walker wins. wisconsin governor scott walker survives a recall vote trigger by his actions. >> voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions. attacking al qaeda. in a significant blow to the terror network, a u.s. drone strike kills al qaeda's second in command. heavenly display. venus crosses the face of the sun. something you won't see for the next 105 years. this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, june 6, 2012. good morning. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. wisconsin voters decided to

re-elect governor scott walker in a recall election that stirred passionate debate. walker beat milwaukee mayor tom barrett in a rematch of the 2010 election. it was triggered by walker's measure to curb rights. exit polls found just more than half of wisconsin voters, 52%, approve limits on collective bargaining. it was the most expensive election in wisconsin history and republicans hope walker's victory spills over into november. susan mcginnis gets us started. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, terrell. walker beat back this recall attempt. it's a big vote of confidence against his moves against unions and a boost for the romney camp. whether it's a harbinger of what's to come in november is still in question. triumphant and perhaps relieved. wisconsin governor scott walker took the stage after surviving tuesday's recall election. >> when there have been leaders of courage, what has sustained them is they were good and decent people who stood with them, shoulder to shoulder, and arm to arm.

that's what you have done for wisconsin and for america! >> reporter: walker is the first sitting governor in history to keep his seat after a recall vote. he defeated the democratic mayor of milwaukee, tom barrett. >> this is not an end tonight. this is an end of another chapter of wisconsin's history. >> reporter: walker's victory is a blow to democrats and unions which fought back after he cut state spending. political experts say it could be a sign of what's to come in november, including the role money played in this recall attempt. >> the wisconsin race is a real sort of preview of what we're going to see, which is big money influencing elections and really unchecked spending coming from wealthy folks all around the country. >> reporter: in a statement mitt romney said last night's vote will echo beyond the borders of wisconsin. he claimed victories of his own yesterday, sweeping five republican primaries. so, it was not a good day for democrats in wisconsin or

nationally, but president obama's camp can take one thing positive out of this. cbs news exit polls showed if the presidential election were held today, the president would carry wisconsin. terrell? >> susan mcginnis in washington, thank you. this morning mitt romney begins a second day of two-day fund-raising in texas. yesterday in ft. worth he promised supporters he wouldn't raise taxes and he would balance the budget. his swing through texas is expected to raise $15 million for his presidential campaign. on the democrat side for the second time in a week, former president clinton created a dust-up with comments apparently at odds with president obama. this time the subject was tax cuts. president obama opposed renewing bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy but during a broadcast interview last night, president clinton said they should be temporarily extended. >> they will probably have to put everything off until early next year. that's probably the best thing to do right now. but the republicans don't want to do that unless he agrees to extend the tax cuts permanently, including for upper income people.

>> later a spokesman for mr. clinton issued a statement. he simply said, referring to mr. clinton, he doubted a long-term agreement on spending cuts and revenue would be reached until after the election. last week president clinton said mitt romney had a sterling record running his equity firm, bain capital. "cbs moneywatch" time on a wednesday. the congressional budget office is also weighing in on the bush-era tax cuts. californians vote on raising the price of cigarettes. ashley morrison here in new york with that and more. good morning. >> good morning. the congressional budget office is once again warning about the government's mounting debt problems. the cbo says without action the debt will swell to almost equal the size of the economy in a decade. an alternative is to allow the bush-era tax cuts to expire and proceed with proposed spending cuts on january 1st, while helping to alleviate the debt. the cbo says that course of action would trigger a new recession. renewed fears of meltdown in the eurozone prompted an emergency call tuesday. ben bernanke and timothy

geithner organized the call with finance ministers and central bank presidents from six other nations. instability in europe's banking system could spill over and affect the u.s. economy. overseas markets got a boost from those talks to stem the european debt crisis. tokyo's nikkei added nearly 2%, while hong kong's hang seng gained more than 1%. wall street investors also got relief. dow finished up 267 points while the nasdaq rose 18. the nasdaq reportedly plans to compensate facebook investors who lost money during the company's initial public offering. technical glitches delayed the ipo. there's no word on how the index will handle the compensation, but banks and trading firms lost $100 million because of the delay. meanwhile, facebook stock lost another 4% on tuesday to sink blow $26 a share. and the outcome of a ballot measure raising the price of cigarettes in california is too close to call. the measure would impose an

additional $1 per pack of cigarettes. millions of votes have yet to be counted and it could take days before an official result is announced. it will be interesting to see what comes out. >> have to watch it. ashley morrison here in new york, thank you so much. there's been a deadly bombing in southern afghanistan this morning. officials say at least 20 afghan civilians were killed when a bomb plant on a motorcycle exploded at a market area near kandahar air force. nato forces maintain a large presence at that airport. it's been called the biggest setback for al qaeda since the death of osama bin laden. abu yahya al libi, terrorist organization's second in command, was killed by a u.s. drone strike monday in pakistan. they say he was a leader with skills hard to be replaced. bob orr reports. >> reporter: abu yahya al libi was one of the last remaining pillars at the core of al qaeda. he was often the public face of terror. appearing in dozens of videos, urging new strikes against the u.s. and its allies.

