90-month exchange. the focus -- 90-minute exchange, the focus foreign policy. there are six 15-minute segments, the same format used for the first debate. bob schieffer will open with a question, the candidate will have two minutes to respond and then an exchange between the two nominees. here's a look at the topics for tonight's debate as selectioned by bob schieffer. beginning with america's role in the world, followed by what he is calling our longest war, afghanistan and pakistan. then the so-called red lines, israel and iran, a changing middle east, followed by the new face of terrorism and concluding the 90-minute debate with the rise of china and tomorrow's world. the next hour and a half we're going to preview what to expect from lynn university. as always, we want to hear from you. our phone lines are open. the question we're asking -- what would you ask if you were posing questions to president obama and governor romney? 202 is the area code, 737-00016789 our lines for those supporting the president and 202-737-0002 for those supporting governor mitt romney. undecided voters, 202-628-0205. you can also weigh in on our face book at facebook.com/c-span and on our twitter page at twitser.com -- c-span. some of you already weighing in. here's one comment daig, what are we doing in the middle east again? don't even no anymore. and from our facebook page, jacob posing this question -- "what will you do to keep america out of other countries' conflicts?" jeff is joining us from inside the spin room at lynn university. thanks very much for beginning our program tonight. >> steve, thank you. >> let's set the stage. the polls are out tonight indicating ta this race is essentially a dead heat. the economy seems to be driving a lot of the electorate and yet for the next 90 minutes in the debate the focus will be foreign policy. >> that's right. i mean, the economy is driving the race. but i think what tonight is about, it's about leadership. it's about letting voters -- it's more of a test for governor romney, i think, who is not really talked a lot about foreign policy. i think we've seen in the last two presidential debates and even the vice-presidential debate, there is an audience for this, an intense interest especially among partisans, and this is just a third in a series here. the burden is on both gentlemen for a couple of different things. i think president obama, his advisors know he has to have basically an error-free evening, continue his performance from the second debate. certainly not repeat his quieter performance, his performance that lacked energy during the first debate. and governor roam fee has to show that he has -- romney has to show that he has command much the foreign policy issues. he's spent time preparing over the weekend and that's what this is about. they're also going to try and weave in other things here. they have quite a bit of latitude with these questions and with these longer segments to talk about spending, the budget deficit, other kinds of leadership. i think we'll hear more than foreign policy tonight. >> i want to pick up something from the front page of the newspaper. candidates facing tough choices, especially on afghanistan. but some other factors also coming up, terrorism, our role in the middle east. and my question is, will we hear specifics from these candidates tonight? will bob schieffer press them on specific resolutions to some of these foreign policy matters? >> i think he'll certainly try and press them on this. particularly afghanistan. it is striking that really the lack of discussion that we've heard certainly to the republican primary debate and in this general election debate about afghanistan. there's an active war going on. national security is discussed during this presidential campaign and the first campaign in the wake of 9/11, that that's been the case. the recent events over the last several weeks, in libya and other things have moved foreign policy more to the center stage. on afghanistan, governor romney has not been very specific about what he would do. he's been highly critical of the president on one hand, but he also has a lot of people in his party, some tea party members, etc., who think that the spending is too much. i think actually on these fronts requester's going to hear governor romney and the president agreeing more than they have at any other point during this campaign. >> obviously the two were joking at the dinner last week about their frequent appearances this month. what are the dynamics? these two now will be seated next to each other, very similar to the vice-presidential debate. it's not the town hall meeting format, it's not the podium. >> i think the dynamics of the two candidates sitting down -- and i'm told that the table is quite small. it really feels like they're right next to each other. with bob receiver, there's the moderator as well. i do not think we're going to see a repeat of the second debate at hofstra university where there was quite an incredible amount of animation and intensity between the two candidates. they circled one another. we're not going to see that as much. both candidates want to leave their supporters and the undecided voters with a better taste in their mouth and perhaps more of a presidential feel. the topics will be very serious. it's really an audition for commander in chief more. so i think that this will be a more cerebral discussion. it will get animated at times. just because they're sitting down does not mean things can't be animated, but it will be a more civil discussion than the debate last week. >> certainly libya and the killing of the american ambassador and three others in benghazi will come up. let's go back to the moment from hofstra university a week ago, and jeff, let's get your reaction on what you think the president and governor romney will say differently tonight than what we heard last week. >> the day after the attack, governor, i stood in the rose garden and i told the american people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror, and i also said that we're going to hunt down those who committed this crime. and then a few days later i was there greeting the caskets coming into andrews air force base and grieving with the families. and the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether secretary of state or u.n. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. that's not what we do. that's not what i do as president, that's not what i do as commander in chief. >> governor, if you want to reply quickly, please. >> i certainly do. i think it's interesting, the president just said something which is on the day of the attack he went in the rose garden and said that this was an act of terror. you said in the rose garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration. is that what you're saying? >> please proceed, governor. >> i want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did in fact, sir. so let me call it an act of terror. he did call it an act of terror. [applause] it did as well take -- it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. you're correct about that. >> the administration -- [applause] -- the administration indicated that this was a reaction to a video and was a spontaneous reaction. it took them a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist group. >> jeff, based on what we saw in the last debate a week ago, what, if anything, on that topic will be different tonight? >> i think governor romney is likely to pick up where he left off. and he was on to something there when he was sort of raising the suggestion that the administration had not called it or had not aggressively or only called it an act of terrorism initially. but he seemed unfamiliar with the president's speech in the rose garden that morning when he kind of generically said these acts of terror will not be tolerated. so i think it was probably the only example during the first two debates where we saw that governor romney did not have a complete handle on what the president had sid. he spends a lot of time sort of memorizing the president's remarks and certainly reading through them. it looked like that speech in the rose garden sort of fell through his research book or something, because he seemed unfamiliar with that. but be sure that he is going to be familiar with it tonight. and he is going to sort of, i think, still pick apart the argument of what led the administration to maintain for the better part of two weeks that this was a spontaneous act of demonstration rather than a concerted act of terror. so he was beginning to pick apart the argument. i think that we will hear governor romney sort of continue right to that point and go at it again and ask the president to directly answer about his handling of that, not just the speech in the rose garden, calling it an act of terror, but what the administration did point by point by point over the next two week. >> jeff, as you pointed out in the story this morning in "the new york times" and online, the president had 365 electric tral -- electrictoral votes. tomorrow he'll campaign in some of the key battleground states. so where are we in this race two weeks before voters go to the poll? two weeks from tonight the -- before people cast their ballots. >> this race is example seal bely close. the obama campaign realizes this is a close race. they know they won't repeat their performance in 2008 both in the margin of victory, but also in the number of states won. so president obama is trying to do in the final two weeks is build a american firewall, if you will. ohio is at the central part of that strategy. if the