the balance >> the balance of power. with election day just two weeks away, the battle to control congress heats up. crisis in chechnya. insurgents stage a deadly attack at the chechen parliament. on tap. the chain that brought you $4 cup of coffee brews up a different kind of buzz. this is the "cbs morning news" different kind of buzz. this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, october 19, 2010. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. it's two weeks before election day and a republican takeover of the house of representatives seems like a sure bet. meanwhile, democrats are fighting tooth and nail to maintain majority in the senate. the gop needs to pick up ten of the 19 senate seats democrats now hold. two critical and very close races, colorado and west

virginia. preeti arla with the latest. >> reporter: it's coming down to the wire in these races and both parties are sinking time and money into them, hoping to sway the outcome. republican john raese is trying to become west virginia's first republican senator since 1958. >> you have to wonder, wonder about obama and manchin which direction they're going because there are choices in this election. >> reporter: hoping to capitalize on voter frustration, he spent much of last night's debate painting joe manchin as an ally of president obama. >> i'm not a rubber stamp for anybody. >> reporter: manchin has an approval rating near 07%. most polls show him running neck in neck with rease for the late robert byrd seat. west virginia is one seat they have to win to take control of congress. another battleground state, colorado, where democrats are try to fend off a tea party

favorite. >> this tea party business has brightened my life. they've now had everybody from witchcraft to -- >> reporter: last night former president bill clinton urged colorado democrats to stick with senator michael bennet. >> for goodness sakes, don't go back to what got us in trouble in the first place. >> reporter: but republican ken buck says he's exactly what colorado and the rest of the country needs. >> certainly fit the mold of a different kind of candidate for the u.s. senate. >> reporter: to win control of the senate, the gop needs to keep all 40 of their current seats and capture ten others now held by democrats. election day may be two weeks away, but early voting has begun in a handful of state. absentee ballots for mail-in voting will be available today in every state. betty, back to you. >> thank you. in nevada tea party-backed candidate sharron angle has come under fire for remarks she made last friday to a group of

hispanic students. she was defending an anti-illegal immigration ad which included a map of mexico and a picture of mexican farmers. >> what we want is a secure and sovereign nation. you know, i don't -- i don't know that all of you are latino. some of you look a little more asian to me. >> hispanics who make up 12% of nevada's registered voters have blasted angle's immigration. angle is running neck and neck with her democratic opponent senate majority leader harry reid. also in play come election day are 37 governorships. here in new york polls indicate democrat andrew cuomo has a healthy lead over republican carl paladino. last night they were joined by five other candidates for a debate. manuel gallegus reports. >> reporter: seven candidates for new york governor with seven different views of how to fix the state. among the contenders, kristin davis, a former manhattan madame. >> we need to legalized marijuana and casino gambling.

which would bring in billions. >> reporter: a candidate from the green party, the freedom party and even the rent is too damn high party. >> rent, it's too damn high. >> reporter: only two are considered frontrunners, democrat andrew cuomo, whose father once ran this state and tea party-backed republican carl paladino. >> i'm going to lower income taxes by 10%. >> reporter: a recent "new york times" poll shows cuomo with a substantial lead over paladino. paladino's popularity has been slipping since september and he's been accused of making sexist, racest and anti-gay remarks. during the 90-minute debate, paladino and cuomo were careful not to say anything controversial, but that didn't stop the others. >> i've never been caught with a prostitute. my dad wasn't governor. and i've never been convicted of a crime. so, you may not be used to me as a politician. >> reporter: for new yorkers in the audience, running the state is no joke. >> it's serious business and i think we need a fresh change. >> i think a lot of the issues

were addressed. >> reporter: in the end, each candidate had equal air time in what will likely be the only debate before election day. manuel gallegus, cbs news, new york. it turns out that moratorium on home foreclosures was short-lived. bank of america says it plans to resume seizing homes next week. more than 100,000 in 23 states. other banks and lending institutions say they'll resume foreclosures as well as once the document flap is settled. overseas insurgents launched a deadly attack against two government buildings in southern russian republic of chechnya. amanda walker of sky news has our report. >> reporter: we understand that three security guards and one civilian have been killed in this attack. ramzan kadyrov, president of chechnya, has been very keen to point out it is now over. the situation is under control. and the militants involved have been killed.

