The Golden Report

5 DAYS UNTIL NEW HAMPSHIRE (12 delegates)
16 DAYS UNTIL SOUTH CAROLINA (25 delegates)
19 DAYS UNTIL THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
26 DAYS UNTIL FLORIDA (50 delegates)

TOP STORY: President Obama today become the first Commander-in-Chief to hold a press conference in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey, to announce a new proposal for the Defense Department budget- historic austerity measures to result in a smaller, leaner military to respond to changing threats and budgetary pressures.

FROM THE LEAD OF TOMORROW’S WASHINGTON POST-

“The U.S. military will steadily shrink the Army and Marine Corps, reduce forces in Europe and probably make further cuts to the nation’s nuclear arsenal…

The downsizing of the Pentagon, prompted by the country’s dire fiscal problems, means that the military will depend more on coalitions with allies and avoid the large-scale counterinsurgency and nation-building operations that have marked the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Instead, the Pentagon will invest more heavily in Special Operations Forces, which have a smaller footprint and require less money than conventional units, as well as drone aircraft and cybersecurity, defense officials said. The military will also shift its focus to Asia to counter China’s rising influence and North Korea’s unpredictability. Despite the end of the Iraq war, administration officials said they would keep a large presence in the Middle East, where tensions with Iran are worsening.”

TOP STORY IN THE ARMY TIMES- “Coming DoD cuts will hit some services harder“ 

THE MARINE CORPS TIMES- ”Long-war abilities cut; focus now on Pacific“ 

BREAKING TONIGHT IN DC POLITICS- City Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. has announced he will resign and turn himself in to authorities tomorrow morning on embezzlement charges.

THOMAS’ STATEMENT, IN PART: “Tomorrow morning I will plead guilty to committing two federal crimes. I am resigning my position as a member of the Council effective immediately. I made some very serious mistakes and exhibited inadequate and flawed judgment. I take full responsibility for my actions. I am truly sorry. As a Councilmember and throughout my life, I have dedicated myself to serving the residents and the youth of Washington, D.C. In the pursuit of this work, I made some poor decisions and acted in ways I simply should not have. I was wrong. I want to apologize to those I have let down, including my constituents, neighbors and friends in Ward 5, the residents of this great city, the mayor, my fellow councilmembers and the government officials that serve our city tirelessly.”

COMING ATTRACTION: Tomorrow morning at 8:30am, the Labor Department will release an employment report for the month of December. As it is each month, this report provides a snapshot of the economy and the employment picture. Economists are generally bullish on tomorrow’s report, predicting 150,000 jobs will be reported as added last month.

TODAY ON WALL STREET: Essentially unchanged on the day.

• DOW down 3
• NASDAQ up 21.5
• S&P 500 up 4

CAMPAIGN 2012

BREAKING TONIGHT: The Boston Globe has endorsed Jon Huntsman, bypassing its native son, and former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, who is widely expected to win Tuesday’s primary. Four years ago, the Globe endorsed John McCain over Romney. McCain went on to win New Hampshire, and the Republican nomination.

FROM THE ENDORSEMENT, IN PART:

“Just three years removed from a Republican administration that was roundly judged a failure, the party has a chance to renew itself - to blaze a path to bipartisan action on the budget, to introduce market-based solutions to health costs, and to construct a post-Iraq War network of alliances to promote global economic strength, knowing that true security comes from both peace and prosperity.

So far, Republican presidential contenders have shown little awareness of this opportunity

And yet the chance for renewal remains. Sour economic data and dysfunction in Washington present major obstacles to Obama’s reelection. Whoever gets the Republican nomination could easily become president. Among the candidates, only two stand out as truly presidential, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman.

But while Romney proceeds cautiously, strategically, trying to appease enough constituencies to get himself the nomination, Huntsman has been bold. Rather than merely sketch out policies, he articulates goals and ideals. The priorities he would set for the country, from leading the world in renewable energy to retooling education and immigration policies to help American high-tech industries, are far-sighted. He has stood up far more forcefully than Romney against those in his party who reject evolution and the science behind global warming.

With a strong record as governor of Utah and US ambassador to China, arguably the most important overseas diplomatic post, Huntsman’s credentials match those of anyone in the field. He would be the best candidate to seize this moment in GOP history, and the best-prepared to be president.”

HUNTSMAN IS POLLING AT SEVEN PERCENT in a Suffolk University Poll out today, conducted since the results of Tuesday’s Iowa Caucus. Mitt Romney holds a 23 point lead.

• Romney 41%
• Paul 18%
• Santorum 8%
• Gingrich 7%
• Huntsman 7%

THE WASHINGTON TIMES HAS MITT UP BY 14 in New Hampshire

• Romney 38%
• Paul 24%
• Santorum 11%
• Gingrich 9%
• Huntsman 8%
• Perry 1%

NATIONALLY, ROMNEY HOLDS A 8-POINT LEAD over Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich, now his chief rivals (by the polls) for the Republican Nomination

RASMUSSEN: Romney 29%, Santorum 21%, Gingrich 16%, Paul 12%, Perry 4, Huntsman 4%

GALLUP: Romney 27%, Gingrich 19%, Paul 13%, Santorum 11%, Perry 6%, Huntsman 2%

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE DEBATES:

Saturday, 9pm ET, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH, ABC News/WMUR-TV

Sunday, 9am ET, Chubb Theatre at the Capitol Center for the Arts, Concord, NH, NBC News/Facebook/NH Union-Leader

They will be the 14th & 15th debates of the 2011/12 primary season.

