Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Candidates Prepare for Second Presidential Debate; State of U.S. Economy?; Arms Sent to Syria Aiding Jihadists; Skydiver Sets Record; Politics of Storytelling

Aired October 15, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Good to be with you.

Let's jump right in to new developments in the race for president. We have now received this photo. This is the first lady. You know that. This is Michelle Obama posing with her absentee ballot in her hands. Yes, the first has lady now officially voted.

The campaign says the president will vote apparently in person later this month in Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He's got to be more energetic. I think you will see somebody who is very passionate about the choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: First things first. President Obama supporters are looking for a little more zing at tomorrow night's debate in Hempstead, New York. Here is the president thanking campaign volunteers in Williamsburg, Virginia, with a couple of pizzas, where he's been hunkered down doing debate preparations.

Meantime, Mitt Romney has retired to Boston to get himself ready for Hempstead. His running mate today is in the mother of all battleground states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ohioans, you know you have a big say-so. You know you're the battleground state of battleground states. You understand your responsibility, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Take a look at this. Our CNN poll of polls today is showing Ohio leaning toward Obama, three-point advantage for the president there.

Florida, look at these numbers, now showing a three-point advantage for Mitt Romney. And the other biggie here, as we approach November 6, Virginia, Obama up by one. Gloria Borger is our chief political analyst.

Gloria, good to see you.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Tight race.

BALDWIN: Tight race, exciting. I cannot wait for this debate tomorrow night. We know what the president needs to do or at least we know what his supporters say he needs to do, and he needs to be more aggressive. What about Mitt Romney? He won. Debate number two, you think he goes in with the same game plan or what?

BORGER: I think what Mitt Romney has to do is more of the same. I think what he did in first debate was make himself acceptable to certain people who may have had doubts about it.

I mean, you can't fire the president unless you believe that the person who is running against him would be an acceptable president.

And I think Mitt Romney crossed that threshold if you look at the polls. He's also got one other thing he's got do, Brooke. Every poll you take, people say that Mitt Romney doesn't understand their problems or doesn't understand the problems of the middle class.

And Mitt Romney loses to the president by two to one, three to one. This is a town hall. He has to try and make it clear to the people in that room and to the people watching that he understands what they're going through, and that he has a plan to rescue them if they feel they're in a really big rut.

BALDWIN: Talking to, talking with, not talking at.

BORGER: Exactly. Exactly.

BALDWIN: We talk polls. I want to point our viewers to this "Washington Post"/ABC News poll. One of the things I noticed is this bump in enthusiasm among the Romney supporters; 62 percent of Romney supporters now say they support him enthusiastically. That is up 14 points since before the conventions.

And in terms of enthusiasm, we have been talking about so much, Gloria, of the lack of enthusiasm. This is important, is it not?

BALDWIN: Really important. Don't forget, and you were there, Brooke, every step of the way during the primaries.

Mitt Romney was a lot of people's second choice, right? And he finally crawled across the finish line. And even at his convention, you didn't feel the enthusiasm there, the way you felt enthusiasm at the Democratic Convention for President Obama.

What you're seeing now is Republicans saying, you know what, I really want to support this person. And as you talk about getting out the vote, which is, of course, key to an election, you talk about early voting in states like Ohio, and Iowa, two important battlegrounds that are going on right now, this enthusiasm is very important.

One more thing, Brooke, that is important, is Mitt Romney's likability. He was underwater on likability. Now he's about 50, 51 percent. That's very good for him. So that's heading in the right direction for him as well.

BALDWIN: What did you tell me during primary season? Mitt Romney is the guy your parents want you to date, but you're kind of, meh.

BORGER: They wanted to fix you up with him and you never wanted to date him and then finally you're just, like, OK. I think they're dating now.

BALDWIN: They're dating. He's the guy, potentially. Back to the poll, though, the ABC News/"Washington Post" poll. This is another interesting tidbit I just want to point out here, too -- 42 percent of those polled now say the country is headed in the right direction, not a great number for the Obama campaign, heck of a lot better than 29 percent, which is how the poll read before the conventions.

How important is that, Gloria Borger, for the president?

BORGER: That's really important. As you point out, 42 percent ain't great, OK, but it is a lot better than 29 percent.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: And what that means is that people are feeling more optimistic about their future and whether their life is going to be better a year from now.

