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CNN Saturday Morning News
Shootings in Michigan; Israeli Sea Blockade; Early Voting Election Results; Uncommitted Voters; Jerusalem Market; Pakistani Shooting Victim Recovering; Car Bombing In Lebanon; What Matters to Women; Armstrong Loses Endorsements, Charity; Armstrong's Tarnished Doping Image; Cooling Glove Helps Body Recover; Bringing Day Care to High School
Aired October 20, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 8:00 in the East, 5:00 out West. Good to have you with us.
We begin with a controversy surrounding Lance Armstrong. He appeared publicly for the first time since the release of a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report. Now, that report detailed what was called overwhelming of Armstrong's involvement in doping as a cyclist. Armstrong addressed supporters last night at the anniversary celebration for his Livestrong charity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANCE ARMSTRONG, CYCLIST: It's been an interesting couple of weeks. It's been a difficult couple of weeks for me, for my family, for my friends, for this foundation. I get asked a lot -- people say, man, how are you doing. And I say -- and I say this every time and I mean it, I say, I've been better, but I've also been worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Armstrong has repeatedly denied doping allegations. He stepped down as chairman of Livestrong on Wednesday.
KAYE: To Michigan now where police are searching for a gunman they say is randomly targeting people in a shooting spree. Authorities believe the shootings, at least 15 so far, across three counties are connected. Now, no one has been injured and they have set up a multi- agency task force to try and track down the suspected shooter or shooters. He's supposedly firing a handgun from his car at other drivers. They are apparently looking for a dark older model Chevy Cavalier or Ford Mustang.
New evidence of security concerns in Libya coming straight from Ambassador Chris Stevens before he and three other Americans were killed in the deadly consulate attack. Republican leaders of the House Oversight Committee have released a batch of cables and emails from the ambassador and other diplomatic security workers. They say the documents are evidence that the Obama administration ignored a rapidly deteriorating security situation in Libya. Ambassador Stevens wrote this cable in August. "The absence of significant deterrence has contributed to a security vacuum that is being exploited by independent actors. What we have seen are not random crimes of opportunity, but rather targeted and discriminate attacks." But Obama's administration officials are saying that the documents don't tell the whole story. They also say the release of the unedited emails could endanger the lives of the Libyans working with the U.S.
There is a tense situation going on right now off the coast of Israel. Overnight Israeli soldiers stormed a ship headed for its coast. Passengers say they were trying to break the sea blockade of Gaza that's been in effect since 2007.
CNN senior international correspondent Sara Sidner is in Israel at the Ashedod port. That's where the ship is actually headed.
Sara, good morning. What happens to the ship and the people aboard once it does arrive there?
SARA SIDNER, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, at this point in time what we know is just a couple hours ago, the Israeli military did end up boarding the board called the "Estelle." There's are about 30 people on that boat including several members of parliament from countries such as Sweden and Norway, Greece and Spain.
What we know now is the boat has been commandeered by commandos and that boat is now being towed into Ashedod port. That will take several hours as it's slow going trying to get a boat that have size into the port. And we understand from the Israeli military, who we just spoke to their spokesperson, who said that there were no incidents of violence. This was a mostly peaceful operation and that nobody has been injured in this incident.
You will remember that back in 2010, there was a much different situation with (INAUDIBLE). That boat filled with dozens of activists. It ended up that nine Turkish activists were shot and killed by the Israeli military as commandos stormed that boat. The Israeli military has said they had to use excessive force, that they had to use force to protect themselves, that they were first attacked.
However, the international community, including the U.N. report, said that Israel overdid it. They used excessive force on those who were on that boat and that caused quite a controversy for a while. It also weakened relations between Israel and Turkey. Randi.
KAYE: Sara Sidner in Israel for us. Sara, thank you very much for the update.
BLACKWELL: Seventeen days left until the election and the presidential campaigns are turning up the heat in the swing states today, although it's the vice presidential candidates doing all the talking. Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan will be at rallies in western Pennsylvania and Belmont, Ohio. Vice President Joe Biden is holding an event in St. Augustine, Florida. President Obama is at Camp David preparing for Monday's debate. Mitt Romney is doing some debate prep, but he'll attend a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida.
More than 2 million people have already cast their ballots in early voting. Twenty-three states have already started, 11 more start next week. And when it comes to early voting, the Obama campaign has been boasting that they are winning. Romney's camp, however, says they are not.
CNN's political editor Paul Steinhauser joins me now for more on this.
Paul, do we know who is right here?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, exactly. The boasting coming from Vice President Biden yesterday in Florida. Most Democrats are happy. They are saying that they are seeing early numbers and they are very confident with what they are seeing in the early voting. Republicans are countering that they see a lot more Republicans registering to get absentee ballots or to vote early than compared to four years ago, Victor.
What's the truth? Well, we really don't know because you don't know what the vote is right now. All you do know in some states is whether it's Democrats or Republicans voting early, but there's no guarantee that all the Democrats voting early are casting ballots for President Obama and that all the Republicans are casting ballots for Mitt Romney. As you mentioned 23 states, Nevada today becoming that 23rd state to start some form of early voting. Victor, by Election Day we think that maybe around a third of the country, a third of the people who are going to vote will have voted early -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: Both candidates enjoyed a night of white tie and tails and maybe some surf and turf together and then back to business, right?
STEINHAUSER: That Al Smith dinner was a light moment. That was Thursday night in New York City. Forget about that. That's all over.
Take a listen to both candidates, yesterday, on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you say earlier in the year I'm going to give a tax cut to the top 1 percent and then in a debate you say I don't know anything about giving tax cuts to rich folks. That's -- you -- you need to -- yes, you need to get a thermometer, take your temperature because you've probably got Romnesia.
FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They have been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games. Just watch it. The Obama campaign has become the incredible shrinking campaign. This is -- this is a big country with big opportunities and great challenges and they keep on talking about smaller and smaller things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: I think you're going to hear a lot more -- a lot more of that, Victor, between now and November 6th. As you mentioned, you're not going to hear much from the candidates this weekend, basically both men under lock and key, debate prep for Monday's final presidential debate. That one is on foreign affairs and that one will be held in Florida -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: Paul thanks again. The third and final debate is Monday. CNN live coverage starts 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
KAYE: We got much more ahead this hour.
BLACKWELL: Here's a look at what's coming up.
KAYE: Binders full of women, abortion rights, equal pay, but what's the number one concern of women voters this election? The answer may surprise you. They are the 8 percent to 10 percent who may decide the election. All morning we're putting the uncommitted voter in focus.
Backpacks, cell phones and babies? That's what some students are now bringing to school. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. There are no ifs ands or buts about it. The presidential race between President Obama and Mitt Romney is tight and extremely tight.
BLACKWELL: Every vote counts and with 17 days until the election, you can say the key voting bloc has become just 8 to 10 percent of voters. They are the uncommitted, the voters who have a preference but are still swaying, not completely convinced by President Obama or Mitt Romney.
That includes Jeremy Epstein who asked the first question at the debate. Jeremy, what is keeping you from committing to either the president or the governor?
JEREMY EPSTEIN, UNCOMMITTED VOTER: I think that I'm uncommitted because there's still another debate. There's a lot of time before November 6th and I don't want to make a rash decision about this since this is my first election and both these candidates have two different paths where they want to lead our country so I want to make an informed decision.
KAYE: For you, Jeremy, is it education, is that the issue that's really hanging you up?
EPSTEIN: Well, between education and the job rate for people who graduate college, I think that's very important to me.
BLACKWELL: OK. So the number one issue for most voters in this election and the past two elections actually is the economy. So let's start with what President Obama and Governor Romney have said about jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROMNEY: The unemployment rate was 7.8 percent when he took office. It's 7.8 percent now, but if you calculated that unemployment rate taking back the people who dropped out of the workforce, it would be 10.7 percent. We have not made the progress we need to make to put people back to work.
OBAMA: The most important thing we can do is to make sure that we are creating jobs in this country but not just jobs, good paying jobs, ones that can support a family and what I want to do is build on the five million jobs that we've created over the last 30 months in the private sector alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So do you worry that the president hasn't done enough or do you worry that Romney won't do any better?
EPSTEIN: I think I would be more worried that Mitt Romney won't do any better considering where we are at right now for the economy, so I guess that would be my answer.
BLACKWELL: OK. Is this a matter of you liking both candidates? Because there are a lot of people, and I'm sure you've seen the "Saturday Night Live" skit where they say who are the candidates and be specific. You've seen the parodies.
Is it that you have not picked one or you like one more than, you know, the other, or the lesser of two evils? What's your decision- making process as it relates to the two men?
EPSTEIN: Well, I've been telling people if I had to vote like today or tomorrow I think I'd vote for the incumbent, but I don't want to make a decision like this based off a once in a lifetime experience where I was up and close with both candidates and they were talking to me, so I just want to keep informed and try to really make a good decision about this.
KAYE: What about their personalities? Does that weigh in at all, or is it strictly the issues for you?
EPSTEIN: Well, I think I'm in a weird position because I do know both of their personalities from being up close with them. I'm trying to keep that out of my decision-making process because that shouldn't influence me or anybody else's decision whether or not you like a candidate personally. It should be what they are going to do for the country.
BLACKWELL: So you got one more shot to see the two candidates, the president and Governor Romney on stage together, the third debate, foreign policy. How important is foreign policy in your decision?
EPSTEIN: I think it's very important because Mitt Romney has been attacked by the Obama campaign for not having a lot of foreign policy experience and I think in a few polls he's actually made up quite a bit of points because of that and I think that's one of the most important things because foreign policy in this country is important because Romney -- if he's going to lead our country, he should know a lot about it and I think that's one of the most important things about my decision and that's why I think I remain uncommitted.
KAYE: So you have 17 days. I'm sure you well know, to make up your mind. Will you still vote on Election Day if you're undecided and just be a decision right there in the voting booth?
EPSTEIN: No. I'm going to make a decision beforehand. I'm just uncommitted because there's another debate and I just want to stay informed. I don't want to make, like I said, I don't want just this make a rash decision after what great experience I was able to have.
BLACKWELL: Do you think that the people who have voted early, millions and millions of them have, do you think they are wrong for voting weeks before Election Day?
EPSTEIN: No.
BLACKWELL: Before the debates even?
EPSTEIN: because if they feel like their mind is entrenched and they don't want to change their mind or if they feel like this candidate is better than that candidate, they should vote. They have the right and I think that's good if they made up their mind. I just haven't made up mine.
KAYE: Listen, we wish you luck in making up your mind. Jeremy Epstein, thank you so much.
EPSTEIN: Thank you.
KAYE: And we'll hear from more uncommitted voters and what's holding up their vote in the next hour.
Kids having kids and bringing them to school. Guess who is paying for it? We'll explain.
BLACKWELL: But first in this week's travel insider, CNN's Elise Labott takes us to Jerusalem and shows us the unique sights, the smells -- she tells us what she smells and the sounds at a one of a kind market.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Jerusalem's old city is famous for its history and culture but I love to come to (INAUDIBLE) market on Jaffa Street. This is where you're going to find the real tastes and smells of Israel. Outside the market you have the freshest fruits and vegetables. The produce in this country is really incredible.
And inside the market, they have all these breads and sweets and dried fruits and nuts and all these great nibbly things that they call bisetts (ph) here. There's also a whole alley of different restaurants where people can come and eat lunch, but the thing I like the most about this market is you can find Israelis and Palestinians from all walks of life here. No matter what the divisions are in this country, everyone can agree on one thing, good food.
Elise Labott, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Twenty-minutes after the hour, and we have more now for you on Malala Yousafzai.
KAYE: She is the Pakistani schoolgirl activist who was shot in the head by the Taliban and she's showing signs of a remarkable recovery.
Here's her doctor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ROSSER, MALALA YOUSAFZAI'S DOCTOR: She's doing very well. In fact, she was standing with some help for the first time this morning when I went in to see her. She's communicating very freely. She's writing.
She has a tracheotomy tube in because her airway was swollen by the -- by the passage of the bullet, so in order to protect her airway, she has a tracheotomy tube in so she's not able to talk although we have no reason to believe that she wouldn't be able to talk once this tube is out which may be in the next few days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Doctors also point out that she has a long way to go and is not out of the woods just yet.
BLACKWELL: And we have more on that devastating car bombing in Lebanon. It happened during rush hour in Beirut's -- that's the capital of the country. The blast tore balconies off apartments, left rows of mangled cars and charred buildings.
