unemployment and record leveling of poverty, end quote. all the back and forthcoming with the third and final presidential debate on monday, and with new polling showing the race is a nail-biter. it's mark murray. when we look at the numbers here, we have new numbers from our nbc news poll here, and when we look at wisconsin as well as iowa, some interesting numbers here. obama ahead, but when we look at what the gallup numbers are, it gives romney a six-point lead. how do these two come together? >> richard, i think the polling is all over the place right now. i think that signals a very tight and competitive race, and sometimes when you actually see such a really close race that we're all expecting for november 6th, you're going to have polls in different directions. our polls actually suggest that president obama seems to have a firewall in those midwest states, and if he wins iowa, wisconsin and ohio, he surpasses

270 electoral votes. the romney campaign thinks they have a better standing in iowa which our polls suggest which could complicate that midwest firewall for president obama. 18 days ago, the nail-biter is just right. >> what about new hampshire? >> in new hampshire i think it's also going to be a really close race. you look at almost all of the battlegrounds, richard, that are out there right now, and i think we'll talk about a very, very late election night. we were just breaking down the 269-269 electoral vote college tie a couple of days ago. we all need to be prepared for something that's going to take us into november 7th, maybe even beyond. >> that would be a long night for you, my friend. what's behind the discrepancy with the numbers we've seen so far in the polls, though? >> well, the one thing -- you look at our nbc/"wall street journal"/maris poll of iowa, we show 34% of likely voters say they've already voted, and president obama is winning by a

very wide margin. when you look at the voting totals into the iowa secretary of state's office, about 20% have actually voted, although the outstanding absentee ballots, that gets you closer to 30%, which is kind of close to our 34%. a lot of it goes into the uncertainty of how do you measure people who have already voted in all this early voting actually going on? we're going to continue to see numbers out of the battleground states, and my guidance to everyone is it's really close. >> one of the key voting groups i talked about in the last three days with recommend voters, and the president is still leading the female vote. we understand it's a group that both sides have zeroed in on in the last several days. governor romney leads the male vote here according to the latest numbers. are we seeing a tightening of the women vote when it comes to the two candidates? >> richard, the majority of polls that i've shown that a gender gap does persist where

president obama has a double-digit lead among women, mitt romney with a lead among men. the obama campaign, to be able to win, to hit all their demographic marks, they need to win women by double-digits. i think that's a guidepost for everyone to watch election night. that will give us a good indication on who wins and who doesn't. >> a lot to watch there. mark murray, thank you so much. joining me right now is david goodfred here with us, erin mcpike reporter from real claire politics and also michael smurkonish. david, i want to start with you. we were discussing the firewall with mark murray. in iowa ahead by 8, ohio also the president consistently ahead in the latest polls. what do you think about this idea of a firewall? >> i think it's really easy to tie the dynamics in the upper

midwest to the auto bailout, because this is an issue that resonates so clearly in the industrial midwest. i'm from wisconsin. i didn't grow up that far away from paul ryan. and the impact of gm teetering on bankruptcy was felt across that state. when mitt romney published in a paper they should let detroit go bankrupt and barack obama stood up and said, we'll do something about it, believe me, that set the table for this. now, is it close in ohio? it is really close in ohio. what's most telling to me, if you think about it for a second, there are three home states on the republican ticket. there's wisconsin for paul ryan and michigan and massachusetts for mitt romney. they're not winning in any of them. to me, that is a very telling sign. as a democrat i look at that and say, wait a second, where's the hometown base. it ain't showing up. that to me establishes further this notion of a firewall in the upper midwest. >> it might be what we learn right now in terms of jobs.

this came out four hours ago from the bls. the five states with unemployment rates below 7.8%, which is the national average at the moment, iowa at 5.2%, new hampshire at 5.7%, ohio at 7%, virginia 5.9%, and then we look at the four battleground states with unemployment rates above the national average. we look at those states, colorado, florida, nevada and north carolina. when you look at that division, is that where the fire line is going to be between blue and red? >> richard, it might be, because i buy into what i've heard so far about the impact of the auto bailout. my take-away is all politics are local. when you delve into what's going on in those particular states, i think therein lies an explanation as to why there's this die cot mee between national surveys whether you buy into gallups numbers or not sxr and what's going on in the swing states. i pay particular attention it to nate silver's 538 blog.

