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Romney Slams Obama's Foreign Policy; The Next Big Debate Is This Week; Fungal Meningitis Cases Increase; Parachutist Ready For Record Jump; Romney Wins Over Some Voters; Biden, Ryan Prepared for Debate; Big Laughs for O'Reilly & Stewart; Chinese Companies Called Security Threats; Columbus Gets Room With a View
Aired October 08, 2012 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, the Jamaican Olympic gold winner shared some of his moves with sprinters in New Zealand. Showed a group of folks techniques during a track and field clinic.
I'm Suzanne Malveaux. This hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, Mitt Romney lays out his world vision in a major foreign policy speech. And a daredevil dares to jump from the edge of space to earth. I want to get right to it.
Mitt Romney gaining some ground here, the Republican presidential candidate. He has now narrowed the gap after his decisive win in last week's debate with the President. Here's the new poll, here a new Gallop poll. Registered voters choice for president now evenly split in a poll taken after Wednesday night's debate. Three days before the debate, President Obama had a five percent point edge among registered voters. Hoping to build on the momentum, Romney, this morning, attacked the president's leadership when it comes to foreign policy.
Romney delivered his first major foreign policy speech at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. It is the country's oldest military academy. He came out swinging. He condemned the president for what he says is leading from behind, declaring it is time to change course in the Middle East. I want to bring in our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty at the State Department. So, first of all, the first criticism was that he said the president didn't have this overall strategy that would be successful in the Middle East. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know the president hopes for a safer, freer, and more prosperous Middle East allied with us. I share this hope, but hope is not a strategy. We can't support our friends and defeat our enemies in the Middle East when our words are not backed up by deeds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Jill, I want to ask you this because is this about a failed strategy on the part of the Obama administration or are these factors that are basically playing out in the Middle East out of the White House's control?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You know, I would say a lot of those are factors that really are out of the White House control. Now, you can say certainly on the Middle East, let's say the peace process, the Obama administration really has not done very much. Pretty much kind of stuck where it was and with no progress. So, you could argue there. But on a lot of these Arab Spring countries, there are a lot of internal dynamics that are going on that the U.S. can, you know, kind of stand by and look, especially on Syria right now. But the question really would be what concretely --
MALVEAUX: Yes.
DOUGHERTY: -- would Mitt Romney do that would be very different from what the president would do, and I think that, you know, right now, I don't see any glaring differences. In fact, you know, even on that point of Benghazi, and the attack on the U.S. ambassador that killed the U.S. Ambassador and three other Americans, Mitt Romney, originally, it appears from the statements we saw, was going to link directly the group that carried that out to Al Qaeda, but then that was softened to Al Qaeda linked groups. So, even there, you know, you just have to kind of, you know, dig down and try to get very specific, and I still don't think there are a lot of specifics at this point -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And, Jill, one of the things -- you bring up that point there is that the Romney campaign has tried to capitalize off of the questions around Benghazi, around that attack. Romney, earlier today, making the case that he believed it was deception on the part of the Obama administration to initially say that this was a random response to a film that insulted the prophet, Mohammed, instead of a terrorist group. I want you to listen to his case he made.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: These attacks were the deliberate work of terrorists who use violence to impose their dark ideology on others, especially women and girls, who are fighting to control much of the Middle East today and who seek to wage perpetual war on the west.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Jill, which side actually plays out as the one that gives a convincing argument? Because we know the Romney team also -- they essentially got it wrong in the beginning as well when they were talking about the response from the Obama administration apologizing for this video when, in fact, that was not the case.
DOUGHERTY: Right. I think that the Romney administration is answering what the -- I should say the Romney presidential bid, or their -- his team, is answering what the administration was saying early on right after it happened, but they have since moved on from there. They are no longer saying that it was, you know, some type of reaction directly linked to the video, the angry -- the anger over the video. So, as more facts have come out, you've now have three investigations, and I think that's where the difficulty is. MALVEAUX: Yes.
DOUGHERTY: As these three investigations are carried out, more and more information comes out. More and more but nothing definitive, and we really won't know, I think, until those reports, the FBI, the State Department, and Congressional investigations are complete, and the entire picture is clear. That's why you've got this kind of back and forth.
MALVEAUX: And, Jill, do we think any of that information is going to come out before the election or essentially people will take a look at the final debate between these two and make up their minds about foreign policy based on that?
