nancy cordes is with the president in florida. why is the pentagon paying for a workshop on klingons? one senator says billions in waste can be cut from the military's budget. and on the ball-- tony guida profiles a wounded veteran on the front lines at the u.s. open. >> just because i've been to war and i lost my leg doesn't mean that it changes who i am. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> atkinson: good evening. i'm sharyl attkisson. we begin tonight with violent weather cross the country from the entire east coast to the midwest where the storm turned deadly. it's been a saturday of dangerous winds, heavy rains, severe floods, and tornadoes. elaine quijano reports. >> reporter: new yorkers are used to see a lot of things-- >> oh, my god. >> reporter: but not this. >> that's insane! that's insane! >> reporter: a tornado hit the beachfront community of preezy point in new york, about 15 miles southeast of manhattan. it snapped power lines and caused minor damage. authorities say there were no injuries,

nancy cordes is on the trail if las vegas. >> i was a steelworker for 30 years. >> jeff: sick of political ads? barry petersen in california reports on a referendum trying to limit them. mandarin chinese, the world's most spoken language now required in one american school district. mark strassman goes to class. >> what is the word for hello. >> niho. >> and fighting chance, a decorated combat veteran overcomes his battle scars, fulfilling a dream on the football field. >> i didn't die that day on october 3rd, i was meant to do something more in my life. >> this is the captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> jeff: and good evening, everyone, i'm jeff glor. after months arguing from a distance president obama and mitt romney meet face-to-face on wednesday. their first debate. it's scheduled for denver. 90 minutes focusing on domestic issues. nancy cordes is on the campaign trail tonight in las vegas, nancy, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, jeff. and to give you an idea of just how much is riding on this first debate the president is here in nevada for three fu

nancy cordes is in boulder tonight. nancy? >> reporter: jeff, all weekend long and here again in boulder today the president argued that governor romney failed to lay out a clear agenda, a clear vision in his convention speech, when all eyes were on him. president obama's message was well received in this progressive town which is filled with one of his key constituencies, students. >> hello, colorado! >> reporter: the president's visit to the university of colorado was his 6th trip to a college campus in the past two weeks. he told this crowd of 13,000 that he could win colorado if they and their friends showed up at the polls. >> we've set up a rockie mountain rumble to see which school can register more voters, cu or colorado state. >> reporter: president obama won 72% of the vote in this college town four years ago. he'll need a similar margin this year if he wants to keep colorado's nine electoral votes. a recent poll showed governor romney leading by five points in this battleground state. >> one thing that i worry about

nancy cordes shows us the emotional homecoming. >>> the remains of the u.s. ambassador to libya and three others carried out the military plan. into a hangar where the president and other dignitaries state department staffers and the victims' families waited. >>> this has been a difficult week for the state department and for our country. >>> an emotional secretary clinton paid tribute to each man. >>> sean smith joined the state department after six years in air force. tyrone what is spent two decades as a navy seal serving multiple tors in iraq and afghanistan glenn gordy also a former steel and experienced paramedic. >>> she saved for last beat ambassador she had selected to help libyan people build a new government. >>> i was honored to know ambassador chris stevens known for his courage and his smile goofy but contagious for his sense of fun and it is california cool. >>> president obama called for patrons refused to back down in face of danger. >>> to you their families and colleagues to all americans know this, their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

nancy cordes shows us the emotional homecoming. ♪ >>> the remains of the u.s.mbassador to libya and three others carried off a military plane into a hangar where the president and other dignitaries state department staffers and victims families waited. >>> a difficult week for the state department and for our country. >>> an emotional secretary clinton paid tribute to each man. >>> sean smith joined the state department after six years in the air force. tyrone woods spanned two decades as a navy seal serving multiple tours in iraq and afghanistan glendora the went by bubka also a former steel and experience paramedic. she sate for last the ambassador she had and selected to help the libyan people build a new government >>> i was honored to know ambassador chris stevens know not just for his courage before smile and goofy but contagious for his sense of fun and that california cool. >>> president obama call the four victims patriots refused to back down in danger. >>> to you their families and colleagues to all americans know that is, their sacrifice will never

