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Mitt Romney in Pennsylvania; Candidates on Swing State Sprint; Canvassing Colorado; Ohio Voting Controversy; Ohio's Early Voting Controversy; Candidates on Swing State Spring
Aired November 04, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN LIVE FEED)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Now, third, I'm going to send to Congress something we're going to call the Retraining Reform Act to make sure that every worker can get the skills they need for a good paying job.
And fourth, I'm going to move to tackle out of control spending. I'm going to send Congress the first of several fundamental reforms that I call the down payment on Fiscal Sanity Act. We will immediately cut -- not just slow the rate of growth but cut government spending. I am not just going to take office on January 20th. I'm going to take responsibility for that office as well.
And number five, I'm going to act to boost small business and all business, I'm going to issue executive orders aimed straight at the problem that are holding our economy back. The first is going to great state waivers from Obamacare to begin its repeal.
The second is going to launch a sweeping review of all the Obama era regulations with an eye to eliminating or repairing those that are killing jobs. And for the first time in four years, every entrepreneur, every small business person, every job creator will know that the President and the government of the United States likes them and loves the jobs and higher wages they bring to our fellow Americans. Paul Ryan and I are going to limit government instead of limiting the dreams of our fellow Americans.
Now our choice on Tuesday can lead to one of two very different outcomes. You know that if the President were to be re-elected, he would still be unable to work with the people in Congress. He has ignored them, he's attacked them, he's blamed them. And that debt ceiling is going to come up again and shut down and default will be threatened. And of course, that freezes the economy.
By the way, the President was right the other day when he said he can't change Washington from the inside, only from the outside. We're going to give him that chance soon.
Now when I'm elected, I'm going to work with Republicans and Democrats in Congress. I'm going meet regularly with their leaders. I'm going to endeavor to find the good men and good women on both sides of the aisle that care more about the country than they do about politics. Now if the President were to be re-elected, and he's of course going to continue his war on coal and oil and natural gas. When I'm elected, we're going to change course on energy to build jobs, to help with prices at the pump. We're going to achieve North American energy independence in eight years.
Now if the President were to be re-elected, he would continue to crush small business with his plan to raise taxes, to expand regulations, to impose Obamacare. I care about small business. I see it as a means for people to fulfill their dreams. Last week I -- I met Rhoda Elliott, Virginia, Richmond, she had been running her family restaurant for years, a business that's been in her family, Bill's Barbecue, for 82 years.
At its high point she employed 200 people. She just closed it down. She told me that the regulations, the taxes, Obamacare and the effects of the Obama economy put her out of business. And she teared up. This wasn't about money. This was about a future for her family and for her family employees. Look, I want to help the hundreds and thousands of these dreamers like Rhoda. And I will.
You know, by the way, that if the President were re-elected, he is going to say anything he has to, to get your support and to think that he's going to improve our schools. But in the final analysis he's going to do what his largest campaign contributors tell him to do and that's the public sector unions. And so your kids would have the same schools with the same results.
When I'm president, I'll be a voice of the children and their parents because they don't have a union at the PTA. I want to make sure that parents have the information they need to know if the school is succeeding or not. And I want them to have the choice of the school they believe is right for their child's future.
You know, when I was -- when I was governor of my state we took our schools to the top of the nation and we did it by working together, Republicans and Democrats, listening to our good advice from our teachers and people who dedicated their lives to teaching our kids to listening to all sort of parents and always putting the students first and their education first. I'll do the same thing as president.
Now these last few months of our campaign and why this has gathered the strength of a movement, which is obvious by looking around this audience tonight. And it is not just -- it is not just and not only the size of the crowds. It's also the depth of our shared conviction. It's made me strive to be even more worthy of your support and the campaign as I would govern and to speak for the aspirations of all Americans.
I learned as Governor of Massachusetts that the best achievements are shared achievements. I learned that respect and goodwill go a long way and are usually returned in kind. That's how I'll conduct myself as President. I bring people together. I won't just represent one party. I will represent one nation.
AUDIENCE: USA, USA, USA. ROMNEY: Throughout this campaign, using every argument he could think of, President Obama has tried to convince you that these last four years have been a success. And so his plan for the next four years is to take all the ideas from his first time, the stimulus, the borrowing, Obamacare, all the rest and do them over again. He calls that plan forward.
I call it forewarned. The same course we have been on will not lead to a better destination. The same path means $20 trillion in debt, it means crippling unemployment continuing, it means stagnant take home pay and depressed home values and a devastated military. And unless we change course, we could be looking at another recession.
In his closing argument just this last week, President Obama asked his supporters to vote for revenge, for revenge. Instead I ask the American people to vote for love of country.
AUDIENCE: USA, USA, USA.
ROMNEY: Together we must lead America to a better place. Now, we're only two days away from a fresh start, two days away from the first day of a new beginning. My conviction that better days are ahead is not based on promises and rhetoric, but on solid plans and proven results and an unshakeable faith of the American spirit.
If there's anyone worried that the last four years are the best that we can do, if there's anyone who fears that American dream is fading away. If there's anyone who wonders whether better jobs and better paychecks are a thing of the past, I have a clear and unequivocal message.
With the right leadership, America is about to come roaring back. We're Americans. We can do anything. The only thing that stands between us and some of the best years we've known is lack of leadership. And that's why we have elections.
This Tuesday is a moment to look into the future and imagine what we can do, than to put the past four years behind us and start building a future. You saw the differences between the President and I when we were standing side by side in our debates. He says it has to be this way. I say it can't stay this way. He's offering excuses. I've got a plan. I can't wait for us to get started. He's hoping we'll settle.
Americans don't settle. We build. We aspire. We dream. We listen to that voice that says we can do better -- a better life, a better America. That better life is out there. It's waiting for us. Our destiny is in your hands.
Two more days -- two more days and we can get to work rebuilding our country, restoring our confidence, renewing our conviction.
We are confident that we're on a solid path, confident that college grads four years from now will find better jobs; confidence that single moms working two jobs will have a shot at a better job. And I want to -- I want to take just a moment and tell you about the experience I had just last night. It reminded me of something that happened many years ago.
I was serving as a leader in the Boy Scouts of America, I got some scouters here, I can tell. We were at a court of honor. Big Formica table, in front of the room I was seated at the end next to an American flag on a flag pole. And the person who was speaking was the scout master from Monument, Colorado. He described the fact that his troop wanted to have a very special American flag. So they bought one and had it flown above the capitol building, came back home. They wanted it to go on the space shuttle. NASA agreed.
He said the boys were so proud looking from their home rooms of school on the TV sets there. They saw the space shuttle "Challenger" launch into the air. And then they saw it explode on the TV screen.
And he said he called NASA a couple of weeks later and said have you found any remnant of our flag? And they hadn't. He said he called every week month after month, nothing. Finally, sometime later, he was reading an article in the newspaper and it mentioned the debris that was collected from the "Challenger" disaster.
And there was a -- a note about a flag. And so he called NASA and said have you found some part of our flag? And NASA said, in fact, we have a presentation to make to your boys. So NASA came. And the Boy Scout troop gathered and they were presented with a plastic container. And they opened it up and there was their flag, in perfect condition.
And he said that's it on the flag pole next to Mr. Romney at the end of the table. And I reached over and touched a hold of that flag and pulled it out. And it was as if electricity was running through my arm, because I thought about the sacrifice of those men and women in our space program who put themselves in harm's way for learning, for pioneering, for us.
It's part of the American spirit, to live for something bigger than yourself. I see it on the men and women who serve in our military. They serve us over the years. They serve us for liberty, for freedom, for hope and prosperity.
I love all the verses in that wonderful hymn "America the beautiful," one in particular stands out. "Oh, beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country love and mercy more than life." Will our veterans and members of the armed forces please raise your hands and be recognized?
We Americans live for things bigger than ourselves, our schools, our churches, our families, our nation.
I -- I think about my sister. My sister, Lynn, who is in her 70s, her husband died a few years ago. She has eight children, seven of them married, kids of their own. The eighth child was born Down Syndrome. He's now 43 years old. He lives at home with his mom and she devotes her time and her care to helping that child and has all of his life, for 43 years. She's a hero to me. I love America's moms, single moms, dads that make a difference for their families.
This -- this Christmas, I'm thinking of all of the -- all of the couples that are not going to be exchanging gifts with one another so they can make sure to have a great Christmas for their kids. I think of all the single moms who are scraping and saving to get by so they can make sure to have a good meal on the table for their kids at the end of the day. I think of all the dads and the moms that are working two jobs so they can buy the kind of clothes that their kids needs so they won't stand out in school. We're a generous people. We give to others in need.
(END LIVE FEED)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You're listening to Mitt Romney in Morrisville, Pennsylvania giving two familiar stories if you've been following the stump speeches -- something Mr. Romney speaks about a lot here on the campaign trail, talking about that particular story he is talking about now and the flag as well.
We're going to get back to Mitt Romney in just a moment on the other side of the break. We're going to tell you this hour we're also expecting to hear from the President of the United States, Joe Biden as well and former President Bill Clinton still ahead this hour.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. So, Mitt Romney has just wrapped it up in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. There he is, finishing up a speech that he's giving. Listen, they're going to be all over for the next few two days -- for the next two days -- going to every single swing state to make their cases, both men. And their surrogates will be going to both -- all of the swing states and you'll be hearing about it.
In the meantime we want to check in with what the President is doing. Jessica Yellin down the road from the -- about 100 miles or so. She's in Cincinnati. President Obama speaks at your location a bit later this hour, Jessica -- what is his two-day out message?
We've been listening to Mitt Romney. We hear the stories he has been telling on the stomp speech, talking about what he is going to do with America. What's the President's message now?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. The President's message essentially is "vote". I don't mean that glibly, I mean literally. The President's campaign team feels that they have the numbers, if they can just turn their people out, the President will win.
So his speech has something for every group that is a fan of the President's. There is something that's directed to women, touching on the Planned Parenthood message and Lilly Ledbetter, the women's equal pay.
There's a message about how the President is a man that people can trust and that contrast he has drawn with Governor Romney in the past. He has added this new theme of he is the one who holds the mantle of change that Governor Romney does not. You know Governor Romney has been talking that he is the man of change, taking that from President Obama.
He even talks these days about bipartisanship, again, saying that he wants to work with Republicans and he wraps it all up saying, "All of you have to go out and vote because that is what's going to make the difference." It's all about the ground game now.
Here is a little bit of what the President said at a stop at one of those swing states, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I know what real change looks like because I fought for it, because I've brought it, because I've got the scars to prove it, because I've gotten gray hair doing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: So you see him harkening back a little bit to his message in 2008. I'll conclude, Don, with one point. Stevie Wonder was performing in this crowd just a little while ago, which was, I'll say was amazing. He told the audience, you know, just over 500 votes decided an election in Florida in the year 2000. It's going to be even closer this year. And so that is a theme we've heard from the campaign repeatedly, invoking the memories of the year 2000.
That's just how energized or how much emphasis they're putting on pressuring every single person to make sure they feel that they are obliged to make -- not only vote -- but make their friends vote, too, Don.
LEMON: Oh, yes, indeed. And, Jess, you can feel it building, that it is close. The feeling is out there. And you can hear it in voters' voices when they talk to you. Let's just get this election over. Of course, they want their candidate to win, but they want it to be over. It looks like where you are, the people are enthusiastic about the President and the message.
