tibetans would like more autonomy, of course, he is exiled to india after there was a cracktown in tibet in the '50s, but he says it is the responsibility and perhaps the role and the dough sire of the younger people inside tibet to decide what happens with this dalai lama role. >> and i have asked, 20 seconds left, guys, let's show the twitter board. i follow him, you follow him, dalai lama on twitter. >> almost 1 million followers. does not tweet himself. his staff tweets his thoughts. these are his thoughts. >> his thoughts tweeted by someone else. >> said he is technologically inept. >> hala gorani, thank you so much. let's send it on up to wolf blitzer in new york. wolf? thanks very much, brook. happening now, president obama's feel good flashback, why is he revisitying the chilean miner rescue when so democrats are in dire straits only five days before the midterm election?

this hour, we take you behind the scenes of the grassroots movement that could turn washington upside down. and is it politics or is it parody? jon stewart says his big d.c. rally this weekend will help restore saint. democrats apparently think it might help them hold onto power as well. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from the cnn election center. you are "the situation room." jew might think that president obama would be be out on the campaign trail today, precious little time left in the midterm campaign. guess again. questions are being raised how the standard bear of the democratic party is spending his time only five dates before election night in america. let's go straight to our white house correspondent dan lothian. i found it a little strange, dan, that today we heard the president was supposed to be in the rose guard within some of

the americans who helped in the chilean miner disaster. >> that is right. he did meet with them and then was supposed to have this event out in the rose garden but that was canceled at the last minute. the white house downplaying questions about why was the president involved in something like this in the middle of a critical week, pointing out that the president is very much engaged in getting out the vote, has been working the phones behind-the-scenes and may even make additional media appearances before next tuesday. one day after appearing the "daily show" with jon stewart, president obama continued his media blitz in the hunt for more votes, appearing on the yolanda adams morning radio show, popular with african-americans, the president's plea seemed to have a more urgent tone. >> you know why you would want to give your future away to somebody else. >> reporter: with predictions that republicans will take the house and make big gains in the senate, mr. owe billion mass candid about what that would mean for his next two years. >> if i don't have some support

from congress in the house and the senate, then i can't do everything that needs to be done. >> reporter: in the last few days, while the president has been absent from the campaign trail, he has been pleading his case on hispanic and african-american radio and then made a big splash against, targeting younger voters with his "daily show" appearance. while the white house is pleased with this outreach -- >> when the president gets to talk about what he's done, and sift through what people may or may not have heard, it's a positive benefit. >> you said the president was going on the "daily show" to reach out to -- mainly to young voters? >> regret in anyway him doing the "daily show" last night? >> reporter: stewart seemed to channel the scepticism of the testimony ii ii iic -- democrat. the indignity of a show cost

calling the commander in chief dude pretty well captured the moment for obama. he was pleased with his appearance last night, had the opportunity to walk americans through what he had done, some of his accomplishments. gibbs was downplaying among democrats, he has strong support, if you follow the polls, strong support in his base. >> how did they explain the decision to cancel the rose garden event today with those americans who helped with the rescue in chile? >> one top aide told me it was simply a scheduling problem, the president's schedule got full and he couldn't make that appearance. >> thanks very much, dan lothian, for that. let's look ahead a little bit to 20126789 sarah palin, former governor of alaska is now speaking out about what conditions might arise that would lead her to run for the republican presidential nomination. here is what he said on entertainment tonight online. >> everybody is analyzing and

debating whether or not you are already running and setting yourself up to run in 2012. are you going to run for president? >> you know, i have not decided what i'm going to do in 2012. i don't think any of the potential candidates have. i think that still it is too early for anybody to get out there declaring what their intentions are. for me, mary, it is going to entail a discussion with my family. a real close look at the lay of the land and to consider whether there are those with that common sense, conservative pro-constitution passion, whether there are already candidates out there who can do the job and i will get to be their biggest supporter and their biggest helpmate, if they will have me, or whether there's nobody willing to do it and to make the tough choices and not care what the critics are going to say about you, just going

forward according to what i believe the priorities should be. nobody else to do it, of course i would believe that we should do this. >> tonight, sarah palin is campaigning in her home state of alaska with republican senate candidate and tea party favorite, joe miller. palin's support helped miller win the gop nomination over the incumbent republican senator, lisa murkowski, but now, murkowski is you running as a write-in candidate and miller is under fire after revelations that he twlid years ago when he was caught using local government computers for political purposes. let's bring in our cnn political producer shannon travis, covering the tea party movement for months. shan.this alaska senate race is an important testing ground for the tea party and for sarah palin. >> is critical for both, would. and here's why. it will test whether sarah palin and the tea party movement, activist part of the move amount are really kingmakers and queenmakers. what i mean by that can they take someone a little known

candidate, as joe miller was in alaska, as sharron angle was in nevada and other candidates that you have seen in the cycle, and actually propel them to a general election win? they have had a lot of success during the primary season. can they win during the general election? you heard last week, sarah palin telling the republican establishment to "man up" an not be chickens, as she said, spend some political capital and actually help elect these tea party candidates. so will she be the one who says, hey, i had the last laugh, i helped push some of these people over in the movement for that matter or will some of these candidates that they back amount to a failed gamble? >> shannon, off new documentary that will take all of us behind the scenes of this tea party movement. you were in alaska for joe miller's upset over lisa murkowski in the primary. let me play this little clip.

>> here in anchorage, outside a state division of elections office and look who we run into, the core team, the a team of the tea party express. >> we can come in and promote whatever candidate we want to but ultimate lish the people make their decision when they go to the ballot box. and these liberal democrats, liberal republicans can say that these candidates are extreme, but then they are saying the rest of america is extreme. we are not extreme. i mean, this is mainstream america making these decision and they better wake up and listen. >> you know what these candidates who are being called extreme are taking on issues this politicians haven't taken on and that is why they are getting attacked. we have a problem with social security and it does have to be address and it is not working the current way. so, you can go ahead and do nothing like the establishment politicians are doing or take it on, the minute you dork the special interests and the entrenched interests are going to call you extreme. so, you just have to take it. >> is there a warning from your group, a message in this should they be reading the tea leaves? >> yeah i think they ned to

adhere to the constitution and know that we are watching, but more importantly, the people are watching and the people don't like it when you -- when the establishment thinks that this is their seat to maintain. this seat belongs to the people. >> so here outside of lisa murkowski's ankle ran headquarters, basically talk to her about the movement in the campaign see what is going on, the vote tallied, the final vote result. >> we are just watching the numbers closely. >> there is going to be a large bunch of votes tab lated by 5 p.m. we are going to know either way where we stand. >> so, is it possible that she might concede? is that a possibility? >> we -- unfortunately, we just don't know. >>. we narrowed the gap a little bit.

