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Senator Specter Loses Battle with Cancer; Baumgartner Successfully Freefalls; Obama-Romney Second Debate

Aired October 14, 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 in the NEWSROOM.

Former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter has lost his long battle with cancer. The veteran Pennsylvania lawmaker died today at his home in Philadelphia from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 82 years old. Specter served 30 years in the Senate. That's longer than any other senator from the state of Pennsylvania.

President Barack Obama just issued a statement on Specter's passing saying in part "Arlen Specter was always a fighter, from his days stamping out corruption as a prosecutor in Philadelphia to his three decades of service in the Senate. Arlen was fiercely independent never putting party or ideology ahead of the people he was chosen to serve." That from President Obama, passing of Arlen Specter.

So one of those who knew Arlen Specter well and covered him on Capitol Hill, CNN's chief political correspondent Candy Crowley. I asked Candy why Senator Specter was also known as Snarlin Arlen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He believed what he believed. He could be cranky, he didn't much like - he didn't suffer fools. He was a very smart guy, very smart guy. A lawyer, he had been a prosecuting attorney. He has been - I mean the history that he covered in his career, not just the senate, I think he was there for like 30 years, but the history, he's on the Warren Commission. He was one of the attorneys for the Warren Commission who looked into the JFK assassination. So just the time that he spent, al the Supreme Court nominees, he loved the laws, because he was on the judiciary committee, he played such a pivotal role in selecting some of the Supreme Court justices that now sit on that bench or approving them.

So he had such a span of history that he was also - really got battered about in the end by politics. He started out actually a registered Democrat but ran as a Republican, got elected to the Senate as a Republican and at the end of his career when he was getting ready to run for re-election in the 2010 race, or close to it - I would have to go back and actually check that. In 2010, he switched parties and became a Democrat because he felt that the Republican Party left him. He was a moderate from Pennsylvania and he was about to get a huge challenge from the conservative side and thought he might lose that. He switched to the Democratic Party, but in the end he lost the democratic primary and that was the end, certainly of his public career.

But just a fascinating, smart guy, who contributed so much to history and lived so much of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Candy Crowley, helping to remember Arlen Specter.

All right. Now to the other big story we're following today. Mission accomplished for skydiver Felix Baumgartner. He landed on his feet after an unbelievable free fall for more than 23 miles above earth. The crew there ecstatic. They believed that he broke three records - one for the fastest free fall ever. The other for the highest free fall and one for the highest manned balloon.

Let's go to Brian Todd. Brian, do we know how Felix Baumgartner doing? Remarkably, we saw him land on his feet, but how's he feeling physically and emotionally.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, apparently, Fredricka, he's feeling well enough to hold a press conference, which we're told he is either holding now or he's about to - we don't have the live feed of that here but he is speaking to the media that is gathered out there in Roswell, New Mexico very shortly, if he's not doing it already.

So he's well enough to talk and we have been trying to correspond with some of the Red Bull people to ask what his condition is, from all visual signs right now, he's doing very well. You saw him land there and raise his fist to the air - I mean, just that piece of video there that we're seeing, the hop and the jump into history there and the freefall at an incredible rate of speed was really just compelling.

He landed about an hour and 45 minutes ago at about 2:15 Eastern time. We were told that he did break the speed of sound during this jump, that mark, 690 miles an hour, how fast he actually went, it could vary. Red Bull is now saying he went about 704 miles an hour. But we did see on the monitors during his jump that he hit about 729 miles an hour. So we'll get an official reading of exactly how fast he went.

But a real thrill as he jumped from higher than anyone has ever jumped, 128,000 feet. That's about 8,000 feet higher than they expected him to jump.

WHITFIELD: And why was Baumgartner so personally committed to this? He trained for this moment for five years.

TODD: He certainly did. Five years in training. The project was green lighted actually seven years ago. So this has been long time in the making. He is a daredevil. He jumped off the Petronas Towers. He base jumped off of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. He base jumped at the Christ the Redeemer status in Rio. This is the kind of thing he does but nothing ever approaching this magnitude.

And what they really want to accomplish here is the scientific advancements to see if this could be the next generation of space suit. So that's one of the key goals of the mission. WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Todd, thanks so much for watching it with us. Watching that part of history with this this afternoon, all day long. Appreciate it.

So that jump was a heart pounding moment for everybody who saw it happen live right here on CNN. Meteorologist Chad Myers joins me on the set as well along with Brian Todd from Washington. So this is more than that kind of daredevil moment. Brian Todd, underscore it, it is a moment for science as well?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really isn't Evel Knievel getting on a motorcycle and jumping three busses. It has nothing to do with that kind of thrill. This has to do with space tourism. That is certain to come about. We know in the next 10 to 20 years, there will be vehicles to take tourists that pay 60 something miles into space and then land back down. Well, if something goes wrong in that space tourism plane, can those people literally eject? Can they make it back to the surface in a suit with a parachute. And the answer seems at least close to today that they're a lot closer to that. Nothing's ever gone 700 miles per hour in a free fall and then survived to tell it. This was an amazing event. It was, for me, my heart was going at least 120 beats a minute.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MYERS: And then when he did finally jump, it was like watching a camera on a roller coaster. You know how you can feel it in your stomach, I felt it. When he jumped, I felt that. And then you would expect, oh, well, the ground is right there. The parachute is going to come. No, he fell for four minutes and 19 seconds before the chute opened and then he landed on the plains of eastern New Mexico.

WHITFIELD: And you can't really simplify this because there was a moment where he was spinning seemingly out of control, and because of his sky diving skills, he was able to have the wherewithal to pull himself, to kind of redirect his body.

MYERS: That's right.

WHITFIELD: So he could be in position to pull that chute. That's extraordinary.

MYERS: He was in a dangerous spin. He was getting there. Now there was a little drag chute that would have slowed that spin down had it gotten to 3.5 Gs. Never got there. So the chute never opened. He was able to use his hands and his feet and his body to stop the spin, slow himself from the spin all the way back down to the right attitude as he's falling through space again and continued to do the free fall. He had to pull the ejection parachute too early that would have ruined at least some of his fun.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Incredible stuff.

MYERS: A lot of fun to talk about it.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It was really incredible, riveting from start to finish. Chad Myers, thanks so much. Thanks again for joining me this afternoon for that one as well.

MYERS: Of course.

WHITFIELD: We're going to get more perspective on Felix Baumgartner's jump from a former astronaut Leroy Chao in just a few minutes.

And another big space related event happening right now. The shuttle "Endeavour" is in the homestretch, it's a block or two away from its final destination at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The shuttle was supposed to arrive last night, but the trip took a little longer than expected. Dozens of trees had to be cut along that route to accommodate the 78-foot wide shut, you heard about that over the past few weeks or so. And in the course of the last 24 hours, they had to do some trimming along the way. But it was still a very tight fit. And so that shuttle soon to be in its final destination spot right there in Los Angeles.

All right. President Barack Obama spending a second straight day in Williamsburg, Virginia preparing for his next debate with Mitt Romney. That showdown happens Tuesday night, today one of Obama's top advisors told CNN the president was disappointed with his performance at the first debate and knows he has to be more energetic this Tuesday.

Mitt Romney is also hunkering down preparing for the debate. He is practicing today in Massachusetts with his strategy team and Senator Rob Portman of Ohio who had been playing, you know, he has been in kind of a mock role as President Obama in those debate sessions.

All right. The presidential contenders will square off for the second time Tuesday night, our special coverage live at 7:00 Eastern time. The debate will be moderated by our own, Candy Crowley.

All right. So what can we expect in this next showdown? We got a full preview for the presidential showdown in New York, straight from our moderator.

Also a fire works show in China goes terribly wrong. We'll tell you what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: America chooses a president in 23 days, but before that we have two more presidential debates, the next this Tuesday at Hofstra University in New York. It's a town hall debate moderated by our own Candy Crowley. Earlier, I talked with Candy and I asked her how this format will influence the tone of the debate with the audience asking some of the questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: I think it will in this way, it is very hard to be overheated when answering a question be a nice woman, a nice old man, whatever who asks a town hall question. Which generally begins something like, you know, Mr. President, or Governor, I lost my job, blah, blah, blah, to then have the two of them engage in a knock down dragout, tends to be something they don't do in a crowd that that's kind of close to them. I think this, you know and I know that they would run over me in a second. You know, they would really sort of push the envelope with a member of the media, because they're used to us, but it is very hard to do that to an uncommitted voter.

WHITFIELD: In the meantime, you know, some CNN colleagues couldn't help themselves but to give you some advice for this debate, let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have noticed in these debates when the candidates are asked a certain question about a certain topic, they sometimes stray off of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really hold the candidates feet to the fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the best thing you can say about the opposition party.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: What's been the happiest moment of your life?

WHITFIELD: I'm sure a lot of folks have tried to give you advice, not that you need any. But you know, it sounds like folks are saying to have a sense of humor about it all too.

CROWLEY: Well, that and also you want to get to know a little bit, you want the kind of offbeat question that exposes something about the candidate that others might not know, that is at the same time relevant to who you might want in a president, that sort of reveals something about their character. But what I don't lack, as you may note from suggestions, and the sad thing is, that 90 seconds, 90 minutes, is not as long as you think it is. If you could see my inbox, I would tell you that people have questions about so many things and in the end, it has to be questions about things where, a, they have a difference of opinion and b, where we have a chance of kind of opening up new territory.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Candy Crowley moderating the next presidential debate town hall style that is this Tuesday out of Hempstead, New York at Hofstra University. Of course, our coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.

All right. A night of fire works goes terribly wrong in China. We'll tell you exactly what happened.

And if you do have to go out today, just a reminder, you can continue to watch CNN from your mobile phone and you can also watch it from your laptop, any where you go, just go to CNN.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. Navy says two vessels have collided off the coast of northeastern Florida. The submarine and cruiser were on with the Navy called a group sale when they collided yesterday afternoon. No injuries had been reported and the Navy says the sub's nuclear reactor was not affected. The exercise was part of preparations for the deployment of U.S.S. Harry Truman Aircraft Carrier.

In Syria, 202 people are dead as the fighting between rebels and government forces gets worse. At the center of the fighting now is a landmark mosque in Aleppo. Activists say regime forces took over the religious building, set it on fire and then ran away. Aleppo is a UNESCO world heritage site. And UNESCO's director general said he's concerned about the damage to the mosque which dates back to the 12th century.>

And for a second, it looks cool, but this is tragedy at work here, a fire works show in China went terribly wrong and all of it was caught on video. Chinese television reports that at least 100 people were injured when the fire works fell into the crowd. Many people suffered burns, the incident is now under investigation.

Sky diver Felix Baumgartner makes history with his unbelievable record jump from edge of space. We'll have some perspective on the significance of this accomplishment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Former senator Arlen Specter has died after a long battle with cancer. The veteran Pennsylvania lawmaker passed away at his home in Philadelphia this morning from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 82 years old. A public funeral service is planned for Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

Mission accomplished for sky diver Felix Baumgartner after he landed on his feet from an unbelievable free fall from 23 miles above earth. Baumgartner only had a space suit, helmet and chute for the 128,000 foot jump. Plus his crew believes that he broke three records, one for the fastest free fall ever, the other for the highest free fall and one for the highest manned balloon.

Earlier I spoke with former astronaut Leroy Chao about the greatest accomplishment and legacy from Felix Baumgartner's jump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEROY CHAO, FMR. NASA ASTRONAUT: This was not just something they thought up and then went out and tried. It was not conceived over many years and planned or many years and did several other jumps before this one, including one, I believe, around 80,000 and 100,000. And so the buildup and they finally got to the point where they were going to try for the record and it looks like they went out and broke three of them. So congratulations to the team and it's going to be the technology that they have developed, the things they have driven pressure suit technology. I think you're going to see these things incorporated into future pressure suits that are used in spacecraft.

WHITFIELD: And let's talk about that high pressure suit and why and what makes this one so significant or you know, a step above or a few steps above what NASA has been using for a long time now?

CHAO: Well, sure, the suits that NASA used aboard shuttle and the suits that are used aboard the Russian, Soyuz right now. You know, they're basically the same design with some improvements over the years. But basically the same designs that have existed for quite a long time, you know, decades actually. And so this suit here appears to be a pretty new adaptation. You know, you've taken a lot of lessons learned from these older suits. And you've improved upon them and it looked like the flexibility might have been a little bit in this suit. Certainly the telemetry packages, the sensors and the way they're able to collect data and record and send it down, those were big advances.

And so like I said, I think this is going to drive the technology of newer suits as they develop future space flights.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Former NASA astronaut there. Baumgartner's successful jump breaks the record set in 1960 by Col. Joe Kittinger, who fell from more than 100,000 feet as part of a U.S. Air Force mission. He as there to witness it all as well.

Another big space related event happening right now. The shuttle "Endeavour" arriving at its new home - the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The shuttle was supposed to arrive last night, but the trip took a little longer than expected. Dozens of trees had to be cut down along the route to accommodate the 78=foot wide shuttle before it actually made it's way into Los Angeles for that two day 12- mile trek and then additionally a few tree trimming events had to happen yesterday in order to finally get it through. That's why it took so long.

All right. California, hundreds of friends and neighbors came together to celebrate the life of former Navy S.E.A.L. Glen Doherty. Doherty was killed in that September 11th attack on the American consulate in Libya. One of his friends spoke about the man fondly known as giba (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN LAKE, FRIEND OF GLEN DOHERTY: (INAUDIBLE) asked people who was their best friend, everybody would raise their hand and that's a gift. And that's why everybody is here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Doherty's friend said he didn't want a funeral but rather a party.

All right. You've heard a lot of talk from President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in this campaign season, well maybe it's time for them to tell us a joke or two? "Reader's Digest" sat down with the candidates. Find out what the presidential candidates said.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Just 23 days until election day, but before that the candidates have to face off twice more on a debate stage, the next one this Tuesday night. President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York for 90 minutes. The show down will be moderated by our own chief political correspondent Candy Crowley. Ron Brownstein is our senior political analyst and the editorial director of the "National Journal." It is good to see you Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So the VP debate may have upstaged the last presidential debate just a bit. But Romney still goes into the second debate with a sizable momentum. Is the pressure on particularly for the president to kind of change his cool style and be a bit more combative if not energetic?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think clearly the first debate has lastly changed the race in one very particularly important way. Part of President Obama's margin comfort, there was a thin slice of voters that were somewhat dissatisfied with his performance but who did not view Romney as a viable alternative. And that changed for clearly some of those voters now who were not fully satisfied with Obama or a much more positive Obama see Romney as a much more reasonable alternative and I think that puts pressure on the president on two fronts.

Both to make the case that Joe Biden remain against the Republican ticket and the Obama campaign has tried to make against the Republican tickets in the spring. Secondly, to give people more of a sense of what they will get from him in a second term, if they give him four more years which has been pretty lacking so far in this presentation.

WHITFIELD: You still here from voters that they want specifics and both men talked about taxes in particular, they were pressed on taxes in particular during that first debate and we also saw that during the Romney debate with the president, as well as the Ryan debate with the vice president, the Republicans in particular were pressed on this very issue. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut. What I said is I won't put in place a tax cut that adds to the deficit. That is part one. There is no economist will say Mitt Romney's tax plan adds $5 trillion if I say I will not add to the deficit with this tax plan.

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) VICE PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: We want to work with Congress on how best to achieve this. That means successful. What we're saying is lower tax rates 20 percent. Start with the wealthy, work with Congress to do it.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: You guarantee this math?

RYAN: Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So now let's talk about the pressure that's on Romney to try to give more specifics about how do you do that? What about that math?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, there are a lot of numbers flying around, but the question really is very specific and easy to grasp. Is it mathematically possible to do the three things that Mitt Romney says he's going do on his tax plan? Which is cut marginal rates 20 percent across the board. Not raise the deficit and not reduce the share of taxes paid by the wealthy. The Tax Policy Center which is an independent nonpartisan group has looked at the numbers and said those three things cannot be done at the same time, because if you cut tax rates by 20 percent the cost of doing that exceeds the benefits you can accrue from eliminating all tax breaks available for the wealthy except for those going to investment income which Romney said he won't touch.

So Romney still has to explain how all of this would all add up without assuming an elevated level of economic growth which the congressional budget office does not do when they calculate a tax plan. So there's still that question on him I think and he has not fully answered it. And again, if the math is wrong, I think you need more specifics about what deductions he would remove to show that the math in fact adds up with what he wants to do.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ron Brownstein thanks so much. Of course we will be all watching on this Tuesday, the contenders square off, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time is when our live coverage begins and the debate will of course be moderated by our CNN's Candy Crowley.

All right. As Election Day nears a lot of people are paying attention to Florida not just because of it's a toss up state, because of its questionable voter registration tactics, here's CNN's Joe Johns.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, he's a veteran GOP operative who just doesn't seem to go away. Just a few weeks ago a wave of bad publicity hit the Arizona Republican Nathan Scroul, a specialty on registering voters. He was even disavowed by the Republican National Committee but now some Democrats who criticize his tactics say they're worried Scroul may still be operating in several key battleground states under a different company name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHMS (voice over): It all started when Florida election officials found problems with more than 100 voter registration forms, signatures that looked the same, addresses that didn't seem right, behind the registration veteran GOP consultant Nathan Scroul and his strategic ally consulting company. They are now under criminal investigation in Florida. He denies wrong doing. By that time the Republican Party had already given Scroul $3 million dollars for voter registration efforts, but they publicly announced they were severing ties with Scroul.

But it's not the end of the story, now the top Democrat on the house government reform and oversight committee is asking questions including whether Scroul has managed to keep doing business under a different company name. REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, (D) MARYLAND: Then we want to look at the various contracts, I want to see the contracts that he has with these various agencies and what he is contracted to do.

JOHNS: The biggest question is who is paying the Republican Party apparently is not. Contacted today Shawn Spicer of the Republican National Committee said they're doing business with Scroul or any of his companies. Democrats pointed to the American Cross Roads Political Organization that has promised to spend millions to help Republicans win elections. But American Cross Roads told CNN that it hired one of Scroul's companies in 2010 for door to door outreach. But has not worked with Scroul in 2012.

Scroul's lawyer did not return our calls and he apparently is not talking to Democrats in Congress either. Congressman Cummings asked Scroul to sit for an interview and provide information but Scroul declined through his lawyer in this letter that said Scroul wants to keep this outside the realm of politics and that Scroul continues to cooperate with Florida officials in their investigation of irregularities there. What do you think about the letter sent by the attorneys for Nathan Scroul?

CUMMINGS: To me and to the members of our committee on the Democratic side, we're very upset about it?

JOHNS: Why?

CUMMINGS: It's very unusual for us to have someone we are investigating to say I am not going to cooperate with you, I'm not going to provide documents, and I will not appear.

JOHNS: Though Scroul has not responded to our request for an interview, he has talked to Fox News where he defended his company's voter registration practices. Here's what he said about the investigations in the Florida case last week.

NATHAN SCROUL, STRATEGIC ALLIED CONSULTING: What they will find is that our company had a systematic effort of quality control. Then looking for people trying to cheat the system when we found them, we fired them immediately. And we have a long paper trail to demonstrate that the handful of people that we caught cheating the system were fired and turned over to investigators for prosecution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHMS: Democrats have complained about Nathan Scroul going as far back as the 2010 election. His lawyer says he was never found guilty of any wrong doing.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much Joe Johns. And tonight, 8:00 Eastern Time, Joe has a special report, Investigative Impact tough new coder laws. It's called "Voters in America, who counts." That is tonight 8:00 Eastern Time. All right. What is President Obama's favorite word, what's Mitt Romney's best joke? Now these are some of the offbeat but revealing questions "Readers Digest" editor Liz Vaccariello asked each of the candidates as she sat down with them for an unconventional interview. I asked Liz what was the most surprising thing she learned about each of the men running for president.

LIZ VACCARIELLO, EDITOR, "READERS DIGEST:" I was surprised at the president; first of all we conducted the interview in the oval office. Here he is at the apex of the world and he takes a half an hour out of his day and is so in the moment and was so revealing and warm and engaging and was able and willing be to tell very revealing stories about his emotions and his memories.

And then Governor Milt Romney, by the same token I thought he would be a little bit more stiff and guarded, while some of his answers were shorter, he also was, he would light up, there was like a glint in his eye whenever he talked about his family, his wife or his 18 grand children, there's a twinkle there in the eye that you cannot fake, so that was surprising and interesting to me.

WHITFIELD: So what is that all about? Because you even asked him about, you know, what mission he would set forth and if he would be thinking about his grandchildren if he had to make a decision as president about whether the country should go to war.

VACCARIELLO: Right.

WHITFIELD: Did you feel like that was something really close to his heart, that he would be thinking about his family, he would be thinking about his kids, the gravity of it all.

VACCARIELLO: I asked both men that question, I asked President Obama what did you say to Malia and Sasha the night that Osama bin Laden was killed. He answered that in terms of how his children understood what the families of the victims had gone through and he was able to sort of turn that experience and nasty thing at dinner with his children toward what it meant for the families. When I talked to Governor Romney about it, I said how would you explain the role of the president and how you have to make life and death decisions, you have to kill people when you are president. How do you explain that to your grandchildren?

And he went right to the place of you know it's a very high bar before I make that decision. You have to be sure of what you are getting into. So his answer was a little less personal than President Obama's.

WHITFIELD: You went into this interview, you revealed to them that this is going to be less about policy and issues and your platform and more about who you are as an individual. And both were, you know, he equally I guess eager to reveal themselves in that way.

VACCARIELLO: They were and the questions, one question are a good example. I said "Reader's Digest" has a famous column called "Word Power." I said what is your favorite word in any language. President Obama thought for a brief moment and said grace, he talked about life's graceful moments, the grace that we find within us and it was a lovely minute or two.

And I asked Governor Romney what his favorite word is, he didn't miss a beat, and he gave me a one worth answer, indomitable. That just shows you there's a difference in the way they chose to answer that question. So I think it's an interesting juxtaposition when you hear the same question answered by two different men and two different settings.

WHITFIELD: You were able to get them to laugh a little bit in other ways too. And try to remember or reveal kind of the latest joke, I wouldn't be able to remember one if you put me on the spot like that. But both of them came up with some good material.

VACCARIELLO: They did. I said laughter is the best medicine, what's your favorite joke and tell it to me now. And so then we had both jokes up on the "Readers Digest" place and people can vote on whose is funnier, you don't know who said what. Joke number one is I walk into a campaign rally of supporters and I turned to my wife and I said, did you ever imagine in your wildest dreams that I would be running for public office and my wife turned to me and said, honey, you were never in my wildest dreams. That is joke number one.

And joke number two, is a 4-year-old walks into a room and sees a picture of the president on the wall. And his parents ask him, son do you know who that is and what they do? And the child looks and says, he approves this message. So the challenge --

WHITFIELD: You can read the whole "Readers Digest" interview starting October 16 when that issue hits the stands and if you want to guess which candidate told which joke, you need to go to RD.com.

A U.S. marine surprises his wife and kids in a homecoming that has gone viral. We'll show you what makes this video so special.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A U.S. marine gives his family a huge surprise, after being stationed overseas for about a year, he appears on a jumbo screen at the University of South Carolina's football stadium. To deliver a message before the team plays against Georgia. That was a wonderful surprise in and of itself. But then it gets better. And that's why it's gone viral. Just watch. So there he is, in person from the screen to real life on the ground that was a beautiful homecoming and not a dry eye in the house.

So how would you like to buy piece of Mars or a clunk of the moon, you can as we speak. Josh Levs is here to tell us all about it.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isn't it wild? There is an auction going on right now and some of these things are the most amazing meteorites of all times. Take a look at some of these pictures, one of them; they're beginning at about $340,000. That right there is a piece of the moon that has been split in half so you can see "the matrix" inside. It is the fourth largest piece of moon available to the public, the largest piece of moon ever auctioned. Let's take a look at this next one, this year is also up for auction and they're taking at least $65,000 the will of light meteorite, the largest complete slice of the most famous meteorite in the world. Let me just show you a couple of others. That one looks like the screen and another one looks like a map, take a look at how it came out. Look at that, so if you happen to have hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting around you might want to take part in that auction in New York right now.

WHITFIELD: That is cool stuff. And in the mean time everyone has a new policy about meteorites. In what way?

LEVS: Yes. The new fishing license for the sky. There are people who go around collecting these things. The more normal kinds of meteorites that people find. There's basically new laws, new rules about this, what you can do, they can only be collected on certain public lands but not on some others. Individuals are limited to what can easily be hand carried, up to a maximum of 10 pounds a year, you cannot use motorized devices to pick them up. Just think about it some people really hoped that what they are going to find will be worth something to them.

WHITFIELD: A big meteor shower is expected.

LEVS: Yes. This is so cool. Orion meteor shower is expected, early in the morning next weekend on Sunday the 21st the arriving meteor shower is expected and there will be at the height, 25 I believe, 25 meteors per hour. So if you get up really early on the 21st. The idea behind this one, it's not one of the strongest meteor showers but it's one of the most beautiful. Because it's framed as NASA puts it. Some of the raised stars and planets. I'm putting information online on facebook and twitter about how you can see these the best. Plus everything you ever want to know and what we just talked about.

WHITFIELD: So you have a better chance of seeing it if you're out in the rural area. Apparently big cities perhaps you can't see.

LEVS: Some people flock to certain areas where there is a good deal.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Josh. We love it, thank you.

All right, now, another story that's generating a whole of the of buzz, the recently released photos of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan working out. CNN's Jeanne Moos hit the streets to get voter reaction to Ryan's spread.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Does this picture say Mr. Vice President to you? This is Paul Ryan, Republican.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

MOOS: Is that him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, that's worse, that's like oh, no. MOOS: Oh, yes and photos of Paul Ryan working out that came out, "Time Magazine" plenty of fans tweed two. And just like that anti straw and the internet melts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He looks fine.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: His knees are a little bony.

MOOS: Noted one poster, big bird calls, he wants his legs back. Paul Ryan is the bro-est bro ever to run for V.P. Paul Ryan is definitely channeling his inner Marky Mark. Just as Marky Mark pumped iron, so did Paul Ryan in a photo shoot almost a year ago when the fitness buff congressman was a runner up for Time's person of the year. Some say by releasing the old photos around the time of the vice presidential debate, the editors of "Time" wish to make him look more trivial, young and unserious. Maybe it's the backwards baseball cap, but when we took the photos out to the street --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no clue who that is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to say no.

MOOS: Two thirds of the people we asked didn't recognize him. Who is this man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's Mr. Shoochuster, Matthew Morrison?

MOOS: No not the queen club instructor from Glee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jeff somebody? He's got a new talk show.

MOOS: Nah, not Jeff Probst.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's the vice president soon to be.

MOOS: The VP candidate's spokesman says this about the photos, "Paul Ryan takes his health seriously. Clearly judging by these silly pictures he doesn't take himself too seriously. Neither did readers on buzzfeed. They put him in with the Village People, the cast of "Jersey Shore" they made him flex and even wink like a certain previous VP candidate. Some wonder when are the Joe Biden workout photos coming. The best we could do is drag out that famous photo shop dog done by the onion, shirtless Joe Biden washing his Trans Am in the White House driveway.

This is the potential vice president of the United States.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Oh, it is.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: I think it's a great look for him.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Just like a regular old Joe blow.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: OK, let's move on to some sports action, of the NHL has locked out it's players, but we'll hear how some local businesses in New Jersey are the ones really feeling the pain.

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WHITFIELD: Talks resume Tuesday over the NHL lock out and for businesses in one hockey home town a resolution can't come soon enough. Susan Candiotti takes us to Newark home of the New Jersey Devils where a missing team means local business.

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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Newark's Prudential Center is home to the New Jersey Devils hockey team. A team that made it to the Stanley Cup finals last year. But the arena is awfully quiet these days. The NHL has locked out players, preventing the puck from dropping in the preseason and two weeks of the regular season so far.

TOM BLUME, GENERAL MANAGER, EDISON ALE HOUSE: It's definitely gut wrenching.

CANDIOTTI: Tom Blume runs Edison Ale House, a bar and restaurant right across the street from the Prudential Center.

BLUME: Everyday I look out these picture windows and seeing dark is getting discouraging.

CANDIOTTI: Blume says business could drop 35 percent this month and up to 45 percent if the lockout continues. He hopes to hold on to workers as their tips are slashed and the bars profits are on ice.

BLUME: If the Devils were playing on a Tuesday night as opposed to a nonevent night, we're talking I got a 75 percent spring.

CANDIOTTI: In Newark the hockey lock out is a double whammy. They already lost their NBA team, the former New Jersey now Brooklyn Nets, the city is hoping this hotel that opened last month, will help revitalize the area, but an empty area could make turning a profit devilishly difficult.

KEVIN WATERS, NEWARK RESIDENT: You say it doesn't feel good is an understatement.

CANDIOTTI: Newark is one of the 30 NHL markets in the U.S. and Canada. The lockout was engrossed after a collective bargaining agreement expired. The issue as always is money. How to divide the profits, businesses hope a solution comes quickly.

BLUME: I hope they have a resolution. Hopefully sooner than later.

CANDIOTTI: New Jersey senators are urging both sides to come to an agreement and fast. They know the stoppage could mean millions in lost revenue at a time when the state's unemployment rate is at a 30-year high.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And he did it, sky diver Felix Baumgartner landed on his feet after his record breaking jump from the edge of space. We'll have more on his amazing accomplishments at the top of the hour.

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