Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20121022

Here are the numbers to call host you can also find as online. Look for us on twitter, journal cspan. Org twitter, twitter. Com cspanwj. We have a special hash tag set up. We are also on facebook, look for cspan. You can also reach us by e mail, journal cspan. Org. What would you like to see the candidates asked tonight in the last debate of campaign 2012 . Final debate, particularly big. Host looking at the washington the Washington Times, obama leads as romney loses ground, but gop voters are more enthusiastic. If the president ial election were held today, for whom would you vote . This poll shows obama at 49. 7 , romney at 47. 3 . The mitt romney first debate bounce has disappeared, though the survey shows that the mitt romney backers are far more energy energized about him. In the Washington Post they write it all comes down to Foreign Policy . He writes that the seat of the president ial base could well focus on this. President obama and mitt romney are headed to florida for their final debate, with National Polls suggesting that the race is tied and with a terrorist attack in libya dominating the headlines. As you call in this morning, what would you like to see asked at tonights Foreign Policy debate . Judy, joining us from south carolina. What would you like to hear talked about . Caller i want to know why he did not do anything on iran and why he did not meet with israel. Host who are you referring to . Caller obama. I am a mitt romney supporter. I feel like obama is definitely not christian. I feel like he has definitely not followed up on israel to meet with their prime minister, and i do not like that. I do not think that was right. Host all right. In, not so, tennessee. Caller good morning, what i would like to know is what is the time line between mitt romney coming out and speaking about the incident at the consulate as opposed to the movie being shown and the rising everywhere. I do not think, to my distending the consulate happened before the movie was shown, but how did romney know about the movie . Thank you. Caller that was in the news host that was in the news at the time. Lets go to noah, washington, d. C. , independent line. Caller thank you. I would like to know why, when there are many serious issues in the world right now that our media is so focused on terrorism. I think it is one in 6 million chances that americans will be killed by terrorists when it is far more likely that americans will be killed by domestic, and related violence in which guns were purchased legally. I am disappointed that our media has this intense focus on terrorism. It is useless and does not extend the conversation. Host before we let you go, do you think there should be a Foreign Policy debate at all . Caller foreignpolicy is very important, but when terrorism overshadows everything it is to the detriment of all of us. Host would you like to see asked about i and Foreign Policy . Caller why is it more important to spend more and more money and defense when capability is what matters . There are important things that i think that the moderators should hold into account and make them answer. I do not want to keep hearing about 9 11 and the defense of terrorism. There is more to the world and terrorism. Host clinton, maryland. Caller i do not like to say that there are conspiracy theories, but i know that since rep isa had hearings about the been gauzy attack bengahzi attack, those people are in jeopardy of being killed or hurt and it will hurt our Foreign Policy progress in libya. It is almost like they are trying to set this president up to fail. I just think it was reprehensible for him to do that. I know that senator kerrey said something about it and here it is, right around election time. From that tape that mitt romney had, he said he would seize any opportunity he could to try to make this president look bad. America needs to look at who the real patriots are in this country. Caller comments are coming in on the facebook page. At the topicsok in the Foreign Policy president ial debate tonight. This is what Bob Schieffer has given an indication of what he plans to ask the candidates about. Americas role in the world is one of the topics. We will also see conversation about our longest war, afghanistan and pakistan. Also, two sections of the changing middle east and the rise in china and tomorrows world. Bob schieffer has said that that subject has may receive some tweaking based on current news events. What do you want to hear the candidates asked about . Curtis, alabama, go ahead. Caller my wife is from nigeria. We tried living in reno, nevada. She tried going to the Brigham Young university. She is a registered nurse. They kicked her out and told her that this goes back to 1985. That they did not allow blacks at the university. I would like to know, how many blacks are there in the United States that have been to byu university in utah that have any type of position set up with the mormon church. [unintelligible] set up a place where they are trying to tell people that the latterday saints came from christ and saying that we are not capable of going anywhere, doing whatever we wanted. Host ok, we are talking about Foreign Policy and what you think the candidates should be asked tonight. We are looking at a live shot of where the debate will take place, Lynn University. You can see the preparations have been under way desperately to get everything set up. The university is in florida, founded back in 1962. Boca raton is halfway between palm beach and fort lauderdale, florida. That is our cspan crew there, with a live shot of the debate hall, where things will be happening tonight. The Performing Arts Center was just dedicated in the spring. You can catch everything at our debate hub and check things out there now if you would like to look at moments of previous debates or catch some of the excerpts that cspan has gotten organized, that is all at our debate hub, cspan. Org. Our question for you, Foreign Policy. Marty, independent line. Caller good morning. I just for the prior to the libyan incident, president obama mist over 60 of the great things on Foreign Policy. I have not heard anything discussed in the media about this. It just really concerns me, the truth to this situation. I think that that would be a very important thing to be brought up, whether or not he missed any of them. Thank you very much. Host cheryl, a democrat, los angeles. Caller first of all, i want to say and please do not cut me off, i want to make this point we are going to have a great debate tonight on Foreign Policy, but i feel other questions should be brought to the attention because there was not enough time for a president obama to get a lot of the things out that he wanted to say. Oftentimes i hear that other people call in from other parties and they act as if president obama has no sense of foreignpolicy, and even though so far mitt romney has not had any experience. I would rather take someone who has had two years of experience in this over someone who has no experience at all. Another point i would like to bring is the debate that went on last tuesday, when president romney was doing a lot of talking, they did not discuss a lot of things, but one of the things not the integration policy about how they feel about the different immigrants that have come here, primarily hispanics. There is a lot i want to say, then i will get off the phone. I have heard him say that democrats do not get out to vote. In florida it sounds like theyre trying to make it in these newspapers seem like that president obama does not have any democrats out there fighting for him, but i know that they do, they have a loss of foot soldiers in other states that are going to peoples homes to get them inspired to vote. I hope the newspapers get the facts straight. Thank you, have a good day. Host we are looking at the ground game and how lot of reports say that it will come down to the ground game in the final weeks of the campaign. Jesse, lafayette, colorado. Republican line. Good morning. Caller yes. I hope that in this debate, both candidates, especially mitt romney, can explain how he is going to keep us out of another war. Host tom, ohio, independent line. Caller i would just like to say that a debate between an incumbent president and a candidate is a little unfair, because the president has access to a lot of information that the candidate does not have. Basically, what romney will be able to express our his views and opinions, but the president has a distinctive advantage by having access to intelligence information and that sort of thing. One other thing, this lady called a while ago and inferred that romney had been a little bit deceptive in some of the things he was saying and that he came out early on this bengahzi thing just to make the president look bad, but if you look back over the whole campaign, the Mitt Romney Campaign has caused him to fail i mean, the Obama Campaign has called mitt romney a failure and a killer. After the last debate, everyone was calling him a liar. People who do that have no judgment about a mans character. Romney has got more character in his finger then obama has in his administration. Host lets look at this article on libya. This is from the Washington Post. Five things to watch tonight host that is one of the issues that the offer is bringing up. He also talks about the moderator and the role that he will play tonight. The moderators from the first two debates have emerged in their own light as the stories, and not in a good way. Host the author also talks about the vision thing. Greg, democratic line, what are you looking to hear . Caller i notice that the United States policy is most wrong about these countries and the president needs more education. I am iranian american. The government told me that if you do not like this country, go out. Of course, i cannot go to russia. This is the best country and you americans believe you are a superpower, but you are responsible. I tell you what, people in syria and iran under the pressure of government, they do their best, they get killed. The whole world does not see what happens to us . Is something wrong with us . Or do they not know what they are doing . [unintelligible] people are too much under pressure. One person is a spy and is scared to talk to the other. They are doing their best on things like syria and iran. You, because of your revolution, you have played the game because of that mindset. Government, 24 hours, is a campaign. This is the best tory in the history of the world. All the you do is have one currency in this country. People keep asking them to pump something wrong. This is my year, to suggest this. Host this had minus from the Washington Post. Mitt romney goes into the debate having narrowed the obama clear edge. It sounded like a mismatch, weeks ago. Host pensacola, florida, republican line. Good morning. What would you like to hear talk about tonight . Caller i am kind of interested in that libya thing. In the stand that the cia told the ministration that those killings were caused by because they told them that there were videos for 10 days, after the killing, that is why they came on the tv and turn out the lights to tell everyone that that is what caused the riots. My thing is, if the state cia told them that, how can Vice President biden go on television and talk about the Iranian Nuclear bombs that they have over there . How can that be a reliable source . After blaming the cia for not knowing about the libya thing . Postal libya came up on the sunday talk shows yesterday. They will David Axelrod had a comment. Lets listen. [video clip] this was a tragic event and the president ordered an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened and to bring those who committed this act of terror to justice and that is what he is