That's another question that is asked very often. And so that's very good for the incumbent president because if people feel in their own lives, whether it is because they're getting a job or they see the unemployment rate coming down, whatever, if they feel more optimistic, then they're going to be more willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt, have the patience, as Bill Clinton said you ought to have when he spoke on the president's behalf at the convention, say, OK, we were in a really deep ditch, he needs a little bit more time to get out of -- to get out of it.

So they might be willing to give if they think things are getting better in their own lives. This is a really important number for the president.

OK. BALDWIN: Gloria, thank you very much.

Let's just remind everyone, round two for the president and Mitt Romney tomorrow night, and our own Candy Crowley, she will be moderating the debate. Our special live coverage on CNN, CNN.com begins at 7:00 Eastern.

As we look ahead to tomorrow night, you know both Mitt Romney and President Obama, they are hunkering down, all about debate prep. Today, who do we see? The first lady. Also want to remind you we will be hearing from Ann Romney some time next this hour in Pennsylvania. But here is the first lady. She is in Delaware, Ohio. That's the town, Delaware, Ohio. Take a listen.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: He is incredibly smart.

But let me tell you, that is not why I married him. No. No. What truly made me fall in love with my husband was his character. And I mean that, it was his decency and honesty. It is the same thing we see in him every single day as president, that compassion and conviction.

See, I loved that Barack was so committed to serving others that he turned down high-paying jobs and instead started his career working to get folks back to work in struggling communities. And I loved...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Yes, one of my favorite things about that man.

And I loved that Barack was so devoted to his family when we first met, especially the women in his life. I saw the respect that he had for his mother. I saw how proud he was that she put herself through school by supporting him and his sisters as a single mom.

And I saw the tenderness that he felt for his grandmother. I saw how grateful he was that long after she should have retired, she was still waking up every morning to catch that bus to her job at the community bank, doing everything she could to support he and his family.

And he also watched as she was passed over again and again for promotions, simply because she was a woman. But he also saw -- I know there are a lot of women who understand that -- but he also saw how she kept on getting up every day, you know, doing that same job year after year without complaint or regret.

See, with Barack, I found a real connection because in his life story, I saw so much of my own, because growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I watched my father -- hey, I love Chicago too -- it's where I grew up.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And my father, he would make that same uncomplaining journey, every day to his job at the city water plant.

And I saw how my father carried himself with that same dignity, you know? That same pride in providing for his family, that same hope that his kids would one day have opportunities he never dreamed of.

BALDWIN: The first lady of the United States speaking there to a crowd in Delaware, Ohio.

And so many people say she's just absolutely effective at getting personal, telling the personal anecdotes about she and Barack, about the president of the United States. We also did learn just a little tidbit, that she cast her absentee ballot. So we have a photo of that. She tweeted that out.

But she is speaking in this mother of all swing states today. Here it is. Here is the photo. She is speaking in Ohio. Also want to let you know, we will be hearing from Ann Romney as well a little later this hour in Pennsylvania, another incredibly important battleground state for these two men come November 6.

Here, live pictures. See the sign, "Women for Mitt," incredibly important voting bloc. Just heard the first lady talking about women. Women, you hear me? And so we will be hearing from Ann Romney as well, and both of the their other halves are hunkered down, Mitt Romney in Boston, the president in Williamsburg, Virginia, getting ready for the big debate tomorrow night at Hofstra University.

Coming up next: a huge CNN interview. Ali Velshi sat down with a major player at the Federal Reserve Bank. He talked interest rates. He talked housing. He talked stimulus, everything that impacts your wallet. There he is. We're about to hear exactly what he said next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A major player at the Federal Reserve bank took on one of the basic debates among economists. Is the government trying to do too much?

Today, the president of New York's Federal Reserve Bank, William Dudley, spoke exclusively with Ali Velshi about the Fed's efforts to keep interest rates low.

Ali Velshi, our chief business correspondent, joins me live from New York.

Good to see you, sir.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You're so enthusiastic about it. You always pitch these things as so big, I feel -- I just get elated and take a breath in when you introduce...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It's funny. Before I went to break, I felt like I saw a big old grin on your face. The feeling is mutual, my friend.

But before we talk about what he told you, Ali, William Dudley, he is an important guy. Hammer home how important he is.

VELSHI: Yes. So that's the point. You said it was a big interview. And for guys like me, it is. To a lot of people, they who don't know who William Dudley is. He's the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It's one of the Federal Reserve banks.

