meantime, the obama biden team in dayton, ohio, last night at a rally. the president showing off yesterday a new booklet that he says details his plan for the next four years, one that he says where the math adds up. now he's got a huge campaign schedule over the next three days in eight states including iowa, colorado, and california and an appearance on jay leno tonight. >> all right, tracie pots there for us in washington. tacie, thanks. >>> the white house and the state department were advised that an islamic militant group was behind the benghazi attack just two hours after that assault began. this information is according to a report by the reuters news agency. they managed to obtain e-mails that described the attack as it was still underway. the white house and state department have not commented yet on those e-mails. >>> well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. we're going to begin with a deadly shark attack in southern california. a 39-year-old man was killed while surfing in the waters off surf beach. th

meantime, the obama/biden team in dayton, ohio late last night at a rally. the president showing off yesterday a new booklet that he says details his plan for the next four years. one that he says where the math adds up. he has a huge campaign schedule over the next three days in eight states including iowa, colorado and california and an appearance on jay leno tonight. >>> the white house and state department were advised an islamic militant group was behind the benghazi attack two hours after that assault began. this is information that is according to a report by the reuters news agency. they managed to obtain e-mails that describe the attack as it was still under way. the white house and the state department have not commented yet on these e-mails. >>> here's your "first look" at some of the other news going on around america today. let's begin with a deadly shark attack in southern california. a 39-year-old man was killed while surfing in the waters off surf beach. he was pronounced dead at the scene. this is the second fatal attack in two years at surf

her important than the obama-biden team.e that the romney candidacy surged after that last week's performance. that's a lot. vice president biden's job is to eat away at that bounce. but the expectations are so low for paul ryan. people aren't expecting a lot. bottom line, given their contrast in character and in values, the outcome very much in doubt. put it together, biden and ryan should put on quite a show. >> and that's a show we'll be carrying here for you and we'll have comments after. thank you very much, larry. >>> still to come at 6:00, sentencing day for jerry sandusky. ha he said in court today. >>> plus, losing our religion. interesting new research on faith in america. >>> the potential health benefits for a diet rich in tomatoes. >>> and a carcinogen has been seeping under the south bay for decades. the investigation is up next. measures... measure up. money to our schools. "misleading." out here. it. but there's hope. straight to our schools... keeps it there. politicians. yes on thirty-eight. >>> well, there

if the obama biden team doesn't win a second term i am convinced the vice president gave himself a greatudition to land himself another job. >> mike: there is always room for joyceover work, mr. vice president and hopefully you will be able to find that work come january. president obama saw his poll numbers is plummet after his first debate. joe biden, did his performance maybe do him any favors? we will find out >>> each week day hear my daily commentary the huckabee report and the mike huckabee show on radio. details at mikehuckabee .com. >> president obama's is poll numbers have been free falling since the first debate. well, did joe biden's performance help or hurt the campaign? joining me to talk about it former democratic pollster to six presidential campaigns and a fox news contributor and president of the polling company kelly ann conway. good to have both of you you here. >> thank you. >> pat, do you think that the demeanor of joe biden, the nearing and laughing and indifference how does that resonate with voters or it doesn't? >> the vice presidential debates don't matter what

if the obama biden team doesn't win a second term i am convinced the vice president gave himself a greatudition to land himself another job. >> mike: there is always room for joyceover work, mr. vice president and hopefully you will be able to find that work come january. president obama saw his poll numbers is plummet after his first debate. joe biden, did his performance maybe do him any favors? we will find outs place to put. what biden is trying to do is energize the base. i thought for most of the debate he made points. the problem was the demeanor and style. then things like you were dealing with. 82 interruptions. it is clear from the polling that we saw from cnn that particular groups of people were not pleased with his demeanor. the most important ones to the democrats and right now for romney, women, young people and with two of the and independents. three groups who were put off by it. i thought ryan missed some opportunities. but it was h his first debate. i thought he could have put biden on his heels on the first benghazi answer. but he didn't. but he had a sold debate and

