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Campbell Brown
Battling the Palin Buzz; Tropical Storm Hanna's Path?; What Female Voters Think About Sarah Palin; A Look at Palin's Troopergate Scandal
Aired September 05, 2008 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're talking Republicans, Democrats. They range in age from 26 to 59. But, again, they all know exactly what the McCain campaign is trying to do here. And they're not all happy about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just because she's a woman, do you think I'm going to automatically vote for her? I want to feel that he picked her because she was the best qualified to do this job. But I always wonder, if he didn't see anything on her -- he only saw her resume and not her gender, would she still have been on his short to pick, too?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really threw me off, having a woman in. I try not to do things with my heart, and because I'm a mom and because I have a child with special needs. I just can't back somebody and I don't want someone to vote for someone because they have a child with Down syndrome. That's not the idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: We talked a little bit of everything there. We talked about not just why she was on the ticket, what the strategy was for putting her on the ticket, and how these women were hopefully going to respond to her, but also what they thought of her as a mother, what they thought of her as a mother who is going for the number-two job in the United States, how they feel about some of her positions, Campbell.
And these women didn't hold back. The one thing, though, that they all agreed upon is, whether or not they agree with her politics, they do feel this is a historic and an exciting event. And for that, they're actually happy to see it.
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: No question about that. And I have to say, too, as a mother, the idea that this is being talked about as part of the conversation with regard to the campaign is exciting in and of itself.
HILL: It is. As a mother myself, I have to agree, absolutely.
BROWN: All right, Erica, look forward to hearing a lot more from your panel in the next hour.
And that starts right now. Lots going on tonight. We're resetting here for those just joining us. We're following all the big stories here in the ELECTION CENTER, including breaking news tonight on two big storms barreling toward the East Coast tonight. We're live on the scene.
And, in politics, just 60 days to go until Election Day. Can you believe it? And all of a sudden, Barack Obama not the only rock star in this race. Sarah Palin is bringing so much buzz to the McCain ticket. How does Obama fight back. We will talk about that tonight.
Also, John McCain practically made maverick his middle name, a smart strategy to distance himself from the deeply unpopular Republican in the White House, maybe. But McCain is a four-term senator, not exactly a Washington outsider. So, can he make the maverick label stick?
And thousands of you sent e-mails to us about my interview with McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds on Monday. Later on, I have got a few words to say about that. So, stay with us.
But first up tonight, more on Sarah Palin and the trooper controversy.
Alaska officials say that they are speeding up their investigation into whether the governor acted improperly and tried to get her state trooper ex-brother-in-law fired.
Our Drew Griffin got an exclusive interview with the man at the center of the controversy.
Drew, what have you got?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: For the first time, and he says the last time, Campbell, Mike Wooten says he is telling all about his very, very bitter relationship with the Palin family.
Here's one of the questions that we asked him here in Anchorage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Did you threaten to kill your father-in-law?
MIKE WOOTEN, ALASKA STATE TROOPER: No, I did not.
GRIFFIN: You didn't say you were going to put a "f'ing bullet in his head"?
WOOTEN: No, I did not.
GRIFFIN: So, those people that say they heard that are lying?
WOOTEN: I didn't threaten him. And I have never threatened anyone, for that matter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Those people that say that they heard him say that, Campbell, one of them was Sarah Palin, this person's ex brother-in- law.
That's the center of this investigation, and, also, whether or not the governor used her powers to try to get this man fired. It's creating quite a stir in Alaska before she was announced for vice president, and now this whole controversy has gone national. We will hear much more from trooper Mike Wooten, the center of trooper-gate, coming up later in your show.
BROWN: I know, Drew, and it is a strange and fascinating interview. We look forward to seeing the whole thing coming up shortly.
Now let's turn to the campaign trail.
John McCain and Sarah Palin barreled out of their convention hitting a series of swing states. So, will the magic of Saint Paul follow them?
Let's go back to Dana Bash, who is with the McCain campaign in Sterling Heights, Michigan, for us.
And, Dana, McCain's new message to voters: Look at my career. Look at Sarah Palin. We're the reformers here. We're the mavericks. If you really want change, we're the ones you want to vote for.
Let's listen to a little bit of what he said earlier this evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: That's why this ticket is the ticket to shake up Washington, because Senator Obama doesn't have the strength to do it.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: He has never bucked his party on any issue -- never. If you want real reform, if you want real change, send the ones who have actually done it. Send the ones who -- send a team of mavericks who aren't afraid to go to Washington and break some china.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, Dana, go to Washington, break some China. How does John McCain convince voters -- what is his plan to do this? Because he's been in Washington for nearly 30 years. His party controls the White House. How does he make the case that he's the change candidate here and not Barack Obama?
BASH: Well, it's not going to be easy, Campbell. But it's actually something that John McCain has been talking about and actually started to talk about, believe it or not.
