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Hostage Situation In Pittsburgh Office Building; Ann Romney Defends Husband; Romney and Obama Woo Latino Voters; U.S. Ad Campaign In Pakistan; New Anti-U.S. Violence Erupts; GM Recalls 426,000 Cars; Endeavour's Final Salute

Aired September 21, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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


ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. It is 11:00 on the East Coast. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, taking over the baton of this breaking news and, surprisingly, hearing a very unique development in this hostage-taking situation in Pittsburgh.

The suspect's mother has been brought into the building to talk to this suspect, a suspect with a criminal background, according to the chief of police, Nate Harper, who's been briefing reporters live just moments ago, saying this.

But also saying that the suspect is, quote, "not irrational" and that they are hopeful this can be resolved from the 16th floor of one of these high rise buildings at a complex in Pittsburgh.

At latest report, two people apparently being held hostage by this person. Again, with a criminal background, though "not irrational," quote/unquote, according to the police officer, the chief of police who just briefed reporters.

But we can say this -- doesn't appear that this is a domestic situation, according to the police, but it does appear that this suspect knew who he was looking for and went looking for that person, in particular.

But at this point, why there may be two people being held hostage, it is unclear. What is clear is that the police are in contact with this suspect, they are communicating and they have been able to at least get his mother on location, which, by the way, a very strong hostage negotiating tactic when you can get a relative or a loved one to make contact with a hostage-taker.

We're going to continue to watch this story and continue to see. As the developments come in, we will bring them to you, as well.

In the meantime, we have other big news that is happening, not just in this country, but around the world and it has to do with this country. This is "Flashpoint Friday."

Take a look at your screen. Pictures from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, violence erupting yet again over this anti-Muslim movie, the provocations of a cheap American video and French cartoon. In Pakistan, this is not only the Muslim day of prayer, Friday prayers, but it's also a proclaimed national holiday, meant to celebrate the Prophet Mohammed.

Holiday or not, several people are now dead. Two theaters are torched. The damage is obvious.

And CNN's Reza Sayah is watching all of this live in Islamabad. So, Reza, for starters, this holiday proclaimed by the government, this was not supposed to be a holiday.

This comes at a time, exactly a time, when perhaps the government might have been doing something to stop this kind of activity.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I expect that decision by the Pakistani government to be scrutinized and questioned and criticized in the days to come because I think it was an effort to sympathize with the Muslims in Pakistan, to show them that the government is on your side and they're condemning the movie.

But in many ways, it was a call for people to come out and protest and that's what they did. The demonstrations started very early this morning. By mid-afternoon, when Friday prayers was over, when everybody had gotten out to the streets, the protests had grown in numbers and intensity. They were all over Pakistan and major cities like Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar.

At one point, we had an incredibly difficult time keeping track of everything that was happening. That's how many protests there were.

Some of those demonstrations spawned pockets of violence. That's when things got ugly. At this hour, the death toll stands at 15. Among the dead, a driver of a news van in Peshawar, two police officers in Karachi.

Most of these men were devout Muslims today who were protesting the movie. Some were against the U.S. government and American foreign policy, but, Ashleigh, I have to tell you, the ones who were getting rowdy, destroying property, they looked to be teenagers, young men in their 20s and you didn't get the impression that these were men who were offended by this movie.

Unfortunately, they looked like they were having a good time and they're the ones who made the headlines because of the dramatic pictures.

BANFIELD: All right, CNN's Reza Sayah, reporting live from Islamabad. Keep your eyes on things for us there, if you will.

I want to head westward from you to Libya now, where the post-Gadhafi government is tracking down the suspects in that U.S. consulate attack.

It's a mission. They call it a consulate. Officially it's our mission in Benghazi and last week it was deadly there. Protesters, again, back on the streets today, as well, and our CNN's Arwa Damon is live on the telephone in Benghazi where she's been investigating this story.

So we're hearing protests, yet again on the street, all of this as you're able to interview the Libyan prime minister, Arwa. For starters, why is this story where you are so much different than the story here, according to the State Department?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there has been quite a bit of contradiction when it comes to accounts of exactly what may have transpired on September 11th that led, of course, to the horrific events at the U.S. consulate.

According to the prime minister, Mustafa Abushagur, who we spoke to, so far they have detained eight individuals who were directly related to this attack.

Some of them are being described as "splinter members" of a known extremist group, Ansar al Sharia, although the government is saying that the group itself, at this point, was not involved as an organization in the attack itself.

He said that there were no foreigners who were detained and no known links to al Qaeda.

However, the prime minister does believe that this was a pre-planned attack. They're asking for U.S. assistance when it comes to things like technical assistance, logistics, and the future training of the security forces, but they say, absolutely no, when it comes to any sort of a U.S. military strike in the future.

Take a listen to a bit more of what the prime minister had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSTAFA ABUSHAGUR, PRIME MINISTER, LIBYA: The ones which we are looking for, we think that they are (INAUDIBLE), most of them are from splinter group or they were part of Ansar al Sharia at one point in time, but really they are far extremists of their own.

DAMON: Were there any foreigners amongst them tied to groups like al Qaeda?

ABUSHAGUR: No, they're all Libyans.

DAMON: Have you then determined that this attack was preplanned?

ABUSHAGUR: Oh, I think it is. I think it is. Because the way it has taken place, the way they have done it, clearly, this group has planned it and, so, it is not a spontaneous thing that took place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: To that effect, Ashleigh, the government is saying that they are now in pursuit of other individuals who are believed to have been involved in this attack and in the leadership itself.

The people of Benghazi, by and large, have been condemning this attack, saying that it most certainly is not indicative of widespread Libyan sentiment as a whole and, to that effect, we're actually at a demonstration that's being called "Save Benghazi."

There are hundreds of people so far that have gathered. The numbers are expected to swell. It is expected to launch in about an hour, people really highlighting their opposition to the consulate attack, one of the banners reading Libya has lost a friend.

But people also claim (AUDIO BREAK) militias for the establishment of a credible police and army and calling for freedom of expression and religious moderation.

Now, this demonstration that's launching from the front of the Tibesti hotel, heading towards the square around 15 minutes away, but in that square, Ansar al Sharia itself is staging something of a counter- demonstration, saying that they are not been involved in this attack. They're denying all of those allegations and they're protesting, they're saying, to highlight their own positions.

BANFIELD: All right, Arwa Damon, reporting live for us from Benghazi. If you can keep your eye on what's happening there for us, there's another development right here in the United States, another target of Muslim outrage and someone who's used to it by now, author Salman Rushdie.

You will remember, if you have a long memory, that he's no stranger to this. It was Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who declared Rushdie's 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses" blasphemous and then ordered a fatwa, a very long fatwa and, fearing for his life, Rushdie had to go into hiding for years.

And, now, today, we've got more to the story. An imam in Iran has decided to increase the bounty on Mr. Rushdie's head. So, he's lived with it for two decades and he's living with it again.

The imam says that, had he not come out with "The Satanic Verses," the anti-Muslim film would never have been made, for what that comment is worth.

Mr. Rushdie talked about the film in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALMAN RUSHDIE, AUTHOR: This is very much a product of the outrage machine. You know, yes, there's this stupid film. You know?

And the correct response to a stupid film on YouTube is to say, "It's a stupid film on YouTube," and you get on with the rest of your life.

So, to take that, and to deliberately use it to inflame your troops, you know, is a political act. That's not about religion. That's about power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And he's had 24 years to think about that.

You can catch all of Salman Rushdie's interview this Sunday, 10:00 a.m., Eastern on "FAREED ZAKARIA'S GPS." Great program, great interview, I encourage you to watch.

In the meantime, the Muslim outrage over that film that mocked the Prophet Mohammed is the latest political football to, of course, consume our battle for the White House here in the United States.

About the only thing that the Democrats and the Republicans are agreeing on is that Ambassador Chris Stevens and three of his colleagues were killed in an attack on that U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11th. That's the fact.

But you could also add this -- there are a lot of unanswered questions. Arwa and I were just talking about this.

Take, for example, this -- was the attack planned, or was it spontaneous? The story's different on either side of the ocean.