This was, by the way, Tim Geithner's job before he became treasury secretary. Bill Dudley's been in that job since February of 2009. The reason it is important is because unlike just being one of the regional Federal Reserve banks, this one oversees the financial institutions and the banks. It is central to our banking and our financial system. That's why he's a big deal.

BALDWIN: OK, so big deal. And I want to get back to the government potentially trying to do too much, because you have the critics saying the Fed's push to keep interest rates low may be creating a bubble, yes?

VELSHI: Right.

So there is -- there are two issues. The critics who don't like the Fed's low interest rate policy are those who on a fixed income, and who can't get any return when they put money into a bank account. Obviously, you get nothing. And then there is the idea that keeping the interest rates low could cause houses to get more expensive and you could create yet another bubble. I asked him about that. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM DUDLEY, PRESIDENT, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK: There is no sign of housing becoming overly exuberant yet. We're way far away from that.

We're just on the very -- the patient has left the hospital, now convalescing at home. So it's a long way before we have to get worried about housing overheating. You look -- I think Federal Reserve basically is responsible for setting interest rates in the economy.

This idea that somehow the Fed could sort of remove itself and let interest rates be whatever they're going to be, that is just not a credible thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: That comment is for people who say, why doesn't the Federal Reserve get out of this business of doing things to keep interest rates low and just let them go where they're going to go?

In fact, the structure that involves the Central Bank and particularly the Federal Reserve doesn't sort of have a setting for the Fed not being involved. They can be less involved, but not involved isn't really an option.

BALDWIN: OK. He says that the patient at home to use his metaphor is still healing. We're all ready for the patient to be well.

There is a report in "The L.A. Times" talking about Moody's, talking about Moody's Analytics, the fact that they found household debt now back down to pre-recession levels. Families are getting their budgets in order. Did Bill Dudley talk about that or any other perhaps positive signs?

VELSHI: Yes. He's actually relatively optimistic. He certainly feels we're not in the position he was in four years ago when he took his job. He refers to monetary policy. That's the -- that's what the Fed does, whether they keep interest rates low or high. And they do that by either putting more money into the economy or taking money out. But he says in addition to debt coming down, there are some other positive signs in the economy and here's what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUDLEY: I think we have pretty easy monetary policy in place and as the economy heals, that monetary policy will become more effective over time. Two, if we get rid of some of these uncertainties about -- for example, about the fiscal cliff, that will be helpful as well.

The other thing I think is very important, the U.S. is actually becoming really competitive relative to the rest of the world because of what is happening in terms of our energy markets. Production of natural gas and oil has increased dramatically. The cost of electricity in the U.S. has been falling.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Which helps industry in the United States.

DUDLEY: So this is actually a very competitive place to actually set up manufacturing activity. And I think that's going to be another thing that's going to help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: And, Brooke, that's an important point there that as we have more energy discovered in the United States, particularly natural gas, which can be used for electricity production, a stable low cost of electricity is available to U.S. manufacturers, which could bring down the cost of building things in the United States.

And that's what some economists are looking for as one of the drivers of the economy in the next few years. Housing is another one. Doing infrastructure building and repair is another one. So he had some sense of what the economy might look -- how the economy might look a few years down the road, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And a couple of those items, as we were just talking last week, hopefully all that together helps create jobs, right?

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Yes. It has to all be done together. But that's -- when these two candidates say we're going to create jobs, these are the kinds of things that they can turn to for greater job creation.

BALDWIN: Ali Velshi, thank you.

VELSHI: Always my pleasure.

BALDWIN: All right.

Now let's talk about drones, military drones, specifically, the future of warfare, now a necessity?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY BICHMAN, ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES: Once you try to use a drone, you don't know how you lived without it before, like our cell phones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Israel shows off its drones amid tensions with Iran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The future of warfare is here. It is all about the drones.

Israel is clearly touting its sophisticated drone capabilities after Iran's bragging over a drone launched by Hezbollah this month flew in Israeli airspace.

But here's what's not so clear, is what Israel plans to do about challenges from Iran.

CNN's Sara Sidner got a close-up look at the state-of-the-art Israeli- made technology.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A week after a drone from its sworn enemy, Hezbollah, made it deep inside Israel's airspace before being blown to bits, Israel showed off its latest drone, the Israeli made Heron 1.

It is fitted with the most advanced radar system, two cameras, night vision, laser and satellite technology, all of which can beam back stunningly sharp images in real time to anywhere in the world.