going to do. There is only one candidate who has tried to exploit it from the beginning, even as the flames were burning mid romney was exploiting this. Friday, chairman eisa released a list of documents that he asked for, including a list of names of people on the ground in libya who are cooperating with us, jeopardize in their lives, carelessly, recklessly putting them at less ridgy at risk, all to score political points in the final weeks before the election. To hear paul ryan make the case for cutting back on our requests for security funding for these embassies and consulates, that makes it even worse. That is David Axelrod with the Obama Campaigned on nbc yesterday, talking about libya, an issue that will likely come up tonight in the Foreign Policy debate. The headline from of the Washington Times says that the attack in libya was clearly planned and not spontaneous. That the attack on the consulate was planned. The official statement reeboks rebuts news reports. Senator marco rubio of florida also talked about president obama and Foreign Policy, including libya. Lets take a listen to him from face the nation yesterday. [video clip] one of the troubling narratives that the Obama Campaign has laid out is that they are in retreat and do not allow story that counters that narrative. Is that why they told us that the libyan incident in been gauzy bengahzi was a direct counter . You said that early on in any presidency there is a moment of truth. This president had won in iran. The president refused to line up with the green revolution, that he would not get involved in the sovereignty in iran. There is now no wellorganized opposition in iran because it was completely demoralized by the president s lack of engagement. Host that was florida senator marco rubio, on cbs yesterday. Selena, what question would you ask in the debate tonight . Caller by the way, that is selina. Host thank you. Caller i called it that, too. When i first got here. Host what would you like to ask tonight . Caller it seems that as our country its older we do not Pay Attention to things we should have learned in the past. I was a paratrooper in vietnam. This lady previously said people voting for mitt romney are not patriotic, this and that, right . Listen to me, in the first place, we never should have been in iraq or afghanistan. There was a great man at one time to said that you cannot win a land war in asia. I guess the middle east is pretty close, right . I am saying we have learned that no lessons. We are about ready to implode here at home and i have not heard either candidate seriously take on what is going on here at home. You know . I mean, what is going on over there, i have little or nothing to do with. I guess my vote will count as a vote for mitt romney. I would just like to see these guys start cleaning up our backyard. You have gangs, thousands of thousands here, you have all this stuff ready to implode. Believe me, these gang members do not care about nothing. If we do not clean up this mess, we will not have to worry about libya, we will have to worry about fighting right here. Another thing that they say all the time, that mitt romney was 47th on job creation in the state of massachusetts. Well, he took the Unemployment Rate down to like 4. 3 and at a certain point you get stagnant and cannot create more jobs because some people cannot work or do not want to work. Host you brought up afghanistan and iraq. Would you like to hear the candidates talk about that . What would you like to hear them say . Caller i would like to see them say look, we are going to clear out. I am all for securing our country and clearing people out from other countries. 95 of the people in mexico want to come here to work, you know what i mean . All i have to say is that under the Obama Administration, what he is trying to create in the United States is why they are running away from mexico. Host we are talking about Foreign Policy and what you would like to hear the candidates asked tonight. Lets look at this nbc news poll that has gotten a lot of attention over the last 24 hours. You can see the gender gap there. Men prefer mitt romney 53 to 43 . When, however, prefer president obama 51 to 43 . The poll also asked about feelings towards candidates on a range of issues, including Foreign Policy and who would do a better job. 46 said president obama. Kathleen in ohio. As we listen to kathleen, we will take a look at the outside of the debate hall, the site of tonights debate. Caller thank you. The president and the Vice President are coming to ohio tomorrow, so we are excited, but i would like to see both of them focus on the facts in regards to, for instance, iran. I follow a former Bush Administration officials, like hillary man, and they continue to point out that they have the legal right to in europe and rich uranium up to 20 for legal purposes and there is no hard evidence that says they are developing nuclear weapons. The argument is always the capacity. Again, they have a right to enrich uranium as signatories to the ntt. As Vice President biden pointed out, this loose talk about iran over the last seven years is extremely dangerous. As he pointed out to congressman ryan, do we want another war with iran . Israel has threatened iran. Israel houses their weapons. The unwillingness to sign the nonproliferation treaty while having a couple of hundred nuclear warheads. I hope they focus on the facts. On the israeli house side conflicts, i think that president bush 41, he and j. Baker linked foreign aid to israel to their continued expansion of the legal settlements. I know they will not, but i wish they would talk about the continued expansion of the legal settlements in israel. Host brought portman was on meet the press yesterday, and he talked about where governor romney and president obama differ on the path to iran. Lets listen. [video clip] it sounds to me that it is another example of a National Security leak from the white house. They have done a lot of that. You will see governor romney lay out a clear vision for how to get iran to do the right thing. We are four years closer to it. What the president tried has not worked. Other countries pressured us to do it. France was ahead of us on this. The other thing that is interesting about the story, if it is accurate, it sounds like the u. S. Is taking a position where we are likely to jettison our allies. The last thing we would rot we would want to do right now is abandon our allies. They have actually been more forward beginning and we have been. Host that was senator portman talking yesterday on meet the press. Here is a followup peace from the New York Times. The u. S. And iran denied plans for a talk on the eve of the debate. Host David Axelrod talked about this yesterday on the meet the press. Here he is. [video clip] [no audio] the currency has dropped in value by 50 . They are feeling the heat. That is what the sanctions were meant to do. If they are sensible, they are looking at that and saying that it is time to set aside Nuclear Ambitions and save our economy. That is what president has been working on, the project he has been working on for all of these years. We were isolated in our position on iran myriad should ask about this. Host there is a number in from Bob Schieffer. Host we will dig more into Foreign Policy and its role in campaign 2012. Right now, we would like to hear from you. What is your Foreign Policy question in tonights debate . Jane . Caller good morning. I would like to thank cspan for a most informative show. I am 63 years old and i hope that you have given me the time that you have given the other people. I am also a 100 disabled veteran. We served directly under general colin powell. Foreign policy, there is such a thing as business. Mitt romney has conducted business in europe and asia for over 20 years with the bank company. Mitt romney has just as much experience in Foreign Policy as the president does because he conducts business. He has long conducted business in europe in the Cayman Islands and everywhere else. So, this excuse about him not having the experience that the president has, he does not have the knowledge. And he has just as much knowledge from the bush and administration, from his own campaign. He is so inexperienced. The mormons, they have an establishment in europe on that. They have been established in europe for years. The naivete of saying that romney has no experience is a bunch of malarkey. Host this comment from twitter host comments are continuing to come in on facebook. William rights in and says do we want to bowed down to the terrorists and lose our identity as a free loving people . Host you can join that conversation by looking for c span on facebook. Don, phoenix, arizona, republican. What would you ask . Caller i would ask obama how he thinks he can tell why after lie when it is all public information, especially on libya. Everybody is fighting over one word, whether he said terror or not. He did not say that this was a terrorist attack. I think that mitt romney is going to kill it tonight. Obamas foreignpolicy is ridiculous. Is he really going to let israel get blown off the planet . They have been our ally for 67 years. I mean, they are going to [unintelligible] sorry. Host here are some stories on the domestic front. This is from the wall street journal. Americans picking up an increase in uncertainty. Gas prices host gas prices are also in the news this morning. Larry strauss reports that they are about to drop faster than the fall foliage as inventories rise. They could plunge 50 cents per gallon over the next few weeks. On the front page, a remembrance, and a paycheck obituary of george mcgovern, who died over the weekend. It says the mcgovern that few. Knew it looks at the work he did in his later years, writing in and sharing remembrances of former senator mcgovern, bob dole. He has an editorial piece in the Washington Post this morning. He replied that you cannot keep on campaigning for ever. That classy remark was typical of george. Of course, bob dole, Senate Majority leader, 1985 to 1987, and republican nominee for president back in 1996, schering remembrances of the late senator george mcgovern. Our question for you this morning is about foreignpolicy and what you would ask the candidates tonight if you could. Caller my question to mr. Romney would be what would he do with iran besides go to war that our president is not doing . It is real easy to sit and say hey, we should do more, but if we do more the next step is going to war. It will not just be a simple war, it will be world war three. We are not going to do it without allies. We will go in there with this macho man attitude that we can conquer everything with bombs and military. We tried that in iran and iraq, i mean, and we wound up in there for 10 years. We have got enough deaths of our young in the military. This country needs to wake up. It should be our last resort, the first resort. Host this question from twitter host we will keep talking more about this with Jonathan Tepperman, he is up next here on cspan, from Foreign Affairs, the managing editor. Later on we will look at the races in the house and senate as part of our campaign 2012 coverage. Cspan coverage begins even earlier, you can catch it all on television and radio, also our debate hub. We will be live at Lynn University, where the debate will be held tonight. We will be right back. [video clip] the fairness argument and a level Playing Field are so important. We would expect a lot of stores in california to find growing sales. But to not hold your breath, this is not likely to be the case. They buy online for convenience, choice, and lower prices. Steve delbianco talks about whether goods sold over the internet should be taxed, tonight at 8 00 on the communicators. When i watch cspan i particularly like the congressional hearings on proposed