several new developments involving occupy wall street protests in oakland, police used tear gas to shut down protesters. and just a short time ago in atlanta, authorities took protesters away in handcuffs. hundreds of them. lawmakers are labeling them dangerous apps. could this be a crackdown on those apps that help people track other people's every move? and just before 4:00 a.m. eastern, the boeing 787 dr dream-liner touched down in hong kong.

good morning, it's wednesday, october 26th. i'm carol costello joining you live from new york. president obama begins his day in denver where he'll spell out his plan to make it easier for student loan borrowers to pay off their enormous debt. he'll explain his plan at the university of colorado-denver campus. the two key points of his proposal, he wants to offer relief sooner by pushing up the start date for an income-based repayment plan passed by congress. it's set to take effect in 2014, but the president wants it to begin in january. the plan reduces to 10% the maximum percentage of income that more than 1 million current students would have to pay toward their loans. they'll also be eligible for loan forgiveness in 20 years instead of 25. the other proposal would offer a small interest rate break for borrowers who consolidate their different types of federal loans. "usa today" reports the outstanding student loan debt is expected to hit the $1 trillion mark this year. denver is the last stop on the president's swing through

three western states. while in los angeles yesterday, the president appeared on "the tonight show with jay leno." this picture shows leno clowning around in the president's dressing room. they had a little fun. the president also addressed some pressing issues like the economy. >> look, people are frustrated. and that frustration has expressed itself in a lot of different ways. it expresses itself in the tea party, in occupy wall street. i do think what this signals is that people in leadership, whether it's corporate leadership, leaders in the banks, leaders in washington, everybody needs to understand that the american people feel like nobody's looking out for them right now. >> president obama also says right now he's not paying much attention to the battle for the republican presidential nomination until the field narrows down to one or two candidates. one of those in the fight for the gop presidential nomination is, of course, texas

governor rick perry. he's just unveiled his cut, balance and grow tax plan. it would allow you to choose between your current income tax rate and a 20% flat tax. the flat tax would keep some popular deductions like mortgage interest and charitable contributions for families earning less than $500,000. the plan also would lower the corporate tax rate to 20% and pays out loopholes and special tax breaks. perry also would repeal the health care reform law and parts of financial and wall street reforms. some prominent conservatives were quick to slam his plan with one saying it makes no sense from a policy perspective. most of the country seems to have put to rest the issue over president obama's hawaiian birth certificate is legitimate, rick perry continues to kick it around. in a recent interview with "parade," perry expressed his doubts. he was asked about hisacosta. >> i'll cut you off right there.

that is one of the biggest distractions that there is going. we need to be talking about jobs. if somebody wants to see my birth certificate, i'd be happy to show it to them. the fact is that is a distraction, and americans really don't care about that, if you want to know the truth of the matter. what americans want to talk about is jobs. who is going to lay out a plan of which will get america working again? >> we've said it before, and we'll say it again, there is no evidence to suggest mr. obama was born anywhere but right here in the old u.s. of "a." we're learning this morning, one person was killed in a midair collision in oregon. one of the planes you see here touched down safely yesterday. the pilot and passenger walked away shaken but unharmed. that's according to "the oregonian." but the paper reports at least one person in the other plane was killed in the fiery crash. for some new yorkers, the occupy wall street protest is all about the drums.

♪ yes, and residents say they have had enough of drum playing and other loud noise from the protesters. and their complaints have been heard. protesters have now agreed to limit the drumming of four hours during the afternoons. occupy protests in other cities have not been so peaceful. oakland, california, police sprayed protesters with tear gas yesterday after they were pelted with paint and other objects and ignored orders to disperse. in atlanta, police arrested several occupy protesters overnight who had been camped out in a downtown park. former "60 minutes" news commentator andy rooney is in the hospital. cbs says he's in stable condition. rooney who is 92 underwent surgery last week. he stepped down from his "60 minutes" role earlier this month after more than 30 years on the show. let's head to atlanta and check in with is it rob? rob, are you back this morning? >> you know, we're doing an every other day thing right now.