he had a good refuting of the gallup data. the scenario that most concerns me as an american much less a partisan is that i could see this being a repeat of 2 thousand. you talk about how it might be a late night on november 6th. i'm concerned there's a split between the popular vote and the electoral college, and i don't see that helping us get beyond the polarization that exists in the country. >> talking about that aggregation that you refer to there, michael. let's go to erin mcpike, the real clear politics average, what's that look like right now? >> mitt romney is certainly ahead in a national average, but in some battleground states, president obama still has a lead in the electoral college. that's true. it's just colorado and florida and north carolina are the states where mitt romney is leading. president obama is leading all the rest of them, including in virginia just by a hair there. he leads by about .8%. he's leading by two points in

ohio and other important states. >> to you, chip saltzman, i want to stay in the midwest and talk about illinois. tea party candidate joe walsh during a debate with tammy duckworth saying no exception when it comes to abortion for life of a mother because of advances in science and technology. that's what he said. let's listen to exactly what those words were. >> there's no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing. health of the mother has been -- has become a tool for abortions anytime under any reason. >> now, look at this, chip. you throw in todd akin and the comments made by him and the aftershocks from views like this. romney and obama looking at the women vote. for romney, will this continue to be a problem for him? how does he make his case it to overcome this? >> mitt romney talks about where he stands on abortion and being

a pro-life candidate, and i'm not sure where congressman walsh was going on this. it made me scratch my head on this issue. at the end of the day, mitt romney has to be his own candidate and talk about the issues important to him. we know it's about jobs and economy. whether you're a man or woman, that's the number one issue out there. as long as mitt romney spends the next 12 days talking about that issue, he's fine. >> what are the halo effects in the midwest? >> it was unhelpful for mitt romney. the romney campaign has tried to distance itself for a long time. the entire republican party has run away from todd akin. you're going to see the same thing likely with joe walsh, but we saw in the debate that both candidates were going for the women's vote. this is, as we were just talking about, very important. the obama campaign wants to win it by double digits. this will not help the republican party with women. >> can i say, mitt romney aired a television ad where the message was, don't worry.

i still would support abortion in the cases of rape and incest, as if that will comfort american women. they don't want the government to tell them what to do with their bodies in any enstance, the majority of them, and especially in wisconsin and ohio. i don't see how this whole line of arguments that the republicans are articulating now like we're against abortion but we'll allow it in some instances. how does it help them? it hurts them again and again and again with the women vote. >> chip. >> i think i differ than what your other guests are saying. right now if you look at ohio, when you look at the breakdown of how many people are pro-life and pro-choice, there is a slight majority more that are pro-life, and especially when you talk about pro-life with exceptions for life and incest and for the life of the mother, there is a majority, a plurality of pro-life. >> what about women voters? >> there were plenty of women that are pro-life and believe this. >> the majority? >> no.

it doesn't split the majority way, but when you talk p about total voters, you have to win the election by everybody and not just women or men. i think at the end of the day in this election, i know the democrats want this to be a war on women and social issues. this will be won on the economy and jobs. that's where mitt romney is winning that and will win in november. >> when it comes down to the discussion, it's going to change to foreign policy. let's push forward to monday. michael, the third and final presidential debate will be focused on foreign policy. when we look at that issue specifically, how do both candidates need to make these issues digestible and practice to voters when many of them are saying, let's talk about the economy? >> well, you know, normally i tend to think that foreign policy is a strong suit of the gop candidate, normally an opportunity to flex muscles and talk about the need for a strong defense and to mobilize their base. up until libya, up until benghazi, i thought this was a role reversal. i thought that it would be the

strong suit of the obama administration, and in many respects and i'm thinking about the takedown of bin laden in particular it still is. the libyan issue is a key issue, at least to the extent my callers are listening to the country. i think it favors the president, foreign policy as an issue, with the footnote that benghazi may be problematic for him. >> erin, is it what have you done for lately? you add in china, which is added to discussion in the latest debates. >> yes, and with the romney campaign is going to pursue in that debate, what mitt romney will talk about most are iran sanctions. he thinks that the president has failed in not pushing iran sanctions or enforcing it. didn't do it until the third year in his term. that's the crux of his argument on monday night. >> michael. >> i think that the two-state solution in israel is something that mitt romney really boshtch.

