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Biden, Ryan Survive Verbal Slugfest; Romney Campaign Derides Biden; Debating Body Language; Making The Case To The Middle Class; 200 Arrested In Teen Activist's Shooting; Panetta Warns Of Cyber Threat; Beyond Medicare Scare Tactics; Endeavour's Last Mission; Postage Getting More Expensive; Anthony Bourdain Roasted

Aired October 12, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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


DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. It's top of the hour stories we're watching right now on the CNN NEWSROOM.

Verbal slugfest. Americans look for a fight and a debate breaks out. Joe Biden squares off with Paul Ryan, who won? Who lost? This morning we're asking, is anyone really changing their vote.

Turning to prayers, scores of Pakistanis are showing their support today for a 14-year-old activist who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban and now dozens of people have been arrested in that case.

Final mission. Space shuttle Endeavour makes its way through the city streets of Los Angeles. We are live at the once-in-a-lifetime event for you.

And big-name chefs roast Anthony Bourdain. Our correspondent says the night was filthy and hilarious. How's that to grab your attention? NEWSROOM starts right now.

Good morning, everyone. I am Don Lemon. Carol is off today. It is the undercard to the title fight, but this vice presidential debate had plenty of punch after Joe Biden and Paul Ryan shook hands, they came out swinging. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You can cut tax rates by 20 percent and still preserve these important preferences for middle class --

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not mathematically possible.

RYAN: It is mathematically possible. It's been done before --

BIDEN: It has never been before --

RYAN: Jack Kennedy lowered tax rates, increased growth --

BIDEN: Now you're Jack Kennedy. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We have to ask this. Who won? We asked people who watched the debate. According to the CNN/ORC poll, 48 percent said Ryan performed better, 44 percent gave the nod to Biden. OK, a lot of people don't agree with that. We're going to talk about that soon, but keep in mind that's within the poll's margin of error.

All right, let's break it all down for you. Senior White House correspondent Jessica Yellin, she is going to focus on Biden's performance last night.

And then senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is going to concentrate on Ryan. Look at you two standing there this morning. OK so, Jessica --

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We just established -- she's taller.

LEMON: Were you guys fighting who's taller?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We haven't much sleep. We're a little punchy, Don.

LEMON: Three hours so I know how you feel because we were up watching this in the post-debate. It was great. Jessica, you know, let's listen to a sharp jab from Biden and then we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: For a guy that says 47 percent of the American people are unwilling to take responsibility in their own lives. My friend recently in a speech in Washington said 30 percent of the American people are takers.

These people are my mom and dad, the people I grew up with and my neighbors, they paid more effective tax than Governor Romney pays in his federal income tax.

They're elderly people who in fact are living off of Social Security. They're veterans and people fighting in Afghanistan right now who are, quote, "not paying any taxes."

I've had it up to here with this notion that 47 percent -- it's about time they take some responsibility here and instead of signing pledges to Grover Norquist not to ask the wealthiest among us to contribute to bring back the middle class.

They should be signing a pledge saying to the middle class saying we're going to level the playing field. We're going to give you a fair shot again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, Jessica, do you think this was mission accomplished for Biden? YELLIN: That was what he came there to do. The Democrats wanted the vice president to come in and make the economic case for the Obama ticket over the Romney ticket and bring up that 47 percent to make all those angry Democrats who were disappointed that the president didn't do it at the last debate.

Stop complaining and feel better and the vice president did it in that answer and he brought it up again. So on both of those counts by bringing up 47 percent twice.

And with another exchange he had, which I think Dana will refer to later on the stimulus debate, he really made the economic case for the administration and so the Democrats are happy and relieved with that.

LEMON: All right, Jessica Yellin. You know, the public may be split on who won last night's debate. Maybe the polls are incorrect. That's what many people are arguing about this morning.

That's really the big story. So the two big names said there was no doubt who won. Here is a hint. Those big names are Obama and Biden, of course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I could not be prouder of him. I thought he made a very strong case. (Inaudible).

BEAU BIDEN, (D) DELAWARE ATTORNEY GENERAL: My father was enjoying the opportunity to debate Congressman Ryan on very important issues facing this country.