Back in the spring, before Barack Obama was officially the Democratic nominee, but it was pretty clear he was headed that way, McCain started saying that Barack Obama talks the talk, but I walk the walk, and started to detail kind of under the radar a little bit at that point some of the things that he has done in Washington, like pushing for campaign finance reform, pushing for immigration reform, and really angering his own party, and obviously fighting against things like earmarks, which almost every member of Congress absolutely loves to bring home the bacon.
So, he started doing that pretty heavily in the spring, but then took a little bit of a detour and had been hitting Barack Obama much more recently things like not being ready to be commander in chief. But now, Campbell, a person who he calls his political soul mate in Sarah Palin, somebody who is a lot like him, that is really the reason why they're hitting this.
But they know it's not going to be easy. And they know the more that they do this, the more Barack Obama and the Democrats are going to say, wait a minute, he's McSame. He's the same kind of person as George W. Bush.
And that is something that is pretty hard to fight, the McCain campaign knows. They know that very well.
BROWN: All right, Dana Bash for us tonight -- Dana, thanks.
Barack Obama certainly not sitting by and letting John McCain have the spotlight all to himself. He's fighting back with a familiar theme, tying McCain to the current president.
And Candy Crowley has more from Washington on all that tonight.
And, Candy, one guy you didn't hear a lot about at all in Saint Paul this week was President Bush. But Barack Obama is going to fix that pretty quickly, I think. Let's listen to what he said on the stump today.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You would think that George Bush and his potential Republican successor, John McCain, would be spending a lot of time worrying about the economy and all these jobs that are being lost on their watch.
But if you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn't know that we had the highest unemployment rate in five years, because they didn't say a thing about what is going on with the middle class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: All right, Candy, we're going to be hearing stuff like this I think every day between now and November 4, aren't we?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Senator McCain Bush, a new figure out there on the campaign trail. This has been their strategy all along.
This is what they believe is the working strategy, that, as long as they can tie John McCain to George Bush and say, here's how many times or here's the percentage that he voted for -- with Bush, over 90 percent of the time, as -- certainly as these economic figures continue to come out showing an economy that is truly struggling, they believe that is a winning message.
They are bringing the focus back to John McCain. This is where they think it ought to be. And you noted the talk about, well, they're talking about -- the McCain camp is talking all about personalities, but this is really about you. And the reason that they talk about personalities is, they don't know what to do with the economy. They don't really have a plan.
So, you can look for Senator McCain Bush a lot in the words of Barack Obama and some of his surrogates. And you will hear a lot about issues, particularly when they go into some of those working-class areas that have been somewhat resistant to Obama's appeal.
BROWN: And, on that point, Candy, quickly, you know, Joe Biden was in Pennsylvania today working those Scranton roots of his. John McCain hoping Sarah Palin is going to make inroads in those areas with those working-class voters you're talking about. How are they working to try to prevent that?
CROWLEY: Well, they're going to put her out there, as soon as they -- I mean, obviously, she still has a very steep learning curve here.
But the McCain campaign certainly wants her to go to some of those places. But, more importantly, they really do see her as someone who has roused the evangelicals and the Christian right in the party. So, you will see her in those places as well, because that's where her real strength was Wednesday night, as a matter of fact, was bringing that party together, something McCain hasn't been able to do for a year-and-a-half.
BROWN: All right, Candy Crowley for us tonight -- Candy, thanks.
We're going to talk about all of that with some of the smartest people in politics. That's coming up just ahead.
Also, Sarah Palin, whatever you think about her, most of you have a pretty strong opinion, maybe even about the media coverage of her. Is it sexist? Is it fair? We're going to get into all of that tonight in a special edition of the ELECTION CENTER.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: John McCain and Sarah Palin were tearing up the campaign trail today. He's painting himself now as a straight-shooting maverick. She's, of course, the darling of the Republican base.
We have some of the smartest people in politics ready to tell us what they think about all this tonight, David Gergen, CNN senior political analyst, joining us, former adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton, Paul Begala, Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor, and Bay Buchanan, Republican strategist and former senior adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
And, David, let me get you to weigh in on what we have been talking about, this -- change being the big buzz word now that both campaigns have adopted, John McCain trying to change his message more from less focus on experience, more on reforming Washington.
How do you do that when you have been a member of the Washington establishment for as long as he has?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the single most important way he's done that so far is to appoint Sarah Palin to his ticket.
I mean, he's taken a great risk with it, but so far, that risk has certainly paid off, because it's electrified his base. And it's done one other thing. It seems to have electrified John McCain.
You know, he's got much more personal energy out there than he's had. And look at the crowd he got today when he went out to Wisconsin. You had 12,000 people cheering. People showed up. That's a much bigger kind of crowd than he's been getting in the past. What's that all about?
It's all about Sarah Palin, a woman everybody's curious about. She's got this kind of star power. Whether that will last, whether she will succeed over the weeks ahead, that's a very different question. But, at the moment, she's really helping him to put more energy behind himself and his party.
BROWN: Let me go to Bay on this point, because, Bay, I know you think we in the media are beating up Sarah Palin. But there are also Republicans who have raised concerns about her.