Now a top Lebanese intelligence official known for his anti-Syria stance was killed in the massive explosion. More than 100 people were injured.
Nick Paton Walsh has been covering the story for us, joins me now from Beirut.
Nick, are the Lebanese officials blaming Syria for this blast, and, really, how fearful are they that Syrian President Bashar al Assad is now going to come after them?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not Lebanese officials making those claims at all. There are some people from the pro-western coalition here that Mr. Wissam al Hassan was aligned to. They were themselves anti-Syrian who have been blaming Syria for this. Syria itself has condemned the blast, as has Syria's ally here in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
It's a complicated political mixture here, Victor. We're really talking about many people who historically blame Syria for the problems inside Lebanon pointing the finger at this point. The evidence isn't particularly strong.
As I say, Syria denies it, but it's the historical legacy here that makes many of these people feel Syria are to blame, many of them themselves fearing for their own lives. We heard from one key Lebanese power broker, part of the government coalition at this point.
Let's hear what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALID JUMBLATT, CHAIRMAN, LEBANON PROGRESSIVE SOCIALIST PARTY: When you see what he's doing with his own people, after 18 months, 19 months, killing people, destroying cities, kidnapping people, torturing people, you cannot but realize that he's taking revenge. He's took revenge on Wissam Hassan because Wissam discovered a plot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: It's going to be difficult for authorities here to point a finger clearly at any particular group given how complex investigations here have proven here in the past, but what's happening now with this blame game it's amplifying uncertainty here. It's amplifying fears amongst Lebanese of continued retaliation or reprisals.
We've just seen today this morning out on the street on the main road towards the airport angry Sunni youth from affiliations close to Wissam al Hassan, protesting his death, burning tires in the road along a major sectarian fault line in the city, causing concerns that these protests could continue and destabilize the capital here. Real concerns about that -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: Again, we reported that an official known for the anti- Syria stance was killed in this explosion. Have we heard from others who have that anti-Syrian stance and do they think they are also in danger?
WALSH: Absolutely. As I said, we just heard from Mr. Walid Jumblatt who himself told me he was concerned about his own safety. We went to visit him at his hilltop residence about an hour's drive outside of the city, pretty intense security and to be frank, he looked agitated. He said he himself did not feel safe. He was concerned that he believed the murderers who killed Wissam al Hassan could also target him because they had almost carte blanche, pointing the finger, as you just heard, directly at the Syrian president but really the fears are here about what the next step is.
Is Lebanon on the brink of further chaos? People this morning are more uneasy about what comes next rather than expressing anger out on the street, but it's that fear about what happens next. Is there a reprisal or are there further killings to come -- Victor. BLACKWELL: We know there's been some shelling back and forth across the Turkish border with Syria. Do we expect that Lebanon will fire back against Syria if they get the intelligence that shows that indeed Syria was behind this?
WALSH: No. That's not going to happen, very unlikely indeed. One of the key constituents of the government here, the government coalition is the political party of Hezbollah who are very strongly allied to Damascus. In fact, accused of people and they deny this of assisting the Assad regime. The U.S. government says that they have been supplying material support to Damascus during this Syria war.
What may happen is further destabilization of this country. Remember, it was racked by civil war of its own in the 1980s. And the fear is that the same sectarian divisions that divided this country during its 1980s civil war are currently playing out more or less across the border in Syria during Syria's their 20-month long conflict and revolt. If this continues, we will see this small country, already fragile torn apart as well -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: Nick Paton Walsh, live in Beirut. Thank you.
KAYE: Mitt Romney is on the rise. Polls show his support is actually growing among women, but then came the debate and questions about women's issues. So what are women saying now? We'll take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thanks for starting your morning with us. Here are five stories we're watching this morning.
KAYE: Attorneys for George Zimmerman will be able to see Travon Martin's full medical and social media records. A judge ruled in favor of the defense during a pre-trial hearing in Florida. The prosecution and Martin's family wanted to keep the records private. Zimmerman is accused of second-degree murder for shooting the unarmed 17-year-old in February. He claimed it was self-defense.
Next, more trouble for the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA has started the process of firing 25 agents and suspending 19 others for not following required procedures at Newark's Liberty international airport. It's the largest group of agents ever to be sanctioned by the agency. Surveillance cameras show the employees did not properly screen, check bags.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk money. The Dow dropped 205 point on Friday, almost two percent on the 25th anniversary of the worst one-day crash in history, October 19th, 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 22 percent.
Today's markets are showing concern over worse than expected corporate earnings and the instability in Europe.
Well, as the saying goes everything's bigger in Texas and nothing was much bigger than old Big Tex the symbol of the Texas state fair in Dallas for the last 60 years. This one really breaks Randi's heart.
KAYE: It does. I lived in Dallas for a couple of years and I've seen that guy at the state fair.
BLACKWELL: Waving all the visitors.
KAYE: It's so sad.
BLACKWELL: You'll see here flames took "Big Tex" down within ten minutes. Size 70 boots, he wore, 75-gallon hat hold thick. Thankfully no one was injured in that fire.
KAYE: I'm sorry to see him go. That's for sure.
And lastly, voters are getting a heavy dose of television ads this year, but the campaigns are not stopping there. Some candidates across the country are using illegal automated phone calls or robo calls to target voters as well. It's not surprising many find those calls annoying, and if you're one of them, there may be some good news.
The federal government is stepping in and offering anyone $50,000 for the best idea to block robo calls.
The women's vote, some say it will be key in Governor Romney's quest for the White House and President Obama's bid to stay there. Both candidates making their pitch out on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: When Governor Romney says he's going to get rid of funding for Planned Parenthood, don't boo, vote. When he -- what he apparently doesn't understand is that there are millions of women all across the country, who rely on Planned Parenthood not just for contraceptive care but for preventive care.
ROMNEY: This President has failed America's women. They've suffered in terms of getting jobs. They've suffered in terms of falling into poverty. This is a presidency that has not helped America's women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And when it comes to the issues, a new "USA Today"/Gallup poll shows that women in the critical swing states rank abortion first. You see it there, 39 percent with jobs, health care, the economy and equal rights and pay rounding out the top five.
Joining me now to talk about all of this and much more is Crystal Wright, a conservative columnist and blogger at ConservativeBlackChick.com and owner of the Baker Wright Group. Crystal, good morning to you.
So there has certainly been a lot of back and forth about binders full of women, but really at the end of the -- at the end of the day there are obviously real issues at stake here. I mean you say this poll that we just showed on the screen there is inaccurate. How so? CRYSTAL WRIGHT, BLOGGER, CONSERVATIVEBLACKCHICK.COM: Randi, we're just not seeing this poll played out in the broader polls and the broader electorate and -- and when people, you know, the Gallup poll, the Rasmussen poll, the Real Politics poll, all have Romney ahead of President Obama and the number one issue, even for women, has been the economy and it continues to be.
It's not about what I would say the politics of our vajayjay, the politics of our pocketbook and certainly I think that what President Obama and the Democrats have done because President Obama doesn't have a plan for the American people, how he's going to move the country forward, anything different than he's done the past four years, he's devolved into this campaign of name-calling and distractions.
First it was Big Bird. Then we had the binders comment, and you know, the women full of binders, even though Romney hired a lot of women when he was Governor of Massachusetts and now he's talking about Romnesia. I just wonder what's next and I think women don't like to be pandered too.
KAYE: I'm sure women are certainly concerned about jobs, but you can't -- you can't say that they don't care about the issue of abortion. I mean, if you look at what -- what the Governor has said. He's pledged to appoint Supreme Court judges to overturn "Roe v. Wade" so women are taking notice, right?
WRIGHT: Right. Well, Randi, he actually hasn't said that he's going to appoint judges to legislate from the bench, if you will. What Governor Romney has said is that "Roe versus Wade" is currently the federal law of the land. He has no plans to introduce legislation to repeal it.
However, he is pro-life and he's going to leave the abortion issue to the states, so that -- I think abortion and reproductive rights I still am not buying that poll that you just -- that -- that you know, we just talked about, that that's the most important issue facing women. Women whether they are stay-at-home moms or working women really want more money so that they can do more things with their family, put more food on the table and -- and that's I still think the number one issue.
I think the reproductive rights issue while I'm not saying it's not important, I still am not buying this one poll that says it's the number one issue facing women today.
KAYE: Let me ask you about contraception.
WRIGHT: Right.
