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103,000 Jobs Added in September; Occupy Wall Street Goes Nationwide; Candidates Woo Social Conservatives; Study Says Men Don't Need Prostate Exams; Prince Harry Training in U.S.; Protesting Bank of America's Debit Fee; Ten Years of War in Afghanistan; Defense: Mistakes in Jackson Case

Aired October 07, 2011 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Guys, and I'm talking about Don Larsen today staying on that baseball theme, never-seen-before pictures from "Lifetime" magazine of his perfect game. So we're going to continue the whole them. I know that gets Carol excited.

COSTELLO: Absolutely, I'm sticking around.

PHILLIPS: Fantastic. All right. We've got that coming up. Thanks, ladies.

And just a little while ago we actually got a status check on the economy. The Labor Department says that 103,000 jobs were added last month and that's better than experts had actually predicted. Also the unemployment rate didn't move. It's still 9.1 percent.

All right, we asked Christine Romans to stick around there. We're not just talking about baseball, let's talk about these numbers and what it tells us about the economy. Right now this morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a solid base hit. How's that? Not a homerun, certainly not a grand slam, but a base hit for the economy.

Look, you had job creation a little better than people had thought and remember the big zero in August? No jobs created in August? Well, the government, Kyra, came back and upgraded its assessment for what happened in August. Now 57,000 jobs created in August. Also, July revised higher, as well.

So when you look at the whole picture, you've got an unemployment rate at 9.1 percent, 103,000 jobs added in the month of September, and August and July both increased in terms of the amount of hiring.

When we look within the kind of sectors that are hiring, professional and business services. The private sector did a little bit better. You saw the government shedding jobs, but the private sector was hiring in professional and business services. Temporary workers, it's a trend we've seen for more than a year. Companies not willing to hire permanently, so they try a temp worker.

Health care is seeing some job creation. Commercial construction and mining. Those are the areas adding to the payrolls -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Christine, thanks so much. And you know the U.S. stock futures have been flat this morning. Investors were pretty antsy about that report.

Alison Kosik at New York Stock Exchange. What do you think, Alison, how are they feeling right now?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They're feeling pretty good. We saw those stock futures turn much higher, up about 100 points now, about half hour before we have that opening bell.

You know, this came in better than expected. As CNN Money survey of economists expected only 65,000 jobs were going to be added. So this 103,000 number coming in as a nice surprise here. It's a good report, you know, relative to the low expectations that are out there.

You know we need to really see momentum like this continue to really begin to chip away at the unemployment rate in a stronger way. Investors, though, as Christine said, you know, they're also upbeat that zero figure from August was revised higher, so was July. So, you know what, we're going to see if the Dow's three-day winning streak continues at this point.

The blue chip average has made triple-digit moves for nine days in a row. Six of them higher, three of them lower. You know it shows you just how volatile the marketplace is, how uncertain everybody is about where the economy is going.

Even with this jobs report, which is positive, the big elephant in the room, it continues to be Europe because one day things seem to be improving, the next there seems to be no progress. But I'll tell you what, today the sense seems a bit more optimistic with this positive jobs report -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Alison, a little bit of good news there.

Now let's take a look at the other side of Wall Street. The side with all the protesters. "Occupy Wall Street" entering its fourth week now and the movement is growing.

Our Carol Costello shows us how it's spilling into main street.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): It started out as a joke.

JON STEWART, HOST, "DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": How are they not like the Tea Party? All right, some of them, you know, smoke and have pants made out of pot. So call them the THC party.

COSTELLO: Now it has swelled into a nationwide movement, mostly peaceful, but certainly PO'd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got sold out. COSTELLO: And ready to eat the rich.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is like a performance art piece. The corporate zombie march.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. And I see the money hanging out there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. This is the breakfast.

COSTELLO: From 1,000 protesters on Wall Street, it has gained momentum and spread to tens of thousands of people from New York to Los Angeles, and dozens of cities in between. Even across borders and oceans.

The people are angry that they're running second place to profits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want jobs. We want jobs and we want them now.

COSTELLO: That their quality of life is plunged while the rich get super rich and the taxpayers bail them out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politicians can be bought, political influence can be bought through political donations.

COSTELLO: In Los Angeles, protesters took over a Bank of America and were arrested. And in Philly, thousands broke out in their battle cry.