Was it just the result of the anti-Islam film or the rapid rise of Islamic extremists following the revolution of the Arab Spring?

Was there a total breakdown in security and did we have warnings?

Yesterday, the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, discussed some of these issues in a closed-door, classified set of briefings on Capitol Hill.

At least one lawmaker who was there, though, was not impressed and had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BOB CORKER, (R) TENNESSEE: I will just tell you that briefing today was an absolute non-event. It was almost a one-hour filibuster.

There was no new information. As a matter of fact, what you just carried on CNN regarding the interview with the prime minister there is information that certainly was not shared during this briefing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, we have to mention, as well, that was a Republican senator and Senator Corker was referring to this interview on your screen. That's the interview that Arwa and I were speaking of, a CNN interview, an exclusive with the Libyan prime minister.

He said he believes that the attack was planned, period, and, by the way, that there are about eight people now detained in direct connection to the attack who he says are extremists loosely connected to a radical Islamist group based in Benghazi.

Our CNN intelligence correspondent Suzanne Kelly joins me live now from Washington, D.C. Where to begin? First of all, I asked Arwa how we could have such varying discrepancy between the two reports, one coming from the Libyan prime minister, the other coming from Secretary Clinton and it doesn't seem too many people are happy or satisfied.

SUZANNE KELLY, CNN INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right, Ashleigh, and I think, you know, just your mention of the fact that this has become something of a political football is absolutely right, as well.

It's sad to see that happen, of course, especially when you have something as serious as four Americans losing their lives in an attack like this, but the bottom line is that somebody's got to get to the bottom of it. There has to be some solid intelligence and investigation somehow that could potentially lead to information that's going to track these people down.

And, so, that's what they've been focused on here. While some people come out and speak a lot about what they think might have happened or they think they might know, it doesn't always turn out to be the case.

I think it's been very difficult for intelligence officials, particularly who are looking at this and trying to track down the people responsible, to get solid information out of Benghazi and find out what happened.

They're still trying to do that now more than a week later and the story does continue to slightly shift here and there.

And now we're hearing, yesterday, a U.S. official told me that they certainly acknowledge contradictory information about whether or not there was a spontaneous protest before this attack took place and it's much different than what we heard even just over the weekend when you had people like Susan Rice going out and giving their account of what they thought was accurate at the time, that this attack grew out of a protest.

Now, they're even going back and looking at that information, once again, and seeing what they do know. We're hearing from witnesses in Libya that perhaps that was not the case.

So, they've got to go back and really scrutinize every little last bit of information, and someone's got to figure out what's actually real, as opposed to all these ideas of what people think happened or what would have been more convenient.

BANFIELD: It was so often described as the fog of war and, in this case, serious, perhaps security breaches that may or may not have been known in advance.

Suzanne Kelly, great work. Stay on it. Thank you.

KELLY: Thanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Want to update you on some of this breaking news, a hostage situation in downtown Pittsburgh. We've got live pictures for you.

You can see a police officer with vehicles and a police dog and I can tell you what they've decided to do is move us away, at least a block away.

The police have moved the media away from this building where a man is holding at least two people hostage at this point.

It's -- it's inside the Three Gateway Center, if you're familiar with the Pittsburgh area. The 16th floor is where this is an issue.

The suspect, apparently, said that he had bombs in duffel bags. Whether that's true or not, this is what the police are reporting, that this is what he had said.

And here's something else -- his mother, apparently contacted by police, brought to the location and has been inside that building. Whether or not she's emerged yet, we don't know, but she was seen, we think, in discussions, in very deep discussions, with the police officers, either in advance or afterwards.

The video that's come in to us has not been clear, but at least we know that contact certainly made with this suspect and the police are saying that he's not irrational, for what that's worth.

Holding two people hostage, you may say differently, but at least in negotiation terms, they say that this hostage-taker is not irrational and they are hoping that the situation will be resolved.

We'll continue to watch that for you and update you as we get further developments.

In the meantime, three years ago, 30,000 additional United States troops were sent to Afghanistan to try to quash the Taliban that was really picking up momentum there. That was something we called the so-called "surge" and those so-called "surge" troops, those 30,000, are coming back home.

