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FBI Busts New York Bomb Plot; Candidates Court Women's Vote; Examining Romney's Women "Binders"; Newsweek Ending Print Edition; Boy Scouts "Perversion" Files Being Released; In Search of the Truth; Extremists Threaten National Geographic Channel; Vitamins May Lower Cancer Risk; Saints' Fan Sues Goodell, NFL

Aired October 18, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: -- busted. The target, the Federal Reserve in New York and the heart of the U.S. financial system.

Nineteen days until the election. And some voters still don't know who to vote for. Seriously? We go inside the minds of the undecided.

It lasted 80 years. But the computer did it in. The end of an era for a major magazine.

And sue-dat. A Saints fan sues the NFL for dictatorial interference. Say what?

NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning. Thank you so much for being with us. I'm Carol Costello.

An FBI sting operation uncovers not only a bomb plot but a possible assassination attempt. The targets, the Federal Reserve in New York City and the President of the United States.

The suspect now in federal custody. He is 21 -- he is 21-year-old Quazi Nafis. He's from Bangladesh, but he was in the United States on a student visa. And get this, he's been studying cyber security at a college in Missouri.

Prosecutors say he was inspired by al Qaeda and tried detonating a 1,000-pound car bomb outside the Fed. The bomb was a fake, was provided to him by an undercover FBI agent.

The Federal Reserve, by the way, is located in Manhattan's financial district, just a few blocks from the World Trade Center and, of course, the site of the 9/11 attacks.

Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in New York this morning.

And Susan, we hear Nafis -- he filmed a video before carrying out this attack, allegedly?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And, Carol, evidently, they were on to him for months. That's what prosecutors say.

This happened just yesterday. He was on his way, prosecutors say, with undercover FBI agents, to the Federal Reserve Bank and he asked them to pull over. He wants to go inside a hotel nearby and make a suicide video. And here is what he said, in part. Let's see if we can pull up that screen for you.

He talks about coming here to carry out -- "I came to this conclusion," he said, "that targeting America's economy is the most efficient way to draw the path of obliteration of America." And he also said he wanted to attain victory or martyrdom.

COSTELLO: And what about these other alleged plots that he considered supposedly attacking the President?

CANDIOTTI: Well, and working allegedly with this undercover agents, he talked about possibly hitting the Stock Exchange. He even mentioned taking out President Obama, but I'm told that that was simply an inspirational thing. They never -- and he never took any steps in that direction, according to my sources.

So he was looking for some sort of economic target that he believed would really do a lot of damage to America's economy. He even allegedly said, maybe what I carry out will be enough to even stop the presidential election.

COSTELLO: Wow. He's in federal custody right now. What's the next step?

CANDIOTTI: Well, of course, the investigation will go on. But it lasted this long because prosecutors say -- and that's generally how it works. You want to carry out an operation like this to see how far it will go, to see whether anyone else might be involved. So far I am told that he appeared to be acting on his own with no other associates.

In other words, he allegedly talked big about having connections to al Qaeda, but did not have any here in the States or apparently, according to sources so far, overseas either.

COSTELLO: Susan Candiotti reporting live for us this morning.

The accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks slams the U.S. government, saying it sanctions torture in the name of national security. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed spoke during a pretrial hearing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He compared the nearly 3,000 people who died in the 9/11 attacks to, quote, "the millions killed by the U.S. military." His trial is expected to start next summer.

Turning now to politics.

Women of America, both parties want your vote desperately.

Yes, women are, again, at the top of the agenda, thanks to Mitt Romney's "binders full of women" comment. It's the phrase that won't die. You cannot escape it, not on the campaign trail, the Internet or on the comedy circuit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": When he said he had, quote, "binders full of women," which is --

(LAUGHTER)

KIMMEL: A little creepy. Binders full of women is something they'd find in a serial killer's basement at the end of a "Law & Order: SVU," right? It's -- but his policy toward women is clear. We have to alphabetize them. We --

(LAUGHTER)

KIMMEL: It's weird that he would bring that up. Right? A binder full of -- maybe for Mitt Romney that's the closest thing he ever got to looking at a dirty magazine?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ouch. But in all seriousness, women are a key voting bloc. The race is tight among women voters in what was once a huge lead that's now a slight edge for the President. One percentage point, according to this "USA Today"/Gallup Poll. But that is within the margin of error.

