but because of my faith, i believe joy comes in the morning. >> thank you. bishop t.d. jacques and our panelists as well and our guests this evening, you can hear more from our guests right now at cnn.com/blackinamerica, also chime in as well on twitter and facebook. i'm soledad o'brien. thanks for watching us tonight. the news continues right now on cnn. the news continues now on cnn. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this hour, everything you need to know for your week ahead, including the next big international crisis unfolding right now in haiti. a fast-moving and fast-killing infectious disease has already killed hundreds of people. it is expected to get worse. and uncovering a growing and disturbing trend. drunken moms, mothers taking to the bottle when their kids, the job and the husband become too

much to handle. and the young mesh swimming champion cut down in the prime of his life right in the middle of an overseas competition, found dead in the ocean. his coach tonight with an emotional interview about what went wrong. hello, everyone. i'm don lemon. thanks for joining us tonight. nine days until election day, and the entire momentum of this campaign could be turning. democrats are now claiming the polls are tightening in their favor, including in nevada for the senate majority leader harry reid. also, the head of the dnc made this pitch on abc this morning. >> we saved the auto industry. we've saved the financial sector. we passed a bill enabling women to get equal pay for equal work and done historic health care reform, among many other bills. we feel very good about the accomplishments and that's why i think you see the polls closing. people understand that. >> well, this week the president,ed first lady and the vice president all making their final appeals, including in

illinois where mr. obama's former senate seat could go to a republican. so my question now to cnn's senior political editor mark preston is has the president's appeal been underestimated, and is he closing the gap here, mark? >> reporter: well, clearly the white house, don, is very careful about where they have sent him in these closing weeks. he's going into states where they think he can be helpful. as you said, he was in nevada for the senate majority leader harry reid. he was in california for barbara boxer and for jerry brown, in washington state for patty murray, and as you said he'll be in illinois at the end of the week to try to ensure that the seat he once held does not fall into republican hands. now when you talk in the generalities in the macro sense, are things turning in a great way for democrats? not necessarily, don. we are seeing the polls tighten in some states, but we would expect that. we're only nine days out before election day, but really the question is, don, you know, not how many seats will republicans necessarily pick up, but will they take back the majority in the house?

will they potentially take back the senate majority? >> mark, no doubt. it has been an incredibly contentious and long campaign season, and it showed today in florida. take a listen. >> any time we get into the issues, the governor wants to turn it into something else because he's wrong on the issues. so the bottom line -- let me say on the -- >> why won't you release your ipo credit card issue. >> on the -- >> why is there a federal investigation into your reporting income? >> this is just one litany of falsehoods after another. >> maybe he would let you -- why don't you -- can you answer this question. >> across the state of florida for the past year. >> why not release the full irs record and full credit card statements. >> these questions have been answered now since february. my tax returns are public. i've gone well beyond the point of disclosure. the bottom line is people want to focus on these issues because they are wrong on the important issues this. country has a $13 been the 5 trillion debt. >> this guy doesn't want to release them because he doesn't believe in transparency. i created the open government office for the first time -- >> i've never had a heckler at the debate.

always had them in the audience. >> mark, cnn host that had debate and i said candy hosted a debate and then a wrestling match broke out. what gives with those guys? >> reporter: yeah, very long campaign season, and a lot of personal animosity. i'll break it down in the bullet points for you. you have charlie skrist frustrate that had marcio rubio pushed him out of the republican primary. charlie crist, the governor, now running as an independent. you're seeing that kendrick meek, the democrat, frustrate that had charlie crist is running as an independent because by doing so he's siphoning away very important votes that kendrick meek would need for this race. as we look as the cnn corporation research opinion poll in the last couple of weeks, it shows marco rubio has a 14-point lead over charlie crist and 26-point lead over kendrick meek so what we're seeing is a very long campaign season and frayed nerves, don. >> just nine days away. not over yet. thank you, mark preston, and, remember, the spotlight stays on florida and watch cnn tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. eastern.

