, ohio, is so important both to president obama and mitt romney campaigning there this afternoon. and there's more of a backdrop than just the early autumn trees. a brand new quinnipiac/cbs "new york times" poll has the president a full ten points ahead of romney in ohio. 53% to 43%. let's begin with cnn white house correspondent dan lothian. >> reporter: joe, even though a new poll shows the president with a double digit lead in ohio, mr. obama continues to push hard in the state. it's a huge priority for the campaign according to a top aide. by our count the president has visited ohio at least 13 times so far this year. this time ahead of early voting, which by the w begins next tuesday. now, today the president was again selling his policies and his record in a state he says has benefitted from the auto bailout. he talked about the thousands of jobs created but also hit china and went after his gop opponent. >> he's been talking tough on china. he says he's going to take the fight to them. he's going to go after these cheaters. and i've got to admit, that message is better than wha

five." >> dana: say bye. >> bret: the center of the political universe, ohio, the president targets college students and the challenger targets the president. 4 41 days to go. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier. we are now inside six weeks before america picks its next president. in the time days there will be a well-worn path in and through what could be the most crucial state on the electoral map. ohio. we have fox team coverage. ed henry is in kent where the president courted university students today, but we begin with carl cameron in toledo tonight with the romney campaign. good evening, carl. >> reporter: hi, bret. mitt romney's campaign says he has been outspent and out advertised by the obama campaign. now the president inching ahead in the lead, well, challenger now playing catch-up. >> talk is cheap. you can be extraordinarily eloquent and describe all the wonderful things you can do. if you cut through the word, you look at the record. when you see the policies that have not created the jobs america needs, then you know it's time to ch

romney hits ohio before america's come back team reunited in florida. freedom sparks. president obama marches to the convention with a swing through four battle ground states . the storm on the gulf. thousands of people who fled their homes are returning to see what is left as hurricane isaac is going north and gets ready to ruin the labor day plans. i am uma, america's news headquarters live from the nation's capitol starts right now. ♪ >> we have a plan, paul ryan and i have a plan to get america working again. [cheers and applause] it is going to create 12 million new jobs in america and 460,000 jobs right here in ohio. that's governor mitt romney just a short time ago. taking his message to the voters battle ground state of the ohio. we have live team coverage from the campaign trails and fox and in ohio president obama stops there later today. first steve brown, in jacksonville, florida where governor romney will meet up with paul ryan for a rally today. >> good afternoon, uma, romney and ryan together in jacksonville campaigning together. but they are campaigning separately ea

republicans. an ohio democratic party chair, chris redford, on mitt romney's failure to dot the "i" in the buckeye state. >> it's not consistent with our polling, steve. >> the romney campaign has officially joined the poll truthers. tonight, we will debunk the republican alternate reality. >> there is a fundamental error going on in the polling this year by the media organizations. >> and there's more fallout from senator scott brown's race-baiting campaign. we'll have the latest from boston. >>> and the star of tv's "dirty jobs" gets his dirtiest job yet. >> mike rowe, as you know, well, he's a guy who has made a name for himself by doing things other people don't want to do. really ugly, dirty jobs. like standing with a politician. >> i'll explain why mike rowe was standing on the wrong stage with the wrong candidate today. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. no republican candidate has ever lost ohio and won the presidency. mitt romney is on the verge of becoming yet another victim of this statistic. ohio's 18 electoral votes are vital to romney's chances o

, and i was so excited. i interviewed tom bro caw, and he told me a story about being in ohio for the presidential debate, this long anticipated 1980 debate between carter and reagan, and bob was excluded from the debate preps. brokaw knew he would be free for lunch. they said they would have one martini a piece, then split one. they split one more. [laughter] later in the amp, you know, they are still drinking, and droa caw says, now, you know your fellow's going to lose, and you know they are going to bring in new people, and you're going to be out of power. he said, brokaw, you watch. he knew -- he knew his fellow was not going to win, and he knew he was going to stay in power no matter who was in the white house. [laughter] >> he had his way around with the presidents. >> yes, bob did get his way. >> involved in italy for the pees of the middle east? >> so he was ambassador the middle east peace negotiations for a very short time. several months in 1979. because of the tension he was creating within the department of state and they decided to bring him back and run the campaig