DOUGHERTY: You know, when you look -- I think if you get out of Washington and you look at people, you know, in the country side, I am not quite sure that all of these fine details are going to make that much difference. I think the overarching thing that could is this charge by Mitt Romney that the administration has been weak, it didn't, you know, define what should be going on in the world. If you accept that, then perhaps that argument does hold weight, but that, I think, is the -- is the overarching. If you take the whole speech and look at it, it's really, has Obama been weak, standing back and not really leading? And that's what Mitt Romney is saying.
MALVEAUX: All right. Jill Dougherty, good to see you. Thank you.
President Obama, of course, he is reaching out to celebrity backers in Hollywood. He is hosting a series of star-studded concerts, big dollar diner -- dinners, rather. The goal is to raise $9.5 million in the next two days. Dan Lothian is with the president in Keen, California. And, Dan, first of all, we'll talk about some of the big name stars, I know there's, like, quite a few of them there. But I'm curious if the Obama campaign or the president has any response so far to this big policy speech that was laid out by Romney earlier this morning?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president himself has not weighed in on yet -- on it yet, but his campaign spokesman, Ben LaBolt, also former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, did hold a conference call a short time ago where they really attacked Mitt Romney saying that he is not fit to be commander in chief. They said that his policies are what he would put in place are really unclear. That he's been shifting a lot of his positions, and, again, saying that he doesn't -- he's not really on the same level as the president. It was really sort of a fierce attack from the very beginning, going detail by detail, whether it comes to the U.S. relationship with Israel, whether it comes to what Romney pointed out on Libya, or even on South America. They said that it's simply lacking and, again, that he is not fit to be commander in chief. So, that coming from the Obama campaign but nothing yet from the president himself.
MALVEAUX: And we've also -- we've also heard, Dan, the vice president, Joe Biden, say, you know, Bin Laden is dead, GM is alive. Do they think that that line is something that really resonates with voters?
LOTHIAN: They do. And, you know, it's interesting that you point that out because even last night as the president was at that big fundraising event, you were talking about a concert with some 6,000 people in Los Angeles. He ticked off what he said were his accomplishments during thinks first term, and normally he will start with, you know, health care or don't ask don't tell or some other of the issues that he says are his accomplishments, but he started off with foreign policy. Ticking off, he said how he promised how he would end the war in Iraq, and he did that. How he would wind down the conflict in Afghanistan, how that is underway right now. And then, he said how he went after Osama Bin Laden and got him. So, they do believe that this is something, when it comes to foreign policy, that resonates with voters out there. So, you hear that not only from the vice president but the president himself.
MALVEAUX: And, Dan, finally, give us the fun stuff. Who is there? Who are the big stars here?
LOTHIAN: Well, this event -- you know, yesterday what you saw was, you know, Earth, Wind, and Fire for the old school. Also, George Clooney was there. Katy Perry for the new school, as the president pointed out. John legend will be at one of the big fundraisers. Another big concert, 6,000 expected in northern California. Where we're at right now is the Cesar Chavez Memorial. The President will be unveiling it as a national monument. This is slated as an official event, but in the context of an election year, this is important at least for the Obama campaign as the president is trying to reach out to Hispanic voters which will be critical to his re-election bid.
MALVEAUX: All right. Dan Lothian, good to see you, as always. Thanks, Dan.
While the presidential contenders are busy raising money, of course, talking foreign policy as well, Joe Biden, Paul Ryan, they are practicing for their big moment. The vice presidential debate, that is on Thursday. The hot topic, of course, on the Sunday talk shows. Let's watch.
( BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PREIBUS, CHAIRMAN, RNC: People enjoy these debates. I would expect a lot of people to be watching. I think Paul is going to do a great job, but I also think that Joe Biden is incredibly gifted when it comes to debating and understanding policy. He is a good orator.
ROBERT GIBBS, SENIOR ADVISER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN: Look, I think that he just has to go out there and prosecute the same case the president was prosecuting. I hope that the opponent that he gets to debate, though, doesn't walk away from the very record and platform that have so been a part of the Romney-Ryan campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, the pressure on both candidates after last week's debate, however, what many saw as President Obama's lackluster performance. The vice president, Joe Biden, really feeling the heat now, at least that's how the folks at SNL see it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SETH MEYERS, ACTOR, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Is there anything more exciting than Joe Biden thinking it's up to him to get the lead back? It's TiVo time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And this reminder, can you watch the vice presidential debate right here on CNN. Joe Biden and Paul Ryan go at it Thursday, our coverage beginning at 7:00 Eastern.
