address, go to our website. the correct answer to our gps challenge question was a, jobs' first real job was designing video games at atari where he and steve wozniak worked on the game breakout. remember the game? go to our website. thanks to all of you for being part of our program. i will see you next week. hello. you're in the cnn newsroom. this sunday, october 9th. i'm fredricka whitfield. a looming showdown over the president's jobs bill. the senate is expected to vote on the measure early this week. the $447 billion package will be paid for by a tax on millionaires which would raise revenues by $453 billion over ten years. it includes funding for infrastructure projects and job training. a live report on the brewing battle is just seconds away. and ron paul, racks up

another straw poll victory. the president -- the republican presidential candidate finished first at the conservative values voter summit this weekend winning 37% of the straw poll vote. herman cain came in second with 23% and rick santorum finished third with 16%. herman cain said the bad economy is having a greater impact on african-americans but the gop candidate says racism is not the reason why. >> i don't believe racism in this country today holds anybody back in a big way. is there some -- are there some elements of racism? yes. it gets back to if we don't grow this economy, that is a ripple effect for every economic level and because blacks are more disproportionately unemployed they get hit the worse when economic policies don't work. that's where it starts. grow this economy and it's going

to help everybody to get jobs and get back into the work force. >> cain and his rival republican candidate hold a debate at dar mouth college in new hampshire on tuesday. the voices of protesters are filling the streets again today in new york and other cities across the country. the "occupy wall street" protests are now in their 23rd day. among other things demonstrators are angry over social and financial inequalities and what they say is corporate greed. to track "occupy wall street" and contribute your own angle, visit cnn.com/openstory. it's a new way to get involved and share your voice. again, that's cnn.com/openstory. and now back to the president's jobs bill. the senate is expected to hold a critical test vote on the measure earlier this week but as cnn's athena jones reports, it's sure to face fierce opposition from republicans. >> reporter: for president obama, putting people back to work is high priority.

and something he says his $447 billion jobs bill will do. >> these independent economists say we could grow the economy as much as 2%, and as many as 1.9 million workers. >> reporter: he's been pushing the plan everywhere. at a press conference last week, on the road, on facebook and twitter and in his weekly address. >> this is not the time for the usual games or political gridlock in washington. >> reporter: the bill would cut payroll taxes, extend unemployment benefits, give tax credits for raising wages or out-of-work veterans or long-term unemployed and keep workers on the job and invest in rebuilding schools and roads. it would be paid for with a 5.6% tax on income over $1 million starting in 2013. the political stakes for mr. obama are high. no president since franklin roosevelt has been re-elected with an unemployment rate above 8%. still, chances are slim that the entire package will pass in this

political climate and even if it survives the senate, it faces a tough road in the house. >> we have a difference of opinion with the white house on how best to create jobs. we don't think doubling down on failed stimulus policies which have already proven to fail is the right way to go. >> reporter: house republicans say the bill will do little to create jobs. >> it's doing the same thing that he's done before and expecting it to have a different outcome. >> we want to work with ideas that are proven to work. that means helping small businesses grow, that means getting certainty in our policy, regulations, taxes, debt, so that small businesses can grow. >> reporter: economists say some of the bill's provisions like the payroll tax cut for employers, would add jobs. though how many is in question. >> there isn't enough demand for the goods and services our economy can produce and things you can do to boost that will temporarily create nor jobs next year. >> reporter: temporarily, analysts say, is the key word. >> kinds of things being discussed are not by any stretch permanent solutions. the economy is suffering he after the financial crisis.

it takes a long time to heal and frankly there aren't anything on the congressional calendar that will substantially change that. >> now both the president and vice president will be hitting the road again this week traveling to two battleground states, pennsylvania and michigan, to push this jobs bill, fred. >> let's talk about on capitol hill, what is likely to happen in the u.s. senate? >> well, you know, the first challenge is this key test vote. a key first step. it's not even clear that democrats will get enough votes to move past this. as you know, only 53 senators caucus with the democrats, that's 51 democrats and two independents that caucus with them. they need 60 votes to keep this going forward. it's really a big question whether that's going to happen. most people think that it won't. and as i mentioned, in the gop controlled house, there's not a lot of appetite for this jobs bill. >> hurt all right. alina jones, thanks so much from the white house. other headlines, american fugitive george wright is fighting extradition. he was arrested in portugal last