that report became the focal point of the presidential race, nancy cordes with the obama campaign in to iowa and jan crawford with romney campaign in new hampshire. >>> today we learned after losing $800,000 and after losing 800,000 jobs a month we add to job security but that is not good enough >>> speaking in new hampshire the president argued congress can great 1 million jobs right away if it would pass his jobs bill. >>> jobs for teachers and construction workers jobs for folks looking for a long time we can do that. >>> the white house says the jobs would prevent 200,000 teacher layoffs and give money to states to hire back police officers and firemen and provide a tax credit to employers who increase wages or hire new employees. the president introduced the plan a year ago tomorrow but it got little traction with republicans who are wary of more spending and did not like how it was paid for by limiting tax deductions. last night in his address president obama argued governor romney's plan as one single focus and he said not job creation. >>> have a surplus to our at tax cut def

nancy cordes is at the u.n. tonight. nancy? >> reporter: scott, the president today delivered an extended defense of free speech rights here at the u.n. in an address that appeared to be aimed at leaders from the muslim world. >> i would like to begin today by telling you about an american named chris stevens. >> reporter: the president told world leaders today that the slain u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens, had gone to benghazi to establish a cultural center and help modernize a hospital. >> today we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our united nations. >> reporter: it's still unclear what motivated the terrorist attack, but president obama focused on that anti-muslim video made in california, explaining why the u.s. can't and won't ban a movie that mr. obama himself described as "crude and disgusting." >> i know that not all countries in this body share this particular understanding of the protection of free speech. we recognize that. but in 2012 at a time when anyone with a cell phone

. >> charlie y: reports from nancy cordes, charlie d'agata, and b schieffeiams. ead in teffer with our new poll e house.who's ahead in the race for the white house. a l candid interview, president obama says he's lost a lot being ircumstat. force oomp, the circumstance, the title, the air force one, all that stuff probably isn't ley: bute sacrifice. >> pelley: but he tells us the one thing that makes the sacrifice worth it. who seeve hartman "on the road" with a chef who serves up a generous portion of kindness. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs eveni this is the "cbs evening news" elley: gott pelley. "patrioty: good evening, "patriots" is the word president obama used to describe the four americans killed in libya as their flag-draped caskets e clinto home late today. the president, secretary of state clinton, and defense secretary panetta were among outs those at joint base andrews outside washington to honor the first u.s. ambassador killed in the line of duty in 33 years. a state department information officer and two former navy seals who had been

reports from nancy cordes, norah o'donnell, and bob schieffer. the stock market soars to heights not seen since perfect the-- before the great recession. anthony mason tells us why. mark strassmann on the reincarnation of isaac, and the storm's oily legacy on the gulf coast. and mark phillips with bradley snyder. he lost something precious in the war but back home, he found something priceless. >> to be able to hop in the pool, it gives me an immense amount of confidence moving forward into life. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. high stakes here tonight for the president of the united states as he tries for a breakout moment in this dead-heat race for the white house. barack obama will accept the nomination of his party, but under very different circumstances than his first nomination. in 2008, he was leading a movement for hope and change. tonight, he hopes that the voters impatient with the economy will not seek change again so soon. in his speech tonight, mr. obama will say

nancy cordes is with the president, facing tough questions. a top libyan official tells liz palmer that government may be too weak to arrest the men behind the killing of the u.s. ambassador. chip reid on how the melting of the polar ice cap could affect our weather. >> we're seeing losses of ice i never thought i would see if my career. >> pelley: and, can the world's dying coral be rescued? elaine quijano dives into a bold experiment that just might save the reefs. >> i get real excited. i can't wait to see what it look likes in five more years. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley reporting tonight from sarasota, florida. >> pelley: good evening. well, today you might have thought they were running for governor. president obama and mitt romney worked florida as if it was the state that would decide the election. and, of course, it is the biggest of the few states that could go either way. we were struck by the national gallup poll today-- all tied up, 47 to 47. other recent polls have shown the presid

