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Romney, Obama Prep for First Debate; Supreme Court Faces Big Issues in New Term; Obama Admin Takes Fire Over Libya Attack; Media Bias in the Campaign; TV in Background Could Harm Your Child; Jets' Loss Triggers Tebow Talk

Aired October 01, 2012 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Soledad. Thank you.

Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM. Presidential debate barn burner, zinger fest, game changer. The heat is on.

Secret keeper. Serial cheater. No remorse, no regret. Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up about his affairs, his secretive lifestyle, and that illegitimate child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, FMR. CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: OK. I'm going to put this away. I'm going to fulfill my responsibility --

LESLEY STAHL, HOST, "60 MINUTES": How can you put it away? You have a child.

SCHWARZENEGGER: I know. That's just the way I operate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now he says he wants Maria back.

Break out the cloth diapers and gigantic safety pins. A diapers shortage is looming. A pampers alert this morning.

NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning. Happy Monday to you. 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 down 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 --

RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here you go again. And 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.

SEN. LLOYD BENSON, (D) FMR. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine.

Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Those are the zingers we were talking about. That first Obama shot, that was a mistake. But it was a very rousing speech, right? If you want another measure of just how important Wednesday's debate is, consider this. Both candidates spent the weekend praising the other guy. They're trying to paint themselves as the underdog and lower expectations.

But apparently someone forgot to tell Romney's surrogate Chris Christie. The Republican New Jersey governor says his guy will turn the race upside down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: On Thursday morning you're all going to be scratching your heads and saying, wow, we have a barn burner now for the next 33 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's get the views from both camps. Dan Lothian at the White House this morning and CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is in our Washington bureau.

Welcome, gentlemen.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello.

COSTELLO: Hello. Are you excited?

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Come on. We need to up the enthusiasm level.

Dan, let's start with you. Team Obama says no zingers. He's going to talk to those people on the couches. Really? No zingers?

LOTHIAN: Well, you know, listen to what Jen Psaki, the traveling communications or spokesperson with the campaign, she said probably not. Probably not what the President will be focused on. That the President instead will be speaking to the American people, will be talking about moving the country forward. So that will be the focus. But I have to tell you, in the middle of a debate, no doubt we will hear some sharp responses from the President as he tries to counter what Mitt Romney may be throwing his way. The bottom line, though, as you pointed out, both campaigns really trying to lower expectations. You hear aides with the campaign saying that the President has not had a lot of time to practice as opposed to Mitt Romney who went through the primary season and has a lot of experience.

And the President himself last night in a grassroots event in Las Vegas also started playing a little bit of that game. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I know folks in the media are speculating already on who's going to have the best zingers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are.

OBAMA: I don't know about that, you know. Who's going to put the most points on the board.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are.

(CROWD SHOUTING)

OBAMA: No, no. Governor Romney, he's a good debater. I'm just OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: So the President will be spending a couple of days out in Nevada preparing for the big debates. John Kerry, by the way, will be playing the role of Mitt Romney. He's someone who has a lot of experience debating but also knows Mitt Romney very well as he comes from Massachusetts.

Now, the big issue, though, is who will both of these candidates be able to sway in the debate? As we know, most Americans have made up their minds. We're talking about a small slice of those undecided voters who are watching, waiting to find out exactly who will win.

COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about the Republican side with Paul Steinhauser.

So word on the street, Paul, is that Mitt Romney has been practicing zingers since August.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes. That's the word on the street. The Romney campaign won't go there, Carol. All they're going to say is, guess what? He's spending a lot of time getting ready. And you're right. I don't have any sound from Mitt Romney like Dan had of the President. Why? Because he hasn't done an event in a while. He was down all weekend, a lot of that debate prep. He's doing it again this morning. That's what the campaign tells us.

Then Mitt Romney, Carol, he jumps on a plane today, goes out to Colorado. He's got a campaign rally there tonight. But after that basically hunkers down.

You mentioned that John Kerry, of course, you just heard from Dan Lothian, John Kerry is playing the role of Mitt Romney. Who's playing the role of Barack Obama in the Republican preps? That goes to Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, a fellow Republican who of course has done this in the past.

