but here's the big but. the but is that the winds blowing against this super thin material here of this balloon, just too, too much, far too dangerous for him. i want to go straight to the ground to cnn's brian todd who is in roswell, new mexico. and, brian, just sitting around the newsroom, we were all sort of crest fallen, anticipating this hopefully history being made. set the scene for me there on the ground. disappointment. >> reporter: it sure is, brooke. we're all about as deflated that is balloon is right now. we can show you that balloon, our photo journalist mike love will try to zoom into it. the balloon is deflated on the ground over there. that was essentially the reason that this mission had to be aborted today. once they got the thing almost inflated, it looked like it was fully inflated, the winds started really whipping it around. i would say fairly severely. surface winds that came upon, i guess, fairly surprisingly, at that point they decided that it just was not optimum condition to launch this. they brought felix baumgartner out of the capsule on to a crane where he was lowered. he's in this air stream container, we believe next to the capsule. and so the mission is aborted for today. tomorrow, weather conditions not as certain, so this could be delayed beyond tomorrow, possibly to thursday. we're told initially thursday may look a little better for the weather. we're going to have to keep close tabs on that. right now, brooke, this mission aborted for today, a lot of disappointment here. >> i think it is important to, you know, underline and it tal size the importance, the historic significance of this jump because it will be happening at some point as you point out. chad myers, to you, i know you've been watching this closely with the rest of us. talk to me about how thin that balloon material was. it was, like, i heard it was .1 of a sandwich baggie in thinness, if that's correct. >> it still weighed 3700 pounds, being that thin. that's how big it was. when this balloon got to the top of the atmosphere, it would have filled six madison square gardens in volume. that's how big this would have expanded to be up at the top of the atmosphere. we knew, brooke, we knew by the time we're talking about now, mountain time, that there was going to be heat on the ground. the temperature this morning when they wanted to launch was 45. it is now 83. that air has to rise because hot air rises, just like that balloon was going to. above roswell, new mexico, was a jet stream today. that air came up to the jet stream, mixed back down. they had a 16-mile-per-hour wind gust, a rolling gust, two minutes later, it was gone. but that 16-mile-per-hour wind gust destroyed the chance of that balloon going into space. we believe that balloon costs almost a quarter of a million dollars and it is done. can't use it again. it is going back in the box and getting thrown away. once it is down to the box, can't put it back together. >> new balloon for the retry. >> they have another backup, thank goodness. i don't think tomorrow looks good. i don't think until sunday looks good. let me go back to this, see if this graphic is still here, shawn, if it is not, help me out with this. this is what we ran into -- we ran into a cold front. we ran into a jet stream that cooled down the entire east coast. this is the jet stream. here is new york city, here is florida, here is texas. about a month ago when they wanted to do this, the jet stream was 500 miles farther to the north. no wind at all. the capsule on a practice jump was damaged. they had to wait a month to fix t they were behind a month where they wanted to be. and it caused the early fall jet stream to come down with the cold front and that's where the winds came from, that delay. >> look, even though it is disappointing, it is a precarious situation, this is someone's life, so they have to be extra, extra, extra careful. chad, we'll be talking about this i'm sure throughout the week as we anticipate the next launch date. thank you. brian todd, back to you, just because i think this guy's story is entirely fascinating. he's called fearless felix, this experienced base jumper, his jump -- he jumped off the christ redeemer statue in rio. this was his attempt to supersede anything that happened in history, break the sound barrier, the speed of sound. tell me more about him and your conversation with him when you asked him if he was afraid of death. >> reporter: yeah, brooke, he's a fascinating guy. you mentioned it, he base jumped from the christ of the redeemer statue in rio. this would have been his latest and greatest. the records, we have been well reported. breaking the speed of sound, just outside of a space vehicle, breaking the record for the longest ever free fall. this was going to be, hopefully still will be, his chorowning achievement. i asked him in may about the key question here, are yo scared? take a listen. >> are you scared, nervous? >> actually i'm not scared. i'm not nervous. there is so much preparation. we rehearsed everything. justting out othecapsule is a pdure which includes 43 steps and we have been properly trained every step. >> reporter: so now they're going through all of those steps again toseehat needs to be adjusted for a possible launch later this week, maybe tomorrow, maybe thursday. we're going to see. chad mentioned that the balloon they were going to use to send this up is now spent, totally correct. you cannot lose that anymore. what we're told is they have a backup balloon that can be used pretty much anytime from here, brooke. so they do have backup systems in place. one other thing to note, they did have a malfunction, a radio problem, one of the radios went dead. they didn't seem to think that was enough to delay the mission. that was when he was sealed in the capsule and when starting to inflate the balloon or just before that. that was another issue that they're going to have to work through in the days ahead. >> as they work through those issue, i have one more question because i've been reading and reading and reading about this whole thing. when this happens and when he goes high above us, you know, some 120,000 feet and in that capsule and he sort of begins to exit, from what i understand he's basically going to, i don't know, i thought cannonball, the proper way is delta position, which is when you maximize your speed, right? he's trying to maximize his speed as he free falls, correct? >> reporter: that is absolutely right. what they're telling us is he does a little bunny hop. not a dive. can't dive off a sky diver would dive and expand your arms and start to fly right away. he's got to go into a delta position, a bunny hop after the platform and tries to angle his head forward and down, almost into -- like a tuck and that's where he really achieves maximum speed going into the sound barrier and past the sou barrier. this is faster than a jumbo jet travels, 690 plus miles per hour, faster than a jump bbo je travels. he's got to be in the right position. one of the other risks, brooke, he could in those first 30 seconds or so go into a severe spin. if that happens, he could become unconscious, they might have to operate his -- deploy his chute remotely. these are all risks that could occur. they have taken all of these risks into account. they seem to be prepared for each one of them. >> okay. we will wait a day, a couple of days, have to wait and find out when he can go up there. brian todd if you have access to felix today in the next couple of hours, let us know. we would love to hear from him as well. thank you very much. now this. romney and obama, as the candidates blitz the buckeye state and the polls tighten, could this all come down to ohio? i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. a man close to bashar al assad's regime defects. and speaks to cnn. >> translator: he seemed worried all day long. we rarely saw him smiling. plus, a consulate's attacked, an ambassador is killed, and this lawmaker wants answers. jason chaffetz joins me live, fresh off his trip to libya. and the magic johnson tells me about an in-home test that could save your life. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. 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>> well it wasn't just the victims who had their say in court today, also judge cleland as well. since you just played the radio address, let me first give you what judge cleland had to say about that. he made it clear that he actually heard that radio statement that jerry sandusky had released. part of that statement sandusky felt as though it was some sort of conspiracy between the media and the courts and the victims. that's why he was tried for this original case. before sentencing, the judge said like all conspiracy theories, mr. sandusky, it flows from the undeniable to the unbelievable. and that's basically how the victims felt about this as well, brooke. and there were a number of victims who spoke today, three in all, victim number five, i'll start with him, this young man stood up in front of the court, jerry sandusky, just sitting a few feet to his right, he did not look at jerry sandusky as he read his statement, he cried, he sobbed and said, the sentence will never erase what he did to me. it will never make me whole. he must pay for his crimes, take into account the tears, the pain and the private anguish. and then the young man identified as victim number four stood up. this time, this young man did look at jerry sandusky, not once, not twice, but several times. he looked at him directly and he said i want you to know i do not forgive you. i don't know if i can ever forgive you. then, of course, we heard from jerry sandusky himself. he spoke for about 13 minutes, he was emotional at times, read from a prepared statement that i'm just finding out now it was a statement he was just putting the final touches on late yesterday, brooke. joe amendola didn't get an opportunity to see the statement in its full entirety until both of them were in court this morning. and joe amendola said i just had a quick opportunity to look over it. jerry sandusky is standing in front of the court and saying, quote, i feel the need it talk, not for arrogance, but from my heart. i'm filled with emotion and determination. i did not do these disgusting acts. others can make me out to be a monster, but they cannot take away my heart. a lot of emotion in the courtroom this morning. brooke. >> jason, he is obviously going away for a long, long time. but, you know, as you point out, the judge could have given him 400 years. there has been some outcry over this sentence that it wasn't enough. what did the judge -- did the judge address that? >> reporter: he did. and he said that the law made it very clear he could have sentenced him to hundreds of years, but he said that he felt as though a sentenceike that would have been abstract, and he wanted something to issue a sentence that was more realistic. and something that would be felt not only by jerry sandusky, but the victims themselves. had an opportunity when they sentencing was over, spoke to many of the victims' attorneys and they're satisfied with this sentence, but a woman came up to me and just before i was about to go on earlier today and she said, what did he get? i said he got a minimum of 30, a maximum of 60. she said, you know, 30 years times ten, times 100, still wouldn't be enough for what he did to those young men and this community. >> i want to play, if i can here, jason, i want to play another portion of the audio he released last night, jerry sandusky released, suggesting he, again, is the victim here. listen. >> the young man who is dramatic, veteran accuser and always sough attention started everything. he was joined by a well orchestrated effort of the media, investigators, the system, penn state, psychologists, civil attorneys and other accusers. they won. >> so despite everything, jason carol, i presume this means an appeal is on the way. >> reporter: oh, most definitely. and joe amendola made it very clear that he intends to appeal, based on the fact a number of factors, but one of the leading factors in his eyes is that he does not feel as though he received enough time to put forth an adequate defense. he felt as though he was rushed through the process, and that's going to be one of the grounds for his appeals. you speak to a number of analysts in that way and they feel as though he's pretty much on thin ice with that type of appeal. but once again, you listen to the radio address, that radio address, that statement really seemed to strike a number of people the wrong way. not just the victims, the victims' attorneys, but the judge himself, judge cleland, one final quote here he said, said the tragedy of this crime is that it is a betrayal. he said it is a crime not just to their bodies, but to their psyche and to their soul. he made it very clear he had also taken into account not just dottie sandusky's letter she had written on behalf of her husband, but also took into account that radio statement that jerry sandusky gave late yesterday. >> jason carol, we appreciate all your reporting there. just to point out to our viewers, we're seeing pictures of jerry sandusky and underneath the prison garb is a bulletproof vest to protect him from anyone in the crowd today eking restrer reven revenge. he goes to jail and federal prison. >> up next, the race for president, truly neck and neck. less than a month, the polls are tightening. both candidates are zeroing in on one state. can you guess? 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[ engine revving ] it's bringing the future forward. mitt romney up and running, running, of course, for the white house. take a look. mitt romney, new port news, virginia, shaking some hands, on the tarmac, hopping on a plane to iowa. just that pose that picture with the president, boarding air force one, san francisco here on his way to columbus, ohio. before the day is out, romney like obama will venture into the buckeye state with 18 electoral votes there. cnn's john king is in ohio for us today. we'll be talking to him a little bit later and talk about the importance of the buckeye state come november 6th. right now, mitt romney trying to ride that wave of post debate momentum, in a speech last hour, just west of des moines, a blustery afternoon there, and, a pitch to iowa farmers. >> people have been waiting a long time for a farm bill. and the president has to exert the kind of presidential leadership it takes to get the house and the senate together and actually pass a farm bill. that's something i will devote my time to make sure we get that bill passed so farmers know what they can expect. there are big differences between the president and me. he has no plan for rural america. no plan for agriculture. no plan for getting people back to work. and i do. you know i spoke about it all over the country. and i'm going to make sure i help the american farmer and i help our economy and i get america working again. >> again, mitt romney in iowa today. and now big news from the world of political polls, we're watching all these polls. so within just this past hour, gallup published its daily tracking poll. nationwide poll, registered voters, you see it here, obama 49%, romney at 46%. that is up one point from yesterday. one point down, actually, for the president. and, hang with me, now as we're counting 28 days here until the election, gallup unveiled a tracking poll of likely voters here, likely voters added to the mix. you see the numbers. romney at 49, above obama at 47%. again, among as it points out, likely voters. it is at least the third poll since sunday showing romney leading obama, very, very significant. so is team obama, you know, pushing the panic button? apparently not. not from the ad -- the campaign released today. take a look. >> big bird. >> big bird. >> big bird. >> it's me, big bird. >> big, yellow, a menace to our economy. mitt romney knows it is not wall street you have to worry about, it is sesame street. >> the ad follows romney's plan to cut funding for pbs. sesame street declaring itself nonpartisan is asking team obama to take that ad down. a romney spokesman says it is alarming the president is talking about sesame street a month before the election. tonight, wolf blitzer has live interview with mitt romney, 6:00 eastern, only here on cnn. tune in for that. then jump ahead to thursday. it is the vice presidential debate, joe biden versus paul ryan, cnn special live coverage begins 7:00 eastern, 4:00 pacific on cnn. spinning lies and publishing propaganda, a syrian palace insider defects from the bashar al assad regime and spills his secrets to cnn. that's next. capella university understands rough economic times have led to an increase in clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief