Local Web Site Has Updated Polling Location Data

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – With the general election next Tuesday, Philadelphia elections officials are advising voters to make sure they know the location of their polling place.
Bob Lee, Philadelphia’s voter registration administrator, says more than 50 polling locations have been changed since the last election cycle because of accessibility and other issues.

Lee says if you have access to a computer, the quickest way to find your polling place is to log on to www.phillyelection.com:

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Obama Returns To Philly To Rally Voters

30, 2010 4:45 PM

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PHILADELPHIA(CBS) – President Obama made a quick stop in Philadelphia, Saturday, to rally volunteers for a get-out-the-vote effort.

The president got a rock star reception at Temple. Democrats running for governor and senate in Pennsylvania are hoping to turn the enthusiasm for president Obama that persists here into a high voter turn-out– something that is critical if they are going to win in the state.

The President gave volunteers their marching orders:

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

In election's shadow, rally draws laughs, activism

In election's shadow, rally draws laughs, activism

Comedians Stephen Colbert, right, and Jon Stewart perform in front of the U.S. Capitol during their Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on the National Mall in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally blending laughs and political activism drew thousands to the mall with Stewart and Colbert casting themselves as the unlikely maestros of moderation and civility in polarized times.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the shadow of the Capitol and the election, comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert entertained a huge throng Saturday at a "sanity" rally poking fun at the nation's ill-tempered politics, fear-mongers and doomsayers.

"We live now in hard times," Stewart said after all the shtick. "Not end times."

Part comedy show, part pep talk, the rally drew together tens of thousands stretched across an expanse of the National Mall, a festive congregation of the goofy and the politically disenchanted. People carried signs merrily protesting the existence of protest signs. Some dressed like bananas, wizards, Martians and Uncle Sam.

Stewart, a satirist who makes his living skewering the famous, came to play nice. He decried the "extensive effort it takes to hate" and declared "we can have animus and not be enemies."

Screens showed a variety of pundits and politicians from the left and right, engaged in divisive rhetoric. Prominently shown: Glenn Beck, whose conservative Restoring Honor rally in Washington in August was part of the motivation for the Stewart and Colbert event, called the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. It appeared to rival Beck's rally in attendance.

Colbert, who poses as an ultraconservative on his show, played the personification of fear at the rally. He arrived on stage in a capsule like a rescued Chilean miner, from a supposed underground bunker. He pretended to distrust all Muslims until one of his heroes, basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is Muslim, came on the stage.

"Maybe I need to be more discerning," Colbert mused. He told Stewart: "Your reasonableness is poisoning my fear."

As part of the comedic routine, Stewart and his associates asked some in the audience to identify themselves by category, eliciting answers such as "half-Mexican, half-white," "American woman single" and "Asian-American from Taiwan."

"It's a perfect demographic sampling of the American people," Stewart cracked to a crowd filled with mostly younger whites. "As you know, if you have too many white people at a rally, your cause is racist. If you have too many people of color, then you must be asking for something - special rights, like eating at restaurants or piggy back rides."

With critical congressional elections looming Tuesday, Stewart and Colbert refrained from taking political sides on stage, even as many in the crowd wore T-shirts that read "Stewart-Colbert 2012" and left-leaning advocacy groups set up shop on the periphery, hoping to draw people to their causes of gay rights, marijuana legalization, abortion rights and more.

Organizing for America, Obama's political operation based at Democratic National Committee headquarters, was mounting a "Phone Bank for Sanity" to urge people to vote Tuesday.

Stewart sang along as Jeff Tweedy sang that America "is the greatest, strongest country in the world. There is no one more American than we."

Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow also performed, singing if "I can't change the world to make it better, the least I can do is care." Ozzy Osbourne and Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, engaged in something of a battle of the bands as the heavy-metal rocker barged in on the folkie's hit, "Peace Train," in a mock clash of music and cultures. Tony Bennett closed the show by singing "America the Beautiful."

The idea was to provide a counterweight to all the shouting and flying insults of these polarized times. But there were political undertones, too, pushing back against conservatives ahead of Tuesday's election.

Slogans urged people to "relax." But also: "Righties, don't stomp on my head," a reference to a Republican rally in Kentucky at which a liberal activist was pulled to the ground and stepped on. And, "I wouldn't care if the president was Muslim."

Shannon Escobar, 31, of Bangor, Pa., came with a group of 400 people on buses chartered in New York. A supporter of President Barack Obama in 2008, she said she's tired of nasty rhetoric from both sides and disenchanted with lack of progress in Washington.

"I want to see real change - not Obama change," she said. "We need a clean slate and start over with people really working together."

A regular viewer of Stewart's "The Daily Show," she said she had a dream that he ran for political office, but got "corrupt and dirty."

"I need him to stay pure," she said, deadpan.

Stewart is popular with Democrats and independents, a Pew Research Center poll found. The stage featured entertainers associated with Democratic causes or Obama's 2008 campaign, but no political sermons from them.

Stewart said the day was about toning down anger, partisan division and shouting.

"If we amplify everything," he said, "we hear nothing."

Many of the attendees, sporting stickers that read "Vote Sanity," said they enjoyed the rally's positive message, even if the program ultimately stuck mostly to entertainment. In the days leading to the event, organizers had refused to release a full schedule of speakers, leaving fans uncertain about what to expect.

"I thought it was awesome, with good music. We came for a rally to restore sanity, and that's what we got," said Joe Stroup, 31, of Portland, Ore. "But is it going to bring lasting change? I doubt it."

Comedy Central's park permit anticipated a crowd estimated in advance at 60,000.

Resurgent GOP closes in on House win, eyes Senate

Resurgent GOP closes in on House win, eyes Senate

Sen. John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks at a Republican fundraiser, Friday, Oct. 29, 2010, at the University of Northwestern Ohio's Event Center, in Lima, Ohio. Boehner is seeking re-election against Democratic challenger Justin Coussoule.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Resurgent Republicans appear poised to capture control of the House if not the Senate on Tuesday in elections midway through President Barack Obama's term, reaping a rich harvest of voter discontent with the economy and profound public skepticism about the future.

Drawing strength from the clamorous tea party movement, the GOP also is in line to wrest governorships from Democrats in all regions of the country, according to political strategists in both parties and public opinion polls. Big-state races in Florida, Ohio, Illinois and California remain intensely competitive into the campaign's final hours.

Republicans must gain 40 seats to win control of the House and 10 to take the Senate. A victory in either case would spell the end of a two-year stretch in which Democrats controlled the White House and held comfortable majorities in both houses of Congress.

With unemployment at 9.6 percent nationally and economic growth anemic, as many as 100 seats appeared competitive or ripe for turnover in the 435-member House - a list that included two dozen or more already given up for lost by the Democrats.

After absorbing thrashings at the hands of voters in 2006 and 2008, Republicans guarded against public displays of overconfidence. In private, though, their debate was not whether they would win a House majority, but the size of the victory margin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your government hasn't been listening," said Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican in line to become speaker of the House. "Your government is disrespecting you, your family, your job, your children. Your government is out of control. Do you have to accept it? Do you have to take it? Hell no you don't. That's what elections are for!" he said at a late-campaign rally in Ohio.

Publicly, Democrats betrayed no expectation that their House majority was at an end. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., turned aside any and all questions about the possibility of a night that would end her four-year tenure as the first female speaker in history.

But there was nothing bullish about the Democrats' late-campaign pronouncements.

