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Suzanne Tweeting From South Africa; Obama And Romney Prep For Round Two (second presidential debate tomorrow night); Obama And Romney In Dead Heat; Candidates Weigh Faith and Law; Free Fall Breaks Record; Ohio May Hold Key to White House; Funeral Tomorrow for Arlen Specter; Hollywood Debate Tips; Senate Candidate's Son's Controversial Remarks

Aired October 15, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: -- pretty amazing pieces on the country. But she's a bit of a twitterer and she's been tweeting about some of her experiences already. I will tell you a couple of them. She writes, "I visited Soweto today where a woman who was a student protester in 1976 was shot four times, now gives tours to heal. And this one as well, "Interviewed Nelson Mandela's son-in-law, Amuah, who says their relationship was mixed, loving, and tense." Look for Suzanne's report right here next week, beginning at noon Eastern. Until then, as I say, you're stuck with me.

All right. Let's go now to Ashleigh Banfield.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Michael Holmes, and now you're stuck with me. I'm Ashleigh Banfield in for Suzanne Malveaux this hour. And we are covering on the CNN NEWSROOM, a focus of politics. A focus on theology, technology, the economy right here at home. Let's get right to it, shall we?

We are just one day away from the second showdown between President Obama and Mitt Romney. They are going to face off tomorrow in one of those town hall style debate rooms and the pressure is really on for the president after what many have said was a lackluster showing in round one. All of this coming just 22 days until election day, so the stakes are high. Not just for both campaigns, but for you, my friend. President Obama has been prepping for debate at a resort in Williamsburg, Virginia. Mitt Romney is at his home state, he's in the Boston area getting ready for tomorrow night. And we've got a debate preview coming up in just a minute. We're also going to hear from our political team this hour.

Paul Steinhauser has the latest on the poll numbers in this neck in neck race. Wolf Blitzer weighing in on the state of the race as of today. Joe Johns explaining why Ohio is so important and why things might be changing there. Tomorrow night's debate takes place at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island. It is the second of three debates, and as we mentioned, it's that town hall style format. The candidates get to take questions from the audience, and the topics both domestic and foreign policy this time around. But what about that audience? They're going to be made up of undecided voters, and they were chosen by a specific group, the Gallop organization. So, our Athena Jones has a preview now of just what is at stake for both of these candidates when they get there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Round two. President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney face off in their second debate Tuesday. A town hall moderated by CNN's Candy Crowley who says the format presents unique challenge for the candidates.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The challenges that they've got to connect not just with the people that are looking into the television and watching them but to the people that are on the stage with them, some 80 or so undecided voters as chosen by Gallop, so they have to keep those folks in mind. It's a much more intimate and up close adventure with voters.

JONES: President Obama is under pressure after his last turn on the debate stage got bad reviews.

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: One bad debate is losing a battle. Two bad debates could very well mean he loses the war.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: And I think you're going to see a very different President Obama this time around. He's got to be seen as being aggressive, but, yet, he can't be seen as being overly aggressive.

JONES: Romney has enjoyed a post-debate bounce in national polls and a boost of confidence on the campaign trail.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's more energy and passion. People are getting behind this campaign.

JONES: At a town hall, without a podium and with audience interaction, the candidates' style and body language can take on added weight. At the first town hall presidential debate in 1992, President George H. W. Bush repeatedly checked his watch, a sign some thought that he didn't want to be there. Commentators said Bill Clinton walking toward the audience to answer a question about the recession highlighted his ability to connect with voters. One thing that can make it hard for a candidate to be aggressive is a question like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we focus on the issues and not the personalities and the mud?

JONES: Analysts say this format could be good for the president.

CARDONA: He will be able to draw from that energy -- from the energy of the public and the crowd.

JONES: As for Romney, --

NAVARRO: One of his big challenges during this entire campaign has been not being able to connect with the common man and woman and child. He has to be able to come across as connecting. He has to come across as genuine, as caring, as likable. CROWLEY: The candidate that makes a connection with the person asking the question is also I think making a better connection with the folks back home.

