i'm jim axelrod. the shock waves from that anti-islamic video are still reverberating in the muslim world this weekend. hundreds of protesters battled with police today in bangladesh, and thousands marched in nigeria as well. in libya, a new twist-- attacks on islamic militia groups the residents say the libyan army has failed to control. in benghazi, elizabeth palmer saw the worst of the unrest. >> reporter: the death of ambassador chris staefns and three of his team was the last straw. benghazi citizens marched on friday with the country's air force flying in support overhead. their message to the armed men who refuse to give up their guns, "we've had enough of you." after dark, a hard core decided to enforce that message. they stormed four bases belonging to the fighter groups, including radical islamists ansar al sharia, suspected of attacking the u.s. consulate. facing popular anger like this, the fighters fled. we arrived at one base just after the official libyan army had taken control. was thi

. >> axelrod: good evening, scott's off tonight, i'm jim axelrod. it's a question a president is asked every time he runs for reelection: are you better off now than you were four years ago, a question president obama's team should have seen coming but didn't. today as democrats gathered in sharr lot for their convention, the campaign faces the distraction of trying to set the record straight. nancy cordes is traveling with the president tonight as he surveys the damage from hurricane i sock. good evening, nancy. >> reporter: jim, this is a quick trip for the president, less than three hours. he is touring a damaged neighborhood, meeting with state officials, then it's back to the campaign where the two sides are locked in this vicious debate over whether the economy is on the monday. speaking in toledo, the president told a crowd of autoworkers they were better off thanks to his auto bailout. >> i stood with american workers i stood with american manufacturers, i believed in you i bet on you, i'll make that bet any day of the week. and because of t

but david axelrod said what we said. believe it was successful in the stand point of brucing mitt romney and humanizing him. he came out of tampa as a more broader and more humanized figure if we can use that word. >> chris: you can use. >> that was a theme of what they are doing. >> people think that the guy is a armadillo . but one other republicans are doing with the speakers leading up to romney. you saw it in christie and governors and paul ryan. to dissolutionment of whether thengs can be fixed. it is greater than what we have seen. remember we can do we can do which is striking. i think that is a burden on them. if you ask people to make a switch tolt party that you voted out of power. you have to believe that the part and country can turn it around. >> chris: jeff, you brought up something in the last session. we had an argument about this in the commercial. that's what we do. friday, the job's report comes out for august and this is one of the last before the election will that muffle the bounce for the democrat

in the short-term, the chicago head quarters, david axelrod said what he said. people believe it would be a successful convention from the stand point of humanizing him. i think he came out of tampa as a more broader more humanized figure if we can use that word humanized. >> chris: you can use it. >> i'm kind of sick of that word humanized but that was the theme of what they were doing. >> i'm sick of humanized, too. like people think he he is an armadillo or something. you saw you this in cristie and the governors that spoke and heard this in paul ryan to express the disillusionment that we have of whether things can be fixed. remember the line ryan repeated we can do this. we can do this which is striking. and i think that was something that they felt that was a burden on them because if you are going to ask people to make the big switch to the party that they just voted out of power a few years ago you have to believe that that party and the country can turn this all around. >> chris: i want to go back jeff to something that you brought up in the last segmen

but jim axelrod tells us funding for it has dried up. could jesus have been married? a scholar says an ancient scrap of papyrus may hold a clue. and to this 15-year-old, the great recession looks like opportunity. >> i'm trying to get as many houses as i can while the market is low. >> pelley: anna werner with a future mogul. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. with 49 days to election day, a

going as david axelrod said, right down the wire. >> absolutely. as axe said in your segment earlier, everyone knew that this was going to be a close election. the economy has been in trouble for so long. but, at the same time, what we have seen in some of the polling and i don't live by week by week, day by day polling, and no one should, because it is over the long haul, but when you break open that polling, what you see is, people respond to the president because they believe he gets their concerns. he understands their daily lives. and also understand, we're holding even in this very, very bad economy. >> george, we have two unemployment reports coming up. on october 5th and one november 2nd. and we als have three presidential debates. anything can happen. it's still very close. romney's unfavorables are higher than his favorables. at this time in a presidential race, i can't remember a presidential candidate's unfavorables with this high. >> ann, i was talking about the polls in the big battleground states, they're going to determine this race

jim axelrod on an auction of memorabilia from america's most notorious criminals. >> reporter: this was in clyde's waistband? captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. it turns out the economy is growing even more slowly than we thought. the government told us that u.s. growth in the second quarter was an anemic 1.7%, but today, the commerce department put out a new estimate showing us it was even less than that, just 1.3%. and this is what caught our attention in the report-- the government said half of the downward revision can be blamed on the drought. it's destroying crops, including the corn in this field le roy, illinois. and on the land clayton arnold has been farming in walker, missouri, for 40 years. a new report today on the drought says it continues to get 5%rse. it now covers 65.5% of the lower 21.5and in 21.5% of that area, the area you see in red, the drought is extreme or exceptional. so we asked anthony mason to dig further into the impact the rtought is having on our economy. t reporter: 90 miles southwest of

