happy. to be more serious about this, the election is very close. i agree with ryan, what he said earlier. the economy is getting better just enough so that i think president obama will go over the line. >> 2% is not great but it's enough that every side will get to say exactly what they want to say about the economy. >> i agree. "cnn newsroom" starts right now with carol costello. stories in the "newsroom," deadly hurricane sandy on track to mix with a huge winter storm. where and when could it hit? breaking news on the health of our economy. new measure of what our economy produces. we're live to tell you what that means. todd akin and richard mourdock better watch out. tina fey is coming after them. why the comedian says their rape comments will make her lose her mind. not fast enough to beat the throw home. ooh, world series nail biter. newsroom starts right now.

we have to start with news on our economy. breaking news. the country's gross domestic product picking up steam, growing by 2% in the the last quarter. that is better than most economists had had predicted. the gdp is our broadest measure of economic health, helping to move that number forward, a boost to consumer spending, housing market in recovery and increased defense spending. we'll have much more on this in about 15 minutes. let's talk weather now. a massive and deadly hurricane sandy could slam into the northeast in just a few days. take a look from space. sandy is so big, it would cover the distance from memphis, tennessee, to los angeles. and it's expected to mix with a powerful winter storm, turning this into a halloween monster. this could affect everyone from trick-or-treaters to people headed to the polls. people at the jersey shore are already filling sand bags and preparing for the worst. meteorologist rob marciano is

here. so, percentages? will it hit? is it likely to hit? >> looks a lot more likely now than it did this time yesterday. yesterday it was maybe 50/50. give it greater chances than that. the question is how big and bad will it be? it will be different from just a hurricane. want to show some pictures out of cuba. this is what it could look like in spots across the northeast. category 2 storm as it hit eastern cuba yesterday. trees down, power lines down, infrastructure damaged. we could see similar sights like this across the northeast even though it's not expected to be this strong when it gets there. we'll go over reasons for that in a second. first off, let's go over the stats for sandy, winds 80 miles an hour, 480 miles south of charleston, moving northwesterly at 10. it has slowed down. its pressure has come up a little bit. its wind field has expanded. we expect that trend to continue. that worries us because it's heading toward a very populated area. larger that wind field gets, the more people it's going to impacimpac

impact. it will bring in big waves from not only florida but up to north carolina, could see 30-footers over the weekend and some wind as well. it makes that turn. computer models today are in much more agreement that it will make that turn, some blocking happening out on the atlantic ocean that will shove it back inland. in some way, shape or form, a category 1 type of storm. don't focus on the path. i think that the radii for damaging winds will be a couple hundred miles. you could have 50-mile-an-hour plus winds over, say, a 400 or 500-mile area he. that's a huge swath of real estate. the timing for this will be some time during the day tuesday if it makes more of a left turn, it will be monday into tuesday. if it makes more of a right turn, it will be tuesday into wednesday. one of the reasons we expect it to expand its wind field and stay strong is because this late in the fall, we have a strong jet stream. we haven't seen a scenario like this where our jet stream will impact that storm and then really turn it into something

like we haven't seen in quite some time. maybe a long duration event with it. that could be the key here, when you talk about a long duration wind event and trees that still have their leaves on them. that's when you're talking about widespread power outages. the storm we've been comparing this to is 1991, the perfect storm. similar in that we've got a couple of things interacting together. that one never made landfall. >> there is a possibility that this one might be less severe? i just don't want to scare people. >> we don't want to scare people but certainly today more than yesterday, at least the time to start preparing. you have the weekend to do that. i don't expect mass evacuations, but why not prepare your home for the worst and maybe hoping for the best? >> better safe than sorry. >> rob marciano, thank you. you mentioned cuba. look at the devastation that sandy caused in cuba as a cat 2 hurricane. flooded streets and parking lots and, of course, knocked out power. 11 deaths reported in cuba. nine deaths in haiti. one in jamaica.

a woman said she lost an entire room of her house and has never seen a storm loik this before. to politics now. colin powell's endorsement of president obama is rattling some of his fellow republicans, citing the auto bailout and other issues for his support. but john sununu said powell may have been ininfluenced from something else. >> you have to wonder if that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he has a slightly different reason for endorsing president obama. >> what reason would that be? >> well, i think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the united states, i applaud colin for standing with him. >> shortly after that interview, sununu whacked back on those comments issuing a statement saying quote, colin powell is a friend and i respect the

endorsement decision that he made and i do not doubt that it was based on anything but his support of the president's policies. end quote. senator john mccain weighing in, questioning powell's commitment to the republican party. >> you've been spitting blood all morning about colin powell endorsing barack obama again. why are you so angry about it? >> i'm not angry about it. i just wish he wouldn't call himself a republican. we republicans have a habit of supporting republicans. so that's all i mean. everybody is entitled to their views. frankly, i don't think it will change one vote. >> let's bring in cnn contributor and cnn columnist for "newsweek" and the daily beast, john avlon with our cnn election express. john, john mccain says the powell endorsement won't change anyone's mind. we kind of get why john mccain is a little bitter about colin powell, because powell didn't endorse mccain in 2008, but

sunun sununu? his comments certainly don't help. he's not some random guy either. he's romney national campaign co-chair. >> reporter: yeah. that's why this is catching up a lot of attention and being more than just a late-night twitter fight, carol. they only make sense if you accept that sununu is supporting romney because he's white. it does speak to the double standard that still exists on the subtle and thorny issues on race in our country. it is indicative. there's a persistent problem with john sununu. when he said to cnn earlier in the campaign, he wishes the president would learn how to be an american. this kind of rhetoric is ridiculous. it shows a perfesistent disrespt as if swron sununu has some personal problem with the president that goes beyond politics or policy. >> something that seems to be a trend this election cycle, someone says something vile and sort of walks it back.

what's up with that? >> reporter: it's called damage control. and it's a perfectly reasonable pr stunt. sometimes it comes across as sincere. a person acknowledges making a mistake n this case, john sununu's apology, clarification says i do not doubt -- he said i do not doubt that colin powell's endorsement president is based on anything else than the policies of the president. yes, he does doubt. that's exactly what he said on piers morgan last night. he said it was about race, racial affinity. i understand john mccain's point. colin powell endorsed president obama over had him in 2008. but when you're an independent-minded man, a centrist like john mccain is, republican or democrat, you have the right to endorse the person not just the party.