. i can tell from a little bit of body language the certain sense of unease? >> that is fair to say. >> if this thing doesn't pan out for you guys, how big of a blow is that going to be? you must have thought about that. >> yeah, of course you think about that. be a huge problem. >> would it be directly attributable to the tea party movement? >> they went very negative, very fast. they dumped a lot of money outside here. they really didn't -- they kind of disregarded the facts about her record, a lot of -- they would spat out lies and then they would spat them out louder and louder and louder. >> who would spat out lie? >> tea party, blatant stuff about her voting record n hindsight, we wish they would have stayed out of alaska politics. >> lisa murkowski's defeat was a high point for the tea party but

five days before the election, tea party candidates are in a number of very close races across the country. let's go back to shannon. shannon, this is a critical moment for the tea party movement, some of their candidates will presumably do very, very well. others, like christine o'donnell, for example in delaware, not so well. >> yeah, this could go one of two dways, wolf, as you know, pt toomey in pennsylvania, rand paul in kentucky, they could go on to electoral success, or some could fail and a third argument tea party critics are making, that is in an anti-incumbent mood, the economy is still sour and a lot of people not so in love with the democrats, that these candidates should be leading the democratic opponent buys double digits and as we have seen in our most recent polling that these races are very tight. there is a lot of consternation

why is the race so tight in a year where a lot of analysts expect for democrats to have huge losses? so, even with some wins, close whips, will it will be a complete whip will be up for people to decide. >> shannon, thanks very much to our viewers, please be sure to watch shannon's "boiling point, inside the tea party" saturday and sunday night at 8 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. remember this is the place to be for complete election coverage. join me and the best political team on television for america votes 2010 this weekend at 6 p.m. saturday, 9 p.m. sunday for special reports. and of course, we will be here all tuesday, tuesday night for election night in america. our special coverage of the elections begins 7 p.m. eastern right after the situation room. democrats traditionally have count on women voters but is their base of support crumbling out from under them right now? also, president obama played it for laughs with jon stewart but the appearance could come

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is it wise, under normal circumstances, for a president to be going to on these kinds of shows? >> i was just talking with ed rollins in the back room here and we both worked for ronald reagan. i must say, wolf, both of us felt it was unimaginable ronald real won go on these kind of shows. harry truman would never go on these shows. history is -- >> it demeans the presidency, the office of the presidency? >> the force of the presidency comes from this moral authority. you are of the people but you are sort of above in some ways, the people look up to you. i think when you just sort of get into the mix and you become -- you get into the class and everything else, it sort of levels the playing field in many ways. but the president did well. he had a good conversation and help set jon stewart up for his rally. >> listen to this little exchange the president had with jon stewart about a man you know, larry summers, the former president of harvard university who served as treasury secretary during the clinton administration. most recently, a senior economic

adviser to president obama. listen to this. sure. >> and in fairness, larry summers did a heck of a job trying to figure out how to -- >> you don't want to use that phrase, dude. >> i'm sorry. i was -- pun intended. >> all right. >> brownie, all of us remember during katrina, michael brown, homeland security adviser did a "heck of a job" and living down that for all the years since then. >> absolutely. wolf, i'm biased on larry summers, i have known him and been a friend almost 30 years, so i thought -- i thought it was beneath the president to do that, frankly and -- >> the president to do what? >> say it was a heck of a job. >> you think he said that deliberate rattly or just sort of came out? >> he did say pun intended afterwards, didn't he? >> yeah. >> and it got laughs. it didn't -- >> you think the president was trying to be funny? >> i think he was try to be funny but a little bit at

larry's expense in fact, a lot at larry's expense. i thought larry summers did a good job for him and he ought to stand up for his team. maybe he didn't intend it. but i thought it was unfair. >> here is another little exchange that the president had with jon stewart. i will play this clip. >> all right. >> you say you would run this time as a pragmatist, it wouldn't be, yes we can, given certain conditions and -- >> no. no i think what i would say is -- >> yeah. >> yes we can, but it is not -- but it is not gonna -- it is not gonna happen overnight. >> is that a good campaign slowing ton run for re-election, yes we can but it is not going to happen overnight? >> not in your lifetime. >> overnight is not exactly your lifetime. >> right. right. well it is such a qualifier. i don't think we heard it very of the innocent campaign, not a good slogan. the message, too, might be no you can't. we are going to stop you. that's what's going to be coming from republicans, we will wait and see.

look, i think the president did well last night, but he has been on stewart a couple of times. he has been on leno, espn a couple of times, he has been on "the view," he has been on "oprah." you know, there is such a thing as less is more. >> all right, david is going to be with us, part of the best political team on television, a lot more to discuss. >> we will. >> thanks very much. >> thank you. shocking allegations against the real-life hero of the movie "hotel rwanda" tell you how he is responding. stand by for that. former president george w. bush is reportedly hooked on his ipad. we are going to tell you what his wife is saying is his favorite app. [ manager ] you know...

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debra fairic is monitoring top stories in the situation room now, including the latest on the relief efforts under way in had indonesia now, deb what do you have? tremendous challenge for those trying to get aid into indonesia, where entire villages were flatten bid an earthquake and tsunami. officials say at least 343 people died and another 340 are missing after the 7.7 quake on monday. the international community is pledging assistance, but it is difficult to get this and other aid to the devastated remote islands of western indonesia. and the real-life hero of the movie "hotel rwanda" is being accused of funding a terror group. official says they have evidence that the man wired large sums of money to a rebel group. he denies the accusations, saying the government is trying to tarnish his reputation much the former hotel manager is questioned kred didded with saving hundreds of rwandans in the 1994 genocide. verizon will pay millions to the government to settle an

investigation into the mystery fees. this comes on top of an estimated $53 million in refunds that verizon will pay to 15 million customers. the fcc started investigating verizon in january after years of customers complaining about unexplained data charges on their bills. verizon says it made inadvertent billing mistakes. george w. bush is addicted to his ipad. the wife of the former president tells yahoo! news it is hard to break him away from the apple gadget. laura says her husband read he is "the wall street journal" on it first thing in the morning and his favorite app is scrabble. >> a lot of people love that app. karl rove's latest verbal slap at sarah palin. is he single-handedly trying too dash her presidential hopes. what's this option? that's new.

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happening now, just five days to go until the election, democratic operatives are looking ahead to 2012. they are trying to dig up some

dirt potentially on nine key republicans who might run against president obama. we are going to give the names. stand by. and new allegations that the arizona governor, jan brewer, was once detained for driving under the influence. john king just spoke to her. we will tell you what she has to say about that. i'm wolf blitzer. you are "the situation rooin "t" a critical question for democrats right now, only five days before the election. is the party losing a huge, huge, essential part of its base? we are talking about women. let's bring in our senior political analyst gore ya borger. look at these poll numbers, new "new york times" poll asked women's choice for congress right now, back in september, 6 look how it flipped since then. 45 support the republican, 41%, the democrat.

