now to wolf blitzer. wolf. >>> brooke, thanks very much. happening now, in the wake of hurricane sandy, shock is turning to fury and anger. searchers on new york city's staten island are still finding bodies. desperate survivors say help isn't getting through. things are getting more dire apparently by the hour. three days after the storm hit, millions of new yorkers still have no power, no food. and they face huge lines trying to get anywhere. and with just five days until the presidential election, we're releasing a new poll from colorado. a must-win state for both candidates. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> while much of the country, even the presidential race is returning to normal today, we're hearing and seeing misery and growing desperation for millions of people in the northeastern united states. here is the big picture as it stands right now. hurricane sandy's blame for at least 88 deaths in the united states and two in canada raising the storm's overall death toll to 157. a little under 5 million power custom

wolf? >> ted, thanks very much. happening now. another top commander in a widening scandal swirling around general david petraeus. john allen is now the subject of a pentagon investigation. it centers around hundreds, possibly thousands of e-mails sent to this woman. details of where she fits into an increasingly tangled web of relationships. i'll talk about all of this with the chair of the senate intelligence committee. dianne feinstein says it is like something off the front page of a tab roid mloid magazine and s demanding answers. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." >>> we begin with stunning twists in the scandal that brought down the head of the cia, general david petraeus. another u.s. general is caught in the same tangled web. john allen, top commander in afghanistan, is being investigated by the pentagon for allegedly sending inappropriate e-mails to a married woman, the same woman whose complaint of threatening e-mails from general petraeus' lover cracked the sca

wolf?y much. >>> happening now, the political brawl over the attack on the united states diplomats in libya gets angrier as lawmakers see a very disturbing video from the scene. plus, we're learning what general david petraeus will say to the u.s. congress about the benghazi attack. we're told he wants to set the record straight. >>> rising fears right now of all-out war. israel expands its deadly offensive against militants in gaza. will either side blink? i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." >>> members of congress say they're trying to get a closer to the truth about the september 11th attack on four u.s. diplomats in benghazi that killed the united states ambassador to libya. today's closed door sessions in the house and the senate are steep in politics and very, very angry allegations. more than one republican has accused the obama administration of lying to the american people in the days immediately after the attack. let's go to our senior congressional correspondent dan

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> eight days after his re-election, president obama faced reporters in the midst of an unfolding scandal and with a potential economic crisis holding over his head. but he only got riled up when he responded to republican criticism of his united nations ambassador susan rice. more on that coming up. standby. but first, the president's careful responses about the investigation of this former cia chief david petraeus and on negotiations to avoid what's called the fiscal cliff. our white house correspondent jessica yellin was over at the east strip of the white house. you had a chance to speak to the president and ask him about that looming fiscal cliff. >> reporter: hi, wolf. that's right, i did. i asked the president why anyone should believe that he won't cave off of his position that he will not extend bush tax cuts for the wealthiest since he did just that in 2010. he said that he made his case explicitly clear during the last election. and that the

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> today we're getting our first inside hints about what's on the president's to-do list now that the election is over. the list includes huge issues like taxes, the deficit, headline making overseas trip and a possible shakeup of his cabinet. let's get right to our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. she's been doing some reporting. jessica, what are you learning? >> reporter: hi, wolf. first the reports that the president is going to be delivering a major speech on the economy or on the fiscal cliff are simply not true. no big speech planned for the coming days. the second piece -- i'll add to that that the president's team believes that they have laid out pretty clearly where the president stands on deficit reduction and how to avoid the fiscal cliff. and the next move now is for the republicans to say where they stand, what they're willing to give and to let negotiations take place to make some progress. the second piece, wolf, of news

wolf?w. we're still waiting for the end of this meeting between the secretary of state, hillary clinton, and the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. at issue, whether or not there will be some sort of cease-fire or pause in the battle between the israelis and the palestinians in gaza. meanwhile, one family's close encounter with death in southern israel. ahead in our next hour, what i saw only moments after their home was hit by a rocket. maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ... nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. this is the first leg of our world challenge with the cadillac ats. this is actually starting to feel real now. [ ross ] this is the perfect place to test the ats's advanced aerodynamics. [ derek ] we've got crosswinds, tailwinds, headwinds. aerodynamics is all about