>> jn avlon reporting live for us this morning. for his part president obama said he was, quote, proud and humble to have powell's support, making those remarks during his 48-hour whirlwind tour, wrapping up the tour in ohio where he urged supporters to get out and vote. >> so, ohio, i've got to tell you, even though i've been gone for about 38 hours straight, even though my voice is getting kind of hoarse, i still got a spring in my step. because -- because our cause is right. because we're fighting for the future. i've come to ohio today to ask you for your vote. >> president obama now back in washington where today's

schedule includes a series of radio and local tv interviews along with a live appearance on mtv. staying in ohio, the man hoping to replace president obama, getting a strong show of support from one very vocal rocker. >> i know there is one thing that you've been taught your whole life, is that you never argue politics or row linlg with your friends, but 2012 is completely different. i have been arguing for mitt romney for a year. so you get out there and you argue with your relatives. you argue with your neighbors. you get in fights over politics and religion, because we need ohio! >> that's right, meatloaf is backing mitt, the 65-year-old singer telling the crowd how he got two of his democratic friends to switch their votes to

romney, asking them to do the same and when it was his turn to address the the crowd, romney talked about the reason for his recent surge in support. >> those events have given us a chance for our campaign to get large larger and larger and build a stronger degree of momentum and support. and the amazing thing is that the debates have led to the president gettinger a ee eer -- smaller and smaller. >> one of the main themes of his campaign, the economy, as his aides call it a major speech in iowa. a major dash for cash. noor newly released figures show the obama campaigned raised over $90 million in the first part of october, below his republican rival. team romney brought in $112 million. that brings total fund-raising to more than $2 billion for 2012, which some analysts say could be the costliest presidential election in history

had. conservative fire brand ann coulter, not well known for his delicate use of the english language is embroiled in controversy again after the face-off between obama and romney, coulter took to twitter to share her feelings. she wrote, tweeted, i highly approve of romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard in response of her use of that offensive word to describe the president of the united states, special olympian john stevens wrote a heartfelt, open letter explaining just why that word should not be an insult. here is what he had to say. >> dear ann coulter, come on, miss coulter, you aren't dumb and you aren't shallow, so why are you constantly using a word like the r word as an insult? i am a 30-year-old man with down

syndrome who has struggled with the public's perception that my disability means i am dumb and shallow. i am not either of those things. i do process information a little more slowly than the rest of you. >> you can hear more from that special olympics athlete, live on piers morgan tonight, 9:00 pm eastern. the bunt that stayed fair. more giant luck? great execution? or are the tigers cursed? ncer ] citi turns 200 this year. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement.

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16 minute s past the hour. hurricane blamed for more than 20 deaths in the crib yn is taking aim at the united states. hurricane sandy, losing some strength in the bahamas, but expected to intensify and merge with with a winter storm over the northeast. it could hit the united states around halloween. good news for the 15-year-old pakistani girl shot in the head by the taliban. doctors bloev malala does not have significant brain damage.

she is now recovering at a british hospital. and for the first time we're getting to see her with her family. her father says, yes, she is able to talk to them. in business use, apple's newest ipad won't be released for another woek. and already it's a hot item. don't you know it? the ipad minni went on sale this morning. certain models are sold out and there is a two-woek delay. prices start at $329. in sports a scary moment for doug fister. so awful. took that line drive off his skull in the second inning. fister would be okay. he would continue to pitch. i don't know how, but the giants score late to win 2-0, take a 2-0 lead in the best of seven series. family in new york facing every parent's nightmare, a woman they trusted with their three children now accused of stabbing two of those kids to

death. upper west soid mother returned home to find her oldest two children stabbed and the nanny on the floor nearby, unconscious and bleeding. deb feyerick has been following this story. you always want to ask why. but maybe we'll never know. >> yeah. and that's what's so tragic about this. i with was looking at pictures and entries on the blog that the mom kept documenting her children. this with his a truly happy, happy family. and you can just see the love and the joy. these children were everything to this mom. the question, why did this nanny apparently snap and do something so terrible as police allege? she's in critical condition right now under arrest. because she's sedated she has not yet been charged. the parents, marina and kevin krim, he is an executive at cnbc. the mom wrote we celebrated leo's 2nd birthday today. and a great birthday it was. we spent the day in the hudson

valley, picnicking and picking apples at minard farms then picking pumpkins straight from the vine at a nearby patch. then the mom returned home yesterday, she was with another child, they were coming back from swimming lessons. the apartment was dark. dortman said nobody left. she searched the bathroom. that's where she found her 6-year-old daughter, lucia, also known as lulu, and 2-year-old leo, both of them in that bathtub stabbed multiple times. the nanny was on the floor, kitchen knife next to her. the police say she stabbed herself repeatedly in the throat. neighbors called police after hearing the distraught mother's screams. the mother when i spoke to somebody with knowledge of the case, he told me to say that the mother is devastated is an understatement. and the dad, he was away from home on a business trip. he was met at the airport by police and then taken to the hospital where his children were pronounced dead. carol? >> that's just awful.

deborah feyerick, thank you so much. economic indicators do you out before the election and it's a positive one for the obama administration as the gdp goes up more than expected. maribel able is live at the new york stock exchange to explain what this means. >> reporter: we learned the u.s. economy grew, and it grew the a 2% pace july through september, better than the 1.7% economists surveyed and were expecting. you can look at the chart for some perspective here. coming as a nice surprise to wall street. better than the second quarter. biggest reason growth picked up, americans are spending more. that has to encourage investors who have been worried about a slowdown in europe all week long and the affect that's having on american companies. housing sector also a bright spot as was the federal spending. plenty bogging down the u.s. economy. businesses aren't spending much money and exporting less.

confirming what we heard from the likes of caterpillar and dupont. >> how are the markets reacting? >> stock futures are pointing lower but improved significantly after the report. 30-point drop at the open for dow, better than the 100-point tumble we were looking at earlier. disappointing earnings from amazon and apple. but the main focus is on the gdp reading. you mentioned the election before. this could help president obama's message that the economy is improving, but growth is still way too weak to meaningfully boost hiring. >> maribel aber, thank you. talk back question for you this morning. why don't more white voters support president obama? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll be right back.

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now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, why don't more white voters support president obama? more polarized than ever, and not just politically. this washington post headline says it all, 2012 voters, the deepest racial split since 1988.

so even though we elected our first black president, race continues to haunt us. romney's surrogate john sununu went there when piers morgan asked why colin powell would endorse democrat barack obama. >> frankly when you take a look at colin powell you have to wonder if that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring president obama. >> what reason would that be? >> well, i think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the united states, i applaud colin for standing with him. >> didn't we have that discussion back in 2008? let's pivot. according to a washington post abc news poll obama is trailing romney 59 to 38% among white vo voters. clearly, that is a problem. but saying it's all about race is just too easy. fact is, white or black, no democratic nominee has won a majority of whites since 1964.

in 2004, senator john kerry got only 41% of white voters. >> what we're beginning to see is the republicans are becoming increasingly white and democrats are increasingly losing white people. it's the messaging. it's something they're doing as a party that's not appealing to a white voter. it's not just president obama, it's about the platform. >> no matter what their race, they share a top concern this year. that would be the economy. why does the racial divide in the voting booth continue to grow between democrats and republicans? talk back question for you this morning, why don't more white voters support president obama? facebook.com/carolcnn. facebook.com/carolcnn. your comments later this hour. the battle for the female vote isn't showing any signs of slowing down. the obama campaign has just released this new ad starring the ultimate "it" girl talking about her first time.

