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Obama Stumps in LA; Romney in Florida; VP Debate in Danville

Aired October 07, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thanks for joining us. You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Fredricka Whitfield. You hear plenty of noise and lots of spin on the presidential campaign trail around the big issues, and you can expect for the next hour right here we will help you figure out where the candidates stand on issues that relate to the Latino community in particular. We'll size up issue by issue how Barack Obama and Mitt Romney plan to tackle these key American challenges, but before we get to those, here's a look at top stories making news today.

We start with a deadly shooting on an Alabama college campus. A campus police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old freshman at the University of South Alabama overnight. School officials say Gilbert Callar was naked and acting erratically. They say he confronted the officer and rushed him several times and ignored warnings to back off. The school says the officer shot the young man in the chest once. His friends say they're shocked at what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLGAN MEANOR, FRIEND: You could ask anyone that knew him. He was a great, loving guy. Always made people smile. Is not the kind of guy that people knew him and said he would do something like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN legal contributor Paul Callan says Alabama law may well come into play in this case down the road.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Alabama also has virtually the identical stand your ground law that Florida has. So do you know that the officer in this case can probably say he was - he felt that he was in danger of his life, and he was standing his ground and shooting? So I'm betting as this proceeds you may see that law that we've heard so much back in the Zimmerman case in Florida rear it's ugly head now in Alabama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The officer involved in the shooting has been put on administrative leave until the investigation is complete.

All right. Now to Pennsylvania where the state's deputy attorney general and his wife are accused of severely abusing two children they adopted. Police arrested Douglas and Kristin Barber after the kids had a doctor's visit. Investigators say the doctor noticed several fractures on the 18-month-old girl's head and the six-year-old boy up appeared starved. The couple faces charges of assault and child endangerment. Their attorney has not commented.

All right. Turning to international news now, it's election day in Venezuela. People are going to the polls to vote for their next president. President Hugo Chavez is hoping to hold onto his power. His challenger this election is a centrist state governor. International security correspondent Paula Newton is live for us from Caracas.

So Paula, we're hearing there were lots of long lines outside the voting stations well before the doors even opened. How is it going?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Long lines including where Hugo Chavez voted. I mean, Fred, I'm not sure that elections we're used to attend that people would wait that long. You're talking about three, four, five six hours some people still in line. We are already getting hints, Fred, that they have to keep the polls longer than 6:00 p.m., which is when they were scheduled to close locally.

Now having said that, things were fairly calm except of course, where Hugo Chavez was voting. He voted and then there was quite a bit of commotion outside after that. But what is clear here, Fred, and this is important in this very tight race, he says that he will live by the result, whatever it is, if that means that even if it sweeps him out of office. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUGO CHAVEZ, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): None of you should have the least doubt that we will recognize the results regardless of what they are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: And what's also interesting, though, is that while this has been determined by the Carter Center right there in Atlanta saying that, "Look, this is a transparent system. This is one of the most sophisticated voting systems in the world, we still detected a lot of apprehension at the polls in terms of people finding out who you're voting for, whether it's the opposition (INAUDIBLE) or Hugo Chavez.

Now, I want you to hear from another young student voting for the first time. I want you to listen to what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (on camera): You do not want to say who you were voting for?

JESUS BETANCOURT, VOTER: Yes, because the vote is secret. The important thing is that every Venezuelan is going to vote and make his decision.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: So it's clear that voters here still feel like they'll be tainted if they are labeled as either with the opposition or with the government. What does that mean, Fred? Here, it can mean very real things, not getting into university, not getting a job.

WHITFIELD: So is there any indication of, you know, when we might hear about these election results?

NEWTON: It's going to be a late night for sure. What's different here is that the system is completely automated, but they're not going to start counting votes until 85 of the vote has returned. When you talk about these long lines, Fred, it could be quite a long night.

WHITFIELD: All right. Paula Newton, thanks so much in Caracas, Venezuela.

All right. Hoping to build momentum following the presidential debates, President Obama stumping in California, Mitt Romney also on the road after what many saw as a lackluster debate last week for the president in particular. He's hoping the new lower unemployment rate will give him a boost.

The president is attending a fund-raiser in Los Angeles, and then he heads on to Ohio. Mitt Romney in the meantime is spending the weekend in Florida where yesterday he spent much of the day preparing for the next debate. It's a must-win state if he wants to capture the White House.

And, of course, you don't want to forget that the vice presidential debate is this Thursday. Joe Biden and Paul Ryan squaring off. Our CNN coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern Time.

All right. So news for your car out there. Honda is recalling 268,000 CRVs, its popular SUV, model years 2002 to 2006. Honda says there's a faulty window switch in the driver's side door, and if it gets wet it can start fire. No crashes or injuries have been reported but Honda said it knows a four-switch fires.

Space travel will officially begin as business with a launch tonight. SpaceX will send the first privately contracted re-supply mission to the International Space Station. Launch time from Cape Canaveral, Florida is 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. SpaceX successfully demonstrated it could do the job back in May when it docked a capsule with the space station. Tonight's launch will be the first of many under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.

Latino voters are vital to President Obama and Mitt Romney in the upcoming election. We're looking at the issues that will most impact their votes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Thursday is the duel in Danville where the vice presidential candidates meet in Kentucky for their first and only debate. Vice president Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan couldn't be further apart on the issues, but they both love to debate. I spoke with Candy Crowley, our chief political correspondent and host of "State of the Union" earlier today about the race and what to expect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The vice presidential debate this week, a couple of your guest this is morning summed up the candidates this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: Paul is a smart guy. He has committed his life to understanding the problems of our economy, presenting a plan for the American people. So I think that Paul is going to do - is going to do a great job.

MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER (D), PHILADELPHIA: Vice President Biden will do very, very well. He knows what's been going on. He's in touch with the American public. And I'm just hopeful that Mr. Ryan will tell the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: It's a one-shot deal. They've got to get it right on this debate. Likely what are they focusing on in their rehearsals?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, Joe Biden told us he's focusing on Paul Ryan's economic plan as he introduced to the House last or the year before, because they think that is fertile territory to find a lot of ways to try to paint Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as, you know, against the middle class and taxing the middle class. I think Joe Biden is going to wrap Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as tightly together as possible and then just sort of drop the Ryan plan on top it to try to kind of implode the pair. Because they think that that is really good ground.

I think as far as Paul Ryan is concerned, I think he is kind of a policy wonk. So his problem maybe kind of he's just a numbers guy, and he's up against frankly and I think Reince Priebus who is the head of the Republican Party and Michael Nutter who is the mayor of Philadelphia both said that Joe Biden is a very kind of accessible politician. He tends to put things the way, you know, that people get it immediately. He's just got that kind of manner about him. I think that's the - in some ways, you know, we look at the substance and we look at the style.

As far as style is concerned, I think Paul Ryan's fear here is that he's too much of a wonk and sort of throwing out numbers. You know, you can expect Joe Biden to say, "Gee, I took a look at your numbers and here's what they would do to, you know, George next door." So it will be, you know, Ryan has to be careful about that kind of debate.

WHITFIELD: The next presidential debate, you're moderating October 16th. Likely these candidates, President Obama, Mitt Romney are looking over the tapes, make they've exhausted it looking over the tapes, what went right and what went wrong. You have to wonder how they might be modifying their presentations ahead of that debate. CROWLEY: Well, one thing I know for sure and that is that if he was not aware ahead of time and he probably was but forgot, the president now knows that these debates are generally taken split screens. That is, just because the other guy is talking doesn't mean you're not on camera. So there was a lot of discussion about how the president looked and how he seemed disengaged and how he kept looking down, how he wouldn't look at Mitt Romney. I don't think that's going to up happen. I think it will be slightly easier in this debate for the two of them simply because there are actual people in the town hall meeting style.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Candy Crowley there. Don't forget to check out Candy every Sunday morning on CNN's "State of the Union" 9:00 a.m. Eastern time.