in a private setting he could to kick the can down the road. expect that to come up, and the president shines on that topic, in my opinion. when it comes to iran, i think what's most interesting here is just a few weeks ago we started to see actual street noise in iran over the depressed currency they have and the problems they have in the streets. the president can point to that and say it's working. he could say it would be short-sighted to us to change horses in midstream. when it comes to foreign affairs, my instinct says americans get nervous if they see things happening overseas. they don't want to change horses midstream and the president leads in foreign aaffairs on that score. >> you're not michael. thank you. >> that's okay, fred. >> there you go. thank you so much as well as michael. you have a great weekend. >> thank you. next, new details on what the cia knew in the hours after the deadly attack in libya. plus -- >> here's what i'll say.

if four americans get killed, it's not optimal, and we're going to fix it. >> well, are the continued questions over libya taking a toll on the president's re-election campaign? it's our "news nation" gut check. but, first, the tsa plans to fire 25 employees and suspend 19 more at newark airport for failing to properly inspect luggage. the tsa discovered screening failures after installing surveillance cameras inside a screening room last year to check for possible theft. between november and december of 2011 the tsa says 250 checked bags were not screened. you can join our conversation on twitter. find us at "news nation." [ female announcer ] ready for a taste of what's hot? check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls.

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we're back with a preview of monday's final debate all on foreign policy. it comes as the associated press reports that the cia new militants were linked to the attack just 24 hours after it happened. republicans have also seized on an interview the president gave to jon stewart last night. >> you admit it was not the optimal response, at least to the american people, as far as all being on the same page? >> here's what i'll say. if four americans get killed, it's not optimal. >> right. >> we're going to fix it. >> right. all of it? >> all of it. >> the optimal line, of course, is very regrettable and makes me a little sad, but for him to say that every piece of information that they got they laid out to the american people is one of the most disingenuous statements

i've ever heard. >> governor romney has had missteps abroad on his own. he received a lot of criticism about the comments to the summer olympics and from palestinians when he compared that group and israel to culture differences. let's bring in nicholas kristoff. thanks for joining us today. a new pugh poll shows that governor romney has closed the gap on many areas on foreign policy. here are the numbers right here, where the president was leading earlier. with all the moving parts we've been seeing lately, who is more equipped to win this debate on monday. i think obama is much better shape on this. the problem is that mitt romney really doesn't seem deeply engaged on foreign policy issues. it's not something that he cares a lot about, that he's particularly interested in. what really struck me in this regard was when he was talking about his own iran policy and speaking to george sthe forgot

and messed up his own iran foreign policy. lots of candidates don't write their own foreign policy briefing notes, but he didn't even seem to read him own. that's emblem mattic for a problem for the governor that will show up in the debate. >> do you think the winner here will be the person, the candidate that coming up with more substance on these issues or is able to make these ideas, which are not often talked about the economy being the top issue right now, the candidate that can really make it tangible, as i was discussing at the top of the show? >> i don't think there's always a strong relationship between the candidate who speaks with the greatest depth about these issues and the one that comes across the winner. for example, i think the benghazi issue has real traction, and i think that governor romney has done a pretty good job of raising real questions about that. indeed, there's no question that