So both camps, they're talking up the ladies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Why is it that there are 3.6 million more women in poverty today than when the President took office? This president has failed America's women.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But what I can't understand is how he has gotten in this sort of 1950s time warp in terms of women.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had a discussion about how women are faring in this economy last night. Five and a half million women are still struggling for work in this economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: White House correspondent Brianna Keilar is at the White House this morning.

So, Brianna, both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney have some high-profile interviews coming up. Tell us about them. BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And also, obviously, playing into the women thing here, Carol. You know, women -- well, our votes are very desirable right now, you can tell. Michelle Obama, she taped yesterday a segment on "Live with Kelly and Michael." That's going to be airing tomorrow. And here's a snippet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: It's like I -- compared it to the Olympic parents watching their kid on that balance beam?

KELLY RIPPA, HOST: Right.

M. OBAMA: Like -- you know, lots of clinching.

RIPPA: And do you ever say -- you know, do you ever go --

M. OBAMA: Yes, I do.

RIPPA: Or sneeze?

M. OBAMA: I was sitting next to somebody last -- at this debate and I was kind of moving around and -- but, you know, they really caution you to be quiet and I try to follow the rules so I don't get in trouble.

RIPPA: Right.

M. OBAMA: But it's, you know -- it's part of the process. It's important -- an important part of the process as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So -- and there was also a funny moment there where -- you'll see when this airs tomorrow, Carol. But Michelle Obama there, talking about what it's like to watch her husband at the debate.

Not to be one-upped, Ann Romney is going to be on "The View" live today. Barbara Walters said that Mitt Romney was actually supposed to appear as well but canceled due to a scheduling conflict. That's what his campaign says.

I should point out, the cancellation was over the weekend, according to Barbara Walters, before that binder full of women comment. Probably lucky for him. But bottom line, women are where it's at, right now. You can tell by looking at the candidates, and also they're very popular surrogates, their wives.

COSTELLO: Hey, you're not kidding. Brianna Keilar live at the White House this morning.

While it is in vogue to poke fun at Governor Romney's "binders full of women" comment, what does it really mean? Yes, it was perhaps inelegantly stated but did Mr. Romney really go the extra mile to hire women when he was governor of Massachusetts?

Lisa -- Lisa Sylvester has the answer.

(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.

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That binder comment has become one of the most talkable moments of the debate. Within minutes it had its own Twitter account, Pinterest and a Facebook page, already with more than 300,000 followers.

There actually was a binder but there are different stories on how it came about. A Massachusetts nonpartisan women's coalition put forth those binders.

PRITI RAO, MASSGAP: In the fall of 2002, MassGAP did approach Governor Romney and Shannon O'Brien to highlight this issue and they request that they express and, you know, a commitment to working with our group. You know, and subsequently after Governor Romney was elected, MassGAP came together. We actually worked really hard to vet qualified women candidates.

There were hundreds of resumes that we put together. I mean actually distributing and gave them to the administration.

SYLVESTER: Romney has consistently been trailing behind President Obama in winning the women's vote, even as Democrats continue working their narrative that there is a GOP war on women.

SABRINA SCHAEFFER, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: I thought that this is a desperate attempt to try to keep this war on women narrative alive.

SYLVESTER: Romney tried to counteract that by relating a story on work balance issues.

ROMNEY: My chief of staff, for instance, had two kids that were still in school. She said, I can't be here until 7:00 or 8:00 at night. I need to be able to get home at 5:00 so I can be there for making dinner for my kids and being with them when they get home from school. So we said fine, let's have a flexible schedule so you can have hours that work for you.

SYLVESTER: Joanne Bamberger is the author of "Mother of Intentions: How Women and Social Media were Revolutionizing Politics in America." She said that statement made him look out of touch.

JOANNE BAMBERGER, AUTHOR/BLOGGER: That's not his world view. That's not his experience. His experience is that, you know, it's the father of the family, the man of the family who goes out to make the money and the mother who stays at home.

