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Donate Paint to Haiti; Campaign Entering Final Frenzy; Dueling Over How To Fix The Economy; Dueling Over How To Fix The Economy; Bin Laden Film Release Irkes GOP; Wooing Women Voters; Candidates Wooing Women Voters; Obama, Ryan Stump in Virginia; Key Senate Seats Up for Grabs; Hurricane Sandy Slams Cuba; Statue of Liberty to Reopen Sunday

Aired October 25, 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: And he's doing a lot. If you'd like to donate your paint, go to the Web site www.globalpaint.org.

Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Suzanne Malveaux, I want to get right to it. The presidential campaign entering its final frenzy just twelve days left to go. Candidates focusing on a handful of states. It's likely going to determine who wins the White House. President Obama wrapping up a 48-hour marathon, stops today in Tampa, Florida; Richmond, Virginia; Cleveland, Ohio. On the way from Richmond to Cleveland, he stops in Chicago to vote.

And Mitt Romney focusing on a make or break state of Ohio today. It started with a rally just a couple of hours ago in Cincinnati. His next stop is going to be Worthington, and he ends the day in Defiance, Ohio. It has -- who has the best plan to get the economy going again, that is one of the defining issues of this presidential race. Critics say the candidates, they are long on promises, short on details. Just 12 days to go. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney pushing their plans to fix the economy.

Let's bring in our Political Director Mark Preston. Mark, wow, just days. It is flying by here, and we've got President Obama now. He is putting out these plans. He says, look, this is what I'm going to do if I get a second term. Here's what he said in Tampa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've got a plan that will actually create jobs. A plan that will actually create middle class security. And unlike Mitt Romney, I'm proud to talk about that plan because the math actually adds up. I want you -- I want you all to take a look at it. You can go to BarackObama.com, slash, plans, and I want you to share those plans with your friends and neighbors and co-workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. So, Mark, I have a couple of questions for you. First of all, if you go to the Web site, and if you heard the President before, even if you go to the White House Web site, not a lot of this is really new material here. So, how much of it is really more information and how much of it is simply repackaging and focusing on, look, I got something to give you, I got something to offer for a second term?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: And I got something to tell you what I have done in my first term as well which is what he has done in this plan and in this booklet which not only is he telling people to get it from the Web site, but he has also printed millions of copies and they're handing it out. Look, Barack Obama is running on one issue and one issue alone in many ways, and that's the economy as is Mitt Romney. It's been issue number one since 2008. It's going to decide what happens in this election, and that's why we saw right after the debate earlier this week, first thing he did in his first campaign rally was to talk about his plan to try to turn the economy around.

Now, part of the difficulty for Barack Obama is that he inherited a very bad situation. It hasn't gotten much better. I don't think many people could have thought it could be turned around in four years. He's asking for four more. The question is will the voters think that he deserves it, and that's why this race is so tight right now -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And what's the political calculus here? I mean, in some ways "the Des Moines Register," he lays out these plans. They're somewhat specific when he talks about immigration, when he talks about defense spending, these kinds of things. People are going to hold him to account. Do they think it's worth the risk here to just put this out here now?

PRESTON: Yes, no question because they're going to hold him to account, but let's assume that he gets elected and, you know, what happens? He doesn't have another term to run for, so the promises that he makes right now, look, he -- I'm sure he is saying -- he hopes that he can enact them, but how does he held -- how is he going to be held accountable in two years, and let alone how is Mitt Romney going to be really held accountable if he were to win?

The fact of the matter is they are making campaign promises, and they're going to try to fulfill them. The problem is here in Washington it isn't just what the President decides to do, what happens in Congress as well where the House of Representatives and will the Senate go along with it? So, as much as our focus is on the presidential campaign, look, these House and Senate races are very, very key to what happens for the next four years.

