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American Morning
Voters React to Final Presidential Debate; Asian Financial Markets Hit Hard Over Night
Aired October 16, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Obama wants to set up health care bureaucracies. Take over the health care plant of America through as he said is object is a single-payer system. If you like that, you'll love Canada and England.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Under Senator McCain's plan, there is a strong risk that people would lose their employer-based health care. That's the choice you'll have is having your employer no longer provide you health care. I would not provide a litmus test, but I am somebody who believes that Roe vs. Wade was rightly decided.
MCCAIN: I thought it was a bad decision. I think there was a lot of decisions that were bad. I think decisions should rest in the hands of the states. I'm a federalist.
Mr. Ayers, I don't care about an old washed up terrorist. But as Senator Clinton said in her debates with you, we need to know the full extent of that relationship.
OBAMA: Mr. Ayers is not involved in my campaign. He has never been involved in this campaign. And he will not advise me in the White House. If I occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people, on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities, you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush.
MCCAIN: Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago. I am going to give a new direction to this economy in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: The two White House hopefuls on different sides of every major issue. It was their last chance at the national stage to sway undecided voters. Did either one of them get the job done? CNN's Candy Crowley was watching the debate. She's here now with some post debate analysis.
So, a lot of people said that John McCain had his best performance of any of the three debates, yet, at the same time, our polling overwhelmingly found people thought Barack Obama won. How do you put those two things? CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think there's a couple of things going on. First of all, I think now that debate polling is beginning to reflect what's going on out there more starkly. But I think that as more and more people have made up their mind, clearly, they've swung toward Obama. I think you saw some of that reflected in the poll. But, listen, I've said kind of from the beginning that anyone who thought that John McCain could win a debate against Barack Obama has not been out with the two of them.
They are just -- you know, John McCain is not that debate friendly a personality. He's very hot. And you know hot on television just is blazing. And so -- and the Obama people knew this right away because their very first reaction to that when we started to get the papers and you know talk to some of the senior advisers out there. Their very first reaction was, well, John McCain was an angry, you know -- so they saw that right away because cool as Obama is, that's a part of his personality comes across a lot better.
ROBERTS: So, does cool trump age? Because if you remember back to the 1984 debates, Ronald Reagan handed Walter Mondale his lunch and he was substantially older than he was.
CROWLEY: Right. Absolutely. But still, there's the visual going on. But, yes, I think cool does because there's just, you know, television is a not just a viewing experience. It's an emotional experience. And I think, again, that people are very uncomfortable with the passion and the heat and, yes, the anger of John McCain. And the coolness and the kind of, well, let's talk about this in a reasonable way comes across a lot better.
ROBERTS: So, how do you think this shapes the race going forward?
CROWLEY: Well, I think the biggest problem for John McCain now -- look, there are undecideds out there. But he has to convince those undecideds to take another look and it's a hard time in the race to have something different because, you know, now is the time when it's about getting out the vote and rallying your base.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Absolutely. And it's -- the other thing is he's got to fight against the it's over. And that's a huge problem. If you'd seen the commentary last night, which I'm sure you did across the board, it was, well, what does he do now? Well, he goes out well. So he's got -- so he now has sort of double trouble because he's got to convince those who are unconvinced at this point and keep his base, you know, sort of jazzing. Maybe we can win this. Then that's a double hard duty.
ROBERTS: Well, let's not forget. Every time we employ the conventional wisdom in this campaign, we're proven wrong.
CROWLEY: Absolutely, and he can hope on that. But it's just a tough thing to do to fight that kind of, oh, well, you know, what can we do. ROBERTS: 19 days left. Candy, thanks so much. It's great to see you this morning.
CROWLEY: Good to see you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: So, it was McCain versus Obama but an average Joe ended up stealing the show at the final presidential debate. Joe Wurzelbacher, he met Barack Obama on the campaign trail last week and he told him that he couldn't afford to buy a business under the candidate's tax plan. John McCain brought Joe the Plumber into the debate, and his name was mentioned 26 times last night. After the debate, Joe spoke to CNN affiliate WTOL in Toledo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE WURZELBACHER, "JOE THE PLUMBER": It's just, you know, surreal to hear my name on national TV. And, like I said before, I'm just glad I could be used to get some points across. You know, hopefully, it makes some other Americans go out and really look into the issues and find out for themselves.
I want to set the record straight. Currently, I would not fall into Barack Obama's 250-plus. But if I'm lucky in business and you know taxes don't go up, then maybe I can grow the business and be in that tax bracket and -- well, let me rephrase it. Hopefully that tax won't be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK with being called Joe the Plumber?
WURZELBACHER: Oh, sure. You know, that doesn't bother me at all. You know, if I can capitalize on that with my business, then you know I definitely will. Other than that, though, I have been called worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Joe isn't revealing who he's voting for but he did say, quote, "John McCain's got it right as far as I go."