BAY BUCHANAN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN CAUSE: Sure.
BROWN: Let me just read you -- Charles Krauthammer, a conservative columnist for "The Washington Post," writes that: "Palin fatally undermines this entire line of attack, this through no fault of her own. It's simply a function of her rookie status. The vice president's only constitutional duty of any significance is to become president at a moment's notice. Palin is not ready. Nor is Obama. But, with Palin, the case against Obama evaporates."
McCain's own one-time strategist Mike Murphy writes: "With all her charm, she is still a pick aimed squarely at the Republican base. In a high-turnout presidential year, I'm not worried about turning out the base. I'm worried about everybody else we need to win. I fear, among those voters, Sarah Palin will be a dud."
Given those -- how do you address those concerns, Bay?
BUCHANAN: You know, the first thing, if you can find a vice president that can do what Sarah has done in, what, a week, this is a find. Anybody would take such a person.
As David pointed, she has completely energized the party. We are wildly excited about John McCain, somebody I never thought I would be excited about. We are thankful for him to share this ticket with him.
Secondly, she really has given us history. It's very exciting. The media's going to be paying a lot of attention. She's fresh. She's new. She's interesting. Crowds are coming out to see her.
All of this is -- if you can get that out of a vice presidential nominee, you're way ahead of the game. And, on top of that, she is qualified. She is a governor of a state. That is basically the pool from which voters have historically chosen their presidents, for heaven's sakes.
They like people with that kind of experience. And, generally, governors don't have foreign policy experience.
BROWN: Paul, let me let you weigh in on this.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, come on, no one with a straight face can say Sarah Palin is qualified to be president of the United States of America.
BUCHANAN: Oh, my God. I would love to see her. I would love to see her as president.
BEGALA: You know what? I will pray -- you have no idea -- I pray anyway, but I will not only pray. I will send vitamins to John McCain, workout tapes.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
BROWN: Bay's point may be that what she does bring to the ticket outweighs that anyway, the excitement. Where else could you have gotten that? I mean, that's a fair point.
BEGALA: It may well be.
But, as we say back in Texas, don't pea on my boots and tell me it's raining. Don't hold up signs at your convention that say "country first" when your first choice put politics first, apparently successfully so far. But it is politics first.
Peggy Noonan, a longtime speechwriter for Presidents Reagan and Bush, called it "political B.S." on a candid moment when she didn't know her microphone was on. That's what this is, perhaps successful politics, but this was not country first. This was politics first.
And this is about John McCain, not about Sarah Palin, and John McCain's judgment. This 72-year-old man who's had cancer four times, and for the most important choice of his life, he went politics, not country first.
BROWN: All right, there's so much to discuss on this front. And we're going to be doing it for the next 60 days, I'm sure.
To David, to Paul, and to Bay, thanks very much, guys. Appreciate it. BUCHANAN: Sure.
BROWN: Coming up, strange stagecraft at the Republican Convention. The backdrop behind John McCain wasn't what it seemed to be. We're going to explain what happened.
And then breaking news on Tropical Storm Hanna. Find out where it's likely to hit and when. We will have the very latest when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tropical Storm Hanna is bringing in intense downpours and powerful winds to the Southeast coast tonight.
CNN severe weather expert Chad Myers tracking the storms for us.
Chad, give us the very latest.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Campbell, it's evening raining all the way to D.C. already and Richmond, Virginia, the same, from this tiny little 70-mile-per-hour storm, with a fairly large wind field, not a big 150-mile-per-hour wind field, but windy almost everywhere as it gets towards Charleston and up toward maybe toward Myrtle Beach later on tonight.
There's your winds gusting to 70. I think maybe we could get some tropical storm into hurricane strength winds with this anyway. Another story is that it goes over Long Island on Sunday. We're certainly going to have to watch that.
One more thing I want to show you, what it's done in the past few what we call fixes from the airplanes. There's 11:00 a.m. There's 2:00. There's 4:00. There's 7:00. You keep drawing that line straight, that's Charleston. That's not the forecast. The forecast is for it to turn a little bit farther to the Northeast, maybe up toward Myrtle Beach. We will see if that happens.
It doesn't really matter where the eye, or the center, makes landfall, because there really isn't much of an eyewall to make more damage. But, certainly, the winds are out there now, some of the winds gusting, Charleston right now 32 miles per hour -- Campbell.
BROWN: All right, Chad, thanks very much.
Coming up next, women voters speak out. And they have got plenty to say about Palin's politics, parenting and personality.
And the Alaska State Trooper that Palin didn't like, it is her former brother-in-law -- his side of the story in a CNN exclusive coming up in a special edition of ELECTION CENTER.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We are turning now to a subject that I certainly know something about and a lot of you know a lot about as well, being a working mother. It involves a lot of juggling, a lot of multitasking, and it's something that Sarah Palin knows a lot about as well. It's a subject that her emergence into national politics has everybody talking about.
She is, of course, a mother of five, including a 4-month-old with special needs. And the question, "Does she have time to also be vice president?" has been raised. For some, it is a sexist question. For others, it's serious and it's worth talking about. Everybody seems to have a very strong opinion about this.
And that's why we asked Erica Hill to spend some time with a diverse group of women voters to get into all of this.
And, Erica, you had some pretty interesting reactions.
HILL: I did. It was a great conversation, Campbell. And we went to a very important state. We went to the swing state of Michigan. We were in the Detroit area, which, as you know, has been hit very hard economically, highest unemployment rate there.
And we asked these women, when we look at the questions about, can a working mom also be vice president, many of these moms with us were working mothers. We asked them specifically, do you feel those questions are sexist?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Are some of these questions, difficult as they may seem, especially for women to hear sometimes, when we're asking questions about can she do the job, can she balance her family, is it a double standard? Are those, though, in your mind, questions that you need answered?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that her balancing her family is not really my business. Her -- my thing is, can she help run the country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though the media does bring it up, but she brings it up as well, does she have it in the back of her mind is she questioning herself, too? Can she juggle five kids, still being a hockey mother, a vice president, a mother of an infant, plus a mother of a teenager, plus -- that's a lot of hats she has to wear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel that, when you question her qualifications, that people are automatically going to say that it's sexist. And we're just questioning. She's just a candidate. And we should be able to question her qualifications for the job, without, well, you're saying that just because she's a mom or she's a woman. And it's not -- that's never, like -- the first thought, is she qualified to do the job?
HILL: God forbid anything should happen to John McCain, but he could -- something could happen. God forbid, he dies. She -- if he's elected, she could be sworn in.
Just by a show of hands, are you comfortable, do you feel safe for yourself and for your families with Sarah Palin as the president of the United States?
So, two of you do.
What about what you know about her now makes you say, she is the woman to lead this country today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She seems very organized. A lot of my employees that I hire are moms because they're well-organized. They pay -- they do the budget in the household. They run things. They run the calendar, well-oiled machine. I mean, what the heck? I think there's a lot to be said.
Now, is that the best qualifications for her? Is that why I would vote for her? No. I want to know about her intelligence and things she's done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has done a lot of change in Alaska. She's done a lot of things. She's governor.
I mean, I -- I don't mean to sound harsh, but Obama's been a senator, and has spent most of the time a celebrity senator. He hasn't really done much. What has he done? She's done a lot more than him, and she's only going for vice president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have always heard the saying that, if you want something done, you give it to the busiest person. So, if you have got a working mom, that working mom is going to be able to get whatever that job is, and will get it done, get the job done.
You ladies know I'm right.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, I think that there's a lot of skills there of being a working mom having been the Alaskan governor, and raising her kids, and having a pregnancy, and having a small child. There is skill there that I think would work well for her as president.
But I still don't know enough about her to feel completely comfortable with her.
HILL: Is it OK, then to question those skills and to question how she is doing the juggling, if she's saying, hey, this is part of what makes me a great candidate? Is it still a double standard? Is it still sexist, or is it just being realistic?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree, but I think that we eventually have to get past it and get to the bigger issues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Are we asking Barack Obama how is he going to manage being a father and run the country at the same time? Are we asking that? No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Barack isn't saying, I'm a father. You should vote for me.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he is one, though. He is one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he didn't say, I began my career as a father and a PTA mom and...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: True.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: John McCain's own test for vice president was somebody who would be ready to lead on day one. And I think organizational skills are great. I'm not taking anything away from her accomplishments or her organizational skills. But I don't know that the vice president is supposed to -- that's supposed to be the number one characteristic of what makes a good vice president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels like pandering to me. It feels short- sighted. It feels like, well, let's shake things up. Let's throw a woman in there, like, as women, we're not smart enough to think about, you know, what the real issues are and what really matters, and that we would just vote for her because she's a woman. And we won't.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: So, if they're not just going to vote for Sarah Palin because she's a woman, what would get this group of eight women to cast their vote for the McCain/Palin ticket? We will have a little bit more on that coming up -- Campbell.
BROWN: They also talked to you about what they thought about the 17- year-old daughter of Sarah Palin and her pregnancy.
HILL: And they actually brought that up on their own, which I thought was interesting.
BROWN: So, we will hear more from the women when we come back.
Everybody, stay with us. We will be back with more of Erica's conversation with these women right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: In just one week, Sarah Palin went from a little-known governor to the most talked about woman in America. And Erica Hill is back now with more about what female voters think about the woman who would be vice president.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And really in the past weekend, she came out blazing on Wednesday night firing on all cylinders. Really firing up her base. Of course, the question is, can she fire up the independents, the undecideds, and some of the women that I spoke to in Michigan?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANNE SIMS SINGLE WOMAN: And it's almost like, oh, just because she's a woman, do you think I'm going to automatically vote for her? I want to feel that he picks her because she was the best qualified to do this job. But I always wonder, you know, if he didn't see anything on her -- you know, he only saw her resume and not her gender, would she still have been put on his short list of pick to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really threw me off having a woman in. I try not to do things with my heart and because I'm a mom and because I have a child with special needs. I just can't back somebody, and I don't want someone to vote for someone because they have a child with Down syndrome. That's not the idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We vote on the issues but just the fact that she is a mom, you know, it kind of seals the deal for us.
POCO KERNSMITH, WORKING MOTHER: Just because she's a mom doesn't mean she's a mom like I am.
HILL: Carole, if you could ask Sarah Palin any question, what would you ask her today?
CAROLE GRAYSON, SINGLE MOTHER: How would she help me as a single working mom living in Michigan, and we have the highest unemployment rate in the country. And one of my friends just told me today that she's getting laid off from her job. How is she going to help me as a working person?
MICHELLE RUDZINSKI, STAY AT HOME MOTHER: Security. Foreign relations and security are my biggest issues.
SIMS: I'm worried that she's too quick to pull out the gun and, you know, go after them versus sitting down there and actually having a civilized discussion.
JILL GLEBA, WORKING MOTHER: I don't think she would be a bully. I don't think women in general are bullies. I think we all do want to discuss -- no, no. But I mean, that she would jump over there and --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said in her speech, though.
GLEBA: I know. But I don't think that's really -- I don't think as a woman that we act that way. I really don't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I disagree. I think as women we can totally be pit bulls.
HILL: With lipstick.
WOMEN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we can.
GLEBA: Reaction though, we can pit bulls, don't get me wrong.
RUDZINSKI: But I'm glad to have somebody who I think, if needed be, could be a pit bull if she needed to be if the situation warranted it.
HILL: Do you think that she would be a good role model, not only for your children, but also for maybe some families who are struggling as a working mother, who is by all accounts a very successful woman?
KERNSMITH: No.
HILL: I think you're the only one saying no, Poco. Why not?
KERNSMITH: Well, I think she has shown really poor judgment as a mother putting her pregnant daughter in the limelight like that, and putting her through all of that when she's so young.
HILL: What if Bristol Palin though had said, you know what, mom, I know you're doing this and I give you my full blessing?
KERNSMITH: She's 17 years old. She's not old enough to understand that. She's not old enough. She hasn't had the experience to understand what that experience is going to be like.
JULIE POWELL, WORKING MOTHER: I don't think that makes her a bad mother necessarily. If it was my choice to make and I had a 17-year- old daughter in that situation, I think I would have declined the nomination. But I do think and I think that --
HILL: Why would you decline the nomination?
POWELL: To me, my family would have to come first. If it's a conflict between one day having to put her country first and her family first, how do you resolve that conflict?
HILL: Do you want your leader to always put country first? Always? Every situation?
GRAYSON: Yes. That's what your hiring -- they should be able to do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hoping that if she, you know, if she put the country first, that she's not going to put her family so far back that it's not in her every thought. I mean --
HILL: Can you do both? You can't do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you can do both. We're women.
HILL: So you can put your country first and still keep your family --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you can.
HILL: Thank you all again for coming and for taking the time to share your thoughts and your opinions. I really appreciate your candor.
WOMEN: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: It was a fascinating discussion, Campbell.
BROWN: Got a little heat in there, too. HILL: It did, but that was great. It was really nice that this was a group of women who could have different opinions, but could have an intelligent discussion about it. And that's exactly what we did actually for 90 minutes. So you can imagine everything we talked about.
One thing, though, I can say that they did all agree on is that this is a very historic and exciting choice to see a woman on a ticket like this. And so, if nothing else, they are all applauding that.
BROWN: That should be celebrated. Erica Hill, great. Really, really interesting.
All right. And something we'll be doing a lot more, we should say, in the next two months, hearing a lot more from women as well. Erica, thanks.
Sarah Palin's former brother-in-law is talking tonight and he's telling us about her alleged plan to get him fired. That is the CNN exclusive. It is coming up next.
And then later, stagecraft. We're going to review the Republicans' big show in Saint Paul and find out why the audience was seeing green.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Now a CNN exclusive. As Sarah Palin campaigns for one of the most powerful jobs in America, she is also under investigation for possible abuse of powers as governor of Alaska. At the center of an official probe into Palin's behavior, an Alaska state trooper who is also her former brother-in-law. The question, did Palin try to get him fired.
Drew Griffin of CNN special investigations unit is in Anchorage, Alaska, looking into this controversy.
Drew, you sat down with Trooper Mike Wooten. Tell us what you're learning.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, what we're learning, this was a very bitter, ugly family divorce, blown into a statewide scandal here, and now blowing up in the media feeding frenzy of presidential politics. Trooper Mike Wooten says he has been offered $30,000 from a tabloid to tell this story.
The Obama campaign has contacted his union. He has chosen instead to grant one interview only, to CNN. He says to set the record straight about his record.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): The real story is not a good one for the trooper at the center of it.
MIKE WOOTEN, ALASKA STATE TROOPER: It's definitely not very easy. It creates a lot of stress, that's for sure. GRIFFIN: Mike Wooten was married to Sarah Palin's sister, Molly, for four years. Their marriage ended bitterly in 2005. There has been constant battling over custody of their two children. And it is in the acrimonious divorce proceedings that private details of Trooper Mike Wooten's life have become public and are now part of a state investigation.
(on camera): Was there ever a good time with you? I mean, at one point you were a member of that family.
WOOTEN: You're absolutely right, I was a member of that family and I have some very cherished memories of those times. There was a lot of good times. I don't wish any ill will on any of them. I absolutely don't.
GRIFFIN: The headlines about you -- tasered a stepson, when you were a taser officer, shot a moose illegally when you were a wildlife officer, two separate incidents where somebody saw you drinking in a car, driving. True?
WOOTEN: Let me take those on one at a time and explain those to you.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): So he did. Yes, he admits, he did taser his stepson.
WOOTEN: He was asking about it. And, you know, it wasn't -- I didn't shoot him with a taser, with a live, you know, actual live cartridge and shoot him with the probes and, you know, that kind of situation that some people have made this out to be. That's not the case at all. It was a training aid that he was hooked up to, just little clips.
And you know, the taser was activated for less than a second which would be less than what you would get if you touched an electric fence. And, you know, it was as safe as I could possibly make it.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Looking back, was it dumb?
WOOTEN: Yes, it was. Absolutely. And, you know, like I stated before, I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes and I've learned from those mistakes. And not the best decision I've ever made, absolutely not.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): He admits he killed a moose illegally, a significant infraction in Alaska. But even though Wooten was a state trooper at the time, he says he didn't know his actions were illegal.
(on camera): Drinking in cars?
WOOTEN: No.
GRIFFIN: Didn't happen?
WOOTEN: Didn't happen.
GRIFFIN: Those witnesses -- WOOTEN: I --
GRIFFIN: Lying?
WOOTEN: I don't know why they would say that. It didn't happen.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): In 2006, a trooper investigation upheld several of the allegations against Wooten, including the taser incident, the shooting of the moose, and the use of alcohol while driving a patrol vehicle. Nearly two years before she became governor, Sarah Palin told police that she had listened on the phone as Trooper Wooten raged at her sister and threatened to kill her father.
(on camera): Did you threaten to kill your father-in-law?
WOOTEN: No, I did not.
GRIFFIN: You didn't say you were going to put an f'ing bullet in his head?
WOOTEN: No, I did not.
GRIFFIN: So those people that say they heard that are lying?
WOOTEN: I didn't threaten him and I never threatened anyone for that matter.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Wooten would not discuss the Palin family or speak directly about them. His marriage to Molly McCann was his third. Since then, the 36-year-old trooper has married and divorced yet again.
(on camera): I'm going to ask you a personal question. Have you had trouble with women in your life? Handling relationships, has that been a problem?
WOOTEN: There's been issues, yes.
GRIFFIN: The issues, including a long list of reprimands as a state trooper, eventually landed Trooper Mike Wooten on suspension for five days. He was not fired. His boss, though, was. That is where the legal trouble begins for Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin.
(voice-over): The allegation is that when Palin became governor, she used her power to try to get her ex-brother-in-law fired. Why?
Records show the governor believed he was a dangerous state trooper. But others have alleged she just wanted to settle a family score. Her representatives have maintained as has she, that she did not do anything illegal, and since becoming governor, did not try to use her position to get Trooper Wooten fired.
What was an ugly family divorce exploded in the public arena, when the state's Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was fired by Governor Palin. Palin's comments (ph) has maintained that Monegan was fired because he was not moving fast enough on the initiatives she wanted for the department. Monegan says otherwise.
VOICE OF WALTER MONEGAN, FORMER ALASKA PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSIONER: I believe I was fired because I did not fire Mike Wooten.
GRIFFIN: And yet he also says he was never told to fire Wooten.
MEG STAPLETON, JOHN MCCAIN CAMPAIGN: She had nothing to do with the pressure to fire Monegan over Wooten. That is absolutely ridiculous and absurd.
GRIFFIN: But records reveal that staff in her administration, as well as her husband, contacted the Public Safety Commission about Mike Wooten some 20 times since Palin became governor.
MONEGAN: In my heart of hearts, the governor, I think, did allow her personal feelings to get involved in her professional responsibilities, and she ventured where she should not have ventured, into a personnel matter that involved an immediate family member of hers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: The state investigation launched before Sarah Palin joined the national stage with John McCain is due to be over with, Campbell, just weeks before the November election.
BROWN: And is that definitive, Drew? Or could that change? Is there a way for her to delay that? I'm sure the campaign would like to until after the election.
GRIFFIN: Because it started in the legislature, I don't think she can stop that actual investigation. The governor has been making attempts to try to move this whole matter over to the personnel board of this state. That's getting some resistance.
And in the meantime, the person that's heading the investigation by the legislature, Hollis French, says he actually wants to move the date up to October 10th when that report is out, so it won't interfere directly with the national campaign.
BROWN: All right. Drew Griffin for us.
Wow, Drew, a really interesting conversation there. Thanks very much.
Political conventions. The ultimate exercise in campaign stagecraft. When we come back, you know, we're going to talk about when everything is supposed to be perfect, and it's not quite.
What's up with the green background behind John McCain? Didn't they dump that look a little while ago? We're going to talk about that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: He has ruffled a few feathers over 20 years of award-winning documentaries. He is a special guest on "LARRY KING LIVE" in just few minutes. Who are we talking about, Larry?
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": You got it, Campbell. Fasten your seat belts. Michael Moore is here. We're going to talk about politics, Sarah Palin and sexism, his letter to God, and anything else on the news radar.
Michael Moore for the hour, taking your calls. Joe Lieberman may not like it. Next on "LARRY KING LIVE" -- Campbell.
BROWN: All right, Larry, we'll see you in a few minutes.
Tonight, a lot of people are asking why John McCain was standing in front of a green background during his acceptance speech. Didn't his campaign swear off that color? Stand by for some colorful stagecraft on the special edition of ELECTION CENTER.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The Republican National Convention was drenched in red, white and blue, except when John McCain gave his big speech last night. Well, then, everybody in the hall was seeing green.
Our Erica Hill has been looking into this really bizarre bit of stagecraft. And, Erica, what was it we were looking at?
HILL: That is the question of the day, Campbell. Let's take a look at what we saw actually during the week there. As we know, the Republicans have this huge video screen here. You can see it behind Senator McCain. And you can see here the waving flag.
For much of the week, that screen that was up behind the speaker's podium displayed a huge American flag waving in slow motion. They did have some other backdrops as well. They changed the backdrop color, depending on the speaker sometimes. Also the GOP did use it to show pictures of some scenic American landmarks.
During part of Senator McCain's acceptance speech, though, last night, as you pointed out, Campbell, it looked green and that had more than a few people scratching their heads. You can't miss this color right here. It wasn't really green, though, it turns out.
Well, it wasn't all green, I should say. That's because the picture behind John McCain was actually a shot of this there. When you were on the show for the convention floor, you could probably see it a little easier. It's Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, California. That is, actually, the school's right here -- the school's main building on campus.
When McCain though was in that tight shot, all you could see at home was the green lawn, which, of course, reminded many people, I have to say myself included, of the green backdrop the McCain campaign was so widely ridiculed for using back in June. This little one right here.
Now, you may remember at the time, a senior McCain adviser told CNN that type of background wouldn't be returning, and then shortly after, Campbell, the senator actually shook up his top staff. BROWN: So, Erica, why a California middle school as a backdrop?
HILL: You know, I wish I had a really good answer for you, Campbell. The best we could do, late tonight a McCain campaign official said there was no significance to the backdrop.
But let me tell you, the Internet is full of theories. The most common guess here, again, not proven, is that somebody really intended to show not the middle school, but this, Walter Reed -- we're about to show you Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Now, of course, you'll remember, this center was at the center of the scandal over the poor living conditions there for wounded Iraq war veterans. That is something John McCain refers to on the campaign trail when he promises to improve veterans' care.
The online theories claim maybe somebody did an Internet search. They searched for Walter Reed. They picked the picture of the school by mistake. But again, these are theories that are just out there in cyberspace.
BROWN: Well, the Walter Reed Medical Center would certainly make a lot more sense. But what do the folks at the school actually think about being John McCain's backdrop?
HILL: It turns out they were just as surprised as anybody else. In fact, the school had its own statement. They actually put this statement up on their Web site saying, "Permission to use the front of our school for the Republican National Convention was not given by our school, nor is the use of our school's picture an endorsement of any political party or view."
So for now, Campbell, again, the McCain campaign says there's no significance here. But there are plenty of people thinking that maybe there's a little more to the stagecraft than we know about.
BROWN: All right. Erica Hill, it's a good one. Great job tonight. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.
Well, everybody we began the week here with an interview with a McCain campaign spokesman that caught fire, to say the least. I have gotten thousands of e-mails from many of you about that interview. In a moment, we're going to revisit all of it. And we have a couple of words to share with you about it when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Monday night, I did an interview here in the ELECTION CENTER with McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. The interview was about Governor Sarah Palin's experience and readiness to be commander in chief. The interview became a bit of a lightning rod, and you guys have had a lot to say about it.
Over the last few days, I have received literally thousands of e- mails. And for those of who haven't seen the interview, here, right now, is just a brief portion. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Tucker, you know, foreign policy experience has been a huge issue in this campaign because you guys made it a big issue in this campaign...
TUCKER BOUNDS, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: Yes.
BROWN: ... pointing out time and time again as you did that John McCain had far more experience than Barack Obama and that nothing in your view was more important in the campaign, than the ability to be commander-in-chief.
