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Obama, Romney Prep For Final Debate; Free Weed For Proof You Voted; Armstrong Stripped Of Titles; Cycling Body Comes Down Hard; Native American Named Saint; Obama Offers Help In Shooting Probe; Three Dead In Salon Shooting; Giants Force Game Seven In NLCS; Gas Prices Drop For 11th Straight Day; CEO Of AIG Wants You To Thank Him

Aired October 22, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The merging of five national polls show the men are tied at, get this, 47 percent, among likely voters, some irony for you this morning.

White House correspondent Brianna Keilar is in Boca Raton, Florida, for the primetime face-off. So Brianna, tell us how will tonight's debate differ from all the others?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, one of the most interesting and I think obvious differences we're going to see, Carol, is the seating arrangement. Tonight, President Obama and Mitt Romney will be sitting very close together at the same table as the moderator.

It's going to look kind of like the vice presidential debate, that setup when you saw Vice President Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan. So it's going to look like that instead of obviously last week where they were able to wander the floor during the town hall or they were at podiums, somewhat removed from each other and from the moderator.

Also tonight is all about foreign policy. There will be a little bit about China, but predominantly it will be focusing on the Middle East. So some of the things you're going to look for the candidates to do.

Some sources from the Romney campaign talking to our Dana Bash have said he's going to try to come across with a calmer demeanor perhaps than we saw last week in New York. Also, that he's going to try to hit President Obama on Libya.

This was seen as a missed opportunity in last week's debate. So he's going to try to do that today and also that he's going to try to bring some of this back to the economy because, let's be honest, his expertise isn't necessarily foreign policy.

For President Obama, for his part, he's going to try to point out Mitt Romney's foreign policy blunders. Remember he took a foreign trip where he made some mistakes. He'll hit him for lack of specifics.

And also he'll do something that we're seeing already the campaign do today. Try to paint Romney as just not really ready to handle this, not really presidential, trying to paint him as bellicose, as not ready for that.

This is something the campaign is already doing today with a new ad out that's out, Carol, and also with a memo that they put out.

COSTELLO: All right, Brianna Keilar reporting live from Boca Raton, Florida.

Mitt Romney walks into tonight's debate with more to prove than the president. According to a "Washington Post"/ABC News poll, half of registered voters say Obama would do better job at handling international affairs. Only 40 percent give the nod to Romney. Both men will be gunning for that 5 percent that's uncommitted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The challenge for President Obama is going to be defining the Middle East strategy going forward. I mean, he's had some successes. He's had some things that are still pretty murky.

I think for Romney there's a broad challenge, and that is how do you drill down into specific policies? The Republican Party hasn't really figured out what a Republican foreign policy looks like after the Bush administration. I think Romney's been uneager to really delve into that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's bring in CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein to expound on these points. Ron serves as the editorial director of the "National Journal." I didn't want to leave anything out.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: So is that guy right?

BROWNSTEIN: Look, we're talking about a race that is in the national polls dead even at 47/47, which is not actually a great number for an incumbent president. We'll come back to that.

I think the real question about this debate is how does each side fit it into their larger strategy in the final weeks of the campaign? Certain for Mitt Romney, I think Jon is right.

And what he said the job number one is reassuring people he's up to the job, that he's ready to be president. That's what he was able to do substantially on the economy in the first debate. That's the job on foreign policy here in the third debate, especially after that rocky trip this summer.

I think for the president the question is can he fit the debate tonight again into his strategy in the end game, which seems to be very much focused on regaining strength among women that have moved away from him since that first debate.

In the second debate, he raised a lot of issues relating to women. I think tonight you will hear questioning about whether Mitt Romney is too quick to talk about war, particularly in regards to Iran.

COSTELLO: Well, I was just going to say that because most women I know don't like war. They want our military men and women to come home as in right now. So might that hurt Mitt Romney if he starts talking about Iran and sort of war-like terms?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think it's very interesting. I mean, you saw Joe Biden try to open this door certainly in the debate with Paul Ryan. Basically arguing not only on Iran, but also Afghanistan and whether the troops are leaving in 2014 basically making the case that the republican ticket is too quick to talk about war.

