Transcripts For CNNW Starting Point 20121023

Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Were coming to you from boca raton in florida. Our starting point this morning, a more forceful president obama, a more measured mitt romney. Last nights Foreign Policy debate here in florida, right here, in fact, is in the books now. And when it was over, a cnn orc poll of debate watchers favored the president over mr. Romney, 48 to 40 . Lets get right to senior Congressional Correspondent dana bash who was watching that debate. Good morning. Good morning. Look, we know this entire Election Year debates have really mattered. But this one was a little bit tricky because its about Foreign Policy. Thats not high on the priority list for voters. So each candidate really tried to make it a test of leadership. Especially the president. Reporter mitt romney came wanting voters to see him as commander in chief. The commander in chief came determined to make sure that didnt happen. I know you havent been in a position to actually execute Foreign Policy. But, every time youve offered an opinion, youve been wrong. Reporter time and time again the president s Harsh Criticism dripped with sarcasm. A few months ago when you were asked whats the biggest geopolitical threat facing america, you said russia. Not al qaeda, you said russia. The 1980s are now calling to ask for their Foreign Policy back. Because, you know, the cold wars been over for 20 years. Our navy is smaller now than any time since 1917. They said they needed 313 ships to carry out the mission, were at 285. I think governor romney hasnt spent enough time looking at how our military works. You mentioned the navy, for example, and we have fewer ships than in 1916. We also have fewer horses and bayonets. Because the nature of our military has changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them. We have these ships that go under water, nuclear submarines. Before the debate, romney advisers told cnn he would not be the scrappy candidate we saw in the last one. Instead, stay solid and steady. Not take the president s bait. And attacking me is not an agenda. Reporter romney repeatedly blamed the president for failing to lead on global hot spots. You look at the record of the last four years and say is iran closer to a bomb . Yes. Is the middle east in tumult . Yes. Is al qaeda on the run, on its heels . No. Are israel and the palestinians closer to reaching a Peace Agreement . No. Reporter but for the most part, romney was calm in demeanor and remarkably agreeable on policy from syria to egypt to afghanistan. Well, were going to be finished by 2014. And when im president , well make sure we bring our troops out by the end of 2014. Reporter in fact, the republican who democrats try to paint as a war monger used the opening minutes to position himself as a peacemaker. I congratulate him on taking out Osama Bin Laden and going after leadership in al qaeda. But we cant kill our way out of this mess. Reporter romney successfully got under the president s skin by repeating this allegation. And then the president began what ive called an apology tour by going to various nations in the middle east and criticizing america. I think they look at that and saw weakness. Nothing governor romney just said is true. Starting with this notion of me apologizing. This has been probably the biggest whopper thats been told during the course of this campaign. All you had to do was watch the candidates time and time again try to pull the issues back home to the economy, whether it was about the auto bailout, or education, teachers. It was very clear, soledad, that this is a Foreign Policy debate but they know whats on the minds of voters. I think its so interesting, really, in the days after the debate, right, when you see how the numbers move or dont move depending on how the debate went. I think that will be interesting to see as well. Dana, thanks a lot. We bring in Ohio Republican senator rob portman. You were obviously playing president obama in the mock debates. So when you see the candidate who youve been prepping all along in his performance on Foreign Policy, what did you think . Well, you know, i thought it was a good night for governor romney because i think he appeared reassuring and thoughtful and knowledgeable. Having played president obama, i wasnt surprised by a whole lot that he said because its sort of the same lines. He was aggressive. Did you practice that . I mean i did. You kind of expected it. He feels like hes a little behind right now, i think, so we expect him to come out on the attack, and he did. I thought one of the effective lines from governor romney when he said the attack on me is not an agenda. I think that was where the president fell a little short. He didnt offer an agenda or a vision for the future on the International Side just as he did not on the domestic side in the first couple debates. Lets throw up poll numbers, cnn orc poll among debate watchers. The question was who won the debate. It was president obama with 48 , and governor romney had 40 . Then theres another poll about who seemed to be a stronger leader, and the divided it up among men and women, and you can see if you pop it up, women for president obama, a high number. Kind of switched a little bit for governor romney. I guess all of that would leave folks to say theres this gender gap. Are you worried about that gender gap . Well, the polling that im interested in is what do the independent and undecided voters think . And what kind of impression did governor romney leave . Theres another poll, it was a ptp poll which is considered to be a more democrat leaning polling organization and they said among undecided voters, people felt as though governor romney did better. I think thats because, frankly, people are looking at the attack ads, and many democrats, i think, who are advising president obama kind of had them believing those attack ads, as well. Thats not the governor romney they saw last night. They somebody who was reassuring and ready to be commander in chief. We could spend a whole day talking about polls, bought i thought this one was interesting, cnn orc poll, who did the debate make you more likely to vote for. President obama 24 , mitt romney, 25 , and neither with a high of 50 . More people felt like, eh. Well, you know, i think the Foreign Policy issue, as dana said, is not the top issue in the country right now. Its jobs and the economy. They did bring it back to that a few times. Appropriately, really, because our ability to be strong overseas is dependent on our ability to be stronger at home. I think on those issues, governor romney is doing better because hes talking about a vision. Hes talking about a strategy to get us back on track. And even last night when he talked about it, he was able to say, also, on the Foreign Policy side, its important for us to have a vision to deal with the underlying causes, for instance, of islamic extremism. Thats why i think it was a good debate for governor romney. Senator, soledad was talking about women, about the gender gap. How much of the strategy of really trying to be evenkeeled, almost sounded like a dove, governor romney, like a real peace make, not a war monger, how much of that was really, specifically, aimed at the female vote. I dont know if it was aimed at the women vote but i think it was effective. Not just for women but for everybody to understand that the war monger image that democrats would like to have portrayed simply is not true. This is a guy who believes in peace through strength. Yes he believes we should have a strong military, tighten sanctions on iran. But because the diplomatic solution ought to be the one that is successful, and to maximize that you want to have a strong position. So i thought that was a good debate in many respects for governor romney. Probably the best was reassuring, he was thoughtful and knowledgeable and showed hes ready to be commander in chief. I was doing the focus group in orlando which meant a really long drive late last night after the debate and one of the focus group people, actually a couple of them were saying that they felt, it struck them that governor romney agreed with president obama a lot. A number of times during the debate. I want to play a few chunks of that first. I felt the same as the president did. I want to underscore that the same point the president made. The president was right to up the usage of that technology. There have been times, governor, frankly, during the course of this campaign where it sounded like you thought that youd do the same things we did, but youd say them louder. So, is that problematic . When you have both campaigns that have said there are clear differences. This is how youre basically being attacked by a fly here. This is, you know, there are clear differences between the two campaigns. Now you have a chance to make a real, you know, different choice, and, and, a lot of that debate sounded like well, what he said. Yeah, you know, i agree with what he said. Is that problematic . I thought when governor romney did that it was refreshing to a lot of undecided voters who are tired of the attacks back and forth and the politics. And look, when governor romney thought the president was right he said so. He also made it clear, by the way, that although he supported the drone attacks, he supported going after bin laden, that that was not sufficient. And thats when he said we cannot kill our way out of these problems we need to provide a vision and a strategy for the future that deals with the underlying problems here. Of islamic extremism, and the spread of it. Was it contradictory, though . If you look at afghanistan, i think, as a good example from last night. And i think we have a chunk of that. Lets play a little bit. Heres what governor romney said about when he is president. When im president , well make sure we bring our troops out by the end of 2014. The commanders and the generals there are on track to do so. Weve seen progress over the past several years. The surge has been successful. And the Training Program is proceeding apace. So, previously, and i think a number of times, he said, you know, a withdrawal date is wrong. Do not name a withdrawal date. Isnt that a contradiction to now say, 2014. End of 2014. Hes always said that it shouldnt be publicly announced because it helps our enemies. It was just publicly announced. No, he thinks we ought to get out by 2014. The question is how you communicate