dot, severe anxiety. god bless, xo. you see, a thoughtful nuanced lindsey lohan, exactly what you want in a pundit or ginseng beverage party of ten days. have a seat, political elite. lindsey's got election night covered on the "ridiculist." that's it for us. thank you for watching. "early start" beginning right now. in the stretch in a very tight race, president obama and mitt romney covering all the swing state grounds they can with less than two weeks to go now. trouble in paradise. tropical storm sandy almost a hurricane in the caribbean. could miami, new york and boston be next? and the fall classic, fans in detroit and san francisco just counting the hours until tonight's game. it is game one of the world series. they are hyped. good morning, welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin.

>> i'm john berman. 5:00 a.m. in the east. we'll begin with the sprint to the finish line. over the next 13 days president obama and mitt romney will criss-cross the count industry and leap-frog the campaign. all the med fors you like as they try to lock down votes in states still considered toss-ups. this morning the president kicks off a two-day around-the-clock blitz around six battle ground states with a raleigh in davenport, iowa. then on to denver, colorado. then to los angeles for a taping there. then it is back to a late-night event in las vegas. for mitt romney he recollects has campaign events in reno, nevada, tonight, and then cedar rapids, iowa. it is a mouthful with dana bash following the fight to the finish. she is joining us live in the studio. dana, what is the map? what are the travels these candidates are doing over the next two, three, four, five days of the race? >> it tells the number of battleground states is relatively big.

if you look at the polls in the states where they are going, ohio is the biggest, but also colorado, virginia, florida, beyond. they are just absolutely neck and neck. you cannot tell who is going to win any of these states. so they have been out, after the debates, really trying to make their closing arguments. let's listen to some of what both candidates have been saying. >> four more years like the last four years would continue to have a president playing hide-and-seek trying to find a plan to get the economy going to create jobs. this is a president who has approached creating jobs as another stimulus. how did the first one work out? >> the foreign policy was reckless, right and wrong or choose one that is steady and strong. you can choose to turn back the clock 50 years for immigrants and gays and women, or in this election you can decide we will remain an inclusive, generous

country. >> so you heard there was the general closing arguments, romney about jobs and obama saying you don't want to turn back the clock. but both are having kind of this difficult issue of needing to get out their bases, but also needing to appeal to that very narrow slice of undecided voters. and the two are in many ways contradictory with their message. >> they sure are. as for appealing to the base in that vain, there was an interesting ad released by the obama campaign that invokes ghosts of campaigns' past. let's watch. >> 537. a number of votes that changed the course of american history. >> florida is too close to call. >> the difference between what was and what could have been. so this year if you're thinking that your vote doesn't count, that it won't matter, well, back

then there were probably at least 537 people who felt the same way. >> that's a dog whistle. any time a democratic ad brings up 2000 and the al gore recount and everything else, what does that mean to you? >> it means there are still people who feel like they got robbed and this is absolutely an appeal to them to try to work harder, to knock on an extra door, to make an extra phone call, it is a direct appeal to the base. it is cliche to say turnout matters. it really, really does matter in this particular race for both parties, but particularly for democrats who have kind of -- the obama campaign has this get out the vote operation and they are relying on that big time, especially in the state of ohio. >> ohio, nevada, iowa, a lot of states like that. in addition to that, they have a new weapon that is a glossy 20-page book. an agenda for the future, or is it? >> not so much. to me, nothing really illustrates how concerned the

obama campaign is that some of romney's attacks are penetrating that the fact that two weeks before the election they suddenly put out this glossy 20-page explanation of what he's going to do in the next four years. that has been one of the top attacks of the romney campaign. and it is something according to polls people are saying, he has not really clearly articulated it. they will put it under 3.5 million doors and get it out there just to say, we do have something with a plan for the future. the problem is, it is not anything that he has not said before. it is just packaged in a really nice way. and what did the romney campaign spokesman say? a glossy panic button. >> but 3.5 million copies of it, they are sending it out to a lot of people. dana bash, good to have you here. we have one programming note, cnn will profile the presidential candidates this weekend. sunday night at 8:00 eastern, romney revealed. faith, family and the road to power. followed at 9:30 eastern by

obama revealed, the man, the president. that starts at sunday 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. five minutes past the hour, new information this morning about last month's deadly assault on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. according to e-mails obtained by cnn, the white house and the state department were informed of a militant islamic group that had claimed credit for the attack. this was two hours after it began. and u.s. diplomats were informing officials in washington about the unfolding assault while it was happening. cnn has those e-mails, foreign affairs reporter elise labott will discuss what they say and the possible fallout joining us next half hour on "early start." a former cia officer admits to a plea deal of one charge he illegally revealed the name of the covert intelligence officer. this man will serve a 30-month sentence. he also revealed the name of a different cia officer to reporters.

sentencing will all happen in january. the u.s. supreme court upholds a stay of excuse for a florida man convicted of killing eight people in two separate shootings. john arrow ferguson was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection last night, but his lawyer successfully filed a flurry of last-minute appeals arguing that he is mentally insane. ferguson has been on death row for 34 years now. convicted serial pedophile jerry sandusky is spending his first full day in a new pennsylvania prison. the former penn state coach was transferred to the state lockup at camp hill yesterday. meantime, victim number one is revealing his side of the story. in his just-released book, "silent no more" aaron fisher describes his confusion when the abuse began. he first met sandusky at the age of 11. the book also details the three-year fight to get justice. and coming up in about a half hour, cnn contributor and

pultser prize winner sara ganim broke the sandusky story and has read the book. more on that in a few minutes. a deadly shark attack off the coast of california. authorities say the victim was a 39-year-old who was riding the waves yesterday with friends. officers say he was attacked by the shark and bit in the upper torso. his friends tried to rescue him but it was too late. and a powerful october. snowstorms stranding drivers. some were stranded for nine hours. this is what it looked like tuesday along interstate 80 near northern california in the sierra nevada mountains. drivers eventually got out after snow was cleared in the area where the freeway was narrowed down to one lane. the san francisco giants host the detroit tigers in game one of the world series tonight. the tigers hand the ball to justin verlander and his

100-mile-per-hour fastball. the detroit ace has allowed two runs in two post-season starts this fall, that's really good. for the giants now 6-0 in the postseason, it will be barry zito and his curveball on the hill. the tigers are the favorite in the series. sorry, it's true. first pitch at 8:00 tonight. how is this for scary? a possible hurricane on halloween? coming up, the latest on where tropical storm sandy could be headed next. [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] ♪

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12 minutes past the hour. checking the tropics, sandy is still a tropical storm but getting stronger. the storm is expected to reach hurricane strength as it creeps closer to jamaica. people there have been warned to brace and forecasters are saying the east coast could get it as well. say it isn't so. meteorologist rob marciano is

monitoring sandy's every move. you are joining us live from atlanta. what do you have for us? the folks like me in the meteorological community are in a tizzy because this is going to hit jamaica and could make a run at the u.s. and for this time of year, that would be extraordinary. and it also has potential to do some crazy things as we get closer to halloween. some longer-range computer models are doing funky things across t northeast coastline. either way, a large storm. tropical storm sandy has winds of 60 miles per hour. 120 miles south of jamaica. it is heading directly north, so it will hit jamaica later on today. likely as a hurricane. we are almost there. so hurricane warnings are posted for jamaica and also for parts of cuba. we are looking at tropical storm warnings there. tropical storm watches now have been posted and that's new as of 5:00 a.m. for the east florida coastline. we don't expect it to make a direct hit there, but the wind

field will be large enough to look at tropical storm conditions. then certainly a big surf across the entire eastern seaboard. a fairly slow mover. here's where the computer models specifically are indicating as we get past day four and five, there are all sorts of crazy things happening, including bringing it to the northeast. not necessarily as a hurricane but a strong storm. climate logically, these are the favored tracks for october into november, and most of them put them out. by the way, tropical storm tony, this was supposed to be a quiet year, guys. it has blown up to be very active. tony won't bother anybody, but we are keeping a close eye on sandy. another update in 30 minutes. >> are you talking about being a tizzy? mr. berman is in a tizzy with the possibilities. >> if you are in a tizzy for a storm that can do crazedy things, we are all in trouble. >> this could be a toe-curler. >> thank you for that. time to get you updated on

the top stories. 13 days and counting. the obama and romney campaigns are laser-focused on the battlegrounds and undecided voters that could well determine the outcome of the presidential election. the president will hit six swing states in the next 48 hours. romney is in two of them today, nevada and iowa. florida investigators are trying to figure out who sent bogus letters to voters questioning their citizen ship and registration. this is two weeks before the presidential election. florida secretary of state says people in 23 counties have received the letters written on fake supervisor of elections letterhead. there's no return address but do carry a post mark from seattle, washington. a huge document reveals the state of massachusetts knew of reports that compounding necc was breaking prescription laws for the past decade. the documents show complaints from doctors and complaints from officials in iowa, wisconsin and texas, but massachusetts failed to take tough action.

necc is behind the nationwide meningitis outbreak. now up to 304 cases and four other infections, including 23 deaths in 19 states. illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. returning to the mayo clinic for what a spokesman says the a follow-up evaluation. 47-year-old jackson has been away from congress since may. he received treatment at the mayo clinic for depression and bipolar disorder. and hall-of-fame catcher carlton fisk charged with dui in illinois. he was found unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle found in the middle of a cornfield. the former white sox and red sox player was released. fisk has a day in court next month. 16 minutes past the hour. time for early reads. hey, guys, i'm still alive. oh, my gosh, mourners in brazil shocked when a 41-year-old man showed up to his own funeral. the family says the man's brother identified the body of

the man as humbertoramos. ramos and the victim both resembled each other. the daily mail in the u.k. said mourners fainted when he walked in. some were so scared they ran away. >>e went to his own funeral to clear things up? >> but the brother identifying him at the morgue? say good-bye to the university of south dakota fighting sioux. in the minneapolis star tribune, we are learning a half dozen signs proclaiming the home of the fighting sioux was removed from the campus hockey arena as part of the settlement to retire the nickname since many consider the mascot offensive. it will now say home of north dakota hockey. the school won't have a new nickname until 2015. and for an expanded look at all the top stories, head to cnn clom/earlystart. attention shoppers, credit card information compromised at

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the libya timeline. new e-mails show what the obama administration was told about the benghazi attack and when. a swing state sprint and a really tight race. president obama and mitt romney criss-crossing the country trying to sway undecided voters. and sandy gaining strength. the tropical storm about to become a hurricane that could threaten the east coast. that storm is doing some really strange things we are told this morning. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. new information on the attack at the u.s. consulate in benghazi to kill ambassador stephens and three others last month. the state department and the white house were informed of an islamic militant group that was taking responsibility for that assault two hours after it began. in one of the e-mails u.s. diplomats told officials in washington the group ansal al-sharia claimed credit on

facebook and twitter and called for an attack in tripoli. foreign affairs correspondent elise is with us this morning. how much do they reveal about what intelligence officials in washington knew on that particular day? >> well, zoraida, everyone admits in the fog of what's going on, what turned out what we thought the initial night didn't turn out to be what happened. but it definitely describes in realtime what the embassy thought was going on. the first e-mail, let's take a look, the subject, u.s. mission in benghazi under attack september on september 11th at 4:00 eastern time, which would be 10:00 in tripoli. the embassy reports 20 armed people fired shots, explosions have been heard as well. ambassador stephens currently in benghazi and four mission

personnel are in the compound safe havens. then later an update, u.s. mission in benghazi sent a half hour later. the embassy tripoli reports the firing at the u.s. diplomatic mission in benghazi has stopped and the compound has been cleared. a response team is on the site attempting to locate com personnel. initially they thought the firing had stopped outside the embassy but what we later learned is that these militants breached the compound, set this building on fire where ambassador stevens and the other personnel were. that's where he and sean smith died. later the second update was sent at 6:07 p.m., which would be about midnight tripoli time. it says, em baacy tripoli says the group claimed responsibility on facebook and twitter and has called for an attack on the

embassy tripoli. so, zoraida, i think this shows that even that night that the u.s. knew that perhaps this group ansar al-sharia with ties to al qaeda in north africa, it shows they knew militants were involved, of course, over the coming days and weeks there was a lot of back and forth whether this was a preplanned attack. >> who did the messages go to? is it possible they went to the president and vice president, they knew about the early reports? because that's the big question, when did you know what? >> that's right. well, this was sent out by the state department of operations center. so this went to the white house situation room, many officials at the white house, fbi, pentagon, cia, many different agencies. i don't think president obama or vice president biden would have gotten these messages, per se, but certainly the president and vice president were briefed that night and certainly this claim of responsibility, the idea

there were armed militants, i'm sure they were notified that night about what was going on. but what the assessment was, what the intelligence was about how this attack came to be, was it preplanned, was there a protest? these are the kind of things that shook out over the coming days. >> one more question for you, we reported back in september that this militant group, in particular, ansar al-sharia was linked to the benghazi attack. we were told the group could be one of multiple organizations responsible. do the e-mails alter in any way what we have learned so far? >> i think we are still trying to assess really what happened. in this group claiming responsibility, then later saying it was not involved, now certainly some members of the group have been arrested. one of them being detained in tunisia. so i think this group where people related to this particular militia and indeed that leads to al qaeda and

islamic mug-rubbers involved in fingering the attack. but at this point everyone knows there was some element of looking at the u.s. embassy, maybe it did seize the day of september 11th in the protests around the world, but i think they are still looking at ansar al-sharia and friends involved in the attack. >> elise, thank you so much for spending time with us this morning. 32 minutes after the hour right now. and storm the battlegrounds. president obama and mitt romney hitting the trail hard with just 13 days to go until the election. the president campaigning in florida again raising doubts about mitt romney's readiness to be president. >> you can choose a foreign policy that's reckless and wrong, or you can choose one that is steady and strong. >> meantime, mitt romney is stumping in colorado sounding a familiar theme, that america cannot afford more of the same

from the president. >> he's become the president of status quo and the policies of the president are a continuation of the last four years. he calls his campaign slogan forward. i think forewarned is a better term. >> the romney campaign will be in nevada and iowa today. 32 minutes past the hour. two teenager brothers are facing first-degree murder charges in the death of a 12-year-old new jersey girl. there she is. prosecutors say the brothers ages 15 and 17 allegedly lured 12-year-old autumn pasquale to their home possibly because they wanted to steal her bmx bike. autumn's body was found monday in a recycling bin. she had been beaten and strangled. >> what a tragedy. convicted killer michael skakel is seeking freedom before going in front of a parole board today. he has served ten years of a 20-year sentence for the 1975

death of his teenager neighbor. three members in a maternity ward testified against robert f. kennedy who is accused of kicking a nurse and twisting another's arm when he tried to take his newborn son out for fresh air last january without the hospital's permission. he's facing misdemeanor, harassment and child endangerment charges. one nurse says she reached out to steady the infant's bobbing head when kennedy kicked her squarely in the pelvis. and an apology to president obama after mitt romney's son. tagg romney said he was sorry for saying, quote, he wanted to take a swing at him during the second presidential debate. but the best line goes to josh romney who says he's been punched by tagg a few times and, quote, president to obama has nothing to worry about. checking the tropics now, tropical storm sandy is getting stronger, it is not a hurricane

just yet but it is expected to become one creeping closer to jamaica. people have been warned to get ready. rob marciano is monitoring sandy's every move calling it toe-curling this morning. he's joining us live from atlanta. what's the latest on this storm? >> it's about 100 miles south of jamaica. once it gets through the caribbean, that's when interesting things happen for the u.s. but first things first, it will hit jamaica later today. likely 5 miles an hour shorter than a hurricane. it is moving to the north at 14 miles an hour. tropical storm watches are posted for the bahamas and also now southeast florida. not so much for a direct hit but this thing is going to grow to be so large that the windfield will affect the eastern coast of florida. by the way, last time we had an october storm develop in the caribbean it was further to the west and that was wilma. and that hit florida as a category 3. this is further to the east. so that's why we don't think it will do that at the moment, but what it does after it gets

through the bahamas, that's what really has meteorologists kind of going, what's going to happen here? we could see it go to the northeast as it kind of modifies into a hybrid-type of storm, but just being offshore it will have big impacts across the eastern seaboard. tropical storm tony is well offshore. can you believe we are to the t's? showers across the northeast today. we'll also continue to see snowfall in the sierras as they had a couple feet out there. so we have snow, we have hurricanes, we have a lot to talk about. back up to you. thank you, rob. >> 36 minutes after the hour now. breaking his silence in a big, big way. victim number one in the jerry sandusky case came out with a new book. what he's saying in his firsthand account coming up. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national.

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case. the firsthand account from the man known previously as victim number one now made public in a new book out this week. in "silent no more" wrin with the help of his mother, aaron fisher speaks out and he spoke out recently on abc. >> there are probably some people out there that don't believe jerry sandusky could do this and they may think i'm a horrible person for it. >> do you know they are no good? >> i do. but the actions of other people are kinding of shying me away from that. >> we have one of the few people who has read this book in its entirety already, let me ask you, what were your first impressions? >> honestly, the book really

started out as a pretty brave account. and my first impression was that this kid has come a really long way from three or four years ago when he came forward. you can feel in the progression of the book that he had a really difficult time. all the victims when testifying at trial had a very difficult time, but he was one of the most emotional and most hesitant. and the numerous times he was interviewed, to actually say the words and say what happened to him, he really goes, makes great strides in his book to explain what happened to him, to explain what the sexual abuse was like. and i think to give hope to victims still silent. i have to tell you, john -- >> he writes, he wrote six chapters by himself and one of the chapters he wrote by himself he wrote about when he first heard of sandusky's conviction. i didn't pump my fist in the air or let out a cheer.

instead, i pulled my car onto the shoulder of the highway. i couldn't see the road in front of me anymore through the tears. i just put my head down on the steering wheel and cried. happy tears, but i was crying. it gives you the sense of the emotion this kid must have felt over time. >> right. i talked to his mom minutes after that verdict came back. she says she had called her son and recounted that conversation that she had with him. i read that and it was an incredibly powerful moment and emotional in what he wrote in the six chapters, but what struck me about the book, he's on the cover and he does go into great detail about what happened to him. but the majority of the book is written by his psychologist. on a variety of topics, the one that stood out the most to me was the attacks on the pennsylvania governor tom corbett and whether or not, it was all speculation by his psychologist, no real facts to back it up, but based on his recollection of the three-year investigation unfolding, whether or not the investigation was delayed because of political

reasons, because the governor now had been the attorney general and was actually running for office as this investigation unfolded. and the psychologist goes through these three years and says, he talks about the emotional toll that it took on aaron to wait that long of a time between when he first came forward to the point where he saw jerry sandusky being arrested. he does speculate a lot, a good amount of the book is devoted to whether or not politics played a role in this investigation. >> okay. sarah gahin, one of the people who read this book, thank you so much for joining us this morning. one teen has been resting for a week, the other is off a grueling seven-game championship series. more on the tigers and the giants coming up. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. i'd say happier than a slinky on an escalator.

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47 minutes after the hour. let's get you up-to-date. president obama and mitt romney drive hard to the finish in a virtual dead heat. the president kicks off a two-day six-state blitz of the battlegrounds. romney hits two critical swing states today, nevada and iowa. the city of auburn hills, michigan, says 800 absentee ballots mailed out earlier this month have not been delivered. the officials say they are not concerned about election fraud because the missing ballots are individually numbered for security purposes.

but they are asking auburn hills residents who did not get the absentee ballot to request theirs rights away. ozzie guillen's controversial remarks last april when he praised fidel castro played a role in their decision. this was guillen's first and only season as marlins' manager. he led the chicago white sox to a world series win way back in 2005. the san francisco giants are headed to game one of the world series tonight after a stunning game seven victory against the st. louis cardinals monday night. they will face-off against the detroit tigers and their ace starting pitcher reining american vp justin verlander are trying to keep their skills sharp. >> maggie gray is here. >> thank you for having me. >> these teams are pretty different. the giants barely made it to the world series, by the skip of their teeth. not a lot of mega stars on their team at this point.

meanwhile, prince fielder, justin verlander, cabrera, seems like a mismatch. >> yeah, especially when looking at game one. you have justin verlander, last year's cy young and mvp winner. he pitched a complete game shutout. he's been amazing. then you see barry zito, former cy young winner back in 2002. was not on the roster for the san francisco giants the last time they won the world series in 2010. he's resurrected his career, so you have these kind of balancing starting pitchers, one at the peak of his career and the other trying to find the old spark that he had so many years ago. >> it is a nice comeback story. people wrote barry zito off. >> and good reason to, but now he's one of few last starts. he's come up a huge spot for san francisco. the pitching rotation doesn't have a lot of household names.

they are really going to look to a guy like zeto who is in a tough spot. >> the tigers have been waiting for the match-up. does this work to their advantage or disadvantage? >> they say with baseball your momentum is only as good as your next day's pitcher. justin verlander is pretty good and the giants have a significant amount of momentum. they faced six elimination games this postseason and came through in every one of them. any kind of a buzzsaw there with verlander who is dynamite, mowing guys down. >> the tigers played scrimmages with minor league players. this is controversial. going back 70 years in baseball, ted williams got hurt playing in a scrimmage before the world series, so people are resistant to this, but leland thought it was worthwhile. >> the tigers lost to the st. louis cardinals 4-1. they also had a similar time off and the team came out and was completely flat.

we have seen it the other way. the philadelphia phillies went on to win a world series no problem with a lot of time off. you have to know your team and the makeup of them and when you have guys like prince fielder, miguel cabrera, the lineup is so explosive, you want to keep them going and keep them in their groove. and baseball players more than any other athlete, it is all about routine because they play so many games. you just don't want them sitting idle for a long time. >> i was just told to wrap, but the yankees, berman is wanting to know what's happening with a-rod. >> i thought you were a red sox guy. >> i hate when a-rod overshadows what's happening in the league, but what's going to happen with alex rodriguez and the yankees? >> he has a lot of money left on his contract. five years, $114 million for a 37-year-old player who had no rbi and 12 strikeouts in the postseason. if the yankees can find a suitor to take a-rod off their hands, they have to pay a significant amount of the contract in order to make the deal.

>> buyer beware. maggie, thank you soft for joining us. we have a packed hour ahead, including revealing new details on the killing of those in benghazi. what the white house knew and how early they knew it and new questions why the message kept changing with less than two weeks until election day now. and she said i'm not going to die in arby's tonight. an assistant manager flees an armed robber by climbing out of the drive-through window and is fired after 23 years with the company. so what's arby's beef with her? plus, give your grandma a kiss today. why she may hold the key to human evolution, not to mention a lot of good cookies. but first, superman making a major career move in talking about the future of print media. this says it all, folks.

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welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin with john berman. we are looking at the top cnn trends, what's getting buzz on the web this morning, john? >> because music follows you wherever you go, but i love this story. clark kent is quitting the "daily planet." issue 13 of the newly released series "superman" will be quitting. clark kent is quitting "the daily planet." this is from clark kent. he's going to start a blog apparently.

yes, it is true, perry white and jimmy olson not available for comment. before sky net takes over the world, there's this. ♪ >> there's your music. >> robotic engineers at virginia tech getting the humanized robot charlie ii to dance gangnam style. of course, the whole thing, when the party is over the navy sees the robot as something to help sailors fight fires at sea. >> if the robot needed to dance gangnam style, they are all >> he needs a little more moves. he's a little stiff. to check out the top cnn trends, head to cnn.com/trends. with the election coming up and the presidential debates finally over with, the late-night talk show hosts had plenty to talk about last night. >> last night, did you see the debate last night? oh, my -- let me ask you this, did you learn anything new last night? no.

no. it's the same stuff over and over. here's what's different, the first debate, they were at podiums. the first debate they were at podiums. the second debate, stools. stools. last night, chairs and desks. chairs and desks. now, the next debate, yoga mats. that will be the fourth and final presidential debate. >> as we get closer to election day, a lot of crazedy rumors are starting to surface about the two candidates. today this one was going around, a man is claiming that president obama used and sold cocaine in college. yeah. on the bright side, if this is true, this mean os obama does have business experience. >> i thought bob schieffer did a good job. he i instructed the audience not to clap for any reason because in his house that makes the lights go on and off. well, this is not bob schieffer's first time, he

moderated the lincoln/douglas debate. "early start" continues right now. >> the stretch run. president obama and mitt romney covering all the swing state ground they can with less than two weeks to go. trouble in paradise. tropical storm sandy almost a hurricane in the caribbean. could miami, new york and boston be next? shaken, not stirred. the first moments of a powerful earthquake just hours ago that was caught on camera. good morning and welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> nice to have you with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. s 6:00 a.m. in the east. the battle for the battlegrounds. with 13 days left, president obama and mitt romney are swarming the states to sway the election in their favor. beginning today president obama will have a rally in davenport,

iowa, then on to denver, colorado. then to los angeles for a late-night taping. as for mitt romney, he has campaign events in reno, nevada, and tonight in cedar rapids, iowa. let me take a deep breath here, dana bash is following thefinis. she joins us now. they're hitting the campaign trail really hard. what do they tell you? >> that this is actually a pretty wide map when it comes to the number of states that are truly up for grabs. it's about seven or eight, depending on who you're talking to. and they are hitting -- they're taking nothing for granted. let's just first listen to some of the closing arguments from each candidate. >> four more years like the last four years, which continue to have a president playing hide and seek trying to find a plan to get the economy going, to create jobs. this is a president whose approach to creating jobs is another stimulus. how's the first one work out? >> you can choose a foreign policy that's reckless and wrong or you can choose one that is steady and strong.

you can choose to turn the clock back 50 years for immigrants and gays or women or in this election you can decide we will remain an inclusive, generous country. >> and when it comes to the map, there is so much concern that they don't really know how things are going to go, that the romney super pac is now airing ads in the state of maine. you think maine? wait a minute. i didn't think that was in play at all. it's not. it is a democratic state on the presidential level. but the way they apportion their electoral votes they do it by congressional district. there is a chance of one congressional district in maine that is pretty conservative. republicans say if they can get that one electoral vote that could make a difference if there is, god forbid, a tie. >> and everybody's thinking that this is going to go really late and really long. let's talk about controversial comments in the republican party regarding rape and pregnancy. what can you tell us about that? >> this is something that happened last night. a debate that was going on

inside the indiana senate race. and the republican candidate, richard murdoch, made some comments responding to a question about his view on abortion, specifically whether or not it should be allowed in the case of rape. he doesn't believe it should be. listen to how he explains why. >> i believe that life begins at conception. the only exception i have for -- to have an abortion is in that case for the life of the mother. i just -- i struggle with it myself for a long time but i came to realize, life is a gift from god, and i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that god intended to happen. >> god intended to happen. that is something that democrats jumped on immediately saying, wait a minute, this is absolutely not what women would want from any kind of elected official. mourdock understood the way he phrased that was not going to play well at all. he put out a statement. he said, god creates life, and

that was my point. god does not want rape, and by no means was i suggesting that he does. rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is absurd and sick. but the romney campaign, they're not taking anything for granted and a spokesman for romney put out a statement stating point-blank that governor romney disagrees with richard mourdock's comments, they do not reflect his views. >> the reason right away is because of women voters, right? perhaps taking offense to those comments. >> there's no question about it. remember what happened a couple of months ago when the republican senate candidate in missouri, todd akin made comments, more stringent than this, but the republican party threw him under the bus. that is the question at this early hour, i've been speaking to some republican strategists who are involved in this campaign in indiana, that's the question is how much are the republican officials nationally going to going to push back on him. it's a tough thing for them

strategically, because they do want to keep appealing to women, but when it comes to the balance of power in the senate, indiana -- this was already a very close race. surprisingly close race. because the democrat is pretty conservative. it's a conservative state. and if they lose this senate seat, this republican senate seattle in indiana, all bets are off for republicans taking the senate. >> everything matters here at the eleventh hour. dana bash, thank you so much for joining us. later we will talk to florida republican congressman mario diaz-balart, mitt romney's foreign policy adviser. >> he is four minutes after the hour. new developments this morning from the deadly september 11th attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. according to e-mails obtained by cnn, the state department and the white house were told a militant islamic group was taking responsibility for the assault two hours after it started. and u.s. diplomats in tripoli were telling officials in washington about the attack as it was unfolding. cnn has the e-mails, and foreign affairs reporter elise labott will tell us what they say and discuss the possible fallout

when she joins us in the next half hour of "early start." >> the u.s. supreme court upholds a stay of execution for this man, he's a florida man convicted of killing eight people. john ferguson was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection last night but his lawyers successfully filed a flurry of last-minute appeals, arguing that he is mentally insane. ferguson has been on death row for 34 years. convicted serial pedophile jerry sandusky is spending his first full day in a new pennsylvania prison. the former penn state coach was transferred to the state lockup at camp hill yesterday. he'll undergo a physical and mental evaluation before being moved to another state prison to serve out the rest of his 30 to 60-year sentence. a deadly shark attack off the coast of santa barbara in california. authorities say the victim, 39-year-old francesco solario was riding the waves with friends off surf beach when he was bitten by the shark in the upper torso. his friends tried to rescue him,

but they were too late. a powerful earthquake has struck western costa rica. the 6.5 magnitude quake was centered around five miles from the popular tourist destination of nicoya. the quake could also be felt in the capital city of san jose, 90 miles away. it was followed by a magnitude 4.5 aftershock. no injuries have been reported. >> look at those pictures. just two teams left standing. and tonight the san francisco giants host the detroit tigers in game one of the world series. it is here. detroit sends justin verlander to the mound, who throws 100 miles per hour. the tigers ace has allowed just two runs in three post-season starts this fall. for the giants, now 6-0 in the postseason when facing elimination it will be barry zito on the hill. one of the best curve balls in the game. vegas oddmakers say the tigers are the favorites here. >> really? >> 8:00 tonight. a hurricane on halloween. coming up the latest on where tropical storm sandy could be

headed next. one.

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. all right. storm watch here. tropical storm sandy is getting stronger. it is not a hurricane just yet but is expected to become one as it creeps closer to jamaica. people there have been warned to get ready. meteorologist rob marciano is monitoring sandy's every move. he joins us now from atlanta. you said this is a very strange storm. and we all need to be watching this. >> for one thing, it's happening in late october. so really late in the season. but if it's going to happen this time of year, this is the spot where it's going to develop. a lot of heat content in the water in the caribbean. right now it's 100 miles south of kingston, jamaica. heading in that direction at 14 miles an hour.

70-mile-per-hour winds, so almost hurricane. we expect it to become a hurricane before it makes landfall later on today. preps are in order, especially along the south coast of jamaica. we're looking at the brunt of this storm. hurricane warnings are up for jamaica, and also eastern cuba. tropical storm watches now have been posted southeast coast of florida. meaning, tropical storm conditions are possible in the next 48 hours across southeast florida. because not so much this will be a direct hit, but the wind field is going to be so big that you'll feel the impact in the form of wind and also some big waves here. then, we get into some interesting things this time of year. when it gets further north, it gets into the jet stream, colder air mass, it can get different things happening. and it could impact the entire east coast through the weekend, into next week. some of our computer models actually bring it back into the northeast as we get closer towards halloween. that would be certainly an interesting scenario and one that really we never have seen with the exception of maybe the perfect storm back in 1991.

although there's some different characteristics here. also tropical storm tony. forget about it for the most part. may spin in the atlantic. but just goes to show how busy this season has been. >> all right, rob marciano, thank you for that. >> can you imagine all the people at the airport waiting to hop a plane to jamaica. >> it is a bad day for that. >> that's terrible. >> all right. 11 minutes past the hour. 13 days and counting now. the obama and romney campaigns are laser focused on the battlegrounds and still undecided voters that could well determine the outcome of the presidential election. the president will hit six swing states over the next 48 hours. romney campaigns today in two of them, nevada and iowa. >> florida investigators are trying to figure out who sent bogus letters to voters questioning their citizenship and registration just two weeks before the presidential election. florida secretary of state says people in 23 counties have received the letters, which were written on fake supervisor of elections letter head. they have no return address but they do carry a postmark from seattle, washington. a former cia officer takes a

plea deal admitting to one charge. that he illegally revealed the identity of a covert intelligence officer. under this agreement he'll serve a 30-month sentence. he has also admitted that he revealed the name of a different cia employee to reporters, and that he lied to a review board about a book that he was writing. sentencing will happen in january. a huge document zump reveals the state of massachusetts knew reports that compounding pharmacy necc was breaking prescription laws for the past decade. the documents show complaints from doctors and even complaints from officials in iowa, wisconsin and texas. but massachusetts failed to take tough action. necc is behind a nationwide outbreak, now up to 304 meningitis cases and four other infections, including 23 deaths in 17 states. and hall of fame catcher carlton fisk charged with dui in illinois. police say fudge, as he's called, was found unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle, which was found in the middle of

a corn field. he was issued a citation, posted bond and released. fisk has a date in court next month. an ohio fast food worker has been fired from her job after being robbed at knifepoint. listen to this. mary archer worked at arby's for 23 years. last thursday night at closing time, her co-worker left, and archer was turning out the lights when a man with a knife cornered her in the office. >> can you imagine? >> she drumped out the drive-thru window to escape. when mary returned to work on friday, she was greeted with a pink slip. >> what? >> i just thought that that this would happen to me. especially since my life was at stake. i don't want my job back. i just want to know -- i want everybody to know what a kind of a company that this is. >> now an arby's representative says mary archer was fired because she violated company policy. she wasn't supposed to be alone in the store at closing time.

apparently she'd been warned about after-hours behavior before. but still, that's awfully rough after you get robbed at knifepoint. >> absolutely. 14 minutes past the hour here. there's one more reason to say thank you to grandma. a new study suggests the rise of grandmothering is responsible for a longer life spans compared to other primates. here's how the theory goes, folks. because grandmothers long ago took on the duty of raising and caring for their grandchildren, their own children were able to have more offspring. and researchers say those families had a genetic advantage that allowed longevity to spread, through the natural selection process. how about just grandma rocks? >> more proof that grandma rules. conclusive proof that grandma rules. a robot with common sense? it sounds too good to be true, right? >> but, a boston company is using artificial intelligence to change how robots are used in factories. cnn's joe carter has this morning's technovation.

>> reporter: manufacturing has come a long way since the classic candy factory scene in "i love lucy." and it's about to change even more. meet baxter. a new kind of factory robot. >> baxter is a super, easy to use robot that can do all sorts of different tasks in a manufacturing environment. loading things into machines. packing things into boxes. >> reporter: some industrial reboughts can pose safety hazards. but the company that makes baxter says it uses common sense. how safely? >> i inadvertently get in the robot's way. see what happens? he just stops. >> reporter: a typical robot would have just kept on going. it stands about six feet tall, has two flexible arms with grippers, and a face that shows emotion. >> it makes it easy for people, from a distance, to see is baxter working, confused, does baxter need help? >> reporter: baxter can be programmed by just about anyone. >> i told him to pick up here, move the product over here and one minute. congratulations. very good.

you trained your first robot. >> reporter: rethink robotics has been designing the robot for four years. >> here the guys are working on the robot control system. >> reporter: and companies have been testing it in their factories. >> we work real hard to ensure that he's safe, that he's easily trainable, and that the people who are going to work with him are going to want to work with him. >> reporter: baxter is selling for about $22,000 and is about to arrive in u.s. factories. the question is, will it take people's jobs? rethink robotics says no. >> if you take baxter, who's roughly $4 an hour. baxter does a simple task and the person that was doing that can now do a more highly skilled and value-added task. >> reporter: joe carter, cnn, boston. >> also baxter is a hoot at the company parties. >> yeah. >> if you're traveling for thanksgiving, coming up, what you can expect for the price of airfare when you book, and how you might be able to do just a little bit better.

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welcome back. 21 minutes past the hour. we're minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are up slightly. a lot of uncertainty in the markets right now. the dow dropped about 240 points yesterday after several big companies lowered their earnings forecast. but overall markets are still up for 2012. the s&p 500, the best indicator for the stocks in your 401(k), is up more than 10% so far this year. >> new data from hsbc shows china's manufacturing sector hitting a three-month high. the report says demand for chinese-made goods is atsy

six-month high also which signals there is some strength in the global economy. >> here's the bad news. do you feel like college is getting more expensive? you are absolutely right. the cost for public college hit a new high this year, this is according to the college board. the average overall cost without financial aid rose $3.8% to a new record $22,261. the college board says the cost of college has been rising faster than inflation in recent years and it's because states have been cutting financial aid, and at the same time more students are enrolling in those public colleges. >> if that's not enough, get ready to pay more for your thanksgiving flights this year, also. travelocity says airfare over thanksgiving is expected to be 9% higher than last year. that's according to a report in "usa today." if you're looking for a flight between november 17th and 27th you're likely to shell out $386 round trip for a domestic flight. experts say you can use mobile apps and social media to find deals on flights. it's always a good idea.

do not wait until the last minute, or else you could end up paying about $200 more for tickets. >> so worth it to go see your family. 22 minutes past the hour. a kennedy cousin -- doing time for murder has a chance at freedom today. more on the michael skakel case. that is coming up. and if you are leaving the house right now you can watch us any time right on your desk top or mobile phone. go to cnn.com/tv. one. two. three. my credit card rewards are easy to remember. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card,

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♪ ♪ the libya time line. newly obtained e-mails show what the obama administration was being told about the benghazi attack and when they were being told. a swing state sprint in a tight race. president obama and mitt romney crisscrossing the country, trying to sway those few undecided voters. and fired up for the fall classic. fans in detroit and san francisco counting the hours until tonight's game one of the world series. they are losing their minds.

welcome back to "early start." happy to have you with us, i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it is 26 minutes past the hour. we have some new developments in the aftermath of the deadly september 11th attack on the consulate in benghazi. according to e-mails obtained by cnn the state department and the white house were informed about an islamic militant group that was taking responsibility for the assault just two hours after it began. in one of those e-mails, diplomats told officials in washington that the group ansar al sharia claimed credit on facebook and twitter and was calling for another attack on the u.s. embassy in tripoli. foreign affairs reporter elise labott joins us now live from washington. walk us through this e-mail chain. what do the messages say? and how much do they really reveal about what intelligence officials in washington knew that day? >> well, john, these are the first communications that we've seen that happened in realtime, as the consulate in benghazi was under attack. let's take a look at these

e-mails. the first one is subject, u.s. mission in benghazi under attack. this was sent out by the operations center at 4:05 eastern time, which means about 10:00 tripoli time, when they attacked again. embassy tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots, explosions have been heard as well. ambassador stevens, who is currently in benghazi, and four mission personnel are in the compound safe haven. now, about a half hour later, john, they have an update, and this is about a half hour later, embassy tripoli reports the firing at the diplomatic mission has stopped, and the compound has been cleared. a response team has been sent attempting to locate those personnel. and we see that, in fact, this was not the case, john. by a half hour later those armed extremists had breached the walls, and had, in fact, set fire to some of these buildings on the compound where ambassador

stevens and sean smith were unfortunately killed. now, later that night, a third e-mail says that ansar al sharia, islamic extremist group with known ties to al qaeda, actually claimed responsibility for the attack. so it shows, john, that even that night, they knew that this was an islamic extremist group that was claiming responsibility for the attack, and possibly with links to al qaeda. so it kind of puts into a little bit of consternation this claim by the administration that these were protests that had gone astray, and hijacked, and in fact the administration has now changed that assessment. >> well i guess the question then, elise, is who saw the e-mails? which departments did they go to? is it likely they got in front of the president and vice president? >> i don't think so. you know, the vice president, and president, don't get these little, small communications. but certainly, these e-mails went to senior officials at the

white house, at the fbi, at the pentagon, and state department. so certainly the white house situation room was made aware of them, and we know that president obama was briefed that night on the attack, so certainly they would have told him about this group claiming responsibility. so it shows that even that night, john, that officials knew that some kind of islamic extremist groups with ties to al qaeda were involved. >> or at least claiming responsibility. >> that's right. >> they reported back in september that this group ansar al sharia had been linked to the benghazi attack and senior intelligence officials told us that the group could be one of multiple organizations response ill. do these e-mails really alter in any way what we already knew? >> it doesn't alter what we already knew. but certainly, you've seen this back and forth over the last couple of weeks about what the white house knew versus what it was saying. so i think clearly in the kind of fog of war, if you will, officials have said that there was a lot of confusion coming out. but certainly it does show that

at least that night, they knew that groups that were tied to al qaeda were claiming to be involved. it doesn't really change the ultimate intelligence assessment that has been now talked about by the intelligence community and administration and it shows it was kind of what people initially thought was the case, turns out that it does seem to be the case, and members of ansar al sharia have been arrested. one of them is being held in tunisia. >> one more piece in the puzzle. although it seems to be getting bigger every day. elise labott from washington. thanks very much. >> 31 minutes past the hour. storm the battlegrounds. president obama and mitt romney hitting the trail hard, with just 13 days to go until election. the president campaigning in florida. again raised doubts about romney's readiness to be president. >> you can choose a foreign policy that's reckless and wrong or you can choose one that is steady and strong. >> meantime mitt romney stumping in colorado sounding a familiar theme that america cannot afford

more of the same from the president. >> he's become a president of status quo. and the policies of the president are a continuation of what we've seen over the last four years. he calls his campaign slogan forward. i think forewarned is a better term. >> romney campaigns today in nevada and iowa. next hour on "starting point," soledad talks to michigan republican congressman mike rogers and former ohio governor ted strickland. national co-chair of the obama campaign. two teenage brothers are now facing first degree murder charges in the death of a 12-year-old new jersey girl. prosecutors say the brothers, ages 15 and 17, allegedly lured 12-year-old autumn pasquale to their home, possibly because they wanted to steal her bmx bike. autumn's body was found monday in a recycling bin. she'd been beaten and strangled. convicted killer michael skakel will be seeking freedom when he goes before a parole board that's scheduled in connecticut today. the nephew of robert and ethel

kennedy has served ten years of a 0-year sentence for the 1975 bludgeoning death of his teenage neighbor, martha moxley. three nurses at a suburban new york maternity word testified tuesday at the trial of douglas kennedy. he is the son of robert f. kennedy and accused of kicking a nurse and twisting another's arm when he tried to take his newborn son beau out for some fresh air last january, without the hospital's permission. he's facing misdemeanor harassment and child endangerment charges. one nurse says she instinctively reached out to steady the infant's bobbing head when kennedy kicked her, squarely in the pelvis. so an apology to president obama from mitt romney's oldest son. at the end of monday night's debate, tag romney told the president that he was sorry for saying he wanted to take a swing at him during the second presidential debate. josh romney says he's been punched by his brother tag a few times, and that president obama really had nothing to worry about. 33 minutes after the hour.

sandy is strengthening but the storm is still just shy of hurricane strength. it's expected to become one as it creeps closer to jamaica. people there have been warned to get ready, and the east coast 0 could be a target, too. meteorologist rob marciano is monitoring sandy's every move. he joins us now live from atlanta. you called this a strange storm. what's the latest? >> strange is certainly late in the season. but what it does after it gets through jamaica and cuba, and potential impact to the u.s., that's what makes it certainly interesting for us. right now, 100 miles south of kingston it's going to affect jamaica later on today. likely as a hurricane. hurricane warnings are up. northerly movement at 14 miles an hour. they already have seen their weather go downhill. cuba also on hur hurricane warning. and now, tropical storm watches have been posted for southeast florida. likely because of waves, and wind. the wind field will be rather large with this. we don't expect a direct hit on south florida. but what it does, gets through the bahamas and gets caught up in the weather patterns of the

mid-atlantic -- mitt latitudes. that could bring it into the carolinas, the northeast. towards the weekend and into the beginning of next week in some way, shape or form, a modified strong nor'easter. some of our computer models are certainly showing that. but our confidence obviously very, very low in the longer range. but interesting and certainly you want to keep your eye right here into the sky as we go forward. meanwhile, feels like summer across d.c. temperatures will be near 80 there. severe thunderstorms across the northern tier. and winter out west. that's just the way of mid to late october. >> all right, thanks, rob. >> so think about it. two weeks from today we'll know who our next president will be. then again, maybe we won't. the race so close right now, with nine states still thought to be up for grabs, we are live with a key member of the romney campaign. that's coming up. ♪ ♪ one, two, three, four ♪ you say ♪ flip it over and replay ♪ we'll make everything okay ♪ walk together the right way

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38 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date on this morning's top story. the u.s. supreme court upholds a stay of execution for this man. he is a florida man convicted of killing eight people. john errol ferguson. he was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection last night but his lawyers successfully filed a he is mentally insane. ferguson has been on death row for 34 years. >> an expert surfer killed in a shark attack off the coast of santa barbara in california. the victim was builten in the upper torso in the waters off surf beach at vandenberg air force base. it is not clear what type of shark attacked him. convicted serial pedophile jerry sandusky is spending his first full day in a new pennsylvania prison. the former penn state coach was transferred to the state lockup at camp hill yesterday.

he's going to undergo a physical and mental evaluation before being moved to another state prison to serve out the rest of his 30 to 60-year sentence. an october snowstorm in the sierra nevada mountains left some drivers stranded for up to nine hours. oh! >> can you imagine that? >> this is what it looked like tuesday along interstate 80 near truckee, california. drivers had to wait until crews cleared away snow in an area where road construction had narrowed the freeway down to one lane. >> what do you do if you have to go to the bathroom? >> the woods. >> stay good-bye to the university of north dakota fighting sioux. the last of half a dozen signs was removed from the campus hockey arena. it is part of a settlement with the ncaa to retire the school's nickname since native americans considered that mascot offensive. the signs are being replaced with one saying home of north dakota hockey! the school won't have a new nickname until 2015. i'm assured that somewhere in this building soledad o'brien is joining us now with a look at what's ahead on "starting

point." there you are. soledad. >> lots happening this morning. ahead this morning on "starting point," lots of fallout over rape comments. republican senate candidate under fire now for saying that pregnancies caused by rape are something intended by god. we're going to talk about his choice of words with our panel this morning. and batter up, the world series starts tonight between the san francisco giants and the detroit tigers who beat my yankees. who is most likely to take home the glory? insight this morning from the host of espn's mike and mike in the morning. and she's one big fish in business. qvc queen and shark tank star joins us to talk about new details for a new season. that's straight ahead this morning in just about 19 minutes. see you then. >> very cool. thanks. >> all right. 41 minutes past the hour. just 13 days to go until the election, and a laser-like focus now on a handful of battleground states. by cnn's count there are now nine toss-up states where this election will be decided. you see them there in yellow. nevada, colorado, iowa,

wisconsin, ohio, virginia, north carolina, florida, and new hampshire. this morning's cnn reporting that there's a consensus building inside both campaigns that americans will wake up on election day and not know who the next president will be. florida republican congressman mario diaz-balart advises mitt romney on foreign policy, and he joins us now from miami. very nice to see you, sir. thank you for joining us. so let's start with the race in your home state of florida. our latest poll show the contest is virtually tied there. but the romney campaign has been pretty confident that it can win. "the new york times" nate silver even questioned whether president obama should be spending resources in the sunshine state. how confident are you that mitt romney has it locked up? >> i don't think anybody has it locked up. but i feel very confident that mitt romney will win florida. i think he'll win with stronger numbers than people may suspect at this time.