why is the obama-biden team hiding? the answer is their record. this is an awful lot of bad stuff. just this week the libya situation put the president on the defensive. the economy speaks for itself. so the only place the voters can really see the obama-biden ticket under pressure is in the debates. on the other side we're hoping governor romney will sit for an interview with us. we're negotiating that right now. we'll have an update for you on monday. generally speaking, mr. romney has been more accessible than president obama, but it is true the romney campaign is playing it very safe. at the debate tonight, vice president biden is the experienced hand. he's 27 years older than paul ryan and biden knows how to attack. the congressman is an unknown quantity when it comes to dealing with this kind of pressure. but talking points expects mr. ryan to be armed with panels that might slow down mr. biden who will most likely go after ryan hard. be interesting to see hot congressman handles that. that's a memo. top of the story, four years ago it was sarah palin debating joe biden. >> a

if the obama biden team doesn't win a second term i am convinced the vice president gave himself a greatand himself another job. >> mike: there is always room for joyceover work, mr. vice president and hopefully you will be able to find that work come january. president obama saw his poll numbers is plummet after his first debate. joe biden, did his performance maybe do him any favors? we will find out so anyway, i've been to a lot of places. you know, i've helped a lot of people save a lot of money. but today...( sfx: loud noise of large metal object hitting the ground) things have been a little strange. (sfx: sound of piano smashing) roadrunner: meep meep. meep meep? (sfx: loud thud sound) what a strange place. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. s >>> each week day hear my daily commentary the huckabee report and the mike huckabee show on radio. details at mikehuckabee .com. >> president obama's is poll numbers have been free falling since the first debate. well, did joe biden's performance help or hurt the campaign? joining me to talk abou

if the obama biden team doesn't win a second term i am convinced the vice president gave himself a great audition to land himself another job. >> mike: there is always room for joyceover work, mr. vice president and hopefully you will be able to find that work come january. president obama saw his poll numbers is plummet after his first debate. joe biden, did his performance maybe do him any favors? we will find out [ male announcer ] if it wasn't for a little thing called the computer, we might still be making mix tapes. find this. pause this. play this. eject this. write this. it's like the days before esurance express lane™. you had to find a bunch of documents just to get a car insurance quote. now express lane finds your driving info with just one click, saving time to be nostalgic about the days before express lane. thank you, insurance for the modern world. esurance. now backed by allstate. click or call. >>> each week day hear my daily commentary the huckabee report and the mike huckabee show on radio. details at mikehuckabee .com. >> president obama's is poll numbers have been f

if the obama biden team doesn't get a second term, the vice-president got himself an audition to get[woody woodpecker laughing] >> there's room for voiceover work and hopefully you'll find that out in january. and the president saw his numbers plummet after his debate. and joe biden, did his performance do him any favors? we'll find out when we come back. [ mujahid ] there was a little bit of trepidation, not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ >> announcer: meet mary. she loves to shop online with her debit card. and so does bill, an identity thief who stole mary's identity, took over her bank accounts and stole her hard-earned money. unfortunately, millions of americans just like you learn all it may take is a little misplaced information to wreak havoc on your life. this is ident

i was really worried as i was watching it that from the point of view of the obama/biden team that peopled him just a little too smirky, a little too aggressive, a little too rude, a little too smiley at inappropriate points. so that was definitely a better piece on the golly locks style than the president had it, but i'm still looking for that just right moment. >> now karen, you wrote that it was a do over as much as a debate. >> it was. >> discuss. >> well, i think that, you know, he was out there as much as anything, he was out there to try to undo some of the damage from president obama's own disappointing performance and he had two audiences. he had the disspirited democratic base who probably was thrilled to see him feisty and fighting, but i agree with ruth, for that slice of the electorate that is potentially on the fence here, or was feeling a little, you know, upset and leaning toward romney as a result of that earlier debate it may have come off as his manner may have come off as either disrespectful or at worse ba foonish. >> michael, what about paul ryan and his approach? wa

if the obama biden team doesn't win a second term i am convinced the vice president gave himself a greation to land himself another job. >> mike: there is always room for joyceover work, mr. vice president and hopefully you will be able to find that work come january. president obama saw his poll numbers is plummet after his first debate. joe biden, did his performance maybe do him any favors? we will find out when we come back. you can always measure the growth of your children by the way they clean themselves in the bathroom. try charmin ultra strong. with a new duraclean texture, charmin ultra strong helps you get clean. plus it's four times stronger than the leading value brand. and you can use up to four times less. good news for even the biggest kids in the family. we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra strong? hey. hey eddie. i brought your stuff. you don't have to do this. yes i do. i want you to keep this. it'd be weird. take care. you too. [ sighs ] so how did it go? he's upset. [ male announcer ] spend less time at gas stations with best in class fuel economy. it's

but again, in that case, we think we have the facts and the issues on our side with the obama/biden team you'll get another four years like the last four years with the romney/ryan team, a real recovery with more jobs for everybody. >> now politico is reporting today that ann romney and tagg his son, one of his sons did an intervention to try to save the campaign if you will and let mitt be mitt and get the candidate to talk more about himself, talk more emotionally to give the foreign policy speech. in pushing back against some of the staff. can you help us out on that? what is the -- your perspective about it? >> i saw the story. it's a silly little story. there's no truth to it. we're focused on big things. yesterday the governor gave a speech where he talked about some of the very real foreign policy challenges facing us. he talked about building 15 ships a year so we can build up our navy. he talked about the importance of reforming our foreign assistance and linking it to positive outcomes. he talked about stopping iran's reckless pursuit for a nuclear weapon. these are the issues

will be is to simply lay out the different choices that romney-ryan team would make versus the obama-biden teamand clearly now we've had 31 months of private sector job growth. first time that's happened in many, many years. 31 months in a row. we've created 4.1 million jobs as a nation. so we're moving in the right direction. the policies that are offered by the ryan budget in particular, i think is going to be something very difficult for the congressman to run away from tonight. and vice president biden has the opportunity to lay out that ryan budget in excruciating detail and the cascading damage it would do to our economy, to middle class jobs, middle class opportunities, not to mention the security for seniors and kids who are hungry. so i think this is going to be a very lively debate about two starkly different sets of choices. >> shep: democrats criticize the president's performance last week for not hitting some of the hot button issues of the day, for instance, the 47% comment from governor romney they found on tape and frankly big news all week from all the sources. there are simila

a new fox news poll of the swing state of virginia shows the obama/biden team down two points. the democratic ticket won virginia in 2008, the first democratic ticket to do so since 1964. there he is, mark plotkin with us again tonight. the president behind a couple points in virginia. what do you make of that? >> well, virginia is basically a republican state and they've had a good series of victories. governor bob mcdonnell won in 2009. they won the lieutenant governorship, the attorney generalship, became even in the state and have overriding majorities in the statehouse and if is basically a republican state and the -- it is basically a republican state and the president is counting on the changing demographics in virginia and as you said, it was 40 years before they actually won a presidential contest in virginia. so it's an uphill battle. >> assuming we have significant dang from sandy, do you expect the candidates to -- damage from sandy, do you expect the candidates to head to those damaged areas because they have to be careful not to look like they're taking advantage

. >>> up next on "kudlow," paul ryan gears up for another knockout punch to the obama/biden team. we're going to have our tax and tactics smackdown. art laffer and jared bernstein. >>> and later in the show, a story that makes my blood boil. one month since the september 11th ambassador attack that is killed our ambassador in benghazi, house republicans grilled the obama administration today. and you won't believe what really happened. a lot of news has broken. >>> and don't forget, worldwide, i'm talking worldwide but especially in the usa, free market capitalism, always the beth path to prosperity, may well be unleashed once again. and that is just totally bullish. i'm larry kudlow. we'll be right back. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this.

. >> romney accuses the obama-biden team trivializing things, democrats counter what the romney-ryan sending things back to the old policy of the bush administration they argue created so much of what they describe as the mess now. as a debate prep, the boston campaign headquarters for mr. romney emptied out. the senior staff here gettingory night. this foreign policy debate the last biggest audience that any of the candidates will hope for. 50 million on monday night to watch this debate. >> heather: thank you. we'll talk for the political panel. stay tuned for that. the moderator is bob schieffer. 90-minute debate is at lynn university in boca raton, florida, focusing on foreign policy. it should be divided in six segments of approximately 15 minutes each. among topics that we are expecting the role in the world. our longest war, afghanistan. redlines and nuclear standoff between israel and iran. the changing middle east and the new face of terrorism. the rise of china. bret baier, megyn kelly, the fox news political team will have coverage and analysis of the big debate. it begins

also, reassure voters out there that the obama/biden team understands what the american people care deeply about. i don't think people will be alarmed at the fact that he was enjoying himself. joe biden loves politics. he loves being with people and i think what came across tonight is that joe biden had something to say and he was eager to say it. >> but a reality check to both of you, how much does this move the needle? all three, all four of you. how much does this really move the needle in the presidential race? >> first of all, i think you have to look -- this settled down before this debate began. the polls had basically gone back to where they were before the conventions. i think the stops erosion among democrats, clearly, as matthew dowd talked about. i think it solidifies the position the president had before the debate. but that means we're still in a dog fight in places like virginia and florida and colorado. the presidential candidates are going to have to break that in the debate. >> interestingly, i think this did what dick cheney did in 2004. he came in, stopped the bleeding,

jonathan, just based on-- based on watching joe biden on the trail and you know what the obama-biden teamhas been doing. how did joe biden come across tonight. what did he accomplish in. >> judy, this was the full joe biden. joe biden in full tonight. what you saw this evening, here at centre colleges with what people who have been watching him on the campaign trail, not just this year but the last 40 years in american politics has seen. he is demon strattive, at times over the top. he is what he is. some folks like t others don't. but it's raw, it's authentic and it's certainly real. look, i think he had some clear blows tonight on paul ryan, on substance, certainly on the issue about whether or not ryan wanted to have a stimulus in wisconsin for his district. on question about its entitlements in this country, certainly on the romney comment over the 47% of americans who don't pay taxes. the big question to me is was biden's bidenism, his mannerism, his reaction on so many of those shots that we saw on our tv screen tonight, does that overshadow some of what i think were some good momen

as his vice president biden does well it will be seen as this is the first step towards the obama-biden team getting its footing back. i think it's important. i think in the media world we live in now where everything is analyzed, instantaneously, even before it happens, i think it's a meaningful event. >> important until the next presidential debate and then it rapidly becomes fairly irrelevant. i am thinking maybe we should have a disclaimer. this debate is for entertainment purposes only. [laughter] spin chicago this morning they are saying things that we have widened to pick us up after last night. [laughter] >> if in politics as in some other things first impressions are the most important and if in fact the average american really tuned in last night for the first time with that -- would that suggest that the next two presidential debates are less important? what is your opinion on how much the second and third presidential debates can matter? >> i think they are still very significant. if you look at, seems like ancient history now but reagan's first debate against mondale did not go

vice president joe biden canceled today's event in virginia beach. president obama's team is watching and waiting before canceling a monday rally with the president, and that would be with president clinton in virginia. meanwhile, mitt romney's campaign canceled tomorrow's event in virginia beach. the romney campaign will soon decide the status of two other sunday appearances scheduled in virginia. and right now, tropical storm sandy is chugging out of the bahamas. it is heading right toward the u.s. coast. people along the seaboard are preparing for the storm's high winds and the severe storm surge. sandy could strengthen back into a hurricane before making landfall, and weather channel meteorologist julie martin is live in nags head, north carolina for us. julie, good morning. you know, i hate saying that it's been downgraded because i know this thing in all likelihood will come back up to full speed, right? and you're seeing the first effects right now there. >> yeah, alex, it doesn't really matter that much. because, right now, what we're dealing with is a very large s

cautioned him against that, i think the gaffe tonight is going to be the weak script that the obama-biden teaml ryan, who is so knowledgeable, is going to pounce. again, juan brought up that visual of young versus old and i think joe biden is just going to look like an old washington fixture with this young gun who actually has fresh ideas. i think he'll espouse that same romney template for debating. >> steve: juan, the administration really has given paul ryan something to whack joe biden in the head with and that is while there is this investigation going on on capitol hill regarding libya, millions of americans out of work, what is the campaign talking about? big bird. come o you got to be kidding me. >> no, i think that's infective ad. obviously we're talk being it. >> steve: you do? >> yeah, because you know what? >> steve: borrow money from china to pay for the salaries of a very popular tv show? >> no, i think it's 1, 100th of 1%. it's nothing compared to the tax breaks given to the corporations and the like. what it says is it's a matter of priorities. who stands with the priorities t

we're going to hear from the obama/biden team live from ohio this hour. also, the romney/ryan team live from nevada this hour. both of these presidential candidates getting ready to speak. you'll see it. you'll hear it live. this hour in "the situation room." and are some florida voters being intimidated? details of out of state letters targeting republicans. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> fourteen days until americans pick the next president. cnn is geared up to bring you the most comprehensive coverage of these final two weeks of the campaign. our correspondents are in the most critical battleground states across the country as president obama and mitt romney try to win over those few remaining undecided voters who could very well sway this expected very, very close election. we have both of these presidential campaigns live this hour. you see joe biden, democratic vice presidential nominee. he's also the vice president of the united states. he's speaking right now in dayton, ohio. he's going to be introducing the president who's

obama mainly on tax policy. >> reporter: vice president biden charged team romney would hike middle class tax. >> how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that's been buried the last four years. >> reporter: the republicans jumped on that. buried by obama? >> vice president biden said just today said that the middle class over the last four years has been, quote, buried. we agree. that means we need to stop digging by electing mitt romney the next president of the united states. >> reporter: that's the kind of zinger sure to be heard at debate number one. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, denver, colorado. >>> of course tonight nbc is going to have complete coverage of this first presidential debate. it will be anchored by brian williams along with the best political team in the business. it all starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. pacific. >>> elsewhere, a judge in pennsylvania has blocked the state's stricter voter i.d. law from taking effect this november. after weeks of protests, the ruling means voters in pennsylvania will not have to show a state approved i.d. to cast ballots on election da

night, or it will be seen, if a vice president might end as well, as the first step towards the obama-biden team getting its foot in back. i think it is important. in the media world we live in now, where everything is analyzed, instantaneously, even before happens -- decpwhrits important until the next presidential debate and it rapidly becomes irrelevant. >> it's important until it's over. >> this is for entertainment purposes only. >> they're saying thank god we've got biden to pick us up after last night. >> if in politics as in some other things first impressions are the most important and if, in fact, the average american tuned in last night for the first time, would that suggestion that the next two presidential debates are less important? what's your opinion on how much the second and third presidential debates can matter now? >> i think they are still very significant. you look at -- it seems like ancient history now but reagan's first debate against mondale did not go well but he turned it around in the second debate and they wanted to re-elect reagan because things were going well and

>> it's interesting going forward into this week, i think it puts pressure on joe biden maybe exactly what the obama team, which is biden to feel the pressure of having to do well, which maybe is not a good place for biden to be. >> let me bring in white house reporter for "the new york times" peter baker. peter, thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> what's your anticipation here? i think it's obvious what happened with the president debate puts a lot of pressure on joe biden to perform exceptionally but it puts pressure for different reasons on congressman ryan. >> absolutely. look, there's a momentum at this point for governor romney coming out of last week's debate. it stole the opportunity for the obama campaign to kind of cement what had been building into a modest lead. so, you know, people don't tend to vote on who the vice president is, but it could change the rhythm of the campaign into the final few weeks. people are voting in a lot of states, and so this could have some real impact. >> i want to play what chuck todd said on "meet the press." chuck noted for the most par

neither president obama for vice president biden has faced the press with any tough questions about what did they know and when did they know it about bengz? and how dare team obama call this a political issue stirred up by republicans. that's remarkable. first, take a look at this. last week, the real clear politics electoral map had the president holding on to 251-181 electoral votes lead. today the map flipped. five states went from leaning obama to a tossup. that's michigan, new hampshire, pennsylvania, wisconsin and ohio. so it's now 201-181.. it's the narrowest electoral margin yet. 50 electoral votes erased from the obama side in one week. he spent too much time chasing big bird, didn't he? this evening paul ryan has the opportunity to keep this momentum going in his debate with vice president biden. cnbc's own john harwood is in kentucky. good evening, john. welcome. >> reporter: good evening, larry. it is going to be a big night tonight. i've got to start out by saying i think if you talk to political professionals in both parties they don't see the electoral map that auspicious for romney is that real clear politics map with the states shifted. if