JONES: The stakes couldn't be higher. Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: And while Mitt Romney is prepping for debate number two, Paul Ryan, his running mate, is out stumping on the campaign trail. And here he is live in Cincinnati, Ohio. In case you have forgotten, Ohio has 18 electoral votes. That's what's at stake in this state, and it's an important one. As we've said before, no Republican has won the White House without winning there so a quick stop at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio for Paul Ryan as he moves ahead from his vice presidential debate last week.

So, what should we now expect from the president and from Mitt Romney tomorrow night as they head into debate number two? Earlier, I talked with our own Wolf Blitzer about what to look for in this debate and what each candidate needs to do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: We always know that incumbents don't particularly perform well in the first debate. Is there a template for the second debate? Do we have some history to show us what they need to do, what they often do, and how that works out for them?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know in the first debate when he was an incumbent, Ronald Reagan, back in 1984, being challenged by Walter Mondale, did not do well. He did much better in the second debate. He obviously went on to win re- election decisively in 1984. The challenge for President Obama this time, he didn't do well the first time, Romney did very well, will be for him to come back in this second debate, which is a town hall format, so it's a little bit more complicated because average people, undecided voters, at Hofstra University out on Long Island, they'll stand up and ask questions.

So, it's -- the room is a little bit different. The atmosphere is a little bit different. We'll see if the president comes through this time and responds and answers the charges directly forcefully, passionately, which is something he didn't do to Romney on the first debate. The President has to show that he wants to be there, he's engaged, he's not bored. Some of those aspects apparently he failed on during the first presidential debate, and I think Mitt Romney's got to show that he can relate to these average folks as well which has been a problem occasionally for him in the course of all of these town hall meetings that he's done.

But having said all that, both of these guys got to this level because they're good, they're smart, they're strong. They don't -- you don't get to be the president of the United States or the Republican presidential nominee unless you're really, really good. And they beat a lot of other opponents in the process so I'm looking forward to it tomorrow night. I think they're both going to be good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: And that's our Wolf Blitzer for us, and on the day before the second debate, it's a dead heat in this race for the White House. Just what they like to say, all knotted up. And that's why they say team Obama and team Romney are sending out their surrogates to try to build some of that momentum for their candidates. You might call this actually predebate spin. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, SENIOR ADVISER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN: He knew when he walked off that stage, and he also knew as he's watched the tape of that debate that he's got to be more energetic. I think you'll see somebody's who very passionate about the choice that our country faces and putting that choice in front of voters.

ED GILLESPIE, SENIOR ADVISOR, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: The President can change his style, he can change his tactics, he can't change his record, and he can't change his policies, and that's what this election is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: CNN's political Editor Paul Steinhauser joins us live now from the debate site at Hofstra University. I think I saw a note from you about -- well, probably within the last 10 minutes, you've been doing a lot of path, and you have been taking in some of the newest polls and rejigging those poll of polls. So, this is great. You have some nice breaking news for me, the most updated poll of polls. What do the numbers say?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's check it out. This is the CNN poll of polls. Here you go, this is national likely voters, and there you go. This is pretty tight, Ashleigh, 48 percent of likely voters supporting Mitt Romney, 47 percent supporting the President. That's basically all tied up. But what is this poll of polls? There have been seven, seven surveys. After the first debate -- conducted entirely after the first debate live operator non- partisan. We averaged them all together and that's what you get, a very, very close contest.

Now, Ashleigh, you know and I know the race for the White House is not a popular vote nationally, it is a battle for the states and their electoral votes. Take a look at this, this is also brand new. A new CNN poll of polls in one of those important swing states, Virginia. And there is the same story we saw nationally, it's close in the states, 48 percent for the President, 47 percent for Mitt Romney.

You know, Ashleigh, it's fair to say the president had a slight advantage in the national and state polls in September, but things have definitely tightened up a little bit since that first debate. That's why so much is at stake tomorrow night right here behind me at Hofstra University. BANFIELD: Well, I'm glad you mentioned that, because I wanted to ask you about the affect of the early voting because if people were early voting prior to debate number one, we know where the polls showed the leanings. They -- people led towards President Obama, and now if they did their early voting between debate one and debate two, it was in Mitt Romney's favor. Does that make this debate more critical, or does it just tell us people have already voted for two different candidates?

