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people working getting higher pay, paying more taxes. >>? debate number one, they battled on taxes. >> you do the arithmetic. you do the math. >> they battled on the budget. >> it includes within it a number of provisions that i think has some unintended consequences. >> they battled on the banks. >> now they've both arrived on long island for a town hall-style debate, 25 miles from wall street. the stakes could not be higher for the candidates. for the country, and for your money. once again, here's maria bartiromo and carl quintanilla, as we count you down to presidential debate number two. >> and tonight we've gathered some of the best minds of wall street and washington to put it in perspective. >> we've got a great show ahead, former intel ceo craig barrett, sheila bare, former chair of the fdic, phil sits on the inquiry commission, david walker a former comptroller of the united

states, his current mission fix the american debt crisis, plus we have representatives ron paul and barney frank. both with strong opinions about our financial system and this election. >> soon the audience will be in place at hofstra. john harwood is there. john, a lot of pressure on the president tonight. i know you know a thing or two about the president and town halls and he'll be talking later on about some of the dangers that are present tonight. >> exactly, carl. you know, it's extraordinary how well mitt romney did two weeks ago in denver and the bump that he got in the polls from that performance, but it's not unusual for challengers to best the incumbent in the first presidential debate. it happened with walter mondale in 1984. what we saw in the second debate was president reagan came back, people chattering about whether he was too old to be president and turned to walter mondale and said i won't hold your youth and inexperience against you. walter laughed and the nation breathed a sigh of relief and ronald reagan in good shape.

in the second debate in 2000, george w. bush had done very well in the first debate and capitalized on the spin afterwards. al gore reacted to the complaint he had been overaggressive dialing it way back and he was ineffective. president obama has the opposite incentive. people said he was lack luster in the first debate, expect to see more aggression but that town hall format limits how aggressive you can be because you have to interact not only with your rival, the moderator but the 80 undecided voters at hofstra. it's going to be an interesting test for both men. president obama wants to stop that romney momentum. >> all right. john, look forward to talking to you in a moment. meantime larry kudlow is the host of "the kudlow report" joins us at the desk. how do you see tonight playing out? >> i think message is going to be important. we're talking about form and style and that's true. one of the reasons why romney won the last debate, much stronger message on economic growth and policy and tax policy and he was much chris per and

clearer on his facts. i'm looking to see who has a more, better economic growth vision and secondly, i think benghazi is going to be a big issue. foreign policy, libya, this mess, had hillary clinton saying she's going to take the rap, but no one believes she's going to take the rap. i think president obama will be on the defensive on foreign policy. >> that's for sure. that is one of the big issues that certainly romney is going to come out and try to come out aggressively. what do you think about the town hall method this time? this changes things a bit. it's not one on one. you've got folks in the audience that were chosen by the gallup organization. how do you think this plays into it? >> i like it. let's loosen up here, mowsy around. i once watched chris christie in a town hall in south jersey before -- i don't know where to this day -- but i interviewed him an he was moving around and talking to people and this and that and i think it's great. go for the gold. but i think message is really going to be important tonight and i think we're going to see a

battle royale. romney's people have already said that they think that president obama should man up and admit that he had the whole intelligence story on benghazi wrong and i think you're going to see a lot of that aggressiveness from both of those fellows. >> do you think libya plays to an undecided, married woman voter in ohio? does that matter tonight? >> i think when the american ambassador is killed, that matters. and when we lose a consulate, that matters. so it matters in a different way, carl. i don't want to underestimate the economics of this, absolutely the job creation part. romney has done well in recent polls on that point but when an american ambassador is killed and somehow the administration and white house don't seem to want to tell us what really happened i think you a problem. >> great point. we'll talk more with larry throughout the next couple of hours. we bring in right now the former fdic chair sheila bair and intel's ceo and chairman craig barrett.

tonight's debate in new york not far from wall street. you is to think the economy and everything that happened in the financial crisis will come up. good to have you with us. sheila, what are you expecting? >> i don't know. i think the momentum is a little bit with governor romney. i think the burden is on president obama. the race is a tossup. i think there's a lot riding for both of them. and be this town hall format really is important to connect and show empathy and respect for the people who are asking the questions. it's not like when a journalist is asking a question, maybe you can ignore them and go off and answer a different question. i think it's very important to show connection with these questioners and i think a lot will be about the economy to your point in the swing states. i think the economy is the key issue. >> craig, you supported romney in the past. what do you think american business wants to hear tonight? town hall, a lot of talk about being empathetic, making a connection, but others at least on the republican side might want to see romney put his heel on obama's throat so to speak? >> i think the business

community wants substance over style. they want to hear what can we do to get the economy going. what are we going to do about corporate tax rates. how will we stimulate the economy? what's the future hold? everything from immigration policy to fair trade agreements to international competitiveness. it's got to be substance and not style. and i'm a little concerned that the town hall format may be pushing everybody as you guys have been talking about, more to the style format than the substance issues. >> craig, do you think governor romney can continue the momentum? what does had he need to do to stay on top past that first success? >> well, had he needs to do exactly what he did in the first debate which was substance. yes, he was aggressive, had great style, the president did not, but governor romney had substance. he talked about the issue, what he was going to do, the principles he was going to follow. he needs to continue along those lines. >> governor, my friend sheila bare, great to see you, one of the the igs in the campaign trail that governor romney has

said, i think he said in the last debate, i may be wrong about this, is that washington gave wall street banks a big kiss and he, romney, doesn't like too big to fail. you have spoken out about too big to fail. what do you make of that? is obama on the wrong side and romney on the right side? >> well, i'm glad that they're both saying they're against too big to fail. too big to fail banks need to be broken up. if they're too big to fail they're too big period. he's talking about it. but i don't think his analysis of dodd/frank is right. i think dodd/frank is a poke in the eye with a sharp stick not a big kiss. no big banks or large banks are already designated any bank holding company $50 billion has to shows the government they can resolve in a bankruptcy like process without hurting the rest of us. title one also allows the government to designate nonbanks like aig who got us in trouble before and bring them under supervision and force them to show they can be resolved in bankruptcy without hurting us and the government can downsize.

i think dodd/frank has the tools to end too big to fail. we need more education on that. i'm glad he's coming out but the tools are already there. >> craig, one of the methods of attack that the president has taken against romney lately has been to criticize what he would call his evolving views on all sorts of issues after having been governor of massachusetts. is that still a liability or are we at a point now where voters say, you know what, maybe your convictions don't hold you hostage, maybe you move around because you get things done. you are a deal maker. you would make things happen. has that liability turned into an asset? >> i think the governor's background is a strong asset going forward. i think the american public wants to see something happen in washington, d.c. they want to see someone who has a plan for the future, some general principles they're going to get, bipartisan support behind, and move forward. you know, the president's criticism quite often strikes me as a little bit like socrates

mentioned 2400 years ago. when you lose the debate slander is your only tool. i think the governor wins if, in fact, he comes out with his principles, talks about substance, and just what it takes to get the country moving forward. leave the personal attacks to other people. >> it's a good point because you really do have to walk a balance here of being the aggressor, but not being too aggressive that you turn the voter off. before we let you go we want to get your take on what happened today at citi. the shakeup. craig, you're a form ceo. what do you make of it? >> well, any time the ceo has a shoot-out with a board and loses, be there's, you know, my indication is there's some deep internal problems. not totally public. >> finally sheila, it's been reported at least on our air that some of your long-time criticism of pandis were used against him by his own political enemies in the power struggle.

what do you make of that? do you feel responsible in some small way? >> i don't feel responsible. look you had an underperforming stock for several years, over five years, down 90%, shareholders unhappy they had lost confidence. those are the kind of situations where the board needs to act. and i do think -- i wish vikram well but i never thought he had the qualifications, never had commercial banking experience, never run a large institution. it was a struggle for the past five years, and i think the board made the right decision. i don't think it was anything to do with me or my book. my concerns about him have been long standing. this has been festering for a long time and i wish him well and mike corbett well on the board. i hope citi opens a new chapter in their history. >> thanks so much. >> sheila -- >> go ahead. >> go ahead, craig. >> i was just wondering if sheila was describing is the president's last four years or vikram be's last five. >> one final word, i agree with

you on substance. i don't think either candidate yet has really given the country enough substance to let us know what they're going to be doing the next four years, and i think that is a crucial issue because when mr. obama was elected four years ago he talked about change, didn't really spell out what he was going to do and people are a little more skeptical now. >> i like that three-pointer by barrett in the last quarter. thank you, guys. good to see both of you. later tonight, ron paul, the texas congressman former presidential candidate, harsh critic of the fed weighs? >> next president obama's former chief of staff, bill daly and former senator and republican deal maker judd greg with us. last time romney scored points claiming he can reach across the aisle, work with the opposing party. how will the president counter that? we're back right after this break.

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joining us with more on tonight's high-stakes debate former senator and cnbc contributor judd greg and bill daly, chief of staff to president obama, also the former u.s. commerce secretary. good evening to you both. >> good to see you. >> bill, begin with you, gallup has said that debate number one the most lop-sided debate loss in recent history. how do you come back from that? >> the size of the audience will probably be comparable and the president will be once again speaking to the american people about the next four years the interest in this debate and the interest in this election is based upon a real concern about the future of our country and the fact is, these have been difficult four years. we're coming out of a -- the worst economic situation we've seen in our lifetime and so i think the interest by the american people and the hype around this debate and the media's hype around it, the president has admitted that he had a difficult debate last time, no question about it, but i think he's prepared to speaks to the american people in this

format of a town hall which is important to get real people the chance to speak and talk to the president and to the governor. >> senator greg, you prepared back in 2000 with then candidate george w. bush. talk to us a little about what these candidates, what governor romney and the president, have been doing and what you believe to be most important to come out on tonight's debate? >> well, i think the most important thing is that you have a persona and state positions that make people comfortable with you as a person that they like you and number two make them comfortable with you as your next leader or their leader of the nation. and that means you've got to stay to the big issues in my opinion, talk about what your themes are and why you think you can make the country a better place for not only folks today but our children tomorrow and that's how you make a point in these debates in my opinion. >> does the town hall style of tonight's debate change the mix in any way for you? >> significantly.

i thought lehrer did a wonderful job. what we ended up in the first debate was a lincoln/douglas exchange where the two got to say what they thought and got extensive discussion. i think the president got an extra five minutes over mitt romney, didn't do much good but he did. in this format i think the answers will be much more truncated, there may be follow-up but i don't think it will be of the type where the candidates are exchanging the o follow-up as much as in the lincoln/douglas format. i don't think the town hall format is as constructive to hearing who the candidates are and what they want to do as the format that we saw in the first debate but it will be a good format. i mean candy crowly is an excellent news person. i'm sure they'll bring out a good debate. >> that's another ball of wax and her involvement tonight. you were in charge of managing the president's relationships on the hill to some degree. how does he convince people tonight in the face of the health care legislation and reconciliation and demon past

that he actually has it in him to work with the other side, something romney you might argue has more evidence that he has done? >> well, i disagree on the back part of that, carl, to be frank. i think the president has shown a real attempt to bipartisan. if you take three examples of people, one, he as you know, nominated or put forward senator gregg's name as commerce secretary. didn't move forward. the senator changed his mind. that's fine. the president has had for four years a former republican governor, former republican congressman, and appointed a republican governor to be our ambassador to china, probably the most important ambassadorial post in the world. and -- until he came back and decided to run against the president. i think the president has tried to work. don't forget, when the other side, to be bipartisan, it has to be two sides. senator mcconnell said very early on, his number one goal was to stop the president from getting re-elected. and that makes it very difficult to have any bipartisanship when that's the attitude of the

leader of the senate and then, obviously, the 2010 election with the tea party playing such a dominant role in that election and making it a strong statement they had no intention whatsoever of working with the president, so we've had four years -- i have great confidence in the second four years knowing this president, that there will be a serious attempt once again to try to move this country forward in a bipartisan way. what it takes two to do that. >> bill, we know that the president has had somewhat of an antagonistic relationship with business. what do you believe best wants to hear tonight and why would anyone believe that relationship with business would be any different in the class war would change in the next four years. >> we weren't talking about the relationship with business. we were talking about congress getting something done. i think the president has tried to reach out to business. obviously there's been very difficult times because of the economy and the rhetoric some people don't like and the president has been tough whether dodd/frank to the financial service sector which i spent

many years in, it's a good industry, solid industry one that's come back, not by denonizing them but working with the financial service sector. we have the best and strongest sector right now and a lot of that is because of the leadership. they may not have liked dodd/frank but coming out of the legislation is a great openness to transparency in that sector and that's good for the system. >> john? >> wow. >> senator gregg, i would like to ask you -- i would like to ask senator gregg the flip side of carl's question to bill daly, you know, you've heard bill daly the president tried to work with republicans in the congress say on a grand bargain with john boehner, couldn't quite get there. george w. bush came into office said he was going to work with the democrats that didn't work out. i would like to know if judd gregg thinks it's realistic given the fact that mitt romney has ruled out tax increases, in a -- is it realistic to think mitt romney could strike a bipartisan deal, get democrats to cut entitlements if he wasn't going to go on taxes?

>> well, first off the loss of bill daly in the white house is a huge blow to bipartisan in my opinion because he was a person everybody could work with. but independent of that, the president has had some significant opportunities to go across the aisle. the biggest his own commission, simpson-bowles which reported back a significant proposal to reduce the debt by $4 trillion over ten years. it was supported by three of the most fiscally conservative members in the senate, supported by five of his own appointees to the commission, two progressive members of the senate supported it and the president walked away from it. the next president, whether it's president obama or whether it's mitt romney, is going to have to reach a comprehensive agreement on how we get this def sit and debt under control and it's going to require bipartisan. no way you can do this without bipartisan. the reason is simple the american people will not accept solutions they don't think are fair and by -- on issues like medicare, medicaid and social security and tax reform and fairness requires bipartisan.

did i cut you off there? i apologize. >> i was going to say, does that mean that mitt romney will have to accept some tax increases to get a bipartisan deal? >> well, i think any agreement is going to have to have major restructuring of our fiscal house and i happen to think you do the tax side through major tax reform like we did in the simpson-bowles proposal and generate the revenues by cutting rates and getting more economic activity going. and so i think in the end you have an agreement. you have a lot of folks in the house and especially in the senate working towards it. and i believe the next president, whether president obama or president romney, is going to have to reach such agreement or have a fiscal crisis on their hand. the markets aren't going to tolerate this debt much longer. >> great insights. see you soon. ahead ronald reagan up against the wall in the second presidential debate back in 1984. he pulled it out and then ran away with the election. what can president obama learn from the gypper? that's coming up.

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no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger. welcome back. do president obama or mitt romney have a plan to reduce the country's debt. >> the former treasurer focused on helping the deficit problem and david walker with a group also devoted to fixing our debt and deficit. good evening. >> good to be with you. >> david, mitt romney and the president have been criticized for not giving enough specifics

to their plans. who has more water to carry tonight? >> both of them have water to carry. they need to state what their goal is, principles, priorities and provide a little bit more substance on proposals? you can't talk in as many jen altys with regard to tax reform, health care, social security and defense as we've heard so far and both of them have work to do, i believe. >> phil, what will the president say in terms of his plan in reigning in the debt? >> well, i think he's going to talk about where he was, where this country was when we took office. devastating economy and i think he's going to talk about what he's done to create jobs and how you close the deficit. here's what i want to put on the table if you want to cure the sickness you have to identify the illness. and what led to this massive deficit were two unpaid wars which the president has wound down, what caused this deficit were two massive tax cuts and he's proposing to repeal part of those massive tax cuts for the wealthiest and what caused this was a financial collapse on wall

street and he's advocated financial reform which mitt romney said he would repeal. one of the central issues tonight is the romney tax plan, the $5 trillion tax cut, which clearly will either bust our deficit wide open or it will lead to tax increases for the middle class. i think the president's been very specific, shown progress and laid out a plan for where he wants to take us. >> does opening up a can of worms on the two wars being wound down, does that open him up to criticism over benghazi? >> look, we're under attack every day under george bush and under president obama. we are american soldiers ander. le have been under attack in iraq and afghanistan. this nation is under threat. it is a constant matter of threat to this country an this administration has kept this country safe. so the issue will come up, but i think the record is very strong. i want to say something that back to these economic issues, let's not mistake what led to

this deficit. by the time you opened up these wars, by the time you had the tax cuts, you had a $450 billion annual deficit with a financial collapse it was $1.5 trillion. the way you solve that in the short term, is making investm t investments in clean energy and manufacturing like the president is doing to put people back to work, to get revenues up. that is the best remedy for closing this deficit. not going to the george bush plan of more tax cuts. i want to say this, just very quickly. george bush may not be on the campaign trail, may not have been at the convention but his policies are embodied in romney's tax cut. >> david, arguments about green energy might carry more weight if we didn't have an electric battery maker file for bankruptcy today, the a 123 systems. on romney's $5 trillion are you able to punch holes in that argument? what's the math behind that in your view? >> look, it's about $4.8 trillion. there's about $11.1 trillion in

tax preferences over a ten-year period of time and governor romney can hit the number but he's got to provide some examples of what he would put on the table in order to add credibility to his position. i think we have to look not at the past, but the future. forget about what caused the deficits in the past. you don't run a country by looking in the rearview mirror. you look ahead. look what's going to cause the deficit in the future. in the future, it's going to be medicare, medicaid, social security, an outdated tax system, and the president has not put those issues on the table. he has not put comprehensive medicare reform on the table. he's refused to talk about social security at all. and yes, he's talked about taxes but he hasn't talked about comprehensive tax reform. he's talking about adding on new tax rates and new alternative minimum tax to a structure that quite frankly is an abon nags. >> david walker, phil, i wish i had more time tonight.

ron paul is with us tonight. the outspoken congressman ready to speak out ahead of tonight's debate. why both candidates may be the missing the point. >> the countdown to the second presidential debate is coming up. we'll bring it to you live from long island. >> tell us which candidate you think had the upper hand in tonight's debate. go to cnbc.com. the count starts at 9:30 eastern. and the cnbc twicker will roll at the bottom of the screen. don't just watch the debate, participate, use #cnbc2012 and watch your tweetsz roll at the bottom of the screen.

it's not it's not moral to keep spending

more than we take in. >> republican challenger mitt romney did enough damage in debate number one to help his poll numbers rise. >> today's news certainly is not an excuse to try to talk down the economy. >> tonight, president obama looks to even the score. the second presidential debate of campaign 2012 is less than 30 minutes away. we have blow by blow coverage, live from hofstra university, in hem hemsted, new york. here's carl and maria. >> welcome back. tonight's debate is a town hall and really does pose risks for the candidates. john harwood has that part of the story as we count you down to the big event. john? >> we've been talking about the unpredictable role that town hall format can play. want to look back for a moment at some recent experience with presidential town halls and what those pitfalls are. one is if you get a questioner who wants to confront you,

president obama found that in our town hall when he got this memorable question from velma hart. >> quite frankly i'm exhausted, i'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that i voted for and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. >> i understand your frustration. let me give you a couple examples. if you have a credit card which i assume you do. >> no. >> well see, now you're really -- now you've shown how responsible you are. >> and president obama was showing how difficult it was when you're thrown off your game that way. we also saw it in this 1992 town hall debate featuring george h.w. bush, ross perot and clinton. the elder bush showed how you can be befudsled and bored in that setting and looking badly and bill clinton showed how to connect. >> yes. how has the national debt personally affected each of your

lives. >> if the question -- if you're -- maybe i will get it wrong. are you suggesting if somebody has means that the national debt doesn't affect them? >> what i'm saying -- >> i'm not sure. help me with the question and i'll try to answer it. >> you know people who lost their jobs and lost their homes. >> yes. >> well, i've been governor of a small state for 12 years. i'll tell you how it's affected me. in my state when people lose their jobs there's a good chance i'll know them by their names. when the factory closes i know the people that ran it. when the businesses go bankrupt i know them. >> and that carl and maria is the sweet spot. bill clinton feeling your pain, getting the question, turning it back to the questioner, that's what both of these candidates will try to do tonight. >> with us now from texas, is congressman ron paul. >> representative paul on the house financial services committee, a staunch critic of ben bernanke and a hawk about our debt and deficit. welcome back. >> thank you. good to be with you. >> we had you on prior to debate

number one. your expectations i think fair to say were relatively low going into that. given the lop-sided nature of that debate doesn't tonight seem a little more interesting at least to you some? >> not really. but i think it will be to the general public because there's been a lot of hype buildup. obama is up and then down, and now romney is up, who's going to go up or down. and it's discouraging to me because i don't think they get to the real issues and that's what i'm hoping they'll do. and i guess we'll have a little bit of chance as a town hall meeting that somebody there will be shrewd enough to ask a really good question, like the lady did about the credit card. i think that's great. maybe they talked about the credit card, they would say who has the federal credit card. well, it just happens to be the federal reserve. the federal reserve, none of that deficit would occur. i hope we get some questions along those lines. >> what would you like to hear from the president? what does the president need to