WHO WON THE DAY? Newt Gingrich, says POLITICO’S Alex Burns.

“It may all be too little, too late for Newton Leroy Gingrich, but for the first time in a long time, the former House speaker looked like a candidate with some fight in him.

His campaign put out an ad contrasting his leadership with the “timid” Mitt Romney. Gingrich ridiculed Romney on the trail as a tax-raising “moderate.” And the Union Leader, which endorsed him for president back when times were good, printed a front-page editorial calling for voters to learn the lesson of Iowa and reject the “squishy-moderate” Romney.

It remains to be seen if Gingrich’s campaign is still salvageable, and a Suffolk University tracking poll found that he had fallen into a tie for fourth place in New Hampshire with Jon Huntsman. Still, both Gingrich’s supporters and his opponents see the possibility of another political resurrection in South Carolina.”

FIGHTING WORDS FROM GINGRICH ON THE TRAIL TONIGHT:

“Gov. Romney ran for governor, called himself — I’m not making these words up — called himself a moderate,” Gingrich said. “As governor, he appointed liberal judges to appease the Democrats. As governor, he raised taxes.”

TOP TALKER- “Santorum Raises Polygamy in Defending Stand Against Gay Marriage”- National Journal- Naureen Khan and Ron Fournier in Concord

“In a spirited debate with gay-rights supporters, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday defended his opposition to liberalizing marriage laws by raising the specter of polygamy.“What about three men?” he asked.
The comment evoked memories of the ex-Pennsylvania senator’s controversial statement to the Associated Press in 2003 in which he associated gay sex with incest and bestiality.

Santorum encouraged the debate with several audience members who attended his address at a college convention sponsored by New England College. The audience of about 200 people included several supporters of Santorum’s rival, libertarian Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Some booed Santorum when he left the stage.

One audience member, a college-aged man, asked Santorum how gay marriage affected him personally. A young woman asked him to justify his embrace of constitutional freedoms such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness while at the same time denying the right for gay couples to marry.

FROM SANTORUM’S STATEMENT IN 2003 TO USA TODAY 

“We have laws in states, like the one at the Supreme Court right now, that has sodomy laws and they were there for a purpose. Because, again, I would argue, they undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family. And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does. It all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn’t exist in my opinion in the United States Constitution, this right that was created.”

TONIGHT’S HUFFINGTON POST BANNER

“STAY CLASSY, RICK
Santorum Compares Gay Marriage To Polygamy”

THE WAY WE SEE IT: Watch for this story to blow up tomorrow, and doom Santorum’s chances of continuing his Iowa momentum any further.

FINALLY…If you were scrolling through your Twitter feed late last night, you might have seen KANYE WEST go on a rant. More than 80 of them. Over 3 hours. In a rambling train of thoughts. Reuters makes some sense of it-

“We need to take what Michael Jackson felt and Mcqueen and Steve Jobs and we need make things better,” West said on Twitter during the early hours of Thursday morning from London, referring to the late singing legend, fashion designer Alexander McQueen and Apple’s founding visionary.

Media outlets tried to interpret West’s posts in various ways, with publications such as Slate focusing on West’s announcement of design company DONDA, while others like MTV opted to highlight tweets telling readers what was on the rapper’s mind.

“He’s a mad genius,” said Ian Drew, music editor of Us Weekly. “His ideas are grandiose, but if you look at the history of Kanye, he would tweet an idea and it would happen. He’s trying to be understood and heard.”

“In general, Kanye is someone who thinks he is incredibly important,” said Cooper Lawrence, author of “The Cult of Celebrity.”

She said the Twitter posts “showed insight into who he really is,” and speculated on the rapper’s mental condition, saying she “wouldn’t be surprised if Kanye was suffering from depression.”

AGAIN TONIGHT WE WELCOME our new subscribers who came via a link in this morning’sCOLLEGE DAYBREAK. Welcome to the Evening Report, we’re glad to have you! 

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JUST IN: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring a veterans tax break bill to the floor for a vote on or close to Veterans Day, the latest component of the President’s proposed American Jobs Act to be considered in a piece-meal approach. In doing so, Reid is all but daring Republicans to vote against a popular tax break on a symbolic holiday. Today, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes to cut off debate on a transportation and infrastructure bill, one day after President Obama went to Washington’s Key Bridge to urge its passage.

TOP STORY: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou appeared to walk back today on his proposal earlier this week to put the EU-brokered financial rescue package for his country up for a vote by popular referendum. Tomorrow, Papandreou faces a vote of no confidence in the Greek Parliament and it is not clear if he and his ruling political party will survive the vote. This comes as leaders of the G-20 nations are meeting this week in Cannes, France to discuss the proposal and its effects, should it pass or fail.