Here's what we're working on for this hour.
(voice-over): More people have come down with a dangerous form of meningitis all because of contaminated steroid shots. It turns out the FDA does not regulate the company that supplied the drug and many others like it. We'll explain why.
A Congressional report warns two Chinese telecommunications companies operating in the U.S. pose a threat to national security.
And a daredevil sky diver is getting ready to break world records with a freefall from space. We'll have a live report on his wild mission.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: The fungal meningitis outbreak is now getting worse. The outbreak has hit nine states, tainted steroid injections are believed to be the link. And the maker has now announced a recall of all its products. I want to bring Elizabeth Cohen to explain how is this happening? Can you explain what's going here?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, first, I want to tell you about some new numbers that we have. We just got new numbers from the Centers for Disease Control, and there's an increase in just one day.
MALVEAUX: Wow.
COHEN: In just one day, we're seeing more cases, one more death. So, let's take a look at the numbers, 105 cases of people who have fungal meningitis believed to be linked to these contaminated steroid shots that people got for back pain, eight deaths, and there was only seven yesterday, and still, this has occurred in nine states. It's suspected that these numbers are going to go up and up and up, because you could have gotten these shots even back in May and just now be getting sick. It can take a long time for this disease to fester, as it would.
MALVEAUX: If you think that you did get one of those shots, what should you do?
COHEN: Well, you may be getting a phone call from the hospital or the facility that treated you. They're trying to reach out to people and say, hey, Mrs. Smith, you got a steroid shot here, you know, three months ago, and we want you to make sure look out for things. Headache. Look out for nausea. Look out for any symptoms. But, be proactive. Be an empowered patient. If you got a steroids shot, of course you don't know what company made this shot, right?
MALVEAUX: Right. True.
COHEN: I mean who asks that question? So you should call your doctor and say, hey, doctor, what company made the shot that you gave me?
MALVEAUX: Is this the first time something like this has happened, or has it happened in the past?
COHEN: Sadly, it's not. There have been problems with these compounding pharmacies, which we've been talking so much about. In Alabama, nine people died last year because of contamination of a product from a compounding pharmacy.
MALVEAUX: So when you say a compounding pharmacy, what does that mean?
COHEN: Yes, define that. OK, usually we think of pharmacies as just the place where the guy kind of counts up the pills.
MALVEAUX: Right.
COHEN: A compounding pharmacy is where they actually put medicine together. For -- you know, take a medicine, put it in a vial, and so they're not quite a regular old pharmacy, but they're not quite a big pharmaceutical company either. So pharmaceutical companies are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. A compounding pharmacy is regulated, for the most part, by the state. And states can be very uneven about how they do their regulating. There's been a lot of complaints that these are not regulated enough, and you just have to point to this, what happened in Alabama, nine people dying.
MALVEAUX: Right. Sure.
COHEN: Florida. There were eye infections because of solutions that were prepared at a compounding pharmacy. A lot of pressure over the years to be stricter on these pharmacies, but it hasn't quite happened the way these advocates would like.
MALVEAUX: If you get this kind of meningitis, is it fatal? Is it automatically fatal?
COHEN: It can be fatal, and it has a very high mortality rate. I mean it can be treated. The key is you want to catch it quickly. And that's why hospitals and doctors' offices are supposed to be calling their patients and saying, hey, we gave you something that might have fungus in it, and they're supposed to have you, you know, talk with you about what you should do. Some people might say, well, I feel fine now, but I want to come in and get a spinal tap to see if I've got any fungus in there.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
COHEN: Because it could just be sitting around in your body, but it won't actually get you sick for a while.
MALVEAUX: Is that -- is that how you find out, you have to get a spinal tap?
COHEN: Yes, that's -- I mean that's one of the primary ways that they do it. So it's not --
MALVEAUX: They do it. I hear that's a painful process.
COHEN: Wait, it's not fun, but it's better than having fungal meningitis, which can kill you.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Elizabeth. Appreciate the warning.
COHEN: Great. Thanks.
MALVEAUX: And for more on the outbreak, including a list of the hospitals that might have given patients this tainted steroid, first visit cnn.com/empoweredpatient.
