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Campaigners Woo Women Voters; Boy Scout Sex Abuse Files Released; Ann Romney Is Pro-Life; Wrong Date On Some Voter Cards; Romney's Binders Full Of Women Comment; Romney's "Bind Full of Women" Comment Controversial; Springsteen Stumps for Obama; Candidates Battle for Ohio Votes; Jesse Jackson Jr Under Fire

Aired October 18, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

ALEX ZOLBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another $13 for a five second hug. Masashi says he is surprised at all the attention his business is getting, and, yes, he is thinking of a possible expansion. We might move to a bigger and cleaner space, but maybe the simplicity is part of our charm, he adds. A simple idea in a stressed out and sometimes lonely city. Alex Zolbert, CNN, Tokyo.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Everyone needs a cuddle but that's just creepy.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, it's a little different, but I love Japan, and they always have innovative and interesting things.

HOLMES: And some odd things, too.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HOLMES: I'm sorry. That's creepy.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HOLMES: All right, I'm done, your turn.

WHITFIELD: All right, Michael, good to see you.

HOLMES: Good to see you, thanks so much. I'm in for Suzanne Malveaux today, and we're going to focus on the race to the White House, it is tight. The calendar is winding down and the political campaigns are bringing out some heavy hitters. Former President Bill Clinton and rocker Bruce Springsteen, right now, you're seeing live pictures campaigning for President Obama in Parma, Ohio. We'll listen in.

And with just 19 days until election day, both campaigns are fighting for every vote and trying to shore up support among women. The candidates' wives were making the round on the television talk shows "Today." We'll talk with Howard Kurtz of reliable sources about the impact of the wives on women voters.

And in Arizona, a misprinted date on some voter registration cards is adding to the tension between local officials and Latino voters. Joe Johns is covering that story. We'll bring that to you. But first, 20,000 files detailing alleged child sex abuse by more than 1,000 boy scout leaders and volunteers are being released this hour. Attorneys representing some of the victims are making the documents public despite objections from the Boy Scouts organization. The names of the victims have been removed. Our Casey Wian talked to one former scout whose ex-leader is serving 10 years to life in prison for child molestation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

KEITH EARLY: He was building a Boy Scout -- like a big huge Boy Scout camp, because he had a 42 acre ranch. And he asked if I would want to help him build it. And I loved it, it was awesome. Like, I don't know. 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 for 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 spend months redacting the files to remove names of victims and 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.

They are sociopathic geniuses. They fool everybody, and then they are able to coerce, convince, or threaten these kids to stay silent, and 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 encourage the reporting of suspected abuse, but in some cases, the Boy Scouts failed to report abuse to law enforcement.

TIM HALE, VICTIMS' ATTORNEY: We're talking about hundreds, if not thousands, of unidentified men who should be registered sex offenders that are roaming free in society, free to volunteer with other youth organizations, to work at schools and that sort of thing.

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

(on camera): The effort to force the Boy Scouts to open its ineligible volunteer 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 BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA CHIEF SCOUT EXECUTIVE: These policies include insuring at least two adults are present at all activities, preventing one-on-one contact between an adult and a youth member, requiring every scouting activity be open to observation by parents, and mandating that suspicions of abuse be reported to the proper local authorities and to 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 as 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.

HALE: It just allows the Boy Scouts of America to claim that boy scouting 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 recently perversion files the Boy Scouts of America is still fighting to keep secret. Casey Wian, CNN, Tacoma, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Paul Vercammen now joining us now from Los Angeles with more on the Boy Scout document release. So, Paul, you know, would the release open the door to more claims and accusations perhaps?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: It absolutely could. Now, you have a statute of limitations issue there, Fredricka, and we'll see if they can go back in each individual state. But, obviously, there were instances where one scout leader, if you look at the files, was involved in multiple cases of alleged abuse, so we'll have to see who comes forward on that. And we should note, it's a story that is breaking in a lot of different directs. There are efforts in several different places and states to get other files released, and while today's release involves 1965 to 1985 in both California and Texas, they are proceeding ahead with trying to get the more recent files released. So, that would, in turn, more likely develop possible new cases and lawsuits -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so, the Boy Scouts of America are saying what?

