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Jobless Claims Fall; Will Ease in Foreclosures, Layoffs Help Obama; Families Wants Answers from Politicians on Benghazi Attack; S.C. Voter I.D. Law Blocked. Countdown to Tonight's Debate; Biden's Debate Prep; Ryan's Debate Strategy

Aired October 11, 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": Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Nice to you have with us. It's 11:00 on East Coast, 8:00 on the West Coast and here's where we begin today.

From the day they join the ticket to the day they leave office or lose the election, running mates live in the shadows except for one big night.

For Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent, and Paul Ryan, the GOP challenger, tonight's the night, the one and only vice presidential debate of the 2012 campaign season and we're going to spend much of this hour on the men, the issues and the state of the race, as well as its impact, such as it is, for second bananas.

CNN's John King is counting down to the big event from his post in Washington, D.C. Our Brianna Keilar and Dana Bash join us from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where the big event will take place.

John, I want to start with you. You write on CNN.com today that the v.p. debate, quote, "is no game changer, but could shift the momentum." How so?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you look, Ashleigh, just at what's happened since the first presidential debate, Governor Romney clearly has momentum.

He's moved ahead of the president by a smidgen in the national polls. He's either caught up or gained ground in several of the key battleground states, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, to name four, so, he has a bit of a breeze at his back and the Republicans think they have momentum.

In this debate, look, Americans pick presidents, not vice-presidents. Not to downplay the stakes tonight, but this is -- the e presidential debates are more important, but if Joe Biden can turn in a really strong performance, maybe he can halt that Republican momentum.

If Paul Ryan can surprise people and turn in a very strong performance, the Republicans keep that momentum going into next week. BANFIELD: John, we've been playing a couple of sound bites as we've been leading into a lot of these debates and one that gets played over and over has been the famous sound bite where Dan Quayle essentially got his clock cleaned by Senator Lloyd Bentsen -- "I knew Jack Kennedy and you're no Jack Kennedy" -- but that turned out well for Mr. Quayle.

KING: He became the vice president of the United States, didn't he? He had a not-so-strong debate performance. He was overshadowed, out- debated by the elder Lloyd Benson back in 1988. I remember that debate very well. It was my first presidential campaign and, yet, George H. W. Bush went on to win the election.

And not just win the election, Ashleigh, but to win 40 states, 40of the 50 states, George H. W. Bush won in 1988, so if anyone tells you tonight's debate is going to influence what happens on November 6th, I'd roll your eyes.

It potentially is important. There's a lot to talk about. There's a lot of policy to fight about and these are two very passionate guys representing the two ends of America's political, ideological spectrum.

However, Romney and Obama lead the ticket and that's who people vote for on election day.

BANFIELD: And passion aside, John King, and zingers aside and sound bites aside, we're in a 24/7 news cycle and we're only a couple days away from a very important presidential debate.

So, how much sticking power will tonight have?

KING: That's a great question because one of the things that happens out of debates is what is that moment that gets replayed and replayed and replayed, not only on television, but now gets bounced all around the Internet.

Everybody shares on Facebook, in Twitter-verse, in everything else. So, there will be one or two of those from tonight without a doubt. And the vice president's candidates, you're going to hear, you know, the word "middle class" a lot tonight.

You're going to have Vice President Biden try to bring the zest and energy that the president didn't bring to the first presidential debate, but again, these are the number twos.

I'm not saying it's not important, but Tuesday, our Candy Crowley hosts the next big event, Romney/Obama, presidential debate round two, so this debate is on a Thursday night. It will play big through the weekend without a doubt, but early next week, the guys at the top of the ticket take back the spotlight.

BANFIELD: A great piece you wrote on CNN.com and I appreciate your perspective today, as well. John King, thank you.

KING: Thank you. BANFIELD: Live in D.C. for us.

Listen, this may be the debate, you know, just the debate between the number two guys, but after President Obama's dismal showing in his first debate with Mitt Romney, you can pretty much bet that the Obama camp is hoping for really big things from Joe Biden at tonight's debate.

Brianna Keilar is busy on the trail. She's joining us from Danville, Kentucky, the sight of the debate, with details on how the vice president has been preparing and my big question is, where has he been? I feel like he's been in virtual hiding for days if not weeks.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He has been, certainly for days, the last four day, in fact, Ashleigh. You're right.

He's been in Wilmington, Delaware, in what has essentially been an intensive debate camp, holed up for most of -- for the better part of the days in a hotel in Wilmington, working with his aides, working with coaches.

