movie, "the social network." >> well, maybe. but what about the fact that a failing school system that has been taken over by the state of new jersey is getting money that could improve students' lives. that, for much of the media, was an afterthought. and i give that a failing grade. that's it for this edition of reliabbable sources. join us next weekend for another critical look at the media. "state of the union with candy crowley" begins right now. there are two ways to get your supporters to the polls. there's the conventional method -- >> hello, wisconsin! >> hold a big rally with thousands of screaming fans, as the president did in madison, wisconsin. or you can assault your base, like the vice president did, accusing the faithful of whining. >> so those who don't get -- didn't get everything they wanted, it's time to just buck up here. >> and this is the president during an interview with "rolling stone."

"the requested that we've got a lack of enthusiasm in the democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining is just irresponsible." republicans are dealing with their own inner turmoil, as some tea party-backed republicans falter and senate seats once seen as near-certainties may be slipping beyond the party's grasp. this election season the word "unsettled" comes to mind. today, 30 days to the midterms. with the heads of the two senatorial election committee, republican senator john cornyn. >> the american people have gotten very tired of being lectured to as opposed to being listened to. >> and democratic senator robert menendez. >> democrats are going to have a lot more votes in the united states senate that people think. then, deciphering al qaeda's latest terror plot with pakistan's ambassador, hussein hakani. >> pakistan and the united states remain allies and we are allies with some disagreement. >> making sense of the political

jumble on the home front with donna brazile and ed gillespie. i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." a month ago, republicans thought they'd win joe biden's old senate seat in delaware, but a tea party candidate beat the favored republican in the primary and it's looking like the seat will stay democratic. it's hard to find anybody these days who thinks a republican takeover in the senate will happen.happen" election cycle. in west virginia a republican has a shot to win the senate seat of the late robert byrd, a seat held by the legendary democrat for 51 years. both parties are pouring money into the state. here to break down the hot races and more, republican senator john cornyn of texas and democratic senator robert menendez of new jersey. gentleman, thank you both for being here. let's start out, i was told the last time we talked, at least in this forum, was june. starting with you senator

cornyn, what is different now in the political landscape from june? >> well, the primaries are over. september the 14th we had our last contested republican primary and all the enthusiasm you see is going to be directed toward turning out the vote and providing checks and balances to government that many people see as out of control when it comes to spending and debt, and of course, high joblessness, and the administration seemingly confused about how to get america back to work. so there's a lot of enthusiasm, and it's all directed toward the administration, the democratic majority, and restoring those checks and balances that people feel are so necessary to their safety and security. >> senator menendez, can you look at anything in the economy or elsewhere that tells you the dynamic that was there in june, which was running heavily against the democrats, has changed? >> well, certainly, candy if we see the generic ballot, that's

closing pretty dramatically. a whole host of our candidates that the national republican senatorial committee has targeted are doing far better. >> why do you think it's closing, if i could just ask? >> i think people are beginning in the last 30 days, when they really hone in on the election, looking at the differences. and i look at that "new york times" poll that says, who is more likely to fight for the middle class, by a 55-33 margin, the answer is democrats. and so that middle class understands who got us into this economic mess, the republicans and the eight years of the bush economic policies, who's trying to turn it around, who fights for them, versus who fights for the special interests every day in the united states senate. our republican colleagues have used the filibuster to stand up for big oil, big business, big insurance, and they understand that's not on their side. >> let me tell you something, senator menendez, about one of your colleagues on the republican side of the aisle,

senator jim demint, has a pac, a political action committee of his own with money in it. he's going to spend it running ads against majority leader harry reid, against senator bennett in colorado, against senator feingold in wisconsin. do you have a problem with that at all? >> well, look, you know, the bottom line is, at least his money is disclosed. the real problem i have is with the $34 million of undisclosed, unknown, shadowingy money being spent largely by corporate america, all on the republican side, against those and other candidates. and they tip the scales rather dramatically to the republican side. so i understand why republicans stand up for big oil, big business, big insurance, because it's paying off now in these millions of dollars of ads against democrats. >> senator cornyn, i have a specific question for you. but go ahead and respond to that, as i'm sure you want to.

>> well, if you like the way the country is going now, if you live in nevada, you like 14.4% unemployment, where 70% of the home mortgages are underwater, then i guess the message from majority leader reid and from senator menendez is stay the course. i think, instead of that, people say, we're willing to listen to republicans and independents are coming our way, two out of every three of them, because they want to provide checks and balances. they want us to stop the runaway spending, the unsustainable debt, and they want to put america back to work. and they see the big government policies of the last year and a half as being an impediment to job creation in america. >> so getting back to the question i wanted to ask you, which is about senator demint. it seems to me if i was a betting person that there may, when you all return to washington in january, be a kind of demint wing inside the

republican party on the senate side, sort of a party within a party. so when you look at that, how is that going to work? because you may get some candidates here who want to get rid -- or who want social security privatized. some of have said they want to lower the minimum wage. things like that. how is that going to work inside the party? are those things you can sign on to? >> well, some of those are, of course, democratic talking points, trying to scare people. and of course, the candidates where those issues have been raised have explained themselves. i'm not going to re-litigate them here. but let me just say that i think when it comes to restoring checks and balances, that's what we're going to see. and a lot of these candidates that senator menendez and democrats have tried to scare people about are taking mainstream positions. and what they feel is that what's really extreme is what we see coming out of washington, with almost double-digit unemployment, runaway spending, and debt. and that's what they want us to check. that's what we will do. and i think we'll be unified.

>> do you think that inside the republican party, this just sets up another wing that you're going to have to deal with. a division within the party? >> not at all. i think by and large, the tea party movement has been constructive and helpful. it's helped re-orient us to our limited government principles and one that believes in the free enterprise system rather than bigger and bigger government and higher and higher taxes and more regulation, which are job killers. so i think it's been constructive. but now that the primaries are over, we're all unified and focused on our democratic friends on november the 2nd, and i think they're going to be surprised at the enthusiasm and intensity of the vote going into november 2nd. >> i want to ask you -- >> candy, i want to ask you. >> go ahead. >> i'm not scaring anybody, unless when you use a candidate's own words, they may be scary. when sharron angle in nevada says, it's not my job as a u.s. senator to try to help create jobs in nevada.

when ken buck questions the constitutionality of social security and wants to end medicare, when ron johnson in wisconsin wants to drill in the great lakes, those aren't my words. those are their words. and when christine o'donnell, you know, has positions that are clearly out of the mainstream, which we didn't even know about, you know, her interest in witchcraft until 30-something days ago, those aren't my words, those are their words. so i think these candidates, the problem for the republicans is that these candidates are out of the mainstream of where their general electorate is at. >> senator menendez, senator cornyn, let me ask you both to stand by. we want to note that christine o'donnell was not interested in witchcraft until 30 days, it's something that she said in high school, it did come out 30 days ago. hang on a second, we'll be right back. much more with senators cornyn and menendez including their predictions for november. what's this option? that's new.

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we are back with republican senator john cornyn, not to be confused with former senator jon corzine, who's from new jersey. so my apologies, senator cornyn. also with us, democratic senator, robert menendez. i appreciate you both being here. let me ask you, first, about a couple of things that you all have done or said over time. senator menendez, when you -- two days before you left town, you introduced major immigration reform, which republicans immediately said, well, this is cynical. we're not going to pass it in two days. this was sort of a blatant appeal for the latino vote. why is it not that? >> first after all, senator hatch introduced legislation, a different time of legislation on immigration at the same time, and he's a republican. i introduced it because if we're going to have any opportunity to, for example, consider the possibility of lame-duck

movement on it, where a lot of senators are retiring and might be willing to look at the issue, you need something to jump off from. if we're going to go into it in the early part of the next congress, you need something to have as a foundation. and what i introduced had a series of republican initiatives in it, as an invitation to bring my republican colleagues to the discussion and engage them on a critical issue of the country, both in its national security, it's national economy, how we deal with people in this country who are undocumented. >> senator cornyn, you got a lot of attention recently for going and speaking to the log cabin republicans, a gay constituency in the republican party, also received an award there. do you think that the republican party needs to be more welcoming to minorities, as well as to the gay and lesbian community? >> well, candy, i'm a social and fiscal conservative, and my