STEINHAUSER: Well, here's the thing about early voters, most of them -- well, obviously, they've made up their mind or they wouldn't be voting, right? And most of them are pretty firm believers on one side or the other. So, these debates really don't affect those early voters that much, but the key here for this debate and the final debate a week from today in Florida is for those undecided voters. Those people who haven't made up their minds yet, that's that three to four to five, maybe six or seven percent or even more of voters who still are undecided. That's what these debates are about -- Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So, clearly, you're much better at math than I am. I think I remember you telling me a week or two ago that the early voting percentage of the entire vote, is it somewhere around 30 percent?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, it was just under a third four years ago. About a third of the people who did cast a ballot, cast a ballot before election day, and we think it's going to be kind of in the same ballpark this time around that by November 6th, about a third of all voters will have cast a ballot. We're still, as you mentioned, 22 days away from that, though -- Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right. So, since your memory is so good when I test you about things that happened four years ago, maybe you could help me out with the scheduling of the debates. Yes, here you go. On your toes, my friend. So, we got a debate today, or excuse me, we've got a debate tomorrow. And then, we have the third --

STEINHAUSER: Right.

BANFIELD: -- presidential debate before seven days. I mean, it's literally six days from debate two. And I just don't remember if the schedule was that tight last time around or if that makes a difference.

STEINHAUSER: Yes, they're usually every week. Every week we've had a debate now. You know, the first we had the presidential. Last week we had the vice presidential. Now, two more weeks with presidentials. Remember, that final debate, though, is going to be exclusively on foreign policy which makes it a little different than this debate, and the format will be different, too. A moderator at both debates but no town hall at the final debate. And then after that debate, Ashleigh, two weeks left until election day, and then I get to go home.

BANFIELD: Yes, and I think you get to take a year off because you put in that many extra days. All right, Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much. STEINHAUSER: Thanks.

BANFIELD: Nice to see you live.

And, by the way, another colleague of Paul's and mine, Candy Crowley, is going to moderate the presidential town hall debate live tomorrow night. Our very special coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN and CNN.com.

And here's what we're working on for you this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARLEN SPECTER (D), FORMER SENATOR, PENNSYLVANIA: I was in the Senate for 30 years, practicing comedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: He is definitely going to be remembered as a huge presence in Washington. But Arlen Specter could also get a crowd rolling at the comedy club. We're going to explain that one for you in "LOOK AT A LEGEND."

Also, if you want to win the White House, the conventional wisdom is you just got to win Ohio. Right now, that's where Mitt Romney is getting a bit of a surge. We'll talk about that and also, later on a leap of faith realized. You just don't get tired of seeing that, folks. It almost looks like Nintendo, but it's not. It's real. We're going to go faster than the speed of sound with Felix Baumgartner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: It is one of the most sensitive issues any candidate has to take a position on. And they do have to take a position on it. It's abortion. Last week it was Vice President Joe Biden and his Republican challenger Paul Ryan who answered a debate question on the issue. Both men are Catholics. This is the first time the voters are choosing between tickets that include -- that each include a catholic practicing, in fact. Both were asked to talk about how their religion effects their personal views on abortion. And Paul Ryan explained why he is pro-life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or from their faith. Our faith informs us in everything we do. My faith informs me about how to take care of the vulnerable, of how to make sure that people have a chance in life. Now, you want to ask basically why I'm pro-life? It's not simply because of my Catholic faith. That's a factor, of course. But it's also because of reason and science. Now, I believe that life begins at conception. That's why -- those are the reasons why I'm pro-life.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BANFIELD: Well, the Vice President took a broader view saying that he accepts the church's teachings on the issue, but that he believes others can have their own viewpoints.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My religion defines who I am. And I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And it has particularly informed my social doctrine. The Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who can't take care of themselves. People who need help.

