dan wheldon, leaving racing fans in shock and grief. i'm wolf blitzer in las vegas, you're in "the situation room." we are now in las vegas with the republican hopefuls will face off tomorrow night in the western presidential debate. it comes at a pivotal point in the contest with herman cain now near or at the top of the various polls. but he sparked an uproar over the weekend about a controversial remark about immigration. a very sensitive issue here if nevada. cnn's jim acosta is with us. this is a big one here and in a lot of other states as well herman cain said he made these comments before when he hosted his radio show in atlanta. he is finding out that those remarks can bring in viewers and listeners but may not work as well on a presidential campaign. >> herm yan cane insists these comments did not cross the line. >> it'll be 20 feet high. barb wire on the top. it will be electrified. and there is going to be a sign on the other side that said, it will kill you. warning. mr. cain, that's insensitive. no, insensitive for them to be killing our citizens, killing our border agents. >> the outspoken conservative businessman said on one of the talk shows he was kidding. >> that's a joke. >> that is an serious plan. >> no, it's not. >> you got a big laugh but that's not what you do. >> i also said, america needs to get a sense of humor. >> this is the education of herman cane. he is learning about being a minor league candidate and being at the top of the heap. there are things you can't say when people look at you as a serious contender. >> cain made the comments a couple dayes before meeting arizona sheriff who has become the donald trump of illegal immigration politics. getting calls from the entire gop field says cain is right on message. >> i'm sure he is joking but it probably means he is doing serious to do something at the border and stop the illegal immigration. >> but latino republicans worry that tough talk will back fire. >> this is a type of rhetoric that turned off latino voters in the past. i think that's a bit unfortunate from the republican point of view. but the fact that he is trying to walk back his comments now i think is telling. >> sneaking across our border, putting americans safety and jobs at risk. >> in nevada, republican senate candidate outraged hispanics with this ad, showing actors portraying illegal immigrants. a majority leader harry reid went on to capture nearly 90% of the latino vote. but cain style is catching fire, nearly trading places with rick perry, who is seen by some tea party activists as weak on illegal immigration. also a worry for romney, it seems the massachusetts governor peaked in support among republicans. >> natural ceiling. if you go back and look at the race last time, he ran no a natural ceiling. >> one of the big questions for tomorrow night's debate is whether or not any of herman caine's republican challengers will challenge him on these comments as it is in many cases, the race for the republican nomination is very much a race to the right on the issue of illegal immigration, wolf. >> certainly is, jim. gloria is here, our chief political analyst. our new poll showes this race is very, very volatile for the republican nomination. >> sure is. as jim was just talking about in his piece, take a look at this poll and you will see how romney remains pretty consistent, 26%, now 21% back in september. and cain and perry essentially flipped. what you are going to see is that you've got to see perry tomorrow night really go on the offense. he's got to go on the offense against cain. michele bachmann has to go on the offense against cain. because he is taking their voters. by the way, he's quite vulnerable. i mean, today michele bachmann came out and said that you know, you shouldn't joke about immigration policy. she didn't disagree with the substance but said it is no joking matter in the state of nevada immigration is no joking matter. >> the poll also shows gloria that most of the republican potential voters out there, they are still on the fence. they haven't made up their minds. >> they have not made up their minds. let's look at this. the question is, have you definitely made up your mind which candidate you will support and might change mind, 67%. which shows you the volatility in the race. it also shows you that republican voters are looking for an alternative to mitt romney, right? they haven't settled on romney. >> that's right. and wolf, we have seen this before. remember, michele bachmann in iowa, she peaked. it is an issue that mitt romney touched on occasion. he went after rick perry on the issue of tuition breaks for children of undocumented workers in texas. it will be interesting, i think, to see whether or not any of the candidates go after herman cain on this issue. >> you know, so far herman cain's campaign has been a book tour, at largely a book tour. and he's got to branch out. he raised some more money but he's got to get more serious as a candidate. not spending time in tennessee. what was he doing there? he should be in new hampshire. >> he says he is running an unconventional campaign. but mitt romney's got a problem when it comes to herman cain. i want to you weigh in. some supporters have said, they want to be careful, because if he nominee, they don't want to alienate the supporters. >> he is walking a really fine line. but unlike 2008 where mitt romney changed his positions on a bunch of issues, he has decided not to do that this time, to look forward. he is pretty tough on immigration policy. rick perry, i would think, would be the one, if he could do it delicately, to take herman cain on immigration. he says, building that fence, i know, i've been the governor of texas, it is absolutely impossible. >> disagree on instincts tuition for children of immigrants. we have a lot more to talk about over the next couple hours. don't forget, candidates take the stage tomorrow in a state that reported the highest unemployment rate in the nation in august. more than 13%. we are talking about nevada. and home foreclosure rankings, also the highest in the united states. those aren't just statistics for people who live here, including one cab driver who has seen firsthand how the economy has changed. cnn's tj holmes has the story. >> living here, locals, we don't -- you know, we don't go up o the strip. we don't bother with it. >> what is your hay day as far as driving a cab here. you've been doing it nine years here. when is the height when you raked in kags. >> 2005, 6. >> it was good. >> i gave my daughter a debt-free education on her bachelors and masters. bought her a brand new car. took a four-year loan out on it. paid it off in 19 months. plus paid my regular bills and still saved money. that's how good it was. >> you did all that driving a cab here in -- >> that's how good it was. >> you think a lot of people outside of las vegas, and maybe even people in vegas, we have this impression that oh, that's america's playground. people go out there and just blow money. surely they have to be a large in cash. >> 60 to 65% of the job mark set the strip and local construct n construction. recession kicked in, strip got slow, they laid off thousands. the thousands couldn't find work. they started losing their homes. these people lose their homes. local construction starts slowing down. these people start losing their jobs. they start losing their homes. foreclosures have gotten so bad that it is now one in every seven homes in the state of nevada. >> you think people don't get it sometimes? >> oh, they don't. >> how bad you hurt. >> they don't. the strip will be busy to them. we know it's not. right? i use an example. when we had one new year's eve, i tell them, if you came here and saw a quarter million people, would you think it was busy? they would say, yeah, jam-packed. but the year before was 720,000. you are talking 70,000 cut. i said, that's a lot. >> what a story. there is a lot more here in nevada as well. don't forget tomorrow night here in las vegas, western republican presidential debate, 8 p.m. eastern, only here on cnn. occupy wall street protest movement is going global. jack cafferty is up next with the cafferty file also. the crash that killed champion indy car driver dan wheldon. plus, syrian spies in washington. allegedly working in the united states. now one man has formally been charged. i'm robert shapiro. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. launch your dreams. ♪ ♪ ♪ when your chain of supply ♪ goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there ♪ ♪ track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that ♪ hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ until i tried this. nothing helped me beat arthritis pain. it's salonpas. pain relief that works at the site of pain... up to 12 hours. salonpas. today i own 165 wendy's restaurants. and i get my financing from ge capital. but i also get stuff that goes way beyond banking. we not only lend people money, we help them save it. 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[ male announcer ] introducing the reinvented 2012 toyota camry. it's ready. are you? ♪ jack cafferty series. got the cafferty file. jack? >> what began as a few people walking aren't new york financial district complaining about the economy and corporate greed now spread around the world. as occupy wall street movement marks a month of protests, there are no signs of it slowing down on the contrary. protesters have taken to the streets in u.s., europe and asia as well. london, rome, paris, os low, copenhagen, taipei and tokyo, these protests have been mostly peaceful except rome where they did set off some riots. organizers say the protests will be held in 5950 cities in 82 countries. that sounds like the beginnings of a revolution. here in the u.s. police arrested hundreds of protesters this past weekend including new york, chicago, denver, phoenix, arizona and raleigh, north carolina. protesters say they are angry that banks make hefty profit after the 2008 bailouts while ordinary americans suffer under a struggling economy and 9% unemployment. they have a point. they say they take their inspiration from the arab spring movement that lead led to the toppling of regimes across africa and middle east. critics say protesters don't have clear goals and question how long the movement can keep going. but they lasted for a month so far. no signs of slowing down and people who laughed at them don't look so smart right now, do they? plus, politicians seem to be taking note that these protests aren't going away as well. president obama voicing support for the demonstrators and republican house majority leader eric cantor who previously compared home to angry mobs, now says that his party agrees that there's too much income disparity in the united states. anyway, here is the question -- where are the occupy wall street protests destined to end, do you think? post a comment on my blog on go to our post on the situation room's facebook page. wolf? >> thank you, jack. more on that story coming up as well. meanwhile, a rescue at the bottom of the world. other top stories in the situation> now. lisa, what's going on? >> an american researchers is elated to have been air lifted out of the south pole today. weeks after suffering an parent stroke. she arrived in new zealand. she fell ill in august at a research station. she had been able to do some rehab before her rescue. and iran is demanding access to the suspect in an alleged plot to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states. sea naturalized u.s. citizen holding both u.s. and iranian passports. . and apple says it has a sales record for the iphone 4 s selling more than 4 million smart phones since its launch three dayes a kboi. this year's iphone debuted in the united states and six other countries. the new phone looks like the iphone 4 but has a better processer, new antenna. more than eight hours to finish a toronto marathon on sunday, but that was a record. you see him there. that is because he is 100 years old. and by finishing the 26.2 mill course, he became the undisputed oldest runner to finish a marathon. we is born in rural india in 1911. he actually didn't start running marathons until he was 89 years old. this was the eighth one that he has run. congratulationses to him, isn't this amazing? a hundred years old and look at him go. >> that is -- wow, what is amazing. god bless him. i hope he runs many. many more marathons. good for him. thanks, lisa. syrian spies allegedly working here in the united states. now one man is being charged. and the fiery crash that killed a racing champion. we are taking a closer look at the track and what may have caused his death right here in las vegas. 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[ applause ] because, yes we have an election coming up, but that election is a long ways away and a lot of folks can't wait. >> appropriate on the taxpayer's dime since it is clearly campaigning, and i must say again, i've never seen an uglier bus than the canadian one. he is traveling around on a canadian bus touting american jobs. >> let's talk about this. the president's bus, the jobs situation, a lot more. the white house communications director dan pfeifer is joining us from the white house. dan, is the president's bus a campaign trip or a presidential tip. >> it is what the president said. creating jobs and growing the economy now. as he said in the clip you played, we have an election in 13 months. but you american people can't wait, so we have to act now. >> what about complaints he is traveling around and talking about american jobs on a canadian made bus. >> i think that's a lot of politics mr. b senator mccaine. they acquired the bus from an american company. it is very famous for the straight talk express. >> that's interesting. i didn't know that. let's move on to talk about our new cnn or th poll. these numbers probably will be very worry sum to you and a lot of other democrats. we asked registered voters across the country, democrats, republicans, independentindepen you extremely or very enthusiastic about voting. republicans, 64% said they are very or extremely enthusiastic. only 43% of democrats are extremely or very enthusiastic. in 2010 the republicans took the majority in the house in mid term electiones. exact opposite in 2006 -- in 2008 when democrats were more enthusiastic. how worried are you about this lack of entuesday yas em, about democrats. >> not worried at all, wolf. there is no question republicans are in the middle after campaign right now. i am completely confident that come election day and we talk about the differences between this president and which ever one of the republicans is nominated, democrats. ing as enthusiastic and i believe more than the republicans. >> here is another number in our new cnn orc poll, that may be worrisome to you and other democra democrats. we asked, do you believe president obama's policies will fail or succeed. 59% of all voter said they will fail. now compare that top of in 2010 when 47% thought the president's policies would fail and only 32% back in 2009. i read about this on my blog today. those trends you see right there, not very encouraging if the president wants it get re-elected. how do you reverse that? >> well i think you reverse it by going out and talking about -- doing what president is doing today and this week. we talk about the american jobs act. a specific plan to grow the economy now. republicans have a plan that the same economist look at our plan. look at their plan and say, it won't create jobs. we will make the case. we have a specific plan. the american people understand, we didn't get into this mess overnight and we won't get out of it overnight tp it'll take time. we know the president wants it put this country in the right direction and all of the candidates and republicans leaders in the house and senate want to get us out of this. tax cuts for wealthiest while the middle class take a beating, we can't do that. lots of poll show bipartisans agree with every almost of the president's jobs act. a majority of republican voters support the president's plans here. we are headed in the right direction. >> why do you think herman cain is surging among the republican candidates now? >> well, i think -- i don't pretend to be an expert on republican primary politics, but i think that what he is -- he represent, i think a dissatisfaction with the front-runners and potentially governor romney. i don't know if he is the flavor of the week or month, but i will let the them straighten that out. >> that puts the rest of this notion that tea party or at large numbers of conservative republicans are racist. does that put that notion to rest once and for all? >> i never suggested that. i don't think anyone in this white house suggested that. it is a positive sign that there is a american president. there is an african-american running, that is a positive thing. >> you think there could be two africa mn-americans could be running? >> anything is possible. but one thing i learned in my experience working in the last democratic primary is t