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American Morning
Palin Plays the Terror Card; U.S. Futures Down Sharply; McCain and Obama Trade Sharp Jabs; Will Surge Work in Afghanistan?
Aired October 06, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: On the campaign trail, the attacks are getting sharper and the ads getting uglier. We have the best political team on television covering the candidates ahead of tomorrow's second presidential debate. And our Jim Acosta is following Barack Obama. Also, we have Dana Bash following the John McCain's campaign.
But we begin with Jim. And we'll start with you first, Jim.
Barack Obama trying to paint more of the electoral map blue, we're talking about some shifts today in that electoral map as he is taking on some new lines of attack from the Obama camp as well.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran.
Barack Obama is hitting back at the McCain campaign after those personal attacks that came from Sarah Palin over the weekend. The Obama campaign is releasing a new video highlighting John McCain's role in the Keating Five scandal from the early 1990s. That video can be found at a Web site called keatingeconomics.com, a move that shows the Obama campaign is perfectly happy playing for keeps.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): If he succeeds in turning Republican strongholds like North Carolina blue, Barack Obama will have to withstand new character attacks, this time from Sarah Palin.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.
ACOSTA: Palin recycled an old story about Obama's past sporadic contacts with William Ayers, a former member of a radical group that carried out bombings on government buildings in the 1960s. Obama called it a desperate smear.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They'd rather tear our campaign down than lift this country up. That's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time.
ACOSTA: Now a college professor in Chicago, Ayers and Obama served together several years on a nonprofit board. And in 1995, Ayers hosted a coffee for Obama when the young community organizer was making his first run for the state Senate.
At this point looking back, should he not have done that, do you think?
DAVID AXELROD, OBAMA CAMPAIGN CHIEF STRATEGIST: Well, I mean, when he went, he certainly, he didn't know the history.
ACOSTA: The Democratic nominee's chief strategist, David Axelrod, maintains Obama at that time had no idea about Ayers' violent past.
AXELROD: There's no evidence that they're close. There's no evidence that Obama in any way subscribed to any of Ayers' views. And Obama has been very clear about condemning the despicable acts that Bill Ayers committed 40 years ago when Obama was 8 years old.
ACOSTA: Obama has unleashed a new ad, seizing on the Ayers attack, noting a McCain campaign spokesman was quoted as saying the Arizona senator wanted to turn the page away from the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, OBAMA CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL)
NARRATOR: No wonder his campaign wants to change the subject, turn the page on the financial crisis by launching dishonest, dishonorable assaults against Barack Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: What else might McCain bring up? When asked if Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, is off the table, a McCain spokesman would only say, no comment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And Barack Obama is here in North Carolina prepping for tomorrow's debate with John McCain in part to expand the battleground map forcing John McCain to defend states he should already have locked up while at the same time running out that election clock -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Could you clarify one thing that you did say about whether or not Barack Obama knew of Bill Ayers' past, violent past?
ACOSTA: Well, Kiran, I can just tell you what David Axelrod, the strategist for the Obama campaign, told us over the weekend in Newport News, Virginia. We had an interview with David Axelrod, and at that point he told us that at that 1995 coffee, that Bill Ayers held for Barack Obama, that at that time, according to David Axelrod, Senator Obama did not know about, or did not fully know about Ayers' past at that time.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're going to be speaking to both campaigns today so we will ask about this. And we're going to ask as well of the McCain campaign, whether or not bringing up some of this right now is to shift away from some of the other issues that have been going on in the campaign. So we're going to be tackling all of that a little bit later in the show.
Good to see you, Jim. Thanks.
ACOSTA: You bet.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, we just heard some new attacks coming out of the McCain/Palin camp. Our Dana Bash is following the Republican ticket. She joins us live from Washington this morning.
Dana, it's a tried and true tactic in politics that when you're behind on an issue, you change the subject.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And certainly that is one of the things that the McCain camp is trying to do. But look, you know, given all the fundamentals against John McCain, unpopular president, unpopular war, economic slump, McCain aides have always believed that their best shot is trying to make undecided voters ask, OK, things may be bad, but do I really want to trust this newcomer, Barack Obama? And that's really where McCain aides say they're going to be pound away up to the next month, and what they're flat out calling Obama's lies, not just in associations he may have, like, with William Ayers, what Jim was just talking about, or convicted real estate developer, Tony Rezko, but also on more substantive issues like whether or not he's going to raise your taxes.
And you know, just, John, this morning, the McCain camp has a new ad out using the words "dangerous and risky" to describe Obama. That's the kind of thing we're going to hear more and more about in the next 30 days.
ROBERTS: You know, obviously, the tactic is working to some degree because Obama's connections to William Ayers have become a topic of discussion this morning. But is there a chance that suggesting things like he's palling around with terrorists could potentially backfire?
BASH: What you saw actually Sarah Palin use the term "palling around" on Saturday and then pulled that back on Sunday. But obviously, they are keeping this association up big time. You know, here's what McCain aides told me long ago about their internal data that may give you a window into why they're doing this.
Undecided voters they think certainly don't want four more years of George Bush, but they are not sure that they want Barack Obama. So, since Obama is doing whatever he can to link McCain to Bush, McCain aides say the final push must be to instill doubts about Obama, especially in swing areas of swing states. That is really the key -- the key, key, key that they want to do.
Remember, over the summer, McCain had a surge after airing that celebrity ad making this about Barack Obama. That's what they want to try to return this to in the last (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: And, of course, the Obama campaign trying to fire back in kind reminding people that John McCain was a member of the Keating Five a couple of decades ago. So, definitely going downhill on both sides here.
Dana, thanks so much.
BASH: Thank you.
ROBERTS: And don't forget the next presidential debate is tomorrow night. Join the best political team on television for your front row seat. John McCain against Barack Obama live from Nashville, 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, it's time now to check in on some other stories making news around the country.
Jefferson, the 51st state? Well, that's what some residents of 12 counties along the California-Oregon border want to create. Residents of the heavily forested counties say they're being ignored by the government to their current states and they already have a state flag.
In Georgia, a police helicopter searching for marijuana took on gunfire. The pilot of the chopper said he heard gunshots hit the bottom of the helicopter. He immediately landed. No one was hurt and the helicopter had no structural damage.
$3 a gallon gas never sounded so good, but after a summer of prices above $4, drivers in Minneapolis were elated to see prices like $3.01 at local gas stations. Today's, by the way, new national average is $3.50 a gallon.
Our business correspondent Christine Romans joins us now. Hi, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran.
Well, the financial markets overseas are reacting to that $700 billion bailout plan from Friday and the reaction is not so good. All of those stock markets are down sharply.
I'm going to tell you what you need to look at when your 401(k) comes in the mail. Brace yourself. It's probably going to be down sharply.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: You know, Christine was saying before the break here that when your 401(k) arrives in the mail it's just (INAUDIBLE) to see your statements that my 401(k) is probably small enough. Think of what it meant in an envelope this big now.
ROMANS: I know. I know. The third quarter is behind us and so people are going to start to get these statements in the mail. And you know, just brace yourselves, folks, because if you have broad exposure to the S&P 500, for example, it's down 25 percent this year.
CHETRY: I'm still not looking. I'm a bad school.
ROMANS: Well --
CHETRY: I don't want to know yet. ROMANS: You know, in a way that's good because you don't want to be making all these changes, reacting to the market once it's already behind you. But you really should take a close hard look because the closer you are to retirement, the more important it is. And if you're close to retirement, you've got a lot of stocks in your 401(k).
I mean, it's going to be a big hit. That's a quarter of your retirement wealth wiped out, so that's why it's really important to make --
CHETRY: Now you're scaring people.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: You don't touch the money and you don't take it out, you haven't lost yet?
ROMANS: Well, that's true. That's true. But the closer you are to retirement, you better make sure that you have all, you know, asset allocation, they say.
But I want to talk about the reaction to the bailout bill overseas. We're seeing overseas markets down sharply. This is their first chance to react to what the House and Senate did last week and passed that $700 billion bailout bill. The president made it law. This is going to take those toxic mortgages off the banks -- the books of the banks, rather, and you're seeing some sharp losses overseas in the Asian and the European markets.
Tokyo down 4.3 percent. Hong Kong, Shanghai down, and European markets also down sharply. You said that the FTSE, that's the London average, was down some five percent earlier. But Dow futures are down just 190 points.
ROBERTS: That's better than it was an hour ago.
ROMANS: That's right and we'll take it.
ROBERTS: Things are looking up.
ROMANS: And oil prices are down below $90 a barrel for the first time in eight months. And the reason isn't good is because they think that we're going to have a weak economy so people are going to need less crude oil, but that lower oil prices down --
CHETRY: And when you talk about consumer confidence and to whether or not people think they may have to save. Gas prices also down dramatically...
ROMANS: And that will help.
CHETRY: ... from the high in July.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Exactly. We'll take every little. CHETRY: They're at $4.11. Now we're at $3.50.
ROMANS: Everything we can take, we'll take it. And that's one of the good things coming up.
ROBERTS: You know, Trump says that's going to be the silver lining in all of this.
ROMANS: Right.
ROBERTS: Nobody will be able to afford it, but the price will be --
ROMANS: Can't buy a new car, but you can fill it up a little bit.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much.
Well, for weeks, our Ali Velshi has been helping us to understand the current financial crisis. Oprah Winfrey apparently took notice and fell in love with our hairless prophet of doom. She invited Ali on her show to break it all down for her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": My friend Gayle King on "XM and Friends," 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. This is the guy. Welcome, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Oprah.
WINFREY: OK. You just poked fun at.
(APPLAUSE)
I hear often you get poked fun at for your gloom and doom reports, but is it really as gloomy and doomy as you said?
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 VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: There he is.
CHETRY: She asked him if he was gloomy and doomy, and they took a shot of him from the back. Went like just his bald head. That's funny. I mean, no, I was thinking --
ROMANS: He's pulled all his hair out covering all these crazy markets.
CHETRY: That's right. Good for Ali, though.
ROMANS: I know. Isn't that great? CHETRY: Yes. We're very proud of him.
ROBERTS: Just better not become Oprah's hairless prophet of doom because...
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: ...he does belong to us.
CHETRY: That is right. Oprah can borrow him for a day, but he has to come back.
Thanks, Christine.
Well, by now, you probably heard Sarah Palin accuse Barack Obama of palling around with terrorists. She said that on the stump on Saturday. Is it true? We decided to run it by CNN's "Truth Squad," and we'll tell you the verdict still ahead.
Political parody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
TINA FEY, PLAYING SARAH PALIN: Are we not doing the talent portion?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It's more than poking fun at Sarah Palin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody comes here. They all show up sooner or later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A special behind-the-scenes look at "Saturday Night Live."
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. There's a shot this morning of New York City. 7:15, a little cloudy, in the mid-50s right now. It's going to be a high of 66 today. And our Rob Marciano is tracking all of it for us.
You were here, and now you're back in Atlanta. And there's a big storm barreling towards us.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it is. It's taking a while to get to you, but it hit the West Coast over the weekend, hit the western states just yesterday. And this is a strong storm for this time of year. Some of the Colorado Rockies got, you know, some snow, as did the Sierra Nevada. So this is hitting into the plains and that combination of cold and hot, we're getting into that transitional time of year where we do get not only snow and wind storms but we get severe weather breakouts especially across parts of Tornado Alley.
So small hail and damaging winds potentially with this storm as it heads off towards the east through Texas, and already we've seen a line of thunderstorms develop and it's pretty well organized heading through the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. So there it is on the radar scope, from Wichita all the way down to Waco, looking for this to be barreling eastward and losing a little bit of intensity as it does so. But thunderstorms could very well be dangerous today.
It will bring some delays potentially, of course, at Dallas, and then thunderstorms, yes, but New York metropolitan areas, cool, crisp, a little bit of wind. Probably some volume delays across the New York metro airports and then low clouds in San Francisco and Seattle, which at least in San Francisco this time of year that's a pretty rare occurrence.
Check out some of the temperatures. You'll note the differences between, say, the Rockies and, say, Dallas. Sixty-four degrees in Denver. It will be 67 degrees in Salt Lake City. And temperatures in the 70s, at least during the daytime in places like New Mexico, which, Kiran, this is the time of year they have the big Balloon Festival. Cool air settling in. You fire up -- oh, there it is. All right. Oh, I haven't seen this video yet.
There's the cow balloon...
CHETRY: Wow.
MARCIANO: ... which is always, always popular. I think -- I've been meaning to pitch this, Kiran. Don't you think we should do weather from out there, just to highlight the differences in how buoyant warm air is versus cool air?
CHETRY: Yes.
MARCIANO: Maybe take a little balloon ride?
CHETRY: Either you do that or you do the thing that one guy does, where he has about, you know, 600 helium balloons, and he starts popping them with his BB gun.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: Either one. We take it.
MARCIANO: While lounging on his lawn chair, yes.
CHETRY: Exactly.
MARCIANO: We'll go for it.
CHETRY: Hey, his last name is Couch, by the way. I find that funny. He's on a chair, though.
All right. Rob, we'll check in with you a little later. Bye.
MARCIANO: See you, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Checking the facts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I was really interested to read in there about Barack Obama's friend from Chicago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Sarah Palin, opening a new assault on Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Pal around with terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Is Obama friendly with terrorists? The "Truth Squad" separates fact from fiction.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nineteen and a half minutes after the hour. Time to check in with the "Truth Squad" and charges flying fast and furious this weekend. Jason Carroll and the "Truth Squad" have been checking up on what's being said on the campaign trail, and he's here now this morning.
Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
She's definitely getting ugly out there. It was a harshly worded political weekend. Sarah Palin twice linking Barack Obama to terrorists. Take a listen to what she said Saturday in Carson, California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: A dramatic charge, but is it right? We know that Palin was referring to at least, in part, to the man that you see there on the left here, '60s radical William Ayers. Ayers and his wife were members of the Weather Underground, a group that protested the Vietnam War by bombing government buildings including the Pentagon and the Capitol. The FBI labeled it a domestic terrorist group and Ayers and his wife spent 10 years on the run. Charges were eventually dropped, but only after it was ruled that the FBI crossed the line in obtaining evidence.
Ayers went on to become a professor at the University of Illinois and settled down in Obama's Chicago neighborhood. The two met in 1995 and served on two boards together. In 1995, they worked on a school improvement program. That same year, Ayers hosted a campaign event for Obama, as Obama began to bid for the U.S. Senate. And from 1999 to 2001, both were board members for a charity foundation known at the "Woods Fund."
But Obama's campaign says they have not spoken on the phone or e- mailed since 2005 when Obama became a U.S. senator, and we found no evidence they were social outside of the work they did together. So, what's the verdict here? Is Palin right to say Obama is palling around with terrorists?
The "Truth Squad" says -- no. This one is false. The two definitely know each other and had worked together, but there is no indication that Obama and Ayers are "palling around" or have an ongoing relationship. There is also nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity, or that any Obama associates are.
In fact, we reached out to the McCain campaign to ask specifically about Palin's use of the plural "terrorists," but they did not respond. Of course, we're checking up on both sides. And next hour, we're going to look at the claims from Obama that McCain's health plan will leave workers "broke."
ROBERTS: All right. Looking forward to that. Just to clarify, I think that the meeting with Ayers in 1995 was before his bid for the state Senate?
CARROLL: Correct.
ROBERTS: Not the U.S. Senate?
CARROLL: Yes.
ROBERTS: OK. Thanks, Jason, very much for that.
CHETRY: Well, just 29 days and counting. And as we just heard, it is getting pretty nasty out there. When will the candidates get back to the issues, like the economy and crisis? We're asking both campaigns this morning.
ROBERTS: Words of war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: The surge principle to be implemented in Afghanistan --
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The surge principle in Iraq will not work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jamie McIntyre goes to the source. Can the so-called surge work in Afghanistan?
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It was a point of contention in last week's vice presidential debate, whether the principles of the Iraq surge strategy would work in Afghanistan. So what do senior military brass think about it?
Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now live with the very latest on that. Good morning, Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John. You know, to tell you, Afghanistan is not Iraq as General Petraeus recently did. It's what they call at the Pentagon a blinding flash of the obvious, but that doesn't mean that more troops wouldn't help.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): The debate over whether the surge strategy did work in Iraq is being eclipsed by the debate over whether it will work in Afghanistan.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan.
PALIN: The surge principles, not the exact strategy, but the surge principles that have worked in Iraq need to be implemented in Afghanistan also.
MCINTYRE: Both presidential candidates have pledged to dispatch thousands more U.S. reinforcements to Afghanistan, combat forces the American NATO commander desperately needs. Just don't compare it to the Iraq surge, he says.
GEN. DAVID MCKIERNAN, NATO AFGHANISTAN COMMANDER: The word I don't use for Afghanistan is the word surge.
MCINTYRE: In Iraq, the Pentagon says the surge was not just about more troops. Officials argue it helped empower Sunni leaders who'd had enough of al-Qaeda.
GEN. JAMES CARTWRIGHT, JOINT CHIEFS VICE CHAIRMAN: The awakening in Anbar really set the pattern for us as a military to start to understand how to engage at the bottom and help grow this from the bottom and empower the locals.
MCINTYRE: That blossomed into the Sons of Iraq, a program in which the U.S. military pay disgruntled Sunnis to switch sides. But General McKiernan insists following the Iraq model would be a mistake recruiting Sons of Afghanistan or fostering a Pashtun awakening, he argues, would just reignite smoldering tribal rivalries.
MCKIERNAN: Afghanistan was in the midst of a civil war when we intervened. There are -- and that potential is still there.
MCINTYRE: McKiernan agrees with the basic principle behind the Iraq strategy, empowering the locals, but thinks having foreign troops involved in Afghanistan would only backfire. It's something, he says, the Afghans must do for themselves.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: At the end of the day, the Afghan from the military standpoint, the Afghan army is our exit strategy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: And General McKiernan warns it will take years to turn Afghanistan around because of the tribal rivalries, a weak central government, and all of the problems that are being faced in that country. And with NATO not willing to commit any significant number of additional troops, the next president is going to find Afghanistan to become an increasingly American war -- John.
ROBERTS: Jamie McIntyre for us at the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks so much for that.
It's 27 and a half minutes after the hour, and here are this morning's top stories.
It could be an excruciatingly long day on Wall Street. U.S. futures are down sharply after global markets took a tumble in the overnight hours. Russia's main index tanked by over 12 percent by midday. Nine percent of those losses came in the first 30 minutes of trade. Major markets in Europe are also in the red this morning.
In the face of a massive lawsuit, Countrywide Financial, a subsidiary of Bank of America, is modifying tens of thousands of mortgages to help keep people in 11 states from losing their homes. Bank of America purchased Countrywide back in June.
A horrible bus crash killed 10 people and injured dozens of other in Northern California last night. The vehicle flipped and landed in a ditch after the driver apparently drifted and then overcorrected. So far, authorities have not yet determined the name of the charter company that was running the bus. A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol says the bus had a Texas license plate that was not valid.
The Republican National Convention wants to check Barack Obama's books. The RNC said it's going to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission today seeking an audit of the $450 million in donations to Obama's campaign. The GOP wants to see if Obama broke rules by knowingly receiving money from foreign nationals or taking amounts over the legal limits. CHETRY: Well, joining me now for more on the back and forth that's been happening on the campaign trail, CNN political contributor and Republican analyst Leslie Sanchez, as well as CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman.
Happy Monday morning to you. Boy. We start off with what we heard on the campaign trail from McCain's VP candidate, Sarah Palin, and she brought up Obama's association with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground. This was a domestic terrorist group that protested U.S. policies back in the Vietnam era by bombing the Pentagon, the Capitol, and some of these other buildings. These attacks were attributed to the group and they killed one police officer and severely hurt another. Let's listen to what Sarah Palin said Saturday in Carson, California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Leslie, why is the McCain camp bringing this up now instead of focusing on issues like the economy?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I can't speak for the campaign. I would say -- you know, right now I think America is yearning for leadership and I don't think the tone of this particular attack is helpful to the campaign at all.
Yes, you can question relationships. You can question judgment, you can question what kind of influences would be around a Barack Obama presidency. But I think to bring this issue up right now undermines the fact that people are concerned about economic stewardship. Where are we? An aspiration (ph) is going to take this country. It's OK to question even other relations like Tony Rezko, somebody who has a felony, convicted of bribery who helped Barack Obama in terms of subsidizing his home. Certain issues there, but I think Bill Ayers is a stretch.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It's more than a stretch. It's a lie, and that's the important point. There was no relationship between the two of them. They served on different boards together, as well as hundreds of other people, but they had no close relationship. The media clearly indicates that and demonstrates that, and the fact that the McCain campaign is engaging these tactics is not just politics as usual -
CHETRY: Actually, Barack Obama's campaign isn't saying that they didn't associate with each other.
ZIMMERMAN: Well, they served on boards together in Chicago, yes, but the media did report that they were never close. There was no close relationship. And the McCain campaign, in fact Greg Strumfels (ph), said to the media, a senior McCain adviser, they want to change the dialogue, they want to change the focus from the economic crisis our country is facing and try to make this more of a personal referendum about Barack Obama because they can't (INAUDIBLE) the serious issues.
I want to ask you this. Go ahead, Leslie. I'm sorry, quickly.
SANCHEZ: It's not unusual to have attacks in October. It's not unusual for a vice presidential role to be there. I think David Axelrod was talking about this earlier today in one of the pieces where he did said did Barack Obama know about his history -
CHETRY: Back in 1995 -
SANCHEZ: In '95, when he had that coffee in his home? And you're mincing words and different things. I think people get confused on these facts. But it's this aura of relationships he has, trying to show a pattern. I just think in this case -
ZIMMERMAN: It's false not fine.
CHETRY: Well, Robert, I want to ask you about this. Because one of the things the McCain camp says, I mean the Obama camp said is we don't want these personal attacks. We want to keep it focused on the issues yet they also released a web video showing John McCain and the hearings that were held in the savings and loan -
ZIMMERMAN: Right.
CHETRY: - scandal which he also was cleared of wrongdoing. He got a slap on the wrist from Congress, in terms of -
ZIMMERMAN: That's right.
CHETRY: The appearance, of impropriety. So why bring that up?
ZIMMERMAN: Because that's part of John McCain's legislative record and it deals with John McCain's philosophy of deregulation that led to the savings and loan scandal, which is one of the great fiscal crises of that period. So I think it's very important and I think it's important for Democrats to show they can counterpunch effectively politically, but more importantly they can counterpunch on the issues, because the philosophy that John McCain has been a strong advocate of deregulation has been a major contributor to the fiscal crisis we're living through now and of course contributed to the savings and loan scandal as well.
SANCHEZ: Robert, nobody buys that. Everybody believes it's Republicans and Democrats that are responsible for this. Don't forget, it was the special counsel who happened to be a Democrat that Senator McCain should be completely exonerated of that whole issue. I don't think it's not fair. There's a lot of falsehood -
CHETRY: What does it say about where both candidates are understanding what the American public cares about, when this is the stuff that's being dredged up right now and when we're facing one of the biggest economic crisis of our generation? ZIMMERMAN: Well, I think the fact that Barack Obama is putting an economic program on the table, and is trying to talk about the economic crisis and how to address it, I think it speaks to understanding what the mood of the country is and the desire for leadership. And the fact that you see the polls are clearly trending in Barack Obama's direction. They'll tighten up, of course, I think as the campaign progresses, but you see because of the response of that issue.
SANCHEZ: The country's response to last week's economic calamity and the fact Congress was, you know, dragging their feet and finally getting something done. That's what you see in the polls right now. The polls we want to look at are after this vice presidential debate and the ones that combined with Tuesday's debate, look at the end of next week, you're going to have a better sight of still tightening up.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see. We're out of time.
ZIMMERMAN: OK.
CHETRY: I want to thank both of you. It was a good topic this morning. We talked forever. Robert Zimmerman and Leslie Sanchez, thanks.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, the second presidential debate as we've been talking about is tomorrow night. You can watch it with the best political team on TV right here on CNN. It's John McCain, Barack Obama facing off live, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
ROBERTS: After the stunning verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial we are going to take a look at the downfall of the once household name. How Simpson threw it all away.
CHETRY: Late-night politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEY: And I can see Russia from my house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The art of poking fun at politicians. Alina Cho takes us behind the scenes of "Saturday Night Live."
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The moment they're in power we're the opposition.
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CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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PALIN: Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.
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CHETRY: Well, there's a new flurry of attacks coming from both sides as we count down to 29 days until the election. And joining me now is Nancy Pfotenhauer, she is an adviser for the McCain campaign. Nancy, thanks for being with us this morning.
NANCY PFOTENHAUER, FMR. EXEC. VP. CITIZENS FOR A SOUND ECONOMY: Delighted to be here.
CHETRY: So we heard from Sarah Palin talking about Barack Obama paling around with terrorists. What was the insinuation she was making there?
PFOTENHAUER: Well I think, Kiran, most people - most Americans wouldn't do that and they would think it was bizarre to hang out with someone who basically engaged in terrorist acts aimed against the American people. They killed police officers, they killed civilians. I mean, they actually killed a few of themselves when they were putting together nail bombs I think that were designed to be set off at a Fort Dix dance.
I mean, this is a very radical organization. This is a very radical man who hates America and made statements just as recently as 9/11 that he was surprised or disappointed they hadn't done so much. It was an unrepentant terrorist and I think most Americans would question the judgment of somebody who thinks it's OK to have a political event at this man's house. Serve on a board with him -
CHETRY: One quick sec.
PFOTENHAUER: Sure.
CHETRY: But Barack Obama's campaign is saying today, and we're going to hear from them in a moment, that Barack Obama was unaware in 1995 when he did have coffee at Bill Ayers' home, of his radical past. So is it fair to say he was palling around when he wasn't even aware, according to the campaign, of Bill Ayers' history?
PFOTENHAUER: He was 34 years old. He would certainly should have been aware of it. This is that very exclusive Hyde Park Chicago neighborhood, they certainly. I mean, that's a shocking kind of spin. I can't believe they're asserting that. It's not just Bill Ayers. His wife was also a known terrorist. I mean, this is a very famous situation, because Mr. Ayers also belonged to an extremely prominent family in Chicago. So this was a very well-known situation. If he didn't know who he was hanging out with, that's even a bigger problem.
CHETRY: Nancy, I want to ask you this. Why are we talking about this right now when the economy is in a very bad way, and there's been a lot going on that people care about besides - these past allegations that have been around for longer than just this week?
PFOTENHAUER: Certainly, first of all, we talk about the challenges facing this country every single day. In fact, I was saying two-thirds to three quarters of every speech that I believe Senator McCain and Governor Palin make are focused on how we turn the economy around, how we start creating jobs. So most of our attention has been focused on that, however, we're four weeks away from Americans pulling a lever on who will be the next commander in chief, and Barack Obama frankly misrepresents some of his associations, like the Rezko thing and most Americans also don't get a sweetheart deal on their house with a convicted felon.
I mean, this is, at worst or at best rather, this is a question about his judgment, but we think he misrepresents that he's has associations the same way he misrepresents his record on issues whether it's raising taxes, increasing spending, second amendment issues, public financing, he's you know, going to the - for on practically a stack of Bibles. He certainly did it several times on the record that he was going to take public financing as soon as it became politically expedient to jettison that, that promise to the American people, he did so. Part of it showing what he says is not what he does.
CHETRY: Nancy, I want to play one other clip of Sarah Palin from the weekend. This is what she said about Barack Obama at a campaign rally. Let's listen.
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PALIN: This is not a man who sees America as you and I do. We see America as the greatest force for good in this world.
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CHETRY: When she says he doesn't see America as we see America, who's the "we" she's referring to?
PFOTENHAUER: I think to most middle-class Americans. I mean, one of the statements that she emphasized during her debate that I also think is emblematic of how Barack Obama views America differently -
CHETRY: Wait, let's just go back real to this real quick because there are some articles today -
PFOTENHAUER: Sure.
CHETRY: And there's been some analysis that there was a racial tinge to what she said. "Doesn't see America as you and I see America." What do you say to that?
PFOTENHAUER: It's absurd. I mean, I think maybe people don't like what Sarah Palin is saying and so they are describing the worst possible motive. Point to one thing she's ever done in other life that would reveal any type of racial tendency. That's ridiculous. But what she's saying is he doesn't see America the same way middle- class Americans do or middle class Americans do. Remember his statement about Afghanistan, where he claimed that the American military was just air raiding villages and bombing civilians. And she brought that out in the debate and said I'm not - that's a reckless statement and frankly don't know whether he's qualified to be commander in chief if he's making statements like that.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to have to leave it there. I want to thank you for joining us this morning. Nancy Pfotenhauer -
PFOTENHAUER: Thank you.
CHETRY: Senior adviser for the McCain campaign. Thanks.
PFOTENHAUER: My pleasure. Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: The O.J. verdict.
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VOICE OF FRED GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S FATHER: ...spend the rest of his life in jail where that scumbag belongs.
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ROBERTS: Kara Finnstrom on the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's you know extremely upset.
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ROBERTS: Plus the latest on his sentencing and appeal.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was multiple items that we looked at. There was multiple evidence that we considered, and we considered and considered and considered. It went on for hours. We looked at each individual, then looked at them again, and then we even went back through and made sure for each count we had at least two to three things that convinced us, yes, this law was broken.
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ROBERTS: Members of O.J. Simpson's jury speaking out last night explaining how they reached their decision to convict Simpson on all 12 charges stemming from an armed robbery. Simpson could spend the rest of his life in prison. But as our Kara Finnstrom reports, he is not ready to give up, yet. KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, defense attorneys say they will appeal those guilty verdicts. They say a fair trial was nearly impossible for O.J. Simpson. A one-time sports icon who became a celebrity outcast.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guilty.
FINNSTROM (voice-over): A stunned O.J. Simpson listened as the verdicts were read. Guilty on all 12 counts including kidnapping and armed robbery. Simpson could face life in prison.
YALE GALANTER, SIMPSON ATTORNEY: He's you know, extremely upset, extremely emotional but it is something that was expected.
FINNSTROM: Yet at one time few would have believed how Simpson's life would play out. Simpson first showcased his incredible talent in college racking up awards like the Heisman trophy. Then in the NFL playing in six pro bowls. Off the field.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a kid in Minneapolis once, in Cincinnati.
FINNSTROM: Simpson parlayed his charisma into an acting career and piled up endorsements. Simpson was a full-fledged celebrity when in 1994 his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were murdered. Simpson was charged in both deaths and the nation was riveted watching him flee in a White Ford Bronco. What followed -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
FINNSTROM: He is often called the trial of the century.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not guilty of the crime of murder.
FINNSTROM: More than half the nation watched the verdicts and everyone had an opinion.
Two years later another judgment. This time in civil court. A jury found Simpson liable for wrongful death, awarding $33.5 million, most of which has not been paid. Simpson then largely disappeared, but he couldn't keep clear of the spotlight. Ironically, the Las Vegas verdict came on the 13-year anniversary of his murder acquittal. Goldman's father talked with CNN.
VOICE OF FRED GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S FATHER: We are absolutely thrilled to see that the potential is that he could spend the rest of his life in jail where that scumbag belongs.
GALANTER: Defending someone like O.J. Simpson, everybody already had a fixed opinion about him, and it's troubling. It really is.
(END VIDEOTAPE) FINNSTROM: Well, those verdicts carry the possibilities of up to life in prison. Simpson's sentencing has been set for December 5th. John, Kiran.
CHETRY: Political parody.
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FEY: Are we not doing the talent portion?
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CHETRY: It's more than poking fun at Sarah Palin.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody comes here, they all show up sooner or later.
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CHETRY: A special behind-the-scenes look at "Saturday Night Live."
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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CHETRY: "Saturday Night Live" loves nothing more than turning politicians into punch lines and they make it look easy. Our Alina Cho went behind-the-scenes with the cast of "SNL" but boy they are making mince meat out of Sarah Palin lately.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are. Not just Sarah Palin, a lot of politicians, as you know, Kiran. Good morning, everybody.
You know when that red light goes on, the actors all make it look very, very easy, calm, cool and collected. But behind the scenes, it's always a race against the clock. As they say on "SNL," they don't go on every Saturday because they're ready. They go on because it's 11:30. And this election year political comedy, no surprise, is king. "SNL" writers say they hit the comedy jackpot with Sarah Palin.
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CHO (voice-over): Sarah Palin and Tina Fey. Can you tell the difference?
PALIN: Here's a shout out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School.
FEY: Who were so helpful to me in my debate prep.
CHO: The two looked so much alike. Fey who retired from the show, came back to play the role that was made for her. LORNE MICHAELS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF "SNL": She looks so much like Tina Fey.
CHO: The audience cast her.
MICHAELS: Yes. The audience cast her.
CHO: A pitch perfect impression.
FEY: And I can see Russia from my house.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And live from New York, it's Saturday Night!
CHO: For more than 30 years "Saturday Night Live" has been the place for political humor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stategery.
CHO: Election years provide the best material and the best ratings. This year is no exception.
AMY POEHLER, COMEDIAN: I don't agree with the Bush doctrine, and I don't know it is.
CHO: This season's opener the most highly rated "SNL" premiere since 2001. "SNL" is also a must stop on the campaign trail. In the past year Clinton, Obama, and McCain have all paid a visit.
It's almost a right of passage for these politicians to come through here, isn't it?
DARRELL HAMMOND, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" CAST MEMBER: Everybody comes here. They all show up sooner or later.
CHO: Darrell Hammond is one of "SNL"'s best-known faces. He's played everyone from President Clinton to Al Gore to John McCain. So much so sometimes people take him for the real thing.
HAMMOND: People come up and they're like, hey, excuse me, that thing the other night, did we just talk about the subprime mortgage thing? What was that about?
CHO: Over the years "SNL" has mean made fun of us, CNN, Wolf, Campbell, Anderson, and we return the favor.
We play your sketches on CNN -
FRED ARMISEN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": That's bizarre. Isn't that really bizarre.
HAMMOND: It's funny because I watch CNN -
CHO: Why do you think it's bizarre?
ARMISEN: I mean, I think it's bizarre in a good way. I'm psyched.
CHO: The best part they say, everyone is fair game.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever.
CHO: What is "SNL"'s role?
MICHAELS: I think "SNL"'s role is the moment they're in power, we're the opposition. We're not partisan. We're not, you know, we're not putting on anything that we don't believe is funny.
FEY: Are we not doing the talent portion?
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CHO: Nobody does it better. You know, the executive producer, Lorne Michaels, has the theory on why he thinks all of the politicians drop by on "SNL," he says "you can't trust somebody who doesn't have a sense of humor and if you can poke fun at yourself, you're all right."
As for Tina Fey continuing in her role as Sarah Palin. That is week to week. She has a hit show of course "30 Rock."
CHETRY: Right.
CHO: But I have a feeling they're going to bring her back.
CHETRY: But just that and how do they prepare these jokes? Because they really are touching on current events. They don't have much time.
CHO: They don't have. I mean, take the VP debate last Thursday. They don't have much time after that, right. The light goes on at 11:30 on Saturday night. All the writers, I talked to Seth Myers, the head writer, they got together, they watched the debate together. They're yelling out during the debate what they think would work. Key jokes, and they go home, they write it, they put together a rough draft, and there you have it, and they're rehearsing right up until that light goes on at 11:30, making changes and so forth.
CHETRY: And they need another night it's so popular.
CHO: They do. They do. Starting this Thursday night, they're going to have something called "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update," Thursday 9:30 p.m., half hour show.
CHETRY: Good stuff.
CHO: It's going to be good stuff.
CHETRY: Alina, thanks.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: One day before the big debate.
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ANNOUNCER: Erratic in crisis. Out of touch on the economy.
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ROBERTS: And both candidates in attack mode.
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PALIN: He was a domestic terrorist.
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ROBERTS: Plus, Obama's new ad condemns McCain's health care plan.
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ANNOUNCER: The McCain tax could cost your family thousands.
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ROBERTS: But could it really? Our truth squad fact checks the ad for you.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: 56 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
Sarah Palin firing some tough attacks at Barack Obama over the weekend saying that he is "palling around with terrorists." The remark refers to '60s radical William Ayers who was a member of the weather men. But what exactly is Obama's relationship with Ayers?
Joining me now to talk more about this is Robert Gibbs. He is a senior adviser for the Obama campaign. He is live this morning from Asheville, North Carolina.
Robert, it's good to see you. Let's give you the opportunity here --
ROBERT GIBBS, OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Good morning, John.
ROBERTS: Barack Obama knew Bill Ayers and had contact with him according to most records that we can find between 1995 and 2005. Exactly what was the nature of the relationship?
GIBBS: Well, John, as "The New York Times" reported this weekend, they served on two boards together during that time period. They knew each other, but again, as the article says, they weren't close. What this is a classic smear campaign to distract the voters away from talking about the economy, just as they previewed in this weekend's papers. They were going to turn the page on the economy and get to character assassination.
CNN and other news organizations that listen to Sarah Palin's remarks this weekend called them both desperate and dishonest. I think that's what the American people need to know most about this attack.
ROBERTS: What I'm trying to do here is really clear the air on his relationship with William Ayers. Why did he continue to have contact with him I think by telephone and e-mail up until 2005?
GIBBS: Well, look, again, their contact is they served on two boards together. They live in the same neighborhood, but William Ayers isn't involved in this campaign. Barack Obama has said repeatedly that the acts that he committed - incidentally, when Barack Obama was eight years old - were despicable, reprehensible, and he condemned them. That's the extent of this relationship.
Again, this is a classic example of the McCain campaign would much rather talk about virtually anything but the sagging economy and their erratic performance to deal with it in the last eight years.
ROBERTS: You know I could understand a political campaign's desire to change the subject if they're losing on a particular issue. But again I just want to try to get to the heart of this so that people at home can understand. Our Jim Acosta talked with your senior strategist David Axelrod about this.
In 1995 William Ayers held a kind of get to know you event at his place where he was introducing Barack Obama to the political culture there in Chicago when he was running for the state Senate for the first time. David Axelrod said that at that meeting Senator Obama was not aware of Ayers' radical background. Is that true?
GIBBS: Look, if that's what David said, that is true. Look, again, this is a relationship, excuse me, that Barack Obama has condemned the actions of Bill Ayers. This is somebody that "The New York Times" said that Barack Obama's not close to, and, again, John, this is a way of distracting the American people from what's important.
Just in this morning's paper, John McCain's campaign said if we talk about the economy, we lose. That's why we're seeing the type of dishonorable, dishonest, despicable smear campaign that you see right now with only four weeks to go in this election.
ROBERTS: Understood, Robert, but just wondering about this idea of Barack Obama then running for state Senate having never heard of William Ayers, who was quite a notorious figure around the Chicago area, never heard of the weather men, didn't know about this fellow during that meeting in 1995. Didn't learn about him until afterwards. And I'm also wondering when he did learn about William Ayers' past, how did he feel about him holding that event for him in 1995?
GIBBS: Well, again, John, that's why I said repeatedly that Barack Obama has denounced the actions of William Ayers. They worked together on a charity board and they work together on an education fund that was funded by Walter Annenberg, a former Republican - a Republican and a former ambassador during the Nixon administration.
ROBERTS: Right, but that Annenberg charity was also William Ayers' idea and he invited Senator Obama to be on the board.
GIBBS: Well, I don't think that's not true, John. I think if you read the article it's quite clear that Bill Ayers had absolutely nothing to do with hiring Barack Obama to run the Annenberg Challenge. That's why I think it's important that the facts get out there. Because it's obviously pretty easy for people to get the facts wrong.
ROBERTS: All right. We're about to run it in our satellite window.
Robert Gibbs, thanks for being with us this morning to try to clear that up. Appreciate it.
GIBBS: Thanks, John.