month after 40 years on the run. his lawyer says wright has heart and blood pressure problems. wright is accused of hijacking a plane in 1972 along with four other members of the black liberation army. kansas city police say they are glad the parents of a missing 10-month-old girl are talking to them again. calling their involvement critical. jeremy irwin and deborah bradley say they never stopped cooperating, they were simply exhausted from all the questioning. their baby lisa was last seen asleep in her crib last monday night. this sunday the presbyterian church usa has its first openly gay minister. reverend scott anderson was ordained yesterday in madison, wisconsin. anderson lost his ordination 21 years ago when he was outed by members of his congregation in sacramento, california. last may, the church voted to allow gays and lesbians to serve as ministers and lay leaders.

>> by this act today, the presbyterian church is living what it believes. we have witnessing with some sbintegrity to what we proclaimo be true about god. >> i don't think the christian faith was designed to destroy people like that. i figured something's wrong here. i've missed something. went back to studying the bible over a period of years and, you know, found i had missed a lot of stuff along the way. >> three other mainline protestant churches allow gay ordinati ordination, the episcopal and united church of christ. money, markets and the global community, it's the topic of the day in berlin. before we take you there, however, do you know what the euro zone is? we're making tomorrows like clockwork. ♪ for all the different things our customers planned for. like a college education. or, the perfect wedding.

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let's talk about the global economy right now. the focus today is on the euro zone. what's that? it's defined as the gee graphic and economic region that consists of all the european union countries that use the euro as their national currency. let's take a look at some other international headlines right now. all right. libya's transitional leaders say their troops are close to taking over moammar gadhafi's hometown. they say ten people died in overnight fighting for sirte. demonstrators protesting syria's crackdown on dissidents attacked the syrian embassies in berlin, london and vienna and managed to enter the embassies in berlin and vienna causing significant damage there. syria's foreign minister is hinting at retaliation. he says syria will not protect the embassies of countries that

fail to protect syrian embassies on their soil. he also warns that syria will take strong measures against any country that recognizes a syrian opposition council recently formed in turkey. with the euro zone debt crisis showing no sign of letting up, two of the continents top leaders held talks today. french president nicolas sar cogy and german chancellor angela merkel said they will work together to recapitalize banks. their meeting came on the same day that france, belgium and luxemburg agreed on a plan to rescue a troubled belgium bank. richard quest joins us from brussels. how did deck ya get into this trouble to the extent that a rescue plan is needed? >> very simple. it's had huge toxic assets of debts. there are worries about the bank's inability to pay its

debts. so what happened is, other banks refused to lend to it. it's almost a carbon copy of what happened in 2008 with the likes of bear stearns and lehman brothers. on a smaller scale, perhaps, but basically what we are seeing is banks refusing to engage in the normal money market activities with anybody that they feel might go under. nobody wants to be holding the baby in this particular case. >> so it seems like an awful lot is being done to make sure dexia is secure. why this bank? why wouldn't this be an institution that would be allowed to fall by the wayside as a result of its troubles and why is so much being done to save it? >> good question. and simply put, because it's a big bank across france, belgium and luxemburg. it's a retail bank, the equivalent of a chase or a bank of america or a wells fargo.

it actually has branchs with people that go in to do banking. so what they've done is they've taken those parts of the bank and they are going to sell them off and put them into government ownership or nationalize them. depositors will be safe. the ordinary men and women are okay. you take the investment bank. what you don't want, you really don't want the investment bank to fail. why? because a big investment bank failing this particular time would cause a ripple of crisis of confidence and that's what happened with lehman in 2008. we're going to see more banks over the coming weeks whether they fail or not, they're going to need more money. what the authorities will have to judge is when is it right to rescue and when is it time to let go? they're going to have to be very careful because their experience shows if a crisis of confidence happens, then the whole lot comes down around your ears.

>> you're warning of that potential ripple of confidence, but what kind of ripple effect might there be, say, you know, to the united states to, you know, the flailing american economy, how might this make an impact? >> well, we've already seen that a lot of urs banks are refusing or not lending dollars in europe, which is why the british, the swiss, the ecb had to have a dollar swap with the fed. there's not -- the trust factor has evaporated. what the fear will be, if europe''s banks continue, everybody with the mess they're in, everybody in the u.s., in the banking sector will be looking over their shoulder, who's next. how much do i owe that bank. how much do they owe me? if that happens, i'm afraid this spiral down starts up again. now we're some way off there yet, not too far. we are some way off there. and what we have to expect and what i would expect in the days and weeks ahead, as this banking

crisis gets worse, i would expect the authorities, the treasury, the fed, the ecb, anybody who can flood money into the system, will make it clear to the banks, those banks that need it, will be helped. >> richard quest, thanks so much. in brussels. also in europe, a tribute concert for the late michael jackson. and his three children were there. we'll have details from wales after the break. ♪ and the flowers and the trees ♪ ♪ all laugh when you walk by ♪ and the neighbors' kids run and hide ♪ deep inside you, there's a person who refuses to be kept deep inside you. ♪ but you're not ♪ you're the one be true to yourself. what's healthier than that? robert wagner for reverse mortgage woman: when we were kids, our parents spent every day making sure we had the best in life.

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michael jackson's kids were among the 50,000 jackson fans attending the michael forever tribute concert in wales. jackson's three children took to the stage to introduce a video appearance by beyonce. the sold out concert features artists doing their renditions of jackson songs. christina aguilera, gladys knight, smoky robinson and michael's sister la toya were among those who performed. now to los angeles, it will be tuesday before we hear any more testimony in the trial of michael jackson's personal doctor. jurors heard dr. conrad murray for the first time friday. our ted rowlands has more on what we know so far about the day jackson died.

>> the trial ended the week with riveting testimony from conrad murray via an audiotape the jury listened as mur rey talked to investigators and this was done just two days after michael jackson died. he talked about the fact that when he came on board to take care of michael jackson, he found out he would be giving him propofol on a daily basis, each and every nilts he put michael jackson using propofol, except he said, for the three days leading up to jackson's death. he said he was trying to ween him off of propofol and that was the only time that he didn't give it to him. listen carefully as murray tells investigators what happened during those crucial minutes where jackson was unresponsive. >> came back to his bedside. in the sense he wasn't breathing. immediately i felt for a pulse and i was able to get a pulse in

the fem mer roll region. his body was warm. no change in color. i then lifted his leg which can give you an auto transfusion and i continued to do cpr and mouth to mouth resuscitation until paramedics came. paramedics came they called ucla, they hooked him up to the pulse oximeter. he was not breathing. >> the headline from the audio, murray never mentions the telephone calls, to his girlfriends and office staff during those critical periods. it's something the defense will have to grapple with in closing arguments. looking forward to next week. what we're looking at, monday is a dark day. no court at all. on tuesday we will hear the tail end, it's about a two hour long

tape. we got through about an hour and 40 minutes. we'll finish that up and then cross-examination time of the detective that's on the stand. >> all right. thanks so much, ted. remember you can watch this trial gavel to gavel on our sister network, hln. that will be on tuesday. meantime i know it says fall in most places but this looks like january, like right in the heart of winter in the rockies. well, it is denver, after all. but heavy snow already coating the roads and highways. after the season's first big storm. check the calendar again, october. should that be happening? anyway -- >> some people are happy about that because -- skiers. >> of course. >> wolf creek opened up this weekend. it's opened right now. people on the slopes. >> it wasn't that long ago it was in the 80s. that's what's freaky and weird. you can't get used to this snow, this blanket of snow. they know weird stuff could be on the way before it's really ski season. >> it would take a bit to melt

all of that back down. that's a lot of snow just in the last week. but -- >> start making plans early this year. >> it's going to be a good ski year. i have a feeling. what's not pretty, when you look at miami you think beautiful, sunshine. not so much today. a live picture, wplg our affiliate there. 79 degrees, it's warm and feeling tropical. is that where you worked? >> uh-huh. >> go wplg from fred. >> not loving the weather. happier y eier she's here. 3 inches of rain. we could see that almost double. a lot of flooding, lot of streets covered with water. not just in south florida but into central parts of the state. take a look at the radar picture. all of the clouds and wet weather that's been coming in. florida will be our big story. here's other rainfall totals we've seen throughout the weekend. more than 8 inches in vero beach, cocoa beach, about 7, 5.75 almost in melbourne and

