youngest son believed to be the one taking the reins from his father at some point. also, a little update about those trapped miners in chile. the 33 of them have been down there since august 5. we're being told that it could be on wednesday that we see the first miner pulled out. of course, they broke through with the mine, with the drill. so they have made it down to the men. just need to start pulling them up now. right now want to hand this over to candy crowley and "state of the union." thanks for hanging with me today. here's what passes as good news for democrats these days. a new poll showing republicans are ahead by seven points when likely voters are asked how they'll vote in their district. that's good news for democrats because last month they were down by nine points. cue the optimism. >> if we see the generic ballot, that's closing dramatically. >> for all zone dancing in the end zone and celebrating, this is where it will go. >> i think we'll have the senate

and have a chance to win the house because i believe the democrats including the base starting to come back. >> polls almost always tighten up in the final weeks before an election. but in this climate, democrats are happy to find any port in the storm. today, 23 days to the election, two key strategists in the battle for the house, democrat chris van holland, and republican kevin mccarthy. then measuring the mood of the electorate with democratic pollster selinda lake and republican pollster whit ares. then the continuing terror alert with cia general director michael hayden. i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." the struggling economy dominates the minds of voters this november, and nothing speaks to the heart of the economy like the jobless rate. 95,000 jobs were lost in september, worse than expected, leaving the unemployment rate at a stubborn 9.6%.

still, while the public sector lost jobs, the private sector added some. as it happened, both president obama and house republican leader john boehner were visiting small businesses when the labor department released the figures. giving us this opportunity to offer you the campaign trail in a capsule. >> this morning we got the latest national jobs report from the department of labor. >> this morning, we learned that in the month of september, our economy gained 64,000 jobs in the private sector. >> the private sector job creation remains at that. >> so we've now seen nine straight months of private sector job growth. >> high unemployment, a bigger government, and an economy struggling to create jobs. >> joining me here now in washington, congressman chris van holland, the chairman of the democratic congressional campaign committee, which is a way to say that it's your job to make sure that the house stays majority democrat. >> yes, indeed. and i'm very positive and bullish about those prospects.

>> let me play you -- we have a montage here of some of your candidates and the ads that they're running in their districts. take a listen. >> i don't work for nancy pelosi or harry reid or anyone else. >> i like jason altmire's not afraid to stand up to the president. >> and nancy pelosi. >> when president obama and nancy pelosi pressured chet edwards, chet stood up to them and voted no against their trillion dollar health care bill. >> and voted against nancy pelosi's energy tax on -- >> empty member of congress, try to -- bring things together in the country. >> in the last one you have a congressman who's a democrat, an ad in his district showing him next to john boehner, the republican leader, saying, look, i voted 80% of the time with john boehner. is this the way you're going to keep the majority? >> well, here's the thing, we're proud of the fact that we have an ideologically diverse caucus.

we have a whole range of different political viewers. what they're talking about is their independence on certain issues. issues where they stood with the speaker and the president, and the issues where they opposed the speaker and the president. that's their job. as opposed to on the other side where you have in ideological purity test and it's being moved farther right by the tea party candidates. which are moving the republican party way off to the right. when mike castle, a moderate centrist in delaware, loses, it sends a message that there's no room for moderates. no room for pragmatists in the republican party. we have a big tent, and we're problem solvers. and that is, i think, what voters are looking for. >> is that a way of saying you have said to your members, you guys go out and win your district any way you can? >> well, it's not a matter of saying this to our members. our members ran their first races by being independent individuals, they share the philosophy of the democratic party in terms of making sure that we provide every citizen access to opportunities and the great opportunities this country

has to offer. but the fact of the matter is when they ran the first time as they're running now, they have talked to voters about the issues that are -- they care about and are priorities to the voters in their districts. >> by our count there are about 0 democrats out -- 30 democrats out there in swing districts or conservative districts that are running either away from the democratic record or saying, you know, distancing themselves from the president and/or speaker pelosi. assuming what you think will come true does, that you hold on to the house, i'm assuming that you wouldn't disagree that it's going to be a little more republican and probably the people right now with the best chance of winning and that seem to be holding their own in the districts are those conservative democrats. would you agree with that premise? >> i'm not sure that's the case. i think you find a whole range of members who are facing different kind of challenges in their districts. and while you're emphasizing some of the issues where they are separating themselves from the president and the speaker, there are a whole lot of issues where they're very much in support of that agenda.