A sky diver hoping practice makes perfect when he jumps from the edge of space to earth tomorrow. We're going to look at how he's been training for this big moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: A SpaceX rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral last night launching the first commercial flight in the International Space Station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoff. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Launching Dragon to the International Space Station and returning cargo --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The unmanned capsule called Dragon is on its way to the Space Station after separating from its rocket. Now, Dragon is carrying 1,000 pounds of cargo. The company has been contracted by NASA to fly a dozen flights to re-supply the Space Station.
His nickname, Fearless Felix. He's also known as Felix Baumgartner, and he has gotten to be pretty fearless. He actually -- to jump out of a balloon. This is 23 miles above the earth. This is exactly what he plans to do. The idea is to set a world record for a free-fall. He has already tried it from a lower altitude. Brian Todd is live in Roswell, New Mexico.
Wow, that's pretty cool. He was supposed to try it today, but it didn't happen because of the weather. What's the plan?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, the plan is for them to launch this mission very early tomorrow morning. Probably about 8:30 Eastern Time is when the balloon and the capsule will go up. That's going to take about three hours to ascend. And then by about 11:30 Eastern Time, he is slated to basically step out of that capsule and do his jump, 120,000 feet above sea level, and that will set a free-fall record. He's going to be actually free-falling roughly 115,000 feet. His parachute will open about 5,000 feet above the earth.
But in the process of doing that, Suzanne, he is also going to break a speed record. No one has gone above the speed of sound outside of a capsule. Outside of a vehicle. He's going to be doing it with just a high pressure suit, a helmet, and a parachute. So that is the plan for tomorrow. Hopefully 24 hours from now we will be celebrating a successful mission with a healthy and intact Felix Baumgartner on the ground. They did have to delay it for a day because of high winds here in Roswell. That system is supposed to move through by this evening. And they say, as of now, it's a go tomorrow morning.
MALVEAUX: That's pretty cool. Tell us a little bit about the risk, first of all. And we're watching -- we're sealing some of this equipment that we saw. This little thin space suit and his helmet that's supposed to protect him here. What is that supposed to do?
TODD: This high pressure suit, Suzanne, is key. If this thing fails in any way, then you could have some really bad circumstances on your hands. The suit is supposed to protect him from the lack of pressure at that altitude, but there are other risks. I mean he could get decompression sickness on the way up. They call that the bends (ph). Deep sea divers often get it. He could get that on the way up. That's one risk.
Once he steps off the capsule, everything is reliant on that high pressure suit. If it gets compromised in any way, he could freeze severely because the temperatures get about 70 degrees below zero, we're told, up there. But if it's compromised even more, we're told that if the suit gets breached somehow at that altitude, the air could get sucked out of his lungs and his blood could boil. So that suit is key. If that suit fails, then there's going to be something pretty bad happening very high above the earth.
MALVEAUX: Why is he doing this? Do you know?
TODD: Well, I mean, he's a dare devil. That's one key reason. He space jumped from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. He has space jumped from the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro. He does things like this. But, really, what they're saying is, this is going to advance science. This is going to be able -- this is going to enable them to develop the next generation of space suit. The next generation of high pressure suit.
The gentleman whose record he's going to break, Joe Kittinger, he did this 52 years ago, and they base the space suits for the Apollo and Mercury missions on his space suit, on his high pressure suit.
MALVEAUX: Wow.
TODD: So with Felix -- with the suit that Felix is using, if it's going to work, they're going to be able to develop other space missions with astronauts wearing a very similar kind of suit. MALVEAUX: He really is fearless. We wish him all the best. Thank you, Brian. We'll be watching.
The president's poll numbers, they've dropped after the debate last week. We're going to look at how these numbers break down in the swing states.
And, don't forget, can you watch CNN live on your computer while you're at work. Head to cnn.com/TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: In Arizona today, slain Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie is being laid to rest. Ivie was killed last week in a shooting in southern Arizona. The FBI says they think it was a case of friendly fire with Ivie and other agents mistakenly shooting at each other. One other agent was wounded. Now, Ivie leaves behind a wife and two small daughters.
Overseas now. More fears that Syria's civil war is going to escalate into a regional fight. For the fifth day in a row, Syrian army forces are exchanging fire with Turkish troops on the border. And then there's this. Syrian troops are pushing to retake the key cities of Homs and Aleppo. Opposition activists say at least 76 people have died across Syria so far today. This is a suburb of Aleppo in northern Syria. Now, one person who posted the video on YouTube says it shows regime war planes attacking buses there and killing civilians. CNN has no way to independently verify the video.
And back to politics. We have heard of all kinds of reasons, rationale for the president's debate performance last week. And even if you thought he did a good job, you probably could admit he seemed a little distracted. Well, once again, the folks at "SNL," They figured out why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON SUDEIKIS, "MITT ROMNEY", "SNL": Number 20 --
CHRIS PARNELL, ACTOR, "SNL": Excuse me, Governor. Mr. President?
JAY PHAROAH, "PRESIDENT OBAMA", "SNL": I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, what's up?
PARNELL: Mr. President, Governor Romney has just said that he killed Osama bin Laden. Would you care to respond?
PHAROAH, "PRESIDENT OBAMA": No. You two go ahead.
SUDEIKIS, "MITT ROMNEY": Number two, open up more trade, especially with Latin America.
PHAROAH, "PRESIDENT OBAMA": The anniversary gift. I can't believe I forgot the anniversary gift. This is bad. This is very -- okay. I was distracted by the mess I inherited from Bush, but, still, I should have remembered our anniversary. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: All jokes aside, Mitt Romney gain some ground after beating President Obama in last week's debate. Joining us to talk a bit about the numbers, our political editor, Paul Steinhauser. That's pretty funny stuff at "SNL." They know how to go there. Are we talking about much of a balance here after the debate?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, one poll, we'll go to the first out of the gate, does indicate a small bounce. Take a look at this, Suzanne. This is from Gallop. They do that daily tracking poll. The seven-day poll. But look what they did. They split it up in two. On the left column, those are the three days prior to last week's debate in Denver. And you see, according to Gallup, among registered voters nationwide, the president, a five point advantage, within the sampling error. Look on the right. Those are October 4th through 6th, the three days after the debate in Denver. And Gallup indicates it's all tied up there.
Yes, I mean, this one poll does indicate that Mitt Romney did get a bounce. Of course, we're going to see a lot more national polls, a lot more polls, most importantly in the battle ground states later today, tomorrow, and Wednesday ask Thursday. Keep your eyes on those state polls. They're really the most telling -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Also more debates. Tell us about the expectation of Thursdays. This is the vice president and Paul Ryan.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. I think there's more at stake now than there would have been beforehand, but the president's lackluster performance last Wednesday makes this debate between Ryan and Biden a little more important. Both candidates talking about how they're getting ready for it. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm looking forward to it. I really am. The thing about Congressman Ryan is he has been straight forward up until now about everything. He is -- all the significant changes he wants to make. We have a fundamentally different view on a whole range of issues.
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R), WISCONSIN & VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is fast on the cuff. He is a witty guy. He knows who he is. He has been doing this for 40 years. You're not going to rattle Joe Biden. Joe is very good on the attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: We saw a gentleman Joe Biden four years ago when he debate Sarah Palin. It may be a little different Joe Biden this time, maybe a little more aggressive than we saw President Obama last week. Maybe he'll bring up the 47 percent and Bain Capital. Stay tuned -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Tell us a little bit about that debate that happened not with the real guys --
(LAUGHTER)
-- but FOX News's Bill O'Reilly and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart facing off over the weekend.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. I think this was a little more entertaining than the one we saw last Wednesday. These guys dent have the burden of running for president, but enough of me. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike is here in the audience and he asked this question. If you could see any American elected president, who would you choose and why?
BILL O'REILLY, HOST, THE O'REILLY FACTOR: I would say Clint Eastwood have to be my guy.
(LAUGHTER)
JON STEWART, HOST, THE DAILY SHOW: Well, why don't we ask him?
(LAUGHTER)
So, um --
(APPLAUSE)
STEWART: What? Tell them to do what?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
STEINHAUSER: That was one of the lighter moments. You know, there was some serious parts to this debate. Both gentlemen talked policy. And I think, though, the American viewers were the winners in that debate -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Absolutely.
Thank you, Paul.
This reminder, you can watch the vice presidential debate right here on CNN. Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, they're going at it on Thursday. Our coverage begins at 7:00 eastern.
A fight to get voters registered in time for the election, it's kind of going badly in some places. We're going to take a look at voter apathy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: With the deadline a day away, volunteers feel the urgency to get voters registered in Florida. One door, one citizen at a time, they're encouraging folks just go out and vote.
But as our John Zarrella tells us, some have no interest in going to the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSINIA FERNANDEZ, VOLUNTEER, FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jessinia Fernandez and Caryn Garcia go door to door. The question they ask is simple, but one of democracy's most important.
