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Two Days Until the Election; Campaigning in Ohio; Jobs Report Numbers Confusing; Most New York City Public Schools Open Monday; Candidates Last Two Days Before Election; More Help for Hurricane Sandy Victims

Aired November 04, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. Top of the hour, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

No rest for the weary on this presidential election last weekend. With only two days left, the candidates are squeezing in a flurry of events in swing states. President Barack Obama began in Concord, New Hampshire, a state he won four years ago. Well, today, at this hour, at least, he's in Florida, right now, heading to Ohio next, and then ending the day in Clorado.

Republican Mitt Romney kicked off his day at an event in Des Moines, Iowa. After that it was on to Cleveland, Ohio and then he'll hit Pennsylvania and Virginia before the day is done.

White House correspondent Brianna Keilar is in Hollywood, Florida, where the president should any moment now arrive. He's a little late. It's about 20 minutes past the hour or the moment that people are expecting, a huge crowd were expecting to hear from him. What's the holdup?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, he's got a lot of places to go, 20 minutes behind not really surprising. I think that's been happening a lot the last few days, Fredericka. But yes, we'll be keeping an eye out as he speaks if you want to (INAUDIBLE) and listen to obviously what he's going to be saying, but he's stopping here in Florida. When you look at the last few days moving up to election day, this is his only stop here in the sunshine state. He's concentrating quite a bit of his time in Ohio, no surprise and also in Wisconsin and Iowa that midwestern fire wall as he really tries to secure all of those electoral votes and as his campaign sees it, if he does secure Ohio, they feel that he will be able to keep the presidency out of the hands of Mitt Romney.

Of course Florida is also very important. When you look at the polls right now - and we're getting ready for the introduction of President Obama. I'll tell you a little bit about this women, (INAUDIBLE). She is a young woman, a recent college graduate, Fredricka. She is someone who suffered kidney failure and was able to stay on her parents insurance after college which is obviously a provision of healthcare reform that is very popular for a policy that is not overall popular but that is something that certainly President Obama emphasizes with healthcare reform. When you look at the polls here in Florida, and they're very close, neck and neck. Some polls actually have Mitt Romney ahead, but overall, it looks like a very tight race. So President Obama concentrating some of his effort here, but as I mentioned concentrating a lot of it there in the midwestern states, particularly Ohio. Fred.

WHITFIELD: So the president is not taking Florida for granted, even though he won Florida four years ago, depending on which poll you're looking at, there's one point or three point, you know, margin of error between he and Mitt Romney. What kind of message does he feel like this last ditch kind of message he can send to Floridians right now, healthcare being you know, one of his hallmark piece of legislation but what is it that he could say to those who may be thinking about going Republican or who may be undecided there in Florida?

KEILAR: And that's really what he's addressing, Fredericka. He's sort of saying to people in these closing hours and days, you may be frustrated with the pace of change, but we're heading in the right direction, that's really his message and he's telling people, you know that I am fighting for you. He's emphasizing his economic policies, saying we're trending in the right direction, be patient, stay with me. Don't jump ship and also emphasizing that Mitt Romney isn't someone who is known. He says to voters and he has been saying this now for the last few days, you know that I mean what I say and that I say what I mean. You know what you're getting with me. So stick with me and that's really his emphasis.

Mitt Romney has been positioning himself as the candidate of real change. Barack Obama's answer to that is that he's been saying Mitt Romney is a good salesman, but he's repackaging all of these old ideas and selling them as change. Don't be fooled by that. That's really his argument as he tries to convince voters in what is going to be a very close race.

President Obama is - I shouldn't even say enjoying because it's so close, a very - obviously very close races in battleground states, although the Obama campaign would tell you they'd rather be where they are where Mitt Romney is. But when you look at the national polls, it is neck and neck. So it really is going to be obviously a very tight race. President Obama trying to rally voters and get them enthusiastic so that they will get out to vote on election day. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brianna Keilar, thanks so much in Hollywood, Florida. And of course, we'll go back to Hollywood when the president does arrive there, Miss Rios there still talking. Again, Brianna telling us in her introduction she's talking about how she suffered from kidney problems and has been able to stay on her parents insurance, thanks to President Obama's healthcare plan.

All right. Meantime, Republican Mitt Romney is conceding nothing to the president. Earlier he spoke to voters in the democratic stronghold of Cleveland, Ohio. No Republican candidate has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. And Romney expects to continue that streak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you believe America should be on a better course or if you're tired of being tired, I ask you to vote for real change. Paul Ryan and I will bring real change to America from day one. When I'm elected the economy and American jobs will still be stagnant, but I won't waste any time complaining about my predecessor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And this was the second of four events Romney had scheduled for today. Next up for the Republican candidate is Pennsylvania.

So America has 50 states, but it's the key battleground states where is the race just might be decided come Tuesday. Right now CNN estimates that nine states shown here are the make or break states. President Obama and Mitt Romney must win to take to the White House. Of the biggest is Florida with 29 electoral votes and then there is the all important state of Ohio with 18 electoral votes.

Virginia is one of those key battleground states as well. It's a state that favored Barack Obama back in 2008, but now the state's 13 electoral votes are very much up for grabs. Joining me right now from Bluemont, Virginia is Athena Jones.

Athena, what is on the minds of people there in Virginia aside from some of that pumpkin smashing apparently that you've been seeing all day there at Great Country Farm?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredericka. We have been here watching people do this. They call it pumpkin chunking. So I guess it's a place to come and bring your Jack-o-lantern when you're finished with them and throw them around or drop them from high heights. We're in Louden County. This is a swing county in this swing state of Virginia. This county along with the state of Virginia went for Obama back in 2008. And the margin of victory here was more than it was across the state. A little over eight points, versus a little over six points for the entire state. But still a swing county so it's unclear which way it's going to go. We have been talking to people here all day, not all of them have been from Louden County, some come from surrounding counties but it's been a really good cross section. Listen to what two of them had to tell us, one is an Obama supporter and the other one is supporting Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY CARROLL, VIRGINIA RESIDENT: I'll be supporting President Obama, I believe he stands for women's rights, for children's rights, for everyone's rights more than people who represent the top one percent.

UNCLE BOB, VIRGINIA RESIDENT: I was - had high hopes for Obama, but he just hasn't fulfilled them so I think it's time for a change and Romney is that kind of manager, organizer that can do the job. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And I'll tell you one thing I asked both of those people along with others I spoke with off camera, if they really think this is as close here in Virginia as the polls say and were they willing to venture a guess as to who would win. No one really wants. They all said it was going to be a squeaker on Tuesday night. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then for those who are undecided, who are not so sure, not so enthusiastic about it. What's that thing that is keeping them from going to the polls on Tuesday?

JONES: Well, it's interesting that you asked that. We did talk to one young couple who didn't want to speak on camera who said they were undecided. They care about taxes and education. We said you know, when are you going to decide and the mother I think said we're going to decide when we walk in the booth. The father said we'll decide a little bit earlier. But it really does raise the question at this point on a Sunday before election day, it's hard to know if those people who are still undecided are actually likely voters.

I can say that among talking to other people, many of the issues they brought up were of course the economy, also women's issues, women's rights. One person who is a Romney supporter talked about energy policy. He was concerned about any sort of policies that would hurt drilling and things that may raise gas prices. So a real cross section across the board here. I will say one thing that everyone agreed on is that they're sick of all these ads, being in a swing state, in a swing county, they have been inundated by ads, calls and mailings. (INAUDIBLE) brought out to us this video of a young girl we've been seeing over the last two days, a few days who was crying because she was sick of hearing all of these campaign ads. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

and a programming note, be sure to join our Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer as they take a close look at the candidate's final push before the election in "America's choice 2012 Countdown to Election Day." That's tonight 8:00 Eastern time right here on CNN.

And then we mentioned President Obama is stumping there in Florida for the last time two days before election day. You see him right there in the state, we'll take a short break and then we'll hear what the president had to say from Hollywood, Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Off to Hollywood, Florida now. The president of the United States stumping for the last time in that swing state two days before election day.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our economy grows best, the markets do best when everybody has a chance to succeed, when everybody is getting a good education, when every worker is getting new skills, when we are investing in medical research for new technologies and where everyone can count on affordable quality health insurance, when we protect Medicare and social security so that we guarantee dignity and respect in retirement. We make our economy works best when there's rules in place to protect our kids from toxic dumping, from protecting consumers from being taken advantaged of by unscrupulous credit card companies or mortgage lenders.

And you know, there's some things we don't want Washington to do. For example, we don't want politicians in Washington most of whom are male to control health care decisions that women can make for themselves. Now, for eight years, we had a president who shares these beliefs, his name was Bill Clinton. And you know, his economic plan, when he first came into office, he asked the wealthiest Americans to pay a little bit more so we could reduce our deficit and still invest in the skills and ideas of our people. And you know what?

At the time, the Republicans in Congress and a Senate candidate by the name of Mitt Romney, I don't want you to boo, I want you to vote. I want you to vote. But a Republican candidate by the name of Mitt Romney said, Bill Clinton's plans would hurt the economy and kill jobs. Turns out his math was just as bad then as it is now. Because by the end of President Clinton's second term, America created 23 million new jobs and incomes were up and poverty was down and our deficit had turned into a surplus. So Florida, we know that our ideas work. We also know that their ideas don't. Because we tried their ideas too. We tried giving big tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. We tried giving insurance companies and oil companies and Wall Street free reign to do whatever they please and you know, what we got? We got falling incomes, record deficits and the slowest job growth in half a century and an economic crisis we've been cleaning up after ever since.

So, let's just think about this. Here's your choice, you got ideas that we tried didn't work and you got ideas that we tried that did work. So you would think it would be a pretty clear choice. But Governor Romney is a very talented salesman, so in this campaign he has tried as hard as he can to repackage these old ideas that didn't work and present them as new ideas and offering them up as change. But here's the thing, Florida, we know what change looks like. What Governor Romney's offering isn't it.

Giving more power back to the biggest banks, that's not change. Another $5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy, that's not change. Refusing to answer questions about the details in your policies until after the election, that's definitely not change. Politicians have been doing that a long time. Ruling out compromise by pledging to rubber stamp a Tea Party agenda in Congress, not change. Changing the facts when they're inconvenient to your campaign, that certainly is not change.

You know - and here's the thing, when you make this choice, you know, part of what you're choosing is who do you trust? You know, because you don't know what crisis the next president's going to confront. You don't know what challenge we may have to meet that was unexpected. So part of what you're - part of what you're focused on is - how does somebody operate? And Florida, after four years as president, you know me by now. You may not agree, you may not agree with every decision I have made, you know, Michelle doesn't agree with every decision I make. You may be frustrated sometimes that the pace of change, I'm frustrated by the pace of change sometimes.

But here's the thing, you know I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I said I would end the war in Iraq. I ended it. I said I would pass health care reform and I passed it. I said I would repeal don't ask, don't tell. We repealed it. I said we would make sure the auto industry came back strong, it's come back strong. You know what I believe, you know where I stand and you know that no matter what happens, I'll fight for you and your family every single day as hard as I know how.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

OBAMA: So when you're trying to compare the two candidates' agendas and we're talking about change, you know I know what real change looks like. Because I fought for it. Because I brought it. Because I have got the scars to prove it. Because I have got gray hair doing it. And after all we have been through together, to bring about change, we can't give up on it now. Because there's more change to do. Change is a country where every American has a shot at a good education.

You know, government can't do it alone, parents you've got to parent, students, you've got to study. But don't tell me that hiring more teachers won't help this economy grow, it will. Don't tell me that students who can't afford college should just borrow more money from their parents.

WHITFIELD: President Barack Obama there in Hollywood, Florida, stumping there just two days before election day. We'll continue to monitor his remarks there before he moves on to the next battleground state.

All right. We're going to take you to New York, hot soup warming the hearts of so many recovering from superstorm Sandy, all in the backyard of this guy right here, Rocco Dispirito, celebrity chef, taking soup to the needy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A lot of runners who traveled to New York City to run in that New York City marathon this morning, instead headed to Staten Island and other areas hit hard by that superstorm Sandy. They delivered relief supplies and helped victims clean out their flooded homes and though the storm's destruction prompted Mayor Michael Bloomberg to cancel the 26 mile race, other runners gathered before dawn at Central Park anyway, intent on running the race they had trained for months to finish. They participated in an unofficial alternative marathon that was organized on Facebook.

Celebrity chef and cookbook author Rocco Dispirito was born in Queens and his culinary career has included stops across New York City. So when superstorm Sandy left millions without a decent meal, Dispirito did what he does best. He whipped up some soup and headed to some of the worst hit neighborhoods and started dishing it out. Rocco Dispirito joining me now on the phone, from Staten Island.

So Rocco, you have made your rounds, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and now Staten Island. And you have made, home made, chicken noodle soup, what's it been like to hand out so many meals to so many in need?

ROCCO DISPIRITO, CELEBRITY CHEF (OVER THE PHONE): Well it's wonderful to have a skill that's actually useful in a storm situation like this. You know, I cook and people are hungry, it's a perfect match.

WHITFIELD: How do you even go about making so much soup?

DISPIRITO: You know, it's not easy because there's a shortage of fuel, needless to say, and you need fuel to get chicken, supplies, containers, coolers, you know, just a fuel up the car to get to Staten Island, and (INAUDIBLE) required fuel. So it's been a struggled.

WHITFIELD: And so now, you made your way to Staten Island, give me kind of some comparison -

DISPIRITO: (INAUDIBLE) quite a sights. It's hard to believe.

WHITFIELD: Yes, tell me what you're seeing.

DISPIRITO: I see houses with broken doors, windows, piles of debris in front of them. Five, six, eight feet high, containers full of garbage, a lifetime of personal belongings, piled up in front of their homes, clearly damaged by the water.

WHITFIELD: And what's within the reaction from people when they see you bringing them these containers of soup. Describe to me what they have been saying to you, what they have been feeling?

DISPIRITO: I'm very proud to say there's a lot of our community in action, people are on the ground helping out. I think what they're struggling with is how to get themselves and the food and supplies to the people who need it. And their reactions are, "hot, hot is that hot? I'll take it." You know, it's cold out and it's getting colder, and I think people are looking for something that feels warm in their hands and their bodies. That's why I made sure it's nice and hot when I got out here.

WHITFIELD: So where did this idea come from, at what point did you say "Wait a minute. You know, I'm going to try and help out folks?" Did it start kind of small thinking just in your neighborhood and then it just blossomed into more or what?

DISPIRITO: Well, the idea of feeding hungry people is not anything new to chefs we all participate in the hunger challenges that many Americans face in some way or another and my food truck is established to feed hungry people and educate children about healthy eating. It was designed for that and now it's really needed more than ever. Although the truck is out of commission thanks to Sandy. My Prius which has only used five gallons of gas the entire week has really been helpful to me in getting this food out to people.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness and you've been all over Twitter, you know, sharing your information about the latest deliveries you've been making and collecting donations as well. How can people help if they want to?

DISPIRITO: You know, I met someone yesterday who raised several thousand dollars and was able to buy a lot of coats and scarves and jackets for very cold people in (INAUDIBLE). And I thought you know, I have been sort of doing this out of my pocket up until now and I just set up a PayPal for people who want to donate. It's (INAUDIBLE) com if they want to help, the information is on Twitter and Facebook as well. But everyone's support and just passing information around is also very helpful.

WHITFIELD: Oh man, you must have an incredible team, looking at some of your tweets right there. My heart goes out to all those affected by #hurricaneSandy.

DISPIRITO: There is a family walking by me right now it looks like they've got all of their belongings in a supermarket wagon. It's heartbreaking. It's hard to hold back tears but I do have to say the people are generally upbeat and hopeful which is surprising.

WHITFIELD: That is so nice. Well, you're doing an awfully great thing. Rocco Dispirito, thanks for taking the time out as you continue to make your deliveries of that hot, warm your heart soup and taking the time out to talk to us as well.

DISPIRITO: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: All right. The weekend just about over, we head back to work tomorrow, the president says there are 171,000 reasons to be excited about the economy. But Mitt Romney, well, he disagrees. We'll get both sides next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, here we go, just two days to go for the race for president. And the presidential candidates are making their final pushes. A lot of issues could affect the outcome. Joining me right now Democratic CNN contributor Hilary Rosen in Washington. Good to see you Hillary. And Republican CNN contributor, Reihan Salam in New York. Good to see you as well.