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good morning to you. i'm carol costello. it is 30 minutes past the hour. gross domestic product increased 2% in the third quarter. the gdp is our best measure of economic health. but while that number is better than expected, a senior economist atwells fargo called it just ho-hum. upper west side nanny is accused of stabbing to death two young children in her care. their mother returned home and found the children in a bathtub and the nanny nearby with what appeared to be self-inflicted stab wounds. the children were pronounced dead at a hospital. hurricane sandy losing strength this morning over the bahamas, but it is still poised to cause some major league damage, expected to intensify and merge with a winter storm

over the northeast, which could make for one damp halloween. sandy already being blamed for 21 deaths in the caribbean. china blocks internet access inside the country to "the new york times" after the paper published an article, critici criticizing the fortune of china's premiere. "new york times" search have been blocked. not a day goes by without the obama campaign trying to change that fact by reaching out to female voters. >> there might even be some here who are trying to make up their minds. maybe -- no, no, no. maybe, you know, your girlfriend said you've got to come. she's smart enough. she's already voting for obama but you need some persuading. >> trying to convince young women to vote. the obama campaign pulling out all the stops to do that, even

tapped the ultimate "it" girl, the star of the hbo series "girls." and here is her ad. >> your first time shouldn't be with just anybody. you want to do it with a great guy. it should be with a guy with beautiful -- someone who really cares about and understands women. a guy who cares whether you get health insurance, specifically whether you get birth control. the consequences are huge. my first time voting was amazing. it was this line in the sand. before, i was a girl. now i was a woman. i went to the polling station, pulled back the curtain. i voted for barack obama. >> several republicans don't much like that ad. they call it offensive to women. >> the more sex we talk about in this campaign, piers, the more insulting it is to women. not everything has to be about biology. >> joining me now, cnn political analyst and editorial director of the washington journal, ron

brownstein. good morning, ron. >> good morning from cleveland. >> ready to talk women? >> sure. women, cleveland, ohio, all of the above. >> women care more about things like birth control and abortion, so why do the democrats keep pounding away at those issues? are they right? >> like most things, lena dunham has done, it's extremely well done, charming and edgy in that unique combination but not something i'm sure you would do as a campaign if you were entirely comfortable with where you are. you know, to talk about women is very difficult. because women are not monolithic in how they vote. minority women are very strongly democratic. look at white women, women without a college education, blue collar white women and married women are more republican. single women and college educated women are more democratic. this is a sign of some concern about the level of engagement of

younger, single women who tend to be very democratic when they vote. but getting them to vote is the key. >> i think that older women like me tend to be a bit stodgy and might look at that ad and say, seriously? but younger women, it might just strike a cord. it's clearly targeted to young women voters. >> right, clearly. i'm guessing that's not on the air tonight in canton and akron, not far from where i am. i don't even know if it's being shown on television. i imagine it's something they're putting out online in the hope that people like us would talk about it on television. but, again, there are very clear devices -- polls are not entirely consistent, but there's clearly a sense since that first debate mitt romney has made his biggest gains among women, not only blue collar women who are tough for democrats but college educated women, barack obama won 50% of them in 2008. a lot of indication -- polls are varying but generally speaking that number is down in the most

recent polls. this, again, is an effort to speak to the younger part of that. >> democrats say remarks about abortion that are just kind of crazy -- like the remarks that came from republican todd akin and most recently what some would call kind of crazy remarks from richard mourdock, they don't seem to be resonate iing a negative way for women. why do you suppose that is? >> we'll have to see. clearly, that is the bet. women are not living in some other economy. there's a reason why president obama is, you know, struggling to match his 2008 performance among women, both blue collar women and white collar women. what they clearly believe and what we saw starting that second debate where he got planned parenthood and pay equity in there before he was even asked about it, these other issues besides the state of the economy, planned parenthood, access to contraception are all assets that can help him bring back women.

for better or worse, the preferences among men are pretty baked but there is more openness. here in the rust belt, primarily aimed at blue collar women, h d holding president obama afloat in iowa, ohio and wisconsin, in kind of the sunbelt, virginia, colorado, states like that, it's more of that cultural liberalism and upscale women who have been such an important part to the democratic coalition in those states. >> ron brownstein, many thanks. >> thank you. >> as we get the final say from voters 11 days for now, a tight race for the white house, especially in those key battleground states ron was talking about. nbc washington -- nbc wall street journal poll, a dead heat in colorado. in nevada, president obama holds a three-point advantage but that's with within the sampling error. adelson and his wife, supporters of newt gingrich during the

primary, have given $10 million in new donations to the pro romney super pac restore our future. filings show that the group has raised more than $20 million the first half of this month. actress teen camera if a getting political. we'll tell you what has the "30 rock" star saying she feels like a secretary on mad men. it's hard to see opportunity in today's challenging environment. unless you have the right perspective. bny mellon wealth management has the vision

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some recent comments by republicans about rape have gotten funny lady tina fey all fired up. and, according to her, politicians better watch out because we've already seen what happens when fey gets political. >> i believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy. >> and i can see russia from my house. >> showbiz tonight's a.j. hammer joins us now and makes wonder if tina fey will visit "saturday

night live" any time soon. >> yes. won't that be interesting, carol? she did come out swinging the other night at the gallona for the center for reproductive rights and made it perfectly clear in her own comedic way, of course, that she is among those that haven't been happy at all with a lot of the discussions happening on the campaign trail about women's rights and rape. let's watch what she had to say. >> if i have to listen to one more gray-faced man with a $2 haircut explain to me what rape is, i'm going to lose my mind! i watch these guys and i'm like, what is happening? am i a secretary on "mad men"? >> funny as always and also directly addressed the statements made by representative todd akin. she tried to repeat his comments about women not getting pregnant from a legitimate rape and she had to stop herself saying in her own way, just repeating the comments was making her dumber.

carol, as you pointed out, she knows that politicians pay attention and know how sharp her wit is. a lot of people respond to it. i know that they are watching her. >> i'm just curious. she may appear on "snl" any time now. i'll be watching to see. >> me, too. >> a.j. hammer, thank you. he will be back with us next hour with more showbiz headlines, including arnold schwarzenegger, who is putting on one of his old costumes, like really old costumes. the polls show the race in colorado is in a dead heat. we'll introduce you to some of those people whose votes could paint the state red or blue. we'll be back. know, everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ] i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three words, dad -- e-trade financial consultants. so i can just go talk to 'em? just walk right in and talk to 'em. dude, those guys are pros. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. they'll -- wa-- wa-- wait a minute.

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45 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories now. a new york nanny remains in critical condition after police say she killed two young children in her charge and then

slashed her own throat. the kids, ages 2 and 6, were found by their mother in a bathtub. their father was coming home from a business trip and was met by police at the airport. consumer spending gives a boost to the u.s. economy, gross domestic product increased 2% in the third quarter. gdp is our best measure of economic health. that number better than economists had expected. hurricane sandy is taking aim at the northeast. expected to collide with a powerful winter storm which could turn it into a super storm. tropical storm watches are up along the carolina coast. hurricane sandy blamed for more than 20 deaths in the caribbean. president obama will be on mtv tonight in hopes of rallying the youth vote, interviewing with host sway callaway in a special called "ask obama live." ten more interviews with radio stations at local news stations. the polls, the polls.

latest polls have colorado in a dead heat. 48% for obama, 48% for romney. fewer than 1% of the voters in colorado will decide who wins the state's nine electoral votes. miguel marquez is in one of the most divided counties in the state to get a sense of what voters are thinking. >> reporter: here we are, rocky mountain high in golden, colorado. this is jefferson county. it's one of the most competitive counties in this state. both campaigns are working this county very hard. it's because as little as 20,000 or 30,000 votes across the entire state of colorado could paint this state red or blue. that's as little as 1% of the overall votes statewide. so this is always the scariest bit of this, isn't it? >> the first step is always the hardest. >> reporter: spencer hennigan has run adventure trips for two years. so this is the office? >> true, true. >> reporter: not a bad office. >> i like it. >> reporter: business has grown, starting with four guides, he

now has 20. this year, the company's biggest, 3,000 trips, everything from rappelling to back country skiing. >> it's a lot of hard work. >> reporter: the business expanded, he says, by keeping prices low and taking advantage of coloradoans staying close to home. what do you hope for the next four years? >> the more people that we can raise the bar for, you know, equal pay, the more that we can feel inclusion in this state. >> reporter: while some have weathered the recession, colorado continues to struggle, here in jefferson county the unemployment rate 7.4%, just a little better than across the state. this is the new restaurant. >> this is it. >> reporter: the nunez family, all ten of them, pitching in on a new venture, family restaurant. the restaurant's draw, authentic cuisine prepared by gloria nunez, who moved here from mexico city when she was 21. how many recipes are in your

head? >> i don't know. i can't count. >> reporter: now known as grandma. what do you hope to see in the next few years? >> one of the most important things is the economy to go up a little. >> reporter: now the restaurant is run out of a strip mall. soon, new building, liquor license and as many as 15 new employees. this family is still agonizing over with which candidate is best for the future. what makes this area so competitive? >> as you canonsider the number of how the hispanic population has grown not only here but across the country, we have an important voice. >> reporter: latinos, business owners and residents ready to deliver crucial nine electoral vote votes. they could decide who takes the white house. now colorado's interesting. there are more unaffiliated or independent voters either than republic

republicans or democrats. the president coming back to colorado springs, conservative territory, to be here on tuesday. i've been here several times now. it's going to come down to which campaign is the best organized on the ground. carol? >> miguel marquez reporting live for us this morning. our talk back question, why don't more white voters support president obama? your responses, next.

talk back question this morning. why don't more white voters support president obama. that's the bitter underlying truth. most of the right wing tea partiers cannot bear seeing a black president. why don't more black asian-americans support mitt romney. this one from camille? this country can't get away from rich middle aged white men, that's why. i always said this presidential race was based on the hatred of obama because he's half black. this is from johnny.

this is not about race. the man is the worst president ever. he has done nothing ever to improve anything. keep the conversation going. facebook.com/carolyn.cnn. prince fielder tagged out at the plate after a relay throw from the outfield. the game's turning point came much later. we'll show you. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward.

i'm barack obama and i approve this message. if you're a man with low testosterone, you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t. that's right, the one you apply to the underarm. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count;

ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. see your doctor, and for a 30-day free trial, go to axiron.com. world series game 2 fit the mold with a pitching dual, clutch hitting and bang-bang play at the plate. second inning delmon young smacks the ball just inside the left field line. great hit, right? the giants balanzo picks it up. prince fielder is a big man tries to score from first base. that relay throw to marco scutaro to buster posey, he tags out fielder. if only he had straightened that

other leg. there was no scoring in the game until the seventh inning. that's when san francisco played small ball to perfection. he lays down that perfect bunt. it stays fair. i think the tigers are hurt. he dives there. that key hit loaded the bases for brandon crawford whose double playgrounder scored the first run. the giants added an insurance run in the eighth inning. both starting pitchers pitched great. the giants madison balm gardner was better than doug fister. he struck out eight in seven innings. the giants win 2-0. they lose 2-0. thursday night now tampa bay running back took over the game with the minnesota vikings. martin picked up 214 total yards including this. right here that's a 64 yard score. josh freeman talked two of the touchdown passes tampa bay. the bucks go on to win the game

361 36147. >> the presh our on the bob sled team. jones did not medal in the 100 meter hurdles in the last two summer games. new england patriots and st. louis rams are going on the road for their game on sunday. actually, all the way across the pond. cnn's alex thomas reports on the nfl's latest export to britain. >> they spend millions of dollars a year, yet the regular

season games in london indicate the nfl's restless desire to get even bigger. >> you have to look at the strength of what you're doing domestically and see if there are ways of growing internationally that will allow you to continue that growth. >> nfl fans from all over the world come to wembley to watch what has become a regular season game that's a difference. >> the players have said it's the closest to a super bowl experience that they have. >> ten different teams have already made the trip across the atlantic for regular season games in london and three more will join that list in the years ahead including the pittsburgh steelers who have won the super bowl a record six times. alex thomas, cnn london. football just doesn't sound right when discussed in a british accent.

next hour of "cnn newsroom" next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com stories we're watching in the newsroom. new campaign ammunition for president obama. less than two weeks from the election, brand new economic numbers showing the economy improving. it's a weekend of waiting all up and down the east coast as hurricane sandy inches closer towards the united states as heavy rains could turn into heavy snow. attention women voters. the obama campaign wants you but does a new ad cross the line? and it's a happy reunion for a pakistani teenager now recovering from an attempted assassination. she's with her parents at a british hospital and she's talking. "newsroom" starts now. and good morning. happy friday to you. i'm carol costello. we start with better news on the economy. i said better, not great. with eleven days left until the election we're seeing a new

indicator in the economy, that it's growing. mirabel avir live at the nasdaq site to tell us what it means. >> good morning, carol. we talked about ammunition for the president's campaign. this could help president obama's message that the economy is improving but there's something in here for romney too. growth isn't strong enough to really bring down unemployment. we learned that the u.s. economy grew at a 2% pace july through september. that's better than that 1.7% economists surveyed by cnn money. look at the chart for some perspective. better than the second quarter. the biggest reason growth picked up, americans are spending more. that really has to encourage investors who have been worried about a slowdown in europe all week long and the effect that that's having on american companies. the housing sector. it was a bright spot as was the federal government spending which is is a surprise. there's still plenty bogging down the u.s. economy. businesses aren't spending much money and they're exporting less

confirming what we've heard this week from the likes of caterpillar, 3 m and dupont. >> quick check of the markets before you go. >> it's a good report but it's not great. stocks are up only modestly. the dow, it's down 25 points here. this reading isn't strong enough to boost hiring in a meaningful way. carol. >> mirabel, reporting live from the nasdaq market site. now to that massive and deadly hurricane sandy which will slam into the northeast in just a few days. right now parts of florida under a tropical storm warning. huge waves are battering the coast. some school districts in south florida have already canceled classes today, told employees not to bother to report to work. here's alexa helms from our affiliate wsvn. >> reporter: the rain has just started to come down. the winds are picking up as well. i don't know if you can see some of the rain drops. they're going pretty fast. the main issue is the waves. this is what we've been talking about. these waves have not quit at all. they keep rolling in. so they don't look like they're

going to be that powerful until you can see all of this sand that they've swept in all the way across the beach and then the waves dump over not just water but sand and seaweed and everything in the area onto the sidewalk and in the middle of the road. now this road a 1 a from sunrise to northeast 20th street completely cut off. and this just kind of came to us right now. you can see this manhole just so you can get an idea of how much sand there actually is here. so it's at least a foot high just in this area alone. cleanups, they still don't know when those are going to begin. we just spoke with -- excuse me, we just spoke with the city of miami. they don't know when the cleanups are going to begin but at this point they don't want anybody driving this area. way too dangerous and much less getting in the water. all right. so that's a report from south florida. take a lack at hurricane sandy from space. it is so large it would cover the distance from memphis, tennessee, to los angeles.

it's expected to mix with a powerful winter storm which could make it even stronger. sandy has already claimed 21 lives in the caribbean and now it could cause widespread damage in the northeast. meteorologist rob marciano is here. i have heard this storm described as an atmospheric bomb. >> you know, a bomb is a technical term that we use that means that when the pressure and the storm falls 24 millibars in 24 hours. so whoever you heard that from is wrong. it's not going to do that. we're already starting low. >> i like that you said that because that scared me. >> it is scary. this storm has been called other things which is scary as well. i want to start off with what happened in cuba. they got the brunt of this thing as a category 2 storm. big trees obviously taken down all the power lines, infrastructure damage. we could see some of this across the northeast, not because it's going to be a stronger storm but because it's going to be a longer duration event and we have other issues to deal with. let's come back to the map and go over what is hurricane sandy. 80 mile an hour winds now.

it's starting its transformation into something other than a hurricane. wind field is going to expand. it will affect a larger amount of people. northwesterly moving 10 miles an hour. the center is 150 miles or so off the coast of florida. it will stay off the coast line. they've been getting tropical storm force winds and wave action. there's some of the radar on the western edge of the storm. tropical storm watch is posted from charleston right up through cape hat terrace. there will be big waves around the outer banks, 30 or 40 footers. here's your forecast track scooting the coast line sunday night into monday. we make the turn and now our computer models which have been hinting at something for the past couple of days or getting a little bit more firm in suggesting that this will make a left turn. we have stuff blocking the action out in the ocean and forcing it back towards the northeast. here's your solution. anywhere from norfolk to nantucket as a category one like storm. we say that because it's going

to be morphed with an influence of a jet stream which this time of the year, very strong. that will wind it up more. expand that wind field to the point where we probably will see damaging winds in a 300 mile, maybe 400 mile swath. that is a huge chuck of real estate to see areas of winds over 50 miles an hour. that's what has us nervous. you've heard comparisons, carol, to the perfect storm of 1991. a little bit similar to that but that one didn't make landfall. that's why meteorologists are nervous. this one is going to make landfall monday, tuesday. >> i'm looking at the picture of fort lauderdale next to you. at least we won't be suffering alone around the country. we'll be suffering together. rob marciano, many thanks to you. there's no other way to describe it, just a horrible tragedy in new york's upper west side. a mother, she comes home. she finds her young son and daughter in the bathtub stabbed to death. she finds the nanny on the floor unconscious, bleeding and hold

ag knife. deb fair rick has been following the story out of new york. what more do we know, deb? >> reporter: carol, parents take such a leap of faith whenever they entrust their children to somebody else, whether it's a nanny, baby-sitter. anyone, a background check no matter how thorough can't predict if someone will snap. detectives are waiting to question the nanny, josy ortega. she is suspected of killing lulu can krim and the brother leo. she discovered the horrifying scene. the nanny was on the floor. a kitchen knife next to her. it appears she tried to slash her own throat, the nanny. the parents are beyond devastated. kevin krim is a media executive at cnbc. the company released this statement saying, quote, the sadness that we all feel for

concern, marina and their family is without measure. you're looking at some of the pictures there of those children. the parents were so clearly devoted to all three of them and the family's blog was taken down, carol, within the last hour. the pictures and the entries show this happy, loving family and the three of them together in so many photos. you have to remember, there's one child by the grace of god survived because she was with her mother. it's just so tragic. that's why it's resonating with so many people certainly here throughout manhattan, carol. >> i was going to ask you. so many women across the country hire nannys or day care workers to care for their children. this is a frightening story to hear. >> reporter: yes. absolutely. it's fascinating because the second we heard about this last night people just started e-mailing saying they were running home to go hug their children even more tightly. you know, nannys are feeling this also because so many are deeply devoted to this children.

to have one who does the unthinkable, people are really trying to get their heads around it today. >> deborah, thanks so much. turning our attention to the race for the white house now and a new ad from team obama that is raising some eyebrows for comparing someone's first-time voting to that first time they had sex. >> your first time shouldn't be with just anybody. you want to do it with a great guy. it should be with a guy who is beautiful, someone who really cares about and understands women. a giets who cares whether you get health insurance, specifically whether you get birth control. my first time voting was amazing. it was a line in the sand. before i was a girl, now i was a woman. i went to the polling station and pulled back the curtain. i voted for barack obama. >> else si granderson. we called you specifically to talk about this because we knew you'd understand. l.c. is a contributor and senior

writer for cnn. lz, one republican strategist calls the ad insulting to women. what do you think? >> you know what, i'm a big fan of the show "girls" and i think anyone who's a fan of the show "girls" absolutely loved the ad. i think if it comes out of the blue, i can see how you would get offended by it. this isn't an ad directed at anyone who is undecided. this isn't an ad trying to convince people. it's trying to fire up a base. when i saw it i was really laughing. i thought it was great. then again, i am a fan of the show. exactly. speaking of perception. another cnn contributor and republican consultant, alex costalanas, well, lz, he has an op ed on cnn.com about the man he calls cool obama versus square romney. he says cool will lose the election for obama. this is a quote.

alex says president obama hangs out with movie stars, makes no decisions without consulting the academic elite and sings likal green. obama is the president of cool america but when it comes to romney, alex writes, mitt romney is the chaperone to be alluded at every prom. he's common sense, parental advice, not counter intuitive, academic insight. he has stepped in. he's fresh and perfect from a norman rockwell painting. alex says there's a silent majority in this country, square like romney, who's afraid of cool obama and that's why they're going to vote romney this time. >> wow. well, you know what, i know -- >> you're cool. you have dread locks. >> you know, i know there are three states in the country right now that are contemplating legalizing marijuana. i'm assuming alex is very excited about that because i can't figure out why he would write that if you weren't high and crazy. no one, i think, is looking at

romney as a fresh face. someone who's been running for president for the last ten years is not a fresh face. someone who has been trying to be in politics for most of their lives is not a fresh face and for him to characterize romney like that is absolutely crazy. is president obama cool? well, yeah, he's cool, but he's cool because he's confident and he's comfortable in his own skin. it's not about hanging out with movie stars. there are a lot of people who are cool who don't hang out with movie stars. it's about being confident. he believes in the work that he's doing and that radiates and people are gravitating towards that. the reason why romney is seen as square it's because he's not confident because he constantly changes what he says. that's what you're picking up. not the movie stars, not the al green, but confidence coming out from the candidates. >> i think specifically what he's saying is romney believes in these old-fashioned values of hard work, putting your nose to the grind stone, taking responsibility for what happens in your life. that's what he's saying about

square romney. america is ready for that kind of candidate again. they've had it with this cool dude who's in "rolling stone" who is going to say bullshit and he'll be on mtv tonight. for some republicans that's way too much for a president. it's like he's more interested in cool and image than he is about being presidential. >> well, carol, you know, i'm just going to look at it this way. i don't know very many people who come from a single parent background who grew up poor who didn't know their father who got to a place of success in their lives without having hard work, without being -- holding themselves accountable, without being intelligent. i don't know very many people like that, but i do know a lot of people who have gotten far in life by relying on their family to get them there, by having advantages like, i don't know, your father is the president of a large company and things like that. when i look at the two candidates and i think about hard work and preservation i

think about, h'm, which story seems like they worked harder, the one who came from nothing and became president of the united states or someone who grew up in a rich suburb of detroit, had their father be governor and then they became successful. not saying mitt romney didn't look too hard. >> lz, thanks so much. by the way, we did invite alex on the program. he had another commitment. i'm sure he'll be talking about this on cnn. read his op ed, cnn.com. >> read mine as well please. >> definitely so. we all the do. lz granderson, thanks so much. >> ann colter who is not well known for her delicate use of the english language is embroiled in controversy again. after monday night's face-off coulter took to twitter to share her feelings. she wrote, kboet quote, i highly approve of romney's decision to

be kind and true to the retards. special olympian john franklin stevens wrote a heart felt open letter explaining why that word shut not be an insult. here's what he has to say. >> dear ann koucoulter, come on ms. coulter, you aren't dumb and you aren't shallow, so why are you constantly using a word like the "r" word as an insult? i am a 30-year-old man with down's syndrome who has struggled with the public perception that people with disability means i am dumb and shallow. i am not either of those things. i do process information a little more slowly than the rest of you. >> you can hear more from special olympics athlete frank

stevens. he'll be life on "piers morgan tonight" at 9:00 p.m. eastern. she was the target of a taliban assassination. now her parents are by her side as she continues to recover from a gunshot wound and doctors have good news. she's talking. i had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin.

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some big news coming out of italy this morning. this just in to cnn. the former prime minister silvio bur lows skin any has been sentenced to four years in prison. he was found guilty of tax evasion. we don't know many more details. he will be going to prison for four years. the young woman shot in the head earlier this month for speaking out against the taliban continues her recovery in a london hospital. doctors say the 15-year-old does not have significant brain damage after the assassination attempt in pakistan. malala is visiting with her parents or they're visiting with her as she undergoes more treatment in britain. this morning her father spoke out about his daughter's recovery.

it's remarkable how much better she is. >> reporter: absolutely. malala is now able to talk freely. we're told that she's standing up and taking a walk almost hourly. just a few weeks ago this was a young teenager who was shot in the head and a bullet narrowly missed her spine. as you say, her parents and her brothers have been by her bedside. this is the first time they've seen her since she was flown out of pakistan by air ambulance to the u.k. her father spoke today emotionally at one point. he almost broke down when they said they were actually preparing for her funeral. this is what else he had to say. >> the right place at the right time and i'll say that of course an attacker who was -- who could be called -- he attacked but

things were on my side. >> reporter: and i also went to visit malala's hometown. i met some girls there at a girl's college where it's now going to be renamed in malala's honor. this is the first girl's college in the whole area run by the government that's going to be named after a woman. it's a significant step. the local government has done this deliberately to send out a message to the world, to send out a message to the taliban. let me tell you a little bit about the girls that i met there, carol. absolutely meticulous and given the conservative society they've grown up in, they still want their rights to education. they believe women should have an education as indeed the men i spoke to there too. let's take a look. >> i, myself, think that education is important because women have no rights in this society. so due to education they can get the rights in this society

especially. >> want to send a message across the world that here we want to develop the female gender and we also want the females to come forward in this society. >> reporter: and of course these young girls that i met there said that they owe it to malala to continue going to school despite any threats from the taliban and as malala makes that recovery it's great to see a story that's made such a positive turn. >> absolutely. sama, reporting live from pakistan this morning. thanks so much. colorado might be the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana for recreational use but not everyone has good vibes about that. oh no, not a migraine now.

