administration. >> i think he's a little bitter about that whole thing. then, again, there is david letterman and it has been years. >> just time to get over it, boys. let's head to atlanta now and check in withphillips. rick perry unveils a new tax plan that's sure to get americans talking. would you rather stick with your current tax rate or simplify your life with a flat rate tax of 20%? we're all over it this morning. paul steinhause and jean sahadi. overshadowing this subject. paul, perry reviving once again questions about president obama's birth certificate. this morning he was at it again. >> two days in a row it seems, kyra. could be overshadowing the big tax and economic plan. it all started over the weekend,

perry, the texas governor who is running for the gop nomination. not in the newspaper hard copy, a lot of americans get, but in the online edition. he talked about the president and his birth certificate and he said he believes the president was born in the united states, but a little less confident on that birth certificate. of course, released earlier this year by hawaii after a request from the president. he went on in that interview to say i had dinner with donald trump and he doesn't think it was real. trump was flirting with a bid for the gop nomination and part of that was a push for the president to reveal his birth certificate and questions whether the president was born in hawaii. an interview released by cnbc john harwood, their top political guy. here's what perry said, take a listen. >> my grades ended up on the front page of the newspaper, if we're going to show stuff, let's show stuff. but, look, that's all a distraction. i get it. i'm really not worried about the president's birth certificate.

it's fun to poke at him a little bit and say, hey, let's see your grades and your birth certificate. >> so, perry later today, kyra, after he unveils his tax plan holds a news conference in columbia, south carolina, 3:30. jim acosta and other reporters will ask him about this birther controversy, kyra. >> we'll talk about that, but let's talk more about perry's flat tax plan. a number of the candidates coming forward and talking about their ideas to what is the best way to go. >> exactly. maybe perry is looking for that 9-9-9 mojothat herman cain had. pretty high up in the polls for the nomination. let's look at perry's plan. calls for 20% flat tax or americans can choose their current income tax rate. the new flat tax would preserve mortgage interest and charita e charitable, state and local tax exemptions. it will increase the standard deduction to 12,500 for

individuals and independents. he wants to drop the tax rate from 35% to 20%. south carolina is the first southern state to vote in the caucus and primary. >> let's dig deeper into that and talk more about what the plan would mean for you and me. jean suthahadi is a senior writ at cnn.com. who gains and loses the most from a flat tax? >> well, everything depends on the plan's details but typically the wealthy do better under a flat tax and the lowest income people do not. they do worse than the current system. nobody knows who will do better or worse under perry's plan because we only have scant details and because he left in a number of key deductions like the mortgage interest deduction. that will make it harder for people to choose between the two. 20% is low, but other plans came out with a 17% rate and 18% rate

and that will make a big difference in people calculations. which is better for them. >> can we calculate what the overall effect would be on the economy? >> yeah, no. but here's the promise. it will help economic growth. that's true for any tax reform plan. that's always going to be the promise. but the reality is, once the thing gets into place, a lot of transition costs from the current system to the new system. so, the revenue that might be lost under those transition costs could negate, at least in the near term, the economic growth benefits. it's also not clear how much disruption there might be economically. if he is taking away a number of corporate tax breaks. he is making it easier for businesses to file their taxes. you know, some negative feedback, in terms, again, of the transition cost. tax experts will say you can never say with certainly how much tax growth will be under

any tax plan. we'll hear from dick armey the leader of the tea party and sees a lot of good in the plan but has strong doubts. he'll share his thoughts with me at 9:30 eastern time. take a look around your neighborhood. on average, nearly one in every four homes is under water. that means your neighbor or maybe even you owes more than the home is worth. so, the white house is throwing a lifeline, expanding a program that allows underwater homeowners to refinance. alison kosik joining us now. alison, critics say it ignores the americans who really need the help the most. let's talk about that first and then talk about how this plan, the administration hopes will help the housing market. >> okay, you got it, kyra. this was announced yesterday and now, of course, everybody had a chance to sit on it and look it over and now the critics are coming out of the wood work. what the critics are saying is that this plan doesn't help people who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments because you have to be up to date on your mortgage to qualify for

this new plan. also, it doesn't help people who are already in the foreclosure process and, i'll tell you what, there are a lot of those. moody's says 3.5 million people in foreclosure or seriously delinquent and those people are most in danger of losing their homes, but the thing is, they do not qualify for this program, kyra. >> okay. alison kosik, we'll talk more about this through the next couple of hours. stay with us, in just about an hour from now, we'll talk with hud's secretary about the program and the pitfalls. he is joining me live at 10:15 eastern time. glimmer of hope today in the search for survivors in that massive earthquake in eastern turkey. rescuers pulled a 2-week-old baby girl alive from the rubble. they have been trying to reach other members of her family now. diana covering the rescue efforts there in turkey. diana, word of other rescues and meanwhile still trying to digest the incredible pictures of those rescue workers holding that

little baby girl. >> incredible, kyra. but just in the last 15 minutes here, we've seen two more incredible scenes where that little baby girl's mother and grandmother were pulled out of the rubble. pulled out of that hole that our camera is trained in on now. the rescue workers are all a bunch of heroes and i'll point the camera to this gentleman who is over there. he is the man who brought the little baby girl out to safety. the story is incredible. we talked to him a little earlier in turkish about how he did that. and basically what happened is that the three women, the two women and the little baby girl were all together in a space inside the rubble and they managed to carve out a very narrow corridor to get to them. because he is a slight man, he was asked to try and crawl in and take the baby from the mother's arms. he said he has a little son himself. he said that the moment when he took the baby outside was

literally for him like having a second child. really extremely emotional moment and he's spent 12 years working on earthquake sites like this and he said he never, ever pulled anyone alive out of the rubble before. but as i said, after that, about an hour and a half after the little girl was brought out. the mother and the grandmother, all three of them are said to be in good health. all three, the mother and the grandmother on their way to the hospital right now. the little baby girl in the hospital right now, kyra. >> absolutely remarkable story. the fact that it was captured there, not only in the photos, but in video. just a reminder of why it's so important to never stop giving up and looking for these people. diana, thank you so much. well, the body of moammar gadhafi was buried at dawn today in a secret location. gadhafi's body had been on public display for five days since his killing. members of gadhafi's tribe were allowed to pray over his body before a convoy took it away for burial.