BOUNDS: Yes.
BROWN: So I don't have to tell you that there's a feeling out there by some that you're not holding your VP pick to your own standard -- the standard that you defined. So explain to us why you think Governor Palin is ready to be commander-in-chief.
BOUNDS: Governor Palin has the good fortune of being on the ticket with John McCain who, there is no question, is the most experienced and shown proven judgment on the international stage. She understands foreign affairs. He has a familiarity and has displayed (ph) it as possible.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Well, we know all that about John McCain, Tucker. I asked you about her, though, because we all know the role of the VP, as John McCain has defined it, is to be able to step into the job of the presidency on day one if something should happen to the president. So I'm asking you about her foreign policy experience.
BOUNDS: And certainly -- yes, Campbell, certainly there are a number of people that are supporting Barack Obama's candidacy and feel like he's experienced enough to take on the Oval Office. Our feeling is that Governor Palin has...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: But you're not answering my question.
BOUNDS: ... just as much experience as Barack Obama.
BROWN: OK. But you set a different standard.
BOUNDS: Just as much experience as the presidential candidate of our opponent.
BROWN: So does she -- you said it, what I'm saying is, that you set a different standard by arguing how important it was with John McCain. And no one is arguing with you that he has much more experience than Barack Obama. So I'm just trying to get someone from the campaign to explain to me what foreign policy experience she has or what qualifications she has that would allow her to be ready to be commander-in-chief if something should happen to Senator McCain.
BOUNDS: Well, Campbell, let me be clear, right?
BROWN: That's a fair question, isn't it?
BOUNDS: I don't think there should be any problem explaining her experience. She has executive state level experience. She's been in public office reforming Washington. She's been in executive office longer and in a more effective sense than Barack Obama has been in the United States Senate.
BROWN: So --
BOUNDS: She's been the commander of the National Guard of Alaska's National Guard, who's been deployed overseas.
BROWN: OK. OK, Tucker --
BOUNDS: That's foreign policy experience.
BROWN: All right. All right. Just give me --
BOUNDS: And I do want to mention that these are --
BROWN: Tucker, sorry, if I can interrupt for one second -- commander, because I've heard you guys say this a lot.
BOUNDS: Yes.
BROWN: Can you just tell me one decision that she made as commander- in-chief of the Alaska National Guard, just one.
BOUNDS: Yes. She has made -- any decision she has made as the commander of the National Guard that's deployed overseas is more of a decision than Barack Obama has been making as he's been running for president for the last two years.
BROWN: Tell me. Tell me what it is. Give me an example of one of those decisions. I'm just curious. Just one decision she made in her capacity as commander-in-chief of the National Guard.
BOUNDS: Campbell, certainly -- Campbell, certainly, you don't mean to belittle every experience, every judgment that she makes as commander of the National Guard.
BROWN: I'm belittling nothing. I just want to know one judgment or one decision. I would love to know what one decision was. I'm not belittling anything, Tucker, I'm really not. I just am curious.
BOUNDS: Yes. As she makes a decision as to how to equip, how to command the National Guard in Alaska, that is more to be curious and more of a judgment than Barack Obama's making on the campaign trail.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: But, Tucker, those are the Pentagon's decisions. That's General Petraeus, that's the White House.
BOUNDS: That's my only argument.
BROWN: No governor --
BOUNDS: Pardon me?
BROWN: No governor makes decisions about how to equip or deploy the National Guard. You know, when they go to Iraq, that decision, as you well know, are made by the Pentagon?
BOUNDS: Actually, Campbell, they do. Campbell -- Campbell, on a factual basis, they certainly do.
In Alaska, if you have any sort of emergency as things are happening in your state, the National Guard is under the command of the governor. That is more of a command role than Barack Obama has ever had. I would argue that on our ticket, John McCain and Governor Palin, between the two of them have far more command experience in the military than either of the candidates on the Democratic side.
And I do want to argue, this is about the top of the ticket. Ultimately, when people go into the ballot box and decide between Barack Obama and John McCain, they're going to decide between John McCain's record of reforming Washington and Barack Obama's rhetoric on the campaign trail.
He doesn't have a lot of experience, certainly has no military experience, no command military experience, which both of our candidates have. That's an important distinction. I think voters will make the right call in November.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: So the McCain campaign got a little upset about that interview. Officials from the McCain campaign told CNN that I had crossed a line, and they canceled the scheduled appearance by Senator McCain on "LARRY KING LIVE."
Well, I don't think the interview was over the line and neither does CNN, and neither do most of you who e-mailed me this week. So I just wanted to say thank you, all of you, who e-mailed me. I appreciate your support and recognition that we're not interested in talking points from either side, not from the McCain campaign and not from the Obama campaign either.
There is too much at stake in this election for all of us, and we have a right to know the people that we are voting for. Our pledge to you on this program is to ask the tough questions, the tough but fair questions, and to try to get answers for you -- real answers.
That's it from the ELECTION CENTER. Have a great weekend everybody.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
