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President Obama in Ohio; Avoiding the Fiscal Cliff

Aired October 18, 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: Hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Have to talk politics, beginning the hour with this. We have already heard from Paul Ryan. We have heard from Bill Clinton. Let's listen quickly now to President Obama speaking early this afternoon in New Hampshire apparently trying to blunt Mitt Romney's attacks on the debt and the deficit. Here's the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And, finally, we have got to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years. I put forward a plan to do it and I have worked with Republicans and Democrats already to cut spending that we didn't need or couldn't afford and I'm ready to do more.

But I'm not going to cut things like education. I'm not going to cut research that helps grow our economy. We can't get this done unless we also ask the wealthiest households to pay higher taxes on their incomes above $250,000. Pay the same rate we had when Bill Clinton was president. We created 23 million new jobs and we went from deficit to surplus. That's how you do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, there you heard it. The president invoking Bill Clinton who's in Ohio today campaigning with Bruce Springsteen.

Also in Ohio, John King.

John King, we have talked about Ohio. We have called it the mother of all battleground states. You, sir, may be in the mother of all battleground counties within the state of Ohio. Tell me where you are. Tell me why it's important.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you don't notice the skyline behind me, Brooke, I'm in Cincinnati, which is the core of Hamilton County. Go back and look at the map.

If you look at 2004, President Bush won Ohio. He won 53 percent of Hamilton County. It's red on the map. He won the state and he was reelected president of the United States. Fast-forward to 2008 and Hamilton County is bright blue. President Obama, then Senator Obama carried the county with also 53 percent of the vote. Went on to carry Ohio, he is president of the United States. This is the battleground county within the battleground state, if you will. We're here to get a sense of the early voting. There's no question early voting this time will be up from 2008. The question is, does any party benefit from it?

The Obama campaign especially trying to gin up African-American turnout, which is critically important for his chances here in this community and hoping to get many in the African-American community to vote early so they don't have to count them on Election Day. But Republicans say they sense a lot more intensity and a lot more energy this year, Brooke, than four years ago.

So this is one of the dynamics. This again is the bellwether county. We will be back here between now and Election Day, Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. You know the history. No Republican's ever won without it. Mitt Romney needs this state.

BALDWIN: You will be back there and the candidates certainly back there. Bruce Springsteen there campaigning today on behalf of the president there in Ohio and which once again here underscores the battle there for the middle class, the working-class voters, correct?

KING: Without a doubt. If you go through -- look, the president will get the African-American vote in Cleveland and Columbus and here in Cincinnati.

The question is, is he going to get the high level of the turnout? Republicans will get the rural vote in most of this state. Then you have middle class swing voters. They're largely white voters, they're in middle class and they feel the squeeze right now and many of them are probably Springsteen fans.

Let me put it to you this way, though. Springsteen is more about generating excitement among the president's supporters. Get the volunteers out. Get people to come to the rallies and then maybe hand them the flier and send them off to do their early voting. Bill Clinton is about making the policy argument.

That's a smart one-two punch for the Obama campaign. They were in Iowa the other day, Bruce Springsteen was, here in Ohio. Part of it is to gin up excitement and part of it is to get people when you come the rally, this is what they're trying to do, grab them by the ear, take them down and get them to vote early so that they can focus on the last possible votes on Election Day, not a big wide audience.

BALDWIN: OK. One-two punch with the Boss and Clinton.

We talk so much about Ohio, we talk Florida, Virginia. Key, key states here, the battleground states, the big there, but there's sort of the second tier battleground states. You have Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire. I'm wondering, 19 days here until the election, are there any other states that could be also coming in to play?

KING: I would say, yes, but. If you look at the polls and you are the Romney campaign you see Michigan is four points for the president. Pennsylvania's four points for the president. You think, boy, maybe we should go in there and try to take one of those states and expand the map. If you're President Obama, you look and you say Arizona might be three or four points in favor of Governor Romney. Might even be a little closer. Should we try to change the map?

The campaigns debate this, Brooke, but it's such a dangerous decision, because if you take those resources and you fly the president, you fly the vice president, you spend a couple hundred thousand dollars or more on TV in one of those other states and then wake up and lose by this much on Election Day because let's say you lost this state, Ohio, you will regret that choice.

So, so far the Romney campaign, for example, made a huge buy yesterday and TV buy only in the nine tossup states, and they are Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida. They did not take the bait. They did not go into Michigan or Pennsylvania. Maybe the super PACs will.

The president so far has not invested any in Arizona. Every choice you make now about spending ad money, about steering the candidates is a risky one. Here's what I would watch for, though. The president wants to block Mitt Romney from getting to 270. Will the president pull out somewhere? Will he pull out of North Carolina, will he put out of Florida and try to build a firewall around say Ohio and Iowa and New Hampshire?

That is being discussed among the Democrats. The Obama campaign says, no way, we will compete in all of them. But don't listen to what they say. Watch where they go and where they spend.

BALDWIN: Watch what they do. Watch the money. John King for us in Ohio. John, thank you.

As we mentioned, President Obama, Governor Romney both in New York for this white-tie dinner tonight held every four years just before the election. Here's Senator John McCain being introduced, as was Barack Obama. This is the Al Smith charity dinner, this of course back in 2008. It's kind of a funny time for jokes, but that's how they do it. Want to take you back to 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's a tribute to American democracy that with two weeks left in a hard- fought election, two of us could come together and sit down at the same dinner table without preconditions.

(LAUGHTER)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I come here tonight to the Al Smith Dinner knowing that I'm the underdog in these final weeks, but if you know where to look, there are signs of hope. There's signs of hope, even in the most unexpected places, even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats. I can't -- I can't shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me.

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: I'm delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Now, recently, one of John's top advisers told "The Daily News" that if we keep talking about the economy, McCain's going to lose. So, tonight, I would like to talk about the economy.

(LAUGHTER)

MCCAIN: When a reporter asked him if Senator Obama was qualified to be president, Bill Clinton pointed out, sure. He's over 35 years of age and a U.S. citizen.

(LAUGHTER)

MCCAIN: He was pandering to the strict constructionist crowd.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Given all that's happened these past few weeks on Wall Street, it feels like an odd time to be dressed up in white tie, but I must say I got a great deal. Rented the whole outfit from the Treasury Department at a very good price.

(LAUGHTER)

MCCAIN: We all know the press is really an independent, civic- minded and nonpartisan group, like ACORN.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: John McCain is on to something. There was a point in my life when I started palling around with a pretty ugly crowd. I have got to be honest. These guys were serious deadbeats, they were lowlifes, they were unrepentant, no-good punks. That's right. I have been a member of the United States Senate.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Come to think of it, John, I swear I saw you at one of our meetings.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: But I know Senator McCain agrees that some of the rumors out there are getting a bit crazy. I mean, Rupert the other day, FOX News actually accused me of faring two African-American children in wedlock.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: By the way, John, I'm just curious. Is FOX News included in the media? Because I'm always hearing about this love. Just curious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Barack Obama and John McCain at the 2008 Al Smith Dinner. Tonight, as you know, it's Obama and Romney. Same stage, not jabbing one another, but looking for laughs. And you can watch it during Piers Morgan's hour. You know the deal, 9:00 Eastern here on CNN.

Now to this one. This is just crazy. This solo yachtsman runs into trouble in the high seas off the coast of Australia. The story about exactly how he is rescued here, this is a pretty incredible one.

And our CNN writer/producer Amy La Porte is here with me.

AMY LA PORTE, CNN WRITER/PRODUCER: Hello.

BALDWIN: hello, my friend.

But, first, just begin with how did this go down?

LA PORTE: You know I love a good rescue story, particularly one from my home country, Australia.

Imagine this with me, if you will. You're on a passenger flight, been a long flight, Vancouver to Sydney. You are coming into Sydney. You think it's coming to an end. You're sipping on your O.J. having a cookie.

All of a sudden, the pilot comes over the P.A. and say, just letting you know, passengers, we will be dropping from 35,000 feet to 5,000 feet and if you could roll up your shutters and scour the seas, we're looking for a stranded yacht.

BALDWIN: What?

LA PORTE: I know. Take a listen to what the pilot and one very nervous passenger had to say.

BALDWIN: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW ROBERTSON, AIR CANADA CAPTAIN: As we approached the area, I made a P.A. announcement to the passengers, please help us look for if you see anything because very difficult to find anything down even at -- 5,000 feet is almost a mile above the water.

JILL BARBER, PASSENGER: Heart beating a little bit faster. Anything out of the ordinary on an international flight like that is a bit concerning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. Quite out of the ordinary I would say. As they're hovering, what, 5,000 feet above this the ocean... LA PORTE: Yes.

BALDWIN: They find him.

LA PORTE: They do.

The pilot actually manages to turn. They don't see anything for a while. The pilot manages to turn the plane. All of a sudden, all of these passengers that somehow had binoculars with them.

BALDWIN: What?

LA PORTE: Go figure.

Yell out, we see him, we see him. There he is floating adrift. He's actually been out there for nine days.

BALDWIN: And survived that long.

LA PORTE: Well, being a typical Aussie, it took him eight days to set off his emergency beacon thinking, she will be right, mate. I will able to get back to shore by myself.

It turns out he really did need the help of this passenger, crew. I mean, it is just an incredible story. He actually lost the mast off his boat in high seas. A wave tipped over the boat and there you go,lucky guy.

BALDWIN: I have never, ever heard of something like this.

LA PORTE: No, incredible. Passenger plane. Here I was thinking my next flight back to Australia might be a boring one.

BALDWIN: There you go. Keep your eyes peeled. Amy, thank you, very much.

Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Just a short time ago, damning evidence against the Boy Scouts. You're about to hear the stories no parent wants to hear.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): Forget Mitt Romney. President Obama's got a new swing state challenge, the NRA.

Plus, the day care from hell -- a stunning scandal sparks fury and a firebomb attack.

And as the Boss stumps, we take a look at other celebs running the trail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The Boy Scouts of America is calling them the perversion files.

A couple hours ago, some 20,000 of those files were released in Oregon and each one gave details of alleged child sex abuse by more than 1,000 Boy Scout leaders and volunteers. Details given along with some names, and I'm not talking about victims' names, not talking about witness names, but the names of some of the Scout masters who were banned for perversion.

It is a lot of information the Boy Scouts never, ever wanted you to see.

CNN's Paul Vercammen has been looking at some of the details coming out of these files and he joins me live from Los Angeles.

First, crystal clear here, CNN is not naming any names. But tell me, Paul, what do the files tell us about the accused and specifically what they're accused of doing?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, they're accused of molestation mainly. Some of the acts could be physical such as there was an instance where a Scout leader punched a young man in the chest.

It also says they came from 50 states and a variety of professions. Looking through the files, I saw a schoolteacher, an alarm system dispatcher, we had a customer service representative for the airlines and we also had an engineer, an auto parts clerk, a repairman, a real estate appraiser.

They had a varying level of education. Some of them had college degrees including master's degrees and a lot of them surprisingly were married. And as the documents showed, in some instances, the act of alleged molestation took place while the Scout leader was in his own home with his wife and in one case children in another room. So it tells us a lot about that, Brooke.

BALDWIN: The president of the Boy Scouts of America says they have absolutely changed. They have taken precautions, but on the flip side you have the attorneys for the alleged victims saying, yes, they're not so sure about that. What exactly has changed?

VERCAMMEN: Well, I think the Scouts' big point is right now a lot of these molestations back then took place when a Scout leader, alleged pedophile, was able to pry away so to speak a young Scout from the rest of the unit.

A lot of these by the way happened at the Scout leader's home. So right now, the Scouts are saying, we no longer allow an adult to be alone with a young person, a Scout. You have to have two adults present. There's much higher parental involvement. And they think this is a start in the right direction.

By the way, signing up for Scouts now, the parents have to sit down and go through a lot of documents and other sort of stipulations with the Scouts and realize that there's been some problems in the past, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Joining the Boy Scouts these days is a little different, it sounds like, than once upon a time. Did lawyers say anything, Paul, new today about their efforts to access even more recent files?

VERCAMMEN: Absolutely.

As you may know, there are fights on several fronts, including here in California and in Texas, to get the 1985 to present files released. Also, the Boy Scouts are a congressionally chartered organization, and quoting from the presser, they're now calling on Congress to audit the Scouts, so a development there. We will see what happens with all of this as this is being fought on so many different fronts, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We will follow it with you. Paul Vercammen, thank you.

Top Wall Street CEOs sounding the alarm, pressuring the president and Congress to reach a deal to avoid a fiscal cliff that could affect you and possibly lead to a recession. Those details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The pressure to pull the nation back from the fiscal cliff is swelling. Now, some Wall Street titans are getting in to the game. Here you have CEOs of J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and about a dozen other members of the Financial Services Forum are urging the president, urging Congress to "reach a bipartisan deal to avoid the fiscal cliff."

