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First Debate Tonight; Domestic Issues Covered in Tonight's Debate; Debate Prep 101; Economy to Dominate Debate; Candidates Battle for Latino Vote; Conservatives Versus Obama
Aired October 03, 2012 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for your comments. Facebook.com/CarolCNN, if you want to continue the conversation. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me.
NEWSROOM continues now with Ashleigh Banfield.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Carol.
Hey, everybody, nice to have you. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West Coast and 9:00 in Denver.
Most important for anticipation of the first-ever, Obama-Romney face- off is a -- dare I say it -- a mile high. In 10 short hours, the president and his Republican challenger are going to share this stage for 90 minutes of give-and-take on issue number one and a few other domestic policy flashpoints, as well.
The economy is due to take up three of the six segments that are laid out for tonight, with one segment each devoted to healthcare, the role of government and leadership/governing style.
And by a pretty wide margin going in right now, the voters expect that President Obama is going to outdebate his opponent, but both men have taken great pains to downplay their own chances, downplay the expectations.
Our Dan Lothian is up very early at the University of Denver and, Dan, I understand this is really just the fourth time that these two men have really ever encountered one another in person.
Is that expected to have any effect when they meet each other on stage?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, this is not someone who the president spent time with in the Senate, has not spent a lot of time talking to him and, when they debate tonight, for 90 minutes, it will be the most time and the longest time that they have spent interacting at all.
So, it is an unusual, I guess, setting, if you will, for the president and Governor Mitt Romney, but nonetheless, they're getting ready for this big event. The last couple of days they've been doing these mock debates, going through every possible question that will be asked, every possible scenario that will be thrown their way, so they're pretty ready for that.
They'll be doing a walk-through later this afternoon to get comfortable with the actual setting, to take a look at all the various camera angles and then, as you pointed out, the clock winding down to the big event tonight.
BANFIELD: Dan, let me just ask you about what some are considering a distraction -- and I always love that word because it can also mean a challenging moment -- and that is the comments that were made yesterday by Vice President Biden and I'm referring specifically to the middle class. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: This is deadly earnest. How they can justify -- how they can justify raising taxes to the middle class that's been buried the last four years, how in the Lord's name can they justify raising their taxes with these tax cuts?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So, Dan, look, there is plenty of fodder for this debate without that, but since that is so 11th hour, is that expected to be played up heavily tonight?
LOTHIAN: Well, you know, I don't think -- the Obama campaign doesn't think that this will be a distraction, but perhaps this will be something that Governor Mitt Romney will jump on at some point during the debate.
It is interesting. You know, the vice president made those comments yesterday while campaigning in North Carolina and, right after that, the Romney campaign jumped all over those remarks.
In fact, they put together a conference call to draw attention to that. The Obama campaign fighting back, saying, look, that's just an act of desperation and that what the vice president was talking about is that there was this climate over the last four years that were created by decisions that were made in the previous administration.
And so, again, they don't see it as a distraction, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't come up tonight.
BANFIELD: All right, Dan Lothian, live for us in Denver, who's got a long day ahead of him. Do appreciate that. Thank you, Dan.
You know, those debates can be so incredibly grueling, but they are a veritable picnic compared to the actual preparation for the debate. The candidates cram for days, if not weeks, and they use friends as proxy opponents.
John Kerry did the job and stood in for Mitt Romney in the president's camp and then, standing in for the president in Romney's debate preps, the silver-haired guy in the pink shirt is Ohio Senator Rob Portman.
And, in fact, Portman has really become the go-to guy for Republican candidates who need a sparring partner. He is really good at this, but here's the thing. He's never really talked publicly about his role and the preparation and how his debate preps have gone until now because I have one of the best colleagues in the business and Dana Bash got the inside story. It's fascinating.
Listen, one of the things that I can't believe you were able to unearth is this anecdote about the 2008 campaign preps between McCain and Obama. Did Rob Portman -- is this true? Did he really get Cindy McCain to cry?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He did. I don't think that was his intention. In fact, I know it wasn't, but he did and the reason is because they were in debate prep, he was playing Barack Obama, and he was apparently so believable in his role as Barack Obama and, more importantly, so tough, hard hitting against his sparring partner, John McCain, that Cindy McCain got very upset and ran crying out of the room.
I talked to Rob Portman about that. He told me that story and listen to what he said about why it's so important to be so hard on his Republican opponents in debate prep.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR ROB PORTMAN (R), OHIO: Part of your responsibility in these debates is to be tougher than your opponent, so that the candidate you're helping is kind of ready for the worst of it.
So, you know, you have to be a little mean sometimes and you've got to try to get under their skin and sometimes the candidate you're working with doesn't appreciate it and, even more ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, in this case, Ashleigh, the candidate he's working with does seem to appreciate it. Mitt Romney has actually joked a few times on the campaign trail with Rob Portman behind him, sometimes on his plane, sometimes on the stump, that he just wants to sometimes kick him out of the room.
But he knows how important it is to be as prepared as possible and to not be surprised by anything that President Obama will say going into tonight's debate and the way to do that is to have somebody really go after you and that's definitely what Rob Portman has been doing.
BANFIELD: OK, here's the other thing I couldn't get my head around until you unearthed it and that was this moment that we look at all the time. It always makes the highlight reels, the best of debate moments.
It's the moment where Al Gore got up from his chair and it appeared almost he was menacing President Bush. He was sort of getting into his personal space, walking right up to President Bush as President Bush was in the middle of making his point.
And then look at President Bush's reaction. It's, whoa, what? I always thought that that was so organic. It turns out it was not.
BASH: Well, what happened was Rob Portman said that he, in preparing to play the role of Al Gore back in 2000, he watched debate tapes of Gore in his primary against Bill Bradley and he said he noticed that he really got up in Bill Bradley's personal space.
So, he tried that once with then Governor George Bush. He really got up in his face and he said that Bush looked at him and said, Portman what are you doing? This is never going to happen.
He said, it might, so they actually did practice it a couple of times and then, when it happened -- you just played it -- in real life, he was ready for it and he just turned and has s little nod and turned back. He wasn't thrown or rattled by it.
BANFIELD: I'm wondering if that smile that President Bush gave was, Portman was right, or was it something ...
BASH: That's what Portman thinks.
BANFIELD: Great interview and what a great "get" because that's been one of those big secrets, what's going on with Rob Portman right now as he does the stand-in with debate prep, so we'll see how his work pays off tonight.
Dana Bash, thank you.
BASH: Thank you.
And President Obama and Mitt Romney, face-to-face tonight as American voters get to weigh their choices, the first presidential debate taking place, live.
You can watch it right here, starts, our coverage, at 7:00 Eastern on CNN and, if you can't get to a TV, we got you covered, CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNARD SHAW, FORMER CNN ANCHOR: Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?
MICHAEL DUKAKIS, 1988 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: No, I don't, Bernard and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: 1988, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis against Vice President George Bush criticized for that answer because that was a painful question from our Bernard Shaw at CNN and some say that his wooden and robotic answer just didn't cut it.
They needed to see the human side of Michael Dukakis. We all know the result of that debate.
You know, the presidents and the would-be presidents really do have to be able to think on their feet when they get these questions that seemingly come out of nowhere.
They also, on the other hand, like me, need very good writers and President Clinton probably had one of the very best. His name is Michael Waldman. He puts words into the 42nd president's mouth from 1995 to 1996. He oversaw four State of the Union addresses, two inaugural speech and, now, he heads the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU law school.
And I'm very pleased that he could join the program today from Los Angeles. Michael, thanks for being here. This is a wonderful day to be able to talk to you as we just count down to this debate this evening.
Here is my first question to you, sir. The president of the United States, be it President Obama or anybody else, has been sitting in office for nearly four years, the most differential character ever. He's called Mr. President by his friends.
And then all of a sudden for 90 minutes in front of 50-to-60 million people, he can be torn apart. Do you have to prepare for all of a sudden that change of existence, that change of environment?
MICHAEL WALDMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: You're exactly right, Ashleigh. There are real challenges for any incumbent president.
They have people play music when they walk into a room. It's not a normal existence and very rarely will people ever tell a president to his face that he's dead wrong.
So, yes, the debate-prep process for an incumbent president very often involves taking someone who's clearly usually a very good political performer, making sure they're not rusty and hearing the arguments of the other side.
You know, we're all watching both sides and hearing the debates, but these candidates, whether incumbent or not, they're sometimes in their own bubble and, during these rehearsals, these debate-prep sessions, you often hear the candidates say, wait a minute, what? That's what they're saying?
And that can produce some of the more interesting responses.
BANFIELD: Well, and then the other thing is temperament because, in a flash, again, in front of 50-to-60 million people, you know, true stripes, even in a flash, can be shown.
I want to play for you something that happened in the Rose Garden just recently. It was in 2012. It was a reporter for The Daily Caller who decided that he wanted to question the president at perhaps a time that most reporters wouldn't.
He interrupted the president mid-sentence to give a critical question. Look at this then we'll talk on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is the right thing to do.
Excuse me, sir. It's not time for questions, sir. Not while I'm speaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So, here's my question, Michael. That reaction, for many, some said they were critical of him that he was rough on the reporter.
Others said, there would have been presidents who might have dropped an F-bomb on someone who interrupted them.
But how do you gauge that kind of a reaction because that's just about one of the only times other than Joe Smith yelling, "You lie," during the inaugural or, rather, the State of the Union, that the president has had to deal with somebody who was being somewhat rude?
WALDMAN: Well, I was someone who thought the president was entirely appropriate in his response to that rude interruption in the Rose Garden, but you're exactly right, you know, President Barack Obama doesn't necessarily hide his irritation all that well when he's confronted by something he thinks is deserving of it.
And people look at both the candidates for their -- for who they are and not just if they're hitting their mark and giving the right answers.
So, you know, sometimes with -- whether it's a press conference or a debate, these candidates need to kind of get it off their chest in private with their staffs and friends and then they can in public maybe have a little more equanimity when they're challenged with something they think is ridiculous.
BANFIELD: Well, I mean, you're put at the top of your stress level and I remember John McCain backstage at an event I was covering and Maria Shriver was with me.
She was NBC. I was MSNBC at the time and he screamed at here, right before a concession speech and, if that had been caught on tape, it could have been -- I mean, it could have been career-ending for some politicians.
But that is just a stress level that nobody ever experiences.
Michael Waldman, thank you for your insight. Nice to see you.
WALDMAN: Good to see you.
BANFIELD: President Obama and Mitt Romney, facing of as American voters weigh their choices for president. It's the first of the presidential debates and it takes place tonight. Watch it live right here, 7:00 Eastern on CNN and on CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Raucous laughter at Walter Mondale's expense in the 1984 presidential debate where Ronald Reagan was the oldest candidate in history, total zinger, nailed it.
Forty-five minutes of tonight's 90-minute debate is slotted to focus on the economy and, if you are one of the right-brained people, that is half. Half of tonight's debate is going to be focusing on that top issue.
Right now, a majority really disapproves the handling, the president's handling of the economy and that's according to the latest NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" poll.
That brings me to Christine Romans, my friend and my colleague who knows all things economy.
Listen, you talk about it all the time with me. We've had a record number of months with unemployment over 8 percent and I'm starting to wonder if the American people are desensitized to this. They've heard the numbers so often they're starting to think it's normal or if not at all.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, it interesting because I think four years ago, Ashleigh, we were in an emergency situation, losing hundreds of thousands of jobs every month and, now, it's become a chronic problem in the labor market. Not an emergency like it was, new emergency, but a chronic problem.
I mean, you've got this situation where people say they feel terrible about the economy right now. They don't like the handling of the economy, but farther out, they're starting to say, wait, I think things could be better.
A majority of people think things could be better next year and, so, that's something that's a change, a new change that we've seen, overall.
BANFIELD: So, let me ask you something else. You and I were talking about yesterday, we just briefly touched on it, and that was that, as the fiscal cliff is looming, and businesses are worried about making decisions until they know what these senators and these congressman are going to do.
Nobody wants to invest. Nobody wants to hire. As it's looming, we alluded to a "New York Times" story yesterday that there may be some back room dealings of senators and, now today, we have concrete reporting.
There's not only a back room deal going on. There's a location. There are names. There are some serious meetings to try to stop this from happening. What more do we know about it?
ROMANS: It's interesting because you're referring to a Politico report from this morning that said there will be a secret meeting of eight senators next week to try to hammer out a framework, but ...
BANFIELD: And guess what, Christine? Not just Politico, us. Now, we've confirmed it, too, so this is on the record now.
ROMANS: Well, what we have and what we know is that there are senators who have been talking and will be meeting next week, but we don't know it's eight and I think our latest reporting is we're not sure it'll be all eight of them.
And we don't know how -- they're still very far apart. Republican and Democrats are very far apart on how to fix this.
So, we know now they're talking about it. We don't know how far those talks have gotten and how much more, you know, room -- how much room they're going to be able to move forward.
Look and remember, we have 8.1 percent unemployment rate. Friday, we're going to get a jobs report that's going to show likely not enough jobs created.
Still creating jobs in the economy, but not enough jobs created, overall, to dig us -- you know, to dig us out of the hole and get us going forward again as a nation.
So, while we have senators barely starting to talk about talking about the fiscal cliff, we're going to have concrete evidence this week again that, you know, businesses are wary of hiring.
BANFIELD: Yeah, don't make any plans for Friday. I've got you slotted for the entire show ...
ROMANS: You got it.
BANFIELD: ... on the jobs report. Christine Romans, thank you. Good to see you. Even if it's through the TV lens, it's nice to have you.
And, by the way, as we say goodbye Christine Romans, we say hello to this. I'm reminding you again, debate night in America.
This is a fantastic opportunity, as a voter, to figure out where your choice will fall because it's issues, folks. The first presidential debate taking place tonight, live, 7:00 Eastern on CNN and CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, 2008 REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Nice to meet you. Hey, can I call you Joe? Thanks. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Oh, that's just golden TV, ain't it? Can I call you Joe? I love that. My brother's name is Joe, so I loved it even more, but that was certainly a very recent debate moment between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin -- I'm also from Canada, so I can say "Alaska" -- and Joe Biden back in 2008.
In earlier interviews, Sarah Palin had called Joe Biden "O'Biden." Adorable, right? A classic moment between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.
So, bringing back the classics brings me back to tonight because that presidential debate is looming, folks. The economy is going to dominate, but look at what is also up for debate. Check out segment four -- healthcare.
If there is a potential Achilles heel where both President Obama and Mitt Romney are vulnerable, it's on this one, folks. Two words -- ObamaCare and RomneyCare. And then there's also Romney's current health care proposals, too, up for debate.
So, let's bring in our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, to lay out these plans because this could really unfold in a whole bunch of different ways. These plans are like this. There are so many similarities and differences. Exactly how do they differ?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right and people, voters, are so passionate about health because it affects all of us, so, of all the six segments, I think this is the most interesting one. I know I'm biased, but ...
BANFIELD: You're the health care correspondent.
COHEN: Exactly, so I'm biased, but still, I think people are really going to care about this one, so let's lay out sort of the basic differences between the two candidates.
So, when you look at Obama, look at ObamaCare, it mandates that people buy insurance. It says, hey, everyone, nearly everyone, has to buy insurance or we're going to make you pay money.
And it also tells insurance companies, hey, you know what, guys? You've got to accept everybody, even those people with expensive pre- existing conditions. You have got to take them in, which they're not doing right now.
Romney's plan is, you know what? We're not going to mandate that you buy insurance. We're going to leave that up to you and there are going to be fewer requirements placed on insurance companies, way fewer.
Romney's basic philosophy is that the market will, for the most part, take care of problems in our healthcare system.
BANFIELD: So, how does Governor Romney attack ObamaCare on the stage tonight when the counterattack, you know, is going to be RomneyCare was the foundation for ObamaCare.
COHEN: That's right. That's right and, so, what I think Romney is very likely that Romney is going to do is he's going to attack this as a tax and I think this because he just started this new ad campaign that lays it out there.
He says Obama is raising taxes on the middle class, so let's take a listen to just a short snippet of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Their plan, includes a trillion dollars in higher taxes, even on the middle class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Even on the middle class, Ashleigh, that's the important part.
What he's saying is that when ObamaCare tells you, hey, Mr. Middle Class, you've got to buy insurance or else you're going to have to pay money to the government. He says that's a tax and Obama is taxing the middle class.
BANFIELD: Thirty seconds left, but switch the names because how does Obama attack Romney if RomneyCare was the basis for ObamaCare.
COHEN: Right, well, he may say to him, hey, gee, buddy, why are you objecting to my plan when it's based on your plan to a larger extent?
I also think he's going to say, now, the candidate care, where's the health plan? Romney really has not laid out details for his federal healthcare plan. He's got ideas, but all those details are not out there.
BANFIELD: Kind of feels like a wash, doesn't it?
COHEN: I think it feels like you are going to come out feeling even more passionate after the debate because people really do feel so strongly about this.
BANFIELD: Or confused, but that's what you're going to be here for tomorrow.
COHEN: Tomorrow, that's right. That's right.
BANFIELD: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you. Good to see you in person.
Did I remind you? You yourself can see how these guys are going to speak of the issues tonight. What do they have to say about healthcare? What do they have to say about the economy?
It's the first presidential debate of 2012. It's important. Debate night 2012, watch it here live, CNN, starting at 7:00, and CNN.com.
All right, so, overcoming a disability is tough enough. It is a battle on its own. But now add to that bullying because that's what kids do.
And that fight can get downright cruel, but our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is about to introduce to you a 13-year old who is showing all of those bullies what he's made of and he's using his own disability as his tool. It is awesome. Here's today's "Human Factor."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Listening to Jake Zeldin rap, you'd have no idea he suffers from a speech disorder, so debilitating that he used to keep to himself.
ROBYN ZELDIN, JAKE'S MOM: He started speaking at the age of 2, and with single words it wasn't so bad. When he would get into sentences with a couple of words, two or three words, that's when it started to come in.
ZVI ZELDIN, JAKE'S DAD: Those who love Jake knew he needs to get the words out. Let him finish what he's speaking, or saying.
GUPTA: But many others tormented him. He was bullied, not only by his classmates, but by his teachers as well.
JAKE ZELDIN: Once he drew, was like -- I was doing this voice in drama class, and I was, like, hi, and then, like, the teacher is -- I don't know what's more annoying, that voice or your stutter.
GUPTA: Jake's parents, Robyn and Zvi, invest a ton of time and money into their son, but nothing worked. Then, when he was 10 years old, a profound breakthrough at a summer camp.
JAKE ZELDIN: I was doing this rap battle. I was, like, hey, I'm kind of good.
(SINGING)
GUPTA: Now Jake is performing as Lil' Jakes, smooth as can be. The rhythm or cadence of rapping makes it easier for him to get the words out, without stuttering.
(SINGING)
GUPTA: And for all those who used to torment him, the haters, they now serve as motivation for Jake to perform for crowds of up to 20,000 people.
(SINGING)
(CHEERING)
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(CHEERING) (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. JAMES STOCKDALE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who am I?
(LAUGHTER)
Why am I here?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Unforgettable. That moment captured in a 1992 debate between Al Gore, Dan Quayle and Admiral James Stockdale, vice presidential debate. Did you know who he was? It was a self- confessing moment, "No one knows who I am." Ross Perot's running mate in the presidential debate, meant to be funny but some thought, yes, who is he?
(LAUGHTER)
Always a funny moment.
Hey, listen, the presidential debate tonight and it is going to put these guys to the test again. It happens in Denver. President Obama, Mitt Romney said to go head to head, first of three debates and this one focuses on domestic policy. Plenty of time to talk about all the other issues, but domestic is hot on the agenda tonight. The economy, the top issue for voters. It is expected to dominate the night. Most of the segment is dedicated to it, health care, the role of government are also on the table.
Paul Steinhauser, who watches it like a hawk, is live outside the all right now.
Good to see you. You had a chance to look at some of the freshest polls coming out as people decide what they think of the two guys going into the contest and who they think is going to win.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Exactly. Some of the numbers are right from us, from CNN/ORC. Nine and a half hours from now, behind me in that building, that's where the showdown is going to be.
Who do Americans think is going to win? Take a look at this from our poll. Most people think the president, 56 percent say the president is more likely to win the debates than Mitt Romney. That number very consistent with other surveys, as we have seen over the last couple of weeks.
But what about next week? We're the only people who asked about next week's showdown between the vice presidential candidates. Look at this. Who would have the upper hand, Biden or Ryan, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, according to our poll? So something a little extra I just gave you there, not just tonight's debate, I'm looking ahead to next week.
BANFIELD: Paul Ryan will not be saying, "Who am I and why am I here"? He is plenty well known out there.
(LAUGHTER)
STEINHAUSER: I guarantee you, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Let's talk about the issues. A lot of times the horse race takes over the headlines and the distractions as they're called by critics. But what are the voters saying when we call them and we ask them the pointed questions about the actual issues? Who is winning on the issues alone?
STEINHAUSER: On the economy, which is the most important issue in the minds of Americans, basically divided on this. Look at this. You mentioned there are six segments tonight, three on the economy. That's probably right. What is most important issue for Americans? Look at that, still remains the economy, 48 percent. Ashleigh, the economy is number one with American voters going back to late 2007. That has not changed.
But, you know what, also tonight, the role of government will be one of those six segments and take a look at this number. It is fascinating. We asked registered voters, is the government doing too much that should be left to businesses and individuals. Look at that answer. Yes, over six in 10 said yes. This could be a number that helps Mitt Romney. Go to the next screen, we asked about whether the government should be promoting traditional values, and look at this, for the first time in our CNN polling, the answer is below 50 percent on yes. 54 percent say no. Only 41 percent say yes. Ashleigh, that number could help President Obama.
BANFIELD: All right, so big government, no, but traditional values, not so much. I was fascinated, not on the list, immigration. Only 2 percent of respondents thought that was the most important issue facing the country.
Paul Steinhauser, again, for you too, another long day. Talk to you tomorrow. Thank you.
Here you go again, folks. If I say it too many times, my apologies, but this is important. Debate night in America, live tonight on CNN. It is your first chance to really see these guys speak off-script and get challenged by each other. 7:00 eastern, here, live on CNN and CNN.com as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: With just 34 days to go until the elections and the presidential debate hours away, we're taking a very in depth look all week long at Latinos in America, which is a key voting bloc in this election. This is the latest CNN/ORC poll of Latino voters. President Obama, the clear favorite over Mitt Romney, leading 70 percent to 26 percent. You can fairly say that's not even close and it is well outside the margin of error and that's critical because you know there is a saying that there is power in numbers. At least 12.2 million people expected to show up at the polls on Election Day. But that's barely half of Latinos who are eligible to vote. And it could come down to location, location, location. The Hispanic vote could be the deciding factor in several states, including the swing state of Nevada.
Which is where Miguel Marquez takes us in the battle to win their vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It might sound like Mexico, but this is the fight for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) -- Mitt Romney. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Welcome to Washoe County, Nevada, the front line in this battleground state. Washoe County's 250,000 voters are expected to decide whether Nevada goes blue or red. And Latinos, about 30,000 votes here, could make the critical difference in a race that could come down to a few thousand votes.
Here's how Nevada's 1.4 million votes break down and way Washoe is a battleground within the battleground. Most of the votes here are in Clark County. That's Las Vegas. It leans left. And rural Nevada is solidly Republican. The state almost evenly split. It leaves Washoe County, and that biggest little city in the world, Reno, feeling like, well, the biggest little city in the world.
(SHOUTING)
MARQUEZ: To the Democrats here, the ground war is on. Bus loads of party faithful, some from other states, already knocking on doors, appealing directly to Latinos.
(APPLAUSE)
MARQUEZ: Republicans too seeking favor with Latino voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(on camera): Mitt Romney -- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CRAIG ROMNEY, SON OF MITT ROMNEY: Si.
MARQUEZ: The candidates' Spanish speaking son, on one of the many trips by the candidate. His family and surrogates all descending on Nevada. Obama, first lady and their surrogates doing the same. A massive effort on both sides for Nevada's six electoral votes.
CRAIG ROMNEY: That's why you saw my dad here Friday, my mom here yesterday. We have got -- you know, this is -- this state is very important to us, as are many other states across the country. But this election is going to come down to just a handful of votes probably in the entire country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, ma'am. Are you registered to vote? (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MARQUEZ: Registering Latinos, new voters a priority in the state where the margin of victory could be razor thin.
(on camera): You've been out here how long today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, like five hours.
MARQUEZ: Five hours. How many people have you gotten to register?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six people.
MARQUEZ: That's about -- that's not very good, is it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, is it? I know.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): The growing Latino population decisive here in Nevada and across the country, if only it voted.
ERIC HERZIK, UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO: The Latino voter is in a sense an untapped resource in many instances. The registration level, the turnout level in the Latino community lags badly to other groups.
MARQUEZ: In 2008, nearly 20 million eligible voters nationwide were Latinos. But less than 10 million actually showed up to vote.
ROSA LOPEZ, CULINARY WORKER'S UNION: It is really important to be after them. I can say that. It makes sure that they go and vote.
MARQUEZ: The White House, in the balance, Latino voters could help either party win the whole enchilada.
Miguel Marquez, CNN, Reno, Nevada.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BANFIELD: It all gets going tonight. The first presidential debate of 2012 live right here on CNN. Our coverage begins at 7:00 eastern and on CNN.com.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN QUAYLE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- people in the Bush administration, if that unfortunate event would ever occur.
UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: Senator Bentsen?
SEN. LLOYD BENTSON, (D), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Ouch. The 1988 vice presidential debate between Dan Quayle and Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Quayle had been touting himself to be on par with Jack Kennedy, but you saw it, Bentsen's witty one liner, zinger, you might say, enough to slingshot him to the finish line. Not really, right? You know how it turned out.
Just hours before the first presidential debate, the conservative media are making a big deal about a five-year old videotape right now of President Obama making comments that some say had racial overtones. At a widely covered campaign speech at Hampton University in Virginia, then-U.S. Senator U.S. Senator Obama implied that the Bush administration had discriminated against victims of Hurricane Katrina. CNN reported the event at the time. But the conservative web site called "Daily Caller" is out with the full version of the speech, saying it's an exclusive videotape. Again, we did cover this when it happened. That conservative web site is arguing that it is evidence of President Obama, then-Senator Obama, whipping up race hatred.
For more on this story and how it's developing, we turn to Joe Johns.
The first question is the mechanics of this, Joe. How did this 5- year-old tape that did get mainstream media coverage end up resurfacing now as some sort of exclusive showing something that we apparently had all never seen before?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ashleigh, it's a political year. This tape plays very well to the Republican base. It's being billed on the right as Obama's other race speech, so at a time when some polling suggests the Republican challenger doesn't seem to be getting much traction, the one thing we know what works is dredging up anti-Obama sentiments to get the base fired up.
Now, yes, this is clearly old news. It was well covered five years ago. The other thing that a Democratic and a Republican strategist have both pointed out to me is as an opportunity to provide an answer to that secretly recorded video of Mitt Romney's so-called 47 percent fundraiser speech. The president's opponents can use this tape, new or not to claim Mr. Obama made questionable statements recorded on tape that can be used against him, too -- Ashleigh?
BANFIELD: OK. So I want to make sure as we report on this, it's very difficult as a media outlet reporting on media, and we know there's a landscape. There's a right wing network, a left wing network. Sometimes we're accused of being both. By the way, I love that, because we're obviously equal-opportunity offenders.
But I do want to say this, that the conservative website is suggesting that part of this controversy is that no one covered this. We went back in our archives. I was concerned to think, is it possible that really happened? It just didn't make headlines? It made a lot of headlines.
Let me go through the list, Joe. Indulge me, if you will.
