biden were grand marshals down at nascar. >> first lady michelle obama and jill biden as they deliver the first words in motorsports. >> gentlemen, start your engines! >> and there you have the first lady michelle obama and jill biden, of course, who is the vice president's wife, joe biden. it's unfortunate because it wasn't everybody that was attending the race, hala, but gosh, you can really chalk that up for bad taste. >> you could sure hear it. with all the engine noise, it made it loud and clear. thanks very much, mark preston, and a reminder tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. is our debate.

i'll be back tomorrow at the same time, but for now, jim costa is next. nice to see you in person. >> this doesn't happen very often, but nice to see you. i'm jim aacosta. let's get you up to speed on this november 21st. after months of talks the congressional supercommittee is expected to announce today it simply cannot agree on a debt reduction package. everybody is pointing fingers on what caused the mess. we'll explain that on capitol hill in about ten minutes. speaking of the supercommittee, already markets are reacting badly to fears that the debt committee won't reach a deal. u.s. stocks opened sharply lower today. right now the dow is down over 300 points. this follows last week's losses on wall street, the worse in two months. former fbi director, louis freeh, will lead the internal investigation into the penn state scandal. jerry sandusky is charged with

molesting eight boys, some on campus. freeh pledged a thorough and independent investigation. >> i am committed to ensuring that our independent investigation be conducted in a thorough, fair, comprehensive manner, leaving no stone unturned and without any fear or favor. we will examine all of the relevant evidence, records, information and circumstances. we will attempt to interview all necessary and appropriate witnesses. >> former nasa astronaut guy buford, penn state grad, will join the panel as well. the power of a pipe bomb on vivid display. explosive experts at the new york police department made that one right there. it's a copy, they say, of a bomb being built by terror suspect jose pinantel. he planned to target returning u.s. troops, police cars and

post offices. they say he acted alone. the number of demonstrators killed in egypt is rising. thousands of protesters clashed with security forces in tahrir square today. authorities say 22 people have been killed, another 1700 wounded in violence that started over the weekend. the protesters are demanding a civilian government just as they did back in january when they overthrew long-time president rabarak. >> nothing has changed, she responds. we've gone backwards. the military council is garbage. mubarak is still alive and well and people are dying. mubarak is running the military council and the whole country from prison. mubarak and all the corrupt businessmen around him. >> the obama administration plans to announce new sanctions against iran today. american companies are already prohibited from doing business there under the new sanctions. the u.s. will not be doing

business with foreign companies. that deal with iran's petrochemical industry, it's in response to a u.n. report detailing evidence that tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon. to the american music awards now. >> taylor swift! [ applause ] >> we all know who taylor swift is. she was the queen of the night. the 21-year-old singer won multiple awards, including artist of the year. >> and to get three awards in one night, i can't even -- i don't have a smile big enough to smile like this big, you know, it's just crazy. >> and this is swift's second artist of the year award. now for a rundown of the stories ahead. first cnn in-depth so-called supercommittee signals it will come up empty on debt reduction. we'll get you answers from washington. plus -- the air of spring made egypt a beacon in the middle east, but now we're seeing images that

look more like this. we're live in tahrir square with details. then a new cap ter in libya. how friends are taking the news of joe paterno's lung cancer diagnosis. also a new web site for newt gingrich. we'll explain this. and we switched to fedex cause a lot of their packaging contains recycled materials. tell them what else fedex does. well we're now using more electric trucks and lower emission planes. we even offer a reusable envelope. now, can't we at least print on the back sides of used paper? what's the executive compensation list...? [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

you're looking live at the white house right now where any minute the president is expected to come out and speak. he's getting ready to sign legislation aimed at helping u.s. veterans find jobs.

the bill gives 6$650 in tax credits for hiring jobless vetera veterans, and $9,600 for hiring unemployed disabled vets. one more reminder of the divided washington. after one month of meeting, the congressional supercommittee is signalling it will not be able to agree on ways to cut more than a trillion dollars in debt, and they may call it quits today ahead of their deadline. you may recall it was set for november 23rd. let's go to kate. we were expecting november 23rd and they may be throwing in the towel now. why? >> i guess you could call it a preliminary deadline. the committee today, jim, is required to post legislation with an official deficit reduction estimate two days before the final deadline, which would put us here today. so that's why today is a very important day regardless of the

hard deadline of november 23rd. it does appear that barring an unforeseen breakthrough that this committee is headed toward failure and that we could possibly expect a formal announcement of that later today. i want you to listen to the democratic co-chair of the committee, senator patty murray. as she was entering her office today, she seemed to leave a little bit of a window or some wiggle room for possibly trying to figure this all out in the very little time that's left. listen here. >> we're still talking and we'll see what happens today, but the hours are short. >> you would not call it a failure, would you? >> not yet. >> you heard there, she said, no, not yet, she's not calling it a failure quite yet. but i will tell you that the thing that is really kind of holding up the talks is the thing that has held up the talks to this point. they have just not been able to bridge the divide, bridge the gap between democrats and republicans on the issue of

taxes. democrats, jen, this really will be no surprise to anyone that's been watching congress work over the past year. democrats in this committee, they insist that revenue, tax increases need to be part of any final deal to reduce the deficit to be part of a quote, unquote, balanced approach to debt reduction. republicans disagree. they are strongly against tax increases unless it's part of a broader tax increase that would bring down overall rates. that being the major sticking point, jim, and with such little time left, it appears barring -- we want to call it a mirrorically mirroacle, that this committee will announce they weren't able to pull it off. >> earlier this morning on "good morning," senator kyl said we may have an announcement one way or another later today, and there was all that talk over the weekend that this is expected to fail, and now we're hearing, oh, they may be running back in behind closed doors to talk

about this. how much of this is face saving, do you think? >> i think probably a little bit or a lot of both, to be quite honest. i think until they are up against the deadline, being midnight tonight to post this legislation, i think many members want to leave open the possibility of trying to reach a deal. but the fact that they haven't been able to really get close since talks really broke down last week on this issue of taxes, it just doesn't seem likely that they will be able to pull it off. and as you saw over the weekend, the tone among supercommittee members is markedly shifted from, we're trying and pushing for a deal to now who should be to blame if all of this falls apart, and that really seems to be the focus of what their messaging is when they get on television, so that, i think, in and of itself, san indicato is jim. >> kate baldwin, thank you. they're looking for some court of compromise.

just look at wall street. the dow is down almost 300 points right now and that is obviously going to be a big factor in this, is how investors are going to respond to what happens on capitol hill, and here's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. our carol costello is going to be talking to us about the super committee and its congressional rescue. carol joins us live from new york, and carol, you can just get on twitter right now and search under the hash tag super fail. this is a big time -- this is a big time letdown, i think, for a lot of americans. they were really expecting congress to do something about this. >> yes, you are right. remember that old bonnie tyler song, jim, "i need a hero, and it it's got to be soon and larger than life"? do you know somebody like that who could put philosophical differences and tax pledges aside? i know who that person isn't. he or she does not sit on the

supercommittee. the committee of six republicans and six democrats who were supposed to save our economy, supposed to trim $1.2 trillion from the deficit, but alas. >> we went into this exercise in order to try to reduce federal government spending. and what we get from the other side is, no, we're not going to make any more cuts unless you raise taxes. >> this thing about the bush tax cuts and the pledge to grover norquist has come up. he's been the sixth member of this committee without being there. >> norquist is the lobbyist who runs tax reform. in case you know, all six people on the committee has signed no for norquist tax pledge. at this point, who cares? the super committee is on the brink of failure. you're not surprised, i know, but surely there is a hero out there somewhere. president obama, mitt romney,

hillary clinton, rush limbaugh? the talk-back question for today. who should come to this super committee's rescue? facebook.com/car facebook.com/carolcnn. >> i think there is cryptonite there and maybe that's why they can't come to a deal. moving on to egypt, dozens are dead and wounded in that country. the violence raging between protesters and security forces is reminiscent of when mubarak was run out of office. what do they want now? we'll take to you cairo for some answers.

let's go back to the white house where you can see the first lady, michelle obama, speaking at an event where the president is expected to talk in just a few moments. it's babout a veterans jobs bil the president is going to sign into law. it is basically the only piece of the president's jobs package that has been able to get through the congress, and primarily that's because it deals with taking care of the troops, which is always a popular item. this jobs bill for veterans is going to -- if it's fully

enacted and implemented, provide tax credits to employers who give jobs to who hire unemployed veterans or unemployed disabled veterans. we're going to see the president there speaking in just a few moments, and why don't we go ahead and dip in now and listen to the first lady there, michelle obama. >> he has been standing up for veterans since before he was president. and since he took office, he's been working hard to strengthen our nation's sacred trust with our veterans, not just with words, but with action. he's helped send more than half a million veterans and military family members to college through the post-911 g.i. bill. he's building a 21st century va to fully support our veterans throughout their lives. he's taken steps to improve health care and expand care for our women veterans and wounded warriors. and he's working to put an end

once and for all to the outrage of veterans' homelessness. today with this bill, that story continues. so i am truly proud to introduce you to the man who is the favorite man in my life, our president, barack obama. [ applause ] >> thank you. it is wonderful to see all of you. thank you for being here. thank you, mish, who hrkmich, y good speaker, so i try not to follow her, but given the incredible work that she and jill biden have done in advocating for our veterans, i could not be more honored to be with them, and i know joe shares my feeling. we could not be prouder of their efforts on this front. over the past three years, they have visited so many of our

troops. they have thanked them for their service, they have comforted their spouses, they have given voice to their struggles and they challenged all of us at national, state and local level to do more for our veterans. joe biden has been a champion for veterans for decades now. it is his birthday, so we speak in terms of decades. actually, yesterday was his birthday. i won't say the number. you can ask jill if you want. but for a man who cares as deeply about our troops as joe does, this bill, i imagine, was a pretty good birthday gift. secretary sopecki is here. where is rick? there he is. rick has been doing an outstanding job leading our

department of jet ranof veteran and we're also here with leaders of congress who have made this bill possible. i have always said that the most humbling job serving as commander and chief to the world's finest military. not a day goes by when i'm not awed by our troops, by their strength of character and by the depth of their commitment and the incredible sacrifice ths th they and their families make on behalf of our nation's freedom and security. the men and women of our military don't just fight for each other. they don't just fight for their units or their commanders, they fight for every sij gel mesingl american. they fight for people they do not know. just as they're willing to fight

for america, they fight until they come home. they're doing right by our military and paying back just a little bit what we owe to our veterans. today the message is simple. for businesses out there, if you are hiring, hire a veteran. it's the right thing to do for you, it's the right thing to do for them and it's the right thing to do for our economy. while we've added more than 350,000 private sector jobs over the last three months, we've got 850,000 veterans who can't find work. and even though the overall unemployment rate came down just a little bit last month, unemployment for veterans of iraq and afghanistan continue to rise. that is a right. these men and women are the best that america has to offer. they are some of the most highly trained, highly he heducated, hy

skilled workers that we have. if they can save lives on the battlefield, then they can save a life in an ambulance. if they can manage convoys moving tons of equipment over dangerous terrain, they can manage a company supply chain. they can track millions of dollars of assets in iraq, they can balance the books of any company here in the united states. our country has benefited enormously from our veterans' services overseas. and we will benefit just the same from their service here at home. and that's why under my direction, the federal government has already hired more than 120,000 veterans thanks to the work that jill and michelle mentioned, some of our most patriotic businesses have pledged to hire 135,000 more veterans and military spouses. and today we're giving those businesses just one more reason to give veterans a job. back in september, i sent

congress a jobs bill. in it i posed a tax credit for any business that hires a veteran who has been unemployed for at least four weeks. i proposed an even bigger tax break in a business hires a veteran who has been unemployed for at least six months. if a business hires an unemployed veteran with a disability related to their service, i proposed doubling the tax break that we already have in place. today, because democrats and republicans came together, i am proud to sign those proposals into law. i urge every business owner out there who is hiring to hire a vet right away. now, over the past decade, nearly 3 million service members have transitioned back to civilian life, joining millions who have served through the decades. and as we end the war in iraq and we wind down the war in afghanistan, over a million more will join them over the next five years. this bill is an important step

towards helping those veterans transition into the work force. and beyond the tax break that i mentioned, it also contains a number of other reforms. from education and training to career counseling to job search assistant. we're still going to need to do more. that's why i've also announced a series of executive actions to help our veterans back to work. we've set up a veteran gold card. there is a card that post-9/11 veterans can download today and it gives you access to a suite of career services, including six months of personalized counseling at the roughly 3,100 career stops located across the country. we have an easy to use on line tool called "my next move" that allows veterans to enter the skills they've acquired during their service and match that information with the civilian careers that will best put that unique experience to use. and we've created a new on-line service called veterans job bank in partnership with leading

search engines that directly connects unemployed veterans to job openings. so all of these initiatives are up and running right now, and you can find them at whitehouse.gov/vets. so to our veterans, know that we will stand with you as long as it takes for you to find a job. and to our businesses, let me say again, if you are hiring, hire a veteran. hire a veteran today. they will make you proud just as they've made this nation proud. i'm pleased that both parties came together to make this happen. so once again, i want to thank all members of congress who are involved. it is important to note that in addition to our veterans, there are millions of other americans who are still looking for work right now. they deserve the same kind of bold bipartisan action that we've seen here today. that's what people have sent us here to do. so my message to every member of

congress is keep going. keep working. keep finding more ways to put partisanship aside and put more americans back to work. tomorrow i'm heading to new hampshire to talk about another proposal in the american jobs act, and that's a tax cut for nearly every worker and small business owner in america. democrats and republicans have traditionally supported these kinds of tax cuts. independent economists from across the political spectrum has said this proposal is one of the best ways to boost our economy and spur hiring. it's going to be easier to hire vets if the overall economy is going strong, so there is no reason not to vote for these tax cuts, and if congress doesn't act by the end of the year, then the typical family's taxes is going to go up by roughly $1,000. that's the last thing our middle class and our economy needs right now. it is the last thing that our veterans need right now. so let's keep at it. no politics, no delays, no

excuses. let's keep doing everything we can to get america back to work. and on that note, it is my great pleasure to do my job and sign this bill into law. thank you. [ applause ] >> there you see the president getting ready to sign this bill into law, and it might be worth noting on screen there you can see senator patty murray from washington. she is obviously the leading democrat on the supercommittee that is supposed to be looking at ways to reduce the deficit right now. obviously she's gotten away from that business up on capitol hill to attend this bill signing. so it's interesting to note that. and the president said in his remarks that if you're hiring, hire a veteran, pointing out there are about 850,000 veterans out there looking for work right now.

and as we mentioned earlier, this is the only portion of the president's jobs package that he is able to sign into law that is also a sign as to how dysfunctional things are getting up on capitol hill. there's the president signing that bill into law aimed at putting unemployed veterans back to work. and don't forget, there are other republicans running for the president's job right now. they'll be squaring off in washington tomorrow night. the republican hopefuls meeting for a cnn presidential debate on national security and the economy. you can bet that's a super committee that will be coming up as well. your moderator is our very own wolf blitzer. that's 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. that's tomorrow night. we'll be right back. did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake.

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simply cannot agree on how to reduce debt. so what happens now? plan b is not pretty. it could mean automatic spending cuts across the board. critics say the national defense budget and entitlement programs will suffer, and now everybody is pointing fingers. >> our democratic friends said, we won't cut one dollar more without raising taxes. and i think that tells you a lot about the ethos here in washington. we went into this exercise in order to try to reduce federal government spending. what we get from the other side is, no, we're not going to make any more cuts unless you raise taxes. >> they want the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest americans extended. so the whole deal is held hostage that the wealthiest people in america ought to get a big tax cut while everybody else chips in. i don't think anybody in america thinks that's fair. >> regardless of who is right and who is wrong, the fallout could be severe.

panetta says it could be a big fallout. allison, what's happening up there? it doesn't look pretty. >> no, it's definitely not pretty. the dow is falling nearly 308 points. they're going to act first, ask questions later. and once the announcement has come that the super committee has possibly failed, you could see another selloff. what's interesting, the mark has already had low expectations that the super committee would actually get anything accomplished, but clearly investors were holding out some hope. we have more weighing on the markets today. moody's is warning that the outlook is low, just too many headlines piling one on top of the other. jim? >> we're hearing about the budget cut triggers that will go into effect in 2013. the congress didn't want to go

with any triggers that would take effect before next year's election, but these go in effect if the super committee can't agree on $1.2 trillion in debt reduction, how will this work? >> okay, exactly. these would go into effect in 2013. at this point we only know the big picture as to what areas would be hit. it's really up to the appropriations committee that would really decide what gets cut and by how much. look at this. here's what we know. the light blue line we're going to pull up for you here is really the area that would be hit the hardest. these are cuts to defense spend and go these cuts would soar. i'm talking about the military. the dark blue line you see shooting upward there is non-defense discretionary spending. that would be hit just as hard as military. that non-defense spending is really interesting because it's that big open question mark. it covers so many areas: education, highways, national parks, the federal courts. so it really runs the gam us there. and that red line across the screen, that is for medicare.

those cuts will actually be capped at 2%. jim? >> allison, a big question also is what happens to the u.s. credit rating? there are also some rumblings that that might get hit again. >> oh, yeah. you remember back in august, standard & poor's at the credit rating agency, it fired this really loud warning shot back in august that it would go ahead and could downgrade the u.s. credit rating once again if the super committee doesn't reach a deal. and then, of course, moody's and fits, the other credit ratings, they chimed in as well. but the difference between this month and august, there are a few differences. the u.s. economy isn't improving, skpand as bad as thi are here, it's even worse in europe. so investors could really wind up seeing u.s. investments more as a safer bet, so the market could end up holding onto its own, at least in the long term, because the comparison is would you rather put your money into

bonds in italy where yields are just soaring? jim. >> nobody wants to pay their bills but eventually we all have to pay the price. allison kosich on the new york stock he can change. don't forget, tomorrow night the republican hopefuls face-off in washington. wolf blitzer hosts the national security debate right here at 8:00 p.m. on cnn. penn state is bringing in an outsider. luis freeh talks about the situation with the penn state sex abuse scandal. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth!

welcome back. penn state moved today to put some muscle into its determination of the sex abuse scandal. jason joins me. they put a well-known crime fighter in the investigation

today. >> that's right, jim. and penn state is promising that no one will be above scrutiny. they put together this special investigative committee. heading it up will be former fbi director, you see him there, louis freeh. freeh basically saying he will conduct a thorough investigation. part of what he'll be doing is bringing in former prosecutors, former fbi investigators to help with this investigation. he says, among other things, he's going to be looking for potential gaps in how allegations of sexual assault are reported at penn state. in addition to that, he also says he would be looking at whether administrators acted appropriately. >> during the course of this independent investigation, we will immediately report any evidence of criminality to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. if our investigation identifies any additional victims of sexual crimes against or exploitation of children, we will immediately

report this to law enforcement authorities. >> okay, so nine members on this special committee, six of them board of trustee members. also on this special committee, former astronaut and penn state alum, guyon buford. there is a grad student on this committee also, jim. freeh was asked how long this investigation would take. he wasn't willing to put a time frame on it, but he also recognized the urgency of getting the recommendations out as soon as possible. jim? >> and jason, this addition of louis freeh to the investigation, it really goes to the criticism out there when all this started that penn state has really been incapable of policing itself. so perhaps -- don't you think this has something to do with it, that this is trying to go to that criticism of how they handled this investigation? >> i would think so. if you look at the special

committee, six of those who are on the committee are actually penn state board of trustee members. and so by bringing someone from the outside, it becomes apparent that some of those -- penn state might be able to deflect that criticism that it's too inside. so bringing in louis freeh, who is an outsider, is coming in and bringing his own investigators to look at this, and what they're stressing is total independence as to how this investigation will take place. >> appreciate it. newt gingrich is surging in the polls and the seasoned politician is doing all he can to shoot down potential lines of attack on his past way new web site. we'll take a look in the cnn political ticker. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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that's why i recommend crest pro-health clinical gum protection. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. crest pro-health clinical gum protection. newt gingrich is seeing a remarkable leap in his poll numbers reasonly, but the presidential candidate is also coming under fire with part of his past. joe, gingrich is doing all he can to get out ahead of his critics, which isn't a bad idea. >> for sure, jim. you might call it gingrich 2.0, so much is coming out about his past. he's gotten into some scrapes, got in some fights, and as far as his personal life goes, he's engaged in behavior that he now regrets. how do you handle a record like

newt gingrich has when you're running for president? one thing, you certainly do it on line because that's where so much of the chatter circulates. he's got a campaign web site called answering the attacks. it takes on 16 different issue areas, if you will, that could potentially cause problems for gingrich in the eyes of some voters, particularly conservative voters. there's a little bit of everything in there addressing the messy divorces, the fact that he admitted to having an extramarital affair in the impeachment of clinton. the government shutdown that occurred in the 0s when gingrich was speaker. the campaign, things he needs to take the stuff head on, especially since he's a top tier candidate now, jim. >> you covered the speaker for a very long time so you know this. a lot of campaigns have been doing this recently. you type in the name of the candidate plus one of these scandals into a google search, and sometimes it will direct you

to these very web sites that the speaker has up right now, so not a bad idea. now, another candidate who will basically do anything at this point for some extra publicity is john huntsman. he was on saturday night live over the weekend. that wasn't too bad of an idea for the former utah governor. >> no, it really wasn't. it's funny, too, he was just here in the building probably 15 minutes ago. i shared an elevator ride with him, and we talked about it. he said he really enjoyed it. saturday night live, as you know, is a required stop if you're a serious candidate for president, and it looks like huntsman really did make the most of it, the writers certainly poking fun at him because of his weakness in the polls, but he definitely showed himself to be a good sport, playing along when they showed how his campaign appears to be sort of betting everything, if you will, on the new hampshire primary. take a listen. >> you seem to be putting all your eggs in one basket in new hampshire. are you worried you will be alienating the rest of the

country? >> seth, i love all of america, from dallas, texas to new hampshire. to the majestic mountains, to the innovation of silicon valley to the affordable outlet malls in north conway, new hampshire. you know a lot about new hampshire, seth. >> i'm from new hampshire. >> well, that makes sense because you're kind and good looking. >> good sense of humor, right? you could certainly tell it was scripted, not spontaneous. usually everything on saturday night live is like that, but huntsman showed he could read a teleprompter as well as anyone. >> always looking at the cue cards when they're doing the scripts. where would we be without the teleprompter? >> thank you very much. that was funny. good stuff. don't forget, tomorrow night the republican hopefuls face-off in washington. wolf blitzer hosts the national

security debate right here tomorrow night on cnn. a lot of you are from ustra with the failure of our super committee to reach a deal on the american debt. can committee's rescue? your responses are moments away. it's easy to see what subaru owners care about. that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and $250 goes to your choice of 5 charities. with your help, we can reach $20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year.

welcome back. you've been sounding off on our "talk back" question. who should come to the super committee's rescue? it looks like efforts to reach a deal to cut the national debt are not panning out. carol, the super committee needs a super man or super woman? is that it? >> oh, you better believe it. that is the "talk back" question today, who should rise to the super committee's rescue? they've got to learn partisan politics when a nation is falling apart is the wrong thing at the wrong time. andrew -- there isn't going to be anyone riding in on a white horse to save the day. the only thing that will help in the long run is if american voters demand results by ousting anyone who fails this horribly at the 1 m as the 12 members of the super

committee did. mike, we the people should go to the polls next november and removing the incompetence we have seen on a daily basis in congress. of course, jim, we did get some names. if you want specifics, who should ride to the rescue of the super committee? we got -- chuck norris. bill maher. >> well, maybe not. >> bill maher. and the person -- i'm serious about that. warren buffett was another suggestion. of course, morgan freeman who -- morgan freeman who has played both god and the president in movies. >> that's right. just put both of those together and we just might fix congress, i suppose. i do like the idea of chuck norris. i remember those commercials that mike huckabee used to put out and they had chuck norris in there and i think he punched the tv screen or something? we could use some chuck norris. >> though i think is he a little

partisan these days. facebook.com/kra facebook.com/carolcran. moving to egypt now. clashes between protesters and security forces. a reminder of the uprising that forced hose ni mubarak out of office. we'll go live to tahrir square to see what protesters want now. . deals start thursday 10 pm. more electronics start at midnight. and we're open all day and night so you don't have to wait outside. walmart.

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egyptians are again fighting for change. thousands of protesters clashed with security forces for a third straight day. the video on your left shows tahrir square back in january during the uprising that led to the overtlohrow of long-time president hosni mubarak. on the right is the square earlier today. once again protesters are demanding civilian rule. ben wedeman has been in the thick of it. then and now. he's live in cairo right now. ben, what is the situation? it looks like things are deteriorating. >> reporter: what's interesting actually is these clashes have been going on for more than 48 hours in side streets off of tahrir between protesters and security forces. but what seems more significant at the moment is the sheer number of people who are coming to tahrir to express their growing frustration and anger with the supreme council of the armed forces which took over from hosni mubarak last

february. i think yet again egypt's rulers may have fatally misread the people yesterday at this time there were flames in tahrir behind me and police and militant and security forces tried to clear out the square to get rid of the demonstrators. but in fact if anything they've come back with greater force now and i think it is going to be very difficult for them to clear them out again. i think the people are voting with their feet saying that they want an end to military rule here in egypt. many of them telling us that they want to finish the revolution and send the generals back to the barracks. >> clearly these demonstrators are putting their lives on the line there. ben, we appreciate that perspective very much. just very quickly, do you think there's any hope that things will get better in the short term?

>> well, i think we have a period of instability ahead of us regardless of what happens. not only do we have what looks like a growing countrywide insurrection against the military, in one week egyptians go to the polls. its first elections that many egyptians can ever remember. >> ben wedeman live there in tahrir square in egypt where things are unfolding dramatically there, thanks so much. top of the hour, i'm jim acosta. let's get you up to speed. stocks are falling fast because of fears congress' dead super committee isn't going to reach a deal. the dow has dropped 292 points. it was over 300 points just a short while ago. this follows last week's losses on wall street. the worst in two months. new york police say a terror suspect was one hour away from completing a bomb.

a judge refused the bail for the 27-year-old last night. authorities say he wanted to blow up nypd cruisers, post offices and u.s. troops just home from iraq and afghanistan. they describe him as a lone wolf. the death toll is now rising in egypt. take a look at this. thousands of protesters are clashing with security forces in tahrir square. authorities say 22 people have been killed. our ben wedeman just reporting there a few moments ago. another 1,700 wounded in the violence that started over the weekend. protesters are demanding the country's military rulers quickly transfer power to a civilian government. the university of california davis in an uproar after occupy protesters are pepper sprayed. look at this. the campus police chief has been put on administrative leave along with two other officers

while a task force investigates. students are planning a rally two hours from now and the university chancellor says she will be there. . penn state has brought in former fbi director louis freeh to conduct independent investigations. freeh pledged a thorough and independent investigation into the sex scandal. >> i am committed to ensuring that our independent investigation be conducted in a thorough, fair, comprehensive manner leaving no stone unturned and without any fear or favor. we will examine all the relevant evidence, records, information, and circumstances. we will attempt to interview all necessary and appropriate witnesses. >> former nasa astronaut guy bluford, a former penn state grad, will join the investigator panel as well. if you are going through

atlanta this week, be prepared to wait. it was really foggy this morning. as i was trying to walk in, it was as thick as you could possibly imagine it. chad meyers, that of course means delays, delays, delays. >> then you get one plane that doesn't make it to houston on time, doesn't make it out of houston on time, and so on, and so on. wsb, our affiliate in atlanta shows clearing skies. the big delay now is san francisco. you expect that, they get those low cloud layers. i'll take you all the way ahead into wednesday where it will be another giant headache in the northeast. anybody flying in or out or coming from or to a plane that's come in or out of the northeast that day will be in trouble. for today, showers into chattanooga, atlanta will slow down again tonight as the rain approaches. what can you do to make your trip just a little bit better? go to seatguru.com. i can show you -- if you find

your plane, you know what kind it is because you can logon and know what you bought, it will tell you what the good seats are and what the seats to avoid are. row 16? it doesn't recline. seats aren't very comfortable there. this is just one plane out of the delta website here. but every plane that flies in the sky has this type of configuration by the people that log in and tell them what they think of the seats, too. sometimes there's no room under your seat. you never know. >> it is not bad to be in those seats behind the seats that can't recline though. a big sell-off going on on wall street right now, mostly because congress' super committee cannot come up with a deal. alison kosik joins me live from the new york stock exchange. this does not look good. >> no, you're seeing that disappointment, jim, play right out in the markets. the dow was down as much as 342 points. it's recovered just a bit, now down 294 points. this is following world markets. the markets in zurich, paris,

london down about -- closed about 2% each actually. investors didn't have the bar set very high with the super committee but clearly their commitment, you can see it with the current failure of the what the super committee just has not come up with. there is a big worry that what's happening could really cause the u.s. credit rating to be downgraded again. also there are growing concerns about france's own credit rating because a big concern is that france is one of the richest countries in europe. what do you get happening there? you get bond fields in france rising. investors don't want to loan france money. all of this is piling on and weighing on stok stocks today. the dow is down 293 points. >> we know that the automatic cuts are going to kick in as this trigger that occurs when a deal is not reached. so why is wall street so concerned that the committee failed if they're going to get these triggered cuts anyway? >> well, a lot of it is just about confidence, it is not just necessarily about cutting the

debt. you see how much confidence really got hit in august when all those debt ceiling discussions went under way and the credit rating was downgraded. this is really about showing the world what washington can do, can it handle all its problems and get past the parts bickering. you see we've got dysfunction. congress could try to backtrack from those automatic cuts but that's clearly not enough inspiration to get investors to buy into the markets today. jim? >> alison kosik in new york, thanks so much. here is your chance to "talk back" on one of the big stories of today. who should come to the congress super committee's rescue. carol costello joins us with today's "talk back" question. >> hi, jim. remember that old bonnie tyler song -- i need a hero and it's got to be soon and he's got to be larger than life. you know somebody like that who

can put partisanship, philosophical differences aside? i know who that person isn't. he doesn't sit on the committee of six republicans and six democrats who were supposed to save our economy, trim $1.2 trillion from the deficit. but alas -- >> we went in to this exercise in order to try to reduce federal government spending. and what we get from the other side is no, we're not going to make any more cuts unless you raise taxes. >> the pledge to grover norquist keeps coming up. he's the 13th member of this committee without being here. i can't tell you how many times we hear about "the pledge," "the pledge." >> the pledge. norquist is a lobbyist who runs americans for tax reform. in case you didn't know, all six republicans on the super committee signed norquist's no-tax pledge. of course we could debate whether that or anything else really made any difference. but at this point who cares? the super committee is on the brink of failure and i know you're not surprised but surely

there is a hero out there somewhere. president obama? mitt romney? george h.w. bush? hillary clinton? rush limbaugh? so the "talk back" question today. who should come to the super committee's rescue? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments at the end of this hour. >> carol, look forward to those responses. here is a rundown of some of the stories coming up. first the consequences of if the super committee does not deliver. then a lone wolf with deadly intentions stopped in the nick of time. why new york police say an alleged terrorist was going operational. plus he is rising in the gop polls. you'll hear newt gingrich's plans for social security and medicare. live in just a few minutes. then, the justice department deals a popular global poker website a nasty hand. why u.s. gamblers could be full tilt poker.com's biggest losers. hugh grant the first to testify against the rupert murdoch empire.

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[♪...] >> announcer: now get a $250 airfare credit, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. certain restrictions apply. police in new york say they have stopped a tricerrorist in tracks, a man they say was plotting to plant pipe bombs in and around the city this holiday season. if he had succeeded officials say this is what could have happened.i feyerick is working this story. >> reporter: this suspect is a u.s. citizen born in the

dominican republic who recently converted to islam and police say he became quickly radicalized by the writings of the u.s.-born cleric anwar al awlaki killed two months ago in a u.s. drone strike. you can see the suspect there allegedly building that bomb. and we actually were able to get a comment from his mother at the home where he lived. she says everyone is in shock. we don't know what to do. there's a lot going on and she's very upset about what happened. she says her son is unemployed and had been looking for a job. now apparently his views on jihad were so radical, so extreme that even like-minded friends grew nervous about his actions. the video you saw earlier, according to court papers, he spent hours scraping match-heads to collect the powder. he also put together ignition devices by combining batteries, wires and electronics circuits

from christmas lights, some of which he bought at home depot. you can see there in the pipe bomb that the police commissioner is holding. you see there he had started drilling holes on that and that's when this really went from aspirational to operational. he told police detectives that in fact he believed he was an hour away from having these devices be viable. now we spoke earlier yesterday, as a matter of fact, the new york police commissioner, as well as the mayor who had this to say. >> the suspect was a so-called lone wolf, motivated by his own resentment of the presence of american troops in iraq and afghanistan, as well as inspired by al qaeda propaganda. he was not part of a larger conspiracy emanating from abroad. he represents exactly the kind of threat fbi director robert mueller and his experts have warned about. >> reporter: now the nypd had this plan man on radar for about

2 1/2 years. investigators did use a confidential informant who got so close to the defendant that the two of them actually went out and bought some of the material together and the defendant was actually building the device in the informant's apartment. the defendant has pleaded not guilty to the five tricherroris charges against him. federal authorities and the fbi were aware of what was going on. they had been alerted and they were monitoring to see what kind of information the nypd developed on this man. in the end it was decided that he would be charged on a state level, not on a federal level. >> sounds like some great investigative work went into this arrest. deb, getting back to the conversation that was had with some others, it sounds like that perhaps you didn't have much to say -- the mother, anything else we can take from what she said about her son? >> he was really in shock. he had been living in manhattan.

he went up to schenectady, new york, upstate new york, for about five years. it is here that he belonged to a mosque there and that's when this whole radicalization took place. it does not appear he belonged to any mosque here in the new york city area. we are told though that his views became very extreme, very quickly and also he actually had a website, truismwon. there is a lot of talk about jihad and striking out against the united states. there's a lot going on there. whether this pipe bomb would have actually exploded is the big question. jim? >> all right, deb feyerick in new york, thanks very much for following that. again the suspect is charged with state crimes as deb mentioned, not federal. listen to what cnn national security contributor and former homeland security advisor fran town sen had to say about this two-year long investigation. >> i'm a little troubled by the fact that the fbi was not

involved. after all, this was a targeting of the u.s. service members, among others. he was inspired by anwar al awlaki, the man now deceased, inspirational leader of al qaeda in the iranian peninsula so the feds may have been able to help here. we don't know very much about the informant who was involved. what the basis of the investigation and the involvement of the informant was. there are a lot of reasons and guidelines that the fbi follows that are different for the nypd. >> fran townsend says federal authorities could get involved in this case if they believe they have the basis for federal charges. we'll stay on top of that was p well. what do americans think about increasing taxes on the rich and cutting spending? we have new poll results on all of that coming up. [ bells dinging ]

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americans are weighing in about what they think the debt super committee should do. our wolf blitzer joins us now from washington with brand-new poll numbers. wolf, it is interesting to see these numbers in terms of what americans want and don't want as part of a debt super committee deal. i guess let's first start with what americans do want as part of a deal. >> well, these are fascinating

numbers. our new cnn/orc poll. we asked a simple questions of all americans, democrats an republicans, independents -- do you favor or oppose increased taxes on high-income americans and businesses. take a look at this. among all americans, 67% favor increased taxes, 32% oppose. at the same time, we asked do you favor major cuts in domestic programs. 60% favor major cuts in domestic programs, 39% oppose. now if you dig deeper into these numbers, jim -- and you and i always do -- it is interesting that there is a mirror image, democrats an republicans. democrats overwhelmingly favor increased taxes on higher income americans and businesses, republicans don't. republicans favor major cuts in domestic spending and democrats don't. i think that split in an of itself underscores why the so-called super committee apparently has failed in its

opportunity right now to come up with a way to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion. because the country is so divided on these two sensitive issues -- cut domestic spending, increase taxes for rich people. republicans and democrats see things in a mirror image opposite. >> of course, the cuts have to come from somewhere, wolf. what do americans want the committee to do? >> we know what they don't want them to do. we'll put some more numbers up on the screen. these are for all americans. would you favor major changes in social security and medicare? not very popular. only 41% favor major changes in social security and medicare. 57% oppose. at the same time, another area of cuts would be defense spending. would you favor major cuts in military spending? 40% favor, 60% oppose. so it underscores -- you know, people want to do the right thing, they want to reduce the deficit and reduce the national

debt, but not in my backyard, not when two specifically hurt social security and medicare, or for that matter, defense spending. republicans and democrats disagree on these issues and that's why at least one of the reasons why there is this gridlock here in washington. >> it is interesting because if these triggered cuts go into effect in 2013 as they are expected to do if this super committee does fail in its duties, the defense department would be perhaps hit hardest by these triggered cuts. as you just showed, wolf, most morns don't want the defense department to take those kinds of cuts. >> yeah. and i'm mott sure they would. remember, none of those defense cuts go into effect until 2013 after the next presidential election. all of next year to revise that. under this automatic trigger, the sequestration as it is called, $600 billion over ten years which is about $60 billion a year in defense cuts. and people at the pentagon think it is draconian, it is awful.

but if you look at how pentagon spending has grown over these past several years, a lot of the supporters of these kinds of cuts say it is not that bad. the pentagon could certainly live with it even though the defense secretary leon panetta says it would be terrible, create a hollow military, if you will. his critics are saying not so fast, mr. secretary, you guys could live with it. are you spending a lot more as a defense department now than you were only a few years ago. if everyone is going to have to cut their spending, the defense department will have to do its share as well. >> sounds like a great subject to bring up tomorrow at the cnn debate in washington. wolf, thanks for joining us. breaking down those numbers. what's the fall-out if the super committee goes belly-up? it could be bad news for our fighting men and women and for the companies that arm them. >> employees are incredibly nervous. i think everybody is. in a small business it is a very hand-to-mouth kind of thing. as we just mentioned with

wolf blitzer, tomorrow night the republican hopefuls face off in washington. cnn hosts a presidential debate on national security and the economy. your moderator, our very own wolf blitzer, that's tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. tltltltle emotional here? aren't you getting a little industrial? okay, there's enough energy right here in america. yeah, over 100 years worth. okay, so you mean you just ignore the environment. actually, it's cleaner. and, it provides jobs. and it helps our economy. okay, i'm listening. [announcer] at conoco phillips we're helping power america's economy with cleaner affordable natural gas...

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it's all part of the health care law. december 7th? i better get goin'! [ male announcer ] medicare open enrollment ends soon. call 1-800-medicare or visit medicare.gov to learn more. here's a rub rundown on what's coming up. hugh grant testifies in the news of the world hacking scandal. we'll also tell you how much money americans lost on a poker website. after months of go-nowhere talks by the congressional super committee, democrats and republicans today are expected to announce they simply cannot reach a deal on how to reduce the debt. what happens now? plan b is not pretty. it could be automatic spending

cuts across the board. critics say the national defense budget and entitlement programs will suffer and now everybody is of course pointing fingers. >> our democrats friends said we won't cut $1 more without raising taxes. i think that tells you a lot about this here in washington. we went into this exercise in order to try to reduce federal government spending and what we get from the other side is no, we are making any more cuts unless you raise taxes. >> they want the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest americans extended so the whole deal is really being held hostage to this idea that the wealthiest people in america ought to get a bigger tax cut while everybody else chips in. i don't think anybody in america thinks that's fair. >> with all that gridlock, what the super committee doomed from the beginning? carl azuz is here to talk about all of this. he is taking a closer look at the special budget team and what went wrong. carl, why did some say this was an uphill battle from the

beginning? it just looked like as they were getting started this was perhaps doomed to fail. >> it is a good point that they bring up and that you bring up, jim. because of the fact that everybody in congress has something he doesn't want to cut, she doesn't want to cut. that's part of it. lawmakers aren't just dealing with the fact that this is sort of an unwilling assignment. we aren't talking about new government programs, we are talking about exicsisting progr americans would have to live without. on one hand you have people from their own party saying stick to party principles, do not make cuts that go against what we stand for. you have pressure from our lawmakers, pressure from lobbyists in washington that all have something to do with this, pressure from interest groups. then some of these folks are up for re-election next year, jim. 2012's just -- we're less than a year away now. with that coming up, these folks have to answer to their constituents and their constituents are saying don't cut things that are important to us. >> the thing that i find so

interesting about what's happening today is that all of a sudden there is this other deadline. we thought that the deadline was on wednesday. the day before thanksgiving and all of a sudden we hear that the deadline was really today. the deadline was to announce that they would have some sort of deal by wednesday. why can't congress just move the goal posts? that's one thing that they perhaps could do. why not change the deadline? >> they can change the deadline. congress came up with this idea of november 23rd. of course today, 48 hours away, when they are supposed to vote on their own agreement and we're seeing that vote not likely to happen. people are saying, look. i mean these folks aren't looking to move forward. they're looking to find a way out. but i mean have you that factored into the fact that there were two goals of this committee. one, obviously, cut $1.2 trillion from u.s. government spending. but there was another one and this might be why congress has a tendency to kick that can down the road. that is the fact we were supposed to show our creditors that the u.s. was serious about reducing its debt.

moody's, standard & poor's, fitch, they all want the united states to stop so much entitle many spending and to find a way to increase government revenue. a lot of analysts are saying if congress does not reach an agreement now, maybe the effects wouldn't be tangible within the country in the short term but it could be that that s&p downgrade we saw this summer is the first of more to come, jim. >> there's just so much pessimism out there about the way congress is handling its job. the latest poll numbers are down in the teens to almost single digits in terms of the american approval rating for congress right now. i have to think that this is only going to make matters worse for members of congress looking to get re-elected. carl, thanks so much. we appreciate it. presidential candidate newt gingrich is about to unveil his plans to overhaul social security and medicare. both are familiar retreads for republicans. they've often looked at these programs for making changes. gingrich is making the announcement in manchester, new hampshire in just a few minutes.

he will tell the students he will be talking to that he wants them to have the choice of private retirement accounts. you heard this before. instead of the standard social security program that's in place now. gingrich wants to wind down medicare. today's younger workers would get subsidies to buy traditional health insurance when they retire. he will have these remarks coming up in just a few moments and we'll bring them to you as they come in. another reminder, tomorrow night the republican hopefuls face off in washington. cnn hosts a presidential debate on national security and the economy. your moderator, our very own wolf blitzer. that's at 8:00 eastern right here on cnn. the investigation into the hacking scandal over in great britain is broadening when actor hugh grant is taking the stand later today in london. we'll take that to you live when that happens.

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actser hugh grant slammed the british press today as a new round of hearings on the phone hacking scandal got under way in london. grant won't be the only celebrity testifying. actress see yeb thciena miller . atika shubert joins us live from london covering the hearing. these were pretty pointed words coming from hugh grant. >> reporter: he had some very harsh words for the tabloid press. he called them cowardly and shocking and he specifically pointed to the fact that the

mother of his newborn baby daughter was harassed by paparazzi for three days as she came out of the hospital. he says this was something that he felt felt was a personal invasion on his privacy and he basically said that the tabloid press needs to reform here in britain. here's how he closed the statement. >> i just think that there has been a section of our press that has been allowed to become toxic over the last 20 or 30 years, the main tactic being bullying and intimidation and blackmail. that needs courage to stand up to. this country's had historically a good record of standing up to bullies and i think it is time this country found courage to stand up to this bully now. >> reporter: now we actually have a whole week of testimony from various witnesses, including other celebrities. this will be going on for some time. >> this is not just a case of

celebrities being harassed. it all came to a head after the press over there hacked a murdered teenager's cell phone voicemail while her parents and police were still looking for her. the teenager's parents also testified today. what did they have to say? >> reporter: yeah. quite emotional testimony, jim. this is the case of millie dowler and her mother sally testified to the fact that when they were searching for her weeks after she disappeared they checked her voicemail messages and found some of them had been deleted and this led to the hope that she was still alive. we now know she had been abducted and murdered and those voicemail messages were deleted by a private investigator paid for by news of the world, the british tabloid. it was really probable the most egregious case of how those tabloids basically interviewed with a police investigation. >> this seems to be widening beyond murdoch's publication?

is that right. >> reporter: yes, most definitely. hugh grant pointed out that "the daily mail," others, he believes may have been involved in the sort of intrusive, possibly illegal measures. this is why the inquiry is being held to see if other newspapers were involved and if other illegal methods were used. >> atika shubert live in london for us, thanks so much. all bets are now off on popular gambling website fulltiltpoker.com. the feds just shut it down and we will tell you why and how u.s. gamblers could be the ligest losers. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun.

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u.s. gamblers who gambled on fulltiltpoker.com may have made the wrong bet. the justice department just shut

down the website calling it a glorified ponzi scheme. here's our poppy harlow. >> reporter: how much money did you make playing poker online? >> about $300,000. >> in how long? >> three or four years. >> reporter: in the online poker world, sean busse was known as jordan kicks. >> on april 15th i was playing poker like any other day and all of a sudden we just couldn't play anymore. money was frozen. >> reporter: it became known as black friday when the justice department seized fulltilt poker operations and froze accounts claim being the company was operating a ponzi scheme. >> for the first time player moneys have been seized. >> reporter: the doj says full tilt owes some $390 million to players around the world including roughly $150 million to u.s. players. but had only $60 million in its coffers and it allegation members of the company board and other owners were paid more than

$440 million over a four-year period. full tilt fired back saying it is in no way a ponzi scheme and says it is committed to paying players back. out $60,000 though, shaun busse's not convinced. >> a lot of people feel betrayed that this was the site where they made their income, they had the relationship with people there, they trusted them. and they basically stole from them. >> reporter: an investment group reached an agreement with the department of justice to acquire full tilt poker and says it will reimburse players outside the u.s. but for mesh players like shaun, they have to apply to the doj to get their money back. full tilt's current owners have not yet accepted the deal. >> i try not to get my hopes up. i consider that money lost and if i get it back, it will be a nice bonus. >> i think the general feeling is people can't play the games that they like online anymore. but for you it was a lot more than that. it was your livelihood.

>> this was my job, yeah. i feel like my job's been taken away from me right now. this is my source of income for the past four years. >> reporter: shaun is not alone. according to hq gambling capital, 8 prls of u.s. online poker players or about 35,000 people in this country made a living off the game. no you many of them have moved abroad where online poker is alive and well. what was your best day ever? >> playing online in 2009, i got second place for $163,000 in one tournament. poker's been an american past time for how ever many years. >> an american past time? >> sure. everyone loves to play poker. >> poppy harlow joins us live now from new york. too many questions. i wish i had time to ask all of them. it is fascinating to watch people say this is my job to be online playing poker and, oh, by the way, i'm out $60,000. this is going to strike a lot of people watching this as kind of

crazy. >> yeah. i completely agree. that's the question we posed to him, when you take shawn, for example, he was in college. he started playing online poker. he was making $100,000 a year. when you look at this economy and the job market, you know, there's a reason for this. he told me he never had a losing year in the four years that he was playing. he's not the only one we talked to. i want to show you some photos here, some other guys we talked to. that's ethan ruby. he says he used his wings playing poker to start a college fund for his kids and have a little fun. he bought a hot tub but he doesn't think that he's going to get back the $13,000 he now has frozen in his account. then there's this guy. he turned to online poke irfr f job after losing his career in the mortgage industry. right now he's out about $28,000. those are just a few examples. i want to read part after

statement we got from full tilt poke they are morning after the settlement came to light after the end of last week. they are pleased a settlement has been reached between the doj and the french investment company. "repaying customers has been full tilt poker's number one priority." the question is now are these players in the u.s. going to get paid back. they have to apply to the department of justice for restitution. big question, if they'll get the money back and if they will, when is that going to be. >> it reminds me of that saying buyer beware. i guess this is gambler beware. you go online and play poker, you might not get the money. poppy harlow, fascinating story. you've been sounding off on our "talk back" question, who should rescue the congressional super committee. it is obviously not a poll significance. they are at the root of problem and will take the super efforts of the american people. more of your responses are on the way. but first, forget black friday. the holiday shopping season is

already under way. but before you buy anything else, check out this week's "smart is the new rich." christine romans has some cost saving tips. >> hello holiday hype machine. retailers will do whatever they can to separate you from your money whether you have it to spend or not. holiday buyers beware, here are five steps to outsmart them. don't open a store credit card. many have very high interest rates. even applying for them hurts your credit score. that one time 10% off may not be worth it. if they're not pushing the store credit cards they're pushing the extended warrantee. don't waste your money. in fact you really very seldom should take the extended warrantee. probably never is okay. "consumer reports" mandy walker says your credit card may already cover you. plus -- >> the extended warrantee contract is two or three years past the time you bought it. >> gift cards aren't always a

great gift. a quarter of all gift cards are still lying around in your purse or deck drawers ten months after you get it according to "consumer reports." two-thirds of people who get them spend more than the card's face value so they're basically paying for their own present. unless you know for a fashth the recipient wants it and will use it, you're probably buying the retailer a gift. be leery of lay-away. there are up-front fees. what if the item goes on sale and if you miss a payment, the retailer could cancel the lay-away and you'll lose money. finally, do not pay full price. beware of retailers who jack up a price before lowering it again. and hunt through online sites for coupon codes you can plug in for online shopping. make it your mission never to pay for shipping. there are always free shipping deals right around the corner. and don't buy the hype! black friday prices are not always the lowest of the season. christine romans, cnn, new york. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.

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after months of talks by the congressional super committee, democrats and republicans today are expected to announce that they simply cannot agree on how to reduce the debt. the fallout could be widespread across the economy. >> reporter: take a look at where super committee failure could fall. john langford's 400-person aviation business in manassas, virginia. >> on the outside it looks like a normal airplane. then on the inside this is the equivalent of r2-d2. >> so it is a drone made for u.s. defense and across the

board cuts hitting the pentagon in 2013 could hit this aircraft and this business, too. >> employees are incredibly nervous. i think everybody is. in a small business it is a very hand-to-mouth kind of thing. >> let's stop here a second. specifics. super committee failure triggers about 8% to 9% in automatic cuts for the defense department. but cuts would also hit here, social programs that help the poor and other places like border patrols and hurricane readiness, because the non-defense side of government also gets an 8% to 9% cut. some call that catastrophic. the cato institute says something else -- >> if there's no deal taxpayers actually win because we get a sequester. that means in washington budget talk there are automatic reductions in the projected growth of government spending. >> how much red ink would automatic cuts stop? >> the maximum amount it can be under the law is $1.2 trillion over nine years and obviously

$1.2 trillion is a lot of money. >> hold it there. that's a federal budget expert. he says $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts. sound like a lot? >> but over a nine-year period it is not that great. >> the bottom line, back at aurora flight services, the super committee failure looks like across-the-board cuts that will knife defense but barely scratch the debt problem. >> as we talk about bringing overall spending down you have to do it wisely. >> and there is another possibility. across the board cuts come prosecuting super committee failures. they don't happen until 2013 so congress would have a year to try and water them down. if congress did that could have repercussions on wall street and extend this messy debate into a messy campaign year. cnn, capitol hill. you've been sounding off on our "talk back" question, who should come to the congressional super committee's rescue.

it looks like efforts to reach a deal to cut the national debt are not working out. carol costello joins us live from new york. some people may not want to rescue the super committee. just sayin'. >> some may want to say just let the chips fall where they may. then they'll go to the voting booth in 2012. but some have ideas and who should come to the rescue of the super committee? sharon -- please consider colin powell. he doesn't have a political axe to grind and shows outstanding judgment. he believes everything is too tow polarized and this does not benefit our democracy. former presidents george h.w. bush and bill clinton are both good friends, respected elder statesman. president obama in my opinion cannot do this nearly as effectively as a former president can right now. the american people must come to the rescue. first through an absolute mandate for action for investment in the economy to produce jobs and second, for campaign reform.

occupy congress. it from stephenen -- super man, batman, robin, spied berman, spider woman, robo cop. james bond and the cast of character just might push it over the edge. >> the one gentleman who recommend putting bill clinton and george h.w. bush together, they've accomplished a lot of stuff. look what happened with the tsunami. they came and put together an effort to help folks reeling from that catastrophe. that's actually not a bad idea. >> and they obviously like and respect one another. they're friends. george h.w. bush says he sometimes considers bill clinton as another son so maybe that's the answer. who knows? >> who knows. if that's the answer, the credit will have to go to you, carol, for asking the question. thanks so much. good to see you.

do you ever hear politicians say something and think did they really just say that? stick around. you are about to hear some of the best clips of the week are senators, candidates and even the president. this is $100,000.

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the politicians are constantly talking and some of what they have to say may have you doing a double take, especially on a day like today. take a listen. >> i was just presented with the

most unique gift i've ever received as president. crocodile insurance. my wife, michelle, will be relieved. >> well, think i'm just going to go ahead and say what i think everybody here is thinking. this is pretty cool. >> the day after i get elected president, i'm going to take a n nap. i'll probably be a little bit tired. >> are you going to live on 25% of your income? you can't even do itunes downloads for that. come on, let's be honest. >> it is shameful that we are poised to intervene to make sure that pizza continues to count as a vegetable and that we protect the privileged status of french fries on the lunch tray. >> i want you to know i'm supporting mr. markey. i will tell you right now -- >> i'm sure he is thrilled with that. >> you can ask questions but i think first governor romney has a few words that he's