. >> that was mitt romney and paul ryan earlier today on an airport tarmac in columbus, ohio. pointing at something, and ixnaying any talking about the abate day because of that icrophone nay. what they were pointing at there. what mitt romney was alerting paul ryan to there, a suspicious looking boom mike hovering up above that was capturing what mitt ryan -- mitt ryan? what mitt romney and paul ryan were saying. the point where mr. romney interrupted mr. ryan was when he said, you know, he was just acting so -- and romney jumped in, careful. careful. ixnay on the talking. at his first post-debate appearance today in wisconsin, vice president joe biden took the final topic of last night's debate, issue of abortion rights and hit paul ryan with it pretty forcefully. >> if anyone had a doubt about what's at stake in this election, when it comes to women's rights, and the supreme court, i'm sure they were settled last night. it was made clear last night that they don't believe in protecting a woman's access to health care. it was made very clear that they do not believe a woman has a rig

states. >> tonight, joe biden and paul ryan in their only vice presidential face off. >> we are going to give you a clear choice. >> he has a fundamentally different view. >> the vice president setting his sights on the romney ryan economic plan. >> we've seen this movie before. it ended in a catastrophe. >> the the congressman taking aim at the obama-biden white house record. >> you can turn on the tv and you can look at how the obama foreign policy is blowing up in our faces. >> the candidates know the debate stakes are higher after ryan's boss scored and biden's boss stumbled. now, c nnn's coverage. >> we will take responsibility and own up and get things dope. >> america's coming back! we're not going back! we're going forward! >> the nation is watching. voters want answers and america's future is up for debate. >>> this is danville, kentucky. the sight of tonight's debate. joe biden and paul ryan is getting ready for their only chance to compete face to face on the issues. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world to debate night in america. i'm wol

different list when it's paul ryan on the stage than when it is mitt romney on the stage? >> i would go to those ideological things. not so much the problematic problems governor romney faces personally but the ideological charts, do we really want to make a woman a murderer if she chooses to end a pregnancy, do we really want to get into that territory morally as a government? do we want to do that in civil society? do we want to be taking a wway e medicare promise to people in any generation when you say to a person when they reach their 80s, go out, get on a bus and go find yourself an insurance company that's going to insure your health at this point. do we really want to do those kinds of things? and was it right to deal ideologically with the auto industry when we had to interrupt the normal processes of the market and do something extraordinary? romney said, no, let it happen. let them eat cake. obama said, no, i'm going to take this risk. he was right. the ideological issues are the very issues where i think what you can do tonight, it's a political term in philadelphia, you mid

. by one word. you know the one word. vouchers. the way paul ryan wants to deal with health care which won't work for medicare. personhood. the way he wants to basically in effect criminalize, turn it into murder abortion decisions. the emergency room. where this presidential candidate of the republican party wants to send people rather than give them obama care. bankruptcy, where he wanted to see the auto industry. these are, 47% the way he disdained half the american people for being dependent and in a sense moochers. these are huge issues in this campaign, all raised before last week's debate, not raised by the president in last week's debate. i think in addition to winning tonight he has to win, biden has to bring out those issues and score with them. i think that's a big challenge for joe biden. let's see if he can do it. >> in addition to all of those things you listed, you know, chris, last week it was supposed to be a domestic policy debate. that is what they focused on. they left out immigration, left out mitt romney's jobs record. they left out mitt romney's record at bain. t

baldwin. here we go. round one. the only round, actually, here. joe biden, paul ryan. both have arrived in danville, kentucky, to battle tonight in debate. and the vice president landed just about within the past hour or so. that's his daughter there on his left. by his side, ashley and hunter and bo got officer two, as well. paul ryan flew in to town yesterday for the debate that begins in less than seven hours. keep in mind that is 9:00 eastern time. we have jim acosta on the ground in danville. i want to start with brianna keilar, white house correspondent, in kentucky for us, as well, right now. let's start with the exclusive pictures. the picture you have sort of behind the scenes and see is that the replica of the debate set and seeing joe biden? >> reporter: it's very similar to the debate set that we'll see tonight during the debate here in danville, kentucky. the pictures you are looking at, actually, though are of what's really a second floor ballroom in the wilmington, delaware, shert sherton. you can see how much the biden team tried to duplicate the tea here. >> here we go.