it and whether you listen to the commanders on the ground about how you get there. He talked about that, as well. Also on iraq he agreed with the president we should have a status of forces agreement. Its what the president wanted to be able to relieve some troops on the ground. The president is now reversing himself on that apparently and saying i guess he didnt want a status of forces aagreement. He tried hard to negotiate one and he failed. So i think what you saw last night was, you know, frankly governor romney saying, look, all along i believed we ought to get out of afghanistan. We ought to do it in a way, though, that is consistent with what our commanders on the ground think we ought to go in terms of the time frame. In terms of how we do it. And he wants to get out in 2014. Kind of hard for the president to say theres a distinction there, he does, again, governor romney does believe that we ought to be listening to commanders about how we get to 2014. He believes we ought to get out. He had a bit of what i thought was a gaffe on sort of a geography, right, when he said syria is irans only ally in the arab world, its their route to the sea, its the route for them to arm hezbollah and lebanon which threatens, of course, our ally israel. And i think if you had a map of, of, youd see that, in fact, theres thats not their only route to the see. That, thats and iran is not and iran has 1400 miles of, of, what do you call it waterfront basically and syria has Something Like 119. Is that an indication of not really understanding the geography of what is a truly critical part of the world, in a truly critical conversation about Foreign Policy . Well, the route to the sea is the route to the mediterranean sea. And in terms of the iranian influence in the region, hes absolutely right. That their most important ally, and whats going on in syria is important to the syrian people. Its important for israel. But its also important in relation to iran, and their interests in expanding their influence. So i think he, you know, he was correct in talking about the importance of syria. All right. Senator portman. Nice to have you with us this morning. Soledad. The sun is rising behind us, which were happy to see. Appreciate your time. Thanks for having me on. At the bottom of the hour were going to be talking democratic reaction with senator john kerry of massachusetts. He played mitt romney in the president s debate working with all the standins this morning. I think kerry and i should go at it. That would make good tv. That would be very interesting. If you missed any of last nights debate you can watch it again today, noon eastern on cnn. Were going to be replaying that debate for you. Want to get back to new york now. John bermans got a look at some of the other stories making news this morning. Good morning, soledad. The outbreak of fungal meningitis is getting worse. Federal officials now report 23 people have died in 16 states. And the total number of cases has gone up to 297. This outbreak has been linked to steroid pain injections made by the new England Compounding Center in massachusetts. Reuters report that Health Officials inspected the company ten years ago due to complaints about those injections. The fda investigating whether Monster Energy drinks may have contributed to the death of five people since 2009. This comes after the company was hit with a lawsuit in connection with a maryland teenagers death. Monster is selling the top selling energy drink in the u. S. It comes in 24 ounce cans. It contains 240 milligrams of caffeine. Thats about seven times the caffeine in a 12ounce coke. The es changed wife who was the target of the shooting rampage at that milwaukee area spa is being called a hero. One of zena haughtons clients told the Chicago Tribune she approached her husband and tried to shield a receptionist as she attempted to defuse the situation on sunday. Police say Radcliff Haughton shot seven women, including three of them whom he killed, including zina. He then shot and killed himself. We have some liftoff. Just minutes ago a soyuz rocket launched from kazakhston sending three new crew members into ash bit. Theyre en route to the International Space station at this very moment. It includes two cosmonauts and nasa Flight Engineer kevin ford. Theyre scheduled to arrive at the space station on thursday. Okay the giants win the pennant. The giants win the pennant. No, it is not 1951. Its 2012. The giants ruthed the cardinals 90 to win the alcs in seven games. San francisco is 60 in games where they face elimination this postseason. The giants will have Home Field Advantage in the world series against the detroit tigers. Game one is tomorrow night in san francisco. Are you ready . Soledad . Yeah, its good to see even when youre not necessarily rooting for the team, my yankees, kind of, whatever. But its always fun to watch when theyre celebrating. All right, john, thank you. Still ahead this morning on starting point, during the debate did mitt romney miss a chance to question the president about the attack in benghazi and that time line . Were going to talk this morning with ambassador Nicolas Burns coming up next. And apple lovers get ready, the company is announcing a smaller version of what of their most popular items today. Youve been busy for a dead man. After you jumped ship in bangkok, i thought id lost you. Surfing is my life now. But whos going to. Tell the world that priceline has even faster, easier ways to save you money. On hotels, flights cars . You still have it. Ill always have it. So this is it . Well see where the waves take me. Sayonara, brah when we got married. I had three kids. And she became the full time mother of three. It was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. Those years were crazy. So, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isnt anything on the schedule. [ female announcer ] at yoplait, we want you to feel even better about your favorite flavors. So when you call, tweet, and post, we listen. Thats why yoplait light and yoplait original are now made with no high fructose corn syrup. And why we use only natural colors and Natural Flavors in yoplait original. So, anything else we can do for you, let us know. But youll keep it to yogurt, right . cause we shouldnt really help with your love life. Yoplait. It is so good welcome back to starting point. Minding your business this morning, is the ipad about to go mini . Apple making a Product Announcement today and rumors in the tech world, hint the ipad screen could shrink from 10 inches to 7. 8 inches on its new model. Expect it to cost somewhere between about 250 to 350. Were going to find out for sure in a few hours. U. S. Stock futures are down sharply after markets closed flat yesterday. Dow futures down more than 100 points. A lot of worries about the earnings season. Facebook earnings come out after the closing bell. Shares have been cut in half since the company went public in may. Facebooks been having trouble communicating its plans for mobile advertising and how to generate revenue that way. Soledad . All right, christine. Thank you very much. The election now exactly two weeks away. During the third and final debate last night, the gloves were kind of off. Listen. The challenge we have, i know you havent been in a position to actually execute Foreign Policy, but every time youve offered an opinion, youve been wrong. America must be strong. America must lead, and for that to happen we have to strengthen our economy here at home. You cant have 23 Million People struggling to get a job. Joining us this morning from cambridge, massachusetts, is former u. S. Ambassador to nato and former undersecretary of state for Political Affairs Nicolas Burns. Nice to see you, sir. Thank you very much for talking with us. Who do you think in your opinion was stronger in this debate . Oh, i think, soledad, by any objective measure i think president obama was the more knowledgeable and more selfassured on Foreign Policy. He has a very good grasp of these issues. Obviously hes been president for 3 1 2 years. I did think, soledad, that governor romney was strong when he linked our National Security to our economic security. Making the point that obviously we cant be strong unless our economy is strong. But on the main, governor romney seemed on the defensive. He didnt seem as selfassured or as confident in what he was saying. I thought it was a quite striking contrast. There seem to be, in my opinion, an effort by the governor to move away from some of his previously held positions. Did you see that . And if so, specifically, where . I did. I thought it was interesting, he had governor romney had been on the offensive over the last year, criticizing president obama on russia. Governor romney said russia was our number one geopolitical foe. Last night he backed off that statement. Hed been very critical about how president obama ended the iraq war and critical of the president s plans to bring the troops out on a specific time line, 2014. And you saw none of that last night. In fact, governor romney appeared to leave a lot of his positions behind, and it does leave you with the question on what is his world view . What does he really believe . What would he do on these big National Security issues such as the war in afghanistan or even iran, where previously he had been very critical last night, largely agreed with the president. So i think hes leaving the impression that hes not quite sure what hed do or that hes not being as specific as he might be. I was sort of surprised, and dana tell me if you agree, that when bob schieffer, who i thought did a great job last night moderating, set up the question about benghazi, was very specific and very detailed, and a series of questions governor romney didnt take that opportunity to kind of go for the jugular. I thought that would be a moment where he might. I think the diplomatic term on that was a punt. Very much so. It was interesting because talking to governor romneys aides beforehand, it seemed as though he wanted to kind of fix what he messed up the last time in challenging the president on kind of a side show. But id love to hear what the ambassador thinks about that. Obviously there has been no issue that has been more in the forefront of Foreign Policy and even in politics now, than libya. Well, you know, i think that was bob schieffers very first question. It was an opening for governor romney to resume the criticism from the second