president is able to keep ohio in his column it makes it all that more difficult for governor romney to piece together the states he needs to win. it is possible, but he basically has to run the table across the country from west to east beginning with nevada all the way across. so the states of ohio and iowa and wisconsin are three that are key to president obama's strategy. at the same time they're trying to keep a lot of different options alive. they believe that they are doing pretty well out in nevada. colorado not quite as well as governor romney, perhaps. florida is considered a jump ball, perhaps a slight edge to governor romney. virginia is a jump ball, probably too close to call. maybe a slight edge to governor romney. so there's a lot of different things happening. but what we're seeing president obama do on saturday, he is going to travel to new hampshire. he is focusing on the smallest states of the battlegrounds. four electoral vofmentse you might ask, why is he spending time going to a state with four electoral votes? that's because some scenarios might reach a tie of 269-269. if the boehm campaign -- if president obama wins new hampshire, that could really blow up the tie scenario. one advisor told me that we do not want to have an al gore problem. what he means by that is in 2000 al gore lost new hampshire. had he campaigned there in the end and won new hampshire, the florida recount would not have been central to the presidency of george w. bush and al gore would have won the election if everything else had been the same. so we're seeing a fight of the big states, of course, but also the small states here are critical to this campaign as well. in the next few gays governor romney and president obama are basically going to be chasing each other through nevada, colorado and on to ohio. >> we're asking our viewers and listeners on this debate night what you would ask the candidates in this presidential debate. jeff, if you were seated next to the president and to governor romney focusing on fonch policy, what would you question him about? >> we would question governor romney on afghanistan. but i think president obama, you would question him exactly on what happened with the situation in benghazi and libya. he has not held a full-blown press conference to talk about that. he's not given many interviews to talk about that. it is sort of one piece of unraveling information here that we still don't have all the answers to. so i think you would ask him about that. i think the challenge here -- and bob schieffer is a skilled moderator. the challenge here is sort of getting president obama off of the -- his statements, his pledge to end the iraq war, the fact that he captured and killed bin laden under his -- in his first term. all those are important pieces of his record, but we know that. so i think the challenge here is sort of probing down and getting some new information from both of them. >> finally, can you give us a sense of what it's like inside the room, who you're talking to, and what their expectations are tonight? >> well, both sides have had a lot of their advisors coming in. senator mccain has been doing a lot of interviews. john kerry has been here as well. and, of course, senator kerry has spent a lot of time with president obama. he's been helping him prepare for this debate, playing the role of mitt romney. at this point, in the hours leading up to the debate, you have a lot of expectations setting in. senator kerry said an interest thing. he has a rare perspective on this because he was in a presidential debate of his own. he said that governor romney has to pass the commander in chief test with specifics. so he was trying to raise the bar a little bit. in the hours leading up to the debate, it's like marking time. i think it may be just as useful if people were sort of sequestered in their own areas, not trying to spin reporters before this. because what really matters are those 90 minutes on the debate stage. what happens in the spinning before and after is not nearly as important as voters who are seeing this happening at home. it's what happens in those 90 minutes that are most critical. >> jeff zeleny, national reporter for "the new york times" and a contributor to the caucus blog available online at nytimes.com. thank you for being with us. >> steve, thanks for having me. >> we'll continue with more of your calls. this is a look inside the media filing center on the campus of lynn university. several hundred reporters credentialed. a select few inside the debate hall. this is a small university for the first time hosting a national debate and we're asking you on our twitter page and facebook to weigh in your questions for the candidates. bill king has this -- "president obama has to make it clear to the nation that military interessential is not just another option. it is the final option." on to your phone calls. eric is joining us. supporter of the president from rome, georgia. good evening, what would you ask in this foreign policy debate? caller: thank you. what i would like to ask mitt romney -- this is a two-pronged question. first of all, if you become president, the only difference could be as far as eye ran is concerned, would -- iran is concerned, would you start a war, and would you put troops on the ground in syria? those are the two questions i'd like to ask. host: thanks for the call. next caller is mike from st. louis, missouri. go ahead, mike. caller: thanks for taking my call. i would ask both of them, maybe more pointed towards the president -- what are you going to do to ensure al qaeda doesn't gain more ground in places like yemen, syria, for example, and, you know, how are you going to ensure in the long term to keep them on their heels, so they don't gain a stronghold? that's what i'd like to ask the president. host: thanks for the call. next is raveling joining us from chic, dn ralph, joining us from chicago, an undecided voter. caller: yes, thank you. in the inner circle, $30 million to create pair noah within the palace walls. why not release the $40 billion of gaddafi money to the people of libya who are willing to step forward and become decent citizens? why not arm every man, woman and child in afghanistan to defend themselves against the taliban? haven't we lost ground in a dozen wars since vietnam on insisting on fighting the war on drugs against our very allies who have been growing herbal medicines for thousands of years, and one c-span be covering this tomorrow in the third party party debates between the libertarians? where did the money the feds took from us go? host: thanks for the call. yes, in fact we will be covering the third-party presidential debate and you can get the information on our website at c-span.org. we'll also have it live on the c-span networks. we're asking you, if you could ask a question to the candidates, what would it be? from our twitter page, there is this -- "i want to know what is the plan of protecting troops while preparing to assist afghan troops to take over?" next is wesley from sacramento, california, good evening. caller: hello. this is wesley. host: yes, you're on the air. please go ahead. >> thank you very much. well, my question would be to mr. romney. since he is so much on top of foreign policy, why would he question president obama about what happened in ben zazi when in fact the president has access to all of the intelligence information and a lot of which cannot be divulged to the public at large, and particularly to a person like mr. romney? and my last comment would be is that we, the american people, are not really voting for a debator in chief, we are voting for a commander in chief. and i think president obama follows the criteria. host: bob schieffer is the moderator for the debate tonight. he's been at cbs news since the late 1960's. he is the chief washington correspondent. he's also the host and moderator of "face the nation" on sunday mornings, which we air on c-span radio. he has hosted previous debates. you can see him yesterday from lynn university as he hosted the program. next is francis joining us from waldorf, maryland, supporter of governor mitt romney. go ahead, fran. caller: yes, the only hesitancy i have in supporting romney is that i feel that since his advisors have advocated a stronger u.s. intervention policy with possible ground troops in yemen, somalia, syria, iran and then special forces operations, that i would like to hear him commit to a war tax that would be put on so that we don't once again charge wars. and i think that it should be put on in the way that president obama talks about, shared sacrifices. so i think it should be some type of transaction fee within the financial community. and i just really feel that romney needs to back up what he's talking about in his more aggressive foreign policy. >> frances, thanks for the call from waldorf, maryland. we are about one hour and 40 minutes away from the start of the debate. and in just over an hour, as we've done with the last three debates, the two presidential, the one vice-presidential debate, we will do something that you will get nowhere else. we'll take you inside the world theater on the campus of lynn university as the members of the commission from presidential debates addresses the gathering. the students, again telling them to keep their cell phones off and blackberries off. but also a preparation for the debate tonight as bob schieffer comes out. you'll have a chance to see all of that as if you were in the room. it gets underway at 8:30 eastern time. the debate will get underway at 9:01 east coast time and will run 90 minutes. next is lanier joining us from birmingham, alabama. undecided voter? caller: yes, thank you for taking my call. host: sure. caller: my question is basically for both of the candidates. my daughter was born in 2003 and i'm a veteran. i was serving in iraq when she was born. she's now 9. that means the whole time she's been alive we've been at war. so i would like to ask both of the candidates to explain their view of the end. war is only a means to an end. the thing that happened in benghazi, what are we going to do, go to war in libya? same thing with saddam hussein getting the terrorists out. are we going to put another 150,000 troops there? war is only a means to an end. there needs to be a clear-cut objective, because i have brothers in arms, sailors, soldiers, marines and airmen. we're out there dying every day and fighting hard. any of us veterans will tell you we're out there on that battlefield fighting for each other and our country. to make sure we make it out of there and home, i want to know when all these wars are going to stop. host: can you stay on the call for a moment? caller: yes. host: what are you looking for from the candidates and when will you decide? >> i'm looking for extreme specifics. if war is the only option and that's what we have to do, then we need to have a clear-cut objective. i want one of the candidates or both to explain clearly and specifically what do they mean by, ok, we're going to hunt them down to the ends of the earth. does that mean 200,000 troops? because that's what we did in afghanistan. we claimed that we were going to look just for that one man, osama bin laden, and we're still there. host: thanks for the call. we're showing the scene inside the world theater at lynn university, also outside, where media have filed -- or continue to file stories. here's some background on the school. it was founded in 1962. it is a private co-educational institution with juts over 2,100 students from 44 states and 78 nations. the undergraduate enrollment is just over 1,600 and there are just under 500 graduate students, many of you focusing on afghanistan and pakistan in your calls and comments. here's the latest from the president and gopher romney on these issues. >> not everybody agrees with some of the decisions i'm making. when it comes to our national security, i mean what i say. i said i'd end the war in iraq, and i did. i said we'd go after al qaeda and bin laden, and we have. i said we'd transition out of afghanistan and start making sure that afghans are responsible for their own security. that's what i'm doing. and when it comes to this issue , when i say we are going to find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable, and i am ultimately responsible for what's taking place there because these are my folks, and i'm the one who has to greet those coffins when they come home. you know that i mean what i say. >> in afghanistan i'll pursue a real and successful transition to afghan security forces by the end of 2014. president obama would have you believe that anyone who disagrees with his decisions in afghanistan is arguing for endless war. but the route to war and to potential attacks here at home is a politically timed retreat that abandons the afghan people to the same extremists who ravage their country and used it to launch their attacks on 9/11. i'll weigh the best advice of our military commanders. host: the latest from governor romney and president obama in recent appearances on the issue of afghanistan and pakistan. we want to welcome to the program a professor at lynn university focusing on international relations. she is joining us from the media filing center. thanks very much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. host: one of the things that we're getting from our viewers and listeners, they want specifics, especially with regard to afghanistan, our role in the world, what to do with iran and the middle east. will we get that tonight? >> i hope so. i'm a voter just like everybody else and i'd like to hear some specifics as well. but s specifics can also come back to bite the candidates after the fact. so i think on the one hand they're going to want to be more specific to give the voters what they want to hear. on the other hand they're not going to want to box themselves into a corner because it is so close to the election. host: let's go through a couple of the topics. these were outlined by cbs's bob schieffer. he's the only one that knows the questions. the questions are coming directly from him. but i wanted you to focus on, first of all, america's role in the world. from your standpoint, what is it? >> confused. i think we are undergoing an identity crisis in terms of where exactly we sit in the world right now. our reputation is better now, i would argue, than it has been in recent years. it is improving. we are gaining respect with the way we have handled some recent international incidences and situations. but i think it's a transition period. i think our identity is evolving and has been over the last several years because there are so many hot spots and so many crisis situation that is we're coping with right now. >> the other foreign policy topic that i wanted you to respond to, the so-called red line. we heard from the israeli prime minister netanyahu. we had almost a cartoon-like caricature. israel and iran will be a key part of the debate this evening. what will we hear from the president? what will we hear from governor romney? >> the president, i think, is going to try to explain why he has taken the position he has in trying to balance the relationship. governor romney, on the other hand, historically and certainly in recent years and months, he has had a more hawkish position with respect to iran. but in the end the circumstances of iran, i think, are going to require the language of diplomacy and are going to require very diplomatic responses. i don't think either candidate is going to want to say anything tonight that boxes them into a corner or create undue pressures on the diplomacy surrounding israel and iran. >> if you leak at each of the candidates and congress as well, governor romney needs to pass the commander in chief test. the president needs to explain what happened in benghazi. >> yes. and the president is going to have to explain benghazi, and i think that is one the details that the american public is definitely going to be looking for tonight. so far foreign policy has not figured it prominently. now the spotlight is on foreign policy, so neither candidates is going to be able to duck it. the president is going to have to answer for what happened immediately after and the shifting response that's occurred. governor romney, on the other hand, has to make sure that he has the facts straight tonight the way he didn't have a week ago. host: mike posted>> now that mon from the cia has assessed that the video may have been the cause of the attack, do you regret with coming out with the judgment before knowing the facts? >> it was unfortunate that governor romney react as quickly as he did. it behooves all americans regardless of position, whether or not they are running for president, to give the situation time to develop, give the president time to find out what the facts are and what the situation is about before jumping to snap judgments. i think governor romney may regret coming out so quickly. i think diplomacy needs a chance to work and we need time to get the facts. that kind of situation is always so fluid, and things change on an hourly basis. >> how long will it take before they cream -- bring up the economy wrapped around for policy? >> about 30 seconds. both candidates note the american public is concerned about the economy and jobs, so this is axle candidate tonight will find -- the successful candidate will find a way to bring the domestic issues back home. that is particularly with the issue of china. the focus on the jobs and outsourcing, rather than any types of issues between the u.s. and china. >> we will either have a second obama term or a transition to a romney administration after the election, but we will see a change of leadership inside china. how does that affect the dynamic with respect to trade issues? >> the the potential for change is relatively high, but i do not think it will be instantaneous. neither country will not happen overnight shift in policy or relations, so to the extent we see change, it will be incremental. it will stretch over time. jumping to new policies at the beginning of an administration in the case of romney or the beginning of a second term with respect to obama is not going to get the u.s. policy with respect to china where it needs to be. what changes we see will not come overnight. >> to our radio audience, we're talking with a professor at tulane university, focusing on international relations. -- pat lynch university. how are you preparing for this debate? -- at lynn university. >> i am teaching two courses, and they are focusing on what the rest of the world thinks about our foreign policy. each student has selected a region of the world, not during the media, public opinion from those countries, to get a sense of what and how we do things here. ead?hat is your early r >> they are learning a lot. what they are discovering, there is a lot of complexity to that expression of "they hate us." they are learning that "they hate us" is not an accurate description, and that is a good thing. if we can break down the stereotypes and get dialogue going, that is all good. >> who is the "they"? >> for years and years and decades, they is whoever perceive to be anti-u.s. it could be the people of