President Obama Stumps for Dems in West; Battle for Senate Seat in Illinois; Customer Turns Tables on Robber
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, you guys. Well, take a look at what we're talking about for the next couple of hours. Your pockets for one. You're going to have to dig deeper for stuff that you just can't live without. Groceries.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a WWE. I gave him my help to go ahead first into the floor with his head and shoulders.</s>PHILLIPS: A teen thief picked the absolute wrong fast food place to rob. He had no idea that this customer, busy munching on a sandwich, would turn into a some kind of super hero. And if there were a statue of Shaquille O'Neil at Harvard, this is what it would look like. Shaq shows Boston what a poser he is. And a woman puts her feet on the ground and walks toward her parents. Why is this such a big deal? Because she's been in a wheelchair for 23 years. Faith or fate? We want to hear from you today. Good morning, everybody. We begin with the Democrats fighting to keep control in Congress. Republicans going all out to grab the majority. Now with just 11 days until the midterm election, the pressure is on both parties. All 435 House seats and 37 Senate names on the ballot. And CNN is covering all the races for you. President Obama is out west stumping for two big-name senators with big targets on their backs. And White House aides are finally revealing where the president will make a final push in the last weekend of campaigning. Ed Henry traveling with the president joining us now from -- Burlingame, California. So, Ed, what's the message as he tries to save these Democratic incumbents?</s>ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's all really about the president trying to close that so-called enthusiasm gap. We've heard so much about how the Republicans are going to be more motivated to get out to the polls. That they're angry, they're frustrated with the president's policies. He's pushing back on that and what I have seen over the last couple of days has been very interesting. As he's really turning out his people. Much larger rallies, Portland, Seattle, the last couple of days than we've seen much earlier in the campaign and that's all about trying to make sure that two things happen. That people get to the polls on November 2nd but also that others actually get their votes in earlier. A lot of these western states actually have that early voting. The president wants to make sure they turn out. In terms of message, it's all about trying to show a contrast with the Republicans while also acknowledging that maybe he's made some mistakes along the way. Take a listen.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I take some responsibility for that. I mean, our attitude was to get the policy right and we did not always think about making sure we were advertising properly what was going on. But I think that we have the opportunity now that the economy is more stabilized to be as clear as possible with folks about what we've done.</s>HENRY: Now, the Republicans have jumped all over that president saying that maybe if he had just advertised better on the stimulus is what he was talking that maybe things would have gone better. They're saying, look, it is really all about his leadership and his policies. It's not about the advertising of these policies and that this is a referendum on his leadership, this election. White House rejecting that notion. Their bottom line out here in the west and all around the country is that they say it's not a referendum election. It's a choice election and that the Republicans are elected, they're going to go backwards, in the president's words, on health care reform, Wall Street reform, et cetera. That's really where the battle is drawn -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, and the president has another battle today. I mean he's out stumping for Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid.</s>HENRY: Yes. And these are two incumbents that obviously Democrats wish they had wrapped this up long ago. I'm here in California where Barbara Boxer -- you know, this is a state the president won handily. Then on to Nevada and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader. You know, Democrats had hoped that he wouldn't be struggling this badly. But here it is. We're getting new details about what the president is going to do in the final days. There'll be more defense beyond just today's California and Vegas final weekend before the election. He's going to go to Pennsylvania, a state he won a couple of years ago. Democrats struggling there. He's also going to be going to his home of Chicago. Big Senate race there. His old Senate seat still up for grabs. A dramatic example of how much Democrats are playing defense that on a final weekend of this campaign the president's going to have to go to his home of Chicago just to try to bail Democrats out -- Kyra.</s>HENRY: Ed Henry, we'll be tracking everything campaign news, that's for sure. The president's return home next weekend shows how critical the battle is for his old Senate seat. CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar joining us from Chicago. So, Brianna, this race has gotten pretty saucy. A mob banker versus a serial fibber?</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. To hear what Democrats are saying, they are -- you know, aiming at the Republican candidate here calling him a serial liar. And then Republicans, that's exactly what they're calling the Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias, a mob banker. And you're seeing that even in ads that feature Tony Soprano, one does. So Republicans really taking aim at the Democrat over years that he spent as an executive in his family's bank, and this was a bank that made a loan to a convicted bookie and then this bank actually failed and was seized by regulators earlier this year. Alexi Giannoulias hitting back on any sort of suggestion of wrongdoing here, though, Kyra.</s>ALEXI GIANNOULIAS (D), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: I say that's offensive, hurtful, wrong, inaccurate and shameful. No one has ever, ever even suggested the bank has ever done illegal, illicit or improper and I'm very, very proud -- very proud of the business that my father started, a community bank that my father started 30 years ago.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, Brianna, for the Republican in the race, the misstatements that he made about his military service, sort of ironic considering the military service is usually an asset to a candidate.</s>KEILAR: No, that's exactly right. We're talking about five-term Republican Congressman Mark Kirk, and he spent 21 years as a Naval intelligence officer. This normally would be an asset. You're right, Kyra. But in the past years he's made statements saying that he was shot at in Iraq, that he served in the Gulf War. That he received the Naval office -- or the Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year award, and these things are not true. So I asked him that -- all of these statements. Here's what he said.</s>KEILAR: Were you careless in your remarks?</s>MARK KIRK (R), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: Absolutely. And you correct that. That's right. And I misstated parts of my military record but in the Navy we're trained to take responsibility and be accountable for your people, for your unit and for your mission. I am accountable.</s>KEILAR: And Kyra, here's why we're watching this race so closely. Because this is one of three Senate races where whoever wins doesn't have to wait until the new Congress. They don't have to wait until January because they are replacing somebody who is appointed to fill a vacancy. They could take the seat soon after the November 2nd election. If the Republican wins here, really, you're looking at something to affect President Obama's agenda almost immediately. Of course, that's probably why he's here campaigning next weekend trying to shore this up for Democrats -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Brianna Keilar, thanks. Those suspicious powder and drawings of two swastikas were sent to an Arizona congressman's office. Now the FBI is on the case. The powdery substance and drawings were found inside an envelope at the Tucson office Representative Raul Grijalva. The fire department confirmed the powder was toxic. It's the third security issue at the district offices for him this year. All right. A pretty severe storms in the plains today. Reynolds Wolf all over it for us. Good morning.</s>REYNOLDS: Let's send it back to you.</s>PHILLIPS: Reynolds, thanks. Well, coming up next, we're going to talk about faith healing. I bet your skepticism alarm just went off. But a woman who spent about 23 years in a wheelchair has walked up to her parent's porch to actually give them a hug. She claims that a faith healing put her feet on the ground again. We're going to get your input on this one and tell you what the critics are saying.