but the charismatic terrorist was more than a propagandaist. al libi said on al qaeda's governing council and was top deputy to al zawahiri. u.s. officials say al libi was at the center of planning new attacks and coordinating al qaeda's outreach to top affiliates like al qaeda in yemen. as a veteran jihadist who was a trusted aide to osama bin laden, al libi was viewed inside al qaeda as something of a star. and he burnished that reputation with a brazen escape in 2005 from a u.s. military prison at the bagram air base in afghanistan. this is the wanted poster circulated after his breakout. al libi made one of his last known public appearances in this video last december, urging rebels in his homeland of libya to hold onto their weapons and fight deceptive notion of democracy.

al libi is the latest senior al qaeda leader to be killed in a u.s. air campaign to dismantle the terror network. since bin laden's death 13 months ago, the u.s. has carried out nearly 100 air strikes in pakistan and yemen, killing more than a dozen top terrorists, including american-born cleric anwar al awlaki, who was the operational leader behind recent bombing plots out of yemen targeting u.s. aviation. but officials say the loss of al libi is equally as significant. one official said al qaeda has no one on their roster to come close to replacing al libi's expertise. this killing adds to the tension between u.s. and pakistan, which continues to demand an end to u.s. drone strikes, but u.s. officials have made it clear, when they have a shot at a known terrorist who presents a real threat, they're going to take it. bob orr, cbs news, washington. overseas reports that former egyptian president hosni mubarak's health has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. last week he was sentenced to

life in prison for his role in killing protesters. one security official says his health deteriorated yesterday and placed on a ventilator. mubarak is said to be depressed and not eating. syria barred u.s. and other european diplomats saying they're no longer welcome. they say they were forced to take action after is syrian diplomats were expelled from several western countries. most ambassadors had already left damascus. u.n. says syria has allowed humanitarian workers into those areas hardest hit. nine of 12 jurors have been selected in jerry sandusky's child abuse case. san dusk y the former penn state assistant football coach, is accused of molesting ten boys. jury selection began yesterday and resumes today. opening statements are scheduled to begin on monday. coming up on the morning news, venus in motion. sky watchers around the world get a glimpse of solar phenomenon that only comes around once in a lifetime. get a glimpse of solar phenomenon that only comes around once in a lifetime.

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if you missed seeing this yesterday, like me, one of those people, you have to be very patient to get another chance. it won't happen again for more than 100 years. that black dot is the planet venus crossing the face of the sun as seen from asheville, north carolina. it's similar to an eclipse but much rarer. the earth, venus and sun line up like this only twice in a century. sky gazers young and old around the world spent hours observing this event called transit of venus. we have our report now from los angeles. >> little tiny dot -- >> reporter: 9-year-old couldn't take his eyes off the sun during a very rare cosmic event. >> it was sort of like awesome and scary at the same time, though. sometimes it was cool and uncool at the same time, too. >> reporter: for nearly seven hours, people around the world watched as the planet venus slowly crossed the face of the sun. it's called the transit of venus. ed krupp, director of griffith

observatory in los angeles, says it's happened only once in the past 129 years. >> the next time we see this is in 2117 so you need good medical care in order to make that one. >> reporter: if you were lucky enough to be somewhere with clear skies, this was the view. venus, about 27 million miles away, looked like a tiny dot floating across the face of the sun. why is it that we don't see this very often? >> well, it takes very precise alignment of the sun and venus and the earth. and that exact precise alignment doesn't occur all the time. doesn't even occur every time venus is more or less in the same direction as the sun. >> reporter: you can't look directly at this event without taking precautions. you need to use either a filtered telescope or special glasses to avoid permanent eye damage from the sun's infrared and ultraviolet light. those on the east coast of the u.s. were only able to catch a portion of the show, while those further west in hawaii and parts of australia and asia had the best views. >> it's really small so it looks

like -- >> reporter: and he said he couldn't wait 105 years for the next one. cbs news, los angeles. >> i blew that opportunity. up next on your wednesday morning, we'll have your weather forecast. in sports, doing the right thing. a touching display of sportsman ship at a high school track meet. meet. ♪ [ male announcer ] savor a sip of a real fruit smoothie from mccafé! ♪ like the flavorful fusion of mango/pineapple... ♪ ...bursting with fresh flavors and blended with creamy low-fat yogurt. the simple joy of exhilarating refreshment. ♪

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showers, 72. miami, 87. sunny in chicago, 72. thunderstorms in dallas, 89. sunny in los angeles, 78. let's check your national forecast. unseasonably cool temperatures with occasional showers and thunderstorms will continue in the northeast. thunderstorms, some severe, will roam from texas and oklahoma and south georgia. showers will fall from the upper midwest to the central plains. from eastern washington to northwestern montana. isolated severe thunderstorms will pop up from ohio to new mexico. miami is feeling the heat in the nba eastern finals. chris bosh returning to action after nine games out with injury, scoring in the first quarter to put miami up by 11 over boston but celtics fight back. a three-pointer by paul pierce in the fourth gave boston a 90-86 lead. the celtics won this one for a

3-2 series lead. tom lasorda, retired hall of fame manager of the dodgers is in a new york hospital following surgery for what doctors call a mild heart attack. the 84-year-old was stricken monday while representing dodgers at major league baseball draft. the team says surgeons inserted a stent to replay a blocked artery in lasorda's heart. dodgers played last night in philadelphia. cliff lee on the mound for philadelphia, striking out 12 and gave up two hit through seven. in the eighth the phils clinging to a one-run lead. the dodgers perrara knocked a two-run double off lee. l.a. won it 2-1. in washington, the nationals rbi single off francisco in the eighth inning tying the game 4-4 in the tenth. mets leading 5-4. desmond hit what could have been a game-ending double play but an error let the nats tie it again. in the bottom of the 12th bryce harper with a walkoff rbi single. nats won 7-6. in the french open, two of the world's best players fought through five tough sets to stay alive. top seeded djokovic of serbia

had to overcome four match points to beat french favorite tsonga. third seed roger federer came back from two sets to beat juan martin del potro. federer and djokovic meet in semifinal match friday. there's still talk about the remarkable show of sportsman ship by a high school track star in ohio. a meet in columbus megan saw another player collapse near the end of the 3200 meter race. instead of racing ahead, she helped her across the fin ib line. the 17-year-old vogel says she just thought it was the right thing to do. and you have to ask yourself, would you have done the same thing? probably not. when we come become, another look at this morning's top stories. the first lady takes on the top ten. michelle obama has fun facts for david letterman. un facts for david letterman. start at just. so ditch the brown bag for something better. like our bacon ranch quesadillas or big mouth burger bites, served with soup or salad, and fries.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. d.c., thunderstorms, 75. partly sunny, 80 in atlanta.

mostly sunny, 80 in st. louis. thunderstorms, 82 in denver. showers in seattle, 59 degrees. top stories now on a wednesday. wisconsin governor scott walker won a closely watched recall election. the election triggered by walker's efforts to cut back union rights was the most expensive in wisconsin's history. and this is something you won't see for another 105 years. the planet venus moving across the face of the sun. spectacular cosmic show was visible around the world. former first lady nancy reagan lay flowers at her husband's grave site yesterday remembering the man she always called ronny on the eighth anniversary of his death. the ronald reagan presidential library released the photo yesterday. mr. reagan died of alzheimer's disease in 2004. walt disney is the first major media company to ban commercials for junk food for children's programming.

earning a green thumb from michelle obama. the first lady appeared at disney's announcement, calling it a game-changer for children's entertainment industry. later on david letterman she offered the top ten fun facts about gardening from the white house. >> later this year the supreme court will finally rule on tomato versus tomato. >> thank god. let's get that taken care of. >> the white house tool shed contains shovels, trowels and weed whacker one. >> and the number one fun fact about gardening? >> with enough care and effort, you can grow your own barackoli. >> mrs. obama is promoting her new book "american grown," it's about vegetable garden agent the white house and across the country. no word on whether she has any barackoli plant in the white house garden. i'd love to see it. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," why losing weight may help reduce your risk of breast cancer.

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4 minutes before 5:00. another nice day start. >> it sure is. let's take a look at the day part. the mid 50s on tv hill. i'm seeing a temperature as warm as 64 right now. 73 at lunch on a way to a high in the mid upper 70s today. by the next bedtime maybe a chance of a shower or thundershower. bedtime temperature about 65. here is what we have our eye on today. the naval academy holding a memorial service for its first african american graduate. >> a march to bring jobs the east baltimore. >> school celebration. >> already in the news, another state lawmaker calls for

intervention at the inner harbor. baltimore city's response to that idea. >> one of the last members of osama bin laden's inner circle is dead. >> stargazers get a glimpse atten event that won't -- at an event that won't happen again in our lifetime. >> more news, check of,, hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios