making news on this thursday, october 21st. >> president obama, on his biggest campaign trip so far. but this morning, there's new evidence of the democrats' uphill battle. top cop. she is the only one brave enough to lead the police force in her lawless border town. and price hike for some of your favorite breakfast staples. good morning. and thanks for being with us on this thursday. i'm vinita nair. >> and i'm mike marusarz, in for rob nelson. well, there's new evidence this morning of the gop groundswell, expected to bring big republican victories just 12 days from now. >> a new poll show 50% plan to vote for a republican candidate in their congressional district.

43%, for democrats. >> another significant number. just 20% approve of the job congress is doing. >> all this makes for a tough sales job for president obama, who is campaigning this week for several sitting senators. emily schmidt is tracking his trip from washington. good morning, emily. >> reporter: vinita and mike, good morning to you. 12 days until the election. the president's on a countdown of his own. six cities, five states, four days of campaigning and fund-raising. it is a long road. but democrats hope it prevents some republicans from winning their way to washington. >> don't ever let anybody tell you this fight isn't worth it. >> reporter: president obama plans to travel 7,200 miles on the campaign trail this week, trying to keep the senate out of republican reach. >> we don't want what you're selling because we tried it before. and we didn't like it because it didn't work. >> reporter: but a new associated press poll says only one in five likely voters approve of how congress is working. >> thanks for helping out. >> reporter: that anti-income

bancy mood has put washington senators like patty murray, california's barbara boxer, and majority leader harry reid in tight races of a bitter ad war. >> while your family is just hanging on, someone's been hanging out with supermodels. >> voting for sharron angle is only going to hurt yourself. >> reporter: mr. obama will campaign for all three senators over the next three days, adding to a similar chorus of endorsements. >> on november the 3rd, harry reid is going back to the united states senate as the majority leader. >> reporter: the candidates vying for the vice president's old senate seat in delaware are debating again. and pennsylvania senate candidates went head-to-head on tv for the first time, in a race some polls show is a dead-heat. >> explain to us why you believe corporations should have zero taxes. >> joe, that's a very extreme agenda. and it's out of step with pennsylvania. >> reporter: president obama plans to talk about women and the economy on the campaign trail today. coinciding with the release of a

new government report this morning on the same subject. vinita and mike? >> emily schmidt in washington this morning. thank you. that pennsylvania senate debate that emily just mentioned is the latest in a season of feisty confrontations. at the center, heated moments a series of catchphrases being adopted by candidates on both sides. jon karl reports on the war of words. >> reporter: it's become the .a. man-up. >> some of you need to man-up. >> reporter: uttered mostly by women associated with the tea party. >> man-up, harry reid. >> reporter: the concept, if not the exact phrase, began with none other than christine o'donnell, who had this to say about her primary opponent, mike castle, back in early september. >> these are the type of cheap, underhanded, unmanly tactics that we've come to expect. this is not a bake-off. get your man-pants on. >> reporter: at least one woman from the other side has also jumped on the phrase. >> and man-up and do what you're asking other people to do. >> reporter: it's not a bad way to leave your male opponent

speechless. >> i think this is a very effective way for a woman candidate to look tough. and it is difficult for a male candidate to have a comeback. >> reporter: it's not just about testosterone. many candidates this year seem to be reading from the same tea party script. first, label your opponent. >> career politician. >> career politician. >> career politician. >> reporter: then, label yourself. >> i'm a mother and a grandmother. >> i'm a physician. >> full-time business person. >> reporter: say what you oppose, like it's a dirty word. >> obamacare. >> obamacare. >> obamacare. >> reporter: and what you want to do about it. >> we must repeal this health care bill. >> it cannot be saved. >> reporter: sprinkle in some numbers. >> $900 million. >> 11.7%. >> 2.6 million jobs. >> reporter: and the other side, boil it down to one word. >> extreme. >> extreme position. >> an extreme right-wing candidate. >> reporter: the race is, of course, all featured different candidates and some different issues. but listening to all those debates sometimes seems like

you're listening to one, big national debate. jonathan karl, abc news, philadelphia. "gma" is the place for politics this morning. jon karl talks to christine o'donnell, coming up at 7:00. there's been another about-face for gays in the military. an appeals court has reinstated don't ask, don't tell, one day after the pentagon told recruiters that they must accept openly-gay applicants. a federal judge had ruled that barring gays is unconstitutional. but the white house petitioned for more time to implement the change. and the appeals court agreed. at least for now. the pentagon has confirmed that radical cleric anwar ail can i was invited to lunch after 9/1137 it was part of the outreach program to muslims. he has been linked to the ft. hood shooter and the christmas day bomber. he is the first american on the cia's kill or capture list. the white house announced president obama will travel to pakistan early next year.

it will be his first visit to the country since taking office. pakistan is playing a key role in the atalks, which are in e talks, which are in the early stages. the president will urge pakistani leaders to do more to eliminate al qaeda strong holds in the country. it was a leader of the minds as the leaders of venezuela and iran met in tehran. they held their strong strategi. relationship. and they vowed to eliminate western dominance over global affairs and establish a new world order. a monster typhoon that slammed into the philippines is making a bee-line for china this morning. at least 20 filipinos were killed since the storm blew ashore monday, packing 140-mile-per-hour winds. thousands of homes were damaged, along with millions of dollars in crops. winds have dipped to 110 miles per hour but are expected to pick back up as the storm nears hong kong. and now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. severe storms across west texas with golf ball-sized hail from

amarillo to el paso. rain from albuquerque to phoenix and vegas. showers later on from northern california into the pacific northwest. wet and windy from detroit into the ohio valley and upstate new york. >> a high of 58 in boston. 61 here in new york. 77 in atlanta. 80s from miami to dallas. mostly 50s across the midwest. phoenix gets up to 75. sacramento, 73. and salt lake city, 66. and when we come back, apple takes the wrap off its newest product. plus, paying more for the most important meal of the day. why cereal prices are going even higher. and sarah palin, facing new heat. did she mistakenly desecrate the american flag? ♪ i hate suburbia and the bourgeoi-sie ♪ ♪ but i really love my bank ♪ i hate--

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a new survey finds the economy is growing. but not the same across different parts of the country. 7 of the federal reserve's 12 regions reported moderate improvements in the early fall. while the other five were sluggish. the encouraging sign is that the economy is not weakening. but it's not growing fast enough to bring down high unemployment. a major recall from toyota has just been announced. the automaker is recalling more than 1.5 million lax sus and avalon and other models for brake fluid and fuel pump problems. about half of those vehicles are in the u.s. the world's biggest automaker has recalled about 10 million cars and trucks over the last

year. asian markets are mixed this morning after china reported its economy slowed last quarter. tokyo's nikkei average ticked down just five points today. hong kong's hang seng is slightly higher. in london, the ftse opened slightly lower. and on wall street, the dow rose 129 points yesterday. the nasdaq climbed 20 points. well, be prepared to start paying more at the supermarket. starting next month, general mills is hiking prices on some cereals, passing along its higher costs to customers. kraft is also raising some of its prices. and other food companies may follow as their costs continue to rise. apple unveiled a bunch of new products wednesday. ceo steve jobs prointroduced new software tha comphe company's mac computers. jobs also took the wraps off new models of the ultrathin laptop. prices start at $999. he went on to say this is as though an ipod and a mac book

hooked up. >> people wait for years and months for the newest gadget. it seems like apple releases something new every day. >> and i want all of them. >> i know, right? pretty cool stuff. next here on this thursday, which president misplaced one thing he's never supposed to lose? plus, meet the newest police chief in a town that is ground zero for deadly drug turf wars. and it's do-or-die time for two baseball teams on the verge of elimination from the playoffs.

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will save us. [ crunch ] look! [ helicopter noise ] [ grunting ] [ male announcer ] introducing new wheat thins crunch stix. the white house kitchen is overflowing with fresh veggies this morning. it's harvest time at the first lady's garden. and local schoolchildren helped her pluck pumpkins off the vines, dig up sweet potatoes and tur nips. it was an impressive hau one yam was tipping the scales at four pounds. now, for a look at this

morning's road conditions. wet on i-10, with occasional flooding from phoenix to el paso. and on i-40, from flagstaff to albuquerque and amarillo. windy on i-94, from chicago to detroit. and on i-70, from annapolis to pittsburgh. >> and if you're flying today, expect airport delays in seattle, vegas, phoenix, chicago, detroit. and from boston to d.c. there is a new development in the jet ski murder case this morning. the victim's wife has now moved to colorado. tiffany hartley says she made the sudden decision because she feared for her safety in texas. hartley has said her husband was gunned down by pirates while the two jet skied on the border with mexico. and one small but violent town on the mexican side of the border has a new police chief. 20-year-old college coed, marissa valle, will lead a force of 40 officers, most of them women. most of them are women. she plans to practice community policing, to focus on crime

prevention and building trust. no one on the force will carry a gun. but the new police chief will have two bodyguards. well, some of us are always losing things, right? our car keys. our cell phones or important papers. did a prested united states once forget the codes needed for a nuclear attack? john donvan found the answer. >> reporter: things that a president can lose. some key votes in congress. his standing in the polls. a game of golf. things that a president can never lose, never, ever? the card with the nuclear codes on it. the one that lets him get into that black briefcase that an aide's always bringing along, inside of which are the instructions for launching a nuclear attack. like the briefcase, which is called the football, that card, which is called the biscuit, is supposed to be with the president at all times. giving him numbers to read out loud that identify him to s ththe system as the commander in chief. that's why you don't lose the

biscuit. think of it like an atm p.i.n. number to get your money. except that when bill clinton was president, someone lost the biscuit. this is according to the former chairman of the joint chiefs, hugh shelton, who has just come out with a memoir. and it's right there on page 392. "at one point during the clinton administration, the codes were actually missing. that's a big deal," shelton writes. especially, he sayse the se the codes were unaccounted for for months. actually, this clinton critic told a quite similar story in his own book, seven years ago. retired air force lieutenant colonel robert patterson, was one of those men who carried the football for clinton. he says clinton is the someone who lost the biscuit. >> he thought he misplaced them upstairs. we called upstairs. we started the white house -- a kind of pretty thorough search around the white house for the codes. and he finally confessed hours later that he, in fact, misplaced them. he couldn't recall when he had last seen them.

>> reporter: who is to say the president couldn't have just picked up the phone to order an attack? his office is not commenting. same as no one's confirming or denying another old tale that jimmy carter once left his biscuit in a suit that got sent to the cleaners. john donvan, abc news, washington. sarah palin is very busy these days. so, she has to do some multitasking, like answering a reporter's questions while signing autographs. in reno, nevada, she was talking to a reporter from a british newspaper when a fan passed her an american flag to sign. whoops. writing on a flag is actually against the law. but as "the guardian's" video shows, that's exactly what she did. the man who brought full-frontal nudity to men's magazines has died. "penthouse" owner bob guccione has passed away after a battle with lung cancer. he lost tens of millions of dollars in bad business deals. and he took a bigger financial hit with the onslaught of free online pornography. guch yanni was 75 years old. in baseball playoff, one team saves itself from

elimination while another gets closer to it. here's adnan virk at espn news. >> good morning. the san francisco giants looking to move within one win of their first n.l. pennant in eight years, as they take on the philadelphia phillies, looking to take a 3-1 series lead. one that's been a riveting nlcs thus far. bruce bochy, important to this contest. top of the eighth, phillies leading 5-4. runner on second for jason rook. he doubles to left. ryan howard scores. the game's tied at 5-5. bottom of the ninth. buster posey at the plate. runner on first. off roy oswalt. the starter brought in in relief. aubrey huff, the throw on the play. a nice slide to keep the ball in front of him, at least. the next water is juan uribe, who has struggled mightily. he sends a fly ball to deep left. but is it deep enough? huff tags up. lock and load. scores the game-winning run, as the giants win 6-5. the giants take a 3-1 series lead.

meantime, joe girardi and the yankees trailing the rangers 3-1, in the alcs. bottom of the second, granderson, to center. jeff francoeur to third to get jorge posada. the ball gets by michael young. t.j. wilson gets the ball and throws it away at home. posada scored easily. the yankees lead 3-1. bottom of the third, nick swisher. good-bye, baseball. a solo home run to left off of wilson. the yankees up 4-1, on swisher's first homer of the series. the next batter is robinson cano. the yankees go back-to-back in a playoff game for the first time in ten years. cano's fourth home run in the series. top of the sixth, c.c. sabathia, telling moreland to go some place else. he was excellent. the yankees win 7-2. the rangers now lead the series, 3-2 games. that's your sports update for now. back to you in new york. here is a bra with a whole lot of bling. the victoria's secret creation is made with 60 carats of white diamonds and more than 82 carats of light blue sapphires and

oval-shaped topazes. >> and it can be in your lingerie drawer for a mere $2 million. the model, adrianna lima, says the bra is very, very comfortable. >> i don't know. sharp stones in that area might not be the most comfortable thing. >> it's a work of art, vinita. >> yeah, yeah. up next, the stories we'll be following today, including an american held in a foreign prison for years, now on his way home. and how millions in one state will prepare, today, for the, quote, big one. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function

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now, for a look ahead to some of the stories we'll be watching on this thursday. president obama stumps in washington state for senior -- or senator, patty murray, who is facing a tough challenge from the republican candidate. then, the president travels to san francisco. supporters and opponents of the military's don't ask, don't tell policy, are preparing for the next round in the battle. gay rights groups have until monday to show why a ruling that the policy is unconstitutional should be honored right away. the iranian-american businessman freed from a notorious tehran prison is headed back to california today. reza taghavi spent 2 1/2 years behind bars, accused of giving money to an anti-government terror group. and first responders will be on the move in california today. millions of schoolkids, office workers and others have signed up for a massive, statewide earthquake drill. nearly 7 million californians took part last year.

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and finally this morning, a new way for aspiring authors to turn the page on success. >> you don't have to be anne rice or john grisham to see your

book in black and white. if the publisher says no, there is always the internet. norman savage knew he had all the ingredients for an unforgettable memoir. >> there are tons memoirs about addiction. tons of self-help books about diabetes. but very few books about diabetes deal with the emotional component of it. >> reporter: so, savage decided to write his own story about coping with diabetes and drug addiction. his manuscript was accepted by a major publishing house in new york. but the project never got off the ground. >> it was heartbreaking. i mean, i wanted to get published, of course. >> reporter: his story could have ended there. instead, a new chapter began, online. savage self-published his book on smashwords.com. and its flew off the digital shelves. but not surprisingly, the old brick and mortar publishers aren't convinced. >> you can publish electronically and there's fewer

barriers. but the real problem remains, then, how to attract an audience for that book. >> reporter: simon and shuster's amy creamer says you need the marketing and the power. >> the real winner will be the writing itself. >> reporter: karen tried for ten years to get her novel published with no result. >> at the end, i lost the joy because it seemed like it was all publication. if nobody reads what you write, you wonder, is it pointless? >> reporter: so, she uploaded her books to amazon's digital text platform. not only did she find an eager audience, she also found a producer, hoping to option it into a movie. >> it's in completely backwards order, from the traditional publishing path. >> reporter: it's a novel approach that seems to bring just as much satisfaction. >> i'm not going on a book tour. but people all over the world are reading my books. what more could i want, really? and that is what is making