The Drudge Report stirred up the watercooler Tuesday when it teased that it would be releasing “Obama’s Other Race Speech,” a video promising to “cause controversy [and] ignite accusations of racism.” Just before 9 p.m., The Daily Caller released the video of Obama speaking in June 2007 at Hampton University. In the fiery 40-minute speech, Obama hints to an audience of black ministers that the U.S. government slighted Hurricane Katrina victims because of their race, when compared to aid given to 9/11: “The people in New Orleans they don’t care about as much!” He also praised the Rev. Jeremiah Wright as “a friend and a great leader.” In response, the Obama campaign released a statement saying "Mitt Romney's allies recirculated video of a 2007 event that was open to and extensively covered by the press at the time.'

Another attack? A U.S. Embassy vehicle that was fired on by Mexican federal police on Aug. 24 may have been the target of an assassination attempt. A senior U.S. official tells the Associated Press that there is strong evidence that the officers were working for an organized-crime cartel when they shot at an armored SUV marked with diplomatic license plates near Mexico City. At the time, Mexican federal police said the shooting was a misunderstanding, as officers were at the time investigating a kidnapping in the area. The U.S. official tells the AP he doesn’t buy it: "That's not a 'We're trying to shake down a couple people for a traffic violation’ sort of operation. That's a 'We are specifically trying to kill the people in this vehicle.’”

Authorities have launched a manhunt in a remote area along the Arizona–Mexico border for suspects in a shooting that left one Border Patrol agent dead and another injured. The shooting occurred just before 2 a.m., when three agents were sent to an area near Naco and a ground sensor was activated. Authorities say that the third agent escaped unharmed. The murdered agent has been identified as 30-year-old Nicolas Ivie. Authorities are looking for three to four suspects, but officials say they may have fled to Mexico after the shooting.

Is this the U.S. government, or the plot of Get Smart? Congressional investigators will release a report Wednesday citing regional intelligence-gathering offices called “fusion centers”—which together make up one of the country’s biggest domestic counterrorism programs—for being, arguably, useless. According to the report, the centers, which are financed by the Department of Homeland Security, “forwarded intelligence of uneven quality—oftentimes shoddy, rarely timely, sometimes endangering citizens’ civil liberties and Privacy Act protections, occasionally taken from already published public sources, and more often than not unrelated to terrorism.” Homeland Security officials are claiming the new report conducted by Senate investigators is “out of date, inaccurate and misleading.” 

Texting aside, teens may be more responsible drivers than they were 20 years ago. According to federal health officials, the percentage of high schoolers who get drunk and then hop behind the wheel has declined by more than half in the past 20 years. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed 10.3 percent of high-school students reported drinking and driving in the past month, compared with 22.3 percent who answered the same in 1991. Of course, the problem of teen drinking and driving is far from eliminated: about 1 million teens admitted to drinking before driving last year, and car crashes remain the leading cause of death for 16- to 19-year-olds.

An eye for an eye. After the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, left four Americans dead on Sept. 11, President Obama vowed that “justice will be done” to the killers responsible. Now, the first steps are being made toward retribution. According to senior counterterrorism officials, the military’s top-secret Joint Special Operations Command has begun collecting “target packages” on the suspected militants that could be used to either capture or kill those deemed complicit in the attacks. The report says that Obama’s options for retaliation include drone strikes, special ops raids, and joint missions with Libyan military. New prime minister Mustafa Abu Shagur recently told Al Jazeera he disagrees with unilateral American military action. “We will not accept anyone entering inside Libya,” Shagur said. “That would infringe on sovereignty and we will refuse.”

The good times keep rolling for carmakers, with analysts reporting Tuesday that the auto industry will surpass estimates for September. Sales look set to jump about 13 percent overall since last year, and could reach 14.9 million vehicles, which would be the industry’s highest level since 2008. Toyota recorded the largest increase, selling more than 170,000 vehicles for a 41 percent jump. Volkswagen Group of America had its best September since 1972 and recorded a 34 percent increase. Ford still disappointed, selling about 200 less vehicles than this time last year. Experts attribute the industry’s overall growth to cheap financing and strong recent performances from foreign automakers.

Once again, the search comes up empty. Tests on soil samples in a backyard in Michigan where former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa was thought to be buried came back negative Tuesday. The tests showed no traces of Hoffa—or anybody else—buried at the tipped-off site. The suburban Detroit home was the latest false lead, with past suspected burial sites including a horse farm and even the underbelly of a swimming pool. The former union leader was last seen in 1975 on the day he was supposed to meet with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit mafia captain.

Former Penn State football assistant coach Mike McQueary filed a lawsuit Tuesday against his former employer saying that he was made into a scapegoat during the Jerry Sandusky scandal. McQueary said he caught Jerry Sandusky in the locker room with a young boy back in 2001, and reported the incident to head coach Joe Paterno. But McQueary claims he was placed on administrative leave after university officials made false statements about what he had told them. He is seeking $4 million in damages, as well as compensation for early withdrawals from his retirement account, bowl game bonuses through the 2011 season, and legal expenses.

Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey are proving to be as combustible of a pair as many bloggers feared—or more likely, hoped. The divas, who will both be judges on the upcoming season of American Idol, were captured arguing in hidden-camera footage posted by TMZ Tuesday. Minaj is shown flying into an expletive-ridden tirade that could’ve been lifted from one of her Parental Advisory–required raps during auditions Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. “I told them, I’m not f--kin’ putting up with her f--kin’ highness over there,” Minaj shouts, before apparently threatening to “knock out” Carey, who can’t seem to get a word in edgewise. (Watch the video here.) Keith Urban, who joins the duo and Randy Jackson at the judges table, fidgets appropriately uncomfortably between the arguing pop stars.

Step one to becoming the voice of a generation: have popular television show. Step two: write advice book. Twenty-six-year-old Girls creator and star Lena Dunham is shopping around a million-dollar book proposal, tentatively titled "Not That Kind of Girl: Advice by Lena Dunham." Slate obtained an email of the proposal. In an intro, Dunham says that Helen Gurley Brown was an inspiration—though she thinks Brown’s advice is crazy. The book will include her stories about losing her virginity, eating, and death.

She is never, ever, ever going to say who her songs are about. Taylor Swift doesn’t appreciate ex-bf John Mayer’s claim that he was “humiliated” by her song “Dear John.” “How presumptuous!” the 22-year-old singer said in Glamour magazine. “I never disclose who my songs are about.” Her most recent anthem, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” is rumored to be about Jake Gyllenhaal, mainly because Swift said something about it being Jake’s turn while on stage. Joe Jonas has come forward to say the song is not about him. Thanks, Joe.

Hoping to avoid another circus like the one that surrounded the “debt ceiling” last summer, Senate leaders are hard at work on a path to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff—a series of dramatic tax hikes and deep spending cuts—that will automatically trigger on January 1, 2013, unless Congress intervenes. The triggers were established in the 2011 deal to be equally distasteful to both parties and to force a solution. Senators are still nowhere near a deal, and House Republicans still adamantly resist any tax increases, but a bipartisan group is coalescing around a three-step plan that would agree on broad deficit reduction, likely to come from federal spending cuts and closing tax loopholes.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a civil complaint against JPMorgan Chase for fraud in the selling of mortgage-backed securities. Schneiderman is the co-chairman of a presidential task force formed in January to investigate possible civil and criminal misconduct in the formation and sale of mortgage-backed securities. The allegation is over securities issued by the investment bank Bear Stearns in 2006 and 2007. JPMorgan acquired Bear Stearns in March 2008.

"Abandon" is such a harsh word. But after a troop surge in Afghanistan—and a failure to weaken the Taliban—U.S. officials are no longer aiming for a peace deal with the Taliban. Instead, senior coalition officers tell The New York Times that the military is now satisfied with letting Afghan officials hash out an agreement after coalition forces withdraw. The failure to strike a meaningful relationship with the Taliban brings into question the "gains" Obama reported when announcing the troop surge in 2009.

Business is booming at Chrysler. The company posted its third-quarter sales on Tuesday, recording a 12 percent increase from a year ago and its best September since 2007. Although the numbers were down slightly since August, the overall gain beat analysts’ expectations, which Bloomberg forecasters pegged at a 6.3 percent increase. The third-quarter gain was fueled by a 51 percent increase in Fiat sales since last year, including the recently introduced super-efficient Dodge Dart, which sold more than 5,000 units.

This has to be the president’s dream reelection campaign, right? Not so fast. As Obama surges in polls and looks unbeatable in swing states ahead of Wednesday’s debate, Politico reminds us that we shouldn’t crown the president just yet. Ten “haunting” quotes illustrate “an anthology of lofty aspirations that fell to earth, and boastful predictions that didn’t come true.” From a failure to jump-start the economy to Guantánamo and Solyndra, see words Obama hopes voters won’t remember come election night.

It has all the makings of a Hollywood disaster movie—only it happened in real life. An Amtrak passenger train collided with a rig at a track crossing just outside of Hanford, Calif., Monday. The impact partially derailed the train, injuring at least 40 people as it skidded to a halt over a quarter mile from the crossing. It’s not clear if the truck had been crossing the tracks when the train crashed into it, or if it struck the train broadside as it passed through. Said one passenger about her experience when her rail car started leaning: “I thought, ‘Oh s--t, what’s happening?’ I don’t normally cuss, but I was scared.”

It’s really not a good time to be a hacker of any kind in London. Two men, including one journalist, were arrested by Scotland Yard under an investigation into computer hacking. Though few details are known, the arrests come as part of a campaign to crack down after the News of the World scandal.

Here we go again: Apple releases iPhone 5, Samsung releases suit saying iPhone 5 infringes patents. After winning a court battle to lift a U.S. ban on the Galaxy Tablet 10.1, Samsung has launched an assault on Apple, saying the new iPhone violates several of its patents on design and technology. In August, Apple won a billion-dollar patent suit against Samsung. The two leading companies in mobile phones will duke it out in court in 2014.

New research out Tuesday compares the health care plans of President Obama and his opponent Mitt Romney and reveals that, under a Romney adminstration, less Americans would have insurance than did before Obamacare ever passed. According to the Commonwealth Fund, the research foundation that conducted the comparison, Romney's health care plan would bring the population of uninsured to 72 million by 2022. In 2011, 47.9 million were uninsured. The study found that, if fully implemented, Obamacare would bring the number of uninsured down to 27.1 million by 2022. 

There’s nothing like the smell of exit polls in the morning. Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and the opposition party have upset incumbent Mikheil Saakashvili in parliamentary elections. The Georgian Dream coalition had a 10 percent lead in early vote counts and had probably won more than half of the popular vote, ending a nine-year run by the United National Movement. Ivanishvili ran on a platform that focused on poverty issues, the strong ruling style of Saakashvili, and a softer stance on Russian relations.

At least 36 are dead after two ferries collided off the waters of Hong Kong late Monday. In the city's worst disaster in years, a boat carrying 120 passengers sailed into another boat traveling the opposite direction. The boat that quickly sank, the Lamma IV, was carrying staff members and family of the company Hong Kong Electric to a fireworks show. The other boat, which did not sink, was a regular ferry that sails between Lamma and Hong Kong island. As a rescue team continues to search for survivors, police arrested six crew members.

Gunmen stormed a student hostel in northeastern Nigeria Tuesday, killing at least 20, police told BBC News. The brazen attack came in Mubi, days after an operation against the Islamist militants, the Boko Haram. A lecturer told the BBC that 40 students were shot dead, but that number hasn’t been confirmed. Several students have fled campus, while other are reportedly hiding indoors. The militants are fighting for Islamic law in Nigeria.

What’s the key to debating Vice President Joe Biden? When asked by Bloomberg TV’s In the Loop about whether he’s received any advice from Sarah Palin, Paul Ryan said that he doesn’t really know the momma grizzly and has only met her once. With the Romney campaign lagging behind with just under five weeks until the election, this may be the best news for the ticket.

How do you say “nevermind” in French? Prosecutors have dropped the alleged rape case against Dominique Strauss Kahn. Officials say that the alleged victim, an escort girl, now says that there was no rape involved at a D.C. hotel in 2010. While things may appear to be looking up for DSK—he’s been spotted with a new girlfriend—he’s not in the clear yet. The former IMF head is still being probed about a prostitution ring in France.

Two border agents were shot in a southern Arizona drug-smuggling corridor, leaving one dead. The shooting happened south of Tucson at the Brian Terry Station. The FBI and the sheriff's office are searching for the assailant. The injured officer has been airlifted to a hospital.

Mitt Romney isn’t the only one who heads into a debate with some zingers in his back pocket. Sen. Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren faced off in their second senatorial debate Monday night, and things were just as nasty as the first time. Despite having to reprimand his staff for mocking Warren’s controversial claim of Native American roots with “tomahawk” gestures during a campaign rally last week, the Republican senator continued to push the issue of the opponent’s heritage. He also accused Warren of “misstating the facts” with regard to a number of jobs bills she said Brown and other Republicans had opposed. Warren began speaking over him and Brown declared, “I’m not a student in your classroom, please let me respond.” Zing.

Antoine Ashley, who goes by the name Sahara Davenport on the reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race, has died at the age of 27, reports People. The Dallas native and classically trained dancer was one of 11 contestants competing to become “America’s Next Drag Superstar” on the second season of the popular show. Ashley’s death came as a shock to the Logo network, which issued a statement of sympathy on their Facebook page Tuesday. RuPaul expressed his sorrow as well, tweeting, “Shocked & heartbroken over @SaharaDavenport. Never occurred to me that we'd ever lose one of my girls. I see them as immortal." The cause of death has yet to be released.

Athena, Zeus, Helen: winter storms just got serious—and Greek. In an announcement on their website Tuesday, the Weather Channel declared it will now be naming significant winter storms before they hit an area, a decision they hope will clarify communication in the midst of potential disasters. The organization says it will use qualitative methods to choose the name, including an assessment of variables such as snowfall, ice, wind, and temperature. NPR released an inaugural list of names on their website Tuesday. Let it snow.

Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict’s former personal butler, insisted on Tuesday that he is innocent of the accusations that he stole and leaked private correspondence from the church in the case that is being known as “Vatileaks.” According to prosecutors, Gabriele had confessed to leaking the documents to an Italian journalist in order to expose “the evil and corruption” and attempt to “bring the church back on the right track,” but denies stealing them. But Gabriele insists he is innocent of the charges, and also testified  that his eyesight was damaged from being kept in an isolation cell with the lights on for 24 hours a day for two weeks after his arrest.

A judge has halted a law that required voters in Pennsylvania to show ID. While an appeal is possible, the six-month-old law won't be in effect for the presidential election. Republicans say such a law is necessary to avoid fraud, with one top official saying that it may have helped Romney win Pennsylvania. Republicans are currently behind in polls in the state, which holds 20 electoral votes.

The presidential election may be more than a month away but the results for the only contest that matters are already in. Michelle Obama won this year's First Lady Cookie Bake-Off, redeeming herself after losing the Family Circle magazine's battle to Cindy McCain in 2008. Michelle's white- and dark-chocolate chip cookies took 51.5 percent of the votes, while 48.5 percent went to Ann Romney's M&M cookies. The winner's husband has predicted the win in the past four out of five presidential elections—the only exception being the Obama–McCain battle in which winner Cindy was actually accused of cheating. 

This makes a bit more sense than "self-deportation." Mitt Romney said that the estimated 1.7 million undocumented "dreamers" who were offered a two-year deferral on deportation will be allowed to stay if he wins the election. Romney said he's not going to take away the visas that the immigrants have purchased. Romney also took the opportunity jab at Obama, saying the president's support of the DREAM Act was clearly a political move.

After the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 left four Americans dead, President Obama vowed that “justice will be done” to the killers. Now first steps are being made towards retribution. According to The New York Times, the military’s top-secret Joint Special Operations Command has begun collecting “target packages” on the suspected militants that could be used to either capture or kill those deemed complicit in the attacks. The report says that Obama’s options for retaliation include drone strikes, special ops raids, and joint missions with Libyan military.

Conservative blog king Matt Drudge has announced that The Drudge Report will be releasing “Obama’s Other Race Speech” tonight on Fox at 9 p.m. The headline includes a hype-boosting teaser (“The Anger … The Accusations … The Sermon”) and a screenshot of an angry-looking President Obama at a podium. Drudge tweeted that the tape is sure to “cause controversy [and] ignite accusations of racism.” Buzzfeed is pointing to a video with the same backdrop at Hampton University that has been posted online since 2007, when it initially made its way through the conservative blogs. The Romney campaign is denying involvement with the Drudge Report's “leaked” video.

It’s not you, it’s me. After 12 years of rock-and-roll dominance, Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl announced Tuesday his band will be taking a hiatus. But don’t consider them retired. In an open letter, the former Nirvana drummer wrote that the Foo Fighters are “my life” but, “it’s a good thing for all of us to go away for a while.” The band recently performed at New York’s Global Citizen Festival, where Grohl hinted at the break, telling fans he wasn’t sure when they would all be playing together again.

Once again, the momentum in the 2012 presidential race is shifting. Though President Obama saw a surge in his poll numbers following Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” gaffe, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal numbers show that although Obama is maintaining his lead, Romney is “well within striking distance,” according to pollsters. Among likely voters, the new numbers show Obama leading 49 to 46 percent—an advantage that’s within the survey’s margin of error. Among the wider sample of registered but “less likely” voters, Obama leads 51 percent to 44 percent. According to NBC News, the two demographics most enthusiastic about Obama—Latinos and young voters—are less likely to vote in this election than they were in 2008.

An Iranian lawmaker announced Tuesday that if nuclear program negotiations with major powers fail, the country plans to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity—enough to fuel nuclear submarines and one step closer to the 90 percent needed to make atomic bombs. The deputy head of Iran’s Foreign Policy and National Security Committee warned “Iran cannot guarantee it would keep its enrichment limited to 20 percent.” Talks with major world leaders, including Russia, China, and the U.S., have failed to convince Iran to stop enrichment.