well, they won the revolution, but can they create a democracy? we're going in depth on tunisia and the first elections of the arab spring. our zain verjee joining us from london. calling this election remarkably free and fair. >> exactly. which is incredible for tunisia, as well as the entire region that is watching so closely and so carefully to see what exactly is the next chapter after the former leader left. let's take a look at the international headlines and see what they're saying. "gulf news" says this, kyra. tunisia blazes historic election trail. it goes on to say, let other nations who have followed the path taken by tunisia watch and take heed. and in the coming months, let the leaders of arab spring uprisings take note that

building inclusive institutions requires time and thought. tunisia and libya, two faces of the arab spring. it says as the first country of the arab spring to hold a successful election, tunisia is a pioneer. what has happened so far is promising, but, it is only a start. there has been a strong showing at these elections from the islamist party. many around the world and the region, as well as in new teetu itself, kyra. they're saying if the islamists take over and start running the country, what happens to liberal, moderate democratic values? what other analysts have said is that islam and democracy can successfully coexist but tunisia is an example to see what works and what doesn't. kyra? >> we'll follow it, thanks so much. coming up, a suspected serial rapist in texas targeting suro

sorority women. police put on their riot gear and make their move in the middle of the night. [ male announcer ] succeeding in today's market 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. i tap into the power of revolutionary mobile apps. to trade wherever. whenever. life isn't fully experienced sitting idly by. neither is investing. [ birds chirping ]

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firefighters think it could take up to a week to put it out. overnight, police have broken up occupy oakland's tent city and arrested protesters. more than 300 people had been camping in a downtown plaza for weeks to support the "occupy wall street" movement. the mayor claimed the plaza isn't safe. the mayor thinks that two weeks in a downturown park is enough. and the names of the jurors in casey anthony's trial are now public. in july they found anthony not guilty of murdering daughter. a judge thought a three-month cooling off period was necessary to protect their safety. a serial rapist that has attacked four members of a black sorority. police say the suspect broke into the women's homes and made it obvious that he knew personal information about them. ed lavandera is in our dallas bureau. ed, how exactly did the police put all these pieces together

for this case? >> well, you know, this has actually been rather interesting how all of this came out. the four attacks happened in three different suburbs north of the dallas area and all taken place within the last year or so. in each of these cases emerged as investigators learned more and more about them. they realized they were dealing with a small sample size and all four members turned out to be members of the sorority, this is when authorities started coming together last week and then they've kind of compared notes and realized that they're probably suspecting that they're dealing with the same attacker in this place. just a few days ago they released this surveillance video. they believe this is their suspect in the case, which is a man believed to be in his late 30 tooz mid-40s. about 5'7" to 6 feet tall. the way he walks in this video, they're hoping this clues other

people who might have seen him around sorority events or anything like this. that this might help them figure out who this person is. they're not saying where this video came from or why they believe this person is the suspect. police said the attacker made it clear he knew details about them even though they had no idea who this man was. this man had been doing thiz work, actually staking out these women and perhaps planning his attacks. >> we feel not only is he doing his research, you know, he's possibly conducting surveillance. he's spending some time around the area, around the residences prior to the attacks. >> so, authorities are really counting on this video, kyra, to hopefully kind of trigger people's memories about whether or not they've seen him around sorority events over the course of the last year. they're trying to figure out exactly how he figured out who these people are and how he planned his attacks.

>> what is the sorority leadership saying about this and how are they talking with the girls on how to protect them selves? >> well, as you can imagine, this has sent a great deal of fear through, especially the local chapter of the sorority here in the dallas ft. worth area and we tried to reach some of the local members and we've seen e-mails that have gone out to sorority members and essentially the national leadership, which is based in washington, d.c., really taking the public lead on this and making all the comments. basically what they're urging people and what authorities are urging these sorority members, if you have a placard on your license plate or t-shirts, take it down. don't advertise that you're a member of this sorority and urging people to stay off of facebook, twitter, any kind of the social networking that might advertise that you've gone to some of these functions. a lot of these sororities and these groups put pictures of their events on facebook, what have you. they don't know how this man is researching these women and figuring out how to attack them.

>> you've got to be so careful with what you put on the interneez days. ed lavandera, thank you. still another blow to netflix after a pr nightmare 800,000 customers are canceling their subscriptions. netflix shares are tumbling. also, he's 100 years old and he ran a marathon. 26.2 miles. you think he's going in the guinness book of records? not going to happen. our zain verjee joins us to explain why in four minutes. and having a partner like northern trust -- one of the nation's largest wealth managers -- makes all the difference. our goals-based investment strategies are tailored to your needs and overseen by experts who seek to maximize opportunities while minimizing risk. after all, you don't climb a mountain just to sit at the top. you lookround for other mountains to climb. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust.

let's get to your "showbiz" headlines. matt damon and ben affleck plan to partner for another film. tmz has confirmed that lindsay lohan is shooting nude photos for playboy. the actress reportedly asked for $1 million to pose, but lohan was offered $750,000 for the spread. and usually the judges talk and the dancers listen, but monday night on "dancing with

the stars" that wasn't the case when hope solo's partner took issue with the judges about their performance. >> i have been in this business for nearly 50 years. >> maybe it's time to get out. >> let's not be disrespectful like that. >> everybody is putting a lot of effort. everybody on that balcony has been dying and killing themselves only to hear your guys a little judgmental. >> judge's decision still stands. the score for solo and her partner's rendition of "season of love "was only 20 of 30. 100 years old and claims to be the oldest runner to finish a marathon. a guinness book of world records says, nope, have to prove it. zain verjee joining us from london. zain, why is guinness saying no? >> oh, kyra, it ain't going to

happen. well, guinness is saying that the proof that he's provided just isn't good enough to say that he is, in fac, 100 years old. what they're saying is they need to see an official birth certificate. here's the statement from guinness. it says as much as we'd like to ratify this record, we simply don't have the proof. the claim will remain open until such evidence is provided. until then, we wish him all the best with his next challenge. now, kyra, what he did is gave a passport and the date of birth says april 1st, 1911, guinness says that's only proof of nationality. he submitted a letter from the queen of england himself congratulating him for his age. guinness said not good enough. the government of india came out with a statement and said, look, no records of birth or any official birth certificates were kept in the year 1911. a neighbor also came out, a former neighbor from india came out and said, yes, this guy is

100 years old. guinness says it's not going to happen. one official said, if you can't prove how old you are, you can't be the world's oldest anything. kyra? >> so, wlauts he going to do? he has so much support and people rallying against him. come on, take a look at the guy. he's 100 years old. >> i know! you know, he's been so inspirational, so incredible in what he's doing. he doesn't speak english. he hasn't been able to respond and his trainer is responding to all of this and he said, you know, in developing countries the standards of keeping records aren't really up to scratch as are in the west, but he real haes a gained a major following and he does hold a few other records for the 100 meters, 200 meters, 1,500 meter races. so, he has a few notches there on his belt. guinness just aren't putting them in their history books. >> boy, that's a tough group of critics.

we will definitely follow the turbine tornado for sure. i know this guy is pretty special to us. tha thanks, zain. alison kosik at new york stock ecchange following the ongoing saga at netflix. hundreds of thousands of customers are jumping ship now, alison. the stock price, well, it's tumbling right there. it's jumping, as well. >> it is. if you're a shareholder, you're definitely not laughing. you know what this winds up being, kyra. really these subscribers sending a strong message to netflix. get your act together. it shows, hey, regular people, they can speak with their actions and 800,000 customers, they did just that. during july through september, they canceled their subscriptions, of course, this follows a pr nightmare that netflix has endured. announced price hikes and then, it changed its mind. so, yeah, it really hammered netflix's reputation.