a special "jong king usa," the florida gubernatorial candidate debate. john king moderates the showdown right here only on cnn. next week i'll be traveling through the midwest to cover the election starting monday in chicago and then heading east. make sure you check out my election road trip. that's next week all day on cnn. you know, still reeling from last january's killer quake and a new quake is affecting the impoverished nation of haiti. cholera has killed already over 200 people and has sickened hundreds more. now it's in the crowded capital of port-au-prince and our paula newton is in the center of the outbreak. >> reporter: don, firms are greatified that they feel that the situation is under control. now it doesn't feel like that here in the hospital at times or even outside the hospital for patients who are coming here gravely ill. can i tell you that the kind of help that they have been getting in the last few days has been incredibly basic care and a lot of this has been their relatives trying to help them.

what do they need? they need hydration and a timed antibiotic, but they need that kind of care that hasn't been here for the last couple of days. aid organizations, the u.s. government, the u.n., all trying to help the haitian government get that together. in the meantime what, they are trying to do is talk about prevention. we've heard it on the loudspeakers here, people being told to make sure they wash the hands. make sure the water they are drinking is clean and watch where you're actually going to the wash room and make sure that you stay away from the rivers here that are now almost certain to be contaminated with cholera. in the meantime, in port-au-prince, they are also putting measures in place just in case the outbreak reaches port-au-prince. so far five confirmed cases there, but they were actually from this region. so don, you know, cautious optimism today that they will have more people die from cholera. they told me that point blank. they expect the numbers to go up. they will have more confirmed cases of cholera, but they are hoping that they have been able to mitigate some of the worst

effects of this outbreak and keep it from spreading to the capital. don? >> all right, thank you, paula newton. stay tuned to cnn. our dr. sanjay gupta is on his way to haty with a team and we'll be following this story next week as well. still ahead, an american swimmer training for the olympics dies suddenly during an open-water race, and check out this video that we just got in from a cnn i-reporter in from texas where several tornadoes have touched down and caused significant damage. and then what city do kids stand the best chance of getting the most halloween cannedy? well, no, it's not hershey, pennsylvania. we'll tell you straight ahead, and don't just sit there. we want you to be part of this show, part of the conversation. send us a message on twitter or facebook. cnn.com/don or check us out on for you -- foursquare as well. [ female announcer ] it's endless shrimp at red lobster.

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let me check the top stories on cnn. a 26-year-old american swim star died today during the ten-kilometer marathon swimming world cup in the united arab emirates. fran crippen died during the last leg of the race and his body was recovered about two hours later. the university of virginia graduate, crippen was a former ncaa champion. i spoke with one of his former coaches about his tragic death. >> not only was he a world class athlete, national champion numerous times. he got in the pool and helped the little kids as a volunteer coach. they loved him. i love him. i'm just going to remember that. i love him. >> also tonight, an elderly man

is accused of trying to get a fully load gun on to a plane flying out of chicago's o'hair airport. chicago police say a tsa agent found a .380 semi-automatic pistol in the carry-on bag of francis cook yesterday. cook, who is 67 years old, and from michigan, was headed to dallas. our affiliate wls reports cook is in custody under $25,000 bail. an attempted copper theft ends in an explosion. police in southgate, california, say a man was trying to steal copper from ain can trucks side when a transformer blew up. the man was electrocuted and the woman severely burned trying to save him. a terrifying day under the texas skies with multiple tornadoes touching down. take a look.

>> this is from one of our i-reporters. caught this scary site 45 minutes south of dallas in rice which saw the worst of it. there are reports of injuries and significant property damage, but we're still learning just how bad it is. this is part of a strong system heading off to the east right now. what's left of typhoon megi is soaking southeastern china tonight with torrential rains. the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression but the damage is done already. 13 inches of rain fell on coastal villages forcing the evacuation of more than 300,000 people. no deaths have been reported in china, but the same storm killed more than 60 people in the philippines and taiwan. ups and downs in the housing market. job opportunities for the holidays, and you ever wonder where kids get the most candy for halloween? here's cnn's stephanie elam with this week's "getting down to business." >> reporter: another week,