for example, and this goes to the republican policies as well, the republicans say they were listening to the american people when they put together this so-called pledge. we find out that it's simply more of the same, one of the most popular items was to end the tax incentives that reward corporations that ship american jobs overseas. our members are very focused on making it in america, on making sure we keep jobs here in the united states. republicans totally ignored that aspect of the public because it didn't fit their agenda. so if you look at a lot of our ads around the country, they're focused on our opposition to privatizing medicare, which of a republican budget proposal. they're focused on making sure we protect social security against -- but my point is, candy, yes. they're going to be examples where members are taking a position that's different than the position the speaker, the president. but there are also lots of cases

where they're contrasting themselves very clearly to the republicans and the special interests. >> i guess what i'm saying here is that you are most likely to come back in january to a house that may not be a republican majority. but that is more conservative than it is right now. at least along the political spectrum. doesn't this mean that the democratic party on the more liberal side of it is going to have to make more compromises because you do have a block of conservative democrats and you're going to have more republicans. >> well, if you look at the nature of our caucus today, it is one that results in more compromises because of this broader spectrum. >> within the caucus, people would argue that you actually compromise with -- >> if you're asking whether if you have a different shaped congress with democrats in the majority, with smaller, smaller majorities, it may well be the case that there are some issues that we would have gotten passed last time that would not be able to pass this time. i think the president himself has said that we may need to look at, you know, smaller items

on certain issues. but again, i want to emphasize the fact that we are going to continue to focus on making sure we eliminate things like these perverse tax incentives to ship american jobs overseas. >> i want to play you a quick sound bite from the president, when was campaigning in illinois. something he said caught our attention. >> so 20 months later we no longer face the possibility of a second depression. our economy is growing again. >> a strategy memo, democratic strategy memo went out, stan greenburg, pollster, james carville, democratic operative, that said stop saying the economy has gotten better. this works against democrats. it doesn't work for them. in fact, it shoves people into the republican side. the go forward-go backward thing doesn't work either. what's your best message? >> well, our best message is that the republicans want to take us back to a time when the special interests ran the show.

and if you look at their agenda, that's what they're saying. for example, continuing to provide multinational corporations with these tax incentives to ship jobs overseas, saying that we're going to undo the restraint that we finally put on wall street when we ended the bush-paulsen t.a.r.p. fund and said we're no longer going to allow you wall street to run wild at the expense of the american people. they want to turn that around. and what we're finding now, candy, is that these special interests are spending millions and millions of dollars of secret money to try and buy a congress that does their bidding and caters to their special interests, and they won't disclose who's paying for these ads. and i think it's a wake-up call to the american people. that's what's going on right now. these special interests like the way the economic policies of the bush administration's worked because they serve the special interest agenda very, very well, at the expense of working americans and taxpayers. >> and quickly because i'm told we're running out of time here,

in new jersey you have a congressman in a county -- a congressman who's running for re-election. and the charge is, and it's been pretty well documented, that the democratic party in the county with congressman adler funded and put up a tea party candidate in order to split the republican vote so your congressman could get back in. is that fair game? >> i'm not -- i'm not familiar with that. people should be -- no. people should be focused. people should be very focused on their own elections and getting out their messages in these campaigns. and that's what our candidates are doing across the board. and what is very clear and the reason i'm heartened as we get toward election day is people do not want to go back to the same economic policies that created the worst economic disaster since the great depression. are we satisfied with the pace of the recovery? of course not. but you why would you go back to a set of economic policies that served the big banks, the big

oil companies, and the insurance industry at the expense of working americans? that is not a direction that people want to go. >> sounds like the populace message is the way you're going. congressman chris van hollen, thanks for being here. next, we size up the republicans' chances. [ male an] dear corolla...

i know, change is hard. you never considered making bluetooth, remote keyless entry and turn-by-turn navigation available in every model. so it must be hard for you to hear autoweek.com say our interior raises the small-car bar. if you want to talk about it, call me... that is you know when you get home... since you don't have bluetooth in every model. the all new chevrolet cruze. starting under $17,000. get used to more. ♪ let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. and vitamin d of regular milk. hi, may i help you? yes, we're looking to save on car insurance, even if that means we have to shop all day, right, honey? yep, all day. good thing you're starting here. we compare your progressive direct rate to other top companies', so you can save money! look!

we saved a lot! and quick, too. and no more holding her purse! it's a european shoulder bag. it was a gift. mm-hmm. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. joining me now from california, republican congressman kevin mccarthy. he is in charge of helping recruit republican house candidate. congressman mccarthy, thank you very much for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> we are now seeing the polls closing on republicans. the democrats seem to be gaining traction. they're interpreting this and saying that voters are putting aside their anger, which clearly there's a lot of anger out there. and now they're looking at the choice.

and the choice moves them into the democratic column. tell me why you think these polls are closing. >> well, i don't see them closing on the democratic side. i see 80 seats held by democrats or democrats held seats where the incumbent or the candidates below 50. i think what's happening here and you look at the enthusiasm gap, much stronger on republican side, even than it was in 1994. much stronger on independent voters voting for republicans, stronger than 1994. there's because democrats have been in power for four years. and they've looked at this job-killing legislation, they've looked at these unemployment numbers that have not been this case consecutively since the 1930s and the great depression, and i don't believe they think they deserve another two years. >> so you're going to take the house? >> i think there's a great chance that we take the house. when you look at the number of races from incumbents that are upside down, when they look at unemployment for the 14th consecutive month above 9.5%,

you have to go back to 1930 when we were in this situation again. you look at what has happened with the speaker pelosi continuing to push job-killing legislation, and every single democrat that's running right now for re-election voted for her to be speaker. and not one of them is running on the issues that they passed from obama care, the cap and trade, to the economy being pushed, they're running from it. >> you bring up speaker pelosi. i wanted to read you something, in fact, that she said to reporters a little earlier this week and get your reaction. she said, quote, "any political party that can't exploit 9.6% unemployment ought to hang up their gloves." and david plough who you know was instrumental in getting the president elected has said, listen, if they can't win the majority in the house, perhaps the majority in the senate and the bulk of the governorships, they've failed. is that where you set your bar? >> no. i think any -- any majority

party that's been in power for four years has taken the deficit this high, that had unemployment numbers this ohio, maybe they shouldn't run -- this high, maybe they shouldn't run for re-election. it's a tough race to get to 39 seats. it's a tough climb. >> you just talked about the 80 seats where they've got candidates at least under 50%. so success by any other name has to be majority for you, doesn't it? >> well, i think success is getting the country back on track. success would be sitting a new tone in washington, and quit creating a new culture there, as well. that's what the pledge lays out to do. but we're running to win the majority. we're not running to be a minority party, no. >> let me ask you also about a "washington post" poll that appeared this morning that i found interesting. the majority blamed the government for an off-course country. they believe the country is

offcourof off-course. they believe that the government is not in touch with values or understands people like them. however, almost 60% of this "washington post" poll said they want their representative in their district to for more government money to get jobs. and they would prefer that over worry being lowering the deficit, which is exactly the opposite of what you all are preaching. what do you make of that? >> i think what they're saying is they are frustrated with government. the government has not been listening to them. they do not want government greater imposed upon them. they want to see in their own district jobs created. the way you create a job is through the private sector. that is what i've been hearing across the country and the uncertainty. unleash the small business to actually be able to go out and create jobs. i believe that's where the america's been talking about and wants to see happen. that can happen after november. >> there's been some talk about