the charge and even making unusual mention of the president. they're both in ohio today. romney's falling behind there as well as in florida. if romney can't win ee thf of those states, it's not just check, folks. it's checkmate. >>> it's a quickly changing landscape for control of the senate. the lift is getting a bit heavier for republicans while the most watched contest in the country, the brown/warren battle, gets even uglier in massachusetts. >>> and ann romney hits the late night circuit, sitting down with jay leno giviing her take on th 47% punches. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. let's get to our first reading on -- reads of the morning. president obama makes another trip to ohio. romney definitely needs to put ohio back in play. the president simile wants to put it away. >>> today romney is out with a straight-to-camera ad. the ad itself is a bit of an admission that the 478% comments have done serious damage and the attacks on his personal wealth are also sinking in. take a look at the ad. >> president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class fami f

him. but his life at ohio state was interesting because of that glass eye. he couldn't pass be biology, he had trouble with -- [inaudible] which was required, and he was no good at baseball. he had no depth perception. so poor mr. thurber did not graduate from ohio state. now, i mentioned the new yorker, and this is really where thurber's life took off. when he was in connecticut, he lived in connecticut most of the time he worked for ross. ross was the editor of the new yorker. and their relationship and his relationship with e.b. white, the author of "charlotte's web," really, really solidified him as a writer in the americans' eye. most of his short pieces were published originally in the new yorker, and his cartoons got rave reviews. people really loved them. as primitive as they are, they captured something. and a fun story that we tell in a short video that i like to tell is how a real cartoonist came into raz and was irritated -- ross and was irritated. he said how can you turn down my work and print this fifth rate artist's cartoon -- no, no, raz interrupted, third rate

advantage president obama held in ohio in three polls last week, worth noting the president has a lead that is outside the margin of error. for governor romney, time that cruel, cruel mistress is slipping away. early voting begins in ohio next tuesday. can he win without the state? if history is any judge no republican in history has won without ohio. according to the latest nbc news battleground map the president is expected to get 243 electoral votes to romney's 191. with eight tossup states. obama win in ohio with its 18 electoral votes would put him at 261 electoral votes, that is just nine away from winning re-election. surprising exactly no one ohio has been a top focus for candidates. while governor romney logged 17 trips to the state this election cycle president obama is making his 13th visit this year alone. earlier this month the democratic ticket made clear just how much ohio means to them. >> if we win ohio, we win the election. >> if we win toledo, we will win ohio. and if we win ohio we'll win this election. >> john heilemann, there has been no shortage of love for the state

ohio. president obama is leading in the polls but can mitt romney turn it around? we'll ask john kasich. just call him the 10% president. that is what he spiax responsibility for the deficit and libya is still raising more questions for the white house. it could have been stopped? >> paul: welcome to the journal editorial report. i'm paul gigot. you'll eyes were on ohio this week as they both hit the buckeye state hard. hoping to put 18 electoral votes in their col >> paul: politics poll real lot of attention to polls because it depends on what they take and the sample. these guys have been in ohio and they should start paying income tax. this thing is as close can be they both wouldn't be here. i expect this to go down to the wire. we are always a swing state. it will be very close. >> paul: so the democrats are saying one of big things that is helping the spent the auto bailout. is that how you lead to to help the president? >> look, we're up 123,000 jobs over the last year and three-quarters. we're actually according to the bureau of labor statistics down 500 jobs, auto jobs i