another reekster ride for the hard-hit housing sector. new home construction rose 4% in september compared to a year ago, lifting the new starts to a five-month high but recent investigations into possibly mishandled foreclosures across the nation could further impact an already struggling housing market. look for new and existing home sales numbers later this week. employers are gearing up for the holiday season, and that could make job seekers happy. -u ups will hire 50,000 new employers starting this month and retail stores like best buy and toys r us plan to hire holiday workers to help with the christmas rush. the initial jobs report is due out on tuesday and this time next week you'll probably be knee deep in sugary snacks. the 20 best cities for trick-or-treaters were ranked for the best places to get candy. and the winner is seattle. that's this week's "getting down to business," stephanie elam, cnn, new york. it's a growing trend and a

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next month working mother magazine will focus on a big secret many families face. mom works, cooks and cleans and when the kids go to bed she drinks. the current issue reveals how bad alcohol and drug addiction is among working moms. stephanie wilder taylor told me how she discovered she was an alcoholic, and "working mothers" editor-in-chief suzanne risk said the magazine started to look into the issue after the story of diane schueler broke last year. she's the mom who had pot and alcohol into her system when she crashed her car killing herself and seven others. >> there was a disconnect between this cable executive raising two kids, seemingly had it all together and according to police reports was drunk and high when she crashed her car, and when we looked into it, looked into addicts in general, what we learned is that many

addicts hide a secret. they seem like they have it all together, but actually inside they are dying, and they are also in trouble because they are responsible for kids. >> how prevalent -- >> and this is a big -- >> how prevalent is this? how many families, how many kids come in contact with moms who are facing alcoholism? >> there are one in four kids whose parent is an alcoholic, and the problem is actually on the rise in terms of women -- twice as many women are turning to alcohol over the past deck cade and we see the abuse rather of prescription medicine quadrupling so these are both on the rise. >> according to your reporting, man, that is amazing. one in four. that's very interesting. stephanie, you have formed an online group for moms who are alcoholic because it's such a big deal, so what's been the response for that? are women realizing that they are sick and they have been --

had some suspicion all along? are they getting helped by your website? >> well, i think that one of the biggest problems is that so many women are ashamed because i think we all have to be disputed of this notion that alcoholics are, you know, living under a bridge downing bush mills or crying in their bathroom drinking mout wash. i mean, there are so many people that are just like me and like many other women who just, you know, nightly turn to too much wine, and it becomes a problem at a certain point you can't stop, so i think by me coming out and talking about this and then blogging about it, it allowed a lot of women to see themselves in their story which is not so extreme, and those women really needed the support to quit, and they found in my blog a yahoo! group. yeah, it's way more women than i ever thought possible. >> stephanie, i want the audience to be clear about this. you talked about this a little bit. >> yes. >> you used to write books that sort of made light of the fact that you drank and later had you to admit that you had a serious

problem with alcohol. >> yes. >> so there is a big difference. most moms, especially these days, if you have kids and you're married and you have a job, you're an overachiever so you know how to hide t.give us some wisdom here from someone who knows. >> well, it's really difficult because it's something that only you know if you're suffering from. i mean, for me i didn't know i was an alcoholic. i really thought i was, you know, an alcohol enthusiast. i thought i really liked to drink. i couldn't imagine, that you know, people didn't like it the way i did it, and then at a certain point i had a lot of extra stressors in my life, and -- and one thing led to another and i realized, wow, i'm drinking way too much, so i think for the mom at home, if you're really wondering if you have a drinking problem, chances are good that you do. >> there is one mom who had a rule. she would drink after her kids were in bed when she did the housecleaning so she went to her job all day, fed her kids, put them to sleep and then she would