MALVEAUX: That's an excellent point, Mark. I mean, really, when you think about it, what can the President do without the balance of power working in his favor? And that is, of course, Congress cooperating with him. I want to bring up Mitt Romney here. He is promoting a five-point plan. He outlined it again today. This was in Cincinnati.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The President has been looking for a plan. He has been looking for some way to help the gentleman I spoke about, some way to help the 23 million people that are out of work. He hasn't been able to find a plan. He hasn't been able to define what he's going to do to make America strong going forward. I have. I have a plan that'll create 12 million jobs and rising take-home pay. And I'm going to help that man who needs that good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Mark, we still have not heard some of the specifics about what the tax loopholes inductions are going to be in order for him to come up with making his own plan work here. At this point, with days away from voting, is that what voters want to hear? Is that what the Romney campaign needs to put out? Or have they just decided, look, this is what you're going to get, make up your minds and your -- make your decision based on what we're putting out there now.

PRESTON: It's not politically smart to be terribly specific on how you're going to get to things. In fact, we saw Mitt Romney talk about the home deduction, and that fell flat, you know, about a month ago or a couple of months ago. And then, we heard just this week where he talked about how he was going to cap deductions at a certain number which would then allow people who were looking for that deduction on their home to be included in that cap.

You don't want to be absolutely specific because if you are, you are just inviting people to criticize you even more. If you offer a broad idea, a broad pathway to success, you are better off. We only have 12 days right now. People are working, people are worrying about their jobs, they're worried about losing their homes. In some ways, for -- to be successful in a campaign is to just sell the idea, you don't have to sell the specific plan.

MALVEAUX: All right. Mark, good to see you, as always. We'll be watching very closely.

Florida's 29 electoral votes, one of the biggest prizes in the campaign. Well, right now, the state is still a toss-up. The campaigns are honing in on swing counties like Orlando's Orange County. Now, Orange County, this is part of the crucial I-4 corridor. This is where close elections are often decided in Florida, how 27 percent of the population is Hispanic, and almost 22 percent African- American. That is where we find our own Ali Velshi and John Avlon. They are on CNN's election express battleground bus tour through some of the 109 most contested counties.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, we are in Orlando. Orlando is interesting because it is a story which repeats itself nationally about what it is versus what it feels like. It is measurably better than it was at the worst of the financial crisis. Not that it was four years ago, but better than it was at the worst. But we're running into a lot of people who don't connect to that reality.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's exactly right. And, look, the economy is only as good or bad as it is for you in your --

VELSHI: Right.

AVLON: -- personal life. There's no question, and Orlando, like in Florida and many parts of the country, we're through the worst of it. We're through the worst of it. But unemployment is roughly where it was when Obama took office.

VELSHI: Right.

AVLON: For months and months it was in low double digits. We've come out of that. And you're starting to see real bright spots in the economy, but we haven't made such demonstrable improvement that people are going to give the credit to President Obama necessarily.

VELSHI: Florida was one of the places that was ground zero for the housing crisis. This is where prices just plummeted. Believe it or not, more and more construction of new houses every month in the last few months in Orlando.

AVLON: Unbelievable. I mean, the fact that symbol of that bubble is now growing back and people buying houses on spec does indicate the way also that this recovery is sort of piece mail. Some areas are doing beautifully, --

VELSHI: Yes.

AVLON: -- other folks are still sitting in an underwater home wondering when they're going to get some relief. But there are signs of improvement, they are real, they are measurable, but they're not pervasive, they're not defining the local economy.

VELSHI: So, when you look at a place like this, think of Detroit. Think of places that depend on a few industries and then those industries start to fail as a lot of things did around here. For the few months, for the first year, you hope it's going to come back, then you start to reinvent. And Orlando is trying to go through that experience of creating new industries or helping out other industries in the area to try and grow so they're not so dependent on the same stuff they were in 2007, 2008.

AVLON: Exactly. We all know a one industry town is a recipe for disaster. Politically, also, Ali, this is what's fascinating. Here Orlando is at the end of that I-4 corridor.

VELSHI: Yes.

AVLON: So, this is where it all ends. The Hispanic population in this part of Florida, in this town in particular, it's not the Cuban dominated south that talks about Republican. It's very diverse, Latin American, even many Puerto Rican citizens --

VELSHI: Right.

AVLON: -- are living here. So, this is -- it really has a different tone and tenor. It was tight in 2004, tied 49, 49 for Bush and Kerry.

VELSHI: Yes. AVLON: Obama won it by 20 points going --

VELSHI: Yes.