it was around 9:00 this morning, we understand, that a suicide bomber detonated an explosive just outside the parliament building which allowed further militants to enter the building. there were reports of shooting and hostages being taken. we know the presidential security services immediately went to the scene and seems dealt with it pretty quickly, which is, of course, what all the security services -- the russian security services want to demonstrate, that they can control this volatile region and that they can control these insurgents. of course, this attack particularly significant striking at the heart of the kremlin-backed parliament. amanda walker, sky news for cbs news in moscow. protests in france over a plan to raise the retirement age are growing. workers this morning are striking nationwide and have blockaded a dozen french oil refineries leading to scattered

fuel shortages. french airports have canceled flights and drivers are lining up for gas. the french government wants to raise the minimum retirement age to 62. on the "cbs moneywatch" stocks in asia edged up. ashley morrison with the latest on that. good morning. >> good morning. asian markets advanced slightly. japan's nikkei gained about half a percent while hong kong's hang seng was also higher. wall street gets earning reports from bank of america, goldman sachs as well as the latest check on the housing market. tuesday better than expected profits from citigroup gave stocks a boost. the dow gained nearly 81 point while the nasdaq added 12. apple posted quarterly profits blew past estimates. earnings soared 70% largely on the strength of iphone sales. 14 million from july through september. ipod sales totaled 9 million. but the ipad was a bit of a disappointment. apple sold 4 million of the tablet computers while analysts were expecting 5 million. flight delays are costing

passengers a lot more than grief. a government-funded study found the cost of airline delays to passengers in 2007 was $16.7 billion. including lost time waiting for flights and money spent as passengers scrambled to make other arrangements when flights are canceled. and something new may soon be on tap at starbucks. the coffee chain is experimenting with adult beverages, selling beer and wine at one of its seattle locations. alcohol does not go on sale until after 4:00 p.m. it's the latest effort by starbucks to evolve its brand. no word on just how much that glass of chardonnay, though, might cost you. >> you already thought the line was long at starbucks. just you wait till this starts. >> right. >> ashley morrison joining us live here in new york, thank you. just ahead on the morning news -- a mystery sighting over el paso, texas. plus, a rare sighting over the golden gate bridge as a 747

comes in really close. first, though, katie couric with a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." >> a nationwide scandal. fake insurance companies making millions of dollars while their victims are left with no medical coverage. what's being done to stop them? our special investigation tonight only on the "cbs evening news." n the "cbs evening news." ars days are on now! get fall's lowest prices in every department. find lowest prices for your yard and home. and lowest prices on fall's hottest styles. plus an instant $10 off your apparel purchase. lowest prices are here! sears. ♪ everywhere i go... ♪ i'll pass it on, ♪ and on...and on...and on... edible arrangements. happiness is always in season. visit, call or go to ediblearrangements.com. and the life you want to live. with rheumatoid arthritis, there's the life you live... fortunately there's enbrel, the #1 most doctor-prescribed biologic medicine for ra. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue,

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sold out online in 17 minutes. beauty editors are raving. the clinical results are astounding. olay professional pro-x. read all about it at olayprofessional.com. in san francisco, a 747 was part of an air show on saturday. the giant plane flew over the golden gate bridge. look at that. and san francisco bay. the crowd seemed to enjoy watching the flight, although there were apparently some complaints that it reminded people of the september 11th attacks. it was a different sort of fly-by in el paso on saturday. an unidentified flying object was seen in the night sky. the light split into three different lights and then four. it looked very much like the lights seen wednesday afternoon in new york city, but those turned out to be balloons that

had escaped from a school party. mexico has made its biggest ever marijuana bust. heavily armed soldiers arrested 11 suspects in a series of raids monday in tijuana. they seized 105 tons of marijuana. it was neatly wrapped in 10,000 brown and silver packages and was supposed to be delivered to various distributors in the united states. police said it had a street value of $340 million. for the fifth straight year there have been fewer arrests on the border between mexico and the u.s. homeland security secretary janet napolitano says the border patrol made 463,000 arrests during the fiscal year which ended september 30th. in 2009 tlrn 556,000 arrests. the drop in arrests is credited to more border patrol agents and the weak economy. a chilling confrontation on a philadelphia bus was caught on tape. surveillance camera video shows two women arguing on the bus last week and one pulls out a

gun. she allegedly threatened to shoot the woman until a man stepped in to separate them. the woman was arrested and faces several charges. she was angry because the other woman was speaking loudly on her cell phone. former nfl star junior seau drove off a cliff in southern california. he went to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries after driving off an embankment onto a beach in the san diego area on monday. seau told police he fell asleep at the wheel. police said there was no sign of alcohol or drugs that was involved. only hours earlier seau had been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. straight ahead, your tuesday morning weather. in sports, another dazzling pitching performance in the baseball playoffs. pitching performance in the baseball playoffs. whatcha doing little bite™? trying to be big like you, dad. you're so good at keeping everyone full... and focused with your fiber. [ laughs ] but you already are great at doing that.

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consider this: drop & go charging for up to 4 devices at once... the duracell mygrid™. simple and smart. it's mygrid™. from duracell. trusted everywhere. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york, showers, 61. miami, sunny, 85. chicago, sunny, 58. denver, sunny, 69. and l.a., showers with 68 degrees. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows partly cloudy skies throughout much of the country. and there are scattered storms in the southwest. later today, slow-moving showers are backing over the southwest again, especially in the southern california area. rain showers are moving through

the middle of the east coast and cool weather is dominating the top half of the nation. in sports, texas has taken a 2-1 lead in the american league championship series. the rangers' josh hamilton hit a two-run homer in the first inning off andy pettitte for the early lead. the score stayed that way until the ninth inning when texas scored six more runs. cliff lee shut out the yankees giving up two hits, striking out 13 in the 8-0 win. >> i do the same thing every game. i'm going to throw strikes and i'm going to throw fastballs in and out and see how they swing and make adjustments on the fly. >> game four is tonight. in the national league the giants host the phillies this afternoon. in the nfl tennessee crushed jacksonville on monday night football. titan's backup quarterback kerry collins led the way after vince young suffered a knee injury. tennessee is in a three-way tie for first place in the nfc afc south.

the nfl may decide to crack down on dangerous hits, following a scary collision between eagles' jackson and falcons' robinson on sunday. the nfl says they may suspend or eject players for illegal helmet hits. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. and facebook under fire. a security breach puts tens of millions of users at risk. if you fight to sleep in the middle of the night, why go one more round ? you don't need a rematch, but a rethink. with lunesta. lunesta is thought to interact with gaba receptors associated with sleep. lunesta helps you get the restful sleep you need. lunesta has some risk of dependency. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks.

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institutions say they'll resume home foreclosures. a moratorium had been declared due to alleged mishandling of documents. the popular online social network facebook says it is working to fix a recently discovered security flaw involving apps that appear on its website. the apps potentially affected tens of millions of facebook users. anthony mason reports. >> reporter: facebook acknowledged its privacy policy had been violated after "the wall street journal" reported that some of the site's most popular applications were transmitting personal information about users to advertising and internet tracking companies. >> it's an incredible amount of information. >> reporter: mark rhodenberg said it could include b biographical information, friends, even the unique i.d. numbers that identify the more