Take a listen to John McCain. He spoke with our Candy Crowley yesterday on "STATE OF THE UNION." John McCain, the last man to debate President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I think both are excellent in their own way. I think you could argue that Mitt has had a lot more recent experience. Obviously. But also, Candy, part of it depends on who's moderating.

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The man's been on the national stage for many years. He's an experienced debater. He's done these kinds of debates before. This is Mitt's first time on this kind of a stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Yes, Paul Ryan on the Sunday talk shows. The running mate talking down expectations. Look at this, though, Carol. Brand new from ABC News/"Washington Post" this morning. Who's more likely to win the debates? The President by 24 points. That's pretty close to our poll from earlier in the month. So a lot of Americans think that the President will have the upper hand on Wednesday night in Denver -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Dan Lothian, Paul Steinhauser, many thanks.

CNN's live coverage of Wednesday night's debate starts at 7:00 Eastern.

Syria is expected to try to justify its actions in its bloody civil war when its foreign minister speaks before the United Nations General Assembly later this morning. And nearly 30,000 people across Syria have been killed. In the next hour look at the how the United States is helping the Syrian opposition. And we'll tell you if the United States is moving closer toward any military action.

Grudges, infighting and crafty maneuvering. It sounds like an episode of "Dallas," except the actors are real. And they're Supreme Court justices. The highest court in the land begins its new term in less than an hour. It will meet on the heels of perhaps the most talked about decision in decades, Obamacare.

On the schedule this time around, same-sex marriage, affirmative action and voting rights. Here's our crime and justice correspondent, Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right after the Supreme Court's health care decision in June, Chief Justice John Roberts joked to colleagues that he would find an island fortress to escape the political heat.

Here's how Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg described the eventful spring.

JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG, SUPREME COURT: The term has been more than usually taxing. Some have called it the term of the century.

JOHNS: Now three months later the court is back. And there are no signs of it cooling down.

THOMAS GOLDSTEIN, SCOTUSBLOG.COM PUBLISHER: The justices are moving from the frying pan right into the fire. They are tackling some of the most difficult legal questions of the day. Across the board probably the biggest term in at least a decade.

JOHNS: Cases involving the contentious issues of affirmative action, same-sex marriage, voting rights and abortion are all likely to come up this term which kicks off Monday.

CARRIE SEVERINO, JUDICIAL CRISIS NETWORK: There's some very exciting cases already on the docket. There's a lot more in the pipeline that may -- the courts could be making a decision on soon.

JOHNS: Another set of big decisions will bring even more scrutiny on the chief justice. Rumors surfaced that the health care ruling he authored caused a personal rift with fellow conservative colleagues including Justice Antonin Scalia. A claim Scalia denied to CNN's Piers Morgan.

JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA, SUPREME COURT: No. I haven't had a falling out with Justice Roberts.

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": Loud words exchanged?

SCALIA: No.

MORGAN: Slamming of doors?

SCALIA: No.

MORGAN: Nothing like that?

SCALIA: Nothing like that.

JOHNS: The other big question, will the chief justice take the court in an aggressive new direction? Liberals fear a more hard line. Dogmatic shift to the right.

ELIZABETH WYDRA, CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: A lot of progressives are concerned that this might mean that Chief Justice Roberts has built up some capital, some goodwill, and will now push the conservative agenda.

JOHNS: Tom Goldstein who has argued before the court thinks Roberts wants a more conservative court. But that he'll do it gradually.

GOLDSTEIN: He's not trying to move the law radically, quickly. I think Justice Scalia or Justice Thomas really want to get to the end answer as quickly as possible and make the law conform to what they really understand whereas the chief justice is more incrementalist.

JOHNS: The conservative court watcher Carry Severino doesn't believe much will change any time soon.

SEVERINO: And certainly this is not a crusading conservative court. Until we have a shift, I think, in the membership of the court it's impossible to call it a court that leans more to the left or to the right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: So let's bring in Joe Johns.

So, Joe, could this term possibly be as important as the last one? That's hard to imagine.

