consulate in libya. what did the white house know and when? today, outraged lawmakers demand some aanswers. back on the extreme court docket this morning, affirmative action. should race play a role in college admissions? dash of controversy, actress stacey dash talks about her tweet that set off an internet firestorm. new face on ttgma. good morning america. why the candidates' wives are becoming more important in their husband's campaigns. cnn "newsroom" begins right now. good morning, everyone. thank you so much for joining us. i'm don lemon. carol is off today. high stakes and a high noon showdown on capitol hill as we look at live pictures of the capital. potentially heated hearing on the deadly attack of the u.s. consulate in libya. republic republican-led hearing is demanding to know how security failures led to the deaths of the u.s. ambassador there and three other americans. were warnings ignored for political reasons? did the white house have any motive in first denying it was terrorism? depending on which party you ask, today's hearing is either election year grandstanding or an effort to better protect american lives in the future. liste listen. >> is that it's because they wanted the appearance of normalization. that's what they wanted. that fit the obama narrative moving forward. >> you know it's one thing to make make allegations that are back bid facts. it's another thing to make allegations and then search for the facts. we've heard a lot of allegations flying around. just today in depositions we've heard things that are contradictory to some of the allegations that already have been made by chairman issa and congressman chaffetz. >> straight to the state department and cnn foreign affairs reporter elise labott. is there a sense that heads will roll when these facts come out because there seems to be a drip, drip, drip of information of what the administration first said. >> this is very politicized in this election season. first of all, the idea of whether it was preplanned or a spontaneous kind of protest that was hijacked by extremists as some administration officials were claiming. yesterday we had a conference call with senior officials from the state department that says no, this was not our conclusion. everything was quiet, in front of this diplomatic post just an hour maybe before the deadly attack where 40 armed gunman stormed the embassy. whether the administration had a political motive or whether the administration said this was our best intelligence at the time, i think that's a little bit politicized. the questions really that i think the committee wants to get at is was the consulate, was this diplomatic post adequately protected? some documents have been leaking out, some obtained by cnn over the last week or so that indicate security officials in the country had asked the state department for additional security to keep another security team that was already in country there and those requests whether either denied or not answered. one of the people that will be hearing from today is deputy assistant secretary charlene lam. it seems a lot of those requests went directly to her. what i've been told by senior officials is that that never went up the chain of command, if you will. i think they're going to nail down were these requests heeded? and whether the state department, whether the administration as a whole really saw the threat as it turned out to be, don. >> we'll find out today. thank you very much. at least they're going to start the process today. thank you very much, elise labott. the man accused of making the anti-islam film that incited so much violence in the middle east will be in court today. he has been in federal lockup, violating his probation for a bank fraud conviction and the judge ruled he was a flight risk. egyptian-born u.s. citizen does not face charges related to the "innocence of muslim" film and the violence that ensued in the middle east or in africa. getting closer and closer. 27 days until the election. no doubt mitt romney's big performance injected new life into his presidential campaign. can his running mate, congressman paul ryan, do the same thing in tomorrow night's presidential debate? listen to what mitt romney told wolf blitzer on "the situation room." >> are you confident that paul rin will take on joe biden thursday night the way you took on the president? >> you know, i don't know how paul will deal with this debate. obviously the vice president has done, i don't know, 15 or 20 debates during his lifetime, experienced debater. i think this is paul's first debate -- i may be wrong. he may have done something in high school. i don't know. it will be a new experience for paul. i'm sure he'll do fine. >> paul ryan has actually done several debates during his copyingional career but none were bigger than the stage he will be on tomorrow night. good morning to you john, there in ohio. is it just the campaign trying to lower expectations here? >> reporter: in a word, don, yes. not only has paul ryan done some debates in his professional career, he has stood up to the president, barack obama. he has been a leading advocate. it's true joe biden has more experience on the national stage, but that's governor romney trying to say kt my guy a little slack, this is his first time up in the big leagues, if you will. this will be a fascinating dough bait. americans pick presidents, not vice presidents, but romney has momentum, bit of a breeze at his back. can paul ryan continue building that momentum or could joe biden be more passionate than the president in the first presidential debate and stop it? >> let's talk about the numbers, john. mitt romney still getting post debate bounce. you can't say any more that debates don't matter. the new cnn poll, poll of polls, mitt romney has a slight lead with likely voters, 48% to 47%. his performance certainly showed that you can't say it doesn't matter anymore. there is no bigger swing state than ohio, where you are. >> reporter: the history tells you no republican has ever been elected president without winning the state of ohio. can you do the math and have romney win without this state? yes. is it likely? no. before the debate some polls had him down as many as nine points in ohio. new cnn poll row leased last night has him down four, 51-47. another group, american research group show ed romney up a point in