"We are the 99 percent." It has some bigwigs on Wall Street looking out their windows and, now the White House is paying attention.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously I've heard of it. I've seen it on television. I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression and that's going to express itself politically in 2012 and beyond until people feel like, once again, we're getting back to some old-fashioned American values.

COSTELLO: Still, getting organized ain't easy and it's too early to say whether these protesters will become a political force, a Tea Party from the left. Same frustrations from the other side. But there's plenty of time until next November.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 24/7, if necessary, 365. We're planning on snow, we're planning on summer heat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And that's going to cost cities across America. The cities where those protesters are, more money. For example here in New York City, Kyra, the commissioner -- Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says it's cost $2 million in police overtime so far and he only expects the tab to rise. PHILLIPS: Well, Carol, we've been talking about the money, also these protests. Not just about corporate greed, the fact that there's no jobs. I mean there's forces of a political movement taking place, as well.

COSTELLO: Well, now you see unions getting involved, which you really need, you know, to make for a real political movement as you need backers. Political backers with money. That's why the Tea Party became a force. You know, they were pretty quickly co-opted by political people with money and that's what needs to happen for this group to become a real political force. That has not happened as of yet, but who knows.

PHILLIPS: Carol Costello, live in New York. Carol, thanks so much. We'll be watching those protests all throughout the day.

Now Republican presidential hopefuls are courting social conservatives today. Paul Steinhauser covering the values of voters, some of this taking place in Washington, his home base there.

Paul, the field is pretty much locked in now. Who is going to be at the event?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Just about every Republican presidential candidate will be here, except for Jon Huntsman. And why are they coming here, Kyra? Because, as you said, this is one of the largest gathering of social conservative activists that go around the country every year. And they are very, very influential in choosing the next Republican nominee.

That's why you're going to see just about everybody here. And there about 3,000 activists, they're meeting today and tomorrow, they're going to be voting in a straw poll. We'll see those results tomorrow and they'll be very telling, depending on who wins that straw poll, Kyra.

You're going to hear a lot about abortion, same-sex marriage, some of the other top issues with social conservatives. But you'll also going to hear about the economy because that's also very important to social conservative voters and all voters.

Speaking right now, though, live pictures of that is not a presidential candidate, but the top Republican in the House, House Speaker John Boehner. He's one of the first speakers here this morning.

Kyra, another big thing we're going to hear about today, not here, but in South Carolina. Foreign policy. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who's the frontrunner right now in the national polls and the hunt for the GOP presidential nomination, he's going to go to the Citadel, which is a military college in Charleston, South Carolina.

South Carolina, of course the first sudden state to vote in the primary caucus calendar. And he's going to be giving a major address on foreign policy. He's going to be listing eight things he would do right away if he was elected president to make the country stronger when it comes to our standing in the world. He'll be criticizing the president, of course, as well.

Democrats are already attacking him, calling Mitt Romney a flip- flopper on foreign policy.

Kyra, that's what we have right now. Back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll take some Mitt Romney live also, we're monitoring that along with you, Paul. Thanks.

Your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder for all the latest political news you can always go to our Web site 24/7, CNNPolitics.com.

All right. Should men get screened for prostate cancer? That question seems to be a no-brainer, but this morning we're actually hearing from a task force that's saying the screenings could actually hurt you.

More now from CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

So what's the story?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, do you remember two years ago you and I were on TV a lot talking about the mammogram story, right?

PHILLIPS: Sure. They said don't get them, and then they retracted, and said, no, you do need to get them.

COHEN: Well --

PHILLIPS: Is this the same task force?

COHEN: Well, this is a group that said in your 40's women don't need to get mammograms, and now the same group which is the U.S. Preventative Service Task Forces, like an arm of the federal government, is saying to men, you don't need to get prostate cancer screenings. And the reason why, and I know this sounds crazy not to get a screening, is because yes, it will pick up some cancers that can kill a man, but they pick up way, way more cancers that will never cause a man harm ever.

Prostate cancers grow slowly. So the man could live with that cancer until he's, you know, 105. But because they found a cancer, he feels compelled to get treatment and that treatment could make him impotent, it could make him incontinent, it could even kill him if there were complications from a surgery.

So they're saying why find something that you could live with when the treatment could really hurt you?

PHILLIPS: Yes. But so many men have died because of this.

COHEN: Right. And to put that another way, there are men who are alive today because of prostate cancer screening. There is no question about that. But I want to show you some numbers that kind of lay it out for you in relative terms.

