CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL  —  Full Transcript of CNN NATIONAL SECURITY DEBATE, 20:00-22:00  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  WOLF BLITZER, DEBATE MODERATOR AND CNN LEAD POLITICAL ANCHOR: Live from Washington, DC, for the Republican National Security Debate.

Despite Threat of Cuts, Pentagon Officials Made No Contingency Plans  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has painted such an apocalyptic vision of America's national security under $500 billion in automatic defense budget cuts that Pentagon officials said Tuesday they were pushing …

It Figures... UC Davis Students AGREED to Be Pepper Sprayed Before Incident (Video) ...Update: UC Davis Pepper Spray Massacre Victims Giggled & Smiled Describing Torture  —  For the record...  The UC Davis students who were holding the illegal protest on campus last weekend were warned …

First on CNN: Key social conservatives secretly meet to stop Romney in Iowa  —  Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) — Representatives for leading social conservative groups in Iowa held a secret meeting Monday as part of an effort with one main goal: find and support a Republican presidential candidate who can stop Mitt Romney in Iowa.

Fallon apologizes to Bachmann  —  (CNN) - TV show host Jimmy Fallon apologized to GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann via Twitter Tuesday for a song played as the presidential candidate walked on stage for her Monday interview on NBC's “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”

Why Didn't Reporters Call Romney a Liar?  —  One of the enormous changes in political journalism over the past decade has been the rise of an aggressive culture of online fact-checking.  It started with amateur bloggers but has become professionalized, with full-time fact-checkers like PolitiFact …

Rep. Barney Frank: Supercommittee failure ‘good news’ for Dems  —  Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said the congressional supercommittee's failure Monday to come to an agreement on spending reforms was “good news” because it will help to end the Bush-era tax cuts and give Democrats more bargaining power in budget negotiations.

Senate Democrats ready to move $400 billion in new legislation  —  After failing to reach a deal to reduce the deficit, the Senate will move next month to take up legislation that could add more than $400 billion to the deficit.  —  All of the proposals, such as the extension of the payroll tax cut …

CBO: Obama stimulus helping economy  —  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Tuesday that President Obama's 2009 stimulus package continues to benefit the struggling economy.  —  The agency said the measure raised gross domestic product by between 0.3 and 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2011, which ended Sept. 30.

Demonstrators Plan to Occupy Retailers on Black Friday  —  Some demonstrators are planning to occupy retailers on Black Friday to protest “the business that are in the pockets of Wall Street.”  —  Organizers are encouraging consumers to either occupy or boycott retailers that are publicly traded …

James Murdoch quits the boards of Sun and Times  —  James Murdoch has dramatically resigned as a director of the companies that publish The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun.  —  The surprise move, which has seen Rupert Murdoch's son quit a string of directorships at News International …

Occupy protests cost nation's cities at least $13M  —  NEW YORK (AP) — During the first two months of the nationwide Occupy protests, the movement that is demanding more out of the wealthiest Americans cost local taxpayers at least $13 million in police overtime and other municipal services …

Initial Jobless Claims in U.S. Rise From Seven-Month Low  —  The number of claims for jobless benefits rose last week from a seven-month low, signaling the rate of firings has stabilized after slowing in recent weeks, figures from the U.S Labor Department showed today.

Romney's Mormon Faith Likely a Factor in Primaries, Not in a General Election  —  Many Americans continue to see the Mormon faith as unfamiliar and different.  Half say they know little or nothing about Mormonism, half say it is a Christian religion while a third say it is not …

Al-Qaeda targets dwindle as group shrinks  —  Here's a look at individuals deemed the most wanted terrorists in al-Qaeda..  —  The leadership ranks of the main al-Qaeda terrorist network, once expansive enough to supervise the plot for Sept. 11, 2001, have been reduced to just two figures whose demise …

FACT CHECK: How Serious is the Threat to Pakistan's Nuclear Program?  —  Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann serves on the House Intelligence Committee, so her comments on Pakistan's nuclear program represent either a news-making leak of previously unknown classified information or another …

Weary, blistered Wall Street protesters reach DC  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Drenched, blistered and weary, a few dozen Occupy Wall Street protesters arrived Tuesday in the nation's capital after a two-week, 240-mile march from Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.  —  The marchers, many wearing hooded ponchos …