JOHNS: Well, Carol, it certainly has that potential. Just the question of revisiting race based preferences in university admissions. This is an issue they decided just a few years ago. Now they're back. The difference is the court's been reconstituted. And now the swing vote is no longer one justice. It's another justice.

There are other issues certainly that could be big. The Defense of Marriage Act, gay marriage is a huge issue. Then there are things that could end up on the docket like voting rights cases. So it could be quite a year -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. We'll be watching. As I'm sure you will. Joe Johns reporting live for us this morning.

Maybe he's just spinning it like a politician or maybe there really is a chance Maria Shriver will take Arnold Schwarzenegger back. But it doesn't look good. Not in light of all the revelations the former California governor made in his autobiography. One of the matters he addresses in total recall the way he handled the situation involving the son he fathered with his former maid while he was married to Maria Shriver.

Here's what he told CBS's "60 Minutes."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHWARZENEGGER: Very difficult. Strange. And bizarre. I mean, everything else. Whatever you want to call it. But it's the best way I could handle it. And it was one of those things we thought about, you know, denial. I kind of put it away and just said to myself, OK, I'm going to put this away. I'm going to fulfill my responsibility.

STAHL: How can you put it away? You have a child.

SCHWARZENEGGER: I know. But that's just the way I operate. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: On "Good Morning America", Schwarzenegger says he wishes his wife would come back to him. Maria Shriver is not talking about any of this publicly. But we'll get reaction from Kennedy biographer and "Daily Beast" contributor Lawrence Leamer at 10:00 Eastern. That's in about 45 minutes or so.

A little bit of sports before we take it to break. In case you missed Sunday night football the Eagles hosted Giants. Eagles quarterback Michael Vick kicked to Sean Jackson for the first score of the game just before halftime. The Eagles criticized for turnovers so far this year. They had none last night. New York pulled ahead in the fourth quarter after Eli Manning connected with their -- on that touchdown right there.

Philadelphia added a field goal -- I'm waiting for it. I guess we're not going to see it. But anyway, they added a field goal to go up 19- 17. The Giants had a chance to win at the end but Lawrence Tynes' 54- yard field goal was short. That's way short. That's kind of embarrassing. The other New York team was just crushed. So we're going to ask the question later this hour, is it time to go Tebow?

Former NFL star Tiki Barber will join us to talk about that.

Also, very strong words and a warning from the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan about those deadly insider attacks on American troops. You'll hear what -- you'll hear General John Allen say he's mad as hell about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is 15 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories now:

A woman cut off from government assistance after officials discovered she had won $1 million in the state lottery was found dead this weekend of an apparent drug overdose. Twenty-five-year-old Amanda Clayton was charged with welfare fraud earlier this year after she hit the $1 million jackpot. Her boyfriend said she'd been tormented by all the problems that came with winning.

Notorious bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde might have made their biggest haul nearly 80 years after their deaths. Two pistols owned by the bank-robbing duo went for a cool half million dollars at auction this weekend. The guns were found on the bodies of the couple when they were fatally shot by police in 1934.

An explosion at a Japanese chemical plant this weekend could result in a global diaper shortage. The factory makes the water absorbing polymers used in about 1/5 of the world's diaper supply. The company is already setting up facilities overseas to meet the diaper demand.

The Taliban claiming responsibility for a suicide attack this morning, targeting NATO forces in Afghanistan. Officials say the bomber drove a motorcycle packed with explosives into a joint patrol of Afghan and NATO forces in the eastern part of the country. Three NATO service officers and four Afghan police officers were among those killed.

And just this past weekend two Americans were killed in an insider attack that may have involved insurgents in Kabul. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan told CBS's "60 Minutes" just how he feels about a spike in these so-called green-on-blue attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOHN ALLEN, U.S. COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN: Well, I'm mad as hell about them to be honest with you. We're going to get after this. It reverberates everywhere, across the United States. Now, we're -- we're willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign. But we're not willing to be murdered for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: U.S. troops have been training Afghan forces to defend their country as America plans to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

The Obama administration is now defending its original assessment of the attack that killed four Americans in Libya on September 11th. They are no longer calling it spontaneous violence sparked by outrage over that anti-Islam trailer, but rather a deliberate act of terrorism.