SYLVESTER: But despite the optics, history shows us Mitt Romney has surrounded himself with women. He tapped a woman, Beth Myers, to lead his search for a vice presidential running mate. Myers was his chief of staff when he was Massachusetts governor. And his lieutenant governor was also a woman, Kerry Healey. In this first two years in office, 42 percent of Romney's senior positions went to women.

(On camera): Before Romney became Massachusetts governor, 30 percent of senior-level positions in the state were held by women. In the first half of his term he did employ even more women. But it was in the second half of his term when the number of women in state senior positions fell to about 27.5 percent. This information according to a report by the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and that nonpartisan group MassGAP.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In other political news this morning, an Arizona's largest county, dozens of voters have been given the wrong election date. Maricopa County election officials handed out about 50 voter registration cards in Spanish, saying the election is on November 8th. Of course, the election is really on the 6th of November.

County officials say about 50 cards were handed out and the error has now been fixed. The local rights group says the damage has already been done.

Turning now to the economy, we just got these numbers in. A sharp rise in jobless claims. The Labor Department says the number of first-time filers jumped by 46,000 to 388,000 people. That's up from a four-year low set just last week.

After 80 years as a newsstand staple, "Newsweek" is ending its print version on December 31st and going all digital.

Alison Kosik is following that story. From the New York Stock Exchange.

Good morning, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. So December 31st, that's going to be when the last edition for "Newsweek" will be published. As you said, it's going all all digital. You'll only going to be able to get "Newsweek" online after that.

And you know what, the world is going digital if it's not there already. Reality is, we want our news now, we don't want it not on a weekly basis. But "Newsweek" is doing this for a couple of big reasons. People are using tablets to get their news.

Print advertising is also too weak. And from a business standpoint, by going digital what they can do is reduce costs because they don't have to buy paper, They don't have to buy a printer, and then have to pay for delivery.

And look, even back in January, "Forbes" contributor Tim Worstall said, you know what, there's only so long that the practice of mushing up dead trees to get the news to us is going to last, given the ease of digital distribution. But you know what, there's this romance and this history to the publishing industry that can't be denied. "Newsweek" editor in chief Tina Brown said this.

"Exiting print is an extremely difficult moment for all of us who love the romance of print and the unique weekly camaraderie of those hectic hours before the close on Friday night.

But here's the funny thing, Carol. "Newsweek" is already embracing the digital age. It made this announcement on Twitter -- Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Perhaps fitting. Bu you're right, it's kind of sad. It's bittersweet.

Alison Kosik, reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

Let's talk a little sports now. If your team lost the best power hitter in the post-season history, you'd probably be in trouble. But not the St. Louis Cardinals. First inning of their NLCS game three against San Francisco, Carlos Beltran, trying to beat a double play ball. He strains his knee and eventually he is taken out of the game.

So how do you replace a guy with a higher post-season slugging percentage than Babe Ruth?

You bring in that guy, Matt Carpenter. Carpenter hit the racket into the right field seized the two-run homer put St. Louis ahead to stay. The final, Cards 3. Giants, won.

The Tiger is in the Yankees resumed the AL Championship Series this afternoon after last night's rain out. Detroit can sweep New York with a win. Yankees fans have gotten cold this series and nobody colder than Alex Rodriguez. Before last night's rain out, A-Rod addressed rumors of a possible off-season deal that would send him to Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX RODRIGUEZ, YANKEES THIRD BASEMAN: There's blood in the water. And when you don't play well -- I haven't played well, and like I said, some of the criticism I've received -- I've been here nine years. I can take that. Well-deserved. That other stuff, you know, gossip, the paycheck, I don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) about that. What I will tell you is that I hope that nothing is going on like that at this point because our only focus from the top to the bottom is to win a baseball game tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: If the Yankees do work out a deal for A-Rod, they first have to get his permission because he's got that no-trade clause and then the team would have to eat a huge chunk of his salary. A-Rod is owed $114 million over the next five years.

And how about this? If your team is not winning, sue. Sue the NFL. That's what one New Orleans Saints fan is doing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: An attorney in Portland plans to release 20,000 pages from the Boy Scouts of America's so-called "perversion" files. They document what some call the Boy Scouts history of hiding evidence of sexual abuse from scout leaders from the public and law enforcement. Boy Scouts say they have changed their policies, but attorney suing the organization say secrecy has allowed thousands of child molesters to roam free.

Here is Casey Wian.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eighteen-year-old Keith Early joined the Boy Scouts at 12, recruited by assistant scout master Nick Price Miller, a married father of three and volunteer firefighter, who led scout meetings in this Washington state church.

KEITH EARLY, ABUSED FORMER BOY SCOUT: He was building a Boy Scout -- like a big huge Boy Scout camp because he had a 42-acre ranch. He asked me if I would want to help him build it. I loved it. It was awesome.

I don't know. And, I mean -- I didn't think anything bad could happen out there.

WIAN: Then came the sexual molestation that has Miller in prison for 10 years to life, convicted of abusing Early and another boy.

EARLY: I felt like I was all alone. Just thinking about it makes me angry, because how could you do that to somebody? How could -- how could you bring yourself to do that to somebody that is so innocent and, you know, has done nothing wrong.

WIAN: In Oregon, under court order and over the objections of the Boy Scouts of America, boxes containing 20,000 pages from the Boy Scouts ineligible volunteer or so-called "perversion" files are being released to the public.

Victims' attorney Kelly Clark has spent months redacting the files to remove names of victims and witness witnesses. He says they document the cases of more than 1,200 leaders and volunteers dismissed by the Boy Scouts, largely for sexual abuse, from 1965 through 1985.

KELLY CLARK, ABUSED SCOUTS' LAWYER: They are sociopathic geniuses. They fool everybody. And then they are able to coerce, convince or threaten these kids to stay silent. You see that play out over and over again in the files.

WIAN: For decades, the Boy Scouts have kept the files contents secret, arguing confidentiality was needed to protect victims' privacy and encouraged the reporting of suspected abuse. But in some cases, the Boy Scouts failed to report abuse to law enforcement. TIM HALE, ABUSED SCOUTS' LAWYER: We're talking about hundreds if not thousands of unidentified men who should be registered sex offenders, who are roaming free in society, free to volunteer with other youth organizations, to work at schools and that sort of thing.

WIAN: Hale himself a former scout is one of several suing to unseal all of the files.

(on camera): The effort to force the Boy Scouts to open its ineligible files is bogged down in courts like this one in Ventura, California. The appeals court is examining thousands of cases of alleged abuse by scout leaders since 1991 and is expected to rule soon on the effort to make them public.

(voice-over): The Boy Scouts released a video statement, apologizing for sexual abuse and detailing recent policy changes.

BOB MAZUCCA, FORMER BSA CHIEF SCOUT EXECUTIVE: This policy includes ensuring at least two adults are present at all activities, preventing one-on-one contact between an adult and youth member, requiring every scouting activity be opened to observation by parents and mandating that suspicions of abuse be reported to the proper local authorities and scouting leadership.

WIAN: Boy Scouts also has hired a former police detective to review the files and report abuse to law enforcement.

EARLY: It's such a loosely run outfit that I just wouldn't feel comfortable letting my kid into it.

WIAN: Early's attorney is skeptical about the changes.

TIM KOSNOFF, KEITH EARLY'S LAWYER: It just allows the Boy Scouts of America to claim that Boy Scouts is safer when there's not an iota of evidence that they've produced to suggest that it is any safer than it was during the time period when these files were kept.

WIAN: That evidence or the lack thereof is likely in the more recent "perversion" files the Boy Scouts of America is still fighting to keep secret.

Casey Wian, CNN, Tacoma, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Today's talk back question, is the phrase "binders full of women" overblown? Facebook.com/CarolCNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the biggest stories of the day. The question for you this morning: is the phrase "binders full of women" overblown? First, it was Big Bird, now it's "binders full of women", the two big talking points for Democrats, apparently. The binders phrase which Mitt Romney used to describe his hiring process for women lives on, on Facebook, and certainly on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: See, we don't have to order up some binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women to learn and teach and thrive, and start businesses.

BIDEN: The idea that he had to go and ask where qualified woman was, he should have just come to my house. He didn't need a binder. He didn't need a binder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Romney's supporters are saying, really, Democrats? Is that all you've got?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY HEALEY, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: It is a cheap shot and also it's a wrong approach, too, because if you look at Governor Romney's record while he was in office, he not only asked me to run with him as his lieutenant governor but his chief of staff was a very distinguished woman who also ran his presidential campaign last time. His chief policy adviser was a woman. And half the people who are sitting on the cabinet were women.

So I think that it's a stretch to make this an issue, and it also is a misdirection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But is it a misdirection? Romney's binders comment came in response to an equal pay for equal work question and he actually didn't answer that. But his answer did focus attention on Romney's hiring record in Massachusetts.

According to the Center for Women and Politics and Public Policy, before Romney took over as governor, 30 percent of senior level state jobs were held by women. Romney did appoint more women in the first half of his administration but in the second half, the number of senior women fell to less than 28 percent.

Fact is, though, sadly women are underrepresented in the world of politics as a whole.

The question for Romney, will it matter to that all-important constituency -- women? So, the talk back question for you: is the phrase binders full of women overblown? Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Your responses later this hour.

A New Orleans Saints fan -- man, he's mad about his team. He doesn't blame the Saints. He blames the NFL and Roger Goodell and now, he's suing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. Thank you so much for being with us. It's 30 minutes past the hour. I'm Carol Costello.

Stories we're watching right now in THE NEWSROOM:

The opening bell just rang. Initial jobless claims for last week spiked 46,000 from the previous week, which was the lowest in four years.

Authorities have arrest aid man they say tried to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. Prosecutors say the 21-year-old from Bangladesh was apparently motivated by al Qaeda, but they don't believe he had any accomplices. The suspect was caught in a sting operation. The public, according to the FBI, was never at risk.

And Cuba tries to squash speculation Fidel Castro is near death. State media has put out a message said to be from him and also quotes his son who says Castro is doing well. Fidel Castro has not been seen publicly since March.

Mitt Romney's son comes out swinging, as in he would like to take a swing at the President. Seems Tagg is not so happy about the way Mr. Obama talked about his dad at the big debate, specifically how Obama called out the governor in real time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

OBAMA: Candy, what Governor Romney said just isn't true.

Very little of what Governor Romney just said is true.

Not true, Governor Romney.

And when Governor Romney says the challenge is Obama didn't try, that's not true.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

COSTELLO: Romney's son, Tagg, did not take kindly to that. He was on the radio show and said, hey, those are fighting words.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BILL LUMAYE, RADIO HOST: What is it like for you to hear the President of the United States call your dad a liar? How do you react to that?

TAGG ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S SON: Well, jump out of your seat and you want to rush down to the debate stage and take a swing at him. But you know you can't do that because -- well, first because there's a lot of Secret Service between you and him but also because that's just the nature of the process.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, thankfully, it didn't come to blows Tuesday night. The bottom line here is facts matter. And in a campaign where both candidates are questioning what's true and what's not, voters are often left wondering what exactly to believe.

Joining me now, president of Venn Strategies and former communications director for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Penny Lee, and CNN contributor, Will Cain.

Welcome to both of you.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi.

PENN LEE, VENN STRATEGIES: Welcome, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi.

So, Will, have you ever used the word "liar" used so much during a campaign?

CAIN: I'm just going to try to recall to a couple of others. I don't know. It's certainly being used a lot, Carol. Is it being overused? Yes, it is being overused.

The thing these candidates do -- let me emphasize both, plural, candidates -- they make statements that are not necessarily true, but not open to all the nuance and context that are involved in that statement, leaving one side to be able to claim, liar, and the other side to be able to claim, no, look into a little bit deeper.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

CAIN: I gave you a sweeping statement, I didn't talk about specifics, but --

COSTELLO: I know. Penny, it goes along the lines of my next question. The campaigns have a way of saying that something is not true and then they clarify later. That must be effective or they wouldn't do it, right?

LEE: Right. Well, having worked for Ed Rendell and Harry Reid one of the phrases we often used was "well, I think the governor meant to say" or "I think what the senator meant to say was" was often times a phrase we used.

But what we're hearing -- what we're seeing right now in this campaign, I think Mark Twain said it best when he said facts are stubborn but statistics are pliable. Every campaign now has their own statistician who will go through their material and kind of prove their own thesis that is out there. So, it is now, we have fact checkers and checkers on the fact checkers.

So, it's really kind of this unbelievable amount of information that is out there for the American public and very difficult to sort through what really is true or not.

COSTELLO: And, you know, Will, we do fact checks all the time at CNN post debate. Once something is out there in the public and seen by 60 million people, it's out there. And most people are probably going to hear that and not the post-debate fact check. CAIN: Yes. So let me use a specific this time, Carol. I think what we're getting at here is the weight of the moment is given too much attention when the actual research behind that moment or the significance of it is not given enough.

Let's talk about Libya for a moment. Let's talk about the Libya moment in the debate. What happened that night is that every party involved in that exchange got too involved in treating it like a campaign issue. Mitt Romney for one got too specific about what happened in the Rose Garden. President Obama was then able to say check the transcript about the Rose Garden. And candy then came in and addressed what was said in the Rose Garden.

Look, here is the deal. I don't care what was said in the Rose Garden. What should have been talked about this night is why the President's administration for two weeks continued to say something to the American people that we know now with his not true about the Libya attack.

Did Mitt Romney lose last night or the other night on that exchange? Did President Obama lose?

Accountability lost in that exchange because that question remains unanswered. Why did Susan Rice continue to call it a spontaneous attack in response to a video?

COSTELLO: You have such a great point. The voters really lost because they never got to the bottom of it at all.

CAIN: Never.

COSTELLO: No questions were asked.

Penny, I would like to ask you this. You know, it's become like in fashion to attack journalists or attack Candy, the moderator, for trying to correct things on stage. But not like pinning the candidate's feet to the fire and saying, OK, let's get past semantics and really answer the question.

LEE: It's hard. I mean, you know, you have a candidate in Mitt Romney who lives basically in an ideologically free zone and he constantly changes his position on many things. So it is difficult to say, well, no, no, you know, six months ago you say one thing and now you're saying another. It is tough.

But to go after the moderator, they are in tough, tough positions and they are doing their job. So, that is just trying to cover up for other things that weren't accurately said during the debate. The place is not to go after the moderator.

COSTELLO: OK. I'll ask you both a tough question. What's a voter to do? Because there are many places you can go to get information but people have a tendency to go, you know -- if they're conservative, they go to conservative blogs and those blogs have one point of view. You could say that about the other side, too. So, it's really the responsibility of the voter to get to the truth, but they have to work really hard to do that. So what advice would you give?

LEE: Yes. And I look at my own father. He is an independent, leans right, but independent and he constantly asks me, where can I go to get the truth? I said you almost have to go to both sites and weigh the balance and take your own gut instinct as to what it is.

COSTELLO: I'd say go to CNN but, Will, advice for voters and then we have to go.

CAIN: Read more. Read a lot more. You can't just watch these things in the moment and assume you're going to get the depth of knowledge you need to make a decision. You need to read more.

COSTELLO: That's right. You do. Will Cain and Penny Lee, thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

CAIN: You bet.

LEE: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Islamic radicals apparently have a new target: National Geographic. How the television network is protecting itself.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Islamic extremists apparently have a brand new target: National Geographic. It's all because Nat Geo is going to air this film detailing the SEAL Team 6 raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.

A.J. Hammer, host of "Showbiz Tonight" is in New York to explain.

A.J. HAMMER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, "The New York Post" is reporting this story, saying that the cable channel is now stepping up security after they received multiple threats about the film called "SEAL Team 6: The Raid on Osama bin Laden." Now, we reached out to Nat Geo and to see what they have to say.

And conservative groups here at home are also upset over this film. The conservative Web site Breitbart.com is among the places that are upset.

But National Geographic will be airing this documentary on November 4th, right before Election Day, because they say the film basically amounts to a two-hour commercial for the President. National Geographic has denied they're being political with the timing of the film. They say they're just being topical and the story is focused on SEAL Team 6, not the politics of going after bin Laden.

We've got a clip from the film. Let's take a look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Analysts have, on several occasions, recognized the man who appears taller than the rest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one -- execute!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is Osama bin Laden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: It's obviously a fascinating story. And I should point out, lest there be any confusion, this is not the Kathryn Bigelow film, which got so much attention for same sort of political reasoning, Carol. That would be releasing theatrically in December.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

What about this rabbi that has a problem with comedian Sarah Silverman because of her involvement in politics?

HAMMER: Yes, this is just strange to me. And the story has really touched a nerve, particularly with Sarah Silverman's father. A rabbi criticized Sarah Silverman in an open letter to the jewishpress.com because she is crude, according to this rabbi, and uses Judaism inappropriately.

But really crossed the line for most people was the rabbi making a comment like this one. "I pray that you channel your drive and direct your passion to something positive, something that will make you better and a more positive person. I pray that you pursue marriage and, if you are so blessed, raise children."

Well, Sarah's dad, Donald Silverman apparently didn't take kindly to those comments. He is blunt as his daughter, Carol. He basically told the rabbi to shove it. And he also proudly listed some of his family's religious accomplishments, mentioning Sarah's sister is a rabbi. And his granddaughter is currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces.

I'm a big fan of Sarah Silverman. I have nothing to complain about.

COSTELLO: I know. I think she is funny, too. She is crude, though, but I laugh all the time.

HAMMER: It's what she does.

COSTELLO: I know. A.J. Hammer, thanks so much.

HAMMER: You got it.

COSTELLO: A.J. is back next hour to talk about Disney's newest princess, who happens to be Hispanic.

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COSTELLO: In health news this morning a long-term study suggests multivitamins -- multivitamins may help prevent cancer in middle-age men. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me. Seriously?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. Because all the word that we've heard about multivitamins are a lot of it has been ah, these things take them if you want to, but they're not necessarily going to help. And now this study comes out. And this is a -- this is a big study. We're told that it's a really good study. It's a study of physicians that -- part of a study called Harvard, that's been going on for years and years.

And they studied these doctors for about 11 years. And let me tell you what they did. They took a group of them, about 14,000 doctors and they split them roughly in half into two different groups. And half of them took a multivitamin and half of them didn't. And then they watched to see who was going to get cancer.

And what they found was that 1,290 men who were taking vitamins developed cancer over that 11-year period and 1,379 who were taking placebos developed cancer. So as you can see, there is a difference. In fact, it's a statistically significant difference. It's not gigantic. Again, it's not gigantic, but there is a difference there.

COSTELLO: So it's a multivitamin, it makes you wonder which vitamin works to prevent cancer.

COHEN: Right. I think they really don't know. And it was interesting, because they found that it worked better for some cancers than others. For example, for prostate cancer. It didn't really seem to you know that didn't seem to be significant.

But yes, it could be one of a whole bunch of things with the antioxidants. It's not entirely clear.

COSTELLO: Wow. So I guess you should go ahead if you're a middle- aged guy and take a multivitamin?

COHEN: Well you know that's, of course, what you might think from this. So I want to sort of put this in context. There have been some studies that show that there might possibly be some problems with taking a multivitamin. So, this is a decision that you have to make. And the American Cancer Society, their bottom line is, we want to see more studies.

In the meantime, if you're going to take a multivitamin, don't take one that has more than 100 percent daily value for most of the nutrients you see listed. And what you can do is can go to CNN.com/empoweredpatients. And we have a whole article from the Mayo Clinic about the debate about whether or not to take a multivitamin. It goes into more details about the possible good sides and the possible down sides.

COSTELLO: Elizabeth Cohen many thanks.

COHEN: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Here is something you might not know. Taking a power nap can actually help you solve nagging problems. A study finds that during a nap the right sides of our brains remains active while the left side goes to sleep and gets some rest.

The right side of the brain controls our creativity. And researchers believe the right side may be bringing together memories, which could help with those creative projects later on. So take a nap. It will solve all your creative problem problems at work. I'm going to try it right after this show.

It's a case of a football fan versus a football commissioner. Why a New Orleans Saints season ticket holder is demanding the NFL refund his money.

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COSTELLO: I love this story.

A New Orleans Saints football fan wants more than an apology for the team's poor play this season. The Saints did win their first game of the year this Sunday before last but that is certainly not enough for David Mancina. He's suing Roger Goodell and the NFL for $5 million in damages. He claims those bounty suspensions have made the team worst and devalued season tickets. And he's are season ticket holder.

So let's talk about this with sports attorney David Cornwell. David good morning.

DAVID CORNWELL, SPORTS ATTORNEY: Hi, Carol. Good to see you again.

COSTELLO: I'm excited to talk about this. Because I love this term, "dictatorial interference". That's what this fan claims. What does that mean?

CORNWELL: I'm not sure. The commissioner -- the commissioner had the authority to discipline the Saints players under the collective bargaining agreement that the union negotiated with NFL owners. And every commissioner in sports have the right or the authority to preserve the integrity of the game by punishing for, in this instance, players for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the game.

Since the source of the power that is exercised is the collective bargaining agreement, the fan doesn't have the authority and courts are unlikely to pierce the collective bargaining agreement to determine whether the commissioner was actually in a way a third party --

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COSTELLO: Well but let's -- let's play and have fun and the pretend the judge will say, oh, my gosh, this suit has some merit. So this fan is claiming that Roger Goodell is a dictator. Because of course the players have brought this to court and that you know there's some question about whether Roger Goodell made a legal decision.

So the fan is saying, hey, the players should be on the field, you should have told me that my players were not going to be on the field before I paid all this money out for these season tickets. I mean you're ripping me off in essence. CORNWELL: Well I think the Commissioner's response would be well, what if the players got hurt? Who would you sue? Brian Cushing suffered a -- for the Houston Texans suffered a career I mean, a season ending surgery on a block that some people think was a cheap -- cheap shot. Does that mean the fan can sue the offensive lineman that blocked him because Cushing is no longer available to the -- to the Texans? No.

There are really two reasons why the fans claim will fail. The first is that he doesn't have standing to challenge the commissioner's actions under the collective bargaining agreement. And the second is he doesn't have a reasonable expectation that those players were going to play this year because just as they got suspended by the commissioner, they could have gotten hurt in the off season and not played at all.

And that's the case for Jonathan Vilma. This is the first week the he's been well enough to play.

COSTELLO: Yes I think he -- and it's you know that brings up -- this fan.

You know, he's comparing this to let's say I go see a Broadway play and there's a huge star that's supposed to be in the Broadway play and that star pulls out at the last minute. Now I have these expensive tickets to this Broadway show and the guy that I want to see is not even in the play, I should get my money back.

CORNWELL: Well, you might be able to get your money back but you can't sue the producers or the theater for $5 million. You might be able to get a refund on your ticket for that night but you certainly can't file a lawsuit against the theater, the actress who pulled out or, for example, her agent who told her not to show up.

This is the case about reasonable expectation and a fan does not have a reasonable expectation that a player is going to be available every game during the season. In fact, with the coverage that the collective bargaining agreement got and the discussion about the commissioner's power, fans were on notice that the commissioner has the power to discipline players, including taking them off the field.

COSTELLO: Ok. Well, this guy is asking others to join his case so he can have a class action lawsuit. We'll see what happens.

David Cornwell, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

CORNWELL: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Today's "Talk Back" question, is the phrase "binders full of women" overblown? Your responses next.

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COSTELLO: "Talk Back" question this morning, is the phrase "binders full of women" overblown? This is from Tom, "I spend my time considering the important issues rather than buzz catch phrases exploding across social media and furthered by the idiot campaign advisors and speechwriters."

This from Daniel, "Overblown? Sure. Hilarious? Definitely."

This from K Marie, "I don't think it's overblown. I found it appalling that his staff did not know qualified women. And he really never answered the equal pay question."

This from Pamela. "Folks are focused on some that is unimportant. Again, could we just focus on the issues and who's best to run the country?

And this from Dave, "I love it. I was crushed after Rick Perry left the race but Romney does not disappoint."

Facebook.com/CarolCNN if you like to continue the conversation.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.