And the unmanned aerial vehicle can take off and land automatically, even in bad weather, stay in the air for up to 24 hours, and scan up to 90 miles away.

In this test, we watched the drone leave Northern Israel. Minutes later, it is flying over a ship off Israel's coast and beaming back images from thousands of feet in the air, images so sharp, you can read the name of the ship and dozens of other details.

DANNY BICHMAN, ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES: Once you try to use a drone, you don't know how you lived without it before, like our cell phones. How did we manage without cell phones 15, 20 years ago? The same with drones.

SIDNER: Israel has been using drones for years, especially over Gaza. This is the kind of upgraded technology militaries all over the world are after, says this retired Israeli Air Force captain who didn't want his face shown for security reasons. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think all over the world you will find countries that try to develop UAV, every country try. And I think UAV, it is a threat. It is a threat everywhere.

SIDNER: One of those countries vying for drones is Israel's nemesis, Iran, and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon.

Hezbollah's leadership bragged about the recent long-range drone it sent over Israel and promised it will not be the last it sends, payback it says for the times Israel has sent warplanes over Lebanon.

HASSAN NASRALLAH, HEZBOLLAH LEADER (through translator): The resistance in Lebanon has sent an advanced surveillance drone from the Lebanese territories towards the sea and through this drone from hundreds of kilometers over the sea. Then the drone penetrated the enemy's defense procedures and entered the occupied southern Palestine and flew over critical and important bases and installations until it was discovered by the enemy near the area of Dimona.

SIDNER: Dimona is of particular concern to Israel and its enemies because of the nuclear reactor and suspected weapons program near that town in the Negev desert.

While Israel has not revealed exactly where the drone went and why it wasn't shot down before it was far inside Israeli airspace, Iran publicly boasted about its role in the drone mission and took a jab at Israel's defense capabilities.

Sunday, a member of Iran's Parliament and National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Mohammad Saleh Jokar, told Iran's semi- official news agency, Fars, the most important message of the Hezbollah drone's penetration into the occupied territories was that the Zionist claims on attacking Iran are unfounded, since the regime is not able to defend itself against Iran's missile capabilities.

(on camera): A senior Israeli official scoffed at the idea, saying Israel has no illusions about the capabilities or intentions of Iran or its subsidiary, Hezbollah.

(voice-over): What is clear is the future of warfare is here, and this is it. What is less clear is what Israel plans to do about a provocation by its number one concern, Iran.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Back here at home, which presidential candidate is best for your Wall Street? The results of a new poll are in. We will show you which candidate voters chose and why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You know this, the economy issue number one here in this election. And how you're feeling about your finances will absolutely finance who gets your vote. And there is a new poll out today showing that more people say an Obama presidency will help their wallet.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: Speaking of people's personal situations, how are people feeling these days about retirement savings, about home prices, that kind of thing?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

And that's the interesting thing. You're not seeing real consistency. So, there is some improvement in little pockets, but it is not happening everywhere.

So, let's start with the glass half full. Home prices, past three months, home prices are up. Many economists are saying housing has turned a corner. Retirement, look at how retirement savings are doing. You look at the S&P 500. That's what our retirement accounts really track.

And you know what? The S&P 500 is doing pretty well this year. It almost made back everything that was lost during the recession.

OK, so now let's go to that glass half empty. Wages. Wages are up only 1.5 percent over the past year. Guess what, that's not enough to keep up with inflation. Plus, lots of these jobs that are coming out, these are low wage jobs. That doesn't really help to make ends meet. So the job market, ah, it's only OK. Unemployment's falling. But the reality is, unemployment isn't falling fast enough and good jobs aren't coming back.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Alison Kosik, thank you. Yes, job creation, so, so important.

KOSIK: Yes.

BALDWIN: And I know the Americans want specifics from both the candidates on that.

I want to take you, though, next to Syria. One of, really, the worst case scenarios unfolding there. Weapons meant for Syrian rebels ending up in the wrong hands. One source tells CNN it is happening. We're live at the Pentagon, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Pretrial hearings for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-conspirators are underway at Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. And unlike their last appearance in May, today the defendants sat quietly. The men are being prosecuted in this special military tribunal for the 9/11 attacks. All five could face the death penalty.

Now to this troubling report concerning where arms -- where weapons meant for rebels in Syria are now ending up. "New York Times" today is reporting and CNN has now confirmed that weapons meant to aid the secular opposition, the rebels there in Syria, are getting into the hands of hard line Islamic jihadists. And I want to go straight to the Pentagon to our correspondent there, Chris Lawrence.

You have checked your sources, Chris. What are they telling you about the weapons?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're saying that there is indications that some weapons are ending up in the hands of hard liners or jihadists there in Syria, Brooke. They say that right now it's extremely hard to try to faction out exactly who is who in Syria and that is one of the main problems. The sources tell us that, you know, certain brigades, like the Lewa Altahrir (ph) brigade, seemed to have received some aid and arms from Syria and Qatar, while others, the Farouk (ph) brigade, for example, they consider extremely well armed, but they've received some of their weapons from Lebanese militant groups.

So they -- the sources feel it's not all coming directly from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but it is a growing problem and it's something the State Department has been tracking. Just today a State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Newland saying this is something that all nations have to keep a closer eye on, saying they have been tracking the movement of weapons into Syria, along with some of the nations that are providing a lot more firepower than the U.S. is right now.

BALDWIN: And we -- as we look at Syria, we look at the calendar, what are we, 22 days until the election. And I know this will absolutely play into that foreign policy debate next week and presumably one or two questions tomorrow night.

LAWRENCE: It presents a problem for both candidates, Brooke. I mean when you -- when you look at President Obama, he could be criticized for the U.S.' sort of hands off approach, allowing some of the Arab states to be the direct facilitators of that aid, even the non-lethal aid that the U.S. is providing. So in some ways there could be, you know, some criticism of the Obama administration for not being more directly involved in seeing what aid is given to some of the rebel groups there.

On the other hand, Governor Mitt Romney has said that he would provide heavier weapons to the rebels. He feels they aren't being equipped in the same way that, you know, the Syrian regime is, that he would give anti-tank, anti-aircraft weapons. These are much more powerful, potent weapons than the U.S. has given so far, compared to the non-lethal aid that the Obama administration has been giving. But he has said he's not necessarily signing off on the idea that the U.S. would directly give that aid. That he too would depend on some Arab states to sort of move some of the equipment in. And so it -- he too could be open to criticism of, you know, sort of allowing this to happen without having a direct U.S. presence involved.

BALDWIN: Yes, speaking at VMI recently, Mitt Romney saying they should be armed, but he wasn't specific as to who should arm them.

LAWRENCE: Right.

BALDWIN: Chris Lawrence for us at the Pentagon. Chris, thank you.

And now I want you to take a look at this. Think you could stand on a platform, a cool 24 miles up, and do this? Yes, not so much on my part, but Felix Baumgartner did exactly that. Amazingly, successfully, he fell more than 800 miles per hour. So what is his next adventure? We'll find out, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Did you watched this yesterday? The record-breaking skydive from the stratosphere. At least 8 million people followed it on YouTube alone. And just watching this guy, Felix Baumgartner, step off this 128,100 feet up there in the air. Yes, needless to say, it gave me butterflies for a few minutes watching this. Still, though, we wanted to replay it for you in case you missed it. I can't get enough. So, here, again, is the first time a man outside any kind of vehicle has broken the sound barrier. You're going to hear now from Fearless Felix himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this time we have begun balloon inflation. Capsule systems are green. Instrumentation's green. Payload's green. Medical systems are green.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's the release. And there is the applause. A successful rise.

FELIX BAUMGARTNER, SKYDIVER WHO BROKE SOUND BARRIER: Just sitting there and you -- you thought about that moment so many times, you know, how it would feel, and how it would look like. And this is way bigger than I anticipated.

And let me tell you, when I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data. The only thing that you want is, you want to come back alive, you know, because you do not want to die in front of your parents, your girlfriend, and all these people who are watching this.

Sometimes you have to get up really high to see how small you are. I'm going home now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) away. Speed, 725.

BAUMGARTNER: I said, I know the whole world is watching now and I wish the world could see what I see.

I had it under control when I went off. It had a -- did a slow rotation. And then it started spinning so violently. It spun me around in all different directions (ph), you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Felix and he's stable. This is (INAUDIBLE). And Felix has made it to earth safely. A new world record holder! BAUMGARTNER: It's way more difficult than everything that I have done so far and I think I'm done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I think I'm done, so says Felix Baumgartner.

Chad Myers, I know you were watching. You were here yesterday. I was tweeting with all these people. They were like, Brooke, are you watching this?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right.