the administration didn't provide adequate security in the first place and kind of muffed its handling of it afterward. at the end of the day, this is something that was decided on a much lower level than the white house. you always have these different reports. it seems to me sort of unfair the success, the traction that it has gotten. >> nick, before i get to china, how does the president come up with a better answer come monday? >> well, i think he has to, you know, do what he said he was going to do, which is lay it all out. clearly, there was inadequate security. in retrospect that's obvious, but this is something that never reached the white house. this is something decided at the deputy assistant secretary state level far below the white house, and the -- >> just be clear and open about it? just lay out the process of what happened? >> absolutely. at the end of the day i think that president obama is in pretty good position to talk about foreign policy. >> you know, you noticed in the last debate, we heard china

being brought up several times, and you know that it resonates with certain voters yet a very complex issue. three of the perhaps major issues related to what might be brought up to the debate is how china pegs its currency and the issue of manufacturing and jobs leaving the united states and the intellectual property rights, which is really tied into mitt romney's argument about creating 12 million jobs. the president said he would take on many issues before his administration. has he? >> well, i think that governor romney has a fair point in initially in the obama administration to try to reach out to china. it may have been too soft, and try to perceive that weakness and walk over the administration. that led to a real revision to policy in washington, and a tougher line. i think there might be a stretch to learn from the mistakes there. indeed, the chinese currency has been appreciating, especially if

you take inflation into account. now, i do think that's kind of a harder argument to get over to the public. there's this deep frustration if you're in ohio or wisconsin in the economy, and so that argument by romney may get traction, but i don't think at the end of the day that it's -- you know, that's a very fair one. >> and the demand of one country to its lender that they would like their lender to do certain things also is something that might be considered in that debate. nick kristoff i wish we could talk more, and i hope we have that opportunity on monday or tuesday. >> look forward to that. >> coming up on "news nation," it was one of the most talked about lines from the last debate. >> i went to a number of women's groups and said can you help us find folks? they brought us binders full of women. >> we'll get this week's political postscript. mark murray returns. plus, despite some criticism that governor romney came off as

too aggressive during the last debate, team romney reportedly has no plains to rein in the nominee for monday's final showdown. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

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how some tea party lawmakers are distancing themselves from the tea party label they ran in in 2010. that's coming up. plus -- >> it's nice to finally relax and to wear what ann and i wear around the house. >> everyone, please take your seats. otherwise, clint eastwood will yell at them. >> that is just a look at some of the best lines of the night at the legendary al smith dinner. we'll have more. it's something we thought you should know. check out the tumblr page.

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so, which superfast 4g lte service would you choose, based on this chart ? don't rush into it, i'm not looking for the fastest answer. obviously verizon. okay, i have a different chart. going that way, does that make a difference ? look at verizon. it's so much more than the other ones. so what if we just changed the format altogether ?

isn't that the exact same thing ? it's pretty clear. still sticking with verizon. verizon. more 4g lte coverage than all other networks combined. mitt romney will head to florida today to prep for the debate. despite the concern that he was too aggressive, his campaign has no plans to rein in the governor next time around on monday. on that day we may see more exchanges like this one. >> i don't think anyone really believes that you're a person who is pushing for oil and gas and coal. you'll get your chance in a moment. i'm still speaking. the answer is i don't believe people think that's it is case -- >> that -- >> that wasn't aa question but a statement. >> joins me now is the staff writing for the hill. justin, that seems to be one of the most played pieces of sound from the debate.

when we look at the women voters, which has been the focus in this last week since the debate, is that a risk that both candidates are putting out there when they're so aaggressive when they decide to take on the tactic? >> it's certainly a risk, but the romney campaign is saying when you look at the snoel shots after the debate, even though obama was favored overall, romney was given the edge on economy and taxes and things that should matter to swing and women voters. the romney campaign is saying, yes, he was aggressive. this was a risk. they think the risk paid off. >> 31-point gap in one of the polls going for romney when it came to the economy based on that debate. >> exactly. if the election is likely to set all along, it's for the next fourz year. romney wins on that issue, this gives a boost to the campaign. when the president was leading he narrowed that gap. >> the risk is your likability will go down, and romney has had