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> today we may be at the tipping point for one of the most important decisions president obama needs to make as he begins his second term. on capitol hill republicans including moderate republicans are sending the president a clear warning, don't nominate susan rice to replace hillary clinton as secretary of state. rice is the current u.s. ambassador to the united nations. she spent a second day meeting with senators trying to explain some of her inaccurate comments she made after the september 11th terrorist attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. cnn's senior congressional correspondent dana bash is joining us now from capitol hill with the very latest. what happened today, dana? >> reporter: wolf, it was one thing for susan rice to be criticized harshly yesterday by the three republicans she met with because they had been among her harshest critics, senators graham and mccain. today's meeting was different because she met with a republican

wolf? >>> anderson, it's joe johns in washington, d.c., taking over. we'll be coming to wolf momentarily. happening now, running for cover and an israeli city under fire. across the border in gaza, wails of grief and characterize for revenge. and from afar, the president of the united states works the phone, pushing everyone to find a way to stop the killing. wolf blitzer is in jerusalem. i'm joe johns. you're in t"the situation room." >>> we're live in jerusalem right now at the end of a sixth day of intense rocket fire directed at israel from hamas-controlled gaza, as well as militants and their supplies. israeli officials say three people are dead, 68 people have been wounded. officials put the gaza death toll at 104 with 860 people wounded. all the while world diplomats constantly are looking for some way to broker a cease-fire. in a little bit, you're going to hear my conversation with one of top negotiators attempting to achieve a cease-fire, the former british prime minister, tony bl

wolf? >> you know, ben, when you see what's going on in gaza, does it feel like a cease-fire may be imminent? >> reporter: not yet. in fact, just when somebody told me that there were rum yoor thas a cease-fire would take place, i heard what sounded like the whoosh of a rocket being fired by gaza and within the last half hour i have heard several explosions. bearing in mind, however, that often times what i have seen here in gaza and elsewhere is that before a cease-fire goes into place, both sides usually fire a few rounds just to make a point that they're still engaged, they're still fighting. now, wolf, i want to bring in anderson cooper, my colleague. anderson, you saw something in the streets right below us. what was that? >> reporter: we have a photograph and i want to warn our viewers it is disturbing to see. we were here about an hour, hour and a half ago and we heard people on motorcycles yelling god is great and also yelling about a collaborator. when we looked out the window, we

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> right now president obama's aboard air force one. he's heading east from chicago. he's already reaching out to congressional leaders trying to set the agenda for his second term in office. across the country today americans awoke to banner headlines from re-elected in the president's hometown "chicago tribune" to "obama wins in his adopted city" "the washington post." the "new york times" proclaimed it's obama's night while "los angeles times" told readers it's obama again. even though florida still hasn't officially been called for either candidate, the miami herald says it's obama. cnn white house correspondent brianna keilar's been keeping track of what the president's been doing since his victory speech early this morning. brianna, the president should be landing back in washington very soon taking marine one over to the white house. he's got a full agenda ready i assume. >> reporter: he does. and i will tell you, wolf, the white house is keepin

wolf?> so far it's holding up, joe. let's hope for the best. if it does hold up, that would be excellent news for a lot of people in gaza as well as in israel. but we're watching it very closely. don't want to get our expectations and our hopes overly, overly optimistic. up ahead in our next hour, so what happens to the rockets fired at israel after they're taken out by the iron dome anti-missile system? we have the details. that's coming up in a live report from ashkelon in southern israel. plus, the celebrations right now continuing on the streets of gaza. they're crowded. we're going back live for the latest on the cease-fire. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- ♪ you can stay in and like something... ♪ [ car alarm deactivates ] ♪ ...or you can get out there with your family and actually like something. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on, offering some of our best values of the year. this is the pursuit of perfection. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhe

there were a couple of problems, wolf.people came in to vote and told that they already had voted. so they were given provisional ballots, but now those vote also be investigated to see if they can be counted. but the biggest problem was in kcovingto covington, where president obama was actually listed as the republican on the electoral ballot, along with mitt romney. so that would be a real problem. so it's unclear how many people voted with the ballot that way. then officials changed the ballot to the paper ballot and listed the president as a democrat. >> hard to believe, this is the united states of america and there are problems like that. that's just one of many problems around the country. it's shocking when you think about it. let's check in, in iowagb4 rig now, six electoral votes at stake. iowa voted for george w. bush in 2004. poppy harlow is joining us right now. what are you getting about early voters, what are you seeing and hearing? >> reporter: what we can tell iowa set a record in terms of early vote. abo

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> but we begin with the destruction from sandy. homes and livelihoods destroyed. now lying in piles of rubble that stretch for miles across the new york city borough of staten island. cleanup is underway. and with every new layer of debris that's removed, the tragic stories emerge of the residents whose lives have been turned upside down. cnn's brian todd is on the scene for us. brian, what are you seeing on staten island right now? >> reporter: well, wolf, at just about every house you go to in the section of staten island you hear horrific and pretty detailed stories of just how bad the storm was. here's the story of one man who took a few hits. if you can't imagine what it's like to suffer through a massive storm, listen to nick. >> the water was so high. it was up to this part of the door. i couldn't get into the door. i went around the side of the house. and i stood on a box that was floating. and i went through the window to get back in the hous

wolf?> interesting stuff. chris, you point out she is a graduate of west point. she was a u.s. army officer for 10 or 15 years, active duty, is that right? retired at the rank of major? >> reporter: that's all correct. in fact, i spoke with a former army officer who knew both of them. and he described paula broadwell as a fantastic officer, incredibly smart and very, very capable. >> chris lawrence, thanks very much. before now, she certainly wasn't a household name but paula broadwell is fairly well-known in some military and national security circles. this past summer in july, she posed a question at an aspen institute security forum in aspen, colorado, that i was moderating. here's what she asked the head of the u.s. special operations command, admiral william mccraven. >> thank you for your service, sir. wolf, you've done a wonderful job. i admire your role in moderating. my question is about women in the military. i know as you alluded, women serve on cultural support teams. but the 19

wolf?> drew, thanks very much. i hope we can get connected with john zarelia now also in florida. what's going on, john? can you hear me now? if not, let's go to gary tuckman first in virginia. gary, virginia a key battleground states. you've got some numbers coming in from there, as well? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. we're in reicho county, which is a battleground county in this battleground state, very important, each candidate wants to win this county just north of richmond. and they trust me enough, the election officials, to give me the raw numbers. there are 93 precincts, a handful reported. and i want to analyze it. this is mark hokely, the registrar here and ann marie middleworth, deputy. and what's interesting about these numbers, they're similar to 2008 numbers when barack obama won here. for example, here in this precinct, mitt romney, 1,096 votes. barack obama, 824 votes. this is the west end precinct. how does that compare to 2008? >> i had 1,078 votes for obama and 746 vot

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we begin with today's hard words in the negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. that steep across the board spending cut and tax increase scheduled to hit in just 33 days. in a scathing assessment today, the speaker of the house john boehner says there's been no substantive progress on a deal. need to realize there can be no deal without tax rates going up for top earners. let's go live to our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. she's got more on the latest developments. tough talk from both sides, jessica. >> reporter: tough talk and some bright lines, wolf. on the same day that treasury secretary tim geithner went to capitol hill to meet with both democrats and republicans to talk about these negotiations, there is tense body language and tough words on both sides of pennsylvania avenue. they're starting to sound dug-in on capitol hill. >> all eyes are on the white house. the country doesn't need a victory lap. it needs leade

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> hamas militants -- [ gunfire ] -- there they are. hamas militants in gaza keep unleashing rocket attacks on israel and get alarmingly close to jerusalem. a new provocation as they continue the air assault on what it calls terrorist targets in gaza. the death toll is rising along with fears of an all-out israeli ground invasion. the israeli cabinet has just approved the call-up of 75,000 army reservists in addition to the troops already positioned along the border with gaza. a visit to gaza by egypt's prime minister failed to stop the bombardment and pull the region from the brink of all-out war. u.s. officials blame hamas for starting this conflict. but they are also urging to be measured in its response. the defense secretary leon panetta says israel and the palestinians need to negotiate a more permanent piece -- his words, a more permanent piece in the region. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr's been watching what's going on. barbara, what

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we begin with the obama administration's latest attempt to explain the misleading information given out in the days after the september 11th attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. four americans including the u.s. ambassador to libya died in what we now know was a terrorist attack. but that isn't what the u.s. ambassador to the united nations susan rice said when she went on national television five days after the attack. today rice is up on capitol hill. she's explaining what happened and some big-name republicans clearly are not very happy with her answers. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash is following what's become a pretty long day -- a tiring day for the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. what's the latest, dana? >> reporter: wolf, the three republican senators who had vowed to block susan rice from being secretary of state if the president nominates her had really softened the rhetoric in recent days. i'm told the reason for

wolf?tom, as you say, we think the republicans will hold on to their majority in the house of representatives, but what about the balance of power in the senate? >> yeah, well, the numbers have sort of suggested that the democrats have a fair chance of holding on to their advantage here, but you never really know, because so much is up in the air right now. the republicans would love to at least pick off those three seats back there. if they did that, you would have a tie here on many votes, that tie would have to be broken by the vice president, either joe biden or paul ryan, depending on who wins. and if the republicans really did well tonight, they might be able to pick up a seat or two over here and have a majority. but wolf, here is the thing that we cannot impress enough as you watch the returns tonight on the senate, the simple true is, there is no indication that either party could get a 60-vote super majority here. that's what you need to overcome a filibuster and if you don't have

the wolf grabs ahold of her hand and is clawing at her.he takes this ax and chops into the wolf's head. >> are you kidding me? >> doesn't this sound like little red riding hood? a scary land. >> you wouldn't need the woodsman because grandma killed the big bad wolf. >> here's grandma in the hospital. tending to her wounded handp. explaining the story. she told itn news exactly what happened. but more than that, i got to show you the wolf. >> oh! good -- >> let me give a little warning. this is definitely a grim picture. because this woman left the ax in the wolf's head. >> her herd is her life savings, essentially. that's all she's got. i guess you protect that like it's your child. >> and she was not about to give up any portion of her livelihood. and was not scared of a wild wolf that was attacking her village and the cattle within it. >> one bad -- granny. >> let's go to some underwater footage in the crystal clear waters near the maldives. you see a turtle. what's the first thing you notice? >> something in his mouth. >> that's fishing

>> wolf, we know what the options are. this congress, the 112th congress has been through two dry runs already. no congress is more aware of what the options are. certainly we can deal with some kind of tax reform next year, but from the standpoint of dealing with this fiscal issue now, it's only a matter of political courage. again, no other congress has spent more time on this. we can make the decisions we need to make now. i am telling you, wolf, it's much easier to do that technically and write it down and pass it than it is to try to negotiate some process that's likely to fail, like the first two processes have. we're better off just going ahead and ripping the band-aid off, making the decisions we need to make and move down the road. >> senator bob corker, thank you for joining us. good luck. >> thank you, sir. see you later. >> let's bring in the political panel. gloria borger is joining us and our cnn contributor ross doff fit and the former adviser, van jones, the co-founder of rebuild the dream. gloria, even a m

>> hi, wolf.fter a snowstorm tore through the northeast, new york and new jersey are seeing temperatures rise into the 50s. but that may be little relief for thousands of people who are still without power after the nor'easter and superstorm sandy. gas rationing is now in effect in parts of new york and new jersey to reduce long lines. gas stations are remaining open longer and drivers can only buy gas on alternate days. thousands of terrified syrian civilians are fleeing into turkey as fighting rages near the border between both countries. the violence has turkey's military on high alert. syrian rebels are claiming victory against syria's military at a keyboard border town. seized syrian government buildings and captured control of a border crossing into turkey. chrysler is recalling nearly one million of jeep suvs in the u.s., canada, mexico and other countries. it wants to fix a faulty control part that could cause air bags to inflate while the vehicles are in motion. the recall affects jeep gr

wolf? >> and these absentee ballots, the provisional ballots if you will? they will all be counted by when? what did you say? >> by thursday or friday. absentee ballots may all be done by this afternoon. those provisional ballots, probably thursday or friday is what the election supervisor's office is telling us. at some point we'll know who won the state of florida. an important historic footnote, a close race in florida, obviously. >> we're going to keep a close eye on florida. the election is over but now the focus is on governing. >> president obama will tackle.y have some major issu working with congress to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, possibly appointing another supreme court justice or maybe two. and choosing new people to fill key cabinet positions. >> joining us to talk about all of this, democratic strategist maria cardona, republican strategist alex castellanos and david gergen all with wolf in washington. good to see all of you. i want to start off reading two statements. t

the wolf grabs ahold of her hand and is clawing at her. she takes this ax and chops into

for now, let's go to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." wolf? >>> happening now, a grueling and very tight presidential race entering its final hours with the candidates campaigning right down to the wire. we're watching all of their final rallies. we're going to hear from president obama in ohio in a little while. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> it's election eve in america. 26 hours to go until the first polls close. as voters pick the next president of the united states. and the unparalleled coverage we've brought you all through the campaign certainly continues today. our cnn correspondents are trailing the candidates. they're diving into the issues. they're talking to voters in every critical battleground state as we count down these final hours to election day. let's begin our coverage this hour, covering mitt romney, the republican nominee is campaigning his way up the east coast today. his latest stop, virginia with 13 critically important electoral votes. president obama took them in 2008. president bush took them

wolf? >> jessica, as you say, the republicans are already rejecting this outright, so was the administration surprised, shall we say, by that rejection? >> reporter: well, their public response, yes, is surprise and they're accusing the republicans of avoiding a deal to protect the wealthy but the truth is, this is a negotiating dance. the bottom line is they have been going back and forth for a few weeks and democrats say they asked the gop to be specific about what revenue number they would be okay with. democrats say well, the republicans weren't forthcoming so democrats said if you're not going to show yours, we'll show you ours first. we'll make an offer and we'll come in high, and now the republicans aren't happy with it, but some republicans in fact are telling me that conversations have moved backwards in the last 24 hours. this offer has made things worse. but democrats in the white house feel this is what they need to do to lay down a marker and start moving forward, wolf. >> jess

>> wolf, u.s. ambassador to the u.n., susan rice, is preparing to face some of her toughest critics on the benghazi consulate attacks. she's heading to capitol hill this week to discuss the incidents with senators john mccain, lindsey graham and kelly ayotte. rice initially blamed them on protests triggered by an anti-muslim film. the man behind that movie is speaking out about the backlash for the first time. he tells "the new york times" he has no regrets. he's back in prison after violating his probation on a bank fraud conviction. >>> new york city mayor bloomberg is asking congress for $9.8 billion to clean up the mess left behind by hurricane sandy. bloomberg says the cash is needed to pay for costs not covered by fema and insurance companies. wolf. >> thank you. >>> coming up we told you about a town in california mired in corruption charges that left taxpayers outraged. a town where the former police chief finagled a salary for himself of nearly half a million dollars. you won't believe wha

>> i'm here, wolf. an enormous enthusiasm in this room as they have been watching returns come in all night. this was a campaign they didn't know for so long if it would turn out with a night like this. for these people, they remember four years ago, a very different mood throughout the campaign, a campaign based on a very different theme of hope and change. this time, a battle focused on dem carafics, on ground game, an operation driven to turnout specific people who are obama supporters. >> dana hold on for a second. sorry to interrupt. we have yet another fro pro-jekz to make right now. and cnn projects the president will carry new mexico. new mexico will be won by the president of the united states. add another five electoral votes to his column. the president carries new mexico. 52-44 advantage with more than half of the vote counted. let's see where it stands right now, if we add up, his electiorl votes, on the basis of new mexico being in his counter, 249. getting closer and closer and closer to

attacked by a wolf... and... rushed outside to shoo the wolf away.../ but...ttacked her... and... it turned....into a... one-on-one battle ...that she ...ultimmtely won..../// she says... the wwof ccawed into her leg.... andd.. she took the axe.../ hit him... on ... the head...// and....ate his ,,,and,,, a nice chianti.... maryland returns to college park...see how the terps looked in their first home unlimited...in sports - have a good night. . i'm going to dream about that steak. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh? but, um, can the test drive be over now? head back to the dealership? [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. "most of the time when we do "yeah, there's a lot of stress around the holidays." "yes!" "and you know the holidays have so much meaning and

is nicholas wolf here? same format. talk briefly about your background as it relates to the market octavia. and your interest in serving and the areas that you might be interested in working on. >> certainly. thank you supervisors. i appreciate this opportunity to come before you today for this appointment, the market octavia community advisory committee. and currently the manager of small business services at lgbt community services. a lot of my businesses community services where i am typically 9-to-5, if not longer. i do a background in urban studies. i am interested in land-use planning and transportation. field right now that the way san francisco's growing this is a really pivotal time for the city. i recognize the importance of his body, the community advisory committee. previous to my role at the lgbt center, i was the director of vv boone, in the visitation valley. i work closely with the -- committee advisory committee, and gave me a good sense of the role and function of these by display and how important it

well to select their knesset member and it wolf who sits on the foreign affairs defense committee says it's her must not israel that must decide for there to be peace certainly the situation is difficult just to day there has been a terrible attack intended directly at civilians something that israel never does on our buses in the little of tel of eve look we live in a tough think heard there is no mercy for the weak we need to understand that at the end of the day hamas is an organization that is ideologically committed to the idea that the jewish people are not equal they do not have the equal right to have sovereignty and a state we depend on being strong in an area where if we were only weak if we were to hand down our arms tomorrow israel would not exist we say very simply if hamas were to put down its arms there will be peace if we were asked to put down our arms there will be no israel. despite dozens of civilian deaths in gaza washington has made it clear it supports israel something critics it wouldn't do under different circumstances as it is going to teach you can explain is

wolfe. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] .. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> ladies and gentlemen, we will be momentarily starting the program. please, come in, find a seat so we can get started on time. thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> ladies and gentlemen, we will be momentarily starting. if you are just entering, please, find a seat so we can start. and if at any point during the program during the question and answer time if you wish to ask a question, please, come up to the mic. do not stand up and shout it out. please come up to the mic. this is being filmed for c-span, so we, they