the gun to my head and said, either i kill you or i kill your children. she recalls. he raped her. on the bed she once shared with her husband. she tells us the man came back. he was always masked and she never knew his name. we were imprisoned, she says. he threatened to cut her head

off if she left the house. hooda's husband had been killed a year earlier. one of many victims of the blood letting that was rampant in this part of iraq. they had five children who the the attacker would beat and lock in a room while he attacked her. her daughter was just 15. another al qaeda member came to claim her as his wife. they just took any girl they want. he came to me, zana, shutters. he would only come at night, his face always covered. she fainted. we poured water on her. her mother remembers of that night. they finally left. she was a disaster and i couldn't scream for the neighbors. if i screamed, i would have exposed myself. rape in iraq off then stigma advertises the women. that and fewer of retribution of

al qaeda forced the family into silence. their nightmare would last for the next three years. in 2008, the u.s. military was finally able to drive out al qaeda fighters from various villages in the province, and that is when the troops made a disturbing discovery. many of these areas were populated only by young girls, teenagers, and women. many of them had little children or were pregnant. the u.s. military at the time speculating that al qaeda was deliberately trying to breed new suicide bombers. the militia mostly fled. leaving the women an children they spawned behind. zana has a 2 1/2 little girl, a child without an official iraqi identity card. the officials told me, she says, there is no evidence that you were married or that this is your daughter. her mother was left with a 6-year-old boy.

each time i see this child, i remember what i went through, hooda says. it is hard to love him. but then i remember, he's innocent. no one knows how many children were conceived in such a horrific way. the off spring of a warped and brutal ideology. cnn, deala province. >> thank you. al qaeda in iraq is very much active in iraq. dozens of its members just broke out after prison in the northern part of the country. they escaped through tunnel. coming up, he is described as a boot-scootin texas cowboy. rick perry will quote bring red meat rhetoric, at tonight's cnn debate. we will go on rick perry's path. and iran is one of the biggest threats to the united states especially if they are able to develop nuclear weapons. and now, there is worry iran is

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news of iran today, held a ceremony to inaugurate its first civilian nuclear power plant. the facility is now up and running and connected to the national electric grid. this plan is expected to produce 2 1/2 percent of the country's lek tris when fully operational. meanwhile, the nuclear watch dog is concerned that iran will develop nuclear weapons, which iran denied. rick perry energized the race. this poll was just released today. perry, way out front, over the

former front-runner, mitt romney. you have to ask this question, are people supporting him just because they like him or just because they aren't very wowed by anyone else in this republican race? and do they really know him? after all, he's only been in the race for a very short time. wasn't even in it a m ago today. we take a closer look at the texas governor and his message. >> sometimes your instincts tell you when man is right for the job. >> wearing chaps and riding a horse, this was rick perry's first statewide political ad back in 1990. >> i'll tell you a great story. >> legendary texas political consultant bill miller remembers women posting pictures of perry in chaps in offices all over austin. he knew then rick perry had the "it" factor. >> it told me that yeah, he is a good looking good guy. when you meet him, you will get an energy and vitality off him that you will feel, which will surprise you. >> miller isn't surprised to see perry rocket to the top of the polls for the republican presidential nomination. he credits perry's risk-taking

by joining the tea party movement early. >> we didn't know where it was going or how it would play out. he is risk-taker, but smart one. because the bets he has made have paid off for him politically. >> he know knows a thing or two about political messages. >> if you happen to knock perry down under a republican opponent you have to get in the middle of his jobs narrative and knock it down a couple notches. the notches are there to knock, they just haven't tried yet. >> cook is a democrat. he want going to not try to burst the rick perry bubble. >> it is also kind of easy to overestimate perry. he is not some magic mon lij after campaign here. since 1994, the only thing you've had to do as a republican in texas to win your election, is to avoid being the democrat.

>> rick perry is also used to being the front run ir. he always had the lead and he is comfortable in front of crowds. he was a kind of like a texas cheerleader. >> he was a better politician, and by all accounts he is as good a candidate as anyone has seen in our lifetime. >> there is still months left in this race. rick perry can't ride off into the sunset as the republican nominee just yet. cnn, austin, texas. >> thank you. rick perry says he is about to get brutally hon efrt with the american people. will that honesty fly? with the tea party movement. we will take you live to tampa hours from now, less than four hours to be precise. tea partiers be ask him some very direct questions. also this -- >> to the person that returned keenan safely to our family, i

would like to say thank you. >> a 3-year-old goes missing. several days later, he shows up, unharmed. now investigators say a kidnap er had a change of heart. we are on the case ahead. it's the end of the road. the last hurrah. it's when ford's powertrain warranty ends. but in this ram truck, you've still got 39,999 miles to go. ♪ guts. glory. ram. ♪ no? change the channel. waiting. waiti. still here? it's this... etrade's pro platform. sizzs the trading senses. hea of their new elite trading program. your lethal weapon. digned bottom up? cha-chi. integrated top down. customizable. , du no compromises. no multiple platforms.

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or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? troom. stroom. stroom. it is cnn political ticker time and jim joins us live from tampa, florida where in three and a half hours, gop republican contenders face off and our own wolf blitzer moderating this thing wp jim, an exciting night. >> it is, brooke. we have been talking all day, is this going to be a social security smackdown. we had a chance to talk with jon huntsman who did break out in that debate in california, who says he will challenge governor perry and mitt romney on social security, trying to bring back comments that both of the contenders made over the years on that very important subject. and it's interesting to have

that discussion down here in florida because this is such a crucial state when it comes to senior voters. they are going to be watching this very carefully. and having said all of that, i will say we did go into tampa earlier today to talk to senior voters. they said, yeah, we are sort of interested in that subject. but really at this point we are feeling out all of these can dates. even though we are wrapped up in the very importance of each and every one of these debates, i get the sense, a lot of voters out there still haven't decide wred they are going yet. they want to watch the debates and learn about the candidates. brooke? >> also, jim accosta, haven't we learned within this afternoon that louisiana governor officially endorsed texas governor rick perry. >> well, it's been sort of an endorsement word today. you remember earlier this morning, tim pawlenty came out in favor of mitt romney. i think what you are saying at this point is sort of the pregame, you know, gamemanship if you will that goes on before the debates happen.

trying to own the narrative a little bit going into the debate and last week, that first debate really turned into a smackdown, a dual between rick perry and mitt romney. and even some of the candidates app of that debate, like rick santorum and jon huntsman were saying earlier today, they were saying that they were worried that debate was becoming a mano a mano affair. i think that's the thing to watch, brooke, is there a candidate out there besides rom nooe, besides perry, who can break out of this field and become sort of the third candidate in waiting if either ever these other two front runners a tht point self destruct. that's the one to watch. michele bachmann had to opportunity at one point, if you look at the new cnn orc poll that came out where she's at 4%. it's possible she lost that opportunity. but she may be able to get back into it tonight. we will have to see. but that's the one thing i will be watching. who else besides those two can really break out of the pack,

brooke? >> yeah, pregame gamesmanship. and so it begins. thank you. well be watching live tonight from tampa. still ahead, tapes revealing jackie kennedy's thoughts. how fears of nuclear war kept her up at night. also, president obama demanding congress pass his jobs bill. he has released the cliffs note version of it until now.

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we now know the president's jobs plan arrived this afternoon on capitol hill. in fact, it just did arrive, we're told. it's in the form of lejs which

legislation which the president showed off today. 440 billion, that's the cost of this thing. the president said from the start, this will not add from the deficit because it'll be paid for. brianna, live for us at the white house. told us today, how they plan to do that, tax increase. >> reporter: tax increases, that's right. the big one, brooke. limiting itemized deductions that wealthier americans take on their taxes. so we are talking about individuals who make $200,000 or more per year or family he who are earning $250,000 or more per year. this is the president's proposal. so if those people use itemized deductions, as many americans do when they file their taxes, they would see their taxes increase under this proposal. there would also be tax increases that would affect hedge fund managers, oil and gas companies and owners of corporate jets. those sound familiar to you, brooke, i'm sure. that is something the white house pro poseding the debt