CARYN GARCIA, VOLUNTEER, FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION: Are you registered to vote yet?
ZARRELLA: In Florida the deadline is Tuesday. If you're not registered by then, you can't vote in the presidential election.
FERNANDEZ: Sometimes I get sad because people tell me, you know, I don't want to vote. I don't like voting. You know, it's kind of like frustrating sometimes that they do have the right and they can vote. They just don't want to vote.
ZARRELLA: They work for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, one of a plethora of organizations, some partisan, some not, engaged in a last- minute swing state signing race to register voters.
Since the state's August primary, more than 133,000 people have registered at Nova Southeastern University Law School in Broward County.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you registered to vote.
ZARRELLA: At Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, are you registered to vote this year?
ZARRELLA: Outside the courthouse in Plantation, there's no mistaking which candidate Alan Ehrlich supports, but he says --
ALAN EHRLICH, VOLUNTEER: We register anyone that comes along that wants to register.
ZARRELLA (on camera): But you would prefer they register Democrat since --
EHRLICH: Of course. I work for the Obama campaign.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): When he enrolled, Jonathan Colon registered.
JONATHAN COLON, NEW VOTER: I'm looking in the future ten years down the line. Whatever they can do to make their four years count is what I really want.
ZARRELLA: With so much at stake in Florida, there can be a darker side to voter registration. Palm Beach County supervisor of elections, Susan Bucher, discovered discrepancies, signatures that looked the same, addresses that didn't appear right, on more than 100 voter registration forms.
SUSAN BUCHER, SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS, BROWARD COUNTY: We just haven't ever experienced this kind of issue with the registration forms, and so that's got us a little disconcerted.
ZARRELLA: the company at the center of what is now a statewide investigation, Strategic Allied Consulting, hired by the Republican Party to register voters, was fired. Strategic insists the problem was with one individual and that it maintains rigorous quality control measures.
Back in Fort Lauderdale, not a good day for Jessinia and Caryn. Only a handful of new registers. That hurts, they say. You see, neither one is a U.S. citizen. Both are part of the group called Dreamers, whose parents brought them here illegally when they were children. And here they are trying to encourage people to exercise a right they only wish they had.
FERNANDEZ: Have a nice day.
ZARRELLA: John Zarrella, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale.
FERNANDEZ: Bye.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: A threat to American national security. That is what a congressional court is now calling two Chinese companies operating here in the United States. We're going to explain why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: The House Intelligence Committee reports that two of the biggest telecom companies could pose a threat to U.S. national security because of their ties to the Chinese government. These companies have been trying to expand operations here in the United States, but this report suggests that using Chinese equipment could make us vulnerable to cyber attack and open our telecommunications to military and commercial spying.
Felicia Taylor is in New York to explain what is going on.
These two companies, the focus of the report. One is called Huawei and one called ZTE. What do they suspect these companies are able to do?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, it sounds pretty scary, frankly. But, of course, naturally, the Chinese companies are not agreeing with the report. It was prepared by House Intelligence Committee over the past year. And basically Huawei and ZTE are two of the largest Chinese telecom companies, and they want to expand here in the United States, but both are big tech companies that make products like routers and other Internet gear. The report says that China has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecom companies for malicious purposes, like espionage. Nothing has been proven though.
They say the equipment they use does pose a national security threat. The report is especially critical of Huawei, pointing to intellectual property violations, alleged ties to Iran, and what the committee calls, quote, "a pattern and practice of potentially illegal behavior in the U.S."
Both companies are disputing the findings. Huawei says in its statement that, "The committee's report not only ignored our proven track record of network security in the U.S. and globally, but also paid no attention to the large amount of facts that we have provided," end quote. ZTE says that it's, "Set an unprecedented standard for cooperation by any Chinese company with a congressional investigation."
So it's very important to note that the report doesn't indicate any proof of wrong doing by the companies as of yet. This is a warning, however, that companies should be careful if they are going to engage in any kind of business with Huawei and ZTE -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Tell us how the market is doing today.
TAYLOR: Well, not so great. It started out down about 30 points. It's not a disaster. "CNN Money" did a survey of economists and fund managers. Most of them believe that the rally, unfortunately, has come to an end. You know, you have a lot of concerns still out there. Stocks are posting double-digit gains for the year right now, and that's pretty darn good. The major averages are up between about 11 percent and 19 percent across the board. The survey says that that's right where experts think the market will finish out this year.