VERCAMMEN: Well, the Boy Scouts of America, as you saw in the Casey Wian piece, is saying, well, we have taken some dramatic steps, and if you look at the files, and I have pre-read some of them, they are right here, you will note that in many instances, the alleged pedophiles went through great lengths to try to sort of divide or get alone with certain scouts. What the Boy Scouts of America are now saying is we have taken this dramatic step of insuring that there are at least two adults with a scout at all times so this can no longer happen. I mean, that seems to be step number one. There are all -- there are other steps they have taken, such as sitting down with the parents and the scouts, having them sign documents, making them well aware that there have been some issues in the past. So, I think the Boy Scouts of America are saying, look, we have raised awareness dramatically, and I should note also when you look at the files, you will see instances where it seems like the Boy Scouts of America delayed in reporting these cases of sexual abuse. There are other times whether I looked at one where the Boy Scouts actually flagged an abuser and tried to tell a rec center, and the rec center was slow in doing anything about it because this person was also volunteering, I believe, as a lifeguard. And they said, look, there's been no criminal charges filed, so we're not going to do anything about this yet.

WHITFIELD: And as it pertains to some of those new precautions, is that comforting enough for a lot of parents out there?

VERCAMMEN: Well, that's for each individual parent to answer, of course. We'll have to see about that. Of course, the Boy Scouts say that they have taken enough steps, but as you heard from many of the lawyers who are on the front of representing victims of abuse, they say not enough has been done, and they say this is something that needs to be, you know, reconciled right now, and there are way too many opportunities with the Boy Scouts maintaining secret files still for somebody who is a pedophile to possibly infiltrate the Boy Scouts of America. It's a big debate here, and we're going to see, you know, where this all comes down, but certainly the legal fights go on so many different fronts. It's almost hard to keep track of all of it.

WHITFIELD: Sure is. All right, thanks so much. Paul Vercammen, appreciate it.

All right. With less than three weeks now to go until the election, president Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are pushing hard for the female vote that could very well decide who wins. I want to bring in our Howard Kurtz, host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES." He is joining us now from Washington via Skype. So, Howard, the candidates' wives were out vying for the female vote, particularly on some of the talk shows. Ann Romney was on "The View." Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE SAWYER, HOST, ABC "THE VIEW": We have been talking primarily about the women's issues, and one of the things with your husband was that when he was a governor, he was pro-choice. And now is against abortions, except in the case of incest and rape and life of the mother. I wonder where your views are. Were you the same way when he was a governor? Have you changed? I'm sure you've had discussions about this.

ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MITT ROMNEY: You know, the good news is I'm not running for office, and I don't have to say what I feel, but I am pro-life. I'm happy to say that. Mitt has always been a pro-life person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Howard, you know, so she says, you know, she's not running for office so she doesn't have to say what she feels. Is that really true? When, as a wife, you're going to come out as the surrogate for that candidate. It's almost as if you were speaking on that candidate's behalf, right?

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, CNN "RELIABLE SOURCES" (via Skype): Right. But, you know, the wives or the spouses, you know, do have a kind of privilege position in that everybody wants to hear from them, and Ann Romney is very charming and witty in these interviews, as is Michelle Obama. But she can duck when she wants to. She can say, I'm not the candidate, and she doesn't have to get down into the weeds of policy changes --

WHITFIELD: And it not backfire, in your view? Not backfire for the candidate, Mitt Romney?

KURTZ: Well, what would backfire is if Ann Romney said something he would have to then explain away. I think what she wanted to do and did very successfully there was avoid making news. But the question I have looking at her appearance on "The View," as I said, she's very charming to watch is where's Mitt? Mitt had said he was going to come on with his wife on "The View," and he decided to back out. Maybe he decided, too risky to sit down with Whoopi Goldberg?