Senator John McCain told our Candy Crowley there is much more to this story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: That doesn't pass the smell test. It was either willful ignorance or abysmal intelligence to think that people come to spontaneous demonstrations with heavy weapons, mortars and the attack goes on for hours.

DAVID AXELROD, OBAMA CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: The President called it an act of terror the day after it happened. But when you're the responsible party, when you're the administration, you have a responsibility to act on what you know and what the intelligence community believes. This was -- this is being thoroughly investigated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jomana Karadsheh joins me now by phone. She is Tripoli, Libya. Welcome, Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm just wondering, the Obama administration says they're going to catch the people who killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. What are the Libyans doing right now? How many people have they taken into custody?

KARADSHEH: Well, Carol, the Libyan officials here say that their investigation is still under way. That they have a number of suspects involved in that attack in custody. Libyan officials from the early days following the attacks said they believe this was a pre-planned, premeditated attack and referred to it as a terrorist attack.

The prime minister told my colleague Arwa Damon in an interview 10 days ago that their investigation so far showed that the attack was a pre-planned one carried out by Libyan extremists. He said that they had a number of those involved in the attack in custody. And they were members of Ansar al-Sharia militia, which translates into supporters of Islamic law.

This is a militia that up until recently was operating in Benghazi with a headquarter in the city. The prime minister said far extreme members of this group, not the group as a whole, were involved in planning and carrying out this assault. More specific details about the group involved in the attack have not yet been revealed. Libyan officials tell us the investigation continues and that they are cooperating with the United States in this investigation.

But the Libyan prime minister told CNN that no foreigners were involved in that attack and it's not carried out by al Qaeda -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jomana, there was an interesting article in the "Washington Post" over the weekend. It said that the United States was aware of security concerns in Benghazi. You know, as was -- as was our embassy and (AUDIO GAP) were either ignored or not listened to? What are you hearing about that?

KARADSHEH: Carol, from the early days after the attacks, CNN has been reporting this. My colleague Arwa Damon from on the ground in Benghazi and our reporters in the United States have also been reporting on this.

If you look at what has been going on in the city of Benghazi for a few months now, it's clear that there was a rising extremist threat in the city against western interests. You had a number of attacks against Western targets including one against the consulate in June. That's when a bomb detonated outside the gate.

Now, a few days later, the convoy of the British ambassador came under attack in Benghazi. What was the British reaction to that? They closed down their consulate in Benghazi.

The United States kept its consulate because U.S. officials say they have to maintain a presence and they had important work to do there. U.S. officials also said that, you know, security at the consulate was less than the standard security they would have at other U.S. consulates around the world, but they said that this was because this was a temporary facility.

U.S. officials claim that after that attack in June on the consulate, they did enhance security. They say they were aware of the general threat in the area, but that there was no specific threats against the consulate -- although, as I mentioned, that consulate was targeted just three months before this deadly attack. Now, the additional security measures U.S. officials claim to have put in place, more barriers, barbed wire, increased lighting, chain link fences and sandbags and closed circuit television, but these additional security measures, Carol, that were put into place do not seem to be a reflection of the real threat level there given that it was a facility that was attacked before and that the British government shut down their consulate.

COSTELLO: Right.

KARADSHEH: In conversations that we've had here over the past couple of weeks with some Libyan officials, they believe the U.S. may have underestimated the security risk in Benghazi. Extremist groups, some inspired or with links to al Qaeda, are known to be operating in eastern Libya and have known to have been operating there for the past year.

COSTELLO: Right. Jomana, thanks so much -- reporting live from Tripoli, Jomana Karadsheh.

Now, it's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, will the presidential debate be a game-changer?

Forget all that talk about Romney, the amateur debater. Republican Governor Chris Christie says the debate will be a game-changer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIE: I've seen Mitt Romney do this before. He's going to come in Wednesday night. He's going to lay out his vision for America. He's going to contrast what his view is with what the President's record is, the President's view for the future. This whole race is going to be turned upside-down come Thursday morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, but the question is to zing or not to zing? Word on the street is Mitt Romney has been practicing zingers since August, the kind of zinger that resonates, like when Lloyd Bentsen said to Dan Quayle, you ever know Jack Kennedy? Of course, Bentsen lost.