He certainly has been over the past months doing some work to prepare for this debate, a lot of review of policies and certainly where Paul Ryan stands on the issues, where Mitt Romney stands on the issues, but this camp was all about kind of gearing towards a mock debate -- mock debates, I should say.

He did one each night for the last four nights bringing him a total of at least half a dozen that he has done, 90-minute mock debates very much like what we're going to see tonight, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: You know, he has been called a "gaffe machine," among other things. What has he been doing, or at least what has the campaign been doing or allowing us to know about, anyway, to try to minimize the gaffes that could lead to what John King was referring to, Internet moments that live forever?

KEILAR: That's right. And, when you think of Joe Biden, he's almost synonymous with gaffes. These are things we see when he's on the campaign trail. Certainly, his words sort of trip him up and become these moments.

The thing is and I've asked his folks about this, they sort of say they're not really worried about it. I think certainly when you're dealing with Joe Biden there's always kind of that in the back of your head, but actually, if you look at his debate performances and he's had many on the national stage, these gaffes don't really tend to come out during debates.

So, just looking at his track record, this may be a place where he can kind of minimize that, but certainly we're going to be watching for that, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: I can hear a cacophony, probably to your left and to your right, of other reporters. I'm assuming that you're in a very, very busy place.

I won't for a moment ask your cameraman to swing and look around, but just in 10 seconds or less, what kind of a circus is it there right now?

KEILAR: Well, you know, so far it's not too bad. If you can just pan over here and just get a look at some of the other reporters who are doing live shots, you can see this is certainly set up and it's going to -- it will be getting busier as the day goes on, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Wow.

KEILAR: You can see this whole area equipped for an entire row of cameras. We're in front of the arena where the debate will be held and, obviously, there's going to be a lot of action inside of that building, as well.

BANFIELD: Thank you for that. Would you please tell your cameraman, thank you for being so quick to the pan.

KEILAR: I sure will.

BANFIELD: We do appreciate that.

Brianna Keilar, have fun today and tonight as we all take in the debate.

So, while Biden goes into tonight perhaps on damage control, the mission for his Republican counterpart, Congressman Paul Ryan, it may just boil down to one word -- momentum, building on the momentum from Romney's debate last week. It was real good.

And part of the strategy, some of his debate secrets, perhaps even, lie in that. Take a peek. Take a gander. Dana Bash even tapping on it, the old, ratty, brown briefcase and it is chock full with about 40 pounds of paperwork, 40 pounds. He hauls that along with him on the campaign trail.

There she is, Dana Bash, our senior congressional correspondent. I am so glad, Dana, that you did that, that you asked him to point out what was in that bag.

What's in the bag is always the question that gets you some of the best details and it leads us to one very important point. This is what kind of guy he is. He is a master preparer.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is a master preparer and talk to anybody, as I did for a series of pieces that I did for this evening, to -- who knows him, to describe him and they use that word -- prepared, that he has always been prepared. It's how he got how far he got at such a young age.

Remember, he was first running for Congress at age 27. That's pretty young to do that. You see that briefcase there. He was talking about the fact that he has everything in there and he has it with him at all times. And he has been using that for briefing materials for this debate to study, really since practically the day he was picked, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Let's talk a little bit about the mock debates because we all just assume, if you're on the campaign trail, you're going from place to place and you have airplane or bus time in between.

When on earth can you find 90 minutes to do -- from what I saw from your CNN.com reporting, with six, full, 90-minute mock debates?

BASH: At least. That's at least. He has certainly been on the campaign trail a lot and the way they do it is they go into hotel rooms, hotel conference rooms wherever they are on the road. It's been in Oregon, in Florida and Virginia, you know, really all over the country.

But going back to the issue and this really speaks to it, as well, of preparing, before I sat down with Paul Ryan, I talked to some of his friends and people who have known him for years to ask about really what makes him tick and, of course, like I said, that word, "prepared," came up.

But there was one story that really spoke to how he gets ready for things. I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RYAN (R), REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Joe Biden has been doing this for a long time. I mean, he ran for president twice. He's a sitting vice president. He's been on this big stage many times before.

So, that's new for me and I'm doing my homework studying issues and I know how he'll come and attack us. The problem he has is he has Barack Obama's record he has to run on.

BASH: Are you intimidated at all, based on the background that you just described?