So we're 30 days until election day, and this hour we're taking a look at issues that matter most particularly to Latino voters. The Latino community came out strongly for Barack Obama in the last presidential election, and people don't want their votes taken for granted.

Miguel Marquez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Immigrants out of the shadows wanting their voices heard, their concerns on the agenda.

(on camera): Tell me why you're here tonight.

IMALDA, IMMIGRANT PROTESTER: We're here asking both of the candidates to look at immigration in a more humane sense, because none of them are doing so.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): As the debate began, Latino students hoped to hear something that spoke to them. They never got it.

MARISSA ARMAS, STUDENT: I don't know. They haven't hit on too many issues that I'm passionate about. I'm still waiting to hear.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): What are you passionate about?

ARMAS: I would definitely say immigration, education.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): For the president who won 61 percent of Colorado's Latino votes in 2008, that same energy for many Latinos just isn't there.

MARK ANTHONY MONTOYA, ACTIVIST: Four years ago, Barack Obama I had his back. He very much spoke to me. But now I'm hearing the same rhetoric that I heard four years ago.

MARQUEZ: Still there are 400,000 Latino votes in play across the state. Both sides courting them heavily.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Fernando.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, how are you?

MARQUEZ: That's President Obama speaking to KBNO Fernando Sergio last May. He hosts a radio show reaching Latinos across the state.

(on camera): And you find yourself in the middle of presidential politics. Tell me about that.

FERNANDO SERGIO, KBNO RADIO HOST: You know, I think it underlines the importance of the Hispanic population. I think that's what it is.

And for the president of the United States, the commander in chief to pick up the phone and call me, call my show, talk to my listeners, it shows that.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): As for Governor Romney everyone but the candidate himself so far has been on the show. With a margin of victory here expected to be tiny, both sides want to win over businessmen like Sergio Evangelista.

(on camera): We met in May, you were an undecided voter then. Today?

SERGIO EVANGELISTA, STORE OWNER: Still am.

MARQUEZ: How is that possible?

EVANGELISTA: Well, I haven't heard from any of the candidates anything that would make me choose one of them right now.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Evangelista doesn't believe either candidate can do much to improve the economy, but he's waiting for one of them to say something concrete about how they'll fix immigration.

EVANGELISTA: I have friends and I have family members that are now illegally here in the country. There is no solution in sight.

MARQUEZ: Two more presidential debates to go. Latinos here will be watching closely.

Miguel Marques, CNN, Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And if you want to understand exactly where President Obama and Republican challenger Romney stand on immigration, we have an interactive site that you may want to check out. Josh Levs is here to show us how it works.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. Listen to this, if someone were to go online and try to find out exactly where President Obama and Mitt Romney stand on immigration, you might stumble on to two news headlines, not from CNN. One says this "On immigration, Obama and Romney agree on virtually nothing." Another one says this "No real differences between presidential candidates on immigration." So which is it? Are they exactly the same or they're completely different from each other? There's a lot of confusion over where these candidates stand when it comes to immigration. I want to show you a very strong starting point to really dig in on their promises, their records and their assertions as we go along. This is it right here. CNN.com/election, if you go there we have an entire section that focuses on issue. All sorts of different issues, in fact, let's open it up over here and you'll see there's a left rail that lets you click on whatever issue is important to you. Foreign policy, education, abortion, or immigration. That's one of the many ones.

Now, let's go to this post screen here. I want to show you just an example of some of the kinds of things you can learn about if you take look at what we've got here online. I'm not pretending to summarize the entire race where everyone stands on. But if you take a look, a few of these points are from President Obama and Mitt Romney, you can learn more about these online.

President Obama's plan halting deportations of many young people. Also, the way he's been criticized from the left as well as the right for an overall lack of reform. Mitt Romney pushes this high-tech fence, and you can see how he's been criticized for lack of specifics on his reform plan. You can also learn where that border fence stands.