this is a significant shift, without the women, the democrats are in deep trouble. >> women have always been really, really important to the democratic party, wolf. there are a couple of things going on here. first of all, it is the impact of the bad economy. women believe they are at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to the economy that they are the last in on a job and they are the first out. a majority of the minimum wage earners in this country are women. so they feel the impact when unemployment rate is high. they also tend to take care of their parents. they feel that impact when health care costs go up. but there is something else going on here. if you really develop into these numbers, a majority of african-american and latino voters overall are women, okay? if those voters stay home, and they might this race, which is why you see the president out there trying to tell them to come out and vote, if they stay home, that's really bad for the democratic party. then they are left with white men, whom they don't do well with and white women and among

white women, particularly those without college educations, the democrats are not doing well either. so if you don't have the minorities and noncollege educated women, you are really in trouble. >> could be in deep trouble on tuesday. another thing we are seeing in a lot of these races a strong resume itself -- >> forget t. >> doesn't necessarily helped. i served in congress, i have been there 25 years, forget it. any political experience is bad for you. remember, when barack obama ran for president, we had that fight between him and hillary clinton. she said i offer a lifetime of experience, you ought to have me answering the phone at 3:00 in the morning that didn't work so well for her either. but now, it has even gone beyond that and people believe that washington is tainted, they are frustrated, they are angry, they believe government doesn't work. if you have had anything to do with government at any level, they kind of don't want you. the irony here is they want people to work together but what we are probably going to get

after this election is a much more polarized congress and so the public could even be more unhappy. >> amazing when you think about it all these powerful democratic chairmen who might lose to somebody who is going to be freshman, a congressman without a whole a lot of clut or influence or ability to bring home the bacon, full. these chairman are going to be gone. >> interesting to see how they behave, wolf, these people, not beholden to anybody, lots weren't endorsed by leadership until they were endorsed by the tea party, more bow hold tonight tea party than the establishment. it is gonna be trouble. >> gloria is going to be part of the best political team on television the next several days as well. dems are certainly homes for a big turnout at the polls but surprising obstacles that might keep some americans from voting. some of the obstacles because of the recession. let's bring in mary snow, a closer look that the story. what are you learn? >> gloria was mentioning how the

economy could affect women voters but also affect voters overall. take this into consideration in 2008 elections it is estimated as many as 3 million people tried to vote but couldn't. it was mostly due to problems with voter registration, that is according to a survey done by mit and harvard. this time around, some new factors to keep people from the polls. for example the economy. roughly 3 million homes were foreclosed on last year, if people didn't update their information or establish new residency that could potentially keep people away. add to that the high unemployment rate. that could force a lot of people that -- had has forced a lot of people to relocate. also the political environment itself. the head of the national league of women voters voiced concerns about groups organizing to challenge voter eligibility. >> instance around the country, including wake county north carolina, which is raleigh, while with i was in north carolina of attempts at the polls by citizens, by other

citizens, to challenge voters at the polls and challenge their right to vote. we really want people to know their rights and not be intimidated by those efforts much. >> this year, some conservative groups have taken it on themselves to make sure voters eligible to cast a ballot. liberal groups are crying foul. voting rights advocateses are afraid it could keep potential voters away. >> areas requiring voters to go out and prove that they are u.s. citizens. >> in georgia, this became a state law. it is required to prove you are a citizen. now the league's president also cited as an example of straining resources at the nonprofit because their volunteers are having to collect and copy documents instead of focussing of on making sure voters registered to vote. the league cites a dropoff in drives to get voters to register. >> some people make a conscientious decision they don't want to vote, your right. you don't have to vote under the law in this country.

all right, mary, thank you. remember, this is the place to be for complete election coverage. join me and the best political team on television for america votes 2010 this weekend. special reports at 6 p.m. saturday. we will be live 9 p.m. sunday night. of course, here tuesday for election night in america. our special coverage begins at 7 p.m. eastern right after "the situation room." the secret's out about how much the united states spends on spying and guess what, you won't be surprised. it's a lot. and special treatment for combat veterans who return home dramatized and return to crime. [ male announcer ] this rock has never stood still.

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new information about that bin laden tape. deb feyerick is monitoring that and other stories "the situation room" right now. what is going on there? >> wolf, french officials say the new osama bin laden tape appears to be real. in it, bin laden warns the french to get out of afghanistan and not to oppress susslisms at home. france recently passed legislation barring women from covering their faces in public that includes the burqa. officials say this tape only confirms the reality of the terrorist threat against france. and on to somalia, where militants publicly executed two

teenaged girls. the group al shabaab called the girls evil and say they were spice. they were blindfolded with the hands behind their backs and shot. hundreds of people reportedly watched. family members deny the girls were spice. sal shabaab has been fighting against the somali government to impose a stricter form of islamic law. en $80 billion, how much the u.s. spent on spy activities for 2010 with, that include 53 million billion on nonmilitary intelligence programs. the first time the government is officially announcing a total tab on spy spending. the intelligence community resisted efforts to say how much it is spending. enemies could learn important information by tracking that spending, it says. and wolf, look at had this a monkey that sneezes in the rain. according to the american journal of pry matology, scientists discovered this new species of snub-nosed monkey in myanmar. when it rains, the upturned nose filled with rain water, causing

it to sneeze it has a long black tail, all black fur except for white fur on its ears and chin. wolf? >> very cute little -- >> this that would drive me crazy if i sneezed every time it rained. karl rove is, shall we say less than enthusiast buc a potential sarah palin run for the presidency in 2012. does she lack what he gravitas? democrats are gearing up for the 2012 presidential race by trying to dig up some possible dirt on republican candidates. details on who they are looking into and what they are finding out. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 if anything, it was a little too much. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 but the moment they had my money? nothing.

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let's get right to our strategy session. discuss karl rove and sarah palin. joining us, our cnn contributor, the "new york daily news" columnist errol lewis and political contributor for cnn, ed rollins. thanks for coming in, guys. karl rove telling the daily telegraph, a newspaper in london this about sarah palin's decision to have her own reality show about alaska. appearing on your own reality show on the discovery channel, i am not certain how that fits into the american calculus. that helps me see you in the oval office there are high standards that the american people have for it the president circumstance and they require a certain level of gravitas and they want to look at the candidate and say, that candidate is doing things that gives me confidence that they are up to the most demanding job in the world. i assume you think karl has a point? >> he's a point but no offense to his candidate who became president of the united states, george w. bush, who most people saw sitting as the general manager of the texas rangers

watching texas ball games before being governor. she has been a governor. any time you can get on tv and be in your own environment it is a positive thing. i think everybody underestimates sarah palin and the republican primary is fooling themselves. >> ronald reagan criticized in 1966 for having been in "ambassador bed time for upon zoe" beat pat brown. next time, he wins by 9 million votes, jimmy carter on "what's my line" 1973 president three years later. bill clinton played saxophone on arsenio hall. >> to the a certain degree, it makes people be able to relit to you? >> i think this is a -- good forum, she can control this environment, people see her in her home environment, a long ways to go have an incumbent president the next couple of years, got to win primaries, election on tuesday. >> you think she is going to run? >> i think no one is going to discourage her from running and she will basically have everybody encouraging her. you think she will run? >> lack of gravitas is no barrier. >>. >> i remember and you guys remember 1980, jimmy carter

found out the incumbent president would be ronald reagan, a former movie star, they were high fiving each other in the white house, didn't exactly work out wait they thought it would. don't sell sarah palin short by any means. i agree. i think she will do very well if she runs in iowa, in south carolina, nevada and maybe even in new hampshire. >> a second in new hampshire, wins iowa, she will be very strong and then winner take all after that. >> you wrote answer tricking column in the daily news here in new york, errol, that maybe we will be surprised when we see some of the results in the african-american, the latino community on tuesday. >> yeah. there are some things going on, the point of the column there are things you aren't going to pick up, pollsters won't catch it not going to see it on a casual observation, there has been an intense mobilization effort, the president, he did this two years ago, people didn't realize this, but on black radio he has been on latino and spanish language radio sort of quietly mobilizing that part of the democratic base

and if you look state by state, district by district, they can be a really important factor, a huge factor in nevada, for example, a big factor in pennsylvania, they can be a crucial factor in illinois protect the president's seat there is message going out mobilizing people around the notion that a lot of republicans and the tea party want in effect, a recount or a do-over of 2008. so you have got to get to the polls. >> if he gets them out in pennsylvania, as you say, ohio, in illinois, in california that could make a huge difference. >> a difference in some of the senate, some of the gubernatorial races, i don't think a difference in the congressional races, most of those are suburban, rural areas, the ones with we think we will pick up. i have heard this before and my friend, errol, knows this community better than i do, at the end, jesse jackson do it for mondale, 45 million dollars put into these kinds of efforts. monumental election in 2008 that made every black american proud to go out and vote. voting for a congressman, a

senator, not quite the same. >> you think we are sitting right now on what some republicans they may be engaged in wishful thinking, they are saying it is going to be a political tsunami for them on tuesday? >> i believe in winning them one at a time. i think it is realistic going to be over 40. i they we make it to 50. i think beyond that -- >> the house of representatives. >> the house of representatives, real tough sledding after that i think we get fairly close in the senate. i don't think we get over the top. >> what do you think, errol? >> i would agree with that in the low 50s, the democrats will hang had on by 5253 seats in the senate. when it comes to the house, when you talking about over 50 seats, hard to see where they come from, frankly. >> are you convince if the republicans were to pick up 9, they need 10 to get to the 51 number in the u.s. senate, you convinced if they pick up nine that they wouldn't be able to convince joe lieberman, the independent from connecticut to join them as opposed to go with the democrats? >> joe lieberman is on our side on foreign affairs, he cannot get renominated as a democrat in

his home state and can't win as independent. the only way he can get nominated will be a republican. not take him two years from now, we are happy to get him. >> decisive, joe lieberman says i will go with the moment, the win wind, if the republicans have a major wave. >> sure, but that scenario is really kind of unlikely. they have to really run the table. they have to pick up some surprises in a state like washington. >> nine is easier than ten. >> well, yeah that is true. i don't know if they even get to nine, to tell you the truth. >> might just get six or seven, too, because a lot of these races, colorado -- >> always anticipated on the planning, get it in two owe elections, historically we have done. 2012, 24 democrats including lieberman and will up out of the 33, definitely two years from now if we don't get it this time. >> guys, don't go too far away, a lot to discuss in the coming days. thanks very much. >> pleasure. many women in afghanistan right now are living in fear that a peace agreement in their country could cost them their basic human rights. and we will set the stage for jon stewart's rally in

washington, d.c. this weekend. is it really a joke or is it a serious political event that could help the president and the democrats? down the hill? man: all right.

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in afghanistan right now

some believe that a key to ending the war there is negotiations between the government of hamid karzai and the taliban, but as the talks are under way some fear that the price of peace could be women's rights. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is in afghanistan and she has been talking to afghan women about their concerns. >> reporter: in this modest classroom, afghan widows gather openly to learn. these women are hungry for education. on the most fundamental basics. they are teaching us mathematics and the alphabet, she says, i just want to be able to read a phone number. this woman was orphaned at a young age and never got the chance to go the school. she remembers the bad times when female education was banned under the taliban. how much do you fear that the taliban may come back?

yes shg, i am concerned, she te me, because if the taliban come, they will lock the women in the home once again. taliban return to some level of power may be on the table. president hamid karzai's government is talking to the taliban leaders trying to reach a peace settlement. it is now seen as a vital step to ending the war. but what would it mean for afghan women determined to hold only to their rights? hasin runs the school and heavily involved in women's rights and like many women, she hopes that the constitution will continue to protect women, but she worries about reaching piece with the taliban. >> we were getting very, very worried, very worried, because we thought that even the start of negotiation will make a lot of problems for women. >> reporter: former afghan

president ra bbini leads the council for women's rights. >> they are afraid that they would sell women's rights to participate in the parliament or education or in fact, might give away parts of territory almost to taliban control. >> reporter: this woman runs a hairdressing shop, a gathering place for women. she hopes that women's rights won't be lost in a taliban negotiation. i hope they accept the afghanistan constitution, because there were 30 years' war in this country, and afghans cannot accept war anymore. >> women should not sit at home. women should go to schools. women should be doctors. women should be professors. women should be politicians. >> reporter: for afghanistan's next generation of women, the hope is that in any peace agreement with the taliban, their fragile rights will be protected and that the spirit

now flourishing will not be dimmed. barbara starr, cnn, kabul. we are going to take you inside of a very unusual courtroom in california where the defendants are all combat veterans, and we will show you how the court is trying to help them avoid being locked up. stand by for that. and the house speaker nancy pelosi is a lightning rod for republican criticism with the gop possibly poised to recapture the house, and so why is she so upbeat right now? dana bash is standing by to explain. since 2009, we've helped over 200,000 americans keep their homes. and we're reaching out to small businesses too, increasing our lending commitment this year to $10 billion and giving businesses the opportunity to ask for a second review if they feel their loan should have been approved. this is how recoveries happen. everyone doing their part.

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an alarming number of u.s. veterans returning from combat in afghanistan and iraq with brain injuries, post-traumatic stress and other problems to make adjusting to civilian life difficult. some end up committing crimes. for them now there are alternatives to jail or prison. here is cnn's casey wian. >> how do you please to that, guilty or not guilty? >> guilty, your honor. >> reporter: and this man who served as army special operations plead guilty to making a death threat in orange county, california. he lost most of his leg and returned with post-traumatic stress disorder and returned with problems of drugs and alcohol. instead of three years in jail, the judge sentences him to probation, and at least 18 months of treatment, and very close supervision by her combat veterans court. >> thank you for your service, and we hope in turn that we will be able to serve you well. >> are we safer as a community if we simply process these human

beings through the system and send them off to prison and have them come back out into community? because they will come back into our community, and if they come back there and their ptsd has not been treated, what is the likelihood to have another violent act in our community? >> reporter: though the veterans coming here often avoid jail time, they must plead guilty and agree to regimen of rehab, and drug testing and probation, and regular monitoring by the judge. >> i passed my final exam to be a personal trainer. >> i just ran the l.a. marathon. >> he just finished four steps and ready for the fifth. >> lindley is part judge and part cheerleader, but she can be tough. this vet tested positive for drugs. >> don't give me garbage ant how you were in the room and someone else was smoking marijuana, that does not cut it. i need you to examine yourself

as to why you thought it was a better option to lie than to just own up to it, and deal with it. you are going to get an overnight, and you will get out tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. >> reporter: veteran court prosecutor wendy bruf is used to putting criminals in jail. >> it is a paradigm shift to go from the appropriate sentence of how much jail time and how much prison time to more of a rehabilitati rehabilitation. >> this program has changed my life. i was beat down pretty hard. >> reporter: former marine daniel faced jail for two duis and now he is in film school, and jesse a cook. >> i would not have a reef over my head or money in my pocket. >> reporter: you mentioned that some of the defendants that come before you have tried to commit suicide in the past. >> many of the young men have tried to kill themselves, because they are really unable to adapt once they return, and some of them have such remorse for things that they did in the

name of war that it is very difficult for them. >> reporter: orange county's veteran court does not admit the violent and unrepentant criminal defendants and only accepts vets who had a clean record before they were deployed. >> we have a ethical and moral obligation to restore these human beings to who they were before when they were brave enough to go to protect the rites that you and i enjoy everyday. >> reporter: more than 40 veteran courts are operating nationwide. casey wian, santa ana, california. and with election day around the corner, democrats are trying to get the drop on a potential, several potential 2012 presidential challengers to president obama, and why have they asked the meantgon on -- t pentagon for information on top republicans? and days away from losing her leadership role, why does

house speaker nancy pelosi seem to positive? and one of the stranger bans would ban islamic law in oklahoma courts. is a lawmaker afraid that his state could become another saudi arabia? i'm wolf blitzer, and you in i'm wolf blitzer, and you in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com with just five days to go until the midterm election, the democratic operatives are looking ahead to 2012. they recently asked the pentagon for information about nine key republicans who might pose a challenge to president obama. let's go straight to the pentagon correspondent chris lawrence who is looking into the story for us. what do we know, chris? >> well, wolf, information is putting it lightly, wolf. i will tell you what i mean by that in a second, but yeah, the democrat national committee has filed a freedom of information act request with the army asking for any and all letters, memos and communication between these potential candidates and the

army. now, some of them have run before, and their names will be familiar, and mike huckaby, sarah palin, newt gingrich, and many are in office now, john thune, and bobby jindal, and mitch daniels and mississippi governor haley barbour, and minnesota governor tim pawlenty, and an internal army memo says that they want it by tomorrow which may be tough. a defense official told me when he reads all of the communication he takes that very seriously. this, he said, could include records going back to say newt gingrich writing a letter to the army back when he was in office in the '80s, all of the way to say sarah palin visiting fort richardson in alaska when she was governor there. right now what the army is doing is doing a word search to try to find the records bark tuz d-- be the dnc is not asking for

current or those in prominent position, but all of the way back to when sarah palin was on the city council in wasilla, alaska. i am told that the latest request was update to the earlier one, but it added more names and expanded the search. you know, nothing nefarious about it, because it is completely above board and cnn uses them all of the time to get information and any party can use them and both parties do it all of the time to get research on their opponents, but it will give you a good idea of who the democrats are targeting two years down the road, wolf. >> thank you, very much for that, chris. the minnesota governor tim pawlenty said he will file his own information freedom of act with the federal agencies about the democratic committee's role in what he calls the federal takeover of health care. he says that the democrats have given up on the midterm fight

and focusing in on 2012. he wants to request any documents related to the dnc's communications with any federal officials about the health care overhaul. one former candidate says he is flattered by the attention. listen to former arkansas governor mike huckaby. >> if five days before the election they are looking at 2012 they know what we are saying is true, and they know they are going to be wiped out next tuesday. this talk of they are going to winks and that th-- they are go win, they would not be looking two years down the road if they thought they had any chance of winning next week. >> let's bring in candy crowley who hosts "state of the union" on sunday mornings. why are the democrats doing this now? >> well, it is never too early to think about the next election. simple as that. this is the non-end iing electi

cycle. we always joke, when does 2012 began, on wednesday? no, i said, it began last week. so for the real political operatives and those are of the rnc and the race for 2012 began a long time ago and this is a continuation of that. >> and you have to realize that the day after the election tuesday, it is only a little more than a year before the iowa caucuses and the new hampshire primary and the south carolina primary. >> you are going to start to scare people now, wolf. >> it is people moving ahead and a lot of republicans out there running for president, and it is part of the game that democratic opposition research experts are beginning to look for some opposition dirt, if you will. but, it does seem a little unseeming to go to the pentagon this early and people who are not familiar with the politics in washington might think they

are looking to dig up dirt. >> well, they are. i mean, the dnc certainly s and the pentagon has absolutely no alternative but to do it. it is a freedom of information act and a part of the law, and people can go to say i request this, this, and the other thing. what is interesting is that it does make you feel kind of funky, that people take up the work of people at the pentagon who want to be one assumes might want to do something more produck di wprodu productive who are looking around for any communication that might involve any of the nine republicans and they want to know if democrats want to know if there is any other freedom of information act request for these people. so it seems that you are drawing the pentagon into a political race, but the truth is that this is what all of the agencies have to comply with and that is the freedom of information act, and neither you nor i would ever argue against the freedom of information act. >> and for those who have filed for foia, it can take months or

years for bureaucrats to find the information that the public has a right to know. >> exactly. i thought it was interesting that at least when one of the reports it said that the dnc put a deadline on it. i thought, boy, they have never filed a foia before, because it can take a long time and it will be interesting if the pentagon can meet that deadline. >> candy, thank you. we will see you on "state of the union" sunday. it was the comedian jon stewart hosting the president last night, and now he is getting ready for the rally on the national mall this weekend. let's bring in brian todd looking at the upcoming rally. is it satire or something more? you are already there, brian? >> well, that is right, wolf. we are down by the podium and they have put up one banner here and another one over here and they have made a lot of progress here in the last few hours.

johnn stewart has said it is a political comedy and not a political rally. but a lot of people are not buying in. >> reporter: jon stewart has said it repeatedly, that the rally saturday is not anti-glenn beck event. >> it is not in fact, a political rally. >> reporter: but stew warraart the rally is for people tired of being depicted as an electorate. he says that the rally on sunday is not political, do you believe him? >> no. >> reporter: why not? >> because when you watch his show, you can detect the sense of partisanship. >> i think it will have a little political spin to it, but i think it will be great, and kind of moderate thing. >> reporter: heather smith of rock the vote believes that the event is political at least as far as the target demographic. will this event galvanize young people to go to the voting booth

and get beyond social media and take part? >> this is to me like the country's largest psa, public service announcement days before the election and himillions of young people are watching and incredible messengers that they listen to, and if you care about restoring sanity to our country and these issues in your life, go vote november 2nd. >> many believe that president obama had that opportunity to galvanize the vote. >> larry summers did a heck of a job trying to figure out -- >> you don't want to use that phrase, dude. [ laughter ] >> pun intended. >> reporter: dana milbank says this this was not a political score for the president. >> it seemed uncomfortable and defensive and basically how you expect the president to be on the eve of a difficult election, buthe wants to capture the

youth, he has to pick it up. >> reporter: but that is tough forum to be funny and engaging and hitting home the points. that is a difficult thing to do. >> that is maybe the reason why a first time a sitting president has appeared on "the daily show" because comedy is a dangerous game. >> reporter: and even the outtakes at the white house where the president said he thought it was a good opportunity to walk through the accomplishments. >> i was pleased and the president was pleased with how it worked out. >> reporter: and you are looking now at a shot at the washington monument west of the lincoln memorial and beautiful night here and supposed to be good weather here saturday where the rally will be held right at this spot. you know, the president and other democrats are hoping that most of those who will go to this rally on saturday also go to the polls on tuesday, but it is going to be a tough challenge for the democrats to mobilize the young electorate like they did in 2008 when an increase of roughly 2% in the youth vote meant an additional 2 million

volter goesing to the polls, and of course, the vast majority of them going for the democrats, wolf. >> do jon stewart or his people suggest that they are targeting young voters to come to the rally this weekend in d.c.? >> one of stewart's people told me a short time ago they are not messaging that idea, but look, they know who their audience is, and when it is all said and done and you look at the rally saturday, it will look like a rally to galvanize young voters. >> brian todd at the national mall. income bents are likely to feel the wrath of voters. a new york times and/cnn poll shows that republicans have wiped out the advantage held by democrats in recent election cycles among women, roman catholics, less affluent americans and independents. all of those groups broke from mr. obama in 2008 and when they

grabbed for both chambers from the republicans four years ago according to the exit polls. allan chernoff is here and he has been looking at the angry voters and what else have you found? >> well, wolf, some of them are former factory workers who you know tend to vote democratic, but there are fewer and fewer of them as a result of the recession and the country keeps losing manufacturing jobs. one of them out of work is tony ferucci, and he has strong opinions of the president's job performance. we visited him at the site of his former factory in lyndon, new jersey. >> reporter: tony looks at the empty lot that housed the gm assembly plant where he worked for 33 years and sees all that is wrong with american politics today. >> i see a lot of failed policy. that is what i see. i see a lot of failed policy. i see things that could have been different. >> reporter: not enough

protection for creating jobs and not enough partisanship. >> this is gridlock right here. when you talk about the word, this is it, this is people not agreeing on things. >> reporter: he had voted for barack obama two years ago, but he says that he intends to return to republican column on election day, even though the obama administration bailed out gm. >> reporter: are you satisfied with what you are seeing in washington right now? >> no, i am not. a lot of the country is not satisfied with washington. the mood of the country is uneasy. >> reporter: uneasy, because he feels that the president's economic stimulus plan has failed to deliver benefit though the administration claims it has saved or created 3 million jobs. voters like him could deliver a blow to democrats on election day. more than 7 of 10 whites who describe themselves as blue-collar plan to vote republican according to cnn opinion research polling. instead of working projects around the house, tony says that

he'd still be working at the gm factory, if politicians, democrats and republicans had protected american jobs. today though, as a retired 58-year-old, he has a message for politicians that he believes many voters share, washington must do more to put americans back to work. he also worries about the debate on tax policy that is scheduled to occur in congress after election day. he believes that this is absolutely no time to be raising taxes even for the wealthy as the president has proposed. wolf. >> allan chernoff, thanks very much for that report. fears of islamic law in america's heartland is prompting one of the measures that voters will decide on next week. we will have details of an effort under way in oklahoma to ban muslim justice. what is going on? and before the gulf of mexico oil disaster, what did bp

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other kenmore cooking. sears. it's the idea that a car that will never have an accident may be possible. in pursuit of this goal, lexus developed the world's most advanced driving simulator, where a real driver in a real car can react to real situations without real consequences. the breakthroughs we innovate here may someday make all cars safer. this is the pursuit of tomorrow. this is the pursuit of perfection. this is cnn breaking news. on the breaking news involves those disturbing shooting incidents at u.s. military facilities outside of washington, d.c. let's bring back our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence. what are you learning, chris? >> well, wolf, we have now confirmed with the fbi that it

was the same gun that was used in all three of these shootings which now suggests that there is a pattern of someone going to different military facilities here in the d.c. area and taking shots at them. let's back up a quick second to tell you what we are talking about, again. two weeks ago someone started to take shots at a marine corps museum, and two days after that, someone took shots right here at the pentagon. and then, right on tuesday, someone did the same thing at a marine corps recruiting depot. these are within 20 or 30 miles of each other and all done overnight in the dark and no one was injured or no one there at the time, but again, what investigators are finding is that it was all done with the same weapon. earlier we were told that it was a high-powered rifle. again, it brings up the fact that right now there seems to be a person or persons going around at night and taking shots at different military facilities here in the d.c. area and of

course, coming up this weekend, big weekend of the marine corps marathon and 30,000 runners and thousands of friends and family and fans out there watching. we are told that they have increased security now, because of the shootings, wolf. >> and as they should. all right. we will stay on top of this together with you, chris. thank you very much. very disturbing development. oklahoma, an oklahoma lawmaker right now is afraid that his state could become supposedly like saudi arabia, one of this year's stranger ballot initiatives would ban islamic law in oklahoma courts. our state department correspondent jill dougherty reports. jill? >> reporter: wolf, this is a hot button issue on the web and in the blogosphere, but in oklahoma city, i found a lot of voters who don't know anything about it. oklahoma city, oil rigs, cowboys, churches, and islamic law? >> it has already happened here

in america and we want to make sure it does not happen here in oklahoma. >> reporter: state senator anthony psyches ssykes says tha law is islamic law. sykes says it would undermine american justice so he is co-sponsoring a proposition on the oklahoma ballot banning any use of the sharia here. >> i say that the fear is real if you have a judge who would even consider using sharia law in a state court. >> reporter: this controversy did not begin here in oklahoma city, but it began in new jersey when a muslim woman went to a family court asking for a restraining order against her husband claiming he had raped her. the judge wouldn't issue that order, because he said that the man was simply following his muslim beliefs. now, that decision was later thrown out by another court, but it sparked a firestorm. excuse me, can i ask you a question question e? at broadway and main, most

people had never heard of the nj nn ca nj case or the oklahoma ballot question? >> i have not heard of that. >> reporter: has anyone heard of it? >> no, no. >> reporter: there are 5,000 muslims here and we came to the grand mosque of oklahoma to see what they felt about this. as children recite the koran, salim koreshi says that the members are mostly those who respect the state law. >> it is fear. what does sharia have to do with oklahoma? >> reporter: some oklahomans want the ban. >> if there is something that come up that has to do with islamic or treating women that way, i don't want them to be treated badly. >> reporter: others are suspicious. >> i did get a call at home a couple of nights ago from somebody -- and frankly, it made

me wonder, well, who is behind the ballot in the first place. >> reporter: act for america, a conservative issues advocacy organization is spending $45,000 on radio ads and rowbocalls by former cia director jim woolsly. >> let's protect all americans, muslims and non-muslims alike from tyranny. >> there is not a chance of sharia law becoming oklahoma law. >> reporter: why is it on the ballot then? >> i don't know. >> reporter: there are 11 questions on the ballot in oklahoma and senator sykes admits that this sharia question is not a top concern of voters, and he says that sharia law is not a problem in oklahoma so far, and he wants to keep that it way. wolf. >> all right. jill, thank you. jill dougherty, reporting. is it time to add southern democrats to the endangered species list? we are looking at the party's

rapidly declining fortuneses in a stronghold. many people thought that oliver was popular name for boys in one country, but turns out to be very different and very telling.

some new revelations are coming out right now about how to gulf oil spill could have been prevented. deborah feyerick is monitoring that and other top stories in "the situation room." what are you learning, deb? >> well, wolf, federal investigators say that bp and halliburton knew about the potential flaws in the cement used to enforce the deepwater horizon rig before it exploded. the april explosion on the deepwater horizon rig killed 11 workers and caused the worst oil

spill in american history. more auto recalls to tell you about. nissan is recalling 2 million vehicles s worldwide for engin probl problem. in the u.s., it is the frontier, and pathfinder and xterr, and the models were built between 2003 and 2006. and muhammad has replaced jack as the most popular name for baby boys in england. government officials declared oliver as the top name in 2009, but when cnn looked at the most popular names and combined all of the spellings of muhammad, it was number one, followed by oliver, and jack and thomas. the united kingdom is less than 3% muslim. interesting finding, wolf. >> a lot of baby boys, though. >> absolutely. >> she may be days away from losing her speakership, so why is nancy pelosi so seemingly upbeat? is she in denial?

dana bash has the report. just ahead of the election, jan brewer reacts to allegations of an alleged dui incident two decades ago.