A few reasons for the expected stall? The upcoming presidential election. It's an unknown. We don't know who is going to run the country for the next four years. Stocks may remain in a holding pattern until investors have that answer. Of course, there's also the fiscal cliff. That's when a variety of those spending cuts and tax increases kicking in in the new year. Congress has been non-committal about how it's going to handle that, and that's really what's upsetting most of the trade others wall street because, again, it's an unanswered question. It's unpredictable headlines out of Europe are also expected to factor in, so for today the Dow is just slightly lower. Again, not a disaster. 30 points, it's OK.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: We look for the silver lining. We're looking for it.
TAYLOR: We try.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Thank you, Felicia. The unemployment rate fell in September. More people returned to the labor force, and hiring was steady. In this week's "Smart is the New Rich," we see a guy that took a big risk to make a career change in a brightening job market.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Olatunde Kamson wanted to switch careers from operations in I.T. to marketing and big data. In a slow jobs market, that takes training and risks.
OLATUNDE KAMSON, WENT BACK TO GRADUATE SCHOOL: I decided to go back to business school. And I went part-time and realized that I needed even more training. So I left my full-time position, and gained an internship at CBS, and that was a great gateway. So the internship, plus the MBA, I was able to fortunately land the job by looking at the data more on the marketing end and helping with making strategic decisions.
ROMANS: The switch took time and money, $80,000 in student loans.
(on camera): Is it worth the investment to re-train in your career, and take on all of the student loans?
KAMSON: Yes, it is worth the investment.
ROMANS (voice-over): The degree loan doesn't open doors. He also worked with a job coach.
CAROLINE CENIZA-LEVINE, CAREER COACH, SIXFIGURESTART: We really worked with him on interviewing and network, because, let's face it, as a career changer, his resume speaks to what he did before. In order to get people to think of him in a different way, he had to talk to people and tell them his story.
ROMANS: Not all career switches require an MBA and 80 grand in debt. Consider community colleges or free online courses in the new field.
CENIZA-LEVINE: Counter-intuitively, a career-changer can't seem like a career changer. People will ask about experience if you're not demonstrating enough expertise or a skill set. You have to show the people who are already in that job, in that industry, that I can do this, too. And it is just a question of getting hired.
ROMANS: Remember, an employer typically scans a resume for 10 seconds or less.
CENIZA-LEVINE: Too many people will suspend the rest of their search, hoping for the perfect resume that gets noticed. It's irrelevant. What really matters is networking and interviewing. You want to get in front of as many people and tell them your story. In his case, he was interested in strategy. He talked to people who had those jobs. He didn't know them, but he reached out.
KAMSON: It was a two and a half year journey to get the job I wanted. But it is definitely worth it and paying off now. This is my dream job.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Good for him.
It's a chilly day for most of the country. We're going to take a look at where the temperatures actually set some records.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: All right, the folks in New Orleans, they don't need reason to celebrate. But they have one today, including my family. New Orleans Saints, quarterback, Drew Brees, set a record last night. Brees' 48th game in a row with a touchdown pass. He broke the record set 52 years ago by Colts quarterback, Johnny Unitas. And head coach, Sean Payton, got to watch. He's suspended this year because of the Saints alleged bounty program. But Brees asked the NFL commissioner for a special permission to allow Payton to be at the game.
It is getting pretty chilly in parts of the country. So cold, in fact, we're seeing some records that are broken today.
Chad, tell us what's going on.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, my, 31 in Tulsa. I'm sure what's going on there.
MALVEAUX: Really?
MYERS: Wisdom, Montana, the winner or the loser, depending on your point of view, five degrees over the weekend.
MALVEAUX: That's freezing.
MYERS: That's 27 below freezing. Yes, so I think that's the end of tomato season. If you have some --
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: -- just cut them up and make fried green tomatoes because that's all we have.
Wisdom, Montana, 5 degrees above zero on Sunday. Laramie, 6. We had some records today, not just like we're seeing now. In the 20s and 30s, not single digits like the weekend. Even Oregon, St. Joseph, Missouri, 22. I know you had things out there in the garden, but not anymore.
Freeze threat moves to upstate New York, back to Buffalo, down to Chautauqua County, the Poconos and Alleghenies. I'm not seeing temperatures that are below freezing in the big cities, like Scranton or for Pittsburgh, but you get out toward Dubois, Williamsport, you get out to those areas that are away from cities and away from the city heat, you will definitely be below 32. The best thing to do, if you want to try to save the tomatoes, cover them up with something cloth. Don't put a plastic tarp over the top, because the plastic touches the leaves, the plastic can put the heat in the cold right through and your plants are dead anyway.