netflix put out an apology, but it wasn't good enough the first time in years netflix lost customers and here's the kicker. netflix expects to keep losing customers. shares are falling, shares in the premarket down 35%. that's despite earnings that beat estimates. here's some stock, but here's some numbers for you if you're a shareholder, kyra. >> netflix shares hit $300s earlier this year, expected to trade around $77 today. ouch. >> what do you think, will the drop in netflix impact the broader market? >> you may see it in the nasdaq a little bit. overall market, a slightly lower open but overall the losses for netflix for nasdaq look to be limited because of decent earnings. bp, ubs, their shares are up on stronger than expected earnings. but we did get earnings from 3m, shares of 3m are expected to tumble. also, we have a new report

showing home prices are improving a little bit. so, with all of that kind of mixed bag of news, expect stocks to open just slightly lower. kyra? >> alison, thanks. rick perry's flat tax plan doesn't have a catchy name like 9 -9-9 but is it enough to get dick armey's blessing? we'll ask him ourself. nature at its best. the northern lights showing up in the deep south. we'll show you some more of this spectacular light show just ahead. people really love snapshot from progressive, but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance.

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checking top stories now. moammar gadhafi's body buried at dawn today in a secret location. libya's new leaders say that members of gadhafi's tribe were allowed to pray over the body before it was taken away. rescuers have pulled a 14-day-old baby alive from the earthquake rubble in eastern turkey. take a look at these pictures. crews also rescued the baby's mom, grandfather, but the death toll has risen to 366 with more than 2,200 buildings destroyed. the search continuing still for this little baby's father. hurricane rina strengthened into category 2 storm. it could make landfall on

mexican's yucatan peninsula on thursday. all right, about 90 minutes from now texas governor rick perry will unveil his economic growth plan and it includes an optional flat tax. we'll talk more about this with dick armey. head of the fiscally conservative freedom works group and a flat tax supporter. dick, good to see you. >> nice to be with you. >> all right, well, we have, we have herman cain's 9-9-9 plan and now he's saying 9-0-9 for some folks. you have rick perry talking about an optional 20% flat tax and newt gingrich talking about an optional 15% flat tax. who do you think, right now, has the better plan? >> well, actually, i would have preferred the plan that was written by holland in 1984, even the one i introduced in 1994. but at this point, i think the governor's plan is a very bold plan by way of comparison with

anything else that's out there and i think it is possible that it could achieve the growth of the american economy and the job creation that would follow that growth. so, right now, i think that's the best plan standing. no doubt in my mind that this is the best single policy option available to the government to inspire growth of the american economy. and rick perry's gotten pretty close to the mark. >> sounds like you're ready to endorse rick perry? are you ready to endorse rick perry right here at 9:32 eastern time? >> no, no, no. what we're looking for with rick perry or anybody else for that matter is we want to see a real commitment to the policy as a policy for america that you will see through in your presidency, not be left with a fear that is just something that you want to use long enough to win the campaign. and, quite frankly, we put a rigorous test of long-term

commitment to any policy options that are offered by candidates and if they can meet that test and they can convince us they really, really mean it and intellectually and policy wise committed to it, then they could possibly win the endorsement and the support of all of the grassroots activists that are out there. >> all right, well, then by making that point, let me ask you this. who is off your list? who do you know you will not endorse? >> i don't know that there's anybody that we have really taken off the list. we really think this campaign can be a long term or fairly long process and everybody has the chance to rise to the occasion so we leave the options open. our point is endorsements are not gifts to be given, they're prizes to be earned and we're really looking for the candidates to get out there and show some real commitment that we dare to believe we can rely on. the problem with politicians is

that you can't always rely on them to be who they said they were going to be when they get in the office. >> so, we made the point, i think everybody probably in america would agree that there are definitely more politicians that are more disingenuous than others. let me put it this way, perry, bachmann, romney, cain. i want you to hit all four with me quickly, dick. rick perry, give me a pro and a cr con. >> the fellow who is most advocating job creation in america, especially if he sticks to his guns to give us a flat tax and to couple that with cutting the size of government. our problem with mitt romney is he seems to be on again/off again and, at this point, he's been very timid on anything that would inspire real growth to the

economy. we like cain an awful lot, but our problem with that is the coupling of a flatter income tax with the introduction of a sales tack. i had been warning people who advocate the sales tax for years that you'll never get it instead of the income tax, you'll get it in addition to. now we see it with herman cain. >> give me something on bachmann, dick. >> her campaign seems to be atrophying quite a bit. at this point it just seems to me that she's running so far behind, hard to believe she could ever catch up. >> dick, you know me, i am hearing perry and cain. perry seems to be the most clear. let's pair it down to perry and cain. what is it that you need to see from cain to rise to such a

well-described rick perry in your eyes? >> well, in my estimation, somebody gave cain the wrong advice on tax policy. the tax policy doesn't have the growth potential for the economy, the job creation potential that he suggests it will have. further complicates the tax code in such a way to give future generations of politicians, if it were enacted, two tracks on which they could raise taxes and sales taxes are the most dysfunctional taxes at the federal level that you can think of. you would see the growth in the underground economy and a frustration that could, as it did in europe, lead to a value added tax. so, i think he's fooling with a fairly dangerous idea when he introduces sales tax. even at the 9% level. >> all right, final question. who is better to -- i guess, who is better suited right now to beat president barack obama?

rick perry, herman cain? >> well, i really think it's rick perry because he's drawing such a sharp contrast between himself and barack obama. if you look at the flat tax, which basically says we'll treat everybody exactly the same as everybody else, you have the best definition of fairness and that is a sharp contrast with class conflict. so, the fact of the matter is, i believe at this point perry stands as the greater contrast with the better ideas for growth in the economy and, therefore, would have the better chance of beating the current president who just seems to be stuck in the dulldrums of his underground sociologist courses. >> dick armey, seems like leaving politics has done you well. thanks, dick. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet. as you can hear governor perry will unveil his plan at

11:00 a.m. right here on cnn, we will take that live. so, what do you do for a living? seems like a pretty straight forward question, right? l.z. granderson will tell us why it's not. his op-ed coming up.not to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

so, what do you do? pretty common question, right? a loaded one according to l.z. granderson. the focus of his latest op-ed on cnn.com. l.z., people asked this question for years and years and years. why all of a sudden are you having a problem with it now and it bothers you so much? >> it's not all of a sudden. i think it's something progressively happening. i travel a lot for work, obviously. i get asked that question a lot and it just seems that inevitably what it does, it trumps the conversation of how much money you're making, what kind of things you have. consumerism, basically. becomes less and less about

engaging each other in terms of what kind of person you are and how much stuff you accumulated so far. >> you're telling me when you're at a cocktail party and you're with some pretty important people, you're not standing there wondering, wonder what that person does. >> yeah. i, too, am part of this culture. i'm part of this culture, too. and my point is that we are getting to the point now because the economy is so shaky that so much of our value or so much we value the other people and so tied to consumerism and money that as the economy gets shaky our view of other people get shakier. i hope this column reminds people to look at the person and not just the stuff. >> l.z. who just got back from his mission trip. joining us to talk about his latest column. l.z., i love you.

