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Who Won Presidential Debate?; Bomb Threat Thwarted by FBI; More Fallout for Lance Armstrong

Aired October 17, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Moving along, hour two, good to be with you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Quick look at Mitt Romney as we begin, Romney on the campaign trail in Virginia after last night's combative debate. Romney's new meme? The president has no agenda for a second term in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just think the American people had expected that the President of the United States would be able to describe what he's going to do in the next four years, but he can't. He can't even explain what he's done in the last four years. He spends most of his time trying to talk about how my plan won't work. Well, what about his plan?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The president on the campaign trail today as well. Here is his riff on debate number two, spoke in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Here he is talking about high-tech jobs for women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

We don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women ready to learn and teach in these fields right now.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And when young women graduate, they should get equal pay for equal work. That should be a simple question to answer.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Binders, huh?

Jessica Yellin, our chief White House correspondent with us today from New York.

And just in case anyone missed what the President meant what he mentioned binders, let's return again last night, Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: We took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our Cabinet.

I went to a number of women's groups and said, "Can you help us find folks?" And they brought us whole binders full of women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. So this whole binders full of women theme seems to be the meme for the day. Good moment for Mitt Romney?

YELLIN: No. Not a good moment for Mitt Romney.

It is because they're both, as you can tell, aggressively trying to court the women's vote. The sense is that these are the voters who are most movable right now. And the, you know, underlying suggestion there that he leaves in voters' minds is that he doesn't know accomplished qualified women on his own. He has to find them in some binders that come to him.

A person who has been in business for many years, one would think would have women in his corporate world already available to him that he's worked with, and at the ready that he could call up and already, you know, have in his Rolodex.

Now, Mitt Romney is a person I should say who has had very good close working relationships with senior women, and does, and so in a way he did himself a disservice because he could have represented himself better. It was a very unfortunate phraseology, but I think one that will stick.

BALDWIN: OK. We will push aside the binders phraseology for now. Let's just get to the talk. There's so much talk because of those multiple polls out yesterday. Women, women, women, Obama and Romney needing to connect with that all-important voting bloc as you point out. Let's watch this together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: You wouldn't have taken such a sketchy deal.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I got to -- I got to move you on --

ROMNEY: He gets the first --

CROWLEY: -- and the next question --

ROMNEY: He actually got --

CROWLEY: -- for you --

ROMNEY: He actually got the first question. So I get the last... ROMNEY: Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?

OBAMA: You know, I -- I don't look at my pension. It's not as big as yours so it doesn't take as long.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Back and forth, interrupting, getting close to one another, finger-pointing, do we ladies like that? How is this resonating with the women today?

YELLIN: You know, it sounds like a gender stereotype, but those things do play out in focus groups, and, no, women tend not to like the combat in that sort of way.

It seems unproductive, and doesn't get anywhere. And, you know, women more than men tend to think in those kinds of confrontational situations, get past the puffed-up, chest-out peacock jousting and let's get on to some substantive discussion here, guys. Those sorts of exchanges are not actually productive with women voters.

So they don't do themselves any great service with those undecided women voters when they have those kinds of little fights -- little boy fights there.

BALDWIN: Little boy fights.

This is why we love you, Jessica Yellin. Jessica Yellin, our chief White House correspondent, thank you very much. No puffing out, peacock chest for us.

Let me bring in Gloria Borger.

We talked a lot about the ladies yesterday, our chief political analyst.

But let me just ask you this first. How do you feel the candidates did last night in terms of appealing to women? We showed some clips, especially as Jessica points out, the all-important independent lady voters?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: As Jessica was saying, there was a lot of fights going on there. There was a lot of testosterone on that stage to try to appeal to women, I would have to say.

Look, I think Jessica is right on the question of appealing to women, you know, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which the President could talk about, which makes it easier for women to sue for discrimination if they're not paid equally. He can talk about that. That was something he supported. That was something he got passed in the Congress. It was something concrete he could point to.

