Im john berman. 5 00 a. M. In the east. Well begin with the sprint to the finish line. Over the next 13 days president obama and mitt romney will crisscross the count industry and leapfrog the campaign. All the med fors you like as they try to lock down votes in states still considered tossups. This morning the president kicks off a twoday aroundtheclock blitz around six Battle Ground states with a raleigh in davenport, iowa. Then on to denver, colorado. Then to los angeles for a taping there. Then it is back to a latenight event in las vegas. For mitt romney he recollects has Campaign Events in reno, nevada, tonight, and then cedar rapids, iowa. It is a mouthful with dana bash following the fight to the finish. She is joining us live in the studio. Dana, what is the map . What are the travels these candidates are doing over the next two, three, four, five days of the race . It tells the number of battleground states is relatively big. If you look at the polls in the states where they are going, ohio is the biggest, but also colorado, virginia, florida, beyond. They are just absolutely neck and neck. You cannot tell who is going to win any of these states. So they have been out, after the debates, really trying to make their closing arguments. Lets listen to some of what both candidates have been saying. Four more years like the last four years would continue to have a president playing hideandseek trying to find a plan to get the economy going to create jobs. This is a president who has approached creating jobs as another stimulus. How did the first one work out . The Foreign Policy was reckless, right and wrong or choose one that is steady and strong. You can choose to turn back the clock 50 years for immigrants and gays and women, or in this election you can decide we will remain an inclusive, generous country. So you heard there was the general closing arguments, romney about jobs and obama saying you dont want to turn back the clock. But both are having kind of this difficult issue of needing to get out their bases, but also needing to appeal to that very narrow slice of undecided voters. And the two are in many ways contradictory with their message. They sure are. As for appealing to the base in that vain, there was an interesting ad released by the Obama Campaign that invokes ghosts of campaigns past. Lets watch. 537. A number of votes that changed the course of american history. Florida is too close to call. The difference between what was and what could have been. So this year if youre thinking that your vote doesnt count, that it wont matter, well, back then there were probably at least 537 people who felt the same way. Thats a dog whistle. Any time a democratic ad brings up 2000 and the al gore recount and everything else, what does that mean to you . It means there are still people who feel like they got robbed and this is absolutely an appeal to them to try to work harder, to knock on an extra door, to make an extra phone call, it is a direct appeal to the base. It is cliche to say turnout matters. It really, really does matter in this particular race for both parties, but particularly for democrats who have kind of the Obama Campaign has this get out the vote operation and they are relying on that big time, especially in the state of ohio. Ohio, nevada, iowa, a lot of states like that. In addition to that, they have a new weapon that is a glossy 20page book. An agenda for the future, or is it . Not so much. To me, nothing really illustrates how concerned the Obama Campaign is that some of romneys attacks are penetrating that the fact that two weeks before the election they suddenly put out this glossy 20page explanation of what hes going to do in the next four years. That has been one of the top attacks of the Romney Campaign. And it is something according to polls people are saying, he has not really clearly articulated it. They will put it under 3. 5 million doors and get it out there just to say, we do have something with a plan for the future. The problem is, it is not anything that he has not said before. It is just packaged in a really nice way. And what did the Romney Campaign spokesman say . A glossy panic button. But 3. 5 million copies of it, they are sending it out to a lot of people. Dana bash, good to have you here. We have one programming note, cnn will profile the president ial candidates this weekend. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern, romney revealed. Faith, family and the road to power. Followed at 9 30 eastern by obama revealed, the man, the president. That starts at sunday 8 00 p. M. Eastern right here on cnn. Five minutes past the hour, new information this morning about last months deadly assault on the u. S. Consulate in benghazi. According to emails obtained by cnn, the white house and the state department were informed of a militant Islamic Group that had claimed credit for the attack. This was two hours after it began. And u. S. Diplomats were informing officials in washington about the unfolding assault while it was happening. Cnn has those emails, Foreign Affairs reporter elise labott will discuss what they say and the possible fallout joining us next half hour on early start. A former cia officer admits to a plea deal of one charge he illegally revealed the name of the Covert Intelligence officer. This man will serve a 30month sentence. He also revealed the name of a different cia officer to reporters. Sentencing will all happen in january. The u. S. Supreme Court Upholds a stay of excuse for a florida man convicted of killing eight people in two separate shootings. John arrow ferguson was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection last night, but his lawyer successfully filed a flurry of lastminute appeals arguing that he is mentally insane. Ferguson has been on death row for 34 years now. Convicted serial pedophile Jerry Sandusky is spending his first full day in a new pennsylvania prison. The former penn state coach was transferred to the state lockup at camp hill yesterday. Meantime, victim number one is revealing his side of the story. In his justreleased book, silent no more aaron fisher describes his confusion when the abuse began. He first met sandusky at the age of 11. The book also details the threeyear fight to get justice. And coming up in about a half hour, cnn contributor and pultser prize winner sara ganim broke the sandusky story and has read the book. More on that in a few minutes. A deadly shark attack off the coast of california. Authorities say the victim was a 39yearold who was riding the waves yesterday with friends. Officers say he was attacked by the shark and bit in the upper torso. His friends tried to rescue him but it was too late. And a powerful october. Snowstorms stranding drivers. Some were stranded for nine hours. This is what it looked like tuesday along interstate 80 near Northern California in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Drivers eventually got out after snow was cleared in the area where the freeway was narrowed down to one lane. The San Francisco giants host the Detroit Tigers in game one of the world series tonight. The tigers hand the ball to Justin Verlander and his 100mileperhour fastball. The detroit ace has allowed two runs in two postseason starts this fall, thats really good. For the giants now 60 in the postseason, it will be barry zito and his curveball on the hill. The tigers are the favorite in the series. Sorry, its true. First pitch at 8 00 tonight. How is this for scary . A possible hurricane on halloween . Coming up, the latest on where Tropical Storm sandy could be headed next. [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] military families face, we understand. At usaa, we know military life is different. Weve been there. Thats why every bit of Financial Advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad dad [ applause ] [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. Usaa brings advice. Call or visit us online. Were ready to help. Its hard to see opportunity in todays challenging environment. Unless you have the right perspective. Bny mellon Wealth Management has the vision and experience to look beyond the obvious. Well uncover opportunities, find hidden risk, and make success a reality. Bny mellon Wealth Management 12 minutes past the hour. Checking the tropics, sandy is still a Tropical Storm but getting stronger. The storm is expected to reach hurricane strength as it creeps closer to jamaica. People there have been warned to brace and forecasters are saying the east coast could get it as well. Say it isnt so. Meteorologist rob marciano is monitoring sandys every move. You are joining us live from atlanta. What do you have for us . The folks like me in the Meteorological Community are in a tizzy because this is going to hit jamaica and could make a run at the u. S. And for this time of year, that would be extraordinary. And it also has potential to do some crazy things as we get closer to halloween. Some longerrange computer models are doing funky things across t northeast coastline. Either way, a large storm. Tropical storm sandy has winds of 60 miles per hour. 120 miles south of jamaica. It is heading directly north, so it will hit jamaica later on today. Likely as a hurricane. We are almost there. So hurricane warnings are posted for jamaica and also for parts of cuba. We are looking at Tropical Storm warnings there. Tropical storm watches now have been posted and thats new as of 5 00 a. M. For the east florida coastline. We dont expect it to make a direct hit there, but the wind field will be large enough to look at Tropical Storm conditions. Then certainly a big surf across the entire eastern seaboard. A fairly slow mover. Heres where the computer models specifically are indicating as we get past day four and five, there are all sorts of crazy things happening, including bringing it to the northeast. Not necessarily as a hurricane but a strong storm. Climate logically, these are the favored tracks for october into november, and most of them put them out. By the way, Tropical Storm tony, this was supposed to be a quiet year, guys. It has blown up to be very active. Tony wont bother anybody, but we are keeping a close eye on sandy. Another update in 30 minutes. Are you talking about being a tizzy . Mr. Berman is in a tizzy with the possibilities. If you are in a tizzy for a storm that can do crazedy things, we are all in trouble. This could be a toecurler. Thank you for that. Time to get you updated on the top stories. 13 days and counting. The obama and Romney Campaigns are laserfocused on the battlegrounds and undecided voters that could well determine the outcome of the president ial election. The president will hit six swing states in the next 48 hours. Romney is in two of them today, nevada and iowa. Florida investigators are trying to figure out who sent bogus letters to voters questioning their citizen ship and registration. This is two weeks before the president ial election. Florida secretary of state says people in 23 counties have received the letters written on fake supervisor of elections letterhead. Theres no return address but do carry a post mark from seattle, washington. A huge document reveals the state of massachusetts knew of reports that compounding necc was breaking prescription laws for the past decade. The documents show complaints from doctors and complaints from officials in iowa, wisconsin and texas, but massachusetts failed to take tough action. Necc is behind the nationwide meningitis outbreak. Now up to 304 cases and four other infections, including 23 deaths in 19 states. Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson jr. Returning to the mayo clinic for what a Spokesman Says the a followup evaluation. 47yearold jackson has been away from Congress Since may. He received treatment at the mayo clinic for depression and bipolar disorder. And halloffame catcher carlton fisk charged with dui in illinois. He was found unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle found in the middle of a cornfield. The former white sox and red sox player was released. Fisk has a day in court next month. 16 minutes past the hour. Time for early reads. Hey, guys, im still alive. Oh, my gosh, mourners in brazil shocked when a 41yearold man showed up to his own funeral. The family says the mans brother identified the body of the man as humbertoramos. Ramos and the victim both resembled each other. The daily mail in the u. K. Said mourners fainted when he walked in. Some were so scared they ran away. E went to his own funeral to clear things up . But the brother identifying him at the morgue . Say goodbye to the university of south dakota fighting sioux. In the minneapolis star tribune, we are learning a half dozen signs proclaiming the home of the fighting sioux was removed from the campus hockey arena as part of the settlement to retire the nickname since many consider the mascot offensive. It will now say home of north dakota hockey. The school wont have a new nickname until 2015. And for an expanded look at all the top stories, head to cnn clom earlystart. Attention shoppers, credit card information compromised at barnes noble. Where it happened and how coming up. 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So you have that going for you. And new this morning, a data breach at barnes noble. The book seller says credit card information from 63 stores is at risk. That breach was through pin devices in stores in nine different states. So they have california, florida, illinois, massachusetts, new jersey, connecticut, new york, pennsylvania and rhode island. No word yet on how many customers data was stolen. Barnes noble is telling customers to change their pin numbers and monitor their Bank Activity closely. The new ipad mini is out. Apple unveiled the smaller tablet device yesterday. As expected, it has a 7. 85inch screen, smaller than the regular ipad but bigger than the more compact tablet from amazon, google and samsung. The starting price is 329. Apple also announced a fourthgeneration ipad will be out six months from now. Get in line tomorrow. I like the idea of it being smaller. And Facebook Stock getting a boost overnight. The social network released earnings after the closing bell yesterday and came in just above analysts estimates. Welcomed news for the company struggling since it went public. Facebook stock is up 10 in premarket trading this morning. 22 minutes after the hour right now. And a kennedy cousin doing time for murder. He has a chance at freedom today. More on the Michael Skakel case coming up. And you can watch us any time on your desktop or mobile phone, go to cnn. Com tv. A crash Management System and the worlds only tridion safety cell which can withstand over three and a half tons. Small in size. Big on safety. To provide a Better Benefits package. Oahhh [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at. [ duck ] aflac [ male announcer ]. Forbusiness. Com. Ha ha 100 new. 100 mmm. Wow, that is mmm. Its so mmm you might not believe its a hundred calories. New yoplait greek 100. It is so good. Boring. Boring. 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