YELLIN: Oh, yes. This is a very pro-Obama crowd. I spoke to a number of people here who say that they are not only -- they are volunteers who go around two or three days a week, knocking on doors, now. Some of them have flown in from other states, a very few.
Those who live here say that they are inundated day and night with phone calls themselves and are constantly -- it's what you get when you live in Ohio, you know. People just nonstop these days are bombarding them with calls and messages because they just can't stop.
These people say that this crowd in here have all early voted. Everyone around on the upper rafters have not yet voted, say that they will between today and tomorrow, Don.
LEMON: All right. We'll see. Thank you, Jess. We appreciate it.
We want to head west. Colorado is another critical campaign state for both candidates. Some say voters there may be growing weary of the negative tone of late that's happening now. The question now becomes if and how that may affect voters come Election Day. CNN's Kyung Lah is in Castle Rock, Colorado where vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan plans to make a political stop this evening. Hello, to you Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Don. We are definitely starting to see a deliberate shift by the Romney campaign to that more positive tone and we are expecting to hear more of that in about 90 minutes when he comes here. This is going to end his barnstorm day across the U.S. So perhaps it's fitting that I'm actually literally standing in a barn at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
He will be here in about 90 minutes as I said -- that positive tone manifesting into something a little more inclusive, something a little more upbeat and a little more hopeful. The reason why is that it works here in the battleground state of Colorado because the Romney campaign wants to reach out to the Independents. A third of the voters here in Colorado are registered Independents. And so the last thing the Romney campaign wants, and that the Obama campaign wants is for those Independents to throw up their hands and say, you know, I hate both these guys. I'm just going to stay home and not vote. They want them to come out. So we're going to hear more of that.
Who is coming out so far? Well, the Colorado secretary of state says 1.6 million people have already cast early votes. And leading right now are registered Republicans, by about 35,000 votes. So the Republicans here in Colorado say they have the ground game, they have the edge. They have the energy. And they believe that the Obama win in Colorado in 2008 was just a one off, that Romney will take the state. But the Obama campaign, very quick to say, "Hey, in a 'Denver Post' poll, we have the edge and looking at who has already votes, it appears that Obama is slightly leading according to that poll.
But Don, I can tell you, having talked to people here, it is simply too close to call. These guys are reading the tea leaves; we're just going to have to see what happens on Tuesday.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Kyung Lah. And as we say, you can tell it's getting really close because hackles are up on both sides. At the center of the firestorm it appears every day is a controversy.
Ohio Republican's secretary of state, he is back on this program right now to defend claims by some Democrats that his office has been trying to disenfranchise voters. He is sitting right next to me, getting miked up. That is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right.
So the Presidential election could very well be decided in the battleground state of Ohio. Last night, Ohio secretary of state Jon Husted right here to talk about the tight race, a criticism for some of his official directives leading up to Election Day.
Tonight he finds himself embroiled in another controversy renewing claims by some that he is trying to disenfranchise certain voters. OK.
Joining me now to talk about -- let's address this because last Friday night -- or Friday they said you issued a directive, requiring some changes that could disenfranchise voters on the provisional ballot by saying that the voter has to mark the identification part and not the poll worker, as is required by law.
JON HUSTED, SECRETARY OF STATE, OHIO: That's not necessarily the case. When we issued the directive on is essentially this. It's about who fills this out, whether the voter does or the poll worker does. And the court -- we've already been through litigation on this. Step one and step three of this process, the court said is the responsibility of the voter. We issued a directive on that.
Now step two is being challenged essentially. What's in step two is where you put your identification, your driver's license number, your social security number.
LEMON: OK.
HUSTED: So we believe that the voter is the person that's in the best position to be able to put that information on there, not the poll worker because if the information is wrong, the ballot won't be counted. And so we want the voter to provide that so there are no mistakes so that their votes will be counted.
LEMON: OK.
HUSTED: That's the reason.
LEMON: Let me read this. According to the lawsuit filed by voting rights advocates, this is contrary to a court decision on provisional ballots a week ago and contrary statement made by attorneys for Husted in an October 24th hearing. And then it says here that the poll worker, the election official shall record the type of identification provided, social security number and on and on and not the voter. So they're saying you're trying to change the law here.
HUSTED: Well, actually this is the way it has been for several elections in the state of Ohio. To do the form differently and to administer it differently would be the change. What we are doing is consistent with the way elections have been run. And understand -- this is like casting a vote. We wouldn't want the poll worker to cast a vote for someone else. We want the voter to do this so that it's right and their vote will be counted.
LEMON: Does this have the possibility, though, of having provisional ballots, hundreds of thousands of them tossed out, as this group who filed this lawsuit is saying?
HUSTED: No, no, no. What we're talking about here is a handful of ballots in the scheme of things in terms of how this is done. LEMON: OK.
HUSTED: And really this is about making sure that the information is accurate. The voter is in the best position to do that.
LEMON: OK.
HUSTED: This is consistent with the courts and consistent with the law.
LEMON: OK. You have, what, three days to respond to this lawsuit?
HUSTED: We do, yes.
LEMON: And how are you going to respond to it?
HUSTED: Well, we are working right now to try to find alternative solutions to this. But right now this is what the law of the land is. This is what we believe is consistent with what the court and the law says we must do.
LEMON: So you're going to do this until told otherwise by -- unless you are told otherwise?
HUSTED: We believe that this is the best way to make elections run successfully so that the most votes are counted. We believe it's consistent with the law. We believe it's the right way to run elections in Ohio.
LEMON: OK. I have to run here. But you know the criticism about you. You mentioned last night to me, that you are suppressing the vote by trying to do this and limit early voting hours. Tell me, are you trying to suppress the vote for the Democratic Party, for minorities, for people in urban areas?
HUSTED: It's just an absurd notion. The rules are the same for everybody. They don't target any one group or individual. What we're trying to do is to make the system run fair and smooth for everybody. There are a lot of -- I didn't file the 11th hour lawsuits. These are the rules. These are the rules the way that they have been. There are a lot of folks who are trying to introduce chaos in this so that they can have a cause for litigating post election in case it's close.
LEMON: You're going to see more of this. It's so close, don't you know you're going to see more of this?
HUSTED: It's fine. But you know what; it's important for folks to know we're in day 33 of voting. It's gone smoothly here in Ohio. The rules are fair and consistent for everyone.
LEMON: OK.
HUSTED: And we're going to be fine here in this.
LEMON: I appreciate you coming on. I really do.
HUSTED: Thank you.
LEMON: And we have to run because we have to talk to some of the candidates live and we don't have as much time.
HUSTED: Well, the candidates are more important to me. You can go back to them.
LEMON: Thank you. Thank you Jon Husted.
HUSTED: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you.
You know, coming up -- you know, we've got both sides here in Ohio, Republican and Democratic leaders to talk about some of those voter issues and what they think about being in on the battlefront in Election 2012.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. So here in Ohio, the battle over early voting went on for months. Some see its a racial battle, quite frankly. The Obama campaign sued to overturn a new restriction that would have limited Ohio's early voting this weekend to military families and Americans living overseas. This summer Ohio's Republican chair in Franklin County sent a controversial e-mail to the "Columbus Dispatch" newspaper. Doug Preisse wrote "I guess I really actually feel we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban read African-American voter turnout machine. Let's be fair and reasonable."
Doug Preisse joins me now, along with Greg Haas who is a Democratic chair for Franklin County. Right there, look at that camera, guys. All right. Doug, I'm going to start with you. You know, Do you stand by that remark? Do you stand by what you said.
DOUG PREISSE, REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN, FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO: Remember there are a couple of things. Number one, it was taken out of context in part and completely misquoted many times. Contort is the right word. I don't think we should contort the system, twist the system to support any group, any group of voters. Secondly, I will point out we have the most liberal voting - early voting process, more than New York, Connecticut, a lot of East Coast, democratic states. And I'm for that. And we have voted for it consistent.
LEMON: But I would take it - you're a smart man and you do a quote like that where you are saying we shouldn't do it for -
PREISSE: For anybody.
LEMON: You said for African-Americans.
(CROSSTALK)
PREISSE: Put it in context, we should not contort the system for any, we should not twist it. LEMON: But how is the system being contorted towards African- Americans, for African-Americans?
PREISSE: Well, I'm not saying that it is right now. I'm saying that we have to as we approach this - look, we've only had early voting since 2006 in person early voting. I think we have to be careful where we put the headquarters. Where we put the center. We shouldn't put it in the far suburbs. We have to be careful where we put it. We have chosen - I have voted to put it as a board of elections member right in the middle of geographic center of the city. And I think it's working out great.
LEMON: Here is what I don't understand. Just as an American who votes, why wouldn't you want to open the process up to as many people as possible, no matter how many days or where it is? Why wouldn't you want to do that? Why would you want to limit the number of days and hours that people vote?
GREG HAAS, DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN, FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO: This goes far beyond Doug and anything that may have been said before. A great example of what you're saying in terms of the two parties, across the state when the test was put out there about whether we were going to have the kind of early voting that we had even in the Republican primary and even in the primary that we had, Democrats across the state, whether they were in a Republican county or not, voted to keep the same kind of hours that we had in the primary and before. Republicans tended to break with that.
I do have to say, for instance, the location that we have now. I mean you've been up there. And Doug did play a key role in picking that. It's a great location for everybody. It's easy to get into and out. It's been beneficial. The bigger question on all of this is - and it particularly goes to Secretary Husted, who had a long history of being fairly bipartisan. It wasn't until Karl Rove and Mitt Romney entered the scene that a lot of this tension started to occur and a lot of this change in behavior -
LEMON: How so -
HAAS: John Husted wrote the law about early voting and he specified in that law that it would be 35 days before. He didn't say 35 business days or 35 - we practiced in the state of Ohio for a long time the idea that weekends were allowed and evenings were allowed. That was the process up until this election. It was a change in the national folks that put these guys in a bad spot.
LEMON: So did they have influence over these guys, you're saying, undue influence over these guys?
HAAS: Listen, we both work for political parties. We listen -
LEMON: You're talking about (INAUDIBLE) not here. Realized that. Are you saying -- you said Mitt Romney and who else did you say? Newt Gingrich.
HAAS: Karl Rove. LEMON: So do you believe they have undue influence over -
HAAS: I think they have - I don't think they have undue influence. I think they have the same kind of influence that presidential campaigns tend to have in local states. You listen to them. And I think in this process, just - the secretary of State talked about I.D.s and talked about taking them. Here is my driver's license. There's four different sets of numbers on that. Now, you know, if you ask me what my driver's license number is on that and I'm in a line and there's a big line behind me and I've got people looking over my shoulder I'm not sure I would get that right. As you quoted earlier, the law says the election officials are -
LEMON: That's what it says. Yes.
HAAS: And the question about all this is the Republicans turned this back to the voters and they say the voters have plenty of time. They have these opportunities. But the question is the intent of change. What is it in the political leadership that is behind the change?
LEMON: OK. Do you think -
PREISSE: You got it right. We do trust the voters and we do turn it back to the voter. And I will say this, too. I stood ironically about a quarter mile from the president of the United States in 2004, I stood in line for 2 1/2 hours. After the problems of long lines in Ohio in 2004, it was the Republican legislature that changed to increase and include early voting and the most liberal early voting in the -
LEMON: Let me jump in here -
PREISSE: And every Democrat in legislature voted against it, including the state democratic party chairman.
LEMON: What I said at the top I want to ask, it's a racial divide -
HAAS: I believe it is a class and working impact - it certainly impacts working families and struggling families. You know, the president -- Governor Romney -
LEMON: We're going to have to wrap it up.
HAAS: Working families they obviously don't care if they have the right to vote.
LEMON: Do you believe it's a racial divide?
PREISSE: The bipartisan election officials in Ohio, Democrats and Republicans came together and said give us a couple of days before election day when most people are going to vote to make it fair, and easy and safe.
LEMON: I don't understand. I could be wrong on this. I don't understand why when something as important as voting that you wouldn't want to open it up to as many people as possible for as long as possible.
PREISSE: If you can keep it -
LEMON: Especially when people work - on a Tuesday.
PREISSE: Open and fair and safe.
LEMON: On a Tuesday, I am working. And so -
PREISSE: I was so concerned about this, I called a hospital administrator, a well respected leading hospital administrator and I said, "My gosh, I'm hearing that there are nurses and hospital workers who cannot find the time to work" and he said because they work three- day shift or 12-hour shift. He said "Yes, but they take two days off in between that."
LEMON: Yes.
HAAS: Republicans in Ohio had a great track record until Mitt Romney, Karl Rove and company came along in the last few months. That's the big difference.
LEMON: All right. Thanks to both gentlemen. Great conversation. We would have a longer one but we've got the candidates live out on the campaign trail. Thank you very much.
You know, they are a big part of the so-called undecided. I'm talking about the Latino vote, the women's vote. We've got both represented and that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: With the hours ticking down to election day, the candidates are keeping their messages broad this weekend.
Mitt Romney hammering crowds in the swing states with the "I am change" line, flipping President Obama's slogan of four years ago. The president trying to persuade the undecideds to stick with him for four more years. We haven't seen much targeted to specific voter groups. There simply isn't time right now. But it cannot be overlooked that both men need the support of two key voting blocs. And that is women. We've heard so much about that. And Hispanics. Maria Cardona should know about this. She's a democratic strategist.
Now, I realize you're an Obama supporter. But putting aside partisanship, if you can, -- come on, Maria, you can do it as best as you can.
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I can do it.
LEMON: Tell me which of these two men will get the lion's share? These two important votes, women and Hispanics. What about women first? Who will get the lion's share?
CARDONA: I actually think that President Obama will get the lion's share of women. But the magic number will depend on what that percentage is, Don. As we know in 2008, President Obama won the women's vote by 13 percentage points. He needs to get that, if not more, given the tightness of this race going into Tuesday in order to win.
And I'll say the same thing about the Latino vote. I think that there's no question that President Obama will get the majority of the Latino vote but again Mitt Romney, in order to win doesn't need to get the majority of the Latino vote. He just needs to peel off just enough in order to make the percentages that he needs to make.
LEMON: OK. You mentioned 2008. So let's talk a little bit more about 2008. Mitt Romney, do you think he's doing better among these two groups than John McCain did four years ago?
CARDONA: He actually is doing, I think, better with women than he was in 2008. And depending upon the poll - we've seen that all of these polls are all over the place - he did very, very well in closing - going towards closing the gender gap after the first debate. I think that during that debate he was able to show women, at least, that he was not the caricature that a lot of folks had made him out to be.
I think that helped to close the gender gap. It has opened somewhat since then, Don. I think just because of the aggressiveness of the Obama campaign. But it's different with Latinos. President Obama right now is actually beating Romney in every single poll a lot more than the 36 points that he beat John McCain with the Latino vote.
Here is where I think the danger for Romney lies. Because we've seen that even Republican pollsters and advisers have said that no Republican can get to the White House without at least 40 percent of the Hispanic vote, it's what George Bush got when he was re-elected in 2004. He was very good at reaching out to Latinos. Right now what we're seeing with percentages of the Latino vote with Mitt Romney is that he doesn't break 25 percent right now. So it's going to be interesting going into Tuesday what that means.
LEMON: And, Maria, one would think that the president, Hispanics may be tilting toward the president because of immigration but Hispanics just don't vote on immigration. I mean, is it more than that?
CARDONA: Well, here's the issue with the immigration topic, Don and that's a very good question. Because you're right. For Latinos, immigration is not the number one topic. It's jobs and the economy, the way that it is for every other American right now. But it is a filter issue with the Latino community, Don. What that means is that if Latinos don't like the way that the candidate or the party is speaking to them about immigration, because it is a very personal issue, even though the Latino voters don't really have to worry about it, because clearly they are citizens, a lot of them come from either mixed status families, which means that there's somebody in their family without papers or they know if somebody who is in this problem of having to get papers and they're undocumented right now. So it's a very personal issue. If they don't like the way that the candidate is speaking to them about immigration, then they're not going to listen to that candidate on anything else. That is why it has become so difficult for the Republican Party. LEMON: On other issues.
CARDONA: Right.
LEMON: Thank you, Maria Cardona. We have to run. We have to get back out on the campaign trail. We appreciate it.
I want to get to President Obama, in an event now. He is in Cincinnati. You saw it there on your screen. There it is now, full screen, President Obama getting ready to speak there in Cincinnati. Plus vice president Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton - they're going to speak, live coverage ahead, next.
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CATALINA ESCOBAR: Teen pregnancy in Cartagena is a very big issue. When you go to the slums, it is unbelievable what you see.
Many of my girls live here.
You see these girls, they are babies holding babies.
About 10 years ago, I was volunteering at this maternity hospital. And I was holding this baby. And he passed away with me. This teen mother failed to raise the money to cover treatment. Four days later, my own son passed away in an accident.
I realized I didn't want any mother to feel the same grief that I went through. My name is Catalina Escobar and I'm helping teen moms get a healthy and productive life for them and for their babies.
When we first started at the maternity hospital, we reduced dramatically the infant mortality rate. But the real problem, it was much bigger than that. My girls end up being pregnant because they don't have a sexual education and many of my girls are sexually abused.
When my girls come, they drop their babies in the day care center. We have different workshops so they can develop their skills.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ESCOBAR: We are changing the lives of these girls. If you give them the right tools, they are capable of moving forward.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Take a good long look at this because I went out earlier today to check out one of the polling places here in Columbus, Ohio. Look.
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LEMON (on camera): So, this is the end of the line here at Franklin County where they are allowed to vote. One to five today. I'm just going to go - it circles all the way around here. There are a couple of circles. I hope you guys aren't getting dizzy. And then it is going to snake around all the way through the parking lot. Another circle and then all the way through. Let's go see. One of the guys we've been trying to talk to here is Mark.
Mark, how long have you been in line?
MARK: WE just got in line. You have no idea how long this will take.
LEMON: When you saw that line, what did you think?
MARK: I thought it ended here at the side of the building until the woman was screaming end of the line.
LEMON: There are circles within circles. Did you notice that?
MARK: Yes, unfortunately. It sure would have been nice if they could have had more than one place open for this. You know, obviously, there's a need for it and they are not real concerned about filling that need.
LEMON: Does this discourage you though?
MARK: It disappoints me but it isn't going to keep me from voting.
LEMON: Yes. All right. Thank you. Good luck. All right. Come this way. Let's - over here. Just so you guys can -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Interview us.
LEMON: You're going to be here a long time. Trust me. So, let's go through here. How long have you guys been waiting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two hours.
LEMON: Two hours? How long have you been waiting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two hours.
LEMON: Two hours.
Have you ever seen it like this before?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
LEMON: No? Worth it though?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes, absolutely.
LEMON: Yes? All right.
Well, the reason that so many people are in line, because in Ohio, in one county, you can only have one polling place open for early voting. So, not only foot traffic, there's car traffic as well. And that's the end of the line, which is really just the beginning, 'cause that's when you finally get inside to vote. (END VIDEOTAPE)