TOMORROW MORNING: The Labor Department releases its monthly employment report which will show the jobs situation for the month of October. Bloomberg is predicting that 95,000 jobs were added last month and the unemployment rate is expected to be unchanged at 9.1%. The numbers are released at 8:30am EST.

WALL STREET:

• DOW up 208
• NASDAQ up 58
• S&P 500 up 23

STILL IN THE DARK: As of this hour, 318,212 customers in Connecticut remain without power after Saturday’s historic and unusual snow storm. Tonight, the Connecticut National Guard has been dispatched to some areas of the hard-hit Farmington Valley. Many school districts have been closed for the entire week. Connecticut Light & Power, the state’s primary utility company, predicts that all customers will have power restored by Sunday night.

TOP POLITICAL STORY: the developing scandal over allegations of sexual harassment by Republican frontrunner Herman Cain. The story has taken a number of new developments: with now three accusers coming forward, at least one asking permission from the National Restaurant Association to go public with her story and an accusation by the Cain campaign that a staffer with the Rick Perry campaign reportedly leaked this story to POLITICO. In an interview with CNN tonight, Perry strongly denied that, saying, “You know, I don’t know how to tell it any other way except we knew nothing about it.”

SO FAR, Cain is holding his own against a growing media firestorm. But as each day goes by, more and more details are coming out that, when compared against Cain’s prior statements, and the statements that he has made this week, don’t appear to add up. The biggest unknown right now is what kind of damage this story may have in the eyes of Cain’s supporters. However, his campaign reported this week that they have been raising on average of $1 million a day, a sign that Cain’s base of support may not be weakened- but rather emboldened- by this controversy. And with Rick Perry being drawn into the story, the Romney campaign is having a very good week. Although their candidate is not attracting any media attention, he also isn’t attracting any scrutiny while his chief obstacle (at the moment) for frontrunner status is fighting hard to get his campaign back on track.

THE NEXT DEBATE is Wednesday night in Rochester, Michigan. Its focus is slated to be jobs and the economy, although it is hard to see at this point how the Cain scandal could not be brought up.

RASMUSSEN POLL out today:

• Cain 26%
• Romney 23%
• Gingrich 14%
• Perry 8%
• Paul 7%
• Bachmann 2%
• Huntsman 2%
• Santorum 1%

QUINNIPIAC POLL out Wednesday:

• Cain 30%
• Romney 23%
• Gingrich 10%
• Perry 8%
• Paul 7%
• Bachmann 4%
• Huntsman 2%
• Santorum 1%

FINALLY..SERIOUSLY…”Siri” the voice activated network on Apple’s new iPhone 4S, encountered a major glitch today resulting in its first outage. According to TechCrunch, which is compiling some of the best tweets from users experiencing the problem, “When you try to use Siri on the iPhone 4S right now, the usually perky virtual assistant just responds: “Sorry, I am having trouble connecting to the network” and does nothing.”

BREAKING- POLITICO top story ”Exclusive—Two Women Accuse Herman Cain of Inappropriate Behavior”: 

“During Herman Cain’s tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group, multiple sources confirm to POLITICO.”

“The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures.”

Cain was asked about the allegations after an interview on CBS’s Face The Nation this morning. 

“Have you ever been accused, sir, in your life of harassment by a woman?” a POLITICO reporter asked.

“He breathed audibly, glared at the reporter and stayed silent for several seconds. After the question was repeated three times, he responded by asking the reporter, “Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?”

INSTANT ANALYSIS: Herman Cain is currently the Republican presidential frontrunner- but is running on a makeshift campaign that has never before competed on the national stage. Watch to see how much traction this story gets, now that POLITICO has decided to run with it after 10 days of reporting. Then watch to see how the Cain campaign responds- and how fellow Republican campaigns handle the story. This could be the beginning of the end of the Cain surge- or it could just be a below-the-fold story that he is able to weather (much like the increased scrutiny of his 9-9-9 plan in October)

HAPPENING TONIGHT: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is holding a dinner at Gracie Mansion with key senators and business and labor leaders, who are brainstorming a strategy to urge the Congressional Supercommittee to “go big” and consider a “grand bargain” in its final report 24 days from tomorrow. According to a National Journal report on Friday, the dinner includes Senators Michael Bennet, Mark Warner and Bob Corker. Only 10-20 people are expected at the dinner. As the House returns this week, and the Supercommittee holds its next public hearing, attention will turn to the panel’s final weeks of negotiations.

TOPPING THE WEEKEND: Last night, the Des Monies Register released their latest 2012 caucus poll. This vaunted survey is a tradition in Iowa politics and is usually an accurate bellwether of where the race stands. Last night’s results continued a trend from other national surveys last week- showing businessman Herman Cain continuing to post impressive leads. Cain is in a statistical (the margin of error was +/- 4.9%) dead heat with Mitt Romney. That is an impressive showing for Romney, who has gone back and forth for months about how many resources to commit to Iowa. (He has made just three visits to Iowa this year). With these results, Romney has little choice but to make a showing- the poll indicates he can win. Finally, the poll shows the weakness that Rick Perry is having connecting with voters. The conventional wisdom is that Perry is challenging Romney for the nomination- but this survey is just the latest to indicate that is really not the case.