texas you a storm here looking at two to three inches of rainfall and that was from yesterday. we have a system here trying to develop, trying to get organized. hurricane center says maybe a 30% chance or so this thing could develop into a tropical or subtropical system. it could get a closed circulation a chance to get a little stronger. we're going to continue to see a lot of rain along the east coast. this moisture will start to spread up to the north. we'll be watching heavy rain in the coast of the carolinas and georgia and move all the way up the coast as we head into the week. see the flood watches in effect which are a result of that. the rain continues across the plains with the stationary front. it will begin to fade out by tuesday, things will look a little drier. >> thanks so much, jacqui. looks like a fairly decent week. >> not terrible. >> decent week. >> that miami picture wasn't real good. >> tomorrow will be sunny or soon thereafter. thanks a lot. today, wedding day for paul

mccartney. the musician married his american girlfriend nancy shevell in london. only other surviving ex-beatle ringo starr was there. one of the special guests. this is mccartney's third marriage and shevell's second. today's wedding took place in the town hall the same place he married his first wife linda. she died in 1998, mccartney's second marriage ended in divorce. a day in court for so-called underwear bomber. details of that trial after the break. and...a digital recorder. i'm finally feeling better. good honey, you turn into such a little whiner when you're sick. no i don't. [ bawk! ] honey, i'm sick. i can't reach the remote. that sounds nothing like me. [ beep ] honey, i'm sick. i can't reach the remote. that kind of does. [ male announcer ] get low prices every day on everything to prepare for cold and flu season. we're so confident in our low prices, we back 'em with our ad match guarantee.

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call or click today. checking our top stories right now. the u.s. senate will hold a critical test vote this week on president obama's jobs plan. the $447 billion bill would provide money for road and bridge projects and would cut payroll taxes. it would be paid for with a tax on millionaires starting in 2013. with the euro zone debt crisis showing no sign of letting up, two of the continents top leaders held talks today. french president nicolas sarkozy and german chancellor angela merkel said they will work together to recapitalize european banks. their meeting came on the same day that france, belgium and lexen berg agreed on a rescue plan for dexia, a troubled franco belgium bank.

the "occupy wall street" protests are in their 23rd day. the movement started in new york and has spread across the country. among other things, demonstrators are angry over social and financial inequalities and what they say is corporate greed. to track "occupy wall street" and contribute your own angle visit cnn.com/openstory. a new way to get involved and share your voice and story. that's cnn.com/openstory. california governor jerry brown has signed a bill that will make it easier for illegal immigrants to attend college. under the california dream act, immigrants who were on a path toward legal status will be eligible for state financial aid. public reaction is mixed. >> we struggle just to ensure that our daughter can go to school so for me to have an opinion for somebody who's not legal to have that financial aid or that opportunity, i'm a bit bitter with that. >> i think it's a good idea.

like i've heard as long as they're just, you know, showing documentation and, obviously, if they're performing well, not wasting our time here and we should at least give them the money to pursue their dream here in america. >> the california dream act is expected to provide help to about 2500 students. a jury has been selected in the trial of accused underwear bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab. cnn national correspondent susan candiotti joins us now with details on that. susan. >> hi, fred. 24-year-old farouk abdulmutallab hasn't been a shrinking violet in court. during jury selection he shouted out anwar is alive, the american born cleric said to be his inspiration. al awlaki was killed by the u.s. in a recent drone attack. the evidence against abdulmutallab appears strong. passengers and flight attendants are slated to take the stand against him. witnesses who wrestled him as he

allegedly used chemicals and a syringe to light explosives in his underwear. it happened as a northwest airlines christmas day flight from the netherlands was starting its decent to detroit. prosecutors say his timing sitting near a wing and fuel tank would have caused maximum damage. a jury of nine women, six white, two black, one southeast asian, and three white men, will hear the case that begins today. on tuesday rather. abdulmutallab is representing himself and if found guilty, he faces life in prison. >> so, susan, critics of the obama administration opposed to actually trying him in a civilian court? >> you know they were, fred. some felt that abdulmutallab should have been handled as an entity combatant and put before a military commission at gitmo, but the attorney general decided otherwise, saying u.s. courts have successfully handled other terror cases in civilian courts,

including shoe bomber richard reid and convicted would-be subway bomber nazi bull zazi and the times square bomber faisal shahzad. >> thanks so much, susan candiotti. the week ahead, former alas sa governor sarah palin will visit south korea to speak at a global gathering of business leaders. palin will speak at the world knowledge forum in seoul tomorrow night. president barack obama will host talks and an official state dinner for south korea's president on thursday. the white house says that the visit will highlight the global partnership and deep economic ties between the u.s. and republic of korea. and the world's scrabble championship takes place in warsaw poland this week. opening ceremonies begin on wednesday and the champion should be crowned by sunday. the winner will receive a grand prize of $20,000. >> stopping bullies in their tracks. we'll hear from a teenage race car driver who's part of an

anti-bullying campaign and he himself has been a victim of bullies.

[ siren ] [ applause ] [ jackhammer ] [ crowd cheering ] [ speeding car ] [ siren ] [ horse whinnying ] [ bell dings ] your true self -- uncover it, embrace it, protect it. what's healthier than that? all right. bullying is a problem for a lot of kids across america, but there are ways to fight back. the great american no bull

challenge is a national campaign aimed at stopping bullies and zach is a spokesman for the campaign. he's one of the youngest licensed race car drivers in the country. and he is with us right now from columbus, ohio. and he's also the author of a 99 things teens which they knew before turning 16. he is 16. zach, tell us more about this great american no bull challenge and why you decided to be involved. >> well for me growing up, i was trying to pursue my dream and when i was going through public school, i was bullied a little and, you know, it kind of teams bullies try to pick on kids that try to be different and they really want you to follow in line and be the same as everybody else. i wanted to join a great cause and i saw the great no bull challenge and they're the biggest campaign out there trying to put an end to cyber bullying and what not a better way to get my message out than to help them out as well. >> so you write about in your book that one of the things that you were picked on about was

your, as you put it in your book, your lack of height. and so there were some who gave you a hard time calling you midget. there was name calling and all that. you kind of used reverse psychology to get back at that person. tell me how that made the difference and what do you mean by that, reverse psychology? >> i mean after a while i couldn't take it anymore. i was like, you know, maybe i'm normal and maybe you're just a giant is the comeback i used. >> it worked? >> i just always -- >> yeah. he didn't have anything to say. i don't think he was expecting that to come back for from me after i kind of politely shook it off for a while. but i always thought my parents taught me violence is never an option for that. i didn't want to do anything that would put me to his level, so i just decided to use that and from that point on, i just tried to help other kids, you know, use the terms i did or use

the way i did to kind of settle down their problems. >> so what are some of the other recommendations you have for kids who don't really know what to do? they even feel i guess a little hesitant about telling anybody they're being bullied, someone whether it's physical or whether it's name calling? what's your advice on the first approach? how does a kid kind of muster up the courage that you had? >> well, i mean, it's definitely hard because i was in the same shoes as them and it's a little embarrassing at times, but i mean you have to realize that they're just doing -- you're being bullied because people might be jealous of what you're doing because they might not have the opportunity to. you just have to use that, the energy that they give you, the negative energy, to kind of fuel yourself, to push yourself that much more. that's what i did. and they told me i couldn't be a race car driver and i just put everything together to show them that, you know, i can if i

really try hard. it's just the faster you fix the problem maybe you can even help the bully at the end of the day. everybody goes through bad parts in their life and if you can help them out as well, maybe you can move yourselves both forward at the end of the day. >> and that's you racing in the indy racing league. how long have you been driving, zach? >> actually, started kind of late. i started when i was 12 years old in go-carts. >> can't believe that's considered late because so many start at 6. i talked to some nascar drivers this year and they talked about starting with go-carts when they were 6. you started late. what gave you the upper hand to be able to compete on this level and stay in the race? >> well, i knew i was behind by starting when i was 12, so i made sure that i was at the racetrack any time i could and having the bullying problem made me push hard to show everybody i do have the ability to do this.

i've been fortunate along the way. i have great parents that have helped me out and with on-line school k-12 it's -- they're great. if it wasn't for the teachers and schooling system they have, i couldn't be doing what i've been doing. >> wow. >> it's really a help from a lot of people. >> incredible. you have persevered. one thing you did talk about in your book and i do want to kind of call a little attention to it, you mentioned, while nobody wants to respond with physical violence, that kind of bullying with physical violence, you did write sometimes you do have to kind of fight back. so how do you advise other kids to kind of find that happy medium so they don't find themselves in such a big physical battle that it does more harm than good? >> yeah. i mean, definitely there's a certain extent and you have to look at. if there is a point where a bully is trying to hurt you physically, i mean, you have to defend yourself. but when it comes to things like name calling or possibly making

fun of, it's definitely you don't want to respond with physical contact because i mean that's really not going to help anybody at the end of the day. you don't want to hurt yourself with it. if you can just help each other move forward by getting adults to help out. that would be more kind of logical way to do it than sometimes 16-year-olds or anything. >> zach, thanks so much. all the best. again the book is "99 things teens wish they knew before turning 16." all the best in the indy racing league. remember the name veevh. that helps us underscore it is time for us to take a stand. anderson cooper tost hosts a town hall conversation putting an end to bullying. "bullying it stops here" tonight at 8:00 eastern time. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition.

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"occupy wall street" protests now in their fourth week and the movement is spreading to other cities. politicians are taking note of the demonstrationers' growing frustration over the economy. joining us from washington, john

with america blog of the democratic party persuasion, and doug, a blogger and republican strategist. good to see both of you, gentlemen. >> thank you. happy sunday. >> happy sunday. >> talk about how "occupy wall street" and politics may be colliding. the tea party thought unfair government, unfair the government was bailing out the big guys, similar to what is provoking this "occupy wall street." you have to wonder, "occupy wall street" says it's not political but do you see it influencing the race for 2012? >> potentially, yes. i think what started off as a small protest that, you know, a lot of us didn't pay attention to. i admit the first month i wasn't watching it closely either, has turned into something kind of large that now we have the president weighing in, nancy pelosi, the republican candidates. i think it's impossible to avoid the political implications but especially if this turns into more of a nationwide movement where people's frustration about the economy, about not taking on wall street finding out how they got us into this mess, i think

that per se will have a political element in an election year. >> doug, is it inevitable? >> i don't think it's inevitable. we need to see more of what this is about. the tea party started as a reaction to oebl care, to the stimulus bill and bailouts. we don't know what this agenda, if there is an agenda is. >> they've been pretty open about a lot of things from, you know, big government -- government bailing out, you know, big banks, et cetera, unemployment being what it is, people having a hard time getting a job. it's a hodge-podge but a lot of stuff. >> lack of banking reform, lack of investigating wall street. no prosecutions of a single person on wall street. come on. >> okay. so then doug, back to you, you know, is it going to be up to these presidential contenders to involve what's going on in wall street in their campaigning? >> i think they've been doing that anyways and it continue to talk about the economy and jobs. certainly what herman cain's background speaks, to what mitt

romney has talked to, governor perry's record in texas. >> looks like ron paul is the only one kind of chiming in with i relate to what's going on with "occupy wall street." the other candidates staying away with it. >> why you see them -- >> doug, on that again? >> that's why you see ron paul not doing very well in the polls when it comes to where the candidates are. >> he's done well in recent straw polls. okay. so, you know, john, give me an idea whether these other candidates, ron paul has kind of stuck himself out there, talking about the "occupy wall street" are the other republican contenders going to feel pressure they've got to a make a stance on where they are with "occupy wall street" and whether people who are there in lower manhattan will feel the pressure to make it a political event? >> i think there's going to be ongoing pressure and increasing pressure for the republicans to show some sympathy for main street. traditionally the republican party has a little too much sympathy for wall street and not enough for the middle class. and i think, you know, one might

even say the republicans practice class war fair only representing the upper class. there's always that pressure. depends on where the protests grown. they have grown over the last month really. if it keeps growing at this rate i don't know how the candidates are going to sort of avoid talking about it and expressing some sympathy. >> let's talk about something else this weekend, you had these comments being made about, you know, equating the mormon faith with a cult. john, is, you know, rick perry addressing it enough, is he trying to distance himself, what he said been enough on the record to say that i guess those comments from his supporters is going to go away? >> you know, rick perry is in a tough spot and i think romney is as well. these are two candidates who have no problem invoking god, religion to talk about their policy prescriptions. talk about gay marriage. they're going to talk about god there. romney, reverend wright, obama's kind of wacky preacher during the campaign, remember, romney had no problem saying we need to

know why he's seeking religious advice from this kind of person. then why should we not ask who romney is seeking. >> real quick. i want you to weigh in on that one. >> yeah. i remember having to deal with the real nonsense about whether the president was muslim or not last year and tried to put some of those rumors to rest. >> romney is a mormon. this isn't a myth. this isn't a myth. it was a myth that obama was a muslim. >> what you're talking about -- i'm sorry. the rhetoric being used is damaging to the party and damaging to the country. if we want to continue to go down this road, what they're going to do is hurt that candidate. >> okay. >> you're going to take god out of your party. that should be it interesting. >> i don't think that's what i said at all, actually, no. >> wish we had more time. we'll have you back and continue this conversation again. thanks so much, gentlemen. for the latest political news where to go, cnnpolitics.com. >> close range fighting in moammar gadhafi's hometown. is sirte about to fall?

