round two. the candidates prepare for tomorrow's presidential debate. and with time running out before election day president obama looks to reclaim the momentum from mitt romney. super sonic skydive. daredevil felix baumgartner breaks the speed of sound on a death defying jump from the edge of space. and fireworks fiasco. dozens of spectators are hurt when a fireworks display in china goes bad. this is the "cbs morning news" for monday, october 15, 2012. good morning and thanks for joining us. tomorrow marks three weeks before the election and president obama and mitt romney will hold their second debate.

romney grabbed the momentum following a strong performance their first go around and now the pressure is on the president to improve his performance. tara mergener is in washington with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. yes, and to that end the president will be taking a more aggressive tone this time, we understand, while mitt romney tries to top his last performance. president obama took a brief break from his debate prep to visit a campaign field office in virginia. the president has been holed up at a williamsburg virginia resort studying and this time aides say things will be different. prior to the first debate in denver the president held a campaign rally and took a field trip to hoover dam. when asked how his preparations were coming along. >> it's a drag. they are make being me do my homework. >> reporter: he had a different answer when asked the same question on sunday.

>> it's going great. >> the obama campaign says president obama knows he has to do better this time. >> nobody is a harsher critic than the president is of himself and he viewed the tape. he'll make some adjustments on tuesday and, you know, i'm not going to get into detail about strategic change that he might make but i just encourage you watch. >> reporter: mitt romney's campaign believes the first debate couldn't have gone to better. >> the wind is at governor romney's back. there's clearly momentum. you can see it on the trail and data. >> reporter: in the first-round, romney proved he could stand on the same stage with president obama and hold his own. he has a new challenge for tomorrow. >> he cannot slide back. expectations are higher in this debate and he has to come out and maintain the momentum he had coming out of the first debate.

>> reporter: romney continues his debate prep today. this debate will be a town hall format and include questions from undecided voters. >> tara mergener in washington this morning. thank you. republicans continue to press the administration over the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. ambassador chris stevens and three others were killed. the white house initially said the violence was related to a protest but later admitted it was an al qaeda linked terrorist attack. yesterday lindsey graham charged the administration people didn't want to know al qaeda remains a threat. either they are misleading the american people incredibly incompetent, there was no way with anybody looking at all that five days after the attack it was based on a riot that never occurred. to say that you're either very incompetent or misleading. >> ambassador father's said he doesn't want his son's death to become a campaign issue. he said the security issue has to be objectively examined.

the 14-year-old pakistani girl shot by the taliban has been moved to england for medical treatment. the next few days are critical for malala yousufzai. she was shot in the head by the taliban nearly a week ago for promoting girls education and criticizing the militant group. pakistani doctors say she needs more surgery and rehabilitation. >> funeral services will be held tomorrow for arlen specter. he died yesterday following a long battle with cancer. he was 82 years old. specter was a republican turned democrat who was ousted from office. sharyl attkisson has our report. >> reporter: during most of his 30 years in the senate, arlen specter was best known as a moderate republican, serving on the powerful senate judiciary committee where he's remembered for his aggressive questioning of anita hill during the supreme court nomination for clarence thomas in 1991. he was a ranking member who quickly climbed the political ranks to become pennsylvania's longest serving senator.

>> i won the election because of my attention to pennsylvania over 24 years. >> reporter: arlen specter had made a name for himself as philadelphia's district attorney gaining national attention in the '60s when he served on the warren commission which investigated the kennedy assassination. he's credited with co-authoring the single bullet theory. first elected to the senate in 1980 specter won five terms until he announced he was switching parties in 2009. >> i have found myself increasingly at odds with the republican philosophy. >> reporter: two years later he ran for the election as a democrat and lost in the primary. during his time in congress his biggest battle was cancer. he overcame a brain tumor, nonhodgkins lymphoma and was recently diagnosed with a new form of the deadly disease. on battling cancer he said it's another battle i intend to win.

sharyl attkisson, cbs news, washington. and now the story of a first step like none other. it came 24 miles above the earth. felix baumgartner made the highest jump ever from more than 128,000 feet becoming the first man to shatter the sound barrier without a plane or spacecraft. >> reporter: from the edge of space austrian daredevil felix baumgartner gave a salute before jumping. he topped 833 miles per hour, breaking the speed of sound. >> to travel so fast you don't realize how fast you are. >> reporter: at times he seemed to spin out of control. >> for some reason it started spinning so fast and so violent that sometimes i'm getting unconscious. >> reporter: 24 miles above new mexico he became a human missile. felix baumgartner was able to reach such great heights thanks

to that helium balloon. in order for a safe liftoff winds could be no more than 3 miles per hour. on his way up, felix baumgartner's breath fogged up his helmet and he complained the the air inside his viesor was not warm enough. the problem was never fixed. >> could see a little bit of frost and for about 30 minutes it looked like we might have to abort the mission. >> reporter: the crew decided the jump was safe. the free fall is the highest known to man but not the longest. it lasted four minutes and 20 seconds. 16 seconds shorter than joe kitinger's record set more than half a century ago. he helped train felix baumgartner and was there from liftoff to landing. >> talk about the right stuff. felix baumgartner's feat came on the 62nd anniversary when chuck yeager first broke the sound barrier.

yeager is now 89 years old. flight yesterday flying in the back seat of a fighter. he broke the speed barrier back in 1947. from super sonic travel to a slow speed voyage. coming up next the crawling conclusion to space shuttle "endeavour's" final mission. this is the "cbs morning news". conclusion to space shuttle "endeavour's" final mission. this is the "cbs morning news". it could also mean living with joint damage. help relieve the pain and stop the damage with humira, adalimumab. for many adults with moderate to severe ra, humira is clinically proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. so you can treat more than just the pain. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred.

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i bet you that we could save money by switching to a cheaper detergent than tide. the clothes didn't come out as clean and even i could tell. and now he's doing laundry all month. with tide, obviously. that's my tide. what's yours? >> coming right towards us. oh! in australia coal miners were caught off guard when this large whirlwind of dust blew through their construction site. there were no reports of injuries or damage. space shuttle "endeavour" 26th and final mission was incredible even by space shuttle standards. the spacecraft that once orbited 17,000 miles per hour took days to travel from one part of los angeles to another.

ben tracey reports. >> reporter: apparently "endeavour" was struggling with the idea of retirement. when it made its entrance to the california science center it was more than 15 hours late. even for a commute in los angeles this was a whopper. it took the shuttle more than 60 hours to complete the 12 mile route from lax to the museum. on friday it snuck a late night look at a doughnut shop and turned the 405 freeway into a shuttle crossing. >> such an amazing bit of technology, history, adventure. >> reporter: when "endeavour" arrived it was an hour ahead of schedule but then everything seemed to slow the shuttle's roll. >> thought i missed it this morning. when i turned on the news, great i'll see it. >> reporter: the crowds suffering dehydration in the sun got in the way. the wing span almost clipped buildings and trees.

moving at just 1 mile-per-hour, it wasn't even giving molasses a run for its money. the city had already cut down 400 trees and raised 100 power lines to give the five story shuttle enough room yet dodging space junk is apparently easier than ducking power poles. high wires had to be lifted and more trees were trimmed. the shuttle lost more time when a scheduled maintenance stop stretch from two hours to five. then came the final stretch. the shuttle shuffled down martin luther king, jr. boulevard, navigating historic pine trees. they were planted in honor of the civil reits leader. in a city where three days of street closures are as welcomed as a bad rash, all of l.a. seemed to rally behind this lengthy shuttle "endeavour." it arrived without a single scratch. now after 12300 million miles in

orbit, its final mission is now complete. ben tracey, cbs news, los angeles. and straight ahead your monday morning weather. and in sports, bronx blow up. new york yankees are steamed after a blown call leads to a tough playoff loss. this is the "cbs morning news". a tough playoff loss. this is the "cbs morning news". only six degrees separate the body temperature of chocolate lovers from the melting point of chocolate. so when you take hershey's chocolate and add bubbles, it deliciously melts the moment you take a bite. hershey's air delight. it just might make you melt.

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chicago partly sunny 59 degrees. dallas mostly sunny 85. now for a check of today's national forecast. showers and thunderstorms will stretch from southern new england to the florida panhandle up to an inch is likely from virginia northward. the plains and the mississippi valley will be dry and breezy. heavy rain will extend from the pacific northwest and oregon to northwest montana. on the cbs moneywatch the tiny raise for social security recipients and a motor boat for one. >> reporter: asian markets were mixed ahead from profit warnings. nikkei gained half of a percent. the hang seng gained a fraction. wall street will be looking ahead to a number of reports including third quarter corporate earning reports. key government economic indicators last week the dow was down 281 points, the nasdaq lost

92 points. social security recipients will get a cost of living increase of 1% to 2% next year. that's the smallest increase in 37 years. 56 million people receive monthly social security benefits. cost of living adjustments are based on the federal government's measure of inflation. it says consumer prices have risen less than 2% this year. a new survey suggests weak growth for nation's economy in the new year. the national association for business economists report is due to be released today and among its findings slow but improving housing market, unemployment rising above 8% for the first half of next year and low inflation. coming to a road or pond near you, the quad speed. the one person all terrain amphibious vehicle is made of lightweight fiber glass. it's made by a detroit company. it can travel up to 45 miles per hour on land or on water.

it's scheduled to go on sale at the end the year. the price, $40,000. "taken 2" was number one. the action thriller is about an fbi agent who tries to rescue his daughter from sex traffickers. it took in $22.5 million. "argo" was a close second with over $20 million. "sinister" was number three. studios were happy with this weekend's business. it was up 51% from a year ago. >> up is always a good sign. thank you. in your sports news the national league's past two champions are tangling to see who gets to go to the world series. san francisco hosting st. louis in game one in the nl championship series. the cardinals hit two home runs to get out to an early 6-0 lead.

st. louis would hang on for a 6-4 win. game two is tonight. to the american league championship series, big controversy in the big apple with two outs in the eighth inning it looked like detroit is thrown out of second base but the umpire called him safe. now the yankees manager joe girardi loses it. he gets tossed from the game. the tigers win it. 3-0. detroit now has a two game to none lead over new york. in football a career night for packers quarterback aaron rodgers. he throws six touchdown passes, tying a franchise record. green bay takes care of the texans 42-24. first loss the year for houston. the packers improve to 3-3. and when we return this morning a fireworks show goes wrong injuring more than 100 spectators. goes wrong injuring more than 100 spectators. a rough and gritty linebacker... e

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mayor. last play plus: the giants fall in gae one of the n-l-c-s. but the fans aren't giving up hope . buckling down. president obama and mitt romney prepae for their next debate. how mister obama plans to changs tactics. and fearless felix living uo his name. the leap that's helped him land a spot in te record books. join us for cbs 5 eyewitnes,

here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. washington, thunderstorms, 75 degrees. atlanta, morning showers, 74. st. louis, mostly sunny, 70 degrees. denver, partly sunny 77 and seattle rain 61 degrees. dozens of people were hurt at a fireworks accident in china. some of the fireworks fell on to the crowd saturday. about 100 people were injured. many suffering skin burns. some were hospitalized. police are trying to determine the cause of the accident. in italy at least three days of pre-trial hearings are scheduled to begin today in the "costa concordia" disaster. the ship's captain francesco schettino is expected to attend. he has said he's not fully to blame for the disaster. the ship struck a rock and capsized when it sailed close to shore last january. 32 people were killed.

salvage crews will try to refloat the liner. pittsburgh steelers rookie alameda ta'amu is on bail this morning after he allegedly led police on a wild drunken chase. place say the 22-year-old was driving an suv the wrong way early sunday morning. alameda ta'amu crashed into several parked cars injuring a female driver. >> he hit three or four cars. he was pin balling off the street apparently. tow trucks were here for hours. >> entire passenger side was destroyed. side view mirror, the door, possibly the front axle of my car. >> place say alameda ta'amu who is six foot, 340 pounds tried to flee on foot. youtube video shows his arrest. alameda ta'amu faces several charges including felony fleeing police, aggravated assault and dui. coming up after your local news on cbs "this morning" five things to know if you're considering to become a

homeowner. this is the "cbs morning news". "cbs morning news". ,,,,,,,,

state of colorado have more than just the presidential race to consider. there's a ballot initiative that could make colorado the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana not just for medical use but recreational use. >> this is jezebel. >> reporter: wanda james is readying her new denver restaurant. she and her husband once ran a marijuana dispensary. and marketed foods with marijuana in them. now they are active supporters of a state constitutional amendment to make it legal in colorado for adults over 21 to possess one ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants for personal use. >> if you would like to come home and have a joint and relax with your wife or your husband i see no issue with that whatsoever. there are more ways to relax

than just having someone have a can of coors or jim bean. >> reporter: colorado is one of 17 states that allow marijuana for medical use. with more than 500 dispenaries and careful monitored growers, the business pumps $11 million a year into colorado state coffers. >> let's have marijuana tax money go to schools rather than criminals in mix. >> reporter: that argument falls flat with the vice president of the colorado education association. she says legalizing marijuana contradicts the anti-drug message taught in schools. >> marijuana has impacts, negative impacts on attention span, brain development, all of these things that impact learning. >> reporter: colorado's governor and local law enforcement officials worry about a potential conflict with federal law that makes possessing or growing marijuana a crime.

jefferson county sheriff says legalization will attract outsiders to grow here and to sell to the rest of the country. >> i've lived in colorado most of my life. this is not what i think colorado is about is to become the marijuana capital of the united states. >> reporter: state representative jonathan singer supports the idea of treating marijuana like alcohol. a former drug counselor he has seen the effects of drug abuse but says most people who use marijuana do so responsibly. >> marijuana has the potential just like any other drug to hurt people, and people need to make that informed decision. but this is not cocaine, this is not meth or heroin. >> reporter: a win here could boosted legalization efforts elsewhere where a loss would be a sign that marijuana use is one right many americans are not willing to grant. barry petersen, cbs news, denver. >> coming up after your local news on cbs "this morning," more

on felix baumgartner's record breaking super sonic jump. we'll have a wrap from roswell, new mexico. plus the latest in the case of a prominent investment banker who claims he was beaten by lapd officers. harry potter author j.k. rowling stops by the studio. that's the "cbs morning news" for this morning. have a great day. that's the cbs news this morning. have a great day. ,,,,

and i'm michelle griego. tis 4:-- time is 4-- here's lawrence with a check of weather. a big day for san franciscoe n-f-l is expected to announe whether the city will be in