• CAIN 23% 
• ROMNEY 22%
• PAUL 12%
• BACHMANN 8%
• GINGRICH 7%
• PERRY 7%
• SANTORUM 5%
• HUNTSMAN 1%

TOP TALKER TOMORROW- Washington Post- ”Hillary’s War: Clinton credited with key role in success of NATO airstrikes, Libyan rebels” it includes reporting chronicling the US decision to intervene in Libya beginning in March. A selection:

“In Washington and in Europe, the word “stalemate” began to creep into opinion columns as lawmakers, skeptical of U.S. policy in Libya, began threatening to block funds for military operations there. Meanwhile, a cash crunch also loomed for the rebels, who were unable to sell oil and were legally blocked from tapping into Gaddafi’s overseas bank accounts. By early July, they had run out of money for weapons, food and other critical supplies.”

“Clinton, ignoring the advice of the State Department’s lawyers, convinced Obama to grant full diplomatic recognition to the rebels, a move that allowed the Libyans access to billions of dollars from Gaddafi’s frozen accounts. At a meeting in Istanbul on July 15, she pressed 30 other Western and Arab governments to make the same declaration.”

WINTER STORM AFTERMATH: A rare October snowstorm brought over 2 feet of snow to some areas of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts over the weekend and caused extensive damage to the region’s power infrastructure. Connecticut Light and Power- the primary utility company in the state- reported the most number of outages at one time in the company’s history- at one point surpassing 884,000 customers. 

Tonight, roughly 750,000 customers remain without power- and it could be a week before some of the hardest hit areas have power restored. This storm comes just weeks after Hurricane Irene brought damage to the same region. Both events are historic and extremely rare- a tropical system and an October heavy snow storm. Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy joined Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in declaring a State of Emergency on Saturday and requested federal assistance.

In Coventry, Connecticut, local officials are advising residents to postpone Halloween trick-or-treating until FRIDAY due to unsafe road conditions and concern of the danger from downed trees and power lines. The Governor said today that decisions on Halloween activities will be left to municipalities on a case by case basis.

AT THE BOX OFFICE this weekend

1. Puss In Boots- $34 million
2. Paranormal Activity 3- $18.5 million
3. In Time- $12 million

THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD:

Monday- meets with Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tuesday & Wednesday- meetings at the White House
Thursday & Friday- in Cannes, France for the G-20 Summit
Friday- returns to the White House

ABOUT THE G-20: The G-20 was established in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and has held yearly meetings since its formation in 1999. This year, the Group of 20 industrialized nations will again deal with a serious financial crisis- in Europe- that threatens to outrank both the 1997 and 2008 crises. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, full meetings with heads of states of the member nations began- and were held semi-annually for two years (2009 & 2010) and will be held annually beginning this year.

19 countries and a representative of the European Union make up the G-20. They are:

1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Brazil
4. Canada
5. China
6. European Union
7. France
8. Germany
9. India
10. Indonesia
11. Italy
12. Japan
13. Mexico
14. Russia
15. Saudi Arabia
16. South Africa
17. Republic of Korea
18. Turkey
19. United Kingdom
20. United States of America

RECENT G-20 SUMMITS:

2010- Seoul, South Korea & Toronto, Canada
2009- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US & London, UK
2008- Washington, DC, US

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR IN THE WEEK AHEAD:

1/ The Cain Story. How will POLITICO’s reporting this Sunday night of sexual harassment allegations against the Republican presidential frontrunner effect the state of the race? The first indication of staying power will be if other news organizations pick up on POLITICO’s reporting where it left off. There are still more questions than there are answers as to exactly how serious these allegations are, or how credible the sources are.

2/ The Supercommittee. As the calendar turns to November, all eyes in Washington will be on the Joint Congressional Committee on Deficit Reduction- a panel of 12 members of Congress that has the potential to be one of the largest political stories of the year- or one of the biggest let-downs. Watch the Committee’s latest public hearing this week for any indication as to if they are close to consensus. Also, continue to watch for any leaks from a panel that has been remarkably tight-lipped to date.

3/ Jobs and the Economy. Friday brings the latest employment report as the Labor Department offers a snapshot of the October employment picture. That will drive the end of the week on Wall Street. In the mean time, watch to see if the markets continue their gains from this past week and month. External events- the European debt negotiations, the G-20 Summit, and the Supercommittee negotiations, will also continue to drive the markets.

HAPPENING NOW- Game Four of the 2011 World Series. TOP OF THE SEVENTH-
Rangers 4, Cardinals 0

FIRST LOOK: After a second failed attempt by the Senate to bring up
the President’s American Jobs Act proposal this past week, the
Administration will continue its campaign for the law in the week
ahead, starting tomorrow, with a slightly different theme, “We Can’t
Wait,” and a series of proposed executive branch actions to spur
economic activity (growth) and job creation, without direct
legislative action. A New York Times story today sets the scene (and
is being pushed by Administration officials Dan Pfieffer and Jay
Carney tonight via Twitter)

“According to an administration official, Mr. Obama will kick off his
new offensive in Las Vegas, ground zero of the housing bust, by
promoting new rules for federally guaranteed mortgages so that more
homeowners, those with little or no equity in their homes, can
refinance and avert foreclosure.

And Wednesday in Denver, the official said, Mr. Obama will announce
policy changes to ease college graduates’ repayment of federal loans,
seeking to alleviate the financial concerns of students considering
college at a time when states are raising tuition.”

The “We can’t wait” campaign is a new phase in Mr. Obama’s so-far
unsuccessful effort — punctuated until now by his cries of “Pass this
bill!” on the stump — to pressure Republicans to support the job
creation package he proposed after Labor Day. It comes after unanimous
votes by Senate Republicans in the past week to block the plan; House
Republican leaders have refused to put the measure to a vote.”

THE PRESIDENTS WEEK AHEAD: Tomorrow- Las Vegas, and then to Los
Angeles. Tuesday- records Jay Leno and then on to San Francisco.
Wednesday- Denver and back to Washington. The West Coast trip will be
a mix of campaign fundraisers and White House events for the American
Jobs Act.

WHAT THE ADMINISTRATION IS THINKING- back to the Calmes Article- which is highly sourced-

“Polls show overwhelming support for pieces of the $447 billion
package, which includes expanded tax cuts for workers and employers,
and spending for infrastructure projects and for state aid to keep
teachers and emergency responders at work. But Republicans oppose
provisions in Mr. Obama’s plan that would offset the costs with higher
taxes on the wealthy.

Should the bill ultimately fail, Democrats believe they at least have
the better political argument, and they vow to exploit what they call
the Republicans’ obstruction in the 2012 campaign.”

THIS WEEKEND ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:

Nevada Republicans agreed to change the date of their early state
caucuses next year, from a proposed January 14th date, to Saturday
February 4th- after votes in Florida and South Carolina- and allowing
New Hampshire to follow Iowa in early January with the traditional,
and historical, first in the nation presidential primary

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who demanded that
Nevada change the date of their caucus- and threatened to hold his
state’s primary as early as December 6th if necessary- is likely to
announce the official date of the 2012 New Hampshire Primary this
week- between Iowa and South Carolina on Tuesday January 10th.

Therefore, the early state calendar will go like this: IOWA-Tuesday
01/03, NEW HAMPSHIRE- Tuesday 01/10, SOUTH CAROLINA- Saturday 01/21, FLORIDA- Tuesday 01/31, NEVADA & MAINE- Saturday 02/04, COLORADO & MINNESOTA- Tuesday 02/07, ARIZONA & MICHIGAN- Tuesday 02/28, WASHINGTON- Saturday 03/03 and SUPER TUESDAY on Tuesday 03/06.

Remember- all of the states before April will award their delegates
proportionally. That means that it will likely not be until Super
Tuesday in March when a presumptive nominee will be officially
declared. With the calendar just about settled, it’s looking like a
two month primary season before that point.

THE FRONTRUNNERS:

MITT ROMNEY- will officially file paperwork for the New Hampshire
primary ballot tomorrow, when he will also announce the endorsement of
Former NH Sen. John Sununu

RICK PERRY- will unveil the second piece of his “jobs and fiscal
reform” plan on Tuesday in South Carolina, when he will announce his
support for a rewrite of the tax code and the institution of a “flat
tax”

NO DEBATE this week..or next week..the next scheduled debate (the
ninth) will be on Wednesday November 09 in Rochester, Michigan. There
is one other debate (the following Tuesday, 11/15) scheduled in
November.

DECEMBER DEBATE SCHEDULE: 12/01- Phoenix; 12/10- Des Moines; 12/15- Sioux City

JANUARY DEBATE SCHEDULE: 01/16- Myrtle Beach; 01/19- Charleston;
01/26- Jacksonville; 01/30- Tampa

THREE THINGS TO WATCH IN THE WEEK AHEAD

1/ Europe. Reports from over the weekend show signs of progress
between German and French officials who are meeting to develop a
resolution to the Eurozone debt crisis. Wall Street (and tonight in
Monday trading in Asia) are watching the European developments very
carefully. This has been a top story for several weeks and months, but
things appear to be coming to a head this week.

2/ Occupy Wall Street. 100 protestors were arrested in Chicago over
the weekend as the “Occupy” protest continue in cities across the
country- and even in cities around the world. Watch to see if there is
any organizational growth this week. A Sunday Washington Post story
compared (and found similarities) between Tea Party members and Occupy
protestors- watch to see if other news organizations jump on to that
narrative.

3/ On the campaign trail- without a debate, watch to see how the
candidates are defining themselves as they meet with voters in early
states and get into the weeds with them on policy issues. With Romney,
watch to see how he is connecting with the “average joe” in New
Hampshire- a must-win state for him. And with Perry, watch to see what
kind of specific details are announced in his Tuesday jobs speech- and
if and how the Romney campaign chooses to respond to it.