With regard to -- with regard to abortion, I accept my church's position on abortion as a -- what we call de facto doctrine. Life begins at conception and that's the church's judgment. I accept it in my permanent life. But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews. And I just refused to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the congressman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, obviously, this is a very sensitive issue for millions of Americans. And the candidates have to be very careful in how they talk about abortion. But the whole discussion started us thinking, how can politicians reconcile the teachings of their faith, while at the same time making the laws of the land? I want to bring in the Reverend Thomas Reese of Georgetown University. He's a Jesuit priest and a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center.

We all know this is a very hot topic and there's an ad that moveon.org just put out. It really seems to be making an appeal to women. You'll probably see some familiar faces. Father, if you just give me a moment, I want to show a piece of that ad and then talk to you about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to talk to you about women.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And about Mitt Romney.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mitt Romney is for ending funding to Planned Parenthood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Including cancer screenings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said he'd overturn Roe v. Wade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have Republicans trying to redefine rape.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trying to force women to undergo invasive ultrasounds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you think that this election won't affect you and your life, think again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote for --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Wow. That campaign clearly looking to appeal to women, it would seem, especially young women with the ad.

Father, I just want to ask you, we've got, you know, two Catholics. We've got a Protestant, we've got a Mormon at the top of these tickets heading into office. And I think the fundamental question for a lot of people is, just how much of their personal faith should they be bringing into an office where in America we say we have a separation of church and state?

REV. THOMAS REESE, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, historically, religion has always played a very prominent role in American politics. Religious believers led the abolition movement against slavery. Religious leaders also, as Martin Luther King, led the civil rights movement. There were religious leaders involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement. So faith has motivated people to be involved in politics.

At the same time, theologians since Augustine and Thomas Aquinas have argued that all of the moral law should not be enacted as part of civil law. For example, both Augustine and Thomas Aquinas were, you know, were in favor of legalized prostitution because they thought it would protect good women from bad men. So they -- each politician has to look at the moral law, look at what's good for society, and actually also have to look at what's possible. What can be implemented as part of law.

BANFIELD: You know --

REESE: And I think what we hear from Congressman Ryan is, he believes that abortion can be made illegal in this country. I think Vice President Biden is saying, no, there are just too many people who this is not a matter of conscience for.

BANFIELD: You know, there are a lot of liberals who are very frustrated with the topic of abortion almost usurping the topic of religion. Meaning, when the -- let's just take last week's debate. The only religious question that was asked was about abortion. And they tend to feel as though that is just a very myopic way of looking how people view the world in our necessity of bringing religion into our views of the world. Is there any legitimacy to that, the fact that liberals sometimes feel as though they're demonized because they may have one view of abortion, but they have certainly loads of other views that may be right in line with others who are their opponents?

REESE: Well, there's no question that, for example, the Catholic bishops have been very critical of Congressman Ryan's budget. They said it did not meet the moral criteria that they set forth for a moral budget. And it's also quite clear in reading the encyclicals of Pope Benedict that he's to the left of not only Congressman Ryan, but Vice President Biden and President Obama when it comes to economic issues. He sees no objection to using government to redistribute wealth. In fact, he says that's one of the purposes of government. So we see that the Catholic church is -- on abortion, is to the right of people. But when it comes to economic issues, it's very much to the left.

BANFIELD: We always ask in our poll questions what's the most important issue for voters. And I have a poll -- sadly, I only have from September 9th through 11th, so I don't have anything more recent than that, but I think it should gives us a good snapshot, father, and that is what people feel the influence of religion should be on government policies. And I don't know if this will surprise you or not, but it went from no influence at all -- people who said it should absolutely not come into the office -- 47 percent of Americans feeling that way, to only 2 percent of our respondents saying it should be the only issue that a candidate takes into office with him or her, religion. Do those numbers surprise you?

REESE: Yes, I think that the difficulty is, when you ask a question like that, people hear different things. Sometimes people hear, well, the churches are going to dictate policy, that bishops are going to tell us who we should vote for and who we shouldn't. I think most people are against that kind of thing. On the other hand, when we hear that, you know, the Gospel message of the Good Samaritan, when we hear Jesus say that we should love one another and care for the poor, people say, well, you know, that's a religious motivation that should inspire how we act in the world, to reach out to the people who are in need, who are sick, who are poor and to work in the world for peace and to protect all stages of life. So these kinds of things, I think, are -- are areas where people say, yes, that makes sense. But when it gets that churches are dictating policy, then people get very nervous about that.

BANFIELD: Father Reese, it's good to have you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

REESE: Thank you.

BANFIELD: And God bless.

Twenty-four miles above the earth and falling fast. We're going to show you some of the video that the whole world is talking about. Truly breathtaking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Millions of people around the world watched in awe as Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner plunged from the edge of space into the record books yesterday. And he did it without even getting a scratch, which is pretty awesome. As Brian Todd shows us, the free fall did a lot more than just scare a lot of us who were watching him. It actually may have changed the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a heart-pounding hop into the stratosphere, Felix Baumgartner makes history. He jumps from 128,000 feet above the earth, 24 miles up, higher than anyone before him. During free fall, he spun for a few harrowing moments, but stabilized quickly.

FELIX BAUMGARTNER, STRATOSPHERE JUMPER: I started spinning so violent, it spun me around in all different (INAUDIBLE), you know. And I was always trying to find out how to stop this, you know. I was putting one arm out. It didn't work. Then I put another arm out. But you're always late because, at that speed, when you travel at that speed, with that suit that is pressurized, you don't feel the air at all.

TODD: In those first seconds, he broke another record. No one had ever gone through the sound barrier outside a vehicle. Baumgartner reached a top speed of more than 700 miles an hour, well past the speed of sound. Free fall lasted four minutes 19 seconds before his parachute opened. That's short of the record for the longest free fall in history. But after he safely touched down, the man known as "Fearless Felix" was hailed as an aerospace pioneer.

BAUMGARTNER: It's hard to realize what happened right now because there's still so many emotions, you know. I had tears in my eyes when I was coming back a couple of times, because you're sitting there and you -- you thought about that moment so many times, you know, how it would feel and how it would look like. and this is way bigger than I anticipated.

Todd: this mission had been five years in the planning. In Baumgartner's ear during the assent, Colonel Joe Kittinger, the man whose record Baumgartner broke. Kittinger had jumped from 102,000 feet in 1960. I interviewed Baumgartner and Kittinger together earlier this year.

TODD (on camera): Are you jealous of Felix that he's going to break your record?

COL. JOE KITTINGER, PREVIOUS RECORD HOLDER: Oh, no. I'm delighted. I'm delighted he's going to do it. He's advancing science. And he'll do a great job.

TODD (voice-over): Mission leaders and space officials hope this jump will show them if astronauts, space tourists or high altitude pilots can survive for any extended period outside a vehicle if there's a malfunction. If it held up as expected, Baumgartner's high pressure suit could be the next generation suit for future missions.

TODD (on camera): What will Felix Baumgartner do next? He told me that after this jump, he wants to pursue an occupation as a helicopter rescue pilot. It might be a bit of a letdown.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: He'll be very good at it, though, that's for sure. Thank you, Brian Todd.

Location, location, location. And, for once, I'm not actually talking about real estate when I say that. I'm talking about politics. Right now the location is Ohio. It is the place to be if you are running for the White House. Find out why and if this year it might not matter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The road to the White House almost always runs through Ohio. It is one of the battalions ground states that will likely decide who wins the presidential race. It has 18 of the 270 electoral votes that are needed to win this election. That's second only to Florida among the swing states.

I want to bring in our Joe Johns.