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♪ free-credit-score ♪ you won't regret it at all! ♪ check the legal y'all. >>offer applies with enrollment in triple advantage.® the house speaker nancy pelosi is a lightning rod for criticism that the democrats are getting. tuesday may even signal the end of her speakership, but look at, this a pumped up speaker nancy

pelosi earlier this week with michelle obama the first lady, and when we do see the speaker in public these last few days of the election cycle, that has been her demeanor always positive and always upbeat. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash is here watching the story for us. you have been doing reporting on this, dana, and she is upbeat in private as she is in public? >> i have talked to multiple sources about this, but it is hard to believe, but they say she is. she does not utter a peep about the possibility of handing over her speaker's gavel after tuesday's election, and maybe it seems to you, as it did to me, like a parallel universe thing. this is her m.o. she does not talk to her staff about it and the closest con confidants about it, because she is focused and getting through tuesday's elections. i got an e-mail from someone inside of a private reception in

california and she said, i came here to do a job and not hold a job. now, some of the people in her world guess that if she loses the gavel and the majority, she might retire, but they are gesing, because she does not talk about it. it is fascinating. >> she has been relative ly low key these past few days, but how is she? >> she understands she is a lightning rod and used across the country by republicans as a way to pull down democrats, and we have a piece of tape to illustrate how she knows that. she was with the president earlier this week, and she went up the stairs and didn't have a picture with him, but she has been working hard behind the scenes. she is working on people who she is pom you lar with, progressives to get them to go out to voet and close the enthusiasm gap, and she is raising so much money. she has raised $57 million for democrats this cycle, and that is a lot of money for a woman who has raised a lot of money in the past, and that is a record for her. >> and in some of the races, that money is going to be

decisive. >> and she is still doing it as we speak. >> and in arkansas, there is a senate race involving the inc e incumbent blanche lincoln who is in serious danger of losing her job to the challenger john boozeman. we will bring in our congressional correspondent brianna keilar outside of little rock, the capital, and the whole nature of the southern democrats is in deep trouble, isn't it, briann in? >> well, it is a question worth asking, wolf, because it is moderate and conservative democrats who could suffer the most significant losses next week. a lot of them are right here in the south. so the question we are asking is could southern democrats become an endangered species? >> reporter: he is one of the most in demand politicians this election, but as bill clinton stum ms for the demts his popularity may not be enough to help candidates in arkansas, like incumbent blanche lincoln who clinton campaigned for last month.

>> we have a hard race. a race we can win. >> yes! >> reporter: publicly lincoln insists that her campaign is going well. >> i feel good. really good. >> reporter: after 12 years in the senate, she is in real danger of losing her seat to republican challenger john bozeman. lincoln could be one of moderate to conservative democrats likely to exit congress this election ousted in favor of conservative republicans, though she says it won't happen. >> people understand how important it is to have people like me that are moderates. you know, without a doubt, they identify so clearly with the problem that exists in washington where you have democrats in one foxhole and republicans in another. >> reporter: for decades arkansas is a refuge for politicians like blanche lincoln, a white southern democrat, and a throwback to the pre-civil rights era when they were strongly democratic. on the ballot 62 democratically held seats in the southern states, and almost half of them

are competitive races. one of thel right here in arkansas' second congressional district which includes little rock. seven-term democratic congressman vick snyder is retiring. his open seat could go to a republican, but he insists that there is no fundamental shift away from the democratic party in arkansas or the south. >> the moderate wing of the democratic party is alive and well, and it will be for a long time. >> reporter: but it might be purged from congress this election? >> no, i don't think so. i think that we will have a lot of moderate democrats that will be thriving in the house. >> reporter: max brantley the editor of the liberal "arkansas times" isn't so sure. max, do you think that this is the death of the southern democrat? >> well, they may look like they are on life supports after this election. they are going to take some losses no doubt about it, and what happens in arkansas we won't know for two years. >> reporter: where arkansians

can make it clear if they are shifting to republicans or stick to the democratic roots that gave them the most famous son. it is not all bad for the democrats here. mike boeebe is expected to win n a state that went for john mccain over barack obama by 20 points if you can believe that. brianna, thank you very much. remember, brianna, and all of the viewers, this is the place to be for complete election coverage. join me and the best political team on television for "america votes 2010" this weekend at 6:00 p.m. eastern. on saturday 9:00 p.m. eastern, and sunday, special live reports looking ahead to the elections tuesday, and of course we will be here tuesday night for election night in america. and our special coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern right after "the situation room." big news from the florida senate race. a major democrat asks kendrick

meek, the democratic candidate to drop out of the race. we have breaking news coming up next.

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this is cnn breaking news. and the breaking news involves the former president of the united states bill clinton and the race for the u.s. senate in florida. john king is here and he is ready to break the story with us. what are we learning, john? >> well, the story was first reported by politico, and we should make it clear, that we have learned that a president clinton spokesman is confirming on the record that the former president of the united states met with kendrick meek who is the united states senate candidate to get kendrick meek to drop out of the race and back charlie crist who is the independent candidate. and now the independent candidate tells you about the cut throat politics as we get close here, because bill clinton has campaigned for kendrick meek and close to the family, but they have made the calculations that marco rubio is going to win that seat unless they do something dramatic and they are confirming on the record that bill clinton met with him and tried to get lihim to drop out

the race, and you can connect the dots, because ta reason they are willing to say it publicly, it is a signal to democratic voters that they don't believe that meek can win, and another nudge for him to think once again about it in the campaign's final days. >> any reaction of the meek campaign? >> no. >> we are reaching out to kendrick meek, and marco rubio, and also charlie crist. and there was also no job discussion that if kendrick meek dropped out that president obama would take care of him in any way, but a simple calculation that president clinton saying, you can't win this race, and we should do this to keep that seat in democratic hands. it is another piece of evidence that the democrats are increasingly worried that as you move west they are going to lose senate seats and washington state and patty murray considered a toss-up, so as they look at the math, they want a pick up so much so that bill clinton would go to an african-american candidate and ask him to drop out and endorse

another man in the race. >> and is bill clinton doing this on his own or someone encouraging him to go to kendrick meek and say, you are not going to win and distant third in the polls and marco rubio is supported by a lot of the tea party activists is going to be the next governor and that is a state that is critical in 2012 in the presidential contest, and is this bill clinton acting alone or is someone encouraging him to do this? >> those are dots that we would love to be able to connect. the president, the former president said in pennsylvania who has done roughly 115 events politically, he is not picking and choosing on his own, and there are conversations among the former clinton political circle and you know them well, and the obama political circle, and they are coordinating who should go where carefully in the final weeks. so with the former president, would he do it on his own? possibly, but i wish we could connect the dolts for you. >> well we will dig and dig and dig and you will have more coming up at the top of the ho.