"While there is some evidence that the Democrats' efforts are starting to pay off, the party still has ground to cover," said an Oct. 27 memo from Anzalone Lizst Research, a Democratic polling firm.

The ubiquitous polls were maddeningly inconsistent on many points. But most agreed that voters preferred Republicans over Democrats in hypothetical matchups, one key indicator of voting behavior, and also that independents were swinging back to the GOP for the first time since President George W. Bush's re-election in 2004.

The economy dominated all else, although the discovery of an apparent al-Qaida terror plot aimed at the United States four days before the elections served as a reminder that all concerns were not domestic.

An Associated Press-GfK poll taken Oct. 13-18, found 59 percent of voters thought the country was heading in the wrong direction.

Republicans campaigned as advocates of tax cuts to stimulate the economy and promised at the same time to cut federal spending, tackle the deficit and reduce the reach of the government in general, though they offered few specifics. The agenda was a reaction to the 2008 bailout of Wall Street, the government's partial takeover of the auto industry and the economic stimulus and health care overhaul Obama won from Congress. Some Republicans, including Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, said "there will be no compromise" on spending, debt control or an attempt to repeal the health care law.

In rebuttal, Democrats said Republicans had wrecked the economy once and were promising a return to the same policies they had pursued before.

Whatever the outcome, the election was the costliest at any midterm in history - and one of the coarsest.

The incomplete tab was $3.6 billion and growing, with final disclosure reports not required until after Election Day. That included spending by candidates, the political parties and independent organizations, including one, Crossroads GPS, with a sterling Republican pedigree that raised tens of millions from anonymous donors and spent it attacking Democratic candidates.

Obama and the Democrats sought to make an issue of that, warning repeatedly that foreign money might be influencing an American political campaign.

But with the economy running in idle, they got little traction for that argument, or most of their others.

The ads seemed unending, and insults were woven into the fabric of many campaigns.

In the Illinois Senate race, Republicans labeled Democrat Alexi Giannoulias a "mob banker." Democrats returned the insult, calling Republican Rep. Mark Kirk a "serial liar."

"Man up, Harry Reid," Republican Sharron Angle taunted the Senate majority leader in the only debate she would agree to attend in their Nevada contest.

In the House, Republican targets began with the 55 seats they lost to Democrats in 2006 and 2008, many of them in a band of states that stretched from New Hampshire to Michigan. New York was home to six; Pennsylvania five, Ohio four and Indiana three. There were four more in Florida and three each in Arizona and Virginia, where Obama campaigned on Friday in hopes of extending the career of first-term Rep. Tom Perriello.

Democratic retirements gave Republicans another group of targets, including a pair of seats in Tennessee, two more in Arkansas and one each in Kansas and Louisiana.

Additionally, the political environment brought jeopardy for a third category of Democrats, veterans such as Reps. John Spratt in South Carolina, Earl Pomeroy in North Dakota and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in South Dakota.

The sternest test for the tea party-favored candidates came in Senate races. Marco Rubio in Florida, Rand Paul in Kentucky, Joe Miller in Alaska, Ken Buck in Colorado, Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Angle in Nevada all defeated better-known, establishment-backed rivals to win their primaries.

Rubio's election seemed all-but-assured, so much so that Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned-independent, and Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek spent the final few days of the campaign trying to embarrass one another in a battle of the also-rans.

O'Donnell was the opposite of Rubio, an unknown political quality who defeated veteran Rep. Mike Castle in the primary and instantly became fodder for late-night comedians. "I am not a witch," she said in her first ad of the fall campaign. The commercial spawned serial imitators on YouTube.com, but did little to stem her slide in the polls for a seat Republicans had once counted as a sure pickup.

Paul's race with Democrat Jack Conway has been close for months. Buck's challenge to Sen. Michael Bennet in Colorado and Angle's run at Reid were closer, and the extent of Republican gains hinged in large measure on the outcome of all three.

Obama's final-weekend campaign itinerary included his home state of Illinois, where Kirk and Giannoulias ran a race as close as any in the country.

Third-term Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer in California and Patty Murray in Washington also have struggled for new terms, and Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin was an underdog in his bid for a fourth term.

Democrats long conceded they would lose seats held by retiring Sens. Byron Dorgan in North Dakota and Evan Bayh in Indiana, and two-term Sen. Blanche Lincoln ran behind in the polls in Arkansas.

In all, there were 37 governors' races on the ballots, 19 currently held by Democrats and 18 by Republicans.

In California, Democrat Jerry Brown sought a return to the office he held for two terms before stepping down in 1983. His Republican opponent, businesswoman Meg Whitman, spent more than $150 million of her own money opposing him. In Iowa, former two-term Republican Terry Branstad mounted a comeback bid of his own, challenging Gov. Chet Culver for the office he left in 1999.

Obama's final campaign swing included two Midwestern states where the gubernatorial campaigns were fiercest. In Ohio, Gov. Ted Strickland sought re-election in a race with former Republican Rep. John Kasich. And in Illinois, Gov. Patrick Quinn struggled against Republican Bill Brady.

Apart from bragging rights, the statehouse races carried extra significance in the run-up to the post-census redistricting of House districts required by the Constitution. In many states, the governor has a vote in determining the new boundaries in what is often an intensely partisan event.

Obama warns of progress reversal if GOP wins

Obama warns of progress reversal if GOP wins

Only days before the crucial midterm election, President Barack Obama makes a final get-out-the-vote push for Democratic candidates at Temple University in Philadelphia, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. In Pennsylvania, polls show Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., in a close race with Republican Pat Toomey for a Senate seat that Democrats currently hold.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- President Barack Obama implored voters on Saturday to resist a Republican tide, warning that if the GOP prevails in Tuesday's midterm elections all the progress of his first two years in office "can be rolled back."

That would be just fine, said Rep. John Boehner, in line to become the new speaker if Republicans take the House, as expected. He declared, "Americans are demanding a new way forward in Washington."

Embarking on a four-state weekend campaign dash, Obama acknowledged the difficulties Democrats face - the distinct chance of losing their comfortable majority in the House and possibly the Senate, as well as several governors' seats.

All four weekend stops are in states Obama carried in 2008 - Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois and Ohio. But Democratic candidates for the Senate, House and governorships are struggling in these places and elsewhere, and Obama is making a last-ditch plea for the party's core supporters not to abandon them.

"It is difficult here in Pennsylvania, it is difficult all across the country," Obama told several hundred campaign volunteers at Temple University in Philadelphia, a Democratic-leaning city he has visited often.

The weekend tour marks the president's last campaign swing of the election season, with Republicans expecting big victories on Tuesday. Obama's sagging popularity has limited his ability to save Democratic candidates, and his legislative agenda may be deeply complicated if the GOP takes over the House, as many expect.

Unless Democratic voters turn out in big numbers, Obama said in a seven-minute talk, all the progress made in the past two years "can be rolled back."

Several of Pennsylvania's U.S. House Democrats are battling for survival, as is the Senate nominee, Joe Sestak.

Republicans expect to win the governor's seat, as two-term Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell is term-limited.

Democratic prospects appear somewhat better in Connecticut, Obama's second stop. The party has high hopes for Senate nominee Richard Blumenthal and gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy, although neither race is considered in the bag.

But freshman Rep. Jim Himes faces a tough challenge from Republican Dan Debicella, and organizers allowed Himes to introduce Obama to loud applause from more than 9,000 people at the Bridgeport Arena.

Obama urged Democrats to "defy the conventional wisdom" that foresees huge GOP wins.

"There's no doubt this is a tough election," he said, "because we have been through an incredibly difficult time as a nation."

In his two appearances, Obama did not mention the thwarted mail bomb plot or the arrest in Yemen of a woman suspected of sending two mail bombs.

Obama planned an evening rally in Chicago, his home town. He is to headline a final rally Sunday in Cleveland before returning to Washington for Halloween with his family.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said it's time to put aside partisanship. But his appeal for unity included jabs at GOP leaders for comments he called troubling.

Boehner, currently the House minority leader, "actually said that 'this is not the time for compromise,'" Obama said. He said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky "said his main goal after this election is simply to win the next one."

"I know that we're in the final days of a campaign," Obama said in his weekly address. "So it's not surprising that we're seeing this heated rhetoric. That's politics. But when the ballots are cast and the voting is done, we need to put this kind of partisanship side - win, lose or draw."

Boehner, in the weekly Republican radio address, said Obama has failed to deliver the change he promised - and American workers have lost jobs as a result of White House policies. The Ohio Republican spoke up for a GOP pledges to cut spending and keep taxes at current levels.

"This is a new way forward that hasn't been tried in Washington yet," Boehner said. "It's a break from the direction in which President Obama has taken our country. And frankly, it's also a break from the direction in which Republicans were headed when Americans last entrusted us with the reins of government. The American people are in charge, and they deserve nothing less."

Candidates were everywhere on Saturday, making last-weekend pitches for support.

Party stars were out in force, too.

Former President Bill Clinton, campaigning for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's re-election, called the Republican pledge "a joke." He said, "Their deal sounds good but it doesn't work. ... Our ideas work better than theirs."

Later in Canton, Ohio, as Clinton was speaking at a rally, Ohio Rep. John Boccieri ran offstage after receiving word that his pregnant wife had gone into labor.

"The baby is now being born!" Clinton announced as the crowd erupted with cheers. "We got another Democrat."

Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, campaigned for Republican Senate candidate John Raese at a big rally in Charleston, W.Va. Palin said the state's Democratic governor, Joe Manchin, is a good fit in that job - so voters should keep him there rather than elect him senator over Raese.

In many races, vast numbers of the electorate had already made their choices. In Ohio, where Democrats could lose as many as six House seats, more than 721,000 votes had been cast. California officials already had in hand almost 2.5 million ballots, and Florida officials had almost 1.7 million.

Both parties worked vigorously to bank supporters' votes early. In all, more than 13.5 million votes had been cast early, either at ballot boxes that opened early or by mail. Four years ago, during the last non-presidential election, some 19 million voters cast ballots before Election Day.

Obama met mostly adoring crowds Saturday. But protesters seeking more money to fight global AIDS interrupted his Connecticut speech. The president told them they should be protesting at GOP events because "we're funding global AIDS, and the other side is not."

Yemeni arrested, al-Qaida bomber eyed in mail plot

Yemeni arrested, al-Qaida bomber eyed in mail plot

This undated photo released by the Dubai Police via the state Emirates News Agency (WAM) on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, claims to show parts of a computer printer with explosives loaded into its toner cartridge found in a package onboard a cargo plane coming from Yemen, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai police say the bomb, discovered in the ink cartridge of a computer printer in a shipment of air cargo from Yemen bound for the United States, contained the powerful explosive PETN and bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni police arrested a woman on suspicion of mailing a pair of bombs powerful enough to take down airplanes, officials said Saturday as details emerged about a terrorist plot aimed at the U.S. that exploited security gaps in the worldwide shipping system.

Investigators were hunting Yemen for more suspects tied to al-Qaida and several U.S. officials identified the terrorist group's top explosives expert in Yemen as the most likely bombmaker.

The explosives, addressed to Chicago-area synagogues, were pulled off airplanes in England and the United Arab Emirates early Friday morning, touching off a tense search for other devices.

It still wasn't clear whether the bombs, which officials said were wired to cell phones, timers and power supplies, could have been detonated remotely while the planes were in the air, or when the packages were halfway around the world in the U.S. But the fact that they made it onto airplanes showed that nearly a decade since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, terrorists continue to probe and find security vulnerabilities.

The packages were addressed to two synagogues in the Chicago area. But British Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday that he believes the explosive device found at the East Midlands Airport in central England was intended to detonate aboard the plane.

British Home Secretary Theresa May added that the bomb was powerful enough to take down the plane. A U.S. official said authorities believe a second device found in Dubai was similarly potent.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told reporters that the United States and United Arab Emirates had provided intelligence that helped identify the woman suspected of mailing the packages.

She was held as part of a widening manhunt for suspects believed to have used forged documents and ID cards, Yemeni officials said. One member of Yemen's anti-terrorism unit said the other suspects had been tied to al-Qaida.

The officials, like many in the U.S., spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation unfolding on three continents.

Al-Qaida's Yemen branch, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, took credit for a failed bombing aboard a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas. The bomb used in that attack contained PETN, an industrial explosive that was also used in the mail bombs found Friday.

The suspected bombmaker behind the Christmas Day attack, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, is also the prime suspect in the mail bomb plot, several U.S. officials said. Al-Asiri also helped make another PETN device for a failed suicide attempt against a top Saudi counterterrorism official last year. The official survived, but his attacker died in the blast.

"The forensic analysis is under way," Obama's counterterror chief John Brennan said Friday. "Clearly from the initial observation, the initial analysis that was done, the materials that were found in the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm."

Officials said the plot was discovered thanks to intelligence passed from Saudi Arabia. Without that tip, it's unclear whether anyone would have discovered the bombs before they were airborne - or on U.S. soil.

Currently, American officials do not get details about the contents of a U.S.-bound cargo plane until four hours before it's scheduled to land. In the case of long distance flights, those planes would already be airborne. Once a plane lands, officials screen packages that they feel warrant a closer look.

The failed attack should be a "wake up call" that the U.S. needs to step up security on cargo planes, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kit Bond, said.

U.S. officials were still cobbling together details about the packages but one official briefed on the investigation said authorities believed the plotters may have been associated with two institutions called "Yemen American Institute (for) Languages-Computer-Management" or the "American Center for Training and Development."

It was not immediately clear whether those institutions even exist or whether that information came from false documents or fake addresses.

The U.S. temporarily banned all incoming cargo and mail from Yemen. A UPS employee in Yemen said the office has temporarily halted receiving any packages for delivery.

In Chicago, the leader of a North Side synagogue told members of his congregation at weekend services that a smaller congregation that uses their building was one of the targets of the plot.

Rabbi Michael Zedek of Emmanuel Congregation said he was told by a Jewish leader in Chicago that the smaller Or Chadash congregation was one of the targets. The FBI did not confirm that, and both Zedek and Chadash Rabbi Larry Edwards said they had not spoken to law enforcement.

Or Chadash members took the news calmly, Edwards said. The synagogue, which has about 100 members, serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Jews and their families.

The White House said Brennan called Yemen's president and made clear that the U.S. is ready to help the Yemeni government in the fight against al-Qaida. The U.S. already assists Yemen with airstrikes and other counterterrorism support.

Yemen's al-Qaida branch is the most active of the terrorist group's affiliates and has increasingly become the face of its recruitment efforts in the West. The country is home to radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. He has been linked in the Christmas attack and has inspired other terrorists with his violent message.

Also hiding in Yemen is Samir Khan, an American who declared himself a traitor and helps produce al-Qaida propaganda.

The Homeland Security Department said it was stepping up airline security, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Americans did not need to change their travel plans.

African-American Vote Could Be Pivotal In Mid-Term Elections

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – President Obama has been campaigning hard in heavily democratic cities like Philadelphia. He told supporters three weeks ago, at a rally in Germantown, that he desperately needed their votes. He’s likely to make the same plea when he returns to Philadelphia this weekend.

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Obama rallies for a loyalist as final dash begins

Obama rallies for a loyalist as final dash begins

President Barack Obama waves to the crowd during a rally for Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va., right, Friday, Oct. 29, 2010, in Charlottesville, Va.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Fighting to the end, President Barack Obama on Friday devoted shrinking campaign time for one endangered Virginia Democrat, calling his bid a national test case of whether a person of integrity can win.

The president, bracing for an election beatdown in a prime electoral atmosphere for Republicans, plunged into a final weekend of campaigning, undeterred by the somber news of a new terrorist threat. He implored a young, raucous crowd in this college town to rally behind first-term Rep. Tom Perriello, who has loyally backed key parts of the president's agenda.

"The reason I am here is because in this day and age, let's face it, political courage is hard to come by," Obama said to thousands gathered outside on a crisp autumn night. "When you're a first-term congressman, the easiest thing to do is make your decisions based on the polls ... That's not who Tom is."

The stop was meant as more than a boost for Perriello, who is in a fierce election fight against Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt. The president also wanted to send a message to fellow Democrats and ambivalent supporters that he would stand with those who took tough votes on health care and stimulus spending - and his party should not run away from them.

Shadowing it all: fresh news of a weak economy still struggling to create jobs.

Predictions of a Republican blowout dogged the president and his party, as voters looked to take it out on incumbents over joblessness, bailouts and the toxic state of politics. Republicans were looking to recover from recent electoral lashings by claiming the House and making big gains in the Senate, governors' mansions and state legislatures.

The tone of the day, meanwhile, had changed considerably before Obama arrived. From Washington, he declared that officials had uncovered a "credible terrorist threat" of U.S.-bound packages containing explosives aboard cargo jets. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president's weekend political travels would not be altered as the terror probe continues. Indeed, by the time of the evening rally, Obama had his sleeves rolled up in full-fledged campaign mode.

The White House has sought to win the expectations game, conceding the election will yield more "parity" between the parties in Washington, as Obama adviser David Axelrod put it, and pressuring to Republicans to show more leadership.

Obama, at the rally, challenged voters to defy cynical politics. "We say we want integrity from our elected officials," Obama said. "But you know what, this is a test case right here, in Charlottesville. This man has integrity."

In a nod to the pressures facing Perriello, the two acknowledged they don't always agree. Perriello's opponent, Hurt, said earlier in the day that Obama was coming to town to reward the congressman as a "loyal foot soldier."

Obama set out on his final round of campaigning for Tuesday's election as official tabulations showed more than 11.6 million voters had already cast ballots, including more than 2 million in California, 1.6 million in Florida and 1.2 million in Texas.

There also were high totals in other states where races were particularly intense, including nearly 675,000 in Colorado, where Sen. Michael Bennet is in a close contest with Republican challenger Ken Buck.

In Nevada, more than 339,000 ballots had been cast in an early voting period, shattering the total of 244,000 in the midterm election four years ago. The state has the nation's most closely watched Senate election, pitting Majority Leader Harry Reid against Republican Sharron Angle, who won her nomination on the strength of tea party support.

The results of the elections seem sure to alter the course of Obama's presidency and change the debate on issues that matter to tens of millions of people: taxes, education, immigration, energy and federal spending.

In a final pre-election economic snapshot, the government reported that national output grew slightly faster in the past three months, at a rate of 2 percent. Yet that's not enough to produce enough jobs to reduce high unemployment.

Obama, speaking earlier at a metal company in Maryland to push one of his job growth proposals, pledged anew to speed up the recovery.

Both sides geared up for their final get-out-the-vote pushes in key states. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a fundraising e-mail, said the outcome of many races was too close to determine and "that story will be written in this weekend."

In Washington, Democrats asked congressional staffers to head to West Virginia to help Gov. Joe Manchin win a tight Senate race. Republicans sought volunteers to head to Ohio to help defeat Gov. Ted Strickland.

The two parties stepped up their efforts to get voters to the polls, and saw bright spots in early voting results.

Jen O'Malley Dillon, executive director of the Democratic National Committee, said more sporadic-voting Democrats - and first-timers - were casting ballots than sporadic-voting Republicans. "Our programs are working," she said.

Republicans, meanwhile, were arming volunteers in Nevada and Colorado this weekend with iPads to collect information in real time from voters as they knocked on some 300,000 doors in each state.

In Virginia, Obama was returning to the state that made him the first Democrat to score a presidential win there since 1964. Perriello won - barely - in highly favorable conditions two years ago but is now fighting fiercely to keep the job.

Obama on Saturday will be campaigning in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Illinois, ending with an evening event in his hometown Chicago in hopes of recapturing some of the magic of his own presidential campaign. His last big event will be Sunday in Ohio before he returns to Washington for a scary scene that, by design, has nothing to do the election: Halloween with his daughters.

Terror plot thwarted as US-bound explosives seized

Terror plot thwarted as US-bound explosives seized

In this frame grab taken from WABC-TV video, passengers disembark an Emirates airliner into an awaiting bus at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Friday Oct. 29, 2010, after having been escorted from the Canadian border to New York City by two military fighter jets. U.S. officials said there is no known threat associated with the plane, but it was being escorted to JFK as a precautionary move. Authorities on Friday were investigating whether suspicious packages shipped aboard cargo planes from Yemen to the U.S. were part of a terrorist plot.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Authorities on three continents thwarted multiple terrorist attacks aimed at the United States from Yemen on Friday, seizing two explosive packages addressed to Chicago-area synagogues and packed aboard cargo jets. The plot triggered worldwide fears that al-Qaida was launching a major new terror campaign.

President Barack Obama called the coordinated attacks a "credible terrorist threat," and U.S. officials said they were increasingly confident that al-Qaida's Yemen branch, the group responsible for the failed Detroit airliner bombing last Christmas, was responsible.

Parts of the plot might remain undetected, Obama's counterterror chief warned. "The United States is not assuming that the attacks were disrupted and is remaining vigilant," John Brennan said at the White House.

One of the packages was found aboard a cargo plane in Dubai, the other in England. Preliminary tests indicated the packages contained the powerful industrial explosive PETN, the same chemical used in the Christmas attack, U.S. officials said. The tests had not been confirmed.

In the U.S., cargo planes were searched up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and an Emirates Airlines passenger jet was escorted down the coast to New York by American fighter jets.

No explosives were found aboard those planes, though the investigation was continuing on at least two.

Obama's sobering assessment, delivered from the White House podium, unfolded four days before national elections in which discussion of terrorism has played almost no role. The president went ahead with weekend campaign appearances.

The terrorist efforts "underscore the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism," the president said. While he said both packages that contained explosives originated in Yemen, he did not explicitly assign blame to al-Qaida, which is active in that Arab country and long has made clear its goal of launching new attacks on the United States.

Authorities in Dubai intercepted one explosive device. The second package was aboard a plane searched in East Midlands, north of London, and officials said it contained a printer toner cartridge with wires and powder. Brennan said the devices were in packages about the size of a breadbox.

While Obama didn't specifically accuse Yemen's al-Qaida branch, Brennan called it the most active al-Qaida franchise and said anyone associated with the group was a subject of concern.

The radical U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who now is in hiding in Yemen, is believed to have helped inspire recent attacks including the Fort Hood shooting, the Times Square bombing attempt and the failed Detroit airliner bombing last Christmas Day. Another American hiding in Yemen, Samir Khan, has declared himself a traitor and has helped produce al-Qaida propaganda.

Most of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the ongoing investigation.

Brennan later told reporters that the explosives "were in a form that was designed to try to carry out some type of attack," but he provided no further details.

"The forensic analysis is under way," he said, adding, "Clearly from the initial observation, the initial analysis that was done, the materials that were found in the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm."

Intelligence personnel had been monitoring a suspected plot for days, officials said. The packages in England and Dubai were discovered after Saudi Arabian intelligence picked up information related to Yemen and passed it on to the U.S., one official said.

U.S. intelligence officials warned last month that terrorists hoped to mail chemical and biological materials as part of an attack on America and other Western countries using the mail. The alert came in a Sept. 23 bulletin from the Homeland Security Department and obtained by The Associated Press.

In the hours following the discoveries, Yemeni officials and Scotland Yard were investigating and the U.S. issued a 72-hour ban on all cargo from Yemen.

"As a precaution, DHS has taken a number of steps to enhance security," the agency said in a statement. "Some of these security measures will be visible while others will not."

U.S. authorities conducted searches of aircraft in Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and New York City.

Since the failed Christmas bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner, Yemen has been a focus for U.S. counterterrorism officials. Before that attack, the U.S. regarded al-Qaida's branch in Yemen as primarily a threat in the region, not to the United States.

The Yemen branch known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has since become a leading source of terrorist propaganda and recruiting. Authorities believe about 300 al-Qaida members or cells operate in Yemen.

The Yemeni government has stepped up counterterrorism operations, with help from the U.S. military and intelligence officials. Mohammed Shayba, general-director of the state airline's cargo department, said the government is conducting an investigation.

Dwyane Wade regains his legs, sparks Heat over 76ers

PHILADELPHIA —

For the Miami Heat, this essentially is a surrogate exhibition schedule, games such as Wednesday night's 97-87 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Ditto for Sunday's game at the New Jersey Nets, as well as next week's visit by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Robbed by injuries of the opportunity to establish cohesion in the preseason, the Heat instead will have to take advantage of moments such as these, against overmatched opponents, with Wednesday's lead cresting at 26 and the final score not nearly indicative of the dominance.

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"We saw a tangible difference," coach Erik Spoelstra said.

An opponent that starts Spencer Hawes and Jason Kapono is exactly what the Heat needed Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center, allowing Spoelstra's team to play through an early turnover binge and uneven execution.

Not only did it result in the first victory of the LeBron-Wade-Bosh era, after Tuesday's humbling 88-80 season-opening loss to the Boston Celtics, but it also afforded Dwyane Wade the opportunity to regain his legs.

"He was less anxious and letting the game come to him," Spoelstra said. "He was very poised and patient."

A shaky 4 of 16 against the Celtics after sitting out the previous three weeks with a strained right hamstring, Wade essentially created his own opening night against the 76ers, shooting 10 of 20 for 30 points, with seven rebounds and four assists.

"I always pride myself on learning from what I did the night before," Wade said. "Today, I was very aggressive."

Wade's breakthrough allowed LeBron James to step back from Tuesday's season-opening 31-point performance to a more mundane 16-point effort, albeit amid continued turnover trouble, this time with nine, after committing eight in Boston.

"You could see we're getting closer, but we still have a ways to go," said James, who also had seven assists and six rebounds.

Still finding his way in an offense that seems to have little patience for establishing a low-post game, Chris Bosh added 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Heat turned the game in the second quarter, when forward James Jones turned up the volume with four 3-pointers.

Against the 76ers, that was about all that was required.

Jones added two more in the third quarter for good measure, closing 6 of 9 from behind the arc in a 20-point performance.

"When Mike Miller went out," Wade said of the versatile forward who is sidelined until at least January with a thumb injury, "we said we need someone else to step up."

Spoelstra said Jones' success was "a residual of ball movement."

Jones, who has missed most of the past two seasons following surgery to his shooting wrist, relished the moment.

"It was good to be emotional," he said.

Against the Orlando Magic in Friday's home opener at AmericanAirlines Arena, more will be required, with continuity and chemistry still an issue, as well as ongoing concerns at center and point guard.

Wednesday, the lack of cohesion meant Udonis Haslem going up for an expected alley-oop opportunity when James instead was attempting to shovel a pass into the paint, or Wade and James misconnecting on what would have been a tour-de-force one-handed alley-oop slam by James.

"We have to fast-track this process every minute we have an opportunity," Spoelstra said.

For now, the offense is rudimentary, the bench rotation limited to confidence in Jones, Haslem and Eddie House, and James continues to be avoiding heavy labor with his chronically troublesome right elbow.

But after a nine-point first quarter and 30-point first half Tuesday in Boston, this was a decided step forward. Against the majority of the NBA, it won't have to be both Wade and James, but merely one or the other.

"But," Wade said, "we don't want to have to say, 'It's his turn' or 'It's my turn' or 'It's your turn.' "

Organization Helps Kids’ Halloween Dreams

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A Main Line girl who started an organization to match children with gently used Halloween costumes was on hand Thursday to watch children from the John Wister School in Germantown pick out their costumes.

There was no shortage of smiles.

Amadou is in the 4th grade:

“I picked out a pirate. He has a pirate hand and a sword and a headband and all different kind of stuff.”

Aleah: “A witch!”
Michelle Durham: “She has orange hair!”
Aleah: (laughs) “I know.”
Michelle: “So you are going to have orange hair for Halloween?”
Aleah: “Yes!”

This is the day that Halloween Helpers founder — 13-year-old Emma Rose Shapiro — waited for.

“We have cheerleaders, vampires, princesses and superheroes and they all love them!”

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Cain, Renteria and Giants lead Texas 1-0 through 6

Cain, Renteria and Giants lead Texas 1-0 through 6

San Francisco Giants' Matt Cain throws during the first inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series against the Texas Rangers Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010, in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Matt Cain zeroed in for six innings, Edgar Renteria reprised his role as a postseason star and the San Francisco Giants led the Texas Rangers 1-0 in Game 2 of the World Series on a windy Thursday night.

A day after the Giants battered Texas 11-7 in the opener, Cain and Texas starter C.J. Wilson ruled.

Renteria provided the only run with a drive into the left-field seats with one out in the fifth inning. The eighth-place hitter had gone 53 straight at-bats overall without a home run and had not connected at AT&T Park since July 27.

Renteria is no stranger to October heroics. In 1997, his two-out single in the bottom of the 11th inning in Game 7 of the World Series lifted Florida over Cleveland. In 2004, he made the final out for St. Louis as Boston finished off a World Series sweep.

Cain came into the game with a 0.00 ERA in two playoff starts, and extended his postseason streak to 19 2-3 innings without allowing an earned run. He faced a Texas lineup minus Vladimir Guerrero, pulled after making two errors in Game 1.

Cain allowed four hits, including a double by Ian Kinsler that landed on the very top of the padded wall in center field and popped back into play. Kinsler was stranded at second in the fifth inning.

The Rangers threatened again in the sixth when Michael Young and Josh Hamilton each singled with one out - the first hits of the Series for both stars - and moved up on a wild pitch. But Cain retired slugger Nelson Cruz on a foul pop and got Kinsler on a routine fly, prompting him to toss his batting helmet.

Wilson was mostly equal to the challenge. The Texas lefty worked around a one-out double by Cody Ross in the second - the latest hit by the surprise MVP of the NL championship series - and a ground single by Cain in the third.

Cain's single came shortly after Wilson put down a sacrifice bunt. A Series surprise, for sure, that the pitchers were handling the bat better than the regular hitters. Some of the hitters had a few quizzical looks, too, for Sam Holbrook after close pitches - the umpire was working home plate for the first time in a World Series.

Dealing with fly balls and popups was problematic. A steady breeze caused the screen attached to the left-field foul pole to sway, and the flags around AT&T Park flapped. A possibility of showers was in the forecast.

Texas regularly has trouble in this park anyhow. The Rangers are 0-10 overall at the waterfront stadium.

Game 3 is Saturday night, when the World Series visits the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the first time. Colby Lewis, who closed out the Yankees in the AL championship series, starts for Texas against Jonathan Sanchez.

Texas manager Ron Washington made two lineup changes, pulling Guerrero and catcher Bengie Molina and instead starting David Murphy and Matt Treanor.

Washington insisted Guerrero's two mistakes in right field in Game 1 didn't cost him a spot. Once an athletic defender with a rocket arm, Guerrero is now 35 and slowed by creaky knees. Forced into the outfield because there's no designated hitter in the NL park, Guerrero turned most every ball his way into an adventure.

Cruz returned to his regular spot in right for Texas and Murphy played left. Cruz easily handled a fly ball by Buster Posey to end the Giants first.

Tests warned of cement troubles before BP blowout

Tests warned of cement troubles before BP blowout

FILE - In this April 21, 2010 file aerial photo taken in the Gulf of Mexico more than 50 miles southeast of Venice, La., the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is seen burning. Tests performed before the deadly blowout of BP's oil well in the Gulf of Mexico should have raised doubts about the cement used to seal the well, but the company and its cementing contractor used it anyway, U.S. investigators with the president's oil spill commission said Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tests performed before the deadly blowout of BP's oil well in the Gulf of Mexico should have raised doubts about the cement used to seal the well, but the company and its cementing contractor used it anyway, investigators with the president's oil spill commission said Thursday.

It's the first finding from the commission looking into the causes of the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. And it appears to conflict with statements made by Halliburton Co., which has said its tests showed the cement mix was stable. The company instead has said BP's well design and operations were responsible for the disaster.

The cement mix's failure to prevent oil and gas from entering the well has been identified by BP and others as one of the causes of the accident.

BP and Halliburton decided to use a foam slurry created by injecting nitrogen into cement to secure the bottom of the well, a decision outside experts have criticized.

The panel said that of four tests done in February and April by Halliburton, only one - the last - showed the mix would hold. But the results of that single successful test were not shared with BP, and may not have reached Halliburton, before the cement was pumped, according to a letter sent to commissioners Thursday by chief investigative counsel Fred H. Bartlit Jr.

BP had in hand at the time of the blowout the results of only one of the tests - a February analysis sent to BP by Halliburton in a March 8 e-mail that indicated the cement could fail. The slurry tested in that case was a slightly different blend, and assumed a slightly different well design, but there is no indication that Halliburton flagged the problem for BP, or that BP had concerns, the letter said.

"Halliburton (and perhaps BP) should have considered redesigning the foam slurry before pumping it at the Macondo well," Bartlit wrote.

Independent tests conducted for the commission by Chevron on a nearly identical mixture were also released Thursday. The results concluded that the cement mix was unstable, raising questions about the validity of Halliburton's final test.

BP, as part of its internal investigation, also conducted independent tests that showed the cement mix was flawed, but its analysis was criticized by Halliburton, which said it was not the correct formula. BP's report also mentioned a cement test Halliburton performed in mid-April, but it appears BP obtained the results after the accident and considered its methods flawed.

By contrast, the commission obtained proprietary additives from Halliburton as well as a recipe to re-create the slurry that was used on the well. One and a half gallons of the actual mix used on the rig remain, but it is being held as evidence in criminal and civil investigations.

A spokeswoman for Halliburton said the company was reviewing the findings. BP said it would not have a comment on the panel's conclusions Thursday.

Halliburton shares dropped from near $34 to below $30 in New York trading in the half hour after the commission released its finding. The shares recovered a bit, and closed at $31.68, down $2.74, or 8 percent. BP shares rose from $40.38 to $41.28, then quickly reversed course and fell to $40.28. The shares finished trading with a gain of 49 cents at $40.59.

In testimony before the joint Coast Guard-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management investigative panel, Halliburton engineer Jesse Gagliano, when asked if he would pour the same cement again, said he would. Thomas Roth, a vice president at the company, said before a panel assembled by the National Academy of Engineering in September that Halliburton had used foam cement on 1,000 jobs, including 279 wells at 15,000 feet or deeper.

Roth faulted BP's well design and BP's decision not to run a test to confirm the cement had set properly. He also said Halliburton's cement could have been contaminated by the oil-based muds BP used to drill the well. Such contamination can form channels in the cement through which oil and gas can escape.

The independent investigators do not address other decisions that could have contributed to the cement's failure and the eventual blowout, such as BP's decision to use fewer centralizers than recommended by Halliburton. Centralizers make sure the well's piping is centered inside the well so the cement bonds correctly.

BP has also been criticized for not performing a cement bond long, a test that checks after the cement is pumped down whether it is secure. There are also questions about whether BP pumped down enough cement to seal off the bottom of the well, which was located more than three miles below sea level.

AP sources: Most US troops, families say gays OK

AP sources: Most US troops, families say gays OK

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, hosts an honor cordon for Norwegian Defense Minister Grete Faremo, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, at the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An internal Pentagon study has found that most U.S. troops and their families don't care whether gays are allowed to serve openly and think the policy of "don't ask, don't tell" could be done away with, according to officials familiar with its findings.

The survey results were expected to be used by gay rights advocates to bolster their argument that the 1993 law on gays could be repealed immediately with little harm done to the military. But the survey also was expected to reveal challenges the services could face in overturning the long-held policy, including overcoming fierce opposition in some parts of the military even if they represent a minority.

Details on the survey results were still scarce Thursday, with the Pentagon declining to discuss the findings until after Dec. 1 when it rolls out its own plan for repeal.

The officials who disclosed the survey's findings spoke on condition of anonymity because the results had not been released. NBC News first reported the findings Thursday.

President Barack Obama has said "don't ask, don't tell" unfairly discriminates against gays. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the military's top uniformed officer, agree but want to move slowly to ensure that military effectiveness doesn't suffer.

Among their top concerns is that forcing too much change, too soon on an institution that historically has been reluctant to embrace gays could prompt a backlash among troops and their families.

With a Democratic-controlled Congress already considering a change to the law, Gates in February ordered a yearlong study into the matter. As part of that effort, the Pentagon sent out some 400,000 surveys to troops and another 150,000 to family members on the military's policy toward gays.

Officials said that with the survey results complete, the working group is analyzing the results and working on a plan to overturn the policy should Congress repeal the law.

Gay rights groups attacked the 103-question survey. They said it assumes troops don't want to serve with openly gay service members and repeatedly uses the term "homosexual," considered to be outdated and derogatory.

The survey was prepared by the Maryland-based research firm Westat under a $4.5 million contract.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon was forced to lift its ban on openly serving gays for eight days after a federal judge in California ordered the military to do so. The Justice Department has appealed and a federal appeals court granted a temporary stay of the injunction.

Bin Laden warns France over Afghan war, veil ban

Bin Laden warns France over Afghan war, veil ban

FILE - This image made from video broadcast on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2001 shows Osama bin Laden at an undisclosed location. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden threatened in a new audio tape, posted on Al-Jazeera's website Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, to kill French citizens to avenge their country's support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and a new law that will ban face-covering Muslim veils. The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately verified but the voice resembled that of the terrorist group leader on previous tapes determined to be genuine.

CAIRO (AP) -- Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden threatens in a new audio tape to kill French citizens to avenge their country's support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and a new law that will ban face-covering Muslim veils.

In the tape obtained by satellite television station Al-Jazeera and then posted on its website on Wednesday, bin Laden said France was aiding the Americans in the killing of Muslim women and children in an apparent reference to the war in Afghanistan. He said the kidnapping of five French citizens in the African nation of Niger last month was a reaction to what he called France's oppression of Muslims.

"How can it be right that you participate in the occupation of our lands, support the Americans in the killing of our women and children and yet want to live in peace and security?" said bin Laden, addressing the French.

"It is a simple and clear equation: As you kill, you will be killed. As you capture, you will be captured. And as you threaten our security, your security will be threatened. The way to safeguard your security is to cease your oppression and its impact on our nation, most importantly your withdrawal from the ill-fated Bush war in Afghanistan."

The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately verified but the voice resembled that of the terror group leader on previous tapes determined to be genuine.

French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux told the parliament hours after the message was posted that the risk of a terror attack against the country was real and authorities' vigilance is "total," according to a report on newspaper El Figaro's website.

But he added that the threats "would merely fit into the pattern of different threats that have already been made against our country and our citizens, at home and abroad. It currently appears that these comments don't do more than justify our keeping up our response in the face of the terrorist threat."

Tapes by bin Laden and his top lieutenant, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri, have recently been posted on Al-Jazeera website rather than on sites run by militant Muslims as has been done for years. The shift appears to reflect the unexplained technical difficulties or closures experienced by the militant sites in recent months.

France has about 4,000 troops deployed in and near Afghanistan.

"You need to think of what happened to America as a result of that unjust war," bin Laden said, again addressing the French and referring to the war in Afghanistan. "It's on the verge of bankruptcy ... and tomorrow it will retreat to beyond the Atlantic."

France passed a law this month that will ban the wearing of face-covering burqa-style Muslim veils in public starting in April. Many Muslims have expressed fears the law would stigmatize them.

"If you deemed it your right to ban (Muslim) women from wearing the hijab, then should not it be our right to expel your invading men by striking their necks?" bin Laden said.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, an offshoot of bin Laden's group, has claimed responsibility for the abductions of five French citizens in Niger and is believed to have taken them to neighboring Mali. The French hostages, as well as a Togolese and a Madagascar national were kidnapped on Sept. 16 while they were sleeping in their villas in the uranium mining town of Arlit.

"The kidnapping of your experts in the Niger is a reaction to your oppression of Muslims," said bin Laden.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of an Islamist insurgency movement in Algeria, merging with al-Qaida in 2006 and spreading through the Sahara and the arid Sahel region. It has increasingly been targeting French interests.

In July, the group said it executed a 78-year-old French aid worker it had taken hostage three months before. It said the killing was retaliation for the deaths of six al-Qaida members in a French-backed military operation against the group.

Also in July, the French military said it provided technical and logistical assistance to help Mauritanian forces thwart an attack by suspected al-Qaida members in northwest Africa. It said the operation left six extremists dead.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy later described that operation as a "turning point" and said France would provide training, equipment and intelligence to local troops working to fight militants in the Sahel.

A series of warnings has put France and other European countries on high alert in recent weeks, prompting the U.S. State Department to advise American citizens living or traveling in Europe to take more precautions. Speculation on the source of a potential terror threat in France has focused on al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

NJ governor stands by decision to kill tunnel

NJ governor stands by decision to kill tunnel

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gestures Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, in Trenton, N.J., as he announces that he's standing by his decision to kill the nation's biggest public works project, a train tunnel connecting New Jersey to New York City. Christie, a rising star in the Republican Party for his fearless budget-slashing, has argued that his cash-strapped state can't afford to pay for any overruns on the $9 billion-plus rail tunnel under the Hudson River. The state is on the hook for $2.7 billion plus overruns.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The biggest public works project in the U.S. - a $9 billion-plus train tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City - is dead in its tracks. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he is sticking by a decision announced earlier this month to kill the project because of runaway costs. He rejected a variety of financial proposals offered by the federal government to salvage the tunnel under the Hudson River, saying none of them fully relieved New Jersey of responsibility for overruns.

"It's a dollars-and-cents issue. I cannot place upon the citizens of the state of New Jersey an open-ended letter of credit," Christie said.

The decision to abandon construction more than a year after it began burnished the Republican governor's reputation as a cost-cutter but was criticized as foolishly shortsighted by transportation advocates, train riders, union leaders and some Democrats. It also leaves New Jersey with nothing but a $600 million hole in the side of the hill.

Supporters of the project - an idea that has been on the drawing board for about 20 years - said it would create 6,000 construction jobs and thousands more jobs afterward, as well as ease train delays in a region with one of the nation's longest commute times.

Currently, Amtrak and NJ Transit, the state's commuter railroad, share a single, century-old tunnel underneath the river that has been at capacity for years. Just this week, a derailment outside New York's Penn Station snarled the commute for tens of thousands of people.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who had implored Christie to reconsider, called the decision "a devastating blow to thousands of workers, millions of commuters and the state's economic future." He said commuters will see "no end to traffic congestion and ever-longer wait times on train platforms."

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat who helped secure federal funding for the tunnel, said: "The governor has once again put politics over performance."

Christie essentially had the last word on the project because it couldn't go forward without New Jersey's contribution. NJ Transit was running the project.

The project broke ground under Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, who lost to Christie last fall. The federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had each committed $3 billion to building the tunnel. New Jersey was responsible for $2.7 billion plus any additional costs.

But in recent weeks the potential overruns had been estimated at anywhere from $1 billion to more than $5 billion.

After Christie announced he was pulling the plug, the Obama administration persuaded him to rethink the decision and proposed a variety of options for keeping the tunnel on track, including federal loans, a scaling-back of the project, and the use of public-private partnerships, which other cities have formed for large infrastructure projects.

But in a memo to Christie, NJ Transit Director James Weinstein said that working out such a partnership would take 18 months, and even then there would be no assurance that New Jersey would like the price or terms.

A law firm representing international transportation investors sent an Oct. 22 letter to a Christie ally expressing interest in exploring a partnership with the state. Christie vetoed it because it involved payback - with interest - to investors.

Christie said LaHood's final offer came during a meeting Sunday: $358 million in additional federal money. The state and the Port Authority were each expected to put up similar amounts.

Christie said he rejected the various options because none of them let New Jerseyans off the hook for additional payments.

He did raise one bit of hope Wednesday - forming a partnership with Amtrak to build a new tunnel - then stressed that no substantive discussions had taken place.

New Jersey will have to repay the federal government up to $350 million of the money already spent.

The cancellation frees up the $3 billion in federal funds and leaves several potential benefactors, including transit projects in Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, the Washington suburbs and New York City. New York is trying to complete a new subway line on Manhattan's East Side.

More than 625,000 people trek into Manhattan from New Jersey each work day, about 185,000 by rail, and even a minor delay translates into long waits.

Sylvia Sims, who commutes every weekday from her home in Newark to her nursing job in New Brunswick, was fuming about the announcement from Christie, who has also done battle with the powerful New Jersey teachers union over his cost-cutting efforts and has become a rising star in the GOP because of it.

"At least three days a week the trains are late, so you're late, and you don't get paid for being late, it's ridiculous, and half the time the escalators don't work," Sims said. "But when you're a fat joker like that, who has it all laid out for you, you don't think about the little people. I think he's the most inconsiderate governor we've had."

Kalpit Patel of Edison, a civil engineer who commutes by NJ Transit to Newark, said he doesn't blame the governor: "If we have to do that project, who is going to give all that money? We don't have money, and it's going to cost taxpayers eventually."

"The governor can open any high school history text to see why his decision to kill the tunnel is so foolish," said state Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, a Democrat. "Imagine where our country would be if it were not for the backbone built by 200 years of investments in roads, canals, railroads or the interstates."

For Obama, election politics no laughing matter

For Obama, election politics no laughing matter

President Barack Obama is pictured during a commercial break as he talks with host Jon Stewart as he takes part in a taping of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama apparently thinks politics is no laughing matter, even when he's staring down a comedian. Obama barely cracked any jokes during an appearance Wednesday on "The Daily Show" despite host Jon Stewart's many attempts to draw the president out with a few of his own snarky wisecracks.

Less than a week before the critical Nov. 2 congressional elections, Obama said he hopes Democratic lawmakers who made tough votes will be rewarded with another term in office. He promised more but unspecified accomplishments in the two years left on his own term in the Oval Office and urged people to vote - early if they can.

Stewart asked how the political environment got to the point that Democrats "seem to be running on 'Please, baby, one more chance'" just two years after Obama ran a successful presidential campaign built around "very high rhetoric, hope and change."

"Are you disappointed in how it's gone?" asked the Comedy Central satirist.

Obama seemed to suggest that he wasn't disappointed. He said his advisers had told him during the euphoria of his 2008 election to "enjoy this now because two years from now folks are going to be frustrated. That is, in fact, what's happening."

He listed high unemployment, sinking housing values and an economy that is growing but not fast enough as reasons. But Obama said that his administration has also stabilized the economy, noting it has grown for nine months in a row, and that he signed health care and financial bills. He suggested that his administration did so much that "we have done things that some folks don't even know about."

The comment seemed to catch Stewart by surprise.

"What have you done that we don't know about?," he asked. "Are you planning a surprise party for us, filled with jobs and health care?"

Obama cited legislation extending health care to children and broadening a national service program as examples.

"Over and over again, we have moved forward an agenda that is making a difference in people's lives each and every day," Obama replied. "Is it enough? No. And so I expect, and I think most Democrats out there expect, that people want to see more progress."

Obama also said he hopes voters will reward some Democratic lawmakers for taking tough votes. He said they knew their votes would be bad politically but that they voted that way because it was the right thing to do.

Obama cited freshman Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va., who voted for the president's health care bill and is in a tight race against Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt. Obama plans to be in Charlottesville, Va., on Friday to campaign with Perriello.

"My hope is that those people are rewarded for taking those tough votes," Obama said. If so, "then Democrats will be rewarded on election night."

Saddam Hussein aide Tariq Aziz sentenced to hang

Saddam Hussein aide Tariq Aziz sentenced to hang

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010 file photo, Tariq Aziz, former Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister speaks to the Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi state TV says former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz has been sentenced to death for persecuting Shiite political parties during Saddam Hussein's regime.

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The international face of Saddam Hussein's regime, Tariq Aziz, was sentenced to death by hanging Tuesday for persecuting Shiites just over three months after the Americans transferred him to Iraqi government custody.

Iraqi High Tribunal spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Sahib did not say when the 74-year-old former foreign minister would go to the gallows. Aziz has 30 days to launch an appeal.

Aziz, the only Christian in Saddam's mainly Sunni inner circle, was wearing a blue suit and sat alone in the court. He bowed his head and frequently grasped the handrail in front of him, as the judge read out the verdict.

The Vatican urged Iraq to not carry out the death sentence and said it may intervene to try to halt it

A spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican hoped that the sentence wouldn't be carried out and added that Vatican usually would pursue any possible humanitarian intervention to halt an execution via diplomatic channels.

His Jordan-based lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, accused the government of orchestrating the verdict to divert attention from recent revelations about prisoner abuse by Iraqi security forces contained in U.S. military documents released last week by the whistleblower site WikiLeaks.

"We are discussing this issue and what next step we should take," Aref told The Associated Press in Amman, the Jordanian capital. "This sentence is not fair and it is politically motivated."

Aziz became internationally known as the dictator's defender and a fierce American critic first as foreign minister after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and later as a deputy prime minister. His meeting with Secretary of State James A. Baker in Geneva in January 1991 failed to prevent the 1991 Gulf War. Aziz also met with the late Pope John Paul II at the Vatican weeks before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion in a bid to head off that conflict.

Iraq has executed a number of high-profile members of Saddam's regime, including "Chemical Ali" al-Majid, Saddam's cousin, who earned his nickname for atrocities such as the deaths of an estimated 5,000 Kurds in a poison gas attack in 1988.

Saddam was taunted by onlookers as he went to the gallows in December 2006, at the height of the sectarian violence, shocking many observers in and outside the country and raising allegations the Shiite-led government was bent on revenge.

Aziz was on trial in a long-running case in which he is accused of being part of a campaign of persecuting, killing and torturing members of the Shiite opposition and the banned religious parties, like the Shiite Dawa Party, of which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is a member.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for taking part in forced displacement and 10 years for committing torture. Judge Mahmoud Saleh al-Hassan declared the harshest punishment - death by hanging - for participating in deliberate killings but gave no details.

Aziz was one of five members of the deposed regime who were convicted Tuesday of similar crimes. A sixth defendant, Saddam's half brother, Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, was found innocent because of lack of evidence, the judge said. Al-Hassan served as interior minister.

Aziz has already been convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the 1992 execution of 42 merchants found guilty of profiteering. He also received a seven-year prison sentence for a case involving the forced displacement of Kurds in northern Iraq.

If the Appeals' Court upholds the death sentence, the law says Aziz should be hanged within 30 days of the final decision. The Iraqi president also needs to sign off on an execution order.

Aziz predicted in a recent interview with the AP that he will die in prison, citing his old age and lengthy prison sentences.

Aziz's son, Ziad, told the AP that the death sentence was "unfair" and "illogical." He said his father was the victim, not the criminal, since Dawa Party members tried to assassinate him in 1980.

"This is an illogical and an unfair sentence that is serving political goals of the Iraqi government," Ziad said in an interview Tuesday. "Tariq Aziz himself was the victim of the religious parties that tried to kill him in 1980, but now he is turned into a criminal."

Aziz surrendered to U.S. forces about a month after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. He was held at an American prison in Baghdad until the U.S. handed over control of the facility in July to the Iraqi government. The Americans transferred Aziz to Iraqi custody along with dozens of other former regime figures as part of preparations for a full withdrawal of U.S. forces by the end of next year.

When Aziz was transferred from U.S. to Iraqi custody, his family said they were worried about his health in Baghdad's Kazimiyah prison, where Aziz is now being held. He has suffered several strokes while in American custody. He used a cane for support during recent court appearances.

He was well-known in world capitals as he frequently traveled abroad on diplomatic missions.

The U.S. military continues to hold eight members of Saddam's regime, including former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie, at the request of the Iraqi government.