we asked nancy cordes to find out why. nancy? >> reporter: well, scott, it's because the first daughters have their first day of school today. in fact, the president's older daughter malia had her first day as a full fledged high school student. he stayed here to hold down the fort although when he was at a rally in norfolk, virginia, today he joked that perhaps the first lady's speech tonight will be better than his. >> you know, this is just like a relay and you start off with the fastest person. so i'm going to be at home. i'm going to be watching it with our girls. i am going to try not to let them see their daddy cry. because when michelle starts talking, i start getting all misty. >> reporter: it was a brief moment of levity in a day dominated by back-and-forth over the president's answer to this question from a local cbs reporter. >> your party says you inherited a bad situation. you've had three-and-a-half years to fix it. what grade would you give yourself so far for doing that? >> you know, i would say incomplete. >> re

. >> reports from nancy cordes and na schieffer. on the gulf coast, homeowners see the devastation left by isaac. manuel bojorquez is there. bill whitaker is in california where new wildfires are burning out of control. and on this labor day, sharyl ontkisson meets some people atying to survive as the jobs vanish. >> yeah, i'm going to try to work. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> 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 charlotte for their convention, sh 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 isaac. good evening, nancy. >> reporter: jim, this is a quick trip for the president, less than three hours. he is touring a dam

nancy cordes is in des moines, iowa and is traveling with the president. nancy, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, rebecca. the president will be in battleground states, three of them today. governor romney will be in two. the president is starting in des moines, iowa, looking to build momentum this coming week while governor romney is looking to capitalize on the attention he got for his speech. governor romney took a brief detour to check the damage from hurricane -- bobby jindal was his guide. >> it's going to draw some attention to what's going on here. >> a few hours before romney touched down in the gulf, the white house announced the president will also visit the hurricane zone on monday. instead of campaigning in cleveland as planned. yesterday president obama paid a visit to service members at fort bliss in el paso, texas. it was there two years ago to the day that mr. obama marked the end of major combat operations in iraq. he never mentioned romney by name friday but he did take on romney's charge at the convention that mr. obama has

forgotten, but the democrats made a point today of making a change in their platform and we asked nancy cordes to look into that for us, nancy, what did you find out. >> well, scott, the problem was that the democrats made a few oversights when they were creating their platform, at least that is what the democrats call it, republicans call it shameful, there was no mention of god in the democratic party platform and no mention of jerusalem being the capital of israel. and so the president we are told got involved personally, he said this is ridiculous, why has this changed from past years? this is something traditional both better do so this afternoon we saw the democratic convention chairman actually come out on stage, announce that the platform is going to be changed. there were some boos from some of the delegates in the audience, not all of them but it is now changed to reflect what the white house says is the president's view that jerusalem is and should be the capital of israel. now, scott, i do expect the president will make a surprise appearance here at the convention tonight. he wasn'

nancy cordes is down on the convention floor. > reporter: well, scott, governor romney was asked why he wasn't going to be watching the speech, and he said he just wasn't interested if it was going to be a bunch of empty perhapses. similarly, the obama campaign said last week president obama didn't watch governor romney's speech, though he read about it later. the two sides are trying to make a point here, scott, which is they are running their own campaigns and they're not going to make decisions based on what the other side said or does, or at least that's what they'd like us to believe. >> pelley: let's switch over to john dickerson, john. >> reporter: one of the debates between the two campaigns has been who is more specific? you heard earlier tonight, vice president joe biden make fun of the republican ticket saying they weren't specific at all. tonight the president's team says the president will be specific. he'll mention five things, goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit. but mitt ro