another country. the perception is that we are disliked in certain quarters of the world, whether it is controversial policies we have at home that are not consistent with other countries' similar policies. that day is nebulous and ill- defined, and that is part of the problem, that expression, because who the "they" are not well defined point to the extent we can not get our students to black box the rest of the world and look at diversity and different opinions, it helps them to realize they are really us and there is not much they in the world. >> if you were posing questions, what would you ask them? >> i would ask them about human rights, because that is my area of interest, area of expertise. i would ask them to comment on what they think the role of human rights ought to be in u.s. foreign policy moving forward. >> marcheta wright, thank you very much for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> we have created a c-span debate clhub. live coverage of the night's the at c-span.org/debates. also, the vice-presidential debate, on demand. separate video clips can be sorted by topics. the other has the tools you can use to create and share your clips. back live inside the sports arena turned into a media center. more of your phone calls, paul, bradenton, florida. >> my name is paul. i am in bradenton. i am really disabled. i consider myself as african indigenous, that is, cherokee. could i please be allowed to give out a suggestion about politics? >> please, go ahead. >> these should be revamped. it needs a major overhaul. it can be the tools of bills on earth, in this country, especially. no more four-year terms for the presidency. i like dennis kucinich, ron paul, ross perot. say, two years with a democrat as a president, and then two years with the republican, and maybe we could get away from the bickering and get something done. as far as policy is, it should be more attuned in to domestic policy, not for policy. but the way, i am 28, turnaround, reversed, if you will, 82 next year. i will be 83 next year. thank you for taking my comment. >> thank you for your comment. if you want to join our comment on our twitter page, and many of you bullying in on our facebook page. can you point to one success story in your foreign policy debacle? the question we are asking is what would you ask the candidates. we're live from clinton university, which is hosting the final debate. -- from linda university -- lynn diversity. >> retired colonel with a master's degree in military arts and science, so i know what i'm talking about. we could end this war and about a month. the way to do that is for both candidates to realize that the authority for declaring war rests with the congress. it rests with the people. our founding fathers, were smarter by -- where smart enough to realize that the idea of going to war and committing our treasure and resources for a period of nine years is not ever, was not ever supposed to be the poor of a single man, no matter how tyrannical he thinks he is. fundamentally, to ask the way to end this war and a month -- and i am dead serious about this -- is to simply say, ok, president, your war powers act that is only supposed to be used in an emergency is over. you cannot conduct any bork without a declaration from the people, from the congress and the senate with the approval, just like it says in the constitution. , i can guarantee you that that -- that no one would pass a declaration of war. the people of this nation, are sick of war, and if they were in it like i was, they would be even more at stake. if these people started getting these presidential candidates, started to realize their job is to execute the will of the people, they are in the executive branch, the people are represented by the house of representatives and the senate. the people declare whether or not we go to war. >> taken from the call. where told that mitt romney is the university. the two will be seated side-by- side. there will not be a podium. bob schieffer will be the center as the question is will begin at 9:01:30. jessica miller says will either candidate be willing to end all foreign aid, including that to israel? another, would you please answer one question without shifting the blame to someone else? the outline -- here is what obama and romney have set on that topic. >> we will have to make sure that as we trade with other nations, they played by the rules, and china has not. one of the ways they do not is artificially holding down their currency. if they put their currency down low, that means their prices and their goods are low, and that makes them advantageous in the markets place. we cannot compete. china has manipulated currency for years. the president has a regular opportunity to label them as a currency manipulator, but refuse its visa. on day one i will label china as a currency manipulator. this will allow me as president to put in place terrorists -- to put in place they are taking unfair advantage. >> governor romney talks about china. the private sector, governor romney's company invested in pioneers of outsourcing. that is not not my phrase. that is what reporters called it. as far as currency manipulation, the currency has gone up 11% since i have been present because we have pushed them hard, and we put unprecedented trade pressure on china pick that is why experts have significantly increased under my presidency. >> lynn university hosting the debate tonight. the school was founded in 1962. you heard the president and governor focusing on china. we want to introduce you to the president of the school, 20 inside the hall. how does a small school in florida get this very big event? >> a lot of hard work, and we had built an amazing performing arts center in 2010, and we have an enterprising chief of staff who attended the university of mississippi. we hosted a congressional debate here. we are excited about what we saw there. we had protesters, a little bit of everything, so we try to seek a gubernatorial race debate, and unfortunately that fell through. at that time, the applications opened up for the commission on presidential debates, so we cast our horseshoe and are pleased with what we landed. >> give us a sense of the university. where does the name lynn come from? >> are 3 miles from the ocean. as afounded in 19602 part of marymount college, a catholic school, and my father came down in 1971 to buy the library books to bring back to the school he had started in delaware. the school here had gone for about 11 years and was going bankrupt, so he came here, saw the campus, met with the nuns, and they decided they would bring new life into the school. they made a coeducational. my father served as president for 35 years. >> where does the name come from? >> lynn comes from the family. christine lynn is the chairman of the board of trustees. they have been supporters of this school for decades. my father met them and they took a liking to lynn. >> same question to you, how has the school embraced these debates and use it as an educational tool for students? >> >> we consult with a lot of schools and ask them what did you do? how did you engage your community? we were told by one to squeeze it for all it is worth. we have had major symposia and lectures. we have had a lot of fun events going on as well, from concert'' to students design their own activities. it has been an amazing activity, but this has been a community united. we work with law-enforcement officials, the small business sector, we have a small business partners program, the partnership with the school board where we created a freak chertoff m4 kate-12, and they have been using it -- -- week traded -- we created a curriculum for k-12. we have a huge block party going on right now for all the students, faculty and staff. it has been thrilling to see. >> our audience a sense of what has been happening. we have cameras inside the media center, and also outside where reporters are filing stories. janet brown said they have taken over your campus and transformed it. >> they have taken over a portion of the campus. we wanted to make sure it was as little disruption as possible. we are 125 acres, and 23 of those happened they can -- and of those have been dedicated to debate city. there is controlled access in and out of there, but the rest of the campus is wide open. the media filing center finds themselves there. we have msnbc, cnn, span, and everyone has their stand ups going on. students have been engaging with them all day. >> is this what you have been expecting? >> this is what we have heard about. you're not really sure until you see it. we knew there was a building sense of anticipation. when you have set a halt in this best be, you wonder if everyone will show up. what they have done in great numbers, do not know -- the campus here are incredibly dedicated. people pricked themselves into to try to make it work. we have been smooth all day. i have been pleased with comments about the hospitality, and i was walking over here a moment ago, and he said will you do this again? i said let's get to thanksgiving before we figure this out. >> not only is this the center of the political universe, but florida is one of the few battleground states, so you are seeing it from all ends. >> that was not lost on us when we applied. i know sometimes the eyes of the nation come down to us here. we're thrilled that under these auspices, the final presidential debate, focused on foreign policy, it is happening here today. >> kevin ross president, of lynn university, taking very much. >> thank you. >> we are asking the question, what would you question the candidates when it comes to foreign policy? also joining us on facebook and twitter. a reminder there is a live fewer chats that is taking place, and we will have more details in a moment. first, let's go to ronnie in kentucky. >> good evening. my question would be, how long do we need to stay? i do not think regardless of how long the united states stays in the middle east, it would change, not one thing. before the united states was ever a country, they were fighting. and they will be fighting until the lord comes. i just did not think that going over there and trying to put our way on those people continually does anything. president bush went into iraq when there was no need to go into iraq, even though saddam hussein was a dictator and an evil man. >> they can for the call. next, cynthia, from georgia. >> i am calling to ask mitt romney two questions. one question is he thinks he could be such a good foreign policy person, why has he never taken an interest in abroad before? the second question i would ask him would be, what about his son? why have none of them stood up and fought for this country? the things i cannot understand is you cannot be a person that has these four policies and love america so hard and kept your family so insulated. i would like him to address why he has insulated them from everything, and all but sudden he thinks he can come on the world stage and fool everybody that he really is doing this for america. >> ok. what would you ask the candidates? sam from rhode island. >> i would like to say about mitt, i think he has a bunch of things going for him as it pertains to the world stage. we talk about other countries, all these places, and i think that he has not articulate the what he will do differently. for me, to vote for him, i would like to know what he would do differently than obama has in libya, tragedy that has struck the embassy, i would like to see what are the diverts is between him and romney. >> thank you for the call. during the debate, live coverage that gets underway at 9:00 eastern, and the re-air at 11:30 p.m. eastern time, we will host an online chat, c-span.org/chat, that will allow you to convey to watch during the debate. during the chat we will ask you to interact directly with each other. we will also have a c-span moderator. tell us about what you think the candidates are doing, and here is how you can join the conversation on line. go to c-span.org/chat, which will take place during the live coverage from 9:00 until 10:30 p.m. eastern time. a reminder, a chance for you to weigh in after each airing some of the debates with our phone lines open to comment on what you heard tonight. back to your calls, rick, indiana, undecided voter. >> good evening. one thing i have not necessarily heard a lot from either candidate that i am looking forward to being in the midwest, we are big farmers. some current issues in the midwest right now are keeping our crops and agriculture here locally and not so much outsourcing from other countries and what each candidate would do to keep that from happening and keep our crops local. -- has thisas this a supporter of the president from in the neck, good evening. >> my question would be for crummy -- for governor romney. this is tied to his response last time about his energy plan. considering the complex relationships, energy policy, economics, the commodity markets, how do you see your energy independence plan impacting existing free trade agreements or membership in the world trade organization and the relationships with our pacific rim friends and other trade partners? >> ok, thanks for the call. phone from northal carolina. >> i would like to ask the president, when he was caught on an open mike that he was going to give russia more leeway, and also what he meant what he was also caught on a hot mike with the prime minister in france talking about netanyahu. that is what i would like to ask him. >> i want to know where the candidate stand on our relationship with other countries where human rights are violated? next is a viewer from greenville, south carolina, and undecided voter. good evening. >> good evening. good evening. my name is -- and i would like to ask both the candidates how do you give a man three wars, ad it's costing you over billion dollars a day, how do you take care of america when you are taking care of things that are not of -- america is not israel. well, love is real, but we are not iran and all these other cases. >> thank you for your call. we ask that you turn your volume down. there's a slight echo on your former there is the reforme governor charlie crist, a supporter of barack obama, and many suggested wants to come back and seek elected office in florida. he is inside the debate hall. ofre joined by a supporter the president in illinois. >> i wanted to ask the president if, number one, if the hostilities in syria lead over into lebanon and israel, if he would be willing to send in ground troops, and just as kind of an aside, i was going to ask if it would be possible after he gets reelected in 2016 and an executive order to allow himself to run for a third term so he can complete the transition of the united states into a more fair and i guess you would say workers utopian nation? >> that is a constitutional question, not an executive order. >> i know, but he has used the executive order, and no one has stopped him, so why couldn't he do it then? i would like to ask mr. romney why he is trying to scare up trouble with russia, trouble that we do not need to put it is approaching the top of the hour, and we will take to the debate -- we will take you inside the debate call where bob schieffer will welcome the participants. we will also hear from the president of the university. you only see that on c-span, and at 9:31 the debate gets underway. first from the candidates on israel and china, here are recent statements by the president and governor romney. >> our commitment is real cost security must not waver, and neither must are pressured to apiece. -- snyder must our pursuit of -- neither must our pursuit of peace. must be defined not by the iron fist of the dictator, but by the hopes and aspirations of people who are reaching for the same rights we celebrate today. now we have a choice. opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy. [laughter] but from all the we have seen and heard a they want to take us back to an era of posturing and laundering that cost america so dearly. after all, you do not call russia our number one enemy, not al qaeda, russia, unless you are still stuck in a cold war mind warp. >> look at what is happening in syria and egypt. now in libya. considered the distance between ourselves and israel. the president said he was going to put a light between us and israel. iran is four years closer to a nuclear bomb. syria is not just a tragedy of 30,000 civilians being killed, but a strategically a veteran player for america. the president's policies throughout the middle east began with an apology to werur. >> recent comments on israel and iran from obama and romney. live inside the theater at the university. c-span is hosting an on-line chat. you can join the conversation by logging onto c-span.org/chat. he will do it from 9:00 until 10 eastern time, and then from 11:30 until 1:00 a.m. next is james from bristol, pennsylvania. good evening. what question would you oppose that candidate? >> my question has to do with the implementation that led to the attack in benghzi. was the president doing. and my question to romney is, what would he do differently that obama did to protect the lives of americans? >> a couple of comments from our facebook page. do you favor the draft? daniel says, why do we still have troops in afghanistan? william and joining us from tennessee, and undecided voter perry, good evening. >> you might be surprised, [indiscernbile] i want to ask the president and it from me, we got a [indiscernbile] that can potentially [indiscernbile] ike vdot family in afghanistan. we go to war every 10 years. when are we going to forget about war and think about our country? our educational system has been going down the train. why can we focus on ourselves? we're not helping ourselves. we went afghanistan -- [indiscernbile] what will they do differently? >> you can see the platform in the rear where the cameras and lights are now turned on, as the networks prepare for their coverage of the debate tonight. this is a view from c-span's platform inside the theater. next is sheila from massachusetts. >> hello? about four policy, it was about the remark that mr. romney made when he was in close doors about 47%. it is mainly -- after it came all out and everyone heard about it and found out about it, and listened to the video, he stood by his remarks. but now he has gone back now on what he first said and he is trying to say he is for 100% of all the people. what makes -- what now that he says that makes me want to believe that he is being troopers, i do not believe in it. i just want to know how he thinks -- by him clip-flopping back and forth, how can he make believe that that 47%, the statement he made, was not true? >> from stephen on our facebook page -- ruth is a student at lynn university, studying as a graduate student. we want to get a sense from your perspective as somebody not from the u.s. how you view this process, these debates, and what you are looking for to mignight/ >> it is an important process. you need that leadership role and me to have that interconnectedness between the countries and the foreign policy is something that is going to be beneficial for countries outside of the u.s. and the u.s. itself. in terms of the debate, in 2009, obama said he did not view africa as a world apart, but he saw it as interconnected. what i would hope we ask would be how they are looking at the issues in africa, how they are looking to approach them and see what has worked and what support they can provide. most of the support we would need in africa is more monetary issues, and the u.s. is not in a good economic state. the more toward question is, how much will they be willing to put in to support african countries and moving forward and on its own? >> governor romney? >> i would ask him the same question, but they have opposing views, i would want him to make him focus more on africa, since we at had president obama's perspective on africa, since he has experience in that. if romney was in that position, what would be his stand and what stan would he take? >> give our audience a sense of your background. you are studying as a graduate student. where in ghana are you from? >> i am from accra. consider myself a world traveler. i live in zimbabwe and switzerland, and ended up here. so far and has been a good experience, and being at that debate is something that is -- and working directly with the cdp, i was able to work on student assignments, making sure media was requisitioned and ready to go. there was a lot of chaos, and i tend to thrive in chaos. >> what have you learned? >> i have to think on my feet, because you can never please anyone, especially -- find people not wanting to go where you put them. you have to try to please them. but also not affecting the rest of your media career, because there are a lot of people. >> if you were born to ask a question beyond africa, what other issues are important to you as a foreign student living in the u.s.? >> my main issue would have been getting a visa for students, because americans who have issues of graduating college, higher education, and not being able to get a job. four citizens, and it is harder, -- for citizens, it is harder for students to stay in this country. we like to call the u.s. the land of opportunity. most of us come here to find that chance that we will not be able to get at home, but when the current economic and being able to stay and work and being able to get a job and have organizations willing to sponsor international students is difficult, said that would be something i would hope the good work on and get us a chance to be able to put what we have learned in school into practice and to get back home and build our country on that. without the practice, our education is useless. >> how long will you be in the u.s., and do you have any desire to seek elective office in your country? >> no, but i am hoping to work in the u.n. sunday. i'm doing what? >> i am looking at unicef, working with kids, and do whatever i can to alleviate poverty, because it is something i have experienced firsthand, and i see it every day. it breaks my heart when there is not about being done. money has been sent in, but if has not been put the right use. being in unicef and being able to support other kids with the african countries would be a lifetime dream. >> res, a graduate student at lynn university, thank you very much for sharing us your perspective. >> thank you, and have a good evening. >> we look inside the media filing center, and we want to share with you a photograph that was released and moment ago from the romney campaign. he has arrived inside the center at lynn university, and this is a photograph as he prepares. you can see members of the romney family. they are inside a holding room. hastings, minnesota, a supporter of romney. >> good evening. my question is, why are so many poorer -- foreign policy questions being asked of mr. romney for his plans and expertise? nothing as i remember was asked now of president obama. >> ok, thank you for the call. next, and undecided voter from dallas. >> good evening. thank you for the show. my question would be for president obama. that would be, i would ask the question, in 2008, president obama was doing an interview, cable news program, and the question surrounded hamas and muslim brotherhood trip he said that hamas drop their violence, their lead to the but rights would have worked creighton street by question would be, what legitimate rights does a terrorist groups like hamas have put in you please define in your words please define a muslim extremists. >> why are you undecided? >> i have not had a good feel for the plan mainly on the economy, but the point. and i hate to use it to say i am not hearing enough specifics. i am not hearing enough specifics. i need more details and a lot more common sense. i hear too much politics. >> thank you. we are asking you to watch and the gates at our website at c- span.org. you can check out our debate hub and participate on our online chat our c-span.org. the question to the candidates, what is the best tap the global freedom and democracy? bryant from tampa, florida. >> i have a question, related to that, for policy, and. i am a firm believer of having good national defence, and we have to be able to pay for it. we have to have jobs and tax revenues. it does not take too much time to type in corporations have had more cash than in recent history and they are not hiring anybody. i do not know why. the election is coming and they are not hiring anybody. i do not know why no one has asked the question or even try to brush it on either side of the aisle. i would like somebody to answer that. >> jessica on facebook -- you can join us online at facebook.com/cs-an. >> my question will go to romney and growing up, had a joke that everything was made in china. a question to romney would be, how will he separate a nation from falling behind china's trade? and continuing good for relations and at the same time surpassing china in trade in both imports and exports. >> thanks. let's review this topic areas in tonight custody. the questions coming from the moderator, bob schieffer. the first question will focus on america's role in the world. there are 615-minute segments, followed by an opening discussion on afghanistan and pakistan. the red lines be the third topic, followed by a changing middle east, and the conversation will rise -- will conclude on the rise of china and tomorrow's world. the format similar to what we have in the first debate that took place on the campus of the university of denver. this is the third and final debate. anthony in north carolina, an undecided voter. what question would you ask? >> after the comments a leading to the 47%, from the conservative party, and the debt is that everybody seems to be concerned about, and entitlements cannot conserve of this talk about, as either candidate in their foreign policy discussed foreign aid the countries? that be something they would consider? would that be something that maybe we should be talking about instead of blaming our problems on the poor in this country? maybe we should keep some of our wealth here. >> same question to you, two weeks to go, what are you looking for? >> i am a conservative, basically. i am disheartened with my party because they have chosen to run a man that decided to go to france rather than serve his country. basically, i have absolutely no horse in this race, you might say. i think i would love to see this party, the electoral bill way, but some real parties and real, legitimate candidates. >> thank you. one of our comments from brandon referred to an earlier caller, or common sense, less politics? i could not agree more. supporting us -- joining us from all kyle, sydney. >> hi, thank you for taking my call. my question is for one the, how he can blame america's to comment on obama after four years when all of the world's economies have been having problems, like europe and spain. people are going hungry there, yet it all contributes to our economy, and they say quit blaming bush, but now they are plenty obama, and he has only been in office for four years trick he inherited many problems, and i moved from california to ohio in 2005 because our economy tanks out there. the economy followed me here. the problems were happening with bush, and the republicans -- they have short memories. they do not remember how bad it was then, and they say obama has gotten all these problems. >> thank you for the call. there is governor rick scott inside the room. are getting more of your calls and comments. denise as this, it -- -- the east has this comment. all topics in tonight's debate. let's look at the schedule. tomorrow, we will have live coverage tomorrow beginning at 10:15 eastern time. the president campaigning in florida. he will then travel to a number of key battleground states, including ohio. live coverage of mitt romney and as they campaigned in indiana. the president and vice president campaigning in ohio, live coverage just before 4:00 eastern time. that can be seen on c-span2 at 3:50 eastern time and a joint campaign appearance by romney -- by romney and ryan. eakin follow this at c-span.org. wayne is joining us in virginia. >> i would like to ask the president why would he not listen to his secretary of state about our security problems in libya christopher -tevens, and he was misspell directed by our intelligence committee -- community, and that is wrong. >> jolie has this point of view. bob schieffer is the last of the walter cronkite-class journalist. i hope he runs an old-fashioned debates corrects untruths. and the from kansas, good evening. >> my question is to the spectators, because everybody is skewed. keep talking about benghazi, and i'm wondering what people expect a president to do or say to take