murder innocent targets. >> a strike that could silence al qaeda for good. plus, could less government be responsible for more deaths in the latest outbreak of food poisoning? >> the death of one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. senior u.s. officials confirm that he was killed in a drone describing on his convoy in yemen today, the result of a joint operation by the cia and special operations command, the same unit that capture and killed osama bin laden back in may. it is another victory in a campaign that mr. obama established as far back as 2008 when he promised to take the fight to the terrorists wherever they may be. today the president confirmed that idea. speaking at a retirement ceremony for the outgoing chief,

he resounded his message that his strategy is succeeding. >> make no mace take. it's proof that al qaeda and affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. working with yemen and our other allies and partners, we will be determine and deliberate and relentless and resolute in our commitment to destroy terrorist networks that aimed to kill americans. >> just how serious was the threat? take a look at the current issue of inspire magazine published two days ago. an ad in the al qaeda recruitment tool promises coming soon. targeting the populations of countries that are at war. a busy grand central station in new york. the chilling advertisement highlights his in the network of star talent scout. as president obama said in an

interview with michael smerconish. >> we're are pleased he is no longer in a position to threaten the homeland and our allies around the world. >> born in new mexico and educated in san diego, he was an anti-american instigator. suspected of inspiring the mass shooting in xas in 2009, he is alleged to have played a more direct roll n planning the attempted christmas day bombing of a detroit-bound airliner later that year. he was sighted as an inspiration, the pakistani american who pleaded guilty to the botched car bombing in time square. the national counter terrorism director told congress earlier this year that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula with him as leader was the most significant threat to the united states. no surprise then that he was the

first american put on the cia capture or kill list. his death is part of the president's strategy as stepped up drone attacks more than triple the number used by president bush and essential to what's called the most aggressive counter terrorism opes in the history of the cia. let's bring in two experts in foreign policy and the war on al qaeda with me. the national security reporter for the national magazine. with us is robin wright, author of rock the casbah. you recently returned from africa. how significant is the loss of al-awlak ito the world's express of al qaeda. >> the officials have been focusing on somalia and the nashl, yemen, as the sources of the threat coming from al qaeda

organizations and yemen of which he was barely even mid-level management. despite the proclamations, media out lets including this one saying he was the leader. he was largely influential in u.s. counter terrorism circles and he spoke english and he was a virtual nobody in yemen or elsewhere in the al qaeda world. he was not a known entity. from the "new york times," they said the vast majority of people had no idea he was killed or that he existed. it was news to them. >> you quoted a counter terrorism book and said it was not attracting vast numbers in terms of support. wasn't the mission much more to use the internet to raise up lone terrorists? >> yes. he was important because he

represented the tech savvy second generation of al qaeda and mobilized people not by reaching out through sermons, but by using the internet and was effective in doing so and reaching for the first time into the united states and mobilizing whether it's somalis in minnesota or a range of people who were willing to go beyond the profiles the u.s. had been dealing with in the aftermath of 9/11. >> he was also effective, was he mot, in inspiring the shooter in the ft. hood massacre? >> absolutely. reaching out to muslims in the united states. he played a role in a way when you had both bin laden and his replacement isolated in somewhere along the afghanistan and pakistan border. he was effective in keeping al qaeda alive and far more visibly and operationally than bin laden was.

>> do you think the cache of dvds and computers, do you think they have directly led to the successful mission involving him? >> i don't know the answer, but i do know the early reports out of yemen said there was intelligence obtained from an operative. if you ask the vast majority of yemenis a question, who do you think is sibigger threat to the world, i asked to take issue at something robin said. if you look at the connection between the alleged ft. hood shooter who was not prosecuted, the e-mails did not give an indication he praised after the fact. what investigators said that reviewed those is they were having a religious discussion. it may have been a radical discussion, but to leap from that to being operational as so many are doing is irresponsible.

we have the president playing judge, jury, and executioner. that should be the premier issue we are discussing. >> some are suggesting that president obama had more foreign policy successes under his watch than any other president in the last 20 years and yet this morning we are hearing former ambassador to the un john bolton attempting to play down the president's success. you are an objective expert. me, do you agree that the obama administration has been effective? >> when you look at the administration, either in the so-called war on terrorism, we are dealing with extremism. at the same time being more realist nick terms of the pro democracy movement that broke out across the mideast and there more tangible successes and realism and that history will look back and say obama was far more effective than president

bush on either front. >> afghanistan and pakistan remain the areas with the largest number of terrorists and training ground and recruitment often in areas where the government of pakistan doesn't operate. we heard admiral mullen saying the pakistan agencies have been colewding with terrorists. do you think this idea of basically taking a drone and flying into someone's territory and invading the compound of bin laden without informing the authorities, do you think this is the way that american agencies are now going to operate? >> in a way, the obama doctrine is very similar to the early stages of the bush doctrine that the entire world is a battlefield. you can argue that president obama has dramatically expanded this target of killing operation and is trying to get away from large scale occupation and saying to allies and enemy countries alike, we will go in and we determine it's in u.s. interest to do so. i have concerns b you john

bolton is full of hot air almost always. president obama is taking the bush agenda much further than mccain would have. he is normalizing the policies to a large base of democratic supporters that. is what's remarkable. how many people have support for aggressive policies they would have been criticizing with a republican implementing them. >> can you imagine them referring to what happened yesterday in the negative terms? >> he would be out in front chan o chanting usa, usa and act like he was at the world cup or something. >> you spent time yourself and i read your back in detail. it's a fascinating account of democratic movements that are swelling and changing. he thinks most people in yemen would actually have more hate for their period than for him. what's your sense about the way yemenis are going to respond to

what's happened within their country? the drone attacks? >> yemenis are absolutely more preoccupied with what's going on in terms of the internal political dynamic and the struggle for the future of this nation. to them, al qaeda and the arabian peninsula is a minor player. i'm not sure that anyone cares about or knows much about al-awaki. they are politicizing the issue. one thing i disagree with is the american footprint on the ground alienated so many muslims particularly in terms of what u.s. motives are perceived to be. the idea of drone strikes versus hundreds of thousands of troops on the ground, i think it's one that you can't argue and most arabs would like to see american troops with drawn and they don't

like the idea of them paying the price for extremism. far more afghans have been killed by suicide bombers than americans have. many of the people would like to see al qaeda and affiliates eliminated. >> i don't think i disagree with what robin said. one minor nuance is if you look at the history of drone strikes or tomahawk cruise missile strikes in yemen and somalia, while they do occasionally hit someone they were intended to hit in somalia, they do kill a tremendous number of innocent people in collateral damage. with the tribal politics. that can have devastating impact. in december of 2009, the u.s. blew up tribal people and that has ramifications. when you are trying to kill one so-called bad guy and you kill 30 minute people, you vikill

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another busy week for the men and women fighting to win the republican nomination for the white house, but one woman captured the lime light once again and here's today's top lines dedicated to the 1 and only michele bachmann. >> i am probably more concerned about the foreign policy implication because of what barack obama has done to the nation. they worked tirelessly until they were no more.

>> that's not true. many of them including jefferson and washington were slave holders and slavery didn't end until the civil war. >> by now they would get the message. an earthquake, a hurricane. are you listening? the american people have done everything they can and now it's time for an act of god. we are getting it. >> obviously i was speaking metaphorically. what i want them to know is like john wayne is from iowa, that's the fear i have too. >> let's say happy birthday to elvis presley today. >> are you a flake? >> i think that would be insulting to say something like that because i'm a serious person. >> you understand that that's what the rap on you is. >> a mother came up to me after the debate and told me her little daughter took that vaccine injection and suffered

from mental retardation there after. >> the president doesn't have an understanding of how the economy work. it doesn't seem he has a basic understanding of how to do the job of president of the united states. >> if you are as confused by her latest foreign affairs, who better to provide real knowledge and expertise than the former ambassador to egypt. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. >> as the former ambassador to egypt, i imagine you welcomed the movement where he ruled as an autograph for something like 30 years. >> i have been stunned and i was surprised and i have been very much impressed by what has been going on in egypt and tunisia and still going on in libya and in syria. these are massive changes in the world. they are beginning to show signs

of a rising trend of democracy. this is marvelous. >> when michele bachmann condemns the arab spring and appears to reject, i see you don't agree with her? >> i gather she doesn't know of a single dictator she doesn't like. she seems to think those that got rid of gadhafi and is damaging syria, she seems to think those are bad things. >> do you agree this administration's approach to the up risings has been the right one? no heavy handed attempts at imposing democracy and no invasions. no american deaths. no one calling for death to america. >> look, i think we were slow off the mark when it started in egypt. i think we were caught off

guard. once the secretary of state and the president got their footing, they seem to have done a good job in pursuing the various revolutions that are taking place. >> what do you think america now needs to do in the light of the fact that in many of these nations democracy is flourishing in a somewhat chaotic way, in a chaotic process. >> it is chaotic and you will see transitions from a pure dictatorship towards democracy will be chaotic. what we need to do is support them. keep trying to underwrite their new governments and keep the pressure on to move away from addicter toial types of decision making. i think we can have a roll n that. we can't dictate. >> indeed. do you not think the wild and absurd comments may create

unnecessary problems for the united states as this nation tries to have the flalg democracies? >> it is creating problems among series people in europe who can't understand how we can have people saying what they are saying. people like michele bachmann really owe it to the american people to do her homework before she speaks out. >> indeed. edward walker, thank you very much for joining us. when we come back, an outbreak worsens months after congress pulls millions from food inspectors. stay with us. [ boy ] hey, i thought these were electric? uh, it is, yeah, it's a chevy volt. so what are you doing at a gas station? well it still takes gas to go farther. but you're not getting gas. true. not this time. uh, don't have to gas up very often. so you have to go to the bathroom?

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his wife found him collapsed on the living room floor struggling to breathe. at least 72 others have been sickened and authorities say the numbers sadly are expected to rise. while the source of the outbreak has been identified, that doesn't resolve the root cause of the problem. for far too many years the safety of food has been the subject of conjecture. the outbreak of e coli or salmonella is by cries of tougher safety standards and the president heard the cries. earlier this year he signed the food safety modernization act into law bringing about the largest change to the food safety laws since the 1930s. yes, he tried to do something about it. the president also called for an additional $120 million in funding to employ more inspectors so that cantaloupe for brunch would not mean admission to hospital by lunch. guess what happened.

the proposal died on the vine. john boehner and his republican majority decided to gut the food safety and inspection service. first, slashing $87 million from the budget and then another $35 million from the usda for good measure. cut, cut, cut. now the results are in. 16 people have lost their lives. close to 100 are sick. republicans in congress talk proudly of commitment of laissez-faire economics where government gets out of the way and everything works perfectly. you try telling that to those who ate melon with a side of listeria. you can get the latest from the show on twitter at twitter.com/bashir live and facebook. don't bother reaching for the stars. when we come back, the other programs republicans want to cut.

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it's day 13 of the occupy wall street movement and protesters from new york to san francisco are demanding an end to wall street greed and the disparity of wealth that's the hall mark of american society. overseas, two europeans are taking to the streets, outraged over the broken debt-ridden economies. while european leaders agreed to a $600 billion bailout package to rescue greece, ireland and portugal, congress won't agree to pass president obama's jobs bill. diane swank is from mesereau financial. is there a remarkable contrast between the euro zone that is 17 separate nations seeking to support other independent countries yet here the american congress won't support the

president's efforts to help stimulate the american economy. >> no question, europe although it is 17 different countries, they moved slowly and moved deliberately and act. maybe not acting quick enough for us because we worry about the greatest threat coming from europe these days and the paralysis we see in washington is stunning. europeans look at us and can't understand given that we are supposed to be the united states of america and more unified than divide and how divided our congress has become and the division between the administration and congress as well. >> when are you speak to european bankers and finance urs, do they laugh in your face when they reflect on how america runs their own economy? >> it would be nice if they laughed, but they are other thanned. the reality is that our problems are actually lesser than theirs and we are making them much worse. we don't need to. it doesn't need to be this bad. there is a sense of confusion

and they have enough crisis on their hands that they are trying to deal with and not also effectively. there is political consensus in europe if not only on the supreme streets. they don't even understand. they are bewildered at what they are seeing and every conversation i have is political and not one of economics. >> i spoke to russell sim oms on this broadcast yesterday. here's what he had to say about taxes. . >> all my. ys, every 1 paid more taxes than i did. we need to make the rich pay their fair share. >> doesn't he have a point? this is coming from a gentlemen who is worth $340 million. we do have to raise revenues, don't we? >> we absolutely have to raise revenues. it was interesting that we have seen republicans come out and say it has to be both revenues and spending cuts. it's a small percentage of people say it only has to be

spending cuts and not revenues. the issues of tax reform is fundamental. we need to do this and need entitlement we form. it has to be more spending than revenue oriented. if we had a credible long-term plan, we could phase these in and back load the pain to have a little easier fiscal stimulus today which would do more than monetary policy would do and ben bernanke has been begging for this. it's all falling on deaf ears. the democrats will not touch entitlements and sweat year ols can't work until 68. on the other side of it, republicans will not touch taxes. we have a dysfunctional tax code. >> to be fair for the president, it was him who tried to strike what he described as a grand bargain. he did want to resolve this issue into the long-term, but he couldn't reach an agreement. >> dhee have a preliminary

agreement. there was a success element in washington that goes beyond the base of the republican party as well. in calling the parties, they made it clear. they will not touch taxes and now have a lot of power. they are threatening the idea of a moderate democrat or moderate republican, they are oxymorons now and it got to be frustrating. we need cooperation and unity. other financial crisises, the only way they got out television, what we saw in the nordic countries in the 1990s is cooperation in government, a common goal of we are all in this together and we can get out together. that's absent in washington. >> i want to spare your brushes, but i read your briefings regularly. you describe america as having a 50-50 chance of a recession. you say we are already in what you call a growth recession. do you think we are going to

sink back into a recession? >> it's up to us. we have a very good chance of averting a recession. we have over a trillion reasons to simulate and i spent meeting after meeting with corporate leaders and traitors in our own. we have the money on the sidelines and there is an absolute paralysis. it's not even fear. we don't know what's next. we don't know what the government's plan is to reduce the deficit. if we had the plan in front of us, we could deal with the potholes. it doesn't matter if the news is bad or good, but give us the news and give us information and we could move forward. without information and in the absence of information, the fear of the unknown is greater than the fear of the known. you put that along with what happened in europe and it is a coin toss of whether or not we end up in recession. this is avertible. we do have the power to avert

it. that's what's frustrating about it. >> absolutely. thank you very much for joining us. as we mentioned in this country, congress has done little to vent the fragile economy. the president's plan is nowhere near close to being pszed. house republicans are releasing a draft budget that includes big cuts to the president's health care reforms and education policies. nbc's luke russert is in washington. good afternoon. >> how are you doing? >> this bill is in the house appropriations committee and has gone nowhere for weeks. who is holding this one up? >> this is specifically the republican idea on how to deal with labor, health, and education programs. what you are seeing is while programs definitely get an increase which is welcome news to democratings like head start and the national institutes of health, a lot are near and dear to the heart and they take a

substantial hit. republicans going after things like the national labor relations board and cutting budget by about 18%. cutting the budget for home heating oil by 28%. things of that nature. within this bill and let's take a step back. this is the republican idea on how to fund the government. we will have this debate going into november 18th and it will be similar to march up to a possible government shut down. this is a republican that is setting the table for what they like to see. >> but luke, you are saying they are considering cutting home heating that won't raise a cent on a billionaire or millionaire in terms of increasing the tax rate. >> correct. their argument all along is the programs need to be restructured and reform and they are not producing adequately.

they need to be reshuffled. democrats will say that's cruel. how can you cut home heating oil going into the winter months? no one knows whether the cuts will occur. they will go into a negotiation. what it does is it worked brilliantly in terms of negotiating. they go far to the right to start and they are very much unwilling to give ground to the president and the democrats and these types of negotiations. this is where the playing field is being set. this is where the line in the stand is being drawn. policy writers, things that have nothing to do with how the government is fund and whether or not planned parent hood should continue to get assistance and npr should get money and things close and near and deer to the democrats's heart will be involved. >> it's hard not to think this is a personal business. >> and it's so personal that one of the main things within this bill is the funding of the

president's health care law or the implementations needed to carry it out. that is something he surely won't allow. >> thank you very much indeed. coming up, mitt romney now plays to the mob. part of my job is teaching my patients how to take insulin.

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body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat or sweating. ask your healthcare provider about novolog flexpen today. learn more about the different insulins available in flexpen at myflexpen.com. flexpen, insulin delivery that goes with you. welcome back. we have a developing story in washington. milissa ray berger is in the newsroom. >> harry reid is making public a personal fight for wellness within his family. his wife has recently been diagnosed with stage two breast cancer and is currently going through treatment including chemotherapy. as at the same time from his aide, her diagnosis will not affect his work as the senior senator from nevada and majority leader from the senate. he will be by his wife's side for her treatments. they were high school sweethearts and were married in 1959.

in chicago with amazing pictures. huge waves are forcing bikers and runners into an unwanted surf competition. very strong winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour whipped up the huge waves, knocking down those along lakeshore drive this morning. that is unexpected. >> it is, but nobody was hurt. thank you very much. next, mitt romney and the lowest common denominator when republicans reach for the white house. ♪ ♪ [ dog barks ] [ birds chirping ] ♪ [ mechanical breathing ] [ engine turns over ] ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new volkswagen passat. a new force in the midsize category. ♪

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i'm courtney reagan with your market wrap. let's look at how stocks are doing with 15 minutes left to go in the will closing bell sounds. they are down by 159 points and the benchmark s&p lower by 20 and the nasdaq lost more than 49 points so far today.

a new report confirms americans are spending more than they earn. in fact, spending rose .2% as incomes fell for the first time in almost two year. bank of america customers will feel more of a pinch. they plan to start charges a $5 monthly fee that raises $3 billion a year for the company. that's it from cnbc. we are first in business worldwide. >> now to the 2012 race for the white house. mitt romney is out with a new ad entitled thank you, governor perry. as you might imagine, he is in no mood to commend his opponent particularly on the issue of immigration. >> who supports governor perry's decision to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants?

>> i want to publicly recognize governor perry and the state of texas by having taken that step forward. when you decided to give access to mexican migrants to universities in texas. >> goldie taylor is a columnist and the founder of media. social politics editor with goldie. this ad is drawing comparisons to the willie horton ad run by the first president bush in the 1988 campaign against michael dukakis. is it that bad? >> i'm not sure it goes quite that far, but what's clear here is that all of the gop candidates in the race, mitt romney should have greater sensitivities to immigrants coming from our southern border.

i think it's deplorable for him to make an attack like this about children who were here in this country. really through no fault of their own. the idea that governor perry wants to educate them in public schools and provide an in-state tuition discount for them, mitt romney and other republicans ought to see it as they like to say, as a state issue and let governor perry do for his constituency as he pleases. >> mr. perry had to walk that comment about those who oppose his position as not having a heart. he had to walk that back. it seems as though compassionate conservatism is out. >> it is not in 18 this season. you are absolutely right about that. the difficulty here is there real economic implications for not educating immigrant children and making them productive members of society. it's not like they are going to go home to a country in which

they haven't lived since they were two or three years old. it's disingenuous to not offer this to the children who have been living here all of their lives. >> it seems almost incredible that many felt was a compassionate expression as expressed by perry at the debate, he is being used against him. >> this is a republican primary. these are very different sets of voters from a general election. you saying those voters are not interested in compassion? >> i'm not going to cast judgment on voters, but immigration is a wedge issue and a republican primary. we saw it used against general and now of course that didn't work. john mccain ended up being the nominee and many of the core conservatives thought john mccain was too liberal and that is what mitt romney is trying to

exploit. i was here with him and he gave a town hall and the one distinction he drew between himself and the others is on tho make it to be the nominee of this party, this will force a debate about the dream act at a national level, and i think that that's probably a good thing for the country for president obama to have to talk about it and not just say he supports it. and then to have perry, you know, facing off against him. now, will that happen? we don't know. i think perry is really vulnerable on this issue because of where the republican primary electorate is. and romney knows that and that's what he's trying to go after here. >> goldie, we were talking about mitt romney, but what about new jersey governor chris christie? he continues to be the brass ring republicans keep reaching for. what do you think about him and the prospects of him possibly entering the race? >> well, he better do it quickly. i mean, he really has literally a matter of days before, you know, some of these state

