good morning. it is monday, october 22, 2012. welcome to cbs "this morning." president obama and governor romney get set for tonight's final showdown. a new cbs news poll shows tightening race in ohio where both candidates need to win. should scientists go to jail for failing to predict a deadly earthquake and we'll take you inside a controversial trial. >> we begin this morning with today's "eye opener," your world in 90 seconds. the stakes are pretty high for both candidates. the election is close. this debate cycle has been truly consequential. >> mitt romney and president obama face off in florida tonight. >> for their final debate. the focus will be on foreign policy. people want to know they have a strong, steady hand in the oval

office and they don't want someone who is reckless. >> what's becoming apparent in these debates the president has no plans in the next four years. >> who has the kind of strength, calmness, temperament to be the next president. >> police in wisconsin say yesterday's deadly shooting was the result of a domestic dispute. three women were kill and four others wounded. >> the one suspect is deceased. we believe it to be self-inflicted gunshot wound. >> protests erupted in beirut after lebanon's assassination intelligence chief. >> many blame the take on syria. >> san francisco giants forcing a game seven in the national league series over the cardinals. >> new video of a firebomb attack outside of a long beach mark. >> in china a 4-year-old boy became wedged between two walls.

took firefighters nearly two hours to rescue him. >> people ask me a lot how are you doing? i tell them i say i've been better. >> all that -- >> no, no, no. this is -- >> ash and all that matters. >> you have somebody with a nobel peace prize and killed osama bin laden. >> saying you killed osama bin laden is like saying you won second season of "american idol". welcome to cbs "this morning." just two weeks and a day americans will decide who will be the next president of the united states. the candidates get their last chance tonight to make their case to the voters, the subject will be foreign policy, the third and final presidential debate. the moderator will be chief

washington correspondent bob schieffer. a new quinnipiac university-cbs nes-"new york times" poll focuses on ohio. >> president obama now has a five-point advantage over governor mitt romney, 50% to 45%. romney has cut the president's lead in half since september and the same poll found prefers the president on foreign policy but his lead has shrturning in the past month. when they were asked who was the strong leader more ohio voters choose romney and when asked if the candidates care about their needs and problems the president had the advantage. jan crawford is in boca raton, florida and covering the prep regulates from the romney campaign. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. romney has spent much of his day yesterday in debate prep huddled with his advisers getting ready to square off tonight on that stage. he did take a break yesterday to go out and meet with his campaign team which was having a quick game of touch football

against the press on the beach. he had some advice for his team which was really insightful, win. whether romney will win tonight's debate, his topic, foreign policy naturally favors the incumbent, they believe romney will hold his own. they expect this debate to have a different tone than the last debate. these guys will be seated around a table. they don't aspect the president to come out as aggressive as he was in the last debate when he came out swinging they were going almost toe to toe. they do think he'll go on offensive on libya and aaccuse momry of politicizing that issue. romney's advisers say that's his challenge this time, to stay focused, be matter of fact and not swing for the fences. romney is going to argue that the president's foreign policy is just unraveling. especially in the middle east. and that he believes he would be transformative figure based on

his personality not having this coherent personality of strength. he'll be making the bigger points about the economy, and the increasing national debt hurting national security. he's going to fwu that a strong economy is essential to a strong foreign policy. >> jan crawford, thanks. nancy cordes is at the white house where president obama will debate shortly for tonight's debate. >> the white house sees foreign policy as the president's strength. they say he looks forward tonight to talk about ending the war in iraq, winding down the war in afghanistan. though they know he's is going to face tough questions too about what happens in afghanistan after the u.s. leaves. and about his administration's handling of that attack in libya that left four americans including the u.s. ambassador dead. he's also very likely to be asked about a report in the "new york times" this weekend that said that the u.s. and iranians are on the verge of one on one talks about iran's nuclear program after the election. the white house came out very quickly and denied that but

officials tell me they are open with talks with the iranians. the president is likely to be asked about that because some republicans argue that's a sign of weakness. the president likely to argue that it's a sign that his sanctions that he put in place against iran are working and that iran is more willing to negotiate. mr. obama has spent all weekend at camp david going over background materials, meeting with his debate team, and you're likely to hear him tonight describe romney's foreign policy as blundering. you'll hear him talk about the fact that romney's one and only overseas trip ended him embarrassing himself fwuing perhaps the uk wasn't ready to host the olympics. >> nancy cordes thank you. form michigan governor jennifer granholm a democrat and hosts the war room on current tv and rirk dives, john mccain's 2008 campaign manager. welcome. you both can read polls. where are we especially in ohio and what are the factors at play

at this moment? governor. >> first of all i think your lead in about him closing is not a surprise. what's a surprise is he's still at five points up. he's outside the margin of error, the president is. there's a couple of interesting facts in your poll. one there's a 15-point gender gap that bodes well for the president. and the middle class, the question on the middle class was very strongly in favor of the president, 54% of those polled believe he would be better for the middle class. one other thing, one other piece of data in the early voting in ohio the president, again, is up significant, 63% to 37%. >> charlie, i think if you read your poll you have an even race in ohio which is a significant change to where we were a month ago where people were basically saying ohio is off the table. the fact that romney can win in ohio and based on the numbers you have you use a model from 2008 that isn't going the same turnout model you'll have this year. fewer democrats, more

republicans in your poll say they will show up this time. even your own numbers on early balloting indicate republicans are catching up to where the democrats were four years ago. >> what can make a difference at this point >> 60 million people will watch the debate tonight. debates matter. >> i'm not sure where you're saying this is even. the president is up five points. it's outside of the margin of error. >> democrats have a turn out advantage baked in to the numbers of 9% and nobody in this cycle thinks there's going to be a 9% advantage for democrats. by the time you bake that out the a 5% advantage you have an even race. >> i want focus on ohio because we got this new poll out, ohio is key. certainly mitt romney cannot win without ohio. but rick wouldn't you say, the democrats claimed that they had a better ground game in ohio and we know that people are voting earlier in ohio. how do the republicans counter that? >> well, in your poll one in

five have already voted. mitt romney actually has a significant advantage over those who haven't vote sod far. so as voting continues for the next two weeks plan to see a catch up. secondarily, when you vote absentee you get marked in the ballots in your local community and by tabulate those we are doing much better. >> i disagree. president's ground game in ohio is second to none. it is significantly beefed up from the last time. and the early -- i'm not sure why you would say he has an advantage among those that haven't voted. president is up two points among those who have not voted. >> who is most likely to vote. in your poll you have a republican advantage on intensity. ground game can't turn out people who don't want to vote. >> let's turn to tonight's debate. president obama's debate partner is senator john kerry and he

said romney is at the top of the most inexperienced foreign policy ticket. obviously that's his partisan view. is this a tough debate for romney because he's going up against the commander-in-chief. >> so. if you read in the newspapers today you'll find out the number one issue in america right now is foreign policy, national security. not because of the great successes president obama has shown you it's because of the disasters. >> number one issue is economy. >> in the newspapers today what's on the top of the headline? it's not the economy. it's foreign policy. and it's not good news it's bad news. >> both of them are going to constantly pivot from foreign policy to the economy because they know that's where the difference is. >> certainly. i mean look every voter is going to vote their checkbook this year. no question about it. tonight it's about who best can convert that. >> the president obama and his team vulnerable on libya? >> clearly the situation is under investigation and there have been confusing reports which demonstrate that you cannot jump to conclusions

before you have all of the information. we saw that mitt romney had done that. >> it looks like there's in fighting within the administration because one side you come out now with reports from the cia what they said which is not what we understood was being said at the beginning. >> it's not in fighting so much it's how the information flow is presented and made public. the cia doesn't want to present information until they are certain they have it right. at first it looked like a spontaneous demonstration because of the video. >> those internal -- wasn't the president briefed? >> it's confidence. here's an administration even to this day doesn't know what happened in the last twleex in benghazi. that's an issue can this president steer foreign policy? >> confidence is hugely an issue and when our candidate jumps the gun before he even knows anything that happened and criticizes the united states in the middle of a crisis that demonstrate as lack of

competence. >> jennifer granholm, rick davis thank you. cbs coverage moderated by bob schieffer begins at 9:00 p.m. >> president obama interrupted his debate preparation on sunday and spoke with the fbi director and other officials about a shooting at a spa outside of milwaukee. that's where police say a gunman killed three women and wounded four others. he then turned the gun on himself. as elaine quijano reports his wife may be one of the victims. >> one of the employee's husband came in with a gun. >> reporter: a gunman entered a spa in brookfield, wisconsin and opened fire. audiotapes recorded by police dispatchers capture the chaos. >> two witnesses who saw him at the shooting. >> he did state one person was shot. she thought possibly in the head and there was a lot of bleeding. >> reporter: police believe the alleged gunman, 45-year-old

radcliff franklin haughton targeted the spa where his wife is an employee. according to witnesses haughton opened fire shooting people at random and sending customers fleeing in panic. >> maybe ten people came running out of the back of the salon with their hands up running screaming out the door. >> reporter: john gosh was stopped at a red light when a woman ran screaming trying to get his attention. then the shooter emerged in pursuit. >> he didn't know what was up. she didn't say anything about targeting any one person. he just started shooting people. >> reporter: when officers got inside three women were found dead. and another four were seriously injured. for much of the afternoon police had the area on lockdown and initially believe that the suspect was still at large. but later said it appeared he had taken his own life. >> the one suspect we believe is responsible for the shootings today is deceased. we believe to it be self-inflicted gunshot wound.

>> reporter: two weeks ago the wife had taken out a restraining order against her husband after reporting her car tires were slashed while at work. police have yet to release the names of those who died and it's not yet known if she was among the victims. for cbs "this morning," elaine quijano, new york. security officials in lebanon say overnight fighting killed two people and wounded more than a dozen. the violence between shi'ite and sunni muslims started with friday's killing of a top intelligence officials. he was an outspoken critic of the regime. >> reporter: good morning. there is ongoing fighting today between sunni and lebanese military. the military now says that the fate of the country is on the line. this plays into worries that lebanon could be caught up in

civil war which is raging next door. this started with violent protests following the funeral of wissam al hassan. he was killed in a car bombing on friday and his supporters say that was the work of the syrian government. the problem here in lebanon is it's extremely vulnerable to conflict because there's such big divisions. some lebanese, most shiite support the lebanese government. the sunni muslims support the muslim opposition. if there's more violence that fuels fears lebanon could descend into violence. >> holly williams, thank you. jordan's government says it has broken up an alleged al qaeda plot to attack multiple targets including the american embassy in jordan. officials say this is also connected to syria's violence. senior correspondent john miller a form assistant director of national intelligence is here. john, does this mean that syria is now spilling over?