what they heard from joe biden. and republicans will be pleased with what they heard from paul ryan. this debate will go down in history, very substantive. one thing on national security, foreign policy issues. congressman paul ride ryan. >> both men going toe to toe, and neither man blinking as you said. both sides, democrats and republicans, a lot there that they both will probably be happy about. let's go to panelists, reporters, john king. >> after the debate. america needs more of that. these are happy warriors. mrs. ryan went over and talked to the vice president. and we need more of that in washington and across america. people who can have a spirited debate, disagree on just about everything and then shake hands, say hey, how are you doing? >> i got the sense that joe biden enjoyed the debate. >> we talked about this at the beginning. a leading compassionate conservative voice and a leading compassionate liberal voice, but they respect the other side. they both did what they wanted to do the democrats are happy. look at the twitter verse, read e-mail, democrats were despondent, di

paul ryan is ready for the first question in tonight's debate. so what do you bench? >>> pumped up and ready to rumble, sort of. >> it's my first time so, sure, it's a nervous situation. >> did you ever see me rope-a-dope? >> i think joe just needs to be joe. >> paul ryan set to clear any confusion about the romney/ryan ticket. >> i'm a pro-life candidate, i'll be a pro-life president. >> our position is consistent and hasn't changed. >> he can't clear up confusion on his own budget. >> i don't have the time -- it would take me too long to go through all the math. >> oh, brother. just spin already. >> i just got to ask what's your personal best? >> 1under three. >> holy smoke. >> i stand by what i said, whatever it was. >>> we are pumped up, fired up, and jacked up with just hours until tonight's first and only face-off between vice president joseph biden and vice presidential nominee paul ryan. and what was once regarded as a popcorn side show has taken on far greater significance in the wake of the president's less than scintillating performance last week. democrats are anxious,

ryan. i agree with you there were times when paul ryan was holding his own. i would score it differently. i felt like he, there were times when he felt like he was well in over his head, particularly when he had no idea how to explain what was wrong with the plan to leave afghanistan in 2014 which he said was also his plan. but i think you're right to break down -- >> allow me a second here. >> please. >> i want to emphasize how i weight these things. i know everybody's watching tonight, there may be 40 million, 50 million people watching tonight, especially on this network. i'm glad they're here. i think there's issues people are listening for for particular reasons that affect their families. medicare, anyone 65, near it or older is focusing intently on that and heard one guy defend it, one guy talk about this razzle-dazzle radical change. on taxes it's hard to defend the very rich when you talk about people making millions of dollars. i think joe biden nailed that one. abortion, i thought that ryan did a heartfelt thing but what he said was i'm for outlawing abortion in a

blitzer. we're in the cnn election center for a come on hennive look at how paul ryan did in this debate. we're releasing the results of the poll of debate watchers. who won tonight? john berman continues to pore through the candidates' answers. erin burnett stands by. when they gave the candidates highest and lowest marks. we expected a lively debate and we got it. congressman ryan argued forcefully for changes in the program and said it will go bankrupt. and he said the president's health care reform plan makes things worse. >> look what obama care does. it takes $716 billion from medicare to spend on obama care. even their own chief actuary says you can't claim this goes to medicare and obama care and then they cut medicare each and every year in ways that will denied care for current seniors. this board, 15 people, the president will appoint them next year, and not one with medical training. they haven't put a credible solution on the table. he'll tell you about vouchers, say all of these things to try and scare people. here is what we're saying. give younger people when they

coming from the romney campaign for paul ryan's big night tonight? here what happens his senior adviser, dan senor told chuck todd this morning, when it was really cold. >> he has to make the case about the choice in the election, all right? things have been rough over the last four years and it's incumbent on president obama and vice president biden to explain what exactly has happened over the last four years 23 million americans out of work, 47 million americans on food stamps 1 in 6 americans in poverty have them explain the rational for why they deserve a second term. there is a choice as it relates to the budgets, they are running on the romney/ryan agenda. governor romney laid out a plan, his five-point plan for the middle class. >> nbc's ron mott has been covering congressman ryan throughout and traveling with him and interviewing dan senor as well, and joins me now here. you've been with ryan camp. what is the mood? they must have gotten pumped up. >> totally. >> by the romney performance. now there's a whole expectation game for their own performance tonight. >> they'v

carlson thanks for shared up the day with us. paul ryan has debate advice. >> more people signed up for medicare after the change. >> no body -- i know i know you're under a lot of duress. >> did biden's demeanor cost him the victory . we report and you decide. >> steve: vice-president biden telling us who is to blame for the botched consulate attack. he said the intelligence community and sy. here is a comment that had back scratchers scratching -- fact scratchers scratching their head. >> brian: wait until you hear who won an award. "fox and friends" starsts right now. ♪ ♪ "fox and friends". >> steve: yeah. the debate just ended. the president of the united states said at the last debate he had with mitt romney he was too polite. joe biden last night didn't have that problem. he was trying to stop the erosion. and many independents were heading over to the republican side . joe biden was joe biden in so many ways. his demeanor was extraordinary. >> gretchen: i thought it was totally overthe top disrespectful. just speaking as a woman and i want to know the difference in the gender

keeps the hits coming after his knockout debate with paul ryan. >> stop talking about how you care about people. show me something. >> richard wolffe on the education of congressman paul ryan. >> ronald reagan -- >> now you're jack kennedy? >> ronald reagan -- >> "now's" terri o'neal on the romney ticket's disaster for women. >> if the romney/ryan ticket is elected, should those who believe abortion should remain legal be worried? >> david cay johnston on ryan's sixth study lie. >> can you guarantee this math will add up? >> absolutely. six studies have guaranteed. >> and what's more disrespectful? lying to america or interrupting a guy who's lying to america? >> it was openly contemptuous and disrespectful. >> karen finney on the right wing freak-out over joe biden's knockout performance. >> ever felt that way where you just want to deck somebody? >> an obnoxious drunk. i think somewhere during the debate he took ritalin. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. what did we see? we witnessed a schooling on the issues by vice president joe biden last night.

joe biden, paul ryan, simply let it fly and when it was over the american people scored it a draw. cnn/orc poll of debate watchers showed that 48% felt that paul ryan won. 44% said that the vice president joe biden won. of course that would be a statistical tie when you calculate in the margin of error. we begin with cnn's dana bash with some of the highlights of the night. good morning. >> good morning. we were here. we watched it all. you really could feel the intensity of it from the beginning. all 90 minutes. it was very intense. there were some smiles and smirks on both sides. but all in all it was very substantive. these were two men who both came ready to tangle. >> world -- >> thank heavens -- >> reporter: on taxes. >> you can cut tax rates by 20% and still preserve this important preferences for middle class taxpayers. >> not mathematically possible. >> it is mathematically possible. >> on medicare. >> they just allo medicare to bargain for the cost of drugs like medicaid can, that would save $156 billion right off the bat. >> and it would deny seniors choices. >> all --

election tonight, but he can reset the tone. hear's what joe biden has to do. forget paul ryan. it's the agenda. it's who these people are and what they want to do to this country. and there's nobody more equipped to step to the plate for the democrats than joe biden who knows the agenda of the democrats and the progressive movement in this country. where does paul ryan stand on his own budget that was passed twice? think about paul ryan. he has to go to the plate tonight and take a swing at trying to knock it out of the park when the plan that he put forward for america does not poll in the majority. he has to make the case to the american people tonight that his plan is best for america where it doesn't poll anywhere pol positively. so i think the vice president has to make sure that they don't miss opportunities. >> does he bring the heat on every issue, does he bring the heat on the 47%. >> don't be ofafraid to say 31 months of private jobs growth is great for america considering where we were and these folks want it take us back to deregulation, giving more tax breaks to the wea

are pumped up. paul ryan seems especially pumped up. >> before too long, we could become as a saudi we were never intended to be. we could become a society where the net majority of americans are makers, not takers. 70% of americans want the american believe. they believe the american idea. >> ready to rumble. watch out, uncle joe. actually, "time" magazine released these photos today showing congressman ryan pumping iron last december, not exactly the images he wants out the night before he needs to prove that he's ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. ryan's workout routine probably won't come up tonight but his macho vision for the country will and it should. ryan and romney are pushing a radical remaking of the social contract that americans have relied on for many decades. it's a investigation that includes a budget where 62% of the cuts come from the poor. cuts to medicaid, cuts to food stamps, pell grants, all while cuts to the defense department and oil industry continue as usual. ryan will have to defend that record tonight and he'll have to defend comments like

exclusive. paul ryan tells us about his preparations to go head-to-head with vice president joe biden. standby. also behind the scenes photos and new details from vice president biden's practice sessions. and new polls from the swing states are coming in. they show why tonight's debate is more crucial than ever for both men at the top of the ticket. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're down to only 26 days until the presidential election. and right now joe biden and paul ryan are getting ready for debate night in america. there's intense pressure as the polls show the two tickets are closer than ever. cnn has full coverage of both candidates. we begin with congressman paul ryan in an interview you will see only, only here on cnn. cnn senior congressional correspondent dana bash, she sat down with congressman ryan. she's joining us now live from the debate site in danville, kentucky. dana, how's he preparing for tonight? >> reporter: well, you know, wolf, he is doing what is now traditional for candidates who are running for president and vice president, which is