pieces of legislation. More importantly, the house of representatives. I find the congressional hearing coverage of particular interest. Such as with Veterans Affairs appropriations. If you realize theres something in the newspaper and you want to get more, you can go to cspan. There was raw data, raw information. Cspan, created by americas Cable Companies in 1979. Brought to you as a Public Service by your television provider. Host we are looking at a live shot of Lynn University in boca raton, florida. The debate will be moderated by Bob Schieffer of cbs news, host of face the nation. You are looking at the interior of where the debate will happen tonight. Getting the logistics sorted out, the Technical Details of their. We will be watching tonight as the debate begins. Talking about Foreign Policy this morning, here to die of more into the details, Jonathan Tepperman, managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine joining us from new york. Good morning. Guest good morning. Host a lot of the news stories are saying that there are a lot more rises on this debate and there would have been thought. Guest what you have just said is true and very interesting. Foreign policy tends not to feature in american campaigns, so normally this debate would be a bit of a sideshow, but for several reasons i think the opposite will be the case. One, we are just two weeks away in the election, two we are suddenly tied in the polls, and the performances have been so heavily reported on, with the bomb a sleeping to the first one through the first one and coming on strong in the second one. Host differences in the candidates positions, will we hear Something Different about the general philosophy . Is the difference in tone or policy decision . Guest good question, and the answer is hard to say because mitt romney has been so much of a cipher in the campaign. He has scrupulously avoided specifics when it comes to Foreign Policy, he has eliminated himself to criticizing obama, and that criticism is not terribly specific. When he does get down to talking about what he should do differently, so far the differences have been minimal. You look at syria, for example. What would he do differently . Maybe giving a few more high powered arms to the rebels . That is about it. Iran, he says he would be tougher, but when people ask him what that meant, he said stronger sanctions. Potentially everything obama has done already. The challenge for mitt romney tonight will be to move beyond mere criticism of the president and come up with a positive agenda and specific agenda of what he would do differently. The challenge for obama would be Something Different. Obama came into office four years ago talking in very dramatic terms about how his Foreign Policy was going to be different from his predecessor. He was going to change the overall tone. He was going to reset relationships with russia. What has happened instead is that he has become a moderate, pragmatic realist. He has managed things very responsibly, but not in a dramatic way. This is the parallel problem he has talking about his agenda. So far he has been saying that he can offer more of the same, but that is not a very Sexy Campaign line. It will be interesting to see if he can go beyond that. Story from the tribune newspapers this morning. Mitt romney warned that the Obama Administration may be about to jettison its International Partners as it oneonone talks are about to engage with iran over the nuclear plant. Host this is because of a the New York Times story that came out over the weekend about possible talks with iran. How much will this influence tonight . Caller guest i suspect that it will feature prominently. This is a new dynamic. On the surface, the signals that iran is sending is a win for the administration, showing that these incredibly comprehensive sanctions that the Obama Administration has managed to cobble together, more successfully than any other previous white house, has forced iran to the table was starting to hit them where it hurts. That is a win for the administration. On the other hand, iran has a long history of manipulating these for their own purposes. That is the line that you can expect mitt romney to take against obama. The question will resolve to what will mitt romney do differently . It is ironic that he is now starting that his prophecies are starting to criticize the obama for doing things excessively unilaterally, for doing things without allies, when the mitt romney criticism throughout the campaign is that obama tends to rely too much and doing things without allies and if mitt romney were president , he would take a strong stance and go it alone on a whole range of international issues. Host Jonathan Tepperman is the manager of international affairs. Here run the numbers to call here are the numbers to call look at thetake a list that Bob Schieffer put out about what will be talked about and what the segments of tonights debate are. Americas role in the world, afghanistan, pakistan, redline israel and iran, the change in italys and terrorism, and then the ride to china and tomorrows world. Jonathan tepperman, what do you read out of those topics alone . Caller it is a guest it is a heavy focus on the middle east. People have criticized the it excludes other important parts of the world, especially asia, which has become a big focus of the it ministration policy. It also has the potential to get obama away from his substantial list of accomplishments on Foreign Policy throughout his career. If you go through what those have been, they go through the decimation of al qaeda, the killing of osama bin laden. Sanctions on iran, falling out of iraq, the partial reset of relationship with russia, the pivot toward asia and this new focus on the asia pacific region. Now, some of those are in there, but some of them are not and you can expect obama to shoehorn them in. Obama has done pretty well on substance and obama has a big edge coming into this campaign in knowledge as well as substance. Remember, mitt romney was like a oneman neutron bomb, laying waste to the audiences he spoke to, leaving only the furniture standing. That puts him in a difficult position tonight. I expect him to try to shoehorn in other issues, like defense spending, where he has accused the president of cutting too dramatically. I think that there will be attempts by both parties, actually, to smuggle in extra topics. Host matthew, democratic line, like wood, washington. Caller my question would actually be about syria. When we we have to take action . The syrian border, there has been shelling in turkey, spilling into lebanon. That is a fairly immediate threat to the middle east and also to israel. Guest that is a great question and i hope that the candidates will address it tonight, but my fear is that they will not, for the simple reason that i think neither of them knows what to do in syria. I just came back from two weeks in the middle east and what was very evident is that not only do these countries along the border syria not have a policy, but the United States does not have a policy, which is why you see virtual nonaction. This is one of those areas where mitt romneys policies that do not differ from obamas. The ministration is looking into the funneling of light arms to the rebels, while the Romney Administration said he would look harder than obama at heavier weapons being funneled. Y allies but those are minor differences. How either of them see the end game playing out, where either of them have the trigger for u. S. Involvement, i do not expect them to commit tonight, i do not think they have the answer. Host michael, independent line. Caller president barack obama has failed, first in his recent reset with russia, an ally with china, who is in cahoots with iran. Terrorists want to destroy america because we are strong. My other point is Foreign Policy on the legal immigrants coming into america, the legal immigrants coming into therica ill eaeagal immigrants coming to america. It makes it harder on African American people who have their own issues in america, and also the poor. I hope that mitt romney has good answers for these issues, because barack has failed. Supporting the killing in libya what is his name . Muammar gaddafi. And then not supporting the diplomats in the country. Guest russia is a good issue to talk about, because it highlights one of those well kept secrets on Foreign Policy and the presidency. Once someone takes the big chair behind the desk in the white house, they find they have a very few options on the tough problems facing u. S. Foreign policy, which is why there has not been that much variation between democrat and republican president s. That is because the romney called russia an enemy of the United States and he was roundly criticized. The United States cant afford to label russia an enemy. It is too powerful. There are still a number of areas where russias corp. Is key. A has been helpful to the u. S. Agenda. Russia has been difficult when it comes to iran and a few other areas. How do you get more from them . That is something obama is struggling with. This should be an area where romney offers an explanation for what he would do differently. In terms of immigration, this falls into the category of the subjects were both catholics candidates i do not know the differences will be profound. But you see is that romney is trying to reposition himself as a moderate. Seeing is a return to the massachusetts mitt romney and it has much more moderate positions issues such as immigration. He favors giving green cards to foreign students who study in the United States. Rather than compulsory measures, he favors voluntary deportation. If you can find someone to explain that to me, i would be all ears. Host we have a tweet from matthew. He uses the hashtag we have set up, cspan2012. Lets take a look at the issue of libya. It came up last week. This is one of their exchanges. [video clip] the day after the attack, i told the American People that we will find out what happened, that this was an act of terror, and that we will hunt down those who committed this crime. A few days later, i was there meeting the caskets and grieving with the families. The suggestion that anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we have lost four of our own is offensive. That is not what we do. Thats not what i do as president or commander in chief. If you want to respond. The president said that this was an act of terror. You said the day after the the attack it was terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration. Please proceed. It took the president 14 days before the president called it an act of terror. Get the transcript. He did call it and active terror. F the administration indicated that this was a reaction to a video and was a spontaneous reaction. It took them along time to say it was a terrorist act by a terrorist group. Am i correct in that regard . The ambassador spoke about i am happy to have a longer conversation about Foreign Policy. I just want to make sure we get the questions answered. Host that was an Exchange Last week at hofstra university, talking about libya. One writer said as it was a missed opportunity for governor romney to gain some ground. Guest romney tried to blame gotcha with the president and chose the wrong word. There are two issues with libya. Were more likely to see discussion of the latter than the former. Why was there not better security for this u. S. Mission in benghazi . Especially since they requested it from the state department. With the campaigns have focused on thus far is the communications issue, how the Obama Administration dealt with the question publicly after the attacks. The Romney Campaign has a point here. Usan riceday, s usan seemed to give fate not very nuance seemed to give a not very nuanced statment. She was acting on the advice of the intelligence committee. That is the way the process is supposed to work. That is the information they relate to the public. In the days following, the picture started to change. It took some time for them to relate that information to the people in office. The Obama Administration stuck to its argument that this was not terrorism. You had a growing sense that the administrations story wasnt quite right. You had an inflexible position by the administration. The intelligence consensus shifted, the demonstration was left looking kind of foolish. That is a problem of clumsy and messaging. To turn this into a sign of that massive failure of American Leadership is silly. O in lets go to fernand texas. Caller good morning. Im glad they are talking about Foreign Affairs. It is the same agenda. When are we going to go to war . It has been set up since bush senior, since the shah. Obama on the calling of the ban doesnt attack i think a terrorist attack, to call it a terror act, it was that. I feel that were doing what israel wants. To say the terrorists are attacking because jealousy is absurd. Wed obviously attacked them first. It looks like an empire. Were not defensive. Com on, we are blatantly come on, we are blatantly going to war. I think obama is strategic and realistic. Mitt romney is more blatant. He wants to go to war. There is a lot that doesnt let another country intervene there is a law that doesnt let another country intervene. Guest all the polls show the precise opposite is true. This is what is limiting u. S. Policy in syria. Obama tried to extract himself from the war in iraq. That has been a signal accomplishment of his administration. He was careful to limit u. S. Involvement in libya. The last thing this president would want that the public would support would be to get involved in another ground war in another muslim country. That is why the policy towards syria has been so constrained. When mitt romney is pushed, he is careful to stop before opening the door to war. He recognizes the same agency as obama does. Caller there was one thing i have not heard either candidate touch on. The views on a pow in the u. S. Army. He was captured while on patrol in 2009. No one has talked about him on the news. Guest you make a good point. The issue should be discussed. Afghanistan has become almost an invisible war in the american public. If you ask most people today, i think they would tell you the country is not at war because it does not feel like the country is at war. We have people in uniform fighting and dying overseas and there is no sense of it on the home front. These conflicts apart from the rare moments when they are discussed in campaign, do not feature in the public discussion. Host christina in michigan, you are on with Jonathan Tepperman. Caller hi, jon. Thank you to cspan. We talk tough. During the Bush Administration, we talked about the axis of evil, iraq, iran, and north korea. About benghazi i watched the hearings all the way through. The two security people kept talking about more security, they ask for more security. Mr. Nordstrom was asked if more security would have stopped this attack and his answer was no. Guest so what is the question . Host that is all we heard from her. Guest it raises the complexity of the situation in syria. More security would not necessarily have stopped the attacke. The other issue is what the president should have known and when and whether this intelligence should have landed at the doorstep of the white house or not. These kind of request to not normally make it up to the white house. The white house cannot be dealing with every security request for merit local american outpost around the world. The president and Vice President have more important work to do. To lay them at the foot of the president is not necessarily fair. It raises the level of president ial attention. President obama says we have strengthened security and have launched a full investigation into the attacks libya. Those are the areas the president can do something. Host we have comments coming in on twitter with different opinions. Host this is from jerseygirlinpa. How much do you think the past will be brought up . Or will that not be touched enough by the candidates. Guest romney will not raise it. He has distanced himself from the last republican president. How were early george w. Bush how rarely charge of the name has been bushs mentioned over the past few years. I think a lot of the issues have moved beyond the problems initiated under the last presidency. The real focus now, the arab spring, events in the middle east, events in asia these are particular to our period. I did not expect the tenure of george w. Bush to come up in that context. Jonathan tepperman is the managing editor of Foreign Affairs and was a Deputy Editor of newsweek international. Frank is our next caller. Caller good morning. I was surprised when romney put netanyahu in the chain of command. American soldiers are american soldiers. No foreign enemy will take my grandkids in any war. We have stood there from beirut, where we were abandoned on the left flank. My brotherinlaws won was killed son was killed. I think the idea of all these peace arrangements that were kicked in the butt for he wants to put nafta now hope in the chain of command to put netanyahu in the chain of command. Guest i think romney will say obama has failed on the palestine issue and will do what our caller has been suggesting, that obama has abandoned the greatest ally in the region, namely israel. Proisrael supporters in the United States blamed obama for being insufficiently supportive of israel. These voters live in key battleground states like florida. The president has been very supportive of israel. He has been a critical friend at times. But romney will attack him for daring to venture about israel. This vote is not being taken in israel, a country i return from three days ago where obama is very unpopular. It will be taken in the United States. It is an open question how much Foreign Policy will matter to most voters at all. Host this is a piece from the Washington Times. Host did you want to respond to that . Guest that is absolutely right. We hear these predictions every four years. It is something that my parents mentioned all the time. But it doesnt manifest. Host lets turn our topic to china. It did come up last week at hofstra university. [video clip] we have to make sure that nations play by the rules, and china has not. If they put their currency down low, that means their currency and the products are low. We lose sales and manufacturers in the United States cannot compete. The president hasnt opportunity to label them as a currency manipulator but refuses to do so. On day one, i will label china as a currency manipulator. I can put in place tariffs. Governor romney talked about china. Company romneys invested in pioneers of outsourcing. That is not my phrase. That is what reporters called it. We have pushed them hard and put unprecedented trade pressure on china. That is what exports have increased under my presidency. Host talking about china last week. We have a tweet from maverick. What does it mean . Guest it means a lot less than romney claims it does. China will be all over this debate. Syria got three mentions and isreal got one. Chinabashing has become almost a tradition as kissing babies and shaking hands. The president got into that game with romney during the last debate. The real issue is not chinese currency. Chinas currency has appreciated in the last year andahalf, two years by about 12 . The manipulation issue is not there. China getting richer does not in danger to the United States. A wealthier china is a happier china is a more stable china. The United States requires a wealthy china to keep servicing all this american debt. China is already starting to price itself out as a lowcost manufacturer and is seeing real competition from vietnam and bangladesh. The chinese are getting increasingly wealthy. There is another issue which neither of the candidates mentioned during the last debate. The more significant issue with china is the contest for dominance in the asiapacific region. This has become a big focus. This is a deep fundamental question how do you manage the rise of a newly empowered china . That i think is worthy china it debate should be tonight. Host lloyd is up next from wilmington. Caller thank you and good morning. I am a senior and honorably discharged u. S. Veteran. I have a concern dealing with trust and honesty. I would like an answer to what actually happened in libya. I know no one can foresee a tax and foresee the future can foresee attacks and foresee the future. I am sure the president is briefed on Foreign Affairs, especially on potential hot spots, and i believe libya is one. If he knew the day after this wants to beyes, reelected. I would think finding out what happens should come before going out on the campaign trail. Host there is a story with libya likely to dominate the final president ial debate. Jonathan tepperman . Guest yes, the president is ultimately responsible for every u. S. Insulation around the bowl around the globe. If there were requests for greater security, that should be looked at. The truth should come now. Whether the president is responsible, i think the answer is no. How should the president be managing intelligence . The United States is a vast array of security agencies and they absorb a large amount of data every day. They are responsible for distilling that in too easily digestible packages. Obama and his team are reading these opinions that come from their intelligence agencies. In the first days after the attack, the administration was faithfully recounting what they were hearing from their Intelligence Services. When the picture started to change, it took several days. Intelligence agencies need time to transmit. The Bush Administration, the Defense Department tried to pluck raw data to support their case for war. Without the filtering, you can get things wrong. I think you have to cut the Intelligence Services some slack. Do not fault the process that got the information to the president. Host carl our last caller, welcome. Good morning. Caller i was wondering. The American Embassy is in tripoli and that was a compound in benghazi. Is it possible the cia got it correct, because this uprising began 30 minutes after cairo. Is a possible they got it right that it was just an uprising . Guest i think it is possible. We may never know for some time. This was set opportunistic attacked. The cell was happening in the middle east and decided to use it to attack a very small outpost in benghazi, was less well defended than a full fledged embassy would have been. The tragedy is the u. S. Ambassador was there a was one of the four americans killed in the attack. Host a last question from julie about drones. The cia is seeking more drones. Hot topic . Guest i dont expect it will get mentioned tonight. The Drone Campaign has been successful in limiting the around the world. The United States can do this without asking permission for the countries where the terrorists reside. This is a case where obama has looked tough. To portrayrategy is obama as a weakling. This is an area where criticism is coming from the left and human rights groups. I dont think romney is seeking either of those constituencies. Host Jonathan Tepperman, thank you so much for your time. Guest such a pleasure. Host cspan will bring you the debate light tonightonight. Up next, Jennifer Duffy and David Wasserman. Hillary clinton and bill clinton are the guest of the haitian government as a new Industrial Park is showcased. To keep the product of u. S. Aid it is the product of u. S. Aid after the 2010 earthquake. The dow Castro Fidel Castro is responding to rumors about his health. Global sea piracy has fallen to its lowest levels since 2008. Attack wase somali reported in the third quarter. Ships are taking their own measures, like hiring their own guards. Those are some of the latest headlines on cspan radio. [video clip] the fairness argument and a level Playing Field are so important. We would expect a lot of stores in california to find growing sales. But to not hold your breath, do not hold your breath. This is not likely to be the case. They buy online for convenience, choice, and lower prices. Steve delbianco talks about whether goods sold over the internet should be taxed, tonight at 8 00 on the communicators. With the focus on the president ial debates this month, cspan is asking middle and High School Students to send a message to the president as part of this years cspan student cam video documentary competition. In a short video, students will answer the question whats the most important issue the president should consider in 2013 . For a chance to win the grand prize of 5,000, and there is 50,000 in total prizes available. Cspans student cam video competition is open to students grade sixth to 12. For complete details and rulse, go online to studentcam. Org. Host we are looking at a live shot from Lynn University in florida, the site of tonights debate. Bob schieffer will moderate. This morning well be hearing from some students at Lynn University. Were turning out to look at the house and senate races and joined by Jennifer Duffy, the Senate Editor of Cook Political Report, and David Wasserman, the house editor of Cook Political Report. Control of the house and senate. Looking for the potential of a power switch are looking for the potential of a power switch . Guest 9 senate races are too close to call. Host over in the house. Guest not as must potential for the house to flip. The average swing is 38 seats. A probable net gain for hreecrats of up to t hre seats. This year we have between 50 and 55 races other competitive. No incumbent on the ballad. Ot. Therell be a lot of freshmen. Host our people voting for the party or for the individual . Guest increasingly they are voting for the party. S ticketess and leses tick splitting. Whether it has to do with the fact that there are fewer moderates in congress than there used to be to vote for. We are seeing a decline in the number of swing members and also a decline in the number of swing seats. The number of seats between the partisan for your but has declined from 164 to 99 in 2012, a dramatic decrease. Host how much is the president ial election playing out in the races for senate . Guest frigid it is a race that i think will be decided by the president ial. Party is not a big factor. Elizabeth warren is trying to unseat senator scott brown in massachusetts. Her argument is a vote for scott brown is a vote for a republican senate. Host here are the numbers to call if you would like to join the conversation. Republicans, 2025853881. Democrats, 2025853880. Independents, 2025853882. Were talking with Jennifer Duffy and David Wasserman. Lets talk about virginia. What is at play . How are the cats making their pitch how are the candidates making their pitch . Guest you have tim kaine and george allen, who lost this sea in 2006. This is a truly competitive race. You either see tim kaine up a couple of points or george allen a couple point depending on the poll. They are working to get every vote out they can. Host are you seeing house races or the top of the ticket is making a difference . Guest absolutely. Democrats were able to pick up 21 seats on top of the 30 the picked up in 2006. There were all these search obama voters, purses republicans begin up 63 seats in 2010. The top of the ticket may be a slight republican advantage. Ama is getting all of this margin from places where democrats in congress do not need the extra help. He is somewhere between 42 and 48 of the vote. Host lisa in ohio, hi. Caller i work with seniors every day and im concerned about this voucher program. I fall under the voucher program. I pay my taxes every time i get paid. How are they going to take my money and give it back to me in a voucher . Host are you watching congressional races in ohio . What about other races . Are you looking for who is running for congress in your district . Caller im looking at what is going on for the president and everything else. She is focused on the top of the ticket. Guest issue is it montgomery county, oh if she lives in montgomery county, ohio, mike turner this is an example what democrats are having a tough time getting the 25 seats to take back the house. It was drawn to be a slight majority obama district. Mike turner is a highly popular local figure but the kind of district the democrats would need to put in play. The candidate has run before in a slightly different district. There were some ad time in the dayton, ohio, district. Avaricious where democrats are playing defense. Democrats are having a tough time putting these seats in to app play. Host this morning cspan is that Lynn University. We have some students asking some students. Lynn university is an Independent School and it has 2000 students and three special bid programs. We would like to thank Lynn University and comcast. Caller do you think obama will have guest it depends on the district. In some states, it will be a drag on the democratic candidates, patting a weather is red or blue depending on whether it is red or blue. Were most interested in florida, virginia, ohio. These are swing states where the president ial is close. That is what were looking at. The candidates hope the president ial nominee does help them. Connie mack is counting on romney to do well and help pull them across the line against bill nelson. Host any surprises for candidates who distance themselves from president obama or mitt romney . Guest in montana, you see jon tester, democrat. Disagrees with the president s. So amen missouri with Claire Mccaskill same with missouri with Claire Mccaskill. Scott brown in massachusetts has not embraced mitt romney, nor has Linda Mcmahon in connecticut. They are going their own way. Host good morning. Caller my name is janice. Im very concerned about our electoral votes. We have had some test run in mississippi. A sixth role could tell you the electoral vote is not the right thing to do. Host are you talking about the Electoral College . Caller right. Guest maine and nebraska maine is not looking like they will go for romney or that obama. A 04 obawill go for president obama had done better since the beginning of the summer in those swing states compared to where he is nationally. Electoral college and popular vote split between obama and romney . It is more likely that president obama would win the Electoral College and not the popular vote. It they are tied and the swing states going for obama, it could be 2000 in reverse. It is not a scenario the Networks Want to wodeal with. Host welcome, billy. Caller good morning. If mitt romney wins and Mitch Mcconnell declares his main job would be to make president obama a oneterm president s, what is he going to do to combat the same platform from the democrats in the senate . You have to have 60 votes. Nothing happens without 60 votes. We will be right back where we are, at a standstill. Thats my concern. I voted in both parties. To see another stalemate and a lame duck president for four years, i dont think that will help america. Guest i think the caller has a good point. The margins can be very narrow. The likely outcome is a 5149 senate. Democrats may have some moderate members running in places like indiana, north dakota, maine, and they could join with whatever moderates are left in the senate and become a fairly powerful caucus. I do not i do see the possibility that you do have another situation where it becomes difficult to get legislation out of the senate. Host we have another student joining us now. Caller good morning. 53 house races are competitive. What qualifies a race as competitive . Guest early in the cycle, we are flying a bit blind but focusing more attention on the president ial history. Then we get to know the candidates and we find out who is running. Jennifer asquith plenty of candidates for senate and governor and we take their polls. That is an important predictor of whether a candidate will do well. Then we focus more attention on how much money these candidates have raised. We have more numbers then we can handle. A colleague said that we have more polls than poland right now. Were seeing new polls for house races done on a private tracking basis. Pretty much every day and so were using those as a guideposts, adding our own content to judge whether a race is competitive between the parties. We see about 27 or 28 house races as tossups. If we see one party has an advantage, we will put it in the lean democratic or lean republican column. How many races do we have in the senate that are tossups . Guest nine plus maine, which is its own special case. Our definition is a race that is in single digits. An incumbent has to be below 50 . I probably have nine races within the margin of error, 32 four points three to direction. In a host that dig into the race in montana. The race has become intensely personal. Lets take a look at an ad by senator jon tester. [video clip] he always brings his montanas roots. He is making sure kids can afford to go to college. Protecting Social Security and medicare. Taking care of veterans. Making the u. S. Senate look a little more like montana. Host democrat jon tester. Guest the famous meat ad. A lot of people are grossed out by it, bringing a case full of meat. That was one of the first ads he ran in the spring. This has been going on since march of 2001. Jon tester beat conrad burns, eighed down by the ethics problems. The democrat is Denny Rehberg. He has been a lieutenant governor. This is a race as republicans claim that testers the votes in the interest of montana and not on party. Democrats have gone after Denny Rehberg on character, that he is out for himself and the things lobbying is an honorable profession. In the past month, it really has come down to character. This race has not moved more than two points in either direction in months. These candidates have to feel they are running a marathon on a treadmill. It is mile after mile of the same thing. Host lets go back to Lynn University. Good morning. Caller do you think the outcome of this election will generate who is running the senate and house . Host is that changes . Ok, terrific. We talked about the control question. We could see not a big majority and that could play a role here and have influence. Guest there are some interesting stories about this today. Leaders are spending time campaigning in districts where members are likely to be elected for safe republican seats. They want to shore up their own personal standing with a new class of freshmen. We will see a different caucus on the democratic side and on the republican side. This is the first time that white men will be a minority of the Democratic Caucus in the house, thanks to retirements on blue dog members and some new minority districts is an places like california and texas. On the republican side, eric cantor, the majority leader, been out campaigning for a number of republicans. John boehner has been focusing his efforts with his congressional leadership fund, the super pac on his friends and allies in tough races like in iowa and ohio. Both of these leaders have super pacs but are out there on the trail. Host we can take a look at the senate. Looking back six years ago when these members took office, we saw a lot of democrats com e e in. So many democratic seats this year. Guest you sort of pay the price six years later when the seats are up for reelection. Democrats have to defend 23 of the seats. The ratio isnt all that different in 2014. Everything comes around. It will be republicans in 2016 that have to defend more seats. A lot of these freshmen have done pretty well. Jon tester is the most probable member of the freshman class. Clara mccaskill in missouri probably held that honor until she pulled a week challenger. Some like Sherrod Brown in ohio, we might of put him in there, at the top of the list for 1012. Has for 2012. He has run a good campaign. And the were from nine points to five. Anywhere from nine points to five points. Host john wolf in virginia im voting against a will change that they made down in tampa. Im going to vote thirdparty or just abstained. And as far as youtube and getting information, my son said, look of the james holmes a conspiracy. James holmes conspiracy. Host john about what upset you up the republican convention. Caller what they did is they slammed through a rules change the will make it almost impossible for an insurgent to overtake and the establishment candidate. I can go into that, but are not an expert added. The establishment candidates can pick their own delegates. Host we will leave it there and get a response from our guests. And Jennifer Duffy . Guest this caller is unusual in that they are into the weeds on rnc rules. And that was a little controversial, especially among ron paul supporters in the above. In tampa. On the other hand, if an insurgent candidate for is strong enough, they stop being the east the insurgent and become the establishment i do not think it precludes an establishment candidate from getting the nomination. What it does is prevent a chaotic convention. The rncs java and the dncs job is to win elections peridot win elections. His choice to vote against republicans for the reason is very unusual. Host we have another College Student on line. Caller good morning. My question for you in the studio is, the two favored campaigns of mine this cycle or and gov. Perrys huntsman. Should the republicans win, a lot of people want them to go down the governor carey perry route. A lot of people want them to go huntsman. Guest in the primary, which was one of Jon Huntsmans better showings if you look at the president ial campaign, but if you look at the map, what were the only places he won . Jon huntsman, appeal to intellectuals, but only very small slice of the party. In those types of liberal College Towns where he was and railing against republicans own denigration of science and warning the party not to go off a social conservative cliff. And i do not this is early think that is the future of the Republican Party. I think the republicans are consolidating down to a very conservative base. If you have a candidate in the future like a governor. From texas, as long have like governor perry from texas then he has a plausible chance to win a reelection. Guest i think that he could still possibly be a player in 2016 depending on what happens. Host robert in indiana on the independent line. Good morning, robert. Caller i have two primary questions. With the increase of the executive corps the executive order by executives and with the increase in congress with the appointing judges, you see them as a more influential body . And within the executive branch and the judicial branch, d. C. Conflict of interest . Guest let me highlight a couple of interesting races in indiana because there are some fascinating things going on particularly in the southern part of the state. Are not sure exactly which district the caller is from. On election night, very early what i will be watching is terre haute, indiana. There is another county in indiana that is very distinctive. Unfortunately, fortunately, we will be seeing Southern Indiana results as one of the first results on election night. And you can go to cspan. Org to see a counted by county county by county results. There are close competitive congressional races. Democrats were able to win in 2006. They lost it in 2010. The candidate in indiana and out is larry rashan, a republican freshmen and former surgeon at who is facing dave cox, a local radio broadcaster, who focuses on agricultural issues, but also announces High School Basketball games. And in a district where there is a 10,000 seat High School Basketball arena, that is a big deal. I think it may still land toward the republican. About thee talking role that congress plays. Do we see any shift in philosophy and are we hearing up playing out on the campaign trail . Guest youre not seeing any shift in philosophy and i actually, to get to his point about executives orders and by the Obama Administration has not use their executive order. It is because they cannot get through the congress with their agenda. It gets through the house and dies or gets into the senate and dies. If congress has anything to fear, it is becoming less and less relevant. Does it become less of a legislative body . , no, but what they do talk about on the campaign trail a lot is that congress has to work Better Together to break this logjam and stalemate. I see that being played out in both the senate races. The most common term i hear from candidates is i can work across the aisle. Host lets go to another student, the president of the college democrats. Go ahead. Caller thanks for having a house. My question is, with senator nelson being the last democrat in florida, how important is his race for democrats and house important is his race for the senate . Guest we do not have that in tossup right now. By not saying it will not get there, but i am saying that senator nelson has run a pretty good race. A problem is that on the republican side where the primary field in that race took a long time to come together, i like to joke that i eighth interviewed more candidates for the seed that did not end up running for the seat. It took awhile for someone to emerge. What is her sixth hurting nelson right now are two things. One, florida has become very polarized between the two parties. There is not much of an independent vote left. Another thing is that outside groups, the american crossroad chamber of commerce has spent millions of softening his record. Their argument is that he says one thing and does another in washington. That has made in somewhat more vulnerable made him a somewhat more vulnerable. He is likely to win the seat as long as mitt romney does not carry florida by a decent margin. If the race there is very close, nelson could have a problem. And every seat this time is important to the Senate Majority. Host Jennifer Duffy is with the co political report where she is responsible for u. S. Senate races. And David Wasserman has been with the Cook Political Report since 2007. Thanks to both of you. Will continue to take calls. New have a caller up next from the virginia. I think we just lost him, unfortunately. Lets go on to george in cypress, texas. And the republican line. Caller the question on ted cruz, where did he come from . Where did republicans find him . And a local race, john cold person, how is he going to fare . Im first generation mexican american. My parents were never able to vote, but the first time i voted when i was 18, i voted for dukakis. But then i went to college and looked at the values of who i am and how i vote for people who share my values, not that i for my values are around them. I am a republican based on that. Where do you see hispanics going . Do they become more like me, or do they follow the democratic tarleton point . Host David Wasserman . Guest the caller is calling from the district, represented by john culbertson. He had a tough race in 2008 when a businessman named michael salida and ran for the seat. Culbertson ended up winning it by double digits, even in a democratic era, which discouraged challengers from running. The republicans made that mr. To even more republican to the point through redistricting the republicans made about district even more republican through redistricting. The only reason why republicans in the state could not turn it into a state republican seat was because courts overruled the original proposed map and installed a map that referred the back to a latino majority. In that district, the 23rd, we have a heated contest spirit a contest. It is a very competitive contests stretching from el paso, 561 miles, all the way to the south side of san antonio. It is a perfect example of Power Congress is becoming very polarized between save democratic and save republican districts. Guest ted cruz, we sometimes forget that he will be a new member because that raises all about a primary. Ted cruz is the former states attorney general in texas. Im not sure reform republicans found him as much as he found the party. And especially, the more conservative way of the party, the tea party or whatever you want to call them, he got a lot of support from people like senator rand paul, marker rubio marco and rubio, the center and from utah as well. He managed to beat the states lieutenant governor, david dewhurst, in a runoff. And in the general election, not contested at all. It is kind of a done deal. Host here is a story from the dallas morning news. Lets go back to Lynn University and hear from our next student. Were joined by gwen. Caller good morning. In this president ial race women are one of the main targeted voters in the last president ial race, women were one of the main targeted voters. How important are women in this election . Guest women make up the majority of voters, about 52 . There is a big portion of the womens vote that has been undecided, but since the first president ial debate, governor romney has done much better with women voters. It is a group that democrats are now a little bit worried about in some of these swing states. I think when you look at down about it raises, women are critical. And down the ballot races, where men are critical. In this election cycle, they recruited a lot of women to run for senate seat. Theyre hoping to increase the number of Democratic Women this year. Host David Wasserman . Guest absolutely critical in the house, but which women are talking about . I would argue that there is no womens vote in the congressional race or in the president ial race. Are we talking about married women . Single men . Minority women . There are huge disparities between the different groups, just as there are between different religious denominations. I would argue that one of the most important of a graphics to watch is white voters without a college education. President obama is less popular among that group and democrats have traditionally been in the past. The question is whether he is in 42 the0s or below low 40s. He has boosted his numbers with the working class group into the low 40s, which is actually pretty favorable, considering where he spent most of his term in the Approval Ratings with the demographic. And mitt romney is an uncharacteristically high in at some of those groups. We are seeing these trickledown into house races as well. At twoets take a look outs in the senate race. We will start off with one from jeff flake, republican, attacking his opponent. [video clip] there was an angry pounding on the door and or it was in the middle in the middle of the night. I am a single mom. It was the richard cremona. He has issues with gwenn and puritan he should never, ever be in the u. S. Senate. Rich, i was part of my swat team and he was a joy to work with. He treats everyone with respect. It does not regret does not matter whether youre male or female. He was about protecting people and saving lives. When i see a career politician like jeff flav attacking ridge cremona, it is despicable prepare host dueling ads in a senate race. Jennifer duffy . Guest it is interesting that the message to women was almost secondary for republicans. What they wanted to talk about was temperament. Cammarano was the Surgeon General and the Bush Administration. I was argued that they character here is a temperament prepare last week in the debate, he the mail moderator and told them he was pretty. Nor have to wonder and out of to wonder if he has an issue with women. His momentum has slowed. In his incidents in the debate last week did not help. Republicans feel somewhat better about that race and they have in the last of all of weeks. It is pretty tough to be a firsttime candidate. This is not an easy business. As accomplished as carmona is, he is learning this but hardware. Host learning this the hard way. Host lets go to another student question. Caller does indeed does the outcome of the president ial debate and its location affect a local race . Guest i do not think it how much bearing. When you see the candidates campaigned in a swing state, it gets bigger on the local news picked on the local news. I think it gets pretty much just as widespread coverage nationally as it does in the local media. Guest democrats held a National Convention in charlotte, this summer. The Obama Campaign has admitted in the last few days that North Carolina is now out of their reach. Having their convention there has had no impact on all on his prospects. Host summed weakening in responding to the conversation this morning. Some tweaks responding to the conversation this morning. Perhaps its time we knowledge that women are no more homogenous in voting that are other suburbs of society. And here is another one. Why do democrats want to divide americans in the groups against each other anyway . Here is another call. Caller with all of this information over the years telling people which way things are going with polls, which those are strictly surveys and are unreliable. I am just wondering, how does the working man cmon the working man, which is 97 , come up with a winner . Tricky dick. Ted for trapet america still a good nation, but we do not seem to have what we need. It seems we have a mobile Marshall Plan going around the world rebuild the earth, rebuild europe, socialize everything. Host he is talking about the anti vote, in some ways, feeling dissatisfied and voting against were you do not like. Are you seeing voters actively choose candidates that they like, or go against what they have distaste for . Guest i think the caller speaks the same sentiment that a lot of voters across the country feel. Any ads you see the first time it congressional candidate runs on is, washington is broken. Most voters feel that it is broken because the other side broke it. Members of congress are doing an effective job of running against the congress in which they serve. We are seeing members triangulates doubt, first of all, and channel voters anger againsaway from themselves antht congress at large. Voters ao seeing among feeling that if they are left out of both parties, it is time to against whoever is in charge at the time. We saw that in 2006 when independent voters voted democratic and overwhelmingly. We started in 2010 when they flipped entirely and voted for republicans. Host were going to Lean University tonight. The cspan will be there for the debates. Theyre making final preparations before tonights 9 00 debate. And we are joined by students at the university this morning for questions. Go ahead. Caller thank you for having me. My question is, how will the candidates gather the vote of the asian and hispanic and africanamerican populations . Guest candidates are coordinating these demographics to come out and vote in this years election. Obviously, the president ial election is driving this turn out. It is notable that the first time there is an Asian American morality seat in new york, in queens, the new sixth Congressional District there, which is likely to be represented there by grace mang, the first asianamerican in congress from new york most likely. And in california, there are two asianamerican to orality seat. Pluralities he appeared at for the first time there are districts with nonwhite majority districts. Aware of to 106 nonwhite majority districts out of 435. It is crucial, for democrats because it is their foundation in the caucus, but also for republicans who have a small number of seats in here that they want to hold onto. Host how will this affect the race is in nevada . Guest in the last couple of cycles you see both candidates you see both of these candidates working very hard and appealing to the hispanic vote both in the way they talk about certain issues, especially housing, unemployment. They are airing a lot of spanish radio ads. They are very cognizant this is a very device a decisive block of voters. Host next call is in kansas city, missouri caller my question to your guess is, how to use the border intimidation affecting the election . Voter intimidation affecting the election . Guest the question we have gotten most of the cycle is about the notion of photo i. D. , having to show that at the polls to vote. I guess i am biased because i live in washington and it seemed like i have to show my id to go to start talks. To go to starbucks. I am sort of used to it. But in a lot of places where it has been tested it has worked fairly well. States have been working hard to make sure that people who do not get do not have frodo adis get them. Photo ids get them. There was some Voter Suppression advertisements in cleveland. They have been widely criticized. Widespread suppression and tactics and widespread intimidation, i do not know that they are as rampant as people tend to believe they are. Host the next question comes from ellen chambers, a student at nowlin university Lynn University. Caller given the outrageous monetary value being generated in both the congressional campaigns and president ial campaign, will this be an election where the money is equivalent to power . Guest as of this morning i counted 73. 9 million in super pac money into house races alone. It is a great deal of money. But it is different than 2010. In 2010, republican outside groups and wealthy donors were super enthusiastic about the opportunity to take back at least one chamber of congress. It was unilateral. They outspent democrats dramatically. They increased gains in the house from 56 to 60 seats, so it did have an advantage. This time, most of the money is going to the president ial race on the republican side. They want the top prize. Democrats have their own super peskov pac their own super pac. These parties act a little differently than other campaign parties organize in the past. They are working to plug gaps in spending and raises where a candidate . Money or parties do not have the money to spend. As they can go in and take credit. Whereas in the past, they would act more like matching funds and of the candidates raise money, they would support them as well. Guest we used to talk about money being a decisive factor in a racist. And now a possible of elections, have said that no candidate wins or loses a race simply because of men of money. I think republicans have outspent democrats mostly because they started earlier. They have been in ohio for over a year. They have been in missouri for the year. And in montana as well. My argument about this outside of money is that a dollar in outside money is worth about 50 cents in candidates money. I mean that literally and figuratively. I do not think it has the same punch from a message perspective, and it buys a lot less than a candidates to dollars. They actually have to buy television at a higher rate and then candidates do. I think we will see it having been a success in some states and an abysmal failure and other spirits host we have been hearing and a feel youre in others. Host we have been hearing from students from lyyn university this morning. You can see there a live shot of the president ial debate, where about will be held tonight. We wrap things up with michael, a student. Go ahead. Caller i was wondering if groups like the tea party will change congress. It will they become their own group within the Republican Party and vote their own way . Guest they already have appeared in the we have 60 members out of 242 in the republican caucus. There is a large bloc of conservative voters out there, whether democrats from the past, particularly in the south, or whether they have been republican, who did not like democrats or president obama, but also did not appreciate republicans when they were in control and the early part of last decade. But they did not want to call themselves republicans and that became the tea party. But there is a misconception that they wrote into about several republican freshmen road into party on the rode into washington on the tea party banner. They do not want to be one term wonders. They want to stick around washington for a while. And they realize the tea party brand is a liability in the swing seats that they represent. Predominantly, those 19 members of the Tea Party Caucus who are freshmen, they are from very safe republican districts. The only two who are in trouble are alan west from florida and joe walsh in illinois. They tend to be dragging down the republican brand in other districts. Host here is a question on twitter. Will the tea party gain or lose seats in the house . And another rights, have the Tea Party Members seeing their swan song . He hopes so. Guest i think there has been a decline in a tea Party Enthusiasm because a lot of supporters believed that by electing more republicans to congress they would be able to overturn the Health Care Reform and there would be able to hold on the debt. Well of course, obamacare was upheld by the court, and the majority of freshmen voted to raise the debt ceiling. There is some disillusionment there. But the majority was at the conference of conservatives for 2013. We see some very conservative republicans with great chances of winning. I see the Tea Party Caucus will actually grow. Host we are here with David Wasserman and Jennifer Duffy. Here is a tweet about the race in massachusetts. We also have a caller from massachusetts. Go ahead. Caller i am just slightly to republican. General comment, i wonder about the candidates i have to vote for. We have two candidates, one of whom is 31yearold Joseph Kennedy iii with lots of outside money. Two and a half years of work experiments experience and no private sector experience. He kind of refuses to debate his opponents. We have elizabeth warren, who arrived in our state for years ago. I wonder how much time she has spent outside of 128 or outside of cambridge. At the coming in with the Obama Administration and the Consumer Protection agency that she hoped to find fund money against and cannot find one republican with whom she can work with, besides richard lugar, who is retiring. And then we have scott brown, was the second most bipartisan person in the senate. I think we need people with privatesector experience to help with the economy. And id think we need people who can work with both sides of the aisle. Im disappointed in the choices that i have. Host David Wasserman, will start with you on the house. Guest Joseph Kennedy iii claims he can count the number of years he has had in his life on one hand. The number of beers he has had in his life on one hand and then his opponent is from the purring industry. The brewing industry. Then we have the candidate who has the endorsement of outgoing kendeigh burnie frank. The outgoing candidate of barney frank. In the sixth Congressional District, john tierneys wife had to take a plea deal regarding a gambling ring about her brothers ran in the caribbean. His opponent has an excellent chance of defeating him. We could have the first republican from the district in massachusetts since 1996. Guest it the cycle is notable for a couple of reasons, not the least of which, these candidates have kept outside money outside the race and they have been by and large, successful at it. You do not see outside groups on television there. It is an interesting race. Elizabeth warren has been in massachusetts longer than four years. She was a professor at harvard. She is running as a consumer candidates for the mittal cost probiotic for the middle class. Voters like scott brown and he has her proven to be a very bipartisan center. He has gained some ground and with the argument that electing scott brown is putting the democrats maturity at risk. And i think she is running two to three. The democrats majority at risk. I think she is running two to three. Ahead. Host lets take an excerpt from one of the debates that they had earlier this month. [video clip] i will be clear in terms of cutting the agricultural subsidy programs. And it is time to cut in our military budget. It we are winding up one war. And we have ended another one. We can realign our priorities. On the other hand, i want to make clear i will not go to washington to cut medicare or Social Security benefits. That is not what we should do when we talk about a balanced approach, we need to be talking about spending cuts, and we need to be talking about increasing revenues. It takes both to close the deficit. Senator brown and i both submitted our economic proposals to the boston globe. They were set out sent out four independent Economic Analysis and the independent and not analysts said that i was 67 on more effective. I was 67 more effective. The first thing that could be cut is 2 trillion from obamacare. It is not good for massachusetts businesses. I would sell all unused property that is excess. We do not need it. A review of every federal program. If there is anybody listening that things that my opponent is a tax cutter, let me get rid of that myth. I have never voted for a tax increase and i will not be raising taxes on any american. We need a balanced budget. But we do it in our state, our homes, our businesses puritans businesses. 17,000 jobs in massachusetts could be cut. Many people watching and in this room right now could be affected. I will not put those lives and jobs in jeopardy. Guest that was a great excerpt because it crystallizes what this is about. Candidates coming out two issues from a very different perspective. I can bet that in massachusetts they did not like what she said about defense cuts. I think they probably liked what he said about taxes and not raising taxes. But they have questions about where he is on things like medicare and Social Security. This is a tight race. Massachusetts is a very blue states. The fact that we have a competitive race there, the first one and probably a couple of decades, is amazing. Host rick on the independent line. Welcome. Caller thanks for taking my call. My question is for david. In the california 53rd, susan daviss district, the districts were redrawn even though we did not pick up a new house seat in the last census. Her district now includes some suburbs just south of here where it used to be solidly within the sandy the city limits of san diego. Now it to include parts of chula vista. I wonder what davids take would be on what this might mean for susan davis. Guest it is a great question. Her district did get more suburban in redistricting, but it is still a 61 obama district. A republican in that race does not have much chance of defeating her. The real race in san diego is in the 52nd district, where the republican who won a seat to the north a couple of years ago in a special election, his election was tried south into santiago. Was dragged south into san diego. Republicans are working very hard to frame the City Council President , scott peters, as the father avi of the crisis there. The candidate there in the 52nd district has had to make a concerted effort. I think peters might take this for democrats. Host lisa on the democrats line. Good morning. Caller i live in a very red state. In fact ramat in fact, the area i live in is so read that one of the local politicians [indiscernible] i am a fairly liberal democrat. I see democrat in Congress Working hard and every time they bring up something that they have worked so hard on and they bring it to the floor, then there is a big circus and they have lost it. That is my view. And being from this read state d states, i doubt that my vote will matter whatsoever. And i would be in this and that would be the same in a very blue state for republicans. What is the incentive to get out and go to the polls . Russellville in polk county, you may be seeing how its board on cotton you may be seeing an ounce for tom cotton. The congressman from the third wanted to keep russellville in the Third District because daud was his birthplace. Steve wardak is someone who is a more moderate republicans, which is interesting. But the caller is right, what incentive do they have to go across the Work Together in these homogenous districts. We see that through the deep south as well as western pennsylvania. Guest when you represent an entire state although, there are exceptions. Wyoming is such a red state that it is hard to get out. Get back. But we do have a number of swing states and competitive races. But what is interesting about this cycle is we have to worth street blue states, massachusetts, connecticut, two or three blue states, massachusetts, connecticut, that have competitive races. I get this question a lot and i say that voting assures your right to complain. If you do not vote, if you do not let your voice be heard, then you do not have much to complain about. Host here is a tweet. Hes asking for an update on the Wisconsin Senate race. Hes physically asks if Tommy Thompson is a birthright. He specifically asked if Tommy Thompson is a birther. Guest the republican nominee is former gov. Tommy thompson. He used to say he is the longest serving former governor. He worked under president bush. He won that primary. The governor to the right of center, but a little bit more moderate. He was at the forefront of a lot of reforms that happened in this country in the 1990s, like a and like welfare reform. His opponent is a congressman from madison. Her name is Tammy Baldwin. She is quite liberal. It is a very, very close race. I think the polls show her up a couple of points. I have also seen polls that show thompson up a couple of points. This will be every vote matters here. Is johnson a birther . No, i think the person asking the question has referred to something his son said that he has since apologized for. Host here is something from cnn that summarizes what you just said. Atomic thompsons son apologizes rther comments. Lets take a look at how outside money is playing a role in that race. We watched to devote adds. These are funded by outside groups. [video clip] democrats and republicans rarely agree on anything, but they both agreed that Tammy Baldwins budget was extreme. It would have raised five dorschel in more in taxes. She is way too extreme for was constant. For wisconsin. If this is who you think our senators should be fighting for, and Tommy Thompson is your man. After all, he is still there. He raised millions for affirms the represent a big oil and other corporations. And now he is fighting to get them huge tax breaks. If he is fighting for them, he will not be fighting for us. Host we are seeing ads in the Wisconsin Senate race funded by outside groups. Guest those are fairly typical ads i see in a number of senate races. Republicans argue that Tammy Baldwin is a tax and spend liberal. And that she is out of sync. Democrats are taking aim at what thompson did after he was out of service. On not sure if he did a lot of lobbying himself, but i am not sure if he did a lot of lobbying himself, but their argument is that he changed since he was governor of the states. I think both tactics have been affected, which is why you have a close race you have today. Host barbara on the democrats line. Caller as i would like to ask your guest this morning if they know how many i would like to ask your guest this morning of the inner harmony and executive orders president obama has signed since taking office, and doesnt signing executive orders more less negate what comes out of both chambers . Host were talking about the congressional races. Where are you seeing in ohio . Caller i am watching Sherrod Brown. I am a republican. Guest this is a senate race that probably has not gone as well as republicans would like. There is the state treasurer, 35 years old. He has an impressive resume for someone so young. He did two tours of duty in the of iraq and was a member of the ohio state legislature. Shourd brown was elected in 2006. He is one of the senates more liberal members and republicans thought that he would be an easy target. But he is also a tough campaigner. As someone in ohio told us last year cannot last year, sherer brown may not vote with us, but he will always listen. That may be enough for this particular voter. I think he is ahead in this race. As the president ial race gets a little closer cannot a little closer, so has the senate race. Guest barberton, ohio is a suburb of akron. It is also the area where it is one of the two democrat versus incumbent races in the country. Betty had and is also running in this district. She lives just outside the county. If you look up both candidates linkedins profiles, youll see the entire rationale for why they are on the air. Betty has labor going to work for her. Jim house car dealerships, nursing homes, and an arena football team. He has been support from the speaker, from his home state congressman, john bair. It is one of the most expensive house campaigns in the cycle. We have that in our tossup column. Host here is a wonderful tweet, saying that she is losing track of the total count. Look at the political breakdown of the house races. David wasserman, what are you looking at . Guest at the Cook Political Report, we rate of 53 races as competitive. Current races in the house are 242 were republicans and 149 democrats. The two of those are vacant. The basics are the democrats need a net gain of 25 seats to take the majority. One of the biggest problems for democrats are now was that they have more open seats that republicans. They will hemorrhage a few of those open seats before they can start making any gains and make up for the lost ground. Democrats actually need to most likely take between 35 to 40 republican held seats in order to get a net gain of 25 in the house. Where they are hoping to draw most of those gains is from the tossup column. There are six republican held seats right now that our end that are likely democratic seats prepared that are likely democratic seat. Democrats really need to make gains in the tossups. These are in colorado, texas, florida, and minnesota. Those are the seats that democrats need to pick up. And they also need to lean into the republican column. If democrats are winning or leading a a a few of those races on election day, they are probably on track to have a doubledigit gain in seats. If it is split, then were likely headed for a night or democrat net about five. Guest the senate break down is currently 53 democrats, 47 republicans. Republicans need four seats to win the senate are right. They need 3 of mitt romney were elected president , and then the Vice President would break the tie vote there would be considered the majority party. And they would be considered the majority party. The open seat in nebraska i have already given to republicans. Republicans have four seats in the tossup column as well. In maine, there has been an interesting race where an independent is likely to win that race. Although, it remains competitive. And the setting is that the independent would caucus with democrats, so that would be a loss for them. In new jersey on the democrats line. Go ahead. Caller i watch cspan all the time and i get most of my information from watching the debates, not just the president ial and Vice President ial. I watched some of the senate debates. I am a registered nurse. I make about 80,000 or more. I am better off i am a democrat. I am better off i am a democrat