If you screen about 1400 men, you're going to find 48 cancers. But you've only saved one man because the other 47 had cancers that weren't going to be a problem. So if those 47 men were to get treatment, you've now caused problems for those 47 men, potentially.

Again, you could have made them impotent or incontinent and you could cause even more intense problems, but you have screened -- you have saved that one man. The problem is, is that we can't tell the difference between a fast and slow growing cancer.

So you find these cancers and you can't tell whether it's going to be one of these horrible, deadly ones or whether it's never going to cause a problem. We don't have those skills yet.

PHILLIPS: So real quickly, bottom line, do men get screened?

COHEN: Men need to have a discussion with their doctors.

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: That's the bottom line. And if you go to CNN.com/thechart, there's an article that I wrote in "Empowered Patient" column called "What a Dude to Do." And you will see all the questions that you should ask your doctor. This is not a slam dunk, it's something you really have to think about.

PHILLIPS: Elizabeth, thanks.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Coming up, we keep hearing that our middle class is shrinking, but our next guest says that may be a huge understatement.

And later Prince Harry in the United States. We're going to tell you what he hopes to accomplish during his two-month stay.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Happening right now we're being told the entire town of Tiskilwa in Central Illinois, has been told to evacuate after a fiery train accident that happened overnight. We're told that train cars carrying ethanol and possibly other flammable chemicals overturned and exploded. Now hazmat teams are on the scene. Right now no reports of any injuries. We'll follow it.

Checking other stories "Cross Country" now.

In Washington, wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords congratulated her husband Commander Mark Kelly at his formal retirement ceremony yesterday. The couple plan on releasing a jointly written memoir November 15th.

In Bastrop County, Texas, a grim assessment by the state's forestry service which now says as many as 1.5 million trees have been destroyed or are not expected to survive after a series of destructive wildfires there this year.

And in Eastern Ohio sheriff departments are investigating a string of home invasions targeting the Amish community. The attacks are allegedly carried out by other members of the Amish community who are cutting off the beards and hair of their victims.

All right. It's the 21st day of the "Occupy Wall Street" protest, grassroots demonstrations against corporate greed, no jobs, bank bailouts, and the way all that has hurt the middle class.

Well, author and finance expert Clyde Anderson is worried about losing the middle class altogether and that's what we're talking about today.

Because there are so many angles to take on this, right? OK, Clyde, what can we focus in on? Why don't we start with just defining the middle class?

CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCE EXPERT: Well, and a lot of people are unaware that the middle class in a lot of instances are $30,000, $35,000, up $100,000. That's considered the upper class. And so, what a lot of people are middle income and not necessarily middle class. And so, they live a lifestyle sometimes that way exceeds that. And so --

PHILLIPS: OK. Go ahead.

ANDERSON: So, we're in a big situation now and you mentioned "Occupy Wall Street" because a lot of people are hurting right now and we've eliminated a lot of the jobs that they had in the past and now they don't know what to do.

PHILLIPS: So, what exactly does the middle class support?

ANDERSON: Well, you think about it, the middle class are a lot of our journalists, our writers, people that work in factories and we look at how many factory jobs were eliminated over the last three years. It's been a huge impact to them and even some of the computer jobs. In 1975, there were 300,000 computer workers, now we've got about 160,000 computer workers. So, these jobs are being shipped else where. We're not making a lot of things here in our country and they're being exported.

PHILLIPS: So, if we, indeed, lose the middle class as we watch it shrink right before our eyes, what's the worst outcome that you are foreseeing?

ANDERSON: Well, I mea, you got to think about it, the worst outcome is that there are no jobs for people. So, people are now going to have to take situations where they're either making jobs or taking jobs that are way below what they had. And so, they're changing a whole lifestyle. They're not feeding into the economy as much as they have in the past.

These are the people that go to the restaurant. These are the people that buy new cars, buy new computers, buy new homes.

And so, we're going to see declining home sales. We're going to see declining auto sales. We're going to see sales decline at almost every sector of the market without that middle class that supported it.

PHILLIPS: So, do you think these protests on Wall Street are going to make any type of impact?

ANDERSON: I'm really hoping they do. I mean, really, because these are the people that have a voice. This is the life blood of America. This is the majority of the people that really support our country that feed into our country and they're the life blood.

