terror alert. americans abroad are warned beware after a bold plot to assassinate a saudi official. sit down, show down. republican presidential candidates go after herman cain as mitt romney wins a key endorsement. the road to recovery. months after a brutal beating in l.a., a san francisco giants fan finally leaves the hospital. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, october 12th, 2011. good morning.

thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. the state department issued a worldwide travel alert overnight warning americans of potential terror attacks sponsored by iran, this follows a spoiled terror plot right out of hollywood. an alleged murder for hire plan targeting the saudi ambassador to the united states on american oil. two iran government agents have been charged. one is under arrest and the other one is still on the run. susan mcginnis is in washington with details on this. good morning, susan. what is the latest? >> reporter: this has stunned washington. just simply the idea that iran would solicit the murder for high from a mexican drug cartel to kill the saudi ambassador and has all levels of the u.s. government reacting and the talk now here is what the u.s. does next. federal officials are warning americans at home and abroad to be on the lookout for possible

terrorist attacks. the state department issued the alert late last night as justice revealed they had spoiled an alleged plot to assassinate the ambassador to the u.s. authorities say manssor arbabsiar and another man planned to use explosives to kill abel al jubeir at a restaurant in washington, d.c. manssor arbabsiar hired a hitman he thought worked for a mexican drug cartel, but was a d.e.a. agent. when asked about saushlts, he said, "no big deal." >> these individuals had no regard for their intended victim, no regard for innocent citizens who might have been hurt or killed in this attempted assassination. >> reporter: fbi arrested

arbabsiar at jfk airport in new york two weeks ago and he appeared in court on tuesday. the other man is still at large in iran. president obama calls the plot a flagrant violation of u.s. and international law, but iran denies the accusations calling them false and baseless. >> the united states is committed to holding iran accountable for its actions. >> reporter: treasury officials have already imposed new sanctions against tehran and the state department is hoping other nations will join the u.s. in pressuring a country it sees as a growing threat. now, there is some debate here about whether this constitutes an act of war since assassination wasn't carried out. the talk is about gaining the international community, including china, to really press iran and enforce state sponsored terrorism and its nuclear plants. >> a lot of people want to know this. how did officials eventually get their hands on arbabsiar? >> well, actually, it was a sting operation. he got tricked going back to mexico to meet with the assassins. he was going to be the

collateral until the murder was carried out. but when he turned out once he got there the mexican authorities took him into custody and shipped him back to new york and that is where the fbi was waiting. >> susan mcginnis in washington, thank you for that report. >> thanks. members of congress are speaking out the alleged assassination plot. texas representative michael mccall said if it was sponsored by iran's government, it would constitute an act of war against the u.s., as well as saudi arabia and israel. at least 14 people were killed and more than 60 wounded when three car bombs exploded in iraq this morning. the bombers were targeting police. an israeli soldier who has been held captive by hamas for five years is expected to be free within days. the deal to free gilad shalit was approved by the israeli cabinet overnight. shalit will be exchanged for more than a thousand palestinian prisoners. the news set off celebrations in the west bank and gaza. shalit, a tank gunner, was captured in 2006 and he was 19 years old at the time.

now to politics. at last night's republican presidential debate in new hampshire, former -- herman cain was on the hot seat. he has been rising in the polls and won an early test vote in florida but last night, his fellow candidates took aim at cain's 999 tax plan. >> i thought it was a catchy phrase. in fact, i thought it was the price of a pizza when i first heard about it. >> 999 will pass and it's not the price for pizza because it has been well studied and well developed. it starts with, unlike your proposals, throwing out the current tax code. >> meanwhile, front-runner mitt romney took a bold step, defending parts of the 2008 wall street bailout. randall pinkston has more. >> reporter: all eyes were on mitt rom me who outpolls potential president hopefuls.

in a debate on tuesday night, romney rivals got a chance to disrupt his momentum. >> can you name all 59 points in your 160-page plan? >> the whole discussion around this campaign is going to be job creation. how can you win that debate, given your background? >> the american people, in the kind of financial crisis they are in, they need someone who knows how to create jobs and i do. >> reporter: the sit-down format was tightly scripted, focusing on the economy. the candidates repeated now familiar remedies and criticisms of the obama administration. >> we've got to get our spending house in order. >> reporter: some voters like what they heard. who helped themselves most so far? >> well, i think actually romney probably did, in my opinion, because he was taking questions from almost everybody and he seemed to handle them fairly well. >> reporter: stakes were high for texas governor rick perry, who has plunged in the polls after weak debate performances. >> mitt has had six years to work on a plan. i've been in this about eight weeks. >> reporter: randall pinkston, cbs news, hanover, new jersey. before the debate, romney

was endorsed by new jersey governor chris christie, who had been thinking about a chance to run himself. >> he brings that great private sector experience and he brings the experience as governor of massachusetts, knowing how government works. not a legislator trying to figure out how to use executive power, but an executive who will use his power and make our american lives better and that is why i'm endorsing mitt romney for president of the united states. >> christie believes mitt romney will have a better chance at defeating president obama. speaking of president obama, he says he is not done fighting for the elements of his jobs bill. but it could be an uphill battle. as expected, the president's $447 billion jobs plan died in a senate vote last night. all 46 republican senators and two democrats voted against it. the white house hopes to push forward with individual proposals in the bill on a piecemeal basis. there is a huge controversy this morning in topeka, kansas. of after the city council

repealed a local law against domestic violence. the vote came after a county prosecutor decided to stop pursuing diagram violence cases because of deep budget cuts. topeka wants the county or the state to pay for such cases. advocates for domestic abuse victims are outraged. >> i think an immediate resolution is necessary. this has got to be addressed. this has gone for over a month now. people are being denied their basic human rights to safety and protection under our laws. >> city and county officials say they are hoping to negotiate a deal to end the budget dispute. here in new york, the "occupy wall street" protesters moved uptown yesterday. demonstrators made their way up fifth avenue. some of the pricest real estate in america. they marched past homes owned by media tycoon rupert murdoch and billionaire david koch and 1% of

wealthy americans. just ahead on the "morning news," another hack attack on electronics giant sony. plus this is not a good way to die. web video shows the stupidity of riding outside a new york subway train. you're watching the "cbs morning news". that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. plus veggie nutrition. it's time to get real about what happens in the bathroom. and start talking about what you really want from your toilet paper. it's time to talk about clean. feeling clean is so important. i use quilted northern. quilted northern soft & strong. stronger than the leading rippled brand. for a confident clean.

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here in new york city, check this out. transit officials are calling a subway surfer stunt stupid and dangerous. the online video from early september shows a young man riding on the outside of a train, clinging to the doors as it races through the subway tunnels. police are trying to track him down. goodness. hurricane jova made landfall this morning on mexico's southwest pacific coast. fringes of the storm are already pounding coastal towns late tuesday in the popular resort area south of puerto vallarta. it arrived at a category 2 storm with winds 100 miles per hour and will weaken rapidly as it moves inland. on the cbs "moneywatch," a mixed day of stocks in asia

after a quiet trading on wall street. ashley morrison here in new york with that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, betty. asian markets were mixed today after slovakia blocked eu plan. today, wall street gets a new round of corporate earnings. on tuesday, stocks finished mixed. the dow slipped 17 points while the nasdaq gained 17. after the closing bell, alcoa aluminum giant, reported disappointing profits, missing wall street's expectations. another apparent security breach for sony. the company says this this morning it has locked almost a hundred thousand accounts. sony stays no credit card information was compromised. earlier this year, a massive data breach put more than 100 million sony customer accounts at risk. the machines are taking over. for the first time, cell phones and other mobile devices in the

u.s. outnumber actual people. according to an industry group, there are more than 327.5 million active phones, tablets, and laptops on cellular networks, up 9% from january compared to 307 million actual americans. the best hotel in america has been named in named in america. get this, betty, a no tipping policy. i think i could use a weekend there! >> yeah. count me in. >> me too. >> that looks like fun. thank you, ashley, joining us live in new york. in health news, new evidence that high doses are vitamin e may boost a man's chance of prostate cancer. a new study found that men who took a daily capsule were 17% more likely to get prostate cancer than those given dummy bills. vitamin e is naturally found in

foods like nuts, seeds, and vegetable oil. in san francisco, giants baseball fan brian stow has left the hospital to continue his recovery from a brutal beating this spring outside dodgers stadium. with his family by his side, stow was transferred to an undisclosed rehabilitation center. he still can't walk or stand up, but he can move his body and sit up on his own. >> when brian came here, he was in a comatose state. when he left us today, he was able to begin to speak, interact with his family, and he is now beginning to eat as well and he is making dramatic progress. >> two men have been charged with the beating in l.a. they pleaded not guilty. straight ahead, we have your wednesday morning weather. and in sports, the tigers claw their way back into the american league playoffs. and e for the planet?

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but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. time now for a check on the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows storms stretching from minnesota to texas. showers are moving north. through the mid-atlantic. later today, highs in southern california will reach into the 90s.

showers and thunderstorms are crossing the midwest. they could be severe in missouri. and new england will see some rain by the end of the day. in sports, the national league championship series resumes tonight in st. louis. the cardinals host the brewers in game three, with the series is tied at one game apiece. in the alcs last night, tigers battled back against texas. the tigers victor martinez and jhonny peralta and miguel cabrera all homered. the tigers beat the rangers 5-2. texas leads the series two games to one with game four this afternoon in detroit. in other baseball news, after nine seasons as boston's general manager, theo epstein is widely expected to move to the chicago cubs. he led the red sox to two world series wins after an 86-year drought, but the team has been disappointing lately. the cubs would present epstein with an even bigger challenge. they have not won a world series in more than a century. and the nfl has awarded the

2015 super bowl to phoenix, home of the arizona cardinals. it will be the third super bowl to be played in the phoenix area. players and fans may be happy to go to the desert after the 2014 super bowl which will be played outdoors in the winter at the new jersey meadowlands. i'm cold just thinking about that. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. and a big blow for dr. conrad murray at the michael jackson manslaughter trial. >> announcer: sports sponsored by just for men hair color. live forward. ,,,,

on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. showers are moving into the northeast with heavy rain likely later in the day. portions of the southeast are starting to dry out. and severe storms will range from minnesota all the way to texas.

here is another look at this morning's top stories. the state department has issued a worldwide travel alert after a plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the united states was foiled. the plot is tied to iran's government. and at last night's republican presidential debate in new hampshire, mitt romney defended parts of the wall street bailout and herman cain's 999 tax plan came under attack. at the conrad murray trial in los angeles, a witness disputed the defense claim that michael jackson gave himself a fatal injection of a powerful anesthetic. jurors also heard more of dr. murray's own words following jackson's death. kendis gibson has that story. >> reporter: jurors heard dr. conrad murray describe how michael jackson's children learned their father was dead. >> after they cried and cried and cried, the words of unhappiness and confusion couldn't live without her dad and she didn't want to be an orphan.

and really sad, really sad. >> reporter: dr. murray told detectives he believes jackson was getting powerful drugs from a beverly hills dermatologist. >> when he came back, he was basically wasted and required at least 24 hours for recovery. >> reporter: murray's defense team says jackson himself administered the fatal dose. in court tuesday, the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on jackson, testified there is no evidence supporting that theory. >> the circumstances do not support self-administration of propofol. >> reporter: the coroner says a more likely scenario is dr. murray misjudged how many propofol he gave jackson. kendis gibson, cbs news, los angeles. in other news, first lady michelle obama has a new title -- jumper in chief. >> 3-2-1. go! >> mrs. obama is lending a hand in a nationwide effort to break

the guinness world record for the most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period. she led hundreds of kids yesterday at the white house, as you see there. it's part of the first lady's campaign to fight childhood obesity. i'm betty nguyen. and this is the "cbs morning news." ng news." till in his way. so the doctor kept eric on his current medicine and added nonstimulant intuniv to his treatment plan. [ male announcer ] for some children like eric, adding once-daily nonstimulant intuniv to their stimulant has been shown to provide additional adhd symptom improvement. don't take if allergic to intuniv, its ingredients, or taking other medicines with guanfacine, like tenex. intuniv may cause serious side effects, such as low blood pressure, low heart rate, fainting, and sleepiness. intuniv may affect the ability to drive or use machinery. other side effects include nausea, tiredness, trouble sleeping, stomach pain, and dizziness.

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