bunch of mullarkey. >> paul ryan shot back, being frank about what he thought was going on. >> mr. vice president, i know you're under a lot of duress to make up lost ground, but people would be better served if we don't keep interrupting each other. >> i want to bring in nicholas kristof columnist from "the new york times." there is talk about how vice presidential debates generally don't matter, they might have been more important last night because of the bad debate the president had last week. let's gist say if the goal was that biden was, needed to fire up the base, that maybe paul ryan was do no harm, is there a clear winner here? >> my take was i thought paul ryan did a very solid job. even on foreign affairs, which is not something he frankly knows a lot about. he was pretty solid. i do think biden, i would give it to biden on points, and he, while clearly he managed to antagonize a lot of conservatives, often he did manage to have an ability to be pretty biting and pretty sarcastic and deflating without coming across as really nasty. >> let me play a little more from paul ryan.

poll gave paul ryan the edge in the vice- presidential debate. an instant cbs pulled it to joe bibiden. new york times says it was a dedebate with clarity and fervor. following the exchange on medicare and sial security. >> medicare icand social zuccotti did so much for my own family. we will not jeopardize this program.m. >> your jeopardize in the program. you are changing the pgram from a guaranteed benefits. the bottomom line is th people will pay more money out of their pocket. >>talking points memo ask the question showed obama supporters start faking out? [lghter] ninamy question, did the vice presidident head off the free get it? >> i think he probably did. the for the people he was cheering him on, he did what the president didd not dohehe week befo. he answered every single thing that all rain hadd to say. -- that paul ryan had to say. if he had not beenilled in that smile all the time, which is kind of a tick when he is ticked offou wouould havave said that he wiped the for with paul ryan. >> josh, pick a winner. >> if you read the tracript,t, it was a draw. if you li

the vice presidential debate tonight, detrimentally incumbent joe biden faced off against paul ryan, the sex at stake wre high, the strong performance of mitt romney changed the race, it is now wide open with just 25 days until the election, joe biden and paul ryan competed to take control of the narrative. >> this benghazi issue would be a tragedy in and of itself but unfortunately it is indicative of a broader problem and that's what we are watching on the tv screens is the unravelling of the obama foreign policy, we cannot allow iran to gain a nuclear weapons capabiliy. n, t'stake lo at where we have come from. when barack obama was elected, they had enough fissionable ferrill to make one bomb and now they have enough five, they are racing toward a nuclear weapon and four years closer to a nuclear weapons capability. >> war should always be the absolute last resort, these why these crippling sanctions with netanyahu says we should continue if not mistaken romney says we should continue, i may be mistaken, he changed his mind so often i could be wrong, but the fact othe mter is,e says

use the word we advisedly. let's play first of all what was said by joe biden and by paul ryan in the debate last night. >> this is becoming more troubling by the day. they first blamed the youtube video. now they're trying to blame the romney/ryan ticket for making this an issue. >> we weren't told they wanted more security. we did not know they wanted more security. >> i was surprised when he said that, because as a viewer, watching, i was like well, hang on a second, i thought the state department had said that they received these warnings. mitt romney today has doubled down on the attacks on joe biden, what he said. watch this. >> the vice president directly contradicted the sworn testimony of state department officials. he's doubling down on denial. >> the white house has said, hang on, he's just talking about himself and the president. how plausible is that? >> well, you know, the buck has to stop somewhere. they are in charge. diplomacy overseas is important to the executive branch as any mission i can think of, and this whole thing is just troubling to me, piers, because there