KAYE: During the Republican primary Governor Romney first said he opposed and then supported the blunt amendment, that's the Congressional Republican bill that would reverse the Obama administration's requirement -- that employer health plans cover birth control. But at this week's debate he said this, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROMNEY: I -- I just note that I don't believe that bureaucrats in Washington should tell someone whether they can use contraceptives or not and I don't believe employers should tell someone whether they could contraceptive care or not. Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So is that a contradiction?
WRIGHT: No, I don't -- I don't think so. What Governor Romney said is every woman should have access to contraception if she chooses to do so. He didn't say that the government should pay for it or that employers are mandated to pay for that contraception, or for that matter an abortion, and I think what's interesting is you all ran a segment right before I came on about I think teenage moms bringing their babies to school.
Well it really, if we really want to focus on policies to help women, we should be teaching young women to abstain and delay sexual activity so we can reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. I think that's quite empowering and that's what I would like to see as a woman.
Crystal Wright, I appreciate the conversation. Thank you very much.
WRIGHT: Likewise.
BLACKWELL: President Obama comes back swinging in the second debate. Mitt Romney unknowingly puts himself in a bind, and Honey Boo Boo. Don't we love Honey Boo Boo? She picks a president. Here's what you may have missed in the week that was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: That's why I put out a five-point plan.
OBAMA: Governor Romney doesn't have a five-point plan. He has a one- point plan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's alive. It's alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to rush down the debate stage and take a swing at him.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He started talking about binders.
BLACKWELL: It was a debate few will forget this week that was, and the sequel, oh, it had some real stingers, like this.
ROMNEY: It took the President 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.
OBAMA: Get the transcript.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He -- he did in fact, sir, so let me -- let me -- he called it an act of terror.
OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder, Candy.
CROWLEY: He did call it an act of terror.
BLACKWELL: And this.
ROMNEY: I went to a number of women's groups and said can you help us find folks, and they brought us whole binders full of women.
BLACKWELL: Binders full of women. Cue the President.
OBAMA: We don't have to order up some binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women.
BLACKWELL: Ross Perot was driven to endorse Romney this week. President Obama, well, he got Honey Boo Boo.
ALANA THOMPSON, REALITY TV STAR: Barack Obama?
BLACKWELL: And the Boss.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEIN, SINGER: Voting matters. Elections matter. Think of the events of the last 12 years and try to convince yourself they don't.
BLACKWELL: It was an ugly week for Lance Armstrong.
LANCE ARMSTRONG, CYCLIST: What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) six hours a day.
BLACKWELL: What he's not on anymore -- Nike's payroll. The company dumped him after the massive evidence supporting those doping allegations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the best thing he could do is really confess the truth.
BLACKWELL: Armstrong says he's never doped. He also resigned as chairman of his charity. Speaking of resignations --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a job to do and I haven't finished it.
BLACKWELL: He has now.
Citibank's CEO Vikram Pandit also resigned this week. His abrupt departure shocked Wall Street, but he'll be just fine with the $261 million he earned at Citibank.
And another leader falls, literally. Australia's Prime Minister went down hard Wednesday on a trip to India. Ladies, the takeaway here is --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you wear heels, it can get embedded in soft grass.
BLACKWELL: Careful.
And that's the week that was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That looked painful.
BLACKWELL: Yes. It probably hurt -- her pride, her knees.
KAYE: Oh, boy. All right. Well for some students heading off to high school Monday morning it will be important to remember their homework, books, lunches and baby wipes? We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: He is the seven-time Tour de France cycling king, a popular cancer survivor and advocate for cancer patients. But for years Lance Armstrong was plagued with a growing burden of doping allegations and this week it all came to a crash.
By now you probably heard Armstrong has lost major endorsement deals, including Nike which is worth millions and Wednesday he voluntarily stepped down as chairman of the cancer charity he founded 15 years ago, Livestrong. If that weren't enough, mounting evidence of doping allegations against Armstrong by the U.S. Doping Agency contends that he lied under oath opening a Pandora's Box of potential lawsuits.
Let's bring in CNN legal contributor Paul Callan to talk more about this.
Paul, good morning.
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Randi.
KAYE: So reports say an insurer may try to recoup a $5 million performance bonus and "The London Times" says that it's considering legal action for fraud against Armstrong. Do these companies have a case here?
CALLAN: Well, interesting question. Those cases both arise out of situations where in the case of the performance bonus, he was paid a $5 million performance bonus for winning one of the many, many races that he won in his career, and the insurance company paid out on that because they had a policy.
So now they are saying, hey, he was, you know, using, he was blood doping, participating in blood doping and it was an illegal win, we shouldn't pay.
On the other hand, the British newspapers, the newspaper in particular, one of Murdoch's papers was sued for defamation when they accused him of using illegal performance enhancing drugs and they ended up settling that case as well.
I don't think they are going to win these cases against Lance Armstrong because usually when you settle a case, there's sort of an air-tight agreement that's signed between the attorneys saying that all further claims are waived and obviously at the time of the lawsuits both sides were saying that their position was the correct position.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: Right.
CALLAN: In other words, the newspaper was saying, hey, we had good basis to believe he had used illegal drugs, as did the insurance company, so when you settle the case, you're kind of saying I'm giving up these claims.
KAYE: Right.
CALLA: So I don't think -- I don't think they are going to win on that.
KAYE: But now Armstrong's former manager said in a statement, quote, "He will continue to be involved in legal proceedings related to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency charges against him, and hopes to receive a fair hearing."
Does Armstrong though still have a good defense? I mean, since he hasn't been officially found guilty of lying or doping?
CALLAN: I think Armstrong's in serious trouble. The agency in issuing its report based the report on testimony from 26 witnesses, 15 riders who participated in races with Armstrong, 10 of them his roommates, his teammates. And frankly even his wife was quoted or mentioned in the report on 30 separate occasions.
The agency, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said it was as strong a case or a stronger case than any case in the history of the agency, so Nike pulling away the endorsement contract, it says to me this is a very strong case against Lance Armstrong, and I think he's going to have a problem winning any cases in the future arising out of it.
KAYE: So if he's found guilty, I mean, how big is the damage here? Do all the titles get stripped, and what about more lawsuits because now some of the people who have helped raise money for his charity, Livestrong, not big corporations, but they're saying, you know what; we were duped. We want our money back.
CALLAN: Well, I do think his titles will be stripped. I don't think that people who were involved in his charity will have a legitimate ground to sue him.
Now, this charity, I think, you know, Randi, the real tragedy is that this charity is such an enormously successful charity. It's helped so many people around the world with cancer. Who knows what's going to happen to this charity. I can't picture it surviving because of the importance of his name, so I think that's the real tragedy of the Lance Armstrong downfall here, the destruction of his charity.
KAYE: Well, I absolutely agree with you there, because it is certainly so important. Paul Callan, thank you.
CALLAN: Nice being with you, Randi.
KAYE: And we'll see you back here actually next hour to talk about corporate CEOs pressuring employees not to vote for president Obama. Paul will be back for that.
BLACK: And a note here Lance Armstrong speaks live tomorrow to the cancer charity Livestrong which he founded 15 years ago. I'll be reporting live from Austin, Texas starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
Researchers might have just discovered an all-natural way to potentially double training results without steroids. CNN's Gary Tuchman has this week's "Start Small, Think Big".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is not the type of glove you usually see on the football field, but researchers at Stanford University think they have stumbled upon a game-changer. Professors Dennis Grahn and Craig Heller (ph) have spent about 18 years developing this glove, to help people who are over or under heated rapidly change their body temperatures.
DENNIS GRAHN, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: To have effective heat transfer, you have to go through areas that don't have insulation, palms of our hands, the soles of our feet.
TUCHMAN: The gloves use cold water to cool the blood which then circulates through the body quickly returning it to its core temperature.
GRAHN: The dark is the effect of cooling.
TUCHMAN: But once they put it through test runs they found some surprising results.
GRAHN: By cooling a subject down, you can dramatically enhance their performance capacity.
TUCHMAN: The glove's cooling effects can reverse the fatigue feeling so athletes are ready to train again.
MICHAEL CHIN, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: I feel good. I'm pretty recovered now and I'm not really breathing hard or sweating.
TUCHMAN: The Stanford football team is already using the glove, but Professor Grahn believes its benefits could be felt beyond the gridiron.