ohio. no question. just like in the national polls, a bit of a boost. romney is up in the suburbs, up among independents. there's signs of strength here from romney, we can tell you there are a few soft spots he needs to work on. >> john king in ohio, covering the debates as well. thank you very much. watch live coverage of the debate tomorrow night, 7:00 eastern. watch it on cnn or on cnn.com. happening this morning, the color of a college applicant's skin be a factor in accept ance admission? >> reporter: after applying, she didn't get in. attending louisiana state university instead. but the rejection from u.t. led fisher to file a lawsuit against the school, claiming she was squeezed out, unfairly denied admission because of her race. she's white. she said in a statement there were people in my class with lower grades who weren't in all the activities i was in, who were being accepted into u.t. and the only other difference between us was the color of our skin. she decline d an interview with cnn. whether race should be part of the application process at the university of texas is the issue that will come before the supreme court on wednesday. edward bloom recruited abigail fisher to file the lawsuit. >> should a university judge a student by his or her skin color when it comes time for admission? and the answer is no. >> reporter: here is how the admissions process at u.t. works. top 10% of each high school class statewide gets in automatically. for those below the top 10%, like abigail fisher, in the 11%, they use what it calls a holistic review where race is one of many factors considered, one that university president bill power says doesn't get much weight and didn't play a role in fish fisher's rejection. >> we take ethnicity as one of many, many factors in a holistic review to make sure that the three quarters coming in under automatic admission, though we add to that with a quarter coming in where we can look for these other characteristics, including diversity. >> i think she's fighting the wrong fight. >> minority student leaders on campus like bradley pool agree with powers that the process is fair, despite fisher's claims. >> probably one of the least parts of the holistic review process. i think it's harping on the easiest thing that she could have went against. >> others take offense, saying the lawsuit implies that some minority students are less deserving of admission thn their white counterparts. >> to hear of us saying some of us latinos got in here easily and the only reason we got in here is because of our race, that's disappointing. we worked just as hard as anyone else did to get here to u.t. >> reporter: conservative groups siding with fisher says it's not just about getting in. studies show that using racial preferences can hurt minorities by starting them out near the bottom of their classes. >> if they're toward the bottom of whatever class they go to, they are much more likely to give up on an ambition to major in science and engineering. >> very interesting. there he is, swroe johns outside the supreme court. good morning to you, joe. how do you see this case playing out among the justices? >> reporter: well, don, we're going to find out in just about an hour. it's a vastly different court from nine years ago when sandra day o'connor wrote a majority opinion in a very similar case. of course, she's no longer on the court. there's also a possibility of a 4-4 tie. justice elena kagan is reaccusing herself due to the fact that she sort of handled some of these circumstances surrounding this case when she was attorney general. >> whatever is decided when it comes to affirmative action -- >> absolutely, this case could change the way students aall over the united states get admitted to college. it could change whether race is use used as just one factor, any factor at all in the admissions process. so that could be a big sea change for people trying to get into school all over the united states, don. >> joe johns is watching that for us today. swroe jo joe johns, thank you very much. if you get social security checks, this news is for you. new report says you can expect a cost of living bump next year. unfortunately, it will be less than half of what you saw this year. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange this morning. how much of a boost will those checks get next year? what will it be? good morning, by the way. >> good morning to you, don. checks are expected to rise from 1.5% to 1.7% next year, amounting to $18 to $20 a check, coming from the american institute for economic research. official announcement coming out next week from the government. 1.5% to 1.7%, it ain't huge. past few years, let's look at that. benefits increased 3.6% this year because inflation was higher. what's coming next year is better than what happened in 2009 and 2010 when checks didn't go up at all. you want to blame congress but you can't blame congress for this minuscule increase coming next year. cost of living adjustment is based on the consumer price index. cpi measures inflation, the price you pay for things like food and clothing and fuel. if prices are up over the past year, those social security checks go up. and if prices haven't moved or they fall, social security checks stay the same. i guess to sort of put the slamation point sla exclamation point on this, at least they're going up a bit instead of staying the same. >> alison kosik, thank you very much. more people around the country getting sick and dying from a rare meningitis outbreak. dr. gupta make ace starting discovery while into digging as to how this happened. hahahaha! hooohooo, hahaha! this is awesome! folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. i'd say happier than a slinky on an escalator. get happy. get geico. melons!!! oh yeah!! well that was uncalled for. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy, ronny? 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[ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula. checking top stories right now. smoke again aid, knives and body bags just some of the items found in a man's suitcase after he was stopped by officials at a los angeles airport. he will appear in court friday for a rescheduled hearing, charged with transporting hazardous materials and faces up to five years in prison if convicted. astronauts on the international space station welcome the spacex dragon capsule this morning, which arrive arrived with 1,000 pounds of supplies, the first commercial space cargo mission. capsule will spend about 18 day s at the station and return with experiments and equipment that need repaired. toyota announces it is recalling more than 7 million vehicles worldwide, including 2.5 million right here in the u.s. due to a problem with a power window switch that could pose a fire risk. recall effects several models over multiple years. toyota will fix the problem at no cost to customers. with florida reporting its first meningitis fatality, the national death toll now stands at 12. another 120 people nationwide are sick from the rare fungal meningitis. those numbers are on the rise. the source is contaminated steroid injections that may have been given to as many as 13,000 people. chief medical correspondent, of course, dr. sanjay gupta, traveled to massachusetts to find out how this happened. >> we drove to framingham, massachusetts, the necc, compounding facility at the heart of this outbreak. we just wanted some answers. we're with cnn, trying to get ahold of somebody to talk to about what's going on here. >> unfortunately i have to ask you guys to leave the property. >> reporter: over there is the necc compounding facility. back here, that's a recycling facility, essentially looks like a dump. walking around here, people have told us there has been this relationship between the recycling facility and necc for some time. doing a little bit of dig iging we realize they're, in fact, own bid the same people. >> okay. there sanjay is, live in boston. so, sanjay, the facility produces mass quantities of human drugs, shares a property with, as you showed us, a garbage dump. that doesn't seem sanitary. who made that decision? >> reporter: i don't know, don. it's amazing. obviously, they didn't want to talk about it, as you could see there. i don't know if you've ever been thrown off a facility there. that was quite interesting. sort of going behind -- this is sort of tucked away. you find that -- they call it a recycling center but it was aa garbage dump. people were driving in, dumping off garbage even while we were there. this wasn't just the waste from the pharmaceutical part of this, but all kinds of different waste. i don't know who oversees this. what i can tell you is that it's not the fda. the fda doesn't oversee this, even though these are medications for human use. it is usually done at the state level. what happens is the organization applies for a license, they get a license and unless there's a problem again, don, they may never get a visit again. so, you can see what sort of happens here. that visual of that -- essentially, as you describe it, garbage dump right behind this compounding center. >> i think this deserves a visit. these compounding pharmaciys aren't mom and pop shops like they used to be. >> right. >> 2003 government report found that 10%, i believe, of all drugs administered in the u.s. can come from them. how can it be that the fda doesn't have authority over them until there's a problem? what's their response to all of this? >> they would say they should have responsibility and authority over this. and they've been asking for that for 20 years. it's quite a remarkable thing a lot of people don't know about. these compounding centers are originally set up to be pretty small things. if you needed a slightly different dose of a medication, mix it with another medication or for a kid, for example, who didn't like the taste a medication, they could add some flavoring. those were the initial patterns and things that the compounding centers do. i don't think anyone ever sort of believed that they would turn into these centers that would give out 17,000 different doses of medications all over the country. so now the fda is saying, yeah, we probably do need some authority over this. >> dr. gupta, thank you. i know yul get to the bottom of it. appreciate your reporting. still ahead here on cnn, sweet, gentle and marked for death. why the taliban tried to kill this 14-year-old school girl. i don't spend money on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪ this morning in pakistan, this is the face of courage. a 14-year-old girl will survive a brazen attack from taliban gunman. they opened attack simply because she dared to defy them. in the capital of islamabad. what is the nationwide reaction to such a horrifying attack? >> reporter: don, i think initially the reaction was shock and disbelief. then it switched over to a lot of anxiety and concern about her well-being. i can tell you at this hour, there's a large group of women, many of them mothers in the southern port city of karachi, hold i holding a prayer vigil. we spoke to her doctor and neurosurgeon and told us after a three-hour surgery they managed to get the bullet out that was lodged in her neck. authorities are also telling us that they've managed to identify the two gunmen who shot her. it's not clear who they are. but they're going to be arrested soon, according to authorities. many in pakistan know malia. if you're outside the region, you don't. best way to understand why she inspired so many people is to sit down and listen to her speak. here is a small excerpt from that interview. >> so i thought i must stand up for my rights, the right for education, the right for speech. >> some people might say you're 14. you don't have any rights. you just have to listen to mom and dad. >> no, i have the right of education, the right to play, the right to sing, the right to talk. i have the right to go to market. i have the right to speak up. >> reporter: we can objectively report that this is an absolutely adorable young girl and is also fiercely determined in confidence. don, we put a lot of tough questions to her back late last year and she stood up to us. this is a tough girl that many say she represents the best of pakistan. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. mitt romney is accused of flip flopping during the debate. former president bill clinton goes even further. >> so just show up with a sunny face and say, i didn't say all that stuff i said the last two years. >> next, does mitt romney have a multiple personality? plus, what he told an iowa newspaper that's making some people scratch their heads. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner ener