Colin Powell
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced he would break from the Republican Party to endorse President Obama for a second term. Reuters/Chip East

- President Barack Obama will campaign, in Florida, Virginia and Ohio on Thursday to make his appeal to swing state voters.

- Vice President Joe Biden will also be in Ohio, speaking at Marion Harding High School before returning to Washington. On Thursday night, the vice president and his wife, Jill Biden, will host a reception for Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the Naval Observatory.

- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced he would break from the Republican Party to endorse President Obama for a second term.

- Obama is currently has a 5 percentage-point lead over his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, in Ohio, according to a Time magazine poll.

- During an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Wednesday night, Obama slammed comments made by Indiana senate candidate Richard Mourdock about pregnancies resulting from rape, saying “I don’t know where they get these ideas. ... Rape is rape. It is a crime.”