We know that no Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. I'm feeling like a broken record by saying that. However, that said, Joe Johns, Ohio Senator Rob Portman said that Mitt Romney might just be the first. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROB PORTMAN, (R), OHIO: You could probably win the presidency without Ohio, but I wouldn't want to take the risk. No Republican has. We're doing great in Ohio. If you look at the average of all the polls, it's about dead even in Ohio right now. And importantly, the momentum is on our side. It's been terrific. I've been to a half dozen rallies in Ohio in the last week alone. I have never seen this kind of energy and enthusiasm on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Joe Johns, I didn't expect that I would hear that coming out of Rob Portman's mouth, but I think he was characterizing it as though there could be other pathways to the presidency without this state, even though in the past, for a Republican, there hasn't been. How many other pathways are there for Mitt Romney if he doesn't prevail in Ohio?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Senator Portman is a really smart guy, but I got to tell you, it's tough. I mean, this race is really tightening up. The latest CNN poll of polls shows a three-point lead for the president. Even a week ago, he was up 8 percent, 9 percent, even 10 percent up. The most recent polls are hovering around the margin of error, which is a good trend for Romney.

OK, how important is Ohio for Romney? The path at 270 electoral votes is just tough for him if he loses the Buckeye State. CNN has something like nine toss-up states. With Ohio in the Obama column, Romney would have to win six, maybe seven of the remaining toss-up states to win the White House. So when Senator Portman says, you know, he wouldn't want to take the risk, that's why. A very, very tough row to hoe for the Republican challenger.

BANFIELD: In the effort to make sure that doesn't happen, the Obama campaign is bringing out some of the big guns, particularly in the rock star, Bruce Springsteen.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNS: Yes. Bruce Springsteen, always very popular, certainly in the northeast. And probably his working class appeal is going to go over pretty well there in the Buckeye State. I know I grew up in Ohio and that's where I first heard my Bruce Springsteen music.

We know President Obama is going to keep campaigning and spending lots of money there through Election Day. Mitt Romney is going to do that also. And talking to pollsters, they do suggest that the auto bailout issue has actually helped the president in parts of the state. The Obama campaign has been attacking Romney on outsourcing jobs. That seems to have been effective in parts of the state. But the Romney campaign is fighting back on that, and saying he will be the guy who stands up to China. A lot of things about jobs there.

The big question, of course, is who gets credit for Ohio's improving economy, at 7.2 percent down, nearly 10 percent from two years ago. So what you have to wonder is will the Republican governor John Kasich and his policies get credit, which would be advantage, Romney, or will President Obama get credit. And that's something we're just going to have to wait and see.

BANFIELD: I think I had forgotten you said you were from Ohio. You know the state very well.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNS: Yes. Grew up in Columbus.

BANFIELD: Did you really? We could have a small conversation with the viewers and get to know each other here live on the air.

But I would like to ask, you another rock star hitting the trail for Obama, and that's President Clinton, and is he going to do so in yet again Ohio. What is it, my dear friend, about your state that makes it such a bellwether? I get it, the history is there, but what put it in this anointed position?

JOHNS: Large population, which means it has a lot of electoral votes, as you already pointed out. But the truth is that from election to election, Ohio's vote for the winning presidential candidate almost always comes within just a few percentage points of the national vote. And so why is that? Probably, because of the mix of voters. You have a wide spectrum, well represented -- whites, minorities, rich, poor, a lot of colleges and universities, so you account for the student crowd, which makes it not just a political bellwether, but a commercial bellwether too. Proven test market for products that -- and that appears to have translated to politics as well, especially around central Ohio, test market to the United States.

BANFIELD: Test market for us all.

Joe Johns, thank you, sir. Nice to see you. Appreciate it. All right. So he made his mark on the Senate floor and in a stand-up arena too. We're going to take a look back at the Arlen Specter and his last act.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The funeral set for tomorrow for the man considered the wild card of Congress, Pennsylvania's longest-serving Senator, Arlen Specter. Specter died while at his home in Philadelphia yesterday after a long battle with cancer. He was 82 years old. He was known for his fiercely independent views. Actually switching in between parties, to the Democratic Party in 2009. This, after being a moderate Republican most of his 30 years in the Senate.

There was also quite a light side to Arlen Specter. After losing his re-election bid back in 2010, he started to prepare for perhaps a brand new career in comedy. Earlier this year Specter appeared before a crowd at Caroline's, the top comedy club in the world here in New York.

CNN's senior producer, Michael Schulder, sat down to talk to him about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are so excited to have this next man here. He was a Senator for 30 years.

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Round of applause for Senator Arlen Specter, everyone.

(CROSSTALK)

MICHAEL SCHULDER, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (voice-over): This is not the Arlen Specter America came to know.

ARLEN SPECTER, (D), FORMER SENATOR FROM PENNSYLVANIA: I have been in the Senate for 30 years, practicing comedy.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULDER: It was the man Arlen Specter was becoming.

(on camera): Let's go in your office.

SPECTER: OK.

This is a comedy session. We're just going to develop some material here.

SCHULDER (voice-over): After losing his treasured seat in the Senate, Arlen Specter, at the age of 80, was aiming to become a stand-up comic.

Earlier this year, Specter and I spent time together as he prepared for his next performance.

(on camera): Arlen Specter is funny? What do you say to those people?

SPECTER: I say there is something funny in almost everything.

SCHULDER: We're going to go over some of the material that you're planning to use on Monday night at Caroline's, correct?

SPECTER: These are possibilities. These are candidates.

When I was recuperating from Hodgkin's, the doctors told me to spend some time in a hot tub. So I was in this hot tub luxuriating, and here comes Ted Kennedy, 283 pounds, in his finest, his birthday suit.

(LAUGHTER)

Like a walrus, he plops into the hot tub. And you know the old story about rising tide lifts all boots? My head hit the ceiling.

Newt Gingrich -- I have known Newt a long time. In fact, I've known Newt so long, I knew him when he was skinny. I have known Newt so long, I have -- I knew his first wife.

(LAUGHTER)

Strom Thurman said, in his Deep South Carolinian accent, "Nancy and I have sex almost every night. We've almost have sex on Monday. We almost have sex on Tuesday."

(LAUGHTER)

I don't know if this is fit for CNN.

How much it cost to buy a seat in the United States Senate? $30 million. So when you pay $30 million for a seat, you like to sit in it.

SCHULDER (voice-over): In the end, between his long Senate career and his short but determined effort at stand-up comedy and his multiple battles with life-threatening illness, Arlen Specter demonstrated a few things about power -- the power of sitting down, the power of standing up, and the power of never giving in.

Michael Schulder, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: They are boning up on the facts, but do they have the flare to win tomorrow night as well? We'll hear what Hollywood acting coaches think that President Obama and Mitt Romney need to do to make that kind of an impression at their next debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: It's not always what you say it is, but often it can really be how you say it. You've all heard that. Have the candidates heard that? Do they know the rules for the stage tomorrow night in the big debate?

Nischelle Turner has a couple of tips from Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With an expected audience of more than 60 million people, the second presidential debate will be a show of blockbuster proportions. So perhaps the candidates could use a few Hollywood stage secrets.

(on camera): If you were advising either one of the candidates, is there something they can do to try to focus themselves to get ready and get their game face on?

JOE ANTHONY, ACTING COACH: Focus would come from knowing who you're with, knowing what is at stake, and having a very clear sense of what you can commit yourself to gain ground.

TURNER: Veteran Hollywood acting coach, Joe Anthony, says the more personal a message is to an actor, the more effectively they communicate.

His top stage secret for the candidates? Keep it personal by remembering the people they've met along the campaign trail.

ANTHONY: If it becomes personal for them, like they're on a personal mission, they can champion these people that they've met, then it's easier to stay focused and easier to stay driven.

TURNER: One of the things that we hear so much from actors, especially theater actors, is you play to your audience. How do they do that? How do they make themselves believable and then endear themselves to people in the room?

ANTHONY: Going into this town hall meeting, think don't have to try to be believable. They need something to believe in. They can be thinking all along of the person they met back in Iowa who needs a better health plan or the person that needs a better tax plan, and they can be speaking on behalf of them.

TURNER: Tap into real emotion?

ANTHONY: Absolutely. It's not that difficult to do. Again, they meet all these wonderful people that have real problems. And in the same way that we empathize when we read fictional novel or see movies, they can empathize with the people they meet. And if they spend a little time every day dreaming about their problems, their heart falls in love with the opportunity to champion that.

TURNER: What does body language say?

