i'm jim axelrod. we are learning more tonight about the investigation that led to the abrupt resignation of c.i.a. chief and retired four-star general david petraeus. petraeus admitted to an affair and submitted his resignation to president obama, and now it turns out, it was the f.b.i. that discovered the relationship was with his biographer. homeland security correspondent bob orr is standing by in washington tonight. good evening, bob. >> reporter: good evening, jim. well, david petraeus is one of america's most decorated and reveered generals. as head of the c.i.a., he was in charge of the nation's most sensitive operations, but the ridgedly disciplined p/e was hiding his own dark secret. sources say c.i.a. director david petraeus was never the target of an f.b.i. investigation but when his name surfaced in another probe, agents became concerned that petraeus, or his e-mail accounts, may have been compromised. it all began a few months ago when a female acquaintance of the c.i.a. director received

. >> pelley: and jim axelrod with a woman on a mission to recover memories sandy washed away. >> the storm can take our houses and possession bus she left us these photos. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. at the end of the most violent day yet in the battle between israel and the hamas government in gaza, secretary of state hillary clinton arrived in jerusalem to try to broker a cease-fire. but late today things looked frosty between the secretary and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. faces were long and comments were short. she had just flown ten hours, leaving president obama behind on a tour of cambodia throughout this day there were rumors of peace but israel unleashed a ferocious bombardment of gaza from air and sea. the palestinians and gaza fired back. since this started last week, 133 palestinians have been killed in 1,500 israeli air strikes. five israelis have died after more than one thousand rockets rained down from gaza. we have correspondents on both sides of the line, first charlie d'agata i

jim axelrod reports. >> reporter: they're breaking up furniture for firewood on staten island. >> it's very cold. and they need to keep warm somehow. i'm glad that the fire department is not coming to put the fire out. >> reporter: desperate moms are standing in line in queens, hoping the donated food doesn't run out. >> it's hard, you know? because you don't want your babies to go hungry. >> reporter: all over the city, the powerful are getting an earful. >> you've got to be kidding me! where were you yesterday? >> reporter: help is now pouring in to new york and new jersey. marines have landed in staten island. 280 state troopers from eight states were sworn in to help in new jersey, including 50 from the mississippi highway patrol. more than a thousand utility crews from as far away as california and canada are being staged at citi field, home to the new york mets. >> we're in hand to hand combat. we are just going block to block putting up facilities that have been damaged by those winds and/or the floods. >> reporter: john is in charge of power restoration for new york's largest e

jim axelrod met a woman who is on a mission to find lost memory there's. >> reporter: many people iney curse the ocean for what it took when sandy roared ashore. . not jeannette. she's grateful for what it's bringing back. >> there was a to. it's float in the water. >> how can you tell? >> by the paper. >> reporter: her home was one of 200 destroyed by sandy. >> couldn't just sit around go woe me. >> reporter: so instead she's been walking up and down the beach front. >> you have just a little bit of a person's face. >> reporter: finding small treasures amid the devastation. >> that's another to. the storm can take our houses, our possession, but she left us these photos. >> reporter: she's gathered 5,000 pictures which she cleans and stores in 50 gallon tubs, snapshots of wedding, birth days, even sonnogrograms. >> what is this >> a baby album. photos of the birth all the way through to the first photos you take of your infant. >> reporter: collecting them is one thing. getting them back to their owners is something entirely different. >> now what do i do with them? facebook. the po

jim axelrod reports. >> reporter: this 22-year-old college yearbook picture of barry is one of the few public images of new england compounding center. that will change when he's called to capitol hill to testify about the 32 meningitis deaths traced to drugs made by his company. congressman cliff stern chairs the energy and commerce subcommittee that's investigating. >> i have the right to say there's a debacle here, there's mall if he assistance. can you explain in. >> reporter: stern expect cadden to stay silent. >> the quality control was terrible at the new england compounding center and he was doing nothing about it. so for some reason he was camouflaging and trying to indicate to the fda there's no problem. >> was barry cadden a liar? >> obviously he was shading the truth. >> reporter: stern plans to investigate an incident in 2004 when cadden was asked by an fda investigator if necc had trypan blue in stock. cadden said no according to the investigator who then reported finding 189 vials of it on site. >> the fda has a throat explain here because at this point all of us are jus

jim axelrod, cbs news new york. >>> coming up after your local news on cbs "this morning," presidentnd mitt romney meet for the first time today since the election. we'll talk with stewart stevens. plus we'll hear from lottery officials about the winners of last night's record powerball drawing. and w everyone yton marsalis stops by to celebrate 25 years of jazz. that and more a little later. that's the morning news for this thursday. as always appreciate you watching. i'm terrell brown in new york. take care everybody. have a great day. ,,,, and i'm michelle griego. tis 4:-- >>> good morning. it is thursday, november 29th. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. time now just about 4:30. major police activity happening right now near downtown palo alto. >> officers are combing through the area near an apartment complex on high and hawthorne streets. k-9 units are searching the area right now. we have a live crew on the scene. we are going to have more information on that search coming up in just a few minutes. >>> round one wasn't so bad but the worst is yet to come. more wet w

jim axelrod on the investigation. and they faced down a mass murderer. elaine quijano with the officer who was shot 12 times as he and his partner stopped a bloodbath. >> i confronted evil in the parking lot and evil was not going to leave. captioning snsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. general john allen, the general in charge of the war in afghanistan, is under investigation tonight in connection with the same woman who helped bring down the director of the c.i.a., retired general david petraeus. now general allen's nomination to be supreme allied commander of nato is on hold. two of the top military men of their generation have been brought low by their acquaintance with jill kelley, a tampa socialite seen here at her home with the story playing on the t.v. behind her. last spring, kelley complained to the f.b.i. of receiving harassing anonymous e-mails. turned out, those e-mails had been written by a jealous paula broadwell. the investigation then exposed broadwell's affair with c.i.a. director da

jim axelrod is on that part of the story. jim? >> reporter: well, scott, that news is exactly what people in parts of manhattan with no power have been waiting all week to hear. >> well, my kids have been sleeping here. >> reporter: it can't happen soon enough for 71-year-old judi crespo. judi's been cooking soup over sister know and, with her elevator out, hasn't left her place in four days. >> well, i'm desperate. i'm d.e.m. preus to have the electricity back on. you don't realize how much you rely on it. >> reporter: a few blocks away from judi, con ed workers like john sullivan and his crew are pulling greats off of flooded transformer vaults. in go pumps and out flows water. the vaults hold transformers that are supposed to work even after being submerged, but they need to be checked. >> this particular transformer is made to go underwater so it should be fine. based on our experience it should be absolutely fine. >> reporter: of the 3.2 million customers without power, 80% of them are in new york or new jersey. >> we've got

jim axelrod, cbs news washington. >>> fall outthis morning from hurricane sandy, the chief operating officer of the long island utility company that took so much heat for its response to the storm is stepping down. sandy knocked out power to more than a million long island power authority customers. some 10,000 still don't have electricity. lipa has taken criticism for how long it took to make repairs. >>> appliances and natural gas maybe to blame for the explosion in indianapolis. two people were killed. the owner of the house at the center of the explosion says the furnace had been having problems. >>> a quick break on this wednesday morning. when we come back dramatic dash cam video, new details showing police officers confronting a gunman and saving lives at a shooting at a sikh temple in august. this is the "cbs morning news." a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a differe

. >> pelley: reports from jim axelrod and seth doane. and remember all that anger on the gas lines? >> i'm yelling? >> pelley: ben tracy found one place that's old-fashioned friendly. >> lots of people need the gas. we'll pump it for them. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening, two years, $2 billion. now it's your turn. the long, expensive presidential race is down to its final hours. national polls show that it's dead even, but in the few swing states that could tip the balance tomorrow night president obama has a slight advantage over mitt romney. in ohio, a university of cincinnati poll shows the president ahead 50% to 49%. in florida, a recent poll has him ahead by just two points. in wisconsin, the president leads by three points. in iowa, the "des moines register" shows mr. obama up five points. and the colorado poll has him ahead by two points. our campaign 2012 team is covering. first we're going to go to nancy cordes with the president tonight. nancy? >> pelley: scott, after 100 rallies, the president holds his

jim axelrod is on the case. israel finds a sworn enemy and takes a shot. it's the beginning of a major military operation. ... and doctor jon lapook with a pineither surgeon who can turn a voice like this... into something like this. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening, for the first time the president weighed in on the scandal that ended the career of his c.i.a. director and derailed his nominee to lead nato. president obama told a news conference no classified information was compromised in the e-mail and sex scandal. he was asked about david petraeus, perhaps most distinguished army general of his generation, who quit the c.i.a. last week after an f.b.i. investigation discovered that he was having an affair. >> general petraeus had an extraordinary career. he served this country with great distinction in iraq, in afghanistan, and as head of the c.i.a. by his own assessment, he did not meet standards that he felt were necessary as the director of the c.i.a. with respect to this personal ma

jim axelrod is in the rockaway section of queens, new york. d morning. >> reporter: good morning. although a lot of people are wondering what's good about it. i can show you a rather grim picture over my shoulder, give you a sense of what people are dealing with out here. so many mattresses, carpets, toys, all trashed. i want to give you a look at a picture we've just come across, some time lapsed video of sandy coming ashore a week ago tonight. it gives a sense of just how bad it got got and why mayor michael bloomberg now says up to 40,000 people in new york city need housing. as far as relief goes, the supplies are arriving here. this is a lot with the national guard overseeing supplies as they come in. you can see a row of ambulances here. the question isn't how to stockpile the supplies. the question is how to distribute them. and until then, what we've come across in the rockaways, for instance, sourt of makeshift supply lines and almost supermarkets that are popping up in parking lots out here in this section of queens. donations from ch

jim axelrod is there tonight. jim. >> reporter: well, scott, this water-filled tunnel behind me is just one of the many challenges sandy has left for new yorkers who are facing a transportation nightmare. on this road into new york city, gasoline may be hard to find, but frustration summer is not. >> get in front of me! get in front of me! if it makes you happy. >> reporter: supply isn't the problem. it's the power blackouts that are keeping pumps from operating. >> move it! move it! >> reporter: aaa says just a third of stations are open in new jersey and long island. this line was three hours long. >> worth the wait. >> reporter: hours waiting for gas is followed by hours to get over a bridge or through a tunnel. to reduce congestion, police are turning away cars with less than three people until midnight tomorrow. >> move the line to the front! let's go! >> reporter: new york city buses resumed running today, and they were crammed tight. cedric taylor is a security guard headed back to work. >> you have to be pa

jim axelrod is at the u.n. for us tonight. jim. >> reporter: well, scott, the palestinian authority become just the second non-member state designated by the united nations. the vatican is the other. the palestinians are viewing this elevation of status as an historic step, just to have any kind of recognition of statehood. palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas, who was also the first palestinian authority prime minister, rejected last- minute appeals from the united states to reconsider his push for this recognition. >> ( translated ): the united nations general assembly is called upon today to issue the birth certificate of the reality of the state of palestine. >> reporter: now, we are not talking about full status as united nations member nation. that would require the approval of the security council, and the united states has already promised to veto that. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton, scott, is calling today's vote counter-productive and unfortunate and places further obstacles in the path to peace. >>

jim axelrod is in hoboken, new jersey. >> sandy didn't stop me from voting!reporter: nothing would stop nelly moreno from voting. four feet of water swept through her neighborhood in hoboken last week. at any point did you think "forget it, this year i'm not voting "? >> no. on the contrary. it motivated me to come out. >> reporter: volunteers scrubbed all weekend to get the polls ready. 800 polling places were without power in new jersey saturday. today it's fewer than a hundred. this mobile voting precinct delivered mail-in ballots along the jersey shore. on staten island, some votes were cast by flashlight. >> here to vote? come on in! >> reporter: new york and new jersey voters displaced by the storm can vote at any polling place. that contributed to long lines and some confusion. i thought people were supposed to be able to vote wherever they wanted. >> yeah, it's not happening. >> reporter: but maureen mcdonald was grateful to vote inside this tent in far rockaway new york. >> it makes me feel proud to be an american that during a disaster like this we

so we asked jim axelrod to look into it. >> reporter: three men are now in custody. they are suspected of locking workers into the clothing factory before the fire started. julhas alam went to the burned out factory. we spoke to him by phone. >> total devastation, machines are burned, ceiling fans are, those are melted. aren the fire extinguishers were burned. >> reporter: this is alam in the factory, holding a disney sweatshirt. >> i saw faded glory. i saw wal-mart. i saw disney. >> reporter: alam also identified clothing made for sean combs' enyce label. both disney and wal-mart say their clothing suppliers in bangladesh were doing business with the factory without their knowledge. disney says it hasn't allowed them to manufacture disney branded products for at least the last 12 months. wal-mart says the tazreen factory was no longer authorized to produce much for the company. scott nova is the executive director of the workers right consortiums. he traveled to bangladesh after another factory fire in 2010 to investigate workers' conditions. >> the fact is that the

some of the rail service is now returning, and jim axelrod takes us down under. >> reporter: where are we? >> we're down here at the main exit and entrance of south ferry terminal. >> reporter: joe leader of m.t.a. transportation took us down for a look at the hardest hit of all 468 new york city subway stations. south ferry, at the southern tip of manhattan. >> we had barricaded up top with wood plywood and sandbags to keep the water out, but when the surge came, it brought down all this material that doesn't belong here. large pieces of lumber, and that broke through the barrier and allowed more water to come in. >> reporter: that's water just a few steps down from the top of the steps. but the tracks are another two levels underneath that. so as much as the water's gone down, we're still two levels worth of water till we get to the tracks? >> absolutely. >> reporter: it will take a week alone just to pump out the water. but the subway system will begin limited service tomorrow. limited mass transit has left city streets choked with cars, a telling sign of just how badly the city nee

jim axelrod is in lower manhatt manhattan. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this gives you a pretty god idea of what the commute is like on this friday morning. the traffic signals are out. because there's no power. that creates quite a bit of chaos at the intersections as these negotiations go on about who is going to get the right of way. all over the city, as we said, chaos. the bridges and tunnels choked with vehicles. traffic stretching for miles. through midnight tonight police will continue to turn away cars with less than three passengers. public transportation, lines for shuttle buses reached three hours yesterday. getting rid of water that's still flooding out tums and roads. tough job here. army corps of engineers is here to help, planning to suck out 10 million gallons. trucks being air lifted here to help restore power. pretty simple equation. the quicker they get power on, the quicker the congestion will be reduced around new york. con ed, the power company that takes care of new york city says by tomorrow all 227,000 customers who are still wit

however, jim axelrod reports there is a growing controversial injury that is affecting football all the to the nfl. >> reporter: suggesting a real lineman taking place. >> is this for good? >> it is. it's an obsession. >> reporter: former nfl quarterback, boomer esiason, is an analyst for nfl today. the league is paid nearly $5 million a year to broadcast football and will tell you it's worth every cent. >> for all of us as americans sundays basically in the fall are all about football. >> reporter: i'm not going to be sitting here with you in ten years and say what happened? how did basketball get to be the most important sport in our culture? >> the only one way i would see that would happen. that is if the moms of this world decided to say my little boy can't play football. >> reporter: esiason is talking about head injuries, an issue that has exploded as thousandses of former players filed suit against the league claiming that they hid information that head injuries lead to permanent brain damage. three quarterbacks suffered concussions. >> somewhere between 30 and 60 head-to-head c

back to you. >> jim axelrod, thank you.believe tonight's winner will be the man who takes ohio's 18 electoral votes. president obama campaigned there on monday. governor romney is returning there later today and this morning dean reynolds is at the ohio state university in columbus. >> reporter: good morning. voting has begun in the key battleground state of ohio in search of the state's 18 electoral votes. the polls will stay open across the state until 7:30 this evening eastern time. but already 1,787,000 votes have been cast early by people who went to the polls, and that is a record for this state in early voting. in the race for the president, the surveys all show this race could not be tighter. the latest survey from the university of cincinnati said that the president is up by about a point over governor romney. that's why both candidates were in ohio yesterday and it's why governor romney will be coming back to cleveland even today. it's also why legions of volunteers have been working right up to today and will con

you know, they were -- the people you mentioned before, david plouffe, jim messina and jim axelrod --articularly messina and plouffe, i wrote about this, they saw this as a contest between economics and demographics. the economics were going to be a headwind for president obama and the only way to win was focus like a laser beam on four groups. the rest of the campaign was just mood music for them. they were looking at african-americans, hispanics, college educated white women and young voters in nine states. that was -- they had a year and a half before they had to engage with romney. a year and a half and a $1 billion to go out into those states and figure out not just in a broad way these were the groups they had to do well with but how do you move those people? >> how do you find out how to do it? >> some of the -- chuck said there was no issue -- there's a little exception. they were able to talk to a lot of people in those groups, find out what issues matter to them. the thing is the president did along the way. whether it was the dream act move in the spring, the gay marriage m

also jim axelrod takes us down inside the city subway station still flooded by two stories of water. the denverration is so bad on new jersey's barrier island many residents won't be allowed back for days, but our own bensy treysy went into a hard hit area. plus jeb bush will be with us when we see you at 7:00 and talk politics. >> thank you. >>> as charlie was saying sandy menaced the east coast closing schools, markets, businesses and transit. >> and it is going to take more than a little time to recover from the wreckage. there are pledges by government officials from the white house, on down, to help overcome this devastation. the worst the atlantic storm in the nation's history. >> kristin fisher has more on that recovery effort. >> reporter: well, new york city slowly starting to show signs of life after hurricane sandy. but the city that never sleeps still in the dark and now the cloneup begins. millions of people in the dark, and they're having to clean up you know the damage caused by the wind, all the rain and perhaps most shockingly one of the most shocking side effects of

however jim axelrod reports there's a growing injury controversy that's threatening football's future the way to the nfl. >> reporter: baseball may be claimed as a national pastime but football's hold on our culture is taking its place. >> is this for good? >> it is. it's an obsession. >> reporter: former nfl quarterback is an analyst for "the nfl today on cbs" sports. the networks pay the leagues $5 billion a year to broadcast professional football. and will tell you it's worth every cent. >> for all of us as americans, sunday basically in the fall is all about football. >> so i'm not sitting with you in ten years saying what happened, how did basketball get to be the most important sport in our culture. >> only one way that would happen and that's if the moms of this world decided to say my little boy can't play football. >> reporter: he's talking about head injuries. an issue that's exploded as thousands of former players filed suit against the league claiming the nfl hid information linking football related head injuries to permanent brain-damage. a claim the league contests. just

jim axelrod is at the tip of lower manhattan outside of the staten island ferry terminal. jim, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, charlie. that's a big step for new yorkers getting partial subway service restored to help ease the congestion on city streets. there won't be any subway cars coming in and out of this station not today, not tomorrow and not for a while it would appear. three days after superstorm sandy swept through new york the city's road to recovery is literally grid locked. >> the traffic is terrible. takes 45 minutes to go four blocks. >> reporter: with the city subway system still not operating commuters turned manhattan streets into parking lots. a telling sign of just how badly the city needs its mass transit back. >> i'm declaring a transportation emergency. >> reporter: this morning 14 out of 23 subway lines will begin operating. but none will be able to run below 34th street in manhattan and into brooklyn. multiple tunnels and stations in that area remain flooded with sea water. >> where are he? >> reporter: joe leader oversees maintenance for t

. >> jim axelrod, thank you. >>> robert f. kennedy's youngest son was accused of assaulting two nurses earlier this year. as jeff glor reports, the defendant says he just wanted to give the newborn child some fresh air. good morning. >> charlie, good morning. during this five-day trial, prosecution was trying to prove that kennedy was harassing nurses and putting his child in danger. kennedy said he was innocent, waiving his right to a jury and letting the judge make the call. the >> the only people who acted inappropriately, the only people the judge found who create this had situation that resulted in what everyone saw in the videotape were the nurses. >> reporter: back in january, cameras capture edd kennedy trying to leave a westchester hospital with his two-day old son beau. that's when two nurses thinks he was violating hospital policy tried to stop him. and a seven-minute confrontation unfolded. in court one nurse testified kennedy twisted his arm. the other accused him of kicking her. >> douglas and molly are incredibl

jim axelrod is in lower manhattan. >> reporter: that's a crucial piece of news. 227,000 customers still without power in manhattan, although we are told now by saturday power should be restored fully in new york. now, as for the traffic that we're talking about, the massive traffic situation, city's bridges and tunnels absolutely choked with vehicles. traffic lines stretching for miles. through midnight tonight, police will refuse entry into new york for vehicles less than three passengers. public transportation is helping, although lines for shuttle buses reached three hours yesterday. getting rid of water is the top job here. a group of what's called unwatering experts from the army corps of engineers is here to help and they expect to suck out about 10 million gallons of water. from california, 70 power trucks are being air lifted here to help restore power. but the bottom line, charlie, is the more -- the quicker the power is restored, the sooner congestion will be reduced. charlie, norah? >> jim axle rodriguez, thank you. >>> the cia is fighting back against charges it did not resp

jim axelrod is here with story. jim, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, norah. is caused by these bacteria. we're talking about stomach aches, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, even in the most extreme cases death. but consumer reports says bacteria are not the only thing pork eaters could be worried about. for years, pork has been promoted by the industry as a healthy food option. the other white meat. >> dinner's ready! >> reporter: but a new report suggests otherwise. >> we found potentially harmful bacteria on most of the samples of pork that we tested. one organism we looked at is more a measure of filth indication, maybe feecal contamination. >> reporter: of over 200 samples, many tested positive for salmonella listeria staph bacteria, a whopping 69% contained yer sirvegs r ssinia. children are especially vulnerable. >> you always expect to find some bacteria in a meat product, but those are usually harmless. i think the real surprise here was to find so many potentially disease-causing bacteria. >> reporter: 90% of the bacteria found were said to be resistant to

jim clyburn. obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod. virginia governor bob mcdonnell. governor ted strickland. texas congressman jeb hensarling and bob sh rum, a democratic consultant who worked on the kerry and gore campaign. special election coverage here on cnn begins right now. maybe it felt like five years to you but it's been 17 months of campaigning and campaign promises, and today the american people get their say. good morning, welcome to a special edition of "early start." and our live coverage of election day 2012. now the polls are opening right now in eight states, in connecticut, in indiana, kentucky, maine, in new hampshire, in new jersey, new york and in the state of virginia. folks, about a year and a half we've watched the two candidates spend $3 billion and duel it out in three dramatic debates, all for a chance for your vote. mitt romney has added two final campaign stops, one in cleveland, ohio. the other in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. president obama is in chicago today, and aides say he is likely to continue his election-day tradition of playing ba

david axelrod, jim messina or whoever taped that 47 video. >> i think it goes to the video. >> i do too. >> the gaffe is when you accidentally say the truth. >> thank you for joining me tonight. >> thanks, lawrence. >> coming up, rush lam because admitted to his radio audience that he told them a big lie. tweet your guesses about what rush admits he was lying about. and the answer will be in tonight's rewrite. and cecile richards joins me with the record wins for women last night and jonathan cape hard and ana marie cox are here. i'm going to see if i can get them to go off the cliff. he. [ male announcer ] take dayquil... [ ding! ] ...and spend time on the slopes. take alka-seltzer plus cold & cough... [ buzz! ] ...and spend time on the chair. for non-drowsy 6-symptom cold & flu relief. take dayquil. use nyquil... [ ding! ] ...and get longer nighttime cough relief. use alka-seltzer plus night cold & flu... [ coughs ] [ buzz! ] [ screams ] ...and you could find yourself... honey? ...on the couch. nyquil. 50% longer cough relief. >>> the results are in and we now have the winners and the

from david axelrod, jim mess seeneny na to the lowest levels, they all say they're going to win and say some of these states we're talking about as battlegrounds are in the bag for the president. >> because of the early voting advantage. >> and because of their ground game and because of the public and private polling. they say they've put a very rigorous screen on their polling, conservative screen and that worse case, they will lose -- they will win enough states narrowly to get to 270. best case is vice president biden told chris mathews substantially better and get over 300 electoral votes. there's confidence on part of the republicans. high independent, high white voter turnout and the public polls having the president at 48% representing not his floor but ceiling. >> chris cizilla, we are seeing in early voting advantage of about 10% for the democrats in iowa, these numbers just in, last time it was 17%. which depends on what the overall vote is. but still, what are you seeing when you look at iowa ohio, now there the president is doing better with white male voters than some woul

there was a key fact that david axelrod and david plouffe and jim messina reiterated at the last campaignrence call this afternoon, which was that barack obama won 56% of the vote amongst voters who call themselves moderates. not independents, undecideds, but moderates, and they said again and again, this is based in suburban communities throughout the country, and they think that was the turning point for them. now, those people probably are not a lot of takers and moochers. and so this prescription that ann coulter has, no surprise is wrong, but the republican party has some very difficult questions to answer in the next few years and i think you and i will -- and anna marie and jared will be there to help them. >> although they won't listen. ab na m speaker boehner says she want a balanced approach to easing the debt so long as it does not involve raising taxes on the top earners. doesn't he know only 35% support no new taxes. >> also the statistic they should be looking at from the exit polls was the 81% who said mitt romney didn't identify with the problems of people like them. peopl

by the architects of the 2008 victory: david axelrod, the president's trusted advisor, david plouffe, a senior strategist, and national campaign manager jim messina. >> the high point was this weekend. 5.2 million doors we knocked on just this weekend. 18 months of building it for this moment and watching our neighborhood team leaders take it over and say "it's our campaign." >> reporter: a high-tech trove of demographic data including stuff like a voter's favorite t.v. show fueled calls and blazed trails not just to neighborhoods but to specific homes and individuals inside them. in ohio, 21,000 volunteers worked at campaigns last weekend. the spearhead of 139 field offices statewide. mitt romney had 40. chris redfern is chairman of ohio's democrats. >> we have an intimate relationship with the voters we're focusing on. that door knock, that screen door door knock, that occurs not once, twice, three times but four and five times over the sum interthe fall. >> reporter: when necessary, the approach was low tech, scooping strangers off the street and driving them to the polls to build an early voting lead. >> you going to early vote? >> ye