Doesn't mean that everybody's coming back home, though. About 68,000 U.S. personnel are still going to stay stationed in Afghanistan, at least for a couple more years.

President Obama saying those troops should be home by the end of 2014, which would bring to an end America's longest war. Believe me. I know. I went just as it was beginning in 2001 and have things ever changed. Or have they?

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now. Let's talk a little bit about the payoff to the surge mission, 30,000 troops in, 30,000 troops out, three years. Much done? Was it worth it?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the military, the Pentagon, the Obama administration and many in the NATO coalition, yes.

What we're talking about right now, Ashleigh, is eventually it actually wound up being 33,000, all of them now, all those extra U.S. troops that President Obama sent in, in 2010, mainly to Southern Afghanistan, the big Taliban stronghold at the time, now back out of Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta issued a statement last night about the end of the surge in which he underscored what he says the successes are.

He says, quote, "The surge accomplished its objectives of reversing Taliban momentum on the battlefield and dramatically increased the size and capability of the Afghan national security forces."

How much bigger are the Afghan forces? Back when the surge started, there were about 153,000 Afghan forces. Now, 340,000.

But the fundamental question is, has it really changed? Because, of course, Ashleigh, this week we saw a huge development, pulling back on the joint operations between U.S. and Afghan forces because of security concerns and that joint partnering is what it's all about.

So, probably still fair to say a mixed picture.

Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Barbara, do we even know what we're fighting anymore? And I know that sounds ridiculous, but we went there because of al Qaeda and the host of al Qaeda were the Taliban.

And now al Qaeda doesn't seem to be brought up much and the Taliban does. Is the Taliban really our enemy and is there such a problem in leaving the Taliban where it is and allowing the Afghans with their training to carry on their mission alone?

STARR: Well, what you just pointed out, allowing the Afghans to carry on, what the administration will tell you is the Afghans are not yet ready, that all of this is about buying enough time and space, if you will, to get the Afghan forces trained up and ready to look after their own security.

They came to an agreement that that would al be done by 2014. Everybody can basically go home then. The afghans will be ready.

Surge buys you enough time, you get to push the Taliban out of Southern Afghanistan, and the Afghans can grow their own security forces.

But again, this week, we saw a big wrinkle in that, didn't we, when General Allen, the head of all this, basically came out and said pulling back just a little bit for now, on those joint operations, because of the insider attacks, because so many coalition and U.S. troops have been killed by Afghan forces turning their weapons on them?

The partnering that is the root home to all of this isn't going so well right now. BANFIELD: All right, Barbara Starr, thank you for that update. If I could say thank you, do appreciate it. Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: It is Friday, which means it's iPhone day, which means Christine is on the program to talk big ...

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm not standing in line.

BANFIELD: I would not wait in line for an iPhone, but I am not normal, apparently.

ROMANS: Well, lots of people are waiting in line around the world.

BANFIELD: Did you see the pictures?

ROMANS: I've seen the pictures from everywhere.

BANFIELD: So, first of all, I hear that in New York City, where not many people like to wait for much, three days -- three days a lot of these New Yorkers have been waiting in line and around the world it's the same story whether it's London or Sydney or Tokyo.

This is a big deal and not only is it a big deal for the economy, which we'll get into in a moment, but just the iPhone itself, if you break it down, the numbers are extraordinary.

BANFIELD: It's so interesting to look at what goes into this iPhone and how much it costs to make.

So, here's a breakdown we've seen here, right? The display and this touch-screen, $44, Ashleigh. The memory, just about $20 there. The battery, $4.50. The camera, $18. That cool camera, 18 bucks, that's what the cost is in your iPhone of that camera.

BANFIELD: Just to manufacture it.

ROMANS: The substructure of the wireless, $34.

BANFIELD: By the way, I have no idea what WLAN is.

ROMANS: I skipped over it. The processor is $17.50. Power management, $8.50. And all of these others, the sensors, the user interface, just $6.50.

So, look at the assembly cost. Yes, the assembly cost, eight bucks.

BANFIELD: That's heartbreaking.

ROMANS: $8 to put that thing together.

BANFIELD: That's the people.

ROMANS: That's the people.

BANFIELD: That's the labor.

ROMANS: And those people aren't here by the way.

BANFIELD: And they're not here and there's a reason that it's that cheap.

So, overall, if you add up all these price tags of everything inside the iPhone, you come up with $200.85 to make one iPhone.

ROMANS: That's right.

BANFIELD: And they sell it for $649 for a grand difference of $443 pure profit.

ROMANS: Pure profit. And, when you look at the stock, you can see exactly how that profit plays out.

Shareholders have been enriched by the cash machine that is the iPhone. You know, the iPhone is, I think, two-thirds of the revenue of the company or the profit of the company, so it's a very big driver overall.

Every time Apple comes up with something new, it becomes iconic, a cult status. Look over the past five years.

Two-hundred-sixty-seven percent is how much Apple shares have rallied, so the beneficiaries of Apple and its manufacturing strategy, which is to invent it here and make it somewhere else, it's the users who get a gadget subsidized by the wireless. It's usually $199, $299 or $399 for the iPhone.

And the shareholders benefit. Employment doesn't necessarily benefit. That happens overseas.

BANFIELD: So, just to go with the sheer, "wow"-version of the story, as well. Two million iPhones sold in the first 24 hours ...

ROMANS: Preorders.

BANFIELD: ... including the preorders. How many are they expecting by Monday?

ROMANS: I think 10 million by Monday and you're hearing these forecast for maybe 50 million by Christmas at $400 profit a pop.

BANFIELD: So, I wondered in the last six years, which, by the way, we had our babies about six years ago, so it feels like recent memory to us.

Just in the last six years, 244 million iPhones sold 'round the world. That's affecting GDP.

ROMANS: It's remarkable and you will see GDP, most likely, according to JPMorgan, will grow a little bit, maybe three-tenths of a percent of GDP in the third quarter will be because of iPhone.

BANFIELD: I'm still on Blackberry. Call me.

Christine Romans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: If I reported to you that 1,500 people in America died in one day, it would seem alarming, right? It's the reality of cancer: 1,500 people per day, more than half a million a year.

Today, the largest cancer center in the world, MD Anderson, is launching something they're calling a bold war on cancer. Our CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, got an exclusive interview with the researchers in their Texas lab.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RONALD DEPINHO, MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: We're in a position to make dramatic impact on cancer mortality in this decade.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're saying if we do everything right, in five years from now, there will be far fewer people dying from cancer, right?

DEPINHO: Correct. I think that with the existing knowledge, and the application of what we now know, we can begin to see dramatic declines in mortality that would accelerate in years five through 10, and beyond set the stage for ultimate control of the disease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is live with me now.

Sanjay, I'm so glad you're here on this remarkable headline. And this is going to resonate. First before I get into the what, how could they be so confident, I want to know why. What cancers are we talking about here? Which ones?

GUPTA: I'll tell you the specific cancers. Let me preface by saying that we -- they call this a moon shot program, Ashleigh. For people who know about this and you think about what John Kennedy, President Kennedy brought to the moon program at that point, trying to get a man on the moon, it was that same energy, that same passion that I felt when they gave us this access into the center.

It was really remarkable. There are a few cancers that they're specifically targeting in on and that's based on lots of research, looking at what they're most likely to make an impact over in the next few years, not far off in the distance.

You can look at the list there, Ashleigh, melanoma; lung cancer, the biggest cancer killer; prostate cancer; triple negative breast cancer -- that's an incredibly hard cancer to treat. These are some of the cancers where they think, within the next few years, they can dramatically reduce mortality rates. So they are quite positive, as you point out, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So it's amazing. I want to know where the confidence comes from, and why they now look at their intent as -- the cure is what's critical here, not so much the treatment. How have they been able to make that flip to go after cure, not so much treatment now?

GUPTA: We tend to think of these things at watershed events, that one day there will be a cure and sometimes it's easy to forget that there's all this data and scientific studies and work that's done preceding that. And a lot of that's been going on in cancer centers all over the country.

At MD Anderson, for example, they have over 1,000 clinical trials, they have tens of thousands of patients who come through there. They've been collecting lots of data and knowledge over the last several years and they believe the existing scientific knowledge is enough to really push toward some of these audacious goals.

Quick example, genetic therapy; we talk a lot about screening one's genes. But the idea that you, Ashleigh, for example, even another person your age, another woman, who might develop cancer, it will still be a completely different cancer in that person versus someone like you.

How do you screen that person for a young age? How do you treat that person differently so it's not a one-size-fits-all approach? They think those things are going to make a big difference in terms of decreasing mortality, again, in the next couple of years.

BANFIELD: It's just awesome, just awesome material that you've uncovered. Sanjay, thank you. Good to see you.

GUPTA: Thanks. You got it.

BANFIELD: Big plug for you, too, Sanjay. You've got your special coming up, "Chasing the Cure." Sanjay's been working hard on this, and it's going to air this weekend, perfectly timed, too. Saturday at 4:30 pm Eastern time and then again re-airing Sunday 7:30 am right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Well, not even presidents can be in two places at once. But 46 days before an election they can sure as heck try. So look what's going on. The President, doing just that, addressing a really important voting block in New Orleans right now, but doing it from a campaign event in the state of Virginia.

All of this via satellite and all of it an effort to convince members of the AARP that ObamaCare is no threat to Medicare, but that Romney and Ryan's plans are. Those are his thoughts. Take a listen to what he's been saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's been a lot of talk about Medicare and Social Security in this campaign, as there should be. And these are bedrock commitments that America makes to its seniors, and I consider those commitments unshakable.

But, given the conversations that have been out there in the political arena lately, I want to emphasize, Medicare and Social Security are not handouts. You've paid into these programs your whole lives. You've earned them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Paul Ryan is going to have his chance to speak to that same group of seniors next hour. But he'll be in person, not via satellite. He'll likely be refuting what you've heard the President just say.

In the meantime, I want to get directly to CNN's political editor, Paul Steinhauser, who -- normally we start off with polls and I will talk polls, but not before I want you to respond to just what we just heard because my Spidey sense is right away, the minute I heard that, was the President is directly going after the comments that were made on that tape by Mitt Romney about the 47 percent of Americans considering themselves victims and wanting entitlements.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: And I think it was a lot of those 47 percent are seniors who do not pay federal income tax and, of course, Medicare, AARP, all ties together.

And you're absolutely right. That's the President's message. It sure seems it.

As you also said, Mitt Romney will not be speaking at this group. He's flying out as we talk right now Ashleigh from Florida to Nevada where he's got a campaign event tonight. But his wingman -- that's right -- the running mate, Paul Ryan, will be addressing the event in person. And you're going to hear a very different message from him.

Of course, Ryan is the author of the Republican House plan that would alter Medicare for those under 55, would give options for privatization.

You're going to hear Ryan say just the opposite that the President said. He's going to be criticizing the President and saying the President's health care plan, ObamaCare, is taking money away from Medicare and there's actually doing disruption for it. So he's got a very different take you're going to hear next hour from Paul Ryan.

And Ashleigh, listen, you understand the politics here. It's pretty simple. Seniors and those close to retirement age vote in big numbers. And there are a lot of them in some key battleground states like, say, Florida.

BANFIELD: Florida, yes. No kidding. Speaking of the battleground states, that's why I want to do a quick turn to the polls. You have to stay up really late and get up really early to follow all of your e-mails, my friend. And I do exactly that. And when you sent this out, I was pretty astounded at these numbers. And again, polls (INAUDIBLE) margin of error. So, go to the numbers, go to the states, tell me why they're critical.

STEINHAUSER: And here's what we do. We take all the most recent polls we've been doing nationally, we average them together, all the likely voter polls.

Now we're doing it in the States because there have been so many polls in the last two weeks in these key battleground states, we were able to do a CNN poll, polls and average them together, here we go, we'll start with Ohio -- of course, such a crucial battleground state.

And look at this. The average of the most recent polls together, the President with a 5-point advantage in Ohio, where 18 electoral votes are up for grabs. Virginia, another state that's getting a lot of traffic by the candidates and ads. Look at that, the President with a 6-point advantage when you average all these polls together.

Wisconsin, Paul Ryan is on the ticket there, but if you average the polls together, a 9-point advantage for the President right now. And Colorado, much closer there, you can see right there a 3-point advantage for the President.

And Ashleigh, we came out with a poll in Nevada yesterday, CNN ORC, the exact same number, 49 for the President, 46 for Ryan. Again this is all likely voters.

BANFIELD: When do you sleep?

STEINHAUSER: Hey, the candidates aren't sleeping, I'm not sleeping. (Inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Ah, especially the Romney campaign with those numbers, because that means a lot more work still lies ahead in the next couple weeks. Paul Steinhauser, in D.C., thank you for that. And also a quick reminder, as I mentioned before, that Paul Ryan is going to speak to that AARP group about 12:35 Eastern time. So not quite an hour from now, and we're going to bring you those comments live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We at CNN take a lot of pride in the work that we do every day. And we take an enormous amount of pride in our Heroes program. And I say that because we now have our top 10 CNN Heroes for this year for 2012. They have been revealed.

And this is where you come in. You are the people who help us to decide who's going to end up getting the Hero of the Year honor. And my friend and colleague, Anderson Cooper, has all of the instructions and here's how it works.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Now that we've announced the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2012 I want to show you how you can vote for the CNN Hero of the Year. It's very easy. This is the main page of CNNHeroes.com. Now down here, you'll see all top 10 CNN heroes. Each one will receive $50,000 plus a shot at becoming CNN Hero of the Year. That's where you come in.

Here's how you can vote for your favorite CNN Hero. As an example, I'm going to randomly quick on Razia Jan over here. You can read a story about her work, providing free education to girls in rural Afghanistan.

Now the same kind of information will come up if you pick any of the top 10 CNN Heroes. Once you're ready to pick the person who inspires you the most, click "vote" in red right over here.

A new page then comes up. It shows you all top 10 CNN Heroes; you choose the person you want to vote for, I'm going to say here, just as an example, Leo McCarthy. His photo will show up down here under your selection.

Then just enter your e-mail over here in step two; you enter the security code and you click on the red box right down here that says "vote". You can vote up to 10 times every day with your e-mail address and through Facebook. And then rally your friends by sharing your choice on Facebook over here or on Twitter.

Remember you can vote from your computer, your phone, your tablet, pretty much any mobile device with a browser. Just go to CNNheroes.com. We'll reveal your 2012 Hero of the Year, join CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute, which is a CNN tradition that promises to inspire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Anderson, awesome. Thank you. And the CNN Hero of the Year will be awarded an additional $250,000. So obviously, this is a big decision. Who's it going to be? You're going to decide and you can meet the top 10 personally, and vote for the one who inspires you the most, as Anderson mentioned, just go to CNNheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The space shuttle Endeavour is almost home, almost at its retirement home. It just left Edwards Air Force Base in California, and has the day to fly over Sacramento and San Francisco before coming back to Los Angeles, where it's going to snake through the streets of that city on its way to its final stop at the California Science Center.

The images have been just spectacular. Luckily, we can see them on TV if they don't fly over your city. The one person who got the perfect view, you might say, a personal flyover was astronaut Matt Kelly, who happens to be live on the telephone with me now in Tucson.

And this is an auspicious moment to be able to speak with you, Commander Kelly, because you commanded the final Endeavour flight, and it just also happened to be your very first NASA mission as well. How was the flyover yesterday?

MARK KELLY, ASTRONAUT: Well, Ashleigh, it was pretty spectacular. Whenever anybody gets to see the space shuttle in the air, it's an incredible thing. It's really a testament to American ingenuity, and it was a great day. I mean, clear skies and the people in Tucson got an incredible view of this remarkable machine.

BANFIELD: So some of the background information that people might not know, you and your wife, Congressman Gabrielle Giffords stood at rooftop, university. Is that where you were to witness this?

KELLY: Yes. We were at the top of a parking garage to see Endeavour's second to last t)time in the air.

I had the opportunity, you know, it's one of the highlights of my career as an astronaut to command the last flight, you know, the 25th flight of space shuttle Endeavour, and when it lands today, it will never be in the air. It will be in a museum, which is a great thing, that millions of people are going to get to see this over the years.

BANFIELD: I heard a little bird tell me and you got to tell me if I'm right that you made this request from NASA that they swing on by Tucson so that you could do this great honor to your wife as well and that that was something they were all too pleased to do.

KELLY: Yes. I asked the NASA administrator, Charlie Bolden, and then the head of Human Space Flight, Bill Gerstenmaier, kind of put it into work. It was on the way, so it's on its way between Edwards and El Paso. When it took off out of El Paso, Tucson is pretty much in that line of flight, so it wasn't difficult to do.

But we are very appreciative that the NASA administrator agreed to do this. Tucson has a connection to the space program, a long one. The University of Arizona has been heavily involved in projects that, you know, a few years ago they managed in the Mission Control Center for the Phoenix Mars lander was based at the University of Arizona, so there's a pretty tight connection there.

BANFIELD: How did your wife react? I'm so curious to know how Congressman Giffords felt when this happened, when the flyover happened.

KELLY: Well, I think the pictures pretty much explain it. She was pretty excited. She was very happy to see the space shuttle. The last time she saw Endeavour was when I lifted off. And she could not be there when we landed on June 1st of last year because she was still in the hospital.

Well, she had to go back into the hospital to have what was going to be her last surgery, so she missed the landing. She missed seeing Endeavour for one last time, so this was, you know, one opportunity to see it again.

BANFIELD: And, of course, your retirement directly connected to that terrible incident, but you're not retired. You're a writer. You've got a new book dropping October 9th, "Monsternaut (sic)," a partially true story. It's a children's novel. I can't wait.

KELLY: Yes, it's very exciting. It will be out second week of October. On my first flight of space shuttle Endeavour, we had 18 mice, and this story is partially based on one of those mice which I later nicknamed "The Mousternaut."

BANFIELD: Mousternaut? I was thinking -- I thought it was a play on astronaut, "Monsternaut", but "Mousternaut". Now I get it. I can't wait. I've got two little kids who are going to really appreciate it, and you know what, they already appreciate you, because they want to be an astronaut.

Commander Kelly, great to see you, great to be able to talk to you on this remarkable moment in history as we watch these incredible pictures, and the best of luck to you and your wife. Please give her our best as well.

KELLY: Thank you very much, and I'll do that. Have a great day.

BANFIELD: You, too. Have a wonderful weekend as well.

And we'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: T-minus two days until we find out who the winners of the Emmys are, but you can bet that all eyes are on these dramas: four- time winner "mad men;" British import "Downton Abbey;" and the rest of the field is there as well, and it's a tough one.

The experts are really having a tough time predicting who is going to pull this one in, and it may actually come down to some of the nitty- gritty details when it comes to production. Our show biz correspondent Nischelle Turner is in Los Angeles to talk live about some of these nitty-gritty details.

OK. You and I talked about it yesterday. You know that whole thing about "Breaking Bad" and I did that cameo because my cousin is the director? She's also the director of another really big one, "Game of Thrones."

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You got friends in high places.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) full disclosure, because I can't talk about this without saying that.

Hi, Nischelle. But, listen, the issue with that is a big deal, because these kinds of things, these details, like the language -- they came up with their own language in "Game of Thrones," that could make the difference here.

TURNER: Yes. You know, it could, and that's because the drama category this year is a real toss-up. You know, "Downton Abbey" threw a monkey wrench when it moved from the miniseries into the drama fold, and usually Emmy voters have one or two obvious favorites. But this year, it's about the quality of these shows, because they're all like mini-movies every week.

And you talked about "Game of Thrones" creating their own language for the warrior tribe, Dothraki, there's 3,500 words in this language, and it's growing. You think about that. That's a big deal, creating their own language.

And then there's all these really elaborate period sets, costumes, all of these. So this will be one of the greatest races this Sunday at the Emmys.

BANFIELD: And I'm rooting for Betty White, anything for Betty White.

Nischelle, good to see you. Enjoy your weekend. You'll have fun doing this one. Great assignment.

TURNER: I will.

BANFIELD: Thanks, everyone, for watching. NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL with Don Lemon starts now.