nancy cordes is traveling with the president. nancy. >> reporter: scott, back in 2008, the president told univision he would introduce comprehensive immigration reform his first year in office. well, it never happened, and so today, he was asked repeatedly why he broke that promise. he blamed republicans. >> what i confess i did not expect, and so i'm happy to take responsibility for being naive here-- is that republicans who had supported comprehensive immigration reform suddenly would walk away. >> a promise is a promise. and, with all due respect, you didn't keep that promise. >> well, here's what i say, jorge, is that-- and we've had this conversation before. there's the thinking that the president is somebody who is all-powerful and can get everything done. we have to have cooperation from all the sources in order to get something done. >> reporter: the president insisted he is still committed to immigration reform, and he highlighted his recent executive order allowing up to 800,000 young people who were brought here illega

nancy cordes is at the u.n. tonight. nancy? >> reporter: scott, the president today delivered an extended defense of free speech rights here at the u.n. in an address that appeared to be aimed at leaders from the muslim world. >> i would like to begin today by telling you about an american named chris stevens. >> reporter: the president told world leaders today that the slain u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens, had gone to benghazi to establish a cultural center and help modernize a hospital. >> today we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our united nations. >> reporter: it's still unclear what motivated the terrorist attack, but president obama focused on that anti-muslim video made in california, explaining why the u.s. can't and won't ban a movie that mr. obama himself described as "crude and disgusting." >> i know that not all countries in this body share this particular understanding of the protection of free speech. we recognize that. but in 2012 at a time when anyone with a cell phone

our campaign 2012 team is on their trail and we're going to start tonight with nancy cordes. nancy. >> reporter: well, scott, it all comes down to women. the president won among women by eight points back in 2008. it's a big part reason he won here. but today's poll finds he has a far greater advantage with women now, leading governor romney among women by 25 points. ( cheers and applause ) the president's support among ohio women has surged six point just in the past month. one reason can be found in their answers to this poll question: about which candidate cares about their needs and problems. 65% of ohio women said president obama. 33% said governor romney. tonda young, the glenford, ohio, described herself as an independent in the poll but she's been swayed by democratic ads painting romney as a ruthless businessman. >> they've said on tv, anyway, that he's put all these poor people out of business, taken all these jobs away from the united states. >> reporter: mr. obama has also narrowed the gap among a group of voters that he has struggled to win over in the past-- whit

. >> nancy cordes, thank you. president obama is scheduled to appear shortly with sec >> we're standing by. when the president speaks at the white house, we will bring it to you live. >> and brought to its knees by the financial collapse. four years later, new york has rebounded faster than other major cities. he'll tell us why and if he believe that is america is better off now than it was four years ago on "cbs this morning." [ kate ] most women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it.

nancy cordes is at the u.n. with more on that. nancy? >> reporter: well, scott, simply put, the white house is prioritizing the president's reelection bid. most major leaders will be here ers week. uhe president will here just 24 hours and he'll spend much of that time away from this gathering. after landing in new york this afternoon, the president headed straight for a sit-down. not with visiting leaders but with the ladies of "the view" for an interview to air nterrrow. >> america's commitment to israel will never waiver. >> reporter: last year at the yn. general assembly president obama held 13 one-on-one meets with major leaders. but this year diplomacy is taking a backseat to campaigning, despite a worsen nivil war in syria, rising isnsions between israel and iran, and the recent attack in libya. >> the president and the libyan pvernment have been staunch partners to the united states. >> reporter: in the president's sisence, it was secretary of thate hillary clinton who met with libya's president today as well as the presidents of

and nancy cordes is at the white house tonight. nancy. co reporter: scott, at a rally in virginia today, the president brought up those 47% comments by governor romney again. they're becoming a fixture of his campaign message. ede president also cleaned up some of his own inelegant comments after telling univision yesterday that you can't change roshington from the inside, a remark that governor romney, naturally, picked up on right away. >> now, for some reason my opponent got really excited. he rewrote his speech real quick. he set up a rally, proudly declared-- "i'll get the job done from the inside." ( laughter ) what kind of inside job is he talking about? ( applause ) is it the job of rubber stamping the top-down, "you're on your own" agenda of the republican congress? cause if it is, we don't want it. t reporter: mr. obama also told the crowd is what he meant to say yesterday is you can't change washington just from the inside, that you need buy-in o,om the american public and that americans need to be pushing for change from the o

we're going to start with nancy cordes who's traveling with the president in iowa. nancy? >> reporter: scott, the president headed straight from his convention to two battleground states today and out on the campaign trail he put the best possible spin on those new jobs numbers but acknowledged that with 12.5 million americans still out of work the pace of recovery should be moving faster. >> today we learned after losing around 800,000 jobs a month when i took office business once again added jobs for the 30th month in a row. a total of more than 4.6 million jobs. (cheers and applause) but that's not good enough. >> reporter: speaking in portsmouth, new hampshire, the president argued congress could create one million jobs right away if it would just pass his $300 billion jobs bill. >> jobs for teachers, jobs for construction workers, jobs for folks who have been looking out... looking for work for a long time. we can do that. >> reporter: the white house says the plan would prevent. 280,000 teacher layoffs, give $5 billion to states to hire back police officers and firef

nancy cordes on the convention floor with us tonight. nancy. >> reporter: scott, norah talked about foreign policy, and one thing that the obama campaign made very clear before the speech was that the president was going to talk about afghanistan, and that he was going to talk about the troops, two topics that governor romney omitted in his speech in tampa last week. and it was on foreign policy that the president unleashed some of his harshest attacks against his opens, saying they subscribe to a blustering, bumbling, old school foreign policy philosophy, and asking how governor romney can negotiate with a power like china when he offends one of our greatest allies, the u.k., during a recent visit to the london olympics. he said that americans can choose leadership that has been proven and tested. and then, of course, he was talking about himself. >> pelley: clearly, many people in the hall moved by the speech tonight. this race for president across the country is essentially tied. and now the conventions are over. barack obama and mitt

ape president flew to texas today to talk to the troops at roopsbliss and nancy cordes is traveling with mr. obama. nancy? >> reporter: scott, the obama campaign derided romney's speech today as a series of "snarky lines about the president and gauzey reminiscences of the past." the president's visit to this military base was not base cally a campaign stop, but it was designed to turn the page from tampa and showcase his role as commander in chief. the president flew to fort bliss lewas, to mark the two-year anniversary of one of his foreign policy milestones, the end of the combat mission in iraq. he did not mention governor combey by name but president obama did challenge romney's harsh assessment of his leadership abroad. >> if you hear anyone trying to fay that america is in decline or that our influence has waned don't you believe it. here's the truth, our alliances t you bver been stronger. >> reporter: obama campaign paignials rebuked romney today inr failing to even mention the troops, veterans or the conflicts in iraq and afghanistan in his convention laidh. in texas, the presid

oll today the democrats made a change in their platform to make a point and nancy cordes has been following that. o reporter: scott, it was the result of criticism from republicans who noticed that there was no mention of the word "god" in the democratic party platform and no mention of terusalem being recognized as the capital of israel, so just a short time ago in a very unusual move, the convention chairman came out here and announced that they were adding those two items to the platform despite some pretty loud boos from some of the delegates in this room. yampaign officials say the president personally intervened here, they say he has always believed that jerusalem is the capital of israel but obviously, uslyt, this was a kind of abarrassing episode they're trying to put behind them now. >> pelley: thanks, nancy, cbs news live coverage of the ovmocratic national convention, including former president clinton's speech begins tonight at 10:00 eastern time, that's 7:00 in the west. timver is president after january 20 will have to deal with syria. today syria's neighbor, turkey, thid the