BALDWIN: Of course I was. Here's really one of my questions is, what happens -- once he hopped out of the capsule, what happened to the balloon and the capsule?

MYERS: Yes. Well, it went up a little bit because his weight left the capsule. So the balloon went up a little bit. And when he finally got to the ground, they released the balloon. The balloon collapsed. The parachute opened and the capsule landed about 50 miles from where he was.

BALDWIN: OK.

MYERS: So they didn't want it to land on top of him, nor chase him down to the ground. So they let it up there for a few minutes and then they yanked the rip cord and then it came down on a parachute, yes.

BALDWIN: What about, too, I was watching when he was, you know, jumping off, because I'm reading about the delta move when you're supposed to tuck and fall and then at some point I thought he was spinning and I thought, my goodness, this is not what -- this is not a good thing. What was the most dangerous part for him?

MYERS: When he left the capsule, we watched it, and it was almost like being -- watching a high definition video of a roller coaster. You know how you -- sometimes your stomach --

BALDWIN: Yes.

MYERS: Kind of -- you can feel it even though you're not really in the coaster. That's what it felt like to us as we watched it here, as he jumped. And then you see him fall for five, ten seconds and you just expect the parachute. But it went for four and a half minutes before he finally pulled the chute.

BALDWIN: Oh, my gosh.

MYERS: Now, somewhere in the middle there he was 833.9 miles per hour. When there was no air. When he started to hit the air, and started to slow down, that's when he tumbled. That was the most dangerous part. That tumbling could have pushed blood into his head, literally could have killed him. And there was a little parachute to stop that from happening, but he knew that he was in trouble. He didn't want that parachute to pull. He wanted to get this thing done. BALDWIN: Right.

MYERS: And he did.

BALDWIN: And he did. And he says he's done.

MYERS: He's done now.

BALDWIN: Chad, thank you so much. And I do remember that he said, you know, he's done with this, but he wants to go on to become a rescue -- a helicopter rescue pilot. So that is next for Felix Baumgartner.

Hey, we promised that we would play -- we would find and take and listen to Ann Romney in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. And so I just want to play this sound. We heard from the first lady a little while ago. Here is Ann Romney in Pennsylvania addressing the crowd moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT ROMNEY: I loved, by the way, the last debate. Any of you get a chance to watch that? I loved the fact that I think 70 million Americans got a chance to see my husband unfiltered. No negative ads. No media interpretation. It was just Mitt. And, guess what? They heard with their ears and they saw with their eyes. And what did they see? A man ready and prepared to lead this country.

I also loved the convention. And I'm just going to tell you one quick story about that convention. And that was, I appreciated very much that people stood up and said, excuse me, this is not the person that keeps being talked about by the opposition, this is not the man I know. Let me tell you about the man I know. And Pat and Ted Oproski (ph) stood up, fire -- Pat -- Ted was a firefighter from Medford, Massachusetts. We were -- it was in the 19 -- mid '70s, I think. I remember because -- Ben -- well, let me just see. When -- Ben was born -- I have to go this way, '70 was when Tagg was born. Matt, '71. Let me see, Josh was '75 -- '78. Ben was born in 1978. That's how I have to figure it out. So Ben was two.

It would have been 1980 that we had the opportunity -- we knew this family. And their son David, 14 years old, was diagnosed with leukemia. And Mitt took it upon himself, even though he was raising at that point only four boys, very busy in his professional career, we had the opportunity to befriend this family when they were going through this enormous trial.

Mitt got closer and closer to David as he would visit him in the hospital. David was in and out of the hospital, by the way, for seven months. And mostly at the end of his life, in the hospital. But for -- at the beginning, in and out. And on one of those occasions when Mitt was visiting, he said, David, what do you love -- what do you love so much in life? What is it that you want to do when you get out of the hospital next? And he goes, I love fireworks.

So Mitt's next visit, he brought David a huge box of fireworks and made sure that when he got out of the hospital he was able to go safely shoot them off, along with the supervision of his firefighter father. And so --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: There she is, Ann Romney, speaking in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. One of the crucial, of course, states we've been talking so much about in the lead-up to the election on November 6th.

We saw the first lady speaking in another incredibly important state earlier today, that being Ohio. They are out and about on the trail today as their other halves are taking some time, both of them, to prep for the big debate.