It's the converse of what the Republicans are doing to Obama in effect is trying to portray him as too soft. What Mitt Romney will say is, look, if we are strong, our adversaries will do what we want without actually having to go to war.

But I think this is a debate that does offer the president some opportunities to try to move down the lane that he opened in that second debate clearly focusing on women for good reason.

You know, the two national polls out in the last 48 hours have him trailing by double digits among white women, which is about double his deficit from '08. There is some evidence there was women that were most affected by the Romney performance in that first debate where he reassured a lot of people that he wasn't the caricature that the Obama ad had painted in this.

COSTELLO: OK, let's talk a little bit more about the polls because there are so many polls this election season. Frankly, it's just confusing and sometimes I try not to pay attention too much because they're difficult -- what do they mean?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, you know, if you're looking at national polling at this point, you look at what's come out in the last couple of days. On balance, it is more ominous than reassuring for the president.

That NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll or your poll of polls to have him at 47 percent even in a tie for an incumbent to be that far below 50 percent this close to an election is a little troubling and also that NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll only had him at 36 percent among white voters.

His formula for success, Carol, is 80 percent of minorities and 40 percent of whites, below that he gets in trouble. On the other hand, Ohio looks better largely because working class whites in the upper Midwest, auto bailout and Bain are better for him than anywhere else in the country. As long as he has Ohio where he's ahead, he's probably still a slight favorite in this race.

COSTELLO: Ron Brownstein, thanks for your insight as usual. Thanks so much. CNN's debate coverage begins tonight 7:00 Eastern.

Legal action is being considered against those responsible for flyers being passed around Eagle Rock, California, but wait until you hear why. It will blow your mind, man.

The flyers offered $40 worth of free medical grade marijuana if voters could prove they voted. The flyers included candidates of the progress and collaboration slate who ran against candidates who are opposed to pot dispensaries in the state.

Eagle Rock native and CNN national editor Nick Valencia joins me now. So Nick, you're from those parts?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, we should say in the interest of full disclosure that this is my hometown. It's where I was born and raised, but I haven't lived there for about six years now.

COSTELLO: Don't give excuses right now. I mean, it's not every day you hear that voters are being offered pot to vote.

VALENCIA: Yes, and that's what critics have multiple problems with this flyer. One, that it's inducing candidates they say to vote for a particular candidate while offering them a monetary compensation.

We reached out to the local Los Angeles city councilman's office that representing this district. This is what he tells CNN. He said my office has referred this matter to the city attorney's offense and DONE, the agency overseeing neighborhood councils for investigation.

I will also be introducing a motion seeking a rule change for the eligibility in stakeholder status, this is very important, Carol, so that only those who are truly invested in the community can vote during neighborhood council elections.

What's a stakeholder? This is a thing, a provision in this election allows you could go to my hometown, by a Starbucks cup of coffee at a local Starbucks and be eligible to vote.

We reached out to the president listed on this slate that was endorsed by this flyer, and he says he had nothing to do with it. He completely distanced himself from this flyer. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON GRANDE II, LOST BID AS EAGLE ROCK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL PRESIDENT (via telephone): Like I said, I had no knowledge of the flyer, and speaking with the other candidates on the slate, I know they had no knowledge of the flyer again until the day of the election when it was passed around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: So he's distanced himself from it altogether. He's saying actually it's his opponents. This falls in line with the mudslinging his opponents have been doing the entire campaign.

COSTELLO: In order for any action to be taken, they really have to figure out who is behind these flyers.

VALENCIA: And whoever did it is very crafty. We spoke to one resident, Shauna Smith, her and her husband have filed a complaint questioning the legitimacy of this election. She claims it came from a pot dispensary in downtown Los Angeles.

This brings in the issue of stakeholders, people coming from outside the district to vote. Eagle Rock has become a battleground in this fight for medical marijuana dispensaries as other dispensaries in Southern California are closing.

People are coming to Eagle Rock because for all intents and purposes, they have been very friendly. There are 15 dispensaries in Eagle Rock if you can believe it within a mile and a half. It's not that big of a town, about 30,000 people.

COSTELLO: OK, I'm embarrassed to ask you this, but I must. So are the flyers effective?

VALENCIA: Well, Shauna Smith says yes. Last year 90 people turned out for this local election. This year, Carol, there was 800 people. She says she has proof at least 300 of those 800 people voted because of this flyer, but still no one is taking credit for it. We don't know where it came from.

COSTELLO: I'm sure you will get to the bottom of it.

VALENCIA: We're investigating.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Nick.

Cycling's governing body has delivered the biggest hit to Lance Armstrong's legend. The group stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour De France titles and banned him from the sport.

The decision follows the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's finding of overwhelming evidence of Armstrong doping. Here is the head of the International Cycling Union three hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT MCQUAID, PRESIDENT, UCI: Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling so he deserves to be forgotten in cycling now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Victor Blackwell is in Austin, Texas, where Lance Armstrong spoke yesterday. Welcome.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. He spoke to about 4,300 riders as part of the "Livestrong Challenge," but he did not mention just before the start of that ride anything about the USADA's claim of the overwhelming evidence that he doped. No mention of his future with "Livestrong." You know, he stepped down as chairman last week. He just gave a message of encouragement and said when people ask him how he's doing, he says he's been better, but he's also been worse.

Now, I can tell you we just spoke with the Armory Sports Organization, the company that runs the Tour De France, and they've said that they will not ask for those seven yellow jerseys back.

But there were also about 3 million euros, which is about almost $4 million in prize money, and they've said that the International Cycling Union will have to determine if they're going to ask for that money back -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was just curious, I mean, you were among the crowd. When Lance Armstrong spoke to the crowd and said he'd had better days, what was the crowd's reaction?

BLACKWELL: Well, listen, this is where he lives. This is his hometown, his organization is based here. We're actually standing outside of the "Livestrong" headquarters waiting for a response to those strong words this morning.

They were very supportive. There were applause and from the people we spoke with, they support both "Livestrong" and Lance Armstrong. Here is what they told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe people are jealous maybe. Maybe he's famous, maybe he's rich, and people are out to destroy him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm afraid that people will just turn against the foundation because of what Lance may or may not have done, but, again, it's not about him. It's about helping those that need help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've raised half a billion, $500 million in 15 years, and, you know, he's a survivor himself and to me at this point that's what it's all about. Supporting "Livestrong," Lance Armstrong, and I know he stepped down as chairman, but he's still on the board and come on, he is "Livestrong." There is no doubt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He made a wise decision to step down and just give a little bit of separation from the foundation, but I don't think in -- I think time will heal that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Over the weekend, "Livestrong" had a very successful fund-raising operation. They report that they've raised $4.2 million, but after today's announcement from the International Cycling Union, there could be another shoe to drop. The International Olympic Committee is considering stripping Lance of the 2000 cycling medal that he won in Sydney -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Victor Blackwell, reporting live from Austin, Texas. Thank you.

There's a CEO who is looking for some thanks from you. We'll tell you who it is and give you about 182 billion reasons why he may be out of line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is 15 minutes past the hour. Time to check our top stories. For the first time a Native American has been named a saint. The 17th Century woman known as "Lily of the Mohawk" was canonized with six others in a special mass at St. Peter's Square. Pope Benedict said she lived a, quote, "life radiant with faith and purity."

President Obama pledging federal resources to help in the investigation of a deadly shooting in Wisconsin. Police say Radcliffe Haughton shot seven women killing three at a suburban Milwaukee salon on Sunday before he shot himself. The incident comes days after a judge issued a restraining order to keep him away from his ex-wife of four years.

The San Francisco Giants have forced a game seven in the National League Championship series with St. Louis. Ryan Vogelsong struck out nine Cardinals in seven innings and the Giants went on to win 6-1. Game seven tonight in San Francisco, weather permitting. The winner, of course, moves on to the World Series.

Good news for you, the consumer. Gas prices have dropped for the 11th straight day. Prices are down 8 cents in the past two weeks and some 20 cents from their peak earlier this month. The average price for a gallon of gas is now $3.67. It's expected to drop another 30 cents or so by late November. Some analysts say it could dip below 3 bucks a gallon.

Thanks for the bailout. That's what the CEO of AIG is saying that you should be saying to him. The company was given a $182 billion bailout by the U.S. government. It's repaid the fed that amount plus profit, and now AIG wants you to thank them.

Joining me now is Alison Kosik from the New York Stock Exchange. Seriously?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Seriously. This is exactly what he's saying. Look, Robert Benmosche has never been the kind of guy to sort of pussyfoot around with words. He's always had a brash, direct approach.

You know, and he did this interview with "New York" magazine and it is raising a lot of eyebrows because the CEO of AIG is essentially saying, look, the government should thank us for paying back our bailout money and keeping the company from imploding.

BenMosche, by the way, took over AIG in 2009 from the previous chief, Hank Greenburg. Remember AIG was one of the biggest Wall Street companies the government swooped in to rescue during the height of the crisis.

And you look in the article and BenMosche says of his company, we have done all the right things. Somebody should say, by golly, those AIG people made a promise and they are living up to a promise. We're left with a major part of the economy in America.

They're going to make a profit on top of everything else they've got. God bless America, God bless AIG, and God bless tiny Tim. There it looks like he's referring to Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary.

But about the profit, what he's referring to, Carol, is the fact that the New York fed made an $18 billion profit in its stake. The other part of the bailout, that came from the Treasury, and it still owns some AIG shares.

And the Treasury Department, by the way, is losing less than expected as it sells that stock. And you look at AIG shares, they've gained more than 50 percent this year -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, yippy. Isn't this the same guy who took off for Croatia just after taking over a sinking AIG because it was the first Zinfandel harvest?

KOSIK: Yes, you know what? Benmosche, he is not apologizing for that. You kind of get the sense he thinks vacations like those are justified. And this is his point, he thinks he kept the company that could have very well have collapsed.

He kept that from collapsing and taking the economy along with it. He says the government wanted to break up AIG, but he recognized how crucial it was to the financial system and kept it together.

And guess what? He's not against those big pay packages either. He believes that's what the employees who run these companies are worth. And there's another Wall Streeter who is quoted in this article and he compares AIG to Lehman, which by the way, wasn't able to survive on its own.

And he says it's a different sensation going on at AIG that the company is kind of coming back to life, and they really take pride in paying back the good old taxpayer -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, thanks, Alison.

KOSIK: No problem.

COSTELLO: Hope he enjoyed his Zinfandel. I bet he bought cases and cases.

KOSIK: I bet he did.

COSTELLO: The topic of tonight's third and final presidential debate is foreign policy, but the winner may be the one who is best able to pivot to domestic issues, such as the economy. We'll have a preview. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, seriously, are there still undecided voters?

Fifteen days until the election, hard to believe, right, because it seems like this election has been going on since time began. Most of you want it to be over already, except for maybe undecided voters.

I mean, seriously? How could that be? Mitt Romney has been running for president since forever, and everybody knows Barack Obama, our president for the past four years.

And the two men are like cats and dogs, as different in economic policy as you can be. I'm not the only one befuddled. The great undecided are now the butt of jokes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When is the election? How soon do we have to decide?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are the names of the two people running? And be specific.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is the president right now? Is he or she running? Because if so, experience is maybe something we should consider.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long is the president's term of office? One year? Two years? Three years? Life?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Geez, if you're wondering who the experts say those undecided voters are, business insider analyzed a poll released by "Politico" and George Washington University and came up with a composite.

She, the undecided voter is a she, white, protestant, 18 to 29 years old and single, employed, not a college graduate. A self- identified independent who splits tickets when voting.

She lives in a union household and is considered low income and, yes, she did not watch those debates. Now, to win the election Obama and Romney will have to find this elusive voter, and they'll have to win her over.

So for the next 15 days get ready to be bombarded with political ads, whether you have decided or not. The "Talkback" question this morning, seriously, are there still undecided voters? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Your responses later this hour.

Promoting a gay lifestyle or teaching tolerance? A school program aimed at helping students deal with bullies coming under fire. But is the fire warranted? I should say not. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us. We're coming up on 30 minutes past the hour. Time to check on our top stories.

President Obama and Mitt Romney face-off tonight in the third and final presidential debate. This one will focus on foreign policy. Romney has surged in the polls this month though a new "Washington Post"/ABC News poll suggests voters favor the president on dealing with global affairs.

Cycling's governing body today banned Lance Armstrong from the sport and stripped him of his seven Tour De France titles. The move follows the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's finding of overwhelming evidence that Armstrong doped. Also eyeglass maker, Oakley, said it's ending his relationship with Armstrong.

And Cuba steps up efforts to douse any more speculation that Fidel Castro is on his deathbed. A state run newspaper published an article under Castro's name and scuffed at the rumors. The article included pictures of Castro reportedly taken on Saturday. You see them there.

We all know what's at stake tonight, the presidential race is tight and tonight's debate could help decide it. The topic is foreign policy and this new ad from the Obama campaign says voters have a clear choice on that issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama has brought 30,000 soldiers back from Afghanistan and has a responsible plan to end the war. Romney calls it Obama's biggest mistake. It's time to stop fighting over there and start rebuilding here.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: With me now, CNN contributors Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist and Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist. Welcome to you both.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning, Carol.

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So is it really that clear cut? Romney wants war and the President wants to rebuild America, Maria?

CARDONA: Of course it is, Carol. No, look, obviously these things are a lot more nuanced than that, but I think what's important about that ad and what the President will underscore tonight is that thus far the only thing that we've been getting from Mitt Romney in terms of what his foreign policy would be is a whole lot of bluster, a whole lot of blunder and not a whole lot of air there.

And so I think what he underscores is that the President has been very steady, has been courageous. He has really led at the moments where it really counts. I'm sure he will talk about Osama bin Laden. I'm sure he will talk about fixing our alliances across the board overseas.

While Mitt Romney, whether he offers something that is not any different from what the President is doing or whether he talks about going to war, going to war, going to war is not what this country needs at this delicate time.

COSTELLO: And Ana, Maria has a point because Governor Romney's plan for even our policies in the Middle East are quite similar to Obama's still. So how will he differentiate himself tonight?

NAVARRO: I think he's going to differentiate himself when it comes to leadership and leading through strength as opposed to leading from behind, which is something that the Obama administration has been accused of doing. It's actually their own words, but also, look, you know, when it comes to this ad, I think Obama -- President Obama is playing to his base. This was a campaign promise. I'm going to end the war, I'm going to bring the troops home, and I think he's got to really energize his base.

The other thing is, you know, he's in -- right now in a tough spot. He used to be leading on this issue of foreign policy. It's not supposed to be Mitt Romney's bailiwick. He's a governor and yet we've seen that in the last few weeks he's made great strides in closing the gap on the foreign policy issue, who would be better at handling foreign policy. It's something that's got to be of great concern for President Obama right now.

I think you're going to see a very heated debate, a lot like what we saw last week.

COSTELLO: I think though that blogs and conservative media kind of like, you know, kind of like control the conversation, and voters really do listen to that. They never heard President Obama debate Mitt Romney on foreign policy, and maybe that will make a difference. I mean, will it be all important to President Obama, Maria, to win this debate?

CARDONA: Oh there's no question about that, Carol. I mean, we know that this race is as tight as it can be, and even though Mitt Romney has somewhat narrowed the gap on foreign policy, voters across the board by ten points or even more in polls still see this President has a huge advantage on foreign policy.

But I think what is going to be very important for both candidates to try to do, Carol, is even though foreign policy is critical, it really does not trump economic policy. So I think what you're going to -- you're going to see the candidates try to do, if they can, if they can find a way, is pivot back to why this is important from an economic security standpoint.

And I think that the President will be able to do that in terms of all the decisions that he has made in terms of making Americans a lot more secure here at home and about how it is time now to really focus on rebuilding America and rebuilding the middle class, which he wants to do versus Mitt Romney who really the only thing he wants to do is rebuild millionaires and billionaires and I think that will be important topic.

COSTELLO: Oh, Maria. Ana along those lines, Mitt Romney, you know, everybody said when Mitt Romney started running for President in earnest that the conversation should focus only on the economy. So does that mean that Mr. Romney will pivot to the economy tonight as well and we'll get more of that than foreign policy?

NAVARRO: The economy continues being the number one issue, but it turns out that Americans can walk and chew gum at the same time and that we are interested in a variety of issues whether it's women's issues, whether foreign policy, yes, the economy. We want specifics on housing, on tax plans, on Medicare.

So you know it turns out we have a variety of interests even though the economy continues to be our top concern. I think -- look, I think there's a lot of cloth to cut on the foreign policy issues and it's something that we haven't seen fleshed out during this campaign very fully so far.

There is issues like Syria. There is issues like Benghazi. There's what's going to happen with Iran? What's happening with the relationship with Israel?

So there's a lot to discuss, and I hope and I suspect Maria does, too, that they touch Latin America.

I am pretty tired of campaign after campaign promising me they're not going to neglect Latin America and then four years -- then they get elected and we have four years of neglect toward that region.

COSTELLO: Ana Navarro, Maria Cardona -- thanks so much for the conversation. I appreciate it.

CARDONA: Thanks so much, Carol.

COSTELLO: CNN's live debate coverage starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

"Mix it up at lunch" is an effort to stop bullying as it get kids to sit with other kids they don't normally associate with. But conservative groups claims the lunch day really promotes homosexuality and that I am the gay Gestapo.

We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: October 30th is "Mix it up at lunch day" for thousands of schools across the country. The teaching tolerance event promotes anti-bullying and urges kids to mix up their social groups. I'll speak with the director of that program in just a moment.

But first, I want you to hear this. Last week on this very program I had a rather contentious conversation with a member of the American Family Association, an organization which alleges "mix it up at lunch day" is really an effort to promote a gay lifestyle. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYAN FISCHER, AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION: The Southern Poverty Law Center, they're out to destroy the AFA and FRC. That makes them the bullying group that makes them the hate group. They're the ones that want to silence any view that would criticize the normalization of homosexual behavior. And we know from the CDC and from the FDA not part of the vast right-wing conspiracy that homosexual behavior has the same health risks --

COSTELLO: Well, that's just not true. I'm going to end this interview now sir, I'm sorry because that's just not true.

Mr. Fischer thanks for sharing your views, I guess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Not. Yes, I ended that conversation. His organization believes the event, this "mix it up at lunch day" event, has some hidden agenda to promote a homosexual lifestyle. And a few days ago he came after me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FISCHER: And homosexual behavior is immoral, it is unnatural and it is unhealthy. That is a simple straightforward statement of fact. But for the gay Gestapo, they're going to call that an insult.

Now, Carol Costello, she showed you what this looks like. I mean, Carol Costello when I was on with her at CNN, she showed you what the gay Gestapo looks like in action because she cut my water off just as soon as I started to talk about the health risks of homosexual behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, Mr. Fischer if that's the definition of the gay Gestapo, then I'm a proud card carrying member. We thought it was important to showcase what is a genuine attempt to teach tolerance for all kids who might be different in school.

Here to talk about that is the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance program, Maureen Costello. Welcome, Maureen.

MAUREEN COSTELLO, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Thank you, Carol nice to be here.

COSTELLO: I'm glad to have you. First, let's get this out of the way. No relation. You're probably an Irish Costello.

M. COSTELLO: I am an Irish Costello and I'd be happy to claim you, but you're right, no relation.

COSTELLO: That's right, I'm the Italian version of Costello. So -- so let's be clear. Could you explain your program's mission?

M. COSTELLO: Yes. My program's mission is simply to help children get past labels and stereotypes and understand that individuals are not defined by the group they may belong to. So whatever those groups are at school and sometimes they're based on race and sometimes they're based on class and sometimes they're based on ability, what we do is we encourage kids to sit with someone different and have usually a pretty structured conversation in which they find that they have something in common. End of story.

COSTELLO: And if your program -- it's gone on for 11 years, it's not like it's something new.

M. COSTELLO: It is not new. It's been going on for 11 years. It's been very, very successful in a lot of schools. And in schools that do it well, it helps promote a positive environment. What we want to have is a positive environment where every child who walks into a school feels that he or she belongs there and they feel welcome.

COSTELLO: And I know thousands of schools participate and you know this Mr. Fischer's group came out. Have any schools pulled out from the program because of his allegations?

M. COSTELLO: Probably about 250 schools have been intimidated into pulling out. Many of them have said to us, we're still doing it but we can't do it on that day and we're going to call it something else.

Mainly they just felt harassed by people calling them, often strangers, who were being fed complete misinformation. In fact, I mean, the whole thing is rather bizarre when you consider how innocuous mix it up really is. It's benign. It's meant to help those kids who are really marginalized who sit by themselves to be -- feel like they're part of something.

COSTELLO: So why do you think you've come under attack this particular year?

M. COSTELLO: Well, you know, the Southern Poverty Law Center of which teaching tolerance is a part, has named the AFA as a hate group not based on their positions but based on their use of lies and demonizing propaganda because what they really want to seem to want to do is stir up hatred towards the LGBT community. And as you found out being labeled a gay Gestapo and as I have found out after this campaign, many people trust the AFA and what it does is we have really gotten an avalanche of hate mail and it really can be seen as nothing but hate mail.

They hate the fact, a lot of hate going on here, they really dislike the fact that they've been named a hate group. They claim it's because they're opposed -- because of their biblical positions. That is not the reason. It is because of the lies.

And you heard some of that when he was on with you, went off on this thing about Hitler and the Storm Troopers. I mean, it is just a bizarre preoccupation, and it's -- you know Bryan Fischer sees the homosexual agenda in a dish of ice cream.

COSTELLO: Well, I hope your program "Mix It Up Day" is a huge success as it has been for the past 11 years. And thank you for being on today and clarifying for us and sharing your thoughts. Maureen Costello, thank you so much.

M. COSTELLO: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: It happens to so many of us, the phone rings at dinnertime, we answer it and it is another recorded call. You know those robo calls? Now, the government wants you to help figure out how to stop those robo calls and it will pay you $50,000 bucks.

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COSTELLO: The stakes are high and, of course, the clock is ticking. We're now just a little more than ten hours from the third and final presidential debate. The race is deadlocked according to this morning's new CNN poll of polls. The merging of five national polls show Governor Romney and President Obama tied at an ironic 47 percent among likely voters.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria joins us with a closer look at tonight's debate. He hosts, "FAREED ZAKARIA, GPS" and he's editor-at-large and columnist for "Time" magazine. Welcome.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: Thanks.

COSTELLO: You know, a part of me hopes that people are really intrigued by tonight's debate and its subject matter, foreign policy, but I do wonder how many Americans really care deeply about that issue.

ZAKARIA: Well, the substance of the issue they don't care about. Foreign policy is a little bit different from domestic policy. In domestic policy you're trying to see whether the candidate agrees with you or whether you agree with him. It's often a checklist of things, abortion, the economy, taxes.

In foreign policy, foreign policy is really a prism through which people look at the character of the person, the values, the strength, the consistency. So it is important, but not in a direct way in the way that domestic policy is.

COSTELLO: And it's interesting you say that because on the front of the "Drudge Report" today there's an array of pictures, and they show President Obama supposedly bowing to these foreign leaders, you know, continuing this apology tour, something I'm sure that Mitt Romney will bring up tonight.

ZAKARIA: Well, I think he'll bring up the apology tour. I don't know to what extent he'll bring up those photographs. Three of the four people there are, in fact, kings or queens, and what President Obama was doing was a kind of gesture of respect I suppose. But certainly he's going to try to present himself as a tougher, more, you know -- somebody who doesn't apologize for America, not that there are actual instances that president Obama actually apologized, but that's the line he's going to use.

I think the key for Romney is going to be to come across a little bit less as an attack dog and more as a president.

COSTELLO: I know, because the last debate he was very aggressive in his body language. Actually both candidates were very aggressive, but in this particular debate they will be sitting at a table, they will be close together, and maybe they'll look at one another and maybe they won't, but I don't know. I think that at least the Republican base likes aggressiveness in their candidate.

ZAKARIA: I think they do, and that's, you know, this will be Governor Romney's 26th debate I think having done 24 or something like that in the Republican primary. And he has gotten -- you know, he's gotten very good at it, but he's also gotten a little aggressive because the Republican base does like that.

I wonder whether that works as well with the general electorate, but, you know, expect a very strong performance from him. He's a very good debater. He's one of the best debaters I have ever seen in presidential politics.

COSTELLO: He was very smooth.

I'd just like to touch on the subject of Libya before you go because how can President Obama -- I mean he did a great job in the second debate, sort of crafting his answer to his advantage, but it will be tougher this time around.

It will be tougher because there are, you know, in a sense two separate issues. There's the issue of whether or not we were unprepared, and I think on that, you know, substantively I would say, you know, it's very tough. In retrospect you can always say you should have accepted that request for extra security, but, remember, there are 265 diplomatic missions around the world. Any given week I guarantee you two dozen of them are asking for more security and you have limited resources. It's not clear what you do.

But that gets conflated with the aftermath of the crisis where there was a certain clumsiness in terms of how the Obama administration handled things. I don't think they were trying to deliberately deceive anybody but they handled the situation badly, they got their facts wrong, they went out to the press too early. And as a result the whole thing gets conflated into a failed policy.

That's what President Obama is going to have to deal with.

COSTELLO: Well, can't wait to hear what you have to say after the debate as well. Fareed Zakaria, thank you so much for joining us in the NEWSROOM today.

ZAKARIA: Always a pleasure.

COSTELLO: CNN's live debate coverage starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

The federal government wants to give you $50,000, but there's a catch. You have to solve the riddle of stopping those annoying robocalls.

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COSTELLO: We get bombarded by those unwanted and illegal robocalls and now the government wants to pay $50,000 to anyone to could help stop them. Shaun Dakin is the founder of stoppoliticalcalls.org. Welcome.

SHAUN DAKIN, FOUNDER, STOPPOLITICALCALLS.ORG: Welcome, Carol.

COSTELLO: So I know you are at the Federal Trade Commission summit of robocalls last week. Why are we still being hounded by robocalls if they're illegal?

DAKIN: Well, that's why they had this summit. While the FTC has done actually a great job shutting down the robocalls that they can get to, unfortunately the beauty of the Internet, which has driven down the cost of telecommunications worldwide, has also made it very easy for robocall scammers and robocallers who are calling illegally to also get around the law.

COSTELLO: But there's already a national do not call registry in place. Does that even matter?

DAKIN: Well, it definitely matters if you're a legitimate organization and you're following the law. But if you're a telemarketer and a scammer, it's so easy now for you to essentially make your phone calls from offshore, use the Internet, and use what is called caller ID spoofing to make billions of calls that are virtually untraceable and also out of the reach of the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. government.

COSTELLO: Ok. So the U.S. government has been trying to stop these robocalls and it's now reaching out to the public for ideas, and even offering a $50,000 award. That's crazy.

DAKIN: Right. Well, this is a great example of using technology and crowd sourcing, people talk about kick starter, to put a challenge out there at challenge.gov, to get the ingenuity of entrepreneurs to go after this issue that is really not a legal issue because the law is there, and if you are a legitimate organization and you follow the law, the FTC is not going to come after you, but if you want to scam people, it's very easy to do so. (CROSSTALK)

C1: Let's get back to the contest. So if I have a great idea, where do I go to enter the contest?

DAKIN: Sure. You go to challenge.gov which is where they're hosting this, and you fill out a form, and you register, and the competition starts October 26th and goes through January 17th. At that point they will take all the submissions and start voting on them.

COSTELLO: Ok. Well, I hope someone comes up with a great idea. Shaun Dakin, thank you so much for joining us.

DAKIN: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining me today.

"CNN NEWSROOM" continues now with Ashleigh Banfield.

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