Swing State Blitz; Interview with Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal; On the Campaign Trail
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Our STARTING POINT this morning: swing state whirlwind. President Obama and Mitt Romney on a campaign blitz. They're trying to win those undecided voters, as a key swing state changes its color, the President picks up a big endorsement. That happened just moments ago. And bracing for Sandy. The hurricane makes landfall in Cuba and Jamaica. Is the Eastern U.S. next? Plus, Dawson Leery in the flesh. He's now the star of the hit, "Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23." But, of course, we all know him from "Dawson's Creek". James Van Der Beek is going to join us live. It's Thursday, October 25th. And STARTING POINT begins right now.</s>O'BRIEN: We should keep that as our theme song. I kind of love it. We love him. I'm so excited to see him. And he's cute. He is. He's a handsome man. And he's very funny. We're going to talk a little about his new show. Our team this morning: also cute, Ryan Lizza, joining us as well, Washington correspondent from "The New Yorker". Also cute, Suzy Welch, she's written a best-selling book, and columnist. It's so great to have you with us. Richard Socarides is a writer for NewYorker.com.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: He has a great sense of humor.</s>O'BRIEN: Senior adviser for President Clinton -- relax while I get to it. And he's cute. Pipe down, everybody.</s>RICHARD SOCARIDES, NEWYORKER.COM: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: It's going to be that kind of a day. John Berman, very cute.</s>BERMAN: Don't even want to go there. You all are working my last nerve. All right. Our STARTING POINT this morning: presidential candidates, no surprise. They're on the road battling, just 12 days left in the 2012 campaign. Just moments ago, President Obama picked up a new endorsement that came from Colin Powell. Here's what he said on CBS News this morning.</s>COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: You know, I voted for him in 2008. I plan to stick with him in 2012 and I'll be voting for he and for Vice President Joe Biden next month.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's an endorsement of President Obama for re- election?</s>POWELL: Yes.</s>O'BRIEN: He's sort of like, yes, did you just hear what I said? Yes. Here's the updated CNN electoral math. Our predictions for how each state will go in the election. Yesterday, North Carolina was changed from toss-up to lean Romney, which we signify in pink. And that means just eight battleground states in which both candidates have a chance of getting a lead and the presidency with that lead. Today, they're not wasting a minute, of course. President Obama in the middle of a whirlwind 48-hour tour, when he's calling his all- nighter, which is really two all-nighters. He's going to be hitting Florida, and Virginia and Ohio. Governor Romney will spend his entire day in Ohio, where the latest CNN poll of polls shows him behind only by three points. Richard Blumenthal is a Democratic senator from Connecticut. He's also the former Connecticut attorney general. It's nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking with us this morning. Appreciate it.</s>SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: You know, we were listening to President Obama talking about how tight the race was. He was on "Rock Center" last night, and he said, actually, a year ago, everybody was counting him out as well. I want to play a little bit of that first.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You guys have some short memories. Folks in your business were writing me off a year ago, saying there's no way I would win. So, you know, these things go in ebbs and flows. And, you know, the one thing I've tried to always be is just steady in terms of what I believe in, who I'm fighting for. And, you know, I think that one of the qualities I bring to bear in this campaign is people see what did I say I was going to do in 2008 and what have I delivered? And they can have some confidence that the things I say, I mean.</s>O'BRIEN: So he says it's tight, but he has been consistent. Is that going to be enough to really win over some of those swing states that we know are critical to whoever is going to try to win the presidency?</s>BLUMENTHAL: I think the plan that he set forward to grow manufacturing, to grow middle class economic security, to bring back jobs from overseas, to train people for the jobs that exist right now and the future through our community colleges, focusing on strengthening the middle class will, in fact, resound in those swing states. And he has said from the very beginning that this race would be tight. But he has been steady. And I think at the end of the day, a lot of voters will be decided on the basis of trust and accountability. And the trust in him, I think, is very strong.