you can read l.z.'s piece. whatever happened to what's your sign? cnn.com/opinion. if you like, you can join the conversation and leave a comment for him. well, they're called the northern lights, but these dancing lights made an appearance in the deep south and after the break meteorologist jacqui jeras who is totally fascinated by this. she's flipping through all the pictures and smiling. she will join us to talk about from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro.

all right. let's check the news across country now. an american researcher who

suffered a stroke is back on u.s. soil. she was stuck on ant ark cufor two months because conditions were too bad for a rescue flight. she's being treated this week at john hopkins in baltimore. a tattoo marathon keeps artists pretty busy and raises money for cancer research. michigan tattoo parlor inked 271 pink ribbons in honor of breast cancer awareness month. so many folks came out, they had to end the event early. a maine man has just logged 1 million miles on his car. the 1990 honda accord still has most of its original parts. he drives it around the state for work. about 14,000 miles a month. what a treat for the deep south. the wriliant light show known as the northern lights normally seen in the far north, but folks as far south as alabama, georgia, well, they got treated, as well. jacqui jeras here to explain the northern lights, shall we?

>> the aurora borealis. >> aurora, your daughter's name. leave it to the meteorologist to name her daughter aurora after these beautiful pictures. >> it means goddess of the dawn, actually. it really is one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen. take a look at those curtains of light. it's just a spectacular show. it's not something that you get to see every day. the timing has to be right from the time that this electromagnetic energy comes in that it has to be dark out. about a 40-hour difference between the energy shoots out of the sun and we'll get a little technical for a quick second. it is called a cme or a coronal mass ejection and basically just a bunch of solar wind plasma that shoots towards the earth and gets caught into our electric magnetic field and all these charged particles collide with each other. >> i was reading all the different names through the

years. i like dance of the spirits. that's what they called it in europe. >> native americans thought it was the spirits of some of the animals they hunted and killed. a bunch of different theories about it. the color is what a lot of people have been asking about. what determines the different colors. it has to do with the gas particles it sclicollides with. the color green. that's lower in the atmosphere, around 60 miles up and it's oxygen. the blue and purple that you see in there, that's collision with nitrogen and then the red, which is a lot more red, it's rare, we saw more red this time around. it's high altitude oxygen. that's 200 miles above the earth's surface. isn't it gorgeous? i could look at it all day. >> you'll have to tell her all about her northern lights when you get home. thanks, jacqui. the texas rangers count on their catcher, again, as they take game five of the world series. highlights just ahead in sports.

and a look at stories making news later today. president obama is in los angeles. at 1:30 eastern he'll tape an appearance on the tonight show with jay leno. then annuity gingrich will file his pain earns to be on the ballot for new hampshire's primary. and in toledo, ohio, joe the plumber will announce his seat for congress. he was catapulted to fame when meeting president obama and questioned his tax policies. let's check in with jim acosta in south carolina. hey, jim. >> reporter: that's right, keira. we are in great court, south

carolina. where governor rick perry will announce his plan called cut, balance and grow. he hopes it will grow his poll numbers. details in a few moments. i'm elizabeth cohen in atlanta. the hpv shot for girls is plenty controversial, but now the centers for disease control should determine if boys should get that, too. that at the top of the hour. i apologize for the audio problem with dan riversful he'll talk about the burial of moammar gadhafi. also next hour a lot of people write the president every day, some even get an answer back. we'll talk to one of them. and the author of a new book "ten letters." the stories americans tell their president. oice take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain.

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the texas rangers are one win away from winning the world series. >> yes, they are. texas came down, down two games to one, they were tied at two last night in the critical game five. st. louis grabbing the early lead that wouldn't last. we'll pick it up in the bottom of the sixth, chris carpenter pitching to adrian beltran. he goes down on one knee to propose. will you fly far, far away? the home run that ties it at two. then in the eighth,rangers mike

napoli has been clutch with a double off the right-field wall to bring home two. texas is up 4-2. that's nine rbis for napoli in the series. huge in the playoffs and in the steal. in the ninth inning the strikeout -- and look at napoli. guns down allen craig trying to steal to end the game. the rangers win game six, weather-permitting, tomorrow night in st. louis. nfl monday night football, jaguars and ravens, it wasn't pretty if you like big points on the board. this was the only touchdown in the fourth quarter. the ravens quarterback throws it here to make it 9-7, jags. baltimore tries to get the onsidekick going, that doesn't work. jacksonville gets it. josh scoba, a 51-yard feeld field goal. jacksonville wins it 12-7.

and last week a referee was running on the field and then stripped down. now he's charged with criminal impersonation, that's a felony. you're laughing but if he's found guilty he could face 18 months in jail. you would think he would start to regret it but he still says no. >> so we are not going to hear from him? okay. >> the new york daily news reports the nba will cancel two more weeks of the season today to kill games through november 28. no new talks are scheduled between players and owners. the nba stars are appearing in a new commercial called "love the game no matter what." they are showing youth pickup games. here's hoping they play in a real game by christmas. >> i like that they are doing good things with the kids, that's great. thank you, jeff. a bedtime story for a 2-year-old that's melting hearts. gene moo gene mooe moos reports on a daddy who hands out a few

cyber hugs. >> reporter: it is like reading a bedtime story. >> farmer mickey -- time to work the whole day long. >> reporter: only daddy lives inside the screen. >> the hens lay eggs. >> reporter: the wife of an airman away from home for basic training posted this video of her prerecorded husband reading to his 2-year-old daughter that has everybody talking about how cute it is. the only one who isn't talking is dad. >> daddy? daddy? >> reporter: she was trying to say silly kitty because mom tells cnn that the cat just knocked something off a shelf. someone posted that dad better get back home soon or that kid is going to be nearsighted. the adorability factor goes through the roof as the bedtime story ends. >> can i have a hug?

>> love you. >> reporter: talk about a screen grab. every time her daughter asks to see daddy mom would play one of several prerecorded videos. this is similar to the united reading program. parents separated from their children, especially military parents, record themselves reading aloud and send dvds home to the kids. >> what sound does a lion make? roar! >> reporter: now prerecorded storytelling is not as high-tech as a soldier watching the birth of his first child live via skype. >> okay, babe, let's go. >> reporter: since army corporal greg was in iraq when his son was born, skype was the next best thing. >> i know, honey, just keep talking to me. hang on. >> lots of pressure. it is going to feel really funny. >> do you see him?

