CNN news 2012-10-19 加文本

cnn news 2012-10-19

CARL AZUZ, cnn ANCHOR: President Barack Obama, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 90 minute debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, but the set up for this one was different than their first debate two weeks ago. This time it was a town hall format. That means instead of the candidates just answering questions from a moderator, they were asked questions directly by members of the audience. And for last night`s debate, those questions came from people who hadn`t yet made up their minds about whom they would be voting for in November. This second presidential debate covered domestic and foreign policy issues, here is a look at some of the questions and some of the candidates` answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a 20-year old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I would have little chance to get employment. What can you say to reassure me, but more importantly, my parents that I`ll be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The key thing is to make sure you can get a job when you get out of school. And what`s happened over the last four years, it`s been very, very hard for America`s young people. I want you to be able to get a job. I know what it takes to get this economy going. With half of college kids graduating this year without a college - without a job and without a college level job, that`s just unacceptable. And likewise, you get more and more debt on your back. So, more debt and less jobs. I`m going to change that. I know what it takes to create good jobs again.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The most important thing we can do is to make sure that we are creating jobs in this country, but not just jobs, good paying jobs, ones that can support a family. And what I want to do is build on the 5 million jobs that we`ve created over the last 30 months in the private sector alone, and there are a bunch of things that we can do to make sure your future is bright. Number one, I want to build manufacturing jobs in this country again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace? Specifically regarding females, making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?

OBAMA: Women are increasingly the breadwinners in the family. This is not just a women`s issue, this is a family issue, this is a middle class issue. And that`s why we`ve got to fight for it. It also means, that we`ve got to make sure that young people like yourself are able to afford the college education.

ROMNEY: We are going to have employers in the new economy, in the economy I`m going to bring to play that are going to be so anxious to get good workers, they are going to be anxious to hire women. In the last four years, women have lost 580,000 jobs. That`s the net of what`s happened in the last four years. We are still down 580,000 jobs.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See if you can I.D. me. I`m a position in the U.S. presidential cabinet. I`m fourth in line to the presidency. My primary job is to give the president advice on foreign policy and then carry out the president`s policy.

I`m the Secretary of State, a position currently held by Hillary Clinton.

AZUZ: Secretary Clinton says another part of her job is to be in charge of security at American diplomatic facilities, that means U.S. embassy and consulate buildings in other countries. One of those facilities, the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was the target of a terrorist attack last month. Four Americans were killed and there have been a lot of accusations and questions about whether there was enough security at the consulate, and about which government officials should be held accountable.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I take responsibility. I`m in charge of the State Department. 60,000 plus people, all over the world, 275 posts. The president and the vice president certainly wouldn`t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals.

AZUZ: A group of center Republicans responded to Secretary Clinton statement. They called it, a laudable gesture, but said the security of Americans serving the nation around the world is ultimately the job of the president.