RAY HANSELAN, REPUBLICAN CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. So as we head into Election Day, just a couple of days away, what do each of you have to say about the so called October surprise, whether it was the super storm, drop in unemployment, the debate. Hilary you first.

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well you've got to put the storm right in there and I agree with folks who have been talking about it as stopping some of the momentum that Mitt Romney had gained. But more importantly I think saw something about President Obama that people might have forgotten which is that he does problem solve, he does work with Republicans, he does put his job first, and that kind of steady leadership I think is what is going to carry him on Tuesday. WHITFIELD: Can we talk about those undecideds, which is really so hard to digest even a couple of days away. Does a moment like that kind of help solidify or cement the views of some of those undecideds in your view, Hilary?

ROSEN: Well, I think it does for this reason. As a practical matter, despite the perception that the polls have been extremely volatile over the last couple of months, the truth is they have been more volatile for Mitt Romney than they have for the president. He has been fairly steady in the battleground states, a couple of points above 50 in a majority of the battle ground states. And so you know, slow and steady is really been where this is.

I do think that over the last several weeks, the Democratic campaign has been playing to its base, focusing on turnout, trying to drive some of those big issues that matter the most to women, to Latinos, the gays and lesbians and focusing there. What I think what people really want to know though, for an undecided voter is, is this guy going to reach across the aisle, is everything that he got done before a fluke or can he keep doing it? And frankly I think that's what some of the storm leadership showed.

WHITFIELD: So Reihan what do you think about that? More volatile for Romney and this super storm, did it kind of change the scope, kind of change the landscape for Romney?

REIHAN SALAM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think Hilary's reading was very astute. I think that when you look at the pattern of this race, what you see is Romney inching closer and closer to the president and then experiencing issues some disruption or shock but then sends it back. So for example the 47 percent that was really rough on Romney but then after the first debate he came back. So there were many people who were writing off these candidacies before early October.

Yet, through this month what happened is that process of astronomy approaching the president's numbers, he kept doing that, and then in some polls, some national polls he started to inch just ahead in some state just neck and neck. And I do think the storm; you know it's very complicated; it's very hard to tell, because there is more than one narrative about the storm. It's certainly is true that Chris Christie has warm words for President Obama, and he is decisive, what appears to be decisive leadership in the midst of a really tremendous storm.

WHITFIELD: Do you think he's won the hearts and minds across the country?

SALAM: You know it is very hard to say. I certainly think that in the northeastern states where you have a lot of states that were very likely to go very strongly for President Obama it might lead to some favorable impression. But then again there's more than one narrative coming out of the storm, there is one narrative of decisive leadership and there's another narrative of a lot of people feel as though that the response wasn't sufficiently strong. It was highly uneven.

WHITFIELD: It doesn't seem that criticizism has been placed on the localities at the feet of the mayors and the governors.

SALAM: There is also a broader point about whether or not President Obama really is the decisive actor in this case. I agree with Hilary's reading that this appears to have stopped Mitt Romney's momentum. The question is is this going to be the deciding factor. My fundamental view is that what you should really look at is what happened with employment in the 18 months leading up to the midterms and what happened to the employment 18 months after. In the 18 months leading up to the midterm congressional elections the employment picture looked very, very weak. In the 18 months since it has looked somewhat stronger, not so much stronger that it is predicting slam dunk victory for the president. But rather a very, very close election. So I think that those fundamentals that matter most.

WHITFIELD: It sounds like it could go both ways when you talk about that Friday jobs report as well, Romney trying to use it to his advantage, saying hey look at the employment rate, it ticked up but Obama saying wait a minute but we had jobs creations and it was a far, it exceeded expectations some agree.

ROSEN: Yes, you know, this whole jobs number has been so I think confusing for voters because of course when President Obama was elected, the number was very different than when President Obama took office. And so depending on when you count sort of all those job losses, really depends on whether you think things have gotten dramatically better or just somewhat better. I think that that's going to be sort of an ongoing thing. But a key thing that the Obama campaign did, a decision they made early on, I think is what's going to win the election for the president.

WHITFIELD: What's that?

ROSEN: He very astutely said, things are not going as well as you want them to go or as well as I want them to go. But we're going in the right direction, this election is not a referendum on what is happening; it's a choice between two people. And you have to decide, voters, who you trust to be on your side. And I think that kind of fundamental question is what's hurt Mitt Romney in some of the things. Reihan talked about the 47 percent comment, his taxes issue, paying so much less than the average American, I think that that fundamental issue, this is a choice not just a referendum on where the economy is.

WHITFIELD: So Reihan last word. Do you agree with that that could be the strong narrative here?

SALAM: Well I actually think that Mitt Romney did a tremendous amount in the last month of his presidential campaign which is why I still think he has a strong chance to win. And I think that if you look at the larger campaign, I think that Romney's his biggest weakness is this, he allowed the Obama campaign to define him particularly in the summer. And he failed to do a strong enough job of defining himself. So if he does in deed lose, I think it will be primarily because of that.

Because of his money he gave himself a reset and I think that we saw a kind of alternate history of what the campaign might have looked out throughout had he done a better job of defining himself early on.

WHITFIELD: All right.

ROSEN: Or had not gotten stuck by that awful Republican primary.

WHITFIELD: All right. Reihan Salam thanks so much. Hilary Rosen thanks as well. Thanks to you both appreciate it. Take care.

All right. Ohio may indeed be ground zero for the battleground states in these last days before the election, I'll tell you what each of the candidates is doing to win votes is their final push there. We'll go live to Cincinnati after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hopefully you haven't had enough of presidential politics because it is full force in Ohio in a very big way. Mitt Romney was in Cleveland this afternoon and President Obama has a rally in Cincinnati, 8:00 tonight, Paul Ryan was in Mansfield around lunchtime and Vice President Biden is making three stops today in the buckeye state.

So while a recent poll shows that President Obama maintains an edge in Ohio, 51 percent to Romney's 45 percent, neither campaign is easing up. Our Jessica Yellin just arrived in Cincinnati for tonight's Obama rally. So Jessica the president's schedule over the past few days have been grueling and it really can be arguing that that's the case for all of those who are campaigning. But what is it that the president really wants to, I guess find some assurance in Ohio, especially since there are very few undecideds in Ohio?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well this is the so-called fire wall for the Obama campaign. Ohio has 18 electoral states, is one of those places they feel as if the president holds it and can keep Mitt Romney from winning here; there are other ways for Mitt Romney to become the next president. So President Obama doing everything he can in the last few days of visiting Ohio twice, it's the only state he's going through twice, as part of his final schedule to keep that, what they call a fire wall away from Governor Romney if they can.

But it really is a cliff hanger here with President Obama having the edge in all the current polling, all the polling over time, but still within the margin of error. And he emphasizes here as everywhere, Fredericka, that he doesn't want anybody to see Governor Romney as the candidate of change, its part of the message Governor Romney has been selling. President Obama insisting though he's that guy still and he tries to sell that to the crowds here and in the battleground states he's visiting, Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, he's ending his campaign tomorrow night in Iowa.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so how is it that former President Bill Clinton has been campaigning in some states. Would you believe that he spent time in Pennsylvania, the president not trying to be overly confident about clinching that state again? YELLIN: Well Bill Clinton has been helping the president in some of the battleground states. This morning we went to a joint rally with President Clinton and Obama. President Clinton is sort of his validater, saying again, that same thing that nobody could clean this economy up in the last four years, that same thing you heard at the Democratic convention, but then he's also going to Minnesota, that's one of those states that the Democrats traditionally hold as a blue state. The Clintons there are saying look they are taking nothing for granted, there's a little bit of shoring up to do and he is spending his entire day tomorrow in Pennsylvania. So that is a big thing Bill Clinton in Pennsylvania shows they don't want to get a surprise Tuesday night there.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jessica Yellin thanks so much. Appreciate that from Cincinnati where President Obama will be later on.