ceiling. >> we heard those words before, didn't we? i know you are traveling with the president. he was m richmond wab back on road to sell this jobs plan. we may hear something like this. here is the president talking about certain unnamed republicans in congress. >> and the notion that folks say we're not going to try to do what's right for the american people, because we don't think it is convenient for our politics. we've been seeing that too much around here. that's exactly what folks are tired of. and that's okay when things are going well. you play politics. it's not okay at a time of great urnl ency and need all across the country. these aren't games we're plague out here. folks are out of work. >> reporter: this is a speech that you should expect to hear. we have already heard some of on friday when he was in virginia. tomorrow, president obama is in ohio, wednesday he is in north

carolina. these are all swing states, brooke, that president obama won in 2008. certainly, he's hoping to hang on to them in 2012. when he faces the tough reelection. and since these are politically important states, press secretary jay carney was pressed today about whether these are sort of campaign stops. you know, a lot of these stops do certainly have the feel after campaign event, and to laughter, karny said, the president is campaigning. then he paused and said, he is campaigning for jobs and growth. so, now no doubt part of this reelection, strategy of the president's, is going to be convincing americans that he is trying to take action here. and fe struggles brooke, to take action, it is trying to point to who is standing in his way. that would be republicans. and that's why the president is prepared and has made it clear he is prepared to play a very powerful card. saying this bill, he sent up today, swallow whole and if you don't, i will paint you as

destructionists. we will see how that narrative plays out out, brooke. >> he was in cantor's territory. here we go. >> here we go. >> thank you very much. you are good to see it wp let's begin with diane sawyer, getting the very first interview with congressman gabrielle giffords. a book written by her arizona and her husband will hit the shelves. giffords was shot in the head in january while meeting with people in her home district in tucson. six others were killed and 13 wounded. more than 70 people are dead after an explosion in a densely populated. the red cross officials say a pipeline blew up, probably while desperate people were siphoning fuel from it. government spokesman expects the death toll to rise as the body count was revised.

it happened in one of nairobi's packed slums and it flattened many makeshift homes there. parents, a question. could watching fast-paced cartoons, spongebob squarepants, impair your child's thinking? according to a new study, publiced in pediatrics, 4-year-olds who watch nine minutes of the popular nickelodeon show did worse on a test than other kids watching slower-paced cartoons. the brain gets tired from the faster-paced cartoons and that's leads to the scores. the national guard never prepare prepared nancy for this. there she is fresh off the flight. also osbourne an afghanistan veteran was training for a military operation. after hugs and kisses and a nice little ring, she said yes. >> still ahead, wallgreen's

fires a pharmacist for protecting the store against robbers. is the company right on this one. also a 3-year-old little boy goes missing, then turns up, days later, unharmed. the family is calling this a miracle. people are calling it a kidnapper's change of heart. sunny hostin on this, next. ise your ratcd. i'm sorry, did you say you'd love a pay raise asap uh, tuly, i said i love my bank's raise your rate cd. you spen8 days lo at sea ? no, uh... you love watching your neighbors watch tv ? at ally, you'll love o raise your rate cd that offers a one-ti rate increase if our currentates go up. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses.

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there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. a michigan wallgreen's manager fired an employee.

you will see one of these men holding up a wallgreen's manager there with a gun to his back. just watch, there it is. the men that jumped from the counter in the very back of the store where the pharmacist worked. you see it there. the pharmacist fires three times at robbers. there he is with a gun in his left hand and the men take off. that pharmacist, jeremy holden, fired after this incident is now suing wallgreen's. basically he says for wrongful termination. i want to you listen to what his attorney says about this case. . >> mr. hoven, by way of this lawsuit, is challenging wallgreen's right it fire him for exercising his right of self-defense. >> let me bring in sunny hostin. just so i get this straight wp citizens have a right to defend themselves. mr. hoven is saying, wallgreen's violating his rights of self-defense by firing him. wallgreen's says, he violated company policy. what do you make of this? >> yeah, that's about it in a nutshell. he certainly is suing them for

firing him. he is saying this was wrongful termination. a federal lawsuit. and it is very true that in michigan, you have to have a permit to have a concealed gun, and he had that permit. so brooke, this is really odd case. i mean, bottom line is wallgreen's says they have a policy. their policy a nonescalation policy. that is a policy we see all over the country. statistical statistically, that's the safest route. we have a statement from wallgreen's. what it says is our policies in this area are designed to maintain the maximum safety of our customers and employees. store employees receive comprehensive training on our company's robbery procedures. now he says he never saw these procedures. and how to react it a potential robbery situation. you know what i think is so interesting about this, brooke? >> what's that? >> there was a robbery in this same store, an armed robbery, a couple years ago with the same

pharmacist. he was held by gunpoint. he asked wallgreen's to install a panic button. he asked for increased security and they failed to do that. so just as a good corporate employer, i am surprised that they fired him because many people see him as a hero. >> so given that history, given the fact that mr. hoven says, look, i was never given, manager never sat me down and told me about this policy, what do you think his chances are of winning the case? >> i think he has a good chance. remember in a civil case, just a preponderance of the evidence, a much lesser standard than a criminal case, and i guarantee you if he tries this case in front of six or 12 jurors, i don't know fe will find a panel that will side with wallgreen's wh when have you someone like this who many people are saying is a hero. and think that what wallgreen's did was really just not being a very good corporate employer. so it is something that won't go away any time soon.

i'm sure wallgreen's wants it to but that's not going to happen. >> well follow it of course. to case number two. we rarely see a happy ending in cases like this. we love reporting when it does. a 3-year-old canadian boy abducted last week was returned home. he was held four days. we have sound. here is the boy's father reacting to his son coming home. >> keenan is happily home. and he's playing with his brothers and sisters. thank you. thank you. >> oh, gosh. now, here is this man. this is who police say is the suspect. this is 46-year-old randal hopely, a known sex offender who lives a couple miles way from the boy's home. police aren't saying why they've named him as a suspect but they are pleading for him to turn himself in. sunny, this is a wonderful, slash, bizarre case. not only does this alleged kidnapper return the boy but back home, still a crime scene, i'm sure it was still being

watched. >> we don't know if it was still being watched because the family moved out of the home and was staying with another family. and so certainly perhaps the police weren't there. but brooke, you know, i specialized in child sex crimes. it is so rare for something like this to have a happy ending. especially if what the police believe is true, that a convicted sex offender, abducted him np is really in so many ways, such a wonderful story. and in a sense. because you just don't usually hear about things like this. i think the parents did what they were supposed to do, in that they pleaded. they made that plea. you see it so off then. many people think it doesn't work. here you go, it does work. they asked whoever had their child be, just bring him back somewhere public. whether it be at the home or at a park. somewhere public and walk away. and that's apparently what happened. so really kudos to the investigators. also to the parents for making this plea and now they have

their boy home. >> you see it all the time. but i guess, sometimes in some cases kidnappers listen and follow through. and hopefully this guy, if he is the guy, will come back and turn himself in. sunny hostin, thank you very much. it has happened before. but once again serena williams has a shout fest and it is caught in an open mic. rer rant just cost her big time. plus, live to tampa where the moderator of tonight's republican debate is standing by. what kind of questions does mr. moderator wolf blitzer have up his sleeve? maybe he will give us a hint or two, next. e most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough.

that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

trending today, superstar serena williams and her red-hot temper got her in trouble before. remember a couple years ago? here we go again. this is when serena williams lost the u.s. open, women's single's final but it is what happened earlier that got her boos from the crowd. and as we just learned here, a couple thousand bucks in fines. first game, second set, williams pen allized for a hen drans rule. here is how she ponded to the umpire. and it didn't end there. there were more angry words from serena williams. she went on to lose the set and the match. talking to reporters afterwards, she said, she didn't remember the incident. >> i don't even remember -- i don't even remember what i said. i'm sorry. i was just so intense out there. it's the finals for me and i was

just -- i have to go, i guess i will see it on youtube. i don't know. >> or on cnn, i guess. just in the past couple of minutes we learn that u.s. open tournament fined her $2,000 for verbally abusing the chair umpire. technically williams is under probation for the 2009 u.s. open semifinals match, she also lost. and cnn and tea party express are hosting eight gop candidates tonight. we are about three hours away from it. our wolf blitzer is there. not only is he there, he is the moderator. have you a big crowd. eight candidates. seven gentlemen, one woman. unlike the new hampshire debate, you are actually introducing these folks live. >> we are. we are going to introduce them all. let our viewers see behind the scenes what is going on a little bit as we get ready for this debate. it'll be a good debate. i think a lot of the candidate are more anxious to stress the

differences, let's say, between their positions and their challengers positions. i'm hoping, as you know, brooke, everyone who watches this debate will know a little bit more about the eight potential republican presidential nominees, potential. and that they will know where they agree, where they disagreece, on some of the most important positions. no secret, jobs, social security, healthcare, national security. these are the broad themes we will get through tonight. and i think they're obviously practicing. they are prepared. you know what i've been doing, brooke? >> you've been doing your homework, preparing questions yourself. >> i've been doing my homework and practicing, rehearsing. it is not easy walking up and down the stage with eight candidates. and the hard thing is to make sure you give the same amount of time. you want to make sure all eight get a clans to explain his or

her position to the voters and the american public. so it's going to be good. >> okay. we know some folks have been preselected to ask questions. there are viewing parties in three different states. they will go to all three places live in, the roed zone. are you excited? >> we will have questions from phoenix, cincinnati, portsmouth, virginia, as well as the auditorium here in tampa. we will have questions from average folks who are interested in these positions. i will make sure that they answer the questions, if they don't want to, they don't have to. it is their right, it is a free country. i will point it out. i will say, you didn't want to answer the question, we will move on. i will be fair, we will be responsible and hopefully we will get answers from candidates. >> have you been tweeting up a storm. we will all be tweeting at hash

tag, cnn, wo wolf blitzer. thank you sir. >> meantime, rick perry speaking of the gop contenders, flying high in the presidential polls. but is he taking a page from the political past? plus, audio recordings of jackie kennedy from 1964. they j just now been repleased. wait until you hear what the former first lady thought of martin luther king, jr., lbj. we will be right back. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp...

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i know a lot of folks have been comparing texas governor rick perry to former president george w. bush. but there's another comparison that people haven't picked on as much. joe johns joins me now for today's political pop. joe, hats that comparison. >> hey, brooke. we've heard so many democrats and republicans making the comparison between perry and w but we haven't zeroed in on the imagery which suggests perry has more or less been channel will ronald reagan image for years. this is the point made a few weeks back. but it is totally worth exploring more. there you go. isn't that wild? >> wow. >> stands out, rick perry's cowb cowboy persona. they remember seeing pictures of reagan in the hats and shirts, on the ranch doing manual labor.

take a look at part after rick perry ad that he did when he was running for texas agriculture commissioner. and you tell me whether perry is presenting a picture of more reagan or george w. bush. take a look. >> tell you when a man is right for the job. texans across the state know that rick rick perry is the man who is right for agriculture commissioner. because rick perry is a born leader and the only former rancher on the ballot. rick perry, solutions, air for the pilot, family man, father. he believes our beliefs. rick perry, a new leader from agriculture for texas. >> want to go out an lasso a steer or something. >> how about that, chaps and hat and everything. >> yeah. got it down. he looks authentic too, you know. >> does. he does. wayne slater, dallas morning news, saying he is from a cotton farm back in the day. another story that a lot of us were talking about today,

eye-popping audio recordings just released of former first leady jackie kennedy taken back in '64. part of this new book. what is she saying on these recordings? give us the flavor. >> reporter: what we have seen on the jackie kennedy tapes is just jaw-dropping. i don't think you would imagine a modern day political figure, even a spouse, giving such candid remarks as jackie kennedy did back in the day. she gave, we thinking with just three interviews after the death of her husband. new york times, christian science monitor reporting that in several hours worth of interviews she called charles tegal of france a ego maniac. calls martin luther king, jr. a phony. called ga a horrible pushy woman and whether powerful women in politicser with leez bee ans and in the cuban missile crisis, jackie