economic forecast. let's get to alison kosik. she's monitoring everything today where at one point today, the dow tanked morning 500 points. what's going on? >> that's right. these worries about a recession were ampfullied today. not just in the u.s., but overseas as well. the federal reserve spooked everybody first. this was yesterday. the fed giving a really bleak assessment of the u.s. economy warning of significant downside risks to the economic outlook. translation there that the economy will get significantly weaker. then overnight, we got weak manufacturing reports out of europe, the u.k, even china, which had been an engine of growth out of the great recession. you have to remember, wolf, we're all interconnected. only been one economist to tell us europe is probably in a recession and the u.s. is teetering on the brink of one. wolf? >> so, basically, it doesn't look very promising right now. what are they brace you for tomorrow? >> tomorrow, we're trying to see if we're getting, if volatility may sort of come to a head, calm down a bit. the fact is, the markets had been looking to the fed for some help and the fed came out with this stimulus measure to basically sell short-term bonds and buy up longer term ones to hopefully lower long-term interest rates with the idea that sparking these lower interest rates to get people to refinance their mortgages, get businesses to reinves, invest and grow their businesses and ultimately hire, but many are wondering if this is really going to make any difference at all because the economy is having such a problem growing jobs at this point. one analyst says with the stimulus measure, it can't make the economy worse, but many say they don't think it's going to make the economy any better either. >> amid growing concerns of a potentially double dip recession. thank you. in washington, republicans seem to be sending the federal reserve message blunt message to stay out of it when it comes to turning this crisis around. let's go to joe johns. >> wolf, members of congress have tried to meddle with the fed before, but when you look at the whole picture, what we've been hearing from republicans on the trail is now being echoed on capitol hill. some found it hard to believe with job growth stagnant and fears mounting, about a double dip recession. first, the four top republicans sent a letter to ben bernanke telling him not to do anything to stimulate the economy out of fear it could make things worse and then when the speaker of the house got asked about it, he said the fed ought to leave the fix up to the political system. >> it appears to us that they're taking actions because they don't believe the political system can do what needs to be done. frankly, i think that's enabling the political process rather than forcing the political process to do what it should do. and that's to deal with our deficit and our debt. >> but wasn't it the political system that made such a mess of raising the debt ceiling just last month that the country's credit rating got downgraded? and it's not like both parties decided to send a consensus message. no, this was from four leaders of one party, a former top economist at the fed said he was shocked. >> especially because it's in a partisan way. if this were with the broad support of both parties and the president, that would be one thing, but to have it be only by the leerds of one paerd is worriso worrisome. >> even to some republicans. tony fratto, who worked for the treasury department, tweeted -- a proponent of george w. bush, which makes it more curious that republicans running for president are slamming bernanke for his interventions into the economy. it got almost scary when rick perry weighed in. >> we would treat them pretty ugly down in texas. i mean, printing more money to play politics at this particular time in american history is almosttreacherous. >> newt gingrich said he's send him packing. >> i would fire him tomorrow. >> firing the fed chairman isn't likely, however, the president doesn't have to reappoint him at the end of his term in 2014. >> thank you. let's get to another economic battle playing out on capitol hill in washington. this one again with the potential to trigger a government shutdown only eight days from now. yesterday, we told you about a house bill which failed in part because of a dispute over emergency relief funding. today, we're learning republican leaders will propose cutting more spending to off set the amount of disaster relief money in the measure. let's talk about it with gloria borger. john boehner was pretty frustrated today, but you really can't blame him. >> no, i don't blame him. in this situation, it probably helps to be one of 12 children growing up because he probably learned a lot of patience. on the one hand, i think he was sort of surprised that he lost 48 republicans on what was supposed to be kind of a routine bipartisan measure because they thought this bill was way too expensive. then on the other hand, he lost the democrats who didn't want to pay for disaster relief at all with spending cuts, so i think that you know, this is a speaker who's completely frustrated, wolf, and in the end at the beginning of the day today, he told republicans, look, this could boom rang and we may end up having to cave to the democrats and cost us more money. take a listen. >> they could vote no, but what they're in essence doing is voting to spend more money. because that's exactly what will happen. >> so, the latest option, wolf, may with b to take more money from the department of energy to get more republicans on board, but that would mean he would lose democrats and even if it passed, who knows what would happen in the senate, so it's just more of the same that we've been seeing this entire summer. >> so, i guess the bottom line question is there going to be a government shutdown? >> well, i hope not. i don't think so. house speaker john boehner said today, there's not going to be b a government shutdown. hopefully, this