characterize me as someone who is very different than who i am. i care about 100% of the american people. i want 100% of the american people to have a bright and prosperous future. i care about our kids. i understand what it takes to make a bright and prosperous future for america again. i spent my life in the private sector, not in government. i'm a guy who wants to help with the experience i have the american people. my passion probably flows from the fact i believe in god. and i believe we're all children of the same god. i believe we have a responsibility to care for one another. i served as a missionary for my church. i served as a pastor in my congregation for about ten years. i've sat across the table from people who are -- were out of work and worked with them to try to find new work or help them through tough times. i went to the olympics when they were in trouble to try to get them on track. and as governor of my state, i was able to get 100% of my

people insured, all my kids, about 98% of the adults was able also to get our schools ranked number one in the nation so 100% of our kids would have a bright opportunity for a future. i understand that i can get this country on track again. we don't have to settle for what we're going through. we don't have to settle for gasoline at 4 bucks. we don't have to settle for unemployment at a chronically high level. we don't have to settle for 47 million people on food stamps. we don't have to settle for 50% of kids coming out of college not able to get work. we don't have to settle for 23 million people struggling to find a good job. if i become president, i'll get america working again. i will get us on track to a balanced budget. the president hasn't. i will. i'll make sure we can reform medicare and social security to preserve them for coming generations. the president said he would. he didn't. >> governor. >> i'll get our incomes up and by the way, i've done these things. i served as governor and showed i could get them done. >> mr. president, last two minutes belong to you.

>> barry, i think a lot of this campaign maybe over the last four years has been devoted to the notion i think government creates jobs, that that somehow is the answer. that's not what i believe. i believe that the free enterprise system is the greatest engine of prosperity the world has ever known. i believe in self-reliance. and individual initiative and risk takers being rewarded. but i also believe that everybody should have a fair shot. and everybody should do their fair share and everybody should play by the same rules, because that's how our economy has grown that's how we built the world's greatest middle class. and that is part of what's at stake in this election. there's a fundamentally different vision about how we move our country forward. i believe governor romney is a good man. he loves his family, cares about his faith.

but i also believe that when he said behind closed doors that 47% of the country considered themselves victims who refuse personal responsibility, think about who he was talking about. folks on social security who have worked all their lives, veterans who sacrificed for this country, students who are out there trying to hopefully advance their own dreams but also this country's dreams, soldiers who are overseas fighting for us right now. people who are working hard every day paying payroll tax, gas taxes, but don't make enough income. and i want to fight for them. that's what i've been doing for the last four years because if they succeed, i believe the country succeeds. when my grandfather fought in world war ii and he came back and he got a g.i. bill that allowed him to go to college, that wasn't a handout.

that was something that advanced the entire country and i want to make sure that the next generation has those same opportunities. that's why i'm asking for your vote and that's why i'm asking for another four years. >> president obama, governor romney, thank you for being here tonight. on that note we have come to an end of this town hall debate. our thanks to the participants for their time and to the people of hofstra university for their hospitality. the next and final debate takes place monday night in boca raton, florida. don't forget to watch. election day is three weeks from today. don't forget to vote. good night. and here we go. hi, everyone, i'm brooke baldwin. two men, each trying to convince americans he should lead the country over the next four years. and now you're about to hear who stretched the truth, and what president obama and mitt romney are saying on the campaign trail today. but first i want you to just

hear instant reaction, instant analysis, moments after the debate ended. here is wolf blitzer. >> i think it is fair to say that this debate the president came out and did what he failed to do in his first debate, set the stage for debate number three. anderson? >> i think democrats are going to be a lot happier with his performance in this debate than the first presidential debate. let's get a reading. david, what did you think? >> most improved. that award goes to barack obama. he had a much, much stronger debate tonight. you can read social media, there are lots of people out there, democrats all fired up. but i must tell you, i think that mitt romney has had two very good debates back to back. i think he had a solid performance tonight and i think overall he looked much more like he could be president than he did two weeks ago. but i think overall, i kind of score it by the questions and everybody will have different views of this, i had a lot of questions as draws. i had a couple of questions i thought romney did better on. i had a little more edge to the president. i gave him the edge on the whole

thing. >> i think the libya question was not a good moment for governor romney. i think otherwise in the debate both sides as we said after the vice presidential debate, both sides can leave thinking they did what they wanted to do. it dipped after the first presidential debate. president did that part of it. governor romney did a good job prosecuting against the incumbent's record. that's the question we can't answer tonight. we can score both candidates. it is hard to understand what is the fundamental dynamic of the election right now. two weeks ago it was about governor romney. he made it in the first debate about president obama. still sort of quick sand out there. what is this? what are the american people deciding on election day? if they're deciding to keep the incumbent, then governor romney's performance was better -- will mean more in the electorate as we score it. this is a competitive election. a good debate and, wow, we have -- >> does it stop the -- >> we don't know, but i think this debate was so different that you could argue that if it did stop the bleeding, you would

sort of understand why. you would understand why. >> it would slow the slide. >> i will tell you, mitt romney's best moments were focusing on the economic record and saying the middle class has been buried many times, which we heard -- have heard before, and also we don't have to settle for this. those were sort of key catch phrases. for me, the president's best moments were romney versus romney. romney and the primary, on immigration, for example, romney as governor on coal and energy, and assault weapons. >> let's bring in our contributors, republicans and democrats. they're jumping the bit too. >> listen, the president of the united states was the president of the united states tonight. he -- there are only two things i think people with looking for. one, are you a strong leader? and are you on my side? he was clearly a strong leader tonight. he was passionate, he was focused, and i thought when he went over the line, when romney went over the line and challenged his integrity with

regard to the people that died and the president stood up and said that's not who i am, i think that will go down as one of the great moments in american debate. and beyond that, i think romney may have hurt himself with women. here the questions about equal pay for equal work, romney, the only thing he says is when he's 50 years old, he heard there was a problem and he wants to figure out ways for moms to get home on time to cook dinner. that is not the right answer to that question. i'm sorry. the right answer to that question is, america's government should be a partner to america's mothers to make sure by law people can -- >> let's move along. alex, quick response. >> i think i've begun to figure out who vince is going to vote for. i thought a lot of women in america saw a debate tonight where two high school jocks were -- didn't like each other very much, and i'm not sure they're going to be turned on by this debate. as much as i love the first debate, i thought this one was less. obama was angry.

he had daggers in his eyes for mitt romney all night long. his pitch went up as this debate started, he was -- >> did you see love in mitt romney'size for preside izeyes obama? >> i think mitt romney was not as strong as president obama was who was a little more in control, but i think mitt romney was much more pleasant, someone you would have in your living room more than president obama. >> i thought president obama came in and completed what he needed to strategically. he came out of the box, he talked about his plan for manufacturing, education, balancing the approach to deficit reduction, investing excess money in infrastructure and other things that help the economy grow. we haven't heard that from him in last debate. i think he achieved strategically what he needed to do and energetic and fought for the people. >> flat out draw. the governor was extremely

effective in making the litany in that soft spoken way of all the things president obama promised but failed to do. the president was very good particularly compared to the last debate, punching back at romney's record. what the president never did, and this is where i give the edge to mitt romney, he didn't talk about the future. he did not talk about his specific plans, for what he will do in the second term. he doesn't have it. his whole campaign has to be take mitt romney down. >> last word there from ari fleischer. in a moment, we'll address precisely the point. let's back up because the question on the minds of many voters was whether barack obama would deliver more passion last night than he did in debate number one. no doubt he did. take a look at this. a side by side comparison, october 3rd, that debate on the left side of your screen. last night on your right, two barack obamas. and this, did you catch this refrain today? the president's backers are saying, where was that before? >> candy, what governor romney

said just isn't true. very little of what governor romney just said is true. not true, governor romney. when governor romney says the challenges, well, obama didn't try, that's not true. >> stand by, because we're going to take you through this whole thing piece by piece by piece. but first, i need to report that governor romney has just completed a speech. here he was in chesapeake, virginia. here is your emerging theme today. the president has no agenda, none, for the next four years. mitt romney. >> i just think the american people had expected that the president of the united states would be able to describe what he's going to do in the next four years. but he can't. he can't even explain what he's done in the last four years. i mean, he spends most of his time trying to talk about how my plan won't work. well, what about his plan? >> well, the president is out campaigning as well. here he was at cornell college in iowa, where he just finished speaking. he will be appearing a little later today in athens, ohio, at

ohio university. that is where we are right now. but, back to last night. i have asked john king to join us. john king, our chief national correspondent. and, john, just look at this, if you would. this is the general tone. >> i thought we were talking about immigration. >> we were -- quickly, mr. president, if i could have you -- >> look at that. finger pointing, getting close. you watched, i watched, all 90 plus minutes. and that is pretty much -- we did a snap poll afterward. 46% said obama won. 39% said romney won. john, look at this, on taxes, edge to mitt romney. health care, edge to mitt romney. the economy, edge to mitt romney. john king, any idea why this discrepancy? because the overall winner was the president, but romney clearly won most of the major issues last night. >> i think -- and that's important what you said about

the major issues because the stylistic part of the debate will fade from memory and voters will make their final decision, the small slice of undecided, probably about economic issues. romney is happy about that. why did the president win? in part, a contrast. he was a cardboard cutout first debate, didn't move much, didn't have much passion, didn't fight back. he was in there from day one. he threw the first punch, got into it. he was feisty, passionate. i think romney supporters said that in terms of the fight, the president may be outperformed governor romney. stan the substance will matter in the end. both men are fierce competitors and they know this election, 20 days left now, 21 last night when they were debating, is as close as it can get. every stop they make, you saw them on the trail today, chesapeake, virginia, governor romney trying to gin up evangelicals. they know exactly what they're

trying to do. it is turnout now and they have such little room for error, they were a bit snippy. >> over and over last night challenging governor romney on his facts. we rarely see a moment where someone gets something wrong and actually gets caught. so this concerns the fatal attack against the four americans in libya. take a look. >> you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration. is that what you're saying? >> please proceed, governor. >> i want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did in fact, sir. so let me call it an act of terror -- >> can you say that a little louder, candy? >> he did call it an act of terror. it did -- >> this was toward the end of the night. this made me sit up on my sofa and think, of all these moments here, really, this, to me,

seemed to be the moment that viewers will probably remember. >> i think viewers will remember this moment because governor romney made a mistake. i do not think in the end most voters will make up their decision based on libya or foreign policy. they'll make their decision based on which gentleman has a better plan for the economy for the next four years. last night, in the romney campaign they're complaining that candy crowley rightfully fact checked him on that. governor romney somewhere in his preparations, someone gave him research that was wrong. the president did use the word act of terror in that statement. the administration did a whole lot of other things. after that rose garden statement, the president went to the united nations and was still blaming the youtube video. governor romney has a point here, in questioning how the administration handled the response to the libya attack. why it ignore the warnings to give more security there. the things it said in public that turned out not to be anywhere near the truth. governor romney has a point but undermined himself by making a mistake there and candy was right to correct him and the president took that opportunity to make it not about his leadership, not about the

administration's misstatements and misleading statements, but to make it about governor romney. president was an adept debater there and the romney campaign publicly complained candy all they want, privately they need to figure out who gave the governor such horrible information about what the president said. >> one of the snippier exchanges about last night's debate was the exchange over energy policy, talking about how important the economy is to you. we're talking about gas prices, oil exploration, listen to this from mitt romney. >> but what we don't need is to have the president keeping us from taking advantage of oil, coal and gas. this has not been mr. oil or mr. gas or mr. coal. >> no mr. gas, no mr. oil, no mr. coal. if you were watching last night's debate to get an idea as to has the best energy policy, much of the discussion went something like this. >> in the last four years, you cut permits and licenses on federal land and federal waters in half. >> not true, governor romney.

>> how much did you cut? >> not true. >> how much did you cut them by then? >> governor, we produced more oil. >> no, no, how much did you cut licenses and permits on federal lands and federal waters? >> governor romney, here's what we did -- >> i had a kwaquestion and the question was how much did you cut them by? >> i'm happy to answer the question. >> look how close they were getting back and forth. ali velshi, my goodness. that was one of those moments. you heard it, mitt romney saying the obama administration's cut permits on federal lands. not true, governor romney. romney saying if the president's oil policy was working, we would have cheaper energy. you watched. where is the truth? >> i wrote a column about it this morning. that's just not true. the governor was conflating energy production as a whole with gasoline prices. and they're not as related as you would actually think. on the whole, energy production in the united states is up. that includes oil. that also includes natural gas.

natural gas and oil are not generally interchangeable. yes, you can use both for home heating. that's where the similarity stops. generally speaking in this country, natural gas which is production of which is way up in the united states is used for electricity production, which means it brings the cost of electricity, particularly for heavy industry like steel and industries like that down. and that can create jobs because it enhances the ability of industry to do business. you can't replace oil for cars. the united states uses 20% of the world's oil output every single day just for transportation. it is mostly freight and goods as opposed to people. the fact is we -- the way you bring gas prices down is you bring the oil prices down. and presidents don't actually have that much control over it. >> that's exactly what my point is here. they talk about gas prices, how it resonates with anyone with a car. but the back and forth over this, the point is we heard from the president, there is no silver bullet. they can't control that. >> right. there is one way to bring oil down to $1.86 what mitt romney

said, four years ago in nassau county where the debate was held, gas was $1.86 because there was a recession. that's the best way to cut the price of gasoline in half. generally speaking there are a few ways to bring the price of oil down, release oil from the strategic petroleum oil reserve, you can increase fuel efficiency standards which this administration has done but that won't kick in until 2025 or as the price goes up, it gets to $3.50, people start making smarter choices about buying their cars and how they commute and where they live. and that's what is happening in america. america has for ten years consumed less and less and less gasoline because they don't like the price of it. >> let's talk about jeremy. this was college student jeremy, right out of the gate, question number one. here he was. >> great question. >> i want to turn to a first time voter. jeremy epstein has a question for you. >> mr. president, governor

romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all i hear from professors, neighbors and others is when i graduate i will have little chance to get employment. what can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents that i'll be able to sufficiently support myself after i graduate? >> that answer, anyone who was watching knows that went on for a while. but the question is, did anyone -- did either of them actually answer it? >> no, and that was part of the problem last night with these kinds of things. they get really specific questions and they talk about broader policy, which they both did. they said here is what help to do to create more jobs overall. this is a pet peeve of mine. both campaigns said if you elect them, they'll create 12 million jobs over four years and i've said i'll wear a dress if that happens. but there are ways that happens. we had very strong housing numbers today. housing is actually a big producer of jobs. we talked about energy. the energy boom in america is a big producer of jobs. we need infrastructure program, that could be a big producer of jobs. but they complicated the answer

to this one. in the end, i thought, jeremy epstein, that was a great question. gentlemen, that wasn't a particularly direct answer. in fairness, you can't really answer jeremy's question all that easily. a 20-year-old out looking for a job when he graduates very soon it an uncertain environment out there. there is really nothing we can say to that 20-year-old. you can probably tell a 15-year-old that when they're getting ready to work, we should have more opportunities ready for them. hopefully maybe an 18-year-old. >> there are a lot of jeremies out there, though. many of them are equally frustrated. >> and, brooke, mitt romney did say one thing that was true. about half of graduating students now don't get jobs. that's a fairly serious issue. so, again, not a solution for jeremy, but hopefully in years to come we'll solve that. >> ali velshi, thank you so much. you talk to anyone, they agree that the debate was certainly volatile, full of tension, and the woman in charge of keeping the president and mitt romney in line was our own candy crowley. you're about to hear her thoughts on what happened including as we were talking about a moment ago, her real

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to the deaths of the four americans in libya, including the u.s. ambassador. at issue, whether the president called the consulate attack in benghazi an act of terror one day after it happened. >> it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did in fact, sir. so let me call it an act of terror. >> can you say that a little louder, candy? >> he did call it an act of terror. it did, as well, take -- it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea, there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. you're correct about that. >> that was last night. fast-forward to today. candy responded to her critics, some of whom said she was back tracking about stepping in. >> and what i was trying to do, by the way, i was trying to move this along because we were -- the question was benghazi. there is no question that the administration is quite vulnerable on this topic.

that they did take weeks to go -- well, actually there was a protest and didn't have anything to do with the tape, that took a long time. that's where he was going and that's the first answer. then we got hung up about yes, he said, no, i didn't, you said terror. they both looked at me and romney is looking at me, the president is looking at me, and what i wanted to do was move this along. can we get back to the -- i said, he did, you know, say acts of terror, call it an act of terror, but governor romney, you are perfectly right that it took weeks for them to get past the tape and the -- >> peopleapplauded, then the other side applauded. >> did the president say this was an act of terror? the president did not say -- >> these acts of terror. >> these acts of terror. he was in the rose guarden rose

benghazi. so i don't think that was a leap. >> she said while she didn't feel intense animosity, she did say she heard an undecided voter say she thought they were going to hit each other. the high risk tv moments and last night there were plenty of those. we'll play some of those for you, plus, find out how this debate sets up next week's final showdown. they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

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superior service best selection, lowest price, guaranteed. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ last night's debate got a little testy, sometimes downright volatile. how will the hostility translate to voters? let me bring in tv debate expert alan schroeder. he wrote a book called "presidential debates: 40 years of high risk tv." welcome to you. let's begin with this one moment, the really arguably the most pointed one liner from the president all night long, came after the candidates were talking immigration, veered into personal investments and then this. >> governor romney, make it short. see all these people, they have been waiting for you. make it short.

>> any investments i have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust. and i understand they do include investments outside the united states, including in chinese companies. mr. president, have you looked at your pension? have you looked at your pension. >> i've got to say -- >> mr. president, have you looked at your pension? >> i don't look at my pension. it is not as big as yours, so it doesn't take as long. >> let me give you some advice. >> i don't check it that often. >> let me give you some advice, look at your pension, you also have investments in chinese companies, you also have investments outside the united states. you also have investments through a caymans trust. so -- >> we're completely off the immigration. >> i don't look at my pension. it is not as big as yours. zing, according to the twitter-verse last night. do you agree? >> i do agree. there is another thing going on in that clip that is interesting. mitt romney saying have you looked at your pension? who talks like that, you know? it is not something that i think average americans sit around doing, looking at their

pensions. and wondering whether you have overseas investments. i think it was a good moment for obama, a weird moment for romney and also, you know, you hear candy crowley in there saying, we have all these people here who want to ask questions and he plows right through her. i think that's not a very strategicically smart thing to do in a town hall debate. >> you point out in your piece, romney doesn't like it when he doesn't think he's getting his due with regard to time, et cetera. here is an example. >> he got the first question, so i get the last question. last answer on that one. >> actually in the follow-up it doesn't quite work like that, but i'm going to give you a chance here. i promise you i'm going to. >> now some voters may look at that and say, yes, that's assertive. you say -- >> i say that it is not assertive. it is sort of greedy. and not only that, but it completely ignores the point of the exercise, which is to allow this group of 84 people to -- 82

people to ask their questions during the bdebate. it has nothing to do with the audience and the questions they're interested in. it has everything to do with mitt romney and his perceived slight in this. and so for me, that's another moment that back fired on romney. >> a couple of phrases we heard from mitt romney, take a look at this. >> thank you, jeremy, i appreciate your question. thank you. i appreciate that question. i appreciate wind jobs in iowa and across our country. i appreciate the jobs in coal and oil and gas. >> i appreciate that question. translate that for me, alex, what are you hearing? >> it means i really don't want to answer that question. but i'm going to buy myself a couple of seconds here by saying i appreciate it so i can think of a response. >> why do you think that? why doesn't he truly appreciate it? >> well, i don't know, because these are -- most of the times he would say that it was on topics that, you know, he didn't particularly want to be discussing. and i should add that president obama was not entirely

responsive to the questions being asked of him either. i think one of the frustrations people have is you ask a question, and the politicians sort of, you know, ducks, bobz and weaves and figures a way to get his answer in there, whether it has anything to do with what was on the floor or not. >> it is frustrating if you're the one asking the question. alan schroeder, we appreciate it. look at alan's piece on cnn.com/opinion. question, can the next president keep america from going broke? got very heated between the president and mitt romney over the ballooning deficit. we're fact checking those claims next. but they haven't experiencd extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer.

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cornerstone of this election to talk about the deficit, the difference between how much money the government is taking in, and how much money the government is spending every year. and it came up in this debate. >> i'll get us on track to a balanced budget and i'm going to reduce the tax burden on middle income families. and what is that going to do? it will help the families and it will create incentives to start growing jobs again in this country. >> if we're serious about reducing the deficit, if this is genuinely a moral obligation to the next generation, then in addition to some tough spending cuts, we have also got to make sure that the wealthy do a little bit more. >> this is the deficit right now, $1.9 trillion. if we wanted to pay it off, we have would have to kick in $3500. that's a lot. and each candidate says confidently, i can reduce the deficit. how would they do that? let's talk about what they agree on. they all say we're going have to

contain the spending of the government, control it, we're also going to have to rewrite the tax code and get the economy moving again. because that's what's going to produce money and revenue and really solve the problem. but beyond that, they don't agree on much. let's look at the romney plan first. if this were to represent everything he wants to spend money on, and he needs this much to cover it, he knows he's not going to get it because he has a deficit. so how is he going to deal with that deficit? he says he's going to do it with tax cuts. tax cuts will make the deficit worse. he needs to offset them. he'll do that by looking at deductions in loopholes, things that people use to avoid paying taxes. says he won't go after things like the mortgage deduction or the health care deduction, things that many middle class people rely on, he suggests he won't go after those, that's the problem. economists say if you grab up all the other deductions that you might put on wealthier people and put them all back in this pile, it is not going to be enough. you're going to end up

eventually having to tax the middle class or watching the deficit just get bigger. at least based on the plans they know right now. barack obama, he has a different version of the same song. he's got all the thing he wants to pay for. he also will not have all the money he needs for it, he's going to have a deficit too and he says you can deal with it by taxing the wealthy. this is a popular plan with many voters, but it also has a fundamental flaw. there just aren't that many wealthy people in the country. if you define wealthy as being people who individually make more than $200,000 a year, as he often does, for every one there is like that in the country, this is how many there are who don't make that much money. you would have to tax this person at a much higher rate than the us who white house is about to solve this problem and you wouldn't get enough money to really make up the deficit. the simple truth is both of these plans are woefully short on important details to tell fuss they would really reduce

the deficit. we need to hear more from both candidates. in the meantime, when they say i can reduce the deficit, all we can do is give that a grade of i for incomplete. >> tom foreman, thank you. just in to cnn, we're getting word, congressman jesse jackson jr. is under investigation and we know now the fbi is involved. that's next. so what do you think? basic.

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just in to us here at cnn, the fbi is investigating illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. who recently took medical leave, reportedly suffering from a mental illness. according to a federal law enforcement official, the investigation involves possible financial improprieties. you know the deal, jackson is up for re-election. and coming up next hour, we report on a rare public sighting of this representative at a local bar. and what he said in his first interview since taking leave.

>> what is that? >> earthquake. yeah, it is. >> oh, my gosh. >> oh, my gosh, she said. i can't believe i'm saying this, but a rare earthquake hit southern maine last night of all places. and while it didn't cause any damages or injuries, it shocked people in and around the area like this woman at a town meeting. the 4.0 quake was centered in maine, but people felt it all across new england. up next, governor romney has been forced to defend his record with private equity firm bain capital and now others are protesting the investment firm's next business move. a live report next. ♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge,

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on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪ 23 million people out of work here in the u.s. and now more american jobs are being shipped to china. nearly 200 employees that the plant, this is the sensata plant in illinois, they're about to be

laid off. more devastating, they said they had to train their chinese replacements. bain capital, once headed by mitt romney, is behind this outsourcing. >> when he talks about getting tough on china, keep in mind that governor romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to china. >> ted rowlands, live in free port, illinois, where workers have set up a bain port, protesting bain capital for the layoffs expected next month. the workers, ted, had a debate watch party last night. what was their reaction? >> reporter: well, brooke, as you might imagine they were glued into the debates and watched it right here from bainport. it is raining here right now. >> that umbrella is not doing you any good. >> reporter: yeah. factory is right across the street. they are out here every day. they have been for the last 35 days. right now they're inside this

tent. this is where they watched the debate last night. as you can imagine, they were keenly interested in anything about jobs and china. we should point out that mitt romney left bain seven years before bain bought this plant. he had absolutely nothing to do with the specific decisions that are going on now with the loss of jobs here, however these folks here do believe that because he is a majority shareholder in bain and the republican nominee for president he does have the power to do something about their jobs and their job losses. >> now, you're talking to these folks and i know one person you spoke with absolutely blames romney for what is happening. let's take a listen. >> the guy running for president who has the nerve to stand behind the podium and says, jobs are a top priority and talk about getting tough on china. and his company is moving my job to china the day before election day. >> you have a statement from the

romney camp. what are they saying? >> reporter: yeah, we reached out to them. here is what they said. they said bain invested in sensata, 2006, seven years after governor romney left the field. only the president can level the playing field with china and president obama has failed to stand up to china's unfair competition. obviously people here have a vested interest to keep their jobs and they really do have a lot of anger towards bain. this is a company that made millions of dollars last quarter. in fact, they had record-breaking profits last quarter and it is hard to convince these people that they need their jobs to make even more money. >> and, ted, i understand there were arrests. >> reporter: yeah there was an action today, six people arrested. they went to the company and they tried to deliver a petition. and they asked for a meeting. six people were arrested. and organizers here say watch for more of those arrests, more of those actions, as the company winds down the operations at this factory by the end of the

year. >> ted rowlands, thank you very much. and now this, some chilling video from the front lines, above the front lines in syria when this chopper is shot from the sky. see the smoke? that story is next. in america today we're running out of a vital resource we need

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dramatic new video said to show syrian rebels shooting down a regime helicopter. take a look for yourself. down it goes, bursting, ball of flame. reportedly here rebels gunned this chopper down yesterday. this is western syria. we have to say cnn cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video that showed up on social media sites. but i can tell you that syria's bloody civil war began now more than 18 months ago. and international envoy lakhdar brahimi met in syria. he's expected in damascus later today. appealing to women voters was a focus of both candidates. during the debate, we'll check

all and follow through and see if they hit the mark. we'll do that next hour. plus, new fallout for lance armstrong amid the mounting controversy over his cycling career. those details are ahead. anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney... a desktop in zurich... and a telepresence room in brazil. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistant's pc in new york. and before i reached the top, the board meeting became a congrats we sold the company party. wait til my wife's phone hears about this. [ cellphone vibrating ] [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center, working together has never worked so well. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain.

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lance armstrong, whether you believe he was doping or not, his spectacular fall from grace has been tough to watch. >> this is my body. and i can do whatever i want to it. i can push it. and study it. tweak it. listen to it. everybody wants to know what i'm on. what am i on? i'm on my bike. >> i'm on my bike, he says. today his fall had a hard landing. armstrong stepped down as chairman of his charity, the livestrong foundation. here is the statement he released. quote, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my

cycling career, i will conclude my chairmanship. and then minutes later, it got worse. nike announced a decision to end its contract with armstrong. and on top of nike, we're also hearing this hour he lost his other high profile deal with brewery giant anheuser-busch. it was just last week we were talking about this, the big news from usada, u.s. anti-doping agency, releasing the blistering report detailing his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. and it was those findings that prompted nike to say this. due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that lance armstrong participated in doping and misled nike for more than a decade, we have terminated our contract with him. you think about nike and you have tiger woods, kobe bryant, nike is a company known for standing by its sullied athletes. we'll talk about that with christine brennan next hour. but now this. moving along, hour two, good

to be with you. i'm brooke baldwin. quick look at mitt romney, romney on the campaign trail in virginia, after last night's combative debate. his new name, the president has no agenda for a second term in office. >> i just think the american people had expected that the president of the united states would be able to describe what he's going to do in the next fou years, but he can't. he can't explain what he's done in the last four years. he spends most of his time trying to talk about how my plan won't work. well, what about his plan? >> the president on the campaign trail today as well. here is his riff on debate number two, spoke in mount vernon, iowa. here he is talking about high tech jobs for women. >> hello, iowa! >> we don't are to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented young women ready to teach in these fields right now.

and when young women graduate, they should get equal pay for equal work. that should be a simple question to answer. >> binders, huh? jessica yellin, our chief white house correspondent with us today from new york. and just in case anyone missed what the president meant what he mentioned binders, let's return last night, mitt romney. >> we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. i went to a number of women's groups and said, can you help us find folks and they brought us whole binders full of women. >> okay. so this whole binders full of women theme seems to be the theme for the day. good moment for mitt romney? >> no. not a good moment for mitt romney. it is because they're both, as you can tell, aggressively trying to court the women's vote. the sense is that the voters are most moveable right now. and the, you know, underlying suggestion there that he leaves

voters minds is that he doesn't know accomplished qualified women on his own, he has to find them in some binders that come to him. a person who has been in business for many years, one would think would have women in his corporate world already available to him that he's worked with, and at the ready that he could call up and already, you know, have -- in his role dex. now, mitt romney is a person who has had very good close working relationships with senior women, and does, and so in a way he did himself a disservice because he could have represented himself better. it was a very unfortunate phraseology, but i think one that will stick. >> okay. we will push aside the binders phraseology for now. let's get to the talk. so much talk because mr. is multiple polls out yesterday. women, women, women, obama and romney needing to connect with that all important voting bloc as you point out. let's watch this together.

>> you wouldn't have taken such a sketchy deal. >> i got to move on -- >> he got the first question. so i get the last -- have you looked at your pension? >> no, i don't look at my pension. it is not as big as yours so it doesn't take as long. candy, hold on a second. >> mr. president, i'm still speaking. >> i'm sorry. >> back and forth, interrupting, getting close to one another, finger pointing. do we ladies like that? how does this resonate with the women today? >> you know, it sounds like a gender stereotype but things do play out in focus groups and, no, women tend not to like the combat in that sort of way. it seems unproductive, and doesn't get anywhere. and, you know, women more than men tend to think in those kinds of confrontational situations, get past the puffed up, chest out, peacock jousting and get on to substantive discussion here, guys. those sorts of exchanges are not actually productive with women voters. so they don't do themselves any great service with those undecided women voters when they have those kinds of little

fights that -- little boy fights there. >> little boy fights. this is why we love you, jessica yellin. our chief white house correspondent, thank you very much. no puffing out, peacock chest for us. gloria borger, we talked about the ladies yesterday. our chief political analyst. let me just ask you this first, how do you feel the candidates did last night in terms of appealing to women? we showed some clips. as jessica points out, the all important independent lady voters. >> as jessica was saying, there was a lot of fights going on there. a lot of testosterone on that stage to try to appeal to women. i would have to say. look, i think jessica is right on the question of appealing to women, you know, the lilly l ledbetter act, which the president could talk about, which makes it easier for women to sue for discrimination if they're not paid equally. he can talk about that. that's something he supported. that's something he got passed in the congress. it was something concrete he could point to.

so, you know, i think they were right on his terrain with that and i think what you saw with mitt romney he was sort of searching for something to say in terms of pay equity and instead of pay equity, what he did is he went to the notion of hiring more women in senior positions when he was governor of massachusetts, which is laudable. but the question that women are asking is well, why didn't he sort of know of more women himself as jessica points out. >> we talked about the binders full of women thing that has its own twitter handle. we're not even going to go there. on a very serious note, there, there was another moment that a lot of people are talking about today, the whole exchange concerning the fatal attack, the consulate in benghazi, four americans killed. mitt romney getting his facts wrong here. here he was. >> yeah. >> you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. it was not a span takontaneous

demonstration, is that what you're saying? >> please proceed, governor. >> i want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did in fact, sir. he did call it an act of terror. >> can you say that a little louder, candy? >> he did call it an act of terror. >> candy crowley live fact checking the governor, we don't see that a whole lot. do we, gloria? >> no, and what candy was referring to is the rose garden speech in which the president referred to as she said later generically acts of terror. i think this was sort of a phraseology problem. but i think on the overall answer of the issue to libya, what i think was we saw the president at his most effective, and answering the libya question, which is after all a matter of leadership. and he assumed his commander in chief role, and he said, you know, anyone who would suggest that any way we responded to this is at all political, i find

that offensive. he sort of set the tone there, and it was very strong, and it was very difficult for romney to come back after that, because he seemed to get smaller while the president grew larger because after all, he is commander in chief. and he was so effective in his answer to that, and i think that was a problem for romney because, a, foreign policy is not his strong suit. b, we're heading into a foreign policy debate. and he just wasn't able to make his points about leadership and shifting stories the way i think lots of republicans wanted him to. >> gloria, 15 seconds. what is your verdict? how did debate number two move the race forward? >> i think it probably stopped the bleeding for the president. the question you show me what the polls are in ohio, in florida, and in virginia, and i'll tell you how this debate affected the race. i don't know yet. i honestly don't know.

but i think the democratic base is feeling really good today about the way the president performed. >> gloria borger, thank you. >> sure. how do you differentiate yourself from george w. bush? >> a former bush aide has got something to say about that, ari fleischer joins me live. plus, one issue comes up for the very first time in this year's face-offs. >> he called the arizona law a model for the nation. >> how each candidate took on immigration head on. and first his sport, now his charity. and a major sponsor. the walls are closing in on lance armstrong. jen's car wasn't handling well.

so i brought it to mike at meineke. we gave her car a free road handling check. i like free. free is good. my money. my choice. my meineke. we have been talking a lot about the claims and the counterclaims last night between republican challenger mitt romney and president obama. now we look at how they differed on immigration reform. again, here is tom foreman. he reins in the rhetoric and cuts to the facts. tom?

>> republicans have been going after president obama for months saying he has not engaged the issue of illegal immigration. listen to how mitt romney attacked him and how the president responded. >> why did he fail to -- even promote legislation that would have provided an answer for those that want to come here illegally, and for those that are here illegally today. >> we put more border patrol on than anytime in history and the flow of undocumented workers across the border is actually lower than it has been in 40 years. >> this basic claim that president obama produced no immigration reform goes hand and glove with the bigger republican narrative, which is that the president has been so concerned about getting latino votes, he hasn't really wanted to secure the border. he hasn't wanted to deal with illegal immigration. republicans like to point to figures like this from homeland security showing how many people have been arrested for being in the country illegally. look, back in 2000, 1.8 million. that's a lot. it meanders around through the bush years. you get to the obama years down

here, it drops steadily down. that's evidence, they say, he doesn't want to engage this issue. but there is more to that story. let's look at another graphic over here. deportations. what has happened to the people who have been arrested? those were pretty low in 2000. and they started steadily moving up and in the obama years, look, they reached the highest level that we have ever seen under any president. president obama embraced the policies of george bush when it came to securing the border down there. he continued a program to increase funding, to put more guards on there, to put more motion detectors and cameras, more drones, more helicopters, more airplanes, so many that now that we also have the help of an economic change, there aren't so many jobs here that are attractive, the pew hispanic center says the net illegal immigration is about zero. so president obama can say he really did something on that front. on the more narrow question, though, the idea that he promised comprehensive immigration reform, mitt romney

is correct, did not deliver. that is true. the president did push the dream act at one point. he came through with some administrative act to protect the children of people who came here illegally. but in terms of the bigger package, he says that's something they'll have to deal with in a second administration if he can get re-elected. >> tom foreman, thank you. one plant backed by bain capital is sending jobs overseas. another backed by your tax dollars going bankrupt. find out what this means politically both for mitt romney and for the president. cnn investigates next. the atlas of morocco. have you seen this road we're going down? ♪ there is no relief for the brakes. we'll put them to the test today. all right, let's move out! [ ross ] we're pushing the ats brakes to the limit. going as fast as we can down the hill. we are making these sharp turns, slamming on the brembo brakes. [ derek ] it's like instant response, incredibly consistent. this is the challenge, machine vs. mountain. [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

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23 million people out of welcome here in the united states. and now more american jobs are being shipped to china. nearly 200 employees that the sensata plant in illinois are about to be laid off. what is more devastating here is they said they even had to train their replacements, the chinese replacements. bain capital, the private equity firm, once headed by mitt romney, is behind all this outsourcing. outsourcing an attack point in last night's debate. >> when he talks about getting tough on china, keep in mind that governor romney invested in

companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to china. >> ted rowlands is live in free port, illinois, where the workers have set up bainport, they're protesting bain capital for the layoffs expected next month. i know the workers watched that debate last night very, very closely. >> reporter: absolutely this is the -- what they call bainport, right across the street from the sensata factory. people have been sleeping out here in tents over the past month for the last 35 days. right now most people are inside the big tent here because it has been raining all day. this is where they watch the debate last night. a gathering a handful of people gathered in here and watched the doe bait. as you mentioned, they were watching closely specifically for any mention of jobs and china. we should note, brooke, that mitt romney left bain capital seven years before bain even purchased this sensata plant, so he had nothing to do with what is going on now. however, these people here do think he has the power to save

their jobs. >> the guy that is running for president who has the nerve to stand behind a podium and says jobs are a top priority and talk about getting tough on china, and his company is moving my job to china the day before election day. >> reporter: and, brooke, we did get a statement from the romney campaign saying in part, bain invested in sensata in 2006, seven years after governor romney left the firm. only the president can level the playing field with china and president obama has failed to stand up to china's unfair competition. a lot of angry and worried people here, brooke, worried because, of course, they are losing their jobs. some of them will be losing their job later this month. some will be losing their job at the end of the year. >> so they're angry as you point out, the timing, you know, mitt romney hasn't been in charge of this company for seven years. yet they're still blaming him as a result of that they're

frustrated. there were arrests today. >> reporter: yeah, there were. and the reason they're blaming mitt romney is because they think that he did set the table for this, and they believe that he does have the power to save their jobs. there were six arrests today at the plant. those folks expect more arrests as the year continues here as they shut down the plant. >> ted rowlands, thank you. and now a flashback, a quick flashback for a moment to first presidential debate, one in denver. mitt romney was digging into president obama about how a lot of the green businesses the government has backed have gone out of business. >> you put $90 billion, like 50 years' worth of breaks, into solar and wind, to solendra and fisker and tess la. i had a friend who said you don't just pick the winners and losers, you picked the losers. >> add another loser to that list. a-123, they filed for chapter 11

bankruptcy protection after getting a $250 million stimulus grant and cnn's athena jones is on this for us in washington. athena, republican critics, you know, they say there may have been signs this company was in trouble before they got the multiple millions in funding. >> that's right. this is not good news for the obama administration. it is not coming at a good time either. two republican senators chuck grassley from iowa and john thune of south dakota say they want more information from the department of energy about how this company, a-123 systems was chosen to receive this stimulus money, whether or not there were signs it was struggling, whether they did due diligence before granting this money. we have a statement from the romney campaign saying that the -- at a town hall debate four years ago, then senator obama promised to easily create 5 million green jobs. a-123's bankruptcy is another failure for the president's disastrous strategy of gambling away billions of taxpayer dollars on a strategy of government led growth that

simply does not work. while the president said he would double down in the second term, governor romney will return the federal government's focus to its proper role of supporting research and creating an environment where private sector innovation can thrive. i should mention, brooke, this is not a poster child for these republican critics. after all, this firm, a-123 systems, it started with $100,000 in seed money from the government under bush's -- george w. bush's term and also received an additional $6 million under bush. now, granted, this $240 million in system litimulus money in 20 used $132 million of that. that is more than $6 million, but there could be some exposure on this for both sides for both parties. >> what about the white house? what are they saying? >> the white house pointed us to the department of energy, and they bring up that point that they have -- that this had bipartisan support, they also talk about this letter that the entire michigan delegation set

back in 2009, urging the obama administration to make sure michigan gets some money for green jobs that was going to be given out. they also say that, you know, this company, a-123 systems, it is not going to shut operations. it is selling a lot of parts operations to another american based company, johnson controls. another auto parts company. it is not going to shut down. they say in a new industry like this, it is not uncommon to see some consolidation. a stronger company like johnson controls taking over part of a company that may fail like this one. so they want to kind of show that this is not as cut and dry as it may seem if you listen to republican critics. >> okay. athena, thank you. back to the debate, one heated exchange last night included former president george w. bush. >> how do you differentiate yourself from george w. bush? >> my next guest, ari fleischer, former press secretary for president bush, reacts. and if romney's response

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former president got a little attention in last night's debate from one of the uncommitted voters. and, no, i'm not talking about president clinton. i'm talking about president george w. bush. roll the tape. >> what is the biggest difference between you and george w. bush? and how do you differentiate yourself from george w. bush? >> so i want to bring in ari fleischer, the former press secretary for president george w. bush. ari is also a cnn contributor. and, ari, before i go to you, get in my ear, do we have the sound yet from mitt romney or are we just going to talk about what he said? we heard mitt romney. and he did differentiate himself in places, ari, but, you know,

you could say he was backpedaling pretty hard from your former boss. what did you make of what he said? >> i'll tell you, brooke, that was uncomfortable for me. because i'm a bush defender. and i'm proud to be a bush defender. and when i hear somebody running for the presidency on the republican ticket and i understand it, he's doing the political thing you have to do in terms of not getting too close to george bush or political reasons. i get why he's doing it, but as somebody who did what i did for a living, it made me uncomfortable. >> on the flip side, you had the president then respond and he absolutely, you know, seized on that question, hammered mitt romney for being his, words, more extreme than president bush. here's what the president said. >> there are some things where governor romney is different from george bush. george bush didn't propose turning medicare into a voucher. george bush embraced comprehensive immigration reform. he didn't call for

self-deportation. george bush never suggested that we eliminate funding for planned parenthood. so there are differences between governor romney and george bush, but they're not on economic policy. and some ways he's gone to a more extreme place when it comes to social policy. >> so, you know, he differentiates right that the social policies versus the economy, and using the words more extreme, is that fair? >> president obama did not handle that very well. number one under president obama, we know medicare is going to go bankrupt. he's not going to make any changes or do anything about it. a voucher is a misrepresentation of what mitt romney has proposed. i do think some of it was clever by president obama trying to use george bush as a reason to paint mitt romney as extreme. but that won't work. i don't think american people when they talk about mitt romney, newt gingrich called mitt romney a massachusetts moderate, that type of attack that mitt romney is too far to

the right, just doesn't fly, just doesn't work. and it is more of what i think the president failed in his mission last night was to paint the vision for himself for the future. but, brooke, here is the bigger point about how george bush enters into this, and mitt romney touched on it. george bush was president in a very different era. an era where having inherited a recession himself, he needed to get economy going and he did. 55 straight months of job growth. we also had to fight terror after september 11th and we spent money do it. >> we do -- >> but nobody said anything about reduce the deficit, don't fight terrorism. >> let me jump in, ari. just -- just to be fair, i want to make sure we're hearing the response for mitt romney as well. here is what mitt romney said, his own words. >> i do attribute much of america's economic and international problems to the failings and missteps of the bush administration. what is the biggest difference between you and george w. bush, and how do you differentiate yourself from george w. bush?

>> president bush and i are different people. and these are different times. and that's why my five-point plan is so different than what he would have done. i'll crack down on china. president bush didn't. i'm going to get us to a balanced budget. president bush didn't. president obama was right. he said that that was outrageous to have deficits as high as half a trillion dollars under the bush years. he was right. but then he put in place deficits twice that size. >> i want you to feel free to continue your point, but i do just want to get to next question. gosh, i feel like candy crowley here moderating the presidential debate. i want to get to the next question being that you talked a lot via twitter last night that the whole thing was a draw on that point and a number of other points. why do you say that? >> well, overall when you look at the debate, i thought that mitt romney had an incredibly effective takedown when he walked through the litany of the unfinished broken promises that president obama made. such as i'll cut the deficit in half, keep unemployment below 8%. immigration reform legislation written in my first year. >> but? >> mitt romney made a very

effective case why barack obama didn't do the thing he told us he would do and that's one of the reasons the economy is as bad as it is. where i thought the president did very well was counterpunching mitt romney. clearly he improved from first debate. >> 40 seconds in. punch number one. >> right. that's where i think the president was effective. i called it a draw. you looked at some of the polling data that came in, especially the cnn, after the debate from undecided voters, they all thought on the economy, on jobs, on deficits, on health care mitt romney did better than barack obama. and most viewers did not think that barack obama had a vision for the future. that's terribly problematic for the president. and that's why when you look at all of that, probably means mitt romney will open up more space against president obama after this debate. >> it is a point we made at the top of the show, that, yes, overall the president won the debate, but on the big issues including economy, you know, that's so huge come november 6th, you're right, mitt romney won it. i do want to get into something, ari fleischer, that you were quite frustrated about, and that

was manifested in your tweets as well, the fact that at the end of this, this was the third debate in which the republicans didn't quite get as much speaking time than the dems. what do you blame for that? >> look, i don't think there is any pattern to it or any deliberate attempt to set it up that way. but the debate sponsors have to keep on this. you want to have it be 50/50 as much as possible. doesn't have to come out exactly 50/50. but they really should try to blow the whistle on the other direction on the fourth and final debate. >> i will point out that one of our cnn librarians did a little cross checking of the transcripts and even though the governor took 3:14 less speaking time, he delivered 478 more words for those who are really, really keeping score. final question, is it nice -- >> that's slicing it thin. >> is it nice not lacing up the sneakers, running to the spin room after the debates, ari? >> wonderful to be home with your family the day after the

debate. you get home with your family the day after the election if you're lucky. >> thank you very much. we have some breaking news now. we are getting word of a plot targeting the federal reserve in new york, part of a sting operation, we're told. all this news here just coming in to us. we'll get the facts and figures. we'll take you there live next. ah. fire bad! just have to fire roast these tomatoes. do you churn your own butter too? what? this is going to give you a head start on your dinner. that seems easier sure does who are you? [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. five delicious cooking sauces you combine with fresh ingredients to make amazing home-cooked meals. ♪ ambiance [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters.

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this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news here. we are getting word of a plot targeting the federal reserve in new york. susan canned yoesan candiotti i in new york. what do you know? >> the details are just coming in, being announced by the u.s.

attorneys office and the fbi. we're learning about a plot, a plot that would have used explosives to take out the federal reserve bank, which is located in lower manhattan. the significance of this, by the way, is part of a sting operation that was conducted by the fbi, and the new york police department as part of the joint terror task force. we're told that the explosives in this case were not active and so that no one was in any danger. however, this operation being conducted involved, according to federal authorities, a 1,000 pound bomb that was supposed to be used to blow up the new york federal reserve bank, which is, of course, in manhattan's financial district. this particular spot is the biggest of the 12 federal reserve banks in the u.s. and certainly has the largest reserve of gold bullion anywhere in the world along with a large amount of cash, as you can

imagine. this is located very close to wall street. again, the details just coming in, but the man under arrest and in custody is only 21 years old. his name, and i'll have to read it to you, is quasi muhammad reswanu. and he's expected to headacmake first court appearance this afternoon. we have a statement we received from the fbi by the acting director here in new york. and she says, mary galligan, attempting to destroy a landmark building and kill or maim untold numbers of innocent bystanders is about as serious as the imagination can conjure. and so, brooke, we'll try to put together the rest of the details on this plot as they are just coming in. we expect to learn more once this man makes his first appearance in federal court as early as this afternoon. but certainly quite a shock to hear this on this day, involving the federal reserve bank here in

new york. >> susan, one quick follow-up, when we hear about wanting to basically take out explosives, take out the federal reserve, do we know -- is this the only person in custody? we don't know if anyone is working with him? >> apparently at this time we're only aware of this one person. but there is a criminal complaint that has just come in, this man is identified as a bangladeshi national who came to the united states in january of this year for purposes according to federal authorities of carrying out this terror attack on u.s. soil. and then it went on from there, part of a sting operation being conducted by the fbi. so apparently they got wind of this, and we'll learn more as the day goes on. >> susan candiotti, thank you so much there. frightening. word of another investigation, this one involving congressman jesse jackson jr. by the fbi. this as cnn learns of a rare sighting in a bar. that's next. this is the first leg of our world challenge with the cadillac ats.