>> pelley: jim axelrod with one of the most powerful men in america. he controls the water in a record drought. and the discovery on a laptop. >> after 9/11 when the laptop came home but annie did not i could not bear to look at it. >> pelley: chip reid on the message that launched an army of volunteers. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening, another credit rating agency threatened today to downgrade the u.s. government's credit rating. moody's investor services said that it will do that unless the white house and congress reach a deal on taxes, spending, and the debt. the national debt just topped $16 trillion and counting with no solution in sight. the first downgrade of america's credit rating happened after the president and the republican speaker of the house john boehner failed to agree last year on what was called the grand bargain to address overspending. in an interview, president obama told us that if he's reelected, he will reach a compromise with republicans. during a campaign

jim axelrod, cbs news, tulsa.lley: well, drought is nothing new to the hottest place on earth, which was long thought to be in libya. in 1922, the temperature near tripoli hit 136.4 degrees. but it turns out that reading was taken on a faulty thermometer. so today, weather experts named a new hottest place on earth, death valley, california, where in 1913, the temperature hit 134 degrees. america asked neil armstrong for the moon, and he delivered. next. want to give your family more vitamins, omega 3s, and less saturated fat? it's eb. eggland's best eggs. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. it's eb. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all da

but jim axelrod tells us funding for it has dried up. could jesus have been married? a scholar says an ancient scrap of papyrus may hold a clue. and to this 15-year-old, the great recession looks like opportunity. >> i'm trying to get as many houses as i can while the market is low. >> pelley: anna werner with a future mogul. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. with 49 days to election day, a candidate for president doesn't want a distraction from his message but it's happened in a big way to mitt romney. today, opponents and supporters parsed and examined in minute detail secretly recorded comments governor romney made about four months ago. it was during a private fund- raiser in a private home. romney was explaining why he believes that nearly half of the country would always be on the side of president obama. >> pelley: the video was recorded on may 17. it was obtained by the liberal magazine "mother jones." "mother jones" distributed it yesterday along with a press release. later in the tape, gove

and jim axelrod walks on a river run dry as the nation struggles with a historic drought. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. there is developing evidence tonight that suggests that the killing of four american diplomats in libya may have been a terrorist attack, not the mob violence that was first suspected. u.s. ambassador christopher stevens and three members of his staff were killed overnight in the fiery wreckage of the u.s. consulate in the city of benghazi. it happened after hundreds of people converged on the consulate to protest a little-known internet film that ridicules islam. the film was produced in the united states. it was just a year ago that the u.s. helped overthrow libya's dictator moammar qaddafi and christopher stevens was one of the americans on the ground then helping the rebels to victory. we have a team of correspondents on this story and we will go first to david martin who's been talking to his sources at the pentagon. david? >> reporter: good evening, scott. u.s. officials say th

call or click today. [ grunting ] >>> i am joined by a senior advisor david axelrod.to pick up on what john mccain and i were talking about. there's back and forth now about why did this administration -- why did it take them until friday after a september 11th attack in libya to come to the conclusion that it was premeditated and that it was terrorist-involved. john mccain said it doesn't pass the smell test or it's willful ignorance to think that they didn't know before this what was going on. your reaction? >> well, first of all, candy, as you know, the president called it an act of terror the day after it happened, but when you're the responsible party, when you're the administration and you have a responsibility to act on what you know and what the intelligence community believes, this was -- this is being thoroughly investigated. >> first they said it wasn't planned, it was part of this tape. >> as a director of national intelligence said on friday, that was the original information that was given to us. what we don't need is a president or administration that s

today the president's top campaign strategist, david axelrod, went after governor romney, as well asupporters. in a tweet axelrod wrote, yowza, aidleton bets big on romney and under mitt's tax scheme the casino mogul would walk off with a $2 billion pot. now, axelrod was talking about this man, a man "forbes" magazine lists as america's 7th wealthiest worth an estimated by them, $25 billion. and the tweet linked to a report that claims the casino mogul would have saved more than $2 billion in taxes under a republican white house. but the romney campaign pushed back immediately, reporting in a statement, quote, today governor romney is focused on remembering those who lost their lives on 9-11, as well as recognizing the brave work done by our first responders and troops. not on launching petty political attacks. carl cameron is live in st. johns county in fellow that where governor romney is holding an event tomorrow. this is a tall order for campaigners. how effective were they in avoiding politics today? >> they gave it a good try. when you're eight weeks exactly from the election a

campaign senior strategist david axelrod is talking exclusively to chris wallace. around because we will be back with more news. america's news headquarters a special hour at

. >>> memories from the mob, they're worth a fortune jim axelrod shows as they can be yours if you spot a deal. >>> bobby livingston's family auctioning rare artifacts for 30 years a letter from washington, a picture of einstein, there about all their biggest a van ever at this new hampshire auction house and not the heroes who are the headliners >>> washington and lincoln and churchill, al capone? >>> al capone one of those myths and iconic figures that represent american history. >>> items collected from collectors the last eight years >>> i would not be surprised if this is a seven figure auction >>> including a musical love letter al capone wrote his wife in alcatraz >>> you are the blume of the roses, the charm that proposes what a sweetheart. >>> he loved his wife >>> also featured items found on bonnie and clyde after the shoot out that ended their bank robin careers and lives in 1934. >>> this was in collides waistband? >>> in his waistband when he was killed. >>> a couple capture the nation's imagination during the depression targeting banks that were foreclosing on homes and f

jim axelrod, cbs news, amherst, new hampshire. >> pelley: and that's the cbs evening news for tonightll of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media acce >>> this is 9 news now. >>> mother nature has us keeping a very close eye on the the sky tonight. it could get rough out there. let's get right to chief meteorologist topper shutt in the weather center. are severe storms on the way? >> now the entire metro area is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 11:00. the warnings are getting pretty close. let me show you doppler radar. this is a wide picture. see all the lightning associated with the storms. that's as dangerous as anything else. if you hear thunder, get the kids indoors. earlier today they were out along the i-81 corridor in the shenandoah valley, but they're marching eastward. these are pretty heavy storms approaching leesburg, approaching 17. the individual storms are moving

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chris wallace with that question, to david axelrod, here's what he says. >> he spoke for 45 minutes andever really offered any, any real ideas, for how to move the economy forward, for how to lift the middle class, and, in that sense i think his convention was a terrible failure. ♪ [ male announcer ] extreme environments can cause a spontaneous change in dna, resulting in unexpected power and agility. introducing the all-new, all-powerful gator rsx 850i. sixty-two horsepower, a fully independent multilink suspension and a top speed of 53 miles per hour. it's a whole new species of gator. see just how much the gator has evolved at johndee.com/gator. >> martha let's get you news outside of the political scene, a freight train derailment making a big mess in chicago. the csx rail spokesperson said one freight train slammed into the back of another early this morning and several cars jumped the rails, damaging a third train on an adjacent track. what a mess! look at that! a twist of metal... in chicago and it briefly knocked out power to more than 2500 people, nobody was injured, thankfully

we'll talk with senior obama campaign advisor david axelrod about that. >>> plus, slew of new battleground polls confirm the president's lead, and it means we have a new battleground map. here's a hint. the toss-ups are narrowing and romney's path to 270 is as well. >>> lashing out over libya. after hedging for days, the white house is now calling the attack that killed the am an act of terrorism. was politics behind that delay? >>> and what would have happened if al gore had defeated george w. bush in the disputed election of 2000? would 9/11 have happened? would we have plunged into a recession? we're taking a deep dive into a fascinating alternate universe that jeff greenfield wrote about. >>> but we start with the normal course of events. good morning from washington. it is friday, september 21st, 2012. this is "the daily rundown," i'm chuck todd. >>> mitt romney's week started with a plan for new ads and a newly focused message. that plan quick le went out the window. after a hectic week, all the soun and fury boils down to more missed opportunities for the romney campaign. less than

david axelrod was on "morning joe" talking about social security reform and said we'll wait and see.is is david axelrod going back and forth with mark halperin on social security. >> what's his proposal? >> mark, i'll tell you what, when you get elected to the united states senate and sit at that table we'll have -- this is not the time to -- we're not going to have that discussion right now. unless the congress wants to sit at a table and say okay, we're ready to move on a balanced approach to this. >> okay. this is -- the showdown here, the specific -- the showdown on specifics theoretically will happen on the debate stage. look at both that clip and the angels in the policy or wherever the angels and devils are, and david axelrod suggesting that mark halperin needs to be a senator before the president outlines his plan, someone will have to get specific on the national stage. >> obama in front of the aarp forum suggested he could raise the caps on the taxes that go to social security. he did put out a specific. i'm not sure why david didn't go for that there. during the debate it'

and david axelrod. >>> our powerhouse roundtable. squaring off, nicolle wallace, ann court, robert reich and jorge ramos. >>> hello again. with just over six weeks to go, it's safe to say that mitt romney can't afford another one like his last. to electrical problem that grounded ann romney's plane friday night, nothing seemed to go right. running mate paul ryan fielded a question from griping from republican insiders. >> there will always be critics. but guess what, i have rarely seen a moment with the man in the moment have met so well. >> president obama pounded away at romney's private thoughts on that 47% in wisconsin. >> we can't get very far if we're just writing off half the country. as a bunch of victims. or presume that somehow they want to be dependent on government or don't want to take responsibility for their own lives. >> and with that, let's get right to our headliners david axelrod and the reince priebus. reince, let me begin with you. thank you. president obama, you saw him yesterday, voters are going to be hearing

axelrod and gallup with at loggerheads. a few weeks later the justice department moved to intervene in the lawsuit. as a plaintiff against gallup and they added a charge they misled the fema. >> sean: can we trust them i am? >> gallup is now conducting the poll under the shadow of a huge lawsuit by the federal government with criminal implications. >> sean: you can't trust them? >> i can't say that. they are reputable polling company but they are under enormous pressure. >> sean: a lot of the polls, what do you think. the polls show that obama is doing well. he is up in this poll but very close. it's going to come down to what, pief or six states at the end of the day. let's take a look back. july of 1988, you have michael dukakis ahead of bush. 55-38, 17-point lead. you got 1980, carter over reagan, this is september 1980, four-point lead and went higher than that after that. how do you interpret the polls now. the single most optimistic person in terms of romney winning this of anybody i know, why? >> i'm one of the only

look, david axelrod and -- and david plouffe -- the chicago-operation campaign. they have done millions of dollars of focus groups with these people. what we did was duplicate. they know-- >>> they know how bad it is. >> this is not, as i keep saying, their worst nightmare is to have those voters saying they are disillusioned, not that he is a socialist, but to say, he promised us, we're hurting. he is not helping us. >> sean: you agree that the obama campaign knows this is how i. by the way, seeing the film, that's why there is no vacation this year. that's why there is no soaring rhetoric. we don't upon to hear rhetoric. we want to see action. >> sean: how do you explain the negativity? >> this is the danger, i think, for him, they have decided because i was involved in the campaign in 1980, trying to say the other guy is worse. that's another chapter of my life. but this is -- the negativity he's doing to divide, you see -- you will hear these people on how they feel about the division of the count tree -- it works against what he was. that's the danger for hi

jim axelrod takes a look. >> reporter: bobby livingston's family has been auctioning rare artifacts forletter from washington, a signed picture of einstein. but they're about to hold their biggest event ever at this amherst, new hampshire auction house. it's not the heroes who are the headliners. >> washington, lincoln, churchill, al capone? >> al capone is one of those figures, those mystic, iconic figures that represent something to american popular culture. >> even the gangsters get the white glove treatment? >> reporter: sunday 130 rare pieces of gangster memorabilia from the 1920s and '30s go on the block. items gathered from private collectors during the last eight years. >> with the type of interest we're getting, i would not be surprised if this was a seven-figure auction. >> reporter: included is a musical love letter al capone wrote to his wife, may, while in alcatraz. >> two sawed off shotguns. two machine rifles. >> reporter: also featured are items found on bonnie and clyde right after the shootout that ended their bank robbing careers and their lives in 1934. >> this was i

>> axelrod is right. you know? this is going to be a very close election. i do not think that the republicans are going to get a huge bomb from this election. i do not know about us, but i think that we will probably be very close, all the way through. obviously, they have an advantage with their superpac, anonymous givers and super smears that come with it. we have an advantage with the ground game and our policy benefiting the vast majority of americans and not just a privileged few, but we have got our work cut out for us. they have their work cut out for them. it is going to be a very close election. >> i would be derelict if i did not get your reaction to clint eastwood. >> i have a deep admiration for him and consider him a friend. i represent hollywood in he is there from time to time. i was kind of like anne romney, nonplussed. but that is just me. well, and her as well. [laughter] >> will the democrats have their own mystery speaker in charlotte? >> it will not be clint eastwood, that is for sure. [laughter] i could not tell you that we were going