>> it means that it's spilling over in every direction. what we just saw in lebanon, what we saw now in jordan shows and it's spilling over from both sides. in lebanon what you saw the syrian government trying to influence things. what you're seeing in the jordan plot is really interesting because jordan is a country that is largely supported the rebels in sir area sent them weapons and money and other support and here those weapons are coming back to al qaeda inspired groups, although not directly connected to launch attacks on hotels, cafes, public places as a distraction to draw the police response where they then launch second attacks on their real targets the general intelligence director, u.s. buildings, embassy, so on. >> is there a rise in the role of al qaeda inspired groups in syria, in lebanon, in jordan >> it suggests that if al qaeda command and control is dead,

which is a little too early to say, al qaedaism is rampant. as laura logan pointed out, al qaeda is now just an idea. what we're seeing and this relates to benghazi too, is in each country a group called anshar al saria are collecting weapons and launching attacks. >> we saw a story with a guy was holding court and meeting reporters in benghazi. >> that's a group that does read from the al qaeda narrative. here's the individual who is thought to be behind the attack on our embassy but it's demonstrative of the fact that the government in tripoli doesn't have control over benghazi. bengazhi is being run by militias and government hopes to get control it some day but not there yet. >> time to show you some of this morning's headlines. "the washington post" reports

that online anti-censorship programs funded by the united states are being overwhelmed by demand. there's so many users that tools are often inaccessible to people in china, iran and elsewhere. "the miami herald" reports former cuban leader fidel castro is alive and well. castro met with venezuelan's former vice president at ah-ha savannah hotel over the weekend. he said castro is quote very well and it was castro's first public appearance in months. the "wall street journal" reports president obama was erroneously told that the u.s. consulate attack in libya was triggered by a spontaneous protest. newly released details from daily intelligence briefing show the cia didn't change that assessment for ten days. critics say the president should have called it a terrorist take from the start. >> the "chicago tribune" reports illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. will return to the mayo clinic soon.

according to his father reverend jesse jackson. the congressman left the clinic last month and has been on medical leave since june. >> "san diego union-tribune" said players used an adhesive in one game. the team faces a fine and possible loss of one or more draft pi >> this national weather report

sponsored by bp. >> the tsa say it has a better way to screen airport passengers. those extra machines that can show everything are being taken out of major airports. we'll show you where they are going and why. and seismologists in italy could go to prison because they didn't predict an earthquake. >> scientists doing their job being prosecuted for criminal

manslaughter. >> we'll visit the city that's still a wreck three years after that quake and dictate you inside the controversial trial on cbs "this morning". [ female announcer ] you know the difference between paying more and getting more. that's value sense. introducing the scott shared values program. get free movie rentals, music downloads, and more. use your value sense. sign up at scottbrand.com. get two miracles in one product. tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation. covers spots, lines, and wrinkles. and helps improve skin tone over time. tone rehab from easy, breezy, beautiful, covergirl! covergirl!

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a miami man is being accused of acvery bad neighbor. police say he's being called at throw incorporate nails in other people's driveways and burning a lawn. >> this morning we'll show you what charges he face and why he claims t

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obviously it's been an interesting and as i said the other night at times very difficult few weeks. people ask me a lot how are you doing? i tell them i say i've been better. but i've also been worse. >> lance armstrong spoke last night at a texas fundraiser. this morning the world governing body for cycling agreed to take away his seven tour de france titles. he'll be banned for cycling for life after a report found armstrong used banned substance and encouraged his teammates to use them. welcome to cbs "this morning." >> the republican senate candidate ted akin is making headlines again. this time a comment about his opponent. chip reid is in washington with the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this time democrats are angry about a remark that todd aiken made at a campaign event over

the weekend in which he compared mccaskill to a dog. todd aiken after a firestorm for his august remark about legitimate rape added fuel talking about his opponent senator claire mccaskill as an event in springfield on saturday aiken said this. >> she goes to washington, d.c. and it's a little bit like a dog, fetch. she goes to washington, d.c. and gets all of these taxes and red tape and bureaucracy and executive orders and agencies and she brings all of this stuff and dumps it on us in missouri. >> reporter: it was just over two months ago aiken turned the national spotlight on this race. he was asked on a television station whether women who become pregnant due to rape should have the option of abortion. >> first of all from what i freund doctors that's really rare if it's a legitimate rape the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> reporter: that race had been a comfortable lead for aiken as

both republicans and democrats called for him to withdraw and donors through big time money behind mccaskill. but the race remains close. akin charged mccaskill's husband received money. mccaskill has denied those allegations and at this point she holds a slim lead in most recent polls. mccaskill and akin have their final debate this thursday night. >> there's important news this morning from air travels, the transportation security administration have been taking x-ray machines out of the airports. >> the scanners were put into widespread use after the failed underwear bomb plot. but they've been the subject of a lot of controversy ever since. >> millions of air travellers

recognize these back scanner x-ray machines. they detect radiation. but in america's busier airports from new york to los angeles the tsa is replacing these full body scanners though not for the reasons that made them controversial, privacy and health concerns. it appears the tsa is trying to improve their efficiency. the cbs news safety analyst says tsa want to process security line faster. they replaced the body scanners with half the size, use low energy radio waves similar to cell phone technology. >> what they are saying is they are going to take these back scanner machines because it takes more staff, more time and they will take to it airports where, in fact, there's a smaller traffic pattern. >> reporter: critics have

complained the back scanner machines were too invasive. electronic peeping toms and a health hazard. the scientific community for the most batter believes these are safe machines but with that said there's still certain areas of the scientific community that do believe any type of radiation touching the human body can create cancer. >> smaller american airports will still use them but the european union banned the machines last year because of health concerns. for cbs "this morning," mark strassman, atlanta. the best thing i know they are looking at it trying to figure out what's the best thing to do. >> there had been concerns about safety. a verdict is due today in italy in a case that started with the 2009 earthquake that killed more than 300 people. this morning we'll show you why scientist whose failed to give a warning are being accused of manslaughter.

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political act of your life the opposition to the vietnam war? >> yes that was the most striking because for ten years in the united states senate i blasted that war with everything i had. and then when i found out i couldn't end it as a senator, i became a candidate for president. and the main purpose of that was to end that war in vietnam. and then i lost that election i think we forced an end to it by having a major party, the democratic party and an candidate for president who dedicated his campaign to ending that war. as you know, congress ended it right after the '72 presidential

race. >> that was former senator george mcgovern back in january of this year. he died sunday morning in sioux falls, south dakota. he was 90 years old. interesting thing about him was that he was a war hero too. this is a guy who got a lot of attention because of anti-war to vietnam, in world war ii flu missions over joirnl. >> a veteran and outspoken opponent of the vietnam war. two people who left law school, bill and hillary clinton to work on his campaign. >> welcome back. a verdict is expect this morning from a closely watched trial in italy. it focuses on one of the country's greatest disasters in recent years the deadly 2009 earthquake. a group of scientists face prison time for not warning

local residents. allen pizzey is at the courthouse. >> reporter: it provoked outrage in the scientific community saying you can't put people on trial for doing the point. if convicted the scientists face up to four years in jail for manslauger. the case evolved one key word analysis that was done badly in spite of the data scientists iled to give warning a major earthquake may be imminent. therefore residents in l'aquila did not take precautions. the quake killed 309 people, injured 1500 people and left 65,000 people homeless. the historic site of the city had to be abandoned. it lies on a fault line like california. tremors over extended periods are not unusual.

a spate of them hit leading up to the 2009 quake. the accuse hd to answer what seismologists say is an impossible question will thereabout a major quake. dr. tom jordan of the southern california earthquake center said it wasn't science on trial but -- >> this trial has raised huge concerns within the scientific community because here you have a number of scientist whose were simply doing their job. being prosecuted for criminal manslaughter, and i think that scares all of us who are involved in miscommunication. >> 3 1/2 years, the historic center of l'aquila is a ghost town. residents have civil lawsuits and are less interested to see the accused in jail but they want better information about future quakes. but that too carries risks, too

often and too loudly you'll be accruesed of crying wolf o the public could become complacent. for scientists it's a one miami resident describes his neighborhood as a war zone. he sees dents in his garage door and nails in his driveway. now a neighbor sunday arrest. we'll show you that video that

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comes down off the windshield and seems just fine. how could that happen. >> windshield. >> a little vodka never hurts. >> stay loose and therefore you avoid the worse. welcome back. >> for the last 18 months a miami neighborhood has seen some very unneighborly conduct. residents say they've endured rock throwing, chemical spring and mega phone shouting. now surveillance video has finally led to an arrest. neighbors believe the only way to catch him the office catch him on tape. >> he's throwing eggs at my garage. he threw rocks at my garage door completely dent. then he start to throw nails. >> reporter: francisco torres said the problem start ad year and a half ago and not just for him. knives getting flat tires not only myself but everybody in my neighborhood was getting flat tires. >> reporter: tor set up a surveillance system and this is what he saw.

small shiny objects being thrown into his driveway and the street around his house. he still has the bags full of nails. other angles he says captured mitchell the neighbor across the street who owns a landscaping business and who torres suspects torched his lawn. >> then i saw him with a stream of liquid out of the window. >> reporter: he said it came from one of the landscaper's trucks. police arrested mitchell for harassing neighbors. his attorney says he himself is a victim. >> eggs that have been thrown. tires that have been punk toured. >> reporter: while neighbors said they have all the evidence they need on video there's one thing the cameras cannot answer. what started this neighborhood fight in the first place. you can watch anderson cooper on television during the day, at night and on "60

minutes." this morning he's stopping by studio 57. we'll talk with him in just a bit. >> you're excited to talk to anderson. but first this is a good time to get on your feet. dr. holly phillips says i may help you give longer. >> good morning. today in health watch the couch potato's curse. new research shows sitting especially in front of a television can cut years off your life. and the numbers may pull the chair right from under you. for people 25 and older every hour you spend watching tv cuts your life expectancy by 22 minutes. spoking cigarettes is also bad. another study looked at sitting time over an entire day. those that sat the most were much more likely to develop diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even to die prematurely. once again the results held for

even those who exercised. last year americans spent almost three hours a day watching tv. experts suggest cutting that time down and looking at the rest of your day to figure out ways to get on your feet. moving around will keep your muscles tight so they need more fuel and your blood sugar won't rise. that way you can avoid the cure of the couch. i'm dr. holly phillips. >> c"cbs healthwatch" sponsored by mega red for powerful joint comfort. [ thunder crashes ] [ male announcer ] if you think all batteries are the same... consider this: when the unexpected happens, there's one brand of battery more emergency workers trust in their maglites: duracell. one reason: duralock power preserve. it locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. guaranteed.

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room. norah was just saying what's the most important thing to watch for in tonight's debate? >> confidence. and welcome to my living room. >> we decided to drop by. >> you need anything? >> we have breakfast over here. coffee, orange juice. >> i just need to go back to sleep. >> do you considering tonight's debate as a tiebreaker. >> last chance. whoever wins this will win the election. >> can we measure that? >> second by second, moment by moment. >> don't you want to hear what he says late center stay with

good morning, everybody. it is 8:00 a.m. welcome back to cbs "this morning." the presidential candidates go face to face tonight for one last time pap new poll shows the race is getting closer. also anderson cooper will be here. he's on daytime, he's on primetime, and now he'll be in studio 57. but first here's a look at what's happening in the world and what we've been covering on cbs "this morning." advisers say the topic, foreign policy that naturally favors the incumbent they believe romney will hold its own. >> candidate get their last chance tonight. >> mr. obama spent all weekend at camp david going over background materials. >> what could make a difference at this point >> so far what we've learned debates matter. >> a shooting at a spat outside

of milwaukee, a gunman killed three women and wounded four others. >> it looked like a deer in the heading lights. >> security officials in lebanon said overnight fighting killed two people and wounded more than a dozen. >> the fate of the country is on the line. >> does this mean that sir why is spilling over? >> it means that it's spilling over in every direction. >> a miami man is accused of being a very bad neighbor. >> my garage door completely bent. >> caught on tape in the ukraine. >> vod can help. >> you spread me over a chocolate doughnut and cover me with roast beef what were you talking. >> you speak loudly and clearly, you're in boca raton, florida, their motto is say it in my good ear. i'm charlie rose with gayle king and norah o'donnell. president obama and mitt romney hold their third an final debate

tonight in boca raton, florida. the focus foreign affairs. >> romney took a break yesterday to watch a touch football game between his staff and the traveling press. meanwhile president obama finished his debate preparations at camp david. he arrives in florida later this afternoon. >> this morning a "quinnipiac university-cbs news-"new york times" poll shows rom i closing the gap in ohio one of the most important swing states. in the lastonth the president's lead among likely ohio voters has shrunk from ten points to five. frank luntz is here. frank, good morning. so, is ohio in play for romney? >> ohio is in play, wisconsin is in play, and if any candidate wins both those states the next president of the united states regardless of what the popular vote does if he splits then also good news for mitt romney. it's not about 50 states. it's about two. >> and does foreign policy make a difference? >> it makes a difference in terms of how they pivot.

the key is how do you define national security? if you can define it in terms of our debt, deficit a weak economy is weak security then that is the advantage for mitt romney. if it's defined by experience, by leadership and that hey be the advantage for barack obama. it's unclear. it's the least interesting in terms of the voters mindset but the most important because it's only 15 days until the election. >> some people have argued if the race is tight in a competition between an incumbent and challenger it goes to the challenger. >> i've seen that. it's about 2-1 is the polling numbers. there's no undecided. in most of the national polling the undecided is only 3%, 4%, 5% so that's an advantage of less than one half of 1%. this one is too close to call. >> that was quite a statement you made when you said whoever wins this debate tonight wins the election. why is this debate so crucial? debates have taken on a different meaning than they have

in past elections. >> that's correct. i can't think of anything since 1980 when ronald reagan debated jimmy carter with less than a cooke ago. in this case there's no other unedited opportunity for candidates to meet with the voters and these 30 second ads have lost most of their impact. the only thing that can break through is either an october surprise or some ad that's so harsh and so critical it shocks you into paying attention. >> which poll do you pay attention to, frank? some polls say they are dead even, some say president is ahead, some say mitt romney is ahead. which one should the voters be paying attention to? >> i use real clear politics and through out the poll that's most pro obama and most pro romney and re-average that. if you do that process barack obama has an advantage of 0.6% nationwide. that's how close it is. >> you care about what's happening in battleground states like our ohio poll.

tonight's debate, bob schieffer moderating, on foreign policy. who does the format favor? >> obama's got the experience. the president has been there for four years. he had to fight this same battle back in 2008 against john mccain and did fine in the foreign policy aspect. he's got some strength, most importantly the death of osama bin laden. and you could count the number of times that he'll mention that. but he's also got a weakness which is benghazi and the public wants to know what happened. in the end i don't think it's about foreign policy, i think it's about the attributes and character traits of the candidates. who do you trust in the time of crisis. >> on questions of leadership has not governor romney been leading president obama? >> he has been but this is the toughest issue for him. governor romney has the experience and the economy. he's done it as a businessman but can't legitimately said he's led a nation in time of crisis or times of war.

obama can do that. that's why he has a narrow advantage. >> i was going to say, i've been studying up for tonight's debate. the range of issues that are going to be discussed tonight. everything from china, immigration falls under that. there's a number of the middle east. you got to prep a lot for this debate if you're mitt romney and barack obama because it can be a wide ranging debate. >> obama lived this every single day for the last four years. romney has not. all the public wants to know is who is going to keep us out of war. that does matter today. sounds like 1968. who is more likely to handle a bad crisis. and most importantly, the connection between economic policy and foreign policy will be very tight and very important this evening. >> all right. frank luntz thank you very much. and cbs news will have live coverage of this debate starting at 9:00 p.m. eastern time, that's 6:00 in the west and chief washington correspondent bob schieffer is the moderat

anderson cooper is here this morning. we'll talk about his big "60 minutes" interview last night. everything from politics to reality stars, endorsing candidates. yep. we're talking honey boo-boo when cbs continues.

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might as well jump because it's strange to see a kangaroo jumping around an airport parking garage. this guy ended up at a garage at the melbourne airport.

he was captured and released into a safe area. you can always find better prices online, right? maybe not. this morning we'll ask jack otter of cbs watch why some big retailers are ready to match those online prices. >> anderson cooper when we come back. hanging out in the green room. he'll join us here at the table -- i don't think anderson sitting on table. >> that would be nice. >> very nice. >> he can take off his shirt all the better on cbs "this morning". >> this portion of cbs "this morning" is sponsored by sponsored by party city. nobody has more halloween for less. when it comes to toilet paper,

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anderson cooper is covering

big stories all the time at night as "60 minutes" correspondent and then ac360. during the day talk show anderson live takes a different look at the news. >> cabbage patch kids. they all come with a birth certificate and when the company sent us these they all arrived except mitt romney one. mitt romney arrived later and without a birth certificate. >> there will be all kinds of trouble here. >> anderson cooper, welcome back great to see you. tell us about the "60 minutes" piece. >> interviewed greg smith, former vice president of goldman sachs. i think it was very controversial when he wrote his op-ed page and some were concerned about what he was saying in his book. one of the experts in our piece

said they will breathe a sigh of relief. there's not a lot of detail about specific transactions. >> what did you think about him? i love when you asked him is it a betrayal, he goes no. you resign in the "new york times" without telling anybody and it's not a sign of betrayal. i just want people to know. >> i have questions whether he stayed had he gotten the salary increase he wanted, had he gotten the position he wanted. his point was the people who got the salaries and positions were getting them for the wrong reasons, they were selling these huge complex packages that products that a lot of times people buying them didn't understand. >> muppets they called them. there's a lot of pensions which have a lot of money whether state pensions, teacher pensions, police pensions, and in some cases he was making the case they were being duped. >> right. he said that his former employer wanted uneducated clients,

wanted client and basically talked about duping clients. they say they don't have the see fiduciary responsibilities. >> what's the secret to doing three shows? >> i should ask you that question. you do hours every day. i like variety. >> the secret is you love it. >> it is. i find when you're learning new thing, every day i'm spending hours, reads, research and learning new things. that's invigorating. how many people continue to learn every day? >> one has a live audience which makes it interesting. >> what i love about you is you do both very well. you can do pop culture and politics. here we are 15 days out. if you had a choice between breaking news with the real housewives throw down or an

exclusive with the white house -- >> come on. >> no. >> andy cohen -- >> i would do the white house without a doubt. >> sfwhou >> yeah. andy cohen does real housewives very well. >> i would choose the white house too. >> you don't have to ask norah. >> you watch housewives from afar. i'm an enthusiast. >> got it. >> you don't like reality television. >> do i. i backed away in the last year or two from it. i watch it to keep abreast. there's a negativity to it that i just don't want to get involved with any more. >> we both love being out in the field. the one thing about doing this job and other jobs it ties you down. ac360 ties you down a bit. >> it does. >> you still love it in. >> love it.

>> how do you change what's going to go on each show. there's different groups of people that watch you at night on ac360 and people that watch daytime. what do you think about when you think about how to make a show work. >> we're a live show, covering things that happen during the day. we're also covering broader range of issues and subjects. today we're talking about hidden dangers in your house or apartment, what to look for. we found a couple who bought a meth house. nobody disclosed to them it was a meth house and actually made them sick. it seems that don't necessarily get on the evening newscast but has resonance in people's lives. different type of story telling. >> talk about cnn. they are looking for a new president. >> so i've heard. >> do you have a candidate? >> this sounds like i'm coping out i don't get involved in

things i can't control. i don't know all the things that go into that job nor would i want to because it sounds like a very difficult job. jim walton the outgoing president has done an amazing job. amazing guy. >> what would you like to see cmn do more of? >> you know, honestly during breaking news times people come to cnn. it's those other times that cnn traditionally has had a problem. i think just, we to what we do very well. we need to send the message of what is it we do on a daily basis and do that mission and just -- i believe very strongly in not being partisan and not being left or right, and holding people accountable. holding politicians accountable. >> he does it very well. there's a debate tonight. big political debate. >> i heard. >> you know heard. that's not breaking news. the question is you've done a couple of debates. you know how it goes. what makes a good moderator.

i wonder how bob schieffer is feeling today. were you nervous getting ready? >> it's nerve-racking. but, i think it's always, as a moderator you don't want them end up talking about you. >> you remember this moment, anderson, anderson, anderson? >> michele bachmann as i recall. different ways to get your attention like john edwards used to raise his little finger. >> and governor romney? >> dennis kucinich would wave wildly. michele bachmann said anderson. >> interrupted you. >> yes. >> even during commercial breaks they or their wife will come up and yell at you. it's a tough job. ideally for me is not to be asking questions to make you look smart it's questions that will get the best response out

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>> a professor at the university of new mexico has developed a dissolvable mouth strip that can leave the pain caused when a person burns the top of their mouth eating pizza. finally an alternative to waiting a minute. just wait a minute. hard to wait a minute, norah when the cheese is staring at you calling your name. >> exactly. when its melting. welcome back, everybody to cbs "this morning." traditional stores may be losing ground to online competitors so with the holidays coming up they

are fighting back. >> target and best buy are offering to match the online prices of many products and other big chains have other ideas. jack otter executive editor of cbs moneywatch.com is watching the competition and can sort it all out for us. i'm thinking this is good news for the customer. >> it is. bad news for the store. it's a sign of desspar ration. best buy is on the ropes. they said okay whatever those guys are doing our competition is killing us we'll match the price. the problem is what people are doing they walk into a best buy or a target, check out the tv or laptop and go home and buy it on the computer. called showrooming. one study found 12% to 15% had their smartphone in the store. look at the tv, check out the model number and find out who has the best prices. >> when they can buy it right there in front of them. >> exactly. >> which stores are matching the online prices? >> best buy came out and said

we'll match online competitors. there's a list of 20. it's the obvious ones such as amazon. or newegg. manufacturers them else, dell and hp and then the big box competitors like sears.com or walmart.com. with best buy they say an employee has to go see the price on a store computer. can you imagine in christmas, holiday shopping going -- getting the attention -- target just this morning came out with this plan. it says you can use a hand-held device to show the clerk the price that you're getting they will match that but they both have slightly different deals. best beltway said we won't mess around with this black friday craziness so the week of thanksgiving and cyber monday, this plan is to spend it. target is going right through. i suspect target doesn't have as many electronics, that's where

the real fight, real battle takes place. >> hand-held device you mean your telephone. >> exactly. >> look what i found. >> walmart is taking on online retailers. how so? >> walmart hasn't said it will match prices. my suspicion is because walmart doesn't want to go out there and admit anybody might have a lower price. they are saying they are going to offer same day shipping. which is kind of interesting because online won't offer that. so they are trying to take the battle to them. this is very much a test program. for 10 bucks you can get as much as you want delivered to you that day as long as you order by noon. the problem is it's only in northern virginia, philadelphia, minneapolis and san francisco. >> not exactly the country. >> just a test program. but i do think it's interesting. if they can make this work then amazon might may have to match what walmart is doing instead of the other way around.

>> your takeaway for shoppers? >> my takeaway is summed up. william blair did a study where they compared stores to amazon. best buy was 16% higher on prices. target was 14% higher. walmart 9% higher. that's average. doesn't mean the thing you're looking for is going to be 16% higher but i was surprised it was across the board. clearly you can do pretty good online. >> how do shoppers know how to get the best deal? >> it's a little bit tricky. you have to really -- there's no substitute for clicking a lot and going from site to site. some sites will help you. one is called pricegrabber where you can register your e-mail address. then spider. get it. called the web. spider. then also -- >> norah did you get that? >> no. >> our sister site, cnet will

also show you the price on various electronic items. but none of them are efficient. i found that maybe costco or sam's club is not caught by the spider. register and then they will send you and e-mail this tv you want is 10% cheaper so that's convenient. >> got it. i like it when we can save money. thank you. good to see you. the capital theater started with vaudeville in the '20s. 40 years later janis joplin and pink floyd played their tunes. anthony mason takes us to the

back in the 1960s many old theaters gave up on movies and started having rock concerts. most are gone now but anthony

mason found one that's ready for an encore. >> in the history of rock and roll the capital theater was legendary and unlikely setting in the new york suburbs that played host to some of rock's biggest acts and now after several decades the stars are finally coming back. ♪ >> bob weir is breathing new life into the old capital theater. the place hasn't heard much music since his former band, the grateful dead last played here in the 1970s. >> we had a fairly short but illustrious run. this place was always at the top of the list. we knew we would have a good night. >> how many people does this hold? >> it's 1800 capacity. >> peter shapiro has been

promoting concerts for 16 years but his life's dream has gone to have his very own rock palace. >> a lot of gold, a lot of black, a lot of blood red. >> beyond the color or the architecture and custom wall paper, shapiro saw something more in the old capital theater when he bought it two years ago. >> how do you define a rock palace? what is that in >> a rock palace has to have had janis joplin play there, pink floyd, the stones. that kind of history because i think it's still here in the air. >> such as off of route 95 in portchester, new york the capital's location, 30 miles from manhattan isn't exactly entertainment mecca. but in its hey day as a music hall the capital drew rock's new

aristocracy to the classics. >> this is the opening night music list. >> james taylor. ♪ >> james taylor was the first rock act to play here in 1970. ♪ >> that same year janis joplin who her hit "mercedes-benz" and first performed it from this stage in her next to last show, two months before she died. >> it's glorious. >> all that nostalgia is not lost on questlove, drummer for house to band for late night with jimmie fallon.

>> how much does it mean? >> personally i think it's about the people that come. and, you know, we just eat off the energy. but, you know, i'm also a sucker for history and whatnot. we have a throat live up to. >> how much did you have to do to the place to fix it up the >> the bones here were strong. what we did was come and touch everything. in some way. you know, those are the original seats. those that saw janis and the stones but we reupholstered them. >> it was an innatue movie pali in the '20s. >> he built these great movie

palaces. the boston opera house. >> in the '70s the cap's faded glory was perfect for a rock palace but like the movies the music eventually moved on. it had been 15 years since the last gig here. so after bob dillon played the grand re-opening last month, one reviewer declared a rock theater that looks and sounds as good as the capital is something to celebrate. >> is there still a market for a rock and roll palace? >> we're going to find out what the market is. but, yeah. i know it. you know, if we build it -- >> they will come? >> if we build it right, i would like to think that i sure hope there's a market and i would be happy to go down trying. ♪ >> shapiro has rebuilt it and in fact they are coming, there are

100 acts booked in the capital over the next year including al green, meatloaf, my morning jacket. the artists want to thereabout. see if the customers come. >> you were there for dillon? >> yeah. >> how was it? >> it's a great room, especially great because it's close to my house. i roll down the hill and i'm there. that's not why i did the story. it's a beautiful room and they did a great job with it. >> the money is in concerts. >> record business is drying up. so if you want to make money you got to do it in places like that. >> he said he likes the history but it's all about the people that come. >> and the room has to have a vibe. that room does have a sib. that's what they are talking about. >> beautiful venue. thank you anthony mason. roll down the hill no telling what you'll come back with. always convenient when the story is in the neighborhood. >> like that. >> yeah, we like it a lot. >> if you think the presidential

race is getting rough one of our former presidents was, did you know, called a murderer? and a drunk. who was that? does anybody know? we'll find t. because the man who knows the answer is in the green room, his name is den net davis. we'll look at the author of don "don't know much about history."

mitt romney is trying to get in the white house and president obama is trying to stay there. one book has surprising things to say about all of our chief executives. >> "don't know much about the

american presidents" is part of ken davis best selling series. what president was called a murderer and something worse? >> andrew jackson. there was a jingle oh, andy oh, andy how many men have you killed in your life, how many weddings to make a wife. the idea that campaigns are nicer and neater andrew jackson was accused of acmurderer and an adulterer. his wife had been married before, hadn't got the divorce finalized and they were married before they were divorced. she died before he was inaugurated and he went to the white house vowi ining vengeanc his opponents. >> in that election for instance there was something called the coffin hand bill. andrew jackson showing coffins of the men he murdered or

killed. thomas jefferson accused of adultery, being an atheist, being a coward. he was swift boated in modern terms because when he was governor of virginia he left the governor's mansion when the british attacked so this was used against him in the campaign. in 1796 by his old friend john adams from 1776. >> who was the drunk president >> there's been quite a few of those. the one who was accused of drunkardness against henry clay. the most important american politician who never became a president. reason two in 21 reasons not to elect clay he spent his days in the bar and the nights in the brothel. it's been around for a long time. >> henry clay? >> henry clay. >> great senator. >> great congress mapg. greatest politician who did not become president. lost mostly because third parties chipped away at some of his support. that's the importance of the third-party candidate.

>> professor -- you look like one. >> we need to fine him a pipe. >> the electoral college this is a question i get frequently. why do we use it. >> it's in the constitution not in the sense of the words electoral college. when the men invend presidency 225 years ago we just collective bargainingated constitution day they didn't want the people to do it. they thought people were too easily misled. they didn't want the legislature to do it. what was the m? the lectors. them they thought men wise enough could spend the time to passaic this choice. they gave each state a number of electors equal to their representation in congress but the important thing there is that slaves were count s the early presidents for the first five are slave holders from slave holding states, five of the first seven and this idea of the electors was really a way to prevent too much democracy. we like to thing we're in favor

of democracy. they didn't trust the people. >> it is an idea whose time has passed? >> if you ask me it is certainly. in the 19th-century it made sense how could a person from massachusetts know a candidate from georgia. those reasons, practical reasons are long gone. every amendment that we've had to the constitution that relates to voting has opened the process up whether it's blacks, women, 18-year-olds, city of washington, d.c. >> just feel like one of these elections will be tested. we'll have a 269-269 split and, you know, we already had a crisis in 2000 and we could have another crisis. it goes house to and the house votes and it's the new house rather hand the old house. they vote on the presidency. >> each state gets a vote. >> can we play this game. who was the startest president we ever had? >> well the only ph.d. president was woodrow wilson. he was pretty smart. theodore roosevelt was pretty smart.

>> the dumbest? >> that's a tough one. john f. kennedy said it's not fair to grade anyone even poor old james buchanan unless you sat behind the desk and opened the mail. so warren g. harding was not such a gligt but magnetic personality, good looking. he was a movie star. so you're seeing his cabinet play out. howard dougherty was a real person. he was an attorney general and he was very, very corrupt. >> in your book you've given four a pluses. one went to abraham lincoln. six fs, one went to george w. bush. what criteria did you use? >> the a pluses up to me are presidents not just that they did great things but they elevated the presidency in some way. george washington obviously, lincoln and the crises they faced. lincoln the greatest crisis, franklin d. roosevelt.

theodore roosevelt didn't face a crisis but elevated the office to what it is today. he put this office and made it the international spotlight that it is. >> he didn't take the nickname teddy because he thought it was actual gar. >> and wanted to take the words god in trust off the money because he thought it was sacrireligious as well as unconstitutional. >> interestingly if you look at the surveys from back in the '60s until fairly recently they shift maybe one or two here or there but harry truman is the best examples of a president very unpopular, also a fascinating story, 1948, his election. >> the book, the american presidents. that does it for us. up next your local news. we'll see you