bottom of the hour now, welcome back, everyone. i'm randi kaye. >> i'm victor blackwell. thanks for starting your morning with us. here are five important stories we're watching this morning. the man behind the anti-muslim film that sparked protest in the middle east was escorted from his home overnight. he left voluntary but didn't speak to reporters as he left his house. he was apparently questioned for a few hours before leaving on his own. that film has sparked protests in more than a dozen countries,

some of them turning violent. western diplomats have warned leaders in those countries to ensure protection for their staff. secretary of state hillary clinton warned that the u.s. would take action to protect its diplomatic facilities. a circuit judge has tossed out major portions of wisconsin's collective bargaining law. limits the rights of public unions. the law violates the state and u.s. constitution, but this legal battle is probably long from over after the ruling governor walker suggested the state would appeal that decision. sometimes all traders need is a little reassurance. facebook stock shot up over 6% on friday after mark zumerbering spoke for 30 minutes at an industry conference earlier this week. his first public appearance since the company went public. facebook is still the worst performing ipo in history. shares have lost nearly half their value since its debut back in may. if you didn't preorder the first iphone in the first hour

after it went on sale, you're going to have to wait. yes, two weeks to get it. online stores have been slammed withple shares hit an all-time high. if you don't want to wait it out, the phone hits store shelves next week. the unemployment rate has been above 8% for the last 43 months. it's a talking point republicans are hitting hard this election season. but just this week, the federal reserve announced it is taking steps to boost the economy and get some employers to hire new workers. earlier, i spoke with cnn international anchor richard qwest about the fed's latest move. >> the plan issadacious. having had two bites, the qu-- w he has the printing presses

going, again. but this time it's open ended. $40 billion will be going into agency-backed, mortgage-backed securities. it's a lot of money when taken with other things that he's going to be doing. $85 billion in all. and it is open ended. $40 billion a month for the foreseeable future, or at least until unemeployment comes down. >> richard, there has to be some danger inherently in having this qe3 with no end date in sight. >> yes, what danger would you like. would you like to worry about inflation and the possibility of what might happen in the future or would you like to continue to see the u.s. economy sluggish and not picking up speed as you would expect? demand, which is what this is all about, is still low. and all this at a time when interest rates are unbelievably

low. we have a saying in economic -- this is more than just accommodative. they are almost helicoptering money down. that's why you throw it from the top and it goes everywhere. it's not working. yes, growth is picking up somewhat. 1.5%, 2%. but unemployment remains stubborn at 8.1% and now bernanke has decided it's jobs, jobs, jobs. >> now, republicans are a bit critical. some of them believe that this was a bit of a nod to president obama. do you see politics in this at all? >> no and yes. yes and no. i remember in one of the bush elections where there was the question of bush 1, whether there was going to be a cut in interest rates before the election and if they did that alan greenspan would have been tinkering with the electoral process. you know, the election is still also two months away.

there is no way that the fed chairman, with his mandates, could sit on his hands and whistle dixie as he watches things get worse or at least not get better. now, could he have done other things? yes. there are a variety of other technical things he could do. he could -- which would have had an effect, but going for this model in this way, i can see why the republicans are seething and spitting feathers. it will have an effect. but from bernanke's point of view, he probably had no choice. >> are we going to see this effect, do you believe, before the election? >> good question. bernanke told us that qe1 and qe2 did have an effect. it created growth and did improve the situation. now, most people seem to believe that over the next couple of months as the money goes in,

unemployment will come down. but i think it will be naive, it will be more than that, naive, silly, between now and beginning of september to end of november we already have a couple different sets of numbers that there could be a dramatic difference. t at best i think you're looking for a trend or a blip or something that says it's working. no illusion, victor. what bernanke announced is medium to long-term until things start getting better. those printing presses are going to be going. i guess six months to a year. i can see it easily. he's already told us interest rates are going to remain low until 2015. well, it's 2012 now. there is an enormous amount of work still to be done. >> for now, the latest stimulus plan has injected some life into the markets. yesterday the s&p 500 closed at its highest level since 2007.

new york mayor michael bloomberg says the big apple will be a healthier place now with the soda ban. what do some new yorkers think? >> if you want to be fat, be fat. >> we sent comedian bill santiago out on the street to find out. big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better.

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because it has been approved by the city's board of health. sold at restaurants, delis and movie theaters in the city. it goes into effect in march. mayor bloomberg tweeted this, six months from today our city will be an even healthier place. maybe so. the question is, will new york be a happier place as well. we sent bill santiago out on the street to find out. so, bill, i bet you got a whole bunch of opinions and snarky comments, as well. what do new yorkers think of this? >> they were pretty much split. some people thought it was a good idea and they totally support the mayor's new lifestyle initiative no matter how anti-fun it is. other people just had one message for mr. bloomberg which was kiss my big gulp and still a

lot of open questions about it. who exactly will get into trouble for this. right now vendors will people eventually get into trouble for possession of an oversized sugary drink. will the venti frappuccino be banned, starbucks thinks there is some wiggle room. will governor christie get immunity when he gets his 10 gallon slurpee on. there is a range of opinion on. new yorkers are never people to disappoint when you ask them what's on their mind. let's check out what they had to say. >> none of his business. if you want to be fat, be fat. if you don't want to be fat, you won't drink it. correct? but you should have the option. >> so, you're totally against this? >> yeah, i'm totally against it. >> you think people -- >> i love the supersize. >> you're a supersize person. we're from cnn and we're talking about the mayor bloomberg sugar

ban. do you know what size that is? >> this is 16 ounces. >> 16 ounces, that's the limit. do you ever go over that? >> no, i do not. >> the ban would not affect you at all? >> i will just get two. >> you think you have a constitutional right to have diabetes? >> yes, absolutely. >> slow someone down just from saying, hey -- >> give me two, no. >> but you have to pay for the second one. you can get free refills. do you think of him as a tyrant or a nanny? >> more of a tyrant. >> he's doing the right thing. he's trying to protect us from ourselves. >> we have to protect from ourselves. >> he banned smoking every place, which is good. >> you are a diabetic soda drinker. >> yes. >> you're against even the principle and the practice of this law. you're a diabetic who needs your sugary drinks. >> yes. >> bloomberg, i'm not saying anything bad about you, but let people make their own choice.

>> do you think he is abusing his power as mayor? >> no, he wants a stance for something. >> i want to start a soda freedom party. are you behind me? >> yes. >> will you donate to help get me elected? >> yes. >> let's do it. look at that. >> and bill joins us from new york. you didn't see the mayor out on the street pushing his new campaign? >> i didn't see him. i know he's out there and plugging this and trying to put the best light on it so he doesn't come out as a tyrant or nanny and people understand that he's just trying to make the city a little healthier. i'm sure he would have gotten an earful because some people think it is none of his business and the interesting thing is that this news, of course, has gotten worldwide attention and there are cities around the planet that are offering up sanctuary and asylum for soda ban refugees. if you get sick of it, you can

always go to london and always get the biggest size soda your heart desires. >> go across the hudson. >> it will cost you a lot of money. >> no kidding. all right, bill, nice to see you. we'll see you next week. >> we'll see you next week. bye-bye. >> victor? >> somewhere around the building someone is drinking the 10 ounce milk shakes and getting those calories. if you're a big "saturday night live" fan and i am the show returns tonight for its 38th season and they have a big change in sdotore.

tonight is the 38 lth season

premiere of "saturday night live." you'll see some new faces on stage and we hear there will be a new president in town. i spoke with our entertainment correspondent nischelle turner a little earlier. what are you hearing about this big change? >> you know, this is a big change, victor. now, we're used to seeing fred armson play president obama and he does it very well, i think. but lauren michael says he wants to shake things up and he will replace with jay farrow. he has been on the show for a couple of seasons and he's done some great impressions on snlpen done some of will smith, denzel washington, stephen a. smith, which is my favorite and jay-z and done some funny impressions of president obama during his stand-up act. >> he does a great denzel washington. i want to read what he tweeted. cheers to a great year. more principal frye, more

characters, more impressions, more responsibility. god placed me exactly where i need to be. . i think arms armisen had a grea obama impressination. you ready, it is only two words. >> thank you. that's my impersonation. >> thank you. >> so, why do they make this change from fred armisen to jay pharoah. >> fred armisen is a funny guy and we loved his president obama impersonation, it never made this huge impact on the nation. some of the most memorable highlights from the show involve political impressions. remember will ferrell as george w. bush and chevy chase as ford.

when you're playing this character on the show, especially in an election year, they really want you to make an a impression, a lasting impression at that. >> also news about jason, he'll be back at mitt romney and impersonates governor romney and also does vice president biden. but there's a hitch in this, too, right? >> because he was debating on leaving the show before the season started, but now it looks like he's going to stick around, at least through january. now, if mitt romney does win the election, then there's a whole new ball game and maybe they're going to try to convince him to stay around or they may just have to start auditioning new versions of romney on the show. i can't imagine if mitt romney wins the election and jason sudeikis has played him through january that they'll make this switch. if mitt romney wins, they'll try to convince jason sudeikis to stay. >> also, you know, we're talking about politicians and snl really no underestimating the power of

snl on politics. you look back to 2008, we saw tina fey as sarah palin. >> and i can see russia from my house. >> that really had an impression on the voters a lot of surveys show. we'll see more of that this year with obama and romney,ium are sure we'll see that, right? >> absolutely. some people get down on "saturday night live" in their form right now. "saturday night live" when they're talking politics that's when they're at their best. hillary clinton is one of the more iconic ones. i'm definitely thinking we're going to see that. this is an election year and a very interesting election and they're going to go all in and i'm excited. i can't wait to see what they come up with. >> thank you. what do you think? >> i think it needs some work. >> oh, okay. good morning to you, too, randi. >> i'm just being honest, you know. >> that was entertainment

correspondent nischelle turner. the 38th season premieres. clint eastwood and the chair. that's a punchline in itself, but now the act aer is talking about it and to put it simply, he has no regrets. >> one >> one thing about -- one advantage of being my age is, you know, what can they do to you? you just have fun and do as you think, and you can say what you think. you don't have towed it yourself. >> so you don't regret it at all? and i think i hear governor romney say on one of the sunday shows last week that he enjoyed it. he liked it. >> he did, yeah. he's got a much better sense of humor than people think. >> also mitt romney thought it was funny, but remember when she was asked, ann romney, could only say it was unique. >> the aclu has filed a lawsuit against the state of georgia,

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being an beingance. taking a look at stories we're watching around the country. in southern california a fast moving brush fire has burned 75 acres. check out the fire in los angeles. the fire started during the friday afternoon rush hour snarling the city's already infamous commute and burned through the night. and a tentative deal in chicago between the teachers union and the city's school board. union officials will meet sometime between now and sunday to draft framework for a deal. and you might think they would be on the other side of this fight. the aclu suing the state of georgia on behalf of the ku klux klan over a violation of free speech. the klan filed for an adopt a highway permit back in june with you were turned down by the state's department of transportation because of the group's history of violence. well, the aclu says no matter how offensive the klan's

positions may be everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. >> coming up, more responses to a story we told you about last hour. do you think a professor should have breast fed her baby during class? we still want to hear from you. tweet us at randikayecnn or victorcnn. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense. why not take a day to.com today explore your own backyard?. with two times the points on travel,

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so we've been telling you about an american university professor who breast fed her baby in class last month. we've been asking you to share your thoughts via twitter, and we'll share a few of them with the viewers here. the first one says, this from gilbert. >> if those kids can watch blood and gore on xbox or playstation, they should be able to see a baby