trip to ohio. romneyefinitely needs to put e idtilants to put it away. >>> today romney is out with a straight-to-camera ad. the ad itself is a bit of an admission that the 478% comments have done serious damage and the attacks on his psonal wealth are also sinking in. take a look athe ad. pdeba a i both care about poor and middle-class fami families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many peoplere on welfare. we should measureompassion by how many people are able to g of wfa good-paying job. >> worth noting, that's his first candidate-to-camera ad. this morning the obama campaign have another ad out hitting on the 47% comment. wmiomismissed oo ke 47% of americans for not pulling their weight, he attacked millions of hard-working people making $25,000, $35,000 a year $40,000 a year. romney paid just 14% last year ts is the second ad earring in seven states. note, he launched his first attack in ohio and it'sot an accident. for months the obama campaign has been hammering romney there on his personal wealth, and tho

visit the state of ohio before they start getting tired of seeing you? it's wednesday, september 26th, and this is "now." > joining me toy, author radio host kurt andersen, one half of the inspiration behind the emmy award winning "game change" the man with the longest introduction on this television show, msnbc political analyst and national affairs edir for ilny former boss melinda of the "washington post" and "new york times" magazine editor grammy nominated hugo lindhgren. one hour after high down a showdown at the oh corral. president obama and governor romney are hngueli spes ie bye e. chicago has the edge. the president up by ten minutes in a survey by quinn pe yak and cbs news and leading eight points in poll by "the washington post." these polls mirror an advantage president obama held in ohio in the polls last week, worth ng the president has a lead that is outside the margin of error. for governor romney, time that cruel, cruel mistress is slipping away. early voting begins in ohio next esday. can he win without the state? ifis age no republican in history has won with

what they thought was a burglary. >>> we are watch twoing live events in ohio. both president obama, mitt romney both campaigning. they're about 130 miles apart. they're speaking exactly the same time. >> we'll let you hear what he said to the united nations and why the american delegation may even show up for his remarks. want to get to it. sdmrimplts if you had any doubts about how important ohio is in this presidential race, you got to consider this. you've got both the president and mitt romney there both right now. their eths set to begin at the same time. just minutes away. the president, he is holding a rally. this is in bowling green. romney is about 130 miles away. he is in bedford heights. we'll dip into both of those event wrshz we want to bring in jim accosta in who is covering the romney campaign. jim, we have some information. we know that polls are actually showing the president is leading romney in ohio. this is the cnn poll of polls. average of four most recent surveys. the president ahead, 55-41%. why do you think that is so significant right now? >> he has more th

america growing again. >> reporter: the crowd is raucous. in ohio and florida, must-win state in victory strategy, president leads by ten in ohio, according to the latest quinnipiac poll and in florida he leads by nine. real clear politics average of recent polls has the president up five in ohio and three in florida. team romney dispute the public survey, argue they oversample democrats based on outdated 2008 results. pollsters deny it. romney political team insist the unpublished internal data shows it going to the wire. campaigning with the ohio native and golf legend jack nicklaus, romney blasted the president for big government spending. >> if he were re-elected i can assure you it will be $20 trillion of debt. the debt gets passed on to our kids. it's not just bad for the economy. it's not just bad for our job creation. it will in my opinion, it's immoral for to us pass on obligations like that to the next generation. >> romney'sry reserting the economic attack on the president as a new study shows median household income fell 1.1% in august to just over $50,000 a year. since june

. which are in columbus, ohio. the house james -- james thurber liv dan and compared with mark twain. a humorous but a master of the short form. very well known for his cartoons and his career at the yorker called one of the great writers. like to move through the house to tell the stories we know as the father of three boys had a lot to put up with. they always had two or three dogs. this is where he would retire to put himself in isolation. repellent great to quote he was a politician ever a striking man but he himself writes a chapter about people who have an impact. it certainly tells you about charles thurber. he was plagued by the mechanical and the manufacturer that takes more ground. doors, lines, the detachable would not attach adjustable would not adjust. he was forever trying to on lonesome thing with the key to something else. charles was quite a man and she was a fisher they're a very famous it -- famous family and fu stories for you to understand how what works. in the kitchen mom used to bake brownie is. they had a dog who like to bite people. she had a cavalier attitu

of ohio and florida. but is that true? we have in-depth analysis from karl rove, dick morris and the governor of ohio, john kasich. >> there is no doubt that the world is in need of a new order and fresh way of thinking. >> bill: mad man of iran insulting just about everybody at the u.n. we decided to turn the tables tonight and let miller loose on ahmadinejad. >> he is the impeerist do you df fuss. >> barack obama what do you think. >> it's all there in black and white. i hope the white part doesn't screw it up. >> our government is wiping its-[bleep] with the constitution. >> bill: new study out of the university of new hampshire celebrities saying dumb political stuff are hurting their careers. juliet huddy on that. caution, you where to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. >> bill: i'm birl, thanks for watching us tonight. the status of the presidential race right this moment that's the subject of this evening's talking points memo. this is is an important factor tonight because we are going to tell you straight up where the campaign is at this point in history. n

know that polls are actually showing the president is leading romney in ohio. this is the cnn poll of polls. average of four most recent surveys. the president ahead, 55-41%. why do you think that is so significant right now? >> he has more than 40 days to go before this election, but keep in mind that the presidential debates, a series of presidential debates in that vice presidential debate gets going next week. so he doesn't have a whole lot of time on the ground to persuade swing state voters like here in ohio that he needs them on his side, and you can see he has this economic message behind me right now in big letters on that sign. it says we need a real recovery. he has been fine-tuning his economic message all morning long. trying to reconnect with voters in this stais state. he said at a hearing in the western of the state that his heartaches for people who are struggling in this economy. take a listen to a little bit of what he had to say earlier this morning. >> there is so many in our country that are hurting right now. i want to help them. he know what it takes to get

he touched down in ohio. >> ohio. >> ohio. >> ohio. >> romney, ryan, romney ryan. >> there we go, all right. >> does he have any. >> i come back to number three. >> romney is a strikeout. >> if we don't run chris christie, romney will be the nominee and he'll lose. >> it is a big day in the big apple. >> president obama is in new york right now. >> america wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy. >> there was president obama giving a speech. >> i accept people are going to call me awful things every day. >> then there was mitt romney. >> the few words from bill clinton can do a man a lot of good. >> if he's going to double down on that 47, that will cause difficulties. >> wait a couple of days for that bounce. >> he has no past that i can ever spot. >> i can appreciate your kind words. >> when i was a boy i used to think that becoming rich and becoming famous would make me happy. boy, was i right. >> yeah, he said that. with just 42 days until the presidential election and with a new poll showing mitt romney's path to the presidency rapidly narrowing, paul ryan is rapidly r

9 points. 53 percent, 44%. same state, same likely voter scenario. in ohio, "the washington post" has the president up by 8. 52% 44%. "times" poll has obama up by 10 over romney. 53%, 43%. however, in the rasmussen daily tracking poll, the national survey, the race is tied. a dead heat 46% 46%. on this day four years ago, rasmussen had mr. obama up by 5 points over john mccain. 50%, 45%. a case could be made that mitt romney is doing better than john mccain did. but that might be misleading. the presidential race is going to come down to just a handful of states ohio and florida being the most important governor romney plus win in both places that's why today's polling news is causing controversy. talking points has said from the very beginning that the debates this year will be the deciding factor one week from tonight in denver, colorado, the president will meet the governor at :00 p.m. eastern time. no question and all the polls show this that most americans are not happy with president obama's leadership, especially on the economy. many of the folks don't trust mitt romney. h

are ohio, florida, north carolina, virginia, new hampshire, colorado, nevada, iowa, wisconsin, and michigan. memorize those states. they make up a whopping 126 electoral votes. given this, it's perhaps totally not that surprising at all that president obama has been campaigning in new hampshire, iowa and florida since friday. in the same period, governor romney has hit iowa, new hampshire, virginia and travels to ohio today. as a backgrounder, in 2008, president obama won all of these states in contention. this year, polling in key tossup states is making the romney campaign very, very nervous, especially in ohio. leading up to the conventions, president obama held a six-point lead in the state. but the romney campaign tells politico their internal polling since then has shown as much as a nine-point gap in the buckeye state. this comes as voters in many key swing states are already heading to the polls or will be shortly. early voelgts in north carolina began by mail-in ballot last thursday. late next week early voting begins in wisconsin, michigan, new hampshire and virginia. bal

today, their first debate next week. yesterday the candidates were in ohio going head-to-head on such issues like taxes and foreign trade. in an effort to attract working class voters. for romney it's a mission in ohio to make up ground on the president with time running out. susan mcginnis is in washington with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. ohio is considered a must-win for both candidates. they've been spending so much time that governor kasich joked they should start paying taxes in the state. it illustrates how important this handful of swing states are. president obama and mitt romney are following each other from one battleground state to another. on wednesday ohio was their target. >> you probably are aware that there's an election going on right now in ohio. >> i believe you're going to help me win ohio. >> reporter: today it's a quick flight to virginia. >> we're a compassionate people. >> reporter: on wednesday romney tried to convey a more empathetic candidate. >> we have people that are hurting, we have people that are disabled and poor and th

battleground state of ohio. he is asking where the leadership is on all of this from the white house. he says we don't need a president who stays silent. >> it means that with the developments in the middle east these days when we have a an ambassador assassinated, when we have 20,000 people killed in syria, when we have a muslim brotherhood leader become the new president of egypt, when we have iran moving closer and closer to a nuclear clear weapon, we don't have a calling these things bumps in the road. we have a president who takes this serious to get america on track to shape world affairs. martha: that is a major focus of governor romney past couple days. he is also slamming the obama administration for quote, not coming clean on murders of four americans in libya. karl rove on that. twin explosions targeting a syrian building. this is brand new video we have just gotten in. it is amateur video we're monitoring for you. these explosions in a busy square in central damascus. they set fire to a building there. conflicting reports over fatalities and anti-regime group is involved in t

state university, mitt romney is in toledo. steve handelsman has news that romney got from ohio today. >> reporter: terrible news for mitt romney and his republicans. no republican has ever won the white house, none, ever, without winning the state of ohio. romney was doing pretty well there, behind by less than 1 percentage point earlier this month. but in the latest ohio poll, romney trails by ten. he's wrapping up his bus tour of ohio, a blue collar state that's must-win for mitt romney. >> there's dignity and honor and meaning in good hard work. >> reporter: but despite romney's work here, many visits, ohio may be moving out of reach. even with the help today of ohio native jack nicklaus who says he's laid off workers from his gulf business. >> we can't afford for mour years like the last four years. i know i sure can't. >> reporter: romney can't afford more polls like today. after he was caught on tape d disparaging the 47% of americans who said feel like victims. "the new york times" cbs poll finds romney trailing president obama. by 12 points in pennsylvania, by 9 points in flo

the day in must-win ohio, with one week to the first debate. new polls show a pretty steep climb for mitt romney. >>> midwest twister. an ominous sight through the autumn sky. the damage being assessed right now. >>> football fury. fallout ongoing from that blown call monday night. new questions. why were refs fired when lesser leagues are allowed to officiate one of the league's biggest nights. >>> and last dance. the first elimination on "dancing with the stars." why is everyone talking about the biebs? >>> good morning, everybody. good to be back. well, all roads on the presidential campaign lead to ohio today. president obama and mitt romney, both return for rallies in the battleground state. >> and it is great to have you back, rob. >> thanks. >> the stakes could not be higher, with the latest polls showing the president pulling ahead among ohio voters. abc's tahman bradley joining us this morning from washington with a preview. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning, paula and rob. this is the first time in two months president obama and mitt romney will be in the

for their own lives. and i've got to tell you, as i travel around ohio and as i look out on this crowd, i don't see a lot of victims. i see hardworking ohioans. that's what i see. >> it's not just voters in ohio responding to that message. the president has a nine-point lead in florida. and a 12-point lead in pennsylvania. look, there's no mystery about what happened. the secret tape of romney was a game changer. there's no running away from what he said. there's no spin cycle that can clean up his comment. 47% who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it, it's an entitlement and the government should give it to them and they will vote for this president no matter what. >> a new poll finds 54% of all voters have an unfavorable view of romney's comments and 57% of independents feel the same way. that's a big reason why romney is in so much trouble in ohio and no republican has ever won the white house without winning the state. but when asked about how losing ohio would affect the electoral map, romney's campaign response said, i prefer to look

specifically, he wants to be the tough on china guy while he's in ohio. mr. romney is launching this romney 5.0, i'm tough on china thing with a bus tour. a bus tour that his vice presidential nominee started today and he will start tomorrow in the great swing state of ohio, where the last six head to head polls show president obama winning that state. ohio is a perennial battleground. ad spending alone does not seem to be moving voters this year. the other key race is the senate race where $18 million in outside money has been dumped into the republican effort to defeat senator sherrod brown. it's unprecedented spending for ohio and unprecedented to have an incumbent outspent by this much money. but in ohio, the money does not seem to be working in that race. at least not the way it's spoetzed to. a new poll shows senator sherrod brown now leading his republican challenger by 7 points. despite being outspent hand over first. joining us is the senator from ohio sherrod brown. he's the lead sponsor of legislation addressing the china currency issue, a bill that, surprise, is currently

. we begin with the race for president, goes to ohio today. mitt romney losing major ground there, according to new polls. before we go there, got to talk about one problem, that both candidates agree the world is running out of time to fix. let's turn to the united nations general assembly where the much anticipated speech byo outgoing president was overshadowed by mohamed morsi. listen to how he introduced himself. >> translator: i am the first egyptian civilian president elected democratically and free, following a great, peaceful revolution halted by the entire world. >> let's go richard roth, covers the u.n. for us. listen to the speech, it sounds like he's stepping it up, ready to be this world leader, world negotiator. is that fair that he's made the move from muslim brotherhood to world leader? >> reporter: well, i think he's still both things. the leader of egypt, decades ago, nasser and others, they had a prominent place when it came to the middle east. there has been this vacuum ever since. president mubarak had never even been here at the u.n. in the last 15 years and

williams. bill: he traveled the world, had an incredible life. a mid westerner at heart. ohio, iowa, missouri, the battleground states is where andy williams comes from, so we remember him fondly today. martha: we will see you right back here tomorrow, folks. "happening now" starts right now. jon: we begin with this fox news alert. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad about to address the united nations general assembly. take a look at live pictures now from the floor of the u.n. we understand that mahmoud ahmadinejad is the next speaker. this is all happening here in new york city, a little over a mile from where we are right now. mahmoud ahmadinejad expected to unleash more fiery words about the u.s. israel and other western powers. he's angry about economic sanctions imposed on iran because of his country's nuclear program, with the u.s. and many other nations convinced iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. meanwhile protestors are in the streets outside the u.n. right now, many of them iranian americans calling for the hand over of iran's u.n. seat to a group called the iran

. 54% to romney's 42%. he leads romney 53% to 44% in florida and in ohio, he leads by a full 10 points! 53% to 43%. the last one is really important because if history is any guide the road to th does run through ohio. no republican has ever won the white house without winning the state of ohio. no democrat has done it for over a half a century. so both candidates are in the state today and not believe me, for the first time. in fact, they have made these two candidates a combined 68 visits there this year. but today romney was trying out a brand new strategy. which was expressing emotion. he replaced his usual stories about small business owners succeeding all on their own with stories about people struggling economically. >> i've been across this country, my heartaches for the people i've seen. i was yesterday with a woman who was emotional and she said look, i've been out of work since may. she was in her 50s. i don't see any prospects. can you help me? >> jennifer: now as hard as it is for some to picture mitt romney's heart actually aching for people especially people in th

everything at times like this. that is usually how it goes. after a day of campaigning planned for ohio and florida with his running mate tomorrow, mr. romney is instead going to be taking some nap time. the weekend after the gigantic hyperproduced marathon commercial for why the american public should fall in love with mitt romney and vote him into office, the romney/ryan campaign calendar has a lot of empty space on it. no events announced for sunday, no events for monday. they say actually, they have no next events announced at all. presumably, they will announce some before too long, but for right now, for the long weekend, the campaign appears to be more or less down for the weekend. at the very moment when campaigns try to rocket themselves to electability on the pure fuel of intention and donors writing checks. at that moment when they race from the convention hall to tour the factories in swing states, at the very moment that thing is finally fully incon electrovertably on, the republican presidential candidate this year is headed for the porch and a glass of lemonade, but you c

the voters get out there and vote for our president. >> ohio state senator nina turner, a victory for democracy this week in the buckeye state. great to have you with us tonight on "the ed show." that's "the ed show," i'm ed schultz. the "rachel maddow show" starts right now. good evening, rachel. i hope you got some much deserved sleep and you're ready to go. >> i'm definitely ready to go. about the sleep, i'm not sure. >> okay. have a great weekend. thank you. >> you, too. looking forward to next week. going to be great. thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour. we're a little bleary, but it's sort of in a good way. this is sort of an exciting time of year if you're into politics. we have reached half time of the 2012 convention season. the republican convention wrapped unin tampa. the democratic convention started on tuesday. campaigns are a bit of an undurance sport. you give speech after speech, shake hand after hand, have to beg for money and manage leaks and put orfired. it's exhausting. when you think of the people at the center of the jijantic, sometime

ohio, 53% to 43. in florida, another key swing state, mr. obama's lead is nine points, 53% to 44. and the president leads by 12 point in pennsylvania, 54 to 42. this quinnipiac university/cbs news/"new york times" polls has a margin of roar of three points so the leads are significant. our cbs news election analysis team is moving ohio from a toss- up to leaning toward mr. obama. with that, we estimate 255 electoral votes are solidly in the obama camp or leaning that way. for governor romney the number is 206 with 270 needed to win. the president would have to pick up just 15 in the remaining toss-up state that you see on this map in gray. if the president wins ohio, governor romney would have to nearly sweep those toss-up states in order to win the white house. so no surprise that we find both candidates in ohio today. our campaign 2012 team is on their trail and we're going to start tonight with nancy cordes. nancy. >> reporter: well, scott, it all comes down to women. the president won among women by eight points back in 2008. it's a big part reason he won here. but today's poll fi

governor romney crisscrosses the state of ohio, a state no republican president ever lost and where early voting begins next week. >> i know there's some people who want more for years bute don' woue years like the last four years. bigger government, stimulus. >> meanwhile, president obama is also in ohio trying to hold on to that lead there. according to theat qupioll, ten points ahead and taking no chances. the president hammering his opponent at an event moments ago. >> i don't believe we can get very far wit leaders who wte off half the nation as a bunch spbi fhe o ne lives. and i've got to tell you. as i travel around ohio and as i look out on this crowd i don't see a lot of victims. i see hard working ohios. >> straight out on the trail and covering both cig nn w ron mott on the phone with congressman paul ryan's event in ohio. we have heard several messages over the last week of the republican campaign. what do we exct to hear today? >> reporter: thomas, good day to you. coressn ryusan hen wa to the event. we are at walker manufacturing making lawn mowers and we think the message i

ohio, a coveted jewel on the electoral map. former governor ted strickland joins me live. >>> it's the movie making millions, and it has everyone talking, but is the documentary "obama's america" based on fact? i'll talk with director denash desousa. >> good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. it is 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. on the west. as you grab breakfast or brunch, we begin with the one story that impacts all of us, food prices, up by a whopping 10%. that's according to a new report from the world bank. the cost of corn and soybeans alone spiked by 25%, now at an all-time high. the drought here in the u.s. partially to blame. while the gulf coast grapples with loss and damage from isaac, right now the storm is moving through the midwest, and with it, rain and relief for a part of the country in the middle of the worst drought in decades. we're talking several inches of rain from isaac for some parts of the midwest, and farmers are desperate. but it may be too late or not enough for some. our national correspondent susan candiotti is in farmington, missouri, this morning. s