we'll go live to libya. ork of p. ♪ in here, pets never get lost. ♪ in here, every continent fits in one room. it was fun, we played football outside. why are you sitting in the dark? ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, you're never away from home. it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

libya's new transitional leaders say their troops are close to taking over moammar gadhafi's hometown.

senior international correspondent nic robertson in tripoli. we've heard reports troops were closing in on sirte before. anything different this time? >> well, i think what's different today and this is, perhaps, significant, but it's still far from a complete control of sirte, is that the two places where they -- the national transitional council fighters say gadhafi's loyalists have been holding out, the strongest in recent days, a university conference center area and a hospital. the rebels say they've taken control of those areas now. what's interesting is, in the hospital they captured 17 gadhafi loyalists, but if it's only a handful, 17, that have been holding out and holding back, the rebels for so long, it gives an indication that this fight is still far from over, that there are other parts of the city that they don't control and it could take them still some time to bring that full control, fredricka. >> what about the fighting in another gadhafi stronghold of bani walid. what's going on there?

>> well, national transitional council spokesmen say they are still making gains there, they've taken control of some key high ground close to the city, but again, it is really essentially a standoff and the main focus really from what we're being told is on sirte because the government says once sirte falls, that will begin the process of forming a transitional government which begins the process of moving forwards elections. they've sort of made bani walid a side issue. what happens there, as long as sirte falls, they're moving aheaded with this process of a new government here. fredricka. >> still no clues as to where moammar gadhafi may be. nic robertson, thanks so much. all right. more jobs in america a rise in the minimum wage and a decent shopping season. our money team will be along with america's bottom line. [ male announcer ] there's just something about werther's caramel

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were also revised higher by a total of almost 100,000. construction, retail and professional services were among the sectors adding jobs. it wasn't all good news. the unemployment rate remains high stuck at 9.1% for the third month in a row, and the economy has recovered open a fraction of the almost 9 million jobs lost since the recession began. felicia? >> thanks, alison. workers in eight states could see their paychecks get a boost come january. colorado, montana, ohio, oregon and washington recently announced minimum wage hikes. arizona, florida and vermont are expected to announce similar increases in the next couple weeks. the increases range from 28 to 37 cents an hour. now that adds up to annual raises of up to $770 for full-time workers. the states link their minimum wage to inflation. the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and works out to a little more than $15,000 a year.

poppy? >> thanks so much. retail sales figures for september are due out on friday and analysts expect sales to have risen last month after coming in virtually flat in august. figures released by individual store chains last week indicated that retailers had a pretty solid back-to-school shopping season. that's good news for the sluggish economy. wall street is going to keep a close eye on this report as well as we approach the crucial holiday season. we'll track it all on cnn money. fred, back to you. >> thanks so much, ladies. remember you can get your financial fix every day on cnnmoney.com. look at the top stories right now. president barack obama's jobs bill headed for the u.s. senate. lawmakers expected to vote on the measure this week. the $447 billion jobs plan includes tax cuts, infrastructure spending and job training assistance. it would be funded by a new tax on millionaires. french president nicolas sarkozy and german chancellor angela merkel say they will work

together to recapitalize european banks. their meeting came on the same day that france, belgium and luxemburg agreed on a plan to rescue dexia, a troubled franco belgium bank. the "occupy wall street" protests in their 23rd day. the movement started in new york and spread across the country. demonstrators are angry over social and financial inequalities and what they say is corporate greed. i'll be back in one hour from now and do something special today, we'll spend the entire hour of the 4:00 eastern hour letting you hear from the 2012 contenders for from the white house like herman cain who says the "occupy" protests are an intentional distraction. >> i happen to believe this is an intentional distraction to create in the media and minds of the american people so they won't focus on the failed policies of this administration. >> hear from the candidates running for the