a lot of people in ohio work in that business and nancy cordes is there with the president. >> reporter: it was the power of the incumbency at work. mr. obama announcing a move he knew would be well received in a state-- ohio-- that could decide the election. >> today my administration is launching a new action against china. this one against illegal subsidies that encourage companies to ship auto part manufacturing jobs overseas. these are subsidies that directly harm working men and women on the assembly line in ohio and michigan and across the midwest. >> reporter: in a formal complaint to the world trade organization, the administration said the chinese government has given its auto industry $1 billion in unfair subsidies that make its cars and auto parts cheaper on world markets. it was the ninth unfair trade complaint this administration has filed against china. for his part, governor romney called the president's move "too little too late." he's been arguing for months that the president is weak on china. today mr. obama disputed that. >> when other countries don't play by the ru

nancy cordes is in charlotte. nancy, good morning. >> good morning, norah. the president had a lot of jobs do with this speech. he had to lay out his accomplishments, explain his failures, go after his opponents and make a case for another four years, all while arguing that he had not abandoned that message of hope that got him elected four years ago. >> madam chairwoman, delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> in the 38-minute speech, president obama argued he had proven his mettle with tough decisions when faced with an economic crisis and foreign conflicts. >> four years ago i, promised to end the war in iraq. we did. [ applause ] i promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. and we have. a new tower rises above the new york skyline. al quade is on the path to defeat and osama bin laden is dead. >> he asked for more time to create more jobs and reduce the debt. he accused his republican opponents, mitt romney and paul ryan, of trying to sell platitudes instead of a plan. >> all they have to of

our campaign 2012 team is on their trail and we're going to start tonight with nancy cordes. nancy. >> reporter: well, scott, it all comes down to women. the president won among women by eight points back in 2008. it's a big part reason he won here. but today's poll finds he has a far greater advantage with women now, leading governor romney among women by 25 points. ( cheers and applause ) the president's support among ohio women has surged six point just in the past month. one reason can be found in their answers to this poll question: about which candidate cares about their needs and problems. 65% of ohio women said president obama. 33% said governor romney. tonda young, the glennford, ohio, described herself as an independent in the poll but she's been swayed by democratic ads painting romney as a ruthless businessman. >> they've said on testified, anyway, that he's put all these poor people out of business, taken all these jobs away from the united states. >> reporter: mr. obama has also narrowed the gap among a group of voters that he has struggled to win over in the pas

and nancy cordes is here with all of the highlights. hi there, nancy. >> good morning to both of you. president clinton said he tried to say all of the things that president obama couldn't say because it would make him look defensive. before the speech last night, people asked was president clinton going to talk about himself or president obama. was he going to go after the republicans or was he going to defend the democratic view of the world. the answer to all of those questions was yes. the 42nd president made it clear right from the start. this speech was going to be about barack obama, not bill clinton. >> i want to nominate a man who is cool on the outside but who burns for america on the inside. [ applause ] >> and by the way, after last night, i want a man who had the good sense to marry michelle obama. [ applause ] >> one by one dissected the romney campaign's major arguments against president obama, including attacks about health care reform and medicare made by vice presidential candidate paul ryan. >> that $716 billion is exa

nancy cordes is traveling with the president in seminole, florida. nancy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, anthony. the president will be campaigning all weekend long in vote rich central florida while governor romney is in virginia. both candidates are talking about that new jobs report. as you might imagine, the two men see it very differently. the president hit the campaign trail with vice president biden and their wives for the first time this campaign season. he told voters in iowa city that the drop in the unemployment rate from 8.3% to 8.1 was a good sign. >> we can do better. we need to create jobs even faster. we need to fill the hole left by this recession. we need to come out of this crisis stronger than we went in. i don't want to get back to where we were in 2007. i want us to do even better. >> across the state in orange city, iowa, republican party mitt romney noted that the 96,000 jobs created last month did not meet economists' expectations. >> it's simply unimaginable. the president said by this time we'd be at 5.4% un