So, you know, I think they were right on his terrain with that and I think what you saw with Mitt Romney he was sort of searching for something to say in terms of pay equity, and instead of pay equity, what he did was he went to the notion of hiring more women in senior positions when he was governor of Massachusetts, which is laudable.

But the question that women are asking is, well, why didn't he sort of know of more women himself, as Jessica points out?

BALDWIN: We talked about the binders full of women thing. That now of course has its own Twitter handle. We're not even going to go there.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: Yes.

BALDWIN: On a very serious note, there was another moment that a lot of people are talking about today, the whole exchange concerning the fatal attack, the consulate in Benghazi, four Americans killed. Mitt Romney getting his facts wrong here. Here he was.

BORGER: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack, it was an act of terror, it was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying?

OBAMA: Please proceed, governor.

ROMNEY: I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the President 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.

OBAMA: Get the transcript.

CROWLEY: It -- it -- it -- he did in fact, sir. So let me -- let me -- called it an act of terror.

OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder, Candy?

(CROSSTALK)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CROWLEY: He -- he did call it an act of terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Candy Crowley live fact-checking the Governor, we don't see that a whole lot, do we, Gloria?

BORGER: No.

And what Candy was referring to is the Rose Garden speech in which the President referred to as she said later generically acts of terror. I think this was sort of a phraseology problem.

But I think on the overall answer of the issue to Libya, what I think was we saw the President at his most effective in answering the Libya question, which is after all a matter of leadership. And he assumed his commander in chief role, and he said, you know, anyone who would suggest that any way we responded to this is at all political, I find that offensive.

He sort of set the tone there, and it was very strong, and it was very difficult for Romney to come back after that, because he seemed to get smaller while the President grew larger, because after all, he is commander in chief. And he was so effective in his answer to that.

And I think that was a problem for Romney because, A., foreign policy is not his strong suit, B., we're heading into a foreign policy debate. And he just wasn't able to make his points about leadership and shifting stories the way I think lots of Republicans wanted him to.

BALDWIN: Gloria, 15 seconds. What is your verdict? How did debate number two move the race forward?

BORGER: I think it probably stopped the bleeding for the President. The question -- you show me what the polls are in Ohio, in Florida, and in Virginia, and I'll tell you how this debate affected the race.

I don't know yet. I honestly don't know. But I think the Democratic base is feeling really good today about the way the President performed.

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, thank you.

BORGER: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY FOLLANO, UNDECIDED VOTER: How do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?

BALDWIN (voice-over): A former Bush aide has got something to say about that. Ari Fleischer joins me live.

Plus, one issue comes up for the very first time in this year's face- offs.

OBAMA: He called the Arizona law a model for the nation.

BALDWIN: How each candidate took on immigration head on.

And first his sport, now his charity and a major sponsor. The walls are closing in on Lance Armstrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: We have been talking a lot about the claims and the counterclaims last night between Republican challenger Mitt Romney and President Obama.

Now we look at how they differed on immigration reform.

Again, here is Tom Foreman. He reins in the rhetoric and cuts to the facts -- Tom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Republicans have been going after President Obama for months saying he has not engaged the issue of illegal immigration.

Listen to how Mitt Romney attacked him and how the President responded.

ROMNEY: Why did he fail to even promote legislation that would have provided an answer for those that want to come here legally and for those that are here illegally today?

OBAMA: We put more border patrol on than any time in history and the flow of undocumented workers across the border is actually lower than it's been in 40 years.

FOREMAN: This basic claim that President Obama produced no immigration reform goes hand-in-glove with a bigger Republican narrative which is that the President has been so concerned about getting Latino votes he hasn't really wanted to secure the border, he hasn't wanted to deal with illegal immigration

Republicans like to point to figures like this from Homeland Security showing how many people have been arrested from being in the country illegally. Look, back in 2000, 1. 8 million. That's a lot. It meanders around through the Bush years, but then when you get to the Obama years, down here, it drops pretty steadily down.

That's evidence, they say, he doesn't want to engage the issue, but there's more to that story. Let's look at another graphic over here. Deportations, what's happened to the people who have been arrested?

