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O.J. Simpson Guilty; Bailout Passes, But Much Work Left Undone; Campaigns Regroup for Next Debate
Aired October 04, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Saturday, the 4th day of October. Thank you for being with us. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everybody, I'm Alina Cho. Thanks so much for joining us. Is O.J. Simpson guilty of robbery and kidnapping? The jury in Las Vegas reaches a verdict. We'll tell you what that is.
HOLMES: Also, lawmakers pass that bailout bill this week before they left town but they didn't get everything done before they left. We'll tell you what they left on that to-do list.
CHO: Do you need a car? Good luck getting one. You might have to wait. Grim days in the car business we'll explain. But first, the O.J. Simpson armed robbery and kidnapping trial. It didn't take long for a Las Vegas jury to render its verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury in the above entitled case find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson as follows, count one, conspiracy to commit a crime, guilty, count two, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, guilty. Count three, conspiracy to commit robbery, guilty. Count four, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, guilty.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The verdict comes 13 years to the day after Simpson was acquitted of double murder, of murdering his wife and one of her friends. CNN's Ted Rowlands following the story from Las Vegas. An incredible coincidence Ted, so what's the reaction been there?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know it's varied as always with O.J. Simpson. People have already pre-determined feelings about Simpson because of his past. We have heard really the gamut here. A lot of people surprised that the jury came back after one day, albeit they went for 13 hours. And surprised that they came back guilty on all counts. It was really the worse case scenario for O.J. Simpson because it was guilty on all 12 counts including the very severe first-degree kidnapping charge which carries with it a 15 year to life sentence. He basically lost every single battle throughout this entire trial even up to the end. After the jury came back with the guilty verdicts, his lawyers asked the judge if he could at least be free until the sentencing. She said no. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YALE GALANTER, O.J. SIMPSON'S ATTORNEY: In terms of the state's motion to revoke bail, of course, we oppose that. Mr. Simpson is not a flight risk. He has honored every one of his court appearances, always has, he's never been late, owns property in Florida, truly no reason to take him into custody pending sentence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. That motion is denied. They are both remanded to custody right now.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: With that, the handcuffs were put on O.J. Simpson. He was then transported out of the courthouse through an underground tunnel to the Clark County Detention Center where he is this morning. He will be there until December 5th when he will be sentenced officially by the Judge Glass. Alina?
CHO: And as you have said, he could get at least 20 years in prison, which, in effect, would mean he would spend perhaps his whole life in prison at 61, if you do the math there. Ted, I want to know what happens going forward here. The defense attorney has made it clear he wants to appeal, right?
ROWLANDS: Absolutely. They came out of the courthouse. They say they are upset with the verdict but said they will immediately after the sentencing file appeals and try to get a new case. They wouldn't go into details on which avenues they are going for that appeal. But, they said they are going to do their best. The bottom line is, very rarely, in cases like this does an appeal succeed.
CHO: You're absolutely right. Ted Rowlands, our man in Las Vegas covering it all for us. Ted thank you. The judge in this latest Simpson trial banned any mention of his sensational 1995 murder trial. Who could forget that? Simpson was accused of killing his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. A jury deliberated just four hours before finding Simpson not guilty. In 1997, two years later, Simpson was found guilty of the murders in a civil trial. He was ordered to pay the victim's families $25 million in punitive damages.
HOLMES: The other major story we have been following this morning and really the past couple of weeks, that $700 billion bailout bill. It is now law. So what's next in America's money crisis? We wait. President Bush cautioned today it will take some time to get this complex bailout program up and running. We may be able to see initial results next week by watching the markets. Will the bailout restore confidence and will it get those loans moving again on Main Street?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BUSH: The legislation congress passed provides the necessary tools to address the underlying problem in our financial system. The root of this problem is that as assets that banks hold have lost value, their ability to provide credit has been restricted, making it more difficult for businesses and consumers to obtain affordable loans. Without decisive action, this credit crunch threatens to harm our entire economy.
(END OF AUDIO CLIP)
HOLMES: The bailout prompted two weeks of negotiations and really stomach churning drama on Capitol Hill. Our Brianna Keilar was there for all of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bill is passed. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A $700 billion bailout plan signed into law. Now what? First up, the hard sell, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle trying to win over constituents who think they are being played for fools in a rescue of Wall Street.
REP. ROY BLUNT, (R) MINORITY WHIP: I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks where we all get a chance to talk to the people we work for and the people of the country about what the final product really did, how it really protected taxpayers.
KEILAR: Lawmakers want to convince voters that taking toxic mortgage backed securities off the hands of financial institutions will undo the credit crunch and stop home loans, car loans, student loans from drying up. It's an election year. In the senate one in three seats face re-election. In the house, every seat is on the ballot next month. Some admit, their support for the bailout could be the political kiss of death.
REP. HOWARD COBLE, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: This vote for me, I'm voting ay today, and it may be politically damaging and the sky may fall tomorrow but it will fall upon my head. It won't fall upon any else's and no one else will be adversely affected.
KEILAR: President Bush pointed out Friday what many analysts are saying about the plan.
BUSH: Americans should also expect it will take some time for this legislation to have its full impact on our economy.
KEILAR: So members of congress will be watching and waiting to see if the bailout eventually buoys the American economy but sinks them in the process.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Brianna Keilar joins us now live from Capitol Hill. Like we said, you've been there watching that drama for the past couple of weeks Brianna. But, it's finally in place. It's law. Ok, but we still have a lot of work to be done. How soon is the treasury going to be able to start buying back those bad mortgage securities and clearing those books of these companies? KEILAR: We don't know exactly the day that that's going to begin. But it's expected to begin soon. In fact, we have been told that the treasury department will have more details on that here in the coming days. What we're going to see almost immediately though is hearings, getting at the heart of how did the American economy really get into these dire straits it's in. We're going to see a couple of hearings in fact this next week, dealing with the collapse of Lehman Brothers as well as the government bailout of insurance giant, AIG. The first hearing actually going to be on Monday, T.J. So you want to keep an eye on that.
HOLMES: All right, hearings, here we go again. All right, Brianna Keilar for us on Capitol Hill. Thank you so much Brianna.
KEILAR: You're welcome.
CHO: The bailout immediately took center stage on the presidential campaign trail trumping every other issue of course. A lot of talk about it at the vice presidential debate between Biden and Palin on Thursday night and it's likely to dominate the second presidential debate on Tuesday. Here is CNN's Ed Henry on the campaign trail in Denver.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After taking a beating when the bailout stalled, John McCain might be expected to enjoy a victory lap. Campaigning in Colorado just minutes after the rescue plan passed, he avoided any celebration.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a tourniquet. It is not a cure. It's not a cure, it's a tourniquet. It will stop the bleeding. But now, we have to reform the way we do business in Washington and it's got to be reformed now.
HENRY: The same metaphor used by Barack Obama after buying his wife a dozen roses in Pennsylvania.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So if we can stop the bleeding with this package, implement it effectively and then move forward to deal with the broader problems on Main Street, hopefully, we can start getting our economy back on track.
HENRY: Both men supported the rescue but they were careful not to cheerlead a bill that many voters are outraged about. It's seen as a bailout of fat cats. A sensitive point since it was signed into law the same day the government revealed another 159,000 jobs were lost.
MCCAIN: A jobs report that came out today. That's terrible news for America. I have to give you straight talk, my friends. I can't give you rosy scenarios.
HENRY: With a tourniquet on the economy, McCain now needs to stop the bleeding in his campaign. Obama is edging ahead in key battlegrounds as he links McCain to the economy policies of an unpopular president. OBAMA: This failed philosophy is what John McCain has embraced for the last 26 years in Washington. He hasn't been getting tough on Wall Street. So, suddenly, a crisis comes and the polls change and suddenly, he is out there talking like Jesse Jackson.
HENRY (on camera): Here in Colorado, a state that republicans have had a lock on, Obama has inched ahead by four points in the latest CNN Time Opinion Research poll. So McCain has decided to go on the offense with a tough new ad on taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Obama voted 94 times for higher taxes. 94 times.
HENRY: CNN has done a fact check of McCain's charge and found it to be misleading. Many of the 94 votes were budget votes that would not have directly raised taxes. Nevertheless, McCain is vowing to hit the issue hard in next week's second presidential debate.
MCCAIN: You are going to learn a lot about who is the liberal and who is the conservative and who wants to raise your taxes and who wants to lower them.
HENRY: That face off will be one of McCain's final chances to shake up the dynamics of a race that is tilting against him. Ed Henry, CNN, Denver.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: CNN, Tuesday night, Nashville is the battleground as the presidential candidates face off in their second debate. Don't miss a minute of the action on CNN, the best political team on TV and your home for politics.
HOLMES: Of course, this bailout is not exactly a reason to celebrate. Many of you out there are letting us know how you feel about it. We are taking your e-mails, weekends@cnn.com. Get those into us. We will read some of those this morning. But also, we are taking the pulse of Main Street. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Hi.
HOLMES: hey, how are you doing? What is Reynolds talking about? You were yelling at him over there a second ago?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: With this beautiful day here in Atlanta, a lot of people are going to be out and about. No matter where people are though, it seems like they want to be talking about the economy right now. CNN's Catherine Callaway is at an art fest in Norcross, Georgia. You can hear it happening all around her. But, is everybody wanting to talk about this bailout today and these financial issues?
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a beautiful day out here T.J. Lots of good food, lots of good fun. It's an arts festival in Norcross, which is a town of about 8,000. Yeah, they are, they are talking about the plan, a lot of reaction. We're getting mixed reaction from people. Some people are just glad something is being done. Some people wish they knew more about it. Wish they had more time to know more about it. This is Skip and Robert and they are developers here in this town. I heard you talking earlier about the psychology of this. You really feel like this is what the banking industry, what the financial industry needs right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The question is, is it a bailout plan or is it a rescue plan? I think psychologically, the nation needs to see that the government was willing to step in and do something. There are a lot of people out there that didn't understand what this was about. They were e-mailing their congressmen at 100 to one we were hearing about. But they didn't understand the issue. The credit market was freezing up. Up until Washington showed that we're willing to come in and free up the credit so that we can actually protect Main Street, then I think they began to understand it. We didn't do a very good job I don't think nationally in selling what was really the problem. Once people started to understand that, they realize, that if credit freezes up, the entire economy freezes up. You can't even borrow money to do the basic things that you do day in and day out and I think that's what was creating a problem.
CALLAWAY: All right Skip, thanks. I know, Robert, you were the one that was really saying this may be what we need as to change how people are thinking about what the situation is financially.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, it's all about attitude. I don't think the money has anything to do with it in terms of how much money the congress puts out there. I think it's all about attitude. Because the amount of money -- they can't begin to touch the amount of money it's going to take to fix the country economically. But they can change the attitude of the country to get out and buy houses again and do the things they need to do. I don't think that the bailout, they had to do something. You can nitpick all day long about where the money is going to go. But the bottom line is, you have to get people feeling good about buying and moving forward with their economics again.
CALLAWAY: So you think it was the right move then?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they had to do something. It was more damaging not to do anything than to do what they did. They had to do something.
CALLAWAY: All right Robert, thank you. Thank you Skip, so much. T.J., that's about what we are hearing from everybody. It may not be the perfect plan but at least it's a plan to get the U.S. economy moving in the right direction. Back to you.
HOLMES: A lot of people are saying that. Skip and Robert, we should have had them on as guests a few weekends ago to explain this plan to the people possibly. They were good. Catherine Callaway for us at that fest in Norcross, Georgia. Thank you so much this morning. CHO: Always great to hear from Main Street. How does the queen of daytime talk, Oprah, make sense of the financial mess, and explain it to her viewers. Well, she welcomed CNN's own Ali Velshi to her stage yesterday. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": My friend, Gail King, on Oprah and Friends on XM had interviewed Ali. He explained it to her so well, she could explain it to me. So I said, this is the guy. Welcome, Ali.
ALI VELSHI: Thanks Oprah.
WINFREY: You get poked fun at. I hear often you get poked fun at for your gloom and doom reports but is it really as gloomy and doomy as they say?
VELSHI: It's serious Oprah. But the fact is, we'll get through this if we understand how it affects us and what we can do.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: By the way here's my goal to say, thanks Oprah. Face to face with Oprah. Take a look at your screen there, this weekend, you can watch Ali on a special edition of "Your Money." He and his co- anchor, Christine Romans are looking at the financial bailout, of course. They're going to take you through the next steps and explain what it means for you, "Your Money" today at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and a special replay tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern.
HOLMES: I wonder if I can still hang out with Ali.
CHO: I think you can.
HOLMES: I don't know. He used to think I was cool, but he's hanging out with Oprah now.
CHO: I know, he's big time.
HOLMES: He's big time now.
Well the VP debate, a lot of people watched that this week. Just what impact will the winner really have on the next administration? Stay here for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. A suspected U.S. air strike inside Pakistan. Pakistan's army spokesman says 20 or more militants were killed. Pakistani intelligence sources say U.S. drones fired missiles at two towns in North Waziristan. The U.S. has not confirmed that yet. The Bush administration has stepped up strikes against al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan you'll recall, and that of course has strained U.S. ties with Islamabad. The U.S. military says a top al Qaeda figure in Iraq has been killed in a shootout with coalition forces. The U.S. says he was the leader of an al Qaeda cell in Baghdad, and he's believed to be the mastermind of several attacks in Iraq since 2006, including this one, a suicide car bomb attack that killed eight people outside a Baghdad mosque on Thursday.
HOLMES: Sarah Palin and Joe Biden want to be the next vice president of the United States. Well, it's not exactly clear to a lot of people what exactly does the vice president do. CNN's Frank Sesno looks at the job of being number two.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There they go again, running mates trying to make a difference.
BIDEN: Thank you.
PALIN: Thank you.
SESNO: This time at least people are paying attention. There is no hard job description here though. The only thing the constitution says is, you preside over the senate, break a tie, and hang around just in case something happens to the boss. What they do depends on who they are. Take Dick Cheney. He put real power into the office. Major influence on the president and policy, in charge in the hours after the 9/11 attacks. Argued for going to war in Iraq, a hawk in the campaign against terrorism. Here, just off the coast of Iran.
DICK CHENEY: We will stand with our friends and oppose an extremism.
ROBERT DALLEK, HISTORIAN: He has probably been the most active, aggressive, assertive vice president in American history.
SESNO: Al Gore played a softer role, more partner than power center. He got think think assignments like reinventing government. Dan Quayle never escaped the shadow of doubt as inexperienced, unprepared. The first George Bush had plenty of experience and weekly lunches with Reagan. But no one ever suggested he made policy or even influenced it much. So here we are today, Biden, picked for his experience, clout in congress, foreign policy hat. Palin, for her energy, conservative core, reform. Each would establish their own sphere of influence.
DALLEK: Cheney has now elevated the office to a place, a point that you are not going to be able to just put the vice president in the closet. They are going to continue to have influence.
SESNO: All this attention as a reflection of judgment and maybe the job.
(On camera): Sarah Palin says her role would be to lead the way on energy, the McCain reform agenda and representing families who have children with special needs. Joe Biden says he would be legislative point person and would be in the room for every major decision. Neither of them sounds like another Dick Cheney but both clearly hope to have a high profile and real impact. Frank Sesno, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We are a month away from Election Day. Have you made up your mind? You can learn about the candidates' plans from the candidates themselves. In their own words, "Ballot Bowl" this afternoon, 2 o'clock eastern right here on CNN.
CHO: Well, you know what they say, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's exactly what congress did with the bailout plan that it passed on Friday and President Bush of course signed it in short order. But what did lawmakers fail to do before they got out of town. We will tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: O.J. Simpson could spend the rest of his life in prison. A silent and stoic Simpson watched as the verdict was read in his armed robbery trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury in the above-entitled case find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson as follows, count one, conspiracy to commit a crime, guilty. Count two, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, guilty. Count three, conspiracy to commit robbery, guilty. Count four, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, guilty.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: On October 3, 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of double murder in Los Angeles. On October 3, 2008, that's what happened, it was 13 years ago to the day. He is hearing this verdict being read against him. Found guilty of robbing two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint. Coming up next hour our legal guys will have more on the court's decision and Simpson's future.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Turning to the $700 billion financial bailout, critics say congress was so busy worrying about Wall Street that it left for winter break without taking care of the average American. What's that all about? Lisa Sylvester explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the final days of the legislative session, the phones were ringing off the hook. Many constituents were calling to complain about the bailout but couldn't get through to their lawmakers. Representative Marcy Kaptur, says congress in the end passed a rescue for Wall Street without rescuing middle class families.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR, (D) OHIO: I am getting tired as a democrat of picking up the wreckage across America. When is my party really going to stand up to Wall Street and the outsourcing of jobs. This isn't good enough for the people who have sent us here.
SYLVESTER: With the financial crisis, many things on congress' to-do list just never got done.
THEA LEE, AFL-CIO: It left without passing an economic stimulus bill that would have included an extension on unemployment insurance, aid to state and local governments and also some infrastructure spending. That was really, really an important piece of what we need to do to get our economy going again, to get the real economy going again.
SYLVESTER: There is more. The credit cardholder's bill of rights to protect consumers from interest rate spikes only made it through the house. Instead of voting on more than a dozen appropriations bills, congress just passed what's called a continuing resolution to keep the government running. And the program known as e verify that allows employers to check the immigration status of workers was up for renewal. Legislatures did a temporary fix, passing only a six-month extension.
REP. BRIAN BILBRAY, (R) CALIFORNIA: I have to say that the leadership that handled the house and the senate, and though they may be friends of mine, they absolutely dropped the ball.
SYLVESTER: This was going to not be a do-nothing congress and they did do something. They passed a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street and the $150,000 billion worth of sweeteners that were tacked on to it.
(On camera): The house and senate democratic leadership offices both say they tried hard to pass the economic stimulus package and to extend unemployment benefits, but they say senate republicans stood in the way. A lot of blame and a lot of pointing fingers now. Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, a lot of blame, a lot of pointing fingers. Where are those fingers going? It's the index finger they are pointing with, right? Right Josh. We are answering these e-mails from you all. These e-mails. We want to know what people have to say and what are they saying. I know you have been trying to find somebody in favor of this thing.
JOSH LEVS: Yes, we are trying. No one is doing it. But if you really favor the bailout bill, let us know. Because everyone who disagrees with you is letting us know. Ok, not literally, everyone. But when you see how incredibly many responses we are getting and that we can't find any positive ones, you'll see what I mean. Let's go to an example here that we pulled up on. I keep running to the desk and pulling out more. This one is from Phillip. "A bill on Monday for $700 billion fails. Congress adds $150 billion and then passes it on Friday as a $700 billion bill. Huh?" Let's go to Gene now, also from T.J.'s home state, Arkansas. "Wall Street has held us hostage to the economy, pay $700 billion or we will trash your 401(k) funds, stop your credit and put the breaks on the entire economy." Finally now, from Rich Hensch in Florida, "We need now more than ever to have the folks in Washington impose term limits." Now I will mention one that I read to you guys last hour. I've got it in my hand. This comes from someone named Riley who did say, "I was highly against the bailout until stocks fell over 700 points. As soon as it didn't pass." So that's kind of a positive, sort of thing but it's certainly not glowing. Anyway, keep them coming. Weekends@cnn.com. We are going to keep sharing them throughout the day. We understand this is something you guys really want to weigh in on. Also, at i-report.com, guys like I said, we're getting overwhelmed with this and we're going to keep sharing them.
HOLMES: And again, you're having a tough time finding somebody in favor. But we just saw Catherine Calloway's live shots, yeah, those two guys. Nobody is excited about it but still understand, maybe this is what's necessary.
LEVS: You know what, and we've had a lot of people on the air saying that and it's true. And it's a lot of congressmen saying the same thing, you know there's no choice.
HOLMES: We still don't even know if it will work.
LEVS: It could be a patch, it could be temporary. It might not work. That's right.
HOLMES: Josh, thank you kind sir.
LEVS: You got it.
CHO: You know we have all heard about the toxic home loans that this bailout bill is designed to take care of. Well, it turns out that car loans are also included in the plan but, is it too little too late to help the faltering auto industry? CNN's Mary Snow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robert Crisafi didn't need to see the latest auto sales numbers to know the picture is grim. A dramatic drop in used car sales has put his 25-year-old business in jeopardy.
ROBERT CRISAFI, AUTO DEALER: Nobody is buying cars. Finance companies aren't financing and people can't get loans.
SNOW: From car dealers to car makers, the credit crunch is dealing a devastating blow, citing very tight credit conditions. Ford says its sales plunged 35 percent in September. Chrysler dropped 33 percent and GM, 16 percent. Japanese automaker, Toyota, had it's worst monthly drop in 21 years. Tightening credit, say analysts, it took a bigger toll than expected.
TOM LIBBY, J.D. POWER AND ASSOCIATES: Six of every 10 new vehicles are purchased with a loan and that portion of the market is now being pulled back. You are seeing major declines and, frankly, credit has to be loosened for the industry to come back. SNOW: It's an industry that was already struggling. High gas prices caused consumers to pull back earlier this year and that ended sales. On Tuesday, the president signed a $25 billion loan package for troubled automakers. But the worst may not be over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The traffic in the last 10 days of September was far worse than the first 10 days of September. So it seems to be an accelerating problem for them.
SNOW: While the industry faces potential plant closings and job cuts, car dealers are being squeezed. CarMax, the nation's largest used car dealer, announced 600 lay-offs.
(On camera): The national automobile dealers association says, so far this year, 600 auto dealerships have closed down and more are expected. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, searching for the missing from hurricane Ike, for many, it's a story with very personal impact. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: 20 minutes before the top of the hour. Three weeks after hurricane Ike, hard to believe, but hundreds of people are still listed as missing along the Texas coast.
HOLMES: Some authorities are upset about the help or the lack thereof they have been getting to find them. Kevin Reece now from our affiliate, KHOU.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN REECE, KHOU (on camera): No where else will you find so much devastation on such a grand scale as you can still find here in the Bolivar Peninsula. They are still searching through all this debris for the missing. It took some pleading from some very tired and weary locals to get the help they need to search through all this again.
(Voice-over): A military helicopter is again searching the northern Bolivar shore. Across the Intra coastal, searchers are again walking through piles of debris on Goat Island. And dog teams are on a house to house hunt in Crystal Beach.
CHIEF DAVID LOOP, CRYSTAL BEACH FIRE DEPT.: I'm not real happy about it. I'll tell you that for sure.
REECE: The Crystal Beach fire chief says that because these search teams got here three weeks after the storm, after the massive rescue effort by the Coast Guard, the National Guard and local agencies, the search for the missing fell largely on Crystal Beach volunteers and Galveston county. Texas Task Force One is normally involved only in rescues, not searches for bodies. So their mission ended several days after Ike. But this week, they were ordered back here to help with this search after local authorities complained and demanded more help. On Bolivar and Goat Island alone, they need to search 80 percent of it again. Search dogs have located as many as 10 different piles of debris worthy of searching board by board and brick by brick. A list of the Bolivar missing keeps changing from 100 to as many as 350.
LOOP: I think they were a little bit slow on the movement through the different agencies to get what we needed in here. It's here now. I'm thankful for that. When we are asked what we are doing here to try to make the recoveries, we can honestly say we did everything possible.
REECE: Everything to find the missing while the living in Bolivar are still coming home.
LOOP: We want people to be able to come in to try to get some kind of beginning and we're still trying to put a closure to another part of this whole thing.
REECE (on camera): Texas Task Force One will be here now at least through next week helping local officials in both Galveston and Chambers counties until they are assured that they have done everything they can to find the missing from hurricane Ike. In Crystal Beach, Kevin Reece, 11 News.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: While there is no central clearing house for a list of the missing, so different agencies do have different numbers. Some of those listed as missing may still be staying in shelters or with relatives, haven't returned yet. Just not accounted for yet.
CHO: And of course a lot of people want to help. If you would like to get involved in relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Ike, go to our website. There you're going to find some links to groups providing help for storm victims at cnn.com/impact.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Stick around because I want to tell you about a story I'm working on for the Monday edition of "AMERICAN MORNING." That's 6:00 to 9:00 eastern time on Monday. Real treat for me last night, you know I had the opportunity to sit down with cast members of "Saturday Night Live." We talked about this crazy political season. Tina Fey's take on Sarah Palin, that's Ann Hathaway there who is going to be the guest host. Of course, what kind of impact the show has on voters, you, people out there. Listen to Darryl Hammond who has played Clinton, Gore and now John McCain talk about what it's like for him on the streets of New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRYL HAMMOND, SNL CAST MEMBER: It's just a little unnerving the passion that people speak to me in the strangest places. I have always been a guy who likes to hang out in diners and stuff like that. I like to eat there and read the paper. It's not possible anymore, really. People come up and they are like, hey, excuse me, that thing the other night, could we just talk about the subprime mortgage thing? What was that about?
CHO: And people are riled? They get mad?
HAMMOND: Sometimes, oh, they get mad or they get happy. Sometimes people stop you and they will walk by you on the straight and they'll go, hey. Then the other day I was at the newsstand a guy walks by me and says --
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: That by the way was Fred Arminsten(ph) to Darryl Hammonds' right who plays Barack Obama on the show. You know I am telling them that we often play clips of "Saturday Night Live" during the week on CNN. They know that, of course. They said, I can't believe it. I can't believe we are actually news worthy. I said, of course you are. They hate watching themselves, they said, because they look at their performances and they say, oh, my gosh, if I would have just had one more hour or 30 more minutes to perfect that. They are so good at what they do. It's hard to believe that.
HOLMES: Everybody is paying attention this political season. It is almost must-see TV for a lot of folks. We look forward to seeing that. Stay here though. We are going to be talking about American soldiers. Not all of them are created equal. An argument out there for some to be kept out of harm's way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, both vice presidential candidates have sons in the military and you can call them VIP soldiers if you will. Senator Biden's son is heading to Iraq now, actually.
CHO: And Governor Sarah Palin's son is already there, but security experts say that could be a problem. Senior pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a deployment ceremony in Dover, Delaware, where Senator Joe Biden said he spoke not as a candidate, but as a father, another American parent sending a child to war.
SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you for answering the call of your country. Thank you for doing what brave women and men have always done in uniform and always do. So stand strong, stand together serve honorably and come home to your families that love you, may God bless you and may he protect you.
MCINTYRE: 39-year-old Captain Bo Biden is Delaware attorney general and also an army jag. Guard officials say he'll likely be a military prosecutor in Iraq. Last month Alaska Governor Sarah Palin also spoke in official ceremonies when her 18-year-old son Track left for Iraq. Officially the army says the sons of potential future vice presidents will get no special treatment, but privately, pentagon officials say they are considering whether such high-profile VIPs should continue to serve in a war zone after the election. One person in a unique position to weigh in says presidential children don't belong in battle. The 1952 John Eisenhower was a 30-year-old army major assigned to an infantry unit fighting in Korea, his father was running for president. In a "New York Times" op ed, the son of the late president writes, "Avoiding combat duty was and is an unforgivable sin. So he agreed he would take his life before being captured because his father felt if his son were taken prisoner he could be forced to resign the presidency to avoid being blackmailed.
Now almost 90 John Eisenhower thinks in retrospect he should have had no choice, but to be reassigned to a safe job as he was after a short stint on the front lines in Korea. He writes, "The next president and vice president will be busy enough without being burdened with worries about an individual soldier, especially a child."
(On camera): The pentagon is quietly considering how to deal with having a vice president's son in the war zone as well as the potential if John McCain is elected that his son Jimmy, a marine, could return for a second combat tour. In the end, the decision could fall to the next commander in chief. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the pentagon.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Will you talk to her, I can't -- oh my goodness.
CHO: NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with my friend and yours Fred Whitfield. Hey Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, how are you guys doing?
HOLMES: Good morning.
CHO: I saw Fred in New York yesterday and we're both in Atlanta today.
WHITFIELD: I know.
HOLMES: Good to have you here, both of you.
WHITFIELD: Too bad we weren't on the same flight. We could have had a great time.
CHO: We could have.
WHITFIELD: Any way, all right, good to see you all. We have lots straight ahead in the noon hour. Of course, people are still talking about what happened on Thursday during the vice presidential debate. Now let's look ahead. Tuesday is the second of three scheduled presidential debates so don't you wonder, was Obama and McCain taking notes from the vice presidential debate? Bill Schneider will be along to talk about what they need to be doing, how they're preparing. And then our legal guys will be joining us. What is turning out to be a coincidence or not? Our legal guys will be delving into the 13 -- after 13 years of the acquittal of murder charges now O.J. Simpson facing guilty charges. We'll be looking into what his options are as his date is scheduled for sentencing and at the same time our legal guys will be delving into whether an option of appeal is there for him. All of that straight ahead.
CHO: Jeff Toobin was saying most cases do not win on appeal, but I think they're still going to try. Looking forward to it.
HOLMES: Thank you Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you.
CHO: More proof that it's never a good idea to forget key information about your marriage especially if your last name is Obama. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Would you get me flowers?
HOLMES: Of course I would.
CHO: Well he got the flowers. A dozen white roses, we're told and a romantic dinner, Italian, we're hearing.
HOLMES: Sounds like so far so good but we have a bit of a problem here. The Obama's wedding anniversary not exactly goof-free. CNN's Jeanne Moos with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was bad enough to get it wrong, but to get it wrong with your wife looking on, not to mention the media.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will be celebrating our 15th anniversary next week. She just about has me trained.
MOOS: Yeah, well if she truly had you trained, you would have gotten the year right.
CRAIG FERGUSON: Barack Obama forgot which wedding anniversary he celebrates this year. Mr. Perfect suddenly ain't so perfect anymore!
MOOS: He said it was their 15th, actually it's their 16th. Normally Keith Olbermann is an Obama fan, but for this transgression Keith awarded Barack the bronze for worst person in the world.
OLBERMANN: Oops!
MOOS: All week long Obama has been making amends for his campaign plans where the press was partying. The senator handed out cookies and made a mantra of his correct anniversary.
OBAMA: 16th? It's big.
MOOS: A newly-engaged reporter asked the senator the secret to a successful marriage.
OBAMA: Sense of humor.
MOOS: He cited humor, listening and never get so mad you forget you love them so you don't say something that's hard to take back.
He kept taking the wrong anniversary with the right one.
OBAMA: By the way, tomorrow is our 16th anniversary.
MOOS (on camera): Now this isn't Senator Obama's first slipup involving a number.
OBAMA: I've now been in 57 states?
MOOS: He meant to say 47, but misstating states doesn't compare with misstating your anniversary. At least the senator says he has a gift for Michelle all picked out.
OBAMA: I've got this whole romantic dinner planned.
MOOS: Though the McCain campaign hasn't yet turned the anniversary gaffe into an attack ad. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you vote for a man who doesn't even know how long he's been married? America deserves more!
MICHELLE OBAMA: I'm Michelle Obama, and I approve this message.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: That's good.
CHO: I don't know, 15, 16 years. I think the 57 state thing is worse.
HOLMES: Give the guy a break. He's been busy the past year.
CHO: Yeah, here he is a little bleary-eyed.
Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Fredricka Whitfield.
WHITFIELD: I guess he was right: if that were actually authentic, then Michelle Obama really does have a pretty good sense of humor about it, right? What's 15 or 16? What's the difference.