>> i can see him. >> reporter: he finally saw him in person three months later. >> hey, buddy. >> reporter: you may think cyberspace is cold, but this inspired us -- to have a group hug. thank you. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. and it is the top of the hour. thank you for being with us. two republican presidential candidates on the road this morning. this hour frontrunner mitt romney meets with campaign volunteers just outside cincinnati, but the spotlight belongs to rick perry. next hour he unveils a new tax plan that's sure to get americans talking. now here's the question, he wants you to ask yourself, would you rather stick with your current tax rate or simplify your life with a flat rate tax of 20%? jim acosta is awaiting rick

perry's event next hour in graycourt, south carolina. jim, let's talk about the flat tax plan. >> reporter: yeah, keira. there's political urgency for rick perry announcing this new tax plan. "the new york times" cbs news poll shows perry in fifth place with just 6% of the support of republicans right now. so he's hoping he can change all of that and really eject some energy to his struggling campaign with this new economic plan he calls cut, balance and grow. he'll be talking about it in an hour from now, but i want to go over some of the details of the proposal. he's talking about, as you just mentioned, an optional flat tax rate at 20%. americans could also stick with their current tax rate if they prefer that. he would also lower the corporate tax rate to 20%. he would eliminate the estate tax and taxes on long-term capital gains and dividends and social security benefits. he also says he would go after the deficit and hold domestic spending to 18% of gdp.

but perry as he's announcing this plan has gotten off message. over the weekend he gave an interview to "parade" magazine and talked about the president's birth certificate and raised doubts as to whether or not the birth certificate is real. he met with donald trump and they talked about the president's birth certificate. earlier on cbs or cnbc they aired an interview with governor rick perry talking about the issue, the texas governor saying he raised it because he likes to poke the president. here's what he had to say. >> i think it is great. my grade ended up on the front page of the newspaper, so if we are going to show stuff, show stuff. that's all a distraction, i get it. i'm really not worried about the president's birth certificate. it is fun to poke at him a little bit and say, hey, how about -- let's see your grades and birth certificate. >> isn't perry stealing a bit of his own thunder by poking fun at the birther controversy by

making rounds like this? >> reporter: absolutely. this is going to get people talking about the whole birth certificate all over again. he is holding a media news conference later this afternoon in columbia, south carolina. obviously questions like that are going to come up. he's going to be meeting with the governor of this state whose endorsement he would like very much. he's meeting with senator jim demint and others inside the republican party. all this sort of gets in the way of this message as rick perry is struggling in the polls with shaky debate performances and is trying to reboot his campaign. at the same time he's talking about birtherism not sitting well with republicans. karl rove just the other day on fox news said this is going to damage your campaign. governor perry has to work his way around that controversy as he talks about the new economic plan today. >> jim acosta, we'll be watching. and still on the topic of money, if you live in an average american neighborhood nearly one in every four homes is under

water. that means your neighborhood or your neighbor, rather marx i be ev paying more than the home is worth. an underwater home financing offer could help out current home openers now. >> reporter: the plan is aimed to help lower homeowners lower their mortgage payment by refinancing. now who stands to benefit? people who have federally grarn teed guaranteed mortgages, those backed by freddie mac or fannie mae. these have a refinance program that could be expanded so that now no matter how much their home has fallen in value they could refinance. if they are way under water and owe more on their home than it is worth, they will be able to refinance as long as they are current on their monthly mortgage payments. that means that they have to

have been current for the last six months and can't have missed more than one payment over the last year. speaking of the average homeowner, this will save them more than $2,000 a year, which h.u.d. secretary shawn donovan said is the equivalent of a substantial tax cut. >> all right. critics say that it ignores americans who need the most help. >> reporter: well, exactly. even the administration acknowledges that this new program is not going to solve the entire housing crisis. it has been seeing strict limitations. it will only help those current the last six months, haven't missed more than one payment in the last year, so if you really are one of the homeowners struggling, maybe you have missed a couple payments in the last 12 months but managed to scrape it together for the other months. you are still not going to qualify. critics argue those are exactly the people who need to be helped the most. the other big limitation is the same limitation with all the efforts to help homeowners during the entire

administration, which is it is voluntary for lenders. banks are not forced to help someone refinance. the administration hasn't even really put out an estimate of how many people will ultimately be helped. we'll just have to wait and see. >> thank you for that, athena jones. in ten minutes from now we'll talk to h.u.d. secretary shawn donovan about the pitfalls at 10:15 live. the body of moammar gadhafi was buried at a secret location five days after his killing, which is still raising questions. dan rivers is in tripoli with the latest. dan? >> reporter: that's right. he has now finally been buried after five days lying on. public display on the edge of the tripoli military counsel. the burial took place with his

defense minister. he was also lying in the same place where members of the gadhafi regime were able to pray over his body before it was moved. that's as much as we know, really. we don't know where he was buried. the understanding is somewhere in the desert. they want to keep the location secret to avoid his grave becoming a shrine for his supporters, but as you mentioned the questions about how he died and how his son died just won't go away. >> so then the search for safe, where does that stand at this point? >> reporter: well, the rumors suggest that saf could be heading to the south of the country. we, like other media organizations, have suggestions from other sources suggesting he was heading south across the

border, perhaps in tunisia. some say he has a fake libyan passport, but it is difficult to pinpoint anything down. there are so many false claims about the whereabouts of him. thinking they captured him, claiming he was injured, his convoy was surrounded by rebels, so i'm just afraid it is one of these rumors, that is like chasing shadows here without pinning information down, but that's the latest suggestion. he possibly could be heading to the south, but so far there's no proof being produced into his exact location. >> all right. dan rivers in tripoli for us. dan, thanks. egypt's government fell last week, this week syria, and now we are going in depth from syria. libya, egypt, is there a message here for. president saad and his

government? >> reporter: the activists are taking this as a message. shortly after gadhafi was killed they were chanting a warning to the president here warning he would be next. the dynamic existed in libya and those currently existing in libya are prudent. just when it came to libya, there was a clear and defiant front line and there was unity amongst the various arab nations and unity amongst the international community when it came to some sort of intervention. those dynamics do not exist in syria right now. at the same time, the pillars holding up the syrian regime are still fairly intact. that being the business merchant middle class and for the most part the syrian security forces. so what activists there are hoping is that the death of gadhafi was transpired in lip ya and going to convince more people inside syria that the revolution there can actually, eventually succeed. >> well, we saw what happened

which the anti-government demonstrations as soon as gadhafi announced he was -- or as soon as they announced data fee was dead. has that continued in regard to the demonstrations? >> reporter: these activists in syria go out whenever they can, wherever they can. in the last month the syrian security forces have spanned out throughout pretty much the entire country. what we are seeing now is more of the activists trying to gather in various side streets chanting for the downfall of the regime, but they have to be quick because the small gatherings are being broken up incredibly quickly and with such brute force. but yes, they are doing the best they can to keep up the internal pressure. what they are hoping, too, is that the opposition numbers based outside of the country are going to continue to put pressure on various internation nalg leaders, but there is some sort of global consensus how to

approach syria. it is a tricky situation. the king of jordan a few days ago told cnn he doesn't believe there was anyone in the region or outside the region that knew exactly how to approach and how to manage this uprising in syria. >> thank you so much, dama. tunisia just elected their first natural national constituent. zane, they are calling this election remarkably free and fair? >> reporter: it is really incredible to think this is happening in the arab world in a country like tunisia. what next for tunisia now in the spotlight in that's the question. we'll look at the national headlines. gulf news as this, tunisia blazes historic election trail. let other nations following the path taken by tunisia watch and take heed. in the coming months let the leaders of the arab spring uprising take note.