RYAN: No, I'm not intimidated. I'm actually excited about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, I should say at the beginning of that exchange, which I thought we had there, I'll just tell you. You can see this on CNN.com.

What one of his friends told me is that here's how he gets ready for hunting. He showers in non-scented detergent. He washes his clothes in non-scented detergent. He sprays non-scented detergent all over him.

That's not that unusual for hunters, but that he takes it to a whole other letter. And he said, yeah, that's right because everything I do I do in a way that I really want to make sure that I am prepared and that is exactly what has driven them to get ready for tonight.

BANFIELD: And, just quickly, I want to throw up some names that have helped him to prepare, as well, because you have to have the cast of characters get you through the mock debates.

The Massachusetts former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey was sitting in as the moderator who's going to be Martha Raddatz from ABC News tonight. Ted Olsen, the former solicitor general, has been his opponent, playing the role of Joe Biden.

But maybe his biggest secret weapon comes from right within his family, so with 10 seconds or less, what's the family secret?

BASH: Well, his brother Tobin has been with him a lot. He helped him during his first congressional campaign, but really it is, according to Ryan himself, he told me, it is Ted Olsen.

He is a sort of master litigator. He argued before the Supreme Court, even argued Bush v. Gore, remember. He also is about the same age as Joe Biden.

Remember, there is a generational difference between Ryan and Biden and Ryan told me that that has helped to sit across from Ted Olsen, not only because he sort of embodies and becomes Joe Biden in these mock debates, but he kind of has the same mannerisms and ideas, or, you know, personality, or at least he becomes the personality of Joe Biden, not necessarily in real life.

BANFIELD: Kind of makes you wonder if Joe Biden's going to invoke the old Reagan line, "I'm not going to exploit the youth and inexperience of my opponent for political gain."

Dana Bash, you have a great assignment today and it's a great piece on dot-com. Thanks so much. Our senior correspondent joining us, live ...

BASH: Thanks, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: ... from where all of the action is. You take care.

And, also, Vice President Joe Biden versus Congressman Paul Ryan, if you didn't already know, the big vice presidential debate, you can watch it live right here, CNN and also on CNN.com.

Our coverage begins -- it gets underway with all our crack team of reporters, correspondents, analysts and pundits, 7:00 p.m., live on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Well, it may just be the v.p. debate, the second tier battle for the top ticket in the country, but tonight's debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will undoubtedly be watched by millions.

And, while some say a v.p. debate doesn't hold much sway, you just try telling that to the roughly 70 million people who watched the last v.p. contest on TV. It was back in 2008, vice presidential candidates Joe Biden versus Sarah Palin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH PALIN, FORMER REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nice to meet you. Hey, can I call you Joe?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: You can call me Joe.

PALIN: Thank you. Thank you, Gwen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Say it ain't so, Joe. There you go again, pointing backwards again. You prefaced your whole comment with "the Bush administration."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: "Say it ain't so, Joe." I love that. "Say it ain't so."

As mentioned, 70 million people watched that debate. That's 10 million more than last week's debate between the presidential candidates.

One woman who knows a thing or two about prepping such -- for such a night is Jennifer Granholm. She's the former Democratic governor of Michigan and she was the one who stood in for Palin in helping Joe Biden prep, four years ago.

Today, she's the current host of "The War Room with Jennifer Granholm" on Current TV and she's kind enough to join us, live from New York.

Hello, Governor, it's nice to see you.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, HOST, "THE WAR ROOM WITH JENNIFER GRANHOLM": Ashleigh, nice to see you, too. Thanks.

BANFIELD: So, here's my question. Prepping Joe Biden then versus what he must be prepping for now has to be entirely different. I dare say apples and oranges?

GRANHOLM: Totally different. You have put your finger right on it. I mean, four years ago, he was a presidential candidate, remember, and Barack Obama invited him to be on the ticket, so they had policy differences between the two of them and so much of his vulnerability was in not having, you know, learned or known or had the same positions as Barack Obama.

But, this time, there's no daylight between the president and the vice president, so that vulnerability is not there for him and, of course, preparing against Sarah Palin is totally different than preparing against Paul Ryan.

Sarah Palin was an outsider to Washington, D.C. She wasn't as imbued in the wonk policy, wonk, inside-the-beltway stuff.

Paul Ryan knows all of that. I was just listening to your reporting with Dana Bash and the guy's a machine, Paul Ryan is. He is ready to go, so it's going to be a very different debate.

BANFIELD: So, and I want to talk a little about the deference. I think you were sort of alluding to the deference factor here and that is, when you have a female candidate -- look, Geraldine Ferraro nailed it when she said, "Don't patronize me. Don't teach me about foreign policy."

And that may have been an issue for Joe Biden last time around when he was going up against Sarah Palin. Don't patronize her. Don't make it rude. Don't make it something where people will be offended.

This time around, he doesn't have to face that, but he does have a female moderator. They both do.

So, from the female governor -- first female governor of Michigan, I will add -- do these two candidates need to watch their tone in way that perhaps the presidential debate candidates did not have to when dealing with Jim Lehrer?

GRANHOLM: Well, you know, I don't know that they have to watch their tone relative to her. I think she's going to feel the pressure to take more control than Jim Lehrer apparently ...

BANFIELD: Governor, you think they can walk over her and cut her off, the way the way they did Jim Lehrer? You think that will be OK?

GRANHOLM: No, I don't think they can. I don't think they can walk over her and I think she's not going to let them walk over her, so she's going to do that for sure.

BANFIELD: Is that your phone? Did you not turn your phone off for a live interview on TV?

GRANHOLM: It's so rude, isn't it? I can't believe it. I'm like, what's going on? My phone is ringing.

BANFIELD: Jennifer, I was going to let it go the first time, but whoever needs to call you, they really need you right now.

GRANHOLM: I know. They need to stop that right now. Exactly right.

BANFIELD: I hope they're watching. Leave her alone. She's busy.

OK, last question, really quickly, you made a hugely bold prediction before the presidential debate. I want to listen to that prediction and then I want to ask you something about it on the other side. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRANHOLM: Because here's why we cannot celebrate. The president is going to lose the first debate next week. He will lose it. Mark my words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Man, either you have a crystal ball in that purse along with that telephone, or you were playing ...

GRANHOLM: I just know what it's like, Ashleigh. You know, it's ...

BANFIELD: Come on. Weren't you just playing the expectations game and you got lucky?

GRANHOLM: I really -- no, not really. I mean, you know, having -- doing the "War Room," I know that we are looking all the time at what history bears and, in this particular case, there -- we had six presidential debates before and the first time that an incumbent president appeared on a debate stage with a challenger, they would lose, five out of six of the times.

So, I knew that that coming in was going to be a problem for him, but also, he's rusty. He hadn't debated on that national stage and, of course, Mitt Romney is a really good debater.

However, I predict that, in the second debate, the president's going to win.

BANFIELD: All right. OK. Well, we'll take that one to the bank.

In the meantime, pick up your phone. It could be your boss, Al Gore. Miss Granholm, good to talk to you.

GRANHOLM: Yeah, I've got to go answer my phone now, so, I've got to go.

BANFIELD: All right, thanks, Jennifer.

And, of course, another look ahead to tonight, you can catch all the action, the debate, live, right here on CNN. Our coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: They're competing to the be the guy behind the guy, a/k/a the vice president, and the guy who's got that job and the guy who wants that job are going to have it out tonight in Danville, Kentucky.

Senior political columnist for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast," as well as a good friend of mine, CNN contributor John Avlon, here with me to talk Biden, Ryan and the big one.

I love the way they have their references, "the young gun" versus the "Amtrak Joe." Are we going to see those guys tonight or are we going to see guys who really go at it with policy and wonk?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think there's going to be a lot of policy and wonk. That's the funk they're going to bring.

I mean, look, Paul Ryan is a legitimate policy wonk. He's also a great communicator and, as these debates were announced, you know, I always felt that the Ryan/Biden debate was actually the Republicans' biggest chance at a good contrast, a big punch, which is -- you know, clearly, Mitt Romney had a great first debate. So, I think the expectations are even higher for Joe Biden. He's got to bring some passion and some clear contrast back to the Democratic ticket.

BANFIELD: OK, so, about the wonk, I know you love it and I know people in the news love it. It's just stuff for us to chew on for days.

But, last week, President Obama did a lot of wonk and it didn't do him well.

AVLON: Well, you know, there's a good way to do wonk and there's a dull way to do wonk. And if you get stuck in the numbers and the budgets, you're done.

The key to communicating policy, clearly, is to make people understand that this is actually what the whole deal's about. This is all preamble to governing, so the policy matters.

And, you know, Paul Ryan's got a real talent for bringing passion to policy. What Biden's got to do is start calling bull. He's got to say, look, that doesn't add up and really start playing offense and poking holes in the math.

BANFIELD: All right, so, listen, the vice president has a big approval rating when people are asked, do you like the guy? Just the guy.

AVLON: The guy.

BANFIELD: But he has a low approval rating when you talk about him as a politician. So, does he bring the guy tonight or does he bring the politician? Or does he somehow try to find some kind of blend?

AVLON: Well, as you said, I mean, you know, he's got to be himself. He's got to bring the guy. Now, look ...

BANFIELD: Without the gaffes?

AVLON: Without the gaffes. And, you know, Joe Biden, look, he's a practiced debater. He's been out of practice four years, so that matters.

But you look at his convention speech. When he knows he has a job to do, he can be pretty focused on the message he delivers.

So, you know, this guy's a pro, but this is the challenge. He's got to walk that line. He's got to bring the fight without going off the rails and that can be a real challenge.

BANFIELD: And he's also still in office. I mean, what he says matters.

AVLON: Oh, yeah.

BANFIELD: What he says goes overseas. It's not so much the same for Paul Ryan, but for him, he's a little bit -- he has to be more restrained.

AVLON: He does and, yet, you know, this is -- he's got to contrast with President Obama. He's got to really show that there's passion in the Democratic ticket. There's a clear contrast on policies and he's got to push back when some of the math doesn't add up and that's a vulnerability for Ryan.

BANFIELD: One of our colleagues, John King, said, look, here's the job tonight. Go out there and make sure that people see you as presidential.

Don't do anything else. It doesn't matter if you nail it, if you knock it out of the park. Dan Quayle lost and he still became v.p. Make sure that people know that you can be the president.

AVLON: Right. And, big picture, let's not forget that's the purpose of the v.p. It's, you know, to inquire daily about the president's health.

You know, Paul Ryan and Joe Biden could be president of the United States in some unfortunate, unforeseen circumstance, so especially Paul Ryan, we haven't nominated a member of Congress to -- elected a president -- member of Congress to be president since 1932.

So, he's got to show he's presidential material, not just a passionate policy wonk who can excite the base, but someone who can really act as president if the need should arise.

BANFIELD: And that might have been the problem for Sarah Palin.

AVLON: That was one of many problems for Sarah Palin.

BANFIELD: All right, John Avlon, always love seeing you. I get to see you in person this time.

AVLON: You, too.

BANFIELD: In the flesh. All right, me, too.

Reminder, as if you didn't need another one, here you go. The big vice presidential debate, Joe Biden, Congressman Paul Ryan, starts here on CNN live.

And, if you can't be near the TV, you've got your laptop. CNN.com will have it live, too. It all gets underway, our coverage, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We have new numbers, new jobless numbers just released. Claims this week dropped to the lowest level since 2008. 339,000 unemployment claims filed for the first time last week. That is a huge drop from the week before. It's a 30,000-person drop. Just for perspective, the week before that, just 4,000. A big, significant difference.

And Christine Romans, who is almost crunching the numbers, joins me to put it in even more perspective.

Because you have a way of drawing graphs.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I know. Because data can be volatile. Right? Especially these numbers one week after another. In this number, one state in particular had a big drop in claims. We'll watch to see if there's statistical noise there.

Look at the trend. In economics in the markets, the trend is your friend. Here is the trend. This is the trend. Look at those jobless claims in 2009. In the biting recession. More than 600,000 people a week were lining up for jobless benefits. Now we're in the 350-ish thousand range. Seen a dramatic improvement. Volatile here but that has been the trend back to 2007. The very last little blip on there.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Squiggles. The number?

ROMANS: Weekly squiggles, which is why we draw it back and get more perspective. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a job opening labor turnover survey that came out today showing 3.6 million job openings in this country. Far more people are out of work, but 3.6 million is the number of open jobs in America.

BANFIELD: When you throw this graph at me and I try to make sense of it I think about what we did last Friday. This enormous jobs number that came out that showed promise for the Democrats, and immediately there were some business leaders, Jack Welsh (ph) among them, saying these numbers are cooked. Does this do anything to help or hurt that argument?

ROMANS: This is why I brought you a trend. A picture of the trend. You're going to especially getting closer to the election hear people talking about season's noise, whether there was problem with the way the number was calculated. Look at the trend. That's why I brought you that, this trend is in this lowering --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: -- for Jack Welsh (ph)?

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: He and I aren't speaking right now, but -- teasing. I'm teasing.

BANFIELD: Jack, call us.

Christine, thank you.

While Christine talks about the raw number, Wolf Blitzer comes up with the effect, the political effect of those numbers in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BANFIELD: There is no shortage of numbers in any presidential race. Most of them come from polls. We just got eye-popping jobs numbers less than a week after a stunning drop in the jobless rates. Our Christine Romans gave us the economics.

Wolf Blitzer joins me with the politics of the economics.

Wolf, no other election issue is as important to people, bar none, than the economy and jobs. The unemployment rate stands where it did back when President Obama took office. First-time claims for the jobless benefits, saying I'm out of work and need help, at its lowest in 4.5 years. Does the president get to spike the football on this or something dangerous in doing that when you still have millions of people out of work?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: Very dangerous to spike the football right now. This is by no means mission accomplished yet. A lot of people are suffering. Millions and millions of people still unemployed, still millions more under employed, a lot of folks whose home mortgages are still under water. This is not time to gloat by any means.

Yes, the trend seems to be moving in the right direction and certainly remember where the country was, on the abyss of a possible depression four years ago. Obviously, the country's in better shape right now, but it's not where it should be. There's so much more work to be done. The president has to walk that delegate tightrope. And Biden has to do the same thing tonight. He can by no means gloat about these relatively positive numbers.

BANFIELD: That's a tough thing to do. If you're the incumbent, can't spike the football because things are still tricky, you get things like the foreclosure number, filings, five-year low. Found out tote from realty track, the party that gauges these things. Yet at same time harks to take it on the chin about Benghazi and can he somehow mitigate the things he does have to take blame for or at least the perception of taking blame for with the things that he can try to take credit for?

BLITZER: Right. He'll take credit for moving the country in the right direction. He'll insist the country is in better shape than four years ago and have some basis on which to make that point. For example, one indicator, I'm surprised the administration doesn't really point to this, though, because millions of people benefit from it. Take a look at Wall Street now, the Dow Jones Industrials, around 7,000, when he took office. It's now 13,500. People in the 401Ks, IRAs and investments and millions of Americans have been making money in terms of the equity, terms of stocks over the past four years. The country is obviously in better shape as a result of that. So while it's by no means great, there are positive numbers that are going to be able to point to and presumably they will. I assumed he had been practicing, practicing, learning from the mistakes the president made last week and go after Paul Ryan tonight.

BANFIELD: All right. I want to talk about swing states, in a different way. We're going to talk polls with Paul Steinhauser coming up, a poll that did not escape our team's scrutiny this morning. And it says that 90 percent of likely voters in the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Virginia, there are the numbers there -- 91, 92 percent. They make up their minds. Already made up their minds, and it was before last week's debate when we can all remember that the polls were far higher for the president. The question -- the obvious question would be, that means that would vote more in favor of the president, if those same pollsters got the same people, but do people do what they say they do, or do they say they made up their minds and they actually end up changing them?

BLITZER: There are people who change their minds. And I'm sure that after the last debate some people probably said, maybe I was wrong about President Obama. Maybe I should take a second look at Mitt Romney. There's an element of that. I think all of the indicators I've been getting and speaking to a lot of pollsters over these many months, and I think about 90 percent of the American people have made up their minds if not more. Maybe 92 percent or 93 percent. They're either voting for sure for President Obama or sure for Romney. Maybe 6 percent, 7 percent, 8 percent legitimately undecided or switchable, if you will, still able to change their minds. It's that group, undecideds, switchables, in the key battleground states both campaigns are going after right now, and I think in a close race like this, it's going to be very, very close in these battleground states. Everything is important, and tonight's debate will be important as well. Although the two remaining president's debates will be more important as well.

BANFIELD: Right. Those undecideds you said, critically important. Wolf, you have a busy night ahead. Prepare for your show and for the coverage tonight. Here's a big prop for what you're about to undergo, the big running mate's challenge on the stage. Our coverage helmed by Mr. Wolf Blitzer along with Anderson Cooper and our crack team, analysts and pundits, starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern. You can't get to a TV, CNN.com has it live, too, streaming.

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BANFIELD: A month since four people and our ambassador was killed in Libya. Going into Congressional hearings yesterday, people were looking for two answers. Who did this and could this have been prevented. Instead, Democrats and Republicans launched into finger pointing and a blame game where in the end very few questions got answered, and another question came up. Has the government been truthful with all of these facts? And that simply is what the families of those killed have been asking. Tell us the truth, and stop trying to score political points along the way.

The mother of Sean Smith, computer expert, talked with Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT SMITH, MOTHER OF SEAN SMITH: I don't -- please, don't give me any baloney that comes through with this political stuff. I don't want political stuff. You can keep your political. Just tell me the truth. What happened? And I still don't know. In fact, today I just heard something more that -- that he died of smoke inhalation. I don't even know if that's true or not.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: So you don't even know if that's true or not?

SMITH: No, I don't. I don't know where -- I look at TV, and I see bloody handprints on walls, thinking, my god, is that my son's? I don't know if he was shot. I don't know -- I don't know. They haven't told me anything. They're still studying it. And the things that they are telling me are just outright lies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: It wasn't just Pat Smith, either. The sister of Glen Doherty, the former Navy SEAL that died that night after trying to help others escape, she had the same message for politicians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE QUIGLEY, SISTER OF GLEN DOHERTY: The fact of the matter is, is being an American hero can be completely bipartisan. And everybody wants to point fingers and play the blame game, and let's blame the terrorists, because that's who's at fault here and that's where we should be focusing our energy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And Glen Doherty's mother had something to say. She asked Mitt Romney to please stop using a story about her son while on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: You can imagine how I felt when I found out he was one of the two former Navy SEALs killed in Benghazi on September 11th, and -- it -- it touched me, obviously, as I recognized this young man that I thought was so impressive, had lost his life in the service of his fellow men and women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Barbara Doherty said enough is enough and we should remember that her son was trying to bring freedom to that part of the world. The Romney campaign will stop telling that story on the trail.

There you have it, a grieving family whose want angst answers from Democrats and Republicans.

Foreign Affairs report, Elise, joins me live from Washington, D.C.

I suppose the first question, Elise, did we get anywhere with this hearing? Achieve or learn anything?

ELISE LABOTT, FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, Ashleigh, it's hard to see that with all the grand standing that went on yesterday and a lot of people did think that it was more about pointing fingers and trying to score points on the political trail than it was about getting answers. It kind of seemed a little bit more like "L.A. law" than it did a hearing, an investigation.

But I do think there were important things that came out yesterday. Namely, Eric Nordstrom, the top U.S. Security official in Libya months before the attack had asked the State Department for additional security. Those requests were denied. And the State Department official who actually handled those requests, Charlene Lamb, said that she did.

And I think another thing that came out that was kind of interesting is that even as the Republicans were charging that there wasn't enough security at the post, Democrats did make an interesting point that under the House-controlled Congress, there was -- under Republican- controlled Congress, sorry, there was a lot of budget cuts in the State Department and embassy security. So I think one thing --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Why she -- glad you brought that up. Yesterday, I think it was Congressman Jason Chaffetz who brought up serious accusations about not having enough assets and resources in place to protect our people. Soledad O'Brien asked right here on CNN, didn't you vote to cut the funding for embassy security. and he said, yes, absolutely, we have to make choices and priorities. But my next question is, where do we go from here? We have a lot of people overseas, on missions and embassies. Are they safe, say, in the gulf and the Far East? Are they safe now and have we made progress in making sure they will be?

LABOTT: I mean, the State Department maintains, even if they did have this additional security asked for, it wouldn't have necessarily made a difference in this attack, because they maintain they were outmanned about 40 people and thought they had a specific amount of security for the threat that was there. Clearly, they didn't. One thing that's going to happen -- I don't really know if this Congressional hearing, if this oversight committee, is going to lead to anything. I think you'll have an independent review that was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They're going to make recommendations. And you've seen in previous attacks such as the attack in the '80s on the Marine barracks in Beirut or those 1998 bombings in the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, there were specific congressional legislation passed to make sure there was adequate security. So I think there are going to be a lot of recommendations that were made. There might be some finger pointing. But hopefully, they develop new rules of the road to make sure even as U.S. Diplomats have to operate in these dangerous areas they got the adequate security they need.

BANFIELD: I have been to the place where those Marines died, in Beirut, and I am here to tell you it is now a parking lot and there's not one mention anywhere of the disaster that befell those men and women there back then.

Elise LaBott, thank you.

As if to underscore reporting now, today, just today, a Yemeni security official, working for the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, killed on his way to work. Yemeni officials say they suspect it's an al Qaeda attack. This is the Yemeni national, not an American, but working for the Americans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, I'm Jason Evans. And I'm going to be taking a full day tour of the world famous Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile.

The drive up here has just been amazing with guanacos, and I saw an eagle and sheep, and I just can't imagine just what awaits me inside.

Millions of years ago, magma came from the bottom of the earth. That's kind of where this mountain range comes from.

I'm here with Juan Pablo. He is our tour guide.

Juan Pablo, this is the largest behind us here. Actually, it's the largest glacier in the park, correct?

JUAN PABLO, TOUR GUIDE: Yes. This is the largest glacier inside this park from the five glaciers we have inside the park, it's the largest one here.

EVANS: These are all pieces of the gray glacier, right?

PABLO: Yes, of course.

EVANS: I thought that drinking water from a glacier actually sounded pretty good, like it would be pretty pure, but it was just explained to me that actually the water here comes from up there. When it comes down and runs into the river it contains all sorts of stuff that's not great for your human system.

A little bit of a tip for you. If you go in September and October, the weather is still pretty good, and it's not going to be as crowded.

Well, reporting from outside Torres sel Paine, in the Chilean Patagonia, I'm Jason Evans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Election day less than a month away. We are looking in depth at voters in America. Today we're looking at South Carolina's very tough new voter id law.

Here's Martin Savage to explain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BRENNAN WILLIAMS, VOLUNTEERS TO REGISTER VOTERS: Hello. Voter registration.

MARTIN SAVAGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When not seeing patients, Dr. Brennan Williams is out registering voters in her small town of Sumter, South Carolina. WILLIAMS: I'm going to sign you up. You've going to get a card.

SAVAGE: Two years ago, she began seeing patients with the same problem. Raymond Rutherford was one.

(on camera): This all goes back to the day you were born?

RAYMOND RUTHERFORD, PROBLEM WITH I.D. REQUIREMENTS: Yes.

SAVAGE (voice-over): Now is when I should jump in and say, the problem that Dr. Williams saw wasn't medical, but political. South Carolina's recent law requiring voters to have photo identification, it's been blocked by the U.S. attorney general. But opponents fear that may be only temporary. The law requires a government-issued picture I.D. in order to vote. To get that, you need something.

WILLIAMS: A certified birth certificate with a raised seal.

SAVAGE: For a number of African-Americans born in the pre-civil rights rural south, that's a problem since many were delivered at home by midwives and recordkeeping was weak.

The midwife who delivered Raymond listed his first name as Ramon and got his last name completely wrong, but his voter registration card has his correct name.

(on camera): Do you vote?

RUTHERFORD: Yes, I do. Ever since I was 18.

SAVAGE: Has this ever been a problem?

RUTHERFORD: No. Voting? No, it hasn't been.

SAVAGE: But it could be now. Rutherford says he can't get a photo I.D. until he corrects his birth certificate, which requires an attorney he cannot afford.

(on camera): It is really difficult to get any kind of specific numbers as to how many voters could be impacted by the new South Carolina law. According to the election commission, it could be anywhere from a high of 202,000 to a low of 51,000.

WILLIAMS: I started looking at the numbers. I said, he is black, she's black, she's black, he -- I thought, god, this is racial.

SAVAGE (voice-over): Supporters of the new law says race has nothing to do with it. It's simply meant to protect against voter fraud. And there is a provision to allow voters like Rutherford to cast a provisional ballot simply by signing an affidavit.

But Rutherford and others are skeptical. The state, which, at one time had a history of discrimination against voters, and must get laws affecting voting approved by the federal government.

(on camera): Do you see this as an effort to prevent you from voting? RUTHERFORD: Not only me, but a lot of people, yes.

WILLIAMS: I got my --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got both of mine.

SAVAGE (voice-over): So Dr. Williams pushes on. And it was when I asked her why that got her singing the hymn she learned so long ago.

(SINGING)

WILLIAMS: I'm sorry.

SAVAGE: Martin Savage, CNN, Sumter, South Carolina.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Thanks to Martin Savage for that.

And a postscript as well to this report. A federal court panel in Washington yesterday ruled in favor of South Carolina's voter ID law, but it also said that this law can't go into you effect until next year. New voting legislation across the country has unleashed an explosive battle over who counts and your right to vote could be at stake. That's why we have this for you. CNN's documentary special called "Voters in America: Who Counts." It's Joe Johns. He's awesome. And it's Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern. I highly recommend you tune in to watch.

Thank you for watching us. Do appreciate it. My friend and my league and a very smart lady, Suzanne Malveaux, takes over the reins now with NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL.