the final push. both president obama and tea party activists try to energize voters ahead of midterm elections. terror threat. a new warning of a potential al qaeda attack in france. and return to camp hope. a massive thanksgiving in chile to celebrate the miners' dramatic rescue. this is the "cbs morning news" for monday, october 18th, 2010. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. two weeks to go until the midterm election and president obama is working hard to try to convince discouraged democrats all is not lost. last night, mrs. obama joined the president in ohio, where they spoke to prospective young voters at the ohio state university.

good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the president is trying to recapture the enthusiasm that that put him into office and encouraging democrats not to give up despite discouraging poll numbers. president obama is trying to fire up his democratic base, hoping it will pay off at the polls november 2nd. >> in two weeks, you've got the chance to say once again, yes, we can. >> reporter: he and the first lady headlined a massive rally in ohio sunday night com paining the first time together since 2008. later this week, the president will head west to try and energize supporters in states with critical toss-up races. but, he may face an uphill battle. a new a.p./knowledge networks poll shows one-quarter of those who voted for him are now considering casting ballots for republicans. >> it is up to you to tell them, we do not want what they are selling. we've been there before, and we are not going back. >> reporter: with early voting beginning in several states

today, the tea party express is setting out on a cross-country tour of its own. the 15-day trip kicks off this morning, with a familiar face. >> soon, we'll all be dancing. >> reporter: the former vice presidential candidate sarah palin will lend her star power at a rally today in nevada. the tea party favorite sharon angle is neck and neck with the most powerful democrat in the senate, majority leader harry reid. >> sharron angle will win that race i'll make that prediction right now. >> reporter: the tea party express will be pulling into 30 cities in 19 states over the next two weeks. and the president will also be making stops across the country, including four more rallies like the one sunday night in ohio. back to you. >> thank you. president obama admits the economy makes it a difficult campaign for democrats. most polls indicate republicans will regain control of the house and possibly the senate. but white house press secretary robert gibbs disagrees. >> i think that campaigns, in

this cycle, are being run on a lot of local issues and issues that are important not nationally but to individual states and independent -- individual congressional districts. i think our candidates have done a remarkably good job in a tough political environment and i think that come election night we'll retain control of both the house and the senate. >> reporter: last summer he caught a lot of flack for saying democrats could lose the majority come november. one republican senatorial candidate not doing well in the polls says the republican party isn't giving her the support she needs. christine o'donnell, who made the now famous "i am not a witch commercial" says the gop senatorial committee is not helping her campaign in delaware. >> we're asking the national republican senatorial to help us. we've got the democratic senatorial committee coming after me. we're hoping that the national republican senatorial committee will help us. but, it's two and a half weeks left and they're not.

>> a spokesman for the gop committee says it gave o'donnell the maximum contribution of $42,000. overseas, there is a new terror threat against europe particularly france. on sunday, the french interior minister said the threat was real. france boosted security last month when it began receiving threats. this latest alert comes from the saudi intelligence service warning of a potential attack by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. french security forces are in what's described as a high vigilance mode. the pentagon says it's ready to deal with another massive leak of secret war documents. as many as 500,000 iraq war documents could be released by wikileaks as early as today. the pentagon says it has a 120-member team ready to review the documents. >> these may be major military operations, movement of personnel, as well as alliances with key tribals and allies on the ground. you know, this comes at a time

where there's some political volatility still in iraq. even though we don't have combat operations there, we still have 50,000 troops. and so, the military should be concerned about what may be in these documents. >> in july, wikileaks released more than 70,000 secret documents about the afghan war. at the time, it was the biggest breach of its kind in u.s. history. this morning the philippines is getting pounded by a powerful typhoon typhoon megi is one of the strongest storms to hit the region in years. thousands of have been forced to flee coastal areas. huge waves, pounding rain and wind gusts up to 162 miles per hour have flooded roads and downed electric poles. the storm also hit vietnam and china. those 33 miners rescued in chile last week have returned home. some attended a service at the mine site on sunday. chile's president, sebastian pinero, is in london. he meets with queen elizabeth and prime minister david cameron

today. he has become immensely popular since the rescue. he brought a rock from the mine with him as a tribute to the miners. seth doane has more on the miners' return to camp hope. >> reporter: the san jose mine was shrouded in mist. but, the memories for miners and their families were perfectly clear. for most, it was their first time back since the rescue. a dozen or so of the miners made the trek to this remote place so they could join together in a sunday mass of thanksgiving. before the service, we met juan carlos aguilar. he was the 29th man out. at 46, he's been a miner since he was 19. he told us today, i want to be by myself for a little while. adding, you don't know what it was like to be in there. >> reporter: is it difficult to be back here? after living through something so big, he said, all of us are going to be emotional. some of the miners have said they wanted to return to this

place not only to give thanks, but to see camp hope itself, the place where so many families held vigils for so long. but, seeing these days isn't easy. they're mobbed by media. so, during the mass, reporters were kept away from the white tent, where it was held. one of the men who helped make this possible returned home to denver, colorado this weekend. jeff hart was at the controls when the plan b drill broke through to the miners last saturday. we met him just a few hours after that. your feeling right now at this moment? >> on top of the world. >> reporter: he was welcomed back a hero. >> harder than anything we've ever done. the stress of knowing there's 33 guys underneath your feet that they're relying on you. >> reporter: now, they're surely thanking hart and the hundreds of other rescuers who helped free them. seth doane, cbs news, copiapo, chile. just ahead on the morning news, a security warning for facebook users.

plus singer justin bieber involved in an alleged scuffle with a 12-year-old boy. first, though, katie couric with a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." the tea party express rolls on. next stop reno home to one of the tightest and nastiest senate races can the tea party take down the democratic majority leader? our special campaign 2010 coverage continues tonight only on the cbs evening news. without taking pills around the clock? try thermacare heatwraps, for all day relief without pills. i was surprised, thermacare worked all day. you feel the heat. and it relaxes and unlocks the muscle. you've got to try it. [ man ] thermacare, more effective for back pain than the maximum dose of acetaminophen, the medicine in tylenol. go to thermacare.com today for a $3 off coupon. thermacare. no pills. no pain. just relief.

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this morning. ashley morrison is here with much more on that. good morning, ashley. >> good morning you to, betty. asian markets extended their losing streak. japan's nikkei finished down a fraction and hong kong's hang seng was also lower. today, wall street gets the latest on the housing market and manufacturing sector and a new round of corporate earnings reports with citigroup and ibm among big names to report. last week, stocks finished higher. the dow added half a percent and the nasdaq jumped almost three percent. charitable giving dropped, the worst decline in 20 years. a survey shows they took in $69 billion in 2009, down from just $76 billion a year earlier. the report also shows the nation's shifting a bit from large charities to smaller organizations and local groups. your private information on facebook may not be so private after all. according to the "wall street journal," many of the site's most popular apps are leaking users' personal information to dozens of advertising and

tracking companies. no matter how you set up your privacy controls. a facebook spokesman says the social networking site is taking steps to, quote, dramatically limit users' expsoure. millions of customers of new york-based cablevision still without fox's channels and programming after a second day of negotiations over disputed rates ended without an agreement. negotiations will resume today. the biggest hit for most affected viewers are sports coverage of the nfl and baseball playoffs. and at the movies, "the jackass" crew pulled off its biggest stunt yet, opening with $50 million in sales to win the weekend box office, far surpassing expectations. the action comedy "red" finished second with less than half of those sales and last week's number one "the social network" slipped to third place. i still haven't gotten to the movies to see "the social network." >> i just saw that this weekend.

>> good? >> definitely got to see it. >> i'm going now. thank you. >> new guidelines for cpr, new advice from the american heart association reverses procedures used until now. it says to start with hard, fast chest presses before giving mouth-to-mouth to a victim of sudden cardiac arrest. the old way delayed the start of the chest presses, which keep the blood circulating to the heart and brain. pop star justin bieber is being investigated for assault allegations during a game of laser tag. police in canada are checking out charges he pushed a 12-year-old boy. tmz.com says a boy went out of his way to target bieber during the game friday night in vancouver. police did not identify anyone but said the boy did not require medical attention. bieber denies the allegation. actress barbara billingsley who played june cleaver on "leave it to beaver" has died.

>> boys, hurry up. your breakfast has been ready for a long time. >> i had to wait for wally. he had to gurgle. >> gurgle? >> he means garble, mom. >> wally, are you sick? >> she was america's favorite mom on tv in the 1950s and '60s. billingsley had been in poor health in recent years and died of rheumatoid disease at her home in california. barbara billingsley was 94 years old. this is chris. who has questions about which beverages might interact with his blood pressure medication. so he turns to the team of experts at walgreens.com's new pharmacy chat to get immediate answers. ♪ and now, thanks to the new pharmacy chat from walgreens.com, chris has everything he needs. except milk. expertise -- find it everywhere there's a walgreens and at walgreens.com.

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york, partly cloudy, 64. miami, sunny, 84. chicago, showers, 59. denver, showers, 57. and l.a., rain, 66. time for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows a large area of clouds over the southwest, as the northern plains entering the great lakes. much of the eastern seaboard is clear. later today rumbles of thunder can be heard in the southwest and along the west coast with a slow-moving storm system is continuing to form. a few showers are going to fall in the ohio river valley. the northeast has some cooler air moving in. some places are only get daytime highs in the 40s. in sports, the yankees host texas tonight in new york with the american league championship series tied at a game apiece. last night jimmy rollins of the phillies broke the game open

with a long double off the wall in right center field. that drove in three runs against the giants. and roy oswalt allowed only three hits and struck out nine. the 6-1 philadelphia victory ties the national league championship series at one game each. in the nfl, indy holds on for a win in sunday night football. peyton manning threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns against the redskins. the 27-24 win over washington gives indianapolis a share of the lead in the afc south. in overtime in foxboro, massachusetts, the patriots' tom brady connected with deion branch to set up a field goal new england made the kick for a come-from-behind win over baltimore. 23-20. in denver the jets tomlinson with one of his two touchdowns in closing seconds against the broncos. new york pulled out a 24-20 victory, now with the best record in the afc. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories and show us the money, where the tea party movement finds its biggest

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share the fun at beggintime.com how both parties are using celebrities to win over last minute voters.. plus.. the crack is fixed..for now... how the san mateo bridge is faring for this morning's commute.. and why more lane more lane closures may be coming. could the third game be the charm? after a disappointing loss in philly... the giants are ready to bring it home. and.. a bit of bay area entertainment history.. is getting some new life. join us for cbs 5 early edition,

on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. the southwest is looking at thunderstorms coming through. the ohio river valley could get some showers and much of the rest of the nation is quiet, with plenty of sun and pleasant conditions. here's another look at this morning's top stories. saudi intelligence services are warning of a potential terrorist attack in europe, particularly france. french officials say the threat concerning al qaeda is real. sarah palin kicks off a 15-day tea party express tour today in nevada. the tour to back conservative candidates will hit 30 cities in 19 states. tea parties are getting strong financial backing from

its supporters. sharyl attkisson takes a closer look at the source of the money. >> reporter: when it comes to tea party candidates, small donors are emerging as a major force. their contribution, $200 or less, are arriving in mass numbers. >> the small donor trend for tea partiers is unprecedented. >> reporter: helping candidates pay for anti-establishment ads like this. typically, senate candidates get a relatively small percentage, no more than 20% of their funds, from small donors. but just look at some of the latest numbers available for some tea party favorites. small donors filled about a third of the campaign chest of toomey and rubio and more than for them and more than half of the early donations given to joe miller and sharron angle. the tea partiers are getting a fair share from big donors, too. the top supporter, the

physically conservative club for growth, paying for ads like this. who is the muscle behind the club for growth? >> the club for growth gets a lot of its contributions from retirees and these are not your average pensioners, these are people who are ceos, former ceos or leaders in industry. >> reporter: the club for growth has been around 11 years and supported republicans long before there was a tea party. this year, its top three beneficiaries are tea-party backed republicans running for senate, including nearly $700,000 for pat toomey. until last year, he happened to be president of the club for growth. but is it small donors setting apart the midterms it's not exclusive to the tea party. senator russ feingold, a democrat, has raised 42% from people giving $200 or less. his opponent, a tea party-backed candidate named ron johnson who's become his own big donor. he's injected $4.4 million of his own fortune into his

campaign. sharyl attkisson, cbs news, washington. this is the "cbs morning news." cbs news, washington. ,,,,

the united states is the most welcoming country for refugees in the world granting 22,000 asylum requests last year alone but in a post-9/11 world, not everyone gets an automatic green light. stricter anti-terrorism laws means a lot of people are getting turned away. russ mitchell reports on one woman who is fighting to receive asylum. >> my life is, like, at a standstill. >> reporter: regina othela lives in a shelter in chicago. can't work and has no country to call home. all because the u.s. government claims she gave material support to terrorists. >> i despise the rebels, i still do. and for them to say i supported them, it's -- it's unfair. it's not right. >> reporter: in november 2008,

the native of uganda, was kidnapped and handed over to the resistance army. for 30 years they have terrorized neighboring congo, raping women, recruiting child soldiers and burning villages. do you remember the first thing that happened to you when you were taken to the camp? >> this young girl runs up to me and spits at me. >> reporter: she spent a week in their prison camp where she says she was abused and ordered to beat another prisoner. >> to me, it was a matter of life or death. >> reporter: days later she was taken on a raid. in the chaos, she escaped and fled to america. after two years of hearings, an immigration judge issued this ruling in march granting her asylum. but, the department of homeland security is challenging the order, saying her beating of a fellow prisoner shows material support for terrorists and it should bar her from receiving asylum. >> what would they have done? what would you have done if you

had a gun at your head and they tell you beat this person or we will kill you? what would you do? what would they expect me to do? >> reporter: when congress passed the patriot act it expended the definition of "material support" in cases. since then asylum applications have increased. the director of the immigrant justice center says thousands of legitimate refugees are being turned away. >> we've seen cases where, clearly, that individual is entitled to protection under the law. there's no evidence of any terrorism activity. >> reporter: senator patrick leahy is sponsoring a bill to clarify the "material support" provision. >> most americans know what duress is. most americans know when somebody's forced into doing something. what i want is our laws to know that, too. >> reporter: in the meantime, her life is on hold, as she constantly revisits her past. the department of homeland

security declined our request for an interview. regina's next hearing does not take place for another seven months, may of 2011. russ mitchell, cbs news, new york. >> and that's the "cbs morning news" for this monday. thanks for watching. we hope you'll join us a little bit later for "the early show." i'm betty nguyen. bit later for "the early show." i'm betty nguyen. have a great day! -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

final push to get voters to the bringing out the big guns. todays election deadline and final push to get voters to the polls. >> testing a fix.