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now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, why don't more white voters support president obama? we're more polarized than ever, not just politically. the washington post headline says it all, 2012 voters, the deepest racial split since 1988. even though we elected our first

black president, race continues to haunt us. romney surrogate john sununu went there when piers morgan asked why colin powell would endorse democrat barack obama? >> frankly, when you take a look at colin powell you have to wonder whether that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring president obama? >> what reason would that be? >> well, i think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the united states, i applaud collin for standing with him. >> didn't we have that discussion back in 2008? let's pivot. according to a washington post abc news poll, obama is trailing romney 59 to 38% among white voters. clearly that is a problem, but saying it's all about race is just too easy. fact is, white or black, no democratic nominee has won a majority of whites since 1964. in 2004 senator john kerry got

only 41% of white voters. >> what we're beginning to see is the republicans becoming increasingly white and democrats are increasingly losing white people. it's messaging. it's something that they're doing as a party that is not appealing to the white voter and so it isn't just about president obama, it's about the platform. >> polls show that most voters, no matter what their race, share a top concern this year, the economy. why does the racial divide at the voting booth continue to grow between democrats and republicans? talk back question for you this morning. why don't more white voters support president obama? facebook.com/carol cnn. your responses later this hour. using marijuana -- smoking marijuana recreationally just might become legal in colorado on november 6th, but some people are hoping the proposed change to the state's constitution goes up in smoke. a. tell me fiona, who's having a big tire event?

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good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us and happy friday to you. 30 minutes past the hour. time to check our top stories. new numbers to share with you on the state of the 2012 race. our cnn poll of polls shows likely voters favoring mitt romney by a slight margin over president obama, 48 to 47%. a new york nanny remains in critical condition after police say she killed two young children in her care and then slashed her own throat. the children ages 2 and 6 were found by their mother in a bathtub. the nanny has been arrested but not charged. hurricane sandy taking aim at the northeast. it's expected to collide as a powerful winter storm which could turn it into a super storm. right now a tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of florida's east coast. hurricane sandy blamed for more than 20 deaths in the caribbean.

just a couple of weeks voters in colorado will be able to decide if their state will become the first to legalize marijuana for recreational use. if amendment 64 is approved, it would make it legal to possess up to an ounce of pot and allow people to grow up to six marijuana plants in their homes. supporters of the bill say it would create thousands of jobs but critics say if the measure passes it would hurt kolt lor rad doe's image and discourage family oriented business in the state. joining me now from denver, happy haynes, a spokesperson for no on 64 and kayvon cally bar ri. denver medical marijuana center. welcome to you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i actually would like to know what the polls say. are voters split down the middle? happy, i'll pose that question to you. >> i have not seen the latest

polls and i imagine it's a pretty close race at this point. >> why are you against the measure? >> i think it's wrong for colorado. first and foremost, this amendment does not belong in our constitution. i mean, the right to get high right next to our freedom of religion and our right to vote, it's the wrong place and the wrong message and image for colorado. we have a state that relies heavily on tourism and we work hard to attract businesses and families here who come for the quality of life and for our healthy lifestyle and, you know, not for a reputation of, you know, a party state and a get high state. i don't think that's the right image and it certainly does not belong in our constitution. i think secondly it would make colorado an island, a mecca and, you know, attract people from

all over the country. this is the place, you know, where you can get high and i just don't think that's the right image, that's the right reputation and, you know, changing the law at the federal level, but i don't think this is the kind of first that we want for colorado. >> kayvon, is that what it will do? it will lure tourists to colorado to smoke dope? >> i don't think that should be really the main concern here. but to start, polling does show that among 64 it's in favor. jimmy carter once said that the penalties against a trug's use should not be more harmful than a drug's use. we have created a huge social burden by arresting people for simple marijuana possession. the drug policy alliance came out with a study that showed 108,000 people have been arrested in colorado for very simple marijuana possession. that is creating a social burden that is unnecessary. these are people that have used

this drug that will continue to use this drug and they're using it in an underground market. they're giving money to drug dealers and to people in mexico, to drug cartels. we can keep that money in colorado. it's shown that if amendment 64 passes that we're looking at $60 million in tax revenue not just through the social use of cannabis but through industri industrialized hemp and the ancillary businesses. >> kayvon, critics say if this passes in colorado, it's a gate way for the rest of the country. if this thing passes in colorado then it's likely that every other state in the union will move to legalize marijuana and recreational use of marijuana. >> good. i think that's a great thing. it's been proven that people in america, studies have shown, that they want marijuana legalized. for the first time ever well over 50% of the people in this country believe in the social legalization of marijuana while

it's over 80% believe in the medical legalization of it. the old tired stigmas show that they're hurting children. teen use has gone down since medical marijuana has gone down. the studies show that this is the right thing to do and reasonable thing to do. people on the opposite side aren't being reasonable. >> happy, i'd like to pose this question for you because this marijuana issue in colorado some say has a huge impact on the presidential race. do you believe that's true? >> no, i don't think the two issues are related at all. >> kayvon, do you agree? i have heard that a lot of young voters approve of this amendment and the obama administration hasn't exactly been vocally supportive? >> i think that obviously colorado is one of the largest swing states. you can tell by all the commercials we have to deal with. this is bringing young voters

out. it's not just a young person issue. it shouldn't be made about that. it will bring young voters out. i do believe it will have some impact on the final results. gary johnson, a third party candidate, has been taking a lot away -- a lot of votes away from obama's people saying that could lean more towards romney whereas romney is not kind toward marijuana, period. it will get people out to vote and that's the most important. >> happy haynes, kayvo kayvon calibari, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. all right. back to our breaking news. the former prime minister of italy heading to prison just a short time ago. silvio berlusconi was sentenced to four years behind bars for tax evasion. our cnn senior international correspondent ben wedeman is on the phone. tell us more, ben. >> reporter: the court in milan

came out with a four year verdict for the former prime minister, 76-year-old silvio berlusconi. this involves his media group and the purchase of more than 3,000 films which were then sort of resold within his companies and obviously there's some tax fraud involved there. now this sentence is for four years for tax fraud but it's worth noting that according to the italian judicial system he can appeal the verdict twice and in addition to that the statute of limitations applies in this case and it expires sometime next year. so there's a very good chance he will not actually be spending any time behind bars. >> still, the fact that he was sentenced to four years in prison, how are the people of italy reacting? >> he is the former prime minister until last november but he's also a man many italians

blame for the current economic mess the country is in. his political party, in fact, basically has about 14 to 15% of support from the italian population according to recent opinion polls so many italians are actually very happy with this sentence given his own popularity. but, of course, there's a good realization among many that he may, as he has in the past, been able to use the appeal process and the statutes of limitations to avoid doing time. >> ben wedeman reporting live to us live from italy. arnold schwarzenegger is returning to a role that made him famous, conan the barbarian. details ahead. continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose.

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good thing he's still in shape because arnold schwarzenegger is about to get into a role with an unforgiving costume. conan the barbarian. a.j. hammer is following him. he'll wear that, you can call it an outfit. >> yeah. i don't know if he's going to wear it again. i don't know if people really want arnold to be back. arnold is back. deadline hollywood daily broke the news that they'll be releasing the legend of conan in 2014. the film will reportedly tell the story of conan as a king facing a last battle. it was back in 1982, 30 years ago, when arnold schwarzenegger put on that loin cloth and picked up the broad sword for the first time. it was his first major role. he is looking forward to playing it again. he did release a statement and here's what arnold is saying. i always loved the conan character and i am honored to be asked to step into the role again. i can't wait to work with universal and develop this next

step. it will be very interesting to see how this movie does when it hits theaters. i think it's a big unknown at this point if people will look past his personal transgressions and flock to theeters. they haven't been buying his book. but two years can make a difference, carol. it won't come out until 2014. >> maybe so. i never saw the original but i'm sure a lot of people must have. was it a good movie? >> you know, i never saw it either. i have no recollection of it. i think it's more of an iconic movie than anything else. maybe this will compel people to go out and rent it although arnold's not a very hot ticket right now. >> no. sadly, no. let's talk about the former dallas star, jack scalia. he's been arrested. >> yeah. the actor's also known for his role in "all my children." he was caught with a concealed handgun in a carry on bag at the los angeles airport. he was arrested and booked. he is the latest in a long string of celebrities caught

with concealed weapons. something i've never understood. who doesn't know that that will lapped you in jail? it's that simple. >> a lot of people say they simply forget it's in their luggage. >> right. >> happens a lot. >> right. sure they do. >> a.j. hammer, many thanks. watch "showbiz tonight" on hln at 11:00 p.m. eastern. anncr: every president inherits challenges. few have faced so many. four years later... our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home.

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and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. 47 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories now. just a horrible story out of new york. an upper west side nanny accused of stabbing to death two young children in her care. the mother returned home and found the children in a bathtub and the nanny nearby with a self-inflicted stab wound. children were pronounced dead at the hospital. the nanny is in stable condition. pakistani teenage girl shot in the head is doing better this morning. visiting for the first time with her family. doctors say they don't believe

she suffered serious brain damage. the doctors do say she faces a long road in her recovery. >> turns out this ipad is a big seller. preorders started this morning online at 3:00 a.m. and sold out almost immediately. apple says it will have the ipad mini on the expected launch date, november 2nd, if you want to get one online you have to wait. asking your doctor for a second opinion can be very tricky, especially if you're worried about the doctor's feelings or questioning their judgment. dr. travis stork from tv's the doctors gives us his dos and don'ts in daily dose. >> don't worry too much about your doctor's feelings here. what matters is your health. most doctors are more than happy that you're going to get a second opinion. certainly don't hide the fact that you're going to get a second opinion. your doctor needs to be aware that you're going to get another opinion so they can incorporate that opinion into their plan. tell your doctor that it's not

that you question their judgment but you want to get more information. but the big thing is this, if you're out there looking for a fourth, sixth, seventh opinion and you're trying to get a doctor to tell you what you want to hear, you will eventually hear what you want to hear but doing that can put your health in jeopardy. make sure you're getting a second opinion because you need it, you want it. you want more information. at some point you have to accept the news even if it's not what you want to hear. >> detroit tigers pitcher gets beamed. doug fister hit in the head by a line drive and he stays in the game. should pitchers wear helmets? we'll talk about that. hi, i'm phil mickelson.

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okay. the tigers are in a hole, a giant 2-0 hole. they're going home for game three with san francisco tomorrow night. we have our report here. this is a baseball fan. the scariest moment in that game was when doug fister got hit in the head. let's take a look at that. the announcers immediately said, why don't pitchers wear helmets? >> that's a tough sell in the

major leagues to get a pitcher to wear helmets. gregor blanco hit one up in the middle in the second inning and it wound up in center field. the good news was fister was unphased. he let everybody know about it. this hit him right above the right ear and ricochets. >> i know what you said. let's listen actually. fox had audio of it. >> san francisco. >> [ bleep ]. >> no. >> i don't know, in my mind, any time you get hit in the head with a ball that hard, isn't it safer just to take him out of the game? >> well, he said he's okay. he responded to all the tests so he was fine. the bigger problem for the tigers is being down 2-0. teams with a 2-0 lead in the world series have won 79% of the time. i hate to break that to you. i know you're a tiger fan. >> they're going home.

detroit has great fans. >> sure, anything can happen. end of an era in the nba. commissioner announced that on february 1st, 2014, he'll be stepping down. 30 years to the day when he took over. he took over a league that was basically riddled with drug problems, perception problems, attendance problems but he turned it around as a multi-billion industry on his watch. international play has grown big time. now we see the game globally but this talent from around the world participating in the nba. that's become the final destination for great players no matter where you're from. >> any idea who's next in line. >> adam silver the deputy commissioner will take over the duties. i want to leave you with this. i know you love fashion. >> i do. >> the pittsburgh steelers. they're wearing 1934 uniforms sunday against washington. they wore these back when they were the pittsburgh pirates in 1934. carol, i like history. i don't think we should wear it necessarily. but that's that. and they'll wear it.

>> he looks like a prison outfit or he's dressing up for halloween as a giant bee. >> you'll see it again on november 18th. >> for more stories like the ones you heard, go to bleacher report.com. we have all of that information and more. >> i love bleacher report. thanks, vince, for being here. >> you're welcome. >> talk back question for you this morning. why don't more white voters support president obama. your responses next. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit.

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>> from michael, the reason why white voters are voting for romney because they voted for obama last time and got screwed. this from vicky, i think there's so much hidden prejudice in this country however far we've come. it's sad more people don't vote based on what's best for us. please keep the conversation going because it's a fascinating one this morning. facebook.com/carolcnn. thank you for watching me this morning. aim carol costello. "cnn newsroom" continues right "cnn newsroom" continues right now with ashleigh ban fooeld. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com here is where we start. 11 days and counting until election day 2012. the race is as tight as they come. the last stretch this campaign could get ugly. the candidates grasp for any small advantage, especially in states like florida, virginia, new hampshire, ohio, but if you want to talk ugly, let's talk sandy because she may be coming to a