As for President Obama, though, his camp says there will be no time for zingers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Governor Romney, he's a good debater. I'm just OK. But what I'm most concerned about is having a serious discussion about what we need to do to keep the country growing and restore security for hardworking Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But not in a smug, elitist, arugula-loving way. At least that's what his advisers are hoping. There will likely be a lot of talk by President Obama about Romney's 47 percent quote and from Romney about the stagnant economy and Libya. But both candidates must address the issues in a concise, personal and friendly way.

If you ask comedian Darrell Hammond, that's tough when you're overly scripted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL HAMMOND, COMEDIAN: I think these guys use coaches, which is odd to me. You know, the less coached you are, the more natural you are. The more natural you are, the more personal you are; the more personal you are, the more general you are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In other words, zing away. But deliver them like -- I don't know, Joe the Plumber?

So, the talk back question for you today, will the presidential debate be a game-changer? Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Your responses later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Coming up on 30 minutes past the hour. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining us this Monday morning.

Checking our top stories:

Just two days to go until President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney face off in Denver for their first debate. Both candidates are going some final cramming. Romney will also address supporters at a Denver rally later tonight.

California becomes the first state to ban straight to gay therapy for minors. Governor Jerry Brown signed the legislation. The bill's sponsor says conversion therapy is dangerous. A conservative group plans to file a suit saying the law violates constitutional protections.

Families may have to dig deeper to pay for milk. "The New York Daily News" quotes Senator Charles Schumer as saying milk prices could double if Congress does not approve a new farm bill. The Senate's passed it, but not the House.

A more dire warning coming from the National Milk Producers federation. It says milk could hit $6 a gallon.

It's an addictive dance that's gone viral worldwide. There you have proof. Hundreds of prisoners in the Philippines are doing their rendition of the "Gangnam Style" dance.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: If you don't know PSY, you may have been living under a rock. "Gangnam Style" is the most liked YouTube video ever with 335 million views. Guess what? The song is number two. Listen to it on the U.S. charts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Two days before the big presidential debate, lots of talk about media bias, or stories that favor one candidate over the other.

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, this is what he had to say this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: I think it kind of goes without saying there is definitely a media bias. Look, I'm a conservative person. I'm used to media bias. We expected media bias going into this. That's why we're trying to cut through and go straight to people. That's why when you hear people in Washington complain about media bias, come out into these states with us and attend our town hall meetings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: On the other hand, New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie said if you complain about the media coverage of the campaign, about media bias, that means one thing. That means you're losing.

Joining me now, CNN contributor Will Cain, who leans right, and L.Z., a CNN contributor who leans left.

Welcome, gentlemen.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So, let's start with you, L.Z. This thing with media bias, we hear it a lot. Is it really a problem? Or is it something else?

GRANDERSON: It's a cop out. Basically, that's what it is.

I mean, forgive CNN. But the number one show, number one cable network for news has been FOX for a few years now. So, it's not as if Rachel Maddow is running FOX News. I'm not really sure what this bias is referring to.

He was also on that show talking about he didn't have enough time to talk about all the details and the math behind the tax plan.

You know, media isn't just television. There's Twitter. There's Facebook. He could post the plan in a link on Facebook. He can post the plan in a link on Twitter. There's all forms of media right now. This bias he's speaking of, I just don't see it.

COSTELLO: Will, your turn. You're in the spotlight. CAIN: I'm in the spotlight, right where I belong. So I guess your question to me is, is there media bias, which I would say, isn't that kind of obvious? L.Z. points to the existence of FOX. I also point to the existence of FOX. There's a reason fox exists. It's a countermeasure to every other media outlet whether or not you're talking about print or on television.

Now, I want to just point something out to you. In the clip that we didn't play about Chris Christie saying that if you're complaining about media that you're losing, right before that he's talking about there's a lot of filtering going on, talking about filtering in the media. He's talking about the same thing Paul Ryan's talking about.

