chad myers with me along with brian todd in washington. ding a good amount of time in roswell, new mexico last week, which was the first scheduled jump but it was scrubbed jump, but it was scrubbed just because most of the conditions were not optimal, correct. >> that's right, fredricka, the conditions on the ground really crept up on them unexpectedly. they were going to launch this on tuesday, the 9th the october, and it got scrubbed at vthe ver last minute. they were literally a few minutes from launching the balloon. it's because wind came up on the surface and whipped that balloon up in a spinning motion. it really compromised the balloon. they had to scrap it at that point and they told us afterwards it would be a couple days, at least, when they were measuring the weather, the wind, stuff like that, before they could launch the mission. they had to bring in a backup balloon, and they were successful today in watching that backup balloon. they said it might be, quote, some weeks if they had not launched it today until they could launc

brian todd is watching this closely.s riveting, those moments, and i think everyone's hearts were in their throats. you spent a lot of time with the crew and with baumgartner a week ago when they attempted the first mission. it was scrapped for this day. what are your impressions? >> it is extraordinary, fredricka. my heart was pounding just like everyone's was when we saw felix step off that platform, the cab sewell, the platform the size of a skateboard. he took a little bunny hop and there he went. you could almost feel the speed even from this distance away, just looking at it in these monitors. it was incredible to watch the rate of speed at which he was falling. at one point he did go into a spin. some spin was expected. what they were really concerned about was if he would go into an uncontrollable flat spin. not clear that that ever happened, really. he did go into somewhat of a spin but he stabilized very, very quickly, and when he stabilized, i was watching it live at the time, you could hear cheers from missio

our brian todd has more. >> just a week after getting a steroid injection she thought would help her, japan it russell is in intensive care as a tennessee hospital. that tainted injection might well have given her meningitis. her family is more than just concerned. >> of course, we're just worried sick is the main thing. >> this doesn't happen in america. i mean this doesn't -- i mean i hope that doesn't sound -- you're just thinking, this is something that is not even real. >> their moms, more than two dozen in tennessee and others believed to have fungal meningitis. it's an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord health officials believe the victims got it from a tainted batch in this stair toid injected into the spinal column to treat back pain. in maryland, a state where hundreds of people could have been exposed, went to clinics known to have receive shipments of the steroid. at the center in bel air, at least six have gotten injections. >> the ones we've talked to are fine, thank goodness and hopefully they'll don't be fine. >> reporter: other clinics could have

i want to go straight to the ground to cnn's brian todd who is in roswell, new mexico. and, brian, just sitting around the newsroom, we were all sort of crest fallen, anticipating this hopefully history being made. set the scene for me there on the ground. disappointment. >> reporter: it sure is, brooke. we're all about as deflated that is balloon is right now. we can show you that balloon, our photo journalist mike love will try to zoom into it. the balloon is deflated on the ground over there. that was essentially the reason that this mission had to be aborted today. once they got the thing almost inflated, it looked like it was fully inflated, the winds started really whipping it around. i would say fairly severely. surface winds that came upon, i guess, fairly surprisingly, at that point they decided that it just was not optimum condition to launch this. they brought felix baumgartner out of the capsule on to a crane where he was lowered. he's in this air stream container, we believe next to the capsule. and so the mission is aborted for today. tomorrow, weather cond

along with brian todd from washington. this is more than that kind of daredevil moment, brian todd, underscore it, it is a moment for science as well? >> it isn't evel knievel getting on a motorcycle and jumping three busses. this is not that kind of thrill. this has to do with space tourism. we know in the next 10 to 20 years there will be vehicles that will take people into space and then land back down. if something goes wrong in that space tourism plane, can those people literally eject? can they make it back to earth with a parachute. nobody's ever gone 700 miles per hour in a free fall and lived to tell it. then when he did finally jump, it was like watching a camera on a roller coaster. when he jumped, i felt that. and then you would expect, oh, well, the ground is right there. the parachute is going to come. no, he felt for four minutes and 19 seconds before the chute opened and then he landed on the plains of eastern new mexico. >> you can't really simplify this because there was a moment that he was spinning seem

brian todd in washington. brian, it was last week or the week before it got postponed. you've been following this through the stanning stages. you've met felix baumgarner. what an accomplishment. >> reporter: for the future of space and arrow space exploration, this really could be a milestone. it's just thrilling. the more you look at that video and you realize what the preparation involved, it really is just a thrilling moment in the exploration of the heavens. we can talk about the records quickly. he fell through the sound barrier. that's more than -- the mark is 690 miles an hour. he went 704 miles an hour, he may have gone faster. either way you cut it, he broke through the sound barrier. he jumped from higher than anyone ever has, from 128,000 feet, about 8,000 feet higher than they expected him to jump and shattered the record by about 25,000 feet. what they're hope thing mission will accomplish is to judge just how well a human can survive? just a suit, whether it's outside a space vehicle or outside a high altitude plane. there could go a long way toward deter

our brian todd is working the story for us. brian?porter: wolf, this is a security contracting firm that's received almost $900 million worth of krars. one watchdog group says the behavior of the em ploes undermines the mission in afghanistan. staggering around half naked, seemingly drunk. wrestling. shouting at the man videotaping them. this is a.m. mature video from earlier this year of people working for an american security contractor in kabul, afghanistan. this man identified as the security manager for the contracting firm george scientific. >> it reminded me many times i visited my friends in college that were in fra ternties. >> reporter: john is one of two former employees filing a seven figure lawsuit against the firm for allegedly committing frud on the u.s. government. they say they were harassed for trying to blow the whistle. the company denies that. the plaintiff alleges ambulate event drinking, the misuse of firearms which they say prevented the firm from carriying out its assigned duty. the video was shot on a cell ph

brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> a sharp drop in the jobless rate. it mean for president obama and the economy? that's the power of human resources. the society... for human resource management and its members know... how to harness that power, because we help develop it. from the next economy, to the next generation, we help get... the most out of business, by getting the best out of people. shrm. leading people, leading organizations. >>> it's not an october surprise, but certainly some welcome news for the obama white house, waging what has been an uphill battle against unemployment. this week the labor department reported the jobless rate fell sharply in september to 7.8%. that's the same level it was when president obama took office back in january 2009. actual growth last month was modest. only 1114,000 jobs created. but the labor department ao revised the july and august number to include an 86,000 new jobs. let's talk about it with austin goolsby. austin, thanks very much for coming in. what is this jobs report mean to you? >> well, i think i

confirmed that it has back aborted for today because the balloon did touch the ground. >> let's go to brian toddt. considering all the sensitivities that chad just described, you're hearing that -- let's listen to the commander. brian, what are you hearing specifically about end ing this attempt today? >> reporter: we're still kind of waiting to see what the process is going to be. we're hearing that there may be a problem with the radios at this point. and maybe some issue with communication. but not sure about that. you know, the wind situation as chad mentioned will be a very sensitive situation. but they have said shortly before they started inflating this balloon that the winds were at a more optimum speed for launch. so we are just kind of waiting to see just what the issue could be at this point. it could be something fairly no. p. >> let's try to listen to mission control and see if they're describing what happened. >> i'll shut down the nerve transmitter. >> might as well shut it all off. >> i'm going for need to maintain in case they want me on send anymore commands, though. >> well, y

want to get right to brian todd who is in moonachie, new jersey, this morning.showed pictures from moonachie yesterday that berm breach. what's the latest from where you are, brian? >> soledad, they're getting some relief here because the water has receded from yesterday. 24 hours ago, it was a very severe crisis here, with the flooding just, you know, engulfing this section of moon okay ki and two adjoining towns, little ferry and carlstadt. people starting to come back to their homes today. we see people streaming back into the neighborhood. but there are hazards involved in doing that. you've got a downed power cable line here. this scene is repeated on street after street. people have to be very careful. a lot of them, a lot of these lines are just barely visible. as we said the water is starting to recede. this whole street was flooded yesterday. people had to be rescued from this area. the water has receded. still fairly deep at the end of the street here but it has gone down a little bit since we were here earlier this morning. yesterday, very, very drama

brian todd joins me now from roswell, new mexico, the site of the jump. oh, the weather! >> reporter: the weather is delaying things for now. what we just found out from meteorologists here, they're going to stick it out for another couple of hours. this still has a chance to go today. the weather could be improving in the next couple of hours. they say they can launch as late as 11:00 or noo local time, 1:00 or 2:00 pm eastern time. they're going to wait another couple of hours to make the call. they could see more optimal conditions now that the sun has come up and winds may die down. the key height they're looking at is winds 700 to 800 feet above the earth were a little bit too high earlier today. they think now that the sun has come up that those winds may come down. they're going to stick it out for another couple of hours and may still be able to launch today. a couple of months ago i talked to the daredevil, felix baumgartner and asked him a fairly heavy question about all of this. >> always been part of my life, as a base jumper, you always face death on every ba

brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> priceless works of art ruined. a modern american master is defaced at a museum. c. but mr. single miles can't join his friends because he's getting hit with blackouts. shame on you. now he's stuck in a miniature nightmare. oh, thank you. but, with the capital one venture card... you can fly any airline, any flight, any time. double miles you can actually use. what's in your wallet? alec jr? it was a gift. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. >>> listen to this. yet another priceless work of art defaced and this time it's the work of

here is cnn's brian todd with the story. >> reporter: with a heart-pounding hop into the stratosphereaumgartner makes history. he's 24 miles up, higher than anyone before him. during free fall he spun for a few harrowing minutes. >> i started spinning so violent. it spun me around and i was trying to find out how to stop this. i was putting one arm out. it didn't work. then putting another arm out but you're always late because at that speed when you travel at that speed with that suit and it's pressurized you don't feel the air at all. >> reporter: in those first seconds he broke another record. no one had ever gone through the sound barrier outside a vehicle. baumgartner reached a speed of more than 700 miles an hour, well past the speed of sound. free fall lasted 4:19. before his parachute opened. that's sort of the record for the longest free fall in history. after he safely touched down, the man known as fearless felix was hailed as an aerospace pioneer. >> there and done. >> it's hard to realize what happened because there's still so many emotions. i had tears in my eyes coming

brian todd, cnn, washington.ewards credit card, i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas! no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] it's as easy as... [ all ] one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. >> it started in may of 2010. it concluded this past february of 2012 with them saying, you know what, hands off, we're not going to move forward. now, that's not the end of it. why isn't it the he wanted of it? because there was no adjudication of finding of g

brian todd, cnn. >>> later on "starting point."joins soledad to talk about "360's" death-defying feat. i have to say this, we watched that amazing video. him jump from like a billion feet in the air and what's the first thing you say? >> what did i say? >> you said he's really cute. >> that wasn't the first thing i said. i actually thought how does he put his mother through that, you know, because she was there. tears in her eye. >> that was the fifth thing you said. >>> not true, anyway, i cannot tell this guy anything. this one you don't hear often, a coach not a football player gets a concussion. a concussion during practice. that story straight ahead. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. there's a pop. wahlalalalallala! pepper, but not pepper, i'm getting like, pep-pepper. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, zip zip zip zip zip!

brian todd joins me now from washington with much more on this. brian, good morning. this really is something to see. when can we expect this jump to actually happen? >> well, they should be inflating the balloon right about now, rapid randi. it's out in new mexico. it's about 6:00 a.m. out there. i think the latest we've heard from red bull is that the launch could take place maybe m next hour or so. maybe hour and a half. they're monitoring wind conditions, of course. that was what did in the last attempt on tuesday morning. it's kind of just a key thing that they're monitoring on the ground there is the wind speed. that's what's caused two different delays here. we think maybe the launch of the balloon should take place the next hour, hour and a half or so. at that point it will take about two and a half to three hours for him to get up to the point from which he will jump 120,000 feet above the surface of the earth. you know, that's the progression of this thing. it takes about two and a half to three hours to reach that point. then he will jump, and then the firs

and cnn's brian todd is there. brian? >> reporter: here in lieu wis beach, delaware, where the storm surge from sandy is pretty heavy as you can see. the beach is several hundred yards that way, but the surge is taking the water toward the beach right now, i guess just because of the way the winds are blowing in the storm, see just how deep it's getting. almost to my knees here. and the wind is pretty heavy. the flooding goes on down this street several hundred yards for as far as you can see on the beaches near here. we've been at rehoboth beach and up around this area south of here. they're worried about beach erosion. we're getting some of it now. they had beach replenishment this year where they expanded the beach 200 to 300 feet to the ocean. they say right now that is savinging the coastal buildings and businesses right along the boardwalk. if that replenishment had not taken place, those buildings might be destroyed already. but you can see the surge from sandy already starting to cause some pretty heavy flooding o

it's where brian todd is reporting for us this morning. how does it look where you are? >> reporter: well, fingers are crossed here, soledad, because standing on the board walk. i'll tell you what they were concerned about at the height of the storm yesterday and last night. this kind of wash from the beach, the sand with the dunes possibly getting breached. they did get breached for a short period. not too bad, though, the damage. because the brunt of the storm hit about 45 miles north of here. they thought it could come here ten looked for a while like it was going to come right here. the storm surgeon the shore over here was very severe. the waves were very high. the dunes were getting breached. the water was coming up very close to the board walk here and some of the sand did wash on. but for the most part, the board walk has held the beaches which they actually built out about 300 feet toward the ocean earlier this year. they replenished those beaches. because of that, the sand, the dunes, pretty much held here and they have dodged that bullet. which was very good n

brian todd, cnn, washington. >> brian, thank you. great reporting there. >>> the space shuttle "endeavour" once soared 123 million miles through space and today crowds cheered as the shuttle inched into its new retirement home. the "endeavour" finally arriving at the california science center after crawling 12 miles across los angeles over three days. it took about 15 hours longer than expected. l's mayor says its a historic accomplishment. >> the "endeavour" has reached its final destination, the california science center. nothing like this has ever been attempted before and nothing like this will ever be attempted again. this is a once in a lifetime event. >> well, crowds cheered for the shuttle every step of the way as the 85 ton shuttle maneuvered through los angeles. spectacular sight. >>> politics now and president barack obama, mitt romney, out of side toot getting ready for tuesday's second of three presidential debates. cnn's political director mark preston is at new york's hofstra university ahead of all the crowds and ever

great assignment, brian todd, roswell, knonew mexico.asa steps aside as commercial space flight against under way. we'll go live to florida in 15 minutes for the launch of the spacex rocket. these are live pictures right now. there it is on the pad. we're going to take you there live for a live report. >>> moving on now, filmmaker refuses to give new york city outtakes from his film. the city has filed a lawsuit to get them. an infamous case back in the limelight. that story is straight ahead. to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ]

let's get to brian todd in rehoboth beach which is in delaware. ere he is this morning. brian, good morning. >> good morning, soledad. right now the concern is power outages in delaware. nearly 44,000 customers in this state without power this morning. and officials are concerned about their well-being for a number of reasons. but a primary reason is because of temperatures in delaware have dropped fairly significantly overnight. it's a lot colder this morning than it was last night when we were out here. even during the storm. so, the concern of the people without power is pretty prevalent here. and the governor, jack markell, told me last night that his concern about power outages was that the power crews may not be able to get to them as fast as they want to because of wind gusts. wind gusts this morning are not too bad. hopefully the power crews in delaware will be able to deploy fairly quickly. but the governor was concerned about that. one thing that they are grateful for this morning is that the boardwalk and the beaches have held. there's a

cnn's brian todd is live from moonachie, new jersey. we'll start with that situation, are there still people trapped? >> reporter: well, i just talked to rescue officials, zoraida, a few blocks down the road here. they are starting to fan out again. they will be fanning out more when first light hits because they were a little reluctant to go in when it was pitch black and too dangerous, but they told me they think just about everyone who needed to be rescued was but they have to go door to door to make sure no one is in desperate need of being rescued. also, here in noonachie, some relief is coming with the water starting to recede. this is east park street. still some floodwaters here, still very problematic for the residents here. there's a firehouse flooded out a block and a half from here, but the rescue teams will be fanning out at first light. and just trying to see who may still need some help here. i'm going to show you where the water line came up. this house here on the corner of east park street, you can see the water line t

brian todd is in teterboro, new jersey. brian, are there still rescues going on right now?e have seen some of them during the day. but is it still happening? >> reporter: erin, they were happening until a short time ago. but they said when the darkness came, they would have to stop for the night, because it's just too dangerous to go in there. so you're talking about maybe a little over an hour ago when they just had to call off the search and rescues. but they were going on all last night, and all during the day up until darkness fell. so you're talking just about an hour ago they had to stop it for the night. they'll go in at first light again tomorrow, because the floodwaters are still there on those three towns we're talking about, carlstad, new jersey, engulfed after a berm or levee was breached. a tidal surge was too much. they were engulfed in water, four to six feet of water on the street, pretty much all over three towns. people were being pulled from rooftops, swift water rescue teams sent in by boat. high clearance vehicles were sent in. some had to be turned bac

and cnn's brian todd found that it was implicated. >> another death eight years ago. also had to do with contaminated medication and it's raising some questions about whether the current outbreak could have been prevented czech republic . >> reporter: cnn has learned. ten years ago a man from upstate new york named william cook got a steroid injection. that's according to documents filed business koch's family. complaints say the drug was made by necc which is identified in the papers as new england compounding pharmacy. the suit seeking $2.5 million from the company. they say that it was contaminated that he got bacterial meningitis from it and he died from it. kock passed away in february, 2004. because of confidentiality agreements with do not know if they admitted wrongdoing. >> it raises issues with their quality systems. >> reporter: he's an expert on the compounding of drugs and the manufacturing of them at the university of maryland school of pharmacy. he says compounding pharmacies are traditionally supposed to to work with doctors to make specific drugs for

this massive recall and this is brian todd the nationwide meningitis outbreak.re saying that the death toll of their rare fungal meningitis is at 15. the cdc and prevention saying that this outbreak has made almost 200 people sick in 19 states with steroid shots being used for back pain. this pharmacy is from massachusetts it is being recalled. and new reports. >> cnn has learned that the fatalities of the meningitis outbreak are not the first death alleged with connection to the new england compound. 10 years ago a man from upstate new york from william cook also received an injection from this drug company. the complaint according to this report saying that this has in compound in pharmacy. the are seeking $2.5 million it was contaminated. and he received bacterial meningitis and died from that. he died in february, 20 04 it was later settled out of court. because of confidentiality would not know if they have grown up doing but still experts have questions about the cdc and their compound in practice. but it raises questions on their safety guidelines >> he i

brian todd is also out in hoboken today and out front tonight. where you are, i know the floodwaters have come down a little bit today when we were there. what are you seeing tonight? >> reporter: well, erin, they have receded a little bit today but they're still lingering and the mayor says they're going to be around for at least another 24 hours. i'm at the corner of park avenue and newark street here, water coming up to almost my knees at this point. it does get a little shallower as you make your way toward the middle. this is a corner where a storm drain is, tends to be where the worst areas of flooding are. these two cars have been stranded for a couple of days. big concern here is kind of a health concern, this water is absolutely filthy, sewage, chemicals all over the place, a lot of other matter that is really almost unthinkable when you think of what's floating around here and the mayor expressed her concern about how unhealthy it is and why people should not necessarily do what we're doing. two national guard vehicles went through here

i want to start with you, brian todd, in roswell, new mexico.ad a delay this morning because of some weather concerns, but i'm hearing that the balloon is now officially being unloaded, unfolded. i think that might be telling. while you can maybe update me on the process, could you also tell me apart from the thrill of all of this, is there a big legitimate reason that we can all benefit from with this jump? >> reporter: absolutely, there is, ashleigh. going to get into that in a second. let's start with the news right now. they are unfolding, unloading the balloon and unfolding it now. that's a very positive sign that weather conditions are favorable for a launch. it's not a definite go yet, but once they unload it and unfold it, they can't really put it back in the box and store it. they've got to use it. that will take about an hour. it started about 20 minutes ago. then they have to inflate the balloon and that takes another hour. once that inflates, they will start their ascent. that could be, could be, at about 1:00 p.m. eastern time. it w

cnn's brian todd is in rose wwe, new mexico for the supersonic event.for us. >> reporter: zoraida, john, the moment is just about at hand. we're about to find out if felix baumgartner can break this record. he's going to try to break the speed record for a human traveling outside a space vehicle. no one has ever broken the sound barrier, 690 miles an hour in just a suiting with helmet and parachute. he'll be try to do that today. here is what we have going here. this is the balloon that will take him up to the edge of space. it's called a high altitude balloon. that's a diagram of it there. the balloon is ten times thinner than a plastic bag, yet incredibly strong. this is the atechnology involve here. it will take about three hours to get to his starting point. you see some of the own components here. what is key is if any of the suit gets breached at those high a altitudes, about 30 sections after his jump will be the most hostile. if anything about the suit gets breached, he could freeze because of the severe temperatures there. it gets about 70 degr