Wolf Blitzer on June 6th, 2007, said this, and had this coverage. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: Democratic Candidate Barack Obama suggesting there is a disconnect and a serious disconnect in the African-American community, and he is invoking the memory of the deadly 1992 Los Angeles riots.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These quiet riots that take place every day are born from the same place as the fires and destruction and the police decked out in riot gear and death. It happens when a disconnect settles in and hope dissipates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: OK, so CNN's Mary Snow continued on June 6th, 2007, with this report. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Obama told a conference of black ministers that Hurricane Katrina exposed some of those quiet riots.
OBAMA: This administration was color-blind in its incompetence --
(SHOUTING)
OBAMA: But -- but everyone here knows that the disaster and the poverty happened long before the hurricane hit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: All right. There's number two. Later that day, Paula Zahn, on this very network, with this coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAULA ZAHN, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because of the Republican debate, you might have missed a new controversy involving Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. As you heard his warning about quiet riots?
OBAMA: These quiet riots that take place every day, they happen when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates.
ZAHN: Is major violence really a threat in our cities, or is this just a scare tactic to win votes, particularly from black voters?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Concrete evidence, back in 2007, of the coverage. The comments were also covered for a second time on Wolf's show. Lou Dobbs, when he was working here, also covered that. The event in question was not a closed event. The media there wig big, big cameras, CNN part of that. Yet, the "Daily Caller" is calling this exclusive and suggesting nobody covered this.
First, I'm a bit bewildered by it. And here we are covering the notion it wasn't covered when it was. How are the campaigns reacting to this?
JOHNS: First, I think the important thing to say is, number one, they're saying that mainstream media effectively didn't cover some of the more controversial parts, if you will. But --
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: That's you and me.
JOHNS: That's right. So there are parts of this speech that actually didn't get a lot of coverage. Still, I think it's also important to say the Obama campaign is saying this is an attempt to distract from the negative attention Romney got from the secret donor speech we were talking about and that the speech was widely reported at the time. The Romney campaign says they didn't have anything to do with it, and I think absent proof of the contrary, you take them at their word.
As you said, CNN did cover the speech extensively, especially the quiet riot remarks. Those transcripts, you can see them. But CNN did not cover shout-outs, for example, to Reverend Jeremiah Wright, some other small nuggets that the "Daily Caller" thought were exclusive.
BANFIELD: You know what though?
JOHNS: yes.
BANFIELD: Tell you what -- I want you to highlight the Jeremiah Wright issue as well because there were some serious comments made about the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. And when you say shout-out, it was a heck of a shout-out. I mean, my friend, my colleague, my mentor, my -- all sorts of laudable comments about Jeremiah Wright, and then the next year, no more Jeremiah Wright. JOHNS: Right. Yes, well, also, remember that when he was making that shout-out to Jeremiah Wright, it wasn't until sometime much later that Jeremiah Wright really became an issue and sort of blew up and was heavily covered in the media.
Now, to be honest with you, some Democratic strategists will conclude and have said, this isn't that flattering to then-Senator Obama, having his words like this dissected, not flattering at all, but as a political matter, the sense among Democrats I've talked to is they believe this is not likely to have that big an impact on the Obama campaign. And one strategist said, if this is the October surprise, Republicans probably should have used it in the last election.
BANFIELD: And to that, couple seconds left, October surprise. Is this something that there's a feeling that the campaign was working with these conservative media outlets, or is this something that the conservative media outlets felt they could just give to work before the big debate?
JOHNS: Yes. Obviously, there are suspicions on both sides because it's a political year, but, I mean, honestly I wouldn't infuse anything like that to the campaign unless there was some proof of it, and I don't have anything like that.
BANFIELD: Joe Johns, I knew you would be on it. I appreciate it.
And props to our archive department for pulling all those clips as fast as they could when all of that news broke this morning.
Joe, thank you. Appreciate that.
Reminder, presidential debate takes place tonight. Watch it live with our coverage here on CNN. Pop the popcorn, get yourself all set, and there will be plenty of spin afterwards. You know it.
Thank you, everyone, for watching. Do appreciate seeing you.
Now NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL begins with Suzanne Malveaux after the break.
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