the building inclusive institution requires time and thought. the independence headline here, tunisia and libya two faces of the arab spring. as the first country of the arab spring to hold the first successful election, tunisia is a pioneer. what is happening so far is promising but it is only a start. the strong showing by the islamic party there and many people in the arab word are a little worried, a little nervous here because this is untested, unchartered territory. they concerned because if the islamics are in power, what's going to happen to liberal democratic values that many people in the region do hold dear. the analysts we have spoken to say they can co-exist, but it will be a test case and the test case today is tunisia. >> zain, thank you. people in oakland went to bed last night and there was an

occupy tent city oakland downtown. this morning it is gone. police shut it down and hauled away the protestors. and another plan for the president to help struggling homeowners, but will we see real relief this time? or is it too little, too late? shawn donovan is joining me live after the break. i wish you guys had layaway -- well... 'cause i could pay a little at a time... but actually we do -- and my kids would be like, "awesome, mom!" oh! i did not see that. [ male announcer ] layaway's back for christmas in our toys, electronics, and jewelry departments.

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well, here's a quick look at news across the country now. an oil rig fire burning in texas could still be burning days from

now. it exploded sunday outside of austin. nobody was hurt. firefighters belief it could take up to a week to actually put it out. and police have broken up occupy oakland's tech city and arrested protestors. more than 300 people were camping in the downtown plaza for weeks. the mayor claimed that the plaza just wasn't safe. atlanta police may get the same order soon. the mayor think that is two weeks in the downtown park is enough. he'll about to revoke the order to let protestors stay longer. the names of the jurors from casey anthony's trial are now being made public. they thought a cooling off period was needed to protect the jury's safety. well, prosecutors rapped up the case monday in the michael jackson death trial. now it is the defense's turn. attorneys will try to reverse four weeks of damaging testimony against conrad murray. ted rollins shows us how the

defense plans to make its case. >> reporter: when court resumes a nurse who treated michael jackson will be on the stand. her name is share sharilyn lee. she asked him to give michael jackson propofol before we are told. and dr. ellen metzger told the jury that in 2009 michael jackson was looking for somebody to give him propofol. >> he asked me about intraseens you sleep medicine. >> did he nap happen to mention the name of the medicine? >> i think he used the name juiced. >> reporter: today we are expected to hear character witness that is the defense is hoping will build up dr. conrad murray's reputation, which took such a beating during the prosecution's case. we'll hear from a couple of witnesses that we have met in years past. ruby mosely is a woman in houston, texas, who was a patient of dr. conrad murray.

she'll say murray helped her community in houston by serving an underdeveloped area. then we'll hear from jerry cozy who had a heart attack ten years ago and he said dr. murray saved his life. >> i had a heart attack ten years ago and he saved my life. >> reporter: janet jackson canceled her tour dates in australia to come back to attend portions of the rest of the trial. she was not in court yesterday but we do expect to see her and the rest of the family in court today. ted rollins, cnn, los angeles. >> check out hln, your place for expert coverage of the dr. conrad murray on trial. coming up, his daughter had a pretty bumpy week, so michael lohan shifted the spotlight by getting himself arrested. wanna know the difference between a trader and an elite trader?

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well n a big speech the president is stepping up efforts to help the battered housing market. the new plan so to lift restrictions, lower costs and eliminate fees. but even some democrats say it is too little, too late. >> good intentions but they have not put enough pressure on the banks, the programs were too cumbersome to begin with. in my area many of the homes are 70% under water. when they limited it to 105% and then 120% of the loan's value they immediately cut off the worst-hit areas. and those markets just continue to decline. >> shawn donovan, head secretary here live in atlanta.

as we were talking, going state to state in the areas hardest hit with the areas and issue of housing, we'll get right to the numbers. how many people are you saying this is actually going to help, the hard numbers, because i was looking back in 2009, you help ed 805,000 when you originally hoped to help 5 million. >> here's the key thing. we know there are 4 million families that have fannie mae and freddie mac mortgages under water that could benefit by bringing the interest rate down substantially. the average benefit is $2500 a year. that's a permanent tax cut for the families. of the 4 million we'll see how many sign up. this is up to those families. they can choose to come in and refinance, but it is opening up that opportunity to those 4 million families. the other thing i would say is critical here is because we are making changes that streamline the process, bring down fees for what it is going to cost to refinance, this could

potentially help other families as well. there are 6 to 7 million fannie mae and freddie mac mortgages above water with equity in their homes that haven't refinanced yet and could benefit. if we can bring the cost from $5,000 to refinance and cut that in half, that could help other families refinance as well. this is a big deal. it is not a silver bullet to solve all the problems and there are other steps we are taking, but this is an important step for us. >> you heard congressman cardoza say 70% of his folks were in trouble. he went on to say, look, it didn't work well in the past, what's going to make it different this time around. take a listen. >> we have been in a lot of meetings. i brought mr. donovan to my district and he said he had the answer. clearly he didn't. you showed tonight in the statistics that your statistics don't lie. he didn't understand what you are talking about, a former

realtor and businessman, i think i know what i was talking about. >> i'm going to give you a chance to respond to that. were you too arrogant? >> well, look at the facts of where the housing market was when the president came into office. housing prices have been dropping for 30 straight months. the housing market was literally falling off a cliff. and we have stabilized the housing market. housing prices have been roughly flat since the president came in. and let's look at where foreclosures are. a year ago they were more than a third higher than today. so are we making progress? yes. have we helped to stabilize the market? there's no question, but as the president said, he's frustrated, i'm frustrated, there's more that we need to do. what we a announced is part of the step to move forward, but we also need congress to act. one of the things the president talked about is that the american jobs act would help the housing market by putting 200,000 construction workers back to work, rebuilding the most devastated neighborhoods, which have vacant and foreclosed

homes, that's the project rebuild portion of the american jobs act and we need congress to do their job here, too. >> you mentioned las vegas, mitt romney met with the las vegas review journal last week and took a bit of a different approach saying don't try to stop the foreclosure process. let it run its course and hit the bottom allowing investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up and let it turn around. >> well, look, if the market was going to fix this problem alone, it would have done so already. what we really need is government working in partnership with the private sector to make these changes. and that's what the announcement yesterday was about. why did we have a barrier as congressman c ardoza talked about? because there was no market nor the loans, so we sat down at the table with lenders, with bond buyers, with a whole range of the private second tor to push them to find common sense

solutions to the barriers. >> what do you do if it doesn't work? in 2009 it didn't hit the goal you projected, now you are talking 4 million people. >> let's be clear, we helped a million homeowners refinance that wouldn't have had the opportunity before. is it as large as we would have liked? no, but that's still a substantial number of homeowners benefited. and we think we can go farther. and let me tell you, the president is not going to give up on this. we are going to to keep pushing and keep finding ways to make progress here. but we also need congress to do their job. we need them to step up topaz the american job acts as well. >> shaun donovan, thank you for stopping by. >> thank you. the important panel has an important question about herman cain's smoking new campaign ad. is it cool, weird or just inappropriate? you got to see it to understand. and later, why it could be six months or longer before companies start hiring again. what do you got? restrained driver... sir, can you hear me?