Now, even if you think you already know who you will vote for, which a lot of voters across the country most do, it's still good and important to know where they stand on the issues most important to you and to hold them to promises. That's where their Web sites kick in. You don't have to write any of these down. I got a link up for you in one place. But both President Obama and mitt Romney have entire policy positions on immigration that they have laid out online.

What this does for us in my industry is it gives us a place to keep following their promises that whoever becomes the president or maintains the presidency if it's the current president can be held to these promises. One more thing for you to know about, I'll link it up for you. The CNN political ticker has breaking political news all the time, in and out, every day. And we have an entire section there that's all about immigration.

So when you hear a new assertion, a new change on where one of the candidates stand, we will have it there for you, all within that one place. Everything I've got for you right here is all linked up at Twitter and Facebook. While we're talking about that, I want you to know something I'm doing on Twitter. I have a hashtag called rtfacts. I'm using in general throughout this campaign. And especially live during debates to get you hard facts.

The debate the other day, the presidential debate made it so clear how desperately this is needed in which there are so many falsehoods, misleading statements and just muddled conversation that can leave millions of people confused about what's really going on. We got hard numbers for you, hard facts on every issue, join me at that hash tag.

Fred, I would tell, the more that we can all learn about a, what both these candidates are promising to do and b, what's actually been done, the better off we all are as voting public.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely. All right. Thanks so much helping to keep us informed. Appreciate it, Josh.

LEVS: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Making it in Manhattan. We'll take you to New York to show you how one ethnic group is gaining influence and building success.

And if you have to go out today, just a reminder, you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN live, of course, from your laptop. Just go to cnn.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Latinos are a very diverse group especially in one of the most diverse cities in America. As Soledad O'Brien reports many Mexicans find Manhattan not only immigrant friendly but rich with opportunity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This store is called Escondido, hidden. But the Mexican wares it sells are no hidden secret.

LOUIS SALAZAR, CO-OWNER ESCONDIDO: You see more and more products and cheeses and those kinds of artisinal products from Mexico. You see much more interest in Mexican chocolate, and you see the changing demographics of people demanding higher quality products.

O'BRIEN: These high end chocolates (INAUDIBLE) cultural artifacts are so popular, they are not just fetching top dollar. Escondido has begun accepting pesos.

SALAZAR: You have more Mexicans, you have more pesos. IT only makes more sense to be able to accept them as a way of providing a public service to the people who come to the shop.

O'BRIEN: Mexicans have also work taken Manhattan, moving in where Puerto Ricans and Dominicans once ran bodegas and beauty shops.

FRANCIS SANTIAGO, RESIDENT: They also work - a lot of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, also working in factories and hair salons, nail salons everything, and from there they got better and some of them you see them now, are store owners, their own clothes stores, cell phone places, dealers. They moves up. The same way as somebody I think from Mexico come and do the same thing here.

O'BRIEN: Mexican birth will soon outpace Dominican and Puerto Ricans in New York. While more Dominicans are leaving than arriving, not just moving up but moving out.

MOISES PEREZ, LATINO POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Mexicans are now willing when they come straight from Mexico to take lower paying jobs and to endure some of the exploitation the Dominican endured, you know, years ago.

O'BRIEN: Rodrigo Abrajan says he finds New York immigrant friendly and rich with opportunity. He began working in New York's kitchens at age six, then sold tacos off a cart, a taco truck, a taco stand, tacos to go. And now he's the owner of four Mexican restaurants.

RODRIGO ABRAJAN, OWNER, LA FONDA: You have to work very hard, and we - would never expect to be that successful as we are doing right now.

O'BRIEN: Soledad O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Fifty thousand Latinos in the U.S. turn 18 every month. A tremendous pool of possible voters that both parties know can help them win the next election. Win at least 40 percent of the voting block, win the White House. One problem? Latinos in this country are increasingly unsatisfied with what they hear from both sides.