And this election may come down to undecided voters. Ohio voters weighed in on the debate in the CNN exclusive dial test which gauged how much or how little they liked what the candidates were saying in real time. CNN's Jason Carroll is with another group of voters in Virginia in real time. A battleground state that's now leaning toward Democrat for the first time in 44 years.
And you had both sides of the coffee house packed with supporters on either side. Hey there.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Last night it was pretty rowdy in here. We were here at the Phoebus Coffee House. The owner, Anne, tells me that this coffee house is really like the community's living room where people traditionally come to get together, they talk about various issues. And last night, Kiran, was no exception.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): When you host a debate party...
ANNE DOOP, OWNER, THE PHOEBUS COFFEE HOUSE: I need to see where the Democrats are.
CARROLL: And invite passionate people from both sides in a swing state like Virginia...
DOOP: Can I see and show hands for Republicans.
CARROLL: The ground rules are clear. No swinging.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: John McCain, yes, vote for the U.S.A.
CARROLL: But that doesn't mean voters here are pulling any punches.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator McCain just didn't sound reassuring. Like he was a little bit unsure himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama is really shifty in a lot of things. And I think that finally came out.
CARROLL: Senator McCain supporters said one of his strongest moments was when he challenged Senator Barack Obama on his past affiliation with former terrorist Bill Ayers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama needs to be accountable for his actions. You know, dealing with this terrorist.
CARROLL (on camera): The consensus seems to be that this was McCain's best debate so far. Are you in agreement with that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes. He did a good job.
CARROLL (voice-over): But Obama supporters said McCain should have spent less time attacking.
(on camera): Well, I can see who you support just based on your hat here.
(voice-over): They give their candidate high marks for his take on issues like the economy and health care.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was on point, he was on message and he tried focus on issues instead of attacking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really didn't want to talk about the negative campaigning. What I wanted to hear about was health care and the economy and what they are going to do about jobs. And I thought Obama really keep bringing the topic back to that.
CARROLL: McCain supporters said he excelled on issues including education and abortion, and was best at being himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, his values, his perception, his history, his grasp for things, his life experience.
CARROLL: This divided room in Hampton, Virginia is symbolic of a split state.
DOOP: You can drive down the street and there will Obama signs and you go to the next street, in the same neighborhood and they're all McCains.
CARROLL: We did find two voters in the room who were undecided before last night's debate but no longer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just based on tonight, I had to go with Obama. I did not hear from McCain, any plan that really made sense to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm favoring Senator Obama. I like to see people who speak carefully, thoughtfully.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Obviously, those undecided voters are going to be key in a swing state like Virginia. Also, Kiran, we want to show you the unofficial poll that they are taking here. The Coffee House Poll where they are selling bags of Obama coffee here in blue. McCain coffee here in red to see who is ahead here. In this particular coffee house, McCain selling 12, Obama 16. So Obama leading in coffee sales here just barely -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And you know when you got to be up this early, it doesn't matter if it's red or blue. Just bring the coffee back. We need it, Jason.
CARROLL: You got that right.
CHETRY: All right. Take it easy. Thanks.
ROBERTS: The stress and the struggles of everyday Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Politics as usual has been practiced over the last several years. It's not solving the big problems here in America.
MCCAIN: Americans are hurting right now and they are angry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The final debate is over, but is the election? A review of the performances and the economic obstacles that remain.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning."
Last night was the third and final debate. Which candidate swayed the independent voter and which one offered the best economic prescription? Patricia Murphy is the editor of citizenjanepolitics.com. John Avlon, registered independent and author of "Independent Nation." He's with us again this morning.
Good morning to you.
JOHN AVLON, REGISTERED INDEPENDENT: Good morning.
ROBERTS: So, who did better on the economy? The polls found, the CNN polls found that John McCain -- that Barack Obama won but John McCain did seem to help himself last night.
PATRICIA MURPHY, EDITOR, CITIZENJANEPOLITICS.COM: I think he helped himself on the economy. He started to lay out some of his specific prescriptions about what he would do to help turn this economy around. We heard about his fix for mortgages. We heard about his tax cuts. We heard about his commitment to kind of rein in federal spending. I think that was very effective. The problem is for John McCain. He has a 20-point deficit in terms of who people trust to handle the economy. Did he make up some ground? Yes. Did he make up a 20-point deficit? I don't think so.
ROBERTS: Well, John, what about the way that Barack Obama handle this whole idea of Joe the Plumber? You know, this idea of sharing the wealth. You know, small businesses owners who want to expand, look at that language they say -- wow, this is the climate that I want to operate a business in.
AVLON: Right. And I think John McCain had his strongest debate to date in part because he kept prosecuting that case. He finally found a symbol for the kind of Republican economics of small business owners. And that share the wealth comment. He said, look, that's an insight into Barack Obama's instincts. Barack Obama countered by looking straight at the camera and talking about, no, the people I'm going to be looking to (INAUDIBLE) are Warren Buffett, Paul Volcker.
This is a center left main stream approach to turning around the economy. So you've got stark philosophic differences but I think John McCain made a very strong debate last night by pointing out that contrast.
ROBERTS: All right. Our CNN Opinion Research Corporation Polling post debate found that among independents, 57 percent thought that Barack Obama won the debate. 31 percent said John McCain won the debate.
AVLON: Yes.
ROBERTS: It's interesting to note that politico.com found almost the opposite. 51-42 in favor of John McCain. Can we say in fact with any certainty how independents really felt about last night? MURPHY: You know, I think I've had a chance to get some e-mails from some independent voters. They are still a little bit on the fence here. But I think that what John McCain needed to do was begin to move them in that direction. Now something that Barack Obama has had a problem with recently and certainly at the end of the primaries. The sealing the deal with some of these undecided voters. We hear them, we've got about 8 percent undecided. Maybe upwards of 10 percent, 15 percent of persuadables. Barack Obama needs to seal the deal. And so, I think McCain helped himself but again didn't make up the kind of ground he needs to.
AVLON: Independents are fiscal conservatives but social progressive. So on economics, they're going to be more in John McCain's camp. The problem is that independents have rejected the Bush administration. And John McCain is suffering from that association.
ROBERTS: So to that point, Karl Rove has been hammering John McCain over the head for the last few weeks saying what you've got to do is you've got to paint Barack Obama as a tax and spend liberal. That's the message you want to drive home. He tried to do it last night. Did he score?
MURPHY: Well, you know, he tried to do that. I think he did score right up front. But then we started to hear many more layers of who else Barack Obama is. And he has all of these associations and he is going to, you know, not properly prosecute the war in Iraq, and he's done this and he's done that. There was not a clear distinct takeaway message that McCain left voters with. And I think that that was his problem. He needs to stick to something and continue through with that theme.
ROBERTS: We're running short of time. Let me just play what you said was your favorite piece of sound from last night's debate. It was Senator Obama's closing statement when he was trying to link John McCain to President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The biggest risk we could take right now is to adopt the same failed policies and the same failed politics that we've seen over the last eight years and somehow expect a different result.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, Senator McCain tried to deflect that saying, hey, if you want to run against George Bush you should have been here four years ago. Who won that argument?
AVLON: Sure. Well, I think what Obama is doing there is a bit of political judo. He's trying to take the argument that a vote for Obama's change is risky and flip it. And say, you know, what's really risky is continuing the policies and politics of the Bush-Rove era. That's a clever bit of political judo and that's going to be his core statement as he tries to seal the deal down the line. John Avlon, Patricia Murphy, as always great to see you. MURPHY: Great to see you, thanks.
AVLON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: And we'll see lots more of you as the days and weeks were around -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, first time voters on the scene at the debate. We're going to find out what the kids are saying about Obama and McCain. We have a special report from AMERICAN MORNING's own high school contributor.
Also, Barack Obama says John McCain's mortgage plan would bail out banks and make the taxpayer pick up the tab. The "Truth Squad" checks that claim.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
Some tough punches at the debate and the Truth Squad was keeping a close eye and ear on it all. Alina Cho checking out a shot from Obama on McCain's mortgage plan.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran, good morning.
CHETRY: Hi.
CHO: Hey, government money, taxpayer money to pay off bad mortgages. You know, that plan has taken a lot of heat recently and Obama showed no signs of letting up last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: The way Senator McCain has designed his plan, it could be a give away to banks if we're buying full price for mortgages that now are worth a lot less. And we don't want to waste taxpayer money.
CHO (voice-over): So, is Obama right? On his Web site, McCain calls it his American Homeownership Resurgence Plan. It calls for using $300 billion from the bailout bill to buy bad mortgages. The government would then renegotiate those mortgages so that eligible homeowners would pay rates based on the current lower value of their home. Under the McCain plan --
MCCAIN: Go in and buy those home loan mortgages.
CHO: The government would pay full value meaning lenders would not take a loss on the bad loans. The McCain campaign has at least twice acknowledged that the money is coming from you, the taxpayer. So was Obama right?
OBAMA: It could be a giveaway to banks. We don't want to waste taxpayer money. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: So, the "Truth Squad" says this one is true. The McCain campaign has acknowledged its plan would shift the burden to taxpayers by using money from the bailout bill to buy troubled loans at full value.
But the McCain camp justifies this by saying by stabilizing mortgages, Kiran, that will help the overall financial crisis. So what the McCain campaign essentially is saying is the net net is that it will be money well spent.
CHETRY: All right. Alina, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Would Hillary Clinton consider a position in a Barack Obama administration? Hear what the New York senator is telling CNN about a possible Cabinet post.
And John McCain says Barack Obama's tax plan would take money out of the hands of small businesses. We're diving into that tax fight when the "Most News in the Morning" returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Joe, you're rich. Congratulations. Because what Joe wanted to do was buy the business that he's been working for 10, 12 hours a day, seven days a week. And you said that you wanted to spread the wealth. But, in other words, take Joe's money and then you decide what to do with it. Joe, you're rich. Congratulations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Senator John McCain hitting Senator Barack Obama on his economic plan last night at the debate. Will invoking the image of small businesses, losing money help McCain? Joining me from Chicago is CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist James Carville.
James, great to talk to you this morning.
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to talk to you. I think Senator McCain was swinging at Senator Obama. I don't think he was hitting him. There's a difference.
CHETRY: Well, we heard "Joe the Plumber" mentioned 26 times last night at the debate. Who won with Joe?
CARVILLE: Well, first of all, by every measure, Senator Obama won the debate. And as I said after the last debate, this election is over. Senator Obama is going to win this election. And it's not going to be very close. And I think what Senator McCain was trying to do was bring "Joe the Plumber" in to try to change the dynamic of the election. All he did was hit a lot of air. I mean, it didn't matter. If anything, I think Senator McCain is going to fall a little bit further behind after this.
CHETRY: There were -- you know, when I read a variety of assessments, you know, from the punditry after this debate, and one of the criticisms of Barack Obama was that he appeared above it all, at times looking like almost a little bit annoyed at having to be there. And when you say things like, it's over, is that type of inevitability possibly going to hurt the candidate? It's still -- you know, there's still 19 days to go.
CARVILLE: Right. I mean, again, I'm an analyst on CNN. And the electorate in every debate has decided that Senator Obama won the debate, after every debate that his lead continues to increase. I mean, we cannot deny that that's going on in the country, but that's not doing our viewers any favor at all.
And it's readily apparent to me and to everybody else that this country is ready for a change. I don't know if he looked distracted. I thought he looked cool. I thought he did what he had to do. I didn't think the debate itself addressed the underlying serious -- I mean, grave economic problems that this country has. But that's another observation. But I don't think we should pretend that there's something going on in this race when we know better. I think we ought to level with our viewers.
CHETRY: Let's take your premise then and a few people have been writing, a few conservative columnists have been writing about what the political landscape would look like in Washington with Barack Obama in the White House and Congress solidly going Democratic.
In fact, Fred Barnes writes, "Washington would become a solidly liberal town again for the first time in decades. And the prospects of passing the liberal agenda -- nearly all of it -- would be bright. Enacting major parts of it would be even brighter. You can forget about bipartisanship."
Is there going to be a payback mentality or is that the type of thing that would play well with independent moderates in the country?
CARVILLE: Well, I'll just say that Fred Barnes is hardly an independent observer. He is a very right-wing guy. But at any right, look, if the Democrats are going to be in power because of a simple reason -- the voters put them there. They didn't just magically appear in Washington.
And I think that the challenges that the next president, the next Congress are going to face are going to be such a magnitude, I don't think anybody is going to come in with trying to implement an ideological agenda so much as I think they are going to try to rescue this country from the disastrous economic leadership that we've had before. And I think they're going to have their hands full.
And I think there's a lot of things that have been promised during this campaign that are probably going to be delayed until we can stabilize this thing we call an economy. CHETRY: And I just want to get your take. I know that you've said that you believe it's over. You had a very colorful way of putting it last time we talked. But if you were giving advice to John McCain, what can he do to pull this thing out 19 days out?
CARVILLE: Well, first of all, underneath John McCain, I would try to keep the Republicans to the extent that you could from finger pointing. But you know that they're going to do this. They are already second guessing and everything and they got to get out there and blame each other so they don't get to blame themselves.
If I'm McCain, I think I've served my country honorably. I think I've been an honorable person and I would go out and sort of remind people of who I was and remind people that there is a need in this country for a center-right party and he can represent that need.
I mean, I think it's pretty hard to win a presidential election by ten points. I mean, one would expect that it would have to close somewhat. But I really haven't seen for some time anything that tells me that Senator Obama is not going to win this race and not convincing me and not winning it. Carrying a lot of the Democrats -- a lot of the Democrats are going to win also. And I don't say that to belittle the Democrats. It's just what seems to be obvious out there.
CHETRY: James Carville, CNN political contributor, Democratic strategist, great to have you with us this morning. Thanks.
CARVILLE: Thank you so much. You bet.
ROBERTS: We are coming up now on the bottom of the hour. And here are this morning's top stories. Asian financial markets hit hard over night. Japan's Nikkei index falling more than 11 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off almost 5 percent.
In Europe, London's FTSE trading in negative territory. The latest sell-off follows a 700-plus point drop in the Dow. Japan's prime minister blames the new market jitters on the $700 billion U.S. bailout plan, calling the financial rescue package, quote, "insufficient."
Gasoline prices continue heading south. One silver lining here. AAA reports that the national average price for unleaded regular is now $3.08 a gallon. That's a drop of 77 cents in the past 29 days. Crude oil prices at their lowest point in more than a year, around $74 a barrel, getting ever closer to that Ali Velshi floor of 60 bucks.
And former First Lady Nancy Reagan will stay in a California hospital for a few days after suffering a broken pelvis. The spokeswoman for the 87-year-old says Nancy Reagan fell last week in her home. She admitted herself to the hospital yesterday after experiencing persistent pain. Doctors do say, though, that she's in good spirits.
A new CNN Opinion Research corporation poll says almost 9 in 10 Democrats think that Barack Obama did a better job at last night's debate. 68 percent of Republicans picked John McCain, while more than half of independents went for Obama. Both men laid down the gauntlet on several key issues including taxes. In our polling, 56 percent of viewers think Obama would better handle their money. Both men took aim at each other's plans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I'll keep your taxes low and I'll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees.
OBAMA: Senator McCain, the centerpiece of his economic proposal is to provide $200 billion in additional tax breaks to some of the wealthiest corporations in America.
MCCAIN: The whole premise behind Senator Obama's plans are class warfare. Let's spread the wealth around.
OBAMA: Look, nobody likes taxes. I would prefer that none of us had to pay taxes, including myself. But, ultimately, we've got to pay for the core investments that make this economy strong and --
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: Nobody likes taxes. Let's not raise anybody's taxes.
OBAMA: Well, I don't mind paying a little more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: For more analysis of last night's final face-off we turn to CNN's special correspondent Frank Sesno who is live in Washington this morning. And frank, the question we've been asking this morning, might as well ask it of you as well. John McCain needed a breakthrough last night. Do you think he, in any way, approached that?
FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, probably not. I put this sort of in the category of the classic love story, John. You know, John McCain last night had to say not only marry me but divorce him. Don't just fall in love with me. Fall out of love with him. He's reading the same numbers everybody else is. And that's where this tax and spend liberal stuff came from for McCain.
He was basically saying to people, look, you don't know him. He's untested. He's untrue and he's going to raise everybody's taxes. He's going to make government bigger. He's going to reach into your lives. Obama in response wasn't, you know, he was unflappable as people have pointed out. He sort of smiled and kind of nodded his head. And basically, that's the choice that America is facing right now.
ROBERTS: So that idea, Frank, of Barack Obama as a tax and spend liberal, despite the fact that his tax plan would actually cut taxes for the majority of Americans, was that John McCain's strongest argument last night?
SESNO: It was his strongest argument and it's actually also Barack Obama's biggest weakness. The fact, although that may be his weakness according to McCain. That may be what America wants. The choice is so clear right now because this is where they both stand. The fact of the matter is John, every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he did, in fact, say we've got to spend more money.
On public education, on higher education, on special education, on infrastructure, on health care, on energy. Right down the line. He calls them investments. But John McCain is right. This is where Barack Obama wants to spend more money and what neither candidate has answered is with the war in Iraq going on, at $10 billion a month, with us just having committed over the last several months over a trillion dollars, with a deficit next year that may approach a trillion dollars, how exactly is this all going to be paid for?
ROBERTS: Yes. And how will John McCain balance the budget after - ?
WESTIN: How would either of them do that? What do you think is Barack Obama's strongest point was?
WESTIN: Barack Obama's strongest point, probably last night. At least where he stands on the dynamic of this race was just sort of being unflappable. You know, he kind of smile when he was being attacked, they deflect them. The little tracking that CNN does where we're listening and watching those undecided voters. They don't (INAUDIBLE) They don't like the attacks. The lines almost always go down there. In most cases anyway. And we saw that in "The New York Times" poll yesterday. The negativity doesn't seem to work. People want answers. And so, you know, Barack Obama played it safe and looked cool and calm.
ROBERTS: Professor Sesno, it's always great to get your perspective on these things. Thanks for joining us this morning.
SESNO: Good to be here.
ROBERTS: All right.
SESNO: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: We'll see you again.
Coming up now on 34 minutes after the hour --
CHETRY: Watching with the Wards. A family that lost their home in the mortgage meltdown tunes in to see what the candidates will do to make sure it won't happen again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John McCain was saying stuff like, I understand why Americans are angry. Does that resonate?
KEITH WARD, BANK FORECLOSED ON HOME: No. The man owns seven houses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, some news just in to CNN now. Really important for seniors. Boosted social security checks are on their way soon. Christine Romans is on the story for us this morning. And a lot of fears about things just costing more and whether or not people are going to be able to keep up.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And now, social security checks are going to be adjusted for inflation next year in 2009 by some 5.8 percent. That means for about 50 million Americans who are getting their social security check you're going to see a little bit more in there and it's 5.8 percent more next year and that is the biggest annual increase in about a quarter of a century. Some 29 years, I think.
What this is going to mean, on average, the Social Security Administration announcing this just now saying that it's going to mean maybe about $63 a month extra for many seniors on average. So that is significant for people who are looking at gas prices that are still higher than they were a year ago, for home heating bills that are going to be higher this winter. For food costs that have been going up. $63 extra on average a check next year because of the inflation adjusted changes to social security. So that is a little bit of a relief. But keep in mind, everything is going up. So there's - that $63 is spoken for, I think, for a lot of people.
CHETRY: Very true. We've seen oil drop, right? We've seen oil -
ROMANS: A lot.
CHETRY: -- down to $82 a barrel right now.
ROMANS: It's down about $75 a barrel from July. It's been incredible.
CHETRY: So we've seen that drop. Will that translate into lower home heating bills or are those almost locked in at this point?
ROMANS: Some of those are locked in. We're still looking for higher home heating bills this winter. It won't be the dramatic, dramatic bite that some had feared but it will be more. And let's be honest. The budget, that's something in the budget that you can't budget around. I mean, that is a fixed part of the budget. So even if gas prices come down, that is something, especially the colder part of the country, that people have to contend with. But again, just to reiterate, the Social Security Administration saying that 5.8 percent, the inflation adjustment for social security checks benefit next year.
CHETRY: 50 million people will see -
ROMANS: A little bit more - CHETRY: -- some $63 on average.
ROMANS: A little more in those social security checks.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Christine.
ROBERTS: So all night long the candidates were trying to reach out to the average Joe. People like Joe the plumber with real concerns about their jobs and their homes. People like Joe six-pack. Well, did they connect? American morning's Carol Costello watched the debate with victims of the mortgage meltdown, the Ward family, out there in Michigan. She joins us there now with the signs of the times behind her, home for sale.
Did bringing up Joe the plumber and trying to wrap economic policy around him resonate with the folks that you were sitting there with last night?
COSTELLO: You know, John ,it did not resonate because Joe the plumber frankly made a lot of money, at least in the Ward's estimation. That for sale sign you see behind me. That's the house the Wards lost to foreclosure. It was sold to a bank for $20,000. They are now living in a rental. They wanted to hear some specifics from the candidates. Here's what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): The Wards consider themselves the little guy, one who has fallen on hard times. They were eager to watch the debate with their kids, hoping to hear something that would help them.
OBAMA: What we haven't yet seen is a rescue package for the middle class.
COSTELLO: The Wards desperately want that. They lost their home to foreclosure, declared bankruptcy and while they are thankful they were able to rent nearby, it is not enough.
K. WARD: It's not our home. We don't own it. What can they do to help that? That's my question.
COSTELLO: That's the answer the Wards wanted from the candidates. Keith a registered Republican listened intently to John McCain but did not like what he heard.
When John McCain was saying stuff like, you know, I understand why the middle class is angry did that resonate?
K. WARD: No. How can he understand it? How can he really understand it? The man owns seven houses. He doesn't under how we feel.
JENNIFER WARD, BANK FORECLOSED ON HOME: So many of the politicians out there now that don't understand what the middle class is going through. And neither Ward liked McCain's idea for the government to buy and refinance troubled mortgages. They feel it helps the banks and not them. And McCain's references to Joe the plumber as every man was, according to Keith, annoying.
K. WARD: Senator McCain sounded like a used car salesman, pushing this Joe the plumber thing. All I heard out of him was big business getting cuts. Senator Obama, I heard, us.
COSTELLO: What did resonate with them was Obama's plan to cut taxes for those making below $250,000 a year. The Wards told me Obama's calm demeanor comforted them too until he went negative.
J. WARD: I'm tired of the smack, the smear campaign.
COSTELLO: Still, both Wards agree Obama won the debate handily but they're still not convinced he has the plan that will help them out of their economic nightmare. Although they are now leaning towards voting Obama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Now the Wards still have hope. Keith has a job although his boss told him none of the employees who work at his shop will be getting a raise in 2009. There's a freeze there because of the economy. Both Wards wanted to hear more specifics about the candidates' economic plans. They just don't feel they heard enough. John.
ROBERTS: It's interesting, Carol. The idea of Joe the plumber being held up as the poster child for how Barack Obama's tax plan, tax cut, tax increase for people above $250,000 would be affected. They didn't really have a whole lot of sympathy for him.
COSTELLO: No, because they thought, you know, if this guy can afford to buy a business, he's doing pretty good in this economy. I mean, the Wards declared bankruptcy and lost their house to foreclosure. They don't identify at all with Joe the plumber.
ROBERTS: Yes. I guess it all depends what perspective you are coming at it from. Carol Costello for us this morning.
COSTELLO: That's right.
ROBERTS: Very interesting story, Carol. Thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: Speaking of perspective, how about the youth perspective. The youth vote could be a fresh force at the ballot box this November. How did students react to last night's presidential debate? We get reaction from a 16-year-old reporter. He was there on campus talking to the students.
CHETRY: Decoding the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: You really have to pay attention to words.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: What do the expressions say that the words don't? We're turning down the volume and zooming in on the looks, laughs and sideways glances.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: There is nothing wrong with us having a vigorous debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Well, breaking down the debate this morning. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain facing off in the final debate. My next guest says that he learned more about the candidates from what he saw rather than what they said. Dan Hill is a facial coding analyst. He's also author of "Face Time." Thanks for being with us, Dan.
DAN HILL, AUTHOR, "FACE TIME": Absolutely. Happy to be here.
CHETRY: So when you talk about facial coding, just explain briefly for the viewers what you look for.
HILL: Sure. Facial coding is the scientific ability to gauge how someone is reacting. So there's 43 muscles in the face. I am looking for how that breaks out based on 23 combinations of muscle activities. Now the reason why facial coding works so well, first, it's universality, even a person born blind has the same facial expression. Second, spontaneity. This is the only place in the body where the muscles attach right to the skin. So a politician will show us when they have a reaction and over time they're going to reveal their personality based on the patterns of how they emote.
CHETRY: And what was your overall observations about last night?
HILL: Well, what McCain really needed was to show more warmth than heat. That's his problem. The anger issue. When he characterized voters as being both hurting and angry. He said angry three times. That's the same sort of tilt that you see from McCain. So I think he came out in the first third of the debate. He was warmer. He smiled a lot when he introduced Joe the plumber. He really showed you he had a positive side to McCain's personality.
But as the debate unwound, over the next hour he rarely smiled. In fact, it wasn't until he got back to mothers and adopting children. Then he had a wonderful, warm smile. That was McCain I think we needed to see more of. Often he was kind of dismissive, angry. He was scowling. He was growling. He was glaring at Obama. That's the McCain that I think makes people uncomfortable.
CHETRY: All right. I want to hear this clip and get your read when you talk about a tale for two cities for John McCain.
HILL: Sure. CHETRY: And explain why you said that. Let's look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I want Joe the plumber to spread that wealth around. You told him you want to spread the wealth around. The whole premise behind Senator Obama's plans are class warfare. Let's spread the wealth around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Why did you think that moment was so critical?
HILL: Well he introduced Joe the plumber with real empathy and warmth. The second thing was when he used the anger here. I think he's on very safe territory. I don't think most Americans are going to go for wealth re-distribution. So the class warfare, the taxes, trying to stay away from big government, that's good territory for McCain. His indignation, his trademark anger works there. In fact, later on he made the Freudian slip and said this was senator - our government, rather, about Obama. Kind of a funny moment.
CHETRY: Yes. And speaking of Barack Obama. Let's take a look at how you believe that it turned or his demeanor turned as they discussed negative campaigning. Let's look at the clip first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: All the public reports indicated were shouting, when my name came up, things like terrorist and kill him. And that your running mate didn't mention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Why was that a telling moment?
HILL: Well, because they both showed fear at one moment in this debate. In McCain's case it came when Bob Schieffer said what are you going to cut? And it stopped McCain. And McCain's fairly thin skinned. He shows his emotions much more readily than Obama. In fact, probably two to four times as much in these debates.
But as Obama finished up his comment he showed a little bit concern on his face and naturally so. If you're going to have opponents out there saying kill you, that's pretty negative stuff. I think what was really effective for Obama is when he came back and said 100 percent of your advertising has been negative. Well, lo and behold, McCain's body language supported that point. For most of this debate, McCain was negative and emoting. It led credibility to Obama's charge.
CHETRY: All right. Dan Hill, facial coding analyst and author of "Face Time," thanks for joining us this morning.
HILL: Absolutely. Thank you so much. ROBERTS: Voting for the first time. The youth vote could have a major impact on this year's presidential election. AMERICAN MORNING's special high school contributor Noah Gray is on the scene at the debate to find out what kids think of the candidates. You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Eight minutes to the top of the hour now. One crucial factor in this election could be the youth vote. And by most accounts it appears that first time voters are paying more attention to this presidential race than years past.
CHETRY: It also unfortunately means they are not talking about us. But how did Barack Obama and John McCain connect with the kids, the young people. Well, we met 16-year-old Noah Gray yesterday. We sent him to the debate. He broke out his home video camera and left us this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NOAH GRAY, AMERICAN MORNING's SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOL CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, John and Kiran.
I watched the debate here at Hofstra University in the student center. Amongst hundreds of other young people who watched intently and strong reactions to clearly express their opinions of what they called the spin zone. Let's take a listen to what they had to say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two, one!
BOB SCHIEFFER, MODERATOR: Good evening and welcome to the third and last presidential debate. And we welcome Barack Obama and John McCain.
GRAY (voice-over): Have you decided which candidate you are going to give your vote to?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am still really judging. None of the candidates have really committed to the issues that I really care about and I think that the youth really care about this year such as clean energy and environmental sustainability. They keep talking about these false solutions such as clean coal and nuclear power. And I'm not interested in that.
GRAY: So you are undecided basically right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am still judging what's being said.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like McCain more than I like Obama, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to vote for McCain right now. I wanted to listen to all the debates before I made my final decision. I still haven't made it yet. I am still undecided.
GRAY: Did they talk about issues that pertain to you that you wanted them to speak about? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that health care is a major issue. I feel that Obama's policy was better than McCain's.
GRAY: So were you overall satisfied with tonight's debate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Definitely. Definitely satisfied.
GRAY: All right. Most of the students I interviewed here at Hofstra felt that the presidential candidates had expressed the most important issues. However, some felt they should have addressed these issues a little bit earlier in last night's debate instead of focusing on personal attacks. Reporting from Hofstra University for CNN, I'm Noah Gray.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Somehow I think that we haven't seen the last of Noah.
CHETRY: No, he was up all night getting reaction, watching the debate, getting reaction and then editing that piece together. So good job, Noah.
ROBERTS: Some improvements in microphone technique perhaps in the future, but I think that, you know, Noah may just become our sort of special youth correspondent between now and the 4th of November.
CHETRY: We can spare a new microphone for him but good job, Noah.
ROBERTS: All right. Excellent. Well done.
More than 6.5 million young voters, by the way, took part in the 2008 presidential primaries and caucuses. That is up eight percent from 2000. we'll see if that translates to the election. 55 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): Average Joe.
MCCAIN: Joe the plumber.
OBAMA: Joe the plumber.
CHETRY: Jeanne Moos plumbs the depths of one of the most unusual themes of the night.
MCCAIN: Joe, Joe, Joe the plumber.
CHETRY: You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: So who knew the final presidential debate of the season would have a breakout star. This morning, everyone is talking about Joe the plumber. And the candidates did more than - they mentioned Joe the plumber more than two dozen times last night. Jeanne Moos counted them all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Somebody get some Draino and unclog this debate.
MCCAIN: People like Joe the plumber. I want Joe the plumber to spread that wealth around. Of course I talk to people like Joe the plumber.
MOOS: John McCain never met Joe the plumber but an hour into the debate, they were best friends.
MCCAIN: Now my old buddy Joe, Joe the plumber is out there.
MOOS: Eventually -
OBAMA: To Joe the plumber.
MOOS: Both candidates were speaking directly to Joe.
MCCAIN: Joe, Senator Obama's plan.
OBAMA: And I'm happy to talk to you, Joe, too if you're out there.
MCCAIN: I want Joe, you to do the job.
MOOS: Who is Joe?
"JOE": I'm a plumber. You know, I work 10, 12 hours a day.
MOOS: Joe Wurzelbacher had a very agreeable disagreement the other day with Barack Obama over taxes.
WURZELBACHER: Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?
MOOS: The answer is yes, a bit more but that chance encounter while Obama was going door to door in Ohio ended up overtaxing those watching the debate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I hear one more time the word or the phrase Joe the plumber, I am not going to vote for either one of them and I'm going to write Joe the plumber in on my ballot as a write-in vote.
MOOS: He's already being joked about as a possible VP for Sarah Palin in 2012.
MCCAIN: Joe, you're rich. Congratulations.
MOOS: Within hours of the debate -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Joe. I'm a plumber.
MOOS: Impostors were popping up on YouTube.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just shut up. Stop talking about me.
MCCAIN: We're talking about Joe the plumber.
MOOS: He may be laughing, but others weren't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe the plumber, leave him alone right now.
MOOS: The real Joe told "The Huffington Post" that hearing his name during the debate was pretty surreal. On the issue of taxes, he said McCain has got it right. But it wasn't just the candidates talking about him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe the plumber has gone to sleep.
MOOS: Joe should have been charging by the hour for this.
MCCAIN: And I don't think that Joe right now wants to pay a fine.
OBAMA: What Joe, if you want to do the right thing -
MOOS: Hearing Joe the plumber is like hearing drip, drip, drip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up! I got to fix this toilet.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And that's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We will see you back here bright and early tomorrow. 19 days to go.
CHETRY: Joe Six-Pack, Joe Plumber, we'll see else we can come up with, 19 days.
ROBERTS: There's plenty of Joes out there.
CHETRY: I guess so.
Right now here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.