responsibility, because what he said in the last debate, he said to do those people work for? they work for me. it is my responsibility. people still think he is not taking responsibility. i do not understand it. is no one capable of listening to the debates and coming up with reasons for their statement. their minds must be closed. >> eddie, is that your final point? >> it is. >> i appreciate or call. what did the president know and when did he know it? why was susan rice telling a lie? maybe the president should have attended more of his briefings. note times for libyan security when letterman calls. greg is on the phone, michigan. >> good evening. thank you. with the ebb and flow of the tensions on the korean peninsula, i would like to hear it them speak to more detail on some new and inventive ways they can perhaps secure better relationships between north and south korea to have a more peaceful korean peninsula. thank you. >> thank you. jessica -- sureness online. brian, good evening. >> my point is hugo chavez and ahmadinejad also support president obama. that is all i need to know about who supports obama. >> only on c-span, we will give you a chance to see what happens inside the room. we will take you there live. we have a chat room set aside on our website at /chat. it will get underway at 9:00. for those of you on the west coast, we ask you to engage in this presidential debate, and check out our debate hub. good evening. >> good evening. i wanted to make comment, last debate i watched about mitt from a when he talked about he would do if he gets the presidency. that is not the thing to do right now on china, because china should be the last thing we have a war with. the other thing, massachusetts does not want mitt romney, and i am scared that other states want mitt romney. it is not a good thing, because this guy has got so much all over the world. [indiscernbile] all that is very important stuff, and i hope the voters listen to this support president obama. >> thank you. >> we will go to sylvia, south carolina. >> good evening. my name is sylvia, and if i had the opportunity, i would ask romney how long would it take him to say if he won the presidency, to reveal his true self, is true policies, etc., and would he go back to his governor days, campaign days, etch-a-sketch? >> thank you. after the debate our phone lines will open up. you can join us on facebook and twitter as we share with the comments and reaction to this final debate getting underway in about 35 minutes. you can see one of the co-chairs of the commission to welcome the audience, and we will show you that live on c-span. a reminder, we have a chat going on at 9:00 eastern time. you can go to c-span.org/chat. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] . . >> ladies and gentlemen, if i could ask you to take your seats. >> my name is janet brown, i'm executive director of the commission on presidential debates, and i would like to welcome you to this third and final presidential debate at lynn university in boca raton. we are at the commission very grateful to be here in this splendid facility after two years of a lot of work by everybody here at lynn and in the broader community. i hope that in the next few minutes you will take time to read the program that you've been given. it lists some of the hundreds and thousands of individuals and organizations whose work lies behind not only the debate tonight but all of the debates that have taken place this month. this is a process that involves an enormous amount of attention to detail, as you will see unfold here on the stage, and there are many people to thank for the dedicated commitment to this evening that you will see unfold. there are a number of people who will be thanked by the three gentlemen that i'm about to introduce, and i will start with the co-chairman of the commission, frank fahrenkopf and mike mccurry. [applause] >> good evening, everybody. and thank you, janet. this is our last debate, and i think everyone here should know that the commission on presidential debates has a free-forming group of staff that work behind the scenes to make these occasions happen. and janet, to you and to all of our commission staff, this has been a heroic effort. and let's give all of us a round of applause for them. [applause] >> i want to echo what janet said. being here at lynn university and being with the president, who you'll meet in a minute, it just is a reminder of how much even a small institution can rise up to the challenge of putting on an international event like this, and they have been terrific to work with. so the president, the faculty, the trustees, and the students who have been incredibly grateful in welcoming us to their campus, thank you to all of you for the work that you've done. [applause] >> a couple of words at the beginning with our format tonight. as most of you know, this is a debate focused on many of the challenges that america faces in the world. our moderator tonight, bob schieffer, already said the topics tonight will range from afghanistan, pakistan, iran, the middle east, terrorism, china, and it's a reminder to me of something my former boss, daniel patrick moynihan once said, that we live in a very complicated and dangerous world even despite the end of the cold war. and a reminder, too, that just 50 years ago today, we were in the middle of the cuban missile crisis. 50 years ago today, i also believed lynn university was opening. so they're celebrating their university. but -- their anniversary. but a reminder of the importance and the fact this is a fairly solemn occasion as we come together as a nation to talk about america's challenges in the world. so a word on that format and a word for all of you that are here as part of the audience to witness this moment of history. about two years ago, we began a conversation within the commission on presidential debates about how best to encourage real engagement between the candidates, substantive dialogue in an effort to get into the issues that are most on the minds of the american people. at this third and final presidential debate, and i think as you also saw at the vice-presidential debate, i'd say that the format changes that we have made have been an unqualified success. we've really had some good, extraordinary debates. so a reminder of what you'll see tonight. there will be six different segments during this debate that will be divided up by the moderator. each candidate will have about two minutes to address an open question and then bob will facilitate a conversation, a discussion between the candidates in each of the remaining 10 minutes or so on each of the segments and there will be "2 minute drill"-minute closing statements at the end of the debate. but this is a moment that requires utmost concentration by these candidates, by the moderator, and more importantly by the millions of our fellow citizens who are watching this debate on television tonight, so we make an urgent plea with you tonight, please, please do not demonstrate one way or another your support or your opposition to any of these candidates. no clapping, no cheering, no yelling, no gasping, and if any of you are tempted because you've got your little devices in your pocket to check on the san francisco giants and st. louis cardinals game, no spontaneous outbursts during the debate if someone hits a home run. so in a minute frank is going to tell you to turn them off. this is really, really important to us because this is an occasion that we get to witness, an occasion of american history. but it is utmostly a part of our history, an event that really the american people have to be able to experience without our interruption. so please honor that. that includes, by the way, no photographs, flashes, and even cell phone screens can make a real difference in disrupting some of the broadcasts that will occur tonight. so we ask you to abide by those rules tonight. you know, up in new york, they transgressed twice during the last debate with some audience interruptions. we hope you in florida will do a better record than the new yorkers. i probably just got in trouble for saying it. it's now my pleasure for me, my counterpart on this, the co-chair of the commission on presidential debates is frank fahrenkopf along with paul kirk, my predecessor, 25 years ago established a nonpartisan independent commission to make sure that occasions like this are a part of our quadrennial experience as citizens as we go to vote. and to him who has been such a great partner and friend during this, it's a real pleasure to introduce my counterpart, frank fahrenkopf. [applause] >> thank you, michael. and good evening, everyone. you're going to hear cheering and clapping and cell phones from not only me in a minute but also hear it from bob schieffer. he threatens things. that people will pounce upon you. i wouldn't ever think of doing that. let me start by, again, thanking this wonderful university and the state of florida for having us. and most people don't realize the commission on presidential debates is a private, nonprofit organization. we get no money from the federal government. we get no money from the campaigns. we get no money from the candidates. we raise all our money privately. as mike said, we've been in existence for 25 years. now, in your program, it indicates who some of our sponsors are. and they're so important to us that we want to give them a shoutout tonight. bear with me, anheuser-busch has been with us since 1992. most of you won't see this, but there are 3,500 members of the media who are about 200 yards from here right now in the gymnasium, and they have to be fed, which anheuser-busch does, and they do have a beer once in a while. and if anheuser-busch had just been a tremendous, a tremendous sponsor for us and we thank them. southwest airlines -- [applause] >> there might be some beer left, by the way, after the debate. southwest airlines has been so very, very important for us. this staff, this crew backstage here has to be flown around the country from one place to another. you know, we started in denver and then we were in kentucky, then we were up in long island and now we're here. so southwest airlines has been a great partner and won't you thank them for me, please. [applause] >> the kobler fund, the howard g. buffet fund, yes, that buffet's son, howard, who also is a member of our board and who we treasure greatly. sheldon cohen who has been our tax lawyer from the very beginning. you probably don't know this but four years ago was the first time in the 25 years that the commission hasn't been sued. we were in fact -- i'll tell you a little secret. a restraining order was going to be sought this morning in washington to prevent this debate from going forward on behalf of someone who wasn't invited to participate but at the last minute had the good judgment to withdraw it. sheldon has been with us as a tax attorney and advisor and has been great. sheldon, we thank you. [applause] >> the law firm of crowell and mooring in washington provided staff that's been great for us. and the international bottled water association has also been with us for many, many years. you probably see the cameras that are here. what happens is there's a drawing every year among the networks to see which network will be will pool. tonight it's abc. so we thank abc for providing the pool tonight and c-span which covers us from before the show -- you don't realize this right now, but you're on c-span. now, explain to you what's going to happen. bob schieffer is going to come out here and talk to you in a little while and then this room is going to get extremely quiet as we wait to go on the air. the silence will be broken right at 9:00, not by bob schieffer but by the anchors back there on the networks going on the air at 9:00. and they will go for 1:30 introducing their coverage of this debate, and after 1:30 after 9:00, bob will kick it into gear and we'll get going. now, it's my great pleasure to introduce now the president of this university. a lot of you sent lynn university -- the students here did something really, really incredible. this is the t-shirt that they're all wearing. the front says we never heard of you either. [applause] [cheers and applause] >> so it's my great pleasure to introduce to you a gentleman who has been the president of this university since 2006, succeeding his father who was the president for 35 years. it's very important that this is where foreign policy is the subject matter, because on this campus, believe it or not, they have 2,000 students from 87 different countries. a real focus on foreign affairs. so without further adieu, let me introduce to you dr. kevin m. ross. [cheers and applause] >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. on behalf of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and trustees, welcome to lynn university and the performing arts center for this the final 2012 presidential debate. we consider it a special privilege, and that on our 50th anniversary to not only welcome you to this campus and magnificent hall but to welcome you to my hometown, boca raton in beautiful palm beach county, florida. and yes, for those of you visiting us for the first time, the correct pronunciation of our fair city is boca raton though we've heard every variation as possible. right now we have friends eni joying the event through watch parties throughout palm beach county and thousands of university staff and faculty watching across campus at the red, white and blue party. i look forward to seeing them, too. there are official alumni parties around the nation and faithful international lynn alums are gathered together to witness this historic moment and the other nations our graduates call home. since it was first announced that lynn university would host a presidential debate nearly a year ago, we've representedly been asked one question, who are you? for those of you who never heard about us, you heard about our polite response, it is a t-shirt selling incredibly well with students. but if tonight is the first time you've ever heard of us and our institution, that's ok because we've been waiting for this moment for some time to tell the real story of lynn university. just 50 years young, our institution is boldly oriented to the global society of the future. we embrace different types of learners and different types of learning and we foster a global perspective in absolutely everything that we do. we are a restless institution. continuously evolving and improving as we look forward to the future. our faculty and staff are devoted to great teaching and student growth, and our students are uncommonly diverse. we see strengths and differences. and here at lynn, all styles are welcome. lynn is also a campus of doers. as our students don't just read about the world's challenges, but they engage in them locally and globally as problem solvers. tragically, in 2010, while on a january term course titled "the journey of hope" four students and two faculty members were lost in the earthquake in haiti. they spent the last hours of their lives serving others and leave behind a incredible passion of strength. we confirmed our service and to ensure their story is never forgotten. lynn is a place for those who strive to make a difference in the lives of others, a place where global citizenship is second nature so it's particularly fitting this debate on foreign policy occurs at lynn university. as you heard, our 2,100 student body represents 80 different nations making this a global microcosm. u.s. news and world record ranked lynn university the fourth highest for our percentage of international students and we believe lynn is what the world is coming to. this small, yet significant institution has made rapid and amazing progress in its short life and i must express our deepest gratitude whose drive and determination helped make us the institution we are today. first, i'd like to acknowledge our president emeritus, my father, dr. donald ross and my mother helen ross who led our institution on a path of steady progress for a remarkable 35 years. it was my parents who adamantly believed in the potential of every student who steps foot on our campus. and along with lynn's faculty and staff, i'm incredibly proud to continue to carry on that legacy. another significant differencemaker in our community, i'd like to thank is mrs. elaine johnson wold whose vision and support led to the construction of this stunning performing arts center without which tonight's event would not be possible. and finally, we wish to honor our namesake, the chair of our board of trustees, mrs. kristi e. lynn along with her late husband eugene, christine has supported our university throughout her leadership and generosity not just for years but decades. thank you, christine, for continuing to believe in the work we're doing on behalf of our students here at lynn. now, upon our selection as a host site, we understood immediately we'd been entrusted with something very, very special. while we forever will be grateful to janet brown, frank fahrenkopf jr. and michael mccurry and the entire staff on the commission on debates for the trust they've placed in us, i would also like to express my sincere gratitude for all our on-campus volunteers, the arms and legs of this effort as well as our incredibly supportive community partners and stakeholders in boca raton and throughout palm beach county, florida. this is a community united through this effort. none of this would be possible without the generous support of our many sponsors which you'll find listed on your programs or our debate website. here at lynn we feel learning is best when there is an exchange between students and faculty fly diverse perspectives. our curriculum is designed to encourage students to question, think, wonder, and reflect. and tonight, it is our honor to serve as the host site for this ultimate dialogue. thank so you much to our moderator, mr. bob schieffer, and finally to the candidates, president obama and governor romney. we are thrilled by your presence here tonight and we offer you our sincere and best wishes for a spirited and enlightning dialogue on the future direction of our nation. thank you. [applause] >> would you please join me in welcoming ann romney and michelle obama. [applause] >> i'd now like to introduce a good friend and a great moderator, bob schieffer of cbs news. [applause] >> thank you all, mrs. obama, mrs. romney. it is such an honor to be asked to be a part of this. this is my third of these debates. it's not just an honor but i'm truly humbled. i wanted, from as long as i can remember, to be a reporter when i was a little boy. and i was a lucky guy because i got to do when i grew up what i wanted to do back in those days. it's been a wonderful life. these debates have become such an important part of our election process in this country. that i hope we'll have a great debate tonight. i would just like to reiterate what you've already been told, we have to be quiet as mice throughout this because we want a debate that is worthy of the presidency. of the greatest country in the world. thank you all for coming. [applause] >> i have to just sit here.

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