thanks to jake tapper for that interview. >>> just ahead, a title fight in las vegas tonight.he punches flew in tonight's gop presidential debate. and we're going to bring you the knockout moments. ♪ [ male announcer ] you never know when a moment might turn into something more. and when it does men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and

abc's jake tapper joined the president on his bus tour to two key election states, and he asked him, is there really a plan in place and how long is it going to take to get the country back on track? so, here is abc's senior white house correspondent jake tapper. >> now, you may have heard we're taking a little road trip this week. chance to get out of washington. >> reporter: the president's bus tour may be rolling through the tranquil autumn countrysides of north carolina and virginia -- >> pretty good here? we stopped for a little north carolina barbecue. sweet tea along the way. some hush puppies. don't tell michelle exactly what was on the menu. >> reporter: but there's nothing amusing about the state of his presidency. as he fights for his jobs bill and for his job. >> we are going to keep fighting and we're going to keep working to put people back to work. >> reporter: this trip is official white house business, not a campaign trip. >> they -- i appreciate -- i appreciate the "four more years" but right now, i'm thinking about the next 13 months. >> reporter: we sat with him t

all right, i want to go straight to abc's jake tapper at the white house, because jake, secretary of state hillary clinton said this crosses a line, that iran has to be held accountable. what does that mean? >> reporter: well, diane, earlier today, president obama spoke on the phone with the saudi ambassador and told him he thought the mrolt was a flagrant violation of u.s. and international law. but so far there is no plot for any sort of military retaliation. the way an official explained it to me, it's not in the interests of the u.s. to be at war with iran. at war with a third muslim country. that said, there will be some aggressive economic sanctions, diplomatic efforts to further isolate iran and an information war to make sure that the arab and muslim words know about the iranian government's attempt on the ambassador's life. a government official pointed out, this really is an uncomfortable underlining for president obama, that his strategy for using soft dip phone si to bring iran into the nations has so far not worked. >> and it is still a moving story tonight. thank you, j

in an exclusive interview with abc's jake tapper, the president said the republican candidates are offering nothing new. and he bashed herman cain's 9-9-9 plan. >> one of the things i am most surprise add but they want to roll back all the wall street reforms we put into place as if they have got amnesia about how we got into this problem in the first place. >> the president also republicans are adopting a no we can't approach to the jobs crisis. >> to borrow george w. bush phrase, there is fuzzy math about 9-9-9. a washington think-tank looked at it closely and it would amount to a tax increase for 84% of american households. something cain denies. >> on the sur fates does sound good, just 9%. >> sounds, exactly. a look now at your forecast, everybody. a soaking wet day in the northeast. with up to 3 inches of rain in boston, new york, philly, d.c. thunderstorms in the carolinas. lingering showers from jacksonville, miami. light rain from detroit to nashville. lake effect snow showers for michigan's upper peninsula. >> 66, new york. 57, atlanta. 87, miami. 50s, kansas city to indianapolis.

jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >> by the way, president obama had something to say about a story abc's brian ross broke right here. the president defended his administration's $528 million loan to solyndra, the california solar energy company that went bankrupt and kept taxpayers on the hook for the money. the president said the u.s. must keep giving loans to clean energy companies, to compete against the chinese. >>> and also at the white house today, a portrait of two kinds of strength. we got a new look at congresswoman gabrielle giffords and that trademark smile of hers, as she and her husband, astronaut mark kelly, visited to celebrate his retriment from the navy. abc's john donvan on the remarkable event. >> reporter: the ceremony at the white house today was for the retiring astronaut, a navy man, mark kelly. but the light shone more on the woman who sat in the front row. gabby giffords who sat there smiling in a way that made it awfully easy for the rest of us to contemplate everything she's been through. and isn't that what we wanted, back on that brutal day when a crazy

abc's jake tapper is in afghanistan tonight with reaction to the attack which comes as out u.s.-led coalition prepares to hand more security forces. jake? >> reporter: geek from bagram airfield, david. u.s. forces say that the attack by the taliban in kabul earlier this weekend is an example of their desperation but that seems an open question as attacks by the taliban in kabul are getting more brazen and increasingly deadly. the commander of international forces here in afghanistan, marine general john allen, issued a statement saying "the enemies are not martyrs but murders." he said they attack "they are losing support and the will to fight." david? >> jake tapper in afghanistan tonight, thank you. >>> there was a blunt warning aimed directly at the u.s. and west from the hard-line president of syria bashar assad who watched dictators around him crumble. well, today he said the middle east will burn if the u.s. and eight i will lies intervene in the uprising against him saying it would lead to an earthquake across that region. >>> back in this country tonight in a desperate s

jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >>> and major fallout today from a story abc's brian ross broke right here about the government's $528 million loan to solyndra. the california solar energy company that went bankrupt. jonathan silver, the head of the energy department branch that made that controversial loan, is resigning. he's been under fire since solyndra collapsed and left taxpayers on the hook for the loan. >>> and also at the white house today, a portrait of two kinds of strength. we got a new look at congresswoman gabrielle giffords and that trademark smile of hers, as she and her husband, astronaut mark kelly, visited to celebrate his retirement from the navy. after more than 20 years of service. abc's john donvan on the remarkable event. >> reporter: the ceremony at the white house today was for the retiring astronaut, a navy man, mark kelly. but the light shone more on the woman who sat in the front row. gabby giffords, who sat there smiling in a way that made it awfully easy for the rest of us to contemplate everything she's been through. and isn't that what we wanted,

but first, let's get that news on sarah palin from abc's jake tapper. what is she saying?> reporter: good evening, diane. well, just a few minutes ago, i got an e-mail from todd palin, sarah's husband, with her announcement, saying, after much prayer and serious consideration, she will not be seeking the republican nomination for president. she says, as always, my family comes first and obviously todd and i put great consideration into family life before making this decision. so, diane, that means that the republican field appears settled. and mitt romney will try to take advantage of this, but he better watch out. there's an insurgent candidate nipping at his heels, a businessman who has never before held elected office. after releasing her statement, sarah palin called into the mark levin radio show and said her family is behind her decision. >> they do support this decision. they came first. the consideration of what a conditi candidacy does to or for a family, that weighed heavily. >> reporter: that final shoe having dropped, the republican field now appears settled. a

s jake tapper and of course jay carney white house spokesperson it seems to me like they also have been completely unaware or unprepared that they might have to answer questions about this please take a listen. once for the american people or has a judge been shown. i'm just not going to. go any further than what i've said about about the circumstances of his death and. decay. case against them which again you're linking and i think you said that he's possible for these things yes but again is there going to be any evidence presented . i don't have anything for you on that. not see it all is in this region and so you know how a president asserting that he has the right to kill an american citizen without due process and that he's not going to even explain why he thinks he has that right . is troublesome to some people. i wasn't aware of any of those things that you said actually happening and if and again i'm not going to address the circumstances of a law he's down. right so i can say is thank you jake tapper for actually doing that that be how is jay carney so incredibly unprepared ho

right so i can say is thank you jake tapper for actually doing that but the how is he carney so incredibly unprepared how does he think of this is just going to slide over now and ask about it. it was jaw dropping isn't it that he's that he's was unaware of all these things as the lead story in the papers for three consecutive days hardly an insignificant matter but let's go back and look at the way the white house has been managing this question when the story first broke we saw unnamed figures in the white house on background telling people in the press that the president had decided to do this it was sort of a demonstration of how gutsy and bold the president was that he was willing even to target an american citizen and there was some description of the reasons why also on background about a lot of information and when people pressed to learn more about it and get the information presented in a way so they could be really cross-examined in question what you see immediately is the veil of state secrecy thrown up around it this is a state secret we can't tell you anything and they need t

>>> jake tapper in afghanistan and now here's dan. >>> and now, lara, over to the latest twist of theace to the white house. your voice your vote. herman cain, the former pizza mogul, appears to be a front-runner, at least in iowa. more on this from christiane amanpour. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, dan. of course, we're going to drill down on all of this. the latest poll from des moines, register in iowa, show herman cain at the top. he has 23%. his closest rival is mitt romney at 22%. that's basically a statistical dead-heat. ron paul at 12 .. michele bachmann at 8. governor perry at 7%. rick santorum at 5%. what this is showing is that perry is really -- rather cain is gaining the momentum, he's kind of the man of the moment but mitt romney is still very very steady there. what it shows also is that, michele bachmann who saw so much early success in iowa, has now plummeted here to number four. we'll be talking to her when the program starts not so long from now. >> let me drill down on michele's number. in june, she was at 28%. now she's 8%. nearly in first

the president sat down exclusively with abc's jake tapper in emporia, virginia. >> what i feel is whatthat we have now gone through not only, 2 1/2, 3 years post recession blues. if you hear a sense of urgency in my voice it's because these problems are solvable. but you don't get a sense that we are moving in washington with the sense of urgency required. >> some of the frustration has come out in the occupy wall street protest. you have expressed sympathy with their position, their feeling of powerlessness. >> i understand the frustrations that are being expressed in the protests. in some ways, they're not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the tea party. you know, both on the left and the right. people feel separated from their government. >> we are sitting in a school, what grade would you give yourself? >> well, you know, i am not going to give myself a grade. >> not even a midterm? >> other than incomplete. because the work that we started is not yet done. even though i believe that all of the choices we have made have been the right ones, we're stil

jake tapper was in the rose garden. jake, remarkable few months for the president's foreign policy.he death of about weather in may, the death of al-awlaki in yemen in september now gadhafi is gone. >> president obama was criticized severely for "leading from behind" in this mission. you might recall senator mccain and others criticizing him for letting nato and other countries in europe take the lead. but, of course, it appears that this mission has been successful. nato will be meeting tomorrow to discuss where to go from here, whether to end the mission there. of course, president obama telling the libyan people you have won your revolution. also saying that libya will travel a long and winding road to democracy. making sure that people are aware that this process does not just mean that gadhafi is dead, therefore, there will be a democratic republic of libya. it is going to take a long time before human rights in that country, law and order, law enforcement have been accomplished and a system of government that respects all the people of libya has been established. you are right

abc's jake tapper is in bagram air base in afghanistan with more. >> reporter: lara, good morning.. forces call this latest attack a sign of taliban desperation, but that seems debatable. taliban attacks here in kabul are getting more brazen and more deadly. it was the deadliest attack on coalition forces in kabul in the more than ten years of the afghanistan war. five coalition service members and eight contractors, most of them americans, were killed when the armored bus they were in was targeted on this road by a taliban suicide bomber. [ sirens ] >> reporter: driving an suv with a bomb, the taliban later said, weighed 1,500 pounds. four innocent afghans were also killed by the explosion. the attack took place near a bombed-out former palace on the southwest outskirts of the capital, and it came one day after the pentagon issued a report heralding how year-to-year attacks are down for the first time in america's longest war, which the report claims has laid a firm foundation for the afghans taking control of security in 2014. the u.s. military, however, focuses on attacks on u.s

george will, jake tapper, republican strategist nicolle wallace and democratic strategist mark penn debate that, plus all of the week's politics on our roundtable. >>> then this week marks ten weeks since the start of the afghan war, america's longest. martha raddatz reports on what has been achieved and at what cost. >>> good morning, and welcome to the program. we have lots to get to today. but first, some news since your morning papers. more than 700 demonstrators protesting corporate greed, morning other issues, were arrested last night on the brooklyn bridge in new york city. the grass roots movement has swamped wall street for more than two weeks now. >>> president obama last night blasted the republican candidates who didn't react as members of a debate audience booed a gay soldier serving in iraq. the president spoke at the annual gala of the human rights campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization. >> we don't believe in the kind of smallness that says it's okay for a stage full of political leaders, one of whom could end up being the president of the united states, bei

he sat down with abc's jake tapper. you like to say it's not a referendum but it's a choice. jake asked, give yourself a grade. the president said he wouldn't do that. then he said at best, incomplete. hope and change was the motto four years ago. can you campaign on a need four more years to finish the class? >> i think there's no doubt that we do need four more years. president came in under really adverse circumstances for the country. and has been essentially an economic triage unit since he arrived there. but there are things that we need to do, not just create more jobs in country but to make sure that we create an economy, rebuild the economy in a way that work pays that responsibility's rewarded, responsibility is held accountable and people can get ahead again. that's going to take some time. it took a long time to get into the mess we're in. it's going to take some time to get out. so i do think that that is a factor. and he's right to give himself -- he's right to give himself an incomplete. we've got more work to do. >> i am fascinated by itting but i don't know wh

. >>> a program note tomorrow night on "nightline" abc's jake tapper will bring us an exclusive eveningesident barack obama. join us for that thanks for watching abc news.

he did an interview with abc news, jake tapper, we have been trying to figure out where is the occupyreet movement going. listen to this comparison from president obama. >> i understand the frustrations that are being expressed in those protests. in some ways they're not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the tea party. you know, both on the left and the right. i think people feel separated from their government. they feel that their institutions aren't looking out for them. >> dana lash, somebody who was involved with and associated with the tea party movement, is what we're seeing on wall street and other cities, is it the same thing? >> yes and no. it's the same thing in that i think that some groups, some began as little grassroot factions, but they've been -- they've been hijacked by other groups. in st. louis we had an acorn offshoot which ran the original grassroots founder of occupy st. louis movement out of the movement indoorly. but at the same time it's not because one of the thens that the tea party stood for is less government not more govern

and he spoke with abc's senior white house correspondent jake tapper about the monument to a man andcent dream. >> visiting the new martin luther king, jr. memorial with congressman and civil rights icon john lewis must be what it would be like to walk through the world war ii memorial with audie murphy. the crowds keep embracing him. touching him. they're drawn to the man who was a friend and colleague of king's. does it look like him? >> oh, yeah. its one of the best likeness of him that i've ever seen. the first time i came out here, they still had the scaffold up and invited me to go up. i went up. i touched his head, rubbed his head, his face. i cried. it's powerful. >> reporter: lewis' journey to this site began more than 56 years ago. early 1955 when lewis, then 15, heard a young minister on the radio for the first time. >> we must let it be known all over the world that we will not take it any longer. >> reporter: his name was dr. martin luther king, jr. and his message captivated lewis. >> hoe was not just concerned with the pearlie gates and streets paved with milling and h

. >>> a program note tomorrow night on "nightline" abc's jake tapper will bring us an exclusive evening

. >>> a program note tomorrow night on "nightline" abc's jake tapper will bring us an exclusive eveningesident barack obama. join us for that thanks for watching abc news. check in for "good morning america." they're working while you're sleeping and we're always online at abcnews.com. we'll see you here tomorrow.

abc's jake tapper is traveling with the president in virginia, and sat down with him just today. jake, tell us about it. >> reporter: diane, president obama is battling low approval ratings for his handling of the economy and an energized republican field focused on that issue. so, i began the interview asking him how worried he sand how prepared the public should be if whether this already fragile economy is headed south once again. >> what i feel is what the american people feel, which is that we have now gone through not only two and half, three years of post-recession blues. if you hear a sense of urgency in my voice, it's because these problems are solvable, but you don't get a sense that we're moving in washington with a sense of urgency that is required. >> reporter: some of the frustration that has come out in this occupy wall street protest, you have expressed sympathy with their position, with their feeling of powerlessness. >> i understand the frustrations that are being expressed in those protests. in some ways, they're not that different from some of the protests that

jake tapper was in the rose garden. jake remarkable few months for the president's foreign policy.he death of about weather in may, the death of al-awlaki in yemen in september now gadhafi is gone. >> president obama was criticized severely for "leading from behind" in this mission. you might recall senator mccain and others criticizing him for letting nato and other countries in europe take the lead. but of course, it appears that this mission has been successful. nato will be meeting tomorrow to discuss where to go from here whether to end the mission there. of course president obama telling the libyan people you have won your revolution. also saying that libya will travel a long and winding road to democracy. making sure that people are aware that this process does not just mean that gadhafi is dead therefore there will be a democratic republic of libya. it is going to take a long time before human rights in that country law and order law enforcement have been accomplished and a system of government that respects all the people of libya has been established. you are right george

abc's jake tapper is traveling with the president in miller's creek, north carolina. >> reporter: day one of the president's bus tour to convince voters in two key battleground states that he's fighting for them. >> here in north carolina a lot of folks have spent months looking for work. >> reporter: and push his $450 billion jobs bill. since it failed to clear a senate hurdle last week, he announced will be broken up into bite-size chunks. >> maybe they just couldn't understand the whole thing all at once. >> reporter: though it's unclear if congress will swallow it, the first bite is $35 billion to help state and local governments fund teachers, police officers and firefighters. paid for by a 0.5% tax increase on millionaires which the president opposes. the president's salesmanship is showing signs of success. when asked who they trusted more to create jobs, president obama or the republicans in congress, in september, the republican was evenly divided. now the president leads by 15 points. mr. obama today eviscerated the new republican jobs bill sounding out a campaign theme and

. >> that interview with jake tapper. while on his bus our, the president has paep drawing contrast from his plan and that of republicans claiming the republican plan protects wall street. back in washington, mitch mcconnell criticized the president for blaming others for what senator mcconnell says are his own failed policies. >> he's trying to convinces american people that it's anybody else's fault but his that we're where we are. it must be the fault of those republicans in congress, it must be the fault of those rich people, it must be the fault of those people on wall street. i don't think the american people will fall for it. he's been president now for three years. he owned the congress for the first two years. they did everything he wanted. i know he's desperately interested in trying to plain anybody else, but he's the president of the united states. he got everything he wanted. and it didn't work. >> they've blasted the trip saying it's more about campaigning thand jobs. a charge the white house denied. but vic

i want to go to jake tapper who is standing by at the white house. and jake, we heard martha raddatz say this is a victory for president obama, but there is also an underlying question about targeting an american citizen with missiles, however lethal he may be. jake? >> reporter: that's right. groups like the aclu are pointing out, here is an american president ordering the targeted killing of an american citizen without any due process. no evidence, no courts and they say that is a gross violation of both the u.s. constitution and international law. when you ask the white house, what's the legal basis for such an action, they basically said, it's a state secret and they will not get onto their justification. now, president obama was given the news of awlaki's death at roughly 3:45 this morning. this is a president who has exponentially increased the number of predator drones in afghanistan, pakistan, east africa and yemen. all told, the administration can point to more than 20 senior terrorist leaders that have been taken out during the obama adminis

but we begin with jake tapper at the white house, where the president made the surprise announcement this afternoon. >> reporter: there are roughly 39,000 u.s. troops in iraq right now. today, president obama formally announced that by the end of the year, that number will be zero. >> the long war in iraq will come to an end by the end of this year. >> reporter: the iraqi government had asked president obama for up to 5,000 u.s. troops to stay behind as trainers. that hit a snag when, in negotiations, the iraqis refused to give those troops immunity from prosecution. so, they all will leave. >> the last american soldier will cross the border out of iraq with their heads held high, >> reporter: the president began his remarks by reiterating how central to his campaign was his promise to end the war. >> as a candidate for president, i pledged to bring the war in iraq to a responsible end. >> reporter: opposition to the war made his candidacy, having opposed back in 2002 when he was still a state senator even before the war began. >> i don't oppose war in all circumstances. what i do op

here is abc's jake tapper. >> reporter: wednesday evening the former governor of alaska, sarah palin issued a statement announcing she would not be seeking the republican presidential nomination for 2012. i would go back and forth whether now is the time. i've would say, no to the opportunity, running for office now, politically speaking will i die, will i be ineffective. i know it is the right decision. i know that i can join others and be effective in helping, change what is going on in our country and, helping wake up americans to what is going on in our country. >> governor palin had a lot of eyes on her, perhaps as the last shoe to drop in the republican presidential contest. earlier in the week, new jersey governor chris christie announce heed would not be rung. now with governor palin's announcement it appears the field has settled. the front-runner, mitt romney will be trying to capitalize on that. palin also said in her e-mail she thought she could affect change replacing president obama, rewinning the senate and keeping the house more effectively as an outsider not as candi

here's abc's jake tapper. >> reporter: jan dunsmore has been pulled down by the undertow of the housing crisis. her florida home is worth $250,000. her mortgage, $300,000. and the economy has hurt her income, so most of what she e n earns goes to pay her mortgage. she and her daughter, kristen, who moved home after college are barely making ends meet. >> i figure we're in it together and i'm here for the long haul. >> reporter: they're so underwater the bank will not even talk to them about refinancing with them putting an additional $40,000 on the table. >> we did try a couple of times to do things and the runaround we got from the bank was horrific. >> reporter: today, in las vegas, ground zero of the housing crisis, president obama announced he was changing his under-performing housing assistance plan, making it easier to qualify to refinance you mortgage. even if your loan is for more than 125% of the current value of your home, as long as you haven't made any recent late payments. >> you take these things together. this is going to help a lot more homeowners refinance at lower rate

will not help i have this little video here where jake tapper asked barack obama last week he asked why hasn't your department of justice done anything against the banker fraudsters the ones that have stolen the economy the ones who committed wide scale subprime fraud and this is what barack obama answered on the issue of prosecutions on wall street. one of the biggest problems about. the collapse of lehman the subsequent financial crisis and the whole subprime lending fiasco is that a lot of that stuff wasn't necessarily illegal it was just. your moral or. inappropriate reckless well this is where barack obama is wrong the banks committed outright fraud they committed illegal acts of fraudulent inducement of fraudulent research characterization and fraudulent mis selling they've committed a whole mortgage support of fraud and barack obama is completely wrong and the press is too stupid to ask specific questions like well what about in the case of bank of america or j.p. morgan or goldman sachs log number of dot dot dot dot where on this day they broke it egregiously why did you not pro

as abc's jake tapper reports, mr. obama had one eye on the rejury sent business, another on the election. >> reporter: it was something of a victory lap. >> i notice the mood's a little brighter on this particular visit. >> reporter: president obama today brought south korean president lee to a general motors auto manufacturing plant in lake orion, michigan, that two years was on its death bed. but one of the results of the $62 billion restructuring and bailout of u.s. automakers is, today, that factory employs 1,750 workers, building chevy sonics like this one. >> they took the keys out! >> reporter: it was all part of the president's pitch to rust-belt states, critical to his re-election, that he's been willing to make the tough decisions to help this country recover from the recession. >> for every cynic that's out there running around saying it can't be done, there are a whole bunch of folks who are saying "yes we can." >> reporter: the white house says the auto bailout saved just over 1 million jobs. but as part