, representative paul ryan, their one and only debate. tonight, all issues are on the table, starting with the economy. >> hey, talk about this great recession that they acknowledge as if it fell from the sky. >> he inherited a tough situation. the problem is, he didn't make things better. >> in a key interview today, cnbc provided a forum for the left, right and big business, as the united states speeds towards the fiscal cliff. >> there's nothing that will allow the fed to compensate for a total advocation of fiscal responsibility. >> they believe honestly that no congress could be this stupid and by god they can. >> we should be asking these guys running for president and every guy running for congress, what are you going to do? >> tonight, paul ryan and joe biden will have to explain. now, once again, carl waand bec. >> as the audience starts to take their seats in kentucky we want to run through what will be our pregame tonight for a vice presidential debate that has taken on much more importance than usual. >> on the docket john engler, a key state in the discussion pr

squares off against paul ryan in a tightening race with only 25 days until the election. did biden make up for president obama's last debate stumble? in the battle of the number twos. >>> know the score. the political heavyweights who helped sarah palin and george w. bush prep for their debates tell us what marks they give the vice presidential contenders for a "nightline" report card. >>> plus, right brain, left brain. could which painting you refer tell which candidate you could vote for? we test the theory that your mind might be made up for you this election. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline," one-on-one, the vice presidential debate. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. tonight, a feisty on-stage showdown as vice president joe biden and his republican challenger paul ryan went head-to-head for the first and only time, with time running short here. the stakes and the tension seemed especially high, you a new polls showing a spike in support of mitt rom nea

rules that a student's race and ethnicity should not apply when applying to university. >> paul ryan got the edge in the vice-presidential debate. and an instant cbs will give it to joe biden. new york times said it was a debate with clarity and fervor, and the washington post -- the debate gave viewers a real boost. >> medicare and social zuccotti did so much for my own family. we will let jeopardize this -- medicare and social security did so much for my own family. we will not jeopardize this program. >> the bottom line is that people have to pay more money out of their pocket. >> talking points memo asked the question should obama supporters start freaking out? [laughter] did the vice president head off a freak out. >> i think he probably did. for the days, for the people who are cheering him on, he did with the president did not do the week before. he answered every single thing that iran had to say. i actually thought -- that ryan had to say. i actually thought that, if he had not been billed in that smile the time, which is a biden tick when he is ticked off, if he had not done th

paul ryan's political life. but predictions as to which version of the paul ryan will show up remain nearly impossible. just as mitt romney's staff wiped their hard drives after leaving the massachusetts's governor's office romney has done the saipe thing to his running mate's motherboard, reset to factory settings. this was the original model -- >> specifically, on spending, our budget spends $4.8 trillion less than the majority's budget. today we would have to set aside $56 trillion invested at treasury rates to make sure the programs are solvent. we're going to start bit cutting $6.2 trillion in spending. >> but at a product demo august 11 th rhine version 2.0 was foud to be significantly altered. >> he's the next vice president of the united states. >> look right here. >> just three days later, paul ryan suddenly had fewer numbers and fewer answers. >> the budget plan that you're now supporting would get to balance when? >> well, there are different -- the budget plan that mitt romney is supporting gets us down to 20% of gdp government spending by 2016. >> i get that but w

a word to describe paul ryan's performance tonight. >> paul ryan an awesome opponent. >> quickly. >> i thought he did a good job. >> go ahead. >> i thought ryan and martha allowed biden to interrupt too often. >> unfocused. >> i felt like he was confident and respectful. >> and i think he was looking scared. >> prepared. >> deb onyair. >> deb onyair. -- so talking about biden interrupting and occasional laughing. did you see that? is that obvious to you? >> i thought it's disrespectful. he had plenty of time to respond. shouldn't have done it. >> i thought huge mistake and very arrogant. i can't forget that. >> did you have an issue with it? >> yes. i thought it was disrespectful. >> so as you watch this, your conclusion are they qualified to be president? yes or no? so i guess my question is... now that you've watched the two of them, your reaction as you compare the two? would be? dan? >> compare the two? biden could be president. ryan basically still learning to be president. social certainly he would be capable of it. >> did he exceed your expectations? he exceeded it. he was

parties and candidates, paul ryan who'll be referred to as mr. rubi mr. ryan already har people in place, they come in reminding reporters, their candicandidate is not up to snu. do not expect much. paul ryan's people have been saying he younger, a lot less experienced, joe biden has been around forest e. and elected to senate whennpaul ryan of all of 3 years old, and biden comes back saying that paul ryan has been right in the heat, well steeped in this give and take. he has the edge over the vice president, then, when all said and done, both guys are considered by their guys to be little bit brilliant. that is amazing, that ascends over the stan standard of find e minutes. a man who knows these debates well, could be, majority leader. of course, mitch mcconnell here in the spin room, not many spinmeisters here. but i guess there will be. >> correct t welcome to kentuck. neil: a beautiful state. our table on what paul ryan has to do today, people have told us, hey, the onus so him. man, don't expect much. >> i think that the onus is on both, given significance of last week's debat