we've got some things cooking. a fun story for you coming here on friday morning. until then, carol, late-season hurricane and an early h-season snowstorm happening now. crazy time of year, that's for sure. the first one or at least the snowstorm one will cause some immediate problems as far as delays at the airports are concerned. here's where it is on the radar scope. this thing is -- you know, we do get snowstorms obviously in denver in fall, but typically it's more in the middle of november or late part of november. this is definitely early. and the amount of snow that's falling right now in denver is causing some major problems along i-25 between denver and cheyenne. as a matter of fact, portions of that interstate closed because of visibility and the snow continues to pile up in this area. so as it does so, we'll look for flight delays also. and three to six inches potentially in denver. a lot more than that at the higher elevations, of course. and the winds will be kicking. by the way, the president's in

denver today. you know, they may have some problems there with air force one. who knows? new york, philly, some afternoon showers. we've got a little cold front sliding that way. there it is on the map. heading over the lake erie area and will get over the appalachians before too long. just some run-of-the-mill showers. the other big weather story is hurricane rina. winds of 110 miles an hour westerly moving at five. this will make landfall across the yucatan peninsula in the next two days. potentially as a category 3 storm. we're almost there. we only need to get this thing up another mile an hour or two to become a major hurricane. >> why am i not getting a computer? >> we'll get you your computer in just a second. check this out, carol. let's roll this beautiful light show footage. just for your trick-or-treat awareness. ♪ we just want to see you ♪ shake that >> okay. if that doesn't get you in the

trance, rave, trick-or-treat mood. i'd like to see what this guy in riverside, california, does for christmas. >> i love the music. yeah. that makes my computer problems go away this morning. >> doesn't it? it makes it all better. a little creepy, too. >> it is. thank you, rob marciano. >> take care. as for your smartphone, most of us can't get enough of them. but on capitol hill, lawmakers are very concerned about certain kinds of apps. they're calling them dangerous. we'll explain in a live report. but first, our "quote of the day." here it is. "they keep putting duct tape on it. i'm not the kind of plumber that uses duct tape." that's a comment from a new politician with an old name. find out who it is in 90 seconds. it's eight minutes past the hour. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol

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not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink ten minutes past the hour. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." now back to our "quote of the day." here it is. "they keep putting duct tape on it. i'm not the kind of plumber that uses duct tape." the big clue, that would be the word "plumber." that's because that's joe wurzelbacher better known as joe the plumber. you might remember him. he challenged barack obama on his small business tax plan during the 2008 campaign. he made the statement yesterday while announcing that he is running for ohio's ninth

congressional district. he also said he's confident he can win because he knows how to keep it simple. you've heard of apps designed to help keep track of your loved ones, but those same apps can be used by anyone who wants to stalk you. let's head to hong kong and kristi lu stout. okay, this sounds scary. so scary that lawmakers are now concerned. >> that's right. senate democrats and republicans are very concerned, and they're both seeking a federal probe of the so-called stalking apps. and these are smartphone apps that abusers could use to track down victims' movements, e-mails and phone calls. in a letter to the attorney general and the ftc chair, defenders wroelt this. quote, stalking apps are dangerous. we ask that you quickly determine if they're also illegal. and the letter notes that a woman, a victim in minnesota, she was tracked down by her abuser using one of these mobile apps. and all this happened as she went between government buildings to obtain a legal order to keep him away. and she is not the only victim

out there. the bureau of justice statistics says about 26,000 americans, 26,000, were the victims of gps stalking last year. and carol, that number is expected to rise. back to you. >> wow, that's really frightening. let's talk about this, too. google has put out this fascinating reports to remove government contents from governments around the world. tell us about that. >> this is a significant report. it's called the google transparency report. the goal is to show how governments around the world affect our access to information on the internet. brazil in this recent report made the most content removal requests in the first half of this year followed by germany, the u.s. and south korea. we also know that google servers were inaccessible in libya during the first six months of the year as was china. this was the most interesting part to me. it reveals a 70% rise in takedown requests from the u.s. government or police.

a google demand from an american law enforcement agency to take down youtube videos allegedly showing police brutality. google says providing this level of detail, it just shows the need to modernize laws like the electronic communications privacy act which regulates government access to user information. you can find the full report, the full download, on the official google blog. back to you, carol. >> kristi lu stout reporting live from hong kong, thank you. herman cain comes out on top again in another national poll. but can he turn his support into a victory in 2012? we will talk about that next. it's 13 minutes past the hour. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you.

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advaircopd.com. 14 minutes past the hour. good morning. president obama has been busy trying to get america back on track. you have to wonder, does he have time to pay attention to the polls? the competition, the debates? well, comedian jay leno got the answers for us. >> the gop opposed withdrawing from iraq. >> that's shocking that they oppose something i proposed. >> yeah. have you been watching the gop debates? >> i'm going to wait until everybody's voted off the island. >> really? >> once they narrow it down to one or two, i'll start paying attention. time now for your "political

ticker" with tim farley. good morning, tim. >> good morning. yeah, the president's totally disengaged from the political process. he's not paying attention at all. i believe that. >> he doesn't watch any of those silly debates. sure. >> heaven forbid he should do that. >> heaven forbiforbid, exactly. the president took some jabs at the gop, but he also discussed some serious topics on leno last night. it was pretty interesting, actually. >> yeah, i think there were a couple of times he talked about the death of al awlaki, the war in iraq, although jay leno didn't follow up about the troops in afghanistan. when they talked about iraq, the president almost made it sound like the war was a wonderful thing. that said, it's typical jay leno. this is an opportunity for the president to sit down with somebody who's pretty friendly and throw if not all softballs at least some questions that are letting the president say what he wants to say. he got more time than he would typically get with a regular

television anchor or a mainstream media resource. i think the president did a great job. it's seen more than any of the sound bites you see. here the president is saying all the things he wants to say. my favorite was when he talked about the fact that trick-or-treating time is coming up and the first lady wants to hand out fruit. the president said they're going to egg the white house. i was trying to figure out if somebody actually tried to egg the white house. i don't think that is something you could do very easily. can you imagine how much toilet paper? i'm here. no, it's in the going to happen. >> i think those snipers that stand on top of the white house would have a problem with all of that. >> they might have something to say about you're getting close to the white house with your mayhem. >> exactly. let's talk about herman cain because why not? he's topped yet another national poll, the cbs/"new york times" poll, 25% of the vote followed by mitt romney.

rick perry actually finishes fifth. maybe the flat tax thing for perry will catapult him upwards. who knows? >> i'm not sure. these are national polls, and so they don't really indicate too much. you know, the cain train, the perry plummet sounds like rides at the texas state fair. i think herman cain is the enrons of campaigns. there isn't a lot of evidence that he's got a campaign machine out there. once you get to iowa, and rick perry said this on an interview last night on television, once you -- you've got to wait until you actually see people voting. does the flat tax get him back into the game? a little bit. it gives him more substance. the birther thing is kind of a distraction. but once people actually start voting, we'll see where they really are. you know, i think one of the things about this poll that you see is that a lot of people haven't really made up their minds to commit to a particular voter. so that's where it's going to play out between now and i think it's, what, 68 days or something like that before we get to the

iowa caucuses. that's when we'll actually see the rubber hit the road. >> ed rollins said if mitt romney wins the iowa caucus, it's done. because he's going to win in new hampshire. >> i always believe ed rollins. and new hampshire, he's got a 20, 25-point lead in most of the polls in new hampshire, romney does. i would agree. if romney wins iowa, i can't imagine anyone else having a chance in taking that nomination away. >> we'll see. tim farley, thanks, as always. tim farley, host of "morning briefing" on sirius potus radio. three years behind schedule, but the dreamliner finally makes its first commercial flight. it landed just a short time ago. we'll have all the details. first, bust a move because it's unity dance day. an anti-bullying organization wants people to unite through dance to make a statement against bullying. the day even has an official song. 11-year-old tristan mcintosh sings "i can't take that away

from me." ♪ there's nothing ♪ who i am is what's inside ♪ i'll be anything i want to be ♪ >> that girl's 11? i'm just amazed. that girl's 11? wow! it's 19 minutes past the hour. hey, everyone's eating tacos outside bill's office. [ chuckles ] you think that is some information i would have liked to know? i like tacos. you invited eric? i thought eric gave you the creeps. [ phone buzzes ] oh. [ chuckles ] yeah. hey. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it faster with 4g. at&t. ♪ consumers er wanchai ferry orange chicken... over p.f. chang's home menu orange chicken

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it is 22 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. on the second day of his west coast swing to boost the economy, president obama made a pit stop at "the tonight show" where jay leno wasted no time getting his thoughts on ousted libyan leader moammar gadhafi. >> the big news this week, gadhafi's dead. killed by rebel forces. your reaction, your take on this. >> well, this is somebody who for 40 years had terrorized his country, had supported terrorism, and he had an opportunity during the arab spring to finally let loose of his grip on power and to peacefully transition to democracy. we gave him ample opportunity, and he wouldn't do it. obviously, you never like to see anybody come to the kind of end that he did. but i think it obviously sends a strong's emergency around the

world to dictators that people long to be free. the winner in tunisia's first election is an islamic party that was once banned there. let's head around the world with zain verjee live in london. what does it mean? >> it's not official yet. official results for the election are likely to come out pretty soon. but the party, a moderate islamist party, is already beginning to claim victory. and coming out front. they may have to deal with another party, a secular party, to form a coalition government in order to rule. but carol, this is a really big deal. the first free and fair election in tunisia that really sets the tone for the rest of the arab world. they are watching very carefully and closely to see exactly how this is happening, how successful it is, and what happens next. the islamist party is also worrying, though, to so many people in tunisia and in the region because of their islamist

values. many of these sorts of parties want to operate according to sharia law, create islamic states and things like that. and many worry that it's really going to pose a threat to more liberal democratic values. for example, there were a lot of women speaking out saying they're really worried about their rights. the islamist party as well as other analysts have said it's possible to co-exist so people will be seeing how tunisia handles this. many, too, point to turkey as an example of success where islam and a democratic environment in some respects do exist. carol? >> on another topic this morning, the first commercial flight of the boeing 787 dreamliner. it was delayed for three years, but it made a beautiful landing this morning. >> yep, it was absolutely perfect. it was delayed and it cost boeing $16 billion to get this up in the air and a successful

project. this was the first passenger flight, and it went from tokyo to hong kong. there you see it landing just a short while ago there on the runway. this is really a visionary design is what boeing is calling it. let me give you an idea about what's different here because the whole objective was to essentially make it cheaper for passengers to fly in this kind of a global environment economically as well as to land at the same time. so basically, this plane is lighter. it's got more space. it's more fuel efficient. the cabin pressure, too, carol, is a lot higher. so that basically means that it would cut down passenger fatigue, things like dry eyes, headaches and also maybe you can't tell from that picture, but the windows are actually bigger as well. carol? >> it's like, i don't know, sliding glass doors in your home. not really. it does look quite nice. >> yeah, it does, doesn't it? we'll see what the passengers have to say when we speak to them as they disembark.

>> can't wait. zain verjee live in london, thank you. occupy atlanta protesters arrested overnight, but not before the mayor sent in ministers in hopes of resolving the situation peacefully. plus, the centers for disease control recommends that boys now get the hpv vaccination. why? and will they? that's just ahead. capital one's new cash rewards card

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good morning, it is wednesday, october 26th. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." i'm carol costello joining us live from new york. it is 30 minutes past the hour. this morning occupy wall street protesters are cooling their heels after police action. in atlanta arrests came after

the mayor first sent ministers to talk with protesters. but when the occupy wall streeters still didn't leave, police moved in overnight to clear out the park. in oakland, hit with paint, police fired tear gas at protesters. at least 85 were arrested there, according to cnn affiliate kgo. the occupy demonstrators say they're rallying against corporate greed, arrogance and power. former goldman sachs director rajat gupta is expected to turn himself in to the fbi today. a source familiar with the case says he faces criminal charges for leaking inside information to a hedge fund founder recently sentenced to 11 years in prison for insider trading. gupta is the highest ranking company official to be named in the federal probe. today the jurors in the conrad murray trial will hear from people who say the doctor saved their lives. tuesday a nurse told the jury michael jackson asked her for propofol. as the defense tries to show jackson was seeking the drug from a number of different

sources. later today, they're expected to call five people to serve as character witnesses for dr. murray. you can watch live coverage of the trial throughout the day on our sister network, "hln." the centers for disease control says yes, their advisory committee has voted to recommend that males ages 11 to 21 be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus. our elizabeth cohen explains that decision. >> reporter: you know, the cdc says that it's safe. there's really no dispute among doctors. doctors agree that it's safe. they say for boys there are three benefits. number one, it cuts down on the chance they'll get genital warts when they get older, it cuts down on certain types of cancer and number three, it cuts down the chance they'll give this virus to girls. when girls get this virus, it means they could go on to get cervical cancer. they see it as a three-for with no serious side effects. >> it's up to each state if

they'll require the shots before they go to school. right now only virginia and the district of columbia require girls get it. still ahead, the president's plan to help students buried in student loan debt. okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. i got it, i'm sorry. these people, huh? you know i've found that anger is the enemy of instruction. you don't know the egos that i have to deal with. you're probably right. thank you! whoever you are. i'm pretty sure that was phil jackson. he's quite famous... million championships... triangle offense innovator... [ male announcer ] the audi a8. named best large luxury sedan. nice wheels zen master. thank you...todd. ♪ i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes.

they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. [ male announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. 33 minutes past the hour. welcome back. president obama has no doubt that many americans are fed up with the current state of the economy. as he sat down with jay leno last night, he explained how that type of pressure makes him feel every day. >> people are hurting out there. and they've been hurting out there for a while. and people were having a tough time even before the crisis. you know, incomes, wages were all flat. costs of everything from college to health care to, you know, gas to food, all of it was going up. and so people were feeling a lot of pressure even before this crisis. and so every day i wake up

saying to myself, look. you can't expect folks to feel satisfied right now. i'm very proud of the work that we've done over the last two, three years, but they're exactly right. we've got more work to do. >> we've got two big stories to cover. countries in crisis. american students in crisis. so let's head to christine romans live here in new york with me. good morning, christine. >> good morning. >> let's talk first about the european leaders and whether they're making any progress on ways to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis. >> yeah. we're going to need some definition on their plan and what they're going to do. and that definition's probably going to come today. a big summit. it will be hours before we know what they want to do. first of all, what wilban kind recapitalization plan do they have for the banks, and will there have to be any changes to treaties for countries to be in

the eu. once you put all that uncertainty behind us, that will be important for everyone going forward. we'll get more clarity on that today. still a lot of questions. today is the day we hope to get those answers. >> let's talk about the president's plan to help college students who are deeply in debt. it sounds good at face value. >> yeah, it does. i want to be clear about something. the president's health care reform had a lot of this in it, and it really got overshadowed. the president and health care reform really try to tackle and congress passed student loan reform. now the white house is trying to move up its reforms by two years. it would reduce the repayment amount that people have. and what that means is that after you graduate from school, you won't pay more than 10% of your income to your student loans. and they'd be forgiven after 20 years. that accelerates the loan forgiveness rate. right now there's income-based repayment. you need to find out what it is. ibr, income-based repayment that allows to you forgive your loans after 25 years. it gives you a one-time limited chance, the white house says, to

consolidate your loans you currently have and get a half percentage point chaeng in interest. it's supposed to be help for students buried in debt. here's what i'm concerned about, carol. when you have looked at a lot of these plans to help people pay their debts, there's one thing that we just never really get to address, and that is the rising cost of tuition. the universities still get paid. tuition still keeps going up. you still owe all this money. it's about how you're supposed to repay it. there's another thing in here that's really important, and that is this. if you go into a nonprofit or some sort of important industry for the public service, you could have your debt repaid after ten years. income-based repayment now some of these new provisions will start in 2012 instead of 2014. there's some things in here that are going to help people. but the tuition bubble problem, high cost of tuition, not addressed overall, carol. >> yeah. and it keeps going up. it's not like it's flattening out or anything like that. you're right about that. christine romans, we'll have the

education secretary on, arne duncan, on "american morning," and ask him those very questions and see what he has to say. arne duncan at 8:10 eastern. rick perry is out with his own tax plan, but is it all that? we do fact checking right after this. first it's time for your "get smart" question of the day. this one may make you wash your hands right away. i'm having trouble with the word "wash" this morning. anyway, a new study found the germiest thing we touch in our everyday lives is "a," an escalator handrail. "b," your work computer. or "c," a gas pump? the answer in two minutes. it's 38 minutes past the hour.

it is 40 minutes past the hour. this is your "a.m. wake-up

call." now the answer to your "get smart" question of the day. a new study found the germiest thing we touch in our everyday lives, "a," escalator handrails, "b," work computers, or "c," gas pumps. the answer is "c," gas pumps. the study was done by a microbiologist nicknamed dr. germ and published in "usa today." the study found 71% of gas pump handles are highly con it will nated. atm buttons and escalator rails were also on the list. rick perry has just released his tax plan called cut, balance and grow. it would allow you to choose between your current income tax rate or a 20% flat tax. the flat tax would keep some popular deductions like mortgage interest and charitable contributions for families earning less than $500,000 a year. the plan would also lower the corporate tax rate to 20% and phase out loopholes and special tax breaks. texas governor also would repeal the health care reform law.

and parts of the financial and wall street reforms. some prominent conservatives were quick to slam perry's plan with one saying it makes no sense from a policy perspective. so is rick perry's flat tax plan all that he says it is? cnn's tom foreman has done some fact checking. he shares it with anderson cooper. here's what i found out. >> i think what you most need to know when you look at the plan today is what you don't know because that's what all the tax policy people here in washington have been asking all day long. what do they know about this? the fundamental claim of the governor is that it will lower taxes for everyone. listen. >> families in the middle and on the lower end of the economic scale will have the opportunity to get ahead. you know, taxes will be cut across all income groups in america. >> that's a big, big claim, anderson. let's look at some of the facts here. certainly under his plan it looks like there would be lower taxes for wealthier people.

there would be lower corporate tax rates for companies. no tax on dividends or capital gains or inheritance tax. those favor people who tend to have a lot of money. but what about everybody else? well, that's a different matter. he's talking about a $12,500 exemption before you pay taxes. that's higher than what we currently have. so you can argue that's better for people at the lower end of the spectrum. if you have two parents and one child, they could easily go over $36,000 before they pay any sort of income tax. but then he's talking about a 20% tax rate over that. so the problem here, when i say the part we don't know, anderson, for all of the 95% we know here, the 5% could have tremendous details that make a big difference. what kind of breaks do people lose at the lower end of the scale? things like the earned income tax credit. do they still get credit for that in the long run? there are many details left in this. so the bottom line is when we judge this one, we have to say there's a case of it being, at best, true but incomplete.

big emphasis on the incomplete. >> tom foreman. still to come on "a.m. wake-up call," did the vatican just give its blessing to the occupy wall street protesters? we'll have that story ahead. but first on this day in history, forget about your opinion of today's congress and think back 237 years. back to october 26th, 1774. that is the day the first u.s. continental congress adjourned. one of their most important accomplishments, writing the declaration of rights and grefangre grievances. that document would become the precursor to the declaration of independence. it's 44 minutes past the hour. i found one that uses robots instead of real people. 'cuz robots work for free. robot 1:good morning... robot 1:...female child. sfx: modem dial-up noise woman: are there flaws? yeah, um, maybe.

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good morning to you. it is wednesday, october 26th. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." i'm carol costello live from new york. it is 47 minutes past the hour. the justice department says material from the united states ended up in iraq as explosives, and they went through iran to get there. confused? a lot of people are. let's head around the world with zain verjee. you're going to sort this all out for us because it sounds disturbing. >> it really is. it's very worrying, and it spans the globe. basically, prosecutors are alleging that components that were bought at a u.s. company in minnesota then went to

singapore. now, there were 6,000 radio frequency modules that were bought. you know, those are things that are used kind of between printers and computers, for example. but they also can have a military use. now, they were exported to singapore. this company believed that that was the end destination, and those modules were just going to be used in a telecommunications project. but no. what happened was, prosecutors allege that those modules were then sent to iran and then eventually ended up as unexploded ieds in iraq. about 16 of them, according to prosecutors. so this is the situation. it's being investigated. four of the men were believed to be citizens from singapore. and the u.s. wants them extradited. one of the guys is an iranian citizen. it's unclear exactly where he is at this moment. but this is something that the assistant attorney general for national security also commented

on. here's what he said, carol. he said this. "this case underscores the continuing threat posed by iranian networks seeking to obtain u.s. technology through fraud and the importance of safeguarding that technology." we're going to be following this story very closely, carol. but it really presents a really serious problem because these -- this is equipment that is used all the time in telecommunications. but it has a military dual use. and if it ended up in iran and then in iraq and targeting ultimately u.s. soldiers, it's going to be something that needs to be investigated. >> you've got that right. on another topic, occupy wall street, the appropriate is real esta -- the pope is weighing in. is he really giving his blessing? >> the vatican has said that they want a global public authority and the central world bank to rule financial institutions. so they didn't come right on out

and say it, but if you read the between the vatican lines here, you know, they're saying that the protesters have legitimate grievances. the vatican says that the market was really the problem. this crisis, it says, was caused out of greed, selfishness, people hoarding so many goods. it also says that wall street needs this rethink things. and the fact that people are out here on the street means they have those grievances that need to be addressed. >> fascinating stuff. zain verjee live in london, thanks so much. president obama is beginning his day in denver. that's where the president will spell out his plan to make it easier for millions of student loan borrowers to pay off their enormous debt. he will explain his plan at a speech at the university of colorado-denver campus. he wants to push up the start date for an income-based repayment plan passed by congress. it also reduces monthly payments to 10% of income and forgives debt after 20 years of payment instead of 25.

under the president's proposal, the changes would take effect in january rather than in 2014 as set by congress. the president also wants to offer a small interest rate for borrowers who consolidate different types of loans. for example, if you have a private loan backed by the federal government and then you have another loan, you can consolidate those loans at a lower interest rate. "usa today" said the expected student loan debt is expected to reach $1 trillion this year. we're investigating an air collision in oregon. one of the planes you can see here touched down safely yesterday. the pilot and the passenger walked away shaken but unharmed. that's according to "the oregonian." but the paper reports at least one person in the other plane was killed in the fiery crash. let's head to atlanta and rob marciano. any flight delays today? >> not yet. but carol, across new york and denver especially, we'll see

problems. got an early-season snowstorm happening right now across the denver metropolitan area. snow already on the ground. winter storm warnings are posted. yeah, we do get snowstorms in the fall there. as a matter of fact, they had a zeep decent one in 2006. anytime we do, the potential exists for tree limbs to come down because of the -- a lot of leaves still on the trees and the snow weights down those branches. so that's going to be an issue today. could see 6 to 12 inches around denver proper. meanwhile, a little front is pushing east across parts of the northeast. and that is going to cause some rainfall from cleveland to buffalo eventually in through new york. we'll get to just a second. denv denver, new york and philly will be your hot spots. some cold air's going to move in behind the front. and denver might not be the only spot that gets snow. some of the interior spots across the northeast over the next couple days may get snow as

well. here's rina. winds of 110 miles an hour. it's nearing the mexican coastline. westerly movement at five miles an hour. and we do expect it to become a category 3 storm before it makes landfall during the day tomorrow with winds potentially of 150 miles an hour or greater. then into the gulf of mexico. then that same snowstorm that's in denver will push it off to the east. it might push it into florida. it might keep it south of florida. we just don't know yet. but we'll keep you posted. those in south florida should be prepared for this. but are they prepared for this? across the west coast of florida. hello, lego man. carol, this guy just kind of floated ashore there in siesta key near sarasota. it's a 100-pound piece of fiberglass. stands eight feet tall. it's done by a dutch artist. guys like this have floated up through the netherlands and through the uk. but this one all of a sudden popped up across the western coastline of florida. coincidentally, i don't know if

this had anything to do with it, there's a legoland exhibit happening in winter haven, florida. >> you're kidding. >> yes. maybe there's a connection. >> i don't know. it was so much better when it just seemed random like that. it is an interesting sight. >> there is the free publicity for legoland. see you at 6:00, carol. >> i'll be there. the good news, we're getting a look at the list of the most reliable cars from "consumer reports." the bad news, one american carmaker, well, it's not on the list, but first let's take a look at the "phrase of the day," shall we? it's lagrangian point. it's six minutes till the top of the hour. women men and uh pandas... elbows mmm [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry, try it yourself. when you're a sports photographer, things can get out of control pretty quickly. so i like control in the rest of my life...

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three minutes till the top of the hour. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." now back to our "phrase of the day." lagrangian point. it's a point in space where a small body will remain at rest because of the tgravitational pull of two larger bodies. it's because it's parked in the grip of both the sun and the earth. it's stable because it's at a a lagrangian point. at 9:30, a panel charged with reducing nation's deficit will hold a rare hearing. the deadline to come up with a deficit reduction package just weeks away. at 10:00 a.m. eastern, a hearing involving former senator john edwards. edwards is accused of using campaign contributions illegally to hide his extramarital affair during his presidential campaign. and at 8:00 eastern tonight, in st. louis, game six of the

world series. texas holding a 3-2 advantage. now we check in with carter evans. how are the numbers looking this morning? >> so far they're looking okay, a little better than they were yesterday. you see that sea of red behind me. we'll just ignore that for now. coming up today, we've got reports on new home sales. we'll get a reading on the mortgage index. we'll also get a reading on durable goods orders. for the most part, take a look at futures on the cnnmoney.com premarket page. dow futures up 54 points. nasdaq futures up about 16. s&p 500 up about 6. all of this, of course, subject to change. >> of course. okay, let's talk about cars, shall we? >> yes. so "consumer reports" is out with its list of the most reliable cars. there's a big breakdown of them on cnnmoney.com. you can go through a slide show and see every one. but out of all 17 of those most reliable cars, only one of them comes from an american automaker. it's the ford