</s>O'BRIEN: That brings us to an interesting point. There was this video that's been released by Project Veritas, which is a conservative group by the guy named James O'Keefe. We showed a clip of it a little bit earlier. I want to show that clip. It shows Patrick Moran, who's a son of Virginia Rep Jim Moran, Democrat from Virginia, giving advice to someone who's sort of undercover and obviously rolling on it, how to cast votes for 100 people that he says aren't really going to plan to vote. Patrick was the field director for his father's campaign. He resigned yesterday. I want to play that clip and we'll talk about it on the other side.</s>PATRICK MORAN, REP. MORAN'S SON: Now, you're going to have -- you'll have somebody in house, that if they feel what you have is legitimate, they'll argue for you. I imagine --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The OFA lawyer?</s>MORAN: The OFA lawyer or provided by the committees. But it's got to look good.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's got to look good?</s>MORAN: Yes, think it's going to be a matter of --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need to find a computer guy. That's probably my next step.</s>MORGAN: Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.</s>O'BRIEN: OK. How damning is that? You heard him say it's got to look good.</s>BLUMENTHAL: You know, I think at the end of this election, as people really have to make hard choices about their own futures and make the choices in the presidential campaign, what they will look to is what these candidates have said about the economy and jobs. And the President has a plan to grow jobs. These distractions, the day-to-day clips or whatever, I do not think will be decisive for most voters. If you look at what's happening, for example, in the controversy concerning the Indiana candidates, the quote from the President -- the senatorial candidate that pregnancy resulting from rape is intended by God and the refusal of Romney to disavow completely the ad that's endorsing that candidate, Mr. Mourdock, I think that will be much more important to women, who are making choices and who want a presidential candidate who sides with their right to choose or their right to health care and their right to equal pay for equal work. I think those kinds of bread and butter, nuts and bolts issues, growing the economy, growing the middle class and ensuring economic security are much more important.</s>O'BRIEN: I would guess as a Democrat you're surely hoping so, right? I mean, that clip, that is a pretty devastating clip. I was watching Richard Socrates face while he was watching the clip and he was like, this is terrible. One would hope --</s>SOCARIDES: Terrible great.</s>O'BRIEN: Terrible great?</s>SOCARIDES: I mean, you know, great for the Democrat in that race.</s>O'BRIEN: That's his son.</s>SOCARIDES: No, no, oh, you're talking -- I'm talking about Mr. Mourdock, yes.</s>O'BRIEN: You're talking about Mourdock. No, no, I realize that every Democrat wants to talk about Mr. Mourdock.</s>SOCARIDES: I'm not even thinking of young Mr. Moran. I mean, this -- Mr. Moran was a young staffer. I mean, hi's a congressman's son. But this is like guy having a privately recorded conversation. Mr. Mourdock is making a statement in a debate, in a public forum, he's the candidate for Senate.</s>BLUMENTHAL: And as well when you talk about, for example, veterans' issues, the President openly, directly in the last dealt with the need to provide more jobs, and counseling, health care as well as training for our veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan -- but all veterans, no matter which war or when. I think that kind of real issue really matters to people in the swing states but also across the country. And I think that the economic issues will be dominant.</s>O'BRIEN: Let me ask a question of John Berman. He did a funny -- people talk about distractions, which is the thing you don't want to talk about, the looming discussion. Do you think he's correct that this is, John, a distraction, this tape from James O'Keefe, known to do these hit jobs and run around and do that kind of stuff?</s>BERMAN: I don't think it's a distraction in Virginia, in that congressional race.</s>O'BRIEN: How about nationally?</s>BERMAN: Nationally, I don't know how the legs it has. You have Debbie Wasserman Schultz this morning called it indefensible for the Democratic Party.</s>O'BRIEN: The first word she said.</s>BERMAN: In addition to distraction, the other word that I used is distanced. And the Democrats have distanced themselves from this as fast as they possible can. I don't think there's anything more devious than voter fraud, though. And I think any time you see an example, where people are thinking about it or talking about it, it is a striking thing. It does not reflect well at all on either party.</s>O'BRIEN: Senator Richard Blumenthal is our guest this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking with us. We certainly appreciate it.</s>BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: You're in Stamford. You got to come in in person next time. We'd love having you join us in person.</s>BLUMENTHAL: I'd love to be there. Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: We appreciate that. You bet. Still ahead, President Obama taking some time to campaign and actually sat down with Jay Leno. I think we got a clip of that. The President was joking that he's just now getting the hang of the debates now that they're over. And he said to Jay a little bit about his contentious relationship with Donald Trump, which is also kind of funny. Listen.</s>OBAMA: This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya.</s>JAY LENO, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO: Yes.</s>LENO: I got to give you that one. I've got to give you that one.</s>OBAMA: We had constant run-ins on the soccer field.</s>LENO: Yes.</s>OBAMA: You know, he wasn't very good and resented it.</s>O'BRIEN: He had some pretty good joke writers. I thought the jokes that both Romney and Obama had at the Al Smith Dinner were quite good. That was a good joke.</s>BERMAN: Jay Leno seemed genuinely impressed.</s>O'BRIEN: I think he literally was like, I'm going to give you that one. All right. We got some other stories that are making news. What have you got?</s>BERMAN: I do. Hurricane Sandy is now moving between Cuba and the Bahamas. It hit Cuba as a strong category 2 storm earlier this morning. Two deaths now being reported, one in Jamaica, the other in Haiti. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is tracking Sandy. A category 2 storm right now and, Rob, may be headed our way.</s>ROB MARCIANO AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's true. It's going to get through the Bahamas first. Category 2 with winds of 105 miles an hour. It's now off the coast of Cuba, moving northerly at 18 miles an hour. It will get close enough to Florida such that it will see some rainfall and wind as it does that. Here's the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center. It will probably lose a little bit of strength over the next two days, getting into slightly cooler water, interacting with the jet stream, which is powerful this time of year. But it may dig deep enough to where it actually pulls what's left of Sandy. It could be very strong, back towards the Northeast -- anywhere from the Delmarva to Newfoundland, Canada, may very well feel a direct impact from this later next week. It's a complicated situation and it's going to be a big one affecting millions of people. We'll try to keep you posted as we more info.</s>BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Rob. I'm watching that very carefully up here. New developments on the September 11th terror attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in Libya. The 28-year-old suspected of taking part is now in custody in Tunisia. U.S. officials say the FBI will be allowed to question him. The suspect was reportedly posting details to the Benghazi attack on social media Web sites as it was happening. We also have some new developments in the shooting of anti-Taliban activist Malala Yousufzai. Pakistani police say they have six people in custody, but the man they call the main shooting suspect, 23-year- old Atta Ullah Khan, is still at large. We expect Malala to be reunited with her father and other family members today at a British hospital. She's making good progress right now we're told. Giants' third baseman Pablo Sandoval could not have picked a bigger stage to have the game of his life. The "Panda" as he's known hit three home runs, three, leading the San Francisco Giants in 8-3 win over the Detroit Tigers in game one of the World Series. Sandoval tied a World Series record held by Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Albert Pujols. That's pretty good company. He is the first to do it in his first three bats in a World Series game. Game two tonight in San Francisco. Justin Verlander was on the mound for the Tigers last night. Maybe the best pitcher in baseball right now, he lost.</s>O'BRIEN: Yes, that was a kind of a shocker there, wasn't it?</s>BERMAN: Big, big win for the Giants.</s>O'BRIEN: He was unstoppable against my --</s>O'BRIEN: -- no, I meant Verlander, against my Yankees. Turnabout is fair play. Do I sound bitter? A little tiny. This much. Still ahead this morning on STARTING POINT, a new Abraham Lincoln movie, cover of "TIME" magazine and a new book because some say the candidates of today could learn a lot from Lincoln. We're going to talk to the "TIME" magazine offer, a new Lincoln biography. That's coming up next. And who knew that science geeks were little monsters also? Researchers honor Lady Gaga in a way you will not believe. That's straight ahead.