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the death toll has reached 305 people with almost 5,000 confirmed cases of cholera, and the crisis is spreading across the country, but tons of life-saving medicine is sitting in a warehouse right now. our chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta is in haiti and joins us now. what is happening there, sanjay?

>> well, you know, what is sort of surprising here is that despite how much we have been talking about this, wolf, now for months when i talked to the representatives of the w s of s about the need for clean water and the possibility of infectious disease, they were caught blind sided and as a result supplies did not get out as quickly as they could have, and as we found out, that problem is ongoing. >> reporter: how could this have happened? that is what julie santos wants to know. >> you have someone there, someone here, and let's connect the dots. >> reporter: she is talking about trying to contain the outbreak of cholera. some have died and thousands more in need of treatment. >> this is where you are told to come for supplies and you have

patients waiting and what happens? >> well, they are patients waiting. >> reporter: patients waiting for the supplies. >> yeah, we are sending them out to the hospitals in st. mark. >> reporter: where the patients are literally begging for hydration and clean water and the cheapest of supplies and yet medical relief worker julie santos waits for hours for her paperwork to be approved before she can get the supplies. >> reporter: how can that happen that all of the life-saving supplies can be in there and so many people, hundreds of people are still dying? >> i don't know. i mean, i don't understand. i'm -- i'm at a loss, really. i'm trying to figure out why. i can't really get a straight answer. >> reporter: i wanted to try to understand myself. promise warehouse, a world health organization facility has the largest stockpile of supplies here in haiti. people have been waiting for hours outside and days in hospitals is this. pallets of i.v. fluids and literally life-saving stuff to

treat the patients with cholera, but it is not just that pallet, but you look at the warehouse full, despite what is the happening here in haiti. >> if we sent everything that we have here today, tomorrow we cannot answer for 100,000 cases. >> reporter: christian morales has the enormous task of figuring out who get tgs supplies and when. explain to me, how you see supplies here from july of this year before the outbreak, well before the outbreak. >> because why you want to sintd out before the outbreak? >> why would you send it out after the outbreak? we never did get a good explanation, but we saw hydration salts and i.v. fluids. did it go fast enough? >> i think that in every operation like this, you can do things better, and there's a lot of lessons to be taken from this. and the country needs to be

prepared for what is coming, because the likelihood of spreading of this epidemic is very high. >> reporter: that is something that we heard over and over. this epidemic is by no means over. the thousands of people who are saved is a great success story, but hundreds of people have died, and they would say, look, i don't understand how all of these organizations could have supplies and hundreds of people still died, and you would say what? >> well, again, we have given away to everyone who has come here to us for supplies. >> reporter: but not on this day for julie santos. her paperwork was never approved. and no one could ever tell her why not. she leaves the warehouse empty-handed. so hard to believe, wolf, that this could happen. one thing i want to point out to you as well when you look at the numbers of people with cholera

in this country, remember that the vast majority of people who get the infection don't get sick, but they are carriers and they can move around the country and move the bacteria around the country with them, and that is why the concern now, wolf n the next couple of weeks is about the outbreaks cropping up in different parts of the country as a result of the carriers, wolf. >> sanjay, thank you so much for doing these reports. sanjay is back in haiti, and we will stay in close touch with you, dr. sanjay gupta, our chief medical correspondent. when we come back, we will have additional information with breaking news involving the former president bill clinton and his efforts to convince kendrick meek the democratic senatorial candidate in florida to drop out of the race to try to help charlie crist, the independent candidate facing marco rubio. stand by. and that's what starte. exxonmobil and synthetic genomics have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae are amazing little critters.

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and we're getting back to the breaking news. a very dramatic development happening in florida right now. the former president of the united states, bill clinton, trying and failing to convince kendrick meek, the democratic senate candidate, to drop out. we have now been told by authoritative sources that kendrick meek will stay in this

race. he is not going to drop out. he's made that clear to the former president bill clinton. also made it clear to doug band, the former president's chief of staff, who's in florida, whose been the go-between largely between president clinton and kendrick meek. gloria borger, our senior political analyst, is here. we're getting a lot of reaction on this story right now. i'm told that president clinton realized that kendrick meek, his friend, could not win. that marco rubio is going to win the election, unless kendrick meek dropped out, threw his support to charlie crist, the independent candidate, but kendrick meek is making it clear, he's staying in until the end. you're getting more reaction as well. >> right. i was told from one democratic source who's familiar with this said that meek himself has been going back and forth, as recently as two days ago, said no to this. there was some concern, wolf, about pushback in the

african-american community until florida, if he were to withdraw. and also some concern, i'm told, on the part of the campaign of alex sink, democrat running for governor there, because she didn't want -- her campaign would not want anything to depress the african-american vote in the state of florida, which would presumably help her campaign. >> and sources close to the former president are saying that this was his idea, he was not encouraged to do it by the white house or the democratic national committee, that the former president, who's close to the situation in florida said, you know what, kendrick meek, for the good of the party, to try to prevent marco rubio being the next senator from florida, that kendrick meek should drop out. >> but i think we ought to assume, wolf, that the president would not freelance this kind of a thing -- the former president. that if he were going to be talking to kendrick meek, that there would be very high-level discussions with people running campaigns throughout washington so that, you know, he wasn't

going to go and do this on his own unless he had approval. >> and john king will have a lot more on this coming up at the top of the hour. it is who we are and what makes us great. we debate politics. we debate sports. we debate art. and we debate debates. ♪ but when it comes to cars... the debate...is over. the 2011 s-class. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. is a powerful force. set it in motion... and it goes out into the world like fuel for the economy. one opportunity leading to another... and another. we all have a hand in it. because opportunity can start anywhere, and go everywhere. let's keep it moving.

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geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. a most unusual feud. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: give may "b." >> i called sharron angle a [ bleep ] this week. >> reporter: give me an "i." give me a "t"! but need we spell it out for you. the word rhymes with itch and joy behar kept scratching it on "the view". it started when behar reacted to tea party candidate, sharron angle's ad. >> waves of illegal aliens streaming across our border. >> i would like her do this ad in the south bronx. come here, [ bleep ]. come to new york and do it. >> reporter: round two. in answer to the "b" word, sharron angle responded with a "b" word of her own. bouquet. and a gorgeous bouquet, and a

note. >> it says joy, raised $150,000 online yesterday, thanks for your help, sincerely, sharron angle. >> reporter: the angle campaign tells cnn they've raised two to three times their usual amount since tuesday's show. but behar didn't back down from the "b" word. >> i would like to point out those flowers were picked by illegal immigrants and they're not voting for you, [ bleep ]. >> don't you think the rest of this host just want to put a huge piece of duct tape over her mouth? >> reporter: but would behar duct tape her own mouth? round three. after being praised and pelted online with insults like "nasty beast," behar seemed to show her softer side. >> i really shouldn't have called her a [ bleep ], because to me, that's a term of endearment. >> reporter: it dawns on the audience that this is a joke of an apology. >> i reserve that word for people that i know and love, so that was a mistake, and i take it back. >> reporter: when cnn asked about the "apology," the angle campaign wouldn't respond.