than 500 million facebook users. >> it's a little like learning the telephone service that you signed up for wasn't really able to keep your calls private. >> reporter: a facebook spokesperson said there's no evidence that any personal information was misused or even collected. but added, we plan to introduce new technical systems that will dramatically limit the sharing of user i.d.s. the federal trade commission warned the online advertising industry last year that it needed to clean up its act. the industry needs to do a better job of self-regulation, one commissioner wrote, or a day of reckoning may be fast approaching. this month leading trade groups announced a new set of principles and unveiled this advertising option icon. >> the intent is for it to be on every app where data is collected or used. when you click on it, it tells you about the policies of the companies involved in the ad and allows you to opt out. >> reporter: by taking these steps the industry is basically acknowledging there's a problem. >> i think the industry is acknowledging they have to do better. >> reporter: but mark says the industry can't be trusted to police itself. >> you know, the system of online privacy is pretty much

broken down. and that's why we're at really a critical moment right now, probably for the future of the internet. >> reporter: his electronic privacy information center has filed two complaints against facebook with the ftc, alleging unfair and deceptive trade practices. anthony mason, cbs news, new york. this may be hard to believe but a small town in california is getting telephone service for the first time. the mountain community of iowa hill, about 58 miles northeast of sacramento, got land line service last week. a local business owner welcomed it. >> actually, that will be very nice for us because then we'll be able to take plastic. we will get a little machine so that people can do their card. >> the town's 200 residents also get by with no electricity by using solar panels, batteries and generators. this morning on "the early show," tips to getting your pet into shape. i'm betty nguyen.

this is the "cbs morning news." i have asthma. and when my symptoms came back i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine like inhaled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, and prescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. symbicort is a good choice to help control my asthma all day and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ]

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the tea party express rolls into las vegas today. on monday it kicked off a 15-day national tour with a rally in reno headlined by sarah palin. the former alaska governor endorses republican sharron angle in nevada's high stakes senate race and palin knew how to fire up the tea party faithful. >> obamacare makes us ill. i like the sign, russia called, they want their socialism back. and speaking of russia, i can see november from my house. yes. >> palin also looked ahead to the next presidential election saying, quote, mr. obama, you're next because we can see 2012 from our house, end quote. it's not uncommon to hear candidates rail about government

overspending. while they complain about the money, some lawmakers are not above asking for the federal funds to take back to their home states. armen keteyian reports. >> reporter: a rallying cry for many republican candidates is their fierce opposition to the $787 billion stimulus bill. texas congressman pete sessions. >> say no to budget-busting stimulus bill. >> reporter: and then this boast served up by minnesota representative michele bachmann. >> that's why i voted against the bush wall street bailout. the failed palin stimulus -- >> reporter: but it turns out no sooner was the ink dry on the stimulus bill than these lawmakers and dozens of others from both parties were reaching out behind the scenes for money to fund millions of dollars in local projects. >> when it came time to get a piece of the pie afterwards, people were writing letters by the dozens. >> reporter: the center for public integrity says it collected nearly 2,000 letters from scores of republicans and

conservative democrats requesting funds from a bill they originally opposed. and many still criticize. >> the last stimulus bill didn't create one new job. >> reporter: but that didn't stop massachusetts senator scott brown from backing a $45 million project, or congressman sessions from requesting $81 million in stimulus money for a texas rail project. a grant he didn't win. >> government spending doesn't create good jobs. >> reporter: but minnesota's bachmann wanted money for a state bridge she said would directly produce 1407 jobs per year. and it wasn't just republicans. democratic congressman walt minnick of idaho supported the bill and now running this ad in his campaign. >> i said no to government spending. >> that's the type of double-speak that drives voters crazy. >> reporter: most lawmakers argued they didn't want their

personal objections to prevent money from flowing to worthy local projects. the kind of government spending they still so publicly oppose. armen keteyian, cbs news, new york. and that's the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. thanks for watching. we hope you'll join us a little later for "the early show." i'm betty nguyen. later for "the early show." i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

is finally moving again after your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. comments@captioncolorado.com twelve hours and 43,000 pounds of wax. right now traffic finally moving again after a messy tanker crash on 101 near morgan