CNN follows the fight to win back this essential voting bloc. Watch the documentary special "Latino in America Courting Their Vote" tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

President Obama and Mitt Romney are on the stump, but it's their number two men who will take center stage this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hoping to build momentum for his campaign, President Barack Obama stumps in California today after what many saw as a lackluster debate last week. He's hoping the new lower unemployment rate will give him a boost. The president is attending a fund-raiser in Los Angeles, and then he heads to Ohio.

Mitt Romney is spending the weekend in Florida where yesterday he spent much of the day preparing for the next debate. It's a must-win state to capture the White House. CNN's Jim Acosta is traveling with Romney for us.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, Mitt Romney is wrapping up a three-day campaign sweep across the crucial battleground state of Florida. He has spent part of this weekend in debate prep, the other part at events like this on in Port St. Lucie, Florida, in front of an estimated crowd of roughly 12,000 people.

Of course, over the last couple of days we've heard Mitt Romney continue this victory lap after what was widely perceived to be a big victory in that first presidential debate. But earlier this morning on the Sunday talk shows, top Obama campaign strategists went after Mitt Romney accusing him of making a number of false statements in that first debate. Today at this event here in Port St. Lucie, Romney fired back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You all had a chance to hear his answers or nonanswers. Now, of course days later we're hearing his excuses, and next January we'll be watching him leave the White House for the last time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Next Romney heads to Virginia for this campaign he is billing as a major foreign policy speech at the Virginian Military Institute. After that the GOP nominee will be campaigning in more critical battleground states like Ohio and Iowa. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jim.

For both presidential campaigns, this week could turn out to be as much of a roller coaster ride as last week was since jobs and the economy are what a lot of voters are worried about.

I asked political columnist Dana Milbank of "The Washington Post" between the debates and those new jobs numbers, which is the game changer.

DANA MILBANK, POLITICAL COLUMNIST: Well, if you asked it before the jobs numbers came out, Fredricka, you certainly would say that this changed the fundamentals of the campaign. However, the jobs numbers very quickly erase some of that. We'll begin to see as poll numbers come out whether it had a more lasting impact. But you have to remember there's two more debates to come and a vice presidential debate coming up in just a couple of days. So this race has a common thread that's been going through it all along. That's been called into question somewhat. I don't think we're at a point where things have fundamentally altered.

WHITFIELD: Both of these candidates were different people during the debate. There was an unveiling for both of them, so to speak. You write today in the "Washington Post" that President Obama may be the deficit for him was that he's kind out of practice. What do you mean?

MILBANK: Well, look, I mean people have come up with all kinds of explanations, and I particularly like Al Gore's notion that the altitude was too high for the president. But I think in this case you see almost all incumbent presidents when they go for their first debate have a difficult time. That is because they spent four years in the White House being cloistered away not being challenged, not being challenged by their aides, by lawmakers or by anybody else or the press trying to ask questions.

In Obama's case that's been particularly difficult because he set all kinds of modern records for avoiding the press, avoiding news conferences and chances to mix it up with the press. So when you're not being kept on your toes, getting skeptical, even hostile questions regularly, you get out of practice and those muscles atrophy. And I think that may have contributed to why he was so flat and we will see if he can get back into the game of being challenged.

WHITFIELD: The flipside to that, Romney seized on what he thought was a great opportunity, the economy. He came prepared with numbers, it was as if he was in the boardroom, but now you wonder if all of that will change as a result of the numbers that we saw. I mean is he going to have to modify his narrative?

MILBANK: Well, Fredricka, he seems to modify his narrative every time we see him. Now he was very effective in the debate in Denver in large work because he presented an agenda that was entirely different from the agenda he presented through the primaries and even in the general election up until now. So the etch-a-sketch finally appeared. Does he get away with that? Does the vice president in this week's debate say which one is it? You said this last week and you said this last month. You said this six months ago.

You know, he will be called in some way to account for that. The improved jobs number doesn't change the economy fundamentally but it adds some other wrinkle in there and how does Romney present which message he choose to present and how does he clean that up versus the other things he said.

WHITFIELD: The vice presidential contenders, the vice president and the contender they only have one shot with their debate this week. What's your expectation for them?

MILBANK: I think it should be terrific, because they're both substantive guys and they are both really sharp. You know, Biden is famous for putting his foot in his mouth, but not generally during debates. He's quite good at that. Paul Ryan enjoys mixing it up. We're talking about mixing it up with reporters. Paul Ryan really enjoys doing that. I think you'll see these guys in a nice traditional debate, and I'm getting my popcorn ready. It should be good.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dana Milbank of the "Washington Post" thanks so much. You won't want to miss the next big political face-off, the duel in Danville, Kentucky, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan go at it Thursday evening. Our coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Preaching politics from the pulpit, if it happens churches risk losing tax-exempt status. But many religious leaders across the country are challenging the law anyway. Find out why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Today some conservative evangelical churches are defining possible IRS sanctions by opening calling for the defeat of President Obama and so-called unbiblical candidates. The event is called Pulpit Freedom Sunday. Organizers were hoping as many as 1500 pastors across the country would take part today. Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com religion editor joining me now from Washington to tell us more about what's happening here. So Dan, who is behind this and what causes a candidate to be defined as "unbiblical" say some of the pastors?

DAN GILGOFF, CNN.COM RELIGIOUS EDITOR: Well Fred there's a conservative evangelical group called Alliance Defending Freedom that organized the event today. What's really kind of incredible about it is this the third year that they are challenging pastors to speak out for or against political candidates.

Now when it started just a few dozen churches participated. This year today there were 1400 pastors who say they are participating. Of course, the other big thing about this year that's different is there's a presidential election going on. So that the consequences of a mass number of preachers making political endorsements are, of course, a lot more dramatic because the White House is hanging in the balance.

WHITFIELD: So is this considered, you know, a case of religious principle or is this a political statement that is being made?

GILGOFF: I think it really depends where you sit, because for the pastors who are participating in today's event, Pulpit Freedom Sunday, they're almost all conservative. They might all be conservative, in fact. They would say that the bible translates into conservative politics because of stances against abortion, against gay marriage, for religious liberty.

Now of course, there are hundreds and thousands of other churches who would see things differently. It would translate religion and Christianity in particular into progressive politics around helping the poor or preserving the environment. But the entire movement that is really emerging that is challenging the IRS that is defying the IRS ban on political endorsements is really an entirely conservative movement.

WHITFIELD: So it seems those behind the campaign are almost daring the IRS to sue them. Here's what the laws says, "A tax-exempt religious organization is a legal entity which does not participate in or interfere in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office." So has any church or any one faced a penalty as a result?

GILGOFF: There are very occasional penalties. Really it seems like a handful every year, but there hasn't been a wide number by any stretch. What you say is exactly right. This is an attempt by a conservative network of pastors and lawyers to really challenge this law. The law dates back to 1954. It's been on the books now for over 60 years, and what they want to do is to get a church penalized so that they can challenge the law and take this to court and attempt to get this ban overturned. We'll see if it works.

WHITFIELD: So I guess is the interpretation as to why the IRS or no other government agency has engaged in this is because they don't want to feel entrapped since it appears as those these pastors or churching are actually taunting the government to take action?

GILGOFF: There are different theories about why the IRS has been lax on enforcement from different sides. You know, some say that they don't want to get in trouble from churches and get a Democratic administration, say, with President Obama in trouble with the churches by threatening them. Others say they just don't have enough agents to enforce this law.

And so it's really unclear because the IRS has been so mum and because when they do penalize it's done privately, it's really unclear about how much enforcement there really is. It's expected there really is little, and exactly why the enforcement at least seems to be so lax. It's a big, outstanding question. WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Gilgoff, a CNN.com religion editor. Thanks so much.

GILGOFF: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: You can see more of this story on our "Belief Blog" at CNN.com/belief.

All right. Bees in France are making some rather strange-colored honey and it is because of a sweet tooth. Beekeepers say the honeybees ate M&M candy residue from crates found in a near by factory, that factory processes candy waste. The result? Green, blue and red colored honey. Keepers say it taste like regular honey but it won't be sold in stores.

The presidential candidates are fighting to win the Latino vote. We will take a look at one state where Latinos voters could decide this election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're 30 days until Election Day, and this hour we are taking a look at issues that matter most too particularly Latino voters. The presidential candidates are trying to appeal to as many Latinos as possible, especially in Florida a crucial swing state. Ed Lavandera has more on why winning this vote won't be easy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Roll out the Mariachi band and a few dancers and sprinkle in some politicians and you have yourself a little old political rally courting Latino voters, right? Well that kind of image doesn't work like it used to. In fact political strategists have a name for it, Mariachi politents (ph).

LEONARD RODRIGUEZ, FORMER ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BUSH: You have the Hispanics behind you and you got the mariachis and it seems like they're reaching for something and trying to portray an image that really is not there. The photo with the president on my last day.

LAVANDERA: Leonard Rodriguez coordinated Latino voter outreach strategy for George W. Bush's presidential campaigns. We met in his San Antonio home.

How do candidates fall into this? They appear like they are pandering to this voting bloc?

RODRIGUEZ: Talking one way to one group of individuals predominantly white group of individuals and then going into the next event and talking predominantly to a group of Hispanic individuals. It forces the candidate to look out there and know that he's not talking or delivering a message that has to bring two groups of people together.

LAVANDERA: The television ads offer a snapshot to President Obama's and Mitt Romney's strategy courting Latino voters. The Obama campaign is using Latino celebrities targeting specific issues like education, immigration and even the appointment of Sonya Soto Meyer as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court.

The Romney campaign is using family. Mitt Romney's son, Craig, who speaks fluent Spanish, talks about American values and bipartisanship. Juan Tornoe is the chief marketing officer of cultural strategies. He has analyzed the candidates Latino marketing strategies and sees Obama and Romney targeting specific groups in the Latino communities.

Romney chasing the more conservative Cuban-American vote and Obama focusing on Puerto Rican Mexican American votes. Juan Tornoe says to get these votes the message; it doesn't have to be delivered in Spanish.

JUAN TORNOE, CULTURAL STRATEGIES: We have to keep in mind the Latino community is not monolithic. You have to reach Latinos that are not only in language but also in culture.

LAVANDERA: Recent polls show President Obama has a commanding lead among Latino voters nationwide, but it's the Latinos in battleground states like Nevada, Colorado and Florida that Mitt Romney needs to win over. The fight is on.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, San Antonio, Texas.

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WHITFIELD: Latinos are saying Republicans are not doing enough for their community. We we'll take a look at why.

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WHITFIELD: All right. We've been talking about the issues that matter to Latino voters in particular this hour. The Latino votes could be pivotal come Election Day, both Democrats and Republicans angling for their votes, but some Latino Republicans are putting pressure on leaders in their own party demanding them to do more outreach while focusing less on immigration. Soledad O'Brien has been following both parties for a year in Nevada.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The presidential candidates come out here to win the west.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In October 2011 the Republican presidential candidates rolled into town with their money and their message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Herman Cain let me start with you. Would you build an entire fence along the entire border and would you have it be electrified?

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: I would build a double-walled fence.

O'BRIEN: There's tough talk on immigration.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have enough border patrol agents to over see the fence and number two you turn off the magnets like tuition breaks or other breaks that draw people into this country illegally.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a question in the audience.

O'BRIEN: In the audience is Las Vegas business man Robert Zavala a Republican voter anxious to ask the question on the minds of many Latino voters.

ROBERT ZAVALA, REPUBLICAN VOTER: We have 50 million Latinos and not all of them are legal. What is the message from you guys to our Latino community?

O'BRIEN: Is it a tough thing to be Republican and Latino here?

ZAVALA: Yes, it is.

O'BRIEN: How so?

ZAVALA: I have to all the time defend the party. Sort of like that's not all of us. Our community is not only about immigration. The Latino community is like any other community we want jobs. They want a better education for their kids.

What's the message that we take to the grass root?

O'BRIEN: Hours after the Latino debate in a different session Zavala is still pressing his own party's leaders for answers.

O'BRIEN: There are nothing but Latino leaders in here, but we don't know how to reach them out there. The Democrats are kicking our behinds.

CECILIA ALDANA, REPUBLICAN ACTIVIST: We need you out here talking to us.

O'BRIEN: Cecilia Aldana, Republican shares Zavala's satisfaction.

ZAVALA: The Republican leadership has to send a message it to our community.

O'BRIEN: What's your frustration with the Republican Party?

ALDANA: They don't see what Hispanics go through every day and how is it that the other party is taking advantage of that. They don't see it as a problem.

O'BRIEN: So you think the Republicans aren't fighting for your vote?

ALDANA: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: But Cecelia wants to fight for the votes and is pushing the GOP leadership to join her and take their message to the Latino community.

ALDANA: I never saw them trying to be out there and express their voices, you know. I'm not afraid to tell people what I stand for. So I wanted to be out there with me trying to teach the population.

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WHITFIELD: CNN follows the fight to win back this essential voting bloc. Watch the documentary special "Latino in America: Courting their vote" tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

A young Latino NASCAR driver is one of a new talents burning up the track. His story and how he got there.

And if you have to go out today, just a reminder you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone and you can also watch CNN live from your laptop. Just go to CNN.com/tv.

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WHITFIELD: Bad news for drivers in California, the average gallon of gas is now $4.61, even topping $5.00 in some parts of the state. The national average is higher too now at $3.81 a gallon. So what is driving up the cost? Some of it is being chalked up to refineries being shut down on the west coast, and some of it to trading in commodity markets.

All right. He is one to watch. Burning up the track on the NASCAR circuit, and the young Latino American says he has many to thank for the opportunity. Meet Sergio Pena.

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SERGIO PENA, NASCAR DRIVER: He has so much adrenaline rushing through your body and you're so concentrated on hitting every mark and making sure everything is absolutely perfect. My name is Sergio Pena, I'm Colombian and I'm a NASCAR driver.

WHITFIELD (voice over): Pena has been racing professionally since he was 13, motor cross, go carts and formula cars, you name it. Now the 19 year old Virginia native is working his way up the NASCAR ranks. Seeing the potential, NASCAR officials enrolled Pena in their drive for diversity program, a program designed to give minorities a chance to compete, gain experience and exposure.

PENA: The diversity program did just that for me. I had a great two years there. They put my name on the map. They gave me great opportunities. I learned a lot.

WHITFIELD: Pena learned enough to land a big-time sponsor much to the delight of his father, who spent over $1 million to fund his son's efforts over the years.

Everything you make to try to dump it into the sport hoping that he would get a shot at it. I wouldn't change a thing. The economy is tough, but if I had to do it again, I think I would do it again, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am so thankful that my dad put such an effort into my career. I wouldn't do it without him. It has put a huge toll on my family, but now, you know, all of our hard work seems to be paying off.

WHITFIELD: A great support system and the right opportunities will only get you so far. Pena still has to deliver, and he has.

KIP CHILDRESS, NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST: His family has given everything they had to put him in a position to be in the equipment he's in today, but Sergio has done quite a bit of work as well. He has to perform. Sergio's been able to get the job done the on the racetrack.

WHITFIELD: Last year Pena was tied for most wins in his series, and he finished fifth overall in points. He's eager and hungry to get it the next level.

PENA: I really hope to be in the Sprint Cup Series, and if not, one of the top three series, especially the nationwide. I really hope to be competing out there with the big names.

WHITFIELD: As for bringing more diversity to NASCAR, Pena says the building blocks are there.

PENA: The African-Americans, Latinos and I think it's great for the sport. If we see diversity at NASCAR not only as drivers but in the stands as well, it's a great thing for us.

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WHITFIELD: You can follow Sergio Pena's career on his facebook page.