it's a good friend, mr. obama. >> hello, mr. romney. >> hello, mr. obama. you remember mr. obama, right? last week at the debate, mr. obama taught us all a new word. choke. mr. obama is the president of the united states. a very important job. you have to make big decisions and you're in charge of a lot of people for four years. >> mr. romney, i think you made a mistake. i think you mean eight years. >> you see, kids, mr. obama just did something called using your imagination. >> hello, mr. romney. meow. >> now, kids, don't be alarmed. this puppet isn't real. look. this is bill. he's a union worker. you pay him with your tax dollars so that can he crouch down with a sock in his hand and make silly voices. you disgust me. but before i go, remember, there's only one person in the world that's like you and that's you. people can like you exactly the way you are. but if they don't, then just pretend to be the sxabt opposite of what you are and then maybe they'll like you. >> but doesn't that undermine your original -- >> bill, you're fired. >> jimmy fallon. still ahead, why are

mr. obama has used more drones than george bush did. mr. obama has followed the same strategy that mr. bush did. how do we take that? >> i think it's as to things. number one is that there are far greater differences on many domestic issues than there are on foreign policy. and on both of those issues, even small differences matter. there is a saying that, when you are almost drowning and the water is over your mouth, that last half inch where it covers your nose is very important. so small differences matter. that is one thing. i think the other thing that is important is that, while their policy statements are not qualitatively different, i think there is a difference in rhetoric which becomes important when they are held accountable by their own party and hopefully some time some president will feel his or herself accountable to the voters who put them in office. what that means is, if your claim, as is president obama's based on his speech and higher in 2009, that he wants to rework the u.s. relationship with the arab world, with the mu

thereby, mr. obama injected race into the debate. by the way, in the end new orleans might not have paid anything under the stafford act. the situation is so muddled it's hard to know. you decide the validity of mr. obama's comments. here is the key question tonight. should mid romney refer to that race tape in order to demonstrate how the president is being divisive. the governor might also point to his speech he gave in 2002 when he went after wealthy americans. >> bill: that speech was at the university of chicago on martin luther king day. mr. obama framing his argument that day around the enron debacle where working americans got hosed by corporate gangsters. but once again the president used class warfare to make his points and he is right. the rich don't want people to take their stuff because the government has no right to do that. today, the obama campaign lashed out against the katrina criticism. >> mitt romney's allies in a desperate attempt to change the subject from a video in which mitt romney wrote off half of the amer

in 2008, mr. obama won that group by eight over john mccain. at a rally near columbus, romney made awe direct appeal to independents, hitting mr. obama for failing to solve america's problem problems. >> they have not been able to define an agenda to get this economy going, to defend an agenda, in fact, the president's out of ideas, and he's-- he's out of excuses, and that's why in november you're gog make sure and vote him out of office. >> reporter: now, romney won't be gone from ohio for long. he's got campaign stops tomorrow in iowa, then he'll be back here tomorrow night. the campaign knows it's still got work to do to win over those independents and democrats who voted for the president four years ago but may not now. scott. >> pelley: jan, one prominent republican who voted for mr. obama four years ago endorsed him again today. colin powell, the former secretary of state, made the announcement today on "cbs this morning." >> i think this is an exciting race between two very, very capable men, and i signed on for a long patrol with presid

i think mr. obama was playing off mr. stewart's description and the remark was in context. however, there is a strange detachment in play here. from the very beginning, president obama was not fully engaged. after he he learned of the assassinations, he went to vegas to campaign. we now know the cia told the obama administration early on what happened in benghazi was an organized terror attack. yet the president would not hold a press conference and say that. instead, as u.n. ambassador and his press spokesperson openly mislead the public. why? it makes no sense. and even now mr. obama remains nebulous, foggy about the entire situation. so here's the deal. hold the press conference, mr. president. lay everything out there. if mr. obama fails to do that over the weekend, mitt romney has a huge opportunity with the foreign policy debate coming up on monday. we need answers. romney should demand them. and that's the memo. now for the top story tonight. new polling after the second debate. gallup now has romney beating the president 51% to 45% nationwide. that's got to make the