Those were pretty low in 2000 and they started steadily moving up and, in the Obama years, look, they reached the highest level that we've ever seen under any president.

President Obama embraced the policies of George Bush when it came to securing the border down there. He continued a program to increase funding, to put more guards down there and more motion detectors and cameras, more drones, more helicopters, more airplanes, so many so that now we also have the help of an economic change where there aren't so many jobs here that are attractive.

The Pew Hispanic Center says the net illegal immigration is about zero. So, President Obama can say he really did something on that front. On the more narrow question, though, the idea that he promised comprehensive immigration reform, Mitt Romney is correct. He did not deliver. That is true.

The President did push the Dream Act at one point. He came through with some administrative action to protect the children of people who came here illegally, but in terms of the bigger package, he says that's something he'll have to deal with in a second administration if he can get reelected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Tom Foreman, thank you.

One plant backed by Bain Capital is sending jobs overseas. Another backed by your tax dollars is going bankrupt. Find out what this means politically both for Mitt Romney and for the President. CNN investigates next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Twenty-three million people out of work right here in the United States. And now more American jobs are being shipped to China.

Nearly 200 employees that the Sensata plant in Illinois are about to be laid off. What is even more devastating here is they said they even had to train their replacements, the Chinese replacements. Bain Capital, the private equity firm once headed by Mitt Romney, is behind all this outsourcing.

Outsourcing an attack point in last night's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: When he talks about getting tough on China, keep in mind that Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Ted Rowlands is live in Freeport, Illinois, where these Sensata workers have set up what they're calling Bainport. They're protesting Bain Capital for those layoffs expected next month.

Ted, I know these workers watched that debate last night very, very closely.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is the what they call Bainport.

You can see it's right across the street from the Sensata factory. People have literally been sleeping out here in tents over the past month, for the last 35 days. Right now, most people are inside the big tent here because it has been raining all day. This is where they watched the debate last night. A gathering -- a handful of people gathered in here and watched the debate. As you mentioned, they were watching very closely specifically for any mention of jobs and China. We should note, Brooke, that Mitt Romney left Bain Capital seven years before Bain even purchased this Sensata plant, so he had absolutely nothing to do with what is going on now. However, these people here do think he has the power to save their jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM GAULRAPP, ILLINOIS: The guy that is running for president who has the nerve to stand behind a podium and says jobs are a top priority and talk about getting tough on China, and his company is moving my job to China the day before Election Day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: And, Brooke, we did get a statement from the Romney campaign saying, in part: "Bain invested in Sensata in 2006, seven years after Governor Romney left the firm. Only the President can level the playing field with China and President Obama has failed to stand up to China's unfair competition."

A lot of angry and worried people here, Brooke, worried because, of course, they are losing their jobs. Some of them will be losing their job later this month. Some will be losing their job at the end of the year.

BALDWIN: So they're angry. As you point out, the timing, you know, Mitt Romney hasn't been in charge of this company for, what was it you said, seven years. Yet they're still blaming him and as a result of that they're frustrated. There were arrests today.

ROWLANDS: Yes, there were. And the reason they're blaming Mitt Romney is because they think that he did set the table for this, and they believe that he does have the power to save their jobs.

There were six arrests today at the plant. Those folks say expect more arrests as the year continues here as they shut down the plant.

BALDWIN: Ted Rowlands, thank you.

And now a flashback, a quick flashback here for a moment to first presidential debate, one in Denver. Remember, Mitt Romney was digging into President Obama about how a lot of the green businesses the government has backed have gone out of business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: You put $90 billion, like 50 years' worth of breaks, into -- into solar and wind, to Solyndra and Fisker and Tester and Ener1. I mean, I had a friend who said you don't just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, add another loser to that list. The loser? A123. It's a company that makes electric car batteries. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after getting a $250 million stimulus grant.

And CNN's Athena Jones is on this for us in Washington.

Athena, I know Republican critics, you know, they say there may have been signs this company was in trouble even before they got the multiple millions in funding.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is not good news for the Obama administration. It is not coming at a good time either.

Two Republican senators, Chuck Grassley from Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota, say they want more information from the Department of Energy about how this company, A123 Systems, was chosen to receive this stimulus money, whether or not there were signs it was struggling, whether they did due diligence before granting this money.

We also have a statement from the Romney campaign saying that the -- "At a town hall debate four years ago, then Senator Obama promised to easily create five million green jobs. A123's bankruptcy is yet another failure for the President's disastrous strategy of gambling away billions of taxpayer dollars on a strategy of government-led growth that simply does not work. While the President has said he would double down in the second term, Governor Romney will return the federal government's focus to its proper role of supporting research and creating an environment where private sector innovation can thrive."

But I should mention, Brooke, this is not a poster child for these Republican critics. After all, this firm, A123 systems, it started with $100,000 in seed money from the government under Bush's -- George W. Bush's term and it also received an additional $6 million under Bush. Now, granted, this $240 million in stimulus money they got back in 2009, they have used $132 million of that -- $132 million is a lot more than $6 million, but it does show there could be some exposure on this from both sides for both parties, Brooke.

BALDWIN: What about the White House? What are they saying?

JONES: The White House pointed us to the Department of Energy, and they bring up that point that they have that this had bipartisan support, and they also talk about this letter that the entire Michigan delegation sent back in 2009 urging the Obama administration to make sure Michigan gets some of the money for green jobs that was going to be given out.

They also say that, you know, this company, A123 Systems, is not going to shut operations. It is in fact selling a lot of parts operations to another American-based company, Johnson Controls, another auto parts company. It is not going to shut down.

And they say that in a new industry like this, it is not uncommon to see some consolidation, a stronger company like Johnson Controls taking over part of a company that may fail like this one. So they want to kind of show that this is not as cut and dry as it may seem if you listen to Republican critics.

BALDWIN: OK. Athena, thank you.

And back to the debate, one heated exchange last night included former President George W. Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOLLANO: How do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: My next guest, Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President Bush, reacts, and if Romney's response helped or hurt him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: a former president got a little attention in last night's debate from one of the uncommitted voters. And, no, I'm not talking about President Clinton. I'm talking about President George W. Bush. Roll the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOLLANO: What is the biggest difference between you and George W. Bush, and how do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So I want to bring in Ari Fleischer. He's the former press secretary for President George W. Bush. Ari is also a CNN contributor.

And, Ari, before I go to you, guys, just get in my ear. Do we have the sound yet from Mitt Romney or we can just talk about what he said?

OK.

We heard Mitt Romney. And he did differentiate himself in places, Ari, but, you know, you could say he was backpedaling pretty hard from your former boss. What did you make of what he said?

ARI FLEISCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I will tell you, Brooke, that was uncomfortable for me, because I'm a Bush defender. And I'm proud to be a Bush defender. And when I hear somebody running for the presidency on the Republican ticket -- and I understand it.

He's doing the political thing you have to do in terms of not getting himself too close to George Bush -- or political reasons. I get why he's doing it, but as somebody who did what I did for a living, it made me uncomfortable.

BALDWIN: On the flip side, you had the President then respond , and he absolutely, you know, seized on that question, hammered Mitt Romney for being his, words, more extreme than President Bush. Here's what the President said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: There are some things where Governor Romney is different from George Bush. George Bush didn't propose turning Medicare into a voucher. George Bush embraced comprehensive immigration reform. He didn't call for self-deportation.

George Bush never suggested that we eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. So there are differences between Governor Romney and George Bush, but they're not on economic policy. In some ways, he's gone to a more extreme place when it comes to social policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, you know, he differentiates, right, that -- the social policies vs. the economy, and using the words more extreme. Is that fair?

FLEISCHER: Well, here's where I think President Obama did not handle that very well.

Number one, under President Obama, we all know Medicare is going to go bankrupt. He's not willing to make any changes or do anything about it. Calling it a voucher is a real misrepresentation of what Mitt Romney has proposed.

I did think some of it was clever by President Obama trying to use George Bush as a reason to paint Mitt Romney as extreme, but that won't work. I don't think the American people when they talk about Mitt Romney -- Newt Gingrich called Mitt Romney a "Massachusetts moderate" -- that type of attack that Mitt Romney is too far to the right, just doesn't fly, just doesn't work.

And it is more of what I think the President failed in his mission last night was to paint the vision for himself for the future.

But, Brooke, here's the bigger point about how George Bush enters into this and Mitt Romney touched on it. George Bush was president in a very different era. It was an era where, having inherited a recession himself, he needed to get the economy going and he did.

We had 55 straight months of job growth, but we also had to fight terror after September 11th and we spent money to do it.

BALDWIN: We do ...

FLEISCHER: ... but nobody said anything about reduce the deficit, don't fight terrorism.

BALDWIN: Let me jump in, Ari. Just -- just to be fair, I want to make sure we're hearing the response for Mitt Romney, as well. We played the President, so here is what Mitt Romney said, his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOLLANO: I do attribute much of America's economic and international problems to the failings and missteps of the Bush administration. What is the biggest difference between you and George W. Bush and how do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?

ROMNEY: President Bush and I are different people and these are different times. And that's why my five-point plan is so different than what he would have done.

I'll crack down on China. President Bush didn't. I'm going to get us to a balanced budget. President Bush didn't. President Obama was right. He said that that was outrageous to have deficits as high as half a trillion dollars under the Bush years. He was right, but then he put in place deficits twice that size.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Ari, I want you to feel free to continue your point, but I do just want to get to next question. Gosh, I feel like Candy Crowley here moderating this presidential debate

I want to get to this next question being the fact that you talked a lot via Twitter last night that the whole thing was a draw on that point and a number of other points. Why do you say that?

FLEISCHER: Well, overall when you look at the debate, I thought that Mitt Romney had an incredibly effective takedown when he walked through the litany of the unfinished broken promises that President Obama made, such as "I'll cut the deficit in half," I'll keep unemployment below 8 percent and immigration reform legislation written in my first year.

BALDWIN: But?

FLEISCHER: Mitt Romney made a very effective case why Barack Obama didn't do the thing he told us he would do and that's one of the reasons the economy is as bad as it is.

Where I thought the President did very well was counter-punching at Mitt Romney. Clearly, he improved from first debate.

BALDWIN: 40 seconds in. Punch number one.

FLEISCHER: Right. And that's where I think the President was effective.

Now, I called it a draw, but when you looked at some of the polling data that came in, especially the CNN, after the debate from undecided voters, they all thought on the economy, on jobs, on deficits, on healthcare Mitt Romney did better than Barack Obama.

And most viewers did not think that Barack Obama had a vision for the future. That's terribly problematic for the President and that's, why when you look at all of that, it probably means Mitt Romney is going to open up even more space against President Obama after this debate.

BALDWIN: It is a point we made at the top of the show, that, yes, overall the President won the debate, according to our CNN poll, but on those big issues, including economy and, you know, that's so huge come November 6th, you're absolutely right. Mitt Romney won it.

I do want to get into something, Ari Fleischer, that you were quite frustrated about and that was manifested in your tweets as well, the fact that at the end of this, this was the third debate in which the Republicans didn't quite get as much speaking time than the Deems. What do you blame for that?

FLEISCHER: Look, I don't think there's any pattern to it or any deliberate attempt to set it up that way, but the debate sponsors have to keep a handle on this. It's just not right.

You really do want to have it be as 50/50 as much is possible. It doesn't have to come out exactly 50/50, but they really should try to blow the whistle on the other direction on the fourth and final debate.

BALDWIN: I will point out that one of our CNN librarians did a little cross checking of the transcripts and, apparently, even though the Governor took 3:14 less speaking time, he delivered 478 more words for those who are really, really keeping score.

Final question, is it nice ...

FLEISCHER: Boy, that's slicing it thin.

BALDWIN: Is it nice, you know, not lacing up the sneakers, running to the spin room after these debates, Ari?

