ships. and they showed the black and white images of her, all those many years ago. and they showed people like cary grant, audrey hepburn, grace kelly who also toured and cruised on the queen. tony? >> that's terrific. what a day, what a sight. wow, looking behind you, framed up beautifully there, zain. appreciate it, thank you. cnn "newsroom" continues right now with ali velshi. ali, with your business contact, maybe you could book us passage. >> i have to say, do you wonder how assignments get given out to networks sometimes? great assignment. tony, great to see you. tony harris will be back tomorrow and i'm ali velshi. here's what i've got on the run down. a close call on the campaign trail. a flying object whizes right by the president's head. we'll show you the video. medical marijuana, it's on the ballot. is it really the best medicine for certain ailments. we'll ask the doctor. and potentially dangerous mistakes recorded by air traffic controllers, up 51% in the past year. how worried should we be?

we'll talk about that. but first, the saga of those 33 trapped miners may soon be coming to a triumph ant end. russ rescuers are expected to begin a dangerous operation to pull the miners to the surface on wednesday or thursday. their ordeal or surviving a mile and a half underground for more than two months has captivateded the entire world, certainly us here at cnn. one of final pieces of the rescue plan was put in place today with the installation of steel tubing to reinforce the top 295 feet of the rescue shaft. that's the rescue shaft there on the right. you can see the men on the bottom. the steel tubing was placed there because the rock and dirt are more likely to come loose and fall on the rescue capsule at that point. the diagram we're going to show you will refresh your memory on how the miners became trapped. it happened on august 5th during a partial cave-in, which took place sort of in the middle there, the miners couldn't get out so they went deeper into the

mine, where they found a living-room size chamber. and they have been there ever since. a couple guys have been running around between there and where the cave has been for exercise. a lifeline shaft was eventually opened to them. now, that's the little narrow shaft you can see just to the right of that -- those windy tunnels. that's been used to funnel food, water, medicine and other supplies to the miners, but it's really about that big. at the same time, workers began drilling the rescue shaft, which you see on the right there. and after weeks and weeks of drilling, victory on saturday. that's when the rescue shaft broke through to the miners who are at the bottom there. now, celebrations erupted in the miners' chamber and above ground. family members have been camped from day one anxiously waiting for the day their loved ones will come to the surface. let me show you, this animation will show how the rescue operation is supposed to work. the rescue capsule, dubbed "phoenix" will be lowered to the miners. the capsule is only 21 inches in diameter. one miner at a time. they have been monitoring these

guys to get them to come down in weight. one miner at a time lifted to the surface. the journey expected to take under 20 minutes. as it's pulled upward, the capsule is expected to rotate 350 degrees, some 10 or 12 times in the entire process. let's get a little more information on this, because it's going to be fascinate to go watch. it happened after all this time waiting and digging. we're going to want it to happen correctly. patrick opman is there at the san jose mine. patrick, tell us about this. first of all, why is it rotating, why couldn't they make it bigger for the miners who might have been bigger in size? tell us about some of these details. >> reporter: well, the miners, unfortunately, ali, had to get smaller, many of them, to fit in this capsule. we're told some of them lost as much as 20 pounds. if there has ever been a reason to go on a diet, these men had it. every inch that has to be drilled here takes so much time. so they drilled what they call the biggest hole possible to fit

in this capsule, which is a tight fit for all these men. it will be extremely clause tree phobic for men who already surrendered through clause tree phobic conditions. this will take place over my shoulder, the site of plan b drilling site. we saw that drill leave here just a while ago, ali, got a hero's welcome. they removed that drill because now it's -- it was over the mine shaft hole, and that's -- it will be the hole, the entrance to this mine. this morning they already lowered down that phoenix capsule. most of the way down. and in a test, they say it went off without a hitch. they said not even dust, much less rocks fell down. so they're feeling very, very confident. we saw these celebrations break out on saturday, really amazing, heartfelt celebrations both by the miners' families and rescue workers, and within short order, the rescue workers were back to work. and today we're seeing that they have put in a lining that's thick steel.

the mine shaft walls and rescue capsule, they will build a platform and get down to work either late tuesday or early wednesday. they will get down to the serious, serious work of bringing these men out, one at a time, even in the final moments, ali, of rescuing these men, it will be an ordeal for them. they will suffer to the very last of this, get to the family members. but as you can imagine, they are willing to go through a little bit more hell to get back up to the surface and be with their loved ones. >> no kidding, patrick, and we'll watch it along with you. patrick oppmann in chile. he's already been called a loose cannon, now carl paladino, the new york candidate for governor, is being blasted again. this time for comments on homosexuality. a chunk of yesterday's speech and today's defense of it is our sound effect this hour. >> don't misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. that would be a dastardly lie. my approach is live and let

live. i just think my children and your children will be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family. and i don't want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option. it isn't. >> that remark has to do with schooling children. my feelings on homosexuality are unequivocal. i have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. my only reservation is marriage. that's the only reservation i have. i have a lot of homosexuals working in my organization. >> that was carl paladino on the "today" show. that's not really what he said. because in both of those conversations, paladino slammed his opponent, democrat andrew cuomo, for bringing his kids to a gay pride parade. paladino, who just said, you heard him say, he has no problem with homosexuality, except for marriage, called the behavior at those parades disgusting. in response, the cuomo campaign

accused him of a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality. all of this coming on the heels of a brutal anti gay crime in new york city and a string of suicides after anti gay bullying. you expect angry words to start flying this close to an election, but not entire books. wait until you see president obama's close call on the campaign trail. we've got it on video, and i'll show it to you. [ male announcer ] opportunity is a powerful force. set it in motion... and it goes out into the world like fuel for the economy.

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you know why we have that serious music there? because this is serious. 22 days left until election day. angry words are not the only thing flying back and forth. take a very close look at this. ♪ all right. you may not see it here. so here's the slow motion. look at that, behind the president's head, it's like a ufo, but actually a book flying right behind the president's head. it was thrown from the crowd at a philadelphia rally, whizzing right behind the president. talk about a close call. doesn't look like he noticed it. as far as we can tell, he didn't see it. so far as we know, we don't know who threw it, and definitely no word on what the book was. nobody was hurt. could be a scary moment, though, joining us to talk about this and more importantly the president's 11th hour push to

fire up unenthusiastic democratic voters ahead of the midterm election, gloria borger, our senior political analyst. gloria, first of all, that was a strange scene. >> it was. >> unclear what that was, whether somebody out of excitement threw something or trying to get to the president. anything -- you make anything of that? >> you know, at this point, because we don't know whether someone threw it or whether it was dropped or whether someone meant to toss it at the president, you know, i mean -- if somebody meant to throw a book at the president, it's just some kind of cook, which the secret service has to be prepared for. and they are. and they're probably going over that tape that you just showed over and over again to figure out how they could prevent that from ever happening again. but i wouldn't read too much into it. >> okay, no pun intended. rchs right. >> let's talk about the election. the president was out -- that was in philadelphia. he's out there talking to people, and in -- that is to help some democrats who are running for office. if this wasn't a referendum about the president, it's certainly going to look like one for the next 22 days. >> you know, they're kind of

dammed if they do and dammed if they don't, ali. on the one hand, they want this to be hand to hand combat in every congressional race. they believe they've got better candidate, they've got enough money. and they believe that their good candidates can run against their candidates, and eke out and keep control of the house. on the other hand, they want to make this a choice election. between the republicans who they say would go, go back and the democrats who would take you forward. who better to make that case than barack obama? he's still popular in some areas of this country, so you know, in a way, they have to risk nationalizing the election, because because because of if their voters don't turn out, ali, then they're really going to have trouble keeping the house, so they've got to do it. >> so let me ask you this, then. are there two lists right now, the lists of people who are in trouble who would really like president obama to bring his magic into their districts, versus the other list of democrats in close races who are