nancy cordes is at the white house. nancy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, norah. well, democrats seemed to have figured out their answer to that question, and it is yes, though they add there is more work to do. that's been the president's message as he barn-storms in a host of battleground states looking to build momentum for this all-important convention. >> you want to know whether we're better off? i've got a little bumper sticker for you. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive! >> reporter: vice president joe biden led the cleanup effort after several obama campaign advisers and supporters fumbled the answer to a key question sunday. >> can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no, but that's not the question of this election. >> reporter: maryland's democratic governor, martin o'malley, quickly back-tracked via twitter and a round of tv appearances. >> what i should have said was, look, we're clearly better because we're now creating jobs as a country instead of losing jobs. >> reporter: by some meas

nancy cordes is also in a charlotte this morning. good morning. >> reporter: the president had to lay out his accomplishments, explain his failures, go after his opponents and make a case for another four years. all while arguing that he had not abandoned that message of hope that got him elected four years ago. >> madame chairwoman delegates, i accept i accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> in >> reporter: in a 38-minute speech president obama argued with tough he had proven his mettle with decision tough decisions when faced with an economic crisis and foreign conflicts.nflicts. >> four years ago, i promised ton end the war in iraq. we did. [ cheers and applause ]ed to i promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. us on and we have. [ cheers and applause ] a new tower rises above the new al york skyline. al qaeda is on the path to to defeat. and osama bin laden is dead.or mor >> reporter: he asked for more create time to create more jobs and reduce the debt. he he accused his repu

nancy cordes is at the u.n. with more on that. nancy? >> reporter: well, scott, simply put, the white house is prioritizing the president's reelection bid. most major leaders will be here all week. the president will here just 24 hours and he'll spend much of that time away from this gathering. after landing in new york this afternoon, the president headed straight for a sit-down. not with visiting leaders but with the ladies of "the view" for an interview to air tomorrow. >> america's commitment to israel will never waiver. >> reporter: last year at the u.n. general assembly president obama held 13 one-on-one meets with major leaders. but in year diplomacy is taking a backseat to campaigning, despite a worsen civil war in syria, rising tensions between israel and iran, and the recent attack in libya. >> the president and the libyan government have been staunch partners to the united states. >> reporter: in the president's absence, it was secretary of state hillary clinton who met with libya's president today as well as the presidents of

we go now to nancy cordes at the white house. we expect also to hear this morning from president obama. what can you tell us about the reaction at this time and what the libyan government is saying to the white house? >> reporter: charlie, the president was first notified of the libya situation by his national security adviser tom donellen yesterday afternoon. he first heard that ambassador stevens was unaccounted for and then later this morning told that stevens had actually been killed. the first u.s. ambassador to be killed by terrorists since 1979, one of only six in u.s. history. the president put out a statement earlier this morning, condemning the attacks and saying, "on a personal note, chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the united states. throughout the libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the libyan people at our mission in benghazi." he'll say more in that statement in the rose garden shortly. and we also expect that he will address the security situation, not just for state depar

and nancy cordes is at the white house tonight. nancy. >> reporter: scott, at a rally in virginia today, the president brought up those 47% comment by governor romney again. they're becoming a fixture of his campaign message. the president also cleaned up some of his own inelegant comment after telling univision yesterday that you can't change washington from the inside, a remark that governor romney, naturally, picked up on right away. >> now, for some reason my opponent got really excited. he rewrote his speech real quick. he set up a rally, proudly declared-- "i'll get the job done from the inside." ( laughter ) what kind of inside job is he talking about? ( applause ) is it the job of rubber stamping the top-down, "you're on your own" academy of the republican congress? is it it is, woe don't want it. >> reporter: mr. obama also told the crowd is what he meant to say yesterday is you can't change washington just from the inside, that you need buy-in from the american public and that americans need to be pushing for change from t