washington, d.c., now allow early voting. 19 of them have already started, including the battleground states of north carolina, ohio and iowa. and eight more get underway on monday including crucial ballots have been requested. 45% from democrats. only 30% from republicans and in ohio, we all know it gets no more important than ohio. it is closer, but democrats are still ahead. 36% of ballots so far registered democrats. 29% have been requested are for republicans. now, just to give you an anecdote that underlines how significant this can be, in 2008 in north carolina, early voting won it for the president. based on votes cast only on

election day, he lost the state to john mccain. john mccain got 58% of the votes cast on election day. that's an overwhelming margin, right? but obama won the state. he built up such a big lead in early voting that he won. the first time in 32 years. there's a statistic today on north carolina that's going to shock you. i've got that to share with james carville, political contributor and democratic strategist and erick erickson. great to see you. let me start with you. redstate.com, interesting especially since we're talking about north carolina. these numbers have got to scare you. >> to a degree, they do, although again, democrats typically do do well in early votinging, but when you look at some of the margins, for example, in ohio, green county outside of dayton, has seen a shift from democrat to republican. montgomery, i believe. that one is drawn closer to the republicans.

so they're drawing closer to where it was in 2004, when it was bush versus kerry. they've been able to narrow it down from where obama was. then you look at colorado where republicans are a little bit ahead now. so democrats typically are ahead in early voting, but i don't think it's as significant this year. won't be a case like in north carolina i don't think, where early voting was deciding these elections. >> all right, well i'm saving my statistic for a moment. it's a real bomb. james, an ek doe tall evidence does say -- that early voting favors democrats. they often are more working class. early voting enables them to go out and have their voice, but you think the effect can be overstated? >> i think it can be easily overstated. it's not like you have two different people, a person in a -- one of the things that democrats tend to do -- field operation, never seen. my guess is moving -- >> i will take an educated.

which brings me to why you would need to be worrieded. in north carolina, where they started early voting yesterday, more ballots than on the first day four years ago. 150,000 versus 117,000. this favors, this was the big o. this favored obama. now, you've got the romney campaign saying we're pulling north carolina on ads. so confidence we're going to win, but yet, we have this record on early voting. is this going to be a smart decision? >> it's interesting to see where the candidates are and barack obama hasn't gone to north carolina. i think if they really consider this a state seriously in play -- >> 14,000 i think. >> yeah, you just don't know on these sorts of things early. one thing mitt romney should be worried about though is that a 150,000 versus 117,000. this favors, this was the big o. this favored obama. now, you've got the romney campaign saying we're pulling north carolina on ads. so confidence we're going to win, but yet, we have this record on early voting. is this going to be a smart

decision? >> it's interesting to see where the candidates are and barack obama hasn't gone to north carolina. i think if they really consider this a state seriously in play -- >> 14,000 i think. >> yeah, you just don't know on these sorts of things early. one thing mitt romney should be worried about though is that a number of states started voting early before the first presidential debate and i would guess there was an uptick of republican voters after that. people on the ground in the swing states tell me there was. but how many people voted before the first debate versus after. it's something the romney campaign has to take into account. >> james, what do they do to get people to vote who might not vote otherwise? how appropriate is it?

letting them take bus, is that all okay? >> sure. it's okay to pay media to run a television spot. why can't okay to pay a bus driver to take people to polls. of course it's okay. what's illegal is to pay people to vote. you can do anything like that. for god sakes, we have drivers and people can call headquarters and request a driver and you'll send them out here. >> it's got financial value though. >> huh? >> it's got financial value though doesn't it? >> again, it has financial value to cnn if somebody buys an ad or not. if somebody wants a ride to the polls, a volunteer can go pick them up and take them to the polls. i can't imagine there's anything untold or illegal. anything good about it. i'm sure that --

>> let me ask you about florida, james. this is a state that appears to be tied. at least according to the absentee ballots that we understand here at cnn and the new poll from cnn obviously has romney ahead by one point, well within the margin of error. is it possible florida could come back to bush v. gore? >> it could. if you look among registered voters, obama's actually up by seven. the obama field operation in voter contact thing, it very, very, very sophisticated. as i said earlier in the show and something to watch, i suspect they're talking, what they would refer to as non habitual voters. the republicans have been traditionally very good at this. always been very good at absentee ballot. i'm sure they have efforts to get their people out here, too, and i go back to my original point. is an early voter -- that's the real question that's unanswerable here. >> why do we have early voting? why not just get rid of voting on a tuesday, put it on a weekend, have it on one day. stop with this early voting

business. have it on a day everybody can vote or even a saturday or a sunday? >> oh, that goes back to the founding of the country and the need to put it on a tuesday given people's schedules and traveling and abilities to travel. oregon now has it by mail. the one thing i have with that, i was an election lawyer for a number of years and i've always had a concern when you make it too general and broad, vote anytime you want, it becomes less of a civic, national commitment. one of the things reporters are going to start doing on monday is calling around to rental car agencies and seeing who's got the rental cars, the 15-passenger vans. that tells you a lot about ground game operation. >> should we move it on a tuesday here? >> you can't. in a federal election, the president of the congress, it is set in the constitution as the

first tuesday after the first monday in november. so, it is impossible. you could change state elections or other elections any date that you wanted to. i don't know why, kind of with erick here a little bit. >> well, you know what i'm for, constitutional amendment here. finally found one that i get support. still to come, the new poll that i mentioned from florida. the lead on this changes the race yet again. we're going to be joined by the top official on that, plus, it's been ten days since a group of is that rights sent the administration a letter asking what the administration knew about the libya attacks and when it knew it and there's still no reply. why? and the dirty side of politics. >> you are a liar. >> it's just a pretty remarkable thing for a young man to say or for a man of any age to say. [ male announcer ] how do you help doctors

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our second story "outfront," stone walling on libya. that's how vice presidential candidate paul ryan describes the president's response to the attack in benghazi. >> they refuse to answer the basic questions about what happened. you know, and so, his response has been inconsistent, misleading and more than a month later, we have more questions than answers. >> now, that came as republican lawmakers pressed top officials in a lert that reads, i quote -- the american people have a right to learn what our intelligence communities knew. "outfront" tonight, peter brooks, nick burns, former u.s. ambassador to nato. good to see you again. nick, let me start with you. senator john mccain, senator

graham, senator ayotte were the ones who sent that letter ten days ago. the assistant to the president for homeland security, john brennan was on it and they asked who knew what and when. is it fair to say they're stone walling? >> i don't think it's fair to say that at all. i think it is legitimate to ask what happened that night. why did we lose four great american public service including ambassador chris stevens. what lessons must we learn from that and how do we protect diplomats. that's the question, secretary clinton has ordered an investigation and review of the process led by one of the most respected people in washington, ambassador tom pickering and that process should not be politicized. that committee needs to take the time and the care -- what's happening is this entire process

has been politicized. we ought to put our emphasis on finding out what happened. i think that's where this debate should be. >> i want to talk about that point more in a moment. an interesting "new york times" headline today saying that the men the u.s. suspects being behind the attacks is literally snubbing the the u.s. and walking around without being questioned on the streets of libya right now. but earlier today, state department spokeswoman was asked if the state department was made aware of what the intelligence community knew within 24 hours of the attacks. that is, that extremists led the attack. of course in contrast to what susan rice said on the sunday talk shows, it was not spontaneous. here's the exchange. >> we never talk about intelligence issues from this podium at all, so i'm not in the position to comment on that today.

>> that's not true. >> here we go. >> you talk about intelligence issues when you want to talk about them and when it's in your interest to do so. >> that's fair. >> sort of a funny moment. obviously, this is a woman who in the days after the attack herself was asked if it was a terrorist attack and she said it was not. why the difficulty here answering this question of what the intelligence community we now know knew within 24 hours and why that did not end up in the public domain? >> i think the candidate had a right stone walling. there's no reason these answers should not be provided to the congress. that's their duty as oversight of the executive branch. we have four dead americans. and we deserve answers about this. this is an issue of transparency. this is an issue of accountability and i think the american people deserve a lot better than this from the current government.

>> who made the decision to make her the face and voice on this? >> i don't know, but what i do know is this. i think we've had, i think we've had you know, the president -- legitimate questions asked here. the the president will have to answer more on monday night in the third debate and the the questions will range from what happened, was there a security break down. why did that happen and what are you going to do about it. but the other questions i was suggests, as to what we can now do to reduce the threat to our diplomats. as i said before, it seems reasonable to me that you can't always trust the first reports to come in. the administration obviously felt that they believed that these, that the attack has been inspired by the video. they changed by the time the information came in. >> why didn't that end up in the public domain for so long? isn't that a fair question to ask?

>> but here, it's a fair question to ask. i think it is a fair question, but here's the problem. we now have a report about some information made available in 24 hours, but we don't know what other information was colliding with that because we on the outside of the government are not privy to everything the administration was being told. i'd just like to stress this. on a nonpartisan base i i think these are very honorable people. president obama, secretary clinton and ambassador rice. i am convinced they would never mislead the american people and i think they need to be given a break on that particular question. >> all right, thank you very much. we appreciate it. going to be a big topic on the debate monday and still "outfront", name calling, physical contact. this is happening today in american politics. this season. you're going to love seeing the tape of it and that's next. and julian castro hit the national spotlight with that speech at the democratic convention, the rising star. shared prosperity. is he sharing it with the wrong

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this election season has seen some of the nastiest battles. >> talk about the fact -- >> you are only paid $500 for child support. talk about that. >> you are -- >> hurt my ex-wife. who i still love. >> you are a low life scum bag. >> also in the battleground state, josh mendel called sherrod brown a liar during their debate last night. >> you are a liar. you are lying to the people of the state of ohio. you're falsely attacking me and i won't stand for it. you might want to push people around in washington, but you're not going to push me around. >> it's swrus a pretty remarkable thing for a young man or a man of any age to say in a political debate. >> john avlon assures me he's not as young as he looks. it's got a little physical, too though.

this is security stepping in during last week's debate between brad sherman and howard bermen. look at this. look at this. you kind of almost rooting for the fight. i mean -- yeah, okay, that -- i mean, john avlon, just want to play this video out because i love it. what is causing this anger? we all like to play when i think it was in russia or egypt, they come and we say oh and this is such an entertaining video. it's happening right here. >> if we're not careful, it could happen right here. part of this is the intensity, things get ugly. you're seeing that now. there's a sense of desperation. people are fighting for their political lives an it gets personal. one of the things about our politics in recent years, we've forgotten they aren't our opponents. that can bleed over real quick

into something ugly. >> candy crowley said they didn't seem like they personally disliked each other, but some of those moments between them, it sure feels that way. >> presidential debates didn't set a much higher standard. i think we've got a clip of that. they're really just intense interruptions. almost looked like it was going to get physical. >> governor romney, here's what we did. there were a whole bunch of oil companies -- >> i had a question and the question was how much did you cut them by -- >> you want me to answer, i'm happy to answer the question. >> and it is? >> here's what happened. >> politics ain't bean bag. we get it. this is tough stuff. but the stakes are higher in a presidential year and that's one of the reasons for the increased anxiety. there's also been a disrespect of the office. not just the interruption of the debate.

that's a fairly mild form. we saw in the late bush years with bush derangement syndrome, the folks on the far left getting heated and obama syndrome, where so many of the debates could be great debates. that distorted debates big time, too. >> thanks very much to john avlon. it's a pretty disturbing moments. disgusting, yet delectable to watch. next, it's been more than a month since anyone has heard from the beautiful and mysterious wife of north korea's new leader. was she punished for being disloyal? plus, the new poll and a new leader in florida. we start the second half of our show with stories we care

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we start the second half of our show with stories we care about, focus on our reporting from the front lines and start with the stock market. a lousy day. all three indices closed lower. one of the big reasons was disappointing reports for the quarter from mcdonald's, ge and microsoft. and a doctor once the team doctor for the pittsburgh stealers has been arrested on charges of conspiracy to

distribute anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and painkillers to his patients. he faces a 185-count indictment. authorities declined to comment on whether he preskibed the drugs to the players, but in a statement, the attorney in charge of the case says he is accused of using the prescription pad like a personal atm. leaders met in mali's capita to discus ousting the rebels in control of the north of the country. the chairman said mali needs an immediate deployment of international troops. the secretary general said the organization is sending planners to the area. eu leaders said the situation poses an immediate threat to north africa and europe. prime minister of mali recently told me the country doesn't have enough guns and they needed guns from the united states. where the north korea's first

lady? she is the singer who married north korea's kim jong-un. she has not been seen in more than a month. now, some media reports claim she has angered elder leaders by wearing a broach. all north koreans have required to wear a specific badge that honors the nation's founder and she doesn't. she wears other broaches. some say it could be something else, she could be pregnant. gordon chang tells "outfront" it could be both. his guess is that she is with child and in trouble politically for failing to show sufficient respect. he says the pregnancy would not account for disappearance from public view. that is more likely due to turmoil within the the regime. another thing she did, she often dresses in very pretty, colorful clothes, which is not the standard for the first lady in

north korea. it's been 442 days since the u.s. lost its top credit rating. sales of previously owned homes fell if september. economists we spoke with say the decline makes sense because it was a bigger than expected gain in august. now, our fourth story. the florida sunshine. well today, it looked like it was shining down on mitt romney. a new cnn poll shows the candidate ahead in the sunshine state. it is perhaps the most crucial of the swing states, home to 29 electoral votes. now, the lead is within the margin of error. our last poll in august had the president ahead by four. among women voters, 53% of the electorate in 2008, the president is ahead. but support has dropped dramatically. in august, the president was leading by 12 points and now he

is ahead by just two points. that is within the the margin of error. for the 50 plus crowd, they make up about half of the florida population and right now, they are leaning towards mitt romney. 56 to 43% and there was some more good news for romney in florida. there was because the largest newspaper in central florida, the orlando sentinel, endorsed the republican candidate. four years ago, that paper had endorsed president obama and today, the editorial board wrote while the nation's economy is still sputtering, the federal government is more than $5 trillion in debt. it just racked up its fourth straight 13-figure shortfall. we have little confidence that obama would be more successful managing the economy and budget in the negs four years. so, why has the president lost ground in this state? that is the key question tonight and joining us to talk about it is democratic congresswoman from california, debbie wasserman schultz. great to see you. let me your state chose

president obama 51-48% over john mccain. obviously that was a crucial victory and now, according to this latest poll, there fs a big swing in this, trailing mitt romney. what happened? >> well, look, florida is always, always a very close race in the presidential election. this year will be no exception. one thing that's important to keep in mind is that florida has gone with the incumbent president in every election since 1984. the key thing is if you look at polls in the last 18 days, the obama campaign began our building of our grass roots ground operation back in the beginning of the 2008 campaign and we have never left florida. we have a ground game that is superior to the romney campaign and if you look at our turnout operation when it comes to early voting, we've actually, when it comes to absentee balloting, which republicans usually have a

big advantage of, we have closed that gap in their advantage by more than two-thirds this time. and we have our vote now program, so we have a very serious and significant ground operation that we expect is going to make sure that president obama will win this state again. sorry. >> a lot of people have given you credit for that ground game and having more offices on the ground. there's no doubt about it. >> 109 across the state of florida. >> but what about some of the issues this breaks down, not just the elderly, but among women voters. 53% of the electorate in 2008. women voters, it was a 12-point spread in favor of the president. now, a two-point spread. that's a dramatic plunge. that's got to frighten you, doesn't snit. >> what frightens me is that mitt romney's -- he's actually committed to that.

he wouldn't even answer the question in the debate the other night when asked if he would sign the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. he seems to have forgotten anything he said during the republican primary. like that he would have vetoed the dream act. it's a big deal in florida. we have a lot of young dreamers who are now able to stay in this country. mitt romney would have voe vetoed the dream act and believes in saying to the undocumented immigrants that they should just self-deport. in florida, the issues the election will come down to, the economy, medicare, social security, immigration and the issues important to women. >> with those voters over 50, mitt romney in our poll leading now 56 to 43. which may surprise some who think that medicare push on that ticket was something older

people wouldn't like. it doesn't seem to be the case. what about this endorsement? >> overwhelmingly when seniors are asked, like mitt romney's proposal that we should turn medicare into a voucher system or make sure that safety net is there, they overwhelmingly oppose mitt romney's plan and we're continuing make sure we educate seniors about that. on the "orlando sentinel" or any other newspaper, newspaper endorsements are important. there are a large number of significant newspapers across the country. i expect president obama will ultimately be endorsed by most of them as he was in 2008. >> but this one was a switch. this paper endorsed the president in 2008. and you know, you heard the quote we said. $5 trillion deeper into debt. fourth straight 13th figure shortfall. we have little confidence he could manage the economy better in the next four years. >> i think the last thing

florida voters want is to go back to failed policies that mitt romney embraces that would take us back to a time when we focused our tax policy on millionaires and billionaires. mitt romney's proposed $5 trillion in tax cuts skewed towards the wealthy and all of the economic objective analysis. >> but what he say is different. >> to be fair, what he said is he wants an overhaul on tax policy. he wants to close loopholes and lower rates. i totally get your point. but it's not fair to say that he doesn't want an overhaul in tax policy. he's not just saying -- >> i'm sorry, what he's saying is that he's going to -- cut education, health care, increase spending in the pentagon and defense spending by $2 trillion, which they haven't asked for and don't need and then add some, too, and how does that add up? it's just ridiculous.

>> you're right -- but "the washington post" said today that mitt romney's plan on defense was much better for this country than barack obama's. >> at the end of the day, we need to make sure we have a balanced approach. president obama understands and has put forward a $4 trillion deficit reduction plan that would ensure we can continue to make the kinds of investments we need in education and health care so we can outeducate and outcompete in the rest of the world. now, we need to take at least half of that money and invest it in making sure that we can continue to rebuild our economy for the middle class. that's the best way to move us forward. >> thank you very much. good to see you and appreciate you taking the time tonight. a rising star awards a contract to a south korean company instead of an american one. critics say that deal doesn't

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we're back with tonight's outer circle and we begin in beirut where state media reports a top intelligence official was assassinated in a massive car bomb attack today. at least two others were also killed. peyton walsh was this and i asked him who did it. >> reporter: there's been no claim in responsibility yet, but those allies are the pro western commission, and blamed the syrian regime and allies inside lebanon for the attack. syria condemning this attack, but really as this blame game continues and it will in the days ahead, the theory will match reprisals, retaliation across the country. we've seen ties set along blocking streets here in the capital. shots exchanged in tripoli on well established sectarian fault lines, the fear being this assassination could spark dark days ahead. >> now to the uk where the

pakistani teenager was shot by the taliban is being treated and today, doctors released the first photos of her since she arrived at the hospital on sunday. dan rivers is in london and i asked how she's doing. >> some really encouraging signs from the hospital are where she is being treated. a new photo showing she's out of a coma now. doctors saying he's able to write, stand, that she has thanked people for their support and interest in her case. stressing she's not out of the woods yet, but it all does go very well. thir stale waiting to see if she can speak. hopefully over the next few days, they'll know that. but it's a iraqable recovery so far. >> thanks so dan. and now, let's check in with john king. he's in for anderson cooper. good friday night, john. >> we're keeping them honest.

new information in the attack. significant details ahead on who knew what and when. i'm joined by david kirk patrick of "the new york times" who interviewed one of the suspected ring leaders of the attack. as well as fran townsend and bob bayer. and secret files released by the boy scouts of america, leaders banned from the organization. scout leaders dubbed these records this perversion files. gary tuckman went looking for answers. we'll also bring you the latest poll results from florida. it's all at the top of the hour. >> all right. see you in just a few moments. and now, questions tonight from a rising star in the democratic party. san antonio has awarded a contract worth several hundred million dollars to a solar power company.

not in the united states, where as we've reported, some of those that have been subsidized recently have gone bankrupt. no, one in south korea, beating out those american companies on their own home turf. critics say this deal does not add up. >> the american dream -- >> his keynote address at the democratic national convention, julian castro talked about investing in the american people. but his city, the home of the alamo and the river walk, has decided to send hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from a 25-year solar energy deal to south korea. it is the largest public utility solar project in american history. and american solar companies are upset that they didn't get it. >> it was san antonio's choice and it's just important for us to move beyond the disappointment.

>> sandy owns dallas based one sol tech, a company that partnered with a group of other u.s. companies on a san antonio bid. they believed they had not only the experience needed to pull off the project, but also the the financial backing. >> our consortium was really a combination of all size companies. all kinds of experience. >> and they thought they'd win the deal or lose to a group with similar backing and experience, but the winner was called oci. a relative none known. they had never produced a single megawatt of power. >> it was surprised to hear of oci winning that contract because there are better known project developers in t u.s. >> she writes about the -- she says south korean companies with help from the korean government has been pushing hard to win a larger share of the solar

market. >> it was just unusual, i guess, for san antonio to pick a company that does not have the experience. >> not only did oci have limited experience, but their bid came in at a higher price. according to sources, oci offered to sell san antonio power for 11 cents per kilowatt hour. secret files hidden for decades

>> it was surprising to hear that oci winning that contract, only because there are other better known project developers in the u.s. >> reporter: the solar power industry is written about in forbes. the writer says south korean companies have been pushing hard to win a larger share of the solar market. >> it was just unusual, i guess, for san antonio to pick a company that does not have the experience. >> reporter: not only did oci have limited experience, but their bid came in at a higher price. according to multiple sources familiar with the bids, oci offered to sell san antonio power for 11 cents per kilowatt hour. one of the u.s. consortiums with more solar experience was offering a price of 9.8 cents. according to the utility's bid rules, price was the highest factor for consideration given a weight of 40%. the utility says their agreement with oci prohibits them from releasing details on pricing. mayor castro sits on the board of the city's public utility, cps, and along with the rest of the board, voted to okay the contract with oci. on october 10th of last year, three months before the deal was announced, castro traveled to south korea with a trade delegation from san antonio. on october 12th, he cut his trip short and flew to washington to attend a state dinner at the white house in honor of south korean's president. castro had a seat at the head

table with presidents obama and tableesenbuwe sidents obama and bidding on this that were competitive. ultimately it just came down to oci solar put together a better package. >> reporter: oci declined our request for an interview since they won the san antonio contract, they have launched several other solar projects. as for the fact that san antonio residents will be sending hundreds of millions of american dollars to korea for energy over the next 25 years -- >> i honestly don't think we looked at it that way. we looked at it as bringing jobs to san antonio and as far as we're concerned, those are american jobs, and frankly, the energy industry itself is pretty international. >> reporter: they say despite disappointment over losing the san antonio job, they are optimistic about the future. >> i think every one of us here thinks the future is bright. >> reporter: ted rowlands, cnn, san antonio. >> we welcome your feedback on that excellent report. next, who knew that barack and mitt are funny? >> i've already seen early reports from tonight's dinner. headline, obama embraced by catholics. romney dines with rich people.

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for a change the nastiness between president barack obama and mitt romney was all in good fun. the two candidates shared the same stage last night at the al smith charity dinner in new york and exchanged, yes, not punches

or anger. one-liners and laughs. >> i'm glad to be able to join in this venerable tradition. of course i'm pleased that the president's here. we were chatting pleasantly this evening as if tuesday night never happened. i was actually hoping the president would bring joe biden along this evening, because he'll laugh at anything. >> everyone please take your seats. otherwise clint eastwood will yell at them. it's been four years since i was last at the al smith dinner and i have to admit some things have changed since then. i've heard some people say barack, you're not as young as you used to be. where's that golden smile, where's that pep in your step. and i say settle down, joe, i'm trying to run a cabinet meeting

here. >> the campaign can require a lot of wardrobe changes. blue jeans in the morning, perhaps, suits for a lunch fund-raiser, sport coat for dinner, but it's nice to finally relax and to wear what ann and i wear around the house. >> tonight's not about the disagreements governor romney and i may have. it's what we have in common, beginning with our unusual names. actually, mitt is his middle name. i wish i could use my middle name. >> people seem to be very curious as to how we prepare for the debates. let me tell you what i do. first, refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate. second, find the biggest available straw man and then just mercilessly attack it.

big bird didn't even see it coming. and by the way, in the spirit of sesame street, the president's remarks tonight are brought to you by the letter "o" and the number 16 trillion. >> this is the third time that governor romney and i have met recently. as some of you may have noticed, i had a lot more energy in our second debate. i felt really well rested after the nice long nap i had in the first debate. >> i've already seen early reports from tonight's dinner. headline, obama embraced by catholics. romney dines with rich people. >> i'm still making the most of my time in the city. earlier today, i went shopping at some stores in midtown. i understand governor romney went shopping for some stores in midtown.