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American Morning
9/11: A Day of Remembrance; Obama Tries to Focus on Issues; Palin Comes Home to Cheering Crowd; Where the Candidates Stand on Health Care; Hurricane Ike Heads to Texas; Fact Checking the Candidates' Earmarks; What Michigan Voters Want in Key Swing State
Aired September 11, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Growing threat. A million people in killer Hurricane Ike's path. Thousands on the run right now.
And seven years later -- the mourning. And the waiting. Why rebuilding and the hunt for bin Laden are both bogged down on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And welcome. Thanks so much for being with us. It is Thursday, September 11th, seven years since the worse terror attack in our nation's history.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Somber remembrance today. Of course, we'll have full coverage of all of that for you this morning. A lot of politics as well as things heat up on the campaign trail.
But this morning, Texas is bracing for what could be a major Category three hurricane. Right now, Hurricane Ike is gaining strength more than 600 miles east of the Texas coast. Mandatory evacuations are in effect for at least seven coastal counties. Shelters inland are being readied. And this morning, local officials will begin turning traffic away from the gulf.
Today marks seven years since the worse terrorist attacks to happen on U.S. oil. 9/11 memorials are planned in New York, Washington and Shanks Ville, Pennsylvania. A live look at Ground Zero where John McCain and Barack Obama will put presidential politics aside and make a joint appearance this afternoon.
A live look at the Pentagon and Arlington, Virginia. President Bush will attend a dedication ceremony and lead a moment of silence at 8:46 Eastern, the time that the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
House Democrats today embracing a plan that would relax the ban on offshore drilling along much of the nation's coast. Under the proposal, drilling would be permitted between 50 and 100 miles from land if a state permits it. Republicans say that the plan does not go far enough. The measure is part of a broader energy package expected to come up for a vote next week. CHETRY: Well, we have some brand new polls this morning from four of the key battleground states that could decide the presidential election. We start in New Hampshire. Here's a look.
Barack Obama leading John McCain 51 percent to 45 percent. He also has a slim lead in Michigan, 49 to 45 percent.
In Missouri, McCain who has the advantage, 50 percent to Barack Obama's 45 percent. In Virginia, McCain is also ahead 50 percent to Barack Obama's 46 percent.
And Florida, another state that can make or break a candidate, Barack Obama will campaign there with Bill Clinton, our former president, later this month. But first, the two meet in New York today. And last night on David Letterman, Barack Obama compared his candidacy to former President Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN")
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The race that he ran in '92 is -- it was similar to what's taking place now. You had an economy that wasn't working for people. You had a party that had been in power that didn't seem particularly concerned that it wasn't working for people. But, you know, he was new. He was young and people were still trying to figure out whether or not the guy was up to the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Barack Obama looking to Bill Clinton to put him over the top. This as analysts are saying that Obama needs to clear the clutter and stick to the issues like the economy.
CNN Suzanne Malveaux joins me now in New York. Certainly both campaigns or at least Barack Obama's campaign got a little off message yesterday with all the hub bub about the lipstick.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, well, yes, and that's a side hopefully we won't hear too much more about that. But this is 54 days and counting. Who is counting?
Oh, we're obviously counting. The stakes are extremely high. The time is getting short and recently what we have seen is a bitter exchange between these campaigns both accusing the other of misrepresenting their opponent. Now the question is whether this is really going to affect how voters see the candidates.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Enough is enough!
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Barack Obama has had it with what he says are the lies and distortions coming from the McCain campaign.
OBAMA: What we can't do is spend our time talking about nonsense. MALVEAUX: But the Republican attack strategy combined with a reinvigorated Republican ticket has forced Obama to respond taking time away from his themes of change.
OBAMA: It is true that some of the stuff coming out of the other campaigns, and I noticed that people are starting to focus on this today and over the last couple of days, is kind of hard to swallow, right?
MALVEAUX: But columnist David Sirota says if Obama hopes to win in November, his campaign needs to go back to its roots.
DAVID SIROTA, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: He has sort of shied away from talking about trade, NAFTA, an issue that really I think propelled him in the Democratic primary. And he hasn't talked as forcefully of late about the war in Iraq. Those are the two issues that really contrast him with John McCain I think most effectively.
MALVEAUX: For his part, Obama says he will not allow his campaign to be derailed.
OBAMA: Our job is to just drum home, day after day, the facts. You know, I still have faith that the truth will out in the end.
MALVEAUX: And he says the polls showing a tightening race don't worry him.
OBAMA: You have to earn the presidency. It's not a cake walk. I mean, this is a big decision for people and, you know, the country is wrestling with some of its own contradictions and where we need to go. And that's going to take some time for the voters to sort things out.
MALVEAUX: Sirota believes if Obama doesn't get the media and the country to focus more on the issues, he could be in trouble.
SIROTA: If McCain is successful, if he is allowed to make this about patriotism, if he's allowed to make this about cultural populism, and Obama doesn't break through on the issues, then I think that this is an election the Democrats could lose.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Well, today, the anniversary of September 11th attacks, both candidates have suspended their campaigns. They're going to appear together at Ground Zero this afternoon to lay a wreath. Both candidates say that today is a day to set aside partisanship. Remember that we're all united in being Americans. And Barack Obama is also going to have a private luncheon with former President Bill Clinton here in New York before Clinton goes on the road to campaign for him next week, which would be very interesting.
CHETRY: It should be for sure. Fly on the wall. We wish we were.
All right. Well, Suzanne Malveaux, thanks. MALVEAUX: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Barack Obama believes that Joe Biden is the best choice for vice president, but Biden himself may not be so sure. At a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, Biden seemed to suggest that Obama would be a more formidable candidate with Hillary Clinton at his side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let's get that straight. She's a truly close personal friend. She is qualified to be president of the United States of America. She's easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America. And quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me but she's first rate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Now to put this all in context, Biden was responding to a comment from a voter who did not like Hillary Clinton and said that there were glad Biden was chosen as the running mate.
Biden's Republican counterpart, Sarah Palin, back home in Alaska this morning for the first time since the GOP convention. She left as a popular governor and returned as a national political phenomenon. Palin was greeted by a cheering crowd at the airport in Fairbanks late last night.
CNN's Jessica Yellin was there. She joins us now and tremendous amount of excitement greeting her homecoming there, Jessica.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really was, John. Folks here in Alaska consider Sarah Palin such a friendly person they call her just Sarah. The crowd that greeted her last night was standing around for hours chanting Sarah, just waiting for her. So excited to see that she has put Alaska on the map.
When she got off that plane and greeted everyone and started her remarks, she reminded them just how she is going to make Alaska known around the country. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Since Senator McCain first introduced me as his running mate, Americans have gotten to know a lot more about Alaska. And they know that up here, it's a snow machine not a snow mobile. And we know that in Alaska like that old bumper sticker says, "Alaska: Where Men are Men and Women Win the Iditarod."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Now Palin is coming back to see her son's departure ceremonies for the First Striker brigade. He will be deploying to Iraq with a brigade of about 4,000 people that deploys over the next seven weeks. His ceremony happens today at 1:00 p.m. local time. Again, he doesn't necessarily leave immediately, but the unit will deploy sometime in the next month and a half.
Now, Palin will go -- will speak at that event. She will go from there to Wasilla, her hometown, where she's expected to have other events in Anchorage tomorrow. I will tell you folks here call her a down home gal, a gal you can know.
There were, though, a number of protesters outside who said things like Sarah is just a good old boy. So there's even some back and forth tension here in the state of Alaska where she's so popular, John.
ROBERTS: Jessica Yellin for us this morning. Good to know that delineation between snow mobile and snow machine, where I came from they were colloquially known as "Ski-Doos." So, everybody has got their own name.
Jessica, thanks so much.
Eight minutes after the hour.
CHETRY: Issue number one, the candidates on health care. Ali Velshi looks at what their plan would mean to you and your family.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten and a half minutes now after the hour. Ali Velshi here "Minding Your Business." We've been going over issue number one and the candidates stance all week today talking health care.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The two candidates, this is one of those issues that affects you. Issue number one, the economy, that you can really make a choice on because they are very, very different.
Let's start with what Barack Obama is looking at. One of the most interesting and controversial parts of his health care plan was widely criticized by Hillary Clinton is a mandate for paid insurance for children. Parents would be forced to buy insurance for their children. He'll also offer subsidies for people to buy private insurance and to pay for their premiums, and he will require employers to offer health insurance for their employees.
John McCain's system is much more market based. His view is let the market handle health care, and the major criticism of that is that the market hasn't handled health care. He wants to improve health care through greater competition among private insurers. He wants to issue a tax credit of $2,500 per person or $5,000 per family, and that tax credit is meant to pay for private health insurance if you don't have it. If there's any extra money from the premiums that you get from that tax credit, John McCain wants to encourage health savings account. So this is a very fundamental difference between them. Barack Obama's system definitely veers towards some sort of a universal insurance and getting more of those almost 50 million uninsured Americans on to the rolls. John McCain feels that government shouldn't have mandates or intervention in this and that business should be encouraged to provide better opportunities for insurance for Americans.
My final tip is that maybe just taking care of your own health might work. I'm going to try that sometime.
CHETRY: Well, I was going to ask you, in the primary season at least for the Democrats, the big difference between Hillary and Barack was whether or not you were going to mandate it for everybody...
VELSHI: Correct. Correct.
CHETRY: ... and whether or not you could actually realistically do that, which Barack Obama said, let's do it for the kids. But I don't know if it's realistic or he could do it for everybody.
VELSHI: Correct. Yes, it's tough, too. I mean, and Hillary Clinton's point was if everybody could buy, could afford health insurance, they probably would buy health insurance. So by mandating it you're assuming that everybody is able to do so and that there is a problem with that because a lot of people just don't have that extra income.
When you look at what minimum wage is and you look a person's monthly expenses, it's quite possible there isn't money left over to pay for health care premium. So both of these are tricky.
Obama will be a quicker, a short-term fix to getting more people covered under health care. McCain's would likely have to be a long- term fix to make health care more affordable. They both have merits but they are very distinctive. It's the one that's really worth studying along with taxes.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks so much for that.
Thirteen minutes after the hour on the "Most News in the Morning."
CHETRY: Boarding up and clearing out. A million people in the path of Hurricane Ike, and we've got new information on where the storm might hit hardest.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, welcome back. This morning, Texas on alert as Hurricane Ike charges the coast. Evacuations are underway in at least seven counties. A number of schools are closed. The hospitals are moving patients, and Ike is now a strong Category two expected to explode into a dangerous Category three. Rob Marciano is live in the hurricane headquarters. I just glancing over at the wall and looking at that monster behind you. It's certainly grown since this time yesterday.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it has. It's huge. I mean, this thing has taken a path to Gulf of Mexico.
We have hurricane force winds that extend 115 miles out from the center. That's pretty much bigger than Katrina and this thing has been raining in Cancun all the way to Florida, and you can see it's taking at least the eastern half of the gulf up. So this doesn't look pretty at all and if anything it's going to intensify.
We've got winds of 100 miles an hour that makes it a Cat two. You see the eye kind of reforming the last couple of frames there. Very, very small eye, pretty surprising with this large circulation. Nonetheless, it's got -- you know, it's pretty much as warm water to deal with. There's a couple of cold (INAUDIBLE) that it might run into. But all in all, the forecast is for it to intensify back to major Category three status. Potentially Category four.
When it makes landfall, and by the way, landfall is going to be anywhere from the border of Louisiana and Texas to Corpus Christi. But right now, Galveston, Houston, are right in the middle of that cone, Kiran. So it's not looking good for a very populated area of Texas.
We're hoping that track shifts. But either way whoever gets it, it's not going to be pretty. It probably will be at least a Category three hurricane when it makes landfall late tomorrow night.
CHETRY: Least. Wow! So you're saying the potential is it could even explode and get stronger?
MARCIANO: Yes. I mean, the forecast is for it to get it right below Category four status. At one point yesterday, they had it coming in as a Cat four. So, tough to say just how strong it will be but it's got all the ingredients and really nothing in the way for it to continue to strengthen.
CHETRY: Texas taking a lot of precautions, and we'll have more on that a little later.
Rob, thank you.
MARCIANO: OK.
ROBERTS: Earmark arithmetic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nearly a million dollars for every day.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Taking all these earmarks when it's convenient. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Checking the facts on Biden, Palin, Obama and McCain. We're cutting through the talk and tallying up how much money each candidate really tried to score.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, it is your money spent on lawmakers special pet projects that they slip into the federal budget. Critics call them earmarks or more ignominiously pork. And both campaigns have been tearing into each other over the other's record on spending. But is what they're saying factually accurate?
Here's CNN's Brian Todd to tell us.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.
As all four candidates get into the back and forth of who can really change things in this town, we found that these four really run the gamut from genuine reform credentials to old line power politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): The hot debate now, who will really change the way Washington does business? Both campaigns taking aim at an old staple of machine politics, though sometimes wasteful funding request made by lawmakers often for their home districts.
John McCain has been a crusader against so-called "earmarks" and he says his opponent asked for almost a billion dollars in pork barrel projects for his state in just less than four years in the senate.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nearly a million dollars for every day that he spent in office and that's change. My friends, don't be fooled. Don't be fooled.
TODD: According to the non-partisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Barack Obama has asked for nearly a billion dollars in earmarks during his Senate term. But the group gives him credit for disclosing his requests which most members of Congress don't do.
Obama's made no request for the next fiscal year and even when he was asking for earmarks, he was far from the worst offender.
STEVE ELLIS, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: Just to put it into perspective, he got $98 million worth of earmarks in fiscal year 2008. Senator Clinton got more than $300 million in earmarks, and Senator Cochran, Republican-ranking member of the Appropriations Committee got more than $800 million in earmarks.
TODD: Obama's running mate doesn't come close to that, but Joe Biden also has never disclosed what he's asked for until this year. Biden's office says he's requesting about $300 million. The Obama campaign points out that while McCain has never asked for earmarks, his running mate hardly has room to talk.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you've been taking all these earmarks when it's convenient, and then suddenly you're the champion anti-earmark person, that's not change. Come on.
TODD: According to state records and Taxpayers for Common Sense, Sarah Palin has asked for about $450 million in federal money since she became governor but she also gets some credit.
ELLIS: As governor, she has, by all records, started to reduce the number of earmark requests. So it's a downward trajectory by our analysis but still significant earmark requests.
TODD: And Palin got into the earmarking game early before she even became governor. According to state records and Taxpayers for Common Sense, she helped get about $27 million, some of which went to the small Alaskan town of Wasilla during her second year as mayor there, from 1998 to 2002.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: The watchdog group says one reason why Palin was able to get all that for her small town? She hired a lobbying firm ran by a former staffer for Senator Ted Stevens, one of Washington's most legendary earmarkers.
John and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: The hunt for bin Laden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We try to follow the footsteps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Tracking the terrorist seven years after the 9/11 attack. Nic Robertson talks to the man who was once hot on his trail.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO")
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Barack Obama is going to have lunch with Bill Clinton this week to discuss democratic strategy. They're going to get together and talk. You know, they haven't been that friendly up to this point because it's tough agreeing on a restaurant because the two men are both so different. Finally, they settled on a hooters that serves arugula. They realized that would have something for both.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: There's Jay Leno with his take on Barack Obama's lunch date with former President Bill Clinton today in New York. Obama says that they'll campaign together in some key battleground states in the next eight days.
And speaking of battleground states, we're taking a closer look at the key issues for voters in these states that could ultimately decide the election. And this morning, it's battleground Michigan.
A new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows Obama with a slim four- point lead over John McCain in Michigan. There you see it, 49 percent to 45 percent.
Joining us now from Detroit, conservative radio host Frank Beckmann, as well as liberal radio host Mildred Gaddis. Thanks to both of you for being with us this morning.
FRANK BECKMANN, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: Let me start with Mildred.
MILDRED GADDIS, OBAMA SUPPORTER: You're quite welcome.
CHETRY: I'll start with you, Mildred. And tell us what -- tell me what your callers are asking you about. What are the hot issues that are going to decide this election in Michigan?
GADDIS: Well, of course, I'm in the city of Detroit where unemployment is about almost three times that of the national average and, of course, the issue is about employment and health care.
John McCain was here a few days ago in Sterling Heights, Michigan. You know that there is a tremendous amount of auto workers who are no longer employed.
Democrats found it pretty interesting that here he was in Michigan in Sterling Heights and never mentioned the challenges that the auto workers have been facing. Democrats are excited. They are working hard here in the city of Detroit to turn the vote out for Barack Obama. That four points is certainly a narrow margin.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Frank, I want to ask you about that. Michigan, as we know, is home to the big three automakers, making up five percent of jobs in your state but 75 percent of the job losses. A lot of people blame the Bush administration and said that they could have done more to help the auto industry. Is that spilling over into John McCain's support there?
BECKMANN: Somewhat, it is, Kiran. But John McCain has visited auto plants when he's been here before. He's visited a nuclear power plant. There's no shortage of handshaking going on by either candidate.
But what's happened here in Michigan is Sarah Palin has taken over. I think that's why the polls have gotten closer. There's a real excitement in the conservative base of the Republican Party over Palin's choice as John McCain's running mate.
And I think one of the other questions that's going to be answered as we get to November is the effect of Kwame Kilpatrick's resignation as mayor on this race for president, not as far as he relates to being a friend of Barack Obama but whether the Kilpatrick political machine is energized enough to get out the vote. Plus, you may very well have a primary election for mayor involving a lot of local politicians coming up in February. Their energy may be focused there rather than on a national race.
CHETRY: Mildred, what do you think about the impact possibly of the Detroit mayor?
GADDIS: Well, you know what? I'm shocked to hear Frank say that because, first of all, there is no Kilpatrick machine. Voters in Detroit are extremely excited about Barack Obama. There is no friendship. There has not been a friendship between Kwame Kilpatrick or the Kilpatricks and Barack Obama. In fact, the Kilpatricks supported --
(CROSSTALK)
BECKMANN: That's not what Barack Obama said when he was here last night.
GADDIS: Well, you know what, Frank, that's totally disingenuous because you and I both know that several years ago when Barack Obama introduced Kwame -- well, he thanked Kwame Kilpatrick for introducing him. And I think in Detroit, economic --
BECKMANN: Called him my good friend and said I'd like to work with him for many years to come.
GADDIS: Frank, Frank, I did not -- Frank, I did not interrupt you. I did not interrupt you.
That was an economic luncheon. Obama was a keynote speaker. Kilpatrick introduced him, and he thanked him for the introduction and gave him a compliment.
First of all, that whole notion that Obama's association with Kilpatrick is going to damage him, there is no association with Kilpatrick is going to damage him, there is no association. Kilpatrick is a former mayor. The Republicans tried that in Tennessee. It's not going to work in Michigan. It has no energy.
CHETRY: All right. Both of you seem to think that jobs are the big focus, and that's what people are going to be voting on, pocketbook issues. Very close race in Michigan so we'll have to keep following it. I want to thank both of you.
Mildred Gaddis as well as Frank Beckman, thank you.
FRANK BECKMANN, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Welcome, Kiran. See you, Mildred.
GADDIS: You're quite welcome.
ROBERTS: Half past the hour now. And, today, Americans mark the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and the nation's capital. You're looking live at the site of the World Trade Center now where the names of more than 2700 victims will be read at a memorial ceremony. John McCain and Barack Obama will set presidential politics aside today and pay their respects in a joint appearance at Ground Zero this afternoon.
At the Pentagon this morning, President Bush will dedicate a memorial to those who lost their lives there on 9/11. Before that, he'll lead a moment of silence on the south lawn at the White House at 8:46 Eastern, the time the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
Seven years after 9/11, concerns about another terror attack on U.S. soil are at a record low. According to a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll, the poll also finds Americans split over whether Osama Bin Laden will ever be captured or killed.
Meantime, "The New York Times" reports President Bush secretly approved orders back in July allowing U.S. Special Forces to conduct raids inside Pakistan without prior approval from Pakistan's government. This morning, we are following the story from inside Pakistan along with the latest efforts to root out al Qaeda and locate Osama Bin Laden. CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Islamabad.
And Nic, this secret directive that the "New York Times" uncovered by President Bush to have these special forces teams go into the border areas there along the Afghanistan border and northwestern Pakistan, how might that change the equation.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly makes it very difficult for the government here. We heard last week from the foreign ministry here criticizing that first perhaps in this new set of ground offenses by U.S. troops in Pakistan. The government officials here say that undermines their legitimacy among the local population, the border area to try and track down al Qaeda and Taliban elements there.
We heard last night from the Army Chief of Staff here, General Parvez Kayani saying that the Pakistani Army will not tolerate a violation of its territorial integrity. An indication they will fight back if U.S. troops cross the border. He said that the meeting he had three weeks ago on the USS Abraham Lincoln with Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.
He said he asked Mike Mullen for more time and more understanding for Pakistan to deal with the problem, but the tensions are rising over this issue. And the big question still remains -- are Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al Zahawari hiding out in those -- those enclaves in Pakistan's tribal region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Osama Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zahawari last seen together in early 2003 in pictures that intelligence experts say could have been taken in the mountains of either Afghanistan or Pakistan. It raises the questions are al Qaeda's leaders seeking sanctuary here?
(on camera): It's so sensitive that neither Pakistani nor Afghan officials will admit they might be in their territory. However, two sources have told me that Zahawari regularly travels between the two countries, meeting with Taliban leaders as recently as June this year. He was in Paktika and Kunar Provinces in Afghanistan. As well as crossing into Pakistan's tribal areas knows agencies.
(voice-over): Pakistan's Interior Minister Rahman Malik believes Zahawari never comes far into Pakistan.
RAHMAN MALIK, PAKISTAN'S INTERIOR MINISTER: So he's moving in Mohmand and, of course, on Kunar side, sometimes in Kunar, mostly in Kunar -- Kunar and Paktika, because these are very difficult time, and that's why I had (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTSON: Bin Laden who appears in far few al Qaeda releases than Zahawari is proving far harder to track.
HAMID MIR, ANCHOR, GEO TV: We try to follow the foot steps.
ROBERTSON: Hamid Mir was the last journalist to interview Osama Bin Laden. That was November 2001. He's been searching for him since.
MIR: One of the body guards of Osama Bin Laden who escaped with him, Abu Hamza al-Jaziri (ph), I met him in Kunar in 2005.
ROBERTSON: Mir is a respected anchor in Pakistan. A local authority on al Qaeda who says after hiding with tribesmen Bin Laden began regrouping al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan when the United States invaded Iraq.
MIR: He contacted some people in Pakistan, some people in Middle East and some people who are hiding in different parts of Afghanistan. And they are invited to the Pech Valley in Kunar Province. And there are the first-ever formal meeting of al Qaeda was held after 9/11.
ROBERTSON: But as U.S. and British Forces began to gain a foothold in Afghanistan, the al Qaeda leader had to move. In October 2004 according to Bin Laden's guard, Bin Laden was almost killed by British troops in south Afghanistan.
MIR: He told me that how difficult it was to save the life of Sheikh Osama Bin Laden. And he told me the whole story that how it happened and how more than 30 bodyguards of Osama Bin Laden have lost their lives.
ROBERTSON: After that, Mir says he lost Bin Laden's trail, but it has showed him a pattern. He tries to stay away from security forces. No telling if he's tried to find sanctuary in the Taliban enclaves in Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: And analyst and officials here tell us that it's al Qaeda that benefits from any civilian casualties here, John. They say it just plays right into the hands of the extremists.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. Nic Robertson for us with that from Islamabad, Pakistan, this morning. Nic, thanks so much. It's 36 minutes now after the hour.
CHETRY: On the run, Hurricane Ike drumming up new fears on the Texas Gulf Coast as new information helps to zero in on where the storm might hit hardest. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Texas Gulf Coast is bracing this morning for what looks to be a direct hit. Hurricane Ike strengthening in the Gulf and is now prompting authorities to order mandatory evacuations in at least seven counties. As many as a million people could need to get out of the way of this monster storm. CNN's Rob Marciano tracking it all for us in the weather center.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. 100 mile-an-hour winds now. And winds of hurricane strength extend outwards 100 miles. This thing is huge and getting stronger. It's got the Gulf of Mexico to fuel here, and another day or so to do that.
Here's the track, turning into a Cat 3. Get it towards Galveston, right over Houston potentially. Still has a strong hurricane. So, this is not looking good for those folks. Heavy populated Houston. And also oil rigs huge in this part of the Gulf.
So, every time we ramp it up in the north, we've got oil rigs to deal with in Texas City by the oil refineries as well. So with that, the price of oil and all these oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, while the search for alternative fuel is ramping up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): Biodiesel. It's being touted as a good alternative to diesel which is made from petroleum. But making fuel from food crops such as soybeans and corn is being blamed for causing price spikes at the grocery store.
VOICE OF BRUCE BAUGHMAN, GREENHUNTER BIOFUELS: That's where the reaction between methanol and the animal fat and vegetable oil occurs. That's where the magic happens.
MARCIANO: A company called GreenHunter Energy is among those that say they have a solution. It said its new facility in Houston can make biodiesel from all sorts of plants, not just food plants, as well as animal fat. BAUGHMAN: And this is what really distinguishes us from any other major biodiesel producer. We take the byproducts of refining the crude oils and also convert them to biodiesel. What's junk to others is just more feed stock for us.
MARCIANO: Right now, most of GreenHunter's biodiesel comes from animal fat like beef tallow, but the company says they plan to start making biodiesel from a tree-like weed called jatropha.
BAUGHMAN: The jatropha plantations that we are developing around the world will not produce for probably another two to three years, but when they do begin producing they'll be upwards of 50 percent of our feedstock.
MARCIANO: The GreenHunter facility is the largest of its kind in North America. And at full production, the company says it can produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel a year.
Rob Marciano, CNN.
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ROBERTS: Turning the tide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He kind of made the safe choice for V.P. John McCain made a bold choice.
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ROBERTS: Sarah Palin paying off. John King looks at how she's changing the battle in battleground states. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up at 15 minutes to top of the hour, we're back with the "Most Politics in the Morning." Barack Obama accusing the McCain campaign of distracting voters by making his "lipstick on a pig" remark a campaign issue. Here's Senator Obama in his own words.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we can't do is spend our time talking about nonsense. We can't do that. This isn't by the way the first time they did this. I thought -- I said at one point, when I was debating John McCain about something that I thought he had lost his bearings. They said, why are you talking about his age?
(LAUGHTER)
They sent out this press release -- Obama is attacking John McCain. I said, what you talking about? Come on. Let's get serious. So, answer to your question, we are just going to keep on presenting the facts truthfully, forcefully, consistently every day.
We're going to hammer away at the fact that the stakes in this election are too high. We have to do with whether we rebuild this middle class and put this country back on a pathway to success in the 21st century, competitive global economy. We're going to hammer away at that every single day and I trust the American people to pay attention.
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ROBERTS: Barack Obama. And next hour, we'll hear from John McCain on cleaning up Washington.
CHETRY: Designer discounts. Alina Cho shows us how to snag high fashion at low prices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People thought you were crazy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, I know.
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CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have no style or sense of fashion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that depends on what you're --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no. That wasn't a question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The theme from "The Devil Wears Prada." It's usually tough to have a great fashion sense without laying down a lot of serious cash. But that could change soon. We're "Minding Your Business." Your fashion business this morning. Alina Cho joins us now. She's had that conversation with me before as well. Just kidding. But you are the maiden of style.
CHO: Oh, thank you. You flatter me, girlfriend. And "Devil Wears Prada," great movie, by the way. Just bought the DVD.
You know, this whole idea of "high-lows," not a new idea, Kiran. Certainly more popular these days, though. For years now, high-end designers have been creating lower priced lines as a way to reach the average consumers. People who can't afford to but still want to look like a million bucks. There's even a buzzword for it -- "high-low." And these days, more and more designers are doing it. Creating looks for less.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Jonathan Saunders is one of the hottest new designers. His dresses cost $1,500 at luxury stores like Bergdorf Goodman. Not exactly mass retail, but he will be soon. In a month, Saunders will unveil a line for Target. Fifth Avenue fashions at a fraction of the cost. 26.99 for a skirt. 17.99 for a dress.
KATE BETTS, EDITOR, TIME STYLE AND DESIGN: We're in a difficult economy right now, and I think the consumers, you know, not willing to spend $3,000 for a hand bag, and it's getting harder and harder to turn a blind eye to a great target line.
CHO: Check out this Anya Hindmarch python purse, $2,500. Now, look at this bag. Anya Hindmarch for Target. It's not python, but it is leather with python print details, and the cost $49.99.
MARY ALICE STEPHENSON, FASHION STYLIST: Fashion is disposable right now. It's like fast food. And with all these collaborations they can get great design at affordable prices.
CHO: Vera Wang does a low-price line for coals. H&M has signed celebrity guest designers like Madonna. Isaac Mizrahi was among the first.
ISAAC MIZRAHI, DESIGNER: I had people who thought I was crazy. People -- customers of mine saying I can't buy your clothes anymore. I can't do that. And now, they are buying my clothes at every level.
CHO: Liz Lange who designs high-end maternity clothes started a low-priced line five years ago.
(on camera): Give me the price differential between your high- end line and your low-end line.
LIZ LANGE, DESIGNER: The price difference is quite large. Whereas on the high-end line, we might retail a pair of pants for $175, $225, at Target, they would be $15, $16.
CHO (voice-over): Even 9.99. So successful seven months ago, Lange sold her company. High fashion, low cost. The catch?
MIZRAHI: It's fabric, it's buttons, it's make. Quality lies not so much in like the actual but in the idea of. Do you know what I mean? So, it's the idea is a quality one, then you're kind of set.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And that is what fashion is about. Great ideas and now at great prices. Now, head to Fashion Week, tomorrow, Target will actually be opening up four pop-up bodegas. Those are temporary stores where fashion-obsessed New Yorkers will get the first crack of these new low-priced lines like the ones who Jonathan Saunders and Anya Hindmarch that you just heard about.
The stores, Kiran, will only be open for four days. Of course, the idea is to create buzz. And one of the items that could sell out is this purse that I talked about in the piece. Not bad, huh? $49.99. Again, it's not python like the $2,500 version, but it is leather and it has python details. A great bag.
CHETRY: Very interesting.
CHO: I'm going to be carrying it around.
CHETRY: I don't believe you. Where?
CHO: (INAUDIBLE). I love it. Hey, not bad, huh?
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: It was wonderful with the outfit. It goes with the fanny belt perfectly. I love it. OK, so, a little slice of fashion that we can all afford. It's a good thing.
CHO: That's right. High-low.
CHETRY: Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Hurricane Ike, speeding off the Gulf swelling into a monster. Thousands getting out of the way right now.
Plus, flirting with sexism.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The only woman ever to serve as both the First Lady and Miss Buffalo Chip.
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CHETRY: The slip ups from both sides?
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OBAMA: Hold on one second, sweetie.
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CHETRY: And Barack Obama tries to squash lipstick gate with one strong word.
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OBAMA: Enough!
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Four minutes to the top of the hour. Both the Obama and McCain campaigns have had a lot to say about each other and their records as of late. But how much of it is true? Helping us to separate fact from fiction is Bill Adair. He is the editor of politifact.com. He is the guy, by the way, that both campaigns go to, to set the record straight.
Bill, it's great to see you. How bad of the false statements gotten on both sides of the political fence here?
BILL ADAIR, EDITOR, POLITIFACT.COM: Boy, it's really kicked into overdrive, especially since the convention. That really seemed to be a turning point. We're at the point now where both campaigns are actually using our claims to justify opposing views. So our truth-o- meter has been overheating lately.
ROBERTS: Yes. OK, well, let's put the truth-o-meter to the test here. Sarah Palin, one of the big issues here is this bridge to nowhere. Whether she supported it or she didn't support it. Here's what she says about it on the campaign trail.
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GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I told Congress, thanks, but no thanks for that bridge to nowhere. That if our state wanted to build a bridge, we would ourselves.
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ROBERTS: You also heard her on the campaign trail during the gubernatorial campaign in 2006, apparently, supporting the bridge. So where does the truth-o-meter come down, Bill, on this idea of her being the person who killed the bridge?
ADAIR: Well, we gave it initially a -- we gave the TV ad a barely true because it's important to recognize she initially supported the bridge when she was a candidate. And now, and then opposed it. It's not like she boldly stood up and said, Congress, I don't want the money. It was only after there was tremendous public opposition to it.
So, we gave the claim from the TV ad that she stopped it a barely true and on our flip-o-meter, we gave her a full flop for flip- flopping on the issue.
ROBERTS: Because she had, as we said, during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, at least, gave it a tacit support so that she wouldn't stand in the way of it. And then after she became governor said that she was going to refuse the money for the bridge, though, they still accepted the money, didn't they?
ADAIR: They did. And that's why we gave the ad a barely true. Because it's not like she stood up and said -- no, Congress, we won't take this. This is pork. She was very much in the culture of Alaska which is accepting tons of public money, and for infrastructure like roads and things. So, it's not the way it's been portrayed.
ROBERTS: Couple of things we got to get too, quickly, as well. There's an e-mail circulating that Governor Palin tried to ban books from the Wasilla Public Library as mayor. Among those books, Huckleberry Fin and Harry Potter. What did you have to find about that?
ADAIR: We gave this one a pants on fire on our truth-o-meter, which is the lowest rating. This list is a complete fabrication. As you mentioned, the Harry Potter books were actually published after the incident occurred where she inquired about banning some books. So, this one gets a pants on fire.
ROBERTS: OK. So, she did not try to ban books as mayor of Wasilla.
All right. The last one here that we want to take a look at on the other side, Obama has been attacking McCain's energy record saying that McCain had said no to higher fuel efficiency standards for cars, no to investment of renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. True or untrue?
ADAIR: Well, specifically, the claim about fuel efficiency standards, we gave that one a barely true because McCain actually was a leader in trying to raise fuel efficiency standards, and the Obama campaign has been sort of cherry picking there. Picking votes where McCain voted against it, but ignoring the fact that he was a leader on another bill. So, that one gets a barely true.
And I need to just point out something you mentioned earlier about her not trying to ban books. That list is a fake. There are conflicting claims about what actually happened on the book banning and maybe we can talk about that sometime later because there was definitely a point where Mayor Palin raised the possibility of banning some books.
ROBERTS: Oh, all right. Well, we'll get back to you on that. Bill Adair for us from PolitiFact. Bill, it's always great to see you. Thanks so much.
ADAIR: Thanks, John.