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jesse jackson jr. is under investigation for possible financial improprieties. and this is just another link in a chain of troubled events for the illinois congressman who has been staying out of the public eye really until recently. cnn's brian todd had all the details of this one rare sighting. >> reporter: he's on the ballot, but not on the campaign trail. and not on the job. the only place chicago voters are seeing democratic congressman jesse jackson jr. is in the headlines. a federal law enforcement official tells cnn the fbi and federal prosecutors are investigating jackson for possible financial improprieties. the probe was first reported by the chicago sun times. >> this adds yet another legal, big legal headache for congressman jackson to face, and, of course, this does come just before the election. >> reporter: the wall street journal reports the probe centers on whether jackson

misused campaign money to decorate his home. the fbi declined to comment. this is separate from a previous investigation into whether jackson was part of the scandal involving former illinois governor rod blagojevich. the house ethics committee looked into allegations that jackson or an associate offered to raise money for blagojevich in exchange for jackson being appointed to barack obama's vacant senate seat. jackson denied any wrongdoing. another new headline, sitting on the stoop of his house with his father and a cigar on monday, jackson did his first interview in months. he told the website the daily he is not well, and is going to doctors appointments twice a day. he did not address the allegation that he misused campaign money. we saw no sign of jackson at his house in washington. jackson was treated for bipolar depression this summer, according to doctors at the mayo clinic. before recent appearances, he hadn't been seen in about four months, even though he was released from the clinic in september. a staff member at this bar, the beer baron tavern in washington,

tells us that jackson was here on two consecutive nights recently and that he was drinking. no one here would go on camera with us. for lynn sweet of the chicago sun times, that raises questions. >> if he's well enough to go out, i think the voters in chicago want to see him. >> reporter: sweet says even though he's not been on the campaign trail for several months, jackson is expected to win re-election. still -- >> all this adds up to very, very serious political problem for congressman jackson. so much so that even if he's re-elected, it will make it hard to see how at this point, unless he does publicly show people he's up to the job, it does make people wonder will he be able to be an effective member of the house of representatives? >> reporter: we tried several times to get jackson's congressional and campaign aides to comment. on the reports of a financial investigation. on the interview outside his home. and on the sighting of him is the at a bar, drinking. they would not comment. we could also not reach a lawyer for jackson. brian todd, cnn, washington.

>> brian, thank you. we're getting more on this breaking news. getting word of this plot, this 21-year-old bangladeshi coming to the u.s. in january, targeting with explosives here the new york federal reserve, part of a sting operation, we're told. fbi is involved. and ali velshi, he was there, just this week. we'll talk to ali next. th arthr. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels.

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back to our breaking story. we now know susan candiotti was reporting one 21-year-old man is now in custody allegedly targeting to plot with this 1,000-pound bomb explosive targeting the federal reserve in new york. ali velshi, let me bring you in. we were just talking on monday. >> yeah. >> you were just interviewing the head of the new york fed, bill dudley, had tim geithner's old job. >> yeah.

>> tell me a little bit about this building. i imagine the security is pretty intense. >> for those of you know, lower manhattan. a big imposing building, the type of thing you would expect a central bank to look like. security was actually quite tight. we were running late for our interview and the gentleman at the bank who was trying to get us into that interview was helping us to get through. but security was not letting me get through. something kept beeping. i emptied everything from my pockets and ultimately they established there was nothing on me and we went in. that's bill dudley and me walking down the hall on the tenth floor of the federal reserve. it's a big grand old building. but 80 feet below street level, brooke, is the largest gold vault in the world. it's said to hold more gold than ft. knox about 7,700 tons at last check, which was the end of october of 2011. it's got a lot of cash. they hold other people's gold. it's a safe place to hold gold. they charge you for the privilege of holding your big stashes of gold if you're a bank. it's also where the fed policy

is carried out. policy is made in washington, but the idea that you trade bonds with banks and things like that, that all happens on the trading floor at the new york federal reserve. so it is central to the financial system. it is the supervisor of the system and the banks in new york. it's a very important place. they have tours and things like that, but i've never heard anybody tell me who doesn't work as a financial journalist that they've been to the new york fed. it's a little unusual as a target. >> okay. so in terms of the role they carry out federal policy. >> yeah. >> they also have a lot of gold. bottom line we don't know why again this person just looking down here this was a sting operation conducted not just by the fbi but the nypd part of this joint terrorism task force. >> yeah. >> ali velshi will stay on it. >> absolutely. >> with this trip just so happened to be just this past monday. now to this huge story today. the walls, they are closing in on lance armstrong. just moments after hearing he is leaving his charity, two more

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you think you're having a tough day? let me tell you what lance armstrong, once touted an american hero now labeled by many as a drug cheat. armstrong has had another humiliating fall from grace. today he quit as chairman of his charity, the live strong foundation. here's what he writes in a statement "to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, i will conclude my chairmanship." but before that news had even sunk in, he gets dumped by long-term sponsor nike. and then just this afternoon brewery giant anheuser-busch followed. nike not at all mincing any words. here's their statement "due to the seemingly insurmountable evident that lance armstrong participated in doping and misled nike for a decade, we have terminated our contract with him."

i want to repeat that word misled. i'm joined on the phone by a woman who believes the fact nike severed ties here with armstrong proof that he did something terribly, terribly wrong. she is usa today sports columnist. christine brennan, good to have you on. five words, nike knows lance did it. why is it the fact that nike knows it's really over? >> i think, brooke, that this is a very important development today. and it's a sad day for the millions of people who placed their faith and trust in lance armstrong and cancer survivors, family members of cancer survivors and those who haven't survived. basically it's about this, nike stands by almost everyone. tiger woods, kobe bryant, michael vick, ben royalsbeethlir roethlisberger, for nike to drop lance armstrong i think is a significant moment in the lance armstrong saga as any we have

seen aside of course from last week and the 1,000-page documents, thousands of documents that the u.s. anti-doping agency released brought because it's the cymbsy that nike will standby you no matter what and they're not standing by lance armstrong. that's why i believe without a doubt anyone who was hoping this isn't true, i'm sad to say it is true. lance armstrong is one of the worst cheaters we have ever seen in sports. >> and as you point out, the cancer survivors, so many people wearing those yellow bracelets, right? the live strong bracelets. do you think all of this news negates all the good he's done for this charity? do you think live strong can even survive? >> that's a great question because i do think there's been a lot of good. and i think there can continue to be a lot of good, brooke. obviously this charity continues. lance has resigned as a chairman. i am going to write in my second column of the day that will be in tomorrow's usa today and online in a while that actually

he should even resign from the board of directors. he should make a complete break from his entire public life i think now because he is toxic. but can this organization continue to do good work and help those who are suffering and need help and give them something to hope for? absolutely. but not with lance armstrong associated with it. >> christine, you used these words toxic, one of the worst cheaters of all time. if you landed an interview with lance armstrong tomorrow, christine, what's the first question you'd ask him? >> i think i would ask that basic question, brooke, did you do it? because i think we want to get right to the fact if he did it -- >> why ask that despite you sat a report the thousand pages of evidence last week, why ask that first question? >> well, i think i want to hear it from him. >> on the record. >> the word yes. which i believe we all think is the answer. i would want to hear, yes, i did it. then i would ask for how long. and i would ask for the details, obviously that could take weeks just getting that answer from lance armstrong. i'm not making a joke.

it's that involved. and the deception is that deep. but i would want to go point by point and detail by detail all of the seven tour de france titles and everything he was involved with. >> just why. thank you. we look for your piece in the paper tomorrow morning. we appreciate it. and thank you so much for being with me. i'm brooke baldwin. good to be with you. let's turn things over to wolf blitzer. he is working "the situation room" for you once again. wolf blitzer, to you. brooke, thanks very much. happening now, the presidential candidates head back to the swing states still fighting some of their battles from last night's debate. cnn's post debate poll showed the president won. but will that have any impact on the race itself? and the cyclist lance armstrong's fall from grace passes two more major milestones. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. all that coming up, let's get to ther