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from earthquake rubble. crews first reached this 2-week-old baby, then her mom, then her grandmother. they are still searching for the father. the death toll from sunday's quake has risen to 366 now. hurricane rina strengthened into a category 2 storm. forecasters say it could make landfall in mexico's yucatan peninsula thursday. and rick perry unveils his flat tax plan this morning to give americans the choice to keep their current tax rate or going with a 20% flat tax. political buzz around this morning, a look at the best political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the top, democratic national committee member bob zimmerman, chris messley and patricia murphy. first question, guys. rick perry continuing to raise the so-called birther issue. here's what he said on cnbc. >> i think it is great. my grade end you wanted on the

front page of the newspaper, so if we are going to show stuff, let's show stuff. that's all a distraction. i mean, i get it. i'm really not worried about the president's birth certificate. it's fun to poke at him a little bit and say, hey, how about -- let's see your grades and your birth certificate. >> robert? is it fun? >> rick perry is not about having fun. rick perry is about doing what he thinks he's got to do to win. he's also said that it is good to keep the birther issue alive and question whether president obama loves this country. he's doing that because he's trying to play to the extreme demagogue of the republican party and it may help him in the short-term primaries but that strategy and not thinking will destroy the republican party in the general election. >> chris? >> well, actually, robert, rick perry is about having fun. in college he did lock some defecating chickens into the dorm room of someone he couldn't

stand, but as it relates to this particular issue, my problem here is that perry is stepping on the message. so here he is about to reveal this flat tax today and he's still talking about this so-called birther issue, whatever that means? at this point i think he needs to move on. this does not help him in any way nor his campaign. >> i think chris just triggered the next question, and that's the worth worst college prank. we'll stick with the birther issue, shall we? >> on the birther issue -- rick perry is not fun, it is not funny, it is really the lowest of the low for him to go here. and to me it is a sign of desperation. he is not catching on even with the rightest right wing of the republican base. that's the place herman cain has taken over by not questioning the president's americanism, whether or not he's really an

american. herman cain has caught fire and for his credit he has not gone after the president. as the professor said, get back to the issues. he needs to convince people that like mitt romney he can be a presidential candidate and look presidential. that's the only thing he has going at this point. >> you might have just heard my interview live here in studio with the h.u.d. secretary. president obama unveiled the new housing plan to tend review, shall we say. if you can't fix the housing crisis, can he be re-elected? chris? >> no, i don't think he can. he issued this relative to the housing crisis here, but keep in mind this is a smart political strategy. actually, it probably will help him more than it will help the homeowners. as the interview indicated, they have attempted to fix this housing crisis but have not been able to do so. the numbers keep shifting in terms of what they are able to do. they have to do two things, they have to think of the housing

crisis and address the issue of jobs. so far he has not done a good job. >> robert? >> it always frustrates me when i see my democratic party and the republican party define the housing crisis complaining about the 14 million americans and the unemployment crisis in a partisan or political context but a it is much bigger than that. next year it will be the defining political issue. that's why the obama campaign has to make this not a referendum on the obama administration but a choice between the obama government plan and the romney strategy. we have to let the marketplace rule the day. ultimately the president has to do more for the housing crisis to make it a choice in the election. >> patricia? >> we all know the housing crisis won't turn around before the election. the president still can get elected anyway. it depends entirely on who the republicans put up against him. if they put up somebody that can say, i can fix the economy and do more than the president has done, then the republicans are going to win. the fact that the president

hasn't done more to fix the economy makes him vulnerable but doesn't mean that he's already defeated. it depends on what the republicans do to put up against them. it will be a choice. >> here we go. your buzzer beater, 20 seconds each on this one. take a look at this brand new ad from the always prun deticketable unpredictable herman cain. ♪ >> all right. let's roll it again, shall we? can we rerack it without the banner? ♪ >> it's his chief of staff smoking. is it weird, cool, inappropriate? chris? >> it is actually very creepy, very weird. look, if you're going to have someone smoking, it has to be the marlboro man.

not this random campaign manager enduring smoke. for the ad, it didn't make sense. what is it going to do, bring americans back together to be chain smokers? what's the message? it is weird and crazy. >> robert? >> i seriously thought this was a spoof by "saturday night live." i didn't believe it was a political ad, but now it is the lead story in all the political news stories around the country. what do i know snow in with the unemployment and the car dash ans having television shows, what can i say to you about that? >> point well made. patricia? >> listen, this web ad totally works. for one thing, web ads -- the only way people watch them is if they get free media and are replayed on cnn and other places. in that sense it works. and there's something creepy about the campaign manager

smoking but it is real to me. i think they did a good job. >> where's the marlboro man? >> he died of cancer. >> i didn't want to say it because i didn't want to em bars a chris, but i guess he passed away. good discussion, guys. >> the kardashians are still with us. >> all right, guys. we'll talk tomorrow. >> take care. >> you bet. she's been dabbling in mug shots but lindsay lohan is apparently bearing more than her face now in "playboy." a.j. hammer with all the revealing details. oh, a.j. >> reporter: oh, keira. here's the deal, reports surfaced that lindsay lohan is doing a spread in "playboy." tmz says they have already started taking the pictures scheduling shoots around her community service obligations at the morgue. now we have not been able to get an official response from

"playboy" just yet. lohan's camp says they cannot confirm at this point but didn't deny it. she's getting close to a million bucks from the magazine for the pictures. i think she better take the money because it will not hurt her acting careerny. wait, there's more! her dog got into trouble last night and was arrested in tampa on suspicion of domestic violence. he had a heart scan that sent him to the possible. michael lohan was arrested for battery on his live-in girlfriend. hen then he complained about chest pain and is okay. he checked himself out of the hospital and was immediately taken into police custody. michael lohan has been arrested on similar charges before. los angeles police arrested him back in march charged with a misdemeanor then. seer so keira, the mug shots have another mug shot to put into the dysfunctional families gone wrong. >> my guess is it will just

continue to get thicker. speaking of drama, last night on "dancing with the stars" the judges took serious heat. >> yeah, fireworks on "dancing with the stars" last night. the judges were hitting a few nerves. maxim confronted len goodman last night. they got pretty negative comments about the performance from goodman and maxim had enough. watch what happens. >> i have been in this business for nearly 50 years. my experience as a judge is different than the old you. >> everybody is putting in a lot of effort. everybody on that balcony has been dying and killing themselves all because you are a little judgmental. >> those weren't the only fireworks last night. cher was furious with bruno for

saying her son chaz performed like a penguin. she wrote this on her twitter account. i could teach his little arm-waving blank some manners. critique his dance style, movements, et cetera, but don't make fun of my child on national tv. the wrath of cher, keira. you don't want that coming at you on a tuesday morning. >> a.j., thank you. if you want information on the entertainment breaking news, "showbiz tonight" as it at 11:00 p.m. eastern on hln. right now medical experts are voting on a plan for boys to get the hpv vaccine. that's coming up next. progresso. it fits!

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♪ all right. medical experts just decided that boys should get the hpv vaccine. the shot is already on the centers for disease control vaccine schedule for girls. as you know it sparked

controversy, just as texas governor rick perry, our senior medical correspondent is here to recommend why they are giving it to boys. >> three reasons to recommend it to boys. one, boys, when they get hpv, the chance increases for genital warts. that's a reason right there. plus, when the boys get the virus, they give it to the girls. when the girls get it, it will increase their chance for cervical cancer. the cdc is recommending it for boys ages 12 and 13 before they are sexually active. >> the cdc put this on the vaccine schedule then, will parents have to get it? >> i didn't use the word mandatory because this is the way it works. the cdc can say this is on the schedule and you should get it with polio and meningitis, all that, but the states have to take the step of saying we are requiring this shot before we

will let your child attend school. and most states have not done that with hpv for girls. only virginia and the district of columbia have required the hpv shot for school attendance. if they do the same with boys, then people in this country won't have to get their child vaccinated to go to school. >> we talked about if it is safe or not. there are a lot of critics out there. >> within doctors there's not a controversy. doctors tell you it is a safe shot. we have given it to millions of people around the world with no major side effects. there's controversy politically and controversy in communities online but among doctors they are in agreement about this. >> all right. elizabeth, thank you. that news just coming to us. coming up, talk about a special delivery. every day handwritten messages from barack obama landing in mailboxes across the country. that's right. we are going to talk to someone who received one. -i love this card. -with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card,

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catalogs, bills, flyers, most days our mailboxes are full of junk. so imagine sorting through it one day and finding a letter from the president. a handwritten letter at that. well, it actually happens almost every day, and there's a new book out, ten letters, the stories americans tell their president. it details president obama's daily habit of reading some of his mail and actually writing back. we have the author of "ten

letters" who is a staff writer for "the washington post." guys, thank you for being with me. >> thank you for having me. >> thomas, i have your e-mail right in front of me because you actually say to the president that you hope he stops and listens to you, that his health care bill has caused a toxic environment. you hesitated to write this, you said, for fear of retribution, that the administration targets and ridicules those who criticize him. and you tell the president to do the right thing, not just the political thing when it comes to health care for all americans. why did you actually take the time to write this e-mail. and did you ever expect a reply? >> well, i never expected a response. i just kept watching the health care debate and just watched how they kept just trying every trick in the legislative book to get it passed.

and it was just something that clearly the majority of the people didn't want passed. i thought somebody could just stop and pause. and i said pause and reflect, just so we can get something that everybody could agree on because there are good things we need to get done with health care. there are good things health care has. i thought everybody could figure out a way to work it out instead of just pushing it through because they had the majority. >> he did pause and reflect and you got a response. we'll look at the handwritten letter he actually sent you. and the president directly addresses your criticism even using your exact words, he says, i appreciate your concerns, but i have to challenge you, thomas, on what you said about anyone speaking against the administration is targeting and ridiculing anybody. that he's gone out of his way to listen to legitimate criticism and he defends strongly the rights of everyone to speak their mind even those who call him socialist or worse.

he asks you to keep an open mind and he says the health reform bill was the right thing to do for the country. did he change your mind when writing the handwritten let her? >> well, at first he did. i was in awe. i was in shock, awe, a little scared, you write a letter and you kind of vent a little bit and don't think that somebody is going to get it and read it and let alone the president is going to read it and then actually answer you back. it was like i was debating with the world leader. i just, you know, as i see things are turning out, how negative it is becoming, you know, that kind of -- my hope kind of went away. first i thought maybe he would listen. >> well, eli, how does the president respond or how does he respond to this? >> over the last year i saw him write back to letters of all

kinds. there was thomas' letter, a letter from a fourth grader in kentucky writing about her school. he writes back to the ones that usually strike him. these letters are so personal, they are almost like journal entries. people write not expecting that obama is going to read it. and thomas' story is great because he wrote that e-mail late one night, not having any idea where it would go, it lands on obama's desk and two weeks later he gets this handwritten reply and thomas, i think, was pretty smart about doing some research on the internet in terms of looking at handwriting samples to see if this was from obama. he looked at the smudge patterns from the left-handed writer. then he realized it was from him. the as big surprise. >> that's pretty remarkable. rain shower book is great with to different sides of the president. it is fascinating to hear the president still does that. thomas, you got to be on the receiving end. great book, eli.

thomas, cherish that letter. thank you for joining me today. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. >> you bet. well, a new tax plan, this time from another presidential candidate. next hour in the newsroom we'll bring you rick perry's live remarks and break down the flat tax. my ne's jeff. i'm a dad, coach... and i quit smoking with chantix. knowing that i could smoke during the first week was really important to me. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke -- and personally that's what i knew i needed. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms.

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well, an intense search is underway for a man in texas accused of sexually assaulting four members of a so arty. ed, let's talk about how the police put all the pieces together. can you hear me okay, ed? >> keira, authorities here in texas say that they have video

surveillance of what they believe is the man suspect of carrying out the four attacks. this happened in the last year in suburbs north of the dal a dallas area. the man you see in this video is the man they believe is the suspect. what's interesting about this is the four victims all in their mid-50s to mid-60s, women all alumni of a so are fi sorority group called delta sigma pheta. the attacker knew intimate details about them, knew them on some level, they won't say how or what kind of information the attacker gave, but it was clear this man had done the she research. think believe the attacker was stocking the victims to figure out when the women were home alone. all the women were home alone when the attacks happened. >> we feel not only is he doing his research, he's possibly conducting surveillance. so he's spending some time

around the area, around the residences prior to the attack. once again, that's what we told the men or women of the sorority to be mindful of persons in the area that are out of place or don't belong and be sure to report that because we do feel that he's spending some time around the victims' residences prior to the attacks. >> as far as the sorority is concerned, they are urging people to keep a low profile. in fact, telling people if you have placards on your license plate with the sorority name, twitter postings, they are urging people to lay low. in fact, we have tried to communicate here to the local chapter of delta sigma theta and all information is being handled there in washington. >> we will follow this case. thank you so much. that does it for us. we'll wrap it up this hour, but stay with us. joe john is in next hour as "cnn newsroom "continues after this. e expensive.

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