Again, a quick reminder, that debate tomorrow night hosted by our own Candy Crowley tomorrow night, 9:00 Eastern, at Hofstra University in New York.

Meantime, let's continue talking politics and selling the message. My next guest says in order to make an impact on voters, political players need to mold their messages just like marketing ads. You'll see where Romney and where Obama have made or missed the marks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: President Obama and Mitt Romney spend a lot of time talking about facts and figures and, well, themselves. But what if both men are missing out on the big picture. Jonah Sachs joins me. He writes a book called "Winning the Story Wars."

So, Jonah, welcome.

You're an ad guy. You mold messages so, you know, so something will sell. So before we apply this to politics, your litmus test, you talk about this, is whether or not someone is an effective storyteller and not the once upon a time kind of story. Can you explain?

JONAH SACHS, AUTHOR, "WINNING THE STORY WARS": Sure. Marketers learned long ago that if you just push your product based on the facts or the claims, it's very hard for audiences to get really inspired and to be part of the campaign that you're putting out there. But if you can tell a story, if you can paint a compelling view of the world that people want to be part of and really make your audiences the hero in that story. Tell them where they can go in relation to you, not just what you're selling them. That's where you get the kind of evangelism that gets passed around on the Internet these days.

BALDWIN: OK.

SACHS: That's where you start to build tribes of people who are passionate about your product, your cause.

BALDWIN: OK. Compelling view of the world. So as we apply that to politicians, give me some examples from the past. Tell me, first of all, one person who is not a good storyteller.

SACHS: Well, I think we saw John Kerry in 2004 breaking a lot of the storytelling rules. First of all, he really relied on what he saw as his superior intellect. So he would get frustrated with -- in debates with Bush as Bush would put a story about what America was, he'd get frustrated and fall back on facts and claims. He also worked really hard to make himself the hero of his own story. And as I said, we need to find ways to give the audience a real part to play. So when he stood up at the DNC and said, I'm John Kerry reporting for duty, and then listed all of his accomplishments over time, we had to sort of sit back and just become passive consumers of his message.

BALDWIN: OK.

SACHS: You compare that to Obama in 2008, who really made the audience the hero of the story and told us that we can rebuild America. He's not going to do it for us. And you see the difference in the cultural resonance in those two campaigns.

BALDWIN: It was that whole slogan, "yes we can." But, Jonah, as you point out, this time around, you say here in 2012, the president has missed the storytelling mark.

SACHS: I think so. I think a lot of the frustration in the first debate that people felt was that Obama seemed above it all. He didn't really want to create that compelling vision of the future for us, tell us why we deserve to get there and then give us a real part to play in it. He would kind of fall back on his claims and his facts and his ideas, almost as if it didn't need to be packaged up into something that spoke to us on a values level. And I think people reacted seeing that he wasn't putting himself out there to really, again, make us the hero of the story and give us a compelling view of what America is.

BALDWIN: What about -- 30 seconds -- what about Mitt Romney?

SACHS: Well, Mitt Romney has a very interesting story. He also -- he comes across as the turn-around guy. He has a vision of America where individual business people are out to change the world, but government keeps getting in the way. And he's the kind of CEO who can come in and right the story. He's getting that point across well. But also, he's a sort of hero of his own story, as well, and is missing that chance, I think, to tell voters how they can really become part of that story and fix America ourselves.

BALDWIN: They'll both have the chance speaking directly to the voters, to undecided voters tomorrow night at Hofstra University.

Jonah Sachs author of "Winning The Story Wars. Jonah, appreciate it.

SACHS: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And just into us here at CNN, a disturbing revelation about the growing meningitis outbreak. There may be more victims than we thought.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just into CNN, the Food and Drug Administration is warning people of the potential for more possible cases of fungal meningitis. This includes people who have received any drugs via injection, not just steroid injections. They're very specific about that. These injections that were made at the Massachusetts facility at the center of a nationwide meningitis outbreak. The FDA goes on to say that people who received the injections should be alerted to the potential risk out of an abundance of caution.

Also, Vice President Joe Biden will represent the Obama administration tomorrow at the funeral of former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. He passed away just yesterday morning at the age of 82. Specter, known for switching from Republican to Democrat before losing that Senate reelection bid two years ago, died yesterday of cancer. President Obama has ordered all government flags to fly at half staff tomorrow.

And that'll do it for me here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Want to send you to Washington now. Your "Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer begins now.

Hey, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Brooke, thanks very much.