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Obama Speaks at UN; Romney Gives Speech at Clinton Global Initiative; Obama Joins "The View"; Court to Define What a Mother Is; Tips to Avoid Bank Fees

Aired September 25, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hi, everybody. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Nice to have you with us. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West Coast and a very, very busy news day

President Obama on the world stage at the United Nations, just wrapping up a speech and it starts and ended -- started and ended with the killing of U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.

You will recall that the ambassador was murdered along with three American colleagues during an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11th.

The president praised Stevens for his service to his country. He vowed to bring the killers to justice.

Mr. Obama's remarks, ending just moments ago, carried live on CNN.

He also spoke out about all of the religious extremism in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world, specifically making mention to that extraordinarily offensive video. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, I have made it clear that the United States government had nothing to do with this video and I believe its message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity.

It is an insult not only to Muslims, but to America, as well, for as the city outside these walls makes clear, we are a country that has welcomed people of every race and every faith. We are home to Muslims who worship across our country.

We not only respect the freedom of religion, we have laws that protect individuals from being harmed because of how they look or what they believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Our chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin, is live at the United Nations. She joins us now. Jessica, listening to that speech, it began with a mention of Chris Stevens. It ended with the mention of Chris Stevens and it is not lost on anyone watching that the president has two major audiences.

He's got an international audience, clearly, and he's got a domestic audience during this election. Was he able to navigate appropriately between the two with the remarks he actually chose?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it will depend who you ask, Ashleigh, and I think that he, within his parameters, managed to navigate that terrain without escalating into talk that would be read as saber-rattling or unusual for President Obama.

He talked about American values. You played that bite about Chris Stevens. He began with Chris Stevens. He explained to a global audience that not only is America offended by this video, is he offended by this video, but that part of American identity is about protecting religious diversity, respecting religious diversity, and then he made a very graceful turn to explain it's also about respecting the freedom of speech.

He didn't use that phrase because that's a flashpoint in the election season, no doubt, but we're expecting the freedom to express whatever we believe.

He made almost a joke saying, I, too, get criticized every day and, as commander-in-chief, he defends the right to protect that.

So, that is one point in the speech where I think he really did strike this very careful balance between speaking to a global audience and to a domestic audience in a way where he will not take bullets, domestically.

There are many other places in the speech where I expect he will be criticized during this campaign season, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: And I want to touch on that. Because, look, up until a couple weeks ago before this anti-Muslim film came out and before there were pockets of unrest in just about every pocket of the Middle East, the issue front-and-center globally seemed to be Syria. That wasn't addressed.

YELLIN: Right. He did check the box, you know, in a sense. Like he acknowledged that there's challenges there and that more needs to be done, but there was no in-depth discussion of it and the world's eyes are on Syria and the tragedies there.

And, again, he just checked that box again. With the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, a brief and passing mention.

I didn't hear Afghanistan, China, all these issues that are pressing global concerns, not in the speech or barely mentioned.

And, so, this clearly was a speech crafted to address the Libya dilemma, the aftershocks of the Arab Spring and then the tensions between Israel and Iran because these are the concerns that are bubbling up in the campaign season here in the U.S., Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: I think you make that point very clearly, Jessica, the fact that we did not hear a lot about the Palestinian and Israeli issue and that is critical, particularly today, with other news that's breaking.

Jessica Yellin, live at the U.N. joining us on this. Thank you very much.

I want to move on, as well, to the president who hitting hard on the unrest in the Middle East, also praising the people in Libya who are standing by the United States denouncing the violence there.

Our CNN foreign affairs reporter, Elise Labott, joins me live now from New York.

Elise, I want you to dovetail off what Jessica was reporting and the missing bits out of this speech, perhaps the issue of the Palestinians and the Israelis not necessarily being addressed and this at a time when Iran was front-and-center, as well, in this speech.

Oh, Elise, I don't think you've got our signal just yet. Let me give some background on that if I can.