And so, we need to really kind of wake up and make sure we're listening to what they're saying because they're crying out for some help, some support right now.

PHILLIPS: And they continue to increase across the country and more people are turning out. Clyde, thanks.

ANDERSON: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Well, up next, just hours ago, Prince Harry lands in the United States. Find out why he's here and what he's up to, when we come back.

Plus, she's known for her voice and her hips. But President Obama wants Shakira for her smarts. We'll tell you why the White House just drafted her for a very special project.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's get right to your "Showbiz Headlines."

Fans around the world are used to seeing Shakira on stage, singing, sparkly, sexy, just like this. But at the White House, the different Shakira -- composed and conservatively dressed. The Columbian pop star has just been appointed to a Presidential Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAKIRA, POP STAR/ MEMBER, PRES. EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION: Business leaders, I think it's very important that the civil society mobilizes around the urgency of investing in early childhood development strategies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Shakira has actually been active in children's issues for some time, she has a foundation that helps schools in several different countries.

More bad news for "Simpson's" fans. Studio executives now say even if a pay dispute with the show's cast is settled, it will go off the air after one more season. And if money stuff isn't resolved, this season will be the last. Today's the deadline, by the way. The voice actors have just a few hours to decide if they'll agree to the huge pay cuts.

And he's already played the author of Peter Pan. Now, Johnny Depp may star as Dr. Seuss. His production company is developing a live action movie about Seuss AKA Theodor Geisel. And the deal includes an option for Depp to portray the legendary author.

Well, Prince Harry is in the U.S. He's going to be at the military bases in Arizona and California for a two-month helicopter training exercise.

CNN's Max Foster has more on what Harry hopes to accomplish.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prince harry has already been to war, serving on the front lines in Afghanistan in 2008. And then he was on foot, but if he returns, it will be by air. Harry's about to qualify to fly this, the deadly Apache attack helicopter, fully loaded with rockets and hellfire missiles and a 30-millimeter chain gun.

This may look like Afghanistan, but it's Arizona and the setting for the final part of Harry's Apache training. The course is called "Exercise Crimson Eagle" -- and those who did it before talk about the white knuckle moments when you fire a live missile for the very first time. It will be a first for Harry, too, and a reality check for someone referred to as the party prince in some parts of the press.

It's perhaps worth noting that just a few hours drive from Harry's training base in Arizona is the city that bills itself as the entertainment capital of the world. That is, of course, Las Vegas.

We're not expecting any media access to Harry while he's in the U.S., but there will be a few photographers holding out for a shot of him here. Prince Harry is due to return to the U.K. in December for more exercises, but no word yet on when he might be redeployed to the front line.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: And, Kyra, we have just received a photo of Prince Harry arriving at the California base. This is the base, Kyra, where "Top Gun" was filmed. But he won't be flying any planes, of course, for that purpose.

PHILLIPS: He won't be strapping into an F-18 and, actually, in "Top Gun," it was a Tomcat. That's now extinct in the military.

Well, I got to ask you this. We all know that Prince Harry loves to party, shall we say. So, is he going to have any down time and you know he's right there, as you pointed out in his piece, close to Las Vegas. That could be trouble.

FOSTER: Yes, exactly. We did ask his bosses if he's going to be allowed out to Vegas. He said, well, yes, actually if it floats his boat, he can go out with the other officers. But he will be treated like any other soldier while he's there. Interesting that the local Chamber of Commerce in California is actually giving out instructions to local restaurants to treat him with respect and to consider (AUDIO BREAK) local restaurants, it looks like.

PHILLIPS: Well, OK. That could, we'll definitely watch that trip closely. That's for sure. Max, thanks.

All right, Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange with the steps one woman took when she heard about Bank of America's new $5 debit card fee.

Alison, she -- you know, a lot of people in support of what she's doing.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know what? Let's get in line right behind her, right?

Yes, this woman took matters into her own hands. You know, we heard of many B of A customers threatening to leave the bank now that these new debit card fees are going into effect early next year. This Washington, D.C., woman, her name is Molly Katchpole, she threatened. but she did much more.

What she did, she started an online petition. She's already gathered more than 150,000 signatures. She went ahead and presented them right at a Bank of America branch. She cut up her credit card and debit cards on the sidewalk out front and walked inside and closed her account.

Katchpole appeared on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" today and she said, believe it or not, the teller seemed unfazed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOLLY KATCHPOLE, FORMER BANK OF AMERICA CUSTOMER: They didn't really have a lot of reaction. I think they were taken aback, but it was kind of just a normal transaction. I went in. I gave them the petitions and then I closed my bank account and that was kind of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And she says she left with $400 in cash and she intends to put it right into a credit union.

Take that, Bank of America -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, got to have an advocate somewhere.

Let's take a look at the markets, shall we. The opening bell is going to ring in a few minutes.

KOSIK: Exactly. Just five minutes, we're going to have the opening bell. Stock futures are pointing higher, about 75 points right now and turned around immediately after we got that better than expected jobs report for September. We found out that 103,000 jobs were added last month. That's almost double the expectations that everybody had before this report came out.

Still, though, investors have one eye on Europe. It's still a big concern and still a big driver in this market. But, for now, we're going to have a solid open, thanks to this very positive jobs report -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Alison, thanks.

And coming up --

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

PHILLIPS: Almost 10 years ago today, the war in Afghanistan was launched. Live report from the Pentagon, just ahead.

Also, why lawyers for Michael Jackson's doctor accuse a coroner's investigator of doing shoddy work.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now.

The man in charge of the program that gave federal loan guarantees to Solyndra has resigned. Taxpayers are now on the hook for half billion dollars after the solar company went bankrupt.

The Nobel Peace Prize was announced this morning. The honor shared by three women, the president of Liberia and an activist in that country as well. Also, another human rights activist from Yemen.

And a Pakistani commission is seeking treason charges against a doctor suspected of helping the CIA target Osama bin Laden. The U.S. has been calling on Pakistan to free the detained doctor.

The longest war in U.S. history got under way 10 years ago today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: President George W. Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. It continues under President Obama, though a timetable for withdrawal is in place.

Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joins us now for some perspective.

And, Chris, it's been a costly war.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It continues to be one, Kyra.

To keep one troop in Afghanistan for a year, it costs the United States a little over $1 million. That gives you an idea of what the cost is, but, really, the cost really goes way beyond that because you're talking about people's lives.

Take a look at this graphic and we can show you the cost of NATO troops, as a whole, the coalition partners. Two thousand seven hundred troops have been killed in Afghanistan. And when you break that down further, you can see that the United States is really born most of the brunt of that, about 1,700 or so American lives have been lost. But the British, as well, have lost nearly 400 troops in Afghanistan, and the Canadians, though, well over 150. So, they have also born some of that cost.

But to put that in somewhat of a perspective -- in World War II, the United States lost over 400,000 troops. In Vietnam, nearly 60,000 troops.

But the big question is: for all that money that was spent for the lives that were lost, what has the United States gotten out of this so far? Well, there have been some gains that the troops have made there.

Before 2001, there were fewer than a million Afghan children enrolled in school and none of them were girls. The State Department now says there are over 6 million Afghan children enrolled in school and about a third of those are girls. Also, by the end of the year, the United States and its coalition expects to stand up about 300,000 Afghan police and soldiers and probably the most important accomplishment of all of this is that in that 10 years, there's been no successful attack here on U.S. soil -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And there's mixed feelings about how the public sees this war and how veterans view this war.

LAWRENCE: That's right. As a whole, you know, if you want to sum it up, it's not a popular war at this point.

You know, if you take a look at some of these statistics from the Pew Research center. This is polling Americans as a whole -- attitudes of the American public. They feel that about 52 percent believe that the war was worth it. Among veterans, not worth it, I should say -- 52 percent believe the war was not worth it. Among veterans, about 50 percent.

So, very similar there. You know, some of the veterans do say that I talk to say, look, they gained self-confidence. They feel very proud of their service, but at the same time, it has created a tremendous strain on their families.

One thing that really jumped out at me, about 50 percent say they now have strained family relationships because of all the frequent deployments.

PHILLIPS: Chris Lawrence from the Pentagon -- Chris, thanks.

Well, let's hit the campaign trail, shall we? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is delivering his first major foreign policy address next hour. He's actually going to speak at the Citadel in South Carolina. As you know, yesterday, Romney announced a team of foreign policy and national security advisors, including some Bush administration veterans like former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

When he speaks at citadel, we will take it live.

Romney's foreign policy address is set actually for 10:45 Eastern. So, stay with us for that.

All right. The political primary calendar is like the weather. If you just don't like it now, don't worry. It's probably going to change.

CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at all the shuffling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, imagine running a foot race that you don't have the starting time for, you don't know where the finish line is, and you don't know where you are in the pack. That's what's facing the Republican challengers as they look at this confusing primary situation.

This is where all the primaries were a short time ago, clustered back here in February. And then Florida said they wanted to change something about that. They jumped up into January and that dragged South Carolina and Nevada along with them because they all have a sense of where they should be in the order of things.

And now, Iowa and New Hampshire are expected to move up here. Iowa maybe even into December.

So, everything is up in the air.

Why does this matter, though? Well, it matters because it changes the battlefield in many ways. First of all, now, all of these candidates are competing with the holidays in October ands November and December to get the public's attention.

Just as importantly, get into January, that's when a lot of big college football games start taking place, the playoffs. And believe me, whether you think that makes a difference, that distracts voters from these candidates.

So, who benefits? If you're a known name with a lot of money like Mitt Romney, that probably helps you. If you're not, that just cut down some of the field that you have to run on. It's harder for you to get up to the front.

If you're a voter, depends on who you like, whether or not this is good or bad.

If you're somebody who believes we ought to have a national primary, this will help you make your argument. You'll say it happened last presidential race. It's happening again this time and let's go ahead and have a national primary and wrap it all up. We were talking about that for a long time.

Bottom line is, whatever you're putting on your primary calendar right now, write it in pencil because it's still changing -- Kyra.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right. Tom Foreman, thanks so much.

And straight ahead, the lawyer for Michael Jackson's doctor challenging an investigator's handling of evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED CHERNOFF, CONRAD MURRAY'S ATTORNEY: Would you consider that a mistake on your part?

ELISSA FLEAK, CORONER INVESTIGATOR: I described something in detail later on. I didn't include it in the general initial narrative. Is it a mistake? I could have described it more in detail.

CHERNOFF: You could have described it at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Mistakes and sloppiness. Those are the claims. We'll explain right after the break.

Also ahead, meteor shower expected tomorrow. One of the most active ever, but there's a hitch for sky watchers in the U.S. -- we'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The jury in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor could soon hear the police interview with Dr. Conrad Murray. Much of yesterday's testimony centered on drugs found in the singer's bedroom.

CNN's Randi Kaye reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the hours after Michael Jackson died, investigators scoured the bedroom of his rented mansion for clues to what killed him.

Elissa Fleak, an investigator with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, found 12 bottles of the powerful anesthetic Propofol in Jackson's bedroom. She told the jury yesterday, one of them was empty.

ED CHERNOFF, CONRAD MURRAY'S ATTORNEY: Did you locate on the floor a 20 milliliter of Propofol?

ELISSA FLEAK, CORONER INVESTIGATOR: Yes, I did.

CHERNOFF: And where was that located?

FLEAK: On the floor next to the left side of the bed.

CHERNOFF: And was it empty but for some drops of fluid as it is here today?

FLEAK: Correct.

KAYE: The coroner says Jackson died of acute Propofol intoxication, his doctor, Conrad Murray, denies charges of manslaughter. In court, the jury learned that Murray's fingerprint was found on the 100 milliliter bottle of Propofol that prosecutors say led to Jackson's death.

The bedroom looked more like a pharmacy. These are all the medications Fleak said she discovered. She also said she found a syringe, an I.V. stand, and an I.V. bag with Propofol in it.

On cross today, the defense tried to make her investigation look sloppy, showing she didn't note Propofol was inside the I.V. bag in her report until nearly two years after Jackson's death.

CHERNOFF: In fact, the very first time that you noted that there was a Propofol bottle in an I.V. bag was the 29th of March, 2011.

FLEAK: In case notes?

CHERNOFF: Yes. Isn't that right?

FLEAK: Yes.

KAYE: The prosecution's case hinges on the fact that Propofol was inside the I.V. bag, which would mean Jackson could not have taken the fatal dose himself, as the defense suggests. The defense pressed on, attempting to show Fleak made more mistakes. Touching a syringe she found in the bedroom without wearing gloves.

CHERNOFF: This syringe has your fingerprint on it, right?

FLEAK: Yes, it does.

KAYE: Investigator Fleak also took heat for not mentioning the I.V. bag in her original report.

CHERNOFF: Would you consider that a mistake, Ms. Fleak, on your part?

FLEAK: I described something in detail later on. I didn't include it in the general, initial narrative. Is it a mistake? I could have described it more in detail.

CHERNOFF: You could have described it at all, right?

FLEAK: In the initial report, yes.

KAYE (on camera): On the stand Wednesday, a computer forensics examiner who analyzed Conrad Murray's iPhone, on it, a recording from May 10th, 2009 of Michael Jackson sounding wasted and slurring his words.

In a portion never before played in court, Jackson was speaking of his love for children and his own unhappy childhood.

MICHAEL JACKSON, POP SINGER: I love them, I love them because I didn't have a childhood. I had no childhood. I feel their pain. I feel their hurt.

KAYE (voice-over): Then suddenly silence and Dr. Murray's voice.

MURRAY: You OK?

JACKSON: I am asleep.

KAYE: Sleep -- Michael Jackson wanted it so badly, it killed him.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A dazzling meteor shower expected this weekend. Heck, it could be so active you might even call it a storm.

And after winning the Super Bowl 25 years ago, the White House is only now recognizing the team's accomplishment. The back story on the delayed celebration for "Da Bears."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories "Cross Country" now.

In Merced County, California, a couple burglars are actually credited with helping in the recent arrest of their victim. This guy, 54-year-old Kraig Stockard.

Why? Well, they allegedly went to rob him and stole a bunch of his compact discs and found out they contained porn, so they turned them into police. Well, the burglary suspects got lucky. They haven't been charged.

Halloween displays like this? Well, they're creating false alarms around Charlotte, North Carolina, lately. The most recent call happened Wednesday in reference to this prop of a dummy hanging from a rain gutter. The Charlotte Fire Department describes the false alarms as, quote, "good intent calls."

Well, school kids in Muskegon County, Michigan, intended to set a new world record on Wednesday by eating an apple at the same time. Organizers estimate between 6,000 and 8,000 kids, collectively chomped down on the apples.

School officials say it's also a fun way to encourage students to eat healthy, locally grown food.

Draconid meteor shower is coming this weekend and it could put on quite a shower with hundreds of shooting stars per hour.

Jacqui Jeras, it sounds pretty cool.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. This is going to be one of the best displays ever actually for the Draconid. Usually it's kind of a dud. But this time around, Kyra, they think they're going to be between 600 to 750 meteors per hour. That's shooting stars.

The problem with this, is that the peak of this is going to be between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 Eastern Time. So, the sunlight obviously is not going to allow for it. But sometimes, you'll still see them after the peak.

So, take a look at this. This map that I have here will show you where to find it in the night sky. OK? So, the northwestern sky is where you want to look.

We've got the Big Dipper here and Little Dipper up here and Draco, which is, you know, what this meteor shower is named after, is just up to the north and west of that. So, look high certainly into the sky.

Now, there are a couple other concerns as we look at these pictures and we think, well, what are meteor showers made up of? Well, it's from the leftovers of a comet. So, we got rocks in there. We got chunks of ice in there, and as it enters into the earth's atmosphere, sometimes it lets off electrostatic charges.

Why is that a problem? Because it could get near the International Space Station. This could get near satellites and that could affect the electronics on board and some of the control panels. So, NASA scientists are going to be watching this very, very closely and hopefully this won't be a problem.

We have meteor showers all the time, Kyra. So, we'll have to keep a close eye on the Draconid and I might stay up a little bit late and see if I can catch one or two. It's a beautiful thing in the fall, this guy is so clear, especially in the east this weekend.

PHILLIPS: You remember as a kid, you know, lie back and waiting, you know, down by the lake for those events.

JERAS: Yes. You got to get away from those city lights.

PHILLIPS: There you go. You start day dreaming about wonderful things in life.

Jacqui, thanks.

All right. Well, better late than never, the 1985 Chicago Bears visit the White House today, 25 years after winning the Super Bowl.

Why did it take so long? We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Stories making news later today.

At 1:45 Eastern Time in Washington, protesters of the Afghan war demonstrate on this tenth anniversary of the conflict.

At 2:00 Eastern in Sacramento, U.S. attorneys in California hold a news conference on the federal government's crackdown on state- monitored marijuana dispensers.

And the following hour at the White House, President Obama welcomes the 1985 -- yes, 1985, Super Bowl champs. The Chicago Bears.

Well, 25 years after the fact, it's definitely long overdue, and with the Chicago Bear fan, now commander-in-chief, well, why not?