that challenge throughout this election cycle. as we've looked pre-debates and what we know right now, has he had a net gain or drop based on this tamt this tactic he's employing. >> he saw his favorability go up. a big part was he was the consensus winner of the first debate, and people saw that as a strong kind of moment for him that he was on the same plane as the president. now the kind of flipside of the coin is that republicans say that the president, because he seen more favorably still. he's in positive territory, is running the risk by matching romney. >> so you say he does -- there's a risk if he decides to go negative, even though he has more likability, if you will, equity? >> the president was a nonquantity to the american people. what democrats say is the american people have seen him kind of passionately fighting for him over the last four years, so they don't think it's a risk for obama to kind of

match romney aggressiveness for aggressiveness. you saw that in the debate. they were quarrelling over time or getting in each other's faces. >> the narrative is we'll see more of that come monday, and we are seeing the likability gap get closer, right? >> exactly. the next debate is the last chance for both candidates, and i would expect that they'll both really press each other, especially on foreign policy issues. for a president that's sort of the one domain they have more control over than domestic issues where you kind of have to go through congress much more often. >> john kerry wants the president to be aaggressive, he thought he could be more aggressive in the next debate. we'll see what happens. thanks so much. they knew how to be the mavericks, the challengers, but now the shoe is on the other foot as 87 lawmakers ushered in by the tea party are now incouple benlts and learning what it's like to be unpopular and face the threat of losing their jobs. a recent poll shows the tea

party's favorability is at an all-tyli all-time low, just 32 view they favorable now, down 9 points from two years ago. joining me now is martin cady. 87 freshmen ushered in by the tea party in 2010. they say less is better, back to basics, no spending. how many of these 8 v7 will retn in the 113 you think? >> the reality is most will returning. some of the place where they're in tubl are suburban, moderate districts. like at westchester county, new york where nan hayworth is running as a moderate, even though she enjoyed the tea party support in 2010. one of the races where one of the candidates is backing away a little bit from the tee party label is out in montana, big senate race. this could determine control of the senate.

denny reberg joined the tea party caucus as soon as he was sworn back into congress in january 2011. he doesn't talk about it now. instead he talks about bipartisan work and talks about working with a liberal from connecticut. that's the reality of the landscape in some of these tight races. they don't want the tea party -- >> they have to moderate a little is what you are saying. as a result of that, they're not getting money. the thousands and thousands of tea party groups across the country, some say we're not giving you money anymore. what will that do to their campaigns, as we know 85% of those who won in 2010 outraised their competitor. money is very important here. >> one thing they have this summer the incumbent money advantage. they have the support of the nrc, the house republican campaign arm. what they don't have as much of is that tea party wave feeling, that grassroots support from

folks who will do anything to get the democrat in office out of office. now they're incumbents, and they have to talk up a good game about, hey, i know how to work with the other guy. 2012 is different than 120 when it comes to the popularity of the tea party. if you're in a close district, you don't want the tea party label on you right now. >> martin, does this mean -- let's look farther forward past election day. are we seeing them gel? is that a possibility here? >> that is the other thing happening. republicans argue they don't need to talk to the tea party as a separate entity anymore, and it's the house republican agenda right now. there's not a lot of daylight between them now. it's lower taxes and smaller government and the ryan budget. they've actually melded nicely, but what happens here at election time is that some of these moderates are going to get left out in the cold, if not lose on election day.

>> martin cady, thank you so much from politico. >> thank you. now the for the "news nation" political postscript. it was dominated by coverage of the second presidential debate, which everyone agreed the president needed to win. going into the debate it was secretary of state hillary clinton who grabbed headlines with her statement about the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. take a listen. >> i take responsibility, i'm in charge of the state department. >> secretary clin ton has done n extraordinary job. she works for me and i'm the president and i'm always responsible. >> you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror? is that what aur saying. >> please proceed, governor. >> i want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did, in fact, sir. so let me call it an act of terror. >> can you stay that a little louder, candy. >> i went to a number of women's groups and said can you help us

find folks, and they brought up binders full of women. >> we don't have to collect binders to find qualified women. >> we have one weekend left before the final debate, and i hope he comes up with an agenda over the weekend. >> you heard of the new deal, ohio. you've heard of a fair deal. mitt romney's trying to sell up a sketchy deal. we're not buying it. >> got our buzzwords and we have our noteworthy exchanges. let's bring in nbc news senior political director, mark murray. he comes back for the postscript. libya, let's focus on that and look back and forward. what's going to happen, do you think? >> we'll see a replay of the libya exchange again on monday. what was really interesting about that exchange was that mitt romney did end up getting into a pickle a little bit. president obama did say the words "act of terror" at that rose garden speech right after the death of the u.s. ambassador and others. now, the broader point that mitt romney was making, that the white house and the obama

administration weren't talking about a coordinated, planned al qaeda-inspired attack. that they were down-playing that. but when you actually did look at the transcript, president obama did say that word and mitt romney got hit for it. >> you reported earlier at the top of the show really great stuff from our polls out of the midwest and wisconsin and iowa, right? we get more polling numbers as we come through, and that will include a day, day and a halfpo. do we expect them to change? >> president obama, it was no be doubt, got hurt by the first debate performance. we saw mitt romney's momentum, and the question is the two weeks mitt romney took off, was he taking off because he got a second look from voters? that guy isn't the person and the character in the ads i see, and he can get things do. was his momentum due to the fact they were disappointed by president obama's performance in the first debate. if it's the former, i think we'll have a close contest. if it is the latter, there is a

chance for president obama to rebound and get back to those highs that we saw in the september after the democratic convention. >> after two debates, though, isn't the former less likely? >> you just don't know. the thing is i think we've been surprised by all the different debates, but we have one debate left. as we've seen, this should be on president obama's turf, foreign policy. mitt romney can't talk about the economy, the things that he wants to talk about, but then again, this issue of libya will come up once again. we'll see if mitt romney has a better tactic and approach where he was caught a little flat-footed at that debatd in new york. >> mark murray, great being in your house. thanks for having me here. >> it's great having you. >> all righty. >> up next, the "1st look" at the fak stanny teenagers shot in the head by the taliban. we have a live report from the hospital. plus there is a lot going on today, and here are things we thought you should know. 48 hours after their most heated and personal debate yet, president obama and governor romney dialed things back a bill

at the ath smith catholic charity dinner last night in new york. take a look and a laugh. >> in the spirit of sesame street, the president's remarks tonight are brought to you by the letter o and the number 16 trillion. >> earlier today i went shopping at some stores in midtown. i understand governor romney went shopping for some stores in midtown. >> as president obama suhr vase the waldorf banquet room, you have to wonder what he's thinking. so little time, so much to redistribute. >> word affairs are a challenge for every candidate. after some of you guys remember after my foreign trip in 2008, i was attacked as a celebrity because i was so popular with our allies overseas. i have to say i'm impressed with how well governor romney has aavoided that problem. >> i was hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening, because he'll laugh at anything.

>> sometimes it feels like this race has dragged on forever, but paul ryan assured me that we've only been running for two hours and 50 something minutes. [ female announcer ] ready for a taste of what's hot?

check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. lawyers behind the release of the confidential boy scout files want congress to step in and prevent further abuse. these documents released yesterday reveal more than 1200 alleged child abusers among the boy scout ranks. they date back to the 1960s and stretch coast to coast including military bases oversees. anne thompson joins me now. what would a congressional audit find if they look into this? >> the lawyers hope that the congressional audit would determine if the boy skoucouts living up to their promise they

are doing more to protect the young men that they aim to lead. among the things that the boy scouts have done since accusations of leaders abusing children have come to light, they now require background checks of all volunteers. they require mandatory reporting of any kind of suspected child abuse, and they also do extennive traexte extensive training with volunteers. those are all good things. the lawyers want to make sure that is happening because the files show a 20-year period where that didn't go on. these files involve 1247 suspected abusers, literally thousands of children. like at jerry sandusky and penn state and the many victims we've heard over the years as the

cases in the abuse in the catholic church have been revealed. >> some of the criticisms are why did they keep these files, and if they kept them, why didn't they let others know about it. >> we kept these files to make sure we knew who the volunteers were that were abusing children. so if they ever wanted on to get back into scouting, we had their names. now, there was a time and the president of the boy scouts of america admitted this in an interview earlier this week where that system didn't work perfectly because back in the '70s there was a school of thought that you could cure someone of pedophilia. people went through a treatment program, and then they were let back into scouting. the system didn't work perfectly, but the president of the boy scouts says, look, we kept these files. we'll keep these files because this is one way to keep track of suspected abusers. >> we're looking at the video of those boxes full of all of those

cases, and each and every one of those stacks of paper, it's somebody. it involves a victim, and the questions many people ask are, will they ever get justice? >> in many cases it's not just one victim. these are victims that are known. child abuse is dreadfully underreported crime. will he they get justice? some have in some cases. in some cases the alleged abuser was taken to court and was convicted. for some victims it's just enough to know that there is now a database for people who -- for young men who were aabused who can go into the database and say yes, they really happened. they expect that to give them some kind of closure. but justice, true justice in order to make them perfectly normal the way they were before the abuse happened, i don't think that will ever happen. >> nbc's anne thompson, thank you so much. encouraging news for the

young pakistani girl shot by the taliban for being an advocate for a girl's right it to education. mall pla malala is able to stand up. kiers simmons is outside the hospital. what do we know? >> we know that she was able to stand up, as you say, just this morning, and that she isn't able to speak yet because she has a tube in her throat. thes able to communicate by writing. here's a measure. you see these pictures and how determined she looks sitting up in her hospital bed behind me, and there is a -- what they're saying is she sends a message out to everyone to say thanks for your support. that's a measure of the spirit of this young girl, 15 years old, shot in the head by the taliban in pakistan because of

her campaigning for the rights of girls to get an education. she was flown over here just a few days ago. people are really impressed by the progress she's making. >> the prognosis it sounds like what ayou're saying is good. what about for the family and for that matter those in the area? what's the reaction been to her being at the hospital there in birmingham? >> reporter: that's right. in fact, what they're trying to do is to get a phone line up to her dad in pakistan. she won't able to speak to him, but they want her to speak to her to set up the communication. in terms of her progress, she's suffering from an infection. she needs to overcome that, and she will need some restructu reconstructive surgery. the doctors say the bullet entered her head and grazed her brain, just a few inches

difference would have been fatal. as you can see and and heard, it's due to the determination of the young woman. >> thank you so much. the "news nation" gut check is next for you. do you think the continued questions over the crisis in libya is taking a toll on the president's re-election campaign. you can join the "news nation" on facebook or at facebook.c facebook.com/newsnation. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future.

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join "news nation" on twitter. join our twitter page @ne page @newsnation. debate over the deadly attack in libya is increasing on the campaign trail. today congressman paul ryan

raised fresh questions about the president's response in the days after the assault. the republicans use the attack to criticize the president's foreign policy record. here's what congressman ryan told a milwaukee radio station. take a listen. >> they refuse to answer the basic questions about what happened. so his response has been inconsistent, it's been misleading. more than a month later we still have more questions than answers. >> what does your gut tell you? do you think continued questions about what happened in libya is taking its toll on the president's re-election campaign? go to facebook.com/newsnation to vote on that. look at what the "news nation" is saying about yesterday's gut check. should texas cheerleaders be allowed to hold up bible verses during high school football games? 33% of you said yes, 67% of you said no. that does it for this edition of "news nation" on a friday. i'm richard liu in for tamron hall. "the cycle" is up next.

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my plan is to make you laugh. you don't need me to do that. steve, what's your plan? >> two words, bill clinton. >> what? beat that krystal. >> i'll not telling. >> i'm telling you i'm getting jay-z into this show. you know what? it's "the cycle." well, we're already cracking up because it's 5:00 somewhere. shout out-out to our viewers in greenland. our happy hour starts at 4:30. if i'm your