ANTHONY: I think body language is a direct result of the relationship you have to the place you're in, the person you're with, how you feel about the circumstances you are living under, your body response directly. For example, if you believe -- if they go to the town hall meeting and they walk into an environment they feel is hostile, their body language will respond accordingly. And if, on the other hand, they walk into a town hall meeting and they remember that these are the people that want them to stand up and speak for them, they'll feel like they're one of them, and they'll relax.

(APPLAUSE)

TURNER (voice-over): What have the candidates learned from the only actor-turned American president?

(on camera): He was widely known as a great communicator, a good debater. And was he able to draw off of his acting skills to be able to be that good?

ANTHONY: I imagine his years of acting training got him used to the idea that, if I've got a strong position, what you can throw anything you want at me, say anything you want about me, I'm going to find a way to twist it to where I want to take it.

TURNER: With that, I take that you're saying the president and Governor Romney should take some acting classes.

(LAUGHTER)

ANTHONY: It certainly couldn't hurt.

TURNER (voice-over): Nischelle Turner, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Stumping for a Senate candidate, one man gets on stage and suggests that the president should go back to Africa. After the break, find out who and how that campaign is trying to clean up this mess.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Yesterday, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Republican Party had their annual fall brunch. And one of the keynote speakers was Jason Thompson, the son of the U.S. candidate from that area, Tommy Thompson. You may remember him because he was the Health and Human Services secretary under President Bush. But Jason Thompson, 38 years old, campaigning on behalf of his father, said something about President Obama that caught a lot of people's attention, including his own father's, who was not there. He effectively suggested the president go back to Africa. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON THOMPSON, SON OF SENATE CANDIDATE TOMMY THOMPSON: Ladies and gentlemen, America's at a crossroads. The election here in November will chart our course of the country not only for our generation, but our kids' generation. We have the opportunity to send President Obama back to Chicago or Kenya.

(APPLAUSE)

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So just to reiterate what he said, the governor's son suggested they have an opportunity to send -- to send President Obama back to Chicago or Kenya. The former governor of Wisconsin, now running for the Senate seat. This is the response from Tommy Thompson's campaign, communications director: "The governor has addressed this with his son, just like any father would do. Jason Thompson said something he should not have, and he apologizes."

And, again, that was Jason Thompson, the son of Tommy Thompson, the former Health and Human Services secretary, the former Wisconsin governor, and the current candidate for the Senate seat. I want to reiterate that the former governor was not at that brunch, at that fall Republican brunch in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and has put out that apology.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Every so often we bring you the honest-to-goodness tweets from the campaigns. And, often times, Michelle Obama is sending out her own tweet. Here she is. That letter that she is showing you is no letter. It is an absentee ballot. Michelle Obama, sending in her absentee ballot, according to this official campaign Twitter account. And what she said was, "I couldn't wait for election day." I can only assume we know who she is voting for. So, there you go. Early voting at least where Michelle Obama lives.

Forget "Sesame Street." The National Mall in Washington is about to be overrun by puppets. I am not kidding. This is going to be called the Million Muppet March. And it is a Muppet-based protest being organized to defend PBS. The organizers began putting it together after Mitt Romney said in the last presidential debate that he loves Big Bird, but that he would cut PBS. And Jim Lehrer, no word if Jim Lehrer will be at this protest. But all of this is supposed to get under way on November 3rd. And that, if you're doing the math, is just eight days before Election Day. The Million Muppet March. I do not know if there are even a million Muppets, or puppets out there in production. But it will be fun to cover, nonetheless.

That's it for me. Thanks everyone for watching. Do appreciate it. Suzanne Malveaux will be back in the chair soon enough.

In the meantime, I hand the baton over to Brooke Baldwin, who continues with CNN NEWSROOM after (INAUDIBLE).

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The ruminations of Ashleigh Banfield here on this Monday.

(LAUGHTER)

Ash, thank you so much.

Good to see all of you here on this Monday. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's jump right in, shall we? President Obama, Mitt Romney, both lying low, both cramming for tomorrow night's town hall debate. These are live pictures outside that debate site. You see the sign. It is happening at Hofstra University.