debate on benghazi. And you know, it may be that it wasnt working for them. Because from the beginning, governor romneys statements on the very day of the attacks was seen to be overly partisan. It i think that they probably decided to back off because you really dont want to take a National Security crisis, especially one so disastrous for the United States with four deaths, and make it partisan. So thats why i assume he decided to punt on that question last night. Final question for you is about china. Heres im going to play what the president side about china and mitt romney said about china and then im going to ask you on the other side of that the impact of, of china in this Foreign Policy debate. Lets start with the president. Chinas both an adversary, but also a potential partner in the International Community if its following the rules. So my attitude coming in to office was that we are going to insist that china plays by the same rules as everybody else. We can work with them. We can collaborate with them. If theyre willing to be responsible. Now they look at us and say, is it a good idea to be with america . How strong are we going to be . How strong is our economy . The people, ambassador, who were in my focus group, i was in orlando last night. The minute they heard about china and economy, they were very interested, and really focused. Do you think that the president had more strength on this issue or do you think it was mitt romney . You know, its hard to say, because i think governor romneys point is a good one, that china has been a major human rights violator. But also violating and stealing our intellectual property from american businesses, weve got to get tough with china. The problem, at least in my view, with governor romneys solution, im going to name them a currency violator my first day in office is it immediately puts us into an open, big confrontation with china when we need china on iran, on north korea, on syria, is that smart . And i think that president obamas more nuanced view, obviously tempered by his experience in office, is probably the better way for the United States. Ambassador nick burns joining us this morning. Nice to see you. Thank you. You bet. During the debate, mitt romney claimed that the president went on an International Apology Tour over u. S. Policy. Is that accurate . Weve got a fact check coming up on that claim straight ahead. And crash and grab. Two men caught on camera smashing into a store where they helped themselves to the items, look at that, crazy. Well tell you what happened in that story. Tdd 18003452550 this morning, im going to trade in hong kong. Tdd 18003452550 after that, its on to germany. Tdd 18003452550 then tonight, im trading 9500 miles away in japan. Tdd 18003452550 with the new global account from schwab, tdd 18003452550 i hunt down opportunities around the world tdd 18003452550 as if im right there. Tdd 18003452550 and im in total control because i can trade tdd 18003452550 directly online in 12 markets in their local currencies. Tdd 18003452550 i use their Global Research to get an edge. Tdd 18003452550 their equity ratings show me how schwab tdd 18003452550 rates specific foreign stocks tdd 18003452550 based on things like fundamentals, momentum and risk. Tdd 18003452550 and i also have access to independent tdd 18003452550 firms like Ned Davis Research tdd 18003452550 and Economist Intelligence unit. Tdd 18003452550 plus, i can talk to their global specialists 24 7. Tdd 18003452550 and trade in my global account commissionfree tdd 18003452550 through march 2013. Tdd 18003452550 best part. No jet lag. Tdd 18003452550 call 18662945409 tdd 18003452550 and a global specialist tdd 18003452550 will help you get started today. Welcome back, everyone. A quick look at your top stories. Parts of the west coast are covered in snow this morning. Winter is still two months away. A snowstorm blew into northern californias sierra mountains making driving plenty treacherous. It was defense ruling chicago last night. The bears defeated Detroit Lions 137 in monday night football. Chicago improves to 51 now on the season. Who knew, theyre in first place in the division. The lions back to 24. Soledad . John, i know last night you were in charge of doing the fact check. Tell me a little bit about what you were looking into. There were plenty of facts and figures tossed around, including one statement on an issue i know you have dealt with here on starting point. It had to do with the socalled apology tour thats been a favorite line from republicans on the campaign trail. Mitt romney claimed, as he has many times in the past, that president obama went on a sort of International Tour apologizing for u. S. Policy when he first took office. Lets listen. Meet with all the worlds worst actors in his first year, hed sit down with chavez and kim jongil, with castro, and with president ahmadinejad of iran. And i think they looked and thought, well thats an unusual honor to receive from the president of the United States. And then the president began what ive called an apology tour of going to various nations in the middle east, and criticizing america. I think they looked at that and saw weakness. So, what are the facts here . When he took office, president obama did travel to several countries talking about american Foreign Policy. In france, for example, he said america has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive. So he also criticized europe in that same very speech. Now in none of these speeches in europe, the middle east, nor here at home, did obama use the word apology or say hes sorry in any way. So our verdict here is its false to call president obamas speeches an apology tour. Even if he was critical of some past u. S. Foreign policy, he never issued any apologies. Soledad . The president said that in the debate last night, very clearly, when he pushed back very hard on the governor about that. All right, john, thank you. Still ahead this morning you heard from the senator who prepped mitt romney for the debate. Coming up next, the senator who prepped president obama. Democratic massachusetts senator john kerry. Hes up next. And youve heard of smash and grab. How about crash and grab . A car smashes into a store but its no accident. Well tell you what the police say the suspects took. One. Two. Three. My Credit Card Rewards are easy to remember. With the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i earn 1 cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2 back on groceries. [ all ] 3 on gas no hoops to jump through. I earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] its as easy as. [ all ] one two. [ all ] three [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. Apply online or at a bank of america near you. For their destination wedding. Double miles you can actually use. But with those single mile travel cards. [ bridesmaid ] blacked out. But im a bridesmaid. Oh x marks the spot shell never sit. But i bought a dress a toast. To the capital one venture card. Fly any airline, any flight, anytime. Double miles you can actually use. What a coincidence . Whats in your wallet . [ all screaming ] watch the elbows ladies. We dont let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. So if youre one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day. Block the acid with prilosec otc and dont get heartburn in the first place [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. Welcome back, everybody. Youre watching starting point. Were coming to you live from boca raton in florida for one last time president obama and governor mitt romney battled it out on the debate stage. The topic last night was Foreign Policy. You mention the navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, governor we also have fewer horses and bayonets. Because the nature of our military has changed. Attacking me is not an agenda. Attacking me is not talking about how were going to deal with the challenges that exist in the middle east and take advantage of the opportunity there, and stem the tide of this violence. Lets get right to massachusetts senator john kerry. He portrayed governor mitt romney in the mock debates with the president. So when you were watching your candidate, and you, of course, had played the challenger, how do you think he did . Well, i think every insta poll in the country says the president won. Some say he won overwhelmingly by 20 points. Some by 10 points. But overwhelmingly last night the president of the United States was the commander in chief, and mitt romney, i hate to say it, was the campaigner in confusion you dont hate to say it. I dont, because i, you know, id like to be able to say it. But honestly i was stunned by a candidate who came and shifted almost all his positions, and hes hiding his positions. I mean his real positions haveb iran. Last night he agreed with him. Credit siding the president on syria, well he had a few nibbles but basically said how complicated it was, he agreed with him. Libya, wound up agreeing with him. Afghanistan, actually changed his position last night from saying that he didnt think we should set a date and get out, last night he set a firm date. This is just a man who you cant send messages like that to the world that you really dont have a position. When i spoke to senator portman this morning he said, listen, that was thats an intelligent thing to do, right. You deal with your thats etchasketch. Im dealing with what he said. That was an admission on my show. I remember etchasketch. What he said, he positioned that as a rational thing to do, to sit down with your military advisers and come up with a, a, a, timetable to leave. Hes been running for president for seven years. He has either been lying to the base, the republican base, ought to be outraged today because the man whos been running to win the nomination was taking a whole bunch of different positions. Now he steps up and says different look, this is mitt romney. And the place people should be most frightened about is on the economy. Because mitt romney has signed a pledge to a lobbyist, the same lobbyist who has gridlocked washington, and you know this youre talking about grover norquist. Grover norquist. He gridlocked the Super Committee because people on the Super Committee signed a pledge saying we wont raise revenue. Romneys tripled down on saying no revenue. So if he were elected hes promising four more years of gridlock in washington because thats the formula. Either hes not telling the truth to the republican base, he signed the pledge and it doesnt mean anything. Or, he is telling the truth and you have gridlock. You cant have it both ways. This is a man who has a onepoint plan for america. A tax cut of 5 trillion. You extend the bush tax cuts by 20 but last night was about Foreign Policy. And lets get back to Foreign Policy. It is. Soledad it is Foreign Policy. Because if you dont have a strong economy, you cant be strong abroad and you cant carry out a Foreign Policy. Mitt romneys policy is to go back to the economy that we had before. On Foreign Policy you are the Senate Foreign relations chairman. You travel abroad all the time. Does mitt romney have a point that the perception of the world, supposed to get so much of the United States was supposed to get so much better after george w. Bush left and obama took over and that hasnt happened. Oh, yes it has happened. Are you kidding me it hasnt happened . After ambassador stevens was killed, dana, 30,000 libyans took their signs, said we love you, ambassador stevens. We love you america. They marched, they marched on the militia headquarters that had done this. They disarmed them themselves. We have changed perceptions throughout that part of the world. Now theyre going through a very complicated moment. I mean, nobody, no islamists, and not the United States, told a fruit vendor in tunisia, you got to because a Police Officer slapped you and took away your weighing machine and your ability to sell fruit. He did that because he was outraged at a government that was oppressing him. And that brought all the tunisians together. Nobody told those people in tahrir square, those young people, that wasnt islamic. That was young people, a generational revolution saying, we want jobs, we want an opportunity. Thats whats happening in the middle east. We should welcome it, and embrace it, and understand it. President obama has done that. Mitt romneys been hiding behind it. The wall streejournal would disagree. He wrote this, theres a case to be made that mr. Obama has been a disengaged, poll driven, steward of american 23r7. Mr. Romney didnt seem interested in making that point i guess and as a matter of politics he didnt need to make it. His most effective turns in the debate came when he brought it all back to the economy. He seemed reasonable and tempered and pragmatic and unruffled and therefore president ial. Doesnt that explain while president obama who the pollsters showed people polled indicate overwhelmingly he was more on the attack and mitt romney was not that that was part of the strategy to appear president ial . Well, if your strategy is to reverse every position you had, two weeks before an election. If it makes you reasonable and tempered and pragmatic so in other words so president obama has been reasonable im just asking a question sir. Im just saying heres what Brett Stevens from the wall street journal but you cant trust a candidate for president of the United States if you dont know what he really believes. Mitt romney is hiding a bunch of potions. Hes advised by the very same people that brought you iraq and the years of the, of the decline of our economy. President obama has been steady and clear, not only, look on the economy, jobs, record low for four years. On, on, i mean, on the jobless claims. The job rate is a record low of four years. Foreclosures, fitchyear low. Stock market, almost a record high. 401 k s, up. Sluggish. Sluggish. Sluggish. Soledad, look at what we had to dig out of. Were at the brink of taking off. Ask anybody in business. People, the confidence of our country is up. But, you no, no, no. Everybody agrees with that. What they say is were on the bric of taking off. Now the president has a fivepoint plan. Number one, energy. 600,000 jobs in natural gas. Were going to exploit american energy. Were going to cut our imports in half. Jobs. A Million Manufacturing jobs brought back to the United States, and were going to cut double our exports. And were going to increase our jobs in the energy sector. Skills. So hire im going to stop you there because the fivepoint plan weve heard about over the last everybodys been complaining he doesnt. This is my question is this. Its neck and neck. 47 to 47 if you look at national polling. How worried are you about those numbers . I believe that as a result of last night and the last debate before that, the president has made it clear he has the agenda for the country. The countrys economy is coming back. Were respected in the world. Hes ended the war in iraq. He is ending the war in afghanistan. He showed clear leadership in libya. Last night, after all his complaints, mitt romney said the president s done a good job and hes doing the right thing on iran, iran will not have a nuclear weapon. Weve never been closer in security to israel, and hes got the iron dome which is senator, its its we see now why you were the one who was chosen to play mitt romney because he bring it back he can filibuster out there because were out of time. But we want to thank you for talking with us this morning. Im delighted to be with you. Secretary of state . This is a great audition to go back to massachusetts. A dodge on that one. A dodge on the secretary of state question. Nice to see you, senator. Thank you for talking with us. Weve got to get back to john berman. Thanks, soledad. One of the students involved in the hazing death of a florida a m university drum major robert champion is avoiding jail time altogether. Brian jones was sentenced yesterday to two years probation, 200 hours of community service. Jones is the first of a dozen defendants charged in connection with champions death last november. On a bus ride outside orlando, Orlando Hotel after a game. Tears in court as the harassment and child endangerment trial of Douglas Kennedy begins. A Maternity Ward nurse broke down yesterday testifying kennedy, the son of late senator robert f. Kennedy, twisted her arm and kicked another nurse. The assistant d. A. Said the nurses were simply following protocol during the january incident. The defense calls the nurse abrasive, and confrontational. Police say two thieves in Northern Michigan stole a truck to commit this smash, or crash and grab. Surveillance cameras caught them loading up on alcohol and cigarettes. Police say minutes before this the robbers swiped 100 worth of gas as they backed out they ran over a gas pump and hit a tree during their getaway. One suspect was caught and police say they are confident they will catch the second suspect. Soledad . All right, john, thank you. Still ahead this morning on starting point, during the debate president obama made this claim. Take a look. And as a consequence al qaedas core leadership has been decimated. How true is that . Our very own elise labott will take a look at the status of the Terror Network straight ahead this morning. train horn vo wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. Norfolk southern. One line, infinite possibilities. Alriwoah did you get that . And. Flip yep, look at this. It takes like 20 pictures at a time. I never miss anything. Isnt that awesome . Uh thats really cool. You should upload these. I know, right . That is really amazing. The pictures are so clear. Kevins a Handsome Devil that phone does everything search dog tricks. Okay, see if we can teach him something cool. Look at how lazy kevin is. Kevin, get it together dude cmon, kevin take 20 pictures with burst shot on the galaxy s3. Morning, welcome back, everybody. Youre watching starting point. Were coming to you live this morning from boca raton in florida. It is exactly two weeks till the election. And this morning were Fact Checking some of the claims that were made in that final president ial debate. Lets get right to cnn Foreign Affairs reporter elise labott. Shes in washington, d. C. This morning. So elise, last night we actually heard a lot of agreement between the two candidates, but there was a major point of contention, and that major point of contention was about al qaeda. Thats right, soledad. Well, last night president obama said al qaedas core leadership has been decimated and mitt romney says al qaeda is actually involved in 10 or 12 countries. Now theres no disputing that Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al qaeda, was killed in that raid in pakistan. And the Obama Administration has also dramatically upped the use of drones in pakistan, which has killed a lot of key al qaeda operatives. That focuses on the al qaeda core, the original group. Whats worriship is al qaeda affiliates in yemen, north africa and elsewhere in the middle east are very active. Particular concern is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, operating in yemen who hatched that underwear bomber a few years ago. Then theres al shabab in somalia considered a big threat. And aqim is operating. And theyre believed to have been tied to the attack on the u. S. Consulate in libya. And now the unrest in syria has also provided an opportunity for al qaeda in iraq. And in that country. So soledad both claims are true here. President obamas claim that al qaedas core leadership has been seriously weakened, yes. But the affiliates remain active and a threat to western interests. So a little bit for both men to claim last fight. All right. Elise labott doing a fact check for us this morning. Thank you, elise, appreciate it. Were back right after this. [ male announcer ] do you have the Legal Protection you need . At legalzoom, weve created a better place to turn for your legal matters. Maybe you want to incorporate a business youd like to start. Or protect your family with a will or living trust. Legalzoom makes it easy with stepbystep help when completing your personalized document or you can even access an attorney to guide you along. With an a rating from the Better Business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable Legal Protection. In most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. Get started at legalzoom. Com today. And now youre protected. Welcome back, everybody. It was the final debate. And now it is done. The polls show that the president won last night. But did he make up for his first dough bait, the debate that gave governor mitt romneys campaign new life . Lets get right to ron brownstein, senior political analyst, editorial director of national journal. You have all said this will hinge, for the president at least, would you know key group of voters. Who are those voters . I think hes focused on women voters at the end. If you look the his numbers among white men, they are some of the lowest weve seen on a president ial candidate since Walter Mondale since 1984. Mitt romneys goal right from that very first answer, when he said we cant kill our way out of this problem, was to reassure women voters. This was a debate, much more for him, about reassurance than contrast. He kind of renounced a lot of positions he took during the primary. The president , clearly, from that second dough bait on is focus ond blue collar women in the midwest, in particular. And to a greater extent, white collar, more social, liberal wom women. An attempt to shift from Foreign Policy, which was the topic of the debate, to talk about domestic policy. Sure. Obviously, jobs, but trying to move whatever the topic was to sort of more whats happening at home. Let me play a little bit of what governor romney said about china and american jobs. Ive watched year in and year out, as companies have shut down and people have lost their jobs, because china has not played by the same rules. In part, by holding down artificially the value of their currency, it holds down the prices of their goods. It means our goods arent as competitive and we lose jobs. Thats got to end. How will Something Like that resonate . There was a decent amount of time spent on china. How will that resonate with that key group of voters that both candidates were trying to appeal to last night . Right now this election is being decide d more in the ruch belt than the sun belt. We started with two bnds of swing states. We still have them. Sun belt, but these rust belt states of ohio, michigan, to a lesser extent, iowa, wisconsin. The critical states that both sides are fighting over. The president s support of the auto bailout and the support he is winning around that issue is absolutely critical. Kind of his last line defense right now in this campaign. You saw the promise to be tough on china is one of romneys best kind of battering rams against that. And you saw the president trying to respond. Its not surprising that the discussion turned toward domestic policy. Often the problem with the Foreign Policy debate, politically, at least, its hard to connect the discreet around the world with the themes at home. Egypt has not been that high on the list with these key voters in the swing states. Focus group last night in orlando. You could see when they started going there, people started losing a little bit of interest in the conversation. When they started talking about american jobs, the testers went right back up. From the bayonettes to the ro rosecolored glasses, well break down what the candidates said. And what affect it could have with 14 days till voters go to the polls. New details about the new ipad mini. Thats ahead. Trying to find a better job can be frustrating. So at university of phoenix were working with a growing list of almost two thousand Corporate Partners Companies Like microsoft, American Red Cross and adobe to create options for you. Not only that, were using what we learn from these partners to shape our curriculum. So that when you find the job you want youll be a perfect fit. Lets get to work. How theyll live tomorrow. For more than 116 years, Ameriprise Financial has worked for their clients futures. Helping millions of americans retire on their terms. When they want. Where they want. Doing what they want. Ameriprise. The strength of a leader in retirement planning. The heart of 10,000 advisors working with you onetoone. Together for your future. Together for your future. Meet the 5passenger ford cmax hybrid. When youre carrying a lot of weight, cmax has a nice little trait, you see, cmax helps you load your freight, with its footactivated lift gate. But thats not all youll see, cause cmax also beats prius v, with better mpg. Say hi to the allnew 47 combined mpg cmax hybrid. I wish my patients could see what i see. That over time, having high cholesterol and any of these risk factors can put them at increased risk for plaque buildup in their arteries. So its even more important to lower their cholesterol, and thats why, when diet and exercise alone arent enough, i prescribe crestor. In a Clinical Trial versus lipitor, crestor got more highrisk patients bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone. Like people with Liver Disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. Tell your doctor about other medicines youre taking. Call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. These could be signs of rare but serious side effects. Is your cholesterol at goal . Talk to your doctor about crestor. [ female announcer ] if you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. Welcome, everybody. Starting point this morning, showdown in boca. President obama and governor romney challenging each other on Foreign Policy in their final debate. In the 1980s now calling for their Foreign Policy back. Im not going to wear rosecolored glasses when it comes to russia or putin. Youre trying to air brush history. Attacking me is not an agenda. Hold iing candidates to the facts. Fewer horses and bayonettes because the nature of our military has changed. I am a son of detroit. My dad is the head of a car company. I like american cars. Complete analysis with just 14 days till election day. Its tuesday, october 23rd, and starting point begins right now. Were coming to you live in boca raton, florida. Welcome, everybody. Our starting point this morning, president obama, governor romney back on the campaign trail aafter their final debate last night. By most accounts, it was a forceful more forceful president obama who came out on top last night, majority of viewers and political analysts agreed that president obama with his playing defense. 48 favoring the president , 40 favoring governor romney. The president also won the second contest by seven points in our cnn polling after he lost by 42 points in the first dough bait. Senior Congressional Correspondent dana bash joins us this morning. It was a very different president obama during this last debate and also i thought a different governor romney. He was president obama came across, i thought, as aggressive, charging in this dough ba debate and mitt romney not so much. It was a complete reversal from the first debate. From the perspective of mitt romney, that was not an accid t accident. He understands both of them understood this is a Foreign Policy debate. It is not what americans want to vote on. They both wanted to make it a question of leadership. Reporter mitt romney came wanting voters to see him as commander in chief. The commander in chief came determined to make sure that didnt happen. I know you havent been in a position to actually execute Foreign Policy, but every time you have offered an opinion, you have been wrong. Reporter time and time again, the president s Harsh Criticism drip ped with sarcasm. Biggest political threat you said russia, not al qaeda. You said russia. 1980s are now calling and asking for their Foreign Policy back. The cold war has been over for 20 years. Our navy is smaller now than any time since 19d 17. The navy said they needed 313 ships to carry out their mission. Theyre now down to 285. Governor romney hasnt spent enough time looking at how our military works, we have fewer ships than 1916. We also have fewer horses and bayonnettes because the nature of our military has changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them, ships that go upped water, nuclear sub ma reaps. Reporter before the debate, mitt romneys camp told cnn he would stay solid and steady, not take the president s bait. Attacking me is not an agenda. Reporter repeatedly blamed the president for failing to lead on global hot spots. If you look at the record the last four years and say is iran closer to a bomb . Yes. Is the middle east in tumult . Yes. Is al qaeda on the run, on its he heels . No. Are israel and palestinians closer to reaching a Peace Agreement . No. Reporter but for the most part, he was calm in demeanor and remarkably agreeable on policy from syria to egypt to afghanistan. Were going to be finished by 2014 and when im president , well make sure we bring our troops out by the end of 2014. Reporter in fact, the republican who democrats tried to paint as a war monger used the opening minutes to position himself as a peace maker. I congratulate him on taking out Osama Bin Laden and going after the loweredship of al qaeda but we cant kill our way out of this mess. Reporter successfully got under the president s skin by repeating this. He began what i called an apology tour, going to various nations in the middle east and criticizing america they look at that and saw weakness. Nothing governor romney just said is true, starting with this notion meef apologize i of m apologizing. Reporter one of the most Fiery Exchange s was not about Foreign Policy but something decidedly american, the auto industry. If we had taken your advice about the auto industry, we would be buying cars from china instead of selling cars to china. Im a son of detroit. My dad was the head of a car compa company. I would do nothing to hurt the u. S. Auto industry. These Companies Need to go through a managed bankruptcy. Thats not what you said. You can take a look at the oped. You did not say im still speaking. I said we would provide guarantees and that was what was able to allow these companies to go through bankruptcy, to come out of bankruptcy. Lets check the record. Thats the height of silliness. Reporter and the auto bailout was hardly the only issue that both candidates wanted to bring back home on the economy. They talked about jobs and even talked about education. Education, all of their points and all of their plans because they know that is what voters will really focus on, not so much Foreign Policy. They really did want to talk about domestic policy eep though the night was devoted to Foreign Policy. Dana, thank you very much. Its nice to have you with us, sir. Great to be here. Some of the polls show president obama winning this debate, if you will. Cnn orc poll debate watchers, 48 for president obama, 40 for mitt romney. You sort of grimace. Im actually smiling, because on points, some of the polls say he won the debate. The polls also said youre more or less likely to vote for president obama or mitt romney most said neither. Ppp robo calls. It was 4735. For obama it was 32 most likely, 46 against. The bottom line is that governor romney on initiative counts, which at the end of this debate, who are you going to vote for . Who do you want to be commander in chief, governor romney did pretty well last night. Ill clarify for the ppp poll. Wh we talked about that earlier. Its a robo call. He we dont use it at cnn. But the cnn poll you count and that was a draw. It was a draw, 24 for governor romney and 20 you look at the president who came out really hot last night. He was hot. My sense is hes seeing his lead dissipates in the polls. Draws the win is what youre saying . Absolutely. Absolutely. A lot of agreement last night. Change in tone, we were talking about, dan anda and i a moment. Lets play a chunk of all the agreeing that went on. I felt the same as the president did. I want to underscore the same point the president made. The president was right to up the usage of that technology. There have been times, governor, frankly, during the course of this campaign where it sounded like you thought that you would do the same things we did, but you would say them louder. Is that a problem . I mean, we were talking this morning with ambassador nick burns and he said, yes, weve seen a shift from governor romneys positions from the beginning of his campaigning to today. A shift in numerous areas. First of all, where they didnt agree is the most fundamental point is on the economy. You cant have strong Foreign Policy withouty strong economy. And he lays out his fivepoint plan. President obama plays ropa dope, take the body punches and get past november 6th without laying out a plan. Use of drones, taking out bin laden, whats to disagree about . Its not just disagreeing. Its shifting. I dont think theres been shifting. What about afghanistan . The governor has always said he will abide by the 2014 date. What he didnt change, the bottom line is how he got to that point wasnt something he agreed with. President obama said arbitrarily didnt work with commanders on the ground but set the date. Governor romney is a realist. They set the date. Hell make it work. Choamping at the bit for mit romney to do a better job of failures in the wake of libya. I think what he did last night is rather than he said, she said, getting in to the titfortat on that, here is how whoa have to make america stronger. He talks about the problems in the mideast and talked about se syria. And the president said weve taken the lead. No, he hasnt taken the lead. He has sat back. What did he first of all, he wouldnt have outsourced his what will he do differently . What will he do on syria . Call together what i call the coalition of the relevant. There has been a zbloelgs he would take the lead, identify those forces of moderation, which by the way have felt ab abandoned. New york times article said that about a week ago. He would provide arms to those, moderate forces so they could defend themselves or maintain whatever they maintain. America has not taken the lead. We have sat back. As a result youve seen 30,000 slaughtered and assad still being in power. Can i ask you a question . Im sure you will ask me a question. And afghanistan is what i meant. He said we will bring our troops out by 2014. Generals on track there to do so. Weve seen progress, et cetera, et cetera. Announcing a withdrawal date, that was wrong. Taliban may not have watches but they do have calendars. Isnt that a contradiction . You just reaffirmed when i said a moment ago. Announcing a date is wrong. But he said he would pull this out at 2014. He didnt announce that date. President obama did. The taliban probably jumped for joy. Governor romney said we have announced the date. Well make that happen. He didnt announced the date. Once youve done that, youve got to live with it. You dont have to. Well, i think you do have to, actually. At this point, you know, were kind of in a process, moving out troops. You dont simply go in and say im going to change it on day one. The date was announced. It wasnt done the way he would have done it. He didnt quite say all that. And as a result he will live with it. Lets talk for a moment about syria, if i can. I want to play a chunk about what he said about syria being irans only ally in the arab world. Syria is irans only ally in the arab world, their route to the sea, the route for them to arm hezbollah in lebanon, which threatens our ally, israel. Iran has almost 1500 miles of coastline. He said syria is the route to the sea, which only has like 119 miles of coastline. Hes right on point, maybe not geography, but syria is irans link to hezbollah. Its the flow of arms into iraq, into unsettled israel. In supporting their support of terrorism. He hes absolutely right on that. The reality is well get back to syria and talk about iran. This president hasnt led on dealing with syria. This president hasnt been effective on slow iing. Democratic pac, straight ahead. If you missed last nights debate you can watch it again today at noon eastern. Well air it again here on cnn. John berman has a look at the other stories making news. Meningitis outbreak getting worse. 23 people have died in 16 states and the total number of cases has risen to 297. The outbreak has been linked to steroid pain injections made by the new england xoupding center in massachusetts. Reuters reports that Health Officials inspected that company years ago due to complaints about those injections. Monster Energy Drinks may have contributed to the death of five people after 2009 after the company was hit with a lawsuit after a maryland teenagers death. Top selling energy drink in the u. S. That come in 24 ounces, about seven times the caffeine in a 12ounce coke. Estranged wife who was the target at the milwaukee area spa is being called a hero. One of zina haughtons clients said she approached her husband, and tried to shield a receptionist as she tried to attempt to defuse the situation. He shot and killed two, including his wife and then shot himself. A 90 shutout. Next up, the detroit tigers. The world series begins tomorrow night in san francisco. Soledad . Whoo hoo, all right john, thanks. Still ahead on starting point its der by country and one of the most battleground. Well meet some of the voters who could doid the election. Apple lovers get ready, new details on whats expected to be a mini ipad announcement today. [ male announcer ] whether its kevins smartphone. Moms smartphone. Dads tablet. Or laurens smartphone. At t has a plan built to help make families lives easier. Introducing at t mobile share. One plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. Add a tablet for only 10 per month. At t. Woman what do you mean, Homeowners Insurance doesnt cover floods . [ heart rate increases ] man a few inches of water caused all this . [ heart rate increases ] woman 2 but i dont even live near the water. What you dont know about Flood Insurance may shock you including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as 129 a year. For an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. Welcome back, everybody. Voters in key mid western states ultimately will decide the outcome of the president ial election. Miguel marquez has been traveling across that region, taking the pulse of the voters there. We catch up with him in davenport, iowa, the heart of roller derby country. If its davenport, its got to be roller derby. Scott county is one of the battlegrounds in this hearthand. In this one county alone there are enough votes to turn this state blue or red. Rollers demonstrated their signature move. Blocking in front of you. Oh, my god. By the way yes, your booty did block me. Theyre really tough. Reporter these rough and tumble mid western women also voter. Its all about keeping the other side from moving forward . Right. Reporter this is a little bit like politics, you realize . Right. Right behind you guys. Reporter waitress connie hart has worked in the restaurant. Her derby name, diamond dust, his specialty, blocking. Her biggest issue, the economy. Its been tight. Reporter less money, higher gas . Less money. People dont want to go out to eat as much as they used to. Reporter by day, carrie ducrane is a social worker. On some nights shes lady gotcha, jammer. Thats the one that scores points. Reporter whats important to you . I want there to be jobs as well, continued job growth. Reporter decrane says shell likely vote for a third party. Republican say this is like 2004 when a few counties broke third way, giving bush a very narrow victory here. Their advantage, low Unemployment Rate now just 5. 2 , among the lowest in the country. This is a single machine. This is a single machine and its only part of the machine. Reporter scott county in iowa rebounded with help from Companies Likey ies genesis gro. Consistently its business is overseas. Are you hiring . Weve done some hiring this year, up about ten people overall. And were still about 10 lower than we were in 2007. Reporter scott county, an economic bright spot in the heartland whose voters can be tough to win over. Oh, my goodness oh, dear, i dont know if ill ever survive this. Politics are bruising, as ive discovered here in daven dls port and scott county. Both candidates will be here tomorrow. Obama will be here in davenport tomorrow during the day and then mr. Romney will be in cedar rapids a few hours after that. This state, this county, this place highly contested. A few thousand votes could make a huge difference here. Soledad . All right. Miguel marquez, watching it for us and Still Standing after that roller derby match. Well go back to miguel in jefferson county, california, next week. Another key area that could decide the election. How on point is he about troops in iraq . Well fact check that claim coming up next. Oh no, not a migraine now. Try this. Bayer . This isnt just a headache. Trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] its the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. New bayer migraine formula. Welcome back to starting poi point. Im christine romans, minding your business. Down shrply after markets closed flat yesterday, dow futures are down 100 points. Three dow components issued disappointing earnings. Dupont is cutting about 1,5 h00 jobs over the next 12 or 18 months. The company says its been seeing sales falling worldwide and will cut about 2 of its workforce. Apple is making a Product Announcement and rumors are that it will be the ipad mini, shrinking to 7. 8 from 10 implg. The cost, well find out for sure in a few hours, soledad. Im so excited about that. That would be great. Im not excited about the market, though. Well, lets not talk about that. Lets go back and talk about the mini. Christine, thank you so much. Back to the candidates last night. The two of them threw out a lot of numbers. John berman has been doing some Fact Checking for us this morning, keeping everybody honest on this. What did you find out . There was a Tense Exchange over the issue of iraq. Specifically troops in iraq. President obama claimed that mitt romney recently said that the u. S. Should still have trops in iraq. You say youre not interested in duplicating what happened in iraq, but just a few weeks ago, you said you think we should have more troops in iraq right now. So what are the facts here . In december 2011 romney said we should have left 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 personnel there to help transition to the iraqs own military capabilities. Then a couple of weeks ago he said americas ability to influence events for the better in iraq has been undermined by the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence. Yes, romney suggested he would have kept some troops in iraq but listen to this important context. On iraq, mitt romney claimed that president obama was looking to keep troops there as well. Which the president denied. You and i agreed, i believe, that there should have been a status of forces agreement. Thats not true. You didnt want a status of forces agreement . Nochlt what i would not have done is left 10,000 troops in iraq that would tie us there. That certainly would not help us in the middle east. What are the facts here . Leon panetta, the secretary of defense, was negotiating to keep 3,000 to 5,000 troops in iraq within a status of force agreement. This fell apart. What mitt romney says here is mostly true. President obama did seem willing to leave some u. S. Troops in iraq under certain conditions. The deal just fell apart. Soledad . All right. John, thank you for that fact check. Appreciate it. Still ahead on starting point we heard the republican take on the president ial debate. Next, from priorities u. S. A. Action, one of the largest super pacs that supports president obama, bill burton will be joining us to talk about that. Listen to this. Its not a person playing a kazoo. That is actually an animal making that sound. Well explain. Weve got details straight ahead. In that time thereve been some good days. And some difficult ones. But, through it all, weve persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. So why should our anniversary matter to you . Because for 200 years, weve been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. And the next great idea could be yours. Is efficiently absorbed in small continuous amounts. Citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. Citracal slow release. Monarch of marketing analysis. With the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. You can even take a fullsize or above, and still pay the midsize price. Im going big. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. Good choice. Go national. Go like a pro. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. Good choice. Playing sports is just my whole life. Looking back, if it wasnt for shriners hospital, things would just be really, really different. I lost my leg when i was a kid. There was a time when i felt like i wasnt going to be able to walk again. It was a pretty bad accident but shriners showed me who i could be again. They turned my whole life around. They call it love to the rescue and it really works. Hunters life is one of nearly a million changed by donations from people like you. Send your love to the rescue. Donate to shriners hospitals for children today. Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Our lead story this morning, president obama, mitt romney now in the homestretch of their campaigns, coming off their final facetoface matchup, which was about Foreign Policy last night. Here is a little bit of how it went. Both at home and aabroad he has proposed wrong and reckless policies, praised george bush as a good economic stewart and dick cheney as somebody who shows great wisdom and judgment. I have a policy and agenda for the future. When it comes to our economy here the home i know what it takes to create 12 million new jobs and rising takehome pay. What weve seen over the last four years is something i dont want to see over the next four yea years. Now senior strategist with the priorities u. S. A. Action super pac, bill burton, nice to have you with us. Thank you, soledad. Tell me how you think the debate went last night. The president showed command and leadership. Debate about Foreign Policy is about strength. I dont think anybody walked away from that debate thinking that mitt romney came out looking stronger. I think there are some people on the gop side that completely disagree. When i look at the polls, they believe that president obama was aggressive, came out on the attack. When you look at all the polls that kim out after the debate they consistently said that the president won the debate. Youre talking about National Security issues, the American People are looking for the stronger leader, the person who has a plan and can forcefully back up that plan with a real command of facts and the president did that in a very effective way. They may say who won whechlt it comes to the more important question, who youre going to vote for. That was split between president obama and governor romney. And then the bigger number is people who were not convinced last night. The country is split right now. I dont think anybody was going to walk away with a huge advantage on the number of who are you going to vote for. When he was on stage, i think he owed real leadership on National Security. But also the surprise was that on some domestic issues like the deficit and education, the president was able to score some real points, too. The republicans are claiming that they are very happy this morning because what their ultimate goal was, was for mitt romney to be acceptable as somebody as commander in chief. If you look at our insta poll, it shows that people perceive him and the president very similarly when it comes to being commander in chief. Thats not bad. And part of his strategy in being more concillatory and not the attack 100 . Very reasonable. They didnt look that happy to me last night. I think acceptable is not what youre looking for when youre pick i picking who the commander in chief zbth be. He had a load he was defending and the president played like he was two points behind and that tenaciousness is something to help show that the president was really fighting for his job but also on National Security issues. He wasnt just tenacious, but snarky and sarcastic at times. The first debate he held back because he was worried about not looking president ial and then he did a complete 180. I think he was tough. Some of the thing he said were probably unpleasant for mitt romney to listen to because it was very tough on him individually, but i think he got his points across in a way that stuck, that people will remember. When you took down what mitt romney had to say about the boats in the navy, the ships in the navy, thats something people will remember and it makes mitt romney look foolish that, you know, he thinks you measure the strength of your navy by lining up all the ships in the harbor and counting them. So, you know, one of the things i notice from our dial testing last night, any time either candidate got negative immediately, you could see, especially women, dial way down. When they would do tests on ads, they hate the ads. Especially in flchlt really, really hate the ads. Youre the guy in charge of the ads. Are you worried about the impact of those ads that at some point actually works against you . You know, i was watching visceral reaction. I was watching the ads in my hotel room. It is really astounding if you live in a swing state how many ads are inundated with. Raised money for those ads. To battle the republican money thats out there. Weve shown focus groups and talked to voters about what theyre paying attention to and what they see in the ads and what they remember. This ad we have up now called stage, its one of the most memorable ads. Its not over the top negative. Its just one guy telling a story when mitt romney came to bane and all of him and his friends got fired. Lets play a little bit of what the president said. Thank you very much, bob, governor romney, and to lynn university. You now have heard three debates, months of campaigning and way too many tv commercials. And now youve got a choice. And our focus group people laughed and theyre laughing because they know it to be true. What is the strategy from here out . Flood the airwaves, more ads . A different tone to appeal to women . Hit the ground, go doortodoor . Whats the strategy . As you get to these foinl days, the ads you see are Closing Argument ads. The one from the president and his Campaign Today is a Closing Argument. He would like to have your vote. And for us, its just making sure that people remember that. Mitt romney says its his business experience that would make him a better president of the United States than president obama. Its a reminder of, well, lets look at this experience and see what it meant for middle class families across this country already. Two weeks to go. Are you anxious . Its a very close election, but i would rather be in our shoes than theirs. Is that an im anxious but less anxious than they are . I think thats right. John perfectman has the headlines. Thank you, soledad. Drum major robert champion, one of the students sentenced will not face jail time. The first of dozen of defendants charged with champions death on a bus outside an Orlando Hotel after a football game. Tears in court as the harassment child endangerment trial of Douglas Kennedy begins. Maternity ward nurse broke down testify i testifying kennedy, the son of late senator robert f. Din, twisted her arm and kicked another nurse as he tried to take his newborn son outside. The assistant d. A. Said the nurses were simply following protocol during the january incident. The defense called the nurse aabrasive and confrontational. Tropical storm sandy is becoming a hurricane by tomorrow. Right now the system is packing 45mileanhour winds and sits less than 400 miles westsouthwest of jamaica. Rain across jamaica, haiti, Dominican Republic and could you bea. It could threaten the east coast some time next week forecasters say. A disturbing story in northern california. Piedmont high school has informed parents theyve uncovered something called a Fantasy League for sex among students. Female students were drafted into having sex with male students who then earned poins. S the principal said this apparently has been going on for five or six years. One mother says she is pleased this has come to light. Really glad theres a Strong Administration who is willing to take on these kinds of issues. As a mother of four girls, i couldnt be happier. Reporter this activity was discovered during a recent School Assembly about date rape. To a happier story now, known as the canaries of the sea for third highpitched chirps. Now a white beluga whale showed the ability to mimic human speech. That sounds lo s like a lot people i know. The whale died five years ago. Only now are its remarkable vocal feats being studied. That was koind of awesome. Sounds like a cartoon you watch on tv. Soledad . That is so awesome. Its crazy. Cute, too. And he has the looks to go along with it. John, thank you. Is china trouble for the United States . Candidates were talking tough about the emerging sourp power. Whos right . Whos wrong . Christine romans will join us to break it all down. Ouncer ] dayquil doesnt treat that. Huh . [ male announcer ] alkaseltzer plus rushes relief to all your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ sighs ] thank you [ male announcer ] youre welcome. Thats the cold truth good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Youre watching starting poi point. Were Fact Checking the final president ial debate this morning. Christine romans has been looking at the president s claims about u. S. Trade with china. Christine . We cant talk about american jobs without talking about china. Both americans talking tough about the worlds second largest economy in the debate. And the president claims his policies are working. Now, with respect to what weve done with china already, u. S. Exports have doubled since i came into office to china and, actually, kurcurrencies are at their most advantageous point for u. S. Exporters since 1983. Hes right if you lock at two isolated months. Just compare the month that the president took office where we exported 4. 2 billion to august of this year, the last we have on record, 8. 6 billion. But if you look at the trend, exports have not yet doubled. 2008, they were about 6. 97 billion. This year were not on track to double at this point. You can see they havent doubled yet. Also as exports have risen, soledad, so have imports. So the trade deficit is worse since 2009. Were exporting more but were importing more, too. So much of the criticism focused on chinas currency, which it keeps artificially low to keep their products cheaper than american goods. There has been some progress on the currency. China has let its currency appreciate a little bit but still is held within a ban set within the government. There are other things the Chinese Government does routinely to give its industries an edge over u. S. Goods. So a lot still to be brynn writ this story. I will point out, too, soledad, campaigning president s tend to be tougher on china than sitting president s. A lot of questions this morning, certainly the conversations we had with the ambassador burns for one and negroponte yesterday was less about is chieny a currency manipulator and should you out loud say china is a kurcurrency manipulator if you want to have any kind of nuance with them. Christine, thank you for that. Could mitt romneys private sector experience be more useful abroad than president obamas military accomplishments . Well take a look at that, coming up next. [ woman ] ring. Ring. Progresso. I just finished a bowl of your new light Chicken Pot Pie soup and its so rich and creamy. Is it really 100 calories . Let me put you on webcan. Lean roasted chicken. And a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. Welcome back to starting point, everyone. People in oregon are using snow shovels this morning. Ski resorts did get some of it, but theyre not open yet for the ski season. Thats how early it is. Homeowners in everett, washington, are threatening to sue the city because their homes are literally crumbling. City workers incorrectly expand ed a drainage system, causing this landslide. City officials deny that, calling it a natural event. More poll numbers coming in. These are very unscientific poll numbers based on halloween mask sales. There is a clear frontrunner for president , president obama. Spirit halloween, the largest seasonal halloween retailer in america says obama masks have outsold the romney version 60 to 40 and the chain says they have accurately predicted the election winner since they started keeping track way back in 1996. So you have that, soledad. Like the ppp poll. We dont follow that one either. John, thank you very much. Were wrapping up here in florida. Special coverage of the final debate which saw candidates make their case for how they would represent the United States across the world. Mitt romney nearly even with president obama on the question of whether he could handle the job of commander in chief. The close margin could be a sign that despite the president s accomplishments abroad, governor romneys experience in the proist sector could factor into the nations economic influence around the world. We want to get to this morning editor in chief of the economist. Give me a sense of who you thought was stronger in the debate last night, president obama or governor romney . I think president obama was the stronger. And he made more of the points. On the other hand, as you just said, romney passed a certain threshold test. He looked reasonably comfortable. Some bits he fluffed. It wasnt, perhaps, his best perfo performance. Obama came out contrite he didnt create such a large gap that romney looked completely out of it. Many times we heard governor romney agreeing with president obama. Do you think that made him look weaker or somehow suggested stronger and maybe more reasonable, which could appeal to female voters . Its interesting with romney, isnt it . He has two bits. One, this sort of business im going to do a deal way, where he goes out and tries to make deals as quickly as possible, tries to position himself in the right place. I think thats what he was doing last night. He knew he had to play a somewhat softer, somewhat easier to deal with. A lot of these foreign policies, look at the statements he has made in the past to do with iran, china, even palestine. He had taken stronger positions and was trying to roll back from them. Im curious if thats what you think hes doing on the issue of calling chieny a currency manipulator on day one of his administration. Do you really think in your experience thats something the president of the United States will do especially because romney doesnt have the backing of Republican Leaders in congress to do that . I think its a very dangerous thing for the following reasons. It takes a calculation, a gamble that the chinese are the same as they ever were. They are used to china bashing on the american president ial trail. Bill clinton did it, obama did it, taking on bashing china. The difference now is that china feels different. Theyve just had their own president who is just about to come in. I dont think china is in the mood to take ultimatums from america. That is where the danger of what romney is doing. I dont think either mitt romney, if he becomes president , or xi jin ping, neither wants to have a trade war but you can imagine populism getting behind both men. I think its a very risky thing for romney to be doing. Here is what governor romney said about a potential trade war. Lets play that. They sell us about this much stuff every year. And we sell them about this much stuff every year. Its pretty clear who doesnt want a trade war. Theres one going on right now which we dont know about. Its a silent one. And theyre winning. We have an enormous trade imbalance with china. Its worse this year than last year and its worse last year than the year before. The focus groups really loved hearing about the sense of unfairness and that someone would do something about it. Its clearly something that resonate resonates with voters. At the same time, dana and i were just talking about ahmad ahmadinejad, saying that the u. S. Is weaker because of all of this debt, which, of course, brings in china again. What kind of nuance can you have in this kind of conversation if you cant immediately declare china a currency manipulator . China want withes to do a deal. People who run china fundamentally want to focus on their domestic economy the same way either president romney or president obama would want to do the next time around the same thing. Its being told its part of the g2 recalled would. Its been told its now a big superpower, like america. They have a vast amount of internet action. This is one of the places where the government is actually more reserved than a lot of stuff you see online. I think that is a dangerous area. What romney or obama for that matter, theyre both playing this game. Obama has also taken some antichina actions. I heard you talk about the focus group where you were. It goes down very well because people in america can feel the dragons breath on your shoulder in a way that hasnt happened for 100 years. Suddenly there is a rival to america and that is making people nervous. Jon mikelwaithe is editor in chief of the economist. Thank you. Appreciate your time. train horn vo wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. Norfolk southern. One line, infinite possibilities. Two. Three. My Credit Card Rewards are easy to remember. With the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i earn 1 cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2 back on groceries. [ all ] 3 on gas no hoops to jump through. I earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] its as easy as. [ all ] one two. [ all ] three [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. Apply online or at a bank of america near you. Email marketing from Constant Contact reaches people in a place theyre checking every day their inbox. And it gives you the tools to create custom emails that drive business. Its just one of the ways Constant Contact can help you grow your small business. Sign up for your free trial today at constantcontact. Com try