drink until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning while she was folding laundry, and she was able to continue with that except it got progressively worse and then she started drinking earlier in the day and people found out. so this is something that women can hide for a long time until it gets so intense it progresses so much that the secret is out. >> make sure you look for the november issue of "working mother" and its in-depth report on working moms who are addicts. national protect your identity week is just wrapping up, but safeguarding your personal information is really something you could be concerned about, or you should be concerned about year round. our christine romans is in new york mastering your money tonight. >> reporter: hey, don, we only have the best intentions. the truth is we sometimes get lazy on this. five steps you can take right now to protect your identity. first, shred all statements and invoices, receipts, your return address stickers, envelopes, catalogs and especially those pre-approved credit offers and

credit card checks. get rid of them. encrypt your e-mail and other files that contain personal information, use firewalls and anti-spy wear programs and keep your technology current with the latest security updates. don't just keep clicking later. identity thieves can't steal your information if they can't get to it, so keep your paper files like your bank or your credit card statements, your passports, social security cards, birth certificates and all those other documents with personal identifying information, keep them under lock and key. report your credit reports from the three reporting agencies twice a year, and you suld do this only at annu annualcreditreport.com, the government-mandated source for free credit reports. it takes surprisingly little to set up a fraudulent account and establish false credit in someone else's name. you should never carry your social security card in your wallet or your purse or give that number to anyone you don't know or trust.

and can you learn much more about mastering your money on the show that saves you money, "your bottom line," every saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. eastern right here on cnn. don? >> thank you, christine. up next, a look at what's making news this week, including don't ask, don't tell back in the courts. plus, a jury is seated and the trial begins tomorrow. a look at murder of chandra levy, a case that cost a congressman his job. exchange traded funds. some firms offer them "commission free." problem is they limit the choice of etfs to what makes financial sense to them. td ameritrade doesn't limit you to one brand of etfs... they offer more than 100... each selected by investment experts at morningstar associates. only at the etf market center at td ameritrade. before investing, carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. contact td ameritrade for a prospectus containing

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president obama is back on the stump for democrats this week and that is just one of the stories that we'll be covering in the days ahead. we begin tonight at the white house. >> reporter: i'm dan lothian at the white house. after campaigning hard out west for democrats, the president hits the campaign trail on the east coast starting out monday in rhode island where he will be attending a fund-raiser for the democratic congressional campaign committee. there's not a hotly contested senate race in rhode island, but democrats there very much want to hang on to that house seat being vacated by the retiring patrick kennedy. then on saturday, the president campaigns in pennsylvania, connecticut and back to chicago. >> reporter: i'm chris lawrence. coming up this week at the pentagon, military leaders will be dealing with the fallout of the wikileaks documents of

40,000 documents from the iraq war. they will be also keeping a close eye on the ninth circuit court in california as it rules on whether don't ask don't tell stays or goes for the next few months while that court is considering an appeal. and for that matter pentagon leaders will be keeping a close eye on the lead up to the election because there's a spending bill and also congress' handling of don't ask, don't tell that could hinge on how the next election plays out. >> reporter: i'm poppy harlow in new york. a big week ahead for the economy and wall street. we'll be watching all of it beginning of the week new and existing home sales will be released and also the latest home readings on home prices across 20 major u.s. citiesch we'll see if there's been any improvement whatsoever in the housing market and corporate earnings season rolls on. we'll hear from conoco phillips and also exxon mobil who will report their numbers along with visa and microsoft. and then at the end of the week we'll get the weekly jobless claims and also get the first reading on third-quarter gdp.

that's critical to see how the u.s. economy is faring. i'm a.j. hammer and here's what we're watching this week. janet jackson is sitting down with the ladies of the few monday. everybody is wondering how she's doing more than a year after michael's death and will bristol palin survive yet another round of "dancing with the stars"? we'll be right there on the set of the show. "showbiz tonight" tonight is at 5:00 p.m. eastern and still the most protocktive tv entertainment show at 11:00 p.m. eastern and 8:00 p.m. pacific. stay tuned for the week ahead. we'll be covering haiti a lot. cholera there has killed 200 people and sickened thousands. also stay tuned for my election road trip. next week i'll be traveling through the midwest to cover the election starting monday in chicago and heading east. in cities all over the mid wiest. we'll be in elkh