White House correspondent Brianna Keilar has more on today's visit and the reason behind the long delay.

Brianna, do tell.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, right before this team, Kyra, was supposed to come to the White House back in the '80s when Ronald Reagan was president, the space shuttle "Challenger" exploded. I mean, everyone knows what that sort of put the nation into a period of mourning. It wasn't in time to celebrate. And so, their visit to the White House was put by the wayside, never rescheduled.

And now, of course, there's a Bears' fan in the White House. President Obama will welcome the team around 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

And, Kyra, it's interesting to note, there are some players who will not be making the trip. Some players have passed away, but also, as we understand, at least "The L.A. Times" is reporting, I haven't confirmed this myself, that the Fridge, William "Refrigerator" Perry, will not be able to make it because of an illness, and also a pro- football Hall of Famer Dan Hampton who says he's not coming in part because he's not a fan of the president's, and that's actually created a little bit of a controversy. Some criticism he's gotten from some of his other players on the team who have said, you know, this is a privilege to come and he should.

PHILLIPS: Well, it will be interesting to see how this turns out. Normally, these are handshakes and smiles and having a good time.

And, look at this, Brianna -- already politics coming into the mix. We'll follow it.

Brianna Keilar, thanks.

And never-before-seen pictures of an amazing feat. Don Larsen's perfect World Series game, 55 years after it happened. Life.com deputy editor Ben Kasrov joins me live with the pics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The Detroit Tigers are moving on in baseball's playoffs and the New York Yankees are coming home. First inning at Yankee Stadium last night. The Tigers' Don Kelly hits a homer, but it doesn't stop there. Next batter up, Delmon Young, right there out to the stands. Back-to-back home runs. Detroit beats the Yankees 3-2.

They still may have gotten their grove back, but Tiger Woods, not so much. To Frys.com Open in California, Tiger calls it one of the worst putting rounds ever, and it was. He finishes 2 over par and today tees off six strokes off the lead, probably going to miss the cut.

And opening night in the NHL, the Boston Bruins raising the Stanley Cup before their game with Philly, but the Flyers spoil the party. Two goals in the last minute of the first period. Meszaros scores a power play goal and Jake Voracek gets the loose puck right in front of the net and sends it home. Flyers win 2-1.

This Halloween could be a tough one for former Congressman Anthony Weiner. CNN's Jeannie Moos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may not recognize him in latex, but here's a hint --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you sexting?

MOOS: To think that the year's hottest scandal, Weinergate, was a mere five months ago --

(on camera): It's amazing how fast Anthony Weiner fell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MOOS: Last Halloween, he was an up-and-coming, like, star of the Democratic Party. And this Halloween, he's like a mask.

(voice-over): Remember the headlines as Weiner finally confessed to sending lewd photos and messages to women he met online.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM" ANCHOR: You would know if this is your underpants, for example.

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: The question is this -- I appreciate you continuing to flash that at me.

MOOS: Speaking of underwear --

(on camera): Are you recommending these two go together?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, absolutely.

MOOS (voice-over): Ricky's (ph) in Manhattan selling the $25 mask with accessories, a $20 pair of boxers that comes, let's just say, overly well-endowed.

Sure, there are plenty of other Halloween options. Charlie Sheen masks are expected to be big, though this one is special. Hyperflesh it's called. It takes a week to make one.

Artist Landon Meyer (ph) charges $2,500 a mask. He gave one to Charlie Sheen in exchange for tickets to Charlie's roast.

You can even buy a Casey Anthony mask online, though they're considered in such bad taste, that major mask companies steer clear.

But if you decide to dress up --

WEINER: This was a very dumb anything to do.

MOOS: -- as this disgraced politician, better bring some ID.

(on camera): Who am I?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like Richard Nixon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it supposed to be Reagan? I don't know.

MOOS: No. No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kennedy?

MOOS: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jay Leno?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Romney. You look a little Romney-esque.

MOOS: Does this help?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I know. Ed Sullivan.

MOOS: Who am I?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, Weiner.

MOOS: Bingo! You got it.

(voice-over): Hey, if it's this hard to guess, maybe Anthony Weiner should consider wearing his own mask if he wants to go incognito.

Jeanne Moos, CNN --

(on camera): I am not a pervert.

(voice-over): -- New York.

(on camera): I am not a pervert.

(END VIDEOTAPE)