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Presidential Candidates Campaign in Swing States; Clean-up Continues in Wake of Super Storm Sandy; U.S. Economy Added 171,000 Jobs in October; Michelle Obama Gives Speech in Ohio; Third Party Presidential Candidates Hold Debate; Movie Critic Picks Best Political Comedies

Aired November 03, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You're in the CNN newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

It is a sprint to the finish line for the presidential candidates with just three days left to go until Election Day. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are making the most of every minute. Both are crisscrossing the country and hitting the crucial battleground states one last time. The president's first stop today was a rally in Mentor, Ohio, where he told a cheering crowd that his economic ideas are working. He's also stumping in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Virginia all today.

And as we mentioned, Wisconsin is one of those critical swing states the candidates are concentrating on. And campaign workers on both sides are out knocking on doors, trying to get people to the polls. White House correspondent Brianna Keilar joining us live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It will be a while before the president speaks there, but you got a crowd and lots of music, nonetheless.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And this crowd is eagerly awaiting not only the president but Katy Perry who will be performing a small concert before president Obama. Here in Wisconsin it's all about for the Obama campaign getting people out to vote now on Election Day. Early voting wrapped up in this state yesterday, but here, voters can also register as well as vote on the same day. Back in 2008, more than one in 10 voters in the badger state did that. That's what the Obama campaign is focusing on.

We are expecting when the president talks in the 4:00 p.m. eastern hour, he's going to be trying to counter as he did in Ohio, Mitt Romney's message about being the candidate of real change. He's been saying to his supporters that Mitt Romney is not about change. And also he's been trying to urge them to be patient, saying that the economic recovery is on the right track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After four years as president, you know me. You may not agree with everything decision I have made, you may at times have been frustrated by the pace of change, but you know what I believe. You know where I stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: The insinuation there very clear, Fredricka, the president saying Mitt Romney is the unknown. Now, here in Wisconsin when you look at the polls, president Obama has been trending ahead by a few points when you look at a number of polls. That is not a comfortable lead for the Obama campaign. But it is a significant one. It is a consistent one. And they're trying to maintain that as they move towards Election Day. And they try to keep Wisconsin as well as the other Midwestern firewall states, Ohio and Iowa, in their column, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And all this while the president says the recovery from the storm is still first priority. How is he trying to stay ahead of that, at the same time campaign to keep his job?

KEILAR: That's right. It's a tricky line to walk because here he is three days out from Election Day. He has to be campaigning obviously, and that's the sense the Obama campaign has, but he has to be careful, especially as some more bad weather heads to that very vulnerable region. The difference today, not only is President Obama staying in close contact with his advisers, with cabinet secretaries and with local officials in these storm-affected areas, but he actually has members of his cabinet blanketing the effected regions. His secretaries of health and human services, of homeland security, of housing, they're out in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut as well as some of his top advisers, so sort of serving in his place because he can't be there. And the campaign being very careful to point that out, that he's certainly managing his obligations as president while he's also campaigning here on the trail, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Brianna Keilar, thank you so much from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And Jim Acosta is with the Romney campaign, which is getting ready for a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, after a morning stop in New Hampshire. We'll have a report from Jim in just a few minutes.

Now let's get the latest on recovery five days after super-storm Sandy. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said temporary fuel trucks will be deployed around the New York City area to alleviate the gas shortages. Drivers will be able to fill up directly from the tankers. New Yorkers can also get around the city a little easier now as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, (D) NEW YORK: And 80 percent of the subway service has been restored. That is under literally, under one week, 80 percent of the subway service has been restored from what was horrendous damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Across the river in New Jersey, there is gas rationing in 12 counties in an effort to cut down on wait times there. People have been waiting there in long lines for hours to gas up cars and get fuel for their generators.

Our Jim Clancy is in Long Beach, New Jersey, which is on the jersey shore. It's very windy, and that cold front that is apparently going to move in this weekend, Jim, give me an idea of what's happening there in terms of people trying to recover, pick up the pieces, move on, what?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a major push going on Long Beach Island today. They have brought in scores of heavy pieces of heavy equipment, utility trucks that are trying to repair some of the electrical lines, the over headlines. This is Long Beach Boulevard. This is where all of the major traffic flows, all of the power lines flow. As you can see, there goes a major flatbed truck, probably to take in or out some of the heavy earth moving equipment.

This is one of the check points they have set up here, Fredricka, a check point to insure that no one can get on this island, no one can pass into these areas that isn't authorized to do it. That's created a lot of, well, resentment, let's be honest, about people not on the island who have properties here. They want desperately to get out and see what is going on with their properties, to repair them, if it's at all possible. They're not going to be able to do that.

Meantime, according to Mayor Joseph Mencini, who told me there may be as many as 1,000 people who have refused to leave the island. They sat out the storm and they say they're not going away. We wondered why. We talked to one, James Sell. Listen to how he describes his reasoning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES SELL, LONG BEACH ISLAND RESIDENT: I can't leave, go there, go to work, and then come back. I have to stay here. If I leave, I don't know when I'll get back on the island and I have to protect the property, and I'm protecting the property of several of my neighbors by opening the windows and letting it ventilate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, it's going to be tough because, you know, he admits he has water, but he doesn't have electricity, doesn't have gas. There's no hot water. It's tough for the people trying to stick it out here. It all depends on when the other people are going to be able to return, when the infrastructures are going to be restored.

And according to the people trying to oversee this whole process, including the army and Air National Guard, it's going to take some time. It's absolutely going to take some time. And they don't want to let people back on the island because they want to be able to move the heavy equipment in without being imped by the presence of what would be certainly thousands upon thousands of people in their vehicles. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Big job, lots of misery. Thanks so much, Jim Clancy in Long Beach, New Jersey.

And just across the river, this is what happens when power is restored.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That was in New York City's east village yesterday. Power back on in about 67,000 homes. About 70 percent of those in the city who lost power in the storm now have it back on.

A former top economic adviser to President Barack Obama breaks down the jobs report and tells us whether he thinks it will impact the election.

Plus, it's in five days since the super-storm named Sandy, but will the states impacted have polling places ready. The election is three days away. We'll see what's being done.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The October jobs report has been used as ammunition by both the Romney and Obama campaigns. Republicans are emphasizing the increase in the unemployment rate from 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent. Supporters of the president point out 171,000 new jobs were created during the month, more than what economists projected. I actually had a chance to talk about the impact of the numbers with Austan Goolsbee, the former chairman of the president's council of economic advisers. He's now a professor of economics at Chicago's Booth School of Business. I asked him if he agreed with Mitt Romney's assessment that the, quote, "increase in the unemployment rate is a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: I don't think so. The last month, the unemployment rate came down three ticks. And the Romney campaign complained that we hadn't created more jobs. This month, the number of jobs created was 30 percent, 40 percent higher than expected and was fairly strong. And then they criticize that the unemployment rate ticked up one-tenth.

You know, it's the last number before the election, so I think both sides are going to see, try to go through and interpret what it means. I think overall most economists view it as a fairly solid report. And until we get the growth rate of the economy up faster than two percent, 2.5 percent, this is probably about what we should expect from a solid report.

WHITFIELD: So how does one explain the kind of inconsistency? 7.9 percent. That's up, with unemployment. Then you talk about adding 171,000 jobs in October.

GOOLSBEE: Yes, a great question. A lot of people misunderstood how the jobs work. There's two surveys. The jobs come from a survey of businesses. The unemployment rate comes from a survey of people. Each month, there's a lot of variability in both of those. That's why all economists say don't look at any one month. Take an average of the last several months to get an idea of the trend that is far more accurate.

So essentially what happened this month is we got a strong number coming from the businesses. You had a small tick up in the share of people participating in the labor force, so some of the people who had dropped out and don't count as unemployed came back in looking for jobs as consumer confidence rose and they thought the economy was getting better.

WHITFIELD: And where are these jobs, the jobs that are being created or made available? In what sectors?