mr. obama. [ cheers and applause ] >> hello, mr. romney. >> hello, mr. obama. you remember mr. obama, right? last week at the debate, mr. obama taught us all a new word -- choke. [ laughter and applause ] what brings you to the neighborhood today? >> well, since my sleepy performance at the debate, mr. romney, my wife, michelle, has insisted that i pick up some new job skills, so i'm now a mailman part time. [ light laughter ] and oh, look here, special delivery, october jobs report and the unemployment numbers are down. so, in your face. [ cheers ] >> that's just wonderful. did you know that mr. obama is the president of the united states? very important job. he has to make big decisions and you're charge of a lot of people for four years. >> mr. romney, i think you made a mistake, i think you mean eight years. >> you see, kids, mr. obama just did something called using your imagination. [ laughter ] >> actually, if you take a look at the polls, i think you'll see that in a number of the key states there's -- [ door slams ] [ laughter and applause ] it's fun to use your imagin

obama's did, but hy he took his stimulus in tax cuts whereas mr. obama did it in targeted spending. in the end, what really got mr. reagan's economy going though was re-realigned our relationship with the rest of the world so we had an export boom, and that eventually created a lot of job and bill clinton wisely took the dividend from that, he was able to then raise taxes that reagan and clton had lowered, and used that dividend to get us into a surplus situation. so it was a combination of realigning america with the world, getting rid of a trade deficit, having an export-led recovery and then taking the dividend and not spending it so much. mr. clinton was very shrewd that way so kudos to two bright presidents, reagan and clinton. >> dan, i want to bring you in because it's a much different global economy than it was in the '40s and '50s. is this working against a large-scale rebound like we saw after roosevelt? it's a very different world. >> well, look, first of all, the notion that obama didn't cut taxes and all he did was absurd. the stimulus was one-third tax cuts, big payrol

mr. obama points to his administration's auto rescue for saving jobs. and romney emphasizes the need for domestic energy production as an economic engine for the area. >> we've had a lot of positive economic news over the last couple of months. and so the question is, is it too close to the election to really make an impact on people's votes? or are people still kind of weighing the economic realities of the country and of the state. >> reporter: the city of lord's town is home to a sprawling general motors factory, the area's largest employer. once on the verge of collapse, it's become a national symbol of the federal bailout of the auto industry and a center piece of mr. obama's campaign. former president bill clinton who will visit ohio next week with the president pointed to the plant's success as this summer's democratic party conventions in charlotte. >> the auto industry restructuring worked. it saved-- it saved more than a million jobs, and not just at gm, chrysler and their dealerships, but in auto parts manufacturing all over the country. >> r

this strategy is unraveling before our eyes. >> mr. obama meanwhile will ask mr. romney what he would do differently especially with iran. >> if governor romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so. >> mr. obama's critics say it's unfair since he, too, left the military option on the table with iran. >> experts say even if romney is elected, a war is unlikely. >> his political advisors will remind him that at a time when he is trying to repair the american economy, which is priority number one, two, three, four and five, that the last thing we need is a spike in oil prices or a plunge in financial markets. >> mr. romney thinks the u.s. should arm the syrian rebels. right now, the administration says we provide nonlethal aid but the analysts say that means others decide who gets the guns. >> right now what we're seeing is the saudis giving weapons to groups that are affiliated with al-qaeda. that is certain to leave a disaster. >> disaster similar to libya now home to militias the government can't disarm, blamed on the attack of the u.s.

mr. obama said that mr. obama had allowed a rising tide of chaos across the middle east. mr. obama accused his rival of being inconsistent on iraq and afghanistan. the candidates went head-to- head. >> the final head-to-head, this time on foreign affairs. they go around the world in 90 minutes. a large chunk of the time on the the threat of nuclear iran. >> one of the challenges we have had with iran is they have looked at this administration and felt it was not as strong as it needed to be. i think they saw weakness. >> the clock is ticking. we are not going to allow iran to perpetually engaged in negotiations that lead to nowhere. i've been very clear with them. >> the president denied reports that his administration would soon enter one-on-one negotiations with iran. mitt romney said that a war alone would not end violent extremism. >> we cannot kill our way out of this mess. >> he promised economic development and deterrence through u.s. military strength. his pledge to increase pentagon spending drew this response. >> you mentioned the navy and that we have fewer ships t

also mr. obama did not look to the future. he did not tell americans how he is going to improve the economy. while governor romney said flat out that he wants to put more american dollars into the marketplace by cutting taxes. even if you disagree with that at least it's a strategy. mr. obama no strategy other than staying the course which is a disaster. that's why mitt romney won. reaction to to the debate was fascinating. our pal al gore blamed the president's weak performance on the altitude in denver. >> i'm going to say something controversial here. obama arrived in denver at 2:00 p.m. today. just a few hours before the debate started. romney did his debate prep in denver. when you go to 5,000 feet. >> exactly. >> and you only have a few hours to adjust. >> that's interesting. >> i don't know. >> bill: was mr. gore high when he said that. some obama supporters simply declared victory. >> i think the president won on poise, won on grace. he won on substance. mitt romney came to play hard ball. it showed mitt romney was on

on that same question, mr. obama's number went up as well, from 53% to 69. that was small consolation, though for a president whose debate performance has shaken up his campaign. we have reports tonight from our campaign 2012 team, and first, we'll go to nancy cordes, who is covering the president tonight. nancy. >> reporter: scott, even democrats are describing the president's performance as lack luster, and listless, and the campaign acknowledges it is going to have to reexamine its debate strategy. out on the campaign trail today, the president was in cleanup mode, trying to turn the tables on a triumphant mitt romney. >> when i got on to the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but it couldn't have been mitt romney because the real mitt romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. >> reporter: supporters like darrion wilson wondered where that president obama was last night. >> i was wanting him to have more enthusiasm in his enters and hit back a l

he also endorsed mr. obama in 2008 and says he's still a republican, he's not switching parties. >>> one more note, latest polls show that mr. romney has wiped out the president's lead among likely women voters mr. obama has picked up strength tying among male voters where he a lead going into this. >>> both covering a lot of ground over these next few days. >>> the race is very tight. >>> 6:19 mike with the forecast. >>> looks like it is going to be a little drier today. the embarcadero is a little wet from our roof cam towards the bay bridge towards oakland still a little orange hue around downtown san francisco, some of the buildings now more than yesterday have original, cool. color of the radar returns blue, lowest level which means mist and drizzle. over the last three hours radar returns most prevalent in the south bay you can see how sporadic they are at one point calm, the next thing you may need the wipers. wider picture best radar returns are handling around the south bay from the dumbarton dow

obama won. 29% mr. romney. 33% a tie. nancy cordes is covering the obama campaign for us tonight. nancy. >> reporter: scott, one of the president's main goals last night was to try to bring some of those women back into the fold. in fact, both men shared personal stories that were designed to appeal to women, though in one notable case, that may have backfired. an audience member, katherine fenton, gave both candidates the perfect opening. >> in what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in its workplace, specifically regarding female who make only 72% of what their male counter parts earn. >> catherine, this was a great question. i was raised by a single mom who had to put herself through school while looking after two kids. >> reporter: president obama pointed out the first bill he signed when he took office gave women more leeway to sue employers over unequal pay. >> i have two daughters and i want to make sure that they have the same opportunities that anybody's sons have. >> reporter: romney argued he made hiring women a priority when he was elected governor of m

the book quoting the president saying, mr. obama thought he would be in a strong enough political position after bin laden's capture to put bin laden on trial in the u.s. if bin laden survived the navy seal takedown. the president expecting bin laden going down fighting the book "the finish" on sale in 12 days. >>> the administration says there is evidence that stiff economic sanctions against iran are working. iranians protested in the streets of tehran yesterday, voicing anger about iran's plummeting currency and lost more than a third of its value in just a week. so that means it is costing citizens, a lot more to purchase imported goods. >>> american airlines is sweetening its offer as contract talks continue pilots. the carrier offering to put off

whether mr. obama is president, mr. romney is president, whoever is president, i do not see people migrating out of this country. they all want to come here. if we were so terrible, they would be going to russia, china, and god knows where else. since the 18th century, your ancestors, my ancestors, his ancestors, everybody's ancestors have all been coming here. we are a good country, not a bad one. [applause] >> let me thank you again for giving us the opportunity. i just think -- look, i am very proud to be here on the -- on behalf of the president, because i think the record over the past four years on foreign policy and security is a good one. there are real differences. i think you heard many of them today. the question is, what kind of vision to we want for the future? who is best suited to keep america secure? the president said that is his number one security, to keep the american people safe and secure. i do think the more comprehensive approach that the president has laid forward, using all of the tools of amer

romney showed up separately and mr. obama showed up separately. you promise. a promise is a promise. what do you make of that sentiment? he did not -- there are people who feel he did not push enough on immigration. >> we have to understand the country comes first. 2009 was a full-fledged economic collapse. to implement immigration reform would have been nonsensical from a political standpoint. i know there was an attempt to put some of its forward, but it got zero response from congressional republicans. i understand the promise, but i think there is a reality. tavis: for those hispanics who would disagree and say there never is i did time, black people would say, you could say it now is not a good time to end slavery or have voting rights. are they suggesting he should win another four years to press him on immigration reform? >> i think the economy has improved, and we are not in an emergency situation. the reality remains that the congressional republican party is for a much against immigration reform, so if the president is reelected, i think he will have

obama drew the distinction about blasphemy and free speech and i think this is an issue that's very difficult for americans to understand but i think a part of it is as you said is because a lot of a lot of americans tend to see themselves as having a monopoly on free speech and human rights issues thinking that those you know those sorts of norms emanate from christian values or from some sort of purely american set of morals which obviously is not true there's vast reservoir is for you know to defend freedom of speech in any tradition around the world and broad major religious or cultural tradition but this is something that you know part of the grand narrative of american exceptionalism which dominates the way that americans understand themselves in the world i don't think you're ever going to get the majority of americans to admit that the same values that americans cherish can be found in even originated perhaps outside of america and a lot of cases so people like to jump on these these these incidents like the protests surrounding the video which of course is on the scene ment

obama's address to the united nations i mean it's a very american centric view of changes in the in the arab middle east here and it was a very much out of american interest which of course you know we can expect that from the president ok but you know again kind of monopolizing the idea of democracy and human rights etc and that's what was your reaction to the president's speech. and there was lots of nice sounding rhetoric and words used and i think you go as usual and you have to given that this is an election year you have to make excuses in some ways because he he has to pander to the right slightly because of all the accusations it's made against him so i think he's he's thinking about the reelection he's thinking about how he's perceived in terms of his position with regard to israel and palestine so he's making statements that are a lot more right wing than you might expect from a from a liberal in any other year not election year and within that you can see the grand narrative which represented was again this this clash of values as the muslim somehow have to rediscover or

so once again, mr. obama didn't explain what happened on 9/11 in libya. once again he said his administration is investigating. but so much, so much misinformation has been but the out there by the obama administration you would think that six weeks after the attack some kind of clarity could be put forth by the president he doesn't have to do it because the press is not pushing him. brian williams, one of the few journalists mr. obama is talking with, had a chance to ask him some tough questions, mr. williams passed. >> the assessment of your intelligence community as we stand here is that it was a spontaneous terrorist attack. were you happy with what you were able to learn as it unfolded? it went on for several hours. >> well, as i have said, brian, we're going to do a full investigation, obviously when four americans are killed, you know, you have to do some soul searches in terms of making sure that all our systems are where they need to be. and that's what we're going to find out. but, who what i'm confident about is that we will be able to figure o