Here you go. If you're going to be there, lows tonight across the country, 45, Denver. Denver was great example of what a cold front is. On Thursday, you were 83. On Friday morning, you were at 32. That's just, wow, 51 degree swings here. And that's just what happens in the fall. 67 for tomorrow in Kansas City.
Yes, it does warm up. This is not the end of the beginning of fall. This is not where winter starts. Although there was some snow and temperatures like this do look more like winter than anything else. This is just kind of a first cold front that comes through, gives you the shock.
I remember living in Buffalo, we had a saying, if there was snow on the pumpkin or jack-o-lantern by the 31st, it would be a cold winter. There is a lot of snow in some spots. Some spots have 12 inches of snow. If that's any indication, it could be a cold winter. It is a 50/50 chance.
MALVEAUX: Have to make sure my mom covers her tomato plants. She's always planting tomatoes. Yes, last night not a good night for the tomatoes.
Do you have an update about el Nino? I understand it might not be coming. Is that right?
MYERS: That's the old thing about -- we had la Nina. That makes a big change for hurricane season. El Nino can really come in and slam California and make a bunch of things different across the country when it comes to weather changes. All of a sudden, el Nino kind of changed its mind and now it is neutral, which means that things should be normal for the rest of the season. Not one big swing one way or the other. What normal means now compared to what it meant when you and I were kids, I'm not sure, but at least normal is what we're going to get.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Chad. Good to see you.
CHAD: You've got it.
MALVEAUX: If your next trip takes you through New York's Liberty International Airport, take note. According to the "Star Ledger" newspaper, TSA agents there are getting low marks for security checks. The paper says that agents carried out standard passenger pat-downs correctly only about 17 percent of the time. The agents never told passengers they could choose pat-down over full-body scans.
A statue of Christopher Columbus hovering over Columbus Circle in New York city -- is a major land mark -- now an artist has created an unusual way for people to see it face to face. It is not sitting well with some folks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: One of New York's most iconic statues is now indoors. Christopher Columbus has his own apartment. You can visit. And so is everybody happy about it? Well, not really.
Richard Roth has got the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christopher Columbus has stood tall in New York's Columbus Circle since 1892. One big problem, though --
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK: I've been living in the city since 1966, Columbus Circle has always been there. But you don't look up. You can't see it. It is so high.
ROTH: Faster than you can see Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria, the city and a public art group set sail to bring the people to Columbus. Now New Yorkers and tourists enter another new world to rediscover Columbus. Columbus appears to have time travelled into the future, standing on a coffee table in living room Americana -- couch, cable tv, and wallpaper starring Michael Jackson and Marilyn Monroe.
NICHOLAS BAUME, DIRECTOR, PUBLIC ART FUND: Columbus stayed exactly where he was and this all took shape around him.
ROTH: Only Columbus has seen these views before of major New York avenues.
BAUME: I like to think of it as Christopher Columbus finally getting a piece of the American dream. His own home, front row, dress circle in New York City.
ROTH: Japanese artist, Tatsu Nishi, who specializes in transforming public spaces. Brought Columbus out of the cold.
TATZU NISHI, ARTIST: I am so happy to have my work in New York City.
ROTH: Some people are not happy an Italian icon is hidden away in a living room.
ROSARIO IACONIS, ITALIC INSTITUTE OF AMERICA: If they wanted to exalt the admiral of the open sea, they wouldn't have encased him in this boxy frame that is buffoonery masquerading as art.
ROTH: I walked up new steps to Italy's New York consulate to discuss what was done to an Italian sea captain by a Japanese artist in Manhattan.
NATALIE QUINTIVALLE, ITALIAN CONSUL GENERAL OF NEW YORK: Ours is a language which is supposed to unify people and different cultures.
ROTH (on camera): I ordered Chinese take-out. Will the delivery man be able to come up here to the living room so I can watch some TV along with Chris?
(LAUGHTER)
ROTH: You can explore this exhibit until November 18th. Then the ancient Mariner, freed from New York pigeons, gets major cleaning and repairs.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Pretty bizarre.
(LAUGHTER)
CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Brooke Baldwin.
Hi, Brooke.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I wondered what all the scaffolding was there at Columbus Circle. Now we know.
Suzanne, thank you very much.
Good to see all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