do, congressman, to get some momentum back? >> well, he needs to admit that foreign policy is wrong and that he's too slow on ending the wars and the wars have been a failure. we need to change our foreign policy. that he made a mistake in libya and he's not going to make a mistake in syria so, therefore, had he's going to change the foreign policy and not have nato dictate our foreign policy at the united nations. hopefully governor romney would follow and say that sounds like a good idea. that might be the best thing we can do for the american people and would be a good place to start saving some money because our policies have been harmful not only for our national security purposes but so harmful to us financially as well. these $4 trillion of additional debt that these wars in the last ten years it's a serious problem and neither one of them really want to admit how serious the foreign policy contributes to our economic politics.

>> mitt romney has said he will not appoint ben bernanke or not reappoint ben bernanke. what's your thought and do you have a candidate to replace bernanke? >> well, be if you have to have a fed, you have to have a chair, i've supported jim grant for this and you know jim grant. he would know what to do to work toward closing it down and he would quit monetizing the debt. but i've often made the statement that bernanke per se is not the problem. it's a system. he's just doing what fed chairmans always do, is they print money when the congress spends too much and everybody complained about greenspan, he kept interest rates too low, too long, so what was the solution. lower them more and keep them for eternity and that's what this qe business is all about. you can't solve the problem that greenspan gave us by keeping interest rates too low to too long by ac celebrating them

lower than before, run the print presses forever and why isn't the confidence coming back and not working? >> the republican platform has a gold commission in the platform and i reckon if romney wins he would follow through on that. you served on one of those years ago. would you serve on another one? >> oh, sure. i would try to contribute as much as i could. sometimes -- and you recall the gold commission of the early 1980s and there were 17 of us, 15 were anti-gold and pro fed and from treasury and from the fed. so it's who gets appointed. if it's just sort of a cover-up and say oh, yeah, we talked about gold again and sound money and there is a lot more talk right now about, you know, tying our dollar to gold, but they might just use it as a cover-up. i mean we really have to be serious about it. i will do my very best if anybody is interested in my

opinions about it, i would do my very best to contribute the best i could to obeying the constitution and make our dollar as good as gold. >> congressman, all of these issues whether the fed, taxes, the debt, require compromise and agreement on both sides. the president has been unable to bring the two sides together to actually get things done. i'm referring of course to the fiscal cliff. why should we believe the next four years would be any different? >> i tonight think you should because i think the approach is wrong. i don't think compromise is the right word because they've been compromising for a long time. as long as the credit card is there and working and the dollar was forever strong and deficits didn't matter that much, they always compromise on raising funding and spending, so the democrats and republicans, you know, did great. right now they won't admit we're broke and doesn't work anymore so compromise won't work. what you want to do is develop coalitions. i can give you an example.

dennis kucinich and i work very well, we have a lot of disagreements but agree on deficits and on the wars and we bring coalitions together. we bring progressive, liberal democrats together with libertarian conservative constitutionalists you could solve your problems then. >> appreciate your time. good to see you. >> thank you very much. >> ron paul from texas. they were describing the rules to the audience over at hofstra. when we come back former virginia governor doug wilder, does president obama need a knockout punch the way ronald reagan had in '84 against mondale? >> i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> sometimes these candidates don't tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. scott and the investigation team is on the case. stay with us.

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which which candidate do you think had the upper hand in tonight's debate. gho to cnbc.com. the twiker, will roll at the bottom of the screen. don't just watch the debate, participate. use #cnbc2012. and watch your tweet roll at the bottom of the screen. >> welcome back for our special coverage all night tonight holding both the presidentand governor mitt romney accountable for what they claim during the

debate. >> scott and the fact checkers are on the case. last time the obama campaign branded romney a liar in the first debate. what are you watching for again. >> we'll see if they do it again, how both navigate the facts. how do you twist the truth while looking a voter in the eye. how do you call out your opponent and from that same voter without looking petty or whiney. answer carefully. that's the difficult dynamic of the town hall format and why fact checking is especially important in this debate. last debate you know they tussled on taxes, on deficit, stimulus, health care. tonight foreign policy is fair game too. libya the middle east, china. we are armed with the facts but need your help, tweet us with #cnbc2012 or e-mail us investigations inc at cnbc.com. >> the president needs a strong performance after being criticized a after being lack luster in debate number one.

>> back in 1984 ronald reagan had stakes after showing his age against walter mondale. this moment changed the entire race. >> you already are the oldest president in history and some of your staff say you were tired after your most recent encounter with mr. mondale. i recall that president kennedy had to go for days on end with very little sleep for the cuban missile crisis. any doubt in your mind you would be able to function in such circumstances? >> not at all. mr. truth, i want you to know that also i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> douglas wilder the former democratic governor of virginia. good to have you on the program. >> i'm sure you remember that moment. does the president need something like that tonight? >> well, i don't think he needs

a knockout punch. i really don't. i think what the president needs to do and i think the town hall setting even though some have said it's not good tore him i think it could be. he needs to look these people in the eye, look the american people in the eye, and give them the reasons why should -- why they should reinvest in him for four more years. he's made the case as to how difficult it was when he inherited the job. he's made the case as to how difficult it is now to go forward. what he needs to do is to show them that he is that person with the experience, with the tenacity, and with the wherewithal to make certain we rewrite the ship. now, he doesn't need to knock him out, but what he needs to do is to let the american people know that he is that person. >> governor, it's been said that he had a couple good opportunities, obviously bill clinton set him up well in the debate. some say that was a missed opportunity. debate number one, some people,

i think one pollster found democrats saying they were screaming at their television. isn't there a point at which even you wonder just how badly he wants this? >> well, you'd be surprised, carl. i have heard so many people saying that after this -- no, you wouldn't be surprised but you heard so many people saying this after the debate, was the president really there? did he not -- not only did he not bring his a-team or a-game, was he really engaged? is here there. that's what i meant when i said he has to look the american people in the eye and convince them and let them know i am the president, i want to be your president, and these are the reasons why. one, two, three, and tick them off. >> it's really all about substance from your standpoint. what about the format of the town hall? a little different from the last debate, obviously. and you're getting questions from the audience. not necessarily the, you know,

the debaters and this sort of tight questioning you would expect from the moderators. >> i don't disagree with you on that and i think bill clinton is an excellent example of that. i remember be how he used to take his hands and put them on my shoulders and say doug and look down at me. you would always get the feeling he was there and you understood what he was saying. this what is obama has to do. shorten the distance between himself and the audience. let them know he hears them, listens to them, not only that, that he is prepared for the job. the one thing i would point out if i was him, to say, one, this job is tougher than i thought it was, it is tough, it is so tough, that it's going to require that person with some experience to lead. it is not good enough to have someone with absolutely no experience. >> yeah. >> governor, appreciate your time. thanks. >> we are minutes from the debate. >> we are. we're going to look at what each side is looking for. that's next.

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chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. it helps to have people around you... they say, you're much bigger than this. and you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. welcome back to welcome back to our coverage of tonight's presidential debate. i'm carl quintanilla with maria bartiromo.

still with us john harwood, sara fangen, adviser at george w. bush's white house, keith is a democratic strategist. sara, what are you expecting tonight is. >> i'm expecting for mitt romney to come out and repeat the performance he had in the last debate. i also think if you're mitt romney, what you really want to see asked tonight by one of these undecided voters, is mr. president, do you agree with hillary clinton, is hillary clinton responsible, for the attacks, the lapse of security in benghazi. i would like to see how he answers that question. i think she put him in a very vulnerable position heading into this debate. >> by taking full responsibility sh. >> well, by taking responsibility and putting him in the position where he now has to basically say, you know, perhaps yes, she's responsible. and he's going to stand before the american people tonight and not essentially man up for what

occurred in benghazi. keith is laughing. >> because yeah, i don't think this is the issue the american people are focused on tonight. i think they're focused on the issue of jobs and the economy. this may come up and the people in the blogsphere and internet and media and the public is concerned but the primary issue is jobs and the economy. romney will be as aggressive as in the previous debate but also think that obama will come out and be much more aggressive before fine tuning it a bit so as not to overdo it with a crowd of people there for the town hall setting. i think it's going to be a lively debate, much better than the first debate. >> how do you answer the benghazi question when it comes up? >> i don't know the answer. i don't think anybody knows the answer because there's still an ongoing investigation and i don't know that the white house and state department have figured this out. seems that the cia and the intelligence community hasn't figured it out. i go back to what happened in the iran-contra investigation back in 1986.