GRAHN: Every athletic training room should have one. Every AMT vehicle should have one. Hospitals -- there's just an endless list.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: Welcome back. This next story brings together books and babies.
BLACKWELL: Exactly. It's a funded program designed to keep teen moms in school. Athena Jones has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Teen mom Alexus Barbee has big goals.
ALEXUS BARBEE, TEEN MOM: I would like to be a nurse or either a lawyer.
JONES: But when she got pregnant at 16, she feared she'd have to put them on hold.
BARBEE: I thought that am I going to be able to go to school every day and who is going to be there to watch my child? Like am I going to be able to finish? Like I had a lot going through my mind.
JONES: Now she brings her 9-month-old daughter with her to her Richmond, Virginia high school. While Alexus goes to class, her daughter goes to day care downstairs. Alexus also gets parenting classes, which includes spending time at day care. The program is funded with local and federal dollars.
(on camera): Administrators here at Armstrong high school hope this program will help raise graduation rates
(voice-over): Just 38 percent of teen girls who have a child before age 18 get a high school diploma. Armstrong high's program is a win- win for teens like Alexus, says her principal.
APRIL HAWKINS, PRINCIPAL, ARMSTRONG HIGH SCHOOL: Just to think back, I've known Alexus for four years, and this is such a different mature type of student who really wants to get her high school diploma so the child care lab affords her that opportunity.
JONES: While it's unknown exactly how many high schools offer day care, these programs are available in states across the country. Studies show that providing teen mothers with access to child care at school not only increases their likelihood of graduating, it also lowers the chance they will have another child while in high school.
(on camera): When do you think you'll have another child?
BARBEE: When I get my own place and when I finish school and I have a good job.
JONES (voice-over): But some critics say these programs are not a good use of taxpayer dollars.
NEAL MCCLUSKEY, CATO INSTITUTE: It's something that we should be looking to charitable organizations, philanthropists, lots of people who are interested in these things to fund it. JONES: On the contrary, says the director of federal grants for Richmond City schools. She believes the program is invaluable.
ERNESTINE SCOTT, RICHMOND CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: The data for parents who don't graduate from high school is going to be a ripple negative impact on their children's education.
JONES: The day care gives Alexus peace of mind.
BARBEE: She's in a good place.
JONES: And Alexus is in a better place, too, determined to graduate on time next spring.
Athena Jones, CNN, Richmond, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: You've got to keep these girls in school.
KAYE: You absolutely do. I mean, they have a lot to handle so they need some of that support for sure.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
KAYE: Well, we've talked before about politics from the church pulpit but from what about from the CEO's office?
BLACKWELL: Well, some bosses are telling their employees how to vote, but is that legal? We'll have that story in our next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: I don't know why I love that music. Every time it comes on it just --
KAYE: It kind of makes me want to just -- yes.
BLACKWELL: Yes. I don't know why.
KAYE: Yes.
BLACKWELL: It's not the greatest music.
KAYE: Yes, exactly.
BLACKWELL: It seems kind of smooth like, yes.
KAYE: Smooth jazz. That's what it is.
BLACKWELL: Well, it's not that smooth, but it's music.
KAYE: Well, we have all the news that you missed overnight in just minutes.
BLACKWELL: But first, some of that groovy music and some late night laughs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: Both candidates now working very hard to shore up their support among women. That's the big thing. In fact, today they both pledged to increase domestic production of Ryan Gosling movies.
JIMMY KIMMEL, TALK SHOW HOST: A CNN poll today said that 46 percent of viewers who watched thought Obama won and 39 percent thought Mitt Romney won. So it looks like Obama's strategy of staying awake through this one has paid off.
JON STEWART, TALK SHOW HOST: I have these great pictures from the two debates, but I don't know which debate they are from, so if you could -- I have two pictures. There's -- there's one picture. I don't know if you've got that, and then there's the other picture, and I'm wondering can you tell me do you know which debate was which?
BILL MAHER, TALK SHOW HOST: When Mitt Romney claimed that Obama did not call the Benghazi attack in September an act of terror until two weeks later and then Obama said check the transcript, and Candy Crowley, the moderator came in and said, "Yes, I was there, it's true, he did call it that."
Mitt Romney was furious. He was so mad at Candy Crowley he took her right out of his lady binder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
