[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] And you're in the SITUATION ROOM. Happening now, on this, the eve of round two. We have new information showing why this next presidential debate is so critical. How it could make a difference in a very, very tight race? And as the candidates continue intensive debate rehearsals, we'll get the inside scoop on Mitt Romney's strategy from one of his advisers, the former New Hampshire governor, John Sununu. And while the president may be huddling with his debate team, the first lady is out on the campaign trail right now. We're going to hear from Michelle Obama live this hour. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in the SITUATION ROOM.
[Blitzer:] All right. With just a day away from the rematch between President Obama and Gov Mitt Romney, and our latest survey shows just how crucial the debate will be. A CNN poll of polls averaging results from seven national surveys of likely voters shows the presidential race is in a dead heat right now, 48 percent favor Romney, 47 percent favor Obama. Our chief national correspondent, John King, is here. He's taking a closer look. What do you make of these numbers? It's about as tight as could be.
[John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] It's tight as can be nationally, Wolf. As we talked last week, we went through a bunch of battleground states. What's happening nationally is also happening in the key battleground state. Well, more evidence of that today. Let's go to the state of Iowa, big Part of President Obama's victory in 2008. A brand new American research group poll out in the state of Iowa. Look at this, doesn't get any closer than that, 48 to 48. Last week, we told you Colorado was a dead heat, Nevada was a dead heat. Now, add Iowa to that list, as well. We've been closely watching Virginia, a state President Obama carried four years ago. It's crucial to Governor Romney's math. That got closer to last week. Now, we have so many new polls, Wolf, out of Virginia. We can do a poll of polls. This is taking several brand new polls, averaging them all together. What do you get? A dead heat, a president at 48, Governor Romney at 47, you know, our poll of polls. And now, it's also getting more interesting. As I said, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Florida, all dead heats, president or Governor Romney up a point or two, but we're beginning to see some evidence that this race could get interesting outside of the battlegrounds we've been focusing on these past many months. Here's yet another poll out of the state Pennsylvania showing a very close race there. This has been a state that's been in the president's basket. There's no Romney campaign ads. No Romney campaigning really in the state of Pennsylvania. He went there to raise some money, but this Muhlenberg College morning call poll, 49 for the president, 45 for Governor Romney. Now, Wolf, I want to show you why the Romney campaign is increasingly confident going into the second debate and why this debate is so important, because I just mentioned, Virginia and North Carolina, the numbers there are getting better for Governor Romney. Florida, the numbers are getting better for Governor Romney. Even Ohio where the president still leads getting better for Governor Romney. Ohio, getting better for Gov. Romney. Colorado, and Nevada now dead heats, improvements in the last week or so for Governor Romney. Why do they like this in the Romney campaign? Because this is the 2008 map. All of those states were carried by President Obama. Let's go back in time, 2004, all one
[Blitzer:] Yes. What do you think, John? How much will this second presidential debate affect each campaign strategy of getting that magic number of 270 Electoral College votes?
[King:] The stakes are enormous, Wolf, because of the timing of this. You're getting to the point where you have to make resource decisions. Should Governor Romney, for example, starts spending time and money in Pennsylvania? George W. Bush wanted to win Pennsylvania twice, never really came close. Got sort of close, but do you take time and money and put it in there? Michigan has now become a four-point race somewhere in that ballpark. The Republicans spend money in there. Watch over the next several days, especially in the first moments after that second debate, Republican Super PACs to go in here to try to soften up the territory. They'll also poll, as well, because the question is, with time so short, you're running late out to buy ad time even because there's so many other campaigns out there, not just the presidential race. So, will the president have to play defense in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan? Will the president decide to pull out of one of these other states? The Republicans are increasingly feeling confident about the west. Will the president pull out or scale back to dump resources into Ohio or Florida, because they know this in the OBAMA campaign that if they can win either Ohio or Florida or if they can win both of them, they almost certainly block Governor Romney's path. So, Wolf, after the second debate, this is a very complicated game of chess. Time is running short to spend your money and decide where to spend your money. Watch the campaign shifting ad strategy and watch for those planes to start touching down.
[Blitzer:] Second debate tomorrow night, and the third and final presidential debate a week from today. John, thanks very much. And this note to our viewers, you can create your own path to 270, just go to CNN.comraceto270. Both candidates have been hunkered down for intensive debate preparations. Romney has been rehearsing in his home turf in Boston. President Obama's in Williamsburg, Virginia, where his team is going all out to make sure the president is ready for a round two tomorrow night. Our chief White House correspondent, Jessica Yellin, is working this part of the story for us. What are you learning?
[Jessica Yellin, Cnn Chief White House Correspondent:] Hi, Wolf. There have been some changes to the president's debate prep this time around. He's not taking the same long public breaks each day. The moderator is now played by Anita Dunn, his former communications director who has years of experience critiquing him.
[Yellin:] President Obama on a break from study hall.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] What's going on?
[Unidentified Female:] All right.
[Obama:] Good to see you.
[Unidentified Male:] How are you, sir?
[Obama:] How are you doing, man?
[Unidentified Male:] Pleasure.
[Yellin:] This time aides say, he'll be more
[Unidentified Male:] Aggressive in making the case for his view of where we should go as a country. Be more energetic. I think you'll see somebody who's very passionate about the choice that our country faces.
[Yellin:] The president's number one goal, to make his case on the economy. Campaign manager, Jim Messina, told me after last week's debate, Vice President Biden did it successfully. Will you talk a little bit about next week?
[Jim Messina, Obama Campaign Manager:] Sure.
[Yellin:] What does the president have to do?
[Messina:] On the economy, we saw a very clear difference tonight. And that's what we've got to do on Tuesday, as well.
[Yellin:] And it sounds like the president's primed for the event.
[David Axelrod, Obama Campaign Senior Adviser:] Look, Jessica, he he's watched the tape of the last debate. He has some strong views about what he wants to do in this next debate. And I can just tell you he's very, very eager to see Governor Romney again.
[Yellin:] But a new format creates new challenges for the president. This debate, a town hall.
[Tad Devine, Democratic Consultant:] These town hall meetings really voters expect that you're going to answer their questions. And they're not looking for, you know, a food fight between candidates.
[Yellin:] Tad Devine is a debate expert for democratic candidates. He says the president can't only play offense. The model for a good answer in this setting, then Governor Bill Clinton's "I feel your pain" approach in 1992.
[Bill Clinton, Former President Of The United States:] I've been the governor of a small state for 12 years. I'll tell you how it's affected me.
[Yellin:] It's a balance.
[Devine:] So, you have to have a plan that says when someone asked me a question from the public, I'm going to answer that question, I'm going to deal with them. After you've done that, you then have to look for the opening, OK, the opening to pivot against your opponent.
[Yellin:] So, what is their strategy?
[Axelrod:] Jessica, you've got to watch the debate.
[Blitzer:] And both of them are under a lot of pressure to actually release more details of what they would do over the next four years.
[Yellin:] It is a huge challenge in this whole campaign. Neither man has been very clear about what their agenda would be in the second term for the president or in the first term for Governor Romney. We'll see if they'll do it. I'd be surprised if either man really gives much detail tomorrow night.
[Blitzer:] They waited this long. They probably will wait a little bit longer.
[Yellin:] Exactly.
[Blitzer:] Thanks very much. All right. Jack Cafferty is also looking ahead to tomorrow night's second presidential debate. Jack's joining us now with the "Cafferty File" Jack.
[Jack Cafferty, Cnn Contributor:] Tomorrow night is make or break for the president of the United States. After the dismal showing in the first debate against Mitt Romney, the consensus is the president better bring his A-game if he wants another term in office. Writing in "The Daily Beast," Obama supporter, ardent Obama supporter, Andrew Sullivan, says the president's main challenge for re-election in the final stretch is "Obama, himself." That's quote. Sullivan suggests that Obama threw away the momentum after the first debate calling the president's performance "so lazy, so feckless, and so vain, it was almost a dare not to vote for him," unquote. Remember, this is somebody who likes him talking. But he's on to something, Sullivan is. Romney is seeing gains in both national polls and battleground states since the first debate. Momentum has clearly shifted to his side. Romney now leads the president, 48%, 47% in CNN's poll of polls and perhaps even more telling after the months of voters finding President Obama more likable than Romney, now they're tied according to a new poll with Romney actually over 50 percent, I think, for the first time. According to Andrew Sullivan, it's going to take a lot of quote, "intelligence, fire, and argument," unquote, for the president to turn this thing around. And it still might not be enough for Obama to just breakeven with Romney in the remaining two debates. That brings us back then to tomorrow's debate, tomorrow evening, moderated by CNNs Candy Crowley. While the president insisted the debate preparations are going great, the town hall format could make it even tougher for him to win. No teleprompter and all of that. No doubt the president will have to come out strong against Romney, but he also has to show that he can connect with the voters in the town hall and those people watching at home. It's all a very tricky balancing act. And above all else, Mr. Obama will have to avoid the long, boring, professor-like answers that he is sometimes prone to. Here's the question, what's the president's greatest challenge at tomorrow night's debate? Go to CNN.comCaffertyFile, post a comment on my blog or go to our post on the SITUATION ROOM'S Facebook page.
[Blitzer:] Jack, thanks very much. Our special coverage of the next presidential debate begins tomorrow night 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN. Just about everyone says he won round one, so why would Mitt Romney change his strategy for tomorrow night's debate. I'll ask his advisor, John Sununu. And she risked her life defying the Taliban by attending school. Now, this Pakistani teenager is fighting for her life far from home.