this is a new cnn/orc poll. lead is shrinking there within the margin of error. 18 electoral votes, a statistically tie. some polls show the president leading with a a. few points. >>> mitt romney is not afraid of big bird after he promised to cut fund for pbs. the obama camp went on the attack, accusing romney of trying to kill the feathered sesame street character. listen to what he told wolf blitzer in "the situation room" last night. >> big bird is going to be just fine. "sesame street" is a successful enterprise. i don't believe cnn gets funding but somehow y'all stay on the air. i just think that pbs will be able to make it on its own just like every one of the other stations and does not require us to go to china to borrow money to keep pbs on the air. >>> the brouhaha at the official news word over big birds a the producers of big entered a little peeved. they say this ad from the obama campaign does not fly with them. >> big, yellow, a menace to our economy. >> the ad launched mitt romney's position on

reza sayah, cnn, is ball la.tt, a turn with run of his novels. [ male announcer ] inside the v8 taste lab. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. there's a pop. wahlalalalallala! pepper, but not pepper, i'm getting like, pep-pepper. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, zip zip zip zip zip! i'm literally getting zinged by the flavor. smooth, but crisp. velvety. kind of makes me feel like a dah zing yah woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8. woooo! >>> with nearly 100 million books sold, chances are you've picked up a ken follett novel. "world without end kwds appears on reelz this wednesday. ken, first thanks for taking time to meet with us. >> pleasure. >> initially your big hits were thrillers. >> that's right. >> then you made the transition into mini series. why did you make the transition from these thrillers to the middle ages? >> well, i wrote thrillers because i love to read thrill

so the cnn thing you just reported is unbelievable to me. cnn showed a 48% to 40 poll. they said it is even? >> cenk: they do it all the time. we showed before these debates began, there was nine presidential debates over the last three elections. eight out of nine times the democrats won. based on inta polling. when you look at anybody who's lived in america knows that they never say that. >> of course. >> cenk: when the democrats win, they call it even. when the republicans win they blow the trumpets, the republicans win. it is because of this thing that you're bias, you're bias so you better be, in fact, in reality in favor of the republicans. >> they set a bar so much higher for the democrats. they did that for john kerry. he wasn't good in the first debate. the bar didn't matter. now, he didn't come back enough? he didn't hit hard enough? he didn't engage them hard enough? everybody i know who saw that debate last night thought it was a slam dunk. i'm talking about a republican friend of mine in maryland who i spoke to today everybody told me they thought it was a

this is the latest cnn orc poll of latino voters.ear favorite over mitt romney, leading 70% to 26%. you can fairly say that's not even close and it is well outside the margin of error and that's critical because you know there is a saying that there is power in numbers. at least 12.2 million people expected to show up at the polls on election day. but that's barely half of latinos who are eligible to vote. and it could come down to location, location, location. the hispanic vote could be the deciding factor in several states, including the swing state of nevada. which is where miguel marquez takes us in the battle to win their vote. >> reporter: it might sound like mexico. but this is the fight for the white house. welcome to washo county, nevada, the front line in this battleground state. washo county's 250,000 voters are expected to decide whether the nevada goes blue or red. and latinos, about 30,000 votes here, could make the critical difference in a race that could come down to a few thousand votes. here's how nevada's 1.4 milli

the news continues next on cnn. >>> hello, everyone. you're in the "cnn newsroom." let's get you up to speed on the day's top stories. >>> the highest profile islamic terror suspect in great britain is now here in the united states. he and four other terror suspects appeared in federal courtrooms today just hours after landing on american soil. stay there. full details just two minutes away. >>> president barack obama and mitt romney both talking money today. campaign funds, as a matter of fact. president's people announce they set a record for their campaign in september, bringing in $181 million. we will get you now to central florida. live pictures there, you're looking at. it is a mitt romney rally near orlando. romney's campaign says his performance at wednesday's debate energized donors who bumped romney's coffers more than $12 million in the past 48 hours after the debate. >>> new developments to tell you about in the deadly meningitis outbreak. the cdc says the death toll has risen to seven people now. 64 people in nine states have contracted meningitis link

elsie granderson is a senior writer for cnn and will cane is a contributor here at cnn. will, don't you work for -- >> "the blade." >> this debate will be moderated by candy crowley. is it a debate that will make president obama's job harder? >> i don't think so. it think it will make it easier, because he'll have the audience to gauge and understand the energy level he has and have a more immediate impact on the audience. >> so it's like a performer, he can vibe off the audience. >> i totally agree, but for a little different reason. i was reading a review of the 2008 town hall debate barack obama had with senator john mccain at the time. they said he was dispassionate, he ambled when he chose his words. sound familiar? so i will say this, i agree with lz, the town hall format lowers the ball. i don't think people like head to head as much. it's more about connecting with people. >> that was tom brokaw's debate in 2008. he talked about doing a town hall debate this morning on "meet the press" and he said it was very tough. he said something like, i'm paraphrasing, my co

our special live coverage begins at 7:00 eastern here on cnn, the debate will be moderated by cnn's candy, as i said earlier. >>> and coming up, prayers around the world for a pakistani activist nearly killed by the taliban as police make more arrests in her shooting. >>> and google searches that yield a presidential candidate. some of the search phrases will surprise you. ess credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney... a desktop in zurich... and a telepresence room in brazil. the cure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistant's pc in new york. and before i rea

the source told cnn the u.s. embassy in ahmmman appeared to the target. 11 suspects associated with al qaeda's ideology are in custody, all suspects are jordanian citizens who moved in and out of syria. other targets reportedly included shopping centers, neighborhoods, and diplomats. the name 9/11 "2" suggests the plot was set for november 9th, the seventh anniversary of the last attack in jordan. >>> the candidates for president hours away from going at it in one final debate. this is with a full focus on foreign policy. >>> new information about cuba's fidel castro. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ woman: what do you mea

this is our cnn poll of polls.his averages the three national surveys of likely voters, live operator, nonpartisan surveys, and look at that, mitt romney, 48%, president obama, 47%. in the previous polls before the debate, the president had the slight advantage. that's national. what about the states? because the race for the white house is a race for the states and their electoral votes. let's go to ohio, 18 electoral votes. our cnn/orc poll indicates the president with a four-point advantage. ashleigh, that's within the sampling error. guess what? the polls done before the debate had the president with much larger leads. let's go to colorado. here's an american research group poll. you can see mitt romney with a four-point advantage, again, within the sampling error. but you go back a few weeks, the president had the advantage in colorado. similar with other polls in other states that have come out over the last 48 hours. so yeah, it looks like mitt romney has gotten a bounce, but hey, you said it and i'll say it

>> everybody on their best behavior, i want everybody to say hi, cnn! >> hi cnn! wolf blitzer! today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. i'm an expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. >>> they may not be voting on election day in 17 days, but when they grow up, many of america's children will certainly have the chance to. one children's book author is trying to get kids interested in the process right now. lisa sylvester caught up with him. >> re

ana navarro, cnn contributor and republican strategist, roland martin, cnn political analyst.mber four. >> yeah. >> meanwhile, our poll of last night, and many pundits believe that president obama won the debate. but, can governor romney hold his own? and will that be enough come election day? one of his key foreign policy advisers, former republican senator norm coleman of minnesota is going to join us right after the break. anncr: every president inherits challenges. few have faced so many. four years later... our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home. assembly lines are humming again. there are still challenges to meet. children to educate. a middle class to rebuild. but the last thing we should do is turn back now. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. the wheels of progress haven't been very active lately. but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash man

you're in the cnn newsroom, i'm deborah feyerick in for don lenin. let's get you up to speed on the day's headlines. the presidential candidates are headed west. president obama is in nevada tonight, holding a rally at desert pines high school. let's take a moment, listen in. >> i'm going to use the money we're no longer spending on war to do some nation building here at home. rebuilding our roads, and our bridges, and putting americans back to work. that's part of what makes america strong. that's what we're going to do. so that's the choice we face in this election. what the election comes down to, and you are going to hear over the next two months, i know you must be tired of hearing hands, but you're going to hear more over the next two -- or the next six weeks, and over and over again you're going to hear my opponents talk about how bigger tax cuts, fewer regulations, that's the way to go. and since government can't do everything it should do almost nothing. they're making -- if you can't afford health care, then hope you don't get sick. if you

i'm don lemon at the cnn worl

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i don't know if this is fit for cnn.comment pat moynihan made about malcolm -- >> malcolm wall a krchlwallach. in the future when i say remind me, it means i don't have a clue. >> i thought you knew everything and made that comment to inform the audience as to who malcolm was. joe bideson a good talker for humor because he talks so much. there's a picture of joe biden and me over here. you know how much it costs to buy a seat in the united states senate? $30 million. so when you pay $30 million for a seat, you like to sit in it. >> specter, the former prosecutor, studied his comedy performances with a critical eye taking careful notes on which punch lines worked and which fell flat. >> clearly tuned in to the audience because you were pausing. >> there's a cadence to it. and the audience gets into the cadence. when you pause, they laugh -- if you pause they laugh again. sometimes they laugh automatically. >> reporter: in the end between his long senate career and his short but determined effort at stand-up comedy, and hi

cnn going with 22.rto rico police department earlier today, they confirmed a man was victim to some tropical storm conditions there, and as a result of hurricane sandy, has died. just to reemphasize, for those of you that are powering through storm, they can expect to be without power. as many as ten million people expected and estimated to be without power. that stat coming to us from johns hopkins university. this is going to be a sustained power outage between seven and ten days. maybe up to two weeks that people will be without power. a lot of fears and concerns. we're three day ace way. this thing hasn't even made landfall yet. >> there's no telling if something could happen. but that whole seven to ten days without power, that makes me wonder if there will be mass exodus from some areas. >> just to push this ahead, we'll have better numbers and a better idea of what the national hurricane center is predicting at 11:00. >> all right, thank you, nick. >>> he is a member of the rock 'n' roll hall of

the news continues next on cnn. >>> hello, everyone. i'm don lemon. here's what's happening right now. a dramatic development tonight to tell you about in the standoff over iran's nuclear program. "the new york times" is reporting that iran has agreed to one-on-one talks with the united states. the report is attributed to white house officials and suggest that talks wouldn't begin until after the presidential election. "the times" describes this as a last-ditch development, diplomatic effort to avoid a military strike. it also comes just two days before the last presidential debate, one that will focus on foreign policy. cnn correspondents working our sources to confirm this report. we'll keep you updated on this story throughout the evening here on cnn. >>> here's what else is happening right now. two days of random shootings in southeastern michigan are bringing back memories of the sniper attacks in washington, d.c. ten years ago. 15 shootings targeting motorists have happened over 48 hours in the suburban detroit area, leaving many on edge. and so

she decline d an interview with cnn. whether race should be part of the application process at the university of texas is the issue that will come before the supreme court on wednesday. edward bloom recruited abigail fisher to file the lawsuit. >> should a university judge a student by his or her skin color when it comes time for admission? and the answer is no. >> reporter: here is how the admissions process at u.t. works. top 10% of each high school class statewide gets in automatically. for those below the top 10%, like abigail fisher, in the 11%, they use what it calls a holistic review where race is one of many factors considered, one that university president bill power says doesn't get much weight and didn't play a role in fish fisher's rejection. >> we take ethnicity as one of many, many factors in a holistic review to make sure that the three quarters coming in under automatic admission, though we add to that with a quarter coming in where we can look for these other characteristics, including diversity. >> i th

cnn tonight, people will be watching on cnn.rst comments out of it, and what do those people say within about a minute or two can start making the viewers say, yeah, that's right. he did screw up. what clip gets played the most in the first 20 minutes after the debate? a lot of people aren't junkies for politics and aren't staying up all night watchinging this, but they will watch the debate and then listen to maybe ten, 15, 20 minutes of banter afterwards, so you are going to have both the democrats and republicans just swamping reporters and hitting the internet trying to get their word out in a nanosecond. in fact, twitter now will have people like david axelrod or romney's top people that will be twittering within the middle of the debate saying can you believe the president just screwed up or can you believe romney said that? >> it's going to be a fascinating evening. i'll be checking my all of the s going to be happening. we're going to be fully engaged tonight. thanks, doug. more after the break. >> hey, thank you. with t

mobile phone and watch cnn live from your laptop. just go to cnn.com/tv. ♪ [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow! [ male announcer ] when your favorite foods fight you, fight back fast with tums smoothies. so fast and smooth, you'll forget you had heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums [ male announcer ] tums smoothies. >>> latinos are a diverse group. many mexicans find mat han at that time immigrant friendly but rich with opportunity. >> this store is called escondido, hipden. but the mexican wares it sells are no hid insecret. >> you see more sxr more frukts in cheeses and interesting mexican chocolate. you see the changing demograp c demographics of people demanding higher quality products. >> these are so popular they're not just fetching top dollar, they've begun accepting pesos. >> we expect them as a way to provide a public service to the people coming to the shop. >> mexicans have also taken manhattan, moving in where puerto ricans and dominicans once han beauty shops. >> there was a lot of dominicans and pouerto ricans workin

cnn news room. we'll get you up to date today, the stories making news this hour. we have new developments on the deadly meningitis outbreak, 64 people, nine states, are infected with meningitis, from the injections of the steroid. now, the plant where it was made is voluntarily shut down, more on the story in about five minutes here. >>> and look what appeared before the judge in new york city. abu masri, born in egypt, finally extradited to the united states from britain. he got a long list of terrorist charges dating back to the '90s. now, masri is a professed admirer of osama bin laden. formal arraignment, on tuesday. >>> and president obama getting a boost on one hand, doing damage control on the other. he is riding high on the unemployment numbers, but also trying to recover from his poorly reviewed showing from his first presential debate, from mitt romney. meanwhile, romney's team claiming a big boost from the debate, saying they raised more than 48 million in the past four hours. >>> the fa

cnn's live debate coverage begins at 7:00 p.m.tern tonight. >>> philadelphia police are hoping this surveillance video leads them to the group that beat up and robbed a 47-year-old man in a grocery store. investigators now say someone in the video posted their video bragging about the attack on youtube. the group passed the man at the frozen food aisle saturday night and suddenly turned around to surround him. words were exchanged before the man was punched, quicked and struck with a glass bottle. one of the suspects took the man's money clip with $100 in cash. the man went to the hospital with a broken nose and cut on the cheek. >>> this is incredible, frightening and very real video of a huge 727 passenger jet going down in the desert. it is all caught on tape from dozens of angles. why? they did this on purpose. this is part of the discovery channel's new "curiosity" series. this was pulled off to give researchers and you a closer look at what happens in a crash landing. it may not be a death sentence. >> several different stud

drew griffin, cnn, california. >>> bottom of the hour now.to get you caught up on the headlines. new developments to tell you about in the deadly meningitis outbreak. cdc reports more than a dozen new cases of fungal meningitis. the death toll now 15. overall 198 cases of meningitis confirmed across 13 states. the outbreak, linked to contaminated steroid injections used to relieve back and neck pain. 14,000 people may have gotten those tainted injections. >>> big security breach at the new jersey based td bank. the company confirms to cnn that data tapes containing personal information, 260,000 customers have been quote misplaced. most of the people affected by this incident live in new england. a td bank spokesman says the's no evidence the information has been assessed or is being misused in any way. affected customers have been offered free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. ♪ >>> republican mitt romney mixing political rallies with debate prep. he held two events today in ohio and spent several hours this morning getting rea

cnn's paul verkamen joining me live. paul, let's be crystal clear to all of our viewers, cnn, we are

senator george mcgovern. >>> stay connected to cnn.en when you're on the go, you can grab your mobile phone or go to cnn.com/tv if you're on a desktop or a laptop, you can also watch cnn live. @p@p >>> a programming reminder for you, president obama and gop presidential candidate mitt romney face-off in their final debate tomorrow night. they're going to tackle foreign policy. it's going to be live from boca raton, florida, and cnn will have coverage for you starting at 7:00 eastern. the debate begins at 9:00, followed by analysis with our political experts. tomorrow night right here on cnn. >>> george mcgovern, the democratic party's presidential candidate in 1972 and a former three-term senator, has died. he was 90. mcgovern was a world war ii veteran and a staunch liberal who vehemently opposed the war in vietnam. he entered hospice care last week near his home in south dakota. here is a look back at mcgovern's life and his legacy. >> reporter: george mcgovern lived a fascinating life. america's leading liberal came from republican

nischelle turner, cnn, hollywood. >> nischelle turner, thank you for that. >>> and next, cnn's candynd woman to moderate a presidential debate solo ever, so who is first, you ask? >> my name is carol simpson. and i will be the moderator for tonight's 90-minute debate. >> carol simpson, we're talking to her live next. le boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events, more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with the citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] >>> our candy crowley will be the second woman to moderate a town hall presidential debate. the first was carol simpson. she had the challenge of hosting that 1992 town hall that featured the three candidates. you had president george h.w. bush, then arkansas governor bill clinton, and ross perot and c

arwa damon, cnn, beirut. >> want to bring in cnn national security correspondent fran townse townsend. she visited benghazi with her employer. explain how a month has passed and worry still trying to figure out what exactly happened in benghazi, the details of this, from the original compound to the annex pound, which involved a rush through traffic, being shot at with two flat tires, going the opposite way of the oncoming traffic to try to get everybody to safety and eventually evacuation is incredibly detailed and horrific and every single step of the way we've had from a lot of fronts this sort of confused narrative about what exactly happened. why is it taking so long? >> the initial -- it would be understandable that the initial story might be confused, right? there's utter chaos. and we often hear it from the military, the fog of battle. that kind of explains the first 48 hours. there is no good explanation for a month later. you have this hearing that begins this morning and just last night sources in the state department leak in advance of the hearing -- >> phone call. wasn't

welcome to cnn newsroom. i'm martin savege. these are the headlines making news. >>> president obama and mitt romney are spending this weekend getting ready for their third and final showdown. that key debate happens monday night in boca raton and focus on foreign policy and national security. and while the two candidates practice for the face-off, their surrogates are busy campaigning in several critical battleground states. that is vice president biden and romney, they're both in florida. paul ryan is focusing on ohio and pennsylvania. and joe biden is in minnesota. the candidates have just 17 days to make their case to the undecided. and as election day draws closer to rhetoric on the stump is heating up. here is jim acosta. >> reporter: martin, even though it's early, we're starting to hear the makings of closing arguments from the candidates and the president who says romney has no core and romney who says the president has no plan. while mitt romney is preparing for his final debate with president obama in florida, he and

cnn correspondents working our sources to confirm this report. we'll keep you updated on this story throughout the evening here on cnn. >>> here's what else is happening right now. two days of random shootings in southeastern michigan are bringing back memories of the sniper attacks in washington, d.c. ten years ago. 15 shootings targeting motorists have happened over 48 hours in the suburban detroit area, leaving many on edge. and so far, no one has been hurt, was there have been some close calls. investigators from three counties are taking part in the investigation. no arrests have been made. >>> police in englewood, california, are searching for a gunman who opened fire on a family before setting fire to a nearby house. a 30-year-old dad and his 4-year-old son died in the early morning attack. the mother and their two young children remain in critical condition. police are now searching for a 55-year-old black man, who was last seen wearing a dark hat and painter's mask. some reports say the suspect was recently evicted from his home. >>> in