AVLON: -- away in 2008. It's not going to happen this time, because this race is tight even here.

VELSHI: And as much as somebody might swing it one way or the other over the course of the next two weeks, the reality is the Obama operation, in particular, is shifting to its how -- its get out the vote job.

AVLON: That's right. This is so tight it all is going to come down to ground game. Get out the vote. Early voting, that's a major message. And on simply the issue of local headquarters, the Obama team has got an edge here, around two to one for Romney. It's only one metric, but it's a significant metric. They've been investing heavily in local ground game since the beginning.

VELSHI: All right, we're going to move on from Orlando today. We're going to Jacksonville, and then we're going to head north -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, guys. Here's what we're working on for this hour.

(voice-over): A movie will about the death of Osama Bin Laden will hit the airwaves just two days before the election, and the President plays a key role.

And the fight for women voters hits a boiling point. Democrats hope abortion rights tip the polls.

Then lady liberty just got a little work done. Now, after being closed for a year, her crown is about to reopen to the public. We'll get an inside look at the changes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Two lives events now going on at the same time here. You see President Obama in Richmond, Virginia, and out of Bristol, Virginia, this is Paul Ryan speaking live. The vice presidential candidate, of course, trying to put the state back in Republican hands. It's November. It was a Republican stronghold until the President won, of course, Virginia, back in 2008. Let's listen in first.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (live): We're going reapply them to the problems of the day, and we're going to get this country back on track. And we're going to help good job traders get back in the business of trading jobs and get back on the path of prosperity. That's the choice in front of us.

You know, President Obama really hasn't given us a vision for a second term agenda. Just a couple of days ago, he came up with a slick new brochure, you know, with less than two weeks left to say, oh, I do actually have an agenda. It's a slick, well, comic book, that was his word. To me, a slick repackaging of more of the same. And look at where it's gotten us.

You see, where we are today is our economy is barely limping along. It's slower this year than it was last year. Last year was slower than the year before. Job growth in September was slower than August and August was slower than July. Please, feel free, have a seat. I don't want to -- for October 25th, it's pretty darn warm out here, isn't it? You know. Yes, we get snow this time a year sometimes in Wisconsin.

But look at where we are. We're headed in the wrong direction. You see, the Obama economic agenda failed not because it was stopped. It failed because it was passed. Let's not forget that he controlled all of government. Let's not forget that his party was in a firm control of Washington when he came in, and so he could do everything he wanted to do. That's what gave us Obama care. That's what gave us all this stimulus.

And if you looked at the promises made when he passed all this borrowing and spending, given money to corporate contributors and companies like Solyndra, he said our economy would be growing at 4.3 percent today if we only passed this borrowing binge. Well, we're at 1.3 percent today. We're about nine million jobs short of what he said we would be if we just put this program in place. His program was put in place. He tried jamming cap and trade -

(END LIVE FEED)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's go also to Virginia, in Richmond. That is where the president is speaking, from a state that he won back in 2008, hoping to hold on to it this go around as well. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

OBAMA: Make sure we don't have taxpayer funded bailouts. That was his philosophy in the boardroom. That was his philosophy as governor. And if it sounds familiar, it's because that's exactly what we tried in the last decade. Before I came into office. It led to falling income and record deficits and the slowest job growth in half a century and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

We have now been working for four years to clean up the mess those policies left behind. And now -- now Governor Romney wants to take us back to those policies, but he know that they're probably not very popular. He knows his plan isn't any different than the policy that got us into trouble. So, in the final weeks of this election, he's counting on you forgetting. He's hoping that you come down with a case of what we call Romnesia. He's hoping you won't remember that his economic plan is more likely to create jobs in China than it is in America, because it actually rewards companies that ship jobs and profits overseas.

He's hoping you won't remember that he wants to give millionaires and billionaires a $250,000 tax cut because the only way he can pay for that tax cut is by raising your taxes or blowing a hole in the deficit. He's hoping that you'll come down with a severe case of Romnesia before you cast your ballot.

But, Richmond, I want you to know this. This is a curable disease. If you feel any symptoms coming on, if you're starting to get a little woozy, your eyes are getting a little blurry, some ringing in your ears, if you can't remember what you said just a week ago, if you can't remember the plans on your own website and you're worried you might be coming down with a case of Romnesia, I want you to know, Obamacare covers preexisting conditions. We can make you well. We can fix you up.

