rick perry had a bull's eye on him when he walked on stage for the front-runner debate. which candidate gained the most? >> reporter: i think michele bachmann and rick santorum teamwork social conservatives -- they've suffered since rick perry entered the race, came out swinging and helped themselves. we'll see if they can get up on top of the polls and take out rick perry. that might be too much of a haul for them. but the other winner i think last night might have been mitt romney. he doesn't have the conservative credentials, the tea party appeal to go after rick perry from the right. i'm sure he's happy to have the other folks on stage do the dirty work for him. >> we'll be covering this for many months to come. that's for sure. peter, live in tampa. thanks. we'll have the next update in an hour. for the latest political news, you can go to cnnpolitics.com. that's it for us. suzanne malveaux still in afghanistan. boy, did she have a day today, drew. >> she was stopped come back today.

i think she's stuck with the network because of the attacks. we'll is more in the next hour. live from studio 7, i'm drew griffin in for suzanne, who's on assignment in dangerous conditions in afghanistan. let's get you up to data on this tuesday, september 13. taliban fighters attacking the u.s. embassy with rocket-propelled grenades and guns. u.s. troops trying to flush these guys out. they're in an abandoned building where the attack was launched. fewer than ten taliban are believed to be involved. republic saying two americans could be released in days. that is if the men's families pay bail of $1 billion. josh fattal and shane bauer have been in custody since they went on that hike in 2009. iran sentenced them to eight years for spying and illegal entry. the americans say they were just hiking in iraq, accidently

straying into iran. texas governor rick perry may feel like he is a punching bag this morning. seven republicans who trailed perry in the polls, they roughed him up in the cnn tea party presidential debate last night. topics in tampa ranging from social security and immigration to job creation. >> i think governor perry would agree if you're dealt four aces, that doesn't nestle make a great -- doesn't necessarily make a great poker player. >> you lost me when you started talking about poker. >> coming up, the slams and spin and facts and fiction. president obama leaves the white house shortly to bring his jobs bill to columbus, ohio. the focus -- creating construction jobs to modernize public schools. the president wants to pay for the jobs bill by limiting tax deductions for wealthier americans. it's not clear if republicans will go along with that.

new yorkers today choosing a replacement for former congressman anthony weiner. polls indicate the republican bob turner could upset the democrat, david wepkin. the seat has been in democratic hands for almost a sevenry. no matter who wins, the district may disappear when new york redraws congressional lines. the u.s. state department says niger has or will detain saadi gadhafi, son of moammar gadhafi. he told nic robertson he's there to check on libyan citizens. >> he says he's on a humanitarian mission. that's why he left libya for tunisia. he says thousands have fled, afraid of the national council, afraid of what will happen, he

says. >> gadhafi could have do's wifed two other sons went to nigeria last month. the new miss universe from an goal amp -- angola. lopes says her smile is her biggest weapon. plastic surgery? nope. lopes says she loves her body just the way god made it. and here's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. today's question -- is it time to walk back tax deductions? carol costello joins us from new york. hi, carol. >> reporter: i'm still laughing about her smile is her biggest asset. that is one of them. let's get to it. the jobs plan the president wants congress to pass and like right now, like it doesn't look good. republicans like parts of the plan but don't like how the president want to tax the rich

to pay for it. yes, mr. obama wants to end tax loopholes for oil and gas companies, hedge fund managers, and want to let the bush tax cuts expire. the biggest chunk, though, $400 billion, will come from limiting tax deduction for american making more than $200,000 a year. >> we've got to decide what our priorities are. do we keep tax loopholes for oil companies or put teachers back to work? do we keep tax breaks for millionaires and approximatelynaires? or should we invest in education and technology and infrastructure? all the things that well r going to help outinnovate, out educ e educate, and outbuild other countries. >> deja vu all over again as is the republican response. this from senator kyl. >> who is it, mr. president, that are the first to hire coming out of a recession? it's small business. so the very people that we're

asking to hire more americans and put them to work are the ones that would be impacted by the taxes that the president talked about the other night. >> so the "talk back" question -- is it time to walk back tax deductions? facebook.com/carolcnn. facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comment later this hour. >> thanks. can't wait for that. we want to get to our top story, the bombing at the u.s. embassy, i should call it an attack in kabul, what is the latest there? >> reporter: well, you can probably hear the call to prayer that's happening behind me. started to rain in the last hour or so. we were on the streets, not far at all from where this attack occurred. it is not over, drew. this has been going on for six hours or so. so far what is happening is that we understand that out of the four suicide attacker that were inside shooting at the u.s. embassy, at the nato compound, at the international security

assistance force and other intelligence offices that two of four insurgents have been killed. this was an international coalition that went up into the sky and helicopters that ended up shooting into that building, killing two of the four insurgents. the two insurgents are inside of the building. they are still resisting. there's still a fire-fight. when we were on the streets, there was a large, loud explosion that occurred right offer of the facility. you had afghan police as well as afghan army trying to keep the crowd under control. to pull them back a little bit. a lot of confusion on the street, drew. we also passed one of the local hospital. that's where we saw at least one of the wounded being taken in. it looked like he was bleeding from his stomach. talked to a hospital official who said they had at least six injured. this were five civilians and one police officer there. and then we just so happened to pass another military hospital. we've saw a man in the back of a pickup truck, if you will. he had been shot. he was killed.

a dead man. they were bringing him inside of that military hospital. we spoke with the military officials outside, and they said it was one of the insurgents who had been killed inside of that building, who had been shooting earlier in the day. so u.s. officials, those inside of the embassy now, they are still hunkered down. they've say that they are still on lockdown now. nobody inside is hurt. we've also hurt from the international military, the coalition that we spent a lot of time, you know, the last couple of days, looking at the training exercises for afghans that go on there. nobody has been hurt there, as well. that is the word from that facility. but this is still a very tense situation here in kabul. it is not the only attack. there are two other attacks that happen this afternoon. all of them claimed by taliban. a second attack that also happened, a suicide bomber with a vest strapped to him went to a

police compound. he was shot. there were two police who were injured in that incident. a third incident happened, as well. this was at a local high school where you had another suicide bomber. two people were injured there. so overall, when you look at the big picture here, drew, you're talking about four police officers killed, at least several injured as well as civilians. may not sound like a lot, but what is meant here for the taliban is that this is a strategy if you will to prove that they can get to the heart of this security structure. you have nato, international forces, the presidential palace, all this nearby, very close to show the afghans that they can get to the heart of the community and create chaos, create fear. that is something that a lot of people, we've talked to them on the streets, are concerned about. they want to feel safe again. and this comes at a critical time, we know, because this is the time they're trying to train the afghans, get them up to

speed, and basically be in charge of their own security in very short order. by the time the u.s. and nato combat troops come home, by the end of 2014. so it is a tense situation. we have heard from the president, president hamid karzai releasing a statement offering his condolence. we've heard from officials that we've been speaking with from the highest level, general john allen, responsible for the u.s. troops and the nato troops, the mission here, saying this is the kind of high-profile tactic that they know has a huge psychological impookt this community. so this is -- impact on this community. so this is far from over, drew. it is still playing out, but stow far, it look like they are still in a rather tense situation around the embassy. >> suzanne, you hit on all the points i was going to ask you except for one. who is in charge of the security, and how did this happen? >> reporter: well, in terms of the u.s. embassy itself, we were just there a couple of days ago

for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. you have a private contractor who handles security, it's overseen by the military. aside from that, you've got a ton of people who were involved in this. the afghan police, afghan army. you have some members of their air. and then you have a huge complex, which is a complex that we were staying in until today when we were going to leave, which is the international security assistance force. and that's the group of -- that represents 35 different countries. and their security elements that here to train. they got involved in all of this, as well. they were a part of the defense if you will. the fire-fight that occurred to take out those insurgent. so if there are a lot of players here on the ground that are involved in this, it really is an international effort if you will because this is the center. this is where you have the security system, the heart of the security system in kabul. where the training and mission is taking place. the transition of the mission is taking place.

all here in the city's capital. >> stunning that they were able to get into this abandoned building and open fire without anyone stopping them. we'll look for more of your reporting. great work, you're there at such an important time. we appreciate that from afghanistan. here's a rundown of some of the stories ahead still. first, tough talk in tampa at that first-ever cnn tea party debate last night. the field gangs up on the front-runner. hpv sparked one of the most heated exchanges. a lot of people don't know what that is. we're going to tell you. then, a college degree but years of unending debt. more grads default on their student loans and file for bankruptcy. and the guy you can't see is the man trapped beneath that flaming wreck. you have got to see what happens next. every time a local business opens its doors

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it was real easy to recognize texas governor rick perry at last night's republican presidential debate. he's the guy with the bull's eye on his back. perry ahead in the polls, so his republican rivals took aim at him for issue from social security to illegal immigration to vaccinations. jim acosta has highlights from the first-ever cnn tea party debate. how will you convince senior citizens that social security and medicare need to be changed and get their vote. >> reporter: the first question

may have been social security but it was about a ponzi scheme. >> it has been called a ponzi scheme by many people before me. no one's had the courage to stand up and say "here is how we're going to reform it." >> reporter: as perry tried to turn down the heat, mitt romney cranked it up. >> the question is, do you still believe that shsz should be ended as a federal program as but six months ago when your book came out and returned to the states? >> i think we ought to have a conversation -- >> we're having that now, governor. >> yes, sir, let me finish the conversation. >> reporter: what teed up what might have been the one-liner of the night. >> i'm not particular he worry good governor perry and governor romney frightening the american people when president obama scares them every single day. tliep wasn't the only flashpoint. asked whether the lone star governor was responsible for jobs created in his state, romney said pro-business texas deserved the credit, not perry. >> tell him how much credit he

deserves. >> look -- you know, i think governor perry would agree with me that if you're dealt four aces, that doesn't make you necessarily a great poker player. >> i was going to say, mit, you were doing pretty good until you got to talking about poker. >> reporter: michele bachmann was coming one winning hands, hitting perry on virus which ma cervical cancer. >> little dpurls who ha-- littls who have a dangerous reaction to this drug don't get a mulligan, they don't get a do-over. >> reporter: she suggested perry was interesting in more than saving lives. >> i wanted to add that we cannot forget that in the midst of this executive order there is a big drug company that made millions of dollars because of this mandate. we can't -- we can't deny that. >> you got to respond to that. >> yes, sir. the company was merck, and it

was a $,000 contribution that i -- $5,000 contribution that i had received from them. i raised about $30 million. if you're saying that i can bepube bought for $5,000, i'm offended. >> reporter: perry found himself on the wrong side of the tea party when he defended in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrant. a policy that got boos from the crowd. [ booing ] >> that is not the american way. [ applause ] >> that was jim on, coacosta. is this a two-person race? joining us to talk about the candidates and how they score sudden cnn contributor john avalon, reporter for "the daily beast." rather than pick a winner, what was your observation as far as who improved their chances and who decreased their chances? >> perry of the front-runner,

and everyone was firing at him. he did have unsteady performances. if you were judging this on point, you would have to give it to mitt romney. he was polished professional. he's been seasoned before this a presidential campaign. in some ways the serious challenges that rick perry has forced him to get his character on. bachmann did well in terms of playing offense. i still think this is effectively a two-person race with an interesting broader debate going on. >> i watched the debate last night, and i believe i saw one kand actually kill his own potential election. i want to play this bite -- let's play this bite from the debate. >> they want to kill us for because of who we are and what we stand for. we stand for american exceptionalism. we stand for freedom and opportunity for everybody around the world. i'm not ashamed to do that. >> as long as this country follows that idea we're going to be under a lot of danger.

osama bin laden and al qaeda have been explicit -- [ booing ] >> they wrote and said that we attacked america because you had bases on our holy land in saudi arabia, you do not give palestinians a fair treatment, and you have been bombing -- [ booing ] >> i didn't say that, i'm trying to get you to understand what the motive was behind the bombing. >> john, when i saw that, in spite of what some new york comics like about ron paul, i thought he absolutely killed his chances to win a republican nomination by insinuating that it was u.s. policy that brought on the attacks of 9/11. >> true, he didn't insinuate it, he said it. and he's said it before. he said this four years ago when he was running for president then. ron paul has been consistent on this, and it's always been a big problem. some folks like to gloss over the full range portfolio of his policy positions, but i think the larger point is this.

by putting that forward right after 9/11, the 10th anniversary, by reminding people, i think it does make people realize that ron paul is a baggage of problems and is intellectually influential in terms of shaping the debate in the republican party. but that does not make him a credible long-term candidate. them's the facts. for those of white house lived through 9/11, that statement is deeply offensive. that's what he believes. that should be part of the debate. i think the tea party got a wake-up call about the downside to ron paul. >> let me ask but herman cain. he seemed to do well, but i'm not sure that the republican party is ready for him, as well. >> well, herman cain has distinguished himself by being a first-rate order, a dynamic presence, able to simplify ideas and type sound bites. the reality is that as great as it is to be a ceo in the run for president, the folks who tried to approach the oval office with that resume don't do too well.

i think while he adds a lot to the debate and has supporters who are intensely in his corner, he is not a top tier candidate. then's just the facts. >> we're left with the same two top-tier candidates after this debate is your floekz threflect that? >> right now it's between a tea party evangele cal base and mitt romney being more established, making a general election argument. the other candidates have their core constituencies. michele bachmann, ron paul, newt gingrich, even herman cain. in terms of the top two, every poll showed it. this is still a top-two race. the two guys fighting it out, mitt romney and rick perry. >> john, thanks. appreciate it. john avalon from new york. >> reporter: thank you. herman cain says if he's elected he will bring a sense of humor to the white house. he says america is too uptight.

e we'll have more in the next hour at the cnn "newsroom." there's an alarming number of college grads struggling to repay their loans, causing the default rate to soar. our alison kosik is going to explain how bad the situation is when we go live to her at the new york stock exchange. i know what works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris. omnaris, to the nose. did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nose bleed, and sore throat. got allergy symptoms out of my way. now life's a picnic. [ man ] omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy symptoms? omnaris combats the cause. get omnaris for only $11 at omnaris.com. requires more than wishful thinking. it requires determination and decisive action. i go to e-trade and get unbiased analyst ratings and 24/7 help from award-winning customer support to take control of my finances and my life.

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let's look at the markets with alison kosik on the floor of the new york stock exchange. how's the trading day going? >> reporter: it looks mixed right now. the focus, drew, is on europe. traders i'm talking to are saying that the possibility of greece defaulting on its date is pushing trading in the u.s., the trend to the downside. the reason we see the dow down

39 points. the euro zone dealing with its debt problems. in the u.s., economic growth is slowing. what do you get? you get stocks going back and forth between negative and positive territory. drew? >> speaking of debt and default, there's a study out showing that a lot of college grads are having trouble paying back their loans. >> reporter: exactly. and this is pretty stunning. you know, more and more college grads are having trouble paying their bills, talking about their student loans, and they're defaulting and falling to bankruptcy, as well. there are two studies out today that really paint this one grim picture. the first study coming from the government showing that almost 9% of students who took out federal loans defaulted on them last near. that's up from 7% in 2009. now that doesn't sound like a lot, but it's the highest default rate since 70s. the second study is from a nonprofit financial education group. shows that the number of college grads filed for -- filing for bankrupt jumped 20% over the past four years. now people without a college

degree, bankruptcy filings fell. a little bit of a twist there. drew? >> is there anything we should read into that, parents trying to justify the cost of education? >> reporter: yeah, don't give up on education because the numbers, they don't tell the whole story in this. the odds of finding work are better if you've got that college education, look at this. right now for people who have a college degree the unemployment rate is 4.3%. but if you don't have a degree, the rate is complete double that. these stories clearly show a lot of people are having a hard time paying off their loans. you may want to approach your education like it -- treat it like any other purchase you'd make. don't sign up for more than you can afford. and consider this -- it doesn't always necessarily matter where you get the degree, a degree is a degree, and keep in mind it doesn't guarantee you're going to get a job right away, so that work in school doesn't stop when you get that diploma. drew? >> those $50,000-a-year tuition

bills seem ridiculous in this day and age. but that's a different day, different story. thanks. >> reporter: it is. zero jobs created from the stimulus. stealing money from medicare to pay for health care reform. those are some of the comments from the republican presidential debate. they true? tom foreman's going to check the facts. 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. 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

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starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. here's a rundown on some of the stories ahead. up next, tough talking at the republican debate last night. some fact, some fiction. we're checking both. then redefining the enemy in afghanistan. suzanne malveaux speaks exclusively to the president there. and later, unconscious and trapped beneath a flaming wreck. if you haven't seen this, stick around. bystanders come to the rescue. see how it plays out. we have already a lot of claims tossed back and forth during the republican presidential debate last night. are they true? cnn's tom foreman separates reality from political rhetoric.

jobs, jobs, jobs. that's what all the candidates said it was about, and they all went after president obama over this issue of creating jobs. listen to governor rick perry and the question of whether or not the stimulus helped. >> he had $800 billion worth of stimulus in the first round of stimulus. it created zero jobs. 4 -- $400 billion-plus in this package, and i can do the math on. that half of zero jobs is going to be zero jobs. >> reporter: that's a big claim. he's saying the stimulus effectively created zero jobs. the problem is the congressional budget office which is still quite respected despite the disagreements, says that's not the case. it created or saved between 1.4 and 3.3 million jobs. that's a big change and a squishy term, created or saved. but undeniably other independent

economists have said there's no question the stimulus spending may help some people pay their bills when otherwise they would not be able to. listen to what was said by michele bachmann about obama care as they like to call it. >> we know that president obama stole over $500 billion out of medicare to switch it over to obama care. we also know that medicare hospital trust fund will be bankrupt within nine years. these are programs that need to be saved to serve people, and in their current form they can't. >> this is an explosive claim, the notion that the president stole over $500 billion of medicare. first of all, no, he did not steal it. this is legislation. you may disagree with it, but it is the law. there's nothing illegal or theft involved with something like

this. beyond this, though, you have to have some framing here. this money was not taken from medicare in the sense that it was being taken from the benefits that people would get. in fact, this was about trying to control the cost as it grew over the next ten years. money that would be paid to doctors or hospitals, saying money could be contained and spent in better ways. when she talk good that one particular program, we're talking about one of four different programs under the same umbrella. so again, it would be easy to think it's the whole program -- no. it's just one of them. her prediction on when it would go broke was the most dire of the predictions. others say it could stay around for a longer time. again, as i said, there should be framing here. she did have a kernel of truth, but overall it ended up being misleading. >> tom foreman, thanks. michele bachmann relentlessly hammered governor rick perry for an executive order that perry signed that

would have forced young girls to get vaccinated against hpv. take a listen. >> parental rights are very important in the state of texas. we do it on a long list of vaccines that are made, but on that particular issue i will tell you that i made a mistake by not going to the legislature first. >> i'm a mom, and i'm a mom of three children. and to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat-out wrong. that should never be done. that's a violation of a liberty interest. >> there's a lot of debate about what she said, it was true or not. she accused governor perry of pushing the program because of campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical company merck that makes that vaccine. perry says he was trying to prevent young people from getting a deadly cancer. a lot of people aren't sure what

hpv is. >> i'd like to introduce it. >> yes. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. first of all, you were chatting me up during the thing. nobody was going to be forced to have the vaccination? >> no, what perry did four years ago, he said we're going to mandate that girls get the vaccine to enter sixth grade, but fill out a form and your girl won't have to have the shot. it was a mandate with an occupa opt-opt. a mandate with an opt-out. >> let's talk in case -- an intelligence audience but not everybody's up to speed on the medical news. this vaccine is to prevent cervical cancer down the road for girls. >> right. >> and you get this virus through sexual intercourse. >> right. it's sexually transmitted. you don't get it by sneezing on someone -- >> it's a touchy subject. >> it is. and that's why years later we're

talking about this. hpv played a starring role in the debate, i want to introduce, let's see what it looks like. there it is. that's a microscopic image of the human papillomavirus. sexually transmitted. there is a vaccine that girls can get or women can get, and it -- what it does is it will prevent most, not all, but many cases of cervical cancer. and 4,000 women a year die of cervical cancer. that's not a big killer in numbers, 4,000, but certainly women do die of cervical cancer. >> the other thing that came up in the debate from michele bachmann was that it might not be safe. >> right. she said that some -- she told all ali velshi her daughter got sick if the vaccine. the cdc says if you get the shot and get sick, that's a ke coinciden coincidence. quite a few people say their daughters got the shot and became paralyzed or had some

terrible side effect. medicine says it's not cause and effect, it's coincidence. >> what are the laws in texas as it deals with the vaccination program? is it similar to other states? >> it's interesting. in texas, you don't need to get hpv to go school. the cdc officially recommends it for girls ages -- around 11 or 12, okay? and then states can decide whether they want to require it for school entry. there are a few schools that require it for school entry, texas is not one of them. after all that, texas does not require it for school entry. i know i'm making it more confusing. for all vaccines, not just hpv, parents can entrepreneur out. i'm sure you remember this from -- you can opt out. i'm sure you remember this from when your kids are in school. if you really don't want to get your kids vaccinated you can fill out another form and file an objection and your kids don't have to get the injection. >> thanks for clearing that up. take care.