record on pro-family provisions or issues is very clear. but i felt it was important to reach out to those who want to try to deal with this runaway administration and majority when it comes to spending and debt and high joblessness. that's something we can agree on. but i would say to my friend senator menendez, i hope to work with senator menendez on immigration reform, but it's a much too-important issue to be treated as a political football or try to jam through during a lame-duck session. we know that there are impending tax increases from the expiration of the temporary tax provisions of 2001 that the democratic party was so divided on, they didn't even put it up for a vote before the november the 2nd election. that adds to the kind of uncertainty that job creators are feeling, which keeps them sitting on their capital, and unfortunately, keeps our high unemployment rates too high. >> in our final minutes -- you

held us hostage to the fact that the republican leader of the senate, mitch mcconnell, wants a permanent extension of all the bush tax cuts, including the top tier of the wealthiest people. that's a $4 trillion expenditure, fiscally irresponsible. so i don't think it's fair to say that democrats didn't move forward on that issue when, in fact, you all said, we won't move forward on what i thought we agreed on, which is at least the middle class tax cuts, unless you hold them hostage to the wealthiest. that's a $4 trillion expenditure. that's fiscally irresponsible. >> let me turn you all to something else you won't agree on. and you were together this week, both talking about the prospects for your party and i want to play you something from both of you. >> i predict the stormy weather that we've seen in some of the republican primaries will lead to a tsunami on november the 2nd. >> i simply think that democrats are going to have a lot more votes in the united states senate than people think.

>> senator cornyn, what's -- what is a tsunami here? i mean, define the terms of that. >> well, i think this is going to be a wave election, and it's going to be a referendum on the policies -- the unpopular policies coming out of washington, d.c., in the last year and a half. and of course, we've seen where the president has chosen to lecture people and tell them he knows better than they do what's good for them. and democratic leadership has gone along. and now i think we're finding the american people pushing back very hard. and that's what i mean by a tsunami. we've got 11, maybe as many as 12 senate races in very close contest. none of our republican incumbents are in any trouble. the only question is how many seats we're going to pick up. i think we're going to have a good day on november the 2nd, so i don't know how high or how wide that tsunami will be, but i think it will be significant. >> senator menendez, what does

it say to you over the course of last year that you lost the late senator ted kennedy's seat, that he had held for decades, and that you are now seeing the seat of the late robert byrd in jeopardy in west virginia. what does that say to you about the changing electorate? >> well, look, this is a volatile cycle, candy. who would have thought that mitch mcconnell's hand-picked candidate in kentucky would have lost. who would have thought that in delaware mike castle would not have been the republican nominee? who, 32 days ago, before that election, would have been asking who is christine o'donnell? so this is a very volatile reality, but, you know, when i hear this tsunami, the republicans have been saying they're going to win the triple crown, which means the president's seat in illinois that was vacated, the vice president's seat in delaware, and the seat in nevada. >> but you will lose some seats? would you concede that?

>> we're fighting for every seat across the country. with midterm election history of the president's party going back to the civil war means that the president's party loses seat. but difference between a tsunami and losing some seats is the suggestion that they can take over the majority. that will not happen. >> senator menendez, senator cornyn, thank you both for joining us. i have to leave it there, but i really appreciate your time. >> thank you, candy. up next, we'll look at the growing tensions between the united states and pakistan when it comes s ts t s ts to the fi terrorism. sure i'd like to diversify my workforce, i just wish that all of the important information was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need.

download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com. has everything you need. words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities.

restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense. i know people are wondering-- now that the well is capped, is bp gonna meet its commitments? i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right. we now turn to pakistan, a necessary partner in the u.s. fight against terrorism. the u.s. sends about $2 billion a year in economic and military aid to encourage pakistan's cooperation. in may, the relationship seemed on course.

>> we've gotten more cooperation and it's been a real sea change in the commitment we've seen from the pakistani government. we want more, we expect more. >> it is far less encouraging now. amid chatter of planned terrorist attacks in western europe, the cia this week launched a series of unmanned drone attacks into waziristan, a mountainous region of pakistan believed to be controlled by the taliban. as these attacks continue, dozens of militants, including a top al qaeda commander, have been killed. september saw the highest number of u.s. drone attacks into pakistan since the war in afghanistan started in 2001. but the drone assaults, along with a nato helicopter strike that killed three pakistani soldiers, weakened the fragile u.s./pakistan alliance. pakistan's sboor your minister put it bluntly. we will not allow anyone in any case to interfere with pakistan's territory, and if

this continues, leadopt all the set measures, including military action. i assure you, we are quite capable of defending our homeland. the pakistan government has temporarily closed a key supply route to afghanistan. most of the supplies for nato u.s. and troops in afghanistan are brought through pakistan. and friday militants in southern pakistan torched 25 nato trucks carrying fuel for afghanistan. we talked to pakistan's ambassador to the united states. [ water ] hey, it's me water. so, you want me to be super amazing right from the faucet, but you think home filters can be a pain in the tucus. well check this out... boo-yah! shazam! h2...o! hydrolicious! look what i can do! magic bananas! adios contaminos! introducing the first faucet filter that installs with just one click