(END LIVE FEED)

MALVEAUX: All right, President Obama taking a hit on Mitt Romney there talking of Romnesia, as he calls it, about Mitt Romney and his plans or positions changing.

A movie about the death of Osama bin Laden is going to hit the airwaves just two days before the election. The president is playing a key role.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The U.S. military mission that killed Osama bin Laden, well, two movies, they're in the can. They're premier dates already set. In 10 days the movie "SEAL Team Six" debut on cable TV. Republicans not so happy about it. It's not about the content, but about the timing. Here's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ACTOR, "SEAL TEAM SIX": We're going to be the team that takes out Osama.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's got the real life plot that can certainly draw viewers. The Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden. But can it also draw voters and is it designed to? "SEAL Team Six," a new TV drama about the bin Laden mission, is set to air on the National Geographic Channel just two nights before the election. It's got some real news clips of President Obama in it, depicting the president in the days surrounding the raid. And the film is backed by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, a big-time Democratic donor. All those factors have conservatives saying the movie is a political stunt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ACTOR, "SEAL TEAM SIX": Get down!

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Any time you've got a movie coming out two nights before the election and being made by Harvey Weinstein, who is a prominent Democrat and a huge supporter of President Obama's, of course it raises eyebrows.

TODD: Director John Stockwell said it was Weinstein who suggested adding more actual news footage, including footage from the White House, after he saw an early version of the movie.

TODD (on camera): It was not done to, I guess, play up the president's role or make him look particularly good?

JOHN STOCKWELL, DIRECTOR, "SEAL TEAM SIX": No, not at all. We don't pretend to sort of get inside the president's head. Harvey Weinstein came in to the editing room very early on and his only questions to me were, how did you know this? Are you sure this happened? He was really attempting to get to the veracity of the story.

TODD (voice-over): Stockwell also says there's less footage of the president in the finished cut than there was in an earlier version. Contacted by CNN, Harvey Weinstein rejected the idea that the film has a political agenda, saying it's about history. Ken Robinson has been in both worlds. A former special forces officer, he was creator and writer of "E-Ring," an NBC Drama about the inner workings of the Pentagon.

TODD (on camera): In the production of movies like this, is there often pressure to maybe put in a political slant, subtle, maybe?

KEN ROBINSON, CREATOR/WRITER, NBC'S "E-RING": I've never seen that. And I've been on the Fox lot, the Warner lot, the Paramount lot. I've not seen that. The creative process is pretty prized.

TODD (voice-over): But the timing of the film's release on November 4th still rankles some conservatives, like media critic Brent Bozell, who has this suggestion.

BRENT BOZELL, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: If it doesn't have a political position, as they say it doesn't, if there aren't any political purposes behind this, as they say there aren't, then simply put it off by two days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Now, in response to that, a spokesperson for National Geographic says they have to air this movie on November 4th because they have to give it to Netflix by November 5th. And both National Geographic and, again, the filmmakers deny that there was any political motivation in this movie, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Brian, you mentioned the producers decided to cut out some of the footage of the president. And I guess there was also some editing regarding Mitt Romney as well. Can you explain that?

TODD: That's right. The director, John Stockwell, told me that there was a clip in there of Mitt Romney at some point opposing the U.S. taking action in Pakistan to go after bin Laden. That was planned to be part of the movie, but they edited that out. They said for balance and for accuracy and things like that. So, they're claiming that every edit they made was really just for historical accuracy and not for political purposes.

MALVEAUX: All right. Brian, thank you. Appreciate it. President Obama doesn't hold back in an interview in "Rolling Stone" magazine. It hits the stand tomorrow. But Politico gave us a sneak preview revealing pretty candid moments between the president and "Rolling Stone" executive editor Eric Bates. When Bates tells the president his six-year-old daughter is rooting for him, the president reportedly grins and says, quote, "you know, kids have good instincts. They look at the other guy and say, 'well, that's a bs-er (ph), I can tell'." And, yes, he used the whole word.

We are now going to be talking to the man who conducted the interview, presidential historical Douglas Brinkley. He's going to join us tomorrow, noon eastern, to talk a little bit more about that interview.

And women voters could be key in victory on Election Day. What is going to do the job to win them over? Money. We're going to explain how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Presidential candidates in a fierce battle for the female vote. For many women it is about the money. A new study by the American Association of Women reveals that women earn $8,000 less than men one year after graduating from college. An earnings gap continues throughout their professional careers. Kirsten Swinth, she is chairwoman and associate professor of history at Fordham University. Her academic work focusing on women, culture, and work. In an op-ed piece for cnn.com, she writes here, and I'm quoting, "women are the voters most likely to matter on November 6th. They make up the majority of undecided voters and they outvote men."

Well, Swinth joins us from New York.

Professor, good to see you. Thank you. It was very provocative and a refreshing piece, really, when you look at it because one of the things you talk about is the Paycheck Fairness Act. How important that is for both of the candidates to talk about it. What could the new president do to even get it through Congress? Is that something that's even realistic for either one of these men to put out there?

KIRSTEN SWINTH, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: Well, I think it could be realistic if they made the case that paycheck fairness has everything to on with family well being. That pay equity is not simply a gender equity issue, but that pay equity is something that women need to provide well-being for their families. Women are bread winners and co-bread winners in two-thirds of American households and when they're making $10,000 on average less per year than their male counterparts, those $10,000 hit the family pocketbook. And that means less health care, less education, less good child care. And those things matter to women's daily lives.

MALVEAUX: Sure. You also talk about a couple of other things that you mentioned that your students talk about, and that is workplace flexibility and paid sick days. Why is that so important to young women when they talk to you about what it is that they are listening for from these candidates? SWINTH: Well, I think they're a particular generation. They've watch their parents deal with the squeeze on time. They've watched their parents deal with balancing family and earnings. And they want good answers. They want ways to a sustainable life for themselves and their partners that don't require them to wake up at 4:00 in the morning every day and squeeze in a load of laundry and rush off to work. They want answers that create workable lives for themselves and for their partners and their whole families.

MALVEAUX: I want you to listen to this here. The Obama campaign quietly that put out this ad. This is dealing with Romney's stand on abortion. I want you to listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

RICHARD MOURDOCK, (R), INDIANA SENATE CANDIDATE: Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something that God intended to happen.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it comes to rape, should it be legal for a woman to be able to get an abortion?

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R), WISCONSIN & VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, so I'm very pro-life, and I have always adopted the idea, the position that the method of conception doesn't change the definition of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Professor, in light of your emphasis on the state of the economy, how important that is to women, are these type of ads, dealing with abortion, dealing with rape, are they effective?

SWINTH: I think they're effective in one sense, in the sense that it's very clear that the issue of reproductive rights is kind of fundamental to the women I see in my classroom, to their sense of equity and their prospects for their future life. But abortion alone isn't the answer to the problem. They see reproductive rights as linked to a larger vision for themselves of making sustainable lives, of decent careers, families that they want to bring up. You know, it's not enough to talk about abortion. What I see my students wanting is a far more complicated conversation about what women care about.

MALVEAUX: Professor Swinth, thank you so much for going beyond the talking points. It's refreshing to this conversation. Really appreciate it. We'll bring you back on as well. Thanks again.

SWINTH: OK. My pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.

MALVEAUX: Sure. Thank you.

President Obama and Paul Ryan, both fighting for Virginia voters today. We're going to tell you what's on the line.

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The President is campaigning in Virginia today. So is Republican vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan. Why all the love for Virginia? This state has 13 electoral votes and was a Republican stronghold for presidential elections until Barack Obama. The President carried the state four years ark but neither party can assume anything heading into the election.

Our chief national correspondent, John King, explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, in 10 straight presidential elections, Virginia had been reliably red. And then, 2008 came along. You see it blue for President Obama.

Let's pop it up and make it a little closer, because I want to show you something. See where I just drew in? The northern Virginia suburbs. Everywhere else in the state, John McCain and Barack Obama ran even. The President's big margin was 234,000 votes statewide. All of this came from right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1,2,6,1, 5.

KING (voice-over): Urgency in a place that once was reliably red.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, this is Bob (INAUDIBLE), the Republican Party in Virginia.

KING: Mitt Romney's path to the White House runs through Virginia, and to win it, he must run strong in the fast-changing suburbs within an hour's drive of Washington.

WITT AYERS, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: It's all about northern Virginia. There have been so many people who moved into northern Virginia, particularly from the northeast, from Democratic areas, that they have turned a solid red state into a purple state.

KING: Recent polls show a dead heat. Republican pollster, Witt Ayers, likes the trend line.

AYERS: If you look at the dozen polls in Virginia, taken before the first presidential debate on October 3rd, Obama was ahead in all 12. If you look at the eight polls taken after the first presidential debate, Romney was ahead in six out of the eight. And it's now a dead even tie.

KING: To prove its 2008 win here was no fluke, Team Obama needs to run up the votes in the northern Virginia suburbs. If it delivers, it can ruin Governor Romney's night before the polls even close in the Midwest.

GERRY CONNOLLY, (D), VIRGINIA: The epicenter of this outcome is going to be right here in Virginia.

KING: Democratic Congressman Jerry Conley knows the more moderate tone of late for Mitt Romney is aimed at the suburbs. He is betting it won't work.

CONNOLLY: I think there's a trust factor. My constituents remember the Republican primaries. They don't suffer from amnesia. And I think that's a tough subject for Mitt Romney.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reuben sandwich.

KING: A lunchtime visit to Harold and Cathy's proves the President has deep suburban support. But there are some cracks.

Mona Phillips is a registered Democrat but says she will vote Republican for president as she did last time.

MONA PHILLIPS, ROMNEY SUPPORTER: I'm from the get go Mr. Obama promised so many things that I didn't believe he could do it, and he has proven that he couldn't do it.

KING: Robert Stevens is an Independent and Obama 2008 supporter.

ROBERT STEVENS, OBAMA SUPPORTER: And it was something different for the country, something that hadn't happened before, electing a black president. So I was caught up in that a little bit. I think he is a disappointment.

KING (on camera): You don't like what you got, but you're not sold on the alternative?

STEVENS: Absolutely not. At this point, I don't know who I'm going to vote for.

KING (voice-over): In a place long known for its historic battlefields, but a newcomer to the world of presidential battlegrounds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: John King says the key in the final days, turn out. Both parties have focused on the early voting and registering those new voters as well.

The race for the White House isn't the only big election battle. We're talking about key seats in Congress also up for grabs. The outcome of those races could shift the balance of power, and the Democrats' majority in the Senate, especially vulnerable.

Ted Rowlands takes a look at one pierce fight in Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Wisconsin, it is known as the Senate race between Tammy and Tommy. It has been contentious, and it is extremely close. (voice-over): On the right, Tommy Thompson. On the left, Tammy Baldwin. Now 70, he served four terms as Wisconsin Governor and was George W. Bush's secretary of Health and Human Services. She's 50, openly gay and a 14-year veteran of the House of Representatives.

Up for grabs is the Senate seat left open by retiring Democrat Herb Cole, which Republicans desperately want to help them win a majority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMY THOMPSON, (R), WISCONSIN SENATE CANDIDATE: I am Tommy Thompson.

TAMMY BALDWIN, (D), WISCONSIN SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm Tammy Baldwin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Both sides are pouring in cash. A state record, $40 million has been spent so far on this election. Almost three-fourths of it coming from groups not directly associated with the candidate, but are very interested in the outcome.

DANIEL BICE, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL: You can't turn on your TV right now without running into ads for Tammy and Tommy.

ROWLANDS: Daniel Bice has been covering Wisconsin politics for more than 20 years. This race, he says, is all about attacking the opponent.

BICE: She's trying to define Thompson as someone who was a good Governor for four terms here but no longer supports the interest of Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD ANNOUNCER: Tommy Thompson, he's not for you anymore.

BICE: He is trying to define her, not as the nice Tammy Baldwin you see on TV, but as an extreme liberal who votes in a way that people in Wisconsin would not support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD ANNOUNCER: Too extreme for Wisconsin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: There have been two debates and the pundits seem to agree each candidate has a win. Polls conducted by Marquette Law School have shown them both ahead at times, but now --

DR. AMBER WICHOWSKY, MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY: Right now, we're at a tied race. It's neck and neck.

ROWLANDS: The Marquette numbers show Wisconsin is extremely polarized, possibly due in part to the recent bitter gubernatorial recall election. The presidential race is also close here. Many believe it will be very difficult for Tommy Thompson to win if Mitt Romney doesn't.

WICHOWSKY: You don't have as many ticket splitters as I think Thompson campaign thought you might have had.

ROWLANDS: What you do have is a small percentage of undecideds whose votes will likely determine the winners in both the presidential and Senate races.

(on camera): And both candidates will have an opportunity to grab some of those undecided voters on Friday when they square off for their third and final debate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Hurricane Sandy could hit the east coast. Two people have already died in the storm. We're about to get the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Hurricane Sandy gaining strength, moving quickly across the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea towards the Bahamas. Now, the storm slammed into southeastern Cuba. That happens early today, as a Category 2 hurricane, with winds 10 miles per hour. Trees are down. Power is out across parts of Cuba. The late-season storm also brought heavy rain to Cuba's capital, Havana. And Sandy flooded streets, damaged homes, and caused widespread power outages. At least one person was killed near Kingston. Another has died in Haiti.

I want to bring in Chad Myers to talk about this, tracking the storm.

Is it heading to the United States? What is the path, and how severe could this be?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It appears, yes, it will hit some part of the east coast of North America. That includes Canada. It could slide all the way up to Atlantic Canada and Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. It could hit as far south as the Carolinas. That's a huge window we have now. The cone is still very wide because the computer models are still not agreeing. 105-mile-per-hour storm. I saw wind gusts on Cuba. 118 overnight. It died a little bit as it went over Cuba. That's always the case. These storms get bigger when they're over water. It's now over water again and regaining it's intensively. We saw a couple of wind gusts, about 95, from the Hurricane Hunter aircraft. It is still going to get bigger as long as it stays in the warm water. And, yes, there may be some land in the Bahamas, but there's more water than land.

A Category 1 hurricane off the east coast making tremendous wave action here. Just waves coming on shore, eroding the beaches, making huge rip currents. Don't be in the water at all. They are going to be as bad as we've seen all year long.

Then the storm turns to the left. All the models yesterday, except for a couple, had them doing this. Then one is over here, and another -- now all those models have all changed their mind that were going that way, and now they are coming back. Will it be New York City? You know, probably not, because even though that's the middle of the cone, the cone goes all the way from Maine to the Carolinas. This is still all in the forecast. Every single place here is in the forecast for landfall. And it could be a significant storm when it makes landfall. It could be very, very large.

Let me show you these models. We don't have much time left. Let me give you an idea. The models here, the spaghetti models were all turning away from North America yesterday. Now they're all turning back to North America and setting right on top of the northeast. Whether we get slammed by a hurricane or whether this thing just sits there and spins for a few days, this is going to have a tremendous impact on the northeast somewhere -- Montreal, Atlantic Canada, all the way down to Washington. I don't know yet. That's still four to five days away. But this will have a tremendous impact for millions of people there traveling, trying to get out of there in a hurricane. 85-mile-per-hour winds whatever they may be, it will be very, very difficult coming up. This is Monday and Tuesday before it actually gets here. We have a couple of days to prepare. I don't want you to panic. I want to you prepare.

MALVEAUX: So, Chad, you're talking about the worst of this hitting sometime Monday or Tuesday.

MYERS: Right.

MALVEAUX: People have the weekend to essentially get ready.

MYERS: Yes. It matters where you are, because if it hits the Carolinas, that would be Monday and maybe even Sunday night, because it's not very far of a drive from where it is now. If it goes all the way up to Halifax, that's a two-day trip in the water. That would be Wednesday. And then somewhere in here probably Tuesday morning if it does try to make its way to the next --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: We'll be watching real closely.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

MYERS: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: Lady Liberty just got some work done. After years of renovations, the statue is about to reopen now to the public. We're going to get an inside look, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: If you're tried to visit the Statue of Liberty this past year, you were probably disappointed. It's been closed for millions of dollars in upgrades. But is reporting that it reopens Sunday and the wait might be worth it, especially for the wheelchair bound. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Statue of Liberty's crown and interior have been closed for a year. But for retired Marine Corps', Larry Hughes, it's seemingly longer because the observation level of this iconic symbol of freedom was not wheelchair accessible until today.

LARRY HUGHES, VETERAN: Wow!

SAMBOLIN (on camera): How's the ride?

HUGHES: Amazing.

SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Hughes, a Vietnam vet is taking the inaugural ride in a newly installed elevator.

HUGHES: Just to be here was something that never really entered in to my mind because simply I hate to be turned down, I hate to be rejected. So, I'm no longer being rejected. I'm being here.

SAMBOLIN: The new elevator is just part of a year-long, $30 million renovation that also includes upgrading stairwells and safely improvements. The end result, a more accessible Lady Liberty to allow an additional 26,000 visitors each year a chance to enjoy her spectacular views.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When these adaptions are made, it opens up tremendous opportunities for all of us.

SAMBOLIN: Among the first to see the new renovations, two generations of wounded warriors. I joined Kirk Bauer, who lost his leg in Vietnam, and Jesse Acosta, who suffered injuries to hip in Iraq, on the 146-step climb to the top.

(on camera): So you stuck your head out of --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The crown!

SAMBOLIN: The crown. Very cool.

So what do you think? Is this what you're expected?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fantastic. It is more tight that I thought, looking up, but it's just incredible view.

SAMBOLIN (voice-over): The renovation was full of challenges because of the statue's location and because they had to do it all without drilling in to any part of the historic structure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a challenge, a huge challenge because we had to envision all of this, make this building more safe, more code compliant, more accessible, more welcoming, and do it in a way that respected the historic fabric.

MICHAEL MILLS, ARCHITECT: It is impressive that they did. To see the invest independent a World Heritage site, to allow those with perceived disabilities, those that need access, to see the historical sites to see it, to be able to touch it and see it that much closer. It's really generous.

DAVID LUCHSINGER, SUPERINTENDENT, STATUE OF LIBERTY: Have you been down here?

SAMBOLIN: For the superintendent, David Luchsinger, who's lived on Liberty Island for more than three years, this moment among the most memorable.

LUCHSINGER: To be able to welcome our veterans home and welcome them here, and actually get veterans up in to the crown and up in to the observation deck is just amazing.

(APPLAUSE)

SAMBOLIN: Grateful construction workers saluting America's heroes on their historic visit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to give you a token of thanks first for coming out and visiting with us but, most importantly, for the service and the dedication that you've done for our country.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were thanking us. We should be thanking them, because they're the one that is are making it possible. They're the ones, the hands that made this monument open to everyone including those with disabilities.

SAMBOLIN: A restored Lady Liberty, truly representing a symbol of freedom to enjoy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: That's beautiful.

MALVEAUX: President Obama, he sat down with Jay Leno last night. He wasn't afraid to make fun of himself, as well. We'll hear the President's best punch lines, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: With the election just around the corner, take a look at what caught our eye on Twitter today. Actor and former Senator, Fred Thompson, tweeted this: "Tim Tebow has trademarked his Tebowing move. Obama has now trademarked bowing to foreign leaders as Baracking." And Lady Gaga, still fired up about the debate, she tweeted, "Thought the President was passionate and knowledgeable and modern. Felt almost like the President kept poker faced last two debates and then came out like Rocky."

President Obama sat down with Jay Leno last night, joking about his problems with Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya.

JAY LENO, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

I got to give you that one. I got to give you that one.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: We had -- you know, constant run-ins on the soccer field.

LENO: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: You know? He wasn't very good.

LENO: Right, right.

OBAMA: Resented it.

LENO: Yes, yes.

OBAMA: You know?

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: Have you --

OBAMA: When we finally moved to America. I thought it would be over.

LENO: Yes, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

No, no.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Good sense of humor about it all.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.

Hi, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne.

Hi, everybody. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Huge show for you on this Thursday. We're watching Hurricane Sandy as it is barreling north right now. And the Atlantic, really in the bull's-eye zone for a little later this week. So in just moments, we'll give you the news update.