proud of the fact they didn't support health care or want to talk about the fact they didn't support health care, didn't like the stimulus. you know, those who want to distance themselves from this administration? >> oh, yeah. and there's plenty of folks who want to distance themselves. and what barack obama can do right now is raise money for people. and that's what he's trying to do. but think of it this way, ali. you've got 49 house democrats who won in districts that john mccain carried. >> right. >> think about that. i don't think many of those folks are going to want barack obama to come in. you know, they're the more moderates, they've got to establish their independence. so, you know, there are like a handful of democrats who are even running on their votes for health care reform. they're mostly running away from the president. this is nothing new. you know, you see this in midterm elections all the time. you know, each man for himself. right? >> does the president being out there, historically, make a big difference? i guess you're right. it helps with raising money. >> yeah. it can. and it depends. if it's a presidential year,

absolutely. but right now, what the president can do for democrats is get their voters out there. you know, the danger here, though, ali s kind of interesting. independent voters who went for barack obama handed him the presidential election last time around. you know, by almost a 2 to 1 margin. they don't like him very much anymore. they disapprove of him. so if he goes out there to rally the democratic base, the question is what does that do to independent voters? do they take a look at it and say, that's what got me so mad in the first place, this guy can't fix the problems? or do they listen to him and say, you know, maybe things are going to turn around and get better. so it's those voters that are really up for grabs right now. and they don't seem to like the democrats. >> and that's a tricky one for the president, because he can't -- we're all over it, so he can't be giving different messages, depending where he goes. gloria, good to see you as always. correspondent gloria borger. republicans have been attacking the obama administration for deficit

spending. we know that. but on cnn's parker spitzer, paul krugman defended the deficit andnd it is an essential step in reviving the economy. >> you're a big fan of deficit spending. you say to get something we have to spend more. but for the average american at home who may already be in debt, the idea of spending when you don't have money doesn't make a whole lot of sense. can you explain why that's a good economic model? >> yeah. it's not at all times, right? when the question has recovered, once we're back at a point where we have a self-sustaining expansion, when businesses are spending because they're using their capacity, then you actually want to try and pay down the debt. certainly stop borrowing so much. but right now, nobody wants to spend. businesses don't want to spend, consumers don't want to spend. and the economy is deeply depressed. and the only player out there who can get this economy moving is the government. so now is the time for the government to go ahead and borrow, spend, get this economy moving, and then be responsible and then pull back, but only

after we've got this thing going. >> tonight at 8:00, elliot says wall street betrayed the middle class. kathleen wants to know why. so don't miss cnn's newest show, "packer spitzer" tonight. thousands of foreclosure proceedings have been frozen across the country, while paperwork gets checked and double checked. what does that mean for homeowners, what does it mean for the banks, what does it mean for your money? christine romans on the other side of this break with a very clear, simple [ commentator ] lindsey vonn! she stays tough! earlier, she had an all-over achy cold... what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer!

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you probably have been following this story. several banks have frozen foreclosures across the country. last week bank of america said it would freeze proceedings in all 50 states. there's going to be some

fallout, some good, some bad, but first you have to understand what's going on. christine romans has been on the story. we have talked about it a few times here, but once again new news came out and got a little confusing again. so set the stage for us, christine. >> it's interesting that it's confusing, ali, because here's the bottom line. the whole foreclosure process has been a mess for about three years now. and the messy paperwork on the end, on the way in, is being matched by messy paperwork on the way out. you have heard of this robosigning, in 23 states where you have to go through a court to have a foreclosure sold, a house foreclosed on and sold, they found that many of these processors at the banks had been just signing foreclosure documents without reviewing the loan, and the paperwork along the way. thousands and thousands of these loans, ali, had just been signed off on, when the paperwork hadn't been scrutinized. so now bank of america in all 50 states is going to stops foreclosure sales. that's the very last part of foreclosure process, and they're

going to review double-check, triple-check everything, just to make sure they haven't made a mistake. >> it does not mean that foreclosures are stopping on the front end, so if the bank decides to take your house, the beginning of the process is still continuing. >> yes. and there is sort of a time-out on the back end of this whole process, meaning the sheriff isn't going to padlock the front door, and the house isn't going to be sold at auction or sold to someone else with -- right away. there's going to be this time-out here. and what is that going to mean for the housing market? some people say that means it's going give some people some breathing room to catch up on their payments. i don't know, ali, these are people in the very final stages of the foreclosure process. they probably haven't paid for a long time. in some cases, these are thousands and thousands of thousands that are sitting empty. so if you're sitting next to that house that's sitting empty, you still could have an eyesore in your enabled for a while longer. if you're trying to buy that house, at a foreclosure sale and you were ready to pounce this

week, you're going to be able to buy. there are a lot of questions of what this means for the housing market. you know, you've got a lot of bad loans, and i would say bad supply that's got to get worked through this market. and housing -- the housing market will not recover until this happens. this is a big pause in any kind of recovery in housing. >> i'm just looking on the screen here. we're talking about 5 million loans that are delinquent or in some stage of foreclosure? >> you know, ali, this story affects probably more people than any other story i'm going to tell but today or tomorrow, because there are 5 million people who are in some stage of foreclosure. >> as you said, that affects all the rest of us. that -- you've got nothing to do with it, but looking to sell ahome, refinance a home and nothing to do with foreclosure and affects if you you're looking to buy a home. >> most people agree, there are hundreds of thousands of people right now this foreclosure -- this foreclosure freeze is going to affect, just because of the foreclosure. then it's hundreds of thousands more beyond that who are affected because it's your neighborhood, because you are trying to buy that house. you're trying to buy a house

in -- you know, you're trying to buy a house next door. you know, it's very -- it's been such a mess the last few years. don't you think that the messiness on the back end is matched only by the messiness on the front end? >> absolutely right. and i just wish it had been handled better. you and i talked about this in 2008 about how maybe the banks could do a better job of this at the front end, including trying to keep some people in their homes, not because it's a charitable thing to do, but because we were going to face this mess on this end. >> you know, ali, if you are in your house right now and you think, you know what, they have screwed it up so bad i'm not going to pay my payment next month, i would really caution you. don't get yourself in trouble because the paperwork has been messed up and the courts end or the bank's end. >> they'll fix it up eventually. >> yeah, i mean, i think -- you don't want to be part of this mess. try to stay out of it. >> i agree. okay, christine. christine, by the way, an author of a great new book called "smart is the new rich" and we are talking about fantastic stuff in that book. christine and i talk every single day, seven days a week, and you can snoop in on our

conversation by joining us on "your money," saturday at 1:00 p.m. eastern, sunday at 3:00 p.m. eastern. okay, let me give you a check on top stories now, the nobel prize for economics going to two americans and a brit for their research on frictions. or obstacles to market trade. the nobel committee says their advances help us understand ways in which unemployment, job vacancies and wages are affected by regulation and economic policy. i'm glad somebody understands that. the u.s. commonder in afghanistan, david petraeus will be investigating a botched rescue raid that's left a british hostage dead. she may have been killed by a grenade thrown by american forces trying to rescue her. it was first reported that the british aide worker was killed by her taliban captors. and so far, so good. on preps to save those 33 chilean miners trapped for over two months now, a test of rescue pod went flawlessly overnight. crews are shooting to start the

actual rescue operation as early as wednesday. we'll get an update in just a few minutes from our pack rick oppmann on the scene. was the movie "reefr madness" true, does pot make you crazy and does it really help with pain? we have a medical doctor coming up. i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru.

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. we are 22 days from election day. medical marijuana is on the ballot in several states across the country. california, oregon, south dakota and arizona. this week on cnn, we're bringing you all sides of this debate. pot is used in several states across the country to treat ailments like arthritis, cancer, chronic pain, fibromyalgia,

glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and nausea. but is it accepted medicine? dr. medical sin sterile something a pain medical specialist and professional. dr. sterling, thank you for being with us. give us a short answer. is marijuana -- we'll explore more in a minute. is marijuana a legitimate alternative when looking at pain relief? >> absolutely, it is. but its role is quite limited. there are well-documented studies and medical literature published in peer review journals that show beneficial effect in particularly difficult type of pain called neuro pathic pain. and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and loss of appetite in certain clinical situations. and in spas 'tisty associated

with multiple sclerosis. the data supporting its use in other applications is really quite limited. >> so would you say -- i mean, is it -- fair to say it's those applications, or is it a type of pain, meaning is it more useful for people -- who suffer chronic, very serious pain versus occasional not very serious pain? >> it's most useful in patients who have very severe pain, whether it's chronic or not. it would be appropriate to use it in somebody with severe neuro pathic pain due to cancer, but not appropriate to use in somebody with severe, chronic pain due to osteoarthritis, for example. >> let's look at how you would administrator this, or how it would be administered. part of the issue with legalizing marijuana is this is a class one drug, and if you legalize it, you're legalizing a class one drug. but you're talking about

administering it to patients who can benefit from it in a way that doesn't -- that's more effective than smoking it. >> the best way that i have seen, and this is supported in published studies, is a spray, sprayed into the mouth, so that it's not smoked. and it's absorbed very rapidly. and used very effectively. but unfortunately, because it's a schedule one drug, that it makes it very difficult to study this here in america. most of the published studies and the studies done on that particular route of administration have been done in europe. >> is it sensible, then, to -- i mean, is there a way around that? is there a way to study this properly and have enough peer reviewed studies out there with a schedule one drug? can that be done in the united states? >> yes, absolutely. the drug needs to be

reclassified out of what's called schedule one. schedule one, the scheduled imposed by the federal government, is for drugs that have -- and i would quote, no medical application, unquote. >> i see. >> it should be in a different category that does allow studies to go forward. >> in your mind, then, knowing what you know, knowing there's more work to be done, but you think there is a benefit, do you encourage people one way or the other in terms of how they're voting on these ballot measures? >> i would strongly recommend, although i know it's a formidable task for the people of california to inform themselves of the clear benefit and the clear dangers associated with this drug. it is not a benign drug. if it's smoked, it brings along with it the pulmonary toxicity associated with smoking anything. and there are some very

important psychiatric and psychological problems that accrue to the use of it in a chronic way. people -- there are studies that show that patients or i should say users who use this on a regular basis and substantial doses expose themselves to very, very significant psychiatric and psychological problems. >> dr. melvin sterling, what you said, i think, can apply to so much of what we're discussing right now. you would encourage people to get informed. formidable task it may be. i appreciate you helping us do that with our voters -- with you're viewers, but i do think anybody who is voting should take that task upon themselves. thanks very much for joining us, dr. melvin sterile something a pain medicine specialist, professor of medicine at university of california, and he's a private practice physician. all right, if you're already a nervous flier, a new report is not going to help you too much.

a huge spike reported in air traffic control errors. we'll take a look at what's behind that when we come back. [ female announcer ] in the coming weeks and months, you may notice something a little different about eggland's best eggs. now, in addition to the taste and nutrition you and your family love, eggland's best will proudly be displaying its support for susan g. komen for the cure®, the world's largest breast cancer organization, in its promise to end breast cancer forever. eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. and a greater commitment to what matters. because part of being the best is doing good.

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well, as a very frequent flier, this headline caught my eye. usair traffic controllers record 51% rise in operational errors. that's a quote. according to the "washington post," there were almost 1,900 incidents regarded last year, the biggest chunk of them, below cruising altitude.

the official jargon is, quote, loss of separation or proximity events. the faa requires planes to be at least three miles apart, horizontal horizontally, or 1,000 feet apart in altitude. three miles apart this way, a thousand feet apart this way. speaking of the faa, they're downplaying any 51% in errors, why, because they say it's thanks to better reporting procedures. they have been rolling out a voluntary system, the air traffic safety action program or astap, i'm not going to understand why it's voluntary. it's kind of like a whistle blower protection, though. the idea to let tower controllers report safety problems. again, isn't that supposed to be the way it happens? in a statement, faa spokeswoman tammy jones says, quote, we expect astap and other efforts will result in more reporting of incidents. so the way you're supposed to understand this is it doesn't necessarily mean there have been 51% more incidents. it just means 51% more incidents have been reported. which will help us spot problems or trends so we can address them

before the accident occurs. that's the end of her quote. fair enough. still an average of five operational errors every day, whether more are happening or we're just learning more about them, it is likely to unnerve some travelers. okay, a risky, dangerous mission. a mile and a half underground. the rescue of those 33 trapped chilean miners may begin as early as wednesday. details in globe trekking, coming up next. ay strong ? and sunshine gives us vitamin d. so if you've got osteoporosis, get out there, soak up a little sun. but you may need more than vitamin d, calcium, and exercise. ask your doctor about once-monthly boniva. boniva worked with my body to help stop and reverse my bone loss. in fact, studies show, one year on boniva worked for nine out of ten women. ( announcer ) don't take boniva if you have problems with your esophagus, low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or can't sit or stand for at least one hour. follow dosing instructions carefully. stop taking boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn,

as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. if jaw problems or severe bone, joint, and/or muscle pain develop, tell your doctor. i've got this one body and this one life. so i take boniva, which has helped me stop losing and start reversing. ask your doctor about boniva today. to get one month free, plus more tips, visit boniva.com or call 1-800-4boniva. can be unsettling. but what if there were a different story? of one financial company that grew stronger through the crisis.

when some lost their way, this company led the way. by protecting clients and turning uncertainty into confidence. what if that story were true? it is. ♪ hey, it's time now for globe trekking. let's go to northern chile, we'll spend a lot of time there

the next few days to follow the fate of those 33 trapped miners. their rescue is imminent. they're half a mile under ground. a moment ago i said they're a mile-and-a-half to half a mile, 2500 feet. this rescue could happen as early as wednesday. it's going to take some time, though. they're going to be very careful how they get these guys out. they spent two months under ground, they don't want to botch it in the last day. patrick oppmann joins us from the site. what have you got? >> reporter: well, ali, we're talking about the preparations. in the last few minutes or so, we have seen the helicopter doing hunch downs and takeoffs, practicing to take many of these men out. the helicopter will leave from three small helicopter pads. they basically carved out the side of the mountain and take them to a nearby hospital where they'll be checked out, given extensive tests over a period of two or three days and will be checked out for any problems, any possibility of diseases, injuries they could have suffered in the mine, but getting them to that point, ali s going to be such a difficult

process, involving setting down this rescue capsule, 2,300 feet underground, and plucking them one at a time. first, though -- they really have -- who are the heroes here. they volunteer to go down into the mine shaft, start telling the men which men will go first, sending those men up, helping them get in the rescue capsule and sending them up to the surface. each man will be sent up in the capsule one at a time, taking about 20 to 30 minutes per man, it's going to stretch this rescue over a period of hours. could go longer than a day. so it will be an ordeal until the very end, ali. >> but it's got to be exciting. how are they choosing who comes up first and who comes up last? >> reporter: it's so interesting. because officials have a plan here. this capsule is still relatively untested. they put it down empty today, about the same as putting a live human in it. they're afraid any number of

things can happen here, so they want the most technically capable men in the capsule. these are men if anything nets snagged, hung up, they can work through it. while they will be alone, they'll have a live video feed, they can communicate with rescuers, have communication systems, oxygen, any number of things, including an escape hatch that will lower them back down to the mine floor. but they will be alone, as they askenld incident. after that, they'll take the ten or so sickest men, men suffering from severe clause tree phobia, one suffering from diabetes. in the end, ali, it will come down to the men who are the strongest, toughest men who can watch their colleagues leave without fear they're being left behind. eventually it will come down to one man, and we do not yet know who that man will be. the last miner down this mine. >> he's going to get an international standing ovation when he makes it out there. that's going to be something to watch, the other 32 men and the rescuers leave and be the last guy. that is going to be a man with

great morale fortitude. patrick, it's an exciting couple days. patrick oppmann for us in children chile. the new york governor's race is drawing national attention because of a battle over homosexuali homosexuality. our political update next. ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ the new cadillac srx. the cadillac of crossovers. cadillac. the new standard of the world.

one of my favorite parts of the show, 22 days left until the midterm elections. bill clinton back on the campaign trail. time to look at the latest developments in the campaign. our two special guys, cnn senior political editor mark preston, deputy political director, paul steinhauser standing by in washington. i suppose i should be careful calling you our two special guys, but you are. take it away, guys. >> hey, ali, first of all, you

said one of my special times during the show. this should be your favorite time. >> it is! it definitely is. i love it. >> all right. let us rattle through the headlines before we get yelled at by the bosses. carl paladino, the republican running for governor up in new york. we have been talking about him all day. of course, he has made those controversial remarks being very critical of gays. well, who is carl paladino? well, he's a 64-year-old businessman. he is a devout catholic. he's a lawyer. and he's a very blunt guy. we have a story up on the cnn politics.com page, where it actually goes into detail, explaining about who carl paladino is, this guy who came out of nowhere, backed by the tea party, and beat the gop candidate. i would urge our viewers to check this out. a very interesting read from our own ed hornic. paul, what do you have? >> let's talk about the former president, bill clinton. he has truly become the democrats o democrats' go-to guy. less look at today, this morning, the president was in

lexington, kentucky, we have video of that, campaigning there with democrat senate nominee. but wait, there's more. he goes on to west virginia, next stop hour and a half from now, same thing, campaigning in west virginia. then he's up to upstate new york, the syracuse area this evening. he will be campaigning with the democratic member of the house facing a very tough re-election. ali, what do these three places have in common, they're all areas with moderate to conservative voters, all areas where clinton may be more popular than the current president, barack obama, all areas where the democrats want to see former president clinton. and ali, later this week, all the way across the country campaigning for other democrats. mark, back to you. >> you know, ali, you can't really -- it's kind of a weird win by subtraction. let me explain very quickly. out in west virginia, allen manahan was a 14-term democrat. he lost in the primary. democrats at the time were a little bit frustrated that he had a primary challenger. but in the end, they're very happy now, because the person who won, a gentleman by the name

of mike oliveerio has a chance of halding on to the seat in west virginia which tends to trend republican. he is a pro gun rights, pro life democrat. he also has been very critical of the health care bill. he is going to take on david mckinley, who is the republican nominee. but when you talk about perhaps having a win based upon a loss, west virginia might be one of those states where democrats actually win, ali. >> all right. and the new york governor's race has not been close. with all this that's going on with carl paladino, andrew cuomo is still way ahead in new york. >> way ahead, 14 points, according to the recent cnn opinion research corporation time poll. as paul pointed out earlier, in talking about this subject, some polls have it even more. so andrew cuomo has a very comfortable lead, ali, 22 days before election day. >> guys, i love talking to you, because you have all of the details. whenever i've traveled to talk about politics, these are the guys who reach out to say thai hey, i'm in this state, tell me

what i need to know. we'll check in with you in an hour. home of the best political team on television. okay. what do you like? what do you use on the internet? internet explorer, safari, on a mac, you use firefox, google chrome? what is your favorite internet web browser, and what about the ones you don't use? we'll give you the pros and cons of how you surf. it's dif - t adththod easy-to-swallow petes. [ e. clark ] i'm an engineer. i love my job. i can see what's it's doing for the community on a day-to-day basis.

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i'm fg to tell you what this means in a second but everybody who uses the web goes through a browser to use it. you may think that the browser you use is the only one out there. for most people that has been

internet explorer. microsoft's internet explorer. if you use apple a lot of people use safari and a lot use mozilla's firefox. there are a lot of choices but usually people stick with what they know or what came with the computer. this blue line is internet explorer in september of 2009 a year ago, 60% of users use that. that's dropped to below 50%. this line is firefox. almost imperceptible but a bit of an increase. down here is safari, which works -- comes with a lot of apple devices and works with that. there are a couple more used specifically on a phone and things like that. chrome is another popular one increasing in populularity becae it's put out by google. let's talk to two guys who really know about this. shelly palmer the host of live digital and good friend joining us from new york and mario armstrong the founder of tech

tech boom from d.c. shelly, do you have a preference? >> i use firefox almost exclusively because it's extensible and very much universal. a lot of people use ie because it comes with your windows device. everything else is everything else. chrome is google's evil empire although they say they're not evil. evil empire take over the world browser and others like opera and a few others are there but they're not important really. what you want to talk about is not so much ie. what you want to talk about is which version of ie. today the question is in ie 8 is how many people are still using ie 6 and 7 which are lest and less compatible. >> any of these browsers are generally an easy issue. if you decide after listening to this you want to try a different one you can do that. mario howe do i make a judgment? is this entirely personal taste

or something i should now know about what i should use? >> i think before in the past people were used to ie. it came with the computer and especially windows user, safari with mac. but then firefox came out and introduced tabbed browsing and a new way to search multiple web pages in one screen. some of the different browsers now have different features. they all do the same thing and all basically allow you to view web pages on the internet but you might like chrome better if you have use other google applications like i do. i'm a fan of google chrome because i use other google apps. it's simple and integrated. i love firefox for the security but also its open source. that makes it easily customizable. lastly on ie, i use that a lot for testing websites. i know a lot of developers that create websites and so many are

using ie 6 and older versions -- you still have to make sure your website -- >> what do you do about that? >> that's really the problem, ali? >> what they use? >> it's very easy to do. what happens, though, a lot of people browse in the office. they work on business computers given to them by their i.t. departments. i.t. departments have been very slow to move up to the later versions of ie. so when you do a program now, you have to test a lot of different browsers and the biggest problem is those with older browsers can't experience the web like they're supposed to. to upgrade you just do it and you need a decent computer to have a decent web experience. no matter what browser -- >> is this sk the viewers should think about if they're running on slightly older computers and not ready to buy a new one, is there one browser better if your computer isn't a heavyweight? >> the question about better has

to do with the experience you have when upg to visit a web page. so the uptick in safari you saw is the uptick in iphones because the macjichb to be sales have been better. chrome works 100% with the google apps. the big issue you have right now is firefox is what is known as extensible and ie is what the corporations give you. it's a dealer's choice. >> here's an interesting point too. with all this browser war going on -- shelly is right about the office place. here's an interesting side note or footnote. ibm just made an announcement they're making all their employees download as a standard the firefox web browser. so that was a major industry statement if you will to say a company like ibm is going to embrace that browser companywide. >> guys, very good. what a pleasure talking to you. you know so much about this. great to have you as our tech friends. mario armstrong and shelly

palmer. take care. 200 new species were discovered in papua, new guinea. we're going to introduce you to some of the creepiest crawleys.

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♪ free-credit-score ♪ you won't regret it at all! ♪ check the legal y'all. >>offer applies with enrollment in triple advantage.® all right. time now for "odds & ends." today we have new pictures of newly discovered animals. conservation international released the pictures of 200 found species in papua, new guinea. start with this katydid, a new species of mosula. i don't know what that is. it has a dark emerald coloration. looks like a cricket to me. that's never been seen before. okay. next. another katydid bright green in

color this one. that's really bright green. check out those eyes. according to conservation international it likely feeds on flowers of the forest, tall trees. check out this new frog. cue the frog. it looks like a frog. look at the funny looking webs, though. lives nearly 100 feet above the ground in the canopy. this frog is more often heard than seen because of where it lives. the males get super loud at night. finally check out this. this thing creeped me out. it's a tub-nosed fruit bat. this is not a new species. it is still not yet been formally described or named in scientific circles, plus it's just a cool picture of a creepy looking animal. for more go to my blog cnn.com/ali. it's a new our. i'm ali velshi. tell you what i've got on the rundown. marijuana on the ballot in several states. could buying pot become as easy as picking up a pack of cigarettes in at least one of them?

also, the guy who made "dirty jobs" famous on a mission to make stimulus jobs available for people who need them most. how good is your job? the list of best american jobs is out. but the saga of the 33 trapped miners may soon come to a very triumphant end. we've been following this from the beginning. rescuers in northern chile are expected to begin a risky and dangerous operation to pull the miners to the surface on wednesday or thursday. the ordeal of surviving half a mile underground for more than two months captivated the entire world. one of the final pieces put into place with the installation of steel tubing to reinforce the top 290 feet of the rescue shaft. it's needed there because the rock and dirt are more likely to come loose and fall on to the rescue capsule. this diagram shows how they were trapped in the first place. push into that where the collapse was. they couldn't get out and went further down and found themselves in a space the size

of a living room. this happened august 5th during a partial cave-in. they got into that living room sized area, sort of a shelter and been there since. they've been getting stuff through a lifeline shaft. not the shaft rescuing them on the right. it's the middle one, about a four inch shaft to funnel food, water, medicine and other supplies to them. at the same time, workers began drilling the rescue shaft. they broke through on saturday after weeks and weeks of drilling. the rescue shaft broke through to the miners. celebrations erupted both down in the bottom and above ground where family members have been camped from day one for the day when their loved ones will be brought to the surface. this animation that you're looking at shows how the rescue operation is supposed to work. the capsule will be lowered to the mine. the people get in. got oxygen, equipment and escape hatch if things don't work out. they can go back to the bottom.

only 21 inches in diameter. one at a time will be lifted in a journey that will take about 20 minutes. as it's pulled up, the capsule is expect to rotate 10 or 12 times as it gets there. patrick is on the scene for us and will be there when this happens. patrick, tell me something. i'm trying to get my hand around all that's going on. is it relevant this capsule is going to rotate as it brings these miners up? >> reporter: absolutely. that's one of the issues the miners face is nausea. they'll spin. slowly but spinning. that's one of the reasons they're putting them on a liquid diet, something a nasa space agency recommended. there are isolation experts down here. they are extremely helpful with the chilean government that has never dealt with a mine rescue on this size. and some said they never dealt with men suffering isolation quite this long. they said trained astronauts have trouble with this kind of isolation in space.

imagine how miners, fairly simple men, some with very little education withstood it and held up. in 48 hours we could be watching pictures and plan to be watching pictures of these miners coming to the surface live. what a day that will be! not just for the rescue workers and the world but these men's families. i've spent quite a bit of time with their families. they're on pins and needles the last few days. they're writing the last letters and able to send them down the same shaft you were discussing a moment ago and sending the last letters to these men before they come to the surface. man yift men are sending letters back, letters they want to keep from their families, keep sakes they've had throughout this ordeal, little things that they've made in the mine that they want to have afterwards to remind them of the ordeal. they won't be able to take them on the rescue capsule. they're making final preparations before they get the fir breath of freedom, first hug from the loved one. >> it will be incredible.

we'll watch it together. incredible to see not just that first one but every one after that and finally that last one and to see this ordeal that the world has been watching come to an end. thank you very much. we will check in constantly. patrick oppman, art paf the team in chile. already called a loose cannon. carl paladino is being blasted again this time for comments on homosexuality. a chunk of yesterday's speech and today's defense of it is our sound effect. >> don't misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. that would be a dastardly lie. my approach is live and let live. i just think my children and your children will be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family and i don't want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option. it isn't. >> that remark has to do with schooling children.

my feelings on homosexuality are unequivoc unequivocal. i have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. my only reservation is marriage. that's the only reservation i have. i have a lot of homosexuals working in my organization. >> all right. in both of those conversations paladino slammed his opponent democrat andrew cuomo for bringing his kids to a gay pride parade. so despite the fact paladino says he has no problem with homosexuality except gay marriage he said behavior at those parades is disgusting. the cuomo campaign accused him of a stunning homophobia and basic disregard for equality. all of this on the heels of a brutal anti-gay series of hate crimes in new york city and a string of suicides after anti-gay bullying. fascinating story coming up. he was the youngest dean of students in the history of boston university, one of the first black administrators at a

traditionally white south african university. now he's a university president and has strong ideas about the future of education. i talked to him last time. now i'll talk to him with you. when i was 16, i was hired as a cashier 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. ♪

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a couple of days ago i was in charlotte, north carolina, having a conversation as part of the alliance for digital equality. it was a conversation about giving everybody fair and affordable access to the internet so that they can prosper. and the discussion sort of turned around the fact that access to the internet today is like access to water or electricity was decades ago. i got into a conversation with the president of the university that was hosting the event, johnson c. smith university in charlotte, north carolina. the president, ronald carter and i got into a conversation about what really needs to be done to make education better and more fair for people. and i wanted to continue that conversation with the president here on my show because every day we do "chalk talk" and we talk about the issues facing public education. president, thank you very much for being with us. it was great to talk to you have then. i'm glad to continue our conversation here. you were counter intuitive at a

conference which said we can narrow the gap, we can level the playing field for a lot of minorities, for a lot of disadvantaged students if everybody has access to the internet. i don't think you necessarily disagreed with the idea everybody should. but you brought up the point that that's not going to solve a very fundamental problem we have in preparing kids for a proper education. not just in science and technology and engineering and math but a proper education in general. pick up where we left off. >> okay. good afternoon, ali. thank you for having me on. i deeply believe that we must accept the fact that digital communication technologies do not occur in a vacuum. they are not autonomous. they occur in a social context. and my concern is that if we are not teaching our young people how to read effectively, how to become critical thinkers, how to negotiate complex ideas, all the technology in the world will not

get us where we want to be at the end of the day because we're talking about individuals who think. >> you have got to draw for johnson c. smith university on a varied and diverse group of students. they come from high schools. and many of them come from public high schools. what can the high schools be doing better to prepare them to get the most out of an undergraduate college experience like the one that you offer? >> well, it doesn't just start with the high schools. and, again, this is one of my concerns. we have a tendency to talk in abstractions. we abstract the high school from the middle school, from the elementary school, from pre-k and from the parents. we have to lack at this wholistically. we have to begin to say how do we connect the dots from the time a child is born to the time we want that child to graduate with some purpose, some value claim for education.

as long as we do not do that, then we will graduate students from high school who cannot think in a very critical fashion. so i would say it is the responsibility of a parent to begin to talk to their children in full sentences, to teach them spacial concepts so that they can begin to nee negotiate complex ideas. we have to have something to work on. so it has to be a continuum that is kekd, it is tightly connected so that by the time we graduate a student ready for college, that student is a very critical thinker and knows how to deal with complex issues. that student knows how to write a formula if a is a divisor of "b" and "c" what is the relationship. >> it is a continuum, you have to connect the dos dots but when you see students so well prepared to come into your university and graduate with a degree that adds value to the rest of their lives, what would

you say has worked properly for them? what's the combination of what happens at home versus what happens in pre-k and primary school and secondary school? >> well, one, i note that the parents or the parent is engaged in the education of their children. two, they have been taught by mentors. you can always ask a young person about who are your mentors in elementary, middle school or high school. when they can talk about mentors who helped them stay on their growing edge, that impacts as well. and then what are they doing in terms of extracurricular activities, co-kur lar activities? how engaged are they in the community. these are some of the variables that i think impact on the quality of students and their appreciation for learning. that's what we're trying to do. we want students to come into a situation where they really want to learn. they see a value claim for

learning. then we can take it from there. but it's the motivation that counts. >> motivation and noncognitive variables. i love it. ronald carter, thank you, because we have this conversation so often. we'd like you to join us on a more regular basis to help us advance this conversation. it's easy to look at it in abstractions and blame one group or another but really educating r kids is a much more sophisticated and complicated ordeal than that. thank you for bringing that to our attention. the president of the johnson c. smith university in charlotte, north carolina. take a look behind me at the big board. the dow is above 11,000, up about 10 points to 11,016. closed for the first time above 11,000 since may on friday. don't get carried away. a big round number. no big deal. what you should know is we had unemployment numbers on friday. they weren't good. they were bad. but the private sector did actually create some jobs. the government is getting out of the business of creating jobs as

so many people of america asked them to do. that causes some problems but there is some hope that the federal reserve may get involved to prop the government up. by the way those who don't like government intervention that is a form of intervention. ike it's. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's either this magic number i'm supposed to reach, or... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's beach homes or it's starting a vineyard. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 come on! tdd# 1-800-345-2550 just help me figure it out in a practical, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's-make-this-happen kind of way. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a vineyard? give me a break. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ male announcer ] looking for real-life answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to your retirement questions? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 get real. get started. talk to chuck. tdd# 1-800-345-2550

let me bring you up to speed with some top stories here. the u.s. commander in afghanistan general david petraeus will investigate a botched rescue raid that left a british hostage dead. british prime minister cameron says he's been informed she may have been killed by a grenade thrown by american forces trying to rescue her. it was first reported she was killed by taliban captors.

president obama is urging congress to approve a $50 billion plan to upgrade the nation's crumbling infrastructure. he says it's vital to creating construction jobs and keeping the country competitive in the global economy. republicans have already expressed opposition to that plan. in the middle east israeli prime minister benjamin netta hugh says he's willing to renew a stop to the settlements only if they acknowledge israel as a jewish state. a freeze on such construction expired last month. and nearly half of the people living with hiv in this country are african-americans, yet most black churches in the u.s. rarely discuss the issue. here's cnn's soledad o'brien. >> reporter: two illnesses threaten jeffrey gavin. his church knows only about one. >> i have what's called morphand syndrome. that makes me very tall.

i'm constantly in pain. i don't have the gene that produces connective tissue. >> reporter: he feels compelled to tell his pastor, buster sorries, the rest of his story. >> no longer am i dying from morphans but i'm living with hiv. >> reporter: jay gavin, as his friends know him, found out he was hiv positive four years ago. he's never mentioned it in church. keeping that kind of secret is common in the african-american community. >> if the average person in this church knew how many people they interacted with in this church who were hiv positive, it would be scandalous. >> reporter: the pastor doesn't know gavin's hiv status yet. gavin is going to tell him today. gavin knows he's not alone. statistically in his church of

7,000 people, there should be about 100 other members with the disease. the cdc says it's the stigma in the african-american community that's putting many black at higher risk of contracting the disease. nearly half the people living with hiv in the united states are african-american. >> hi. >> hello. how are you? >> good. jeffrey gavin for the pastor. got a 4:00 meeting with him. >> reporter: gavin is gay and contracted hiv from sex. but the message he wants to send to his community is anyone can get it. >> how you doing, man? >> thank you so much. well, thank you for this. >> how are you doing? >> reporter: after an hour long meeting they finally emerge. >> thank you so much. >> yeah. >> reporter: you look so relieved. >> i am. i want to shout for joy, because i see the avenue that this is

leading to. >> reporter: gavin sees himself as an ambassador leading open discussions. but his pastor has a more tempered response. >> whether or not he is a symbol of something that can be healthy for the church and inspiring for people who are hiv-positive, i think that remains to be seen. >> reporter: regardless of the outcome, gavin says he'll keep pushing. reporting for "in america" soledad o'brien. >> the black churches fought for civil and human rights and now is waging a war on debt. you don't want to miss "almighty debt: a black in america special" october 21 right here on cnn. buying marijuana could become as easy as buying a pack of cigarettes at the corner. after the break we take you to the state where it might happen in less than a month. ♪

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t adwiwiout food al t 22 days until election day here in this country. one of the always controversial items on the ballot in some states, legalizing marijuana. joe johns, part of the best political team on television, gives us a tour of the states in question and shows how you could soon be able to buy pot as easily as cigarettes and liquor. >> reporter: four states have

initiatives on the ballot this fall that would change their marijuana laws in big ways. and one of those initiatives, the one in california, proposition 19 it's called, would pretty much legalize retail sales of the drug for recreational use. that's right. if the voters go for it, what one was called the gateway drug, the so-called evil weed that led to cocaine, heroin, ruined lives and spent thousands to jail could suddenly after all these years become okay to do for fun in california. the three other states with pending legislation -- oregon, south dakota and arizona -- are looking to either legalize marijuana for medical purposes or to modify the medical marijuana laws they already have in place. it turns out coast to coast 14 states and the district of columbia already allow medical use, which is something a former national anti-drug czar sees as a problem. to him this stuff is like booze and if legalized it will have the same negative effect on society.

>> an intoxicant does make people feel euphoric. it's part of the pathway to addiction. doesn't mean there's medical meth or medical jack daniels. this is a sham. >> reporter: okay. so how did we get here anyway especially considering all the reminders we've had about the evils of marijuana? the old black and white movie "refer madness" warning the public about it. >> just say no. >> reporter: or former first lady nancy reagan's famous "just say no to drugs" campaign in the 1980s. criminologist peter reuters say attitudes have changed about marijuana especially since medical marijuana though controversial has become a legal reality. >> it does give an aura of usefulness to this drug which previously in every public presentation by any official agency was always very negative. >> reporter: use of the drug hasn't exactly skyrocketed recently. but the one thing that has

changed is the economy. money-hungry states are looking for new sources of revenue and already wondering whether pot is the next cash crop. >> governments certainly are -- if they become promoters of legalized marijuana, if legislatures start -- it's clearly for -- in most cases would be for revenue reasons. >> reporter: still, some predict legalization in california could cause chaos starting in the courts such a state law if passed would clash with federal law launching a big battle that could end up in the supreme court. but at least for now it's all just a pipe dream with a lot of speculation, though the world of drug enforcement could look a lot different when the smoke clears on election day. joe johns, cnn, washington. be sure to stick with us on cnn. tomorrow on this show we'll talk to both sides of the debate with representative from yes and no on proposition 19 in california.

this is the proposition to legalize marijuana. okay. a dangerous mission a half mile underground. the rescue of those 33 trapped miners may begin as early as wednesday. talking about chile. i love my job. i can see what's it's doing for the community on a day-to-day basis. natural gas is cleaner burning than most fossil fuels and it's vital to our energy needs. increasingly we're finding gas in hard to reach areas, but now we've developed technology that enables us to access gas in hard rocks so we can bring more fuel to homes and help provide a reliable source of energy into the future. ♪

breaking news. explosives have been found in a garbage bag at a cemetery in manhattan. straight to allan chernoff who has the latest. what's it all about? >> a very bizarre story here as you said. nine bricks of military grade explosives found in a cemetery on new york's lower east side. actually, the east village. second avenue and second street. the new york city marble cemetery. nine bricks. it's c-4 explosives.

the police tell us these explosives were not wired to go off. but nonetheless, they were found this morning by a caretaker in the cemetery. nine bricks of this explosive. and the bomb squad showed up. they cordoned off the street. they didn't evacuate the area. keep in mind this is a relatively small cemetery. you might think explosives in a cemetery nobody could possibly be hurt. this is not far from the street itself. but, again, very bizarre situation. explosives found in a large black garbage -- plastic garbage bag. and the police commissioner will be commenting on this within the hour. so, ali, not the typical story but then again this is new york city. >> yeah. i know we always ask you to become experts on things you just learned about. we've all heard of c-4 explosives. is it common -- these are military grade explosives. would it be common that people would be able to get their hands on it? >> right.

no. we certainly wouldn't think so. not civilians anyway. why would such explosives show up anywhere in manhattan? most of all, you would think in a cemetery. this is one of the oldest cemeteries in new york city. and police are trying to figure this one out. but, again, they were not set off. they were not wired. so no damage. but, nonetheless, a very bizarre discovery in the east village of new york. >> interesting to finds out whether they were put there for somebody to take or pick up or whether they were just -- somebody was trying to get rid of them. you'll be on the story. we'll listen in for commissioner ray kelly who will speak shortly. i understand we're expecting him to talk about something we've been discussing and that is the hate crimes that occurred -- the attacks on a gay man in new york. >> that's right. we've been waiting to hear about the ninth suspect. but our understanding is they do

not yet have this person actually apprehended. there have been some discussions with an attorney representing a possible ninth suspect. but thus far, they have not brought anyone in. we did talk quite a bit on friday and over the weekend about those horrific hate crimes. >> okay, allan, thanks very much. we'll stay on the story and get back to you. allan chernoff in the new york bureau on the explosives found in the cemetery in manhattan. republicans have been attacking the obama administration for deficit spending but on cnn's "parker/spitzer" paul krugman defended the deficit. he said i's an essential step in reviving the economy. >> you say to get something we have to spend more. but for the average american at home who may already be in debt, the idea of spending when you don't have money doesn't make a whole lot of money. cuff he have plain why that's a good economic model? >> right. it's not at all times. when the economy has recovered,

once we're back when we have self sustaining expansion when businesses are spending because they're using their capacity then you want to try to pay down the debt. certainly stop borrowing so much. but right now nobody wants to spend. businesses don't want to spend. consumers don't want to spend. and the economy is deeply dprelsed. and the only player out there who can get the economy moving is the government. so now is the time for the government to go ahead and borrow, spend, get this economy moving and then be responsible, then pull back but only after we've got this thing going. >> tonight at 8:00, elliot says wall street betrayed middle class americans. katherine wants to know why. tonight. have you ever wrangled several hundred thousand snakes? how about farms for maggots? somebody has got to do it. you're going to meet the guy who has done the dirty jobs no one else wants to do and how he's helping hard working americans like you. [ dr. banholzer ] every once in awhile

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okay. this guy is my hero. today's "mission possible." microe. you've seen him on "dirty jobs." he's tried 300 of the dirtiest jobs out there like cleaning skulls. here's a taste of what he does. >> right there. >> right here? hey. look. look. there you go. would it be polite just to push the poo off her head while nursing? >> all right. feeding cute baby canikangaroos isn't the dirtiest job but to bring respect to skilled workers who make it possible for the rest of us. rig workers, car technicians. there's nothing this guy won't

take on. we expect to see a shortage of these workers in the next few years. doesn't feel like that in the economy we have now but mike has been building them up. he joins us here from san francisco. good to see you. what a pleasure to have you on the show! >> nice to be had. thank you very much. >> you have a unique perspective on what's going on in america right now because so many of the jobs we've lost have been the dirty, tough jobs. they're actually in some case s. the first to go in a tough economy but in many cases the most necessary jobs because these are people doing things that keep our infrastructure going so the rest of us can live our happy fat live. >> sure. i don't know that we've lost the jobs so dramatically as we have lost touch with the people who do the jobs. and of course that's always the first step in marginalizing something. i can tell you the last six years we've been to just about every state, worked in about every industry and you start to see the same kind of things over

and own again. a growing skills gap, a crumbling infrastructure. and just a general dysfunctional relationship with dirt. there really are a couple of different pieces of this country that are not connected. >> what can we do about it and what are you doing about it? >> i got a tv show and i talk about it. beyond that, my skills are sadly limited, i'm afraid. we've done a pretty good job of getting a general tribute out there over the last six or seven years with the show. two years ago, though, i asked my viewers to help me sort of put a point on the problem. and they helped me launch a website called mikerowe works on labor day which calls to light the skills gap isn't going to close itself and if we don't do something soon we'll deal with fewer steam fitters and pipe fitters and electricians and plumbers and carpenters. that's going to be a real problem. mikerowe works served as a model

of other campaigns. those in turn get connected with other companies. >> what's the message? if we respect what these people do more, understand and see what they do, we'll understand how important they are to society and make sure they're paid properly and treated properly? what's the take-away? >> well, that's a big part of it. the big take-away for me is encouraging conversation where parents and kids can sit down and accurately talk about all the options that are on the table. we've got this idea that a four-year degree is basically the only ticket to happiness and success. and when you celebrate one form of education at the expense of all the other ones, you really do the whole country a disservice. having that conversation is a good start. but i've got to tell you too so many of the things we define as problems -- infrastructure, manufacturing, the skills gap, i think they're really symptoms of this larger problem that so many of us are just disconnected from the people who haul our water. >> what is the thing that we'd learn the most if we spent more

time with these workers of america whose work we take for granted? >> humor. i would say that in so many ways over the last couple of decades, we've fallen into this trap of poor training, dirty jobs and hard work with a certain kind of predictable drudgery. and that's just not really the way it is. there's great, good humor out there in the trenches. and there's a real sense of camaraderie among the men and women who do this kind of work. so to start with, you just begin accurately portraying what these jobs are like. it's not just making little rocks out of big rocks. >> mike, you do a great job of that on your show. you make the horrible jobs look like something people want to do it. it's hard work. it's dirty work but it's honorable work and noble. you've done a lot to show what people do. thanks very much for doing it and thanks for being on our show. >> my pleasure. i'll do it again next tuesday 9:00-ish. >> we'll tune in.

mike rowe, creator and host of discovery channel's "dirty jobs." for more information go to my blog cnn.com/ali. we'll link you to him although i think you know where to find him. we're going to find out on the other side what americans really think about their leaders in congress. ugly poll numbers coming up next.

i just want to -- new york police commissioner ray kelly talking about the explosives found in manhattan and the hate crimes performed this weekend. listen in. >> the explosives that were found here. questions? [ inaudible ] >> we'll be able to get a better reading of that when the explosives are brought to the firing range. there's writing on it. it appears to be military righting, a serial number, something of that nature. [ inaudible ] >> i'm sorry?

[ inaudible ] >> well, it depends on where you put the explosives. if you put it in the building -- you know what they call tamping as far as explosives are concerned. something has to be on top of it. it depends on where you put it. this amount of material was used in the london bombings in 2005. but of course it was separated. it was four separate bombings in that case. though it's difficult to say, again, inside a building obviously it could have caused an awful lot of damage. >> commissioner, how would someone get hold of this -- >> one brick is one and a quarter pounds. here's pictures of them that -- they were in a -- as i say, a black plastic garbage bag. one of the bricks is broken. >> sir, how would someone get hold of material like this? is it commonly available, easily available? >> no, it's not commonly

available. it could be taken from perhaps a military installation years ago. we don't have the age of this material. it's difficult to tell. but hopefully our investigators will get a better reading of it when it goes to the firing range. >> do they have serial numbers? is it possible -- >> it has a number on it but it's not really a serial number. i think it's more of a product number that describes for military purposes what's inside the wrapping. it's wrapped in plastic itself. although you can't really see it on this picture. but this is sort of plastic wrapping material. [ inaudible ] >> no. this cemetery was founded in 1831, i believe. we've had no other issues that i'm aware of concerning this location. >> is the administration able to tell you why -- how it could have ended up there at all buried? >> no. not at this time. >> can you describe the

circumstances under which the volunteer found it? what was the volunteer doing or volunteering on behalf of? >> the volunteer as i understand was cleaning up. found the bag sitting next to a tree. according to the gardener, that bag is located just a few feet from where it was dug up, two to three feet. >> is the gardener an employee of the cemetery or outside contractor? >> that's a good question. i'm not certain. >> is the caretaker -- did he realize what he had found or did he know? >> it's not clear at this time as to whether or not he understood precisely what was in the bag. [ inaudible ] >> no. well, it was thought -- on the back fence, close to the back fence of the cemetery, there's a structure on the other side of the fence. but you could reasonably -- i mean, glean from that that it was put there to threaten any

structure. again, there is no detonating device inside the bag. >> can you elaborate on the -- found on the outside of the -- you said it was religious rambling. any -- can it be traced to any one religion? >> it had reference to christ and it was supposedly signed by jesus christ. >> was it written on the vehicle or was it written on a piece of paper? >> no, it was on a piece of paper affixed to a vehicle, an envelope, a police car. [ inaudible ] >> okay. we'll continue to monitor. this is new york police commissioner ray kelly talking about these bricks of c-4 military grade explosive that were found by a volunteer who was cleaning up a cemetery in manhattan. we'll find out more. we'll keep on listening in to find out whether there's any information we have to bring to you. those explosive were not geared to detonate. they were just there in a

garbage bag. the whole thing is a little puzzling. we'll try to get to the bottom of it. [ commentator ] lindsey vonn! she stays tough! earlier, she had an all-over achy cold... what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus rushes relief for all-over achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus. you may notice something a little different about eggland's best eggs. now, in addition to the taste and nutrition you and your family love, eggland's best will proudly be displaying its support for susan g. komen for the cure®, the world's largest breast cancer organization, in its promise to end breast cancer forever. eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. and a greater commitment to what matters. because part of being the best is doing good.

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♪ yeah, we really do - ♪ and there's nothing wrong - [ bird squawks ] ♪ with what i feel for you ♪ i could hang around till the leaves are brown and the summer's gone ♪ [ announcer ] when you're not worried about potential dangers, the world can be a far less threatening place. take the scary out of life with travelers insurance... and see the world in a different light. we just talked to mike rowe "dirty jobs" and he was telling us how we sort of have to get out of our little space and see what other people do and you get a better respect for the work others do. maybe you're looking for a new job. maybe this economy forced you into looking for a new job. maybe you're craving a career change. i have a place for you. today on "taking the lead" we have some of the best jobs in america. not the "dirty jobs."

cnn.com's poppy harlow who i think will admit to having one of the best jobs. she travels everywhere and talks to people. we generally have great jobs but our jobs don't show up on the list of best jobs in america. >> you know why? because stress is one of the criteria, a lack of stress. i think that's why our job doesn't make the list. we have great jobs and we love it here. it's interesting cnn money just came out with a list of the top ten best jobs in america. i want to pull it up so you can take a look. it certainly wasn't what i expected to be on the list. number one software architect. head on down to physical therapist, environmental engineer. the next five. civil engineers also on this list. sales director and then biomedical engineer. >> what are the criteria? >> the criteria are interesting. great pay. it took away basically any job that has a median of 60 grand or lower. good growth prospects so

basically you have to have at least 10% ten-year growth prospect or better. and quality of life. stress and just overall quality of life. flexibility, et cetera. so the number one on the list there of course is software architect. but we talked to a civil engineer. the reason we did is because they have a 24% growth prospect for that entire sector. the median pay is 80 grand. the top pay 120 grand. take a look at why this woman enjoys her job so much as a civil engineer. take a look. >> civil engineering from day one that's what i wanted to be. i saw things being built and i found that very exciting. a lot of people especially that are not engineers might think of engineering as a very you sit at a desk, do calculations and you're sitting in front of a computer. that's not what engineering is all about. there is a technical aspect and discussing design but a lot of it is out in the field going out to the project site, looking at the issues right in front of me and coming up with an answer

right then and there and seeing how we can solve the problems so the project keeps moving. we kid around and say architects make it look pretty and the engineers make it stand but during the design phase, the architect and the engineer work together and then the contractor has got to execute that was planned. if we do our job right, no one knows we exist. >> and you know what's so interesting about that is the fact we talk about how the infrastructure in this country is crumbling, we have to fix it. a lot of that stimulus money went to people just like her, to civil engineers to build roads and bridges. >> she said if we do it right no one knows we exist. that's a problem because they're having difficulty recruiting people because it's not thought of as the sexy people. i was off last week for a conference with the national academies of engineering. that's their big thing is they're busy solving the big probable lels of humanity and people think of them going to

the office and working with a slide rule. >> and we need more women in the field. >> software architect has been a growth area many years. i think it's important for people to go to this list because it is not just good pay. it is quality of life and the job growth prospects. we've got to look beyond this year and the next year. fantastic stuff. poppy, good to see you as always. go to money.com to see the best jobs in america. it's a list worthwhile looking at. is being gay in america getting tougher instead of easier? ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah! ah! whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what is that? how come my dap wasn't like that? huh? it's just an "us" thing. yeah, it's a little something we do. who else is in this so-called "us"? man, i don't know. there's a lot of us. [ chuckles ] ask your friends what it's like to be part of a group that's 40 million strong. state farm insures more drivers than geico and progressive combined. it's no surprise, with so many ways to save and discounts of up to 40%. so call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online.

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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. time now for the "xyz." between proposition 8 in california and the back and forth on "don't ask, don't tell"

one has the sense that gay rights are lurching forward at low speed and experiencing some setbacks. at least the issue is part of the national conversation. that's a good thing, right? after listening to the rest of the conversation you might think something different entirely. there's the michigan assistant attorney general who has been harassing the gay student body president at the university of michigan. there's the rutgers student that took his own life after an intermatd sexual encounter was broadcast on the internet without his knowledge. the attack at the stone wall inn in new york, the cradle of the gay rights movement a week or so ago and horrific attacks in the bronx being called the worst anti-gay hate crime in new york ever. might seem that being gay is tougher not easier which have makes it poignant today is national coming out day. coming out is already hard enough. the courage it has to take to facial being disowned or harassed or shunned is unbelievable. if you're still in the closet all these hateful headlines have made you slam the door shut tight and that's understanley.

all i can say is i hope someday we live in a society where we can be our honest true selves every day and every where. that's my "xyz." brooke baldwin in the "cnn newsroom" now. candidates backed by the tea party movement are under fire. one guy is lashing out against gays. another is seen in pictures dressed up as a nazi. he will be joining me live. i'll have tough questions for him. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. who goes up first? the decisions are being made right now in chile as 33 trapped miners count down the hours till freedom. so why are rescuers fearing breakouts of panic and loneliness? did brett favre send raunchy pictures and voicemails to a new york jets employee? the nfl is looking into it. he's in new york tonight where he's expected to face the