FLEISCHER: And it's wonderful to be home with your family the day after a debate. You get home with your family the day after the election if you're lucky.

BALDWIN: Yeah. Yeah. Ari Fleischer, a pleasure. Thank you very much. Happy belated birthday to you.

FLEISCHER: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We do have some breaking news now. We are getting word of a plot targeting the Federal Reserve in New York, part of a sting operation, we're told. All this news here just coming in to us. We'll get the facts and figures. We're going to take you there live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Breaking news here. We are getting word of a plot targeting the Federal Reserve in New York.

Susan Candiotti is live for us in New York and, Susan, what do you know?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, the details are just coming in, being announced both by the U.S. attorneys office and the FBI.

We're learning about a plot, a plot that would have used explosives to take out the Federal Reserve Bank, which is located in Lower Manhattan. The significance of this, by the way, is part of a sting operation that was conducted by the FBI and the New York police department as part of the Joint Terror Task Force.

Now, we are told that the explosives in this case were not active and so that no one was in any danger. However, this operation being conducted involved, according to federal authorities, a 1,000 pound bomb that was supposed to be used to blow up the New York Federal Reserve Bank, which is, of course, in Manhattan's financial district.

This particular spot is the biggest of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks in the U.S. and certainly has the largest reserve of gold bullion anywhere in the world along with a large amount of cash, as you can imagine. This is located very close to Wall Street.

Again, the details just coming in, but the man under arrest and in custody is only 21-years old. His name -- and I'll have to read it to you -- is Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis. And he is expected to make his first court appearance in New York sometime this afternoon.

We have a statement that we also just received from the FBI by the acting director here in New York.

And she says -- Mary Galligan -- she says attempting to destroy a landmark building and kill or maim untold numbers of innocent bystanders is about as serious as the imagination can conjure.

And so, Brooke, we'll try to put together the rest of the details on this plot as they are just coming in. We expect to learn more once this man makes his first appearance in federal court as early as this afternoon, but certainly quite a shock to hear this on this day, involving the Federal Reserve Bank here in New York.

BALDWIN: Susan, just one quick follow-up, you may not have it, but we hear about wanting to basically take out explosives, take out the Federal Reserve, do we know at all if this person -- is this the only person in custody? We don't know if anyone is working with him?

CANDIOTTI: Yes, apparently at this time we're only aware of this one person, but there is a criminal complaint that has just come in. This man is identified as a Bangladeshi national who came to the United States in January of this year for purposes according to federal authorities, of carrying out this terror attack on U.S. soil and then it went on from there, part of a sting operation being conducted by the FBI.

So, apparently they got wind of this, and we'll learn more as the day goes on.

BALDWIN: OK, Susan Candiotti, thank you so much there. Frightening.

Word of another investigation, this one involving Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. by the FBI. This as CNN learns of a rare sighting in a bar. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Jesse Jackson, Jr. is under investigation for possible financial improprieties -- excuse me -- and this is just another link in a chain of troubled events for the Illinois congressman who has been staying out of the public eye really until recently.

CNN's Brian Todd has all the details of this one rare sighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD: He's on the ballot, but not on the campaign trail and not on the job. The only place Chicago voters are seeing Democratic Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. is in the headlines.

A federal law enforcement official tells CNN the FBI and federal prosecutors are investigating Jackson for possible financial improprieties. The probe was first reported by "The Chicago Sun Times."

LYNN SWEET, "THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": This adds yet another legal, big legal headache for Congressman Jackson to face, and, of course, this does come just before the election.

TODD: "The Wall Street Journal" reports the probe centers on whether Jackson misused campaign money to decorate his home. The FBI declined to comment.

This is separate from a previous investigation into whether Jackson was part of the scandal involving former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The house ethics committee looked into allegations that Jackson or an associate offered to raise money for Blagojevich in exchange for Jackson being appointed to Barack Obama's vacant senate seat.

Jackson denied any wrongdoing.

Another new headline, sitting on the stoop of his house with his father and a cigar on Monday, Jackson did his first interview in months. He told the website, "The Daily," he is not well and is going to doctors appointments twice a day. He did not address the allegation that he misused campaign money.

We saw no sign of Jackson at his house in Washington. Jackson was treated for bipolar depression this summer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic. Before recent appearances, he hadn't been seen in about four months, even though he was released from the clinic in September.

A staff member at this bar, The Beer Baron Tavern in Washington, tells us that Jackson was here on two consecutive nights recently and that he was drinking. No one here would go on camera with us. For Lynn Sweet of "The Chicago Sun Times," that raises questions.

SWEET: If he's well enough to go out, I think the voters in Chicago want to see him.

TODD: Sweet says, even though he's not been on the campaign trail for several months, Jackson is expected to win re-election. Still ...

SWEET: All this adds up to a very, very serious political problem for Congressman Jackson. So much so that even if he's re-elected, it will make it hard to see how at this point, unless he does publicly show people he's up to the job.

It does make people wonder will he be able to be an effective member of the House of Representatives?

TODD: We tried several times to get Jackson's congressional and campaign aides to comment on the reports of a financial investigation, on the interview outside his home and on the sighting of him at a bar, drinking. They would not comment.

We could also not reach a lawyer for Jackson.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Brian, thank you.

We are getting a little bit more on this breaking news. Getting word of this plot, this 21-year-old Bangladeshi coming to the U.S. in January, targeting with explosives here the New York Federal Reserve. Part of a sting operation, we're told. FBI is involved.

And Ali Velshi, he was there, just this week. We'll talk to Ali, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Back to our breaking story. We now know, Susan Candiotti was reporting, one man, one 21-year-old is now in custody, allegedly targeting to plot with this 1,000-pound bomb, this explosive, targeting the Federal Reserve in New York.

And, Ali Velshi, let me bring you in. We were just talking on Monday.

ALI VELSHI: Yeah.

BALDWIN: You were just interviewing the head of the New York Fed, Bill Dudley, had Tim Geithner's old job.

VELSHI: Yeah.

BALDWIN: Tell me a little bit about this building. I imagine the security is pretty intense.

VELSHI: Yeah, yeah. It's 33 Liberty Street for those of you who know Lower Manhattan. It's a big, imposing building, the type of thing you would expect a central bank to look like.

Security was actually quite tight. We were running late for our interview and the gentleman at the bank who was trying to get us into that interview was helping us to get through, but security was not letting me get through. Something kept beeping.

You know, I had emptied everything from my pockets and, ultimately, they established there was nothing on me and we went in.

That's Bill Dudley and me walking down the hall on the 10th floor of the Federal Reserve. It's a big, grand, old building, but 80 feet below street level, Brooke, is the largest gold vault in the world.

It's said to hold more gold than Ft. Knox about 7,700 tons, at last check, which was the end of October of 2011. It's got a lot of cash. They hold other people's gold. It's a safe place to hold gold. They charge you for the privilege of holding your big stashes of gold if you're a bank.

It's also where the fed policy is carried out. Policy is made in Washington, but the idea that you trade bonds with banks and things like that, that all happens on the trading floor at the New York Federal Reserve.

So, it is central to the financial system. It is the supervisor of the financial system and of the banks in New York. It's a very, very important place, although it's not -- you know, they have tours and things like that, but it's not -- I mean, I've never heard anybody tell me who doesn't work as a financial journalist that they've been to the New York Fed. It's a little unusual as a target.

BALDWIN: OK. So, in terms of the role, they carry out federal policy.

VELSHI: Yeah.

BALDWIN: They also have a lot of gold. And, bottom line, we don't know why. Again, this person -- just looking down here -- this was a sting operation conducted not just by the FBI, but the NYPD part of this Joint Terrorism Task Force.

VELSHI: Yeah.

BALDWIN: Ali Velshi will stay on it. We appreciate it.

VELSHI: Yeah. Absolutely.

BALDWIN: And with this trip just so happened to be this past Monday.

Now to this huge story today. The walls, they are closing in on Lance Armstrong. Just moments after hearing he is leaving his charity, two more major developments here. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You think you're having a tough day? Let me tell you about Lance Armstrong, once touted an American hero now labeled by many as a drug cheat.

Armstrong has had another humiliating fall from grace. Today, he quit as chairman of his charity, the LiveStrong Foundation. Here's what he writes in a statement. "To spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship." End quote.

But before that news had even sunk in, he gets dumped by long-term sponsor Nike and then, just this afternoon, brewery giant Anheuser- Busch followed.

Nike, not at all mincing any words. Here's their statement. Quote, "Due to the seemingly insurmountable evident that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, we have terminated our contract with him."

I want to repeat that word -- "misled."

I'm joined on the phone by a woman who believes the fact that Nike severed ties here with Armstrong proves that he did something terribly, terribly wrong.

She is Christine Brennan, "USA Today" sports columnist.

And, Christine Brennan, good to have you on. I read your piece. Five words, "Nike knows Lance did it." Why is it that Nike -- the fact that Nike knows, it's really over?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, SPORTS COLUMNIST, "USA TODAY" (via telephone): I think, Brooke, that this is a very important development today and it's a sad day for the millions of people who placed their faith and trust in Lance Armstrong, cancer survivors, family members of cancer survivors and those who haven't survived.

Basically it's about this, Nike stands by almost everyone. Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick, Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Favre. Any athlete misbehaving, Nike stands in there and says we're with you.

For Nike to drop Lance Armstrong, I think is as significant a moment in the Lance Armstrong saga as any we have seen, aside, of course, from last week and the 1,000-page documents -- thousands of documents that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released, Brooke, because it's the symbol that Nike will stand by you no matter what and they're not standing by Lance Armstrong.

And that is why I believe without a doubt -- anyone who was hoping that this isn't true, I'm sad to say, it is true. Lance Armstrong is one of the worst cheaters we have ever seen in sports.

BALDWIN: And, as you point out, the cancer survivors, so many people wearing those yellow bracelets, right? The LiveStrong bracelets?

Do you think all of this news negates all the good he's done for this charity? Do you think LiveStrong can even survive?

BRENNAN (via telephone): That's a great question because I do think there's been a lot of good and I think there can continue to be a lot of good, Brooke. You know, this -- obviously this charity continues. Lance has resigned as a chairman. I am going to write in a column -- my second column of the day that will be in tomorrow's "USA Today" and online in a while that he actually should resign even from the board of directors.

He should make a complete break from his entire public life, I think, now, because he is toxic.

But can this organization continue to do good work and help those who are suffering and need help and give them something to hope for? Absolutely. But not with Lance Armstrong associated with it.

BALDWIN: Christine Brennan, you used these words, "toxic," "one of the worst cheaters of all time."

If you landed an interview with Lance Armstrong tomorrow, Christine, what's the first question you'd ask him?

BRENNAN (via telephone): Well, I think I would ask that basic question, Brooke. Did you do it? Because I think we want to get right to the fact if he did it.

BALDWIN: Why ask that despite the USADA report, the thousand pages of evidence last week? Why ask that first question?

BRENNAN (via telephone): Well, I think because I want to hear it from him.

BALDWIN: On the record.

BRENNAN (via telephone): I want to hear the word "yes," which I believe we all think is the answer.

I would want to hear, yes, I did it. Then I would ask for how long and I would ask for the details. Obviously, that could take weeks just getting that answer from Lance Armstrong. I'm not making a joke. It's that involved and the deception is that deep.

But I would want to go, point by point and detail by detail, all of the seven Tour de France titles and everything else that he was involved with.

BALDWIN: Just, why? Why? Christine Brennan, thank you. We'll look for your piece in the paper tomorrow morning. We appreciate it.

And thank you so much for being with me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Good to be with you.

Let's turn things over to Wolf Blitzer. He is working "The Situation Room" for you once again. Wolf Blitzer, to you.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Brooke, thanks very much.

Happening now, the Presidential candidates head back to the swing states, still fighting some of their battles from last night's debate.