the u.s. embassy in afghanistan attacked by the taliban in the latest of several high-profile incidents there. suzanne malveaux sat down with afghan president hamid karzai. find out can his government is in talks -- why his government is in talks with the taliban. suzanne joins us after the break. [ agent ] so your policy looks good, is there anything else? why did you buy my husband a falcon? thanks for the falcon. i didn't buy anyone a falcon. sure, you did. you saved us a lot of money on auto insurance. i used that money to buy a falcon. ergo, you bought me a falcon. i should've got a falcon. most people who switch to state farm save on average about $480. what they do with it, well, that's their business.

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the taliban has launched a brazen attack targeting the u.s. embassy in afghanistan's capital along with other high-profile coalition organizations. rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, and other light weapons were echoing through the city. an afghan official says one police officer and three militants have been killed. the u.s. embassy spokeswoman tells cnn there are no casualties among embassy staff. let's go to suzanne malveaux who is near the embassy right now. suzanne, is it still going on? is this attack still in

progress? >> reporter: t still in progress, but really there's not much left to it. you only have one insurgent out of the four that remains inside of that building who is resisting. the other three have been killed. but the people who are inside the u.s. embassy are still on lockdown. they're not leaving until police, the military, the international coalition is assured that you don't have another one of those insurgents that's out there that could potentially kill americans or others who are in this region. so it is still going on. they are trying to find this fourth individual to make sure that they are taken care of, as well. we went on the streets earlier today and saw what one of those insurgents looked like. he was in the back of a pickup truck being taken to a military hospital. and he had been shot. he was killed. and so they are serious about this. this has been something that's gone on for seven hours now. it's been a chaotic, tense situation, the good news is that they did not enter or in any way

impede the compound, the barrier there, for the u.s. embassy, for nato, for coalition, for the intelligence offices of the afghan officials here. that is the good news. the bad news, of course, a lot of fear, a lot of frustration on the streets, when they realize that the taliban insurgents were able to get that close and carry out such a bold attack, the numbers are small, drew, when you look at it, when you think about it. the casualties, fatalities, numbers are small. symbolically, this is very important. it's very significant because what the taliban strategy is is to try to show that they can hit in the heart of the security system here in the capital, in kabul, among all the powerprotecters. that is exactly -- powerbrokers. that is exactly what they were able to do today. >> this makes it all the more challenging for a lot of us to understand just why the afghan government is negotiating with the taliban. you talked to honorable i-- to

hamid karzai about this. what is he trying to do there? >> reporter: sure. it's not just the afghan government that's negotiating with the taliban. it's the u.s. government that's negotiating with the taliban. and an international group of leaders who are negotiating, talking now with the taliban. essentially the obama administration, the strategy now is to kill as many taliban insurgents and fighters as possible. but negotiate and talk with those who they believe are reasonable. that will put down their weapons and somehow establish some sort of peace. so yes, i talked with the afghan, president hamid karzai yesterday. and essentially asked him, you know, what's the taliban offering here? what are they giving up? are they cooperating, are you hearing anything from this group that would lead you to believe that they will work together in some sort of peaceful way. and here's what he said. >> are you currently negotiating now with the taliban? >> we are engaged in a process

of peace building in which both our international partners, the united states and britain, and other countries and also the afghan peace council are busy talking, some elements of the taliban. >> is the taliban offering anything now? are they cooperating? are they saying we are going to renounce violence, we're going to give equal rights to women? what are you hearing from the taliban? >> some of them are, yes, some of them are willing to talk. some of them are feeling very much that this country is suffering and that this country's suffering must end. afghans would like to see this country do better. >> reporter: what's the timetable here? how fast do you think they'll say, okay, we agree to these terms, there will be peace? >> as far as a desire on our part is concerned, the timetable is as soon as possible. >> what does that mean? >> it means if it can be done

tomorrow, we'd welcome it. but as far as the ground, it's surely going to take time. >> reporter: months, years? >> perhaps more than months, maybe a year or two, that, too, if we can have a proper understanding with our neighbors in pakistan, with iran. >> reporter: and so a year or two is what he's talking about here. it's not accidental if you will that this timetable matches what we're seeing the timetable for u.s. and nato combat troops to withdraw from afghanistan by the end of 2014. so what they're trying to do is really negotiate here with the taliban to set up some sort of deal. some power-sharing deal, and peace in afghanistan. at the same time pull out these compat troops, train the afghans to take care of themselves, and then you have a separate track that's happening, too, which is that the united states and

afghanistan are also talking, negotiating about a long-term plan after 2014, to have some sort of significant presence here on the ground for training, for advising, and for military, as well, to make sure that this place is a stable place going into the future. drew? >> all of it going on today as the taliban brazenly goes into the capital and stages this attack. live from afghanistan, thanks, suzanne. it's romney versus perry on social security rounds two of their battle. play out during last night's debate. we'll have the details coming up in our political update. gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. just having some tender chicken and some tasty noodles. let's see...south western vegetables...60 calories. ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? yup.

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peter ham by, part of the best political team on television. mark, did mitt romney's social security tax on perry do any damage? >> drew, we expected that was going to happen and right out of the game we saw mitt romney go right after the texas governor. but you have to give rick perry credit, he was able to walk back what he said last week regarding social security. he was able to walk that back. i think emit gated some damage. we saw mitt romney go after him hard and he'll continue to do so. especially in florida where there are a lot of seniors down here. i've got to tell you, drew, it

wasn't necessarily social security last night for the texas governor. it was having to do with the mandates and also having to do with illegal immigration and rick perry was not only taking it from mitt romney but also take teenager from michele bachmann. >> the immigration thing i want to ask you about. his record on immigration would be very important, especially to tea parties or conservative republicans. >> absolutely, texas is, you know, ground zero for the battle about illegal immigration. i think what mark mentioned, none of the michele bachmann, rick santorum, went right after rick perry, they did raise questions, again, on illegal immigration, attacked him for the texas dream act which he signed in 2001 which gives instate tuition credits to the children of illegal immigrants as long as they are working

towards citizenship. perry said these children should have a chance to become citizens and go to college like everybody else no matter what your name sounds like. >> that sounds like kennedy pushing the immigration in 2005 and 2007, not what they like to hear. you can expect to see that republican candidates keep pressing perry on his record. there's a lot in there. decade worth of stuff for the candidates to mine through as we head forward to a number of debates. >> the stronger you are, the more towards the middle you are, obviously those guys on the frings are trying to fight their way up. i thought santorum may have held on there but jon huntsman, does he continue on from here? i think j >> huntsman has a tim pawlenty problem at the moment. he makes jokes that seem to fall

flat and you can tell the audience, which is emblem attic of the republican base wasn't feeling him. but you nailed it, he was trying to insert himself into the debate, turning back to utah's really strong record on job creation. he even tried to go to the right of rick perry on border security when rick perry expressed some skepticism about whether border fence a long would be enough to stop illegal immigration. huntsman said that would be treasonous but i think it fell flat in the room. >> i thought it was a little forced. guys, peter, mark, it was a good debate for sure. for the latest political news, go to cnnpolitics.com. technolo. there was stuff that we have in our car that i didn't even know existed. how does your music gear fit in there? it fits perfectly. i mean, i got a keyboard, acoustic guitar, merchandise, cds to sell and it all just fits like a nice game of tetris.

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you've been weighing in on our talk back question of the day. carroll? >> hey, today's question, is it time to walk back tax deduction. from elliott, we need to give major tax breaks to the middle and lower classes and small business. major companies need to pay higher taxes. it's obscene as our economy suffers they pay record profits. this from chris, the democrats did not focus on jobs and only passed far left legislation that has nothing to do -- that has done nothing to improve our economy. how much time should people give them? this from paul, it's time to simplify the tax code. the more complicated it is the easier it is to find loopholes. and this from g.i. jane, flat taxes, everyone pays, no

exceptions. >> facebook.com/carol cnn if you like to continue the conversation. i'll be back in 15 minutes. in utah, an accident leaves a biker trapped under a burning car and bystanders rush in to save him. we'll show you how this played out. improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno. [ male announcer ] each of these photos was taken by someone on the first morning of their retirement. it's the first of more than 6,000 sunrises the average retiree will see. ♪

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look at this, a man gets stuff under a burning car. several people lift the car and pulling this guy to safety. he is now in stable condition. take a look at that. that is incredible stuff. all of these people rush in there to -- wow, there he goes. pull him right out. >> he's in stable condition. next up, pennsylvania, ten mile creek bridge near uniontown was imploded to make room for a new bridge. it carried people across route 88 across that creek. finally in new jersey, the wings of the miracle on the hudson plane are on the way to the aviation museum in charlotte, north carolina. remember that plane? the one that u.s. airways flight that captain chelsea sullenberger safely landed in the hudson. let's get you up to speed on

what's happening. an attack, workers at the american embassy in cab you'll are hunkered down. taliban attacked that building with rocket propelled grenades and guns. u.s. troops are trying to flush out the final insurgent from a band onned building where the attack was launched. let's get straight to kabul. suzanne malveaux is near the embassy. it's been a heck of a day there. what is the situation right now? >> reporter: well, drew, just one of the eyewitnesses that lives very close by to that building where the insurgents were shooting from had just reached out to one of our cnn procedures and says he is packing up and taking their family and leaving their home this evening because they just heard gunfire about ten minutes ago. it had been quiet for some time then the gunfire erupted again.

it may be the international security force that is shooting. it may be insurgents. what we know, three of the four holed up in that building that were shooting and lobbying grenades at the u.s. embassy and international security force and other intelligence offices in the city, three of those four have been killed. and so there is one person they believe that is still out there. and that is why u.s. embassy personnel are still on lockdown. we don't have any more information about when they are actually going to be able to leave or get out. we know they have canceled all of the activities, all of they are exercises out of the embassy tomorrow. that may give you some sign of how careful or cautious they are being right now. it's still a tense situation here inside of kabul. this has been really an amazing day when you think about it, drew. three different attacks on one day in the heart of what is to be the most secure area, those where the power brokers are.

you have the presidential palace and nato troops and you have the u.s. embassy and you have an afghan community that quite frankly is trying to feel more confident about their future and taking over their security. the taliban hitting all three locations within a matter of hours. so it is bold and it is significant. while the casualty numbers, while they are tragic, they could have been a lot higher. the grenades and the weapons did not actually penetrate the embassy and some of these other very important buildings, presidential palace and so forth. but they are striking at the heart of this powerful community and the security inside of this community. that has had a devastating psychological effect. >> i know this is very early on, has there been any determination of where these taliban attackers came from? did they come into the city or are they within the city and just decided to strike at this

time? >> reporter: i really can't tell you. i don't know. we know that they are taliban -- in talking with john allen, the head of the u.s. and nato mission here in afghanistan, about what they expect from the taliban and these kind of strikes. he has told me that they have expected and have been planning for the potential of some sort of attack to happen around the tenth anniversary of 9/11. they are not completely surprised that there would be these kinds of incidents. the one thing that they believe that is happening -- and this is his take on it, that this is a weakened taliban and desperate taliban because they are trying to do these surgical attacks but not able to really penetrate very far, not able to do these kind of mass killings as they had done before. they see that as progress. but still, drew, it's one of those things, you could have taliban members who simply meld into the community walking wherever in the city. it is very difficult to tell

where they come from and who might strike, where they actually are. this is one of those things that is a challenge for the international community and quite frankly the afghan army and police that have to figure out all of this. >> suzanne malveaux, thanks. iran saying two americans could be released in days if the men's families pay bill. $500,000 each for josh fattal and shane bauer in custody since 2009. iran sentenced both guys to eight years. the charge, spying and illegal entry. the americans say they were hiking in iraq when they accidentally strayed across the border. republican presidential candidates ganged up on the front-runner rick perry in the cnn tea party debate held in tampa. perry's opponents put a bull's-eye on the texas governor, attacking jobs, immigration, social security. he called it a pon zi scheme

heading for bankruptcy. >> do you still believe it should be ended as a federal program as you did six months ago when you your book came out. >> i think we ought to have a conversation -- >> we're having it right now. we're running for prosecution. >> >> we'll talk with former businessman and now candidate for president, hermann kaine. he'll focus today on new construction jobs to modernize public schools. jobs bill would cost $447 billion. the president would pay for it by limiting tax deductions for wealthier americans. republicans are still on that. believe that's a live picture of the president on his way -- i can't read that close but he is going to -- andrews air force base getting ready to go to ohio. north carolina voters rally for a constitutional amendment

banning same-sex marriage. the statehouse voted monday to put the issue on the ball ot if the senate goes along, voters could decide next may. >> in hurts me personally and makes me angry. i don't think there's a need for it. >> i do not believe the state should sanction something i consider per version. >> 41 states ban same-sex marriage by constitutional amendment or state statute. here's your chance to talk back on big stories of the day. is it time to walk back tax deductions? carol costello joins us from new york. >> you saw the president leaving for columbus, ohio, you know where he's going, to sell his big jobs plan. it does not look good. yes, republicans like parts of the plan but don't like how the president wants to tax the rich to pay for it. yes, mr. obama wants to end tax

loopholes for oil and gas companies and hedge fund managers and let the tax cuts expire. 400 billion would come from limiting tax deductions for americans making $200,000 plus a year. >> we have to decide what the priorities are. do we put teachers back to work or keep tax loopholes? do we keep tax breaks for millionaires or billionaires or invest in information and technology and infrastructure that would let us outbuild other countries in the future? >> it's deja vu all over again. this from senator john kyl. >> who is it that mr. president are the first to hire coming out of recession? it's small business. the very people that were asking to hire more americans to put them back to work are the people who would be impacted by the taxes that the president talked about the other night.

>> so the talk back question today, is it time to walk back tax deductions? facebook.com/carol cnn. i'll read your responses later this hour. >> thanks, carol. see you in a bit. first, he had solid answers for every question he was asked but a lot of people don't know much about hermann cain and hilfiger's wardrobe, exclusive back stage pass to new york's fashion week. plus, suzanne malveaux gets a read on the worsening situation in afghanistan. her exclusive interview with president hamid karzai. researchers are excited about insulin. it could help people suffering from alz himer's. [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now.

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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. republican candidates take on the pocketbook issues that americans are worried about, jobs and the economy were hot topics at the debate. they blasted president obama over his policies and took aim over one another over social security. >> listen, this is a broken system. it has been called a ponzi scheme by many people long before me. no one has had the courage to stand up and say this is how we reform it. >> the term is over the top and unnecessary and frightful to many people.

>> i'm not particularly worried about governor perry and romney frightening the american people when president obama scares them every single day. >> social security is broke and we spent all the money and it's on its last legs unless we do something. >> this economy is on life support. i don't -- we need a bold solution, not one that tinkers around the edges, not one that allows the politicians to pick winners and losers. >> some say barack obama's economy is a disaster, my opinion is would have to make a dramatic improvement to be a disaster. >> millions beyond so disspirited they have given up trying to find a job. we have moms and dads and family, economically ship wrecked and it's a great american tragedy we're watching play out. >> for years politicians have run on the idea that government is going to buy people more stuff. and that the federal government would be taking care of people's prescription drugs, their retirement, their health care, their housing, their food.

we're the everybody else that's paying for the freight for all of these things. that's the principle that has to change. >> businessman herman cain calls himself a real leader with real solutions but can he really win the white house? the presidential candidate and former pizza company ceo is with us here in the studio. last hour i talked with cnn contributor john avalon about her campaign. >> the reality is, as great as it is to be ceo, the folks who tried to approach the oval office with that resume don't generally do that well. >> night reaction is sometimes that long shot becomes the short shot. i started uniout in this campai against the odds. my name i.d. was zero when i announced my exploratory back in january, national name i.d. by the time i announced my official run in may, my name

i.d. because i had spent a lot of time on the ground speaking to tea parties and rallies and town hall meetings and my name i.d. had gotten up to 21%. the latest poll shows my name i.d. is now 50%. the long shot is gaining ground. why? even though i'm not getting much of the media coverage as a quote/unquote, top tier candidate, the real folk, the people on the ground, the activists, they know who i am because i have been speaking all over this country for the last year. >> one thing you brought up last night which has caught a lot of attention, you're 9-9-9 plan. give us the pitch? >> first as i indicated, this economy is on life support. we don't need a solution that trims around the edges. everything that's in president's obama's plan, trimming an the edge. a little tax cut here, tax credit here. even the other candidates that were on the stage last night,

all talking about how we're going to refigure this messed up tax code to generate jobs. 9-9-9 is bold. it takes the current tax code and throws it out and puts one in with a 9% business flat tax, 9% personal income tax and 9% national sales tax. it expands the tax base. which means that once businesses have some certainty, they are going to plan for growth. they are going to expand their businesses. they are going to hire people. that's what we need to get this economy going, not only because it's an economic crisis. it's also because it's a national security crisis. >> i want to ask you about the president and his jobs plan which he's selling today. what i hear from the president is a anti-business mentality, taxing of the wealthy people and

it's certainly an anti-oil company mentality. and what i hear from the republican party, it's the millionaires and oil companies and it's those corporations that provide the jobs. you've been the head of a corporation. >> yes. >> you've been the head of small business? >> yes. >> and head of a association of small businesses. from a business perspective, who is right here? >> the business people are right. business people see uncertainty in their plan. let me correct one thing in terms of how this is being described. if all -- if only it required taxing the millionaires more and that was going to solve the problem, millionaires don't care. they got -- that's not the issue. that $200,000 threshold, that's a sneaker tax that most people miss. what i mean by that, most small businesses and remember, i ran the national restaurant association as you pointed out, a collection of thousands of small businesses, not hue monday

gous corporations, most are incorporated as subchapter s corporations. if they can eek out a profit if the restaurant or gift shop, they have to run it through their personal income tax return. that's the sneaker tax. you're really penalizing a lot of the small businesses that create most of the jobs when there's some certainty. >> realistically, i know you want to be president and know you want to do this. but it's a hard road ahead as you well know. >> it's a journey. >> i think to rick perry ticket, you would bring business expertise. to mitt romney's ticket, you would bring tea party. have either of these men pulled you aside after the debate, h herman, stick around? >> the answer is no because we have a good relationship, i have a good relationship with both of

them. casually, you know in terms of being cordial to one another. no, not at this point. here's the thing, drew. this race isn't over yet. i know that they -- i know that some people see this as a two-person race or maybe a three-person race. like john avlon said, maybe a three-person race, no. the people that are the activists, they are saying it's okay if you don't have a 100% name i.d., it's okay if you don't have aka jill yon dollars. it's okay that i'm the only nonpolitician running and i'm a business problem solver. >> i do have to wrap now. wolf blitzer would have wrapped you up much longer okay. >> appreciate the opportunity. >> 46 million americans are considered in poverty according to the census report out today. the highest rate since 1993 and

alison kosik will be back to break down the numbers. reates ag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. that's how we're helping set opportunity in motion.

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23 past the hour. let's go right to alison kosik. >> hey, drew, right now we're seeing stocks have little directions or kind of drifting between gains and losses. much of the focus remains on europe. wall street wants to see the dead issues in europe resolved. so until they get any answers you're going to see the trend kind of to the downside. right now the dow is down only 7 points. >> i just talked about the study showing the nation's poverty rate rising. how bad is it? >> it's definitely not getting any better. a record number of americans are in poverty. i'm talking about 46 million people last year. this number has been growing over the past four years. what's poverty? it's described as a family of four living on just over $22,000 a year. as far as the poverty rate goiz, that's 15% of americans, the highest since 1993.

it's a huge percentage. single moms are actually a big percentage of that. 31%. you know, when you think about where the economy is and the overall increase not such a huge surprise. we have the slowing economy and of course stubbornly high unemployment rate. >> you said ingle moms are struggling. that's the most according to the new study? >> yeah, and we also find in the study is that the poverty rate is closely linked to the unemployment rate. that makes sense. the groups with the lowest poverty rate also have the lowest unemployment rates. here's breakdown by race, you look at the asian population, the lowest poverty rate at 12%. lowest unemployment at 7%. numbers for whites are also low. then you see and see the big jump for hispanics and blacks. it makes everybody understand why not just the economy overall but jobs in particular is a real center piece, real theme in this presidential race, why president obama is on the road today to sell his jobs plan, why gop candidates are focusing on the

high unemployment rate. this is a huge issue for this country. >> as it should be. thanks, alison kosik of the new york stock change. who are these people who are living in poverty and what is their story? poppy harlow was one story. show goes back to the home of a mother struggling to show your own son you can make it in america. it's a year later now and we'll see if anything has changed. >> come outside, meet the people in your community where you live, meet the people in the communities where you work and meet the people in the communities where you represent. >> reporter: see the face of poverty. we met ann valdez a year ago, living under of poverty line like millions of americans. we decided to come back a year later and see how ann is doing. >> my grandparents were one of the first tenants to live here in 1954. >> reporter: has the situation gotten better? >> no, it hasn't changed very much. right now i'm living on

approximately $200 cash a month, 360 food stamps, i do not have a full-time job. on a daily basis since 2004. >> how important are the safety nets out there for you right now? the things paid for by the government? >> well the safe nets are very important, the more they get cut, the scarier it is to think about tomorrow. i buy a lot of nonperishables so that this way there's always something to eat. most of the jobs they try to get for us are minimum wage jobs. if i get a minimum wage job, it's still going to leave me to have to apply for medicaid and food stamps. i'm still zpen ent on the system. sometimes you have to forget about what's healthy because you can't afford it.

two for five. >> reporter: you've grown up so far in the same situation, what are your aspirations, what do you want to become? >> i want for high people in the high chairs like senators and congressmen, even the mayor, to come down here and see what's going on in this neighborhoods and see how destroyed these neighborhoods are, the spirits of these people. they are completely gone. >> what would you like to aspire to? >> reporter: what of your dreams? >> right now i have none. >> you were telling me before ryan -- >> and drew, here's the real problem. chronic poverty in this country. ann valdez is one of the 40 some million americans facing this.

her grandparents were born in the housing project. and her mother raised her in the housing project throughout her whole life and ann is raising her son here. this is emblemattic of the problem facing so many americans. alison mentioned about single moms. what the numbers show us, you've got over 31% of single moms in the country in poverty. that's over 4 million mothers. the numbers are staggering and they are getting worse. >> poppy harlow live from new york. thanks, poppy. the u.s. embassy in afghanistan attacked by the taliban today. suzanne malveaux will be back with us live from the capital, the scene of the attack. she's focused on hot spots around the capital. >> reporter: it's a very important area we're flying over. down below is highway one. this is how it is around

afghanistan, it circles around afghanistan. it's hotly contested because the taliban wants control of that road. a lot of times what you'll see below are insurgent attacks as they try to fight for that critical supply route. a coffee . the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels.

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insulin. it seems strange but they intentionally thought insulin through the nasal cavity would work. >> we usually think of it for diabetics but they thought it has to do something with the metabolism of alzheimer's disease. what they did is gave some people a nose spray of insulin and these were people starting to get alzheimer's then gave other folks a saline spray and they asked folks how they were doing. the ones who had insulin did seem to do better. then they took scans of the heads. see the one without insulin that there's a bright -- you see the bright yellow light in the back of the brain. that area of the brain is associated with alzheimer's and the yellow is decay. the yellow is bad. you can see the decay in that part of the brain. with insulin, they didn't see the decay. so you can see it there on the pet scans.

but i will say, this is a test of about 104 people. often drew, what looks good in 104 people, you try it out in more, really doesn't work. >> right, how long of a study was this? do you know the duration of time. >> the duration of time is a matter of months. it's more the number of people. when you're seeing results in a small study and when you go on a larger study you might see it or might see it didn't do much. >> so many people struggling with this, especially early onset. when would this possibly available to try if you're desperate? >> if this does turn out to work, it wouldn't be available for many years. we're also not talking at this point about reversing alzheimer's we're talking about maybe stopping it early. so that's two different things. i want to be clear about it. even if it does turn out to work, several years before you could go to your doctor and get a prescription.

>> if you have a great tech idea and a dream, you're probably looking for funding. here's a perfect place to find a backer for your startup, it's called the tech crunch conference going on in san francisco. we'll go there live after this. each of these photos was taken by someone on the first morning of their retirement. it's the first of more than 6,000 sunrises the average retiree will see. ♪ as we're living longer than ever before, prudential's challenge is to help everyone have the retirement income they'll need to enjoy every one of their days. ♪ prudential. bring your challenges.

more now on the brazen taliban attack on u.s. embassy and other international agencies in afghanistan. what you're hearing is the sounds of small and heavy weapons echoing throw the capital. for most of this day it's been going on. the area under attack should have been difficult to

penetrate. suzanne malveaux joins us live from the cnn bureau in kabul. what can you hear from your vantage point? >> reporter: well, at times drew, we've heard gunfire. we've heard some explosions. earlier in the day. it's relatively calm. it was raining earlier. i do want to fill you in, in total, we're finding there were four attacks. one attack outside a high school, one outside a police compound and one we're understand happened on airport road. all of these places are pretty close to each other. of course there's the big one outside of the u.s. embassy and nato forces and other very important offices. the very latest is that there's still one of the insurgents still at large. but we were able to go down to the streets to get a closer look to see what was happening there. some of the anxiety and chaos

happening right outside of that compound, some of the people who were being taken to the local hospital treated for injuries, even saw one of the insurgents who had been killed in the back of a pickup truck headed to the military hospital. i want to give you a sense of what we actually saw earlier in the afternoon. we've managed to get closer to the u.s. embassy under attack. right down the street here is where we heard the gunfire and explosions. there's a little bit of a crowd gathered right here. you can see afghan police, as well as many others trying to keep the crowd at bay. this is fairly close by. there's the police, the afghan police also involved in this firefight. further down you can see the barbed wire and see the compound and concrete there. that is where we heard the loud explosions. this battle is not yet over. what makes this so powerful for people in the community here is

the fact that it really is at the heart of the city. these are the power brokers you were talking about the international police force, the afghan officials, intelligence officials at the heart of the security apparatus and that is where this fire fight is taking place. it is meant to make the people here afraid of the transition, afraid of afghans taking over their own security. so drew, the question is whether or not things are getting better or worse here in afghanistan. i put that question to the president of afghanistan, hamid karzai when we sat down for an interview just yesterday. last month was the deadly eflt month for u.s. troops in the war of afghanistan since the beginning and also the united nations says there's an increase, 15% among afghan civilians being killed. are things getting worse here? >> things in the countryside are

better. things on the highways are not better. and the casualties for the united states forces unfortunately and for the afghan people unfortunately as well and other forces, the casualties did rise in the past year, in this year, mainly because our partners failed to be attention to the sanctuaries and training grounds and to the financial support systems to the taliban and other terrorist networks who kept coming into afghanistan from outside of our borders. in other words, we will continue to suffer unless our partners, nato, the united states, afghanistan, and pakistan work sincerely and together to address this problem. >> reporter: so, drew, another deadly month here. we're talking about here today

six people who were killed. at least 15 injured. and we still have an inurge sent on the loose. there's gunfire that is happening very close to the u.s. embassy. >> suzanne malveaux, live from afghanistan. thanks. we'll be right back. these nasal allergies are spoiling our picnic. i know what works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris. omnaris, to the nose. did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nose bleed, and sore throat.

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did you know this about the fashion business, men's wear is growing at a faster pace than women's wear? more men are upping their fashion game. why the sudden spike in spop you lart? alina cho looks for answers from men's wear mogul tommy hilfiger.

>> men are finally getting in the game and upping their game and showing some style. the catwalk, this may be what comes to mind. but this is what is suddenly hot. not just for the fashion set but for the every man. menswear, a $53 billion business in the u.s. alone and growing fast. >> they want to distinguish themselves and want to look better than the other guy. it's a competition. >> reporter: few know that better than tommy hilfiger who says his menswear business is exploding. >> years ago it was maybe 80% woman and 20% mens now we're about 50/50. >> reporter: what's going on? >> i think the modern man is very aware of what's going on in

the world around him. with the internet, with media today, men will look at the feet photo and say i want to look like that. >> reporter: madmen, gossip girls and images of stylish men are everywhere. >> he sees it all and wants to be a part of the game. >> reporter: has it taken the fear out of shopping? >> a little bit it has. >> reporter: designer billy reed is among the hottest menswear designers. >> you've taken this little bitty fashion market of men's that has gone from here, more men care about it. >> reporter: he has a women's line but sales of the menswear make -- >> come in and say i want -- i need six new shirts and they will pick out six new shirts and almost like wardrobe building where women are more, i've got to have that piece.

>> reporter: where tommy hi hilfiger designs his men's shirts to go with sweater, making men's dressingdumbmi proof. >> we call it the no brainer way of shopping. >> reporter: then this. >> quickly make a decision and get in and get out. >> >> reporter: women are different. >> women go in the fitting rooms and men hate dressing rooms. >> if they get home and it doesn't fit, they won't come back. >> reporter: men are still at the end of the day more practical. >> a lot more practical, definitely more practical. >> reporter: i don't know if i believe it. >> some men. >> womenswear is a big business, versus $53 billion for menswear, they say because men are not

only replenishing their wardrobe but dressing for success. as you do drew. >> yeah, right alina will have more, the designers and trends you won't see anywhere else. watch the cnn special, fashion back stage pass airing 2:30 p.m. eastern on cnn. have you been speaking your mind on today's talk back question. is it time to walk back tax deductions? carl costello will have your answers. >> time for the help desk. joining me this hour, the founder of ask the money coach doing and stacey francis, a certified financial planner. thanks for being here. first question for you, lynnette, this is a pretty straight forward one, elizabeth writes, how can i get a loan without a co-signer if i have a

limited credit history. >> you might not be able to do so if you don't have strong credit on your own. you have a couple of options, one is to wait and apply later. the second is put up collateral of some form, depending on the type of loan you wasn't. she wasn't specific, i don't know if it is a person loan, home type of loan. but lenders want to see you have skin in the game. >> especially now, which is a good thing for the overall economy. stacey your question comes from ali, irs balance of $50,000 is it wise to convert to a roth i.r.a.? >> it may not be that wise for him. the first hurdle he has to cover. can he pay the taxes from outside money? if he's able to do that, he has to look at how long can the money stay in the i.r.a. before he can tap it? if it can be in there one or two

or three decades. the younger you are, the more sense it makes for to you do the roth conversion. >> you have a question you want answered send an e-mail to cnn help desk at cnn.com. impressive resume. thank you. you know what,ell me, what makes peterpeter ? 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.

you have been weighing in on our talk back question of the

day. here is it, is it time to walk back tax deductions, carol costello has your responses. >> i have them right here. this is from gretchen, if you would all stop crying about how much taxes you pay and start holding your representatives responsible and how they've spent it, then just maybe we would be working and our taxes would be lower. this from jeff, politicians in both parties have vilified taxes to the point where we're literally risking the destruction of the country because we're so opposed to opening our checkbooks and paying the tab for the very services and programs that make our country great. that's not being prudent, it's being cheap. this from jordan, of course it's time to end tax cuts, we should have done it a long time ago. the cuts were instated because the government has a surplus of money and didn't need it all. clearly that's no longer the case. it's time for these politicians to forget about their pocketbooks. at this point i say get rid of all of them and start with a fresh breed of innovators.

facebook.com/carolcnn. thanks as always for your comments. >> carol, thank you. if you have a great tech idea and dream, you're probably looking for funding. here's the perfect place to find a backer. it's the tech crunch conference. we'll go there live next. i know you're gonna love. [ barks ] yes, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. made with wholesome grains, real chicken, even accents of tomato and avocado. yeah! come on! [ barking ] gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. another healthful, flavorful beneful. met an old man at the top asked him if he had a secret and the old man stopped and thought and said: free 'cause that's how it ought to be my brother credit 'cause you'll need a loan for one thing or another score 'cause they break it down to one simple number that you can use dot to take a break because the name is kinda long

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around the world and our correspondent dan simon is there. you've got the money looking for the idea. is that the idea of this thing, dan? >> reporter: well, bottom line, if you are a technology startup, there's really only one place in the world you want to be right now, that's in san francisco, california, at the tech crunch disrupt conference. they are all vying for attention, attention from the media, attention from investors, attention from really anybody who will listen to them. the ideas really range and here's a snippet of what you can expect to see. >> what is dolphin? >> dolphin is the most comprehensive and customerizable and mobile browser. we're launching on ipad but we have over 9 million viewers on android and launched on iphone last week. we make a product that allows shoppers to get digital

receipts directly sent to the smartphone without having to share an e-mail address with the store. >> positive talk is a revolutionary app that let's you quickly rate and rank your level of positivity and of your friends and followers on facebook and twitter. >> we solve all president obama's problems with employment by matching local businesses with skilled workers. >> families in need, visit our service and they can very quickly understand rate quotes and user ratings from funeral homes in the neighborhood to make a decision in funeral planning. >> reporter: that's right, drew, i think it was only a matter of time until technology would catch up to the funeral business. we should tell you that you look around here and again, the ideas just really range. this is yap map. a search engine that talks about cars. this here is calls zowat, if you have a wish, it