This debate is a chance for them to speak to the American public directly without the filter of the media. So, I'd just like to point out, they're not on different pages.

COSTELLO: OK. So let me pose this question. So let's say the debate goes on on Wednesday and pundits everywhere say Mitt Romney lost. Will that be because of media bias?

GRANDERSON: No. That would be because of Mitt Romney.

COSTELLO: But you have somebody asking them questions, right?

GRANDERSON: Right. Listen, it's -- you can already write the script as what the right leaning media is going to say and what the left leaning media is going to say. What the American people have to do is watch the debates for themselves and make their own decisions.

Will there be a leaning with those two organizations? Sure. I would like to think CNN is right in the middle and tries to do as fair of job as possible. It's really up to the American people to watch the debates and decide for themselves.

COSTELLO: Will? Responses?

CAIN: I mean, I can't answer that question because the debates haven't happened yet.

See, that's the point of bias. Is there has to be an objective truth, which most rational people can agree upon. Once that event happens and we can filter it and see it and judge it, we can say, OK, what was the outcome of that debate?

Then when we see media comment on it or report on it, we'll know if those opinions or those news stories reflect the truth that we saw. Then we'll be able to judge whether or not there's bias.

But that's the whole point. There is a truth. There is an objectivity. The question is, is it achieved? We won't know until after the fact.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about just the spin coming from both candidates surrounding this debate. Because both candidates are saying, oh, I'm really bad at debating. I mean, the other guy is so incredibly good. It would just be refreshing for somebody to come out and say I'm pretty good at debating. I think I'm going to do a good job.

Why not just say that, L.Z.?

GRANDERSON: Well, I got to tell you, I was really embarrassed to watch President Obama say he's OK. You don't get to be President of the United States by being an OK debater. The one thing we know he is, he's a great orator.

So for him to even try to spin it as the underdog coming into this I think is a bit ridiculous and a lot of a stretch in terms of getting us to lower expectations for him. All the polls say up to 60 percent, 65 percent of Americans believe he's going to win this debate. He has a lot of pressure. But saying that he's not a good debater, that's not a good way to relieve the pressure.

CAIN: Isn't that interesting? What is this tendency to lower the bar for expectations? Both camps are doing it. Both camping saying, I don't know, the other guy, he's really good. So, I don't know -- I'm not sure this is going to turn out.

I like your idea, Carol. Set the bar high. I'm good at this.

COSTELLO: Have some swagger. You need some swagger.

GRANDERSON: Romney's not a good debater.

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: L.Z., I want to point out one thing. You suggested President Obama's a good orator. He is a good orator. I would suggest that might come in tension with how he performs in the debate. When you're giving a speech, there's no time limit on you, no pushback. I'll be curious to see how four years of very little pushback to be able to get your message across in as long of form as you want does in a format when your time's up, your time's up.

COSTELLO: Our time is up, sadly.

GRANDERSON: I want to know what Romney is going to say. I want to know what Romney is going to say. He's got this video out, this unfiltered video out of him talking to rich people about 47 percent of the country. I'm curious as to what he's going to say we're not already going to start going -- as soon as he starts.

COSTELLO: It's going to be better, Will, than "I represent 100 percent of America."

CAIN: By the way, to take this conversation full circle, I know we're out of time, we talk about media bias. We spent a lot of time talking about that 47 percent. Haven't spent a lot of time talking about what happened in Libya over the last two weeks.

COSTELLO: We have on my show. Don't go there, Will Cain. Yes, we have. OK. We got to stop debating the debates. I've got to go. Thanks to both of you, Will Cain, L.Z. Granderson.

CNN's live coverage of Wednesday night's debate starts at 7:00 Eastern.

OK. Let's talk about Lindsay Lohan back in the news after a hotel fight over the weekend. What she says happened with a Republican kind of guy. It's just really weird.

Stay with us.

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COSTELLO: Here's a shocker. A Monday morning headline with Lindsay Lohan's name. She's now claiming to be a victim, but police are not buying it.

"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT'S" A.J. Hammer live. This is a strange one, A.J., even for Lindsay Lohan.

A.J. HAMMER, ANCHOR, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" ON HLN: I guess the good news for her on this Monday morning, Carol, is she didn't get arrested.

She had this altercation with a 25-year-old named Christian LaBella in a hotel room at about 5:00 a.m. on Sunday. LaBella is a apparently a friend of a friend of Lindsay's and apparently the three of them have been partying at New York City nightclub together and continued to party at a W Hotel.

Lindsay is telling the NYPD that she discovered this guy, LaBella, had taken pictures of her throughout the night on his cell phone. So she grabbed the phone from him and ran from the room. She says LaBella choked her and assaulted her to get the phone back. So, what she did, she pulled the fire alarm to get help.

Police originally arrested LaBella. But they did some investigating and then decided to drop the charges. Police officials telling CNN they expect LaBella and Lohan to file charges against each other, the expectation being LaBella is going to say Lindsay stole his phone and he was trying to get it back.

LaBella identified himself as a clerical worker, but he's actually a congressional staffer. So, no doubt publicity he doesn't really want, doesn't really need.

And, Carol, I'm not saying Lindsay shouldn't be out there living her life. Perhaps, just maybe, she needs to rethink the whole going out at night thing for a while. It tends to not go well for her.

COSTELLO: I know. She's always getting herself in some kind of trouble.

It's just sad. It is. It's sad, because she's so talented. Like, what's up with her? HAMMER: Yes. And always seems to be claiming the victim. You know, I'm not saying what did or did not happen in this case. But it's always her being done wrong. It is a sad thing to continue to watch. We continue to say we wish her the best. It just doesn't go well.

COSTELLO: A.J., thank you.

"TMZ" is reporting the family of TLC's hit show, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo", is about to take their popularity all the way to the bank. A.J. will be back with us next hour with details on that.

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COSTELLO: If you are like most parents, you probably limit your kid's TV viewing to only a few hours a day. But a warning for you this morning: even if your children are not watching the television, they could still be exposed to the background noise of the television and that could be harmful.

Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. Yet another thing.

COSTELLO: Something else to worry about.

COHEN: That's right. Especially when you're home alone with a little baby or a toddler, you often have it on in the background.

COSTELLO: Yes.

COHEN: And so -- I'm going to tell you the results of the study. Then I'm going to tell you why parents shouldn't freak out.

OK, so first, the results. These folks found that people had about -- that these kids were exposed to about four hours of background TV. Second-hand TV, you can call it, as opposed to direct TV. And these were kids as young as eight months old.

And other studies have found there are certain links to issues when kids have background TV. That for example, maybe they don't do their homework as well as they should. Or there are other issues like that -- and so that it's kind of distracting. That's what the study found.

COSTELLO: So how does it harm your kids?

COHEN: Well, the theory is that your kid is sort of hearing all of this and isn't getting what they should be getting, which is human to human interaction and that that's what's best for your child is human to human interaction, not sort of having all of this white noise in the background. To which I would say, then you need to make sure you're having direct interaction.

These studies can't tease out -- perhaps what's going on here is that these kids are getting all these background noise and the parents are not playing with them. That's a huge problem. Maybe it's possible to have background noise and play with your child.

COSTELLO: So -- so specifically what happens to your child? Does the child become anti-social? Does the child not learn enough? A little baby, eight months old, in another room with a TV on like --

COHEN: Right - right. It says that when they look at it, when studies have looked at it, they've found that the kids don't sleep as well, that the kids don't perform as well as they should in school. But, again, maybe the problem is that this background TV leads to two things: they're not interacting with real human beings as much as they should and also maybe this background TV gets converted to active TV. So you kind of hear it in the background and then you end up sort of glued to the TV for much longer than you should be.

COSTELLO: My best advice to parents would be to turn off the television.

COHEN: Well, the American Academy of Pediatrics says, under two, your kids shouldn't be watching TV. And older than that, the TV time should be limited and it should be supervised. I think that was an ideal -- the older kids, one to two hours of nonviolent TV a day.

But again, I think what's really important to think about is not just the negatives, but the positives. Interact with your child. Don't let anything come in the way of that.

COSTELLO: That's a good thing. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

COSTELLO: The New York Jets, boy, did they stink up MetLife Stadium. The 49ers' win was the biggest blowout in Sunday's game. So is it Tebow time? We'll talk about that with Tiki Barber.

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COSTELLO: The New York Jets and their fans, they're still suffering from one nightmare of a game. The San Francisco 49ers dominated the Jets, blowing them out 34-0. You can't lay all the blame on Mark Sanchez, but the Jets' quarterback did had the third straight game below the 50 percent completion rate.

So let's talk about that with Tiki Barber. Welcome, Tiki.

TIKI BARBER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you Carol. How are you doing this morning?

COSTELLO: I'm good. I'm suffering from that and I'm not even a Jets fan. Was that like the worst game ever?

BARBER: It really was. There was nothing positive to take away from that game for the Jets. And usually when you go into a game you do something right or, you know, if you have a bad loss like that, you did a couple things wrong. The Jets had everything wrong. They got a punt block. They were horrible on offense. Santonio Holmes one of their great wide receivers got injured and maybe lost for some time. So there's really nothing positive to take away from this game. And, as we all expected, with Tim Tebow coming in the offseason, when bad things started happening, the call for Tebow was going to start ringing forward. And I think we're starting to hear that now because the Jets seem to be on the ropes in a bad way.

COSTELLO: Well, why not? It's Tebow time, why not?

BARBER: Well you know it's interesting, that -- that highlight that you showed with the Jets getting the touchdown scored on them was the backup quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. His name is Colin Kaepernick and he is a wildcat-type quarterback.

So obviously Rex Ryan's seeing that happen has to be thinking in the back of his mind, it can't be any worse to put Tim Tebow in because we're not going to play any worse than we did yesterday.

COSTELLO: No, but that's true. And plus, you want the Jets fans to continue to go to the game to have some hope. So why not create that excitement by benching Mark Sanchez for just a game and trying out Tim Tebow?

BARBER: Well - well, Carol, the same thing happened last year in Denver when Tim Tebow was a backup for Cal Horton. They got off to a bad start and the fans started calling for Tebow. The media started co-signing it as we are right now in New York and eventually John Fox got put in a position where he had to make a decision. He had to save his team and obviously led them to the playoffs, he did well.

It's going to get more intense in New York if that doesn't happen. And Mark Sanchez continues to play poorly. I think right now Rex Ryan isn't going to pull that trigger; I think he still has to put faith in Mark Sanchez. Remember, they signed him to an extension this off season, so he is their quarterback for the future. And a lot of people will still argue Tim Tebow is not the answer, but as a Jets fan, as New Yorkers, people are starting to question and say why not? It cannot get any worse.

COSTELLO: That's true.

Tiki Barber, thanks, it's been fun as always.

BARBER: Always, Carol. Take care.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about baseball, because I'm telling you baseball's really exciting right now. The Tigers, they can wrap up the American League Central Division with a win tonight. Maybe you saw this. Prince Fielder put the Tigers in the position to clinch with a two-run homer to beat the Twins. It was Fielder's 30th home run.

But the best part came as Fielder celebrated. He was into it. Watch him. He's going to charge into the Tigers dugout, trips when he goes down the stairs, and he nearly knocks over the manager Jim Leyland. He almost took out a couple of players too.

Fielder explained his exuberance this way. "When it's there, I let it out."

Will the presidential debate be a game-changer? It's our "Talk Back" question today. Your responses next.

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COSTELLO: "Talk Back" question this morning: "Will the presidential debate be a game-changer?"

This from Jeff: "Instead of offering viable solutions, they'll offer us zingers. I want to hear long-term solutions for the long haul for 100 percent of America."

This from Anthony: "No, not even a sugar high on any of the two. This election is long done. Who wants to hear a planned, scripted debate to make up their minds."

This from Doreen: "It's not going to be a game-changer for me. I already know who I'm voting for this year."

This from Melissa: "I hope the debate is not peppered with zingers and one-two punches. This country doesn't have time for this guys to have a contest of egos."

And from Christine: "I would hope the American people are smarter than that. Then again, they did just renew that Honey Boo-Boo show."

Facebook.com/carolCNN. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.