POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Friday, October 05, 2012
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.
CNN Analysis: Five reasons the president fumbled the debate
President Barack Obama turned in a less-than-stellar performance Wednesday night in his first debate this election season. On Thursday, his campaign aides said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came armed with distortions. But if the president believed that, he barely brought them to the viewers' attention during the debate. Instead, he turned in a distracted, passionless performance. Here are five reasons he fumbled:
CNN: Obama accuses Romney of dishonesty in debate
A day after losing the first presidential debate, President Barack Obama and his campaign accused his Republican challenger Mitt Romney of being dishonest about tax policy and other issues. "If you want to be president, you owe the American people the truth," Obama said at a campaign rally Thursday in Denver. "So here's the truth: Governor Romney cannot pay for his $5 trillion tax plan without blowing up the deficit or sticking it to the middle class. That's the math."
CNN: Romney on 47% comments: I was 'completely wrong'
Mitt Romney said he was "completely wrong" when he argued that nearly half of Americans were "victims" and dependent on government. The admission came Thursday as the GOP presidential candidate sought to clarify his controversial "47%" comments.
CNN: Osama bin Laden movie to air weekend before election
Two days before Election Day on November 6, a movie detailing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden will air on the National Geographic Channel, the cable network announced Thursday. The film is being distributed by the Weinstein Company, owned by a Harvey Weinstein, a major backer of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
CNN: Napolitano to visit family of slain Border Patrol agent
The head of Homeland Security travels to Arizona Friday, a day after Mexican authorities questioned two men in a shooting that killed a U.S. Border Patrol agent and wounded another near the U.S.-Mexican border. The Mexican army handed the two over to local authorities in Sonora, having detained them near the American border, the Mexican attorney general's office said Thursday.
CNN: Oil sheen mysteriously appears off Louisiana's Gulf Coast
An oil sheen about four miles long has appeared in the Gulf of Mexico near the site of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, a Coast Guard spokesman said Thursday. It was not immediately clear where the oil is coming from, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Tippets.
CNN: 'Gay cure' therapists, 'cured' student sue California over new law
Two therapists who try to turn gay people straight, along with a student who says he was successfully converted to heterosexuality, are suing nearly two dozen California state officials, including Gov. Jerry Brown, saying a new state law infringes on their civil rights. The legislation known as Senate Bill 1172 prohibits attempts to change the sexual orientation of patients under age 18.
CNN: 5 charged in alleged teacher-student relationships at New Jersey high school
Three New Jersey high school teachers were arrested Thursday on charges of having sexual relations with three students, according to the Camden County Office of the Prosecutor. The principal and vice-principal also were arrested and accused of failing to report the inappropriate relationships to the proper authorities, Prosecutor Warren Faulk said at a press conference.
CNN Security Clearance: Afghan government: Insider attacks are terrorism
The vast majority of attacks by Afghan soldiers on their U.S. and NATO counterparts are the result of a "mutation" of terrorist tactics rather than a difference in cultural sensitivities, a senior Afghan official said Thursday. "The majority of it is a terrorist infiltration in the (Afghan army) ranks and forces which is a tragic thing in itself," Jawed Ludin, Afghanistan'sdeputy foreign minister, said of "green on blue' attacks, in which Afghan soldiers turn their weapons on NATO forces alongside whom they serve.
CNN: Iran arrests 16 'main players' in currency crisis
Iran arrested 16 people Thursday, accusing them of contributing to the currency crisis plaguing the country that has triggered protests in the streets. Those arrested "were the main players in the recent fluctuations in the foreign currency market," the Tehran Judiciary said in a statement. The move came a day after riot police worked to disperse protests in the capital's main bazaar and nearby streets.
CNN: Chavez, Capriles enter home stretch in Venezuelan presidential race
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will appeal to voters Sunday with his track record on education, housing, health and living standards the past 13 years - with an admission he needs to do more on bureaucracy and crime.
CNN: Judges to rule on Abu Hamza al-Masri's extradition to face U.S. terror charges
Two senior British judges are due to decide on Friday if five men, among them extremist Islamist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, will be extradited to the United States to face terrorism charges. The decision, which cannot be appealed, should bring to an end a legal process that in the case of two of the five men - Khaled al-Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary - has lasted 14 years.
CNNMoney: Obama's tax plan aims at rich, but catches small employers too
President Obama's proposal to let the Bush tax cuts expire for top earners would hit only a tiny fraction of all small businesses, but it includes nearly 1 million companies that employ people. That's according to an IRS study, which counted more than 20 million enterprises as small businesses.
CNNMoney: Romney's pledge: No tax cut for the rich
The first debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney was a fire hose of fiscal issues that nonetheless left many questions unresolved. Romney did try to answer one unequivocally: He said he will not cut taxes for the rich.
CNNMoney: Medicare fraud case: 91 professionals arrested
The Justice Department announced criminal charges Thursday against 91 people who allegedly received about $430 million through wide-ranging Medicare fraud. Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the charges, which involved doctors, nurses and other medical professionals in seven different cities. The officials allege there was $230 million in home health care fraud, more than $100 million in mental health care fraud and about $49 million in ambulance transportation fraud.
In case you missed it…
AC360 Raw Politics: Experts from both sides of the debate weigh in on the candidates' performances.
I do not give darn HOOT at these debates, I am an educated. Yes, on OBAMA12.
PS: vis major occurred in USA soil in politics first time.......
Still cant vote for republicans, they lie about everything, and i mean baldfaced lies, like voter i.d. laws are not an attempt to supress minority votes, furthermore, its done for their benefit. just exactly how stupid do you think the general public is? WOW
The thought of Ann ,queen ann, being the f.l. is sickening, i raised two kids on 30k, working full time, no nanny, maid, cook, and certainly no cadilacs, no, her version of raising kids is not the one i experienced. my pay has doubled, but still no party, she has no ability to relate to my story, many others can though
Would like mitt to slowly explain to me where he is going to get 5 TRILLION from, because i see a flash of light go by, and fell as though im going to get screwed again. but he would not lie, would he? certainly the man whose going to havethe most powerful position in the world would not lie to get this important position, would he? no, of course not, just drink your koolaid and everything will be just fine...
Now remeber no tax cuts for the rich, grover has already called mitt, he has assured him he will cut the taxes for the rich, just another lie grover, relax, they dont have time to figure it out
Mitts math is kinda wierd. i must be missing something, wheres the money coming from again?