WHITFIELD: Well, then it was interesting because even during that interview, she then said, you know, I wish Mitt were here. You know, he would want to be here, and then they -- you know, all of the ladies on "The View" were, like, OK, when is he coming on? They didn't get an answer on that one, but maybe the door is open that Mitt Romney will eventually appear on "The View." So, meantime, first lady Michelle Obama was on a very different show, a very different tone "Live With Kelly and Michael," and here are the questions that she was asked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: I compared it to the Olympic parents watching their kid on that balance beam.

KELLY RIPA, HOST, "LIVE WITH KELLY AND MICHAEL": Right.

MICHELLE OBAMA: Just like oh, ah. You know, it's lots of clinching.

RIPA: Do you ever go (INAUDIBLE.)

MICHELLE OBAMA: Yes, I do.

RIPA: Or sneeze.

MICHELLE OBAMA: You know, I was sitting next to somebody last -- at this debate, and I was kind of moving around and --

RIPA: Yes.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: -- but, you know, they really caution you to be quiet, and I try to follow the rules, so I don't get in trouble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, in the end, you do have to wonder how influential is it for the wives of these candidates to go out on the talk show circuit and, you know, go up to bat for their husbands.

KURTZ: Well, Michelle Obama has been doing this for four years and going on shows like "Ellen" and she has danced and exercised, and she's -- there's a reason she's a very popular figure. The whole game here is that if you like Ann and Michelle, you think, well, their husbands must be not that bad because these women married them. So, it's an effort to humanize, particularly for Romney because is he less well known as a non-incumbent. I don't know if it makes a huge difference, but as they say about chicken soup, it doesn't hurt.

WHITFIELD: OK. And I want to ask you to weigh in on something else unrelated as the Washington bureau chief for "The Daily Beast" and "Newsweek," some real changes afoot now. Your company announcing that "Newsweek " is ending the print edition at the start of the year or at the end of the year, whichever way you want to look at it. It's transitioning to all digital format. That's very disappointing to a lot of folks who, you know, feel great about turning the pages of the news magazine. At the same time, it's kind of the sign of the times. What does it say overall, in your view, about the news magazine industry similar to what path the newspaper industry has been on?

KURTZ: Well, it's disappointing to me, Fredricka, as a print guy who grew up in newspapers and later magazines. I'm old-fashioned enough that I like holding it in my hand. I like the impact of what you put on the cover, but it makes perfect sense because it's a difficult advertising environment for lots of publications. You have some newspapers now no longer doing daily publication, as in New Orleans. Digital is where the action is. People, especially younger people, they want their news, information, entertainment on their phones, on their tablet, computers, when they can get it. "The Daily Beast" part of this company, which was a separate and thriving Web site under Gina Browne before the merger with "Newsweek" is grow -- is going gangbusters. It's gone from 6 million to 15 million visitors a month since I have been there, so it makes sense to put your chips on a digital future. But for those of us of a certain age, there's a certain wistfulness about this decision.

FREDRICKA: So, you don't fear, you know, a real hit in readership?

KURTZ: Well, whatever decline there might be in the readership, it's very expensive to put out a print magazine, to send it out by mail, to have the printing presses. Well, all those costs can be eliminated if you just go on-line. Of course, the advertising revenue right now is not as great as it is for print, but this is a dilemma that every newspaper in America, that most magazines -- not all, but most magazines are facing, which is, can you still justify in order to try to pay a lot of reporters and writers and editors and put out a good product? Can you still justify going through the, you know, laborious cost of doing the ink on paper thing? I'm going to miss the magazine, but I think it probably has a pretty good future on-line. WHITFIELD: All right. Howard Kurtz, thanks so much. Of course, we'll be watching you Sunday morning on "Reliable Sources" right here on CNN.

KURTZ: Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right, here's what else we're working on for this hour. Take a look at this sign. Pretty hard to believe. It's actually on a highway in Wisconsin and it has a whole lot of people outraged.

And binders full of women? Mitt Romney's comment went instantly viral after the presidential debate, but what did he really mean, and what is his record on hiring women? We have a fact check.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Everybody lovers "The Boss" and that's why it's trending so much right now on Twitter. Live pictures right now out of Parma, Ohio. Bruce Springsteen who I understand is singing "This Land Is Your Land," his rendition. And he's campaigning at the same time for President Barack Obama. Campaigning along with former President Bill Clinton. Let's listen in.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (singing): This land is your land, this land is my land, from California, to the New York Island, from the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters, this land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps, to the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts, and all around me a voice was sounding, it's saying this land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land, from California, to the New York Island, from the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters, this land was made for you and me.

Well, the sun comes shining as I was strolling, through the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling, as the fog was lifting a voice come chanting, this land was made for you and me.

WHITFIELD: That distinctive style and sound of only Bruce Springsteen there campaigning for President Barack Obama. Also campaigning with the former president, Bill Clinton, there out of Parma, Ohio. And before he was singing, Bruce Springsteen had a message saying he's a big fan of the president for saving the American auto industry, saying, in large part, that it's one of the things he loves to sing about, cars.

All right, meantime, speaking of cars, it is causing a lot of brake lights in Wisconsin. A campaign sign with President Obama's name and a picture of a noose. But the man who created the sign says its meaning is being misunderstood. When you see it close up, the sign reads "I love Obama" in tiny print under hang in there, Obama. Creator Tom Savka (ph) says it's designed to grab people's attention. He says he is an Obama supporter and the sign is encouraging the president to not give up.

On to Arizona now. More gas is thrown on an already fiery relationship between Latino voters and officials in Maricopa County. It's about this. A stack of official registration cards given to potential voters in the county. They are partially printed in Spanish, and the election date in Spanish is printed as November 8th. Big problem. Election day is November 6th. The county admits it made a mistake and says it has been fixed, but Latino groups are simply not happy with that. Joe Johns joining us now from Washington.

Joe, a couple of voter/ballot issues to talk to you about today. I know you just did your documentary that was released over the weekend. But this wrong date on the Spanish language cards in Arizona, the implications are potentially pretty huge, and it is difficult for anyone to think that proofreading couldn't have, like, caught that error before they all went out?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Right. Yes, I mean, the first thing you do is you look at that and you say, how did they make that mistake? But, for the record, the county officials there in Maricopa County are saying this only happened to something like 50 voter registration cards out of two million. They're saying they made an honest mistake. Of course, this is attracting a lot of attention because Arizona has been all over the news for its handling of Latinos. The Supreme Court, right now, has a case penned before it on whether the state can require proof of citizenship for voter registration. Maricopa County, of course, is also the home of the controversial sheriff, Joe Arpaio, though the issue has no connection to him apparently other than geography. But it is, Fred, another example of the potential for voter confusion we're starting to see around the country as the election approaches this November.

WHITFIELD: So that's Arizona. In the meantime, there are other complaints that are coming out of Florida. The all-important swing state of Florida, Florida, Florida. And what's the complaint there?

JOHNS: Well, a lot of people are saying the ballot is the problem. And the ballot is too long. It's mostly because of almost a dozen proposed changes to the Florida state constitution. Instead of summarizing the change, they're spelling them out in detail. I talked to our political contributor, Ana Navarro, about the changes last week and she showed me her absentee ballot. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Ten legal sized letter pages with minute, fine print of legalese. It is absolutely a ridiculous ballot. I have never, in all my years voting in Miami Dade, seen anything similar to this. And I think this is going to cause great issues for the voters of Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So why on earth is this even necessary? Well, in 2000, the Florida State Supreme Court threw out a constitutional amendment because the summary on the ballot did not have enough information on it. That's why the ballot is so long now, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. So now what's next? What should people expect come November in Florida as they try to cast their ballots if they have -- if they're not, you know, voting early?

JOHNS: Well, look, probably the big issue there is all about the changes. There have been a dozen -- bunch of changes in that state and these have been put in by the legislature for -- over the past year or two. People could be confused. There could also be concerns about whether turnout is affected because of all the changes in the legislature.

The courts have intervened on a lot of these changes. There could be problems with provisional ballots, who gets to vote, where if someone has, for example, changed addresses. There have also been changes to early voting rules. So there's certainly potential for all of these changes in the election system in Florida to effect the outcome if it's a close race. Probably the most important thing is for people to watch TV, get their information and figure out where they're supposed to vote. Then they should be OK.

WHITFIELD: All right. And hopefully they caught your documentary this past weekend of "Voters in America: Who Counts." And if not, who knows, right, there could be an encore performance because we've still got at least three weeks before Election Day.

JOHNS: That's right. Watch this weekend.

WHITFIELD: OK. Very good. Perfect.

JOHNS: And be up on it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Joe Johns, appreciate that. Thank you.

JOHNS: You bet. Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Mitt Romney's oldest son says he had a hard time staying in his seat during Tuesday night's presidential debate. Tagg Romney made the remarks to a North Carolina radio show host after he was asked how he felt when the president questioned his father's integrity. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL LUMAYA, HOST, (voice-over): What is it like for you to hear the president of the United States call your dad a liar? How did you react to that?

TAGG ROMNEY, SON OF MITT ROMNEY (voice-over): You know -- well, jump out of your seat and you want to rush down 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 this is the nature of the process.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Tagg's younger brother, Josh, had a comeback. He was a guest on "The View" and said he has been hit by Tagg, and the president has nothing to worry about.

All right, it's one of the most talked about lines from the debate, but what did Mitt Romney really mean by his "binders full of women" comment? And what's his record? We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: He's getting flack online for his "binders full of women," comment at the last presidential debate. But did Mitt Romney really go the extra mile to hire women when he was governor of Massachusetts? Lisa Sylvester has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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 (voice-over): That binder comment has become one of the most talkable moments of the debate. Within minutes, it had its own Twitter account, Pinterest board 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 non-partisan women's coalition put forth those binders.

PRITI RAO, MASSGAP: In the fall of 2002, MassGAP did approach Governor Mitt Romney and Shannon O'Brien to highlight this issue and request that they express an, you know, a commitment to working with our group. And, 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 and then actually distributed 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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought that this was 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, every -- had two kids still in school. She said, I can't be here until 7:00 or 8:00 at night. I have 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 "Mothers in Intention," how women in 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 vice presidential running mate. Myers was his chief of staff when he was Massachusetts governor. And his lieutenant governor was also a woman, Carrie Healy. If his 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. If the first half of his term, he did appoint even more women, but it was in the second of half of his term when the number of women in state senior positions fell to 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 VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Our own Candy Crowley was the moderator of Tuesday's presidential debate. She heard firsthand Mitt Romney's "binders full of women" comment, which went viral.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, CNN'S STATE OF THE UNION & DEBATE MODERATOR: Let me tell you something. While we're all sitting there on that debate stage, there's entire, you know, world of conversations going around that we are unaware of, on Facebook, on Twitter. It was not one of those things that registered at all to me as it was going ON. Clearly, it became quite the Facebook and Twitter point of conversation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we'll hear more from Bruce Springsteen, who is out on the campaign trail for the president in Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SPRINGSTEEN: Remember President Obama's election night? It was an evening when you could feel -- an evening when you could feel the locked doors of the past finally being blown open to new possibilities.

(CHEERING)

SPRINGSTEEN: But then -- then comes a hard daily struggle to make those possibilities real in a world that is brutally resistant to change. We've seen that over the past four years. The forces of our opposition have been tireless. But I came here today because I'm thankful from universal health care --

(SHOUTING)

SPRINGSTEEN: -- and a lack of which -- a lack of which was for so long an embarrassment to our country. I'm thankful for a more regulated Wall Street. I'm thankful G.M. is still making cars.

(APPLAUSE)

SPRINGSTEEN: What else would I write about?

(LAUGHTER)

SPRINGSTEEN: I would have no job without that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, there, campaigning in Ohio for the president of the United States. Of course, he has some powerful music behind him, but now sharing some compelling words on all that he is thankful for with President Obama in office, from health care, saving G.M., and regulations on Wall Street, he says.

So Ohio, pivotal state. It's one of those crucial states that will likely decide who wins the White House in less than three weeks now. Campaigns are fighting hard for Ohio's 18 electoral votes. It's the second biggest prize among the swing states.

Political reporter, Peter Hamby, joining us from Parma, Ohio.

Peter, it's always great to have the big names, but I wonder, you know, the Obama campaign is counting on big names like Springsteen and former President Clinton, to what extent?

PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's a good question, Fredricka. Going back to the midterms of 2010, President Obama has been a little more reluctant to go into the blue collar, white, working class towns where I am right now in Parma. General Motors is the biggest employer here in Parma. You know, it's a union-heavy town, but it's sort of Reagan Democrat territory, people who might be Democratic, but not afraid to vote Republican. Obama has mostly been campaigning around college towns in Ohio. That's sort of an effort to get those rowdy college students over to early voting locations here in Ohio. Clinton and Springsteen might be better messages for the president in a place like this, much more sort of plain-spoken. The president is always good -- President Clinton has always been good, talking about jobs and middle class issues in a way that, frankly, President Obama has not. So I think it's no coincidence that they sent Clinton here to Parma, and they're sending him to another town near Steubenville, Ohio, later rather than the president himself -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: So earlier on, maybe just inside a month or so ago, it seemed like President Obama had clinched Ohio. But now recent polls are showing that Mitt Romney is gaining some ground. What is it all contingent upon?

HAMBY: I think everyone is sort of waiting to see a good poll after that second debate the other night, which is why they view it as a better performance for President Obama. You're right. After the first debate, here in Ohio, most people agree that Romney really closed the gap a little bit. He helped himself with female voters. He helped himself with the Republican base. Internal polling from both campaigns showed it very, very close. One person told me Romney might have even had a small lead, according to their internal, heading into the second debate. But, again, we're waiting to see a good reliable Ohio poll after the second debate.

I mean, it's no surprise, again, though, everyone agrees Ohio is just neck and neck right now heading into these final three weeks -- Frederica?

WHITFIELD: Peter, thank you so much. On the campaign trail, joining us from Parma, Ohio.

All right. He used to never leave the house without a mask. Now this man has a new face and a new life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: One thing that's constantly on the move, technology. We're rolling out a new tech tool called "CNN Trends" to bring you the hottest news on the Internet in real time.

How does it work? Well, Victor Blackwell is here to explain.

Hello, Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN: Hey, Fred. This is "CNN Trends," fueled by Zite. It's at CNN.com. And it really is a one-stop shop for all the big stories that people are talking about.

If you are not familiar with Zite, Z-I-T-E, it's actually an app that creates a magazine based on the stories you read and the stories you like. You see here on or web site, we're combining CNN's great content with Zite's formula to create a conversation about the big stories.

The top story right now that a lot of people are talking about is "Newsweek" ending its publication and going online only, ending the print edition. Well, we've got the CNN story here. But you see here on the side, you have the story from "The Daily Beast," "New York Times" and BBC. That's how people really read about these stories. They go to different sources.

So I spoke with the CEO of Zite and asked him, why would we want to put other companies' data and information on our web site? Well, here's what he told us.

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MARK JOHNSON, CEO, ZITE: People really want to be interesting. They want to know kind of a broader perspective of the story than any single source can give you. So typically what people do is, if there's a new story coming out, they'll look at a trusted source like CNN, but then they'll go to other places too to see what other people are saying. That's really what we want to do is mimic user behavior with "CNN Trends," show people what they're doing anyway because we believe that even sometimes when a user goes off to a different news web site, they're going to come back to us because they know that on "CNN Trends." they're going to get that complete broad view of the story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Essentially, with all the stuff we have to do in the morning and throughout the day, we've cut on the middle man. You can come here to "CNN Trends" fuelled by Zite, at our web site, and start with the story from CNN and then read the rest of the conversations from other sources. There's video. There are blog posts, other traditional sources, "Newsweek," and other web sites. If you don't want to start with just broad categories, you can go and close the scope in a bit to health stories, and it will bring up the top health stories that everyone is talking about.

So, again, it's "CNN Trends," fuelled by Zite. And you can go to it at CNN.com/trends.

WHITFIELD: All right. It's all about being informed.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Victor Blackwell, thank you. Appreciate it.

Here's a look at what's ahead this weekend on "The Next List."

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think you have to teach innovation. I just think you have to coax people out of their fear of trying to innovate. Everybody has creative abilities, but people just don't express them. I mean, I see people come in here that are afraid to try anything. You give them some classes and some encouragement and they have some success with their product, and you see them just change. You see them light up. You see them say, wow, I really can do this. This is stunning. They're stunned.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A Maryland man is living with a new face today, literally. Take a look at Richard Lee Norris. This is after an amazing transplant of his entire face. His jaws, teeth, and tongue all new. Why? Because in 1997 he was shot in the face, disfigured. He said he would wear a mask to avoid stares and comments. So, again, transformative. This picture was taken about a week after his surgery. The new face came from organ donors. Norris's surgeon was on CNN earlier today.

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DR. EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: When you get a new tongue and you get new jaws and he hadn't had teeth in 15 years. You put all that together, you have to get used to working with that. And now his tongue is moving appropriately. His tongue meets the front of his teeth so you can pronounce the "l" and the "t," something he didn't do in a long time, and learning how to eat.

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WHITFIELD: Wow. Extraordinary. Congratulations to them. Successful surgery.

All right. On politics, Jesse Jackson Jr could be in more hot water after being spotted in a bar with two different women on two different nights.

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WHITFIELD: All right. He has been in hiding, getting rehab for months, but Congressman Jackson Jr is now back in the spotlight.

Brian Todd explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is on the ballot but not on the campaign trail and not on the job. The only place Chicago voters see Democratic Congressman 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, 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" says the probe centers on whether he 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 governor, Rod Blagojevich. The House Ethics Committee looked in to 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 doctor's appointments twice a day." He did not address the allegation that his 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 had not been seen in about four months, even though he was released from the clinic in September.

(on camera): A staff member at this bar, the Beer Barren Tavern, in Washington, tells us that Jackson was here on two consecutive nights recently and that he was drinking. No one would go on camera with us.

(voice-over): 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 wants to see him.

TODD: Sweet says, even though he's not been on the campaign trail, 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 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 VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we'll have much more in the NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Could a multivitamin a day keep cancer away? A new study says it may, for men 50 and old. The study looked at 15,000 men over 50, most with a cancer risk. Those who took a multivitamin every day over 11 years had an 8 percent drop in all types of cancer. The study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the "Journal" of American Medical Association.

All right. That's going to do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Much more straight ahead with Brooke Baldwin.

Hey, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Fred. Thanks so much.

Good to be with you all on this Thursday. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We have news just in to us here at CNN. The Boy Scouts of America, they're calling them the "Perversion Files," perversions. The 20,000 files have just been released. This happening in Portland, Oregon. Each one of the files gives these details of alleged child sex abuse by more than 1,000 Boy Scout leaders and volunteers.