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joining me now here in washington, pakistan's ambassador to the united states, husain haqqani, mr. ambassador, thank you so much for being here. i want to ask you first about a

story that is breaking now, which is attributed to a pakistani official, the information. that you have found or think you have found the link of those who are plotting against europe, the plot that we heard about this week. that they are eight germans, two british brothers, who are hiding out in northern waziristan. what can you tell us about this? >> first of all, this is an example of how american/pakistani cooperation works. the united states intelligence agencies have picked up information, they picked up chatter, which was shared with the pakistani side and the pakistani side is acting on following up the leads that have been given to pakistan. and that will make europe and the united states safer, so we hope. beyond that, it's not possible for me to go into the details of intelligence, but all i will say is that we are working together to foil any plot that targets europe, united states, or for

that matter, any other part of the world. >> so you're working actively with the u.s., and i'm assuming, also, european officials. >> absolutely. absolutely. the cia shared intelligence to this effect with the pakistani interservices intelligence, the isi, even though the isi is maligned a lot in the media, it remains one of the closest allies, partners of u.s. intelligence. and in this particular instance, the united states is very happy, the american officials have told us that the quality of cooperation they have received from the isi is really 100%. >> so i guess the problem comes with the u.s. feeling that, okay, here you've got the suspected terrorist in northern wazirist waziristan, but the pakistani military will not go after them. that that's why they've had to throw these drone attacks into pakistan, because pakistan seems unwilling or unable to go get the suspected terrorists, or

otherwise. >> i don't think that it's a question of unwilling or unable. it's a question of terrain, of geography. sometimes people in the united states think about pakistan and think that it's all flat land with everything visible. even the drones can not identify everyone in north waziristan because of the complexity of terrain. the pakistani military has fought very effectively in swath, in north waziristan. the only factor about north waziristan is the capacity of our military at this particular moment to go in. so i think that the issues about ability and will, et cetera, are all behind us. what's going on right now is that pakistan is saying, we will take care of all terrorists on the pakistani side of the border, but we will do it on our timeline. we can't always follow a timeline that our allies set for us, because we are allies, not a satellite.

>> sure. but you can understand why the u.s., since there are these sort of ongoing threats, as well as ongoing attacks, most of them out of this mountainous region that's so difficult to get to, that the only way to stop the attacks on u.s. troops, on nato troops is to go -- either cross the border or the helicopters or send the drones over, because of the difficulty you're talking about. >> the drones and the helicopters are two different things. and i spoke to general petraeus last night. he called me from kabul. i've known him when he was a centcom commander and we speak regularly. he assured me, for example, that they will resolve the issue over the nato tanker supply line. he understands that pakistan has not stopped it as a political retaliation, but actually only to make sure the convoys more secure, because of the circumstances. look, what we have in pakistan is a complex political reality. americans often look at their own politics and you cover it every week and you still can't make sense of it for the

ordinary viewer that all politics is local. and the local situation in pakistan is that the united states is not very popular amongst our public. secretary clinton, when she went there, twice, she tried to reach out to the pakistani people. ambassador holbrooke reaches out to the pakistani people. but the fact remains that an elected democratic government in pakistan is limited public opinion to the extent of what it can do. people in washington sometimes get all excited, these days, because pakistan is the story, therefore every john, joe, and jane covers it and tries to cover the complexities of the story in a simplistic way. pakistan is an american ally. america depends on pakistan. we cannot and don't do everything the americans think we should do, because sometimes we don't have the capacity, sometimes we don't have the means. we work those things out, and that is exactly what we are doing right now. minus all the political noise, the fact remains that we are

working together. pakistan will go after all terrorist groups and we have done it over the last 2 1/2 years, and the few groups that are remaining, we will target them. we will target them with american help, but it will be technical help, it will not be personnel on the ground. >> you mentioned the supply line that's been cut off, one of many that are there. but there's one supply line. a lot of people look at it and think this was punitive because unfortunately, the three pakistani military members were killed in a helicopter attack from nato. however, you say it's to make them safer. whichever it is, when will that supply line be open? >> i think the supply line will be open relatively quickly. >> what is that? >> i'll explain it to you. according to general petraeus, the pakistani team has already arrived to investigate the incident. look, allies have to reassure each other that if they kill the personnel of the other side that it was basically because of the fog of war and not because of

any deliberate action. and that's important. and the americans have assured it was because of that. so we'll investigate it jointly. on the security side, we can't take the risk of letting convoys pass at a time when people are enraged. there are tribal people there who are not necessarily fully under the control of the government of pakistan. we are working that issue. i do not expect this blockade to continue for too long. a, it's not a blockade. it's just a temporary suspension of the convoys moving through. the other route in pakistan is still open. and 70% of nato supplies go through pakistan to afghanistan. the problem, candy, and i don't mean to be offensive, is the 24/7 news cycle. everyone needs a headline. so the convoy's stopped, it's a story until it gets open. but we live with it, we live beyond it, and the alliance will endure. >> do you think this will happen in the next week? >> i think it will happen less than that. >> thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> pleasure being here. up next, donna brazile and

ed gillespie tell us what to watch for in the final weeks to have the campaign subpoena.

30 days from the election, but thursday, it felt a little bit like it was all over. there was republican leader john boehner laying out what he would do as speaker of the house. >> let's do away with the idea of comprehensive spending bills. congress should also review its

internal fracture. we need to do something about ear marks. we can't just keep kicking the can down the road. we're running out of road. >> and while the man who would like to be speaker pitched his party's agenda, the democratic national committee released an ad using the prospects of a boehner-controlled house to scare democrats to the polls. >> he's been in washington for decades. he knows how the game works. he created the game. and he's taken millions from special interests. and now john boehner wants to talk about reforming congress. [ laughter ] now, that's funny. >> all this fuss over a man most people couldn't pick out of a lineup. 55% of voters are unsure how they feel about the minority leader. up next, two people we know have an opinion about john boehner, donna brazile and ed gillespie. everything you need to stretch out on long trips.

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joining me now from washington, democratic strategist and cnn political contributor, donna brazile, and former rnc chairman and former white house concert, ed gillespie. welcome both. this was an op-ed by thomas friedman in "the new york times" today. and i wanted to read you a little bit of it and get your reaction. "there is going to be a serious third party candidate in 2012, with a serious political movement behind him or her, one definitely big enough to impact the election's outcome." and he says that the parties don't clean up their act because they're both so terrible. what do you think, third party? >> it's hard. i wouldn't be surprised if there was a third party candidate who emerges, but i'm not sure if

he's right in terms of the impact it's going to have. but i think if republicans gain control of the house and they don't do the things that they're saying they're going to do in the course of this campaign, we could certainly open up the potential for tea party candidates and others to not run in republican primaries or run as republicans, but to run as third party. i'm not sure if friedman was talking about someone trying to run up the middle or -- >> yes, he was talking about centrist, basically, that there was just no room anymore. he also talked, donna, about the -- he said he was floored by the anger out there at both parties, at washington in general. you're out there a lot. >> candy, there's no question that at some point, we will have a serious third party candidate who will have a lot of money to spend, because ed and i both understand that to get on the ballot in some of these states require you to have a lot of money and a lot of grassroots support. but i don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. we might see someone emerge, but

effa we face a very difficult choice in this coming election season. democrats are clearly out there trying to harness this anger, to talk about solutions. you know, here are the problems we inherited, here are some of the things we're trying to do to make life better. republicans on the other hand just put out their pledge to america, which many democrats have already labeled as more of the same. but i think in this interim period, independents are feeling isolated. they want to support one of these two parties, democrats and republicans. but they feel like the republicans are not listening and the democrats are not listening. that's a small hole for somebody to fill in that vacuum. >> i think you're going to see on election day, first big intensity and strong turnout from republicans, but watch the post-election surveys. the lion's share by a big margin of self-identified independents will have voted for republican candidates. >> i think they're stalling, ed. as you look across this country this weekend. you see this kentucky, the race

is narrow between conway and rand paul, up in connecticut, the race is narrow, in illinois. and states across the country. i think independents are taking a look at some of these tea party extremist and saying, you know what, not on my watch. i think democrats have an opportunity to not only rally their base, but to go out to those independents and say, look, when we took office, this country was hemorrhaging 800,000 a jobs month. we haven't turned a corner, but we're on the road towards make things better. >> and that frames the race, right? the republicans are saying, good heavens, they've only compounded the problem. >> and that democratic message is so dissonant from where the voters are. we're not on the right track. in fact, if you look at the right direction, wrong track numbers, the vast majority of americans think the country's on the wrong track. when the republicans note rightly that this administration has increased the debt more in 18 months than president bush

did in eight years. when you note that we're going to have the largest tax increase in american history hit our economy at a time we're trying to create jobs, going to hammer investors and small business owners on january 1, 2007. for congress to have left town without having addressed that and to leave that hanging out there, that uncertainty that is part of the job-killing agenda of this democratic congress and this administration, i think they're going to pay a price for it. >> and just specifically on the expiration of the bush tax cuts, which comes january 1 or december 31st, it could play either way. you could -- the democrats, you know, can go out and say, hey, listen, those republicans blocked us again, because they want to give tax cuts to the rich. but i've also heard people say, donna, no, it's like, here's congress. they can't -- they don't even have the cuts to go ahead and take a vote on this. if that's what they believe, they should have taken a vote. >> you know, when the republicans passed a tax program, they passed it with the premise that they would expire

come 2011. so the tax cuts will expire at the end of the year, unless congress comes back and the lame-duck decision and decides to do something about extending it for the middle class. taxes are at their lowest in 60 years. president obama, again, when he took office, $1.3 trillion in debt. so the notion that somehow he's doubled the national debt, a debt that president bush did not have when he took office. president bush inherited a surplus from president clinton and vice president gore. but, look, we keep rehashing the past. we keep talking about, well, if we go back to the past -- >> aren't democrats the ones doing that? >> well, the reason why, because the republicans coming out of the wilderness, fueled by this anger of about 15, 20% of the american people, but what have they learned? what have they -- what have they done over the last 18 months-on capitol hill to show the american people that, look, we care about your jobs, we care about your future, we care about education, we care about infrastructure. the only thing they care about is winning the next election. >> let me answer the question. every step of the way, republicans are put forward a

positive alternative to the democratic agenda. whether it was on stimulus, health care, energy policy, the budget, and the fact is that the republicans have put forward this pledge to america. we just saw the clip from minority leader boehner, hopefully going to be speaker boehner, talking about if republicans take control, what are the reforms they're going to enact, very much-needed reforms, allowing people to read bills before they're voted on, allowing for amendments and floor debating. and in the house, donna and us both came up through the house, we're house people, and it would be nice to see a legitimate debate on the floor of the house instead of making a 2,000-page bill down to the floor and making people vote yes or no. >> but they didn't add earmarks. he did mention earmarks. >> he did do earmarks. let me face you towards the white house now. the exit of rahm emanuel, the at least, interim appointment, i guess, of pete rouse, what's our

signal here? what are we to take away from the replacement of rahm emanuel? >> first of all, i wish rahm the best. he served his country, his president, the people and now he's trying to serve the people of illinois. this will give the president to have a fresh new team with fresh thinking. to once again focus like a laser beam on jobs and the economy, implementing the health care reform bill. implementing the wall street reform bill. this will give the president a chance to start the second half of his first term with a lot more energetic players on the bench. >> i think it was an opportunity missed here. i don't know pete rouse, by all accounts, he's a good guy and will be a good chief of staff. i think they're going to try to get him to stay permanent, but i think they would have benefitted from bringing someone in from outside the inner circle. if my projection is right and

republicans gain control of the house and we have major gains in the senate, it's understandable that they wouldn't want to -- managining that transition fromn external perspective, to also have a big transition. >> let me ask you about something that that we heard at the beginning of the show. that is, vice president biden sort of taking out after the progressives, saying they're whining and they need to buck up and get out there, and then you hear the president say, this is just irresponsible to say that you're going to sit home. is that like a wa to win voters and influence people? >> well, if you attended the rally yesterday, i did. it was inspiring. that's the way to inspire liberals and progressives and middle of the road americans. they want to know what you're planning to do to help them and their family and their communities. i understand, tough love is important in this business. it's a strategy to try to motivate them. but you know what democrats are motivated by? they're motivated by seeing the republicans, you know, measure the drapes, knowing that they're

going to come up short if the republicans win this fall. >> i think there's a lot of frustration, obviously, in the white house. and they're lashing out everywhere. they're lashing out at republicans, they're lashing out by john boehner by name, the president himself is. they're lashing out at the professional left. at congress and pundits. and it's a tough situation, when you're in a situation where 30 days out from election, the majority of voters have rejected your agenda. they think you're off on the right track and at 45, 46% approval rating, it's understandable. >> which is the highest approval rating of anyone. and he's not on the ballot. i want to hear your predictions on how many house seats go to republicans? they need a magic 39. >> first of all, i think we've made too much about the republicans making a lot of gain. i think the democrats will hold on to the house, hold on to the senate. history suggests we'll lose seats. some of these seats are ruby red

districts that democrats won in '06 and '08. well retain a great many of these seats. >> i think republicans will capture control. i think we'll be very close in the senate. i think we'll probably have a net gain of eight governorships and there'll be ten legislative chambers around the country that flip from democratic to republican. it's going to be a very big wave election. >> and my personal opinion is it's going to be a really exciting one. ed gillespie, donna brazile, sthau thank you guys so much. up next, a check of today's headlines. and then congress comes through for a big constituency -- tv watchers. was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com.

now time for a check of today's top stories. the u.s. state department has issued a travel alert for u.s. citizens in europe. the alert is based on information that suggests al qaeda and affiliate organizations are planning terrorist attacks across the continent. the alert does not warn u.s. citizens against travel to

europe. governments in europe have also stepped up security. last week u.s. intelligence officials were looking at information about a possible mumbai-style attack in european cities. the afghan government has formally banned eight private security firms, including the company formally known as blackwater. a spokesman for president hamid karzai said the security firms have handed over their weapons and they will be prevented from operating inside the country. also in afghanistan, government officials say a nato air strike targeting a taliban meeting in helmand province killed at least 17 people, including some taliban comman r commanders and three civilians. nato is still investigating the report of civilian casualties. iran's intelligence minister says authorities have arrested nuclear spies in connection with a damaging worm that infected computers in its nuclear program. tehran has insisted its nuclear program has not been compromised by the virus.

iran's president is calling for u.s. leaders to be, quote, buried in response to threats of a military attack of dtehran's nuclear program. the associated press reports that president mahmoud ahmadinejad used a deeply offensive insult directed at the united states in a speech today. u.s. officials say that a military option is on the table, but have not directly threatened iran with a military strike. in california's gubernatorial debate aimed at latino voters, it turned into an angry exchange last night when republican meg whitman accused democrat jerry brown of orchestrating the scandal over her former housekeeper, who was in the country illegally. >> jerry, you know, you should be ashamed. you and your surrogates put her deportation at risk. you put her out there and you should be ashamed for sacrificing nicki diaz on the altar of your political

ambitions. >> don't run for governor if you can't stand up on your own two feet and say, hey, i made a mistake. >> a cnn/times research poll showed brown leading by nine points before that came to light. up next, congress didn't vote on those tax cuts, but something did get done before leaving town. what's this option? that's new.

personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. congress left town this week, without dealing with the bush tax cuts, which expire at the end of december and without doing budget business for fiscal year 2011, which started last friday. everybody blamed politics and each other. >> the minority's strategy has been obvious for some time. it's to legislate as little as possible. >> i think the one thing we can clearly say about our friends on the other side of the aisle, they have a unified desire to leave town. >> but it was not a total bust. in fact, the senate had a

unanimous vote. let's say that again. a unanimous senate vote on an issue that strikes a chord in one of the biggest voting blocs in the country. ever gone asleep to the news, only to be blasted off the couch by an ad? >> wow! that's a low price! >> i know! >> weee! >> for the best car insurance online, go to the general to save some time. >> 21 of the last 25 quarterly reports from the fcc listed loud tv commercials as a top complaint, which brings us to that crowd-pleasing senate vote for the commercial advertisement loudness mitigation act, better known as calm. >> wow! that's a low price! >> when the bill is signed, ads will be banned from being louder than the tv program they are interrupting. co-sponsor chuck schumer noted,