registrations open and close. and really, it takes more than just money, which he would have, more than just message, which he clearly would have, but it takes, clearly, organization. organization in iowa and new hampshire and south carolina and in florida and some of the early key states. he's going to need a full county-by-county organization of all those states in order to make a credible bid, no matter what his national name recognition happens to be. and i understand that it's growing. i think at the end of the day, he has a real opportunity, but he has to do it now and he has to do it fast. >> christina, has christie become the east coast version of sarah palin? where he goes from appearance to appearance, fishing more compliments and asking for contributions? >> i mean, i don't think so. i would not compare the two of them. i would make a comparison between what happened with governor perry getting in the race. this is someone who said he wasn't going to run for president, then he changed his mind and got in, and a few weeks before he did, there was this big clamoring for another type of candidate in the race, and you're seeing this again. but what perry has learned very

quickly is you're not just going to come in and skate. and christie would certainly be attacked by all of his rivals who think that they are on track to the nomination. so this is a field that may well expand, but as goldie points out, it is getting pretty late there, you do need that key organization. i'm of the mind, i do not believe sarah palin is going to run. so could this field be set as it is? i think it's possible. because christie can look at the calendar and look at the numbers and sort of figure out what his chances are. >> christina bellantoni and goldie taylor, thank you for joining us this afternoon. now back to our top story. a major victory in the war against al qaeda. the killing of american-born cleric anwar al awlaki in yemen. the yemeni-based jihadist was considered the terrorist network's most noted prop beg propagandaist. >> this is a guy who was operationally involved in trying

to kill americans and the fact that he is now no longer around to initiate the kind of propaganda that also was recruiting people all around the world to that murderous cause, i think, is something that's very good for american security. >> nbc's mike viqueira joins us from the white house. good afternoon, mike. >> hi, martin. >> the president spoke out today, praising the takedown of al qaeda, the latest in a run of high-profile kills for the military under president obama. but what's the reaction there at the white house, say, in comparison with what happened when bin laden was taken? >> well, certainly, this doesn't approach the magnitude of what happened with bin laden, but it's certainly reflected in the way that this has been rolled out or announced by the white house. you remember when osama bin laden was killed back in may in that daring raid on his compound, under the noses of the pakistani military academy there. the president -- we were told to go home for the day, it was a sunday. there hadn't been much going on

that weekend. they called us all back, back in the east room, a big, grand red carpet walk. the president announced to the nation that osama bin laden had been killed. i think for very obvious reasons, that was the case, martin. >> and mike, there's already been criticism from the right and the left about how this was done. take a listen to congressman and presidential candidate ron paul this morning. >> al awlaki was born here, he was an american citizen, he was never tried or charged for any crimes. nobody knows if he ever killed anybody. we know he might have been associated with the underwear bomber, but if the american people accept this blindly and casually, that we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys, i think it's sad. >> mike, we had jeremy skahill on the broadcast at the beginning at 3:00, and he was raising a similar concern. are you hearing from the administration about any legality issues? any civil liberties issues that may be raised? >> reporter: none whatsoever.

and if you talk to legal experts around the country, you will find not so much a divided opinion. ron paul joined the libertarian candidate and libertarian congressman joining with the aclu there saying, this president cannot have this unreviewable power to go around and killing people, american citizens, even if they are overseas. but if you talk to legal scholars, i'm sure you're aware of the note that pete williams sent around today, saying this is a combatant, he's engaged in hostilities against the united states. the various resolutions that have been passed by congress, most notably after the september 11th attacks give the president a very wide leeway to do this. and as a matter of fact, what you heard the president say in that radio interview citing printer cartridges, that would-be attacked somewhat inspired by, if not planned by al awlaki, the christmas day bomber, they put out a memo making no equivocation whatsoever about their assertion

that awlaki was behind that, as well as being the inspiration to the ft. hood bomber. so the white house being very, very mum on operational details. how he was killed, how it was verified he was killed, how many people were killed, who was with him, none of those answers are forthcoming today from the white house. but they are the forthright in saying that this is justified. >> nbc's mick viqueira at the white house, thanks very much. >> all right. thanks very much for watching. the dra"the dylan ratigan show" and you can sure he's fired up on this friday, talking about getting money out of politics. [ male announcer ] this...is jet's pizza --

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