she showed you what this looks like i mean carol costello when i was on with her c n n she showed you what the gay gestapo looks like in action because she cut my water off just as soon as i started to talk about the health risks of homosexual behavior. well mr fisher if that's the mission of the gay guy then i'm a proud card carrying member. and i'd say where do i sign up good for you carol for standing up for diversity and fighting back against the hatred and ignorance that is tearing america the bad a can take in the republican running for senate from missouri made waves this past summer when he said that women can't become pregnant from legitimate rape despite the backlash from the comments akin stayed in the senate race and is trying to unseat democratic incumbent claire mccaskill but at a fundraiser recently taken last more points with female voters when he compared mccaskill to a dog referring to mccaskill a controlled the crowd she goes to washington d.c. it's a little bit like one of those dogs you know fads end of quote i think it is rape comment made it pretty clear he has

cnn newsroom with carol costello begins now. welcome back from vacation. >> thanks so much, soledad. good morning. stories we're watching in the "newsroom," round two, obama and romney. tomorrow night's debate, do or die. >>> plus this -- >> sometimes you have to get up really high to see how small you are. i'm going home now. >> amazing. a free fall from near outer space reaching 833 miles per hour. felix baumgartner blazes past the speed of sound and into the history books. >>> e-refund. e-book readers rejoice. a refund check might be in the mail. >>> and yankee pain. first a-rod. then jeter. now empty seats? it's bad when you can't sell out a playoff game. a playoff game. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good morning. thank you so much for being with us. i'm carol costello. we start with round two. the big presidential debate. you guessed it. you will not see mitt romney or the president on the campaign trail today. because the clock is ticking. romney in massachusetts prepping for the debate.

"cnn newsroom" with carol costello starts right now. carol? >> thank you, soledad. >>> tale of the tapes emerge on the eve of the debate. they're designed to stir controversy. is anything really new here? >>> new this morning, more trouble for american airlines. after seats come loose on three other airlines. >>> wisconsin tv anchor takes on a viewer who call heard fat. >> that attacks like this are not okay. >> hear the advice she gives to children being bullied. and celebrating like an nhl star, junior hockey player scores a goal. instead of bouncing off the glass, he crashes right through it. "newsroom" starts now. good morning to you. thank you so much for joining us. i'm carol costello. the countdown is on. first presidential debate 12 hours away. it's quiet now in magnus arena in denver. later it will provide the backdrop for what could be a game changer. as the candidates continue to prepare, a tape surfaces, one that "the daily caller" bills as obama's other race speech. a clip. >> quiet riots that take place every day are born from th

i'm carol costello. we begin with new revelations that could cast a large shadow on the presidential race 13 days before the election. they involve the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya and new questions about what the white house knew and when it knew it. as you might remember, the obama administration has been under fire for being slow to label the military-like siege an act of terrorism. four americans died in that attack, including the u.s. ambassador to libya, christopher stevens. here's the latest. cnn has obtained government e-mails showing that just two hours -- just two hours after the attack, both the fbi and the statdepartmentere told that ane llamaist group was taking credit. here is one of those e-mails. embassy tripol ireports the group claimed responsibility on facebook and twitter and has called for an attack on embassy tripoli. the chairman of the house intelligence committee. >> this is clearly a place where they had wanted to have some terrorist success on the compound. what

i'm carol costello.is 30 minutes past the hour. gross domestic product increased 2% in the third quarter. the gdp is our best measure of economic health. but while that number is better than expected, a senior economist atwells fargo called it just ho-hum. >>> upper west side nanny is accused of stabbing to death two young children in her care. their mother returned home and found the children in a bathtub and the nanny nearby with what appeared to be self-inflicted stab wounds. the children were pronounced dead at a hospital. >>> hurricane sandy losing strength this morning over the bahamas, but it is still poised to cause some major league damage, expected to intensify and merge with a winter storm over the northeast, which could make for one damp halloween. sandy already being blamed for 21 deaths in the caribbean. >>> china blocks internet access inside the country to "the new york times" after the paper published an article, critici criticizing the fortune of china's premiere. "new york times" searc

i'm carol costello. it is the morning after the presidential debasement many americans are remembering not just what was said last night but over the weekend. remember the prediction that raised eyebrows just a few days ago? >> this whole race will be turned upside down come thursday morning. >> well, mitt romney has a lot more believers this morning after a commanding performance. most americans believe he trounced president obama in their first showdown. more on that in a moment. first, some of the reactions. even as the dust was settling. >> a week ago, people were saying this was over. we've got a horse race. mitt romney, his performance was head and shoulders above anything we've ever seen him do before. >> mitt romney rose to the moment tonight. in a way, frankly, that surprised me. >> it looked like romney wanted to be there and president obama didn't want to be there. >> dan lothian is in denver. morning, dan. mr. obama can't be feeling very good this morning. >> reporter: good morning. well, loo

i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. it's just 36 days until the presidential election. the race still too close to call. and both mitt romney and barack obama will be virtually invisible today. why, you ask? well, they're hunkering town for wednesday's debate and a chance to deliver that made for tv moment that will have us all talking. after all, debate zingers are an american tradition. >> i'm counting on you. i'm counting on the fact that when the american people focus and push aside all the noise and all the nonsense and they remember the fact that all of us, whatever success we've achieved, we've achieved because we worked together. because we made sure everybody -- >> here you go again. >> i want you to know that also i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> senator, i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> t

costello. welcome, maureen. >> thank you, carol. nice to be here. >> i'm glad to have you. no relation. you're probably an irish costello. >> i am an irish costello, and i'd be happy to claim you, but you're right, no relation. >> i'm the italian version of costel costello. so let's be clear. could you explain your program's mission? >> yes. my program's mission is simply to help children get past labels and stereotypes and understand that individuals are not defined by the group they may belong to. so whatever those groups are at school, and sometimes they're based on race and sometimes they're based on class and sometimes they're based on ability, what we do is we encourage kids to sit with someone different and have usually a pretty structured conversation in which they find that they have something in common. >> and if your program -- it's gone on for 11 years, it's not like it's something new. >> it is not new. it's been going on for 11 years. it's been very, very successful in a lot of schools and in schools that do it well, it helps promote a positive environment. wh

i am carol costello. we begin on the campaign trail. obama is raising cash and mitt romney is raising concerns. next hour romney will deliver a foreign policy speech ripping the administration's handling of the middle east and its many recent flash points. libya, syria, iran, romney has said that obama has weakened america's standing in the world. >> we face a time when there is turmoil in the middle east and other parts of the world and people are asking where is america? where is american leadership in this is a critical time. if we were to reelect president obama, i don't think we would measure up to the test of time. >> mark preston is in our washington bureau. good morning, mark. does romney have the standing himself to make foreign policy a critical campaign issue? >> i think it is too late in the campaign right now, carol, for mitt romney to really make big in roads on the issue of foreign policy. what he needs to do is really portray himself and present himself to the voters as somebody who is ready to step in as day one, as our

i'm carol costello. thank you very much for joining us. 12 hours before the big debate tonight and hillary clinton throws the president a lifeline. secretary of state taking full responsibility for the death of the u.s. ambassador to libya and three other americans. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department, 60,000 plus people all over the world, 275 posts. the president and the vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. they're the ones who weigh all the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision. >> clinton made it very clear to cnn's elise labott she does not want to play the blame game, something that is sure toply out in tonight's president yl debate taking place at hofstra university ong long identity. dan lothian is there right now. i suspect that secretary clinton's comments certainly will make it easier for the president tonight. >> reporter: well, you know, what it does, it pl

i'm carol costello. hours after millions of americans watched the final presidential debate, the obama campaign wants to reach millions more. just in to cnn, president obama is rolling out a brand new advertising campaign over the airwaves, internet and in glossy pamphlets. why? cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellin joins us from the president's first stop today, del ray beach, florida. tell us about this new effort. >> reporter: hi, carol. fresh off the debate, the president is doing a tour of the battleground states. and he's delivering a message that he is fighting for the middle class and that he has a plan for his second term, answering critics who say he's not giving enough specifics. i guess they figured if you write it down, it looks specific. they have a 19-page glossy new plan for jobs and middle class security that really details a lot of what we've heard from him before on education, manufacturing, energy, getting the u.s. out of afghanistan over time and tax reform. i've looked

i'm carol costello. thank you so much for being with us. we begin this morning with hurricane sandy, within hours expected to explode into this superstorm. most of us have never season anything like it in our lifetime. already huge, tropical storm force winds spanning a width of nearly 1,000 mimes. it's aiming at the heart of the east coast, the most heavily populated corridor in the country. 50 million people are expected to feel the effects. hundreds of thousands are now under evacuation orders. fema predicts damage costs of about $3 billion just for wind damage alone. heavy rains or snow, storm surges, widespread flooding across the region depending upon where you live. we're also following a drama unfolding out to sea. a rescue is under way for the crew of the hms bounty, the ship built for the hollywood movie "mutiny on bounty." unbelievable. we'll have more on that es cue in just a minute. let's begin with the first reports of power outages. they're already rolling in. see meteorologist rob marciano is in the iconic new jersey town of

i'm carol costello. cnn "newsroom" continues now with ashleigh banfield. >> thank you very much, carol costello. nice to see you. and nice to see you, everybody. hi there, 11:00 on the east coast, 8:00 on the west coast. let's start here, three weeks and counting. that's how long we have until election day. and each day has its own challenges. today's is a debate. the second presidential debate this season. these debates seem even more critical when you look at this map. here you go. these are where the states have people already voting. so in these 18 states, if you hear something you like tonight, he can just run on out and cast your ballot tomorrow. five more states are going to join this list between today and next debate, next week. one of those five states is nevada, and it is a swing state. nevada. so we're going to tap into that undecided vote later on this hour. we'll ask questions about what makes these voters tick. what are they waiting for? and whether a second or even a third debate, for tha

carol costello asked facebook opinion polls, does this mean something about mitt romney. >> liberals were attacking the fact that he said he went out and asked for those binders when, in fact, he did -- >> they were making fun of the binders but the "washington post" cartoon, binders and the stories. that the liberals are trying to turn into a major thing. one called it a gaffe. a binder gaffe. >> this could be mentioned in a story but not a two-day story. >> jon: and mentioned that ann romney and michelle obama wore pink. it was breast cancer month. here is headline in us weekly. ann romney wears $1690 dress to the debate. what they don't tell you that mrs. obama's dress costed $1,759 and she topped it with a jacket that cost almost $1500. so it cost twice as much. >> everybody knows when republicans wear nice clothes it's rubing their face in the poor and when democrats wear something like that, it's wearing something classy. >> i got the pink memo. i think this is all silly. the issue is how do these guy do. did they do well enough -- >> it's not silly when it all tilts one way. >

let's get right to cnn "newsroom" with carol costello. don't laugh at them, carol. >> no, i really do. thank you, soledad. >>> round two in the bag, in your face and personal. >> i don't think anyone really bloevs that you're a person who will be pushing for oil and gas and coal. you'll get your chance in a moment. i don't believe that people believe that's the case because -- that wasn't a question. it was a statement. >> did it sway independent voters? newsroom starts now. >>> good morning to you. i'm carol costello. this latest debate was a slug fest. for 90 minutes, town hall meeting between president barack obama and governor romney was intense. each capped date using his time and, in many cases, going way over to stay on the attack. in our cnn/orc poll taken right after the debate, president obama came out on top. 46% of debate watchers say the president won while 39% claimed romney was the winner. that's within the margin of error. we have complete debate analysis, but we begin with our senior congress iional correspondent dana bash

i'm carol costello. it's 30 past the hour., a pennsylvania judge ordered a halt to a state law that requires voters to show a photo i.d. before casting their ballots. critics argue the law unfairly targeted minorities and the poor with just five weeks before the presidential election, the judge's ruling is likely to face an appeal from the losing side. >>> in chicago, the teachers union is urging its members to vote yes today on an agreement with chicago's board of education. union members are encouraged to approve raises of 17% over four years and merit pay reform and measures to ensure job security. results expected wednesday or thursday. >>> to the vatican where pope benedict's former butler is taking the stand and defending himself. he's charged with stealing expensive documents that embarrassed the vatican. those point to corruption and power struggles within the church. >>> the presidential candidates have been down playing their debate performances over the past couple of weeks. president obama said that preparing for t

i'm carol costello. this latest debate was a slug fest. for 90 minutes, town hall meeting between president barack obama and governor romney was intense. each capped date using his time and, in many cases, going way over to stay on the attack. in our cnn/orc poll taken right after the debate, president obama came out on top. 46% of debate watchers say the president won while 39% claimed romney was the winner. that's within the margin of error. we have complete debate analysis, but we begin with our senior congress iional correspondent dana bash with more on the fireworks from hofstra. >> you may think a debate in front of undeclared, persuadable voters would produce polite performances. >> production is up. >> is down. >> no, it isn't. >> reporter: think again. at times this town hall looked like a schoolyard brawl. >> not true governor romney. >> how much did you cut them back? >> not true. >> i had a question and the question was how much did you cut them by? >> you want me to answer. >> how much did you cut them by. >> reporter: if memo

i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. president obama is about to take the stage in tampa. and he'll have some big news to celebrate with his supporters. just over an hour ago, republican with vast crossover aappeal announced his endorsement for obama. listen to this from former secretary of state colin powell. >> i voted for him in 2008 and plan to stick with him in 2012 and i'll be voting for he and vice president joe biden next month. >> that's an endorsement for president obama for re-election? >> yes. >> jessica yellin, many say colin powell is a rino, republican in name only. will this endorsement matter? >> reporter: he has flown overnight from las vegas, on this nonstop battleground tour to the states he feels he has to lock up to help win the white house again. carol, the bottom line with endorsements is that they tend not to move votes. so that's no different with colin powell. what is meaningful about the endorsement by powell is what he actually said. and if you listen to it,

i'm carol costello. we begin this hour, of course, with the aftermath of superstorm sandi and full scope of devastation that's just now coming into view. these are new pictures just in to cnn minutes ago. the storm's death toll in the united states stands now at 40. new york police say 22 were killed in the city alone. check out this video from an nypd helicopter. across the region, thousands of people had to be rescued from their flooded homes. many were chased to their rooftops to escape the rising waters. today, as national guard troops roll into overwhelmed towns and villages, normalcy seems so far out of reach. more than 6 million homes and businesses still without power. and many will be shivering bus they don't have heat either for days and days to come. we have a lot to cover this morning. let's begin by narrowing our focus. first stop, new jersey. some of the most jaw-dropping images are coming in from the jersey shore. the resort area that has entertained vacationing americans for generations,

i'm carol costello. one of the most reviled men in the country faces sentencing. the hearing is scheduled to start right now for convicted child rapist jerry sandusky, former football coach at penn state faces life in prison for 45 counts of child sex abuse. a ajury found he sexually abused ten boys over a 15-year period. some of those victims and sandusky himself are expected to address the judge during this morning's aproceedings. the most stunning development may have come hours ago, releasing an audio recording from jail, saying he is the victim. >> they can take away my life. they can make me out as a monster. they can treat me as a monster but they can't take away my heart. in my heart i know i did not do these alleged, disgust iing act as. my wife has been my only sex partner and that was after marriage. our love continues. a young man who is dramatic, veteran accuser and always sought attention astarted everything. he was joined by a well-orchestrated effort of the media, investigators, the system, penn state, psychologists, civil attorneys and other accus

i'm carol costello.g bell just rang. initial jobless claims for last week spiked 46,000 from the previous week, which was the lowest in four years. >>> authorities have arrest aid man they say tried to blow up the federal reserve bank in new york. prosecutors say the 21-year-old from bangladesh was apparently motivated by al qaeda, but they don't believe he had any accomplices. the suspect was caught in a sting operation. the public, according to the i fbi, was never at risk. >>> and cuba tries to squash speculation fidel castro is near death. state media has put out a message said to be from him and also quotes his son who says castro is doing well. fidel castro has not been seen publicly since march. >>> mitt romney's son comes out swinging, as in he would like to take a swing at the president. seems tagg is not so happy about the way mr. obama talked about his dad at the big debate, specifically how obama called out the governor in real time. >> candy, what governor romney said just isn't true. very l

i'm carol costello. thank you for being with us. we begin with a story that's shaping up to be nothing short of a national tragedy. historic super storm that covers a thousand miles and impacts millions of lives. at least 16 people are dead and floodwaters are wash across the most populated corridor in the united states. the region largely paralyzed this morning. airports, trains, bridges shut down. in new york, the head of the century-old subway system says it has never faced this kind of devastati devastation. we'll join a news kmps from new york's mayor at any moment now. in the flooded burrough of queens, 50 homes continue to burn. electr electrical fires and power outages are adding to the misery in the eastern united states. to give you an idea of how massive sandy still is, fierce winds are blowing in from canada all the way to georgea. this morning, some 7 million homes and businesses are without power and heat. sandy is also whipping up huge amounts of snow from maryland to tennessee and west vi

"cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. have a great weekend. hello, carol. >>> good morning to you. i'm carol costello. breaking news on the economy. new jobless numbers are in. guess what? the unemployment rate is now below 8%. so let's had head straight back to new york. christine romans is there to break these numbers down for us. good morning, christine. >> good morning, carol. 7.8% is the unemployment rate now, fell from 8.1%. and 114,000 jobs were created in the month. carol, there's another number here, 86,000. that's how many jobs were added in july and august that government auditor didn't notice in the beginning. they revised their numbers. actually, july, august were stronger than expected to the tune of 86,000. 7.8% unemployment rate. what does that mean? the best since january 2009. when we dig within these numbers, carol, we can also see that some 418,000 people entered the workforce in the month. they are feeling a little more confident about things. either that or they've been out of the workforce for so long they've got to try t

. >> if you watched carol costello's show, you would have thought it was all about big bird. >> big bird'sve written a letter to mitt, how could you do this after all the mornings i taught your sons. >> media didn't could cover the fact that the president of corporation for pbs patricia harrison was vice chair of the party and people are not even talking about that. >> it depends on where you stand. brilliant pbs to hire her to lobby for more money from the government. >> we don't have a lot of money and we can't borrow from china. >> one hundredth of 1% is pbs. >> one one millionth of 1 percent is the other way. >> jon: speaking of gaffes and how the media handled them. next big debate is the vice presidential debate. what is going to be, i guess the means, as vice president biden goes up against ryan. >> you are all in chains and middle-class is buried. the media picked up on these on the way dan quayle there wouldn't be a debate. they would have biden in an undisclosed question. >> jon: big vice presidential debate comes next week, you can with a watch it on fox news channel on thursday

i'm carol costello. we begin with breaking news out of the middle east where a car bomb has rocked the city of beirut. at least five people have been injured. three of them seriously in the attack. nick paton walsh describing the scene as one of chaos. we will continue to monitor the story and bring any new developments. >>> on to politics but not the kind you are probably used to. take a deep breath and laugh. the presidential candidates and their wives skipped the campaign trail and hit the circuit, a new way perhaps to reach out to undecided voters. ann romney went to "the view." michelle obama went to kelly ripa. and the alford e. smith memorial dinner, a roast featuring presidential candidates. >> earlier today i went shopping at stores in mid town. i understand governor romney went shopping for some stores in mid town. >> we are down to the final months of the president's term. as president obama surveys the banquet room with everyone in white tie and finery you have to wonder what he's thinking. s

i'm carol costello. we continue now with ashleigh b banfield. >> thank you, carol. let's bring in paul steinhauser, who is in hampstead, new york, the site of the second presidential debate. the numbers start today, a fresh new week. what do they tell us? >> the horse race, right? this is a brand new cnn poll. there have been seven surveys since that first presidential debate. we average them all together and there you go. there's about as close can you get. 47% likely voters for the president, 47% supporting mitt romney. you look at new national polls that have come out in the last day and you see other numbers behind the numbers. mitt romney's favorable rating seems to be rising a little bit. that's very important as well. the battle for the white house is not a national battle. it's a race for the states and their electoral votes. if you look at the states polls, it's pretty tight as well in the states. >> they say they don't necessarily pay attention to all the polls. they say they do their internal polls but my spidey senses say they look at all the polls, thos

i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. >> hello, everyone. i'm ashley. it is 11:00 on the east coast and 8:00 on the west coast. good morning to you, california! >>> how about that debate last night? you didn't catch that long awaited first-ever head-to-head matchup between president and his republican challenger, the obama camp is probably somewhat grateful that you didn't. but if you did catch it, you may not be surprised by numbers like these. two-thirds of debate watchers polled by cnn and orc believe that mitt romney bested the president. that is the biggest win of any presidential debater since we first started asking the questions of that back in 1984. check out this number. 82% said that mitt romney did better than they expected, but only 1 in 10 said he did worse. as for the president's performance, 6 in 10 say that he did worse than expected. just 2 in 10 said he actually did better. cnn's dana bash joins me now with more about the stats and the sound bites and to borrow a line from our friend and our colleague james carville, the president wan

i'm carol costello. cnn "newsroom" continues now with ashleigh banfield. >> we begin with carnage and chaos. breaking news in the heart of lebanon's largest city and its capital, beirut. a large and deadly explosion happening in the middle of rush hour there. a car bomb apparently the weapon. it was apparently detonated in the city's center, right around one of the main squares. at least eight people dying. you can see the pictures filing into cnn. scenes like this playing out at this moment. rows of mangled cars, charred buildings, people trying to rescue, ambulances rushing to help dozens of those injured victims. stay with us as we continue to process the information from this breaks news story. we'll have developments throughout the day right here on cnn. and another very big story we're continuing to watch develop, a remarkable new report out of benghazi about a man that witnesses insist the was the ring leader in the attack that killed our ambassador and three diplomats, yet a man that has yet to b

. >> i'm carol costello. thanks for joining me today. we continue now with ashleigh banfield. >> same players, same issues, absolutely different format, whole new ball game. what a show at hofstra university as president obama faced off with mitt romney for what you might call 90 minutes of political fireworks last night. you can be forgiven if you thought you were watching a showdown because the second presidential debates was worlds away from the first one two weeks ago. this time the president and the governor brought intensity and energy unlike the first time around. the exchanges were bruising. both candidates taking every opportunity to go on the attack. president obama more aggressive, out to make up ground after a flat first performance and mitt romney standing his ground, hoping to keep his momentum going. take a look. >> i don't think anyone really believes that you're a person who is going to be pushing for oil and gas and coal. you'll get your chance in a moment. i'm still speaking. and the answer is -- >> if you're asking me