The issue today coming, perhaps not coincidentally, on a day when all of a sudden the Iranians are reported to have done some missile testing in the Persian Gulf and those missile tests happening, imagine that, close to American military exercises, naval exercises.

So, with that coincidence, Elise, if you can hear me now, I want you to touch on this very other critical area of the president's speech at the United Nations, Iran, the effect of what Iran has been saying and doing and this perhaps not coincidence of a missile test.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I think that basically President Obama did what he felt that he needed to do. He climbed up to the point of where he felt comfortable saying red line.

I mean, obviously, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, is looking for a red line from President Obama.

He didn't feel comfortable, officials have told us they don't want to give too much to the Iranians about where the U.S. is going to draw the line.

The U.S. has said clearly it's when Iran would go to assemble a bomb. It's not a missile test. It's not having the capability.

If the United States sees Iran going for assembling a bomb that possibly they can use, that's their red line.

So, I think President Obama doesn't feel he needs to spell it out for the world stage, for the Iranians who don't -- he doesn't want them skirting up to the line. He wants to keep the Iranians guessing, so this whole issue here of him coming out saying, listen, I am not going to tolerate an Iranian nuclear weapon and the Israelis have to know that I'm committed to making sure that doesn't happen. BANFIELD: And, Elise, let's be clear. With so much talk, especially from Benjamin Netanyahu on a red line and the request for a red line, it seemed that there was a real delicate dance, as their often is at the U.N., in terms of how to handle all the rhetoric that's coming from Iran.

And the president said, make no mistake. A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained. It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy.

Bringing in those other elements, as well, it seems like it's a clear effort to reach out to the rest of the world, saying you all have something at stake here.

LABOTT: That's right. And, obviously, they're looking for the world to be tougher on Iran regarding sanctions, for nations like Russia that have influence over Iran to use their influence to say everybody is going to suffer here if there's an Iranian nuclear weapon, if Israel were forced to make some kind of pre-emptive strike.

Right now, this is the thing that everyone is worried about right now, not necessarily there will be an Iranian nuclear weapon, although that's a concern, but first, that Israel might go to strike and that would interrupt oil markets, that would cause really a regional instability.

And, so, I think he is saying, listen, everybody needs to help out here and share his responsibility, but I think that the main message right now was to Benjamin Netanyahu to say, I have got your back, something he's said before, and, also, I think in many ways, this was also a campaign speech, so he's also looking to those Jewish voters, to the Christian right in which Israel is a very important topic.

BANFIELD: And just quickly, Elise, the words that he used, specifically, that the United States will, quote, "do what we must," do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Is that ostensibly different from what we've heard before? Did he move at all in his position, at least in this particular speech?

LABOTT: I think the rhetoric is a lot tougher, "do what we must." It's the same thing, let's face it, as "all options on the table." They both mean the same thing. That means, if the U.S. were forced to engage in some kind of military activity, it would, but I think every -- President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, everyone's made clear they do not prefer that option, that they think that there's a need for diplomacy, but no one should make any mistake.

If the time came and he had to make a choice between an Iranian nuclear weapon and going after it, perhaps with U.S. military force, that he would do that, but clearly he's made clear he doesn't want to go there.

BANFIELD: Well, very quick turnaround for you, Elise Labott and Jessica Yellin, as well. Thank you to you and your colleague for getting to us and getting that analysis to us just as the president wraps up his remarks.

And, also, remember, the president's got a busy day. He's going to be speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative today, something that Mitt Romney did earlier on. We'll have coverage of that in a moment. You can also see it right here live on CNN in our noon hour, which brings me to this note.

It's very important. If you're heading out the door, you can still stay up-to-date on everything that's developing today on this very busy news day. You can do this on your mobile phone or you can get this on your laptop or your desktop at work.

Just log onto CNN.com/TV. All the instructions are there for you.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Two United States Marines are now facing courts martial over their actions in Afghanistan while they were serving.