The term refers to the automatic $1.2 trillion with a T. in cuts to government spending over the course of next 10 years that will go in to the effect the 1st of next year if the president and Congress do not agree to do something else.

In the meantime, administration officials say the president will veto any measure that does not include an increase in tax rates for top earners.

And our chief White House correspondent, Jessica Yellin, is live in Manchester, New Hampshire, traveling with the president.

Jessica Yellin, it sounds like the president is preparing for a showdown.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, this is what he's consistently said since the original deal for the tax cuts, that he would not sign anything to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest again.

But this is the sort of strongest expression of that. And the idea here is to lay out clearly both sides staking their ground to force a compromise and the idea is they would hope to avoid a government shutdown. What is most interesting about that CEO letter, by the way, is that during the debt ceiling drama that happened over last summer, Democrats and Republicans would privately complain that business leaders were telling them something has to get resolved, but business leaders wouldn't say it publicly.

And now business leaders clearly are worried about congressional inaction enough that they're speaking out.

BALDWIN: Making the letter public for all of us to see.

You're in New Hampshire. Why is the president in New Hampshire? What are we, 19 days to go until the election and there are all of four electoral votes there?

YELLIN: Right. Seems a little odd to spend time for just four votes, but I spoke to the senator from New Hampshire here, Jeanne Shaheen, the Democratic senator. She points out she was governor here in the year 2000 when Al Gore ran for president. And if he had won the state's four electoral votes, he would have become president.

So in an election that is as tight as this one is expected to be, the campaign is taking nothing for granted and that includes New Hampshire.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Thank you. Thank you so much.

Speaking of politics, the NRA taking aim at President Obama's campaign and what the president said at the debate this past week fueling the fire even more. Coming up next, how the NRA is using the president's own words against him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The second presidential debate certainly gave ammunition to the NRA that it didn't exactly expect to label the president as someone who can take your gun rights away. The gun advocacy group seizing on this from Tuesday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: That were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets. And so what I'm trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The NRA has created new TV ads to air in four swing states, and you have Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. Here's an exclusive look at just one of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: Obama's national gun ban would outlaw common rifles, including some of the most popular rifles used by law-abiding citizens for hunting, target shooting, and self-defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: On top of that, the NRA will spend another $800,000 in anti-Obama ads online and in seven swing states.

And Chris Cox is the executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action.

Chris Cox, welcome.

Look, I know how you feel about your Second Amendment rights. I can imagine you're pretty upset with the president by saying what he did. But here's the but. Mitt Romney, who just you endorsed, NRA endorsed just this month, did sign an extension of an assault weapons ban into law when he was governor of Massachusetts.

Do you, Chris, do you fear what Mitt Romney might do if elected president?

CHRIS COX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NRA INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION: Not at all, Brooke.

And the truth is, in a rare moment of honesty, President Obama admits he supports a national gun ban.

If you watch that debate, Mitt Romney said he doesn't support additional gun laws. President Obama wants to ban more guns.

That might be an "October Surprise" to some, but not to the National Rifle Association because this president has supported ...

BALDWIN: But I'm not -- sir, I'm not asking about President Obama.

COX: ... every gun ban ...

BALDWIN: I'm asking about Mitt Romney and you can say one thing but you can do another. We saw what he did in Massachusetts.

COX: That's right. The president --

BALDWIN: If this man is elected as president, are you at all fearful he may enact a ban?

COX: The president was very clear on Tuesday night and Mitt Romney was very clear on Tuesday night.

Mitt Romney said that he doesn't support additional gun bans and the president wants a new national gun ban.

The president -- it's consistent. He's supported every gun ban before him his entire career. Like I said, this might be a surprise to some but not to the National Rifle Association.

BALDWIN: If you are not too worried about what Mitt Romney may or may not do if he's elected, what then took the NRA so long to endorse him? That happened October 4th.

COX: Well, we traditionally wait until the fall, but here's what National Rifle Association is worried about and what gun owners across the country around about and it's the Supreme Court.

Our basic right to own a gun survives by one vote on the Supreme Court. This means we're one retirement or death away from losing the Second Amendment. President Obama's already put two anti-gun justices on the court. God forbid he gets a second term and gets to put another one to three on it.

So, this is a very, very high stakes -- gun owners know why it's so important and we're going to do everything we can to arm Second Amendment supporters across the country with the truth and the truth is President Obama simply can't be trusted with our gun rights.

BALDWIN: With, Chris -- with Second Amendment rights, I know you'll tell me that any kind of ban on any kind of weapon threatens the rights, but let me give you an example, the shooter in Aurora, Colorado.

Investigators say he used this AR-15 assault rifle and they still haven't been able to figure out exactly how many rounds are fired. We can deduce it was at least 70 since that's how many people were hurt or killed.

When some of the victims' families say, yes, let's ban assault weapons because of instances like this, what would you tell them?

COX: Well, two points. We tried a gun ban. From 1994 to 2004, they banned these guns. It didn't work.

Every study that was done showed that it wasn't effective because criminals, by definition, don't obey the law. And with regards to Aurora and these other tragic shootings that have happened, there's been one common thread and that's a red flag has been up. All these people had serious mental issues and no one reported it.

There needs to be a discussion on mental health in this country. We need to do everything we can to make sure those with mental health problems don't have access to firearms. The National Rifle Association has done more than anyone on that issue.

BALDWIN: Chris, I think a lot of people would agree with on mental health issue. I think a lot of folks also say, look, it's not the gun. If someone has nefarious intentions, they're going to get their hands on a gun, no matter what.

But bottom line, would, again, to this person wanting some sort of ban, would that not at least reduce the probability of something horrendous like this from happening?

COX: Brooke, banning guns from law-abiding people don't address the underlying problems of criminals and people with mental health problems misusing firearms. It's important to note that under President Obama the federal prosecution of gangbangers and drug dealers in possession of firearms has collapsed. At the same time, this president's calling for more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.

That's simply not a serious solution to any of these problems.

BALDWIN: While I have you, Chris Cox, let me just ask you. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just announced this SuperPAC to support moderate candidates who back gun control.

Are you -- is the NRA working on a plan to counter his $10 million or so that he plans to spend before the elections?

COX: Look, Michael Bloomberg has a lot of money. Obviously, we take that seriously, but what Bloomberg's going to find out on election day is all the money in the world's not going to buy the hearts and minds of the American people who support this God-given individual freedom that's protected by the Second Amendment.

BALDWIN: But will you do anything to try to counter that? $10 million is a lot of money.

COX: Absolutely. The National Rifle Association not only is targeting these battleground states, but we're all over the country making sure that NRA-supporters and Second Amendment supporters are armed with the truth and we like our chances because, when armed with the truth, the gun-owners and Second Amendment supporters vote for the right candidates and, once again, Michael Bloomberg's going to learn his money can't buy everything.

BALDWIN: Chris Cox, thank you.

COX: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: A major bomb plot foiled. The target? The Federal Reserve in New York and the heart, really, of the U.S. financial system, but was the sting operation -- was it a slippery slope, legally speaking? We're "On the Case," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, let me first just explain what it is we know here. This 21-year-old Bangladeshi man is in custody. He's in jail, accused of trying to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

He got caught because the people who were helping him plan this alleged attack, the people who gave him the fake explosives, were the FBI. Folks, this was a sting.

And we have Sunny Hostin "On the Case" with us because, Sunny, this goes to court. Defense, they'll present this as a sting or entrapment? How do they do is that?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there's no question that defense will present as an entrapment. The government, of course, will say, no, not entrapment, which is illegal. This would be a sting operation, but there really is a fine line between the two.

But there is no question that, should this go to trial, Brooke, this will be presented as entrapment by the defense because, get this, in 2010 there was a study done by the Center on Law and Security at NYU and NYU, this center there, tracks terrorism cases.

The study found that of 156 prosecutions and what it identified as sort of the most significant 50 cases since 9/11, informants were relied on in 97 of them. That's about 62 percent.

However, since 9/11, the entrapment defense has never, ever been successful, so that goes to sort of show you that it's a real issue that comes up in these terrorism cases, but it is very difficult to show that entrapment occurs.

BALDWIN: And there have been a number of these stings in the last couple of years. Let me just run down my list here.

You have Portland, Oregon, 2010, Christmas tree lighting ceremony. A teenager, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia, working with undercover agents allegedly plans to detonate explosives in the crowd and was apparently ready to go through with it, but that was a sting.

Then, just this past February, immigrant from Morocco allegedly planning to detonate what he believed to be an explosive vest near the U.S. capitol. That turned out to be harmless equipment provided to him by undercover FBI agents.

And, Sunny, there are, you know, I can go on, more cases of these stings. Legally, is this a good thing that we are, you know, finding, identifying these people, getting them off the streets, or is this a troubling trend?

HOSTIN: Well, certainly, since 9/11 there's been a real push by the government to stop these plots before they occur.

So, to be sure, we are certain that this is an effective law enforcement tool, a tool in the battle -- the war on terror, but it is a fine line between -- a constitutional line between what is a sting and what is entrapment because entrapment is illegal.

And let me say this. I mean, there are guidelines put in place by the Justice Department on the FBI. These are carefully thought out, carefully planned sting operations, but the real question is whether or not the suspects, whether or not the defendant would have committed the crime regardless of the government action.

Was this person ...

BALDWIN: Not just thought of it, but taking it there.

HOSTIN: Taking it there. Exactly. And, also, in these sting operations, Brooke, they are given, these suspects are given the opportunity to choose a different path. That is built in generally in the protocol. If they continue on, then that's a sting operation and not entrapment.

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, thank you. "On the Case" with us.

HOSTIN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: And from Clint Eastwood to Bruce Springsteen, famous faces on the campaign trail, stumping for their guy. We will show you the left and the right, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are 19 days out from election day and look who Bill Clinton introduced at an event today.

Ah, "The Boss," Bruce Springsteen, performing for the crowd. This is Parma, Ohio. And, you know, if you feel like you've seen a lot of celebrity endorsements or appearances for either Mitt Romney or President Obama in the last couple of months, you are not alone.

Plenty of famous movie stars, athletes, singers, choosing sides just like you. And here's what they're saying.

MARY J. BLIGE, SINGER: I think we need, you know, to really give President Obama another term because he can't -- he didn't finish and he deserves to finish.

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: When somebody does not do the job, we've got to let them go.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER, ACTRESS: The guy who created 4 million new jobs, that guy, President Obama and Michelle are coming to my house for dinner on June 14th and I want you to be there, too.

JEFF FOXWORTHY, COMEDIAN: I was able to avoid politics for 53 years. And somebody said why in the world would you get in it now? United behind the right candidate, we are a powerful, powerful force.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No other Hollywood fund-raiser for President Obama gotten the buzz or pulled in the bucks like the event George Clooney and Jeffrey Katzenberg are hosting.

STACEY DASH, ACTRESS: We're all entitled to our opinion and I used my platform to exercise my First Amendment right as an American citizen to say who I am choosing to vote for.

WILL.I.AM, MUSICIAN: I support President Barack Obama because I support neighborhoods like the one I come from. I support neighborhoods like the ones I dream -- always dreamt of living in.

JOHN ELWAY, HALL OF FAME QUARTERBACK: So, I get the opportunity to introduce to you the next president of the United States, Governor Mitt Romney!

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: It is a hot-button issue here on the campaign trail. How can America break its addiction to coal and foreign oil? That's what a CNN special takes a look at this weekend.

Fareed Zakaria's team traveled all around the world to look at renewable energy, look at natural gas and they found what's often called the fifth fuel, the fifth fuel efficiency here. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Trains, planes and automobiles burn over 13 million barrels of oil every day in the United States and we spend over a billion dollars per day buying that oil, almost half of which comes from foreign countries, some of whom are considered national security problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Weaning ourselves off oil saves about $4 trillion net present value in the United States. Look, that money then stays at home.

ZAKARIA: So, Lovins reasoned, what if we wasted less fuel getting gas to the wheels? And he designed the hyper-car which could weigh about two-thirds less than a normal car and could run up to an astonishing 240-miles-per-gallon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Global lessons, "The GPS Roadmap for Powering America," it's a special, airs this Sunday night, 8:00 and 11:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin has been scheduled for trial and, looking at the track record of the judge here, it may be tough for him to use "stand your ground" as a defense.

You will hear from another man who tried. This is a CNN exclusive.

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BALDWIN: George Zimmerman is getting some strong advice from the only guy who ever used the "stand your ground defense" against the same Florida judge handling the Zimmerman case here.

This man says, forget about it. The "stand your ground" argument just will not work with this judge.

Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin and CNN's David Mattingly interviewed with this Florida man who lost his "stand your ground" battle with Judge Debra Nelson.

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DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kishawn Jones claimed he was standing his ground when he shot and killed a Florida man during an argument over $20 and a gun. He now has two words of warning for George Zimmerman.

Anything you want to say to him?

KISHAWN JONES, FORMER DEFENDANT: Good luck.

MATTINGLY: Kishawn Jones argued "stand your ground: in front of Circuit Judge Debra Nelson, the same judge now handling George Zimmerman's case.

Jones' attorney thought the law was in their favor.

What was it that made you feel like you had a strong case for stand your ground?

DAN GERAGHTY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I knew right away that he was not looking for any trouble and that trouble came to find him. And that is a classic "stand your ground"-type of scenario.

MATTINGLY: And just like George Zimmerman, Jones claimed he believed his life was in danger the moment he pulled the trigger.

He even had a witness backing up his story, but in the end, Jones was denied.

Where did you go wrong?

GERAGHTY: This wasn't obviously a jury trial. This was a "stand your ground" hearing. The judge was the juror, only juror, in that situation.

MATTINGLY: In this case, Judge Nelson not only looked at the facts, but sized up Jones, as well. His demeanor, his frankness, his emotions, voice, even his body language played into her decision.

And that could be a problem for George Zimmerman. His last judge said that Zimmerman tried to deceive the court about money he had raised for his defense and may have actually planned to leave the country to escape prosecution.

Will he have enough credibility now to convince Judge Nelson that he was standing his ground when he shot and killed Trayvon Martin?

Is there any advice you want to give George Zimmerman? Something that he needs to be prepared for when he goes in front of this judge?

You're shaking your head like it's not going to be easy for him.

JONES: Not going to be easy, that's all I've got to say.

MATTINGLY: If you're wondering why Kishawn Jones is a free man today, it's because when his case later went to trial, he was acquitted.

The argument of "stand your ground" didn't work with the judge, but it did with the jury.

What were you able to say to the jury that worked that you weren't able to do with the judge?

GERAGHTY: Well, I asked -- I essentially asked the jury in a roundabout way to think about how they would react in that situation.

MATTINGLY: A question Zimmerman's defense will no doubt be asking, as well.

David Mattingly, CNN, Seminole County, Florida.

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BALDWIN: After decades in the print business, a popular news magazine forced to catch up with the digital age.

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BALDWIN: There is only one place where you will find the hottest news on the Internet in real-time. It's called CNN Trends. This is a new tech-feature we are officially rolling out on CNN.com.

And here to show us how this work, Victor Blackwell. Victor, talk to me.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, it is CNN Trends fueled by Zite and it is really the place to start the conversation about the big stories, all that stories everyone's talking about.

You go here. Not only is there the CNN story, but other sources, "Daily Beast," "The New York Times," BBC.

So, I asked the creator, the CEO, Mark Johnson, why would we want our competitors on our website? Well, here's what he told me.

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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.

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.

And 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 website, they're going to come back to us because they know that on CNN Trends they're going to get the complete broad view of the story.

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BLACKWELL: And, of course, you've got the broad categories, but you can close the scope in, narrow it a bit. If you want to talk politics, click the politics tab and it will give you the top stories in the political arena.

Again, it's CNN.com/Trends. Brooke?

BALDWIN: OK. So, why waste our time, I guess, Googling all around when, boom ...

BLACKWELL: That's the point.

BALDWIN: ... it's right there.

BLACKWELL: Cut out the middleman.

BALDWIN: Victor Blackwell, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Yep.

BALDWIN: And one more before I let you go here, speaking of the digital age, a staple item on the American newsstand will be missing come end of December.

"Newsweek" has announced after 80 years of print it's going digital. Today, the editor-in-chief had this to say.

Quote, "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."

"Newsweek" will become a subscription-online publication, "Newsweek Global."

In the past, the magazine has struggled to find an online presence. Job cuts are expected.

And in Arizona, Maricopa County, to be exact, this county listed the wrong election date on the Spanish version of their voter registration cards, so instead of saying November 6th, the cards erroneously read November 8th.

Officials say the error affected approximately 50 cards out of 2 million and the error has since been corrected.

Thanks so much for being with me here.

Here we go, 19 days until election day. Wolf Blitzer is all over politics, everything else happening here.

Thanks so much for being with me. Let's go to Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Hey, Wolf.