>> so let's look at some constituencies that could alter the situation, particularly in florida. we're going to start with latinos here. we've got two recent polls that show a conflicting picture on who latinos in florida support for president. a miami herald florida international university poll shows obama beating romney by seven points. but a tampa bay times miami herald poll shows romney up by two points. so you're a member of romney's hispanic steering committee. what are you seeing on the ground as far as latino vote goes? >> the latino community has been hit really, really hard by this recession. if you look at, for example, children in poverty, the largest group of children in poverty are the hispanic latino children in the united states. poverty has increased among latinos. unemployment, frankly, is excessively high. there are no jobs. really in the entire country, and that also stands true for florida. so, when all the rhetoric is said and done, the question is,

are -- do our grandchildren and our children deserve this? is this the best the united states can be? or do they deserve, and frankly do we deserve, also, a better future, a better president? that's why i think you're seeing governor romney's numbers go up. the president's numbers continue to slip. because the president, frankly, keeps talking about his policies of four years ago. governor romney has real policies about how to get the economy going. that's -- >> but let's focus, if i can interrupt you here for a moment, if we could focus on economy. our latest cnn national poll of latinos shows obama beating romney on every issue, including the economy. so how do you reconcile that? this has obama 68%, romney 28%. >> but you're starting to see a shift in the actual numbers of those who are more likely to vote. because they're starting to realize, everybody's starting to realize, again, look, it's not -- >> where are you seeing that shift? are you seeing that shift in some polls?

>> well we're seeing it, you just mentioned the polls among latinos in florida and you're seeing that they've gotten a lot closer than they were three weeks ago. three months ago. and again, i think the issue is voting former -- >> i meant more focused on the economy right as you were talking about the economy. our polls don't show that specifically. but let's talk about women. let's move on here. romney is distancing himself from some really controversial comments made by republican indiana senate candidate richard mourdock. let's play that and then talk about it. >> i believe that life begins at conception. the only exception i have for -- to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. i just -- i struggled with it myself for a long time but i came to realize life is a gift from god, and i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that god intended to happen. >> now the romney campaign has released this statement. it says governor romney disagrees with richard mourdock's comments and they do not reflect his views.

but romney just finished shooting a campaign ad for mourdock, could this link hurt him with women voters? >> no. i mean, look, you know, trying to make links with every statement that's out there, i mean, i guess one could try to do that. but the reality, and voters are smarter than that. the american people are smarter than that. they understand who is on the ballot for president is mitt romney. they understand what he stands for. they understand that he's the only one that can fix the economy, those running for president. and that's what this is all about. you can try to link controversial statements to the president, or controversial statements to mitt romney. but the american people frankly, they're bigger and they're smarting than i think a lot of times either politicians or members of the press believe that they are. >> i know you're really there in florida. we really appreciate you taking some time out to join us this morning. florida republican congressman mario diaz-balart. romney foreign policy adviser. thank you. nice to see you this morning. >> all right, one team has been resting for a week. the other is fresh off a grueling seven-game championship

series. who has the upper hand in the world series? more on the tigers and the giants and the fall classic coming up.

after a blowout game seven victory against the st. louis cardinals monday night the san francisco giants will take on the detroit tigers in game one of the world series. that is tonight. the giants are kind of the comeback kids of 2012. you can't really put them away. they're 6 for 6 in elimination games this season. do they have a chance at the world series, though? back with us is sports illustrated dotcom anchor maggie gray. when you line up the giants against the tigers they don't seem to have quite as much

talent as detroit does. how can the giants beat detroit? >> it's going to be about playing small ball. that's national league ball. the giants lineup doesn't have the heavy hitters that the tigers have. no prince fielders, no miguel cabrera triple crown winner. but it's a packed work sort of lineup that can get guys on base. the fact that marco skut row who was acquired from the giants in july in a trade, he hit .500 so far through the postseason. the fact that he's been able to bring so many guys in, it's just getting those hits here and there. the ball actually hit the bat three different times before it broke. they're kind of getting a little bit of luck on their side. also it's strategic. they're playing smart ball. >> if marco scutero is your best hitter you have some problems. >> you may. and i think we're going to know very quickly whether the layoff is going to hurt the tigers and how much it will. justin verlander, he's obviously their best ace and weapon. he's going to be the litmus

test. we're going to know really, really early. also it's a tough park in san francisco. not a home run hitters park out there. if the weather is bad, balls tend to stay in the park. so that could also play a role, as well. >> so you just kind of mentioned the fact that detroit has been on vacation basically for awhile now and they're going against these other folks who've been playing really hard, the giants. so what do you see there happening? >> you know, it's hard to tell. in different years past we've seen both things happen. we saw the tigers back in 2006, they had a week off, they end up losing 4-1 to the cardinals. that week off really hurt them and they're trying to do everything they can to not replicate what happened back then. then you saw the phillies 2008. they had a week off, they were just absolutely dominant. so i think it goes to how many veterans on the team and i think starting pitching, and they say in baseball your momentum is only as good as your next day's starting pitcher. even all the great mojo that the giants had built up could be dashed in an instant if verlander has a tough night. >> all is not good for detroit.

they have some serious bull pen issues. >> val verdict has blown so many saves he had to be benched. that is not a confidence booster heading into the world series. so we'll see how much jim leland, one of the great tacticians of the sport, so you have to put your trust in the tigers manager, it's his third world series managing career. what is he going to do with that bull pen? i think he's hoping verlander, these guys will actually take us through enough innings that he doesn't have to call on so many of his bull pen guys. >> i'm going for the underdogs on this one. i want to talk about the yankees before you go. because we had a really great conversation off camera about a-rod and what's going to happen with him. >> good question. the yankees still owe him a lot of money. >> how much? >> $114 million over the next five years. he's 37 years old. he's getting towards the end of his career. clearly he's past his peak. this was one of the all-time bad postseason performances from alex rodriguez.

12 strikeouts, no rbis. been benched twice. pinchhit for -- not a great season despite the fact he actually had a pretty good season for the yankees despite being injured. they're going to need to have quit a suitor on their hands if they're going to negotiate a way to get a-rod out of town. >> they have to pay a lot of money for him to go play somewhere else. >> it already happened once in a-rod's career. we saw yankees take a lot of money off the texas rangers to get him out of town. so it's not impossible but they have to eat about $90 million just to send him elsewhere. >> and we miss him on the pages here. >> they feel a little empty. >> great to have you here. sportsillustrated.com anchor. >> today's best advice still coming up. [ male announcer ] how do you trade? with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor,

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just a few minutes left to go as always. we wrap it up with best advice. >> today we hear from actress host of prank my mom on lifetime vivica fox. >> the best advice that i've ever got is to get out of my own way. and when i say that, it's that i had to learn to accept who i am, be comfortable in my own skin and love me some me. >> love me some me. i love that. i had an opportunity to sit down with her and do an interview her on that prank my mom so i just wanted to give her mother a heads aup. i said would you ever prank your mom? the whole premise is these kids just pull these amazing stunts on their mom and it's horrific. she said absolutely and i'm going to do it in church. so mom, look out. because she's headed to get her. >> she has a ton of energy. that is all for "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin.

"starting point" starts right noup good morning, welcome everybody, our "starting point" this morning, race to the finish line. 13 days until election day. president obama and governor romney make their case to swing states. >> you can choose a foreign policy that's reckless and wrong or you can choose one that's steady and strong. >> he calls his campaign slogan forward. i think forewarned is a better term. what did the white house know and he? we're learning more this morning about e-mail alerts sent to the obama administration in the hours after that deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. and outrage over some rape comments. a republican senate candidate at the center of the controversy says pregnancy is caused by rape are intended by god. it's wednesday, october 24th, and "starting point" begins right now.