You may remember this disturbing picture. It shows Marines who are urinating on dead Taliban fighters.

Staff Sergeant Joseph Chamblin and Staff Sergeant Edward Deptola have been charged in connection with the image you are seeing. The sergeants are also charged with dereliction of duty and failure to report the incident.

There were three other Marines who were also disciplined in this case.

And we are learning some really surprising new details and very specific new details about a deadly attack on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. If you don't remember this, it happened 11 days ago. It may have seemed like a headline to you, but when you hear the details, you will be surprised.

The insurgents who attacked were wearing cross-trainers as they snuck into the American encampment. Two Americans were killed in this attack and our CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, was able to get more of these details of the assault straight from the Marines who themselves were under attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR GREER CHAMBLESS, MARINE ATTACK SQUADRON 211: We see flaming aircrafts. We see the enemy shooting at us. We're seeking cover. We're hearing small-arms fire, AK-47s, PKMs, and then, at some point soon thereafter, see another RPG shot towards us and towards our building.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: For the first time on television, U.S. Marines tell CNN just how bad it got on the night of September 14th here at Camp Bastion in Southern Afghanistan when the Taliban got inside the base.

Major Greer Chambless and his squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Raible, raced to the scene as the first rounds hit.

CHAMBLESS: He performed heroically that night. He was the first engaging the enemy. He came out of the door. He engaged the enemy.

STARR: These Taliban videos, which NATO believes show the insurgents getting ready weeks before the attack, may be a clue how 15 heavily- armed Taliban fighters dressed in U.S.-style military uniforms infiltrated through the fence on the eastern edge of the airfield.

When it all happened, the Taliban broke into three groups. One group headed right for the flight line. Six Harrier jets were destroyed, more than $200 million in damage.

Some Marines say it is the largest loss of aircraft since the Vietnam war.

CHAMBLESS: We're hearing ammunition begin to cook off as well as their rounds that they're firing at us. We're hearing the sounds of fire as the gas is released from the aircraft. So, it was, like I said, a surreal scene to behold.

Staff Sergeant Gustavo Delgado led another team into the firefight.

STAFF SERGEANT GUSTAVO DELGADO, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Well, it's definitely like the movies. You know how you see -- I mean, the fire was huge, so you can feel the heat hitting your face. You can smell it. You can hear all the snapping and cracking and all around the walls, all around you.

STARR: For Sergeant Bradley Atwell and Christopher Raible, it would be their final mission. Both men died of their wounds. Lieutenant Colonel Raible, remembered by his Marines.

CHAMBLESS: He saw a challenge, and he took action. He took decisive action. He led his Marines and he led them from the front.

STARR: Lieutenant Colonel Raible went up against the Taliban with the only weapon he had, his nine-millimeter pistol.

A full investigation remains underway as to how the Taliban got onto Camp Bastion in the first place.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: All right, great reporting, Barbara. Thank you.

And, by the way, a memorial was also held for Lieutenant Colonel Raible and Sergeant Atwell at their home base in Yuma, Arizona, these pictures you're seeing, yesterday. They were remembered as great Marines and as great men.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: All week long we have been going in-depth on the issues that matter to you in 2012. You got to vote, right? Got to know what's going on with the issues and not all the nasty campaigning.

So, today, we're going to go really deep into the high cost of college tuition and how to pay for it.

Christine Romans joins me now. You know, you said something on the very early morning show today that astounded me, the amount that it has ballooned in the last 10 years.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDNT: Oh, yeah, tuition has just gone up, up, and up, and your income hasn't. The reality for the American middle class is you can't afford to go to college and you also can't afford not to.

So, what are we going to do about it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: When Jackie Giovanniello graduated from Brown University this year, she put off going straight to medical school.

Instead, she took a research job at Sloan-Kettering hospital.

JACKIE GIOVANNIELLO, GRADUATE IN DEBT: It is nice to have a paying job where I can pay back part of my student loans before going to med school and possibly adding on a lot more.

ROMANS: And she had plenty of them, $100,000 worth. Why? Her family is middle class. Her mother works in a school. Her dad owns a bar.

She says they're considered too wealthy to qualify for many grants but, she says, no the wealthy enough to have saved the money for the more than $50,000 a year to attend Brown.

GIOVANNIELLO: When you're in the middle class, you are a normal suburban family, but you just don't make an outrageous amount of money so you can't pay for these outrageous prices for tuition, you know?

ROMANS: She's not alone. Student loan debt hit $1 trillion last year. Even tuition for public four-year colleges rose 68 percent over the last decade.

Enter the presidential campaign with college affordability a key issue for younger voters.

OBAMA: And I want to make college more affordable for every young person who has the initiative and drive to go and make sure they're not burdened by thousands of dollars worth of debt.

ROMANS: President Obama has expanded Pell Grants and cut out the banks as middlemen for plans allowing students to borrow directly from the government.

Now, Obama proposes to slow tuition growth by increasing state grants.

Yet, he'd need Congress to help fund that. MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm not going to go out and promise all sorts of free stuff that I know you're going to will end up paying for.

What I want to do is give you a great job, so you'll be able to pay it back yourself.

ROMANS: Mitt Romney's plan to help students? Remove burdensome regulations and get the government out of the student loan business.

Romney says the flood of federal dollars just drives up tuition.

Molly Corbett Broad of the American Council on Education says the recession's heavy toll on state budgets is also a factor.

MOLLY CORBETT BROAD, AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION: When the state reduces its support, the only other place to turn for most colleges in the public sector is to increase tuition.

ROMANS: Either way, students like Jackie feel left out in the cold.

GIOVANNIELLO: A lot of people who don't have students in college or don't have kids my age just think, like, oh, you're either wealthy enough to go to college or you get financial aid from the government and it's that simple, but it's not that simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: No, it's not that simple. What is simple and what's very clear is that, you know, families aren't saving enough money, in part because they can't in many cases.

A recent study by Fidelity Investments shows families are way behind in their college-savings goals. Fewer than one-third of parents with college-bound kids are even considering the total cost of college. Only 30 percent of all families are on track to cover those costs.

BANFIELD: So, I'm wondering if the news of the extraordinary increases in college has yet to filter down to people to say, oh, geez, we should have been saving all along. I didn't know it was this bad.

ROMANS: In some cases, they just can't save, you know? I mean, they're getting nothing on their stock investments over the past 10 years. Maybe they don't have a job. You know, it's been really -- it's been tough, really tough.

BANFIELD: While I have you here, any chance you can do a quick stock check? We always hear the stocks are doing really well. The economy's in the tank, but the stocks are doing better.

ROMANS: Well, they're near five year highs. You can see they're up 45 points right now at 13,600. I'll tell you why they're up today. We had pretty good housing news and we had pretty good consumer confidence news, so people with a job and some money in the bank are starting to show some progress right now. People without a job are still in the same old boat that they were six months ago.

BANFIELD: No matter what, put some money away for college.

Christine Romans, thank you.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

BANFIELD: Good to see you.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Did you know that roughly 50,000 young Latinos turn 18 every month in this country? Did you know that in 2003 Latinos became the largest minority in this country?

Did you know that makes them a very appealing voting bloc and that's why Rosario Dawson is with me right now?

Welcome. It's nice to see you. You're the chairwoman of Voto Latino. I said that with the right accent?

ROSARIO DAWSON, ACTRESS/CHAIRWOMAN, VOTO LATINO: Yes, yes.

BANFIELD: Good. You founded it back in 2004.

DAWSON: Yeah. Co-founded, yeah.

BANFIELD: And, now, you have, today, something called National Voter Registration Day.

DAWSON: Yes.

BANFIELD: All day today, 900 events across the country to get people on the registration rolls.

DAWSON: Yes.

BANFIELD: People, young people, Latinos, all of the above?

DAWSON: Yeah, everyone. I mean, we have over 1200 partners that we're working with, so we're going to be targeting people in their communities. We're getting neighbors to meet neighbors and communities to come out and put a face to it and it's really exciting because we have over 100 that's going on just in New York alone.

We're working with Rutger Letters (ph), so we have 15 sororities that are across the nation that are also going to be reaching out.

So, it's -- we're making a big push just to register voters today. It's a big day even beyond just young Latinos.

BANFIELD: So, those statistics that I rattled off, right off the top, that's just the tip of the iceberg. When you look at the statistics of Latino voters across this country, in general, as we approach this election, it is remarkable.

Just by the numbers, let me read off, 12.2 million Latinos expected to vote, 23 million eligible, but not registered, clearly, where you come in.

Twelve-point-one million unregistered in the swing states, critical, critical, critical and 1.4 million unregistered in Florida.

Rosario Dawson, you and I both know it is one thing to get someone as you're walking by to sign up and to register. It's a whole other kettle of fish to get them to leave their house on election day and go to the polls and all of the different road blocks that come in there.

DAWSON: Yeah.

BANFIELD: How do you take what you're doing now and extend it to that?

DAWSON: Well, this is a great opportunity to make that connection, at least initially, with people, to have that conversation and as hopefully as we're enrolling them into the process of getting registered that we're connecting them to the idea about this is an opportunity for us to write down our story.

BANFIELD: This is step one.

DAWSON: This is step one. This is that big moment where -- Anne Frank wouldn't survive today had she not wrote down her story. This is the moment where, generations from now, people will see what we care about. We have that ability to mark that, and this is our chance. So hopefully, we're getting that engaged in this story. And then after this it's just push, push, push, November 6, November 6, November 6.

BANFIELD: What about this big controversial issue, particularly this election cycle, voter I.D. laws? It's one thing to get them to register, another thing to say get out to vote. And it's another to convince people and before do you that, make sure you have your card. And if you lost your home, tough register again. You got to do all sorts of things.

DAWSON: That's one of the reasons we had so many different partnerships like with Build a Dream because 18 million people are foreclosed on their homes, since 2008. A lot of them have to reregister and they don't know that. We're working and petitioning the banks to make sure they give that information. They have to make sure people aren't disenfranchised on top of losing their home. We specifically need that voice in this conversation.

And it's remarkable because, you know, there's one in 10 Americans do not have the proper government I.D. In Pennsylvania alone, they're talking about almost 10 percent of the registered voters will not be able to be eligible. That's why that's still up in the air. They've only given out 9,000 of those voter I.D. cards that they're supposed to mandatorily give out 100,000. It's very clear that even though there's no cases of any voter fraud that's in-court system at all right now in Pennsylvania, to possibly disenfranchise 800,000 people is a big deal.

BANFIELD: So critical. I'll mention again, National Voter Registration day is today.

When do you have time to act?

(CROSSTALK)

ROSARIO: On election years, I don't act that much.

BANFIELD: You don't.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: Great to have you. Thanks for coming in.

ROSARIO: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: President Obama wasn't the only candidate in a global forum today. In fact, Governor Mitt Romney could not address the U.N., but he sure did the next best thing with a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative. The annual conference is under way in New York as well.

That's just a picture to behold, isn't it? Take a look. This is not a split screen. This is not Photoshopped. That is the Republican nominee sharing the stage with the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Mr. Romney took the opportunity to say that the United States is going about its foreign aid all in the wrong way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: To foster work and enterprise in the Middle East and in other developing countries, I'll initiate something I'll call Prosperity Pacts. Working with the private sector, the program will identify the barriers to investment and trade and entrepreneurship entrepreneurialism in developing nations. And exchange for removing those barriers and opening their markets to U.S. investment and trade, developing nations will receive U.S. assistance packages focused on developing the institutions of liberty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Later today, Governor Romney will link up with his running mate in Ohio where there is a brand new CNN poll of polls, and it shows the Romney/Ryan ticket is running six points behind the Obama/Biden ticket. We've also got some new Florida numbers as well. That shows a four-point edge for the Democrats. Let me remind you, that's a poll of polls, so the numbers are the numbers. There's no margin of error. What you see is what you get, at least according to the poll.

We're going to hear from the president again next hour. He'll speak at the Clinton Global Initiative. He will take his turn -- like I said, busy day. Don't try to drive in New York City. Oh, my lord.

Now, though, Wolf Blitzer gets to rest quietly in busy Washington, D.C. He joins me live to talk a little bit about this.

When I watched Governor Romney speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative, A, he looked very presidential as he gave this address. B, he talked foreign aid and foreign policy, and I want to get your take on his word. Look, we spend a lot of money on foreign aid around this world. Are we doing it the right way? He says no.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: Are you running a sound bite or do you want me to just talk?

BANFIELD: I want you to react and let me know. That message he gave was so specific. We're throwing money and social services and not doing the investments.

BLITZER: There's no doubt that the United States can be doing it in a much more effective way. A lot of the foreign aid -- and it's really a tiny percentage of the overall U.S. budget. People think that U.S. foreign aid is enormous. If it's 1 percent, that's a lot. It's not even that much sometimes. It's a relatively small amount of the federal budget every single year, but it's critically important in a lot of developing countries. They need the money. They just need it to be provided in a smarter, more efficient way that will help these folks down the road, and there's some great ideas at the Clinton Global Initiative, how the private sector can cooperate with government, with the public sector. And the Republican presidential nominee today, he came up with some new ideas that are certainly worthy of great consideration down the road in how to administer a foreign aid program. He wants to continue a foreign aid program.

Although, as you know, there are plenty of conservative Republicans, isolationists, as John McCain calls them, like Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, they want to eliminate all U.S. foreign aid, saying the U.S. simply can't afford it, too many domestic problems.

I think this will be a debate going forward between internationalists versus the isolationists whether or not to continue foreign aid to a lot of developing countries down the road.

BANFIELD: Now I am going to run a sound bite, and it's of that very controversial moment yesterday when the president, though very busy in New York today, made a choice to go on "The View" instead of holding bilateral meetings. Here is something that Barbara Walters asked him that was very meaty and his response. Let's have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, THE VIEW: Would it be disastrous for the country if Mitt Romney were elected? OBAMA: Well, you know, I think America's so strong and we've got so much going for us that we can survive a lot, but the American people don't want to just survive. We want everybody to thrive. We want folks to --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: -- have a shot at success. And so the question then just becomes, whose policies are more likely to lead us to where we want to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You know, Wolf Blitzer, I think you could arguably say that there is a bigger audience for "The View" than there is for the live speech at the UNGA today.

BLITZER: I'm sure there will be a lot of people watching the president and the first lady on "The View," especially a lot of women. That's a key base he needs to energize. Without a huge turnout among women, young people, you know, minorities, if you will, the president is going to be in trouble. He needs to energize that same base he so energized four years ago and going on a show like "The View" certainly reaches out to a lot of female viewers, who are home watching that kind of a television show, and just to get them enthusiastic and excited. Politically, it makes sense.

Although, I will argue, Ashleigh, and I have been saying this now, you know, when an incumbent president, six weeks before an election, goes to the United Nations and meets with world leaders, there are photo- ops meeting with leaders from all over the world, it makes that incumbent president seem even so much more presidential. It's why George W. Bush met with about eight or nine world leaders six weeks before he was re-elected in 2004. That's why Bill Clinton in 1996, six weeks before he was re-elected the incumbent president, he met with 12 or 14 world leaders when he went to the United Nations general assembly. I think it's good internationally. It's good for national security, foreign affairs.

But politically, domestically, I think it makes a whole lot of sense. That's why I've come to the conclusion this was politically -- forget about the political policy ramifications. Politically, it was probably a missed opportunity for the president. If he had been seen meeting with all these world leaders, I think it would have scored some political points because he would have come across obviously even more presidential than he does coming across presidential on "The View."

BANFIELD: And you would think he could kind of call his own shots on the day he would want to appear on "The View." You'd think he would actually say, we're really --

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER) BLITZER: No, he -- he could have gone on "The View" next week or gone on "The View" whenever he wants. The producers and Barbara Walters will be happy to have him --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Any day.

BLITZER: -- want to go on. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Wolf Blitzer, great to see you.

BLITZER: Politically, this was just a missed opportunity.

BANFIELD: Wolf, thanks so much. We'll see you at 4:00 on your program as well, "The Situation Room."

BLITZER: Thank you.

BANFIELD: By the way, the elections are close. Debates are even closer. First is next Wednesday night, a week from tomorrow, CNN's special live coverage starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern, 4:00 pacific. That's October 3rd, "Debate Night in America."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: What exactly is a mother? We all have one, right? Many of us are moms. I'm a mom. But if you think very deeply about the question, you may come up with some other answers, because the definition of what it means to be a mother is at the center of a potential landmark case. And how the courts define what is mother is could end up ultimately impacting you.

We're going to delve into the legal implications in all of this in just a couple minutes.

But first, David Mattingly has all of the details of what this story involves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cindy Close says she made the biggest decision of her life without once thinking that she needed to legally protect herself.

(on camera): You were leaving an awful lot here just on faith and on trust.

CINDY CLOSE, SURROGATE MOTHER: That's my nature, unfortunately.

MATTINGLY: What has that cost you?

CLOSE: It has cost me my heart. It may cost me my children. MATTINGLY (voice-over): In July, Cindy Close gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, but the new single mom never got to take them home. They are now the center of a legal battle in Texas challenging the definition of a mother.

CLOSE: I'm their mother because I love them. I love them. It's no different than someone who adopted a child. Love is all it takes to be a mom. Biology doesn't have to be there.

MATTINGLY: In this case, Cindy Close was using eggs from an anonymous donor and sperm from a long-time friend who approached her with a surprising question a few years ago.

CLOSE: Basically, he said what would you think about being a married stay-at-home mom and financially secure in your own home? Just think about it. That's what he said to me. That began this discussion.

MATTINGLY: It might have sounded like a proposal, but it wasn't. Cindy says her friend wanted them to be co-parents, living apart but raising the children together. Cindy says she believed the children would live with her until the day she got the shock of her life.

(on camera): When did you find out he was gay?

CLOSE: The day my children were born.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): While the children were still in the hospital, court documents show their biological father asked the court to declare him the sole parent, arguing Cindy Close was not the mother, not genetically related, and her role was that of a surrogate.

(on camera): What do you do?

CLOSE: It was horrible. I cried, and I told him he's going to steal my babies. He's going to steal my babies and I don't know what to do. That's what I did.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The children now live at his partner's house. Neither the father nor his attorney agreed to comment.

MARVIN MCMURREY, FATHER OF TWINS: My children are involved and they're minors, and we're in litigation.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But you don't think Miss Close should have any relations with your children?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not going to give any comments at this time.

MATTINGLY: And the bitter court battle has begun with the potential of shaping the legal definition of a mother.

(on camera): Cindy Close is allowed to see the children just two hours a day as the legal battle now begins, and she fights for the right to be called their mother.

David Mattingly, CNN, Houston.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Goes without, saying this case raises an enormous number of questions about parental rights.

I want to bring in defense attorney, Joey Jackson.

Joey, this woman carried these babies nine months, went to the hospital, delivered those babies, and now there has to be a definition between what it is to be a mother versus a surrogate? Can't she have any rights from what the get-go?

JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY & CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, and she will have rights. Really quickly, here is how it works. You're either a mother or is surrogate. What is a mother? A mother says if you give birth of the child you're their mother unless you're a surrogate. And a surrogate means a third party has contracted with you in writing, meaning provided an egg, provided the sperm, such that you would carry it to term. Plain and simple.

So under Texas law, you're the mom, surrogate. If you give birth you are the mom, you are entitled to those rights unless you can give me an agreement, show me one in writing that says you agreed to be a surrogate.

BANFIELD: We have to take a break, but here is where it gets weird. There was no contract, there was no deal, and yet those babies were taken away from the hospital and they don't even reside right now with the father. A lot of questions.

More with Joey Jackson right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: As we left you, we were in the middle of a legal quagmire in Texas. Joey Jackson is back with me.

You have a mother who gave birth to twins, in vitro fertilization. Don donor eggs. A father whose sperm was used. An alleged agreement that the people would co-parent. The father breached that agreement. He takes the baby. There's no contract in writing. How did he take the babies out of the hospital when there's no contract?

JACKSON: Great question. I think this will boil down to a custody issue. He is a same-sex parent. He has a lover or same-sex partner. In order be a surrogate parent, you're not married. If you're not married, you cannot be a surrogate parent. As a result of that, was she the mother because she gave birth? I think a judge will punt on this case and say, listen, based upon the fact that she is the birth mother and there's not a valid surrogate agreement, therefore, I'm deciding the issue of who the child stays with on a regular basis.

BANFIELD: No gay marriage in Texas means it is not valid. So you cannot be a surrogate. JACKSON: Right. What I think this requires is a legislative solution. It's not for a judge to pass moral judgments and engage in whether same-sex marriage is appropriate. If it's not, should there be surrogates. If the law says there is no valid surrogate with a same-sex parent -- and under Texas law they don't honor same-sex marriages -- the legislature would have to enact a law that makes it lawful for them to do that.

BANFIELD: By the way, the fact that she doesn't have the biological connection, they were not her eggs, she carried those babies. What does that tell us about all the adoptive parents out there who are legally parents and don't have the biological connection to their babies?

JACKSON: Absolutely. To be clear, the biological connection, under law, is not relevant. She carried that baby to term. As a result, she's the mother. Biological mother, not excluded, she's the mother.

BANFIELD: We'll get resolution soon from Joey Jackson here, rock star.

JACKSON: I hope so.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: Thank you.

The judge is apparently making a delay in ruling in the case until next month. Until then, Miss Close is allowed to see her twins two hours each day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Have you noticed that bank fees are going up and up? And it's really annoying? If you have, Alison Kosik is here now to give us tips on how to avoid getting binged every time we do anything.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These banks are gets creative, Ashleigh. We talked to Greg McBride, as senior financial analyst at bankrate.com. He says regulation is cutting into bank revenues so what you have are banks responding by doing away with free checking. But customers are taking notice. Bankrate found 72 percent of the nation's biggest credit unions, they still offer free checking. No surprise. Credit union membership is on the rise. In the second quarter of this year, credit unions added 643,000 members.

Now, Credit unions are not the only ones offering free checking. Many community banks and online banks do as well. Shop around. If you don't want to switch banks, you can protect your money. Sign up for low-balance alerted by e-mail or text messages. Link your savings and checking accounts to overdrafts come from your savings accounts. And use your bank's web site. Get cash back using your check card in stores. There are ways to get around the pesky, pesky fees.

BANFIELD: The deal is, every time you think you're getting a convenience, recognize it's like, what, $4.07 every time you go to an ATM that is not your bank.

KOSIK: Yes, you pay for it.

BANFIELD: Man, do we.

Alison, thank you.

KOSIK: Sure.

BANFIELD: Good tips, good advice. Money saving.

Hey, thank you very much for being with us. I do appreciate you spending the hour with us. And I ask you all to do one thing for men now. Stay tuned. NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL starts right now.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: And thanks, Ashleigh.

Welcome to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for Suzanne Malveaux. And we're taking you around the world in 60 minutes.