OK, so more on that backup plan, part of that defense, we're talking about former President Bill Clinton. All right, well, he knows what it's like to lead. Can he help his colleague, President Barack Obama clinch more support? We'll bring you more on that live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's a big what if. But what if Romney and Biden were paired in the White House? Blame the electoral system. Josh Levs is here to explain.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a great chance to stop and look at how our elections system in this country actually works. It's kind of amazing. This is a scenario to stop and hear about. What would happen if there was an electoral tie?

It could happen. And it would throw the race into confusion and controversy. What if President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tie in the Electoral College with 269 votes each? There's an amendment for that. Here's how it works, in January, the new House of Representatives would choose the president, with each state getting one vote. Republicans will almost surely have the majority in that vote and choose Romney. But not Paul Ryan, the vice president gets decided by the senate, if that's still in Democratic control, Biden would almost surely win. So thanks to the electoral system, we could have a Romney- Biden White House.

But there's also another possibility. Let's go back to that Electoral College tie. These are the votes electors are expected to take based on the votes in their states. But they don't all legally have to. Some states don't have laws to punish electors who go their own way. So if there is a tie, expect swayable electors to suddenly become very, very popular to some and a source of anger to others. That is wild.

WHITFIELD: Oh boy.

LEVS: We're not saying it's definitely go to be happen, but the fact that there is this electorate system, that that is the law that is on the books that is how it is written in the constitution that congress would suddenly have to go through that process.

WHITFIELD: If there were a tie.

LEVS: They would trigger this process.

WHITFIELD: And they would have to continue to look the way it does if the senate looked that way.

LEVS: All those are likely. But, yes, I mean look, what we know is those are the laws that are on the books and it's another reminder why a lot of people in this country want to update this system from the electoral college. Which did make a lot of sense when it started centuries ago. Because at the time states had a lot more power. And the president didn't have that kind of power and it made sense for states to say we're going to choose some people to go to a meeting and help select the president and we will oversee all the, times have changed and a lot of people see it now as an accursism.

WHITFIELD: You think things are tense now? Oh, my goodness.

LEVS: It's a headache.

WHITFIELD: And it just goes on and all kinds of folks are making predictions based on interesting things. A football game, an NFL game. What's this one all about?

LEVS: There's one for everything, this one is out of the NFL, but there's also one out of major league baseball. And obviously Mitt Romney doesn't have a lot of time for football today. But he got the score that he wanted in Washington, the Redskins lost to the Carolina Panthers that score 21 to 13. Here is why that matters.

Since 1940s, the team's final game before the election has predicted which party will win the White House every time but once. When the Redskins lose the challenger wins. So forget about the polls, things looking up for Mitt Romney and the Republicans on that front.

But let me tell you something else for those of you who follow these numbers. Major league baseball put out an announcement a little while ago and they said that ten times since 1908, the national league baseball has won the World Series during an election year, 67 percent chance that Democrat for President Barack Obama will win the election because a national league team won the World Series. Obviously people are having pure fun with this. But for those of you who are really into sports figures, this is how it could play out.

WHITFIELD: Oh gosh. OK. Lots of front spin, involving sports, involving everything.

LEVS: Fortunately in the next few days it will be worked out and we'll know who the president is and all these predictions will be in the past.

WHITFIELD: That is right. We know that in two days people go to the polls. But we don't know what way. Well nonetheless, no matter what, you need to keep it right here election night, our coverage is very comprehensive throughout the evening. You don't want to go anywhere else except right here. But you can begin that this evening because later on this evening, Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer are going to break it all down for you, a closer look at the candidates, the final push before the election, "America's Choice 2012 Countdown to Election Day" that is tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN. Stick with us throughout the election night as well.

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WHITFIELD: Now an update on super storm Sandy. Most New York City public schools will be back in session on Monday. This will be the first time the schools have opened since Sandy hit last week. About 80 schools will remain closed due to severe storm damage. Students at those schools will be moved to temporary locations.

And conditions for those without power in Sandy's storm zones could be getting worse over the next few days. The temperature is expected to drop below freezing tonight and tomorrow morning. Many residents without power are staying in shelters, trying to stay warm. The Red Cross is moving 80,000 blankets into the region ahead of colder weather.

Back to politics now, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are scheduled to speak at separate events in just a few minutes. Romney is in Pennsylvania, Ryan in Minnisota we'll bring those to you as they happen.

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