FRIDAY’S EARLY EDITION

TOP STORY: The Labor Department released the September Employment Report this morning, which showed the national unemployment rate remained steady last month, at 9.1%, while non-farm payroll increased by 103,000 jobs. This includes the approximately 45,000 workers at Verizon who returned to their jobs after a prolonged strike this summer. Meanwhile, employment figures for both July and August were revised upwards. Other highlights of the report:

There are approximately 14 million unemployed persons- a number essentially unchanged from last month [increases in jobs were due to increases in the labor market], 44.6% of whom have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer

Since April, payroll employment has increased by an average of 72,000 per month, compared with an average of 161,000 for the prior 7 months.

Local government employment declined by 35,000 and has fallen by 535,000 since September 2008. 5,000 US Postal Service workers were laid off

WALL STREET broke a 3-day winning streak and was positive for most of the session before falling at the end of the trading day

• DOW down 20 to 11,103
• NASDAQ down 27 to 2,479
• S&P 500 down 9 to 1,155

FOR THE WEEK, the Dow was up 1.7%, NASDAQ up 2.6% and S&P 500 up 2.1%

STATEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT on the 10-year anniversary of the War in Afghanistan- in part, “As we mark a decade of sacrifice, Michelle and I join all Americans in saluting the more than half a million men and women who have served bravely in Afghanistan to keep our country safe, including our resilient wounded warriors who carry the scars of war, seen and unseen.  We honor the memory of the nearly 1,800 American patriots, and many coalition and Afghan partners, who have made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan for our shared security and freedom.

Thanks to the extraordinary service of these Americans, our citizens are safer and our nation is more secure.  In delivering justice to Osama bin Laden and many other al Qaeda leaders, we are closer than ever to defeating al Qaeda and its murderous network.

As the rest of our troops come home from Iraq this year, we have begun to draw down our forces in Afghanistan and transition security to the Afghan people, with whom we will forge an enduring partnership.  As our sons and daughters come home to their families, we will uphold our sacred trust with our 9/11 Generation veterans and work to provide the care, benefits and opportunities they deserve.”

2012:

In South Carolina today, Republican presidential candidate MITT ROMNEY delivered a sharp rebuke to the Obama Administration’s foreign policy in a major address at The Citadel. “In an American Century, America has the strongest economy and the strongest military in the world. In an American Century, America leads the free world and the free world leads the entire world,” he said. 

The key line: “I will not surrender America’s role in the world. This is very simple: If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on Earth, I am not your president. You have that president today.”

CNN is reporting that sources inside the Iowa Republican Party confirm that the date for the 2012 Iowa Caucus will be Tuesday January 02. Although that has not yet been officially announced, the remaining process is being described as a “formality.” That would leave New Hampshire as the only early state to not yet announce its primary date. 

If Iowa goes on the 2nd, it is widely expected that New Hampshire will go one week later, on Tuesday January 10th. That would be followed by Nevada four days later on Saturday January 14th and South Carolina a week after that on Saturday January 21st. Then, ten days later, the Florida Primary on Tuesday January 31st. In February, expect to see primaries in Missouri, Michigan and Arizona. 

Tuesday is the next Republican Presidential Candidates Debate, sponsored by the Washington Post and Bloomberg and presented by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. It will air live on Bloomberg television and be streamed online beginning at 8pm Tuesday evening from Hanover, New Hampshire. The following week, Tuesday October 18th, is another GOP debate- this one sponsored by CNN and the Nevada Republican Party, from Las Vegas. 

GALLUP released a disastrous job approval rating for President Obama today: 38%, with a 53% disapproval. A Rasmussen poll today put the President’s job approval at 42% with a 57% disapproval. The current Real Clear Politics is 42.3% approve, 51.8% disapprove.  

The 2011 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE was awarded to three women’s rights activists today. The Nobel Committee announced early this morning that Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen would be recognized for their “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”

From BBC News, “The women will share the $1.5m prize money…the Nobel Peace Prize originally recognized those who had already achieved peace, but that its scope has broadened in recent years to encourage those working towards peace and acknowledge work in progress….The Nobel committee received a record 241 nominations for this year’s prize - among the individuals and groups believed to have been put forward were the European Union, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and key cyber dissidents in the Arab Spring movement.”

RECENT WINNERS of the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE:

2010 - Liu Xiaobo - Chinese dissident lawyer

2009 - US President Barack Obama

2008 - Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president

2007 - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), former US vice-president and environmental campaigner Al Gore

2006 - Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank

2005 - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its president, Mohamed El Baradei

HOW WE DID: In Sunday’s THE EVENING REPORT, we highlighted three stories to watch in the week ahead. Here’s how they played out:

1/ 2012 & Chris Christie. We said that this week would be the final deadline for the New Jersey Governor to decide whether or not he would enter the 2012 race and, indeed, he decided, announcing on Tuesday that he would not be a candidate. One day later, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced that she, also, would not seek the nomination, all but sealing up the 2012 Republican field, now within the 90-day mark of the Iowa Caucuses.

2/ Congress & Chinese Currency Legislation. With Congress back in town, we highlighted the Senate’s consideration of a controversial (but, strangely, bi-partisan) piece of legislation to tighter control of the Chinese currency. What we didn’t know was that this legislation would become a lightning rod for some of the most partisan legislative tactics we’ve seen in years. Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid invoked a version of the so-called “nuclear option” and changed the Senate rules to prohibit further amendment after a cloture motion had been successfully adopted on the legislation. With the Senate adjourned for the holiday weekend (and Senate Democratic leaders huddled at The White House for several hours this morning with the President and Vice-President), watch to see how this issue is resolved beginning on Tuesday.

3/ The Economy. An easy topic to watch, and one that will remain on our list for many months. Today’s better-than-expected employment report looked like it would propel the markets to a four-day winning streak, but momentum was lost towards the end of the day on continued anxiety from Europe looking ahead to another series of pivotal meetings of European finance ministers this weekend.

FINALLY…the Justice Department will release the transcript of former President Richard Nixon’s testimony to a grand jury investigating the Watergate scandal, POLITICO reports. “The release of Nixon’s testimony, set for November 10 at the Archives in Washington and at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif., comes after the Justice Department decided not to appeal a judge’s ruling in July that the materials should be made public. Nixon’s testimony took place on June 23 and 24, 1975, nearly a year after he resigned. The sessions spanned 11 hours and were conducted near his home in San Clemente, Calif. The grand jury was based in Washington, so the foreman and one other member traveled to California to join prosecutors at the session”

In honor of the Columbus Day holiday, THE EVENING REPORT will next publish on Monday October 10. 

Gmar Chatimah Tova!

POST-DEBATE EDITION

Tonight in Tampa, Florida: the Fifth Republican Presidential Candidates Debate. Candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney & Rick Santorum shared the stage for the two-hour debate which just concluded. 

THE HIGHLIGHTS:

This was RICK PERRY’s debate- to win or lose. And he started the night on home turf- with a favorable Tea Party audience. But the debate quickly turned into a pile-on with nearly all of the other candidates- most especially Romney, Santorum, Bachmann and Huntsman- attacking Perry on his record and past statements. This debate will be remembered because MITT ROMNEY worked his way to come out on top, especially with his answers on the budget and immigration reform. 

MICHELE BACHMANN again struggled to share the stage with the two front-runners but approached this debate with a clear attack strategy: against Perry, not Romney. 

RICK SANTOROUM also got in several one-liners tonight by going after Perry- although he had a fair amount of criticism for Romney as well. Trying to position himself as a choice between Romney and Perry, Santorum showed that he still may be a strong vice-presidential contender or, at the least, a ‘must-get’ surrogate endorsement

JON HUNTSMAN struggled to break through again tonight. His most memorable line might have been an awkward attack on Perry, causing his border security policy “treasonous” 
and the AUDIENCE who last week in California applauded Rick Perry’s record on executions, applauded tonight at a hypothetical question about a 30-year old in a coma without health insurance and whether he should be allowed to die. 

TER’s ORDER OF DEBATE WINNERS: Romney, Perry, Santorum, Gingrich, Bachmann, Huntsman, Cain, Paul

BEFORE THE DEBATE- the big 2012 news of the day: former presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty today endorsed Mitt Romney; while once-rumored candidate Bobby Jindal endorsed Rick Perry. These are the first two major surrogate endorsements of the cycle.

THE REST OF THE DAYS NEWS

LAYOFFS: Bank of America today announced plans for 30,000 employee layoffs over the next several years. It was just last month when the Bank announced a $5 payment from Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett. The announcement is the largest for a US company this year, surpassing Merck’s planned 13,000 layoffs. 

JOBS: President Obama today formally unveiled the American Jobs Act, a 233-page proposal, in legislative language, built off of his primetime Address to Congress last week. The nearly $450 billion in new spending is paid for by eliminating tax loopholes- including for corporate jet owners- and limiting tax deductions, including those for charitable contributions and home mortgage payments 

ON WALL STREET: The Dow ended the day above 11,000 again, up 68.99 points to 11,061. The NASDAQ was up 27 points and the S&P 500 closed the first trading day of the new week up 8 points.

IN FRANCE: An explosion at the Marcole Nuclear Site today is being called a “an industrial accident, not a nuclear accident” by company officials. One person was killed and four were injured in the explosion, which is currently under investigation but that did not, according to government officials, leak radiation

NEED THE KNOW TOMORROW: Inside-the-beltway political junkies will be tuned into two special House elections- in New York’s 9th Congressional District and Nevada’s 2nd District. In New York, the seat once held by resigned Congressman Anthony Weiner was thought to be safely Democratic, but recently polling shows an extremely competitive race. Republicans are now expected to pick-up that seat and in the Nevada race for the seat once held by now Senator Dean Heller, who was appointed to fill the remainder of Sen. John Ensign’s term. Ensign resigned in disgrace in May.

AND FINALLY: NBC Universal announced the name of a new once-weekly primetime news magazine to be anchored by NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams. “Rock Center with Brian Williams” will debut later this fall and feature talent and reporting from the news devision of NBC.

TOP STORY-TEN YEARS LATER: Today, the nation and the world paused to reflect and remember the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Network television produced live specials from 8-11am, with markers for each of the major moments of the attack; the four plane crashes and two tower collapses. At the end of that day, a decade ago, America was a changed country. Today was a day to take stock of the events of the preceding ten years- how much has happened and changed, and how much that single day continues to impact our lives, and the life of our country.

At the WORLD TRADE CENTER site, the 9/11 memorial was formally unveiled. Two reflecting pools- each about an acre in size- and the largest manmade waterfalls in North America- contain the names of each person who died in the 2001 attacks, and the 1993 bombing. A 9/11 museum is under a construction an expected to be opened 9/11/12.

At the PENTAGON, Vice President Joe Biden participated in a ceremony in which he spoke of the nearly two million members of the “9/11 Generation” who have served- in Iraq and Afghanistan- since the attacks. “The true legacy of 9/11 is that our spirit is mightier, the bonds that unite us are thicker, and the resolve is firmer than the million tons of limestone and concrete that make up that great edifice behind me,” he said.

And in SHANKESVILLE PENNSYLVANIA a service was held at the new Flight 93 National Memorial, America’s newest national park, which was formally dedicated Saturday by Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and Vice President Biden. 40 passengers were killed when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on 9/11. 

Tonight at the KENNEDY CENTER, President Obama- who visited all three attack sites today with the First Lady- offered reflections at a “Concert for Hope” organized by the Washington National Cathedral. “This land pulses with the optimism of those who set out for distant shores, and the courage of those who died for human freedom,” he said, and, quoting from scripture, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

DRIVING THE WEEK (the three things that you need to watch for tomorrow and this week):

1/ President Obama will speak in the Rose Garden in the morning on the American Jobs Act- and will formally submit the legislation to Congress in the afternoon. The White House will try to stay on message focused on the Jobs Act all week. 

2/ Israel withdrew its diplomatic staff from Cairo on Saturday after several hours of high-tense diplomatic negotiations, including a phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to President Obama. With the removal of the Israeli ambassador to Turkey and an Arab League meeting this week in which Palestinians will put forward a proposal to be granted separate state status at the United Nations later this month, Israel’s standing (and the legitimacy/control of the interim Egyptian government) is becoming a major ‘next step’ story in the Arab Spring

3/ Republican presidential candidates convene in Florida for their fifth debate of the primary season Monday night- sponsored by CNN and the Florida Tea Party. Watch to see how if Mitt Romney and Rick Perry continue the skirmish they began last week at the Reagan Library- and if either Michele Bachmann or Jon Huntsman make any moves to break into the upper tiers. Providing optimism to the Republicans, and driving the political week for Democrats, is a front-page New York Times story today “Democrats Fret Aloud Over Obama’s Chances” (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/us/politics/11obama.html?hpw)

BONUS: Anderson Cooper, who was the MC of tonight’s Concert For Hope at the Kennedy Center, will be back in New York tomorrow as the host of his new daytime talk show “Anderson”

FINALLY: Paul Simon performed a moving rendition of “Sound of Silence” this morning as part of the 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero. 

TOP STORY- “Pass This Bill,” that was the message President Obama delivered last evening to a joint session of Congress. The American Jobs Act, as his proposal is known, will be submitted to Congress formally next week. It contains four major pieces: 1/ Payroll Tax Cut on the Employer Side, 2/ Payroll Tax Cut on the Employee Side, 3/ Extends long-term unemployment benefits 4/ Creates an Infrastructure Bank to invest in transportation and school improvement projects

The Republican Response has been mixed. While the presidential candidates have all come out in opposition to the bill, Congressional leaders, especially Majority Leader Eric Cantor, are leaving the door open to “considering” the President’s proposals. The Speaker sent a letter to the White House late today requesting to see legislative text. That, and an accompanying proposal for how the Administration plans to pay for the $470+ billion package, are expected to be released in the next week. 

The President went to Richmond, VA today to sell his jobs package. Cantor held a meet and greet a short distance away just a few hours after the President. 

WALL STREET ended the day and week in negative territory. The Dow was down 303 points, closing below 11,000 at 10,992. NASDAQ was down 61 points to 2,467. S&P 500 fell 31 points, settling at 1,154. For the week, the Dow was down more than 5 percent. NASDAQ & S&P were down more than 4 percent. 

SECURITY THREAT- Just 48 hours before national observances to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, a new threat is raising concern and leading to increased security in New York City and Washington, D.C. According to the Department of Homeland Security, “We take all threat reporting, including the recent specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information, seriously. We continue to be in close contact with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to ensure that all steps necessary to mitigate any threats are taken”

At this time, there are no plans to utilize the new National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) that replaced the color-coded alert system earlier this year. 

9/11 TEN YEARS LATER- Ceremonies will be held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attacks throughout the weekend. On Sunday, President Obama will travel to New York City, Shankesville, PA and the Pentagon. He will also be interviewed by NBC’s Brian Williams as part of the network’s live coverage. 

CALIFORNIA BLACKOUT- In San Diego, lights are back on today after a blackout affected an estimated 1.4 million people in Southern California yesterday. The cause, while still under investigation is reported to be have been the result of electrical workers removing a piece of monitoring equipment at a substation in southwest Arizona.