GOOLSBEE: You saw pretty solid job growth in all sectors of the economy except for government employment. Government employment again fell pretty significantly. But across services, even manufacturing has been having some pretty good job growth, and retail trade, so it was kind of across the board for this month.

Overall what you have seen is the health sector, if you say over the last two years, where have the jobs been growing? They haven't been really in anything touching on the housing market. So real estate, construction, those things haven't done well. But a lot of services, a lot of export related and a lot of manufacturing have been kind of the sectors leading it.

WHITFIELD: So the president is promising in the next four years if elected he will create jobs in the millions. Mitt Romney is promising if elected he'll create 12 million jobs. But at the same time, Romney underscoring government isn't the one that creates jobs. So how does either one deliver on the promise of creating millions of jobs?

GOOLSBEE: Well, you know, the first thing to note is when an economy is growing, even at a moderate pace, it's going to generate a lot of jobs. I think if you look at the last two, two and a half years in the U.S. economy, we have added more than 5 million jobs in the private sector. So it's been growing at around 2 million a year.

Under the Romney call, what he's calling for to get 12 million, that would have to go up to 3 million a year from 2 million. A lot of people think that regardless of what happens in Washington, you would probably see something along the lines of those -- of those kind of rates because the economy will move its way back to the trend growth of three percent, 3.5 percent.

So I think, one, you have to hope that the macro-economy goes with you. And then two, I think the policy can make a difference on the margin. And there's a difference of opinion between the two camps, Romney's view that high income tax cuts and deregulation lead to growth, the Obama view that it's investments in infrastructure, the workforce, things of that nature that will lead to faster growth, and, you know, you have to pick one or the other.

WHITFIELD: And then quickly, yes or no, will voters take these numbers, these jobs numbers just days before Election Day, into the voting booth with them?

GOOLSBEE: Probably not. I mean, certainly not the people whose power is out and they're dealing with the hurricane damage and stuff like that. But evidence is pretty clear that people get a general impression of the economy as opposed to looking and saying, well, this was 171,000 and it was expected to be 125,000 and therefore I'm going to be really happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Austan Goolsbee, former chairman of the president's council of economic advisers.

Our Jim Acosta is traveling with the Romney campaign for a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, after a morning stop in New Hampshire. He filed this report just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Mitt Romney is in the middle of a battleground blitz, you might say, over this last weekend before Election Day. He's been barnstorming from one state to the next. Starting in New Hampshire, he's here in Iowa, then to Colorado, then actually comes back to Iowa this evening, underscoring how important this battleground state is to overall campaign math.

He's been detailing his five-point economic plan, talking about how he wants to reduce the deficit, eliminate the president's health care law if he's elected president of the United States. But he's also going at what he believes to be a problem for the president in the final days of the campaign. He's been saying that the president has not been living up to his promises of bipartisanship in Washington, and Romney says if he's elected president he will bring the country together. Here's what he had to say.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He said he was going to be a post partisan president. He has been most partisan in dividing and attacking. He also said he would cut the deficit in half. He doubled it. He was going to get unemployment down to 5.2 percent right now. We just learned on Friday it's up to 7.9 percent.

ACOSTA: Earlier in the day, the candidate's wife, Ann Romney, visited the back of the campaign plane and handed out some breakfast food to the reporters covering the race for the last year and a half. Asked how she's feeling about the race, she said she's been touched by the people she's run across in the final weeks of the campaign. People have come up to her and told her about their struggles in this economy right now.

As for this campaign, the way this is going to wrap up this weekend is that Mitt Romney is going to be heading off to Ohio on Sunday, and also Pennsylvania, a battleground state, they believe they're now putting into play, and by the looks of it, it's getting more and more competitive as we head towards Election Day.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Dubuque, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Jim.

It's not just the White House. Democrats and Republicans are waging a fierce fight for control of the U.S. House. Hear why one party has the upper hand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New polls out of some key battleground states. In Ohio, a just released CNN/ORC poll shows president Obama ahead of Mitt Romney by just three points, well within the margin of error. An NBC/"Wall Street Journal"/Marist poll shows Obama leading by six points.

It's also close in Florida. In this poll, Obama has a two-point edge. Again, that's within the sampling error. But a Mason-Dixon poll shows Obama trailing Romney by six percentage points. So a mixed picture there from two different polls in such a key state.

Democrats are hoping, they're only three days away from taking back control of the U.S. house, but as Athena Jones reports, they face an uphill battle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Republicans won control of the house in 2010 riding a wave of victory by tea party-backed candidates carrying a message of fiscal conservatism and strong opposition to Obama care. So what's going to happen this time around?

CROWD: It's all got to go!

JONES: Back in September, Nancy Pelosi had high hopes for her party's prospects.

NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We have a very excellent chance to take back the house.

JONES: So did Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: I continue to feel confident about house Republicans' chances of holding on to our majority.

JONES: Republicans have 242 seats to the Democrats' 193. So Democrats need a net gain of 25 seats to win the majority. Analysts say that's not likely to happen.

STU ROTHENBERG, ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT: There is little doubt the Republicans will control the house again after November, so they'll probably suffer very minimal losses if they suffer losses at all.

JONES: For Republicans, Obamacare is still front and center, along with the economy. Democrats have tried to link Republicans to Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan's plans to turn Medicare into a voucher program, something Democrats say would be disastrous for seniors. Republicans believe they have neutralized that message by arguing Obama care hurts seniors by slashing Medicare. Redistricting will have a big impact, helping Republicans.

SHIRA TOEPLITZ, "ROLL CALL": For the most part, Republicans because they made such overwhelming gains not only in Congress but in state legislatures last year, they were able to control the redistricting process in a lot of key states, for example, North Carolina, where Democrats will probably lose a couple seats this cycle.

JONES: GOP gains look likely in districts from North Carolina to Arkansas, among others. In fact, party operatives say they even put traditional blue states like Rhode Island and Massachusetts into play. Democrats are trying hard to unseat GOP incumbents in blue states like California, New York, and Illinois, and could see gains in Maryland and Florida.

So why do these House races matter? Members of Congress will have to make big decisions in the coming month, chief among them, reaching a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect next year.

TOEPLITZ: The decisions confronting Congress over the next four months are bigger than I think most of us have seen in our lifetime, at least on the fiscal matter.

JONES: And it's not just the fiscal cliff.

ROTHENBERG: Most people think we need some fundamental tax reform, cuts in spending, and entitlement reform. And there's no indication the new Congress will be willing to do that either short-term in the lame duck or longer term.

JONES: So the forecast for the next Congress, more of the same.

Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we have more on the race to the White House. First lady Michelle Obama is expected to speak any minute now in southern Ohio. You're looking at live pictures right now. Looks like a gymnasium of the Miami University auditorium there. We'll take you there as soon as Michelle Obama enters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It is indeed crunch time for the presidential candidates. Election Day is just three days away, and both campaigns are making a final push in the battleground states. Mitt Romney wrapped up a rally in Dubuque, Iowa. Earlier, he was in New Hampshire, and later he makes two stops in Colorado. President Obama was in Ohio, then he's in Wisconsin and Iowa, and then he ends the day in Virginia.

Now to the latest on the aftermath of super-storm Sandy. Gas is now being rationed in 12 counties in New Jersey in an effort to cut down on wait times. People there have been waiting in very long lines for miles and for hours to gas up their cars and get fuel for generators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in line at three gas stations. They all closed down while I was getting close.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is your fourth try?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I missed a day of work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The federal emergency management agency has been coordinated with states to accelerate the distribution of fuel to retail locations.

So despite the long lines at gas stations, Sandy is expected to lower gas prices for Election Day. AAA reports the national price for a gallon of gas fell 1.3 cents to $3.48. They say during the stretch of declines the average prices dropped nearly 33 cents.

A California family won't have to worry about the price of gas anymore. Lottery officials have found the winner of a $23 million super lotto plus ticket just days before the ticket expired. The winner came forward after her daughter realized that she had bought the ticket and given it to her mom. Officials had launched a media campaign to try to find her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIENA CERVERA, DAUGHTER OF LOTTERY WINNER: She called me at 11:00 at night, woke me up and said this is you, you have to see it. I said no, no, I'll see it in the morning. I went to sleep. I woke up and I had all these missed calls and texts. I was like, wait a minute, maybe I should see what this is. As soon as I pulled it up, I was like, oh, my god, that is me. I was like --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, my. The lucky winner says she is going to use the money to help family members, including two special needs children that she adopted.

I want to take you straight to Oxford, Ohio, now where first lady Michelle Obama is there stumping for her husband, the president. She's at the Miami University. Let's listen in.

MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: How focused we are. How heartbroken Barack and I are because of those who have suffered through hurricane Sandy. Barack has been working tirelessly with our governors and our mayors and our extraordinary first responders to make sure that those communities get all the support they need. And even in these times of great excitement, we have to stay focused on the fact that when people suffer in this country, we all come together. And we have to keep our thoughts and prayers going out to everyone there and make sure we stand behind them, OK?

(APPLAUSE) MICHELLE OBAMA: So let me get started by first thanking Alex for that very kind introduction.

(APPLAUSE)

MICHELLE OBAMA: I also want to thank your provost as well as his wonderful wife, who have joined us today. Thank you so much for hosting us here at Miami University. Yes.

WHITFIELD: A few thank yous there from the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama at Miami University. We'll be right back with our continuing live coverage in this last blitz weekend before Election Day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Back to the campaign trail. First lady Michelle Obama there stumping for her husband, the president of the United States, at the university -- rather at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, which also happens to be the alma mater of the Republican vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan. Let's listen in.

MICHELLE OBAMA: Like so many families in this country, our families just weren't asking for much. They didn't want much, and they didn't begrudge anyone else's success. They didn't mind if others had much more. In fact, they admired it. That's why they pushed us to be the best we could be.

But they simply believed in that fundamental American promise, that even if you don't start out with much, if you work hard and do what you're supposed to do, then you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and grandkids.

And they also believed that when you worked hard and have done well and you finally walk through that doorway of opportunity, you don't slam it shut behind you. You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.

(APPLAUSE)

MICHELLE OBAMA: And that is how Barack and I and I know so many of you were raised. And more than anything else, that is what this election is all about. It's a choice. It's a choice about our values and our hopes and our aspirations. It's a choice about the America we want to leave for our kids and our grandkids.

And what does that America look like? What do we believe? We believe in an America where every child in this country has access to good schools.

(APPLAUSE)

MICHELLE OBAMA: Schools that prepare them for jobs of the future. We believe in an America where no one goes broke or loses their home because someone gets sick or loses a job.

(APPLAUSE)

MICHELLE OBAMA: We believe in an America where we all understand that none of us gets where we are on our own, and we treat everyone, do you hear me, everyone with dignity and respect, from the teachers who inspire us to the janitors who keep our schools clean.

(APPLAUSE)

MICHELLE OBAMA: And in this America that we are working to build together, we believe that the truth matters, that you don't take shortcuts or game the system.

And finally, we believe in keeping our priorities straight, because everyone here knows good and well that cutting Sesame Street is no way to balance our budget.

(APPLAUSE)

WHITFIELD: All right, again, the first lady there of the United States, Michelle Obama, stumping for her husband at the Miami university in oxford, Ohio, which also happens to be the alma mater of the Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

We're going to have much more of the coverage of the race to the White House and the recovery five days after super-storm Sandy after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The outcome of the presidential race could be effected by some unlikely candidates, candidates that most Americans know little about. We're talking about third party independents. Jill Stein from Massachusetts is the Green Party nominee. She's a physician, instructor, and mother. She believes higher education should be free. Rocky Anderson is a former mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, and is the Justice Party nominee for president. He wants an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan and he wants health care coverage for everyone.

Virgil Goode is the Constitution Party nominee, a one-time Democrat who turned Republican. He served in the House of Representatives from 1997 to 2009. He hails from the battleground state of Virginia. And Gary Johnson, he's the libertarian nominee. He's a former Republican governor of New Mexico who believes America should end the war on drugs and legalize marijuana.

So for the first time ever, last week a debate involving these four took place. Longtime talk show host Larry King moderated the debate in Chicago, and Larry is joining us right now from Los Angeles. Good to see you, Larry.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING NOW": Good to see you, Fred, always good to be with you.

WHITFIELD: Excellent. At that debate, we heard everything from marijuana to new constitutional amendments. Things Obama and Romney have steered clear of. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's legalize marijuana now. And right now in this country, we are at a tipping point.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're calling for a constitutional amendment --

KING: Ten seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- to clarify that money is not speech and that corporations are not people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neither of them talk about catastrophic climate change, and neither of them talk about poverty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm for no political action committee. Individual contributions only, and no super PACs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Larry, is there any indication at this juncture whether any of these four are getting any traction?

KING: Johnson is. He's the libertarian candidate. He was a two-time governor of New Mexico. Governor Romney's campaign has tried to keep him off the ballot. He's on in 49 states and he's a write-in in the other. He's a slight threat to the Republicans. I don't think the others are threats at all.

However, Fred, they brought up points never discussed in the debates. Drugs were never discussed. Having a drug czar was never discussed. I think Obama said he would eliminate it but we still do have a drug czar. And a lot of the things that were just mentioned were not brought up in the four debates.

So I think these people deserve to be heard. They're not going to win. They could have an effect. I do think, Fred, I don't know if you agree, the only way a third party gets prominence in the United States, it has to be heralded by one strong individual. We go back to Ross Perot who started on our show and then CNN. If you have a Ross Perot character with a weakened president and a challenger that might have a scandal, that could emerge. Other than that, I don't see the third parties having great impact in this country.

WHITFIELD: What were some of the contrasts, maybe the similarities as well to the debate that you moderated and what we have seen in the three presidential debates, the one vice presidential one you brought up?

KING: Well, this was a social network debate. The questions were mostly submitted by people on Facebook and Twitter. The subjects, again, were not covered in the other debates. I think the pace moved faster. There were time limits, and as a moderator, I held to the time limits. There were two minutes and one minute rebuttals. I held to that. I think everybody got equal time, and all of the times were kept. And we allowed the studio audience to participate. So you heard cheering, you heard reaction to various statements made. So I think it made for a lively 90 minutes.

WHITFIELD: Of those candidates, you say Johnson is the one who poses the biggest threat to the Republican Party. But as you reflect, you talked to an awful lot of president, candidates over the year, et cetera. When you try to draw comparisons to the many people you have gotten to know at your table, do you feel like this race is particularly polarized more so than any other race that you have seen, presidential race?

KING: Yes, it is. I have been involved in presidential -- as a broadcaster since I was in Miami in the 1960 campaign. And that race, I listened to that debate on the radio. That was the first ever debate between candidates running. It was on television, Nixon and Kennedy. If you listened on the radio, you thought it was even. If you watched it on television, you thought Kennedy won because of the way they looked.

I think this is the most vituperative of campaigns. I think the most calming thing has been the debates. The debates have been more calming than the campaigns have been. And frankly, I think we run too long in this country. England, I think, takes two months to run a campaign.

I would guess, I don't know about the folks at CNN or you yourself, I would guess people can't wait for this to be over. And I also can't believe that some are still undecided. If you're undecided now, I don't know where you're living. I don't buy it. I figured it out, Fred. There's one guy in Toledo, Manny Schwartz, he works in a delicatessen -- he's the deciding vote in this election.

WHITFIELD: Very perplexing. It's very difficult at this point to not know which way you're going. I'm with you. It's very difficult to grasp. What more do you need to hear?

KING: Do you know anyone? I know of nobody who is undecided?

WHITFIELD: I met someone this week, person to person, we had a great conversation and I'm still perplexed. We'll see hot happens. Larry king, thank you so much. Of "Larry king now" great to see you.

KING: Bye, thanks.

WHITFIELD: Humor and politics? Can they go together? Strange bed fellows. But they do work on the big screen. At least in some political comedies. We'll name three.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we're just three days away from the presidential election, and this week we're taking a political spin on movie reviews. Last week, our movie critic Grae Drake gave us her three top political dramas. This week she's counting down her political comedies. Grae Drake joining us now from Los Angeles. Good to see you as always.

GRAE DRAKE, MOVIE CRITIC: Hello.

WHITFIELD: Hello, number three on your list is "Wag the Dog." let's take a peek as a little reminder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why come to me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want you to produce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want me to produce your war?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not a war. It's a pageant. We need a theme, a song, visuals. It's a pageant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: What did you like about this?

DRAKE: "Wag the Dog" shows how closely related show biz has been to politics. And Robert de Niro as you saw, as that spin doctor who is hired to take attention away from a sex scandal. Does that sound familiar in the '90s?

Back when we were discussing the meaning of "is," this movie came out and was so close to reality, I'm not entirely convinced it hasn't already happened in real life. Like maybe someday Christopher Nolan is going to win the award for the war on terror.

WHITFIELD: Number two, let's move on to "The Election" and watch a clip of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Capitals were pretty good, even if you got a rotten one once in a while. But then one day, there's an orange. And now you can make a decision. Do you want an apple or do you want an orange? That's democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I also like bananas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Why do I not remember that movie "The Election"?

DRAKE: I don't know that many people do remember it. It was directed by Alexander Payne, who did the descendants. And Ferris Bueller himself takes it upon himself to take down one of his students. So this isn't just about elections. This is about education. Tracy Slick is played by Reese Witherspoon, who is that girl in high school that we all hated. She has tons of ambition and unlimited resources. She's kind of a monster. But we all know she's going places, and this movie is mean and hilarious, and really sharp satire. WHITFIELD: Wow. You know, sometimes it is fun to laugh at one's self or laugh at politics because we take it so seriously, don't we? Let's move on to the number one pick "Dr. Strangelove." Let's look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Am I to understand the Russian ambassador is to be admitted to the war room?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct. He's here on my order.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know exactly how to put this, sir, but are you aware of what a serious breach of security that would be? You see everything. He'll see the big board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Not the funniest clip, but what do you like about this one?

DRAKE: We don't want the Russian guy to see the big board, Fredricka. That's a huge problem. Our whole government defense relies on the big board. Stanley Kubrick directed this and it has to be number one. There are no hanging chads in my number one, OK, because this is such a sharp, sharp joke about what happens when the government has to assemble and do something really quickly.

Now, you and I both know we're not exactly engineered for that. So in Dr. Strangelove, a rogue general decides he's going to drop the bomb on Russia, which is a huge problem. So Peter Sellers in this movie playing numerous roles, as he always does, he has to kind of coral all of these people in the government and try to stop this, the crazy war that's going to happen just randomly on one day.

And this movie just keeps getting better with age because, you know, lines never stop being funny as our world gets more and more ridiculous in real life. Like George C. Scott and the Russian ambassador are fighting and Peter Sellers has to break it up by saying, "You can't fight in here. This is the war room." I love it.

WHITFIELD: And it's a classic, 1964. You are reaching back. But not to confuse it with "Dr. No," you start thinking about James Bond movies, especially since we have been engaged in so much bond stuff with the release of the double-box set. But "Dr. Strangelove" a classic, a stand out in and of itself and your number one.

DRAKE: Yes, and thanks to my dad who showed this to me as a young age and taught me not to fight in the war room and show people the big board.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Lots of good lessons. Grae Drake, thanks so much. Always good to see you.

And hopefully you have already voted early or you're going to be getting out to vote on Tuesday, yes?

DRAKE: Oh, I'm definitely there. There's no question. That's one of the things that "Dr. Strangelove" made me understand is that voting is important because we can't have a bunch of knuckle heads in office, right?

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Good to see you in Los Angeles. You can get more from Grae at rottentomatoes.com.

New election polls are out. The numbers say the same thing, though -- the race is very tight. How tight? We'll dig deeper into the new numbers with two members of Congress.

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