About whether or not we build the middle class from the inside out George W. Bush and Paul Ryan wanted to do with the trickledown notions or whether it be on Medicare and how we make sure that we have the Medicare that we have for the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: If it's tough to hear the president who was saying I'm very proud of what Joe Biden did, and the reporter said did you call him? He said yes, I did. That was the substance of that interview with that president in case you couldn't hear it, the dark one there.

OK, let's focus now on Representative Ryan's performance. Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash was also at last night's debate. She got a little sleep, just a wee bit. So did I.

So can you, Dana, pry open your reporter's notebook and give us your score on whether Ryan did well or maybe not so well.

BASH: Well, it plays right out of what Jessica was talking about with the vice president hitting what the president left on the table last week, which is that 47 percent comment, which the Democrats really think is one of the most successful attack lines these days against the Romney campaign. I was told before this debate that Ryan knew very well that Biden was going do that so he had his own prepared response and he nailed it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: With respect to that quote, I think the vice president very well knows that sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way.

BIDEN: But I always say what I mean and so does Romney.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Biden was right there ready for his response to that, but also big picture, Don. One of the big questions was whether Paul Ryan who is a generation-plus younger than Joe Biden, who is seven-term congressman, but certainly nothing as he said many times.

Like Joe Biden when it comes to the experience that he has debating on the national stage whether he was going hold his own, and I think it's fair to say he did hold his own not just where Paul Ryan has his wheel house, which is on economic policy.

But he stuck to the talking points that it was very clear that he practiced a lot with his staff on some of the really complicated, but important issues on national security and national security did take up a lot of the debate whether it was Syria or Iran or Afghanistan.

He really, you know, sort of went toe to toe with the vice president. Say what you will about the content of it and whether or not you agree with it, but you certainly saw the differences there.

LEMON: Yea, thank you very much, Dana. We appreciate it. Get some sleep, will you? And tell Jessica to do the same.

All right, you know, the Romney camp says Biden bombed, of course, while Paul Ryan rose to the occasion. Here's what one of Romney's foreign policy advisers said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SENOR, ROMNEY FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: You know, I've watched a lot of Biden debate tape over the years. I have never seen him quite perform like he did tonight. I'll leave it to others to judge the impact and the demeanor and whether it was appropriate for the office of vice president. I thought the contrast was striking. On substance, where Congressman Ryan lay out the plan that he and Governor Romney want to pursue for the next four years

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So last night's debate was not short on style points and we're talking smiles, laughs and a whole bunch of malarkey. I haven't heard that word in a long time. Vice President Joe Biden's infectious grins even inspired a Twitter account call laughing Joe Biden. That went viral, of course, and Democrats around the country were super charged by the vice president's performance. Republicans, however, were not amused. They said the laughs and the interruptions were just plain rude.

Joining me now is Emory University debate director, Mr. Ed Lee. So that's interesting because those were the same things that Republicans congratulated Mitt Romney for doing just last week.

So, listen, I will just say this is an alert, and this is just my opinion. I watched the debate and the post-debate analysis and I watched it with people who are watching at home.

I'm wondering if the people who are commenting to this or too close to this are political junkies because it was quite clear that Joe Biden owned the stage last night. What debate was everyone else watching?

ED LEE, EMORY UNIVERSITY DEBATE DIRECTOR: Absolutely. Successful persuasions and performances start and end with audience analysis. You have to know what your audience wants from you and you have to know what you can get away with.

I was raised by my grandmother and one of the things she used to tell me is one of the best things about getting old is you get to say what you want, when you want and to who you want.

LEMON: One of the things about Joe Biden, he's older. Of course, we know that he'll have to deal with someone being younger than him, just as he had to deal with Sarah Palin being a woman. He had to watch himself. You have to watch yourself about being aggressive. So you get it.

LEE: Absolutely.

LEMON: So he had to deal with that particular issue. He was old school and he said, you know what, that's a bunch of junk, and I think most people can relate to that.

LEE: Yes. I think that most people are interested in someone being aggressive and telling the truth, telling it like it is. The thing that I find interesting about the commentary of this particular debate versus the previous debate was that when Mitt Romney was aggressive and it came off as being he was strong. He was assertive and resolute, and I think that in many ways that Joe Biden was playing the same role and strategically need to play it.

LEMON: I think people see what they want to see. Someone who is not -- it's not partisan, a Democrat or Republican, who is not that tied into politics. It was great to watch as a real person and to sit back and look at politics as a real person.

When last week, when I said Mitt Romney clearly was the winner in that debate. The left said, my gosh you're carrying water for Romney. What is this? TNN instead of CNN?

This week same thing, when I say, you know what, Joe Biden clearly won whether you agree with him or not, he commanded the stage. What are you show for the Obama administration? People see this along partisan lines.

LEE: They definitely do. I think that in many ways I agree with your assessment. The thing that both Romney and Joe Biden did was that they controlled the tone and tenor of the conversation.

LEMON: Right.

LEE: That both were able to decide what the conversation would be about and when they would assert it.

LEMON: As a director of debate, isn't that what you teach your students to do.

LEE: Absolutely. That's what I am interested in. I am interested in my students understanding that they have to connect with the audience and a major component of connecting with the audience is figuring out what they want and telling them here's what I have to offer.

LEMON: OK, so then the interruption part that everyone is talking about, isn't it part of it, too. If the moderator is not stopping, it's up to the moderator to facilitate it, right? Not to sort of facilitate it, but isn't part of it throwing your opponent off?

LEE: Part of it is throwing your opponent off, but I also think that in many ways that this was a tactic that Joe Biden can use and it may not have been one afforded to Paul Ryan in this instance.

That if Paul Ryan interrupted 80 times he would have been seen as being unacceptable strategy because of what Joe Biden's experience brings. He's 69 years old.

LEMON: The producers are giving me a big wrap here. Martha Raddatz getting much praise and the right is saying that she was partial even though Biden only spoke one minute and 20 seconds longer than Paul Ryan last night. It wasn't that much longer.

LEE: Well, think it goes back to who was controlling the tone and tenor of the debate.

LEMON: Thank you, sir.

LEE: Thank you very much for having me.

LEMON: Good and honest discussion. We appreciate it. All right, if you missed the debate, we're going to replay it for you today at noon eastern here on CNN.

The thrill and the vill that's its called makes for great TV, but how did it play out to the people? Who really mattered and we'll speak to one group of voters to get their thoughts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, for Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, the goals of last night's debate were pretty clear. Sure of support among the base and help those undecided to pick a side.

They were talking to people like my next guest who have been checking in throughout the campaign here. They're part of the middle class talk back. Moira Bindner is a business and community engagement director. She is a Democrat.

Nana Boone is a working mother of three. She classifies herself as Democrat, but is open to both parties and Bill Boniface is a retired Navy captain and a Republican.

Let's show you guys this poll right now. Thank you all, by the way, for joining us. This is a CNN/ORC poll after the debate and it gives a slight edge to Ryan. So let's go down the line here. Who do you think won or was it a tie?

NANA BOONE, WORKING MOTHER OF THREE: I actually think that Biden did a much better job. I definitely believe that Paul Ryan held his own and he was competent in his performance, but overall in terms of fact all information and delivery, I do think that Biden won.

LEMON: OK, and Mr. Boniface, who do you think won?

BILL BONIFACE, RETIRED NAVY CAPTAIN: I have to agree with Charles Krauthammer. He saw it on three levels. It depends on how you interpreted it. If you read the transcript, it looks level.

If you listened to it on radio, definitely Biden and if you watched it on TV, maybe you're put off a little bit by Biden's mannerism and I would say that in that case Ryan got the upper hand.

LEMON: Moira?

MOIRA BINDNER, BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR: I would say Vice President Biden was a much stronger player last night I thought especially on foreign policy.

I thought he was a very, very credible vice president, knew his stuff. I thought again like Nana said that Paul Ryan was credible or competent, but Vice President Biden, I thought, did a wonderful job.

LEMON: OK, so you guys -- it's unscientific, but what you're saying sort of defies what the polls are saying. So there was a lot of talk about the demeanor. Some of you mentioned it. Did you think it was distracting or condescending? You mentioned, Mr. Boniface, do you think it was condescending?

BONIFACE: I thought it was distracting. I thought Biden had some very good points. He has a lot of good experience and he really didn't need to do that. I think without having done that it would have been a runaway for him.

LEMON: Miss Boone?

BOONE: I actually didn't find it as a distraction. I think we all know Biden's character. He was being who he is and where he felt that things were ludicrous, he responded as such. He probably could have controlled it a little bit better, but for me it wasn't a distraction from his delivery or the information that he provided.

LEMON: Moira, there's something to be said about authenticity whether you agree or not with the facial expressions or whether he could have controlled them. Was it distracting to you?

BINDNER: Well, it wasn't distracting. It was humorous, but it was Joe Biden. He was very, very passionate last night and I think that came across very well. I really wanted to hear somebody who was passionate and who would tell the truth, and I loved the malarkey comments. I thought that was perfect.

LEMON: I hadn't heard that word in a long time because I live in New York City and that's been a while. What issues, Moira, back to you, do you want to hear more about that were not discussed?

BINDNER: I think that I wanted to hear more specifics on the health care cuts that Mr. Ryan and Mr. Romney were going to do. I want to hear more specifics on that plan. I did not hear that.

And when you said we're going to do tax cuts and a 20 percent tax cut and it, you know, was there nothing to it, and it was just, like, this is what we're going to do, trust us. I don't trust them.

LEMON: What did you want to hear more about?

BONIFACE: I'm sorry, you called for Bill?

LEMON: Yes, Bill. What did you want to hear more of?

BONIFACE: Well, I would have liked to hear a little bit more about the foreign policy aspect of things. I thought the Libyan answers from the vice president were weak.

I also would like to have been shown where the 5.2 million private sector jobs came from. I was a little bit disappointed. I thought him very strong on Syria, but he comes with the wrong premise starting out.

And that is that he doesn't really care that much about American strength and American influence. He comes from a different position.

LEMON: Yes. The Libya response was not a good response from the vice president. It was probably one of the lowest points in the debate last night for him. Listen, I know you said -- you didn't get much substance from anyone. So what did you want to hear more of?

BOONE: Well, I agree with what you said. I wanted to hear more about the private sector jobs. I definitely want to hear more about the tax cuts, you know? This is the second debate and we had the national conventions and I'm still not hearing any substance.

Where's the beef? So tell me how specifically you want to cut 20 percent of taxes for every American across the country and they're failing to deliver on that, so it's hard for me to put blind faith in that ticket.

And say, OK, yes, you can have my vote when you're not telling me how you're going to implement any of the change that you describe.

LEMON: So did it decide anything for you last night?

BOONE: It didn't, but I will say it was a reprieve for the Democratic Party.

LEMON: OK.

BOONE: So for me, it was a much in better debate than the first one we had. I think there's a lot still yet to be seen so I'm looking forward to next week's debate.

LEMON: Yes, listen, when we put together shows we can go on and on and on, and OK, you know what? The show goes on in a few minutes. Let's do it. If the election were held today what would you do?

BOONE: I'd vote Democratic.

LEMON: You would?

BOONE: Yes.

LEMON: OK, Bill?

BONIFACE: If something doesn't work, get rid of it and find something that does, Romney-Ryan.

LEMON: Moira?

BINDNER: Obama-Biden. And last night, Paul Ryan, they are saying he was plausible. I don't want a plausible vice president.

LEMON: You, guys, thank you. I really enjoyed this conversation, really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you.

All right, so we'll see you next time. It will either be me here or Carol and you guys will be talking.

Just ahead, vigils today across Pakistan, people showing support for the teenage activist who was nearly assassinated by the Taliban. We'll update you on her condition and the hunt for her attackers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Prayers and protests today for a Pakistani teen who dared to stand up to the Taliban. Malala Yousefzai is still fighting for her life after being beaten Tuesday in an assassination attempt by the terror group.

She has been transferred to a military hospital near Islamabad on a sedated and on a ventilator. About 200 people have been arrested in Pakistan in suspicion of colluding in attack, but just 35 are still in custody.

The Taliban citing its own interpretation of Islamic law vowing now to kill the girl if she survives. Reza Sayah in Islamabad. Reza, tell us about these? Can we expect more arrests?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not clear at this point, but what is clear this Pakistani government is under intense pressure to find these culprits and to find this gunmen.

They know they have an audience. They know it's not just Pakistan watching. It's the world watching this investigation and what we've seen is some conflicting accounts from top government officials.

The interior minister is saying they've identified the gunmen and arrests are coming soon. The foreign minister is saying 100 people have been detained for questioning, but a regional police chief told us today 200 people were detained for questioning, 35 remain in custody.

Three of those individuals according to this police chief have identified the man with suspected links to the Taliban. They say he was the mastermind. The police are making it clear they don't have any hard evidence who did this, Don. There is an investigation. Nothing substantial yet if there is something substantial they haven't made it public yet.

LEMON: Reza Sayah, thank you for that update.

There is a reason Endeavour is moving only 2 miles an hour. There is a good reason. I want you to take a look at how close those buildings are to the space shuttle. We're going to take you live to Los Angeles for its big move.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your headlines right now, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warns the U.S. is in a pre-9/11 moment and must beef up its cyber defenses. Panetta noted a significant spike in cyber attacks and says the Defense Department is aggressively working on its defensive and offensive responses.

After claims of suffering a slow death because he is too tall for his small cell, Conrad Murray has been moved to a bigger cell. The doctor convicted in the death of Michael Jackson is now in a cell measuring 8 feet by 10 feet. But his lawyers say it's not a good thing. The old cell had open bars. He could rest his legs on when he stretched. The new one has a solid door.

And a Minnesota woman has filed what's believed to be the first lawsuit in the current meningitis outbreak. The woman says she was injected with the tainted batch of steroids from Massachusetts compounding pharmacy. Well, the CDC reports there had been 170 cases of fungal meningitis linked to those steroid injections. Fourteen people have died.

During the vice presidential debate Joe Biden, Paul Ryan took turns pitching Medicare proposals while trying to scare voters about their opponent's plans.

CNN's Tom Foreman goes beyond the scare tactics and explains what the two sides are really offering.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don, there's just no issue out there right now that is a bigger deal for people who are over the age of 65 than the future of Medicare. Medicare is the government health program for those people, about 50 million Americans rely on it. And right now its long-term financial health is very shaky. The scary part, though, is that each campaign says the other side's plans for dealing with that are terrible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: Obamacare takes $716 billion from Medicare to spend on Obamacare.

BIDEN: All you seniors out there, have you been denied choices? Have you lost Medicare Advantage?

RYAN: Because it's -- they haven't put a credible solution on the table.

BIDEN: Their ideas are old and their ideas are bad and they eliminate the guarantee of Medicare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: This is their essential claim that my opponent will destroy Medicare. But is that really true? Let's take a look at some of the facts and consider it. I'll bring in some tools here. And look at the White House plan, to begin with. This is the landscape they're dealing with.

The cost of Medicare is going to generally increase over the next 10 years so it reaches about $1 trillion annually. They want to reduce that by about 10 percent. That's the orange part here, that's the part they're cutting out.

Now their opponents look at that and say that's real care for real people that you're getting rid of and you just can't do that. But the White House says, hold on. No, it's not. That's a reduction in the amount of money that we're paying to the administrative costs of hospitals and to insurance programs.

In a word, they say, that is waste. We can get rid of it and we should get rid of. That's the White House take on things.

Now if you bring in the Romney-Ryan plan, you'll see the landscape is just the same. They have the same increase. They also want to reduce it by about 10 percent, but they want to rely on the private sector, not government, to get that done. In a word, they're going for vouchers.

Now they don't like calling it vouchers but that's really what it is. Right now if you're on Medicare what happens is that the government pays Medicare. Medicare pays the hospital. The hospital takes care of you. Under this plan, the government would pay you and you would decide if you wanted to buy into Medicare or into private insurance that will create competition between the two and their theory, and that is how you get at that very same waste that the White House wants to get out.

These are two very complicated, huge programs. There are critics on both sides who say this plan won't work or that plan won't work or this plan will leave people stranded or that plan will leave people stranded. But the truth is, it is complicated. It's hard to deal with all of that. So if we go to this basic claim that both sides have raised here, that somehow this is all about destroying Medicare, that is simply false.

That is a scare tactic no matter which side is saying it. So why are they saying it so much? All you have to do is look at the map and you know, across the country, the baby boomers are getting older. They're becoming a bigger percentage of the voting population fast. All those dark states is where the percentage is highest.

And look at Florida down here. Battleground state, more than 17 percent of the population there is over the age of 65. These are engaged voters. They are voters who show up when it's time to vote. And they're very concerned about Medicare. Even though both sides say neither plan is going to affect people over the age of 65 right now. They're engaged on this issue and whichever side wins the Medicare debate will probably win a lot of senior votes.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Mr. Foreman. Nice digs. I'd like to have that in my house.

Now if you missed any of the debate, any of it, we're going to replay it for you today at noon Eastern.

A moment of rest on a momentous journey. We're heading live to Los Angeles for the final mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is a 12-mile journey over two days. Space Shuttle Endeavour is being towed through the streets of Los Angeles at just two miles an hour. And you can see just how close, you know, it gets to some of these structures. Look at that. It gets going through the bank drive-thru. Crews are using great care on this delicate move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY RUDOLPH, CEO, CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER: We're able to go back and forth, grabbing both left and right and turning at angles to get through things, and you'll see -- tomorrow afternoon you'll see some areas where we're really fine maneuvering in inches and we're going to go extremely slowly through there, because we've got trees, inches on either side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Mr. John Zarrella, on the shuttle route, as a matter of fact, standing right out front. You know what I think is interesting is that, considering all of the miles that Endeavour has traveled, we're fretting so much over 12 miles, right?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. A hundred and 23 million miles traveled over, you know, the course of 25 space flights, 17,000 miles an hour going to the International Space Station, servicing the Hubble space telescope, repairing satellites in orbit and doing all of that, and you know this may be the most difficult mission that Endeavour's -- these 12 miles has ever undertaken.

And you can see, it's sitting here in a parking lot now and all of these people that are able to now kind of come over here and get a look at Endeavour and get up close to it because this was one of those situations where they had this time to kill. They wanted to move it from LAX, Los Angeles airport, before the rush hour and get it to another staging area. That's here, and then they wanted to sit it here until they got through with rush hour and while they reconfigure it a little bit and while they move some overhead power lines.

Plus you can see how tall it is, there's no way that Endeavour is going to make it under some of the power lines that they have crossing streets and the road signs so they've still got to do a little of that as they move over into the next day and two days and again it's going to be about 46 hours, Don, over the course of these two days before they actually arrive at the California Science Center tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow is the big day where they've got stands set up for people to come and watch Endeavour. They've got areas where there are going to be performances taking place and celebrations to marking this great event.

But it still is to me baffling. And I talked to the head of the California Science Center. You had that sound bite with him just a minute ago. He also was telling that as soon as they got the word 18 months ago that they had been awarded one of these shuttles they began the work of trying to figure out the best way to get it from the airport to the science center. Everything from flying it on heavy- duty helicopters, with heavy-duty helicopters, and taking off the wings was even talked about although that really wasn't a legitimate option at the end of the day. And this was the best possible way to do it was through the streets of Los Angeles -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. And I'm looking off, John, because there's a bigger monitor here, and I want to see these incredible pictures and now you can see that, you know, there are barricades, obviously for the public and the media is a little bit closer.

I wanted to just go up and touch it. Are they letting anybody touch this thing?

ZARRELLA: No. No, they aren't. Everybody is being kept back. And you know when we went and talked to some of the people in the crowd and it's almost like they're speechless. They don't know -- what do you say, what do you think about this, and they're, like, wow, wow.

LEMON: Exactly.

ZARRELLA: Incredible. You know?

LEMON: That's what I'm doing right here. Wow.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

LEMON: Yes.

ZARRELLA: And that's what it is. It's just -- it is a -- you know, the science center, I said to the head of the science center, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, right? And he goes, no, this is a once experience. Not once in a lifetime. A once. It will never ever happen again.

LEMON: All right. Hey, grab someone with a camera phone there.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

LEMON: And take a picture and e-mail it to me just so I'll have it that close. Thank you, John Zarrella.

ZARRELLA: You got it.

LEMON: All right.

Getting ready to mail in some bills? Well, you better check that stamp. Postage rate is going up again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your top stories right now.

Some uproar at the announcement of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner. This time it didn't go to just one person, but it went to a group. The 27 nations of the European Union. The Nobel Committee cited the EU for its peaceful reconciliation after World War II and spreading democracy.

A bizarre discovery off the coast of San Diego where the Coast Guard recovered 3200 pounds -- 3200 pounds of marijuana. The drugs have been turned over to the local marine task force for disposal. The source of the marijuana, not known.

Good news for taxpayers, TARP, the government bailout program for banks and automakers, is going to cost you less. That is according to the Congressional Budget Office which says the initiative will cost $24 billion, about 25 percent less than expected.

Well, it's time to stock up on those forever stamps because postage rates are about to go up again. The price of a first-class stamp heading up now to 46 cents.

Alison Kosik watching this story from New York.

Alison, you know, it feels like we just had a rate increase and they're going up again? ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, and you're right about that. You know, this happened almost a year ago and the United States Postal Service says they're doing this because they're in a financial crisis and this is not an exaggeration.

Look at this. The USPS has lost almost $12 billion so far this year. It's been losing money for years. You know what the biggest financial monkey on its back is? Congress actually mandates that the postal service has to set aside money, a lot of money for future retiree costs that goes into billions of dollars. It's draining their cash. So what the postal service is doing, it is on its knees, begging Congress to approve these long-term structural changes at the USPS.

So it's asking to cut Saturday service. The problem is, that idea is controversial and Congress is likely not to do anything until after the election. So the USPS is saying, you know what, we're going to do what we can do without getting any approval from Congress and that includes raising prices including on stamps and they're also looking to close some distribution offices.

LEMON: Yes, I don't -- I don't know what the fix is when you consider -- I mean, 46 cents is not a lot to mail. And I think it --

KOSIK: Right.

LEMON: It -- the postal service does go away --

KOSIK: Just to mail a lot of letters.

LEMON: People are going to miss it. They're -- you don't know what you have until it's gone. So go through the prices for us. Is it just on first-class stamps or across the board?

KOSIK: OK. So across the board shipping costs are going up. You look at first-class stamps and stamps for postcards, both are rising by a penny. So that means that first-class stamp is going to 46 cents. Postcard stamps are going to 33 cents. If you mail letters to international destination, it'll cost you $1.10 now. So overall, you look at it, mail and shipping costs are going up 4 percent.

But, you know, you just touched on this, Don. You know, even with these incremental increases, you know, how are you going to make up billions of dollars of a shortfall here?

LEMON: Yes.

KOSIK: We're not mailing as much as we used to so as they said they're going to have to mail a lot of letters.

(LAUGHTER)

Sell a lot of stamps.

LEMON: Yes. The handwritten letters are going to have to come back in order to make that up.

KOSIK: Yes. Good luck with that.

LEMON: Thank you. Thank you very much, Alison.

Anthony Bourdain holds nothing back when he goes after his fellow chefs. Well, guess what? Guess what happens when they turn the tables on him?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Some famous chefs have been sharpening their verbal knives to get back at Anthony Bourdain. And they got their shot at a roast in New York City just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZZ WINSTEAD, WROTE THE PROGRAM FOR ANTHONY BOURDAIN ROAST: No expense has been spared. In fact, it is -- you'd think you've hit your -- like, I can't go any further, and then somehow deep within inside the bowels of my destiny I found something darker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The charity event got filthy, filthy and hilarious according to Kat Kinsman who went to the event. She's the managing editor of CNN -- CNN's Eatocracy Web sites.

So, I guess there was a keystroke error of the e-vite that I didn't get mine? Did it bounce back to you? You know how much I like food.

(LAUGHTER)

KAT KINSMAN, MANAGING EDITOR, CNN EATOCRACY WEBSITE: You know, Ali Velshi filled your seat on the (INAUDIBLE) last night.

LEMON: That darn Ali. Velshi.

KINSMAN: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: So how was it?

KINSMAN: My gosh. To borrow a few cooking terms, it got hot, it got spicy, it got salty. You know, Mr. Bourdain is going to be joining us on CNN next year and my advice that they should put him in as a war correspondent because the man can be cool as a cucumber with bullets flying at his head.

I managed to catch up with him on the red carpet before the event last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, AMERICAN CHEF, AUTHOR AND TV PERSONALITY: I know it's going to be bad because, you know, repair keeps calling me up and saying, telling me it's going to be really bad. Really bad the things they're asking me to do. They're terrible. Terrible. You know, so he's apologizing in advance so it's going to be bloody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINSMAN: Yes. It was -- it got ugly in there. We can't show you much of what was said, but people were really waiting especially for a Guy Fieri and Rachael Ray to get up and attack. Rachael Ray was cool as a cucumber. She was very polite. He and Mr. Fieri went at it hammer and tongs. I'm just glad I wasn't caught in the middle of that last night.

LEMON: Yes. We're having a lot of fun here. And I'm joshing with you and you are, too. But it was -- there was a serious side to this -- to this evening. It benefitted a charity.

KINSMAN: It did, and chefs are among the most generous people on the planet and this raised hundreds of thousand of dollars for a Share Our Strength, No Kid Hungry. The mission of this organization is to make sure that kids get plenty of school lunch and school breakfast and never have to go to bed hungry again.

LEMON: Kat Kinsman, thank you. Next time no Velshi. Lemon.

(LAUGHTER)

KINSMAN: Just lemon.

LEMON: Got my eyes on you. Thank you, Kat. Appreciate it.

KINSMAN: Thank you.

LEMON: Here's a mystery for you, a man taking a walk on a Florida beach finds what looks like a giant eyeball? A state wildlife lab analyzing it right now. They think it may have come from a giant squid or a whale. Look at that thing.

And ahead, Justin Verlander carries the Detroit Tigers for a next round while another team also advances. We've got baseball playoff highlights.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In sports right now, two teams are moving on to the next round of the baseball playoffs. Detroit ace Justin Verlander -- Verlander, excuse me, threw his first career post-season shut out ending the Oakland A's surprising season. Verlander had plenty of help from the Tigers' batters as they put up six runs on the board. Verlander was the stud in this game, striking out 11 times in 122-pitch performance.

National League MVP candidate Buster Posey smacked a grand slam homerun leading the Giants to the NL Championship Series. Well, the Giants beat the Reds 6-4, sweeping three games in Cincinnati after losing the first two games of the Division Series at home.

Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, played a deciding game five in the series later on today. JJ Hardy had the game-winning hit in the 13th inning. Last night of course as the A's beat the Yanks 2-1. New York was 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

There will also be a game five in the St. Louis-Washington series. Jason Werth hit a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the ninth to give the Nats a 2-1 win last night. Werth really battled hard reliever Lance Lin. A homer came in the 13th pitch of his at-bat.

In the NFL last night, Tennessee Titans scored twice in the last four minutes of the game to beat Pittsburgh, 26-23. Rob Bironas, he kicked a 40-yard field goal. You just saw it there, as time expired, for the winning margin. The Steelers have lost three straight road games this season.

I want to take you now to Indianapolis, Indiana, where former president Bill Clinton is going to be speaking in just a little while here. They're preparing the stage for him. It is called the Hoosier Common Sense Rally for Obama. Again, former president Bill Clinton going to be speaking and you heard the DNC. The former president gave the current president a big boost in his re-election bid.

So we'll keep you posted on that. In the meantime, I want to tell you that tonight or today at noon we're going to replay the vice presidential debate. If you missed it last night you can see it again today at noon Eastern. And make up your mind who won, who lost. It's almost condescending. Smiled too much. What have you. All of it. We'll have it for you.

I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us. And make sure you have yourself a great weekend. And the CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with my friend Ashleigh Banfield.

Take it away, Ash.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Don Lemon, did you actually stay up late and watched the debate and then get up like 2:00 in the morning and do that show you do?

LEMON: I did. Three hours sleep.