republicans looking around in the house for some conservative democrats, that they might be able to lure into the republican party after the elections. either to bulk up a majority or to bulk up the minority. do you know of any conversations or outreach to democratic members of congress who might be looking to jump party? >> i've always heard those rumors, but i don't see that being the case. and it's a little more difficult when you look at the democratic make-up of congress today. it's much more liberal than it's ever been. every single one there had voted for nancy pelosi. they've been in power for four years. i don't think the american public is looking to more members of congress to stay in congress. they're looking for people across the country to actually change washington. >> well, you're a member of congress. so -- >> yes. i'm a member of congress that's -- quewell -- i've only n there four years from one standpoint. i'm an individual that was

running against the republicans and democrats when i went to get into office. and they want to see a different change. when you look at the pledge to america that the republicans have laid out, there is a cultural change in there. there is something that opens up the floor that hasn't been done for quite some time. where bills won't be written in the back of the room. where bills have to be laid out for 72 hours. where bills actually have an open rule, where people can bring amendments up on the floor. which any freshman congressman that's sitting there today has never even seen that happen under the recall of nancy pelosi and the democrats. >> congressman kevin mccarthy, thank you very much for joining us and for getting up early this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me, candy. up next, some intriguing polls that have us scratching our heads about when will happen november 2. ♪

everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. ♪ everything you need to stay balanced on long trips. residence inn. thanks. i got the idea from general mills big g cereals. they put a white check on the top of every box to let people know that their cereals have healthy whole grain, and they're the right choice... (announcer) general mills makes getting whole grain an easy choice. just look for the white check.

polls are curious things. every answer spawns another question. here are a few of ours. the enthusiasm gap. most republicans are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting this year. only 1/3 of democrats feel the same way. how come? and this -- 45% say george bush was a better president than barack obama. 47% of americans picked president obama. when did that happen? and finally, 41% of americans say republicans are more responsible for the current economic problems. 47% think republicans are more likely to improve the economy.

huh? answers and more questions coming up with pollster selinda lake and whit ayers.

joining me now here in washington, whit ayers, republican pollster and the president and founder of ayers-mchen row and associates. and celinda lake, democratic pollsters and president of lake research. welcome both. >> nice to be here. >> thank you. >> let me ask you first special of the questions we rayed earlier. and that is why now -- i mean, it is astonishing to me that right now you can look at the polling and basically president obama and former president bush are tied when the question is, who was a better president. >> the ven >> t

>> the reason is people are upset with the direction this president and democratic leadership have taken the country. they're worried about spending, they're worried that we're mortgaging our children's future and bankrupting the country. and that's the reason that the republican prospects are so good going into november. >> celina, does it stun you? that poll actualy -- george bush left and he was very unpopular. he had approval ratings in the low 30s. >> that's right. >> did that -- >> well, i think that's what happening really now is that the country's very divided. and mostly it's frustrated. and if you see incumbents of both parties are being thrown out because people are very frustrated about where the economy's going. what's right about that. but if you notice, the other data that you showed, people actually blame the republicans more than the democrats for the direction of the economy. >> well, except for one of the things that also sort of confused me more than stunned me is more people say that republicans are to blame for the current economic condition of the country. and more people say that republicans are better able to fix it. >> candy, the democrats are in charge. independents are driving the

numbers this year. a majority of independents think it's bad for the country to have the presidency and congress controlled by the same party. they think it's bad for the country to have one party governing everything, and they want more republicans in the congress to act as a check and balance on the obama agenda. >> celina, do people think that kind of globally in their district going, you know, i really want a republican house. i always find that hard to believe. >> i agree. and that's the most important question i think this of asked here. these aren't national contest. these are local contests. and it's democrats that delivered jobs to their districts who oppose outsourcing jobs going overseas, running against republicans who are for privatizing social security, call social security illegal, support the tax credit for jobs going overseas. so this is going to be a real contest here. not among some global ideals but among individual candidates. and there are a lot of disagreements with the proposals of a lot of individual republican candidates.

>> whit, talk to me about the enthusiasm gap. what is the practical application of the enthusiasm gap? does that mean -- to me it could mean democrats going, no, i really don't like this, but fine, i'll get up and go vote anyway, or i'm going to someday in bed? >> a lot of it means that republicans cannot wait to get to the polls. and the democrats are disenchanted. they're -- >> but will they not come to the polls then? >> this of them will not come. some of them will come reluctantly. but the republicans are chomping at the bit to get to the polls. our polling is showing the same thing that yours is showing. a 20-point difference in enthusiasm gap. if you ask people on a one to ten scale with ten being the most enthusiastic, 53% of republicans say they're a ten. 43% of independents say they're a ten. only 35% of democrats say they're a ten. so there's going to be a huge republican turnout advantage. >> what is the -- is it more that it means more republicans will come out? or more that democrats won't

vote? i'm trying to figure out what the practical enthusiasm of the gap is. >> it's the most important question this cycle, i think. certainly more republicans are coming out. there is no question about that. the question on the table is, will democrats show up to vote. now what's good news from the democratic standpoint, three things. we have michelle obama and barack obama and our entire democratic field out there saying, you know, vote your values, not your fear. vote or there will be an alternative that you don't like in power. secondly, we have the apparatus on the ground. this party knows how to get out the vote. and we have to operationalize that. and the enthusiasm gap which still exists, as whit was saying, is half of what it was a couple of weeks ago. but the most important thing that democrats have to do in the next three weeks is get our vote out. >> and let me talk to you a little bit about the tightening in the polls as celina was referring to. a, is there a tightening in the polls? >> candy, i've seen very little

tightening in the polls. but if there's been a tightening, it's been from an absolute unmitigated disaster for the democrats to only a really, really horrible year for the democrats. your own polling shows a sev seven-point generic ballot. we show a seven-point generic preference for republicans is enormous, and it's indicative of the wave that's coming. there's no longer any question about whether or not there's going to be a republican wave. the only question that remains is the size of the republican wave. >> you size that up that way? >> that's a big question, though, what is the size? certainly there are going to be some republican gains. but i think the report of our demise is very premature. and i think you're going to see us hold on to the house by a couple of seats in really hard-fought local contests. we're going to knock out people who they that they're for privatizing social security, who took special interests, foreign corporate money, and who support jobs going overseas. it's a real alternative out there. and we've got to frame up the choice.

we've got to make sure it's not a referendum but a choice. >> because in the end, the -- these national polls are sort of impressioni impressionistic, right? and the various districts and states are kind of the small picture thing. that's where it really counts. the national polls tell us something, but they don't tell us about, yes, but what about this race, because they're all different. >> exactly. and celina's right, the democrats are going to try to make it a choice. the problem is that when the democrats control the presidency and the house and the senate, it is a referendum. and there's nothing much they can do about changing the fact that this is a referendum on democratic governance and people are upset with the direction of the country. they're upset with the auto bailout, with the stimulus, with the health care spending, the health care bill. it is a referendum, and the democrats are going to lose that referendum. >> in the end, i think what he's saying is that republicans nationalize the race. the democrats localize the race. >> that's exactly right. and if you look at those

individual polls, whether it's gubernatorial races or senate races or congressional races, they are dead even or -- and we're pulling back. and in races that were written off a couple weeks ago, we're now coming back, and that's in part because we are getting out the records of our opponents and the tea party may be the best favor that the democrats have. some of these people that have been nominated are insane. and it's very likely that we will beat them. and then if you look at our democratic voters, they're coming out to vote now in better numbers. >> there's a democratic strategy memo out that i mentioned earlier in the show that says that whole thing about, you know, republicans look back and we look forward isn't working. it drives people to republicans. the whole thing about how we've made progress in the economy ticks people off. it's driving them to republicans. now we're hearing we heard congressman van hollen, we're hearing the president saying things like all this foreign money is coming in, we don't know who these donors are. is that a opponent argument?

>> people don't care where you get your money as long as you get it legally. the fact is that those arguments about how we're going to go back to the failed policies of the bush administration aren't working. and your own numbers showed it. people were -- would be just as happy with president bush as president -- than barack obama. so the democratic message is trying to make boogiemen of the republicans is not working this year. >> i think what's important is to tie the money to the policies. the point is those corporation, those foreign corporations that are funding campaigns, they want jobs for american workers. and when we tie it to that policy we have a winning contrast. we have a winning alternative. so i think the point is, it's not a question of going backward. it's a question that the republicans want to take us in the wrong direction. do you want policies that privatize your social security and ship your job overseas? if you do, you have a great choice in the republican candidates. >> candy -- >> i got to cut you off. i could go with you all day. celinda lake, whit ayers, appreciate you being here. >> thank you very much. up next, we turn to

terrorism and the threat of an attack. what's behind the state department's newest travel alert? oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

at the walmart in marinette, wisconsin. that first job launched my career. since i've been with the company, i've been promoted ten times over the span of 11 years. today, i'm a divisional learning and development manager. we can actually help people develop in their own careers. my job allows me to make a difference in the lives of almost 100,000 associates in the northeast. if you think about it, that's almost 8 times the size of my hometown. my name is nick and i work at walmart. ♪

last sunday the u.s. state department issued a travel alert for americans going to or living in europe. it advised them to "take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling." a pretty large land mass and a

pretty general advisory. >> this is not a warning, travel warning telling people not to go. this is simply to raise awareness and alertness of those that are there. report suspicious activity, be very aware of your surroundings. >> though the european union initially questioned the u.s. about the reasons behind the alert, soon after other countries including japan, fran, and the u.k. issued their own alerts or raised their terror warnings. sweden had already raised its alert. this week, 12 men with terrorist ties were arrested in france, and u.s. officials revealed the travel alert was triggered primarily by information coming out of an interrogation of a german militant with al qaeda ties. travel companies reported little to no change in planned trips to europe. the u.s. alert does not expire until february. but the head of a company that monitors risks of worldwide travel said "largely, travelers

can ignore this. "the "the what's the likelihood of another attack on the u.s. or overseas in the near future? we'll talk to the man who led the cia during the bush administration, retired general michael hayden, next.

joining me, michael hayden, retired four-star general in the united states air force, former director of the cia and currently principal with the chertoff group, a security firm in washington.

thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> let's start out with what struck me when they issued this alert. what is the practical value of saying to people, listen, keep going on your trips but be alert? >> it's a personalized warning. i mean, if you look at the view of government who know these things, who know that the threat conditions have actually changed, there's kind of a moral responsibility to let your citizenry know. it's very difficult, though, candy, to -- >> looks cia, though -- >> it could be viewed that way, but i think, frankly, that's unfair. i think the administration handled this well. they put the alert out, they let folks know that there was something different. and also tried to simultaneously calm fears, tell people they shouldn't cancel travel to europe. frankly, it's an imperfect science. that's about the best you can do in term of ls of letting -- ter of letting people know how the danger has changed. >> how bad does it have to be to chicagoer an alert? >> we did this in the bush administration and would have

frank discussions about whether or not this met a threshold. it's in the eye of the beholder. you know it when you see it. frankly, from what i've read in public discussion, i think it's quite appropriate that the alert was issued. when you see what was going on, what we knew, then they arrested those individuals in france, kind of gives meat to that reality. >> i want to show you a poll that we took between october 5 and 7. recent poll. and the question was -- will there be acts of terrorism in the u.s. in the next few weeks? 49% said it's likely. 48% said not likely. what does the former head of the cia say? >> i'm not surprised that people are on edge. i'm a little surprised at the spread, particularly since you gave it a time frame in the next few weeks. i don't think any of us inside government who have a chance to see the variety of information would attach that imens in to the attack. but the probability, i think all

of us would agree to. we've been quite good since 9/11. we've worked very hard. we've taken the fight -- >> you men eventually? >> eventually it would happen. >> the -- >> the imminence that i would challenge, that's right. >> let's turn to pakistan. the latest plot was hatched or appeared to have been hatched in pakistan by germans and a couple of brits, as far as we can tell. do you think pakistan is a reliable intelligence partner for the u.s.? >> pakistan had been an incredible challenge and reward for american intelligence cooperation. i can comment on my time working with isi, general kayani, chief of army staff with the head of isi at the time. we had some tremendous counterterrorism success with the pakistanis. and at times, that was bound with countless terrorism frustrations. it's very difficult for the pakistanis to do some of the things that we think they have to do for our mutual benefit.

>> for instance, going into waziristan and getting rid of some of these taliban and al qaeda that keep coming across the border in afghanistan. >> that's right. and that's north waziristan. and i have to commend the administration for their report to congress this past week that was both sober and somber, very candid in its assessment of what pakistan is and is not doing. and it attributed it not just to pakistani capacity, which is always stretched, but also to pakistani policy and willingness. i think that kind of laid down a challenge to the government in islamabad that we expect them to do more. >> we of course in order to make up for the lack of action in northern waziristan have been sending drones in record number in september. there is a cost to it, of course, because the pakistani populace which in general doesn't like the u.s., the pakistani government has to make sure that they don't -- there's no uprising from them because it looks like the pakistani government is cooperating too much with the u.s. do you think these drones have

been excessive, and do you think they're always helpful? >> well, as you know, i'm not here to confirm or deny any specific operational activity. >> right. >> but i do know that taking the fight to the enemy, being able to take al qaeda's senior leadership off the battlefield as we say, and that began about july of 2008, in the current effort has been, i think, the single greatest factor in keeping america and our friends safe. i know all activity -- >> the drones -- >> all activity that we do to take the enemy off the battlefield is done very carefully. it's great precision, high confidence in the intelligence. so i think it's an appropriate course of action. in fact, it's one that in conscience it would be very difficult for any administration to stop doing. >> you sound as though you believe president obama is doing a good job on the terrorism front. >> there are some things that i disagree with, and i disagreed with publicly. >> such as? >> making the cia office of

legal counsel interrogation memos public. stopping the cia interrogation program and not really replacing it with any other interrogation program, even to this date. that by and large there's been a powerful continuity between the 43rd and 44th president, and i think that simply reflects the reality that both president obama and president bush faced in terms of the threat. and the tools that are available to them. >> b-plus, a? >> i'm -- no president needs me to give them a grade. >> okay. let me ask you a couple of questions that arose out of bob woodward's new book that mentioned you. among them that you had a meeting with president zardari in the u.s. when he was here where you told him that some of those drones had, in fact, killed westerners or people holding western passports including u.s. passports to which he is said to have replied, you all worry about collateral damage, i'm not. first of all district of columbia that conversation take place -- first of all, did that

conversation take place? >> it's hard to comment on various activities. i will say in general, though, when we talked to the pakistanis privately they seemed far more comfortable with the actions that were taken for our mutual benefit. it was beyond tolerance, it was up to and including from time to time support. >> was karzai, what was his relationship with the cia? >> i'm not at liberty to comment on that. i'm sorry, candy. >> it was described as perhaps being on the payroll. you can't deny or confirm that? >> i won't talk about that, i'm sorry. >> okay. let me ask you -- take you to another part of the country, iran. how concerned are you by what appear to be growing influence of iran in iraq? >> that's a natural phenomena given the border the size of iran, the size of the shia population inside of iraq. there are certain iranian interests that are legitimate in iraq. but what's going on now and what i saw there when i was director of cia is beyond legitimacy. and frankly, is an item of

concern. i -- there was a conclusion i reached during my last year or so in government that it had been the policy of the iranian government approved at the highest levels of the iranian government, to facilitate the killing of young american and other coalition soldiers in iraq. that's the kind of behavior that cannot be tolerated. >> general, it's been a pleasure. nice to see you again. >> thank you very much, candy. up next, a check of top headlines. and then, is the president leading or being led? the dog whisperer wants to know. interesting grooming.

thanks. i got the idea from general mills big g cereals. they put a white check on the top of every box to let people know that their cereals have healthy whole grain, and they're the right choice... (announcer) general mills makes getting whole grain an easy choice. just look for the white check. no calorie sweetener granulated with fiber. sweet! [ female announcer ] tastes like sugar and has 3 grams of fiber per tablespoon. use it almost anywhere you use sugar. even in cooking and baking. sweet! [ female announcer ] splenda® granulated with fiber.

the most comfortable line of furniture in existence. it's a motion line of furniture that conforms to your body and supports your head, neck, and back seamlessly in any position, leaving your entire body feeling rested and rejuvenated. [upbeat jazz arrangement] ♪ right now, you can receive... ...toward stressless furniture and accessories when you purchase more than one stressless seat. experience the unparalleled comfort of stressless. ...featuring our entire stressless line. give yourself the gift of ultimate comfort. and where better to find it than from stressless, the innovators of comfort. call now for a free catalog and dvd featuring our entire stressless line.

time for a check of today's top stories. this morning, pakistan reopened a border crossing into afghanistan. the pass is a key point of entry for nato supply convoys. pakistan closed the border in response to u.s. helicopter strikes that killed two pakistani soldiers. on wednesday the u.s. poll jized

to pakistan for the attack, saying the pilots mistook the soldiers for insurgents. ♪ north korea's leader kim jong-il made a rare public appearance with his youngest son today at a massive military parade. officials say 20,000 soldiers took part in the spectacle marking the 65th anniversary of the worker's party of korea. the united states believes kim jong-un has been tapped to replace his ailing father as north korea's leader. president obama is hoping to energize democrats at a rally in philadelphia today. democrats are trying to close that enthusiasm gap that could lead to landslide republican victories november 2nd. vice president biden and democratic senate candidate joe sestak are all expected to be there. new york police have arrested an eighth suspect in a series of brutal anti-gay hate crimes. authorities say the series of attacks began when members of a

street gang heard a rumor that one of their new recruits was gay. after more than two months trapped deep in a chilean mine, 33 miners are close to rescue. drillers have completed an escape shaft in chile's mining minister says the walls are firm enough to allow the men to be hoisted out as early as wednesday. they could all be out by friday. a russian soyuz spacecraft carrying two russian cosmonaut and an american astronaut docked with the international space station saturday. the final shuttle mission scheduled for november and february will complete u.s. assembly of the station which has been under crux sinonstruct since 1998. those of your top stories on "state of the union." up next, has bo gotten the upper hand on the commander in chief?

- hello! - ha! why don't you try a home cooked meal... with yummy hamburger helper? oh! tada! fantastically tasty, huh? ummm, it's good. what would you guys like? hamburger helper. what?! one pound... one pan... one tasty meal!

no calorie sweetener granulated with fiber. sweet! [ female announcer ] tastes like sugar and has 3 grams of fiber per tablespoon. use it almost anywhere you use sugar. even in cooking and baking. sweet! [ female announcer ] splenda® granulated with fiber.

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. bo obama turned 2 this

weekend. a teenager in dog terms and we wish the obamas good luck with that. we thought we'd celebrate bo's big day with a look at canines and felines in political terms. carl palladino has made duke his pit bull a campaign staple in ads and on the trail. unfortunately this week duke by all accounts a swell and laid back guy attacked a yellow labrador at a campaign event. all parties are apparently fine but blood was spilled. no word on any votes lost. as for the birthday boy, professional trainer caesar milan described bo's first outing "not a good scene." these days we think bo is looking less crazy as the first lady once called him but canine beware there can only be one alpha maleal the white house and

better be the president. >> the president lets the dog lead him on walks when the dog should follow him. give the guy a break. obama can't get democrats to follow him, forget the dog. give the guy a break. >> the only thing less alpha male than a dog leading you around white house grounds is cats. the president's new chief of staff, pete rouse has two, giving "saturday night live" an opening to parody the president's farewell to rahm emanuel. >> a man who knows no fear but knows how to make others afraid. you know him as rahm emanuel, but to me, he will always be rahmbo. rahm will be replaced by peter rouse. pete halz from connecticut and is a lover of cats. >> former senate