vote if it occurs this evening will help allay some of the problems, but really, this just shows you the difficulties that this speaker has keeping his own troops in line. i mean, these republicans, lots of them, i was told, wiare worrd about being primaried by other conservative republicans in their districts, so they do not want to vote for any new spending, even if it's for disaster relief, without off setting with some spending cuts. very difficult. >> you and i remember that when republicans shut down the government back in 1995, it helped the then president bill clinton the following year get re-elected because the polls showed the american public blamed the republicans for the shutdown. here's the question. are democrats hoping privately for the same thing right now? >> in 1995, it was a bit of a different situation because the republicans controlled both the house and senate. i think now the democrats like having john boehner in an uncon comfortable position, but in the end, the democrats i talked to understand this would boomerang against all of them. congress already has a 14% approval rating. if this were to lead to a government shutdown, which is unlikely, i think they would have an approval rating somewhere in the negative territory, if that's possible. so i don't think anybody wants to bring this to the brink. >> i don't think there will be a government shutdown. thank you. meanwhile, mahmoud ahminedjad launching a fiery war of words against the united states at the united nations. you're going to want to hear what the ambassador says. she's responding. plus, bags of yellow powder marked radioactive. cnn's exclusive access in libya. that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ met an old man at the top asked him if he had a secret and the old man stopped and thought and said: free 'cause that's how it ought to be my brother credit 'cause you'll need a loan for one thing or another score 'cause they break it down to one simple number that you can use dot to take a break because the name is kinda long com in honor of the internet that it's on put it all together at the end of the song it gives you freecreditscore-dot-com, and i'm gone... offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com my grocery bill isn't wasteful spending. my heart medication isn't some political game. our retirement isn't a simple budget line item. i worked hard. i paid into my medicare. and i earned my social security. now, instead of cutting waste and loopholes, washington wants to cut our benefits. that wasn't the agreement. join the members of aarp and tell washington to stop cuts to our medicare and social security benefits. 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[anncr:] love. it's what makes a subaru... a subaru. for five years, we've been introducing you to extraordinary heroes. the nominations have come from you and now, and erson cooper explains how you can help choose one as our hero of the year. >> now that we've announced the top heroes, i want to show you how you can vote for the main hero of the year. this is the main page. down here, all top ten heroes. each will receive $50,000, plus a shot at becoming hero of the year. here's how you can vote. first, you can learn more about all the heroes by clicking on their fan pages. as an example, i'm going to go here. click on patrice. we're using patrice as an example. any of the ten nominees would be worthy of being hero of the year and that is up to you. after you look at each fan page, pick the person who inspires you the most and click on vote now on the right. and a new page comes up. it shows you all the top ten heroes. choose the person you want to vote for. now, i'm going say randomly pick t tarryn davis. her photo will show up here under the your selection area. then it shows you a security code over here. you type in that security code. you click on the red bok. you can vote online and on your mobile device, any smart phone or cell phone with a browser. just go to cnnheroes.com. and remember, you can vote up to ten times a day through wednesday, december 7th. >> and the winner will be announced in an all-star tribute december 11th. jack cafferty. >> you're my hero, wolf. welcome to the big city. >> nice to be here. >> as the republican race for the white house heats up, here's something the gop probably is not too comfortable with. most of the ten poorest states in the country are republican. mississippi's the poorest, followed by arkansas, tennessee, west virginia, louisiana, montana, south carolina, kentucky, alabama and north carolina. and the list doesn't even include texas, where rick perry is the governor and one in five people lives in poverty. in a piece on cnn.com, roland martin writes that republicans expect to one all ten of these states in 2012 although president obama did win north carolina by a slim margin in 2008 and west virginia is usually considered democratic. he points out despite the red leanings in these states, you don't hear a lot about poverty. in fact, the word, poor, has rarely come up at the debates thus far. ron paul suggesting the u.s. get rid of the minimum wage and rommy using the phrase, energy poor. many in the gop are quick to blame president obama for the rise in the poverty rate. but how about addressing the root causes of poverty more directly, especially when millions of people in these so-called red states are suffering. the census bureau reports 46.2 million americans live below the poverty line. that's a record. that translates to the grand total of 22,000 bucks a year for a family of four. minorities are especially hard hit. 27% of blacks live in poverty. 26% of hispanics, 10% of whites. here's the question. what does it say that most of the ten poorest sates in the country are all republican? go to cnn.com/kafr fifile or go to our facebook page and one additional note. cnn is looking closely at the subject of poverty all this week. so if you wanted to know more, just where it is. >> good idea. always leave the dial where it is. even if they don't want to know more about this. just leave it. >> those are orders. >> thank you. it was a computer hacking system that brought down sony's play station network for weeks. the fbi now announcing an arrest. and president obama's message in ohio. >> hello, cincinnati! uh, forgot jack's cereal. 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[ male announcer ] with integrated healthcare solutions from dell, every file is where dr. ling needs it. now she can spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork. dell. the power to do more. jason durgd is taking legal action. what's going on, lisa? >> she was only 11 when kidnapped in 1991. now, she is suing the federal government for negligence. the complaint says the government had parole supervision and responsibility for her kidnapper when dugard was abducted. says any money will be donated to the jaycee foundation. a member of the hacking group is under arrest in connection with the massive attack on the sony play station network. the fbi arrested 23-year-old cody singer this morning. in france, issuing its first fine connected to a controversial law banning burkas. the woman sought out the fine to take to court. they say a ban is a national security issue as well as a defense of the country's secular values. critics say it is a violation of religious freedom. >> thank you. is iran building a nuclear bomb? just ahead, my interview with u.s. ambassador to the united nayeses. plus, rick perry and mitt romney battling for the top spot in the white house. we're going to tell you which one is getting a new boost in a critical campaign state. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil. do you have an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem? are you taking warfarin to reduce your risk of stroke caused by a clot? you should know about pradaxa. an important study showed that pradaxa 150mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa, there's no need for those regular blood tests. pradaxa is progress. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have kidney problems or a bleeding condition, like stomach ulcers. or if you take aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctors approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion,stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if pradaxa can reduce your risk of a stroke. for more information or help paying for pradaxa, visit pradaxa.com. mahmoud ahminedjad incites a walkout at the united nation with a speech full of fierce attac attacks. all coming at a time of heightened concern about raund its nuclear capabilities. susan rice is the united states ambassador to the united nations. thanks for joining us. quickly on iran, is there any doubt from the u.s. government's perspective that iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb? >> we are gravely concerned about iran's nuclear ambitions and their nuclear program and that's why we've taken such aggressive steps to try to set them back. the most important step we took was a little over a year ago here at the united nations when we got the toughest sanctions regime on iran imposed. we've also paired that with strong domestic legislation and utilized that to its fullest ability. we've got the european union and a number of important trading partners to increase the economic pressure and that is precisely because we're concerned about the program and it has to either be resolved, we hope, through negotiations or if not, through increased pressure. >> but as far as the intelligence is concerned, you think that they are absolutely -- >> you know better than to expect me to comment on intelligence. the united states is gravely concerned about iran's nuclear program and its ambitions to have what we believe is nuclear weapon. >> was there ever serious consideration to not allowing ahminedjad to come this year to the united nations? >> michele bachmann was perhaps not aware that we have a treaty obligation as the whole state, we are obliged when we agreed to take that responsibility in 1945 to allow representatives of all u.n. member states to travel to the united nations. now, in the case of ahminedjad and some other unsavory heads of state who are under sanctions or other violations, they have a very limited ability when they come to the united states, they're not allowed to travel outside of new york city. they can't engage in the normal activities that a head of state in good standing could. we have that ability and we have imposed those limitations on ahminedjad every year, but we would be in violation of international law in our commitments in hosting the united nations if we were to bar him or any other head of state from visiting. before we go to that, we find what ahminedjad does and says when he comes to the united nations absolutely odious, hateful, antisemitic, which is why the united states for three years including today, have led a walkout of his speech. so, there's no indication or no suggestion that by his presence here that there is any acceptance of his policies, his rhetoric or anything else. absolutely the opposite and that's why many of our allies join with us in that walkout. >> certainly was a dramatic moment. once again. the israeli palestinian conflict. palestinians are deeply disappointed by what the president said this week, maybe more what he didn't say, mainly israel must go back to the 67 lines with mute yully agreed land swaps and they're suggesting that from their perspective, the u.s. role in negotiating a u.s.-palestinian agreement is at the end right now. they're looking to france an other countriecountries. you're smiling. first of all, the united states remains centrally involved in this effort because both sides now that only the united states can play the crucial role that needs to be played, but that doesn't mean there isn't a space and need for others to be on board. in fact, ever since the president gave his important speeches in may in which